by Angela Blake
“That was my grandmother’s.”
Danielle came into his line of vision, and this time he had to collect himself.
She looked radiant, glowing almost.
The sapphire blue against her skin was accented by the sparkling diamond earrings and the bracelet that decorated her slender wrist.
Her arms were bare, her cleavage displayed in a modest cut. The dress brushed against the floor and he knew – he just knew she would be the showstopper.
“You look stunning,” he whispered and her ruby lips curved in a satisfied feminine smile.
“Thank you.”
Tearing his eyes away from her elegant figure was not an easy task, “Your grandmother?”
“Yes.” Danielle looked at it, “It was her most favourite possession. She gave it to me before she died.”
“It’s priceless,” Sean murmured.
Danielle shrugged, “Yeah. But where people see its monetary value, I see the various cultures this one small statue has seen. It was gifted by a sculptor to the love of his life.” She raised a brow, “Who was ironically not his wife but the woman whom he had intended to marry before she chose someone else.”
“I’m devastated.” Sean told her and she turned to him, her eyes amused by his quip, “Yes, I can see your pain.”
He laughed and she found herself enjoying the gaiety of the sound.
As they left, she caught him glancing at the statue and found it odd that he was so enamoured by it.
***
There was a reason Danielle avoided society events, especially ones that were hosted by her family.
“Danielle, darling! You made it!” Her aunt kissed her cheeks, and then beamed at her escort, “And look who you brought with you. Sean! How is that wonderful grandfather of yours?”
As Sean made small talk, Danielle found herself being greeted by more members of her extended family. Most of them had met Sean at one event or the other in the past few months, but they were all curious as to how Danielle had managed to snag him.
“I feel objectified,” Sean whispered in her ear, his lips brushing the outer shell of her ear, making her womb quiver at the contact.
Danielle gave him a dry look, and tilted her chin to indicate the huddled women watching them, “If you think my family was objectifying you, just imagine what all those women want with you. They’re probably fantasizing about you, right now.”
Sean’s hand gripped her waist as he led her into a dance that had just started and he watched her, his green eyes, almost dark, “I would rather focus on your fantasies.”
Danielle felt her heart leap in her throat before she swallowed, hoping he hadn’t caught the quick movement, “My fantasies involve me eating pizza, alone, at home, rather than being stuck at a social event.”
Sean grinned, cheerfully, “Too bad, then.”
“Too bad,” Danielle agreed with him.
She could feel how firmly his large hand gripped her tiny waist, and how he maneuvered her on the dance floor. Every time he would twirl her back to him, it would be with a quick jerk, one that left her breathless and her nerves on edge. The way he would bring her back to him, his eyes scorching her, she found herself growing wetter by the second and it horrified her to find herself losing control with this man.
When the second dance ended, she excused herself politely and made her way to the powder room. She could feel his eyes on her and as she rounded the corner, she leaned against the cool marble wall to take a breath and calm herself down.
Fortunately, the powder room was empty and she took a deep breath and studied her glittering eyes and the flush of arousal in her cheeks.
“This is not like you, Danielle,” she whispered to herself. “Get a grip. He’s just a guy.”
A guy whose very touch made her weak at the knees.
There was dominance in those eyes, in his attitude. When he took control, it was smooth, but it made her want to submit to him.
For the first time, she wanted to let herself go.
For a man.
Because the last time she had trusted herself with a man, it had gone so well.
Hearing voices in the hallway, she quickly grabbed her purse, and left.
Sean stood near the wall, talking to his grandfather, who gestured towards her when he saw her.
“So, you came.” Thomas said, gruffly.
“Don’t sound too excited, Mr. Arton. You might hurt yourself.” She told him, dryly.
His laugh was a roar, and then he held out his hand, “Dance with me. Come on. Indulge an old man.”
“That’s all I do, apparently,” she muttered and he chuckled, hearing that.
“And I appreciate it,” he told her, affectionately.
She smiled at him.
“So, how has my grandson been treating you?” He demanded.
“He’s been a gentleman, so far,” Danielle said. “So far.”
He laughed at that, “He’s a good boy. I’ll show you a picture of his mother. It’s in my wallet. My daughter was beautiful.”
The simple pride in that statement, laced with silent sorrow was heartbreaking. Danielle hadn’t known that he carried her picture around with him.
“If you ever want to talk about her, I’ll listen,” she said to him, resting her head on his shoulder, as the song slowed down.
She felt his shoulders shake before stiffening and his voice was rougher than before, “I might take you up on that offer one of these days.”
He was like a grandfather to her, more family than her own family was, and so his sorrow was her sorrow.
And as she watched him move towards an old acquaintance as the song ended, Sean took her hand, “You’re very kind to my grandfather.”
“He’s an amazing person,” Danielle told him. “A very rare gem.”
Hearing her name, she turned around to come face to face with the two people she had been hoping to avoid.
Sean saw her mask come on, the cold, indifferent one he had seen on the day of the auction.
