“You don’t have to come every day, you know,” Raya said while Amara changed a fresh bouquet of pink carnations in the glass vase.
“If I were sick, I’d expect the same from you.”
“You’re coming on a little strong. We’ve only just met.”
“If you stop being so sexy, maybe I’ll think about it.”
They both laughed.
“Oh, careful!” Amara instructed when she saw Raya flinch from the pain. “I’m sorry. You shouldn’t be laughing yet.”
“This damn body is not healing fast enough.”
“You’ll be good as new before you know it.”
“Like new,” Raya made the correction, “with an ugly scar running down my belly.”
“You’re beautiful, and you know it. Trent is not so shallow as to let that stop him from pursuing you. By the way, how are you and Trent?”
A soft smile appeared on Raya’s face. “He visited me frequently.”
“A good sign.”
“He doesn’t say anything when he comes. He just sits quietly at that chair there. When I ask a question, he replies in five syllables or less. I can’t read anything from him. Does he like me?”
“Trent is a man of few words. He lets his actions do most of the talking for him. If he doesn’t like you, he won’t even bother with you. Trust me on that one.”
“There’s a chance for me?” Raya asked, hope in her voice.
“Better chances than other women.”
Raya lifted a brow. “What about you?”
“What about me?”
“Don’t think I don’t know. You came here with Noctis the other day. Are you two… doing well?”
“Far from it,” Amara sighed. “We just don’t see eye to eye.”
“What’s the problem?”
“It’s nothing,” Amara lied.
Noctis had been neglecting her ever since that night. Amara woke up alone each morning with his scent lingering. She thought it was only a figment of her imagination, so she reached out to the other side of the bed to see if he’d spend the night sleeping next to her. The spot was warm, which meant he left just before she woke up.
He was avoiding her on purpose.
Amara only got to see him during mealtime, and even then she had to share his attention with a maid who desperately sought it. Daisy wouldn’t know subtlety if it hit her in the face with a shovel.
I should fire her ass, Amara thought grimly.
“You’ve just been to the gynecologist?” Raya asked, snapping Amara out from her train of thought. Raya’s eyes were focused on the pelvic inflammatory educational pamphlet in Amara’s tote.
“Yeah, just before I came here.”
“Something the matter, or is it just an annual visit?”
“This is embarrassing so I don’t know if I should tell you this.”
“We’re both girls here.”
“It’s not that,” Amara chuckled. “Alright, I’ll tell you. For some unknown reason, Noctis thought that I’m pregnant. I freaked out because I was having some suspicious symptoms. I mean, I don’t live under a rock. So I made an appointment with the gynecologist this morning.”
Raya parted her lips.
“The strangest thing happened. The hormone test was positive. I nearly fainted. I asked the doctor for an ultrasound just to make sure, and nothing showed up. The doctor said it’s a case of false pregnancy, probably due by stress. I was so relieved.”
“You don’t like children?”
“I love children. It’s just that I can’t take care of a baby right now. So I’m going to march right home and tell him all about it.”
“Um… would you apologize to him for me?”
“Apologize for what?” Amara asked curiously.
“I may have been the reason why…”
“What?”
Raya bit her lower lip. “I may have said some things that mislead him into thinking you’re expecting.”
Terror-stuck, Amara gasped. “What did you tell him?”
“Just apologize to him for me.”
“Raya, what have you done?”
“What did I do?” Raya asked innocently. “It’s an honest misunderstanding.”
“He won’t see it like that! He’ll…” Amara reached for her tote. “I’ve got to go.”
“Are you alright?”
“Uh…” Amara didn’t know how to answer the simple question. “I’ve really got to go!”
“Amara!”
Too panicked to say another word, Amara rushed out of the room. She accidentally brushed by a man on her way out.
“Wait!” A male’s voice called out for her. Amara speedily pressed on the down button. The elevator doors opened, and she stepped inside. She pressed on the ground level button several times. “I said Wait!”
A young man stopped the elevator doors from closing.
“I’m sorry, I’m in a hurry right now,” Amara replied, continuing to press on the G button.
“Are you… Amara?” His brow furrowed deeply.
“I’m Amara. Who the hell are you?”
He smiled. “Oh this is good. It is you! You don’t remember me, do you?”
“No, I don’t know who you are. I said I’m in a hurry!”
“Can’t recognize your own brother?” he asked, smiling down at her. “We all thought you we’re dead.”
Amara stared at the man in absolute horror. Her eyes picked out recognizable features from his face and her brain did the confirmation. Those light brown eyes… that bump on his nose… those light freckles on his face…
He was no longer a teenager, but a grown man.
“Jonathan!”
“In the flesh!”
“Oh my god!” She shrieked as he stepped into the elevator. “Get away from me!” It was her old, bullying step brother.
She evaded him at first, but he caught her in the ring of his arms and closed the elevator doors. The feel of his breath on her neck made her skin scrawl.
“Let go of me!” She yelled, trying to fight him off. “Or I’ll scream!”
