The thought drifted through my head like smoke, but I let it dissipate. Of course he would, but I couldn’t think about that now. Not with his hands on me and the pleasure that was gradually building.
‘Why didn’t you tell me you were a virgin?’ The finger between my legs was stroking slowly, sliding over my slippery flesh and finding the entrance to my body, teasing me. ‘I would have been more careful with you.’
‘Because...’ I gasped as he slid his finger inside me, making me arch against his hand.
‘Because?’
‘I thought...you might stop. And I didn’t want you to.’ It wasn’t the entire truth, but it was all my brain was capable of.
‘Bad girl.’ The hand on my breast tightened, his fingers pinching my nipple harder, scattering bright sparks of pleasure through me. ‘You need to tell me about this stuff. I want it to be good for you, understand?’
But my brain was starting to lose the capacity to listen, let alone understand.
‘Damian.’ His name escaped on a ragged breath as I shuddered against him.
‘What? You want more?’ His teeth closed around the cords of my neck, biting down gently, making me gasp. ‘You want me to fuck you, is that what you’re trying to say?’
‘Yes.’ The word escaped on a hiss as he bit me again, his finger sliding out then into me in a long, slow glide. I didn’t even have to think about it, my body was aching for him. ‘Oh, please...’
‘But that’s not the real question. The real question you should be asking is whether you’ve answered all the questions to my satisfaction.’ He worked me with his finger and then added another, stretching me lightly as he kissed and nipped my neck and shoulder. ‘And I’m not sure that you have.’
‘Stop.’ I groaned as his other hand tortured my aching nipple. ‘Talking.’
He laughed again, his hands reducing me to a trembling, gasping mess. ‘I said you couldn’t come until you answered my questions.’
But I could feel the demand rising in me and I didn’t fight it, grinding my butt against his hard groin in response, turning his laugh into a curse then a growl. He propelled me forward to the huge windows that looked out over office towers and apartment blocks, the teeming traffic and crowds far below, and I shook as he gently pressed me face-first against the window, the glass cool against my burning skin.
‘But I want to see you,’ I protested as I looked out over Kowloon, suddenly feeling exposed. When I’d realised I wanted to be seen, I hadn’t meant pressed up against a window naked in full view of all of Hong Kong.
But then he was behind me, a wall of heat as he pressed his body up against the length of mine. ‘The window is reflective. No one can see in, I promise.’ His hands ran lightly down my sides, making goose bumps rise all over me, and I groaned, shifting against him. ‘Restless, Sugar? You’re so watchful and still, but you’re not really, are you? Not when you want me.’
No, I wasn’t still now. I was hot, desperate, needy. All the things that I couldn’t be in the kind of business I was in. All the things I wasn’t allowed to be.
And right now I didn’t care. The only thing that mattered was him and his hands on my body.
‘Damian...’ I gasped, squirming against the window, the heat of my skin causing condensation to bead against the glass. ‘Turn me around. I want to look at you.’
‘Demanding, too.’ He pressed harder against me. ‘Why? Have you forgotten what I look like?’ His teeth scraped gently over the sensitive part of my neck where it met my shoulder and I shuddered. ‘Do you want me to remind you?’
He was teasing me, the bastard, and part of me liked it. ‘Please...’ I groaned as he bit me, arching. ‘Please, Damian...’
‘Fuck,’ he muttered as my butt came into contact with his hard cock. ‘You do present a powerful argument, I have to admit.’
His hands firmed and I was spun around, the glass against my back and him in front of me. He was over six foot of pure muscle, the silver ring in his eyebrow echoing the gleam of his eyes, which had gone molten with desire.
I reached for him, wanting to see the bright inks on his skin, wanting all the colour and life and heat that he represented. Wanting to touch it, get it on me somehow. Wanting to take it for myself.
And he seemed to understand because his hand dropped to his fly and he was undoing the button and zip of his jeans, getting that magnificent cock of his out. I touched him, traced the ink of his tattoo as he got a condom out and sheathed himself, his skin so hot he burned.
He’d gone quiet, the way he had last night, the lines of his face hard, no amusement there now. Only pure masculine desire.
He reached for me, gripping me as he lifted me against the window with pathetic ease, and then he was pushing inside me, the stretch of his cock making me shudder and both of us groan.
But he didn’t move, not quite yet. Instead, his gaze dropped to the jewels around my neck before rising again to my face, looking deeply into my eyes. And the sense of exposure returned. Only it wasn’t the city and the stares of unknown strangers that I was afraid of.
It was him and his silver gaze scanning the contents of my soul.
He wasn’t going to forget me the way I’d hoped; I could feel it in my bones. Yet it wasn’t that which made me feel afraid.
No, it’s the opposite. You’re afraid he’ll discover that he was wrong; that there’s nothing so very remarkable about you after all.
But I shoved the thought away, reaching for him, burying my hands in his black hair and pulling his head down, kissing him hungrily.
And he let me. He knew I was hiding, I was sure of it, but he didn’t protest. He only kissed me back, just as hungry and desperate as I was.
