Eternal Flame (Eternal Flame #1)

by Sofia Giselle

  Kristen sat down on the chair opposite Diego and hopelessly sighed, putting her head in her hands. She was on the brink of tears as she spoke. “I just feel so stupid Diego. So dumb. I thought things were moving in the right direction with us, but…”

  “Don’t be so hard on yourself. This isn’t your fault. And there’s nothing you can do to speed the process along. It’s going to take some time. A lot of time. If you want to continue seeing Roman, you have to know that and prepare yourself for that. Like I told you, don’t let your heart reign over your common sense. Like him and spend time with you if you want, just take it for what it is. Don’t try to make into something it’s not.”

  Anxiety squeezed Kristen’s chest as she stared up at the ceiling. “I’m not trying to make it into anything Diego. I just want things to be okay with us. I want whatever this is between us to keep growing in a positive direction. But maybe you’re right. Maybe this isn’t what he wants.”

  “I didn’t say that,” Diego firmly said. “Maybe it is what he wants. But that doesn’t mean it’s the right time to pursue it. Roman is a great guy; he’s genuinely one of the nicest people you’re ever gonna meet in life. But he’s been through a lot and he holds all of it in. That kind of suppressed rage is dangerous. Whoever is around him is automatically the enemy, no matter how well-meaning their intentions are or how much he loves them or they love him. You saw that yesterday with us and his family. That should’ve told you something.

  “I’m sure he doesn’t mean to take things out on you, and he probably feels just as terrible as you do about whatever went down but it’s just going to keep happening until he decides to face what happened head on and deal with it in a healthy, productive way.”

  His walnut brown eyes were deep with concern as he eyed her. “I don’t want him to hurt you. I’m sure he doesn’t want to hurt you. But I’m afraid that’s what’s going to happen. I don’t want him to break your heart.”

  Kristen registered the genuine concern in Diego’s eyes and ruefully smiled at him. “I’m afraid it might already be too late for that Diego,” she sadly replied.

  Both of them were startled by heavy pounding on the door. Diego looked at her in question and she shrugged. He got up and walked to the door and cautiously opened it. Standing on the other side of it was Roman. His hands were resting on either side of the door frame and he was dripping wet from the relentless rain that was still falling outside. His eyes angrily zeroed in on Kristen sitting on the couch before they focused on Diego. His eyes were filled to the brim with jealousy and contempt as he leered at his best friend.

  “Oh, excuse me,” he facetiously said, placing his hands to his chest in mock surrender. “Am I interrupting something here?”

  Diego dryly chuckled and shook his head at Roman. He frowned at the bitter look in Roman’s eyes and looked over his shoulder at a wide-eyed Kristen. “No man,” he calmly said.

  Roman’s tone was confrontational as he continued speaking. “No, it looks like I am. Am I interrupting something’s that’s just getting started or something you’re just finishing up?”

  Kristen was aghast as she stared at Roman. Irritation flinted in Diego’s eyes as he looked back at his friend. He put both hands of top of his baseball-cap covered head and held his wrists. He pulled his bottom lip in and clicked it before blowing through his lips. He and Roman held unnerving, unflinching eye contact, staring one another down. Kristen could tell Diego was fighting for control. She appreciated his maturity in handling the situation. Roman could learn a thing or two from him.

  The room was deathly quiet for several uncomfortable minutes. The look Roman had in his eyes as he eyed Diego sent chills up Kristen’s spine. She was almost certain he wanted to hurt Diego. So much for a woman never threatening their friendship. She prayed to God the two of them wouldn’t go to blows.

  “We were just talking,” Diego finally told Roman in a no-nonsense tone. “And I was just leaving.”

  Roman didn’t address him; just looked over at Kristen.

  Diego turned and looked at her as well. “You good?” he asked her. She nodded in the affirmative and he turned back to Roman. “You and me? We’ll talk later.”

  “I’m looking forward to it,” Roman sullenly said, his eyes still fixed on Kristen.

