SmokeandMirrors Page 2
Long ago, she’d buried the memories of her two short years with Alex so deep, he rarely crossed her mind anymore. It was the roses and the bondage that made her remember.
And ache for what might have been.
No, it never would have lasted. It had all been an illusion. Alexander Black was now the greatest illusionist in the world. And he’d practiced on her.
Gaby pushed him out of her mind. She stretched her legs and toed off her shoes. Might as well be as comfortable as possible. She dropped her head back on the seat and arched her back, trying to stretch out her muscles. Her breasts ached beneath the tight dress. Her skin prickled with need.
Alone in the darkness with nothing but her imagination, she pictured her breasts springing free from the low neckline. The air conditioning would cool them and her nipples would bead tightly. Strong, long-fingered hands would grasp them, squeeze them and leave prints on her pale skin. The quick fingers would twist her hard nipples, shooting sparks of arousal straight to her clit. What she wouldn’t give for calloused thumbs to scrape the tips, a soft tongue to moisten the sensitive skin, sharp teeth to nip them.
She arched her back farther, longing for the attention she was imagining, moaning with disappointment. And then with annoyance because it was Alex who had the long skillful fingers. Not Aaron.
Alex’s long fingers. If she were a poet, which she would never be in her wildest dreams, she could spend lines, quatrains, sonnets simply describing his fingers. And the things those nimble fingers would do. Coax doves out of a silk scarf. Pull a coin out of midair. Play her body like one of his elaborate illusions and leave her wanting more.
She had to stop thinking about him. She was breathing harder than she should for a bastard who threw her love away like a cheap parlor trick. She had no use for Alexander Black, even as she ached for what once had been.
She shifted in her seat again, this time because her shoulders were getting stiff. Where were they going anyway? She had no way of knowing the time, but her internal clock told her they’d been driving longer than necessary to get to anywhere Aaron would want to take her in the L.A. area. A ripple of panic wormed its way under her skin.
What did she really know about him? He worked closely with her father and that meant he trusted Aaron. She knew he liked Italian food, action movies and the missionary position. Or so she thought. If he guessed she liked to be tied up, maybe he thought she liked to be hurt too. Maybe he thought she liked to be scared.
She’d never been into pain. She certainly didn’t like being afraid. She just enjoyed the feeling of being tied. Of letting go. Allowing the anticipation to build always made her super hot, super aroused. When she was bound, she had to let someone else, for a little while, take care of her needs.
Gaby threw her head from side to side, wanting desperately to see where she was. She didn’t like being scared. She’d always trusted Alex and he’d never hurt her. Unless you counted her heart.
But whose control was she under right now? That Foster had seemed like a nice guy, but he was under orders from Aaron. Or was he? Was it possible his orders were coming from someone else? While she got all aroused by the blindfold and the cuffs, was the actual intent to stop her from escaping? She gasped.
Her father had been worried about her this afternoon and she’d just blown him off. Had there been a real reason he’d been afraid for her? It would be so like him to keep a threat from her.
Was it possible after all these years, after all the reminders that she was the lone heir to the Winslow fortune and had to be careful, could she have cheerfully stepped right into a trap?
A tiny whimper escaped her lips. Her heart slammed into her chest. She struggled against her bindings even though she knew it was useless. She whipped her head around, rubbing it against the back of the seat, trying desperately to loosen the blindfold. Her shoulders ached as she tried desperately to pull her hands free from the cuffs. Panic shot through her system and she bounced on the seat, her frustration overwhelming her.
As she twisted in her seat, she lost her balance and flopped over on her side. She cried out in frustration and slid off the seat onto the floor of the limo. She rested her head on the seat for a moment, her breath coming in ragged gasps. It was useless. All the struggling had gotten her was sore wrists and sweaty skin.
She took a deep, shaky breath and pushed herself back onto the soft leather seat. Okay, so there was nothing she could do right now. She’d just have to keep her wits about her. Conserve her strength. Be ready for any development. She could tell her skirt had ridden up around her hips, but she had no way to tug it back down. Her kidnapper would have a close-up view of her black lace panties when he opened the door.
She felt a sudden change in the air, now charged with tension. The air seemed to move in the darkness around her. When she felt the seat beside her shift, panic scrambled in the stomach. She screamed and lunged away.
A strong arm wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her against a hard, hot body. At the same time, a long-fingered hand slapped over her mouth. The hand and the familiar, musky scent of arousal identified her assailant as surely as if she didn’t have the blindfold on.
Alexander.
“I always did enjoy watching you struggle,” he said, his lips brushing her ear. His deep voice rumbled through her body. She growled and he snatched his hand away from her mouth as if he could tell she was about to chomp into his flesh.
“You bastard!” She tried to pull away from him, but he held her fast against him.
“Gabriella. Gabriella,” he admonished. “Such words coming out of that refined mouth.”
“Fuck you!”
His chuckle was deep and dark. “Oh no. That’s your job.”
An image of her riding his thick cock, cries of passion ringing in the air, popped into her mind. “In your dreams,” she snapped, and hoped he didn’t hear the slight tremor in her voice.
