“Goodbye, Lexi, for good. I hope you enjoy your newfound
riches.”
“No. No, I
swear
I—”
It killed her to turn, to walk out that door and pull it
shut behind her, but she did what she had to do. She closed a chapter of her
life and knew the pain of death, of saying farewell to a sister now dead to
her.
The howling cry on the other side of the door faded as Britt
stormed out of the house.
“Damn it, I’m coming,” Diego called out. Some impatient
lunatic banged on his door. Twirling around in his office chair, he tore
himself away from the shop books he’d been balancing. He got to his feet, moved
through the living room and glanced at the digital clock on the stereo as he
passed. Almost midnight. At this hour, it could only be one person making such
a racket. Carolyn.
Edgy now, he tried to imagine what insults and demands she’d
hurl this time around, but he forced away those gloomy thoughts as soon as they
surfaced. No, the last thing he wanted on a weeknight at midnight was to try to
imagine what grief Carolyn would be bringing next. Certain he was doomed
anyway, he savored his last few moments of peace and braced himself for the
insults and drama.
He unlatched the door, sighed and drew it open. His heart
stopped. “Britt?”
She stood on his front porch hugging herself and shivering,
though the warm air didn’t hold even a hint of a cool breeze. The light from
inside the house spilled across her gorgeous face marred by red-rimmed, puffy
eyes. Her cheeks were sun-tinged, her hair hanging loose down her back with
tendrils framing her face.
Diego’s pulse picked up speed, shooting into a gallop. His
gaze scanned her from head to shoes, and he thought he’d never seen a sexier
woman in all his life. She wore a tight little logo t-shirt that accentuated
her breasts and tiny denim shorts that were so snug, he marveled at how she’d
poured herself into them. She’d gotten some sun, and her long legs flowed tan
and lean before tapering into socks and Nike sneakers. His heart did a trip and
stutter at the pleasant surprise of seeing her, but he caught a look of
devastation in her eyes that alarmed him.
“Babe, what’s wrong?”
“C-can I come in?”
He blinked, realizing he’d been so stunned at her presence
that he hadn’t thought to invite her in. “You kidding? Of course you can come
in.”
He delighted in the shock that flashed in her eyes when he
leaned out, snatched her hand and yanked her into his arms.
“Diego…” She snuggled against him on a moan. Her warm,
pliant flesh melted into his body. “Oh, Diego.”
Britt’s inherent scent filled his nostrils. He groaned and
clutched her tight until her toes came off the threshold. “Don’t you ever do
that again.”
“Do what?” Her voice sounded muffled and husky against his
chest, almost sad.
“Leave town for three days without answering your damn
phone. Jesus Christ, that made me crazy.” He nuzzled her warm neck, nibbled on
her sweet ear, delighted when she shivered. He buried his nose in her thick
hair, sifted his fingers through it, inhaled its clean fragrance.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, her arms sliding up to wrap
around his neck. “Things were kind of weird between us a few nights ago. I
needed time to think. I needed some space is all.”
“It’s okay, I understand.” He molded her body to his and
dragged his lips back and forth over hers, devouring her sweet flavor. “But I
missed you so damn much.”
She closed her mouth over his, grinding her pussy against
his cock. The emboldened move staggered him. His loins responded in a snap, the
blood rushing in, making him ache to fill her. He thought he’d never gotten so
hard so fast before now.
“Mm, I missed you too,” she said before darting her tongue
into his mouth. He tasted the remnants of wine. It made him stiffen as if cold
water had been doused on his libido. His heart slammed against his breastbone,
not with passion but with sudden disquiet.
He drew back, holding her away from him. “How did you get
here?”
Her eyes fluttered open, and if it weren’t for the immediate
concern he held, he’d have been driven to his knees by the emerald pools.
“What?”
“I said, how did you get here? Did you drive?”
“Uh, no. I hailed a cab at the airport, stopped off at my
condo to leave my bags, then had him drop me off here. Why?”
Get a hold of yourself, Diego.
“Nothing. Nothing.” He
blew out a breath. “Sorry, just curious. But you’re staying the night here
whether you like it or not, you know. I’ll take you home later…in the morning.”
She grinned, and the way it lit up her face and chased away
the sadness made his insides melt. “Um, we’ll see about that.”
