by Ami Snow
“Did you enjoy it?” I asked. “Honestly.”
She paused for a moment, and then nodded. “I did, actually. It was…really hot. Although I would have liked to finish, too.”
“Most of the time you will,” I assured her. “I’ve been wanting to do this to you for a long time, Elizabeth. I’ve got a lot of fantasies stored up.”
“And that was one of them?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
“Well, then I’m glad we did it.” She stepped forward and kissed me, and I tasted the tang of myself on her lips, sharp and salty.
“Do you…” I hesitated. “Do you want to keep on?”
“Dating you?” She smiled and tossed her hair. “Yes, Ethan. In fact, I think you should take me out Friday night. We’ll see what happens after that.” She ran her fingers through her hair. “See you later.”
And with that, she turned and walked out of the door, leaving me standing there, once again, utterly at a loss as to what to think.
This woman was never going to stop catching me off guard. I was certain of that.
End of Book 4
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Royal’s Liberation
An Alpha Billionaire Series: Book 5
By: A.J Madison
The Royal’s Liberation
Chapter 1
Ellie
I don’t think I got any more work done that day. I went to the ladies’ room on the top floor before anyone other than Ethan’s secretary could see me, and I looked at myself in the mirror for several long seconds that stretched into minutes. I looked like a mess. My hair, so carefully straightened this morning, was mussed and frizzy, tendrils sticking to my damp cheeks. I was flushed, my skin shiny with exertion and satisfied desire. My lipstick was smeared, a red patch near my lips, still tinted from it. I quickly grabbed a napkin and dampened it with hot water, rubbing at the stain. My makeup came with it, and in a rush of frustration I turned on the faucet, splashing my face and removing most of it. It took a few minutes for me to fix what was left, and I stepped back, straightening my skirt and checking to be sure my blouse was buttoned correctly. I ran my fingers through my hair in lieu of a brush, and hoped that I looked presentable enough. I’d left my desk in my usual state, I couldn’t return looking like I’d been through a storm. Someone would know that something was up.
To be entirely honest, I didn’t know how to feel about any of it. What had just happened in Ethan’s office was, truly, one of the sexiest things I’d ever experienced. Before then, I’d never even really considered doing that sort of thing. I’d never fantasized about a man telling me what to do in bed or treating me roughly, and I’d certainly never experienced it. I was surprised by myself that I’d even agreed to any of it. But Ethan’s voice, ordering me to submit to him, to display myself for him…that had been hotter than anything we’d done so far. I tried to imagine what else he might do to me, but I had very little frame of reference. The romance novels I read—not that I read them often--were soft, sweet “chick lit”, not anything truly scandalous. I’d seen those books, but always dismissed them, laughing at the black and grey and red covers with handcuffs and dying roses on the front.
So the sudden lust that had sprang up in me after the episode in Ethan’s office was strange, and made me feel a little uncomfortable. I didn’t know how to process this new information—Ethan’s desires, my reaction to them. I certainly didn’t know how to process it at work. How could I sit back down at my desk and work on client lists and accounting figures when I’d just been spread-eagled on Ethan’s desk, my fingers between my legs as he demanded to fuck me?
So I did something I had never done in my entire time as an employable adult—I went back to my boss’s office and knocked on the door. She called for me to come in, and I did, trying to look as ill as possible. I was sure with my disheveled hair and patchy makeup, it wasn’t hard.
“Um, I stopped at this new breakfast place on my way to work this morning and I think the food may not have been good.” I felt slightly guilty, hoping she wouldn’t ask for the name of the restaurant. I didn’t want to ruin someone’s business over a case of faked food poisoning. “I’m not feeling very well, and I was wondering if I might be able to go home early today?”
My boss looked instantly sympathetic, which only made me feel guiltier. “Of course! You don’t look very well either. Go home and get some rest. Take tomorrow, too, if you need to.”
I shook my head. “I think I just need today. Thanks for understanding.”
“Not a problem. Feel better.”
I exited the office, stopping by my desk to grab my things. A couple of my coworkers glanced at me quizzically, and I gave a quick sad face. “Bad breakfast burrito,” I explained, shoving my phone into my purse. “I’ll be back tomorrow.”
There was a chorus of “I hope you feel better!” and “Feel better soon!” as I left, slinging my purse over my shoulder and walking out the giant glass doors out into the street. I hailed a cab—no good if I was seen walking home while “ill”—and mentally chalked the expense up to the price of my free afternoon. I was glad to see my apartment building, and even more glad to strip out of my work clothes and jump into the shower, washing away the rest of my ruined makeup and rinsing the sweat out of my hair. I felt better once out of the shower, better able to think over the events of the morning.
Unbidden, Brian suddenly flashed into my head. Brian. I knew that Ethan, having played the gentleman and taken me on dates, would likely assume in his old-fashioned way that us having sex today meant we were exclusive. I thought no such thing, and I wasn’t ready to lock myself into a relationship with the same man who owned the company I worked for. Not yet. I didn’t doubt that if Ethan knew I’d had sex with Brian since I’d come back—and still wanted to—he’d lose his mind.
