by Jenika Snow
“If anything he’d be your bitch,” Cora said and grinned. “But seriously, think about it for a second. You want him, despite his douche-bag attitude. He clearly wants you pretty damn badly, enough to dish over that kind of money.” Cora leaned forward. “And you need that money. Honey, you know if I could help out I would.”
Sorcha nodded. “I know, and you’ve already helped me out by getting me that job.” Sorcha smiled, and knew that if not for Cora she didn’t know what she would have done. She had known the other woman since high school, and after Sorcha’s mom died Cora had been the only one that stuck by her side and gave her the strength. With Sorcha’s dad leaving her and her mom when she was a child, and no other family, her mom had been her best friend. Then life came crashing down around her, she found herself in this hell that was meant just for her, and she didn’t know what to do. “I’m afraid that by agreeing to do this with him, that I’m degrading myself.” She glanced at Cora, and felt tears form in her eyes.
“You want him?” Cora asked.
“You know I do, but signing my life away to him makes me no different from everything else he thinks he can buy.”
“I won’t tell you that you should do it, although I think this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, one that will help you get out of all of this.” Cora grabbed her hand and squeezed it. “I see how much you struggle with yourself, trying to get through all of this, and it’s never enough. If you decide you don’t want to do this, you know you can come and stay with me and Tyler.”
Sorcha shook her head. “Your apartment is the same size as mine, and I couldn’t impose on you guys like that.” This was the third time Cora had offered for Sorcha to stay with her, but she couldn’t do that to Cora and her fiancé. They needed their own life, and having Sorcha move in would definitely put a cramp on all of that. She glanced down at her bills, knew that what she was going to do would be like selling her soul to the devil, but she also knew that if she wasn’t contemplating it then she wasn’t going to turn it down. Yeah, she wanted Rian, had fantasized about him, too, and it looked like a solution to her money problems had just been granted. But at what cost?
Chapter Six
Rian stared at Sorcha, feeling amusement and annoyance fill him. He felt this life inside of him at the fact she agreed to be his, to sign the contract and do whatever he said, when he said for the next seven days. But on the heels of that excitement and anticipation was the fact she thought she’d have control. “I may want you because of your resistance and the fact you don’t like my shit and don’t pretend to, but we will get one thing straight right now so there are no preconceived notions going into this.” He sat behind his desk and stared at her. It was Monday morning, and although he had felt this jittery kind of sensation as he headed into work this morning, and felt it grow when he stepped off the elevator, he knew that what he was afraid of was Sorcha not sitting at her desk. But she had been standing there, as if eagerly awaiting his arrival. And then the image of her doing that by his bed … just waiting for him had hardened his cock to the point he could have ravished her right then and there.
She nodded slowly.
“During your time with me things run on my clock, Sorcha, and on my rules. If you want to proceed with this then I want you to know that what I say goes.” He tapped his fingers on his desk, his pinky ring clanking on the wood.
“Well, I have my own rules before I sign anything.”
She was counter offering. He grinned.
“I will not be hurt during my time with you, even if that is what gets you off.”
“In the contract it is stated that I wouldn’t harm you.” He stared at her, letting her understand what he was saying. “But there will be pain, and I guarantee it will please you.”
She shook her head. “I’m not into BDSM.”
“And neither am I. I’m not looking for a submissive woman that will let me tie her up, crane her ass, and put nipple clamps on her. But I won’t lie and say that looking at your ass hasn’t had me thinking of the different ways I could make it red with my hand.”
Her cheeks turned red, and she shifted on the chair. She was getting aroused, whether she admitted that to him or not.
She tightened her jaw, and narrowed her eyes at him. Ah, there was the little spitfire he grew hard over.
“I’ve read the tabloids, heard what those other women claimed you did to them.”
