Red Consumed

by Allyson Lindt

  Red Consumed

  Subscribe, Live, Love Book 2

  Allyson Lindt

  This book is a work of fiction.

  While reference might be made to actual historical events or existing locations, the names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2018 by Allyson Lindt

  All Rights Reserved

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.

  Manufactured in the United States of America

  Acelette Press

  Table of Contents

  Copyright Page

  Red Consumed (Subscribe, Live, Love, #2)

  Blurb

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  THE END

  Also By Allyson Lindt

  About the Author

  For my eternal dragon

  Blurb

  PARKER MADE IT THROUGH the first couple of months in the Rinslet Streaming competition, but he’s got several more elimination rounds before the final round. He’s not complaining about the rush of a new city every few days, though. Especially when he’s spending it with Fiona, riding the high of a new relationship.

  Even better, the sex is good. Really good.

  Okay, so she’s pursuing a new contract, and that ties up a lot of her time. No big deal, as long as he gets to see her after hours.

  And there’s the fact she still holds a torch for Wyatt—the asshole who was willing to sacrifice her career for his own. Oh, and who also happens to be in almost every city they visit, since he works for the company Fiona is pitching.

  But Parker knows Fiona is his. He’s okay with her exploring, especially when he’s a part of it. As long as they remember Wyatt was willing to sell them out before, and Wyatt and Fiona don’t get caught, and none of it costs Fiona her company, or Parker his contest chances.

  Worst of all, no one had better fall in love with someone new.

  CHAPTER ONE

  WYATT WASN’T SURPRISED to see Parker standing next to Fiona, in the restaurant lobby. That didn’t mean he was interested in hearing the sappy details of how the two of them finally climbed over the baggage that composed their past, to end up in a place where they were comfortable holding hands in public.

  Fiona glared at Wyatt, her jaw set and a storm of irritation raging in her green eyes. “No.” She spat the word out. “If you want to talk to me, you call me, like a normal person.”

  Fuck, she looked incredible. Even when she pointed that kind of venom at him, his body reacted without his permission, flames of need licking across his skin.

  “If I’d done that, would you have taken my call?” Wyatt expected hostility. He wasn’t sure how raw and open she’d be about it, but given he lied about not being her competition for a career-making contract—his career, specifically—seduced her, and literally fucked her while her best friend watched...

  Her reaction was tame, all things considered.

  She shook her head. “And you definitely don’t set up a bullshit meeting, complete with a bullshit offer, to drag me into a public place and ambush me. Fuck you.”

  Inside the restaurant dining room, more heads turned toward them as her voice rose. He didn’t mind the confrontation, but spilling the details for the world to hear wasn’t on his list of ways this should go down.

  “The meeting is sincere, the offer is real, and I didn’t set this up.” He kept his tone even and professional.

  Parker gave a barking laugh. “Right. Because your company randomly decided they needed this app that happened to be created by the woman you were fucking.”

  He looked good too. Wyatt hated to admit that. He was pretty sure that, if Fiona was his Achilles Heel, Parker was the arrow that would kill him. Parker’s demeanor had changed on camera in the past week. The dark shadows under his eyes faded, and his smile reached his eyes again.

  He didn’t talk about Fiona in his videos anymore, but Wyatt would bet money the shift coincided with her being back in his life.

  “I don’t suspect the decision was random, but it wasn’t mine.” Wyatt turned a pointed gaze on Parker. “Why are you here?”

  “You expected me to come alone?” Fiona asked.

  “Too easy.” The innuendo slipped out before Wyatt could stop it, and it summoned images of how enticing she looked when she climaxed.

  She clenched her jaw. “Don’t.” At least she’d lowered her voice enough the diners weren’t watching them anymore.

  “Fine.” He needed to yield somewhere, or this conversation wouldn’t get them anywhere. “I hoped you’d leave the guard dog home. The two of you together are impossible.” He hid a wince, as the confession slipped out. Impossible in the most tantalizing way, but only if they weren’t pissed off at him.

  Parker’s smile was thin. “Tough shit.”

  Wyatt kept his focus on Fiona. “Can we be seated and talk?”

  “No.” She clipped off the response. “In fact, we—as in you and us—aren’t doing anything. We—as in Parker and I—are leaving.” She spun on her toe and pushed outside, Parker next to her, his arm around her waist.

  Wyatt followed, a few feet back. “The offer is sincere. There really is a business proposal on the table.” If she wasn’t interested in talking about what happened between them, that was fine. He wasn’t going to let her throw away a real opportunity, because of him. Especially since he tried to destroy her last one.

  Fiona and Parker paused, and Parker turned. “So... she sucks you off, and she can have the contract?”

  “Fuck you.” God, this was getting old.

  Parker smirked. “Not with a stolen dick.”

