Damage Control

by M. S. Parker

  I shook off the self-pitying thoughts and smiled at Alix as Paige and I walked over to where he and Sine were talking to Congressman Powers. I gave the older man a polite nod as he said his goodbyes, then turned back to my friend.

  “Amazing,” I said, leaning in to give him a hard clap on the back. “I knew you were talented, but damn. This is the best work I’ve ever seen you do.”

  “It’s all because of her,” Alix said, kissing the top of Sine’s head.

  She gave him an exasperated look. “Take the compliment, love.”

  Erik and Tanya came up then, and while I knew I should probably hang around a bit, the combination of the photos and having Paige next to me for the past hour was either going to drive me to drink…or do something else that probably wasn’t a good idea.

  Which meant I needed to get Paige away from me.

  “Ready to go?” I asked.

  She looked surprised by the question but nodded in agreement. I quickly said our goodbyes, slid my arm around her waist, and walked us out to where the valet was waiting.

  It didn’t take long for us to get into the limo, but we stopped almost immediately when we pulled onto the highway.

  So much for getting away from Paige.

  “Is something wrong?” She broke the silence with a question and a hand on my forearm. “You looked like you were enjoying yourself, and then you suddenly wanted to leave.”

  “Nothing’s wrong,” I said as I turned toward her. Her hand dropped from my arm to land on my knee, burning through the denim.

  Fuck it.

  I cupped her face in my hands and kissed her, pouring everything in me into her. Our first kiss had been just as rash, just as impetuous, but unless she told me to stop, I didn’t intend to let her go this time. If I was going to fuck up my life even more than it already was, at least I’d get something out of it.

  For a moment, she stiffened, and I worried that she was going to pull away, but then her mouth softened, lips parted. When her hands grabbed the front of my jacket, I slapped my hand against the button to close the tinted window between the front seat and the back area. I was planning on taking full advantage of whatever was keeping us stuck in traffic, but unlike Alix, I didn’t intend for anyone but me to see Paige this way.

  She pushed my jacket off my shoulders, her hands greedy as she grabbed my ass and then yanked my shirt out of the back of my pants. I nipped her bottom lip, then sucked it into my mouth, the taste of her going straight to my cock. I felt like a teenager again, my hands running over her dress, learning every curve of her body.

  The limo started to move again, but it was slow enough that I barely acknowledged it. I was more concerned with getting Paige stretched out underneath me and seeing if those legs looked as good as they felt.

  “Fuck, Reb,” she gasped as I kissed my way down her neck. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”

  No.

  “Yes.”

  I moved further down her body, settling between her legs even as she grabbed my shoulders.

  “What are you–”

  I pulled her panties to the side and licked her.

  “Fuck!”

  I pressed my mouth against her pussy, my hands on her hips to keep her in place. She gasped and cursed, writhing as I ran my tongue over her sensitive skin, then around her clit. Fuck. I’d never imagined how hot it could be to see someone as polished as her completely come apart. I needed to make her come, and then we could decide if I’d go upstairs to her place or she’d come to mine to continue this.

  It didn’t take much, telling me she’d been wound as tight as me. I moved the tip of my tongue in rapid flicks over her clit, and then she was crying out my name so loud that I doubted even the sound-proofed barrier could keep the driver from hearing her. Not that I minded. He needed to know that she was with me. She was mine.

  I moved back up her body to take her mouth, my erection rubbing against the space between her legs. Then I shifted, and she stiffened, pulling back.

  “Sorry, am I crushing you?” I pushed myself off of her.

  She shook her head as she smoothed down her skirt. “No, no, I was just…I mean, we shouldn’t…”

  “Hey, it’s okay,” I said, pressing my forehead against hers. “I’m not expecting anything.”

  She looked flustered. More so than I’d ever seen her. I reached out and tucked some hair behind her ear. She didn’t flinch, but she didn’t lean into my touch either.

  “I’m serious, Paige. I wouldn’t pressure you into anything you didn’t want to do.” She still wouldn’t meet my eyes. “Was your last ex a jerk or something?”

  She shook her head and offered me a half-smile. “No, it’s nothing like that.”

  “What then?” I asked, mostly because I wanted to know, but also because talking would help keep my mind off of my throbbing case of blue balls. “You’re some kind of ice queen? Don’t want to lose your virginity in the back of a limo?”

  I said it as a joke, but then I registered her expression. Her wide eyes. The way the color drained from her face.

  Fuck.

  Suddenly, the door opened, and the driver was smiling down at us.

  “I’m going now.” Her voice was hoarse.

  I just nodded, too shocked to say anything, not even when she climbed out of the car and refused to look at me. A virgin? Had I seriously almost just deflowered my PR rep in the back of a limo?

  I needed to get my life straightened up, and fast, because if I didn’t, it was going to spin so out of control that no PR would fix it.

  I strummed my fingers across the strings of my guitar, not really trying to play a specific chord, but rather just hearing the different notes and trying to figure out where they should go. It always sounded strange when I tried to explain it that way. People tended to get it in their heads that music was composed in a certain way, but everyone had different ways of doing things.

