Tangled Sin (A Dark Realm Novel) (10 page)

“I'm good, but your mother terrifies me,” he deadpanned instead.

And that smile that was fast wrapping itself around his heart took life again. “Why don’t I believe you?”

“Because you’re born suspicious?”

She choked on her laugher, drawing Jemima’s attention back to them. This time, he saw the wariness there. Okay, got it. She didn't like him. He didn't care.

To keep his mind off impossible thoughts and needs, he glanced around the rec room rapidly filling with the elite inner circle of
über rich
. “So, tell me about the numbers. Why twenty-nine?”

“Every guy my mother reeled in as an appropriate match for me.”

“What about twenty-nine?”

“Piers?” Frowning, Saia picked up her champagne glass. “He’s harmless, but with Mother in his corner, he won't give up.” She took a sip then choked. He handed her a napkin. She dashed at her mouth, cutting him a horrified look. “How do you know about the numbers?”

“I have exceptional hearing,” he murmured.

Color rushed to her face and deepened her tan. In a move born of pure embarrassment, one he’d rarely seen from her, she dropped her gaze. “You heard
everything
being said in the kitchen?”

Riley wondered if it was her
tattooed butt
comments that had her so uncomfortable. “Yes. Only if I choose to… I was worried about you. You appeared as if walking to your executioner.”

Red-faced, she squirmed in her chair and set the crystal down. “Yes, well, I meant every word.”

“I know.” He dropped his arm on the backrest of her chair and played with her hair. Unlike the others, Saia
liked
him. That’s why it felt like he was garroting himself with his decision to walk away. She’d probably settle for a fling, but he would take nothing less than forever.

“Why don’t you have a girlfriend?” she asked, pulling him out of his suicidal thoughts. He dropped his hand. “Your go-to, Pandora…she doesn’t count, does she?”

“Would you care?” Riley wondered at his state of mind that he actually wanted her answer. Which, theoretically, was a waste of time. Their worlds were so far removed, nothing could breach the gap between them. She was human. He was demon, soon to inherit one of the deadliest sins and become the persecutor of damned souls if his sire had his way.

“You bet I would. If this was real.” Her eyes became lethal weapons. He almost felt the blade tip in his heart. A warning. “I don’t share. Ever.”

He savored her response for a moment then locked it in the deepest part of him. “Good thing, then, that this is just pretend.”

She angled her head and studied him. “You don’t believe in a monogamous relationship?”

“What I believe in is irrelevant. This weekend is about you,” he said pointedly.

She bit her lip, didn't say anything more, and turned away. The silence stretched between them, wide as the Grand Canyon, filled with unspoken needs and dark desires—ones that would have to remain unexplored. He couldn’t risk her. Ever.

She would never survive his life or his world.

What seemed like hours later, someone had put on music and the informal dance gathered momentum in the space cleared at the front of the room.

Saia rubbed her temples, trying to ease the dull ache building in her skull. Questions had plagued her all through dinner. Why wouldn’t Riley tell her if Pandora meant more to him?

He wouldn’t have agreed to this charade if they were serious, right?

She blew out a frustrated breath. Men! Why couldn’t they answer a question straight? A simple yes or no would have sufficed. She hated being unsure, and having no answer drove her crazy.

In her life, she barely had control over what she wanted. And then she had to fight for it.

She searched the bustling room for Riley. But couldn’t find him anywhere.

This was the twins’ fault. She’d find those two cretins and flay them alive if they’d hustled him away for more pool. Saia hotfooted it to the living room. Her mother and her cronies were there with a fat stack of checks on the coffee table. The treasurer of her mother’s charities yakked excitedly about an anonymous donation of over a hundred grand.

“You cannot seriously be interested in him?” Piers drawled from beside her.

Crap! She’d forgotten about him. Not wanting to be rude to a family friend, she said, “Not now, Piers. I'm a little busy.”

He shrugged and ambled along with her as if she’d invited him. Biting back a sigh, Saia made her way back to the party. Dressed in a designer tux, his black hair brushed meticulously in place, Piers smelled of some expensive aftershave that tickled her nose and made her want to sneeze.

“He’s using you, you know. His type can't commit.”

Dammit! She didn't want to get into the same argument with Piers as she had with her mother. Did they compare notes?

“Don’t you miss Europe?” she asked him sweetly.

“There’s that sharp tongue. It’s what I always liked—
like
about you.”

She cut him a look of disbelief. “Really?”

Two years older than the twins, Piers had barely noticed her when she’d been younger and badly crushing on him. Until recently.

He nodded and took her elbow, evading a group of people who’d decided the busy hallway was a far better place to hold their conversation, and stopped near a huge floral arrangement on a marble pedestal.

“How about lunch tomorrow? I'm picking up my new car. We can catch up on what’s been happening while I was gone.”

