Chapter 20

20

JODI

M y heart was up in my throat all day. I could barely concentrate, and there were moments when it felt like I couldn’t even breathe. Ally tried to get me to eat a couple of snacks, but I couldn’t even bring myself to take a bite. Anxiety hovered over me like a cloud.

It wasn’t the only thing. Ever since I made the connection and explained to Derek that the Jack Prince who was working with the vineyard was my brother, he had been hovering around me like a mother hen. At every opportunity he could, he came over to check on me, making sure I was still doing alright and offering me a glass of water.

It was everything I could do to keep myself calm after the fourth or fifth time he did it. I didn’t understand the compulsion to bring me the water. Not that he was the only person who ever did that. If there was one thing watching people be upset on TV and in movies has taught us all, it’s that when someone is emotionally distraught, clearly, they need water.

He was only trying to help, and he was being so sweet. I was just feeling on edge and worried about what was going to come next. I didn’t know what I was going to do. Or even what I was supposed to think. Maybe I should be relieved. When I saw him on the street where my rental was, I automatically believed it was because he found me. He was right on my tail, and it was going to be harder and harder to stay hidden and ahead of him.

Now I knew that wasn’t actually what happened. He didn’t show up because he found me, and he wasn’t on that road because he knew it was where I was living and had come to get me. It was all a coincidence. Maybe that should make me feel better.

But I still couldn’t get the reality out of my mind. Of everywhere I’d chosen to go, of all the places I could have gotten a job, it had to be the same place Jack made a business connection. People would probably say it had to do with being twins. That somehow our minds were more connected, and he was just able to intuitively find the same people I had, even if he didn’t know it.

But I didn’t put a lot of stock into that. In fact, it was those kinds of assumptions that drove me crazy anytime people found out we were twins. They loved to smile and talk about how deeply connected we had to be and how special that was for us. They asked if we had a special language or if we could feel when the other one was injured.

I had to remind them we were not identical twins. We were a brother and sister who just so happened to form at the same time. There was really no difference between us and any other set of siblings. No special language. No deep connection that meant we could feel each other.

Him ending up at the King Vineyard at the same time I was working there was nothing more than an unpleasant coincidence. Or a nasty joke of the universe.

It didn’t really matter to me why he was there. All that kept going through my mind was that he was there.

I was waiting for answers, for something to let me know what I was going to do next.

As we were setting up for our lunch service, I saw Zane and Cameron come into the restaurant and get Derek. They dragged him into his office and closed the door. I wanted to go in and find out what was happening, but I stopped myself. Trying to keep concentrating on the work I was supposed to be doing, I did my best to ignore that he was in the office. That they were still there and were probably talking about Jack and what that all meant.

I had no idea what they were going to say. I already worried I was going to be an excessive burden for Derek when I thought Jack was just there because he managed to find some sort of lead and came to find me. Now I had to worry his brothers were going to say all of this was just too much. I couldn’t stay.

The longer they stayed there in the office, the more that seemed like what was happening. I was just waiting for them to come out and tell me I would need to leave the vineyard before I compromised their connection with him and the business deal they’d managed to put together.

After a while, Zane and Cameron came out of the office. Without saying anything to me, they left the restaurant. I looked over at Derek and saw him give me a tight smile. I could only hope everything was okay. That he hadn’t been lying when he told me they could help.

Even after the lunch shift finally started, it moved like molasses. It felt like the day was going on and on, repeating over and over. I thought Derek would come to me and tell me what his brothers and he had talked about, but it never happened. When the day was finally done and it was time to go home, he was quieter than his normal self.

That made my tension even worse. Maybe he was just waiting until we got back to the house so he could let me down easier, and I wouldn’t be embarrassed in front of other people. By the time we got to the driveway, I was planning on making it easier on both of us by just going in and packing. I didn’t want to have the whole dramatic conversation. This didn’t need to be a learning moment or to hear about how meaningful our time together at the restaurant was. I just needed to get ahead of Jack and move on.

But I didn’t get the chance to get to my room. When we got inside, Derek took me by my wrist and pulled me into the living room. I tried to pull away from him, but he didn’t let go.

“Come on,” he said. “Sit with me for a second.”

“Derek,” I started, but he shook his head.

“Just listen to me.”

I didn’t have it in me to argue with him. My shoulders dropped in resignation, and I nodded. “Go ahead.”

“Zane and Cam came to talk to me,” he said.

I nodded. “I know. I saw them.”

“They talked through everything, and we decided my brothers will work with your brother. They’ll keep up the arrangement just like it was. But they aren’t going to mention you. And they are going to make sure Jack never makes it near the kitchen or the restaurant. No bringing him here for lunch or dinner. No letting him give himself a tour. He’ll stay far from you and leave without ever knowing you were around,” Derek said.

