by Tawny Taylor
“I became sick after you gave me the coffee.”
“Was it the coffee?”
“The results of the test aren’t back yet.”
“Still, didn’t you think it unlikely that I would drug you then, when I’d had so many opportunities to in the past? And also, if you recall, I was drugged too. In New York.”
“I did recall that. And yes, I did wonder about the timing, too. But because I had discovered some information about you, and I sensed you were aware of what I’d learned, I felt you might have the motivation to do it.”
Yes, it was exactly what I’d feared.
“What was the information you learned?” I asked as I tried to hide my growing panic. He was much too close to the truth.
“I learned you were once considered a suspect in your father’s death.”
Oh God. “His death was ruled a suicide,” I pointed out.
“Yes, I learned that too.”
“I was never officially charged with any crime,” I added.
“I learned that as well.”
My heart did a flip. “So, do you still think I’m capable of killing someone?” I held my breath, knowing his response would mean everything—the difference between a possible future together or not.
“I never did think it.”
Thank God.
My insides unknotted. I risked looking his way. He was studying me with sharp, probing eyes. “But you thought I might drug you?”
Glancing down at his foot, he kicked the railing we were leaning against. It wiggled a tiny bit. “I wasn’t thinking clearly then. I was under the influence of the drug.”
“What about now?”
Straightening up, he turned toward me. He left one arm resting on the railing. “I’m thinking it’s highly unlikely you were the culprit.”
“Highly unlikely?” I echoed. In other words, he hadn’t ruled me out. I was hurt. Truly. Genuinely. And scared. But then again hadn’t I done the same thing? Hadn’t I jumped to conclusions when I was drugged? “What drug was it? Can I ask that without appearing guilty?”
“Some kind of benzo-something. I don’t know. I think they said midazolam.”
A tiny quiver raced up my spine. I was scared, yes—still worried about what he thought of me after learning about my father’s death. But I was also feeling guilty for having blamed him for my drugging. “That was what I was drugged with too. Do you think the two incidences are related? If they aren’t, that’s a mighty strange coincidence, don’t you think?”
“I agree. Which is why I brought you here.”
For the first time in hours, I inhaled fully. So he didn’t really believe I might poison him. And he didn’t believe I could have killed my father. “Then it wasn’t to interrogate me.”
“Partially, yes, it was.”
“Oh.”
His gaze swept across my face. He shoved his fingers through his hair, leaving it a mess of waves. A breeze riffled through it, making it ever messier. “Shit. I’m sorry. You don’t deserve to be interrogated. You haven’t done anything but put up with me and my crap since the first day you stepped in my office. Do I seem overly paranoid to you?”
“No, not really.” I released a long sigh. “Both of us have been drugged recently. I don’t know if that kind of thing has happened in the past. Maybe it is a coincidence and maybe not. Perhaps you’ve made a lot of enemies I don’t know about. Maybe there are a lot of people who would like to see you knocked down a rung or two. Maybe you need to be paranoid.”
“Actually, it’s been a while since something like this has happened. I’d grown a little lazy, I think. Too trusting. I made myself an easy target.”
I gazed into his eyes. “It’s sad,” I said, watching him as he studied me. His gaze was still extremely penetrating. Sharp. “Here you are, a man who has so much, a good man, a generous, kind man. But because of what you have, you have to be on guard at all times. Always aware there might be someone out there waiting to take it all away from you.”
“That’s just it, I wasn’t living like that,” he said. He reached for my hand, took it in his. “How about we take a walk?”
“Didn’t you just say you’d been too lax? Is it safe to leave the house?”
“There’s nobody around. No one knows where we are.”
“No one?” I echoed, doubtful. How could he just pick up and leave? He was the owner of a huge corporation. He was important, needed. Someone had to know where he was.
“Nobody.” Not particularly gently, but not too roughly either, he tugged me toward the steps that descended to the patio below and the swimming pool. Suddenly more aware of my surroundings than ever before, I followed his lead. We circled the pool and headed toward the lake’s shore. At the narrow beach we found a fallen log. It was mossy and damp, but I didn’t care. I sat and stared out at the sparkling water.
