by Tia Wylder
“Oh yeah?” Barnes growled. He put his hands on my waist and pulled me close, kissing me passionately. When I felt the muscular bulk of his body pressing against mine, I swooned in his arms. Barnes slipped his tongue into my mouth and nibbled my lower lip, sending waves of pleasure and arousal rushing through my body. I moaned softly as Barnes slid his hands down to my ass and squeezed, hard enough to make me whimper. Inside my panties, my pussy was swollen and throbbing and I desperately wanted Barnes to take me, right then and there.
When Barnes broke the kiss and pulled away, I was shaking with desire. He took my hand and lifted it to his mouth, kissing my palm.
“So, how was that?” Barnes asked. He smirked.
I was glad for the dark night – I didn’t want him to see me blushing.
“It was perfect,” I said softly. “Absolutely perfect.”
The limo pulled up to the curb and Barnes helped me inside. As soon as we were enclosed in the private, dark space of the car, I slipped onto Barnes’s lap and straddled his legs with my own. Barnes groaned in response, and I could feel that his cock was hard inside his trousers. Feeling his own arousal set me off even further, and I pressed my lips to his in a desperate, passionate kiss.
“God,” Barnes grunted, pulling away. He nuzzled my neck, pushing my head to the side and nipping at the tender skin. When I felt his tongue licking a long, wet stripe down the side of my neck, I shuddered. The silk cocktail dress was low-cut, and Barnes pressed his face into my cleavage. He gently bit and sucked at my breasts, lifting them one by one. Barnes took one of my stiff nipples into his mouth, rolling his tongue over the swollen, sensitive area until I was moaning and shaking. I tangled my hands in his dark hair and yanked at his scalp until he bit me again, so hard that it almost hurt. The pain mingled with the pleasure rushing through my body and soon I was grinding my pelvis against Barnes’s lap, desperate for contact with his cock.
“You’re so hot,” Barnes whispered. He pulled his head away from my breasts and looked up at me. Without breaking eye contact, he stuck out his tongue and swirled it sensuously around my other nipple. Barnes used his free hand to pinch and roll my other nipple in his fingers while he bit and sucked. The sensation was heavenly. I shuddered and arched my back, pressing my body against Barnes.
That wasn’t enough – I wanted to touch him, I wanted to feel him with my own hands and mouth. As carefully as I could in the moving limo, I crawled off of Barnes’s lap and onto the floor, pushing his thighs apart and kneeling between them. Barnes groaned as I rubbed my hand over his cock through the thin material of his pants. He shuddered and gasped, bucking his pelvis against my hand.
“I want to touch you,” I said softly. I fumbled Barnes’s belt and trousers, pulling them down his hips. His cock sprang free, and I licked my lips, leaning forward and taking the first couple inches inside my mouth.
Barnes groaned with pleasure. He put his hands in my hair and pushed his hips forward until my mouth was almost all the way down his fat, hard shaft. I’d never thought that giving head could be sexy – after all, this was my first time – but suddenly, I understood why women enjoyed it. It was more than just sex.
It was power. I held Barnes in my mouth and hands, and he was trusting me to pleasure him, trusting me not to hurt him. As I sucked and swirled my tongue around the head of his cock, I wrapped my hand around the shaft and began pumping up and down. Barnes’s ecstatic reaction was immediate. He grunted and rasped with pleasure, groaning my name with every thrust of his cock into my mouth. Before I knew it, something hot and salty gushed over my tongue, and I swallowed, pulling away and wiping my mouth with the back of my hand.
“God,” Barnes said, flopping against the seat. “That was incredible.” He looked at me and smirked. “Thank you.”
I leaned in for a kiss. Barnes pulled me close, and I crawled back up on the seat and rested my head on his shoulder.
“You know what?” I asked, gazing up at Barnes and smirking.
“No, what?”
“Now you totally have to buy the car,” I said teasingly. “Because no one else is going to want it after that.”
Dipping his face to mine, Barnes kissed me softly. “Well, then, I guess that’s what I’ll do,” he murmured in a husky whisper. “Anything to make you happy.”
Chapter 8
Barnes
I couldn’t believe it – just a couple of weeks in LA, and I was feeling like a new man. I had a new job, a new woman in my life, and an unbelievable sense of energy and reinvigoration that was like nothing I’d ever felt. I hadn’t even felt this good in college, and that had been almost two decades ago.
That night, I took Gianna out dancing at a fancy club, then for a late-night meal at a posh steakhouse. Seated across from me with her long red hair in a high bun and her cheeks glowing pink from the dancing, I realized that I was falling in love.
“Tell me about your family,” I said, taking my glass of wine in one hand. “What are they like?”
Gianna made a face. “Nothing to talk about, really,” she said. She sighed.
“Oh, I’m interested.”
Gianna wrinkled her nose. “You shouldn’t be,” she said. “They’re just the typical overprotective American parents.”
