Wicked desires, p.22
WICKED DESIRES, page 22
We arrive ten minutes late. The first thing I do when we walk in is look around the restaurant, but I don’t immediately see her. People are gawking and a few already have their cameras out, but our security team quickly move in, shielding us from the cameras.
“Mr. Pierce, it’s a pleasure to have you and your party dining with us this evening,” the hostess gushes excitedly. If she’s trying to be discreet when she checks us out, she fails miserably. I ignore her enthusiasm. It’s nothing new and I’m not interested.
“Has Ms. Davison arrived yet?” I ask.
“Um, no, you are the first to arrive.” She blushes fifty shades of red when she notices Tommy checking her out the same way she was just checking us out. He isn’t being discreet either. Can’t blame him, it’s been eight weeks since he got any.
“If you need anything at all, my name is Cassie. I’d be happy to help you out.” Not too long ago, I would have been all over that offer. I’m kind of shocked by my lack of interest. All that’s going through my mind right now is, she’s not here—and—where the fuck is she?
“This way please, we have a private room set aside for you,” Cassie says with a bright smile. She sways her curvy hips in front of us as she leads us up the stairs to one of the private rooms. I check my phone instead of looking at Cassie’s ass. No messages.
The private room Cassie leads us into is nice. It’s spacious and comfortable, with a dining area on one side and a cozy seating area on the other. The entire back wall is made up of large ceiling-to-floor windows that overlook the street below. No one can see in, but we can see out. It’s one of the reasons I chose this place. A lot of famous people flow through these doors. The owner takes privacy very seriously here and it shows.
I walk over to the window and watch for Tori while everyone places a drink order with the server who has been assigned to us for the night. Relief washes over me as a cab pulls up to the curb. I can see Tori in the back seat. When she steps out of the car, her head swivels to the side. Something has caught her attention. I follow her gaze to see a guy jumping out of the cab that has just pulled up behind hers. He is yelling something at her.
What the fuck?
I watch as he throws some money at the driver and slams the door before jogging over to her and grabbing her roughly by the arm. She struggles to free herself as she says something back.
“Motherfucker,” I growl as my hands curl into fists, and I bolt for the door. Rage like I’ve never felt before courses through my veins as I take the stairs two at a time. I’ll kill him.
“Grayson, what’s going on?” Benji shouts behind me as I fly down the stairs. I hear footsteps behind me but don’t waste my time checking to see who it is.
“You’re mine. I thought I made that clear the last time we saw each other,” I hear the dead man walking growl at Tori as I burst through the door. She swings her clutch, and it connects with the side of his head, but the fucker still doesn’t let go.
“Get your fucking hands off me, Rich. I am not yours. I’ll never be yours. I thought I made that clear the last time you pulled this shit, and the fifteen times before that.” She shouts as she yanks her arm, but he tightens his grip, refusing to let go.
“The lady said let go.” My voice is deadly calm but there is no mistaking the threat behind it. I’m standing maybe five feet away with my fists bunched at my sides.
Dead man walking looks over at me, sizing me up before he says, “How about you mind your own fucking business. She’s with me, so fuck off.” He’s about my size but clearly hasn’t seen the inside of a gym in a long fucking time. He’s no threat to me.
“No, no, no,” I say, shaking my head. I take the two steps needed to reach them so I can yank his hand off Tori’s arm. “There’s where you are wrong, asshole, because the lady is with me.” I gently push Tori behind me and notice that not only has Benji followed me outside, so have all of my brothers and our entire security team. Ben takes Tori’s hand and gently moves her behind him and the guys as they step up behind me, backing me up.
“Clearly you are mistaken, so how about you fuck the hell off, and we forget this ever happened.” I smirk but it doesn’t reach my eyes. He stands his ground as he looks between me and Tori. There’s no chance he’s getting anywhere near her, and he knows it.
“This is not over, Victoria.” He points his finger at her. I slap it out of the way.
