A Kiss Stolen

by Georgia Le Carre

  I turn away then and try to relax to the classical music playing through the speakers. An hour later I cannot take it anymore. I plead with one of the waiters to bring Pierre out and the moment he comes running out of the kitchen, I address him.

  “I need to leave now.”

  He looks towards the kitchen and then back to me. “I still have one hour on my work.”

  “It’s alright,” I say with a smile. “I’ll take a cab home. Could you please give me the address?”

  “Non, non, non,” he refuses, “just wait one hour and I will be finished.”

  “Trust me, Pierre. I need to leave now. We might truly get in trouble if I stay any longer.”

  “That’s the plan!” he cries confidently. “Make him jealous. I go with you so he sees me dropping you off. Believe me he will be extremely jealous.”

  “I’m really not sure about this, Pierre.”

  “Trust me. I am a man. I know how men think. We are all apes inside.”

  “I think I just want you to call a taxi,” I say, anxiety growing in my voice.

  He shakes his head. “Just wait here for me, okay? I will try to hurry as much as possible. I promise I will get you back by 9.30 latest.”

  I nod because I need to think. He smiles and rushes off towards the kitchen.

  Pierre thought his plan would make Brand jealous, but I know that there is no chance in hell of that happening. Agitated because he thought I had escaped? More like downright murderous? Yup, we are going to pull that off with a bang.

  I pick up a glass of wine and drain the entire glass in one go. I then take a deep breath and buckle my nerves in to last until the end of Pierre's shift.

  At fifteen past nine, Pierre pulls up his Renault and for a moment I do not want to come out. It is unusual not to see any guards outside, and it increases my wariness.

  “Thanks for taking me, Pierre. You better get home now,” I say, but he gives me an amused look and gets out of the car and comes around to my side.

  “I thought you were going to drop me off and leave.”

  “I am, but first I am going to escort you to the front door.”

  I sigh. I guess it is better he is with me so that I can have some control over the situation. Away from me, and I cannot guarantee his safety.

  A rude awakening awaits Pierre when we walk into a room that is colder than the wintry night beyond. It seems like an army is in the room and at the center of it all is their general, with a glare that is ready to draw blood.

  His gaze moves between me and Pierre before finally settling darkly on Pierre. I can tell Pierre feels every bit of the tension in the room. All his cheeky confidence is gone and he instantly begins to explain himself, his English far worse than it has ever been. There is even a slight stutter thrown in the mix. Brand remains seated, impassively staring at Pierre’s face.

  “Mademoiselle Liliana … uh … f-felt very alone, so uh … I have a job, another one from this … uh … patisserie and ... so I take her with me.”

  Brand rises to his feet and a split second later Pierre is staring down the barrel of a hand gun. I almost scream out in fright at the sudden appearance of the weapon, my hand clapping over my mouth. Pierre goes white as a sheet. He is trembling so much I can actually see his hands shaking.

  I immediately jump in front of the gun my arms spread out in his defense. "Brand," I cry. "Don’t blame him. I pleaded with him to take me out. There was a bakery opening tonight and since he works there. I just needed to breathe for a little whil-”

  “If you don’t move I’m going to send the bullet through the both of you,” Brand says with cold narrowed eyes. I don’t doubt he will do it, but I turn around and throw my arms around Pierre’s as a shield. Nothing can happen to him on my behalf. I hear the cocking of the gun and tremble even more than Pierre does. Tears start running down his eyes.

  “Get this fool out of here,” I hear Brand say coldly, and we both nearly collapse at his words.

  Two of his guards come over and roughly manhandle Pierre out of the room. I watch him leave and then turn around to glare at Brand. I am still shaking with shock. I march towards him, and in front of the rest of his guards, swing the hardest slap that I can towards his face.

  His reflexes are lightning quick and he catches my wrist and twists my arm. “Did you just try to hit me?” he asks, almost in disbelief.

  “What is wrong with you?” I scream. “What is fucking wrong with you? Why do you do this to people?”

