Spiraling Deception (34 page)

Slowly, I withdrew my hands from his grasp
and by the way his fingers tightened on mine, he was reluctant to
let me go. His gaze turned wary and he frowned at my retreat. I
smiled. A relationship with Roman would always be challenging,
especially with his arrogant temperament, but I planned to keep the
man on his toes.

Shifting up onto my knees, I was careful to
keep my features impassive when I heard him question, “Charlotte?”
Then, in a blink of an eye, I launched myself at him. My arms
curled around his neck and my legs wrapped around his waist as I
rained down a shower of kisses along his temple, his nose, and his
jaw. His answering laughter made my heart soar. His arms closed
tightly around me and I sighed.

Roman kissed the column of my throat with
warm, deliciously wet kisses, tantalizing licks from his tongue,
followed by small little erotic bites that sent an explosion of
tingles down straight to my core. Smoothly, his hand glided under
the t-shirt I wore and up the center of my back, holding me firmly
to his body. His other hand moved to caress one of my breasts; his
fingers dexterously rolled back and forth over my nipple. My moan
of pleasure was immediate and needy. The man knew how to take me
from zero to boiling point in two-point-one seconds. “Roman,” I
breathed as I tugged on his hair. Although his kisses on my neck
felt wonderful, I wanted his mouth, his lips on mine.

“
Princess, I want you to
move in here with me. Tonight.”

My body stiffened and I seriously felt as if
he’d thrown a bucket of iced water over me. I attempted to sit back
in an effort to put some space between our bodies, but Roman’s arms
became like vises and held me to him in an unyielding grip. My gaze
roamed his handsome but annoyingly stoic face. “You want me to move
in with you? Tonight?”

“
Yes,” he answered just as
his damn fingers did a spine-tingling roll over my nipple and his
hand at my back slid down into my underwear to palm my
ass.

“
That’s crazy, Roman! It’s
way too soon.”

“
No, it’s not too soon. I
want you here with me.” His lips closed over the tender flesh of my
earlobe and sucked it into the heat of his mouth while his fingers
teased dangerously close to my entrance.

It took all my self-control not to moan out
with abandon. “This is Paris all over again, Roman. You’re trying
to sexually coerce me into doing something you want.” My words were
accusatory but unfortunately my voice came out too breathless and
ruined my creditability.

“
That’s exactly what I’m
doing, Princess.”

Epilogue

~
Three months later
~

~ Roman ~

The sweet melodic sound of Charlotte’s voice
drifted from our bedroom through to my study, and straight to my
cock, making it almost impossible for me to concentrate on the
email I’d been reading. Just the sound of her voice could get me
harder than a block of cement.

Despite being a Sunday, I was at home
working. I had several reports to analyze and a mountain of emails
that needed my urgent attention. Working most nights and weekends
was standard practice for me—I averaged around ninety hours a week.
And the time I’d invested into Knight Industries over the past
seven years had paid off big time. My company had grown from a
small start-up to a multi-billion dollar conglomerate, so every
fucking sacrifice—both great and small—I’d made over the years had
been worth it. My company had been my life up until Charlotte.
However, since she’d moved in with me, I tried to be home by at
least eight every evening and if I had to work weekends, I did it
from home. Seeing as I was the CEO, it was my company—I could work
any damn place I chose.

Charlotte moved into my penthouse the very
next day after Jonathan’s attack. Every time I thought about
Jonathan Gray—his filthy hands on her, the marks he’d inflicted on
her creamy, porcelain skin—my vision saw red and my blood boiled.
Seth had yet to locate the fucker but it was only a matter of time
and when he did, I’d ruin what was left of his miserable existence.
I’d already succeeded in ruining him financially and it’d be a
pleasure to destroy the rest.

We’d been living together for three months
now and frustratingly, I’d resigned myself to the fact Charlotte
would never be completely subservient in our relationship. And if I
was honest, I didn’t expect her to—although occasionally would be
nice. Those times when she fought me, especially over the things I
either bought her or wanted to buy her drove me literally insane.
Charlotte was irritatingly independent. She frustrated and
exasperated me to no end. In my world, I was used to being
unquestionably obeyed, so when Charlotte challenged me—and she did
it with alarming frequency—I’d often question my sanity.

