The Opium Room (11 page)

Fox put his arm around her neck and pulled her in for a hug. “My lips are zipped.”

When the doors opened at their floor, Erickson was standing there. “Brother,” Fox said, grabbed his hand in a manly shake, and touched shoulder to shoulder.

“Hey, bro.”

Fox put his arm around Lea’s back. “I’d like you to meet my… This is Lea.”

“Nice to meet you,” Erickson said, extending his hand.

“You as well,” Lea said. “ I want you to know how much I enjoyed eating in your restaurant. You’re a fabulous chef.”

“Thank you so much. What did you have?”

“Spaghetti.”

“Then you haven’t seen nothing yet. Next time, order the fresh Maine lobster.”

“Okay, I’ll be sure to do that.”

Erickson pressed the button to open the elevator doors and stepped inside. Fox stopped the door with his foot. “Wait. What are you doing up here? I thought Jill was staying in your room.”

Erickson shook his head, frowning. “Yeah, she is. Roman asked me to take the embroidered robe he had made for her to her room before I went home for the night.”

“Embroidered robe? God. Why’d you let Roman talk you into letting her use your room?”

“Man, what was I supposed to say? I can’t tell him no. Besides, Jill doesn’t bother me. She asked to
buy me
dinner one night, and I’m thinking of taking her up on it. She’s actually cordial.”

All this talk about Jill and Fox’s semi–erection was now gone. He put his hand on Erickson’s forehead. “You feelin’ all right, buddy. I know you’ve had a long day and all, but dang…”

“Yeah, and I’ve got an hour–long drive home, so quit messin’ with me.” Erickson regarded Fox with a wrinkled expression. “Besides, you’re looking rather frazzled yourself. I gotta go.”

Fox choked back a laugh. “All right, we’ll talk about it later. And swing by my place, will ya? Make sure it’s well–lit and everything is in its place. I haven’t been home in a few days.”

“All right, bro,” Erickson said. “Pleasure meeting you, Miss Lea.”

“You too.”

When the elevator doors closed, Fox faced Lea, took her by the hands. “I don’t like awkward,” he said. “How do you want me to introduce you in the future?”

“I don’t know,” Lea said, avoiding eye contact. “Introduce me however you want.”

“I’d certainly classify you as my girlfriend.”

“You mean one of your girlfriends?”

“Girlfriend. Single, Lea, not plural.”

Lea’s soft blue eyes lit up.

“That’s right, sweetheart, I’m claiming you as my own.”

She didn’t say all right.

She didn’t object, either.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

—Lea

Lea had known right away that Erickson was Fox’s brother. They had the same stormy eyes, olive complexion. The main difference was Erickson’s hair was brown like Karrigans. He seemed much more down to earth than Karrigan. Going by demeanor alone, one wouldn’t expect that he and Karrigan were twins.

Fox was right, it had been very awkward when introductions came along. Lea wanted to speak up and take the pressure off of Fox, but she didn’t know how to refer to herself. What was right and what was wrong? Going by the contents of the flash drive alone, they were a heck of a lot more than friends. She was coming down off her high from her erotic massage. Had that really happened?

Fox opened up the room and stepped aside for Lea to enter first.

Inside Lea took an extended look around. “Wow,” she said, “this room is breathtaking.”

“Thank you.”

Fox gestured to the wet bar. “Can I get you a drink?”

“No, thanks. I think I had my limit for drinks on this trip.”

“Okay, what about” he removed a cover from a large contraption on top of the bar “an espresso.”

Lea covered her mouth with her hand. This was no cheap espresso machine. It was identical to the one she watched the baristas use at Starbucks.”

“I got it just for you,” Fox said.

“Oh, wow. It’s awesome. But if I’m going to try to sleep tonight, I should probably wait till morning to brew some.”

“Hmm,” Fox said. “Good point. We need to calm you down. I know.” He grabbed her hand. “Upstairs.”

She followed him up the spiral staircase to a fabulous rooftop terrace with clear Plexiglas all around the perimeter. The sparkling lights of the city naturally lit the area. With a flip of a switch, the hot tub lights turned on and the water bubbled.

“Want to take a dip?” Fox asked.

“I’d love to,” Lea said, “but I didn’t bring my swimsuit.”

“No one can see us. You don’t need a swimsuit.”

