Knots (Club Imperial Book 4) (9 page)

“What are you doing?”

“Leaving,” she said. “I’m going to find my brother and drive a steak knife through his heart instead of the table.”

“
Frances
. Stop. Now.” He didn’t want to pull out his Dom voice, not with her. But Cece was acting completely irrationally, and he needed her to calm down. She halted, then turned on her heel and looked at him. “You need to stop and relax. I understand you’re furious, and you have every right to be, but you can’t act like this. You stabbed a knife into a table.”

She started him for a very long moment, and he saw some of her anger leave her face. What left her face was not the anger about her brother, but the anger towards him. She still seethed about Chas, but seemed to realize she was misdirecting. “I… apologize, Kay. That was completely out of character for me and shouldn’t have happened.”

“You have every fucking right on the planet to be pissed about what your brother is doing here, every single thing. But you can’t let it get to you like that.” Killian sighed. “Well, we can’t go back in there and I’m still hungry and you still need to talk. So. Dinner. Legends?”

“Where?”

“Legends at the North Shore. Oh you’ve never been, so we’re going.” Killian smiled and motioned her down the street to where his car was waiting.

They walked a towards the car. “Really, I’m sorry, Kay.”

“Don’t sweat it.” He waved it off. “I really thought you knew. I mean, he’s only your brother. Why would he tell you something as important as he was seeing someone who was in the middle of the most contentious divorce I've ever seen.”

Cece blinked a few times, and he saw a new emotion darken her face. It was somewhere between confusion and embarrassment, and Killian was as at loss to name it. They walked quietly next to each other for a few minutes to the car, and he had to shove his hands in his pockets to keep from taking hers. They reached the car, and he leaned over to open the door for her. When he righted to hold it open, he found himself just inches from her lips.

Killian stared into her eyes, bright and wonderfully blue. They sparkled, partly with left-over anger, and now with a low, raw desire. He could hardly believe--could Cece actually be interested in him? Or was this just circumstance? He wasn’t sure he cared. He wanted to taste her pale pink lips that promised apples and cinnamon and bite of bitter spice.

“Killian.” Cece’s voice was soft, quiet—husky. “Don’t.”

“Why not?” He couldn’t stop the words.

“You don’t know me.”

“I want to.”

“Oh. Don’t do this.”

Killian didn’t want to walk away from this, from whatever was happening. “You want to know what I feel like pressed against your lips. Against your body.”

“Fuck.” Her swear was a quiet, weak protest.

“Cece. Let me kiss you.”

“You shouldn’t.” She shook her head lightly.

“You haven’t said no.”

“I don’t think I can.”

He closed the space between them, and caught her lips ever so gently with his, pressing in with a careful demand. At first, she didn't answer him; she just let him kiss her. But after just a moment, she gave into him and her lips melted into him. He wrapped an arm around her waist and her pulled her in closer, pressing her breasts, her whole body against him.

Cece was warm, and soft, everything he'd dreamed in every fantasy of her. He moved a hand behind her head and slid his fingers into her velvet soft, pitch black hair. He devoured her lips, the apple, cinnamon and bitter spice overwhelming him, as he always thought it would. She parted her lips in welcome.

And Killian knew he was lost. He took her offering, and slipped his tongue between her lips, stealing a taste that wasn't enough. He angled his lips across hers, and delved deeper, possessing her, memorizing her. He committed every curve of her body, each flavor she sparked, each movement of her across his mouth. And none of it was enough.

Cece pulled back just enough to speak against his lips. “Killian, we shouldn't do this.”

“One good reason why not,” he breathed against her. “Just one.”

“I...” She slipped her hands tighter around his waist. “I can't.”

“We'll figure out how to get you out of this contract,” he said.

“Killian, just take me home and fuck me.”

Killian opened the door on Cece's side of the car offered his hand. Cece took it and he helped her out of the car. His hand was soft, warm, and steady as he guided her out of the car, and over to the elevator to his apartment. Killian lived in one of the prettiest buildings in downtown and when he opened the door on the fifteenth floor, she was delighted—the Allegheny River was right there, and she could see the Warhol Museum across the way.

What the fuck am I doing?
Cece wrapped her arms around herself and walked into the living room gingerly. Just because the man she’d pined after for years had kissed her and showed an interest, she went home with him?
Shit. John.
John Smith was due at Imperial at 9.

“Wine?” Killian’s soft voice came from behind her, brushing her ear.

“You don’t have to seduce me.”

“I want to.”

Shit, shit. He’s too good to be true
. “Yes, I’d like a glass.”

He disappeared into the kitchen and Cece whipped out her phone, firing off a text to Franz.

Dusty
: I have to cancel tonight.

FD
: Is everything OK?

Dusty
: I had something come up. I can’t come in.

FD
: That’s fine. You never call out.

FD
: Smith called at noon and cancelled anyway. I’ll find out why you didn’t get the msg.

Dusty
: Thank you.

FD
: As long you’re OK

Not even remotely.

Dusty
: I will be. Someday.

FD
: Call when you have a minute. I heard about it.

Dusty
: Fab. I’ll call tomorrow.

