The Fall (House of Sin Book 2) Page 2

  My oldest friend Elena’s words suddenly popped into my head. “It’s like I’m two people. The innocent model from Montana everyone knows by day, and the seductive bad girl at night who says ‘yes, sir’ and is willing to do anything he commands.”

  My stomach pitched, and the blood drained from my face.

  I wasn’t becoming Elena…was I?

  I was so distracted by my thoughts, I didn’t realize the car had come to a stop until Luc’s warm hand covered mine against the seat. “Natalie,” he said softly. “We’re here.”

  I jerked my head around and stared at him, trying like hell to keep my pulse in line, but it whirred in my ears like a helicopter blade.

  Luc wasn’t Elena’s mystery man, the one who was ultimately responsible for her death. I knew that deep in my heart. But I couldn’t keep from seeing the similarities. Elena had fallen for that man fast and hard—the same way I was falling for Luc. And he’d been a danger to the strong, independent woman she was inside, just as I feared Luc was becoming a danger to me.

  He tugged off his sunglasses and pinned me with worried eyes. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing, I—” My chest squeezed so tight, the breath caught in my lungs. I was losing track of my purpose. I was letting myself be distracted by a man when I was supposed to be searching for justice for my friend. “I—”

  Vincenzo opened the door behind Luc, and I caught sight of the structure at his back. Confused, I leaned forward. “Is that…the Colosseum?”

  “It is.” Amusement filled Luc’s stormy eyes when I looked back at him. “You’ve been searching for it every time we get in the car. I thought you might like to see it up close. A tour guide is waiting for us.”

  I stared at him in shock. He’d brought me to the Colosseum. He’d blown off his meetings and appointments to play tourist with me.

  Heat seeped into my hand where his fingers closed around mine as he helped me from the car. Completely awed, I looked up at the gigantic structure and shook my head. “I can’t believe you did this. When we first arrived, you said you’d seen all the ruins in Rome.”

  “I have.” He didn’t let go of my hand. “But you haven’t.”

  In a rush, I realized he’d been acting strange this morning because he’d wanted to surprise me.

  Tears pricked my eyes. Tears of relief and of gratitude. Even tears of stupidity because I’d assumed the worst.

  I turned into him, wrapped my arms around his waist, and pressed my cheek against his strong muscular chest. “Thank you,” I whispered. “I love this.”

  He tensed against me. It was a very subtle move. But as I held him tighter, I felt his tension ease.

  One arm closed around my back, and his hand cupped my cheek. “You pleased me last night,” he whispered in my ear. “I wanted to do something to please you.”

  Desire roared through my veins, making my skin hot, making my body ache. I didn’t care if he was distracting me from my goal. I didn’t care if I was being reckless or if things were moving too fast. I only wanted more. I only wanted him.

  Easing back, I bit my lip and looked up. He saw what I wanted the second our gazes met. I knew it by the way his eyes darkened and his heartbeat quickened against my skin.

  “Careful, gattina,” he whispered in a low voice. A smoldering voice. A commanding voice that made my sex absolutely weep. “Teasing me in public is going to get you fucked.”

  Oh yeeeesss. I wanted that. I wanted everything. “Promise?”

  He leaned down until our lips were only millimeters apart. “Naughty little girl. You’ll just have to wait and see.”

  I shivered as he turned me away from the car. And hoped I wouldn’t have to wait long.

  The Colosseum took my breath away.

  Two hours later, my head was filled with more facts about gladiators and ancient Rome than I thought it could hold.

  We toured the upper tiers, the arena floor, and the Colosseum’s underground. After, we walked through the Roman Forum hand in hand, and Luc explained what each of the different ruins had once been and how the city had been laid out. He was better than any tour guide, and as I listened, I could actually picture the massive structures as they’d once been. By the time we met up with Vincenzo and climbed back in the car, I was happy, relaxed, and all the worries I’d had before seemed silly and a waste of both time and energy.

  To my surprise, Luc’s little tour wasn’t done. Vincenzo drove us deeper into the city to the Pantheon. The incredible building completely awed me. We walked through the inside, and I was once again impressed by ancient Roman architecture. After grabbing lunch at a cute little trattoria in the Piazza della Rotonda that faced the Pantheon, Luc led me by the hand through the crowded streets to the Trevi Fountain.

