Their Twisted Love (The Twisted Mosaic - Book 2)

by James, Amelia

  "Would you like some coffee?" He strolled into the kitchen and brought back two full mugs.

  So clueless. "Sure. Thanks." The dark liquid rippled like waves on the lake. The lake. The pier. Will's truck. Damn it. "I need to tell you something."

  "Okay." He sat beside me and frowned as something caught his eye. "What happened to your neck?"

  I tugged at my collar. So much for keeping secrets. "I don't know how to tell you this." The coffee's rich aroma turned my stomach, and I set it on the table, pushing the mug as far away as possible. I'd never confessed to cheating before. Will had caught me, but he'd known anyway. "After our fight, I went to see an old boyfriend."

  His eyes narrowed as he raised his mug. "Is that his shirt?"

  "Yeah."

  "What happened to yours?"

  "Really?"

  His face went blank, and he let out a long, slow breath. "No. I'm not stupid, Talia. I knew you wouldn't be able to wait much longer."

  The room got hot and small. "Then why did you turn me down? I wanted you." I rushed to the window for some air, slapped the frame and jiggled the lock. Damn thing won't open!

  He followed. "Don't blame this on me. You wanted sex tonight for all the wrong reasons."

  I spun and pushed his arm away as he reached around me and lifted the window pane. "How the hell did you know what my reasons were? And who are you to decide they're wrong?"

  "I know misdirected lust when I see it. You went to Denver for a few days, and you came back ready to tear my clothes off. You didn't miss me that much. Someone else turned you on."

  I touched his bare chest, and his heartbeat caressed my fingertips. "But I came to you. I left him and came to you. Doesn't that mean anything?"

  He backed off, rubbing his forehead. "Maybe it did, but I was too proud to take advantage of that. I want to be the one who gets you all fired up. Not him."

  That made perfect sense. Will and Alex never cared who made my pussy drip. They just wanted to fuck me. But Scott wanted to light the stove and enjoy the meal.

  Scott crossed his arms over his chest, planting his body between me and the couch. "Were you with him tonight?"

  Is he serious? "How could I have gone to Denver and back in a couple of hours?"

  "So you slept with a different guy?"

  Shit! Walked right into that. "Yes."

  "Yeah, I guessed you had a lot of men in your past."

  My legs quivered and I sat down on the window ledge. My hair fell over my face as I looked at the floor. "I told you that. I told you I wasn't a good girl."

  "That was kinda hot at the time. But now I know what it means."

  I shot off the window sill and jabbed my fingernail into his chest. "And just what do you think it means? That I'm a slut? That you knew I'd stray? You don't know a damn thing!"

  His jaw clenched. "Enlighten me!"

  "I was fucking both of them! At the same time!"

  His impenetrable stance collapsed, and he sat down. "Did they know about each other?"

  "They knew. I didn't."

  "What the hell does that mean?"

  My heart pounded in my ears as I paced in front of him. "They set me up. I dated one, screwed the other, and they planned the whole thing. They kept me in the dark, burdened with guilt while they played their perverted sex game."

  "What happened when you found out?"

  I stopped in my tracks and stared straight at him. Pure, indulgent satisfaction raised my shoulders and lifted my chin. "I fucked them both."

  "Fucked them or fucked them over?"

  "Both. I made them fulfill my fantasy, and then I gave them what they deserved."

  He shook his head and sat back. "You are messed up."

  I looked down my nose at him. "Oh and you're so perfect. You had no problem putting off sex for over six months. Were you getting it somewhere else?"

  "No. You told me you wanted to wait. I didn't ask why because I knew you'd gotten out of a bad relationship. I just didn't know how perverted it was."

  I drew in a sharp breath. "Don't judge me! We all have our kinks. Mine is fucking as many men as I want. Yours is dating slutty women and withholding sex."

  He stood and tried to back me against the window. "You asked me to wait."

  But I evaded his approach and steered him down the hallway. "And you refused me when I was ready."

  He turned and walked away from me. "That wasn't ready. That was guilt."

  "Bullshit!"

  He spun and advanced on me again. "You think so? You think guilty sex is good sex?"

