Breathe (24 page)

He felt her press back against him, knew that the hand at her throat would send a thread of panic through her. Breath play was against the rules at Veritas, but he knew what he was doing. And he knew that just the tiniest hint of oxygen deprivation could take a sub to heights she’d never before imagined.

He wanted Samantha off guard and aching for him. When he broke the kiss and took his hand away from the slender column of her throat at the same time, he saw his own desperate need reflected in her eyes.

“I think I’ve made my point.” Elijah released Samantha down his body, but he knew that she had noticed his rock-solid erection.

It seemed that he couldn’t go even an hour around her without the blood rushing to his cock. He watched as she ran her hands over her lips, swollen from his onslaught, then walked dazedly out of the elevator to where Ted was waiting for them.

It wasn’t often that Samantha was speechless, and he couldn’t quite hold back his delighted grin as he followed her.

•   •   •

“H
oly shit.” Samantha held on to the metal bar in front of her so tightly that her fingers went pale white. “Why are we doing this? This is ridiculous. This is
dangerous
.”

“Says the woman who plays with fire every day.” Elijah sat back in his seat, anticipation zinging through his nerves. The coaster hadn’t even started moving yet—he’d asked Ted to give them a few minutes to look out at the view. So far, however, the only thing Samantha was looking at were her knees.

“Look—you can see Alex’s casino from here.” When Samantha tentatively looked up, Elijah pointed out the massive El Diablo, his friend’s hotel and residence.

“Alex owns a casino?” Samantha cast a semidisbelieving stare at Elijah before finally looking out over the city. Though he felt her body tighten against his and heard her sharp intake of breath, she held her own, swallowing hard as she looked at the view spread out below them. “And let me guess. Luca owns an entire city or something, right?”

“Not a city. A small island, yes.” Elijah couldn’t hold back his chuckle as Samantha shook her head and said something under her breath. She hadn’t tensed up at the reminder of his wealth, however, and that was progress.

“Are you ready?” Beneath them the cart began to rumble, inching forward. Elijah grinned as he looked down at Samantha, and was rewarded with a tiny smile in return.

The cart of the coaster chugged up to the first point. It wasn’t a long ride, or even particularly scary, at least if you ignored the distance it was above the ground. Elijah cast one long look over the city as they reached the first peak and felt contentment settle in his chest.

Las Vegas, to him, was home. He’d brought Samantha up here to push her, certainly, but also because he’d wanted to share the city with her.

The cart hovered on the top of the first incline. Rather than focusing on the drop, Elijah found himself entranced by the wonder on Samantha’s face as she looked out at the city.

“Wow.” Her voice was full of awe.

The cart chugged forward an inch, tipping forward. Elijah grinned as the wonder changed to terror, mixed with a heady look of anticipation.

“Fuck!” Samantha screamed as the cart tipped, propelling them down the steep drop. As his own stomach dropped, Elijah forced his head to the side to look at Samantha.

Her cheeks were flushed pink, and her screams were mixed with laughter. She pinned him with those green eyes as the cart whipped around the final loop, momentarily suspending them upside down. She was still screaming with laughter as the coaster slowed and, finally, pulled to a stop back at the starting point.

Elijah unbuckled his seat belt, then hers, turning fully to watch her. Samantha was looking out at the awe-inspiring view of the city, the wind whipping the fire of her hair against the creamy skin of her cheeks.

Elijah felt his heart stutter with a new sensation. When she turned and met his stare, the truth slammed home.

“What is it?” Samantha asked, her brow furrowing. Elijah realized that some of his emotions must have played out over his face, and he quickly smoothed his expression back out.

“I was just wondering what it would be like to fuck you on this roller coaster.” Samantha’s eyes grew wide at his shocking words, distracting her. It was just what he had intended.

It wasn’t fair, demanding honesty from her when he wasn’t prepared to give the same. The difference, to him at least, was that there were things Samantha didn’t seem inclined to tell him—ever.

And the thought that had just slammed him upside the head was something he fully intended to share with her, and soon.

