Fear in Her Eyes (Fire & Vice Book 5) Read online

  Her tastes were usually more bohemian, but she was overdue for a staycation and she had been trying to think of the last place Daniel Mercer might expect her to go. After her stay on Chris’ couch, she didn’t think he’d expect her to hide out in a luxury hotel. He’d probably traced her last time using security cameras, so she had been careful to leave her cell phone behind and take bus routes only. It must have worked, since Daniel hadn’t come after her the night before.

  Addison smiled to herself as she dropped the bathrobe and sank into the heated water of her bath. It enveloped her like a warm, wet kiss. She wondered what Daniel was doing. She wasn’t looking forward to seeing him the next day when she returned to her apartment after work, but she did miss him a little. Over the past week, they had been as physically close as two people could get. It felt strange being alone in an empty hotel room and a big bed.

  ***

  “I’ll take that up to Ms. Sterling,” Daniel told the young waiter, relieving him of his tray and a bottle of champagne.

  He looked uncertain until Daniel showed his security badge. The kid’s eyes flashed to Daniel’s jacket where his sidearm was visible. His eyes widened and he could barely conceal a grin of appreciation while backing away from a clearly much deadlier man.

  “No one disturbs Ms. Sterling tonight, understood?”

  Daniel was annoyed, and annoyed Daniel tended to be more homicidal. He was annoyed at the kid for giving the tray over so easily. Daniel could have been anyone pretending to be security to gain access to Addison’s room, where she could be harmed. Daniel was annoyed at Addison for not being where she was supposed to be. And he was annoyed at his delay in getting to her. He’d known where she was within hours of her disappearance. Unfortunately, he’d been delayed by a tipoff from DeLuca on the men that’d escaped the King Tower shooting a week earlier. Daniel had to go hunting before he could take care of his woman.

  Luckily for Addison, he’d relieved some of his frustrations on Franco’s hired guns before coming to see her. Daniel took the stairs up the ten floors to her room, hefting the tray easily. He sniffed it, wondering what it was and how much she’d ordered. He’d worked up an appetite explaining to Franco’s guys the error of their coming after King’s property. He’d been extra vicious owing to their shooting at Addison too. Unlucky for them, he liked her and he didn’t usually like anyone.

  He strode to her room, his anger growing with each step. He’d had to shove it ruthlessly aside while he’d tracked the two shooters. He’d needed his usual icy calm so he could do his job. Now he wanted answers. Why had she run from him without a word? Why was she holed up in one of the most expensive hotels in the city? Was she alone?

  Fury ripped through him. She better fucking be alone. Or he would kill her and whoever she was with. He attempted to reach for calm, breathing heavily as he stood outside the door to her room. It wasn’t like him to lose control this easily. He didn’t understand how one small, defenceless woman could fuck with his mind like this. His fist clenched hard around the neck of the champagne bottle.

  Finally, placing the bottle between his elbow and his body, he hammered on the door, attempting to soften some of the anger so she wouldn’t be frightened and just not answer the door. He could hear her musical voice float through the door asking him to wait a moment and the unmistakable sound of splashing, which indicated she was getting out of a bathtub. His heart sped up at the sound and his cock twitched in response, like a fucking dog on a leash.

  He didn’t get it. His fucking heart hadn’t gone any faster than normal while he was being shot full of holes in that North Korean shit hole where he and King had almost died. How did one small woman throw him off so much? For the few seconds it took her to answer the door he seriously considered just strangling her and getting rid of her, solving his problem in the usual way.

  Then she opened the door with a sweet, welcoming smile on her slightly crooked lips. Her warm, wet body was wrapped in a white bathrobe that left almost nothing to the imagination since she clearly hadn’t taken the time to dry herself off before throwing it on. Annoyance that she would answer the door that way warred with crashing lust as she started to look a little confused that room service was just standing there not saying anything.

