by Jada Sioux
CHAPTER SEVEN
Kiara
Kiara sighed glumly as Tessa, the office assistant, carted in another heavy armful of gorgeous flowers. With a certain bit of resignation, Kiara pointed to a shelf in her little office, motioning for them to be set down there. It was like someone had taken a knife, stabbed it in her heart and was now twisting it for all it was worth.
Why does he have to do this?
Kiara wondered to herself, already knowing who they were from without Tessa saying a word.
“There’s a card too,” Tessa said, a note of awe in her voice.
Kiara couldn’t blame her. Any woman would have been over the moon to receive such lavish attention from one of the world’s most eligible bachelors, and here she was, moping about it.
Kiara forced a small smile and took the card from Tessa. The thick paper and the gold embellishments on it felt rough under her fingertips.
“Thank you, Tessa. Is everything set for the meeting with the art department for Divinad’s Cadence line?” she asked, trying to dodge any queries on why Damien Thatch had been showering her with flowers these last few weeks.
Tessa nodded and slipped out of the office, undoubtedly to chatter with someone else in the break room about how Kiara was a thankless bitch, acting so miffed about getting an armful of lilies and orchids. Kiara dropped into her simple leather office chair with a resigned thud as the door slammed closed behind Tessa, giving her a moment of solitude before the meeting. She eyed the gorgeous bouquet, and a lump of bitterness rose in her throat.
Every day, another bouquet. Every day, another card. And she couldn’t enjoy any of it.
Kiara opened the card and true to form, it said:
Thinking of you, sugar. – Damien
It was always something like that. Something that made her stomach drop and her body heat up with lust. Every fiber of her being screamed to be in his arms again, to give in to his dogged determination and just forget all about her hurt and the sting of the tears she had cried as she ran out on him a few weeks ago at the banquet. And, if she had been face to face with him, she just might have.
But Damien had been out of L.A. for a while now, apparently on business in Asia as one of his phone messages to her had stated, explaining why he hadn’t been in touch as much since the party – and that was just alright with Kiara. It was enough to have to stare at the gifts he sent her and hear him spoken about in the conference rooms, always with high regard and reverent praise for giving Mirrorview a chance at competing for the promotion of the Cadence jewelry line.
Every time someone mentioned him, her breath would quicken, and her heart would pound loudly in her chest. He was making her physically sick, and it was really becoming kind of annoying.
Stop being such a girl, Kiara, she scolded herself quietly, flipping the card around in her hands a few times before slipping it into a desk drawer that already housed several others like it.
Her lips thinned into a line as she caught sight of the ever-growing pile. She had to give it to the talented Mister Thatch – he didn’t give up easily. And why should he, she hadn’t outright declined him. In fact, she’d just about screamed yes the last time they met. A blush rose to Kiara’s cheeks, and she brushed her fingertips through her hair absentmindedly as the memory of the banquet came to haunt her.
She’d gone there shuddering with need for him, and he had done everything in the world to make her crumble to ashes at his feet. His touch was electric, his tongue in her mouth made her see stars, and when they had sex, it felt more than just a quick screw in a back room. It felt like… It felt like they had a connection. Like there was something there.
It had all been so promising before the model-thin and absolutely gorgeous Eliza Whitcomb-Divinad had stormed in and dismantled every naïve, optimistic little dream that Kiara had managed to build in her head between catching Damien’s eye at the seedy bar in New York and the moment he walked out of that library at the banquet. She cursed herself for being so silly. There could be no white picket fence for her and Damien.
There would be no babies and Sunday barbeques with friends and family, and there most certainly wouldn’t be any hot, mind-blowing sex or dark commands and words whispered in private.
Eliza had told her in no vague terms that Kiara wasn’t special. She was just another warm body that Damien Thatch used to keep himself amused. It wasn’t so much that it came as a surprise to Kiara – she should have realized that she was no more than just a trinket to pass the time with – but rather that she hadn’t figured it out herself and needed someone to say it to her face.
I can’t possibly be this stupid. Or maybe I am. Maybe he makes me do stupid things. You promised yourself you wouldn’t be one of those girls, Kiara. The ones that lose all their dignity and sense the moment a hot guy gives them a few moments of attention. So snap out of it. Get back to work, make something of yourself.
Her lips were pressed into a thin line, and her stomach churned violently, making her physically ill. The strong smell of the lilies – which she usually loved – almost made her gag as she sat there at her office, trying to figure out whether she was feeling sorry for herself or whether she was just mad at her weakness for a man who she couldn’t possibly mean anything to.
Another moment, and she couldn’t take it anymore. She hadn’t even had breakfast but what little she had in her stomach wanted to come up.
Clamping a hand over her mouth, she ran for the bathroom.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Damien
Damien listened to his voicemails grimly, not waiting a second after his private jet had set down in L.A. to whip out the smartphone. He was telling himself that there were important matters that he had to resolve, and Jasmine, his assistant, had promised to leave him a message as soon as there was any news, but he knew that wasn’t the full extent of it.
