I stood up and took Grace’s hand, leading her back to the sofa beside me. I brushed the silk of her hair back over her shoulders and took both her hands in mine. They felt cool, damp.
“Everything in me tells me he did, Grace. And that Cole was the man behind it all.” I chafed her hands in mine to warm them. “I’m right about him. All we need is the proof.”
“But how can Mrs. Sparr help with that? Or Dalia, for that matter?” Grace pulled her hands from mine. “What, exactly, are you going to make worth her while…?”
“What... exactly… are you asking me, Grace?”
She stood up and walked across the room, keeping her back to me. I saw her shoulders lift and fall. “This is about my mother, Kaine. What can Dalia do… that I can’t?” She turned to face me and I saw fear in her eyes. “Why do you want her here, Kaine?” She dropped her eyes to the floor. “And why do you not want me?”
I had her wrapped in my arms before she got out the last word. In the short second it took to reach her, I understood. It always came down to this. Even when I tried like fuck to keep it all business. I held her against my chest, feeling the rise and fall of hers. I’d failed her, by allowing her to cross the line… to disobey the rules that were there to protect us both. But I’d crossed the line too. And was about to cross it again…
“Grace,” I moaned, lifting her ass with my hands and pulling her hips into mine. “You’ve been all the fuck I’ve wanted since I saw you on that stage. Since I looked into your eyes, felt your skin under my hands…”
I caught her face in my hands and forced her to look at me. “I’ve never wanted anything… anyone… the way I want you…” I crushed her mouth with mine, filling her with my breath, my tongue… my words. Her hands tangled in my hair, pulling me in.
“I promised you’d suffer, Grace. But no more than I am now.” Her tongue met mine and my cock raged, caught between our hot, desperate bodies. “I want to fill you. Every inch of your body.” My voice was harsh with desire.
“I want to bury myself… lose myself in your sweet, velvet wetness. I want your body, your mind, your feelings… I want your heart, sweetheart. So fucking help me…”
And it was then I lost control.
I crushed her to me, devouring her with my hands and my mouth. Her body molded itself to mine, both of us straining… each of us desperate for more. She found the buttons of my shirt, fumbling, tearing at them. “I want this, Kaine…,” she said, breathlessly. “I need this. And I need you. It’s okay, Kaine… I trust you…”
I gripped her hands in mine, too hard. Way too hard. I pulled back, looking down into her beautiful face. Those beautiful green eyes… She did trust me. She was trusting me with everything inside her. Everything I wanted so badly.
“No, Grace.”
My heart was racing, my body screaming with desire for her. I pushed her from me and stepped back, running my hands savagely through my hair, trying to control my breathing and the storm raging inside me.
“It can’t happen, Grace. Not the way that you want.” I sat down behind the big, solid desk, buttoning my shirt again. She looked so small across the room. “Not even the way I want, sweetheart.”
“Kaine…”
“No… I wish that I could make you understand, Grace. I’m not even sure I do myself. But it can’t be like that between us. Not between me and any woman. I don’t know how to love you. Or anyone. And I won’t hurt you by taking something from you that I can’t give back.”
The door opened and Bec came in, towel in hand. She headed for the tray on the table, but stopped, looking from my face to Grace’s. “I… I hope I haven’t… interrupted…” She pursed her lips and I saw a frown start to form.
“Of course not.”
I stood. “We were only discussing tomorrow’s plans. We’ll have guests arriving in the afternoon. Some light refreshments should do, Bec. Now, if you’ll both excuse me.” I headed for the door, unable to look back, feeling the eyes of both women on my back.
“Please make Grace comfortable in the east suite, Bec. I’ll see you both in the morning.”
26
Grace
He disappeared through the French doors, closing them behind him. I still stood where he’d left me.
