Chasing Fire 1: The Innocent (BDSM Erotic Romance) (2 page)

Stiffening her spine, Isabella turned
and left the ladies room, determined to find someone to go home
with tonight.

Chapter Two

Heading back into the ballroom,
Isabella grabbed another flute of champagne from a passing waiter.
She took her first sip then froze as she saw Nick move in front of
her with a fierce frown on his face. Without a word he reached out
and took the glass from her, setting it on a table before she could
react.

“
Hey—”

“
I think you’ve had enough
to drink tonight.”

Her eyes narrowed at him. “Despite what
you think, you aren’t my father or my brother, Nick.”

“
Thank god for that.”
Nick’s deep voice lowered. “I want to talk to you.”

He took hold of her arm in a gentle,
but firm grip, leading her further away from where her personal
bodyguard stood a few feet from them. The look he gave the guard
was enough warning to have the other man staying exactly where he
was.

“
I hear congratulations
are in order,” she said as soon as they were alone. At Nick’s
questioning glance she delicately snorted out a laugh. “Your date.
She said you were getting married soon.”

“
She is mistaken. Belle,
how much have you had to drink tonight?”

She waved a careless hand through the
air. “It doesn’t matter. I think I may be drunk. I’m not sure. I
never have been, you know. Then again, I haven’t done a lot of
things, but all that is going to change now.”

“
What do you mean by
that?” Nick all but growled out.

Ignoring his question, she pulled her
arm away from him. “Why are you here, Nick?”

“
I was
invited.”

Not amused, she glared at him. “I mean
here, with me. Shouldn’t you be dancing with your fiancée or
something?”

He let out an exasperated sigh. “I told
you, I’m not marrying her, Belle.”

She could see the surprise in his eyes.
She’d never talked back to him like this. Then again she had always
been terrified of losing him, which was stupid because he was never
hers to begin with. That thought just depressed her and had her
shoulders slumping. She couldn’t seem to gain control of her
emotions.

Why had she had so much to drink
tonight?

“
It’s none of my business
anyways,” Belle whispered. “You know, I always thought you and I…
It was stupid, I know. I’m not like your other women. A man like
you would never be interested in someone like me. But I’m done
waiting now.”

“
Belle…”

“
I’ve loved you for so
long… I hoped that someday you could see me, the real me instead of
that teenager you first met. But you…well; now I know I have to let
that go. I’m going to start living my life without you
now.”

“
The hell you
will!”

Horrified at what she had just said,
she quickly moved away from Nick as he reached for her. Desperate
to leave now that she had made a fool of herself, she fled the
party. It wasn’t until she was outside that she realized she had
left her bodyguard inside the posh Manhattan hotel.

Turning back to head back into the
building, it was too late to react as hands grabbed her from
behind. She screamed as she flew through the air. The rest of her
breath was forced from her lungs as she slammed into the floor.
Before she knew what was going on, she heard the side door to the
van slam shut, followed by the squeal of tires as the van took
off.

Terror filled her as something was
shoved over her head, blocking her vision. She thought she heard
Nick’s shout as the van sped away. Fear unlike anything she’d ever
known spiked through her, sobering her instantly. She tried to
fight back, to no avail, and the pain that flooded her as a fist
struck her head. Rough hands grabbed at her hands and feet, and she
felt the coarse rope abrade her skin as she struggled to get
away.

Her body was flung against the side of
the van as they sped through the streets. Hope filled her as she
heard the faint sounds of sirens in the distance.

Then it was like the world had
ended.

Careening out of control, the van
flipped over, tossing everyone inside around as they slid to a stop
with a loud screech of metal. Isabella heard a male grunt as she
landed on one of her captors, and pain exploded behind her eyes as
her head slammed against the side of the van. She thought she heard
Nick’s voice shouting out to her, but she couldn’t be
sure.

“
Nick,” she whispered,
like a talisman against the pain. Unable to fight it, she closed
her eyes, welcoming the blackness that consumed her.

 “
No!” Nicholas
Pacelli shouted as he watched the van flip over, powerless to stop
it.

Early tonight, Nick had felt his heart
stop as he looked across the crowded ballroom and saw Isabella. She
had been a vision in a vibrant blue gown, her dark hair haloed by
the soft light shining from the chandeliers. He had all but
forgotten Victoria, the cool, tall blonde he had been seeing for a
few weeks until she had yanked on his arm. He had known his
interest in her was waning, and had just decided to end things with
her that night.

But none of that mattered as his eyes
met Isabella’s across the room. It had been impossible to look away
from her then she had disappeared from sight. Tracking her, he saw
duck into the ladies room. He’d seen the way she had downed a
couple glasses of champagne and concern had him positioning himself
so he catch her as she left.

When she walked out, he could
immediately tell that something was wrong. It had been as if the
light had died in her eyes. Anger had surged through him just
thinking that someone had done something to hurt her, but she had
shocked him when she had stumbled over and clumsily made a drunken
declaration of love. Was that what it was?

He had been stunned by her admission,
even more so knowing that she had planned on giving up on him
before things had even begun. Shock was swept away by the rage that
seared through him at the thought of another man touching her. Of
anyone else taking what should be his.

Stalking after her, he had just walked
out the front door of the hotel when a van had slammed to a stop
and he’d heard her scream. Nick’s world came to a crashing halt as
he watched a man throw Belle into the back of a van.

He had spun around when he’d heard his
name and relief flooded him as he saw his driver pull his town car
up next to him. He had jumped into the passenger seat,
unnecessarily barking the order to follow the van even as his
driver launched into the chase. He had to regain
control.

