Possessed By You (Overworld Underground Book 1) (28 page)

That smile is for me.

I felt so lucky, so happy, and a little frightened. Now that I'd had mind-blowing sex, I should be able to slow down, right? Take things at a reasonable pace. Perhaps I shouldn't even entertain the idea of sex tonight. The low burn in my lady parts intensified. My body apparently didn't agree with such an idea. But I couldn't let this man sweep me away. I would only end up broken against him and swept back out into the void of lonely depression I'd endured the last time I'd allowed myself to feel so strongly for another.

Judging by the way my heart beat harder as I looked at Tyler, it wasn't giving me much of a choice.

He handed me the rose, and tipped my mouth up to meet his for a sweet kiss. "Hello, Emily."

"Hello, Tyler." My voice betrayed a slight tremble.

We stepped into the lift, and Tyler pressed his thumb to the reader. The doors closed and he looked me over with hungry eyes. "My God, you look stunning." His lips curled into a grin. "I just want to take you right here."

"Why, Mr. Rock, how very forward you are."

He crossed the space in a heartbeat, his hand cupping my chin. I shivered, my body wanting to feel him against me. His eyes looked hungrily at my lips. He leaned closer. "May I take liberties with your lip, Emily?"

Oh dear.

I nodded as my body shivered in delicious anticipation. He made me feel so helpless. So desired. So sexy.

His lips took my lower lip and tugged. Just when I thought he'd release it, I felt the sting of his teeth as he nipped me. I pressed myself against him, standing on tiptoes and taking his lip between my teeth. He groaned, and hardened.

"So," I said, my breath shuddering from my chest. "Are you the main course?"

The lift stopped, and the doors slid open. He shook his head, and gave me a predatory look. "Oh no, my dear. You are." His arm wrapped around my waist, and cradled my body without effort, carrying me from the lift and into his penthouse.

The delicious aroma of cooked veggies tickled my nose. I buried my face in his chest and sighed, breathing him in. He set me down. Nipped me on the neck, and drew in a breath.

"Dessert before or after?"

Everything I'd told myself about waiting and being patient flew from my mind and scattered in his presence. I
wanted
him. It felt so right being in his arms.

"What do you want?" I asked.

He swept me off my feet again, both literally and figuratively, his mouth set in a wolfish smile. "I want dessert before
and
after."

I was still sore. I still had so many doubts. But everything was forgotten as he worked his teeth down my neck, and then ran his tongue lightly up to my ear lobe. He put me on the bed and lay down next to me.

"Would you like to try something different?" he said, leaning on his elbow.

"Different how?" I asked, curious and apprehensive.

"Have you ever been blindfolded?"

My stomach twinged. "Blindfolded?" I couldn't help but wonder if he somehow knew about my little field trip to the high school.

A predatory smile lit his features. "Or been tied down?"

I suddenly didn't feel like having desert. "Tied down?" I sat up, and straightened my dress. "Just what sort of things are you into, Tyler?"

His grin faltered. "I'm sorry. I just thought it might be fun."

"To tie me down and have your way with me?"

"Well, when you put it like that, yes." His grin returned.

I rolled my eyes and pushed myself off the end of the bed. "I don't know that I'd ever be into something like that. A little kink is fine, but—" I broke off as thoughts of him doing such sordid things with other women broke into my mind.

What made him think about blindfolding me out of the blue? Did he somehow know what I'd done today?

Chapter 25

He hopped off the bed and came up behind me, his hands rubbing down my arms. "I'm sorry. I've never tried anything like it before, but I thought—well, it seemed like it might be fun."

I turned and gave him a raised eyebrow. "You've never tried it, and yet you think I might want to on our second, uh, go-around?"

"Technically, it'd be our fourth." His eyes looked amused.

"Don't you get technical with me." I tried and failed to be cross with him. "Are you certain you've never tried these things with other women?"

He kissed me. "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable."

I looked at him, expecting to see a twitch of dishonesty in his gaze, but couldn't detect any falsehoods. If only I could read his bloody mind. Additionally, his blindfolding question seemed innocent enough—well, at least when concerned with my new undercover career.