I snorted. “I have a hard time believing that when they raised such a wonderful daughter,” I said.
Gianna rolled her eyes. “I don’t know,” she said. “I mean, when I was growing up, I was close to my mom. But all she cares about is appearances, and charity balls. They basically treated me like a prisoner in my own house, like I was made of glass or something. It was seriously awful. I couldn’t even spend the night with my best friend without fending off an argument.”
“Really?” I frowned. “That’s surprising.”
Gianna laughed, but she didn’t sound amused. “Why?”
I shrugged and took another long sip of wine. “Because, you’re a smart, strong, independent woman.” I glanced at her – the poised way she was sitting and looking at me like I was actually a man deserving of such beauty. “And I have a hard time believing your parents would’ve tried to suppress that.”
“They did,” Gianna said. “My younger sister, Diane, is dealing with the same shit now. She’s only twenty-one, and she’s got a lot more ahead of her…at least, unless she gets married.” A sour look came over Gianna’s face, and she reached for the bottle of wine, filling her glass nearly to the brim.
“That’s a little young to get married,” I said.
“Yeah, but if she doesn’t get married, she can’t move out. And ever since…” Gianna trailed off and flushed.
“Ever since what?”
“So, I sort of took money from my account without telling my parents,” Gianna said. She gave me a guilty look. “I mean, it was mine and all. When I was born, It was given to me by my grandparents. But their names were on the account, too. I lied to the bank.”
I burst out laughing, and Gianna glared. “What?” I asked innocently. “What did you think I was going to say?”
Gianna shrugged. After a few seconds, her frown melted and she giggled. “I know, it sounds like something a crazy person would do…but maybe I am crazy. I ran away from home.”
“You’re twenty-five,” I pointed out. “It’s not like you were held in some high tower, like Rapunzel. You’re a legal adult – and your sister is, too.”
Gianna snorted. “I always forget you’re a lawyer,” she said, tossing her head. “And it wasn’t like that. We had security cameras, motion-sensing lights…the works. Just leaving the house for a couple of hours always felt like a major coup.”
I stared. “I can’t believe that,” I said. “I mean, I believe you – of course. I just…what the hell were your parents thinking? What was the logic of keeping you and your sister locked up like that?”
Gianna shrugged. “Honestly, I wish I knew,” she said. She sighed. “The plan was for me to marry some old stuffy family friend of theirs – some old man, that I�
��d never even met. And I kept putting it off, which was actually easy…he never showed, either, so it wasn’t like I was actually worried about it. But the years kept passing, and I guess my parents never gave up hope that I’d respect their wishes.”
“And what about your sister?”
“I don’t know,” Gianna said. “She was never the type to want independence, at least not the same way that I did. I don’t know what’s going to happen to Diane. I told her that I’d send for her and that she could come out here and live with me, but I don’t know.”
“Why not?” I frowned. “Aren’t you close?”
“We should be,” Gianna replied. There was a trace of guilt in her voice. “But four years felt like such a big gap when I was growing up. She always seemed so much younger than me – like a baby, you know? And when we got older, she clung to Mom and Dad like she was still a girl.”
“I see,” I said quietly.
“But I’m happy now,” Gianna said. She reached across the table and put her hand on mine.
“And I want to hear more about you.”
I laughed. “There isn’t much to tell. I’m thirty-seven, and I’ve never been married. Hell, I haven’t even been engaged.”
“That’s hard to believe,” Gianna said slowly. She bit her lip. “You’re a great catch, Barnes. Any woman would be lucky to have you.”
I snorted. “I’m a workaholic who chose a career over having relationships. You think that makes me a great catch?”
Gianna laughed. I was relieved to hear that she sounded much more relaxed than she’d sounded a few minutes ago when we’d been discussing her family.
“Yeah,” Gianna said softly. She reached under the table and put her hand on my thigh. Even though it was more comforting than sexual, I still felt a powerful wave of desire crashing over my body at the warmth radiating from her palm.
“Well, then I guess you’re one lucky woman,” I said with a smirk. “More wine?”
Gianna nodded. “You must have friends,” she said. “What are they doing now?”
“My best friend, Jack, and his wife just had their first child,” I said. “He was sort of like me – a late-bloomer when it comes to relationships. But he’s really happy now, and I’m happy for him.”
“That does sound nice,” Gianna said. She smiled. “My best friend got married a week or so ago, back home in Boston. Her name is Jessica – I was supposed to be a bridesmaid.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re here instead,” I said.
Gianna nodded. “Me, too,” she replied. “But I think Jessica was pretty angry with me.” She sighed. “I wish I could make her understand – hell, I wasn’t even allowed to go to college! And Jessica just acted like I was spoiled and bratty because I couldn’t ever stay out late or go on vacation with her.”
“So, you’ve never really gone for a vacation?”
“Not without my parents,” Gianna said drily. “So, no, I guess. I haven’t.”
“We should take a trip,” I said impulsively. “What do you think about that?”