“Many of the things a certain ex-lover said was fabricated, if that is the instance you’re referring to. I don’t hurt women for the sake of getting my rocks off. I didn’t do anything that they were not consenting to, Sorcha.” His anger grew. “Don’t for one moment think that I would ever force myself upon a female, or make her do something she wasn’t comfortable with.” He watched her throat work as she swallowed, and he sensed a bit of her resistance leaving. “These women are angry for what I wouldn’t give them, and because of that they wanted to somehow tarnish my reputation.” He was still angry, and growing more so by the second as he thought of her thinking he would ever hurt a woman. His hands were now tight fists on top of the table.
“I don’t think you’d do anything to a woman that wasn’t willing, and I never implied that.” She was speaking softly, timidly almost, and Rian couldn’t help but get aroused over that as well.
Seeing this strong side of her, and then seconds later this very submissive side had these dual emotions inside of him rising. Yes, he liked to spank, and sometime restrain and blindfold, but he didn’t consider himself a Dom, or that he lived the BDSM lifestyle. He liked what he liked, didn’t want to follow any rules aside from the women were consenting, and if they had enough he stopped.
“I just don’t want to get hurt, and I don’t want to feel less than what I am worth.”
His heart started to beat fast and furiously at those words. Inside he could see a slightly broken female, one that tried so hard to be stronger than everyone else was around her. She was this brick of a woman, yet delicate and fragile like china. Rian found himself standing and moving toward her. He was hard and saw the way she glanced at the way he undoubtedly tented his pants. He stopped a foot from her, looked down, and saw the emotions on her face as if they were his own. Without thinking and just acting on instinct he lifted his hand and cupped her cheek. “I can promise you that you will never be made less than your worth, because in my eyes, and while with me, you are priceless.” Her breath caught, and he stared at her lips. Rian was not a man that handed out chocolates and flowers, or spoke sweet poetry. He said harsh things at times, called it like it was, and if someone fucked with him then he made sure they never did it again. But then he had to just look at Sorcha’s face, hear those soft words from her that seemed almost frightened and sad, distant even, and this human part of him rose. It seemed almost cliché to think of himself that way—his almost human side coming up—but for longer than he could even remember he had lived on autopilot, and he never thought he’d feel any differently.
“What are you doing?” She tried to sound shocked, outraged even, that he was touching her. He could hear it in her voice. But the strongest emotions that made an appearance, the truest, were the arousal, curiosity, and need for more.
He didn’t answer right away, just held the side of her face, and looked at her mouth. She brought her tongue out, ran it along the swell of her bottom lip, and that was when he lost it. He knew he should have had her sign the contract first as he was lowering his head, but he was a slave to his desires, and he wanted Sorcha like he wanted to breathe. Rian kissed her softly at first letting her get used to the pressure of his lips on hers, of his hand tightening on her face. He pulled her closer when she didn’t immediately push him away, and tilted his head to deepen the kiss. She panted against his mouth, but that didn’t stop him from running his tongue along her lips, coaxing her mouth open so he could delve inside. He moved his hand behind her head, gripped the loose strands of her hair, and loved when she involuntarily opened her mouth as she gasped. As he
seized the moment and pushed his tongue inside, this groan left him on its own, as if he had no control over himself or how he felt. But he knew that already, because it seemed when it came to Sorcha he had no self-control at all.
Taking her mouth harder, and more fiercely, he felt this dam open up inside of him, controlling his action, and making it known that she was already his. She had her hands on his biceps, and although he had a dress shirt and suit jacket on he still felt the prick of her nails. It felt exquisite, and he groaned against her mouth in response. “It’s good, Sorcha.” He used his hand in her hair to tilt her head further to the side, delved his tongue deeper in her mouth, and took her like a man possessed.
“Wait,” she said against his lips, but instead of pushing him away she pulled him closer. “We should stop. This isn’t right.”
