Descended (The Red Blindfold Book 4) (12 page)

Famous as she’d
become, no one else seemed to notice her. She didn’t call attention
to herself with an over-the-top dress or loads of makeup or a mile of
bare leg. Her hair was up but it looked soft, like she’d been
rolling around in my bed. Her dress was a flowing white silky thing
that would have looked just as sexy on the beach. No bra, and damn,
she didn’t need one.

She glanced in my
direction. Her smile faded. I stared.

Talk about eyes meeting
across a crowded room. She was here. For me. She’d come all this
way just for me.

“Drex?” Brooke
said, pulling at my sleeve. “I’ve got some people I want to
introduce you to. They’re TV producers and they’re interested in
doing a reality show about the company. And you, of course.”

“Not now,” I
muttered.

“You want more
publicity? It’s sitting across the room waiting to talk to you.”

“Yeah,” I said. “In
a few minutes.”

Now Jane was staring
directly at Brooke, who was dressed to the skintight nines and
hanging onto me like a six-year old begging for a new toy.

Fuck. This didn’t
look good. It didn’t look good at all.

Jane’s expression
darkened, then she put a happy face on again. But it was too late.
She couldn’t erase the hurt, no matter how hard she tried.

“Excuse me,” I
said, pushing my way through the crowd. She was only ten feet away
but it felt like three football fields.

In the time it took to
get to her, her face went from ghost-white to flushed all over. She
was furious, upset, and ready to bolt out of here without a single
word.

God forgive me, but I’d never been
happier to see a woman so goddamn mad.

I’d seen what I’d
seen. And what I’d seen couldn’t be undone.

I hadn’t wanted to
think that Drex and Brooke were a couple. It had been so easy to
believe him when he’d said just that. But seeing them together
changed everything.

No woman would touch a
man like that unless he welcomed it. Unless they were a hell of a lot
more than friends.

Not that I had any
right to him. What a hypocrite I was, a married woman walking away in
a huff because her former lover was back with his ex. Pathetic.

“Excuse me, Ruby, but
I literally have to run,” I said. “I’ll call you, okay?”

Spotting an exit to the
left, I marched toward it. To think I’d convinced David that I had
no feelings for Drex and should go to the opening. I’d been so
persuasive that I’d actually fallen for it myself. There seemed to
be no end to the lies I could tell myself.

“Jane!” he called
over the music and crowd noise. “Wait!”

“Are you kidding?”
I muttered. “Hell, no.”

I felt a hand on my arm
but jerked myself free. I slammed my hands against the door and was
outside a second later.

As soon as the warm
night air hit my face, I heard the door open again and slam. Drex
grabbed me and spun me around.

“Stop,” he said,
backing me roughly against a concrete wall. “Stop and talk to me.”

Bitter disappointment
churned in my throat. “Why?”

“Because we have
things to say.”

“No,
we
don’t. I came to your opening and now I’m leaving. Period, the
end.”

His hands were like
vices around my upper arms. “Not the end. Not even close.”

I struggled to break
free but he was as powerful as an angry bull. “We were over weeks
ago. I’m here as a courtesy, that’s all.”

He pressed his pelvis
and chest against mine, pinning me in place. “What you saw –
Brooke comes to every opening because it’s her job. We aren’t
together. I said that in Boston and I meant it.”

“I don’t care
anymore,” I said, narrowing my eyes.

Brooke was perfect for
him, actually. She was his first love and she could have his
children. That was something I’d never be able to give him, not it
mattered anyway. I’d never see him again after tonight.

“The hell you don’t
care,” he said. “You wouldn’t be here if you didn’t.”

“You invited me and I
came,” I spat back. “I wanted to show everyone we’re just
friends.”

He gripped me harder.
“If we’re just friends, why did you run when you saw Brooke?”

“I didn’t want to
intrude.”

He laughed an
infuriatingly sexy laugh. “Right. Just like I didn’t want to
intrude on you and your husband.”

“Don’t call him
that,” I snapped without thinking.

Drex raised his
eyebrows. An excruciating moment of silence passed. “Why not?”

“That was a mistake,”
I said. “I didn’t mean it.”

