by Anna Edwards
While Malcolm shows the detective out, I make my way to Kara’s room. I’m still not sure what to do with my new-found knowledge. I want to forget about it, but I can’t. Our lives were linked even before she stumbled into my garden. Even before she became my fantasy in the dark once a week for months. Reaching for the door, my searching hand finds it ajar.
“Kara?”
A snore breaks the silence when I enter the room.
Moving until the end of the mattress presses into my knees, I cock my head, listening to the sounds of her sleeping. I want to hold her, but I remained rooted to the spot. She’s exhausted. The least I can do is let her sleep. Yet I don’t want to leave without some kind of contact with her, no matter how small.
A whimper comes from my left. Holding out my hand, Verne rubs his muzzle into my palm. It makes me glad that he obeyed my command. Protected Kara.
“Good boy,” I praise.
Finding my way to the top of the bed, I perch on the edge. Searching attentively over the blankets, I meet a warm delicate wrist. Feather light, I caress upward to find Kara’s shoulder. Just from that, I know she’s positioned on her back. She doesn’t stir.
Caressing her face, my thumb gently finds her mouth. Bending over, I replace it with my lips for a chaste kiss.
She murmurs softly, but it’s so sleep thickened I know I haven’t woken her. My little siren works far too hard. I’m going to have to take care of her properly.
Rising and knowing I shouldn’t linger too long, I walk toward the door. “Verne come.”
The sound of paws on the wooden floor shadow me as I leave Kara’s room.
Chapter Fourteen
Kara
Two weeks, I’ve been living with Darius. I don’t know how to feel about him anymore. In the day, he’s polite, even courteous. After dinner, we spend hours talking, or I read to him aloud. On the weekend after I visited Sam, he showed me the gardens of the house. Sunday, he took me to a concert. The place had been stunning and the music magical.
Underneath his harsh exterior, I’ve found a man who’s intelligent, cultured, and intriguing. Slowly but surely, he’s been opening to me and drawing me out of my own shell. There are times when I forget the reason I’m in his house. I find myself so caught up in his company that I feel my attraction toward him grow.
The nights are always the same. He comes to my room to touch me. To discover the landscape of my body over and over. I lose myself in those moments. To the sound of his breath against my skin. The warmth of his searching lips. Each caress of his fingers that move over me with unspoken awe. How he tips me over into rapture when he makes me come with his mouth or fingers.
It’s left me confused to his motives. Everything he does leaves me aching for more, but so far, we’ve never had sex. That was the bargain. My body for payment of the priceless vase. So why hasn’t he taken what he wants?
Malcolm has turned out to be a big softy, for all his scary looks. Knowing my worry over my young brother Sam, he’s started dropping by the flat to make sure he’s ok during the day.
They’ve grown close. The ex-solider has wormed his way into my younger brother’s heart as a father figure. He’s checking up on him to make sure he’s staying out of trouble. The good influence Sam needs. It’s a worry off my mind. A kindness that I won’t let go overlooked.
The sound of footsteps in the hallway outside has my eyes darting with anticipation to the door. A million butterflies take off in my stomach. Darius has dismantled my defences. These nightly seductions have made me needy and frustrated. I’m finding more and more that even with my own release, it isn’t enough. He leaves me feeling empty and aching.
Stepping into the room, he moves silently toward the bed. He doesn’t speak. The thrum of sexual tension between us has goosebumps scattering over my skin. As always, I’m naked, awaiting him on the bed. His to do with as he pleases. A willing participant in anything he chooses.
Shrugging out of his robe, he bares his body. Normally, he’s in boxer shorts, but tonight he’s completely nude. Gaze traveling down, I admire the thick jutting erection between Darius’s muscular legs. I’m not shocked or frightened. This has been coming, and it sends a thrill through every piece of me. My fingers twitch with the knowledge of how the firm flesh of his frame and the roughness of the hair on his chest feels under their caresses.
