by T. L Smith
“I’m sorry, who are you? And how do you know each other?” I ask while looking from Atlas to her.
“Oh, sorry, I worked with her for Atlas.” Her eyes flick to him. “Lucy was… interesting.”
“Miranda, it’s great seeing you, but we must start mingling.”
“Yes, of course. Enjoy.” She waves us off and walks away.
I turn, looking for Tina and see her at the bar getting as many drinks as she can hold.
“Did you sleep with her?” I ask.
His eyes narrow before he speaks. “Why? Would that bother you?”
I turn and manage to escape his hold as I make my way over to my boss. Chloe is talking to an influencer when I reach her. She smiles and gives me a one-arm hug as she says goodbye to the woman she was talking to.
“You told Marissa to bring the food out?” she hisses.
I feel Atlas push into my back, and Chloe straightens as her eyes land on him.
“I don’t think we have had the pleasure...”
Atlas holds out his hand, and she looks at it, then to me for clarification.
“Atlas is my plus one,” I tell her.
Chloe’s white face tells me she’s either shocked or pissed. I’m unsure which emotion is written all over her face right now.
“I know of him,” she replies.
“As I know of you,” he says back to Chloe, and the way he says it makes my skin crawl.
“Okay, well, I have to go and check on everyone. Is there anything you need?”
Chloe looks to me and shakes her head.
I smile and walk away.
I don’t know what’s going on there, and I don’t want to know either.
I lose Atlas for most of the night, seeing him socializing every now and then. For some reason, he always seems so disinterested in what other people have to say, almost as if he’s above them, which he very well could be. Tina sits with him for a good portion of time, but then he disappears. For all I know, he could be fucking that Miranda chick, and I would have no idea whatsoever.
“You ready to go?” Tina asks when I step up to her. She’s drunk way too much alcohol, I can tell by the stagger she has going on.
“I have to finish up a few things.” I look over my shoulder and Atlas is there.
“I’ll walk you out. My driver can take you home,” Atlas tells Tina, offering her his arm. She takes it with a smile and looks back at me. “Marry him.”
My eyes find his, but he avoids eye contact as he walks her out.
“Why would you bring him?” Chloe snaps near my ear.
I didn’t even know she was there.
Turning around, her hands are on her hips, and she’s mighty angry if her clenched fists are anything to go by.
“You’re fired! Fired, Thea.” She turns and storms off.
Marissa walks up behind me and says, “Did she…” Trailing off, she looks at Chloe with her mouth hanging open.
The party is ending, and everyone’s leaving so it’s time for me to have some fun.
“She did,” I confirm, reaching behind me. “Two shots.” I point to the tequila, and the bartender is quick to hand them over. I take one, and before I can reach for the other, Marissa drinks it.
“Fuck!” she swears. “Another. Make it a double,” she calls out.
Might as well, since I won’t be getting paid and now do not care how much of Chloe’s money I spend.
Fuck her!
Fuck her right up the ass.
She just fucking fired me.
What the ever-loving fuck!
“Do you plan on drinking everything in the bar?” Atlas asks.
Marissa coughs next to me. “She just got fired, and she does more for that hag than anyone else.” I close my eyes at Marissa’s words and take a deep breath. The last person I want to know I was fired is him, especially since I’m pretty sure he’s the damn reason I got fired in the first place.
He turns to me. “She fired you?”
Looking back to where the shots sit, I take two and down them one after the other, staying right where I am, but don’t answer him.
“Yep, she sure did. What a bitch, right?” Marissa coughs. “Okay, well, I may as well quit too,” Marissa says.
“No. You will do no such thing. You’re the only one who even knows half of what I did at that place.”
“Why do you even care? Chloe doesn’t seem to care, and you’ve done so much for that company. No, you fucking run that company.”
“Why did she fire you?” Atlas asks.
I turn away from Marissa and look up at him. “Because the company I keep doesn’t meet her standards,” I reply. My eyes are cold as I feel my heart rate increase, the spite falling from my lips easily.
Marissa’s eyes go wide at my words.
“You should go. Thanks again for everything you did tonight.” I lean in and kiss Marissa’s cheek.
She offers a shy smile to Atlas, who looks back at me before Marissa walks away, leaving us standing there.
“Our ride is here.”
“I will find my own ride,” I tell him.
He leans forward and stares straight in my eyes. “I will take you home.”
Fine! I nod, there is no more fight left in me right now.
He guides me out until we reach the waiting car. When we get in, he doesn’t touch me, and I am thankful for small mercies. “I will give you a job,” he says. “If that’s what you want?”
“No,” I reply, not even looking in his direction.
My legs cross over one another as I stare out into nothing. The sky is dark, darker than it should be. It’s as if a storm is brewing. When we arrive at my house, I get out before he can help me and don’t look back as I make my way up the stairs and step inside. But as I go to shut the door, he’s behind me, his hands on my waist, and I have to remember to breathe.
“Atlas.” His name leaves my lips as I turn to face him, and when I do, his jacket is no longer on his body, and he’s standing there in a white singlet and his dark jeans.
“Theadora...” My name slips between his lips, almost in a whisper.