  Diego agitatedly shook his head at Roman, walked around him and walked down the hall to the elevator. Roman scornfully looked after him; then looked over at Kristen. He stepped inside the suite and closed the door.

  Kristen stood on shaky legs and regarded him. Her eyes were cold as she looked at him but her body was feeling something else. Every muscle was taut with emotion and a shiver of desire ran through her as she gazed into his demanding eyes.

  She flinched and stepped back as he reached his hand out to her. His tone was disarmingly calm when he spoke. “Come on. We’re getting out of here.”

  A lump formed in Kristen’s throat. She swallowed hard and huffed at him in annoyance. She crossed her arms. “I’m not going anywhere with you,” she haughtily said, rolling her eyes at him.

  Roman took another step towards her. “We’ll just see about that.”

  “Does your doctor know you went off your medication?” she dryly dead-panned, sucking her teeth at him.

  Roman stopped and blankly looked at her. His mouth quirked up at the corners and his eyes twitched. He looked like he was going to laugh but he didn’t. That scowl she hated immediately took up residence on his beautiful face again. This time Kristen wasn’t intimidated by it. She was annoyed. She was more annoyed by her body’s reaction to him than by his dropping by her hotel like nothing had happened and ordering her around. She was angry as hell at him for running off but her heart was in her throat and her body was violently reacting to him. They had been intimate; her body recognized his smell, his face, his heat, his presence. And it wanted more.

  Roman looked her up and down, flabbergasted. “You changed your dress.”

  Kristen glanced down at the strapless tube midi-dress she was wearing. Like her dress earlier, it left little to the imagination and hugged her curves in ways that would be illegal in most foreign countries. With the assistance of the hydro-lift strapless bra she was wearing, her breasts were about to fall out of the top.

  She looked over at Roman and almost cheered out loud at the uncomfortable look on his face. “I did,” she blandly said.

  “Was Diego in the room when you changed your clothes?”

  Kristen tilted her head and mischievously narrowed her eyes at him. “Yeah, as a matter of fact he was,” she said, mocking him. “I lifted up my dress and showed him my panties first.”

  His eyes narrowed into two dangerous slits. “Not funny.”

  “Neither is this crazy shit between me and you.” She paused, turning away from him and walking to the other side of the room. “What do you want?”

  He took so long answering her she had to turn back around to see if he was still there. That look she’d grown to love was back in his eyes as he stared at her in a way that only a man that obsessively desired a woman would. She subtlety squeezed her legs together as her pussy moistened and pulsated between her legs. She reminded herself to breathe. “What do you want Roman,” she repeated, whispering.

  “You took your hair down.”

  “Great one Roman!” she facetiously taunted him. “Yes, my hair is down and it’s all mine. You’re very observant, aren’t you? Let’s see, what else is there? Oh, I’m no longer wearing heels; I’m wearing flat sandals now. The dress I’m wearing is red. My hair is brown in this light but when the sun hits it just the right way, it’s more blonde. I have on black bra and panties… Oh, you can’t see that, can you? Maybe you should call Diego back and ask him what they look like.”

  Roman’s jaw ticked as he walked over to her. “You might want to stop talking,” he warned in a disarming tone. “Now.” He took her by the arm; then lightly ran his finger against her warm skin. “We’re getting out of here.”

  Kr
isten tried to ignore the heat that coursed through her body at his touch. “No,” she timidly said, pulling back from him.

  Roman intently looked down into her eyes, speaking firm but soft. “I’m being a gentleman about this right now Kristen but I don’t have to be. Now are you going to come with me? Or do I have to put you over my shoulder and carry you out of here?”

  Kristen silently watched him, weighing the pros and cons of spending another uneventful, unpredictable night with him. “I’m afraid to be alone with you,” she vulnerably professed to him. “You scare me.”

  He looked injured by her words. “You think I would hurt you?”

  She shook her head. “That’s not what I mean. This scares me,” she pointed between the two of them. “The way things are between us.”

