His to Possess (22 page)

Rafe’s eyebrows arched. “He told you about that?”

She nodded. “It was before we knew you and Storm were the same person. We were just
getting to know each other. I was telling him about my ex—you—and he told me about
his brother.”

“Why would you tell him about me?”

She glanced at him. “Actually, you were the reason we met. I was eating breakfast
at a restaurant before going to the career fair and I saw him outside. At first, I
thought he was you.”

“Did you just walk up to him?”

She smiled. “I followed him into Starbucks and walked over to him, then got embarrassed
when I realized my mistake.”

“And he used that excuse to pick you up?”

“No, I left, but then he saw me standing in the rain trying to get a cab and he offered
me a ride.”

“So he became the knight in shining armor.”

“Well, he got me to the job fair, and gave me some helpful advice along the way.”
She pulled out the worry stone from her pocket. “He also gave me this. It helped me
to stay focused and calm at the career fair. I was a bit of a wreck having to cope
with all the stress, but his advice helped.”

He took the stone from her hand and stared at it. “My brother had a worry stone? That’s
hard to believe.”

She nodded. “He was carrying it in his pocket.” She gazed at the stone as his thumb
stroked its smooth surface. “In fact, he told me he’d actually gotten it for you,
but you’d left and he didn’t get a chance to give it to you. He said he wanted to
show you that he respected your beliefs, even though they are different from his.”

“Really?” He looked at the stone with renewed interest.

“I think you should keep it.”

He glanced at her. “You sure?”

“Of course. I think it’s an important gesture on his part.” She shrugged. “And I can
always get another one.”

“Thanks.” He placed the stone in his jeans pocket. “So what did you tell him about
me?”

She glanced down at her hands. “I told him about when you left, and how devastated
I was.” The pain still resonated inside her.

“He probably thought I was a jerk.”

She didn’t say anything.

“It’s okay. I was a jerk. I never should have left. But it was the best I could do
at the time.” He took her hand in his. “You know I never meant to lie to you. I was
just being who I wanted to be. Leaving my old identity behind. But when I met you,
it became a lie and I didn’t want to keep lying to you.”

Her insides ached. “You could have told me the truth.”

He nodded. “I know I made some major mistakes and totally screwed things up between
us.” His lips compressed. “But I know that now, and it made me realize how much I
need you in my life.”

He stood up and walked to the coat tree and reached in his jacket pocket, then returned
with a small gift box. He handed it to her.

She gazed at him warily as she took it. “I hope this isn’t another ring.”

He chuckled. “God, no. I learned my lesson on that one. When…” He hesitated, his gaze
locking on her, and he turned serious again. “If you finally say yes, we’ll pick out
the ring together.”

A lump formed in her throat. She wanted to tell him the moth ring was perfect. It
was so beautiful, both in form and concept, but its dazzling beauty and high price
had emphasized the difference between the Storm she thought she’d known, and Rafe.
But she loved the ring and everything it said about him.

He gestured toward the gift box still in her hand. “I wanted to get you something
special, but this time I kept it simple. Open it.”

She pulled on the thin, curled ribbon and the simple bow pulled loose. She tore away
the gift wrap and revealed a small box inside. She opened it and amidst some pink,
glittery tissue paper was a bottle of nail polish. She lifted the small, cylindrical
bottle from the wrapping. It was white with small black speckles.

“Look at the name.” He pointed to the side of the bottle and in tiny gold letters
it said
Leopard Moth.

She grinned at him. “You’re kidding. How did you find it?”

He shrugged. “I had a little help from Melanie.”

Of course. And the fact that Melanie had helped him … maybe that meant she was really
okay with Rafe and her being together.

“This is very nice. It looks like a designer brand.”

“No, that’s the thing. It’s a kind you get in a drugstore.”

She stared at the brand name—Accessorize—which she didn’t recognize. “I’ve never seen
this brand, and believe me, I’ve been shopping enough with Melanie to know them all.”

He smiled sheepishly. “Okay. The drugstore is in England, but it’s just an inexpensive
bottle of nail lacquer, as they call it. Melanie saw it on one of the blogs she follows
and she thought it would be a perfect gift for you.”