“We don’t like each other,” I murmur, stepping closer to him.
Atlas’s hand moves up under my breast, and my skin breaks out in goosebumps. He pushes the door behind him shut with his foot and brings his free hand to touch my face. “We don’t.”
“You should leave,” I tell him, but his hands remain on my body. His thumb rubs along my bottom lip.
“I should,” he replies.
“But you aren’t going to, are you?”
“No. And you really don’t want me to either. You need me to help you forget.”
“Forget.” I say the word as if it’s a drug.
Maybe it’s him that’s the drug, and I could possibly be high right now. Because I don’t like him. How can I like a man like him?
“Yes, I’m going to help you forget.” Then he does what I never expected him to do, he reaches down and cups my ass, picking me up and walking with me to my bedroom while my legs wrap around his waist. The door is open, so he steps inside and lays me gently on the bed, and my legs ease away from around him. Atlas reaches for my heels and slips them off, then skates his hands up my thighs until he reaches my panties, slipping them down my legs until they’re off.
My eyes follow each of his movements, and even though the light in the room is poor, the light from my living room makes it so I can still see him. Atlas pulls his singlet off, and his chest is all I can see. My eyes drink him in, and I wonder how on earth a man like him is in my bedroom.
Men with ink have never interested me.
I have quite possibly stereotyped them.
Men who are assholes have never interested me.
I, for sure, have categorized them as bad.
Yet, here I am, in my bedroom, heart pumping hard and wondering when his hands will skim me next. When will his lips make me quiver, now that my breathing is hot and hard?
No man ha
s ever done that to me before.
Not until him.
I have never been this nervous in my life, but for some reason, Atlas makes me nervous in every conceivable way possible.
“Stop it!” His hands go to his jeans, and he undoes his zipper as he speaks. “You are thinking way too much.” His jeans drop, and now he’s naked in front of me.
“No, right now, I am not thinking enough,” I say, sitting up and pulling my dress down so I am just as naked as he is. “Maybe after, I will,” I tell him, standing, and letting the material cascade all the way to the floor.
“Yes, maybe then we can both think more clearly.” He steps forward, his hands touching my naked body.
“Yes, maybe then,” I whisper, reaching up so my mouth touches his.
Atlas’s hands are gentle, and when we fall backward, his body weight is not fully on mine, but enough so I can feel every inch of him on top of me, even the part I want inside me.
My hips start to move as he grips me. At first, it’s soft until he moves them to my neck, then he applies pressure as he lifts and nudges my legs open even farther, one hand on my neck, the other now between my legs. He rubs my clit, and then slides his finger down until he dips inside me, taking my wetness and spreading it over my folds before he does the same again.
“I could play, but right now, I’m an impatient man.”
I can’t nod nor can I speak.
His hand is still around my neck, and I’m physically unable to move. Atlas grips his cock in his hand and strokes it, then pushes forward so it touches me, not entering me, just touching. I grip at his hands to move, so I can move.
“Tsk-tsk.” He shakes his head. “Be a good girl and don’t move. We don’t want you bruised after the first go, or maybe the second.” He winks, making me still, then smiles when he starts touching me again. Moans leave my mouth as his hand leaves my throat and both hands are now on my inner thighs, fingers digging in, probably bruising me.
I go to reach for him. Most positions I have had sex in are usually missionary or doggy. I never wanted more and was happy with both. But Atlas grabs my thighs, turns me to my side, and pulls me down the bed even farther until I feel him between my legs. I go to lift my leg, but he holds it down as he pushes himself closer to me, his cock touching me, and I groan trying to get him to push in just a little farther.
He laughs, and when he does, he moves, and my hand, which was awkwardly at my side, runs through my hair as he pushes in and pulls out.
Holy shit!
One hand moves to touch my clit and rubs while he starts pushing in. My legs close as I try to push back to give him more, open my legs to move more, but he won’t allow me to. Atlas holds me still as he pushes, in and out, one hand holding me, the other touching and rubbing me. Just as I am about to come, he pulls out, pushes me flat on my back, and climbs over me. Spreading my legs, he leans down and kisses my breast, bites my nipple hard, then soothes it with his tongue. I moan, loudly, for him. I need more.
Why can’t he give me more of him?
Hands grip me again, and this time, in a flash, I am now on top of him. He is on his back as I look down at him. Atlas sits up and pushes my hips down, so I can feel him between my legs, everywhere. I can literally feel him everywhere. In me, on me, and around me.
Atlas Hyde has surrounded me in every possible way and is draining me dry.
Hips move, and hands roam.
When I grip his hair, he doesn’t stop me, when I pull chunks of it, he bites my nipple a little harder. Which I fucking love. And when my hips have a mind of their own and start rotating and rocking over him like a teenage girl, he laughs before he devours each breast until I can no longer feel anything but him between my legs. And it feels fucking marvelous.
I feel it coming, that fucking high I have only ever brought on by myself. But, this, well this, is ten times fucking higher, and when he pulls me in, he slams his lips to mine, and I can’t stop him. Our kiss is sloppy and messy. I can’t keep up with him with all the emotions running through me right now.