“Thought you were fucking off,” I growl. My patience is wearing thin. I’m not a violent person, but this asshole is asking for it. He takes a step towards me. I hold my ground. Let’s go, motherfucker. Then Sam takes a step towards him. The asshole’s foot freezes in midair before he abruptly turns and stomps off. Wise choice.
“Fucking prick,” I hear him growl.
I stand where I am and watch him until he turns a corner and disappears.
“Grayson, we need to get off the street, man. We’re drawing a crowd. Let’s go back inside. We can sort this out upstairs,” Ben says as he slaps me on the back. “Let it go.”
I take a couple of deep breaths. When I turn around, everyone is already headed back inside and Benji is following them. The only one who hasn’t moved is Tori. Her cheeks are flushed, and her fists are balled at her sides as she tries to fight back the emotions she is dealing with. I’m not sure if she’s more angry or scared, probably a combination of both. I should have kicked that fucker’s ass. I sling a protective arm around her slender shoulders and kiss the crown of her head. “Let go upstairs, baby.”
She leans into me and starts moving when I do. “Jesus, I’m so sorry about that, Grayson. I can’t believe Rich just did that. You shouldn’t have had to deal with him.” Then she chuckles nervously and says, “You can still back out, you know? This is the last chance you’re getting, though, so choose wisely, Mr. Pierce.”
I crane my neck so I can look down at her. “I thought this morning was my last chance to back out.”
She blows her bangs out of her eyes but doesn’t make eye contact as she explains. “Yeah, well, I wasn’t going to give you any more chances but then this shit with Rich happened. There’s a lot you don’t know…I come with a lot of baggage…so I figure you deserve one last chance to run away as fast as you can. No one should have to put up with the crap in my life but me. Thanks for rescuing me, by the way, but I had it under control. I’m tougher than I look, and I’ve been dealing with Rich for a long time now.”
We’ll address her issues with Rich another day. Now isn’t the time. “I could totally see you had it under control. Nice move with the clutch, by the way. However, as your fiancé, I’m duty bound to step in when someone other than myself manhandles my woman.” I flash her a sexy grin. “Now there are two of us for that fucker to have to deal with. I’m not backing out, Tori. If I can handle your parents, which I already told you I can, I can handle a douchebag like that. He won’t be bothering you again. Now how about we forget about him? I want to introduce my fiancée to the rest of my band.”
“You have no idea what you’re in for,” she mumbles. She may be right, but I’m still not changing my mind. A deal’s a deal.
We’ve reached the landing on the stairs to the private room above. I make a split-second decision. I need to get her out of her head, so I do the only thing I can think of. My hand tightens around her waist. She gasps as I spin her around and tackle her back against the wall. There’s no time for her to react. I cup her face and lower my lips to hers in a bruising kiss. My tongue takes advantage of her parted lips and plunges deep. My hand winds tightly into her hair, and my hips push into hers, pinning her roughly against the wall.
She moans and arches into me as lust dilutes logic. The second my lips leave her mouth, they slide to her neck. I lose myself for a moment as my fingers feather across the outside of her breast before coming to rest back on her waist.
Reluctantly, I pull away. Her smoldering green eyes lower to the bulge in my pants before settling back on my face. She doesn’t say anything, just licks her fucking lip and grins up at me, causing one corner of my mouth to lift in a half grin.
“You taste like fucking sin. Keep that up and we’ll never make it upstairs.”
“Hmm, is that a bad thing?” She reaches her hand down but I catch her wrist and my cock practically weeps with need at the thought of her touch.
I growl as I link my hand with hers and then set us in motion again. “Come on, they’re waiting for us,” I say as I drag her giggling ass up the stairs.
We’ve agreed not to have sex until our tests come back clear, and it’s going to be the fucking death of me. We made the mutual decision that, since we are going to be together for the better part of a year, and because we won’t have any other partners, we don’t want to use condoms. I’ve never done that before, and as much as I am looking forward to that, the wait is killing me. I should have put a rush on those tests. Worst fucking decision I’ve ever made.
