Dane - Book 2: A Foster Family Saga Read online

  “Right, right. You guys saw the photos from the Paris trip with Hanna?” I grinned. The tabloids had published some stunning shots of Hanna and I. We were the poster couple for romance in the City of Love.

  “Saw them?” Lamont laughed. “We sent them!”

  “Ha! Shoulda known.”

  “So, let’s talk about this relationship situation. Is it working out for you?” Lamont asked in a conversational tone. I shrugged and nodded, smiling. It was working well for me. “Good, great. I was just wondering when you want to move forward with the next phase of the process. Again, there’s a predictable timeline when it comes to love and relationships in the spotlight. Sizzle and crackle or fizzle.”

  “Oh, I see where this is going.” My smile wavered. Technically, Lamont was calling the shots on the situation with Hanna, but I wasn’t prepared for him to tell me when I should break up with my fake girlfriend. Unexpectedly, the thought of leaving Hanna made me uncomfortable.

  “Now, I don’t want to pressure you, make you feel like you have to do anything you don’t want to do. I want you to think about your goals for the relationship. Are you ready to get serious? Or should you pull back? The connection with Hanna Sorenson has gone on long enough to do what it was intended to do. You can walk away with your hands clean, the good guy, and you’ve made her semi-famous. I call that a win.”

  “Hmm,” I grunted.

  “Just think about it. All right, moving on—”

  “Actually, I wanted to bring up something now that I have a minute with you. I have an estranged family member trying to get in contact with me about a personal concern. I’m not interested in renewing a relationship with this person. You think I need to worry about anything, publicity-wise?”

  Lamont looked curious, but he didn’t pry. “That depends. Is this family member likely to run to the press with tall tales?”

  I thought about it. Neither Sissy nor Griess would want their face all over television. Griess had too many schemes going. “Probably not,” I said.

  “Then we’re all clear. Is it something I can help with? You know our motto. At Iconic we make bad news disappear.”

  “I’ll bear that in mind and let you know if things get messy,” I replied.

  The meeting panned out with us outlining a strategy for the first quarter of the year, which included an Excelsis-sponsored charity marathon and possibly even a book deal for my autobiography.

  Lamont assured me, “Americans love an old-fashioned rags to riches story. I have the perfect autobiographer in mind. Market it as a self-help-slash-success guide. I know you don’t like to talk about your childhood, but that works in our favor. Some people are dying to feel like they know you, and the perfect way to reintroduce your image is to take control of the narrative.”

  “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” I said. “I’m not interested in an expose. There are certain details…”

  “You’d make the call on what you add to the story or take away. Don’t get nervous on me,” said Lamont.

  ###

  I left Excelsis after the meeting for brunch with Hanna. She was waiting for me, and I was anxious to see her. I remembered one of my professors in college frequently saying business made every other relationship seem like an affair. I felt like I wasn’t spending enough time with her, despite the fact that I actually had a mind to stay away. Lamont’s words were ringing in my thoughts as I drove over the freeway and took the exit to the upscale neighborhood where my apartment complex was located. I was on a timer to get serious or get lost.

  “Hey,” I said breathlessly as I unlocked the door and stepped into the entryway.

  Hanna was reading a book on the couch and looked up at me with drowsy eyes. She looked like she had just crawled out of bed. Her ginger hair fell around her face in tousled waves, and she was wearing one of my t-shirts. “I called you,” she said.

  “I was in a meeting.”

  “Got a lot accomplished? I missed you.” She rose from the sofa and shuffled over to me, stepping into my arms. Her hands smoothed down my back, as I kissed her nose and stared into her lush green eyes.

  “Did you, really? Business is business. I snuck away. Gervais is covering my office until I get back. What’d you cook? It smells great in here.”

  “Maple bacon and brioche,” she said with a grin. “You want to dine on the balcony?”

  She pulled me to the stainless steel kitchen and started fixing plates. I leaned on the countertop, watching her bottom wiggle in pink panties, wondering if I had enough time to satisfy my appetite for more than food. I had to be back at Excelsis within the hour to meet the head of a development firm, and I couldn’t be late.

