Leaving her utterly on fire, he departed.
Pulling herself together after he’d all but melted her bones, Ebony slipped into her couture dress and went through a full vocal warmup as she prepared to be called by the floor manager. As she approached the stage, she heard the chatter of the guests and peeked out at the crowd. Scores of beautifully and expensively dressed people, none of whom she recognized, were milling around, glasses of champagne in hand, talking and laughing with each other.
She saw Atlas, breathtaking in his Armani suit and bow-tie, step up to the microphone. Ebony felt another curl of desire in her stomach as she listened to his low, sensual voice thanking the guests for coming. He talked with such passion about Haven and what his ambitions for it were that Ebony was almost moved to tears.
She realized Atlas was coming to the end of his speech and was about to announce her. Her skin tingled as she registered the fondness in his voice as he talked about her, and when he announced her, she walked onto the stage to warm applause. Atlas kissed her cheek, winking at her. “Go get ‘em, kiddo.”
Adrenaline pumped through Ebony’s system as she greeted the crowd and introduced her band, and then, as the music swelled, she began to sing.
Atlas stood to the side of the stage, unable to take his eyes off of Ebony. Her voice, low, tremulous and sensual, sent shivers down his spine. The way the gold dress clung to her body was driving him crazy, and when she glanced over at him and smiled as she sang, his heart thudded against his chest.
Atlas had questioned himself over the last two days whether he was doing the right thing, getting involved with Ebony. Not because of who she was, but because of who he was. Was he taking advantage? He would hate to think so, but Ebony was very young. His gut was telling him that she was special though and for now, he would go along with that. He had dreamed of her creamy dark skin and deep brown eyes since the moment he met her, and when he kissed her, he’d never been so sure about anything.
Last night, he’d told Mateo how he felt about her, and Mateo, ever the romantic, had been delighted. “Brother, as long as neither of you gets hurt, what’s the harm? Live, Atlas. You’ve been surrounded by sycophants and gold-diggers all your life. If your instinct is telling you this girl is different, go with it. Leap.”
Now, Atlas closed his eyes for a moment, immersing himself in the sound of her voice. It wrapped him as smoothly and softly as he imagined her body would later. Ebony made even much-performed standards sound fresh and original, her smooth voice with that touch of gravel entrancing the gathered party-goers. After every song, they applauded her loudly, some even whooping their approval, and Atlas could see the confidence in Ebony’s eyes growing. Her sweet smile, the friendly, easy way she chatted with the audience between songs…she was a star, that much was obvious. Atlas made a mental note to talk to Stanley – his step-father, with all his contacts, could help Ebony immeasurably, and she deserved every opportunity.
He felt someone touch his arm and found Romy, beautiful in a midnight blue column gown, smiling beside him. “Girl did good, huh?”
“Unbelievably good,” Atlas agreed, still half wrapped in Ebony and her song. “How’re you doing?”
“Very good. Blue’s grabbing us some drinks. Listen, I wanted to thank you for not spilling about the guy at Haven yesterday. I don’t want Blue worried about me every second – he does that enough, anyway.”
Atlas’s smile faded. “The detective called. Dude was bailed. Keep your security team close.”
Romy didn’t look worried. “We will, don’t worry. I can’t believe they bailed that motherfucker. He killed her.”
“Apparently his family is well connected.”
Romy looked angry. “God. Preppy entitled assholes. Dacre was the same.”
Atlas squeezed her head. “Dacre’s dead.”
“I know.” Romy sighed. “But there’s always another one and another…”
“Which is why we do what we do.” He put an arm around her shoulders and hugged her. Ebony was about to start another song, and Romy smiled again.
“God, I love this song.”
It was a cover of Etta James’ At Last, always a crowd pleaser, and the audience began to sing along with Ebony, who grinned and encouraged them. She had them in the palm of her hand, that was obvious, and Atlas felt a surge of affection. In a life and career where he saw so much pain, so much of the worst of people, it was a salve to the soul to see someone connecting with others so much. He felt Romy grinning at him and looked down at her.
“You’re smitten,” she said, nudging him with her shoulder and he laughed.
