What to Read After FSOG: The Gemstone Collection (WTRAFSOG Book 4)

by Selena Kitt

  She almost laughed. She wanted to bring him in, straddle him on her couch and then maybe share some take out. She wanted him to take care of everything and take her away like he planned. That evening belonged to someone else. Not her. “You’ll see.” She would push him to his limit, show him he couldn’t control everything. Still keeping hold of his tie, she guided him away.

  She would never get caught wanting to be that girl again. There was a reason she reinvented herself. She had a momentary slip, nothing more.

  Tonight, she would have some fantasy with the Mike she knew now and Margaret would have closure.

  Chapter Seven

  Riley looped the chain of her purse around her body and turned, taking a few steps backward up the sidewalk from where their driver dropped them off. “Are you coming or not?”

  Mike made sure to ignore the double innuendo of her comment. He also made sure not to run after her. Every time she moved away from him he felt like he would lose her.

  He glanced at the tall skyscraper on Sunset Boulevard, the same one where they had their interview.

  Before his meeting, he took his time making arrangements for the evening. They would go back to Malibu at an ultra-exclusive Italian restaurant, followed by a suite at hotel where he could make love to her with the ocean in the background. He had two days left in California and needed to spend as much time with her as possible. If all went well, he was ready to purchase some tickets for her to return with him to Dallas.

  “You want to come back here?”

  “I hate this restaurant.” She stopped. “We’re not going there.”

  The rest of the building seemed compiled of high-end offices. “Riley.”

  She held her hand out to him. “You’re going to have to let me do this.”

  He lunged toward her hand, the first gift she offered. The need in his body surged at the simple act of their hands touching.

  “What is this?” He tangled his fingers in hers trying to make more contact, and pulled her toward him.

  Her appearance was different tonight. Yesterday, she’d worn a little black dress with bad girl accessories, but tonight she wore a longer, flowing black skirt made of sheer fabric. Only the layers provided coverage. A shirt of the same fabric hid what appeared to be some sort of corset. She’d applied her makeup heavier and put her hair up.

  He always wanted the girls who had an edge, was attracted to something a little darker. Someone who could go to a meeting in a dress and heels, then go home and don leather and lace. Riley personified what he was after.

  She braced herself by putting her free hand to his chest. “You’ll have to go inside to find out.”

  Shit. He wasn’t going to make it inside anywhere, unless it included his cock buried deep inside her. They hadn’t even done anything and his erection grew. After last night, he’d relieved himself once when he returned to the hotel, and another time during his break at lunch. For a man who didn’t like having to obtain his own release, he was becoming an expert.

  “Are you okay?” She peeked up at him through her lashes.

  “Maybe I need a little fortification before we go on.” He placed three fingers under her chin, tilting her face up to his.

  “What might that entail?”

  “A little of this.” He moved his hand around her neck, licked his lips and lowered his face. The small sampling of her lips she graced him with before they left needed to be recharged.

  Right before he joined their mouths, her hand blocked him.

  He held her tighter. “Riley.” He needed this kiss. Right now.

  She raised her eyebrows and smiled. “I want to go in, Michael.”

  The way she said his name caused a shiver to run through his shoulders. Not many people called him by his full name. “All right.”

  He let her lead the way up to a man standing in front of the building’s entrance.

  “We’re going to the top.” Riley pointed forward.

  The man gave her a slight nod, and she guided Mike through the glass doors. He couldn’t imagine what was going on, but refrained from asking.

  She entered the one open elevator. “Do you want to push the button?”

  “If you tell me where we’re going.” The elevator was comprised of four golden walls, plush red carpet and a crystal chandelier hung in the middle. Odd décor for a modern building made of glass, steel and marble.

  “There’s only one place to go.” She shifted her eyes to the control panel.

  Aside from the obligatory emergency phone, there was one solo illuminated button without even the benefit of a number to reveal its secret destination. “I see.” Everything seemed far away, like when he was younger and ended up out somewhere he shouldn’t be, and home seemed unattainable.

  “I need to take care of something.” She unbuttoned that sheer black shirt and shimmied out of it, leaving her top half covered in a black velvet corset with matching satin ribbons running down the seams.

  She turned, first left then right, assessing herself in the reflection of the gold walls while he took in the lacing up her back.

  His mouth went dry. Her pale skin glowed against all the black.

  She rolled up the shirt and put it in her handbag. “What are you waiting for?”

  He cleared his throat and pushed the button.

  The elevator doors closed. If she wouldn’t allow him to know where they were going, he would make headway in another direction. He stepped back and slid his arm around her waist.

  She settled against him.

  Her position gave him the perfect opportunity to take in the top of her breasts. They wanted to overflow out the lingerie disguised as a dress. The corset contoured to her curves, accentuating what was already magnificent. He dared to snake his hand up.

  “You look troubled.” She moved her hair out of her face.

  “You look beautiful.”

  “Are you sure it’s not too much?” A bit of pink stained her pale cheeks.

