Descended (The Red Blindfold Book 2) (24 page)

“Take that off,” he
says, lying back against the pillows.

I drop the towel on the
floor and slide up next to him. He’s already stiff, but in no hurry
to satisfy himself, or me. There’s time for that now. All the time
in the world.

“I think we put in
too much bath gel,” he says. “You still have bubbles on your
neck.”

“A woman can never
have too many bubbles,” I say.

“I thought it was
diamonds,” he says, his smile so warm and sexy my heart turns over.

“For me, it’s
bubbles. No contest.”

He wraps his strong,
protective arms around me. The candle on the nightstand quivers,
creating dizzying shadows on the wall. All of the deprivation and
doubt were worth it for this moment alone.

“You pleased me
tonight,” Marc says. “Everyone admired you. They admired your
beauty and your loyalty to me.”

“I want you to know
how loyal I am,” I say. “I want you to trust me.”

“I do now. You proved
that I can.”

“You mean that?”

“Of course I do. I’ve
never wanted you so much. Knowing that you’re mine, and you’ve
given yourself to me completely.”

I shake him gently.
“But I thought men liked a challenge.”

He laughs. “Oh, but
you are a challenge, even when you’re submissive. Maybe
especially.” He lowers his head and kisses me. “I still have so
much to teach you. We’ve just begun.”

“I like that idea,”
I say, and lay my head against his shoulder.

He squeezes me tightly.
Though he goes quiet, I can feel him looking at me.

“What is it?” I
ask, pulling back a little.

His gaze is so intense
my cheeks burn. “I want you to belong to me,” he says.

I blink at him. “I
do.”

“I mean, as much as
you can. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“You want…” I
begin, but my voice falters.

He sits up suddenly and
looks down at me. “Listen to me. I want you to marry me
immediately. Next month. Next week. Tomorrow morning after
breakfast.”

I’m too stunned to
say anything. All I can do is stare at him.

“I know what you’re
thinking,” he says, grabbing my hands. “I don’t have a ring,
but that’s because I didn’t know I was going to ask you until
just now. I knew I’d ask but I didn’t know how or when, and then
it just came out. You’re thinking about moving here and how it
would affect your career, but I’m considering moving to New York
and opening a branch of my office there because it’s something I’ve
always wanted to do, so if it’s important for your career to be
there or you just don’t want to move here, I’ll do it. And you’re
thinking that it’s too soon and you’re probably right. But –”

I sit up and put a
finger over his lips. “Shhh, Marc. That’s not what I’m thinking
at all.”

“It isn’t?”

I shake my head. “I’m
just thinking…that I’m happy right now.”

“You’re happy?”
His face is wide-open and unguarded, the way I’ve seen it only once
or twice before.

I nod. “Happy the way
we are, whatever happens next.”

He gives me a wary
look. “Whatever happens next?”

“We don’t have to
rush it, do we? I love the way things are. I wouldn’t change
anything.”

He grins slowly, a
thought dawning on him. “Oh, I see,” he says. “Now that we’re
together again, the tables have turned.”

“What do you mean?”

“Even when you’re
being submissive you always like to keep a little control, don’t
you?”

“I hadn’t thought
about that,” I say, smiling.

“But now that you
have…”

I shrug. “Now that I
have, maybe there’s something to it.”

He pushes me back on
the bed and lowers himself on top of me, parting my legs with his
knees. “And you’re not going to give me an answer,” he says.

“Nope.”

“You’re going to
torment me. Make me wait, make me wonder.”

“Have a little
patience,” I tease, feeling his thick cock against my stomach.
“Don’t you trust me?”

“Trust you,” he
says. “Hm. I don’t know. Can I?”

I nip playfully at his
lower lip. “Come on, Marc. I showed you that tonight, didn’t I?”

“I want you to keep showing me,”
he whispers, holding down my wrists and moving inside me. “Show me
right now.”

Afterward we lie
together, damp-skinned and exhausted. I have no desire to move, or
think, or do anything but savor every moment in his arms.

“I love you,” he
whispers, kissing the top of my head. “And I love telling you
that.”

“I love hearing it.”

Head on his chest, I
listen to the steady, tranquilizing sound of his heartbeat. I drift
off toward a dream, and when I wake again a little while later,
Marc’s phone is ringing on the nightstand.

“Who’s that?” I
murmur. “It’s late.”

“Be right back,” he
says, squeezing my arm.

He slips out of bed and
disappears into the hallway. I hear the always-soothing cadence of
his voice through the wall, but this time, there’s something
different in his tone. A tension, an anxiety that makes my scalp
prickle.

Sitting up, I switch on
the bedside lamp. He comes back into the bedroom naked, phone in
hand. His eyes are riveted on me, his expression deadly serious.

“Marc?”

“Yeah,” he says,
sounding shell-shocked. He looks pale and drawn.

“What’s going on?
Who was that?”

“Somebody phoning me
from Texas, of all places,” he says, sitting slowly on the edge of
the bed.

“Texas? You know
somebody there?”

I can see the pulse
ticking in his neck. “Well, no. Not exactly.”

“So – who was it?”

“Uh…” Face
riddled with confusion, he shakes his head. “Some guy claiming to
be my younger brother.”

I stare at him, hardly
able to comprehend his words. “Your
brother
?”

“Actually, my
half-brother. He says we have the same father.”

A slow chill creeps
over me. “What? How?”

“I don’t know,”
he says. “I just...don’t know.”

“How did he find
you?”

Marc’s eyes are wide,
his grip tight on my fingers. “He didn’t explain that. But he
knew everything about me – my name, my company, where I live. I
can’t imagine how.”

“And he just…called
out of the blue at midnight? What did he want?”

“He said –” Marc
rubs a hand across his forehead. “He said he needs my help.”

“Your help? Why?”

An ironic smile
flickers over his lips. “It’s one hell of a story, Sophie. If
what he just told me is true…I have a monster in my family, after
all.”

Book
Three in the Descended Series

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Descended:
Book Three. The first
installment of Drex and Jane’s story.

“I had to have
her. I didn’t care about her name, who she was, or who she belonged
to. I’d saved her and now she was mine. For good.”

Former pool shark
Drex Cougan brawled his way to the top, proving he’s no loser like
his criminal father. But he doesn’t count on the complication of a
beautiful woman walking down the street wearing nothing but panties
and a t-shirt. As if that’s not enough, she’s got a red-hot
temper and no memory before three days ago.

Jane Doe must have
a past, but nobody’s stepping up to claim her. That makes it way
too easy to fall for gorgeous Drex, who shows her the fiery pleasures
of being the successful CEO’s submissive. But when her old life
comes looking for her, it threatens to shatter her perfect world and
destroy the only love she's ever known.

Click
here to get your free
copy of Descended: Book Three

Rose Devereux writes shamelessly
erotic romance, some of it light, some of it dark, all of it sexy. In
her other life, she is a traditionally published author whose books
have been translated into five languages. Reviews of her novels have
appeared in Cosmopolitan, The Boston Globe, New York Magazine, and
the Associated Press. She lives in sin with her boyfriend and two
cats in Boston and New Hampshire.

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