Louise

by Diana Nixon

  “No need to bother, uncle Drew. I think I know enough to save you plenty of time on explaining things.”

  “Everything I did for you, Louise, I did to protect you. Unlike you, I know my brother too well to believe that he would ever let you live without his watchdogs following you. Especially now that he knows you are under William’s protection.”

  “Did you know who I was the day you first met me?”

  “I didn’t know anything about your existence, until the day Marlena called me saying my brother wanted me to keep an eye on his illegitimate daughter.”

  “Are you afraid of him?”

  Drew laughed nervously. “I guess everyone is.”

  “So for how long exactly was my dearest father planning on keeping me here?”

  “He said two years would be enough. But I don’t agree with him.”

  “You want me to stay here longer?”

  “No. I want to let you go.”

  My mouth opened and closed, because I didn’t know what to say to his unexpected ‘kindness’.

  “Aren’t you afraid he will take his money back or whatever that is that made you follow his stupid orders?”

  “I have enough money to live without his financial support. And yes, maybe I’m still a little afraid of him trying to close this place. But I don’t want to keep you here forcefully. Children should never be responsible for their parents’ mistakes.”

  “So you are letting me go, just like that?”

  “Well, not exactly. William promised me he would keep you away from your father’s life. And I hope you are not going to argue with that. Of course, you are free to stay and work here. But if you want to leave, you may leave.”

  So I was Will’s responsibility now. No wonder he was so pissed when he had seen me at The Dragon’s Kiss last night.

  “And if I decide to leave… Do I have a right to live wherever I want?”

  “Yes, of course. No one’s gonna make you live at Blair’s residence or anywhere else. You will be free to do whatever you want.”

  “With no one following me?”

  “Well, I wouldn’t be so sure about that. But if you promise to stay away from your father’s life, family, and career, no one will care where you live and what you have for breakfast.”

  “So it’s just that simple, huh? Forget about my father and move on. Is that what you want me to do?”

  “Louise, listen,” Kate said, coming to me. “What Drew is trying to say is that you are free now, live the life you want, and don’t think about your past. What’s the point in turning back, if there’s nothing but an endless hell behind you?”

  She was right. There was no point in trying to get my father’s love back to brighten the dark memories of my past, but a little revenge wouldn’t hurt anyone, right?

  “Okay, I will think about everything, and let you know when I make a decision as to what I am going to do next.”

  Kate followed me out. “You don’t have to rush with making decisions, Sweetie. You are more than welcome to stay here, even if you don’t want to work for Drew anymore. He’ll still take care of you.”

  “I know. But I need some time to figure out what I want.”

  She smiled and hugged me tightly. “Be careful, okay?”

  “Always.”

  I went back to my room and called Christopher.

  “Hello, could you please give me a ride back to Will’s?”

  “With pleasure, Miss. I’m waiting for you outside.”

  “What? I thought I told you to leave.”

  “Yes, but something was telling me you would need me to come back soon.”

  I laughed. “Thank you, Christopher. I’ll be out in a few. And please, don’t call Will. I want it to be a surprise.”

  “As you wish, Miss.”

  I went to the wardrobe and took one of my favorite dresses. It was long, black and white, with an open back and a skirt that flew beautifully whenever I turned. It was time to dance for Will again. Only this time, it was supposed to be a dance with no mask on our faces, no secrets, or lies. I knew he had been waiting for this moment for a long time, and I couldn’t wait to show him just much he meant to me, whether I was going to stay with him or not…

  By the time I arrived to Will’s, it was almost night outside. There was no light in the windows of his house, and for a second I thought he was not waiting for me there.

  “He must be in his room, Miss,” Christopher said, noticing me staring at the house.

  I didn’t remember where the windows of Will’s bedroom opened, but I hoped Christopher was right and I wouldn’t have to go back to the club.

  I entered the hall, illuminated with just a few lamps on tables, here and there. Then I remembered about the dress in my bag, and thought I would get changed first. I went to the office where Will and I had talked the night before. Surprisingly enough, it didn’t make any bad feelings awake inside me. In fact, there was only one thing that I remembered from last night’s events — the moment Will turned around and looked into my eyes. It was priceless.

  I changed into the dress and shoes that I brought with me, and headed for the room where I hoped I would find him.

  It felt like a déjà vu seeing him standing at the opened window, with the wind playing with his hair and curtains around him. With his hands in his jeans pockets, he looked more like a vision than reality.

  I tiptoed to where he was standing and wrapped my arms around him, feeling his chest rising and falling in relief beneath my touch.

  “You are back,” he said quietly, turning around. His eyes slipped down my outfit and he smiled a little. “Are you going to dance for me?”

  “I seem to remember you asking me to dance for you, in your bedroom. So I thought it was just about the right time to do it. Do you have music in here?”

