by Raven Dark
“Holy shit.” She grinned.
“Mm.” His lips left a hot trail along her shoulders, along the side of her neck, his bangs tickling her skin. She lifted her hand and threaded fingers through the side of his hair. “Dark enough for you?”
She nodded, too dazed to form words.
“You know how special you are?”
She chuckled. “Your special whore.”
One of his hands stilled on her shoulder. “I’m serious. Tell me you know I don’t mean it.”
The concern made her stomach flutter. “I know, Sir.”
He shifted and the first twinge of pain brought on by too much movement pricked at her back. She winced. He lifted up.
“Hurt?”
“A little.”
“Come here.” He sat up and trailed his warm palms down her back massaging from her shoulders to the slope of her ass.
“Oh my god, that’s wonderful.”
“You did well, today.” He stopped and the mattress shifted as he got up. The heat of his lips caressed her shoulder. Ella turned over just as he dug his phone out of his pants. He ordered a box of chocolate cherries and a cola for her, orange juice for himself.
The door buzzed with their order and when Rock went to answer, Ella took a moment to check her phone for a message from Helen. Nothing. The bubble of worry in her chest dissipated. The doctors had said he was fine and Helen would have called if there was any change.
Rock lay beside her feeding her each delicious cherry then drew her close against him. She ran her hand through the sides of his hair. “You’re the only one I’ve ever wanted to be with you know.”
A crease furrowed his brow. He ran his fingers over her cheek. She tried to reason out what she saw in his eyes but it was gone a moment later and his head swooped down for a kiss.
“You don’t have to say that, girl. I don’t deserve it, but I like hearing it. Go to sleep now. I’ll take you to The Cottage for breakfast in the morning.”
Ella sat up, turning to look at him. “Sir, you don’t make sense. Why would you think you don’t deserve me?”
He cradled her head in his hands. “Sometimes I just think you don’t really know me. If you knew what I am, you wouldn’t want me.”
She narrowed her eyes, not liking the sound of that. “And what are you?”
“I’m not as safe as you think. Life in that trailer park with my father did things to my head.”
The pain, the worry in his eyes nearly undid her. She sighed and snuggled close to him, holding him tight. Her stomach roiled. It scared her to think how bad things were for him as a child. “What brought this on, Sir?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Well, you aren’t your father. You know that and I know that. What anyone else thinks doesn’t matter. I don’t want safe, Rock. I don’t want a nice, sweet man. I want a man with insecurities and baggage, and dreams, and kinky needs. I want you.”
Rock settled her head on his shoulder and nuzzled her hair. “I hope so, girl. ’Cause I got that in spades.”
CHAPTER 9: BRAT
“Damn it.” Ella’s father clapped his cell phone shut as the limo pulled up to Mountain Ridge Orphanage, a huge lot with a sprawling home for disadvantaged youth just outside of Clayton-Moss. The weekend with Rock had gone by way too fast. Dad’s condition had improved, enough to allow him to do minimal work, but doctors still wanted him to be careful not to exert or stress himself.
“What now?” Ella stopped with her hand on the back passenger side door and gave him a worried look. He stowed his phone in the inside pocket of his black suit. “Dad, come on. The silent treatment isn’t getting us anywhere.”
“Let’s just go. I promised the kids I’d visit today.”
“Dad.”
When he still didn’t say anything, she sighed and got out of the car. The gleeful laughter and shouts of kids at play filled the mountain air. One of them waved at her and Ella shielded her eyes from the sun’s glare, waving back.
While her father waited, Helen took out his chair from the trunk and helped him into it, ignoring his usual grumbling.
Admiration for her father washed over her in spite of her lingering annoyance with him. For three years, Clayton Enterprises had funded this orphanage, giving kids a place to live who’d have otherwise ended up shuffled about in the foster system. He’d started the home shortly after his cancer had taken a downward turn, and though he’d said it was to give back to the community, she had the feeling now the venture was his way of making up for the grandchildren he’d never live to see.
Before Helen could start pushing him toward the house, his phone jangled and he opened it.
“Rogers. Yeah, I know. Look, I’m handling the situation. Just calm down. No, he won’t. We’ll figure out something before things get that far. Give—” He cut off, then started again. “I understand. Trust me, we’re not selling out to that snake—”
Once more, he stopped, and then his shoulders sagged.
“Yes, I understand. Thanks, Rogers. It was good doing business with you.”
He hung up without looking at Ella and nodded for Helen to push him toward the house. Empathy tugged at her.
“That was one of the investors, wasn’t it?”
“Yes. Scalder’s been trying to get some of our biggest ones to drop out.”
“Is that what the other call was, too? Another investor?”
He looked away and waved at one of the kids. She sighed. “What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know, but more of them will drop out soon if we don’t do something fast.”
“I’ll talk to Scalder, Dad. He can’t do this. We can’t lose everything to someone like him.”
“Hey, Mr. Clayton.” A tall, reedy boy ambled over, a basketball under one arm. “You wanna referee again today.”
“Hi, Joe. I do, do I?” Ella’s father grinned, face lighting up the way it always did with his kids.
