His Secret Desire (Atlanta Nights)

by Linda Verji

  “Start walking,” her dad ordered.

  Olivia didn’t know Marcel was behind her until he set his palm on the small of her back and said to Elias, “Why don’t you come in so we can talk?”

  The moment Elias saw Marcel, he started forward angrily. If it wasn’t for the arm K thrust in front of Elias, he probably would’ve charged at Marcel.

  “The fuck?” Elias pushed against the bond of K’s arm. “You’ve got my baby girl living in here with you without a ring on her finger, fighting over you on YouTube, and you’ve got the balls to address me?”

  “I’m not living with him,” Olivia protested. “And I wasn’t fighting over him.”

  “Show her the video,” Elias ordered K.

  “I’ve seen the video, Dad.” Olivia rolled her eyes.

  “Roll your eyes at me one more time.” Her father glared at her. “Roll your eyes at me. One. More. Time.”

  Ah! Olivia mentally sighed. She took in a slow calming breath then turned back to her father, “Daddy, come in and I’ll explain everything.”

  They say never meet your idol in person. They’re right.

  Now that Marcel had met E-Hawk he had a new appreciation for the sentiment. E-Hawk, the rapper, was charming, affable and smooth. His rhymes were enough to make a grown man cry and change his ways.

  Elias, the father, was a raging lunatic.

  Hell. The old man was acting like Marcel had kidnapped Olivia and dragged her by her hair into his lair. Getting Elias into the house was like trying to round up an irate bull; close to impossible. It was only after a lot of hemming, hawing, threatening and glaring that he finally deigned to bless the living room with his presence. And of course he’d taken the king seat in the room, Marcel’s leather recliner, with K standing behind him like a royal guard. Even after Olivia explained the real cause of the YouTube fight, His Highness wasn’t appeased.

  “So you and this little boy are dating?” Elias threw a scowl Marcel’s way.

  Marcel had the urge to snap that he was no boy, but the tightening of Olivia’s grip around his fingers helped him repress that urge. She said, “Yes, we are.”

  “Why haven’t you told me about him?” Elias sneered. “You hiding him? Something wrong with him?”

  Olivia was quick to defend Marcel. “There’s nothing wrong with him.”

  “Then why can’t he speak up for himself.” Elias’s eyes narrowed on Marcel. “He’s a pussy, ain’t he?”

  “I’m not a pussy,” Marcel said coolly even though inside he was boiling with restrained anger.

  Elias’s eyes, so like Olivia’s, flashed with anger. “If I were you I’d shut the fuck up before I get my ass stomped to the ground.”

  There was no pleasing this man was there.

  “This is why I didn’t tell you,” Olivia reproached. ” Because I knew you would be mad and act badly.”

  “I’m mad because I hauled my ass all the way from Washington to come and get you away from the press,” her father bit out. “Instead I find you shacked up with some random bum who looks like he doesn’t know his ass from his head-”

  “Ey,” Marcel interrupted. He was done with this crap. “I have a name. It’s Marcel.”

  Olivia grabbed his arm. “Marcel, don’t,”

  “No, Livy. Your father needs to check himself.” He turned his wrath back on Elias. “I get that you’re worried about your daughter. But don’t come into my house and think you can disrespect me. If that’s your deal then get the fuck out.”

  The living room went deathly still after Marcel’s outburst. Tension zapped between the two men as they glowered at each other. Like a dangerous electric current, it threatened to electrocute anyone unwary enough to intervene. Two veins bulged at the side of Elias’s head and for a moment Marcel thought the other man might jump him. His muscles tensed and his hands fisted in preparation.

  But the jump never came.

  Elias released a slow gush of breath then sat back in the recliner. His expression and voice were more composed when he broke the tense silence. “Why are you dating my daughter?”

  The question caught Marcel by surprise enough that he didn’t answer immediately.

  Olivia jumped in an attempt to save him, “Dad, leave him al-”

  “It’s okay, Livy,” Marcel interrupted her with a squeeze of her knee. He didn’t know if this was another attempt by Elias to intimidate him or a real effort to find out Marcel’s intentions for his daughter. But the man was her father, and he deserved answers.

