Page 18 of Second Chances (Passion and Perseverance #2)

Chapter Nine

Darcy.

She hadn’t even heard him come in. Her breathing was shallow as their eyes remained locked within the mirror.

She felt frozen in his molten stare and even though it was only his reflection that she was looking at, she could clearly see the fire burning in his eyes.

Then again, she knew that hers were glowing with just as much desire on seeing him.

He must have gotten ready at his office because he was fully dressed in a jet black, fitted tux; his hair was perfect, hell, he was perfect.

He looked like he had walked right out of a GQ cover, emanating power and desire.

She licked her lips and saw his jaw clench at her minute movement.

Her momentary paralysis broken, she turned slowly to face the most gorgeous man she had ever seen.

His eyes caught hers again.

“God, Beth, you are gorgeous.” The compliment escaped hoarsely from his lips as he strode purposefully toward her.

“Darcy,” she replied in a whisper just before his lips came crashing down on hers.

Pulling her tightly against him, he drank deeply from her mouth, as though he had been starved all day and she was his only form of sustenance.

Beth let herself get lost in his kiss, her tongue toying with his, moaning as he playfully bit and sucked on the soft fullness of her lower lip.

Thankfully, or regretfully, she was getting better at controlling her desire to lose herself in him; when she felt the familiar warmth start to trickle between her thighs, she pulled her mouth back, gently pushing against his chest.

“Darcy,” she said, her voice thick with desire, “we have to go. I can’t be late for the event.”

“Fuck the event.” His response came out harshly, but she knew the outburst was from pent-up desire and not anger. And she couldn’t blame him .

“ Later.” She uttered the word as both a plea and a promise as she reached up and placed the lightest kiss on his lips – the sweetest seal to her promise that more would follow.

His arms clamped like a vise around her as she tried to step back and out of his embrace. Her gaze shot questioningly to his, immediately fearing the worst.

Is he not going to let me go? Is he going to keep me here, tie me down, prevent me from going to my event, from doing my job?

As soon as the thoughts finished flying through her mind, her mouth began to open - whether to plead with him or berate him, she wasn’t quite sure.

It looked like she would never know because, in that instant, she felt his arms relax from around her, his fingers trailing lightly up her bare arms, sending goosebumps all over her body.

His hands came to rest gently on either side of her face, tilting it up to meet his as his mouth came within an inch of hers.

“I’m holding you to that, Princess.”

His tantalizing threat sent hot lightning right down to her core. Her eyelids dropped heavily, her breathing faltered, as she anticipated one last kiss to emphasize his warning. Suddenly, he was gone - walking out of the bedroom.

“I’m ready whenever you are,” he said with a devious smile on his face.

Wait, what? Where is the kiss?

She stood for a moment, processing what had just happened.

Sure, she’d pulled away first because they did have to go, but she’d craved one last kiss to hold her over until later and he’d teased her with it and then left her hanging.

Ok, maybe she had done the same to him. No, not maybe - she was sure, judging from her quick glimpse of the front of his pants, he was in the same tormented state of unfulfilled arousal as she was.

For one second, if she was honest, she contemplated following through with her promise right now and saying ‘screw it’ to her job and the event, but that second passed swiftly.

Beth turned back to face the mirror, smoothing her dress and making sure she still looked presentable. She reapplied her lipstick and threw the tube into her purse .

Ready.

With a steadying breath, a contrast to the erratic beat of her heart and nerves, she turned and walked out of the bedroom.

She stopped short again in the hall when her eyes caught him reading something on his phone by the door, waiting for her.

It should be a crime to be that good looking.

She kept moving as he looked up from his phone, jaw clenching and eyes darkening again at the sight of her. At this rate, they would set the hotel on fire with the desire that burned, unquenched between them.

“I’m ready.”

“Almost…”

What did he mean, almost?

Beth watched as he reached in his pocket and pulled out a small, velvet box. He opened the lid to reveal a pair of teardrop diamond earrings that had to be at least one karat each. Her breath caught at the beauty, and expense, of his gift.

“They are why I ran late. I hope you like them,” Darcy explained gruffly.