  He let his gaze travel from her face to her neck decorated with a black lace choker, and back to her cleavage. He was never going to make through tonight without having her.

  “It’s not too much.” He took a chance and moved his hand to the edge of her breast. Even with the restrictive garment, her flesh changed, soft, welcoming, enticing.

  She arched her back toward him. “So, you like what you see?”

  Less than ten minutes ago this woman wouldn’t kiss him. He wanted to grab her, take her hand and press it to himself and show her exactly how much he liked what he saw.

  “I can think of nothing better.”

  “Are you ready for some surprises?” She reached up to fix his collar.

  His life had turned into nothing but twists and turns ever since she asked her first interview question.

  “I hate surprises.” His hand traveled to cup her well-defined breast. The binding strained to contain her.

  “I know.”

  The elevator doors opened. Pounding music, smoke, the shine of black lights, and the aroma that wafted around her from earlier overloaded his senses.

  “Let’s go.” She headed out.

  He froze, took a moment to absorb the secret atop a business building in Beverly Hills, a clandestine club for those in the know.

  She peeked behind her. “Are you ready for some more surprises?”

  “I hate surprises.” He repeated and stepped over the threshold.

  “I know.” She took his hand.

  The elevator doors closed, leaving him surrounded in that mysterious but familiar scent.

  Chapter Eight

  “Would you care to dance?” Mike shut his eyes at his formal question. He sounded as if he stepped out of another century. In this case, it wouldn’t be far from the truth.

  A large, ornate bar lined one wall, while a dance floor made up the rest of the space. Projected otherworldly images twisted and flashed on the walls in time to the music. The club seemed stuffed with people from every different walk of
life, except his. For the first time, his suit and tie was inappropriate.

  She nodded and guided them to the far end of the dance floor and faced him.

  “I’m not much of a dancer.” He didn’t frequent clubs, somehow he always missed out on the group that took their nightlife seriously. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed others doing more than dancing. He likened it more to some form of artistic expression.

  “Neither am I.” She wrapped her arms around his neck.

  He took her by the waist. The low base of the music vibrated through him, a strange massage, and they swayed together back and forth, not in time to the music but their own rhythm. “Do you come to these types of places often?”

  She tilted her head up to him. “Does it matter if I do?”

  Her tone changed, the same one she used yesterday when she told him she didn’t want to be stood up. “I just want to know more about you.”

  “Maybe you know all you need to know already.” She combed her fingers through the hair at the back of his neck.

  He was in the middle of a riddle, and he didn’t know the question to get to the answer.

  “Tell me what you know about me.” The flickering light bounced off her features, her eyes sparkled. She knew the solution.

  “You tell me first.” He challenged her.

  She directed her attention to his ear, tracing his lobe with one fingernail.

  He held her tighter, but refused to have his question diverted. “Tell me, Riley.” Why was she here with him?

  “Do you ever think people have unfinished business?” She lowered her hand to his shoulder and stared into his eyes. Her voice as serious as if she had a contract she needed him to sign.

  “What do you mean?” He stopped their makeshift dance.

  “I know you’re successful, you like to stand on your own but not stand out, and you like to be in full control.”

  “How does that equate to unfinished business?” The music disappeared. He focused on her every move waiting for her to give him a clue.

  “You need to answer.” This time she didn’t divert his questions. She completely deflected them.

  “I know you are smart, witty and beautiful.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “I didn’t know you memorized personal ads.”

  He glanced around the club. Some dressed like Riley, edgy with an air, some more hardcore, even appearing as if they could be in costume. Definitely a place where the outsider was on the inside. Everyone hid something, a little part of them they wanted to tuck away, keep safe. Some protected themselves by putting on a suit and tie, others with body piercings or corsets.

  “What’s the secret?”

  She stayed still, statuesque.

  “You are a rebel and you want people to know it. You purposely push your limits and the limits of those around you. I didn’t lie when I said you are smart, but you are also savvy. I’m not sure what you will do.”

  The smile took a moment to appear on her face, but when it did, it let him know he only cracked part of the code. “I thought you hated surprises.”

  “With you, it’s more like staying aware. Deep down I know what you’ll do, but I don’t.” He frowned at not even making sense to himself.

  “Maybe like unfinished business?”

  This time when she said those words he shuddered. Since he met her something was different, the energy surrounding them ran deep. He thought it was sexual tension, but what if it were more?

  Once again she wrapped her arms around his neck. She leaned up on her tiptoes and whispered in his ear. “Do you want to continue to dance?”

  He turned his head to kiss her and show her what he wanted.

  She put her hand over his lips. “No more dancing?”

  “Is there a place to go sit?”

  “Public or private?” She slid her body against his.

  “Private.” Now they would leave.

  “All right, let’s go get a drink, and I’ll show you a secret.” She grabbed his hand.

  That was exactly what he wanted. He would find out what she was hiding.