  “Get out,” he tells his men. In seconds we are alone.

  “So I went to a bakery and ate some French desserts,” I taunt. “What are you going to do about it, huh? Are you going to kill me? Yeah? Then you better do it right now otherwise I’m going to be the one to kill you because you’re fucking insane. Do you hear me Brand? You’re fucking out of your mind. Are you even human anymore?”

  With a strong tug I break his hold on my wrist.

  “Fuck you,” he says, turning around to head up the stairs.

  I don’t even think. I am like a crazed person. I go after him taking the stairs two at a time to catch up to him. I don’t even know what I want to say to him, all I feel is this ball of frustration and anger that feels like it is going to kill me so the moment I get to him at the landing I just start hitting him like I am some sort of robot or machine that is malfunctioning. I pound his back and kick him with all my might. He turns around, grabs me and drags my body so close to his it is no longer possible to punch or kick out.

  “Fuck, Liliana, are you trying to provoke me further?” he spits furiously.

  “Provoke you further to what?” I ask. “You’ve been dreaming of killing me for years. Go on. Do it. I dare you,” I say.

  He grabs my neck with a hand and suddenly I am held in a chokehold. “Stay away from me,” he warns as angry tears roll down my eyes and splatter on his hand. He pushes me away then, lightly, but it is more than enough to send me staggering backwards. I try to right myself, but my foot meets nothing, and before I know it I am tumbling down the stairs.

  I try to latch onto something, but the only thing within my grasp is empty air. All I can see is Brand’s eyes widened in horror. I watch it all almost in slow motion. Brand comes after me but it is too late.

  I tumble down the rest of stairs. All I see is Brand’s coat billowing out behind him as he tries to catch me.

  Then my head hits the hard ground and I see actual stars.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Brand

  Watching her tumble down the stairs, her eyes fixated solidly on me fills me with such acute fear my insides shake like jelly. I don’t even feel this when my own life is in danger. Maybe because I accepted I won’t live a long life. In my profession, it is damn well baked in the cake. Live by the sword die by the sword.

  But the thought of Liliana dying is like the whole world turning black.

  Thankfully, she passes out for just a few minutes. With my heart in my throat, I gather her into my arms and her eyelids flutter open. She blinks then tries to focus on me. I stare at my fiery angel, my mind in turmoil. I don’t know why she pushes me to such uncontrollable rages, but I cannot bear it when I hurt her.

  “I’m so sorry,” I whisper hoarsely. The words tumble out on their own accord, even though I cannot remember the last time I apologized to anyone.

  Her fingers grab my shirt and she refuses to let go, holding on with all her might, even though she is barely conscious.

  With her secure and safe in my arms, I rise to my feet and go back up the stairs. I lay her on my bed and, releasing her fingers from my shirt, run my hands over her body. She appears not to have broken anything. The relief is palpable I cannot get rid of the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. We cannot continue like this. One of these days I’m going to end up hurting her.

  I stand and pace the floor restlessly. Liliana will be my salvation and destruction.

  She calls my name and I go and lie next to her. I can smell the cakes
she has eaten on her breath and something inside me breaks. I am destroying her. I convinced myself that was what I wanted, but I know now it is not. It is not. No, I don’t want to break her. I want to keep her. Dare I admit it, love her. I place my hand lightly on top of her and watch as she drifts in and out of sleep, my heart beating harder and faster than it ever has. I cannot stop looking at her, breathing her in, inching my way closer and closer towards her. She is mine. All mine.

  Her hair is all over the place and I brush it gently away from her beautiful face. She talks a little in her sleep ... indecipherable musings that make me hurt. I have given her so much grief … so much pain. It’s time I stop. I don’t care about taking revenge anymore. It was a destructive goal that I held on to for too long.

  Of course, it was not her fault that my mother died.

  I was a kid. I couldn’t deal with the guilt. I needed someone to blame. To hate. But the truth is I never really hated her. I had to talk myself into it. The closer I got to her, the more hateful I had to force myself to be. I can remember that day I stole a kiss from her like it was yesterday. I knew even then she was mine. I was willing to pay any price to have her then. No one could have convinced me to drop her. Not my father, not my mother.

