Deception Read online

  “As long as you’re okay. Just so you know, I hesitated leaving you this morning. I may have hung out for a minute or two, but then as things sounded like you and Mr. Good-looking were getting along, I felt a little like a stalker and snuck out.”

  Memories of Nox telling me that he loved me and my professing the same gave way to thoughts of this bed. I shifted against the soft sheets. “Yes, other than the minor little problem with the shooting, we’re doing much better.”

  “You sure know how to keep life exciting. Your face is everywhere. Even my mother called. I hadn’t spoken to her for a few weeks.”

  I scrunched my nose. “Sorry.”

  “No, don’t be. I wanted you to know that she and my dad were worried. She even said that Aunt Adelaide and Uncle Alton were upset.”

  “Yes, they called.”

  “And…?” Patrick encouraged.

  “Same old story. Come home to Savan—” An incoming call interrupted my sentence.

  I peered at the screen. Talking meant there wasn’t a tune to alert me to friend or foe, only a vibration.

  NOX PRIVATE NUMBER.

  I sucked in a breath. “Hey, Pat, Mr. Good-looking is calling.”

  “Oh, then girl, you talk to that man. Tell him to hurry up and finish whatever work he’s doing and get his fine ass back to you.”

  Fine ass? Most definitely.

  My smile blossomed to full bloom. “I will. See you tomorrow.”

  “Love you, little cousin.”

  “Me too.” I swiped the screen.

  “MR. DEMETRI,” I said, connecting to his call. “I didn’t want to bother you while you were working.”

  “You could never bother me.” His voice rumbled deeper than the thunder beyond the windows.

  The sound of his voice lifted any remaining fog, the rich bass tone resonating through the room, eclipsing the outside winds and rolling to my core.

  “I seem to recall some rules,” I teased.

  Nox cleared his throat. “I do like rules.”

  “Something about only calling you if I had a question that you needed to answer.”

  “I believe I’ve mentioned that the rules have changed.”

  “So that means I can sext?”

  “Only if you want Deloris and quite probably other members of my security to see it.”

  I wasn’t sure what had gotten into me. Well, that wasn’t true. I was thinking about what had been inside of me earlier this afternoon, more accurately who. “Only if that’s what you want, Mr. Demetri.”

  “Fuck!” His expletive came out like a growl. “I’ve told you before what will happen to you for making me uncomfortable. When you say my name that way, it makes me so fucking hard, it hurts.”

  “I wish I could make it feel better,” I purred, pushing my limits on seductress. The power my words wielded was suddenly intoxicating.

  “Tell me where you are.”

  I bristled at the change in his tone. Apparently, Nox wasn’t in the mood for my seduction. I answered him, “I’m still in Rye. I told you I’d spend the night.”

  “Where are you?” Nox asked again. “Exactly.”

  “I-I’m in the bedroom. What’s the matter?”

  “No questions,” Nox said with an air of dominance that twisted my insides. “That’s my job. Yours is to reply appropriately. What are you supposed to say?”

  My heartbeat quickened. “Yes, Nox.”

  “Are you in the same bedroom we were in this morning?”

  I fought to breathe and speak as my response came out in a whisper. “Yes.”

  “Do you remember my lips on you?”

  “Yes.”

  “How about my hands, my fingers?”

  My suddenly dry tongue darted to my parched lips. “Yes.”

  “I know you were sounding all sexy a minute ago, and I like that, but right now, princess, I need to be in control. Do you have a problem with that?”

  “No, Nox.”

  “Listen carefully.”

  I nodded, though I knew he couldn’t see me.

  “If I were there, I’d do what I did this morning. I’d unwrap you, like a fucking Christmas present. Each piece of your clothing would find its way to the floor as I exposed your perfect, sexy-as-hell body. I’d run my fingers and tongue over every inch of that soft skin, tasting you and leaving goose bumps as a trail of my exploration.”

  My eyes closed as his words touched me.

