Debauched in Diamonds Page 7
“And who can talk me into cleaning?”
“That would sure be a bonus, because, brother of mine, you are a slob.”
He laughed. “And you, sister of mine, are a giant brat.”
“Yeah. You still love me.”
“Sweetheart, I adore you.” He kissed her cheek as the song ended. “Now, go get your husband and mingle with your guests.”
“If you insist.” With a last kiss for him, she turned toward Jeffrey, leaving Victor alone on the edge of the dance floor.
“She’s stunning,” Darci spoke from just behind him.
“She is.” Victor’s smile shifted from one of pride over his sister to one of happiness over getting to speak to Darci before he turned.
“Speaking of stunning.” Darci wore a shimmery gold dress in some fabric that hugged her body until the skirt flared flirtatiously around her calves. Sadly, it was long enough that it hid the flex of her muscles as she walked in her heels. The necklace he’d only seen her without in her apartment, the one time he’d been there, hung from her neck. “You look amazing.”
“Thank you.” She nodded toward the guests. “Everyone seems to be having a great time.”
“I’ve only heard one complaint.”
“What’s that?” she asked, shifting into wedding planner mode.
He took her hand and pulled her to the dance floor with him. “You’re not dancing with me.”
“Victor.” She pulled away, but he ignored her and instead moved her deeper onto the floor. “I’m working.”
“Nothing’s going to implode if you dance with me.”
“My sanity might.”
Flattening his palm at the base of her back he held her close and moved fluidly with her. “Why’s that?”
“Because the team will start talking and matchmaking efforts will erupt.”
“Not if you give them a good reason to not try matchmaking.”
“Do you have one?”
He only grinned and continued the dance. When he tried to nudge her closer she resisted with a shake of her head.
“We’re not starting anything on this floor, Victor.”
“As if I’d start anything like that at my sister’s wedding.”
“Your male mind is notoriously one-tracked at times.”
Denial of that claim would be a waste of breath, so he didn’t bother. His mind was resolutely on one track at the moment. “Darci, what would you say if I asked for a small tweak to our agreement?”
“It would depend on the tweak.”
Prepared to leap, he said, “I’d like to attach a string.”
“Why? Things are fine the way they are.”
“I’d like something a little more than fine.” Since she wouldn’t move closer to him, he leaned into her and lowered his mouth to her ear. “I’d like some exclusivity.”
“I’m not interested in seeing anyone else.”
He stayed near her ear. “I’d like your friends to know you’re exclusive. I don’t want them to have any reason to attempt setting you up on blind dates.”
“You mean you want to announce that we’re seeing each other.”
“There could be worse things.”
“I don’t like complications.”
“There’s nothing simpler than being with you, Darci.” Lindy caught his gaze as he passed where she stood nearby. Her arched brow, tilted head and cocky grin told him she’d put things together. “And I have a secret for you.”
“What?”
“Lindy’s on to us.”
“What?” She pulled away quickly and looked around. The move threw off her rhythm, causing her to stumble. He caught her smoothly and kept her from tripping.
“She’s watching us, and she’s smart enough to know this isn’t the first time you’ve been in my arms.”
Darci pushed against him, but again he held her close.
“Answer me one question and I’ll let you go and drop the whole thing.”
Holding her shoulders stiff, she looked up at him. “What?”
“Were you happier when we were apart the last few weeks, or are you happier when we’re together?”
She slumped, unable to lie and unwilling to confess.
“That’s what I thought.”
“So what? Just because I enjoy being with you doesn’t mean I want to tell everyone what we’ve been doing.”
“The day will come. It may as well be here. Now.”
“What?”
“I think you know what.” Smiling, he lowered his face and pressed a kiss to her lips. “I think you’ve known since the morning you decided to stop seeing me.” He kissed her again. “I think you knew the same thing and were scared by it.”
“What do you think I know?” she asked with a swallow.
“That I’ve fallen for you.”
She shook her head, but fear and yearning darkened her eyes.
“And you’ve fallen for me.”
Her head shake was smaller. The fear and yearning more intense.
“I love you, Darci.” He guided her off the dance floor and outside the double doors onto a mostly deserted patio. “I can’t go another day without you knowing that.”
“But… Why? We’re nothing alike.”
“We’re alike in the ways that matter and we complement each other in everything else.” He kissed her again, because she was close and he could. “Do you realize I’ve kept my apartment clean since you were last there?”
“No.”
“I even got the car cleaned.”
“Maybe you’re just coming down with something.”
“That’s just one reason I love you.” He chuckled. “You’re too modest to accept that you could make me want to change.”
“It’s not modesty,” she stated firmly.
“Then what is it?”
“Terror.” Her throat bounced in a swallow. “Terror that you’d feel the need to change for me, because that means you feel like I can’t accept you and that will lead to chaos down the road when you decide keeping stuff clean for more than a couple of weeks is too much effort and then you start to hate me.”
