Opaque Melodies (Coveting Delirium Book 1) Page 6

“I bet you have,” I laughed.

  “Has anyone ever told you that you’re very hands-on?” I nodded to where he still had hold of me.

  “Do you have a problem with me touching you?”

  “The right answer is yes.”

  “Catalina,” he sighed. “If this were a test you would have failed. The answer is wrong if it’s incorrect.”

  With a firm, gentle tug he slid me closer to him. His eyes dipped to my mouth, and the temperature in the house magnified. I knew it was coming. I even attempted to move away before it could happen despite the horny voice inside my head cheering me on. I’d have gotten away cleanly if Alaric hadn’t anticipated my retreat.

  He reached up and grabbed the back of my neck, bringing my mouth to his. Soft lips pressed against mine.

  He released my arm and moved his hand to my thigh, pulling me even closer. I melted into his touch, parting my lips without hesitation. His tongue slipped into my mouth, the lingering hint of something mint skipping along my taste buds. His fingers tangled in my hair, turning the kiss from soft to impassioned.

  He lifted me onto his lap with ease, maneuvering my body so that I was straddling him. I cupped the back of his head, lowering myself onto the bulge straining against his slacks. Fingers firmed at the apex of my thighs, making my pussy even wetter.

  “Is this a bad time?” A deep voice drawled.

  I jerked away from Alaric as if he were on fire, just barely finding my balance. I turned to face whoever had spoken, smoothing my dress down.

  A man in a neatly pressed suit stood in the archway of the room, an amused smile on his face. The resemblance between he and Alaric was uncanny.

  The beautiful blonde beside him didn’t appear to be nearly as amused. If her scowl was an indicator of how she felt, she was pissed.

  “Well, I guess I’ll start the introductions,” the lookalike began. “I’m Niklaus, Alaric’s favorite older brother. This lovely witch beside me is Rebecca, a mutual friend. And you, you’ve gotta be the surreptitious sister I’ve been hearing about.”

  Surreptitious? That wasn’t usually a word you’d describe someone with. Did that mean he knew the scandalous details surrounding my existence? If he did, Alaric would too.

  “It’s nice to meet you.” He held out a hand much for me to shake. I didn’t step forward to accept.

  “Catalina?” Alaric spoke for the first time since we’d been interrupted. He stood from the sofa and casually adjusted himself. “Forgive their rudeness. This is my only brother and a longtime mutual colleague.”

  Niklaus withdrew his offered hand, slipping it into the pocket of his suit-pants. Rebecca had moved past scowling and was now staring at me as if I were a bug she wanted to eradicate.

  I clasped my hands together, unsure what to do with them. I didn’t want to talk to them, didn’t care to know who they were. I was too embarrassed having been caught on Alaric’s lap, seconds away from doing something else we could never come back from.

  “Nice to meet you,” I lied.

  I needed to get the hell out of this room. Without sparing any of them a second glance, I fought the compulsion to flee at a run and walked, calmly making an exit.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  The desire to pursue her was overwhelming. The thought of finally being inside Catalina’s pussy had my dick hard as stone, damn near throbbing. She wanted me, that was fucking obvious. Most women did.

  Difference was, I wanted her just as badly. I longed to claim her, tear her apart. Make her writhe beneath me in pleasure and pain.

  I’d force her to call for me.

  She would come with tears streaming down her face and harder than she ever had before. Unfortunately, that wouldn’t have happened tonight even if she’d begged me for it.

  It would take time for Catalina to transition into a new lifestyle. Until then, I’d have to continue down the current path we were on. Didn’t matter if I wanted to drag her into my bedroom and spend all day and night buried inside the pussy, I had worked so hard to obtain. I couldn’t deviate. I had to make sure she was ready for what life with me would consist of.

  “You two have impeccable timing.”

  “Based on that little display, I’d have to agree,” Rebecca retorted.

  “Jealous already Bec?”

