by Unknown
“Why not? You’ve got the address, I don’t need to be here.” I stood up and paced, agitated and ready to run. I would go back home, back to Lilli and everything would be okay again.
“Because I still need you,” he said quietly. Standing up, he caught my hands in his and held me still. “And I’d like to keep you close until we know Frankie isn’t a problem anymore.”
“I’m not a shark,” I said flatly.
“No, you’re not. So swim with me for a while until we know you’re safe, okay?” He put a finger under my chin, tilting my head back until our eyes met. “Okay?”
Did I have a choice? Not really. I would have to make the best of a bad situation. With a reluctant nod, I said, “Okay.”
He smiled. “Good. Now come back to the table and eat, you must be hungry.”
I let him take me back to the dining room. Our food still sat on our plates and we took our places the table.
I dug into the food, my body ravenous and not caring how stressed out I was. Tagine was new to me, but I quickly fell in love with the delectable meat and vegetable dish that saturated my taste buds with a blend of exotic spices.
“This is amazing.” My stomach growled, threatening to claw its way up to my plate if I didn’t eat faster.
Blake nodded. “I love the food here.”
We then ate in silence, the only sound the clink of silverware on our plates or the tapping of the serving spoon as we each had seconds. I ate more than I should have, but I didn’t care. I was starving and the food was delicious.
Once my plate was clean, I leaned back in my chair, a hand over my groaning stomach and asked, “How does it not bother you?”
He paused, mid bite, surprised by the question. “How does what not bother me?”
“There are bad guys after you and you take it like it’s an invitation to go out for drinks. How are you so calm?” While I felt relief that Blake knew the truth, that I didn’t have to betray him, I was still scared. Especially now that hunger no longer ruled my brain.
Blake’s lips quirked in a wry smile. “Because that’s normal for me.”
I gave him a thoughtful look. “What are you?”
“Everything you need.” His gaze smoldered into mine and I squirmed in my chair as the heat between us blazed a trail to my core. “I’ll take good care of you, Ruby. Try not to worry.” He opened his arms in an expansive gesture. “Enjoy yourself. You’re in Morocco.”
I made a face. “I feel like I’m starring in a story of international intrigue.”
“I always liked those stories the best. The girls are always so beautiful.” He touched my hand, stirring my senses with a caress that made me blush and duck my head.
“And the hero is always handsome,” I said softly.
Blake gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. “And he makes sure the girl is safe.” Still holding my hand, he stood and tugged me up with him. Pulling me against his lean frame, he whispered in my ear, “I think it might be time for our bedroom scene.”
I shivered as his deep voice vibrated through me. I would have giggled, too because the bedroom line was kind of over-the-top, but he kissed me so thoroughly I lost the ability to think.
Chapter Ten
The whole way up the stairs and down the hallway to his door, I struggled with conflicting feelings about sleeping with Blake again. On the one hand, the man played my body like a master musician. He savored my curves, which was a rare thing in a man. On the other, sex with him had side effects like kidnapping, mobsters and other badassery. I wasn’t sure how far I could trust him or if I even should.
He said he would keep me safe, but what did I know about him other than having watched his magic tricks and slept with him once? Nothing. I knew nothing. That made me nervous.
Yet my knees were weak, and my stomach fluttered with increasing desire at the idea of being with him one more time. Did it matter if we slept together again? I decided the answer was no just as we reached the door to his room. Sex made babies not mobsters and I was on birth control, so it was all good, right?
We crossed the threshold, locked in a kiss. Absently, I noted his room was similar to mine, but painted blue instead of red. Then he sucked on my bottom lip and I stopped paying attention to the decor.
“I couldn’t stop thinking about you.” He released my lip to kiss the line of my jaw and then nuzzle my neck.
“I missed you the second I knew you were gone,” I whispered, my lips skimming his cheek. “Why did you leave me like that?”
“I had to be here.” His hands found their way inside the caftan and inched toward my breasts. “I thought it was better for us both to make a clean break.”
