Illicit Craving (Bend To My Will #5) Read Free Page B

felt so good now that they’d made up.
    Jacob stood beside her and handed her a glass of wine. Vivienne lifted the crystal to admire the rich red color. “It’s Cabernet,” he said. “It should pair well with the blackened fish.”
    “I’m sure it will.” Vivienne followed him to the other room. She sat beside him on the sofa to relax and enjoy the wine.
    Jacob put his hand on her thigh, a sign of affection. They were okay for the moment. The upset had passed, although the relationship remained volatile. Vivienne knew Jacob was troubled. But he wanted her, and she wanted him, which was what mattered most.
    An unwelcome voice in her head nagged that the entanglement would lead to unhappiness, but Vivienne wasn’t about to pay attention to it. She didn’t care, and was unwilling to embrace any other situation, other than being with Jacob.
    Vivienne refused to consider any other option. Although it was indulgent to continue with Jacob, she had no intention of prohibiting it. Her heart filled with love, yet it wasn’t the right time to tell him. So for now, she would keep that to herself. Although it wouldn’t be easy to do so, as Vivienne considered that love for a man like Jacob would be obvious. All he had to do was look into her eyes. But maybe he wouldn’t notice.
    The depth of emotion pulled her in, and although she wasn’t yet comfortable with it, Vivienne didn’t fight it. She couldn’t. The intensity of the playroom only served to fuel her love, each scene drawing her closer, and the sex play more intimate with every interlude. It would be so much easier if Jacob confessed that he had feelings for her, too.
    Jacob’s possessiveness had to be a sign of what was in his heart. But Vivienne wished he would open up to her and tell her what he felt. In the aftermath of passion, he had wanted to say something but hadn’t. She wondered if it was the sentiment that she wanted so badly to hear.
    Forbidden or not, Vivienne loved him, and she failed to see how something so special could be wrong. She didn’t believe it. Despite Jacob encouraging her to embrace a normal life, she wanted none of it. There was no normal for Vivienne, except being with him. Jacob was the only man for her, and that was her life, indulgent or not.
    “We still have all night…and the morning,” Jacob said, with his empty wine glass resting on his knee.
    Vivienne looked into his sexy blue eyes. “That we do,” she said. “And I cherish every moment we have.” She hoped that statement didn’t make him feel trapped, as she was certain a vow of love would have. But Jacob’s expression was laced with potent desire that matched hers, and Vivienne knew it was going to be okay…for now.
     

 
    Chapter 3
    The next day, when Vivienne’s weekend at the penthouse was over, she returned to her apartment. Since it was a warm day, she went for a walk. Making up with Jacob had been such a relief. Leaving each Sunday afternoon was difficult, but at least they were on good terms.
    Shoppers and tourists flooded the sidewalks, making Vivienne step around them to avoid colliding. Her mind was elsewhere. Because of her feelings, navigating the relationship with Jacob was no easy task. All the ups and downs were magnified, with the playroom episodes at the pinnacle.
    Vivienne was ruined for any other man. Thus Jacob’s mistrust of male competition was unwarranted. Having experienced the titillations of sex play with him, she was hooked. The thrill combined with the edge of pain was a heady elixir.
    More than once, Jacob had admonished her about confusing the erotic thrill with deeper emotions, yet that’s exactly what she was doing. But she had no intention of repressing how she felt. Although she hadn’t confessed the transgression to Jacob, she couldn’t curb it either.
    The more illicit the experience, the more she craved it…and Jacob. Although she didn’t conceive of anything they did together as morally wrong, she did know that it was