SmokeandMirrors Read online

  “You were scared.”

  “I was terrified.” Alex closed his eyes for a moment, the raw panic as fresh as if it had been yesterday. He opened his eyes and quickly glanced around the opulent penthouse he’d worked his ass off to obtain. “We were in that seedy hotel. You were so hot I don’t think I would have dared to take your temperature even if I’d had a thermometer.”

  “So you ran away and left me there all alone.” Bitter resignation was clear in her voice.

  “Wait a minute! Is that what you think I did? Is that what you think of me?”

  She shrugged and looked away. “It was just a good thing my father had me watched.”

  He grabbed her chin and made her look at him. “What are you talking about, Gabriella?”

  “He found me before I died of pneumonia.”

  Her accusation cut him like a sword. He jumped to his feet. “You think I abandoned you with a raging fever? Is that what your father told you?”

  Her eyes grew wide. She nodded.

  He paced the floor in front of the sofa. “Gabriella. I was twenty-three years old. I was so fucking scared you were going to die. I didn’t have any money for a doctor. For medicine. So I called your father and told him where we were.” He sank down onto the sofa and took her hands in his. “I waited with you until he came. I didn’t leave you until then.”

  “I…I don’t remember…”

  “Hell, you were out of it with fever. You were barely conscious. I’ve never been so scared before or since.”

  “You called my father? He never told me that.”

  New hate for Robert Winslow burned in his gut. “He wouldn’t.”

  Gabriella shot to her feet, anger flashing in her eyes. The green scarves streamed through the air as she threw her hands up. The gold scarf slid off her shoulders and floated to the floor. “I’m calling him right now. I’m sick of him manipulating my life!”

  “It was a long time ago. He thought he was protecting you.” Alex never thought he’d be defending the bastard.

  “I don’t care! He lied to me.” She glanced around the room. “Where’s my purse? My phone’s inside.”

  Alex stood and tried to look casual as he shrugged. “It must still be in the limo.”

  “With my underwear.”

  “What?”

  “Never mind. Where’s your phone? I’m giving him a piece of my mind.”

  He couldn’t let her call her father now. “We have so much catching up to do.” Alex cupped her breasts with his hands and skimmed his thumbs across the tight, rosy nipples. “Don’t let your father interrupt our night.”

  But she didn’t melt against him as he thought she would. Gabriella narrowed her eyes and he dropped his hands. She tugged her dress back up over her breasts.

  “You’re right,” she said, her voice icy. “I’ve already got one man here I can’t trust. I don’t need another one to deal with tonight.”

  “Gabriella…” His heart broke again. He knew the pain she was trying to mask with the chill in her voice. It matched the ache in his chest. What the hell did he expect? He deserved every bit of her condemnation.

  She’d never believe him now if he told her he loved her. He’d always loved her.

  “Please don’t look at me like that. You don’t know how much I’ve missed you.”

  She took a step backward and stumbled over her shoes. She bent down and picked one up and threw it at him. “Ha! You missed me so much that you couldn’t bear to see me for ten years? You are such a liar! You try to distract me with sex and think I’m going to believe everything you say.”

  He dodged the first shoe, but she caught him in the arm with the second one. Fuck, this was going downhill fast. He grabbed her hands and pulled her back down with him onto the sofa. “Gabriella. Listen to me. Remember what it was like back then. You almost died. As far as your father was concerned, it was all my fault. And I agreed with him.”

  “No, Alex.”

  At least she was listening to him. And not throwing anything.

  He kissed her palms and lowered her hands to her lap. “We had shows booked and I couldn’t cancel. I knew you’d get help and I needed the money. I had to rewrite the act. And I had to do it all without you. That was almost as unbearable as leaving you.”

  Alex got to his feet and started pacing. Could he explain without revealing too much? “I did what I had to do in order to become worthy of you. To be someone who could always take care of you.” It was what had driven him for the past ten years. “I’ve built a career out of the bits and pieces you and I put together. I’m opening my own theater here in Vegas next week.”

