Beneath The Lies

by Riann C. Miller

  Gavin is losing his patience with me. I clear my throat but when I find my voice it’s soft, almost a whisper. “There’s a woman in your apartment waiting on you.”

  Gavin’s eyes widen as he glances toward the main door himself. “There’s a woman in my apartment?” he repeats.

  “Yes,” I whisper back, not sure what else—if anything—I should say.

  “Argh, you have got to be fucking kidding me. I’ve told Kiran to stop bringing chicks to my place. Come on.” My breath catches when I understand what he said. That woman was with Kiran, not Gavin?

  Gavin all but drags me up the steps to his second floor apartment, unlocks the door and sure enough, there’s the woman I saw earlier talking to Kiran, but she’s dressed now.

  They both stop and look at us as Gavin storms through the door, his anger apparent. “Kiran, you didn’t mention you were bringing a friend when you asked if you could come over.” A threatening smile crosses over Gavin’s face while I watch Kiran’s guest go from happy to horrified.

  “You don’t live here?” The woman is staring at Kiran with questions in her eyes. “And your name is Kiran? You told me your name was Zach,” she says in a hateful tone.

  Gavin shakes his head, trying to fight back laughter. However, my heart is hurting for her. For a lot of people, sex is just sex and hook ups are sometimes nothing more than a one night stand, but clearly Kiran lied to this woman and, well...that sucks.

  “I um...” Kiran at least looks remorseful, but it does nothing to make this woman feel better. With a sad smile, she grabs her purse and walks to the door, opens it, then walks out without looking back.

  She barely had the door shut when Gavin starts in. “I told you to stop bringing chicks here. If you don’t want them to know where you live then rent a fucking hotel room.”

  Gavin hastily walks off toward the kitchen. I’m trying my best to avoid looking at Kiran because at the moment I find him disgusting.

  Gavin walks back in with a beer in his hand. “Why the fuck do you look upset? I should kick your ass. Kate came up here earlier and that chick opened my fucking door. I found her about to leave and it was clear she thought I had fucked that woman.” Gavin turns and gives me a sharp look. “We’ll discuss that later.” Oh crap.

  He gives me no time to react before he starts in on Kiran again. “I told you before to cut that shit out. To you it’s no big deal but then a week later these chicks knock on my fucking door looking for your ass, and I’m stuck dealing with it.”

  Through all of this Kiran remains quiet. His eyes are fixed on the floor but I see the tension in his shoulders.

  “Sorry, it won’t happen again.” With that he gets up, grabs his keys and leaves. I look back at Gavin and I swallow loudly. His jaw is tense and his eyes are wild.

  “You thought that woman was here with me?” He growls out his question.

  Of course I thought that, but I’m not about to say that to him. At least not right now. “I. Um.” Gavin’s eyes narrow as he repeats his question. “Did you think that woman was here with me?”

  My hands start to shake as I think of something to say to get me out of this mess. “No. Yes. I—I mean...I came here to talk to you about something. When I knocked and she opened the door. She looked like she had just...you know, and then my brain went crazy. Under the circumstances you can’t totally fault me. I mean, if the roles were reversed and you showed up at my place and a half-naked man opened the door what would you think?”

  Gavin’s head jerks before he replies, “I wouldn’t think anything. I would beat the shit out of him and if he’s lucky I’d stop before I killed him.”

  My mouth drops open at his claim. “I wasn’t fucking around when I said that you belong to me and I’m not a damn cheater, Kate. Whether you want it or not, I’m yours and you sure as fuck belong to me.”

  Gavin sounds irritated, but regardless he walks over, picks me up bridal style, and walks me back to his room where he tosses me on his bed.

  My body instantly heats up at the idea of what’s to come. Gavin’s eyes stay focused on mine. “Take your shirt and bra off.” Without pause, I quickly remove both and toss them on the floor. “Now your shorts and panties.” I lift my waist up long enough to push both of them down my legs and then I toss them aside with the others.

  Gavin’s gaze slowly traces my whole body. His teeth are clenched but I think he’s fighting off his hunger for me more than he’s struggling with his anger.

