Descended (The Red Blindfold Book 3) (13 page)

When he came back to
the living room, I forced myself to stand and face him. “Drex, I…”
I almost choked on the words.

“What is it?”

“Nothing, I just want
to thank you for letting me stay here. And for the clothes and the
phone, too. I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me.”

His expression
softened. “You never have to thank me, Jane.”

“Yes, I do. But the
reason – well, I just have one more favor to ask. When you leave,
would you drop me off in town?”

He gave me a puzzled
frown. “Why would I drop you off in town?”

“So I can…do
whatever I’m going to do when I get there.” Because I couldn’t
come up with a better answer, he now knew the truth. I had no idea
what I’d do when I got to Chimayo, or anywhere else. I was totally
lost.

“What are you talking
about?” he said. “You’re coming with me to Houston.”

“Drex, no.”

“Why?”

I lifted my chin and
forced my voice to stay steady. “Because you don’t have to take
care of me. I know you feel responsible, but –”

A shadow darkened his
face. “I feel responsible? Is that what you think? That I don’t
know what to do with you?”

I raised my hands and
let them drop. “I wouldn’t blame you. I mean, you can hardly send
me back home.”

“I wouldn’t if you
had one.”

“At least you’d
have the choice. Right now you don’t.”

The air between us felt
charged. Our eyes were locked, and my heart thundered against my
ribs.

It was Drex who broke
the silence. “This is my choice,” he said. “Bringing you here,
asking you to come to Houston – I’m pretty resourceful, Jane. If
I didn’t want you around, I’d figure out how to make that
happen.”

I raised my eyebrows.
“That’s reassuring.”

“I mean it,” he
said, taking me by the arms. “You’re here. That should tell you
all you need to know.”

The heat between us
flared up under the influence of some serious pheromones. Even two
days of this intensity felt like too long, like a fire burning too
hot.

“What if I never
remember anything?” I asked in a rough whisper. “What if nobody
ever looks for me?”

His expression betrayed
no concern or doubt. “We’ll deal with it.”

We
.
He didn’t mean that. He couldn’t. He hardly knew me – and
worse, there was nothing much to know.

“I appreciate that,
Drex, but –”

He put a finger over my
lips. Automatically my tongue flickered out to taste his warm skin.
His flecked green pupils dilated in response.

“Shhh,” he said,
his voice so soothing I just wanted to close my eyes and listen.
“Shouldn’t you be packing for our trip? You have a lot of new
clothes.”

Thanks to him, I did.
In fact, everything I had was thanks to him. “It’s all still in
bags.”

He gave me the
commanding look that never failed to melt my resistance. “Then it
shouldn’t take you long to get ready,” he said. “Go. Right now.
We’re leaving tonight.”

We drove for hours.

It was tempting to
think that life could always be this way, the two of us together like
nomads with no responsibility or permanent home. Diesel lay beside me
on the seat, curled up into a tight ball. We drove past Chimayo, past
the ramshackle houses and rusted trailers, until there was nothing to
look at but flat fields. After a few hours, I put my head on Drex’s
shoulder and fell into a light sleep.

I dreamed about a boat.

It was a glittering
sunny afternoon, a calm day with glassy seas. I stood at the bow
looking toward an island rimmed with palm trees and white beaches. It
was beautiful, pristine, perfect. There was nothing to be afraid of,
so why was I afraid?

I woke with a start, my
hairline beaded with sweat.

“Jane?”

I blinked at the man
beside me in the truck. Where was I? Who was he again?

Oh,
that’s right.
Drex, the only person I could depend on,
and I wasn’t even sure he was dependable. He was just here right
now. That was the most I could hope for.

“You okay?” he
asked as I smoothed my hair.

“I think so,” I
said. “I had a dream. The first one I can remember since all of
this happened.”

“What was it about?”

“A sailboat, I think.
And a couple of other people. I couldn’t see their faces.”

“Was it a good
dream?”

“I – I couldn’t
tell. It was just strange.”

“Maybe dreaming is a
good sign, and you’ll start to remember something.”

“Yeah,” I said.

