With My Breath (Lose My Breath #1)

CHAPTER SEVEN

“Tianna Ricci,”

I scoff as I drown in her magnificent glow.

Tianna’s tawny skin is draped in white, and the diamonds in her ears glisten from size and clarity. Her neck is draped in the same bluish diamond glow as a snow color shawl wraps her shoulders, and she looks impeccable.

I suck in a deep breath while forcing my eyes not to look away. “Having people meet you under false pretenses seems to be your thing,”

I mumble as she sparkles at me.

“Please, Jasmine, have a seat.”

Her rich Italian accent adds to my already present insecurity. Tianna’s eyes leave mine, and for a moment, I’m disappointed that I’m no longer the center of her attention.

“I’ll have a mezcal, and for my friend,”

she pauses and looks at me, her eyes peeling deep into me as I adjust on the bar stool. “She’ll have the same.”

The heiress waves the bartender to work, and the diamond on her wrist blinds me as she turns in her seat.

Our eyes meet, and I’m mesmerized by the beauty of her green irises. Her thin eyebrows accent her perfectly shaped face, and her pink lip’s part to speak., “I don’t believe we have officially met.”

Tianna extends her hand, and confusion rides my face as I extend mine. “I’m Tianna Ricci, heiress and supermodel originally from Italy.”

Her accent is astounding, and I find myself at a loss for words when I try to introduce myself. Tianna takes my hand and lifts it to her red-painted mouth, and her lips rub softly against my knuckles before she releases it.

“No need to introduce yourself. I know who you are.”

I shiver at the intimate kiss and reprimand myself for getting turned on. The bartender serves us our drinks, and I stare at the spirit, trying to ascertain how it tastes.

I shift my gaze to Tianna, who is taking sips of her drink, her eyes glued to me as interest flows from within them.

“Tianna, why did you have Ayanna lure me here,”

I muster as I turn in my seat. I cross my legs and draw up as much confidence as I can find. I’m just as pretty as her, so there is no need to feel intimidated, but shit I do. Either way, she can’t know that.

“Isn’t it obvious,”

Tianna queries, laughing at a sip of mezcal.

My gaze squints.

“The entire hospital sitch- My fiancé coming to see me.”

“Ex-Fiancé,”

I correct.

“Semantics, Jasmine.You weren’t supposed to be there. In fact, you’re not supposed to be here at all.”

A knot forms in my throat, but my tonsils work against it, pushing it further down. “By not supposed to be here, I assume you mean a part of Casimir’s life?”

“Oh, you guys are on first-name bases.”

Tianna picks up her glass and swallows the rest of her drink. She then snaps her fingers and requests the bartender pour her more. “Are you going to drink that,”

she asks, throwing her gaze down at my drink.

“No, you take it.”

I slide my glass over to her, waiting for her to tromp it before speaking. “Tianna, I have things to do. So, whatever it is, you need to say, spit it out,”

I demand as my cheeks heat up.

“You mean like your two children and husband?”

I rise from my seat as my hand forms a fist.

Unfazed by my apparent irritation, Tianna continues, “Oh, your husband, is extremely handsome. I’ve never had a Mexican before. Tell me, Jasmine, are they spicy in bed?”

I open my mouth to speak but am forced silent by her following words.

“Or are you too busy riding my fiancé to remember what you have at home?”

The words slice through me, but I refuse to give Tianna the power to anger me.

Tianna’s eyes grow dark, and I’m not referring to shade. I mean the kind of darkness that kidnaps your soul right before you plummet into hell.

“Come on Jas, I’m not na?ve. You are obviously beautiful. You’ve obtained the attention of numerous men in this bar alone. They’re just too afraid to approach you.”

I shift my eyes across the bar, the jazz music faint against my eardrums as several gazes land on me.

“Do you want to know why neither of them have approached you or me,”

Tianna asks, stringing my eyes back to her. “Because women like us instill fear in men everywhere. We have a certain power that only a few women harbor. The kind of power that makes the world’s most powerful men kneel at our feet.”

