Dark Kiss (The Two sides of me Book 1) (15 page)

Chapter 22

“Urgent” by Foreigner

Pulling into the driveway I wonder, should I knock or just let myself in? The question is answered for me as Mr. Saint appears at the front door, heading toward me. “May I get your bags Ms. Galloway?” He is
so
formal and stuffy, and the fact that I now need a room in Evan’s house really irritates me, he was right.  I really hate being proven wrong but I’ve no choice but to roll with it.

“Sure, just the one bag and a box, and please be careful, there’s glass in both,” I inform him, a tiny frown between his eyes puckers.

“Glass?”

“Yes, a gift, something I made, I’m a glass blower.” Why does explaining myself to this man aggravate me so much?

“I see, would you like it in your room?” he asks pointedly, and I swear with a bit of satisfaction.

“Yea, sure.” He accompanies me inside and nods toward the office that I’ve not been into yet.

“He’s working but he asked me to have you wait for him in your room.” Oh really…wait in my room, huh? Must not be much of an emergency after all. I don’t want to interrupt him though, so I take my bag from Mr. Saint and make my way through the living room, Mr. Saint on my heels carrying the box. The doors to
my room
are closed, that’s a first. Evan has a thing about keeping doors open and lights on, I wonder sometimes if he’s a little paranoid. Mr. Saint sets my box down in the living room and leaves without a goodbye, whatever. I open one of the double doors and instantly I’m hit with the heavy, fragrant smell of roses.

Frozen on the threshold, I blink several times to be sure I’m seeing correctly. Lavender, purple and white roses fill the room, every available surface is covered with vases of them, hundreds. The dresser, night tables, they’re even on the floor in tall containers, every vase holding 2-3 dozen beautiful roses. My mouth drops open in shock, and I don’t hear his approach from behind. Even with the clacking of crutches, my mind is so focused on the floral explosion in front of me that all sounds have been completely tuned out. A hand reaches around from behind me to close my mouth from under my chin. “My favorite color flowers for my favorite woman,” he whispers in my ear, and resting his chin on my shoulder, he snakes his hands around my waist while leaning on the crutches, one palm flat on my belly and holding me flush with him, the other sliding between my legs. Even through my jeans his touch is scorching hot and an electric jolt shoots from somewhere in my chest directly to my core. I feel his warm breath on my neck and his mouth working his way up to my ear, nibbling and licking, finally biting my ear lobe hard enough to make me gasp, followed by him sucking it gently to sooth the pain. Evan moans softly in my ear as he presses his hard arousal against my backside in a sudden shift. “I only let you go so easily so I could spoil you when you returned.” “And I take it the medical attention that you requested involves this?” I say, pressing my back to his front gently, worrying I may knock him off balance if I’m too forceful. “Mmmhmm,” he agrees.

“They’re so beautiful…what’s with you and purple?” I ask, trying to control my breathing unsuccessfully; he has to know I’m utterly turned on, my voice is so shaky it gives me away.

“Historically it’s related to royalty and love, it represents wealth, passion and luxury. I like it, what can I say?”

“Duke…. right, you said you were a Duke?”

“Title only by lineage, yes.”

“So, Duke, should we get you off your feet?”

“Thought you were going to make me stand here forever.” I turn in his arms. “In here,” he says, lowering his voice and piercing me with the bright green of his eyes.

“Ok…. door shut?”

“Yes, and lock it.” Ok he must mean business if we’re locking the door. I immediately move with weak knees to close and lock the doors to my room. Searching for a place that’s not covered in flowers to set my bag, I find no such place exists so I open the closet and tuck it inside. I can feel him moving around behind me surprisingly quiet for being on crutches. The room is dim; the sun has set, the only light coming from small lamps on either night table. Evan stands next to the bed and points gesturing me to my bed, as I make my way to him the smirk that I’ve grown to adore spreads across his face and I know instantly that this man owned my heart, he could have anything from me…. without question…anything. “How was your day?” he purrs, towering over me as I sit on the edge of the bed between his knees. I don’t think he really cares right now so I simply answer. “Fine.” I feel a little faint, he does that to me, and his very presence is so overwhelming that my body literally has trouble accepting it. “Lay back,” he orders, but in a gentle manner and I obey because I fear I want to, and I fear fainting. My vision is becoming tunneled and his voice wanes, “Mia, are you ok?” he asks with concern on his face and in his voice.

