by Ladew, Lisa
He held up a hand. "Whoa. Which nurse are we talking about?"
Mica's face contracted further and Knox immediately realized his mistake. Now she'd peg him as having flirted with more than one nurse.
"The blonde who discharged you."
Knox thought back. He hadn't really noticed her. But he did remember her. He did not remember calling her beautiful, but that didn't matter. It was something he did.
He shook his head slowly. "Mica I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to flirt with her. It's a habit I guess, something I say often, because, well because ..."
He gave in to his urge to tame her unruly curl, lifting his hand to it, thrilled when she didn't pull away from him.
"Because women are so amazing. I mean look at you. Your curves and your contrasts. The way your hair frames your face so perfectly. The pinch of your waist and the spill of your breasts and hips. Women were created to be looked at, admired, adored."
"It's rude," she said, but her voice had softened. "Calling a woman beautiful who you don't know."
Knox did grin at that, dropping his hand. "I've never had a complaint before."
"That's because you're rich, young, and handsome. But it's still rude."
"Really, don't you like it when men call you beautiful?"
Mica's eyes narrowed again and she seemed about to answer, but then she snapped her mouth shut and looked out over his backyard. Her hand snuck absently to Lulu's head and scratched.
She wasn't going to answer that. Ok.
"Mica, I'm sorry you thought I was flirting and I'm sorry I've been doing something rude for so long. I'll break myself of that habit."
Mica's eyes snapped back to him and he saw alarm there, then skepticism. "Don't do it for me," she said, her voice tight.
"I want to do it for you," he said, his voice dropping, his body straining to be close to her. "I want to do anything you ask of me." Knox moved a step closer, then reached up and ran a strand of her hair through his fingers. "I think all women are beautiful, but I've never met anyone as beautiful as you. I've been meaning to tell you that I love the blond hair. It looks amazing on you. And I love your curves now. They flatter you as much as the blonde hair. You were beautiful ten years ago. Now you're a goddess."
Mica pulled her hair out of his grasp and stepped away from him, glaring at him, heat in her eyes. "You're a smooth talker, Knox Rosesson. I've never doubted that. I know they don't name just anybody San Francisco's most eligible bachelor CEO. I've seen your date card. It's excessive."
Knox shook his head. Now they were getting to the meat of this. Now, as the fading sunlight raced from the sky, and the two dogs stood chaperone over them, he would address it, and either she would stay, or she would go. Either way, he would take care of her. But he hoped like hell she stayed.
There was no way past it but through it, and he had always been one to meet his challenges head on. He came right out and asked it bluntly, as was his way.
"Mica, how many women do you think I've slept with?"
Chapter 5
Mica
The question hung in the air and Mica swallowed hard. He had no shame!
She dropped her gaze to the pretty white dog she was petting as she tried to figure out why he would ask such a thing, and if she even wanted to try to answer him.
Knox caught her beneath the chin with a finger and brought her eyes up to his. "I have a better question actually. I get the feeling you think I'm some sort of man-slut, or playboy." His eyes bored into hers, holding her hostage. "How many woman do you think a man would need to sleep with in a lifetime before he leaves the realm of ordinary man and becomes someone disgusting to you? Someone to keep your distance from?"
Mica wet her lower lip, feeling trapped. How did he know exactly what she was thinking and feeling? She pulled away from him and took another step backwards, a slight breeze chilling her. She looked up the driveway at the men working there, well out of earshot, but comforting somehow. She drew strength from them and turned back to him.
"Twenty-five," she said, halving the number that had first popped into her head, then wishing she had made it even lower. Then wishing she hadn't said anything at all. She peeked at Knox through her lashes, wondering where he was going with this.
Knox nodded. "I guess I'm a man-whore then, because I have twenty-three non-disclosure agreements signed upstairs. Did you know I always made the women I brought back to the green room sign them? Is that something the gossip columnists share?" he asked, tilting his face down at Mica. His voice was harsh, and she wasn't sure if he was upset, or embarrassed. He nodded suddenly, then locked eyes with her. "I did. Mostly so no one put me in a book that I didn't want to be in. I also videotaped them. But not so anyone could watch it. Only so no one could accuse me of rape. So over the last ten years, I've had sex with twenty-three women in the green room. The tapes are all upstairs. I'll let you see anything you want, because like I said, I'm done with the green room. Even if you try to walk away from me—from us, that part of my life is over."
