Being His First Read online

  “Oh Dad, I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” I rebutted.

  “Why not?”

  What could I say? I certainly wasn’t going to tell my dad that it was because he was just too much of a stud for me to hang around him without being tempted. That would give him another heart attack.

  “I just don’t think I’d be good at it, and you need my help at the office. I’m supposed to learn a lot more about the business this summer also.”

  “I don’t really need your help at the office, although I’ve always welcomed it. Plus, we have lots of time for you to learn the business. However, I really need your help with this. There’s no better tutor than you, as you’ve proven since sixth grade, and no better tour guide for our guest either. His family is very important clients, plus he is a fine and commendable young man.”

  “First’s come first,” I said.

  My dad put his hand on my shoulder and patted it softly. “That’s my girl. Thanks, Taylor. I really appreciate it.”

  “No problem.”

  “Good. Well, I’d best go and check my emails before your mother gets in here,” my dad said.

  I laughed at him. He always acted like we were so tough on him, so nosy, but I knew he liked it. He was as protective of his ladies as we were of him. I’d always loved my family a great deal, appreciating just how fortunate I was compared to others who had dysfunctional families to deal with. We fought sometimes, but in the end, we always dealt with any situation that came our way and moved on.

  * * *

  I went to track down Salvatore and coordinate our schedules for tutoring him and showing him the sights.

  “Salvatore,” I called out.

  There was no answer and I was positive that he was at the house because his bicycle, his preferred mode of transportation around our suburb, was parked in front of the guest house.

  I knocked on the door, calling out for him again. There was no answer so I turned the knob and it was unlocked.

  “Salvatore, are you in here?”

  “Hallo Taylor,” I heard someone say from behind me.

  I turned around and saw Salvatore standing there. He was soaking wet and had a towel wrapped around his waist. His chiseled abs and well defined arms were glistening from the water, making him look like a tasty Twilight vampire.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to barge in. I just thought you couldn’t hear me.”

  “I took a swim and then a jog through the woods behind your house.”

  “Oh,” I said.

  “What did you need?” Salvatore asked.

  For a second I couldn’t honestly remember what I had needed. Thankfully I collected my wits enough to recall. “I wanted to coordinate our schedules for tutoring and some sightseeing.”

  “You have time for that?” he asked.

  Because Dad is making me, I thought.

  “Absolutely. My family wouldn’t have it any other way. We want you to enjoy your visit and learn a lot.”

  “Thank you,” Salvatore replied. He sounded so sincere and humbled by the gesture that my heart skipped a beat.

  “Let’s sit by the pool to decide, if that’s okay. I’m hot and sweaty. I don’t want to sit on the furniture in the guest house.”

  I nodded my head. Did I mind? No. Should I mind? Yes.

  A half hour later, we’d agreed to make it a joint English language lesson and sightseeing event. We were going to go to the various Smithsonian Museums and practice his English, which I still believed was better than many native born English speakers, while having some fun.

  Chapter 3

  Well past noon Sebastian still slept soundly. Her late night rendezvous with him must have left him exhausted. Every hour Serena checked in on him and while he stirred as he sensed her, he wasn’t strong enough to open his eyes.

  With the house quiet and nothing much to do, she took the few sheets of music she’d been working on and headed to the piano to put some finishing touches to the piece. She knew there were some nuances she wanted to bring to it, but couldn’t quite find what was missing. Her fingers to the keys, she put herself in the mood she’d been when she initially started composing it; a little angry with her past, considerably proud of her present and very optimistic for her future.

  She smiled and thought of Sebastian as she marched her fingers up and down the keys.

  It was a strong piece, with strong base notes that evoked the victory and power of her present and future. Several sharp chords brought forth the anger and hunger of her past. The piece was in contrast to the music she’d written before.

  Her previous pieces had been soft, lovely, maybe even a little insipid, as if she’d been afraid to really put her emotions to the notes she wrote. But she hadn’t held back on this one. She’d spilled everything she had and it showed in every note. This piece brought out such strong feelings every time she played it.

  Reaching the end, her fingers gingerly tapped out the last few notes over and over again before she finally silenced them.

  She made only a few minor changes, and played the piece again. Pounding the keys, she lost herself in the melody and marveled at her ability to create such a piece. While it still lacked some of the nuances Sebastian could bring to the piece, it was so much more than she would have thought herself capable of.

  Impressed and surprised by the composing talent that was emerging in her, she sat and stared at the sheet music with her pencil aloft, ready to make more adjustments.

  “I don’t know what more I can do to make it better,” she murmured to herself.

  “Serena!”

  Price’s strained voice came from the guest room to the far right of the house, as far from Sebastian’s room as could be. Hopefully Sebastian wasn’t awakened by their captive’s cry.

  “What is it?” Serena said as she opened the door to his room.

  “I’ve finished the toast and coffee you brought me earlier.” He held out the empty plate. “A little jam or honey would have been nice.”

