“Drowning me deep…”
“Still, my heart is beating…”
“I breathe you in…”
“I breathe you in…”
“I breathe you in…”
“Show me that I’m alive…”
“Because I’m drowning in you…”
As the rap artist belted out the profound lyrics, she stared out the passenger’s window and soaked in every powerful word.
The longing…
The need to be loved…
The deep desperation to connect…
Somehow, it seemed that the song mirrored her reality. For how many hours of the dark night had she longed for true love and acceptance?
The street lights slanted inside at intermittent points and splayed across her face as the black Viper ripped down I-20 East. There was even a wild freedom along the roadways, she decided, watching the other vehicles’ fading lights as they changed lanes or taxied off onto the exit ramp. Didn’t a dangerous wildness breathe between them now as well?
She cast a surreptitious glance in his direction.
He appeared to be deep in thought as he stared straight ahead and maneuvered through the heavy traffic. Even the semi-darkness couldn’t mask the definite tautness that stiffened his jaw line. Since they’d left the club, he’d grown increasingly quiet. Rather than forcing conversation, she’d embraced the silence and attended to her own drifting thoughts.
Again, the same brooding quality that’d attracted her to him initially was there. So much raw virile energy exuded from him that she could literally feel it. Perhaps like her, he had his own personal demons to wrestle with.
Fifteen minutes later, he took the exit lane to Hampton Cove. Certainly, it was an area on the eastern edge of Atlanta that she wasn’t familiar with. They cruised past the modest-sized townhouses and apartment complexes. A short moment later, mountain terrain replaced the suburban scenery, and the four-lane highway changed into a two-way straightway.
Along both sides, the Georgian pines stretched along the roadway like majestic giants, hiding the secrets that resided within the woods. After making an uphill climb, he made a sharp left, and the sports car fell on a graveled road.
A few minutes later, the vehicle rolled to a stop. The deep silence between them lengthened as he killed the motor. Not sure of what to say or do, she continued to stare out the window. Suddenly, the silence was too much to take.
She risked a fast glance in his direction, only to find him regarding her with his usual intense stare. At her startled look, he smiled at her encouragingly and said, “Come on. I want to show you something.”
Without waiting for a response, he opened the driver’s door before leaving the car. As it shut behind him, she stayed inside and watched as he walked several feet away from the vehicle.
She took a steadying breath before opening the passenger’s door. The cool night air met her as she left the vehicle. But, her attention was immediately stolen by the magnificent sight before her.
From the high vantage point of the mountain clearing, the entire city of Atlanta was visible. The twinkling lights and monstrous buildings resembled an emerald-studded empire. A settling peace encompassed the mountain clearing, and the steady quiet was exceedingly comforting, she mulled, stopping alongside him.
“So, what do you think, princess?”
“It’s absolutely beautiful,” she murmured, staring straight ahead and admired the scenery further. “What is this place?”
“A few years back, I was in this very area. I got lost, took a wrong turn, and ended up here.” He paused momentarily as if lost in thought. “But, there was just something about this place that just spoke to me. When I need to think and get away from the rest of the world, I come here. This place is my somewhere.” A sad smile flitted across his face, but he masked it quickly. Then, as he turned to face her, a puzzling look crossed his features. “Just why in the hell I wanted to share it with you is a mystery to me. I don’t even understand it myself.”
A different silence fell, one that was riddled with solid truths. There was no doubting that like her, he was a very private person, and there weren’t many people allowed to get too close. Shielding their true selves from the rest of the world was a common attribute that they obviously shared.
“Thank you,” she whispered softly, finally looking at him, and met his gaze in the moonlit darkness. “For bringing me here and sharing your somewhere with me---I like that you did that.” As he moved to stand before her, she caught her breath. Then, her thoughts were slaughtered as he framed her face in his hands. Suddenly, she wanted more---to be closer in every regard. “Reign---”
“Christopher,” he rasped with a shaky breath, edging closer to her, and rubbed his thumb along her bottom lip. “I want you to call me by my real name. As far as I’m concerned that whoring bastard called Reign doesn’t even exist tonight. He sure in the hell doesn’t exist here.”
