Descended (The Red Blindfold Book 3)

by Rose Devereux

  I must have done this before, maybe when I was very young. All of the sense memories were there – the feeling of sliding the metal tent poles into the nylon slots and the sound of the zipper as it opened the door. After camp was set up, I stretched out on a sleeping bag and sighed with pure contentment.

  “You’re a natural at this,” Drex said, sliding in beside me.

  “I think you’re right,” I said. “Maybe I was on a solo hiking trip, after all.”

  “Maybe. You didn’t have much equipment.”

  I frowned. “What are you talking about? Panties are equipment.”

  “Agreed, but they’re equipment of a very different kind.”

  “I can’t argue that,” I said, slinging a bare leg over his.

  He pulled me against him. “Well, you could, but you’re going to kiss me instead.”

  Just before sunset, we hiked up a hillside to a cliff overlooking the valley. The wind had picked up but it was still warm, and the horizon glowed pink and orange.

  We sat side by side on a rock, catching our breath. “I’m glad you’re here,” he said after a minute of silence. “Actually, glad isn’t the word.”

  I slipped an arm around his waist. “What’s the word?”

  “Let’s see. Ecstatic. Beside myself.”

  “Beside myself is two words.”

  “Two words that are very accurate.”

  He smiled at me and my heart plummeted to my feet. I was certain that no man had ever looked at me that way. He couldn’t have. Even if someone else had tried, he wasn’t Drex, and only Drex could give me that incredible combination of intense physical chemistry and affection. Together, they felt way too much like love.

  “And what’s your word?” he asked. “I’ve spilled the beans, now it’s your turn.”

  “Word,” I said. “You mean I don’t get two?”

  “You get as many as you want.”

  I watched the sun sink behind the cliffs in the distance and thought hard. One or two words to describe something almost too meaningful to understand.

  “You’re taking your time,” he said. “I’m not sure if I should be flattered or worried.”

  “Flattered,” I said, leaning my head against his shoulder. “Definitely flattered.”

  “I can be very patient,” he said. “You don’t have to tell me right now.”

  “Later will do?”

  “Absolutely, but only if I get something in return.”

  I nudged him. “Why do I have a feeling that something doesn’t involve talking?”

  “You have a very naughty mind,” he said, laughing his deep, contagious laugh. “But I like that about you.”

  “You inspire me. What can I say?”

  As soon as we returned from our walk, Drex lit the lantern and stripped us both naked. I lay next to him on the sleeping bag, staring at what had to be the most beautiful male body on the planet.

  “I like you in a dress and heels,” he said. “But I like you even better the way you are tonight.”

  “Plain Jane?”

  He smiled with only his eyes. “My Jane. There’s nothing in the way of your beautiful skin.”

  His fingers wandered down my rib cage to my hip, where they swirled around in soothing circles.

  “You didn’t like the garter belt and stockings?”

  “I love the garter belt and stockings,” he said. “I just love what’s in front of me right now even more. But there’s one little thing that’s bothering me.”

  “What?”

  “Two little things, actually. Your wrists.”

  “My wrists?” I held them up in the lantern light.

  He pretended to inspect them. “They look a little bare, don’t they? Like they’re missing something?”

  “Missing something?”

  “Definitely. You’ll be glad to know that I brought something to remedy that.”

  I pursed my lips. “Along with the trail map and the corkscrew.”

  “You got it. This fits right in.”

  He reached into a small duffel bag at the foot of the tent and rummaged through it. “Here we are,” he said. “Just the right tool. Or should I say, toy?”

  Eyes glimmering, he held up a pair of silver handcuffs. My stomach dipped. “That doesn’t look like a toy,” I said. “It looks like punishment.”

  “That’s because it is.”

  The chain rattled ominously. “What am I being punished for?”

  “Being too sexy. Put your arms above your head.”

  I was naked and in the middle of nowhere, and refusing a direct order seemed much too risky, not to mention boring. I stretched my arms over my head and let Drex cuff my wrists. I felt the cold metal rub against my wrist bones, and heard the locks click into place. From now until he freed me, I was his helpless captive.

