by Anna Edwards
“Kara, are you all right?”
Tilting my chin, I find Malcom beside me, the concern on his features is all that it takes for my tears to roll free. Shoulders shaking, I begin to sob.
“Shh, it’s ok.” Dragging me into his comforting arms, he holds me tightly. “Let’s get you back inside the cafe.”
Chapter Eleven
Darius
Drumming my fingertips on the arm of my chair with impatience, I listen to the sound of the car engine cutting off outside. Malcolm was supposed to have Kara here long before now. This delay is eating into the time she’s mine. I don’t like to be kept waiting. Has she tried to change her mind? Refused to return to the house? Thoughts of my little siren have consumed me all day. Working out with Malcolm in the built-in gym hadn’t brought its usual sense of achievement. Even my first read through of the new book I’ve been asked to narrate lacked its usual enthusiasm.
“You’re late,” I snap, the second I hear them come through the living room door.
“I had to check in on Sam.”
I hear the pained strain in Kara’s voice, which sends me immediately on alert.
“What’s happened?”
“Miss Kara was attacked outside work,” Malcolm informs me grimly. I don’t need to see to recognize his mood. The trace of supressed violence that vibrates through the air.
“Come here, Kara.” Rising from my chair, I listen to the sound of her footsteps as she obeys. With attentive hands, I feel for her shoulders. Tension thrums through her muscles, along with tiny tremors. Careful not to hurt her, I draw my fingers up the sides of her throat to her face. She flinches under my touch. The puffiness on the left side of her mouth is noticeable.
The thought of someone hitting her has fury rushing through my veins. How badly is she injured? I can read so much, but the rest is lacking without my sight.
“Where else are you hurt?”
Kara moves agitatedly under my inspection. “It’s nothing.”
“Malcolm?”
“I interrupted her attacker before it could escalate. Apart from the cut lip, bruises to her cheek, and a lump on the back of her head, there doesn’t seem to be any other damage. I iced it and her cheek inside the cafe immediately afterward. She declined when I offered to examine her and refused to report the incident to the police.”
“Malcolm trained as a medic in the army,” I tell her, resting my hands gently on her tense shoulders. She’s so petite. I’m more aware of it now than I’ve ever been. I catch a distinct whiff of coffee. Traces of other cooking smells from wheres she’s been working that must cling to her clothes.
“I don’t need a doctor. Honestly, I wasn’t hurt anywhere else,” she replies flatly.
“Do you want to tell me who did this?”
“I…don’t know.”
She’s lying. My annoyance is strong. Was it whoever talked her brother Sam into breaking into my house? Who is she protecting? Is it out of fear or reprisal of violence? Kara is under my protection, and I won’t have anyone touching her. She doesn’t trust me, and why should she? I’ve blackmailed her into being here, taken her from her home and brother, who she loves. Those thoughts unsettle me more than I like to admit. Still, she broke in here. Invaded my domain.
“We’ll have dinner now, please, Malcolm.”
“Very good, Sir.”
One of the dogs whines softly to my left as his footsteps leave. I feel the woman before me jump at the noise.
Gently, I squeeze her shoulders, trying to eliminate her stress. “You have nothing to fear. Verne and Jules won’t hurt you unless commanded to.”
“You named them after Jules Verne.”
Her quiet perceptiveness makes me smile, the other emotions I’m feeling lessening. “Journey to the Center of the Earth was one of my favourite stories as a child.”
“I’ve never read that book…I need to go and clean up, have a shower.” Her spark is subdued. She’s meek and afraid. Again, my thoughts travel to the nameless person who attacked her. It won’t happen a second time. I’ll make sure of that.
“All right. Go and do the things you need to do. Dinner should be ready in half an hour.”
She slips free of my grasp, and I experience an odd pang of loss.
Malcolm has everything laid out by the time she returns. Sitting at the dining table, I listen to her footsteps enter. They tread slowly, warily.
“You must be hungry, Kara. Come and join me.”