“I could get used to this,” I said as I inhaled deeply. The air smelled so clean and fresh. Like damp earth and water and green plants. The sunshine made me feel energized and alive. And being with Kam right now, silent, both of us absorbing the beauty around us made it that much better. Especially knowing we were closer to setting things right between us again.
“I could get used to this too.” He audibly exhaled. “A part of me wishes I could just walk away from it all, the responsibility and the stress, and stay in a place like this. Somewhere where I can just be Kameron Maldonado. A man. Only a man. Not an entrepreneur. Not a business owner. You know?”
“Why don’t you?”
“Responsibility. I can’t just dump it all into someone else’s lap. It wouldn’t be fair to him or her. It wouldn’t be fair to all the people whose livelihoods rely upon me, either.”
“I understand.”
“It’s crazy. When MalTech was a small company, all I could think about was making it bigger. All my problems would go away if only I could increase sales, increase profits. I would provide people with jobs. With insurance and education and a future. But the bigger the company became, the smaller my personal life became. Until now, I basically live to make the next deal, to find the next opportunity.”
Yes, this was the way it should be. He was opening up again, trusting me, sharing with me. Allowing me to glimpse the man nobody else knew. “I never would have imagined that,” I said. “Maybe I knew, on some gut level, that a man in your position would live and breathe work. But I guess I assumed men who did that did it because they loved it. Work was their life because it was their choice.”
He shook his head. “Not always.”
“You should retire.”
“There’s nobody to replace me. Nobody I trust. That’s the key. Trust. I can’t just hire someone off the street, lay everything in his hands, and walk away. He could fuck it all up and screw everyone who has trusted me all these years.”
“That’s a tough one.” Turning slightly, I met his gaze. “But doesn’t everyone, yourself included, deserve a life? Happiness?”
“I’m happy.”
I gave him an oh-really look.
“Sometimes,” he admitted.
“Like when you’re in the dungeon? When you’re playing those games?” I asked.
“No.” He raised a hand, cupping my cheek. “More like now, when I’m sitting on a moldy old log, ants crawling up my pants, talking to you.”
“Ants?” I giggled. “Who wouldn’t be happy with ants in his pants?”
“Exactly.” His tongue swept across his lower lip. His gaze locked to mine. He was going to kiss me. Yes, yes, yes! “I’m sorry for being such an asshole.”
“It’s okay. I understand why you were suspicious. The important thing is we talked it out. You didn’t just keep it all inside.”
“Good. But I have one question.” He angled closer.
“Yes?”
“You had a bag packed when I arrived at your place. Where were you going?”
“I don’t know. Just away for a while. Someplace peaceful. Someplace like this.”
/> “I’m sorry I had you placed on leave. They . . . I was convinced you had spiked my coffee.” Shaking his head, he smoothed a lock of my hair back and tucked it behind my ear. “You’re a better person than me. I wouldn’t have been able to forgive so easily.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t usually forgive so easily either. But with you it’s different.”
“I’m glad.” He moved closer still. His lips were right there, less than an inch from mine. His breath was gently caressing my face. My nerves were tingling, anticipation zinging up and down through my body.
Despite everything, his gruff attitude earlier, and his accusation, his suspicions, my body craved his touch. Craved it so much it almost hurt inside.
I lifted my hands, flattening them on his chest. One fingertip found a hard nipple, poking at soft knit fabric.
He audibly gasped, and so did I.
It was as if his need fueled mine and the other way around. Our bodies were in sync. Nerves sending little jolts of electricity through our skin and into the other’s body. Skin warming. Pupils dilating. Faces flushing.
Kiss me.
Shifting forward, I set my mouth on his. He groaned, and the low vibrations pulsated through me, zooming to my center. The first tingles of heat warmed the tissues between my legs. The sensations were so glorious, I wished I could freeze that moment and cherish it forever.
