Seduction’s Canvas (Crimson Romance)

by Jackson, K. M.

  Her father shook his head. “I can’t worry about everything. I have to look out for the bottom line and what’s right for the company.”

  “And what’s right for the company is moving New Yorkers out of the only home they know?”

  “We are looking at constructing one of the premiere residences in Harlem. Waterfront views, full time concierge, twenty-four hour gym and spa, restaurant, and club.”

  “Ah-hem,” Peter said from over her shoulder. “Would you already have contract on the club?”

  Sam turned and shot Peter a look of pure venom.

  “What? Sam. You have to admit it sounds fantastic and your father is never wrong when it comes to real estate.”

  “Alright, all of you, this has gone on long enough and the last thing we need is airing out business in the middle of a party,” Liv said with a clap of her hands.

  She then shot the ever aware Tanner who was over by the dining room doors a look and pasted on the Leighton smile before tapping her champagne glass three times. “Ladies and gentlemen, dinner is served. Follow me into the dining room. And for heaven sake, don’t anyone dare sit with the person you came with. She gave Charity a saucy look. “You, dear, go and sit by the judge. Trust me, there’s not a hint of library in him.”

  • • •

  “So what is it now, Sam?” Peter pulled away from their kiss in the back of the car and licked his lips. In that moment, the leftover coolness at his pulling away was not unwelcome. His kiss was fine. There was nothing wrong with it. He was firm and thorough and attentive and what could she say? Well practiced. If she was scoring, she’d have to give him a seven out of ten with room for improvement. And yes, that put her in the complete bitch category and she knew it. She also knew she couldn’t help it.

  “It’s nothing, tonight was great. Thanks for coming with me and putting up with my family.”

  He gave her dark hooded eyes and smiled. “It was a good night, wasn’t it. I think your father really warmed up to me tonight. Even more so than when we were out on the golf course. And meeting Mr. Blake was big. You know he gave me his card? I’ve been trying to get in with him for a while. And did you know that I was seated by Senator Davis’s wife? A little handsy, but it’s all good. The senator has some major connections.”

  Peter continued, pulling out his phone. “Just a minute, hon. I need to check my calendar. You think you can do lunch with me and DA Shelton and his wife next week? He hinted at it and I think it would be a really good look for us.”

  Sam pulled back. When had she and Peter become a couple that went for lunches with the DA and his wife? She shook her head, closed her eyes, and leaned her head back. She knew this was a mistake. Give her parents an inch and they take a mile.

  Peter stilled by her side. “I’m sorry, hon, am I taking it too fast? I was just excited by what a good night we had and business gets my juices going.” He inched over and leaned in toward her, trailing his index finger from her throat to her décolletage.

  Sam opened her eyes, looking up at him. “I may have made a mistake.”

  Peter’s eyes narrowed in frustration. “What are you talking about, Sam? Tonight was fantastic.”

  “This,” she whispered. “Tonight. I may have made a mistake. I don’t want to lead you down the wrong path.”

  Peter seemed to go dark. Sam blinked, not quite wanting to notice the danger there, but not willing to dismiss it either. She narrowed her own gaze, challenging him and leaning forward, pushing him back. He eased, his entire face softening. Lips, brows, eyes. “Come on, Sam. Please. Hey, I’m sorry I’m so busy talking business and not paying much attention to you. That’s my fault.” He reached for her hand and gently placed it into his own. “Now give me a chance. I know I can be a bit pushy, but you have to admit we make a great team. Both professionally and if you give me half a chance you’ll see we can be good together personally too.”

  Peter leaned in, his full lips heavy as they came down upon her own. He was skilled and well timed when he moved to the side and used his tongue to smoothly ease the crease of her lips open and make his way into the passage of her mouth. His arms circled around her and he pulled her in close as the car took a left and her body pivoted further onto him. He moaned into her throat.

  “See, I told you we fit.”

