“I bet you did more than that.” She ruffled his hair and he grinned. Nobody else dared do that to him but he loved it when she did.
“Yeah, well,” he muttered, not willing to discuss what he did for distraction. Not that it had worked. “They’d plugged in one of those air fresheners. Once I found it I yanked it out and I slept again.”
She frowned at him. He undid the button at the top of her jeans and unzipped them, slid them and her underwear off her, dealing with her shoes and socks on the way down. Then he came back up the bed, buried his nose in her pussy and took a deep, appreciative breath. “The label on the air freshener said it was spiced apple. Too much like you, Cyn, but nowhere near as good. When I did sleep I dreamed of you, the first time in years. And I knew I’d made a mistake not going after you.”
He didn’t give her a chance to respond but dived in. He opened his mouth to lick and taste, her scent, her taste, everything he’d ever wanted in a woman but never discovered before or after her. He didn’t care about analysis or trying to forget her anymore. Not now he knew that was totally impossible.
He slid his tongue down one side of her pussy, collecting her juices as he went and finishing at her opening. There he stopped to drive her crazy before he drove himself nuts. Not attempting to hide his appreciation, he slurped and feasted, taking her high, needing her to come with him. He sucked her clit into his mouth and nipped, holding it steady in his teeth so he could lick, suck and drive her insane.
She squirmed beneath him and he knew for sure and certain she wasn’t feeling any pain because her cries didn’t hold that. Instead desperation, passion, need as she begged him then demanded. When he thrust two fingers deep inside her soaking pussy she cried out. Her muscles contracted tightly as she had her first orgasm of the day.
Not her last though. Riku got to his feet grinning and wiped his hand across his mouth before shucking his clothes. He opened the drawer of the nightstand and breathed a sigh of relief when he spotted a pack of condoms nestled there. Las Vegas, ready for the post-gambling recreational hour.
He kept his mind firmly on the glittering city outside while he sheathed his cock, now hotter than sin but not the woman lying on the bed.
“Hey.” Her voice lower, she sat up, waited for him to come to her, hiding nothing, her legs open, her pussy on blatant and delightful display. Deep pink now, it did everything but beckon to him, his senses on alert, her sent, the remembrance of her soft skin, her taste lingering on his lips.
He wouldn’t get this moment again. He’d have others but this, this particular moment, he committed to memory.
“Lie down.” The sultry temptress brought a knowing smile to his face. He did as she told him.
Riku didn’t take his gaze from this woman—his wife—as she slowly clambered aboard. She poised her body above his, posing for him, lifting her breasts in the way he adored, making a shelf of her hands, her flesh spilling over. Unable to resist he reached for them and she came down, impaling herself and giving her breasts into his hands at the same time.
Bliss, utter, ravishing heaven. She sank right onto him and then rose up, clamping her calves to his torso as she rode him. She bent over him so he could touch her, tweak her pretty nipples and eventually suck them. He half lifted off the bed, following her as she rose, lavishing attention on her gorgeous body. He sucked, licked and then broke away while she plunged deep and opened to him with a freedom he relished. Would never get enough of.
He put his arms under her breasts, to hold her steady but she broke away and pushed him back down. “Just watch.” The gleam in her eyes bewitched him and he did as she told him, thrusting up when she came down, set a rhythm that pushed him up and up. Gritting his teeth, he held on and she drove harder, faster, her clit hitting him with every stroke, a damp, hard knot of flesh, needing no help.
He didn’t aide her climax but endured as best he could. Until she cried out, her inner channel shuddering around his cock, the delicate quivers morphing into hard pulsations that forced him over the edge.
Her turn to fall into his arms. Carefully he laid her to one side and drew her close. They shared their breaths, their gasps the only sounds in the quiet room.
Chapter Fourteen
Adrenaline, the stress of travel or something made Cyn sleep longer than usual. Normally she got six hours tops. But when she awoke to the sound of her cell phone ringing she checked the digital clock by the bed and it said 8:00 a.m.
