A chill breeze from the ocean played with the tendrils of hair that had escaped her ponytail. Had she forgotten to close her bedroom window? Her seatbelt released and arms closed around her. She was lifted from comfortable warmth into the hardness of someone’s arms. A familiar and somewhat alarming masculine scent enveloped her. With a sigh and a frown, she forced herself to open her eyes and look at the person that dared interrupt her deep sleep. Soloman Hart looked down at her like the dark criminal overlord he was, desire clashing with triumph in his eyes.
She wanted to punch him in the eye and show him exactly what she thought of his near kidnapping. But she chose to yawn instead. Maybe he would be less attracted to her if he saw the gaping inside of her mouth? He chuckled and shifted her in his arms, holding her against the side of his body with one arm while closing her door with the other. She took a moment to both marvel and despair at his easy strength. He was a large man and he filled those sleek, expensive suits out very nicely. But they definitely hid a musculature most people didn’t get to experience up close.
Riley liked to think she was fit. Enough. Her favourite food groups were ice cream, bacon and orange juice. At least one of those was a fruit! Sort of. She hated working out with a passion and liked to tell people she would save them in case of zombie apocalypse by being the fastest speed walker in the group. Riley also had a bad tendency to forget to eat. She got that from her dad. A beautiful car wanders into the shop and bam! She’s in love, half-starved after two days of working on the babe and turning a tidy profit. The only thing that probably saved her from modern day scurvy was that shopping for Cilia forced her to shop for herself.
She wasn’t going to be beating off Soloman with her unused muscles and nonexistent running skills any time soon. She was going to have to rely on her wits and the fact that he seemed to want to kill her a lot less than most other people that entered into his orbit. Riley tilted her head back and smiled shyly up at Soloman, gaining his surprised attention. Clearly, he’d been expecting some kind of fight from her since they were most definitely not in front of Riley’s apartment building. It was dark out, but she could see enough to recognize he was striding toward the front doors of a massive house.
“I’m hungry,” she announced, fluttering her lashes at him and trying to look weak.
She was actually hungry. But she also figured the kitchen wasn’t the bedroom and since he wasn’t looking at her any less lustfully after her gigantic yawn, she needed a new tactic. He nodded his head absently and shifted her once again to dig in his pocket for keys to the house. She crossed her arms awkwardly against his muscular chest and rolled her eyes.
“Or you could put me down?” she suggested sarcastically.
He ignored her, unlocked the door and carried her over the threshold. He quickly tapped in a ten-digit code to the alarm, disarming it. She gasped as the cold air conditioning hit her and all humour left her for the moment. It felt significant, entering his home in the middle of the night in his arms. As though he were a conquerer returning to the castle with his captured prize held tightly against him. She turned her face against him and shivered. His arms tightened around her.
He didn’t bother turning on any lights as he strode with her toward the back of the house. Light from the moon shone through the windows as they passed, his shoes tapping against the dark marble flooring. He stopped abruptly and she realized they were in the kitchen. Gently, he set her on the counter next to a huge refrigerator. Without a word, he opened the door and started rifling through the contents.
Riley glanced surreptitiously around, taking immediate stock of a back door to her left. Soloman was to her right with the fridge door open between them. She would have at least a tiny head start if she decided to make a break for it. She curled her fingers around the edge of the countertop and shifted her butt just a little further forward, her entire body tensing for flight.
“You don't want to do that,” his voice rumbled from the fridge.
Riley’s head snapped to the right and her mouth fell open. How did he know? Was she that predictable? She jumped when he slammed the door shut cutting the light off. He set containers down one at a time on the counter next to her. She couldn’t tell what was in them since there was so little light. She really hoped he knew, because she detested liver, asparagus and marmalade. She didn't care how badass he was. No way, no how, was she eating any of those three things.
He went to the sink and washed his hands. Drying them off on a hand towel, he came back to where she was sitting. She’d pulled one of the containers into her lap and was toying with it when he took it from her hands. He removed the lid and pulled something out. She reached for it, but he pulled it away.
“Open your mouth,” he said gruffly.
“I can feed myself,” she complained, giving him a suspicious look and reaching for another container.
He captured her wrist in his other hand and trapped it against her thigh. He took a step closer, swamping her with his large presence. Even sitting on the counter, he was still taller than her. His narrow hips and stomach pressed against her legs, keeping her immobile while he attempted to feed her. Her breath caught in her throat and she wished she could see his face in the shadows of the kitchen, but she could only see his silhouette.
“I will take care of you from now on, including feeding you.” His voice rumbled through her.
“That’s pretty creepy, dude,” she replied, flexing her hand under his. He responded by tightening his knuckles over hers.
He sighed, the breath fanning across her face, and she found herself breathing in his subtle masculine scent as he leaned toward her. She really didn’t want to find him even remotely sexy, especially since she had been coerced into coming to his house in the middle of the night. And she knew exactly where he intended for this night to end. She wasn’t ready for that outcome yet. Not with someone like him. He was too intense and he wanted too much from her.
“You said you were hungry, Riley. Now eat or we go straight to bed,” he told her with a clear edge of impatience to his voice.
Well that was blunt, she thought, blinking at her lack of options.
Hoping the food was liberally laced with garlic, onions and whatever else might turn him off, she leaned forward the few inches that would bring her mouth to his fingers and tentatively took the offering. As soon as her lips touched his skin, the fingers of his other hand clenched, biting into her thigh. She felt the electric tension swirling around them and almost spat the food out. She brought her hand up to cover her mouth where his touch still burned against her lips.
He had fed her a piece of chicken and it was delicious. She moaned slightly as she chewed and swallowed. With a sigh of satisfaction, she smiled and said, “More, please.”
