Decadent Master (15 page)

She was on fire. Her pussy burned for his touch, and she couldn’t help rocking her hips back and forth, grinding against his leg. The friction only made it worse.

Would he kiss her? Would he fuck her with his cock, not his fingers, not a toy, but that glorious rod? She’d waited so long, dreamed, wished, hoped.

He was trembling against her, his skin searing to the touch but smooth as satin. She stroked his arms, her fingertips mapping the crests between thick muscles and blood vessels beating with life.

He backed up a little and she thought the moment was over. She felt herself slumping forward, having lost his support, but he caught her, scooped her off her feet, and carried her down to her room.

Could it be? Had he decided…?

He set her on the bed and stared down at her with a fierce, dark expression that made her want to whimper. Then he bent down and kissed her and she really did whimper. More than once.

His kiss was soft at first, a reluctant, patient taste. Oh so good. Oh so devastating, as she’d expected it would be.

He didn’t have to use his tongue to make her surrender. His lips were all he needed. She was his to do with as he wished. Body, mind, and soul.

His hands held her shoulders, pressing them down into the mattress while his mouth took her captive. She never wanted it to end, this sweet torment. This was the moment she’d craved, and it was more magical than she could have imagined.

And then he deepened the kiss and she lost all ability to think. His tongue slipped into her mouth and she was at his mercy, powerless to do anything but give everything he asked of her.

This was where she wanted to be: with Dierk, beneath him, giving everything she had and was to him. She hoped, as she poured out her emotions in her kiss, that he wouldn’t run away again.

His hand found an opening in her toga, and soon his fingertip was tracing a line down the center of her torso. Between her breasts, down her stomach, to her shaved mound. She tried to part her legs, but he crawled overtop of her and caught them between his knees. Damn him.

Within moments, she was tight all over and trembling, a hard, steady beat pulsing between her legs, her head spinning, her breath coming in hard little gasps. Still, he kissed her. Still, he teased her with soft touches and strokes.

“Promise me you won’t stop,” she whispered against his mouth. “Promise me you won’t let me go again.”

“I…can’t promise.” He sat back and gazed down upon her. He looked at her lovingly but his eyes were still dark and full of emotion. “You don’t know me. You have no idea who I really am.”

“But that’s only because you haven’t let me know you. You hide yourself in shadows. Why?”

“Because I’m not free to give myself to anyone.”

“Are you saying…you’re married?”

He looked away. “No, not yet.”

Her blood chilled. She curled her fingers into tight fists. The air in the room thinned. She couldn’t breathe. “What does that mean?”

“It means I’m engaged.”

Certain now that she would cry, she grabbed two corners of the sheet and pulled them around herself, encasing her body and arms. She swallowed a sob. “Well, I guess that explains a lot.”

“I do care about you. You know that. But I have promised…I can’t back out now.” Ironically, he backed away from her, moving off the bed. He rubbed his kiss-swollen mouth with his hand.

“I see.” She was going to be sick. Her insides felt like they’d been slashed through with a knife. “I’ve never seen you with…her. Oh wait. Please tell me it isn’t Tabitha.”

“It isn’t Tabitha. She was interested in becoming a member of Twilight.”

“Oh, I think she was interested in more than that,” she snapped, letting her anger slip through in the sarcastic comment.

“I had a suspicion. My brother set her up for disappointment. He doesn’t approve of my…” He took yet another step backward. Another, and another. At the door, he paused. “I wish I’d known.”

“Known what?”

He didn’t answer right away. “How it felt to be with you.”

“I guess I’m sorry for you then.”

His expression hardened. “I’d rather have your rage than your pity. That’s why I couldn’t tell you before now.”

She dragged her hands over her eyes. “Sorry. But that’s all you’ll get from me.”

“H
e’s what!” Kristy screeched. She clapped her hands over her ears and moaned. “It’s too early for this kind of shock. I need caffeine. Lots of it, and then you’re going to tell me what happened last night.” Barefoot and wearing a pair of cropped sweats and a Duran Duran T-shirt, Kristy shuffled into the kitchen.

