Black Mark Series Book 1: Black Mark's Resistance

by Ebony Olson

  Yep, I was going to come without even being touched. “I’ll let you know if it’s too much.”

  I opened my mouth and Darius thrust in. He held my head by my hair and moved himself in and out of my mouth with care, pushing toward the back of my throat with each slow shove. I grabbed his firm ass and pulled myself onto him deeper. It hurt a little, was definitely uncomfortable, but my God, I loved Darius—in my mouth, that is.

  Darius groaned, his rigid member pulsed hard. “Mora?”

  I didn’t answer. I flicked my tongue over his head and he lost it. He started thrusting fast into my mouth and a few thrusts later he was spurting into the back of my throat. My gag reflex kicked in, tears pricked my eyes as my throat and mouth convulsed. I forced myself to swallow. Darius stilled himself, tremors quaking through his body. I licked him clean and pulled away.

  Darius released my hair and stepped back. His breathing was ragged, but he sucked in a deep breath and composed himself. “Get up on the bed, Mora.”

  I turned and crawled to the bed. Not to be sexy. I was drunk and didn’t really trust standing up without support.

  “Stop,” Darius ordered when I stood bent over the bed.

  His hand fell hard on my ass. I jumped and bit my lip. This wasn’t the light smack Sophie had given me earlier. Darius had strength behind his swing. His hand fell again and I swore as the sharp sting and burn radiated through me.

  “Darius,” I gulped after the third hit.

  “Too hard?” he asked, gently rubbing the area he’d just smacked.

  “No, but you just finished and I need to be fucked as part of rough play. And I don’t mean sex, I mean...”

  “I’ll take care of you, Mora,” Darius assured. “You are going to sleep like a baby tonight.”

  Dropping to his knees before I could say more, Darius gave my dripping sex a long hard lick, his stubble grazing my tender skin. I whimpered. I was so keyed up, I knew that a few more of those and I’d be a puddle.

  My fingers kneaded the bed like a cat as he licked, sucked, and bit my heat. My legs started to shake as my body rose quickly to the edge of orgasm. I breathed his name and he pulled away.

  “Lie down,” he ordered. I collapsed on the bed, rolling onto my back to look up at him. He knelt looking me over. “Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?”

  “Says the Adonis in the room.” I noticed his cock was still erect, nowhere near as large, but I could still use it. I took it in hand and started massaging it. “I’m merely a shadow in your presence.”

  Darius’s eyes rolled back in his head. He fell forward, catching himself above me. Darius dropped his head to my breasts and started assailing them. Flicking, sucking and biting my nipples while his hands roamed my body. My back arched under the onslaught and I tangled my fingers into the thick mop of dark hair on his head, electricity sparking through my being.

  It was like he knew every pressure point on my body. His fingers would move, find a spot and massage or just apply pressure. I felt utterly out of control. It scared me, and that feeling of safety I normally felt around Darius was washed away with fear.

  Darius pulled back, studying my face. “What just happened?”

  I sat up pulling my robe around me. “I don’t know. I was really into it, then you were doing that thing with your fingers, and I suddenly felt unsafe and out of control. It scared me,” I explained.

  Darius took my face in his hands. “I would never hurt you, Mora.”

  I looked away.

  “Mora, look at me,” he demanded. “I will never hurt you.”

  I met his eyes and suddenly emotions bubbled out of me. Tears started running unbidden. I wiped my tears, exasperated. “What is going on? I feel like I’ve suddenly got severe PMS. I’m not usually like this.”

  Darius looked to be thinking hard. “Lay down.”

  I did, hiding my face with my hands. Darius was tapping his fingers over my body lightly, retracing the path he’d been massaging me with. His finger hit a spot.

  “No,” I caught his hand. “That’s not where you pressed.” I moved his hand to where he had touched me last. “This is where your hand was.”

  Darius frowned. “Crap. Are you due for your period?”

  I looked at him wide-eyed. “I’m not discussing my cycle with you.”

