Bitter and Sweet

By Nicki Jantzen

~Excerpt~

Someone jarred his back hard enough to send the drink flowing over his fingers where it disappeared into his immaculate white shirt. Josh swung around to face two soft breasts that had been momentarily pressed against him.

They belonged to a woman with an exotic, but softly beautiful face. Her dark brown hair was pulled into a sleek chignon, and her lips were full and moist. She had flawless pale skin. It would feel like velvet, he thought. Coffee-colored eyes sparkled up at him.

He couldn't look away and dismiss her as he'd already dismissed countless come-ons from women since the party started. Totally appealing and somehow familiar, she was delicious.

"You spilled your drink," she said, her voice low and cultured. "I'm so sorry."

Josh nodded.

She made no move to leave. "I'm Claire Gibson." The woman sipped her champagne. She glanced around the room then focused on him. "Are you planning to stay here much longer, Mr. Hunter?"

So, she knows me, he thought. Josh searched his memory for a moment, but couldn't place her. He decided to join in the game. She excited him. With an amused twist of his lips, he said, "Not if I can find something more interesting to do."

A shell-pink tongue darted out and moistened her lips. It wasn't a nervous gesture, but rather a slow, provocative, studied one. She was hot. Extremely hot. Her scent intoxicated. He moved imperceptibly closer.

Her lush figure was voluptuously feminine, not like the tightly coiled, fashionably thin and athletic women he was used to. He was definitely interested.

Josh waited for her to make the next move, and she didn't fail him.

"I know of some much more interesting amusements," she said.

Josh raised an eyebrow.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nicki Jantzen
• Release date: Feb 29, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476053424

Nicki Jantzen

Nicki has loved to write about love since she was a little girl. Nothing thrills her more than the thought of readers reading and enjoying her stories and characters. All her characters are a little slice of her, body, soul, psyche, tears, smiles, and everything.

Book preview

Bitter and Sweet

Nicki Jantzen

Published by Blush Rose Books

http://nickijantzen.com

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2012 Nicki Jantzen

All names, characters, stories, and incidents featured in this novel are imaginary. They are not inspired by any individual person, incidents or events known or unknown to the author. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is coincidental.

If you didn’t buy this e-book legitimately, and you enjoy the story, please consider supporting the author and purchasing her titles from http://nickijantzen.com or any popular online e-book retailer. Thanks!

Chapter One

Claire Gibson smoothed her mother’s damp curls, mustering every ounce of will in her body and soul not to release a sob. She whispered softly, Mom?

Her mother’s eyes opened. Though filmed over with pain, they overflowed with love for Claire.

The hospice nurse returned with pain medicine and injected it into the IV.

Claire’s mother sighed gratefully as the potent painkiller took effect, and she slipped back into sleep.

The pastel colors in the bedroom dimmed to tones of gray as the light faded. A faint sickly antiseptic smell had replaced the familiar warm, floral scent of her mother.

The nurse sat in an easy chair on the other side of the room. Claire was grateful for her presence in the wee morning hours. She’d called the hospice panic-stricken when her mother gasped for air, breathing erratic and weak. Claire had tried to prepare herself for the inevitable, but faced with the reality of her mother’s death, she wasn’t ready. She would never be ready.

It was her mother’s death watch, the last vigil.

Claire’s whole body trembled. How could she bear it? Now, she would be truly alone.

There is something I want you to know, her mother said suddenly in tones stronger than she’d used for weeks.

Startled, Claire flinched.

Her mother’s eyes were lucid and clear.

For a moment, hope coursed through Claire. Would it not be tonight? Immediately, she felt ashamed of her hope. She was selfish, cruel. A few days more in her beloved mother’s presence meant prolonging the pain and suffering that had lasted too long already. Death was the release her mother prayed for daily.

It’s about your father.

Claire’s mind froze.

Her mother had always said he was dead. When Claire was younger, she’d wondered why there were no pictures of him around the house, no mementos, never any reminder or hint that he once shared her mother’s life.

Her mother had become tight-lipped and silent when Claire had asked about him as a child. She stopped asking as she got older.

Whatever her mother’s secrets were, they were in the past and best left alone. Her father was a ghost, buried and long forgotten.

Her mother squeezed Claire’s hand with unexpected strength.

He’s a great man, your father.

Is a great man? Was her mother going to tell her he was alive? Fear curled within Claire, warring with her overwhelming grief.

I want you to know of the blood running through your veins. I want you to know him. Her mother’s eyes took on a strange intensity. Tell her to leave, she whispered, nodding toward the nurse.