“We’ll see all right.” He pulled her back into his arms and
stroked her spine. “Do you know how much I worried, how nuts you made me by
leaving me no way to contact you?”
“Aw, poor baby.” She peered up at him and stuck out her
bottom lip. “Sorry about that.”
“And damn that Lexi. She wouldn’t—”
Britt’s body tensed. “I don’t want to discuss Lexi.”
He drew her back and cupped her jaw in his hands. The change
had been instantaneous. Her eyes had gone from twinkling gems to dull pain.
Ever since he’d opened the door, her eyes had been like two chameleons changing
from moment to moment with her strange mood. Something had happened in her
absence, and he had a hunch he knew what it might be.
His stomach clenched. “Why not?”
One lone tear beaded in her lashes. It tore his heart into
pieces.
She sniffled. “Because she… Oh, never mind.” Britt shoved
away from him and crossed to the kitchen. “I need a drink, a glass of wine or
something.” She pulled open the refrigerator and peered in. He loved watching
her help herself to his space, seeing her move around in his home.
“Hold on.” Diego shut and locked the door, then strolled to
the dining room. “I keep it in here.” He pulled out two long-stemmed glasses
and a bottle of Merlot from a side cabinet.
“I…okay, thanks.” She pushed the door shut and turned to
lean against the refrigerator, her gaze fixed on the window above the sink.
He poured wine, watching her perfect profile flicker with
emotions, recalling how he’d taken her with brutal force against that very
appliance. Despite all the self-disgust that had burned his conscience over the
last few days, his cock tingled. Damn, but he’d do it again in a second if she
gave any indication of wanting it that way.
“Here.” He came into the kitchen and pressed the glass in
her hand. “Drink this, and then you’re going to relax and tell me what’s got
that pretty little forehead of yours wrinkling.”
She sipped, eyeing him over the rim. “Relax? Well in that
case, I’ll need the whole bottle. And the bedroom.” Raising her chin as if
daring him to defy her, she murmured, “I want to make love in that big
four-poster bed of yours.”
He choked on his wine. Something had happened, something
that had jarred her inhibitions even looser than at the rally, or since then.
“I uh… You’re not getting any arguments from me.”
“I need you, Diego.” She set the glass on the island without
taking her eyes from his. Her warm, honeyed voice teased his cock. “I need you
to do that again.”
“To do…to do what?”
“Ravish me. Take control.” Contrary to her request, she
pulled his glass from his hands and set the drink aside. Backing him into the
island, her hands branding his chest through his t-shirt, she purred, “I want
you to tie me up. I need to feel the control of it, of turning you into that
animal again. And the abandonment of you fucking me, forcing me to submit to
your magic—oh god, there’s nothing more addictive than your magic.”
He gulped. “I’ll be needing just a minute to clear the shock
from my brain.”
She drew her shirt over her head, popped off her bra.
Relieved from their restraints, her breasts bounced, settling like two luscious
half-melons on her chest. His mouth watered, his palms itched to touch.
“That had to be the fastest damn minute of my life.” Diego
scooped her up and buried his face between her breasts.
Britt arced her head back and hissed, her arms wrapping
around his head. “Mmm, yes.”
“Shit, I missed you.” He lapped over a hardened nipple,
eliciting a gasp from her. She tasted of salt and sweetness. Even as he
suckled, his eyes searched for some place to perch her so he could do just as
she asked.
Ravish.
I want you to tie me up. I want to make love in that big
four-poster bed of yours.
Her words moved through his thoughts in a sexy serenade, so
enticing. She asked to be brought to life, like in one of the exact photo
poses. To have her offer herself to him in that way, to have reality mirror
that still snapshot, it had to be more temptation than he could bear. He’d
promised himself he wouldn’t reenact them anymore, but it wasn’t as if he’d
suggested it. She asked for it that way—begged for it. What could it hurt to
give her what she desired?
He wanted her this second. He sized up the island and the
countertop between the sink and stovetop while the blood pounded in his loins.
There was always the wood floor. It wouldn’t take either of them long to come,
the same as when he’d taken her against the fridge.
No, asshole, control that impatience and take her to your
bed just as she requested. Just like she deserves.
Marveling at his own discipline, he hitched her up and
stumbled through the living room, down the hall and into his bedroom. He
lowered her to the comforter, the muted light filtering down the hall to spill over
her.