  “Your own theater?” Gabriella’s eyes lit up and it made him smile. Maybe he still had a chance with her. “That’s wonderful! It was your dream.”

  “That’s why I came for you now. To prove to you—”

  “You don’t have to prove anything to me.”

  He had so much to prove to her. “Look around you. No moldy wallpaper. Nothing like that motel room with the cockroaches in the bathroom and the water dripping from the ceiling onto the bed.”

  Alex grasped her smooth shoulders and brought her to her feet. Without a word, he slipped her dress off her body. It slid down her legs and pooled on the carpet at her feet. She stepped out of the dress. He let his gaze roam over her, from her fiery hair and bright green eyes to her soft white shoulders, full breasts, flat stomach, scarf-wrapped wrists, smooth pussy, long legs.

  Robert Winslow’s words from this morning echoed in his ears and sliced into his soul. “Cheap parlor tricks don’t impress me. You may have the public fooled, but you’re still nothing but white trash. You’ll never deserve to even be in the same room as my daughter.”

  Was it true? Perhaps he’d never be worthy of her. But he had to try. Had to show her what he’d accomplished. What she’d inspired him to do.

  He gathered the green scarves in his hand and tugged. “Come.”

  He led her over to the long, richly colored draperies that ran the length of the room, then released his hold on the scarves. “I can finally give you everything you deserve. Everything I never could before.” He placed her in front of the curtains, facing them. Then he ran his hand down her spine before stroking her soft ass. “You’d never be hungry. Never be cold or without a roof over your head.”

  “I never blamed you for any of that,” she said softly. She started to turn to look at him, but he stayed her with one hand on her shoulder.

  He ran his hand down her left arm until he came to her wrist. He picked up the scarf and quickly looped it over a hook high in the wall meant to hold drapery ties. He pulled on the long scarf, stretching her arm up and out to the side. He tied it off and then did the same with her other arm, pulling her in the other direction and tying off the scarf. It was a wide stretch and she was pressed against the curtains by the time he was done.

  “You are so beautiful.” He molded his body to her back, cursing the fact that he was still fully dressed. But at this point he needed the extra confidence. Fuck, that sounded so insecure. Wasn’t he the Great Alexander Black? Didn’t he own two penthouses and a brand new theater that was already booked to capacity for the next twelve months? Didn’t he deserve what he’d worked so hard to attain?

  He reached around her trembling body to grasp her breasts. Mine. The firm flesh yielded to his greedy fingers. Gabriella moaned and he felt the sound vibrate through his chest. He let his hands travel all over her body, claiming every curve, every inch of skin. He slid one hand between her legs. “I’m pleased you still keep your pussy shaved,” he said as he nuzzled the soft skin at the base of her neck. He wasn’t surprised at the slick wetness he found at the juncture of her thighs. She’d always been as aroused as he was.

  He plunged two fingers deep into her hot center, coating them with her slick cream. Then he pulled them out and lifted his hand to her lips. Mine. Without him having to say a word, she parted her lips and he slid his coated fingers into her mouth. She suc
ked them clean while he toyed with her nipple with his other hand.

  After he took his fingers from her mouth, Alex took a step back and enjoyed the view. The pale silhouette of feminine body against the dark draperies. The long, slim legs, the heart-shaped ass, the outstretched arms. Damn, he was so hard he knew he’d be the one to give in tonight.

  But first he had a point to prove.

  He grabbed the drapery cord and, with one hard pull, drew open the curtains to reveal a floor-to-ceiling window. The colorful, pulsating lights of Las Vegas shone before them. He leaned against her, pressing her naked body against the glass.

  “Look, Gabriella. Look. I can give you the world.”

  Chapter Five

  Gaby shivered when her naked breasts pressed into the cold glass. Her stomach lurched as she stared down at the lights of the city. Although she knew she wasn’t going to fall, she instinctively grasped onto the scarves that bound her wrists. The brightly colored lights flashed and sparkled before her. Headlights streaked down below. Myriad glowing windows shone in the buildings across the street.