  “Is this a business meeting, or a playground fight?” Wyatt struggled to hide his frustration.

  Fiona turned to meet his gaze again. “You tell me.”

  “That’s what I’m trying to do.”

  “I’m listening.” She crossed her arms, pressing her breasts together and giving him a perfect view of the way her shirt hugged her torso. His attention drifted lower before he could stop it. She let out a tiny growl that did nothing to curb his sneaking arousal, and jammed her hands in her pockets.

  He forced himself to look her in the eye. “The company is evaluating apps like yours. They found you without any input from me. The department making the purchasing decision doesn’t have anything to do with me, beyond our offices being in the same building. If you go through this proposal process, I won’t be involved.”

  “Then why are you here?” Parker asked.

  “I saw Fiona’s name on a budget request and called in a favor with the eva
luating director. That’s the one-hundred-percent, honest-to-God truth.”

  Fiona studied him, eyes narrowed and lips pursed. The deep furrow in Parker’s brow and the way he clenched and unclenched his fist implied he was considering making good on the standing threat to deck Wyatt next time they met.

  Fiona crossed the distance between them in a few quick strides, grabbed the lapels of Wyatt’s jacket, and crushed her mouth to his.

  His shock didn’t stop his dick from hardening in an instant. Fuck, he missed this—her smooth lips, her faint scent, the tiny gasps she made when she was lost in the moment.

  Wyatt reached out to pull her closer, and she stepped out of his grip. She slapped his hand away, and the sound echoed through the parking lot, while the sting rang through his wrist. He was glad she didn’t do that to his face.

  He pasted on a mask and removed all emotion from his voice. “Feel better?”

  “Getting there.”

  “Can we talk now?”

  “Business, yes. Everything else is off the table.” Fiona matched his tone.

  Wyatt was happy to make that concession for now. She could have walked away the moment she saw him. Asked to reschedule with the Draxon. Not kissed Wyatt. Told him forget it—she wasn’t doing business with any company associated with him.

  Instead, despite giving him grief, she was still here. And the way her kiss lingered on his lips, she wasn’t completely Parker’s.

  Wyatt strode back to the restaurant entrance with them and held open the door. He wasn’t sure what he hoped to accomplish, and going into this without a full-blown plan bothered him. He saw the bond between Parker and Fiona, and it was strong. One of those lust-, time-, and reason-defying connections.

  And if anyone could sever it, he could.

  PARKER HAD TO PRESS his legs into his chair, to keep his knee from bouncing. The adrenaline racing through him ebbed slowly, leaving the gnawing in his stomach and prickling sensation under his skin.

  He had half an ear on the conversation between Fiona and Wyatt. Enough to know it was actually business. The rest of his attention slid around the chaos living in his head.

  The elation of making it to the next round of the competition.

  The smug assurance every time Fiona squeezed his hand, which was muted by the scrape behind his ribs at the memory of watching her kiss Wyatt.

  And the jealousy.

  He expected that when it came to Fiona. Just because they were together didn’t mean they’d worked past all their issues. But there was a twinge at knowing Wyatt was only here for her, and disappointed to see Parker, that was fucking with his head.

  “We need to know you can handle that kind of stress and load,” Wyatt said.

  “As long as I get the appropriate warning, we’re prepared for any size data package.” Fiona’s reply was smooth and professional.

  Parker wanted to think it was his overactive imagination, hearing innuendo in a large part of what Wyatt and Fiona said, but he had a feeling they knew what they were saying. Underneath the entire exchange though, was the reality that this could be big for Fiona and Nick. Game-changer kind of stuff for their app. Parker wasn’t going to ruin that for her.

  They finished lunch and the meeting and strolled outside.

  Wyatt shook Fiona’s hand. “One of my colleagues will be in touch.”

  “Will you?” she asked. Her voice was devoid of emotion.

  Parker didn’t hate hearing the question as much as he expected to.

  Wyatt smirked. “I planned on it.”

  Parker wasn’t opposed to that either, which he didn’t understand at all.

  “You need to call. I won’t be so kind next time about being ambushed.” There was no teasing in Fiona’s voice. No room for negotiation.

  Ambivalence raced through Parker, as he and Fiona walked away. “You can’t do this with him if you’re going to do business with this company,” he said.

  They wove through small groups of people, wandering around the outdoor mall.

  “I’m not doing anything.” The edge from telling Wyatt off was still in her voice. “And I know how to conduct myself with a client.”

  The last thing Parker wanted to do was turn this into an argument. “That’s not what I meant.” Sun warmed his face but didn’t sear away the questions with no answers.

  “It is, but I get it. Asking about him being in touch was a warning, not an offer.”

  So Parker was reading too much into things. “I’m still trying to figure out how this works.” He kept the apology in his tone. It was easy in theory to accept that she was with him because she chose to be, even if she still had feelings for Wyatt. Seeing her deal with those feelings would take some adjusting. “I’m sorry.”

