“It wasn’t her car.” He said, making her feel a little better.
She didn’t trust that woman at all. She knew she had a certain hold over Arsen because of all the abuse and she was afraid of Arsen reverting back to his old self. It had been a fear she’d had since she found everything out about the complex man.
“I’m supposed to be in my first class in half an hour, but I won’t be able to concentrate anyway. I’m staying home today. At least until Arsen makes it back.” She got up and put her empty plate in the sink.
Paul followed and asked, “You want me to hang out here with you?”
She turned with a smile. “Would you? That would be so nice of you, Paul. It would help me not to get all crazy and jump to conclusions. I have to admit the pictures going through my mind of Arsen in a hotel room with Anne, or anyone really, keep coming in and haunting me. I love that man and jealousy is a thing which is nearly constant in me for him.”
“I assure you he’s not doing anything like that. I’m more worried he’s put his trust in someone who’s out to hurt him.” Paul took her by the arm and led her to the living room where they sat on a plush sofa.
“That is worse than what I’m thinking,” she said and sighed. “There is just no good scenario is there?”
He shrugged his wide shoulders. “Well, there is one. He could be with someone who is helping him get to the bottom of all this shit.”
She nodded in agreement. “That would be so fucking fantastic.”
The bell chimed with a call from the doorman and Steele made her way to the small box beside the elevator. “Yes?”
“There is a Detective Fontaine to see Mr. Sloan.”
“Send her up,” she said then sighed. “Fantastic.”
Paul was behind her as she turned. “What do you think this is about?” he asked.
She shook her head. “No idea. It just keeps getting better and better around here.”
They waited for the detective and in a few minutes she was stepping off the elevator with a paper in her hand. “I need to see Arsen,” she said.
“He’s not here at the moment. What’s that?” Steele asked as she gestured to the paper. “And what about my roommate, Gwen?”
“A warrant for his arrest for the other two women’s murders is what this is,” she answered. “We have officers looking for her, that’s the best we can do with no leads yet. Where is Arsen?”
Paul answered, “He left about five this morning with someone in a blue Camaro.”
“Five?” Fontaine asked. “That was quite a while ago. Doesn’t he have his phone? Let him know I need him back here ASAP.”
Steele sighed and walked towards the living room. “You may as well come in and have a seat. He left his phone here. He’s been gone five hours now. Hopefully he’ll be back soon.”
The detective sat down and crossed her long legs, the red pencil skirt raising up a bit and showing more of her leg than Steele thought was professional.
“How long does he usually take, Miss Gannon?” she asked.
Steele looked at her with a confused expression. “Pardon?”
“To fuck?” Her cold eyes starred into Steele’s.
Paul laughed and sat down near the detective as Steele sat on the sofa across from them. “Whoa. I better stay close to you Detective. This one here can be a real hell cat and I don’t want you to get hurt. You should really watch what you say.”
Fontaine’s eyes ran up and down Steele who was nearly a foot shorter and thinner than the tall woman. “This little thing? She couldn’t hurt a fly.”
Steele knew she was being baited so her temper was even. “Fontaine you cannot goad me into a fight. Sorry. I’m worried Arsen has put his trust into someone he shouldn’t have. Perhaps you could find out who the hell that car belongs to? You do have the hook up to get that accomplished, don’t you?”
Paul smiled. “Good thinking, Steele.” He turned to the detective. “The building has cameras out front. The car should show up on them at five this morning and you could get the plates and call them in. Then we’ll at least have a name for who he’s with.”
She nodded. “Do you know why he would leave with this person?”
Steele nodded. “Someone sent him a text from a fake number. It said they needed to talk. I suppose he found it was someone he knew. And someone he trusted enough to get into the car without saying a word to Paul.”
The detective laughed. “Arsen should trust no one at this time and no one should trust him, either. The man is now being accused of all three murders and you, my dear girl, are quite the idiot for being alone with him so much. I get it, the man is a God. He has it all. Wealth, the body, the great looks. That hair is something I dream about.”
Steele smiled. “It’s soft and silky and smells like Heaven. I love tangling my hands up in it when his mouth is making me climax.”
Fontaine’s brows went up high. “Touché, Miss Gannon!”
“I told you, a hell cat,” Paul said as pink flushed his tanned cheeks.
“Speaking of your sex life with the accused murderer,” Fontaine said with a smile covering her red stained lips. “How rough does it get?”
Steele leaned up and gave the detective a smile. “Oh, it’s hot. But he’s never hurt me.”
“Perhaps you have a higher pain threshold than others,” she said as she uncrossed her legs and leaned back on the sofa.
Steele shook her head. “Quite the opposite. I have a very low threshold for pain. He’s very gentle with me. He’s the kind of man who finds out what a woman wants and gives it to her. He’s kind of magical that way. Knows what I want before I do.”
“So, you aren’t worried he’s out there right now spanking some helpless female into submission because he can’t do that to you?” she asked. “People like that have needs, Miss Gannon. Maybe you don’t realize that.”
Paul cleared his throat. “Okay, this is my boss and good friend you’re talking about Detective. I need to remind you Miss Gannon here is a law student and an intern for both Tanner Goldstein and Arsen. She is not to be treated the way you’re treating her.”