“I admit, I am,” he said honestly.
Romy smiled and gave him an affectionate sideways hug. “I’m happy for you, Atlas. I adore Ebony, and you both deserve happiness. She feels the same way, believe me.”
“I hope so. It’s the very beginnings of something, Romy. I hope it becomes more but at the moment…”
“I know, I know. Just enjoy it. God, her voice is like velvet, isn’t it?”
Atlas was spellbound – as was the audience – as Ebony finished up her set and he, like them, applauded her long and hard. He got up onto the stage as she shyly took her bow. “Ladies and gentleman, it’s a cliché, but tonight, I think, a star was born. Miss Ebony Verlaine, everybody.”
Ebony chuckled, her face red as Atlas kissed her cheek. “You were sensational, baby. Utterly sensational.”
Chapter Six
At the dinner after the show, Atlas had seated her next to him, with Romy and Blue at their table too. “I thought you might want some friends around.”
Ebony smiled at him gratefully. “I can’t thank you enough for this opportunity,” she said to him and Romy. “If there’s any more I can do to help, please, just ask. I’d be happy to.”
“I think you’ll be fighting the offers off now,” Blue said, with a wink. “In fact, if I’m not mistaken, Roman Ford is here somewhere.”
“Of Quartet?” Ebony almost squeaked. Quartet was one of the biggest record companies in the world – but they were very, very picky about who they had on their roster. To be a Quartet Artist was to have a cache in the business like no other.
“That’s him…I can introduce you if you’d like.” Atlas nodded to a table where Ebony saw Roman laughing with a beautiful blonde woman who looked familiar. Ebony recognized her as Kym Clayton, the guitarist in The 9th and Pine, a Seattle rock band she and Obe loved and had been to see play live many times.
Ebony swallowed nervously. She’d just spent hours working out her voice, but her throat was suddenly dry as sand. “Maybe another time, I don’t want to use this night to shill for myself.”
Atlas and Blue laughed, and Romy squeezed Ebony’s hand. “Darling, the second you opened your mouth up there, that was your introduction, believe me.”
Romy wasn’t wrong. After a luscious dessert of champagne sorbet with strawberries, Roman Ford came over to their table and shook her hand. It was all Ebony could not to stutter when he complimented her. “That voice is astonishing, Ebony.” And when he casually added, “Call me. I’d like you to meet my partners,” if Atlas hadn’t been discreetly propping her up with a hand on her back, she might have sagged at the knees.
He handed Ebony a business card, then stayed to chat with them for a time. Ebony sat, listening to her friends talking and laughing, feeling Atlas’s fingers stroking up and down her bare back, Quartet’s business card in her purse and surrounded by friends. A small twinge of something fluttered in her belly – a new life in more ways than one. Is this all really happening?
As the guests started to drift away toward the end of the night, Atlas and Ebony said goodbye to their friends and hand-in-hand rode the elevator to the penthouse suite. They gazed at each, no words needed, and when they walked into the suite, Atlas took her in his arms and kissed her.
“You were amazing, the party was a success…but, god, I’m glad it’s over…”
Ebony gave a moan as he buried his face in her neck
, his lips against her throat, his fingers gently pulling the straps of her dress down her shoulders. The gold fabric slithered down her body to the floor and it was Atlas’ turn to moan at the sight of her curves. “Even more beautiful than I dreamed.”
Ebony’s trembling fingers pulled at his tie, then unbuttoned his shirt. She pressed her lips to his chest, his hard pecs with a smattering of black hair, trailing her fingertips down his flat stomach, feeling it contracted with desire under her touch. As she unzipped his pants, Atlas stroked her stomach. She gazed up at him as she freed his huge, diamond-hard cock from his underwear, and stroked it against her bare belly.
Atlas muttered something in Italian and cupped her face as he kissed her passionately. His hand slipped between her legs, caressing her through her panties, then gently sliding them down her legs. With an expert twist, he unclasped her bra, letting her full, ripe breasts fall into his hands. Stroking a rhythm over them with his thumbs, Atlas kissed her again, then swept her into his arms and into the bedroom.
