Consumed Read online

  I also hate that I have to leave her and fly to New Jersey tomorrow. I hope Victoria and I can get lost in each other today, so I can escape what lies ahead a little bit longer.

  Once in the penthouse, she takes a seat on the sofa.

  “I’m going to change into something more comfortable.”

  Green eyes tilt up at me, and there’s an unfamiliar nervousness I sense from her. I hurry, changing from my dress clothes into only a pair of lounge pants, and when I reach the hallway, I hear it. Damn, Victoria is crying.

  “Tell me what happened today.” Sitting next to her, I pull her against me and stroke her hair.

  “I never cry. You make me want to cry.”

  “Uh, OK. What did I do?”

  “You do everything right.”

  “I wouldn’t go as far as saying that, but talk to me. What happened?”

  “You’re going to get extremely angry.”

  Pulling back from Victoria, I look down at her.

  “Did Reggie touch you again?”

  Her head shakes no, but she cries harder.

  “What the hell, Victoria?” Stretching my arm over to the end table, I grab some tissues and hand them to her. She blows her nose and calms down some.

  “I’m going to tell you everything that happened.”

  ***

  “Please, say something.”

  I stop pacing, which I began doing somewhere around the time Victoria said she knocked on this fucker Pete’s door. My pulse is flying as I turn to face her, and I need to connect my fist with something.

  “What do you want me to say, Victoria? Sorry you had a rough, fucking day at the office?! What I’m sorry for is that your partner got to kill the asshole and not me.”

  “You don’t mean that. I understand you’re ang—”

  “Yes, I mean it with every fiber of my being. If you think I’m only angry that you almost snorted cocaine while you were almost naked with a psycho drug dealer, who could’ve raped and killed you, then you’re mistaken. I’m furious, Victoria. Fucking furious!”

  Needing to unleash my fury, I yank the large sailboat portrait from the wall next to me and smash it over my knee.

  A lamp on the end table is thrown next as Victoria screams my name, begging me to stop. “Fuck!”

  She said she needed my strength, and this isn’t the kind she was referring to. I fall to the floor at her feet and go to cradle her face, but she pulls away, seeming frightened by me.

  “I’m sorry. Please, let me touch you.” I try again, and tears coat my palms as I take hold of her cheeks. “I love you, and I–I can’t lose you. I just got you. You’ve become my world, Victoria. My whole fucking world.

  “How am I ever supposed to be OK with you doing a job that recklessly? Tell me because I sure as hell don’t know.”

  Her forehead falls against mine, and I feel her eyes tightly shut against my thumbs. She’s trying to hold back more tears, and all I’ve done since she opened up to me is scare her.

  I sit on the sofa and pull her to me. Leaning back, I encase her in my arms and kiss her hair over and over between my apologies.

  “There is a reason I keep breaking the rules,” she whispers.

  Victoria

  Adrian’s heart is hammering against my cheek. He’s kissing the top of my head, trying to calm down. He thinks he scared me. I witness outbursts every day, so he didn’t.

  What scares me is the anguish and shame I felt as I told him what I did in front of Pete. I’ve never wanted to protect another human beings feelings as much as I wanted to guard Adrian’s. I hurt his heart, and it’s killing me.

  I also fear sharing the other story I’m compelled to tell him.

  “I know I didn’t show it the best earlier, but you’re safe with me and so are your secrets,” he says.

  “Dad picked me up from school two days a week when I was young. He would take me back to the station, and I would hang out while he completed paperwork. I felt extra special since my sisters were younger and couldn’t go.

  “A guy named Darrin began working at the station when I was about twelve years old. He was in his early twenties, and I remember liking him right off the bat. He was cute and funny. I don’t recall his title, but he was always doing administrative work.

  “While Dad was busy, Darrin would take me to the break room and buy me snacks. We would walk around the building and talk. He discussed police work and cars with me.”