“Yep, ’cause Tony’s cheating and we need to whoop his ass.”
“His what?”
“I mean his butt, sir.”
“Better.” Dad nodded and grabbed the ball from him. Ella couldn’t help chuckling. “All right, get on over there. I’ll be along in a minute.”
“Sir, you shouldn’t be off racing around like that.” Helen put the brakes on his chair.
“Oh, stuff it. I promised I’d spend time with my kids, so I’m going to spend time with them.”
Helen shook her head at Ella, but let the chair go.
“Dad, be careful.” Ella moved to help him across the lot to the court, but he waved her off and wheeled himself after Joe. She dropped her arms. After the close call he’d had, she couldn’t bring herself to take away a rare moment to enjoy himself.
One of the kids scored a basket and high-fived his teammates. Ella put her hands on her hips.
“Damn.”
Helen looked at her. “Miss Clayton?”
“If Scalder gets his hands on Clayton Enterprises, this orphanage will be one of the first things he bulldozes.” She shook her head.
“What will happen to the kids?”
“Oh, they’ll be moved to other cities. Away from all their friends, shuffled into foster homes.”
The older woman’s eyes widened.
“They’ll become part of an overtaxed system that doesn’t have the funds or resources to give them the opportunities they deserve.” Like Rock could have been if he hadn’t gotten out of this town.
Two investors in one day, lost. She’d have to have a talk with Scalder before they lost any more. Watching her father with those kids, laughing and chasing after them like a loving grandpa, she saw the life seep back into him. Life she saw too little of these days. All of this would be gone the minute Scalder had his name on the ledgers. She couldn’t let that happen.
* * * * *
Wednesday morning, Ella closed the door to her dad’s office and glanced outside at the brightening morning. She hadn’t seen Rock since th
e weekend and though he insisted on contact every day, she’d started to grow restless without his touch. But at least it was a warm summer day, which meant very little back pain.
The sudden worry and the way Rock compared himself to his father after their scene still nagged at her, but the opportunity to ask about it hadn’t presented itself. It wasn’t the sort of thing she wanted to talk about on the phone. He hadn’t behaved as if anything bothered him about the scene, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that something they’d done triggered his worries.
Heading for her father’s chair behind the desk, her shoulders tensed as she remembered Scalder sitting there, like the office and Clayton Enterprises were already his.
Ella stalked around the desk, fists clenched. The land developer hadn’t made a move since that day. No threats, no more of the warnings he’d given last time about how much he could find out about her.
No more investors had dropped out, thank God, but in the two days since she’d been to the orphanage, she hadn’t made any progress with her case, either. Scalder found ways to be anywhere but his offices, always managing to duck out just before she would have gotten a hold of him. His secretary always answered his phone, but seemed to have conveniently forgotten how to deliver a message.
Letting out a breath, Ella sat back in the chair, steepling her fingers in front of her as her thoughts whirled. A man like him didn’t give up so easily. Which meant something was coming.
She shook off the thought and took out her laptop, setting it on the desk. No way would she let him ruin her day. She was about to open the computer when someone rapped on the door.
“Come in.”
The door opened and Rock strode in. A warm smile softened his face. “Morning, sweetheart.” He held up a drink carrier with two coffees.
“Rock.” Instantly feeling much lighter, she stood and crossed the room to him while he shut the door. “Waiting for the Mosses?”
He nodded and handed her a coffee, following her to the desk.
“Good, I was just going to check my emails.”
“How’s your father?”
“He’s out of the hospital and feeling better, but he’s stressing. We lost two investors. And Shayla’s pretending she’s an only child.”
A compassionate chuckle left him as he came around to her side and kissed her temple. “I’m sorry, sweetness. Families, huh?”
A message pinged in her inbox. She checked the half a dozen messages. When her gaze caught the bottom message, her blood chilled.
“Shit.”
“What?”
“A message from Scalder.” She drew a breath and opened the message. Her stomach twisted with every word. “Christ.”
“What is it?”
Ella read the message out loud.
“Miss Clayton,
I heard about your father’s heart attack. May I offer my sincerest apologies and wish him well in the days to come.
It has come to my attention that two of your major partners have backed out. I restate my offer to buy you and your father out at full cost and urge you to consider your father’s condition. Meet with me and discuss the transfer of Clayton Enterprises to me.
My best to Mr. Clayton,
J.W. Scalder.”
“Fucking hell,” Rock said. “This is just like him.”
The implications in the letter made her hands clench. He hadn’t threatened her, but what would he do if pushed too far? “Bastard.” She looked at Rock. “You know what he’s doing. He thinks my father’s weakened state means I’ll be more likely to give in. We’re vulnerable and he knows it.”
“I know. I see this in the courtroom all the time. The other guy sees the jugular exposed and goes for the kill.”
“Well, I’m not going to let him win.” Ella slapped the laptop shut and stalked across the room. “I’m going over there and giving him a piece of my mind.”
Scalder’s offices were in New York, but while he was in Clayton-Moss, she’d found out he worked out of an office only ten minutes from Clayton Tower.
“That shark’s playing with the wrong girl.” She reached for the door. She was too angry to notice Rock had followed her until his hand covered hers.