Steele smiled at Paul. “Thank you, Paul.”
The detective’s eyes moved back and forth between the two rapidly. “Hmm. What about you two? What’s going on here? Why are you two all alone in Arsen’s apartment?”
Paul laughed and shook his head. “I would never go behind Arsen’s back and go after any women that’s his. It’s a matter of respect. And just so you know. If he is ever put in jail or prison, I will be escorting Miss Gannon to see him and anywhere else she goes. So you will see us together often if that happens. It doesn’t mean we’re fucking each other.”
Steele’s cheeks went pink, and she coughed. Then Paul stood. “How about some coffee while you wait?”
The detective nodded. “That would be nice. Thank you.”
The two women eyed one another while Paul left the room. Then Steele said, “Look, you can help here. I need you to understand some things about the man I love and would gladly give my life for. He’s a tortured soul. He doesn’t deserve what’s happening to him.”
“Said every woman involved with a killer ever,” Fontaine said with a sigh. “Poor girl. He did it. He killed those women. Now, I think there is a slight possibility the first one was an accident, but I think the sadistic man inside him liked it. It thrilled him. So he found another woman who liked that kind of stuff and went too far with it again, but this time on purpose. Getting his rocks off to it a second time. Then he knew one more who’d let him do that to her and he did it again.”
Steele shook her head. “You don’t know him at all. He’s not that way. He has a soft streak. He can be tough and arrogant and even mean sometimes. But he has this soft spot.”
The detective laughed. “So you think he has a soft spot for you?”
Steele frowned. “He does. It’s not a thing I particularly like. He was weak when he was younger. Before Anne Sinclair got a hold of him an
d fucked him up royally. Somehow, with me, he’s going back to that weakness again. I hate I’m doing that to him.”
“Maybe he’s feeling secure for once,” the detective said as she looked around the room.
A fresh bouquet of colorful flowers filled a vase on a small table. It was the only thing soft in the room filled with fine, dark brown, leather furnishings. No other soft touches were in the room. It was entirely masculine.
“Maybe,” Steele agreed. “You know that Sinclair woman told Arsen she had a friend who was interning at the place the women are being autopsied at. She said that friend told her all three women had elevated chemicals in their bodies. She said they had been killed with some drug which is easily hidden in the body. I can’t remember the name of it. But I was wondering if you saw that on the reports.”
“Did she say who the friend is? Because I’ve been down there and there’s only two people who work there and there is no intern.” Fontaine leaned forward and tapped her long fingers on her chin.
“There’s not?” Steele sat up too and Paul came in with a tray of coffees.
“Here we go, ladies.” He sat the tray on the coffee table between them and handed them their cups.
Steele asked, “Paul, you were there when Anne Sinclair and Arsen talked, right?”
He nodded and took his place near the detective again. “Yeah, why?”
“Tell her what all the old bat said to him.” Steele took her coffee and sat back.
After a lengthy discussion about all Anne had said, the detective was showing signs of having an internal battle with what the truth was. “There’s a pretty good chance Arsen is being set up.”
Steele made a long sigh and sat up. “So what are you going to do about this?”
“I think I should go downstairs and talk to the building manager and get the plates off that car if possible. If that’s Anne who he’s with she could be doing something awful to him.” The detective stood and took off to go downstairs. She looked over her shoulder. “I’ll be back. Stay here.”
“Finally,” Steele said. “Maybe the damn police will do something to help Arsen instead of trying so hard to make sure he rots away in jail.” Steele got up. “I’m going to change out of these clothes and into something more comfortable since I’ll be staying here instead of going to classes.”
She left the living room and went to the bedroom. The room she now shared with Arsen. Her body began shaking as she thought about where he might be.
Her mind kept taking her to awful thoughts. Him and Anne in a room somewhere. Anne beating him and fucking him.
Steele fell on the bed and tried hard not to cry. She got up and pulled her skirt off and kicked off the high heels. She unbuttoned her blouse and lay back down in her lacey bra and panty set Arsen had ordered for her.
Arsen had given her a whole new wardrobe. A car was being put together made specifically for her. He was taking care of her much better than she had ever taken care of herself.
Thanks to the way he had taught her to eat and exercise, she was firm and getting more fit each day. If he was going back to that life with Anne, it would devastate her.
Steele ran her hands over her body and imagined it was Arsen who was doing it. The last night he’d made her feel so good. He’d taken a long bath with her, they drank a little wine and then he took her to bed.
Heat had flushed her body with his first touch. His lips pressed against hers and took her away from all thoughts of Gwen. Even though she knew she should only be thinking about her friend and what might be happening to her, Steele wanted to be taken away for a little while.
Arsen could manage to do that with a simple touch. That night his touch was anything but simple as he ran his fingertips over her breasts and stomach. His lips touched her stomach, sending chills all over her.
His dark eyes gazed at her as he said, “One day this flat stomach will be round with our baby, Steele.”
She smiled and recalled the amazing feeling those words gave her. She hadn’t even thought about having kids. “You want kids, Arsen?”
