by Zara Cox
Dammit. So much for my smooth exit. Frowning, I took it, tossed it onto a nearby table and reached for the in-room phone. ‘I didn’t sign for dinner. I should—’
‘I took care of it. If that offends your sensibilities, you can pick up next time.’
‘There won’t be a next time.’
‘Again, I disagree.’ A whisper of a smile teased his lips as he propped a shoulder against the door frame. But his hazel gaze maintained that single-minded ferocity that punched fresh heat into my belly. I struggled not to fidget as his gaze rushed over my body. ‘I didn’t get the chance to say before, that dress looks incredible on you.’
The cocktail dress I chose to wear tonight was my favourite. The black off-the-shoulder number made of soft merino wool clung to my curves and ended a few inches above my knee. Wearing it added a boost of confidence and made me feel sexy in a way I’d needed.
‘Invite me in, Neve. The quicker you do, the sooner we can be done.’
His tone didn’t suggest he wanted to be done. Far from it.
Here was my opportunity to unleash everything I’d bottled up inside thus far. But the burning between my thighs mocked me with something else. I ignored it and stepped back.
Damian entered another hotel suite of mine, this time with his demons very much under control. They weren’t gone, far from it. I’d caught a glimpse of them as he’d talked about his cousin. Gideon. The reason for the darkness that lurked in his eyes. But he had a tighter leash on them.
Or he was focused on other things. Like...me.
The thought made my insides clench in a way that both shamed and excited me.
I preceded him into the living room, cleared my throat and turned to find him shrugging out of his jacket.
‘What are you doing?’ I detested the hint of a shriek in my voice.
‘Getting comfortable,’ he responded, draping his jacket over a chair before he unbuttoned his cuffs and rolled back his sleeves. Damian in full relaxation mode was doing unspeakably erotic things to my sex. ‘I have an inkling this will take a while.’
A little stupefied, I stared as his brawny forearms were slowly exposed, my panties growing damper with every passing second.
When he was done, his eyes slowly lifted to mine and held tight. Damn the man. He knew what he was doing.
Just as he’d done when he’d used sex to addle my brain two years ago, just before he’d turned around and chopped me off at the knees.
Two could play at that game.
I reached up and freed my hair from its loose knot and spiked my fingers through it.
His gaze dropped to my breasts and his Adam’s apple bobbed before he refocused on my face. ‘Neve—’
With a jerk, I stepped away from him and from temptation, denying every lustful urge that rammed at me, and headed for the bar.
‘I’m getting myself a drink. Want one, Mr Mortimer?’ I threw over my shoulder.
He shook his head. ‘No. I don’t want a drink.’
‘Then what do you want?’
‘For starters, I really want you to cut the Mr Mortimer shit,’ he said.
Memories of groaning his given name as he rammed his cock deep inside me, of screaming it as the best orgasm I’d ever had rippled through me, charged through my brain. I wasn’t ashamed to admit it was part of the reason I was reticent about calling him by his first name.
I surfaced from that lustful reverie to find his gaze drifting to my legs.
‘For starters? Sounds like you have a list.’
He shook his head as he strolled towards me. ‘Not a list. Just one more item up for discussion.’
‘What is it?’
‘What did you mean when you said I stabbed you in the back?’
Shock and fury propelled me around, my drink forgotten, everything inside me stilled into immobility by his sheer audacity. ‘Are you serious?’
His brow pleated. ‘It’s a damning accusation. Of course I’m serious.’
I forced myself to relax. Control. I had to maintain control. ‘Which part of what happened two years ago do you need reminding of? It’s obviously not the sex because you seem to have perfect recall on that score. So it must be the fact that after screwing me in my hotel room, you had no qualms about leaving my bed to screw me over.’
His intense hazel eyes had the audacity to widen before he frowned. ‘I was in Boston for one night. The only person I met up with besides you was Malcolm Cahill.’
‘Ah, so you do remember. Give the man a prize.’