  Darius rolled his eyes, “You were just sucking my...”

  “That doesn’t mean I’m discussing my physiology with you.”

  Darius lay down beside me and started rubbing his hand across my lower abdomen. “I was using meridian massage techniques to sober you up. I’ve hit the wrong meridian. If you are due to menstruate, it is very possible you are about to experience your worst ever case of PMS.”

  “If I’m not due?” I asked quietly.

  Darius sighed, caressing my face tenderly. “Then I have inadvertently unblocked a channel that has probably been blocked for a very long time. The emotions you are experiencing are the energy that was locked there.”

  Yet again the inexplicable need to cry surged through me. I took a deep breath and tried to push it down.

  “You should let it out, Mora. Your body needs to release it,” Darius encouraged softly.

  Sucking in another breath, I nodded and stood up. Tying my robe around me, I walked to my cello and set myself up.

  “What are you doing?” Darius sat up.

  I looked at him, letting the tears fall. “Letting it out. This is the only way I can do it.”

  I put my bow to the strings and started playing. It was a slow mournful song. I pushed my emotions out through my fingers and into the cello. The tears kept falling as I played, but it wasn’t anywhere near as much of a torrent as it could have been.

  “That was beautiful. What is it called?” Darius asked as I finished the song.

  “Hymn for the Missing,” I whispered.

  Darius picked up his boxers from the floor and came to me. “Come to bed, Mora.”

  He held out his hand. I set my cello aside and put my hand in his. Safety radiated through me from my hand to my shoulder. I breathed a sigh of relief when the feelings Darius usually evoked in me returned. He took me to my bed, lay us both down, and cuddled me into his side, setting us up the way I had last time we’d slept together.

  I let his heartbeat calm me. After a few minutes I was more myself again and I could brave talking. “Why did you sober me up?”

  Darius kissed my forehead. “I like you sober. You pretend when you’re drunk.”

  I frowned. “Pretend what?”

  “That it does not hurt,” Darius yawned and snuggled me in tighter.

  “What doesn’t hurt?” I ran my fingers over his chest.

  “Life,” he whispered. “It is there in your eyes all the time, in the way you approach everything. When you drink, you try to pretend that it never happened. You lose who you are, and I like who you are, Mora.”

  “What happened to you, Darius?” I asked drawing invisible patterns over his skin.

  Darius sighed. “Sleep, Mora. One day we will exchange our pasts. Not today.”

  Chapter Eleven

  My fingers moved over the finger board as I practiced my scales. I heard the front gate buzzer but didn’t bother getting up to answer. Steffen was there before I would have been able to stand. I kept going with my scales, warming myself up. Playing by myself was one thing, helping an orchestral member practice meant getting it right.

  “Miss Ellis, your guest is here,” Steffen announced as he stepped into the room, Sophie following him in wearing knee high boots and a winter jacket.

  “Sorry I’m late,” Sophie apologized, walking into the reception room. “Thank you for practicing with me. It is my first time as second chair and I want to be perfect for the concert tomorrow.”

  I smiled at Sophie’s usual pre-gig jitters. Tomorrow was Wednesday, the fifth of November. Guy Fawkes Day. Sophie was in the symphony for the main fireworks display in the e
vening. The last three days had been flat out for Lynwood too.

  After the organization of the Halloween masked ball my father threw, everyone was rushing to get things finalized for tomorrow night. Thankfully, Darius wasn’t overseeing this one personally, so he’d been a bit more relaxed.

  I wish I could say the same. It’d been four days since I’d gone to sleep beside him and woken alone, again. When I’d seen him on Saturday morning he acted as if nothing happened the night before. I wasn’t sure if I was relieved or upset about it. I’d taken a deep breath, buried those thoughts, and got on with my job. Did I look at my boss a little differently after blowing him the night of my birthday? Yes, definitely. Did he notice? Probably not.

  Sophie thumped her violin down on the dining room table, bringing me back to the room and causing Steffen to wince. Sophie unbuttoned her winter jacket and shrugged out of it revealing a short, low-cut, long-sleeved dress. Her figure filled it out and then some.