  I hadn’t heard the music in my head for too long, and it wasn’t back yet, but I could feel it coming. Like something on the tip of my tongue, or in the back of my mind. Something not quite remembered.

  Still, it gave me something to concentrate on instead of thinking about Paige and what I’d almost done last night.

  A virgin. She was a virgin.

  That was the last thing I needed. Even if I held back, denied the things I really wanted, it was a lot of pressure, being someone’s first. My first time had been with my high school girlfriend, and she’d been a virgin too. It hadn’t been bad, but awkward, and when we’d broken up a few months later, she’d yelled at me about getting what I wanted from her and then throwing her aside.

  Between that and what happened with Mitzi, I was more determined than ever to stick with finding subs at Gilded Cage, the BDSM club my friends and I frequented. No more relationships, and definitely not sleeping with any virgins. Hell, I didn’t even want someone who’d fucked several guys but was new to the BDSM world.

  Even if the thought of someone else teaching Paige all the ways pain and pleasure could come together set my teeth on edge. I’d never thought of myself as a proprietary guy, but with her…

  It turned out that working on music really wasn’t doing much to keep my mind off of Paige.

  By evening, I was ready to either drink myself stupid or go over Paige’s and fuck her until neither of us could think straight. Fortunately, I was saved from doing either of those stupid things because Erik called.

  In less than a half-hour, all three guys were sitting in my living room.

  “Here,” Erik said as he held out a sheaf of papers. “I just finished the revisions for The Muse. Thought you and the guys would like to take a look. You took off last night before I had a chance to give it to you.”

  “They’re really putting a rush on it,” Jace said. “Trying to get it out by the end of the year. Savannah said it’s unusual to get two books published so close together.”

  Erik nodded. “Branch wants to use my books to try to see if they can c
ompete with how quickly independent authors get their books out.”

  “I gave Sine my copy this morning,” Alix said. “I’m thanking you in advance for the night I’m going to have when I get home. Seriously, that shit you write, it’s like fucking catnip for her. She read Heat of the Sun on our honeymoon, and I swear, I thought she was going to break my dick.”

  I flipped through the book, then set it aside to read later. I’d never go around telling people that I was a fan of Erika Summers erotica, but Erik was a damn good writer, and there were worse things to have for a guilty pleasure.

  “How are things going with Paige?” Jace asked. “The two of you looked good together.”

  “It’s not like that.” I shook my head.

  “Yeah, we all said that, remember?” Alix laughed. “Come on, man, you watched all three of us fall hard. We know what it looks like.”

  “Whatever,” I mumbled, glaring at him.

  “Don’t fight it,” Jace advised. “Trust us, it doesn’t work.”

  “There’s nothing to fight,” I insisted. “We’re strictly professional.”

  Except for last night in the limo.

  Alix raised an eyebrow. “Bullshit.”

  I scowled. “Like hell it is.”

  “I saw the way the two of you looked at each other,” he persisted.

  “Look,” I said with a sigh, “I don’t know what you think you saw, but it’s not there. Sure, she’s attractive, but I’m not looking to get involved with anyone. Not after what happened the last time.”

  “For all you know, she could be into the same stuff,” Jace offered. “You’ll never know until you at least try.”

  “She’s a virgin,” I snapped. “That’s the last thing I need.”

  Erik closed his eyes. “Please tell me you didn’t do something stupid. Tanya really likes her.”

  Shit. The last thing I needed was them getting on my case. They were supposed to be on my side. “We fooled around, but when I found out she was a virgin, it didn’t go any further.”

  “That’s not the stupid I meant,” he said. He opened his eyes, a disapproving expression on his face. “You acted like an ass, didn’t you? You found out she was a virgin, and instead of talking to her about it, you freaked out and either said something asinine, or you said nothing at all.”

  Okay, he had me there. The ice queen comment hadn’t been meant cruelly, but it wasn’t a nice thing to say.

  “So what?” I said sullenly.

  Erik looked at Jace, then Alix, who both gave him a half-hearted shrug as if to say go ahead. “If any of you tell anyone what I’m about to say, I’ll kill you.” He paused a moment to let his threat sink in. “When Paige and I first had sex, I didn’t know she was a virgin until…well, you get the idea. And I freaked out, accusing her of intentionally hiding things from me, telling her that I didn’t want that responsibility. I almost lost the best thing that’s ever happened to me because I didn’t just talk to her.”

  “Communication is key,” Jace added his two cents. “Erik’s right about that.”

  “Hell, yes,” Alix agreed. “You saw how miserable I was when Sine was gone, and it all could’ve been avoided if I’d just talked to her, given her the benefit of the doubt.”

  I sighed and leaned back. “I don’t know. Seems like a big risk.”

  “It is,” Erik admitted. “But I know that all three of us would agree that it’s worth it.”

  “Hell, yes,” Alix and Jace chorused.

  I’d brought them over here to keep myself from drinking, but now, alcohol was looking even better than ever.

  What the hell was I supposed to do now?

  Sixteen

  Paige

  If I thought about it, I probably could have come up with a time where I’d been more mortified than I had been Saturday night, but I couldn’t think of anything off the top of my head. I told myself that wasn’t because a memory didn’t exist, but rather because I’d long since buried it.

