Uncovering You: The Complete Series (Mega Box Set) (93 page)

A ripple of pleasure makes me shudder as he breathes into my ear. “You will become magnificent, Lilly. I will take you to heights you have never dreamed of. And you, in return…” his hand moves up, and takes hold of one of my breasts. He squeezes.
Hard
.

“…will become only mine.”

Chapter Twenty

We fuck on the table. On his chair. Pressed up against the windows. On the floor, right beside the spot he’d once leashed me and kicked me.

We fuck everywhere and in every which way imaginable. Tonight, Jeremy’s definitely making up for lost time. And I’m all-too-happy to let him do it.

He consumes me. My body, my mind, my spirit. I know nothing except the raw prominence of his presence. He makes me feel…

Wait. That’s it. He makes me
feel
.

If I’ve forgotten, or chosen not to think about, what sex with Jeremy is like, this is a spectacular reminder. My body responds to him in ways it will never respond to another man. There’s a connection, a veritable link, between our two physical bodies. It’s like I was made for him, and he for me.

Physically, at least.

The mental games, the former abuse, the current manipulations…none of that matters. Not now. Not when he and I are in such perfect synchrony.

Maybe the bit of friction between us is exactly what is needed to make the sex so great. Maybe that’s the key to our relationship. It coalesces into something that provides a synergy that is both beautiful and vital.

It’s beautiful in the things it makes me feel. In the things it makes both of us feel. It’s vital for the same reason.

But it’s also vile. Vile because of where it comes from. Vile because of what it needs to blossom into for full fruition.

Hours later, when we’re both finally spent, lying in Jeremy’s bed upstairs, I know it’s time to bring up some uncomfortable topics.

“Jeremy,” I say, looking up at him. “We need to talk.”

He exhales. “I know. But not now. Tomorrow—“

“No, Jeremy. Not tomorrow. Tonight. Today.”

He sighs. “Why can’t you just enjoy this?” he asks. “Just bask in the afterglow.” He takes my hand and squeezes it in a sign of affection I have not had from him for a long time. “That was remarkable sex.”

The rumble of his voice makes my insides roll around with all sorts of delight. The intimacy of the moment makes me very reluctant to break it.

It’s something we haven’t shared for ages.

But break it I must. Because there’s more to our lives than just sex. Much more. And I cannot let my body’s reaction to this man dictate my other relations with him.

I sit up and scoot away. “There are unresolved issues between us,” I say.

He tilts his head one way in amusement. “You don’t say.”

“Yes, Jeremy, and I don’t appreciate you making light of them!” He chuckles. “This is no laughing matter!”

“Maybe not in your eyes,” he says softly. “But you must admit it quite comical, from my perspective, when a naked woman wants to have a serious talk…and expects to be taken seriously.”

I huff and grab the edge of the sheet, yanking it up to my chest. I stare daggers at him. “Better?”

“Unfortunately no,” he says. “The view now is much worse.”

I stick my tongue out. He laughs.

“All right, Lilly,” he says, sitting up against the headboard. The shift in position exposes his whole, glorious upper body. His pecs flex slightly as he re-adjusts himself, his shoulders and arms and abs all chiseled to perfection.

I could just stare at his body for hours. Or, better yet, taste it. Kiss his skin and lick my way up his abs, feeling the ridges beneath my tongue…

I come to myself and shake my head with a start. I force my eyes to meet his. A hint of a knowing smile grows on his face.

“See what I mean?” he asks softly. “Are you certain it’s not a better idea to wait?”

“No, Jeremy, we have to do this
now
,” I say, determined. “Not tomorrow. Right now. Tonight.”

“Very well.” He pats the empty spot beside him. “But come closer. I want to hold you while we talk.”

The sincerity of his request…the pure, simple meaning of those words…makes my heart skip a beat. This is
Jeremy
speaking…the man who I uncovered on our trip to his island. Not cold, hard, Stonehart, but sweet and kind Jeremy. The man who was once the little boy Charles told me about.

It takes all my willpower to deny his request. I shake my head, stiffly, hating that I cannot enjoy the moment, despising the fact that this is what our relationship has eroded into.

The only way I’m able to do it without giving in is by reminding myself that all of this is his fault. All of the worries, concerns, and uncertainties on my mind have arisen because of the things
he’s
done in the aftermath of Fey’s phone call.