“And it probably cost you ten times the price in shipping.”

“Don’t blow it out of proportion. It’s no big deal.” He took her hand again and squeezed.
“It’s just a token, Jess. Please don’t turn it down. Even with shipping it was far
less than the ring.”

She smiled. “It would have to be, wouldn’t it?”

“And if it makes you feel better, I also got Melanie the whole collection of those
speckled polishes to thank her for listening to me ramble on about my love life and
offering a woman’s perspective, so you see, your bottle just hitched a ride with her
gift.”

She laughed and then gazed at the bottle, admiring it. “I love it. It was very thoughtful
of you. Thank you.”

He was so sweet, getting Melanie some of the polishes, too. She’d be thrilled at getting
the exotic polishes, for sure, but the fact they came from Rafe meant that she would
treasure them even more. And it made her feel good to know that Rafe had confided
in Melanie about everything going on between them. Jessica still worried that her
friend’s feeling were hurt, but knowing that she and Rafe were strengthening their
friendship was a good sign that Melanie had moved on.

She squeezed his hand and they both stood up.

“I’d better get going.” But he didn’t turn to leave.

She stepped close to him and put her hands on his shoulders, raising her lips to his
in invitation. He swooped down and kissed her, his mouth moving on hers with passion.
She melted against him, loving the feel of his big, hard body against hers, and the
feel of his strong arms around her. His tongue danced with hers and her hormones spiked.
His hands gripped her hips and he pulled her tight to him. A hard bulge pressed against
her and she drew back.

“Rafe, I can’t.” There was no way she wanted to wind up with him in her bed. Not here.
It would be awkward, and totally unfair to Melanie, if she had to skulk out of her
bedroom with Rafe in tow.

He nodded. “I know. I didn’t mean to pressure you.” He stroked her hair behind her
ear. “Would you like to go for dinner?”

“No. Not tonight.” She knew dinner would lead to sleeping together, and she still
needed to figure things out.

“Okay.” He walked to the entrance and pulled on his leather jacket, but he didn’t
turn to leave.

“Jess, I know you need time and I’m willing to wait, but…”

The silence that fell between them made her heart ache. “But what?”

“I need to know. What are your feelings for my brother?”

“Oh, Rafe.” How could she tell him when she wasn’t even sure herself?

“You said it was just a physical relationship, but that’s not you. I can’t imagine
you giving yourself to a man if you don’t feel something for him.” He took her hand
and pressed it to his mouth. The sweet brush of his lips sent tingles dancing along
her arm.

“I won’t ask if you love him, but do you have feelings for him?”

She dragged her gaze away from him. “I never meant for it to happen. I just wanted
something physical to keep my mind off my pain at losing you.”

“Ah, fuck.”

“I’d come from a small town to a big city. Everything was new and different. And a
little overwhelming. Your brother helped me feel like I belong here.”

He gripped her hand. “Just tell me. Do I still have a chance with you?”

She sighed and gazed straight into his sky blue eyes. “I don’t know what to say. I’m
really not sure what I feel about either of you right now. I just know you’re both
very important to me.” She frowned. “I wish I didn’t have to choose.”

He tugged her into his arms and his mouth devoured hers, his arms so tight around
her she could barely catch her breath. As his tongue dove into her and caressed with
sweet strokes, thoughts of his hands roaming over her body, his lips exploring her
most intimate places washed through her. If this kept on, she’d be dragging him back
to her bedroom post haste.

But then he released her and turned to the door. As he shut it behind him, she stood
staring at it, sucking in air.

Oh, God, how would she cope at the office tomorrow?

*   *   *

The next few days at work weren’t as bad as she’d feared. She’d barely spent any time
alone with Dane and he kept everything on a business level. Rafe was out of the office
most of the time at meetings.

Things between her and Melanie were back to normal. When Melanie had arrived home
on Sunday night, Jessica showed her the nail polish Rafe had given her, and thanked
Melanie for her part in it. Melanie had hugged her and then insisted that Jessica
put on the polish right away.

