by L. D. Davis
"I don't want to be eaten by stray cats," I murmured to myself.
I looked away from my hand when I heard footsteps. It wasn't safe for me to be standing alone on the street at this time of night. It wasn't even safe for me to be walking, clearly exemplified by the jerk who robbed me, but now I was a sitting duck—a sitting Lily.
"I'm not leaving you bleeding in the street," Kyle said, stepping out of the shadows. "Give me your hand. Now." He waited patiently with his hand extended.
"You're not wearing gloves," I said, feeling a little worn down by his evil stare.
"I'll wrap it up until I can get you to a hospital," he said, his tone flat and uncaring.
"I don't need a hospital," I said. "I just need it cleaned and bandaged."
“Maybe the police can convince you to go to the hospital,” he growled and I heard him mutter something about being stubborn.
“I’m not going to the police either,” I flared. “What’s the point? They’ll keep me there for hours looking through photos for a guy whose face I couldn’t see. It’s a waste of my time and theirs.”
He sighed louder than necessary. "Fine,” he snapped. “Give me your hand."
Reluctantly, I extended my injured hand. I bit my lip as he expertly tied another hideous tie around it.
“I really should go through your tie collection,” I said. “This is ridiculous.”
He eyed me with indifference before walking away. After a few steps, he turned around and glared at me. “Are you just going to stand there?”
Before I could object, he took my uninjured hand into his in a firm grip and began to lead me down the street. My heart pounded in his presence and under his touch and I could feel it in my injured hand as it throbbed in cadence with my heart. At the next intersection, we swung a right and walked a half a block closer to a group of bars before Kyle hailed a cab. He gave the driver an address in the city, not the New Jersey address I had left him at before.
“I just moved,” he said when I gave him a questioning look. “It’s not far.”
A few minutes later we were deposited in front of a high-rise building on the riverfront. A doorman let us into the lobby where Kyle was greeted by name by a smiling concierge. Two guys in security uniforms sitting behind a tall desk nodded at us. Kyle barely acknowledged all three men before ushering me into an elevator and pressing the top button.
Of course he has to live in the Penthouse suite.
In the elevator, I tried to reclaim my hand, but Kyle held fast to it.
“Dude,” I said and looked from him to our hands and back to him.
Reluctantly, he released me and pushed his hands into his pockets.
“My place is messy,” he said. “I haven’t really unpacked yet. It may take me a few minutes to find what I need for your hand.”
I shrugged a reply and watched the numbers above the doors light up, while trying to ignore the pain in my hand and the moody man beside me staring down at me.
The elevator came to a soft stop on the twenty-fifth floor and the door slid open. I followed Kyle out of the elevator and to one of two doors in the hallway. He unlocked the door and let me in ahead of him.
“Oh my god,” I whispered.
I had never been in a penthouse before, but even my imagination couldn’t come up with the greatness I saw in Kyle’s new home. There were boxes all over the cherry hardwood floors, but that didn’t take away from the beauty of the penthouse. The living room, dining room, and the kitchen all flowed together in a great open space. There were no walls to separate guests from their host and the floor to ceiling windows gave a breath taking view of the lit up Ben Franklin Bridge and the city beyond that. There was a bar on one wall, complete with all of the liquor I could imagine, glasses, and stools. It made my heart ache and I was itchy to go play with it.
As I moved in a little further, I saw that there was a secondary living room area with a fire place and more comfortable looking furniture and a television. That room was partially closed off by one wall, but no doors. I quickly realized we were only on the first floor. There was a set of stairs near the second living room that I assumed led to the bedrooms.
“There is also a library and guest space at the end of that hall,” he said, pointing past the stairs. “The bedrooms are upstairs.”
“This is a lot of space for one person,” I murmured, turning in a slow circle as I looked around.
“I had chosen something smaller originally,” he said, moving in a little closer to me. “But this one became available. I really like the space.”
“I really like it, too,” I admitted before meeting his eyes. “But it’s pretentious.”
His eyes narrowed slightly, but then he looked down at my hand. His tie was soaked through with my blood.
"This way, please," he said quietly.
I followed him down another hallway on the other side of the stairs to a bathroom that could easily have doubled as a bedroom. He put the lid down on the toilet and gestured for me to sit. He peeled the blood soaked tie off and dropped it in the trashcan.
“I would apologize for the tie, but the world is a better place without it,” I said and flinched when he put my hand under lukewarm running water.
“This could have been really bad, Lily,” he said with a big frown. His fingers traced over my scraped palms and then my bruising knuckles. “This isn’t from the mugger.”
“No. That’s from a wall,” I said pointing at my knuckles. I pointed at my palms. “That’s from getting thrown onto a sidewalk. And that,” I said, pointing to the hole in the knee of my jeans.
Kyle’s eyes darkened before he kneeled to check out my knee. “Your knee is bleeding, too. Did that asshole at Earl’s do this?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “How do you know about Earl’s?”
“I know a great deal more than you think I do,” he said with anger. “When were you going to tell me you have two more jobs and that you were sleeping on someone’s couch in a slum house in Camden?”
