“Authors and readers are our bread and butter,” Cassie explained. “They’re our biggest constituencies, because without them, a publishing house can’t exist. Putting the authors first puts the business first. So we’ll be paying them their full royalties, which haven’t been sent for three months, then expanding the scope of the business to offer contracts to new and up-and-coming writers. This will require an act of good faith on your part, and the continued funding of Grant Books.”
The room was silent for a single, heart-pounding moment.
“Ms. Allbright,” Bruce began. “Clearly you’ve worked hard, but I no longer have the faith in your client that you do. And I’d like to understand why you’re trying to convince us to give Mr. Grant more money, rather than explaining why you’re not filing for Chapter Eleven.”
Movement in the corner of the room caught Cassie’s attention. Elliot Schaeffer and Reginald Pierce were standing in the conference room doorway.
Nothing like having two out of three name partners in the room to get your heart rate up, or being surrounded by a group of men who made three times your salary. Bruce and Reynash were itching to bring this to trial, Elliot and Reginald were ready to see her fail, and Hudson was only out for himself. But Cassie never backed down from a challenge.
“I understand your reluctance, Mr. Harrison. But claiming bankruptcy, in this case, does not equal success. Filing for bankruptcy would end a relationship with the people capable of bringing in more income. The plan I’ve outlined includes an out-of-court restructuring, otherwise known as a soft landing. A hard landing, on the other hand, is one where the process begins with possible hostility between the company and certain parties. I don’t think we’re there, yet.”
She made eye contact with Bruce and Reynash, knowing there was hostility between them and Hudson, but that wasn’t the only strained relationship in the room. It also existed between Cassie and the men standing behind Hudson’s investors. She might’ve been protecting her client, but she was also protecting herself.
Everyone in this room had to see her as capable. Everything, everything rode on her ability to be a hardass, no-nonsense, straight-shooting attorney.
She moved to stand behind Hudson, literally and figuratively.
“I’m sorry you’ve lost faith in Mr. Grant. My job isn’t to restore that confidence. My job is to see all sides, to create a deal that maximizes the remaining value of a troubled company. A business’s most valuable assets are the people who bring it money. In this case, those people are the authors and readers.”
The two investors glanced at each other, a silent acknowledgement passing between them, but Cassie hadn’t gotten Hudson out of hot water yet.
“As for the two of you, all I can do is assure you that you’re not being disadvantaged. Moving forward, no one will be kept in the dark. Everything will be out in the open, to dispel any possible misconceptions.”
Reynash swung back and forth in his chair. “And what is our exit strategy, should things not work out this time around?”
An escape clause. Just like she and Patrick had.
“If this happens again, Grant Books calls it quits. The doors close, we liquidate everything, and you get your money back. No negotiations involved.”
Cassie hadn’t run that by Hudson. He stiffened visibly but remained silent. She felt like patting him on the head. Good boy.
“All right, Ms. Allbright,” Reynash said as he and Bruce stood. “You have a deal.”
Once Cassie had seen out two pleased investors, two even more pleased partners, and one exhausted Hudson Grant, she went back to her office feeling like she could take on the world. She sat down, toed off her classic Chanel pumps and reached for her phone. A text message from Patrick was waiting for her.
“I’m playing hooky from work.” It was followed by a picture of him half naked in bed. “What are you wearing?”
The cheesy line shouldn’t have worked, but Cassie was in too good a mood not to smile.
“I’m wearing what I always wear to the office. A clown suit and thigh-highs.”
She giggled as she hit send. Christ, since when did she fucking giggle?
“Kinky,” he replied. “Wanna come over and play?”
Cassie groaned and flipped back to his picture. Bare-skinned and smiling up at her with one hand behind his head, he looked damn tempting. Going to his place in the middle of the day wasn’t what she should be doing, but she’d kicked ass in that meeting. No one would care if she stepped out for a few hours.
“I’m hungry. Will lunch be involved in playing?”
She watched the little dots bounce on the bottom of her screen.
“Tell me what you want and it’ll be here waiting for you.”
By the time she’d given him her order, she had her things and was heading toward the door. Lilly quickly joined her and hooked an arm around hers.
“I heard your meeting with Mr. Crybaby went well. Are you going out to lunch to celebrate?”
“No… I’m actually going to Patrick’s.”
Lilly stopped walking, nearly yanking Cassie backward in the process.
“What?” She shook her head and tugged Cassie toward the law library. “No, no, no. You’re explaining things. Now.”
When they’d reached a quiet section in the corner, Lilly crossed her arms and waited expectantly.
Ugh. Time to fess up.
“Patrick and I slept together two weeks ago. And again last weekend.”
“But…you hate him.”
“I did. Maybe still do. I don’t know. It’s complicated.”
“That’s an understatement. How did this happen?”
“We were arguing and it…somehow turned into sex?”
“Somehow.” Lilly put her hand over her heart. “I was yelling at him, Your Honor, and then suddenly his dick was inside me.”
“It didn’t go exactly like that. But, it happened.”
“Twice.”
“Three times, if we’re being accurate.”
“Way to get back out there.” Her friend smiled deviously. “So?”
