by Kylie Hudson
“Call me, and let’s meet for drinks,” I mouth to her as she shakes her head and disappears into the Manhattan evening throng.
Chapter 2
Soraya
All my intense pre-trial groundwork hadn’t prepared me for Romeo Hutton’s stare.
I mean, here I am delivering my opening remarks at his murder trial and I can feel the billionaire’s eyes on my ass and tits at every turn. Then his eyes meet mine, as I point the jury toward him, and those violent emerald-green globes are boring a hole inside the back of my skull.
How the dickens can one man look so handsome?
There ought to be a law or something against one human being so blessed with all the physical attributes that attract a woman to a man.
I mean he is very tall, like Empire State Building tall; a massive chest that almost reaches up to his neck, and arms the size of small tree trunks. And his body radiates a raw and primal strength. No wonder he strangled that tiny girl during a passionate bout of violent sex.
Damn, this is a bit unnerving.
This feeling has never overtaken me in a courtroom before.
My body feels like it has been shocked. Electric currents are spreading like wildfire throughout my being. My breasts are hot and heavy, and my nipples hard and swollen, pushing against the fabric of my bra.
I can see the face of the women on the jury and they are all concentrated on Hutton’s massive frame and boyish face. I doubt they even heard a word I said.
Shucks, this is going to be a much more difficult trial than I had imagined, just because of the poster-boy looks of this billionaire Lothario.
This is the case I have been waiting for all my twenty eight years in existence. One with national, no make that international appeal. “Billionaire accused of murdering girl after freaky sex”, the tabloids had screamed and so the District Attorney, who is planning to run for Governor, had tossed the case to me, his prize attorney, the Assistant District Attorney who has never lost a case.
I mean, forget the one hundred per cent win record, most of those had been against inferior lawyers and comprised plea deals. This time I was going up against one of the big boys, star defense attorney Doug Marshall, the best legal representation money can buy.
My eyes meet Hutton’s and there is a smug smirk on his face. I can’t wait to wipe off that cocky smile when he is being sentenced to the slammers. That should take care of the bastard.
As the opening day of the trial draws to a close, I begin putting my papers away and taking a deep breath I can’t help but feel a sense of pride that me, Soraya Griffin, daughter of two working class parents from the Bronx, would have survived all the temptation in my borough to become a statistic of the black community. Yeah, survive the allure of drugs and easy money, to become one of the city’s top prosecutors.
My sacrifice has led me to ignore emotional and intimate feelings and to devote all my energies to my law studies and my career, with the aim of achieving my dreams.
My friends and colleagues needle me every day about my lack of a social or love life, but I ignore those remarks. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I get hit on almost every day by eligible bachelors because of my thick and curvy physique, which seems to turn men on. But I am married to my career and that leaves no room for a man right now. I guess in time, when I am firmly established, and I meet the right man, I will eventually settle down.
But not yet.
Not just yet.
The courthouse elevator opens in front of me and I enter, glad to be leaving the trial behind and just go home, have a nice, warm bath and prepare for the next day’s battle. Suddenly, my heart races and my breath hitches in my throat, for darting into the elevator just before it trundles downwards, is none other than the accused Romeo Hutton himself.
The man looks at me with that arrogant grin of his plastered all over his face, and I don’t know why, but a tickling sensation sparks in my tummy.
Those green eyes are rather unnerving. They are beautiful beyond belief. Hutton has the he-man body of a Roman god, but a face that is almost too cute for a man. Try as I might, I can’t help but admire the planes and contours of his chest, arms and shoulders, as his suit is so tight my eyes can detect the power that lies beneath.
This man is like a woman’s fantasy come to life.
Hutton is trying to chat me up, but I remind him that he should not be speaking to me without his lawyer present. He simply laughs it off and continues his banter anyway.
What the hell, if I didn’t know better I would say Hutton is flirting with me. This man, who I am trying to send to jail for Second Degree Murder, is actually coming on to me in a rather cute, but unnerving way.
So why does his presence so close to me disturb me so much? He is staring at me, running his tongue along his bottom lip, and for some strange reason I start wetting my panties.
Yes, me Soraya, the Iron lady as they call me, who shoots down male advances for breakfast, is being turned on by the presence of an accused killer.
My heart is rattling like a drummer in a parade band; my nipples hardening against my blouse until they hurt, and I have to pull my legs together to stop them from shuddering.
Shit, the lips of my sex are pulsing, and the insides clenching and unclenching like a fist opening and closing.
And the way he is ogling me, it is as if he knows the effect he is having on me.
Thank goodness the ground floor is just a few minutes away. But then Hutton presses the buttons for every single floor below us, to delay the end of the journey. I know I should be mad at him and give him a piece of my mind, but my skill is my self-control and ability to keep calm even when the going gets tough.
There is just one more floor to go, when he moves closer to me. I can feel his hot breath against my skin, causing goosebumps to appear on my flesh and the hair on the back of my neck to stand at attention.
My good luck lace panties are now soaking wet.
Then my eyes, as if having a mind of their own, cast down towards his crotch and detect a massive bulge. Good heavens, Hutton is hard as a rock, and filthy thoughts rattle through my brain. The air is sucked out of me, and I imagine bending down, touching my ankles and his rod stretching my insides.