The chair beside me scrapes back, and I hear the rustle of clothing. She’s showered. Just like this morning, the aroma of vanilla winds around my senses. We eat in silence, for a while. I don’t push her to talk. Her company, for now, is more than enough, and I find myself enjoying her presence.
“How did you… How did you lose your sight?” The question comes out of nowhere.
She’s curious. Rather than retreat away from the painful subject like I normally do, I decide to answer it.
“A car accident about three years ago. It was raining heavily, and I lost control. I was due to marry my ex fiancé, Laura, a few days after it happened. She came out of it better than I did with just a broken arm,” I answer honestly. “The other driver involved wasn’t so lucky and died on impact.”
“Where is she now?”
Tilting my head in the direction of her voice, I shrug. “Probably swanning around on some other rich man’s arm.”
“She didn’t stay with you?” she asks with a hint of confusion.
“Oh, she tried. When she started treating me like a fragile invalid, I ended it and kicked her out.”
Kara’s seat creaks as she moves. “Maybe she was only trying to help.”
“Laura would have quickly gotten bored of playing nursemaid. She’s the type of woman who enjoys going out and partying all night. My life priorities changed; hers didn’t.”
“You don’t use a cane or a guide dog?”
“I have the entire layout of the house memorized. It’s how I remember where everything is. Malcolm makes sure it all remains the same. When I go out, I use a cane, and he always accompanies me. How old are you, Kara?” I ask, changing the subject, realizing I never got a chance to ask.
“Twenty-eight.”
A baby compared to my thirty nine years. My conscience niggles at me, but I push it aside. She’s not a child. Kara is all woman, and I intend to enjoy her until our time is up.
Chapter Twelve
Kara
Rolling onto my side on the mattress, my mind tumbles with everything I’ve learned. Darius had opened up a little. When I first asked my question, I expected him to shut down and become cold. Instead, he surprised me. There was bitterness in his tone. An underling pain over the incident that stole his sight. I can’t even imagine what that’s like. To go from one day living with colour and light to the next being trapped in a world of darkness.
After dinner, he asked Malcolm to bring a copy of Journey to the Center of the Earth from the library. Nestled on the comfortable leather chairs in the sitting room, I read to Darius out loud. I hadn’t intended to at first. Opening the book, I recited the first paragraph, and he asked me to continue. It was cozy and relaxing, melting away the shadows from Tony’s attack hours before.
A few times, I caught a faraway look on Darius’s expression. His green eyes were fixed on the floor near my feet. The way he listened so intently to my every word brought warmth to my chest. It was as if he was enthralled with every fiber of his being.
The soft click of the bedroom door opening interrupts my thoughts.
Darius enters the room in silence, closing it behind him. I watch with apprehension and a strange restlessness as he strips off his robe revealing his muscular physique in nothing but a pair of black boxer briefs. My mouth goes dry at the sight. I felt him through his trousers the other night when he pressed against me. From the ridged outline of his cock beneath the material, he’s not small in that department.
“Are you naked, Kara?”
“Yes,” I reply in a whisper.
“Good girl.”
Darius’s dark, husky voice sends a skitter of intimate awareness down my spine. I want to be held, comforted after what happened with my brother. Know that I’m safe from his violence.
“Touch me,” he urges when he joins me on the bed. “Feel me like I feel you.”
Response cautious at first, I caress the warmth of his skin on one of his sides, exploring his hot tight skin. The catch of his breath is heady and erotic, making me bolder. Dragging my palm from his waist to the top of his boxer briefs, I revel in the groan it brings from his throat.
Moving over me, his hips crowd mine, pinning me beneath him. Darius’s cock swells harder. Heat aligned with his own, I squirm against him in growing excitement. We’re skin to skin. Chest to chest. This shouldn’t arouse me, but it does. I already know what he can do to me. The other night, he’d said he’d make sure I’d be wet when he fucks me, and to my shame he won’t even have to try. I’m already pliant and ready. Molten inside with need.
