Kept in the Dark

by Heather MacAllister

  How could she have lost her mind like that?

  But she always lost her good sense around Blake. She ditched reality and entered her own little world with him. It had got her into trouble then and was about to get her into trouble now.

  He was laughing lightly, but her heart pounded. “You travel with a lot of baggage.”

  Baggage she didn’t want to show him if she didn’t have to. She tried to sound sexy. “Well, you know me and pockets.”

  “I do.” He leaned back and shadows flickered behind him. “Are you going to finish taking off my tie? Or…” He moved suggestively in time to the jazzy beat in the background. Taking over the task, he slowly loosened his tie, drew it from around his neck and then twirled it over his head, making Kaia laugh before he tossed it toward the discarded suit jacket.

  Then, still moving in time to the music, he started unbuttoning his shirt. “Feel free to join in.”

  Kaia gestured to her naked torso. The top part of her dress was scrunched at her waist. “I have a head start.”

  He suddenly stopped unbuttoning his shirt and pulled it over his head in a single motion. “Now I’ve caught up.”

  “So you have.” Obviously, Blake wasn’t thinking about Kaia’s pockets or what might be in them and she wanted to keep it that way. She splayed both hands on his chest, tracing his muscles and skimming over his ribs. He was more muscular than before and he’d been no couch potato then. “Bulking up?”

  “Not as much as when I first started out on my own. People like their security escorts with big shoulders.”

  Kaia nodded, thinking of Tyrone and his big shoulders, that made her think of Blake’s men and their big shoulders and that they might come looking for him at any moment.

  Kaia glanced down the hallway. Due to the dim light, they would see anyone who came up the stairs before being seen—if they were paying attention.

  That was highly unlikely since Blake chose that moment to take her hands and loop them around his neck before distracting her with a thorough kiss.

  Kaia immediately lost herself in his kiss. It had been so long since she’d been able to completely lose herself in a kiss. Not since Blake. Loneliness had driven her to make the attempt, but she’d always remained detached, wary, and watching. Being with another man had never felt right. But then being with Blake had felt right and that turned out to be wrong.

  She was going to stop thinking now, which was a good decision because Blake’s deep, drugging kisses made it impossible.

  Kaia ran her hands over the taut skin of his back, reacquainting herself with the play of hard muscles and the indentation beneath one of his ribs where he’d caught the edge of a table in a fight. She moved her mouth away and pressed their naked torsos together, craving the feel of skin on skin. She enjoyed being surrounded by a man’s body, this man’s anyway.

  “You always were a burrower,” Blake murmured against her ear.

  “I like being touched,” she confessed.

  “And I like touching you.” His hand was lightly moving up and down in the small of her back. “I like the feel of your skin.” He moved his hand up her arm. “I like how strong you are.” Skimming her shoulder, he fanned his fingers over the side of her neck. “I like feeling how fast your pulse is beating and knowing that you look so cool on the outside, but you’re wild for me on the inside.”

  “Not cool on the outside.” Kaia pulled back reluctantly as she felt a drop of sweat trickle in the valley between her breasts.

  Blake took advantage. “And I love touching you here.” He cupped her breast and rubbed his thumb across her nipple.

  Kaia caught her lip between her teeth as she felt a warm tug deep in her stomach. Yes, she was pretty much all thawed out now.

  Blake’s mouth took over from his hand and he licked and swirled and sucked while Kaia wiggled and squirmed and clutched at his iron-hard shoulders.

  She needed more, she wanted more, but Blake persisted in his maddeningly slow attentions.

  At one point, a frustrated Kaia actually balled her fist and smacked him on that iron-hard shoulder. It had no effect whatsoever. He was holding himself back, she realized. That’s why his arms were hard and the cords in his neck stood out and there was the slightest quiver of straining muscles. He wasn’t allowing himself to feel the passion that wracked her body, probably out of a misguided sense of nobility. She didn’t want nobility; she wanted him incoherent with desire and kissing her hard wherever his mouth landed and not thinking about it so much. “Blake!” She meant to be demanding, but it sounded too much like a sob.