“So, what?”
“So now you’re…?”
Hook-up-er and hook-up-ee? They certainly weren’t boyfriend and girlfriend. “So now we’re nothing. Same as before. We don’t like each other. It’s just sex. But it’s not quite…what do you call it? Vanilla?”
Now Lilly went serious. And quiet. “You’re into—wait. What?”
Hello, awkward. “It’s not like you and Jack. It’s…different. Honestly, I don’t know what it is yet. That’s kind of what we’re doing. Figuring out what I like. I’m not ready to talk about more than that.”
“Okay, well. If you change your mind…” Lilly shrugged. “I’m here.”
“Thanks.” Confiding in her friend had been easier than she’d thought. Maybe she could talk about one thing. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Of course.”
Do you sometimes feel mortified about the things you like?
Do you ever ask Jack to force you?
How do you ask someone to scare the crap out of you?
“What do you like about being a submissive?”
“Other than the amazing sex?”
Cassie laughed. “Yes, other than that.”
Lilly leaned against the bookcase. “It frees me. Takes me to a place where nothing is holding me back. I do things with Jack I never thought I’d be able to do.”
That struck a chord. “How’d you get to that point?”
“It took a while, but I know he won’t hurt or frighten me, and we have limits on what we’re each willing to do. We always use safewords, in case I get scared. But it comes down to trust, plain and simple.”
Cassie tried to hide her confusion. Limits were good, but her limits included allowing Patrick to scare her. And full and complete trust…she hadn’t experienced that with anyone. But she did like the idea of a safeword, in case things got out of hand.
“I never tho
ught of myself as submissive,” Cassie said. “I thought I was too headstrong. Is there such a thing as a submissive feminist?”
“That’s exactly what it is. We make the rules. The Dominants play by them.”
That, she liked. A lot. Cassie gave Lilly a hug. “Thank you, again. For understanding.”
Lilly squeezed her back. “That’s what friends are for, right?”
“It is. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have an attractive man waiting to serve me lunch.”
“Riiiiight. Lunch.”
“We are eating lunch!”
“Sure you are. Enjoy what he puts in your mouth.”
Cassie rolled her eyes. The two of them went their separate ways, and when she reached the downstairs lobby, her phone buzzed in her pocket.
“Food’s here. Get your sexy ass to my place before I eat it all.”
Cassie put her phone away and headed outside.
14
Cassie finished the last bite of her sandwich with a satisfied smile.
“Good?” Patrick asked.
“Very good.”
“I’m glad I was able to oblige.”
She sat back and gazed around the room. “Full belly and a lovely view. Not a bad way to spend my lunch hour.”
“Are you talking about me, or the scenery outside my window?”
“Both.”
Now that she’d been here a few times, his place didn’t seem as intimidating. Luxurious, yes, and definitely expensive. But there was something about the vast amount of wide-open space that seemed…lonely.
Patrick’s leaned across the table, eyes glittering. “My view isn’t so bad either.”
Cassie’s stomach flip-flopped. They held one another’s stares for a long moment until Patrick moved to stand. “Give me a second to clean up.”
Cassie started to help, but he put a hand out to stop her, gathering the remains of their lunch and bringing it to the sink. His gallantry was surprising—truthfully, she thought a man with his money would have a housekeeper or a team of maids to cater to his every whim. It still felt like he was running his game on her, but whatever, she’d sit and let him do the work.
Wanting a better look at the scenery, Cassie walked over to the windows. The building looked out onto the Charles River Basin. A crew team was hard at work in the water, their paddles slicing through the waves. Beyond that, a sea of autumn colors was splashed along Beacon Hill, so classically Boston and reminding her of what drew her to New England in the first place.
“It’s beautiful here.”
“Sure is.” Patrick moved in behind her and pressed a light kiss to the back of her neck. His goatee and mustache scratched lightly as his nose pushed her hair out of the way. “Here too.”
“Such a smooth talker,” she said sarcastically. “I bet you say that to all the girls.”
“Will you shut up?” he asked, then bit down gently.
Cassie shivered, closing her eyes against the rush. “Never.”
“Didn’t think so.”
He led her to the living room. Cassie ran her fingers across the stones lining the far wall, the jagged surfaces in brown, grey and taupe rough beneath her fingers.
“Have you always lived in Boston?” she asked.
“I have. Are we going to talk about real estate, or about your list of fantasies?”
She wasn’t stalling. She wasn’t. “I was waiting on you. You’re the player. Don’t you have some kind of evil master plan?”
“I might. Helps if I know what you want first, though.”
“I want a lot of things.”
He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. “Pick one.”
God, it would be so much easier if he was fighting with her. If she could avoid speaking the words out loud, and say what she wanted through nasty comments until he shoved her backward, growling and violent in his lust.
Cassie took a breath. She could do this. Like today at the office, this was her show. Her time to get what she wanted. She could remind herself of her own strength, even when what she wanted was for him to take it away.
“I don’t know if you noticed, but I like being…manhandled a little.”
“I noticed.” His voice went deeper. He was barely an inch away, and the air between them cracked like static. “What did you like about it?”