Then his hips flexed and he was moving inside me, hard, deep. Driving me back against the glass, every thrust sending brilliant, electric shocks of pleasure through me. I gripped his hair tight, groaning as he kept me pinned against the glass before reaching down and hauling one of my legs around his waist, opening me up so he could slide deeper.
God, it felt so good.
I might not have been anything very special, but right now, in his arms, I felt as though I was. I felt brilliant and beautiful. Sexy. Interesting. All the things I’d never thought about myself, but somehow still secretly wished I was.
He made me feel these things. It was all him.
That should have been a warning then and there and I should have stopped it. But I didn’t. I wanted to take what he was giving me, so I did.
And he gave me more, his mouth finding my nipple, sucking and biting it gently, teasing it with his tongue, making me pant and moan as he thrust steadily into me. Making me glitter and sparkle with pleasure, blazing as bright as the jewels around my neck.
Until I shattered, turning my face against his warm neck and sobbing.
CHAPTER TEN
Damian
THEA SAT AT the breakfast bar in the kitchen of my apartment, dressed once more in my black shirt, the Red Queen glittering around her neck.
It was possibly a mistake to let her keep wearing the necklace, but I liked the red glitter of the rubies on her skin. She could of course disappear on me, taking the necklace with her, but I was taking the chance that she wouldn’t.
Not after the way she’d come apart against the glass in my office so spectacularly. And probably not after she’d answered all my questions with what I thought was the truth.
The real issue right now though was that the answers should have satisfied my curiosity. Should certainly have helped me make a decision about where to go from here. But they hadn’t. If anything, they’d only made me more curious, which I really didn’t want to be. Not to mention more possessive, which was another thing I didn’t want to be.
It was more comfortable not to be interested, and way more comfortable not to give a shit, and yet here I was, standing in my kit
chen with her dressed in my shirt, wearing my jewels, and all ready to eat the breakfast my housekeeper had prepared. Again, potentially concerning.
Or at least it would have been if it was possible for a pretty little thief to be a threat to my emotional wellbeing. And, as it wasn’t possible, I shouldn’t be concerned.
So I wasn’t. But curious? Oh, yeah, still fucking curious.
How had she got into the ‘reacquisition business’ or whatever the hell she’d called it? And why? It sounded shady as shit to me, yet I didn’t sense anything shady about her.
No, the only thing I’d got from her was hunger. For me.
When I’d turned her around against the glass in my office, she’d looked at me as if she was starving and only I could feed her. And I had the sense that her hunger went beyond physical need. That it was something deeper, though I wasn’t sure what.
Dangerous fucking territory, bro.
No, it wasn’t, not if I didn’t want it to be, and I sure as hell didn’t. If she was hungry for something more than sex then she was shit out of luck, because sex was all I had to give anyone. A bit of pleasure, fun and a bit of luxury; that was it.
Anyway, even if I’d had something more to give, I wouldn’t. Not when I’d only just met her and knew exactly zero about her.
The breakfast my housekeeper had left me on the counter consisted of bowls of fruit and yoghurt, bacon and my favourite, scrambled eggs and toast.
I put some food on a plate for Thea, spooning out some scrambled eggs, and she watched me with those beautiful dark eyes as I did so, not saying a word. For some reason, I didn’t feel the need to say anything either.
A silence fell and it wasn’t uncomfortable. It was...restful, which I hadn’t expected. Every day I was surrounded by people and noise, bright colours and sparkle, the frenetic pace that was doing business at Black and White, and normally I preferred it that way.
I’d always liked the sense of moving forward, away from the memories of my happy, pretty mother slowly wasting away from her battle with cancer, taking all the joy and sparkle from my life with her.
So many clear, vivid memories. Memories that would never fade.
Of her laughter disappearing. Her smiles vanishing. Of Morgan, who’d been such a happy little thing, getting more and more anxious. More and more frightened. And Mum telling me it was up to me now to look after her, to be the light in her life. Up to me to make things less terrible, less awful.
Because I was the serious one. The dependable one.
So I’d helped her; I’d saved her from pain. And I’d done my best to look after Morgan. Tried not to be so serious, to make her laugh, to make her believe that there were good things left in the world.
Never again, though. I was never going to be responsible for another person’s happiness, another person’s entire life, ever again.
So I avoided silence, because silence only made me think, and I didn’t fucking want to think. Parties, music, talking and laughing. And sex. Yeah, bring that shit on.
Yet right now, in my kitchen, there was no noise, only silence and calm, and it seemed to radiate from her. And, weirdly, it didn’t make me think about the past. It only made me focus on her instead.
I pushed the plate in her direction. ‘Eat, Sugar. You probably need it.’
She stared at me a second then picked up a fork and pulled the plate close, taking a bite of the eggs. Something tightened in my chest—the protectiveness that I tried to keep locked away.
Don’t let it get to you, dickhead.
I wouldn’t. I might have those feelings, but they didn’t have to mean anything if I didn’t want them to. And I didn’t want them to.
Picking up a bowl of fruit, I leaned against the counter and stuck a fork into a piece of mango.
The silence deepened and I let it rest for a while, trying to ignore my nagging curiosity. But I was too impatient to let it go on for long.
‘You said the Red Queen was stolen?’ I asked eventually.