As expected, the guys love Tori. No one questions her about what happened outside. They just roll with it. The first question is, “Who wants a drink?” After that, we all talk and laugh and eat until we’re ready to burst. No one gets too personal, even though I know the guys are dying to ask her a million questions. We feed them little snippets of information here and there, just enough to satisfy their curiosity about us. There isn’t much to tell. Even if this was real, we’ve only known each other for eight weeks. If you leave out the part about the contract, the rest of it is true. It’s been a whirlwind since the moment we laid eyes on each other.
20
TORI
I pull my Aston Martin into the circular drive of Grayson’s hotel. The top is down, and I can tell by the look on his face that I’ve shocked the hell out of him with my choice of car. Not a lot of women would choose something so powerful, but I’m not most women, or at least, I’m certainly not the upper crust, silver-spoon-in-the-mouth woman a lot of people think I am. I’ve always been a bit of a rebel. I live for the rush and shock value whenever I can get away with it.
Truth is, I love this car. It’s got loads of power, grabs the road and hugs the curves just like an experienced lover. I don’t get to drive it often, but I take the opportunity whenever I can.
“Nice ride.” Grayson’s deep voice rumbles over the hum of the engine as he slides into the passenger seat and takes a look around.
“Thanks.” I take a moment to check him out. He sits beside me totally at ease, looking good enough to eat. Gone are the sexy-as-sin jeans, T-shirt, and biker boots. They’ve been replaced by a perfectly tailored charcoal suit and a crisp blue shirt that matches the color of his eyes. He’s forgone a tie and has a couple of buttons undone at his neck. His inky hair still has the just fucked look, and his face has just enough of a five o’clock shadow to burn any skin it grazes.
He unbuttons his jacket and spreads his legs, getting comfortable when he catches me staring, and one corner of his mouth slides up into a sexy grin. “I thought I should at least make an effort. I just didn’t want to overdo it. You like?”
I nod as I look him over. “Very much, but you didn’t have to go to all this trouble, you know. You could have worn a tux and they’d still hate you because I chose you.”
He leans over and presses his lips to mine in an unhurried, chaste kiss that leaves me with little stars in my eyes. Then he whispers in my ear, “Anyone ever tell you that you worry too much?”
“Yeah, you,” I answer. “I just don’t want you to pretend to be someone you aren’t, especially for them. Trust me when I say it won’t make a bit of difference.” He smirks and I quickly correct myself. “You know what I mean.”
“I do, but you forget that I don’t give a single fuck what your parents think about me. This”—he waves his hand over himself with a flourish—“is all for you. I thought you might like it and I wanted to make this a little easier on you.”
Who is this guy? No one I’ve ever dated before has ever given a shit about what matters to me. Oh right, that’s probably because we aren’t actually dating. What’s that saying? If it’s too good to be true, it probably is. Life really sucks sometimes.
“Thanks. I do…like it.” I have nothing else to add, so instead, I rev the engine and slam it into first gear before we peel out of the driveway. This is New York City and traffic is a bitch, even on a Sunday evening, so it takes us twenty minutes before I pull up to my parents’ building. Thomas is waiting by the curb. We have the routine down, almost to the minute.
“Good evening, Ms. Davison,” he says as he rounds the car and opens my door. Grayson watches carefully as I accept Thomas’s hand and pass him my keys, before he shoves his own door open and steps out.
“You know the drill, Thomas,” I say as I start walking. “Keep her handy, I’m not sure how long we will be here tonight.”
“Always do, Ms. Davison, always do,” he answers as he slides into the driver’s seat and pulls away.
I slip my hand into Grayson’s when I reach him and explain. “I like to be able to make a speedy exit if I need to. It happens more often than you might expect…unfortunately. Now, let me introduce you to someone who is very special to me.”
We walk in the front doors to see Max behind the concierge desk. A huge smile crosses his weathered old face when he sees me. “Well, look who’s here. My day just got a whole lot brighter. Hello, darlin’, I missed you last Sunday. I hope you weren’t under the weather.” He stands when he notices the man holding my hand.