His thick cock was big
and hard against my stomach. “Of course you did. Legally he’s
your husband, but you don’t love him. You don’t want to fuck him.
You know you don’t.”

Turning my head to the
side, I squeezed my eyes shut. “I won’t listen to this.”

“Yes, you will.
You’ll listen and you’ll tell the truth.”

A tear leaked down my
cheek. “I hate you.”

“Good. At least you
feel something. Now, let’s go.”

He took a step back and
steered me around the corner of the building. His fingers were going
to leave bruises I’d have to explain when I got back to Boston.

“Where are we going?”
I stumbled in my heels over the grass.

Without answering, he
pushed open an unmarked door and hauled me inside. The door shut
behind us. We were in a brightly-lit stairwell with no windows. I
could hear distant music from an upper floor.

“Where does this go?”
I asked, trying again to yank myself free.

“To the VIP lounge
upstairs. But that’s not why we’re here.”

“Then why are we
here? I’d love to know.”

He turned me around.
“Great,” he said, eyes exuding lust and danger. “Because you’re
about to find out.”

He yanked up the hem of
my dress and grabbed my hips. His touch was scorchingly hot against
my bare skin. In a second I was out of breath, insanely aroused, and
overcome with guilt. I’d already broken my vows once, not including
the three sinful weeks I’d lived with Drex, and I wouldn’t do it
again.

What kind of person
would I be? Could I ever look in the mirror again?

“Show me what’s
mine,” he said.

His voice was as smooth
as worn leather, but I wouldn’t listen to it. “It’s not yours,”
I said, grabbing the hem of my dress and trying to pull it down. “It
never was.”

He shook me. “That’s
bullshit. Admit it.”

“No.”

“Then I’ll make
you.”

He crushed his lips
against mine and forced his tongue into my mouth. His taste was
intoxicating. In some distant corner of my mind, my resistance
flickered and flamed out. Whimpering softly, I kissed him back. I’d
missed him so much, and I still had a lifetime ahead without him. How
would I survive it?

The question flitted
through my head and vanished. Nothing mattered now but this moment.
He lifted my leg and pulled my panties to the side. I heard his
zipper, felt the huge tip of his cock, and then he was inside me.

I bit my lip to keep
from screaming. He drove into me as deeply as he could.

“There,” he
whispered. “That’s more like it.”

Wishing I had the will
to push him away, I clung to his shoulders. Right or wrong, my body
wanted only one man. If he happened to be in a concrete stairwell
with five hundred people a few floors up, so be it.

“You missed this,
didn’t you?” Drex asked, his gaze magnetic.

I held my breath. I
wouldn’t say it out loud. I couldn’t.

“Answer me,” he
said with a hard thrust.

“Yes,” I gasped
involuntarily.

“You missed my cock?”

I was so wet, I was
practically melting around him. “So much.”

“Why?” he growled.

He held my chin in his
hands, forcing me to look at him. “Because…it feels so good.”

“What else?” he
barked.

“You’re so…big,”
I admitted in a shy whisper.

“And?”

I had nothing left but
the truth. “Because you’re all I want.”

His pupils flared like
a predator’s. “I know, Jane,” he said, filling me again. “I’ve
always known.”

With each thrust, real
life faded away. Every moment brought me further from my thoughts,
and deeper into pleasure. I wanted to be here forever – safe in
Drex’s arms, giving him my pussy and so much more.

This wasn’t just sex.
It was love. The only love I had, and had ever known.

Sparks showered my skin
as he rubbed the base of his cock against my clit. With an impatient
groan, he pushed my dress straps off my shoulders and squeezed my
nipples between his fingers. He wasn’t just touching me. He was
making me his.

“No one else fucks
you like this, do they?”

“No,” I said
between shallow, rapid breaths. “Only you.”

“You want me,” he
said, slowing his thrusts. “You want to be with me.”

His words pierced my
soul. “Please, Drex.”

He took my face in his
hands. “Even if you say you don’t, I know you do.”

It wasn’t fair. He
knew too much, and I had no defense. I never had. “I want you,” I
whispered. “But it doesn’t matter.”

“Oh, it matters,”
he said, his breath like fire against my lips. “It matters more
than anything.”