Mica kept her hand on the dog, dropping her eyes to the ground. Twenty-three women? That was only a bit over two a year. Which was actually low for man single for so long, she thought. Did she believe him? And why was that part of his life over? Why now?
"I also had a girlfriend from age fifteen to age seventeen, then there was you, then there was Willa, so that makes twenty-six women I've slept with in my life. One more than your number."
Knox stared at her, his hands clenched into fists, his face begging her to say something, anything.
Mica stood her ground, feeling her resolve crumble. She knew who Willa was. His girlfriend of a few years ago. Hearing rumors that they had gotten engaged had almost killed her.
But Mica knew there was one more thing she had to uncover. "Fifteen to seventeen? When we met you were twenty. You didn't have any ... relationships at all for three years?"
Knox shook his head no but his eyes fled hers. They flitted over the security wall, then dropped to the dog. "No, I didn't, he said into the ground. Mica watched him, seeing a sudden vulnerability on his face that she'd never seen before. It made her want to throw her arms around him and kiss his fears away. She held herself back, hyper-aware of her jumbled emotions.
Her hand raised on its own, finding the fabric of his shirt. The drone of the insects in the grass around them faded until all she could hear was the thudding of her own heartbeat in her ears.
"Was there a reason?" she asked lightly, twisting his shirt in her hand, unconsciously pulling him towards her.
"There was," Knox said, his eyes meeting hers again, his voice husky. He leaned towards her, infinitesimally slow. "An awful reason, but I lived through it. I want to share it with you, but not right now."
Mica could understand that. She bit her lip lightly as Knox continued to move towards her, slow enough that she wanted to scream. She jerked on his shirt, knowing she was a goner. But for once, she didn't care. In that moment, she gave herself over to Knox Rosesson. At least for the night. The man she'd known before had been reliable, direct, and trustworthy. She had no reason to believe that part of him had changed.
Knox's right hand came up, twining into her hair. She could see the bandage on his arm flex with the movement and she wanted to ask him if it hurt, but when she looked at his face all she saw was desire and the question vanished out of her mind.
Knox's left hand spanned her waist, sneaking under her shirt to touch the bare skin there. Mica shivered, thinking she might scream if he didn't kiss her. His head dropped to hers, and his body pressed against her, trapping her right arm between them. Finally his lips met hers, and to Mica, it felt like the first time she'd ever kissed a man in her life. His heady, masculine scent threatened to overwhelm her. The rasp of his stubble on her cheeks and chin set her on fire with longing. Her lips parted on their own, letting him in, inviting him in, begging for more of him.
Their tongues met and fire shot down her spine at the connection. With her fre
e hand, she grabbed for his jeans, unaware of anything but the feeling of his skin meeting hers.
Knox stopped her then, pulling away, but staring at her, his forehead touching hers. "Do you trust me?"
"I—I'm willing to try, Knox," she panted, her breath feeling heavy in her throat.
He stared at her, through her, then kissed her again, his eyes still open and devouring her. When their lips touched she let her eyes flutter closed. The sensation consumed her and she wanted to give her all to it.
Both of Knox's hands dropped to her ass and she gasped into his mouth. His touch burned her even through her clothes and she never wanted it to stop.
He curled his hands under her, down to her thighs and picked her up, effortlessly wrapping her legs around his waist. Mica made a small noise of surprise in the back of her throat, loving everything about his strength and his decisiveness. He'd been the same ten years before and she'd never forgotten it. Knox released her lips, bending his head to kiss her neck and look around her at the same time, carrying her to the porch, then up the three stairs and in the door. The dogs followed, noticing nothing out of the ordinary. Mica ran her fingers through Knox's short brown hair, loving the feeling of it. She grabbed an experimental handful and tugged, feeling feral, crazy.