“Oh, don’t let him and his ways upset you any,” Becca said briskly, sweeping crumbs from the coffee table. “He has his big, stern look about him, but don’t you let that fool you.” She straightened and brushed the greying hair out of her eyes with the back of her hand. “He’s strong and rich and powerful, sure. He has everything he thinks he needs. But I’ll tell you this, Grace.” She took my hand and led me to the sofa, sitting down beside me with a wink. “That boy has no idea what’s good for him, and that’s the truth.” She patted my hand. “I thought I’d never see him bring a nice young lady home. Just work, work, work for that one. Well, just goes to prove… there’s always hope. Even for a man as lonely as him.”
She stood up, picking up the tray and cocking her head at me. “Come on. I’ll get you all nice and snug in the west suite.”
“But Kaine said the east one…”
Becca smiled coyly as she led the way. “Did he? I’m just sure he meant the west one. It has the loveliest view in the evening. And it’s right next to Mr. Kaine’s…”
The light was starting to fade when Becca left me. The sky was turning pink and the huge windows guided the colors inside. My room was huge, the ceilings high. The bed was enormous, the only dark wood in the room. All the rest was pale, the color of cream. I’d bathed in the claw foot tub in the adjoining bathroom, and was wrapped in one of the thick towels Becca had provided. “Don’t you worry,” she’d said before she left me alone. “I saw how he looked at you, and there’s nothing to worry about. I know that boy better than he does. And a lady as old as I am doesn’t miss much.” She’d kissed my cheek and left me with a warm smile. I wanted to ask her so many things.
I brushed my hair, soothed by the familiar motion, and watched as the treetops moved in the distance. It was easy and gentle. Almost hypnotic. I realized how tired I was. And just how much had happened in such a short time. I sat still, staring out the window until the sun disappeared below the horizon. The room seemed different somehow. That’s when I heard the knock.
“Grace? Are you awake?”
His voice sounded strained from the other side of the door. “I need to speak to you, Grace. Please.”
I opened the door to him. He was in a robe, his hair damp and unruly. I’d never seen him looking so… normal. So real. I reached up to push the hair out of his eyes. They were warm. Warm grey. I felt a tingle run through me.
“I’m sorry, Grace. About losing control. About… well. I feel like I owe you more of an explanation than I was ready to give…”
“You don’t owe me anything, Kaine,” I answered softly. “You’ve given me so much. You’ve kept me safe, bringing me here, wanting to help. If anything, I’m the one who owes you.”
He shook his head gently and led me to the edge of the bed. He sat, pulling me down on his lap and wrapping his arms around my waist. I could feel his arousal through his robe and my towel. A hot, liquid warmth flooded through my core. I wanted him so badly, yet more than that, I wanted to hear what he had to tell me.
“You’ve asked me a lot of questions… ones I haven’t answered,” he began. It was almost completely dark. I watched the outline of his lips as he spoke. “I can’t give you everything you need, Grace. And I’ve never told anyone…” He looked out the window into the darkness. “I want to tell you. If I can make you understand… I want to tell you.”
I kissed him, softly, quickly. Not out of need or desire. But for encouragement. Then I was still, silent. Willing to wait as long as he needed me to.
“I asked Rose here tomorrow, along with Dalia, because they may be our last chance. To get the information we need to prove your mother wasn’t responsible for Claire’s death. Cole hasn’t made any friends at La Laisse, and when
Rose heard what he did to you…” I heard the strain and anger in his voice. “She’ll do anything I ask, to help us. And so will Dalia.”
I shifted, uncomfortable.
“No, sweetheart. Not because of anything personal between us. But because Dalia likes to dominate her partners.” I saw his outline change. He was smiling. “She may already know something that could help us. And if she doesn’t, I’m sure she could find out.”
“You mean, use her? To set Cole up somehow. To get him to admit something…?”
“It’s all part of the games she likes to play. And if we send her back to Cole, knowing the kind of information we need…”
“She’ll seduce it out of him…?”
“One way or another, I expect. She’s good with a whip.”
I sat quietly, not sure I wanted to hear any more. Kaine gathered my hair in one hand and twisted it, turning my face to his. I couldn’t see his features anymore. The light was gone and there was no moon.
