Descended (The Red Blindfold Book 3)

by Rose Devereux

  “I’m sorry she did that.”

  “Don’t be,” he said, shrugging. “One thing dogs have taught me, what you see with people and animals is what you get. Don’t be surprised when they live up to your first impression.”

  Taking her by the collar, he brought her to the kitchen. I heard the sound of a can opener and a spoon scraping against a metal dog dish. Drex was right. I was living up to his first impression of me as a woman with nothing, no identity, nothing to offer but her body. I was living up to it every minute I was here. I wasn’t even a whole person. What we’d shared couldn’t possibly last.

  When he came back to the living room, I forced myself to stand and face him. “Drex, I…” I almost choked on the words.

  “What is it?”

  “Nothing, I just want to thank you for letting me stay here. And for the clothes and the phone, too. I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me.”

  His expression softened. “You never have to thank me, Jane.”

  “Yes, I do. But the reason – well, I just have one more favor to ask. When you leave, would you drop me off in town?”

  He gave me a puzzled frown. “Why would I drop you off in town?”

  “So I can…do whatever I’m going to do when I get there.” Because I couldn’t come up with a better answer, he now knew the truth. I had no idea what I’d do when I got to Chimayo, or anywhere else. I was totally lost.

  “What are you talking about?” he said. “You’re coming with me to Houston.”

  “Drex, no.”

  “Why?”

  I lifted my chin and forced my voice to stay steady. “Because you don’t have to take care of me. I know you feel responsible, but –”

  A shadow darkened his face. “I feel responsible? Is that what you think? That I don’t know what to do with you?”

  I raised my hands and let them drop. “I wouldn’t blame you. I mean, you can hardly send me back home.”

  “I wouldn’t if you had one.”

  “At least you’d have the choice. Right now you don’t.”

  The air between us felt charged. Our eyes were locked, and my heart thundered against my ribs.

  It was Drex who broke the silence. “This is my choice,” he said. “Bringing you here, asking you to come to Houston – I’m pretty resourceful, Jane. If I didn’t want you around, I’d figure out how to make that happen.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “That’s reassuring.”

  “I mean it,” he said, taking me by the arms. “You’re here. That should tell you all you need to know.”

  The heat between us flared up under the influence of some serious pheromones. Even two days of this intensity felt like too long, like a fire burning too hot.

  “What if I never remember anything?” I asked in a rough whisper. “What if nobody ever looks for me?”

  His expression betrayed no concern or doubt. “We’ll deal with it.”

  We. He didn’t mean that. He couldn’t. He hardly knew me – and worse, there was nothing much to know.

  “I appreciate that, Drex, but –”

  He put a finger over my lips. Automatically my tongue flickered out to taste his warm skin. His flecked green pupils dilated in response.

  “Shhh,” he said, his voice so soothing I just wanted to close my eyes and listen. “Shouldn’t you be packing for our trip? You have a lot of new clothes.”

  Thanks to him, I did. In fact, everything I had was thanks to him. “It’s all still in bags.”

  He gave me the commanding look that never failed to melt my resistance. “Then it shouldn’t take you long to get ready,” he said. “Go. Right now. We’re leaving tonight.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  We drove for hours.

  It was tempting to think that life could always be this way, the two of us together like nomads with no responsibility or permanent home. Diesel lay beside me on the seat, curled up into a tight ball. We drove past Chimayo, past the ramshackle houses and rusted trailers, until there was nothing to look at but flat fields. After a few hours, I put my head on Drex’s shoulder and fell into a light sleep.

  I dreamed about a boat.

  It was a glittering sunny afternoon, a calm day with glassy seas. I stood at the bow looking toward an island rimmed with palm trees and white beaches. It was beautiful, pristine, perfect. There was nothing to be afraid of, so why was I afraid?

  I woke with a start, my hairline beaded with sweat.

  “Jane?”

  I blinked at the man beside me in the truck. Where was I? Who was he again?

