“Hejazi?” He turned a corner and saw the security man talking into his phone.
“I’m on it, sir.”
“No, you follow her. Not one of your other men. I want you to watch her.”
“She won’t like it,” the man said and lowered his phone.
“I don’t give a shit.” Riley snarled.
“Fine.” Hejazi nodded and moved to the elevator.
“Check in with me a couple of times. I’ll want updates.” Riley felt uneasy with this whole situation. “Hejazi?”
The tall man turned from the elevator as the doors opened. “I’ll protect her, sir.”
Riley got more and more angry with Sophie as the week progressed. She refused to answer his calls or text messages, but she’d finally agreed to let Hejazi keep an eye on things. Through him, Riley knew she was all right and stayed in her apartment.
The following week, she’d agreed to go into the Pantagen offices at the board’s request and let Hejazi drive her in. She worked fourteen hours that day and came home exhausted.
This routine went on for three weeks and Riley felt ready to go crazy, drive over to the business, and kidnap her. The flight out of country could be ready in half an hour. He’d take her to a warm beach somewhere and make love to her until she gave in and returned to him.
Hejazi talked him out of that plan.
Chapter Thirteen
For three weeks, Sophie sat in her old office and helped the board of directors get things up and running. It wasn’t smooth, but they’d found ways to save several companies and worked to piece others together.
She asked Hejazi every day if he’d heard from his computer friend about the trail of money, but there’d been no news.
He drove her every morning, parked in the company’s garage and escorted her to the office. The poor man then spent the rest of the day either sitting in her office or the waiting area outside her office. She felt sorry for him and agreed to let him crash in the evening on her couch. They didn’t talk much, but it did make her feel safer.
She knew Riley tried to reach her by cell phone. Her pocket vibrated every hour or so, but she couldn’t bring herself to look at it. She needed to concentrate on her work and knew if she communicated with him, the wall she’d built to protect herself would tumble and she’d be lost and confused again.
At the end of the fourth week, she sat in the back of the Town car and Hejazi cleared his throat.
“Ma’am, may I ask you a question?”
She looked up and saw his eyes watch her in the review mirror.
“Only if you promise never to call me ma’am again.” She smiled.
He laughed. “I swear it on all that’s holy. Are you planning to speak with Mr. Frost anytime soon?”
She closed the folder she reviewed and looked out the window.
“The only reason I ask, Miss Pantagen, is that Mr. Frost is getting very testy. I’ve been told the people in his office are getting tired of being snapped at. I know it’s none of my business, but he misses you very much.”
She looked back at him. “Do you have a first name?” She saw his eyebrows crease. “If we’re going to talk about Riley, I need to have a first name.”
“My name is Jarrah Salwa Hejazi.”
“What does Jarrah mean?”
“Vessel in the Hejazi language.”
“Well, Jarrah, as soon as things are back to normal or as close as we can get to normal, I’ll call him and we’ll see where we stand.”
“I should not lose hope for you two, then?”
“There is always hope.”
When they pulled into the parking garage, Sophie saw Hejazi put his finger in his ear and swear under his breath.
“Jarrah, I’ve seen you do that a couple of times. What gives?”
He got out of the car and opened her door, offering a hand. “It’s very strange and something I haven’t been able to figure out. Whenever we pull into this parking facility, my ear bud buzzes with feedback. My cell phone also doesn’t work. Out in the driveway there is no problem. The only thing I can figure is there must be some electronics in the lighting that’s causing it.”
They walked toward the building. “What is an ear bud?”
He explained it to her and they reached her office. She went to work and didn’t look up for a couple of hours.
At eleven o’clock, Sophie’s secretary brought her a double espresso and she sat in her chair for a few minutes without looking at her dual computer screens. She opened her bottom drawer and found her cell phone. She turned it on and both message lights blinked. Since Hejazi brought it up on the drive in this morning, she’d thought about Riley. She missed him and couldn’t decide if she still felt angry with him or not.
She pushed the message button and there were fifty-five messages. Looking at the numbers they were all from Riley. The text messages were well over one-hundred.
She listened to the last three messages and he sounded miserable. When she looked at the texts she laughed and almost started to cry. Riley copied some of the pictures her father’s spy had taken of them. He’d put in some of the nicer snaps where they kissed or made gentle love. He’d left the more graphic ones out. Each picture had a comment. He loved her and wanted her back.
The picture that did it for her though was a selfie of his butt that read—Spank me, babe. I’ve been a bad boy.
Sophie sat up and hit her intercom speaker. “Tara, can you come in for a minute.”
The door opened and her secretary stepped in. “Yes, Miss Pantagen. What can I do?”
“I don’t need anything. I’m going to head out early, like now. We’ve worked twenty-one days straight and we saved the Chicago sites. I think we deserve a long weekend. So close up your desk and let’s get out of here.”
“Thank you. That’s great.” The secretary smiled. “I’ll see you on Monday.”
Sophie locked her desk, turned off the computer, and walked out to the waiting area where she crashed into Hejazi.
“Your secretary left. What’s going on?” he said.