Tianna’s voice is sharp and poignant, and I draw back a shake as I look at her.

“And I respect you for that. I respect all the women that are like us. Do you want to know what I don’t respect?”

I open my mouth but pause as I reconsider my response. Here in front of me sits Tianna Ricci. She holds the power of several kingdoms, and she could very well destroy me.

“I don’t respect a woman who doesn’t know how to stay away from something that does not belong to her.”

Technically, Casimir Slate doesn’t belong to you either. I want to say, but I don’t.

Tianna stands, and I stand as well. Desperate to keep us on common ground. She moves closer to me, and a whiff of Louis Vuitton perfume slides into my nostrils, her tan, plump breasts peeping from between the white velvet top she is wearing.

Tianna glares at me, her eyes carrying across my frame as if she is inspecting me. I want to speak, to say anything, but my mouth is dry, and as I search for even the tiniest bit of saliva, Tianna reaches her little hand out to me and slides her manicured fingers across my face.

A slight tremble feathers down my abdomen as she leans in, and I swear the first kiss is the most delicate touch my lips have ever felt. But the one that follows the next kiss is a kiss of need, the need to know what it is I give Casimir. What is it he sees in me? Tianna wants to know, and her tongue searches for it, coating my mouth with her saliva as she slides it deeper and deeper.

I can feel eyeballs bleeding into us as I unexpectedly kiss her back, my pussy reeling with desire. She moves closer. I move closer, and we are enduring a passionate kiss. one I can’t comprehend but enjoy all the same.

Tianna withdraws, her lips glistening with my liquid, and I’m shocked at what just occurred. “Well, I know what it is he sees in you.”

She purrs while running her tongue across her top lip.

I suck in my lips, stunned by what just occurred.

Tianna looks at me, her body stiff as she speaks, “Stay away from Casimir Slate, or I will destroy you.”

The heiress snatches one last look at me, straightens her outfit, and leaves me standing at the bar looking like a fool.

I fish my phone out of my purse, anger boiling inside of me as I begin dialing Casimir’s number.

“Where is she?”

The demanding voice stirs up all kinds of emotions deep inside me, causing me to look up. As my head lifts, Casimir’s silhouette greets me, and tears drop from my eyes. I have never been more grateful to see someone in my life.

Casimir wraps his arms around me and escorts me outside to the Bentley. Don holds the door open as we plod inside.

“How did you know I was here,”

I ask as Don closes the door.

Casimir tilts towards me, dragging my seatbelt across my chest and buckling me up. His sapphire eyes boil into mine, making me realize how badly I missed the look of desire in his gaze.

“Ayanna called. She was frantic when she told me that Tianna forced her to draw you out. This is my fault. I should have protected you more. I know how ruthless Tianna can be,”

Casimir says as his eyes transfer out the car window.

“Is that why you have been avoiding me?”

Casimir turns, and his desire for me is more present than ever in his eyes.

“You won’t look at me; you barely speak to me.”

I want to say more, but at the risk of appearing desperate, I stop myself, my lip quivering with need as I study him.

“I didn’t want to risk you getting hurt, Jasmine.”

I bite back a yell as I stare into those sapphire eyes, my body trembling at the thought of his touch.

“You have no idea how hard it was for me. I wanted you every second of the day, but I fought against my urges. But none of that matters because she still made you a target on her hit list, and now, I must protect you.”

I gulp, and my body shifts as he brings me closer to him. I breathe in Casimir’s natural cedar scent as his hand trails the side of my face, my head resting atop his knuckles while I close my eyes.

Firm lips press against mine, and I part my mouth, allowing Casimir access. His tongue slides easily inside, and he swallows my moans while ravishing my mouth with his kiss, sucking and kissing my lips as if they are his last meal. His free hand drags me closer, and I’m grasping for air as the kiss becomes more intense, my nipples hardening and pussy watering as I let out raspy moans.