  An unreadable emotion flickered in his eyes. He put his finger to her lips and stroked her bottom lip, his eyes darkening as her breath quickened and her eyes unconsciously narrowed.

  “That makes two of us,” he gruffly whispered.

  He grabbed her hand and all but dragged her to the door, grabbing her purse along the way. He walked her out of her suite and slammed the door behind them.

  **********************

  It was raining again. Kristen had an odd feeling of déjà vu as Roman zipped down the busy, crowded Boston streets in his monster machine, darting in and out of traffic, ignoring the sounds of blaring horns. Puddles sloshed up against the Hummer, caking it with mud. The vehicle swerved and slightly skidded, avoiding larger, more dangerous bodies of water, hidden in sinkholes. Like the first time she’d ridden with him, Kristen prayed to God they wouldn’t crash.

  “What the fuck is going on with you and Diego?” he suddenly asked, his voice thick and coated with jealousy.

  Kristen shrank down in her chair and looked over at him. She cringed at the angry, accusing look in his eyes. “I told you nothing,” she almost whined.

  She felt so weak around him and she didn’t like it. She felt like she always had to explain herself and that was so not her style. She considered herself a pretty confident woman but this thing with Roman was fading that confidence fast. She didn’t feel like herself anymore. She felt vulnerable and while that had been okay while she was twisted in his arms, it wasn’t so comforting now that she wasn’t in them.

  “Then what the fuck was he doing in your hotel suite?”

  Kristen looked at him like he was stupid. “Because I called him.”

  Roman was breathing so hard Kristen feared he’d pass out. “What the fuck did you call him for?”

  “What was I supposed to do? Just stand beside your car with my dress around my ass, waiting for you to come back?”

  “You could’ve called me.”

  “Why the hell would I do that when you just ran off and left me there?”

  Roman inhaled and exhaled slowly. “I’m sorry I did that. I didn’t want to leave, but I… It was stupid, I know. But I was trying to protect you.”

  “Protect me from what?”

  Roman didn’t answer her.

  Kristen sadly shook her head at him and looked out the window.

  “Did you kiss him? Did you kiss Diego?”

  She looked over at him again, stunned.

  “Did you?” he forcibly demanded.

  “No,” she practically yelled at him. The man was so exasperating it got on her damn nerves. “I told you I wouldn’t and I didn’t.”

  “Is kissing the only thing you let him do?”

  Kristen incredulously gaped at him. “What the fuck Roman-“

  “Did he touch you? Did he-“

  “No! I swear to you all I did was kiss him, that’s it. He didn’t try to do anything like that with me. And I didn’t want him to,” she added in a softer tone. “You’re the only one I want to touch me like that.”

  Roman glanced over at her and looked away, quiet.

  “I don’t know why you care anyway”, she mumbled, looking out her window again.

  “Excuse me?”

  She looked back over at him, fuming. “I said why do you care anyway? You don’t want me. You don’t even like me. You’ve made that perfectly clear.”

  Roman gripped the steering wheel and clenched his jaw, staying quiet.

  The rain barreled on top of the car and hit the windshield, smothering the simmering silence in the car. Bar music drifted by now and again as they drove through the downtown area, momentarily drowning out the heavy thud of the rain. It was minutes before Roman said anything else to her. “The way I touched and kissed you earlier,” he softly began, “you think I don’t want you?” He stopped at a red light and looked over at her, pinning her with his eyes.

  Kristen’s eyes widened slightly and she looked away from him, hugging her arms. The look in his eyes was too intense for her to return it.

  “That dress you’re wearing right now,” he quietly began as his eyes possessively drifted over her, “you don’t need to wear it around him again. Any other dress you have like that, including the one you had on yesterday… he doesn’t need to see you in it.”

  Kristen defiantly assessed him, lifting her pert nose. “And what will happen if he does? What exactly are you going to do to me? Spank me?”