  “What kind of music would you prefer?” He kept staring at me, as if he couldn’t believe I was real and not just a trick of his imagination.

  “Any slow song will do.”

  He went to the record player hidden behind one of the cabinet’s doors and turned it on. The soft sounds of music filled the room. Will didn’t move, apparently afraid he would do something wrong. I came closer and put his hands on my waist. He was watching me wordlessly, not even his eyes could tell me what he was thinking. I turned away from his stare and leaned closer to his chest, wrapping one hand around his neck. I remembered the dance I had prepared for him for our second ‘private hour’. Only this time, it was not a pole I was going to use in my dance…

  Dancing around Will, touching him as if accidentally, I kept moving in tune with the music playing around us. He didn’t move or try to touch me. He was still watching me, as if trying to memorize my every step and spin.

  I could see the color of his eyes changing, darkening, and then becoming lighter again, when he turned his head to where there was more light. I felt like it was getting too hot in the room. His eyes were more than enough to turn me on in seconds, I didn’t even want to think about what his hands and lips could do to me.

  When the song was almost over, I stopped right in front of him, no more than two steps separated us. I was breathing heavily, and so was he, even though it was not him who was dancing.

  “Come closer,” he said, outstretching one hand to me.

  I let him take my hand in his, and the next moment, we were standing very close to each other. Too close… I could see every small line on his face, his cheekbones, his lips, his jaw, his chin. I lifted myself on my toes, brushing his lips with mine. It was supposed to be just a tease, just a taste of something so familiar, yet forbidden.

  “I’ve been thinking of you all day,” Will said, caressing my lips with his breath. “I didn’t know if you were going to come back, but I tried not to think about the worst of scenarios. I was imagining you dancing for me, here, in this very room. I imagined kissing your delicious lips, stealing every small sound escaping them. I closed my eyes, and you were there in my head, like a vivid pict
ure of grace and perfection.” He ran one hand down my neckline and then put it on the back of my neck, leaving nothing but a thin layer of air between our faces. I closed my eyes, leaning forward just a little, meeting his waiting lips halfway.

  As always, the kiss started off slow, as if neither of us wanted to deepen it, afraid of ruining the invisible magical wall sparkling around us. Will’s fingers trailed down my throat, then my collarbone; his lips followed them, pressing a kiss over my vein, pulsing beneath his lips. My hands tangled in his hair; every inch of me was aware of his every touch.

  “I want this dress off of you,” he said, reaching for the thin straps on my shoulders and pushing them down. It was not hard to take the dress off, so it took Will no more than ten seconds to get rid of it.

  He pressed his lips to the corner of my mouth and then moved to my lips, taking my bottom lip in between his, sucking it. His hands traveled down my sides, and then my hips, pulling my lower body closer to his. There was no doubt about the need I could feel pulsing through his jeans, a hungry look in his eyes only confirmed my suspicions. He lowered down to his knees, kissing me all the way to where I needed him most, I moaned at how good it was to feel him kissing me like that again. He nibbled my hip bone, slipping the tiny piece of clothing down my legs. His tongue ran across my most delicate part, igniting the fire already burning inside of me. God, how on earth was I supposed to leave when it was all over? I sucked in a sharp breath, feeling his finger plunging inside me. Slowly, he stood up, still holding his fingers deep inside me and looked at me saying, “Tell me what you want, Louise.”

  The muscles of my stomach quivered at the idea of telling him what I wanted him to do.

  “Love me like you did in Paris,” I said, waiting for his reaction to my words.

  “With pleasure,” he said, looking right into my eyes. He didn’t say he loved me, but I don’t think words were enough to describe everything I could see in his eyes at the moment. And there, I could see love, pure and boundless.

  I took a step back and climbed on the bed, laying down with my hands above my head. I knew Will loved to see me that way. The corners of his gorgeous mouth twisted into a smile, like a real smile, not just a ghost of it, or a smirk, but a smile that I could die for.

  “You know me so well,” he said, standing next to his bed, with his fingers fighting with the buttons of his shirt. “Ugh, the hell with them.” He tore the shirt open, making a few buttons scatter on the floor. He tossed the shirt away, his jeans and boxers followed it.

  And then it just all became one — his hand sliding up and down my side and belly, his lips wet and hot against my skin, his tongue drawing circles around my nipples, his teeth sinking into my flesh, sucking every inch of me. I felt every sharp breath he took, every quiet groan escaping his throat. He was trying to please me, and didn’t ask for anything in return. And I… Well, I couldn’t make myself speak, even though there was something very important that I needed to tell him.

  I could feel Will’s kisses getting hungrier as he moved down my body and to my clit, kissing it in the most erotic way, sending shivers through me and making all the rational thoughts left in my head fly out of the window.

  “So beautiful,” he murmured, crawling over me and then kissing me deeply. I reached up and wrapped my fingers around his neck, trying to prolong the mind-blowing kiss he was giving me.