  “He sounds cool, but I have a feeling the story doesn’t end that way,” Adrian mutters against my hair.

  I sigh heavily. “After a few months, my dad was called out on a case one day, and Darrin offered to pick me up from school. Instead of taking me straight to the station, he stopped to show me his apartment.”

  Adrian’s arms wrap tighter around me. He squeezes, bringing me even closer to his thundering heart.

  “I guess I should’ve felt alarmed, but I had developed a crush on him. I thought he was trustworthy and even felt excitement when he kissed me for the first time inside his place.”

  Adrian’s lips leave my hair as his head falls backward. He blows out a breath.

  “Maybe I shouldn’t share this. You’ve had to hear enough disturbing news today,” I say.

  “No, Victoria, I can handle it. Please, tell me the rest.”

  “Well, he only kissed me that day and told me I shouldn’t tell anyone, so I didn’t. The next week, he managed to pick me up from school again. This time he was more forceful and felt me up under my shirt.

  “I told him I didn’t want to do anything else. I’d never even been kissed before Darrin, and it was beginning to feel wrong.

  “He said if I didn’t go along with it, he would tell my father he caught me stealing from some of the female employee’s purses at the station and make up other lies.”

  I let out a laugh. “I honestly believed that he would get me into trouble. I also thought my dad would be ashamed of me for messing around with Darrin.

  “So, four more times, over a few months, he picked me up and took me to his apartment. I would do what he wanted, and the fourth time, he took my virginity.

  “I was thirteen by then, and it was the last time he ever touched me because I finally got the nerve to tell my father.”

  “How did your dad not kill him?”

  I sit up and take a glimpse at Adrian, but as fast as I do, the shame takes over, and I look away.

  “After I told Dad everything, he said I’d never see Darrin again, who was fired and prosecuted. I overheard that the beating he took from my father left him deaf in one ear.”

  “Damn, Victoria, I’m sorry.”

  “After it was settled, my father and I never spoke of it again, but I was more devoted to him. He already was the more patient parent. My impulsivity and attention issues didn’t seem to bother him the way they did my mother.

  “I also felt responsible for the guilt he owned for trusting Darrin. I decided I would become a cop and make him proud.”

  “I don’t know how he could not have been proud of you and what you’ve accomplished.”

  I smile because I do believe I became the woman he wanted me to be.

  “Thank you. I thought I had gotten passed what Darrin did to me, but I had an epiphany today. I’m defiant about following the rules with my coworkers since I know being in law enforcement doesn’t make them honest and trustworthy people.

  “It’s why I break the rules when doing my job. When trust matters most, I change the intended outcome to feel in control.”

  “Shit,” Adrian mumbles.

  “What?” I ask. He hugs my face in his hands and gives me a pained look I’ve seen displayed in his dark eyes before.

  “The authenticity of your soul leads me to loving you deeper every day, and it makes the love you’re giving me that much more real.”

  I hold my hand over his as it cups my cheek.

  “That’s a good thing, right?”

  “It is, except my integrity isn’t
a match for yours, Victoria.”

  “I don’t believe that.” My lips land gently on his, but I’m soon kissing him passionately. Needing him to replace the ugly images of the day, I graze my fingers down his broad chest. “Touch me.”

  “After what you’ve shared and been through, are you sure?”

  “I trust you, and you always make me feel amazing.”

  “Then, stand up. I think I know how to help you.”

  Adrian leads me to his bedroom and begins removing my clothing. My green top is first, and my jeans are next. He kisses his way up my thighs until he reaches my panties. His teeth hook onto them and pull downward.

  I whimper and shove my hands deep into his thick hair. Groaning, he pulls them the rest of the way off with his hands.

  “I’ll be right back.” He treads to his closet, and my heart races with anticipation. “Remember when we’ve kept your hands restrained, and I only gave you pleasure?” he asks as he returns with a black belt and red tie.

  “Yes,” I barely utter while staring at the belt.

