Free Chasing Fire 1: The Innocent (BDSM Erotic Romance) by Mara Stone

Chapter One
     
    There he was.
    Isabella Lupton looked across the
crowded ballroom as if she could sense the very moment Nicholas
Pacelli entered the room. Gulping down the champagne in her glass,
she gratefully switched it for a full one as a waiter passed by. If
she was going to go through with her plan tonight, she would need
the liquid courage.
    As the daughter of a multi-millionaire,
Isabella had been born to privilege. From the outside world, she
had the perfect life, living in a beautiful mansion, with anything
she desired at her fingertips. But the simple truth was; she was a
prisoner of sorts. Collateral damage of her father's success and
the enemies that he had made.
    She had lived a sheltered life, well
aware of the dangers her father’s success might bring to their
doorstep. It had been drummed into her every day of her life. She
had endured the private schools, the strict curfews and even the
hulking bodyguards that seemed to follow her every move each time
she stepped out the front door. When she’d graduated from college
she had looked forward to starting her life, only to have that
light inside her extinguished when her father had informed her she
would be taking her mother’s place as the representative for all
the charity work her father’s company was involved in.
    Isabella’s mother had died of cancer
when she was in high school, and her father’s hold on her had
tightened with the fear of losing her as well. It wasn’t that she
hated her life, but a part of her felt as if it didn’t belong to
her. Like it never had.
    But that was all going to
change…
    Isabella’s heart began to pound as she
watched Nick and his date move further into the room. She looked
down, silently cursing herself for choosing a gown that matched the
vibrant blue of Nick’s eyes. She was wearing a strapless, sheath
dress that was simple, but with a dangerously low neckline that now
had her feeling self-conscious rather than sexy. Her breath
quickened as she thought about what it would feel like for him to
take it off her.
    She shouldn’t want him like this; crave
him so much that just the sight of him had her fantasizing about
his touch. He was just a man after all. No. Saying that Nick
Pacelli was just a man to Isabella was a gross understatement. His
hair was black as midnight, and he wore it with a careless elegance
only a man of his stature could pull off.  He had strong,
chiseled features and the face of a fallen angel, dangerous and
brooding.
    The low, sultry lighting in the
ballroom highlighted his golden skin, casting an aura around him as
if he were some mythical god come to life. Suddenly, as if he could
feel her gaze on him, Nick looked over and his electric blue eyes
seared into her. Isabella forgot to breathe for a moment as their
eyes locked; the connection between them was so potent it was as if
nothing else existed.
    Looking at him standing there reminded
her of the first time she ever laid eyes on him. Her father had
dinner guests over that evening and she had been playing alone
outside on the back terrace on the far side of the house. She had
made herself scarce, as was required of her when her father was
entertaining business colleagues at their house.
    One of her bodyguards had snuck in an
old, used bicycle for her after she told him that she had never
ridden one before. Her father never let her try anything that could
be potentially harmful, even something as ordinary as riding a
bike, despite her protestations. What kind of fifteen year old has
never ridden a bike?
    She had just gotten onto it and pushed
off when the side door opened and a man stepped out onto the hidden
patio. Startled, Isabella had fallen off, watching helplessly as
the bike crashed against the stone wall and the handlebar fell off.
Isabella’s scared gaze had traveled up, over the expensive suit
then widened as her eyes met piercing blue.
    He had been breathtaking. In the low
light from the patio sconces he had been partially