“All right. He, uhm... said he’d seen something red.”
“What red?”
“He didn’t specify. I don’t think he’s able to process his impressions.”
“And what do you think?”
She swallows visibly. “It could have been paint, right?”
I cock my head and regard her. “But that’s not really what you think, is it?”
Frowning, she shakes her head. “But I’m just stupid. I mean, if he’d only said that but…”
“What else did he say?” I tense up. Here we go.
“I asked him where he’d seen the red. It was such a stupid question. I just wanted to encourage him to keep talking.”
I nod. “And?”
“He said he’d seen it on the floor, and… on a man.”
“Could have been someone who got hurt.”
She nods eagerly. “Exactly.”
I reach over and put a hand over her twitchy hands that keep fiddling. “Then why are you so rattled?”
“I don’t know. My imagination ran amok. But then I asked his dad and he gave off this really strange vibe. Like… intimidating. I got the feeling he said, between the lines, ‘I know where you live’.”
“Did he now?” I can picture it perfectly. Salvatore, with his bodyguards, black suit, tall and broad, staring this girl down. “Who’s his dad?”
“Oh, I can’t tell you that.”
“Confidential?”
She nods. “I think I’ve told you too much already.”
“No, you haven’t. You’re good. And whatever you say to me stays with me. I promise. So, what do you think happened, Kerry?”
My heart pounds a little harder. Don’t doom yourself now, this is your slim chance.
“Christian… I can’t tell. Mr. Salvatore said—” She slaps a hand over her mouth and her eyes go wide.
“Lots and lots of that name going around. And stays with me anyway.”
“Promise?”
I nod and wait for her to go on.
“Well his dad said he’d seen an accident.”
“Then it’s all good. You got your explanation.”
She chews on her lower lip, a vision that makes me want those lips somewhere else. Lush, full lips. I silently beg her not to go on.
“I don’t know. It had to be something brutal.”
“An accident can be traumatic.”
“I can’t help thinking he witnessed a—” She leans forward and lowers her voice, “A murder.”
My heart sinks to my stomach. “I’m sure it was nothing.” I don’t know why I keep trying to get her to change her mind; I put words in her mouth to prove she doesn’t know anything, when I should in fact do the opposite.
She rubs her hands over her face. I reach out and pull a strand of hair to the side. She blushes and looks down. “Yeah, it was probably nothing,” she whispers, her voice breaking.
My chest feels tight. Does she really need to die for this? It’s fucking nothing.
“And then his dad had him removed,” she sobs, her cheeks wet.
I pull a paper tissue from the pile on the table, reach over and dab her cheeks, then I grab her hand again, and hold it in both of mine. Her skin is ice cold and clammy. The air conditioning in this place is brutal.
“Are you cold?”
“A bit,” she admits.
I let her go and shrug out of my suit jacket, then I half-stand and lean over the table, wrapping it around her shoulders. “There you go. Wanna go for a walk before we call it a night? I think you need your beauty sleep.” Sadly, I’ve heard enough.
She sniffs. “You smell really nice.”
“Well, thank you. So do you.”
She stands and maneuvers her way out to the aisle. “When did you smell me? That’s ten shades of creepy.”
“Do you find me creepy?”
She pouts as she regards me, her gaze traveling along my body. “Mnooo, not really. Thank you for listening. Did I wear you out completely? You’re a great listener and—and I’m sorry if—”
“No. Not broken yet.”
She laughs and wipes the last of the tears off her cheeks. I lay my hand on the small of her back and lead her out on the street. Her little gasp as I touch her doesn’t escape me, and pleases me a lot. I like that she hasn’t come on to me. I like that all we’ve done is talk. Few dare to talk with me. Most are scared, and the women I meet only want me between their legs. I’m awed by her trust.
“Let’s walk,” I say. I’m fucking hesitating. I know what I must do, I just don’t want to anymore. There’s probably no solution to that, though. What I want doesn’t matter to Salvatore.