Finding the edge of the bed, he plants his knees on the mattress.
Instead of laying where I am, I reach for him, wrapping my hand around the hardness of his cock.
Darius’s breath hisses out between his teeth at the action.
I know I’ve caught him by surprise. My wandering has never gone lower than the top of his hips.
“I want to touch you,” I insist quietly when his hand closes over my wrist to stop me.
Indecision flutters over his face before a look of lust wipes it away. “I’ve been dreaming of having you touch me like this for days.”
Hand moving to curl behind mine, he urges it to work the length of him in a steady rhythm. The swollen flesh beneath my palm is hot and satiny soft. It makes my clit throb with the desire to feel him inside me. Together, we pleasure him, until I feel him jerk beneath my touch. Darius stills. Green unfocused eyes rove over the sheets, his expression is twisted in need and pain.
“Enough. It’s not your tits I want to come all over tonight.” Releasing my hand, he tugs it free. “Now it’s my turn.”
Tonight is different. When he touches me, I feel the trembling of his hands. There’s a hint of desperation. It’s as if he’s seeking my acceptance. Covering me with his body, he begins the bitter sweet torment of fondling and caressing. Every nerve ending I have sings with carnal lust.
Cupping his jaw, I dip down to find his lips. It’s impulsive, a yearning for something more than this teasing.
“Please, Darius. I’ll do whatever you want. Please, just fuck me,” I whisper. “If you don’t, I’m going to die. I can’t…I can’t bare this anymore.”
“Kara”—my name leaves him in a tortured groan—“you will be mine completely, tonight, but we’re doing things my way.”
He fucks me with his hands and mouth. By the time he thrusts into me, I’m a sweet broken sobbing ache. His possession is fierce, violent, as if he too has been swept away in the maelstrom.
“That’s it baby. Don’t hold back,” he encourages when I cry out. “Let me hear you. Give me everything. Fuck, you feel so perfect around my cock.”
Tongue forcing its way to my mouth, he swallows my whimpers and cries.
“You’re mine, aren’t you my, little siren?” he growls when he finally breaks the heated kiss. Pushing into me again and again, he keeps up his rough, frantic pace, his grip on my hips, where I have my legs hooked around him, bruising. Clutching his powerful shoulders, my fingernails dig in deeply. I don’t want him to stop. Weeks of foreplay and now finally he’s giving me the one thing that I’ve been craving.
“Yes, oh god, yes. Don’t stop, please, don’t stop,” I beg, everything inside me tightening with an impending orgasm. Instead of answering, Darius pounds into me harder. One second, I’m still pleading for him not to stop, the next I’m in orbit, seeing stars.
His harsh cry joins my own, seconds later. A sweet echo ripples through my core as he fills me with his cum.
Limp, chest heaving, I struggle to catch my breath as awareness filters in slowly. A warm body covers my own. Darius holds me safe in the haven of his arms. In that second, everything clicks. The way he embraces me. The feel of his muscled form. His masculine smell. How he fits against me so perfect and familiar.
I know who Darius Cross is.
Chapter Fifteen
DARIUS
“I love you.” The words are a sleepy whisper against my neck. It tears an opening in the guilt and loneliness imprisoning my soul. I’ve been alone for so long. Hadn’t let myself feel or care since the accident stole my sight. Only now do I realize how much I need the kind of acceptance that Kara
has gifted me. All these months holding her once a week and slowly piece by piece I’d unintentionally given her my heart. The truth has hit me hard. I’m in love with Kara.
Would she feel the same way if she knew the secret I now have burning a hole in my chest? A truth she might never forgive me for. I’ve done damage to her family far worse than she even knows.
Tightening my arms around her, I draw every precious memory from this moment. How she fits so flawlessly against me. Her tantalising scent. The heat of her body and the whisper of her breath on my skin. She’d given herself to me so sweetly. It had been everything I had wanted and more. The thought of her leaving has my heart clenching. Would she stay if I let her go? Freed her from this contract? It would be selfish of me not to do so, but love isn’t always selfless. I’m greedy and starving for something I’ve denied myself for so long.
