Unlawful Attraction: The Complete Box Set: Alpha Billionaire Romance (45 page)

Fuck.

“He got off on a technicality though,” she continued. “Went away for a couple years. Then he came back and married the older sister of one of my classmates. He killed her six months later. Beat her to death, the same as Jenny. Manslaughter. Six to ten.”

Pushing a hand into her hair, I tangled my fingers in the soft strands. “I'm so sorry.”

“What about you?” she asked. “What got you into this?”

I gave her a sad smile. “Actually, my story's not too different from yours. Just from the other side.”

She looked up at me, puzzled.

I didn't like telling this story, but she'd told me hers.

“The house I took you to, it was my uncle’s. When I was a kid, he was arrested. His wife was found dead in a hotel, and the cops arrested him. It couldn’t have been him, though. He was with us when she died. No one believed us. Said we were his family, of course we'd lie.”

Sighing, I dipped my head and pressed my forehead to hers, rubbing my thumb against the soft underside of her chin. She didn't say anything, but I didn't need her to. All I needed was her to be there.

I continued, “The trial, all of it...it was too much. He killed himself, put a bullet in his brain the day before they read the verdict. I don’t think he would have been found guilty, but he was tired. Tired of the guilt, the speculation. Tired of missing her and wondering who had really killed her.”

Dena reached up and put her hand on my face. “Did anybody ever find out what happened?”

“Not officially.” Rubbing my cheek against her palm, I thought back to the side investigation I’d done on my own, years later. “But she’d been involved with somebody. A cop. And when she died, she was pregnant.”

“Oh, baby.” Dena’s expression softened and she pressed a kiss to my lips. “I guess we both went into this for our own reasons.”

“Yeah.” Looking out the window to the city she’d been staring at, I said softly, “You don’t get to pick and choose your cases, Dena. A prosecutor for the city of Manhattan can’t.”

Something flickered in her eyes, and I knew she was thinking that I was ending things, that it was too much.

Hell, no.

Stroking a finger across the soft curve of her lower lip, I tugged her closer, and told her what I needed to tell her before I chickened out.

“I can. I’ve talked to the senior partners, and I told them I don’t want to take any cases that'll be in Manhattan.”

“Arik–”

I kissed her hard and fast, pushing my tongue past her lips. I had to have that one taste, now. Just in case.

She was panting when I pulled back until only a few inches separated our mouths.

“I want this to work,” I told her roughly, silently begging her to agree. “We have something. You know it. I know it. I want it to work, but if we're constantly dancing around things because of our jobs, we won’t have a chance. Since you don’t have any control over the jobs you’ll be assigned, then I’ll control the clients I’ll accept.”

Dena closed her eyes and curled her arms around my neck, but she didn’t say anything.

Nerves started to pulse inside me. Shit. I was usually a patient person, but I didn't think I could make it much longer.

“You know, you could give me an idea what you’re thinking.”

“Be quiet a minute,” she said, her voice husky.

I was hoping that was a good thing. She hadn't pulled away, and she still didn't as I held her, skimming my hand up and down her spine. I focused on that, on the feel of her, hoping to distract myself.

I tried. I really did. But I couldn’t give her that minute. I had to know.

“Dammit, Dena. I just moved here. I'm trying to make senior partner, and I’m making demands on the top guys. You’re worth it, but it would be nice to know if I’m doing this for a reason or wasting my...”

Dena’s mouth slid against mine. As the chaos in my head tumbled to a halt, she stroked her tongue across my lower lip, scraped her teeth over it. Then she pulled back enough to speak.

“I’m not entirely sure how you ended up in my life, Arik, but I’m damn grateful.”

Her words slid over me, through me, settled deep inside me. The relief was enough to make my knees weak.

Gripping her waist even tighter, I pulled her flush against me. I had to hear her say it. “Then we’re going to make this happen?”

“Seems to me that we already are.” Her mouth pressed to mine, then widened into a smile. When she spoke, her breath was hot against my skin. “You know, we’re in this beautiful hotel. It seems that we should take advantage of it.”

I liked the sound of that.

“Yeah. We should.”

Chapter 9

Dena

The feel of his hands on me was every bit as erotic as it had been that first night. The impact of his eyes just as cutting, just as deep.

Now, standing in front of the window, with him behind me, we stared at our wavy reflections, my breath hitching as he freed one button, then another and another.

The city spilled out before us in a glittery array of lights just beyond the darkness of Central Park. I'd always loved the city at night, and tonight was no different.

Except it wasn't just the city we were looking at.

He stripped my shirt away, then caught my wrists. “Put your hands on the window.”

I did, the glass cool against my palms, while the heat of Arik – the heat of
need
pulsed everywhere else – inside me, around me, behind me as he leaned down and pressed a kiss to the nape of my neck.

The catch on my bra gave, and I started to lower my hands so he could remove it. I wanted to feel his hands on me so badly that my skin nearly ached.

“Don’t move,” he said.

I froze, my body humming with anticipation.

The straps on my shoulders loosened. Man, multi-way bras…such a blessing, and I hadn’t even considered this one.

I felt bereft when he stopped touching me to neatly fold the bra and put it off to the side. He seemed to take his time before he put his hands back on me again. My nipples throbbed and pulsed, hard little points. The need to have him touching me there was almost too much. When he put his hands on my waist, I arched my spine, instinctively readying myself to push my breasts into his hands.

But when he did touch me, it was to reach for the zipper of my skirt, dragging it down with excruciating slowness. Damn him.

“The bad thing about being here instead of at my place or the club, I have to improvise. No cuffs, no crop.” His fingers tripped up my spine, a teasing sensation that left me shivering. “I don’t want you moving, so you’ll have to restrain yourself. You can’t move until I tell you.”

