He slept like the dead until noon, got up, showered, relieved the lingering pressure again and dressed for a day out. At one o’clock he pulled up in front of Cirque du Nuit right as Xenia emerged from the entryway wearing a sleeveless white cotton dress and very dark sunglasses.
“Trying not to be recognized?” he asked as he opened the door of his Audi for her.
“I haven’t been out in the sun for a while,” she admitted. “I’d forgotten how bright the day is. If you can talk someone into turning down the sun a little, I’ll take them off.”
“You look beautiful. I just miss your eyes. We can hang out in the shade if you want.”
She shook her head. “Let’s go to the park and walk. I haven’t done that in forever.”
They hit Central Park a little after one and strolled winding walkways, dodging dogs and joggers the entire time.
“So last night,” Derek began.
“You think we’re crazy, right?”
“A little. But not bad crazy. Is that…typical?”
Xenia laughed and took a bite of the pretzel he’d bought for her.
“Kingsley’s done the honors for us more than once. A lot of us would have nothing without him. And we all live together, swim around naked together… Emelia wanted to share that really important moment in her life with us.”
“You weren’t planning on something like that, were you?” Derek asked.
“I do love Kingsley. But like a brother only. Promise.” She smiled at the relief that shone on his face. “Obviously there are worse guys to have your first time with than Kingsley. The guy Urs left us for was a total ass. He paid her for her virginity, so much she couldn’t say no and then, after some extremely bad, painful sex, decides that being with a virgin’s overrated. He dumped her after a week. At least she got the money first.”
Having a virginal girlfriend had its drawbacks obviously. But the thought of instructing Xenia in the bedroom, learning along with her how her body worked, turned him on so much he was in danger of needing yet another therapeutic shower.
“What an asshole. I know guys who would kill for a girl as gorgeous as her without all the ex-boyfriend baggage,” Derek said, unable to even dream of doing that to Xenia.
“Me, for one,” Mark chimed in. “Do you have this Urs person’s phone number? She’s feisty and wasn’t afraid to chew you out. I like her already.”
“No, sorry. But trust me, the girl’s got some serious anger issues. You’ll see.”
They talked as they walked and once Xenia finished her pretzel, she twined her fingers into Derek’s and hand in hand they strolled the park.
“Are your feet getting tired?” he asked as her pace started to slacken.
“A little. I do all my working out in the water. I weigh a lot less in liquid.”
“Here. Let’s get some wheels.”
The wheels in question also included a horse. Derek had always thought the carriage ride through Central Park seemed too cliché to be even remotely enjoyable. But Xenia’s face lit up around the horse and suddenly the romantic cliché actually seemed almost romantic.
“This is fantastic,” Xenia said. “I can’t remember the last time I stayed all day in the sun.”
“The club takes over your life, does it?”
She nodded. “You meet the most interesting people. But it sort of screws up your schedule. I’m up all night and sleep all day.”
“Are you a vampire or a mermaid?”
“Both.” She playfully bit his neck.
The play bite turned into a kiss and the kiss turned into another long make-out session in the carriage.
“The making out has to stop, Derek. It just does. At least get to second base with the damn girl,” Mark ordered.
“Fine, fine. The day went great. Best date of my life. Talked, laughed…she was smart and funny and had a ton of stories to tell me about famous weirdos she met.”
“Don’t care. Skip to the good parts.”
“Every second with Xenia was a good part,” Derek said, feeling the truth of the statement in his heart. Every moment he spent with her he felt awake, alive, not just like Derek Prince but Derek Princely.
“Yo, Prince Derek. Get back to the story.”
“Fine, fine.”
Hours later Derek dropped Xenia off at the club. The kiss in the carriage couldn’t compete with the passionate kiss he received as they said goodbye. As soon as they parted he began counting the hours until he could see her again. Her shift ended at 2:00 a.m. on Saturdays, so he had a few hours to kill. He killed them by working and sleeping. Her vampire hours seemed a bigger annoyance than her virginity so far. But still, he wondered how long he could go without consummating his intense passion for her.
