by CR Robertson
I buried my head in my arms on my desk and let the tears soak into my jumper so no one else would see them. My life was slowly falling apart, and I had no clue how to fix it.
***
I sat at my desk ready for the meeting the next morning, dressed in a black skirt and red silk blouse. My hair had rebelled this morning and currently was tied in a messy bun on top of my head. Since I’d been feeling vulnerable, I’d even put my fake thick, dark-framed glasses on to hide behind. Men tended to ignore me when I wore my glasses, as they made me look too stern.
A quick rap at the door sounded, and Al popped his head around. “Ready?”
Instead of answering, I gave him my best smile and lifted my laptop as I followed him out. Sasha gave me a quick thumbs up as we passed her desk.
The conference room was filled with people I didn’t recognise. Mr. Bartholomew sat at the top of the table, which was technically Al’s position. The man had an ego the size of a small island.
Sasha had popped in earlier and left some paperwork at the place I preferred to sit to ensure that no one took my seat. I placed my laptop down and went to pour myself a cup of tea from the refreshments area.
A commotion at the door heralded three men that belonged in an underwear advertisement. Their tailored black suits accentuated their physiques instead of hiding it. The crisp white shirts stretched over muscular chests. They belonged in a bedroom instead of a boardroom. One was dark blond, while the other two had jet-black hair. They scanned the room like a pack of predators sizing up their prey.
An unconscious shiver trickled down my spine when the one in the middle’s gaze ran from my head to my toes and back up again before he turned to speak to the man on his left. I decided to fortify myself against all the testosterone in the room and returned to my seat to set up my laptop.
Slowly, everyone began to take their seats, leaving the last three men to arrive at the refreshment table behind me. They chatted in low voices and deep chuckles. A sense of familiarity washed over me, and I sipped on my chamomile tea to steady my nerves. Everywhere I went, ghosts of Zee seemed to be following me, as if I was unconsciously searching for him in every crowd. After all this was over, I was booking annual leave and going away for a few days to clear my head.
“Thank you all for joining us,” Al started in greeting. “I know you received all the paperwork bundles my associates collated for you. Our teams have been working on your new property deals and assessing all the reports from the surveyors and accountants. I’ll start by introducing myself to those whom I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting. I’m Alastair Benson of Benson and Parsons, and this is my colleague Cassandra Kinkade. She’s your point of contact with our firm.”
All eyes turned to me, and my breath caught as the man who’d surveyed me earlier slid into the chair at the right-hand side of Mr. Bartholomew. His bright blue eyes landed on me and his head canted slightly to the side. The blond sat beside him, and the other man stood behind them, lazily watching out the window as if he had no interest in what was happening in the room.
Mr. Bartholomew gave what appeared to be a regal wave that consisted of a twist of his wrist. “This is my son Xavier and his friend Ashton. The disinterested one in the corner is Jordan. They own subsidiaries of the family business. Thank you for arranging this for me at such short notice, Al. I’m hoping to coax my son into taking the burden of this section of the business for me. Paperwork can be so tiring.”
He was in his fifties but looked fit enough to run the London marathon. I doubted the man knew what tired was. I arched an eyebrow at his comment before studying the screen in front of me. Considering I already knew what was on it, the laptop merely gave me a barrier with the rest of the room.
Some of our other partners and heads of department spent the next few minutes kissing Mr. Bartholomew’s ass for giving us this multi-million-pound deal. I sat quietly beside Al sipping my tea.
“Ms. Kinkade.” My head jolted up to find Mr. Bartholomew watching me. “My accountants were impressed with your system. Did you receive all the paperwork I sent over?”
He was obviously referring to the dusty boxes of mouldy paperwork that dated back to when the dinosaurs roamed the earth. A fake smile curved my glossy red lips. “They’ve all been sorted, collated, and scanned before they were sent to storage.”
His son had been sitting beside him with his fingers steepled under his chin and eyes closed. They snapped open when I spoke and cut to me with laser precision that left me shaken. His stare pierced through me with an intensity that left me with the sensation that we were the only two people in the room.
“All the boxes?” Mr. Bartholomew queried. “There were quite a lot of them.”
“Yes,” I answered, meeting his tawny gaze. “There were.”
The clenching of his jaw said they’d been a test that he hadn’t expected anyone to pass. He obviously thought our initial test result had been a fluke.
“What about the Doulton acquisition from 1999?” he demanded.
I stared at him without blinking. This was a man who demanded attention wherever he went and seemed determined to get his own way. He clearly did that through intimidation and scaring the shit out of anyone he had on his team.
“I’ve already confirmed that all the files you sent were dealt with,” I snapped in a tone that bordered on insubordination. My fingers flew over the keyboard, and the Doulton documentation appeared on the screen at the top of the room.
His eyebrows lowered and a scowl settled on his mouth.
His son leaned forward slightly to study me with fixed focus. It unnerved me, making me straighten my glasses.
“Are all my files digitised like this?” Mr. Bartholomew demanded in a deep tone, his eyes scanning the document.
“Some of your files were very fragile and had been stored in damp conditions. It was the only way to preserve them.”