Nick pulled out his cell phone and
quickly called in the abduction, reciting the streets they were on
to the operator as they gave chase.

“
Don’t lose them,” Nick
ordered his driver.

“
Not a chance, boss,”
Harlan barked back.

Harlan doubled as Nick’s head
bodyguard, and had a wealth of useful knowledge that came in handy
in any given situation. And this had certainly been one of them. It
wasn’t long before they had sighted flashing lights of a police car
coming at them from the opposite direction. The van had turned,
weaving through New York traffic as they sought to escape as more
police joined the pursuit.

Nick’s breath caught as the van hit one
of the squad cars that had stopped as a barricade, blocking the
street. He watched in horror as the van flipped on its side then
slammed into a parked car with a loud crash. Before Harlan pulled
the car to a complete stop, Nick was out and running toward the
van.

“
Belle!”

A cop grabbed him, holding him back as
the driver of the van got out and fired at the police. Nick cursed
bitterly as he was forced to take cover. He slapped at the hands
that tried to hold him down as he searched for a sign of Isabella
among the chaos.

The cops returned fire, shooting the
driver, killing the man instantly. Once he was down, the cops
swarmed the downed vehicle. Nick took his first full breath when
the back door was opened, revealing Belle. He let out a roar of
anguish when he saw her crumpled body. They had tied a strip of
material over her eyes, blinding her and used rope to tie her hands
and feet.

Breaking away from the hands holding
him back, Nick raced forward.

“
Don’t move her!” Harlan
ordered.

Nick wanted to lash out at him, but
knew that he was right. She was unconscious and Nick couldn’t be
sure how injured she was. The paramedics arrived, quickly
transferring her onto a stretcher.  The look on his face must
have said it all because the paramedics didn’t even try to stop him
as he got in the ambulance with her. Fear all but strangled him as
her eyes remained closed the entire ride to the
hospital.

Fury returned as he watched the doctors
roll her away. While he waited he’d called her father, Richard
Lupton. Nick told him where to meet them then questioned Richard
about the threat against her. Shaken by the incident, Richard told
him about his suspicions about the business deal he was currently
involved in. Even though the cops didn’t have enough evidence
against the perpetrator, they would after Nick’s people were
finished.

Left with nothing to do but wait, he
arranged for more personal security to ensure her safety. He also
given his statement to the police, needing to do whatever was
necessary to catch whoever was behind the kidnapping. It felt like
years until he had gotten news of her condition. At first the
nurses told him that only family was allow to receive
updates.

“
I’m her fiancé. Now, tell
me.”

“
Ms. Lupton has a
concussion and has some lacerations and bruising, but overall she
is very lucky,” the nurse replied, finally giving in.

“
Thank you,” Nick said,
before turning away. The relief that flooded him was almost
euphoric. The nurse's expression softened to one of sympathy as he
spoke to her about arranging a private room for Isabella. When
Isabella was finally moved into the room to recover, he sat down to
wait by her side until her father got to the hospital.

Then, Nick began planning.

Chapter Three

Nick watched the dark-haired beauty who
sat across from him on his private jet, careful to keep his
expression blank as the plane took off.

It had taken time and planning for him
to arrange this trip, but her father had finally conceded to Nick
after realizing that Isabella would be safest out of reach of
anyone who wished her harm. Not that Nick had any doubt that he
would. He always got what he wanted.

And what he wanted was Isabella
Lupton.

It had begun innocently enough. On a
clear summer night, Nick had sought to escape his newfound position
as CEO of his father’s company for a few minutes while he had been
attending a dinner party thrown in his honor. He had just stepped
outside when he saw a pretty teen girl struggling to teach herself
how to ride a bike. It had both warmed his heart and left him a
little sad. A girl her age should have learned something as simple
as riding a bike long before that time. From what he had heard,
Richard Lupton kept a tight leash on his only daughter, never
letting her live the normal life of a child after her mother had
died.

Isabella, or Belle as he called her,
had reminded Nick of everything he had lost when his own father had
passed away and left the legacy of a business empire in his hands.
Throughout the years, Nick had struggled to fill his father’s
shoes, but with ingenuity and hard work he had tripled his father’s
empire and made himself a force to be reckoned with in his own
right. Still, he was reminded of the good in life by that young
woman.

But as the years went by, that fondness
he had for her had turned into something…more.

Never a patient man, Nick had forced
himself to bide his time. It had begun the night of her high school
graduation party. Belle had just turned eighteen a few months
earlier and her father had thrown an elaborate party to celebrate
her graduating. The first thing that struck Nick when he had
arrived was that there were only a few of her friends in
attendance, with most of the guests being business colleagues or
clients of Richard’s.

He remembered the way her beautiful
eyes had lit up as she saw him. Nick had always known she’d had a
crush on him, but she had been far too innocent for a man like him,
so he had kept his distance. He had watched over the next few
years, partially hoping that his interest in her would fade, but
each time he saw her again, his hunger for her only grew
stronger.

When she had graduated from college he
considered taking the next step, but something inside him said that
she still wasn’t ready. Not for what he wanted. Nick knew that once
he had her, he’d never let her go. She had been his for years, but
he forced himself to wait before making his move.

His heart clenched every time she would
cast those big eyes at him, filled with hurt and disappointment,
when she would see him with one of the many women he had dated.
Nick fucked a lot of women, but there had never been anyone close
to touching his heart. No, that already belonged to someone else.
He had given his heart to Belle the moment she had looked up at him
in the moonlight as if he were a god among men. He just hadn’t
known it at the time. And so he passed the time with whatever woman
sparked his interest at the time, waiting until Belle gave him some
sign she was ready.