I open my eyes to catch Don watching us in the rearview mirror, and embarrassment flourishes in my belly. I force my mouth to depart from Casimir’s, swinging my gaze out the car window as it winds down the street.

“Where are you taking me,”

I ask as my eyes run across the dim streetlights.

The clouds block the moon, and I sigh at the thought of going home. I’ve been away from my kids for a week, and I know I should go home. But I want to be with Casimir. I want him to hold me until the sun comes up. I want to give my body to him in ways I never knew was possible.

“I’m taking you home to your family.”

Casimir’s response comes off as cold, but I can tell it pains him to know that I go home to another man each night.

I look over at Casimir as he rests a strong hand underneath his chin, his eyes locked straight ahead as if he is forcing himself not to look at me.

I reach my hand to his leg, and he gasps as I rub it further up, gripping his already hard member through his slacks. I slide my hand up and down the large dick, no longer caring who is watching as Casimir tilts his head back onto the seat.

I undo my seat belt and sidle to my knees. The Bentley is vast, so I have ample space to move. I make my way in front of Casimir as my fingers unzip his pants, freeing the hard member from the restraint. A moan slips from me at the sight of his beautiful dick and I immediately drag the tip in my mouth, flicking the bulb with my tongue while massaging his balls.

Another gasp pulls from Casimir’s chest as I stuff him inside my mouth as far as possible. My head bobbing and weaving while I massage his balls, stroking my tongue along the thick shaft of his dick as I suck in the tip. I suction his dick in and out of my mouth, compelling the tip of his dick to massage the back of my throat. I work my hand from his balls to his penis while stroking and sucking, licking, and tasting him.

Casimir moans. God, he moans so sexily, and I use my free hand to play with my clit, working myself up to his pleasure and allowing myself to cum to the power I hold over him at this moment. His balls contract as his dick jumps in my mouth, and I bob even harder until I’m forcing his cum out of the slit of his dick with a vicious suck. The taste of thick creamy bliss glides down my throat as Casimir releases in my mouth. Sporadic moans vibrate his chest, low but still audible, and I shiver as my own orgasm rockets to the surface.

“Fuck, Jasmine, you’re such a naughty girl. How do you do that better than any woman I know,”

Casimir praises while stuffing his rock-hard dick back in his pants.

My tongue swipes lasciviously across the bottom of my lip as I slurp up the last drop of his cum before raising and tumbling back into my seat.

Casimir watches me through admiring blue eyes, his fingers dancing up the soft skin of my thigh. “You have no idea what you do to me. The way you aren’t afraid to take charge and state your needs, how you adhere to my every command without an argument. A woman like you is so hard to find.”

Casimir grips my thigh, and I drown in the compliments as they come.

“You’re so beautiful, loving, and kind. I won’t let anything happen to you, Jasmine.”

We arrive outside my house, and I display no shame as Don opens the car door and waits for me to step out.

Casimir grips my wrist, roping my eyes to his. “You drive me insane,”

He murmurs as his hand shifts a strand of my hair behind my ear.

The billionaire looks at me, but this look is different than any other look he has ever given me. There is a specific gravity in his eyes, and I quake at his intensive gaze.

“I think I’m falling in love with you, Jasmine.”

The revelation shoots shock waves through my chest as he frees it. I trudge through the rampant thudding of my heart as the unexpected sentiment settles deep inside of me.

Casimir lets go of my wrist with his gaze still locked on me. “There will be two security cars parked outside your home tonight. Call me if you need anything, and I will be here.”

I step out of the car and advance Don, who has a stoic look on his face.

“Good night, Jasmine,”

Casimir says.

I don’t turn around. I don’t even say good night back. I just maunder to my house as my heart drowns in guilt.

I open the front door and make my way up the stairs, my legs leading me to the kids’ room, where I find Layla crawling on the floor while Kaiden watches cartoons.

“Mommy, mommy,”

Layla sings as she walks to me.

“Hey, Layla, baby. Ready for a bedtime story.”

“Yay, a bedtime story,”

Kaiden cheers.”

