Page 49 of Fire and Ice

Jack had just fucked her on his desk. Hard. Fully-clothed. It was raw, it was erotic. Not that their other encounters had not been, but Maia felt a desperation in him that echoed her own.

His face was still buried in the curve of her shoulder, they were both breathing hard from their fevered coupling. He glanced up at her now, his blue-grey eyes still dark with something unfathomable.

"I have no control when it comes to you," he whispered. "Are you okay? I was a bit rough."

"I can handle rough," Maia replied tremulously, still descending from her violent orgasm. "But you need to stop behaving like a Neanderthal every time you want to prove a point to me."

Jack grinned.

"You're lucky you give great orgasms," Maia said dryly. His grin got wider.

He pushed himself away and pulled her up. He tucked himself back into his jeans while she, still sitting on the desk, wiggled her skirt back down. Her panties were ruined.

Jack sat on his big leather office chair and gently clasped her left thigh, guiding her to swivel on her buttocks so she faced him.

"We need to talk," he said determinedly.

"Jack, if this is about Isabella it's really pointless."

"Can't we at least pretend not to be fuck-buddies. For one thing it sounds crude to explain especially with Grace's conservative sensibilities."

"Are we arguing about semantics?"

"We can enjoy each other with what time we have."

"Are we not doing that?"

"No, you keep throwing the just-sex card at me," Jack said in exasperation. "It's an awkward reference. And truthfully, it doesn't feel that way to me. I respect you too much to just treat you like a piece of ass. I want to protect you even if you don't want me to. We can pretend that we're seeing each other and act that way."

"You're asking me to be your pretend girlfriend?"

"Yes. Why not enjoy all the benefits?"

"It could get complicated, Jack," Maia frowned.

"You're afraid you'd fall in love with me?" Jack challenged.

"No, you might."

Jack laughed derisively which annoyed Maia.What?The conceited ass thinks he's too good to fall in love with me?

"Maia, I've had relationships for three months at a time, this last one with Isabella lasted eight. I care about them, but I am not in love with them," Jack shrugged. "All I'm saying is it makes for a more enjoyable arrangement if we do not treat each other like an embarrassing one-night-stand."

He had a point, but she felt an odd twinge of sadness for Jack. When Claire died she took his heart with her.

Why was she fighting him on this? Was she protesting too much? Wasn't this how she treated her beach hookups anyway, like it was some grand love affair?Well, that's how it got so fucked up with Lee, an inner voice argued. But that was because they had met up on Bali repeatedly. Was she in danger of falling in love with Jack? He did affect her more than any man she'd met. Maia scoffed inwardly at the idea. He's a player. Viktor already had him cased. And look at poor Isabella.

"What's the drama with Isabella, then?"

"She got it in her head that she was going to be Mrs. Jack McCord," Jack replied dismissively.

"Well, you did string her along for eight months," she reminded him.

"She knew my reputation and I'd never given her any indication that I would marry her," he defended. "I thought she understood that and yes, I may be to blame for that. I should have them sign a fucking contract next time."

"God, you're cold," Maia mocked. "Try spontaneity sometimes."

"Is that what Lee was? An act of spontaneity?" Jack scoffed.

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