Flexing my hands against the windows, I dropped my head. “And what if I do?”

Arik brought his hand down on my ass with a sharp crack. “I just might not fuck you.”

Keening low in my throat, I bit my inner cheek. I didn't think he'd actually do it. Or rather, not do it. His need was as obvious as my own. But I could never tell with him. He might choose to spend the rest of the night teasing me.

“That got your attention, didn’t it?”

“Bastard.” Squeezing my eyes closed, I reached deep inside for all the control I could muster. Fortunately, I had a decent amount.

He spanked me again, the heat spreading across my skin. “Call me names and maybe I won’t fuck you anyway. Maybe I'll just get myself off, leave you...wanting.”

Groaning, I tucked my head against the crook of my arm. “Arik, please...”

“Say you’re sorry. Maybe I’ll forgive you, Dena.” Despite his words, his tone was gently teasing.

“I’m sorry,” I said immediately.

“Want to make it up to me?” His voice dropped.

“Yes.” What I actually wanted was to feel him inside me, and these hot, crazy games were almost more than I could handle tonight.

He skimmed a finger along the crevice of my ass. “Just how far are you willing to go to make it up to me, Dena?”

Anything. Just as long as he'd fuck me. “Whatever you want.”

When he stopped touching me, my knees started to quake but that was nothing compared to what happened when he buried his hand in my hair, pulling me away from the mirror, forcing my body upright.

“I’m going to tell you something, Dena...I lied. I’m not entirely unprepared.”

He kept me like that, one hand in my hair while the other reached down between us.

When I felt the lube-slicked finger probing between the cheeks of my ass, the air I had in my lungs came out in a rush.

Oh, fuck.

He bit my ear, and then said, “I’m going to fuck your ass, good and hard. You’re going to moan. You’re going to scream. You’re going to come. And later, if you’re a good girl, I’ll clean you up and fuck you again.”

I gasped as he pushed two fingers inside me at once. My legs shook as pain and pleasure coursed through me. My clit throbbed even as he worked his fingers deeper.

There was a hard edge to Arik’s hunger tonight, a deep, insatiable sort of need, and it washed over me, battering at me like waves against the beach. When he spread his fingers inside me and then twisted, I whimpered, arching a little as I fought to accommodate the penetration that would prepare me for an even deeper one. Usually, I would've wanted him to start with one, then work his way up to two, but another part of me wanted it like this.

The ache spread, my clitoris pulsing and I lowered my hand, needing to relieve the tension.

Arik bit my shoulder, hard enough to draw my attention momentarily. “Don’t,” he warned.

I whimpered. “Arik, please…”

He spanked me this time, hard, and without his steadying hand at my hip, I twisted on the fingers that invaded me.

“Be still and don’t move, or I won’t fuck this sweet ass, Dena.”

I didn't prefer anal sex, but there were times when I wanted the intensity of it. Right now, I needed him inside me, and I didn't particularly care where.

Curling my hands into fists, I braced myself on the window, and told myself not to move again. I even managed to keep that promise, right up until he removed his fingers and started to work his dick into me instead.

Despite his preparations, it wasn't easy. My ass burned as he kept up the slow, steady pressure, forcing himself inside. I rose up on my toes this time, twisting my spine although I don’t know if I was trying to take him deeper or if I was trying to escape.

Arik went still. “Do you want me to stop?”

I shook my head, my breathing harsh. “No. Please, please...please don’t, Arik.”

He smoothed one hand over the slight curve of my hip. “Convince me. Tell me what you want me to do, Dena.”

“I want you to fuck me, Arik.” Heat sizzled and burned through me even as some part of me wondered at how easily he drew submission from me. “I want to feel your cock in my ass.”

He put his mouth against my ear. “Are you going to be still for me?”

Whimpering, I whispered, “I’m going to try.”

Inside me, he pulsed and I was excruciatingly aware of every inch of him, both what was inside, and what was still to come.

“You better try very hard, baby.”

Then he began to move again, slow, pushing his cock into me in increments that seemed to take forever. My entire body was quivering, shaking. It was pure torture. Then, just when I thought he was almost ready to stop the torment, he would withdraw, and I had to bite my lip to keep from screaming.

But this was what I wanted. Why I wanted him. I knew I could give myself to him and he'd not only take it, he'd give me what I needed. He'd protect me.

When he was finally completely seated inside me, a harsh, shuddering moan escaped my throat, and I would have sagged if he hadn’t steadied me with an arm around my waist. He rolled his hips, withdrawing just enough to have me tensing up, and then he filled me again.

“I love taking you like this,” he said against my ear. “You grab at my dick and you squeeze it so tight...it’s like you can’t decide if you love it or not. Tell me, Dena. Do you love it?”

“Yes.” Forgetting yet again that he didn’t want me moving, I reached up and caught the back of his neck. “I love it...I love you, Arik.”

He went rigid and I froze. I hadn't meant to say it like that, but it was the truth. A moment later, he pulled out of me altogether, and I sucked in a breath. One that carried pain, shock and disappointment.

He spun me around to face him, one hand coming up to cup my chin.

“What?” he demanded.

“I...” Blinking, a little dazed, I stared at him. I didn't understand what was happening.

He kissed me roughly, his teeth sinking into my lower lip. “What did you say?”

Oh, that.

“I...” Breath coming raggedly now, I met his eyes as he looked at me.

Shit. I'd never said those words to a guy. I'd never met anyone who I'd wanted to say those words to before. I'd come close, but what I'd felt on those few occasions was nothing like what I felt for him.

I might've been terrified, but I wasn't a coward.