I watched him with my mouth hanging open in shock as he worked on my hand. Every few seconds his intense eyes would bore into mine. I had to wonder what exactly he did know about me, how he found out, and how long he had known. I wasn’t a super private person, but there were many things I chose not to share with others. Some things were too painful to share with others—did he know about those things, too?
“Well?” he said, after I didn’t respond.
“I didn’t think it was any of your concern.”
“Anything you do that can affect your work with me is a concern of mine, Lily.”
“My work is not affected,” I argued.
“The hell it isn’t,” he growled. “When you come to work exhausted, you’re unfocused and do shoddy work.”
“I don’t do shoddy work!” I exclaimed and stomped my foot like a little girl. “I’ve been working my ass off for you!”
“You can be better if you leave your bartending jobs,” he said, slamming a vanity door closed. “You and Mayson insisted that you were more than just a barmaid. You’re doing a hell of a job not proving your case.”
Incensed, I snatched my hand away from him and got to my feet. “Screw you, Kyle.”
“Yeah, I’m sure you would love that,” he said dryly as he easily pushed me back down into a sitting position.
“Don’t make me punch you in the mouth again,” I warned.
“I know you’re a badass, Lily,” he said, as he began bandaging my hand. “But I’m a bigger badass. Remember that.”
“Yeah, I know all about it,” I said, rolling my eyes. “How did you find out all of that stuff about me?”
“I have my sources.”
“Stalker,” I murmured. Then something occurred to me. “Did you just happen to be behind me when that asshole took my bag, or were you following me?”
“I didn’t start following you until several blocks before you got robbed,” he said casually.
“You followed me?” I y
elled and stood up again.
Kyle pushed me back down. “You shouldn’t walk alone in the city at the hours that you do.”
I put my free hand to my forehead. “Oh my god. You’re crazy. You’re so damn crazy. The next thing I know you will lead me to some locked up room of pain and chain me to some kind of sex table.”
He looked at me with a thoughtful expression. “I don’t have a room like that, but I can make it happen.”
I narrowed my eyes at him, but said nothing. I should have laughed a little, since it was his attempt at a joke, but I was a little freaked out by his stalking.
“Make sure you keep it clean and dry,” he said as he finished with my hand.
“I know how to take care of it,” I said and stood up again.
“Take off your jeans.”
“What?” I stared at him incredulously.
“Your knee needs to be looked at,” he said in a boring tone.
“My knee is fine. It hardly hurts at all.”
“Are you always so stubborn?” he questioned with a scowl.
“Do you not think I should be stubborn when a man asks me to pull off my pants?” I challenged.
His scowl deepened. He leaned in so close to me, I could feel his warm breath on my face. “I’m really the only man that matters right now.” His eyes flickered down to my jeans and then back to my eyes. “Take off your jeans.”
If I were any other girl, I probably would have melted out of my jeans—and my panties. He was so hot standing over me, glowering, demanding that I take off my bottoms, and I couldn’t deny the sizzle of sexual tension zapping between us. But I wasn’t any other girl.
I pushed past Kyle and walked away, lest I lose my pants.
Kyle
I leisurely followed Lily to the front door. She was limping slightly, but she was so damn headstrong, she would never acknowledge it. I caught up to her just as she pulled the door open, but I easily pushed it close again and blocked her in with my hands on either side of her on the door.
“Where are you going?” I asked her as I inhaled that floral scent wafting off of her skin.
“Home,” she snapped. “What the hell are you doing?” She pushed back on me, but I pressed back until my body was pressing hers against the door. I heard her sharp intake of breath and watched her jugular vibrate as her heart pounded in her chest.
“It’s really late, and it isn’t safe for you to be out alone. Stay here for the night.” I didn’t give her an option, because it wasn’t an option. I wasn’t going to let her back out after what had happened to her earlier in the night.
“I’ll be fine,” she stubbornly said.
I pulled away and spun her around by her shoulders. She looked up at me with large eyes as I again pinned her to the door.
“If I didn’t show up when I did, you could be waking up in a morgue right now. So, no. I don’t believe you will be fine.”
She licked her lips and swallowed hard. “He wasn’t going to kill me.”
“Oh, but he tried,” I said. “Your hand got in the way.”
She looked away from me and thought about this for a moment. Her body relaxed a little under me.
“Okay,” she said. “Maybe you’re right. Then call a cab for me or drive me home.”
“No,” I said simply.
She pushed against me, but I didn’t budge. She only succeeded in making me aroused as her curvy body pressed against mine. I knew she could feel it, but she pretended not to.
“You’re a bully,” she said with a cute little frown.
“You already knew that,” I murmured as I traced the tiny stars tattooed below her ear.
“I have taken down bigger guys than you,” she said as her eyes closed on their own accord.
“I don’t doubt it,” I said and dipped my head to kiss the stars. “But I’m not any of those other guys.”
“This is sexual harassment,” she whispered even as her hands explored my chest.
I knew I should stop. I knew this could only end badly. I should have known from past experience that sleeping with my employees had terrible consequences, but I had been fighting my growing attraction to Lily since the day she stepped onto the elevator. Honestly, she wasn’t easy to forget after that hot morning so many months ago.