  “Shut up Niklaus,” she snapped, crossing her arms over her chest.

  I regarded them with an unamused frown. I didn’t care about them scaring off my newest acquisition. It was there blatant disregard for my privacy that irritated me. Niklaus of all people knew better. Rebecca had recently started forgetting her place and toeing the envelope.

  “Did you two have a purpose for coming into my house unannounced or was the goal merely to piss me off?”

  My brother rocked back on his heels, turning his head in either direction.

  “You can speak freely. She’ll be in her room for the remainder of the night.” I brushed past him and headed for the kitchen to make myself a stiff drink.

  “You sound pretty sure about that,” he replied, catching up to me with ease.

  “That’s because I am sure.”

  “Don’t tell me you’ve got her figured out already.” Rebecca lilted, trailing behind us.

  My brother sat his duffel on my island, and then addressed her. “Is that a joke? He’s been working on this one for over a month.”

  “This one isn’t like the others,” I reminded him.

  Rebecca frowned. “Wait. She’s the who you’ve been so sure about?”

  “Yes.”

  “She looks nothing like Meg.”

  “Thank fuck for that,” I replied. It wasn’t that Meg had been ugly, quite the opposite. I just couldn’t stand the sight of her. I could’ve looked at Catalina all fucking day. From those damn hips to her sensual lips and angelic face. She was a true diamond in the rough, my personal Vincent Van Goh.

  “How’s the whole grieving husband thing going?” Niklaus joked.

  “It’s going, but not well. You know how hard it is for to me fake that emotion.” I grabbed a half glass and filled it with ice. “Do you have what we need somewhere in that bag?”

  “Sure do.” He flipped his briefcase around and unzipped it.

  “What is the point in going forward if you already know the result?” Rebecca asked suddenly.

  “Because the desired result is yet to be obtained.”

  Niklaus handed me off a manila file folder. “You sure she doesn’t know anything?”

  “I’m starting to think you two really are intentionally trying to piss me off. I know what the fuck I’m doing. I’ve been at this so long I could do it with my eyes closed.”

  “I’d never question you bro, you’re the best of the best. I just want to make sure we cover all angles.”

  “After eating with her the other night, being around her in general, I assure you Catalina is none the wiser, which is for the best. She’ll get the truth when we’re finished.”

  “Finished as in her blood will be being scrubbed off a wall or…? I just want to be clear because if you decide not to--.”

  My glare silenced him. His hands came up in defense.

  “I got it. Off limits.”

  “Well, I don’t get it,” Rebecca huffed, shaking her head of platinum hair.

  “Yes, you do, you’re just behaving like a jealous bitch because my charming brother here has decided to finally commit his cock to one woman. A beautiful woman, I might add.”

  I only half-listened to their petty argument, preoccupied with the contents of the file folder, taking note of all the crucial details.

  “You were technically married to her sister,” Rebecca continued.

  I couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of that statement.

  “You say that as if it was a marriage of love and devotion. As if my dick didn’t suffer severely anytime I had to stick it in that cesspool of a pussy.”

  “I just thought we had an overall focus. Where does this little girl fit in?”


  “Why does it sound like you’re questioning me and my methods? We all know why I ‘married’ Megan. It was to gain something. I got it. Now we’re extremely close to accomplishing the other portion of that task. Catalina is an important piece of the puzzle, my important piece.”

  “But--.”

  “No goddamn buts Rebecca. Catalina is staying. I suggest you get your shit together or go downstairs so I can fix the pain in the ass problem you’re starting to become.”

  She blanched, face paling as she put exaggerated distance between us. “I’ll be good.”

  I rolled my eyes at her dramatics. “You don’t have a choice. Think of this as your first and last warning.”

  “You don’t mean that. I’ve been by your side for too long. I’m your friend.”

  “You’re replaceable. I have no issue removing anyone disloyal from the new life I’m building.”

  I flipped the file shut and blocked out her presence. Niklaus had helped himself to an apple and sat watching us with a smirk. The delinquent fuck.

