Conceited

by T. L Smith

  “Am I going to have to call security?” she asks as we follow him. He kicks open a door, and Darby sits behind a desk. Darby looks to Falcon then to me then back to Falcon.

  “You’ve come to your senses and are back then?” he asks. “But I see you brought someone who shouldn’t be here,” Darby says looking back to me. I stare at the ground, not wanting to be part of this conversation.

  “Fuck,” I hear El say.

  When I look back up, Falcon’s running into the room and charges Darby. He barrels him over, and they slam into the back wall. Fists fly and a scream tears from my mouth. Creed runs past me and gets in-between them separating them.

  “For fuck’s sake.”

  Two guns are pulled and held up to both of them.

  Where the fuck did they come from?

  “Creed,” El says from behind me.

  “No. Sort your shit out, now,” he says not dropping them.

  “Where the fuck did they come from?” Falcon asks him.

  “Your office, dick.”

  Falcon smiles and nods his head. Like he knew they were there to begin with. “Now… sort your fucking shit out before I start shooting.”

  “You wouldn’t,” Darby dares.

  Creed looks to him and raises his eyebrows. “Try me.” He pulls the safety off and both sets of eyes go wide. El stands next to me, her hand gripping my arm as we wait and watch. Darby crosses his arms over his chest as he looks up to Falcon.

  “You didn’t even care that she could have ruined us, not just you but all of us,” Darby says.

  I look at him, shocked as he points at me.

  Falcon looks to me as he answers, “I had it under control, she wouldn’t have.”

  He’s lying, I would have. If I weren’t threatened with my life, I would have within a heartbeat.

  “You didn’t, you were thinking with your dick.”

  “Maybe I was, maybe I wasn’t, but it was still my fucking right to handle the situation.”

  Darby throws up his hands. “I gave you time to handle it. Heaps of time. It’s not my fault you couldn’t fucking put a lid on her.”

  Falcon bypasses Creed and the gun in his hand and manages to hit Darby in the jaw making him stumble backward. Creed pushes him back and presses the gun to his chest, to back him up while my heartrate picks up. I don’t know if he would really shoot him, I would hope not, but I don’t know for sure.

  El’s nails dig in harder to my skin almost making me bleed.

  “Watch how you talk about her.” All eyes now go to him.

  Creed looks at him with surprise, then something clicks in him. Creed looks to me then lowers his guns. “He loves her,” Creed says. He looks past me to El who manages to let go of my arm.

  I look to Falcon waiting for an explanation, and for him to tell him he’s wrong. He doesn’t.

  “You love her?” Darby asks.

  When Falcon doesn’t answer, he continues, “Why didn’t you say something, you fucking idiot.”

  Creed walks past me and takes El with him. Darby turns to me while Falcon stays where he is not moving.

  “You have to understand, this isn’t just a business, Ariel. It’s so much more than that. It’s our life. It’s our legacy. We built it from the ground up, and we made a pact that no one would destroy it. No one.”

  I nod my head. “I didn’t…” I don’t even know what to say. I didn’t know? I didn’t. But I’m sure nothing I say will make a difference anyway.

  Darby waves me off. “I apologize for my part in what happened. And I do hope you will forgive me.” I nod my head. I don’t even know what he did, but I don’t really care to hash it out right now.

  Darby looks back to Falcon. “We cool?”

  He nods his head then Darby leaves, walking straight past me.

  We stand facing each other, not saying a word.

  Words were just flown around, and it’s taking me a moment to process everything. Falcon rubs his face and stands taller as he stares at me. Just as I think he’s going to say something, he walks straight past me, leaving me standing in the office. I follow him down the stairs, grab hold of his shoulders and turn him around. “Why?” I ask him.

  “Why what?” he bites out.

  “Why do you love me?”

  He shakes his head. “I’ll take you back to your car,” is all he responds.

  I don’t push for more, I’m not even sure I can handle anymore today. So I let him take me to my car, where we don’t speak and I don’t ask any more questions.

  He’s usually a man of many words, so when he didn’t answer me, it stays with me all night. My mind goes over everything, every detail that we’ve had together, even the way he would touch me and look at me. There’s no denying he’s made me feel things that no other man has ever made me feel in my life. But the question is, is the good, good enough to take with the bad? Is the bad too much that it overtakes the good? Does it out-rule everything? I can accept what he does for a living, I actually feel quite proud of what they have done. I’m sure it’s almost every man’s dream to own an establishment like the one they own. But it just proves what kind of men they are. My hand rubs down over my face, remembering those steel eyes that will be the death of me, I’m sure.

  “He likes to play games, doesn’t he?” Chad says walking into my room holding a bottle of champagne.

  My head hits my pillow as I look up at my ceiling. “He does.”

  “Play a game on his level, show him you want him. You obviously want him more than whatever has happened between you. So, let it go and go get your man back, and please go get some.”

  I laugh at his words and drink the whole glass. “I do forgive him.”

  “Good,” he says. I stand and Chad slaps my ass. “Go and get your man.”