Two o’clock in the morning found Derek in the lounge waiting once more for Xenia. Once more she appeared in the doorway naked and dripping wet. This time he could meet her eyes without staring at her breasts first.
“Hey, you,” she said, grinning from ear to ear. “I’ve got to get my rubdown on, but I’ll be done in just a few minutes, okay?”
“Not okay. I know the massage skin-care thing is part of the routine, but I will go insane if I have to sit in here while some guy paws at you in the next room.”
Laughing, she rolled her eyes.
“Not all of us take advantage of that particular perk of the job. For the record, I never have. It’s just skin and hair care, very much needed in this line of work.”
“That, and getting a pretty personal inspection.”
She shrugged. “Part of the job. You saw where we live, how well we’re treated. All Kingsley asks is that we stay virgins while we work here. Small price to pay from where I stand.”
“There’s gotta be a compromise. I’m having a hard enough time thinking about those men downstairs drooling all over you.”
“I’m constantly wet,” she teased. “A little drool is not a big deal. But we can compromise on this if you want.”
He eyed her warily. Her tone was a bit too mischievous to be entirely trustworthy.
“What’s the compromise?”
“You can give me my rubdown. How’s that?”
Derek stood up immediately.
“Fantastic compromise.”
They crossed the hallway to the massage studio. With great relief, Derek discovered that the door locked. Just being near Xenia’s body put him in a state of extreme arousal. He preferred as few witnesses as possible to his uncontrollable erection.
He took off his jacket and rolled up the sleeves of his white button-down as Xenia positioned herself on her stomach. Derek couldn’t look at her like that without imagining himself on top of her, his chest to her back, his hands in her hair, thrusting into her from behind.
Taking a low slow breath, Derek reminded himself that he was doing this for Xenia and not as some sort of sexual act. He convinced his mind. His body remained dubious.
“What first?” he asked.
“Hair. That’s the blue bottle. I can do that myself if you want.”
“No. I’m going to do this right,” Derek said and took the blue glass bottle off the table and poured vanilla-scented oil into his palms. He started at the nape of Xenia’s neck and massaged it all the way through her long wavy hair. She sighed contentedly while Derek played with her hair.
“I think I got every strand, probably twice,” he said. “What now?”
“Gold stuff. That’s for the body. Watch my feet though. I’m ticklish and if you rub too lightly, I’ll kick you.”
“Good to know.” Derek washed the hair serum off his hands and poured a mound of the pale golden oil into his palms. He started at Xenia’s shoulders and rubbed his way down her back.
“God, this stuff smells amazing,” Derek said as the scent wafted up to his nose. “It smells like the ocean and orchids.”
“This place in uptown makes it just for us. No one but Kingsley’s mermaids get to use it. The silver metallic ink is ours alone too. This brilliant
tattoo artist in the Village invented the stuff. No other tattoo artist in the world has this kind of ink.”
“Did they hurt?” Derek asked, tracing the tattoos of fish scales on her hips.
“A little. But it’s a badge of honor to have them. You can’t wear the mermaid pendant anymore once you lose your virginity, but you have the tattoos all your life.”
Derek moved from her back to her bottom and Xenia giggled a little as he lingered unnecessarily over his work.
“I have legs too, you know,” she reminded him.
“Legs. Right.” Derek worked his way down the back of her legs, massaging oil into her thighs, her calves and the bottom of her feet. “I think I’m done with your exquisite backside. Unfortunately.”
“No worries. One side left.”
She flipped over onto her back and gazed at him through half-closed eyes. Derek cursed himself for not taking yet another therapeutic shower right before coming to Fathoms.