His eyes darken. I feel a shift come over him.

“Fine,” he says. His voice is low and dangerous. We’ve entered murky waters. “What is it you want to talk about?”

I bite my lip, hesitating. I really don’t like the change that comes over Jeremy—the one that I just evoked. But it’s too late to back off now. I’ve made my bed, and now I have to sleep in it.

“First,” I say, steeling myself in anticipation of his reaction…whatever it might be… “There are the photographs. Your driver. And Hugh?”

Jeremy makes an angry sound in his throat at the mention of that name.

I soldier on. “What happened Monday at the office, Jeremy? Tell it to me in full, because I know you know.”

“You saw what happened on-screen,” he tells me.

There’s a certain, peculiar inflection in his voice that I’ve never encountered before. It reminds me a little bit of a teenager holding back a secret he’s desperately eager to spill.

“No, Jeremy,” I say. “I saw what happened—I
lived
through what happened. And it’s
not
what the tape showed.”

He perks an eyebrow at me. “Are you suggesting,” he says, evocatively, “that what you saw on the monitor was perhaps…
wrong
?”

My breath catches. “You did it!” I accuse.

Jeremy spreads his hands in a ‘who, me?’ gesture…and then smiles deeply.

“Bravo, Lilly,” he says. “You have discovered the truth.”

My head spins. Thinking about it, considering it, wondering about the possibilities is one thing…but having it confirmed, by Jeremy’s own admission, is quite another.

“Why?” I say. “I mean, what
…why
?”

“It’s a new technology Stonehart Industries has developed,” Jeremy says. He stands up and walks across the room, picking out a robe and wrapping it around his body. “Still in the prototype stages, but getting closer and closer to completion every day.

“It’s an advanced CGI simulation algorithm. Much, much improved over the primitive things you see in video games or even movies. It’s a program that is able to, in real time, create videos indistinguishable from reality. That
includes
computer models of real people, accurate to the most minute detail…to the most subtle features of their face. We’ve crossed the uncanny valley, Lilly, and that? That is an accomplishment worthy of the Nobel Prize.”

“You tricked me,” I say. My insides feel hollow. “You deceived me. You had me believe I was going crazy!”

“Yes, yes, yes!” Jeremy says. There’s growing excitement in his voice. “Don’t you see, Lilly? I did what I had to do. You have the strongest mind I know. If the simulation was enough to fool you—why, that is the best litmus test there is. If
you
could fall victim to its trick, well, imagine the effect it would have on the masses!”

“You’re sick,” I say. “Twisted. You made me doubt my own sanity, as…as…as a ‘litmus test!’” Anger is taking hold of me now.

I do nothing to hold it back.

“How dare you, Jeremy? You claim you love me, and then you go and do—
that
!” I surge out of bed, wrapping the sheet around my body in quick, livid strokes. “So what am I, some sort of guinea pig to you? First there was the collar. ‘Testing the battery for use in your phone,’ you said. And now
this
? Playing me for the fool, taking liberties you have no right to take, for the purpose of what? Of seeing how well your new toy works?”

“It’s not a toy, Lilly,” Jeremy says firmly. “And I needed proof. I needed confirmation that it was functional. You were the victim in the act, yes, but I did it to you for the greater good.”

I stab a finger at him. “Don’t start,” I warn. “Don’t you dare lecture me on the ‘greater good’. Whose greater good, Jeremy? Yours? Stonehart Industries?”

“Both,” he snaps. “And yours, too, Lilly. You’re tied to the success of the company now. You’re tied to
me
.”

“And what if I don’t want to be tied to you?” I snarl. “What if I want to break away?”

He has the nerve—the fucking nerve—to chuckle. “I’ve already severed all bonds holding you here,” he says. “You remain of your own accord.”

“Oh, that’s fucking rich,” I spit. “What about tracking me all the way through Maine, huh? What about executing the robbery? Because that only happened at your command, didn’t it?”

“I had to test you,” he says. “At the same time, I was looking out for your safety.”

“
Another
test, Jeremy? Really? I mean—really?”

“Yes,” he says. He steps toward me. “And you passed it spectacularly. I have to know if the woman I’m ready to spend my life with possess the qualities I seek in a mate.”