Knox growled and nipped her neck, and then they were inside. He turned and locked the door with Mica still in his arms. "Lulu, Tiny, guard," Knox ordered, and the dogs padded away down the hallway, ears high, eyes alert.
Knox pressed Mica against the wall, finding her mouth again. "I've been dreaming about this for ten years," he growled into her mouth between kisses. Mica tugged his hair harder and pressed her middle against him.
"Me too," she whispered. "I wish I'd been stronger."
Knox made a low sound of satisfaction in the back of his throat at her words. He kissed her deeper, his hands roaming down her torso, finding first one breast then the other, his thumbs teasing her swollen nipples through her shirt. Mica gasped as the sensation shot through her, all the way to her very core, making her pulse with need.
His thumbs moved faster and Mica thought she would drown in it. It was too much. Too much sensation, too much want, too much longing to handle. Knox shifted his weight, lifting his knee between her legs like a kind of chair so his hands were free. He pulled her shirt over her head, then dropped his mouth to her nipples, suckling them right through the lace of her bra. Mica dropped her head back, closing her eyes, giving herself to the sensation.
He would own her body, like she remembered him doing before, and all she could do was hold on for the ride, she knew that. She wanted it. She craved it.
It didn't matter what else was going wrong in her life, because she had Knox back, and tonight was just for the two of them.
Chapter 6
Mica
One of Knox's large hands reached behind her, flicking the clasp of her bra and it popped open. Knox ripped it off her, flinging it to the ground, groaning at the sight of her breasts. Mica opened her eyes, wanting to see what made him make that noise. The look on his face drove her wild. Like she was the only thing on the planet worth looking at. The roughness of his stubble scratched her breast as he teased her nipple with his tongue, making her breath come hard and fast.
Knox tantalized first one breast then the other, as Mica's hands worried his shirt, trying to lift it over his head. Knox propped her up again and took it off, slowly, carefully, then returned to her breasts, working them, worshiping them.
Mica ran her hands over his shoulders, careful to avoid his injury. God, he was sculpted, gorgeous, with just the perfect amount of curly, brown chest hair. She could feel the outline of his cock pressing against her through his jeans and she wanted so badly to touch it, but his angle didn't let her. She ground against it instead, pressing her core to him, telling him how much she wanted him, wanted this, without words.
Knox pulled her away from the wall, lifting her again and carrying her to the spiral staircase on the far side of the room. "Bedroom," he rasped, and she nodded, holding on tight.
He lifted her up every step, carrying her like she weighed too little to be of consequence. Mica heard the click of nails on hardwood floor and peeked around Knox to see Lulu walking the perimeter of the large, open landing. Within an instant Knox was pushing a door open, flicking on a light, and carrying her into what had to be his bedroom. She wondered about the green room for only a moment, half-sad, half-glad that she wouldn't be experiencing that treatment.
Knox placed her gently on the bed, then kicked off his shoes and unbuckled his pants. "You are so gorgeous," he told her, his eyes raking her body, settling on her breasts. Mica's own hands fumbled to the snap of her pants, but stopped there, suddenly shy.
She watched Knox drop his pants to the floor, then dip his thumbs into the waistband of his dark boxers. Mica held her breath, her eyes straining at the bulge behind the whisper of fabric. She'd seen it before, but she'd been young, inexperienced. Could it really be as glorious as she remembered it?
Knox pulled down and his cock popped out of the material, bouncing slightly. The boxers disappeared onto the floor. Mica licked her lips. It was better than she remembered, thick, dark, and long, a drop of clear liquid on its very tip.
"Oh my God," Mica breathed, losing her shyness and ripping the top of her pants open. She wanted to be available for whatever Knox was going to do to her. She pushed her pants down her hips, her eyes still glued to Knox's shaft as he watched her. She imagined she could see it throbbing. She wanted to feel it, touch it, take it in her mouth, take it into her body.
Mica kicked her pants off as Knox started towards her, a wicked look in his eyes. "Pretty Mica," he said. "Tonight you're mine."
She nodded desperately and whimpered in the back of her throat. She wanted nothing less than what his eyes were promising, swearing, threatening.