He ran a hand up my arm, drawing goose bumps as he did. His hand continued to my neck, grabbing a handful of hair and giving it a gentle tug. I shivered and felt my doubts melting away. His teeth and lips settled the matter, taking turns with my earlobes and neck.

I leaned back into him, tangling my arms about his neck, and nibbling on his lips. I turned and looked into his eyes. "Be gentle with me, Tyler. I don't know how much I'm ready for yet. I hardly know you. I—"

He pressed a finger to my lips. "Just enjoy the moment. Sometimes, it's all we have."

I smiled. Nodded. "Okay. Just no mad scientist experiments quite yet."

He laughed. "That leaves me plenty of room to operate." He spun us around and pushed me back on the bed. I lay back on it as he leaned over me, his muscular arms planted to either side, and kissed me with a passion that left me breathless.

We were both panting by the time we finished. I realized, in a detached way, that my red dress had managed to stay on me despite our energetic sex. Tyler pulled out of me and rolled to my side, putting his arm under my neck and pulling me against him. He bit my lip to a point just shy of pain. "You captivate me, Emily. When you're away, I have trouble thinking of anything else. The world makes no sense in your absence."

I smiled, running my fingers through his hair, feeling the dampness of sweat our bodies had generated.
I
had filled this man with desire.
Me.
How could I resist a man who said such poetic things? "Are you unable to tie your shoes without me, Tyler?"

He laughed, his body vibrating against mine. "Just barely." He stood, gloriously naked, a sheen of sweat glistening along the length of his body. It enhanced every hard corner and fluid curve of his muscular body.

"You are so hot," I said. My eyes went wide the moment I realized I'd said that aloud.

His sculpted lips curved into a pleased grin. "If only you could see yourself through my eyes. Especially in that red dress." He held out a hand to me, assisted me off the bed. "Shall we have dinner now?"

I had forgotten all about food after such a filling dessert. My stomach rumbled to indicate it, however, had not. "Yes."

I freshened up in the bathroom, using a towel to clean my still-flushed face as Tyler put on his clothes. He set out dinner—chicken breasts with a light sauce, and a mix of veggies—at a table near the huge glass window overlooking the park. Darkness had already claimed the sky. The city lights flickered like stars, the shadows of skyscrapers cutting into the canopy on the horizon.

"How's the chicken?" he asked as I took a bite.

The tender meat melted in my mouth. "Oh, it's delicious. Like an orgasm in my mouth."

He chuckled. "I can give you a real orgasm in your mouth if you'd like." His wink sent shivers through me.

"Oh, is that part of another dessert?"

"Perhaps." He looked out into the night and his smile flattened, his face suddenly pensive.

"You're not eating much," I said. "Is everything okay?"

He seemed not to hear me at first, and then looked back. "Hmm?"

I repeated myself.

"Everything is amazing." He frowned. "Too amazing."

My stomach tensed. "How so?"

He smiled. Shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Sorry. Sometimes I overthink things."

He overthinks things?
If only he knew how many thoughts he sent skittering through my little mind. "Like what?" I hoped he wasn't reconsidering whatever it was we had. And was what it we had, exactly? It wasn't quite a relationship.

"There are things you don't know about me," he said after a long pause. "Things I'm afraid to tell you." He turned and folded my hand into both of his. His skin felt so warm against mine, almost too warm to be normal. It reminded me a bit of Thomas.

"You're not a mass murderer are you?" I said, injecting a teasing tone to my voice, though my insides clenched at what his terrible secret might be.

"No." He gave me a wan smile. "Great. I'm dragging down the evening."

"Did you suffer some great childhood trauma?" I asked, curious to know what in the world was bothering him.

"I—yes, I suppose I did." He shook his head and dropped my hands, his gaze returning to the blanket of darkness outside. "I guess it's kind of fucked me up a little."

"Well, with a father like Cyrus Rock, I imagine you have your share of bad tales."

He gave me a sideways glance. "Oh. Yeah."

Curiosity burned in me, but I didn't want to pry. Okay, I really did want to pry, but I didn't want to bug the hell out of him with a million questions. I looked down at my plate and was surprised to find I'd demolished everything on it. Tyler had hardly touched his. Considering the way he usually ate, I knew something really had to be bothering him.

