Red Crystal Romance: #1 Emma

by Diroll-Nichols, Karen

  “Emma, there are things about me you’re completely unaware of,” Lucas forced the words from his lips at the same time her caress became more insistent. Fingernails raked along his shoulders and down his chest, cool circles drawn around each male nipple.

  “You have a really nice chest, Lucas. Strong and muscled…”

  “Emma…”

  Her name filled the room in a soft, plaintive groan and his hands were immediately on her shoulders when her fingers trailed around the band of his trousers.

  “There’s nothing wrong with my hearing, Lucas,” Emma opened the button on his pants and looked up into his eyes.

  Lucas knew he could very easily lose himself in the softness of her. His gaze followed the movement of her fingers when she placed them on the tiny ribbons holding the camisole together. He kept telling himself he’d seen her naked. But it didn’t stop the savage throbbing of his cock as it hardened even more with each ribbon she untied.

  “What do you believe I should know about you?” Emma slipped past him and onto the floor. Her hands trailed over his sides. “I know you have a very nice, muscular chest and stomach,” she ran her hands up his arms to his shoulders. “Do you exercise?”

  “I run the beach. I lift weights when I need to work out a problem,” he answered, his tongue getting thicker with each stroke of her hands. “I box occasionally.”

  “Huh…now those are things I wouldn’t have thought of you. But you’re disciplined. And very tidy,” she murmured.

  Lucas turned abruptly to face her. His hands gripped her wrists and held her hands away from him.

  Emma pulled against his hold, surprise on her face when nothing gave.

  “Hold still,” he snapped and waited.

  “Why would you want to marry me, Lucas? You can’t even stand my touch,” Emma pulled again, her body twisting to the side to try and break his hold.

  “I expected there would be time to discover if we suit, Emma.”

  “Is that why you came to London? To give your wager time? Is that why you keep pushing me away? Time? Let me go!” She kicked out but he had stepped back enough to avoid her bare foot. “I don’t know why I came here. I felt safe with you. I trust you and you keep pushing me away! Let – me – go!”

  Lucas moved swiftly. He pulled her wrists above her head, holding them tightly in one closed fist while the other arm wrapped around her middle and pulled her hard against his body. There was no mistaking his arousal, the hard length of his cock nestled against the rounded globes of her ass.

  “Do you want to listen, Emma? Or would you rather I take you back to your room and tie you over the trunk and tan your arse until it glows a perfect shade of rose for me?”

  ****

  Emma went still.

  Okay, this was definitely a new side to Lucas. So why was her pussy heating up like a sidewalk in high summer? Aside from people wanting her dead and the whole antiquity thing, she had decided that Lucas was answering most requirements in her list for a lover. But this trait…this behavior wasn’t something she’d ever written in a list for anyone to see. Ever.

  She gasped when Lucas hauled her against him. Seconds before he spun her around, she was aware of the heat of his body, the sinister gleam in his eyes, the cruel twist of his lips, the hard feel of every unyielding inch of his chest, his thick, powerful thighs, the spicy, male scent of him and the warmth of his breath fanning her face.

  “I’m waiting, Emma. When I ask a question, I expect an answer,” Lucas informed her, his tone hard and callous.

  “I was right to begin with,” she answered quietly. “I don’t belong here. Please release me and I’ll go to my room. I’ll leave in the morning or as soon as I find a place to stay.”

  “And you believe I’ll simply allow you to run away?”

  “What do you want from me? I can’t figure out what I’ve done over and over that makes you push me away.”

  “I had decided to cancel our arrangement. I had believed I could pretend.”

  Emma heard the faintest hint of remorse or sorrow and she tried to turn her head to look at him.

  “What do you think I don’t know, Lucas?” She hated the weak sound of her own voice at the moment and really hated being unable to break free of his hold.

  “Can you follow orders, Emma?”

  Uh-oh…now where had she read something along these lines.

  “Are you going to hurt me?”

  Lucas sighed heavily. “I’d kill anyone who harmed you, Emma.”