  The tourists were thick here, and the streets narrow, but the fountain was magnificent. Finally, we made our way to the Spanish Steps, where we grabbed a gelato and two spoons and sat on the steps in the fading sunlight, talking and people watching as the city moved around us.

  When Vincenzo picked us up late in the afternoon, my feet were sore, but I was riding a high from playing tourist and from the fact Luc had blown off work to show me the sites. Utterly content, I leaned my head against his shoulder and wrapped my arm around his in the back of the car as we headed for our hotel.

  His wide palm rested on my bare knee, a heavy weight that prevented me from drifting completely to sleep. And the tiny circles he drew on the inside of my knee kept me utterly aroused with fantasies of all the ways I was going to show him my gratitude as soon as we were alone.

  “Natalie,” he whispered near my ear. “Wake up, angioletto. We’re here.”

  I blinked and lifted my head. But when my gaze registered the airplanes around us, all that happiness I’d been feeling shifted to full-on panic. “I thought you said you weren’t sending me home.”

  “I’m not.” Luc gripped my hand and helped me from the car. “I have another surprise.”

  Wind whipped my hair back from my face, but my eyes grew wide as I stared across the small airport tarmac toward the private luxury jet, its engines already fired up and waiting.

  “Oh my goodness,” I muttered as Luc led me toward the plane. “Where are we going?”

  “You’ll see.”

  My mouth dropped open the second I stepped on board. I’d known Luc was rich, but for some reason, staying in fancy hotels didn’t compare to this.

  The jet was top-end everything, with gleaming wood, expensive carpets, and butter-soft leather. I moved through the galley and into the main cabin, where seating was split into different conversation groupings. At my back, I heard Luc speaking with a woman in Italian. Wide-eyed, I turned to look back at him. The woman wore a blue jacket and skirt, and I knew immediately she was a flight attendant. Behind her, through the open cockpit doors, I spotted two pilots.

  Luc finished his conversation and pointed toward two seats at the back of the main cabin as he walked toward me. I sat in the one by the window while he took the other.

  “You saw the galley,” he said to me. “Behind us is a bedroom, and the bathroom is at the very back of the plane.” He reached for my hand and laced his fingers with mine. Leaning toward my ear, he whispered, “I’d give you an up-close tour of the bedroom, but what I want to do to you will take longer than an hour.”

  A shiver rushed down my spine, and heat gathered in my breasts and between my legs. I opened my mouth to tell him I’d be up for anything, but the stewardess stepped forward with two glasses of champagne, interrupting us with a smile.

  Luc released my hand and reached for both glasses. He handed one to me and tapped his glass against mine. “Salute.”

  I sipped my champagne as the plane slowly started to move. Luc and the flight attendant spoke in Italian again. I tried to pay attention to what they were discussing, but I only knew basic Italian and the only word that got through was Venezia.

  As the flight attendant walked away, I lowered my glass and blinked, su
re I’d heard them wrong. “We’re not going to Venice, are we?”

  “So much for my secret.” Luc frowned, but the moment I saw his eyes, I knew he wasn’t upset. Excitement lit his mismatched gray irises until they looked almost blue. “Yes, we’re going to Venice. I had our things packed up while we were touring Rome. Our bags were loaded onto the plane before we got here.”

  Exhilaration pulsed inside me, making my chest feel light. “What about your meetings? You had several more days planned in Rome.”

  A voice came over the speakers in Italian.

  Luc reached across my lap to buckle my seat belt and pull the strap tight. “What’s the point of being in charge if you can’t break the rules now and then?” He held out his hand. “Now finish your champagne, gattina. We’re about to take off.”

  I drained the rest of my drink and handed him the glass. He rose from his seat and took the glasses into the galley. Seconds later, he rejoined me, buckled his seat belt, and reached for a magazine from the seat pocket beside him.

  I couldn’t believe it. He was taking me to Venice. A smile pulled at my lips as the sleek jet lifted off the ground, and I looked out at Rome growing smaller in the window.