  Oh, that’s right. Drex, the only person I could depend on, and I wasn’t even sure he was dependable. He was just here right now. That was the most I could hope for.

  “You okay?” he asked as I smoothed my hair.

  “I think so,” I said. “I had a dream. The first one I can remember since all of this happened.”

  “What was it about?”

  “A sailboat, I think. And a couple of other people. I couldn’t see their faces.”

  “Was it a good dream?”

  “I – I couldn’t tell. It was just strange.”

  “Maybe dreaming is a good sign, and you’ll start to remember something.”

  “Yeah,” I said.

  A good sign. Would remembering something be good? For Drex, maybe it would be. Once my memory returned, he wouldn’t have to take me along anymore. I might have been fun for a couple of wildly sexy days in the desert, but we couldn’t keep this up forever. I had no family, no job, no skills as far as I knew.

  I couldn’t keeping living as Drex’s scantily-clad maid and bed companion. How long until I turned from a novelty into a burden? He was a well-known and successful businessman. What would his friends and colleagues think when they met me? When I couldn’t tell them my last name, or even my first for that matter?

  I couldn’t afford to think about it. The alternative – being alone, without Drex – was too terrifying. I’d have to wing it as best I could, no matter what the outcome.

  In my former life, I’d probably never seen a place so luxurious.

  The walls of Drex’s Houston apartment were floor-to-ceiling glass, offering 360-degree views of the city. Under my feet, cherry wood floors gleamed. We were nineteen stories up, just high enough to feel like we were floating above a sea of bright lights. A three-quarter moon lit up the land for miles around, making the city look like a sprawling neon oasis.

  “Hungry?” Drex asked as soon as the doorman wheeled in the luggage, put Diesel’s kennel by the door, and left. Everything I owned fit in the small canvas duffel Drex had given me to use. Diesel sniffed it before cautiously slinking into the hallway to explore, her tail low.

  “I think I’m okay,” I said.

  “If you change your mind, my chef can make whatever you’re craving.”

  “At three in the morning?”

  Drex shrugged like a man used to privilege. “I called to let him know we’d be coming in late. Sometimes I keep irregular hours. He’s used to it.”

  I walked slowly from one end of the large, open living space to the other, hearing nothing but the soft click of my new leather sandals against the floor. Every surface was polished, every cushion and flower petal neatly in place.

  Staff. Refinement. The best of everything. Whatever kind of life I’d left behind, it couldn’t have been like this.

  “I thought you said you hadn’t accomplished half of what you wanted to,” I said, running my fingers across the smooth, exotic hardwood of a pool table.

  “That’s true,” he said. “I set high standards for myself.”

  His voice was just behind me. Though he hadn’t touched me, I could feel his heat. Tired as I was, my body jumped into high alert and my blood simmered.

  “I can’t believe your father isn’t proud of you,” I said, turning to look at him. “Maybe he’s just not good at showing it.”

  I saw pain etched in his ironic smile. “Oh, he’s good at showing it. Just no
t to me.”

  I picked up an eight-ball and turned it over in my hand. Its shiny surface was flecked with green chalk marks. “Did he teach you to play pool?”

  “He showed me a few basics. He didn’t teach me skill at the game as much as how to read people. Manipulate them. Figure out their weaknesses.”

  A simmer became a boil. “You’ve certainly figured out mine.”

  “Have I?” Drex raised his finger and swept back my hair. His touch was a line of sparks along my cheek.

  “Well, a few of them, at least.”

  Hands on my shoulders, he took a step back and raked me with his eyes. “You look good in here,” he said in a honey-smooth voice. “Like you came with the place.”

  “And you thought you were paying for the view.”

  “Who needs the lights of Houston when I can look at you?”

  I spread out my skirt as if I were about to curtsy. “In my thirty-dollar dress?”

  “All I see is you and your long legs, and that’s all I want to see.”

  “Not that I’m complaining,” I said. “A thirty-dollar dress is a lot better than a t-shirt and panties.”

