Dragon Song (5 page)

“You want…” she began.

His voice dropped low along with his gaze, which settled on her cleavage. The expression in his eyes was just short of a caress in itself. If she thought her desires were on simmer tonight, they had just exploded with one look from Stone.

“I want you.”

Chapter Seven

Tielle blinked and shook her head to break the spell Stone weaved over her common sense. She threw her hands on her hips and took two steps back to put space between her and him. “Excuse me? I save your life, risking my career, and you disappear, not even leaving a note.” One at a time, she ticked off his offenses. “Then I get crazy phone calls, a wacko butler or servant or whatever he was.” He seemed about to comment, but she raised her hand. “You think I’m going to drop my boyfriend for you? Not happening, buddy boy.”

She spun on the ball of her foot, all the time pretending she didn’t want to fling herself into Stone’s arms. Of course, there was no way she could sleep with Joe tonight after this scene straight out of a romance movie with Stone, but she had no clue how to extricate herself and just go home.

“Hey, Tielle, maybe we should call it a night and pick up some other time,” Joe suggested.

She gasped. “What? No.” She took his arm trying to save face, and almost dragged him toward the building. They hadn’t gone far when she was tempted to look back at Stone. He waited with folded arms over his chest, looking too damn confident in himself. Tielle’s stubborn streak kicked in, and she would have had sex with Joe just to prove Stone had no appeal, but Joe wasn’t going for it.

Joe put a hand up to the door and wouldn’t let her open it. “Stop, Tielle.”

“What’s wrong with you? I thought you wanted this.”

Frustration registered in his eyes as he glanced down at her body. “You don’t know how much. But that’s not important. From the moment he drove up and got out, you’ve been his. I see it in every move you make. He’s got you wired and aching. That’s how it was with us in the beginning. I saw that you weren’t that way earlier, but I thought I could tease you into it. I know how much fun it is making love to a woman as wild as you are in bed. But if you’re not feeling it…” He shrugged. “I’ll kick myself in the morning, but truthfully, I would never want you when you’re thinking of another man. And there’s no way I could compete with that.”

Joe’d tipped his chin toward Stone, and she glanced over to him again. She couldn’t lie. Her panties were ruined, and it was all Stone’s fault. By the time she turned back to Joe, he was disappearing through the door. Apparently, he was resolved to leave her in Stone’s hands. What if he was some psycho? “Thanks a lot, Joe,” she grumbled and started back to the street.

Stopping in front of Stone, she clenched her hands at her sides. “Can I bum a ride from you back to my place? I shouldn’t trust you to take me, but it’s not like you don’t already know where I live. Call it a temporary lack of judgment.”

“You’re angry with me.” The fact that he didn’t get why she was upset puzzled
her
.

“You’re kidding, right?” She shook her head, accepting his help into his car. The thing was too sweet. The doors opened straight up rather than out, which was freaky, but once she was seated, the luxury and comfort came through.

Although Stone’s car could blow Joe’s away in speed, Stone exercised control behind the wheel. He kept to no more than ten miles over the speed limit, but Tielle still enjoyed watching the way his muscles shifted and bulged as he turned the steering wheel and shifted gears.

“I guess you have no side effects to what you went through the other night?” she asked.

“None.
As I said, I just needed a little time.”

“You could have injured yourself further by yanking out the IV. This isn’t the movies, you know.”

“Yes.”

She peered at him through her lashes. “So what are you compensating for with all this power?” She gestured to the car.

Stone laughed. “Compensating? Ah, you mean is my flute inadequate.”

She frowned.
“Flute?”

He winked. “I assure you my cock is more than enough to satisfy you.”

Tielle almost melted through the chair. She tried to pretend his use of raw language didn’t have an effect on her, but she had a feeling she failed in the worst way. Biting on a finger while pressing her legs together, she stared out the window. Stone’s chuckle pissed her off, but it wasn’t his fault her body sang for his touch. Maybe it
was
his fault. She checked out his thighs, firm behind his dark slacks. She wondered if he was hairy or if he was tanned under his clothing.