Nibbling my ear, he samples the cord of my neck, making me mewl. More kisses find my collar bone on a downward path. He’s more confident. Knows what he can do to me with just his touch.
Knuckles brush the sides of my breasts. Teasing the nipples, he cups the heavy globes in his big hands.
“I love the way you feel. So soft and smooth,” he murmurs before bending his head to capture a distended peak in his mouth.
Digging my nails into his flanks, I lose myself to the sensation.
He weaves an erotic spell over my body. An enchantment I fall further and further into. Darius is in no hurry. He enjoys me like a feast. Something to be relished and enjoyed. Deliberately he sets out to leave not one inch of me untouched. Coaxing, seducing, until I’m trembling beneath him.
My legs fall open of their own accord. The hands on my thighs spread them wider, his hungry seeking mouth nuzzles my pussy.
A moan escapes my throat, needy and shameful. “Please.”
“My lovely little siren,” Darius purrs, the vibration of his words against my sensitive flesh making me wriggle. “I want to hear you cry out over and over. Listen to you sob my name while you cum on my tongue.”
Sucking, licking, he lays siege to my clit without mercy.
Fingers creeping down to tunnel into his hair, my hips thrust up in demand for more. Darius obliges. He overwhelms me. Washes away any thoughts of right or wrong. That he’s taking pleasure from my responses in payment.
Back arching off the mattress, I cry out as he draws me over the edge into rapture. The orgasm he wrings out of me leaves me boneless and panting. It’s on the tip of my tongue to beg him to take me, but he takes it no further. Hands trail up my torso to circle my breasts. When they reach my throat, he cups my jaw. I try not to flinch at the tenderness of my bruises. His mouth finds mine. I open willingly to him with a shuddering sigh. The kiss is so deep and possessive it makes my toes curl, forgetting the momentary sting from my cut lip as he lets me taste myself.
“Good night, Kara.”
Dazed, astonished, I watch as he crawls off the bed and leaves for his own room. It’s then I realize he’s never once just held me. It’s almost as if he’s afraid to.
Chapter Thirteen
Darius
I’m hard every time I think about how good Kara had tasted when I’d made her come with my mouth. Her moans had caressed my eardrums and danced down my spine. My cock had been stiff and straining, ready to sink into her sweetness, but I’d held myself back. She’d been warm and sweet. Kara had tempted every aching cell in my body. I hadn’t been with a woman in over a year, and my little siren tested my control.
I want her to open to me like she did last night. Invite me to fuck her. Something I know can’t be rushed. Patience will get me what I want, and when I do, I’ll savor every second of the victory.
“Good evening, Kara. Did you have a good day?” I ask when I hear her enter the Living room.
“Yes, thank you.” There’s shyness in her voice, the same as there was this morning at breakfast. It makes me wonder if she’s been thinking about how I ate out her pussy. I can’t wait to make her scream again, more than once, this time. I’ll have her wet just thinking about it, tomorrow. Fuck, the rest of the week if I get my way.
“After dinner, I thought we could continue the story you were reading the other night. If you’d like to.” I add, hoping she won’t refuse. The sound of her voice beguiles me. Cushions me in a sense of peace I haven’t found in years.
“I’d like that very much.”
“Good. I’ll let you shower and change.”
She’s not gone long. Thirty minutes later, there’s the sound of her entering the dining room where I’m already seated. The dogs shift to my left, and I imagine they’re watching her intently. It hasn’t taken them long to get used to her presence. They’ve only ever had Malcolm and me.
“I forgot to ask if you had a good day, too, Darius?” she asks.
I sense her presence slipping into the chair next to mine. It’s aided by the swish of clothing. A Dress? The smell of vanilla swirls around me, and I can’t help but smile. Kara has me hungry for other things. She’s a sensual delight to my senses, one I find myself craving when she’s not there.
