Captivate Me

by Kira Sinclair

  He wanted them in hand when he caught up with her. After last night, it was entirely possible she wouldn’t speak to him.

  14

  ALYSSA DROVE THE speed limit. It wasn’t that she was overly cautious or conscientious. Her foot just didn’t seem capable of holding the pedal down hard enough to push her car past that point.

  Even her car was reluctant to make this trip. Although, driving slowly wouldn’t prevent her from eventually arriving. And then she’d have to deal.

  The closer she got to her childhood home, the thicker her protective shield became. On some level, Alyssa recognized the chill that was invading her body. But the numbness was so welcome she didn’t fight it.

  The long driveway came into view. A soft hitch in her throat was the only indication of the anxious flutter inside her chest. Unpleasant memories, old reactions and destructive habits stole through her.

  Her shoulders automatically straightened. Her neck muscles stiffened and pain from the tension shot down her spine. A dull ache throbbed just behind her eyes.

  Huge maples lined the drive at precise intervals, giving shade and blocking a view of the house from the road. One summer, until Bridgett had discovered her hiding place, those trees had been her sanctuary. She’d curled her body into the protective branches and spent hours lost in books. Worlds where good always followed bad and little girls were loved and wanted.

  Guiding the car around the circular drive, Alyssa bit back a groan when she noticed a baby-blue BMW convertible parked in the drive. Of course Mercedes would be here to witness her humiliation.

  God, it just kept getting better and better.

  Stepping out of her sedate sedan, Alyssa closed the driver’s-side door and stood there, looking up at what once had been her home.

  A sprawling, three-story antebellum mansion. Somewhere along the way, the family had been forced to sell the surrounding plantation if they wanted to keep the house. A mile or so down the road, it had been turned into a tourist attraction.

  Alyssa could have appreciated a home with that kind of history. And, maybe, when she was younger, she’d loved this place. But any good had long been outstripped by bad.

  Now, all she could see when she looked at the dark brick and soaring columns was her stepmother. The woman’s ruthless manipulation. Being summarily dismissed by her father. Abandoned by her mother. Power, money, greed. That’s what this place represented for her. And insatiable hunger that couldn’t be satisfied, no matter what.

  In another life she’d probably feel sorry for Bridgett, but right now she was too busy trying to force herself through the next hour.

  What struck her, as she stared up at the extravagant exterior, was just how similar Bridgett and Beckett had turned out to be. Both fighting tooth and nail to fill some empty void deep inside with money and possessions. Trust her to fall for a man who was the epitome of what she’d always tried to escape.

  Beckett had simply been better at hiding the truth behind a convincing mask of charm and sensuality.

  So why did Beckett’s betrayal hurt more?

  Possibly because Bridgett had made no secret about where she stood. Beckett, on the other hand, had sucked her in, convincing her she had finally found someone who wanted her.

  At least Beckett’s manipulation had never been cruel. Hell, even when he was exploiting her sexual needs and fantasies, he’d protected her.

  She supposed she should be grateful for small favors. Shaking her head, Alyssa forced her thoughts away from Beckett. They wouldn’t help. Not now.

  Pressing her hands hard against the roof of her car, Alyssa measured the space between her and the sweeping steps up to the front door. The grimace that crossed her face was involuntary, and the last true reaction she could allow herself if she wanted to survive this encounter with any shred of dignity.

  Bridgett was like a shark; the moment she scented blood in the water she’d circle, tease and then go in for the kill.

  Pushing away from the car, she was halfway across the drive when an unexpected sound stalled her. Stopping, Alyssa whipped her head around to look back down the drive. A car barreled toward her, hell-bent for leather.

  Self-preservation kicked in, and Alyssa stumbled backward until her butt collided with the side of her own car.

  Tires squealing, Beckett’s sleek Maserati slammed into the open, circular drive, practically riding up onto the bottom edge of the steps. Blocking her path.