Knox climbed onto the bed, running a finger lightly over the fabric of her pink panties, making her gasp. He straddled her, grabbing first one of her hands, then the other, raising them over her head and pinning them there. Mica stared at him, feeling open and vulnerable and oh-so-needy.
Knox held her hands over her head and kissed her deeply. He broke the kiss and swung one leg to the side of her, so he was kneeling next to her, then ran his free hand over her bare breasts, her stomach, down to her sex, then back up, his touch maddeningly light, infuriatingly soft. Mica bucked her hips and Knox returned his hands there. "You want me to touch you, pretty girl?"
Mica whimpered and nodded. Knox continued to roam his hands over her hips, only briefly touching the area covered by the scrap of fabric she still wore, instead focusing on her inner thighs, the outline of her panties, even dipping around and grazing between her ass cheeks. Mica sucked in a breath, opening her legs wider, trying to focus him where she wanted him.
"Tell me gorgeous, tell me what you want me to do with you, to you, all over you."
Mica stared at him hard, her brain interrupting her from saying all the things her thoughts were screaming.
Fuck me!
Take me!
Stick your cock in me, please, before I die!
She couldn't do it. Knew he wanted her to, but just couldn't get the words out. Knox's hands stilled, barely moving. He kissed her again, then brought his fingers up to her nipples, pinching almost hard enough to hurt, certainly hard enough to bring exquisite pleasure.
Mica threw her head back and writhed against the bed, mewling noises coming from her throat. Knox dropped his hand again and gently moved her panties aside, dipping his fingers into her wetness, then moving up to her clit, massaging it so gently she couldn't form a coherent thought. His fingers dipped and glided, swirled and stroked. Mica felt the sensations begin to peak for her and she clenched her thighs, moaning.
Knox pulled his fingers away, running them down her inner thighs again, making her scream and raise her head from the bed, trying to pull her hands out of his grasp. She couldn't. He was too strong.
&n
bsp; Knox smiled, an evil smile, as he dropped his head to her neck and kissed her pulse point there. Then he whispered in her ear, "I want you to come, gorgeous. I want you to come so hard you forget your name, but I also want you to let go. You haven't yet. Now beautiful girl, tell me what you want me to do to you and I'll do it, I swear."
Mica glared at him, extreme frustration fueling her words, allowing her to push past her own inhibitions. "I want you to touch me Knox. I want you to fuck me. I want you to own me and I want you to take me in any fucking way you want."
Knox kissed her lips. "Yes, gorgeous, I'll do all of that. But I'm also going to shove my cock down your throat and make you swallow it. Is that something you want?" Mica nodded, her hair flying. God she wanted that gorgeous thing in her mouth. More than she wanted to breathe.
"Say it Mica, say the words for me."
"I want you to shove your cock down my throat, Knox. I want to swallow it." Mica felt her sex throb between her legs with every dirty syllable she spoke and she felt like screaming in frustration. She'd never wanted anything like that before, never talked like that before, never let go so much.
Knox nodded at her indulgently, then took his free hand to his shaft, rubbing it up and down, his hand gliding over the head. "This cock?"
Mica licked her lips, wishing she could touch it, her eyes riveted to it. "Yes, Knox," she whispered. "Your cock. I want your cock in my mouth."
"Anywhere else?" he asked, a wicked smile on his lips.
"In my pussy," she whispered, knowing only that word would do for him.
He nodded again. "Anywhere else?"
Mica stared at him, eyes wide. No. Nowhere else. She didn't want him to tease her anymore but she wouldn't say she wanted that.
Knox chuckled, his eyes still drinking her in. "Just asking, beautiful. Just wanted to be clear on what exactly you're looking for. Things can change in ten years."
His fingers dropped to her sex again, and before Mica knew what was happening, he'd found a sweet, steady rhythm of circling her softest spot that made her eyes roll back in her head. "God, Knox," she moaned, her eyes drifting closed as a peak built inside her. Her thoughts ceased as the peak broke and wave after wave of ecstasy flooded through her, causing her to lose all sense of time and self. She moaned and cried out, unable to restrain herself, the thick ropes of pleasure slamming into her, forcing out the noises.