“I---ok,” she murmured, and her brown eyes softened. Simply, she was stunned that this private man was even letting her into his world. It was a thought that thrilled her beyond understanding. “Christopher.”
A dangerous smile curled his lips. “I can see a thousand questions burning in your big beautiful eyes,” he revealed, grazing his thumb along her cheek. “But, fuck, even I don’t know if I have the answers. Damn it, I’ve known you for mere hours. Yet, look at me. I want to tell you every dark secret that’s ever haunted me.” His eyes darkened to a smoldering green. “Who are you? Why were you sent to me? Are you here to condemn--”
“Hayven,” she breathed quietly, catching his waist, and clenched the soft fabric of his shirt. Like him, she wanted every moment to be real between them. “My real name is Hayven.”
“Well, damn, princess,” he said huskily, dropping his head lower, and now only mere inches separated their lips. “There you go playing wicked games with my fucking mind again.” Then, all pretenses fled from the passionate moment. “Perhaps fate has us intertwined so that we can damage each other irrevocably with our sins.”
“Maybe you’re right,” she whispered again, trembling against his hard body. Then, she swallowed hard. “Why did you bring me here?”
“Why did I bring you here?” he said quietly, repeating her exact words, and his warm breath teased her face. “I’ll tell you why, sweet Hayven. We’re here because something incredibly dangerous is going to happen between us.”
A thrill of excitement chased through her.
She bit her bottom lip. “W-what do you mean?”
“We’re going to completely drop our guards and do whatever in the hell that we want to do to each other,” he rasped unsteadily, staring into her eyes, and a shudder ran through his hard body. “Right now, all I want to do is kiss you….taste the very sweetness that’s you.”
“I want the same thing.”
The words died in her throat as his head descended. Just as their lips touched, her eyes fluttered close. But, there was no shielding the fiery desire that erupted at the joining of their lips. At the immediate contact, her entire universe was splintered apart.
Though the kiss was feather light, it yielded great power, and she possessed no strength against it. Every pinpoint of sensation flared to life in her needy body and demanded more. Moaning softly, she strained to get closer, all in a desperate attempt to feed the raging fire inside of her.
A low growl of satisfaction left him as he crushed her against him. Willingly, blindingly, she embraced his silent demand as he forced her lips further apart. Against her lips, he breathed her name before exerting more pressure. As he thrust his tongue inside her mouth, she clung to him more, eagerly accepting the new sensual assault. A violent shudder of need tore through her aching body as he tongued her deep. The intrusion was both sweet and damaging to her inner soul, for now it was the only thing that fed her very being.
Desperate, hungered, they fed their inner fire.
A blinding moment later, they broke apart to steal air. Daz
ed, lost, their passion-drugged gazes clung amidst the rising madness.
“Damn, princess. I sure in the hell wasn’t expecting that. You absolutely make me lose my fucking mind, and that makes you a very dangerous woman,” he whispered, grazing his thumb along her passion-bruised lips. A dangerous light burned in his eyes as he watched her. “I think that I rather like kissing you very much. Hell, fuck that, I love kissing you. You taste even sweeter than I imagined.” He cupped her face again. “So much so, that I want to keep kissing you.”
“Christopher...please…”
Her breathless response was the only encouragement that he needed.
He crushed her to him again.
This time, though, as their lips met, he went in for the kill; just where he’d been gentle before---he wasn’t this time around.
A new desperation seethed at the edges as he plundered her lips in an open-mouthed kiss. She strained to get closer as she clung to him. But, as much pleasure as he gave her, she demanded more as the heat rose within her. As she breathed a soft plea against his lips, he swallowed it whole, thrusting his tongue deep inside her mouth.