“Nothing’s going on. I’m calling it day early. Would you take me over to the condo?”
He straightened and she could see a smile in his eyes. “Certainly, Miss.”
When they were in the car, Sophie sent Riley a text message.
* * * *
Riley sat in a conference room in his law office listening to Edward Martin and two clients ramble on and on. He’d done his part and stated the facts about their business financial standings and left everything else to Edward.
His cell phone vibrated in his pocket and he pulled it out.
The message read—Talk later, the bed is cold. I’m at the condo. Hurry!
When he saw it was from Sophie, he stood up so fast he caused the water glasses on the table to shift. He looked around at his boss, Edward, and the people being represented and they all stared at him.
“Excuse me, I have an emergency.”
He left the room and stood in the hall. His security guard was a few feet away and, after Riley read the message again, he told the man they needed to leave. He moved ahead of the guard and didn’t even stop in his office to get his briefcase.
Hejazi stood at the elevator entrance and had the doors open. When Riley entered his condo he took his jacket off in the kitchen, his shoes came off in the hallway, and he rounded into his bedroom making a dead stop.
Sophie had drawn the curtains closed and tea lights were lit around the room. She sat on her knees on the center of the bed and wore not a stitch of clothing. He saw she’d put the nipple hoops back in and a chain hung attached to the metal. Her engagement ring was back on, too. His cock became hard when he’d read the text message, but now it hurt the blood pulsed inside him. He stripped his clothes off and joined her on the bed. He clasped her hands and kissed the palms.
“Baby, please, forgive me for being such an ass. I’ve tried to figure out where all that came from...”
Sophie put her fi
ngers over his lips and shushed him. “We can talk about that later.”
“No, we need to clear the air or it will just hang over us and I don’t want anything to distract us today.”
He watched as her eyes moved down to her folded hands. “Okay. I just want to know that my past liaisons aren’t going to continue to cause you jealousy. Those days are over.” She looked up at him. “And I want you to be one-hundred percent certain that I took the ring ceremony very seriously. I’m committed to us, Riley.”
He put his hand on her cheek. “I know. As I said, I don’t know why I reacted like I did. I never thought I’d want a committed exclusive relationship. Other women I’ve seen and fucked over the years have never been what I wanted to wake up with and come home to every day.”
He motioned for Sophie to stretch out onto the bed and lay next to her, propped on his elbow. His hand moved over her lips and he wedged his leg between hers.
“Sophie, I’ve never met a woman with so much passion and strength. That first night we were together I kept expecting you to pull the plug on me and then you sat through that meeting with the nipple rings and bullet. I couldn’t believe your tenacity. I think you grabbed me by the balls that day.”
He moved his body over her and felt her legs open for him. With his hips resting on top of hers, Riley looked down on her.
“The way your father hurt you made me angry and scared. Please forgive me.”
She moved up and kissed him. “You know, we don’t say it much, but I do love you,” she whispered.
“I love you, too.” He leaned over and gave her a warm, gentle kiss. He sucked on her tongue and lips. “Hey, I’m not wearing a condom.”
“So?”
He opened his eyes and pulled up. “We haven’t talked about kids.”
“I’m on the pill, Riley. Do you want kids?” she asked.
“Kids are no big deal. I’ve never really thought about it.”
“If you’d rather wait until we talk about it, then get a condom.”
Riley stared down at her for a moment and then lifted his hips and moved his cock into her. Slowly, he lodged himself in her warm channel.
“Riley, you’re moving so slow. You usually enter me like a freight train.”
He smiled. “If you’re not home for good, I want this to last. Are you back?”
She put her hands up into his hair. “I’m back, babe, for good.”
He pulled back and jammed into her hard. “Is that what you’re looking for?”
“Oh, yes.” She arched her back. “I want a lot of that.”
Chapter Fourteen
On Monday morning, after a weekend of passion, chains, vibrators, and whips, they sat at the kitchen table and caught up on the last few weeks. They hadn’t spoken much on Saturday and Sunday, but never left each other’s arms.
Riley held her feet on his lap and between sips of coffee massaged her arch and toes. “Hejazi feels his computer man is really brilliant and can figure out where the money wound up. When I get into the office this morning there will be a meeting with financial and the board members to determine how we want to distribute the money once it’s found. See, I’ve decided to remain positive. It should be more interesting than fussing with my computer.”
“What’s going on with that?”
“There are some folders that won’t open. I’ve been trying to review and touch base with people my father contacted before he left, but certain files won’t open. The I.S. department will get it fixed. It makes me want to toss the whole system out the window.”
Riley laughed. “Are you the only one having the problem?”
“No, it seems to be system wide.”
“Well, on a lighter note.” He moved her foot against his cock. “What plans do you have for tonight?”
“Hmm...let me think. Maybe we should continue where we left off last night? I have a vague memory of you saying you needed to punish me for not answering my phone.”
“Would you be up for a Club Frek visit? I could have a St. Andrew’s cross brought up to the suite.” He arched his eyebrows.
