by Stella Rhys
“Possibly. Why?”
“Well, I just showed that space to two other clients today and I’m pretty confident their applications will get chosen over yours,” he said, still grinning as if he weren’t being kind of rude. “I mean these guys – these guys have a great reputation in retail, so I can’t imagine them losing the lease to a newcomer like yourself.”
“How do you know I’m a newcomer?” I narrowed my eyes.
“You reek of being brand, spankin’ new,” Aiden said as I immediately looked around for a cab. I couldn’t peg what the bad feeling was that I got from this guy but I had no interest in finding out. He laughed when he recognized what I was doing. “Don’t get mad, it’s a good thing. You come off as pretty and pure. In fact, that might be your only advantage when it comes to landing this lease. My applicants are men. You’re a pretty girl. I’m sure there are things you could do to get your way.”
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up as I shot daggers. “Why are you speaking to me?” I demanded.
“You know why, Lia.”
I stopped in my tracks despite the fact that he wasn’t wrong. I had figured it out a couple seconds ago. He was a realtor. He was six feet tall. He had sandy blonde hair, just as Lukas described. I’d been thrown off for a second because his name was Aiden but then I realized that with most, he went by his last name – Cameron.
“I actually don’t know why,” I said between my teeth as we stood across from each other on a busy corner. “I know you want something from Lukas, Cam. But I honestly can’t imagine what you want from me.”
“No?” Cam stared down my front. “Well, first and foremost, I’d like to fuck you.”
Pig. I turned to leave. The breath hitched in my throat when he grabbed my wrist.
“Did I say I was done talking?”
“I’m done listening.”
“Calm down, sweetheart. As pretty as I think your lips would look wrapped around my dick, I’ve actually got bigger priorities. If you’re down to fuck me so that I float your lease application to the top of the pile, I’ll gladly take it, but since I sense you’re a bit too much of a priss for that, I’ve got another offer for you.”
“Let go of me,” I ground out.
“Not till I convey to you that I’ll fucking ruin you if you don’t talk to your boyfriend and change his mind about some business between us. Don’t worry your pretty little head about what that business is – he’ll know what I’m talking about.”
“I know what you’re talking about, idiot, he told me all about the contract you signed without reading thoroughly,” I said, taking pleasure in the red that flushed Cam’s cheeks. His eyes were unblinking, on fire as he fought to regain his composure.
“Feisty girl. No wonder he’s been fucking you so long,” he sneered, wetting his lips. “If that pussy’s as tight as that tongue is sharp then – ”
“Fuck off,” I hissed, yanking my wrist from his grip. I felt my hand pulse with numbness as I paced past a group of tourists and into the street, hailing a cab.
“You’re brand new, Lia Pope,” Cam called from the sidewalk. “I might not be able to shut your boyfriend down, but you? I don’t even have to be in real estate to crush you, sweetheart,” he said jovially, his every word spiking the beat of my heart. I glanced hastily over my shoulder to find him still standing on the sidewalk, grinning wide, arms stretched out as if shouting a declaration of love. “Come on, beautiful! I’m rich! I have connections and you’re fuckin’ nobody. I know you know that, Lia!”
He was still shouting after me as I got into the cab.
“Change his mind, sweetheart. With those tits and that mouth, I know you can!” he shouted, laughing hard as my car peeled off.
30
LIA
The sound of a spoon stirring in a glass bowl never failed to calm me down. Under normal circumstances, a panoramic penthouse view of Downtown Manhattan as I stirred that bowl would be enough to coax me into a meditative state, I’m sure, but there were extenuating circumstances tonight.
Aiden Cameron, also known as Cam – the same Cam who had terrorized Lukas and his business for months, who had taken advantage of poor Tess since she was a teenager – had just tracked me down six hours ago, stopped me on the street and threatened me. And while it was in my nature to tell myself things were not as big a deal as I’d perceived it, there was no way I was letting my apologetic nature convince me of that this time. What happened today was in fact crazy and concerning, and the light bruise on my wrist was just another reminder.
