by Leah Brooke
She nearly wept with relief when she heard air brakes as a bus stopped at the bus stop a few doors down. Not wanting to draw attention to herself, she fought the urge to run.
Her hair had come loose anyway, so she released the clip that held it, hoping the men wouldn’t recognize the woman with the long hair flowing down her back as the woman who’d escaped them.
She couldn’t help glancing over her shoulder, however, as she boarded, pausing slightly as the man who’d driven the taxi met her gaze.
With a slow smile, he nodded once.
She would swear she could hear his thoughts as clearly as if he’d shouted them.
Even though she’d won this round, this wasn’t over.
He’d be back for her.
Chapter Seven
Practically staggering into her apartment, Julianna dropped her keys in the crystal dish on the nearby table, closed the door, and leaned back against it. Closing her eyes, she groaned and slid to the floor, wincing at the sharp pain in her bottom, probably from a small piece of glass.
“Where the hell have you been?”
Julianna jolted, her eyes snapping open to see both Nick and Steve approach from the kitchen, each with a cell phone in his hand.
Steve put his to his ear. “She’s here. Tell the others. I want that car checked out.” Closing the phone with a snap, he came toward her, grabbing her arms, only to release her with a concerned frown when she winced.
Cursing, he squatted beside her, sliding one arm under her knees and one around her back, lifting her with no apparent difficulty and carrying her to the sofa. “Where the hell have you been? I know you were painting, but you left there almost two hours ago. What happened to your car? Is that blood on you? And glass?”
Nick came forward, his eyes wild as he knelt on the floor next to her. “What the hell were you doing there painting? Where have you been for the past two hours? Were you attacked? Damn it, Julianna, you’d better start talking right now.”
Sighing, Julianna lifted a hand to her head and leaned back against the sofa, swallowing a sob. “It was awful. I made a mistake with the paint color. I didn’t want to throw off the schedule because of my mistake.”
With Nick’s help, she worked her bag over her head and off. “My cell phone died, and the car wouldn’t start. I got a taxi.”
Her voice shook as she told them about the events of the last two hours.
By the time he finished, Steve was on his cell phone. “Doc, I need you over here right now.” He hung up with a grimace and started undressing her.
Julianna allowed him to take off her shoes and socks, but slapped at his hands when he reached for the hem of her shirt. “Stop it. Just leave me alone.”
Steve dropped his hands, his frustration apparent. “Did you call the police?”
Shaking her head, Julianna stood, wincing at the pain in her bottom. On the way here, she’d become curiously numb, even though she still couldn’t stop trembling, but seeing Nick and Steve and telling them about it brought all the horror rushing back again. “No. I jumped on the bus and came home. I just wanted to come home.” Her voice broke on the last word.
Nick’s stone-like expression softened and pulled her into his arms. “Come here, honey. You’re safe now.”
Sliding his hands over her back and then to her arms, Nick helped her to her feet, his jaw tightening when she groaned. “Steve, he’s back. You’d better get him this time. Put your men on Julianna.”
Looking from one to the other, Julianna nodded. “I thought it might have something to do with you. Is this something that happens a lot? Who is it? A competitor? Is that why the paint color was changed?”
Steve’s eyes narrowed as he lifted her chin and studied her eyes. “I thought you said you ordered the wrong color.”
Julianna shrugged and tried to step away, but Nick held firm, sharing a look with Steve.
“What happened, Julianna?”
Blowing out a breath, Julianna rubbed her head where it had begun to throb. “Someone added red to the paint. Do things like this happen to you often?”
Punching more numbers into his cell phone, Steve clenched his jaw. “No. So there was an attack on you and sabotage to the hotel?”
Frowning, Julianna brushed a hand through her hair, wincing at the tangled mess it had become. “I think sabotage is too strong a word. Hell, to be honest with you, it could have been my mistake. Do you think they’re related? I admit I didn’t think anyone would go so far as to take out your decorator just to slow the project down.”