  “I never wanted the world,” she said softly, sadly. All she’d ever wanted was his love.

  Alex’s body was hot against her back, his breath even hotter along her cheek bone. His hands roamed over her body, skimming his long fingers over her breasts, her abdomen, her pussy. “That’s right. You already had everything you ever wanted.” His voice was harsh, scornful. “Daddy took care of that.” He grabbed her shoulders. “I can give you something your father can’t. Look down, Gabriella. Down and to your right. Can you see it?” The pride was clear in his voice. “The black and gold façade? Do you see it?”

  She saw it immediately. Knew it as if she’d seen it a million times before. Huge letters spelled out in lights the name of his new theater. “Smoke and Mirrors?” Bittersweet joy flooded her. She’d never been so conflicted in her entire life, not even when she dropped out of college her freshman year to run away with Alex. “It’s beautiful. What you always dreamed of.”

  He ran his lips along the back of her neck and she trembled. “It’s what we both dreamed of.”

  “That was a long time ago.” She didn’t want to think about her dreams—or how they faded away, like the smoke he blew in people’s eyes.

  “Not so long ago.” He stepped back and gave her a little breathing space, but she was still so close to the window that her nipples brushed against the cold glass. “Not so long ago that I can’t remember the way your body drove me crazy when it rubbed against mine.”

  Sparks of sensations danced through her body at the memory. Or were they caused by the way his hands and mouth and hard body took possession of hers now? “I remember.” She could see the reflection of his face in the window pane as he pressed his rigid erection against her hip, his eyes dark and intense, his tongue toying with her earring.

  “God, how you’d wind your body around me during a performance.” He stroked his expert fingers along her heated skin, sending shivers along her shoulders and down her back. “You were like a sleek little cat, petting yourself against me.”

  He pulled the scarf out of her hair and her silky locks spilled down her back. He ran his hands over her hair from the top of her head down to the middle of her back. “I could stroke you for hours.” She moaned lightly and pressed into him. “And I love to hear that little sound you make in the back of your throat when I touch you like this.” He swept his hand over her hips and ass. “Just like a purr.”

  Alex slipped his arms around her and cupped her breasts with his hands. He rolled her nipples between his fingers. A low groan rose from deep within her and she realized the throaty sound was indeed close to a purr.

  “Talk about distracting the audience,” he said, squeezing her firm flesh with his long fingers and brushing his thumbs across her sensitive nipples. “You were magic all on your own. Hell, you nearly distracted me.”

  Gaby drew in a ragged breath. Oh God, that felt amazing. The memories she’d buried over the years came flooding back. Along with her dreams. “I loved it when you’d tie me up and pretend to force me into the cage.” He squeezed her breasts tighter, as if he was remembering too. “Then you’d kiss me, like a long, deep, wet goodbye, before you slammed the door and locked me in.”

  Alex grabbed her chin and pulled her head back, capturing her lips with his. He plunged his tongue deep into her mouth, dragging another moan from her. She could taste his hunger in the wet, hot kiss. Too soon, he released her and she swayed against her bonds.

  Her blood rushed through her veins, swelling her breasts and her pussy, surging the prickly need through her yearning body. She wanted his mouth on her again, she wanted his hands, his cock, but she wouldn’t beg.

  She tried to remember what they’d been talking about. That’s right. The cage. “I always pictured the audience getting so hot and horny, they didn’t give a damn how I managed to get out.”

  “I know you got me hot and horny.” He rubbed his hard cock in the cleft of her ass. The zipper was still in the way. When was he going to make those clothes disappear?

  Alex pinched her nipples sharply before he released her breasts and lowered his hands, sweeping his palms down across her stomach. Her pussy tingled in anticipation.

  “We barely made it to the dressing room some nights,” she said breathlessly, “before we were tearing each other’s clothes off.” She’d often had to sew buttons back on his shirt after she’d gotten a little too enthusiastic.

  He slid one hand down, cupping her wet pussy. Lights flashed from the neon signs in front of her and from the sparks going off inside her.

