Chapter 17 #2
If I don’t get the subject off sex and attraction soon, I’m going to mount this man right here in the car. It’s like he has a secret code to my libido, and no matter how much my mind is banging on about his secrets and lies, all my body wants to do is bang, well, him.
“How was your day?”
His lips curve up on one side. “Long and boring. What about yours? What did you do today?”
“Trudged around the supermarket, moaning the entire time because people are idiots. I mean, how long does it take to pick up a pack of chicken breasts? I swear they stand there looking at them for so long, it’s as though they’re expecting them to burst back to life.
Let’s see, what else did I do? Baked scones.
Painted my toenails.” Argued with Juliet because she pointed out something that sounds more and more like the truth with each passing minute.
“Will you judge me if I say I have never set foot inside a supermarket?”
My jaw slackens. “You’re kidding?”
“Nope.” He gives me a sheepish grin.
“Wow. Then, yes, I judge you.”
He chuckles, his eyes twinkling. “Just think, when we’re married, you’ll never have to set foot inside a supermarket again.”
He means it as a positive statement, I’m sure, but a shiver runs down my spine.
His life is so different from mine, so… otherworldly.
It’s one more reminder that I’m dicing with the devil by proceeding with this plan my family and I have cooked up.
Still, I’m smart, resourceful, and determined to honor my parents in the only way I have left.
It’s forty-five minutes before the car stops. Instructing me to stay where I am, Christian gets out and comes around to my side of the car. Leaning in, he takes hold of my hand and helps me out.
“Le Résidence? Is this yours?”
“Yes. Well, it belongs to the De Vil estate. This and… four hundred or so others I think, worldwide.” He gestures dismissively. “I lose count.”
Four hundred hotels, and those are just a fraction of the properties this family own.
Their wealth is intimidating. Scary, even.
With that kind of wealth comes immense power.
Not for the first time, a sense of trepidation floods my veins.
If I succeed and find out what really happened to my parents, Christian will know I’m a fraud.
He’ll know all of this was a ruse to get close to him.
The De Vils aren’t people you go up against, unless you’re an idiot.
What am I doing?
Christian strides through the impressive lobby, with me tottering along beside him. Bypassing the reception desk, he beelines for the bank of lifts. I expect Marshall to get in with us, but he doesn’t. As the doors close, I turn to Christian.
“No bodyguard?”
He taps four numbers onto a keypad mounted on the wall, then looks into a camera. “No need. This place is as secure as Oakleigh. No one is getting up to the penthouse unless I grant them access.”
“The… the penthouse?”
“Mm-hmm.” He runs his tongue along his lower lip, his gaze dropping to my mouth. “Only the best for you, Grace.”
The lift doors part, but instead of opening into a hallway, an expansive living room greets me. Along one wall is a bank of windows, the splendor of London on display. Christian strolls inside, whereas my feet are glued to the floor.
“Wow.”
He stops and pivots, then returns to where I’m standing. Taking my hand, he coaxes me inside. “Lovely, isn’t it?”
“It’s breathtaking.”
After leading me over to the windows, he moves behind me and wraps his arms around my waist, his chin resting on my shoulder. “Before we go any further, I want to make something clear.”
“Oh?” I sound breathy, like an over-actor in a porn film. “What’s that?”
“I brought you here to fuck you. It’s all I can think about, all I dream about.
I’m crazy about you. I haven’t been this crazy for a woman in a long time.
Maybe forever. But I want you to know something.
” He turns me in his arms, his expression open, his eyes hiding nothing.
“You’re in charge. You have all the power.
If you decide this is going too fast or you’re uncomfortable…
I don’t care if I’ve got the fucking tip in, you say no, it’s a no. ”
“I wouldn’t be here if I had doubts.”
“I understand that. Even so, this”—he sweeps his hand around the room—“this is my domain. There’s no one here but us. I thought that might make you… wary. I wanted to put your mind at ease, that’s all.”
That he’s considering my comfort, and clearly takes consent seriously, should make me happy, but it’s one more thing that’s too considerate about him.
One more tick in the box of my perfect guy.
I don’t want him to be my perfect guy. I need him to be the monster under my bed, but with every action, every word, every kiss, he’s ripping up my beliefs and setting them on fire.
Could it be that he’s just a brilliant actor? A man who can kill and move on as though he’s done nothing more serious than squashing a bug? An empty, soulless beast who preys on the grief of others? I don’t know, and that’s the issue.
“Are you real, Christian?”
A puzzled expression crosses his face. “What do you mean?”
“I mean guys don’t say that. Not any I’ve come across, anyway. Guys don’t think that a woman might feel scared to be alone with a man she hasn’t known all that long, or think to put her at ease.”
