by Calinda B
“I don’t know you yet.”
“Wrong answer.” He grazed the side of her neck with his teeth. “I want you all to myself.” He bit her lightly.
She let out a short gasp.
“I’m going to possess you.” He nibbled and kissed her neck before sucking deeply, drawing her flesh into his mouth.
She moaned.
He released it with a pop. “I’m going to consume you. But only if you give me my rights.” He fingered the red mark left behind before looking into her eyes. “Will you grant me exclusive rights, Zoé Dubois?”
“Yes, Jace,” she said, returning the gaze. “Exclusive rights. I’m a one man woman.”
Fuck. He brought his lips so close to hers he felt her warm breath puffing against his lips. He savored the heat rolling off her body and the feeling of being pressed against her. “We’d better go,” he said softly into her mouth. “We don’t want to be late.” He drew away from her, smiling at the look of frustration she bore. “Don’t forget your promise.” Then he took her hand and led her outside to his Grievous Angel.
Chapter 9
Zoé clung to Jace’s chest, her hips and thighs pressed into his, as they zipped along the road on his hot as shit Angel. Exclusive rights? He insisted on exclusive rights, even before we’d done anything? And then, when I said yes, he walked away from me, leaving me wanting? Oh, this man is going to crush my heart.
Jace kept steady contact with her, stroking her leg with his leather gloved hand, or pressing his arm against hers, wrapped firmly around his solid chest, when he wasn’t occupied with driving. The vibration of the motorcycle kept a steady hum against her core, stirring her to a dissatisfied frenzy. She wanted nothing more than to flip him on his back, climb on top and invite him in to satisfy the hunger he’d created.
When they got to her dad’s, Jace flipped down the kickstand and waited for her to get off the bike. He swung a long leg over the Deus, removed his helmet and shook out his hair, like he was the lead model in a shampoo commercial. “Did you like that ride?” he asked, grinning at her.
“Yeah, it was fun.” She fluffed her hair, squashed flat from the head protector. “But, honestly, Jace. Exclusive…”
“Good,” he said interrupting. “There will be more where that came from. Wait until I take you out on vast stretches of highway, open up the throttle and we fly.” He slung an arm around her and guided her up the sidewalk.
“You’re awfully presumptuous, Jace Savage.”
“I know what you want,” he said, smiling seductively.
“Stop with the bulldozer,” she protested.
“Vroom, vroom,” he joked. “I never got the hang of these brakes. Are they even capable of stopping, once they’re put in gear?”
She let out a short laugh. “Honestly.” At the door, she shrugged free of his embrace to look presentable to her dad.
When her father opened the door, his aging, handsome face looking groomed, hair combed back, his eyebrows rose when he saw Jace. “Oh! I didn’t know you’d bring a date.”
“You said I could bring someone.”
“I did, true. But you said…”
“So, Dad, this is Jace” she said, cutting him off. “Jace, this is my dad, Alex Dubois.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Jace said, extending his hand to her father.
Okay, manners. That’s a plus.
“Pleasure’s all mine. I didn’t know my girl was dating anyone.” He smiled at Jace.
“She is. She’s already granted me exclusive rights.” He laughed as if it were a joke.
“Oh?” her father said.
Her face grew crimson. The constant state of embarrassment already felt like a theme with him. They followed her dad into the front room and she hissed, “Rights can be revoked, you know.”
He snaked a finger up her spine, making her shiver. Leaning close to her ear, he said, “Not if you know what’s good for you.”
Her core throbbed in response. Damn him.
Her father stopped them in the kitchen, saying, “What would you like to drink, Jace? I’ve got beer, wine, ice tea, and soda.”
“Beer’s fine. You, baby?”
Again with the familiarity. “You know me, Dad. I’ll take a cold one. Make sure Jace’s is ice cold, too. He needs to cool down. He’s been driving hard all afternoon.” She smiled sweetly at Jace.
He chuckled.
The bastard.
