Dangerous

by Audrey Alexander

  “Come here,” Jace said. Not a request, a demand. A thrill ran through Carrie’s veins as she walked the length of the couch toward Jace. Before she reached him, he snatched her wrist and pulled her close. She stumbled, falling into his chest, heart thundering in her ears.

  “Look up at me,” he said in a soft, low voice.

  She did as he commanded, tipping back her head so that she could meet his eyes. They churned with heat, and her breath quickened even more. Every muscle in her body felt impossibly weak.

  “Tell me you want this.” Jace tucked a finger under her chin. “Tell me you’re mine.”

  “I want this,” she said, barely above a whisper. “I’m yours.”

  Everything inside her begged to be touched. Nothing else mattered but Jace. His jaw clenched, and his eyes narrowed, and a second later, he had his hands on her ass while he lifted her from the floor. Carrie gasped and wrapped her thighs around his hips and her arms around his neck.

  His lips were on her, kissing, licking, biting. Tongue trailing from her neck to her lips, he slid his hands into her hair and twisted the strands between his fingers. Her head tipped back, and she moaned. Every cell in her body felt as if it were ready to explode. The scent of him overwhelmed her. Musky and strong, a hint of cologne mixed with gin.

  Jace carried her across the open penthouse loft, and her thighs tightened around his waist. A groan escaped from his throat, his fingers tightening around her legs. Just as she pulled back to look into his face, Jace reached the wall and pushed her against the cold stone. With one hand still on her ass, he pressed into her, his erection rubbing against her lace thong. An ache began to grow where he touched. She buried her face in his shoulder, so overcome with lust, she could barely breathe.

  He let go, still pressing her into the wall while he ripped open her shirt. His eyes flicked over her body, adoring and appreciative of her curves.

  “Let me see you,” he said.

  Carrie pulled off her shirt, unzipped her skirt, and let the material drop to her toes, so that she was now left with nothing but her lacy bra and thong. Jace had stepped back, his own shirt now a crumpled puddle on the floor. His abs rippled as he moved back in close, the muscles in his arms tensing as he pushed her hands over her head and whispered into her ear.

  “You have been a naughty girl, Carrie.”

  A thrill went through her body, and the place between her thighs grew wet. Groaning, she tried to wrap her legs back around him, but he pulled away just in time.

  “Not until I say so,” he said, eyes flickering with heat. “Take off your bra and thong.”

  Trembling, Carrie unhooked her bra and let it fall to the floor, her nipples going hard when the air hit her breasts. She pushed her thong down her thighs, stepping out of them and leaning back against the wall. Her chest heaved as her breath grew shorter, standing there exposed in front of Jace as he raked his eyes across every inch of her body.

  She wanted him. She needed him. If he didn’t take her now, she would scream. But, she knew Jace’s game, and this is how he liked to play. The more she begged, the more he would tease. He was the one in charge here, and the thought of it made her even wetter than she already was.

  His hand found her breast, a soft caress until he squeezed tight. She cried out, both in agony and in pleasure, her nipples hard and swollen under his touch. With Jace, it wasn’t just pleasure or pain. It was both. Her screams seemed to excite him as he took off his belt and dropped his suit pants to the floor. His erection bulged in his boxer briefs, tantalizing her, driving the need to have his cock thrusting deep inside her.

  He leaned down and teased her nipple with his tongue. She dropped her head against the wall and moaned, reaching out to twist her hands in his hair. Jace laughed, and his breath tickled her hot skin. He pulled back and held her wrists with his fingers, pressing her arms against the wall.

  “Eager, are we?” he murmured as he moved his mouth down Carrie’s stomach, pausing once he reached the sex between her thighs. His mouth brushed against her skin, licking her, tasting her, sending shockwaves of pleasure through her trembling body. She gasped and pushed her hands against the slick wall, digging her fingernails into the stone.

  “I love the way you taste,” Jace murmured as he moved back up her stomach, leaving her aching for more. He kissed her nipple, kissed her neck, kissed her ear. Reaching his arms around her, he hauled her from the floor and tickled her skin with his tongue.