  “I should make you my slave,” he said, testing to make sure the cuffs were secure. “Chain you up in my apartment and keep you at my beck and call.”

  Just the thought of being his slave made me shiver. “What would I do while you’re at work?”

  “I’m serious,” he said. “I want to own you.”

  “Own me?” As I said the words, I wanted them to come true. To be owned by Drex would feel like belonging, to him, to his world. It was all I wanted.

  “You like this?” he asked in a throaty voice. “Knowing I have total control over you?”

  “Yes,” I admitted.

  “Then do as I say and spread your legs,” he said. “Show me what’s mine.”

  Biting my lower lip, I parted my knees. Tonight he was the authority, my boss, and I loved obeying him.

  “Like that?” I whispered.

  “Wider. I want to see it all. Every wet, pink little bit of you.”

  I let my legs fall open. Lantern light spilled across my thighs. I couldn’t imagine feeling more exposed, or wanting a man more.

  “Beautiful,” he muttered. “Such a woman.”

  My body responded by getting even wetter. “You like what you see?”

  “Yes,” he said. “Too much. I should tease you, but I’m impatient tonight. Keep your legs open for me.”

  I pulled my wrists apart just enough to feel how futile it was. There was no escape. I was helpless, a million miles from nowhere, and a very well-endowed man had complete control of me.

  I might as well just relax and really, really enjoy the ride.

  “This might hurt a little,” he said, pressing the tip of cock against me. “But don’t resist.”

  My muscles tensed. “What will happen if I do?”

  A smile flickered over his lips. “The same thing that will happen if you don’t.”

  He entered me in one quick, hard thrust. “Drex,” I gasped, pleasure spreading like a fire through my belly and all the way to my toes. My nipples were as hard as ice.

  His eyes burned into mine. “I’m here,” he said. “And I’m not going anywhere all night.”

  I clenched my fists and the handcuffs rattled. Excited as I was, I could hardly take his full girth and length. “You’re too big for me,” I said.

  “And you love it,” Drex said. “You can’t get enough of that big cock, can you?”

  “No,” I admitted. “It feels so good.”

  “My sweet little girl. You just couldn’t be sexier could you?”

  Raising my arms, I looped my cuffed wrists around his neck and pulled him closer. “Kiss me,” I said, breathless from his long, slow strokes.

  His eyebrows arched. “She gives commands.”

  “A few, maybe.”

  “Not tonight,” he said, pushing himself in so deeply it ached. “Tonight you don’t give commands. You follow them.”

  A coyote howled and the river rushed in the distance. Surely there was an apple of temptation hanging from a tree out there somewhere.

  “What if I say please?” I whispered.

  Drex brushed his lips along the side of my neck, sending a shower of sparks down my spine. “Please helps.�
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  “Please kiss me.”

  “No. Not yet.” Raising his head, he brought his face close to mine. “Feel that?” he said, pushing all the way into me and not withdrawing. “How hard I am inside you?”

  He thrust even deeper, flexing his hips until I was on the razor’s edge of pain and pleasure. “Yes,” I gasped.

  “You can hardly take it all,” he said, brushing his lips teasingly against mine.

  I opened my mouth for a kiss but he shook his head. “I said no, you greedy little girl.”

  “When?”

  “When I say so.” Slowly, he pushed his cock inside me to the hilt, as if to split me in half. “Look at me, Jane. Is that deep enough for you?”

  Though tears stung my eyes, a flame lit in my belly and my legs began to quiver. I was only seconds from coming. Somehow, the hurt made the pleasure even more intense.

  “I love it,” I gasped.

  Just when I thought he couldn’t drive any deeper, he filled me even more. We were one, part of each other forever. I moaned as everything vanished but the sensation of being entered and taken, completely possessed by the man I loved.

  “Come for me,” he whispered in my ear. “Sweet baby, come now.”