Surprisingly though, I was mentally fine.
I was calm. It helped that after the situation happened, I had to throw myself into gathering the paperwork for my lease application. I had the distraction of Sara running around like a chicken without a head, alternating between anxious and elated about the possibility of my new store. With her help, I managed to get my application in within hours of seeing the retail space. We even had time for a round of celebratory drinks.
But at the bar, I didn’t tell her what happened.
She’d freak out and insist we go to the police and I didn’t have the brainpower to deal with that. I needed to keep my inexplicable calm. My brain had struck a perfect but fragile balance of juggling work craziness and relationship craziness, and I couldn’t afford a new drama to tip that scale. Between waiting on the word for the lease, booking time at the commercial kitchen and hiring hands to help me fill my first large order for distribution, I was suddenly at the edge of my sanity.
But at that edge, I was standing on steady feet.
I was fine and I could easily stay that way. I just needed everyone to stay calm.
“What are we making?”
I heard Lukas’s voice ring out from behind me, in the hallway. I turned to see him walking toward me, knotting a white towel under his hips. I smiled. “Nothing fancy. Just making some vinaigrette for the salad right now.”
He grinned, drawing his eyes up my black maxi dress before grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge. After opening it and taking a swig, he circled his arms around me from behind. “I could get used to this,” he murmured, kissing my neck. I giggled but upon looking back down into my bowl, my smile faded.
I couldn’t enjoy Lukas fully till I told him what happened with Cam this afternoon.
I had convinced myself briefly that it was okay not to tell him, especially considering my need to focus and be calm for the coming week of work. But the new side of me – the bolder, louder side that had no time for bullshit – knew it wasn’t safe to keep this kind of secret. Telling Lukas was hard, yes, but I had confidence in myself that I could reel him in – that I could stop him from flying off the handles.
So as I prepared dinner, watching Lukas walk all around the huge, beautiful house in just a towel, I tried to figure out how to say everything without sounding too casual or too alarmist. I decided my best bet was to have a normal conversation first, then ease into my bombshell. And it was easy at first, considering the events of my day even before meeting Cam. It wasn’t hard to sound genuinely excited while telling the story of the retail space in the boutique hotel because I really was.
“That’s fucking awesome, baby,” Lukas said, pulling my chair over to his at the end of the dining table. Like he had at the diner, he pulled my legs onto his lap. “I know you’re going to do amazing things. You’ve got as much brains as you’ve got beauty – which is a pretty fucking astronomical amount,” he laughed, kissing my lips, “so I’m excited to see what you do. I have no doubt you’ll make this brand into something big within the year.”
“Me too,” I said quietly, with a small smile.
“You don’t seem as excited as I’d expect.”
“Well, I don’t know if I got the lease yet,” I said. But I quickly winced at myself because while it was a valid point, it was still an excuse. I knew the reason I was in a tense mood and I had to just say it already. “Lukas, I need to tell you something.”
Hea
ring the severity in my voice, he looked up at me. Upon catching the look on my face, he set his fork down and turned his body to me. “I do too,” he murmured. “But you go first.”
I drew in a deep breath. “First things first, I need you to listen to every word I say before you react, okay?”
Lukas paused, his expression quickly darkening. “Okay.”
I took his hand. “I also want you to know that I’m perfectly fine and I extracted myself from the situation pretty quickly, but what happened is that after seeing the retail space today, I ran into Cam.” My heart beat fast again when I saw the blood drain from Lukas’s face. “He stopped me in the street and at first I didn’t know who he was, but I was suspicious from the start. And when I figured out who he is, he went from being hostile and condescending to full-on threatening. He talked about everything from my business to my body – stop.” I yanked Lukas down when he jerked to get up. “Listen to me,” I said firmly. “I’m fine, Lukas, remember that. I just didn’t want to lie to you about what happened today and let things snowball into madness, so please don’t punish me for telling you. Now can I go on?”
Lukas’s teeth stayed clenched together as he answered. “Yes. Go on.”
