Reality didn’t set in until she noticed how very sore her body was. Her tumble into traffic, combined with the acrobatic sex she and Daniel had engaged in after over a year of abstinence was taking a toll on Addison’s poor body. She rolled over and gasped as she came into contact with the extremely wet part of her bed, where Daniel had thrown her after plucking her straight from the bath.
Chapter Twelve
She’d done it.
Addison had taken a break from Daniel Mercer. Although she was pretty sure he wasn’t going to see it that way. He was going to think she had run away from him again. But dammit! She did actually need a break from the most intense week of sex she’d ever experienced. Literally. Her vagina was sore.
Daniel had come to her condo every night for the past week after they both finished work and made love to her in the most imaginative, dominant ways. He took her to heights she’d never before experienced and forced her constantly out of her comfort zone. Really, he did that simply by being present, let alone by tying her up and fucking her.
He made her body sing with pleasure. But he denied her any real connection to him. Every time she tried to have any meaningful conversation, he cut her off, or he forced her up against a wall, or bent her over a couch, or whatever his ruthless imagination could come up with. The result was a serious lack of life details on her new sexual partner. And sore privates.
She sighed as she enjoyed the luxurious feeling of the Four Seasons bathrobe against her skin. She sat on the edge of a deep tub and drew herself a bath. This was the second and last night of her impromptu “holiday.” She’d decided two nights would be perfect. One would give her body time to recover from Daniel’s merciless bouts of lovemaking and the second would give him time to recover from his undoubted fury over her disappearance.
She’d called in sick at the orchestra for the first time ever. She’d felt a little guilty when a concerned Maestro had called her back to check on her and tell her to take all the time she needed. She’d assured him that it wasn’t anything too serious, just contagious enough that she didn’t want to spread it around the symphony. She felt doubly guilty for using the orchestra’s credit card at the hotel, but she knew Daniel would trace anything in her name.
Addison blamed Daniel. He was the type of person to prey on weakness and use any disadvantage. He was a bad influence and she’d been hanging out with him for a week.
She traced her fingers through the bathwater and sighed in satisfaction. Shutting off the taps, she stood and felt her way to the bedroom. Picking up the hotel phone she dialled room service and ordered strawberries, chocolate syrup and champagne. She knew it was cliche, but she was already spending $415 per night to stay at the Four Seasons. She was going to enjoy every moment of it before she had to return to her confusing new reality.
Her tastes were usually more bohemian, but she was overdue for a staycation and she had been trying to think of the last place Daniel Mercer might expect her to go. After her stay on Chris’ couch, she didn’t think he’d expect her to hide out in a luxury hotel. He’d probably traced her last time using security cameras, so she had been careful to leave her cell phone behind and take bus routes only. It must have worked, since Daniel hadn’t come after her the night before.
Addison smiled to herself as she dropped the bathrobe and sank into the heated water of her bath. It enveloped her like a warm, wet kiss. She wondered what Daniel was doing. She wasn’t looking forward to seeing him the next day when she returned to her apartment after work, but she did miss him a little. Over the past week, they had been as physically close as two people could get. It felt strange being alone in an empty hotel room and a big bed.
“I’ll take that up to Ms. Sterling,” Daniel told the young waiter, relieving him of his tray and a bottle of champagne.
He looked uncertain until Daniel showed his security badge. The kid’s eyes flashed to Daniel’s jacket where his sidearm was visible. His eyes widened and he could barely conceal a grin of appreciation while backing away from a clearly much deadlier man.
“No one disturbs Ms. Sterling tonight, understood?”
Daniel was annoyed, and annoyed Daniel tended to be more homicidal. He was annoyed at the kid for giving the tray over so easily. Daniel could have been anyone pretending to be security to gain access to Addison’s room, where she could be harmed. Daniel was annoyed at Addison for not being where she was supposed to be. And he was annoyed at his delay in getting to her. He’d known where she was within hours of her disappearance. Unfortunately, he’d been delayed by a tipoff from DeLuca on the men that’d escaped the King Tower shooting a week earlier. Daniel had to go hunting before he could take care of his woman.