  “Do you want me?” Jace asked. A question this time, not a demand. Carrie opened her eyes and looked into his, spreading her legs as she wrapped her thighs around him. The fire and passion were still there in his expression, but his face held a spark of something else. Something more.

  “I’ve never wanted anyone more,” Carrie whispered.

  Jace sighed against her, squeezing her thighs with his strong hands. He pushed inside her slowly, inch by exquisite inch. She let go, of all the fear, of all the doubt, of all the pain, allowing herself to enjoy the sensation of being completely his without any other thoughts trying to crowd into the way. After all this time, he still wanted her, and she couldn’t stop herself from giving into what she knew she’d wanted all these years. To finally have him back in her arms, to be as close to him as she possibly could, to let him take control and claim her as his.

  She wrapped her arms around his neck as he pushed inside her once again. Her back slid against the wall as he began to thrust harder, but his arms held her tight against his chest. As they wrapped themselves around each other, Carrie felt as if they’d become one body, moving in rhythm as their need for each other increased with each passing beat.

  She shook in his arms, pleasure building up inside her. Jace groaned as she tightened around him, and he took her mouth in his as she crested the top, shuddering as her orgasm crashed over her like a wave. Her arms and legs tightened around Jace as he followed in her wake.

  Panting, he dropped his head forward against the wall. Carrie went weak, her grip on his shoulders loosening, but he kept a tight hold around her body and didn’t let her fall. He turned away from the wall and carried her across the loft, and she let her head drop onto his shoulder as her eyelids fluttered shut.

  For the first time in a long time, Carrie felt as if she were exactly where she needed to be. In Jace’s arms.

  The next morning, Carrie awoke to the alluring scent of coffee beans. She twisted on the silk sheets to see she was alone in the bed, but the sound of clanking dishes told her exactly where Jace had gone.

  She smiled and pressed her hand over her mouth. Last night had been better than she’d ever hoped it could be. And now, he was making her breakfast. By the smells wafting toward her, she thought it might even be her favorite. Poached eggs and toast.

  Rolling over, she grabbed her phone from the bedside table where Jace had left it for her to find, along with the roses he’d put into a glass vase. She couldn’t believe he’d bought her flowers. He’d never done it before, not even in college.

  Carrie smiled as she went through her phone notifications, but it looked like she hadn’t missed anything important. She quickly glanced through the news, a morning habit she’d taken up since getting the job at the firm. A headline caught her eye and she frowned, clicking the link to read the whole story.

  She sucked in her breath when she read the words. A murder on Fifty-Seventh Street. A break-in last night. A girl found dead not long after she’d called Jace.

  A girl named…Madison Holland.

  Carrie Simmons stared at the news story on her phone. Madison Holland had been found dead in her apartment on Fifty-Seventh Street, gunshot wound in her head. There’d been no sign of a struggle, and the police had several leads, but the article didn’t say much more than that.

  Her heart banged inside her chest. This couldn’t be a coincidence. Madison had been involved in Anders Holland’s death, and it had led to her very own downfall. Carrie was certain of it. She thought back to her own brush with the attacker
two nights before and shuddered. This could have been her on the news instead of Madison.

  Jace slid back into the bedroom, balancing a coffee mug and a tray packed full of wafting breakfast foods: poached eggs, bacon, spinach, and freshly-toasted bread. The hunger Carrie had felt only moments before had been replaced by a growing sense of dread, and she couldn’t even look at the food, much less dig in like nothing at all was wrong.

  Jace must have sensed Carrie’s mood because he put the tray of food on the nightstand and eased onto the bed beside her. He brushed her hair back from her eyes, so gentle she could barely believe it was Jace. “Don’t tell me you’re having doubts again already.”

  “No, that’s not it.” Carrie shook her head and handed Jace the phone, watching as he scanned the article to judge his reaction to the news. Even though she hated herself for it, she had to wonder why Jace had wanted to know the address of Madison’s apartment last night. His face remained as cold and closed off as usual, though she caught a slight twitch in his jaw before he handed back the phone.

  “What do you make of that?” Carrie asked.