Claire glanced at the woman who already stood up to go. When the door shut, her mother relaxed against the pillows and breathed in deep, gasping breaths.

Mom, this is not necessary—

Let me finish, her mother said, cutting Claire off. I loved him more than life itself. I would have died for him. But what he needed me to do was easier than dying, my love…

Claire shook her head in protest, not wanting to hear more.

He was right, her mother continued as though oblivious. I wasn’t good enough. I would have held him back. He had a plan and a mission, and he’s achieved all his dreams. I was uneducated, poor, and pregnant. He never would have achieved his dreams with me. So, I gave him the greatest gift. I gave him what he wanted and needed. We got out of his life.

Her mother paused, her dry, withered fingers picking at the snowy white sheets. Pain filled her eyes, but it wasn’t the familiar physical pain.

Claire choked and gathered her mother’s frail, emaciated body in her arms. You’re good enough for anybody and everybody, Mom. You’ve always been there, and you gave and gave. Even when you had nothing left, you would find the strength to give some more. Whoever this man was, if he wasn’t there for you when you needed him, he wasn’t good enough for you. Claire’s voice was low and fierce. She hated this man—her father.

But, you don’t understand. You are blessed to be related to him. Promise me you’ll at least learn about Wallace Thomas after I’m gone. He’s an important congressman now.

Claire’s blood froze when she heard the name. Then it pumped hot, fast, and furious through her heart. Congressman Thomas, politico fat cat, presently the favorite spokesman for the mega corporations and the extremely wealthy. Some people called him a sellout. Most people called him worse.

This was the man her mother had protected, mourned, and loved all these years?

Claire was incredulous, then a fury greater than she had ever known shook her. She looked at her mother lying back exhausted among the pillows, gasping for breath with the effort it had taken to speak those words to her daughter. Tears ran down her mother’s withered cheeks.

Claire remembered the years of struggle her mother had gone through, alone…always alone. Mom had provided for her daughter even when hurting. She’d wanted to give Claire more though there was never enough. Then, when things had just gotten a little better, her mother had finally gone to the doctor about the pain. It was cancer—and it was too late.

She murmured the words of reassurance and comfort her mother needed to hear, but the man would pay. She vowed it. All the grief and resolve in her heart welled up in a surge of fierce hatred. She would know him all right. And one day, Congressman Wallace Thomas would be sorry—so very sorry.

***

Josh Hunter took a stiff swallow of his drink and surveyed the noisy cocktail party. He hated functions like this.

He was here in a semi-official status as Congressman Thomas’s surrogate. He’d completed his business with one of the congressman’s largest contributors, the one throwing this party, and now waited for an appropriate moment to leave.

Someone jarred his back hard enough to send the drink flowing over his fingers where it disappeared into his immaculate white shirt. Josh swung around to face two soft breasts that had been momentarily pressed against him.

They belonged to a woman with an exotic, but softly beautiful face. Her dark brown hair was pulled into a sleek chignon, and her lips were full and moist. She had flawless pale skin. It would feel like velvet, he thought. Coffee-colored eyes sparkled up at him.

He couldn’t look away and dismiss her as he’d already dismissed countless come-ons from women since the party started. Totally appealing and somehow familiar, she was delicious.

You spilled your drink, she said, her voice low and cultured. I’m so sorry.

Josh nodded.

She made no move to leave. I’m Claire Gibson. The woman sipped her champagne. She glanced around the room then focused on him. Are you planning to stay here much longer, Mr. Hunter?

So, she knows me, he thought. Josh searched his memory for a moment, but couldn’t place her. He decided to join in the game. She excited him. With an amused twist of his lips, he said, Not if I can find something more interesting to do.

A shell-pink tongue darted out and moistened her lips. It wasn’t a nervous gesture, but rather a slow, provocative, studied one. She was hot. Extremely hot. Her scent intoxicated. He moved imperceptibly closer.

Her lush figure was voluptuously feminine, not like the tightly coiled, fashionably thin and athletic women he was used to. He was definitely interested.

Josh waited for her to make the next move, and she didn’t fail him.

I know of some much more interesting amusements, she said.

Josh raised an eyebrow.

Then her fingers brushed her breast, probably by accident and only once, but that was all it took to electrify him.

He inhaled a slow breath. Josh hadn’t reacted this strongly to a woman in years. She rested her hand on his arm. Let’s go.

He raised his eyebrow again at her abrupt invitation. Then he gazed at her body. What the hell, she was worth it.