  Sam opened her eyes and met his, the number eight flashing in her mind. She eked out a small smile, thinking of her brother Charles and finally making her parents happy. No matter how much she loved painting, there was still the part of her that loved her parents and wanted to please them more. She could do it too — just accept this man. Peter was her ticket. But damn, was the price too high?

  Peter gave her a confident smile in return and placed her back on the seat as the car came to a stop in front of her building. “And babe, clear your calendar for a free day for dinner with my family. My mother wants to plan something. She’ll discuss it at lunch with your mom tomorrow.”

  At lunch? With her mother? “Peter, I don’t think that’s a good idea right now. I need to concentrate on my show — ”

  “Come on, Sam,” he said, cutting her off and taking her hand in his. “I’ve already told my mother you’re looking forward to it.”

  Sam sighed, and prayed her practiced smile wouldn’t crack.

  Chapter 16

  Mark’s senses were already on full alert when he heard the elevator touch down and open on their floor. He’d told himself that it was just his training, just his sensitive ears, just the fact that he’d had too much coffee, but he’d known better. He knew the truth of it was that he was up after midnight and not on a job — listening and waiting to see what time she’d come home from her date with Moss. And if she’d come home alone.

  Damn, man. You should have stayed in your lane. Or at least on your own fucking floor.

  On principle, Mark refused to get up from where he was lounging on the couch when he heard the elevator stop. He just took another swig of his beer and mindlessly looked up at the game he was supposedly watching, though for the life of him he couldn’t make heads or tails of what was going on.

  All he could see in his mind’s eye was her. Her in that sexy scrap of fabric that she dared to call a dress. The satiny feel of her skin that he barely got enough of when he grazed by her earlier. The sweet smell of lavender that teased his senses as she breezed past and left — he swallowed — in fucking Moss’s car.

  He let out yet another curse and took another swig of his beer, clicking off the TV. Oh well. She was probably in for the night. He might as well give up his puppy dog pining and turn in himself. Maybe tomorrow he would start looking for a place. See about subletting this and getting on with life.

  He was just about to get up to head for his bedroom when the knock at his front door had his blood pumping and heart thumping double time. The way he jumped up, banging into a side table and sending it screeching, had images of a well-trained dog, with an inner ear problem, awaiting his master coming to mind. Shit. Now, he couldn’t even pretend like he was busy or asleep or not at home. Mark stopped just short of wrenching open the door and held himself off. You’ve got to cool it, man. She’s already made it clear what she wants from you — nothing more than a quick fuck from a friend. He frowned at his own inward thoughts. And since when was this a problem for any red blooded male living next door to one of the hottest women on the planet?

  He flipped his top lock and tugged open the steel door. Wide eyes met wide eyes and his heart did a skip jump thing that could only mean trouble. Yeah, it was a problem, alright, since that hot woman was Samara Leighton. The girl he’d loved his whole life.

  “Samara.”

  She seemed to falter for a moment, perfect teeth nervously nibbling on her full bottom lip. She looked down, vulnerable and suddenly quite young, her lashes fanning across her flushed cheeks.

  Mar
k took her in. Still in her sexy dress, killer heels, hot as hell. He narrowed his eyes, thoughts of her driving off with Moss flooding his brain. “What are you doing here? You get lost on your way home?” he asked, leaning out and looking past her, down the empty hall.

  Sam flinched at his tone, but then seemed to visibly shake off his comment as she flipped her loosely waved chestnut hair back over her slim shoulders. She brought defiant eyes up to his in a challenging stare.

  “No, Mr. Thorn. I know exactly where I am.”

  He raised a brow and leaned on the doorframe. “And … ”

  “And I thought that maybe you’d like a bit of company.” She leaned forward and looked past him into the sparse apartment. “That is, if you don’t already have company.”