  The low motor continued to growl as he jumped out. The door swung drunkenly behind him, completely ignored. Her body froze; surprise and something dangerously like hope stiffened her muscles.

  “What are you...” she tried to ask, but Beckett cut her off. His fingers wrapped around her arms, jerked her forward and brought their bodies together. Hard and soft, he crushed her against him, burying his mouth in the hair at her temple.

  All the air whooshed from her lungs, not just from the impact of his rock-solid body, but also from the emotional release of the tension she’d been holding around her like a shield.

  Relief swept through her, prickling behind her eyes before she could stop it.

  Pulling back, Beckett stared down into her upturned face. She expected him to kiss her. Wanted him to. And he didn’t. Instead, he grasped her hand and pulled her over to his car.

  He reached into the front seat and took out a sheaf of papers. Turning, he flashed them in her direction, too quickly for her to read them.

  “Just so you know, I started these yesterday. That’s what I was doing when I left you alone. This and confronting my father about the photographs he had.”

  “You weren’t meeting with Eaton? Sabotaging our deal?”

  The bewilderment that crossed his face was difficult to fake. “How could I? I didn’t even know about it. I did see Eaton yesterday morning, leaving my father’s office.”

  A strangled sound grated through her throat. “He told me...” Her words trailed off, her eyes squeezing shut in a twist of anger and understanding and bitterness. “Of course that’s what he’d say. Your father made me think you’d been the one to ruin the deal, but it was really him.”

  Beckett nodded. “Sounds like him. But that doesn’t matter. Not anymore.” Shoving the neat stack against her chest, Beckett wrapped her free arm around the papers so she had to hold them. “These cancel the loan in full.”

  “Wait. What?” Alyssa blinked.

  “The loan. It’s null and void. Gone.”

  Shaking her head, Alyssa’s eyebrows slammed together. “No.”

  “Yes.”

  She should have been elated, but she wasn’t. “I don’t want your charity, Beckett Kayne. Or your money.” She tried to shove the papers back at him, as if they were a hot potato and transferring them would save her from what they said. And meant. “I’m perfectly capable of making my business successful without handouts. I did not sleep with you for the damn loan.”

  Beckett’s face softened. His hands slid up and down her arms, the kind of soothing caress she was desperate for.

  “I didn’t realize how much I needed to hear those words until just now,” he said in a low, rumbling voice that rolled straight through her. “I know you didn’t. Now. Last night I let my fears convince me otherwise. I’ve never felt this way, Alyssa. It scares the hell out of me, how vulnerable wanting you, loving you makes me. Why didn’t you tell me about Eaton and my father?”

  Alyssa tried to reason through everything he’d just told her in a few short words. He loved her. Wanted her. Her stomach flipped lazily—exhilaration and hope tinged with a tiny kernel of trepidation.

  Beckett watched her with the same intensity she’d experienced that first night. As if he could see behind every wall she’d slammed in place to protect herself. As if he wanted to devour her and cherish her at the same time.

&
nbsp; Accepting what he’d just said would mean trusting him. Exposing herself to him, not just physically—that was the easy part—but emotionally and mentally.

  Could she survive opening up only to be slapped in the face again?

  As if sensing her spiraling panic, his palm settled in the deep well at the small of her back, pressing her tight against him. He was hot and hard, mouthwatering and tempting. Even now, she wanted him. So desperately that the rest of the world began to fade away.

  He was there for her, protecting her in a way no one else in her life ever had. Even when she’d thought he was rejecting her so long ago, he’d been doing it for the right reasons. To the world, Beckett Kayne might appear to be ruthless and coldhearted, but Alyssa knew differently.

  With a thumb and finger on her chin, Beckett coaxed her back to him. Blue-gray eyes, clear and deep, stared down at her. God, this man had been nothing but open with her. He’d shared pieces of himself that she instinctively knew he’d never given to anyone else. And she was still hiding.