He started at her arms because they seemed safe to touch. But he could only linger there for so long. He poured a line of oil down the center of Xenia’s body from her collarbone to her belly button. Laying his hands on her chest, he rubbed her neck and shoulders before sliding down to her breasts. He nearly moaned aloud as he finally touched her beautiful perfect breasts. No amount of reminding himself his job was to massage and not to grope could keep him from cupping them in his hands and caressing her nipples until they grew stiff and rosy.
“I usually fall asleep during this,” she said, a desperate catch in her voice.
“Not feeling sleepy?” he asked as he gently teased her nipples between his thumb and forefinger.
She shook her head. “I’m feeling everything but sleepy.”
“Good,” he breathed as he moved reluctantly from her breasts to her stomach. From her stomach he moved to her hips and massaged the tops of her legs down to her feet and back again. On his way back up her body she spread her knees wide enough for him to slip his hands between them. As he neared the apex of her thighs, he could feel heat radiating from her.
“You can touch me, Derek,” she whispered. “I want you to.”
His hands almost shaking from raw need, Derek caressed the smooth outer folds until Xenia pulled her legs even wider apart. He slid his finger down the wet slit and pressed the lips of her vagina wide open.
“Xenia…you’re so…God.” He couldn’t find the words. “Are you sure this is allowed?”
“Just be careful,” she said and Derek knew what she meant. Right in front of his eyes he could see the thin membrane of tissue that stretched across the lower half of the entrance to her body.
Wary of her hymen, Derek slowly slid one finger inside Xenia. Heat and wetness enveloped his finger as he pushed in as far as he could go. Xenia’s breath caught in her throat; her breasts rose and fell.
“That’s incredible,” she said, exhaling heavily.
“God, it is,” he agreed, moving inside her tight wet passage, pressing into her G-spot, finding all the places that sent her panting. Pushing lightly into the front wall, Derek saw Xenia twitch and then grin. With his other hand, Derek massaged her clitoris, which swelled at his touch. Derek rubbed harder and quicker, letting his pace match the rhythm of Xenia’s ragged breathing. He ached to open his pants, climb onto the table and thrust into her for the rest of his life. But he held back and only touched her with his hands.
Her back arched and every muscle in her body seemed to tense at once. With a quiet, hard gasp, Xenia climaxed. Derek nearly came from the sensation of her inner muscles as they spasmed around his finger. Carefully, he pulled out of her as Xenia rolled up. She wrapped her arms around him and brought her mouth to his.
“Xenia, we should stop,” Derek said, wanting to do anything but. “I’m seriously about to lose whatever self-control I had two minutes ago.”
“Let me help,” she said into his lips. “Let me touch you too.”
She reached down and unzipped his jeans. Derek rested his forehead on her shoulder as she took his desperately hard length in her hands. Lightly she touched him, her fingers skimming his skin so gently he almost screamed. When she wrapped both small hands around him, Derek couldn’t hold back any longer. He came with a fierce gasp, shuddering harder than he ever had in his life.
“I’ll get a towel,” he said, embarrassed that he’d come so hard and so quickly right on her hands.
Xenia looked at her hand before raising her palm to her lips. She touched his semen lightly with the tip of her tongue.
“Tastes like the ocean,” she concluded.
The sight of her tasting him out of nothing but innocent curiosity brought his blood quickly back to a boil. His mouth crashed onto hers as he pushed her onto her back. Instead of touching her nipples, he sucked them hard while his finger pushed inside her again. He pulled her hips to the end of the table and shoved her legs over his shoulders. Dipping his head, he took her clitoris between his lips and stroked it with his tongue. He devoured her with his mouth until she came once more, this time even harder than the first.
As she caught her breath, Derek kissed his way back up her body to her mouth.
“You taste better than the ocean,” he said as he let her taste herself on his lips.
She opened her mouth to say something, but a knock on the door interrupted their erotic reverie.
“Shit,” Derek said, handing Xenia a towel.
“It’s okay. I’ve got it.”
Xenia wrapped the towel around herself and opened the door. Urs waited outside the door.