“I’ve seen your apartment, Darci. I noticed the way everything sits at a perfect forty-five or ninety-degree angle depending on the shape of the room. I saw the way you’ve labeled your medicine cabinet and makeup drawer, even though you’re the only person living there.” He kissed her again. “That will only make it easier for me to know where you want things when we’re living together.”
She lunged back. “What?”
“You don’t like chaos, which I’m taking to mean you like a plan.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“So, I figure you should know that I have a plan. First, I get you comfortable with the idea that I love you. Then, I get you comfortable with the idea that you love me.”
“You’re crazy.”
“After that, we’ll move in together. I’m cool with your place or we can find a new one. I think mine’s a little small.”
“Nuts.”
“After you’ve come to realize I can keep the place clean and will not disrupt your life too much—”
“This is a disruption already.”
He continued, “I’m going to ask you to marry me. We’ll plan our own perfect day to kick off what I’m sure will be a great life.”
“Until I have to have you committed for a psych eval.”
“Can you hear that?” he asked, pointing at the air around them.
Sighing impatiently, she cocked her head like she was listening. “Hear what?”
“A wish.” The curve of his lips invited her close. “That’s the sound of you making my wishes come true. Of me hoping to do the same for you.”
“Did you slip in the shower and hit your head?”
“No, but you could promise to make sure I never do.”
“Is there any chance you’re going to give up on this plan of yours?”
“Only if you tell me I am one-hundred-percent off base
in how I’ve read this relationship of ours.”
She studied him, looked deep into his eyes, saying nothing for several humming moments. “I guess it’s a sound I could get used to.”
He traced a thumb along the edge of her bottom lip. “I’ll give you no reason to fight it.”
Laughing, she moved into his arms and rested her head against his shoulder. “Can I tell you something, Victor?”
“Anything. Anytime.”
Her hands went to his waist inside his tuxedo jacket. “You already do the same for me. You have from the moment you helped rescue my spilled jewelry.”
His eyes drifted closed as he rested his cheek on top of her head. “It took a little longer for me, but the moment I saw you sorting my comic books with Groot’s head on your leg I was lost.”
“I always heard food was the way to a man’s heart. Who knew that with you it would be organization?”
“If there’d been a bet in place I’d have lost everything,” he admitted as he pulled her close. In the moment’s silence, he heard peace, happiness. It was definitely something he could get used to.
Then, Darci took things up a notch when she whispered, “I love you, Victor, and I really like your plan.”
Yeah. He was going to enjoy getting used to being with her.
About the Author
Heart-stopping puppy chases, childhood melodrama and the aborted hangings of innocent toys are all in a day’s work for Nikki Duncan. This athletic equestrian turned reluctant homemaker turned daring author is drawn to the siren song of a fresh storyline.
Nikki plots murder and mayhem over breakfast, scandalous exposés at lunch and the sensual turn of phrase after dinner. Nevertheless, it is the pleasurable excitement and anticipation of unraveling a character’s motivation that drives her to write long past the witching hour.
The only anxiety and apprehension haunting this author comes from pondering the outcome of her latest twist.
Nikki loves to hear from her readers. She can be found at all the predictable online places.
Twitter @NDuncanWriter
Facebook /NDuncanWriter
Website www.nikkiduncan.com
Look for these titles by Nikki Duncan
Now Available:
Sensory Ops
Sounds to Die By
Scent of Persuasion
Illicit Intuitions
A Killing Touch
Taste Me Deadly
Tulle and Tulips
Tangled in Tulle
Twisted in Tulips
Handcuffed in Housewares
Whispering Cove
Wicked
Burned
Serenades
Fiery
Her Miracle Man
Coming Soon:
Cyber Illusions
Seduced in Sand
Under the knife, under the gun…and under no illusion he’ll sacrifice everything for her.
Taste Me Deadly
© 2014 Nikki Duncan
Sensory Ops, Book 5
After five years in Witness Protection, Greycen Craig’s life of careful routine is upended when she learns her sister is the victim in a hit and run, hospitalized, unconscious, and needing a kidney only Grey can give.
Despite warnings that this “accident” is a ruse to draw her out into the open, Grey risks everything to race back to Miami—where she comes face to face with the one man she aches to trust.
FBI agent Liam Burgess thinks he’s prepared for the moment Grey walks into her sister’s hospital room. But the moment the woman who holds his heart appears, his tongue is almost too tied to remember to ask one burning question—why she disappeared in Las Vegas two years ago.
As Grey struggles with what to tell him—everything or nothing—the danger that drove her underground resurfaces, threatening everyone she loves. And the only safe place to run is the arms of the one man she can’t tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Warning: This title contains a hero who knows who he wants and isn’t afraid to fight for her and a heroine with secrets she fears hold the power to unravel all their dreams.
Enjoy the following excerpt for Taste Me Deadly:
“No. I’m not joining your merry little band of whatever you all are.”
“Sweetheart.” He stopped at the first door in the upstairs foyer and pressed a kiss to her temple. “You’re already a member.”
“Liam, I hope you’re not expecting this thing between us to last.”