Gianna grinned. “That sounds perfect. But what about Heaven Cove?” She pulled out her phone and flipped through her calendar. “I’m working every day next week, and after that, too.”
“I’m the director,” I said with a smug grin. “I could find a way to write you off the show.”
Gianna frowned. “Well, I don’t want that,” she said. She bit her lip. “I’m really enjoying it.”
I laughed. “Okay. Well, how about this – let’s take a weekend trip somewhere, you know – somewhere almost local where we could drive?”
Gianna relaxed against the back of the booth. She took her hand away from my thigh and reached across the table to hold my hand. “That sounds perfect,” she said quietly. “I’d really like that.” She grinned. “Hey, could we go to Vegas?”
I snorted. “Really?”
“Well, yeah,” Gianna said. She sounded almost hurt. “I mean, I’ve obviously never been…and it’s always looked like it would be kind of fun, don’t you think?”
“Hey, baby,” I said with a grin. “If you want Vegas, let’s do Vegas. And we’ll do it right – stay in the biggest hotel, play the biggest casino…we could even go to a show if you want.”
“Oh, I want everything,” Gianna said. She took a sip of wine and sighed. “I really do, Barnes. I can’t believe I’m saying this – it makes me sound so naïve – but I feel like I’m eighteen, or something. I feel like I wasted so much of my life waiting for it to change without ever taking control of my own destiny.”
“I’m glad you feel that way,” I said. “Because honestly, I do, too. And I don’t mean to sound patronizing because I know I’m so much older than you, but I think being here and meeting you has changed my life in a way that I would never have thought possible.”
Gianna smiled and sighed happily. “I know exactly what you mean,” she said. She rubbed her thumb on the back of my hand. “And it’s perfect.”
Just as I was about to lean across the table and kiss her, Gianna’s phone buzzed. She glanced down at the screen and gave me a guilty look.
“I hate to be rude,” she said, picking up her phone. “But do you mind if I take this? Eric keeps calling from different numbers, and if it’s something about the show, I don’t want to miss his call.”
“Of course,” I said.
Gianna flashed me a grateful smile. “Thanks.” She swiped open the call and held it to her ear. “Hello?”
I watched in silence as Gianna’s smile faded. I could hear the faint, tinny sound of a voice on the other end of the line but there was just enough ambient noise in the restaurant to make the words sound like a blur. Gianna’s expression grew steadily more horrified by the second, and after only a few moments, she gasped and threw the phone down on the table.
“I’m going to guess that wasn’t Eric,” I said slowly. “Is everything okay?”
“No,” Gianna said in a shaky voice. “Nothing is okay.”
“Gianna, what happened,” I said urgently. “Tell me – I can help you.”
When Gianna looked into my eyes, I saw that she was about to cry. “I think my family sent someone after me,” she said softly. “And they’re threatening me – blackmail, kidnapping…” She trailed off, gnawing fiercely at her lip. “Oh, Barnes, I don’t know what to do.”
I got up from my side of the booth and pulled her into my arms.
“It’s okay,” I said softly as I stroked her hair. “We’ll figure something out.”
That night, I took Gianna back to my condo. I stayed with her all night – even waiting outside the bathroom at her request as she peed. And in the morning, I knew I had a solution.
“How are you feeling?” I asked Gianna. I passed her a cup of coffee. “I made this for you.”
Gianna smiled weakly. “Not good,” she said softly.
“Well, that’s about to change, I hope,” I said. “Because until we get this mess straightened out, you’re moving in with me.”
Chapter 9
Gianna
“What?” My jaw dropped. “Barnes, you can’t possibly be serious!”
Barnes narrowed his eyes. “Of course I’m serious,” he said. “Gianna, I know how independent you are, but this is dangerous – what if something happens to you? I’d never forgive myself,” he added passionately.
I flushed. As shocked – and surprised – as I was feeling, I couldn’t deny that Barnes’s words made me feel something I’d never felt before in my life.
“Really?” I asked in a small voice. “You mean that?”
“Of course I do,” Barnes said. “Gianna, don’t you know how important you are to me?”
I bit my lip and leaned back against the leather booth. As scared as I was feeling, knowing that I was with Barnes made me feel safer. This is ridiculous, I thought as I looked down at my hands. I barely know him! How could I be falling in love?
Although I’d never been in a relationship – or even dated an
yone other than Barnes – I somehow knew this wasn’t the normal trajectory. In all of the books that I’d read and movies that I’d watched, it seemed that true love wasn’t something that happened overnight…or within a short timespan at all. And yet, looking at Barnes, I knew that I was feeling something deeper than a mere crush.
“I think so,” I said softly. “At least, I’m starting to.”
“Please, Gianna,” Barnes said. “At least, please consider it.”
“I will.” I reached for my glass of wine and took a long sip, wondering what I should do. I tried to think of Jessica and Diane – if they were faced with such similar hard decisions, which choice would they make?