“With you I do,” he’d said. Soft kisses he made all over her stomach.
Her heart swelled with love for him and she knew he was it for her. No one would ever come close to being what he was to her. He would one day be her husband and the father of her children.
It seemed to be far away in a future which was not entirely certain. The dark cloud of prison constantly hung over the man’s shoulders. Steele shuddered as his lips pressed against her clit.
His teeth took it gently, and she moaned with the sweet feeling it gave her. He made a low growl and bit it a little harder. It sent waves of pleasure through her.
Her hands fisted the sheet beneath her. “Arsen!”
His tongue flicked at the swelling pearl between his teeth and with every deft flick of his tongue she felt a jolt go through her, straight to a place deep inside her.
She was wetter than she’d ever been and finally she could take it no longer and groaned loudly as her body shook with the climax.
His fingers gripped into her ass and he moved his mouth to taste the juices he’d set free. His name came from her lips over and over as his tongue went in and out of her, making the orgasm go on and on.
Steele ran her hands down to run through his hair. He finally had had enough of her and moved up her body, kissing every inch along the way. Heat filled her as she waited semi-patiently for him to be inside her.
It was amazing when they were joined together like that. Two parts of the same person it seemed. Her body formed around his thick cock as he buried himself into her wet depths.
His breath was warm on her neck as he pushed himself into her. “I will never get tired of how you feel when I first go into you. Hot, wet, and wonderful. I love you, Baby.”
Somehow every time he told her he loved her it still sent shock waves through her heart. “I love you, Arsen.”
So slowly it almost hurt, he moved inside her. Her stomach clenched with every long, slow stroke. He was making it last this moment with her and she knew it.
It was obvious Arsen was beginning to lose hope he’d get out of the legal mess he was in. He was getting more and more clingy. His hands always on her. As if touching her as much as he could before he was taken away and couldn’t do it anymore.
Even then his fingertips were flowing over her body as he made the slow strokes. His mouth was moving over her throat, teeth grazing her flesh. He was being more gentle than normal, more into the moment than he’d ever been.
Her hands ran over the tight muscles of his back and she found herself needing to feel him like he was feeling her. Making it last, taking him all in.
He could be taken from her at any moment and she was beginning to feel she needed to touch him all she could too. They may only have a small time left before the walls came crumbling down, breaking them in the process.
His hand moved back up her side and he leaned back and looked at her as he took her breast in his hand. His dark eyes were soft and filled with emotion. “You are a rare find, Miss Gannon.”
She smiled and traced his top lip with her finger. “As are you, Mr. Sloan.”
He kissed her fingertip. “I could look at this face forever.”
A tear escaped as she wanted to look at his forever, but she knew it might not happen for them. “With luck, you will.”
He kissed her cheek where the tear had fallen. His lips moved over her cheek as he said, “No tears, Baby. There is only you and me and right now. Let the future go for now. We don’t have any guarantees anyway.”
Her hands ran up to take his cheeks between them. She pulled his mouth to hers and tasted him with a deep kiss. She wanted it to last forever, that kiss.
Their tongues moved in unison with the others. Making sweet love to each other’s mouths while the bottom part of their bodies did the same. Every part of them seemed to be touching, moving against the other’s.
Every deep, slow stroke had his body
moving slowly over her clit and she was beginning to feel the intensity from it. She arched up to get him to grind into her more.
Little eruptions were beginning to occur inside her. She tried to hold them back, but they just kept going and building until her body was shivering with the need to let it all go.
He pulled his mouth from hers and looked into her eyes. “Do it, Baby. Come all over me.”
She grabbed his biceps and held them as she did as he told her. He kept moving slowly inside her, making it go on and on. He stopped and let her catch her breath. Then started up again.
With a smile he said, “How many times you want to come for me tonight?”
Her hand moved over his meticulously kept beard. “As many times as you want me to.”
He kissed her again, soft and slow like a fine wine, he was taking his sweet time with her. She felt adored by him.
A knock came at the bedroom door, taking her out of her memory and she sat up. “I’ll be out in a minute. Nearly done changing.”
She shook her head and climbed off the big bed she shared with Arsen. She looked back at it and found a tear rolling down her cheek.
If he was with someone else, she would never trust a man again. If a man could be that sweet, intimate, and loving, and still mess around, then she wanted no part of them.
A part of her was worried about that so much because he didn’t seem to even want with her what he’d done with all the other women he’d had sex with. The detective had struck at one of her major insecurities where Arsen was concerned.
His need to dominate, control, and physically test his partners. He didn’t do that with her and she knew it. He was gentle with her and listened to her. Catered to her instead of having her cater to his every little need like he made the others do.
Arsen didn’t treat her like the rest and that scared her. Did he go off with someone who he could be himself with? Was he unable to be who he was with her for some strange reason and need that control more than he or she even realized?
She pulled on a soft pair of jeans and a white lace shirt and her favorite boots then went out to face the detective and her shitty ways once again. Steele just hoped the man she loved would come home soon with a great explanation of where he’d been.
Quartet Complete Series: Billionaire Romance Box Set (An Alpha Billionaire Romance) Page 55