  No more. Resolve spiraled inside her, warm and welcome. She was tired of masking who she was and what she wanted. Second-guessing everything she did because she was afraid of what someone might think.

  She wanted Beckett Kayne in her life and was willing to fight for that—even if the person she’d be duking it out with was herself.

  But she couldn’t stop herself from asking, “You love me?”

  A devilish smile curved his crooked lips even as his fingers trailed down her jaw, tickling across her exposed throat. “I’ve seen some shitty things, been through hell. So have you. We’re both a little damaged, but I know a good thing when I get my hands on it, and Alyssa Vaughn, you are the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Of course I love you.”

  A choked sound squeezed through her suddenly constricting throat. Somewhere she found the breath to whisper, “I love you, too.”

  Leaning up, she buried her fingers in his hair and tugged him down to her. They could discuss alternate loan terms later...and she wasn’t opposed to using any methods available to get what she wanted. Beckett would take repayment. Or, at the very least, a percentage in the company.

  But now they had more important things to discuss. And as always happened between them, the moment their bodies touched, passion exploded. Tongues, mouths, lips came together, devouring, destroying and worshipping all at once. She forgot everything. Where they were. Who could see. The only thing that mattered was Beckett. And the way he looked at her, as if she was the only thing in the world that mattered.

  “Do I need to call the gardener for the hose?” a smooth, cultured, lazy voice drawled from above them.

  Beckett pulled away, raining quick kisses across her nose, cheeks and lips as if he was reluctant to break the connection.

  His eyes glowed when he looked down at her, full of happiness and devotion. Without breaking his gaze from hers, he said, “Not necessary.”

  “Perhaps if you moved away from my stepdaughter I might be more inclined to believe that statement.”

  Beckett’s eyes went flinty, flicking away from her for the briefest moment before returning. Uh-oh.

  She thought he was going to tell Bridgett to take a long walk off a short pier. Instead, he straightened, pulling her gently with him and tucking her tight against the shelter of his body.

  “Alyssa Vaughn, what do you think you’re doing practically prostrate with a stranger in the middle of my driveway? Anyone could see you. And while I understand that apparently doesn’t bother you, it does upset me that you’ve brought this to my home.”

  A low, warning growl rumbled through Beckett’s chest. Placing a hand there, she tried to calm him. “Don’t.”

  Alyssa flicked her gaze across the woman standing at the top of the stairs above them. Her stepmother’s platinum-blond hair—long since the result of a highly paid colorist—curled down over her shoulders in perfect waves. The skin on her face was tight, not just with disapproval but because she paid the best plastic surgeons to keep it that way. Her waist was thin, breasts high and perky, and any cellulite that deigned to invade her thighs had been long since sucked out.

  She wore a pair of designer pants and a flowing floral top paired with sparkling diamonds and tasteful sapphires at ears, wrist and throat. Her hands were balled into fists at her hips. Over her shoulder, Alyssa could see Mercedes hovering in the background, just as perfectly coiffed as her mother.

  Her mouth twisting into a fake smile, Alyssa said, “We both know this was my home long before it was yours, Bridgett, and it’s about damn time I did whatever the hell I wanted here.”

  Air sucked hard through Bridgett’s plumped and glistening lips. Small lines of disapproval feathered out from her tightened expression. Alyssa might want to get a few digs in, but she wasn’t cruel enough to call attention to the signs of age not even Bridgett and her piles of money could fight.

  “Is that why you came here, Alyssa? To be crude?”

  That question threw her for a loop. She floundered, searching for a plausible reason for her presence since she no longer needed to beg for money.

  As usual, Beckett was quick on his feet and beat her to it.

  “No, I asked Alyssa to introduce me to her family. At the moment I’m regretting it.” Beckett’s attention traveled back to her, running lovingly over her face. “Sorry, sweetheart, I should have listened when you said she was a bitch and not worth our time.”

  Bridgett’s gasp was like a gunshot, loud and echoing with indignation.

