What to Read After FSOG: The Gemstone Collection (WTRAFSOG)

by CJ Roberts

  “It’s nice to meet you.” When Tim’s eyes landed on me, unease slithered through my body like a chafing eel. “I was unaware that you knew my Katelyn.”

  My Katelyn? I clenched my jaw. The endearment sickened me to my core. Apparently Adam didn’t like it either, because his whole demeanor shifted. He didn’t let go of my wrist, rather he slipped his hand into mine and twined our fingers together. The small gesture comforted me.

  Tim took notice. Adam’s body was thrumming, but he remained perfectly still. Adam was not the type to offer information. Instead of taking on Tim’s questioning expression, Adam turned toward me.

  “I’d be happy to escort you to dinner if you’d like.” He unleashed that megawatt smile. “Or, perhaps coffee?”

  I beamed up at him. Somehow, he had picked up on my agitation and offered to remove me from the situation.

  “You can’t go,” Tim shot out. “You just got here. Come, I’d like to introduce you to some people, Mr. Kinkade.” Tim’s eyes briefly flashed to me. “Kate, you have Simon?”

  I nodded and stole a glance at Adam. His eyes were intense, watching every move I made.

  “It’s okay. I’ll be right back,” I whispered, and headed for Simon’s room. There was no doubt that Adam could handle himself just fine. It was the way he looked at me, as if silently asking me if I was all right. The surge of strength and repose that came over me made me smile. Adam had done it again. Facilitating a lightning bolt of power straight to my self-esteem.

  When I got to Simon’s room, I found him lying in bed, clutching his blanket. I turned on his night light and sat next to him. “Hey kiddo, why aren’t you asleep yet?”

  He shrugged. “Bad dream.”

  “Want to tell me about it?” I ran my fingers through his hair.

  “Nah.”

  “Okay, well, why don’t you tell me about your day. Did you have fun at Gavin’s house?”

  He scratched his chin. “Yeah. I told him about the zoo. He was really jealous!”

  “Oh yeah?”

  “Yeah! And I drew a picture of the ostrich we saw.”

  “Well, I’m so glad you had fun, buddy. We’ll have to do that again real soon.”

  “Promise?”

  “Of course.”

  He snuggled deeper in his bed. “What did you do today, Kate?”

  “Well, while you were at Gavin’s, I helped your mom set up the house and worked on my thesis a little bit. Then I had to shower and get ready…”

  His eyelids started to drift and fall. It was way past his bedtime and I wasn’t surprised he was out so quickly. Some nights, when story time didn’t work, I recounted my day in painstaking detail and that usually conked him out. A six-year-old’s attention span could be a brilliant thing.

  “I love you, buddy,” I whispered, and kissed his forehead. I quietly rose, tucked the blankets in around him, and turned for the door.

  There was a shadow in the doorway. A sharp scream burned my throat, but I managed to stifle it. Before terror gripped me completely, Adam stepped into the dim light. My lungs struggled briefly, but after a few deep breaths, I pushed the fear away. A shadowy figure coming toward me was an instant anxiety spike.

  I walked toward him, out into the hallway, and closed Simon’s door behind me.

  “I didn’t mean to frighten you,” he rasped.

  “It’s okay. I’m glad it’s you.” My lips trembled slightly. “I didn’t mean to be gone that long.”

  “You weren’t.” Adam’s voice was deep and laced with intent. He cupped my face in his hands. Before I could react, he kissed me. He parted my lips with his tongue and took a long, deep taste. It was quick, hard. Intense. If his goal was to steal all the oxygen from my lungs in one earth-shattering pull of his mouth, he had succeeded.

  “W-what was that for?” I gasped, wishing I had more breath, but the sinful mogul had just kissed it all out of me.

  He shook his head and tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. I untucked it, letting it fall back over my jaw and neck.

  He frowned, but didn’t push the matter. “Are you ready to get back to the party?”

  “Not really, but yeah, we’d better.”

  He guided me down the hallway, his hand resting on the small of my back as he slowly led me downstairs to the crowd of people.