How she loved a white man’s body. She’d dated black men, white ones, even one Chinese, and of course Joe who was half Puerto Rican, but there was something about a white man that was so sexy. His creamy light skin in comparison to her deep chocolate made Tielle want to lick him from head to toe—and she’d done that on many occasions. That’s why Joe had said she was good in bed. Tielle loved sex, and she wasn’t afraid to go after what she wanted when the circumstances were right.

“Says you,” she quipped. “I’ve heard that claim so many times. I even met a man who told me he was ten inches and found he was closer to four and a half. Not that size is everything.” She eyed him and was surprised at how he leaned back a little, comfortable with his body. The man was rock hard, the tent in his pants scary big.

At her apartment, he let her go ahead of him, and she unlocked the door and stepped inside. Tossing her keys on a side table, she called over her shoulder, “Would you like something to drink?” Her shoes which seemed to pop off her feet every time she hit home, were left beside the couch, and she padded barefoot into the kitchen. Stone followed close behind. He had no compunctions about exploring her ass while he was back there. She glared at him but didn’t tell him to keep his hands to himself.

“If you have wine, that would be nice,” he commented.

Tielle took down the wine glasses from the cabinet over the sink and removed a bottle of wine she’d had chilling from the refrigerator. She poured the two of them some while Stone rested his hip against her counter. Her hands shook a little with him so close, his gaze intense. No man had unsettled her this much, and that Stone was doing just that made her even more nervous.

To get his attention off of her, she said, “How about something to eat? I’m not hungry since I had dinner, but what about you?”

He shrugged. “I could eat.” The look he gave her indicated something far different from food. Tielle brushed from her mind the thought of him with is head tucked between her thighs. Instead, she spun to search her tiny kitchen for anything she could whip up with ease. Domestic skills were low on her list of abilities.

“I’m not the world’s best, but I do make a mean omelet. I usually add
swiss
cheese, peppers, and onions. Does that sound appetizing?” She peeked at him. He appeared ravenous. “Just who are you, Stone Hughes?”

His eyes widened, and she noted the way he stiffened. “How do you know my last name?”

“The night you were attacked, your father called on your cell. I noticed his last name was Hughes and assumed. Was I wrong?”

“No.” He shook his head, his gaze unfocused as if he was considering what to admit. “No, you’re not wrong. I am Stone Hughes.”

She set the egg down she’d taken out and put her hands on her hips. “You say that like you’re somebody important, and I’m beginning to wonder the same. I mean you drive a Lamborghini for Pete’s sake, and you have a secretary named James.”

He opened his mouth to respond, but she cut him off and turned back to the food. “That’s not important right now. Don’t worry about it.
Your
growling stomach is hinting that if I don’t make this omelet quick you’re liable to eat me for dinner.”

In that minute, Tielle was grateful for her dark skin. She blushed, something she never did, when she said he was liable to eat her. Did everything she blurted out have to have sexual overtones? Her usual cool teasing had gone out the window the moment they were in her private space and he wasn’t flat on his back unconscious.

She faced the eggs and worked like her life depended on it. About to demand what the hell was going on with him, she lost her nerve and stopped him from answering. This was way out of character for her, and if she didn’t get a grip quick, tonight and maybe the next few days would be full of regrets.

* * * *

Stone vacated the position he’d taken up a few feet from Tielle so he could watch her cook. He moved to stand behind her and let his hands come down on her shoulders. A tremor went through her body. Something told him Tielle wasn’t used to being out of control, and that’s just what she felt in his presence. Knowing it pleased him. He liked to keep the woman he had interest in guessing about him. That is, until she learned how rich his family was. Then all the mystery was gone, at least on her part. She’d become a clingy simpleton that he couldn’t remove without a fight, and he would be forced to find a new bed partner. Tonight, he considered looking for Tielle in a rental, something less flashy and expensive, but deep inside, he found he wanted her to know the truth right from the start, to judge whether she was like every other woman. He didn’t expect her to be different, but he wanted to her to be. Maybe that was unfair.

For a moment, while he pressed close to her and feathered kisses along her slender neck, he thought about leaving her in the dark about who he was. He could lie and say he had borrowed the car from a friend because he loved the speed and the power. He could say he was Joe Average and enjoy a longer time with her, enjoying her sexy body.