On the bed, he covered her body with his, kissing her, then moving down to take her nipples into his mouth one by one. Ebony tangled her fingers in his dark hair as he moved down her body, rimming her deep navel with his tongue, then, making her gasp, his mouth found her sex.
Teasing, biting, tasting her, he expertly brought her to a mellow orgasm, flooding her sex with desire. “I want to taste you too.”
Smiling, she pushed him onto his back, as she took his cock into her mouth. He really was so big that she couldn’t take him all, and so with her hand, she fisted the root of him as her mouth worked, her tongue running up and down the silky skin, feeling the hardness underneath.
“God, Ebony…”
She knew he was close, but she didn’t pull away until he shot his cum onto her tongue, shuddering and groaning her name. She swallowed him down, salty sweetness on her tongue, then moved up to straddle him as he recovered.
Atlas stroked her belly, cupped her breasts. “Your body is heaven,” he said breathlessly and laughed as she bent to kiss him, pressing her breasts and belly to his.
He flipped her onto her back. “I’m going to fuck you so hard, Ebony, all night long.”
Ebony smiled. “Tell me more,” she purred as he sat back and grabbed a condom, rolling it onto his stiffening cock. “You’re so big, baby.”
“And you’re going to take it all, my darling.” He slipped his hands between her legs. “You’re so wet, sweetheart.”
“I’ve been wet all day, thinking about this moment,” Ebony whispered. “Thinking about you, how you’ll feel inside me…oh…god…”
Atlas slid into her slowly, filling her silky cunt with his rock-hard cock. For a moment he paused as they gazed at each other, savoring the moment, then a frenzied need took over them both, and they were fucking hard and fast, tearing at each other, Ebony’s nails digging into the skin of his back and his buttocks as she urged him on, gasping and panting.
Atlas slammed his hips against hers, forcing her legs wider until her hips burned, but Ebony loved the pain of it. She wanted him, wanting all of him, the feeling of his cock driving deeper and harder inside her was ecstasy. Her head swam with delirious desire as Atlas pinned her hands to the bed, reaming her harder until she cried out, her orgasm hitting, making stars explode in her vision. She felt Atlas’ cock throb hard inside her, and he groaned her name as he too reached his peak. They collapsed together, breathing hard.
“Stay inside me for a while,” she said, and Atlas grinned.
“I’d stay inside you forever if I could, beautiful.” His mouth was gentle on her lips now, tender, loving. Ebony swept damp black curls away from his forehead.
“God, you’re one gorgeous man,” she said, chuckling. She still couldn’t believe he wanted her, but she adored the soft look of love in his eyes. “I hope I didn’t disappoint you.”
Atlas laughed aloud, rolling his eyes. “Baby, disappointed is not even in my vocabulary tonight. Call it overwhelmed, call it blown away…even better than what I’ve been thinking about solidly for the last forty-eight hours. Man…I love the way your body fits perfectly next to mine…do you get that?”
Ebony wiggled, reveling in the fact his cock, still semi-hard, was still buried deep in her cunt. “Fuck me again,” she said, nipping his bottom lip with her teeth. “Make me scream.”
Atlas grinned. “Your wish is my command…”
He excused himself for a moment to get rid of the used condom, then returned quickly to her arms. He hooked her knees over his shoulders then sat up. “Is this uncomfortable?”
Ebony shook her head. Atlas retrieved a new condom, and as he buried his face in her sex, Ebony rolled the condom down his long, thick shaft, feeling the steely muscle inside quiver at her touch. She cupped his balls in her hands, tickling them, teasing them until Atlas groaned, his voice resonating against her clit, then he was inside her again.
This time was even more intense. Their gazes at each other never faltered as they fucked, Ebony bucking up against him, Atlas’s hands rough on her skin. They came again and again, fucking on the floor, against the walls, and even up against the wall-to-ceiling glass window, Atlas taking Ebony from behind as her breasts and belly pressed against the cool glass.