  “I can always find something far better to occupy your time with, you know.”

  “Don’t tempt me. I just may take you up on your offer.”

  “About time, woman.”

  Oh my God! He smiled! Bigger than I had ever seen. It reached his eyes and gave him a boyish charm. I liked this side of him. The human side. The power and dominance was still there, but there was something deeper. Many children who grew up being bounced around in the system had issues with control and a warped sense of stability. It wasn’t a mystery that being a foster child played a part in his demeanor. But there was something more. Something almost broken that seemed to be buried deep inside him. Something that called to me. I wanted to dig into that side of Adam and latch on tight.

  “There you are,” Eddie Stout slurred as he ambled toward me. The party had been in full swing for a little while and the handsy, middle-aged tax attorney had already had his share of Stoli.

  “You look fucking hot, Katelyn!” He raised his hand to my face. I flinched and instinctively squeezed my eyes shut.

  Though Eddie would only attempt to touch me, it was an instant reaction. But his hand didn’t meet my skin. I peeked and saw Adam’s fingers wrapped around Eddie’s wrist.

  “Don’t touch her. Ever.” Adam’s voice was so calm and threatening it sent shivers down my spine. Eddie bared his teeth and made a weird noise before taking another swig of his drink and walking away, mumbling several choice words.

  “What was that?” Adam barked, as though he was mad at me for Eddie’s approach.

  “What was what?”

  He slowly raised his hand, his eyes on mine. It looked like he was about to perform magic or something. He stood there for a moment, his finger hovering from my nose to my cheekbone.

  I laughed. “Are you trying to hypnotize me?”

  “You’re laughing?”

  “I’d call it a light giggle.”

  “You laugh at me, yet when your uncle approached you earlier, you tensed up. And then just now, when that man came near you, you flinched.”

  My heart stopped and my attention turned toward the floor.

  “But now…” He traced his finger from my ear to my neck. “And when I kissed you in the hallway, and before at the restaurant—my office—you didn’t feel threatened.” His eyes blazed with so much ferocity it scared me. “Did that asshole hurt you in the past? Has he touched you?”

  My brows rose nearly into my hairline. I didn’t know which asshole he was referring to, but either way, I didn’t want to go into it. Eddie was a drunk and technically, Tim had never hurt me. I had shut him down before it got that far. He was just inappropriate and unnerving. Yes, he added to my anxiety issues, but my reaction to hands coming at my face was due to my mom. Another subject I didn’t want to get into.

  I grabbed both of Adam’s hands in mine. “It’s nothing like that. It’s just a reaction I have sometimes.”

  “Sometimes?”

  “Well, a lot of the time. Except with you.”

  “You trust me.” Once again, he wasn’t asking, he was affirming. But it was also impossible. I didn’t even let Brian or Megan near my face—not that they regularly attempted it. I had been thinking about this a lot, and the only thing I could come up with was that my sense dissolved when I was near Adam. Logical or not, the simple truth was that I reacted to Adam differently than I did to the rest of the world.

  Why was that?

  I didn’t have an answer.

  “Someone has hurt you, Katelyn. Who is it?”

  “I don’t want to talk about it.” Especially not with him.

  His eyes took in the crowded room and he lowered his voice. “Maybe
not here and not tonight, but we will talk, Katelyn. Because this—” He motioned between our bodies. “—is hitting me hard. And you feel it, too. Of course, you fight me more than I’d like,” he growled with amusement. Playful Adam was back and I was relieved.

  “Well, I do what I can.”

  He gave me that look again, like he was in awe, like he had just seen his first sunrise or something. A girl could get used to that look.

  Tim’s voice rang out. He was telling a joke and everyone laughed. I didn’t want to be there, but I wanted to make sure Simon stayed asleep, because his nanny wouldn’t come until the morning. If he had another bad dream, he’d only have drunk parents to deal with. I’d give it a little more time, but I needed some space from the house.

  “I think I need some air.”

  Adam nodded and we headed to the back deck. I leaned forward, resting my forearms on the rail, and looked out over the expanse of land.