  It was fate that intervened.

  She is fine this time. There will be no more next time. I won’t let her push my buttons so easily again. Never again. Anyway, I will have a doctor over in the morning to properly check on her.

  There is one thing that I want to know more than anything else. Why she did not leave. She was with the boy, she could have found her way back and far away from me, possibly even out of my reach forever, but she came back. She doesn’t know it, but she just stopped a war between Crystal Jake and me. We would have fought to the death.

  My mind goes back to her promise on my birthday. At the time, it was all nonsense being sputtered, but now I shut my eyes and take a deep breath. It is too risky to hope … No, I won’t do that to myself.

  I open my eyes a few seconds later … and get a shock.

  Her bright blue eyes are open and she is staring intently at me. There are a thousand things that go through my mind in that moment, but more than anything, I realize I am bare. Everything I am feeling; the longing, the confusion, the fear, the terrible guilt, it’s all in my eyes and she can see it all. I have never been so exposed. It feels strange. I begin to move away, but she grabs my shirt with both her hands.

  I gaze at her pale knuckles.

  She moves until her face is right up to mine and her eyes are boring deeply into mine. I feel as though I am about to break. “Stay with me, Brand,” she whispers. “Don’t leave. Please.”

  This woman is a witch. The world I carefully constructed around me is falling apart. I know I should go. I am already in too deep. I have to go, I need to go, but somehow I cannot get myself to move. I fall onto my back in defeat, and she sprawls across me.

  She rests her head on my chest and winces.

  “What hurts?” I ask lifting myself on my shoulder and looking at her worriedly.

  She smiles. “My head, but I kinda deserve it.”

  I slip my fingers through her silky hair. I know exactly where the bump is and she lets out a little yelp of pain when my fingers touch the swelling. “You’ll see a doctor tomorrow. Let me go get you some painkill-”

  She grabs me suddenly and refuses to let go. “I don’t need a couple of Aspirins, Brand. I need you.”

  Once again, I am pulled down into her delicious magic, her warmth and scent slowly intoxicating me, rendering me completely void of any kind of will. She has complete control over me and I realize with shock nothing has ever scared me so much.

  “Why did you come back?”

  “I never left. There is nothing here but French TV. I was bored. I wanted your attention.”

  “You have quite a way of getting my attention,” I say drily.

  Her hands caress my chest, and it is anything, but relaxing. I catch her wrist, forcing her to stop. I can’t take anymore. I am so close to pleading with her to have me … in any way that she wants. This is not the way things are meant to go. Never have I felt so defeated by my own body. I was always someone with iron control. There is nothing that I can’t say no to. Until her …

  She comes even closer to me and begins to nibble lightly on my chin. My breath escapes in a rush. God, I want her so fucking much it hurts. She begins to trace cake-scented, butterfly kisses down my neck and on to my chest. Her hands are busy loosening the buttons of my shirt.

  Liliana lifts herself over me and in the next instant she is sitting astride me.

  I close my eyes to try and stop the tide of emotions. “You shouldn’t be doing this,” I say, but I am not certain if I am speaking to her or myself.

  “Why shouldn’t I?”

  I open my eyes and her face is barely an inch away from mine. She covers my lips with hers. Her lips are so soft and sweet. My mouth opens and she slips her warm tongue in. Liliana Eden kisses me with such passion that I feel myself go limp. My hands are on her waist underneath her blouse, and moving back and forth on the warm soft flesh. I can be in this state forever, with her on top of me, her hips slowly grinding on my rapidly swelling cock.

  I want to speak to her about keeping her forever, but I know that there is too much against us. The high and mighty Jake Eden will never let an uneducated, common criminal have his daughter. Although since I know his history the irony is not lost on me. I did not imagine choosing someone to solely belong to me, especially after what my mother’s death did to my father, but right now and in this moment, all I want is Liliana Eden. Forever.

