He had also given her a beautiful set of diamond earrings and a necklace and when she had balked at receiving the expensive gift, he had insisted so gently that she had caved. Staring at her reflection in the mirror, she was glad she had. The diamond winked at her throat and ear lobes, making her gown appear even grander than it was. Her hair was caught up in a high, intricate knot atop her head with delicate tendrils escaping to fan the sides of her face and her neck. Her makeup was barely-there and flawless, enhancing her features and making her eyes look even bigger. She had never looked more amazing!
She smiled now at her mother who looked just as ravishing and then she did something she had never done; she walked up to Will and said, “Thanks so much Will for the lovely clothes and diamonds.”
He shrugged looking uncomfortable, “Nonsense. It’s just jewellery.”
Arianna laughed, leaned up and placed a kiss on his cheek, biting back her grin as he turned beet red.
“Let’s go before you embarrass Will further,” Penny laughed, hooking her arm through her husband’s.
Arianna followed them to the car but as she made to climb into their limousine, a hard hand clamped her arm and a familiar voice grated in her ear, “You ride with me sis; Daddy’s orders.”
She didn’t need to turn around, she knew exactly who it was; Dylan!
CHAPTER FIVE
“Take your arms off me,” she demanded, desperately quelling the butterflies in her stomach and staring straight ahead. She was almost afraid to look at him. What if she made a fool of herself and he saw all her lust shining through her eyes?
“Why?” he chuckled behind her, the sound warm, rich and intoxicating. “So you can make a run for it and hide in Penny’s limo?”
“No, if you’ll take your arms off me you Neanderthal, I’ll put some ice on my arms so I don’t arrive the party bearing the marks of your thoughtlessness.”
He immediately released her cursing softly as he saw the faint imprints of his fingers on her fair skin. “I’m sorry Arianna. I didn’t realise. You have such soft, delicate skin.”
She considered that with mingled irritation and amusement; he didn’t realize her skin was so soft even though he had done more than just touch her?
Her silence must have spoken volumes because after an awkward pause, he said, “That didn’t quite come out right. I’m sorry.”
She shrugged, turning to face him for the first time; but she saw was so preoccupied with schooling her features that she didn’t notice the way something flared in his eyes when he caught sight of her, and then was quickly checked.
“Where’s your car?”
“What about the ice?”
“If you’re going to be my ride to the damn party, I had rather get it over with sooner than later,” she said unkindly.’
He regarded her with carefully a blank gaze, his cool blue eyes holding her green gaze steadily until she felt the beginnings of a blush start to steal up her face. She was being inexcusably rude. If she wanted to show him he had not hurt her, acting angry was not the way; it would just make her appear needy and insecure, she decided.
Drawing herself up to her full height, she said formally, “That was inexcusably rude Dylan and it won’t happen again. Can we just get to the party?”
He nodded wordlessly and offered her his arm before guiding her to his car.
Arianna sat quietly all through the ride to the Gallery and as soon as Dylan drove up to the entrance, she alighted and made her way with as much dignified haste as she could to the entrance. Before he had handed his keys to the valet and cleared the entryway, she was lost in the crowd of people. He caught sight of her later, her teal gown making her stand out amongst the mass of black apparel.
She was engaged in conversation with some young sap whose eyes were eagerly delving down the bodice of her gown and Dylan caught himself grinding his teeth as he cheerfully pictured throttling the over-ardent gentleman with his own bow-tie.
Arianna laughed musically at something someone had said and for the first time, Dylan noticed that she was surrounded by sevencount them, seven young men all vying for her attention.
Anger coursed through him, raw and potent and with a muttered oath, he stalked over to the bar and ordered a shot of whiskey on the rocks.
As the bartender poured his drink, a petite blonde clad in a mini-sheath dress sauntered up to him grinning like a cat staring at a huge bowl of cream. All his senses went on immediate alert. He had been around the block enough times to know when someone was interested in him or his bank account; this one wanted both.
“Hi,” she said in a sonorous voice.
“Hello,” he replied tossing back a glass of his whiskey.
“A whiskey man,” she noted, her blonde curls dancing as she shook her head.
“Anything wrong with that?” he asked with studied politeness. He really didn’t feel like talking but if there was one thing his Mother had taught him before she died it was how to hold his own in a conversation no matter how bored he might be.
“Nothing at all handsome. I’m Diane by the way,” she offered.
“Dylan.”
“You got any surname to go with that?” she asked coyly confirming his suspicion that she knew exactly who he was.
“Listen Diane, I’m sure you’re very nice, but I really just want to be alone,” he said bluntly.
Her grey eyes widened as she said innocently, “You wanted to be alone so you came to a party?”
“Touché,” he grinned.
“I can take a hint though,” she said picking her cosmopolitan from the bar. “The thing is though, if you want to make that girl jealous,” she added tossing her head in the direction of Arianna and her current crop of admirers, “Sitting here nursing a drink is a very poor way to go about it.”
“Wait!” he said, grabbing her hand as she made to walk away. “What?”
“Anyone with eyes can see you have not taken your eyes off her ever since you walked in the door. So either go over there and beg her to forgive you or dance with me and make her come over here.”