  He blew across her breasts, raising gooseflesh. “Better?”

  “Yes, but no.” Kaia drew a trembling breath. “I want you with me.”

  She leaned forward and licked Blake’s neck, kissing her way to the spot just above his heart. She stopped there and traced a heart shape with her tongue.

  She hadn’t intended to. It was something she used to do, telling him she loved him without saying the words. She’d never told him that’s what it meant or that it was a heart.

  She’d loved the person he was pretending to be, not the real person.

  “Oh, Kaia. I’ve missed you. I’ve missed this.”

  He bent his knees that caused her to roll against his naked chest and it felt so good, she wanted to weep. Then he started playing with her breasts again and it felt even better. It felt real.

  She lifted her mouth to his, nipping at his lip as she wiggled back and forth over the hard length in his pants, finding just the right spot. Finding the right spot used to be easier, back when they sat on the couch, but she’d been wearing less clothing then.

  “Let me.” Blake’s hand skimmed beneath her dress.

  As soon as his fingers touched the edge of her leggings, Kaia jumped as though she’d been burned.

  “Kaia?” Blake withdrew his hand. “I thought…” The breath whistled through his teeth. “I’m making some serious assumptions when I have no right to.”

  “No!” She touched his arm as he leaned back. “It’s just…” It’s just that I didn’t tell you about my little side job, the one that affects my future, and possibly world peace.

  As good as they were together physically, if the electricity hadn’t gone out and they hadn’t been trapped, Blake would never have listened to her version of what happened six years ago. At the moment, he seemed to believe her and to trust her, but when the lights came back on, would he still?

  She couldn’t take the chance that he wouldn’t. She was going to have to keep him from discovering the snuffbox and exactly what she was wearing beneath her dress.

  “You didn’t misread the signals,” she told him. “But…while we can’t get completely carried away…” She gave him a sexy smile and put her hand on his thigh. “There are still a lot of things we can do.”

  Blake stared at her for a moment. “Oh.” He exhaled and relaxed. “You’re worried about a condom.”

  Well, no, but she should have been. Anyway, it was the perfect excuse. “I’ve got a lot of stuff in my pockets, but not one of those. But I don’t think you’ll mind too much.” She reached for his zipper.

  This time, Blake flinched, which she should have expected.

  “I wasn’t—”

  “I know. That was just reflex. Anyway, I’m prepared.” He started pawing through his jacket.

  What? “You are?”

  There was a click followed by a beam of bluish light. “Yeah. I’m a regular Boy Scout.”

  The flashlight showed the face of a man on a mission. Kaia used to stare at him when he slept and now noted subtle changes. His face had matured; his cheekbones were more pronounced and his jaw was fuller. The shadows emphasized a line or two at the corners of his eyes that probably weren’t visible in normal lighting. There was nothing that said “boy” about him.

  “Boy Scout. That’s not exactly the way I think of you,” she said.

  He laughed softly. “I’m talking about the ‘be prepared’ part.
”

  “I got that.” He had a condom? Talk about mixed emotions. On one hand, yippee, but on the other, getting out of her leggings without him noticing all the stuff she had secreted beneath her dress was going to be problematic, not to mention a mood killer.

  On yet another hand, there was a lot to be said for being highly motivated. And it was dark. The dim light created interesting shadows on his sculpted torso and Kaia decided that she was very highly motivated.

  Blake unzipped a flat pouch about the size of a paperback. “Standard TransSecure issue. All my men carry them. You wouldn’t believe what security escorts and bodyguards get asked for, especially when a limo is involved.”

  He shined the flashlight on the open pouch and Kaia saw tape, safety pins, a tiny mending kit with scissors, bandages, aspirin, hand sanitizer, wipes, tissues, transit way tokens, a comb, mirror, lip balm, breath mints, antacids, and, yes, condoms. Multiple brands. Flavored and unflavored.

  “Wow.” She could be motivated for a very long time with that stash.

  “I would have said something earlier, but I didn’t think we were there yet. Come on.” He nudged her off his lap. “Let’s go find a bedroom and get naked.”

