Deep in You (Phoenix #1) (3 page)

“I… I don’t know. I just decided to shake things up. I just broke up with my boyfriend and decided that I didn’t like who I saw when I looked in the mirror. I wanted to be someone else tonight, so I called a taxi and the rest you know.”

I’ll never understand why women bring shit like that up to men they’ve just met. Whatever. I’d be her rebound fling. After tomorrow, I’d never see her again, anyway. “Do you like who you’ve decided to be tonight?”

Her eyes lost focus, not really looking at me. I noticed that they were red and strangely dilated.

“Do
you
?” she asked.

“Hey…” I cupped her chin in my hand to force her to look at me. “Very much. Out of all the women in the club,
you
stood out to me.” I set down my wine and rose to my feet, holding my hand out to her. “And do you have any idea what you were doing to me when you moved your body against mine? Tour’s not over yet. You haven’t seen the upstairs.”

I placed her glass on the table and took her hand, tugging her hard into me and kissing her. Her hand snaked around my neck while both of mine dropped down onto her ass. I kneaded her round curves, my tongue plunging insistently into her mouth. My body came alive. Tingles raced all over my skin. My cock throbbed for her. She knew it, too. She grinned against my mouth and hummed appreciatively. Her other hand reached between us and found my erection, stroking me through my clothes.

Shit.
We weren’t going to make it upstairs; I needed her now. Right now. I felt reckless and lightheaded, and it made me behave in a way that wasn’t normal for me. I had somehow allowed her to take control, and I couldn’t have that. My house, my life, my rules.

Making a snap decision, I changed direction and almost carried her toward the guest room. Without breaking our kiss, I unbuttoned my shirt and removed my tie. Shrugging them off, I wrenched myself away long enough to tug her shirt over her head, then pulled her back against me. My tongue pressed into her mouth, stroking, exploring.

Then she did something I never expected. She closed her lips around my tongue and sucked hard. A strangled groan ripped from my throat.

I unhooked her bra and practically threw her onto the bed, enjoying the way her breasts bounced as she fell backward. I yanked a condom out of my pocket, tossed it on the bed, and followed her down to reclaim her inviting lips. My hands found their way to her tits. She arched her back to press herself into me as I pinched and rolled her nipples between my fingers.

I allowed myself a few moments more to enjoy her breasts, then kissed my way down her belly. I unfastened her jeans and shoved them roughly to the floor, along with her panties and strappy shoes. My clothes soon joined them.

Her hands found my chest and lightly skimmed my pecs. Goosebumps rose up all over my skin. I couldn’t wait any longer; this girl would drive me mad. I reached down and felt her slick entrance. She was so ready. I couldn’t wait to be inside her.

“Your tight little cunt is soaking for me, Lily. So needy… you can’t get me inside you fast enough, can you?” Her nails dug into my skin. I grabbed the condom and ripped it open, rolling it on with well-practiced movement.

“I need you, Xander. Now, please.”

I lined myself up and thrust into her. We both gasped. I had been right; she was incredibly tight, her pussy squeezing me. I paused, buried balls-deep inside her. “Did I hurt you?”

She scratched at my back like a tiger while she pressed her heels into my ass, encouraging me to move. “I’m fine. Please…”

I began to move, slow and deliberate at first, quickly gaining speed as we lost ourselves in each other. Lily screamed, her nails raking my back. I moved my forearms to press into her shoulders, allowing me to thrust even harder, plunge myself even faster. I pivoted my hips to be sure my cock hit her g-spot.

“Oh… God, yes. Fuck! Just like that,” she moaned. “Like that. Don’t ever stop.”

There it was. “Don’t stop.” Those words had me fighting for my self-control. No way was I stopping until she was finished, no matter how crazy she made me, how much I needed to come. I put my mouth to her ear. “You feel so tight. So incredible. I can’t get enough,” I growled. “I could fuck you again and again, all night long. That sweet cunt is heaven for my cock.”

“I’m so close.”

