Their Twisted Love (The Twisted Mosaic - Book 2) (18 page)

"You're the one who started it! You and Alex... you
fucked with me...."

"Get over it! Bury the past and move on... like I
did."

"So you're over me? Just like that. 'Goodbye, Talia.
Thanks for the pussy.'"

I'll never be over her.
"Goodbye, Talia." I
walked over to the door and yanked it open.

Her eyes blazed. She grabbed her purse and I ducked as it
hit the door behind my head. "You asshole! I gave you
everything
!
My love, my trust... even my ass. But you don't care."

I clutched that familiar, battered shield of stoic
indifference over my screaming heart. "Don't come back. Please...."

She spotted the chink in my armor and exploited it.
"Please?"

I stepped back against the open door.

"You didn't let me finish. I came here tonight to ask
for your help. Only you and Alex understand me well enough to guide me. But if
you don't want that, if you're not ready.... I'll go back to him."

I twisted the doorknob behind my back.
Close it! Don't
let her go!
But I looked at the floor and nodded.

She stroked her fingers along my jaw and lifted my chin,
forcing me to look into her eyes. "You'll be here when I get back."

"Yeah."

"You never say no to me, and I can't deny you
anything."

"Pretty fucked up."

"But it works for us." She kissed me, her lips
bound to mine, sealing an unspoken promise. We understood each other.

She walked out, but I left the door open, standing there as
she drove away. She'd go back to Denver, back to Alex. And I'd wait for her
with my heart exposed.

"She's here. Pay up." Claire held her palm out to
Alex, rubbing her thumb greedily across her fingertips as I walked into his
office.

He shushed her and turned around, jerking his tie as if it
was strangling him.

I let my laptop case slide off my shoulder to the floor and
glared at each of them—the twitchy attorney first and then his snickering
assistant. "You bet on whether or not I'd show up?"

Claire pointed at Alex. "His idea."

"What are you doing to me?" he hissed at her as he
fiddled with his collar. Then he turned to me. "She conned me into
it."

"As if." She looked at me and rolled her eyes in
his direction. She knew as well as I did that the man was no innocent victim.
"Where's my money?"

He tossed a bill on her desk. "Here. Now, go make
yourself useful."

I caught a glimpse of Abe Lincoln as she stuffed the cash in
her drawer. "Five bucks? That's all I'm worth?"

"I would've bet a hundred, but she wanted to go
cheap."

The pretending-to-be-busy assistant shook her head. "I
need a raise."

Alex winked at her. "You need something worse."

Well... that's interesting.

Claire giggled and fingered her necklace. "No, I'd like
that."

He sat on the edge of her desk and leered at her.
"That's what I'm sayin'."

She swatted his thigh, too comfortable, too familiar.
Did
they sleep together?

"Alex!" The sharp tone of my voice snapped his
attention back to me, and his devilish grin—the one he'd directed at his
suddenly sexy assistant—faded fast.

"We need to talk." He said it at the same time I
did.

Claire snorted back a laugh and grabbed a file. "I
gotta get to the law library."

"I want that brief by noon." Alex called after her
as she pulled the door shut. He beckoned me into his office and closed that
door, too. "Ladies first."

"Oh, so now you're being a gentleman?"

He grabbed my wrist and yanked me into his body. "Would
you rather play it rough, babe?"

So many options.
Bend him over his desk and spank his
impudent ass. Shove him into his chair and make him listen. Gag him with his
tie. I pulled free and pushed him away. "You're taking a big risk putting
me in charge of this conversation."

He sat on the edge of his desk and leaned back on his hands.
"I'm not afraid."

Climb onto his lap and fuck him brainless. "Good."
But I surrendered all those rebellious thoughts and caught him completely
off-guard. "I'm sorry."

He opened his mouth then closed it, scratched his head.
"For...?"

I stepped back, clamping my fingers together to keep from
twisting my hair. "For running back to Will—"

"Did you fuck him?"

"Does it matter?"

"No."

I unclenched my fists. "For accusing you of not caring
about me."

He seemed to be grasping for words again, and I let him
flail just a bit longer.

"I know you... you have a heart somewhere under all
that bad boy arrogance."

