REMEDY: A Mafia Romance (Return to Us Trilogy Book 3) (8 page)

Jacade

My back hits the floor of my gym on takedown rep 500 of 1,000. I feel her eyes on me and her body close. A quick peripheral check in the mirror shows Ivy peeking around the corner, failing at being stealth, again. I amp up my moves for her, showboating a little. With a quick one-handed handstand, I flip and land on both feet in front of her.

She jumps back and laughs. "Wow. Is that karate?"

"No, jiu-jitsu." I place a sweaty kiss on her cheek. She doesn't seem to mind it.

"Are you a black belt?"

"Third degree. Working on fourth."

"That's hot."

I give her another sweaty kiss since she didn't reject the first one. "So, do you know any self-defense?"

"I take kickboxing classes. Viktor had me train once, but I've forgotten most of it."

"We'll start your training in four weeks after Kelch clears you."

"Okay."

"Do you do yoga too or just wear those pants to drive me wild?"

She laughs. "I do yoga too."

"Mmm. You'll have to show me that sometime."

"Be happy to, Doctor."

"Can't wait." I hold my hands out to her and she takes them. "Time for PT."

"What? I already had therapy this morning."

"Come with me." I lead her to the living room.

"Jacade, where are we going?" Her elbows angle into her sides.

"You'll see soon enough."

We walk through the hallway and into the elevator. I press
G
for the ground level and wiggle my fingers in hers. My mind reflexively returns to the first time I was in an elevator with her. She smelled of coconut, roses, and lavender. One hit of her scent, and I was intoxicated in a sea of winding ivy leaves. "Still need to fuck you in an elevator."

She blushes and looks at her feet.

The doors open, and Joe smiles at us. "Dr. Jordan. Ms. Summers." He bows slightly.

"Good morning, Joe. How's the family?" I ask while leading her to the door to my private pool.

"Doing well." He trots over to us. "Umm, Dr. Jordan, I'm not sure how to say this…"

I hold my hand up. "Please, Joe. Don't." Not in front of Ivy.

"No, I need to. My wife and I can't thank you enough for the kids' college fun—"

"You're welcome." I cut him off. "Say hello to everyone for me."

Ivy's mouth falls slack at Joe's remark. What's the big deal? Yes, I set up college funds for his four children. So what? It's just money.

I pull on her hand and punch in the code to the door to the right of the concierge desk. We step into the room, and Ivy's eyes bulge out when she sees the sleek, rectangular swimming pool in front of us. She jerks her arm away from me. I pivot and face her as the door seals closed behind her.

"No." She places her hands on her hips and angles her chin to the ceiling.

"Why? Ya scared?" I set my gun on a small side table next to the lounge chair nearest to the pool.

"Maybe."

Those goosebumps on your arms sure make you look scared.

"I'm not going in there, Jacade." She points to the water.

"I saw your bucket list. You can't swim."

That purse of her lips is cute, but it won't get her out of this.

"Hydrotherapy is extremely beneficial for an injury like yours."

The tap of her foot on the concrete is the only sound in the vacuous space. "I'm aware of that, but I'm telling you no."

"No doesn't work for me. What are you afraid of?"

"I dunno. I've always had this irrational fear. Maybe a part of me sensed my mom's death was by drowning."

I pull my shirt over my head and grin. Her mouth widens as she sees the scar on my chest without the bandage for the first time. I grip her hips in my palms and tug her closer. "Don't let fear debilitate you. Let it surge through your veins and force you to fight like a fucking warrior every fucking day."

I place her palm over my scar and lay my hand over hers. "I could've had this excised from my skin by one of the best plastic surgeons in the Midwest. If I did, I'd take the chance of forgetting the dread that burned through me when you were in jeopardy. That fear gave me courage to endure the worst Viktor could hand out so I could get back to you. This scar is a constant reminder, not a nightmare."

She glances down at our hands and back up at me.

"I understand you're scared. I've suffered fear and inflicted it. But you have the choice to either let it propel you forward or demolish you."

"You promise you won't let me sink?"

I draw an
X
over the
I
on my chest with our fingers. "Cross my
I
. You ready?"

She nods.

"Just like in the bedroom, I want words, Ivy."

"Yes."

"Strip down."

Her forehead crinkles. "What? I need a bathing suit or something."

"No, you don't."

"I meant, umm…" Crimson rises in her cheeks.

I drop my pants and stand in front of her in my black boxer briefs. Her fingers touch her parted lips, but her eyes focus on my groin. I move to the lip of the pool, push off the balls of my feet, and backflip into the deep end. I surface and swim to the edge near her feet.

"And where did you learn to do that, Dr. Jordan?" She giggles. "Medical school, I presume?"

"Wouldn't you like to know, Ms. Summers?" I smile at her. "You coming in or what?"

She pulls off her shirt and pants revealing a lacey, white bra with matching panties. Christ. My own private Victoria's Secret model. I look behind her for wings to sprout. She sits on the edge and dangles her feet in the water. Her thighs tremble as I grip her hips and pull her into the water. Her hands clutch my shoulders, and she stares down at me with wide eyes.

"Oh god," she mumbles.

"Fuck fear. Say it."

She lays her forehead against mine. "Fuck fear."

Completely unconvincing. I tread water and move us to the center of the pool.

"Say it like you mean it." I lean my head back and yell, "Fuck fear!" My deep pitch echoes off the walls.

"Fuck fear!" she screams with delight.

"Yeah, that's it, baby."

We chuckle as I pull her body flush to mine and hover my lips over hers. The water laps at her breasts pressed up against my chest. Our laughter wanes, and the desperate yearning to kiss her tears through me again. "Err, no kissing in the pool."

