Jesse lived like this?
Her head throbbed. People she didn’t know were grabbing her to congratulate her on her engagement. The engagement that had completely blindsided her mere hours ago and she hadn’t agreed to. Hurting Jesse’s feelings wasn’t something she wanted to do, but there was no way in hell she could live this sort of life.
The door to the suite opened, and Jesse sauntered in, bright, perfectly symmetrical smile in place. The little crowd cheered. Ryan paused in banging his blonde to wave. At Jesse’s back, Call scowled and took in the scene, grousing something in Jesse’s ear.
It caused Jesse’s smile to turn to thunder, and he whirled, fists clenched. Hmm, whatever Call said, Jesse didn’t like it.
The pair exchanged words. Ugly words, Kimber guessed from their body language. Then Jesse stormed off. And stomped in her direction.
“Hey, babe.” He forced a new smile and grabbed her, hauling her off the sofa and into his arms. “Let’s step outside and get away from all this.” More than eager for the opportunity to talk to Jesse, she didn’t resist when he grabbed her hand and led her across the room. They headed toward the sliding glass door and the balcony outside, practically stepping over the latest line-sniffer and tripping over an energetically thrusting Ryan.
“Where you going, man?” Ryan asked, then thrust up into the blonde straddling him again. “Don’t go far. She’s hot.”
Jesse’s gaze drifted over her. In the last few moments, Ryan had removed the girl’s top and her bare br**sts bounced with every upward surge he made into her pliant body. She was flushed, eyes hazy and half open. And she looked wasted out of her mind.
“Yeah… Why don’t y’all find a bedroom? Call will chew my ass out if you keep f**king her in front of everyone.”
“All right, but join us, man. Her pu**y is tight, and she wants a c**k up her virgin ass, which she saved for you.”
Kimber recoiled. She was pretty sure that the blonde wasn’t in her right mind at the moment and couldn’t possibly know what she actually wanted.
After a surreptitious glance in her direction, Jesse shook his head. “I’m going outside with Kimber, bro. Find a bedroom.”
Ryan rolled his eyes and grumbled, but he stood and lifted the blonde up, keeping her impaled on his dick and urging her to wrap her legs around him.
God, she really couldn’t stay here. Kimber shook her head.
As the door to the suite slid shut behind them, humid summer air wrapped around them, hot and restless.
Jesse curled his arm over her shoulder and sighed. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
“We need to talk.” Kimber turned to him with a serious stare. “That engagement announcement totally took me off guard. I—I thought you’d ask first.” With a shrug, he said, “We’d talked about it before. I just assumed it’d be cool.” Something on her face must have shown her shock and denial, because Jesse grabbed her hands and pulled her against him. “We’ll make it work. I need you, babe. You know I do. I don’t want to go back to that” —he made a sweeping gesture to the party in the room behind them.
Kimber’s gaze followed the motion. Someone opened another champagne bottle.
The lines of cocaine were gone, replaced by three roadies all clustered around the barely legal girl, who was now positioned on her hands and knees, a hard penis in her mouth, a man under her devouring her ni**les, and another behind her, plowing into her sex with punishing strokes. Kimber flinched, wondering how much of this the girl would remember tomorrow.
“See, I’d be one of those guys right now if it wasn’t for you.” Kimber blanched. “Why? Walk by. Say no. You don’t need my help to do that.”
“I do! Without you, I’m weak. But I want to be better for you. I don’t want to disappoint you. I don’t want to ruin you.”
Ruin? Before Kimber could respond, Jesse jerked her against him and swamped her with a desperate, open-mouthed kiss. His tongue lashed at hers, tangling, dominating. Begging by force. Not arousing her in the least.
She tore herself away. “Stop!”
He gripped her arms in a tight hold, his frown dissolving into something damn near tearful. “Don’t push me away. Please. Since you’ve been here, there’s been something on your mind. Something holding you back, acting as a wall between us.
What’s going on? I’ve tried to wait and be patient…” Deke. Damn him. Even Jesse, as absent and self-involved as he’d been, could see where her heart was. And her body.
“Jesse. It’s not simple. Before I came here, things happened. The men I learned ménage from, they affected me. One of them”—she paused, frowned—“I haven’t been able to stop thinking about him.”
“Then this marriage will be good for both of us. But you’ve got to give me a chance. I can help you, and you know I need you.” Kimber shook her head. “I’ve been realizing over the last few days that I don’t love you like that. You’re a friend—”
“Fuck being friends! Do you know how many women would kill to be my wife?
Hell, I have them lining up after a concert just to get f**ked. Or to let me watch them get f**ked by someone else. Or both. I want to give that up for you, and you want to be friends?”
She’d hurt his feelings, said everything the wrong way. “I didn’t mean to upset you. You mean a lot to me. It’s me. I don’t think I’m cut out for this life. And don’t you want a wife who loves you and you alone?”