Obsession (Forbidden #2)

by Michelle Betham

  Our eyes are still locked, but he doesn’t have time to say anything because Neal’s back in the room, all hot-as-hell swagger and I swear I can feel my thighs crying out for him to lie between them.

  I turn away from Barry, my eyes meeting Neal’s, and it’s happening again, it’s there, that painfully strong connection that shows no sign of waning. I ache for this man so bad it physically hurts.

  He jerks his head back, keeping his eyes fixed on mine, and I walk over to him. It’s like I’m being pulled by some invisible cord that I have no control over. He’s working me, and I like that. I like it. I shouldn’t, given what I’ve been through. But I do. Whatever he wants, he can have it. I’d give this man anything, follow him anywhere, I’m in that deep.

  He catches my waist and presses me against him, his mouth touching mine, gently at first. So softly I barely feel him. And then he’s kissing me, really kissing me; I’m kissing him, and I don’t know if Barry’s still in the room but I’m too lost in this moment to care. He can stay, he can watch, he can see just how crazy his brother makes me, I really don’t care.

  I bury my fingers in his hair as the kiss deepens, becomes more urgent, his hands sliding up my dress and I feel his cock hard against my thigh. We’re going to fuck, and nothing’s going to stop us.

  ‘You need to go, Barry,’ he says, but he’s looking at me, and I can barely breathe I’m so desperate for him. And these feelings unnerve me sometimes, their intensity is terrifying. But as long as he’s with me I can cope. I can deal with them, as long as he’s here.

  ‘You’re unbelievable.’

  I hear Barry’s voice, hear him close the door behind him and the second we’re alone it’s like the rest of the world’s dissolved around us. It’s just me and him now, and it scares me how much I like that feeling. Just me and him. That’s how I wish it could be all the time. I’m not hugely keen on the outside world intruding anymore.

  He pushes me back against his desk, sending papers and pens flying, magazines and books crashing to the floor as he roughly yanks my dress up over my thighs, his hands holding firmly on to my hips. And he throws me the hottest smile before sinking to his haunches, and I close my eyes and throw back my head as I get ready to take him, however he wants me.

  His warm breath hits my stomach and I sigh quietly as it dips and dives, his thumbs stroking my hip bone as he moves his head lower. And then I feel him take hold of the top of my knickers, dragging them down with his teeth, and I laugh, but that laugh soon turns into a deep, guttural groan as his head moves back up and his mouth brushes my inner thigh.

  I bite down on my lip, waiting for him to touch me again, and then he’s back up beside me, his hand cupping my cheek as he pulls me in for a kiss so deep and so long I almost forget to breathe.

  I’m up on the desk, my legs wrapped around him and we’re still kissing, even as he pushes inside me we’re kissing. And I’m so hot; my skin feels like it’s on fire, every thrust of his cock burns me, but it’s a beautiful pain, I crave it.

  He takes hold of my legs and unwraps them from his hips, pushing them up and spreading them wide and my fingers clench in his hair as he thrusts harder, keeping tight hold of my ankles, not allowing my legs to close even an inch.

  I fall forward, and he finally lets go of my ankles and holds me as he reaches his climax, and it’s all I can do not to cry out as he comes. But I’m not there yet. And I know he won’t be satisfied until I’ve come, too.

  Nothing happens for a couple of beats. He just holds me, and I stay lying against him, my eyes closed, my fingers clinging on to his shirt, the only sound our breathing and the heavy beating of our hearts. And he’s still inside me, and I like that he’s stayed there, just for a little while longer.

  But then he pulls out and tilts my face up so our eyes meet, and still we say nothing; we don’t need to. And our eyes stay locked as he gently rests the heel of his hand against me, moving it in slow, circular motions across my clit and it feels so unbelievably good, but I remember where we are, and I bite down on my lip to stop myself from crying out.

  I close my eyes but he touches my face and I know he wants me to open them, to look at him. He likes me to look at him when I come, I’ve learned that much in the short time we’ve been together.

  He presses harder against me, his fingers sinking into me and I moan quietly, my eyes burning into his. The atmosphere in the room is heady, the electricity sparking between us dangerously real. He’s about to push me over that precipice I’m constantly on the edge of when we’re together and I watch as he grits his teeth and rubs me hard and I come, wave after wave of pure pleasure washes over me – crazy, beautiful sex. I’m so used to it now. I need it to get me through the day, it’s my necessary fix. And then night falls and the game changes and the sex becomes darker and more dangerous. A different drug, but one I’m just as addicted to. Probably more so. Every time he fucks me he shoots another dose of his beautiful toxin into me and I know I can’t go even one day without him inside me.

  I wrap my legs back around him and stroke his cheek with my fingertips as I look at him. I love looking at him, because I still can’t believe how beautiful he really is. Every day he takes my breath away and it terrifies me to think there might come a day when I don’t feel that anymore.

  ‘That wasn’t very professional, Mr Cannon.’

  His face breaks into a smile, and we laugh, and I’m struggling to think of a life without him in it now. He’s done such a good job of erasing all the crap I spent so long – too long – running from.