She glanced at the trendy, speckled polish on her fingernails and smiled. Last night,
Melanie had insisted on touching up her manicure with black tips which, paired with
the white polish with black speckles, gave her nails an edgy, designer look. She even
added a pearl accent on each tip. It was funny that Melanie would insist on such a
dramatic look for Jessica in the office, when she would only wear subtle, neutral
tones herself.

Melanie’s plain Jane office attire was such a contrast to the bright colors and trendy
clothing that she wore on her off time. She seemed to have a real need to conform
when she was at the office. And rules meant everything to her.

Jessica remembered how she used to be before she’d met Storm. She’d been far more
uptight back then, but her heated relationship with the badass musician had freed
something inside her, and she hoped Melanie would learn to loosen up someday. Life
was too short to play by other people’s rules.

“Fancy manicure. Melanie’s doing?”

She glanced up at Dane’s voice and nodded. He looked spectacular standing there in
her doorway. His tailored charcoal suit accentuated his broad shoulders, and the hint
of a shadow on his square jaw enhanced his natural masculinity.

“Do you need me?” she asked.

His lips turned up in a smile and he stepped into her office. “Now there’s an understatement.”

Her eyes widened at the unexpected sexual innuendo. Her body heated as she thought
about him calling her into his office, then closing the door and commanding her to
strip down to nothing.

There was no doubt about it, spending the past several nights alone after the constant
attention of two sexy men had left her more than a little hot and bothered. She wanted
nothing more than to race into his office and be dominated by him, his deep voice
commanding her to do dirty, sexy things to him, then his hard body satisfying the
deep craving within her.

Oh, God, why had Storm turned out to be Dane’s brother? And why had he returned and
complicated things so dramatically?

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to suggest we do anything about it. Right now. But I would
like you to come to my place after work. We need to talk.”

*   *   *

Jessica stepped out of the limousine and walked toward the entrance of the Ritz-Carlton.
A doorman opened the door for her.

“Mr. Ranier will be down in a moment. You can wait in the lobby.” He gestured to a
sitting area with an off-white leather sofa and chairs and a square, light wood coffee
table.

“No need. I’m here.”

Dane stepped toward her, smiling. She followed him to the elevator and soon they were
entering his luxurious apartment. She crossed the elegant living room to the couch
and sat down. He poured a glass of white wine and handed it to her, then sat across
from her.

“So you said we need to talk,” she began, holding the tall stem glass in her hand.

She wasn’t sure how he intended to tackle the issues between the three of them, but
he was a problem solver and always took charge. He must have something in mind.

“That’s right. The current situation is intolerable. I don’t want to compete for you,
especially with my brother.”

Did this mean he was giving up on her? But his gaze drifted down her body and she
shivered at the possessive look in his eye.

“We need to find a way to satisfy everyone involved.”

At the sight of his heated gaze, images flashed through her brain of him dragging
her into his arms to satisfy his needs.

“And how do we do that?” she asked.

“You said the other day that neither of us owns you.”

She frowned, wondering where he was going with this. “Right.”

“That’s not entirely true.”

Her eyebrows arched. “What do you mean?”

He walked to the executive leather chair he had by a cherry wood desk in the corner
and turned it to face her, then sat down. “Come over here.”

At his authoritative tone, she immediately stood up, set her glass on the table and
walked toward him.

“Stand in front of me.”

She stood three feet in front of him, his sharp gaze gliding the length of her body,
sending heat humming through her.

“If I order you to do something, you’ll do it, correct?”

At his firm, demanding tone, she nodded.

“Yes, sir.”

“So in a way, I am your master.” He smiled. “So I own you.”

“That’s not really true, I—”

“Silence.”

She shivered. If he wanted it, he had full control over her. She knew it. And he knew
it.

It would be a scary thought if she didn’t trust him as much as she did, but in reality
he always put her pleasure first, so it was an extreme turn-on. Desire washed through
her and she longed for him to order her to kneel in front of him and unzip his pants
and then tell her to draw out his big, swollen cock, proof that the situation turned
him on just as much as it did her.