Oh fuck.
I thought the alpha would want to have sex again, but he grabbed his pajama pants and pulled them on instead. He held his hand out for me and I gladly took it, needing his support for my weak legs. I wanted him to fuck me again, to feel his thick cock inside my pussy, thrusting into me relentlessly until I was moaning in pleasure. My body ached, craving to feel him once more, buried deep inside.
I gazed up at the man, hoping to let him know that another round would be good with me, but Mr. Cartwright didn’t have the same thought. His jaw clenched as he looked at me and he didn’t ask me to kneel before him again. Instead those words came, slow and deliberate.
“That’s enough for today.”
My heart sank. I might have lost my virginity today and been sore, but I still wanted to feel him inside of me again. Every cell in my body was screaming at me to have him again.
But my opinion didn’t matter. I was merely his slave and he was my master, and if he said that we were done for today, then that was it.
“Go back to your room. I’ll see you tomorrow,” the alpha said before leaving. And then silence. There was no goodnight or mention of looking forward to seeing me tomorrow or anything.
But then again, what did I expect? We had a contract, not a relationship.
The voice in my head spoke then.
Get with it Kitty, it scoffed. Please. You think he’s interested in you? You think he’s going to cuddle until you fall asleep, whispering sweet nothings in your ear? Try again.
The voice was right. Just because Mr. Cartwright asked about my personal life didn’t mean I was special or anything. This wasn’t some rom-com with a meet cute and a happy ending.
The opposite.
He was my Dominant.
And I was his slave, nothing more.
The truth was brutal, but intensely real. So I shook out any other thoughts that could plague my mind and cause me trouble as I headed back to my room. After washing myself again—the third time that day—I changed into a light pink negligee, but didn’t bother putting on underwear, hoping my master might visit me in the middle of the night. I prayed he would.
But even after my exhausting day, sleep just wouldn’t come. The entire day kept playing on a loop in my mind. After all, the changes were dramatic. I’d left my home, gotten onto a private jet, and shown up in the Big Apple with only my purse, pills, and phone.
And then I met a man. Someone huge and handsome, who made me want him.
But again, this isn’t a relationship of equals.
He’s my Master, and I do as told.
But still. Never in my wildest fantasies did I think this life was possible. In fact, even a few days ago, a submissive was a foreign term to me. But here I was, sheltered in the apartment of my Dominant, a man mysterious and foreign, who drew me in with a compelling charisma.
Oh god.
What next?
And slowly, my eyes drifted close, pondering the unknown.
Because there was an obvious answer. I’d stay here for the remainder of the month until Mr. Cartwright was done. And once the contract was over, that was it for me. Wham, bam, thank you ma’am. Money in the bank, and a stilted goodbye.
Because this rodeo is familiar. It was like this with all my foster families, the half-apologies and eyes that couldn’t meet my gaze as they shuttled me back to Children’s Services.
Those people hadn’t wanted me anymore … and in the end, neither would Mr. Cartwright.
Chapter Ten
Connor
Rays of sunlight filled my bedroom and for the first time in a while, I woke up smiling. There was no shrilling alarm clock or phone vibrating nonstop with calls waiting to be answered. Just me, silence, and a beautiful girl in my apartment. Getting laid every day, any time I wanted, definitely improved my mood.
And the fact that Kitty was all mine helped too.
I showered quickly and asked Mara to deliver my breakfast to Kitty’s room. I wanted to have breakfast with the brunette today. Since we’d spent the past few days fucking and playing with each other, we could do something different today.
From what she’d told me, it was clear that Kitty hadn’t experienced much of the world yet. She wasn’t sheltered, it definitely wasn’t that. If anything, the girl had grown up with a raw deal.
So no one taught her how to dream or how to swim through life, and how to enjoy the finer things.
But I intended to.
I walked into Kitty’s room without knocking—after all, it was my apartment and, for the time being, I owned Kitty. She scrambled to her slave position, kneeling on the floor. Our breakfast had been delivered. Two silver domes sat on a small table by the window.
Kitty’s body was barely covered with a nude negligee. As much as I loved seeing her in lingerie, our breakfast and my plans would go to waste if she stayed in that flimsy piece of fabric. If I was fully dressed in jeans and a shirt it only seemed fair that she be covered as well.
“Rise,” I said, deftly grabbing her robe out of the closet and wrapping it around her. “We’ll be having breakfast together today.”
Her giggle made me smile. The girl had that effect on me, making me smile without any effort. Who knew? It’d been a long time since someone this sweet and giving was in my life.
Hands down, Kitty made me happy.
And shit, but it felt good.
“Come on, I’m starving,” was my growl, leading her to the table. I pulled the seat out for her, but she didn’t sit down until after I did. Shyly the girl looked from the food to me. Bacon, sausage, and eggs filled our plates, along with fresh fruit and waffles, but Kitty didn’t take a bite, waiting for me to first. Fine training, but unnecessary this morning.
“Go ahead,” I said, waving to her plate before taking a bite of sausage.
Kitty took small mouthfuls, nibbling on some strawberries and sliced fruit. I looked at her through narrowed eyes. “You should eat more.”