  Beside me, Adam mimicked my pose.

  “You know, I used to wonder how far I could run before it all just disappeared.”

  “Why don’t you try it now?”

  I snorted. “I’m directionally challenged. I’d get myself lost in the dark.”

  “Not if I chased you.”

  I looked over at him. That word chase, he had made clear before, was something he never did.

  “It wouldn’t be wise for someone like you to follow me into the dark and unknown,” I said.

  “Someone like me?”

  “You’re a pretty important man. You might get lost, and then where would we be?”

  “You think I’m important?”

  “Yes, I do.”

  His moved closer, his fingers skating down my spine. “I’m glad.”

  7

  Adam insisted on escorting me home and I was happy to oblige. After an hour had passed, Simon still hadn’t awakened, so I felt okay about leaving.

  Adam drove instead of a chauffeur. His car was amazing. A sleek black McLaren, with heated leather seats.

  I’d never known watching a man shift a seven speed could be so hot. He handled the car like he’d been born with it. Every time the accelerator revved and his long legs flex and push the gears on the floorboard, a dose of lust coursed through my veins. His palm relaxed over the stick shift when he reached the speed he wanted and we glided back into the city limits.

  I stole another glance at him. “Did you have fun tonight?”

  “I enjoyed your company,” he said.

  For once I kind of liked his cryptic responses. “This probably isn’t how you spend your typical Saturday night, huh?”

  He looked at me. “I tend to go where I want to go. Tonight, it was that house, where you were.”

  My pulse was beating in my ears. These small glimpses of Adam beneath that tough exterior made my heart do weird things.

  “Do you want to tell me now why you don’t like people touching your face?”

  “No,” I muttered before I could catch myself.

  “It’s a beautiful face.”

  Heat rushed to my cheeks. He was persuasive, but I didn’t want tonight, this time with him, tainted by thoughts of my past.

  “Why did you help host and attend an event you didn’t seem to enjoy?”

  “My aunt asked for my help.”

  “Are you close to her?”

  He didn’t ask about Tim. Probably because my feelings toward him were pretty obvious. “They took me in after I moved out of my mom’s house.”

  “That wasn’t an answer,” he said. “And I only ask because you acted as though you couldn’t wait to get out of there. Why?”

  “Why don’t we talk about your family?”

  “My parents are dead.”

  Oh, God. The Google info I had found hit my memory and felt like an asshole. I didn’t talk about my parents because talking about them made me think about them. “I’m sorry, Adam.”

  We didn’t talk any more. It was like we were both afraid to dig any deeper. I wanted to know all about Adam Kinkade. There was so much to the man that no one seemed to know. Yet, every time I asked a question, I knew he’d be on me with one of his own.

  He walked me to my door. Megan and Brian had been pretty drunk by the time I left and they would be staying over at my aunt’s until one of them was safe to drive.

  “Thank you for the ride and for coming tonight.”

  “You asked me to come. I came. It’s that simple, Katelyn.” He surrounded me with his presence. My back hit the door. “Now I’m asking, would you like to come in?” His breath danced over my mouth.

  “Um…we’re at my house. Isn’t that supposed to be my line?”

  He kissed me. Hot. Hard. Quick. Just as he had earlier at my aunt’s house. My words stuttered out. “W-would you like to come in, Adam?”

  “Why, yes, I would.”

  I fished my keys out of my purse and unlocked the door. I shut and locked it behind me, then tossed my coat on the sofa. Adam followed suit.

  “Hey, wait! Did you just do some kind of Jedi mind trick on me to get me to invite you in?”

  “The Force is strong in me.” He smiled. I was already addicted to the sight.

  He walked to the center of the living room and looked around while I slipped off my shoes. Our apartment was smaller than his office, but it was cute and clean and I took pride in the fact that I’d earned everything in it.

  Adam looked around and that glimpse of a grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Cozy,” he said.

  “That’s a nice word for small.”

  He cupped my hip and pulled me close. “It feels like a home. I like it.”

  I didn’t know exactly what that meant, but in that moment, Adam looked the most relaxed I’d ever seen him.