  “Could I get you a drink, Miss Trent?” Steffen asked politely, stepping forward to take her coat.

  “Only water please.” Sophie smiled handing the coat over.

  Without another thought for the butler, Sophie unclipped her violin case and took out her Stentor. This was her practice violin. She had two performance violins, one a Stradivarius, the other Höfner. All three individually were worth more than her car.

  Sophie handed me some sheet music before moving to the piano. She poised her violin and hit the A key on the piano to tune her violin. It didn’t take long to tune, and then Sophie sat in the chair I’d already positioned next to me for her.

  “Let’s start with Rimsky-Korsakov’s Fantasia Number two, Opus. 33: Allegro.” Sophie placed her own sheet music on the makeshift stand I’d set up for her.

  “Whatever makes you happy.” I smiled, finding the sheet music she referred to and setting it up for myself.

  We played without talking for the next hour. When we finished the last set, Sophie set her violin across her lap and exhaled.

  “You’ve got this, Soph.” I patted her shoulder.

  Sophie rolled her eyes. “You always say that. If I played like you I would have my choice of orchestras to play in.”

  I frowned. “You have perfect technique, Sophie, that’s not something anyone says about me.”

  “No, but they say your music has heart. When you play a sad tune, people cry; when you play a cheerful tune, people laugh and dance. Your music gets to the bones of people, Mora,” Sophie stated firmly.

  “And yet, it was you who scored the orchestra position and I work as a personal assistant,” I reminded her. “You can’t play in an orchestra without good technique.”

  Steffen walked into the room. I had no doubt he’d been listening while cooking dinner. “Could I refresh your drinks, ladies?”

  “I would love a hot chocolate please, Steffen.” I smiled.

  “I hate you,” Sophie whined. “Just a water for me please. Some of us have to go on stage tomorrow.”

  I shook my head. “Let’s have a break and then we can run through again.”

  Sophie smiled and put her violin on the chair. “Sounds good. You can give me a tour of your boss’s pad.” Sophie frowned. “Where are the men anyway?”

  I smiled, understanding the dress choice now. “They were working back and would have gone straight to the gym after work. They’ll be back in an hour or so.”

  “If you are his personal assistant, shouldn’t you also be working back?”

  I shrugged. “I’ve done my fair share of late nights the last few months. I told Warren I needed to help you. He told me to leave before Darius got back from his meetings. Come on, I’ll show you my room.”

  Sophie shook her head, following me up the stairs. “Does your boss understand that the P.A. is meant to keep the diary and follow him around like a lost puppy, not his E.A.”

  I groaned opening my door. “I have no idea why he hired me, Soph. That office would run fine without me. It’s almost like Warren needs to look for work for me to do. Except for the errand running, I’m basically sitting at my desk checking over plans and documents that have already been read by both Warren and Darius. I’m just a third set of eyes.”

  Sophie was looking around my room. “I was about to suggest you quit, but these are really nice lodgings. Especially compared to your last place.”

  I smiled, “Wait till you see the view.” I opened the terrace doors and led the way to the sitting area.”

  Sophie let out a low whistle. “Okay. Do not quit your job. Just take up knitting or something that you can do while bored at your desk.”

  I smiled leaning on the railing. “I’d miss this place, but maybe I should be looking for something else.”

  “Not yet. You need at least six months there to make it worth anything on your resume,” Sophie advised. “A year would be better.”

  “My father’s suggested I come work for him.”

  Sophie rolled her eyes. “He has been suggesting that for years.”

  I nodded. “I’m considering it now.”

  Sophie’s brows jumped. “Why? You have been determined to be independent all this time.”

  I blew out a breath. “Well, with my father as my boss, I won’t be attracted to him.”

  Sophie studied me. “Things been awkward since the blow job offer?”

  “You could say that.”

  Nowhere near as awkward as having actually done it, nor that he’d returned the favor, and spanked me, and made me cry somehow in the process.

