His Every Touch (Den of Sin)

by Blue, Mel

  He didn’t look up when he said, “Two hours of prep before the conference call. I’ve reserved the media room. They have a decent set up. Our rooms are much too small. I’ll need you taking notes, and pulling up our electronic files.”

  Both relief and something sharp stabbed at her gut. “I can go down now to get ready.”

  He made a face, hit the send button on his phone and then looked up at her. She wished he hadn’t. Despite his words and demeanor, his eyes told the truth. He still wanted her. He still didn’t care about being a hypocrite. If she let him, Lucian would make her come hard again, the one that left them both wet.

  Breathe. Just breathe.

  His nostrils flared. “After the conference we’re going to talk. Don’t think I’m just going to let you sneak out of my bed without having a say.”

  She brushed her damp palms against her dress suit’s skirt. “What needs to be said? We had sex. It was convenient and good, but we have to work in an office. One with strict rules about this very thing. Rules you made.”

  His jaw clenched and something behind his gaze shuttered. “I see.”

  Her heart kicked up. She knew that noncommittal answer in that exact tone. Lucian was just gearing up for his argument, and too many times to count, she’d seen him slay the opposing counsel after uttering those words.

  “Lucian—”

  “Mr. Beaudelaire during work hours,” he corrected her.

  She drew up short at his reply, both surprised and reassured at the familiar ground they were treading on. “Do you want me to go down now to prep?”

  “Yes.” His phone beeped and that drew his attention. “Work first,” he said simply, but it felt like a threat. Play would come later.

  Courtney had nothing in her arsenal to defend against his need for her. Her need for him. At least ten feet of space separated them, but it didn’t seem like enough to curtail the sharp ache sinking its teeth into her.

  She turned to leave and he said at her back, “Courtney?”

  Glancing at him, she said, “Yes.”

  “You should pack just in case. If we don’t reach an agreement, we’re going to have to head back to the office.”

  She faced him fully at that announcement. “But your uncle is still in the hospital, right?”

  He scrubbed a hand over his face. “Yeah. I hate to leave but he’s going to be under for at least another week. If anything changes we’ll have to come back.”

  We. He kept using that word. Work. Play. They were still playing this seduction game. Could there be a winner? She worried there couldn’t be.

  *****

  Six hours later Courtney reached forward to open the private airport’s door but Lucian’s hand closed over hers. She met his gaze, and unlike this morning, nothing in it told her his intentions. After the settlement had gone south, they rolled out of the hotel fast and were headed home for the next round of legal fighting.

  She dropped her hand, letting him pull the door open and hold it. Courtney went in first and found the small, personal waiting area well-above the norm. The seats were black leather. They didn’t seem to be stacked right on top of each other. Though there was a check-in desk no one manned it in a generic stewardess uniform. Behind it was wall-to-wall glass facing the runway. It smelled of leather and something sweet, like freshly-baked pastries. But she should have expected this when they sent their luggage ahead of them even though they weren’t flying first class.

  “Who owns this place?” she asked.

  “Someone my brother knows.”

  “Your brother seems to know a lot of people.” She stopped walking and glanced at him. “Do you know these same people?”

  He stuffed his hands in his pockets and glared at her. “Do you have a real question you want to ask me?”

  They were alone and clothed. She didn’t want to talk about what happened for fear this would be the end. He had come back to himself. She focused on the room. “We should probably check in first.”

  “This is the kind of place you don’t check in. We’ll be in a plane within the next thirty minutes.” He gestured to seats near the long row of windows.

  They were too far away from the city to see the backdrop of New Orleans and nothing but swamp surrounded them. As nice as the place was on the inside, she had doubts about the legality of the whole set up. Maybe it was best if she didn’t poke that particular bear.

  So she sat down and when he settled in beside her, looking intent but relaxed, Courtney asked, “Have you ever gone to one of those Den events?” She really needed her mouth and brain to get on the same damn page.

  He didn’t flinch at the question. “In my early twenties. I was curious.”

  Her brows went up. “Did you have a good time?”

  He chuckled and shook his head. “Did I have sex, you mean to ask. I did. I even checked out the dungeon.”

  Seraphina hadn’t mentioned that. Despite wanting to keep miles of space between them, Courtney leaned into him. “Dungeon?”

  A small smile tugged at his full mouth. “There is a part of the hotel that is designated for BDSM play.”

  She could only blink. “And no one knows about this place? The Den?”

  He leaned back in his chair, stretching out his arm until it rested behind her. “If you know about it then you’ve probably been.”

  She sat ramrod straight to keep from taking in that warmth. “You won’t tell if I won’t tell kind of thing.”

  He leaned forward and murmured right at her ear, “If you whisper a word of that to anyone, I’ll let people know about your box of toys. And I’ll tell them your favorite toy.”

  Gooseflesh covered her skin in seconds. She gasped as memories of the night before flew through her mind. “Yeah. So it’s exactly that kind of thing.”

  He pulled back, his gaze serious. “I’m just now realizing I know very little about your personal life. I know you but not all the minutia.”