He could try to fool himself, but he knew whose message he was hoping to hear – Kiara’s. The curvy chocolate-skinned marketing specialist had somehow managed to reduce him to a pining teenager, who couldn’t keep himself from checking his phone a hundred times a day. And it made his blood boil and his head swell with indignant irritation that she had ignored him for so long.
With any other woman, he wouldn’t have put a second of thought into it. After he sent the first bouquet and a box of chocolates a few days after the banquet without receiving any kind of reaction from Kiara, he would have forgotten all about it. But she wasn’t just any woman. Something about her made him pulse with need. He wanted her.
And what he wanted, he would get. Only this time, he wasn’t completely sure what conquering her meant. He’d already tasted her several times, and still he wanted more. When they made love, it felt perfect.
Making love? You’re getting soft, Thatch.
She was just the right mix of feisty and yielding, making him lick his lips with predatory satisfaction while soothing his need to protect and nurture. Her body made him stand up and take notice, especially in that skintight dress she had been wearing at the banquet. The memory of that night made him smile, and then his mood was wiped away just as quickly.
His brows knit, and he glumly tucked the phone back into the pocket of his slacks. Still no message, or note, or any kind of recognition of the fact that he had been sending her flowers each and every damn day. Damien didn’t expect her to fall over herself for him, but he’d also left a message on her voice mail after she failed to stick around until the end of the party, and there was no reply to that either.
In Damien Thatch’s world, that didn’t happen. A woman he had chosen didn’t just ignore him. Or if she did, he hadn’t noticed, because the woman hadn’t been worth the time it took to feel offended or scorned. But with Kiara, it suddenly mattered. It mattered a lot, and he didn’t know why. It was driving him insane, and that was a level of loss of self-control he couldn’t stand for.
Time to go to the source, he thought, as the stewardess told him he could exit the plane.
> He shared a few pleasantries with his pilot and made plans for the next trip in a few days, but his mind was already rushing far ahead. He was going to see Kiara again, and that deserved most of his attention.
***
He stood in the small conference room, staring out of the window at the modest view it provided him. Damien had asked the girl at the front desk for a private room to talk to Kiara, and he had insisted on the girl knowing that he didn’t wish to be disturbed. She’d seemed to get his point well enough as she’d skittered off to fetch Kiara. Damien bristled slightly at the situation. He’d had to come and find her, not the other way around.
He wasn’t usually the kind of man to chase like this, but he needed to know what was going on in Kiara’s delightful little head. Why hadn’t she stuck around at the party like he’d asked her? In his head, he’d plotted every manner of dark debauchery to share with her that evening, and when he had found out that she had not stayed as he had demanded, he had been both curious and disappointed. And he didn’t like being disappointed.
In fact, he didn’t like most of the emotions Kiara had been making him live through lately, and he would have much preferred to return to the original situation – hot sex and clever banter with a woman that made his cock hard just at the thought of her.
When he heard the door open and close behind him, he took a moment to exhale before turning around. His pulse raced, and he couldn’t suppress the wolfish grin that spread on his lips as he took in the sight of Kiara standing by the door, dressed in a tight silver-gray dress and high heels that made her legs look like they went on forever. She looked like a doe standing in the middle of a highway, cars rushing past and keeping her nailed in spot.
In a way, he liked seeing that vulnerable look on her face, but at the same time he also wanted to wrap his arms around her and tell her that it was all going to be okay, that he was going to protect her from anything she thought could harm her.
Where do you get those thoughts…? Focus on the goal.
But what was the goal? To get her in bed again? To get her pining for him as he apparently did for her? He wasn’t sure, but he was curious to find out.
“Miss Lockett. You look beautiful today,” he said mildly, stepping a few steps closer.
He could see her physically recoil at his approach and words, her cheeks drained of color. A conference table separated them, and he didn’t enjoy the obstruction in his path, but he stopped, giving her a moment. Like a hunter approaching his prey, he knew that skittish creatures had to be treated with carefulness, and when he took aim, he couldn’t afford to miss.
“You haven’t answered my calls, Kiara. Is everything alright?” he asked, keeping his tone conversational. He didn’t like the way she reacted to his approach. Something was wrong, and in true female fashion, she obviously wasn’t going to share it with him. His brows knit in frustration as she nodded, offering him no more and no less than exactly what he had asked for.
“Everything’s alright. I’ve just been busy, Mister Thatch,” she said. The way she said his last name stung.
“Mister Thatch is my father, and perhaps me at a meeting. But when we’re alone, it’s Damien. Did you like the flowers?”
Now when she nodded, at least a small smile made the corners of her delicious lips curve upwards a bit. A softness came to her hazel eyes, and Damien’s posture relaxed. Progress. Good.
“They were beautiful,” she said quietly, barely more than a whisper.
He wanted to tell her that he had picked out each bouquet himself, wanting it to be special, not just something Jasmine sent to the bendier than average, fascinating females that he’d shared a bed with when the mood struck him. He wanted to tell her that she was one of a kind, an extraordinary woman that made both his mind and body want her. But that would have been awfully mushy, and he didn’t do mushy.
