New Beginnings (91 page)

A look of trepidation mixed with excitement filled her eyes as she gripped the iron cut-outs in the walnut headboard. “Are you really as wild as they say you are?”

She was taunting me? She was about to understand the error of her ways because I intended to take her so hard she would think of me with every step she took tomorrow. “You’re about to find out.”

I gripped the headboard for leverage and rammed into her so deeply I was pretty sure the solid wood posts would leave a gaping hole in the drywall. I didn’t care. She wanted the animal to come out and play? She was about to find out just how wild I could get.

“Oh, oh, Deacon… oh… I’m there. I’m right there.”

I mercilessly rubbed that sensitive sweet spot with my fingertips long after her tremors had subsided while continuing the explosive onslaught like a man possessed. “Roll over on your stomach and grab the headboard again.”

“But—”

“Don’t ask questions! Just do it!”

She scrambled to meet my demands, thrusting her bottom into the air.

I grabbed her hips and resumed my maniacal thrusting before reaching around to find that tight bud again. “Again. Now.”

“Deacon… no… I… can’t…”

“Yes, you can.”

“I…”

“You want this, don’t you?” She was getting me even more turned on, and I knew that before long, she’d push me into a dark and dangerous place I wasn’t sure I wanted to take her.

“Yes, oh God, yes.” She came apart in my arms again.

Finding an easy rhythm that gave her pleasure while tilting her body to the perfect angle, I found that elusive spot that would prove to her no other man could make her feel the way I could.

“Oh, I can’t. Not again.” She sounded frantic. “Please, not yet.”

“Relax, sexy.” I kissed her neck, making her squirm while I reached a place inside her that made her scream out my name while her whole body tensed.

She was panting, her voice broken. “Oh my… oh… I…”

I loved hearing her mumble incoherently, totally out of control. It made me lose control.

“Yes! Now!” I filled her as she throbbed around me, crying out my name again.

Afterward, I rubbed her back before gathering her in my arms. “Release the headboard, theia.”

“Deacon, that was…” She released a shaky laugh. “Oh my God, I don’t even know how to describe that.”

“Good?” I rested her head on my chest. I’d ventured further than I’d intended. I’d wanted our first time together to be special, to show her how much she meant to me. Instead, I’d taken her like an animal, and guilt was seeping in.

She ran her hand over my chest. “Amazing.”

“I’m sorry if I…” I kissed the top of her head, struggling to find the words. I did not yet know how far she was willing to let me go, and while I wanted to eventually push her outside her comfort zone, I was afraid of crossing any lines too soon. “Crossed the line.”

“You didn’t.” She pressed her warm lips against my chest. “It was everything I wanted and more, so much more. I imagined what it would be like, being with you.” She glided a fingertip over the ridges in my abdomen, outlining my six-pack. “But I worried about being with someone like you. I didn’t know if I could handle it.”

Reining in the rougher, more dominant part of myself would be hard, but I would do almost anything for her. “And?”

“I want more.” She looked up at me, her big blue eyes glistening. “I don’t want you to feel you have to hold back with me. What you did to me, for me, it just made me hungry for more.”

My heart pounded hard, my blood rushing through my veins, and I contemplated the possibilities. Very little had been off-limits in my life of sexual promiscuity, but when she said she wanted more, I needed her to define exactly what that meant. I couldn’t risk screwing up.

“I liked the way you made me feel tonight. I liked watching you lose control.”

I prided myself on being in control, on not allowing my urges to overtake my common sense, but whether she realized it or not, Mia was the one in control.

“Why?”

“You’re so powerful,” she whispered. Her hand shifted lower, tracing circles on my lower abdomen. “So in control all the time. You instill fear in people because of who you are and what you possess. Your feelings for me, the way you treat me, the way you lose control when you’re with me, that makes me feel powerful.”

Kissing the top of her head, I tried to process the new facets of my personality she’d brought to the surface. I didn’t like them. I certainly wasn’t ready to embrace them, yet I couldn’t seem to suppress them. I’d been given a taste of the way sex could be with her, and I knew it was the start of a new chapter. Whether it would represent healing or a further descent into darkness, I wasn’t sure.

