Creed (The Marquette Family Book One) (12 page)

“Creed?” she whispered.

“Open the curtains, Shada,” came the low reply.

She managed to get around the desk and pull back the curtain. Moonlight illuminated the office enough for her to see him standing near the door. He gestured for her to come to him, and she hurried over. As soon as she reached him, Creed tugged her to his chest and kissed her lips. A sound outside the door made them freeze again. She started to speak, but Creed covered her mouth. Her heart hammered so loud, it was a wonder Rene didn’t hear it through the door.

Rene moved away, but she heard him fussing in French. She didn’t understand a word, but he must be pissed at the mess in the kitchen. “I’m going out there. I don’t want him to think I left it that way.”

Creed pulled her hand off the doorknob. “You can explain it to him later, when I’m finished with you.”

She grinned in the darkness, scarcely able to see his face but sure his eyes glittered with lust. Nothing could dampen it, including the risk of discovery. Meanwhile, she felt like she might collapse with nerves.

“We can’t do it again, with Rene so close.”

Another condom appeared from nowhere, it seemed. She started to pull away. He caught her. Creed put her silently against the door, legs spread, the head of his cock against her pussy. The man was already hard again.

Or maybe he never went soft.

“Are you telling me no?”

Damn him. She moaned. “Creed, you know I can’t tell you no.”

He sank inside her. She started to cry out, but he covered her mouth. A wonderful pounding began again, and Shada decided to put off until tomorrow thinking about whether Rene could identify where the steady thump against the door had come from. All she cared about right now was pleasing her man and being pleasured by him the rest of the night.

* * * *

In the light of day—well, four o’ clock might not be the light of day, but it was technically another day—Shada questioned whether she’d lost her everlasting mind. She did her best to clean up in the bathroom off Creed’s office, and then she tossed her panties in a grocery bag before stuffing them under a pile of papers in his trashcan. Her pussy was sore, again, and Creed had left her alone to go speak with Rene, who had never left the restaurant. How the heck was she going to show her face out there? This was crazy. Her obsession with Creed had to have some boundaries, some freaking rules.

When she forced herself to go to the kitchen, her muttered, “Morning,” to Rene was met with a grunted response. He didn’t even turn around. She saw that the mess she had made was now gone, and she grimaced. “Um, sorry about the state of the kitchen. I meant to clean it up before anyone else arrived.”

No comment.

“Well, I’m not due in until this afternoon, so I’m going home,” she said. “I’ll see you later.”

“Bonjou.”

She sighed and walked out to the main dining room. Before she reached the front door, Creed called to her, and she glanced back. He approached her, looking remarkably fresh for someone who hadn’t slept all night. She was pretty sure she looked a hot mess.

“I want to talk to you,” he said.

“Not now, Creed. I’m tired, and I probably stink.”

He grinned. “You don’t. You smell like—”

“Don’t even. What did you want to talk about?”

“Us.”

Butterflies stirred in her stomach. Did he expect her to get any sleep before her shift? “There’s not really anything to talk about.”

“There is. How about ten, my office?”

“Don’t you have to prepare for the lunchtime rush?” She was so glad she had the time off today. The prep for dinner was all she was responsible for. Tomorrow, Rene was off, and she would be the one in charge. She looked forward to it.

“I’m adjusting my schedule to suit yours. Besides, all I do is put out an occasional fire.”

She smirked. “Please, you know you’re more valuable than that.”

He touched her cheek with the back of his knuckles, and a shiver ran down her spine. “Thanks. So ten?”

“Fine, but not your office. A café or something.”

He agreed to meet her at Marquette’s and then for the two of them to walk over to the café on Royal. She left him then and headed home. First, she checked on Marisa and found her sister sleeping peacefully. Afterward, she showered and dropped naked into her own bed. Brushing her bare skin, the sheets were a reminder of how Creed’s hands had felt doing the same thing. She shut her eyes, and images of their office adventure came flooding back. And then there was his insistence that they talk about them. There was no “us” as far as she knew, except he had called her body his earlier. Maybe he wasn’t ready to stop having sex with her. She didn’t blame him. They were good together, physically, and she’d be lying if she said she had had enough. If a woman could get enough of Creed’s body, Shada knew nothing of it.