  Wow. His words cut right to the heart of the matter. Both times I'd wanted Scott had been after fooling around with Alex and fucking Will. Guilt had led me to some amazing sex, but I thought I was over that. Heat pooled between my legs as carnal memories of fucking one man after sleeping with his best friend assaulted me.

  I reached for him, touched his pounding chest. He backed away, but I pursued, trapping his body against the wall with mine. "It's the best kind."

  "Prove it."

  "Are you asking me to go to bed with you?"

  "No. I'm telling you."

  I should've said no. I should've walked out and never looked back. But some crazy thought told me that fucking Scott—right here, right now—might salvage our relationship. I knew it was BS, but I'd always wonder if I didn't try.

  With one quick move, I yanked his pants to the floor, exposing his hard and ready cock. He bit his lip while I stroked him, caressing his long shaft with greedy fingers. A drop of fluid oozed from the velvety head, and I licked it off my thumb. His lips had said no, but the wood in my palm said, 'fuck me before I explode.'

  "I see I'm not the only one aroused for the wrong reasons."

  He snarled and stripped me, tearing Will's shirt as he pulled it over my head. My shorts hit the floor, and we fondled and groped each other's naked bodies. My hand re-captured his cock. His fingers claimed my pussy. If fingering was a lost art, then Scott was a Renaissance Master. He painted my lower lips with my juices, brushing with an expert touch, then dipped his fingers into my well and dabbed my throbbing clit with his thumb.

  We spun and he crushed me against the wall. He grabbed my ass and hitched me up while I wrapped my legs around his waist and rubbed my wet flesh along his erection.

  His gaze burned into mine as he impaled me. "If I'd known you were such a slut, I never would've waited."

  "You knew. But you're too wholesome to fuck me like I deserve it."

  He dug his fingers into my ass cheeks and spread them apart, circling a slippery fingertip around my tight hole, but he didn't enter. "Think so?" He drove his cock in deep, slamming me into the wall and taking my breath away.

  "Yes." I gasped and shifted, trying to shove his finger into my ass, but he moved his hand away.

  He groaned and pounded me without mercy. "You need to be punished for fucking your ex... while you made me wait for months." Picture frames tilted and fell to the floor.

  "Yes!" I squealed as he battered my wanton pussy. Oh God, I love being punished!

  He lost his grip, but caught me on his cock. I sank my fingers into his shoulders and clenched his hips with my thighs.

  "That's a tight grip," he moaned.

  "My legs got quite a workout from all those men."

  "I wasn't talking about your legs." He twisted inside me, stroking deep and hard.

  "Ohh...." My body curled into a tight spiral, spinning hotter and faster as I squirmed and gasped. I slipped and he lifted me. I fell and he carried me. I floated, secure and steady, and landed on a cloud of fluffy white bliss—his bed.

  Scott lay on top of me, brushing my hair from my face while he held me close. "Fuck you like you deserve it? What does that mean?"

  "Oh...." I hid my face against his shoulder. "Do you really want to hear that story?"

  "Probably not." He caressed my hair with gentle fingers, pulling my head back so I would look at him. "Tell me."

  "I said that to Alex once. B
ack then I was... I'm still...." Alex's plaything? Will's pity fuck? "I got what I deserved... what I wanted."

  "Bad girl sex?"

  That's putting it mildly. "Yeah." But I didn't give him any details.

  He pulled me close and kissed my forehead. "Has anyone ever made love to you?"

  "Will used to. We thought we were, anyway."

  "Let me...." His lips touched my shoulder, soft and warm. I sighed and sank into the pillows while he caressed my body. He slid his hands over my skin, seeking my pleasure spots. His touch wasn't rough or demanding like the men I was used to, but inquisitive, and he seemed genuinely delighted when I responded to him. "Kiss you like you deserve it."

  "Hm?" I turned my head and his mouth caught mine, parting it gently and teasing my tongue to play with his.

  "I've gotten to know you these last few months, Talia. You're a good woman, worthy of love and devotion." But as he kissed and nibbled the words on my skin, he avoided the mark on my neck.