Wow. She slid from under Riku’s heavy, imprisoning arm and he muttered something before settling again, his face mainly buried in the big, fluffy pillows. She didn’t disturb him. Cyn went into the living area where she’d left her phone and answered it, only realizing as she did so that she’d picked up his, not hers. “Yes?”
“Is this Cynthia?” said a crisp, cultured voice.
“Yes.” Yawning, she ran her fingers through her tangled hair, her mind slowly coming back on track. What the fuck did Riku’s mother want?
“Did you do it? Did you marry?”
“We did.” She paused but decided she didn’t care what her new mother-in-law thought about her. She might as well tell her what she thought. “If you hadn’t mentioned the girl—Suzi was it?—last night, he might not have proposed.”
“You mean he wouldn’t have asked you to marry him?”
Well that was the question, wasn’t it? All her doubts slipped back into their accustomed places. Sure, they liked each other. Riku cared for her. But every time she’d tried to get closer he’d distracted her, recently by cossetting her because of her injury but also with sex. Amazing sex, she had to admit but still—he’d had a lot of practice. “Only he can tell you that,” she said guardedly.
“I was right. He wouldn’t have done it. I’m sorry we dragged you into this mess. Riku is an impulsive boy. He left the Paris conservatory on an impulse after I urged him to work harder. However hard he worked he would not make a concert pianist, he said. I refused to believe that. I still do. Hard work can get you anything. I’m a living example.”
Well bully for you. Cyn had her doubts but she’d never hit a brick wall, so she didn’t know for sure. Except everyone who wanted to become president didn’t get there. Sometimes grafting got a person so far. “He was good. He’d have played with orchestras.”
“Do you think he would have been happier in the career he worked for all his life?”
“No.” Riku needed the creative element, she knew that now. Interpretation would never have been enough for him. But she didn’t know if she could explain that to his mother. “What do you want?” She had an urge to go back to bed, wake her new husband in the most creative way she could manage. Get away from this woman who made her spine crawl.
“A little business first. I have a client interested in helping you develop your business. I have examined your stores. Most interesting. You have done well but you need a little help to move to the next stage, am I right?”
“Yes. I was looking for finance, or some way of moving into design. I want to develop that side of the business.”
“Online, yes and with bigger clients. You could probably have your designs showcased in high-end stores. Would you like to meet with my associate when you return to New York?”
“Yes, of course. Thank you.” Excitement warred with caution. She might not like Mrs. Shiraishi but she couldn’t deny the woman was one of the movers and shakers in the world of finance. “Should I tell Riku?”
“Not yet. He is irrational where I am concerned. I’ve only ever had his interests at heart.” Yes, she probably had, in her own way. “He worries me. I don’t mean to drive him so hard but he needs someone to guide him in the right direction.”
“Thank you. Riku only needs understanding and care. He’s sensitive.”
“And intelligent. He will work matters out for himself. I should tell you a reporter called me last night and I didn’t realize. I let slip where you were going. He worked the rest out for himself. I very much fear that you might
find them waiting for you.”
“Did you do it on purpose?”
“No, I swear.” From the sincerity of her tone Cyn was inclined to believe her. Also their obvious annoyance at the media presence outside the restaurant hadn’t added to the family harmony around the table. “I wanted to warn you. You must learn to control Riku, encourage him to live a good life.”
Her mind raced. Oh, the drugs, of course. Not that Riku had ever overindulged, from what he had told her but he was a fucking rock musician. They got their drugs free, if they wanted them, so he’d experimented. The first incarnation of Murder City Ravens’ meltdown had been shocking and public, so his mother would have discovered that. “Why didn’t you contact him when he was in trouble?”
“I did. He refused to speak with me. I only wish him to keep in touch.” Her voice turned softer, almost plaintive, in a way Cyn hadn’t heard before. “Please talk to him for me.”