  “Wait.” Kaia thought quickly. Darkness was her friend. Although he was currently distracted, once the lights came back on, Blake would notice things Kaia didn’t want him noticing, like her thick leggings. Right now, if he’d even noticed, he probably assumed they were some type of underwear, and she wanted to keep it that way.

  “I don’t want to wait.” Blake’s voice sounded thick and single-minded.

  “Neither do I,” Kaia said. “That’s my point.” She got on all fours and crawled toward him. “We don’t need a bedroom.”

  His eyes widened. “You mean…here?”

  She nodded.

  “Now?”

  “Umm hmm.”

  She could see the glint in his eyes and watched it shift as he glanced down the hall. “Someone might come up the stairs.”

  “I know.” He’d be thinking about being caught and about the sex and he wouldn’t have the brain cells left to think about anything else. “It kind of turns me on.”

  “Does it.” His voice took on an entirely different tone and Kaia discovered that it did kind of turn her on.

  She stood on her knees and extended her right leg into the shadows. Blake looked down the hallway once more, his head tilted as he listened to the crowd noise and music, assessing and analyzing. Calculating the odds of someone searching for them.

  Not focused on her. Yet.

  Kaia reached beneath her dress and peeled off one legging and an elastic band filled with bits of metal picks and wires that was stuck to her thigh. She hid the soft ripping sound in the rustle of fabric and straddled his legs, arranging the folds of her dress to cushion the contents of her hidden pockets.

  Blake looked up at her. “Are we really going to do this?”

  “Yes.” She could hardly believe it herself. Blindly, she grabbed a packet from the pouch and tossed it to him. “Yes, we are.” And once more, she reached for his zipper.

  His hand clamped around her wrist. “Not so fast.”

  Kaia felt as if her heart jumped to her throat. Did he suspect something? Had she been too aggressive? They’d never done anything like this before and she was no exhibitionist. In fact, she’d spent her life trying to blend in.

  But Blake turned her wrist until her palm was face up and kissed it. His hair brushed against her nipples and she twitched.

  He smiled up at her as he released her hand. “If we’re going to do this, we’re going to enjoy ourselves.” Slowly, he moved his hand under her hitched-up skirt and skimmed it up her bare leg.

  Her heart pounded and she went all liquid inside. As his hand crept along the soft flesh of her inner thigh, she felt her nerves tighten in anticipation. She was ready for this. She was ready for pretty much anything.

  Kaia clutched at his shoulders, tugging him toward her, but he held himself away and instead of moving faster, his hand slowed, the pressure somewhere between a tickle and a caress. She rocked toward him and he immediately stopped.

  “Hold still.”

  Was he kidding? “I…don’t want to.”

  “I know.” And he waited.

  Why? She could hardly stand it. Suddenly, she lunged for him, hoping he’d stop playing and give in to raw desire, but he leaned out of reach. “Don’t. Move.” Don’t move? Don’t move? Was he kidding? She pressed his hand against her thigh and tugged upward, but he resisted. And then he slid in the wrong direction. Okay, fine. Making a frustrated sound, Kaia clamped her legs on either side of his, but her muscles betrayed her with a tremble. “I can’t!”

  She felt his smile. “Good.”

  “Blake!” she wailed.

  He inched upward.

  Kaia moved before she could stop herself and again, he stopped. “Why are you doing this?” she moaned.

  “The slower the burn, the hotter the fire, and the bigger the explosion.”

  “Unless the fuse goes out.”

  “I’ll light it again.” But he moved faster, his fingers lightly stroking from side to side.

  Kaia felt her skin prickle from the inside out. She felt both hot and cold at the same time. Her muscles trembled with the effort not to move and she was grateful that Blake didn’t hold it against her.

  The only thing she wanted held against her was his hand, higher and harder.

  Her fingers clenched and unclenched as the tension built. She knew what was going to happen—he’d reach the juncture of her thighs and then he’d stop to torture her some more. Kaia didn’t know if she could stand it. In fact, she might have to light her own fuse.