Shadows darkened his features. ‘Neve—’
The slow burn of anger ramped up. ‘Don’t you dare say my name that way. Don’t you dare make out as if what you did was excusable or that I’m blowing it out of proportion.’
He stepped towards me, stopped and shoved his hands in his pockets. ‘To do that I’d have to know what you’re talking about. I’m not sure exactly why you think I screwed you over. The Mortimer Group was in partnership with Cahill’s hotel group. I met up with Cahill to discuss an affiliation deal with a small outfit called Cephei Hotels.’
‘Yes,’ I said fiercely. ‘An outfit owned by me. As you damn well know.’
He tensed. ‘What?’
‘God, please don’t pretend you didn’t know that. That’s beneath you. How long did you even consider my proposal before you dismissed it out of hand and almost bankrupted me in the process?’ I asked, years of bitterness making my voice hoarse.
He was still staring at me as if I were an apparition. ‘Cephei Hotels was you?’
‘Cut the shit, Damian. I heard your side of the phone call when Malcolm called me to break the news, less than an hour after you left my bed, I might add. What was it you said to him? Something along the lines of small fry like me having no business playing with the big boys?’
His tension increased. ‘Those were Cahill’s words, not mine.’
‘But you had quite a bit to add, didn’t you, as you and your buddy pulled the rug from under me?’
A muscle ticced in his jaw. ‘He’s not my buddy. Cahill is a shark but he was a necessary alliance for what I was trying to achieve in Boston.’
‘What about my alliance? He was all set to sign with me. Then you got involved and he went with Crown Resorts. I’m bigger than they are.’
‘Now you are. Two years ago, you weren’t.’
My fingers curled into fists. ‘Because you saw to it that I wouldn’t be given the chance. We had a verbal agreement. My trip to Boston was to get the contract signed. Only the morning after we spent the night together, the deal was suddenly off the table.’ Two years’ worth of acrimony and fury bubbled, threatened to erupt. ‘Was the sex that bad?’
He speared me a hard look. ‘Self-deprecation doesn’t suit you.’
‘Then what was it?’ I pressed. ‘Were you bored? Was messing with me and my business some way to add a little spice to your life?’
He raked his fingers through his hair. ‘Believe it or not, it wasn’t personal.’
‘Really? It felt extremely personal. You came to Boston to finalise your portion of the deal. You knew the name of my hotel. You must’ve known who I was when you met with Cahill.’
His lips flattened. ‘Names didn’t interest me. I was interested in facts and figures. Yours didn’t add up.’
‘And you deduced that after, what, an hour? Do you know how long I spent getting that deal together? How hard I worked and how many chips I cashed to make it work?’
‘That was your problem,’ he fired back. ‘You were betting your every last cent on a partnership that would’ve crushed you within a year. I could smell your desperation in the figures.’
‘You bastard.’
The jibe hit its mark and his eyes narrowed. He exhaled harshly as he absorbed it. ‘If you think I’m that despicable, why did you sign up for the
show?’
I wasn’t going to expose my true motives. Not until I had him on his knees. ‘Maybe I wanted to look you in the eye and tell you to your face what I think of you. Looks like not enough people have done that in your life.’
A touch of apprehension whispered over his features. ‘And now you’ve done that? Now you’ve satisfied yourself that I’m a complete bastard, are you going to draw a line under it?’
I laughed. ‘You’d love that, wouldn’t you?’
His face tightened. ‘Remember what I said, Neve. I don’t like surprises. And I especially don’t like the wool being pulled over my eyes.’
‘You should’ve considered that before you dismissed me out of hand two years ago.’
‘How long will it take you to get this out of your system?’
I laughed again. ‘I wasn’t aware I was on a deadline. There is one on how much time I want to spend in your company though, so if you don’t mind I’d like you to leave now.’
He didn’t budge. ‘Whatever you have up your sleeve, bear in mind what adverse impact it could have on our new partnership.’
