Hoping to keep from losing myself in the man.
This wasn’t romance. This certainly wasn’t acceptable on any level. This was hard fucking, no emotions, no sensitivity. Just two people with dark carnal needs requiring satisfaction. Every thrust, every touch of his skin against mine pushed and kept me on a sweet plane of nirvana.
He wasn’t finished owning me, fisting a handful of hair, yanking back my head so I’d be forced to accept all of him. Every inch. Every bit of control. I was locked in the moment and with the man who refused to let me go.
There was a vacuum around us leaving me with his scent and sweat staining my skin, his touch leaving scorch marks that I’d long remember. Time had no meaning. Being lost in him was the only possibility.
I wanted to hate him, to keep myself focused on ensuring he spent the rest of his life behind bars, but I was too delirious, too satisfied to think clearly at all. Plus, there was a tiny part of me that wanted to believe there was something good inside him. Or maybe I was being selfish and the pure ecstasy had altered my state of mind.
My body pulsed, my core keeping me breathless and there was nothing I could do but surrender.
As he collapsed on top of me, the weight was no longer heavy, but the act itself, the understanding of what I’d allowed to occur was a noose strapped around my neck. The silence was oppressive, only the rapid thudding of our hearts filtering into the room. I felt fractured, as if I no longer knew who I was or my purpose both as a woman and an officer of the law.
I’d allowed this. I’d wanted this.
The craving had been too intense to ignore. The weakness was debilitating.
Another passage of time. Another wave of desire that couldn’t be satisfied, but I finally felt nothing but emptiness as he pulled himself away.
I expected him to toss me aside, treating me as the prisoner that I knew myself to be, but the warmth of his hand grasping mine came as a complete surprise. Without saying a word, he helped me to my feet, immediately placing his shirt around my shoulders.
His eyes burned into mine and he cocked his head while brushing the tips of his fingers down my cheek. “Truly incredible.”
The moment of tenderness was a direct contrast to before and I found myself leaning into his hand, forced to remind myself what we’d just done was pure sin.
“You’ll need this,” he finally said as he helped me into the shirt as if I was too damaged to dress myself. “I ruined your clothes. Emmeline will be here soon with clothes.”
“What then?”
He brushed his hand down my arm before grabbing his trousers and heading down the stairs. I remained where I was as he slid into his pants, even taking the time to retrieve his belt before answering. When he turned, my breath was taken just as it had been before.
The carving of every muscle in his chest drifted perfectly to the deep V leading to his thighs. He was a perfect specimen of a man. “One of my men will take you to a room where you can relax. I’ll have water and food brought up shortly. After I finish with business we will talk. There’s a reason you appeared in that courtroom minutes before an assassination attempt. You’re going to help me discover the reason why, as I don’t believe in coincidences.”
With that he headed toward the door.
“Wait a minute. You can’t keep me, Alexander.”
He stopped just before grabbing the handle, not bothering to turn to face me, but I heard every word clearly. “I can and I will, Catherine.”
“You really are a cruel, heartless man just like what everyone is saying.” Everyone. What I’d read had been the opposite, yet I couldn’t envision anything but the cold and powerful mafia leader standing in front of me.
That same fire than could burn down a city sparkled in his eyes as he gazed at me. “You should listen to them and keep that in mind. You’re hiding something from me. I will find out what that is. Do yourself a favor. Don’t try to escape again as I will have guards posted both inside and outside the house. If you do try and run, the punishment you receive will be something you won’t soon forget.”
After he left the room, the door shutting with a slight slam, I finally took a deep breath.
There was no denying what this was. He’d taken me as his captive, claiming my body.
Now I feared he had intentions on owning something else.
All of me.
CHAPTER 11
Alexander
Jarvis knew when not to interrupt me.
That being said, when I was in the type of mood I’d been driven into, he was usually the only person who knew what to say to prevent me from falling off the precipice and doing something I might regret. Not that I’d regretted much in my life. What few things came to mind had been products of youth and recklessness.