Just from the outline of his bulge pushing, no battering against the fabric of his expensive suit, I can detect that he has a massive dick, long and thick. Why the hell does he wear his pants so tight? It must be to evoke emotions in women similar to what I am having just now.
I am being reduced to a panting schoolgirl, stripped of my built-in, self-defense-against-men mechanism
My body breaks out in a cold sweat that causes me to shiver slightly. I only hope his gorgeous eyes don’t fully detect how uncomfortable his presence is making me feel, and how just his body close to mine is turning my knees into jelly.
For some reason I want to see him naked…to savor the sight of those massive muscles that are obviously hidden inside that ten thousand dollar suit - For my eyes to drink in the expanse of his chest and to grip those guns sitting atop his biceps.
Oh my God, why am I suddenly filled with all these filthy thoughts?
Me, a woman who hasn’t been aroused by the sight of a man in more years than I can remember?
Get a grip, Soraya. What the hell are you thinking?
I have to get away from this man, who is now pressing his business card into my palm, telling me it has his private number and that I should call him and arrange for us to meet for drinks or dinner.
Mercifully, the elevator door finally opens, and I beat a hasty retreat, just as I hear Romeo Hutton shouting that I should call him sometime.
The nerve of that incorrigible and self-centered man.
Just because he has billions to go along with his good looks and charm, he thinks he can score with any woman he fancies. Well, he picked the wrong girl.
And just for that reason I will be very happy when Romeo Hutton is sitting in a jail cell on Rikers Island.
My
friend Scarlett Parker, herself a prominent attorney-at-law, is picking me up today, and thank goodness she is right on time, so I jump into the front seat of the SUV and exhale.
“Ugg,” I snort, exasperated and somewhat annoyed with my body for being such a traitor and betraying me in front of Romeo. My panties are slick with my juice and my nipples are still so hard they hurt.
For the first in a long time I am horny, and there is no man around to scratch this massive itch that’s taking place within the area surrounding my crotch.
“What’s wrong, sugar?” Scarlett looks at me, her beautiful, grey cat-eyes twinkling in a range of colors. “Who the heck has gotten your knickers in a twist?”
A laugh gurgles from my throat at her choice of words. “My knickers in a twist is right, girl,” I fume, pulling my jacket around me as the air conditioning in the car is making my nipples even harder. “Can you believe the nerve of the man?” I throw my attaché case onto the back seat and peer ahead at the Manhattan traffic, my eyes seeing red.
Scarlett reaches over and pats me on the arm, the brow on her gorgeous black face scrunching. “Whoa, back up a minute, bitch,” she says. She likes to call me bitch when we are alone. She says we both have to talk so prim and proper when we are in the courtroom, so it’s our way of de-stressing …when we talk plain. “Which man are you talking about?”
“Romeo Hutton.”
“Oh, what the hell has he done now apart from strangling that poor, defenseless girl?”
“All during the trial his eyes were roaming all over my body…particularly my ass.”
Scarlett belches out a loud laugh. “Why is that unusual, Soraya, most men can’t take their eyes off your ass, or haven’t you noticed that you have the most perfect big butt in the universe?”
My lips curl into a pout. “I do not. My ass is way too big. C’mon, I am a big girl, or haven’t you noticed?”
“Hello! Men love big butts like yours that stick out in their faces. Don’t you know it turns them on when they spank us on the ass during sex?”
I begin to blush, as I usually do whenever the topic turns to sex. “I didn’t know that. I have never had my ass spanked.”
“Really, then half of your life is gone.” My bestie teases and both of us burst out laughing.
Glancing at my makeup in the rear view mirror, and noticing it is perfect, I turn my attention back to Scarlett. “It didn’t stop there. After the session ended and I was in the elevator, the man jumped in and tried to chat me up.”
“He did what?” Now Scarlett’s antennae are up. “I can’t believe that. Is he crazy?”
“He must be, after all, I am going to send his ass to prison.”
“And that I know you will.”
“There’s only one problem, Scarlett.”
“What’s that, Soraya?”
“The women on the jury are going gaga over his looks and body. You should see the expression on their faces every time the argument turns to him. I don’t know if any of them will vote to convict.”
My bestie strokes my shoulder. “I am sure you will find a way. When you lay out point by point how he strangled that girl with his bare hands, they will cringe.”
A sigh escapes my lips and we are both silent for most of the remainder of the journey, until Scarlett finally blurts out: “So why does he have your knickers all in a twist. Normally, men hitting on you, doesn’t seem to affect you all that much?”
Taking a deep breath, I roll my eyes at her. I try and speak, but no words come out of my mouth. My vocal cords seem to be on pause.
“Come on, Soraya, this is me. Spill the beans. You are never at a loss for words.”
Again I take a deep breath and try and gather my thoughts. “It’s rather embarrassing, Scarlett,” I sigh.
Scarlett takes her eyes off the road for a second, almost slamming into the back of the car in front of us. “What?”
“When he was close to me in the elevator, his breath on my skin and his green eyes staring into my soul…I…I…”
“You what?”