A
good sign.
Would remembering something be good? For Drex,
maybe it would be. Once my memory returned, he wouldn’t have to
take me along anymore. I might have been fun for a couple of wildly
sexy days in the desert, but we couldn’t keep this up forever. I
had no family, no job, no skills as far as I knew.

I couldn’t keeping
living as Drex’s scantily-clad maid and bed companion. How long
until I turned from a novelty into a burden? He was a well-known and
successful businessman. What would his friends and colleagues think
when they met me? When I couldn’t tell them my last name, or even
my first for that matter?

I couldn’t afford to think about
it. The alternative – being alone, without Drex – was too
terrifying. I’d have to wing it as best I could, no matter what the
outcome.

In my former life, I’d
probably never seen a place so luxurious.

The walls of Drex’s
Houston apartment were floor-to-ceiling glass, offering 360-degree
views of the city. Under my feet, cherry wood floors gleamed. We were
nineteen stories up, just high enough to feel like we were floating
above a sea of bright lights. A three-quarter moon lit up the land
for miles around, making the city look like a sprawling neon oasis.

“Hungry?” Drex
asked as soon as the doorman wheeled in the luggage, put Diesel’s
kennel by the door, and left. Everything I owned fit in the small
canvas duffel Drex had given me to use. Diesel sniffed it before
cautiously slinking into the hallway to explore, her tail low.

“I think I’m okay,”
I said.

“If you change your
mind, my chef can make whatever you’re craving.”

“At three in the
morning?”

Drex shrugged like a
man used to privilege. “I called to let him know we’d be coming
in late. Sometimes I keep irregular hours. He’s used to it.”

I walked slowly from
one end of the large, open living space to the other, hearing nothing
but the soft click of my new leather sandals against the floor. Every
surface was polished, every cushion and flower petal neatly in place.

Staff. Refinement. The
best of everything. Whatever kind of life I’d left behind, it
couldn’t have been like this.

“I thought you said
you hadn’t accomplished half of what you wanted to,” I said,
running my fingers across the smooth, exotic hardwood of a pool
table.

“That’s true,” he
said. “I set high standards for myself.”

His voice was just
behind me. Though he hadn’t touched me, I could feel his heat.
Tired as I was, my body jumped into high alert and my blood simmered.

“I can’t believe
your father isn’t proud of you,” I said, turning to look at him.
“Maybe he’s just not good at showing it.”

I saw pain etched in
his ironic smile. “Oh, he’s good at showing it. Just not to me.”

I picked up an
eight-ball and turned it over in my hand. Its shiny surface was
flecked with green chalk marks. “Did he teach you to play pool?”

“He showed me a few
basics. He didn’t teach me skill at the game as much as how to read
people. Manipulate them. Figure out their weaknesses.”

A simmer became a boil.
“You’ve certainly figured out mine.”

“Have I?” Drex
raised his finger and swept back my hair. His touch was a line of
sparks along my cheek.

“Well, a few of them,
at least.”

Hands on my shoulders,
he took a step back and raked me with his eyes. “You look good in
here,” he said in a honey-smooth voice. “Like you came with the
place.”

“And you thought you
were paying for the view.”

“Who needs the lights
of Houston when I can look at you?”

I spread out my skirt
as if I were about to curtsy. “In my thirty-dollar dress?”

“All I see is you and
your long legs, and that’s all I want to see.”

“Not that I’m
complaining,” I said. “A thirty-dollar dress is a lot better than
a t-shirt and panties.”

“I’m not so sure
about that,” he said, his eyes gleaming at the memory. “If you’d
been wearing more, we might not be standing here.”

I went up on tiptoe and
kissed him. “We owe it all to my pink panties.”

“And your very blue
eyes.” He ran his thumb down my throat and along the V neckline of
the dress. “You must be tired after that long drive,” he said.

“A little.”

I hitched in a breath
when he touched bare skin. “A little? You can’t possibly have the
energy to do anything but sleep.”

“How do you know?”

“Because your eyelids
are closing.”

They were, but for a
very different reason than he thought. “It’s what you’re doing
to me.”