“Yea…you know how I get…I’ll be ok.” And just like that I am…so much more than ok, how could I be so lucky to have this heavenly man standing over me, treasuring and spoiling me? Could it be Karma balancing the universe? All the terror I’ve experienced in my life and my choice to care for people as a profession has earned me the most beautiful dominant man alive? Finally my body and mind have been freed of mistrust, walls that used to protect me from pain and hurt have been destroyed beyond recognition.

Closing his eyes and taking a deep, shaky breath as if to control himself, Evan reaches both hands to my knees, crutches still under his arms. The bed is so high off the floor that my body is aligned perfectly with his. “If I weren’t held back by this fucking cast I would worry about hurting you right now. You’re so damn beautiful, the day this thing is cut off you need to be prepared,” He growls. I reach down and unbutton my jeans, and without losing eye contact I work them off, raising and bending my knees and past my ass, he hisses between clenched teeth and drops his head back. “Fuck Mia…you’re killing me here, I’m going to bury myself so deep inside of you…” Now it’s my turn to smirk while I pull my shirt over my head and remove my bra, completely bare to him, I offer myself with zero inhibition. I sit up and gather the hem of his shirt, raising it and helping him off with it one arm at a time while he is balancing on one foot, crutches propped at the edge of the bed now. I hurry to unfasten his jeans and push them down so he won’t have to balance for long. Not that it matters, he has incredible muscle control. And those muscles are straining, keeping him steady now, a shiver runs through me imaging what he will do when he’s at full capacity.

Pivoting on his good leg, he shakes the jeans free of the shin-to-toe cast, and using his strong arms he lifts himself onto the bed, laying back and grabbing me around the waist to straddle his trim hips. The wetness of my core comes into contact with his straining erection, and he pulls me down to kiss my mouth, urgently at first but then with more control as he peppers my face with tender kisses. Holding my face in both hands, my hair curtains out all around us as he draws back so we are nose-to-nose and closes his eyes. “What are you doing to me Mia?” he murmurs.

“Loving you,” I whisper, our lips feathering with the words.

“Don’t stop,” he says and suddenly removes his hands from my face, grabbing my hips to lift me over him. I grasp his wrists for something to hold onto, anticipating the fierce ride. He thrusts inside of me to the hilt, pulling my body down hard and holding me in place by my hips. I cry out, dropping my head back while we pause for a fraction of a moment to savor the feel of our connection. He continues his onslaught, thrusting rhythmically as I push him deep into me simultaneously. Releasing my hands from his wrists and moving them to his thighs behind me, I desperately attempt to push him deeper inside of me. He slides his hands from my waist to my ass, tilting me forward and hitting a spot inside me over and over with every thrust. I feel electricity building low in my belly and I know I’m almost there, but I want it to last so sit up and move over him with my breasts brushing against his smattering of soft chest hair. My hands on either side of his head, our eyes lock and suddenly Evan flips me over onto my back, supporting himself with his good knee as he plunges into me with a punishing force; I think my heart just skipped a beat. Sliding our sweating bodies together, I wrap my legs around his waist, pressing my feet into his ass, attempting to get closer. “Mia I’m going to come, I’m not waiting,  I want you to come with me!” 

“Yesss.” I can hardly get that one word out before tipping over the edge.

“Fuck Mia!” he yells at the same time I scream unintelligibly, with orgasm possessing our bodies simultaneously for what feels like a lifetime… Both of us pant heavily as he opens his eyes and kisses my forehead tenderly, followed by both cheeks, the tip of my nose and finally my lips. Salty with sweat, we both smile through the kiss and I thread my fingers through his damp hair.