“They are beautiful,” Beth said softly. “Thank you.” She reached up and pulled his face to hers, their mouths instantly melding into one another.

She heard his deep groan as she pulled away, slowly opening her eyes into his intensely dark gaze.

“You are beautiful,” he said, his eyes boring into hers, his voice firm and sincere, and she felt the depth of how truly he believed that .

A soft blush spread to her cheeks at his words as she pulled the earrings out of their pillow and put them on using the hall mirror.

They were stunning. Shimmering in the light, they added the perfect final touch to her outfit.

Beth hadn’t even thought about jewelry; she’d been too concerned about making sure her hair and makeup were ok, yet Darcy managed to find the one thing to complete her look.

She was rarely super confident in her appearance, but tonight was one of those unique times where she felt beautiful, where she felt like she looked like she could belong with someone like Darcy.

Seriously, Beth? What a terrible thought to have about yourself.

She pushed her inner self-critical thoughts aside and gave Darcy a brilliant smile.

“Exquisite.”

It also helped that he kept telling her how beautiful she was. And showing her.

He opened the apartment door and followed her to the elevator and out into the night.

Darcy watched Beth’s face glow with pride as they arrived at the party.

Even though no other guests had arrived yet, the staff had everything set up and ready to go just as Beth had instructed.

He followed her around, watching closely as she made her rounds through each of the rooms, inspecting the setup, decor, bar selections, while she politely questioned servers and bartenders on the timeline and execution of the evening .

After a few minutes, they ran into Nancy who had been down in the kitchen.

Beth left Darcy and the older woman talking to check on the guest photo area and make sure the masks were laid out.

She was in work mode now and the anxious excitement that always filled her right before the start of an event had her senses on high alert.

In spite of everything that was running through her mind, she couldn’t help as her focus and gaze kept darting back to her sinfully handsome date, still chatting cordially with Nancy, although from the way that they kept looking over at her, it seemed like she was the topic of their entertaining conversation.

Darcy’s eyes caught hers and her face flushed before she quickly turned to continue her preparations.

Ten minutes until showtime.

Beth stopped to take stock of everything and make sure there was nothing else she needed to do. Her three-hundred-sixty-degree turn was halted as she spun right to face a smiling Darcy, his hand extended to deliver one of the night’s signature cocktails.

“Thank you,” she said, taking the drink from him and taking a sip.

“You’re forgetting one thing,” he replied.

Even though his tone was teasing, her heart skipped a beat at the thought that she had missed something that he had caught. Her concerned and questioning expression elicited a small chuckle from her date as he reached into his pocket.

Pulling out her navy, lace mask he let it unravel, holding it by only one of the ties.

“Of course, how could I forget,” Beth said with a smile. That wasn’t a big deal.

As she reached to take the mask from him, he pulled it back with a ‘tsk’. His hand gently touched her waist to turn her around and she felt the sparks of desire at his contact .

She closed her eyes as he gently placed the mask over her face and began to securely fasten the ties on the back of her head.

When he had finished, his hands ran slowly down both sides of her neck, lightly tracing her shoulders, skimming down her arms until coming to rest securely on her hips.

Beth let out a small gasp, her eyes opening, as he pulled her hips back firmly against his where she could feel the still-hard evidence of his desire.

“ All set,” he whispered in her ear, her body on fire from his proximity.

“Thank you,” she responded breathlessly. “I can’t believe I almost forgot to wear it.” She tried injecting some small humor to dull the intense desire coursing through her.

“Don’t worry, it will be the only thing you’ll be wearing later.”

Her mouth parted slightly on her sudden inhale of breath at his pleasurable promise.

Even though he stepped back from her at that moment, she felt the moist warmth between her thighs and knew that the carnal thoughts invading her mind had left her underwear no chance of surviving the night unscathed.

Watching him tie on his own mask, she crossed her legs and took another, larger sip of her drink, trying to dull the ache that was throbbing at her core.

Oh, he was cruel.

God, how she loved it.

She was about to turn around and give Mr. Intolerably-desirable a dose of his own medicine when Renée walked in and immediately Professional Beth kicked into high gear as she went to greet her client.