  “I’m going to bind your hands to my bed. If you become panicked, recall the previous times we’ve been together. Remember how good I made you feel.”

  As I drag my bottom lip through my teeth, my gaze flits from the belt to his eyes, and I study them. I remember how much he enjoyed those times, too, especially when I called him “Sir.”

  “OK.”

  He takes hold of the lip I’ve been abusing. Once he pulls it between his teeth, he scoops me up and centers me on the bed. “Wrists please.”

  My arms go above my head, and Adrian loops one end of the belt around the wood base of the headboard, between two vertical slats. Weaving it through the buckle, he tightens it and climbs off of me. Admiring me at the end of the bed, his gaze wanders from my fingers to my toes.

  I can trust him.

  Adrian

  My pearl opened her shell for me today, and I’m not about to let her close it. Victoria’s gorgeous, bare body is elongated and already a bit flushed.

  “I’m going to blindfold you now, and you’re going to tell me how you want me to touch you.”

  Victoria’s eyes never stray from mine as she wets her lips and nods. After stripping off my pants, I straddle her and carefully secure the red tie in a knot behind her head. Her warm, raspy breaths coat my skin, luring me to have a taste of her sweet lips.

  “I’m going to make you feel amazing. No pain. Only pleasure.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  Growling, I drag my nose along her jawline to her ear.

  “You have no idea what you’ve done to me. Your presence stopped my heart and squeezed it until it beat on your time.” I kiss her ear, tracing the shell of it with my tongue.

  “Whenever you start to feel like you’re losing your grasp on a situation, remember you hold my heart. You’re always in control of something, Victoria. You possess my whole fucking heart and soul.”

  My tongue outlines her nipple before I suck the stiff bead into my mouth and let it free. “When you need to be reckless, be daring with me.”

  Her other nipple is teased by my wet mouth, and she moans, her back arching beneath me.

  “Only you, Sir,” she says through her choppy breaths.

  “Do you like this?” I ask before circling it again.

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “Tell me what to do to you. Let me hear you say it.”

  “Suck my tits. Please, suck them, Sir.”

  A growl builds from deep in my chest as I suck hard on her nipple. I grip her tit and cover as much of it with my mouth as I can before I move to the other one.

  The volume of her moans elevate like the length of my cock as I skirt my tongue down her taut stomach, tracing her navel. She jerks her arms and squirms.

  “Be still, and tell me what else you desire.” Spreading my fingers, I clasp her upper thighs and open them wide.

  “I like your tongue, Sir.”

  “What do you want me to do with it?” I ask before I veer it down her inner thigh.

  It remains quiet, other than her laborious breaths, which are speaking her sensual thoughts.

  “Say the words, and I’ll do it in a heartbeat.”

  “Lick me, Sir.”

  “Lick you where?”

  A rush of air is sucked in by her parting lips as I tease the apex of her thigh with my tongue.

  “Lick my pussy, Sir.”

  Victoria

  Jesus Christ.

  I jerk my hands forward, but it only tightens the belt binding me. I don’t want my hands free to make him stop. I need use of them, so I can push his mouth farther against me. I want him to eat me like he’s starving!

  Instead, his teasing tongue lightly strokes downward. It twirls faintly along my clit until I’m squirming against it.

  “Please, harder … faster.”

  “Please, harder, faster, what?”

  “Please eat me harder and faster, Sir.”

  He chuckles, the humming against my flesh intensifying the pleasure. “I only expected the ‘Sir,’ but damn, your dirty mouth makes me want to bury myself as far into you as possible, so I’ll get right on that.”

  I giggle, but it’s cut short by the moan his tongue incites.

  “Adrian!”

  “Come, baby.”

  His mouth must hold a PhD in pleasure, and I find I’m not breathing as the unrelenting sensations billow through me. Shooting stars streak across the blackness, and I finally heave for air.

