A Wicked Desire (Creatures of Darkness 3), page 21
His action was so unexpected she had no time to protest. Off balance, she braced herself by gripping his shoulders, putting them deliciously closer. Her delicate scent filtered into his nostrils, shooting straight to his brain.
His free hand found her hip and then trailed down in search of the hem of her sinfully short dress. Had she picked this one on purpose, because she knew what it did to him? He’d barely held himself in check this morning as she’d sauntered down those stairs.
She flushed, and glanced around nervously. “Knox.” Her voice was a warning, a breathless sexy warning meant to censure him, but it only worked to rouse a needy jerk from his cock. Her eyes went wide, and he knew that she’d felt it. Yet she didn’t pull away. That was a good sign.
Now it was time to relieve her of those needless insecurities that might stand in the way of him getting what he wanted.
He dipped his head next to hers, coming close to her ear. “If I wanted someone else, I wouldn’t be here with you.”
She blinked up at him. Then her entire body softened in his arms.
Just like that.
He hid a sinister grin, suppressing the urge to growl in triumph. Did she realize how much her body telegraphed? He would use that against her.
“Come,” he said, practically tugging her along. Barely slowing, he flashed the card to the man at the door and then pushed through. This second room mirrored the first but for a few significant details. Segmented by four guarded archways were separate branches of the club. A section for every taste level. Across from the fully stocked bar, a wide stage took up the back wall, housing a troupe of burlesque dancers in the midst of a sultry routine. Behind the bar, three shirtless men with tuxedo-like cuffs around their wrists served drinks—tacky, but typical. They flashed white smiles and bulged their muscles as they twirled bottles, displaying fancy pouring techniques.
Cora was momentarily distracted. “Ooh. How long do you think it took them to learn how to do that?”
“Their talent at serving had better be the only thing you’re admiring,” he grunted in response.
She whirled around to face him, her brows raised. Then, as if she were unable to help it, an impish smiled curved her lips. “Jealous?” she teased.
“Extremely.”
She lost her smile. “You are not,” she said after a moment, almost as if she thought he was toying with her.
If she needed him to clear things up for her, he would gladly oblige. He was unused to this slow-paced seduction. He’d been keeping himself in check long enough. Holding her so close last night, sleeping with her in his arms, had him simmering with potent desires he didn’t even recognize.
“Whenever anyone looks at you with lust, I want to rip their throats out.”
She stilled, the muscles in her neck working on an audible gulp. “Is that supposed to be endearing?”
To another vampire it would be.
“No,” he said. “A warning.”
She bristled at that. “Is that so?”
“I’m not the sweet mild-mannered Romeo who charms with flowers and poetry in hopes of climbing the building for a simple kiss.”
“Mm?” she said, crossing her arms.
He leaned in. “No. I’m the fucking wrecking ball.”
“What does that mean?” she said indignantly.
It meant that he was past the point of playing fair. He planned to tear down her walls tonight. “If at any time you think to bed another on this ship, I will kill him. Then I will drag you back to our room and do to you everything I’ve been imagining.”
* * *
Was that a threat?
“And what’s that?” she demanded, for some reason breathless.
He grinned, and she caught a glimpse of fang. “Let me show you.” Directing her by the arm, he crossed to one of the archways and flashed his card at a second attendant as they passed through.
Though his mood had been up and down over the last few days, something felt different today. For one, she no longer feared him. Not even a little. In fact, the next time he threatened her life, she might just laugh in his face.
And yet he was more intense than usual. Her intuition told her he was on the edge of something, but what, she couldn’t decide. Was he simply angry with her? With himself for being so nice to her last night after what she had done to those jewels? Or was he off-kilter because he actually wanted her? As in not just for a fling?
Perhaps he was angry with her because he wanted her. That seemed the more likely scenario.
As if registering his strained grip on her arm, his had dropped to the small over her back, offering a light pressure as he continued to lead her forward. A set of decorative relief-carved doors blocked their path. Knox planted his palm and pushed one side open, holding it for her.
She hesitated, considering the significance of entering that forbidding darkness with Knox at her back. What would she witness on the other side? Would she be confronted with deadly desires too enticing to resist? Did she want to find out?
Did she really have a choice?
One look at Knox’s deadpan expression gave her the answer.
Chapter 24
The very first thing she noticed was a woman in a red teddy lovingly sandwiched between two men in a darkened alcove. Over the woman’s head, her wrists were restrained by some kind of cuff attached to a long chain that dangled from the ceiling. But she definitely wasn’t complaining. The woman’s head was thrown back in apparent ecstasy as the two men learned every inch of her body with their hands and tongues.
Cora’s throat went dry. She didn’t realize she was backing up till she made contact with solid muscle.
“Already?” Knox teased. “Is this going to be too much for the succubus? Or are you afraid you’re going to like what you see?”
Did he think she would want him to bind her like that? That she would let him make her so helpless? That her threadbare control would snap and she would give herself over to him so easily? That he could break her? “Ha! Bring it on, mister wrecking ball.”
