Chapter 10
ISEULT
My heart hammers, words stuck in my throat as that handsome man I fought like hell to forget stares at me with madness clouding his large brown eyes.
It’s as though he doesn’t know whether he wants to wrap his fingers around my throat and drain the life out of me or throw me up against the wall and fuck the shit out of me.
“Nothing to say, Red?” He crosses the rest of the distance between us, taking predatory steps forward.
A finger reaches for a button, stopping the elevator from continuing its journey to my floor. It jerks to a halt while my palms hit the wall behind me to steady myself.
I keep gazing into those eyes, unable to stop myself.
Drowning in want and untamable, unfurling desires.
I never thought I’d see him again. Thought fantasies were all I’d get.
All I should crave. But now, in this moment, I want more than just memories of what happened between us.
I want it again. But this time, I want more.
Part of me doesn’t know what to do with those foreign thoughts. I’m not used to them, yet here with him, I can’t escape them either.
When I don’t utter a single word, not sure why my mouth won’t move, he presses his body right up against mine, like he doesn’t need an invitation. Like he’s a man who just takes what he wants, and I’m not about to say no.
His hooded eyes search mine, consuming every single inch of my face as though committing it to memory. He releases a burdened sigh, brows hunched, while his knuckles extend and gently stroke down my cheek.
The sound of my exhales echoes, and my chest turns heavy. And my heart? It beats and it beats. My God, it beats. Has it ever beaten this fast before?
As I continue to stare at this man, the shock that he’s found me hasn’t worn off.
He not only found me, but he found my apartment, and that’s really bad.
How the hell will I get away from him now?
He could follow me home to Cherry Grove.
He could uncover everything. The rapid knock of my pulse grows louder in my ears.
“What are you doing here?” I angle my jaw and raise my voice above a whispered breath.
He flashes a mischievous smirk. And that mouth, what it does to me…
My stomach flips when he cups my cheek and holds me, unnerving me with untethered emotions. I’ve never been touched like that by a man before.
He smells good too, like a male woodsy concoction of heaven and hell, and he looks even better. Too good, in fact. Too tempting.
A deep navy suit fits his tall, well-built frame, a light gray dress shirt peeking from beneath with two buttons popped open.
His thick black hair is brushed back, fuller at the top, buzzed at the sides.
I have every wicked desire to run my hands through it—to tug and to pull, to feel the way I felt that one night we spent together.
“You lied, Red.”
With a quick jerk of his large hand, he grabs the back of my neck and pulls me so close, my chest presses hard against him. His gaze hammers into mine with heated perusal, and I just about drown from overstimulation.
“Let me go,” I demand, but it sounds more like I’m asking him to hold on tighter.
“No.” He grinds his jaw, his deep inhales making his chest climb, his body pushing mine further into the wall until I’m almost one with it.
I stare at him with pounding heartbeats, unable to look away.
Why did he find me? What does he want? And why do I care enough to find out?
When a few strands of his hair fall wildly around his brow, I reach for them, pushing them off his face, my heart galloping the instant he shutters his eyes to a close, as though my touch alone can soothe him.
I immediately pull my fingers away, not liking this. Or loving it. I can’t make sense of these conflicting, treacherous emotions.
His eyes instantly pop open, his gaze drowning over my face, his features tightening with unspeakable sentiments, like he feels whatever’s happening between us.
But whatever this is, it can’t happen. Not for me. Getting close to a man isn’t part of my future. It never will be, no matter how badly I’m thinking about how good it might feel if I did. If I let it all go.
“Why’d you lie to me?” he asks, voice gravelly, a blend of all things savory and forbidden. “If you didn’t want to give me your number, shoulda said so.”
“Was easier that way.” I shrug, attempting to yank his thick wrist off of my nape, but he’s like a damn brick.
He chuckles faintly, releasing his grasp, only for it to curl around the front of my throat. As he cinches his grip, his glare dares me to try and move him off of me.
“You need to understand something, Red.” He drops his mouth close, his warm, intoxicating breaths dancing erratically across my trembling lips.
“I’m not the kind of man who gives up easily.
When I decide I want something, I go after it with full force.
” His mouth feathers against my lips. “And unfortunately for you, I’ve decided I want you. ”
He inhales slow, dragging air into his lungs as he draws back.
“Oh, that’s quite the pity.” I slip on a bemused smile. “See, this is why I gave you a fake number instead of telling you that I had no desire for you to call me. Didn’t want you begging for it.”
