Kiss Me Book 1 (11 page)

She lost track of time and
of how long they remained locked together, she forced against the
wall. When Christian finally pulled out of her she slid down the
wall and put her feet on the floor. She looked around her bedroom,
and it looked like she’d been robbed again. The mattress was a
mess, the sheets pulled completely off. There was broken glass
littering the floor and a curtain rod was hanging, ripped from its
hold by the curtain she’d apparently pulled down.

She looked at Christian
and realized that he’d sustained quite a bit of damage as well.
Angry red claw marks marred his beautiful chest as teeth marks took
up several spots on his shoulder. She felt bad that she’d caused so
much damage.

He saw where her eyes had
gone and smiled at her. They were both still breathing rather hard.
“Don’t worry about it,” he said.

“
I—I didn’t mean too,” she
said behind her fingertips.

“
Yes you did. You were
pissed and needed to take it out on me. I let you.”

“
You let me?”

He nodded. “I did. Let’s
just say I love it when you get wild. I knew you had it in you all
along, I just wasn’t sure how to get it out of you!”

“
You knew?”

“
I love rough sex. The
rougher the better. Biting turns me on. Scratching turns me on, but
what pushed me over the edge was when you challenged me and allowed
me to hold you down on the bed and fuck that sweet little pussy
from behind. You submitted to me, even though you were pissed as
hell.”

“
I still am pissed as hell,
and if I could feel my legs right now I’d be storming away.” She
laughed softly. He chuckled as well.

“
Listen. I know you have a
lot to be pissed about, but let me explain something! Then once I
am finished we can figure out the next step.”

She thought about what
he’d said for a few moments and then nodded. Taking him by the
hand, she led him through the debris and onto the bed. She sat
unabashedly naked in front of him and waited for him to
begin.

“
When I was thirty I really
got into the art scene. My mother helped me get my foot in the door
with some of her clients from Italy. Anyhow, I shot to the top of
the lists. Everyone wanted a piece of my work, and, more
importantly, people wanted me to buy work from them. I’ve always
dreamed of opening my own gallery.

“
A couple of years ago I
sold everything I owned and bought the warehouse. Slowly, I began
to gather different pieces of art and showcase them privately. The
artist would rent out the space for a night and host a showing. It
was like this that I began to gain more bank. When I got enough
saved, I began to display my own, but I was also buying some as
well. It was at one of these shows that someone approached me about
buying some art. He took me to his home, and I was shocked at the
beauty of the pieces. They were stunning and I knew I had to have
them.

“
He told me that he had
procured the art from an estate closing, which I soon found out was
all an elaborate hoax.”

Amy was pulled into his
story, even though she had a feeling she already knew where it was
going. “I displayed this art at another gallery. Imagine my
surprise when a whole SWAT team showed up and wrestled me to the
ground. I was charged with felony theft.”

“
But you didn’t
know!”

He nodded his head. “I did
know, at least on some level I did. I ignored the gut feeling I had
and pretended the deal wasn’t as fishy as it really was. Anyhow,
Amar put his entire career on the line by getting me off the hook
with just a warning.

“
But when you went to the
police and my record was pulled, they put two and two together.
Amar was able to get me out of there—but not before red flags went
up. If they wanted to badly enough, they could search my gallery
and, while they can find that everything is purchased legally, your
stuff is still there, and it is very obvious that it is
stolen.”

Amy’s stomach fell, and in
that moment she knew for a fact that Christian hadn’t been the one
to steal her art. Guilt plagued her. It was because of her that he
was back on the police’s radar.

“
Oh Christian. I’m so
sorry.”

“
You didn’t know, and had I
been in your shoes I probably would have thought the same thing.
Listen, Amy,” he said and moved closer and put his hands on her
knees. “How I acted last night was wrong. I was a complete dick,
and I knew it. I didn’t want you to see that side of me because,
well . . . I didn’t want you to think the worst of me. But I could
see the distrust in your eyes, and it stung more than I wanted to
admit. Amar talked some sense into me and told me to come
clean.”

She smiled. Good old
Amar.

“
And you have no idea who
sold the stuff to you?”

Christian slid from the
bed and began to pace the room. “I have no clue.” He looked out the
window and continued to pace. Something crunched under his foot,
and he bent down to retrieve it. He frowned when he picked up the
picture frame.

“
Who is this?” he
asked.

Amy looked at him, shocked
by the sudden chilly tone in his voice. She looked at the picture
and realized it was a picture of her and Robert on the beach. She
must have forgotten to put that one up.

She pulled the sheet
around her body and scooted from the bed. “That’s my
ex-husband.”

“
This guy is your
ex-husband?” The cutting edge in his voice caused her to become
alarmed.

“
Yes. Why?”

Christian clenched his
teeth together, causing the muscles in his jaws to flex. His eyes
narrowed into cold blue slits as he stared at the
picture.

“
Because this is the fucker
that sold me your art!”

Kiss Me Book 4

Amy sat on the bed,
holding the broken picture between her hands. She felt as if the
wind had been knocked from her lungs. Robert? Robert had been the
one who had robbed her. Looking back, it all made sense.

“
I guess that’s why the
alarm didn’t go off,” she said.

“
You didn’t change the
locks?” Christian asked, sitting beside her on the bed. They were
both still naked, and, even though she could feel the heat
radiating from his body, she couldn’t think about how her body was
already starting to react to his nearness.

“
No, I didn’t think it was
that big of a deal. He moved his stuff out months ago, before he
even had the papers served.” She sniffed, and tears began to roll
down her cheeks. She wasn’t sure why she was crying. It had been
forever since she’d cried over Robert. Then a thought struck her.
She wasn’t crying over Robert but because of him. He’d deliberately
struck out to hurt her. This was personal.