A slow grin pulls at his lips, and my entire midsection clenches. He really is the whole package, except for one gigantic elephant taking up half the room. The elephant I can’t tell him about.
Resting his forehead against mine, he slides his arms around my waist. “You’ve been with the wrong men, Duchess.”
“And you’re the right one?”
“Right one for right now, yeah, I am.” His mouth closes over mine, but it isn’t a frantic kiss signaling a prelude to hot, sweaty sex. It’s gentle, exploratory, leisurely, as though he’s in no rush and is savoring every sweep of his tongue, every press of his lips against mine.
Tears fill my eyes; emotions I’ve done my best to suppress breaking through the barrier with a gigantic fuck you.
Being someone I’m not is impossible. Sure, I can fake my name and background, but I can’t fake who I am.
The crushing guilt weighing me down is washed away by the rush of desire.
My skin’s on fire, my heart beating out of my chest.
I fist Christian’s jacket, yanking him closer to me. I can’t get close enough. I want to crawl inside his body and never leave. He pushes his knee between my legs, and I ride him shamelessly, chasing friction.
He breaks our kiss, his lips traveling along my jawline. “Grace, fuck. I’m trying to take it slow, but you’re not making it easy.”
“Who said I wanted slow?” I whisper.
“Are you hungry?”
I blink at the change in direction. “Not particularly.”
“Good. We’ll eat later.” He acts so quickly, I don’t register he’s lifted me off my feet until we’re halfway across the living room.
He kicks open a door, stopping it with his elbow when it bounces off the wall.
Low lighting sets the mood, and silken sheets brush my skin as he sets me on the edge of the bed.
Kneeling, he slides off first one heel, then the other, caressing my calf with firm strokes.
Once he’s done, he gracefully rises to his feet and, taking both my hands in his, helps me to stand.
“Turn around.” His voice is low, husky, and filled with a yearning that mirrors my own.
When I do, he tugs down the zip on my dress, his fingertips brushing every bump in my spine. Sliding the dress off my shoulders, it slips to the floor. The rough hitch of his breath sends a wave of lust through me. One flick, and my bra joins my dress. His warm palm caresses my arse.
“I think we might leave the thong on. For now.”
Not being able to see what he’s doing is oddly thrilling. My sense of hearing heightens. The rustle of his shirt as he discards his jacket, the sound of him removing his tie, the way his breathing gets faster and faster. I close my eyes, swaying slightly, then jump when his hand clasps my ankle.
“Relax.” His palm travels up my leg, his thumb sweeping behind my knee before he places a kiss there.
My skin peppers with goosebumps, and I shiver, although it’s warm in here.
Too warm. I’m burning up. Is death by lust a thing?
My heart hammers against my ribcage, my breath coming in short, sharp gasps as Christian explores my body with his hands, his tongue, his lips.
The entire length of his body presses against me, his torso and legs bare.
When did he take off his shirt and trousers?
His hands slide around my waist, the flat of his palms settling on my stomach.
The thick rope of his erection presses between my cheeks, and it takes everything in me not to rub myself on him like a cat at a scratching post.
He turns me in his arms and… ohhh. I’m a shoulders girl, and this man’s shoulders make my ovaries scream with joy. I openly stare, reaching up to trace the bulk of muscle. His eyes drift closed, and he shudders, his six-pack rippling with the movement.
“I didn’t take you for a gym bunny.”
“Boxer,” he mutters, grabbing my wrist and putting it on his chest as I pull away.
“Like, in the ring?”
“Sometimes.”
“Who do you fight?”
“My brothers, mainly. Sometimes one of the bodyguards. It… relaxes me. Quietens the voices in my head.”
“You make it sound like you’re carrying the troubles of the world around with you.”
The incredulity in my tone sounds loud even to me. He opens his eyes, his gaze immediately finding mine. “Money doesn’t mean I don’t have problems. Believe me, I have more than my fair share.”
I rub my lips together. “Sorry, I didn’t mean—”
He presses a finger to my lips. “I know. It must be easy when you’re constantly living to a budget to believe that having an unlimited supply of cash would solve all your problems. It doesn’t. I promise you. I bleed just like everyone else.”
“What kind of troubles?”
“Not the kind I want to share when I’m about to fuck the woman who’s consumed every damn thought in my head for weeks.”
Clamping his huge hands around my waist, he lifts me clean off the floor and tosses me onto the bed as if I weigh nothing.
My giggles don’t last long when he crawls after me, trapping me between his muscular thighs.
I gaze up at him, copping another feel of his shoulders, which I know I’ll dream about long after my deception is out in the open.
As he blankets me with his body, and his lips find mine once more, I forget who I am, who he is, our disastrous history, and I steal a memory precious enough to last a lifetime.