  She glared at him and ignored the fact that he stood beside the bed, completely in the nude. Focusing on the plate, she approached him and took it from his extended hand. “I’ll take that into consideration when I prepare your breakfast tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow? How many days are you guys thinking of keeping me locked up here?”

  “We haven’t decided yet. Your accusation against Kaiser Sorensen is very serious.”

  “You better believe it’s serious. That’s my life the old man ruined.”

  “Sebastian isn’t taking it lightly and he needs to consider a lot of factors. Confronting his father about this isn’t going to be easy.”

  “I don’t see how keeping me here is going to make it easier.”

  “He wants to deal with this without your interference. He wants to see Kaiser before you do anything.”

  “I’m not going to do anything.”

  “Right.”

  “Well, in that case, think you could get me a change of clothes? I’ve been sleeping in those for the past few days.” He gestured to the pile of clothes at his feet. “They’re so filthy, they’re practically staying upright.”

  “Fine. I’ll go find you something.”

  “Sorensen’s wardrobe? Please. The man has the fashion sense of an earthworm. Dark, gloomy and might as well be blind.”

  At the door, she turned to shoot him a stony stare. “Would you prefer I go through my wardrobe?”

  He looked her up and down, taking in the flowing print dress that was just as shapeless as it was transparent.

  “It would be a little more stylish than Sorensen, but the fit might be a little too tight.”

  She closed the door without comment and headed to Sebastian’s master bedroom upstairs. As quietly as possible, she tiptoed into the large walk in closet and pulled out a nice pair of slacks, a beautiful blue shirt and a stylish tie.

  Dark and gloomy… Price had no idea what he was talking about. Sebastian had beautiful clothes.

&n
bsp; “Here we go,” she said as she returned to the room she kept Price in. “Sebastian’s style is somber and moody, so I don’t know if you’ll be able to pull it off, but it’s better than nothing.”

  Price chuckled. “Can you give me a hand? My wrists are sore from the cuffs.”

  “It’s your fault for pulling them apart.” She tossed the clothes on the foot of the bed.

  He smiled, warm and charming, and oh so cunning. “Admit it. You just like seeing me in the nude.”

  Determination burned in her eyes as she looked directly at him. “I’ll leave you to get dressed.” She turned and walked away.

  “Serena. Wait.”

  She stopped at the door, but didn’t turn to him.

  “All right, fine. I’ll drop the charm and be honest. I did hurt my wrists yesterday, a little more than I thought. I was so eager to get out of those cuffs that I might have exerted too much force and it’s my wrist that took the brunt of it. I’m also freezing here. Please, just a little helping hand and I won’t ask anything more of you all day.”

  Biting her lip, she faced him. “No games.”

  “No games.”

  Her jaw tight and her eyes hard, she marched back to him and grabbed the shirt off the foot of the bed. “Hold up your arm,” she commanded.

  He obeyed and she slipped the sleeve on. “In the old days I would be asking you to bend over for a quick fuck right about now.”

  “Those were the old days.”

  “The good old days.”

  She said nothing as she pulled the sleeve up to his shoulder.

  “Was that you I heard playing the piano?”

  “You nearly broke Sebastian’s arm. What do you think?”

  He cocked a surprised brow. “You don’t have to bite my head off.”

  “And you didn’t have to be so rough.”

  “I didn’t really mean to hurt him, you know.”

  She shrugged.

  “It sounded really good… the music you were playing.”

  “I do the best I can.”

  “Was it your composition?”

  “Yes. Pull your other arm back for the other sleeve.”

  She leaned into him to get the other sleeve on him. His scent immediately worked to get her brain thinking back to all the times she’d had that scent in her nostrils; all the times she’d been aroused by the mere scent of him.

  “I never realized how much talent you have.”

  “You never gave me a chance.”

  “I know, and that was my mistake.”

  There was something so sad and forlorn in his words, she couldn’t help but look into his eyes.

  “I realize now that I held you back. I didn’t allow you to flourish… and you have such beautiful talent. I could feel your emotions all the way from here; feel how strong you’ve become.”

  “You never wanted me to be strong.”

  “I was afraid. I was afraid that if you became strong enough, you’d leave me. I know that’s childish and selfish, but you were all I had and I couldn’t bear the thought of living without you.”

  “You’ve never even acknowledged that I could compose. You completely stifled my love of music, like I had no right.”

  “And that’s my greatest lost. Just hearing you now, I see all that I’ve missed these years. You could have filled our home with music, beautiful music. You could have composed beautiful love songs meant for me, instead of such an angry piece, as beautiful as it was.”

  “It’s not angry. It’s hopeful.”

  He nodded. “Hopeful for your future without me?” As he spoke he laid his hand on her hip.

  For the moment the touch was innocent enough, but it still stirred something deep inside her. She swallowed the hard clump of arousal that worked its way up her throat and tried to concentrate on buttoning his shirt. Her fingers brushed against the heated skin of his smooth chest and after only two buttons she was too flushed to go on. She turned her attention to the buttons at the cuffs.

  “We’re not through, are we, Serena?” Price asked in a heartbreaking whisper. His eyes were heavy with longing and his heated breath a strong reminder of all the scorching nights they’d spent together. “Tell me we’re not through.”