  “I don’t want you to doubt me again. I’m not the kind of guy who’ll stray, but...fuck, even if I was you’d be the woman that would change me.” His eyes drift shut for a moment and when he opens them he’s unable to hide his appetite for me. “I don’t care if a naked woman answers my door. You do not assume I was fucking her. If given the chance, Carly will attempt to fill your head with garbage. The same thing goes for Leeta. And I wasn’t kidding before about woman showing up here looking for Kiran. I haven’t so much as touched another woman since the night I first saw you at The Hill. Now are we clear?”

  I swallow and nod my head in agreement but Gavin doesn’t budge. I clear my throat and softly answer him. “Yes.”

  “Good. Now flip over and put your head on the pillow and your ass in the air.” I didn’t ask why, but I also didn’t hesitate in doing exactly what he asked. This is unlike anything I’ve ever done before. And with my ass up and on display, I feel indecent and dirty, but at the same time...I love it.

  Gavin walks over to his bedside table and removes a condom then walks back to the end of the bed. “Kate.” He all but growls my name. “This is a fucking spectacular view.” Without meaning to, I let out a groan. “Does that turn you on? Me looking at your sexy pink pussy? Because let me tell you it’s making me hard as fuck staring at it.” I’m panting now with need. I feel the bed move then I feel heat coming from Gavin’s body behind mine.

  I’m expecting him to push a finger, maybe even his dick inside of me. Therefore I’m caught completely off guard when he slaps my ass, rather hard. “Ah,” I cry out.

  “Shh. Quiet.” Gavin doesn’t say anything more before he slaps me again. I’m about to tell him to go screw himself when a third slap hits my other ass cheek. After each slap, he softly rubs the area he just spanked. On his fifth slap he moves a little lower and I would be lying if I didn’t admit that felt strange...a good strange, but still strange. I’m aching with need, need for Gavin. I start to whimper as Gavin slams into me from behind.

  The jolt to my system triggers a muffled scream that passes my lips, but Gavin doesn’t slow down or wait for me to mentally catch up. Instead, he starts pounding in and out of me. My mind is still in a haze from everything Gavin has said and done, but I’ve never felt more alive than I do this exact minute.

  “You belong to me, Kate. And I belong to you.” Gavin’s tone is still harsh, almost punishing, but right now all I care about is how he’s making me feel. “You’re never to run away from me again.” I moan some type of agreement but remain focused on the ecstasy my body is feeling.

  The last couple of days I’ve been wound tight with tension and this is exactly what I need. Gavin keeps up his fast, almost punishing thrusts and before long my vision blurs and I start coming on his dick. My release seems to go on and on, but when Gavin feels me relax he tightens his hold on my hips and continues to pound in and out of me until he finds his own release moments later.

  Never once did I see his face or even kiss him the whole time we had sex. I never thought I’d be with a man who would treat me this rough and more importantly, I never expected to enjoy it, but I did probably more than I’m willing to admit.

  When I peer over my shoulder to see what happened to Gavin, I spot him removing the condom. Seconds later the bed dips and I can feel his hand gliding up and down my back. I wait patiently for him to say something, but he waits several minutes before he finally does.

  “I get why your mind would think that girl was here with me. But what I need you to u
nderstand is that will never happen. If you think I have a chick here then you come in and bust my balls. You do not leave. God, Kate.” I immediately roll over when I hear the pain in his voice. I give his hand a light squeeze. “If I hadn’t shown up when I did then there’s a good chance you wouldn’t have believed me when I told you that girl wasn’t here with me. That thought scares the shit out of me. More than it should. Kate...”

  I can see Gavin’s throat move as he swallows. He seems nervous. “I’ve waited a long time to find you and now that I know what it’s like to have you in my life, I’ll do everything humanly possible to keep you. Forever.”

  This is a moment I’ll treasure for the rest of my life. As ridiculous as we might look lying naked on the top of his bed, I know this is the moment I was truly found. The funny thing is, until Gavin came into my life...I didn’t know how lost I truly was.