  Something inside him broke. Who the hell did she think she was to be able to go from him to another man and then right back to him? He looked at her with astonishment and then narrowed his gaze. Samara Fucking Leighton, that’s who. She was perfection personified. Here it was, well after midnight and not a hair was out of place, her skin was glistening, eyes perfectly clear, even her lipstick was flawless. He shook his head and nodded toward her door, ignoring the killer erection he was working on and the need to pull her in and destroy every trace of that lipstick.

  “Last I heard you belonged over there in number ten.”

  Sam frowned and Mark watched as a shadow clouded over her dark chestnut eyes. She looked down; once again bringing with her a hint of that vulnerability that he saw when he’d first opened the door. “Sorry, I guess this was a mistake. I didn’t think you’d do it too.”

  He closed his eyes for a moment and told himself not to ask the question even as the words tumbled out of his mouth. “What did I do?”

  She turned back his way, a look of disappointment shadowing her features. “Tell me where and who I have to be.”

  Shit.

  It happened before he could stop himself. Mark reached out and took her hand, pulling her into his apartment and out of the hall. She was in his arms and up against the back of the door before he could think and she could protest, his lips covering hers in a hot mixture of breath and tongues that felt like all that life was about in that moment. Mark took a deep breath and let out a growl, pulling back. He looked her in the eye.

  She looked up at him, chest heaving with every labored swell of breath. “What is it?”

  “I can taste him on you.”

  Samara stepped forward. “Don’t worry; it was nothing more than a goodnight kiss.”

  Mark fought against the jealousy burning through his soul. “Oh, I’m not worried in the least. You’re here with me right now and I’m going to make you forget any moment you’ve ever had with him.”

  • • •

  Sam knew she should have turned tail and ran as soon as she heard him say her name. But for the life of her, in that moment she couldn’t move. When he said it, it was as if she was hearing the end of a prayer and the heavens opened up. She knew then she was lost and turning back was an option long gone.

  Now Sam shivered, taking in Mark’s deadly, desirous intent. She knew she was crazy for coming over and knocking on his door in the first place, but as soon as she’d stepped into her apartment with the rest of the night ahead of her, an overwhelming sense of loneliness had overcome her being. Her mind had told her to just go to bed. Another part of her said to call Gabby — or better yet, call Peter and see if she could actually build a relationship with him. It would be the right thing. The smartest thing would have been to go to her studio and paint for a while, and she was all ready to do it too. She was just about to slip off her dress and change into her work clothes when it hit her. All she really wanted was him. He would fill that empty void. He would make that ache go away. More than anything, he could make her smile.

  But now she wasn’t smiling. Now she was standing here out of control and very near ready to lose it all if he didn’t touch her right now.

  “How will you make me forget?”

  Mark’s eyes went to black and suddenly he was every bit the dark rider that she’d seen going in and out of the building. The same man who took on the guy in the bar without hesitation and the one who took on the two guys in the alley without a flinch. Sam swallowed and would have stepped back if she didn’t already have the door at her back. She saw Mark still, then shake his head. He leaned in toward her and put his forehead to hers. “No, don’t do that. One thing I never want you to be is afraid of me,” he croaked out, his voice going horse.

  Samara reached up and cradled his roughened cheeks in her palms, loving the feel against her hand. “No, I won’t be afraid. This is why I’m here. This is why I came.”

  She felt his slight smile. “Then this is why you can always come to me. You’re safe.”

  She looked into his eyes and for a moment felt complete peace. She let out a breath. When had she last felt that? She hadn’t realized it had been so long. His lips quirked up and his smile turned wicked. “Now turn around.”

  Her brows went up in shock as he spun her so that she was now facing the door’s peephole. She couldn’t help but look through as she saw her own door looking back at her. Sam blinked as Mark leaned down and kissed her bare shoulder. To be so large, his gentleness was always such a surprise. She went to lean back into him, but he stilled her, holding her upright as his hand went to the dress’s tie at her neck. She shivered as he undid it, the wispy fabric coming down and over her breasts, leaving her now cool and exposed. Her nipples instantly became hard peaks as she let out a shuddered breath. Mark’s hands skimmed down the sides of her body along with the fabric as it came down over her hips and pooled onto the floor.

