The Red Eye (The Red Eye Romance Series Book 1) Read online

  “Of course not. That would be too boring. So are you telling me that all of those women were just good friends of yours? Come on, Devon, you can’t expect me to believe that, can you?”

  “Well, not all of them, of course. I am alive, you know?” He smirked. “But my love life is surprisingly boring when it comes down to it. I’m a serial monogamist. I’ve had a few long-term girlfriends over the years, and to be honest, that’s what I prefer. I like getting to know someone, spend time with them, and not just in the bedroom. One-night stands are very well and good, but they tend to lose their appeal after a while.”

  “I know what you mean.” Did I just say that? “I mean, I can’t imagine what you mean… considering that’s never happened to me… ever! But I think that was why I fell for Miles. It seemed to be the best of both worlds. I got to have space without the pressure of someone wanting us to move in together, but we had an actual relationship, you know? It isn’t just sex. Or at least, it wasn’t. These days… it’s rarely even sex now. I don’t know what’s gone wrong.”

  “Probably nothing.” Devon shrugged. “It’s clear that he’s got what he wanted and now he’s ready to move on.”

  I sank my teeth into my lip, trying to hold back tears and my angry response.

  “Oh, man. I’m sorry.” Devon put his hand over mine. “I didn’t mean to upset you. Sometimes I open up my mouth and my foot goes right in.”

  I just looked at him, wanting to laugh, but I didn’t.

  “Look, why don’t we order? The steak is to die for.”

  I busied myself by perusing over the menu as Devon made some recommendations. It didn’t take long before we’d given the waiter our orders.

  “So what’s your plan now?” asked Devon. “You’ve won the contract with Leeson fair and square, so are you staying here or heading back home?”

  “Well, I need to fly back first and check in at the office. After that, I’m not sure. I’ll probably end up dividing my time between both coasts for a while.”

  “That would make sense.” He sipped on his drink. “Well, I hope you let me take you out again when you come back. I meant it when I said I enjoyed your company.”

  “I’d like that.”

  The champagne flowed as freely as the conversation, and the steak was as delicious as Devon had said it would be, so by the time I needed to leave, I realized I didn’t want the night to end.

  Standing on the sidewalk waiting for a cab, Devon turned to me and said, “I hope you don’t think this too forward of me, but would you like to come back to my place for a nightcap? With you flying back home soon, I really feel like I’d like to spend as much time as possible with you, if only to make up for my fuck-up when we first met.”

  I thought for a moment. “It has been a really good night. Just a quick coffee, though, and then I’ll need to get back to the hotel.”

  “Just a quick coffee,” promised Devon, as a cab pulled up curbside.

  #

  “Make yourself comfortable while I get the coffee on.” Devon walked away, and I admit I was staring. The way he walked was too smooth and assured. Something about that made a man more attractive. I settled down on his sofa and kicked off my heels—they were new and making my toes hit notes like Mariah.

  Soon, Devon came back with the coffee tray. “Just cream, right?” he asked.

  “You remembered?”

  “Of course I remembered. You’re someone worth paying attention to. I remember all sorts of little details, like the fact that the shade of lipstick you’ve got on right now is exactly the same as the one you wore to that first meeting with Doug.” He lightly brushed his finger over my lips. “I wanted to kiss it off then as much as I want to kiss it off now.”

  That did it.

  “Why don’t you, then?”

  I held my breath as Devon leaned in close, and my senses were swamped by the alluring scent of his exquisite cologne. During the briefest pause waiting for his lips to meet mine, I felt like I was swimming in anticipation. All of a sudden my heart rattled the cage of my chest. I smiled and closed my eyes, dropping my head back to tilt my face for the most optimal angle. His mouth caressed mine with a gentle, sensual pleasure—barely a brush of the lips, but the feel of his tongue skittering over the bow of my mouth sent shivers through my body. As I moaned in surprise at the sensation, he slowly pulled away. Disappointment at him stopping swiftly followed the pleasure he had started. I opened my eyes.

