Arrogant

by Drea Blackery

  I blinked, surprised. “You did.”

  Ryland narrowed his eyes. “You're taking up my time here, Beckett—”

  Reaching back in the pile, I picked up another item, blinking when I turned it over.

  “That’s so cute.” I held up the photo of a smiling elderly couple with two young boys. “Who are they?”

  “Housekeeper’s family. From back in San Juan,” Ryland said curtly.

  “Were you close?”

  Ryland didn’t answer, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably. He was so unused to sharing anything with anyone, and it showed.

  It was good to have the upper hand for a change.

  “And the grey-haired man?” I prompted. “He’s working for you now, isn’t he?”

  Ryland looked irritated at my prodding. “That’s Worthy. He was our butler before he came to with me.”

  “Butler? Like with Alfred and Batman?” I grinned. “Did he call you Master Wyatt?”

  “Funny,” Ryland drawled, though his lips tipped at the corners.

  I sifted around the safe again. “What about this?” I picked up a chain link Rolex watch that had stopped ticking.

  Ryland eased a little, leaning his bicep against the edge of a wardrobe. “That, Allie cat, is the first item I stole.”

  My eyes bugged. “But why would you steal? You already have so much money.”

  He studied me with an unreadable expression. “Maybe I like the idea of taking something I’m not allowed to touch.”

  “But a Rolex?” I said doubtfully. “Most people just nick a Snickers bar or something.”

  “I have standards, Allie cat.”

  “I can't believe you just said that with a straight face,” I muttered. “When was this?”

  “Relax, it's also the last time I stole anything. Illegally,” Ryland added. “You remember that watch shop across the mall back in San Juan?”

  “The one with the black cat in the window?”

  “Yep. The shop owner called Theo a piece of shit with too much money and no respect. He was right, but obviously Theo was still pissed. We agreed that I would head over and swap out one of the watches for a counterfeit.”

  “That’s horrible,” I said flatly.

  Ryland shrugged, unrepentant. “Just be grateful we didn’t let Theo burn the shop down. That was his first plan.”

  “I’ll bet,” I muttered. “Are you guys still in touch?”

  Ryland paused. “Theo left,” he finally said. “It’s just us three now, but yeah, we still meet for drinks and shit, if that’s what you mean.”

  I felt sudden a pang of envy.

  I didn’t have many friends myself, and I couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to have people to go through life together with.

  “You guys sound pretty close,” I mumbled, toying with the metal watch which had warmed with my skin.

  “We have to be, with all the bullshit we got up to together.” Ryland folded his arms and looked away. “What about you?” he asked casually. “Anyone you’re close to? A boyfriend?”

  I forced a light shrug. “Unless you count Karin, then nope, I’m all by myself.”

  “Because you’re too busy with your books.” Ryland folded his arms and eyed me smugly. “Pull your nose out of them once in a while, Allie cat. Life’s more fun that way.”

  “Says the CEO who’s working twenty-four-seven.”

  “Dude, that’s called dedication. And I still have my fun, trust me.”

  I bit my lip, recalling the yacht photo where Ryland had been surrounded by models in their bikinis. No prizes for guessing what fun meant.

  “My life isn’t as boring as you think,” I found myself saying.

  “Oh yeah? Name your hobby.”

  “I...read.”

  “Boring. Next.”

  I cleared my throat. “I volunteer on Saturdays.”

  Ryland scowled. “Can you get any more perfect?”

  I scowled right back. “Why does that sound like an insult?”

  “Because it was. Next.”

  “I…” I paused.

  That was it.

  I showed up for work. I got home and showered. I had dinner. I read. I slept.

  Rinse and repeat.

  My realization must have shown on my face, because Ryland gave me another smug smile.

  “Game. Set. Match.”

  I gave him an irritated look. “What about you then, hot shot? What do you do that’s so interesting?”

  Ryland cocked his head, watching me closely. “Easy. I fuck.”