The vein at his neck pulses, eyes narrowing with a wicked stare. Then a chuckle rumbles out of him. Deep. Raspy. So carnal I want to bathe in the sound.
“Me? Beg?” He shakes his head real slow, flirtation curling around each one of his words. “No, baby. You’re gonna be the one begging. I promise you that.”
He arches his hips into me, my body imprisoned between his hard masculine form and the wall, feeling the effects I have on him.
He lowers his lips to mine once more, only a breath between us. “And once we’re better acquainted, you’ll tell me everything there is to know about you.”
I’m the one laughing now. Really laughing. And when I’m through, all that’s left on my face is a dark, cold expression.
“Funny. A few orgasms, and you think you’re my god?”
“Not yet, I’m not. But I will be.” His thumb strokes between my lips so achingly slow, my heart beats faster until it threatens to rip right out of my chest.
But he doesn’t see it. He doesn’t know what I feel. Or what I want. Or what I need. He’ll never know.
“Good luck with that,” I casually toss out.
“You know, Red, I’ve just about had it with your bullshit.” His commanding hand crawls around to the back of my neck until he’s got a fistful of my hair in his grasp. He yanks my head backward, his mouth coasting up my throat, hot breaths leaving a trail of utter destruction.
“Someone’s going to catch us in here once security realizes the elevator stopped,” I groan, unable to hold it back.
His mouth, his hands…it all feels too good.
“Let them.” Teeth graze my jaw before his mouth lines up against mine. “No one can stop me right now. I’ve been looking all over for you.” He wrenches himself away to stare at me with a possessed kind of hunger. “Do you know how insane it made me not to find you?”
“I can tell.” A satisfied grin tethers to my face, and I nip the edge of my bottom lip.
He growls, his eyes zeroing on my mouth like he wants a bite too.
“How did you find me?” The words fall out breathlessly.
I need to know so I can fix what I did wrong.
“I know a guy.” He flashes a devious smile. “He found you on a camera, and I followed you to the bar. Then I watched you in my car while you were having a ton of fun.”
Fuck. This is exactly why I try to keep a low profile. And that damn camera inside the bar was supposed to be off. How the hell did he see me? Maybe he’s bluffing.
He tugs my hair until it hurts, until it feels so good that the ache between my thighs roars to new heights.
His dirty, wicked grin widens. “I watched you kill a man.”
Shit. He’s definitely not bluffing.
“No idea what the hell you’re talking about.”
Hope he buys it, but his laughter says otherwise.
“I’m not here to arrest you, Red. In fact, we’re the same, you and I.” He drags in a long, sensuous inhale. “If anything, I’m impressed. And I’m not easily impressed.”
I twist my face into a discontented expression. “Well, you have it wrong. I didn’t kill anyone.”
Kora did. I mean, I helped, of course.
“Yes, that’s right.” He nods thoughtfully. “You assisted. It was your blonde friend giving him that lethal dose.”
My heart smashes against my ribs. If someone else sees that, Kora and I are fucked.
He seems really proud of himself. Fucker. I really can’t decide if I wanna stab him in the throat with my heel or smash my lips to his.
“You can’t tell anyone.” My tone grows forceful.
My father would have my fucking head.
“And what will I get for keeping your secret?”
“You’ll get to live.” I narrow my gaze into slits. “Is that not good enough for you?”
Holding my stare, his eyes turn intense, his breathing heavy and tortured. “Oh, Red, every time you threaten my life, it only makes me want you more.”
“You’re insane,” I huff out in utter exasperation, but also completely overtaken by maddening attraction, or maybe deep sexual chemistry.
But this feels like it’s on a whole other level. Then again, I have nothing to compare it to.
“And you’re beautiful,” he replies softly, the back of his hand stroking the side of my face, like he can’t stop touching me.
And my stomach flutters and soars—something I never dreamed it could do.
Every inch of me comes alive as though born from his touch alone. I instantly recoil, as though my mind’s catching up, refusing to accept that my body could feel anything like this—an overpowering sense of loss of control.
“I don’t want you to worry,” he tells me. “I made sure to erase the footage I got permanently and had all the cameras showing you and your friend from around the city wiped clean.”
I suck in a breath. “Why are you helping me?”
That mouth of his teases mine with a kiss he hasn’t yet given. “Because, bambina, I’d like to consider us friends, and I help my friends.”