CHAPTER 17

And even though he wasn’t nearly ready for the evening to be over, it was easy to guess that she didn’t want to sleep with him when Zion was in the house. “I have several guest rooms. You don’t need to sleep in my bed.” “Zion’s better with his routines at home.” Clearly, Darius wasn’t going to sway her. But he was going to leave his stamp on her one way or another, damn it, so he crushed her into his arms and took her mouth hard and fast. “Do you want to know my next intention?” he asked a beat later, his lips still touching hers. He could feel the rapid tattoo of her heartbeat against his chest. Her breath was fast against his mouth. She wasn’t unaffected—nowhere near. “Darius...tonight was a great break from reality, but it was—” “Not a one-time thing.” It never had been, not for him, not when it was Nathalie in his arms. “I don’t want to lie to you. Not now, not ever. So you need to know I intend to do that again. Over and over. Every single delirious moment. And more. Whether you spend the night or not. Whether it’s in a bed or not.” Then he kissed her one last time for the evening, a lingering moment of pure bliss that he hoped would make her long for him in the middle of the night as much as he’d be longing for her. Darius called early on Sunday morning, just after eight, but Nathalie was already up. “You and Zion want to come over for a little work on the car?” God, how she wanted to. Inside, she wanted nothing more than to run to him. Being with him was so good but so dangerous. Too much of a good thing got you hooked. Besides, she didn’t want Zion to get too dependent on Darius. “Thanks, that’s nice of you, but we’ve got chores.” He was silent for a moment, one in which she knew he wasn’t at all happy with her answer. But instead of pushing her, he said, “All right. But if you need anything—” He lingered on the word anything. “—don’t hesitate to call.” He couldn’t possibly know how badly she wanted to say yes to his offer. But she shouldn’t do it. Not so soon after losing herself in his arms last night. And not so soon after he’d made his next round of intentions perfectly clear. All night long in her dreams, his voice had echoed in her ears: I intend to do that again. Over and over. Every single delirious moment. And more. “Thanks.” The fact that the word came out sounding a little breathless only solidified her decision to put some space between them, giving her time to recover from last night’s wonderland. She put on her best breezy and independent voice as she said, “Talk to you later.” Because, for all that she worried about her brother, she was the one who could become dependent on Darius if she wasn’t careful. Good sex was like chocolate truffles. Every so often, you gave yourself one as a treat. And she knew darn well that if she saw Darius today, he’d manage to get her into bed. Or onto the workbench in the garage while he sent Zion off to have lunch with Mrs. Oswald. And then she’d end up even more deeply under his spell... No, she couldn’t let herself forget that what she was doing with Darius only worked as long as she didn’t let herself get too emotional or too involved. Short-term pleasure, that’s all this was. And when it hit its inevitable end, she needed to be absolutely sure that she could walk away with her head held high and no regrets. * * * Nathalie should have known better than to think Darius would simply back off. On Monday, he wanted to talk to her while he was on Skype with Zion, but she told her brother she was too busy. A few minutes later, however, she had to step away to answer the doorbell…only to find a flower delivery guy waiting with a huge bouquet that Zion couldn’t stop marveling over. She might have done more than her fair share of marveling, too, when her brother’s back was turned. On Tuesday, he had a gourmet lunch sent to her office, complete with chocolate and a split of champagne. She’d saved that for later when she got home. The man was relentless. Which was probably why he was as rich as Michael. But she’d determined that she wouldn’t see him until Saturday. A week seemed appropriate. It kept things casual. At least, that was what she told herself during the day when she was rational. But then there were the nights. When she was alone in bed and her body was screaming for his touch. She only had to close her eyes to feel his mouth on her...and those memories of their lovemaking only got better by the night. On Wednesday morning, she didn’t hear the alarm clock, mostly due to the fact that the night had been filled with erotic dreams about Darius. She had to rush through her shower and barely got Zion out the door in time to catch his bus. He took a special bus to school and in the afternoons they dropped him off at the grocery store where he worked bagging groceries. She picked him up on her way home from work. The doorbell rang and she wondered what Zion had forgotten, not even considering until she opened the door that Zion wouldn’t have used the bell. Which meant… It was Darius. He was to-die-for in a black suit and crisp white shirt that looked yummy against his tanned skin. On the other hand, her hair was still wet, she wore no makeup, and her robe was soft but well worn. “Darius?” His name was barely out of her mouth when she realized that she wanted him so badly she actually ached for his touch. “You didn’t call me.” He stepped inside and closed the door behind him. “You haven’t let me see you.” Intensity burned in his eyes—a look that closely mirrored her own longing every time she’d caught her reflection over the past few days, thinking of him, missing him. Before she could blink or breathe or say anything more, his hands were in her hair and he was kissing her. Devouring her. Utterly. It was so much more than her dreams. So much better even than her memories of Saturday night. She simply melted against him. She wanted to touch him, but her hands were trapped between them. There was something so elemental about a man holding you still for his kiss, just his mouth taking you as though he could never get enough. Finally, he pulled back, his eyes closed, a deep satisfying breath filling his lungs. “There. That’s better.” Then he gave her one of his gorgeous grins. “I couldn’t start the day any other way.” “You’re crazy.” Her mind dazed, she could barely muster more than a whisper. His desire was addictive. If she wasn’t careful, she could want it, start to need it, until she couldn’t live without it. He played havoc with the meaning of casual. “Crazy for you,” he said. “Is Zion at school?” Guessing there was only one reason he would ask that, she knew she should force herself to stick to her need-a-week-off plan. But with his hands on her and her mouth still tingling from his kiss, it was frankly impossible to corral her own desire. She had no Darius power whatsoever. Darrius power. She almost laughed at the realization that Darius definitely had all the power right then. As soon as she nodded, he reached down to the belt of her robe. “I want to make you come. I want to hear you come. I want to feel you come. I want to watch you come.” Just as he hadn’t asked permission to walk inside, or to kiss her, or to undress her, he didn’t ask permission to pick her up, hoisting her high on his body. Nathalie wrapped her legs around him. His mouth unerringly found her breast, and the pleasure was so intensely connected to all her other intimate places that she couldn’t help leaning back in his arms and locking her ankles. She gripped him hard in the circle of her legs to intensify the sensations zipping through her body.