He grinned.

After so many years of watching him work a witness, I'd
learned how to lead him into a confession. But setting a trap for him required
offering my heart as bait. "And I know I occupy a tiny part of it."

"All of it." He closed the distance between us
with two steps and swept me into his arms. "Woman, you drive me fucking
insane, do you know that?"

I caught my breath and clung to his shirt. "I love
it."

"Yeah, you do. You're the only thing—the only
person—who can make me want to...." His hand tightened on my throat and a
furious tingle shot between my legs. "And keep me coming back for
more."

"Always come back," I whispered on his lips, as
much a promise to him as an acknowledgment of his declaration. Part of my heart
would always belong to Will, but I could share it with both of them.
Does
this mean I love Alex? Do I dare?

He kissed me, keeping one hand firmly on my neck while the
other dug into my ass, pulling me close and binding us together. Purple haze
buzzed around my head as my breath came short, but I wouldn't ask him to stop.

I let go of his collar, but his hold kept me secure. He
eased his grip to let me breathe, and brushed his lips where his touch still
tingled on my skin.

My heart pounded and a sliver of fear worked its way into my
spinning brain. "What did you want to talk about?"

He grunted. "You pretty much covered it." He laid
me back across his desk, kissing my breasts through my blouse as I stretched
out beneath him. I grabbed his ass and pulled his hips into mine, but my slim
skirt wouldn't give, so he pushed it up and bent my knees around his thighs.

"Too many clothes." I pulled his shirt from his
pants while he undid my buttons and pushed my bra down, clamping a nipple
between his teeth. "Oh! Do that again. Ow!" Sweet pain tickled my
senses.

He soothed my throbbing tit with sweeping licks.
"Mmm...." He sat back and was tugging at my panties, pulling them all
the way to my ankles, when his desk phone rang. "Fuck!" He grabbed
the receiver. "What?"

I lay perfectly still, holding my breath and hoping the
caller would go away.

"Yeah. Be right there."

Damn it!

"Joan wants to meet with us."

But as I reached for my panties, he yanked them off and dove
between my thighs, licking my slit from top to bottom.

"Oh God!"

He stood and stuffed his shirt into his pants. "That'll
hold me for a while."

"Yeah
you
. I'm the one left dripping. Hey, give
me those."

He was sneaking my panties in his pocket. "Nope. I want
you naked under that tight little skirt."

"You are evil."

"Some things never change, darlin'." He helped me
up and we re-dressed each other. "Are you here to stay?"

Until my job is done.
"Yes, but if you piss me
off again, you'll have to tie me up to keep me from running home."

His wicked black eyes glittered.
Damn it! Stop giving him
ideas.
"All four limbs, naked and spread."

"Ooo yes! Will did that to me once...." One
glimpse at his arched eyebrow cut me off. "Never mind."

"Dinner at my place tonight."

"You're not cooking, are you? That'll send me screaming
from the room."

He swatted my ass as we walked toward the door, but I
slapped my palm on the solid oak as he tried to pull it open.

I spun around. "One more thing. Did you sleep with
Claire?"

A devious grin twisted his lips, revealing mischievous
intentions, but his eyes betrayed him. "Some things never chan—"

I grabbed his tie and twisted it around my fist.
"Proceed. With. Caution."

"No, I didn't." He used my grip to pin me against
the door, grinding his erection into my fluttering abs.

"Good." I ducked his kiss and turned, brushing my
butt against him as I opened the door.

He growled. "Woman...."

My God, I love that! I love him.
From the corner of
my eye, I saw him raise his hands, and my panty-deprived pussy dripped as I
imagined his fingers curling.
I am so fucked.

***

"What an amazing view!" I stepped out onto Alex's
patio, breathing in the fresh air as my gaze followed the cobalt blue sky to
the snow-capped mountains on the horizon. Horsetail clouds burned a brilliant
orange in the setting sun, and a cooling breeze rippled down the slopes and
across the open plain to stir my hair.

"Yep." Alex moved behind me, slipping his arms
around my waist and resting his chin on my shoulder. "As soon as I saw
that, I had to buy this place." He nibbled my neck. "Feels like
home."