“So…medical emergency averted?”

“More like mission accomplished baby.”

“Another perfect 10?”

“Oh yes, you better believe it.”

“I can’t believe you flipped me! Are you nuts?” Jutting my hips for him to move back to our initial position, he rolls us without disconnecting until I’m once again on top, arms around him and nuzzling his neck I breath him in, his scent, his essence, and I feel it in every part of me. Love. Shit I’m sinking like an anvil in the middle of the ocean, no way out, and a little panic travels through me. With his clairvoyance, he senses it and says sternly,  “No worrying.” All the time he’s gathering my messy, tangled hair and looping it into a knot at my back with one hand. For now I’m just going to try my best to just listen to him.

“Ok,” I murmur into his hair, and as I sit up astride him, something on the bed next to him catches my eye. It’s a white teddy bear, propped against the pillows in the center of the bed. What the hell is that? “What’s with the bear?” I ask him, and he turns his head to look in the direction I’ve indicated.

“A friend for you,” he answers.

“A
friend
? I’m not 6 years old, I haven’t had a teddy bear since…since forever.”

“Well then it’s high time you do, she’s important, don’t lose her,” he instructs. Uh ok, I think he really does have brain damage.

“Well thanks…”

“Don’t mention it.” He smiles a devilish grin and I know he’s up to something…but what?

We shower together, after I streak back to Evan’s bedroom giggling at the thought of Cecelia or Mr. Saint catching us nude post coital. Even naked on crutches, that man is irresistible, as he leisurely makes his way along, leaving the doors to my room open and releasing the potent smell of roses into the rest of the house. To say Evan’s shower is grand would be an understatement. It’s more a cathedral than anything, tall ceilings surrounded by glass, walls and benches of stone. The furthest bench is shaped in a smooth, hill sort of shape with an arch on one side, and I wonder about the unique shape. Staying in there all day wouldn’t be out of the question, especially with Evan.

“Let’s eat pizza in bed and watch something on T.V. tonight.” The Duke has read my mind, sitting at the dining room table eating fancy food tonight just didn’t sound appealing.

“Sounds perfect, and thank you for the flowers, I was a little distracted earlier and I forgot to say anything. Can we bring some to your room?” Since I usually sleep in his room, I’d miss out on enjoying them most of the time.

“Certainly, we can have them all brought in here if you want, and it was my pleasure- seeing the shock on your face was worth the time you were away so I could arrange it. I was miserable, by the way, and you never really told me how your day was. “

A little thrill passes through my mind at his comment about being miserable without me; I was so off base this morning.

“Yea…again got distracted. And my day was pretty close to perfect, I checked on things at home, visited my sister and my niece and nephew, came to work and was surprised by about a million roses and the best sex I’ve ever had.”

“That sounds like one hell of a job you have there,” he says, teasing and tugging on my thick, wet braided hair.

“The best.”

Chapter 23

“Dominus Illuminatio Mea” by Catholic Gregorian Chant Songs

I love lingerie, matching panties and bras, pretty night sets and gowns. I’ve never really had reason to wear anything like that other than for my own gratification. I sleep in short shorts and tank tops for the most part, especially after work when I’m just too beat to care. When packing for this week I thought it best to bring casual things and keep the temptation level down. But seriously, at this point I think that ship has sailed. This is supposed to be a job damn it, I shouldn’t even be in the same room as him in anything other than scrubs! 

