Awakened Desires (2 page)

After sliding on my black monk strap Gucci’s, I grabbed my matching suit jacket and paused. I thought,
Should I grab my piece
? I decided that I would just keep an eye out for Captain Cock-Up. The night was one hundred percent for me and me only. I worked my arse off my entire life and I deserved one evening of pure, unadulterated debauchery. The following day would be my official first day on the job.

In a rush, I left my room for the elevator, needing to get to that fiery-haired vixen. As soon as the door slid open to the lobby, there she was. Bloody hell. Stopping dead in my tracks, my breath actually caught in my throat. I wasn’t sure what that was about. Maybe I was a little thirsty. I could really have gone for a scotch, but shook it off. May God damn me for what was going to occur. With a swagger that only I could possess, I walked to her.

She was absolutely brill in her navy blue, fitted dress. Her curves threw me for a loop. So perfect, so beautiful. I couldn’t wait to tear the frock off of her body, and bend her over in front of me while I pound into her. Jesus, there was that blood rush yet again. Down J.T! I shook myself out of my fantasy and touched the small of her back as I approached her.

“Carly.” I made sure the grit in my voice was full and in charge.

“Oh…hey, Mr. Erikkson.” She gave me a sinuous smile. Christ.

“Please, call me Gunther.” I couldn’t have her calling me Mr. Erikkson. It made it sound like I was paying her to go out on a date with me. Certainly, I didn’t need to do that.

“Yes, sorry,” she said with a bashfulness that drove me right to the bloody edge. “I called my driver and made reservations at a great place.” Driver? Much better than some nutter cabbie, that was for bloody sure. With shaky fingers, she fiddled with her purse. No need to be nervous, my little vixen.

“Well, then, aren’t you little Ms. Prepared?” I smirked. The blacked-out Benz pulled up to the front entrance. Nice car, but I could think of a few better than that one.

“I am,” she said confidently. I pushed open the glass door and watched her amazing hips sway as we walked out to the car. “Thank you, Jackson,” she said as the driver opened the door and waved us in.

“You are very welcome, Ms. Reede.”

Feeling glad that the driver didn’t eyeball me, I nodded at him. Obviously, the man knew how to mind his own business. I would have paid him off if need be. “Your driver?” I asked, just as Jackson closed the door.

“My father’s. I borrowed him for the evening. My father owns the hotel. He makes me work there so I ‘have a good head on my shoulders’.” She rolled her eyes with such vigor, it made me laugh. “He would disown me because of embarrassment if he knew I was out on a date with one of our patrons.”

“Am I not good enough for Daddy’s precious princess?” I asked with a chuckle.

“I guess we’ll find that out now, won’t we?” Her eyes were full of the devil and I loved every last bit of it. The window between us and the driver was sealed up tight and it looked to be privacy glass, so I decided to go for it.

“You are a naughty little thing, aren’t you?” I said in her ear as I rubbed my thumb over her cheek, cupping her rose-tinted face. She sucked in a breath, feeling the chill of my skin. The way her lips parted… Shit. I needed a moment. I wanted to do such inappropriate things to that mouth of hers.

“What gives you that idea?” She ran her fingers down my jaw while batting her thick, blackened lashes. I pulled her close and began kissing her. A slight groan slipped out of my throat. I couldn’t help myself. She tasted delicious. Her lips were so soft and exquisite, I wanted them all over my body.

“We better stop this, or I might take you right here,” I growled in her ear after I kissed my way up her neck. She smelled amazing. Whatever fragrance she was wearing was quite magnificent on her skin. The tip of my tongue snaked out and pulled her earlobe into my mouth. She inhaled sharply as she placed her hands on my pronounced chest. Bloody hell. I hoped we had a few more minutes before we got to wherever the fuck we are going, or everyone would get a formal introduction to my John Thomas.

“Hopefully, you still feel the same way later,” she purred in my ear after she dragged her tongue up my neck. Fuck me.

“Oh, I will, love. No worries. You are mine tonight…all fucking mine. Are we clear on that?” She nodded and, once again, flashed me that smile. I decided I needed to pull away and look out the window in order to will J.T. to rest.

“How do I know that you aren’t a serial killer?” I heard her say as she was digging through her bag. When I glanced over, she was applying that pink lip gloss. Christ, she was abso-
fucking
-lutely killing me. She might give this old man a heart attack.