“Is this how you’re going to treat me? We haven’t seen each other in, what… eleven? Twelve years?”
“I’ll give you a count to three or I’ll scream my bloody head off! May I remind you that this elevator is monitored? I’ll sue your ass for every dime you have! One, two, three!”
He released her. Amara scrambled for the other side of the elevator. “Look at you,” his eyes scrutinized her. “You’re doing pretty well for yourself. You’re draped in designer clothes from head to toe. You’ve struck it rich?”
“None of your business!” She spat.
“Wait until the folks at home hear about this. They’ll be so happy to hear that you’re still alive.”
“Don’t you dare say a word to them!”
He inclined his head. “You’ve grown up pretty.”
“And you’re still sick in the head!”
“We were children, Amara.”
“I don’t want to talk about it. Forget you ever saw me and leave me the hell alone!”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that.” He snatched her tote from her shoulder and searched through it.
“You’re a freaking mugger, now?”
He took out her cellphone and tossed the tote back to her. “Your contact information should all be in here. Now I know where to find you.”
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” she warned. “You’ll get yourself killed. Not that I care.”
He chuckled. “I was the one who taught you how to play poker, Amara. I call your bluff.”
She straightened herself in a dignified manner. “Cut to the chase. What do you want?”
“I want my little sister back.”
She gave him a look of disgust. “Never. Choose something else from your list.”
He inspected her once again. “A million dollars,” he said, half-jokingly.
“A million dollars?” She asked for confirmation.
/> He nodded. “Come up with a million dollars and I’ll forget I saw you today.”
“Done!” She said abruptly. “You’ll have your million dollars by tomorrow!”
“What?” He looked shocked. He hadn’t expected her to agree so quickly or have that much money available to her. He scoffed. “You don’t have that much money!”
“You don’t know that! You want it in cash or check?”
He was still calling her bluff. “Cash.”
The elevator door opened.
“Keep the cellphone,” she said coolly. “I don’t want it anymore now that you’ve touched it.” She walked out on him, exited the hospital, and waved for a taxi. During the ride home, she fought back the tears that threatened to come out. She slapped herself hard and warned herself not to let them fall.
Look forward. Only look forward.
The taxi driver was stealing glances at her. He probably thought that she was crazy.
As soon as she got back home, she dumped her tote in the trashcan. She didn’t want to keep anything that man touched. She marched to her bedroom and literally ripped the clothing from her body on her way to the shower.
After a long shower that could have easily peeled her skin off, she went to find Noctis. The butler told her that he was in the study, so she went. He was sitting on a large executive leather chair behind a mahogany desk. He looked up from whatever he was doing to acknowledge her in the room. She closed the door behind her.
She swallowed her pride and said, “I need money.”
He didn’t ask her how much she was requesting or what she needed it for. He simply signed a blank check and handed it to her.
“How much can I withdraw from this?” she asked, just in case it bounced.
“It’s blank for a reason,” he said softly.
“What about cash? Do you have a million dollars in cash?”
His blue eyes grew suspicious. Still, he asked nothing. He got up from the chair and walked over to the walk-in combination vault behind the mechanical bookcase. He dialed in the combination and opened the thick steel door. He gestured her to go in first.
She did and he followed.
Tens of millions of dollars in cold hard cash were lying on shelf after shelf of grey steel.
“There’s more in my bank accounts,” he said. “What we have will only last us a little more than a century, but do not worry. I know a few things about trading.”
“I’m not worried. I won’t live that long, so why should I care?”
“I’ll find a way,” he said softly, as if to himself.
Amara turned to face him. She’d been so caught up with the Jonathan business that she almost forgot the reason why she rushed home. She needed to tell him the truth before this turned into a tragedy.
“I need to talk to you about something…” Courage failed her when she looked into his eyes. What if he goes berserk and decides to hunt Raya down and kill her. It was highly probable.
She needed to approach him delicately. “So I heard that you had a talk with Raya about… me.”
“You went to see her again, didn’t you?”
Amara nodded.
“I will only tell you this one last time. Stay away from her.”
“Why don’t you like her?”
“I already told you once. I’m not going to repeat myself.”
“You’re not going to hurt her, are you?”
“If she doesn’t give me a reason to hurt her, then I don’t see why I should bother.”
“If… if there is a reason.”
“I’ll have her head in my hand.”
The words died in her throat. If she told him the truth, he would definitely kill Raya. Amara chewed her lower lip, debating what to do next.
But if you don’t tell him the truth, you’re knowingly deceiving him. He won’t forgive you again.
I can’t just let him kill Raya, she countered to herself. Besides, the truth will come out eventually. If I tell him now, there is a chance…
No chance.
“What was it that you want to talk about?” he asked.
She couldn’t answer him right away. Her brain was still deciding on the best course of action.
“Mortal?”
She looked up. Truth. Lie. Truth. Lie. Turn the lie into the truth.
“Is something a matter?”
You only got less than three years to live. How are you going to take care of a child?
“Mortal, you’re shivering.”
But Raya will die!