“Why? No one filled you in?” She peered around him, but too many people stood in her path for a quick getaway. “We have a black president if you're really interested.”

He laughed, his light blue eyes gleaming. “I meant what you have been doing with yourself. Are you done with university? We didn't have much chance to talk earlier.”

“Oh, let’s see,” she began. “I’m in my last year at Tulane, almost done with my business degree.” She flipped a finger. “I’ve applied for a teaching program in South Africa next year, but Mother knocked that idea right out of the playing field—it’s a daaaangerous country.” She swallowed some of her champagne as more fingers went up. “And it is
sooo
beneath a Sen–Grayson to rough it out like some commoner. Then Liz got hurt, and now I stay with her and help out at the store, but working? Really?” She gave him one of her mother’s superior looks and imitated her haughty tone. “That’s not something a Sen-Grayson woman does. She runs charity organizations, hosts dinners. I don’t have any more fingers, but you get the picture.”

She raised her glass to her lips, only to find it empty. Darn, she needed another drink.

“Your mother’s right, you know…” He shifted on his feet, moved closer. “I’ve spoken to your parents, Saia, and as my wife, you’d never have to work.”

Saia lowered her glass in exasperation.
Sheesh
, she’d probably have better luck talking to the pedestal. “Piers, look—”

“I know I didn't talk to you much in our youth, but you were so young, and now you're all grown up…”

And not so chubby any longer,
the cynical thought pushed through her mind.

“Piers—”

Shaking his head, he yanked her close and kissed her.

Shocked to her bones, Saia froze. It took her moment to react. She shoved him away and leaped back, breathing hard. “What the hell, Piers? What is wrong with you? Did you forget I'm with Riley?”

Piers merely smiled and slipped his hands into his pants pockets. “You can't be serious about the bartender.
Sure, he knows how to play pool, but a man like him would, considering what he does. I understand the attraction his kind would have for women, that ‘
badass
’ type.” He air-quoted the word. “But I doubt he has two cents to rub together, let alone enough to keep you in the lifestyle you're accustomed to. You probably had to sponsor his suit for tonight.”

At the derogatory comments, Saia had to unclench her jaw to speak. “Piers, even if he were dirt poor, it would make little difference to me—”

“Ah, there you are,” Niki said, gliding to a halt beside her. She gave Piers a dazzling smile. “Do excuse us, Perry, I’ve been dying to talk to Saia.”

He scowled. “It’s Piers.”

“That’s what I said.” She winked at him, tucked her arm through Saia’s, and walked them off to the bar in the rec room where guests slow danced to some ballad.

“You looked like you needed saving.
Oy
, but that kiss—Riley had better not have seen it.”

“This evening is turning out all wrong.” Saia struggled to contain her temper. She set her empty glass on the counter and rolled her taut shoulders, trying to ease the knots there. “I can't find Riley, and Piers kisses me in front of two hundred guests. What the heck was he thinking?”

“Simple, hun, he wanted to cause trouble between you and Riley.”

God, that was all she needed.

Niki ordered more champagne. “Here, drink this,”—she handed her a glass—“and try to look like you’re having fun, or your mother's going to be suspicious. Now, what’s up with golden boy?”

“Piers asked my parents’ permission to marry me.”

Niki’s spewed out the champagne she’d just sipped. She grabbed a paper napkin and dabbed her mouth. “You're kidding, right?”

“I wish. Mother would like it to be a done deal. My father says only if it’s what I want.”

“Thank God, at least one of them is sane. If it were me, I’d walk out. Leave. I'm just glad my parents are divorced and can’t be bothered with a kid,” she said with an edge of bitterness.

Being unwanted was just as bad as suffocating love, Saia realized. She understood why Niki had spent so much time here when they were younger.

“I'm sorry, Niki.”

“Nah, don’t worry about me. I'm rock-hard in here.” She thumped her chest. “So, Mommy Dearest is applying the thumbtacks, huh?”

Saia swallowed half her drink. “She’s all for Piers. It’s why he’s on my back.”

“He was never one to let an opportunity pass,” Niki muttered.

“It’s not about opportunities,” Saia said, searching the room again. Riley was taller than most of the men here, it should be easy to spot him. “Piers doesn’t see Riley as a threat. He thinks this whole thing with us will fizzle out soon.”

“Because of what Riley does?”

“No. According to him, Riley is the type that ‘can't commit.’”
Where is he?

“Such a jerk.” Then Niki smiled, nodded to the sliding doors. “Try outside. I think he went there to escape the piranhas in here.”

The only other person who’d be out in this weather would be her father. Saia squeezed her friend’s hand in gratitude. “Thanks, Niki.” She turned for the bar then pivoted. “Hey, you're leaving for France tomorrow, right?”