  Samara leaned forward, breasts touching the cool steel door, behind out, almost fully exposed and barely covered by her thong. She felt Mark’s heavy presence behind her and looked back over her shoulder.

  “It would seem that once again you have me at your feet, Miss Leighton,” he said and kissed the rounded globe of one cheek and then the other. She let out a sigh as moisture flooded between her thighs. Gently, he hooked his thumbs on either side of her thong, oh-so-slowly pulling them down and off her hips. Sam thought she may swoon and leaned further onto the door for balance. “Take a step,” he said, indicating that he wanted her to lift her leg out of her panties — and almost as if by automatic pilot she found herself doing it. At that point she would do just about anything this man commanded her to do.

  She felt both his palms flat on her behind and leaned back toward him, shifting her legs slightly. Her senses were on overdrive, as she was hot and cold, shivering and warm and fighting to balance on the heels she was still wearing. It was then that she felt a cool breeze like a whisper between her thighs and almost buckled.

  Mark seemed to anticipate her and snaked his arm around her waist. “Hold on there, sweetheart.”

  She let out a moan as his gravelly voice came from down between her legs and he punctuated the end of his sentence with a nibble on her lower cheek. “Turn around.”

  “What?”

  “Turn around, please.”

  Sam blinked and did as she was told as Mark guided her. She looked down at his close shaved head at the same time that he looked up at her with strong willed intent and lifted one stiletto heeled leg and placed it over his shoulder. “I do love it when you follow directions, Miss Leighton.”

  Sam laughed. “Just so you know. I only do it when you ask nicely, Mr. Thorn.”

  But that was the end of all conversation as his tongue dove in. No preamble with gentle kissing on soft folds. It was Mark, all in, as he went for the center of her with all his power, making love to her with his tongue, stroking, sucking, licking, caressing, bringing her nearly to the breaking point over and over again. Causing her to vibrate around him as her essence overflowed and dribbled down his chin. Causing her to cry out a
nd clench her fists as she twisted her hands into his tee at his shoulders, all at once begging him to stop and then, still, please don’t stop.

  Mark stilled and Sam looked down at him, her breathing erratic and labored. “Come.”

  “Oh, God. Haven’t I already?” she panted.

  He chuckled, dangerously. “Not quite yet enough.”

  He stood slowly, his hard body rubbing up against her own and for the first time in a long while she became fully aware of her nakedness and the fact that he was still fully clothed. “It would seem that once again you have me at a disadvantage.”

  He gave her a look of disbelief. “Somehow I doubt that could ever happen.”

  Mark then pulled her to him, kissing her fully and completely, stealing her breath, and at the same time lifting her and sweeping her further into the apartment. She tasted her own passion and his hunger as she felt his erection firm against her thigh. Then she was down, her back against cool leather. She looked at him through slitted eyes. “What is it with us and couches?”

  He paused in his movements, going stone still. And for a moment a dark, clouded look of melancholy swept over his beautiful masculine face.

  He was glorious.

  “Hey, I was just kidding,” she said, trying hard to bring light to her voice and back to his demeanor.

  He looked down at her, still darkness, seemingly lost in his own thoughts. He took her hand. “We can go to the bedroom. I didn’t mean to just throw you down on the couch once again.”

  Sam smiled up at him. “No, it’s fine. I like it here. It feels … ” She paused, looking for the right words. “Somehow right. Looking up at you like this.”

  But still he clouded more, as if lost somewhere in the past. Shit, now she’d gone and done it. What did she say? Fuck. Was her supposed easy rider full of deeper secrets than her own? She let out a sigh and fought to shake it off, grinning up at him. “Now come on, Mr. Thorn. This is getting way too deep and you are way too dressed. That shirt has got to go.” She poked at his hard chest.