Dark Attraction: The Corde Noire Series (16 page)

When the elevator doors opened, she spied the small pond in the entryway.

“Sam?”

When she looked up, Sebastian was standing next to his open front door.

She nodded dutifully and walked inside.

After he shut the front door, Sebastian took her hand. He led her down the dark steps to the living room. When he stopped in the middle of the room, Sam felt the air around her change.

There it was. That odd sense that they were not alone. Cocking her head to the side, she searched the room with her mind for the source of the intrusion. The otherworldly energy of the spirit she had sensed the first time she had come to the penthouse took shape.

“That is the exact look you had on your face the last time I brought you here. I asked you to tell me what you were thinking then. Will you tell me now?”

Slowly, she raised her eyes to him. “You’re not going to like it.”

“Tell me, Sam.”

“There’s someone here. The spirit of a man, older … he’s faint.” Then she heard it. “Jack, his name is Jack.”

The smile that ran across Sebastian’s face was so unexpected, she took a frightened step back from him.

“Jack is my father,” he softly admitted. “He died in this penthouse ten years ago. Heart attack.”      

The sense of relief and anger that catapulted through her was riveting. “You knew he was here and you said nothing to me?”

Sebastian gave a curt nod. “I didn’t say anything to you before, for the same reasons you never told me about your little gift. I didn’t want you to think I was crazy.”

She pointed at him, her mouth ajar. “You can see him, too?”

He shook his head. “No. There was a psychic, a friend of Nathan Cole’s, who came here once. She told me he was hanging around. It explained a few strange incidences that have occurred in this penthouse since I moved in.” He took her hand. “I think having that kind of ability makes you very special, Sam, not a mutant.”

When he pulled her forward, Sam almost toppled to the floor. He believed her and accepted her. This was something she had never experienced.

There has to be a catch.

The overhead lights came on in the kitchen as soon as they crossed the threshold. The shiny white-granite countertops and stainless appliances glistened under the lights. Stopping at a cabinet door above the sink, Sebastian let go of her hand.

“I always knew you were keeping something from me.” Reaching into the cabinet, he retrieved a bottle of vodka and set it on the countertop.

“How long have you known your father is here?”

Removing two old-fashioned glasses from another cabinet, Sebastian glanced back at her. “Since soon after he died. I’ve always had problems with the lights going on and off, and a few subs, who have stayed here, complained of feeling as if they were being watched.” He put the glasses down next to the bottle of vodka. “But you’re the only one who sensed him.”

She stood by as he poured two glasses of straight vodka. “Am I one of your subs?”

He never raised his eyes from the counter. “Only if you want to be. This has to be your decision, Sam.”

“How can I make a decision like that? I have no experience with being a sub.”

Putting the bottle down, he lifted a glass and held it out to her. “You need to ask yourself if you want to be taken care of by me, guided by me, and trained in how to please a man in every way possible.”

“You make it sound … tempting.” Sam took the drink from him.

“Is that a yes to my proposal?”

She shot back a long swig of the vodka. The burn of the alcohol traveled all the way to her stomach. Clutching her glass, she knew she could never refuse Sebastian. She was going to do as her Aunt Gertie had always advised. Sam was going to grab life by the balls.

“I will be yours for as long as you want me, Sebastian.”    

He came around to her side and pried the drink from her hand. “Perhaps we should talk about this.”

Sam held her shaky hands together. “If we talk about it, I might change my mind.”

He set her vodka on the kitchen counter. “You must have some questions for me.”

“Nope. I’m good.”

He wiped his hand over his face. “Sam, we need to discuss what you are and are not willing to do as my sub. You have to understand what you are consenting to. You might not like some of the things I want to try.”

“Are you going to hurt me?”

Hiding his eyes, he turned to the sink. “No, of course not. I have no wish to hurt you.”

She inched up behind him. “Then I have no worries. If I don’t like something I can just yell
cat
, right?”

*     *     *

Gripping the edge of the sink, Sebastian felt that kick from the pit of his stomach. The same sensation he got whenever he was around her. He had never experienced it with his other subs. They had been accustomed to the lifestyle, had consented to his rules, and knew exactly what was expected of them. Yet, here was a woman who had no knowledge of men and was willing to hand herself over completely to him. It scared him to death.

He dug his nails into the stainless sink. “How can you trust me so much, when you don’t even know what I’m capable of?”

She rested her hand on his back, twisting his stomach into knots. “It’s because I trust you that I’m not afraid. I want to please you, Sebastian. I want to be yours.”

There it was, that moment of complete submission he craved from every woman.

Turning around, he cupped her face. He knew in that instant, none of his conquests would be as sweet as her. Unable to hold back any longer, he kissed her tantalizing red lips.

Sebastian expected some show of fear or apprehension from her, but all he could sense was her raw desire. He could taste her want, feel her blood pulsating with need, and it thrilled him. He urged her lips apart and pierced her mouth with his tongue. He thought of her willing and pure body ripe for the taking and he grew hard.

The first to pull away—something he had not expected to do—the hunger in her kiss was driving him mad. His ever-present grip on control was slipping away. Sebastian had to stop, or else he would be lost in her completely.

She gazed into his eyes. “So when do we begin?”

He let her go and stretched for the vodka glasses on the counter. Handing back her glass, he lifted his untouched drink.

“Let’s toast on this.” He tipped his glass against hers. “To you officially becoming my sub.”

Sebastian gulped back the shot of vodka, silently praying he was doing the right thing.

The sound of her empty glass hitting the granite countertop brought him out of his contemplation.