  No, I'm not. Only a couple of hours ago, I'd spread my legs for a man and used him. A couple of days ago, I'd allowed still another man to torment my mind while he tortured my pussy. And I wanted them both. I craved their abuse. "You don't know. You don't understand."

  "Give me the chance." His tongue circled my fluttering abs, and I caught my breath. "Your body should be worshipped." He parted my quivering thighs and dipped his head between them.

  Sweet kisses and tender licks soothed my mistreated pussy. No, not pussy. What then? It seemed wrong somehow to think of my body in such vulgar terms while he was treating it with respect. Tingling warmth swirled... between my legs. "Oh, that feels nice."

  He sighed and slipped his finger inside me, stroking reverently while I fought back the impulse to demand something dirty. Sex doesn't have to be nasty. It can be... pleasant. Damn it.

  I ran my fingers over my flat nipple, tugging it into a hard, aching pebble. The orgasm that rocked me in the hallway had faded fast. The next one should've come easily, but Scott's tongue alone couldn't get me there. His skill matched most men, even surpassed some, but the violence and malice we'd shared against the wall hadn't followed us to the bedroom.

  I draped my legs over his shoulders and dug my heels into his back, hoping he'd respond with some venom. But he kissed my needy flesh with sweet tenderness, so I re-lived the wicked images I'd used so many times: Will's cock buried deep in my cunt, Alex's tongue flicking my clit. My body naked and writhing between them. A cock in my ass and a cock in my pussy.

  Flames roared to life, incinerating any lingering clean thoughts and igniting my nastier urges. "Oh God, yes!"

  Scott got to his knees and thrust his cock inside me while I was still coming, setting off a second orgasm, stronger than the first. He stretched out on top of my trembling body, entwining my fingers with his as he held my arms above my head. I couldn't move, but I didn't need to. He used his entire body to stroke me, inside and out as the hair on his chest teased my nipples into tingling buds. His abs melded into mine and our thighs mated. My toes curled along his calves.

  He flicked my earlobe with his tongue. "You're so beautiful."

  I moaned and pulled away. Don't want to talk. Don't want to listen.

  But he pursued, nipping my neck and whispering sweet words. "I knew you'd feel good. So soft and warm... a true pleasure to hold. An erotic angel."

  God, no. "Call me slut."

  "Why?"

  "Because I like it."

  "Do you?"

  Alex's wicked snarl rattled my spine. Fuck my cock, slut. Fuck it hard.

  Will's husky growl curled my toes. Do you like being a dirty slut?

  My nipples tingled. God, yes! "More than you know." More than I understood.

  He shook his head, pulled out and sank back in, sharing his body with me like it belonged to both of us. "You can be his slut, but you're my goddess."

  And then he kissed me. His lips parted and his tongue flickered, but he held back as if waiting for an invitation. I slid my tongue between his lips. Come in. He moaned and let go of my hands, then wrapped his arms around me. I caressed his shoulders and his neck, tangling my fingers in his hair while he kissed me.

  Is this what making love is like?

  That familiar spark danced—not between my legs—but beneath my breast and in my heart.

  But I don't love him.

  Didn't matter. The sparks set off a chain reaction, speeding through our entangled limbs and exploding at our joined hips. We held onto that kiss, clinging to it like a safety net pulling us out of the shockwave.

  I nestled into Scott's clean white sheets while he held me close. He caught his breath and whispered, "Don't tell me you don't deserve this."

  I panted. "Wrong reasons."

  "What?"

  "You. Me. Guilt, revenge, anger. All the wrong reasons."

  "All of those and one more."

  "Desperation?" Clinging to something that wasn't there?

  He slipped his hand into my hair and kissed me. "I care about you."

  At least he didn't claim to love me. "I know. You're good to me, good for me. I really wanted to make this work. That's why I didn't want to get sexual too soon." I sat up and held the blanket to my chest.

  He leaned up on his elbow, his gaze fixed my marked neck. "Why did you sleep with your ex?"

  "Ha. Wrong reasons." But as I looked around for my clothes, I realized that no matter how wrong sex with Will or Alex felt, I'd never get enough. "I knew he wouldn't say no to me. He never has."