  “I understand if you don’t want to marry me, Lucas. I haven’t asked for it or…or think that’s it’s at all right because of our father’s…”

  “I’m not doing a very good job at this. The truly amazing part of this is I’ve never had a difficult time explaining myself to anyone before in my life,” Lucas said with a hint of humor in his voice. “Until I met you. Now I find myself unable to make a firm decision and keep to it or even put the correct words in the proper places to explain myself.”

  “I don’t understand what I’ve done. I don’t understand what you think has to be hidden from me.” Emma closed her eyes. “Are you a werewolf? A vampire? Do you prefer men? Explain it to me, Lucas. I’m fairly intelligent. I can comprehend what we talk about.”

  She relaxed a little when he actually laughed, the sound soft and next to her ear.

  “Do you know…the very first thing that attracted me to you was how you handled the entire situation with calm and aplomb. From the very moment you woke. No vapors. No hysteria,” he leaned his head against hers. “As for your imaginative perceptions, I can assure you, I am nothing more complex than a man, Emma.”

  Emma breathed a sigh when he released her hands. Even if they did fall in a very unladylike rush to her sides. Her shoulders ached a little but she wasn’t about to say anything. She relaxed, her body sagging against his.

  “Forget our fathers, Lucas, please. Whatever we feel is between us. No one else. And it’s no one’s business but ours what happens in our bedroom,” Emma felt his breathing catch. What was she missing? Why did he feel he had to hide something and what the heck could it be?”

  Lucas moved his hands to her waist but only for a scant few seconds before his palms pressed upward. The camisole she’d untied parted over his hands, each one surrounding a small, rounded breast.

  Emma held her breath. Dark lashes drifted closed when his thumbs rasp over the wrinkling areolas and then over nipples that pebbled slowly with each stroke over their surface.

  “The only thing I can attribute to our fathers is bringing you to me,” Lucas whispered against her throat, his teeth biting down the length to her shoulder.

  “Lucas…” Emma shuddered against him. “Please don’t send me away again.”

  “I asked if you can follow orders, Emma.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  She went still and worked to steady her feet. Which wasn’t easy considering stinging threads were streaking from her nipples to her pussy. She felt the crème forming and flowing; she felt the lips swelling with each tug of a nipple.

  “I suppose…” she yelped and arched into his hand when one nipple was abruptly twisted between his thumb and finger. “Lucas!”

  “You aren’t protesting,” he murmured against her ear. “Yes or no, Emma.”

  “You want control,” she whispered hoarsely, her mind jumping around all the things she knew about a dominant/submissive relationship. It had interested her. But she’d never found someone she trusted. Someone she felt safe with. Or someone with the strength and nerve to take what he wanted; to share what she needed.

  “I’m going to take my hands away and I don’t want you to move, Emma,” Lucas spoke quietly, clearly.

  Emma was busy trying to make her brain actually think. Why had the universe put her down in this place with this man? A man who seemed to hold all her fantasies in his hands.

  “Untie the ribbon on your drawers, Emma, and let them fall to the floor,” Lucas said in an even, lev
el voice.

  Emma swallowed and let her gaze skitter to the side. She could see him in the mirror. He’d taken a seat on the only chair in the room. A stiff, straight-back chair that he leaned back in to watch her. He’d lifted one bare foot to rest at an angle on his knee, his arms crossed over his chest. The hard length of his cock was very evident as it strained against the front of his trousers.

  She did as he instructed. The slim satiny ribbon between her fingers fleeting as she pulled to free it from the knot. She gave the band at her waist a little tug before letting it go. Cool summer air flowed around her lower body, a shiver making her sup in air raggedly.

  She hadn’t answered his question. And she knew she might be brooking a punishment, another thought that sent tingles racing through her nether regions, but she didn’t care at the moment. Taking a deep breath, she stepped to the bed and lifted one of the pillows.