When he broke free of their scorching kiss, she let out a breath of protest. “No, please, don’t stop,” she pleaded softly, clenching his waist tightly between her hands. Her light brown orbs were clouded with passion as she looked at him. Suddenly, she felt bare, for everything that she craved and needed was in his arms. But, somehow, someway, she wasn’t afraid of that very fact. It only armed her with a strength that she didn’t realize she possessed. “I need you…please…”
“As much as I want to fuck you right now,” he rasped, pressing his forehead against hers. “I’m not going to take you out here like you’re a common whore. You deserve to be treated like the prized possession that you are.” Releasing a violent curse, he closed his eyes against his own sexual pain. Then, finally, he met her gaze again. “Shit, you’re fucking my mind over. The only thing that I can think about is being inside of you.” Pulling back slightly, he cupped her face again. “Our first time together---it has to be more than this---I’m going to make sure that it is. So, you’re going to have to trust me on this.”
Nodding, she pulled her bottom lip into her mouth. The taste of him still lingered along the tender flesh, and she struggled to breathe normally. “Can we go back to your room? There we can be alone.”
He stroked her face gently with a hand. “I was about to suggest that very thing.” Then, his eyes gleamed with a new seriousness. “Whatever happens between us, I don’t want you to be afraid. I promise that I won’t do anything that will hurt you.”
Holding his gaze, she nodded. “I know that.”
The silence returned as they ventured towards the car. Once more, fate was hurtling them past the point of no return.
Chapter 9
The club was still thriving with activity when they returned, an hour later. But, they easily avoided the thronging crowds as they entered through the back entrance.
A new energy surged between them as they made their way towards the elevators. It was blindingly electrifying because of the impending possibilities that awaited them.
Once they were inside his private quarters, those very opportunities would be explored, she mulled as they stepped onto the elevator.
But, her excitement only grew as the elevator doors closed. As they did, he backed her against the wall as he’d done before. This time, though, he claimed her lips with a demanding fury. Moaning her pleasure, she draped her arms around his nape and accepted the damaging intrusion. He thrust his tongue into her mouth, and she sucked it in deep. Then, their tongues mated in a timeless dance, purely driven by their primal instincts.
Their kiss was hard and deep.
It raged with an unrelenting power. The desire exploded between them, and the walls embraced their desperate, raspy breathing.
Moments later, they reached his private level.
Again, she was taken aback by the pure startlingly whiteness of the room. As she looked around the space, she was lost within the sensual fog. But, still, she was overtly fascinated by the room’s setup. Even though the chandelier lights were dimmed low, the space emitted a rich brightness and blatant intimacy.
The bronzed sculpture sitting midway the room easily represented her, she decided, clinging to his hand. For hadn’t she eagerly fallen prey to his every wish and demand?
Her gaze skirted towards the activity mirror.
Certainly, it’d reveal and outline every fine line of a dark, sensual fantasy.
Yet, her confusion returned as he stopped beside the expensive art sculpture. She failed to suppress the mind-blowing effect of their closeness as he stepped before her. “Let me have your things,” he muttered, closing both hands on her shoulder, and then massaged them gently. “I just want you to relax and let me take care of you. Can you do that for me, princess?”
“O-of course,” she agreed breathlessly, passing him her handbag. Then, she frowned up at him with confusion. “I thought that we were going to your room.”
“All of this is considered to be part of my private lair. This entire level is to my discretion and mine alone.” A dangerous fire leapt in his eyes as he regarded her. “No one comes here unless I deem it.”
“But, Corey, your assistant, won’t he come here like before?” she asked, swallowing hard, and looked back towards the elevator. “I don’t want him to---”
Grasping her chin, he directed her troubled gaze back to his. “Look at me. No one and I mean absolutely no one will be here except you and me. I’ve already left strict orders for us not to be disturbed, and that includes my little lackey, Corey. This level is practically a ghost area except for when I’m here.”