  Scott wouldn't look at me. He got up and disappeared down the hall, but came back a couple minutes later with my clothes. "I'm sorry. I should've recognized what you needed."

  I'd cheated on him and he was apologizing? "I need a guy like you, someone who treats me right, but... you're not what I want." And with that statement, my heart sank into the black oblivion of my past, pulled down by the two men I couldn't let go.

  "Bad boys aren't relationship material."

  "Neither am I." I slid my arm behind my neck and tugged my hair from under my shirt. "But I won't cheat again."

  "I guess that means we're done."

  I'd have slapped that perceptive and understanding bastard if he hadn't been right. "Yeah. I'm sorry. I liked you."

  "But that wasn't enough for you."

  "Just stop." I zipped up my shorts and slipped my feet into my sandals. "I won't let you or anyone else use guilt to motivate me. I'm over that."

  He smiled and stood, reaching for my elbows and pulling me close. "Good."

  I meant to give him a nice, simple goodbye kiss, but the moment his lips touched mine, a little tingle parted them and our tongues mingled one last time. "I gotta go." I pushed off his chest and ran out the door.

  My heart skipped a beat as I tried to start my car and nothing happened. The engine roared on the second try and I breathed again, fighting back the panic rising from my gut. I'd come back to Chicago determined to take control of my life. I thought getting laid would remove the sexual tension between Alex and me and put us on a level playing field. I got fucked twice, but not by the man I really wanted—and still craved.

  How can I resist Alex now? Single. Free. I could have any man I wanted.

  I don't have to resist Alex.

  Ooo... my first impulse was to get back to Denver as fast as I could and rip his clothes off, but wait.... He doesn't know I'm single. I can use this against him. Wicked glee bubbled up inside me, and I caught a glimpse inside Alex's black heart, finally understanding what he saw when he looked at me with those devil eyes. Not a victim, but a formidable opponent, a challenge, a conquest and a prize worth fighting for.

  You are mine, Alex. There is no escape.

  Still Can't Say No

  "So are you sleeping with Alex, or is he still seeing Joan?" Claire closed the conference room door and planted her butt in a chair across from me. She linked her fingers under her chin as if expecting some juicy gossip.

  Still seeing Joan? "Whaa
at?" I pushed the laptop back and gaped at her. "Where'd you get the idea that I'm sleeping with Alex? And how do you know about him and Joan?"

  "Everyone knows about their little fling. And I can tell there's something going on between you two—or there was."

  "Was." And would be again, as soon as I figured out how to manipulate the man. But how could I use my freedom against him? Was I strong enough to take on Alex Sheridan and win? When had this become a competition? Why couldn't I just love the man?

  Love? Seriously, Talia?

  Claire sighed and a dreamy smile touched her lips. "Too bad. I'd do him if he wasn't my boss." She stood and picked up her notepad. "Ready to go?"

  I shoved the scattered documents into the file and flipped it closed. "Yeah."

  She led me to Joan's office. Alex was already there, leaning over her shoulder and pointing to something on her computer screen. His hand rested on her shoulder, a casual and intimate touch. Why is he groping her? I thought they broke up. But wait... he'd never told me he wasn't still fucking her.

  Joan waved us in. "Close the door, Claire. Have you found the payment, Talia?"

  The woman didn't waste words. Neither did I. "No. McCloskey knew what he was doing."

  Alex sat beside me, jiggling his knee and pulling at his tie. "Can you find it?"

  I ignored him and met Joan's gaze. Her eyes asked the same question and since she was my boss, I answered her. "Yes. But it'll take time."

  "We don't have time." Alex jumped up and paced around Joan's desk, moving much too close to her.

  Joan leaned back as he passed her, and her hand brushed his thigh. An accident or a stealthy caress? "Can you stall?"

  He cleared his throat and focused on Claire. "Research. Find anything and everything we can use to buy time. I want motions on my desk by five o'clock."

  "Yes, sir." That wasn't the first time she'd called him sir. Everyone here called each other by their first names, no matter what their position. God, how annoying. I could never call Alex sir. Asshole. Bastard. But never sir.

  Joan turned her back to Alex, then dismissed Claire and me with a nod. "Get to work."