Relationships required a
significant level of compromise by both parties and I wasn’t a man
who compromised or conceded, period. But,
fuck me
, I loved that woman more
than life itself. Apart from being the most beautiful woman I’d
ever seen, Charlotte was spirited and vibrant, honest and generous.
And I was the antithesis to her inherent kindheartedness. I’d been
accused of being ruthless and cunning, domineering and
controlling—all true, of course; all traits I was supremely proud
of. But when she looked at me as if the happiness of her world was
contingent on my existence, I felt fucking invincible. Charlotte
made me want to be a worthier man, if only for her.

Her playful laughter drew me from my musings
and I scowled at my laptop. Cursing, I forcefully closed the thing
down, stood and stalked to bedroom, adjusting my crotch as I
walked. I had one thing and one thing only on my mind in that
moment: I was going to fuck her beautiful brains out.

As I entered our bedroom, I saw Charlotte in
the middle of our king-size bed, cell phone to her ear, back
propped up against the headboard, legs stretched out and crossed at
the ankles. A small stack of papers she’d been grading earlier
surrounded her gorgeous petite frame.

She looked up and smiled. “Hey,” she
whispered, holding her hand over the cell. “It’s Sam. She’s driving
across the Golden Gate Bridge as we speak. Can you believe it?
That’s so cool.” Her expression was adorably animated, her blue
eyes wide and shining in excitement.

Instead of returning her smile, I frowned or
it could’ve been a scowl—either one; I was irritated. When those
two got on the phone with each other, their conversations could go
for fucking ages. My patience was nonexistent at the best of times,
let alone now when all I could think about was stripping Charlotte
naked and making her writhe incoherently with desire beneath
me.

“
Is everything okay?”
Concern drew her delicate brows together. And just like that, I
felt like a fucking asshole.

Softening my features, I nodded and gave her
a small smile. She patted the mattress to indicate for me to join
her in the bed. Now we were getting somewhere. I gathered the
plethora of colored markers and papers that encircled her and
placed them on the bedside dresser before I slid in beside her. She
threw me an approving grin, and then continued with her phone
conversation.

Absently, I lifted a lock of her golden hair
and played with it while I listened to Charlotte’s melodious voice.
Her obvious affection toward Sam was transparent but from her tone
I could tell she was missing her friend. I almost felt another pang
of guilt. Almost.

Initially, Charlotte was hesitant to move in
with me immediately; she didn’t want to leave Sam, her roommate at
the time, alone and paying the rent by herself. Apparently
Samantha, who had a degree in business administration, moved to New
York a couple of months prior to Charlotte, but found it difficult
obtaining full-time employment and had been working as a barista
part-time. Charlotte insisted on paying her share of their rent
until Sam could find another roommate. I disagreed with Charlotte
paying and insisted on paying myself; we argued—she won, or so she
thought.

Coincidently, around the same time, the
perfect solution presented itself. While on a teleconference
discussing a mutual venture with Alex and two of his executives,
Alex’s CFO complained of having lost his assistant recently and was
having trouble replacing her. Alex’s company was based in San
Francisco. Killing two birds with one stone, I’d persuaded Alex’s
CFO to hire Sam. Subsequently, Samantha would have to move to San
Francisco and Charlotte wouldn’t have to pay rent for an apartment
she wasn’t living in.

“
Sam’s so excited. I’m so
happy for her.”

“
Hmm?” The sight of
Charlotte wearing a tight pair of yoga pants reminded me why I’d
ditched work moments earlier.

“
Hey—eyes up here, buddy.
I was talking about Sam and how thrilled for her I am.”

Reluctantly, I tore my gaze away from
Charlotte’s shapely legs and stared at her. She was looking at me
with wry amusement.

“
That’s good then,” I
finally managed to say but in truth I didn’t fucking care. My
attention was focused on how I was going to make love to her this
first time around. Maybe I’d have her bend over the edge of the bed
so I could watch that fine ass of hers when I sank my cock into
her.

