The whole operation was a much larger one that I wasn’t aware of. Massimo promised to get me involved in the bigger things when I was of age. For the time being, I was going to have to prove myself first as a small-time, petty thief. I could still remember how proud I felt when I stole my first bottle of Jack Daniels. Massimo was proud of me too. He gave me two dollars and promised me that he was going to take me with him on a bigger gig. I wanted to do the bigger heists. Rob banks, jewelry stores and the like. All I had to do was be patient and keep doing a good job, Massimo said. In time I was going to get there. I thought I was doing it for my family.
I ran a hand through my hair and tried to calm my nerves. I couldn’t even imagine what my life would look like if we were still in Brooklyn. The moment I had set up C Scape with Hunter and Owen, I arranged for my mother and brother to move here. As the business grew more successful, I had enough money to buy them a house. Brooklyn was left far behind.
If I was still there…if I had never met Hunter or Owen, I would have been in prison by now. Of that I was sure. Massimo had already served his time. Twice. Now he was coming after me to make sure that he got a steady flow of income in the form of forcing me to pay him for his silence. And I had been doing that exactly for the past five years because a clean slate was important to me and the business that we were trying to make successful.
A past like that, being revealed to the media would mean a huge setback for our business. Massimo had proof. He had photographs of the whole gang together. Me as a fourteen year old, fifteen year old, sixteen year old…he had phone call records and proof of money paid to me for my tasks.
The worst was that my big dream had come true. He had once taken me along when he and his pals went to rob a jewelry store. A revelation like that about my past could even mean a police charge. I was a minor at the time, but that would definitely lead to a drop in our share prices. Investors would lose faith in me as a partner in the business. Not to mention that the people of Brunswick would look at me in a very different light.
I had to avoid that at all costs.
Now that Massimo had found me in Brunswick, he wanted more money. He was threatening to reveal everything to the media if I didn’t pay more and more often. How long was I going to keep doing this? How much longer was I going to allow a man from my past rule my present?
I stood up with a jerk from my desk and paced the floor of my office. I had to find a way to stop him. Massimo wasn’t afraid of violence. He was used to it. What he wanted was more money, but he wasn’t going to stop just with a one-time pay-off. He was going to milk me of my success for as long as he could based on the fact that I was guilty about who I used to be and about the things I had done.
He detested the fact that I had broken away from the gang as well as that I had come to my senses and decided to make an honest living for myself. A chance encounter with Hunter and Owen had led to a partnership. They had been the biggest influences in my life and had shown me what an honest friendship can do. Massimo was going to do everything he could to make sure that I didn’t enjoy this new life that I had built for myself and I was going to do everything I could to safeguard it.
The question was where were we going to meet in the middle and what was going to be the consequence of that?
Nobody knew about my past. Not even my mother or brother. Massimo was the only one remaining from the gang, out of prison, a free man…to mess up my life the way he wanted to and he was going to take full advantage of that.
The more successful I was in my own business, the more greedy Massimo got and I would just have to find a way to put a stop to that.
Chapter Seven
Heidi
I shouldn’t have been there at all. I had no reason to be there. If I wanted, I would never have to see Rhett Larkin again, ever. Instead, I had turned up there in the lobby of his office building, with my hands clasped together and eyeing the receptionist.
“Can I help you?” the woman asked politely and I walked closer to her while clearing my throat. What was I even doing there?
“Hi, yes, I was wondering if I could meet with Mr. Larkin. Rhett Larkin,” I told the woman nervously.
“Do you have an appointment…Ms….?” she asked, smiling widely at me.
“Heidi McNeil. No, I don’t have an appointment. You know what, I’ll make an appointment and come back,” I said and started backing away. I had changed my mind. There was no good reason for me to meet him, without making a complete fool of myself.
“Hold on, Ms. McNeil, I’ll just check with Mr. Larkin. I know he has the next hour free, so he might be able to accommodate you,” she said, standing up and picking up the receiver beside her.
“There’s really no need, thanks, I’ll come back,” I pleaded with her while she dialed a number and continued smiling at me.
“There’s a Ms. Heidi McNeil here to see you, sir,” the woman said into the phone. She was too friendly and polite for me to just turn around and walk out of the building. I heard her ping the receiver down and she looked at me.
“You can take the elevator up to the top floor ma’am. Mr. Larkin is waiting for you. His office is the second door on the left,” she said and sat back down on her chair.
“Th…thank you,” I said to her and cursing myself under my breath, I walked towards the elevator. I was inspecting the premises to try and find a door that I might be able to escape out of. This was such a bad idea.
Inside the elevator, I gave myself the once over in the mirrored walls. I had consciously put an extra effort into my appearance. I’d picked out my prettiest yellow, summery dress, matching yellow sandals and had spent some time on my makeup. I tried to go for the effortlessly natural look, but that had taken me more time than expected. I’d left my hair hanging loose, but brushed it at least a hundred times before I left the house. Now I was due to be back at the café in a couple of hours for the afternoon shift.
When I stepped out of the elevator with my heart thudding against my chest, I found Rhett standing at the open door of his office. My cheeks flushed instantly, but I tried to hold his gaze confidently and to also hold my head up. Now that I was here, I had no other choice but to pretend like I knew exactly what I was doing.
