by Crimson Syn
I stared down at her and leaned my forearm against the wall behind her, a hand wrapping around her waist as I caged her in.
“I don’t get jealous, Montgomery. Believe me, if I cared about you I’d probably tell you to watch for that bastard. His entire play is based on getting between those juicy thighs of yours, but then again, like you said, I am not a gentleman. So, I don’t give a shit.”
“Is that so? Then why the hell aren’t you letting me go?”
Our eyes met, our breaths mingled, and that tight tension started to coil around us, igniting us. The sultry challenge in her eyes had me wanting to lift her up against that wall and sink my cock inside that sweet pussy of hers I craved so badly. Instead, I hung my head, breaking the connection as I took a step back.
“Coward,” she whispered when I stepped away from her.
My eyes shot to hers and her lips parted, ready for a retort I wasn’t going to give her a chance to take. I closed the distance between us and captured those pouty lips in a raw, passionate kiss.
It was the first time we’d actually given in to our feelings and fuck was it fantastic. Her soft hands gliding up my arms and across my shoulders. Her soft ragged moans getting lost in my mouth as I kissed her deep. My hands wrapping around her voluptuous curves, dragging her up into my body enjoying her soft whimpers of surrender. Her lips were soft silk, and as I swept the tip of my tongue across hers a hint of red wine encompassed my taste buds. The kiss was effortless, passionate, raw. A kiss we’d both been waiting for. Hidden expectations finally coming up to the surface and completely consuming us.
God, she feels good.
My hands roamed up her back, squeezing her to my chest and she let herself be molded to me. Let herself be craved and devoured by me. I wanted her so badly in that damn instant. I nipped at her lips and ran my lips across her cheek, tilting her head as I went. Nipping and sucking on her collarbone, loving that slight shiver she gave me as she raised her shoulder and gasped. My mouth travelled back up her throat and just as I was about to land on her lips, she spoke.
“Stop.”
My mind was in a fog and it took me a second to pick up on the word. Her hands were on my chest and her cheeks were flushed. She wasn’t looking at me, she had her eyes closed, her breaths ragged. I pressed my forehead to hers and just held her. God knows how long we stood there. All I knew is that I didn’t feel like letting her go, especially not back into the arms of Peter Sentry, the biggest conman around.
“I need to go, Lucian.” My name barely a whisper on her lips. Her hands swept down the lapels of my dark suit jacket and she tugged on it, gripping onto it as if she didn’t want to let go.
“You’re going back to him, aren’t you?”
“If I don’t it will look like I ditched him.”
“He deserves to be ditched, especially by a beauty like you.” I stroked my cheek against her temple and she sighed. This had to be the alcohol talking because if I were myself this never would have happened. I would have never let this happen.
Blame it on the alcohol.
She looked up at me then, a frown creasing her eyebrow. “Why did you do that? Why did you kiss me?”
I wasn’t sure what to say to her, so I shrugged. “Why not? Seemed like the right thing to do.”
“Like the right thing?” She raised an eyebrow and that heated glance that I swore, was only meant for me, encompassed her eyes.
“What? Looked like you hadn’t been kissed in a while. I needed to find a way to shut you up. I think I might adopt this new way.”
I grinned at her and that’s when her fuse ignited. She shoved me back and I stumbled, swaying slightly.
“You’re a drunk bastard,” she seethed.
I shrugged again, purposely pissing her off.
Do it love, get mad, hate me.
I watched as she took off, that lush swell of her ass walking away from me, was a deep reminder of what I could have if I just gave in. I followed her out and nearly walked right into her as she stopped midway. Her eyes were focused on the bar and when I followed her gaze it landed on the piece of shit she’d come with.
“Don’t ever say I didn’t fucking warn you?”
Peter Sentry was sitting at the bar blatantly hitting on another woman. This one wasn’t even putting up a fight as his hands wandered up her thigh. Sabrina stood very still before me, her shoulders tensed as she watched. I smiled, satisfied that I had won this round.