  “You’re beautiful,” he whispered. His eyes bored into mine. I couldn’t tell what he was searching for, nor if he found it. It didn’t matter, because I didn’t even know what I was seeking from him. All that mattered was the taste of mistakes coating his lips like liquor. He kissed me again. This time his palms skated up the sides of my torso to clutch me by the waist and pull me against him. I ran my slender fingers through his silky, lustrous hair, and dragged his mouth more firmly to mine.

  “I’ve wanted you from the moment I saw you. Seeing you in that dress tonight, it was all I could do to stop myself from placing my mouth on your body.” His voice was a mixture of a growl and a moan, and I heard the intensity in his statement, the want and need. I trembled with arousal at the sound.

  “Well, now’s your chance,” I told him, undoing the zipper on my dress. I knew I was being incredibly bold, but it was just the two of us, and nobody’s business. The dress slipped open inch by inch, exposing my smooth, pale back and the sultry arch of my spine. It flowed down to the curve of my ass. I slowly wriggled out of it to reveal matching lace underwear and the tops of my slender thighs. I heard his appreciative murmur and saw the instant attraction flame up in his eyes. Devon nuzzled my neck, reaching around to unhook my bra. “Much as I love this sexy little scrap of lace you’re wearing, I think it will look even better off.”

  I chuckled throatily. “You like it, do you?” Devon nodded, and his fingers flew to his shirt and started unbuttoning, and my hands took over the work. He pulled it off, and my eyes grew bigger at the sight of his muscular torso. Exactly the way I liked. I licked my lips in invitation as he crawled forward, pressing me down to lie on my back. He rose over me. “I like this, too,” I said. Though I hadn’t planned on things escalating so heatedly, it felt only natural to succumb to the desire that pooled like molten lava at my pelvis. I squirmed, waggling my hips from side to side.

  Devon looked down where our thighs rubbed against each other. I spread them, beckoning, and he positioned himself between my legs as if he belonged there. “Yes…” I ran my hands down his wide back, the crescents of my nails digging into his feverish skin. He kissed me deeply, passionately, his tongue probing into my mouth.

  I moaned as Devon began to kiss his way down my body, slowing peeling off my underwear, and I kicked it off with a fling of my dainty foot. His tongue traversed the expanse of my naked skin, lower and lower. My thighs tightened round him, as he buried his face between my thighs.

  The first flick sent chills. The second sent fire. He closed his lips around my clit and my spine came up off the mattress. “Oh God, yes,” I groaned, holding him against me, as he brought me close to climax time and again, easing off before I could come before finally taking me all the way.

  I heard his passionate moans above the sounds of my restless breaths, and I couldn’t contain the screams that joined the symphony of lust. I hadn’t expected Devon to be so skilled, but it was the kind of surprise a girl welcomed. His tongue probed into my entrance, licking me rhythmically. I throbbed against his mouth, riding his face. I could feel his cheeks slick with the dewy rain pouring from the storm happening between my legs. It felt amazing.

  My hips rose and fell. I couldn’t take it anymore. “Please, Devon, I need you inside me,” I begged, as he looked up at me with hooded bedroom eyes. The barest smile curved his lips.

  “Not here,” he suddenly said, standing up and holding out his hand. “I want you where I can take my time with you.” I tried not to beg him to continue. I was right at the edge. I wan
ted to explode. I needed the rapture. We could do it wherever, just as long as he finished what he had started.

  But I stood and took his hand, following him to his bedroom with anticipation quickening my step. I threw my body on the bed, sitting on the edge, and undid his pants, to discover that he was incredibly well endowed. I couldn’t suppress my gasp of excitement as I palmed his veiny tumescence. My fingers couldn’t fully encircle his girth. He was heavy and hard in my hand.

  “Now, where were we?” asked Devon, as he gently pushed me back to lie on the bed.

  I smiled up at him wickedly and wet my lips as I pushed him so I could sit back up. His meaty manhood was in front of my face. I slowly, boldly closed the distance between us, and my tongue flicked against the tip of his swollen cock. He grimaced, moaning in surprise as his hands went to my hair and pulled it back. He palmed my cheek, drawing my mouth all the way down his thick length.