She tipped her head back to look at me. “What are you thinking about? You’re so quiet. That’s not like you.”

“I wanted Saturday night to be special,” I said, letting my mind wander into safer territory. “I wanted to bring you back here, give you the tour, enjoy a glass of champagne, soft music…” I kissed the tip of her nose, smiling. “Candles, flowers, everything you deserve.”

“About Saturday...are we… I mean… will we be there together?”

I frowned, tugging her hair gently until she was facing me again. “What are you talking about? Of course we will be there together. Why wouldn’t we be?”

“I just wasn’t sure if you were ready to go public with our relationship yet.”

“Mia, I love you. You’re mine. I want the world to know that.”

She snuggled into me with a soft smile. “Good to know.” She pinched my side, making me squirm before I grabbed her hand. “By the way, I’m still mad at you for crashing my dinner with my brother.”

“I won’t apologize for that,” I said, bringing her fingertips to my lips. “I told you I wanted the world to know you’re mine, starting with your family.”

She groaned. “I haven’t even told my parents I’ve broken up with Drew. How will I explain to them I’m dating my boss?”

I stroked her hair. “You’re going to tell them the truth—that you’ve met a man who worships you, would do anything in the world for you, and that he just happens to own the company that employs you.”

“My father will probably hate you, just so you know.”

My stomach clenched. Her parents’ opinion was important to her, so that could be a serious stumbling block. “Why would he hate me?”

“He’ll think you’re exploiting me, taking advantage of me, trying to corrupt me.” She laughed as though the idea was preposterous.

“Why would he think that?” I didn’t find any humor in the situation.

“Because you pay me to model women’s underwear, not to mention the fact you’re twelve years older than I am. He’ll think you lured me away from Drew to have your wicked way with me.” Her eyes gleamed with amusement. She could probably tell by the tense set of my jaw that I wasn’t amused because she smacked my chest. “Lighten up, baby. I’m a grown woman. I can date anyone I want.”

“Maybe, but would you marry a man your parents don’t approve of?” My grip on her tightened. I would never try to come between Mia and her family, but no one would keep me from her. Not even the people who’d brought her into the world.

“You’re getting ahead of yourself.” She licked her lips as she fluffed her pillow and inched away from me. “I’m not ready to think about anything serious. I’m young—”

“But I’m not.” I gripped her wrist when she tried to tuck her hand under her pillow. “As you so kindly pointed out, I’m thirty-five. I’m not getting any younger. In my culture, marriage and children are a given, even in this day and age. I don’t bend to my family’s will, but I want those things for myself. With you.”

She inched back farther on the bed until she was at risk of tumbling onto the floor. “I understand that, but we just started dating. Marriage takes time—months, years.”

“I don’t want to wait years to be with you,” I said, trying to inject a thread of calmness into my impatient tone. I didn’t want our conversation to spiral out of control, but she needed to understand where I stood, what my intentions were.

She gestured between our bodies. “We’re together now. Can’t that be enough?”

“I want you to join my family for dinner on Sunday.” I wasn’t acquiescing. In my mind, her meeting my family was one step closer to the commitment I wanted. “It’s a monthly ritual when we’re all in town. Please say you’ll come.”

A slow smile spread across her face. “I’d love to meet your family.”

One step closer—a mere million to go.

Mia

Eleni shrieked when she opened her door and saw me, making me question my strapless-dress-and-sandal combo for the tenth time since I’d put it on. The black dress accentuated my full bust, hugged my curves like a second skin, and ended just a few inches below my butt, which played peek-a-boo if I bent over. Coupled with the four-inch strappy black sandals, it sent a clear message: I was looking to hook up. Which I wasn’t! At least not with any guy in the club we had selected for our wild night on the town. Now, if Deacon invited me over for a midnight romp in his hot tub, I’d seriously consider it.

“You think it’s too much?” I twirled a blond curl around my index finger. “I can change into something of yours.”

“Get your hot self in here,” Eleni said, tugging me inside. “You’re gonna have every guy in that place falling all over themselves to buy you a drink.”