Lea bit her lip, crossed her arms around herself.

Fox stepped up, put his hands on her face, tilting it upward. “Lea, your body is a perfect. I thought we established that.”

“
You
established that. Not me.”

Suddenly, Lea was regretting wearing her off–the–shoulder sundress. Fox slipped behind her, unzipped the back, and tugged it down to the ground.

Thanks to Karrigan’s input, Lea wasn’t wearing panties. Great. That idea was great and all if she simply wanted to feel sexy, but standing bare naked in front of Fox like this was another story. She’d imagined him undressing her in bed with all the lights off.

Now she had an all–encompassing urge to jump in as fast as possible. But she paced herself so her ass cheeks wouldn’t jiggle. She walked down the steps of the in–ground hot tub and sat. “Aaaah.” She closed her eyes as the heat enveloped her. By the time she opened them again, Fox was sitting on the bench across from her. She looked past him and saw his black pants on the ground, boxers inside.

She swallowed hard. It was damn near impossible to look at anything other than his sculpted chest, but somehow she managed. “So…”

“So…” Fox put his arms on the back of the hot tub, smiled devilishly.

“Is this your full–time residence?” Lea finally composed a rational question.

“No, I have a house nearby, but I’ve been spending time here round the clock, thanks to Roman.”

“Why?”

“One word: Jill. Long story short, something’s up with her and my father. I don’t know what, but I’m going to find out.”

“Your relationship with your father isn’t cordial, then?”

“For my entire life I’ve let him bully me. Until very recently. For the first time, I’ve started to stand up to him. Tell him what’s been on my mind for a long time.”

“Why haven’t you told him before?”

“The stakes were never high enough before. They are now.”

“Why?”

“When I met you, something in me changed. A sense to protect what’s mine. My future. Until you walked into Hypnotic, I had no purpose.” His cell phone rang inside his discarded pants. It was within arm’s reach, but he pretended not to hear it.

Lea cleared her throat. “Um… aren’t you going to get that?”

“Get what?” Fox said with a straight face.

“Your phone.”

“I don’t hear anything.”

Lea laughed. “Oooo–kay.” She thought for a moment. Fox referred to his father a couple of times now, but never his mother. She asked him why he’d never mentioned her.

The side of Fox’s mouth turned up. “I should talk about her more often. My mother was a beautiful person inside and out. A soul as pure as snow. How she ever got mixed up with Roman is a mystery.”

“I can’t help but notice that you referred to her in the past tense.”

Fox’s smile faded. “She passed away when I was eight. The twins were just a couple of weeks old.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Lea said on a breath.

“The circumstances surrounding her death still haunts me to this day.”

“Why?”

“Father said she died of an infection. Coroner’s report and death certificate says so too. You know how it is though; when somebody’s got money they can manipulate the way the ink dries on the paper. Anyway, I heard something from my bedroom the last night she was alive. It sounded like a plea for help. She sounded afraid, not like she was in any physical pain. At eight years old, I was too fearful of Roman to barge into their room, so I stayed put. Later Roman said it was the illness that made her cry out.”

“You’re not saying your father had something to do with it, are you?”

“Roman doesn’t feel, Lea. I have no proof, but I put nothing past him.”

Lea could see the love and pain in his eyes when he talked about his mother. If she was pure and good then Fox must have gotten it all from her.

Silenced stretched between them while Fox stared at nothing. Lea could tell he was back there… in the place he didn’t want to go. “You okay?” she asked softly.

Fox’s gaze focused from beyond her back to her eyes. He stood and moved beside her. He stroked her cheek and looked into her eyes. “Yeah, right now, with you, I’m better than I’ve ever been.”

Lea almost cringed every time Fox said those things. She couldn’t believe it. She wanted to reach up and put her hand over his lips to stop the words before they came out. She wished he wouldn’t say kind things at all. Just touch her. The way he held her so tight, looked past her eyes into her soul, and kissed her tenderly, was all she needed. That’s what she’d never had.

Words—she’d heard them all.

Lea didn’t realize she had turned her face into Fox’s palm. With her eyes closed, lost in thoughts, she tenderly kissed the inside of his hand. She opened her eyes wide, backed away.