Just as our mouths
touched, a door above us opened. I heard voices and heavy, thumping
bass.

“Fuck,” Drex
muttered, stepping away. “Someone’s coming.”

There were footsteps on
the stairs. First my mother, now…
who
the hell?
I dropped the hem of my dress and pushed the
straps onto my shoulders.

“We’ll finish this
at my apartment,” Drex said, zipping his pants. “Let’s get out
of here.”

But there wasn’t
time. The footsteps were on the landing now. Just a few feet away.

We were caught.

Drex and I both looked
up. It was Scott.

Eyes pinned to Drex’s
face, he came down the last flight of stairs and stopped in front of
us. His mouth twisted.

“I don’t believe
it,” he said in a low, icy tone. “And tonight, of all nights.”

Drex’s face was the
picture of calm detachment. “Hello, Scott,” he said, giving him a
nod. “Need to get by?”

The veins on Scott’s
temples bulged. “I was heading outside to look for you. What the
hell are you doing down here? There’s a TV producer who wants to
talk to you.”

“And he can do just
that when I’m finished,” Drex said.

He smiled at me and
squeezed my hand. Warmth spread through my chest and down to my
belly. Even with Scott staring at us in a fury, I was the happiest
I’d been since Drex had come to Boston.

“I don’t care who
you screw around with,” Scott said, his words clipped. “I only
care about two things. My daughter and my money. In that order.”

“I understand
perfectly,” Drex said. “You’re a good father and a good
businessman.”

Drex’s refusal to
engage seemed to inflame Scott even more. “Do we need to have this
conversation again? Everything you do is up for public consumption,
and your actions are business decisions. Especially when they involve
someone who’s all over the news, and not in a good way.”

“She’s not just
someone, Scott. She’s the woman I love.”

Scott gave him a cold
smile. “The woman you love? From what my daughter tells me, you
might not be capable of that emotion.”

I gasped, but Drex
refused to take the bait. “This really strikes a nerve with you,
Scott. I understand you want me to marry your daughter, but I’ve
made it clear. That’s not going to happen, ever.”

“After what I’ve
just seen, I don’t want you anywhere near Brooke.”

“Whatever works for
you. She’s free to find a position with another company.”

Scott opened his mouth
but said nothing. A moment later, he squinted at me. “Don’t you
have a husband?” he snarled. “What kind of person are you?”

His words felt like a
blade to my heart. Shocked into silence, I could only stare back at
him.

“Leave her alone,”
Drex said. “This is between you and me.”

Scott ignored him. “Do
you think this becoming conduct for a married woman? Are you proud of
yourself?”

Shame burned through
me. For fifteen blissful minutes I’d managed to suspend reality,
but now it was back and harsher than ever.

“That’s enough,”
Drex said, taking my arm and steering me toward the door. “You’re
done.”

“No, I’m not,”
Scott shot back.

I turned my head and
saw him grab Drex’s shoulder. On instinct, I stepped away.

In less than a second,
Drex had seized the front of his shirt and slammed him up against the
wall. Scott’s breath came out hard and he grunted.

“This is me being
polite,” Drex said, his voice dripping venom. “You don’t want
to see me rude. I said you were done and I meant it.”

“Get the fuck off
me,” Scott said.

Drex pummeled him
against the wall one more time before turning away. “Go upstairs to
your daughter before I break your nose,” he sneered, straightening
his shirt cuffs.

This was the Drex I’d
only heard about – fierce, dangerous, aggressive. This was the man
who’d climbed out of poverty by scrapping for every dollar. Seeing
this side of him only made me admire him more, and want him like
crazy.

But wanting him was
wrong. I’d known that, but come to Houston anyway.

Scott’s words rang
through my head.
What kind of
woman are you? Are you proud of yourself?

No, I wasn’t. I was
horribly ashamed.

Letting Drex guide me
outside, I felt an emptiness that gashed my soul.

I’d given in to
desires I wasn’t allowed to have. No matter what had happened to me
or how deeply in love I was, there was no excuse for cheating and
dishonesty.

If I wanted to be with
Drex, I should tell David and divorce him. But I couldn’t do that
if I had no memory of my marriage. If I didn’t know who I was, or
might become as time passed.