  My throat tightened at his answer, and the way his hot gaze was now lingering on my body.

  “Everyone…” I cleared my throat. “Everyone does that.”

  Ryland leaned in closer, until he was just inches from me, his warm breath fanning my face.

  “But not everyone does it the way I do it.”

  A sudden image flashed into my mind, of Ryland naked and pounding into a moaning woman from the back. A woman who looked suspiciously like me.

  I swallowed, growing hot all of a sudden.

  Growing...wet.

  I’d never thought that one day, I’d be in a closet, flirting with Ryland Wyatt of all people.

  Ryland Wyatt, who wore his arrogant smirk like a second skin, and knew how to demolish me with a single sentence.

  Ryland Wyatt, whose off-guard smile was just a little lopsided, and made my heart give an extra thump.

  Ryland Wyatt, who was currently watching my heated face with a knowing look.

  “How do you do it?” I found myself whispering.

  How do you fuck?

  His gaze sharpened like he’d been waiting for my signal. “Should I show you?” he murmured, advancing on me.

  I licked my lips as I backed up against the wall.

  This was a bad idea.

  I had always been a person who had my guard up, but for some reason, being around Ryland made me forget that.

  It had something to do with his sexual innuendos, and the way he looked at me, like I might as well be naked.

  Ryland cocked his head like a predatory cat, not letting my gaze slip away from his.

  “Do you want me to show you how I fuck, Allie?” he asked again in a murmur. He pressed in closer, until his pelvis met mine where I leaned against the wall.

  His cock was already hard, the bulge impossibly large against my belly.

  I swallowed hard.

  “Yes or no, Allie cat?” Ryland’s heavy-lidded gaze watched me as he rocked his hips forward, languidly rubbing his thick erection against me, seducing me, arousing me.

  My mouth parted, but no sound emerged. I knew he was trying to shock me, to show me that I was completely at his mercy in this space.

  And though I knew I should tell him to stop, the words refused to come.

  Because I liked it.

  I liked the lewd way he was grinding his cock against me, pressing the delicious hardness into my body. I liked how heat was pooling between my legs, and I liked the thought of Ryland touching me there.

  My hand moved before I realized. I reached between us and gave his erection a firm squeeze.

  Ryland groaned.

  Blood rushed in my ears.

  What on earth was I doing? This wasn’t me. Allie Beckett didn’t make out with assholes in closets.

  And yet here I was.

  Here he was.

  Ryland's throat worked furiously, and his gaze dropped to my lips. His expression was tense with lust…and something else.

  Like he was about to do something he knew he shouldn’t, but was going to do it anyway.

  And me?

  I felt scared.

  I knew that something would change irrevocably in the next few minutes, but even so, I couldn't back away.

  Because for the first time in ten years, I was doing something other than running.

  I was making a decision that was all mine, and that decision was to take a risk with Ryland, even if it was just for a
few minutes.

  “Kiss me,” I whispered.

  Ryland growled, pulling me to him and crushing his mouth over mine.

  Shock lanced through my entire body the moment I tasted Allie.

  She was so damned small in my arms, all slight curves and soft skin. Her lemon scent wrapped around me like a fist, reaching deep into my lungs and twisting my chest with something I didn’t recognize.

  Cupping the back of her skull, I angled her mouth against mine, taking her more deeply, roughly, the way I wanted to from the moment I saw her in that exhibition hall. My other hand grabbed her ass, gripping so hard it had to hurt.

  How do you do it?

  I wanted to show her how exactly.

  The way I seduced my women, talking dirty to them and making them wet and wild before I even got their clothes off. The way I fucked them hard, making them scream as they begged me to let them come.

  This wasn’t what was happening.

  I was kissing Allie as if it was my life that depended on it, when it was supposed to be the other way round.