“Take off all your clothes,” he ordered, fumbling in the
nightstand drawer. He drew out two candles and some matches. His hand shook as
he lit first one candle, then the next. Struggling to stifle the urge to rush,
he longed to draw it out at the same time, almost as if to torture himself.
His gaze did a slow scan of the room for something to use to
secure her to the bed. He stalked to the walk-in closet, flipped on the light,
rummaged through some shelves. Suppressing a sigh of relief, he found two
neckties he’d purchased for various friends’ weddings, the belt to his robe he
never wore and several handkerchiefs he’d used as do-rags or headbands. He
knotted the ends together to give it enough length to reach her wrist or ankle
from the bedpost.
Damn, his full erection oozed with pre-cum inside his jeans.
It ached like hell.
When he emerged from the closet, he stopped in his tracks,
his eyes devouring her slim body. She lounged nude on her side atop his rumpled
bed, golden candlelight alternating shadows and flickers of yellow over her
flawless skin. Her eyes radiated her desire, her lips glistening as if she’d
licked them with impatient hunger. Britt propped her head on a fist, her leg
bent to hide her pussy from his view. She rubbed her fingers, slow and
alluring, up and down her slit, as if it ached and the move soothed her. The
long locks of her hair fanned out behind her on the pillow, one strand swooping
over her shoulder to conceal a nipple.
Click-click.
In that one snapshot moment, he thought she looked every bit
the seductive siren committed to stealing his heart.
“Son of a bitch.” He eyed the swell of breasts, the pink
peaks, the roundness of the hip and curve of waist. His hands fisted in the
ties, working up the tension to an unbearable plateau.
“Now
you
take off
your
clothes,” she purred,
her eyes raking him.
He tossed the ties in a pile on the bed and disrobed.
“Mmmm.” Her tongue flicked out, swept her upper lip while
the glitter in her eyes zoned in on his cock. He could swear the wetness of it
reached across the space to caress him, and it sent an almost painful tingle
through his penis. “Your cock looks scrumptious enough to eat.”
“Uh-uh. You do that it’ll all be over, I guarantee you. Now
shh or I’ll stuff one of these in your mouth.” He held up a striped necktie
before securing it to one of the headboard posts.
She giggled. “Those ties aren’t yours, are they?”
“Roll over.” He dragged her right arm toward him and flipped
her onto her belly. The move exposed her perfect rump. Diego struggled to keep
his breathing even, to resist the urge to reach out and knead the mounds.
Forcing his mind to focus, he knotted the other end around her wrist, adding,
“And yes, they’re mine. Have a wedding to go to every now and then, or I gotta
fill in at the showroom. Not my favorite thing to do, but it goes with being
the owner.”
“I’d like to see you in a tie someday.”
“Not likely.” He fastened the second tie to the footboard,
then moved around the bed and attached the string of handkerchiefs and the
terrycloth belt to the posts. “Your left arm. Give it to me.”
The blood jackhammered in his veins, its speed increasing
with each limb she offered him. Lust glinted in her eyes, deepening with each
knot he tied. Empowered and pleased at her reaction, he pressed on. By the time
he finished, he had her spread-eagled, facedown.
Just like in the photo.
Guilt slashed at him. He should tell her. Yes. He’d tell her
tonight.
Looking down at her, it didn’t take long for the guilt to
get lost and fade into hunger. He stood at the foot of the bed, and from his
vantage point he could see every moist fold, every tight hole, bathed in
candlelight. The rise of her ass cheeks sloped up then down to blend into a
narrow waist. He spotted the bulge of her breasts where they overflowed just
below her outstretched arms. With her head turned, her hair streamed to one
side across the bed.
“Ah baby…” He swallowed and climbed onto the bed.
She whimpered and squirmed. “Please. I-I’m getting very wet
and horny. I-I want you inside me. Now.”
“Oh you can bet that hot little ass of yours I’ll be getting
inside you.” He crawled on all fours over the top of her, bent, and nipped the
flesh of one shoulder. “You look
so
damn good.”
She gripped the strips and pulled, the muscles in her arms
flexing. Gyrating her hips, she lifted them and her buttocks came into brief
contact with his stiff erection.
He hissed.
She groaned. “Now. Please, just at least touch it to my
cunt.”