Secret Worlds (285 page)

“What?”

“I’m glad you’re all right,” he said. “You left pretty quickly after the police.”

I stared at my hands, and my voice softened. “I couldn’t stay there anymore. I went to see my aunt.”

“I thought you were from out of state.”

“She came down to visit me. Didn’t Serenity … oh wait.” I chuckled softly.

He gave a laughing sigh and stood up. “Since you’re all right, I’ll leave you alone.”

“Wait.” I stepped out of the car and tried to brush the wrinkles out of my dress. “I’d love some company.”

He turned back to me and crossed his arms over his chest. “What was that you were saying this morning? About it being better if we not see each other?”

“That was before …” I swallowed hard. “But you’re probably busy.”

“I did spend the afternoon searching for you and ignoring everything else,” he said.

My shoulders slumped. I’d wasted enough of his time already. Why did I think I was special enough to take up all of it just because I was having an insecure moment? I’d have to find someone else. Serenity had promised ice cream and video games this morning.

Mercer’s hand brushed against my chin, lifting it up to meet his gaze. My whole body tingled, and I licked my dry lips.

“Where do you want to go?” he asked.

My heart raced. Here was my moment. “How about your hotel?”

He smiled. “Do you want to leave your car here?”

I clicked the button and locked the doors. “Let’s go.”

He took my hand in his and paused at my bandaged arm. “What happened?”

I waved my other hand dismissively. “Clumsiness.”

He pulled me to his car and held open the passenger door for me. I leaned back against the leather seats and breathed in the cherry air freshener with a slight smile as he climbed in. And then we were off, racing the sunset, not that we would ever beat it.

The sky turned a burnt orange, and the clouds reflected pink. Street lights flickered on as he merged onto the Dallas Tollway. The towers of downtown Dallas rose up with their lights glittering in the darkening sky. Mercer pulled up in front of the Omni hotel and hopped out. A valet opened the door for me. Mercer tossed him the keys and, with a grin, held his elbow out for me.

“My lady,” he said.

I put my hand to my chest and put on my best southern belle accent. “How chivalrous.”

He chuckled. “Not really. I wasn’t around for any of that.”

“Yeah, no one was.”

“Mmm.”

The bellhop held the door open. “Good evening, Mr. Chaplin. Will you be needing anything tonight?”

Mercer glanced at me. “Did you want dinner or anything?”

I bit the inside of my cheek. I should be starving since I hadn’t eaten anything all day, but my body was running on Aunt Jo’s energy. I shook my head. I was craving something else a lot more at the moment.

“Maybe later,” I said.

“Room service it is, then.” He kissed the back of my hand and led me towards the elevator.

I leaned closer to him and shivered despite his warmth as we ascended to the top floor. I closed my eyes, breathing in his musk as it surrounded me in this tiny space. His arm wrapped around me with his hand resting on my hips. And his fingers traced my panty line, causing my body to quiver. I rose up on my tiptoes and ran my lips along his jawline, and he pressed me against the wall of the elevator and crashed his mouth into mine. The rich taste of coffee and cinnamon danced on my tongue, causing my pulse to quicken. All these days of fantasizing of this was nothing compared to feeling his lips on mine. My nipples hardened and brushed against every silken thread of my bra. The elevator dinged and we broke away from one another, panting.

Coldness filled the space he’d just occupied, and I yearned for his heat. I yanked his face back down and seized his mouth, pressing my tongue between his lips and savoring the rich heat. He met it with his own and his fingers fumbled at the elevator buttons. The doors slid shut, but we stayed still. I tensed, expecting an alarm to go off, but nothing happened.

“Just us,” he whispered as planted tiny kisses on my jawline.

I grinned and hooked a knee over his hip, thrusting my pelvis against his hardness. He gave a shuddering moan as he rubbed his cheek against mine. His lips captured mine again as his hand squeezed my breast with his thumb stroking my aching nipples. I unbuttoned his shirt and slid it off of him, revealing those hardened abs that I’d only been teased with until now. I needed to taste them.

