Prison Break (6 page)

Oh, god. Where had this bad boy Mateo been
hiding these past two years? Probably behind the gentleman
facade.

Did prison change him?

If you had ten minutes at a time on the
phone, wouldn't you make the best of it?
Her alter ego
pressed.

Realization dawned.
You're defending
him!

Not!

But you came like THREE times in TEN
minutes! Shouldn't that tell you something?

Ping!
The tight band that once
constricted her chest snapped. Her heart parted open.

Natalia suddenly knew with certainty that she
loved Mateo as more than a friend and companion. And she knew just
the thing that he would most want to have and that she would be
capable of, and even willing to be, delivering.

Papá, you were right.
Love did come
after security.

“Mateo, I want your baby.”

“Good, we agree on that matter.”

“
All
your babies.”

He inhaled sharply.

“And I better be the only woman to give them
to you.”

“Yes, Natalia.”

“I love you, Mateo.”

“I know. I love you, too, Natalia.”

They kissed over the phone and hung up.

Natalia dropped the phone by her side. Her
knuckles were white from gripping it so hard before. She removed
the vibrator, which was dripping wet, wiped herself with her thong
and wrapped her thong around the dildo to set it aside. Draping the
comforter over herself, she curled up and collapsed into a deep
contented sleep from pure exhaustion. She could clean up later when
she had the energy.

###

Jade Onyx writes about HER ~ Healing Erotic
Romance. In addition to writing, Jade is a certified practitioner
in the healing arts, a housewife and a stay-at-home mother who is
pregnant with her third child.

You can expect her to go through bouts of
pregnancy brain and nursing mind in the forthcoming year. Oh, but
the characters won't let her forget them. So you can rest assured
that she will be writing more books.

If you enjoyed this book, it would mean a lot
to the author if you helped others find it too. Please consider
recommending this book to friends or family or
posting a review on the site from which you purchased
it.

Jade welcomes emails from readers, writers,
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Eat Mì (Eat Me)

A Novella

Get your sexy back.

Jeremy Wyatt's voice echoed in her head. Her
brother was right. She needed this night all to herself.

Promise me...
His raspy voice
continued the playback.

Jessica Wyatt smoothed out her black halter
top, ruched center party dress and checked the mirror again. The
snug fit highlighted her voluptuous hips. The sweetheart neckline
showed off her girls. She turned around for the back view. Her long
black hair cascaded down to the top of her dress. Brushing her hair
aside, she admired her back side. Wow, the dress even brought out
her toned arms and shoulder blades, accentuated by her regular
visits to the gym.

...you'll dress up real nice with the
girls...

This dress was nice, alright. She just needed
to add a little something so that her neck did not look so
naked.

Jessica fumbled through her jewelry armoire.
She snatched the silver pyramid necklace and laced it around her
neck. From a distance, the chain looked like a link of squares.
However, when light bounced off of each flattened pyramid,
different triangles reflected the light source and gave the
necklace dimension. Perfect.

…
dance your sweet ass off...

She was going to dance for sure—all night,
until the doors close. She checked her armoire again for matching
earrings and put them on. The silver earrings shimmered amidst her
black hair and complemented the sparkle in her eyes.

...and get your sexy back.

Her whole body tingled with excitement. She
was so ready to go clubbing tonight.

She glanced at her face one more time. The
eyeshadow brought out the green in her eyes. Her creamy cheeks
already had a light coat of rouge. She applied the siren red
lipstick to her mouth, the last of her makeup, before her cell
phone rang.

“Jessica Wyatt.”

“Stop sounding like an office machine!”
Geneva Dubois's screech interrupted Jessica's reverie.

“Sorry, Jen, that was automatic.” Still,
Jessica could not help but smile at her friend's scolding. She
started to clean up her makeup counter.

“You can't be on auto-pilot tonight!” Jen
continued. “If you do, you won't get laid.”

A squeaky, stainless steel, angular robot
getting laid entered her mind's eye. Jessica giggled. “I'm not
trying to get laid tonight.”

“This ain't funny, missy. Nobody's gonna be
interested enough to follow up if you don't screw your siren head
on.”

Funny. Jessica was thinking her lips were
already painted siren. She appreciated Jen because in so many ways
the two of them often vibed on the same wavelength.

“Speaking of head,” Jen muttered, “what about
your hair?”

“What about it?” Jessica looked into the
full-length mirror. Nothing wrong with her hair, as far as she
could tell.

Jen cussed. “I bet you haven't done anything
with it. You really want to date nasty next morning club hair for
breakfast?”

Jessica sighed. “What do you suggest, Oh
Mighty Queen of Club Hair?”

“What are you wearing?”

“A halter top dress.”

“Braid it.”

“And look like a pixie?” Jessica arched an
eyebrow.

“Low. Start low and loose just below your
ears and tie it at the shoulders. The rest of your braid will
straggle quite nicely beyond that tie down to your dress and scream
SEXY with a capital S, especially with those killer shoulders of
yours.”

Hmm, Jen had a point. Jessica started
braiding her hair.

“I'm five minutes away now. Be down there in
your struts by the time I get there.”

Tying her hair with a slim black hair tie,
Jessica knew what Jen meant by struts.

“Aye, Captain. See you in five.” She hung up
and hurried over to her shoe organizer to slip into a pair of black
lace, pointy toe, mid-high pumps. The pumps were high enough to be
sexy but low enough for her to dance for a good few hours straight
without screaming for a foot op.