Like a child at the gates of Disney World, Sam’s countenance was one of complete exuberance. “What happens next?”

He studied her, running through the scenarios of submission he had dreamed of trying on her. But all of his training would mean nothing until he had truly made her his.

“Are you prepared to find out if you’re still a virgin?”

She nodded resolutely. “Yes.”

He arched a concerned brow. “If you are a virgin, the first time will hurt.”

“I know. Will it hurt the second time?”

He grinned. “It will be better than the first, I promise.”

Taking her to a recessed flight of straight stairs, located just to the side of the entrance hall, he guided her up the steps.

On the second floor, they made their way down a short hallway with oak paneling and light Berber carpet. He halted before the entrance to a large bedroom, done in muted beige carpet and light taupe-painted walls. Two of the walls were nothing more than windows that peered out over the city and river. An arched doorway was cut into another wall. Sam dipped her head toward the door and surveyed the shiny glass and white bathroom beyond.

Leading her to the bed, Sebastian was acutely aware of the slight tremble in her right hand. When he set her on his king-sized flat bed, she seemed to calm a little. As he stood over her, removing his jacket, tie, and shirt, she sat back on the bed taking him in.

After he had thrown his shirt to the floor, he motioned to her. “Stand up.”

She jumped from the bed. Pulling her tunic top over her head, he dropped it to her feet and then unhooked the back of her white silk bra. When her breasts were free, he ran his thumbs over her erect nipples. While he tugged her scrub pants down her hips, her hands went to his shoulders, trying to keep her balance.

Tossing her pants aside, he ran his fingers over the elastic waistband of her beige cotton panties. “I will take you shopping for appropriate underwear and bras. I like silk, lace, and thongs.”

“Thongs aren’t comfortable. They ride up my butt.”

“They’re not for your comfort, Sam. They’re for me.”

She rolled her eyes. “Fine. I’ll wear thongs.”

Smiling, he lowered her underwear to her ankles. “You are never to argue with me when I want something for you.”

He gazed down her naked body, relishing the anticipation of being inside her.

“Can’t we negotiate on some things?”

“Never on clothes.” Sebastian turned away from her and headed to the bathroom.

“Where are you going?”

Shaking his head at her incessant questions, he chalked up her sudden loquaciousness to nerves. He stepped into his bathroom and snapped up a plush white towel from the shelf by the shower stall. Stuffing the towel under his arm, he went to a drawer in his vanity cabinet. He hesitated over the open drawer.

Angry at his lingering doubt, he snapped up three packages of condoms from the drawer and clenched them in his fist. Before leaving the bathroom, he shoved the condoms into the front pocket of his trousers.

He unfurled the towel on the bed and made sure to spread the ends out evenly. He noted how she was gazing anxiously at the towel. “You can still change your mind.”

Still staring at the towel, she shook her head. “No. I don’t want to change my mind.”

Kissing her forehead, he ordered, “Get on the bed.”

While Sam scooted back on the bed, he reached into his pocket and tossed the condom packages next to her.

Sam picked up one of the foil packages. “Do you keep a ready supply of these things?”

He refrained from answering. With his eyes on her, he removed his watch and set it on the bedside table. Then he lowered his zipper and pushed his pants and briefs around his ankles. Stepping out of his clothes he moved to the bed, keenly aware of her eyes on his erection.

“What do I do?” she asked while he climbed on top of her.

“Just relax.”

Kissing her cheek, his lips eased around to her mouth. Her kiss started out as tentative, but as he dipped his tongue into her, her body relaxed. His hand gently made its way along her right breast, and then slid between her legs. She was so wet, but he knew better than to take her yet.

He began teasing her clit with his index finger. When she arched beneath him, he sucked hard on her right nipple. She was responding to him, moving rhythmically with his hand. Sebastian could feel his cock throbbing for her, desperate to bury itself in her tight flesh.

She rose and fell beneath him in waves as her climax drew near. He knew what she felt like when she came, and he waited for the tension to grip her muscles, bending her like steel beneath a blowtorch. That’s what she reminded him of at times: one of the great steel ships in his fleet. Gliding on a smooth blue ocean, she seemed impenetrable until a storm came along and tested her strength. He was that storm.  

The bucking of her hips let him know she was ready. Kissing away her cry as the orgasm seared through her, he kneeled between her legs, dipping his fingers into her, wanting to test her wetness.

Sitting back on the bed, Sebastian reached for a condom and deftly slipped it over his erection. Gazing down at her, he saw one curious blue eye watching his every move.

“I’ll teach you how to do this. We’ll always use condoms for birth control until you can get on the pill.”

She sat up on her elbows. “I’ve never seen a man put one on before.”

He climbed back on top of her. “You’ll enjoy doing it.” He kissed her lips. “Now put your hands on my shoulders.”

In that instant, he saw it. The slightest suggestion of panic in her eyes, as if the eventuality of what they were going to do had finally hit her. Kissing her again, he tried to distract her with his tongue as he lifted her hips into position. Pulling away his mouth at the last second, he bit down on her neck as he thrust into her.

God, she was so tight. He pushed deeper, feeling her flesh spread open for him.

Sam cried out and dug her nails into his shoulders. Sebastian knew then. She had been a virgin all along. She shuddered as he pulled out and drove deep into her again. He kissed her cheek and thought he tasted salty tears.

Easing back from her embrace, he examined her face. “Are you all right?”

She nodded and wiped a hand over her eyes. “It hurts.”

“You were a virgin.”

She kissed his cheek. “Thank you for making this special.”