  “We’d slam the door behind us and fall to the dressing room floor,” he whispered, sweeping his tongue along her throat. He pressed the base of his hand over her clit and Gaby’s knees trembled. She shuffled her bare feet to regain her balance.

  Her breath was coming quicker, harder. “We’d…um…get tangled in our costumes, we were in such a hurry to get them off.” The skintight leotard that allowed her to squeeze into impossible spaces was difficult to peel from sweaty skin.

  He slid his fingers into the slick lips of her pussy. Her body rocked with the intense sensations that swept through her and she clutched the swinging scarves and gasped for breath.

  She stared out the window. Could anyone out there see her? Naked. Pressed against the glass. Was anyone watching while she was stretched and bound and writhing beneath his fingers? She was so turned on, she didn’t even care. Just like when they’d performed onstage.

  “You came alive under my hands,” he said. “Just like you are now.” He plunged the fingers of one hand into her wet core and she gasped and leaned back against him. He swept his other hand up her body, across her abdomen, lingering over her breasts. She dropped her head back against his shoulder and he cupped her throat.

  Her pussy clenched on his fingers as they moved inside her, fucking her hard and fast. Long and strong, his fingers expertly stroked her inner flesh. Moisture ran down her thighs. He thrust in and out, harder still. Even deeper.

  Her mouth was dry from panting. She swallowed hard and felt the light pressure from his hand still resting against her throat, petting the skin there.

  “We knocked the furniture over one night, remember?” he asked. How he had any breath left to speak was a mystery to her. “Chairs went flying when we rolled around on the floor.” He leaned against her again, harder this time, until her breasts were flattened against the cold glass. She moaned and rested her forehead on the window pane.

  “Then, of course,” he said, “I found the handcuffs.”

  “You cuffed me to the leg of the makeup table.” Was that her voice, so rough and scratchy?

  He nipped her ear and then soothed it with his tongue. “It was the only thing in the room that was nailed down.”

  She was almost too weak to laugh. Her body was on fire even as she pressed against the icy window. Just like that night, she could do nothing but react to Alex, to his
mouth and fingers and hard hot body. He coaxed sensations, reactions, needs out of her that no one else ever had. She’d trusted him then to take care of her. Did she trust him now?

  Alex lay heavily against her shoulders, which were starting to ache from his weight and stretch of the bonds. She pressed her ass back into his crotch, rubbing against his hard cock. His fingers were still moving deep inside her cunt. He was breathing harder now, she could hear his ragged panting, feel the warm puffs of breath against her cheek. Her knees were weak and trembling, barely able to keep her balanced and upright. All she wanted to do was collapse into a boneless mass on the floor.

  “You fucked me so hard that night, my head banged against the wooden floor.” She frantically rocked her hips, trying to relieve the pressure building between her thighs. The moan that tore from her throat now sounded nothing like a purr.

  His fingers toyed with her slick flesh and she shuddered. She was so close. So close. He rubbed her labia between his fingers, danced around her clit, but left it aching and swollen and, dammit, why wouldn’t he let her come?

  He stilled his hand, the one between her legs, cupping her pussy but not putting any pressure where she needed it most. The throb in her clit was like a toothache, taking over her body, her senses, the only thing in life that mattered. “You put teeth marks in my shoulder when you came,” he said.

  Her body trembled with need. She had to swallow again before she could even whisper her reply. “The walls were so thin I didn’t want anyone…hearing me scream.”

  He flicked his fingernail against her clit. “Scream for me now.”

  Her scream tore through the silence as she came apart under his hand. Her body bucked as the orgasm rocked her. Her arms jerked against the scarves. Her hips pulsed as the waves of release swept through her. Alex supported her, cradled her in his arms as his finger continued to brush her clit, taking her higher still. And then higher again.

  Tears spilled from her eyes and her screams turned into frantic cries of, “Oh God. Oh God. Oh God.” And she continued to ride the climax, her body swaying and rocking to the rolls of passion.