“
How much did you pay him
for my things?” she asked as she traced a thumb over the picture.
Their two faces smiling back at her were like strangers’. The
picture was from a time long ago when she was young and thought
herself in love. Neither of them were the same. Robert had turned
cold and mean, and Amy had allowed the spark inside of her die. It
was only recently that a new spark had begun to grow—in fact so
much so that she’d begun to have a desire to paint again. However,
she couldn’t think about any of those things then. There were more
pressing matters at stake.

“
I paid him a hundred
thousand,” Christian said.

“
Wow,” she said, feeling a
little more than flattered. She knew her pieces were worth a lot of
money, but she didn’t expect someone to actually buy
them.

“
Robert must have been
desperate for money,” she said.

“
Did he not get much in the
divorce?”

She shook her head. “No.
We signed a prenup, and if infidelity was involved then the other
would only get ten percent. As you can see, I got the house and
just about the entire bank account.”

“
What does he do for a
living?”

She laughed sardonically.
“He’s an art broker,” she said dryly.

“
Which means he knew how to
cover his tracks.”

Amy nodded.

“
But what he didn’t count
on was the fact that we would meet. He assumed that he could sell
them and be done with it.”

“
He never was particularly
bright,” she said, chuckling.

Christian snorted.
“Apparently.”

“
Why did you pay so much
for my work?” she asked.

He lifted a shoulder, a
small smile playing across his lips. “I thought they were
beautiful. I would have given him more, but the rest of my money is
tied up in other investments.”

She frowned. “I’ll pay you
back for them.”

“
Why would you?”

“
Because you were ripped
off. If you want them in your gallery, I’ll let you keep them, plus
I’ll pay you back.”

“
No, you won’t,” he said as
he stood.

“
But . . .”

“
But nothing, Amy,” he
said, whirling around to face her. His nostrils flared and his jaw
flexed.

“
What the hell is your
problem?” she asked.

Christian ran his fingers
through his hair and began to pace.

“
Please be careful; you’re
going to cut yourself,” she said.

“
I’ll be fine. I’ll be
right back, I’ve got to make a phone call.”

He didn’t give her a chance
to respond as he left the room, his toned ass flexing as he
walked.
Damn, he’s got a nice
ass
, she thought as he left. The next time
they made love, she was going to grip it tight and hang
on.

Grabbing her robe from the
peg in the bathroom, she secured it around her waist and began to
clean up the mess they’d made. Even though they still had to deal
with Robert and, more than likely, the police, she was relieved to
know who the real bad guy was. While she hadn’t thought it was
Christian, the doubts had still been there.

She went to the kitchen
and grabbed the broom and dustpan. On her way back through she
heard Christian talking on the patio.

“
It’s him, Amar. It’s
Robert. He’s the son of a bitch that set me up, and I have a
feeling he’s the one that did this to me the first
time.”

There was a
silence.

“
Because last time he used
a different name and his looks were different. He’s aged
too.”

Another pause.

“
I’m almost sure of it. He
made a mint back then; I’m not his only target, either. I’ve talked
to A’tair and Leonis, and they’ve all told me the same
thing.”

Christian sighed heavily.
“I’m not sure where he is, but I’m pretty sure it won’t be hard to
track him down.”

She heard the gentle
lapping of water.

“
I’m at her place now.”
There was a soft chuckle. “You’re a dick,” he said playfully. “I
don’t know, man. She just got divorced. I shouldn’t have gotten
involved in the first place.”

Amy’s heart sank just a
little bit, and tears began to gather in her eyes. She’d known it
would last long, but to hear the words actually said out loud,
well, that sure didn’t make things any easier. She was about to go
back upstairs when she heard his voice again.

“
I think I do. No, I know
it’s kind of new to me too. Well, how in the hell was I supposed to
know I was going to fall in love with her? Yeah, I’m sure. I was
sure the night you freaking barged in on us in the
shower.”

Amy blushed.

“
Hey, you need to just
forget about what you saw. Those are two things you’ll never see
again,” he said gruffly.

Amy’s cheeks flamed. She
could only imagine what they were talking about. Feeling guilty
about eavesdropping, she made her way out to the pool, acting like
she hadn’t heard a thing. The second she stepped out in the late
afternoon sun, Christian’s eyes followed her. He was sitting on the
steps of the pool, back resting on the concrete, one hand pressing
the phone to his ear while the other was stretched out on the edge
of the pool.

She untied her robe and
allowed it to fall at her feet in a pool of silk. A wicked smile
curved her lips as she walked across the patio, palming her breast
and pinching a nipple between her fingers. His blue eyes watched
her hungrily as he
uh-huh’d
and
yeah’d.
She was pretty sure he’d quit listening to Amar
the minute she took her robe off.

Gently and quietly she
stepped down into the pool beside him. She pressed a finger to her
lips as she lowered herself onto his lap, positioning his hardened
cock at her entrance. Inch by inch she pushed herself down. Her
eyes rolled, and she stifled a groan. She began to roll her hips
and grind her pussy on his dick. His free hand slid beneath the
water and clutched her hip.

She tugged on her bottom
lip with her teeth, trying to bite back the moans of pleasure that
were bubbling up her throat.

“
I mean yeah. . . we’ll
call,
fuck
,” he
said as she clamped her pussy walls tightly around him. “Huh? Yeah,
I’m fine I . . . I just realized I forgot . . . I mean I need . . .
I’ll just call you back.”