“I’ve been to La Laisse a half dozen times, Grace. I’ve paid for almost every woman there, at one time or another.” I could feel his breath, warm and close. “I haven’t fucked one of them. Not at La Laisse. Not anywhere else.” He kissed me, his lips warm and gentle on mine. “I watched them. I encouraged them, just as I did with you. But I didn’t touch them. And I never let them touch me.”
“I remember,” I said. “The rules.”
“Yes, the rules.” He bit my lower lip softly. His teeth were sharp. “Rules I broke only with you. Rules I’m breaking right now.” His tongue slipped against mine and a powerful shudder ran through me. My pussy was clenching with a rhythm of its own. I could feel his rock-hard cock, so close. So fucking close…
“I was wild in my teens,” he said. “I thought sex could make everything better. And for a little while it seemed to.” He spoke into the curve of my neck. My nipples tightened.
“But it didn’t change who I was. Or what I’d done. The pain always came back. And I was hurting the women I was with. I couldn’t keep doing it.” He lifted the rope of my hair and breathed in, at the nape of my neck. “They wanted more. And there wasn’t any more I had to give them. And then one day I stopped. Not wanting. I never stopped wanting.” His breath was quickening. “But I stopped hurting them, using them. Taking from them.”
“You gave them pleasure,” I breathed, my mouth open, lips soft as I remembered. “You only gave. And watched their pleasure. Experiencing it through them.” His hand moved up my belly, cupping the weight of my breast in his hand. He squeezed gently and I felt a pool of moisture form between my thighs.
“You let the desire drive you,” I panted. “For the control. For the power it gives you…”
“Yes, Grace… I need all those things. I need the strength. I need the focus. I need to control all the things that I feel… All the things that I want…” He cupped both my breasts, lifting them and pushing them tight together. Then he slowly spread them apart, lifting and pulling gently. His cock was pounding beneath me. “I need the strength that you give me, my beautiful girl,” he whispered against the hollow of my spine. “And I need the power to hold back.”
He kissed my skin, dipping his tongue into the curves. “You’re perfect, Grace. Innocent and unmarked. You’re the loveliest woman I’ve ever seen. The loveliest woman I’ve ever touched in my life. You’re strong and perfect. And you know how to love…” He pulled away and took a long breath. “I won’t take all that from you. I can’t.”
I turned in his lap in one swift movement, wrapping my legs around his waist, my hips open, my hot center against him. My belly was to his belly, my chest to his chest. “You wouldn’t be taking, Kaine. I’m here for you. Right here. And I want this. I want you, Kaine.” I held his face in my hands. “You’re not taking from me, Kaine. I’m giving.”
He put his hands over mine, pressing them against his jaw. I could feel his heartbeat there. Fast and strong.
“I can’t love you, Grace. I can’t love anyone… and it wouldn’t be fair.” He was so close… but still so far from me. “You don’t know who I am. What I’ve done.” He drew in a shaky breath and let it out unsteadily.
“I was responsible for the death of my brother.” The words were little more than a whisper. “He was so little, so young. And he loved me.” His head fell forward in my hands, his forehead resting on mine. “He trusted me to keep him safe. I loved him and I failed him, Grace. I let him die, right in front of me… and I couldn’t save him.”
I held him in my arms, rocking him silently. There was nothing more to say. Kaine held me too, and we sat in the quiet dark. Rocking each other. Holding each other.
I couldn’t tell him now. He wouldn’t hear me. But I knew he was wrong in what he’d said… that he couldn’t love. He didn’t know it yet, but he was loving me right now.
He’d finally let me in.
27
Kaine
I woke as Grace turned in my arms. She was still asleep. My robe was tangled around my legs. Her towel had fallen to the floor hours ago. We’d fallen asleep, wrapped in each other’s arms. I moved gently, easing a hand under my head so I could look down at her.
The light came through the window, playing along the length of her body. She was pale and golden, her lashes dark against her cheeks. Even in her sleep her bottom lip was caught between her teeth. It was round and pink. My cock was hard, the head wet with my own anticipation. Her hand brushed against my thigh and her eyes fluttered open. She was pure and innocent, and trusting. She looked at me with love and acceptance. Her hands slipped around to my back, pulling me in. Her breasts were lush and warm, her breath warm and sweet. Her hand wrapped around my cock and I felt her shift downwards.