  We both knew what was going to happen. I was nervous, excited. I might be a virgin, but I had been around men and never once had my body reacted this way to any of them. I had made my choice when I invited Adam tonight. I had chosen him over fear of the future, and I was ready to follow through with it.

  “Can I get you something to drink? Eat?” The tremor in my voice was evident.

  “Drink,” Adam said, then plunged his tongue in my mouth and kissed me deeply. “Eat…” He trailed that perfect mouth from my bottom lip to my chin, nipping with his teeth all the way. My bones felt weak, my whole body shaky. “Where is your bedroom?”

  I pointed to the open door down the hall. With both hands on my hips, Adam’s lips didn’t leave my skin as he moved them along my neck and collar bone while stepping toward my bedroom. Walking backward on shaky legs was tricky for me, especially when he gently sucked my pulse. The scrape of his jaw tickled my skin like sandpaper and flicked sparks of fire along every nerve ending.

  “You’re smiling,” he rasped.

  “When you kissed me at the restaurant…later that night I could see it.” I trailed my fingertips over his cheek. “My lips were swollen and my chin tingled from your stubble.” I gathered his face in both my palms and looked at those amazing blue eyes. “I loved feeling you long after you left.”

  He ran his thumb along my chin. He gently pushed, causing my mouth to open slightly. Without warning, he thrust his tongue inside. I moaned at the carnal way he devoured my mouth. He tasted like fresh mint and crisp wine. He kicked the door shut with his foot. The action rushed another dose of wetness between my legs. He was slow, but intense. There was a methodical intent behind his passion. I wasn’t sure what side I’d get, but I was so ready for anything he would give me.

  He pulled back just enough to look at my face. Without saying anything, he trailed his palms up my sides, to my shoulders and neck. He cupped my face in both hands. I stared, dazed. My whole body felt like smoldering Jell-O.

  “I like that you trust me,” he said.

  It didn’t make sense, but my body seemed to recognize him. My mind definitely registered that he was dangerous, but in a way very different from anything I’d ever encountered. Somewhere, deep down, I was ca
lmer when his hands were on me than when they weren’t.

  I craved him, wanted him, but at the same time, I didn’t like what was happening to me. The vulnerability was creeping up. I stood, literally in his hands, to do with as he wanted. I didn’t fight it. Emotions were firing and I let them. Let myself fall hard and fast and everything in my body was screaming to keep going.

  Damn the consequences and damn tomorrow.

  “I hear your mind working,” he murmured against my mouth. I grabbed the back of his neck and kissed him with all the force I had.

  I debated telling him that I was a virgin, but decided against it. This wasn’t a conquest or a way to guilt him or myself into something it wasn’t. This was going to be sex. Functional. A means to an end. I could do this and come out on the other end just fine. Then this hurdle in my life would have been conquered and hopefully I would be able to handle these kinds of feelings with more control.

  Good. The plan was good and had a purpose. But this couldn’t be sweet and gentle because the moment I slowed down, I started thinking too much—thinking about how I’d feel once Adam left. How I’d handle it if—when—he disappeared completely from my life. He was not the kind of man who could be contained in a long-term relationship. The numerous photos of him with random women were a blatant indicator of that.

  I had chosen Adam, but clinging to him more than I already was? Not smart.

  I was tired of holding back. If I wanted to be treated like a woman, I needed to act like one. Besides, he had been clear at the restaurant. Despite my feelings or how I had come to want him over this last week, I needed to remember what Adam had said.

  The man wanted to fuck?

  Then that’s what he’d get.

  I gripped his crisp shirt in my fists and ripped it open. Buttons went flying and Adam growled.

  “That’s how you want to play this, Katelyn?” He pushed me backward. The backs of my knees hit the edge of the mattress and I fell back on the bed. I smiled. This was more like it. No more gentle. No more emotion.

  He remove the rest of his shirt. Good Lord, the man was a god. Lean, hard muscle roped from his chest to his abdomen. My eyes followed the small trail of dark hair that started just below his belly button. I wanted to lick the entire length of him.