I kick off my heels and plump into Kaiden’s bed with Layla in my arms. Kaiden hops onto the bed next to me, his head leaning against my chest as I open one of their story time books and read it.

A half-hour later, the kids are out, and Alex stands in the doorway while I tuck them into bed.

“They really miss you,”

My husband says while crossing his arms atop his chest.

I walk out of the kid’s bedroom and rear towards my bedroom with Alex close behind.

“I saw the fancy car that dropped you off tonight,”

Alex begins as he sits down on the bed, his brown eyes narrowing at me. “You have a driver and everything. You’re taking trips across the country and receiving amazing pay. You’re not working for the mafia, are you?”

I catch my husband with a wtf gaze as I remove my clothes, the amber light from the ceiling fan shadowing him as he glares at me.

“I’m just an assistant for a business mogul. No one important,”

I breathe out.

“Should I be worried?”

I pause and contemplate Alex’s question. Tianna threatened to ruin me if I didn’t stay away from Casimir Slate, and I just sucked his dick in the Bentley. I know I should tell Alex I work for Casimir Slate, but doing so would be an omission of guilt, so I say nothing.

“No, Alex. Be grateful that you and I now have jobs that will save our house and pay our bills. I’m going to grab a shower.”

“Can I join you?”

I turn to the bathroom, refusing to let Alex see my lack of want as I walk towards it. “Not tonight, Alex. I’ve had a long day.”

My husband inhales my reply, and I shut the door before he has a chance to say anything else.

Beads of water splatter onto my head and down my back, and all I can think about is how I can’t trust anyone. Tianna Ricci has lured both Casimir and me to her under false pretenses, and I wonder what else she will be willing to do to obtain attention.

I run my hands through my hair as the shampoo washes away the dirt. I know I should heed Tianna’s warning, but I don’t. Casimir’s dick inside my mouth feels right. What he and I have is real, and as the words I think I’m falling in love with you r esound in my mind, I question just how deep our connection is.

I know I should’ve said something back, but I didn’t. I couldn’t bring myself to say the words I’m not even sure I feel. The words I’m not even sure I want to feel. Love has always eluded me. There is absolutely no way I can fall into its poisonous trap again.

I turn the water off and step out of the shower, my hands gripping the white cotton towel as I wrap it around me. The bathroom door bursts open, and Alex barges in, red shading his face as he holds the phone out in front of me.

“Do you want to tell me who the hell this is?”

I squint my eyes at the tiny words displayed across the screen.

: When I said I think I’m falling in love with you, I really meant it.:

I take an unnoticeable swallow while mummifying my body with the towel and casually pass Alex, heading into the bedroom; my heart rumbles uncontrollably as I pull a nightgown from the dresser.

Alex stomps into the room and throws my phone onto the bed, his hands parked on his hips while he waits for my reply.

“Did you call the number to see who it was, Alex?”

I rear around slowly.

“No.”

I drop the towel, bring the nightgown across my head, and jiggle it onto my body. My hands swipe the phone from the bed as I examine the text again.

“I think this is Tess’s new number. She needed advice on a new guy she was seeing, and I gave her good advice. You know how Tess gets when she’s feeling herself.”

I swallow, hoping Alex buys the lie.

The frown slowly disperses from his face. “You’re going to need to save that number then. I’m sleeping downstairs. Good night.”

“Good night, Alex,”

I say as he departs.

I roll onto my bed, bringing the velour blanket over me, and stare at the words on the phone. What is Casimir thinking texting me? He knows I’m married. He’s doing this on purpose. My fingers pound against the phone screen, and I send a text before determining if it’s the right thing to do.

Did you have anything to do with Alex obtaining a job at Slate Enterprises?

A bubble forms on the screen, its size increasing and then disappearing. Casimir is choosing to ignore me just as I ignored him after he admitted he was falling in love with me.

I turn the bedroom lamp off and roll over in bed, determined to figure out whatever this is first thing tomorrow when I get to work.