  “How about we skip it?” I asked. I walked up behind her. I dropped my hand to her waist, and my fingers tangled in the t-shirt, rubbing her stomach.

  She moaned in response while she swayed her hips from side to side, erotically teasing at my crotch with her luscious ass. I nuzzled her neck, lingering to inhale her sleepy scent. My nose drifted down the curve and I buried my face against her shoulder. She was like a rose to plunder. I could mentally taste her nectar as I breathed.

  “We could, but then you’ll go back to work with an empty stomach,” she replied.

  “Would you rather feed me or take care of this hard-on?” I said, chuckling.

  Hanna turned around and placed her mouth to mine like she had been waiting to kiss me all morning. There was yearning in the roll of her pelvis against my erection. My fingers firmly caressed the curve of her ass and I sucked her bottom lip into my mouth. My tongue curled against hers. Our teeth bumped and we pulled away, returning to a deeper kiss.

  The black chinaware was on the countertop next to the electric range, forgotten. I wasn’t hungry for food. I was starving for sex. She fit in my arms, lightweight. I carried her to the bar that separated the kitchen from the living room and laid her body down like a repast. The t-shirt slipped from her shoulder and was pulled from her torso in one smooth rip, and her cute panties joined it on the floor.

  “Hurry,” Hanna murmured breathlessly. She touched herself while I stretched out of the jacket to my suit, stepped out of my pants. I came back to her still wearing my boxers and my shirt, but my rigid cock was free. I stroked down the shaft as I watched her. Her nimble fingers slid around and round her clitoris, dipping inside of her body, disappearing in the tightness. I knew she was hotter than molten gold, and I needed to be enveloped.

  I dragged her to the edge until only her bottom rested on the counter, and her legs were wound around my hips, and her hands were clasped at the back of my neck. My erection pressed into her silky pussy like a homing device knowing exactly where to attack, which made her gasp in arousal. As I expected, we fit together perfectly. I licked her lips with a groan. “Show me how badly you missed me.”

  “This much,” she said. I felt her pussy shiver around my cock as her powerful sheath sucked me deeper. She scooted forward, rocked back, unhurried. Slow, torturous swirls around my dick coaxed moans of pleasure from me. I gripped her hips and clenched my teeth to keep from blasting off. She was summer shower wet. She was desert heat. She was heaven in a glass jar, delicate and glorious, and I didn’t deserve her.

  I knew I didn’t. As I dropped a hand to the counter and thrust deeper into her receptive body, I was racked by guilt. Get serious or get lost. I couldn’t get serious. I didn’t have room in my life to devote to a serious relationship. It was one thing to meet up, fuck, go out, have fun. Relationships sucked out the joy and replaced happiness with obligation. I knew from every example around me.

  Love was about compromise and hardship. How many times had I watched my mother give up what she needed in order to please Griess? Even Cornelius had to bend to Caroline’s whims. It would be the same, I thought, cock throbbing with pulses of pleasure. Hanna whimpered and gripped me closer.

  “Fuck,” I moaned.

  My abs clenched as she slipped from the countertop, falling fully into my arms, and my
dick was submerged to the hilt. Hanna bounced up and down against me, and her face mirrored my ecstasy. She was moaning and crying out as we fucked harder, faster. Wet, slapping sounds emitted from between our bodies. Her thighs were slick. Her pussy was dripping. Her bare breasts were pressed against my chest. I held her with one hand behind her back and a hand to her ass, the base of her spine pushed to the countertop.

  “Dane,” she gasped. I could see the pleasure plainly in her eyes. She was coming. I speared upward and held my stance. Her sex-battered pussy pulsated and spasmed around me. I felt copious juices soaking through my boxers. I didn’t move until her nirvana had passed. It was Hanna’s moment. This pleasure was all I was free to give.

  Because I couldn’t get lost, either. I couldn’t leave her yet. I couldn’t bear the thought of not fucking her like this, not seeing her face or feeling her sexy mouth wrapped around my swollen cock. She wouldn’t accept any explanation I could give to make an exit. She wouldn’t understand. I knew I couldn’t commit to a relationship, but we could continue as we were. She’d accept that, wouldn’t she?

