Their Broken Pieces by Jessica Gomez
Chapter Thirty-Six
Jasmine
While standing in the shower, I’m pretty sure I can hear Alex breathing heavily on the other side of the door. The smile plastered on my face hurts my cheeks. He’s the only guy I’ve touched that way, and I more than enjoyed it, as did he. It was thrilling and one hell of a turn on. I want him to be my first, even if we never see each other again, and stick with our plans to separate after this trip. Even though only a week has passed, I know I’ll never experience this kind of love with anyone else, and I want my first time to be with him, and no one else. Our connection is more than physical; whatever our souls are made of, they’re the same.
While thinking about Alex and his response to my touch, I finish washing my hair and body, remembering that because of his distraction, I forgot to bring my clothes into the bathroom with me.
That’s too bad.
I’m confident in what I want and if I have to seduce him to get it, I will. He wants this too; it’s obvious, but he’s trying to be the gentleman, which is another reason I love him. By the ecstasy covering his face when I helped him out earlier, it wouldn’t take much encouragement on my part to get what I want.
After drying off and wrapping the towel around my breasts, I leave the bathroom to grab my clothes. Alex is by the window, watching the waves on the beach intently, lost in thought. Either that, or he’s trying not to notice my towel covered body, so I give him a break, grab my clothes, and return to the bathroom to change.
When I’m fully dressed and makeup applied, I exit to find him hanging the phone up in a hurry. I narrow my eyes suspiciously, and walk over to him, wondering what he’s up to.
“What are you doing?”
“Nothing you need to worry your pretty little head about.” He smiles and walks over to press a kiss to my temple. “Are you ready to get some grub?”
“Yes.” He’s trying to avoid what happened earlier, so I make it a point to bring it up and tease him a little. “You feeling better?”
Even through his caramel complexion, the pink tint shows his embarrassment, but his pupils are blown and his nostrils flare, relaying he’s horny as hell. He yanks me into his arms, slamming us chest to breast, caressing my neck with his soft lips as he speaks. “Sí Much better.” He trails kisses along my jaw. “You should be careful doing things like that.” At first, I’m not sure what he means. Is that some type of rejection? He seemed to enjoy himself thoroughly. My heart is racing, worrying about what I might’ve done wrong when he finishes his sentence. “You make me want to take you right now when I think about what you did.” His words rumble against my skin, the growl liquifying my legs, hoping he’ll throw me on the bed and ravish my wanting body.
“I’m good with that,” I reply breathlessly, tempting him further by pressing tighter to him, and doing a little soft breathing of my own against his neck.
He growls louder, like a wild animal warning off his prey. “Jasmine, you know I’ll never treat you like that, not when we’re… Not when we have to split after the next couple of days. I could never forgive myself for taking your innocence and then leaving.” He’s waging a battle within himself. He’s not even sure if he can tell me no for much longer because I can see it in his eyes, the lust, the desire, and yes, even the love. He’s moments away from caving to both our needs.
“What if I don’t care? What if I want to, even if I could never see you again? Imagining someone else in your place is a slap in the face. No one could ever replace you, Alex. It seems like I’m betraying you by just thinking about it.” My eyes drop to the red wine carpet in our room, vision blurring with unshed tears, heart clenching with misery.
He tilts my chin up, flecks of gold flicker in his dark chocolate eyes. “It just feels wrong to me.”
Wrong? How could something so beautiful feel wrong? There’s no hint of wrongness in it for me. If I only had one second to spend with him after we made love, I’d still do it, and I’d never regret it. “I guess if you feel that strongly about it…” He sees the heartbreak, the rejection.
“Jaz, never think it’s because I don’t want to. I want to. Fuck, I want to. But I think it’d only complicate our separation. It’s already going to be tough enough.” He smooths my hair back and tucks it behind my ear. “Do you understand where I’m coming from?”
I understood, but being together should never feel like a mistake, or wrong. “I understand,” I reply, trying not to bring down the rest of our day. “Where do you want to go to eat? Feel like another flaming burger?” I half-heartedly joke.
He turns slightly green at the mention of the evil burger he ate the day before, causing me to laugh at his reaction. “No, anything but that.” He laughs along with me.
“How about something light? Are we going to be in the sun most of the day?” I ask because I know him too well. He was on the phone planning something for us to do for the rest of the day.
He smiles, knowing I figured him out. “Yeah, something light would be good. Soup and salad bar sound good to you?”
“Yes, that sounds perfect. Do you need to check in with your people?” His eyes widen, surprised that I’d be cool with him speaking with his gang. Do I like it? No, absolutely not, but what am I going to do? This is who he is now.
“I think I should. Give me a sec.”
I nod while he gets on his cell and calls Carlos. I only hear one side of the conversation, and most of it’s in Spanish, so understanding is over my head. You’d think having a best friend for ten years who spoke fluent Spanish, I’d have picked up more. At least some civilized words, and not the bad ones Alex taught me.
“Is everything all right?” I ask once he ends the call.
“Yep. I told him he’s pretty much in charge the rest of the week, because I’ll be hanging out with you the rest of the trip, but to call me if anything needs handled.”
I have to admit, the gang scene is not my thing, but the bad boy role is quite the turn on. Thinking about him protecting me and being my hero when it comes to scumbags like Andrew is a huge aphrodisiac.
Alex grabs the community guide the hotel keeps in each room and looks up an excellent restaurant, far enough away where we can have our privacy. It’s about two miles away, but I’m up for the walk, especially since there’s a boardwalk along the beach the entire way. None of the other seniors seem to venture more than a few blocks from the hotel.
“You ready?” he asks.
“I’m more than ready to spend the day with you.” His face lights up as he leans down to kiss me while I’m sitting on the bed.
“Oh, bring your suit,” he instructs.
It’s daytime, and my suit’s a two-piece. “What about my marks?”
His eyes turn glacier and austere, thinking about the marks that adorn my back. “You can wear one of my tank tops and a pair of light shorts. If there’s no crowd, you won’t need to worry about it. As much as seeing them bothers me, I enjoy seeing you half-naked more.” He grins wickedly, trying to joke, but his smile is far from touching his eyes. He’s still really pissed off about what happened. The next time he sees Margaret may be her last. Secretively, I can only hope.
“All right.”
“Meet me at the store we bought our junk food at. The boardwalk is just down the block.”
“Okay.” I turn to the door, but he grips my arm, pulling me back.
“Forgetting something?” Puzzlement creases my brows, but the fire in his reflection reveals exactly what I forgot.
A smile grips my lips as I stand on my toes and kiss him, sliding my tongue against his, turning him wild. His hands wander, but I give him a dose of his own medicine and deny him, just as he’s done to me the last couple of days.
He growls when I pull away too soon for his liking, staring at me with drunken eyes, confused.
“All right, I’ll see you there in a few.” Turning around without another word, I walk out the door.
He registers what I’m doing before I leave, understanding the game, but before the door closes, I hear him say, “You’re cruel, women.”
I laugh and head down the hall, floating on cloud nine, and more than ready to spend the day with Alex.
I reach the store before him and browse, making sure I have everything I need at the hotel. The only purchases are a couple of bottled waters before sitting outside on the bench, waiting for Alex to show.