  “She was a girl way in over her head,” Jace said, betraying none of his thoughts or emotions. “It’s unfortunate that things had to end this way for her, but I can’t say I’m surprised.”

  Carrie raised her eyebrows. “I find it pretty shocking myself.”

  “She got involved with a murderer.” Jace stood and retrieved a coffee from the breakfast tray, handing the mug to Carrie. “A murderer who saw you dropping by her fake apartment. It was only a matter of time before they decided she was more of a liability than an asset.”

  “Her last name was Holland, Jace.” Carrie gripped her hands around the hot mug, the scent of the strong brew bringing more clarity to her thoughts. “The article doesn’t say it, but I’d bet money that she was related to Anders Holland.”

  Jace clenched his jaw before glancing away. He didn’t seem particularly surprised by that news, either. He was hiding something, Carrie was certain of it. No, she didn’t think he was a killer. Jace could never do such a thing. Besides, he never would have had time to make it to Madison’s apartment and back before Carrie arrived at his penthouse last night. But all of that didn’t change the fact he was acting a little strange.

  “Is there something you’re not telling me?” Carrie finally asked, shifting on the bed to face him. She was still completely naked, and the sheet fell from her shoulders, drawing Jace’s eyes down to her breasts.

  A wicked smile began to play across his lips. “Yes. I forgot to mention that you may need to eat your breakfast cold this morning. By the time I’m done with you, it won’t be warm.”

  Carrie’s face went hot, and her thoughts about Madison scattered out of the forefront of her mind. Jace took her warm coffee from her hands and settled it next to the cooling food on the bedside table. Her breath began to quicken, hands tensing around the slick sheets. She knew she shouldn’t stay. She knew she should leave and get ready for work. But Jace was brushing the hair back from her shoulders and drinking in her body with his dark and dangerous eyes, and nothing else seemed to matter anymore.

  “Have I ever told you that you’re more beautiful in the morning than at night?” he asked in almost a growl.

  Carrie shook her head and felt her body instinctively shift closer to Jace. He reached out and grazed her nipple with his hand. Shivering, Carrie leaned in and pressed her mouth against his, letting her need for him overcome every other thought inside her mind. His mouth moved under her lips, hungry and hard. Gasping, Carrie dug her fingernails into Jace’s arms as he squeezed her nipple, shockwaves of pain and pleasure shaking through her.

  Jace pulled away and stood from the bed. Carrie watched as he disappeared into his walk-in closet, his muscles tensing seductively with each step. When he returned a moment later, one of his dark business ties dangled from his fingers.

  Carrie’s eyes widened, and her heartbeat picked up pace. “What are you doing?”

  “There are some things I want to show you.” Jace moved back in close and pressed his finger under her chin to force her eyes to look into his. “Do you trust me?”

  Swallowing hard, Carrie nodded. Jace pointed at the gleaming black headboard just before he pulled the sheet away from the bed, exposing every inch of Carrie’s body. Goosebumps spread across her skin, as much from the chill in the air as from the heat in Jace’s eyes.

  “Scoot back and put your hands over your head.”

  Carrie did as he commanded, settling back on the pile of pillows and resting her wrists against the headboard. Jace climbed onto the bed, straddling her as he twisted the tie around her wrists. His erection rose to meet her eyes, and with a gasp, she reached out to stroke his cock with her tongue.

  Jace groaned and cinched the tie tight. He shifted closer, pressing his cock against Carrie’s lips. She took him deep into her mouth, moving her head as she licked his throbbing length. His hands gripped the headboard, and Carrie couldn’t help but let out a moan as he hardened even more inside her mouth, a wetness spreading between her thighs.

  “Carrie,” Jace groaned before pulling away. “Close your eyes.”

  Carrie let her eyelids flutter shut, and a moment later, something smooth and cold brushed against her nipple. Thrills spread across her skin from the delicious sensation, and she wriggled on the bed as the coolness rubbed against her breasts again, hardening her nipples until it was almost too much to bear.