“I shouldn’t…”
“I completely agree. You shouldn’t. You don’t know me. I could be terribly dangerous.” I wink.
“Maybe…”
“Maybe you like danger?”
She stops and regards me, looking around us. Then she smiles that crooked smile of hers that makes me wish I was someone else, and that my reason to be here was something else entirely.
“One block of danger,” she says. “Then you can give me your phone number, I’ll go back to the club and I’ll call you someday.”
“That’s what they all say.” I sigh dramatically and roll my eyes, shaking off the feeling of looming disaster. “But fine. I’ll take what I can get.”
One block is all I need. My car is parked right around the corner.
Chapter 4
Kerry
I take one step toward the club, indecisive, wobbling slightly on my too-high heels, then one step toward the insanely handsome and mysterious Christian who’s been all ears to my misery. Oh heck. Just around the block, get some fresh air before I call a cab and head home. I gesture for him to walk as I trot up to him.
“Take me away, or lose me forever.” It’s a joke, but his head snaps toward me and my heart jolts at the quickly escaping darkness in his eyes. I swallow. “It’s… from a movie, eh…”
He laughs, his eyes getting lighter again, making my heart skip a beat. “Of course.” Then he leans close, his breath fanning my ear. “But don’t tease a man like that. I might take you more seriously than you’d want.”
A wave of heat rushes to the pit of my belly and shoots to right between my legs. Oh God. Maybe this is a bad idea?
“Do I need to be afraid now? I’m not normally like this, it’s… I don’t know. I’m sorry. I’m out of order. I’ll just go back to my friends.”
I laugh, and hear how nervous I suddenly sound. Something about this man makes me say the most stupid things. I’ve opened up way too much to him tonight. It felt like he wanted to listen, and I needed it so terribly. I glance at him out of the corner of my eye, hoping he doesn’t catch me ogling. He’s more than a head taller than me. He has large, strong hands. I’m a hands girl, and his make me shiver. The physical attraction when he joined me at the bar was instant, despite me having downed some vodka. Or maybe because of. But that he’s patiently been letting me babble for an hour, listening intently, saying all the right things, has made my heart melt.
He stops next to a car and puts a hand in one of his pockets as he regards me. Narrowing his eyes, he glances behind him and then back at me. “No, love. You don’t have to be afraid.” The car blinks twice as it clicks open, making me jerk with surprise. “Let me drive you home, Kerry.”
My heart jolts in my chest.
No, you crazy girl, don’t do it, it’s not safe.
“I… shouldn’t…”
He nods. “You’re right. It was stupid. You should go back to your friends. They’re probably wondering where you went. I was just thinking…” He leans forward and plants a kiss on my cheek. “I’ve appreciated your company. You’re really easy to be with.”
I’m dazzled, wrapped in a cloud of rich cinnamon, pine, a vague hint of mint. The feeling of his lips on my cheek lingers.
Christian brushes my chin with the pad of his thumb, holds it there. I wonder if he’s going
to kiss me.
“I’m still intact, by the way.” He winks and takes his hand back.
Oh what the hell. He is definitely no creep. I’d have felt that from miles away.
“Know what? Take me home or—” I start.
“Lose you forever?” A grin spreads over his beautiful features, making my heart stutter. I glance at his warm, strong hands, suddenly wanting to feel them on me. “It’s not ‘take me home’ you know…” His gaze makes a bolt of heat shoot straight to my pussy.
“No… it isn’t. I think I forgot.” He frowns. “What did Charlie say to Maverick exactly?”
Goosebumps chase each other along my legs. I swallow hard. “Take me to bed… Or lose me forever…”
His eyes flash, black, dangerously hot. He doesn’t move. He doesn’t speak. My heart nearly beats its way out of my chest.
“So… You know your Top Gun?” I ask.
He stalks a step closer.
I take a tentative step back and meet with the cold, hard metal of his car.
“Of course,” he says. “It’s more my age range. Would have figured you too young to know it.”