Dylan stared into her eyes, really seeing her for the first time. She was very pretty and kind, but she wasn’t Arianna. “Thanks Diane,” he murmured, rising to his feet and leaving the rest of his whiskey untouched on the bar as he matched resolutely towards Arianna.
“Where’s he going?” Penny asked, coming up stealthily behind Diane.
“Where do you think?” the other woman laughed. “By the way you owe me a hundred.”
Penny grinned as she cheerfully dropped two hundred dollars in her friend’s outstretched hand.
Arianna felt the moment came up to her even before he said a word. She had been fighting valiantly to hide her jealousy ever since that svelte blonde walked up to him at the bar; she had failed miserably though because her attention had kept drifting over there, her face getting redder and redder. When Dylan held the blonde’s arm, Arianna had to resist the urge to walk over there and knock the woman’s front teeth in.
“Arianna?” Dylan said now.
Composing her features carefully, she turned to face him.“Yes Dylan?”
“May I have a word please?” he said smiling at her. She was so upset she didn’t notice that the smile never reached his eyes.
“Later perhaps?” she suggested.
“I’m afraid it can’t wait. I need to speak to you now.”
“My friends” she began, gesturing towards the group of men standing around her.
“Will wait!” Dylan interjected, pure steel in his voice as he cast a dismissive glance over the men behind her.
Arianna glared at him then opened her mouth to blast him, but just them she caught her mother’s gaze over his shoulder by the bar. Her mother shook her head slightly, warningly; and suddenly Arianna understood. Tears of gratitude filled her eyes. What had her mother done to him?
Her gaze returned to Dylan, “Of course. Excuse me please,” she added, smiling winsomely at the gentlemen
she had been standing with.
Dylan led her through a door that had been hitherto unnoticed and then guided her down a lonely corridor to a garden at the back of the building. Her eyes widened as she beheld the beautiful garden. It was awash with lights from some poles and several exotic smelling flowers she could not even name.
“How did you know about this garden?”
“Because I built it. This is my Gallery,” he told her with a careless shrug.
Arianna’s eyes widened. He was into arts too?
“It’s beautiful,” she told him. “Why didn’t your dad tell me we were coming to your Gallery?”
“I was afraid you wouldn’t come if you knew I would be here.”
“But you showed up at the house,” she reminded him.
“I had to see you. I couldn’t wait.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Arianna, relationships are not an easy thing for me,” he told her guiding her onto a bench.
“Okay. Why are you telling me this?”
“After I left home last week, I told myself I was leaving to go and do business, forget you, lose myself in some woman. But I couldn’t. I was miserable.”
“Why?”
His blue gaze clashed with hers as he admitted, “I’m in love with you Arianna.”
Arianna stared at him, transfixed, afraid to hope, afraid to believe.
“I love you Arianna,” he repeated. “I have been in love with you from the first moment I saw you.”
“No Dylan, you resented me. You ignored me every chance you got.”
“Because I was fighting what I knew to be true. I can’t help the way I feel about you,” he added.
His blue eyes blazed sincerity back at her and Arianna felt the world tilt as she digested what she had heard. Dylan loved her! “I love you too,” she told him, smiling into his eyes.
With a loud groan that was part triumph, part torture, Dylan leaned over and took Arianna’s lips in a kiss that was passionate, tender, and intense. He kissed her expertly, melding her lips with his as they clung to each other.
His lip trailed to her collarbone and his tongue flicked out and licked her skin. It was slow torture. Arianna twisted against him as her hands greedily caressed every inch of his back. His large, warm hands slid underneath her shirt and caressed her belly. His other arm snaked beneath her back and arched her spine. Her breasts thrust upwards even more and he opened his mouth over her nipple, sucking her through the fine fabric of her gown.
Dylan’s hand lifted the long hem of her gown slowly, until her bare laps were exposed and then he gently caressed the soft skin, wrenching a moan of pleasure from her lips.
“Ari, I can’t wait. I want to make love to you,” he crooned in her ear.
“Yes!”
“Í want to feel you closing around me. You’re tight as a fist,” he whispered as he slowly dipped one long finger into her tight, vagina.
“You’re not wearing panties,” he noted.
“I wanted to be ready in case you decided to stop avoiding me,” she replied, rubbing against him and arching into his palm at her core.
His chuckle was low and dark. “Bad girl.”
Dylan leaned her back against the bench, placing her legs on either side and effectively opening her wide.
Arianna moaned, spreading herself for him as he freed his hard arousal. His eyes held hers, love shining from them so brightly that she felt warmed by the sheer force of it.
Slowly, he entered her, his hands holding her hips still to receive him. He began to move, thrusting in and out of her as his thumb caressed her soft, wet clitoris. Pleasure coursed through Arianna as she moaned mindlessly in his arms.
He deepened his thrusts, sheathing himself in her to the hilt and Arianna mindlessly clung to him, urging him on as he drove faster into her. A mellow sensation unfurled in her stomach. Then it began to spread faster, gaining momentum with every second as Dylan grunted his increasing pleasure above her.