  “There is one thing we haven’t discussed,” he said beside me.

  “Hm? What’s that?” I asked absently, searching for the Colosseum and Forum in the sea of red-roofed buildings far below.

  “That blue dress.”

  My heart skipped a beat. Beside me, Luc flipped a page in his magazine.

  Something in his voice put me immediately on edge. Slowly, I turned to him, but he seemed engrossed in some article and wasn’t looking at me.

  I hated the way my mind shot right back to Laney’s words after the amazing day Luc had given me. “You don’t like my dress?”

  “I like it very much.” He flipped another page. “But I told you to wear the yellow one.”

  3

  Natalie

  My stomach tightened, and my skin grew hot, but not in a good way.

  The plane evened out, and the instant the bell dinged, indicating we’d hit cruising altitude, I released my seat belt and pushed to my feet, desperate for a moment alone to gather myself so I didn’t jump to conclusions and say or do something I’d regret later.

  Luc looked up. “Where are you going?”

  “I need to use the restroom.”

  I didn’t wait for him to answer. I moved to step around him, but he caught me by the wrist before I could get by. “Just a minute.”

  Sweat broke out along my spine. I tried to act normal, but my heart was already racing. “What?”

  His eyes narrowed and darkened. “Lift your skirt. I want to see if you followed the rest of my orders.”

  Heat rushed straight to my cheeks. I glanced over my shoulder toward the stewardess in the galley, gathering snacks and drinks for us. “I’m not going to do that,” I whispered, growing more nervous by the second as I looked back at him. “That woman’s right there.”

  “Ignore her.” When I tried to pull away, his grip on my wrist tightened. “Natalie. Lift your skirt and show me.”

  My face flamed, and my heart thundered in my chest, so loud I was sure he could hear it. Behind me, glasses clinked in the galley and through the open cockpit doors, the pilots laughed and chatted.

  Holy shit. He did not want me to do this right here where they could see me. I shook my head no, just a tiny movement. His grip on my wrist grew even tighter, and he whispered, “Show me.”

  Embarrassment and excitement warred inside me, making my hands sweat.

  I hated how dirty I felt. I also hated how turned on I suddenly was. I wanted to scream at him. I wanted to run. But I knew I couldn’t do either without drawing attention, and right now, I just wanted to get out of this uncomfortable moment as quickly as I could.

  Swallowing hard, I glanced over my shoulder to make sure the flight attendant wasn’t looking. When she knelt to grab something from the fridge, I clenched my jaw and reached for the front of my skirt, drawing it up just high enough for Luc to see I was bare beneath.

  He smiled, and his grip on my wrist relaxed. “Very nice, gattina.”

  Anger and mortification tore through me, making my chest tight. Yanking my wrist from his hand, I moved through the bedroom cabin and into the bathroom, where I slammed the door and locked it.

  My hands shook as I rested my elbows on the edge of the sink, leaned forward, and brushed the damp hair away from my face.

  I couldn’t believe he’d made me do that. I couldn’t believe I’d gone along with him and done it. And I couldn’t believe the way my pulse was racing and my body was hot and tight, not with the humiliation I knew I should be feeling, but with arousal.

  “Dammit.” I braced my hands on the edge of the sink, dropped my head, closed my eyes, and squeezed my thighs together, hoping to force the arousal away. But with my eyes shut, all I could see was the carnal pleasure in Luc’s eyes when he’d stared at my naked sex. And all envisioning that did was fire me up even more.

  A knock sounded, and I jumped. Twisting around, I stared at the door, afraid to move. Afraid to speak.

  The knock sounded again. Followed by, “Open the door, Natalie.”

  A hot rush of desire swept through me at the sound of Luc’s voice, making my thighs tremble and my sex ache.

  I couldn’t let him see me like this. I knew if he touched me, I’d beg for him to sate this burning need inside me. And I couldn’t give in and beg. I didn’t want him to touch me right now. Not after what he’d just done.

  The door rattled. “Natalie,” he said in a more forceful voice. “Open the door now.”

  I flipped on the water and splashed it over my face, hoping it would cool me down. “J-just a minute.”

