Strung Out (7 page)

“I don’t even think ‘pit bull’ fits you. ‘Hell bitch’ is more appropriate.”

“Tell you what.” She tapped her lower lip with her index finger. “Propose on your own, and I’ll agree to look the other way while you search for love between that trashy musician’s legs. But be discreet; I refuse to be the laughingstock of Boston.”

Unbelievably, she’d just suggested he have his cake and eat it too. So why didn’t he feel more optimistic? “I have a meeting in the morning, Courteney. I’ll call you later.”

She snagged his arm. “I’m going to need that proposal, Erik. The perfect wedding isn’t planned overnight.”

He pushed her away and strode off down the hallway.

“Don’t be a fool, Erik,” she called after him. “You could never be with someone like her anyway. She doesn’t belong in our world.”

Ignoring her jabs, Erik went to find his car in the sea of vehicles parked on the estate. There was only one place he wanted to be, and one person he wanted to be with.

* * *

Talia staggered up the steps, still fumbling for her keys. It’d been a long trip home from Brookline. Half a mile walk to the bus stop and then the bumpy ride before another four-block walk to her building. Coming on the heels of her confrontation with Courteney, it was too much for Talia to handle. She wanted a long, hot bath. Of course she’d have to settle for a lukewarm shower, as her apartment lacked both hot water and a bathtub. But just crawling into comfy clothes and hiding under the covers for a while would help.

At least until she took a deep breath and smelled Erik all over the bedsheets.

Tears prodded her eyelids again. Talia didn’t cry as a rule. All of her tearful moments in the last two days were beginning to get to her. She sniffled pathetically.

Oh yeah, she was a total mess. She was even imagining the scent of him in the hallway.

“Talia?”

The warm, soft velvet of his voice nearly sent her sprawling. She watched in amazement as Erik stepped from the shadows beside her doorway.

“What are you doing here?”

“I had to see you.”

“Why? To make sure I didn’t bring Josh or Seth with me?”

He gave a tired laugh. “Someday you’ll understand what those two are about and you’ll thank me for sticking my nose where it didn’t belong.”

“Damn right it didn’t belong. Why the hell do you care who I go home with? You’re getting married to the precious princess. You two will be so happy. I can tell.”

Talia shoved the key into the lock and turned. It stuck. Of course it stuck. She couldn’t catch a break.

“Please don’t go, Talia. Don’t leave it like this.”

“How am I supposed to leave it, Erik? You’re engaged. It’s not like we’re considering a long-distance relationship or something. You’re marrying another woman!”

The door finally gave, tumbling Talia into her apartment. Before she could stand up and slam the door, Erik shoved his way inside and kicked it closed behind him.

“Get out.”

“No.”

“This is my apartment, Erik. Get the fuck out, and don’t come back. I never want to see you again.”

The effect of her words was totally ruined by the crack in her voice over the last sentence. Neither of them believed it.

Erik reached down and caught her hand, pulling Talia to her feet. She pushed at him, trying to free herself from the intense feelings his touch evoked inside her. He held fast, refusing to give in.

“Let me go.”

“No.”

“You’re
engaged
,” she spat. “You’re going to marry her and give her your babies and live happily ever fucking after, you bastard. Let me be.”

She held his green gaze as his hands forced her backward toward the bed. “I’m sorry, Talia.”

“Sorry for what? For making me want you? For ruining me for anything else? For giving me just a taste of something and then telling me I can’t have it anymore?” Her knees hit the bed.

“For not being completely honest with you.”

Erik gripped the straps of her dress and yanked them down. The fabric tore, but Talia didn’t care. Everything inside her hurt as if she’d been ripped apart.

“So beautiful, so perfect.” He pushed her back onto the still-unmade bed.

“You shouldn’t be here, and we sure as hell shouldn’t be doing this.” Talia squeezed her eyes shut, not even bothering to fight the warm hands that held hers in a gentle vise grip. Her mind made a feeble attempt to diffuse the arousal, but her body welcomed another chance, any chance, to be with Erik.

“Look at me.” He cupped her chin and refused to let her look away. “We belong together, and nothing else matters.”

“I thought this was a fling.” A fat tear slipped from beneath her eyelid, sliding down Talia’s cheek to the bed. “I suck at this rebound crap.”