“Oh, no you don’t.”
She spun around. “Rock, back off. I’m not in the mood.”
He took her arms, only a hint of force in his grip, until she looked at him. “Annabella, I’m not playing the Dom card here, but you’re not going over there.” Protectiveness blazed in his eyes and she wrestled down the heat it ignited in her.
“I have to. My father could have died, and all Scalder sees is a way to get me to submit to him. A man like that gets his hands on my father’s company and he’ll tear this city up within a week.”
“I know, but let me handle him.”
“Rock, I’m not some helpless, naive debutant fresh out of business school. I don’t need you to fight my battles.” She twisted free of his hands and flung the door open.
A frustrated growl escaped him and Rock pushed the door shut, keeping one hand on it, while he lay the other on her chest. “It’s not about that. You can’t go head to head with a man like Scalder without cards to play. We need something on him, something to level the playing field.”
Much as she hated to admit it, he was right. Without something concrete to hit Scalder with, he’d back her and her father into a corner. They had too much to lose and Scalder had too much power to be intimidated by either of them without endangering the only thing he cared about—his business.
“Fine, I’ll wait until I have something, but I can’t have Scalder thinking I need a man to bail me out. He’s already seen a lot of people in the company leave just because I’m set to take over.”
“Then let’s go together. We’ll face him as a team, but only when we have something to use against him.”
She opened her mouth and then closed it. The unity in his words melted away her anger. She couldn’t help a smile. Then, just as quickly the smile faded remembering how little luck they’d had over the last week and a half digging up any skeletons in Scalder’s closet.
“Okay, but we have to find something soon, Rock. Before he decides sending me letters and threatening blackmail isn’t enough.”
Rock nodded his agreement and pulled her close.
* * * * *
The weekend crawled in far too slowly. By the time Ella showed up at Rock’s hotel, she was climbing the walls. She’d seen him only to work on the Scalder case, which still went nowhere, no matter how hard they looked for anything they could use on him. Rock refused to do anything more than kiss her on occasion. Every time she saw him, her need mounted and to make matters worse, he reminded her of his rules every day. She wasn’t to so much as stroke her pussy once without his permission.
Ella knocked on the door to his suite licking her lips as anticipation heated her blood. She heard footsteps across the floor, then the door opened. Without a word, Rock turned and walked back to the bathroom. She caught a glimpse of black suit slacks and his powerful back.
“Hello to you too.” She chuckled stepping in and shutting the door.
“You have ten minutes,” he said from inside the washroom. “By the time I’m finished with my shower, I want you naked and on your knees.”
Ella kicked off her shoes before making her way to the couch. “Rock, we’re supposed to go over another batch of Scalder’s files.” She rolled her eyes at the thought of more hours looking over business deals that would likely yield nothing viable for them. “Neither of us will be able to focus if we work in the nude.”
He poked his head around the door frame. “Who said anything about my being in the nude?”
The urge to argue reared up but she kept her mouth shut buying herself time while she opened her laptop bag. He was going to have to work for it.
Feet slapped the area of the floor not carpeted and a moment later, Rock took her wrist. “Annabella.”
The cool authority in his voice snagged
her attention and she looked up. Only a hint of softness showed in his eyes.
“I agreed to set aside one night to work on the case because I know how anxious you are to get Scalder out of Clayton-Moss but only on the condition that we do things my way. Tonight, you’re mine. We’re not equals.”
“I—”
He put his fingertips to her mouth. “That means as of now, what I say goes.”
She clicked her tongue and worked the buttons on her wine-colored blouse loose.
An entire night of trying to focus knowing he was watching her, taking his fill of her, hard and waiting to fuck her the whole time. After making her wait all week, how could he do this to her?
Fingers trembling with anticipation, Ella slipped off the shirt and let the garment drop to the floor. Rock’s eyes danced, smug. He traced her cheek with one finger.
“Good girl.”
His praise made her skin heat and she pushed aside the drugging effect he had on her. When he was this smug she couldn’t let herself be cowed without some fight.
“You have ten minutes, girl.” He sauntered back to the bathroom. Ella jerked off her skirt flinging the garment aside. Rock chuckled.
Tempted as she was to let him come back out of the washroom to find her lounging on the couch with at least her bra and panties on, the warning in his words left no room for doubt. If he didn’t find her on her knees, not a stitch of clothing in sight, she’d spend her night over his knee instead of with him inside her. He’d done it when they were together before, he’d do it again.
By the time Rock came out of the bathroom, freshly shaved and smelling of Old Spice, Ella was in the middle of the floor on her knees, in front of the coffee table with the laptop open. Naked and ready to work, as promised. She’d let her hair spill over her shoulders, wavy after being coiled in the bun all day.
When he saw her, he made a low rumble of approval that went straight to her pussy. “Nice.”
She lifted her eyes to his. Her mouth watered at the sight of him. Faded jeans hung low on his hips, moisture still beaded on his muscled chest and his blue-black hair spiked in front of his eyes. He walked slowly toward her, one of the white hotel towels twisted between his huge fists. Her throat dried as she pictured a whip stretched between them instead.