She was the complete opposite of the type of woman I would typically be attracted to, rough around the edges inside and out, but it was the rough part I liked the best. I knew she was still inked and pierced, but I wanted that part of her, too. Kissing the stars on her neck drove me fucking crazy. I wanted to discover every aspect of her body—the ink, the piercings, and the curves. I wanted to experience that incredible mouth again and again, with my own mouth, with my cock…
“We should stop,” she sighed as I lightly bit her earlobe. “Kyle…” Her hands pressed against my chest. “Kyle…”
I cupped her breasts in my hands and was rewarded with a deep, long groan from Lily’s lovely lips. I felt her nipples harden in my palms and I received another reward: feeling the studs that pierced through the sensitive nubs. This time I groaned just before I took her mouth.
I dreamed of feeling her studded tongue on mine again. I flicked my tongue over the piercing, making us both moan. I pressed my erection against her as I made her tongue submit to mine. I dragged my thumbs over her nipples, making her cry out into my mouth. I had to get her out of this shirt and see and taste the jeweled buds for myself. I released her from the kiss and tore her shirt open. Buttons bounced on the hardwood floor as Lily looked at me with heated eyes.
“You don’t really want me to stop,” I said haughtily. I kneaded her lace covered breasts in my hands.
“No, I don’t,” she panted.
Suddenly, Lily shoved me away. Hard.
I stared at her with my mouth ajar. Like me, she was out of breath. Her lips were slightly swollen and her hair had begun to fall out of the ponytail she had it in. Her shirt hung open, revealing her sexy bra and her soft, padded belly. She looked sexier than ever. I stepped forward to claim her, but she shoved me away again.
“I don’t want you to stop, but we need to stop,” she said, and then pulled her shirt together. “This isn’t about me. This is about Emmy.”
I cringed at the sound of her name while I had a hard-on for Lily. “She doesn’t have anything to do with us.”
“Oh, but she does,” she said pointedly. “You are trying to forget about her and you want to use me to do it. Maybe I seem easy to you, but I’m not.”
“Did it occur to you that I find you attractive?” I growled.
“Yes,” she nodded. “And you probably do, but I stand by what I said. You are using me to forget her, and I don’t want to be used.”
Was I over Emmy? Absolutely not. I saw her face every day. I missed her, and I wished I could have convinced her to stay. I felt like shit for what I had done to her, and I didn’t think I could ever forget that, but I knew she was better off where she was. It hurt like hell. It was a sometimes-blinding pain that nearly unmanned me. It was extremely difficult to see her happy somewhere else.
I had occupied my time as of late literally chasing Lily. I knew where she was almost all of the time, and when I could I watched her from afar. I don’t know what I was looking for with her, but it had become a bit of an obsession since that night out with Marco, a couple of months ago. Stalking after Lily did make me forget about Emmy sometimes, but I didn’t think I was using her. I was sure that I really wanted her, but then what about afterward? I wasn’t ready for a relationship, but I wanted something more than a working relationship with her. There were so many things about her I really liked, and the fact that she had literally saved me the night she drove me home from the bar made me feel a connection to her I couldn’t just sever, but I knew if I took her now, I’d just hurt her.
“This isn’t about Emmy,” I said quietly. “But I would be using you in a matter of speaking, and I don’t want you to feel used.”
She hugged her shirt t
o herself. “Thank you. I think.”
I put my hands up in surrender. “But please stay here for the night.”
After a moment of hesitation, she nodded.
I gestured for her to follow me and I led her to the spare bedroom next to mine.
“You have a bed and a bathroom,” I said, flipping the light switch. “There isn’t much else in here yet.”
“I don’t need anything else,” she said quietly as she surveyed the room. “Anything is a step up from a couch in someone else’s living room.”
I pursed my lips, wondering if I should tell her what I knew. She looked at me with trepidation.
“I guess you have some kind of uppity remark about barmaids sleeping on couches in the hood,” she said.
“No.”
“Then what is it?”
“The boyfriend of the woman you live with is elbow deep in some serious illegal drug action.”
Her eyebrows shot up as her eyes widened. “Nate? Seriously?”
“Yes.”
“How do you know this shit?” she asked, shaking her head in disbelief.
“I know a lot of ‘shit’,” I answered.
“You’re creepy.”
“It’s not safe for you to be there.”
“It’s not safe for her children to be there either,” she said and bit her bottom lip as she stared at the floor in thought.
“I can’t do anything about that, but I can take care of you.”
She looked up at me with her mouth open. “Take care of me? I can take care of myself.”
“You’re not doing a very good job at it,” I snarled.
“You’re such a snob,” she snapped. “You would never lower yourself to sleeping on someone’s couch.”
“Lily, it’s not safe,” I said firmly. “Move in here. I won’t charge you rent. You can help me unpack, do my laundry or something and quit those bartending jobs.”
“Holy shit, you’re insane!” she yelled, throwing her hands up. Her shirt fell open, but she didn’t seem to care. “I know my being a lowly barmaid disgusts you, but—”