  His hand reached between us bringing his arousal closer to where we both needed it now. Positioning himself against me, he pushed fully into me, making me cry out loud. God, I missed the feeling of him inside me so much. It was easy to adjust to each other’s moves, catching up to the rhythm of our bodies moving as one.

  Will’s chest was against mine, with not even a heartbeat standing between us. He buried his face into the curve of my neck, and pushed deeper into me, making my body arch in response.

  There was no need for words. We could feel each other so well, as if we had always been together. Will’s mouth moved to mine and I knew the next moment I wouldn’t be able to suppress another moan, building in the depths of me. I was about to explode and he knew it, increasing the speed of his thrusts, with his hand grabbing my hip a little rougher than usual, but I didn’t seem to mind it, at all.

  I ran my hands down his shoulders and back, afraid to let him go, even though I knew I would have to leave soon…

  “Look at me, Louise,” Will said in a desperate voice. “You are not saying good-bye, are you?”

  Oh, God… He knew… He knew everything from the moment I came to dance in his room. He knew I was going to leave…

  “I don’t think I will ever be able to say good-bye to you,” I said, drinking in every small change in his eyes.

  He bent down and kissed me, softly this time, as if he knew that my words were not exactly what he wanted to hear from me. And with his every next move and kiss he was begging me to stay…

  The waves of pleasurable relief started flowing over me, so powerful and sweet. I looked up at Will, and he didn’t even try to close his eyes coming inside me, emptying himself, and filling me with his love at the same time. His moves slowed down, but he didn’t rush to pull out.

  “I want you to remember this very moment, Louise. I want you to remember the look in my eyes and the things you feel making love with me. And before you leave, I want you to know that there’s a place where you will always be more than welcome — my embrace.”

  “Will you wait for me?” I asked, feeling my heart shattering. I didn’t know when I was going to see him again. I didn’t want to leave, but I had to…

  Smiling softly at me, Will said, “Whatever happens, you can always come back here, where I’ll be waiting for you, for as long as you need. And when you return, we will start right from where we left off…”

  ***

  The first rays of morning sun broke into the room. I have been awake for hours, waiting for the moment I would be ready to leave. But I still didn’t feel like leaving…

  I looked at the man sleeping quietly by my side and smiled. I knew he would be waiting for me. I didn’t even need to hear his words to be sure about that. He knew I needed more time to decide what to do with my life, and I was thankful for his patience and understanding. There were way too many messed-up things that needed to be changed. And one of them, was my future.

  I was free now. I didn’t have to follow anyone’s orders, I didn’t have to follow the rules. I could finally live the life I wanted for myself. And I was not going to scratch Will out of it. Because without him, nothing made sense. But for now, I needed to stay away from him, I needed to learn how to live on my own, without anyone trying to protect me, even though I was sure Will would never stop keeping an eye on me.

  The best part about all of it was that our love for each other was stronger than any hurricane could hope to be. It was my shelter, my personal heaven, where I knew I would come to back one day…

  To be continued...

  Acknowledgements

  First of all, I’d like to thank my family for their infinite patience and understanding. You know I can’t stay away from my fictional characters for too long, but I still love you guys more than anything in this world, and nothing and no one will ever be able to change it.

  Many thanks to my readers and friends who have been supporting me during my work on this book. Special thanks to Carine Verbeke for her help with French that I don’t think I would ever have enough patience to learn how to speak properly.

  I’d like to thank my amazing cover designer, Jennifer Munswami for another stunning cover that I still can’t stop staring at; and Heather Anne Davis – my editor – for everything she has done to help me with this book. You girls rock, but I guess I have already said that like a million times before.

  Many thanks to Judi Perkins for organizing Louise Release Day Launch Party and sharing the news all over the world.

  I hope you guys will enjoy reading this book. And I, in turn, promise to write more great books for you,

>   About the author

  Diana Nixon is a Bestselling Author of contemporary and paranormal romances. She was born in Minsk, Belarus, where she currently lives and works on her books.

  In 2008 Diana graduated from Belorussian State University. She has a Master of Law degree and speaks several foreign languages, including English, Polish and Spanish.

  Visit author’s website:

  http://www.diananixon.blogspot.com/

  More books by Diana Nixon:

  Love Lines (Love Lines, # 1)

  Songs of the Wind (Love Lines, # 2)

  From Scratch (Love Lines, # 2.5)

  Diamond Sky (Love Lines, # 3)

  The Curse of Blood (Love Line, # 4)

  The Souls of Rain

  (Heavens Trilogy, # 1)

  The Prisoners of Dreams

  (Heavens Trilogy, # 1.5)

  Hate at First Sight

  Love Undone

  In Your Eyes

  Checkmate (Checkmate, # 1)

  No Strings Attached (Checkmate, # 2)