He grinned at that, moving further into the room, allowing her to follow…or not? “That’s Master wrecking ball.”
She snorted, but followed. “You think I haven’t seen stuff like this before?” Though, at the time, she hadn’t been in full succubus mode. Still, she could handle it. No biggie. No. Biggie.
At her statement, he glanced back at her with blatant curiosity, but he didn’t ask any questions.
Taking a reinforcing breath, she surveyed the rest of the room. It was more of a lobby, really. Two small standing bars took up separate corners, with only a handful of people crowded around them. The lighting was muted, the walls painted black, or perhaps dark purple. She couldn’t be sure. The floor was a dark-stained wood, illuminated just slightly so that people didn’t trip over the many large pillows that littered the area. Though they were clearly there for the comfort of the guests, most of them went unused. It seemed the two adjoining rooms, one to the right and the other to the left, were where the action was.
“Can I get you a drink?” Knox asked, once more the gentleman.
“Why not?” she said, needing something to occupy her hands—she had a very strong urge to wring them in front of her. Instead, she kept her arms stiffly at her side, her fingers picking nervously at the fabric of her skirt.
She remained in the middle of the floor as he crossed to the closest bar. A couple of guys glanced her way, and she felt as if she were a gazelle that had just been abandoned in a pit of lions.
One of those men looked as though he were about to approach her, but then Knox returned with another Mai Tai, giving him a look that screamed of warning. Back off, his expression said.
If she were in a den of lions, he was the biggest, baddest one here.
That actually gave her a sense of relief.
She almost laughed. Relieved that Knox was one scary son of a bitch?
He cocked his head at her amusement. “Something funny?”
She shook her head and took the drink he offered, failing to hide the slight quiver in her hands. He had to notice, but said nothing. She appreciated that. Why was she so nervous? She hadn’t been a regular, but she wasn’t exactly a stranger to places like Fusion. The clubs back home had rooms like this. And even though she mostly avoided the seedier parts, she knew what she was about to find beyond the two thresholds. Perhaps it was because she’d never been so actively pursued by someone like Knox. By someone who didn’t even like her, yet still wanted her in a way that made her skin prickle with awareness of his every casual touch.
Again she wondered why he was pushing so hard. She could pick out three women right now, and one man by the looks of him, who would be more than willing to help him get off. Yet he studiously ignored everyone else.
He held out his hand to her. “Shall we?”
She sighed and let him guide her up the shallow steps.
It turned out the two rooms were really one, wrapping around a false wall, connecting in a U shape around the other side. The debauchery was not as grand as she’d expected. People mingled, drinks in hand, some cozying up to their partner, or partners. Others sat in small groups doing nothing but chatting. However, a few couples were in the midst of play, as some people liked to call it. A woman seated on a bench against the wall had her arms handcuffed above her head by frilly pink cuffs; she was whimpering her way to orgasm as a dark-haired man ran his fingers over her sex, murmuring loving praises in her ear. The adoration on the man’s face was unmistakable, as if she were the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. It was almost kind of sweet, but Cora didn’t think she could be as open as that while being intimate with a man. And having her arms shackled? She shivered. She’d been tied up too long in the doctor’s lab for that to be sexy.
She grinned. Winning this was going to be a breeze.
Knox gave her a curious frown and sipped his drink.
She preened and glanced around. The décor here was clean and simple. Couches and large ottomans took up the center space. Leather benches and other—she supposed she’d call them stations—lined the walls. She’d expected it to be dim, like the rooms before, but everything was awash in soft auburn lighting, smartly placed to illuminate each station as though they were art pieces. One appeared to be a large wooden X with a harness and shackles to keep an individual in place. On the wall beside it, various whips and floggers ominously hung. She grimaced, and cocked an are you kidding me look at Knox.
He shrugged noncommittally, almost bored. Did he not care that he was going to lose?
Between each station, erotic artwork caught her interest, beautiful photographs and paintings with the subjects posed seductively, mostly nude, but in a tastefully artful way. A couple of them were black and white close-ups of subjects bound by rope. The focus was on the intricate knot-work, almost like the Celtic tattoo around Knox’s bicep. There were a couple statues as well that were reminiscent of the Renaissance, though they were clearly modern pieces and were probably made of some kind of lightweight material varnished to look like marble.
She gravitated toward a particularly stunning statue staged in a corner: a couple in a loving embrace facing each other with the woman perched on the man’s lap. Ecstasy painted their features, their cries of pleasure frozen in time. Whoever the artist was, they did a phenomenal job.
Behind her, the woman on the bench reached her moment, drawing much of the room’s attention, including Cora’s. She was transfixed by the way the two seemed to be in their own little bubble, staring into each other’s eyes. The woman moaned long and hard as her lover drew out her orgasm with his relentless touching. The woman threw her head back as her body began to shake. As if he couldn’t resist, the man dipped his head to take the woman’s lips, swallowing her cries. When her release passed, he uncuffed her and she slumped forward, burying her head in the crook of his neck.