“Guess you will have to trust me when I say I’m not.” The car started to slow down and pull over and, discretely, I tried to adjust myself. Thankfully, my jacket came down low enough or there would be a lot of funny looks when everyone saw my bulging, tented pants.

“The driver is on our payroll.” I took that to mean no tip necessary. After Jackson opened the door, I exited the car and held out my hand to help the vixen out. She gasped a little when she felt how cold I was.
Don’t worry baby. You won’t even notice later.
They never did.

“Sorry…circulation issues. I’m an old man, you know.” I winked at her.

She giggled. “You aren’t
that
old.” I smirked, but willing to bet my left bollock that I was old enough to be her father. Before we went inside, she stopped and said, “This is Christiano’s, a local favorite. Their seafood dishes are excellent.”

“You take all your dates here?” I touched her cheek. I desperately wanted to kiss her again, but I had to dial it back a little or I would take her to a back room and make her scream endlessly.

“Nope.” She smiled at me as I escorted her inside.

It was a beautiful place. Luxurious setting, dim lighting, and the quiet murmur of sophisticated people filled the air.

“Good evening, Ms. Reede. Your usual table?” I quirked an eyebrow over the red carpet treatment. Apparently, I chose the right bird with whom to flirt.

“Yes, that would be lovely. Thank you, Richard.” We walked to the table behind him. I did the gentlemanly thing and pulled the chair out for her, then sat across the table—silently thanking J.T. for deciding to behave himself.

“Vic will be over in a moment to take your drink order.” We both nodded at the host. He was a stuffy older man—definitely toff. Far too thin, though. Poor bloke. It looked like the suit he was trying wear swallowed him. He must have forgotten that a tailor makes the man.

Carly settled in her chair and her eyes were eating me up. The lighting was perfect on her pale skin. I rubbed my forefinger and thumb on my lips, enjoying the view. She cleared her throat, bringing me out of my thoughts that were sure to head into the gutter.

“Well, Gunther, you said you’re here on business?”

“Yes.” I sat up a little.

“What kind of business do you partake in?”

“If I told you, I would have to kill you.” Her eyes popped open. I winked at her, causing her to laugh. “I’m a consultant, that’s all. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“And you consult what?”

I leaned forward. Just before I was about to spin another wicked lie, the waiter stepped up to the table. Saved by the bell, but I already had a planned response anyway. “Can I start you off with some drinks?” I was immediately irritated by his condescending demeanor and the quirky brow he threw me after he glanced at twenty-something.

“I’ll have a dry chardonnay,” Carly ordered in a soft tone. She felt the tension flowing off of me and threw me a worried look.

“And for you, sir?” he asked indignantly. I knew what he was thinking. He better wipe his misinterpreted thoughts out of his miniature mind about my date, or I would readjust his fucking want-to-be model face…or more. I would have preferred the “or more”. I glared at him. I wasn’t sure he got the hint, though, so I decided that I would let him know when he came back.

“Double scotch on the rocks,” I bit out. He spun around and waltzed off. “Captain Personality, I see,” I muttered as I turned back to the vixen. She laughed at my lame attempt at humor.

“Yes, their wait staff tends to be a little on the snobbish side. But the food is fantastic.” Her smile was devastatingly gorgeous. Hands down, she was the most beautiful woman I had ever laid eyes on.

“Hmm…he better be nicer to my date, or he and I will have a chat outside the back door.” Fortunately, she had no idea what kind of “chat” I was talking about. I’d drain the little daft bleeder and leave him for the city rats to finish up the job.

“Ohh? I like it when a man defends my honor.” Her eyebrows wiggled, and I chuckled a bit.

The waiter brought the drinks back and, rather hastily, set hers down. As he was putting mine down, I grabbed his wrist, causing him to hiss. Squeezing it to nearly the snapping point, I curled my lip into a snarl.

“How about you show the lady a bit more respect.” I glared at him, more seriously this time. My jaw muscle was twitching, and the fire was flickering in the pit of my stomach. My eyes matched the heated feeling that I was experiencing in my belly. Then, through my clenched jaw, I added, “Pick up the fucking glass and set it back down properly.”

He reached over and picked up the glass of wine, with a newfound kid-glove approach, and set it back down in front her like he should have in the first place. He looked at me for approval and I motioned with my chin at her, indicating he needed to apologize. God help him if he didn’t.