Following her, with the intention of getting a big glass of water and some aspirin for her hangover, Wynne muttered, “I never would’ve guessed.”

“Me neither. If I had, I wouldn’t have encouraged you to go after him.”

“I know.”

“I asked around, but nobody knew much about him, outside of his relationship to Rolf.” After filling the coffeemaker and switching it on, Kristy gave her a long hug. “I’m so sorry. Engaged? The bastard.”

“But that’s just it. He isn’t a bastard. He didn’t do anything to encourage my feelings. Exactly the opposite, he kept discouraging me. Right from the beginning, he’s been avoiding me. Until last night…” Wynne sat at the kitchen table, plunked her elbows on the tabletop, and dropped her chin on her fists.

“What happened?” Kristy looked so miserable, it made Wynne feel worse.

“Um…nothing,” she lied. She just couldn’t tell Kristy everything, knowing it would make her friend pity her more. “He took me to his house and let me sleep in his spare bedroom. I was wasted, and I was an idiot, but he didn’t try to take advantage of the situation. Not once.” She sighed. “I think it’s time to adopt some cats and retire from the dating scene.”

“Oh, honey…” Kristy, a full cup of coffee in her hand, sat beside her. “Maybe a trip to Twilight’ll make things better?”

“I don’t know.” Wynne shook two aspirin out of the bottle. She raised her glass. “I gave in and made an appointment with Rolf for tomorrow night, but I think I’m going to cancel it.”

Kristy lifted her coffee cup. “Fair enough. I won’t try to change your mind if that’s what you want to do.” She tapped her cup against Wynne’s. “To mending hearts.”

“I’ll drink to that.”

That bastard was meeting someone today, and Dierk was pretty damn sure he knew who that someone was. This was why he’d punched the hole in the wall. This was also why he’d decided it was better if he stayed locked in his office with the monitors shut off.

If he saw them together, he would have no choice but to do something about it.

His plan would have worked if only he’d been able to avoid leaving his office. But fate, being the bitch she was, had thrown a wrench in his plans. He’d had to go out into the main dungeon and he’d seen them.

One minute, he was standing a safe distance away, discussing a problem with his security manager and the other, he was in an up close and personal staredown with Rolf. There was no way in hell he was going to lose.

Wynne looked annoyed, or maybe angry. She had every right to be. So did his fucking brother, but he couldn’t help himself. She was his, dammit. His. No other man could adore her as much as he did. Worship her. Love her.

He ached to tell her. At least then she’d know. But he couldn’t, dammit. It would hurt her too much.

“What are you doing, brother?” Rolf said through gritted teeth. His eyes narrowed into a hard glare. “I am a member in good standing and have broken no rules.”

“I know,” Dierk snapped.

“Dierk, Rolf?” Wynne set one hand on each of their shoulders.

How he hated her touching any man but him. The sight made his insides coil into hard knots. Practically trembling from the effort of holding in his building rage, he cupped her cheek and stared into her lovely eyes. “Wynne, it’s okay. I need to talk to my brother for a minute. Only a minute.”

Rolf gave her an assenting nod.

She stepped back and wrapped her arms around herself. “O-okay. I’ll go get a drink at the bar—”

“Anything you want. It’s on the house.” Dierk jerked his head toward the door.

Rolf followed him back into his office but, even after a succinct and no doubt less than friendly invitation to sit, he stood just inside the door. “We’re alone now. So what’s this all about?”

“Wynne.”

“Yeah, I kinda guessed that much.” Rolf leaned a hip against a chair. “What about her?”

“You can’t play with her anymore.”

“What gives you the right to tell me that?”

“I love her.”

Rolf shook his head. He didn’t just hear what he thought he had. No way in hell.

His brother Dierk didn’t fall in love with women, he used them and then disposed of them when he was through. The word
love
didn’t exist in his vocabulary. How many times had Dierk told him that love wasn’t real? That it was a myth, like the legend of the magical unicorn? A pretty figment of humanity’s collective imagination.