  Last night, Gavin got up and put a frozen pizza in the oven that the two of us ended up sharing for dinner. Afterwards we went back to his bed and had sex several times where I could see him, touch him, and most importantly...kiss him. What we did not do was talk about why I came over or about what happened afterwards.

  I understand where his anger came from last night. I saw that woman in his apartment and without sticking around to see what was really going on, I assumed the worst, naturally so. Gavin also had a point that had he not came home when he did, I never would have believed Kiran when he claimed the woman was here with him. Those two are extremely close, and I’m sure lying for each other isn’t beneath them.

  I’m not insecure and I don’t have trust issues. I guess what it comes down to is I simply don’t know Gavin as well as I would like to. If I had known him longer, then I probably would have the knowledge that Kiran occasionally brings woman here and I might not have jumped to conclusions. At the same time, we won’t learn everything about each other overnight, which means I need to give him the benefit of the doubt until I have a solid reason not to.

  When I woke moments ago, I was once again alone in Gavin’s bed. When I get up to look for him, I find him working at his computer. “Hey.” Gavin stops whatever he was doing and turns in his chair.

  “Hey yourself. Did you sleep okay?” he asks while his greedy eyes take me in from head to toe.

  “Absolutely. Your bed is amazing.” Without thinking I walk over and climb into his lap. I love the feel of his big, hard body wrapped around me. Gavin brushes his fingers through my hair as I rest my head against his chest. “Last night...you were mad. Is that why you...”

  At my words, he immediately stops his movements. I start to get up, but he wraps his arms around my waist, holding me in place. “Kate, before you act like a victim, I’d like to say I never planned on spanking you until I saw your beautiful ass up in the air. I thought I would give you a quick pop as a reminder never to run from me, but I saw how wet it made you. Fuck, babe, you were soaking wet after that last one.” I can hear Gavin’s heart racing inside his chest as he brings his arm back up and starts playing with my hair.

  “Are you going to argue with me that you didn’t fucking love it?” I’m not sure how to answer him. I did enjoy it, more than I would have guessed possible, but I’m not positive I’m ready to admit that yet.

  “Maybe it wasn’t all that bad,” I say through a frustrated sigh, causing Gavin to laugh. I hop out of his lap and lean against his desk so I can see his face. I might not like the idea of being spanked, but I enjoyed the idea of Gavin letting go and being himself.

  I shake off thoughts about last night. “I actually came over here yesterday to run something by you.”

  “Oh, what’s that?” he casually asks while his eyes go back to raking up and down my body.

  “My father set up an account to pay for my school and living expenses until I graduate. It’s actually the only money I have access to at the moment. I was always under the impression my dad kept the entire amount I would need to graduate, but he didn’t. My dad’s lawyer contacted me to tell me I would be short on money but also gave me a solution.”

  “Okay...what did he say?” I turn up my nose, already hating the idea. “I own ten percent of the stock in my dad’s company. I could sell some or all of it and I would have more than enough to pay my tuition.”

  Gavin’s brows bunch. “You have access to stock but not money?”

  I sigh in frustration, not at Gavin, but from the situation. “Yes. My dad has told me since I was old enough to remember that one day Simple Global Solutions would be my company, however he wanted me to graduate first. His will states that all his assets become mine after I graduate or when I turn twenty-five. But he signed over ten percent of SGS’s stock to me twenty years ago when my parents adopted me. That stock legally became mine when I turned eighteen.”

  “How short are you?” I can tell he’s concerned by the tone he used, which has me hesitating.

  “Kate. How much?”

  I swallow then blurt it out. “Fifty thousand.” Gavin’s eyes go huge.

  “That’s tuition and books for the next three semesters and room and board for almost two years.” My eyes dart around the room. I feel foolish for the need to justify the amount I need. I know it’s ridiculous to feel this way, but I do.

  “According to your lawyer, you can sell this stock and you’ll have enough?”

  “Yes, but here’s my dilemma. If I choose to sell to this one particular company I could sell a lot less because they are offering well over the amount the stock is worth. But they already own stock in the company. That means they must have a reason why they are that determined to buy more, right?”