  Alyssa had no doubt the expression on her face was closer to dumbfounded than anything else. But she couldn’t stop the bubble of laughter tickling up through her chest. Especially when Beckett leered at her with a knowing, wicked smile.

  Trouble. He was pure trouble.

  And she loved that. Relished it. Had needed it in her life for so, so long.

  Suddenly Beckett swooped her up and pressed her back against the curves of his low, powerful car. Until that moment she’d forgotten the motor still hummed. But she couldn’t ignore it anymore, not with the vibrations rattling through her already revving body.

  Leaning forward, just before his mouth claimed hers again, Beckett suggested in a perfectly calm voice, “If you don’t want to watch me kiss your stepdaughter I suggest you leave.”

  Shaking her head, Alyssa grasped his ears and pulled him closer, whispering, “What am I going to do with you?” against his lush lips.

  “Love me?” he suggested, a wicked glint in his eyes.

  “Absolutely. One hundred percent. With everything inside me.”

  Behind them, the front door slammed.

  Alyssa let herself slip beneath the wave of ecstasy just being near this man always produced.

  After a few moments a sound broke through the fog. The quiet click of heels against brick coming down the stairs. Disengaging, Alyssa craned her neck sideways so she could see who was still there watching.

  She was surprised to see Mercedes standing on the opposite side of the car. Her sister was six years younger. She had the best of her mother’s beauty—what had been natural before she’d let the doctors and treatments take over—and their father’s air of understated elegance.

  Mercedes was gorgeous and always had been.

  Alyssa’s body stiffened. She wasn’t certain what to expect. Growing up, they hadn’t exactly been close. Bridgett had worked hard to drive a wedge between them.

  “I’m glad you’re happy, Alyssa,” Mercedes said in a soft, hesitant voice. Her eyes, a darker green than Alyssa’s, held nothing but genuine affection.

  For the first time, Alyssa wondered if maybe she’d missed out on the opportunity to know her sister simply because it had been easy to lump her together with her mother.

  Disengaging, Alyssa slipped out from beneath Beckett’s b
ody and turned to face her sister. “Thanks, Mercedes. That means a lot.”

  The quick flash of hope was hard to miss before Mercedes dropped her eyes to the glossy black surface between them.

  “I...” She hesitated, her gaze darting up for a moment, but not actually catching Alyssa’s. “I’d love to get together for lunch sometime. I’m in my last year at Tulane.”

  How had she not known where her sister was going to college?

  “I’d like that,” Alyssa found herself saying, and meant it. Going on instinct, she rounded the car and pulled Mercedes into a hug. Her sister hesitated for several seconds before wrapping her arms tight around Alyssa’s shoulders.

  Pulling away, Mercedes slowly backed up the steps. But she was smiling, a huge, wide expression that brought light to her face.

  Rolling her eyes, she said, “I better get back inside before Mother goes on a tirade,” and then disappeared.

  Stunned, Alyssa stared at the door for several moments after it closed behind her.

  Slowly, she turned to look at Beckett. He stood there, his fists buried deep inside the pockets of his pants.

  “What just happened?”

  Tipping back on his heels, he grinned at her and shrugged. “Who knows? But from the outside, it looked good.”

  Alyssa nodded. “I think it was.”

  “Come here,” he ordered.

  She didn’t hesitate to walk straight into his open, waiting arms. Pressing her face into the warm strength of his neck, she asked, “Did you really mean it?”

  Burying his hand in her hair, Beckett cupped her nape, holding her close. “Every single word. I love you, Alyssa, and want to spend the rest of my days watching you, touching you, sharing our lives. We don’t have to jump into anything, but that’s where I want to go.”

  That was exactly what she wanted, too.

  Reaching up, she pulled him down to her. The kiss was perfect, a blend of heat and heart. “Yes,” she whispered against his lips. “No one in my life has ever made me feel the way you do, Beckett Kayne. I think I fell for you the moment I turned and caught you watching me through my window.”