Nick wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close. As soon as Steve finished talking to the police, he snapped. “Changing paint color is beneath him. We’ve got two different things happening here. Get your men on it. Lock the hotel down, and I want someone on Julianna at all times.”
Steve nodded once, his expression grim. “Already done.”
A muscle worked in Nick’s jaw as he took her face in his hands and kissed her forehead. “Go take your shower. Just put on your robe so we can have Jay check you out. Then I’ll help you get dressed so you can give a description to the police and tell us everything all at once. Hurry up. We’re going out of town as soon as we’re finished here.”
Julianna shook her head and started past him, only to be pulled, gently but firmly, back against his chest. Lifting her chin, she met his gaze, and, a little uneasy at the deadly look in his eyes, she pushed against his chest. “I can’t go anywhere. I’ve got to check in tomorrow on the penthouse and have to get my car towed.”
“You won’t ever see that car again.” Steve looked her over, frowning at the scratches on her arm, his jaw tightening as his fingers traced over a small bloodstain on her shirt. “After my men and the police finish with it, it’s going in the junkyard. I’ll buy you a new one.”
“Damn it, you have no right—”
Nick bent, getting right in her face. “Little one, you don’t want to throw my lack of rights regarding you in my face right now. You’re not up to the fight. We’re going out of town, and you’re coming with us. That’s the end of this discussion.”
Steve caressed her hip. “Go get your shower. The plane’s waiting.”
After her shower, she came out into the bedroom to find Nick and another man in deep conversation, apparently waiting for her.
Nick introduced the bald and muscular African-American man to her and helped her to the bed, frowning at the scratches on her legs. “Jay will take care of you. Just sit back and relax and let him look at those scratches.”
Jay, also referred to as “Doc,” smiled tenderly and went about checking her over, somehow allowing her to keep her dignity as he bandaged the small cuts on her bottom from the glass on the window when she slid through it.
Nick watched attentively, his eyes full of concern as Doc treated her, amusing her by keeping her covered in front of the other man as much as possible. He tugged her robe back down more than once over her bottom cheeks almost as soon as Doc lifted her robe out of the way, much to Doc’s obvious frustration.
“Damn it, Nick. I need to make sure there aren’t any slivers of glass in there.”
Nick sat beside her as she lay on her belly at the edge of the bed, rubbing her back soothingly. “Hurry up then.”
Nick hadn’t said much at all since she came out of the shower, but his nearly black glittering eyes and set jaw spoke volumes.
His expression softened each time his eyes met hers, his touch as gentle as Doc’s.
The combination relaxed her, as did Doc’s running monologue, telling her what a good patient she was compared to the others.
“Once, I had to give Snake—Adam, stitches on his forehead, and he complained the entire time because his burger was getting cold. Did either of the guys that came after you have hair as dark as his?”
Julianna had closed her eyes, melting under Nick’s soothing caress. “No. Lighter.”
“Probably about the same height, though, huh?”
A brie
f flash of the two men chasing her popped into her mind. “Driver was. Other a little shorter.” Pushing the image away, she stiffened when Doc put something cold on a stinging scrape on her thigh.
“Once, Mike got shot in the leg and we had to run like hell with him. He cussed a blue streak in three languages. Did either one of those men tonight talk? Did they have accents?”
Relaxing more and more under Nick’s hands, she had trouble collecting her thoughts enough to answer. “No. The driver limped, though. Are we done?” If she didn’t get up soon, she’d be sound asleep.
“Almost. You’re not going to fall asleep on me like the time…”
Listening to Doc’s lulling voice and melting under Nick’s warm hands, Julianna kept her eyes closed and listened to Doc’s stories, mumbling replies to his questions.
By the time Doc treated the small cuts and scrapes on her arms and gave her a shot of something, her trembling had stopped completely and she actually smiled at one of Doc’s silly jokes.