From his position above her, he caught the soft swell of her breasts inside her dress. He envisioned licking those tight buds while watching and listening to her reaction. His cock swelled with his thoughts, and from the way she jerked whipping the eggs, he knew she’d noticed.

No, Tielle deserved the truth, for whatever reason he didn’t care to identify. “You might have heard of The Einin Hughes Corporation.”

She gasped and looked up at him.
“Your father?”

“My great-grandmother.
The family owns several companies under the parent conglomerate, the main one being a whiskey distillery.”

Tielle seemed dazed.
“Irish Whiskey.
Go figure.”

He nodded. “So now you know. And yes, my bumbling secretary was the one who followed you. I apologize for that if he frightened you.”

She rolled her eyes. “He didn’t. But now that you’ve admitted you’re made of money…”

He stiffened, feeling a frown settling over his features, and he narrowed his eyes. “Yes?” He knew what she was going to say.

“I’m just not sure if we should go any further. I don’t think I’d want to date someone like you.”

“What?” She could not have shocked him more. He blinked. “Let me get this straight. My having money puts you off?”

“Well, duh.” She turned and set his plate on the table. “Look, I know your type, Stone. You’re arrogant. You think your money will get you anything. Breaking the rules is second nature, and you think you’re above what all the regular folk have to deal with on a daily basis. I’m sorry. I’m not into that.”

Despite his rising irritation that she was stereotyping him, lumping him in a negative way with all others who had money, he couldn’t help noting how the fear she’d displayed a moment ago because of how he affected her had disappeared. Now, she seemed unmoved by his nearness. The tiny beautiful woman looked like she was confident she could take him. He had to admire that spirit, but she would not dismiss him so easily.

“You’re aware that you’re stereotyping, aren’t you? Of all people I’d think—”

She smirked. “Now who is stereotyping? What do you mean by ‘of all people’?” She laughed at his grunt of frustration. Her eyes sparked with her amusement, drawing him in like a bee to honey. The woman had abilities she couldn’t be aware of for capturing and holding a man at her side. Her chin came up, and her eyes challenged him. “A man like you would deny that you fit the mold, but baby, I’ve already seen the arrogance rolling off you in waves. I’m surprised you noticed me in the club that night. Then again, the high and mighty always did come down off the hill to meet those base desires.” She waved her hand. “I just don’t date guys like you.”

Stone’s eyebrows shot up. He eyed her for a few minutes and then took two steps that closed the gap between them. Ignoring the plate she’d placed on the table, he crowded her, allowing the heat from their bodies to mingle. While he didn’t break eye contact, her confidence began to waver, and her bottom lip made its way in between her teeth. Lust slaked over him, a desire to nibble at that cute little mouth of hers.

Knowing that he’d just snatched away the control she’d displayed, he cut the space between them again. The caress he ran along her chin before raising it left her almost shaking. He absorbed her movements it seemed with every fiber of his being, loving it and craving more.

“You don’t have to worry, my little flower,” he teased. “I’m not looking to date you. There’s just one thing I want, and one thing only.”

He shifted his focus to his thumb which he moved to one protruding nipple and grazed it. Tielle’s mouth fell open, and her eyelids fluttered like she tried to resist closing her eyes. She attempted to move away from him, but he stilled her with one hand.

“I…um…” She swallowed and tried again. “I don’t do this so soon. A few dates…”

“No.” He swept an arm about her waist and drew her up to him onto her toes. Her head fell back, and he used the opportunity to kiss along her throat. Teasing the soft skin with the tip of his tongue, he luxuriated in her flavor—sweet yet salty. With each breath, her breasts rose and fell along his chest, driving him insane. One swift movement had her dress around her waist, and Stone threaded fingers into the back of her panties. The curve of her ass made him swear. “You know what I want, Tielle. Will you give it to me?”

Almost he resorted to the dragon’s song, but he resisted. He’d never used that to convince a woman to open her legs to him, and he wouldn’t start now.

“Oh, hell yes,” she blurted. “I can’t wait any longer.”