“I managed to finish narrating a book that was due, and I signed some contracts for more. It was a productive day; although, I found myself often distracted.” Fingertips brushing the table cloth, I find the bottom of my glass. It’s already filled with water. Malcolm always insures I have everything at every meal.
“Distracted?” There’s a breathy little catch in her voice that has my cock thickening in response.
“By how good you tasted.” My confession is low and rough. “The sounds you made when I fucked you with my tongue.”
Kara’s breathing is ragged. I know my words have affected her, just as they are affecting me. How wet is she right now? The creak of her chair makes me aware that I have her squirming. Her panties are probably soaked. She drenched my hand last night. How much coaxing would it take to have her soak them right now?
I have the sudden urge to bend her over the table, spread her legs with my knee, and fuck her from behind.
“Sir, there’s someone here to see you.”
I jump at the sound of Malcolm’s voice. So caught up in Kara I am completely unaware that he’s entered the room.
“Who is it?” My impatience is clear to everyone in the room.
“Mr. Evans.”
Lust abates. This is a meeting I’ve been waiting for. One that concerns the woman sitting beside me at the table.
“Where is he?”
“I left him in your study.”
Out of earshot of the guestrooms. Still I don’t want Kara where things can be overheard. She has no idea I’ve been prying into her life. Had someone pick it apart piece by piece. I’m more than sure if she did find out, I’d feel the lash of her anger. My siren may be young and inexperienced in many ways but having her privacy intruded on is something I’m sure she would react to badly. It would be the same for me.
“Malcolm, please serve dinner to Kara in her room. I’ll have mine later.”
“As you wish, Sir,” he replies blandly.
“This meeting is something I can’t cancel,” I apologise, turning in the direction I know Kara is sitting. “If it doesn’t run too late, maybe we can finish that book?”
“Ok. I guess I can watch some tv while I eat.” Disappointment in the words is heavy. It makes me wonder if she’s been looking forward to it as much as I have, or maybe it’s something else. My seduction of her mind and body.
A chair scrapes on the floor. Tread light, I hear her leave.
“Verne, go.” I order the dog as an afterthought. The sound of paws and footsteps recede, but I know Malcolm remains.
“You like her don’t you?”
“I think she’s a good kid,” he responds gruffly.
“You disapprove of wha
t I’m doing?”
“I don’t want to see Kara hurt.” His tone holds affection. I may be blind, but I’m not unaware of the bond that’s grown between them in such a short space of time. I’ve never heard Malcolm speak so gently to anyone. It’s something I envy. This understanding they have. A friendship that’s blossomed so easily.
“Tend to Kara, please, Malcolm. I’ll speak to Evans.” Rising from my chair, I move carefully around the table. I know where I’m going. Walked the route a million times. Jules trails behind me. The tap of his nails on the wooden floor letting me know I’m being followed.
“Mr. Cross. I have that information you were after.”
Waiting a beat, I give the dog time to enter the study with me before closing the door. “Excellent.”
“I can give you the run down. It didn’t take me long, to be honest.” The private detective is eager for his money. Discreet and tactful, he’s come recommended as the best.
He’s already taken the seat opposite my desk. I can tell from the direction of his voice. Slowly, I stalk around it to take my own chair.
“Tell me everything you know, Mr. Evans.”
In silence, I listen to him outline Kara’s life. She’s running herself into the ground with debts that aren’t her own. Is that what pushed her younger brother into trying to steal from me? From all reports, she’s honest and hard working. The bad seed is her older brother, Tony. Drugs, gambling, borrowing money he can’t pay back. I’m more than sure he’s the one who hurt her. He must be desperate enough to threaten her. Maybe it’s how he’s been leaching money out of her all this time. Through threats and violence.
“There’s something else you should know. I’m not sure if you’re aware of this yourself or not, but I wanted to make sure you had everything.” Evans informs me with a hint of unease.
Thirty-five minutes later, everything has changed. The extensive background check on Kara and her family has dug up even more than I expected. I’m stunned by the revelation. Everything I’ve been focused on for my own desires shifts in an instant.