  Gathering his thoughts, Marcel said, “Because I want to get to know her better. Who wouldn’t? Your daughter is a kind, beautiful, mature woman who you obviously raised right.”

  The ‘raised right’ part seemed to stroke Elias’s ego because the side of his mouth twitched in a reluctant smile. But that didn’t mean he was any more inclined to go easy on Marcel. Tapping his chin, he asked, “Do you even have a job?” He glanced around the living room. “Or is all this shit from slinging? I know how you young thugs are these days. Trying to get the easy way to everything.”

  “I have a job. I’m an architect,” Marcel said. “And I’ve never taken the easy way to anything.”

  Elias scoffed. “That’s what they all say before you see their rap-sheet.”

  “I don’t have a rap-sheet.” Marcel offered, “You can check.”

  “Glad you said that.” Elias gave him a wolfish smile before turning to face K. “Get Espo on the line. Tell him I need a background check.”

  While K dialed the number, Elias directed his attention back to Marcel. “I’ll need your social security number too. And if you’re fucking with me…”

  He let the threat hang in the air.

  CHAPTER 28

  Elias didn’t stay long; less than an hour actually, but Olivia still felt like she’d been run through a grater and rubbed raw. She could only imagine what Marcel felt like after that rude interrogation. But he’d handled himself like a superstar.

  Her father was so against her dating that she’d assumed that a meeting between them would involve blows, maybe even some gunshot wounds. But, shock of shocks, everyone had come out of this alive. Marcel had answered all her father’s intrusive questions with aplomb that not many people were capable of and showed considerable restraint in the face of Elias’s constant goading. Even Elias’s parting shot of, ‘You hurt her, and I will break your legs,’ hadn’t shaken his calm confidence.

  A smile on her face, Olivia waved to the retreating Escalade. But the moment the gates closed behind the car, she sagged in relief and pumped her fist in celebration. “Yes, he’s gone.”

  Marcel, who was beside her, laughed. “You know that’s your dad, right?”

  “And he’ll never let me forget it.” Linking their fingers, they turned back to the house. She bumped her shoulder against Marcel’s arm. “Thank you for not punching him.”

  “Even if I wanted to, I doubt I could have. K looks like he can throw a mean punch.” Marcel waggled his brow. “And I like my pretty face.”

  “Pretty face? Please!” Olivia snorted as she walked on ahead of him into the house.

  “Girl, please, you know I’m pretty,” Marcel called out behind her.

  She snorted again.

  Next thing she knew his arms were around her midsection and she was lifted off her feet. She shrieked, “Marcel.”

  His hold on her tightened as he growled into her neck. “Say I’m pretty.”

  “No.” She laughed.

  “Say I’m pretty,” he insisted as he walked them into the living room. When her response was only a giggle, he tossed her to the couch on her stomach. She tried to get off, but within seconds he’d flipped her to her back. Pinning her to the couch with his knees alongside her thighs and his strong hands on her waist, he grinned “Say I’m pretty.”

  She defiantly taunted, “Your mug is so ugly they probably put tinted windows on your incubator when you were born.”

  “Is that right?” His grin widened
as his hands rode up her ribs to her armpit. “Say I’m pretty.”

  “You’re so ugly you don’t even need makeup to star in a zombie mov-” She never got the chance to finish because right then he jabbed his fingers into her sides and started to tickle.

  Erupting in a fit of giggles, she flailed around and bucked to get him off her, but he was like a rock, immovable. “Marcel - hahaha-stop.”

  She grabbed his hands, tried to push them away, but he was insistent. His fingers prodded her ticklish spots with unerring accuracy. When he added his mouth to the play, nipping at the skin of her neck and peppering kisses on her face, she was forced to raise the white flag.

  “You’re, hahaha, pretty. You’re, aaaah, pr-hahaha, pretty,” she yelled in between giggles. “You’re pretty.”

  “That’s what I thought you said.” Still grinning, Marcel pecked her lips.