It put me in a difficult situation, and made me feel rebellious. I wanted to call Brian right then and suggest he come over, simply because I knew that Ethan wouldn’t want me to. It was a childish reaction, but I didn’t care. I was angry that my decisions were being made for me, even inadvertently. I wanted time—time to think, time to choose, or time to not decide at all if that’s what I wanted. But Ethan was the kind of man who wanted things now. He wouldn’t want to wait while I waffled between two men. And while that perhaps should have told me that I should let Ethan go altogether, I knew that wasn’t a decision I was ready to make, either. Especially after this afternoon. While I’d been shocked by his revelation, I was also desperately curious.
I wanted to know what the rest of it was like.
Ethan
It took me several moments after she left to compose myself. I nearly couldn’t believe what had just taken place. I’d thought it would take much longer for Elizabeth and me to start sleeping together again, and I hadn’t even begun to think of how to form the conversation to explain to her the things I would really want in bed with her. I felt almost grateful to the person who had spilled the information about my former fling. It had sped up the need to have the conversation, and that had led to what had happened this afternoon.
I couldn’t believe how receptive she’d been to it. I’d been expecting horror, refusal, a need for me to go into lengthy and deep explanations as to why I’d possibly want her to participate in something so depraved. But just after that short conve
rsation, a few explanations on my part, she’d been willing to try. It made my feelings go from confusing to crystal clear. She was accepting of me. Willing to see if she’d enjoy the things that made sex go from ordinary to mind-blowing.
Although, to be fair, sex with Elizabeth had always been pretty mind-blowing. Only pure sexual frustration had driven me to seek out Anne—I’d have been perfectly happy to keep sleeping with Elizabeth the entire time.
I wondered if I should call her, ask her to dinner that night. Was it too much? Too needy on my part to want to see her again so soon? I wanted to say things to her that I knew it was too soon to say.
By the end of the work day, I’d gotten myself fairly agitated. I left the office, opting to walk home instead of taking a taxi. It was a lovely day, and I was enjoying the fresh air. I stopped at a roadside food truck to get something light to eat, and that was when I saw her.
Elizabeth.
She was standing across the street, holding the door of a coffee shop open. And just behind her, following her through the open door, was the lumberjack-looking fellow that she’d been seeing when she was still an intern. I felt rage, hot and sharp, rise up, and I wanted nothing more than to dart across the street and demand an explanation.
I didn’t. I stood there, seething, and watched them walk out onto the sidewalk. I watched him reach for her hand and she didn’t pull away. I watched him say something, and her head fell back with laughter, the sound of it faintly reaching me.
I felt betrayed, as if I’d just caught her cheating on me, having some lurid affair. But it couldn’t be farther from the truth. We hadn’t made any promises to each other, there was nothing exclusive about our relationship. Hell, before she’d left, I’d been fucking Anne at the same time I was trying to convince Elizabeth that it was okay to fuck me. I wasn’t sure that she’d be all that thrilled about that information. It was foolish of me to be so hurt by the sight of her getting coffee with that boy. But I was.
The voice of the vendor interrupted my thoughts, asking irritably if I was ready to order something. I shook my head and waved him off, continuing my walk towards my house, my stride now tense and angry. I wanted to confront her. But I didn’t know how or when I should. I knew I would have to say something, or it would come out on its own, bubbling up and possibly making the situation worse.
I got to the elevator of my building and was grateful that no one else came on as the doors shut. I was wholly unsuitable for company at this point. The ridiculous thing was that as angry as I was—even if it was irrationally so—I still wanted her desperately. Maybe even more than I had this afternoon, now that someone else was vying for her attentions. I wanted her in the elevator with me at that moment, so that I could push her up against the wall, pinning her against me and kissing her, inciting that flush of desire that I knew would follow it, that moment where she abandoned her worries about what she should be doing and only did what she wanted to do. I loved it when she lost control. I loved that I could make her lose control.
I was beginning to think that I simply loved her.
Ellie
It was probably not in my best judgement to call up Brian and ask him to get coffee. I think he knew what I really meant, and he agreed quickly, suggesting we meet up at the shop down the street from my house about five p.m. I hung up the phone with some trepidation, wondering what kind of girl it made me that I’d had furious, deviant sex with the CEO of my company this afternoon, and was now planning on enticing the man I’d been casually seeing in addition to him to my apartment this evening for sex again? I was hoping that it would give me some kind of an idea as to what I should do when I eventually was made to make up my mind between the two—or for none at all—as I knew was coming. I couldn’t waffle between them forever.
So, maybe sex with Brian so close on the heels of passionate sex with Ethan was just what I needed to make up my mind. With the memory of our tryst so fresh in my head, I couldn’t help but compare. And that comparison might make a difference.
That was how I excused it to myself, anyway. I got dressed casually for the coffee date, trying to downplay it so that it didn’t seem like a big deal. I threw on jeans and a black t-shirt, a pair of striped Toms and pulled my hair back into a ponytail. I didn’t bother with makeup other than one coat of mascara and a swipe of lip balm. I wanted to appear casual and relaxed, even if I felt anything other than relaxed right now.