“Yep, Mama’s all set to take the leap with husband number five. I’d invite you, but why put us both through that misery? You have fun with Riley. I'm leaving in a few minutes.”

Saia set her half-drunk champagne on the counter and hugged her friend tight. “Take care, I’ll see you when you get back.”

“You most certainly will. Now, let’s see which one of your brothers I can torture before I leave. Rohan. He hates dancing.”

Smiling, Saia left her friend and headed for the wall of sliding doors. The patio lights illuminated the area with a soft glow. Riley leaned a shoulder against a marble column, hands in his pants pockets, while her father enjoyed his cigar.

As if sensing her, Riley turned, a single eyebrow lifted in question. She shook her head and smoothed her features into a composed one, pushing away that incident with Piers.

She opened the door and shivered at the blast of cold air. Hastily, she wrapped her arms around her torso. “N-normal people don’t stay out in this awful weather.”

Her father laughed, his deep blue eyes twinkling. “I'm not normal, pet, I married your mother. Crazy woman insists I smoke out here.”

As her father headed indoors, Riley shrugged off his coat and wrapped it around her shoulders.

“Are you insane? You’re wearing a thin shirt. I can go get my coat.”

“I’m fine. I like the cold.” He gazed out into the dark garden illuminated by pathway lampposts. “It stopped raining… Want to take a walk?”

“Party too noisy for you?” she teased, snuggling into his jacket that held his warmth and that wonderful scent that was all him.

He didn't respond, waited, hands back in his pockets. Scrunching her nose at him, Saia led the way down the garden path toward the pavilion, their footsteps echoing dully on the wet pavestones.

Her headache had eased, along with the tension in her shoulders. Something must be seriously wrong with her that she could breathe easier now, just being with him.

“You and twenty-nine seem to have a lot to talk about,” he said, breaking the silence. “I thought you wanted to avoid him.”

She sent Riley a quick look.
Please don’t let him have seen Piers kiss me.

“Nothing important.” She brushed it off. “He wants me to have lunch with him tomorrow.”

Riley stopped, the low lights from the garden path highlighting his unreadable expression. “You said yes?”

“Jealous?” She gave him a playful smile, then took the few steps up to the pavilion platform and paused on the top stair. On a summer’s day, one could see clear across the colorful, blossoming garden. As a young girl, she’d dreamed of marrying here. She winced at her girlish choices of grooms back then, from rock stars to, yes, sadly, Piers.

Now the man who was starting to occupy too much of her thoughts stood a few feet away, glaring at her. With two strides, he closed the distance between them, stopping on the stair below. “Are you going?”

She liked this show of possessiveness. Finally giving in to the impulse, she ran her fingertip down the shallow cleft of his chin. “Kiss me first, and I’ll tell you.”

His eyes narrowed. Before he could remind her this wasn’t real, because for her, somewhere in the last few hours it had changed, she pressed her lips to his.

He went dead still.

Oh, crap. For all Riley’s seductive talk and his biting her that first time, he’d never made any attempt to kiss her, she realized far too late.

Embarrassment scorching her face, Saia backed away, but didn’t get far with the balustrade behind her. Riley leaped up the stairs and hauled her to him. His eyes glittered, his pupils taking on a red tinge. She should be scared, but all she felt was anticipation.

“You want to dance with danger?”

“Only with you,” she whispered. “Only with you—”

Then his mouth was on hers, cutting off her words. Her heart close to exploding, her mind—her entire being unraveled—like she’d been taken out of her body and was merging with his. Saia became lost in his intense, sensual onslaught. She drowned in his taste, in the fire of his kiss as his tongue explored her mouth.

He
was everything she’d ever wanted.

He was perfect.

***

This must be what heaven felt like, this most delicious, sweet mouth clinging to his. When her mouth parted, he deepened the kiss, and sucked on her tongue. She whimpered. His hands slipped beneath the hem of her dress and cupped her bottom. Wanting to feel every bit of her sexy body against him, he picked her up and her legs wrapped around his waist. His coat slipped off her and dropped to the floor. Her arms wound around his neck. Her warmth and scent saturated his mind. He pressed her against a pillar and ground his rigid sex into her heated center. Gods, he wanted her, wanted to claim her—

At her breathy moan, reality crashed into him like an eighteen-wheeler.

He broke their kiss, breathing hard, and struggled for control.

Even though he craved her more than his next breath, how could he drag her into his twisted life? Take something so good and ruin it?

“Riley?”

He shook his head and set her down. “This is a mistake.”

“Why?”

Confusion, along with a light flush of arousal streaked her face, her lips swollen from his kisses. He glanced away from the temptation, because he wanted to go back and run his tongue from her lips down her body to between her thighs and claim that most intimate part of her with his mouth before he claimed her body and soul.