Even in the shower, as dawn approached, they couldn’t get enough of each other, Atlas parting her pert, rounded buttocks and easing into her ass as Ebony urged him on. They explored every inch of each other with their eyes, their hands, their mouths. For the few times they were recovering, they talk and laughed and joked, and Ebony felt something shift in her soul. She had never had this kind of connection, this chemistry with anyone before.
Atlas stroked her face as dawn broke outside the window. “I cleared my schedule for today. Are you free?”
“I am.” She wiggled closer to him, and he wrapped his arms around her.
“Would you like to come to my home, meet my brother and nephew?”
Ebony smiled. “I would love to.” She loved the hopeful look in Atlas’s eyes – he really wanted her to be part of his family, didn’t he? The feeling touched her on a totally different level than he had for hours just now, but no less deeply.
“First, though, being an old man…”
“At thirty-four…”
Atlas laughed. “But, as jazzed as I am, how about we try and get some sleep? I want to hold you in my arms and rest.”
Ebony tucked her head into his shoulder. “I’m always up for a nap.”
Atlas chuckled, pressing his lips to her forehead. “I knew we had a lot in common.”
“Sweet dreams, Atlas.”
“Sweet dreams, baby.”
Part Two
Chapter Seven
Felicity knocked on Romy’s office door. “Romy? Detective Halsey is here to see you.”
“Thanks, Felicity.” Romy got up as the detective entered and shook his hand. “I’d say it was good to see you, but I can the see the expression on your face.”
She motioned for him to sit and the detective thanked her. “Yes, unfortunately, I come bearing bad news. Carson Franks was released from jail this morning, on a three-million-dollar bail. Apparently, that’s short change for his family.”
“Ugh.” Romy sighed. Another rich fuck getting away with murder.
“Quite. Franks had to relinquish his passport, but…”
“But with his kind of money, getting counterfeits will be no problem.”
Det. John Halsey looked at her. “Dr. Sasse…I read about your ex-husband, so I know you have experience with these kinds of things.”
“Sadly, I do. The reason I became involved in Haven was because of that situation. The victim, Kiersten Merchant, was sadly typical of our residents here. At the moment it seems particularly bad, the deaths, the ones we can’t save.” Romy sighed, rubbing her face. “I’m sorry, Detective, did you have something else?”
He nodded. “Dr. Sasse, we have reason to believe that Franks meant what he said. I came to make sure
you and Mr. Tigri are taking the security issue seriously.”
Romy nodded. “We are. We’ve more than doubled our security presence here, and at our homes. He won’t get near our facility, I assure you.”
“I’ll be checking in with you, keeping you updated about the situation.” He glanced at the big picture window in Romy’s ground floor office, and Romy read his mind.
“It’s bulletproof,” she said, “but if you think we ought to take extra precautions.”
John Halsey nodded. “It’s just…I’ve dealt with obsessives before. Carson Franks blames this facility, Mr. Tigri, and you, for Kiersten’s death. It’s just the way a psychopath’s mind works. Never mind that he stabbed her seventeen times. It’s always someone else’s fault.”
Old memories worked their way through Romy and she pushed them aside firmly. Dacre had long been out of her life and she wouldn’t give him one more second of fear.
At home, later, after the kids were in bed, Romy and Blue shared a soak in the tub. Romy lay back against Blue’s hard chest as he trailed his fingers up and down her stomach, and cupped her breasts. She giggled as he pretended to bite her shoulder.
“How was your day, beautiful?”
Romy hesitated before she answered, unaccustomed to hiding anything from her husband. Her desire to protect him won out though. “Oh, same old, same old. No new intake, which is always a blessing, so I had time to catch up with paperwork.”
“Boring.”
She laughed. “Ever the surgeon. Any big cases?”
“Actually yes. We have a domino surgery soon.”
“Woah.” A domino surgery was a rare and risky procedure, involving multiple donor-recipients receiving organs in a simultaneous procedure. “Is this your first one?”
Blue kissed her temple. “It is…you want in?”
“Hell, yes I do…if we can make it work.”
“Getting you privileges at the hospital is no problem, obviously.”
Romy looked around at him. “Perks of getting busy with the boss.”
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