Josh reached for her the moment the limousine door closed. She curled into his arms like a kitten. He pulled her closer to him.

Her head tipped up to his, her full lips smiling an invitation.

He bent his head and covered her mouth with his own. Sweet and ripe, her lips were surprisingly tender. Drugged, slow kisses deepened into deep, throbbing passion. Their tongues entwined, he heard her give an incoherent moan. Then he trailed kisses down her neck and pulled the deep neckline of her dress down to expose full, perfect mounds topped with large deep rose nipples. Lowering his lips to her breasts, he sent his hand slowly up the silken pantyhose covering her inner thigh.

Her body stiffened.

Josh lifted his head to look questioningly at her.

We’re going a bit fast, don’t you think? Her voice was low and husky. I’ve always enjoyed my treats better when I’ve eaten them slowly…and savored them. She gave his thigh a promising squeeze and withdrew slightly.

Josh nodded in agreement. He drew a deep breath to steady himself. She was right. He needed to slow down. This night promised to be memorable.

A quick call reserved a suite at the Crown Palace, and Josh redirected the limo driver.

The woman hesitated at the suite threshold. Her hands tightened on her purse, and she touched her hair.

Was she nervous? Taken aback, Josh set his briefcase by the elegant phone stand and picked up the phone to press the button for room service.

We’ll have champagne—your best, and fresh strawberries. Are you hungry? he asked the woman who stood in the middle of the room, looking somehow lost.

She shook her head. What was her name anyway, Mary, Blaire? He loosened his tie and ordered a steak. Then he added some giant shrimp in case she changed her mind.

The woman shifted from foot to foot.

The bathroom is that way, I believe.

She gave him a look of relief and scurried off.

Josh dropped to the sofa and pulled off his shoes. He was tired. Casual sex had never been his preference. He wondered what he’d gotten himself into. The woman’s sudden change of attitude made him wary, as delectable as she was. If she decided to leave, that was fine with him.

Hunger rumbled in his belly, and he wished the staff would hurry up with his steak. The overly fancy hors d’oeuvres at the cocktail party hadn’t appealed.

He clicked on the television to a twenty-four hour sports channel and leaned back.

Josh heard bath water run and wished he could remember her name. He thought he’d seen her somewhere. That bothered him.

Shrugged away his uneasiness, Josh figured if she were significant, certainly he would’ve remembered her.

The sports channel soon hypnotized him.

A short while later, as he was savoring the succulent steak, her quiet entrance startled him. He’d momentarily forgotten her presence. Cutting and chewing another bite of steak, Josh watched her pour a glass of champagne to the brim.

She carefully picked up a strawberry and sat on the love seat facing him. The woman sipped her champagne and silently watched him. She occasionally darted nervous glances toward the phone.

He wondered if she wanted to make a call.

At least she could tolerate silence. Josh gratefully speared a leaf of his Caesar salad. He had finished the salad when he looked at her again. His breath caught at the sight of her licking the strawberry.

She gave him a tiny, mischievous grin and her little pink tongue curled around the apex of the strawberry. She teased that strawberry. She nibbled at it with her perfect white teeth. She licked it with passionate hunger. That strawberry begged to be devoured.

Josh’s attention was riveted to her lips, and his passion returned in a rush. When she finally bit into the fruit, he caught his bottom lip between his teeth. He wanted her. He willed himself not to move toward her, and waited. She reminded him of a bird or some other small, shy animal. He didn’t want to scare her off.

Her confident, forward smile returned. She stood, and the white hotel robe fell from her body.

His mouth dried, and everything but the beauty revealed before him was forgotten.

He groaned, his clothes suddenly stifling him. Pulling his shirt out of his slacks, he had an impulse to rip it off and let buttons fly.

He gathered her in his arms and lifted her to the bed. Her velvety skin and soft curves invited him to explore. A clean, soft scent clung to her.

He stroked her, his fingers pressing into her back. He kissed her, hungry and demanding. He felt her shudder beneath him, and their breaths quickened and their passion grew.

Be gentle with me, she whispered in his ear. I’m a virgin.

His bewilderment was reflected in the woman’s eyes.

He didn’t know what to do. Josh snorted, rolled off the bed, and went into the bathroom.

He turned the shower knob to as cold as he could stand it. If she was a virgin, why had she come to this hotel room with him? She knew what would happen. Why him, and why here and now?

Her looks might be deceiving; maybe she was mentally unbalanced. Passion had canceled out his usual cool reason. She wanted something from him other than sex. He saw it in her eyes.