Yeah, they should, but she was addictive, he was intoxicated with her, and pulling away now seemed wrong on every level. He curled his fingers into her scalp, loved the little sound that came from her, and moved them so she was pressed against the wall. There he pressed his dick against her belly, loved the softness that he was greeted with, and knew that if she didn’t sign that fucking contract he still wouldn’t be able to stay away from her. He ground himself into her like some kind of damn teenager not able to control himself. Kissing her like he was a dying man and she was his last meal, he devoured her, took everything she was willing to give, and knew it wouldn’t be enough. Maybe a small part of him wanted her because she was so resistant to him, because she denied him the stroking of his ego that he got from everyone else? Maybe when he had her—and he would—he’d be sated and get this need out of him? Either way unless he fucked her he’d be itchy with the desire to take her anyway he wanted. And until she willingly gave herself to him he wouldn’t be able to rid himself of this need for her. This one woman could very well turn his controlled fucking world upside down.
The sound of the elevator dinging an arrival had her pushing at his chest with her hands. He looked down at her, saw that her lips were red, swollen, and glossy from their kiss, from his kiss, and his cock jerked forward. He wanted to see another part of her looking the same, another part that was probably wet for him right now.
“That’s probably your first appointment of the day,” she said breathlessly.
Rian should have let her walk away, but instead he leaned into her again, placed his hand on her hip, and moved it down. He stared right in her eyes, watched as her pupils dilated from her lust for him, and when he stopped at the hem of her skirt he swore she stopped breathing altogether. She was wearing a dress, and Rian was glad for the fact he had easy access to any part of her he wanted. He had fucked a lot of women, and although he wasn’t proud to say that to himself, or to know that he could very well be considered a whore by most, right now wasn’t just about fucking Sorcha. It was about her giving him this of her own free will, and because she wanted it, too.
“They can wait,” he said in a low voice only she could hear. He looked into her eyes as he slipped his hand under her dress, moved it higher and higher until he reached the junction between her thighs, and then stilled. “Tell me to touch your pussy.” He didn’t waver from his determination to have Sorcha the one begging him. Again, he knew she should have signed that fucking contract first, because she could very well yell sexual harassment and assault over what he was doing to her. But fuck it all.
There was clear hesitance in her expression, and in the way she held herself so taut and unsure. Oh, he knew she was soaking between her thighs, could practically feel the heat scorch his hand. The pads of his fingers were right up against the tiny, lacy edge of her panties, and it took a lot of damn willpower not to just shove the fabric aside and thrust his fingers into her. A groan left him at that thought. He wouldn’t ask her again, but he would hold his stance, because he knew she wanted this, too. She was stubborn, and he fucking loved that about her.
“Touch me.” She said it so softly that he wasn’t even sure if she had said the words at all. But when she closed her eyes, fluttered them for a second even, he knew she was relinquishing herself in this one moment.
Rian didn’t waste another second. He pushed the material of her panties aside, that soft, delicate fabric that had his balls drawing up tight and the promise of an orgasm within his reach. When he finally touched her pussy, all slick, smooth, hot and wet flesh, he couldn’t stop himself from slamming his free hand on the wall beside her head. He leaned down to bury his face in the crook of her neck. He inhaled deeply, loved that light floral scent of the perfume she wore, and ran his tongue up the length of her throat. He worked his fingers on her pussy lips, moaned at the smoothness of her flesh, and started grinding himself against her. The position was awkward given his hand in the way, but he was getting enough pressure and friction that it was doing the job.
“Tell me you like it.” Of course he didn’t need to hear her say anything, because the way she was working herself on his hand told him enough that she enjoyed it just fine. But he was an arrogant bastard, and he got this sick kind of power knowing that she was doing what he said.
“I like it,” she said breathlessly, and she let her head fall back against the wall. He worked his fingers through her folds, moved them up and down her slit, and then started rubbing her clit back and forth. The thunk that sounded as she let her head fall back against the wall had him feeling even more feverish to have her, but she started pushing at his chest again.
“Wait, Rian.”
Shit, he loved hearing her say his name, but he wanted her screaming it as he fucked her, scratched his back as he pounded his dick in and out of her, and wrapped her legs around his waist.