  “Princess, I’d punish your ass for your insolence in pushing to go back to the city tomorrow and for scaring the shit out of me by not answering your phone. Then after I turned it fire-engine red, I’d make it feel better, showing you how much I admire your strength and determination.”

  My neck strained as I sucked in a breath, lifting my behind from the mattress and imagined all he described.

  “I’m not there,” Nox continued, “but I’m going to take what I can get. Do you have a problem with that?”

  “N-no.” My voice sounded wonton, even to my own ears.

  “Now, princess, tell me what you’re wearing.”

  I hurriedly kicked back the covers, revealing my yoga pants and stocking-covered feet. “A big t-shirt, yoga pants, socks…”

  “Stop.”

  I sucked my lower lip between my teeth, waiting for his next command.

  “Tell me what I want you to be wearing.”

  “Nox?”

  “Is the bedroom door locked?” he asked.

  “I-I don’t remember, but Silvia went back to her part of the house. She gave me her number.”

  “Lock the door, Charli.”

  Without thinking, my feet, covered with fuzzy socks, landed on the soft rug that surrounded the big bed. My socks slid as I skated across the wood floor, no longer worried about ghosts or Demetri secrets.

  My thoughts were now consumed with everything Nox.

  I tested the knob. As I did, it clicked and the small button within the knob popped out. I pushed the button back in and verbally confirmed my mission. “The door’s locked.”

  “Are the blinds shut?”

  I turned toward the windows. Was it still raining? I couldn’t hear anything but the way Nox’s voice reverberated through the phone, sending shockwaves throughout my body, my blood coursing to keep up. “They’re shut.”

  “Keep the lights on.”

  My hand lingered over the switch. Would he know if I disobeyed?

  “Tell me they’re on.”

  With a sigh, I did as he said and moved my hand away from the switch. “They’re still on.”

  “Now, put me on speaker phone. I want you to fix the attire problem we mentioned earlier.”

  My lower lip disappeared as I hit the speaker button and laid my phone on the bed.

  “Charli, you need to respond to me. I can only hear you.”

  “Yes, Nox.” My t-shirt grazed my now-sensitive hard nipples. “I-I promise, I’m responding.”

  His deep laugh echoed through the room. “Tell me. How?”

  I pushed the yoga pants over my hips, stepping out of them. One by one, I kicked off my socks. Though my skin became covered with goose bumps at the timbre of his voice, the chill I’d felt earlier was gone.

  “M-my nipples are hard.”

  “And now you’re wearing…?”

  “Only my panties.”

  “The blue ones from earlier?”

  I shook my head. “No, these are white.”

  “White?” A laugh rumbled from his throat. “White is for good girls and what I want to do to you isn’t appropriate for good girls. Princess, if I were there, I’d fuck you so dirty you’d never wear white again.”

  I sucked in a breath. “I wish you were here.”

  “Me too. I’m so fucking hard. We’re going to keep going. Are you still all right with that, my naughty princess?”

  “Yes, Nox.”

  “Before you take off the panties, go to the closet.”

  The closet?

  “I want you to fin
d one of my belts.”

  “O-oh God…” I murmured, both anxious and excited about his unspoken plans. Reaching for the phone, I carried it into the large closet, switched on the light and began opening drawers.

  “Talk, Charli. Tell me you’re doing as I said.”

  “Yes, Nox. I’m looking for your belts.”

  “On the right,” he directed.

  I turned that direction and opened another drawer. There, perfectly coiled, were different belts in varying colors. “Do you have a favorite?” I asked.

  “Whichever one you use tonight will be my favorite.”

  The tips of my fingers tingled as I reached in the drawer. Brushing the leather, I imagined each one against my skin. As my breaths became shallower, I pulled one from the drawer. It was black with a small silver buckle that resembled a swirl. “I have a black one.”

  “Now take my belt back to the bed. But before you climb on the bed, take off those white lace panties.”

  My head spun around, looking for a camera. “How do you know they’re lace?”