I spin and mount her to my back. She holds on like a girl riding a porpoise at Sea World. Take a deep breath, Ivy. I've got you.

***

Ivy

No kissing in the pool. No kissing in the bed. No kissing in the shower. I'm completely done with Jacade's farcical no-kissing rules.

Hey, wait! I'm in a pool, and I'm not drowning. Granted my arms are strangling Jacade's neck, and my nails are sunk into his shoulders. He swims the length of the pool with me lying on his back and my legs trailing behind us.

"What was Joe talking about?"

His shoulders tense under my fingers.

"Joe and his wife have a sizable family to provide for. I'm not going to give him some stupid box of cheeses to thank him for his work. I've met his kids and want them to have all the opportunities I never did. So, I set up college funds for them." He shrugs.

My god, he's amazing. One minute he's digging a moat filled with alligators around his heart and in the next he's setting up college funds for his doorman's children.

"That's… That's…" I struggle to find the words.

"Ivy, it's nothing. Really." His formidable biceps break the surface of the water and sink under again as his arms circle out in front of him in a butterfly motion.

"Yes, it is. You thought about their futures. It shows what a generous and respectable man you are."

"I wouldn't go that far. I can be an asshole."

Oh, I know.

"They won't need to resort to desperate measures to make money."

I place a wet kiss on his earlobe. He doesn't say it, but I know he means he doesn't want them to take the same path he did. "I love you more and more every day," I say.

"How much do you love me?" He angles his cheek toward me and grins. "So much you would keep lying on me so I can feel your stiff nipples on my back?"

"I'll see what I can do." I laugh, and he pulls me around the perimeter of the pool. Jacade should always be wet. His thick hair turns the richness of crude oil, and his skin shines like a duck just preened in a lake. I should carry a spritzer with me everywhere.

The buoyancy in the lukewarm water gives my worn muscles a break. Physical therapy has been more taxing than I expected. After I was shot, the rest of my body shut down, knowing to kill the switch and send all forces directly to my wound. Moving my legs in the water was difficult at first, but with his momentum, my tendons relaxed and pushed forward. I scissor my legs and practice my range of motion.

My hips float up and then bump down against the solid spheres of his butt as Jacade glides us through the water. The slickness between our skin creates a sensual coating, warm where we touch and colder in the larger spaces between us.

I imagine my worries about Senator Boothby and my family drama leaking from my toes and diluting to nothing in the expanse of water. Jacade and I are alone in a sea of bliss.

He swims to the stairs and carefully removes me from his back, situating me with my knees on the third step and my hands holding onto the pool coping.

"Break time." He lounges on the top step with his calves submerged and his elbows on the slate tile beside the pool.

"How're you feeling?" He looks into my eyes, and the concern in his voice drenches me in warm honey.

His body sparkles like King Triton on his throne holding his staff. His bruises are fading, and his wounds are healing. I'm so lucky to have this strong and powerful specimen of a man here with me. Gratitude we are both alive makes the suppressed ardor within me rise up. My thirst for him overflows, and I stand so I'm above the water from the waist up. His gaze darts to my saturated—and completely see-through—white lace bra. His eyes darken to iron ore.

I support my weight on the edge of the pool and crawl one knee up to the second step.

"Ivy…"

His hesitation only reassures my scheme. He wants me. Holding back for more than a week is driving him crazy too.

I raise my other knee to the second step and rub my free hand over the front of his briefs, pointing my fingers downward and squeezing his thickening cock. His hard tip pokes my palm. I bend at the waist and make sure not to show any pain in my face. I lick a salty drop off his neck then run the tip of my tongue to his lips. This must be a saltwater pool because he doesn't taste like chlorine. He tastes like salted caramel.

His hips grind into my grasp. "We can't…"

"My hands aren't broken."

I dip under his waistband and he hisses.

He's fully hard now, and I take my hand from the coping to push his briefs down under his balls. I kiss him so he can't protest and wrap both hands around his giant dick. He dives his hot tongue into my mouth and takes control.

Yes! Finally. I smile into our wet, briney kiss. His tongue is as divine as I remember. Kissing Jacade is like chocolate lasagna—smooth, creamy, and insanely delicious.

I twist my hands in opposite directions and use our hydro-lubricant to wrench him with zeal. I add a vertical movement to my rotating action, and my hands create a small splash when they hit the water.

He drops his head back and groans. I kiss his neck and glide my lips down his sternum to his right nipple. His chest is so massive, there's too much territory to cover. I need to lick every delectable drop off the canvas of this man.

He raises his head again, and I slam my mouth to his. Forget fragile. I want him and I'm taking him. I increase the intensity and strength of my double-fisted stroking, and I briefly wonder if a woman has ever broken a man's cock with a much too enthusiastic hand job. I don't care. I can't break him. He's King Triton.

I lose purchase on his lips as our movements become more frenzied. He's pumping up into my fists, and I'm squeezing and wrenching with my limited power. His whole body is rigid and gorgeous, each muscle defined and taut. His neck strains as he bites his lip and pulls his chin back to look down.

"My mouth is healthy too," I say.

"Ivy… no, god. I'm gonna…"

Before he can finish, I sink back down to the third step, lock my hands at the base of his cock, and open my mouth around him. I lower my head and force him to the back of my throat.

"No…"

No doesn't work for me, buddy. You're gonna come in my neck. With my nose an inch above the surface of the water, I close my lips around him and siphon him like a Dyson. His palm presses to the back of my neck, and he holds me in place. I love it. I love him dominating me like this, and I trust him not to push it too far. He pistons up into my mouth, and I take it. I take it all.