“No, Grace. Please…” The words came out as a ragged plea, not the order I intended. My hands, no longer in my control, wrapped in her hair. “Please, sweetheart…”
Her hands worked the length of me slowly, surprisingly strong. She nuzzled her face into my belly, only inches away… My hips jerked, working my cock against her palms. She rolled her thumb over the head and I gasped.
“Will you give me this, Kaine?” I jerked again as her breath hit bare skin. “I’m not asking for anything back. You don’t need to give. But I want you to let me do this for you.” Her tongue reached out, and I felt it hot and wet against my belly. “Can you let me…?”
She looked up at me, her eyes wide, lips apart, waiting for me. “Only if it’s what you want,” she said. “If you’ll let me give you this…”
I took her face gently between my hands, guiding her. I leaned back, sucking the breath through my teeth as her lips touched me. Ten long fucking years, and every second was worth the wait.
She took me inside her mouth and I was lost. She was hot and wet inside, licking and stroking. I felt her hands and her tongue like liquid fire. Her hands wrapped my hips, taking my buttocks in her hands, trapping me inside her. I held her shoulders in my hands, gripping them as she moved. Her breasts were crushed against the hard muscle of my thighs and she rode the movements of my body as I strained, thrusting and pulling back… working myself against her tight, swollen lips.
“Oh god, Grace…” my teeth were clenched, every muscle in my body tight and struggling for release. It had been so fucking long and she felt so fucking good. “Yes, sweetheart… just like that. Oh… just like that.” I was panting, my cock long and thick, getting harder with every stroke of her tongue. My balls were huge and pulled up tight. She let go of my cock and reached one little hand down to cup them tightly. “Fuck, Grace. Oh… fuck!”
I reached down, trying to pull her back. I didn’t want to shock her by coming in her mouth. But I felt her head shake no, and her grip on me tightened. She rocked her tongue back and forth over my head, then she pushed me in even deeper. I felt her throat muscles working against me then, her hands stroking, her throat swallowing… I was losing myself… losing myself… inside her…
The climax hit me, rolling over me and takin
g me under like a wave. My body shook as my cock pumped. I could feel the cum running from her mouth, soaking the bed under us. Jolt after jolt hit me and there was no stopping it. No controlling it. I let it flow through me, hot like fire, burning out everything except for her. We moved together, arching and turning. She matched me, thrust for thrust, pulling, pushing, forcing my body to give her everything it had. I felt her swallow, and swallow again. Taking my essence in, drinking me, sucking me, squeezing every drop I had.
I fell back, gasping, shocked at the power I felt flowing through me like a tidal wave. I pulled her up, wrapping her in my arms, crushing her to me as the feelings built up inside me. I didn’t begin to understand them and shook, overwhelmed. But I wanted it, I wanted every single second. “Grace,” I gasped out. “Sweetheart…”
A knock at the door shook us both. “Grace?” Bec called out loudly. “Are you up yet? I’ve got breakfast waiting…”
“I’m awake, Becca. Thank you,” she answered back unsteadily. “I’ll be down in a few minutes. I promise.”
We heard a snort on the other side of the door and we smiled conspiratorially at each other. I looked at her swollen lips and felt my cock throb in response.
“Mr. Kaine’s not answering his door. So help me, if that boy lets my good pancakes get cold…” Bec’s voice trailed off as she walked away, muttering.
I ran my thumb over Grace’s lips, the touch of them even hotter than ever now. I was already getting hard again.
She was so beautiful. More and more, I couldn’t remember how it felt, before I’d ever seen her face. She smiled, stroking my back underneath my robe. I kissed her, tasting the sweetness of her mouth and the salt of my body on her tongue. Then I pulled her up beside me, the length of her naked body pressed fully up against me.
“Did she say pancakes?” she asked, looking up into my eyes, hers sparkling. Teasing.
The Baby Contract Page 29