She looked down. “I’m not much of an eater.”
I clucked my tongue and shook my head. “That’s nonsense. You have a breakfast in front of you that’s fit for a king. You should be able to finish it. The eggs are cooked to perfection and the sausage is the best I’ve ever tasted. Even if you don’t like those things, there are homemade waffles and bacon to eat. You’ve barely eaten anything and there are people in the world barely surviving on beans and corn.”
The girl was silent for a moment.
“I know,” came her low voice. “I used to be one of them.”
Oh shit.
Guilt slammed into my chest. I should have remembered, should have realized. “You’re not anymore,” I said in a softer tone. “So finish your breakfast and enjoy it, Kitty.” I reached across the small table and gently held her chin, turning her face to me. “What’s in front of you is yours, Kitty. It’s yours for the taking, all of it.”
Something flashed in her eyes, so quickly that the emotion was gone before I could figure it out. Gently, Kitty pulled away from my touch and simply smiled at me. “Thank you, Mr. Cartwright. You’ve been such a gracious host.”
I nodded. “Finish up and then change. We’re going out today.”
Excitement rippled through her big brown eyes. “Really?”
I nodded, smiling back at her. Her enthusiasm was contagious. “Yes, really. Didn’t you mention you love art? What do you say we pay the Museum of Modern Art a visit?”
Kitty practically shoved an entire waffle in her mouth, she was so eager to go. Between bites, the female started telling me about how she’d read about the greatest artists in history and had dreamed of seeing some Damien Hirst or maybe some Ai Wei Wei, two of her favorites.
It made me happy hearing her talk about something she was so passionate about. She spoke with such fervor that it made me want to listen carefully to every words she had to say.
“I’m sorry,” she said as we finished the last bites of our food. “I’ve just never had anyone to talk to about art.
” Her cheeks turned pink with a blush. “But now I’ve talked your ear off.”
“It’s okay. I like listening to you talk. You’re so enthusiastic about it,” I said, smiling at her.
Kitty started gathering the plates together before realizing she didn’t have anywhere to clean or put them.
“Leave them,” I told her. “The maid will clean up while we’re out. Get dressed and ready and I’ll be back here in fifteen minutes so we can go.”
And when I came back to the room, my eyes were glued to that curvy form. Because Kitty looked absolutely breathtaking in the short green dress she wore. My eyes were roamed those curves as we rode in the car.
“Do I look okay?” she murmured hesitantly, glancing down at her dress. “I wasn’t sure what to wear.”
“The dress fits you well. You look beautiful, Kitty.”
She bit her lip and smiled at the compliment. A rosy color decorated her cheeks and I couldn’t help but find her adorable when she blushed.
When we arrived at the museum, Kitty looked around with wide, hungry eyes. She was as amazed at the gracious loft-like space, pure white and imposing.
“This place is amazing,” she whispered, but even the soft tone held more glee than I’d ever heard from her.
“You don’t have to whisper,” I said. Shouting wasn’t approved of in the museum, of course, but whispering wasn’t quite necessary either.
“Sorry, it’s just…it’s all so beautiful, it felt appropriate,” she said.
I chuckled and led her around, moving from painting to painting as Kitty commented on each one. Museums never appealed to me all that much before, but with Kitty, it was as if I were seeing the paintings in a different light. She talked with such knowledge and passion that I couldn’t help but wonder what she’d been like as a student—if she was as brilliant as she was at this moment.
“How did you do in school?” I asked as we stepped in front of another painting, an abstract one with paint spattered all over the canvas. I had no idea why Kitty stared at it with such awe. It looked like someone just threw paint at it.
“What do you mean?” she asked, her eyes still fixed on the colorful painting. “You mean, how were my grades?”
I nodded.
Kitty shrugged. “I didn’t graduate with honors or anything, but I never failed either. I had some AP classes, but not many. I got A’s and B’s mostly. It was no big deal.”
My eyebrows rose. “No big deal?”
Kitty turned to look at me, her brown eyes glowing under the bright fluorescent lights of the museum. “I studied hard and did my work. I did everything to the best of my ability and graduated. That’s it.”
“What about art?” I asked.
“What about it?”
I tilted my head, looking straight into her eyes and said, “You never took any extra art lessons or joined an art club?”
Kitty sighed, shaking her head ruefully. “I didn’t have time for that. After school, I needed a part-time job so I could save up some for when I cycled out of the foster care system.”
“But not college?”
Her smile was wry and a little sad.
“My future meant renting a livable apartment and surviving for the rest of my life. College is a dream meant for people that aren’t in my situation.”
“Well then, what do you dream about?” I found myself wanting to know everything about this girl in front of me. I wanted to know her hopes and aspirations, her past and what she wanted for her future.
Kitty stepped away, to the next painting, and I followed. Two sorrowful people filled up a giant canvas. Kitty studied the painting before turning to me and answering. And slowly, the girl answered.
“College was way out of my budget from the very beginning. Maybe I could have gotten some scholarships or government help, but it wouldn’t have been enough. And with student loans on top of rent and bills, it was impossible.” She shrugged again and looked at me with an earnest expression. “It’s not something affordable. Not on my salary, anyways.”