I scoff. “I’m not that young.”
He leans in and supports himself on the car, his arm next to my head. “Really now, what are you? Twenty-one?”
I inhale a deep, shaky breath. “Twenty-six. How old are you then? Stone age?”
His face becomes a blur as he leans in closer. I almost feel the heat radiating from his skin. “Thirty-seven. Is that an issue?” His voice has taken on a deeper tone, a rich murmur that reverberates through me.
I shrink back, but have nowhere to go, my breaths becoming erratic, embarrassingly obvious. Christian flashes a knowing smirk as he scans my face. I shake my head. “No.”
He pushes away, leaving me in heat, gasping for air.
“You should go to your friends.”
My brain isn’t connected to my mouth anymore. “What if I don’t want to?”
He grabs my arm and spins me around. “Then you’re coming with me.” He rips open the door and throws out his arm in a chivalrous gesture, inviting me to sit.
As I slide in, enclosed in silence and darkness when he shuts the door, my brain screams at me to not be a freaking moron, but my body screams louder, wanting more.
Christian jumps in behind the wheel. “Where to?”
I give him the address, my mouth dry. I take him in as we take off, his massive thighs in well-fitted suit pants, those large, strong hands, his sharp profile. His chest rises and falls rapidly, and he doesn’t seem unaffected either.
“Don’t look so scared, Kerry. We can just talk, if that’s what you want. Or I’ll just drop you off and get going.”
“I’m not scared.”
He gives me a quick glance. “Hon, you look like a deer caught in headlights.”
Do I? “Well. A woman shouldn’t go with a man she’s known for an hour.”
“No, she shouldn’t.”
A spike of adrenaline shoots through me. “But I think you’re a really decent guy.” I hope to God I’m right.
He smiles. A sight that makes my heart jump. “I love your trust, and your innocence, Kerry. I didn’t think there were any women like you left on earth.”
I exhale with relief as I see my neighborhood getting closer. “I’m nothing special.”
Christian doesn’t answer and we pull up outside my house. He shuts down the engine and turns to me. “Can I follow you to the door?”
I nod and reach for the handle.
“Allow me.” He hops out and dashes around the car, holding open the door for me as he gives me a hand for support.
I melt as I take it. “How very old-fashioned of you. I didn’t think there were any of you left.”
“Oh, we were two. I had to kill the other one. I don’t like competition.”
I laugh, and much too soon we’re at my door.
Christian glances around us. “Nice place you’ve got. Make a lot of money at the center?”
“Oh no, I live off dirty guilt money. But that’s another story.”
“Now I’m even more intrigued.”
“It’s not that interes—” I swallow the rest as he moves in on me.
“Can I kiss you?” he asks, his voice husky.
I nod.
He leans in and brushes his lips against mine. The energy between us crackles, scorches me, leaves me gasping. I cup his face in my hands and press my lips more firmly against his, yelping as he pushes me up against the door, pressing his whole body against mine. His mouth asks for entrance and I’m more than happy to give it. One single kiss robs me of every last remnant of sanity. He steals my breath, my mind, my heart.
I reach for the handle, realizing it’s locked, begin a blind, fumbling search for the key in my purse, unlock the door and push it open. We almost fall into the darkness in my hallway. Christian crushes me to him in a forceful embrace, kicking the door closed, never breaking the kiss. He pushes me in front of him, steering me into the living room until the back of my legs collide with my couch. In a moment of hesitation, I put a hand to his chest and he responds immediately, taking a step back.
“I—” I begin.
“Too much?”
I search for something to say. My body screams for him, but I haven’t been with a man since my divorce last year, and Evan was my first. I try to tell myself it’s like riding a bike, and what’s a little sex? But my brain is back, taking over.
“Know what?” he says. “You can kick me out. It’s fine. Or we can round it up with a cup of tea, and then I’ll let you sleep. Sound good?” He rakes a hand through his dark, jaw-long hair and licks his lower lip, as if he’s tasting me. The sight makes a shiver run through me.
