Page 24 of Edge of Secrets (The Edge Trilogy #2)

Chapter Fourteen

Duncan

I was disoriented when I woke. I’d trained myself to wake at a quarter to five a.m., used to having my eyes open while the sky was still dark, my mind clear and sharp, already generating a streamlined plan of attack for the day’s work.

But the sky wasn’t dark. The room was flooded with light. And my mind was soft, floating, full of an intense, glowing sensation of well-being. The flower-like scent of silky dark ringlets tickled my nose, and the startled rush jolted me fully awake.

Nell. In my apartment, in my bed, in my arms. I still couldn’t get over how soft she was. Her skin beneath my hands was as fine as a baby’s. She slept with her back to me, her round, perfect ass pressed against my hips. And predictably, my body reacted.

The urge to roll her onto her belly and slide into the hot grip of her luscious body took all my mental strength to resist. Too dangerous. I had no idea how she’d feel about being here with me when she woke up.

Better that she didn’t wake up with my cock already inside her.

So I nuzzled her neck, and memorized the graceful angle of bones and tendons under her soft skin, that little brown mole on her neck, the way the grain of her hair swirled in wild vortices at her nape.

The responsive skin there, perfumed and decorated with fine downy hair. The gold chain of her pendant.

I scooted back, just enough to let her roll onto her back, so I could admire her tits. World-class—luscious, plump, and perfect—the way they swelled out, the tight brown nipples. The glittering pendant lay on her collarbone, catching the light.

My self-control snapped. I cupped her breasts in my hands, pressing my face into that perfect, silken softness, and something inside me gave way, like a landslide.

I went at her, licking and sucking ravenously, and she woke with a gasp, stiffening beneath me. The startled sounds she made soon turned into a whimper of pleasure. Her arms wrapped around my neck, offering herself.

I rolled over, settling between her legs, and she opened them, arching and wrapping her thighs around mine in mute invitation.

I grabbed my rigid cock, petting the slick, tight silken folds of her perfect little pussy until I found the right spot, the right angle, and slowly pushed my cock inside her.

The slow, excruciatingly naked slide into her slick warmth was going to kill me. “Oh, fuck,” I gasped. So much for eloquence. Poetry.

Her half-lidded eyes popped open as we both remembered latex at the same time. But it was too fucking good to stop. I rocked, sliding deeper. So tight, so wet, so impossibly hot. Like she was clutching me, sucking me, licking me with her pussy.

I struggled to speak. “I won’t come inside you,” I promised.

“But I … we haven’t even discussed?—”

“I’m safe,” I told her. “I’ve tested negative for everything in my last physical. Swear it. And I never do it without protection. I won’t come inside you, I swear. It just feels so good with you. You drive me out of my fucking mind.”

She laughed, a wispy, breathless sound. “Um. Same here.” She wiggled beneath me, her eyes dazed. “I’m safe too, disease-wise,” she said slowly. “And, um … I’m on the pill. I use it to keep my cycle regular. So, that’s not an issue. So, ah …”

I slid deeper, letting her take all of me, silently jubilant. “So? So what?”

She lifted her hips. “So give it to me.”

And we were off at a wild, hard gallop. My body had its own agenda. The scalding heat of her—the raw immediacy of naked skin to skin—was like nothing I’d ever known or imagined. It opened up parts of me I hadn’t known were there.

It was Nell. She was magic. She was poetry. She was music. She was red-hot, honeyed, writhing perfection beneath me, around me.

I lifted myself up to see it all—the base of my cock gleaming with her slickness, her tender pink pussy stretched around my shaft, hugging and caressing as I plunged and surged. Her soft, shapely thighs open for me, the lush curves of her body, her tits bouncing with each hard thrust.

The look in her eyes made something break open in my chest, but I didn’t have time to be afraid of it because my body was charging forward, desperately chasing the beacon of her impending orgasm. Like I’d die if I didn’t overtake it and make it my own.

She tightened, trembling, and I cried out, as pleasure obliterated me.

Panting, still reeling, I collapsed beside her, pressing my face into her neck, feeling the golden chain of her necklace against my lips.

After a few minutes, she pulled away and slid off the bed, mumbling something about a shower.

“I’ll make you breakfast,” I called after her before the bathroom door clicked shut.

I yanked on some sweatpants. My eyes slid to the small silver digital clock on my dresser.

I was so startled to see it read nine thirty-seven, I checked my phone to see if it was true.

I was usually up at a quarter to five, and out the door by five-fifteen on my way to the gym.

In the office by seven. Seven-ten at the very latest.