  Giving up, she leaned back until his forearm pressed into her spine. “You think you know me?” she asked, uncertain but intrigued. She knew the answer to that question though—he did.

  He shifted his arm and then drew small circles at her nape with his fingers. “You know a person when you’ve seen them under pressure. You’re solid, dependable. You don’t flake.”

  Lucian tended to be calm under pressure. Nothing could shake him. His mind would pick at a solution at one hundred miles per hour. If there was an emergency that’s who she’d want at her side.

  Afterward, he went back to being a high-handed prick, and that subtle difference was how she tended to know if something was important to him. It’s why she found his response to the fight with his brother interesting. He hadn’t been calm, but reckless and impulsive.

  So Courtney took his cue and tilted her head down to give him better access to tease her. “I’m not telling you anything personal.” She hesitated. “You know more than enough.”

  Ah. There was the smolder. She squirmed and had to look away. He tsked. “Guess we have to do this the hard way. Courtney, tell me about your ex-husband.”

  She jerked forward, breaking from the soft caress of his fingers. “What?”

  “Rick,” he said in a no-nonsense tone he usually reserved for hostile witnesses. “Tell me about him.”

  The name coming from his mouth left her stunned. “How do you even know?” she asked, breathless.

  “Background check, remember?”

  Right. For a time she’d been Courtney Cutler. CC to her ex and his family. Wouldn’t take long to dig up the divorce papers. It was public record. “If you know that then you know the rest.”

  “No.” He closed his hand on the back of her neck and forced her gaze to his. “Just the school debts that showed up on your credit report. Ones you paid off. I know facts, Courtney.”

  She crossed her arms over her stomach. “Why do you need to know this?”

  “Because you’re trying to wiggle out of dealing with me on a personal level.” He
stroked her throat with his thumb before dropping his hand. “I woke up covered with the scent of you on my skin. I liked that.”

  Courtney forced herself to hold his gaze. “It’s a cliché and uninteresting.”

  He checked his watch. “It’s going to be a four hour plane ride. You think I won’t get this out of you?”

  Fuck. He would. She switched gears. “According to office gossip, you’ve been engaged once. Who broke it off?”

  He chuckled and the way he tilted his head let her know he respected the hell out of her tactic to turn the tables on him. “I did.”

  “Why?”

  “No matter how hard I tried, we didn’t fit well together. When I realized I was working to be someone she wanted, I called it quits. It wasn’t fair to her and it wasn’t fair to me.”

  “Oh,” she whispered. Courtney hadn’t expected an open and honest answer to her prying. “Who were you trying to be?”

  His gaze darkened, but it said a lot he held her stare. “Someone with way less ambition. Someone softer, kinder.”

  She blinked. One, if someone tried to root out his ambition what would be left of him? It was a quality they shared. Two, he didn’t think he was soft or kind? All someone had to do was watch him work on his pro bono cases. He could shuffle them off to another attorney. He could spend less time on them. But he fought those cases just as fiercely. It wasn’t just about the high of the win for him. He wanted justice served for those clients.

  And he sent his family Christmas and birthday gifts. Even though she now knew they weren’t close, they rarely talked. He didn’t have to bother with that small gesture.

  She took a page out of his book. “I see.”

  She could also see he was gearing up for another crack at her backstory. Courtney stood. “I’m sure there’s a room here where I can forage for food and coffee. Our work day isn’t over yet.”

  He gestured to a side room at their left. “Our work day is over. We can’t do anything until we get back to the office.”

  Shit. “Do you need anything?”

  He shook his head. “Hurry up. Wheels go up in just a bit.”

  It didn’t surprise her he knew, but that still irritated her. “There’s not even a check in service.”

  “You don’t get to come here unless they know beforehand. They would have stopped our car at the gates.”

  Yeah. The fewer questions she asked, the better. “Who is your brother?”

  “A man who knows a lot of people’s secrets.”

  Unlike yesterday, there was no tinge of bitterness in his voice, though his jaw clenched after he finished speaking. She drew back a step before asking, “What did he do to piss you off?”

  “He’s stubborn.”

  She laughed, had to. “It’s a family trait then, Lucian.”

  He didn’t correct her, and that’s when she began to worry. Clearly they were going to board a private plane. No one else was in the high scale waiting room. They were going to be alone, on a plane, for four hours.

  Shit.

  *****

  Thirty minutes later Courtney held her breath when Lucian removed his seat belt and stood on the plane. He bypassed her and went to the wet bar. The cabin door was closed. The small plane had white leather seats, cream-colored carpet and gold detailing. The long row seat was next to the mini-bar. The plane was nicer than her first apartment after she received her big raise.

  “Vodka-tonic?” Lucian asked.

  Her brow went up. That was her favorite drink. “Who have you been talking to about me?”

  He smirked. “You’re not the only person who has an in with the office gossip.”

  She’d gone out for drinks with Monique in contracts. Aiden was Monique’s direct supervisor and he always kissed Lucian’s ass whenever he strolled through. She narrowed her gaze on him, but his smirk transformed into a smile when he handed her the drink.

  “Come here,” he said and walked over to the long seat.