“Of course I will.” She didn’t feel comfortable saying any more. “So will you go ahead and make an appointment for me to see your client, please? I appreciate your interest in my jewelry and the business. I’d love to discuss it with someone.”
A hand came from behind her and grabbed the phone. Cyn spun around to see Riku holding the instrument to his ear and listening, lips compressed. He cut the call without speaking and dropped the phone. It hit the wooden floor with an ominous crack.
“So what was that?”
“You know what it was.”
“You’re conspiring with my mother?”
Cyn frowned. “No, of course not.”
“Everyone ends up in her little schemes. You sounded as if you were about to enter her web.”
“Is she a spider?” Cyn snorted. “She’s your mother, Riku, not a monster. She might find it hard to communicate but you could at least give her a chance.”
“She’ll want you.”
Cyn recalled Mrs. Shiraishi’s offer to find finance. She could take it two ways—either Mrs. Shiraishi wanted to take an interest in his son’s wife or—what? She offered to put Cyn in touch with someone, not do it herself. It wasn’t as if she planned to take Cyn’s business over or control her. Riku was imagining things, looking for trouble. “I can take care of myself. And my stores.”
“As of yesterday I have a say in that business too.”
Cyn’s mouth dropped open and she stared at him. “You’d fight your mother using my enterprise to do it? Which one of you would ruin me first? She’s offered to find finance, not hold me to ransom.”
“That won’t be far behind.”
“Riku, you’re being irrational and stupid.” The minute the words left her she saw him harden, his eyes sparking fire, his mouth unforgiving, the lines at the sides deeply engraved.
“I’m not. She tries to rule everyone she meets.”
Cyn recalled the scene at the dining table. “Actually they seemed quite happy. Maybe she was trying to help them, to make them happy. She failed with you because she didn’t understand you. Riku, you’re a grown man. Stop being so childish.”
Riku took a deep breath and before he could speak, her phone buzzed. Turning away from him, she read the text, trying to douse her growing sense of unease and her irrational fear. At what, she wasn’t sure, because anger swamped everything else. Cyn? Is it true?
Yes. She sighed, wondering how many other messages she was about to get.
So you’re in Las Vegas? Maddy texted.
How did you know that? she responded.
The blogosphere.
Of course. Mrs. Shiraishi had let the cat out of the bag. So do you need me?
Hell, yes. Sian walked out this morning. Took a bunch of jewelry with her and told me you owed her that at least. I’ve contacted the cops and the assistant’s helping me list the stuff. I can cope.
Her business, her problem. No. I’ll be there. It’s a long flight, so don’t expect me today but I’ll be there as soon as I can. I’ll call you when I get in.
That made her mind up for her. What she’d do, what she’d say to the man standing silently fuming behind her.
She put the phone away and turned to face him. “I have to go back to New York. There’s trouble in the second Midtown store.”
“I’ll call the airport.” White-faced, he turned away but she ran around to stand in front of him.
“I don’t want you to. Listen, Riku, I’m not sure we did the right thing yesterday. Maybe this will give us a chance to think it through. We’d have difficulty keeping it together, even if we were deeply in love. And you’re not sure, are you?” She took a breath. “Well, neither am I.” No way would she let him know how she felt, give him the chance to use that to persuade her to stay. He needed time out. “I’m not running away from this, I swear.”
He gave a harsh laugh. “You mean you don’t think you love me, you did this because I wanted it?” She stared at him, trying to keep her expression calm, her face blank. “Well fuck you, Cyn. Fuck off and leave me alone.”
He slammed into the bedroom and she heard the corresponding bang from the bathroom. The water switched on.
Swallowing, she called the airport and booked a ticket on the next plane to New York. Just one. Then she took her stuff into the second bathroom and calmly got ready to leave.
When she emerged he was waiting for her.
“You’re kidding, right?”
She shook her head. “If we’re going to make a real go of marriage we need to think a bit more clearly and we can’t do that together. I want to rip your clothes off every time I see you. That’s not going to change anytime soon.”