It wasn’t what she said but what she didn’t that rocked him to the core. And she was right. Flings didn’t involve this. You didn’t
need
someone like this after casual sex. His composure shattered like brittle glass, leaving him naked in his desire.

She was bare except for the tiny scrap of lace nestled between her legs. She’d worn no bra or stockings. Erik climbed onto the bed and covered her mouth in a deep, probing kiss. His tongue slipped inside and tangled with hers until they were both fighting for breath.

His hand cupped her breast, the pad of his thumb running lightly across her sensitive nipple. She gasped in pleasure and pushed against his palm. Pinching the elongated bud between thumb and forefinger, Erik twisted until she was whimpering against his lips.

Erik took her other nipple into his mouth. Her hands fisted in his hair as he drew deeply from her breast. She thrashed beneath him, her hands moving restlessly in the rumpled sheets.

He tasted the skin of her smooth belly just above her navel. She gasped, the sensation making her shrink reflexively away from him. Erik moved lower, hooking his thumbs into the black lace straps of her thong. He drew away only long enough to slide the scrap of fabric down the smooth length of her legs. He caught the scent of her wet pussy as he brought it to his lips before tossing the panties aside.

Her eyes followed him, watching every move he made. When Erik lifted her knees and pushed them apart, her eyes went wide with anticipation. He smiled, though not to reassure, and felt her body tremble beneath his touch.

“Like the most perfect pink flower,” he whispered.

She shifted toward him and her pussy glistened in the dim light. Erik slid his palms up the smooth skin of her inner thighs until they rested at the apex of her legs. A delicate tremor shook her. His thumbs lovingly caressed her swollen labia, pulling them back to expose the tight opening of her vagina. Talia’s sweet cream coated the softness of her pussy. Unable to resist any longer, Erik tasted her with the tip of his tongue.

She gasped, her hips bucking against the restraining force of his hands as Erik buried his tongue inside her cunt. She was sweet to the taste and warm. The tangy salt of her enticed him like an exotic flavor he couldn’t get enough of. Pressing the flat of his tongue against the hood of her clit, Erik suckled. She moaned and arched her back.

“Oh God, Erik,” Talia whimpered urgently. “It’s so much. I can’t.”

Erik gave her one long stroke from anus to clit before sucking the hood of her clit into his mouth and drawing deeply. She shuddered and came hard. The climax released a gush of cream, which Erik lapped greedily before shucking his clothes to the floor in a heap.

“I need you, Talia.”

“I’m yours.”

Blue eyes met green as Erik positioned himself at the tight entrance to her cunt. His cock was hard, straining against his hand as he fought to go slowly. Her hot flesh gave beneath him. The welcoming heat was slick with her juices, the muscles still quivering from her recent climax. Her pussy stroked his hard length bit by bit until he was fully seated inside her body.

Erik groaned, teeth grinding together to keep from pounding himself to a quick finish. He needed her, needed this too much. He had to savor the feeling, make it last as long as possible.

“Fuck me, Erik. Please. Don’t leave me like this!”

Her desperate words complemented the restless movements of her body. Thrusting hard into her heat, Erik did as she begged, fighting for control of his lust.

“Harder. Faster.”

She goaded, encouraged, begged him to pound her pussy. The wet noise of his cock slamming in and out of her cunt taunted his ears. Erik increased his pace, hips bucking back and forth as he penetrated her over and over again.

Talia’s back arched, her body welcoming Erik to a sudden onslaught of pleasure as she climaxed in an explosion of powerful muscle contractions that stole the breath from his lungs.

Sweat beaded on his forehead, running down his temples before dripping onto the pale perfection of her naked breasts. Still he fought for control, fought to slow his rapid race to orgasm. His balls drew up tightly, his sac bouncing against her ass with every thrust.

“Come with me, Erik,” she begged.

Her words undid him. Placing one knee on the bed beside her hip, Erik settled her legs in his hands and slammed into her pussy with a force that made Talia gasp for breath. He groaned. Liquid fire burned his cock as her pussy burst into another climax. The feel of her body in orgasm sent Erik over the edge. His balls pulsed, and his cock erupted in a stream of hot semen that sprayed deep into Talia’s sweet depths before Erik collapsed onto her bed, spent.