“Guess you took too long,” I whispered in her ear.
She turned to me, glaring those pretty green eyes at me.
That’s a good girl, get mad at me. Stay mad at me. Keep far away from me.
“You’re a dick,” she gritted out as she swept past me and towards the entrance. I watched her shoulders slump as she grabbed her coat from coat check. She brushed her cheek and I knew a tear had escaped, and that made my heart lunge towards hers. She didn’t deserve that. She didn’t deserve a douche like Sentry mistreating her. She also didn’t need an asshole like me to rub it in.
I wanted her to need me though. I wanted her to come back, to run into my arms, seek warmth with me. Instead, I clenched my fists and made my way over the pathetic douche bag at the bar. Patting him on the shoulder, he turned and I watched as his eyes grew wide when he saw me. Oh, he knew damn well who I was, and I knew damn well the type of scum he was.
“Playing with barbies again, Sentry?”
“Steele,” he grimaced. “Don’t you have another sandbox to play in?”
“Didn’t I see you here with Sabrina Montgomery?”
“Yeah, but she disappeared. Besides she’s too fucking uptight. Why? Got a thing for red-heads, Steele? She might be around here somewhere. Maybe you could fix my curiosity to see if she’s a true red head below that panty line.”
“Motherfucker,” I lifted him off his seat and swung. My fist slamming against his jaw as I left him sprawled on the floor of the elite bar.
“What the fuck, Steele?” He spit out blood onto the wooden floor, but the bastard was too much of a coward to fight me.
I stood over him, pointing a finger at his face. “You get near her again and I’ll put you down like the damn dog you are. Don’t talk to her, don’t even look at her. If I see you around her again I’ll ruin you where it hurts the most.”
He stared up at me in shock and I walked away slowly, straightening my jacket and nodding back at the young bartender who stood grinning at me.
“If you ever need a job, you know where to find me.”
“Yes, Mr. Steele. Thank you.”
I rushed out of the bar hoping to find Sabrina, but I was too late. I spotted that fiery mane a few feet ahead of me as she was getting into a taxi.
Let her go, Steele. Let her go.
I stood in the cold, the wind sweeping across me as I watched the taxi take off. I was left standing there with a bruised fist and all alone. I preferred it that way. A woman like her didn’t need a man like me in her life, and besides, I still didn’t trust her. No matter how good she’d felt in my arms, she wasn’t mine to keep. She was just another conman, wrapping me in her sultry ways. A woman who knew how to manipulate was the worst kind. They’d empty your pockets and stab at your heart until you were left bleeding out and homeless in the street. They were coldhearted bitches.
I truly wanted to believe that. Fuck, I was convincing myself. But in truth, there was absolutely no way that hot blooded woman had a drop of bad blood in her curvy body. No, that woman was all fire and sweetness and she was starting to make me rethink my next move.
3
Sabrina
When I brought up the subject of Catchfire the other day, my father didn’t even want to hear about it. He was pushing me into Lucian Steele’s arms and he didn’t even know it. So here I found myself again, at the entrance of the lion’s den, and I wasn’t sure how to feel about this entire situation.
As I went to knock on his office door, Lee stepped in my way. “I’m sorry Miss Montgomery, I have strict orders n
ot to let you through.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me.”
I had an effect on men. A tendency to intimidate even the most powerful of them. It was a tactic I had gotten from my Father and it was now focused on Lee. “What kind of nonsense is that?”
“I’m not sure, Miss Montgomery. I was just told by Mr. Steele not to let you through.”
“The hell I’m not allowed into my own property!”
I shoved Lee aside and stormed through the doors. Seated across from his desk were Maxwell Cunningham and Drake Archer. When I walked in they all stood, Lee following my every step.
“I’m sorry, Sir. She wasn’t listening.”
I turned and narrowed my eyes on him, and he at least had the decency to duck his head. Lucian Steele, on the other hand, had that damn smirk pasted on his chiseled jaw. I tightened my hand into a fist, keeping myself from punching that smirk right off his handsome face.