  ‘Come on,’ he whispers, disentangling himself from between my legs and stepping back, zipping himself up. ‘I’ve got something I want to show you.’

  I frown slightly as I stand up and pull my dress back down around my thighs. ‘Am I going to like it?’

  He smirks as he throws me my knickers and I catch them, walk back over to him and slide my hand around to tuck them into the back pocket of his pants, leaning in to whisper in his ear.

  ‘You keep them, handsome.’ I smile, gently nipping his earlobe with my teeth. ‘I don’t feel much like putting them back on.’

  He once more catches my waist and holds me against him and my heart picks up that familiar heavy, faster rhythm. ‘Now who’s being unprofessional, Ms Blu?’

  ‘Uh, uh.’ I shake my head and step back from him. ‘I’m still Ms Hardy, remember? Ms Blu doesn’t come out to play for a few more hours yet.’

  He leans back against the wall, one hand in his pocket, his eyes locked with mine. ‘You’re OK with the playroom, aren’t you, Kira?’

  I frown again, sitting down on the edge of his desk. ‘I don’t… Neal? Where are you…?’’

  ‘Wait here. I’ll be five minutes.’

  He’s out the door before I have the chance to say anything else. And I’m guessing he’s gone to talk to Barry, so I go over to the tall glass window that looks out over the small gallery floor that’s used to showcase pieces for clients, and open the blinds Neal had closed when he’d come back into the office. Yeah, he’s talking to Barry. And by the look on Barry’s face I don’t think he’s liking what his brother’s telling him…

  Neal

  I want Kira Blu more than I already have her. I don’t want her in shifts – after dark, and only after dark. I don’t want that. I was OK with it, y’know? At least, I thought I was. But something clicked just then, as I was fucking her on my desk; taking her hard and hearing her cry out the deeper I pushed. Something clicked. I want Kira Blu. All of the time.

  ‘I need you to take over my appointments today, Barry.’

  I fish my keys from my pocket, quickly checking they’re the right set before I hand them over.

  ‘I’m going out.’

  Barry looks at me, his face a mask of barely concealed frustration. ‘What are you doing, Neal?’

  ‘I told you. I’m going out.’

  ‘With Kira?’

  ‘Yeah. With Kira. Talk to Summer, OK? She’s got my online d
iary. She’ll tell you where you need to be. I think I’m supposed to be having lunch with Diana Telford, but I can’t remember where, exactly… Like I said, talk to Summer.’

  ‘Hey. Slow down, alright?’

  He takes hold of my arm and I slowly drop my gaze, watching as his fingers grasp my elbow tighter.

  ‘This is crazy, Neal. You’ve got to sort this out, because it’s starting to affect things here. Your head, it’s all over the fucking place.’

  I wrench my arm free of his grip. ‘I’ll be back tomorrow.’

  ‘Seriously, Neal. Get her out of your fucking system and let’s get back to normal, OK?’

  I narrow my eyes. ‘Normal?’

  ‘She isn’t good for you, bro. You’re still caught up in this fantasy you’ve brought back with you. It isn’t real, and I’m worried, alright? Worried that this is just dragging you back down…’

  ‘What was dragging me down, Barry, was not being able to see past the life I was living before. I’d accepted that as my future, and that wasn’t right. Kira pulled me out of that crap and she…’

  ‘She’s your fantasy, Neal. One you can’t give up, but you will. Because whatever she is to you, that’ll fade. You’ll start to see her for who she really is, and everything you think you’re feeling right now, that will fade. So end it now. Before she hurts you. Before it gets out of hand.’

  I shake my head and turn away, walking back towards the office. Back to Kira.

  ‘Come on. We’re getting out of here.’

  She looks slightly startled as I barge in, so I quickly soften my expression and reach out to her, pulling her against me.

  ‘Everything OK?’ she asks, and I notice she’s opened the blinds so I’m guessing she saw that exchange between Barry and me. Although, she wouldn’t have been able to hear anything.

  ‘Everything’s fine. Barry’s just being an asshole.’

  ‘He doesn’t really like me, huh?’

  ‘He doesn’t know you, Kira. And we need to change that, but right now I haven’t got time to worry about him. Come on.’

  ‘Where are we going? I thought you had appointments today? Weren’t we supposed to be having lunch with…?’

  ‘Barry’s got it covered. We’ve got some place else we need to be.’

  Three

  Neal

  She hasn’t said a word since we walked into the club. But she hasn’t let go of my hand, either, so I’m taking that as a good sign.

  ‘Why are we here?’ she ask as she looks around the empty space.

  I can’t answer her question straightaway. My mouth’s suddenly gone dry, and I can’t get the words out. When I thought about this; when the idea first hit me it seemed like the greatest idea in the world. My dream come true, my ultimate fantasy – but only since the day I’d met Kira. Before that I wasn’t even sure I’d had a fantasy. Even the sex I’d indulged in with all those escorts over all those sad and empty years since Lisa’s death – even that had been mundane and mechanical. Just something to rid me of the frustration and anger and guilt I was feeling. Until I’d fucked Kira. Then my whole world changed. And it brought me here. To this. To where we are now. To where I want us to be; what I want us to become. But saying the words out loud…

  ‘Neal?’