  “Set everything up for the fifteenth, and make sure everyone knows about my new guest.”

  “Will do,” he replied, grabbing his bag. “Walk me out. I’ve got that other thing you needed in the car.”

  It was nearing midnight.

  As I expected, Catalina had remained in her room all night. I thought of going to her, but ultimately decided against it.

  I was an extremely patient man. In the end I always got what I wanted.

  Soon enough she’d be mine in all the ways that mattered.

  Hearing a soft beep, I looked away from the computer screen I’d been immersed in half the night. There was the sound of footfalls, and then a minute later Demetri appeared at the bottom of the stairs.

  “I got exactly what you requested,” he said.

  “Thank you.”

  “Would you like me to bring it in now? Or should I wait?”

  “Did you already kill it?”

  “Was…I not supposed to?”

  I grinned and waved him off. “No, you were, this one is nothing but a prop. I know you don’t like to always deal with all the blood.”

  I clicked off the screen I was on and pulled up the house’s security feed. “She’s asleep. You can bring it down now just try not to make too much noise.”

  I returned my attention to the spreadsheet I’d just pulled up. When he continued to linger, I knew he had something he wanted to discuss.

  Demetri was a quiet man, but when he had anything to say he always said it with honesty, which was why he was one of my most trusted confidants.

  We’d met in our freshman year of high school. A group of rich pussies were terrorizing him in the locker room. With a severe speech impediment, they saw him as an easy target. I saw them as expendable and since their parents cashes the checks, they must have too. He’d been somewhat of a shadow ever since.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “Miss Haven--Catalina. Is she going to be a permanent resident, or will she be getting her pick of her desserts?”

  “Didn’t we discuss this?” I leaned back in my chair, curious to hear his response. He never took much interest in my personal affairs unless they posed a risk to Dream Garden.

  Probably why he’d detested Meg from the moment she moved in.

  Didn’t help she’d treated him like shit until I found out and made sure it never happened again.

  “I want to clarify that I would never betray you Alaric. I just didn’t think she should suffer like the others.”

  In other words, he’d developed a soft spot for her. This was odd, but not a bad thing.

  “I haven’t changed my mind if that’s what you’re implying,” I replied. “She’s a challenge I’m very much looking forward to conquering.”

  Looking visibly relieved, he smiled and then turned to go back upstairs, leaving me to pretend I was working and not obsessing over the woman that had unknowingly become my exclusive possession.

  CHAPTER NINE

  “If you seek out his secrets, be prepared for the consequences.”

  Those words repeated in my head until I fell asleep. I used them as a buffer, a shield against the things Alaric had successfully stirred within me.

  Just before my eyes closed it had been working. Lying awake staring at the smooth ceiling, I didn’t get the same result. In fact, I got the opposite. I was hit with a vivid image of being on top of him.

  I had completely humiliated myself in front of his brother and the woman he claimed was a ‘colleague’.

  With a groan, I rolled onto my side and pulled the cover over my head. It was pushing eleven-thirty in the morning. I’d been awake for hours, unable to drag myself from the bed.

  My head was a mess.

  I wanted to return to the piano, but then I risked a run with the person I was trying to avoid. Eventually I slid from beneath the comforter and dug out a new outfit for the day.

  My options were slim given I wasn’t supposed to be here more than a few days. Recalling yesterday’s events, I skipped the second sundress I’d brought and went with a pair of terry-cloth shorts—sans underwear, a bra and tank.

  I took my time in the shower, shaving and washing my hair.

  Closing my eyes as the conditioner ran out, I once more replayed the night before in my head. If the bulge that I’d felt between Alaric’s legs was anything to go off, he had been very blessed in that department, which should have been a given.

  It would be a sin for a man to look like him and have a small dick.

  There was no doubt in my mind that he’d been in total control. The way he’d prevented me from getting away. How he grabbed my neck…With a soft sigh, I pushed my chest out, letting water rain directly on my hardened nipples.