Luckily for Addison, he’d relieved some of his frustrations on Franco’s hired guns before coming to see her. Daniel took the stairs up the ten floors to her room, hefting the tray easily. He sniffed it, wondering what it was and how much she’d ordered. He’d worked up an appetite explaining to Franco’s guys the error of their coming after King’s property. He’d been extra vicious owing to their shooting at Addison too. Unlucky for them, he liked her and he didn’t usually like anyone.
He strode to her room, his anger growing with each step. He’d had to shove it ruthlessly aside while he’d tracked the two shooters. He’d needed his usual icy calm so he could do his job. Now he wanted answers. Why had she run from him without a word? Why was she holed up in one of the most expensive hotels in the city? Was she alone?
Fury ripped through him. She better fucking be alone. Or he would kill her and whoever she was with. He attempted to reach for calm, breathing heavily as he stood outside the door to her room. It wasn’t like him to lose control this easily. He didn’t understand how one small, defenceless woman could fuck with his mind like this. His fist clenched hard around the neck of the champagne bottle.
Finally, placing the bottle between his elbow and his body, he hammered on the door, attempting to soften some of the anger so she wouldn’t be frightened and just not answer the door. He could hear her musical voice float through the door asking him to wait a moment and the unmistakable sound of splashing, which indicated she was getting out of a bathtub. His heart sped up at the sound and his cock twitched in response, like a fucking dog on a leash.
He didn’t get it. His fucking heart hadn’t gone any faster than normal while he was being shot full of holes in that North Korean shit hole where he and King had almost died. How did one small woman throw him off so much? For the few seconds it took her to answer the door he seriously considered just strangling her and getting rid of her, solving his problem in the usual way.
Then she opened the door with a sweet, welcoming smile on her slightly crooked lips. Her warm, wet body was wrapped in a white bathrobe that left almost nothing to the imagination since she clearly hadn’t taken the time to dry herself off before throwing it on. Annoyance that she would answer the door that way warred with crashing lust as she started to look a little confused that room service was just standing there not saying anything.
Then she caught his scent. Her delicate nose sniffed and her eyes, which had been on the floor for the comfort of the room service guy, flew up to Daniel’s face in panic. “Shit,” she breathed, her hand flying to the door faster than he would have thought her capable of and pushing. He shoved his booted foot into the door and flung it wide, throwing her off balance.
“Hold on!” she gasped, stumbling back.
“I don’t think so, Addison,” he snapped, stepping into the room after her.
He kicked the door shut and dropped the tray and bottle onto the carpeted floor, ignoring the loud clang and mess of scattering food. Addison backed away from him with her hands out as if to ward him off as he reached for her. He seized her arm and jerked her into the cradle of his arms.
“Daniel, wait!” she cried out, “I can explain.”
He cut off anything else she might have said with a kiss that could only be called a punishment. He attacked her with lips, teeth and tongue. He stole her breath until she had to fight him for air. She brought her hands up to push against his shoulders, but he was immovable. After a moment, he let her up for breath before going back in. He knew he was desperate to have her and that he needed to slow down, that she was fighting his embrace, but he couldn’t.
He took her fists, which were balled up against his shoulders and pulled them behind her back, causing her small breasts to arch up into his chest. He held her wrists with one hand and used the other to pull her up by the waist. He backed her into the bed and nudged her onto it until she was kneeling. He untied the belt that was already coming loose from his rough handling and finished yanking the robe open. He arched her back across his arm and leaned down to take one of her breasts into his mouth.
Addison cried out as heat lashed her sensitive breast. He continued to lick, devouring the nipple mercilessly until it was rigid and she was begging him to stop. Finally, he granted her request and moved over to the other breast. Addison’s cries were like music to his ears, balm for the pain she caused when she had left. He knew he was being too rough, but he didn’t care. Her body belonged to him, all of her belonged to him, he would make her beg.