  I breathed raggedly and tentatively moved against the trembling girl. I slowly stroked out and then in. Her post-orgasmic moisture eased my passage. The walls of her vagina rippled smoothly. I grimaced as my tempo and intensity increased. She moaned my name again, sounding so possessive that I wished to God we were strangers and she didn’t know it.

  “Hanna, I love—” I bit back the confession before I could incriminate myself. The words almost blurted out at the pleasure. I wasn’t intending to tell her I loved her. Her fingernails dug into my back, and I gasped, “—this.”

  She kissed my mouth like she understood I wasn’t about to lie to her. There was absolution beneath her tongue. I wanted to cry out as my cock doused her insides with my cum. My shoulders shuddered and my knees buckled slightly. I exhaled shakily as I climaxed. Hanna nibbled at my lips and whispered encouragements. “Come for me,” she murmured. “Fucking come for me.”

  I winced. The head of my dick quivered as the last wave of ecstasy washed over me. I stumbled back and set her feet on the floor. I braced my hands on the countertop at her sides as she stood between me and the bar. She wore a smile that told me she knew the effect she had on me. I grinned and shook my head. “Don’t look at me like that.”

  “Like what?” I loved her accent and the way her eyes danced after having sex. I loved the way her body looked naked. I loved her perfect pussy. Fuck it all. I did.

  “Like you know,” I murmured. I looked down and took a step back on steadier legs. I had to get back to work. I needed to regain my equilibrium. I didn’t know what to do with Hanna or what to do without her.

  She picked up my t-shirt and her panties and moved to the stairs. “Have time to take a shower with me?”

  I shook my head. I watched her go up to my bathroom and then stepped into the guest bath to clean myself up. I had a handful of minutes before I had to be out the door. After wiping down, I took a bite of the cold brioche and crispy bacon, crumbs clinging to my mouth. I brushed them away and decided to peek in at Hanna before I left.

  “Do you need anything?” I asked over the sound of the spray of the shower.

  She opened the frosted glass door. “Aunt Ettie called me this morning.”

  “She knows you’re here?” I asked in surprise. Ettie had been trying to get in touch with me since we’d returned from our trip, and it made me anxious. I wondered if Hanna’s aunt was angry with me for violating the initial terms of our agreement. Ettie was the only person, besides the folks in my camp, who knew that my relationship with Hanna wasn’t what it seemed. She had instructed me to keep things light, not to lead on Hanna.

  “Of course she knows.” She giggled. “Dinner tonight at her place.”

  “We just got here,” I said.

  “I know, but we can take that drive, can’t we? We can come back tonight.”

  I frowned, but nodded. “Fine, beautiful. We can go. Listen, I gotta get back to work. Hold down the fort until I get back.”

  “I got you.” She closed the glass door and I left the bathroom.

  CHAPTER 5

  Our dinner date required me to leave the office early, but I was glad to escape by five o’clock that evening. My assistant and I made our way to the Excelsis parking garage together, Gervais jesting during the whole walk. “I don’t know how to take this, sir,” he said. “You’re letting me go early? What is this—a holiday?”

  “Hanna and I have plans this evening. I’m gonna take her out to the country, get some fresh air, have dinner at her place.”

  “With Aunt Ettie, dear old thing. Kindly tell her I said hello.”

  “Hmm, she might not want to talk to me. I’ve been avoiding her calls. Remember I told you she didn’t want Hanna and me sleeping together?”

  “You said that was your suggestion, and she can’t possibly know what you guys do in the privacy of your own room. Wait—you guys stayed a week in Paris. Never mind.”

  “Right. Nobody spends a week in Paris without getting laid. I mean, I committed to it. I suggested it, but I committed to it, so I know she’s holding me to my word.”

  “Eh, she probably forgot.”

  I smirked at him. “Either way, I’m not looking forward to dinner. What about you? Getting out to have some fun tonight? Tom’s got things covered.”

  “Fun? I can’t remember the last time I had that.”

  I barked in laughter. “Take a damn girl out, Gervais.”

  “I actually have some things I can do from home. Like check into the phone records.”