Josh frowned under the cold, stinging water and felt dread instead of the passion she easily ignited within him. He shook off the feeling and stepped out of the shower.

He took his time toweling himself off before he resolutely tied the belt around his hotel robe. Josh really didn’t want to deal with this. He knew in the back of his mind that once he saw her again—despite her virginity, despite his doubts, uneasiness, and usual clear-headed logic—he would still want her. He wanted her now.

When Josh returned to the hotel bedroom, he was relieved to find her gone.

Chapter Two

The room spun as Claire stepped out of her shower, and she leaned against the bathroom door frame, dizzy and dehydrated. The shower had been as hot as she could stand it, but she still didn’t feel clean.

Trudging to the kitchen, droplets of water shedding from her naked skin, she left the kitchen lights off and opened the refrigerator door. The chill, dank air from the refrigerator matched her mood. Goose bumps rose as she lifted a gallon jug of icy spring water and gulped it until she gasped and sputtered.

Starting to put the jug back in the refrigerator, she reconsidered. Carrying it back into her bedroom, she curled up, still wet, between her clean, crisp cotton sheets.

Shame replaced her initial numbness. She couldn’t believe what she had almost done, what she would have if he hadn’t stopped. She’d tossed away her entire upbringing and the beliefs she’d held so dear. She’d thrown herself at Josh Hunter and offered up what she once believed was her most precious possession—her virginity.

It simply hadn’t been necessary to go that far. She would have gotten what she needed, regardless. There was no reason to… Shamed heat and remembered passion burned over her body.

She’d denied her feelings for so long. She’d denied the part of herself that craved, wanted, and needed the touch of a man.

At the cocktail party when she felt his desire, her own need became a roller coaster, sweeping carefully laid plans before its mad run. She couldn’t stop. She was out of control. The golden boy, Josh Hunter, wanted her—boring, unattractive, not-too-bright Claire Gibson. And, dear Lord, how she wanted him. From within her, someone new had emerged, someone brazen, beautiful, and daring.

That person had snatched Josh Hunter up as if she owned him. He’d belonged to that other Claire, if only for a moment, and now it tore this Claire up inside. He would never, ever, be hers again. Soon, he would hate her.

The thought hurt already, but the plan was in motion. She would endure the pain. Enduring pain was something she was getting good at.

Memory carried her back to the evening she’d seen Congressman Wallace Thomas on a popular talk show. She’d watched him closely to see if her reflection was echoed in his blue eyes and his distinguished gray hair. His answers to the moderator’s questions had been glib and uninformative. He’d looked relaxed and confident, tossing off easy one-liners. All the bitterness buried within Claire’s heart had welled up.

When she was going through her mother’s things she’d found a letter from Congressman Thomas. The letter acknowledged her mother’s pregnancy and instructed her to get rid of it or give it up for adoption. The check he’d enclosed was yellow with age. It was for a very substantial amount, but her mother never cashed it. She blessed her mother for never carrying out her father’s instructions.

Instead of having the abortion, her pregnant mother fled Atlanta and went to stay with a distant cousin in the tiny town of Tyrone, Georgia, to have her baby. Apparently, Wallace Thomas had thought the matter was finished, ancient history. His child aborted or given to strangers.

Her doubts and loneliness—even her mother’s death—became all wound up in a maelstrom of bitterness and blame, underlain with a sort of longing. For once, she hadn’t denied her feelings.

A plan had come to her. Get close to the congressman and punish him for what he’d done to her mother, punish him for what he’d done to her. Find out what he needed and wanted. Find out his desires only to refuse them, deny him, and destroy him. Let him discover how it felt to have desire denied. Let him feel what her mother felt. Let him feel the agony Claire felt now.

After her mother had died, she’d collected the substantial insurance benefit and put their house on the market. It sold quickly, and she left Tyrone, and the even smaller religious sect in which she had been raised, for Washington, D.C. where she’d applied for a job in the congressman’s office.

Not for a moment did she ever doubt she’d be hired. The office manager offered a position as a file clerk. She learned her job, did her work, and observed the congressman’s dynamic office. Nobody noticed her, a quiet presence in her customary oversized navy suit with her hair pulled back in a bun. She never saw the congressman.

Josh Hunter was Congressman Thomas’s administrative assistant, the congressman’s right hand, and the head, heart, and soul of the office. She’d watched him with his competent way, his loose, easy stride.

His crooked grin and husky voice had