Chapter Sixteen
Kara
“Did you enjoy the concert?”
Darius’s murmur is intimate and soft. It makes me shiver in response and reminds me of the way he spoke to me the evening before when we finally had sex. It was a surprise to wake with him still wrapped around me in the morning. Instead of getting up, he leisurely took me to the heights of ecstasy, one more time, before allowing me to get up for breakfast. Sunday has always been my day off, so it had been a relaxed, unhurried meal.
“It was beautiful. Thank you for bringing me,” I tell him honestly, turning to look where he’s sitting beside me in the private box. His handsomeness is enhanced by the tuxedo he’s wearing. Dark hair combed back, jaw clean shaven and smooth, I know I won’t be able to resist him later. The dress he insisted I wear is simple yet elegant. White and lacy, it clings to my curves, the matching heels I’m wearing giving inches to my height.
I have the perfect view of the stage. Although Darius can’t see, he’d confided it was less noisy, and he could appreciate the music more from this position. I know it must have cost him a fortune to reserve. After last weekend when he’d taken me to another one and heard my enjoyment, he surprised me with another tonight.
“Malcolm will be waiting for us downstairs.”
“I need to use the lady’s room before we go,” I tell him, finding my purse where I left it by my feet. We’ve waited until the crowds have left and things are quiet.
Hand clamped around the top of his white cane, he nods. “I’ll wait here for you then.”
Rising from my chair, I place my hand on Darius’s shoulder, my lips pressing a kiss to his cheek. I don’t miss the smile he gives at my impulsiveness. It feels natural. “I’ll be right back.”
I’m floating as I make my way down the corridor. Energy buzzing through my veins. It’s not just the classical music we’ve listened to. I’m still high from Darius’s possession. It’s as if something between us has shifted even more. A turning point.
“Kara.”
Shock has my steps faltering at the unexpected intrusion.
“What are you doing here, Tony?”
The anger written all over my older brother’s expression has my blood running cold. His eyes are dead and chilling as they bore into mine. Shuffling from the doorway where he’s been waiting, he looks gaunt in his baggy clothes.
“Was it you who convinced your new boyfriend to stop Slick lending me money? Did you suck his cock long and hard just to be a vindictive little bitch?” he spits with so much venom I flinch.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Liar. Do you enjoy whoring yourself out for pretty clothes and fancy concerts? You’re just a piece of poor pussy. Do you really think he’ll keep you around after he gets bored of you?”
Taking a step backward, I meet the solid length of a male form. Startled, I tilt my chin up to find a stranger behind me. Squinty eyes glare down at me from a slender long face. Matted brown hair hangs limply to his collar.
“Tony. Hurry up,” he mutters, his breath heavy with the smell of cigarettes. My nose wrinkles at the stench. This must be one of my brother’s friends he gets high with.
A hand clamps around my bicep, preventing me from escaping when I try to side step him. “I don’t know how you got in here, but I suggest you leave before I call security.”
The smile that creeps over Tony’s lips is enough to make my skin crawl. “Just grab her, Kev.”
A hand locks over my mouth as the body behind me becomes a prison. His free arm pins me just below my breasts. Shaking my head from side to side, it loosens my assailant’s grip enough for me to sink my teeth into his fingers.
“Bitch.” The insult is hissed in my ear.
Struggling, I bring my knee up, ramming the point of one of my heels into his foot. The hold over my mouth becomes painful, bringing tears to my eyes. Before I can do anything more, I’m jerked forward, hard, and the wall is the last thing I see before everything goes black.
Chapter Seventeen
DARIUS
“Kara?”
My soft call is met with silence. Walking farther down the corridor, I listen intently. I have no idea where the toilets are, but I do know my way to the stairs and the ground floor. Cane tapping the marble as I move, my free hand brushes the roughness of the wallpaper as I descend the steps.