He was standing with one hand in the pocket of his tailor made gray pants. He had an impeccably white cotton shirt tucked in, with no tie but smart metal cufflinks at his wrists. He looked different today, or at least he was in different clothes from the last time I saw him. Now he looked more like the billionaire he was famed to be, and I realized that I was slightly intimidated.
“Good morning, Heidi,” he said as I walked up to him.
“Hello Rhett,” I said and came to a stop right in front of him.
“To what do I owe this pleasure?” he asked and stepped aside to make way for me to enter his office.
I stepped in and was pleasantly taken aback by the decor. Rhett Larkin had old school tastes for a man of his age. His office was well designed, replete with ornate wooden furniture and thick Turkish rugs. His curtains were a luxurious red and there were gorgeous framed paintings on every wall. Oil paintings, of landscapes and portraits…that he no doubt had spent a considerable sum of money on. My first impression of Rhett Larkin had been of him being a frivolous, arrogant young man, who drove fast cars and did body shots off women in nightclubs. I had just never pictured him as a polished and sophisticated person who would choose an office like this.
I heard him clear his throat behind me and I whipped around, realizing that I had remained silent in his presence for far too long already.
“Oh, sorry, I was just admiring your office,” I said and Rhett grinned and nodded his head.
“To what do I owe this pleasure, Heidi?” he repeated himself and I gulped. Way to get straight to the point. Clearly, he wasn’t the kind of man who liked to make small talk.
“I just wanted to stop by and return the check to you. It is an unnecessarily large sum of money and I can’t accept this,�
�� I said, hardening my voice. There was a change in our interaction, in that I wasn’t pretending to be as harsh to him as I had been before. But now that I had seen him in person again, I couldn’t get the thought of having his mouth on mine out of my head. The way he had made me feel the previous evening was explosive.
Rhett said nothing, but continued to stare at me. I felt nervous and bare under his gaze and I tucked in some curls behind my ears. I wanted to put my foot down.
“I’m going to have to give it back to you, because I have no idea what you think I’m going to use all of that money for. In fact, it’s quite rude!” I said and met his gaze.
Rhett let out a deep sigh and took a few steps towards me. It felt like my breathing had caught in my throat.
“Then you don’t need to cash it. You didn’t have to come all the way and personally return it to me. Now, tell me the real reason why you’re here, Heidi,” he said.
Chapter Eight
Rhett
She had absolutely no idea how badly I wanted her. Instead, Heidi McNeil just stood there in front of me, looking straight into my eyes with her eyebrows tangled and an embarrassed expression on her face. If I wanted her that day in the café, I wanted her even more now. Her dress was long, fell past her knees but the straps on her shoulders were spaghetti thin and revealed slender curved shoulders that I wanted to sink my teeth into.
“Yes, I suppose I should have just done that,” she said and pursed her lips together. She was being foolish by denying the attraction. We both knew exactly why she was here, it was the same reason I would have gone back to her café that evening if she hadn’t come to me now.
“So, tell me why you’re here, Heidi,” I repeated myself and took a few more steps towards her. I felt like a predator who had found its prey. I wanted to pounce on her and not leave an inch of her body untouched.
“I…I,” Heidi looked away from me and her eyes fell to the floor. I could see spots of bright red on the tops of her cheeks. She was too shy to meet my eyes again.
“I just wanted to let you know that I won’t be using that money,” she said, using all the courage she could find to meet my eyes. I cocked an eyebrow up and smiled at her. We were standing dangerously close to each other now. It would have been very easy for me to just reach out and touch her.
“Well, it’s yours if you need it,” I said and she crossed her eyebrows.
“What gave you the impression that I would want your money, Rhett?” she asked and her nostrils flared. She looked even more attractive when she was annoyed with me. It made me want to tame her. Heidi was absolutely irresistible to me and no woman before had this effect on my body.
“It’s not about my money. I was in your position not long ago. A young guy trying to make my business successful. Consider the five hundred dollars a small donation towards your business. I like to help out people in my community as much as I can,” I said and I watched her as Heidi’s expression changed. I knew I had stumped her. She had no comeback to that. She stood there and licked her lips while I breathed in her scent. I was dying to run my fingers through the tangle of her curls, to feel her breath on my skin.
“Well, alright then. I’ll cash the money if I need it some time. For now, I’m not going to touch it,” she said indignantly and I reached out and placed my hands on her shoulders. I couldn’t resist touching her.
“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to,” I said, in a low, gruff voice because I was trying to keep my desire for Heidi under control. She gulped as she looked up at me. Her green eyes were even wider now and her lips parted. We were both thinking about that kiss and how explosive it had been.
“I won’t,” she said, in a whisper that I nearly didn’t catch.
“Good,” I said, just stalling for time and I used my thumbs to rub the soft flesh of her arms. She had goosebumps and hadn’t looked away from me.
“Heidi, you should know that I want to throw you over my desk and push up your dress so that I can be inside you,” I said the words, because I knew she could see it in my eyes anyway. But unlike the fact that I had expected her to flinch, or yank herself away from me or hurl some choice words at me…Heidi just remained standing where she was, our bodies just an inch apart.