“Sorry, Urs. Did you need the room?” Xenia asked, nothing but sweet solicitude in her voice.
“No. But you two need to get a room. And you need to give up the pendant, Xenia,” Urs said, holding out her hand.
Xenia shook her head. “We didn’t have sex. We were just—”
“Just what? I’m not deaf.”
Derek stepped forward and between the two women.
“Urs, it’s my fault. We got carried away. But no, we didn’t have sex.”
“Really? Prove it,” Urs said and pointed at the table.
“No. I don’t want to—” Xenia began.
“Then give up the pendant.”
“I will not,” Xenia said and took a step back.
“Give it up,” Urs demanded, reaching for Xenia’s throat. With more force than he ever dreamed he’d use on a woman, Derek grabbed Urs’s arm before her fingers could touch Xenia.
“Urs,” Derek said quietly, coldly. “Back off.”
“I don’t answer to you, Urs,” Xenia said, standing up to her full and utterly unimpressive height.
“Non, but you do answer to moi,” said a voice from the end of the hallway. Derek released Urs’s arm as Kingsley strolled toward them. “Now, what is this about?”
“Xenia and Derek were having sex in the massage room. She won’t give up her pendant.”
Kingsley looked at Derek and Xenia then back at Urs.
“Is this true, Xenia?” Kingsley asked.
She shook her head. “We didn’t have sex.”
“She says that,” Urs said, “but she won’t prove it.”
“I can prove it,” Xenia said. Derek saw frustrated tears in her eyes. “I don’t care. It’s fine.”
“No, it isn’t fine. Urs doesn’t get to put you in stirrups just because she heard us fooling around.”
“Then I will,” Kingsley said calmly. “Xenia, after you.”
Xenia bit her bottom lip and started to step back into the room. Before Kingsley could follow, Derek thrust his arm out and barred Kingsley’s way. He heard both Xenia and Urs gasp aloud.
“Derek, don’t,” Xenia warned. But Derek paid no heed. Rarely, if ever, had he felt he could kill someone. But now an animal rage welled up in him, a fierce protectiveness that surged through his blood and shocked even him with its ferocity.
“Mr. Edge,” Derek said, his voice so bitterly angry even he barely recognized it. “I know you’ve ca
lled all sorts of politicians in your book. I know people who call you the most dangerous man in the city. But if you touch her in any way she doesn’t want…” Derek took a long slow breath. “I don’t know when, and I don’t know how, but I will make you regret it.”
“Jesus, Derek, you really said that to Kingsley Edge?” Christian asked.
“That was it almost word for word,” Derek confessed, recalling that moment in crystal-clear detail. He remembered it so well because at the time he thought it might be the last few minutes of his life.
“Dude, Kingsley’s ex—French Foreign Legion. You’re lucky to be alive. What did he do?”
“He smiled.”
The smile scared him more than wrath would have. Kingsley smiled like a man unafraid of anything or anyone—especially him.
“I like you, Monsieur Prince. But rules are rules. Xenia?”
Her bottom lip quivering, Xenia stepped back into the room. Kingsley ducked under Derek’s arm, and closed the door behind him.
The minute Derek waited in the hall safely qualified as the longest minute of his life.
“You psychotic bitch,” Derek said, his eyes narrowing at Urs.
“Your own fault. You know the rules here. She gets to stay as long as she’s a virgin. Once she isn’t, she’s gone. You having sex with her doesn’t just affect you, it affects her whole life. Do you get that?”
Before he could answer, Xenia emerged from the room and slipped into Derek’s arms. Kingsley followed and gave Derek another smile before strolling off.
“Urs,” Kingsley called back. “Back to work.”
Urs brushed past them and headed back downstairs.
“Are you okay?” Derek whispered into her hair.
“He didn’t touch me. He didn’t do anything but ask me to look him in the eyes and tell him the truth.”
“So he didn’t—”
Immersed in Pleasure Page 4