  Chapter Nine

  “Isn’t this illegal?” Mike leaned down to watch her.

  “The absinthe?” Riley lifted the small pitcher of iced water, dripping it over the sugar cube into the green-tinged drink, turning the clear liquid to a cloudy delicacy. She placed the special spoon on the cocktail napkin and pushed the drink across the desk. “It was made legal again several years ago in the United States.”

  He held his hand out and swiped it around the room. “I’m talking about where we are.”

  “It’s the place where business came to die.” She glanced around the office. “I wonder what the company did.” The space they occupied was littered with abandoned glass desks, office chairs and filing cabinets.

  “Riley.” He peered inside the glass.

  “The management knows the club goers come up here. You saw the bartender give me the key.” She lifted her glass. The only source of illumination in the dark office was from their cell phones and the lights from the city outside. “You said you wanted something private.”

  “I had something different in mind.” He raised his glass.

  “Try it you’ll like it.” She cocked her head to one side. “Maybe your evening had too many reservations.” Reservations for dinner, reservations at a hotel. She knew what he planned, but to go there with him would only set herself up for a heartbreak worse than fifteen years ago. Tonight was for her to have him in her world, stretch his boundaries, and give her a new memory to replace the old. Then they would part. This time she would say goodbye first, and it would be her choice.

  “Am I allowed to propose a toast with absinthe?” He tilted his glass toward her.

  “Who cares if you’re allowed or not.” She kept her glass steady.

  “To meeting you, and learning to appreciate a few surprises.” He hit his glass against hers.

  “To closure.” She lifted the glass to her lips, allowing the spicy licorice-like tang to roll over her tongue.

  Mike sipped the drink, raising his eyebrows as he put the glass down. “Does this closure have to do with some unfinished business?” He reached across the desk and took her hand.

  “What do you think the unfinished business is?” Part of her heart nagged at her to tell him her past identity. Would he remember her? Would he run the other direction? Would he voice a regret? She didn’t know if she wanted that type of closure.

  He rolled his chair around the side of the desk, closer to her. “I would start with kissing you.”

  She wished away the spiral in her stomach. “You could begin there.”

  “I hope you let me in on the rest of riddle.” Rather than moving in to kiss her lips, he brought her hand to his mouth.

  He started with her thumb, giving that digit merely a peck and intensifying his actions as he made his way across to every finger. By the time he got to her ring finger, he took the tip between his lips, flicking his tongue over the tip.

  She held her breath, damning herself. All she wanted to do was touch him, be with him. Shivers ran up her arm and through her.

  For his grand finale, he stared right into her eyes and placed the length of her pinky into his mouth. His tongue circled around her finger and while applying gentle suction.

  The shivers turned to a wave of heat cresting over her, crashing between her legs, leaving her moist and wanting.

  He let her finger loose, but kept hold of her hand, pressing the back to his mouth. “Maybe that absinthe is making me hallucinate.” His words vibrated through her.

  “What do you see?” She watched him turn her hand over and moved closer.

  He leaned forward and gave her an open mouth kiss right in the center of her palm. “Suddenly an abandoned office space is an incredible turn on.” He repeated his action, this time trailing his lips to her wrist.

  She licked her lips, priming them for the true kiss she needed now. This was the night of no limit
s. “Are you seeing the possibilities?” She never had such intense reactions to anyone. It was as if her body had waited for him.

  “Yes.” He swept his lips up her forearm and pulled her toward him.

  “I told you.” Somehow her voice came out an octave higher. Rather than her muscles tensing, they relaxed.

  “There is something about being here with you.”

  She closed her eyes when he nibbled at the juncture between her neck and shoulder.

  “Since I met you, I wanted you.” He took her other hand and placed it on his leg.

  His words should be sexy, hot. She wanted them to be, but she lived with the deficit of memories of him, while he had nothing but the bliss of a blank slate. She was stuck in an eccentric limbo.

  “I want to spend time talking to you.” He pulled her to him, settling her on his lap. “But, I can’t keep my hands off you.”

  This time, she leaned forward to kiss him and he pulled back.

  He lowered his head and grazed his lips across the tops of her breasts.

  She closed her eyes, allowing the sensations he created to block out her thoughts.

  “You’re beautiful.” His voice resonated throughout her.

  She opened her eyes to find him staring up at her. The way he said the words she wanted to believe him. She always wanted to believe him. They were different now. They had to be.

  Without a word he put two fingers in his mouth.

  “Mike?”

  He slipped his fingers inside her corset and across her already hard nipple.

  She held her breath. His touch shot down right to her center, making her pulse against nothing.

  “I wanted to do this to you yesterday.” He kissed her cleavage, running his tongue between her breasts while he fondled the other tight peak.

  “Oh.” She grabbed his hair. Long ago her dreams consisted of precisely this moment where Mike Taylor ravished and wanted her.

  He curled one hand behind her head and guided her to his lips.

  Their kisses began slow, extended pecks meant to entice, create a need they both already possessed.