“Hold me,” she pleaded softly and reached out for him. He didn’t take her in his arms and kiss her like she expected. He scooped her up into his arms and strode out of the vault, out of the study, down the hall, up a grand staircase, and into their bedroom. He must have misunderstood her plea, because he gently placed her on the bed and reached for the phone.
“Who are you calling?” she asked.
“A doctor.”
“Don’t bother,” she grabbed the phone from his hand and set it aside. “I already saw one earlier.”
He had this expression on his face, like he wanted to know how it went.
“The doctor said…” It’s the moment of truth. Decide, Amara. “Everything is fine,” she murmured.
“You don’t look fine.”
“I just ran into someone I didn’t want to run into.”
“That explains why you needed the million dollars.”
Amara didn’t think he would figure it out so soon. “How did you know?”
“Lucky guess.” He brushed it off as not worth mentioning.
He could see through things too easily, Amara thought with a frown. Could he see through what she was about to do?
Her body got ahead of her and reached for his broad shoulders. She leaned forward and pressed gentle kisses on the side of his neck. The scent that lingered on her bed each morning was finally accompanied by its owner. She wanted to feel him. She wanted to touch him.
“What are you doing?” he asked coarsely. She’d learned by now that this was a good reaction.
“Seducing you,” she breathed against his ear. Tantalizing fingers dug into his thick, dark hair. She pulled her body up against his hard body and let out a pleasurable sigh.
“Stop,” he commanded.
She didn’t stop, didn’t want to stop. “You’ve been neglecting me.” She inched back and looked into his eyes. She went for his mouth and bit his lower lip just enough to cause pain, but not enough to draw blood. “I want attention.”
His fierce blue eyes warned her. “Again, you are playing with fire.”
“Then let me burn,” she said softly with a wicked grin. She kissed him tenderly. Her little tongue teased him, tempted him to give in. Her hands slipped under his shirt to feel his soft skin and the tight muscles underneath.
Noctis almost kissed her back. Almost. He turned his head to the side to avoid her lips. “Stop,” he ordered her once again.
If she couldn’t have his lips, she’d have his body. She lowered herself, pressing wet kisses down his neck. She quickly undid the buttons on his shirt.
He clutched her hands and inhaled sharply.
“Want you. Need you.” She leaned in to kiss him. This time, she triumphed. He crushed her lips with his, taking what she was offering and demanding more. A hand cupped the back of her head and the other held on to her waist. She welcomed him, dueled with him, and inevitably lost.
She didn’t mind losing. Not if it was to him.
Physical attraction ignited. Sexual chemistries mingled in the air and in their feverish kisses. She’d been attracted to him since the beginning, but only now did she realize just how much.
She gasped when he eased her onto her back and yanked her shirt open. The buttons flew into the air. She knew he hated buttons, but she didn’t approve of the way he treated her clothing. He shoved her bra upward and closed his mouth over her breast. The moist sucking nearly succeeded in turning her inside out.
H
er hands ran down his muscular back. Her fingernails dug lightly into his skin. He moved his frame downward. He scattered kisses down her torso and concentrated at her lower abdomen.
He looked up at her with a roguish smile that made her insides ache. He helped her out of her jeans and tossed them aside. His powerful frame rose. Their lips met again in wild, uncontainable need.
“Please…” she begged softly against his mouth.
“Patience,” he answered, breathily.
“No,” she defiantly protested, “now. Necessary. So necessary. I ache.”
“Tempt me no further, mortal,” he grated against her ear.
“Not until I get what I want.”
He chuckled at that.
Amara boldly wrapped her slender legs around his waist. She caught her breath when she felt him against her. A series of busy kisses occupied her pleasure senses. A calloused hand slightly lifted her thigh to the just right angle. He joined them in one clean stroke.
She heard herself gasp, then whimper, and then melted into a sigh at the fullness. He stayed a moment and then moved at an agonizingly slow pace. He was being so careful with her, as if he was measuring and calculating each movement in his head. The slow friction was building, towering, but couldn’t quite reach.
It was absolute torture.
“Please…” she pleaded with him.
He placated her with more kisses. She thoroughly enjoyed them, only they weren’t what she was asking for. It didn’t take long for her to realize that he was intentionally holding back.
“I need…” The tension broke her into sweats. So close to the edge, but she couldn’t make it there. He would not answer to the urgent needs that were driving her mad. If he would not give, then she would have to take it on her own. “…let me make love to you.”
He was stunned by the request and so was she. It seemed all inhibitions were lost to rawer instincts as ancient as time itself.
He did not resist when she pushed him off of her and shoved his shoulders against the mattress. Her body acted on its own. She mounted him, kissing him passionately in small, broken trysts. She ran her hands down his hard chest and as her hands traced lower, her back straightened. She lifted her hips over him and then slowly, very slowly, lowered herself down his length. Soft, repressed gasps traveled with her.
Amara felt in control.
She began rocking back and forth on top of him. Gentle at first, but the devastating needs eventually caught up to her. She needed more, and so she took more.