  I shoved Allie back against the wall, my urgent hands roaming across her ass, her waist, squeezing her small, firm breasts. My cock thrust automatically against her and she moaned, digging her short nails into my shoulders. Her head tilted back, letting me take from her as much as I wanted.

  And fuck me, but I wanted.

  Her body fit against mine perfectly, soft curves against hardness. I groaned at her weight in my arms, mindlessly grinding against her before I could stop myself.

  It felt so damned good that it almost hurt, and yet I couldn't get enough. I wanted more of her taste, wanted to be inside her in every way.

  How do you do it?

  This wasn’t how I did it.

  I whispered Allie’s name hoarsely, rubbing my raging erection against her like a fucking schoolboy.

  “Yes,” she gasped, parting her legs to give me access. “Right there.”

  So fucking hot.

  My hands found her hips and I roughly yanked her against me, making her ride the bulge of my erection. I wanted to punish her for her naïveté, for trusting me when all I wanted was to bend her over and fuck her raw.

  Allie only hung on to my neck and wrapped her legs around my waist, and clinging on tighter to me.

  “Goddamn you.” I ground my hips against her again and again, pleasuring my aching cock. “God fucking damn you.”

  Allie moaned again, dropping her head back. I moved to suck on the sensitive skin at her neck, feeling her racing pulse under my lips, while my hand went to unbutton her top.

  I almost ripped it open.

  Allie’s hands left my hair to undo the rest of her buttons herself, spreading her blouse wide.

  And Christ, her bra fastened at the front. A harsh groan escaped me when Allie undid the clasp, baring her breasts for me.

  They were small but firm, tipped with rosy nipples that begged me to suck them.

  Perfect.

  I bent to take one in my mouth, suckling at the stiff bud.

  It tasted so damned good I nearly came right there.

  “Oh yes. Mm…” Allie clutched my head and arched her breast into my mouth. That dragged her pussy against me, sending pleasure shooting through my cock.

  “Shit.”

  I clutched her ass and walked her to the closet island, sitting her down and spreading her legs wide.

  Her white cotton panties were already soaked through.

  Groaning, I ground my erection right against her center, pretending there was nothing between us, pretending it was my cock slipping against her bare pussy.

  Allie gasped, her head falling back in surrender, her lips parted in bliss.

  “Oh, Ryland…”

  I kissed her again, loving the sound of my name on her lips. It reminded me of me, that under the layers of the carefully constructed facade that was Wyatt, I was still there.

  Allie wrapped her legs around my waist, erasing all the distance between us. She began moving on me, rubbing her pussy over and over the bulge of my cock. I could feel the heat through the layers of fabric.

  “Fuck yeah,” I groaned into her mouth. “Use it.”

  Allie didn’t hear me. Her eyes were glazed as she worked her pussy on me, pleasuring herself on my erection.

  “Yes,” she whispered. “Yes.”

  I held on to her ass, jerking my hips, ready to come just like that.

  How do you do it?

  I stayed in control, that’s how.

  I kept my women at arm’s length, that’s how.

  I put on my pants the moment I got my load off and walked away, that’s how.

  And that’s exactly what I was going to do to Allie.

  “Let me fuck you,” I growled in her ear, dry thrusting against her.

  Allie panted, her eyes closed in pleasure.

  Then she licked her lips. “I can’t.”

  “Yeah, you can,” I gritted. “We’re already doing it.”

  To drive my point, I reached down and fondled her clit through her wet panties. She moaned.

  “Let me fuck you,” I rasped again. It was getting too close to begging, but screw that. I needed this.

  She needed this.

  But instead of giving in like I expected, Allie blinked hard several times, trying to clear the lust-haze.

  I stared in disbelief.

  Was she actually trying to resist?

  “Don’t fight this, Allie cat,” I growled. “We both know you’ll be in my bed by the end of the month, so let’s skip the bullshit and get down to it.”

  “I can’t,” she panted, easing away. “This is a bad idea.”

  I begged to differ. This was the best fucking idea I ever had, and I didn’t get why Allie didn’t see it.