I slid to my knees and outlined each of those hard edges with my tongue as I unbuckled his belt and unzipped his pants. I pushed away the annoying clothing to reveal a long, turgid cock, ready and waiting for my attention. I trailed my tongue down his stomach and along the shaft until I reached the tip. I flicked my tongue back and forth, twirling it around his throbbing head as I raised my gaze to his face. He groaned, and his darkened green eyes locked with mine. I grinned and swallowed him. He gave a quaking gasp and thrust his hips forward as I swirled my tongue along the base of him and sucked.

He pulled me up with a husky laugh. “As amazing as you are at that, I want to fuck you. Now.”

Heat burst from my loins and spread through my body, leaving me trembling in anticipation of having him inside of me. He slid my skirt up and slipped his hand inside my silk panties to rub his fingers along my wet slit. I moaned, leaning my head against the elevator wall, and pushed my hip forward to meet his probing.

“I thought you wanted to fuck me,” I gasped.

“Do you want me to?” His thumb flicked my clit, sending a jolt through me.

I gripped his shoulders. “Yes.”

“Tell me what you want.”

“I want you to ram you cock in me.”

He grinned, lifted me up, and granted my wish. I gripped his hips with my knees and met each of his forceful drive with my own bucking thrusts. His hands cupped my ass and his breath sent a shudder through me as he leaned forward to kiss the hollow part of my neck. The mirrors walls of the elevator fogged over and the passion poured out of our union and into the air. I dug my nails in his shoulders and arched my back as his forceful pounding sent tremors through me.

“I’m gonna come,” I cried.

I writhed as the tremors became an earthquake that consumed my entire being and the whole heaviness of the day drifted as I began to float on a cloud of euphoria. His mouth covered mine and absorbed the scream that burst from me. With one more powerful thrust he pulsed within me, and his own cry joined mine. We stood, panting, and wrapped in each other for a while as we came back to Earth.

“My room is just a few feet away.” His breath tickled my ear. “Lots more space in there.”

Sunlight bathed my face, flashing through the dark of my closed eyelids. I squinted, rolled to the side, and flopped my arm down on cool satin sheets. My eyes fluttered open as I patted the empty space. Hmm, I’d lost Mercer.

I sat up with a yawn, blinking away the bleariness as I scanned the room. His shirt, hanging over the big screen television, was the only article of clothing that made it into the bedroom. One of the lamps had been overturned. Otherwise the room looked normal. I wasn’t so sure about the rest of the suite. We’d managed to get as far as the couch in the front room of the suite before we’d continued. After the floor, and the hot tub, we’d finally ended up in the bed in the early morning.

I pulled the thick white comforter up with a shiver as the air conditioner clicked on and began blasting a cool breeze through the vents. I chewed the inside of my cheek. I could get up and go look for him, but that meant I would have to leave the nice warm bed and put some sort of clothes on. The growl of my stomach echoed through the room, making the final decision.

With a sigh, I threw off the covers, hopped out of bed, and pulled on Mercer’s shirt, wrapping it around me. Mercer stood in the living room with his back to me and his cell phone at this ear.

“I understand,” he said in a somber voice. “This is a tragedy. I understand how all of your students are suffering.”

I plopped down on the couch and brought my knees up to my chest. He smiled and winked at me as he titled his head closer to the phone. The collar of his shirt brushed against my nose, and I inhaled his scent. Underneath the patoulli lay something subtle. Olive trees?

“I don’t think we have to go that far. I think the project can be a positive way to help them cope.” He glanced in my direction again. “Can we discuss this further, say over lunch?”

He laughed at the phone. “I will see you then.”

He pocketed his phone, sat beside me, and pulled me into his arms, nuzzling the nape of my neck. I shuddered as his hot breath blew across my skin and a heat began to build up between my legs. I rested my head on his shoulder and lay my hands over his.

“Problems?” I tried to keep my voice level.

“The college is considering canceling the program,” he said.

I sat up and turn to look at him with my eyes wide. “But … that would screw all our credits.”

He pulled me back to him. “I’ll handle it.”

He buried his face in my hair and breathed deeply. I closed my eyes, allowing my muscles to relax. In this moment, we were the only two that existed on this Earth. For the first time since I’d seen my aunt, the tension in between my shoulders eased. I’d soon have to return to my problems, but in Mercer’s arms, they seemed so far away.

The knock on the door ended our moment of peace. Mercer gently pushed me away and headed to the door.

“This would be breakfast,” he said. “You’re probably hungry.”