The onlookers applauded.
The woman blushed, smiling weakly while the man placed a tender kiss on crown.
Cora could appreciate the purity of the moment. Still—
She turned to Knox. “If you think you’re doing anything like that to me in a room full of people, you’re out of your mind.”
He smiled down at her. “I’m not an exhibitionist.”
“I’m confused. Then why did you bring me here?”
“This section of the club offers the best private rooms.”
Chapter 25
Cora swallowed against the burgeoning desert-like conditions in her throat.
Private rooms?
She had a bad feeling about that—at least that was how she interpreted the flutter in her stomach.
Yet, for the moment, Knox seemed content to stay in the main area.
Drinks refreshed, he led her to one of the free benches and then unceremoniously pulled her onto his lap, her legs hanging to one side. When she protested, he simply wrapped one meaty arm around her waist and said, “It’s part of our bargain, love.”
She snorted. “Which one?”
He turned thoughtful. “Take your pick.”
She rolled her eyes at that. But since thus far he was keeping his hands in general safe zones, she allowed him to win the little battle.
The war was far from over.
The whole while, she resisted acknowledging the evidence of his arousal against her backside, though in truth it was hard not to notice. He was a big guy, after all.
“What do you think?” he said, breaking their momentary silence.
“Huh?”
He jerked his chin at their surroundings.
She shrugged. “I like the artwork.”
He surprised her by concurring as he leisurely rubbed his thumb along her hip, and suddenly she could concentrate on very little else. “None of it compares with how stunning you look tonight.”
An indecent level of pleasure flushed through her at the compliment, though he was only saying it to soften her and get what he wanted.
“I’m sure I’m just the most beautiful thing you ever did see,” she mocked.
“In that dress, you very nearly are.” The little beast at his crotch leapt at his words.
She resisted the ridiculous urge to squirm against him and took a sip of her drink.
Knox watched her intently, giving rise to a bout of self-consciousness. The way he looked at her....
When she swallowed, she inadvertently licked her lips.
His eyelids drooped hungrily.
“How about staving off some of my misery and giving me a kiss?” he muttered.
She shook her head. “Your ploy isn’t going to work.”
“Ploy?” he asked innocently with a crafty grin that made him look wolfishly sexy. She found her eyes drinking him in too.
“To turn me on,” she explained on a breath.
“Mm,” he muttered, still completely distracted by her mouth. “Must be losing my touch.” His hand trailed up her side. “Hasn’t stopped you from keeping me at full attention since you walked down those stairs this morning.”
That did not secretly please her!
She worked to keep a shiver from giving her away. “I can only assume you’re making that up to get into my head. Not that it matters,” she quickly added.
Setting his glass down, his hand rose to cup her cheek. When he tenderly ran his thumb over her jawline, she stiffened to keep from leaning into his touch. “You’re fucking gorgeous and you know it.”
She knew she was prettyish. Guys had always told her she was pretty or cute. Sometimes they’d go as far as using the word hot if they were trying to get laid, but never gorgeous. Coming from most men, she figured such a word would sound awkward or forced, but from Knox it was a smooth declaration that washed over her like a caress.
“You must have realized you nearly made me cream my pants this morning.”
Her jaw dropped open at his bald admission.
“Hell, if you wiggled just a little to the right, you still might.”
She clenched her knees together as a powerful heat descended.
“I’ll make you another deal,” he said with a devilish gleam in his eyes. “Keeping both our clothes on, make me come right now and I’ll declare you the winner. We can end this here and now.”
“And if I fail?” she blurted hoarsely. What was wrong with her? Surely it was the alcohol making her so reckless. She couldn’t possibly agree to that.
His smile was cocky. “If you fail, you’ll owe me an opportunity to make you come.”
She bit her lip. Dangerous!
His cunning thumb retraced its path along her jaw. Then, as if he was testing her, he trailed it lightly along her lower lip. “Of course, I understand if you don’t think you can—”
Apparently she had just gone insane, because she parted her lips and slowly sucked the digit into her mouth.
A pained groaned ripped out of him. “You wicked little thing.”
* * *
Fuck!
She’d nearly unmanned him in less than a second. As she’d pulled his thumb into her warm, slick mouth, his traitorous mind conjured the image of those beautiful lips around his cock. He’d nearly exploded where he sat! Only barely retaining his faculties.
As if she knew her prowess, she smiled slyly, gently holding him between her teeth. It was then that he wondered if he hadn’t made a bad deal. But fuck him if he was going to stop this. He’d be the dumbest asshole in the world if he did. He just had to make sure she didn’t win.
Suddenly, she pulled away, releasing his thumb. Her eyes darting nervously around the room as though remembering anyone could see.
“Don’t worry about them. They have better entertainment to watch.” He jerked his chin to a giggling woman being strapped into the starfish cross by two men.
