Chapter 8 Selene #2
“Knock it off, Selene,” I snapped at myself, trying to derail my lusty train of thought, which was particularly inappropriate for that moment, and instead concentrate on watching the cars speed by ahead of me.
I began to get truly afraid that I was going to have to take a cab back to the house by myself when a black Maserati pulled up with a roar, catching my attention.
My gaze was immediately drawn to the gleaming paint job and the chrome trident that made it look so majestic.
I couldn’t tell if Neil was inside when it pulled up next to me, but then he lowered the window to greet me with a sensual smile.
So I bent down to pick up my overnight bag and opened the door to get in the passenger seat.
The leather smell of the interior, combined with the scent of clean musk, wrapped around me, and I turned to face Neil.
I regretted it immediately because every time he got near me, I ceased to be myself and became the inelegant, inane…in-love girl that he’d made me into.
“Hey, Tinkerbell,” he said softly, eyeing my body at length. I wasn’t wearing anything fancy. A wool hat, dark jeans, a heavy sweater, and a white coat with some low-heeled ankle boots. And why the hell hadn’t I worn something with higher heels?
I looked like a high school student rather than a young woman. I turned red, imagining that he had to be thinking—not for the first time—about how basic and unfeminine I was.
“I thought you forgot that I was coming,” I murmured, hoping to distract from the blush that I was sure had spread over my cheeks. The air around me felt blazing hot, and I wasn’t sure whether to blame it on the car’s heater or Neil’s proximity.
The electricity between us was palpable, just like the powerful attraction that neither of us knew what to do with.
“I was only ten minutes late. I had a small hitch.” He stepped on the gas, making the engine rumble, before pulling out into the airport’s traffic.
“What does that mean?” I asked him, looking around the car’s interior, which looked like it had just been detailed.
There wasn’t so much as a scratch or speck of dust on the dashboard, the numerous controls, or the multimedia display—signs of Neil’s mania and fixation on cleanliness.
I remembered how he’d once told me that he refused to have sex in the car.
“Nothing major. Had to wash my baby,” he said lightly and patted the steering wheel.
I turned my gaze to him as he focused on driving and thought he looked even more handsome than usual.
He was wearing a leather jacket with a fur collar, a dark sweater, and jeans.
He wasn’t wearing anything fancy either, but he could still turn any woman’s head.
“Don’t start with the staring,” he chided me roughly, like always.
“Wh-where are we going?” I asked, hoping it wasn’t a stupid question.
I knew we were probably going to Matt’s house, but I wanted him to say it so I could tell him that I’d rather go to a hotel than set foot inside that place.
There were too many painful memories in that house, especially in the pool house.
Maybe Neil wouldn’t agree with my suggestion that we should find another place to stay, but I needed to at least try.
“To one of the apartments my mother keeps in the city,” he answered, stunning me instead.
“In one of…” I muttered. “What?” I blinked in shock and reached up to adjust my hat anxiously.
Neil just smiled and kept driving.
“I lifted her keys. It’s an apartment she bought last year. She only goes there when she needs to relax, so no one will bother us,” he explained, turning onto an unfamiliar street. Of course, I’d only visited New York briefly, so I couldn’t possibly know it as well as Neil did.
Wait a minute—did he say us? Did that mean he was staying with me?
“Bother us?” I repeated, getting agitated.
Oh God! No. No. No.
If Neil and I stayed together in the same apartment for several hours, I would come out completely obliterated, wrung-out, and consumed by his desires.
I could already imagine the demands he’d make of me and the things he’d try to start when we were in bed together that night.
I was never able to think rationally or make sensible decisions when I was with him, let alone try to resist him when he came on to me like he always did.
“You want me to leave you there alone?” he asked, shooting me a penetrating glance.
“No,” I answered too quickly, obviously agitated. “I just thought that you’d go home and I’d be staying in the apartment, that’s all,” I explained, rubbing my hands together awkwardly. Neil pulled a pack of Winstons out of the jacket and extracted a cigarette with his teeth.
Did he seriously want to smoke in here with all the windows rolled up and the heater on? I would die of asphyxiation.
“Maybe don’t—” I started to say, but he lifted up a hand to stop me.