  Then she caught his scent. Her delicate nose sniffed and her eyes, which had been on the floor for the comfort of the room service guy, flew up to Daniel’s face in panic. “Shit,” she breathed, her hand flying to the door faster than he would have thought her capable of and pushing. He shoved his booted foot into the door and flung it wide, throwing her off balance.

  “Hold on!” she gasped, stumbling back.

  “I don’t think so, Addison,” he snapped, stepping into the room after her.

  He kicked the door shut and dropped the tray and bottle onto the carpeted floor, ignoring the loud clang and mess of scattering food. Addison backed away from him with her hands out as if to ward him off as he reached for her. He seized her arm and jerked her into the cradle of his arms.

  “Daniel, wait!” she cried out, “I can explain.”

  He cut off anything else she might have said with a kiss that could only be called a punishment. He attacked her with lips, teeth and tongue. He stole her breath until she had to fight him for air. She brought her hands up to push against his shoulders, but he was immovable. After a moment, he let her up for breath before going back in. He knew he was desperate to have her and that he needed to slow down, that she was fighting his embrace, but he couldn’t.

  He took her fists, which were balled up against his shoulders and pulled them behind her back, causing her small breasts to arch up into his chest. He held her wrists with one hand and used the other to pull her up by the waist. He backed her into the bed and nudged her onto it until she was kneeling. He untied the belt that was already coming loose from his rough handling and finished yanking the robe open. He arched her back across his arm and leaned down to take one of her breasts into his mouth.

  Addison cried out as heat lashed her sensitive breast. He continued to lick, devouring the nipple mercilessly until it was rigid and she was begging him to stop. Finally, he granted her request and moved over to the other breast. Addison’s cries were like music to his ears, balm for the pain she caused when she had left. He knew he was being too rough, but he didn’t care. Her body belonged to him, all of her belonged to him, he would make her beg.

  “Please, Daniel, please… oh my god, please…” she yelled, struggling frantically against him.

  Not wanting to be disturbed and have to possibly kill a bunch of hotel security, Daniel let go of Addison’s hands and shoved her back on the bed. She heaved a sigh of relief until Daniel followed her onto the bed, reached down and flipped her onto her stomach. He grabbed two pillows from the top of the bed and, lifting her easily with an arm under her waist, shoved the pillows under her hips so her breathtaking ass was up in the air where he would have the best view of it.

  He never understood why women hated on their asses. He very much appreciated Addison’s heart-shaped rear and, if he wasn’t so pissed off with her at the moment, would take the time to explore every plump inch of it. She squirmed and cried out in fear as he took his leather belt off. He wrapped it around her throat and tightened it only enough for her to worry, but not enough to really cause pain. He leaned across her bare body and, brushing the tangled chestnut curls aside, spoke in her ear.

  “I’m angry, Addison, and I don’t get angry.” She shivered underneath him and opened her mouth to speak. “I promise if you say anything, it’ll only make this worse.”

  The breath rushed from between her parted lips and she frowned, clearly debating whether or not to defend herself. She decided to take his advice and closed her lips, instead bringing her fingers up to wrap around the belt threatening the delicate flesh of her throat.

  “Good girl,” he growled, breathing in the delicious tropical flowery scent of her skin and settling his heavy body against her smaller one.
r />   He took both sides of the belt in one hand and used the other to run his fingers down her baby fine hair and soft back, marvelling at how incredibly smooth she was. He couldn’t get enough of touching her. The past week had proved that. He had his hands on and in her every chance he got until she was dropping from exhaustion.

  “Were you tired?” he asked, suddenly struck by the idea. “That why you took off?”

  She hesitated and then she nodded slightly before whispering, “Also a little… sore.”

  He frowned. “I was careful, I know I was. There was minimal bruising, I checked. Daily. If there was any then I avoided the area.”

  “It’s not that… exactly.”

  He thought about that, he really did, and he considered himself an intelligent guy, but he couldn’t figure out what she meant. If she wasn’t too beat up then how come she was sore? “Explain.”

  “Oh my god, Daniel,” she moaned, cheeks flaring red, and buried her head in a pillow. Finally, after about thirty seconds she gave him a muffled, “My vagina hurt!”