  Well, now, there was an idea. Why not? She had a couple of free hands and a couple of free nipples. She cupped her breasts and squeezed.

  “Hey.” Blake’s hand stopped, but now Kaia didn’t care.

  She plucked at her nipples and rubbed against his thighs.

  “You’re breaking the no-moving rule.”

  Kaia threw back her head and moaned.

  “But I like it,” Blake said.

  Kaia shivered. Her desire intensified, concentrating in a tiny knot of need. She moved faster, but it wasn’t enough; she couldn’t get the right angle because her legs were too far apart.

  And then unexpectedly, blessedly, Blake’s hand cupped her with just the right pressure in just the right spot.

  For an instant, everything stopped. Time, sensation, sound. And then warm pleasure bloomed through her like petals unfurling. Kaia let the relief float through her. Nice. Blooming was nice. Not an explosion, but very, very nice.

  “You’ve been a naughty girl,” Blake murmured. “Spoiling your appetite like that.”

  “Hmm.” Kaia stretched her arms over her head. The tension seeped out of her muscles leaving her limp and relaxed. “Well.” She patted the side of his leg. “I guess I’ll be going now.”

  Pretending to stand, she collapsed in laughter when Blake grabbed her hips and kept her firmly in place. “You guessed wrong.”

  She gestured to his lap. “But you’re not dressed for the party.”

  Keeping one hand on her hip, Blake tore open the condom packet with his teeth.

  Once more, Kaia reached for his zipper and once more Blake stopped her. “Your zipper privileges have been suspended. Don’t move and keep your hands where I can see them.”

  She snorted and then clamped her hands over her mouth to stifle the laughter.

  “Again, not an attractive sound. You’re lucky the rest of you makes up for it.”

  “And you’re lucky that I will make up for it,” she said when he was ready.

  Kaia raised herself on her knees, leaned forward and kissed him, aware of his hands gripping her hips. But he didn’t take control, didn’t try to hurry things along even though he was clearly more than ready for her.

  Kaia didn’t mean to spend so long kissing him, enjoying the hot sweetness, an
d she certainly didn’t expect to feel her own desire start building again.

  She heard a moan—it could have been his or it could have been hers. Grabbing the gate with one hand, she supported herself on his shoulder with the other and slowly lowered, taking him in inch by inch, wanting to make him wait the way he’d made her wait.

  His hands spasmed on her hips and with a guttural, “Kaia!” he moved her up and down, setting an increasingly faster, harder pace.

  And she was right there with him, feeling the pressure building again until, with a final, deep thrust, Blake groaned her name and shuddered. She rocked once more and felt a hot rush of exploding sensation.

  Gulping for air, she collapsed against his sweaty torso, her own skin also slick. Her hand hurt where she’d gripped the metal lattice.

  Her heart hurt because she knew she would never find a connection like this with anyone else.

  “Kaia?” Blake stroked her back.

  Lovely, but it was so very warm. She pulled back and fanned her face. “Okay. Long fuse, big explosion. Got it.”

  Blake captured one of her hands and pressed a kiss to her palm, as he’d done before. “This was about more than a big explosion.”

  Kaia stilled, unsure whether she wanted him to continue or not. Once he said whatever he was going to say, it couldn’t be unsaid. “Or, in my case, a couple of explosions.”

  He shook his head. “I’m serious.”

  Kaia’s heart had just started to slow down and now it kicked back up again. “Blake,” she began. She didn’t know what she was going to say, but she wanted to give him time to think and get past the immediate post-sex glow before he made promises he’d regret.

  “Kaia, I can’t erase—”

  “Folks,” Luke’s voice interrupted. “I’ve been informed that the entire East Coast is blacked out due to a power grid failure. We’re going to be here for a while.”

  11

  A BLACKOUT.

  Alarmed chatter drowned out Luke’s next few sentences. Blake cocked his head, straining to hear, hoping Luke’s announcement hadn’t caused hysteria. All it took was one person to lose it and the crowd would feed on the panic. The next few seconds were crucial. Luke would have to maintain control. And he shouldn’t have to do it by himself.