Cece put the phone back in her purse as Killian walked over offering her the glass of white wine. She accepted gratefully. She really wanted to pound it back, but instead settled for a sip. He smiled at her, and Cece felt her heart start racing. She’d been so infatuated with this man for so long, standing in his gorgeous apartment, having just given him carte blanche to her body… She found herself trembling, almost frightened.

“Cece…”

She held up her hand. “Don’t. We’re here. This is still a terrible idea.”

He blinked a few times. “Maybe it is. You’re right that we don’t know each other. I’ve stared at you and pined over you for so long, maybe my rational brain has no control.”

Cece blinked back at him. “You’ve… pined for me.”

He laughed, mocking himself. “Stupid word. Best one I can find for this.”

She shook her head. “This isn’t just a damsel in distress reaction.”

He took a sip of his own wine, very much as though he were fortifying himself. Cece wanted to cry at the same time she couldn’t believe she had lost this much control of her situation, her whole life. His warm hazel-brown eyes stared at her, looked over her face and almost as though he saw tears in her eyes—which she was careful to keep tear free—he stepped into her, and wrapped a stray strand of hair around his finger. “You wore pigtails the first day of kindergarten. You ripped your tights on picture day in first grade, because you played Red Rover like your mom told you not to. You lost your front tooth because you got hit with a baseball in second grade. You made your mother furious when you did your make up for the Christmas pageant.” He smiled. “I thought you look so grown up, and when I found the picture in my dad’s stuff a few months ago, I almost wet myself laughing. So silly, Cece. You looked adorable with the giant blue eye shadow.”

Cece couldn’t stop the laugh- from relief and from his story. “Your father had that picture?”

“I asked him to take as many of you as he could.”

“In second grade?” She was astonished.

“I thought all girls were yucky, except you.” He took a hearty sip of wine. “It sucked that even though we were in the same social circles we weren’t really. My mother…”

“My mother
still
hates yours. She blames her for my parents marriage.”

“Marjorie wanted Angus in the worst way,” Killian agreed.

“Don’t you…” Cece paused, and Killian waited for her. “Aren’t you and Diane together?”

“Fuck that bitch,” he growled. The words, the tone, the very delivery of the statement surprised Cece. “Mom would love it if I married her. But she’s pushed her limits too many times with me. She went into my phone. She scrolled through a doctor’s phone without permission, and who the fuck knows what she saw in there. I don’t like her, I never have. Mom’s idea to cultivate a ‘relationship’ between us, which of course Diane took to like a--” He stopped, then shook his head. “I’m not with her. I don’t ever want to be with her.”

Killian turned and leveled his gaze on her. “And you don’t want Paul. Maybe we can both get out of this.”

“I have to think of Hannah.” Cece shivered, but not because of Hannah. Killian’s gaze was piercing, and for the first time in years, the urge to submit, to offer her utter and entire self to a man overwhelmed her. She wanted Killian to make everything right, and to trust him completely and just to allow her to stop thinking. And at the same time, the incredible desire to dominate him rose up and she wanted nothing more than to see him bound in rope, at her mercy completely.

But she couldn't. Not now, probably not ever.

Was that what she really wanted? To give up her entire lifestyle?

“You're thinking about more than Hannah,” Killian guessed.

“There's just so many things...”

Killian put his glass down and stepped into her“Cece, I'm confessing this now, to you, alone in my apartment. I want to get to know you. I always have. I don't care what our parents want. I don't care if you have marriage contract. I don't care if everyone thinks Diane and I are going to get married. I want to know you.” She could feel the warmth of his body so close. “I want to know every part of you.” He laid his hand on her cheek. “I want you.”

Cece closed her eyes, drinking in the warmth of his palm. It was soft, smooth. This wasn’t sex-- this was intimacy. This was something she had never been privy too. She laid her hand over his, nestling into the feeling of security and tenderness. “I have no defense against you, Killian. I melt when I see you. My walls are crumbling around me as you stand there and tell me I can have the only thing I’ve ever wanted.”

His hand slipped behind her head and she found his lips crushing hers. His taste rushed into her mouth, flooding her with his  warmth, and he pulled her into him. “Don’t think tonight, Cece,” he breathed against her. “Just be with me. Tonight, just you and me. We’ll face reality tomorrow and we’ll do what we can to make every night tonight. But not now. Not…”

She pressed into him. “I’m yours.”

To her shock, Killian dipped down and, quite literally, swept her off her feet. She gasped and he wrapped her tightly in his arms, afraid he was going to drop her. “Oh, Jesus, Killian! What are you doing!”

He placed a kiss on her lips. “The hell with seduction. You want me, I want you, and I want to enjoy every last naked minute with you.”

He swooped them into the bedroom, and Cece had just an instant to notice his very male bedroom. Big furniture, big décor, and big bed. A very nice big bed. She smirked and turned to him. “California king?”

“I’m six foot four,” he answered. “Anything smaller and I’ll fall off.” His hands caressed her shoulders and stood her next to the bed. Stepping back, she watched him as he admired her shape, the way the skirt clung to her. After a moment of consideration, he rubbed his hands together. “It’s like Christmas! I get to unwrap the gifts!”