  “Emma…”

  “A minute, please,” she answered without looking at him. Keeping her back to him, she dropped the pillow and went to her knees. She had her brain going over all she’d ever read on the topic and spread her legs as comfortably as she could before clasping her hands behind her back. She lowered her gaze to the floor at the same time she heard the creak of footsteps telling her he’d left his chair.

  “Where did you learn of this pose?”

  She listened to the rough excitement in his voice.

  “I read a lot. Why were you afraid to talk to me about this?”

  He should have corrected her. He should have immediately shut her question out but inside, he knew he couldn’t ask for honesty and trust without giving her the same.

  “I alienated several friends when they discovered my penchant,” Lucas said quietly.

  “Then they weren’t true friends.”

  A simple answer spoken firmly and adamantly. And he felt a sense of relief flooding through him, followed by an amazing fire of passion.

  “I had pushed it far out of my life, Emma. For almost four years,” Lucas stood behind her, one palm stroking softly over her head.

  “Did you visit…I can’t think of the words…”

  “I discovered the appeal and that side of my nature while traveling and in school,” he answered the unasked questions. “Dungeons. They’re referred to as dungeons in most parts of the world. London, San Francisco, China, Germany and France.”

  “Do they…do they look like dungeons? I mean…real dungeons,” Emma asked breathlessly.

  “I’m sure the descriptions you’ve read in books are mild compared to things I’ve seen,” Lucas admitted with a deep breath. “I don’t care for pain. I enjoy and savor the control. I relish seeing the heights I can bring to another. I derive great pleasure from what I can give to another. I’ve designed dungeons around the world,” he told her as memories he’d set aside came slowly to the fore front. “Wealthy patrons pay a great deal for a well-designed play area. It helps finance my inventions and experiments in other fields.”

  “You gave up a part of yourself for your friends…did they…did they return?”

  “I did not go looking for them,” Lucas turned from her and sat on the edge of the bed, just staring at her.

  She was sweetly perfect for him. She had leaned into him when he touched her, craving more from him. He went to the bureau and pulled a long silk cravat from a drawer. Solid black. Before saying another word, he came up behind her and fastened it around her eyes, tying it securely in place. The audible gasp she offered sent a sharp thrill through him.

  “Are you alright, Emma?” Came the husky whisper next to her ear.

  She nodded. Her fingers had clenched together a little tighter, but she hadn’t moved her hands from the hollow of her back. He took a step back, his head tilted. He could see the faintest trace of moisture peeking from between the swollen labia.

  “No moving, Emma. No matter what I do, you’re not to move. Do you understand me?”

  “Yes.”

  “You will either respond ‘yes, sir’ or ‘yes, Lucas’.”

  “Yes, sir,” she whispered with a little tremor.

  ****

  Keep telling yourself it’s a dream, she whispered inside her mind. She blinked, but there was nothing but black silk in front of her eyes. She could hear him moving around the room. Drawers opened and closed. Fabric rustled around her.

  This scenario was one from so long ago in her heart. In her list of wants that had never come to life. She’d never found a partner who cared enough to ask what was in her needs column. And now she wasn’t sure what to do with it.

  Every bit of her felt like it was awake for the first time in two lives and she never wanted to sleep again!

  “I didn’t undress you when we brought you into the house,” Lucas said quietly.

  Emma wasn’t sure whether she should answer or not.

  “You woke enough to use the toilet and Nancy helped you. I always left. I was determined that you not be harmed because of our father’s behavior. Then I watched you sleep and I didn’t want to send you back.”

  “You…you were going to send me back to America?” Emma jumped slightly when the hands cupped her breasts. She tried not to move. She could tell by the position of his thumbs that he was right in front of her.

  “I wanted to give you back your life, Emma.”

  She knew she had a comment but the words vanished the instant she felt his tongue on one of her nipples. She heard the words shouting in her head. She couldn’t see! Over and over but she didn’t know why suddenly it mattered. She dug her nails into her palms and bit down on her lip. All she heard was her own rapid breathing.

  “Yet every time I tried, instincts kept shouting that I was making a huge mistake…for us both.”