Charlotte’s head tilted to one side, a
gesture she often did when trying to interpret my thoughts. Her
eyes narrowed discerningly. “Yes it is,” she said. “But don’t think
for one moment, Mr. Knight, I’m not fully aware of what you
did.”

That got my attention and my brows rose. “I
don’t believe I’ve done anything…yet.”

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t play innocent
with me. You pulled strings and got Sam a job with Alex’s company.
Then to seal the deal with Sam, you dangled a carrot—a luxury
condo, rent-free—in San Francisco until she established
herself.”

“
And that was a bad
thing?” I deadpanned.

Charlotte chewed on her bottom lip as if she
carefully considered her answer. “No,” she conceded. “No, I guess
it wasn’t. Sometimes your manipulative strategies have a way of
working out for the best.” Her gorgeous mouth curved into a
blinding smile.

Fuck, I loved this woman
and her refreshing honesty and witty banter. She was just so damn
beautiful. However, I was done talking. Besides getting her naked
within the next five minutes, I had a proposition for her. And I
wouldn’t be taking
no
for an answer.

“
Hmm…well, let’s see how
this one works out.”

Rolling over, I covered her luscious tiny
body with my much larger one and threw her a wicked grin that held
the promise of carnal delights to come. Forcing myself to go slow,
I first lavished her neck, jaw, and cheeks with my lips and then
finally devoured her soft, full mouth with mine. As always,
Charlotte responded to my touch with excited fervor—her sweet
little moans of pleasure drove me wild and the strategy of taking
it slow was instantly dismissed.

Rearing back on my knees, I divested those
yoga pants along with her sexy-as-fuck panties from her gorgeous
little body. Next, I whisked her t-shirt over her head and unhooked
her bra. As I predicted, her movements were just as frenzied as
mine; she clawed at the button and zipper of my jeans. Charlotte
was a firecracker in bed—it was the biggest turn-on for me.

“
Hurry, Roman,” she
pleaded, her eyes wide, pupils dilated.

Within seconds, I was stripped naked,
positioned, my eyes closing as I entered her warm, tight, exquisite
body and I groaned. Her body felt like my own personal sanctuary.
My mouth covered one of her perfect erect pink nipples and I
groaned again. Her fingers slid into my hair to tug the strands as
she squirmed beneath me.

Focus, dammit,
I harshly reminded myself. I had to stick to my
plan; I couldn’t afford to lose control. Extracting her hands from
my hair, I grabbed both of her wrists in one of my hands and slowly
raised them above her head. When Charlotte started to protest, I
silenced her by plundering her mouth with my tongue. Her taste, her
soft mewling sounds drove me to the point of
distraction.

“
Please move, Roman,” she
begged. Her voice was breathy and urgent. She was just as turned on
and frenzied as me.

Sliding my other hand down the silky soft
skin of her thigh, I lifted her knee and drew it up to her chest so
I could penetrate her more deeply. With a powerful thrust of my
hips, I moved in and out, holding her captive, helpless to my
ministrations.

“
Ohmigod! That feels so
good. Don’t stop!” Her breathy moans became more urgent, demanding.
Releasing her wrists, I used my free hand to fondle and stroke her
clit until she thrashed beneath me in ecstasy. My mouth curved into
a satisfied smile and I bent my lips to her ear.

“
Marry me,
Princess.”

Acknowledgments

Firstly, I’d like to thank
the love of my life—my hubby John. Thanks, babe, for bringing me
home mint chocolate-chip ice cream night after night while I was
holed up writing this book. You’re the sweetest and kindest man I
know. And after all these years, you still make my heart
flutter.

Thank you to my truly
wonderful and crazy beautiful Beta Readers: Tamara, Ebony-Rose
& Samantha. Your encouragement and patience with my obsession
has meant the world to me—without you gals, I couldn’t have
finished this story.

To Rebeka and
Anastasia—this book is a tribute to our amazing trip together last
year. From Bordeaux to Paris to Venice—we had the time of our
lives. You gals sure know how to shop, drink wine, and have
fun!