“How dare you?”
He straightened his suit jacket, in which he looked absolutely delicious, but that was beside the point. I closed my eyes and breathed while I tried to ignore how good he looked in that three-piece navy-blue suit. When I reopened them, both Archer and Cunningham were murmuring their good afternoons as they passed by me. As soon as they disappeared through the door, I glared back at the one man left, the one man who knew just how to push my buttons. Every. Fucking. One.
“I do as I please, Miss Montgomery. I wasn’t in the mood for dramatics today but apparently avoiding them is just not going to happen for me.”
I stalked him as he went over to his fancy little bar and poured two glasses of whiskey. He lifted the tumbler to his lips while he handed the other to me, but I simply glared at him.
“I’m not accustomed to drinking in the middle of the day.”
“Suit yourself, Princess. Now what is it you came here to enlighten me with? Maybe another deal, another contract, that I won’t sign, mind you. Or maybe, you just want me to expand again?”
“The expansion is going to happen, Steele. Whether you like it or not. They are already looking into how to purchase more land.”
He slammed the tumbler on the glass bar with such force it nearly shattered it. I shut my eyes, slightly flinching. “They can do nothing without the Steele name!”
“They can do much more than you think, Lucian. They also have power, power that they can use against you.”
“Are you threatening me?” He turned his dark eyes towards me and my whole body lit up.
“No threats,” I breathed as he stepped closer, his massive frame nearly consuming me.
“There are stipulations,” he ground out, his nostrils flaring slightly. I wasn’t even the slightest bit intimidated by him and his jaw ticked as he watched me. He knew.
“And there are ways around them. There will always be ways around any stipulation, Lucian. You should know that by now.”
I didn’t expect my reaction to his close proximity, and I could smell the scent of whiskey mixed with a sandalwood cologne that had my head spinning. He smelled so good, even better than the night before. I swallowed hard and my words came out all jumbled as he stepped closer. My hands darted to his chest, but instead of pushing him away they slipped under his jacket as he stalked me across the room.
His gaze was dark, his jaw set, and anger, mixed with something even more intense, lit up his eyes. My back slammed against the wall right next to the fireplace. It’s warmth heating us both up, or was that something else? I wasn’t sure anymore. My mind was clouded and the urge to have his hands on me was suddenly too overpowering.
“What is it with you and coming to see me whenever you goddamn please?” His thighs pressed against mine, gingerly making his way between my legs. “Others make appointments like they’re supposed to. Why is it you think you can just barge in here like you own the place?”
“I do own the place,” my name was on the deed. Richard Montgomery had left me fifteen percent of Ravenhead. I wasn’t sure if Lucian was aware of it, but if he wasn’t then I was about to enlighten him.
“The hell you do,” he growled and dipped his head, grazing his nose along the curve of my neck. I moaned softly as my hands continued to slide up and down his chest in this slow nervous rhythm.
His hands engulfed my waist as he tugged me to him. “Why did you come here, Princess?”
My mind suddenly went blank, I couldn’t remember a thing, not even my own name. His nearness was overwhelming, and it had my whole body on fire.
“I…I…”
“I know it has nothing to do with contracts and boring expansions. Did you miss me? Miss my hands on you?”
“No,” I breathed against his lips. They were so close all I had to do was lean forward and I’d taste them once again.
“Liar,” he growled, gripping me tighter. A whimper escaped me, and I ran my hands up under his suit jacket and over his shoulders. He groaned when I pressed my body into him, molding against his hard frame.
“I’m not a liar,” I closed my eyes and waited. My cheeks flushed with excitement and I shivered in his arms, loving how he held me on that precipice.
“Is that so?” His hands roamed and squeezed me as his lips hovered over mine.
He made it so easy to give in, his strength, his control, there was a need in me slowly rising. The need to lose my own control. The need to give in.
Do it. I begged him silently.
Please.