Brian was already at the coffee shop when I got there, even though I was a little early. His enthusiasm made me feel a little ashamed of my plan. He was clearly happy to see me, and while I was genuinely happy to see him as well, the subterfuge underneath it made me feel as if I was doing something bad.
If I was being honest, though, I’d been comparing him to Ethan ever since we’d started seeing each other. The comparisons were sometimes in Brian’s favor—his niceness, his lack of pushiness, the sense of comfort I felt around him. But when it came to desire, and passion, nothing could compare to Ethan. It occurred to me that making this decision on the basis of sex, then, maybe wasn’t the best plan.
But I was here.
We got coffee, and sat and talked. His brewery was doing well, and the investor he’d been talking to the night of the event was putting some serious cash into his business. They were looking at expanding into a small “backyard pub”, where customers could sit and drink outdoors in the nicer months. He was clearly excited about it. He asked about how my job was going, if I was enjoying it. It was the kind of small talk I never had with Ethan, and I couldn’t decide if that was a good thing or not. Did I want this kind of average relationship, where we talked about our day to day minutiae over cups of coffee or beers? Or did I want the kind of up-against-the-wall, fervent, heated passion that I had with Ethan? Why did they seem to be so mutually exclusive?
I sighed, and when Brian noticed and asked if I was alright, I brushed it off as tiredness. “It’s a good thing we got coffee, then,” he quipped, and I laughed in response, but it was half-hearted. Maybe the idea had been a bad one. I was starting to just want to go home, put on something comfortable, maybe read a book. The idea of sex with Brian wasn’t doing it for me right now. I tried to think, quickly, if I’d have the same reaction if Ethan was the one sitting across from me.
I knew that I wouldn’t. I knew that I’d be going home with him, no matter my mood. But was that a reasonable basis for choosing to exclusively be with him? Ethan would see it that way. I needed to make up my mind for myself, though. Maybe a night alone was a better way to do that.
Our coffees finished, we returned the cups to the barista and headed out of the door. I held it open for Brian, and we walked out into the sunshine. He reached for my hand, and I didn’t take it away. I felt that in a different situation, one where I’d never met Ethan, we could have been happy together. We could have gone back to my apartment and maybe not even had sex, just enjoyed an evening together, reading side by side or watching a movie. Meeting Ethan had spoiled all of that for me. I would have to see it through to the end. I would have to know what it would be like with Ethan, even if it didn’t work, I would always wonder, if I ended it now. My peaceful life with Brian…or whoever…wouldn’t be peaceful. I would need to get through this with Ethan before I could choose to go the other way.
Or maybe Ethan and I would be happy. Maybe when we’d gotten the first wave of passion out of our systems, when we’d had the chance to spend whole nights tangled up together and then falling asleep side by side…maybe then passion would give way to something deeper and we would find out that there was a real possibility there.
Right now there was no way to know. And that was why I had to find out.
Brian and I stopped in front of my building. He looked at me, clearly wondering if I was going to ask him up. I wavered for one moment. It would be so easy to take him upstairs, fall into bed with him, and stop thinking altogether. But I knew it wasn’t the right way to handle it.
So I leaned up and gave him a quick
kiss, pressing my lips against his, soft and warm and so willing, and when I pulled back, I smiled. “It’s been a long day, Brian. I’m really tired, more tired than I thought. I think I’m just going to head in for the night.”
He nodded. “Okay. Thanks for getting coffee with me.”
“It was nice,” I replied. No promise of doing it again. No hope for the future. At this point, I was almost certain that there wasn’t one.
He hugged me, and then waved as he headed down the sidewalk. I trudged up the steps to my building, and rode the elevator up to my apartment, glad once I had shut the door and was alone. The silence felt welcoming. I was getting tired of the back and forth, of the demands of shuffling between Ethan and Brian. Having made a decision to see this…thing…through with Ethan, I felt relieved, and a little sad. I knew that if things didn’t work out with Ethan, Brian wouldn’t be an option anymore. He’d have found another girlfriend, or he’d be angry that I’d dropped off the map, or he’d figure out that he was the second choice and be hurt. I knew I would be, in his position. And even though I was looking forward to seeing what would happen with Ethan, it made me sad to know that I’d never know what a future with Brian might be like. I’d never spend quiet nights in with him or nights roaming around D.C. or wake up on a lazy Sunday morning with him.
I changed into a pair of soft sweatpants, a t-shirt and a cashmere cardigan that I’d bought with my first paycheck, exultant to finally have extra money to spend. I had to admit, I didn’t regret the purchase a bit. It was soft, warm, and perfect to wrap around myself when I crawled into my armchair and opened up the book I’d started.
I was about halfway through when a hard knock came at my door. I jumped a little, startled. Who could possibly be here right now? I checked my watch: it was almost eight p.m. I got up, setting my book aside, and walked to the door. When I opened it, I couldn’t believe my eyes.