My growling stomach answered him, and I grinned apologetically. He swung the door open and allowed the cart to be pushed in. Mercer thanked the server and palmed a bill in his hand before shutting the door. I rushed the cart and pulled off the cover from the first plate I could reach. Steam rose up with the sweet smell of maple. Sinful little triangles of fried bread lay in stacks of three with a cup of syrup between them.

“I love French toast,” I said

“At this point, you look like you’ll love anything.” He chuckled.

I snatched up the plate along with a fork and headed back to the couch. I was halfway through the toast before the gnawing in my stomach abated. I blinked and looked up to find Mercer beside me with a cup of coffee in hand and a plate of sausage and eggs on the table beside him. He watched me with a raise eyebrow and slight smile on his face. I wiped my mouth with a napkin.

“Sorry,” I said. “I don’t think I ate much yesterday.” Or at all.

“No, go ahead.” He waved a hand at me. “I appreciate a woman with an appetite.”

I took another bite and relished the warm rich taste that filled my mouth. It didn’t take long for me to empty the plate, and I leaned back on the couch, rubbing my stomach and licking the last of the sticky drops of syrup from my lips. Mercer’s set his fork on his plate of mostly eaten food and drained his coffee cup.

“You seem in a better mood from last night,” Mercer said.

“Oh?”

He chuckled. “Don’t get me wrong. Last night was hot, but you seemed almost frantic. Like you were trying to forget.”

I looked down at my hands as they twisted in my lap. “Yesterday was really rough.”

He placed a hand over my frantic ones and squeezed gently. “I’m sorry about James.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat. “It’s my fault. I should have seen the signs.”

“How could you have seen that? I didn’t think you two were that close.”

“Not like that,” I whispered. “Something was influencing him. You felt it, too. On the roof.”

He narrowed his eyes at me. Then his body relaxed and he chuckled. “I didn’t take you as someone who believed in the supernatural.”

“A lot in this world hasn’t been explained by science,” I said. “At least not yet.”

“Humanity doesn’t have the right tools,” he said. “As for James, what could you have done?”

“I don’t know. Paid more attention, I guess.” I rubbed the bandage covering my tattoo. “Yesterday was just a bad day.”

He squeezed my hand. “Let check on the burn. I had room service bring up some new bandages.”

“They do that?”

“If you’re paying enough.”

I chuckled. “Right. I’m in the great Mercer Chaplin’s room.”

“You weren’t complaining when you were screaming my name last night.”

I cleared my throat, ducking my head to hide my pink cheeks, and walked to my dress, which lay in a small pile on the floor. I let Mercer’s shirt fall off of my and slipped the dress over my head. A small box of bandages sat on the cart with Q-tips and antibiotic ointment. Mercer came up behind me, wrapping one arm around my waist while grabbing the bandages with his other hand. He kissed my cheek, causing my stomach to flutter.

“I’ll do it,” he said. “I want to take a look and make sure it’s not too bad.”

“It’s fine.” I pulled away from him. “Just a few small burns.”

He turned me to face him and began unwrapping the gauze on my arm. “I have two free hands.”

I bit my lip as the last of it slipped away, revealing the bright red, oval burns around my tattoo and the nickel sized thumb on the tail of the fox. As Mercer turned my wrist to inspect the wounds, my tattoo shimmered in the light, giving a rainbow haze like light on oil. He sucked in his breath with a small whistle and glanced at me with raised eyebrows.

“How did you get these burns?” he asked.

I shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant. “Really hot water.”

“Uh huh.” He unscrewed the tube of ointment and spread some on a Q-tip. “Interesting pattern.”

I really needed to work on my lying. “Yeah.”

The gelled liquid felt cool against my skin for all of second before my bady temperature warmed it.. I stiffened as a strange tingling passed through my flesh where Mercer’s fingers touched and set my teeth on edge. He pulled my wrist closed to his face and studied my tattoo with a furrowed brow.

“Interesting,” he said.

His fingers brushed against the face of the fox and the buzz turned into a jolt of electricity. My whole arm vibrated and burned. My tailbone slammed into the cart, knocking it over as I flew backward and was stopped by the wall. My shoulders and head bounced against it, and I landed on the floor with a soft thud.