  It took him about another thirty seconds to process what she meant and then he fully understood. It made sense. A week of non-stop rough sex was bound to make a woman a little sore. He sat up and quickly, clinically, ran his hands down her body to check for bruises, and then swiftly swirled his fingers around her labia before pushing them into her body. After almost forty-eight hours without sex her body had gone back to its usual too tight clasp.

  Addison squeaked in surprise and tried to sit up, throwing an elbow back into his chest. Daniel subdued her with a hand at the back of her neck. He pushed her back down and held her easily. “Does it still hurt?”

  “No!” she said. “I’m fine, can we please stop talking about this!”

  Daniel lifted his hand and brought it heavily down on her upraised ass, causing her to cry out in surprise and jump. He held her down with a heavy hand at the small of her back. He pulled his belt from around her neck and looped it around his fist, tucking the metal clasp into his hand and leaving the leather to trail down.

  He ran his hand down her back drawing a shiver from her. “Well, hard to stay angry. Doesn’t mean I forgive you for taking off like that though. I’m going to punish this ass until you beg me to stop, and then fuck you and take you home.”

  “Daniel, no!” she pleaded.

  “Hands over your head. Move them and I’ll hit twice as hard. If you scream, twice as long,” he said, leaning away from her.

  She hurriedly put her arms over her head and braced them against the headboard, clenching her fists. She does submissive so well, he thought, and she doesn’t even know it.

  “Next time,” he snarled, bringing the belt down on her upraised ass, “ask me for a night off, Addison. Tell me you need a break.”

  He lashed her bare ass a total of twenty times. He could tell the moment the flares of pain had turned to blazing ecstasy. She parted her legs a little and was raising her ass into each stroke, her whimpers turning to moans. He knew she needed just a little bit of pressure against her clit and she would be explosive in her release. She didn’t deserve to get off.

  He did though.

  He dropped the belt and rolled off the bed. Addison had just enough time to look around in hazy confusion before he grabbed her by the shoulders and flipped her onto her back. She cried out when her reddened ass touched the bedsheets. He dragged her around and to the edge of the mattress until her head was hanging off the edge. She flailed a little, but he shoved her hands down and placed them on the mattress.

  “Don’t move,” he snapped.

  She obeyed.

  He unzipped his jeans and shoved them down his thighs. He tapped her cheek. “Open.”

  She opened her mouth. He thrust his dick into her warm, willing mouth, enjoying the way it stretched her cheek. She choked a little, spit bubbling from her delicate lips, and brought a hand up to help herself. He slapped her hand back down with a growl. She dropped it and continued to struggle getting him into her mouth and throat.

  He reached out and played with her nipples, pinching and pulling them roughly until she was squirming under him and curling her legs up defensively. Her nipples were ultra sensitive and he knew she had trouble with how rough he was with them. He enjoyed pushing her boundaries. He couldn’t wait until the day he could get them into clamps. She would scream so beautifully for him.

  She ran her tongue under the head of his penis, paying extra attention to the dip where he was particularly sensitive. He groaned, let go of her nipples and took hold of her head. She jumped against him in reaction and almost brought her hands up, but thought better of it, knowing it would be worse for her if she did. She flattened them on the bed beside her thighs instead, flexing her beautiful fingers into the white sheets. Daniel used his thumbs against her jaw to hold her mouth open and then thrust into her mouth, forcing her to take more of his cock than she had so far. She choked and moaned, her throat vibrating against him, but he held her open and continued to fuck her mouth.

  After a few minutes, he knew if he didn’t stop he would come in her mouth. And while he definitely wanted to do that, he needed to come in her hot little cunt tonight. The dominant in him needed to mark his little runaway, to show her that he was calling the shots.

  Daniel pulled out of her mouth and dragging her around with a hand on the arm. He pulled her legs over his arms and her ass right to the edge of the bed and entered her. She cried out and clutched his shoulders, digging her nails into his arms. She arched her head back and tilted her hips up, which pushed him against her G-spot. He gritted a smile, his girl knew what she liked in bed. After that mouth fuck, he figured she maybe deserved some reward and reached down to help her out by rubbing her clit gently with his thumb.