  “I’m not so sure about that,” he said, his eyes gleaming at the memory. “If you’d been wearing more, we might not be standing here.”

  I went up on tiptoe and kissed him. “We owe it all to my pink panties.”

  “And your very blue eyes.” He ran his thumb down my throat and along the V neckline of the dress. “You must be tired after that long drive,” he said.

  “A little.”

  I hitched in a breath when he touched bare skin. “A little? You can’t possibly have the energy to do anything but sleep.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because your eyelids are closing.”

  They were, but for a very different reason than he thought. “It’s what you’re doing to me.”

  “Doing?” he said with total innocence. “But I’m hardly touching you.” With feathery strokes, he caressed my collarbone and shoulder.

  “Exactly.”

  “And you like that? Only being touched a little?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Maybe. Hm. How will I know for sure?”

  “I bet you’ll find a way.”

  He ran his hand between my breasts and over my stomach, not stopping until he reached the hem of my dress. He gathered it in his fist and slowly pulled me toward him.

  “Have I found a way yet?” he said, bringing his face close. “Or should I keep trying?”

  “Keep trying. Absolutely.” At the brush of his lips against mine, I whimpered softly.

  “Don’t tell me you like that, too,” he whispered.

  “Uh huh,” I said. “I like it all.”

  “Easy to please, aren’t you?”

  Slowly, he lifted dress until I felt the soft gust of air-conditioning against my bare thigh.

  “Depends,” I said.

  “On?”

  “Who’s doing the pleasing.”

  “That would be me,” he said. “And only me.”

  “Something tells me you’ve pleased a lot of women in this apartment,” I said, unexpected jealousy spearing through me.

  I tried to touch his hand but he brushed me away. “Ancient history.”

  “So I won’t find any evidence?” I asked. “No stray bras? No notes thanking you for last night?”

  “Maybe one thanking me for a night last year. Or the year before.”

  I laughed. “You’ve been celibate for a year? Is that why you’re so…well, passionate?”

  “This isn’t celibacy, Blue Eyes. This is you.”

  His gaze could have melted granite. Tongue flickering across his upper lip, he slipped a finger under the leg of my panties. His panties, the ones he’d picked out for me at the store in Chimayo. They’d had cotton ones, and nylon ones, but it was the sheer mesh ones that Drex had chosen. I now had ten pairs in various colors, including the pale blue ones I was wearing right now.

  Taking one step closer, he pressed his pelvis lightly against my hip. I could feel the outline of his cock, already thick and rock-hard.

  “I’m glad we bought extra panties,” he said. “Because I have a feeling these are already drenched.”

  I bit my lower lip. “You might want to check to make sure.”

  “I might,” he said. “I might not.”

  I tipped my hips toward him, urging him to touch me.

  “You forget who’s in charge here,” he growled.

  “I’m just exercising my options.” My breathing was shallow and uneven, and my palms were damp.

  “You think I’m that easy to sway?” he asked.

  “I can only hope.” Desperate to feel him, I reached for his cock.

  “Hands behind your back,” he ordered calmly. “You don’t touch me. I touch you.”

  “For how long?”

  “Just do it.”

  How many women had “just done it” in response to that deep, hypnotic voice? Count me another shamelessly obedient houseguest. Lacing my fingers behind my back, I let him trail a gentle finger over the crotch of my panties.

  “That’s right,” he said. “Close your eyes. Just feel.”

  My chest rose and fell quickly as he stroked me. Every few seconds he grazed my clit and I gasped.

  “You’re wet for me, aren’t you?”

  “Yes,” I whispered.

  “You know how hard I am for you and you like it.”

  “I do,” I said. “I can’t help it.”

  With expert skill, he slid a finger inside my panties. “Do you like this?” he asked, lightly probing my wet slit.

  “Drex,” I whispered, clenching my hands together. “Please stop. It’s too much.”

  “Too much?” he said in a low, sweet voice. “But I’ve only just started.”

