Breathless Series - (6 page)

Lucas Edge pulled on his pants as she fumbled into her underwear and clothing. Alyssa was sure she looked a mess but that was the least of her worries. She followed him out of the room and soon they were standing by the bar in the living room. When he offered her something to drink, she asked only for water. He poured her a bottle and she gulped it down, wishing her teeth wouldn’t clatter so much on the glass. Funny she should feel nervous now when it was all over.

So what was his verdict, she wondered absent-mindedly. Was it all he’d ever imagined? Alyssa felt tempted to ask but her nerve didn’t stretch that far.

Bare chested, his hair tousled deliciously, Lucas Edge was perched on a stool as he tapped his fingers on the surface of the bar. “If you enjoyed anything we did tonight, perhaps you’d like to see me again,” he said conversationally, swirling his drink in its glass as he regarded her. “As well as consider what I said earlier. About you and me – and what we can share.”

“Lucas…”

“And as to the business aspect, there wouldn’t be much to talk about because my people are already preparing a publishing contract to send to your agent. In due course there’ll be opportunities for a sit-down to discuss the general provisions and what either party expects from the agreement,” he told her briskly.

As Lucas finished speaking he placed his hands on her waist and drew her gently but firmly to him. Alyssa’s breath quickened and she unthinkingly placed her hands on his bare chest to brace
herself even as the air started to crackle around them. It unnerved her; the amount of sexual energy they produced almost out of nothing at all. Just by standing close together, barely touching, she was on fire for him again and she knew he felt the same sensual vibes.

“But as you know, I’m hoping there can be far more than business between us,” Lucas added, placing his temple against hers for a moment, before pulling back and looking into her eyes. “So what’s it going to be, Alyssa? Yes or no? Remember I told you I’ll need your answer before the end of the night.”

Alyssa had to fight the urge to slide her fingers across his magnificent torso. His beauty still astounded her and she had to blink to reassure herself this was all real. Lucas Edge
wanted more
. Far from quenched, his desire seemed to still burn as fiercely as they had when he’d first shoved her up against the wall.

“Well?”

His voice snapped her back to the present, and Alyssa inhaled deeply, quelling the wobble in her knees. “I’m not seeing anyone right now…,” she began slowly.

“Neither am I,” he said, nodding with reassurance.

Alyssa let that slide. Lucas Edge never needed to see anyone. Women virtually tumbled into his lap left and right. And he was never with the same woman for long. She’d looked up enough about him to figure out he wasn’t exactly commitment worthy. Well, except that one time six months ago that he’d been engaged but that had ended soon after. Now he was known as the proverbial, unrepentant playboy and Alyssa was wise enough to understand this. But she still found herself adding, “So if it’s all right with you, I don’t mind if we date; for a while. Get to know each other…”

“I don’t want to
date
,” he told her, the last word a huff. His fingers tightened on her waist and his face closed in on hers so that their eyes were level. “You know what I want. Back there, in that room, was the tip of the iceberg. Don’t act coy and pretend you don’t understand how this goes. The ways I want you can be spelled out, Alyssa. Very clearly. I don’t mind taking the time to do just that. But I hate to play games, so I need your answer now. Yes or no. I want your total surrender. No half-measures. The next time we share anything, it will be full-on and no holds barred. I will train you in exactly the ways I want you to serve as my submissive, and you’ll yield full control of your body and its needs to me. Now tell me if this is something you want as well.”

The glow in his eyes shook her to the marrow. And yet from somewhere she found the strength to answer even as her insides knotted and churned. “
I…,” she began on a deep breath, before exhaling on a, “No.”

Lucas Edge blinked, his hands falling from her waist in an astonishment that was almost comical. “No?”

The disbelief on his face told her it was a word he didn’t hear often, from women or otherwise. Dredging up the last reserve of her willpower, Alyssa lifted her hands off his chest and backed away to a safer distance from his tempting self. Even now, she couldn’t be sure what she would do if he swept her into those powerfully golden arms and took her right back to bed again. And he wouldn’t even need to tie her up this time to have her willing and helpless to stop him from taking her again.