  Keeping my eyes closed, I ran a hand over my navel, travelling downward to tease my labia. Spreading my lips apart, I took my index and middle finger and began to rub my clit in a circular motion applying more pressure the closer I got to coming.

  Whereas it usually took me a great amount of effort to get myself off, thoughts of Alaric and the way he touched me had a ripple of pleasure coursing through me within thirty seconds. I sunk my teeth into my lower lip to stifle my moan, breathing as quietly as I could. When the feeling faded, I took a few seconds to regulate my heartbeat.

  Opening my eyes, I brushed wet strands of hair away from my face. I felt no shame or guilt over using Alaric as spank bank, just a depressing kind of frustration. My fingers alone weren’t going to be enough; they didn’t provide what I needed. I could make myself come a hundred times as I imagined what it would be like to have him inside me, it wouldn’t rid my desire for him.

  I’d allowed a darkening fixation to take root in my mind. One or another I had to find a way to get rid of it.

  I shuffled my way to the kitchen in need of liquid substance before I immersed myself in Meg’s things for the day. The second I spotted Alaric my mouth was left hanging open.

  I came to an abrupt stop.

  My eyes traveled their own path, going from a pair of grey sweatpants doing absolutely nothing to conceal his print, over an unrealistically defined torso covered in a light sheen of perspiration.

  They dropped back down when I got to a tattoo of a skull on one side of his chest. There was another darkly shaded tat inked over his left hip, something with horns and wings. The image was large, expanding to somewhere beneath his shorts. To see it entirely he’d have to remove his bottoms.

  “Trying to catch flies?” he droned sarcastically.

  I snapped my mouth shut and scowled at him. The steel water bottle he brought to his lips didn’t hide an antagonizing grin.

  “Why are you walking around half-dressed?”

  His throat bobbed as he swallowed. He lowered the water-bottle slowly, looking at me as if I’d just come from a new dimension. “Why am I walking around half-dressed?” he repeated back.

  “I don’t know, probably because I just worked out. More impor
tantly, this is my fucking house.”

  Disturbingly affected by his crudeness, I rubbed my forehead and moved deeper into the kitchen, away from him.

  “Can I make a coffee?”

  “Why are you asking me that?”

  “I don’t know, probably because it’s your fucking house,” I mocked irritably. When silence stretched between us, I glanced at him about to apologize until I caught sight of his dimpled grin.

  “You’re not as sweet as I’d originally thought. You’ve got a fucking mouth on you. I can think of a million different uses for it.”

  Ignoring the entire last half of his statement.

  “You shouldn’t make assumptions about someone you don’t know. Nothing about me is sweet, nor has it ever been.”

  He dropped his eyes to my mouth. “I beg to differ.”

  I was going to ignore that too. I went to the cabinet I’d discovered the mugs were in and grabbed the white one again, tucking a strand of damp hair behind my ear.

  “Enjoy your shower?”

  “What?” I pretended to of misheard, as if he knew I’d just came to the thought of his face.

  “You’re all wet,” he stated, drenching the three words in pure sex.

  I needed to flip the topic of conversation off me and onto something else. I set up the coffee machine to the best of my ability, hoping I was doing it right.

  Alaric watched me the entire time, offering no instruction or comment. When I was confident, I had gotten it right, I turned to face him.

  “You know, you’re not the gentleman I thought you were,” I stated, making a play on his words.

  “Now who’s making assumptions?”

  “An assumption is something accepted without proof.”

  “Thanks for clarifying the definition I already knew,” he deadpanned.

  “The first day we met you were the epitome of a gentleman, if not a little...” I fished for the correct word. “Controlling.”

  He shook his head, an amused glint in his eyes. “I’m only a gentleman when it suits me.”

  “And when it doesn’t?”

  “I’m a man with extremely good looks, a big bank account, and an even bigger dick.”