Rather than sleeping, she lay awake all morning, going over and over what she wanted if Creed said he wanted a standing arrangement between them. Could that be it? She’d said she was no man’s mistress, because she didn’t like the connotations of it. Yet in this day and age, it wasn’t about the man alone, about meeting
his
needs. Hell, Creed could be
her
paramour. She laughed at the ridiculousness of it, especially since neither of them were married.

At nine, Shada climbed out of bed in defeat. She brushed her teeth, washed her face, and dressed. Marisa met her in the kitchen, and Shada kissed the top of her sister’s head. “Hungry?”

“Not really, but since I know you’ll lecture me on the importance of keeping my strength up, I’ll have bacon and eggs, please.”

Shada eyed her sister. “Someone wake up on the wrong side of the bed?”

Marisa groaned. “I’m sorry. I’m just…”

“What?” Shada sank down into a chair opposite Marisa and took her hands. “You don’t usually get up without me waking you. Did you sleep badly?”

“Not exactly.”

“Sis, you’re starting to worry me.”

Marisa groaned and pulled her hands from Shada’s. “I’m in a foul mood because I feel like I have to tell you something.”

“Spill it.” Both Creed and Marisa wanted to rob her of peace. Why they had to offer cryptic hints about needing to talk, she didn’t know, but she was over it already.

“I…” Marisa swallowed.

Shada did her best to wait in silence. Patience didn’t enter into the equation.

Marisa rubbed her arms. She wore a heavy winter nightie, even though the temperature outside was warm, and beneath it, Shada guessed, her sister wore socks.

“I had sex,” she blurted.

Shada blinked at her. Now that she could respond, she had nothing.

“You’re not saying anything, Shada.” Marisa twisted her hands. Why did she come off looking like a teenager confessing to her mother about being sexually active?

Like a mother, Shada felt teary, but she held it in. “I’m not sure what to say,” she admitted. “When? Last night?”

“No, days ago, when—”

“When you collapsed.” Shada ground her teeth. The rage she had felt against Damen resurfaced.

Marisa must have sensed it. She reached out to Shada and grasped her hands. “Don’t be mad, Shada. Just listen, okay? Can you do that?”

Shada rolled her eyes. “Fine, go ahead.”

Marisa sat back. “I’m sorry I lied to you.”

“We always tell each other the truth.”

“I know.” Guilt colored the eyes Shada loved more than any others. “I’m sorry. Damen and I did go to the bowling alley, but then we realized I can’t bowl. We had a good laugh, and he asked me what I wanted to do.”

“Then he dragged you to his apartment?”

Marisa frowned at Shada, and Shada fell silent. She had promised to listen.

“
I
suggested we go to his place.”

Shada refused to believe her.

“I did, Shada. I knew I could seduce him.”

“You’re kidding.”

Marisa’s face fell. “Are you saying a man wouldn’t want me?”

“Of course not, sis. You’re beautiful. Plenty would. I’m just saying it’s hard to believe you would set out to get a man in bed.”

Marisa grinned, appearing proud of herself. “Well, I did. He was hesitant at first, but I was determined.”

“Oh, Marisa.”

“I don’t regret it, Shada. I lost my virginity. I’m finally a woman.”

Shada couldn’t help but laugh. “You’ve been a woman for years now.”

“Agewise, but now I’ve had my rite of passage to lose my virginity.”

“Isn’t that more of a male thing?”

“It’s for everyone,” she declared and laughed.

She appeared more relaxed now that she had shared her secret. Shada could at least be satisfied with that. Marisa did seem more womanly right then, but it could be all in Shada’s head.

“He was gentle and considerate, and now that I’ve had time to rest, I can look back at it with fond memories.”

Shada snorted. “Fond, huh? I don’t remember my first time being anything to describe with that word.”

Marisa raised her chin, her eyebrows arched in superiority. “That’s because I had mine with a man. You did it with a fumbling boy.”

“Touché.” Shada hugged her. “I just don’t like you getting hurt, sis.”

Marisa gave her a light squeeze and leaned back. “I know, but I wanted to do at least one thing all women do, something normal, before I die.”

A sharp pain arrowed through Shada. “Don’t talk like that. You’re going to be around a long time.”