“Let go, baby. Come for me.” I bit down on her lower lip, sucking it into my mouth as I felt the first tremor wrack her body. Her pussy squeezed me in rhythmic bursts.

“Yessss,” she moaned.

I pumped into her twice more, then pushed as deep as I could and stilled. My whole body tingled in the split second before my orgasm ripped through me. We rode out our climaxes together, my feathered kisses soft on her lips.

“Xander?”

“Mmm.”

“That was…”

I withdrew myself from her depths and rolled to the side. I gathered her in my arms, and kissed her just under her ear. “I know, Lily. I know.”

Chapter Four

The black water churns and foams. Debris litters the nearby beach below. I’m standing on a pier with a broken railing, staring down in horror. She’s gone… gone. I couldn’t save her. Not this time. She wouldn’t listen. She never listened. My poor sister…

I moaned and rubbed my face, disoriented.

Where the hell am I
?

My head felt fuzzy. I blinked up at the ceiling, confused. It looked familiar. Right… the guest bedroom. I was in my guest bedroom having yet another nightmare about my sister’s death. I rolled over and found myself staring at the back of someone’s head. Damn, I couldn’t remember her name. What was it?

Oh, right. Lily. Lily Campbell.

Why was she still here?

The memories slammed into me. How much did I drink? I added it up, but still had no idea how I ended up so out of it. Two double shots of whiskey and a few sips of wine should not have had this effect. And what the hell was that last night? I’d felt so out of control, like I was outside my own body. That never happened to me. At least I’d had sense enough to put on a damned condom.

I sat up, shaking my head to clear it. Something was definitely wrong.

“Lily?” The sound that came from my parched throat didn’t sound like mine. It was hoarse, dry, a stranger’s voice. She didn’t move. I turned her onto her back. “Lily?”

Fear washed over me. I sat up and loomed above her naked body. She was so pale, and I couldn’t see that she was breathing. There was a dried puddle of vomit next to her, with a small chunk of something I’d rather not dwell on.

“Lily… Lily, wake up. Please wake up.” Fighting my panic, I placed my fingers on her jugular vein. Her pulse felt rapid and weak, but it was there.

I was torn. I barely knew this woman, and I was pretty sure we’d been drugged. It would explain both the way I felt and the state she was in. Should I call 911? Should I call the police? I’d make headlines nationwide.
Damn it!
How could this even have happened? Not the club, surely; that was an upscale club, not a dive. Certainly not the kind of place where you expected this sort of thing to happen… but to think otherwise meant it had been in my personal, sealed bottle of wine. It had to be the club, only why would anyone drug us both?

It had to have been the martini. I drank some of it, but not as much as she had. Had to be. I needed answers, but I wouldn’t get them until she was awake. I carried her into the bathroom, stepped over the tub, and braced myself. I turned the shower on.

Freezing water washed over us. I gritted my teeth and stood steadfast. Lily moaned and squirmed in my arms. I nearly dropped her, but managed to hold on tight.

“Hey, wake up, sleepyhead. We need to talk.”

“Fuck you, Xander. What have you done to me?”

I was so relieved she was talking that I couldn’t be insulted at her accusation. Whatever it was she’d been given couldn’t have been
too
terrible; she remembered who I was, where she was, and she could talk. “Let me guess. Your head hurts, you feel sick, and you feel like you were hit by a truck, right?”

“So you admit it. Put me the hell down,” she snarled. “What, didn’t think your macho act was enough to get in my pants? You had to drug me, you twisted asshole?”

“Relax, Lily. I didn’t do this, honest. I would never do this to anyone. I couldn’t…”

I trailed off. My sister was dead and buried, and it was ultimately drugs that killed her. I had always been anti-substance abuse, but after I lost her it had become almost a religion for me. I couldn’t explain any of that to the woman in my arms, though.

Lily went silent, but not because she was digesting what I’d said. She’d passed out again, still under the spray of the water.

