Beast

by Cassie-Ann L. Miller

  She’d jumped into her minivan and driven down from Philadelphia when I called her this morning, choking back tears. I usually don’t fall apart in front of my parents. I don’t think I’ve cried in front of them since the day of Lily’s funeral. But today, I kind of just broke down. I don’t know what the hell I’ve accomplished since I moved to New York after law school, and now, I have one man embroiled in a sex scandal that’s gaining international press and the other is obviously responsible for leaking that debacle to the media.

  What a mess!

  No wonder Chess was more than willing to wait when I told him I wasn’t ready to have sex with him. He was having his fill of sex with his top-of-the-line escorts so he didn’t need me to satisfy his desires. And there I was thinking that he was just a gentleman.

  When the news of the scandal hit the airwaves, he spent all of forty-five minutes calling me and leaving me messages, begging me to forgive him and help him weather this storm. When I repeatedly sent his calls to voicemail and ignored his texts, he moved on quickly. Within six hours, he was giving a press conference to apologize for his ‘lapse in judgment’, a docile-looking Asian woman claiming to be his long-time girlfriend standing solemnly at his side. Since then, he’s been too busy managing his PR nightmare to pay me too much mind. His team is scrambling around trying to clean up the debacle, but it’s only a matter of time until his presidential campaign folds.

  And me? I just want to go home. Regroup and get my mind in order. My mom is here to help.

  She comes over to me and wraps me in her arms. I collapse against her, pressing my cheek to her shoulder. “I’m proud of you, y’know.” She whispers it against my hair and I start to cry. I haven’t given her anything to be proud of.

  “Thanks for helping me, mom.”

  She kisses the top of my head, the way she used to when I was a child. She eases out of the hug and smiles at me. “I’ll go start putting some stuff in the car.”

  I return her smile because she’s giving me exactly what I need right now.

  Understanding. No judgment.

  I don’t expect my father to be so kind.

  There’s a loud bang at the door just as she leans down to grab a box. We exchanged a puzzled look as I pad over to the door and peer through the peephole.

  I growl, goosebumps rising along my arms as I throw the door open. “Liam…”

  This is the part where I’m supposed to tell him off, to yell at him and tell him to go to hell.

  But before I can say a word, his large hands cradle my cheeks and his lips plunge into mine. The kiss steals my breath away and my legs go weak. My arms loop around his neck, both to keep myself from falling and to pull him closer. His fingers knot in my hair before his hands travel down my back and cup my ass, squeezing tight. His tongue strokes into my mouth, greedy and aggressive. I moan against his lips, throwing one leg around his waist.

  I faintly register the sound of my mother clearing her throat indiscreetly somewhere behind me. “Hello?” she says. I hastily pull away and spin around in her direction. Ooops. Her quizzical look shifts from me to Liam and back again.

  Liam’s eyes fill with embarrassment. “Hello,” he says taking awkward strides towards her and stretching out his hand for a quick shake. “Liam Cartwright,” he says in introduction.

  My mother’s eyebrow inches up as she peers over his shoulder at me. “Cartwright? As in Cartwright Moretti Stevenson, Cartwright? Your boss?”

  I cringe. This looks really bad. “Liam, this is my mother, Alessandra Santiago.”

  “Pleased to meet you,” Liam says seeming to have somewhat recovered from his dramatic entrance.

  “Mmmhmm,” my mother says giving me a disapproving glare.

  “Mom, why don’t you start bringing some of the boxes to the car,” I say sweetly. I guess I need to deal with Liam sooner or later. It might as well be now.

  She sighs. “Fine.”

  She bends to hike up the box sitting at her feet, but Liam rests a hand on her shoulder to stop her. “Maybe we should wait a while before we start moving the boxes.” He turns to me with a cocked eyebrow and I give him a stone-cold glare.

  My mother grunts as she straightens up, smoothing down her blouse. “There was a jewelry shop that I wanted to visit on Broadway. I think I’ll go do that,” she snarls as she whisks by me.

  When she’s closed the door behind her, I look at Liam and growl. “What are you doing here?”

  He puts his hands on my shoulders. “You’re not leaving, Jasmine.”

  I roll my eyes at him and shrug out of his grasp. “Why should I stay? So we can be ‘friends’?” I draw air-quotes around the word.

  His hands clasp my waist, sliding down over my ass. I try not to like the feel of his hands on my hips, but it’s a battle I’m losing. “No, Jasmine. I can’t just be your friend anymore. I want it all. I need it all.”

  I laugh bitterly. “Now you want me? Now after everything that’s happened?”

  He stares at me with earnest eyes. “I’ve always wanted you. From the moment I first set my eyes on you, from the moment I first heard your voice. I just knew that I was no good for you.” His fingers travel up my back, under the hem of my shirt.

  Why do I already feel my resistance melting?

  I stare up into his face and try to swallow down the emotions rising into my chest. “All you’ve done is hurt me. Why should I trust you now? What’s changed?”