His mouth fell down upon hers. He tasted like heaven. She wanted more. She needed the physical intimacy she’d been deprived of all her life. But she didn’t want the hurt that potentially came with it. She put her hand on his chest, pushed him away.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, as she stood. She got out of the hot tub, no longer worried about her appearance. Her heart was on her mind.

She walked over to a rack of towels and pulled one down, wrapped herself.

When she turned, Fox was standing in front of her.

He had no shame. Didn’t even attempt to cover himself. And he had nothing to be ashamed of; he was huge.

“I don’t understand, Lea,” he said. “One minute, you’re kissing me, the next, pushing me away.” He put his hand over her heart. “Tell me what’s going on in here.”

“I want to be with you, but I’m afraid of being hurt. Afraid that I don’t fit into your world.”

“I promise I’ll never intentionally hurt you. Give me a chance to prove it. You’ve got to start again at some point, right? And I’m not asking you to conform to anything. You’re the balance that I need in my world. What I’ve been looking for.” He leaned down and kissed her again. So tenderly.

Lea backed away once more. “Please… don’t make me fall for you.”

“I promise nothing,” Fox whispered in her ear, “except to take my time.” He looked into her eyes and held her gaze until he dipped his head kissing her cheek, her jaw, her neck. His hand drifted down to the towel wrapped around her chest. He pulled the ends loose and the towel fell to the ground.

“Fox,” Lea said. “I’m not the kind of woman you’re used to.”

“What kind of woman am I used to?”

“The kind who gets waxed and dresses in leather chaps.”

Fox laughed. “How d’ya figure?”

Karrigan told me.

“Karrigan’s… an
alien
!” Fox bellowed. “And when did you talk to her?”

“I asked her to go shopping with me to find the right ensemble for your tastes. She gave me all kinds of tips to make sure you’d remember my name the next day.”

“Come again?”

“What?” Lea feigned surprise. “She
is
your sister; she’d know.”

“Yeah, her and the rest of the gang from the planet Vulcan.” He held up his hand with his first two and last two fingers touching, leaving a V shape in the space between.

They both laughed.

“Listen” Fox said, taking her chin in his hands, “until Karri regains entry to our planet, don’t ask her for advice. K?”

Lost in his obsidian eyes, Lea simply nodded, smiled.

“Until then, let
me
tell you what kind of woman I like. Starting now.”

He swept her up in his arms, started walking to the staircase, bare skin against bare skin. “I like a woman who doesn’t cover up her natural beauty with a bunch of unnecessary makeup.”

“I guess that renders useless the cosmetics Karrigan and I bought at Sephora.”

Fox nodded, then said, “Se–what?”

Lea was about to explain when he said, “Lea, please tell me you did not ride in the same vehicle with her.”

He was going down the stairs now. Clunk. Clunk. Clunk. Her boobs flapping. She put one arm across her chest attempting to cover the untamed natural boobery that Fox should loathe, no matter what he said. “I rode with her. It was insane, but I’m still here. Next time, I’ll drive.” It was so odd carrying on a conversation in this state of undress and close contact.

Fox took the final step and they were back on the lower level of his suite. “Please, Lea, don’t let there be a next time with Karrigan.”

He carried her over to the marble top of the wet bar and set her down. Stood between her legs.

“Sorry, I already told her to call me if she ever needs me. And I won’t break my promise to be there for her.”

He smiled, pushed her hair away from her neck. His gaze went from her neck to her lips. “You’re brilliant, Lea. You know exactly what my sister needs to get off her destructive path. See why I’m so in awe of you?”

“Pfft, I don’t know about all that.”

“Which brings me back to what I want in a woman.” Lea’s heart raced as Fox’s eyes dilated and moved from cleavage to breast to the marble slap where her thighs were squished out to twice their normal size. She pretended that Fox found her legs trim and beautiful—otherwise she would’ve jumped off the bar.

“I want a woman who has a heart so big her chest can barely contain it. That’s you.” His lips traced her collarbone, then right above her left breast where her heart was pounding. “I feel it beating now. It’s racing… like mine.” His tone was low, breathy, and she was aching to be with him.

“A woman with natural, ripe, rosy lips that I can’t resist. Lips that were shaped to mold just right with mine.” He kissed her now, gently. Sucked lightly on her lips. He delivered a perfect kiss every time, whether it was frenzied or tender, never leaving saliva outside of her lip line like Brandon always did. He was such a sloppy, disgusting kisser.