  “Me too. To both.” She slipped her hand into his and pressed closer, resting her shoulder on his head as they walked down the street. “Let me make it up to you?”

  The sugar and seduction in her voice turned his irritation to desire. “This is on him, not you. But if you had something in mind...”

  “I’m sure we could come up with something you’d enjoy.” She rested enough weight against him to steer him toward a shadowed alcove between shops. When they were out of the flow of traffic, she leaned back against the brick, watching him with her bottom lip caught between her teeth.

  The playful smirk erased the negatives of the afternoon. He dipped his head to brush his lips over hers. “I enjoy a lot of things.”

  “Pick a couple. Or more.” She hooked a finger in his waistband and tugged him closer.

  Every inch of his body lit up like a live wire, as he pressed against her. The chatter of foot traffic drifted from a few feet away. A tiny whisper echoed in the back of his head, asking why sex with Fiona was tamer when Wyatt wasn’t around.

  She slid her hand lower, tracing the outline of his erection through his jeans and drawing him from semi-hard to painfully so.

  He gripped her wrist and pulled her away from his cock, then grabbed her other hand and pinned her arms above her head. The giggle-squeal that tore from her throat was gasoline on the flames licking through his veins. He crushed his mouth to hers, devouring her groans and loving the way she ground her hip against his dick.

  She was incredible, and he wasn’t going to overanalyze things because she was playful and aggressive.

  He nipped a line of bites up the side of her neck, to her ear. “You make me think you want to be pinned to the wall right now and fucked.”

  “It’s tempting, isn’t it?” Her soft question fell across his cheek.

  Christ, it was. She was going to be the death of him. Or at least, a couple of days in jail for indecent exposure. And it would be worth it.

  He glided his free hand under her shirt, using his body to block them from the view of casual passers-by. He cupped one breast and squeezed, as he dragged a thumb over her bra and the nipple underneath.

  Her gasp rocketed through him. “More.” Her plea was breathy.

  He caught her earlobe between his teeth. “More what?”

  “Finger-fuck me. Here. Please?”

  The teasing, her recklessness—were they because they’d just walked away from Wyatt?

  That was jealousy trying to rear its head again. Parker and Fiona hadn’t been a couple long enough for him to have a feeling for the ebb and flow her moods when it came to sex.

  And God damn it, if her words didn’t unravel his control.

  CHAPTER TWO

  FIONA DIDN’T LIKE HUMILIATION without warning. She didn’t like that seeing Wyatt bypassed her reason and overrode common sense. She really didn’t like that she had someone amazing, and was risking him and everything they shared because she couldn’t keep herself in check.

  Parker teased his fingers under her jeans, while he devoured her moans.

  She liked this. Feeling Parker. Falling into him. The thrill that came from what they were doing. The way he stood shielded them from anyone walking by, but only if people weren’t paying atten
tion.

  He unhooked the button on her pants and dropped his hand under the lace of her panties. He lowered his head to her neck, to bite into the tender flesh where it met her shoulder. A fresh mark for a fresh day.

  She gasped and arched her back, needing to get closer to his touch.

  He skated his fingers along her folds, slipping easily over her skin but not dipping between. Each new touch pushed away more of her confusion, replacing the thoughts with heady clouds.

  The first few times she begged him for this teasing and playing in public, he spent too much time asking if she was sure.

  There was no hesitation now—a lot of drawing things out and making her whimper. Her hips thrust toward his touch, and she strained against his grip on her wrists. Voices drifted in and out as people passed by a few feet away, unaware.

  The pulse between her thighs grew stronger.

  “Please?” She begged again.

  His chuckle rumbled against her skin, and he dragged his mouth to a new spot on her shoulder. “I don’t know...”

  She loved this. The play. The risk. The lingering feeling of Wyatt’s kiss under Parker’s.

  She shook the last thought away and focused more on Parker’s touch. Need raced across her skin. Her senses danced with sparks of desire.

  When he finally brushed over her clit, a mewl escaped her throat.

  He raised his head to meet her gaze, diving into her soul. “Fuck, I love that sound.” His voice was rough—delicious sandpaper gliding over tender nerves.

  He pressed harder, tracing tiny circles around her sex. She’d already been close. The banter and tension at lunch were more tantalizing than she wanted to admit.

  She tumbled into Parker’s familiar touch. He knew how much weight to dig in and the right angle to use, and as she ground against his hand, orgasm flowed over her.

  He didn’t ease up until she broke from his grasp and grabbed his wrist. She watched his face as she pulled him free. Adoration and lust stared back at her from clear blue eyes.

  Fiona sucked his fingers clean one at a time, enjoying his expression as much as the taste of herself on his skin.