“Oh… my… God.” I say each word stuttered between his lips.
“No, just Atlas.” He smiles against my lips, and I am too high to tell him to shut up or walk away. Walk, yeah right, that isn’t going to happen. Not when my fucking insides are exploding like fireworks.
Bam!
No, it’s a fucking eruption!
That’s what it’s like fucking Atlas Hyde. And even if I regret it straight away, I know one thing for sure, that man has a dick made of solid gold.
Maybe that’s why he’s rich and so damn ignorant.
“Theadora,” he says my name as I come down.
My hands reach out and grip his shoulders before my head lays on it.
I can’t move, not even a fraction.
I don’t want to move.
My body is spent.
“Get off me, Theadora.”
Chapter Nineteen
Theadora
Pulling back, I look at him. His hands leave me and sit at his sides. His eyes are darker than usual as they skim over me. The look makes me feel dirty. I cover my breasts and climb off him. I walk all the way to the bathroom and shut the door behind me, locking it.
Why did I do that?
Why did I have to sleep with a man who could possibly have slept with my sister?
Oh, my God, I don’t even need to know the answer to that.
Wrapping a towel around me for modesty, I fling open the door, and he is standing there pulling up his jeans. He looks at me, then away as he reaches for his singlet, pulling it over his head.
“Did you sleep with her?” I ask, cringing at the damn thought.
Atlas ignores me, shoving on his boots.
“Did you sleep with her?” I ask again, my patience growing thin. I grind my teeth as I watch him, waiting for a reply, or even a look so I can assess him. Instead, he collects his things and walks to my door, then looks back.
Goddamn! I hate myself for sleeping with him.
“No. Lucy and I never fucked.” Then he leaves.
I stand there, a fraction of a person I once was, and then go after him. The minute I see him getting into his car, I slam the front door shut and lock it.
No more Atlas Hyde in my life.
I’m jobless. I haven’t had this problem since I left school. And all weekend I do nothing but dream of amazing sex and wake up wondering what I’m going to do with my life now I no longer have my career.
When Monday rolls around, my alarm clock wakes me up, but I have nowhere to go. I have enough savings to last me for a few weeks without having a job, but after that, I am fucked. I will be kicked out of my house and have nowhere to go if the bank took it. Literally. My job, the one I loved so much, was my only income, and I have no family to fall back on. The only person I have is Tina, and her house is already full.
I should be searching for a job, but my mind won’t allow me to do anything. So, I do just that into the afternoon. Nothing. My cell rings, breaking the monotony, and I answer.
“Thea… I don’t know how to do this. Please come back.”
“She fired me, Marissa, you know I can’t. You can do it. And if you’re having any troubles, ring Chloe, I’m sure she can guide you through it,” I tell her, which is hard, but this isn’t my problem anymore.
“I have repeatedly called her, and when she bothered to answer she was either too busy or didn’t care about anything I had to say. How does she not care that her business is failing without you here?”
“Marissa, I would love to help you, but I just can’t. I can’t give that company any more energy that it doesn’t deserve of me. You get it, right?”
She pauses with a sigh. “Yeah, I do.” She says no more, simply hangs up.
I feel bad, but I am no longer their pawn to use and abuse.
Jumping on my computer, I finally decide it’s time to get my résumé up to scratch and spend the afternoon emailing it out to every job availability I can po
ssibly find, and even to contacts who might have something for me.
When a knock comes on my door, I ignore it. The only person who could be knocking is him, and I don’t want to talk to him. He is the last person I want to communicate with.
“Theadora…”
Okay, that’s a girl’s voice.
I get up from my couch and open the door. Atlas’s girl with the glasses is standing there, her eyes downcast as she reads something on her cell. When she looks up, she looks relieved at first, then angry. “Were you planning to ignore me?”
“Yes,” I answer with a fake smile.
“Okay, well, thank you for your honesty, I guess. But I didn’t come here to be sassed.” She hands me a piece of paper and smiles before she turns to leave.
“What is this?”
“Your instructions are on the card.” She walks off, and I tear open the card.
When I open it, I see it is an invitation, and it says it’s a requirement.
Fuck!
Dress is fancy, and he asks me to wear heels. A car will be here to pick me up in a few hours.
I’ve never gotten an invitation before. Closing the front door, I contemplate how I should try and get out of it, but I know better.
I need my sister back.
And once I have her, Atlas Hyde will no longer be in my life.
Atlas doesn’t come to collect me. Some man does, and he asks for my cell before I climb in the car. I clutch it, unsure if I should give it to him or not. I sure as shit don’t want to.
“No cell phones are allowed, miss. This is not negotiable.”
The rebellious part of me wants to scream ‘no’ at him, and that he can get fucked. Instead, I place my cell in his hand, which he then places in the car, before he comes back and opens my door for me. “If you would, miss.”
I do as I am told, and find no one in the car. We drive for what feels like hours before we come to a stop at an airstrip. When the driver opens my door, I see a few other girls dressed similarly to me.
“Please go and wait with the girls.” He gestures to them, and I do as he says, walking over to them. They all chatter, and when I reach them, they stop.