  There was something so sincere, so genuine in his words, in his voice, something that tugged at her heart and pierced her soul.

  Flashes of her nights with him sped through her thoughts, arousing a dormant side of her she’d kept quiet the past months. A quick glance down and she noticed he was already hard. She returned her focus to his cuffs.

  “Old habits die hard,” he whispered. “I want you now just as much as I wanted you the very first time I saw you. You still have that effect on me.”

  “You’ll have to forget about those days, Price.” Her voice was suddenly soft and unconvincing. “I’m not yours anymore.”

  She buttoned the cuff of one sleeve and he brought his free hand up to caress her cheek. Her eyes closed and she instinctively leaned into his hand before backing away with a start.

  “Why back away, Serena?”

  “You’re out of line. You have no right, Price. None.”

  “But you feel something, don’t you? They’re still there, all the feelings you’ve always had for me. Why are you denying it? Why can’t you just set them free and we could move on together. I’ve learned so much about you. Things would be dif…”

  She took another step back. “I’m sorry, Price. You’ll have to finish without me.” The dual sense of her statement didn’t escape her.

  “I’d rather finish with you.”

  “I gotta…”

  “Serena,” he whispered, holding an imploring hand out to her. It was such a submissive gesture. “Please don’t go.”

  She met his gaze and was struck by the pain in his eyes. Gone was the strong, self-assured man who’d had such complete control of her for so many years. She couldn’t detect an ounce of the dominant role he’d played for so long. Looking at him now, he was simply a broken man begging for the touch of the woman he loved.

  “Can you honestly tell me it’s not hard for you to let go, too?” he said.

  Taking a small step closer, she felt her heart slowly cave in.

  “We’ve been through so much together. Each in our own way, we helped the other. I’ll admit there was a time I may not have been as good to you as I should have. I even knew it then, but I guess the demons that haunted me kept me from being the man you needed. I should have backed away from you then, let you go. I wanted to, several times. I’d make love to you and tell myself it was the last time; that I’d release you after. But I couldn’t. The more I told myself I had to cut you loose, the more I wanted you.”

  His eyes glistened with tears and Serena couldn’t believe what she saw. He’d never been so emotional, so open.

  “If I hurt you… ever, I’m so sorry. Maybe I just had a clumsy way of showing you how much I love you. I’d never met anyone like you before, and I’d never felt the way I felt about you. For the first time I was with someone who knew how I felt, someone I could relate to. You knew what it was like to be left by the curb like a bag of trash. You knew what it was to be cold and hungry. And despite the hardships you’d faced, you still had a fighting spirit. I saw it in your eyes that night in the alley.”

  “I guess we were kind of compatible.”

  “Compatible? We were a perfect fit. We were made for one another.” His hand slipped to the small of her back. “I know you see it, Serena. You feel it. We were meant to be together. This latest episode is just a setback, but now…”

  “As compatible as we were, I always felt you were unattainable, that you were too high above me and I’d never be able to reach you. I was always your inferior. You were untouchable.”

  “Then how do you explain how profoundly you touched me? How do you explain doing the impossible? No one has ever gotten as close to me as you have. No one. That’s why I’ll never find anyone to replace you. No one will ever understand m
e the way you do.”

  His lips were parted, just enough to show how hungry he was. Mirroring him, she parted her lips and could almost taste him.

  When he dropped his gaze to the floor, then slowly met hers again, she felt the weight of his emotions. He seemed so profoundly distraught and broken, nothing like the man she’d first met.

  “I know you may not believe my story about Kaiser Sorensen, and I don’t blame you. I guess I haven’t given you much reason to trust me, but why else would I go through all the trouble I’ve gone through? Just for the hell of it? You know I’m not that idle a man. When I do something it’s with purpose, with a reason, and with just cause. I’m not going after the Sorensens just to occupy my time. I need to set right the wrong he’s done. He’s been enjoying his success for far too long while I’ve had to live my life without my father, without my mother, without a home. He took away everything I had in the world, Serena, everything. And now his son is taking away the only woman I’ve ever loved.”

  Tears streaked down her cheeks as she reached out to wipe the tear falling from his eyes.

  “I’m sorry for the pain you’ve had to endure.”

  He leaned his forehead against her and closed his eyes. “Watching you with him…” He pulled in a long hard breath. “Seeing you involved… in love with the man whose family destroyed everything I ever had. It’s like losing everything all over again.”

  Her heart swelled with the desire to relieve his pain. Her lips brushed against his and her body was instantly in flames, heated with the need to touch him.

  “Please, Serena.” His whispered plea beckoned her. “In all of this shitty life that’s just heartache after heartache, you're the only person who can make me forget; who can make me feel something other than the pain.”

  She raked her fingers through his thick hair, eager to comfort him. Was it just a force of habit after so many years? Was the submissive in her reacting to him?

  His tongue delicately swept into her mouth, testing the waters, but when she received him, invited him in, he became bolder, sweeping his hungry tongue through her mouth.