I lifted the caftan higher, giving him easier access.“But it wasn’t.”
“I know. Can you forgive me?” His thumbs grazed my nipples making my breath stutter.
I kissed him in response. I was going to do this, I was going to sleep with him again and just hope it ended better than the first time. Hope is a flimsy thing to trust, but I wanted Blake the way a drowning person wants to breathe. The need for his touch had become an irrational craving.
We tumbled into bed where he slowly peeled off my clothes. First the caftan followed by the pants. The lack of underwear made him smile, and he took a moment to just look at me.
“Beautiful,” Blake murmured his voice going raspy with desire. He yanked his shirt over his head and quickly kicked off his pants.
Now it was my turn to say, “Beautiful.” He had the physique of an elite athlete. Not just six-pack abs, but those curves right by the hip bones, too. I wanted to run my tongue over every groove on his body and taste every sinful inch, but Blake had other ideas. He liked to be in control.
He straddled my stomach and kneaded my breasts, bunching them up until my nipples almost touched. “One night wasn’t enough for us.” He sucked one nipple, then the other, going back and forth between them in rapid succession.
I arched up toward him, my hips circling as the ache in my core intensified. “No, it wasn’t,” I agreed, running my hands through his dark hair.
His lips pressed against mine, tongue sweeping my mouth. Coming up for air, he said, “It hurt to leave you.” His expression grew somber. “I’m not an easy man to love, Ruby.”
“Love come easy, isn’t love,” I whispered. He looked good enough to eat with his dusky caramel skin and dark chocolate hair.
“You say that now...” He trailed off, his eyes full of uncertainty.
“Isn’t that all anyone ever has? The here and now?” I cupped his face in my hands and kissed him. “Now is enough. I don’t want this second to be any different.”
He pulled back. “Don’t you want the future too?”
I shrugged. “I’m afraid to look to be honest. Things have been a little scary.” Just then I wanted the past to not exist and to let the future stay in the fog.
“I’ll make it right, Ruby.” His lips met mine again.
I believed him in that moment and relaxed into his lips with a happy sigh.
Feeling the bulge of him touching my stomach, my hands went to his shaft. Wrapping my palm and fingers around his hard length, I stroked him softly. A wild pulse beat against my hand as he grew harder.
“Ruby,” he groaned, mouth wound tight around my nipple. The vibration of his voice tickled through my erogenous zones, raising goose bumps.
“Yes?” My voice was arch, full of tease.
He lifted his head, his eyes seeking mine. “You’re driving me crazy.”
I smiled, giving him a little squeeze. “Good.”
“I think some payback is in order.” His smile started out lazy and then grew wicked as he pulled my hands away and up over my head. Leaning down, he nuzzled my neck and worked his way up to my ear. “I’m going to make you scream, baby. Are you ready?”
I squirmed under him, breathless with desire. His breath burned over my neck and heated my blood. Dark places deep inside me flooded with a primal desire.
“Yes,” I
said, opening my legs to him.
He kissed his way down my stomach. “I need to taste you, suck you, bite you. I want all of you.” His hands roughly split me open at my center, exposing my wet desire to his tongue. I whimpered as he sucked and stroked the sensitive bud nestled there like a hidden secret.
“You can do better than that, baby. Come on, scream for me.” Blake’s words blew over my moist center making me shiver. He claimed me once more with his mouth, but this time his fingers plunged into my wet entrance, stirring pleasure from the inside.
I moaned and my hands moved frantically in the sheets, trying to hold on as my body bowed and flexed.“Blake.”
“Mmm,” he mumbled against me.
“Oh,” I said with wonder. The sensation of his voice was achingly delicious.
He said something else, but I couldn’t make out the words. He spoke again and the world exploded in a sizzling starburst as I came, unable to stand against his expert assault. Blake didn’t release me, but rather kept flicking his tongue across my bud over and over as his fingers moved faster and faster within me.