  Then pecked again, and again.

  It soon turned into a full blown kiss. Fitting his body between her thighs, he hardened his lips over her and deepened the kiss. Olivia cupped the back of his head, parting her lips for his possessive invasion. His taste was as delectable as the feel of his hard body pressed against her softer curves and his hands stroking over the sides of her body. She locked her feet around his flanks to draw him even closer.

  His burgeoning erection pressed into her, blocked only by his sweats and her jeans. She arched upwards, hoping that he might do something to ease the desire already blooming inside her. Instead he lightened the kiss, easing back into soft pecks until he stopped completely. In one smooth move, he flipped their positions so he was on his back and she was on top of him.

  “Mm.” She sighed as she buried her face into his throat.

  “Comfortable?” His voice rumbled against her hair as he soothed his hands over her back.

  “Mm hm.” She nodded.

  For a while they stayed like that, cuddling and holding each other to the point where Olivia started to fade away into drowsiness. Then Marcel squeezed her ass. “Livy?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Why didn’t you take his Seychelles deal?” Marcel asked, referring to her father’s attempt to rescue her from the press. Elias had offered to fund a one month retreat to the archipelago until the country got something more interesting to gossip about. It was a tempting proposal and it would’ve been almost the perfect escape. Almost.

  She shrugged. “Because I knew you couldn’t come.”

  “I couldn’t come?”

  “Mm hmm.” Her voice heavy with sleep, she reminded him, “Your gallery project is due next week, Heidi’s wants her house done by yesterday, and Kane and Yasmin’s anniversary is on the twenty third. You can’t come, and I’m not going anywhere without you.”

  No way was she spending a whole month away from him. Beautiful beaches, luxurious hotel rooms, peace and quiet; none of that came even close to being with Marcel. In his presence she felt secure and well taken care of. Running away wasn’t appealing if her lover couldn’t coming with her.

  Marcel’s chest rumbled with laughter below her. “I can’t believe you remembered all that stuff. I didn’t even think you were listening to me last night.”

  Why wouldn’t she listen to him? She loved him.

  “What?” Marcel’s shocked start was enough to make her lift her hooded gaze to his. His eyes were wide with surprise.

  Her brow knotted in confusion. “What’s the matter?”

  His voice filled with awe, he said, “You just said you loved me.”

  Her heart gave a panicked jolt and she automatically protested, “No, I didn’t.”

  She couldn’t have, could she? The words were only in her sleepy thoughts, weren’t they? By the stunned look in Marcel’s eyes it was obvious they weren’t.

  “You love me?” he asked.

  “No, I-” she started the instinctive lie. Then she realized that she was lying. Her pulse started racing, stunned at the realization that she was in love with him. I’m in love with him. The thought was enough to send her rocketing off his chest and scrambling to her feet. “Forget it.”

  “Livy, no.” Marcel grabbed her wrist before she could run from her words, thoughts, and the certainty that it was way too early to be making such declarations.

  “Marcel, let me go.” She yanked away her arm, trying to free herself from his hold, but he was too strong.

  “No.” When he straightened up to his feet, she turned to face the recliner, afraid that if she looked at him she might beg him not to break up with her. “Livy, look at me.”

  Her now cloudy gaze stayed fixed on the recliner.

  “Look at me.” He stepped between her and the recliner. When she lowered her stare to the floor, he tipped up her chin, forcing to face him and her feelings head on. “Do you love me?”

  She wanted to deny it; say that she’d said the words by mistake and they meant nothing. But as if her head was being controlled by forces outside her body, she nodded.

  His eyes dark with an emotion she couldn’t define, he asked, “Since when?”

  “I don-” The words caught in her throat as her heart thudded with tension. Clearing her throat, she said in a nervous whisper, “I don’t know. I guess it just happened.”

  He’d stolen into the guarded parts of her heart without her knowledge and curved out a place for himself. The passion, emotion and pleasure she felt for him was beyond anything she’d ever experienced, and she didn’t want to lose it. She didn’t want to lose him.

  Yet she’d said the three words guaranteed to send a man running for the hills.

