Love me if you dare
Read Love me if you dare Online
Authors: Sabel Simmons
Love Me if You Dare
Sabel Simmons
Copyright © 2014 Sabel
Simmons
All rights reserved.
ISBN-13: 978-1499590999
ISBN-10: 1499590997
This
is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either
products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to
actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
MORE BOOKS BY SABEL
SIMMONS
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Payback Time Baby
The Tycoon and his Honeypot
The Wildcat that Tamed the Tycoon
contents
The
gentle sloping hills all around her were so familiar it nearly paralyzed her.
She straightened and stepped closer to the group of people gathered around the
graveside.
With an expressionless face Samantha
DuPont stared at the freshly dug grave with the expensive coffin resting on the
steel encampment, anticipating its lowering into its final resting place. She
clamped her teeth around her lower lip remembering her father always said he
wanted to be cremated.
It was still unbelievable to be
standing next to her father’s grave; to realize that the strong, formidable man
was no more. Tears gathered behind her eyelids and she bit even harder on her
lip to force them back. She would not shed a tear over him, not after
everything he had done to her. She would honor his last memory by saying
goodbye to him today, but she would not shed a tear over his demise. Not
because she was not sad or totally heartless, but she had none left. She had
cried all the tears she was ever going to cry over that man … over her father!
She shifted her weight from one leg to
the other, tightening her spine when she noticed another surreptitious glance
being cast her way. She bit back a sardonic smile. No one recognized her,
even though she herself could name one and all gathered around the grave by
their first names.
Grimly she recalled what she looked
like six years ago. Short spiky hair colored with four to five different
colors at once. Something her mother hated and always flew into an epileptic fit
when she would walk in every other month with different colors. Her make-up
was always thick and dark, aimed at pushing people away rather than enhancing.
She always wore skimpy clothes that left very little to the imagination.
A definite contrast to how she now
looked. Stylishly dressed in a dark purple pant suit with thick, shiny long
and nearly black hair – her natural hair color - reaching to her mid-back, and
slight make-up enhancing and mystifying her perfect features, she was the
picture of a sheik, beautiful and sensual woman.
A woman, that took Nicolas’s breath
away even over a distance, from where he stood on the other side of the
grave. He wished she would look his way so he could see her eyes. He racked
his brain trying to figure out who she was. He couldn’t recall ever meeting
her at the DuPont mansion or at the offices. Yet, there appeared to be
something eerily familiar about her.
The next moment her gaze moved to his
and he caught it with his, commanding hers not to move away. An electric
charge hit him with such force that his groin tightened in response. Blue
flames shot from his eyes across the grave to hers. She was too far for him to
see the color of her eyes, but he could have sworn she gave a start when their
gazes met. His lips relaxed in a soft grin with the knowledge that she too
must have felt the current that drew them to each other … even as strangers.
Samantha’s heart leaped in her throat,
nearly suffocating her. She felt as if she was pulled into him across the
distance that separated them. The direct sizzling look he gave her shot heat
down her stomach to quiver in her loins. She struggled to breath and could not
drag her gaze away from his. She realized with a start that after all these
years just looking into his eyes, he still had the same effect on her than he
did all those years ago. There was a magnetism to him that caused pure heat,
lust and desire to surge through her veins. She always wanted this man, even
at the tender age of seventeen when they met for the first time.
But he was appointed as her Father’s
protégé, his right hand man. One he intended to groom and mentor to one day
take over the reins of his company. So she stayed away, knowing then at twenty
five he was too old for her. Not to mention how much she resented the fact
that her father had no trust in her as his eldest sibling to be the one for the
job.
It was his reaction six years ago that
totally devastated her and the reason she took flight to hide and lick her
wounds.
Nicolas allowed his gaze to sweep down
her body, all the way to her toes and back. She was absolutely stunning, tall
with curves in all the right places and legs that went on forever. Her thick
hair shimmered like an ink halo around her face and caressed her shoulders
before it fell like a waterfall down her back and in the front curved around
full voluptuous breasts.
She had delicate features, with a
slightly square face, small straight nose, high cheekbones, beautifully formed
almond shaped eyes framed by perfectly formed eyebrows and her mouth! A juicy
mouth with full lips that made his mouth water. Just short of a cupid bow,
with her bottom lip fuller than the top one, a bottom lip he would love to
nibble and suck on!
The moment their eyes met he thought
he saw alarm on her face, but then her gaze moved on to rest on Elaine DuPont
standing next to him. He forced his gaze away from the alluring woman,
realizing with a start that his body had hardened with lust - a first for him
in nearly six years; and at a graveside of all places! The only other female
that had such a thrilling sexual impact on him was the eldest daughter of
Alexander DuPont, whose graveside he was standing by. That daughter was not
the petite and dainty Elaine DuPont gripping his arm tightly and crying on her
mothers’ shoulder.
No, it was the elder one, Samantha.
Samantha, the wild one, the one with no inhibitions and took delight in
provoking her family with her wildness.
A Samantha whom he wanted to tame,
whom he wanted to teach the pleasures of the flesh, but whom was too young at
the time, so he bided his time. A total waste it seemed! As the same Samantha
betrayed his loyalty and patience, disappointed him profoundly, the day he
found her naked and sexually sated in bed with a man nearly thirty years her
senior!