  “Because all your panties are lace.”

  My lips quirked to a grin as I eased the white lace down my legs. Even in a sexier-than-hell moment, when Nox was acting all dominant, his intimate knowledge and attention to something as simple as the material of my underwear filled me with warmth.

  “They’re off,” I said with a hint more confidence.

  “Now answer my question from before.”

  “What question?”

  “No, princess, that’s a question. Remember I told you that asking was my job, not yours? What happens when you disobey?”

  My pulse soared as my gaze went to the belt. “I remember what you said, but I don’t remember your question.”

  “Tell me how you’re responding.” Nox drew out the word.

  “My nipples.” My answer was now only partially true. The walk to the closet and mixed emotions had softened them.

  “Put the belt beside you, and since you’re using the speaker phone, you have both hands available to cup your breasts.”

  As soon as I did, my nipples pebbled, back to the hardened nubs from before.

  “Harder, princess, pinch your nipples. I want to hear you.”

  Again, I closed my eyes and obeyed. My caresses that were soft at first took on strength of their own. Nox’s commands as well as the tone of his voice encouraged my movements. More than one whimper escaped my lips as I twisted and tugged, each painful tweak sending pulsations of pleasure to my core.

  “That’s it,” he encouraged. “Tell me how it feels.”

  My hips squirmed against the bed. “Good. And bad.”

  “Bad?”

  “Good, definitely good.” I moaned as my nails scraped the tender skin. “It hurts, but it feels good.”

  “Fuck,” he growled. “Tell me about your pussy.”

  I moaned as my hands left my breasts and trailed down my ribcage, my palms flattening as they spanned over my stomach. Unknowingly, my back arched as my fingers inched lower.

  “Spread those sexy legs. Tell me if you’re wet.”

  I knew the answer before confirmation.

  “Y-yes,” I replied as one finger tentatively searched between my folds.

  Though Nox was speaking through the phone, it was as if he were with me, beside me, guiding me. “Say it. Yes, what?”

  “I’m wet.”

  “What do you want?” His question floated in the air, the tenor knowing and the tone demanding response.

  “I want you.”

  “Charli.” In one word I’d been reprimanded.

  “Your cock,” I corrected. “Nox. God, I wish you were here.”

  “Move the phone so I can hear you.”

  My stomach twisted as I moved the cell phone to the mattress between my spread legs.

  “It’s there,” I said, my desire heightened while at the same time I felt ashamed that my arousal would be audible.

  “Work your fingers, princess, plunge them deep. Let me hear it. I want to imagine that my chin is dripping with you. I want to imagine that slick wetness on my tongue and on my dick. Move those fingers.”

  To my horror, as I did what he said in the otherwise quiet room, I too could hear the sound of my essence, the wetness echoing through the large room as I thrust my fingers in and out.

  “You’re so fucking beautiful,” he said.

  My neck arched against the pillows as my knees fell farther apart. “O-oh, Nox…” I couldn’t stop the indecipherable sounds as I concentrated on his voice and did as he said, imagined it was him.

  “Not yet, you’re not coming yet.”

  He was wrong. I was. Maybe if I tried to keep it quiet.

  “Stop.” His command stilled my fingers. “I can hear you. Did you think I couldn’t? Princess, you make the most fantastic sounds when you’re about to come. Maybe after your punishment, I’ll let you come.”

  “W-what are you talking about?” I asked, lost in the ecstasy his voice and commands induced.

  “Another question. Princess, it’s time for the belt.”

  A cold chill blanketed my warm skin. The perspiration that had glistened at the tone of his instructions turned to frost as I stared at the belt beside me. For only a moment, I envisioned a snake, coiled and ready to strike. “W-what do you want me to do?”

  “Listen to me. Will you do that?”

  I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat.

  “Princess?” he asked. “Are you ready?”

  What is it about this man? Is there anything that he could ask me to do that I wouldn’t?

  “Will I get to come?” I asked.