I dressed conservatively tonight anyway, in a pair of cotton shorts and a tank top, very unsexy. Looking around my room, I grab a vase of roses, my bag and the box with the light fixture I made for Evan. I should just move my things into his room permanently; I never sleep in here anyway but he’s given me this room for a reason. I’m just not sure why when he won’t let me use it. The bear he gave me catches my eye and I set my bag on the bed and pick it up; it’s the softest fuzzy thing I’ve ever felt. Upon further examination I notice it’s eyes, they look like diamonds, like actual diamonds, surely not though- they would be ridiculously expensive, several carats for each eye. Smoothing out its fur I also find it wears a collar, a wide band of 6 rows of diamonds as well; cute it’s a
she.
It’s so soft, the stitching is intricate and it’s obvious that it’s an expensive toy. But who gives a woman a teddy bear at my age, and why is it
important
?  A mysterious gift…I set her down and grab my bag, excited to finally give Evan his light, although not nearly as extravagant as several hundred roses, I made it with my own hands, and I want him to like it. I’ve been looking at Evan in a bed for weeks, but he still takes my breath away, propped on a half dozen pillows and pointing a remote at the T.V. in thin pajama bottoms that sit low on his hips, wet hair from our shower and his bare chest. I pause to admire the ultimate maleness that is Evan Lawson. He pauses his channel surfing to watch something when he feels my stare.

“Enjoying the view nurse Mia?”

“As a matter of fact I am Mr. Lawson, very much so. I see you have pajama pants though, thought you always slept naked.” I say pushing myself off of the door jamb with my shoulder where I’ve been leaning. I move to set the vase of flowers on the night table on my side of the bed.

“You thought I should wear something to bed, they’re for you.” There’s a small smile on his lips he follows my movement across the room. “Well that was before we started…you know….”

“Oh, so
now
you want me naked do you?” Suggestion runs thick in his tone.

“Is this new?” I gesture to the night table I just noticed on my side of the bed and effectively change the subject. I’m sure he only had one on his side before.

“Yes, I had a matching one delivered for you, to put your things on at night; you know, phone, iPad, lamp….” The gesture tugs at my heart, but it seems like a pretty permanent thing to consider. I’m only here for a week after all. I don’t know why I keep trying to talk myself out of his motives; he’s planning on keeping me here forever. I know it, and if I’m honest I love it but I can’t let myself think about a long term relationship, it scares me as much as it thrills me to be wanted and possessed by a man that could destroy me without even knowing it. I’m always waiting for the other shoe to drop, the switch to turn, the monster to return. I’ve had no reason to be concerned recently; he’s been acting normal, or as normal as I know him to be. I simply thank him, arrange my things on my new table and crawl to the center of his outrageously large bed to sit cross-legged facing him with my bag and box.

Eying my things curiously he asks, “What’s in the box?”

“Something I made for you, a while ago actually, while you were still in a coma.”

“You made it for me, how?”

“I’m a glass blower, it’s a hobby I’ve been into for years.” A glint of interest crosses his face.

“Well let’s see it.” He nods toward the box and I unpack the bubble wrap and remove the light fixture with two hands as it’s quite heavy, his eyes widen and a slow smile spreads across his face as he reaches out to touch it, first with one hand then the other, sliding his fingers over various points and swirls on the surface as he does with everything he touches I’ve noticed. A trait he came by from the time he spent with his blind aunt Sophia, I suppose. “You made this? For me?”

“Uh huh.”

“It’s a light, yes?” I’m actually impressed he recognized my intent, a lot of the time with glass sculpture the meaning is misinterpreted.

I smile, “Yes, I actually thought you might have a use for it somewhere, do you like it?” He looks up at me with a “duh” look on his face. “Oh yes, I have just the place in mind, it’s beautiful Mia, I love it, thank you.”

“Ahh, manners, I knew you had some in there somewhere!!” I exclaim and he frowns.

“I have manners,” he says defensively.

“I think they must be coming back slowly then, that’s the first time you’ve said thank you without a prompt from me since you woke up.”

“I’ve wondered where your smart mouth had gone, I use my manners Mia when I deem them necessary, too much please and thank you in my business can lead to lack of respect and the appearance of weakness.”

“Really? I thought being polite earned respect and promoted strength and unity between people,” I retort.

“In some circumstances maybe, but running Dominus requires a strong hand.” His voice is laced with a chill I’m not comfortable with at all. He moves to return the light to me. “Tell me about Dominus.” It seems the root of his alter ego is related to that place. so I’d better get to know more about it.