  I feel Adrian move over me. The tie comes off my eyes, and I barely open them to adjust to the light. His right hand wraps around my left, which is still bound by the belt. Fingers lace with mine, and he sinks into me as his dark eyes, strained with lust, keep our gazes chained. He groans and leans his forehead against mine.

  “Fuck, you feel mind-blowing.” Pulling back, he slams into me. His repeated drives are hard and fast until he’s coming deep inside me.

  “My Victoria,” he says into my ear. His steamy breath and keen words cause my body to shudder beneath him.

  “Yours,” I whisper.

  Adrian believes giving me his heart also gives me power. The thing is, we traded, and I’m trusting him to cherish mine the way he has thus far.

  “You won’t be alone tomorrow,” I say. “When you’re meeting with your mom and sister, I’ll be thinking of you and holding your heart even tighter.” I smile up at him, and he shifts his weight off of me quickly. The belt is undone, and he pulls me into his arms.

  Circling mine around him, I match his hug with the same strength. It’s not only love we give each other; it’s the peace of mind of knowing it exists. The search is over.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Adrian

  Feeling as if I can barely breathe, I yank on my white shirt collar and pull into my mother’s driveway, parking my rental Mercedes behind Agatha’s BMW.

  Mom’s suburban, New Jersey home is shaded by an abundance of trees, and unlike the desert scenery I’m used to, her lawn is lush and green.

  I smile faintly when I spot gloves and a watering can on the front porch of the two-story home. Denise loves flowers and insists on doing her own landscaping.

  The most she will allow Agatha to arrange is the mulch, which is delivered twice a year, but she insists on a certain brand, believing all others will be tampered with. My smile fades as I dwell on her illness.

  Pulling out my cell phone, I type Victoria a message.

  Me: I made it. Getting ready to walk up to the door now. I love you …

  Victoria: I love you, too. I’m shielding your heart. When you’re having a rough time, cover my hand with yours, and you’ll feel it there.

  She sends an image of a heart with her thoughtful words, and I wonder how we’ve managed to turn each other into saps.

  Me: God, I miss you already, and I’m coming home as ‘Sir,’ so be ready.

  Slipping my phone into my pocket, I step out and inhale the Jersey air. I start toward the door
, and Agatha exits.

  Her auburn hair, resting at her shoulders, is shining in the noon sunlight. She’s smiling, but her eyes are teary as I reach her at the top porch step. She’s also thinner than I remember.

  “You came,” she says, reaching her arms around my neck. I expect to hug her lightly, but once I have her close, I can’t help but hug her harder. “I said I would. How is she today?”

  Agatha lets go and examines me. “You look great.”

  “I feel great.”

  “Mom’s good today, but I wanted to warn you that she’s even more adamant about refusing the treatments.”

  “So, what do you want me to do?”

  “Try to convince her.”

  “I’ll try, but I’m against making her take them, Aggie.”

  “You aren’t with her every day, Adrian. I’ve never left. She’s all I’ve known.” Her eyes shift toward the yard and fill with more tears. “She’s also all I have. Jordan and I broke up.”

  “After all these years? Sis, I’m sorry.”

  Swallowing back her tears, she looks to me.

  “I’m not. I’m only sorry it took me this long to realize it was the right decision.”

  “OK, maybe we can talk about that later. First, let me tackle the other difficult woman in the vicinity.”

  Agatha grins at me. “I’ve missed you and your sarcasm,” she says. I wrap my arm around her shoulder and pull her against me.

  “I’ve missed you, too.” Stepping into the house, I approach my mother, who’s standing in the living room.

  “Adrian, is that really you?” she asks as she frames my face in her hands.

  “The one and only.”

  Her auburn hair is up in the back, and like Aggie, she’s visibly thinner, too. Her hazel eyes are sunken in but bright with happiness as they survey mine.

  “It is you. I can’t believe it. I’ve been telling Agatha that the chip planted in your brain has kept you from visiting me.” She pats my cheek.

  Here we go.