Well, hell. So I was late today. Being the boss had to be good for something.

Who knew? Maybe I’d get lucky again. The thought floated me right into the kitchen, where I started rummaging for breakfast.

Then the phone rang. Nobody on earth called this landline but my mother.

Of all times. Christ. I picked up. “Yeah?”

“Duncan, honey! Thank goodness! I called the office, but you weren’t there! What on earth?” She paused, significantly. “Are you sick? Is anything wrong? You never stay home from work!”

“I’m fine. Just working from home this morning. What’s going on?”

“It’s Elinor. You will not believe what she’s done!”

I sighed. “What about her?”

“She’s switched her major to theater arts! She dropped all her business courses and signed up for theater history and dance! She wants to be an actress!” My mother’s voice cracked with horror.

I stared at the scabbed-up scrapes on my knuckles, flexing and bending them to keep them from stiffening up. “So?” I said. “What’s the problem? It’s her decision.”

“Oh, not you, too, Duncan. Bruce said that too, but it’s madness to go into theater! You have to talk sense into her!”

Hah. Me, talking sense into anyone on a day like today was comical. I glanced toward the corridor, waiting for my problematic, sexy siren to appear.

I was no longer the poster boy for doing the sensible thing. But I also didn’t want to get into it with my mother today. “I’ll talk to her, if you want,” I offered.

“Oh, thank you. She’ll listen to you. It’s not too late to change her major back.” My mother’s voice was relieved.

“Okay, Mom. Gotta go. Later, okay?” I hung up and went back to the fridge.

Nell appeared in the doorway just as I was laying out French toast, grilled ham, and orange juice on the table. She looked damp, rosy, and fragrant. She gazed at the food-laden table, her eyes big. “Whoa,” she said. “Look at that. So you cook, too?”

“I like to eat, so yeah,” I said. “I hope you’re hungry.”

She sat down with a murmur of appreciation and tucked into a gratifying amount of the breakfast that I’d made.

Afterward, we sipped our coffee and stared at each other across the table.

Neither of us could hold the other’s gaze for more than a few seconds without looking away or laughing.

Jesus. Look at me. Giggling. Touching her toes under the table with my own bare feet, like a goofy kid.

But it was getting on toward ten-thirty now, and I had to get my shit together. “I have to get down to the office,” I said reluctantly.

She glanced at the clock. “I have to hurry, too. I’m going to be late for lunch prep as it is.”

“You’re going where?” I grabbed her wrist. She let out a small gasp and stared at my hand.

I didn’t let go. “You are going where, you said?”

Her eyes got big and wary. “Duncan. Let go of my arm.”

“Answer my question,” I insisted.

“I’m going to work,” she said crisply. “At the Sunset Grill! Remember?” She yanked at her wrist again. “I work there six days a week! As you should know, since you eat there six days a week!”

“Not today,” I said. “You’re not working there today.”

She jerked in vain at her arm. “Excuse me? Why not? I’m just supposed to stop everything I do?”

“Yes!” I snarled. “After what happened to you last night, you think I’m going to let you just walk out onto the streets? Like nothing even happened?”

“Let me?” Her voice was soft and dangerous. “Duncan, watch yourself. You aren’t going to ‘let me’ do anything. Because I don’t have to ask your permission for anything I do. Not now. Not ever. Is that clear?”

“Wrong,” I said.

She stared at me, and slowly shook her head. “That will never fly,” she said. “You would have to genuinely sequester me, like a criminal. I’m talking, with rope, duct tape, and a gag. I really don’t think so. That’s not who you are.”

“Goddamn it, Nell! If I hadn’t been there last night, you’d be dead! I changed the course of the way things went for you last night, and that gives me some responsibility. That gives me a say. So deal with me. You don’t have any choice.”

“Let go of my arm, Duncan,” she said quietly. “You’re scaring me.”

“Fine! It’s about fucking time you were scared!”

I let go of her wrist, and she rubbed it, avoiding my eyes.

“You don’t seem to understand my situation,” she said.

“I am broke, Duncan. The Snake Eyes situation ate up all my savings. I spent so much on that damned alarm system, and so much on taxis and cars, and I’m already a month behind on my rent.

I don’t even have money for cab fare today, if I don’t get out there and go to work.

And Norma depends on me. I won’t just bag on my employer with no warning, unless I have a broken limb or a contagious disease!

It’s irresponsible. I was raised better than that. ”

“I’ll give you money,” I said. “As much as you need.”

Her mouth tightened. “That’s not a solution, Duncan.”