“Frank, Helen. How are you?”
“How could you, Danielle?” Helen looked furious. “You fired Sarah?”
Danielle steeled herself, “She manipulated official company documents and faked my signature. She didn’t even repent. I had no other choice.”
“She’s just a child.”
“She’s an adult, Helen. And she has to learn how to take responsibility for her actions.”
“Hire her back, Danielle. Stop this nonsense.” Frank’s voice was hard and Danielle turned to face him.
“Hiring her back is out of the question. I cannot have someone babysitting her just because she thinks the company is her personal playpen.” Her blue eyes narrowed, “And besides, she was quite rude to me and one of the senior managers before she departed. Her language was very colourful.”
“They were just documents. It’s not that big of a deal.” Frank scowled. “Your need to create drama everywhere you go is starting to become a bit old.”
By this time, people were starting to stare and Danielle chose to end the discussion with a cutting remark, “She should be grateful I’m not pressing charges for fraud and taking her to court.”
With that she walked away. Sean followed her and saw her shoulders stiffening on hearing someone comment ‘what a frigid bitch’, but she did not react otherwise.
Making her way to the balcony, she slipped through the partition and stood at the railing, staring at the bright city lights. The cold air cooled her heated skin and she felt a warm coat drop on her shoulders.
“That was impressive,” Sean told her.
Danielle stared at him, “I thought you would have joined the crowd.”
He ignored her comment, and leaned against the edge of the railing, facing her, “So, I assume this Sarah worked for you and you fired her.”
“That’s an astute observation.”
He didn’t laugh, but the corner of
his lips quivered, “That’s what I like about you. You were just insulted in a group of people, but you remained as cool as a cucumber.”
When she stiffened, he grabbed her wrist and gently pulled her towards himself, till she was standing in between his legs.
She came with no resistance, and just scowled at him.
However, his own mask faltered and he let her see than man he was, his truly dominant side as he decided to play with her.
“Have you ever really let yourself go, Danielle?” He murmured, those green eyes fixed on hers, making her feel like a deer before a wolf.
“W-What do you mean?”
This rough fingers were gentle as they glided over her bare arm, “You hold yourself so tightly together so that no one can shatter you, but do you know how it feels if you let yourself shatter with just the right person?”
Her lips were soft as he ran the pad of his thumb over the lower one.
“You let them break you, and then once you’ve completely submitted, they pick up the pieces and build you back up again. It’s a glorious feeling, giving up all your problems, your fears, your responsibilities to someone else for just a while and letting yourself not having to think.”
His voice was a deep husky growl, sliding over her skin, rubbing it just the right way. One of his hands was on her throat, circling it, chaining it in a possessive dominant hold, while the other played with her lips.
She found herself without a voice.
This was not the laughing Irishman who was playful and charming.
This was the man she had been glimpsing all evening. The dominant male who wanted her.
And for the first time in her life, she didn’t know how to react.
Her heart was racing, her breath uneven as he touched her.
Her eyes moved to his lips and she wanted him to kiss her. The sane, rational side of her was quiet. She wanted his mouth on hers.
He smirked.
That knowing smirk would have put her off at any other time, but not right now when she was hidden from the world, standing between his legs, completely at his mercy.
His head bent down and his lips barely touched hers. When she moved forward, the grip on her neck tightened, “Behave.”
She obeyed, swallowing.
He brushed her lips with his again, and when she didn’t move, he smiled, pleased and then gave her small kisses, that felt more like he was sipping her.
Her eyes fluttered shut, her hands, clutching on his crisp white shirt as she gently kissed her mouth.
She leaned forward and his hand tightened again.
This time she acknowledged the warning and stayed still.
He kissed her, and his tongue prodded at her lips, and she parted them. It swooped in and established dominance.
Her soft moan had his cock hardening and he forced himself under control.
Sean explored every crevice of her mouth, played with her tongue, made love to her mouth. Aside from her neck, he wasn’t touching her anywhere and his hand on her neck felt like he was branding her.
The kiss was torturous.
Her womb quivered but she didn’t move.
When he pulled away, her eyes fluttered open, her cheeks red.
He leaned in to bite her full lower lip, making her gaze at him with a searing look, which was mixed with confusion.
“Did-“
Hearing voices, he quickly turned around in a way that they were completely hidden in the shadows, her back to the wall, his bigger body hiding her from view if someone were to take a look at the shadows.
The group of women who had wandered onto the balcony were talking rather loudly.
“I’m just saying that Julian had a point. Did you see the way she talked to Frank?”
“If she ever talked to me like that, I would slap that little whore in the face. She has no business being all high and mighty.”
One of the girls tittered at the comment, “I bet that wouldn’t even faze her. She would just blink and look at you like some creepy doll.”
Another one pitched in, “I heard Julian saying that she was so cold in bed that it was like a fucking a statue.”