His lips brushed her cheek. “You have no idea how often you haunt my dreams.”
She was shocked he’d make an admission like that. She wished she could see him, wished she could read the expression on that handsome face. But then he’d always been good at hiding what he was thinking, so what good would it do? “Why are you doing this, Alex?”
He eased away from her slightly and ran his hand along her bare arm. Shivers followed his fingers along her skin. “I remember your fondness for certain illusions. The cuffs, the blindfold, the scarves.” He paused. “The cage.”
“I never liked the cage.”
He cupped her chin. “Of course you did.” He slid his fingers along her throat, stroking her from chin to chest. “Anticipation, princess. Nothing’s sweeter than anticipation.”
He dropped his fingers and skimmed them across the neckline of her dress, tracing the swells of her breasts. Shivers she hadn’t felt in years ran across her skin. While she knew she shouldn’t be thrilled to feel his hands on her now, she’d dreamed of this night too often to put up a fight.
Oh how well she remembered the expert touch of his fingers along her skin. He could always conjure up the sweetest sensations in her body. Like always, her pulse began to race. Moisture soaked her panties and trickled down her thigh.
He dove his hand beneath the neckline of her dress and cupped one of her breasts. She gasped as he squeezed her flesh and scraped his thumbnail across her sensitive nipple, just as she’d imagined a moment ago. “Ah yes. The one part of you I prefer unbound.”
Gaby dropped her head back onto the seat. The music wove through the air around them. The sensations had never been this strong. Ever.
Alex’s lips slid along her throat, smooth and wet. She moaned and yearned to wrap her arms around him, clasp him to her…
Or better yet, push him away.
But she couldn’t do anything but gasp when he nipped her skin with his teeth. “That’s my girl,” he murmured just loud enough to be heard over the music. “It’s been too long since I’ve had my mouth on you.”
Hot. She was so hot. It was even hard to breathe. She opened to his insistent tongue and he plunged over and over into her waiting mouth. She latched onto his tongue, sucking deeply, drinking him in. Feeding the fire.
He grasped her breasts, his fingers kneading her flesh. Jolts of desire tugged deep within her. Her body burned with need. She arched her back and her body slid lower on the seat.
Alex relinquished his hold on her mouth and her head fell back against the seat. He latched onto one of her nipples then, taking it into his mouth with a deep pull. Oh how she’d missed his mouth as much as his fingers. She moaned out loud.
His hands were at her hips, pulling her ass forward, shoving her skirt up around her waist. She leaned back against her bound hands, but the discomfort in her arms was minor compared to the excitement raging through her. Her heart skittered in her chest and her pussy pulsed with arousal.
The bass was heavy in the music throbbing through the speakers. She could almost feel the strong rhythm thudding along her skin. Almost feel it pulsing through her body.
He knelt down between her legs, spreading her thighs wide to accommodate his body. Her skirt rode higher on her hips. He brushed a finger along the center of her lacy panties. “I knew you’d be wet. I can smell how much you want me.”
She did want him. There was no denying it. Her body craved the powerful sensations he brought about. She smothered a whimper that nearly escaped her lips. She wanted him to touch her again.
He grabbed her panties and tugged on them. She lifted her bottom so he could strip them from her body. Then there was stillness. Silence. Not really silence, but that damned music blocked out all sound except for her own ragged breathing and the pounding of her heart.
His hands splayed across her thighs, holding her legs apart. She could almost feel his burning gaze on her wet and swollen pussy. There was no way she could deny her arousal. No way she could pretend she didn’t want exactly what he was doing to her.
She tried not to squirm beneath his perusal. Tried not to beg him to touch her again. This was the game they’d always played. Who would give in first? Who would beg first when the anticipation became too much?
Tonight he wasn’t playing fair. She couldn’t touch him. Couldn’t tease him to distraction, like he was doing to her. But then Alexander Black didn’t play fair. He was an expert at trickery. At deception.
The pressure on her legs increased. What was he going to do? Her breaths came faster, harder. Then she gasped as the softest brush of air tickled her pussy. He’d leaned close to her, his mouth mere inches from where she wanted him to be. He blew on her wet folds again and she shivered.
When he finally ran his tongue along her sensitive crease she cried out in delight. In need. She lifted her hips off the seat as he continued his assault on her swollen flesh. Her shoulders dug into the seat back. His tongue slid deep into her core. She cried out again.
Arousal began to swirl inside her, coiling tighter and tighter with each swipe of his magic tongue. The tension spun up and up, and the moment his tongue brushed across her clit, she was gone. She screamed his name and arched off the seat as the powerful climax hit her. The most intense climax she’d had in ten years.
Not giving her any time to recover, Alex grabbed her hips and lifted her off the seat. Throbs left over from the orgasm were still pulsing her pussy. “Turn around,” he said, his voice not more than a growl in her ear. He turned her and lowered her knees to the limo floor. Leaned forward over the seat, her bound hands in the small of her back, she offered her bottom to him.
She didn’t even hear the rasp of the zipper over the music or the rip of the condom packet, only felt him plunge into her with one mighty thrust. His hands grasped her hips and he took her hard and fast, the way she always liked it best. The way she needed it. How could she have ever thought she needed it any other way?