He looked deeper into his brother’s eyes and echoed, “You
love
her?”

Dierk jerked his hand through his hair and dropped his gaze. A heavy silence fell between them for a few strained seconds, which was finally broken by Dierk’s confession. “Yes, I love her. I love her so much it’s making me crazy. I don’t just want her, I need her. I don’t just want to see her, I live to see her. I don’t just long for her, I ache for her. I hurt when she is away from me. I think about nobody but her. I dream about no one but her. I am hers.”

Now Rolf could remain on his feet no longer. He didn’t merely sit, he practically collapsed into the chair. His brother’s words struck him like a physical blow and they hurt like hell.

He’d come to care for Wynne, too. Still, he couldn’t deny one fact. He didn’t love her like Dierk did.

Dierk curled his fingers, fisting his hair, the heels of his hands pressed into his eye sockets. “I can’t stand this. I can’t face another minute without her.”

“If you could, would you marry her?”

“Oh hell, if I could, I would Join with her, but I know neither can be. Only the king can Join with his bride. And I am engaged to another woman.”

“You would
Join
with her?” Rolf repeated.

“If it were possible.”

“Well hell. You must really love her, then.” Rolf patted his brother on the shoulder and headed for the door. “I have a few errands to run. It seems you have a problem, Dierk. A big one.” He paused at the door. “But I’ll say this: Wynne could have no better man love her, my brother, and you know you could have no better woman love you.”

Something flared in Dierk’s eyes. “Do you think she loves me?”

“You’ll have to find that out for yourself. You have my word, I won’t stand in your way.”

Rolf left, hoping his brother would find a way to take hold of the happiness that was within his grasp.

It seemed Wynne wasn’t the only woman who had decided to complicate things for him.

Dierk was beginning to believe all women were prone to such whims. Either that, or he had the worst luck in the world to have found two such women.

His fiancée had learned where he was staying and had decided to join him. In a normal relationship, that wouldn’t have been a problem. In fact, it would have more likely been welcome. But in his case, it was far from welcome.

It wasn’t that he didn’t love Olivia. She was, by most men’s standards, everything one would want in a wife. The problem was Dierk didn’t want a wife. Or rather, he hadn’t wanted a wife when he’d made his promise to her. That was done out of duty.

Now, he found he did want a wife—but not Olivia. However, bound by duty and honor, he couldn’t break off the engagement.

He had a wife he didn’t want.

He had broken Wynne’s heart.

His own heart was breaking.

He was in hell and he had nobody to blame but himself.

He heard a car outside. The engine cut off. A door slammed. She was here. He hadn’t seen her since the last time he’d asked for her hand.

If only he could live a certain night over again. He would gladly pay any price.

But nothing, no amount of money or property, would allow him to turn back time.

The doorbell rang. He hadn’t expected her to ring the door. After all, he’d told her this would be her home as long as they remained in the area. He went to answer it and found her looking cheerful and pretty, as he remembered her.

“Hello, Dierk.” Olivia smiled as she stepped into her temporary home. She glanced around and he watched her, catching a hint of disappointment. “This is…quaint.”

“I warned you it wasn’t what you left behind.”

“That’s okay. I’d rather be in a log cottage with you than in that giant cave by myself.” She set her handbag on the console table. “Will you give me the grand tour?”

“I’d be happy to.”

“Thank you.” She took his arm as he led her through the small condo, pointing out the things he thought would interest her most. When it was time to show her the guestroom, which would be her room, he felt himself stiffen. The memories of last week were still fresh in his mind, the vision of Wynne lying on the bed, her hair fanned out over the pillow, the sheet parted, revealing a tempting slice of ivory skin….

“Dierk, it’s a good thing I came. It looks like this place could use a woman’s touch.”

“Yes, I’m sure it could.”

What price he would pay for one mistake.

It had been two months since Wynne had spent the night at Dierk’s house and still her heart did a little somersault every time the phone rang, someone knocked on the door, or she saw a black sports car. If she thought it had been hard getting over John, she had no idea what she was in for. That was a walk in the park compared to this.