  What was wrong with her?

  He was quiet for so long that her already thudding heart started to pound wildly and panic settled into her throat. She rushed on, “I know it’s too soon, and it’s okay if you don’t feel the sa-”

  He swooped downwards and captured her mouth in his, swallowing the rest of that sentence. She was so shocked she didn’t respond to the kiss. Her lips stayed unmoving beneath his searching ones.

  His mouth parted slightly from hers and he whispered, “I love you too.”

  This time it was her turn to be shocked. She drew her head backwards to stare up at him. “What?”

  “I love you too,” Marcel repeated as he cupped her cheek.

  Granted her accidental declaration had shaken him to the core. But once he’d realized she wasn’t teasing or being playful when she’d said those three incredible words, his emotions had skipped from shock, to elation, then straight to certainty that he felt the exact same way.

  He loved her.

  “You don’t have to say it just because I did,” Olivia chastised as she looked away.

  “I’m not saying it just because you did.” Turning her face so she was once more looking at him, he confessed, “I’m saying it because I mean it. I love you too, Olivia.”

  “You do?” There was a glimmer of nervous hope in her brown eyes.

  “I do.” Nodding, he settled back on the couch and pulled her down across his thighs. Exhaling a long controlled breath, he revealed, “I feel a connection with you that I’ve never, ever felt with any other woman. I’m not sure when I fell either. But I should’ve known it was happening when I started sharing stuff with you that I’ve never shared with any other woman. You just beat me to the words.”

  Olivia worried her lips. “It’s too fast.”

  “Who says?”

  “Lex says relationships that spark quickly, burn out fast too. The best relationships are slow burns; they simmer.”

  “Lex?” Marcel’s eyebrows shot up. “The same Lex who won’t even admit that he likes Thane? You have got to stop taking relationship advice from that guy.”

  Her lips twitched in a reluctant smile. But it quickly faded as she said, “It’s too fast, Marcel. It hasn’t even been two weeks since we started officially dating.”

  “Maybe,” Marcel agreed. “But you can’t time your feelings. Besides, we were friends before we starting going out. We’ve known each other for
even longer than that.”

  “I guess.” She lowered her eyes between them and murmured, “I just don’t want you to get tired of me.”

  “That won’t happen.” He raised her chin so she was looking into his face again. “And if I’m that much of an ass then feel free to whip out your red wig and go HAM on me.”

  She erupted in laughter that lit up her beautiful brown eyes. Wanting - needing-to taste it, he leaned forward and connected their lips. Her response was as instinctive as his groan when she parted her lips for him.

  Her willing acceptance of him was one of the things he loved about her. How she fit in his arms. How she matched him kiss for kiss as she matched him wit for wit. He loved how she could remember even the most mundane things he shared with her. He loved how, despite her very real fear of the media hounds, she’d chosen to stay here with him.

  He loved her.

  And she loved him.

  Emotion welling inside him, he turned her in his arms to straddle his lap as they devoured each other. Now that the words were out there, he wondered why it’d taken him so long to say them. Even as he deepened their kiss, he realized that his heart was in this for the long haul. And he was willing to give her as much time as she needed to get there too.

  Parting his lips from hers, he offered, “Nothing has to change just because we’ve said the words. We can still simmer.”

  “Is that even possible?” Inclining her head to stare at him thoughtfully, she said, “We’ve made love, met each other’s family’s…”

  “There’s still some stuff we haven’t done.”

  “Like what?”

  “Umm.” He racked his brain to come up with something they hadn’t done yet. He offered, “We haven’t had our first argument.”

  She sniggered. “I think we did that before we started dating.”

  He chuckled at the memory of how ruthlessly they’d come after each other. Dropping an affectionate kiss of her forehead, he teased, “We haven’t discussed who the best superhero is.”

  “Superman!”

  “What?” He faked a look of horror and lifted her up as if to move her from his lap. “This relationship is over.”

  Wrapping her arms around his neck and clamping her thighs to his flanks, she chuckled. “Don’t make me unleash my red wig on you.”