He was standing frozen against her, staring hard at her face. His long fingers continued to hold hers, wrapped around her thigh possessively. She frowned up at him and tossed her ponytail over her shoulder.
“That one bite didn’t really do it,” she told him slowly, as though she were explaining the obvious to a child. “I’m still hungry. Pretty sure even kidnappers have to feed their victims. Don’t make me go to the Human Rights Watch, buddy. I don’t think you'll like what they have to say to the likes of you.”
He snapped out of his momentary trance and snorted down at her. Reaching for another piece of chicken he held it up. She opened her mouth expectantly, but before he placed it on her tongue, he said darkly, “Watch that sassy little mouth or I’ll turn you over and fuck you right here against the counter before we even make it to the bedroom. And I promise, if you piss me off to that point, only one of us will enjoy it. You’re treading a slippery slope, gorgeous. I haven’t forgotten about my car. Or that you took off from my club and ignored all of my summons. I simply bide my time.”
Riley gasped and straightened against the counter so quickly she knocked the back of her head against a cupboard. She could feel the colour draining from her face. She had become so used to his pursuit and their banter over the past few weeks that she’d nearly forgotten who she was dealing with.
He tapped the chicken against her lips. She opened automatically and allowed him to slide the meat into her mouth. She wasn’t hungry anymore. He had effectively scared the hunger away, but she ate anyway. It was better than the alternative.
He continued to feed her chicken and then pieces of chopped up mango and pineapple until she pushed his hand away and quietly announced that she was full. He ate a few bites of everything in between feeding her, though his main focus seemed to be on caring for her. After his chilling declaration, they didn't speak again until after he finished putting the containers away and washed his hands again.
“Time for bed,” he announced.
He reached for her and lifted her easily off the counter. She was grateful when he set her on her feet instead of carrying her once again through the massive house. He took her hand and once more, without turning on any lights, began leading her. They arrived at a set of stairs leading down. He placed her hand on a railing and helped her glide down the wide staircase.
She frowned. “You sleep in the basement? That seems like an odd choice for a guy with tons of money. Why don't you buy a house with upstairs bedrooms? Or get a condo like me. Well, not exactly like me. My place is pretty small for a big-time guy like you. Something bigger, like a penthouse, with a pool or something.”
She knew she was babbling, but she couldn't seem to help herself. She was becoming more and more nervous as they descended further into the darkness of the house. She was beginning to feel like Persephone being swept off into the underworld by Hades. That had always been one of her favourite Greek myths because of the dark romance involved. Now that she found herself in virtually the same situation as the virgin goddess, she was rethinking what she considered romantic.
“I have a pool,” he grunted in response to her question, amusement lacing his deep tones.
As she stepped off the last stair and the bottom floor spread out in front of her she saw why his bedroom was down there. She gasped in surprise and, momentarily forgetting both her fear and his hold on her, she stepped toward the panoramic windows. He followed her. The windows faced a massive lawn that stretched out toward the inky black ocean where waves crashed against the beach. The moon flooded the entire area with light, including the interior of the room they were standing in. She could see a free-standing fireplace and a leather sofa set.
His estate home must be set on a slope where the front half of the house was level with the front lawn and the back half of the house was at the bottom of a hill. It was both modern and beautiful. She quickly calculated how much an ocean front property like that would cost and realized she was way further out of her depth than she had originally thought with this mafia boss. Like, maybe a few dozen of her little chop shops could buy a place like this.
Soloman curved a hand around her waist and urged her down another dark hallway. Her heart crashed in her chest the further he escorted her into his home. She began to feel as though there would be no escape. She knew she wouldn’t make it five steps if she tried and not just because of her dislike of running. He finally had his prize and he was not letting her go.
He lead her through another doorway at the end of the hall. She blinked in an attempt to bring something into focus. Did this guy have something against lights? She licked her suddenly dry lips and quickly stepped away from the arm that was curved around her waist. Surprisingly, he let her go. She guessed now that he had her where he wanted her, he didn't need to pin her to his side.
The windows in this room were covered in blinds, she supposed so he could sleep in darkness once the sun rose. Glancing at the clock she realized sunrise was only an hour away. It was 4:22am. They had driven all night. After leaving her Sparrow Hawk victory behind, they had only stopped once for gas and to stretch their legs. Ironically, Soloman had chosen to stop in Blackbird. The seething look he’d given her as he’d pumped gas told her that his choice hadn’t been accidental. He had traced her there. He knew about the track. He probably knew she shared a room with Wendell. It was a fucking miracle that guy was still alive.
Riley carefully made her way to the window and touched the cord on the blinds covering the sliding glass doors. “May I?” she asked quietly.
“Of course,” he murmured, coming to stand behind her.
She pulled, opening the blinds and revealing the magnificent view. A sigh escaped her lips as her eyes traced over his immaculate lawn and the dark ocean beyond. The faint beginnings of dawn were starting to crest over the water, creating a blue glow. He ran a hand over her shoulder and curved her into the strength of his arms. She brought her hands up against his stomach to push him away, but as soon as her fingers brushed the fabric of his shirt she felt the heat of his body. She gasped and dropped her hands. Her fingers brushed the rigid length of his cock, pressed hard against the fabric of his jeans.
Oh god! She couldn’t do this! She thought dizzily.
She pressed her hands back against the door behind her and reached for the latch. It opened beneath her fingers. Without thinking, she shoved the door open. She turned to run, but he was on her in seconds. His growl turned feral as he wrapped long fingers around her arms and dragged her back through the door. The kiss of ocean breeze barely touched her before she was turned around and slammed into his hard chest.