Cece threw her head back and laughed, long and clear. She startled herself; how long had it been since she’d laughed with such abandon? Her eyes glided over his body and landed on his growing erection. “Well, I see you got me something as well.”

He cracked his knuckles and stepped up to her, plucking the first button open. “I can’t wait for you to open that gift.” In quick succession, he popped the rest of them open and exposed her lace covered breasts. Like a kid in a candy shop, he reached for the zipper on her skirt.

Cece caught his hand, and brought it back around. “Now, now. Let’s let the others open some of their gifts too.” She hiked his shirt out of his pants, and a deftly unbuttoned him with one hand and pulled the tie off with the other.

Killian’s eyebrows shot up. “That’s talent!”

Cece considered the tie for a moment, wondering if she could lash his hands together and have her way with him. Before she could take the thought further, he slid the silk out of her hands and leaned in, his wonderful, sculpted chest pressing against her hard nipples. “Someone looks like they are getting ideas. We’re unwrapping, darling.”

“Mmm, yes we are,” Cece answered, sliding her hands around his back. He had skin like satin and she imagined what it would be like to have her knots leave their marks in such a flawless canvas.

Killian dipped his head to her neck and nibbled lightly there, and an instantly later, her skirt pooled around her feet. Cece was impressed; she hadn’t even felt his hands at the zipper. “I think someone is good at unwrapping their presents.”

“Only when I can’t wait to see what inside.” Brushing the shirt off her shoulders, Killian stepped back as the cloth dropped to the floor. He looked her up and down, and she knew what he was seeing: black pumps, black stockings, the tiniest wisp of panties, garter belt to match, and black lace cup bra. The expression on his face was smoldering, and Killian managed to stop himself from rubbing his hard-on through his pants. But only just.

“That gift looks like it’s too big for the wrapping.” Cece swung her hips as she walked to close the distance between them. She reached for the button on his pants and in a flash they were down his hips and on the floor. Cece hummed her approval at his choice of boxer briefs. Her fingers trailed along his waist as she circled him, inspecting the whole package.

There was no resisting his backside. She gave it hard slap, and to her surprise the yelp she expected dropped in to a groan.
Oh really?

While she wanted a chance to explore that option, Killian grabbed her hand and pulled around to face him, and pulled her in hard. “Sweetie, I have a raging hard-on. There’s no time to play like that, not when you’re standing here in that lingerie.” He wrapped a hand around her breast and plumped. “Christ, Cece, do you always dress like this under your work clothes?”

“Almost,” she breathed. “Unless I don’t feel like wearing the panties.”

“Holy sh…” His breath drained out of his lungs slowly. “Naughty librarian.”

“Do you think about me sitting next to you like this?” Her hands snaked around to his ass and she grabbed each globe firmly.

“I might have,” he answered, slipping the cup of her bra down over, exposing her nipple. “When I saw that glorious pussy of your shimmering in your office the other day.” Two fingers pinched and pulled the beaded peak.

Cece exhaled slowly. “You liked what you saw.”

Scraping the other cup of the bra down, Killian moved behind her and palmed both of her naked breasts. “You want to know how much I liked it?” The length of shaft pressed into her back, and he whispered in her ear. “Feel how hard you get me? That day, I had to jerk myself off because it wouldn’t go away, and I couldn’t stop thinking about that pretty pussy.” His warm hand trailed down her stomach and he cupped her mound gently.

Cece leaned her head back on his chest, turning to look at him. He was there, waiting and caught her lips, while one hand teased her nipple and other was busy between her legs, pressing and pushing the flimsy material over her clit. “I want to finish unwrapping my gift.” The words danced across his lips.

“Me too.” She felt him smile against her, and then he wrapped his arms around her middle. “I go first!”

The laughter spilled out, and she tried to free herself from his embrace. Killian wasn’t having it, he pulled her back and she tried to wrestle away again, this time managing just enough room to slip her hand between them, and grab his hard length through the boxers. “I go first, you’ve already gotten to play!”

“That’s hardly enough time to be called a tease!” Killian twisted, trying to free himself from her grasp, but that only made Cece start moving her hand up and down his length. “Cheater!”

Cece spun in his arms and threw her weight against him, and they tumbled backwards onto the bed. “I don’t cheat,” she said, laughing at him. “I just make things happen the way I want them to.”

“Oh, and how do you want this to happen?” A slow thrust up with his hard cock into her sex made lascivious suggestions.

“Slow. Fast. A lot.” It was a short distance to his mouth, and she took control with a sweep of her tongue across his. “Any position you can imagine.”

“I might be open to that suggestion.” Cool, long fingers traced up her spine to the hooks on the back of her bra and in the next instant it was gone, thrown on to the floor. A warm, soft tongue, in counterpoint to his cool fingers, traced delicately over her hard nipples. The careful bite was a surprise, but not unwelcome, and Cece yelped.

“Let’s get on the bed the right way,” Cece cooed as he lost himself teasing the excited peaks she offered him willingly.