“Exactly what I was thinking.” He took a step toward her but she moved back.
“No. I mean it, we need to stop and think. Really think, Riku. So you go to Chicago and I’ll go to New York.”
She watched his face as he realized she meant it. “We could work this out together. You shouldn’t return to work yet.”
She ignored the constant pain from her side and forced a bright smile. “I’m fine. I promise not to overdo it. I need to get back, truly I do. There’s a crisis at the second store, the manager left and took a lot of the stock with her. I need to track her down and prosecute, as well as keeping the store open. And source a more reliable member of staff.” She kept talking, trying to ignore her agony. “Decide what you want, Riku. Not instinct.”
“You’re having doubts?”
She ignored his bewilderment, trying to keep on the rational path. “Aren’t you?”
He let out a breath in a hard gust, his expression hardening. “Maybe I wasn’t before but I am now. Okay, go. I’ve tried everything I can think of and the first opportunity you get, you run away. If you go now don’t think about coming back.”
If she’d believed she hurt before, it was nothing compared to this. Tears sprang to her eyes but she swallowed the lump in her throat and blinked them away. She kept talking, easier than dealing with her excruciating pain right now. Much, much worse than her bruises, this was new, fresh and raw. She couldn’t take any more.
“I don’t respond well to threats.” She paused, gathering her thoughts. “I won’t hide away. You made sure I couldn’t go home, so I’ll use your apartment. It’s the least you can do until I find somewhere else. You’re going to Chicago, so you won’t need it for a while.”
That was it, enough. Ignoring his move toward her she picked up her bag and slung it over her good shoulder. It still hurt but she could bear it. Then she left.
She half expected him to come after her but the elevator arrived, she stepped in and went downstairs to wait for her taxi in the lobby. He didn’t make an appearance.
The journalists did though. She dealt with them, wondering if she could turn the publicity to her advantage, feeling a heel when she considered it but knowing it was part of what she was. Time to stop ignoring that part of her too. Time to be flat-out honest.
She still loved him. She always would. A shame she hadn’t mustered the courage to tell him.<
br />
Chapter Fifteen
“Hey, Gil, do you need a break?” Cyn had turned around, so she hadn’t seen who’d just entered the store. The doorbell to the shop jangled. She enjoyed the sound, deliberately old-fashioned and welcoming. She had her head down, putting away the pieces of tiger’s-eye she’d laid out, so she didn’t realize who had entered.
When she heard the deathly silence, or rather the absence of sound, she realized who had come in. She’d been expecting his arrival for weeks. Dreading it.
Riku hadn’t contacted her except for a brief call to ensure she’d arrived home safely. “Home” still being the apartment in Tribeca. She loved it now, would find it a wrench to leave but she’d have to. Because although she was doing well she wasn’t doing well enough to buy a glass penthouse topping a historic building.
She’d spent some of the time when she wasn’t working by apartment hunting and she had a shortlist of three but had dithered about moving out. It meant breaking ties. However brave she’d seemed in Las Vegas she hadn’t felt it on her own. Maddy and Janey had taken her out, clubs for Maddy, theater for Janey, and she’d enjoyed it but her managers had their own lives. She had to go home sometime. Decide what to do with the rest of her life.
Both she and Riku had downplayed the separation in public but the media had played merry hell with it. People waited outside the apartment and she hadn’t been out the front door since her first day. She used the rear entrance. While she hated sneaking about she appreciated the necessity if she was to get to work on time.
Gil came up behind her. “You want me to leave you guys alone?”
She shook her head. “Not here.”
Riku nodded. She couldn’t read anything from his face. He didn’t even seem pleased to see her. He appeared ordinary, if a pair of close-fitting jeans, a vintage, probably valuable Led Zeppelin T-shirt and a light jacket. January had turned into February, windy and brisk but not as cold as when they last met.
BorntobeWild Page 18