“I have just as much reason to think it will work out as you do to think it won’t.”
“I don’t even know how to respond to that.”
“Then don’t try.” He leaned around her and opened the door they stood beside. His arm brushed her breast and set tingles racing through her. She lifted a hand, set it on the back of his forearm.
His jacket felt creamy against her fingers. He angled his head, met her gaze.
So many things needed to be said, discussed. She owed him an explanation. He deserved to know why she’d left, to know it had nothing to do with him. The trouble was that she’d leave again when Ruby was safe, so anything she said would be little more than empty platitudes.
“Liam.”
“Grey.”
They spoke at the same moment and they both sounded out of breath. Screw explanations. If burning in Miami’s fiery pits of despair rested in her near future she may as well enjoy the trip.
Curling her fingers into the back of his arm she leaned into him. Slow and dreamlike, Liam eased forward. Grey pushed up to her toes and touched her lips to his. It was a tentative touch and she kept her eyes open, locked on his, not that the thoughts behind the brown shields to his soul were readable.
Retreating, she swept her tongue across her lips. Liam placed a hand on her stomach and pulled at her shirt. He made no move to untuck it, yet each tug pulled on the yearning to belong that breathed inside her. Then she grabbed his jacket and began to pluck at the fabric.
“This is wrong,” Grey whispered, more for her benefit than his, a way to remind herself how things would end. She didn’t belong in his world that was resplendent in perfection. She didn’t know how to be the kind of person he surrounded himself with, openly supportive and instantly loving. She was more comfortable in her one-bedroom apartment filled with mismatched furniture that could only be called shabby chic in a dream. Differences aside, she had no desire to be involved with someone tangled up in the law. Either side.
“Seems right to me.” He breathed a kiss across her lips again. Nothing more than a rush of warmth backed by the lightest caress of softness, the kiss sent her rationalizations scurrying for cover.
“Things are complicated.”
“Easy is boring.” He kissed her again.
Her knees trembled. Her other hand drifted up and grabbed the front of his jacket. “Boring is safe.”
“Safety and excitement can dance on occasion.” His next caress was a nibble kiss at her jaw, just in front of her ear.
She licked her lips and tightened her hold on his jacket. He unraveled her restraints. “What kind of dance?”
“The oldest kind.” Demonstrating, he gathered her close and began to move. They stood in a large foyer at the top of the stairs with no music playing and he was luring her into a dance.
Then she heard it. Music, deep and throbbing like a heavy heartbeat. The stunning strains of sweeping notes played in each touch. His palm at her hip. A finger at her throat’s pulse.
Her blood hummed. Desire swelled.
Applying almost no pressure, he moved her hips forward and back, wrapping her in warmth and comfort and arousal. Grey rested her temple against his jaw and craved the strength to allow herself to be carried away.
Complications underscored Liam’s efforts to simplify the moment. Grey just didn’t know how to accept the simplicity.
“I can’t.” Lifting her head she forced clarity into her mind. The fog of fantasy lingered, though.
Liam su
rprised her when instead of arguing or ignoring her, like he did every time she insisted his help wasn’t needed, he set her down. She wasn’t sure when he’d picked her up but the instant his hands released her she missed them.
“Do you promise not to run away in the middle of the night?”
“Are you really that worried about my safety?” The idea of him caring enough to worry was novel, which was nothing more than a dream she couldn’t entertain.
“Yes, but let’s not pretend you haven’t mastered your disappearance act.”
Guilt, an emotion she’d once thought she squashed, showed its traitorous head, which it seemed to be doing a lot lately. It had been bad with Ruby, yet standing in Liam’s home it mixed with regret and overflowed.
“My promise probably means nothing to you, but I will not leave in the middle of the night.”
“Good.” He leaned in and kissed her again. This time it was almost chaste, as if he was simply saying “good night, sleep tight”, but as she breathed easy he tugged her bottom lip between his teeth, swiped his tongue over the puffy spot she’d made bleed earlier with chewing nerves, and then pulled back.
He pointed to the end of the hall. “I’m just around the corner if you need me.”
Her knees shook as she watched him walk away. She’d been so certain he would seduce her into his bed. The weekend in Vegas had been the first and last time in five years she’d slept dream free and the prospect of repeating the pleasure was stark.
He was rounding the corner when she called out. “Liam.”
When it comes to hand-to-heart combat, no hold is barred.
Two in the Afternoon
© 2014 Cora Cade
A Day of Pleasure, Book 2
Molly Ryan survived one attack, and she’s not about to be a sitting duck for another. With her attacker harassing her from his jail cell, she packs up her life in Chicago, follows her Delta Force brother to North Carolina and gets work in a pub.
Men in uniform are definitely off her menu, but her boss’s friend, Army Ranger Callum Eversman, is one hot hunk she’d like to sample.
Home on a two-week furlough, Cal has agreed to watch over Molly as a favor to fellow Ranger Noah Harper. Accomplishing his mission without her noticing? That’s going to be tough, as any idiot can see their sparks of attraction from a mile away.