“So, why don’t you?” she said and I felt my heart thud to a sudden stop. I couldn’t believe what she had just said.
My mouth was on hers in a matter of seconds. She wouldn’t have to ask me twice. I pulled her to my chest and wrapped my arms tightly around her waist as I kissed her. My tongue forced itself into her mouth so that I could taste her again. My hands were on her body, feeling the bulge of her breasts, and the smallness of her waist. I was desperate for her, to feel the wetness between her legs and she pressed her hips towards me.
Heidi swayed a little in my arms as we kissed, and she was soft to the touch. Just like I remembered her, just how I dreamt about her the previous night when I helped myself to a release. I wanted to be inside her, but I wanted to kiss her more. We were both moaning and gasping as our mouths sizzled together. I nibbled on her bottom lip gently and I heard her giggle and then pull away from me. We were both panting as we stared at each other in awe. Neither of us could believe that this was actually happening.
“I need you to be bent over my desk,” I said, in a harsh commanding voice and Heidi did what she was told. She slipped away from me and walked over to my desk, right up to the edge and then she turned her head sideways, to indicate to me that she was ready.
I was ready too. I was ready from the moment I laid my eyes on her and now finally my fantasy was coming true.
Chapter Nine
Heidi
I waited with baited breath, with my heart thumping wildly. I was fully dressed still, but soon I heard the sound of Rhett’s belt buckle hit the floor. He was undressing himself. I pressed my eyes closed and bit down on my lip, because I couldn’t wait for a second longer. I wanted him right then. I was facing the wall behind his desk and I gulped.
I heard the crunch of a condom wrapper being opened, and I tried not to think about why he always carried condoms with him. This wasn’t about him, this was about me. For the first time in my life, I was doing something completely irrational. I was living on the edge. Living outside my comfort zone and I was suddenly filled with excitement and anticipation. It felt good to do something on the spur of the moment, especially when I’d already got a taster of what he could do to my body.
My muscles stiffened when I sensed Rhett walking up closer to me. He was taking slow but confident strides and eventually positioned himself behind me.
“I’ve been dreaming about this since yesterday morning,” I heard him say gruffly and the small hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I had been dreaming about this since then too, but I said nothing.
Instead I concentrated on his touch. Rhett had reached out for my waist and his warm large hand was resting there while his other one was slowly lifting the bottom hem of my dress. The smooth fabric glided up my legs, my thighs and then it remained bunched up at my hips. My lace panties were revealed to him and out of nowhere, Rhett smacked it. I winced and bit down on my lip harder. I was gripping the edge of the table with both hands, reveling in the pleasurable pain of being spanked.
His hands dropped down to the back of my knees now and gently he pushed my legs apart. The touch of his coarse fingers on my skin was weakening me. My knees were buckling and there were knots in my belly that had begun to tighten. I wasn’t going to be able to control it for very much longer.
“I want to make sure you’re ready for me,” I heard him say behind me and then his fingers were gliding up the inside of my thighs till he reached that wet throbbing core between them. I gasped when I felt him push aside the flimsy fabric of my panties. His fingers brushed against the wet flesh of my core and I felt my heart shuddering. He was torturing me with the wait. I was ready for him!
Rhett slowly stroked me, just with one finger first and my body quivered. I was gro
wing desperate for him, but it seemed like he wanted me to wait some more. I heard him groan and then with care, he pushed his forefinger inside me. I gasped again as his finger slid in, parting the wet folds of my core. He stroked me deep inside and I cried out. I had no idea that it could feel so good. What was he doing to me?
Rhett’s stroking increased in speed and I was panting, gripping the edge of the table even harder. Soon after, he pushed in another finger while keeping his grip on my waist as tight as before.
“Please, Rhett…please,” I was begging him, hardly even recognizing my voice. It couldn’t be me! It couldn’t be my voice begging this man I didn’t know to make love to me.
“Tell me what you want,” I heard him growl. A dangerous growl, and I continued panting.
“I want you inside me,” I managed to squeak and Rhett slid out both his fingers. I was so close to the edge of orgasming that I was afraid I was going to come already.
He touched my butt, gently feeling my skin and then he grabbed the two cheeks tightly in his hands and pulled me closer to him. I couldn’t bring myself to turn around and look at him. I hadn’t even seen his cock or seen him naked. He was still a complete stranger to me.
But I gasped when I felt the tip of his cock graze my wet hot center. I moaned loudly, just as he slid himself inside me. He was enormous, bigger than anyone else I’d been with before and my body shuddered as it parted my juicy flesh and entered deep inside me. His grip on my waist tightened as he slid out and we both moaned together.
“You are so amazing,” I heard him say in a deep, low whisper and then he drove into me again. I shook and tried to steady myself against the desk, but we were both out of control now. Rhett was thrusting himself into me repeatedly. His motions were quick and deep and every inch of his cock seemed too big for me. It was the most explosive feeling I had ever experienced and I allowed myself to give up to that feeling completely.
Touch Me Page 3