Not until he nodded at Nick and walked out of the room did she realize how extensively he’d questioned her about the events of the evening.
Gathering her robe closer, she rose from the bed. “He’s very good, isn’t he? He got me to remember things about tonight that I didn’t even know I saw.”
Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, Nick kissed her hair. “He’s very good. The best. But if you even think about taking him into your bed, I’ll fire him and beat your ass.”
Julianna jerked away, blinking up at him, suddenly wide awake. “You have no right—”
Nick gathered her close, easily stilling her struggle. “One day soon, little one, you’ll see just how wrong you are about that. Now stop fighting me before you hurt yourself.”
Gasping at the insult, Julianna jerked out of his arms and backed away, putting several feet between them. “Stop calling me that. I know I’m not dainty and feminine, and I’d appreciate it if you’d stop making fun of me.”
Nick’s brow furrowed, and he looked at her as though she’d lost her mind. “What the hell are you talking about? Who the hell told you you’re not dainty and feminine? Christ, is this why you went to a Dom?”
Julianna lifted her chin defiantly, while inside she felt about two feet tall. “The reasons for me going out with David are none of your business. Now please get out so I can get dressed.”
She gasped as Nick closed the distance between them with one stride and grabbed her shoulders, turning her to face the mirror above her dresser.
Brushing her hands aside with an ease that both thrilled and alarmed her, he unfastened her belt and tugged the robe from her shoulders to let it puddle on the floor.
“Look at yourself.”
Julianna trembled when he placed a hand over her stomach, marveling at how dark it looked against her paler skin. Her vulnerability at standing naked in front of him while he remained fully clothed sent a shudder through her that he couldn’t have missed.
“I’ve seen it before, Nick. Let go of me so I can get dressed.”
With his chin propped on the top of her head, he met her eyes in the mirror.
“I don’t think you see what I see.”
His hands slid up her body to cup her breasts. “Look how delicate you are here. Round and full, with little pink nipples that pebble so nicely the moment I touch you. Look how pale you are, how sensitive.”
He brushed his thumbs over her nipples, smiling at her gasp. “So sensitive, so soft. Undeniably feminine.”
When he touched her this way, spoke to her in that mesmerizing tone, her inhibitions fell away. Fascinated by the sight of his hands on her body, she trembled helplessly, and pressed her thighs together in an effort to ease the ache and hide the fact that her juices coated them.
Nick kissed her hair, sliding a hand over her waist. “Look how slim you are here.”
Sliding his hands lower to her hips, he massaged gently. “And full here.” His fingers traced lightly over her mound, his eyes nearly black. “And waxed as all good submissives should be.”
Unsure where to put her hands, Julianna held on to his forearms as he slid his hands a little lower and pressed them over the front of her thighs.
“Long legs that a man fantasizes having wrapped around him.” Bending his head, he kissed her shoulder, smiling as another shiver raced through her. “Strong shoulders, but so delicate it makes a man want to nibble. The most expressive eyes I’ve ever seen.”
Julianna’s breath caught as his hands went around her, his fingers lightly tracing over her buttocks.
“A nice firm ass that just begs for attention.”
As hard as she tried to remain motionless, her ass cheeks clenched in reaction.
Nick smiled. “Yes, those muscles are strong. My cock gets hard as a rock imagining how tight your ass is going to clamp down on it when I take you there. Don’t look so surprised. You know you need to be taken there. You need to surrender to a man strong enough to handle all that fire inside you. You need to experience the ultimate submission. It’s been a fantasy of yours for years, hasn’t it, Julianna?”
Meeting his eyes in the mirror, she swallowed a moan, hoping he didn’t expect her to admit it.
How could he know that?
Turning her sideways, he wrapped a hand in her hair to tilt her head back. “You wear your hair long because you like the way it feels against your skin, don’t you?” He used the ends to brush them over the curve of her ass, smiling at the moan she couldn’t hold back. “You’re a very sensuous woman. I’ll bet you have a drawer filled with sexy bras and panties that you wear under your utilitarian clothes.”