  “Another question. That’s three. I also bet you’ve spent the day learning things I might not be ready for you to know. Tell me, princess, do you need to be punished?”

  Fuck! How did he do that, make me want what I shouldn’t?

  “Mr. Demetri, you’re right.” I concentrated on the painful pitch in my core. “I’ve disobeyed.”

  “Pick up the belt and fold it in half.”

  My hands trembled as I did as he said. I sat up, mindlessly running the leather across my palm, imagining that it was Nox doing the same.

  “I’m ready,” I bravely replied.

  “Are you still lying back?”

  As I moved he undoubtedly heard the rustling of the sheets. “No.”

  “Lie back, like you were. I want your head and that beautiful hair on a pillow with your legs spread wide. If I were there, I’d be looking at that perfect pink pussy.”

  My breathing hitched as I moved to the position he described. The cold buckle in my grasp warmed with each second as my anticipation grew.

  “Tell me what I’d see if I were there,” he demanded.

  “Me, I’m ready.”

  “Would I see how ready you are? How much your pussy wants my cock?”

  “Y-yes.” I said, losing myself to his commands.

  “You’re so damn hot. My dick is fucking stone. Each time that belt leaves a stripe on your gorgeous skin, each time you do what I say, I want you to imagine my hand pumping. In my mind, I’m coming all over that freshly pink flesh. Princess, never forget that I fucking love you. With each strike, I’m marking you, again and again.”

  I could barely breathe as the image of him leaning over me, his length in his grasp, dominated my thoughts.

  “Do you have a problem with this?”

  “Yes,” I bravely replied.

  “You do?”

  “Fuck, Nox, I wish you were here. I want it all.”

  “Me too. Close your eyes and do exactly what I say…”

  I couldn’t concentrate. The room around me was no longer present. I was suspended, floating in the sound of his voice, the deep dominating timbre telling, demanding, and commanding. Though my hands were delivering the punishment, it was all him. My hands were merely an extension of his, lost to his will.

  A gasp filled the air and my hips buckled as the first lash la
nded upon my stomach…

  “MISS COLLINS, MISSING one day of class does not usually result in a discussion with your counseling faculty. Your case appears to be unique.”

  I sat perched on the edge of a chair in my faculty counselor’s office, facing her desk as she shuffled through notes. “I don’t understand. I called yesterday afternoon and explained the situation.”

  “Your name is associated with our school. The most recent newscast has you listed as a first-year student.”

  I nodded. “I was at the wrong place at the wrong time. The situation was traumatic and I…” I wasn’t sure how to end the sentence. I was taken away into hiding. I was transported before I realized what happened. I have a boyfriend who is extremely protective and well protected. Before I knew what happened his bodyguards swooped in… I had too many options.

  The counselor nodded. “I understand. What you saw would be traumatic for anyone. I’ve lived in New York for most of my life and have never been that close to a shooting. According to the news report, you were seen being taken away from the scene with a Mr. Demetri.”

  I didn’t respond to confirm or deny her observation, though I found the use of Nox’s name interesting or maybe confusing.

  As I pondered, she continued, “One of the reasons I called you to my office is because the university has counselors, ones who could help you deal with this. You’re about to embark on a very busy semester. If this situation weighs too heavily…”

  I sighed as she continued with her recommendation for therapy. If she only knew that in the grand scheme of the last few months of my life, this incident was a minor blip—now that I knew the woman who was shot in our stead was going to survive. That was, until she mentioned a name I never wanted associated with me.

  “Our other concern is the call I received yesterday from your stepfather, Alton Fitzgerald.”

  The relief I’d felt at her concern for my mental health faded as the small hairs on the back of my neck stood to attention and my back straightened. “Why would he call you?”

  “At first he was calling to see if you were here, to check on your safety.”

  Bullshit. He wasn’t checking on my safety.

  “At first?” I asked.

  “He voiced concerns about tuition and about your missing class. He’s concerned about your handling the responsibility…”