“Sounds like a plan,” I say faintly.
He throws out his arm. “Lead the way, Miss…”
“Jackson,” I say. “Kerry Jackson. Pleasure to meet you Christian Russo.”
He begins to hum ‘Miss Jackson’ by OutKast. I groan and slap him on the shoulder. “I’ve heard that a million times. Don’t go there if you value your life.”
Christian holds up his hands and grins. “Your word is my law.” He gives me a gaze that makes my knees weak. It’s dark, and full of sin.
I pour water into the kettle with shaky hands, my mind spinning from the vodka, the late hour, his presence in my house.
“Pleasure’s all mine,” he murmurs. “Meeting you. You’re—”
“Oh my God, fuck it,” I gasp, my brain shutting off entirely at the sound of his voice, silky, full of promises I suddenly want him to fulfill.
I spin around, facing him, and in a flash he has me on the counter, with himself squeezed in between my thighs. A hard length pushes against my pussy through the fabric of way too many obstacles. Heat rushes to between my legs as his hands slide up along my sides, hesitating by the swell of my breasts. When I don’t object, he cups them and kneads them with rough hands as he catches my mouth again, stealing every remaining ounce of sanity along with my breath.
He pushes against me even harder, rubbing his hard cock against me, making me boneless with need.
“I want you so fucking much. You have no idea,” he groans in my mouth.
A click to my left announces the water has finished boiling. The sound snaps me out of the magic.
I nearly double over from the clenching in my belly, the need for him, paired with panic over what’s about to happen. “Christian,” I whimper, as I put my hands on his chest and shake my head. “I can’t.”
He freezes up. For a breathless moment I think he’s just gonna take me anyway, and I’m not sure I’d fight it. Our gazes meet and I widen my eyes at the predatory look on his face. Then it fades and he nods, stroking my cheek, his fingers leaving burning trails.
“I’ll go.”
I’m left gasping, wanting, desperate for more. The teacups remain empty next to me on the counter. My front door clicks closed. I sit frozen to the spot. I just said no to s
ome probably steaming hot sex with the sexiest man I’ve ever touched. Am I insane?
On shaky legs I make my way to the front door, locking it. My phone buzzes in the purse I dropped on the floor at some point when he pushed me inside. It’s Chloe. I have fourteen missed calls. I send her a quick text, then I stumble to bed.
I don’t fall asleep until the early dawn. Putting a hand between my legs, I come once, and later once more, thinking about his strong heavy body pressed against mine. I wonder if I’m going to see him again. Did I lose him forever?
My friend and coworker is furious with me.
“You could have sent one fucking text. We were so worried, Ker!”
I hang my head in shame. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t myself last night.”
“Tell me about it, girl! You look like shit. What did you do? Did you drink the whole night?” She grabs my chin and turns my head from side to side, studying the dark circles under my eyes, snickering.
I shake my head and can’t hide the grin.
She slaps my shoulder and gasps. “Get out of here! You hooked up with someone? It’s about time!”
“Well… It’s a long story, both yes and no, I guess. Let’s talk about something else.”
“Oh, I’m not letting you off the hook. Was it good? Are you seeing him again?”
“Yes. No. I have no idea. Twenty-four. I need to work. See you later.”
“You’re evil,” she shouts after me.
I flip her off.
I’m a mess. My head spins from lack of sleep and my God, I want to see him again. In my locker hangs the jacket he gave me last night and never took back. I sneak off to sniff it over and over throughout the day. I’m not in love, it’s just lust, but my body can’t tell the difference. My whole being tingles.
Chapter 5
Christian
“She’s still alive?” Luciano Salvatore paces back and forth in his office, wearing down the expensive carpet. He waves at his bodyguard. “Get out.”
I stand as if on guard, my hands clasped behind my back, and watch the man in silence as he exits the office and carefully shuts the heavy wooden door.
Redemption: Savage Duet: Part One Page 4