  ****

  Lucas held the ends of the black silk between each hand. He carefully folded the center as he approached her from behind. Muscled thighs; a strong, straight back and a throat aching for his bite. Her waist was nipped in and her ass a gorgeous heart shape that appeared made for his hands. And more. So much more.

  He felt her body shudder when he quickly placed the cravat around her eyes like a blindfold. Her hands had clenched and he wondered if she wanted to pull it free.

  “Are you alright, Emma?”

  He accepted her nod this time. The increase in her breath told him she might have a difficult time speaking at the moment.

  “No moving, Emma. No matter what I do, you’re not to move. Do you understand me?”

  “Yes.”

  “You will either respond ‘yes, sir’ or ‘yes, Lucas’.”

  “Yes, sir,” she whispered with a little tremor.

  Lucas moved around the room, checking in drawers for things he wanted; searching for items that would work for the moment and laying them out on the single nightstand or the bed.

  “I didn’t undress you when we brought you into the house,” he recalled thoughtfully.

  “You woke enough to use the toilet and Nancy helped you. I always left. I was determined that you not be harmed because of our father’s behavior. Then I watched you sleep and I didn’t want to send you back.”

  “You…you were going to send me back to America?”

  Emma jumped slightly when he cupped her breasts. He stared down at each handful, his thumbs drawn roughly over the tiny nipple in the center of each pink areola. The dusty shake of pink puckered and wrinkled beneath his stroking and the tiny pebble hardened a little more under his attention.

  “I wanted to give you back your life, Emma.” He moved closer, his mouth hovering over one nipple, his tongue out to swipe at it. He couldn’t stop the groan from escaping.

  “Yet every time I tried, instincts kept shouting that I was making a huge mistake…for us both.”

  “I don’t want to leave, Lucas.”

  “And then I debated whether I could…in all honesty…bury my desires. Keep part of me from you or risk losing you to established prejudices and misinformation,” Lucas lifted each breast in his p
alms, one nipple firmly caught between a thumb and forefinger with a snug pinch.

  It wasn’t so much the startled gasp she uttered as it was the way she thrust herself forward, into his hands. Erotic and sensual, he knew he was rapidly losing himself. Her head was thrown back, her breathing ragged and coming in tiny pants. He released one breast and stroked down over her ribs, past her naval to the bare hint of stubble on her Venus mound.

  Lucas slid his entire palm between her spread thighs, cupping her mound and dragging his fingers back through the swollen petals. His fingers came in contact with the thick, hot moisture, pulling it higher until he felt the small nub of her clit. Her body swayed and he leaned in closer, one arm wrapped around her waist to hold her up while his mouth took what he wanted from her.

  He thrust his tongue between her parted lips, sweeping in and sharing his heat with her while crushing her lips in a searing, hot kiss. He pressed two fingers around the clit now awakened and throbbing beneath his touch. Lucas traced a heavy path around the outer edges to the pinnacle and then stroked over the nub, his touch sending her body jumping wildly in his arm.

  Her tongue thrashed with his, stroking and fencing, she sought more and more of him until she finally pulled her face to the side, gasping for breath. There was nothing weak or insipid about Emma Carstairs and the more he uncovered, the more his blood ignited.

  She came to his room because she trusted him to keep her safe.

  That thought jolted through his mind even as her body pressed against him. Lucas moved swiftly to his feet, his hands on her waist and lifting her to stand, holding her steady for a minute before turning her and backing her carefully toward the bed.

  “Sit on the edge, Emma. You can use your hands, I don’t want you falling off,” Lucas instructed firmly. “Remain on the edge and pull your ankles up to your arse. Hold them there, spread apart. I want to see every bit of you, Emma. It’s beautiful…you…are beautiful,” he murmured, moving quickly around the room and lighting the sconces on the walls and the few candles dotting the surfaces. In the morning and during the day when he took her, he’d place her facing the window or balcony where brilliant daylight would show him all her feminine secrets.