Gathering her into his arms, Erik settled their sweat-slicked bodies comfortably on the bed and pulled the thin sheet up to avoid a chill. She was soft and warm beside him, a perfect fit in every way. What the hell was he supposed to do?

Talia inhaled long and deep. “So, ‘pit bull’? What, exactly, did you mean by that?”

Chapter Seven

The muscle in his jaw tightened, a sure sign of him grinding his teeth together in agitation. Talia wondered how she could have such all-consuming feelings for someone and yet harbor such distrust at the same time. Love and trust were supposed to go hand in hand, weren’t they?

Trust had to be earned.

It was difficult to see the details of his expression in the dim light. It was plenty obvious that she’d blindsided him with her question. But she needed to know the truth about the ice princess, dammit.

“She
is
the daughter of one of my business associates. We’re in the middle of negotiating a merger. From the beginning her father wanted our families joined by marriage. He thinks it’ll give him a stronger position on the board of directors once the documents are signed.”

“So you proposed?”

He growled. “I never asked her to marry me, Talia. She and her father want me to; hell, they expect it. But I was hoping it would never come to that.”

“So you’re not engaged?”

“No.”

Talia squirmed around so that she could better see his face. “But mixing business and personal in your line of work would be okay?”

“In this case it seemed like the best option.”

“Even if you and the ice princess aren’t much of a match?”

His soft hand cupped her cheek, thumb brushing against her lips. “I wasn’t looking for my match before now.”

“So you were willing to throw away your freedom for a corporate merger.”

It wasn’t a question. He’d obviously been doing just that. Talia couldn’t imagine shackling herself to someone she didn’t love in a lifelong commitment just to cement some kind of business deal. That kind of cold manipulation wasn’t compatible with the way she was wired.

“I didn’t see it quite like that.”

“You’re expected to propose to a woman you don’t love because her father’s company wants to marry yours.”

“Nice analogy.”

“Yeah, I thought so.”

“Look, Talia, I never gave it much thought.”

“That’s obvious.”

“I didn’t expect…”

“Expect what?”

“Well”—he brushed a kiss across her lips—“I’d never thought of marriage as anything but a business deal. Then you came along, and my business deal didn’t seem like the best thing out there.”

“You make me sound like the latest technogadget.”

Erik’s rumbling chuckle filled the room. “You aren’t like anyone else I’ve ever met, Talia. Where did you come from?”

She wondered what he’d say if he knew. What someone like Erik, who’d been handed the best of everything, would think of somebody like Talia, who’d had to fight for the scraps life left beneath the proverbial table?

The bed bucked as he rolled to his side, gazing down into her face. Talia could barely make out the details she knew by heart in the dim light. How odd, to have known him such a short time and yet be able to recall each and every feature of his face and body.

“Tell me about you, Talia. Enough about me. I want to know everything about you.”

Talia wondered where to begin. If she should start with her teenaged birth mother’s decision not to put her up for adoption until she was nearly five, or the years she’d spent in Boston’s foster-care system. She chose neither option, beginning instead where her real life started.

“The fourth graders in my elementary school were allowed to join the school’s music program. We could choose either band or orchestra,” Talia began softly. “I can still remember everything about the day Miss Mathers spent the entire music class going over the different instruments we could pick from. She’d play the ones she could and show us what they sounded like.”

“Which was your favorite?”

“The violin; the sound was so intense I thought I’d cry.”

“So you chose the violin.”

Talia nodded. It hadn’t been that easy. She’d begged and pleaded with her foster parents to let her join the orchestra, but they refused to buy or rent an instrument. There were six kids in that house, three of them foster kids like Talia. The father was on disability, and the mother worked housekeeping in a big hotel. They only fostered children to get more cash from the state. They sure as hell weren’t going to offer any of that hard-earned cash to pay for instrument rental.

“Were your parents proud of you?”

A flippant answer stuck in her throat. How could she lie to this man? No matter that he’d withheld the truth from her. Part of her insisted it didn’t matter whether or not she lied. The relationship was doomed anyway. Erik still had a merger on the table, and he was still tied to Courteney Colton. Yet another part of Talia wanted to share this tiny part of herself with the one person who seemed to touch her on an intrinsic level.