The cheer and warmth seemed to evaporate from the room, as something consumed his attention. Finally, he looked at me. "I like you Emily. I can't stop thinking about you. When I close my eyes, I see your face, those piercing blue eyes and shimmering hair billowing around you like an angel. And then you smile. You have the sexiest little dimples, did you know that?"

I caught myself smiling and blushing, showing my dimples, I was sure. "I wouldn't call them sexy, exactly."

He traced his thumb across my cheeks. "I find them irresistible." He leaned back in his chair. "You are irresistible."

"Then what's the problem? And don't tell me nothing, because something is eating you up inside."

He nodded. "I don't know if I'm ready."

"For what?"

"To say. But I can't expect more of you, not without you knowing." He turned his sad green eyes on me, and my heart wilted.

"As long as you're not hiding something criminal, I'll understand," I said, and took his hand. I kissed his knuckles. "I want you to be honest with me when you're ready."

"And you'll tell me what happened to you, Emily? What demons so haunt you?"

An ache caught in my chest. I nodded. "It's only fair."

He sighed. "We'll see about that." Some of his appetite seemed to return and he cleaned his plate while I sipped on a sweet white wine, my mind churning through a million possibilities.

Had his father sexually abused him? Or was he just troubled by a childhood dominated by a tyrannical father? I was dying to know every last thing about this man. To know what shaped him into what he was today. Tyler seemed so confident in his decisions. So friendly and outgoing, but with the commanding presence of a leader, someone who wasn't afraid to make a final decision and go with it. It made his uncertainty tonight all the more baffling.

"I'd like to have you for the weekend." Tyler's typical confident smile returned. "Unless you have plans already."

"I don't know." I took out my smartphone and viewed my empty calendar. "Oh dear, I'm booked for a month solid. I have bridge club, a tiddlywinks tournament, and the President is expecting me to address the nation."

He took the phone from my hands and looked at it. "Emily, has anyone ever told you how naughty it is to lie?" He typed something in on the phone, a sly grin spreading across his face. "Now you're booked." He handed the phone to me.

I looked and saw "Tyler Rock" listed as a recurring event on every day of my calendar. Under today's date was something else. I looked at it. "Spanked for lying?" I said with a giggle.

"Sentence to be carried out immediately." He lifted me from my chair in an easy motion and bent me across his lap. He held my arms by the wrists behind my back.

"Tyler Rock, don't you dare!" I struggled, but his grip was like iron. Hot desire pooled in my stomach. I stopped wriggling. "You've been wanting to spank me, haven't you?"

I felt his hot breath next to my ear. "Ever since I first saw you." His other hand pulled my dress up, exposing my bare bottom. I felt a flush heat my skin.

"Oh Emily, I see you're blushing. All the way down to your—"

"Tyler!" I squirmed, but he held me tight. His hand squeezed a buttock and I gasped at the thought of what he was about to do. His hand left my skin, and then smacked down hard, pressing against the pain. "Ow!"

"Was that too hard?"

I shivered. "No."

Smack!

"Oh fuck!" The pain shot through my skin.

"Do you promise to be good?" he said in a low voice, his teeth nibbling my ear.

"Absolutely not." I wondered what in God's name was wrong with me that this sort of pain actually turned me on.

His hand slapped my backside again. I squealed with pain.

"Okay, enough." The intensity was too much to bear. "Please, Tyler, let me up."

He stood, setting me on my feet in an instant, bracing me as I swayed from the blood rushing to my head. His hands pulled my dress back down.

"Was it too much?"

I threw my arms around his neck, one of my hands knotting in his hair and pulling it, my body sick with desire for him to quench the fire he'd started in me. He pulled me into the bedroom, flinging me on the bed and lying atop me. His kisses stretched from one end of my body to the other while his hands tore off my dress. The anticipation was torturous. I wanted him inside me this instant.

We finished together some time later. Tyler smiled at me and pecked my nose before dropping to my side. I felt warm and contented against him, and closed my eyes, drawing in his scent. I hoped this feeling would never end.