‘Absolutely none. I want this project with Sam and Tyler to work. My feelings towards you won’t impact that.’
Something gleamed in his eyes. ‘I’m glad to hear it. But you’re wrong on one score. I’m equally invested in this. Perhaps more than you know. So I’m going to be keeping an eye on you.’
Absurdly, I grew hot despite being raw inside from his admission that he’d unapologetically screwed me over. I had a feeling that wound would take time to stop stinging.
Thanks to him, almost overnight my business had dried up, word of mouth already a serious threat to my business. Within weeks the bank had been threatening to pull its funding.
It’d taken the best part of a year of back-breaking hard work, total rebranding and an aggressive marketing plan to ensure that I didn’t go under.
I’d emerged from that ordeal better and stronger but the lesson had been hard and a part of me remained battered and bruised by the experience. And no part of me was ready to let Damian off the hook.
I’m equally invested in this. Perhaps more than you know.
His words ricocheted in my head. I eyed him. ‘Why? This is just a small cog in your family business. Besides, you don’t strike me as someone who’s into fantasies. Nightmares maybe?’
The corner of his mouth kicked up, and that small action fired heat straight to my clit. ‘This is as good a swan song as any. As for my fantasies, they’re many and varied. Maybe when that homicidal look is no longer in your eyes, I might be inclined to show you one of them.’
My ache in my midriff felt at odds with the heaviness in my breasts and the softening in my pelvis. How could I despise him and want to fuck him blind at the same time? ‘That’s assuming you’re still sane by the time I’m done with you.’
His gaze fired up, dropping to my mouth. ‘You do realise the more you hint at your nebulous plans for me, the more I’m inclined to let you go through with whatever it is you have up your sleeve?’
My smile came easier this time and I realised, with a little shock, that I was enjoying tussling with him. Perhaps a little too much.
‘You do realise that was my intention?’ I murmured, keeping my voice low and husky. His gaze flicked to mine, stayed and held.
‘It’s the first time a business partner has threatened to keep me in line. Normally it’s the other way round.’
‘Maybe more of us should do that.’ Still keeping my voice low, I took a single step towards him.
His eyes dropped to my breasts. His lips moved in the tiniest pout, as if savouring my taste, before his scrutiny moved lower to caress my hips and legs before slowly trailing back up again.
By the time our gazes reconnected, I was left in no doubt that he wanted me. Badly.
‘It’s never happened before because my partnerships start with a baseline of trust. Perhaps we should aim for that between us?’
‘I don’t trust easily, Mr Mortimer.’
His nostrils flared as his fingers trailed down my arm. Tingles shot from the point of contact to my needy pussy.
‘What’s it going to take for you to call me Damian?’
You and your rock-hard cock, driving deep into my pussy.
For a moment I thought I’d said the words out loud. I gasped softly as his fingers closed on my elbow.
‘Damian. There, does that work for you?’
The blaze in his eyes grew dangerous and potent. ‘I’d love to say once more, with feeling, preferably as a prelude to sealing our deal the way I’m sorely tempted to, but for now I’ll take it.’
I didn’t need to ask how he would seal the deal. His eyes spelled it out explicitly. And, worse, I wanted to let him. Badly.
I remained still as the sexual cyclone churned and heated up the air around us, making my fingers itch to reacquaint themselves with his hard body, experience that glorious mouth and the magic of his hands.
Unable to help myself, I let my gaze fly up to land on his mouth. Would he taste just as spectacular as he had two years ago?
Two years ago...when he’d stabbed me in the back after sleeping with me.
My insides froze.
Damian made a frustrated sound under his breath. ‘There’s that look again. Tell me how to fix it and I promise to give it my best shot.’ The demand was low and deep. Almost as if he meant it. Almost as if my distrust aggravated him.
I attempted to step away, but he kept hold of me. His thumb slowly caressed my pulse, spiking arousal higher, hardening my nipples into needy points.
‘Give me a starting point, Neve. We can work our way towards whatever goal you want.’