  He drops to his knees in front of me, looking up into my face. “Because now I finally get it. On my own, I’m no good…but when I’m with you…you make me better…your love makes me a man again. Your love heals me.”

  Tears sting at the back of my eyes as he squeezes my body to his, pressing his face to my heart. I melt into the heat of his body and let go. And just for a second, I almost forget that he’s the asshole who broke my heart.

  “I lied. I told myself that I was protecting you by keeping my distance. But now I realize, it was you protecting me all along. When you come around, my demons stay away. Your love is the glue that holds me together.”

  I blow out a sigh. “I can’t forgive you, Liam,” I say trying to wiggle out of his arms.

  He presses a kiss to my breast, on the fabric of my shirt. Then, he kisses my stomach, my ribs, my hip. “You’re not leaving, Jasmine. You’re mine. You always were. I was wrong not to claim you from day one. I should have made you mine from the start.”

  “So much has happened. I can’t just pretend you didn’t hurt me.”

  He rises to his feet and takes my face in his hands. “Try, Jasmine. Take a chance on me. One more time. It’s all I ask. I won’t hurt you again. I swear.”

  I back away from him. This is all so sudden. It’s all so much. For the past two years, I’ve wanted to hear him say just this, but all I’ve gotten was heartache instead and now, right as I’m about to leave…

  “I love you, Jasmine…”

  The bottom drops out of my stomach. There’s something in his eyes that ignites my body, propelling it towards his.

  Fuck it. I want this.

  Our bodies crash together, so eager for the contact.

  His lips are on my mouth, my cheek, my neck. I slide his pants down to the ground just as he unbuttons my skirt, pushing it down my hips. “I love you…” He mutters it again and again over ever inch of my flesh.

  He lifts me off of my feet and I hook my legs around his back as he carries me to the bed. He lies me down and hovers above me. A sob pours out of my throat when he lowers his lips to my ear and whispers, “I’m so sorry that I hurt you.”

  Call me what you like but if I give him my body again, I need his heart in return. I can’t wake up tomorrow and find that he’s left me again. “Promise you won’t leave me this time.”

  “I won’t leave,” he breathes against my neck as he pulls my panties off of my body. “I’m here to stay. Forever. I love you.”

  He kneels on the bed and spreads my legs wide, baring my pussy. The slick,
wet flesh betrays my arousal. I want him and my body isn’t willing to lie.

  “Fuck…” he grumbles.

  He’s drunk off of me. He won’t ever let me go. That’s what he whispers against my ankle and my calf and my knee, the inside of my thigh. And I love every word.

  His warm lips cover my clit and he sucks greedily. Desire swells in my bones. My body keens towards his mouth and he eats me with a passion, as if pleasuring me is his life’s purpose.

  Words begin falling from my lips and I have no control over it. “I’m yours, Liam…this pussy is yours…Eat it. Lick it…Take it.” My back arches as his tongue lashes against my sensitive flesh and my juices slide out onto his tongue, his beard. He’s lost in the moment and I’m a willing prisoner to his lust.

  Just as I’m about to fall into ecstasy, he moves his mouth away. I moan, my body grieving his absence. “I want to be inside of you, Jasmine,” he whispers. “And I want to feel everything.”

  I know exactly what he’s asking. I’ve never given my body to anyone in that way, but when Liam asks, I give in without hesitation. I reach between his legs and guide his stiff shaft into me, hard and raw. He drives himself into me. So hard. Again and again. My pussy pulses around him, squeezing him, sucking him in.

  It doesn’t take long before I’m writhing and crying. He’s pumping into me. He’s throbbing inside of me.

  “I’m coming…” I groan.

  He pants, sweat dotting his brow. “Me too.”

  I spiral headlong into my orgasm. My whole body contracts and the only thing that matters is Liam pulsing inside of me, spurting inside of me. It seems to go on forever and ever.

  When he finally drops onto the sheets beside me, fighting to gain his breath, panic sets in. Oh God – he’s going to leave me again. I can’t take it. I won’t survive this time.

  He seems to read my mind, pulling me close and pressing kisses to my temple. “I’m here, Jasmine. I’m here.”

  My body molds to his and I hold him as tight as I can. His arms are strong and warm around me. I’m still scared. Still scared that he’ll leave. Will I always be afraid that he’ll leave me?

  “How the hell do we get to happily-ever-after from here?” I whisper into the air.

  “I don’t know,” he sighs. Then he kisses me tenderly. “But we don’t need a map. All we need is each other.”

  My heart flutters in my chest. I hope that he’s right. I hope that our love is enough.

  Liam eases off of the bed and finds his pants where they’re lying on the living room floor. He searches in the pocket before retrieving something small and glimmering. He gives me an expectant look as he pads back towards the bed.

  “Liam…” I pant as he drops to his knees at the side of the bed and takes my hand in his.