A second climax burst before the first had even finished with me. I whined, then moaned and finally, I screamed.
Blake let me catch my breath after that, sitting back on his heels watching me as I floated down from the heights of bliss. When I recovered my senses, he climbed up my body for a kiss.
After thoroughly sweeping my mouth with his tongue, he pulled back and said, “That was some scream.”
I touched his cheek and he folded his face into my hand, planting a kiss on my palm. He was so handsome, so hot, so easy to love despite everything. It left me uneasy and delighted at the same time. “You’re some guy.”
“We’re not done yet, baby.” He shifted down so that he straddled my stomach. Scooping up my breasts, he bunched them together once more, thumbs grazing my nipples. With a quick thrust of his hips, he pushed his shaft through my cleavage and up to my mouth in an unspoken command.
I sucked him in, tongue playing over his sleek hardness. His thumbs on my nipples kept pace with my tongue. He grew harder in my mouth as the sensitive tips of my breasts tightened. I couldn’t hold back a moan and he hissed as my voice telegraphed through his shaft, a palpable noise.
“I’m going to explode if you keep doing that.” He was breathless as he spoke and a little thrill went through me at the idea this man was mine to control.
That just made me suck harder with a throaty laugh, enjoying my power. Not so little ol’ me was making a sexy man like Blake squirm. Score one for team big girl.
His hands tightened on my breasts, almost painfully so. “Oh, God.” He pulled back then, despite my best efforts to hold onto him. With a quick movement, he parted my legs with one knee and entered me with a smooth stroke.
I whimpered as he lifted my legs up high. He was so deep inside me, I wondered how I took all of him. He pulled back and then paused at the point of re-entry until I grabbed his thighs and tried to force him back in.
Now it was his turn to laugh. He circled the tip of his shaft around my wet cleft. “How bad do you want me?”
“Bad.” I sighed more than spoke. My hips strained upward, reaching for him.
“Will you scream for me again?” His fingers dug into my hips hard enough to bruise. I didn’t register pain though, but rather an urgent need.
I nodded. “Yes.”
Blake slammed into me then, holding nothing back. I yelped at the force of the movement which shoved my breasts up high on my chest. He did it again, pulling on my legs to lift my pelvis higher so he could go even deeper. It was rough, but in the best way. My nerve endings came alive and started screaming seconds before I did.
Waves of pleasure pounded me, shaking my body. I gasped. I cried. I screamed again and again.
“Yeah, just like that, baby.” Blake grinned at me. He hadn’t reached his climax yet and I knew that meant I was in for more.
Sure enough he pulled out and flipped me over onto my stomach as if I weighed nothing. I loved that about him. Then he pulled my hips up and back and entered me from behind as his hands reached around to grab my breasts, the flesh spilling between his fingers.
“Oh, Blake.” His body blanketed me with his heat and I pressed into him, wanting to be hotter yet.
“You ready for round three?”
In response, I arched my back, wiggling my backside against his pelvis.
We rocked together, slowly at first and then with increasing speed. Soon, we were both keening as we crested together.
Afterwards, we stayed connected as we caught our breath. Eventually we laid down, Blake’s arm around me, my head on his shoulder. My core still shuddered with the after effects of our love making, lost in bliss.
“That was amazing,” I said running my hand across his chest.
“Yeah it was.”
We fell silent, letting our closeness communicate for us. Unfortunately, the silence let Frankie intrude into my thoughts.
I frowned. “What are we going to do, Blake?”
“About what?” He looked at me, not following.
“The stuff in my purse.”
He squeezed me close. “It’ll be fine. This isn’t my first rodeo. I’ll take care of it.”
“How?” I wanted details, an action plan, something concrete I could wrap my mind around.
Blake shrugged. “I have friends and anyone coming after me is going to be in for a rude awakening.” He was silent a moment. “Did they give you anything besides the money?”
“A phone and a nasty drug induced hangover.” I put a hand to my head where a small headache still pounded.