  I wished I could do the same with what happened in the limo. The tension between us at the show had been bearable, but the moment he’d kissed me, everything had turned upside-down.

  I should have remembered that no matter how good-looking Reb was, no matter how much I might be attracted to him, he would never be the sort of man I could trust. Not to that extent anyway.

  I would do my job, and I would do it well. I’d give Sybil no cause to regret giving it to me. Once I could claim Reb’s new, good image as a product of my hard work, Sybil could feel confident giving me more. I could see it all ahead of me. Lots of nights working late. No social life. No men. No friends.

  It was everything I’d ever wanted.

  And if I kept telling myself that, I might believe it one day.

  I looked down at the message I’d gotten from Reb twenty minutes ago. Late start. Let yourself in.

  I didn’t want to think about why Reb’d had a late night. He’d looked so horrified at the realization that I was a virgin that I suspected he’d gone out yesterday to find someone more experienced to fuck. Someone who didn’t come across as so desperate and needy.

  A flush of shame colored my cheeks, and I pushed those thoughts down as far as I could. I was done thinking about him that way. From here on out, he was only going to be a client. Mr. Union. Nothing else.

  I knocked first, just in case Reb was within earshot of the door, but when he didn’t answer, I let myself in as he’d instructed. I supposed he felt safe enough with the security doors downstairs, the doorman, security detail, and the keycard necessary to get to his floor. I couldn’t imagine living anywhere in New York City where I could leave the door unlocked like that.

  “Re – Mr. Union?” I called as I entered the apartment. No answer. I walked a bit farther in, wondering if I’d find him passed out on the couch. The place was clean, which surprised me. I hoped that meant he was still sober.

  I suddenly realized that I could hear the shower running, and a flood of heat hit me along with the memories of what his skin looked like wet. Those tattoos. That skin. Those muscles.

  “Dammit,” I cursed softly.

  I needed to find a distraction.

  Fortunately, fate seemed to take some sympathy on me, and I spotted something on the end table next to the couch. The Muse by Ericka Summers. I knew that name, but couldn’t quite place why. Not that it mattered, I would’ve read pretty much anything at the moment if it meant I could stop thinking about the fact that Reb was naked and wet only a few yards away.

  I sat down and picked up the manuscript, making a mental note to ask how Reb ended up with it in the first place…then I remembered that this was a distraction so I could stay professional. It was none of my business how he’d gotten this from Ms. Summers.

  I flipped it open to the acknowledgment page. To my one and only muse. You are my life.

  It was simple, and even more beautiful for the simplicity.

  I turned to the first place and started to read.

  The sound of the whip came a split second before it struck, a sharp crack that echoed off the walls. Her whimper was a softer sound, but it still made his cock even harder. It was art, what he did, though most wouldn’t see it that way. Art could be sensual, even bordering on sexual, but once erotic was the word used to describe it, people started getting twitchy.

  He frowned. The people here appreciated his talents, but if he couldn’t concentrate, he couldn’t deliver, and they’d start looking elsewhere. Not that he needed the job, per se, but having him here was mutually beneficial. He drew a crowd for the club and was able to create his art in a safe environment. He could never let anyone see his face. His identity had to remain a secret, and this was the best way for that to happen…

  It didn’t take me long to get caught up in the world of Maximillian von Strauss, the Dominant billionaire recluse, and the object of his obsession and affection, reluctant club hostess Chastity Powell. Sure, her name was a bit on-the-nose, and alpha billionaire romances weren�
�t usually my preferred genre, but the writing was amazing, the characters likable even with their flaws. Despite my preconceived notions of the romance genre – particularly the erotic vein – The Muse had substance.

  And the sex…one scene was hotter than the next.

  Max had told her when they’d first come together that he intended to have all of her, and she was now starting to realize exactly what that meant.

  She was naked and face-down, head turned to the side, silk sheets cool beneath her body. Her arms and legs were spread wide, each bound to the four corners of the bed. The restraints were soft, which she had learned meant whatever he had planned for her would make her try to break free. The thought didn’t frighten her though, not beyond the small bite of anticipatory fear. She knew she had only to say the word, and he’d release her.

  She heard the door open but didn’t speak. Over the past few days, she had learned what he expected of her. He liked to talk, but only wanted her to answer questions, not give voice to anything else unless it was to stop the scene. And she didn’t want that.

  She felt the bed dip as he climbed between her legs. She shuddered as his finger slid inside her. She was wet, of course. She was always wet around him.

  Something cool and smooth brushed against her entrance, and she sucked in a breath as a thin dildo slid inside her. It wasn’t nearly as large around as he was, barely larger than his finger, but every nerve in her body was on edge, ready for whatever he had planned. She suspected what it would be, but it wasn’t until he removed the toy from her pussy and spread her cheeks that she knew she was right.

  “I’m going to take your ass tonight, Chastity,” he said quietly. “There will be times when it will hurt, but if you can bear it, I promise you an experience more intense than anything you’ve had before.”

  She nodded, but it was an acknowledgment rather than permission. By not saying her safe word, she gave consent.