  “I’ll be honest. I have a lot of healing to do.” His voice cracks, hesitation wrinkling his forehead.

  I reach over, pressing my lips to his. “I’ll be with you every step of the way, my love.”

  His gray eyes twinkle as he slides the emerald-cut diamond onto my finger, finally claiming me as his. I’m crying and grinning when he kisses my knuckles and then holds my palm to his scarred cheek.

  “I’m wild for you, Jasmine. I’d give you my last breath.”

  THE END.

  A Very Eager Intern

  (The Esquire HEAT Series)

  Cassie-Ann L. Miller

  A Very Eager Intern (The Esquire HEAT Series)

  Copyright © 2015 Cassie-Ann L. Miller

  All rights reserved.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents appearing therein are products of the author’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be interpreted as real. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  The author acknowledges the trademarked status of the various products referenced in this work.

  I feel like an absolute idiot.

  As I stare down at the printout of the email I’m gripping in my hand, I decide that I’m way too embarrassed to ask the other interns for help again. By now, they probably all think that I’m a total dud. Just today, I had to ask for directions to the washroom twice.

  Now, here I am, at 7:45 in the evening with this email telling me to immediately report to Liam Cartwright’s office and yet again, I have no idea where the hell that is.

  “We’re taking off, Jazz. Have a good night,” Hailey Lundeen chirps as she hauls her gym bag over her shoulder, moving in the direction of the elevators.

  “Bye, Jasmine. Don’t work too late your first day on the job,” Nadia Chester says with a smirk as she stuffs her sneakers into her oversized purse and follows Hailey.

  Okay – it’s now or never. I have to ask for directions right this minute or spend the next 45 minutes going door-to-door looking for the lawyer that I’ve been assigned to work with this evening.

  “Wait – do you guys know where Liam Cartwright’s office is?” My voice comes out in a desperate, high-pitched squeal.

  The interns stop dead in their tracks. Nadia’s eyebrow shoots up and she tosses Hailey a quizzical look. The expression on Hailey’s face is one of pure surprise.

  “Liam Cartwright?” Hailey asks, taking a step towards me.

  I glance down at the email again. “Yes. Liam Cartwright. I searched the law firm’s website and intranet and I couldn’t even find a photo of him, let alone his office location.”

  Nadia snatches the sheet of paper from me and reads it herself. “Holy shit!”

  These girls are starting to make me nervous.

  “Well, I heard that his office is on the 11th floor. But as far as I know, Liam Cartwright is an urban legend,” Hailey explains, “He works in seclusion. There are lots of rumors about him, but nobody really knows him. Apparently, he’s one of the founders’ sons. He usually works at our Texas office but he’s been here in New York working on a huge renewable energy deal for the past few weeks. I heard he fought in Iraq or Afghanistan and has PTSD or something. He never hangs around people. He never even meets with clients in person. I’ve never seen him, but I heard that his office is up on the 11th floor.” She’s rambling on at a mile a minute.

  My stomach twists into a nervous knot. “Oh,” is all I can say as I swallow past the lump in my throat.

  “I thought that the firm’s archives are stored up on the 11th floor,” Nadia remarks, “I didn’t even know we had offices up there.”

  “From what I heard, Liam’s is the only one,” Hailey informs us.

  Great! Just what I need on the first day of my internship here at Cartwright Moretti Stevenson – working with the boss’s traumatized, reclusive son in some deserted corner of the building.

  Nadia glances at me. “Girl, good luck with that,” she says under her breath, shoving the printed email back in my direction. She tugs Hailey by the elbow. “C’mon, Hailey – we’re gonna be late for our spinning class.”

  “Let me know how it goes, Jazz,” Hailey tosses over her shoulder with a concerned expression on her face as Nadia hauls her off to the elevator.

  Shit!

  My hands tremble nervously as I scoop up my yellow notepad and pen. My knees knock together as I wobble over to the elevator. I hit the call button and the doors open immediately. I’m awarded a few moments of privacy when the doors glide shut. I use the time to stare into the mirrored paneling on the elevator wall and give myself a pep talk.

  “Jasmine Alicia Santiago – you can do this. You’re brilliant, you’re confident, you worked hard to be here,” I mutter as I look into my dark brown eyes. “You’re so charming that you were able to convince HR to hire you even though rumor has it that the firm is going through financial difficulties. You can do this – you can work with Liam Cartwright and you’ll impress his socks off.” I smooth over the fabric of my black, knee-length pencil skirt and adjust the collar of my peach blouse. I feel better, more confident until…

  The doors slide open on t
he 11th floor.

  It’s quiet. Too quiet. The hallway is dimly lit and a bulb flickers overhead. I nearly trip over an empty janitor’s bucket sitting right next to the elevator. There’s not a soul in sight. Only piles and piles of banker’s boxes line the walls and cast shadows throughout. The sound of my three-inch pumps clicking against the dusty floors echoes through the corridor and I swear I saw a mouse scurry behind one of those damn boxes.