  I groaned at the feel of it hitting the back of my throat, and I eased back an inch to lick along the base. Wrapping my hand around him, I stroked sensually up and slowly down, squeezing. A burst of pre-cum slipped from the opening and spilled on my tongue, and I lapped it up like sweet cream.

  He was so hard I thought he might explode, but he held himself in check with barely a tremor of his thighs, though his abs clenched, and his face registered abject worship of what I was doing to him with my hands and mouth. I closed my eyes and gave him my most uninhibited oral sex, not caring that there was silvery saliva dribbling down my chin, unconcerned that my hands were slick and wet with it.

  I massaged and stroked and squeezed. I licked and sucked. I nibbled at the cock that was filling up my whole mouth. With greedy slurps and moans, I devoured him until he forced me away with a vicious shove, and I looked up and saw the five-alarm fire in his eyes.

  “I need you now,” he growled.

  He grabbed me by the ankle and flipped me over onto my stomach, and I let out a yelp at the sexy manhandling. Suddenly he was positioned against my heart-shaped derriere, cock probing for entrance. I spread my legs and reached down underneath to spread my lower lips. I was soaking wet from the pleasure he had given me, as well as the ecstasy of giving him pleasure, and my anxious whispers for more urged him on. When he penetrated me, my eyes fluttered back.

  “Oh God, right there!” He was exactly where I needed him to be, and I didn’t want to move for fear of climaxing. I wanted to revel in the perplexing desire that had me acting out of character. My back arched, positioning my ass up just right for him to plunder me. I lowered my head to the pillow. “Give it to me,” I ordered. There was no way to hold out forever, and there was so much of this sexy man to explore. In fact, he grew harder in the viselike grip of my body.

  My wetness coated his cock as he slowly started sliding in and out. I met his thrusts with a backward push of my body, each blow punishing as the strokes grew more and more intense, faster and faster. I was shaking with the need to release, and Devon knew exactly what to do with me.

  He panted with gusty exhales and sharp inhales as we marched headlong up the mountain to satisfaction. Perspiration flew from our bodies like raindrops. Then, just when I thought I would die if I didn’t reach the peak, it happened.

  My orgasm ripped through me like an avalanche, growing more destructive the longer it lasted. It left me breathless and dazed with wonder as I heard him, as if from a distance, crying out. I felt the splash of his ejaculation hit my buttocks and smiled in hazy awareness. “Yes,” I murmured drowsily.

  He collapsed to the bed beside me. “Rest,” he whispered. “Then… round two.”

  Ten

  I woke up the next morning and for a moment didn't realize where I was. But then I remembered… I had gone back home with Devon Caesar.

  What was I thinking?

  A classic mix of a being in a good mood and consuming alcohol had gotten me to a compliant state of mind. How could I have been so stupid? Going home with Devon Caesar was a no-no. My life just didn’t need any further complications, and sleeping with Devon was all that could be right now.

  “Good morning.” I whipped my head in the direction of the voice and saw Devon coming through the door with a silver oval tray in his hands. “I thought I’d let you sleep in. We were up rather late last night.”

  “Er… thanks.” Fuck, fuck, fuck. I pulled myself up so that Devon could put the tray on my lap. He’d made a plate of scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese and chives, and there was also orange juice and black coffee.

  “I hope this is okay.” Devon stood on the side of the bed right in front of me with nothing but bare chest and blue boxers. “I wasn’t sure what you preferred, but I figured that eggs was a safe bet.”

  “It looks great.” I picked up the fork while smiling nervously, took a bite, and discovered that it really was good. Did Devon have to be so perfect? Not only was he gorgeous and amazing in bed, he was a talented cook as well. “You’re making it very hard for me to leave, you know.”

  “So don’t,” Devon replied. “We could spend the day together. You deserve a treat, and I’m sure the office won’t mind if you’re a day late back.”