  29

  Falcon

  How do you tell someone you love them and mean it? I don’t know how to, so I decide not speaking is my best option. I think a part of me has always loved her, probably always will. But the way she looks at me now isn’t how she used to before, she sees me as a monster, and now someone who’s wounded.

  The following night I shave my face, dress in my suit and tell myself to get things back to the way they were because it will be easier if I do. Echo already sent me potential customer information, and now it’s my job to make sure they’re up to what we offer. Scrolling through the information as I walk into the club I stop, bodies are everywhere, but it’s not those bodies I see straight away. No, it’s not the half-naked women dancing as if they’re ready to strip completely, or the men standing close by watching them.

  It’s her.

  She’s standing not far from me, watching me. Turning around and going the other way isn’t something I should do, it’s not something I would usually do. The normal me would go after what I want, and what I want is her.

  She’s perfect. Her hair is short, slick and straight, stopping at her shoulders, her red dress shows those legs that I remember in great detail and she smiles, her lips a deep red. Then she offers me a small wave. I make my way over, coming to a stop right in front of her.

  “Falcon.”

  To grab and kiss her probably wouldn’t be the smartest thing to do. “You look… good.”

  Her eyes wander up and down my body. Just the same way I was doing to her when I walked in. The pieces start to come together. “I’m not meeting anyone, am I?” I say.

  Her hand goes to her hip. “You’re meeting me. Is that okay?” she asks with confidence.

  “You played a game with me?”

  She steps forward and touches my hip with her hand. I look down and see her hand glued to the spot, but I want them to roam everywhere all over me.

  “I played a game, aren’t you happy?” Her eyes sparkle.

  I rub my chin, careful not to grab her and go cave man on her ass, because if there’s anything I want more in this life, it’s her. To give her my last breath would be my honor. Maybe that’s my declaration of love, maybe that’s
how I tell her. But it doesn’t sit right on my tongue, so it stays exactly where it is, afraid she will run away and not look back. I can’t risk losing her again. That I will not do.

  “It doesn’t bother me what you do as long as you aren’t fucking other women.” Her body’s now pressing against mine. I have to think of anything but her gorgeous fucking self, so I don’t grab her and lift her dress in public to fuck her.

  Did she just utter those words? Am I in some kind of fucking trance that I’m not aware of? I thought I’d lost her for good and that it was the end of us. I don’t want her to stop what she does because of me, that would be selfish, because I still do what I love. My work crossed a line with her, though. Will she ever be able to forgive that?

  My eyes look down. “You’re over what happened? You’re over telling the story about the club?” I ask her.

  “It hurt. I’ll probably be scared for life. People just don’t go around kidnapping other people, Falcon.” I nod. Our worlds may be different but she is right. “But, I feel safe with you. And that’s what scares me the most. You make me feel safe when you shouldn’t. I shouldn’t feel protected when I’m around you, it should totally be the complete opposite.”

  “I would never hurt you,” I say brushing a piece of her hair back. And I mean every word of it, I would never do anything to hurt her. Ever.

  “I know, and I know you wouldn’t let me be hurt. It may have taken me a while, but I see that now.” I sigh a heavy breath. I know she isn’t fully there yet, but she’s on her way to turning it around and trusting me.

  “They won’t do anything to you again.”

  She nods. “I know that, too.”

  My finger rubs against her jaw. “If I could take it all away, I would. I would even turn back time so I never saw you again if that would help you.”

  A simple head nod. “I know, but then I wouldn’t have this.” She pushes up against me. “And this is the package I want. People get hurt, some people die, it’s just the way of life. Granted most people don’t get kidnapped from their boyfriend’s work…” she trails off as she raises an eyebrow.

  “It will never happen again.”

  Now both hands touch me, she holds my shirt and looks up at me. A smile edging on her lips. “How about now you kiss me, and tell me you love me.” I look around, despite the noise and over a hundred people here, but it feels like it’s just us in this moment, and I like that. I like it a lot. My lips descend and touch her perfect ones. Taking what I’ve craved for so long, what I’ve been dreaming about for the last month.

  Her mouth opens, our tongues dance, and I feel her grip through my shirt as she grasps on harder, clinging to me. I know I can’t replace her. No other woman has ever had this effect on me, and I never want them to. Giving myself to her as I have is enough. I want to say it’s draining, but it’s also the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done. And I wouldn’t change this for a single minute.

  I pull back to look at her, her lips red and her eyes closed. “How am I meant to pull your hair now?”

  Ariel presses herself against me. “I’ll grow it back, just for you.” She reaches up and wraps her hands around my shoulders, kissing me softly on the lips.

  “Let’s get out of here.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  I slap her ass and she giggles.

  I plan to keep that smile there for the rest of the night.

  If God created women he took extra time with her. Curved her body to perfection, lips and eyes that can bring a god to his knees. That’s how she was created because that’s where I am right now, on my fucking knees, as she hikes her leg over my shoulder showing everything there is to see.

  We left the club and came straight back to mine. She stripped, and our hands couldn’t stop touching each other. Then when I was naked, she pushed me to my knees and left on her red lingerie.