Sean had pushed her against the wall and now he felt her smaller frame, tremble as each word delivered a glancing physical blow on her.
He didn’t know who Julian was but there was nothing statue like about the woman whom he had kissed just a few seconds ago.
He lifted his hands and covered her ears in a way that made her blink up at him. There were no tears in her eyes, but the pain was raw. Is this what she had to face every time she attended these events.
He was starting to form a bigger picture about what was going on.
A laughing masculine voice had the girls moving towards the balcony doors and after a few seconds, there was silence.
Sean slowly lowered his hands and gripped her cold cold ones, drawing her into the light.
Grasping her chin with his thumb and index finger, he studied her face.
Her cheeks were flushed, not with desire, but humiliation.
“Danielle, I-“
“Give me a moment.” She told him.
Handing him his jacket back, she gripped the railings and let the cold air wash over her. She breathed it in, let it settle her.
Then she turned to him, “Now, you were saying?”
There she was.
She was a strong woman, he realized. Anyone else would have let themselves be browbeaten; they would have cried, but not her.
His admiration grew and he found himself awed at how she had pulled herself together.
And the stronger she held herself together, when she shattered under his hands, it would be all the more glorious. He would break her down, and then bring her back.
Unable to help himself, he grasped her by the hair, he pulled her into a rough kiss, his mouth no longer playing with hers, but fucking it. She moaned as his hand tightened in her hair, almost to the point of pain, but he wasn’t gentle by any means.
No, he destroyed her.
She whimpered under his touch and he squeezed her ass, using it to push her towards himself, so that she could feel his hard cock that throbbed for her.
Releasing her, he watched her struggle to catch her breath.
“Do you want to get back to the party?” He asked, shoving his hands in his pockets.
She glared at him, “Does it look like I want to get back to the party right now? I don’t need to give them more reason to gossip about me.”
“I never realized you were such hot property in the social section.” He commented as she took out a small mirror from her clutch and fixed her slightly ruined makeup.
She glanced at him, snapping the mirror shut, “Let’s just put it this way. You walked in at a bad time. Now, let’s go.”
Through the remainder of the gala, she met people she knew with smiles. Those who resented her, but gave her those snide looks, she greeted politely.
And those who tried to ask her about Julian, she sidestepped.
By the end of the night, Sean had found an altogether new level of respect for this woman whom he was very well about to steal from.
Chapter Five
“You didn’t sleep with him?” Jenny blinked at her from over her drawing board. “Like not even a little action?”
Danielle stared at her, “You’re making it sound like I committed a crime. And besides, you started calling me the minute the clock struck twelve. Like, forget Cinderella, you’re enough to destroy the mood.”
Jenny waggled her eyebrows, “So, there was a mood?”
Danielle threw a pencil at her, “Shut up and get to work. These designs are due tomorrow.”
Groaning, Jenny complained, “I want to hear your sex stories, seeing as I’m not getting any.”
“That’s because you’re super picky about men.”
“I am not.” Jenny laughed. “I just want someone who’s weird.”
/>
“Like kinky weird?” Danielle signed two forms and set them aside, moving on to the remaining paperwork.
“I don’t know.” Jenny sighed. “But weird, you know. Like what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-him weird.”
When Danielle ignored her in favour of paperwork, she asked, “Do you think Sean has some hot brother in Ireland?”
“I doubt it,” her busy friend muttered, “He’s an only child from what I know.”
“What about some hot cousins? Or hot friends?”
“I’m afraid not,” came an amused masculine voice from the doorway and both woman jerked up to see Sean standing there.
“Am I interrupting something?”
Jenny blinked at him, and Danielle studied him, curiously, “Why are you here?”
“I thought to drop by. Just to see where you work, what you do.”
When Jenny kept staring at him Danielle sighed, “Sean, this is Jenny. Jenny, Sean.”
“Hi,” Jenny smiled. “I’m the best friend.”
“Hi, Jenny. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Likewise, I assure you.”
They stared at each other for a few seconds, before Jenny asked, “So, like no hot cousins then?”
“I’m sorry.” Sean grinned unrepentantly, making her sigh.
“I blame you.” She told Danielle, who spluttered, “What?”
“This is your fault. It just is. Come on, cutie. I’ll show you around. Are those roses?”
She laughed, “That’s so sweet! You shouldn’t have!”
Her laughter was big and filled the room, making Sean smile and Danielle realized that he too had been caught in the abundant charm her friend exuded.
“These were for Danielle, but here,” he took out one and handed the long stemmed rose to Jenny, “This one is for you.”
Danielle felt her heart melting at the gesture.
Jenny laughed, “You sweet, sweet man.” Her laughter morphed into a grim look as she met Danielle’s eyes, “Marry him. Now.”
Danielle scoffed, “Go show him around. Stay out of trouble.”
The door closed to Jenny’s comment, “I love your accent. It’s so hot.”
Danielle touched the roses that she held and she wondered why Sean was pursuing her. It made no sense to her.