But that wasn’t right. This girl was so much more than a foster child with no options. She deserved more. The brunette was sweet and pliant, but with real heart inside. I didn’t want her to just survive life, living paycheck to paycheck while barely getting by.
“It might take longer than you expected and more effort than usual, but trust me, college is worth it,” was my grunt. “You’re investing in yourself.”
“Says the billionaire,” Kitty retorted quickly, shaking her head with a sigh.
But before I could probe more, the girl’s stomach rumbled.
“Sorry,” she gasped, placing a hand over her belly as if to quiet the noise.
Ah, my girl needed to eat. No prob, food was on the way.
“Come on,” I said, leading her out of the museum. I hadn’t realized it was almost lunchtime already. We walked down the block to a nearby diner and after we’d placed our orders, I picked the conversation back up.
“Look, Kitty, I’m not here to promote the importance of education, but I hope that you’ll reconsider going to college.”
“Why?” she asked curiously, tilting that head at me.
I looked straight back into those caramel brown eyes.
“Because, believe it or not, I didn’t reach where I am today without earning a degree,” I said, flashing her an slow smile. “I used to live in a tiny, cramped apartment in Brooklyn, with my mom and younger brothers. My mom worked double shifts as a nurse so that she could put food on the table for my brothers and me. Plus, Tommy is autistic, so the therapy he needed added to the bills. As a result, I worked part-time after school too.”
“Really?” she asked with wide eyes. “It must have been tough.”
Our food arrived bringing with it the scent of French fries and fresh bread from our sandwiches. I took a bite, chewing and swallowing before saying, “I got my degree in business administration at the community college. After getting a job where I took a bunch of risky bets and lots of persistence, the company couldn’t risk losing me.” I took a bit of my BLT, chewing and swallowing before speaking again. “And my family is in a better place now too.”
Kitty nibbled on a fry as she asked, “Did business administration teach you that? The bets and deals?”
I shook my head. “Naw, that was my own drive.”
“So why would I need college then?”
A wry smile slid over my lips. “There are people who have the same net worth as I do or even more, and they didn’t even go to college. But the thing about having a degree is that it’s easier for you to get hired. You have a lot more knowledge of what you’re supposed to do going into a job.”
Kitty seemed to consider my words. “So you got your family out of that situation then.” She said it more like a statement than a question.
I nodded. “I bought my mom a house in the Hamptons. I take care of my brothers, and pay for any treatments my youngest sibling might need.”
“Your mother must be so proud of you,” she said slowly.
“I guess, but she also hates how hard I work,” were my quiet words. “I usually work almost nonstop. It came to a point where it even caused issues with my family.”
“How so?”
No matter how long I studied Kitty, I couldn’t understand what kind of magic this woman had to make me share so much with her. My lips were flapping loose in the wind, spewing dark secrets that no one else knew.
How did she do it to me?
Was it those wide, caramel eyes?
The way she listened, but never judged?
Whatever it was, Kitty brought out a side long hidden, buried in the past. And it felt good, frankly, to let loose. A weight lifted from my chest, helping me breathe.
“My father came back when he found out I was doing well at my job,” was my slow admission.
She gasped. “Out of nowhere? Did your mother take him back? After all that time?”
I nodded and sighed. “Roberta accepted h
im with open arms. She loved the idiot. I guess that’s what love does, it makes you a fool.”
Kitty looked at me curiously. “And then what?”
“I stopped visiting. It just pissed me off. That bastard went missing for fifteen years, and then shit, just like that, he was back? No way. So yeah, I haven’t seen them in a while. I send money, but don’t visit. Not even Thanksgiving or Christmas,” was my careless shrug.
Kitty was quiet for a moment, watching me as I ate, her expression thoughtful. I wanted to ask her what she was thinking, but held my tongue. And after a few minutes of silence, she finally spoke.
“I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, but for someone who was raised jumping from foster home to foster home, it’s not money that makes you wealthy. It’s family.”
She reached for my hand, gently taking it and entwining her fingers through mine. “If I take your advice on college, then I hope you take mine as well. Reach out to your family again. Even if they’ve hurt you.”
My eyes bored into her brown ones. “If your mother came back into your life now, would you let her in?”
“Yes,” she answered with a smile and without missing a beat. “I would. Without hesitation.”
She let go of my hand and returned to her meal, eating it without looking up at me. I watched her, my mind repeating what she’d said. Kitty’s beauty ensnared me completely, but I was finding out that her heart was just as captivating too.
Because no matter how scarred she was by the world, the female still knew how to forgive.
And for a moment, I prayed that her heart knew how to love too.
What in the world?
What was I thinking?
But in my heart of hearts, it was true. Because this girl stirred something within my soul. What, I wasn’t sure. But today, in a museum cafeteria, I’d had a conversation that made me think twice. What were my motivations? What were my reasons? Suddenly, the past seemed inconsequential … and finding my way forwards with this girl at my side was what mattered.
His Filthy Game: A Romance Compilation Page 8