His mouth started moving, sliding across mine. Lips touching, caressing, brushing back and forth. It was a slow, seductive kiss. The kind of kiss I would remember for a long time.
Maybe forever.
Then, it got better.
His hand, the one that had been so sweetly cupping my cheek, made a slow but steady descent. It followed my neck, lingered for a moment at the ticklish spot at my collarbone before dropping farther. When it found my breast, my spine arched. My breath hitched in my throat. And a flare of bright colors exploded behind my closed eyelids.
Oh, what wicked things his hands could do. Wicked, wonderful things. Like now. His fingertip found my nipple through my clothes. It was pure agony, as that fingertip flicked back and forth over the sensitive peak until it was so hard my insides were clenched.
My hands smoothed up his broad chest to his face. I held him there, deepened the kiss, my tongue shyly slipping inside his sweet, warm mouth to tangle with his. We kissed. And moaned. And groaned. And whimpered. All thoughts of employees and poisonings and murdered fathers flying from our minds.
This was our time. Time for us to just live. And share. And be. At last, it was our time.
17
I was in heaven. This moment. It was pure ecstasy.
The gentle, earth-scented breeze was caressing my face as Kam’s hands softly worked over my body, igniting every nerve under my skin. His tongue was stroking mine, filling my mouth with his decadent flavor. The sound of our breathing, coupled with the glorious noises of nature, created a magical song that made my heart gallop and my soul sing.
I’d never felt anything like it.
“I want you now. Here,” Kam murmured as he flattened his hands on either side of my head. I stared into his eyes. They were dark, full of lust and hunger and desperation. The writhing flames flickering there thrilled me. He needed me. Needed.
“Yes,” I said.
He took my hands in his and put them on the bulge pressing against the front of his pants. Feeling naughty and sexy, I curled my lips into a smile and rubbed.
He growled.
How I adored that growl. Feeling my smile widening, I unbuckled his belt and unzipped his pants. As I worked, he kissed and nibbled my neck, which made me shiver, goose bumps prickling my arms, neck, chest. My hands pushed under his shirt. His stomach was a glorious thing. Perfectly sculpted. Rigid planes of muscle sheathed in smooth skin. I could touch and stare at his stomach all day long.
But it seemed he had something else in mind.
Making another little growly sound, he fisted my wrists and moved my hands lower. A fingertip brushed against velvety skin, the plump, engorged head of his cock.
“Yes,” he murmured. “Stroke it.”
I curled my fingers around his rod and slowly ran my hand up and down, up and down.
“Yes,” he repeated. “Yes. Take me in your mouth.”
Sliding off the log, I knelt in front of him, knees on the moist earth.
I flicked my tongue over the tip, tasting salt and clean skin. Precome. He tangled his fingers in my hair, using it to move me. I loved how he took control. It was like a dark secret, a wicked thrill—serving him like this, submitting to him.
As he eased my head lower, I opened my mouth wider, allowing his length to inch deeper inside. My tongue cushioned his rod as it filled me. The taste of him exciting every taste bud, all the way to the back.
He pulled, and I withdrew until just the plump head remained in my mouth. I swirled my tongue round and round. I let my teeth gently scrape over the flared ridge circling it. And I soaked in all the sounds of his little gasps and groans and moans of appreciation.
Once again, he pushed me down, forcing me to take him deep, deeper. He touched the back of my throat and I fought the urge to gag, inhaling slowly through my nose. Even as I struggled, the tissues between my legs throbbed. Heat swirled round and round through me. Behind my closed eyes, I imaged his face, ecstasy pulling at his features. Face flushed. Eyes hard. Such a beautiful face. Strong and sexy. Masculine but still perfectly formed, almost too perfectly.
When he pulled me off, it was abrupt and a little shocking. I gasped, jerked my eyes up to his face. It was exactly as I’d imagined. Jaw tight. Flames burning in his eyes.
“Take off your pants,” he demanded.
I stared into his eyes as I unzipped my pants and pulled them down. I had to do a little wiggle as I pushed them over my hips. The fire in his eyes intensified then, making the blood in my veins burn hotter.