  She started yelling again, and this time he decided to hell with hotel security, if he had to kill them it was going to be worth the effort. It didn’t take Addison long to reach her first orgasm, nor to tell the entire hotel about it. She was around her third orgasm when Daniel decided it was time to join her and, planting a fist in the mattress beside her head, pulled her hips in tightly against his and pumped savagely into her until they were both coming together.

  Daniel allowed her to collapse onto the bed with a satisfied moan. He stood up, towering over her, and reached for his clothes. After a moment, she realized he wasn’t going to be joining her and reached for a blanket to cover her nakedness. Though he enjoyed her vulnerability, he didn’t like that she always wanted to cover herself around him.

  “Are you leaving?” she asked.

  He also didn’t like the hopeful note in her voice.

  “Yes,” he answered. “So are you, get up and get dressed.”

  Her mouth opened and she groped blindly for the bathrobe that had fallen off the end of the bed. After a few moments of watching her, he reached for it and tossed it at her. With an annoyed huff, she took it off of her head and pulled it over her nakedness. She crawled toward the end of the bed and stood up, wrapping her arms around her body.

  “I’m not leaving, Daniel. I paid for this room and it’s too darn expensive to let it go to waste.”

  “Actually, the orchestra paid for this room,” he reminded her. “And we are leaving. In about two minutes. Get dressed and gather whatever you want to take with you or we leave without it.”

  Addison stomped her bare foot against the carpet and stood in mute silence for exactly two minutes. She must have known she was playing a losing game. Daniel always won. He’d found her at the Four Seasons hotel, despite her careful attempt at covering her tracks. He’d punished her. Now he was going to take her home and fuck her again, because his body fucking wanted more. It always wanted more of Addison.

  Her lip wobbled and she sniffed a little. She looked like she was about to speak, but he was done speaking. He reached out, took her by the wrist and waist and swung her up over his shoulder. The breath whooshed uncomfortably out of her as her belly hit the broad, hard muscles of his shoulde
r. She reached out and clutched his back. He loved the feel of her nails against his skin.

  “I don't care if I humiliate you, Addison. We can walk out the front door like this,” he said, heading for the hall.

  He took about ten steps before Addison got enough air in her lugs to stop him.

  “Daniel, please!” she begged.

  Her voice came out in a panicked sob. Despite his intention to leave like that, the tone of her voice stopped him. She was the only person in the world he knew of that could stop him once he had made up his mind. He didn’t like it, but he was beginning to understand it was a fact.

  “What?” he demanded, his voice hard.

  “Please, let me down,” she sobbed.

  He growled in annoyance and deliberated. Finally, it was the slight shaking of her body against his shoulder and back that decided him. Gently, he lifted her and slid her down his chest. He tried to look at her, but she kept her head bowed from him. He couldn’t allow that. He tilted her chin and forced her head up. She opened her exquisite dark eyes, blank to the world, now filled with tears. They crushed him. He didn't think there was anything in the world that could move him. Or if there was, he was pretty certain he would kill it. Now there was Addison.

  “Please, don’t make me leave like this,” she whispered. “I… I don’t want to go.”

  “Fuck!” he growled, making her jump.

  Even when she was miserable like this he still wanted her. His cock was just not getting the message. And he didn’t want to fuck her in this fucking hotel room again where the world could hear her screams. The screams that belonged to him alone. He wanted to punch something. He wished he was back at King Tower where he could use the gym to vent his frustrations. Or better yet, had one of those assholes that’d shot at Addison back under his fists.

  “Alright,” he finally said, “we stay.”

  She was about to give him her happy smile, but he didn’t think his dick could take it right now so he lifted her by her armpits and threw her on the bed where she landed with a gasp and a bounce. He took his jacket and holster off and laid them on some kind of fancy desk.