  She just stayed stubbornly silent, fighting me even though her arousal was making her tremble in my arms like a wet kitten.

  Our labored breathing was loud in the silence of the closet, a damning echo of how far we’d gone.

  How close I had come to having her.

  I watched in pissed silence as Allie got her bearings and carefully slid off the island.

  She yanked down her skirt and quickly fastened her bra and shirt, as if to protect herself from me.

  My gaze followed her movements hungrily.

  She was right to be scared. She looked so damned fuckable that I was tempted to grab her again, taking it all the way this time.

  My jaw tightened as I subtly adjusted my pants. My cock felt ready to blow at any second.

  This shit wouldn’t happen again. Now that I knew exactly how skittish Allie could get, next time I’d be ready for her.

  Next time, she’d beg me to fuck her.

  And after I did, I would walk away without a backward glance.

  “That was a mistake—” she began.

  “No,” I clipped. “You don't get to run from this, Allie cat. You wanted this.”

  Allie didn't deny it, keeping her eyes downcast as she arranged her wrinkled clothing and hair with stiff fingers.

  I clenched my fists, my breathing coming harder than it was supposed to.

  “Now that we’ve started this, we're going to finish it. This is your first and only warning. You can run all you want, but that will only make me want to hunt you down. And when I catch you again… You won't stand a chance.”

  Allie's fingers twisted and worked themselves into a knot, but she kept her gaze straight at my chest, refusing to look up at me.

  “And the next time you enter my office without my permission,” I said in a low voice, “I'll take it that you want a repeat of what just happened.”

  Allie nodded wordlessly.

  I pushed the door open. “Go.”

  I watched as she fled like her feet were on fire.

  ***

  Every first Saturday morning of the month, I met with the CFO and the Directors of the various departments at the VIP meeting room for a meeting. In those two hours, decisions were made that
steered the course of not only our organization but also the events in the industry and the country.

  I was presently seated at the head of the table in such a meeting, but for the past hour, I'd absorbed jackshit.

  I hadn’t heard Murray's updates on the Beijing development project.

  I hadn't heard Dumont's news on our latest acquisition of Goldstein Land.

  Instead, I found my attention straying towards Allie like a wild dog on a leash.

  It had already been a week, but for some damned reason, I couldn't get her scent out of my head, or the feel of her body in my arms.

  Jerking myself off like a loser didn’t work either.

  Yeah, I’d tried that.

  I wasn’t proud, but damn it, I was desperate.

  For the first two nights after that afternoon, I’d lain in bed and grabbed my cock in my own hand, all the while aware that Allie was sleeping right below me, ten floors down.

  Then I’d looked at her portrait across my bedroom.

  I’d pretended it was her hands pumping my cock, her moans that I heard, her urging me on with “Oh, fuck yeah,” and “That’s it, baby.”

  And I came.

  Again, and again, and again.

  On the third night I just turned the portrait around to face the wall.

  That shit was just making things worse, and it made me feel pathetic as fuck.

  Avoiding Allie wasn’t working either, but it was that, or act like a damned idiot around her.

  Naturally I continued to communicate my instructions to her purely via email, and whenever I passed her desk outside my office, I just kept my gaze straight ahead.

  From my peripheral vision, Allie did the same, but she actually looked like she genuinely didn’t give two shits.

  What happened in my office had made both of us lose our minds, but apparently Allie had no problems ignoring me after that.

  It was fucking San Juan all over again.

  Narrowing my eyes, I spun a pen in my fingers, only half aware of Johnson's droning voice in the background.

  Women had never been an issue for me. They were, in a single word, available, and the fact that my brain and cock had decided to fixate a particular one was disturbing as hell.

  I refused to think that something as corny as Allie making me drop my guards was the cause of this. It had to be something else.

  A dry spell, probably. The last time I’d had a woman was days before meeting Allie, so that put it at over two weeks.