“Hello, Max, I’m sorry if I worried you. I’m fine, I just needed a break.” I roll my eyes up and he knows exactly what I’m talking about. “I want to introduce you to my fiancé, Grayson Pierce. Grayson, this is Max. He’s worked here since I was a little girl and is a very dear friend of mine.”
“Hello, Max.” Grayson steps forward and holds out his hand, which Max graciously accepts. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I bet you have some great stories you could share about this one.” He jerks his head towards me and smirks.
“It’s a real pleasure to meet you, Mr. Pierce.” Max looks back at me and smiles. “Naw, Ms. Davison was the sweetest child, always a ray of sunshine when she was around. Now did my old ears hear correctly? Did you say this good-looking fella was your fiancé?”
I hold out my left hand and beam across at him. “Yes, you heard correctly, Max. Grayson and I are getting married. We haven’t agreed on a date yet, but the sooner the better as far as I’m concerned.”
He comes around the desk to take a better look at the ring. He lets out a long slow whistle before pulling me in for a hug. “Congratulations. I’m really happy for you, Ms. Davison.” Then he looks over at Grayson. “You too, young man.” He holds onto my hands, and I see tears brimming in his eyes as he addresses Grayson.
“I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that you’re a lucky young man. Ms. Victoria is a very special girl.” I’m shocked at his use of my first name. He’s only used it a handful of times in my entire life. He lets go of me and moves back behind his desk. “She needs a good man who is willing to look out for her, to stand up for her. I don’t mean any disrespect, but I sincerely hope that’s you, Mr. Pierce. If not, you aren’t the right man for her.”
Grayson pulls me into his side and wraps his arm around me. “I’ve got it covered, sir. I promise, as long as I’m around, Tori will be in good hands. You have my word on that.” That same warm and fuzzy feeling is back. What the hell is going on here? I feel like I’m in the old south and Grayson just received my father’s approval for my hand. If only it was that easy.
As much as I would prefer to stay down here with Max, we need to get moving. I don’t want to add being late to the list of transgressions waiting for me upstairs. “Thank you, Max.” I look up at Grayson who still has me clutched to his side. “We better get going.”
He smiles and nods. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Max.”
“You too, Mr. Pierce. Enjoy your evening.”
“Highly doubtful,” Grayson mumbles under his breath. Max chuckles and I giggle because I’m sure he didn’t mean for either of us to hear that.
“I like him,” Grayson says as we step into the elevator Max has called for us. “He cares about you.”
“Max is awesome,” I agree. “He helped me through a lot of difficult times when I was younger and needed an escape from what was going on upstairs. He’d let me come down and help behind the desk whenever things were too overwhelming for me. He never turned me away and he never asked any questions. I don’t know what I would have done without him.”
Grayson nudges me back against the back wall of the elevator and cages me in with his hands on either side of my head. He’s careful to keep his hips away from my body the entire time. His fingertips graze my forearm, my wrist, the back of my hand. These simple brushes of his skin against mine are enough to undo me. He wants me, I want him, everything about this makes sense. My eyelids flutter closed as he leans in. My eyes are still closed as he presses his lips to mine. My toes curl inside my shoes.
Mmm, he tastes so damn good.
“Stop talking”—he pecks my lips—“because I’m hating your parents more and more every second.” He deepens this kiss. “And I want to at least try to make a good impression, so shut up, Tori.” His lips crash against mine again just as the elevator doors open.
“For God’s sake, Victoria, I raised you better than this.” My mother’s shrill voice washes over us like a bucket of ice water and we both freeze.
Grayson sighs. “Fuck,” he growls as he wipes my lipstick from his mouth and slowly turns around, dropping his hand so he can reach for mine. He doesn’t wait to be introduced; he simply takes charge of the awkward situation.
“Mrs. Davison, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you. Don’t blame Tori, that was all me. I’m crazy about her and sometimes I just can help myself.” He holds out his hand. “Grayson Pierce.” It takes everything in me to stifle the nervous giggle that is threatening to break free.