“So nobody will see---”
He placed a finger on her lips and shushed her. “No one will see or hear anything. Again, we are the only ones here.” Then, raising an inquisitive brow, he surveyed her closely. “I thought that you were going to trust me.”
She shook her head in denial. “It’s not that I don’t trust you. It’s just that I think---”
“With what we’re about to do, I don’t want you to think,” he warned softly, pulling her flush against him. “As a matter of fact, I can pretty much damn guarantee you that thinking won’t even be a remote possibility after we’ve started.” He brushed a gentle kiss against her lips. “Now, trust me, okay?”
She nodded. “Alright.”
Staying mute, she watched as he bypassed the bronzed sculpture and moved to the white leather sofa. After leaving her handbag there, he crossed the room to her again. As he opened his arms wide, she moved into them.
For a moment, they just held one another.
Closing her eyes tight, she listened to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat. But, then, as he tilted her chin upward, she eagerly moved in for the kiss. Once, more, he destroyed her inhibitions as he kissed her deep.
How was it possible for a man to make love with his mouth, she mulled, drugged, clinging to him. For with every thrust of his tongue, he was doing just that. Weakened by his subtle, yet powerful assault against her feminine senses, she sagged against his hard body in defeat.
Sensing her surrender, he broke apart from her, and then led her across the room. Like a willing and dutiful slave, she followed. When they were only a few feet away from the activity mirror, he stopped and turned her until they faced their reflection.
But, more questions grew in her mind as he moved to stand behind her, and again, he read her mind easily. “Trust me,” he rasped again, closing his hands about her nape, and oddly there was something erotic in his very action. “I promise that I’ll take care of you. I’ll give you everything that you want, need, and then some, princess.”
Eyeing herself in the activity mirror, she touched her fingers to her passion-bruised lips before meeting his darkened gaze in the glass. “I do,” she whispered softly. “I do trust you, and that’s what scares me most. Why are you doing this to me?”
&n
bsp; As he fingered the thin tie at her nape and began loosening it, she shivered in anticipation. “Exactly, what am I doing to you?” he whispered back, slowly peeling away the jumpsuit’s haltered top. Then, he pushed the soft fabric down her body with a purposeful slowness. “Tell me what you fear, sweet Hayven.”
“I’m afraid of what I want from you,” she whispered in turn, closing her eyes against the intense feelings as her plump breasts were freed. But, the rising madness still claimed her, she realized, opening her eyes again. “I’m afraid of what I feel when you touch me.”
His stormy gaze held hers captive in the mirror. “What do you feel?” he asked huskily, keeping the fabric positioned at her waistline. But, still, she felt the searing heat through the cotton fabric. “Is it as damagingly erotic and sinful as my own feelings?”
As he pushed the fabric down her body once more, she emitted a soft gasp. For somehow, the friction against her skin was flaring the subtle senses that’d usually stayed hidden, and now, they demanded attention. Her words came out in a desperate, needy whisper. “I—I guess they are.”
“You know they are, damn it,” he cursed under his breath. “Don’t pretend otherwise.”
Of course, he was right.
She felt it in his very touch, his every word.
The jumpsuit pooled at her feet, and soon it was followed by the cotton panties; it left her completely bare. As the air caressed her skin, she let out a soft moan.
In the mirror, her startled gaze met his.
Immediately, she was taken aback by the unabashed passion and desire that reflected in his eyes.
He wanted her.
Really wanted her…
Her obsession was equally great.
She’d never been more woman, she mulled distractedly, ripping her gaze away from his. She met her own eyes in the mirror, and within them, she saw the blinding passion. With a shaky hand, she touched her swollen, passion-bruised lips again.
She could still taste them.
“I want you to look at her,” he demanded, and the hunger played in his raspy tone. Holding her gaze captive, he freed the bands in her hair. She released a soft whisper as he tousled the tresses gently about her face. “This is the very woman that you’ve been hiding from.”
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