“I’m glad you liked them,” he said, closing the gap between them.
She gasped sweetly as he came to stand in front of her, and he couldn’t keep the smirk off his face. He remembered that gasp. He liked it. Without another thought, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her to him, pressing her curvy body against his hard muscles.
Just where you belong…
Her hands were set on his chest, and she pushed against him a little. Not too much, but he could feel the hesitation in her. She worried her lip as his cock got hard against her thigh, color returning to her face now. It was good to know that at least up close, he could still make her melt. Not everything had changed over the few weeks he had been away.
“Did you miss me?” he asked, his voice a soft growl.
His eyes tracked the way her teeth grazed against her lips, and his steely arms kept her close to him, not letting her stray from him. She was exactly where he wanted her, where he needed her, and he was sure she wanted to be there as much as he did.
“Yes,” Kiara confessed, her breath hitching.
It seemed to be a struggle to admit that, her eyes brimming with tears but not a single drop breaking to mar her cheeks. Internally, it made him roar. Everything about this delicate, yet strong and capable woman made him want to reshape the world into a place where she would never be sad, never be hurt. A Herculean task – but one that he was uniquely capable of delivering.
“Good,” he murmured, bringing one hand slowly up her body and over her arm until it was at her chin, tilting it upwards so he could taste her sweet, sensual lips.
She trembled a little. When he kissed her, the world fell away for a moment. His tongue dipped hungrily into her mouth, and though at first hesitant, she soon answered his need with equal fervor. Like two addicts who’d tried and failed at being good, they drank from one another, eager to distill all of the emotions and sensations into one perfect moment.
His hand slid behind her neck, and he cradled her head while his other hand rested on her ample ass. Damien couldn’t wait to undress her again.
His teeth gripped her lower lip for a moment, and she let out the most heartfelt moan, one that made him almost quake with the need to fuck her right there on the conference table. But there was still something off about the way she had treated him. If he’d learned anything about women, then it was that a woman with something on her mind was best treated with careful hands and not rushed. He’d have to rein himself in for now – even if it was the last thing he wanted to do.
With obvious reluctance, he finally withdrew from the kiss, and after a peck on her forehead, stepped back from Kiara. He grinned, tucking his hands in his pockets. She was flustered, and her chest was rising and falling heavily. He liked her like that a lot more than he had when she’d stared at him like he was the most dangerous man in the world. That glow she got when he touched her was delicious.
Damien thanked the years he’d spent toiling at his companies, putting up with every manner of nonsense – it had helped shape him into a man strong enough to step away from a gorgeous woman when it was needed. Every fiber of his being wanted to rip that dress off her body and fuck her until she couldn’t walk straight, but he didn’t. Not yet. He packed the need into a tight ball inside of him and tucked it away to be unraveled when he had her alone again.
“I actually had work to discuss as well,” he said, making her gaze sharpen immediately.
She straightened her dress and ran a hand through her hair, as if visual appearances would hide what he knew she wanted. He wouldn’t be fooled so easily.
“I want to hear your promo strategy. We’re coming closer to the pitch deadline, and I think Mirrorview should tell me about its preliminary plans so I can be sure you’re moving in the right direction. Are you ready for that?” Kiara pondered it for a moment.
“Yes, I think I can have something for you by tomorrow.”
“Excellent. I want you to pitch it to me in person. I’ll send a car here in the morning. Pack a swimsuit.” He didn’t give her time to answer.
Instead, he gave her a wink and brushed past her, reveling in
the surprised look she gave him as the door slammed shut behind him. It’s not that he wouldn’t have enjoyed arguing with her on whether or not being in a bikini was necessary for the job, but rather that if he stayed there with her for even a minute longer, he might just not be able to control himself any longer.
You must be growing soft, Damien, he pondered as he headed through the office, plotting his next move.
The bigger question, however, was whether he minded his transformation.
CHAPTER NINE
Kiara
Kiara shifted uneasily in the seat, the soft, buttery leather enveloping her in lavish luxury. It felt odd to be sitting in a town car that probably cost more than she was ever going to make. She absentmindedly thumbed the strap on her purse – a ratty faux-leather hobo that was the only one big enough to accommodate her spare clothes and the materials she needed to show Damien.
Experimentally, she tried crossing and uncrossing her legs a few times to see if she could get comfortable. Nope.
Her stomach was twisting and turning, and she was constantly on the edge of vomiting. Kiara wasn’t entirely sure if she was coming down with something or if Damien Thatch just had that kind of effect on her. Really, could be either as far as she was concerned. Every time she was near him, she thought the world would fall away from under her, so a touch of vertigo was to be expected in her opinion.
With a resigned sigh, she tucked her hands together on her lap. She had no idea where the driver was taking her, but by the look of the streets he was taking, they were headed down to the marina.
Figures, she thought glumly. Of course he would have me parade around in a bikini for his personal amusement. And of course I’d do it just because he asked. Dammit, I was supposed to be strong about this!