  I can see a slight scowl form on Gavin’s features. “How much stock do they own now?”

  “I think he said The Jentar Group owns twenty-four percent.” I watch in horror as Gavin goes from concerned to angry in a blink of an eye. His body tightens and his jaw ticks.

  “What?” I softly ask.

  “The Jentar Group?” He practically growls his question at me.

  “Yes? That’s what the email said.”

  Gavin leaves me waiting in suspense as he huffs around before he finally stops moving and drops his bomb. “The Jentar Group is Leeta. I don’t know if she owns the company out right but she has her hands fairly deep in their pockets, either way.”

  “Leeta?” I whisper in shock as chills travel down my arm. How is that possible? During our lunch dates and shopping trips we casually talked about SGS, but never—not even once—did Leeta hint around that she currently owns a large chunk of the company. If anything, the few times she offered to help me out if I needed her to was due to Gavin’s father’s knowledge of the company, not her own.

  I look back up at Gavin as acid starts forming in my stomach. I’m not ready to admit—at least to him—that he might be right. That Leeta could have been using me all along.

  “A few years ago, I saw something with that logo on it in her office. Since then I’ve seen several more papers with that name on it. Whatever you do, do not sell any stock. To anyone.”

  “But—”

  “No. I’m serious. If Leeta is looking for more stock then there’s a reason and if you sell to someone else she’ll go to them and offer a crazy amount then they will sell it to her.”

  I didn’t want to sell my stock in the first place and Gavin is probably right. But if Leeta is connected to The Jentar Group and they’ve been seeking out my stock then I know there’s more to the story.

  Another thought causes me to panic. I have to sell that stock if I want to come up with a way to pay for school. My panic doesn’t go unnoticed by Gavin.

  “Don’t worry about it. I have some money put away that we can use to pay for your school. If things get too tight then you’ll move in here sooner than I planned.”

  My mouth drops open. Gavin already had plans for me to move in? “Don’t look so shocked. How many times do I have to tell you that you’re it for me? We haven’t been together that long plus with Callie I didn’t want
to rush anything, especially since you haven’t had the pleasure of meeting Carly yet. But if this is what needs to be done then I’m okay with speeding up the inevitable.”

  Gavin isn’t saying sweet words to me to make me feel better. I can tell he meant every single word he said by the serious look on his face. If I had known him for a little longer then I could understand why he would think moving in together is acceptable, but the reality is, I’ve known Gavin Loman for little over a month. As that thought travels through my brain, it feels like a lie. Because I feel like I’ve known him forever.

  “I don’t think I can let you spend that kind of money on me. What if—” Gavin closes the distance between us then softly places a hand on each side of my face. “If the roles were reversed would you offer to do the same thing?”

  His dark eyes are staring deep into mine. I want to deny his question, but he’s right. I would do exactly what he’s offering if he needed my help. “Kate, your dad wanted you to finish school and I know he doesn’t want my mother to have your stock. If you sell to anyone that’s exactly what will happen. Let me help you. As far as I’m concerned, we’re a team and that makes what’s mine...yours.”

  My mother use to say that to my dad all the time. Marcus, we’re a team. That means good or bad we stick together. Now I’m a part of my own team with a man that makes me feel things I didn’t know were possible.

  “Okay. We’ll work something out. I’m paid up on my apartment until the end of next month. That gives us almost six weeks before—”

  “I’ll talk to your landlord. I’m sure you signed a lease. Maybe he’ll let you out of it if you move out before the next month begins. That way he has the chance to make double the rent off the same apartment. Either way I’ll take care of everything.”

  “You’re amazing,” I blurt out. And he really is. Gavin is a natural caretaker wrapped up as a sexy bad boy. My words however have embarrassed him. “None of that, with me. If I recall correctly, someone said something like that to me once. I blush when you talk dirty to me and you get embarrassed when I give you a compliment. We’re quite the pair, but I think together we’ll get each other passed our hang-ups.”