“’The qualities you seek in a mate?’ Can you hear yourself speak right now, Jeremy? Do you know how clinical you make it sound?”

“I do,” he says. “Because that is what you wanted. Don’t forget the deal you made with me on the plane. I am not to make mention of my true feelings for you.
This
is the only outcome that you could have expected.”

I laugh. “Hah! So you’re trying to pin it on me, now? You told me once that you value honesty—that you
need
honesty, particularly with yourself, to succeed in the business world. Well, that’s a crock of utter bullshit, isn’t it?” I glare at him, absolutely livid. “You’re not doing any of this because of me. You’re doing it because of
you
. Because you’re a man who can and who does, remember? Or has that changed, too?”

“It has not.”

“So you had me robbed in Maine, while I was away, why? To see if I would come crawling back to you? You had the photographs of us released to the press, after scolding me for being careless, why? So you could prove that it’s you who is still in ultimate control? What next, am I to learn that you planted Conner to seduced my mother and…”

I gasp. My hands come over my mouth. “Oh my God,” I whisper. “You did.”

He makes no sign of apology, or even a pretense of remorse. He just looks at me, waiting.

I can’t take it. This is all too much. I walk to the bed and sit down, in half a daze.

“Why, Jeremy?” I whisper. It sounds like I’m pleading, but I’m not. I’m just…coming to grips, to once again, with how insane this man really is. “Why? Why, why, why?”

“Because your mother is important to you, Lilly,” he says. “Even if you try to deny it, she still is family. I had to make contingencies in case you decided to reconnect. Which you did. Conner keeps her safe. He makes sure nothing untoward happens to her.”

I just shake my head. “Her entire life is a lie,” I say to myself. “Everything she thinks she knows, everything she values…it’s just there because of you, isn’t it?”

“Because of
you
, Lilly,” he corrects. “Because of what you mean to me.”

I glare up at him, angry tears filling in my eyes. “And what happens when I stop meaning anything to you, Jeremy? What happens then? Tell me that.”

“That,” he says sternly, crossing the space between us. “Will never happen.” He goes to his knees and takes my hand, “I promise you, Lilly. Because I do—I still do, and I always will, and
fuck
whatever deal we made on the plane—I do love you.”

“Stop,” I try to pull my hand away, but he won’t let go. “Just stop, Jeremy.” I wipe the tears from my eyes, angry with myself that I’m crying, furious at him for evoking such emotions in me. I feel lost, like I’m stuck in limbo, as if nothing that I do or say holds meaning anymore, unless it’s mandated
by Jeremy.

“I won’t stop,” he says. “I’ll never stop loving you, Lilly. Never. You mean everything to me.”

I look away, up at the ceiling. The reflection the moon makes on the ocean outside makes dim light dance on the plaster. “You have a lousy way of showing it,” I sniff.

“Because I’m bound by the promise I made to you,” he says.

I glance down at him—and wish that I hadn’t. His eyes have returned to that soft, glowing sapphire. The one that tells me, with absolute certainty, that the man I’m speaking to is Jeremy.

And when he’s Jeremy—just Jeremy, and nothing more—I have a weakness for him.

“What are we doing?” I whisper to him. “What do we have between us? What is this world you’ve dreamed up for me and you?”

“I don’t know,” he admits. “But I’m waiting…waiting…for you to release the shackles that hold me. For you to allow me to express the depths of my feelings for you.”

I sniffle. “That’s what you want?”

His hand tightens around mine. “Yes,” he says. “That is what I want, with all my heart.”

“And if I let you,” I say, “There won’t be anymore…games? No more…tests?”

“None,” he promises. “Not ever.”

“I won’t be your guinea pig anymore?”

“Lilly.” My name on his lips sounds like the sweetest caress. “You were never my guinea pig. Don’t you know?” He lifts my hand to his lips, and kisses my palm. “You have always been…and you’ve never stopped being…my sweet Lilly-Flower.”

“Then fine,” I say. “Fine Jeremy. I release you from your promise. You can do…whatever it is you want to.

“But I’m not saying the words back.”

“Then I’ll wait,” he tells me. “I’ll wait however long it takes for you to admit to yourself that you have fallen in love with me.”