“Do you understand how I feel, Shada?”

“Of course.”

And she did. Everyone had desires, and Marisa’s sickness didn’t lessen hers for intimacy and the attentions of a man. Shada had always protected her sister, but most of the men Marisa had ever met either hightailed it when they found out she was sickly, or tried to take advantage of her. Shada ran off the losers, but she had failed to keep Damen away. The more she thought about what they had done, the more she began to think maybe it was good that Marisa had had the experience and that she didn’t regret it.

That didn’t mean Shada wouldn’t skin him when she saw him. She had enjoyed the bruise she left on his face and suffered with satisfaction the swollen hand she’d got from clocking him.

Shada stood up. “I have a morning meeting, so we better get moving. In fact, I’m probably going to be late.”

“I’m sorry for keeping you.”

Shada walked to the refrigerator and opened the door. “Don’t worry about it. You’ll always come first.” She froze and then leaned around the door to glare at Marisa. “You used protection, didn’t you?”

Marisa blushed. Now the woman had the nerve to show embarrassment. “Yes, we did.”

“Good. No babies for us.”

* * * *

Shada sat across from Creed, holding a coffee between her hands. She wasn’t a big fan of coffee unless she had made the concoction herself, sweetening it and adding flavors that all but disguised the coffee taste. Pointless, so she didn’t drink it often, except on days like today when she had had little sleep. The caffeine did nothing to calm her nerves, as if it could. Instead, they were jangled into a tight mess, and she wished to be anywhere other than across from the man who brought her body alive in ways she had only imagined. Things might be about to get a lot more complicated.
And what’s complicated for me?
She had no idea what she wanted him to say or what she hoped he
wouldn’t
say.

Unlike Marisa earlier, Creed seemed to be relaxed. His crisp white shirt lay open at the throat, giving her a glimpse of his smooth, hairless chest. She liked that about him and recalled the feeling of his hot, taut skin beneath her fingers. No one could deny she was attracted to him.
At least I haven’t fallen in love with him.

She started at the thought and shifted in her seat. A gulp of coffee burned her tongue, and she frowned. “Are you going to tell me what this is about?”

“First, I want to be straight with you,” he said, meeting her gaze. “I want you in my bed regularly.”

She licked her lips, her body growing hot. “Really?” Going for casual wasn’t working.

“Yes, really. We’re good together. You admit that, right?”

“Yeah, I’m not opposed to it.”

He grinned, amused. “Good. I don’t often meet a woman who likes my…darker side.”

Shada smirked at him. “Darker, huh?” She leaned forward. “Are you into the BDSM lifestyle?”

His eyes widened, and he laughed. “No, nothing like that. Wait, are you?”

“No.” She glanced around to see if they were being overheard. Most of the café’s patrons were busy in conversations of their own or standing in line to place their order before they rushed back to work. “I like what you do to me. I like being spanked, and I like it rough. That’s as far as I’ve ever gone, and I don’t fantasize about more.”

He nodded. “I don’t meet a woman often who can take me like that.” His gaze roved over what he could see of her body, and he lingered on her breasts. Shada was proud of them, their size and how they seemed to mesmerize Creed until he couldn’t stop touching them. While she loved being dominated during sex with him, his weakness for her breasts gave her a sense of power she didn’t mind.

“I have the same problem,” she admitted. “You’d be surprised at how hard it is to find a man strong enough to handle me.”

“Hmm.” Her words seemed to please him. “We’re in synch in that regard. So if I asked you to be my long-term lover, you would agree.”

The words weren’t a question, but she nodded anyway.

“However, I have another concern.”

The butterflies were back. “What do you mean?”

“I need an heir.”

She blinked at him. “Come again?”

“I want a child, someone I can leave my share of the corporation to.”

Shada’s mouth fell open. She had gone over various scenarios of what he might want to talk to her about, and she expected a discussion on them continuing as lovers. Never this. “A baby?”

“Yes, I want a baby.”

Fear closed her throat, and she pushed the coffee away lest she choke on it with the next sip. “I’m not having your baby, Creed.”

Surprise registered on his handsome face. She didn’t know if it had to do with her presumption that he was asking her to have his baby, or if he didn’t expect her to deny him.