  A wave of pure, sensual bliss rolled through me, from my toes to my handcuffs and back again. Every orgasm seemed stronger and more intimate than the last.

  “Drex, please,” I panted, tightening my thighs around his hips.

  “Please?”

  I clutched him against me. “Don’t stop.”

  “Never,” he said. “I’ll always fuck you just like this.”

  Our lips connected in a wet, bruising kiss just when he climaxed. I whimpered into his mouth as he slipped his hot tongue over mine and filled me with his come. It was exactly the kiss I’d wanted, and then some.

  A groan rumbled in his chest and ripped from his throat, and he gripped my waist in his hands. I was completely in his power, and every second was paradise.

  Afterward, we lay on top of the sleeping bags in each other’s arms, listening to the crickets chirp. Drex got up, turned off the lantern, and snuggled in behind me again.

  I thought of my word,” I said sleepily. “You know, from when we were sitting on the cliff earlier?”

  “Yeah,” he said, squeezing me tightly. “What is it?”

  I leaned my head back and whispered in his ear. “Owned.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  In the morning I woke to the smell of coffee, fresh wood smoke, and clean, cool air. It took me a second to realize where I was, but when I did, I knew I was exactly where I wanted to be.

  With Drex. Away from people, responsibilities, and reality. In the cocoon of fantasy we’d created together over the last few weeks.

  After slipping into shorts and a t-shirt, I unzipped the tent and stepped out.

  “Hey, beautiful,” he said, tossing another log onto the fire. “Good morning. I was beginning to think I might be eating breakfast by myself.”

  “It’s your fault,” I said. “You wore me out.”

  “Nothing better than a stack of pancakes to revive you. Coffee?”

  I sat in a sunny spot at the picnic table. “Yes, please, and lots of it.”

  Drex whipped up breakfast over the open fire like a pro, even heating up a small pot of maple syrup. He slid three buttermilk pancakes onto my speckled tin plate, along with four strips of bacon. “Cooked the way I hope you like them, just a little crispy,” he said.

  “Perfect,” I said. “And no one to bother us, which makes it even better.”

  “That’s why I chose this spot,” he said, spreading butter over his pancakes. “In all the years I’ve been coming here, I’ve seen other people maybe once or twice.”

  “How do you know about this place?” I asked.

  “My father brought us a few times when Pierce and I were kids. I used to think he wanted us to camp and have fun, but when I was older I realized he came here to hide out. He always had shady people after him. The police were the least of his problems.”

  I thought of the truck idling outside the house the first night I knew Drex. Maybe Elijah wasn’t the only one who had enemies.

  “Do you think somebody could be after you?” I asked. “When that truck drove up outside Chimayo, you seemed pretty sure it wasn’t a friendly visit.”

  He shrugged. “I can’t be positive, but I have my suspicions.”

  “So, what’s the story?” I said, tearing the crunchy end off a slice of bacon. “What put you on edge that night?”

  He took a long breath and let it out. “You know I played pool, right? And you know I was good at it.”

  “Yes. The videos you showed me are amazing.”

  “Thanks. But I’ve told you I cut a lot of corners when I was younger, and the money I made wasn’t all in competitions and legitimate games. In fact, most of it wasn’t.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It means I won it playing illegally, with the house getting a cut and bookies lending guys cash,” he said, his gaze steady on mine. “Not that I didn’t win it fair and square, but I won it from people who had no business playing against me. College kids. Gambling addicts. Fathers who’d sign over their entire paycheck to me.”

  “Fathers?” I said quietly.

  He shut his eyes for a second and opened them again. “Yeah. Guys who didn’t have much money to start with. And I took it. I was ambitious and determined as hell to crawl out of the life I was born into, but I’m not proud of how I did it. Sometimes I flat hate myself for it. I’d rather be scraping by making an honest living than living with those memories.”

  My heart sank for him. “Sometimes we have to do things to survive.”