“It’s my car, and I’ll smoke in it when I want,” he cut me off. “Don’t start busting my balls, Babygirl,” he said calmly, as though he’d just given me some friendly advice.
Well, this was shaping up to be a fantastic evening!
I rolled my eyes and searched for the button that would roll down the window so some of the fog could dissipate.
“How long are you staying? Does your mother know you’re here?”
His question unsettled me, and I felt a stab of angst in my chest. I had never lied to my mother before, and I knew, deep down, that it had been the wrong thing to do. But I also knew that I had to meet Neil in New York, no matter what the cost.
“No,” I admitted. “She thinks I’m hanging out with my friend Bailey and that I’ll be back tomorrow.” I cleared my throat, glancing up at the skyscrapers towering all around us.
“I figured,” he commented with a smug smile.
I looked at him with a frown. I was about to ask him what made him so confident, but before I could demand to know, we pulled into a parking garage, and I was completely distracted.
“Here we are, Tinkerbell,” he told me, shutting off the engine, as the garage attendant stepped up to take the key and give Neil a ticket for the car.
He turned his bright gaze on me, maybe waiting for me to react. I offered him a shaky little smile. He stared at my mouth, and I was positive he could sense my uncertainty.
“Relax,” he said in a low, seductive voice. “I don’t bite.” He winked at me and then got out of the car. I followed him, bag in hand. Neil didn’t make a move to take it, choosing to let me carry it instead, something that didn’t surprise me at all.
Neil Miller, not a gentleman—more news at eleven.
He led me to the elevator, and we stepped through the sliding doors. I forced myself not to look at him, even though his good smell was the flame to the fuse of my desire.
The ride up put me on edge.
I leaned back against the mirror behind me and observed Neil, intent on watching me in silence. The serious, intense expression on his face communicated a poorly concealed desire to make me his. Immediately.
The deadly draw that filled the air between us shocked me to the spirit.
I caught my breath at the devastating emotions that were ravaging my heart, and Neil gave me a satisfied little smile, knowing full well that every bat of his eyelashes had the power to shake my soul.
I cleared my throat, awkward as always, and turned my attention to the floor numbers above the door slowly lighting up one by one.
None of them, however, seemed to be our destination. When were we going to get there?
I rocked back on my heels and dropped my eyes, embarrassed.
How bizarre that the two of us, who were always on the brink of tearing off each other’s clothes, couldn’t manage to start a conversation.
I gave a sigh of relief when, finally, the elevator opened on the fiftieth floor, allowing us access to the enormous apartment’s door.
The rare wood and gold fixtures on the door gave me a sneak peek at the luxury I would find inside.
After all, Mia wasn’t the kind to spare any expense, just like Matt.
“I forgot to mention it, but it’s the penthouse,” Neil said as he opened the door and gestured for me to go inside.
Wow!
I had never been inside a place like that before.
I moved forward unsteadily across the marble floors threaded with silver.
I felt bad even walking on them because of how glossy they were.
Then I turned my eyes to the furniture: sophisticated and refined yet extremely sumptuous.
Two giant leather sofas were arranged in the middle of the living room with a glass table between them.
I stepped in a bit further and admired the glowing ceiling peppered with small inset lights.
It felt like I was standing under a starry sky.
I set my overnight bag down and continued peering around in astonishment. I moved over to the enormous windows, which offered a panoramic view of the skyline.
I was thoroughly dazzled.
The city looked like an architectural miniature, the people walking around on the sidewalks practically invisible, no bigger than ants. And the cars driving on the streets…
“The cars look like toys,” I noted under my breath, smiling an enchanted smile. Neil came up beside me with a cigarette hanging from his lips. He exhaled smoke against the glass of the window, his eyes fixed on the skyscrapers laid out before us.
“People are so insignificant when you see them from up here…” he said softly in that baritone that always sent shivers of arousal down my arms. “When I think about how many monsters are walking around down there with them every day, all I can feel is disgust,” he went on, taking another drag.
He turned away from me, and I watched his austere frame.
His stride was sure, his back strong, and his shoulders broad… He gave every appearance of being an invincible man, and yet he was wounded inside just like any other person.
His soul was out of reach, but it wasn’t unassailable.