His fingers trailed down her spine and down the crease of her ass, sending an erotic shiver through her. “It’s your little secret, isn’t it, darling?”
Julianna shook her head in denial, scared of his ability to see right through her. “I need to get dressed.”
“Hmm.” Sliding his hand back up, he wrapped her hair around his fist and turned her to face the mirror again. “Look at yourself. Do you see the passion on your face, the need to surrender in your beautiful eyes?”
Julianna could hardly believe the woman in the mirror, the naked woman who looked so delicate and defenseless in the arms of such a tall, strong man was actually her. She did indeed look needy and wanton, her back arched and her breasts thrust out as though in invitation.
The passionate woman staring back at her with a glazed look in her eyes and the flush that appeared to be everywhere was a stranger.
Dazed, she took a shuddering breath. “This isn’t me.”
He bent to nuzzle her exposed neck, scraping his teeth over the delicate skin there.
“Oh, yes, sweetheart. This is exactly you. A you I want to explore thoroughly.”
She grabbed his arm, shaking even harder as his other hand traced a path down the center of her body.
He touched her so possessively, with no tentative movements, no hesitation at all, as though he owned every inch of her. That arrogance probably would have irritated her, if not for the tender indulgence on his face, his apparent fascination in the feel of her. He also seemed to savor every reaction, every response to his touch, and used both firm and gentle strokes as though testing all of them.
Unable to resist being such a decadent focus of a man’s attention, she arched to give him better access to her body and reveled in it.
Startled by the knock at the door, she jolted and tried to move away, but the hand fisted in her hair held her in place.
Nick’s eyes held her as he answered, the impatience in his tone unmistakable. “What?”
Steve’s frustration came through from the other side of the door. “Is she all right?”
Still holding her head back, Nick turned Julianna’s head and held her eyes in the mirror, letting her see his big hand sliding over her abdomen. “Come in.”
Julianna held her breath as the door opened and closed again.
“Well, what do we have here? Holy hell
, she’s perfect.”
Nick leaned over Julianna, his lips brushing lightly over hers. “I agree. And yet, our Julianna appears to have doubts about herself.”
She could feel Steve approach only seconds before his reflection appeared in the mirror. Sliding her gaze to his, she drew a deep breath, cursing the fact that her face burned.
Steve’s gaze raked her body, his eyes lingering on her mound before meeting hers again. “What kind of doubts?”
“It seems she equates height with femininity. Because she’s tall, she doesn’t think she’s a woman.”
Steve’s brows went up. “You’re joking, right?”
Reaching out, he cupped her breast, the tension in his voice growing steadily. “Damn, she’s soft. Believe me, sweetheart, you’re very much a woman.”
Julianna had never felt so womanly and desired in her life. Standing between the two of them, she did indeed look small and vulnerable, a feeling more intoxicating than she could have ever imagined.
She swallowed heavily, closing her eyes against the erotic image in the mirror. “I never said that.”
Her nipples and clit throbbed as Steve slid his fingers over her breast, while Nick traced circles on her stomach, moving lower and lower. Squeezing her thighs together did nothing to appease the ache that settled there or stop her juices from dampening her thighs even more. She gasped, her eyes flying open when Nick’s hand covered her mound at the same time that he nipped her bottom lip.
Nick turned her head away from the mirror to meet his gaze squarely. “Are you denying it? Before you answer, let me warn you that there’ll be consequences for lying.”
Julianna gulped at the silk-coated threat. The strength of his hold and the clear intent in his eyes left her in no doubt that he could, and would, make good on any threat he issued. “I’m not denying anything.”
Steve chuckled softly and wrapped his arms around her to cup her bottom, frowning when he encountered the small bandages Doc had placed there. His eyes flew to Nick’s.
“She’s hurt?”