The rest of the graveside service and
eulogies became a blur as Samantha’s gaze came to rest on her mother. She was
still a beautiful woman, even at the age of fifty eight. Her heart jumped when
she noticed the desolation and pain in her eyes. No one expected her father to
die this young; he was only fifty nine. It must have been a huge shock for her
mother. Samantha frowned slightly. What had happened to him? As far as she
knew he was as healthy as a horse, so something must have happened to cause the
heart attack.
She still recalled her shock when she
switched the TV on and saw the announcement on the small screen. She was in
the country by chance otherwise she probably would not be standing here today,
paying her last respects to her father.
She went to great pains when she left
six years ago to ensure no one knew where she went, so no one would have been
able to get in contact with her about his passing. Not even Uncle Jamie whom
assisted her to leave the country six years ago and to get her accepted at
Harvard. She was the one that contacted him and now only on birthdays and
Christmas.
She bit down on her bottom lip again
recalling the reason for the trip here. Maybe she subconsciously demanded to
take the trip herself rather than her partner. Maybe what she really wanted
was to come into contact with her family again. To show them what she had
achieved over the past six years. That she amounted to something, that she was
not the cheap, selfish thoughtless slut, her family accused her off.
Words, that ripped through her and
caused irreparable damage to their relationship. Words that her father repeated
and words that Nicolas echoed with the look of loathing in his eyes when he
looked at her. She gave a small sob … all of a sudden six years did not seem that
far away, suddenly the hurt came rushing back to smack her hard in her chest.
She swung around and quickly stumbled
to the rental car at the bottom of the hill. Her lip curled when she glanced
back up the hill. Trust her father to choose this spot! One of her favorite
spots on this whole estate, one of the spots she always ran off to when things
became too much and she needed to be alone.
Her traitorous mind turned to the dark
haired man that managed to take her breath away once again. The blue of his
eyes were more silver-gray, he had a ruggedly handsome face, broad cheekbones,
a straight yet hawk like nose. He had a chiseled, square jaw with firm lips.
His arrogance exuded from him all the way down his massive frame. He was a big
man, all of six feet two with bulging muscles. He had black hair combed
negligently back that gave him a rakish, carefree look.
She sighed, concentrating on the road
in front of here rather than on the hard, ruthless man that held her in his arm
and kissed her like a lover would … once … only once.
Everyone gathered at the DuPont
mansion for the wake. Samantha maneuvered the car slowly through the massive
wrought iron gates. Her eyes misted over when she came face to face with her
birthplace for the first time in six years.
The driveway stretched for
approximately half a kilometer with Sypris trees embracing it on either side.
Through the trees the mansion was visible in all its glory. A massive place
that was always too elaborately big for their family of four. A place she
loved and yet came to hate at the end.
With stiff legs she walked through the
front door and came to a halt next to the staircase. Memories of her last
encounter with her formidable father came rushing back and she had to grip the
banister of the staircase else she collapsed at the bottom of the stairs.
She envisioned his face contracting in
rage when he tossed her toward the staircase the moment he dragged her through
the door, causing her to stumble and fall against the bottom stair, where she
stayed in shock. She looked up from her position on the steps at her father
with Nicolas by his side.
She recalled all the insults and
degrading words her parents flung at her with such force that she recoiled in
shame. She remembered trying to defend herself and tell them they were
mistaken, but when she glanced up and noticed the contempt and disgust in Nicolas’s
eyes, she closed her mouth and accepted all the insults they relentlessly threw
at her. All the while cringing closer and smaller against the stairs digging
painfully into her hip where she laid trembling.
Nothing they said could have hurt more
than what she saw in Nicolas’s eyes. At that time she encased her heart within
a wall of ice.
She became aware of the people around
her, some glancing curiously at her. With a grim twitch of her mouth she
straightened and headed for the study door which she noticed were slightly
ajar. Her sisters’ voice reached her as she neared the door and her mother’s
warm voice firmly trying to calm Elaine down.
“But Mommy … what are we going to do
without Daddy? Oh … everything is falling apart again! How are we going to live?”
“Elaine! Stop this nonsense! Everything
is going on as before. Yes, your father is gone …” Her voice faltered: “…but
this is still our home…”
“NO, NO, that’s just it! You don’t
know anything! He betrayed me again … even now. You just don’t realize what
Daddy did …”
“Elaine, you are upsetting your
mother. Here, drink this … it will cal…” The glass shattered on the floor
when Elaine slapped it from Nicolas’s hand, splattering whisky over his
pristine tailored suit pants.
“Stop treating me like a child! It’s
all her fault! It has always been her fault!”
“What are you talking about?” Shona
DuPont was starting to lose patience with her youngest daughter.
“Samantha! Who else! Samantha!
Daddy dear’s blue eyed girl! Even when she broke his heart and his trust, he
still loved her more! He changed his testament again, Mommy dearest! She
inherits everything … this house included!
“Nonsense! He would have discussed it
with me first!”
Elaine gave a shrill laugh. “Yes,
one would think so! But alas he didn’t. I snug into the study when Uncle
Jamie left last month. I saw the draft of the new testament on his desk. And
she’s not even here … she didn’t even bother to come and pay her respects to
hi…”
“Oh, but I am here, sister dear.” Samantha
said drily as she pushed the door closed behind her. She stood there, gripping
the door handle, mentally preparing herself for the three pairs of eyes to meet
hers.
Elaine’s eyes widened so much it
nearly covered her whole face and her mouth was stretched in a wordless “Oh”. Nicolas’s
shot blue flames at her and her mother … her mother promptly fainted.