He cleared his throat and looked back at twenty-something. “I apologize, miss, for my inexcusable behavior.” I let go of his wrist and, with fear in his eyes and caution in his movements, he set my drink down.

Carly smiled at me. “Thank you,” she murmured.

Needless to say, the waiter was extra polite and helpful the rest of the evening. It may have been because I put the fear of God in him—God being me. He most definitely feared me. Who wouldn’t?

Dinner was amazing, just as she said it would be. I ordered a seared citrus-glazed salmon, and she ordered some sort of seared tuna. Whatever it was, it looked bloody tasty. We shared a crème brûlée for dessert and had another drink before we decided it was time to take off for the second half of our date.

Just as we were about to head out, I asked the question that was burning me up, “You have a flat around here, or do you want to go back to Daddy’s hotel?”

She laughed. “You are a little bold, aren’t you?”

“No sense in beating about the bush, yeah?”

She laughed again. “My place. If I get caught by anyone, my father would skin me alive.” Just then, Jackson pulled up to the entrance of the restaurant. Perfect timing because I was ready to get my second dessert.

A few minutes later, we rolled up to the building that her flat was in. It was five floors of pure contemporary swank. Natural coloring, clean lines, and an airy feel with the high ceilings. Pretty sweet. As we walked to the bank of elevators, I could have sworn that I saw Captain Cock-Up get out of the one next to us. Then I figured my mind was playing tricks on me, trying to make my life easier. I parked that in the back of my mind to check on later.

Once the elevator door shut smoothly, I couldn’t keep my hands off of her. I drew her close to me and kissed her like I hadn’t kissed anyone before. I pushed her up against the wall and ground my hips into her, trapping her body. I wanted to stop the elevator and fuck her right there, but I did my best to behave myself. It was a difficult task with someone so gorgeous.

When we made it to her front door, she opened it and a gush of citrus spice infiltrated my nostrils. It was one of my favorite combinations. It always jacked me up. Not that I wasn’t already jacked up to begin with, nor did I need any help
getting
jacked up.

“It’s not too much. I’m not a big home kind of girl. I like cozy, and two bedrooms suits my needs because it’s just me.” It wasn’t cozy. She must have grown up in a bloody castle for her to think it was cozy. The flat replicated the same styling as the lobby—clean and simple, high ceilings. Her furniture was also high end.

“Looks nice. Great taste,” I said like I knew anything about décor.

Small talk. Small talk. Small fucking talk
.

“Thanks. I decorated it myself. Care for another drink?” she murmured as we moved further into her flat.

“Absolutely.”

As she walked to the kitchen, I shrugged off my jacket and laid it over the back of the couch just before I sat down. She brought out two glasses of wine and sat down on the couch not that far away from me.

“Hope you like chardonnay because that’s all I drink.”

“Works for me.” I tipped it back, downing about half of it. Not bad. I was ready to get on with it. The idle chit chat bullshit was not for me.

“You are a man of few words, aren’t you?” She smiled as she ran her finger around the lip of the glass.

“Yeah.” We both laughed. Then I looked at her in that “get your pretty little fanny over here” kind of way. “Come here, Carly,” I summoned while rubbing the cushion next to me. She scooted over, closer to me. I tipped back the rest of my wine and set the glass on the table. “Kiss me.”

“Are you going to be bossy?” Her eyes were half-closed, probably from all the wine that she drank at dinner.

“Maybe,” I said in my signature deep rumble. She finished her glass of wine and set it down next to mine.

“I like being bossed around.” Jesus Christ. A woman who liked to be bossed around was the biggest turn on for me.

I moved in closer, millimeters away from her face. “Baby, I’m
so
fucking good at that,” I growled. After palming the back of her neck, I forcefully pulled her into me. It was time to continue what we started in the elevator.

I explored her mouth with my tongue, possessing every bit of it. She groaned, then shifted so she was straddling my lap. Bloody hell. Her curvy thighs felt fantastic around my hips. J.T. decided to make a full appearance.

“Good girl,” I murmured against her lips. My voice was gritty and I nipped her pouty bottom lip. She rested her hands on my pecks and began unbuttoning my shirt. I kissed her neck and headed for her collarbone. The throbbing started and J.T. was looking for an escape route. I shifted to relieve some of the tension.