But first he needed to wrap his head around the fact that he thought he might be falling in love with her.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

“W
hat a rush.” Adrenaline was pumping hot and fast through Samantha’s veins as Elijah helped her out of the roller coaster. After attempting to tame her long, tangled ponytail, she stretched and peered out at the city again as Elijah approached Ted.

She didn’t have to look to know that Elijah was giving the man a tip for his time. Probably an exorbitantly large one.

He liked to look after people. It seemed to be a bone-deep need inside him.

She was finding that she really liked being taken care of.

“Shall we?” Elijah offered her a hand, steadying her as she stepped down off the platform. Samantha laced her fingers through his and tried to think of the words she needed.

“Thank you.” Her voice was quiet. She still wasn’t sure what had made Elijah push her to go on the coaster, or why she felt so open and happy now. She didn’t understand how he’d known she needed something like this.

But that was Elijah. He knew what she needed, it seemed, better than she did herself.

“Anytime,” he replied, his eyes boring into hers. She could see his hunger for her, and Samantha felt her knees tremble.

It wasn’t the first time he had looked at her as though he wanted to eat her up. But this time there was something different in his expression—something . . . deeper.

Need and emotion combined into something sharp and poignant, slashing through her like a blade.

Samantha slowed, then stopped, using their entwined fingers to hold Elijah in place.

This time she was the one who initiated the kiss. Standing on the tips of her toes, she placed her palms flat on Elijah’s chest. The muscles were taut and warm beneath her fingers as she pressed a kiss to the line of his jaw, then to his cheek, and finally to his lips.

“Mmm . . .”
Tilting his head down to meet her, he let her slant her lips over his, teasing, testing. The kiss was like the sun that shone all around them, bright and warm and addictive.

Then Elijah tangled his hand in the length of her ponytail, his free hand splaying across the skin between her shoulder blades. He pulled her to him roughly, their bodies aligning, melting together with the heat between them.

“Mine.” Elijah tugged on her hair as he spoke, then pressed his tongue against the seam of her lips, demanding entrance. With a moan she went pliant against him, parting her lips, letting him possess her mouth.

This was what she had been missing her entire adult life: a man who would take control without asking for it.

As she pondered that, Elijah continued to devour Samantha’s mouth. Her nipples hardened against the taut planes of his chest, and she rubbed against him like a cat in heat, wanting more.

From far away, she heard the voice of Alicia Keys singing about a girl on fire. Her back pocket vibrated. Her cell was ringing.

With a moan she decided to ignore it and pressed more fully into Elijah. She cried out when he pulled away, looking down at her with a stern expression.

“It could be important. Answer it.”

Samantha blinked once, twice, trying to clear the haze of lust that tinted her surroundings. Elijah looked at her, clearly waiting . . . and clearly not inclined to pick up where they’d left off until she answered the call, though the front of his slacks was tented with his arousal.

Impatient, Samantha pried her cell out of the snug back pocket of her jeans.

COLLINS, BETH

A frisson of nerves hit her. Beth rarely called her, although, to be fair, it was because Samantha called her so often that her younger sister didn’t have to.

Elijah was right. If Beth was calling, it was probably important.

With an apologetic smile, she turned away from Elijah and walked out of earshot before accepting the call.

“Beth?” Looking back over her shoulder, Samantha caught sight of Elijah’s face and froze. His expression was thunderous, and for a long moment she wondered what on earth she had done to deserve such ire.

Then she understood. She’d walked away because she hadn’t wanted him to overhear her end of the conversation. She was hiding things from the man who insisted on openness and honesty. The man to whom she had promised to be completely submissive for one month.

“What’s wrong with you?” her younger sister replied, making Samantha grind her teeth together. “You sound out of breath.”

“Nothing,” Samantha snapped, glowering back at Elijah without thinking. “Sorry. You just caught me in the middle of something.”

Remembering that Beth wasn’t the one she was irritated with, she softened her tone, though the edges of her irritation with Elijah remained razor sharp.