Alex eyed the two of them quizzically. “All right, two beers coming up. Why don’t you show Jace where the patio is? I’ll bring the beverages out. Linda’s already out there with snacks.”
She led Jace through the back porch, stopping before they went outside. “You’re being awfully familiar with me.”
“You granted rights. I take my rights seriously.” He flashed a playful, mocking grin at her.
“I told you, rights can be revoked.”
“And I told you, you really don’t want to revoke them. Not if you knew how good I’ll make you feel.”
Damn, damn, damn! She made a frustrated little growl.
“Wet again, are we?”
“Stop it! We’re at my father’s. You’re impossible!”
“Totally within the realm of possibilities, I assure you. At least where you’re involved. I enjoy you, Zoé.”
The way he looked at her made her all melty inside, a tempestuous pool of want. Any reason or good sense she possessed simply vanished in his presence, quashed by her desire. Her lips parted as she stared at him. “You’re going to be like this all day, aren’t you?”
“What, like this?” He reached for her, placing his mouth on hers, soft, warm and sensuous.
Her bones liquefied as he kissed her, her knees buckled, any protest she might want to make suddenly sucked from her mind by this handsome, sexy as hell man.
“Ahem.” Her father cleared his throat from the doorway.
She quickly pulled away, turning fifty shades of crimson. “Oh. Sorry, Dad.”
“Apologies, sir. We were just kissing and making up,” Jace said.
“I see,” Alex said, his expression unreadable. “It looked like you had a lot to make up for.”
She whirled and stomped out onto the deck.
“She’s a little testy,” Jace said. “It’s the newness of our connection. It will all sort itself out.”
“I have no doubt,” her dad said in a deadpan voice.
Jace followed her onto the deck and placed a hand on her back when he stood next to her.
“A little testy? I’m a little testy?” she whispered in a low voice. “Wait until I get really pissed.”
Jace laughed. “You must be Linda,” he said to the fortyish woman sitting by the pool, watching them.
“I’m sorry. I forgot my manners,” Zoé said, in a stilted voice. “Must be my testiness. Linda, this is my brand new boyfriend, Jace Savage, whom I’ve granted exclusive rights to.” She pictured hurling a fireball at his head like one of those cartoon stick figures on the internet.
He let out a low, deep laugh. “That’s my girl.” He draped his arm around her shoulders.
She wriggled out from underneath, feeling all kinds of conflict -- wanting to deck him -- after she let him fuck her.
“Hello, Jace. I’m Linda Lyon, Alex’s not brand new girlfriend.” She smiled warmly at them. “Zoé, it’s good to see you again.”
“Thanks. You, too.” She started to roll her eyes but caught herself, and pasted on a smile.
Her father handed her and Jace their beers, eyeing them suspiciously.
She untwisted the top and took a good, long swallow.
“So,” her dad said. “Where’d you two meet?”
“We met at Chica Ríos,” Zoé said, extracting herself from Jace’s embrace and sitting in one of the cedar deck chairs.
“Oh. A while ago and you forgot to tell me about it?”
“A couple nights ago,” Jace said, smiling broadly.
Oh, great. Zoé’s face burned.
“Things are going fast, huh?”
“I like speed,” Jace said. “I like to live on the edge. When you find an opportunity that works for you, you’ve got to run with it.”
“I see. So you decided to run with my daughter.” Her dad’s handsome countenance turned into frosty protection.
“Only if it’s her choice.” Jace smiled, turned to Zoé and squeezed her hand.
Well, that’s nice. At least I didn’t give away all my rights. She smiled back, batting her eyelashes, returning the squeeze.
“So what do you do for a living?”
“Why don’t you tell them, babe?” Jace said.
“I’d rather not. You were so proud when you told me.” Haven’t a clue. She gave him a fake smile, fluttering her eyelashes again.
He let out a soft laugh and said, “I’m a photographer. I get gigs with Nat Geo from time to time, and some of the other remaining nature magazines.”
Zoé’s eyebrows lifted, impressed.