“Thank you,” I said, closing my eyes and letting out a breath. “I asked what he wanted from me and he basically said that he wanted me to change your mind about the buyout contract. He said that if I didn’t, he’d ruin me. That I’m not like your company – I’m too small and too new and he could crush me because he’s rich and connected and all that jazz. And honestly, I don’t know if he can or not, but I – ” I stopped talking when I saw Lukas’s eyes vacate. “Are you there?”
“Did he touch you?”
My heart pounded in my ears as I considered lying. I probably should’ve. Because the second I answered, “Yes,” my ears were assaulted with the scraping of chair legs on hardwood. I yelped as Lukas’s chair went crashing backwards to the floor, his legs moving so fast to the door that I nearly fell trying to catch up with him.
“Lukas, stop!” I shouted, tugging on his arm as he paced toward the elevator. “Stop it! Where the hell are you going?”
“I’m going to kill him.”
His nonchalance chilled me. “No. You’re not, and I mean it. If you care about me, Lukas, stop and look at me now,” I demanded hotly, relieved but still panting hard when Lukas stopped and turned to face me. But he wasn’t all there and it scared me. “Lukas,” I gripped two handfuls of shirt and held on with every ounce of my strength. “Breathe. Okay? I’m not going to let you beat the shit out of him and wind up in jail. I don’t care if you stay one night or ten, I won’t be able to handle it and I promise you, if you walk out that door, you will never see me again,” I hissed, surprised by my own words. But I meant every one of them and Lukas could tell because I could see the priority shift in his eyes, and I could hear both the fire and ice in his voice as he spoke to me.
“Come again?”
I dared to let go of his shirt. “I said if you walk out that door I’ll walk out, too, and whatever we have right now, it’ll become just a memory for us both,” I said, still breathing hard. “Because I can’t take another crazy thing happening, Lukas. I’m not wired this way. I can’t absorb all this drama at once and carry on like it’s nothing. It affects me and my heart and I’m in the most important week of my career, so I’m begging you, be calm for me because if you’re not, I will leave.”
I could see the flames behind his green eyes as they fixed on me. “You’re not going anywhere,” he said, closing the gap between us with one step. “You’re mine.”
“Then don’t you dare go anywhere, Lukas. Show me that I’m yours,” I challenged. “Prove it to me.”
“Take your clothes off.”
I didn’t hesitate. The windows surrounding us stretched from floor to ceiling, but I didn’t think twice. Pushing the cotton straps off my shoulders, I let my maxi dress fall like a curtain off my body. Lukas let out a rumble as his eyes slid all over my body in just a black lace bra and panties.
“Go upstairs.”
I watched him as I walked toward the stairs, still wary of him running off to get into some kind of trouble. But his eyes locked on mine like magnets, and his stare was nothing short of electric as he watched me ascend the staircase slowly, waiting for him to follow. My body relaxed once he was walking behind me, and when he gave me another instruction, I was more than eager to follow.
“Take your panties off slowly,” Lukas said, two steps below me. “Slowly,” he reminded me. “Just like that… show me your ass. Beautiful fucking ass,” he muttered, grabbing a rough handful but letting go to instruct me further. “Pull your panties down a little more so I can see your pussy. Good. Hold them there.”
Keeping my panties peeled down to the top of my thighs, I continued eyes ahead up the stairs. But I had to grip the railing as Lukas slid a finger inside me from behind, teasing my pussy and drawing out my wetness to play with my bottom. He laughed when I paused mid-step in shock.
“Bend over.”
Hands on the step above, I bent over, crying out as he parted my ass cheeks and slid his tongue into my pussy, writhing around inside till my knees buckled.
“Get up.”
By the time he said those words my panties were gone. I hadn’t even felt Lukas take them off but they were no longer on my body and I was no longer thinking about anything but feeling him inside me. For God’s sake, I clearly was his because he could simply flip and switch and take over me. It was erotic and terrifying, and it had my pussy so wet I could feel my warm juices sliding down my inner thighs.
“Get on the bed, Lia, and spread your legs for me,” Lukas said once we were in the bedroom.