“It’s unusual to have such a successful fine dining chain, usually a place of Dominus’s stature is a stand-alone location, but I couldn’t pass on the opportunities to expand when people were practically throwing money at me to open more locations. The food was originally Italian and Greek but we serve all kinds of food now, specialties depend on the location. My first was in Italy. It was an instant hot spot; people came from all over the world for the food and entertainment. So, I decided to take the concept anywhere they would have me, which is now all over the world.”

“What makes it stand apart from similar places?” I ask.

“There’s no competition for Dominus, it’s unique, the food is exquisite, and we’ve never a bad review, but each location has a club attached, that’s the true draw.” He’s staring hard at me now with narrowed eyes, analyzing my reaction to the information, whether trying to read my body language or facial expressions now I don’t know, but he seems nervous, unsettled, which tips me off that there is more to this story…much more. “Uh…ok, what makes the club unique? Lots of restaurants have bars attached, most actually, that I can think of.” He’s silent for a few moments, like he’s trying to find the right words to explain, when a loud bell rings throughout the house, interrupting our conversation. “Is that a
doorbell
?” It sounds like church bells ringing on Christmas day, equally as garish as the fireplace. Evan has a knack for going overboard with things, and that doorbell is definitely one of them!

“Yes, Isaac is back and he’s bringing our food from Dominus, Mr. Saint will let him in. Do you mind if he comes back here? I have some business to speak to him about and I’m comfortable, I don’t want to have to rearrange all of this again,” he says gesturing to the mess of pillows around him.

“Of course not, it’s your house, I’ll grab a robe, or I can go to my room if you need more privacy,” I offer.

“No, no, stay here, and yes, a robe… please.” He rakes his eyes over my scantly clothed body, his jaw tightening. I know what he’s thinking, I’m thinking it too, and I really wish Isaac would just go away, for more reasons than one. I was just getting somewhere with the story of his business first of all, and secondly that look he just gave me started a fire building in my body that needs to be extinguished now, and Evan was the only man to do it.

My bag still in my lap, I pull out a thin full-length red silk robe and slip it on while Evan watches and nods with approval. I guess I’m covered enough for his liking. Isaac strolls in, holding a very large box of pizza and pauses, surprised at the sight of me sitting in Evan’s bed casually, very unprofessionally. “I’m sorry Sir, Mr. Saint didn’t say…he never mentioned…” he stammers.

“It’s all right Isaac, I told him it was ok, you remember Mia don’t you?”

“Of course, good to see you again Ms. Galloway.” He attempts to recover from his surprise, moving into the room.

“Call me Mia, please, nice to see you too Isaac, how was your trip?” I ask.

“Fine.” Averting his eyes, he looks with question at Evan and holds the box up slightly. “Just here on the bed,” Evan responds, and Isaac again hesitates.

“You want it on the bed?”

“Yes, Isaac. On the bed,” Evan answers with a little irritation. I’m thinking this must be out of character for the old Evan, Isaac has seemed to have really known Evan inside out, and I feel a little sorry for him being in uncharted waters. But he follows orders like the perfect employee, and in the next moment he’s setting the box on the bed.