“I see,” Alex said. He seemed to relax a little.
“That sounds really interesting,” Linda added.
“Oh, it is. And, when I get the gigs, they pay well. But, it’s not yet a steady income so in the meantime, I work on yachts up in Port Townsend - repair, maintenance, lighting, electrical. You name it, I do it. I work for Jenner’s.”
Her dad snapped his fingers. “I knew you looked familiar. Didn’t I see you yesterday when we were at the dock?”
Jace’s face closed down. “Could be,” he said impassively.
“Weren’t you carrying a…”
“Excuse me,” he interrupted. “Zoé, we’re ignoring you - you said you were starving when we arrived,” Jace blurted. “Didn’t you say you had snacks, Linda?”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Linda said. “Here, let me get them.”
“Please allow me,” Jace said. “I love to serve my lover.” He stood and sauntered to the table where the food sat.
Augh! Now I’m his lover? My dad’s going to shoot me!
“What would you like, Zoé?” Jace asked.
She looked at her father.
He studied her with concern.
She looked at Linda.
She smiled and shrugged.
“Surprise me,” she said. “I could use more surprises. Love a good surprise.” Not.
The evening proceeded more smoothly after that. Her dad actually seemed to warm to Jace, joking and laughing with him.
Jace conversed intelligently, told them of some of his fascinating travels, appeared knowledgeable about yachts and seemed like a truly interesting guy - perhaps, the most interesting guy she’d ever met. He kept up with steady touch, holding her hand, resting his palm on her leg, putting an arm around her, giving every appearance of being a doting, respectable boyfriend. His constant touch, however, made her extremely aroused. She wondered if she’d simply combust. And the lusty looks he sent her way let her know he felt the same.
By evening’s end, her dad agreed to take Jace out rafting with Zoé. Jace offered to look at her dad’s failing boat engine.
“It’s probably nothing a little TLC won’t fix. We’ll get her running again in no time,” he said. “It could be something as simple as a missing screw,” he added, giving Zoé a mischievous smile.
Here we go again, Zoé thought, groaning inwardly, her insides turning to steam.
He smiled and squeezed her leg.
Zoé even got along with bossy Linda - somewhat. Better than usual.
By the time they were ready to leave she felt relaxed and happy. As she prepared to get on the Deus, she said, “That went well. Didn’t you think so?”
“It went fantastic. Your dad’s a cool guy. Linda’s nice, too.”
“She’s okay.”
“You don’t like her?”
“I don’t like that she’s not my mom. She’s so intense and bossy.”
“He didn’t seem intimidated by her at all.”
“He isn’t. My dad can be a handful. He probably needed someone to rein him in. My mom let him walk all over her. She only started sticking up for herself when she left him.” She sighed. “When they got divorced, I stayed with Dad. We were pretty close until she came into the picture.” She pointed at the house. “I’d already moved out, but still…they’ve only been dating about six months.”
“Your dad needs a chance to love again. You can’t prevent that from happening. He was probably lonely when you moved out, yeah?”
“I guess. He moped around a lot. He’s got a lot of energy and needs to stay busy. I worried about him a lot. I just wish he’d picked someone more…more…oh, I don’t know, not her.”
“Give her a chance,” Jace said.
“That’s what Dad says.”
Jace shrugged.
Zoé looked at him. “You’re being awfully nice.”
He shrugged again. “I’m a decent guy, remember? You told me so.”
“And so not dull.” She smiled at him.
“Mom still living?”
“Uh huh. In Florida with her husband, Carl.”
“You get along with your mom?”
“Pretty well. We talk at least once a month. She’s happy now that she’s doing her own thing.”
“What’s she do?”
“She designs kids clothing. She’s got a successful boutique.”
Jace nodded. “It’s good to have healthy relations with your parents.”
She smiled. “You?”
He seemed to shudder. “Haven’t talked to them in…let’s see…fourteen years? They kind of disinherited me.”
She frowned. “Sounds rough.”