“Please.” I rolled my eyes. “With you four around? I’ll fade into the background.” I knew we would all get our fair share of male attention tonight. Even though I wasn’t interested in hooking up, it might be fun to flirt. I hadn’t been out with the girls in a long time, and after the week I’d had, I was so ready to kick my heels up and have some fun.

“So tell me what’s been happening with you.” Eleni touched up her lipstick in the mirror.

“I had dinner with Chad last night.”

“How is he?” Eleni asked.

My best friend and brother had some serious sexual tension between them, and just thinking about them together made me kind of queasy. Eleni was a female version of Deacon. She was a serious player who loved to dominate her conquests, and I couldn’t picture my big brother as her… plaything. Eeewww.

“He’s good. He met Deacon,” I said.

Eleni looked at me in the mirror. “How’d that happen?”

“My sexy psycho just showed up at the restaurant where we were having dinner.”

“I’m guessing that wasn’t a coincidence?” she asked, smiling.

I rolled my eyes. “You know Deacon. What do you think?”

“Definitely not a coincidence.” She smacked her lips before turning to face me. “So how’d it go? Did he get the big-brother stamp of approval?”

“Yeah, Chad seemed to like him, but I was pissed he just showed up like that,” I said, fluffing my soft waves in front of the mirror. “So I went over to his place to let him have it.”

“And…?” Eleni rolled her hand. “Come on now, you can’t just leave a girl hanging.”

“Let’s just say he let me have it.” I tried to keep a straight face. “Numerous times. In numerous positions.”

“Shut. Up!” Eleni shoved my shoulder. “Tell me everything. Was he as good as they say he is? Did he rock your world?”

It still bothered me that so many of my friends and co-workers were able to weigh in on my boyfriend’s sexual prowess, but it was something I’d have to learn to live with. He couldn’t change his past any more than I could. Of course, I didn’t have anything nearly as scandalous in my past. Maybe Eleni was right. Maybe I did need to get out more.

“He was pretty amazing.” I pulled up my strapless dress when I noticed I was spilling out of the top. That was the only problem with strapless dresses—you spent half the night pulling them up and, after a few cocktails, giving all the boys a free show.

“I knew he would be,” Eleni said, reaching for her small designer handbag on the couch. “You can’t look like that and be a dud in bed. That would be so wrong.”

I laughed. “I guess you’re right. So we’re taking the limo tonight. Barry’s driving us. My man insisted.” I pulled a face, making her laugh. “He thinks I’m gonna get drunk and get abducted staggering home or something.”

She slipped her lipstick into her purse. “Knowing you, you just might. We all know you can’t hold your liquor.”

“Shut up,” I said, bumping her hip with mine as we walked out of her apartment. “Are we picking up the girls on the way, or are they meeting us there?”

“They’re meeting us there.” Eleni locked her door before she asked, “So this Barry guy, is he hot?”

I giggled. “He’s about fifty, married, with a grandkid on the way.”

“Damn.” She punched the button for the elevator. “Oh well, guess I’ll just have to keep my options open tonight.”

***

The club was crowded, making it nearly impossible for us to find our friends in the sea of sweaty bodies and groping hands. Perverts. We finally found them at a table near a bank of windows overlooking the dance floor. They were surrounded by guys, and the table in front of them was full of shot glasses, some full, some empty. And it was only ten o’clock. This would be a wild night.

“There they are!” Edie shrieked as she stumbled toward us.

I laughed as she hugged me so hard that we both nearly ended up on the floor. She’d already kicked her high heels off under the table, making me wonder how long they’d been there.

“Jesus,” a tall, handsome, dark-haired guy said, elbowing his friend as they gave Eleni and me a thorough once-over. “This just keeps getting better. I can’t believe our luck, meeting Alabaster’s models. Our buddies will never believe it.”

I tried to suppress my eye-roll but couldn’t. Guys thought dating a lingerie or swimsuit model was a badge of honor. I’d never met one who didn’t care whether she was a bitch who emasculated him as long as he could tell his friends he’d banged her. Sad but true. Which meant I’d watched my friends turn into serious man-eaters. Eleni claimed I was missing out on a great opportunity to get even with the opposite sex on behalf of women everywhere, but I didn’t get off on bringing others misery, no matter how much fun Eleni said it could be.