“I want you, Sorcha,” he said against her neck. “I want my cock in your cunt. I want you in my bed, under me, and giving me everything because you can’t stand this sexual tension between us anymore.” He stroked her faster, harder, and knew she would come within a matter of seconds if he kept it up. But he slowed his actions and felt her dig her fingers into his chest. “I want you to sign that contract because you need me inside of you as much as I need to have my dick in your pussy.”
“Rian. Oh. God.” She started moving her hips back and forth, grinding her pussy on his hand, and he wanted to keep going, wanted her to come all over his fingers. But he stopped, took a step back, and watched as she tried to get control of herself. Fuck, he was hard as steel, and seeing her flushed, panting, and on the verge of getting off was not helping his condition. He lifted his hand so she could see how wet his fingers were because of her, and brought them to his mouth. He sucked the digits clean, and then moved toward her again, grabbed her behind the head, and slammed his mouth on hers. He forced her to taste herself on him, and when she moaned and tried to grab him he moved back again.
He stared at her and then smoothed his hands over his jacket. “Can you please get yourself straightened out and see my first client in.” He was back to being the cold man that he was known for, and although he wanted to heat her up, he also liked seeing the frustration cover her face.
It was the look she wore right now.
She pushed away from the wall, adjusted her dress so it wasn’t hiked up her legs, and narrowed her eyes at him. “You are a sadistic bastard, Rian Hartford.” There was a bite in her voice, but she also had the arousal that still laced it. She breathed out, moved over to her bag she had brought in to the office, and pulled out the folded contract. Sorcha glance down at the papers, and then looked back up at him. She seemed hesitant, but then he saw the acceptance move over her face. “I’m ready to sign it, Rian.”
He stared right in her eyes, felt satisfaction fill him, but didn’t let it show. If she only knew how much he was looking forward to being with her, she would probably be pretty fucking scared, especially with the images of what he wanted do to her filling his head. He leaned against his desk, folded his arms over his chest, and watched her as she set the papers on the table, grabbed a pen, and signed her life away to him
for a full seven days.
Chapter Seven
Three weeks later
The last few weeks consisted of Sorcha rearranging Rian’s schedule so that he’d have a full week free … to spend with her. He’d still have to attend functions outside of the office, but for the next week she would be at his penthouse in the city. She had told Cora her plans, and although her friend had been pushing her slightly toward going with Rian to help with her financial troubles, and to ease her arousal, there was still that hesitant look on her friend’s face. Cora wanted what was best for her, but she was also afraid. Sorcha knew the feeling.
But now she was to be Rian’s for one week, and up until this moment she had just been going through the motions. It was only seven days, nothing really in the grand scheme of things, but still, what would she be required to do? She had to be a fool to sign that damn contract, to not have her own attorney look it over and give her legal advice.
Oh who are you kidding? You don’t have an attorney, nor could you afford one.
But the contract had been cut and dry, with nothing in fine print. The problem was it hadn’t been specific either, just that no harm would come to her. A week was nothing, nothing at all, or at least that was what she kept telling herself. Yes, she wanted to be with him, but she had never thought past him fucking her against the wall in the office. It had been a fantasy, and not something that she ever thought she’d follow through with. He pissed her off daily, was arrogant, occasionally egotistical, and a cocky bastard on more than one occasion. She now sat in the limousine that Rian had sent for her, and to say she was nervous was an understatement.
The bag she had in her lap held everything she’d need for her stay with him, although she didn’t have any designer dresses. What she did have would have to do if he wanted her to go to a party for business with him. The hard grip she had on the handle dug into the skin of her palm, causing the already-sweaty flesh to chafe. For the millionth time she asked herself if she was actually going through with this. Obviously it was a rhetorical question because she was already in the car, but she was so damn nervous, scared, and also a little excited. Rian lived in a penthouse looking over Central Park, and living in such wealth was probably going to take some getting used to. There was also this very strong part of her that knew what she was agreeing to was wrong on every moral level. But despite the money being offered, the fact he had already paid her in full, and she had been able to pay off the mountain of bills she owed, Sorcha knew that she had sold every part of her to Rian.
