Into The Woods (Dark Fairy tales), page 36
“Oh…we’ll see,” Sutton moaned, falling to the bed.
She loved the rush that power gave her. With each stroke of Jeremiah’s tongue she was quickly forgetting everything that hurt her. Sutton knew that she was gone: the girl she once was, was no longer. In her place was exactly who Jarvis said she was: a woman looking out for her own best interests. There was no need for love. Love was incidental, in a world built on the strongest and the richest survivors. Sutton fell into her orgasm and felt a sweet release. It wasn’t just a release of pleasure, but also a release from who she once was, and who she would never be again.
***
Sutton woke hours later alone in Jeremiah’s bed. She thought she’d feel differently about giving up on love. Giving up on her old self. No longer being the subservient and weak Sutton who seemed to always lose. Instead, as she rose from the bed, she felt nothing but complete satisfaction wash over her. Sutton threw on Jeremiah’s dress shirt and went in search of her lover. After looking around his apartment, she finally spotted him on the terrace, smoking a cigar.
“What are you doing out here?” Sutton asked, as she walked out and took a seat. “Aren’t you cold?
“Not at all,” Jeremiah replied, as he finished his cigar. “I couldn’t sleep. I come out here to calm my nerves.”
“Is it me? Am I hogging the blankets? Do you not like having guest in your bed?” Sutton teased.
Jeremiah flashed Sutton a smile. “Only if they’re as beautiful as you, baby.”
“Are you always this charming, or is it all an act?”
“I would think at this point you would know I’m pretty upfront. I would hope you would be the same with me.”
“Okay, you want me to be upfront?”
“Please do,” Jeremiah said motioning for her to proceed.
“I don’t want more than this. Sex and companionship are all I can offer you,” Sutton explained proudly. “Anything else…well, you have the wrong girl. Since you want me to be upfront, that’s how I feel.”
“That’s funny, because I was sitting out here thinking of a way to tell you the very same thing.”
Sutton let out a snicker, “Were you really?”
“Sutton, I don’t do love. I do sex. I do friendship. I can even possible toy with the idea of a relationship, but I don’t do love. If that’s what you want, well… you have the wrong guy.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Sutton said, as she hopped out of her seat and walked over to the railing. “Love is the furthest thing from my mind.” Sutton looked out on the cityscape and was in awe. “You have quite the view. You can see all of Atlanta from up here.”
“I don’t know about all of Atlanta, but a good little bit,” Jeremiah said, as he moved in behind Sutton. “I never thought I would have this. Hell, as a kid the best I thought I’d ever do was getting a decent paying job and a small house. I sometimes come up here and look out at the city. Look at all the buildings and people from my tower on high. It’s a place I honestly never thought I would be.”
“What, you really never aspired to live in a penthouse and run a billion dollar company?” Sutton teased.
“I never saw past jail, to be honest.”
“Jail?” Sutton turned in his arms shocked at his confession. “You were in jail?”
“Yes. I did a year and a half for assault, my senior year at Emory.”
“Who did you assault?”
Jeremiah’s face twisted in pain at the memory. “A very bad man who hurt someone I loved. See, love’s a funny thing; it makes you do the dumbest shit. After I got out, Tavia took a chance on me, even though I had no business background and no degree. I never thought I would be here, yet here I am.”
“So, in a way you use this as your ‘King of Atlanta balcony.’”
Jeremiah laughed at Sutton’s innocent comment. “In a way, I guess so.”
“Well, I hope to one day have a place like this. To one day get to the heights that you’ve gotten to.”
Jeremiah ran his fingers down Sutton’s cheek, before placing a soft kiss on her lips. “There’s nothing stopping you. This town is under your feet. You stand above these simple-minded people and they don’t even know it yet. I can give you something that Maddox and Jarvis could never give you.”
“What’s that?” Sutton asked in a curious whisper, as she turned back to the city.
Jeremiah brought his lips to Sutton’s ear. “Well, there’s amazing sex.” Jeremiah gave Sutton’s neck a nibble eliciting a squeal. “Then there’s travel: we can go anywhere your little heart desires. Power. I will make the assholes that once doubted you eat their words and beg at your feet. Money. Not money like you were making sleeping with assholes at The Woods, but real money.”
“What…what are you talking about?” Sutton backed away from Jeremiah in complete shock that he knew her secret. “I didn’t sleep with anyone for money.”
“Sutton, let’s not play dumb. I know everything. Trust me, it’s not an issue to me like it was to Maddox. To be honest, I’d have to say he’s a bit of a hypocrite.”
“Hypocrite? What do you mean?”
“Let’s just say he was a working boy in college, if you get what I mean.”
Sutton looked at Jeremiah in complete disbelief. “You’re lying.”
“He and I both worked as…well I guess you can say gigolos. It wasn’t as high-class as The Woods, but it paid the bills.”
Sutton was stunned. The idea of Maddox and Jeremiah being hookers was something she couldn’t even fathom. “When did you stop?”
“Well, I went to jail, and he went to law school. The point is, Sutton, I can make you more than what you are. I was nothing when I met Tavia, and now…well, now I own this town. The people I once answered to now answer to me. It’s all within your reach. It just depends on whether or not you’re smart enough to take it.”
“What do I have to do to get it?” Sutton asked, a glimmer running through her eyes.
Jeremiah wrapped Sutton in his arms. “Stick with me. I’ll see to it that you’ll get anything and everything you want.”
“But I told you, I don’t love you. What could we have, other than sex?”