She wasn’t a child, damn it. Just because she wanted a strong, dominant man in her life didn’t mean that she intended to divulge every burden that she carried to him.

Her sister, her mother—they were no one’s business but her own. She didn’t intend to talk about them ever, not even if it meant that Elijah would walk away.

If the thought of him doing just that made her heart hurt, well, that was something she would find a way to live with.

“I’ll make it quick, then.” Beth’s voice was tight, not at all the carefree tone Samantha had come to rely on from her younger sister. Her gut clenched with nerves.

“What’s going on?” As she spoke, Samantha mentally began calculating. She still had the check from Elijah. It had seemed wrong, somehow, to deposit it, since real feelings had begun to blossom inside her, feelings that went beyond curiosity about the submissive lifestyle.

But if something was wrong at home with Beth, she’d use it without a second thought.

“Are you feeling okay?” Samantha couldn’t count the nights she’d lain awake after her sister’s diagnosis, certain that Beth would die if she closed her eyes. As they’d learned more about the disease, they’d both relaxed somewhat.

But for years in their teens, Samantha had tested her sister’s blood sugar level at the night, just to make sure. When she had seen that Samantha couldn’t sleep until she’d done so, Beth had stopped protesting.

It was likely the same realization that kept Beth from snapping back at her, Samantha knew as she tried to calm down.

She would never stop worrying. Forced into the role of mother so many years earlier, even when she had her own issues to work through, she now worried as if it was second nature.

“I’m fine, Sam.” Beth’s voice held only a hint of annoyance at the interrogation. “This has nothing to do with me.”

Samantha relaxed, just a bit, as Beth continued.

“Yesterday I stopped by to bring Mom some groceries.” Beth’s tone was hesitant, and Samantha knew that her sister expected to be yelled at for using some of her money on their mother.

Biting her tongue, Samantha said nothing.

“She was pass—I mean, she was sleeping when I got there. Her phone was on the counter when I put the groceries away, and it rang while I was right there.” Beth sounded apprehensive. “Sam, it was Stanley. His number is programmed right in, so it can’t be the first time he’s called.”

Samantha felt the blood drain from her face at the sound of the name that she’d tried so hard to forget.

“What the fuck does he want?” she said bitterly, and she heard Beth suck in a breath.

Beth knew that Stanley was bad news—Samantha had drilled it into her head every time the man had come near their family. But her sister didn’t know what exactly had transpired between Samantha and the rich man who had once kept their mother as a mistress. Samantha had made sure of it, because she had figured that at least one of them should retain some semblance of innocence.

“I don’t know what he wants, Sam. I didn’t answer the phone,” Beth replied.

Samantha inhaled a shuddering breath, trying to calm herself.

She was an adult now. There was nothing that man could do to harm her, or Beth. If Gemma chose to let the asshole back into her life, that was her mother’s own idiotic decision.

“Just tell me if he comes around, okay?” Despite the reassurances that were running through her head, Samantha felt dread balling up tightly in her belly.

Stanley was bad news. If he was calling Gemma, it wouldn’t bode well for any of them.

“I’ll let you know,” Beth agreed. “Love you, Sam.”

“Love you too, Bethy,” Samantha said absently, her stomach still churning over the idea of what Stanley could possibly want with her mother. She was deep in thought as she ended the call and stuffed her phone back into her pocket.

She shrieked, startled, when she turned to find Elijah standing directly behind her. Though he still looked angry, he seemed to have gotten control over the worst of it.

Nerves tap-danced over her skin. How much had he heard?

He didn’t say anything, instead simply rocked back on his heels, his hands in his pockets. He was waiting, she realized. Waiting for her to voluntarily tell him why she’d tried to hide the phone call from him.

The knowledge that Stanley was sniffing around again had drained her, and she didn’t have any fight left. She looked up at Elijah with wide eyes and shook her head, her lips pressed tightly together.

“I can’t tell you.” Though her voice was quiet, it was firm. This was a chapter of her life that she’d tried to put behind her. That she’d
needed
to put behind her, so that she could move on and live her life as a functional adult.