“Choose a movie and start eating, I’ll be just a few min with Isaac,” Evan says to me while Isaac pulls up a chair and produces a laptop I didn’t see him with when he came in. I scoot off the bed and set my bag on a chair and remember to remove the vase that’s wrapped in my clothes. The roses I brought in here won’t work in it, so I pad to my room to choose another bouquet with shorter stems. That damn bear still sits there, staring at me like she has a secret she never plans on sharing. I huff back to Evan’s room and arrange the flowers in my vase, setting them on a small table that is arranged into a sitting area by the window, while the two of them hover over the laptop discussing flow charts and graphs, and shipping problems.  The only thing peaking my interest is a brief mention of letting someone go, a woman I think, they don’t expand on the details of her wrongdoing. I grab the remote and manage to locate his movie collection that includes all genres; no way to learn his taste in movies from this list. Many of them are in other languages, and I wonder how many he speaks and understands fluently. With business all over the planet, I suppose he speaks several. I have no idea what to choose; I really don’t care what we watch. I don’t plan on seeing any of it anyway, my itinerary includes filling up on gourmet pizza and getting very, very naked with my patient. My patient, the thought nags at me; I’m seriously doing nothing a professional nurse would do for a patient. I’m more like a paid girlfriend…. which is essentially a prostitute. I’m going to have to make a change in this arrangement, have myself removed from his bank roll and go back to the ICU or demand some real responsibilities other than accepting outlandish amounts of flowers and passing him a sleeping pill every night.

Isaac gets up to leave as I return to bed with no idea of what movie to watch…or not watch. A look passes between the two men and then from Isaac to me and back to Evan. Evan nods his head silently in the affirmative, and Isaac retrieves something from a bag he must have brought with him. At first I think it’s a vase of some sort when realization hits me; it’s an urn. What the fuck is Isaac doing with an urn? And why is he giving it to Evan? Isaac hands the urn to Evan and quickly exits the room, leaving us alone, me staring at him wide eyed and mouth hanging open, he holds it, caressing his thumbs across what I assume is the name of the person inside.

After a moment adrift, he looks up at me as if he just remembered I was there.

“Ahh… who’s is that?”

“Cameron,” he answers flatly.

“The women that was in the accident with you?” I wonder why he has her ashes instead of her family.

“Yes.”

“Was she…special to you?” I’ve been so curious about his past and this is the perfect moment to uncover something, if even just a taste of who he is, or was.  And I didn’t even have to initiate the situation; Isaac did give him the urn right in front of me after all. “No, it’s very complicated.” Moving to his side of the bed, I perch there next to his legs. “I’d like to know.”

“Why?”

“Because really Evan, I’m sleeping with you, practically living in your home and I know next to nothing about you.”

He sighs deeply, “I’ll tell you about her but after I do, no more discussing it.”

“Ok…that’s fine.” My heart picks up the tempo as I wonder if I really do want to hear this now.

“When I was in college I found her, she was a dirty little girl, 15 years old, homeless, hungry, and alone.” He’s staring at the urn, turning it in his hands while he tells me the story. “I don’t know what it was about her, she was crouched next to a dumpster outside a coffee shop I frequented, I’d seen her there for several days when I finally spoke to her. I know how it feels to be alone and hungry with no one to rely on. I learned that she had been in foster care; abused by her biological parents, as well as the parents the government assigned her to. She threatened to bolt if I turned her in, so I took her home with me. I was well off living on the money my Aunt Sophia had left me, and I wanted to help her, something in her eyes reminded me of myself. I knew an old couple that owned a small grocery store, so I got her a job there and I paid for a tiny apartment above the store- the owners of the store paid her cash so she stayed off the foster care grid. I home schooled her, it was easy with a computer, and most of the time I just emailed her assignments from a laptop I gave to her and she sent them back completed. She was smart, could have gone to college with a scholarship if she weren’t getting her education secretly. She got her GED when she was 18. She worked hard, never complained, she was always grateful for my help, stayed out of trouble so she wouldn’t get caught. When she turned 18 she wanted to support herself. I had recently opened Dominus here in Seattle and I gave her a job as a server, she was good- made a hell of a living for a kid with only her GED. My customers have money to throw away and they tipped her well, she was beautiful and proficient at her job. But the money afforded her things she’d never had before, she started going out all the time after work, hooking up with a bad crowd, drinking, drugs and the whole fucking loser scene I’d tried to keep her out of all those years. She befriended a few of the girls who work in the club at Dominus and started learning routines, stripping, and behind my back she began working in the club, but not in the dining room where I hired her. I was livid; I thought I was going to kill her, along with the manager at the time for letting her do it. Needless to say, he is no longer with us.”