“My nipples got so freaking hard that I wet my panties.”
My bestie looks at me as if she is looking at an alien. “You?” she says disbelievingly. “You, the girl made of stone; who no man seems to have any effect on…you were turned on by a man who you have sworn to send to prison, and who was just in your personal space for a short time?”
Glancing out the window, I shake my head.
Guilty as charged.
I myself can’t even believe what had transpired. “Damn it, I have no idea what happened. It’s like my body had a mind of its own. I have to go home and take a long bath and try to get this man off my mind.” I shake my head in disbelief. “Then I have to prepare to crucify him tomorrow, not think about what it would be like being in bed with him.”
Scarlett lets out a low whistle. We are like sisters and we tell each other everything, so my confession has literally floored her. This is so totally out of character for me, it’s rather unnerving.
Holy crap, after slaving for the past five years for a shot at the big times, I will be damned if I am going to let a handsome devil derail my career. “And he handed me his card and said I should call him and arrange for us to have drinks or dinner together. Can you believe the audacity of this man?”
The BMW SUV turns off the road and pulls into the private parking area of my apartment building in Manhattan. It’s a nice complex and I enjoy my private space there. Scarlett also lives on the same building a couple floors down and we are constantly at each other’s apartments. “So are you going to call him?” She looks as me rather thoughtfully.
My eyes bulge and a strange feeling rips my gut apart. “Are you crazy? No. Why the heck would I call Romeo Hutton? I want to stay as far away from that man as possible.”
“Maybe you can turn on the charm and get him to confess,” Scarlett says while tussling my hair. I know she is playing the Devil’s advocate, but deep down I think she wants to meet the man who has gotten my normally well-preserved wits totally discombobulated.
I poke her in the side as she switches off the car. “Get away, Scarlett. You don’t mean me any good.”
My bestie put her arms around my shoulder. “I think the only way to get this man out of your system is to invite him over to my place for dinner. That way it would be totally private and no one but us would know about it.”
Stepping out of the car, my designer heels kiss the pavement. I place one finger on my cheek, my mind racing like a formula one race car.
Has Scarlett lost her mind? Or is she seeing something that I am missing?
CHAPTER 3
Romeo
Noah and Tanner are hopping mad when they visit me later in the evening after the trial.
“Romeo, what the heck were you thinking man?” Noah, twenty-two and the youngest sibling, fumes. Even though he was initially against the idea, Tanner and I had convinced him to enroll in college and he is now in his final year, soon to graduate with a degree in Business and Finance.
Noah’s blue eyes and ruggedly handsome features, fail to mask his concern. “I guess you were thinking with that other head as usual, big bro.”
Pouring a glass of Glenlivet from the bar in the corner of my massive living room, I take a swig and look at my younger brother smiling. “Listen, the girl is damn fascinating and I wanted to have a private chat with her.”
Tanner pours himself a drink as well and takes up a seat on the sofa beside his brother. At twenty-four he is the head-strong one, while at thirty-one I remain the cool captain of the ship. Tall and powerfully built, he brooks no nonsense and were it not for his admiration of me and what I had achieved in protecting them and building an empire, we would have had frequent clashes. “So what did you talk about with the sexy ADA, Romeo?”
The memory of Soraya’s tempting body and gorgeous eyes are still fresh in my mind.
I remember the feel of her hot breath on my neck and the way she looked at me as
if it were a second ago. “I told her I was innocent; that I think she is gorgeous, and I tried to get a date with her,” I blurt out, a big smile wrinkling my face.
Tanner jumps out of his seat. “Now Noah and I know you have gone mad.” He grips the sides of his head with both hands. “Do you realize she could ask the court to hold you in contempt or some other bullshit like that?” He throws up his hands in the air. “Romeo, you are really not taking this trial serious enough. You could actually go to prison for quite a number of year.”
“You’d better believe that,” Noah joins the chorus.
Holding out my hands, I motion for my brothers to be calm. “First of all, there won’t be any citation for contempt, as trust me this girl has the hots for me. Secondly, I am not going to any fucking prison, Doug will see to that, and if not there is one man I can call on. So just you all chill.”
Tanner and Noah look at each other knowingly. They both know me well enough that when my mind is set on anything, no power on earth can get me to change it. So they simply nod and turn to their respective glasses, clinking them together in some silent communiqué.
We have a bond, us three. After our dad left and our mom basically check out on drugs, I kept the family together, and being in a tough neighborhood, my size and temper meant that no one dared to fuck with my little brothers or they would have to answer to me. As a result, they have respected me ever since and are now a part of my inner circle, along with Doug, the attorney who I also protected as a teen growing up in the Bronx and helped receive the best legal education money could buy.
“We know why you are so taken with that ADA, bro. We are not blind you know.” Noah makes a face at me.
“And what is that?” I scrunch my brow and stare out the floor to ceiling windows of my New York penthouse apartment on Billionaire Row.
Tanner wiggles his nose and puts down his glass on the coffee table. “She could pass for Toya’s twin,” he says, voice almost breaking with painful memories. “But Toya’s death wasn’t your fault and being with ADA Griffin won’t bring her back.”