“Turn around,” he said just as I was shoving them down toward my ankles.
I shuffled around, peering over my shoulder as I bent.
His gaze locked on my ass, which was currently covered in a thin layer of sodden black satin. I could literally feel the heat of his gaze on my skin, burning it. The sensation made it that much harder to go slow and draw out this torturous game of submission.
When I had my pants off, he commanded, “Now, the rest. I want you nude.”
Remaining with my back to him, I pulled off my shirt and bra. I let them drop to the ground before hooking my thumbs under the waistband of my panties and pushing them down, down over my hips, down my thighs, down my shins. My pussy was burning, clenching as I stepped out of them.
“Good, now turn around.”
I shuffled back around.
“Come here.” He reached, and I stepped closer until his hands were resting on my hips. His tongue swept across his lower lip. His gaze meandered up and down my body. “You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. Do you know that?”
“I . . . thank you.”
“I tried to fight it. I tried to tell myself this wasn’t right. That I was taking advantage of you. That you were taking advantage of me. That it was all wrong, and we needed to stop. But every time I closed my eyes at night, this was what I saw.” His eyes met mine. “Those eyes.” He traced the line of my lips with the tip of his index finger. “That luscious mouth.” His hand slid down, fingers curving around my neck. “This graceful neck.” Down it went again, fingertip skimming down the cleft between my breasts before wandering to the right and circling a nipple. “These perfect little nipples.” He pinched it, and a sharp blade of pleasure-pain pierced me. I whimpered as a jolt of need zigzagged through my body. “Who could blame me? Who could be strong enough to deny himself this?”
I was speechless. No man had ever looked at me the way he was, like I was the world’s most perfect woman, like he was in awe and had to drink in every tiny detail. Like I was the world’s most perfect work of art and he couldn’t look close or deep enough. My heart felt as i
f it were expanding in my chest. I was soaring. I was weightless.
I was . . . wanted.
Needed.
Cherished.
“Come here.” Hands on my hips again, he pulled me closer until one knee was resting on the log, next to his hip, and the burning tissues between my thighs were inches from his erection. Taking the base of his cock in one hand, he positioned it at my slick opening. “Now.”
I eased down, taking him so deep I couldn’t help groaning. Ah, he filled me so perfectly. Our bodies fit together. His hard form the perfect complement to my softness. Both trembling and sweating, we writhed and thrust, our bodies working in perfect harmony. Heat building. Need overcoming us. Blood pounding hard and hot. Waves of pleasure crashing through us. Our voices cut through the noises of nature as we cried out our pleasure, as we succumbed to our need and the tight grip of orgasm made our bodies spasm. Our eyes were locked to each other as we rode out the storm of pleasure.
It was an orgasm like no other. It wasn’t just a physical experience. It wasn’t just nerves blazing and muscles contracting. It was more. It was so much more.
It felt as if our souls had become tangled together. For that one magical moment. That brief time.
And when it was over, a part of me felt empty, as if his soul had been torn away from mine. I wanted to do it again, to feel that strange, glorious sensation once more. I needed to feel it again.
But when I tried to start moving, firm hands stopped me, holding me in place. Strong arms wrapped around me, holding me against his hard, slick body.
“Not now,” he whispered, breath caressing the side of my face. “I just want to hold you.”
I closed my eyes and grinned. Could this be any more perfect?
Ten minutes later I learned it could be more perfect. Holding me cradled in his arms, Kam stood. Instead of carrying me toward the house, he went to the water’s edge.
His eyes were glittering with childlike glee as he stood ankle deep, grinning at me. “How about a swim?”
I couldn’t help giggling. “Do I have a choice?”
“No.” Running, he splashed into the water, sending crystalline droplets spraying all around. Splash, splash, splash, and one final splash, as we plunged under the surface. My ears filled with water. Sound muffled. I emerged, sucking in air, laughing, clinging to Kam, legs now wrapped around his waist.