“Sure. I’ve never done the cross facing forward. I’ve still got your cock-ring ready.” She laughed as he tickled her foot. “Stop it. I need to get ready for work.” She pulled her foot off his lap and leaned over to kiss him.
“Almost forgot to tell you. Hejazi called. He won’t be able to drive you in this morning. He’s sending someone named Dale that he trusts very much.”
“I’ll miss seeing Jarrah.” She started up the stairs and turned into the bedroom with Riley behind her.
“Miss him? Should I be jealous?” he asked.
“Mr. Frost, I hope you’re joking.”
“Just checking. If I need to spend more time with your body to be sure to hold your interest, I’ll just have to do it.”
“Really? You’re going to tease me this early in the morning?”
Riley gave her an evil laugh and pinched her butt. He followed her into the bath and reached into the shower to turn on the water. When he turned back around, he watched Sophie slip off her robe and his cock sprang to life again. His breath caught in his throat. He loved her body and could watch her move all day long.
“How come I get the feeling I’m going to be late to work?” she asked and turned to face him. Moving up to him, her hand wrapped around his pulsing cock.
“I promise to have you out the door on time.” Her hand moved up to the base of his penis and tightened. “Babe, remember that discussion we had about obsessive sexual disorder and nymphomania?” He sighed and licked her lips.
“Yes.” Her tongue met his and she moved her hand up and down the hard length.
“We may need to reevaluate that. I’ve never been able to have so many hard-ons in twenty-four hours like I do with you.”
She pulled back. “Are you saying you don’t like it?”
“God, no. I’m totally addicted which is probably obsessive.”
“So am I.” She arched her eyebrows. “In fact, the next time we go to a movie, I plan to play with your cock and distract you like you did to me the last time we went.”
He moved to her and lifted her up so her legs wound around his waist. “Miss Pantagen, are you threatening me with punishment?” He moved into the shower.
“No threats. I just want to give you something to dream about today.”
* * * *
Sophie finished drying her hair and tied it up in a Scrunchy. Riley walked in. He put his phone down on his chest.
“Dale’s waiting downstairs, are you ready?” He looked at her in the mirror.
“I just need shoes and I’m good.” She smiled. Her life changed so much in the last two months and she couldn’t figure out who to thank. For the last few weeks she’d been so angry and focused on her job at Pantagen. Intense anger at her father for killing her brother and trying to destroy Pantagen had raged through her and made her more determined than ever to keep the business running. She’d been angry with Riley for the words he’d said during their argument and upset with herself for letting her strength sap out. She’d wallowed in self-pity and now she needed to focus forward. She still had a lot on her plate with the company, but knew she could bring it back. Once the money was back, she and the board could make it work.
She slipped on a pair of three inch black sandals to go with her black pencil skirt and purple sweater. She grabbed her jacket and left the bedroom.
Riley stood by the elevator with her purse and two briefcases. His and hers.
They rode down and in the lobby could see the Town car waited in the driveway. Riley opened the back door and set her things on the seat. He turned and pulled her into his arms.
Sophie put her fingers into his hair and pulled it tight. “Hey, Mr. Man. How about I call you this morning, say about ten and talk dirty to you?”
“Make it eleven o’clock. I have a meeting at ten and I want to be able to pay attention to you one-hundred percent.” He pulled her tight and licked
her ear. “Make sure your office door is locked. I’ll want your fingers in you pussy,” he whispered.
“Oh, Lord. What did I start?” She met his lips, licked the crease and he opened.
Although it was a quick, flirty kiss, it made Sophie warm and wet. In another minute she’d be ready to go back upstairs.
Riley helped her into the car and closed the door. She looked at him through the window and licked her lips. He grinned and obviously laughed. She felt so glad they’d talked out their anger and enjoyed a sex filled weekend. She was glad to be home.
“Miss Pantagen, are you ready?” the new driver asked. He had short blond hair and wore dark glasses.
“You’re Dale, right?” The man nodded. “Yeah, I’m ready to go.”
The car started to move and she heard a low buzz on her cell phone. She pulled it out and smiled. The text from Riley read, I’m counting the minutes until eleven o’clock.
She wrote back, Me, too. I should have made you wear the cock-ring.
“Ah, Miss? Hejazi said you like a double espresso on your way in. There’s a cup for you in the holder,” the driver said. “He said you sometimes sprinkle in vanilla, so I added a little for you.”
She reached out, picked up the cup and took a sip. “Thank you. It’s usually chocolate, but vanilla’s okay, too.” She saw him continue to watch her in the review and Sophie felt a little uncomfortable. She sipped the coffee a couple more times and thought it tasted a little bitter. She heard something beep and Dale put a phone up to his ear.
“Yes.”
Sophie began to feel dizzy.
“Yes, sir. She drank it. We should be at the airport in about fifteen minutes.”
Sophie felt her eyes start to close and realized she’d been drugged. While she could still think she made sure her cell phone was on and jammed it between the seat cushions. She should call for help, but was going down fast.
PART III: A BLACK DANCE
Chapter Fifteen
A Risky Dance Page 10