My back had barely touched the mattress before he was hovering over me, shirtless, in just those grey sweats. Eyes on mine, he dipped two fingers into my liquid heat. He withdrew them to suck on one and slide the other between my lips. Palming my wetness again, Lukas gazed down at my bra.
“Show me your tits.”
Pulling the cups of my bra down, I let them spring free, gasping as Lukas grabbed me, rubbing my wetness all over my breast.
“These belong to me,” he said, massaging one breast then the other. “These lips are mine.” He drew his wet fingers over my lips. When I sucked them into my mouth, he rolled his eyes back and groaned. “This tongue. This neck,” he dove into the curve of my neck. “Mine.” His sweats halfway down his legs, he shoved into my pussy. “Fucking mine,” he growled, fucking me so ferociously he pushed me up the bed with each thrust.
His pace was brutal and merciless inside me, his eyes wild as they pinned to me. But with every cry of his name from my lips, I felt him shudder. When I pulled his mouth to mine and let my tongue glide over his, I felt his weight fall onto me. He didn’t slow inside me but he kissed me back with what felt like love. Tears sprang to my eyes as he whispered into me.
“I won’t let anything happen to you, Lia.” He pushed the hair from my face and kissed me harder. “I can’t.”
“I’m going to be fine, Lukas. If I have you, I’m fine.”
“I can’t ruin you like I ruined them,” he whispered, squeezing his eye shut. “I won’t.”
“Easy.” I kissed him, reaching down to grab hold of his ass and slow his pace inside me. “You didn’t ruin anyone, Lukas.” I smiled against his lips. “I don’t think I had real fun till I met you. I don’t think I’ve had happier moments than I have this past month. I’ve loved being with you. I…”
I wanted to say it so bad.
I loved him.
I’d known it in my heart since our trip upstate but it didn’t rise to the tip of my tongue till now. Say it. Say it, I urged. Him or me – I needed someone to say it.
“Lukas…” I started, but I couldn’t stop moaning as he slammed deeper inside me.
“Don’t stop saying my name,” Lukas murmured. “Please don’t.”
So I didn’t. Every time it rolled off
my tongue, he touched and kissed a new part of my body. I arched my back, thrusting my body tighter into his arms, which hugged me to his chest. We were pressed so hard against each other now that I could feel his every contour, his every inch and every ridge. We moved together in a synced rhythm. We both sat up now, my body on top of his, my legs wrapped around his waist and our tongues dancing as we rocked back and forth to thrust in unison.
I had never felt closer to anyone in my life. I was sure nothing had ever felt so good. Our bodies were sticky, sweaty as we swayed together. We only ever broke our kiss to stare into each other, exposed to each other in every way. When I came, he watched every second of my unraveling, his eyes shining like emeralds as he murmured and whispered to me.
“I swear to God, you’re the most perfect thing I’ve ever seen.” He shook his head, unable to pry his eyes off me. “You’re a fucking dream come true.”
“Am I your dream come true?” I breathed, everything on my body still tingling.
“You know the answer to that,” he muttered, twisting his gorgeous features and letting out a jagged groan. “Fuck, I’m going to come.”
He held him tight as he jerked under me, his eyes squeezing closed and his mouth falling open against my breast. His fingers dug into me as I pumped on top of him, milking every drop of cum from his swollen tip.
When we collapsed together onto the mattress, my body on top of his, he cupped my cheek. “Lia, I meant that,” he breathed.
“Meant what?”
“That I can’t let my bullshit poison you, too. I’ve fucked so many people over already. I won’t be able to forgive myself if I screw anything over for you.”
My stomach twisted, his words striking a wariness inside me. “Everything will be fine. You know I’ll fight whatever Cam throws at me, so why do you have to talk like this?” I whispered, brushing my thumb over his cheek.
“Because I never even know as it’s happening,” he said softly.
“As what’s happening?”
“When I’m hurting someone. I never realize till too late. It’s always when I think everything’s better than ever that I realize everything’s not.”