Home. For him. But my home was in Chicago. My job, my life.
Everything.
Will.

I shook that thought out of my head and settled back into
Alex's chest. His arms tightened snug around me and his breath caressed my
skin.
Feels like home.

"Did you enjoy dinner?"

I turned and kissed him. "Yes! How did you find that
place?"

"I got lost on the way home one night shortly after I
moved here. Stopped for directions and ended up eating a three-course meal.
I've been bringing back her mushroom Alfredo ever since."

"Mushrooms as big as my fist!"

"I knew you'd love it." He slid his hand into my
hair and his tongue into my mouth, tasting and sampling like a delicious
entrée... or a tempting dessert. "I picked up something else you'll
like."

"Oh?"

"Come with me."

A curious tingle compelled me to obey.

He led me to his bedroom. Located on the west side of the
house, it shared the same mountain view as the patio. The deepening sunset kept
me distracted while he searched his briefcase.

"Talia."

I turned away from the French doors and surveyed the room.
The last slivers of sun filtered in through gauzy curtains, lighting warm oak
furniture. Alex stood next to his bed, a king-sized cloud suspended on four
stout wooden posts, crowned with a scrolled metal headboard. My heart skipped
when I noticed a bright yellow rope dangling from his hand.

"You found that at the restaurant?"

"No. I stopped at a fetish shop while I was out for
lunch. Interesting place. You should come with me sometime."

"Fetish shop? Like whips and chains and black leather?"

"Uh-huh, and things I never imagined." He laid the
rope in my hand. "Feel it."

My fingers slipped on the twisted strands. "Soft."

"The outer layer is silk, so it won't chafe your
skin."

"No evidence."

He grinned. "Exactly." He twisted the rope around my
wrist and pulled me toward the bed. "Now, all you have to do is say
yes."

"Yes to what?"

"To letting me use this," he tugged on the rope,
"to make you come...."

"Ooo are you going to rub it between my legs?"

His eyes lit up. "Hadn't thought of that, but
anything's possible."

"Wow." The word escaped my lips in a breathless
rush.

"But you have to say yes."

"Yes, yes, yes...." I wound the rope around my arm
as we lay back on the bed. We rolled, kissing each other and twisting the
yellow binding around our bodies.

"Clothes off." He gasped and kicked our shoes to
the floor. I unbuttoned his shirt. His tie had disappeared the minute he'd
walked out of the office. We somehow stripped each other through the tangle of
rope and limbs, and I ended up flat on my back under him, both of us naked and
kissing every patch of skin within reach.

He grabbed my wrist and pulled the silken rope up between my
legs as he tied it to the headboard.

The yellow silk whispered over my clit. "Oh God!"

Then he dragged it over my nipple as he bound my other hand.
"I thought this color would look pretty against your naked skin."

"Mmm...." I squirmed and tried to stroke myself,
but he'd tied me well.

He sat back and appraised his work. "Even better than I
anticipated." His cock stood up and approved.

I trapped his thighs between mine. "Lick my
pussy."

"I will." He lay on my chest and kissed me.
"We need a safeword."

"What's that?"

"Something you'd never say while we're fucking."

"So, 'you fucking asshole' isn't a safeword?"

"No. We need to use a word that'll let me know I've
gone too far."

"And you'll listen to me?"

He laughed. "Green means go. Yellow means be careful,
and red means stop."

"Like a stoplight. Got it." I wrapped my leg
around his waist. "Pussy says green."

"You're not the boss here, babe." He grabbed my
ankle and twisted another section of the silk rope around it. "I am.
Hmm...." He pulled my leg toward the footboard post, but the rope didn't
reach. "What to do with...?" He scanned the bed and an evil smile lit
his eyes. "This will do nicely."

"Hey! What are you—?"

Alex lifted my leg and tied the rope to the headboard just
above my wrist, then grabbed my left ankle and did the same. "Oh, that's
perfect."

"It is not!" He'd nearly bent me in half, but
oddly enough, I wasn't uncomfortable. The ropes suspended my butt just
slightly, but the mattress supported my back. He'd tied my legs apart, exposing
my pussy and my ass to his devious whims.