  She struggled to keep her eyes closed when the cool bead traveled down her belly and slid against her wet sex. Groaning, she arched her back. Jace’s touch quickened, rubbing against her in a delicious rhythm that made her head roar and her ears ring. Just as she was about to reach her climax, the sensation disappeared, leaving her gasping and desperate for more.

  She began to open her eyes, but Jace slid his palm over her face. “Keep your eyes shut.”

  And then he was inside her, thrusting at a tempo she could barely comprehend. She ached to wrap her arms around him, but the tie held her in place. His cock pulsed inside her, and his hands gripped her hips, leaving Carrie weak to do nothing but let him claim her as his. He took her hard, fast, and rough, and the intensity of his need overwhelmed her own lust.

  When his pace quickened, every cell in her body sparked with pleasure. She screamed out his name, shuddering as he met her climax with his own and emptied his seed inside her writhing body.

  Panting, he slowed and dropped a kiss onto her nipple. “Carrie Simmons, you’re mine.”

  Jace wanted to keep Carrie tied up in his bed for the rest of the day. Or even better, for the rest of the week. But after he’d given her a small taste of things to come, she’d insisted on leaving his bed and going into work for the day. She’d smelled of him as he’d given her a kiss goodbye, making his need for her overcome him all over again. Being tied up had seemed to excite her, and he was looking forward to giving her more where that had come from.

  Jace had always enjoyed being in control and taking command, but he’d had his eyes opened to some of the more pleasurable aspects of domination since Carrie had left him three years prior. And he certainly planned on introducing Carrie to his titillating world now that she’d stopped fighting against the passion between them.

  He knew he needed to introduce it slowly, in order to ease her into it all. If he pulled out a whip the first time he took control, it might give her a bit of a shock.

  But not everything about the morning had been as pleasant as fucking Carrie as hard as he could. There had been that article, of course. Madison Holland, step-daughter of Anders Holland, found dead in her apartment. Someone had shot her in the night.

  When Jace had discovered that Madison was a Holland the night before, he had wasted no time in looking into it. A few phone calls and he had his answer. Madison was Anders’s step-daughter, though the marriage to her mother had ended six months before. Madison had never been on Jace’s radar since she’d lived out in California u
ntil her recent move to New York, according to his sources.

  Jace slid on his suit and exited the penthouse, opting to take the elevator down to the lobby rather than exit through the back as per his usual routine. Ever since the police had highlighted him as a person of interest, Jace had decided a record of his comings and goings might come in handy in case something else happened. Except when it came to Carrie, of course.

  Frowning, Jace exited the elevator and stepped out under a canopy of chandeliers. He’d had to keep his investigation hidden from Carrie, of course. If she found out he’d been prying into Madison’s past, she wouldn’t be happy. Not to mention, he didn’t want her to start skulking around people’s apartments again. It was far too dangerous, and he’d do anything to keep her safe. Even if that meant lying to her.

  Jace scanned the lobby. Franklin Snow was scheduled to meet him here, but he saw no sign of his well-groomed assistant. Frowning, he glanced at his Rolex. It was well past the allotted time, and Franklin was always more than punctual. He flicked his fingers toward one of the staff members hovering behind the front desk, and the young woman took quick steps to his side, a bright smile painted on her youthful face as she smoothed her pristine uniform.

  “Have you seen my assistant this morning?” Jace asked, barely giving her a glance as he continued to scan the lobby. “Mr. Snow.”

  “No sir,” the young woman said. “I’ve been at the desk all morning, and I haven’t seen him in here.”

  Jace frowned and gave her a nod before sliding his phone from his suit pocket and making the call. Franklin’s cell rang and rang, but there was no answer on the other end of the line. That was odd. Franklin always answered his phone, even in the dead of night. It was one of the things he liked about his assistant.

  Unease settled into Jace’s mind. He’d sent Franklin to speak to Madison after he’d found out where she lived. Franklin had interrogated individuals for him in the past, and it seemed the best course of action to send him on this particular fact-finding mission. Carrie had been right. Jace couldn’t do it himself. A third party had to get involved, and he’d chosen Franklin to find out what Madison knew about the people trying to set him up. He was the best man for it, based on his past.