  She pulls my shirt open and begins to trace those wonderful little kisses down my chest. I revel in the intriguing magic that is purely her.

  “Take my top off,” she instructs against my skin.

  “Don’t you feel pain?” I ask, as I catch the ends of her blouse.

  “Ow,” she says, her eyes widening slightly with pain.

  I freeze. “Are you okay?”

  “Stop being such an old woman and get my top off,” she orders with a chuckle.

  The things she says to me. Unbelievable. Any other woman would have already been out of the door. I pull the material over her head and fling it away. She leans into me for another kiss and I lose my train of thought and literally sink into her kiss.

  “Take my bra off,” my gypsy princess whispers into my mouth.

  I do exactly as I am told and pull the black scrap of lace gently away. Her breasts pop out. I stare at them hungrily. I am being completely controlled, but I have never been so willing. I open my mouth to take her nipple between my teeth. Nipping at the swollen bud, I suck deeply on it as I fill my hand with the other mound. Squeezing and worshipping my third favorite part of her body. I do not even know when that information slips from my mouth.

  She giggles. “Third? That’s it?”

  I truly did speak aloud. Damn I am losing control, but honestly, it is as if I am under a spell. My head is underneath her chin and I feel like a child being cradled in the sweetest of bodies. I lift her away from me slightly and look into her eyes. She takes a nip at my nose. “What then is your favorite part of my body?”

  “Your mouth,” I say, taking her bottom lip into my mouth and sucking on the soft luscious flesh. The pull on my groin is excruciating and I move her hips to soothe the ache. I slip my tongue into her mouth to dance against hers. It’s a wild gypsy kiss. I drink in every ounce of her. The taste of her beats anything else in this world.

  “My mouth,” she says softly, as she pulls away from me her eyes sparkling.

  It’s as though I am looking down at myself when I look down at her. She is me. Where her skin ends and mine begins is impossible to tell. I am so unbelievably smitten. I pull her close to me again, unable to stand even that tiny separation even though the girl is sitting right on top of me. I trace my nose up her chest and to her neck luxuriating in her scent. She is wearing no fragran
ce, but her natural smell is better than any scent created by man.

  “And the second favorite part?” Her voice is teasing and playful. I love her like this. If only we could always be like this.

  I kiss her again. It is almost as if I have starved myself of her for so long I cannot be without her taste. She complies for a while before pulling away.

  “Tell me,” she pouts.

  I feel my heart swell to bursting. “How are you so fucking beautiful?” I find myself muttering, and for a moment she stops. Stroking my hair, she whispers into my ears. “You’re not too bad yourself, you know.”

  Tightening my arm around her waist, I hold her to me as I roll her in one smooth movement and deposit her on the bed. I unbutton her jeans and quickly tug them down her hips. Grabbing the ends of the material I yank them off her legs. She gasps when my mouth covers her sweet pussy.

  “This,” I growl. “This is my second favorite part.”

  She has on a matching lace underwear through which I suck on her swollen clit. She is so wet and ready. I lap up her juices while she writhes and twists like a cut snake, and then I push the material aside and slip my tongue into her opening.

  “Take it off,” she pants as she cradles my head in her hands.

  “No, I want to see your little wet pussy with the string of your thong caught in between the folds of flesh.

  “You’re just a pervert, aren’t you?” she says with a pout.

  “A pervert. That’s me.” With my eyes on her I palm her and her mouth falls open at the sweet pressure. I slip my fingers into her and soon I am plunging in and out of my woman. Her eyes fall firmly shut as her hips grind vigorously to the motion of my fingers. Then I return my mouth to her cunt to eat her out.

  “Brand”, she cries.

  The sound is pure music to my ears. Then as I make it my sole mission to drive her out of her mind with my tongue, her eyes roll into the back of her head and she begins to curse. Hell, the woman has a vocabulary that would make a sailor blush. Her arms hit the bed and her hands pull at the sheets to contain herself until she finally explodes. As her climax tears through her, I let her thighs trap my head.