“Yes baby, yes baby, yes!”Dylan grunted increasing his thrusts.
Intense sensation swept through her like a volcano and she soon lost all sense of place and time as her entire being became one shuddering mass of sensation.
She came violently, bucking beneath him as every nerve in her body pulsed with pleasure and Dylan muffled her cries with his mouth, swallowing her moans as he drove into her again and again.
When her tremors had subsided, Dylan’s eyes locked with hers and he quickened the tempo of his thrusts until he poured his shuddering warmth at the mouth of her womb.
They both drifted slowly back to earth, dripping with sweat and interlocked with each other.
Dylan looked around wanly and said, “One of these days, we’re going to manage to get to a bed.”
Arianna snorted, and then burst into a full-bellied laughing, wrapping her arms around this wonderful man as he laughed with her. She had never thought she would find love but here she was, in love with the most gorgeous man she had ever met; and he loved her back!
TWISTED OBSESSION
Life did not go according to plan. Luckily, Lucas had learned that lesson during first year at university. Had it not been for that, he would have been losing his mind while crossing the threshold of his old home.
“I’m here!”
“Lucas! I’ll be right down,” his dad yelled in response from upstairs.
Lucas looked over to his car, full of boxes and bags. He sighed. He never thought he would be moving back home after graduating college. In a form of naivety, he had expected to find a job right off the bat and move into an apartment within a ten-mile radius. Again, life didn’t go according to plan. Though he wasn’t ecstatic, there wasn’t a strong feeling of disappointment either. After all, this was only temporary until he finally did land that first job.
“Alright, where’s the moving van?” His dad laughed as he pulled Lucas into a casual hug. It had only been a couple of weeks since last seeing each other but there was something different about a welcome home, however temporary. “That all of it?” His dad was now peering over at the packed car. It really did not look like much. Lucas nodded and started heading toward it, his dad trailing behind him.
“So, where is Hannah?”
“She’s on a business trip. Asked me to tell you she’s sorry about missing your big return.”
Lucas gave a small laugh as he lugged a big case out the back seat of his blue hybrid car. “I think I’ll manage,” he replied light heartedly. His dad had married Hannah, his stepmother, about a year ago. They got along fine but, given he rarely saw or interacted with her, they were not exactly close. He also knew she had a daughter in the same age bracket as him but he had never met her. He did not know much about her. He’d never even seen a photo. Realizing he couldn’t even remember her name, he asked his dad, “What about her daughter?”
“Chris? She’s at work right now. She won’t be back ‘til late so you might not meet until the morning.”
“Oh, right, forgot she lives here too. What’s her name again?”
“Chris,” his dad heaved as he picked up a particularly heavy box from the trunk.
“Whoa, whoa dad,” Lucas rushed over to help him. “Books,” he told his dad simply as they balanced the box together and carried it into the foyer. “I should probably check what furniture I’ll need to get and go grab it before it gets later. Mind if I just take care of all this stuff when I get back?”
His dad nodded and waved him away, walking into the kitchen. Lucas shoved the luggage and boxes off to the one side of the foyer and piled them up. He didn’t want to leave everything strewn about anyway. He jogged up the stairs and looked left and right down the hallway. This entire time, he’d assumed he would be moving into his old room. It didn’t hit him until now that Chris might have moved into it. Scratching the back of his head, he headed down the hallway to the furthest room and opened the door. It was mostly empty. He smiled. It was something of a comfort to know he would be in his
old room even if it might be unrecognizable once he was settled in.
He made a quick mental note of what all he needed to buy and traipsed back down the stairs. He double-checked to be sure his belongings were not blocking the entire foyer before walking out the door.
Night had fallen but Lucas was determined to finish up his room. Well, at least furnishing it and placing his belongings in. He knew he would not be able to unpack everything before going to sleep. As he finished pulling the last heavy piece of luggage into his room, he heard the downstairs door close and the locks click. He assumed Chris had just gotten home and, instinctively, looked over at his bedside alarm clock. It was 12:30am and she was barely getting home. He wondered what she did for work but just shrugged as he rustled about to find pajamas. Deciding he didn’t want to deal with tearing through boxes at this time of night, he opted to just sleep in his boxers. As he finished stripping down, he heard Chris walking silently down the hall and closing her bedroom door. His dad was right; they would meet in the morning. Body aching from the drive and long day, Lucas immediately drifted off into dreamland.
The next morning, Lucas dressed in the same clothes from the previous day and headed down for breakfast. He had not expected to find the kitchen island counter laid out with a few dishes, all full of hot food. It was like a breakfast buffet. He looked to his right to see his dad sitting at the breakfast table. “No change after all these years. Guess that’s why it’s called a routine,” he said at his father, who was sipping coffee while reading the paper. He just gave a smile but continued reading. “Well, there has been one change. Where did the breakfast buffet come from?”
“Good morning!” A bright voice greeted Lucas from behind. He turned, smile in place, and saw a young lady he’d never met before.
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE: Obsessed with Secrets (New Adult Billionaire Stepbrother Taboo Collection) (New Adult Billionaire Taboo Romance Short Stories) Page 3