  Sophie shook her head. “Rejection sucks.”

  I quirked a brow. “Have you ever been rejected, Soph?”

  Sophie thought about it and tipped her head side to side. “Actually, no, but I suspect it would really suck.” Sophie took a deep breath. “Speaking of which, can you talk to Alex for me?”

  I stood straight. “About what.” Sophie batted her lashes. “No.”

  “Come on, Mora. You know I will make him happier than that cow he is with now.”

  I walked to the door leading into the hallway and led the way inside. “Sophie, you knew he had a girlfriend when you started this affair with him. I told you then I wanted to be kept out of it. He’s my brother, I can’t take sides in this.” I led the way back downstairs.

  “I’m not asking you to choose between him and me. I’m asking you to choose between her and me.”

  I turned to face Sophie and saw Darius standing in the foyer with the brothers and Steffen, all of them listening to our heated discussion.

  “That is picking a side, Soph. I tell him to get rid of Leila and choose you, I’ve chosen your side. If things go bad between you after that, he will say it was my fault, that I interfered and caused his unhappiness. Alex needs to choose his way forward with the women in his life himself.”

  Sophie huffed. “You cannot even stand Leila. She is a bitch to you.”

  “And Alex is well aware of my feelings on his girlfriend.”

  Sophie grabbed my hand. “Please, Mora. I am utterly in love with him. I want to be more than a regular booty call. He listens to you. You can make him see sense.”

  I touched her cheek. “Soph, I warned you before this started. I told you not to give him your heart, that you would lose it if you did.”

  Sophie flinched. “Are you telling me he does not care about me?”

  “No. I know Alex cares about you, Soph, but do not mistake that emotion for love.” I tried to phrase it carefully. I failed miserably.

  “Just because you are incapable of loving someone, Mora, doesn’t mean your brother is the same.” Sophie stalked over to the music corner, snatching up her violin and sheet music.

  “I can love, Soph. I love you,” I tried to appease.

  Sophie snarled. “If you loved me you would convince Alex to leave that bitch and marry me.”

  “That is emotional blackmail, Soph. It’s unfair and I won’t tell Alex how to live
his life,” I replied calmly.

  “Oh my God, you two are so alike.” Sophie slammed her violin case shut and hefted it. The look she got in her eye told me I was about to hear something I didn’t want to.

  “Do you know he hates that you took this job? He does not want you living here and he really does not like that you have hidden this from your father. Just like you, he refuses to tell you that.” Sophie stepped forward to snarl in my face. “Alex thinks your gorgeous boss is going to destroy you, both professionally and romantically. He did not want me to say anything to you, but after last Thursday, I decided it was best you know his fears for you, because I care.”

  I knew that she’d pitched her voice loud enough for our audience to hear. I could imagine that hard look entering Darius’s eyes.

  I swallowed. “You should go now. Good luck tomorrow night.”

  Sophie stepped back as if I slapped her. “That is it? That is all you are going to say?”

  I tapped my finger on the back of the dining room chair. “You want to know how I play like I do, Soph? It’s because I take my emotions and convert the energy into my music. You think I’m coldhearted because I don’t lose my temper and express myself verbally. It’s because I put it all in my music. In that way you and I are opposite. You are so expressive of your emotions verbally, but stilted in your playing. If you took half of what you are feeling right now and put it into your music, you could be a world class violinist.”

  Sophie looked ready to kill me. “You think I am a bad violinist?”

  “Take it out. Play what you are feeling,” I suggested.

  “No!” Sophie yelled. “I am angry and hurt. I do not want to stand here playing my violin. I want you to talk to your brother for me.”

  I inhaled deeply, restraining my temper. I stepped past Sophie and went to my cello. I picked up the bow and started playing. I ignored her, ignored the four men standing awkwardly in the foyer. I closed my eyes and started playing the frustration that this fight caused me. As I played, I homed in on what was hurting me. Alex told Sophie he thought Darius was bad for me.