  Roman’s lips tightened in a hard, thin line. His eyes were harder as he stared at her. His jaw clenched and ticked again. Kristen’s face warmed and she averted her eyes away from him, nervously biting her lip. Why did the thought of him doing just that thrill her so much?

  The light turned green and Roman took off again, spinning the wheels. “Fuckin’ pain in the ass,” he mumbled under his breath. “Driving me fuckin’ crazy…”

  Kristen petulantly glanced over her shoulder at him and looked back out her window. If that wasn’t the pot calling the kettle black. She didn’t drive him half as crazy as his crazy ass drove her.

  Roman swore and blared his horn at a car that nearly side-swiped them and looked over at her to make sure she was okay. He looked back at the road and roughly ran his fingers through windswept his hair. “Just let me know something right now baby…. Am I wasting my time? Just be honest with me and tell me. Am I?”

  Kristen focused on him again, her arched eyebrows tightening with confusion. “Wasting your time with what Roman? What are you talking about?”

  Roman shook his head in frustration and lightly hit the steering wheel with his fist.

  “Are you talking about you and me?” she timidly asked him. “I don’t know how many ways you want me to say it. You should know how I feel about you by now. How can you not know that? You think I just let anyone feel me up and touch me the way you did? You’re really not that bright, are you?”

  Roman glanced over at her again, the expression on his face softer as he scanned her beauty with his eyes. He lightly smiled and looked away.

  “Where are you taking me?” she asked him.

  He didn’t answer her.

  Kristen tilted her head, waiting for an answer. “Where are we going Roman?” she asked again.

  Roman looked over at her, held her gaze for several seconds; and then looked away again, concentrating on maneuvering through the rain. Kristen shivered in her seat, folded her hands together and brought them to her lips, softly biting her nails. The look Roman had given her was something new; something she hadn’t seen before. It made her nervous as hell. But she liked it.

  Chapter 15

  At his apartment, Roman expertly parked backwards into his designated parking space, shut off the engine and exited the driver’s side, walking fast to her side to open the door. He reached his hand out to her and helped her down, closing her door. His hand stayed gripped and locked to hers as they fast-walked through the rain to the front of the building. By the time they’d made it indoors, they were drenched. Their slick shoes scraped against the floor as they walked to the elevators. Once inside, Roman pressed the button for his top floor penthouse; then kept his eyes trained on the reflective elevator doors as they rode up in silence. Kristen l
ooked straight ahead, too scared to look at him, his hand that still held hers burning her skin.

  The doors opened and Roman exited, pulling her along with him. He quickly walked down the hall, practically dragging her, ignoring her as she stumbled and almost fell several times trying to keep up with him. When they reached his apartment he let her hand go and fumbled in his pants for his keys. He opened the door, led her inside, and slammed it shut, tossing his keys on the small table by the door.

  He turned to Kristen and gave her the hungriest look she had ever seen on a human male. She backed up and gripped the wall behind her with her hands, crying out as he stalked to her and grabbed her face in his hands, crushing his mouth to hers. He tasted her with urgent hunger, running his hands all over her, moaning madly as his tongue probed her mouth and his lips amorously kissed and sucked on hers. Kristen threw her arms around his neck and passionately kissed him in return, her own moans of desire nearly drowning out his.

  Roman yanked away from her and turned her around. He bent her over and Kristen placed her hands against the wall, gasping loudly. Her body shook and her heart raced as she anxiously waited, every nerve ending in her body tightening in anticipation of what he was going to do to her.

  Roman lifted the bottom of her dress over her hips and delicately ran his hand over the soft skin. He slapped her once on one ass cheek; then the other. He pushed her dress further up her back and ran his hand down it, moaning deeply.

  “You’re fuckin’ perfect,” he huskily rasped.

  He pulled her silk black panties through her ass crack; then pressed his rock-hard erection against her ass so she could feel just how bad he wanted her. He ran his hands up her stomach and back down, running them over the front of her panties. He growled and gritted his teeth hard when he felt how wet she was.