  I was utterly swept away. How could a man with such strong, masculine hands touch me so gently? As if he’d been petting and caressing me forever?

  “I’m going to make you come with my fingers and then you’re going to suck me,” he purred.

  Suck me – just the words sent a long ribbon of heat fluttering through my body.

  “But you’re going to ask for it,” he said.

  “Ask for what?”

  “Ask me to make you come.”

  When I could finally catch my breath, my voice was rough and broken. “Please make me come.”

  “That’s a good start,” he said. “Do it again.”

  I was panting, my belly convulsing with pleasure. “Make me come, Drex.”

  “You forgot something,” he said, his eyes dark and demanding.

  I was so delirious I could hardly think. “What did I forget?”

  “To say please. Ask me nicely and I might decide to make you come. Demand it and I won’t.”

  I quivered under his command. “Please, Drex.”

  “I like it when you’re polite,” he said. “It makes me want to fuck you until you scream.”

  Half-gently, half-roughly, he thrust two fingers inside me. Hands still entwined behind my back, I moaned his name. I had a mind filled with troubles, but a wet pussy that didn’t care.

  This was chemistry, Drex in total control of my mind and body. In and out, he fucked me with his fingers, his mouth just barely touching mine. No matter what happened in our future, I would never forget this feeling of surrender.

  Thumb on my clit and fingers inside me, he stroked me closer and closer to an orgasm. After one soft kiss, he pulled back just out of my reach, smiling as I leaned forward for another taste of his lips.

  “Kiss me,” I begged, frantic for the sensual taste of his tongue.

  “Please?”

  “Kiss me, please.”

  Lightly, teasingly, he nipped my lower lip, keeping up the smooth rhythm between my legs. With his other hand, he parted the neckline of my dress and pushed his hand into my bra.

  His palm was deliciously rough against my nipple, which stiffened immediate
ly.

  “Perfect breasts,” he whispered against my lips. “Firm, pretty, soft, sensitive.”

  “Go on,” I said, feeling the exquisite tension of an orgasm building deep inside me.

  “High, young, sexy…” Thumb on my clit, palm on my nipple, fingers sliding in and out of me – every sensation was enough to ruin me.

  “Yes, yes, yes…” I whispered.

  “Beautiful, feminine, sweet, suckable…”

  A cry ripped from my throat as an intense orgasm shook me to my toes. Tendrils of pleasure fanned out, lighting up every nerve in their path. My thighs shuddered and my eyes squeezed shut.

  “Drex,” I gasped, clenching my hands together to keep from grabbing onto him. “Oh, my God. It’s too good.”

  “There it is, Blue Eyes,” he said against my mouth. “That’s what I want.”

  He sank his fingers even deeper inside me. Yanking me against him, he crushed my lips under his. Our tongues slid together, touching, tasting, lapping each other until my last quavering moan.

  “Good girl,” he whispered. “Now it’s my turn.”

  Pulling out a dining room chair, he bent me over it and hiked up my dress. Yanking my panties to one side, he unzipped his pants and sank his hard cock into me in one fast stroke.

  “Fuck, you’re incredible,” he groaned as he filled me with the hilt. “So tight and hot.”

  His voice was one of his sexiest features, and he probably didn’t even know it. Warm, a little husky, commanding as all hell – I felt it right between my legs whenever he spoke.

  “Did I make you this wet tonight?” he growled.

  “You always make me wet,” I said. I gripped the back of the chair and leaned my head against his shoulder.

  “This is something pretty fucking special,” he said, driving inside me. “You know that, don’t you?”

  “Yes.” I almost didn’t want to admit it. Drex had appeared in my life out of the blue, and could vanish just as quickly.

  His cock was a thick sword against my come-sensitized flesh. “And you know you’re mine. Use your pretty voice and say it.”

  “I’m –” The words caught in my throat.

  He smacked me hard on the ass. “Say it,” he barked. “Like you mean it.”