Her head knocked into the back of the seat. Her breasts swung as he slammed into her again and again. When he stiffened and came inside her, he didn’t scream out her name. Instead he uttered the coarse four-letter word she’d thrown at him earlier.
Chapter Three
Alex hung onto Gabriella as the intense orgasm continued to rock him. Her firm flesh was warm against his palms, so soft under his fingers. How often had he dreamt of holding Gabriella again?
This sure as hell wasn’t the way he’d planned for the evening to go. He’d lost control. She’d overwhelmed him. Her scent had wound around him until he couldn’t even think straight, much less resist the need howling through him.
He could hardly believe he finally had his hands on her again. His shuddering slowed and he sagged against her as he tried to catch his breath. Her hair brushed his cheek, softer than any silk scarf. He wasn’t prepared when she bucked beneath him and knocked the back of her head into his.
“Get off me!”
Pain shot through his skull. “Fuck!” He let go of her and grabbed his forehead as he slipped out of her. “You pack quite a wallop, Gabriella.” He disposed of the condom, zipped up his trousers and then helped her turn around and sit back down on the seat. She was shaking a little, but whether it was from the sex or from fury, he couldn’t tell. He wouldn’t blame her for being furious. He shouldn’t have taken her like that, although in the past their lovemaking had tended to be hard and fast. Just like this.
He got up from his knees to sit on the seat beside her. He wanted to ask her if she was all right, but he didn’t think he’d want to hear the answer right now. So he stroked her soft arm and tugged her dress back up to cover her delicious breasts. What a shame.
“My arms hurt,” she said, her voice flat. “Can you release me?” She turned so her back was to him.
He fished the extra key out of his pocket and unlocked the cuffs. He slid them gently off her wrists and let them drop to the floor. She straightened in the seat and tugged her skirt down over her ass and her pussy, but it still only reached halfway down her thighs. When she rolled her shoulders, he pulled her back toward him and began to massage her stiff muscles.
Her skin was warm and damp and he let his fingers linger. She sighed and seemed to relax until he dropped a kiss onto her shoulder. Then she stiffened and pulled away.
“Take off the blindfold.”
He frowned at the frosty tone of her voice. “What if I said I wanted you to keep it on?”
“Why? So I can’t see your lying face?”
He sighed. “I have never lied to you, Gabriella.” But could he get through the next few hours without resorting to it? He unlocked the heavy blindfold, lifted it from her head and dropped it beside the cuffs.
She turned to look at him, combing her fingers through her hair. “You don’t even know the difference between lies and truth. You pride yourself on distraction. Misdirection. I know all about it. A magician never deals with the truth.”
“There’s a difference between what I do on the stage and in my private life.” She should know that better than anyone.
She shrugged and dropped back against the seat, disappearing into the shadows. “What am I doing here, Alex?” She’d dropped the anger from her voice. Now she just sounded as tired as he felt.
“I wanted to see you again.” He lifted a strand of her silky hair and pressed it to his lips. “I assumed you wanted to see me too or you wouldn’t have gotten into the limo tonight.”
A small gasp escaped her lips. “You sent me the flowers?”
Why did she sound surprised? “Of course.” Jealousy, heavy and dark, twisted in his stomach. “Is there someone else who sends you blood red roses? Someone else who sends you notes signed with a single A?”
She shook her
head and pushed his hand away. “But I haven’t been sitting around waiting for you, you know. I have a life. I have boyfriends.”
Rage flared at the thought of another man touching her, but he pushed it down as he took a deep breath. “I came back as soon as I could.”
“What does that mean? You knew where I was. You could have seen me any time.”
He couldn’t reveal why that hadn’t been possible. He hoped she’d never know. “I came as soon as I could,” he simply repeated. “After all we had together, are you surprised that I still want you?”
Her eyes seemed haunted by demons from the past as she stared at him from the dark interior of the limo. “You lost your chance a long time ago.”
He ran a finger along her jaw because he couldn’t stop from touching her. Couldn’t stop reminding himself that she was really here. “Don’t you believe in second chances, Gabriella?”
She lifted her chin. “I don’t know if you deserve one.”
“Fair enough.” He ran his hand up her firm thigh and snaked under her skirt. “Give me a chance to convince you.”
She pulled away from him. “Not with sex. That won’t prove anything.”
“All right.” He knew this wouldn’t be easy. Even when she was younger, Gabriella had never been a pushover. She’d had to be stubborn to defy her parents and stay with him for as long as she had.
She crossed her arms in front of her and slid away from him. “You left me.”
And it had nearly killed him to do it. Had tortured him every day since. “Yes.”
“How can I ever forgive you for that?” she asked, the anguish fresh in her voice.
“Maybe you can’t.” He knew now that it was a real possibility. “Or maybe you can try.”
She stared at him out of the darkness. “No explanations, Alexander?”
“Would they matter? Ten years later?”
“They might.”
He shook his head. “No matter the reason, I hurt you. I hurt you so badly that ten years later you still feel the pain. I deeply regret that. Whether you can forgive me or not is for you to decide.”