She slipped into a black faux leather cropped
zip front jacket and shoved her keys and phone into a champagne
glitter wristlet pouch. She liked this clutch because of the added
security of the wristlet. Plus, the metallic glitter fabric
underscored her necklace and earrings.

Taking one last look at the mirror, Jessica
bounded out to meet Jen.

***

An Tang set the barbell back in its cradle
and sat up on the bench. He wiped the sweat off, stripped and took
a quick shower. This Sunday evening routine at his pad was getting
boring, yet much more bearable than the weekly phone calls from
Má
.

As if on cue, his cell rang. He settled down
on the couch and took the call. “Má.”

“Is that any way to greet your mother?” she
scolded.

He tried to sound cheerful before but the
greeting had come out strangled and clipped. He stared at the plush
carpet near his feet.

“No, Má. I've had a rough week at work. Thank
you for calling.” He held his breath, anticipating Má's next
words.

“I found someone you might be interested in.
Courteous, traditional, and from a good family.”

And probably not my type at all.

He took a deep breath, willing air into his
constricted chest. Má was matchmaking again, probably tired of his
sorry excuses for the past year. How blunt. How could he refuse
without being disrespectful?

“
Thank you, Má, for going
through the trouble. I'm quite busy for the next few
weeks.”

“
You're thirty.”

And you want grandkids...
His eyes squeezed shut for a moment.

“
You aren't getting
younger.”

Bro, I wish you were here.
That way, at least An would not shoulder the
pressure as the sole heir to continue the line of Tangs... He let
out a slow breath.

“
You ought to meet her
anyway sometime.”

Here goes...

“
Thanks, but I met
someone.” A complete lie. White, but still a lie. He pressed his
lips into a thin line.

“
What? That's big news. Why
did you not bring it up before?”

“
I want to be sure before I
introduce her to you and Ba.” He gulped. This was getting deeper.
He hated lying, but that seemed to be the only way Má would back
off at this point.

“
Perfect. How about we come
visit you next weekend to meet her?”

Fuck.
You wanted deeper, man? You
got it.

“
It's too soon, Má.”
Agitated, he brushed his hair back. “You might scare her
off.”

“
Nonsense. We'll just be in
the area and meet you for lunch or something.”

By the time they got off the phone, An knew
that Má was going to get her way. How long could he keep his
dutiful son facade?

What a clusterfuck. He was screwed. Damn, he
needed to clean up his language, too. Being around ex-military was
rubbing off on him. Slumping over on the couch, he buried his head
in both hands.

His cell rang again. He stood up to take the
call. “Frank, what is it?”

“
An, do me a favor.” If he
was not Frank, An would have put the man in his place. However,
this was Frank, grad school buddy and entrepreneur extraordinaire.
He could talk to An this way.

An arched an eyebrow. “You're not the kind
to seek any from me.”

“
Ah, hell. Geneva promised
me she'd give me her whole weekend next week if I could do just
this one favor for her.”

“
Gotta be huge, if she
promised you a full weekend.” He half-grinned.

“
Yeah, well, she's going
clubbing tonight with a couple friends, one of whom she'd like you
to meet.”

“
Great. That narrows it
down. I haven't even met your girl and she wants favors?” An walked
to the patio door and peeked through the blinds. Night had set
in.

Frank laughed. “I've been keeping her to
myself, and this is one of her best buds she wants you to
meet.”

Another matchmaker.
What was it about Sunday evenings?

“
More like she's been
keeping you busy from your own buddies,” An grumbled, stepping away
from the patio door.

“
I'll send you a
photo.”

“
You got one of the girl?”
Going out after a shower wouldn't seem so bad if the girl was
attractive.

“
No, but she's the one with
the darkest hair.”

“
What's in it for me?” An
asked, crossing one arm over his chest.

“
Besides the fact you've
had quite a drought for awhile and this just might be the way to
wet up some?” Frank chuckled.

An humphed.

“
How about I relieve you of
your duties this week at the club?” Frank offered.

Couldn't say An wouldn't jump on the
opportunity. Everything felt routine. Empty. Obligatory. “The whole
week?” he asked.

“
Yes.”

“
Game on.”

“
Right on then. I'll text
you the club info after I send you Geneva's pic.”

The evening just got interesting. Maybe he
would actually have someone to show off to his parents this coming
weekend, at least for the weekend . . .

***

Hot, heavy dance music pulsed through
Jessica's veins. The strands of hair near her cheeks stuck to her
face. In a groove well into the night, the party was just getting
started for a Sunday night-Monday morning.

Dancing in a circle facing each other,
Jessica smiled widely at her good friend Jen and their mutual
friend Mariah Olsen. Jen and Jessica had gone through college and
their MBA program together. They were tight. Meeting Mariah at the
Chamber of Commerce about a year ago was icing on top. Together,
the three of them hit it off as the few unpretentious female
executives in the Seattle area. Now, the trio often got together to
let off steam. Clubbing was just one way. Spa day was another. They
hit the gym, too, once in awhile.

Jessica admired Jen's blond side braid, which
perfectly displayed a pair of monarch butterflies tattooed near her
other collarbone. The courting butterflies perched on a green ivy
vine that wrapped artfully around her slender shoulder.

Ethan.

Her heart ached and her legs felt weak all
over again. Seeing the two butterflies made her feel the absence of
a mate. Once again, an ex had dumped her—just a couple days ago,
officially. She had already felt they were growing apart a few
weeks before the call, but she never expected him to be so
spineless to just call and dump her over the phone. She couldn't
blame him, though. Here she was, richer and smarter than most men
she had dated. Ethan was just another statistic.