I couldn’t believe the relief that washed over me. They weren’t making me leave, and they also weren’t having to miss out on the benefits of working with Prince Industries.

“Thank you,” I said, throwing myself onto him and wrapping my arms around him in a relieved, grateful hug. “Thank you.”

It was only meant to be a hug. I just wanted him to know how much I appreciated what he was doing for me, and how much more at ease I felt now that I knew it was settled and everything was going to work out.

But it didn’t stay a hug. As soon as I was in his arms, I felt the intense draw to him reach a fevered pitch. With me barely even knowing what I was doing, my mouth found his.

Crawling into his lap, our lips locked together. The world disappeared rapidly, and I realized there was no point in trying to contain myself. I was so relieved and so drawn to him that all my inhibitions were thrown to the wind. By the rod in his pants as I straddled him, he was willing to celebrate too.

His tongue slid into mine, parting my lips eagerly, and I melted into his kiss. Strong, powerful hands grasped my ass as I began to rock on him, making my intentions known without any doubt. This wasn’t my attempt to just make out with him. I wanted him inside me.

With his hands occupied on my ass, I reached down and pulled the hem of my shirt, yanking it up and over my head and tossing it onto the floor. He groaned and dove into my cleavage. His lips pressed against my skin and moved down until his teeth clamped on the latch in the center. He pulled, and it opened, my breasts spilling out into his waiting lips.

He suckled on my nipple while I let the bra fall way off my shoulders. I kept my hips rocking on him, relishing in the way his cock grew hard in his pants and the sensation of his fingers as they trailed up my sides, tickling me, then dove to clasp onto my breasts.

I arched my ass up and reached below to undo the button of his pants. As soon as it was done, he lifted his hips to help me pull them down, his boxers going with them and his cock springing out toward me. I sat down again, rubbing my core against him with only the stretchy fabric of the yoga pants between us. I could see the desperate desire in his expression to be inside me, and it made my spine tingle.

Slithering down his body, I grasped the base of his cock in my hand as I made my way to my knees on the floor. One hand stroked him while the other pushed my pants down to my knees and then immediately dove between my thighs. I slid my fingers through my folds and swirled my middle one over my clit as I took him into my mouth. He groaned above me, and goose bumps broke out over my skin.

One hand went behind my head and began to guide me in my motions up and down over him. I let go of his base, and he gently pulled me down until I felt him in the back of my throat. He held me there for a moment, and I choked as he let go. I came up for air, stroking him again and feeling a sudden wave of explosive sexual tension. I dove down again, letting his cock fill my mouth, and he pulled me deep again, gently thrusting so his cock pressed against the back of my throat.

I stood, pressing him back into the couch with the kiss so I could straddle him again. I pressed my fingers down on either side of my bottom lips and separated them, holding myself open as I positioned myself above his cock.

Sitting down, he sunk into me from below, and I cried out loud. One of his hands grasped my breast, the other palmed my ass while he took the free breast into his mouth again. His tongue brushed and swirled around the nipple as I sat down hard, letting him fill me completely and fully. My moans were loud and insistent as I began to bounce on him, rocking my hips with each movement and sinking into a deep ecstasy as his body satisfied mine. My breasts bounced as I began to ride him harder, and one of his hands slid between us to press into my clit.

I came suddenly, the world closing in on me and my vision narrowing as the wave of climax slammed into me and made my toes curl and my legs quiver. I suddenly lost the ability to move as it rolled through me, and I felt one arm wrap around my waist and pick me up. I locked my legs behind his back as he held me aloft and raised me up and down with his hands under my ass while he stood.

The power of his strength and the weight of gravity pulling me deeper over him made the sensation even more intense. He pulled and lifted, pulled and lifted as he fucked me deeply, and my jaw fell open, sound barely escaping my lips.

I was dimly aware, through the haze of orgasms roiling through my body, of him moving me to the lush chair and laying me on my back on the seat. He pulled my legs up so the ankles rested on his shoulders and his hands clasped on the sides of the chair. He began to slam into me, his cock diving so deep inside me I thought I might tear in two, and yet I loved it. Every moment my pussy stretched to accommodate him was on a thin line separating pain and pleasure, but soon I relaxed, and it was nothing but erotic ecstasy again.

His muscles tensed, and I ran my fingers over his chest as he fucked me harder, the veins popping out on his arms and shoulders. My body was seemingly cycling from one climax to another in rapid fashion, and I watched as his eyes widened, his body tensed so much that his face went red, and his roaring voice filled the room.

As he slammed into me one last time, the roar reached its fevered pitch and he exploded into me. My pussy pulsed as he throbbed, and I milked him until he was empty. Finally, he sank down into me, pressing his lips into mine once more as our bodies calmed and his cock slid out of me, empty and satisfied.