‘Really? Whatever I want?’
He gave a solemn nod. ‘Within reason, of course...but I’d prefer we don’t have bad blood between us.’
Again his words were grave, containing a wealth of unspoken meaning.
But there was no way I was going anywhere near his questionable olive branch. There was one burning question I still needed an answer to, though. One he hadn’t yet answered to my satisfaction.
‘Would knowing who I was, knowing who you were screwing over, have made a blind bit of difference?’
He held my gaze for an uncomfortably long time. My breath froze in my lungs; I was suddenly unsure whether I wanted the truth or evasion of some sort. The truth, my brain and heart demanded. No matter how much it hurt to hear it, I wanted the truth from Damian. Always.
‘No,’ he said after nerve-stretching silence. ‘It wouldn’t have. You weren’t ready for a deal that big.’
I flinched. That stung just as badly now as it had two years ago. As had his addendum to Malcolm Cahill.
‘Was that why you told him not to speak to me? I asked for a face-to-face meeting to plead my case. You advised him to tell me no. Why?’
He shrugged. ‘I didn’t want things to drag on unnecessarily. I wanted to be done with it. With Boston.’
My breath caught. ‘So it was personal.’
He turned abruptly, stalked to the window and looked out onto a glittering, electrified Manhattan. After an age, he faced me.
‘You’re a stunning, sexy woman.’ His lips firmed as if he didn’t want to admit the words. ‘But I didn’t intend to fuck anyone that night. Hell, I almost didn’t come to Boston at all. I could’ve phoned in everything I wanted to say to Cahill. But I needed to get out of New York. I needed to focus on something else besides the fact that I’d hit another bloody wall with Gideon.’
It didn’t appease me to know why there had been raging demons in his eyes that night. ‘So you redirected your shit my way?’ I probed.
Again he stared at me as if he was making up his mind about something. ‘Only a handful of people know the full details about why I left England. Without boring you with
the nitty-gritty of it, I’ll tell you that your little...performance at the bar hit the wrong notes...right after you hit all the right ones.’
I frowned. ‘I’m confused.’
He exhaled harshly. ‘I saw you when you arrived at the hotel. Even before I knew your name I was fucking hooked. Call me crass if you will, but I watched you crossing the lobby and wondered what you’d taste like. Wondered how loud you’d scream when I made you come. I was dying to be inside you long before I sat down at the bar. Which was an inconvenient novelty considering I hadn’t fucked anyone for a while and wasn’t planning to.’ That last part was delivered with a heavy dose of bitter bewilderment that doused my arousal.
‘Why not?’
‘Because the last woman I met at a bar before you left an unpalatable taste in my mouth.’
Curiosity bit at me. Hard. But the stiff lines on his face told me he wouldn’t elaborate. Even the little he’d told me seemed to torture him. ‘So I made you hard crossing the lobby and you decided to punish me for buying you a drink?’
His hand scraped over his jaw to grip his nape. ‘When you put it like that I sound like a bloody asshole.’
‘Your words, not mine.’
Harsh lines etched deeper between his brows and bracketed his mouth. ‘I didn’t take kindly to you being that irresistible. To knocking my damn socks off with that defiance and sexiness. I don’t think I take kindly to it now, to be fucking honest,’ he admitted raggedly. ‘I should stay away from you, focus on...straightening a few dented parts of my life. But instead here I am, being driven bloody insane by this...need,’ he continued, his gaze raking feverishly over me once more. ‘But the bottom line is if we were in the situation now like we were two years ago, I’d take the same stance with you and with Cahill. So my question to you is, what are we going to do about it?’
Pain and hurt warred with sharp questions.
Who? Why? When?
But Damian wanting me, perhaps even despite himself, surged power through me, heady and triumphant, temporarily shoving away the ache of his admission that he’d screw me over again. All he’d done really was show me that I couldn’t trust him with what was precious to me—my business. My legacy. The reminder that this was just sex settled, thankfully, deeper inside me.