  “I’ve missed your tongue.” She grips my hand and pulls me to her. She has a split in her red G-string and it’s taking everything in me not to lean forward and taste her. “Tell me you’ve missed the taste of me, Falcon. Tell me.”

  I grip her ass, lift her other leg over my shoulder as I pick her up. Her pussy now directly in front of my face as I pin her to the wall. She squeals from the height as her hands touch the roof.

  My tongue slips out and licks between her perfect folds, then up in one swift movement, making sure the return is slow and I can taste all of her.

  She moans loudly, her hands still on the ceiling. “Falcon.” She groans as I taste her again, and again, with my tongue playing its own dance with her pussy. Claiming it, and making it mine. Her hands somewhere in between leave the ceiling and grip my hair, almost tearing it from its roots. When I feel her start to shake, I grip her waist and slide her down my body, my hard cock touching her and excited for what’s to come.

  She looks dreamy, I love the way she looks after she comes. It’s a look I want to keep seeing forever.

  “That was…” Her eyes shudder closed and I step closer, so I’m fully touching her, and slide up just a little, so I can feel her entrance at my cock. Her legs wrap around me, and her hands cling to my shoulders. Sliding in her is like visiting heaven. You know it’s a place you want to stay, but it only happens to those who are deserving.

  How the fuck I got to be deserving I will never know. But I’m so thankful, I am.

  “Tell me,” I say gripping her ass while bouncing her on my cock, slamming into her with each thrust. She closes her eyes. “Open them and tell me.”

  She doesn’t ask what, she knows. Her mouth lands on mine, her kiss feverish, then she lifts up. “I love you, Falcon.”

  I take her mouth, kissing her again. Fucking her like she’s my last meal and I can’t get enough. When she comes I’m not far behind her. Laying her on the bed, her eyes are closed and I snap a photo of her.

  “Look at me.” Her eyes flutter open and I zoom in on her face. She smiles and it’s absolutely perfect. I take the picture then climb in the bed next to her.

  Ariel turns so she can face me. “I do, you know… love you, that is.”

  “I know,” I say pulling her even closer. She lays her head on my shoulder. “Lucky for you, I love you, too.”

  “When did you know?” she asks quietly.

  “I really knew in the office. I couldn’t tell them I loved you, but I should have. The only problem with that was they already knew, they know me better than most people do. But I think a part of me has always loved you.”

  She looks up at me. “I’ve loved you since I was seventeen years old.”

  I smile down at her. “I guess I have some catching up to do then.”

  She giggles, and that’s where we fall asleep.

  Wrapped in each other.

  Fucking perfection.

  If you could watch an angel sleep, would you? Would you jump at the chance and do everything possible not to wake that angel? Even if you knew with every bone in your body you wanted to wake her just so you could see that first look of the day, the one where their first sight of the world is you? That’s my dilemma right now, to wake her or not.

  If I could keep her in this apartment day in, day out, with no outside world interference or people disturbing us, I would. I wonder why it took me so long to see, to see that she was it for me. I knew I wanted her more than I had ever wanted any woman in my life, I just didn’t understand the magnitude of it.

  This is what love is, and I’m now one of those stupid fucking boys who will gush about it, put her first and fuck her every day.

  And no other will have her because she’s mine. Mine.

  I touch her face causing her eyes to flutter open. Those green eyes stare back at me, and it takes my breath away. I’ll marry this woman one day, I have no doubt about that fact at all. This woman will be my forever.

  “Raven.” Her cheeks flush as a slow and steady smile appears on her lips. I can’t help myself as I lean forward and touch them with my own.

  “How long have yo
u been watching me?”

  “As any good stalker would say, a while…” She giggles and shakes her head, sitting up. Her hand rakes through her short hair before she looks back to me. “Mom and Dad want to see you, welcome you into the family officially,” I tell her.

  “I’m already a part of the family, and how would they know what we are already?” I smile she shakes her head.

  “Tracey…” we both say in unison.

  “Come back here now so I can have my breakfast.” Her eyebrows raise. She turns, getting up on her knees while watching me. I reach for her, pulling her body to mine. “I plan to make this a habit, one that’s hard to break.”

  Her hand touches my hair. “Well, we don’t want to disappoint, so we might as well start. You are the most conceited man I’ve ever met, so my expectations are very high.”

  While she pulls her shirt off over her head, the thought rings through my head again. I’ll marry her someday, soon.

  30

  Ariel ‘Raven’

  The last few weeks with Falcon have been some of the best times of my life. I couldn’t be happier—he makes me happy. I didn’t think that it was possible, but he proved me wrong.

  We are at Creed’s house as El is having a barbecue for his birthday. I brought him a gift and Falcon laughed. Walking up the stairs his hand in mine, I wonder what point it was when I realized I could trust him, not in life but with my heart. Falcon’s known as a ladies’ man, he’s slept with plenty of women and is known to have sex to the point of being an addict.

  Shit! I knew this growing up.

  I asked him last week how many women he’s actually slept with. He smiled when he said he stopped counting at over a hundred. I hit him in the arm, to which he leaned over and bit my ear before he whispered, “But only one counts.”