“What do you have with the other men, other than arguments? What we have will be more than that. You’ll be exactly what I need, and in exchange…” Jeremiah turned Sutton toward the cityscape. “You’ll own this city.”
Sutton looked out into the city. The idea was tempting. She’d never been more than everyone’s whipping girl, and now she had her chance to be on top. To be the one who called the shots. It was a chance of a lifetime, and all she had to do was trust Jeremiah—trust a man who didn’t want anything more from her than she did from him. Sutton pushed her hesitation away. For once, she didn’t care about her fear or doubts. She was the new Sutton, and the new Sutton looked out for herself.
Sutton turned in Jeremiah’s arms and pressed her lips against his. If he wanted to give her the world, then she’d take it. She pulled away slightly, and gazed into his blue eyes.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever told you this,” Sutton said, as she studied his face.
“What’s that?”
“What beautiful eyes you have,” Sutton said with a smile, as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
A sly smirk washed over Jeremiah’s face. “The better to see you with.” Jeremiah whispered, as he claimed Sutton’s mouth in a passionate kiss.
To Be Continued….
Tempting the Wolfe
Coming Soon
Jeremiah Wolfe pulled himself out of bed. He glanced over at a naked, sleeping Sutton, and smiled. He loved to see her wrapped in his sheets, almost as much as he loved to see her wrapped around his body. Jeremiah grabbed a cigar and trekked out to the terrace. Taking a seat in his favorite chair, he lit up and took a long, satisfying drag.
The few weeks of making heart-stopping love to Sutton was nothing more than a pleasing distraction from what he really wanted. Sutton was just the stepping stone to his plan as a whole. As much as he cared for her, she was nothing more than a pawn in a plot to finally take out Maddox Hunter.
Jeremiah was surprised that after all the years that had passed, he was still just as angry at Maddox as when it had first happened; as angry as when he’d taken the fall for something that Maddox had done. The pain was still fresh, and the salt in the wound was the wonderful life Maddox had. The successful career, the cute little son, the fancy house, even the dead wife, were products of the sacrifice that he’d made for Maddox. It was a sacrifice that was never acknowledged and, if anything, was thrown back in his face with Maddox’s continued relationship with his first love. Soon it would all come to a satisfying end.
He hated the fact that Maddox had dumped Sutton before he could steal her. Stealing her away was going to be the most satisfying part of the plan. However, he seemed to get just as much satisfaction from screwing Sutton, so in a way it all equaled out. Having Sutton in his bed was just one of the spoils of his soon-to-be victory.
Jeremiah hated to admit that Sutton was a lot like himself at that age. She was full of life and ready to do whatever it took to get to where she wanted to be. Offering Sutton the world in exchange for her trust was like offering a child candy: she was going to take it because she couldn’t resist. He laughed, as he remembered Sutton’s wide-eyed expression at the offering. There was no doubt that she would take it. After all, Tavia assured him she would.
Tavia…the woman whose name struck fear in many was the one person Jeremiah trusted with his life. Over the years the once-client of The Dark was now more like a mother; something Jeremiah hadn’t really had, and more times than not needed. Tavia was the driving force behind his success, his power, and his revenge. He thought back on the promise she’d made him shortly after his release. “I’ll give you the world. I will make them bow at your feet. In time, the name ‘Jeremiah Wolfe’ will be not only respected, but feared in this city. With me in your corner there is nothing that you can’t do.”
The memory sent chills up his spine. At the time he’d thought Tavia’s words were the empty promises of a very rich woman. Now, he knew that when Tavia said something, it was as good as done. This was the same feeling he got when she called him into her office and said that it was time. It was time for the destruction of those who’d hurt him most.
He’d taken her words lightly, until the plan she’d laid out became nothing less than a clear map to the destruction of those he loathed most. Although he hated seeing Fiona caught in the middle, he figured she’d made her own bed, and would have to deal with the circumstances. There was nothing he could do to help her: Fiona was Tavia’s personal target.
Jeremiah took a drag of his cigar and let out another satisfying puff. New Years was only a few days away. The new year would usher in the next step in his plan. The new year would be his year. After the clock struck, there was nothing that he wouldn’t have. Money, power, a beautiful woman, and revenge.
“I was looking for you, baby,” Sutton said, as she draped her arms around Jeremiah. “Aren’t you cold?”
“Not at all, darling.” Jeremiah butted out his cigar and placed kisses on Sutton’s arms. “Are you excited about our trip?”
Sutton took a seat on Jeremiah’s lap. “Christmas in St. Lucia? Hell, yeah, I’m excited.”
“I hope that you have an array of tropical attire for me to rip off of you,” Jeremiah teased, as he placed kisses on Sutton’s neck.
“Of course I do. When a girl comes home to a mini boutique in the living room, I would think she’d have a thing or two to wear.”
“Well, you wouldn’t come to the store, so the store had to come to you.” Jeremiah gave his girlfriend a long, tender kiss. “Let’s get to bed. We have to be up early to meet the jet.”
Sutton rose from Jeremiah’s lap and helped him to his feet. “We have our whole flight to sleep. I can think of more exciting things to do with our time,” Sutton purred, as she placed gentle kisses on Jeremiah’s jaw line.
“How about you go get in bed, and I’ll be there in just a few.”
“Don’t keep me waiting.” Sutton gave him one last kiss and sashayed back into the house.
Jeremiah moved to the balcony and looked steadily out on the still sleeping city.
They have no clue what’s about to hit them, Jeremiah laughed to himself, as he took in the cool Georgia night.
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C. Jackson
Jackson, C., Into The Woods (Dark Fairy tales)