“You did miss me, didn’t you Princess? You missed my tongue stroking yours, my hands groping that sweet little ass of yours?”
I whimpered as his tongue licked my top lip and his hands showed me just what I was missing. I had no words to describe the incredible feeling that soared through me from his manhandling. He seeked control and I wanted to let go.
“Yeah. I thought so,” he murmured against my lips just before he captured them in a deep penetrating kiss. One that had my toes curling in my heels. I gripped his shoulders as his lips dragged against mine. He tasted of hot whiskey and his tongue felt like velvet heat as it danced along mine.
His hands roamed down the curve of my ass and around my hips until he found the slit in my skirt. I felt the heat of his palm against my flesh. As his lips left mine, his fingertips grazed against the front of my panties. My drenched panties.
His forehead pressed against mine as he lingered there, dragging his fingers across it and heating me up. “Is this what you wanted? What you keep coming back here for?”
“Fuck you,” I breathed as his fingers pressed harder against my core.
“Is that what you want of me? You want me to fuck you?”
“Ohhh,” I gasped as his finger slipped under the seam.
He hummed in satisfaction while his fingers got coated in my juices. I watched under heavy lids as he pulled his hand out and brought his fingers to his mouth. I swallowed and moaned as he traced his tongue on them, tasting me.
“You taste good, Princess.”
I gasped when he tugged me close, his lips finding mine in a passionate kiss while his hand delved back down into my panties. He rubbed across my clit and my yelp of surrender got lost on his lips. His tongue roamed along mine softly, gently, in rhythm with his fingers that slid across my clit and dipped into my entrance. He moaned in deep satisfaction and my insides dipped.
“That’s a good girl,” he growled as my pussy quivered for him, tightening around his fingers as he slid them into me. First one, then two, all along sucking on my tongue. My whimpers lingered in the air and his groans only heightened my pleasure.
He had me pressed against the wall, my skirt up over my hips and his hand doing the most deliciously dirty things to my pussy. He wanted control and suddenly I hated him for it. For taking what was mine to give, without my permission.
I shoved at him, and he stumbled back, a look of shock on his features. Shock mixed with anger.
“Don’t act like you didn’t like that? Your needy moans gave you away, Princess.”
> “Asshole,” I seethed as I ran my hands down my skirt. I slid past him, my body still thrumming from his advances.
“Where are you going?” He grabbed me by the elbow as I swept past him.
“As far away from you as I can get,” I glared at him and shoved his hand off me. Grabbing my purse, I stormed out the door and down the almost empty hallways. It was later than I thought it was.
“You can’t just barge into my office like that, Sabrina Montgomery, and not tell me what you came here for.” He seethed as he reached me.
I pressed the elevator button several times, hoping it would get there soon.
“Or were just looking for someone to get you off.”
I twirled around just as the elevator doors opened. “I hate you.”
In that moment I meant every word, what I didn’t expect was his reaction. His eyes darkened, and a look of satisfaction crossed his features. Before I could react, I was slammed against the side of the elevator wall with Lucian Steele as my captor.
4
Lucian
“I hate you,” her words were fierce and angry, and it heated up my bloodstream. I loved that she didn’t back down. That tenacity, that fervor, that spark that emanated from her. It was a fucking turn on and she knew it. Every time we argued, every time we spoke there was a mini explosion going on around us that we couldn’t control. It was hot as fuck and I wanted more.
Wrapping my hands around her waist, I slammed us against the back of the elevator. She slapped me across the face and while the heat spread along my jawline, I smirked.
“No, you don’t. You can’t hate me. I won’t let you.” My mouth traced her lips as I tugged her against me, my thighs parting hers while my hands made their way up her bare legs, dragging her skirt up until it was well above her waist.
“I don’t ever want to see you again,” she seethed against my lips.
“Liar,” I breathed capturing her lips in a searing kiss. It literally burned us as she struggled against me, shoving at my chest while I gripped her hair and tugging it back to give me better access to her mouth.