“Damn it, Lily. Wake up!” I forced her into a standing position and held her there.

She groaned. “Xander… what is going on?”

“Come on. I’ve had enough of the water. Will you at least
try
to stay awake? Let’s talk about this.” I shut off the water and helped her out of the tub. “You need to keep moving. Stay awake. We were drugged, Lily. The only drinks we shared were my personal sealed wine and your martini at the bar. Let’s assume for the sake of argument that it’s the martini.”

“Okay,” she mumbled.

“Focus, Lily. I know the bartender, and I doubt she tried to drug you. Tell me about the guy you were with. Mr. Retirement Fund.

“I… I don’t know. I can’t…”

“Lily, did you turn your back on him at any point?”

“No.”

“Did you get up for any reason?”

“No. Of course not.”

“Not even to go to the bathroom?”

“I’m not a complete idiot. I know not to… to…”

Her pale complexion lightened further. I tightened my grip around her in case she was about to pass out. If she passed out again, I would call for an ambulance, to hell with what the press would think.

Her mouth moved but no sound came out. Her bloodshot eyes darted up to meet mine. That’s when I realized she wasn’t fainting. There was guilt written all over her face.

“Tell me.”

“I’m such an idiot. I… I–”

My lips tightened, drew into a thin line. I wanted to yell at her, to curse at her. But it wouldn’t help. Damn it! I had a qualifier coming up, and that meant I’d be tested. Who knew what that asshole had drugged her with? My career could be destroyed.

I didn’t know what to do. I wondered if I should just go ahead and take her to the hospital so we could find out what we were dealing with. I shook myself; that was a terrible idea. I should call Sam. At least he knew how to be discreet.

That thought flooded me with guilt. This wasn’t about me. If she wanted to find this guy and press charges, I needed to help her.

The fact that we woke up at all was a good sign, but now what? Call the cops, fill out reports, interviews, deal with the press… a shiver ran down my spine. Xander Phoenix, victim of a date rape drug. I’d never live it down. Also, there was the fact that some of them are used as enhancements for competitions. Illegally, but still usable. Some would never believe I had nothing to do with it. I’d be the next Lance Armstrong.

I stared at Lily, still leaning into me. “Do you want me to take you to the hospital?”

“I don’t know. Do you think I should?”

No.
“Yes. You probably want to press charges, and that means getting a full medical workup.”

“What will happen then?”

“The hospital will call the police. We’ll have to give statements. They’ll start an investigation.”

“I don’t want that.”

“You don’t want this guy to be caught? Off the streets?”

She shook her head. “I don’t want them to know how stupid I was. He seemed okay. I thought I could trust him.”

“You aren’t the first he’s done this to, I’m sure.”

“I can’t. I don’t want my life pulled apart for everyone’s amusement. I’d be a laughingstock. Especially since… never mind. That’s not important. What
is
important is that I feel better already. There has to be a better way.”

I couldn’t do it anymore. I couldn’t try to talk her into doing the right thing when I really just wanted this whole problem to go away myself. I nodded. “Okay.”

I’d get Sam over here and find out what was going on. I helped her into a chair, then fished out my cell from the wad of clothes on the floor at the foot of the bed. After tapping out a quick text, I tossed it onto the bedside table.

“If we aren’t going to the hospital, looks like you’ll be staying with me for a little while.”

“No need. We can call a cab.”

“Do you have a roommate?”

She started to shake her head, but froze, a look of pain and fear on her face. “No. Well, yes. I do, but she’s not… um… she’s not there right now.”

“Then you should stay. I need to make sure you’re okay. Hell, I could use the company. You can keep an eye on me, too.”

“You seem fine.”

“I probably am. If I am right and it was the martini, I only had a sip. Still, my head isn’t quite right, so better safe than sorry.”

She lowered her gaze. “Okay.”

“We could try drinking water to flush our systems, but honestly, it probably just has to run its course.” I wanted to believe that the water would help, but I really wasn’t sure. It at least sounded good.