  I sit down on the edge of a table and pull her between my legs, resting my hands lightly on her hips. ‘I’m tired, Kira. Of being the person I was before.’

  She frowns, and I don’t blame her for feeling confused. I’m not really making this easy. But it all sounds kinda crazy now. And I really don’t know how she’s gonna react.

  ‘I want us to be together, doing the things we love doing…’ I bow my head, because I just can’t find a way of making this sound anything other than crazy. ‘Jesus, Kira, what you do to me, baby…’

  ‘You know you’re making no sense whatsoever right now, don’t you?’

  But everything does makes sense. Somewhere in my messed-up head it all really does make sense. She just doesn’t know what I’ve done, how I’ve worked this out. How it’s all gonna happen.

  ‘Listen, Kira…’

  ‘You really are kind of freaking me out now, Neal. What is this place. And why are we here?’

  She steps out of my arms and walks across the floor, towards the large stage at the back of the room.

  ‘It’s ours, Kira. This place. It’s ours. Well, we own half of it, anyway.’

  She stops dead in her tracks and turns back around to face me, her expression still confused, and I still can’t blame her. I’ve just dropped this on her, from out of nowhere. She couldn’t possibly have seen it coming. How could she? When I hadn’t seen it coming myself, until a couple of weeks ago, when I finally knew exactly what I wanted; how I needed to spend my time with her, because she changed me, Kira Blu. She changed me, and I don’t ever want to go back, so I did this. I bought this place and we’re gonna be those people we became when we met; when we turned each others’ worlds upside down. We’re gonna be those people, every day, every night, and I am gonna live my freaking fantasy, for real.

  ‘Ours? I don’t understand, you… we own this place?’

  ‘We do now.’ I stand up, dig my hands into my pockets and walk over to her. ‘I bought it. Got the keys yesterday. It’s ours, Kira. To do with as we please.’

  ‘I’m confused, Neal. I mean, you’re an art dealer, that’s what you do. You don’t run clubs, that’s Joey’s…’ She stops talking, and I can see it in her eyes – she knows now. She’s putting two and two together and she’s coming up with all the right answers. ‘You said we own half of… Has Joey got something to do with this?’

  I briefly bow my head and take a real big deep breath, because this could so easily go bad. If she doesn’t understand. ‘Joey and Benni, they’re our business partners now. They’re coming over here, to Manhattan, and they’re gonna run this part of the club. They’re gonna run Bam-Bams, New York. Joey Princess is going global.’

  I smile, to try and ease the fact both Joey and I have gone behind her back to plan this, because she could hate the whole idea, and us, for just taking it upon ourselves to do something she might not want to do.

  ‘I’m sorry. This still isn’t making any sense. You, and Joey… You planned all of this? Without talking to me first? And… and Joey – he’s coming here? Jesus, Neal, I can’t get my head around this…’

  ‘Baby, I’m sorry, I know I… Maybe I should have spoken to you first…’

  ‘I just don’t understand why you suddenly want to get into the club business. Why you want to become a part of Joey’s empire…’

  ‘I don’t. I mean, yeah, I do, because he is incredibly good at what he does, but… that’s only a part of it. It isn’t just Bam-Bams I’m investing in here.’

  I move a little closer. Her mood isn’t exactly frost-free but she’s not yelling at me, either. So I figure I’m safe.

  ‘There’s another level, Kira. Another floor.’

  ‘Another…?’ She’s still frowning, she’s still confused, and I’m beginning to think I could have handled this a hell of a lot better.

  ‘There’s a whole other floor underneath this place. And while Joey runs Bam-Bams here, upstairs, with Benni, we’ll be downstairs, running our own club.’

  Her expression just grows more confused, and I don’t think I’m even close to making this any clearer for her. I think I’m making it worse.

  ‘When I met you, Kira, you knocked me fucking sideways, you know that, don’t you? You turned everything I ever knew on its head and things are never going back to how they used to be. I don’t want them to. I don’t want that world anymore, I want this new one, the one that we’ve created.’ I move just a little bit closer, reaching out to touch her cheek with the back of my hand, my eyes locking with hers. And she’s listening, she’s trying to understand what I’m saying, but it’s probably gonna take some time for her to take in what’s really going on. ‘I promised you a whole new life, remember?’

&n
bsp; ‘And that’s what I’ve got, Neal.’

  I shake my head, still touching her cheek, her skin warm and soft and even that’s enough to make me want her. That one, small touch is enough. ‘I want more, Kira. Of you. Of that fantasy we can live, we can do that. Don’t you want that too?’

  ‘I don’t understand.’

  She takes my hand and pulls it away from her face, and a small frisson of panic cuts across me. But I push it aside. I just need to get to the point and stop making her nervous.

  ‘I want Kira Blu, all of the time.’

  She stares up into my eyes and I’m not sure if she’s angry at what I’ve just said, or if I’m scaring her, I can’t read her expression.