  I couldn’t stay locked in here. I had a feeling he’d break the door down if I did. I dried my hands and face with a towel, sucked in three deep breaths, and let them out. Then stared at myself in the mirror until I knew I wouldn’t crack.

  Feeling a tiny bit steadier, I flipped the lock on the door. Luc stood on the other side as I pushed it open, both hands gripping the doorjamb at his sides, his eyes narrowed and very focused.

  “Are you all right?” he asked in a low voice. “You’ve been in here awhile.”

  My heart raced. I could say yes and ignore what had just happened, but I was sure if I did, he’d only do something like that again. I had to stand up for myself.

  “No.” I gathered my courage. “I’m not all right. I didn’t like that.”

  “Didn’t like what?”

  My face heated all over again, and I held out a hand toward the main cabin. “What you made me do out there. Where people could see.”

  “I don’t care if anyone sees.”

  “Well, I do. That was humiliating.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes.”

  He stepped toward me, filling the small bathroom with his broad shoulders and domineering presence, causing me to move back until I hit the sink. Eyes locked on mine, he pressed his palm across my chest, right over the top of my left breast. “Your heart is racing. It doesn’t feel like you’re humiliated. In fact, if I were to sweep my hand between your legs right now, I bet I’d find your pussy slick and swollen and begging for my cock.”

  I jerked and shoved my hands against his shoulders, a mixture of disbelief, anger, and excitement pumping inside me because I knew he was right. “That’s not the point.”

  He dropped his hand from my body but didn’t move back. “That is the point. Why are you embarrassed by your desires? You shouldn’t be. You’re a very sexual woman, one I find incredibly erotic. I suspected telling you to bare yourself to me would excite you. If I hadn’t thought you’d enjoy it, I wouldn’t have done it.”

  I wasn’t sure I believed that. But I also couldn’t deny I was sexually aroused by what had happened. I was aroused. And I was growing wetter by the minute as he stood close and said these things to me.

  But de
ep inside, I was also scared. Scared of the feelings he was stirring in me. Scared of how far they might take me. Scared, especially, of where he wanted me to go.

  “I…” I didn’t know how to tell him any of that.

  Licking my lips, I stared at the buttons on his expensive white dress shirt as I tried to decide if I even should. I liked what was happening between us. I liked him. But I also recognized that this combustible relationship had the potential to both consume and damage me if I wasn’t careful. And that made me wary.

  “I don’t…” I bit my lip. “You keep using the word consequences. Was that a consequence for wearing a dress you don’t like? Making me lift my skirt?”

  “I told you I liked your dress. It’s very sexy.”

  His voice was low and calm, and it made me lift my eyes to his. But when I saw the heat and desire swirling in his tempestuous gaze, I swallowed hard because I knew he wasn’t nearly as calm as I thought.

  A storm roared inside him. One I suspected he wanted to unleash on me. One I craved even though I knew it made me weak.

  “But no. Telling you to lift your skirt was not a consequence for wearing this dress.” His hand closed over mine, and he stepped back, pulling me with him. “I wasn’t going to do this until later, but I sense we both need it now.”

  My heart thundered as he pulled me into the bedroom cabin. He’d closed the door, blocking out the crew, and that only made my pulse beat faster and my skin tingle because I didn’t know what he had planned.

  He sat on the edge of the bed and drew me to stand between his legs, still holding my wrist tightly in his grip. “I told you yesterday that I don’t make love. I dominate. You said you wanted that.”

  “I did.” My stomach quivered as I stared down at him. “Because I wanted you.”

  “Wanted or want?”

  I couldn’t lie to him, not now when I was aching to have him touch me in other places. “Want.”

  His thumb traced a lazy circle against my wrist. “That’s good,” he said in a low voice. “I want you too. But you need to know right now that I don’t just want your body, I want your mind as well. Control is part of who I am. If you want me, then you have to accept that. If this relationship between us is to go anywhere, then I need you to do as I say, when I say. And if you choose not to obey, then you need to be ready to accept the consequences. I, for one, would very much like us to go further than today. Do you, Natalie? Do you want more of us?”