“Mr. Cross.”
“Malcolm, have you seen Kara?” I ask the second I hear him.
“No, I thought she was with you.” Concern threads his words.
“She was. Then she went to the lady’s room and never came back.” My gut churns with suspicion. She wouldn’t just leave without telling me, not unless something had happened. Even then, I’m more than sure she would have informed me first.
“I’ll talk to the hall security and see if they have her on any of their cameras.”
“Phone her brother, Sam, first. Maybe he called her.”
“I’ll do it now.” There’s the rustle of material, then a soft tapping sound.
“Sam, have you contacted your sister tonight?” Malcolm’s tone is gruff. “She seems to have disappeared. He did? When?”
I hear the rushed muffled voice of Kara’s youngest brother but catch none of it.
“All right, don’t panic,” Malcolm pacifies to whatever is being said. “Do you have any idea where he might be? No, stay where you are; we’ll deal with this.”
I tap the end of my cane on the ground by my feet with impatience. I don’t like waiting. Something is wrong. I’m not sure how I know, but I feel it. Instincts from my old life stirring.
“Well?” I ask as soon as he ends the conversation.
“Tony’s been sniffing around the flat, asking questions. According to Sam, he threatened him a couple of hours ago. He’s desperate for cash.”
A chill grips me. Does Kara’s older brother have something to do with her disappearance? Have my actions spurred him into something I haven’t predicted?
“Contact Slick. He might have some idea where Tony is hiding,” I order. “I want him found now by any means necessary, you understand?”
Chapter Eighteen
Kara
Pain throbs through my temples as my eyes crack open. My head hurts. Just above my left eye the skin pulses, feeling swollen and tight. Beneath me, the mattress is worn and stained. The springs have seen better days, and the smell coming from it makes me gag. Confused, I try to move. The rough rope around my wrists and ankles is abrasive against my skin. Struggling, I feel it bite into my flesh, tightening with my efforts.
“You’re awake.”
Wriggling onto my side, I find my older brother and his friend watching me. Perched on a couple of broken crates, empty bottles and litter are scattered around their feet. I don’t recognize the place. Cracked wooden boards cover the glass-less windows. The wallpaper on the walls is faded and peeling. An abandoned house?
“Why are you doing this, Tony?” I croak, my throat dry.
Reaching for the unopened cans of beer nestled beside him, he smirks. “If the blind bastard wants you, he can pay for you. I don’t
see why only you should reap the benefits of being his whore.”
Kev licks his lips as he stares at me intently. The expression on his lean dirty features has unease coiling through me.
“She’s a pretty little thing.” Reaching out, he curls a lock of my hair around one finger before giving it a tug.
Jerking away, I roll out of his grasp. “Don’t touch me.”
“Leave her alone, Kev,” Tony snaps before raising the bottle of beer he’s cracked open to his lips to take a swig.
“You still owe me for the blow I shared with you.”
Dragging the back of his knuckles over his mouth, my brother wipes away the residue of alcohol. “I’ll pay you back.”
“What if I want it now?”
Kev’s words have tension growing stronger through my limbs. A primal surge to flee hits me. He wouldn’t. Warily I watch my brother swirl the contents of his bottle from side to side.
Tony casts me a long cold look. “You want her?”
“Yeah.” Kev’s reply is filled with eagerness.
“Fine. One fuck and make it quick and use a condom for fucksake.”
Kev’s grin makes me shudder with revulsion. Getting to his feet he eagerly unbuckles his jeans.
Eyes widening in horror, I watch as he moves toward me. “Tony, please don’t let him do this,” I beg. “I’m your sister.”
Knees landing on the edge of the tatty mattress, he slithers closer. With the restraints, it doesn’t make it easy to kick, but I give him all I have. My feet meet his chest, making him snarl.
“Just shut up and take it.” Greedy hands grab the flesh above my knees restraining them in place.