He nodded absently, his fingers drumming silently on the edge of the conference table. Some of his personal legal team accompanying him asked questions to the relevant partners in the room as they typed onto tablets in front of them. This was the finalisation stage for a contract that bound our firm to theirs.
I found my eyes drawn to the bright blue ones that hadn’t left me as they bored into the depths of my soul. Who was this Xavier Bartholomew and why did he make my stomach tighten and my panties feel ready to combust? Discreetly, I threw a glance over my shoulder to see if there was someone there he was studying instead of me.
Nope. No one in this direction but me.
His lips twitched as he caught what I’d done, leaning back in his seat.
He was a sexual predator that I needed to stay well away from. That man knew he was drop-dead gorgeous and confidence oozed out of every sexy pore of his body. His suit probably cost more than I earned in a month, and his watch would feed a family for a year. Men like him took what they wanted and left a trail of broken, bleeding hearts in their wake.
My frail heart wanted a man who I could tell my darkest secrets to and he wouldn’t judge me. I needed a man who made me feel wanted and desirable even though he never knew what I looked like. Zee never treated me like the other men who were only searching for a willing body to share pleasure with.
“Ms. Kinkade, since you’re free you can speak to my son and his partners about the latest property they’re intending to buy and renovate.” Mr. Bartholomew cut into my private thoughts. “Maybe you could convince him to find somewhere cheaper with less that needs done to it.”
A file arrived in front of me that depicted a beautiful, old gothic building with architecture that spoke of its history more clearly than any words ever could. My fingers traced over the photographs, stopping at an old bedroom with a huge window that overlooked an ancient courtyard.
My lips tipped up in a brief smile. “Modern architecture has lost the intricate details that old buildings possess. Their character is in tiny details that you don’t notice at first sight, but when you do se
e them, they’re impossible to ignore. They contain an atmosphere that can only be felt by your soul.”
The room descended into silence around me, and I chewed my lip self-consciously.
“Cassandra is the best at her job because she enjoys it. She’s travelled to some old estates to finalise deals.” The pride in Al’s voice made my cheeks heat under everyone’s scrutiny. He was the closest thing to a father figure left in my life, which made me cherish his opinion.
Xavier Bartholomew chuckled at his father, and tingles raced up my spine at the sound. “I think I can explain what we’re looking for in a building and the reconstruction aspects to Ms. Kinkade, Father. You know we always chose a building with character because we want to preserve heritage as well as update the building’s use.”
“Fine,” Mr. Bartholomew grumbled, his brow wrinkling in displeasure. “Go and discuss with Ms. Kinkade your quaint little properties you like to refurbish. I need to sign all the paperwork with the partners.”
The man was arrogant beyond belief, waving me off to do his son’s bidding. My gaze narrowed on him in annoyance before I noisily shut the lid down on my laptop and stalked from the office in my ridiculously high-heeled red shoes I’d decided to wear to match my blouse. Without a backward glance I sauntered past Sasha’s empty desk and closed my office door behind me to tell the world that I wasn’t receiving visitors. The view from my window was one of the best aspects of my job, and I’d spent hours standing with my hip braced on the window frame as I drank in the city.
My door opened and closed quietly. Sasha must have realised I was back from the meeting and had come to hear the news.
“Can we chat about it later, Sasha? That horrible man put me in a bad mood.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. Dad tends to have that effect on people.”
I spun at the sound of the deep male voice behind me. Xavier Bartholomew stood staring at me with a strange look in his eyes. My room suddenly felt too small and I felt vulnerable. All moisture evaporated from my mouth to leave it dry as it migrated to between my legs.
“Mr. Bartholomew, sorry I’m not available today. My assistant Sasha will make a suitable appointment for you.”
He waved his arm as he prowled forward. “I really don’t give a fuck about business.”
My hands gripped the wall as I took a step back. I had no clue what was happening here, but whatever it was needed to stop immediately before I started to scream like a lunatic.
My pulse thudded in my ears and my breath caught as he held me captive in that cobalt gaze. He had an animal magnetism that screamed predator and there didn’t seem to be any escape for me as he advanced with lithe precision.
I didn’t even realise I’d put my hand up until his fingers threaded through mine. His blue eyes held the power of hypnosis in them, as I couldn’t find the strength to look away. Everything felt so familiar, even though we’d never met before.
My brow furrowed and my mouth fell open when his other hand came up to cup my cheek, his thumb lifting my head up.
Shaking my head, I tried to pull away. “This is a reputable law firm. You can’t come in and manhandle the staff…”
Every word froze in my head when his lips met mine because I knew those lips—they had given me a thousand kisses. The way he held my head to angle it. His taste. My body knew him even though my eyes didn’t.
My eyes fluttered closed as I sank into him. If this was a hallucination, then it was the best I’d ever experienced. My fingers found their way into his hair and they recognised him by touch, the silky strands caressing my fingertips.
“Zee,” I whispered into his mouth and his hand tightened at the back of my neck in possession.
His growl sent a shiver of anticipation down my body until it settled in my core.
***
Chapter Nineteen
Xavier
The moment she spoke I knew it was Cas. She’d definitely caught my eye when I first walked into the room with her knockout figure and fuck-me glasses. But the second she opened her mouth, she’d had my undivided attention.