‘Yes, but, like I told you, I operate through an intermediary and we don’t get any of the details or reasons, or even the name of the person who requests it. We just get the request for acquisition.’
So, I wasn’t going to be able to follow up on that. How annoying.
I shifted against the counter. ‘So, this reacquisition business...how does it actually work?’
Thea chewed slowly on her mouthful then swallowed. ‘It was my mentor’s business. The police aren’t so much concerned with retrieving stolen items as they are with putting those responsible in prison, which means the owners of the items often don’t get them back. Also, there are some people who don’t want the police involved at all, they simply want their items returned.’ She speared more eggs with her fork. ‘We don’t have anything to do with the client and they don’t have anything to do with us. That way, everyone remains safe.’
‘Sounds like a useful kind of business. At least until you get caught.’
Thea swallowed her eggs. ‘I’ve never been caught.’
I lifted a brow, surprised. ‘Never?’
‘No.’ Her dark eyes gave absolutely nothing away. ‘It wouldn’t be good for business if I was.’
‘True.’ I stared back at her, fascinated. ‘You must be very good at it.’
‘I am,’ she said simply. ‘I’ve been doing it for nearly eight years.’
Holy shit.
This small, curvy little woman, sitting there naked apart from the jewels around her neck and the black cotton of my shirt, her skin glowing in the light coming through the windows and looking like some kind of angel, had apparently been slipping in and out of people’s houses and vaults, ‘reacquiring’ various items, and all without being caught. For eight years.
‘Except I caught you,’ I couldn’t help pointing out, feeling vaguely triumphant about it, though I wasn’t sure why.
Her mouth firmed. ‘I was careless.’
‘Or maybe you wanted to be caught.’
‘Why would I want that?’
‘Because you saw me.’ I grinned, flirting with her, wanting to see her smile. ‘I am, after all, pretty fucking amazing.’
Sure enough, her mouth twitched, which I counted a victory. ‘That’s not arrogant at all.’
‘Kind of comes with the billionaire territory.’ I ate another piece of mango, not missing the way her gaze dropped to my mouth. The chemistry between us flared, but as much as I wanted to spread her out over the breakfast bar and feast on her naked body, I needed answers more.
‘Sugar,’ I said, ‘you’re going to have to stop looking at me like that. Especially since I think we both need some recovery time.’
Colour stained her cheekbones, her lashes fluttering as she looked away. ‘Sorry,’ she muttered.
‘I’m not. But, since I’m guessing you didn’t have any dinner last night, and as we’ve done a lot of physical activity since then, you need to eat.’
She didn’t protest, dutifully finishing up her eggs then the bacon, then reaching for a bowl of fruit and yoghurt.
Satisfied she’d had something, I went back to my questions. ‘So how did you get into this business, then? You mentioned a mentor...’
The corners of her eyes tightened minutely; if I hadn’t been watching her, I’d have missed it.
‘Why do you want to know?’
I tried to figure out the undercurrents in her voice, because they were there—I could hear them. And that tightness around her eyes...
She didn’t like the question. But why not? Was it painful for her?
Why the fuck do you want to know? You’ve got the answers that matter already. Time to get rid of her before Everett figures out there’s been a security breach and goes after her.
That would have been the smart thing to do. Yet I didn’t want to do it.
There
was something about her that reached out and gripped me by the throat. Something to do with her physical hunger for me, plus the odd sense of vulnerability I got from her. Whatever it was, it made the latent protective instincts, that I thought I’d managed to get rid of the day I’d sent Morgan away, sit up and take notice.
Which was a complication I didn’t need.
I shifted against the counter, ignoring the logical part of my brain nagging at me to call Everett.
‘Why do I want to know?’ I echoed. ‘Because I’m interested.’
‘Why? So you can shut my business down?’
‘Your business? What about this mentor that you mentioned?’
Something flickered through her eyes. ‘He’s gone,’ she said flatly. ‘It’s my business now and I’m not putting it at risk simply because you’re “interested”.’
I studied her for a moment. Looked as though I’d hit a nerve. And maybe more than a nerve. That had been pain in her eyes; I was sure of it.
‘I’m not going to go to the authorities, Thea,’ I said. Hell, I’d already made the decision that I wouldn’t even before I’d taken her to bed the night before. ‘No matter what you tell me.’
Her gaze narrowed. ‘So what are you going to do with me, then?’
That was the sixty-four-million-dollar question, wasn’t it? I could let her go, but that wouldn’t change the fact that she’d got past my security systems and knew the layout of my place. Plus, I had the suspicion that if I did let her out of my sight I wouldn’t see her again.
That’s probably a good thing.
But was it? Our chemistry still hummed in the air between us and I wasn’t done exploring that. What could keeping her a few days hurt, if she was willing? It would satisfy us both, and with the upcoming launch of the Black and White Foundation, and the fact that I was going to have to go to London and see Morgan in a few days, I was certainly in need of some distraction.
And Thea would make for one hell of a distraction. She was like a mysterious present I wanted to unwrap slowly, uncovering her a bit at a time to tantalise myself. And then, once my curiosity about her was satisfied and our physical hunger for each other dealt with, we could both move on.
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