  Following him would mean trouble. She released her belt and sat next to him on the seat. He put his fingertips to the bottom of her glass and pushed until she took a long sip.

  “Are you trying to get me drunk?” she said after swallowing.

  “Yup.”

  Since he didn’t have a glass, she let hers rest on her knee. He was being patient, which meant the next step would be Lucian acting relentless. What harm could be done if she told him the truth? They had sex. They were heading back to the real world and all this between them would change again.

  “My ex was a dick. I divorced him. End of story. No need for more booze.”

  His expression said bullshit. “This is what I read between the lines. You married young. Right out of high school. You didn’t stay home but you took a job that didn’t have any demands on you. A pretty good job that paid you well. Something stable enough you could take out a loan to pay for his college.”

  Her shoulders started to bunch. “And when he graduated with a Ph.D. our marriage crumbled. Like I said, cliché.”

  He tapped the bottom of her glass. “It was more than that, Courtney.”

  She glanced at the cup and then emptied it to wash out the bitterness filling her mouth. “I don’t regret what I did for him. That’s what you do when you’re married. You support your partner. But you have to walk away when you realize you won’t get that in return. The only way to get what you need in life, in anything, is to give it to yourself. Do it for yourself.”

  His focus went to her face and the attention unsettled her. It was like he could see her every want and need. “And what can I give you, Courtney?”

  “Are we a couple?” she asked the blunt question.

  The intensity in his features didn’t lessen. “We’re…lovers.”

  She gave herself a second to chew on that. “What’s the difference?”

  A slow smile spread across his face. “I don’t pretend to listen to you so you won’t be pissed at me later. Sex is the given.”

  Courtney snorted. “You’re horrible.”

  The way he chuckled confirmed the accusation. “Another drink?”

  The ice had started to melt in her cup and that left more water than vodka. “I thought we were going back to the office once we touched down.”

  “Not today. Tomorrow.”

  She pursed her lips, but as always her heart kicked up in excitement just being near him. “I assume we’re headed to your place.”

  He took her glass and settled it on the wet bar. “We should probably go to yours. You’ll have all the toys.”

  She clasped her hands in her lap to keep from initiating anything, something. “Nope. I had to mail mine and it won’t show up for a few days yet. Your place. I’ve lusted after your shower since you remodeled six months ago.” She relented and grasped his tie to tug him closer. “No drink.”

  He leaned forward easily enough, his dark eyes focused on her mouth. “Anymore questions?”

  “You were the one who wanted a full history.”

  He flicked at her shirt button, then another. “You crept out of my bed like you were never there, as though I could forget you.”

  She’d left convinced he’d get a full eight hours of sleep and be back to himself. He’d wake up full of regrets and speeches about how he’d want to sue himself, though he’d done nothing actionable.

  Instead he woke up the same man. The kind of man who held her gaze and unbuttoned the rest of her shirt on a private jet. He splayed his hand over her stomach.

  “Lucian.” She moaned and then swallowed the next one as his hand clasped her right breast. “What about—”

  He kissed her, just devoured her mouth. If she had any reservations about the pilot and co-pilot hearing them have sex, those emotions dissipated when he took the kiss deeper. If all they ever did the rest of her life was this, she’d be satisfied. His mouth was a weapon and he used it to turn her into a Courtney-sized puddle of soft sighs.

  Just when she thought he’d relent he used his teeth
to remind her this thing between them wasn’t tender and hazy. If he hadn’t wrapped his arms around her waist she might have slid right to the floor of the jet.

  And he knew. His husky chuckle told her so. “Take off your shirt, Courtney.”

  Could her limbs work? Yeah. Yeah. That was good. She managed to peel it off when he gave her the next directive to take off his shirt. Without thinking she murmured against his hot mouth, “You can’t always be the boss.”

  He pulled back at that, his face flushed. “Then what do you want me to do?”

  Right then was when Courtney knew she was in serious trouble. He’d poked at her history. Lucian had probably guessed most of it. He had a keen mind. His goal had likely been to hear it from her instead of just assuming the truth.

  And from that he knew she needed fifty-fifty, in everything. She wouldn’t be in the position to sacrifice more than what was offered. He was willing to give when she needed to take. He wasn’t close to his family, but he’d dropped everything when they needed him.

  She was in deeper than before they had sex. How could that be possible? Dammit. Reality hadn’t edged in yet and Courtney would take advantage of this, him until things changed.

  She picked up his discarded tie from the seat. “Give me your hands.”

  “Why?” he asked with a touch of wariness in his voice.

  “Do you trust me?”

  “Yes,” he answered without hesitation.

  “Then give me your hands.”

  He offered his wrists, palms up to her. She threw the loop of the tie over them and glanced up. There was a small cubby that held her purse, his briefcase and their electronics. Courtney used the tie like a leash and stood. He came with her. She had to rise to the tips of her toes to open the cubby and then close the silk inside.

  His hands were raised above his head. He was at her mercy. For a year she’d been at his beck and call. She liked it that way. Courtney was never confused about where they stood. He was her…mentor in a way. Although she may have lusted after him, she knew nothing would come of it.