“I like it when you’re mean to me. Like when you asked why I made things so difficult in my apartment and shoved me against the wall. I like the feeling of being trapped, and being made to enjoy something.”
Good thing she didn’t have her hand over a Bible. It wasn’t the whole truth, but it was good enough.
“Is that what you want?” he murmured. “For me to trap you? Be mean?”
She swallowed. Her skin was buzzing, heart pounding. She wanted him to move closer. To demand. To take. “Yes. Then make me come whether I want to or not.”
Something wild flared in Patrick’s eyes. Something fierce and animalistic that made her tremble. “Dangerous fantasy.”
“I know, so I think we should have a safeword. Something to say in case—”
“I know what a safeword is, Cassie.” His tone was soft and condescending at the same time, and it pushed the feeling of being put in her place. “Do you have one in mind?”
She searched her brain, going with the quickest thing that came to it. “Exit.”
He let out a short, amused laugh. “That works.”
He uncrossed his arms and finally touched her, his fingertips light on her skin from her hands to her shoulders. Then he gripped them lightly and brought his mouth to hers. This kiss didn’t consume—it was yielding. Tender. It was an agreement made with lips and closed eyes and a warm exchange of breath.
He inhaled once, then tightened his grip on her shoulders and shoved her mercilessly against the wall.
Cassie gasped. “What the f—”
“Shut up,” he hissed.
Her heart galloped. She could feel it straining in her chest, pounding under Patrick’s implacable hold. He held her for a moment, not hurting—just keeping her still, and the corners of his lips turned up in a grin.
Oh, fuck yes.
“I will not,” she snapped, arching forward and trying to push off the wall.
Patrick held her down easily, fingers spread across her breastbone as he resisted her efforts. He leaned in until his nose met hers.
“Yes, you will.”
She struggled against him, scratched at his chest until he wrenched her hands to her sides. Pressing her to the wall with his body, he ground against her, that egotistic, hotshot grin on his face as she started to buck.
“What a little fighter you are. It’s cute to watch.”
Cassie worked to free her hands, but it was pointless. He was using all his strength now, hard muscle and broad shoulders keeping her pinned in place. He twisted one of her hands up and molded the other over his trouser-clad cock.
“You see what you did? What you always do to me?”
He was like steel, thick and warm. Knowing she’d gotten him this turned on made desire fray every nerve in her body.
“I see.” She managed to free a finger, scratching her nail along the length of him. Patrick snatched her hand more tightly. The look on his face was almost violent.
“You like knowing how much I want you?” He released her hand to unzip his pants.
“Uh-huh.” Cassie didn’t bother to hide the satisfaction in her voice. But when he took that deliciously thick, hard cock from his trousers, she forgot to be sarcastic.
“Well then, you’d better be ready to do something about it.”
Patrick grabbed her by the hair and shoved her to the floor. The stones grated against her back through her blouse. It was going to leave marks, maybe even rip her shirt a little.
She’d never been so aroused in her life.
He captured both her hands and held them up against the wall until her arms took the shape of goalposts. “Now stay still while I take that amazing mouth of yo
urs.”
Cassie’s breathing went shallow, her body flooding with endorphins. She was trapped, jammed against the wall and unable to fight him. This was exactly what she wanted—the push and pull, a constant show of him overtaking her. The satiny head of his cock reached her mouth, already wet with pre-come.
“You gonna behave?” he asked. “Or am I gonna have to make this unpleasant?”
Fuck. Cassie licked her lips to soften the entry as he slid over her tongue.
“That’s right. There you go.”
She relaxed her jaw to accommodate him, let her cheeks stretch, breathing through her nose and flicking her tongue along the underside of that wide, blunt head. Gliding in and out of her mouth, he groaned with each smooth, slow movement, cursing when she closed her lips and sucked.
Cassie glanced up and smiled around him.
“Proud of yourself, are you?” Patrick withdrew almost completely, then drove himself past her lips again. “Don’t get overconfident. I’m still the one holding your ass to the wall.”
Bastard. Prickles of excitement shivered down her body.
She sucked harder with his next plunge forward, letting her teeth graze the underside, and Patrick exhaled a short, sharp sound of pleasure. She tried to take advantage of his fleeting moment of weakness, attempting to shove her way off the wall, but his grip on her wrists was unrelenting.
“I told you to stay still.”
Something dark and twisted leapt inside her. He thrust deeper, harder, faster, and longing shot through her like lightning. It was so crude, so cruel. So fucking wrong to be used like this, but she liked it.
Goddamn it, she liked it.
Patrick continued thrusting, his expression shifting, mouth dropping open as he looked down at her with an almost pained expression. She could feel him swelling in her mouth, clearly nearing release. But instead of letting go, he slowed himself down, withdrawing until only the tip teased her tongue.
“Too bad you don’t like being on your knees. Subservience does you well.”
Cassie glared and sucked harder to show him she still had a little fight in her. Patrick’s body surged on a combination of a groan, a shudder and a laugh.
“You’re such a little bitch.”
Her Claim: Legally Bound Book 2 Page 14