  “I was surviving just fine. I wasn’t rich, but I wasn’t starving. The truth is, I wanted to build something big and I needed a lot of cash to do it. If I’d had no investment money of my own, I never would have met the right people.”

  “Or dated a woman like Brooke.”

  An ironic smile flashed across his face. “Yup. I had to look the part and spend the money.”

  “It’s not like you stole it,” I said. “You didn’t force anyone to bet on those games.”

  “But I made them think they could win,” he said, his eyes dim with regret.

  “That’s the psychological part of it, right? Other players do it. If you didn’t, you’d be undermining yourself.”

  “In a competition between well-matched opponents, that’s one thing,” he agreed. “But to fleece guys who are out of their element is another. I made a lot of enemies back then.”

  I swallowed a syrupy bite and sipped my coffee. “And you think one of them might be trying to collect?”

  “I’ve heard rumors to that effect,” he said, turning his mug around and around in his hands. “In Houston I feel pretty untouchable, but in Chimayo it’s a different story. People hold grudges. They remember who they lost money to, and they want it back, especially because they know what I’m worth.”

  “That must weigh on you,” I said.

  If it did, he didn’t show it. “It’s not me I’m worried about right now.”

  It took me a second to realize what he meant. “You’re worried about me?”

  “Of course I’m worried about you. I’d be crazy if I weren’t.”

  “Because of that truck the first night?”

  He wiped his mouth with his napkin. “Maybe they weren’t there for me. You’re not the only person in your past. We don’t know who might be out there, or if they had something to do with what happened to you.”

  “I know,” I said quietly. “I just don’t like to think about it.”

  “No,” he said. “Of course you don’t. I want to protect you from that, but I can’t if I don’t know how you ended up in Chimayo.”

  Wariness trickled through me. “What are you saying?”

  “That I care about you. I’m not trying to push you to do anything. For all we know, you’re safe now and
publicity would put you in danger.”

  “But we don’t know.”

  “Right,” he said. “That’s the dilemma.”

  I shook my head. I didn’t want to think about danger, or publicity, or anything else.

  “We don’t have to solve that dilemma today, do we?” I said, looking at the cloudless sky. “It’s such a beautiful morning, I refuse to.”

  Drex’s eyes brightened. “We couldn’t even if we wanted to. Not out here.”

  “So what can we do? Besides eat more of your addictive pancakes.”

  “Well, let’s see. Hike, fish, pick berries…”

  I got up and walked around to his side of the picnic table. “Pick berries?”

  “Hey, you asked. We can climb trees, lie in the sun…”

  “Get in the tent,” I said, grabbing his hand. “Right now.”

  “Now, come on. You’ve been awake half an hour.”

  Using all of my strength, I pulled him to his feet. “Who said anything about sleeping?”

  “I can’t guarantee I won’t tire you out again.” His grin was infectiously wide and gorgeous.

  “I dare you to try.”

  He reached out and gave me a playful swat on the ass. “I’ll do more than try, I’ll promise you.”

  Pulling his shirt off over his head, he dropped it to the ground and walked out of the campsite. “Hey, where are you going?” I called. “The tent’s that way.”

  “And the river’s this way, Blue Eyes,” he called back. “First we skinny-dip. Then I own you all over again.”

  “One more margarita,” Jane said. “Why not?”

  Two nights later, we sat on the patio of a little Mexican restaurant in a tiny town on the scenic route back to Houston. The moon was full, the air balmy, and the woman across the table too beautiful for words.

  This was as good as it got. Nothing else mattered – the investors I wanted to attract, how fast my company was expanding, the extra padding in my bank account. All of that could vanish and this would still be the best night I’d had in a long time. If not ever.

  If I leaned back in my chair and looked across the town’s main street, I could see our motel, a quiet, one-story place surrounded by golden fields. It was far from elegant, but being there with Jane made it feel glamorous, like something from a 1940’s noir film. Her past was mysterious, mine checkered. Neither of us knew her real name. Now all we needed was a bottle of whiskey and one of my old enemies in the room next door, and we were good to go.