“I’m sorry,” she sighed. “I can’t give you what you want. Tonight…well, I’m happy we shared that. And I’m flattered you’d like to take things further with me. But I’m not…this isn’t what I’m looking for right now.”

He regarded her calmly, and it felt like his eyes could pierce through to her very being. “Did I hurt you or scare you in any way? Did I give you any cause not to trust me?” he asked.

Alyssa shook her head. “No, you didn’t,” she replied, her tone firm. And it was true. Even when he’d left her tied there, she hadn’t been really worried, just a bit peeved. She’d never had to play an actual submissive before and she knew that with time, with a man like Lucas, she could learn. And even when he’d taken her so hard she’d felt it in her kidney; even when his teeth had scraped too roughly on her nipples or flesh, she hadn’t disliked the pain or discomfort. She was sure she could learn to get accustomed to that, too. Alyssa could see herself getting into a lot of things just to please Lucas, knowing full well that she would find pleasure in the acts as well. He would see to it that she did, she knew.

There was only one small yet vital problem. And Alyssa’s instinct for self-preservation warned her that such problem could not be overlooked: that Lucas Edge was a man who could hurt her, very deeply.

Alyssa had no doubt that whatever they did behind closed doors would be enjoyed in a safe, consensual and sane manner. She had no true fear for her safety on that account. Her anxiety was more to do with the emotional angle and how easy a man like him was to fall for. Heck, she’d fallen hard for him already; ever since she’d set eyes on him. It had seemed like mere infatuation at the start but now, each moment she spent around him drew her closer to the inevitability of putting her heart at stake. And she was far too smart not to know this was a risk she could ill afford to take.

She squared her shoulders, her chin cocking higher as she met his hooded gaze. “You have my answer, Lucas. And now I think I’d like to go home. If you could call me a cab…”

“I’ll drive you home. For goodness sake,” he said firmly, his expression looking somewhat hurt that she’d think anything different. “And yet here’s the thing. All my staff left after dinner. I wanted us to have as much privacy as possible tonight. Vernon’s gone for the night as well. Sure you don’t want to stay over?”

Alyssa bit down a whimper, as his voice grew smoky on the last words, his gaze deepening as his hand closed around her arm.
Please don’t touch me
; she wanted to moan out loud. I can’t think when you touch me.

“You’ve given your answer,” he said softly, rising and edging closer so that they were chest to chest. He was barefoot and she was in her four-inch heels and she still couldn’t reach above his chin. Alyssa’s eyes closed briefly as his head slanted and his tongue flicked round her earlobe. It was a singularly tempting and highly erotic gesture that made her gasp with feathery desire. Lust began to trickle within her veins, spreading through her loins and rising to tighten her nipples and areolas. Heavens above, she ached.

“And I accept it,” Lucas added, pressing a warm kiss to the underline of her jaw. “But we can still have tonight. Just sex. In the shower, or up against the bedroom wall – or backed up over the table…you and me; rough sex till the morning hours. And then you can leave. That’s all I ask.”

All?
Was he kidding? What more was there?
Alyssa thought with amazement and a quiver of excitement. The man was suggesting she stay and spend the rest of the night indulging in red-hot sex in every corner of his house, so to speak. So why the heck was she hesitating?

“But what about…you know. The sub thing?” she said, her eyes darting in confusion. She was trying to figure out the deal here. Because dammit he had her not knowing if she was coming or going; she was shivering with the need to give in to any and all of his wicked and wild suggestions and just picturing it all was dizzying. But as for the other thing…

Lucas cupped her face and plucked at her lips with soft, heated kisses that made her knees turn to jelly. “You said no, Alyssa. I can’t force you to be my sex slave. It has to be something you really, really want. I respect your decision believe me. But I’m hoping I can convince you to at least, let me inside you again, and again – and
maybe
by the next morning I’ll be over my disappointment that you chose not to take that journey of submission with me.”