  “I really can’t.” He smiled, bright and alluring. “My flight’s booked for later today, and I need to be on it. Miles will want a debriefing and, given the nature of the deal, I can’t make him wait.”

  “Ah yes. Miles.” It was hard to read the expression on Devon’s face, but he didn’t seem all that happy about the idea of me going back. Especially to see Miles. “Of course. Well, you do what you need to do.”

  He turned around and walked to the door.

  “Devon, don’t be like that.”

  “I’m not being like anything,” he said over his shoulder. “We had fun last night, or at least I did, and now it’s back to the real world for you. No promises were made on either side. Take your time with breakfast. There’s no hurry. You’re welcome to stay as long as you'd like.”

  “Thank you.” I had no idea if Devon had heard what I said, because he’d shut the door behind him, a little too forcefully for my taste.

  Despite Devon saying that I was welcome to stay, I decided that I should get up and get out as quickly as possible, so I finished up my eggs and got dressed, then realized that I'd left my bra outside on the living room floor. Oh well, I could manage without it. I thought I'd rather let them be unconfined than face Devon again. I needed to get my head straight about what had happened last night before getting into some deep conversation, especially right before I left.

  Devon was tidying up the kitchen when I came out. I had to say something. I couldn't just ignore him. “Thank you for a great night.” What I was saying felt awkward, like a more dignified walk of shame. What we had might have been just a one-night stand, but there was chemistry between us. If only I didn’t have to leave.

  “You’re welcome. I would say we must do it again sometime, but…” He shrugged. “Never mind. Anyway, it was fun while it lasted. Have a safe flight.”

  I looked away. “Thanks… I think.

  As I walked to the door and let myself out, I felt Devon staring at my back.

  #

  Once I’d checked in and was comfortable in the waiting area, I pulled my phone out my purse and texted Miles.

  Will be landing later this afternoon.

  Great! came the reply. Meet me at our usual place and you can tell me all about the deal.

  All throughout the flight, I was lost in thought. What exactly had happened between me and Devon? He’d said that he didn’t like one-night stands, but that was exactly what had happened with us last night. He had to have known that a relationship between us was nearly impossible. For one, we lived on opposite sides of the country, not to mention we worked for rival law firms.

  I sighed, and yet, and yet… he was so sweet and seemed genuinely interested in everything I had to say, and he’d opened up to me over dinner. I thought we had really connected.

  I shook the thoughts from my head, tried t
o turn my attention to Miles if I could, as he was supposedly the love of my life. I found it funny how the thoughts of him would just vanish from my mind when I was with Devon. Being with Devon had shown me how a man should treat a woman. Take her out on dates, be seen with her in public, not be some hidden secret you tucked away in hotels. I had to talk to Miles, have a heart to heart, see where we were at, and where and if we had anywhere else to go.

  #

  I didn’t know why I expected Miles to be at the hotel before me. Every time I hoped for something with him, I ended up disappointed. As was usual, I checked in before him and ended up sitting in the room, staring at the walls and bored half out of my mind.

  At last, the door opened and Miles rushed in. “Well, aren’t you a clever girl?” He smiled and gave me a quick hug. “I knew you were the right person… I knew it. What was it that got him in the end? Was it that slinky black number of yours?”

  It took every bit of energy from me to stop from rolling my eyes. “Actually, I think it was my legal prowess, Miles. You know, the fact that I’m a lawyer isn’t a side note to how attractive I am.” I wanted to walk out the room.

  “Good, good.” He nodded. Miles was many things; apparently being oblivious was one of them. “So what was your thinking? I need you to talk me through every detail so it’s as seamless as possible.”

  “Take over the case?” I’d forgotten about that. “I don’t think that’s going to work, Miles. Doug hired us on the one condition that it was me that took lead.”

  Miles look disappointed, but ever the professional. “Of course you should, but you and I both know that you’re nowhere near experienced enough to handle a client of this size. We can let him think that you’ve taken point, but I’ll be right behind you, running the show. Wow! Do you realize landing this client could mean a guaranteed partnership for me?”

  I didn’t say a word. I just stared at him like he was crazy.