“Doing?” he said
with total innocence. “But I’m hardly touching you.” With
feathery strokes, he caressed my collarbone and shoulder.

“Exactly.”

“And you like that?
Only being touched a little?”

“Maybe.”

“Maybe. Hm. How will
I know for sure?”

“I bet you’ll find
a way.”

He ran his hand between
my breasts and over my stomach, not stopping until he reached the hem
of my dress. He gathered it in his fist and slowly pulled me toward
him.

“Have I found a way
yet?” he said, bringing his face close. “Or should I keep
trying?”

“Keep trying.
Absolutely.” At the brush of his lips against mine, I whimpered
softly.

“Don’t tell me you
like that, too,” he whispered.

“Uh huh,” I said.
“I like it all.”

“Easy to please,
aren’t you?”

Slowly, he lifted dress
until I felt the soft gust of air-conditioning against my bare thigh.

“Depends,” I said.

“On?”

“Who’s doing the
pleasing.”

“That would be me,”
he said. “And only me.”

“Something tells me
you’ve pleased a lot of women in this apartment,” I said,
unexpected jealousy spearing through me.

I tried to touch his
hand but he brushed me away. “Ancient history.”

“So I won’t find
any evidence?” I asked. “No stray bras? No notes thanking you for
last night?”

“Maybe one thanking
me for a night last year. Or the year before.”

I laughed. “You’ve
been celibate for a year? Is that why you’re so…well,
passionate?”

“This isn’t
celibacy, Blue Eyes. This is you.”

His gaze could have
melted granite. Tongue flickering across his upper lip, he slipped a
finger under the leg of my panties.
His
panties, the ones he’d picked out for me at the store in Chimayo.
They’d had cotton ones, and nylon ones, but it was the sheer mesh
ones that Drex had chosen. I now had ten pairs in various colors,
including the pale blue ones I was wearing right now.

Taking one step closer,
he pressed his pelvis lightly against my hip. I could feel the
outline of his cock, already thick and rock-hard.

“I’m glad we bought
extra panties,” he said. “Because I have a feeling these are
already drenched.”

I bit my lower lip.
“You might want to check to make sure.”

“I might,” he said.
“I might not.”

I tipped my hips toward
him, urging him to touch me.

“You forget who’s
in charge here,” he growled.

“I’m just
exercising my options.” My breathing was shallow and uneven, and my
palms were damp.

“You think I’m that
easy to sway?” he asked.

“I can only hope.”
Desperate to feel him, I reached for his cock.

“Hands behind your
back,” he ordered calmly. “You don’t touch me. I touch you.”

“For how long?”

“Just do it.”

How many women had
“just done it” in response to that deep, hypnotic voice? Count me
another shamelessly obedient houseguest. Lacing my fingers behind my
back, I let him trail a gentle finger over the crotch of my panties.

“That’s right,”
he said. “Close your eyes. Just feel.”

My chest rose and fell
quickly as he stroked me. Every few seconds he grazed my clit and I
gasped.

“You’re wet for me,
aren’t you?”

“Yes,” I whispered.

“You know how hard I
am for you and you like it.”

“I do,” I said. “I
can’t help it.”

With expert skill, he
slid a finger inside my panties. “Do you like this?” he asked,
lightly probing my wet slit.

“Drex,” I
whispered, clenching my hands together. “Please stop. It’s too
much.”

“Too much?” he said
in a low, sweet voice. “But I’ve only just started.”

I was utterly swept
away. How could a man with such strong, masculine hands touch me so
gently? As if he’d been petting and caressing me forever?

“I’m going to make
you come with my fingers and then you’re going to suck me,” he
purred.

Suck
me
– just the words sent a long ribbon of heat
fluttering through my body.

“But you’re going
to ask for it,” he said.

“Ask for what?”

“Ask me to make you
come.”

When I could finally
catch my breath, my voice was rough and broken. “Please make me
come.”

“That’s a good
start,” he said. “Do it again.”

I was panting, my belly
convulsing with pleasure. “Make me come, Drex.”

“You forgot
something,” he said, his eyes dark and demanding.

I was so delirious I
could hardly think. “What did I forget?”