  “Oh, Christ. You’re still on it? Tenacious little fuck, aren’t you. I appreciate it.” I grimaced, and Gervais laughed. I didn’t want to tell him I wasn’t as enthusiastic about the search as he was. For my assistant, finding my mother presented a mystery he was happy to solve, while I looked forward to it with nothing but dread. Every time I thought about Sissy, I got a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.

  Gervais replied, “We know they were in Miami, but your mom could be anywhere by now. I’m waiting on a fax from the phone company. I already narrowed down the area code to Louisiana. You know anyone down there?”

  “Off the top of my head? No. If I had to hazard a guess, Griess is likely running another con. They move around a lot. It’s not unusual for them to pop up in some random, obscure town. Keep looking.”

  “Right-o. I’ll give you a call tonight if I find something.”

  “Nah, save it until I hit you up. I don’t want dinner ruined.”

  “Oh, right. Sorry, sir. Of course.”

  “Thanks.”

  I left Gervais in the parking garage at Excelsis and drove to the penthouse to pick up Hanna.

  “My God, you’re stunning,” I murmured when I set eyes on her. She was wearing a sable dress and mink coat, looking like a chocolate diamond. “You’re going to make me have to change.”

  “Oh? Will I get to watch?” she teased. Her pale lashes fluttered against her cheeks, arresting my gaze. She flicked her pink tongue out to slide along her lips, and I chuckled.

  “Stop it, minx. We’re on a time schedule.” I swatted at her bottom and strolled into my bathroom.

  “Aunt Ettie’s holding dinner until we get there.”

  I stepped out of my clothes and ran the shower. “Yeah, but if we get started, we won’t stop.”

  “You’ve got a point,” said Hanna, giggling. “You never know when to quit.”

  I laughed. “Oh? Is it a bad thing, keeping you sexually satisfied? Fine, I’m happy to take the blame.”

  She was amazing. I had to tear my eyes away and focus on getting ready, because the drive out of New York to her aunt’s estate would take several hours. If we intended to get back to the city before late, we’d need to get there sooner than later. As I showered, Hanna folded her coat and laid it out on my bed, then sat on a leather chair in the bedroom to talk to me through the bathroom door. I washed my hair, listening
to her soft, lilting voice.

  “I spent the whole day not doing anything. Well, I chatted on the phone a bit, played on the internet. Boring stuff. And I raided your liquor cabinet.”

  “Did you get into my bourbon?” I asked, remembering our first night out when she’d gulped shot after shot of Widow Jane. We’d been in a honky-tonk bar in upstate New York, and I’d been sure Hanna was a crazy lady when she convinced me to run away from a fundraiser at her aunt’s house, but here we were months later. Coincidentally, she was the first woman I’d ever let linger around my penthouse while I was at work. “I’m sorry you were bored, love. That’s what it’s like dating a man in my position. I have to be away for such long stretches.”

  “I got spoiled in Paris.”

  I chuckled. “You were supposed to get spoiled in Paris.”

  “I can picture waking up to you every morning.”

  “Except I get up at the crack of dawn and head right to my office, whether I go to Excelsis or not. Can you handle that?” I had no business talking about a future with Hanna. None at all. But a man could dream.

  “Let’s see…as long as your lunch breaks end up like the one we had earlier today, I think I can live with it.”

  I bit my lip, thinking about how her sexy body responded to my touch when we were making love. I could live with that, too.

  “Baby, have you heard anything else from your mom?” She said, breaking my reverie.

  I frowned, water streaming down my face and soapsuds running down my torso. “I’m looking into it,” I said. “I don’t expect to hear anything. I told you to stop worrying about it.”

  “Don’t tell me not to worry. I can tell it’s bothering you. How can you expect me not to worry?”

  I stepped out of the shower and towel-dried, wondering how Hanna could see clean through me when other women had tried and failed. It was another thing that made me want to put distance between us. I put up walls to guard my feelings, but she managed to break through at the oddest times. However, the thought of her worrying on my behalf made my heart soften. I walked out of the bathroom and pulled her into a hug. I rested my chin on the crown of her head.