“It is what it is, Zoé.”
She nodded, biting her lip. “So we got off to a rocky start tonight, didn’t we?” She smiled, thinking he’d laugh.
His face grew serious. “What was rocky about it?”
“Well, you telling my dad I’d granted you exclusive rights, kissing me on the back porch…” She ticked the embarrassing moments off on her fingertips.
“You did grant me exclusive rights, Zoé,” he said, his face somber. “I wanted to see if you meant what you said.”
“So that was all a test?” She stood stiffly, baffled.
“No,” he said cautiously. “Not a test. More like a declaration. I plan on doing things to you. I won’t do them with someone who only wants to use me.”
Her brow stitched together. “What kind of things?”
“You’ll have to wait to find out, won’t you?”
She felt as if she stood on a precipice of some kind. Apprehension filled her, excitement lapping at the edges like waves. “Should I be scared?” she asked.
“Are you?” He set his helmet on the seat and scrutinized her.
“I’m not sure.” She fiddled with the strap of her purse. “A little.”
“I’m not going to harm you. I’m going to fuck you under the stars, lay you out on private beaches, love you in thunderstorms, snowstorms, wind, and rain.” His gaze bore into her, as if begging her to accept his statement of intent.
She inhaled sharply, feeling like he’d just ignited her insides and flung her, flailing, in the air, like a Chinese firecracker. “When did you ask me if this is something I’d like to do?”
“When I asked you if you’d give me exclusive rights. You said, yes. You confirmed it in the house tonight.” He lifted his chin toward her dad’s ranch style home.
She nodded slowly, exhilarated, bewildered, apprehensive, and delighted. “You don’t know me. How do you know if you’ll even like me in a week?”
“Only one way to find out.” His eyes twinkled.
“What’s that?”
“Climb on the back of the Angel and let’s take a ride.”
Chapter 10
When Zoé wound her arms around his chest, snug behind him on the back of the Deus, Jace took her hand and placed it in his crotch. “Been like this all day,” he said.
She quickly snatched it away. “My dad c
ould be watching us,” she said.
He laughed, fired up the ignition and took off down the street.
At the stop sign, Zoé yelled over the engine, “Where are we going?”
“Not sure yet. I’m letting my muse guide me.”
“Who’s your muse?”
“You,” he said, easing through the intersection. He carefully made his way through the neighborhoods of West Seattle, before turning onto the West Seattle Bridge. From there, he headed north on I-5, kicking up the speed, just the way he liked it. Zoé hugged him tight, her hips pressed tightly against his, her breasts snuggled into his back. He hadn’t felt this great in a long time. You’ve got to play this one right. Don’t blow this. His mind churned and schemed.
“Where are you taking me?” Zoé yelled.
“North,” he yelled back, shifting gears. When he reached the exit near the Sedro-Woolley area, south of the Canadian border, he slowed the bike, heading east toward the Skagit River. At the stop sign he said to Zoé, “I know a secluded place.”
“Okay,” she called back.
He guided the bike along the winding roads, heading toward farmland and open space. Once he found the place he was looking for, he pulled into the turn-out, switched off the ignition, and waited for Zoé to climb off. An acute sense of loss and longing shot though him the second she broke contact.
She pulled the helmet free from her head, shaking out her silky hair. “Where are we?”
He removed his as well, wanting to thread his fingers through her abundant tresses and kiss her long and hard. He took a deep breath of resolve. “We’re here.” He spread his arms wide.
“No, silly, I mean where are we - what city?”
“We’re in a favorite spot of mine. Haven’t been out here in a while. I thought we could look at the stars.” His cock twitched in excitement like it was in charge of the evening’s activities and he was merely a bystander. Look at the stars…right.
“Sounds fabulous.”
He tucked his helmet under his arm, and took her hand, guiding her away from the road. “I love the natural world,” he said, as he led her toward the river’s burbling night calls. The moon shone full and bright, softly illuminating their path. An owl hooted softly in the trees.