Now, as she rushed to answer the knock at the door, her heart was in her throat and an irrational expectation was making it beat so hard and fast that she felt a little faint. There was absolutely no reason to think it was Dierk, and still she hoped.

“Hello, Wynne,” Rolf greeted, a huge red gift bag in his arms.

“Hi. What a surprise.” She stepped aside and welcomed him in with a sweep of the arm. “Come in.”

“I hope you don’t mind. I saw this and I thought of you. It’s your birthday today, isn’t it?”

“That’s very sweet of you to remember. Thanks.”

“You’d better wait until you see what it is before you call me sweet.” He winked.

She chuckled. “Let’s see what it is, then.”

It really was too bad that she didn’t have the same feelings for Rolf as she did for Dierk. He was just as good looking as his brother, maybe a little better. And he was patient, kind, and thoughtful, too. If he wanted to be married, she hoped he would find the right girl soon.

If only she felt for him what she did for Dierk.

She accepted the bag from Rolf and set it on the coffee table. Inside, she found a stripper pole kit, and instantly she doubled over with laughter. “Ohmygod, you’re ridiculous. Where did you find this?”

“Where anyone finds the most obscure, out-of-the-ordinary things: eBay, of course.”

“Well, thank you. I think. I can’t say for sure whether I’ll install it.”

A tense silence fell between them.

He cleared his throat. “Wynne, I know my brother hurt you, and I’m sorry. I honestly thought, after seeing you two together, that he’d break his engagement with Olivia.” Rolf shoved his fingers through his hair. “He doesn’t deserve you.”

“Hey, it’s my fault I got hurt, so don’t put the blame where it shouldn’t lay. He was honest and told me there couldn’t be any emotional entanglements. I was stupid and decided to start tying the knots.”

“I still don’t agree with what he did. Maybe some women can handle a situation like that, but you…” He looked away, shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “You’re different.” When his gaze returned to her face, it was full of emotion, the kind she’d longed to see in Dierk’s eyes.

Her heart slid to her toes.

Now she knew what it felt like to have unwanted affection directed her way. Talk about a turning of the tables.

A heavy sense of responsibility fell on her shoulders. Had she somehow encouraged this?

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” She chewed on her lip, uncertain what to say next. She could read in Rolf’s body language that he was a little nervous. He stood sort of stiffly, like his arms and legs couldn’t bend. “Rolf, you fault your brother, and so I feel I need to be very honest with you. I like you, very much. I care about you. And I appreciate how kind and patient and supportive you’ve been since the very first day we met. But there’s something missing between us, and I don’t want you to be misled and think we might…things might go a certain way between us. It simply can’t. Even if your brother does marry someone else.”

“Sure.” He smiled, but the expression didn’t reach his eyes. “I just thought…fuck, I don’t know what I thought.” A wry smile on his face, he shook his head and started toward the door.

Wynne, feeling like shit, touched his arm. “Rolf. I wish things were different, that my feelings for Dierk would evaporate and I could fall in love with you. Because you are a good man. But that’s why I can’t lead you on, because you’re a good man and you deserve a woman who is so in love with you, she can’t live a minute without you.”

“Yeah.” He stepped through the door. “Happy birthday, Wynne. I hope all your wishes come true.”

“Thanks.” She started to close the door, but hesitated when he lifted his hand to stop her.

He said, “I don’t know if this’ll make it better for you or worse, but he doesn’t love her. He never has. And as far as I can see, she doesn’t love him either. But he’s too damn stubborn to break the engagement.”

“I don’t understand. If they don’t love each other, why are they getting married?”

“It’s a long story.”

“I’ve got all night.” She grabbed his hand and tugged, practically dragging him back into the apartment. “Please, tell me.”

“I will if you promise me one thing.”

“Anything.”

“Give me your word you won’t let him hurt you anymore. No matter what happens.”

No matter what? “You have my word.” She shook his hand, sealing the deal.