For days she’d consumed my thoughts. I’d even gone back to The Midnight Rooms in the hope she’d changed her mind. Nobody had interested me, so I left again, frustrated and alone.
I let her walk away from me once, but there was no way I was going to let it happen again.
“Zee,” Cas breathed into my mouth, her fingers lodging themselves in my hair the way they always did.
“Hey, beautiful.”
Her expressive green eyes fluttered open as she stared at me. “How?”
My hand at the back of her neck stroked her gently. “No idea. I was ordered to be here. It was only when I heard your voice that I knew it was you. Let’s see what you look like in the light. Spin for me.”
Her eyes lowered and she straightened her skirt self-consciously. My hands followed her actions.
“You are so fucking gorgeous,” I whispered against her ear, and watched her shiver.
“We can’t, Zee. My company is going to be working for yours.”
“Fuck that.” I dragged her into my chest. “I’ve been miserable for days and now fate decides to give me a break. I let you walk away in The Midnight Rooms and regretted it the moment that elevator closed behind you. There is no fucking way I’m letting it happen again.”
Cas’ hair was piled on top of her head like she’d just fallen out of my bed, and her bright red lips were enough to tempt the saintly to sin. Add in her red silk blouse unbuttoned enough to show her cleavage and those glasses that gave her the stern mistress vibe, and I was hard as rock and ready to go.
The woman was a bad man’s fantasy and there weren’t any good thoughts in my head right now.
“Someone could walk in.” Her gaze moved to the door.
“I doubt it since I locked it on the way in.”
“We can’t,” she objected.
I gripped her chin firmly between my fingers. Training subs in The Twilight Rooms had taught me how to make someone give me all their attention. Her gaze never left mine. “Cas, we can, and we definitely will. The entire time I was in Krakow I thought of you. I picked that property out because I envisaged you in one of the bedrooms. Now that I’ve added the visual of the woman I was already crazy about, I’m going nowhere.”
She tried to look away, her insecurity apparent in her eyes.
“Look at me.” My grip tightened on her chin and her eyes snapped to mine. “I meant every word I said to you. You were beautiful before I met you, but now…”
My teeth bit into my bottom lip and I took a step back to walk around her, my fingers trailing over her stomach and ass. She was incredible, everything I wanted in a partner. Those shoes deserved to be digging into my ass when I fucked her on that tidy desk of hers.
“I’m not the girl you want, you need…”
I cut her off, spinning to press her into her desk. “I know what I want and what I need, Cas. I’m not the type of man to walk away from what he sets his sights on. I have a pair of red panties in my bedside drawer that would fit you perfectly. It isn’t exactly Cinderella with a shoe, but you get the gist.”
She gasped, her hands digging into my waist as I lowered her back onto the desk. Nothing else mattered except that I’d found her. Now that I had, I would do everything in my power to make her see that she was perfect to be in my life. Uncle Lucas was right. He said men like us knew the first moment we set eyes on the woman that was destined to be ours.
Cas was my destiny, she just needed to see it.
My lips met hers. It was akin to using emotional blackmail. I knew she instinctively responded to me, she always did, and I was willing to use any advantage I possessed.
She mewled and clawed at the front of my trousers when our kiss left us breathless and senses reeling. Whatever was happening between us affected both of us like an infection for each other in our blood. Her scent of Parma violets was driving me insane. I thought I caught a trace of it when I pour
ed a cup of coffee earlier, but I’d put it down to the fact that I seemed to be finding ghosts of her everywhere.
Her hand wrapped around my cock and I bucked against her.
“As much as I’d love to, Cas, I don’t have any condoms.”
Her eyes closed and her head thumped back onto the desk. “I’m on birth control but I’ve never had sex without a condom.”
She’d said the magic words. I’d never had sex without protection either, but she was the exception to every rule I made. Pushing up her skirt and pulling aside her lace panties, I slammed into her. We both groaned together. It felt too good with her heat gripping me and nothing between us.
There was no finesse to this wild claiming. For days, she’d consumed my every thought, and every night I went to sleep with her panties under my pillow. I groaned and she pulled my head down to hers.
“Shush,” she whispered into my mouth as she kissed me, those shoes digging into my ass.
She could have this victory, because soon, everyone would know that this woman was off limits and belonged to me. I didn’t care if I had to knock her up or put a ring on her finger. She was mine in every conceivable way, and the fact that she was the first woman I was inside bareback should have warned her I was claiming her.
I reared back, my hands on her hips pulling her to me every time I thrust into her heat to get as far inside her as possible. Her arms slumped over her head and I knew this was an image that would live inside my head for the rest of my life. Some of her buttons had slipped open and her breasts bounced inside her black bra with every movement of my hips.
Her pelvis arched up and she bit her lip to stop the sounds that wanted to emerge. Cas writhed under me as her orgasm hit, her core trying to milk me as I fell out of rhythm. I leaned forward, my cock swelling before I emptied myself inside her. My hands landed on either side of her head, my lips on hers.
She kissed me like she needed me more than oxygen, her tongue sliding against mine.