He tensed beside me. “I should look at the phone.”
Taken aback by his reaction, I asked, “Why? It’s just an iphone.”
“Maybe, but they might have added some...enhancements to it.”
I pushed up on my elbow to better see his face. “Enhancements?”
His expression serious, he nodded. “Bugs, trackers, you know.”
My jaw dropped. “That sounds like spy stuff.”
“Does it?” He gave a non-committal shrug.
“How do you know about it?” I sat up fully and crossed my arms.
He held up his hands. “I’m a magician, I know a lot of things. Now, why don’t you go get the phone so we can see what we’re up against?”
Suddenly worried about what was in that phone, I threw on my caftan and ran down to the dining room to retrieve my purse. Back in his bedroom, I handed it over.
Blake quickly removed the plastic casing, revealing the guts of the phone. He studied the electronic innards for a moment and then looked up at me with a frown. Tapping his ear with one hand, he mouthed the word ‘bug.’
My jaw dropped. Had they heard our entire conversation at the dinner table? Had I said anything bad? I couldn’t remember. Maybe it didn’t matter. The phone had been in my purse, surely that muffled the sound? I started to speak, but Blake put a finger to his lips and shook his head. I fell silent and watched him work.
Blake replaced the casing and tapped the screen on the phone. At the same time, he reached out and snagged his off the nightstand. Going back and forth between phones, he navigated menus I’d never seen before. I couldn’t follow what he was doing, his fingers moved so fast and there was so much code. He wasn’t working with an app I knew.
When he was done, he put on his pants and beckoned for me to follow him out of the room. We went into the kitchen where he pulled a small cardboard box out of the trash.
Wrapping the phone in a hand towel, he stuffed it into the box. “That should keep them from hearing us.”
“What are you doing?” I asked, keeping my voice low just in case.
“Keeping Frankie way too busy to find us.” Locating a marker in a drawer, he wrote an address on the box. “I’ll have the staff tape this up and drop it in the mail tomorrow.”
I leaned on the kitchen counter and tried to make out the address, but he’d
written it all in Arabic, an alphabet I could recognize but not read.“Where’s it going?”
He smirked and capped the marker he’d used to write the address. “Oh, nowhere fast.”
I narrowed my eyes, still skeptical. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? What if they call me?”
Blake waved his phone at me. “Calls and texts will forward to me, but they won’t be able to track you or overhear conversations anymore.”
My eyes went wide. “Wait, they were tracking me? They know where we are?” The instinct to cut and run made my heart pound.
Blake held up a hand. “Don’t panic. I have a jammer set up, and they would’ve lost the signal before they found the house.”
I moved away from the counter, feeling uneasy. “Why do you have a jammer? Why do you know how to do any of this stuff?”
He cleared his throat looking distinctly uncomfortable. “I’ve found it useful to be difficult to find. Besides, most magicians are science and math nerds. We love technology.”
“What?” I tried to picture him as a nerd, but couldn’t get past the way he looked now. His dark good looks, the toned muscles, the wicked things he did to me. Blake was hot enough to melt butter in a freezer. Nerd so did not apply.
He nodded. “It’s true. There are physicists doing magic all over the place. Mathematicians like it for statistical analysis and there are even published studies about the math of card tricks. A lot of magic involves science. You can’t help but pick up little things like signal jammers after a while.”
“Oh wow. I didn’t know that.” I grabbed his hand and tugged until he leaned down toward me. “Here’s a little known fact about nerds,” I whispered, my mouth hovering over his.
“Oh?” His breath shivered across my skin.
“All the hot ones are magicians.”
He chuckled, the sound buzzing my lips as we kissed. “Now you know our deepest secret.”
I giggled and allowed him to pull me close, his hands running down my backside. “I’m on to you, Blake the nerd.”
“So long as you don’t hold it against me.”
I ground my hips into him. “I think you’re the one holding things against me.”
“Are you trying to drive me crazy?” He squeezed my backside.