Oh God, this man could sell condoms to a nun, Alyssa thought irreverently even as her secret strings thrummed. She wanted…
.oh, she wanted. Wanted to stay and revel in the joys of passion and fulfillment. And come morning, she could walk away knowing she’d left while she was ahead. One night. That was all he required.

Alyssa felt disappointed that Lucas Edge didn’t try to further convince her into agreeing to a dom-sub relationship as he’d requested. But then obviously that wasn’t how things went in that sort of situation. Lucas was right; if she wanted it really bad, she’d go for it and he wouldn’t have to cajole her into it.

But for a night of reckless sex with no strings attached, he sure had no scruples about using all his powers of persuasion to make her stay. Those sinfully lips of his were nibbling her ear, and as he crushed her close against him she could feel the thickness of his hard-on giving her no doubt he wasn’t joking about wanting more. Alyssa had no way to fight back a shiver as she told herself that if she was ever going to even think of giving in to a submissive relationship with him, then she’d better be able to keep up with his insane sexual drive.
Whoa
.

What do you have to lose? Alyssa tipped her head to the side and sighed with pleasure as Lucas trailed his teasing tongue along her throat while the inner voice in her head told her to go with it. She’d deprived herself for so long; months of celibacy and loneliness – one night with Lucas could make her forget every loser boyfriend/lover she’d ever been with. For a few hours more, she could live out her fantasy of being desired and pleasured by the most gorgeous man alive. Tomorrow, and its consequences, could wait…

Chapter Three

Chapter One.

Alyssa stared at the two words she’d managed to type on her computer screen. The rest of the blank page seemed to loom till infinity and for a few moments her fingers stilled over the keyboard, poised and ready for…Nothing.

Chapter One…

Shit! It had been this way for weeks now. There used to be a time when a blank screen inspired her. From the moment she keyed in ‘Chapter One’ there’d be no going back and even hunger pangs or the outside world wouldn’t get her to leave her task till it was completed. She’d finished whole titles that way in the first few months when she’d started out. The motivation from the sales and the reviews from readers and the publishing world at large had been the guiding force. Now, she still had the support and the accolades, but the pressure was killing. She wasn’t sure how long she could handle it.

And now, there was that contract with the firm run by Lucas Edge’s enterprises. She’d signed the agreement just a week ago and it had gone better than she’d have dreamed. The manuscript delivery requirements were fairly wide in margin, and the author’s advance had been generous to say the least. Even her agent was impressed and it was pretty hard to impress the world-savvy Janice Potter.

Now all Alyssa had to do was wrap up prior commitments with her other issuing outlets and focus on what could be the publishing deal of her career. The news was already spreading that the big-time firm had commissioned Alyssa’s next big bestseller. The publicity was doing nothing to calm Alyssa down. She normally thrived under pressure but for some reason she couldn’t explain, nothing seemed to be going right.

Okay, if she was honest, she knew exactly the reason behind her perpetual emotional muddle. She could hardly eat or sleep now and the reason for all this had one name: Lucas Edge.

Every passing day she regretted not taking up his offer to stay the night. She remembered standing firm and telling him she’d love to stay but had to go. He’d looked disappointed, but didn’t try to convince her further. Soon after, he was dropping her right in front of her house and had even walked her up to the front door.

The kiss goodnight had felt so final and she had the funny feeling she wasn’t going to see him again. And she was right.

When talks began on her upcoming contract with his publishing firm, she had to handle it all through his aides and the legal team. Janice was on hand to see her through each stage of the process and time after time, Alyssa kept wondering if Lucas would see fit to make his presence known at any time during the talks.

Had it really been all or nothing? Alyssa would have thought they could at least be friends. She kept hoping he’d call to ask how she was, or to discuss with her personally about the contract his firm was interested in signing with her which would involve a three-book series to be roughly based around a beautiful jewel thief and her romance with a handsome royal prince from a fictional Northern European state.