by Jada Sioux
“Please,” she begged, not sure what she was asking for.
“Please what, Kiara?” he asked, his voice perfectly level as he pinched her nipple painfully, making her wince. “What do you want, sugar?”
“I want you… I want you to fuck me, please,” she whispered, her words breaking in her throat and coming across as little more than pleading murmurs.
He grinned, devilish and foreboding and oh so scorching hot.
“Good girl,” he said, and in a flash, he had grabbed both her wrists and spun her around, pressing her against the closest railing.
Her breath hitched as he caught her between himself and the cool metal, the sparkling blue waves crashing against the yacht as it sped forward. She could hear the rustle of a condom wrapper as he sheathed himself with one hand, his cock digging between her asscheeks. Kiara groaned, the coldness of the metal railing and the heat of his body making her head spin.
Still holding onto one of her wrists, Damien pulled her bikini bottom to the side before he put his other hand on her neck.
He pulled back and let his cock press between her legs. Immediately, she rubbed back against his cock, her body almost screaming for his touch. She didn’t care if anyone saw her. The whole crew could be watching, and she wouldn’t give a damn. All she wanted was that damnable man who kept making her head spin and her world turn upside down.
Kiara bucked back a little, and he let her. When the tip forced into her, already stretching her a bit, she moaned, and her eyes fluttered shut. The sound of Damien growling made her tingle with expectation, and her core pulsed almost painfully, willing him to move faster. He thrust into her, first slowly but then faster and faster as he sunk in the whole way. When his cock was impaling her entirely, Kiara knew she wouldn’t last for long.
Her whimpers became moans and screams, until even the sound of the crashing waves couldn’t drown out the noises she was making. Nothing mattered but the moment she was sharing with him. She rocked her hips back, though he kept her safely where he wanted her, rubbing her ass against his hips. She was so close, and all the frustrations of the past several weeks combined together to make her throb with need for a release.
When it crashed over her, she thought she would collapse in his arms. Damien grunted as her pussy milked him hard, her breath growing ragged as she screamed at the top of her lungs, captured by her orgasm. It took her like an earthquake, first rumbling softly in the pit of her belly and then wafting over her until there was nothing but destruction and silence left behind. Kiara was split down to her very atoms, shaking her foundations.
When she was at her peak, she clenched down, her knuckles turning white as she hung on to the railing for dear life. Lights flashed before her eyes, and the sun glinting off of the choppy seas only added to the brilliant lightshow that she was seeing as her release washed over her.
Kiara could feel Damien getting tenser as well, his movements jagged and frantic. She heaved for breath, her body shuddering in the aftermath. She looked over her shoulder, loving the sight of him so close to his release. His blue eyes locked on hers, and she could see the utter relief that flooded him when he came. For a moment, she was almost sad that there was a condom between them. Wouldn’t having a baby by a man like Damien Thatch be just the most perfect thing?
She bit her lip, wiping that thought from her mind. No, no babies. She had promised herself that she would only have a child with a man she could depend on to love both her and her kid with all his heart. And as mesmerizing as Damien was, she doubted he could be that man.
When he pulled out of her, he wrapped his arms around her and led her to the wide white couches on the deck, sitting down on the soft cushions with her safely tucked in his arms. He wouldn’t let her stray far, and she wasn’t planning on leaving his side for even a moment. Damien cleaned himself up and zipped up his pants while Kiara fished for her bikini top on the floor next to the couches.
For modesty’s sake, she put the flimsy garment back on and then let her head rest against Damien’s wide chest, breathing in a sigh of relief. Okay, so his ex had said that he was a complete and utter jerk, and he might as well be, but could she fault a man who fucked like that?
Kiara frowned at her train of thought. Of course she could. But it was probably best not to think about it or browbeat herself into feeling bad while she was still in his company.
She could hear his heart beat heavily in his chest, and her fingers outlined his abs, loving the deep grooves of skin between the muscles. He laid a kiss on her head, and warmth filled her, affection taking the place of lust. Maybe it wasn’t so bad to be… whatever she was to him. Maybe she could deal with it? Kiara wrinkled her nose a little, the smell of their sweat and sex filling her nostrils.
“That was more like it,” Damien said, flashing one of his wicked grins.
He reached to one of the side tables for a bottle of champagne that he had opened before. He offered it to her, but she declined. Just the thought of something alcoholic and bubbly made her stomach turn, but then again, most things did lately. She kept wondering if she was coming down with a bug or something. Damien took a long swig and leaned back on the couch, pulling his fingers through her long, luxurious hair.
“Yes, it was,” she agreed softly, a smile perched on her lips.
I wish things could stay simple like this all the time, she thought to herself.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Damien
“As usual, it’s been a pleasure,” Damien concluded, standing up from the conference table and having most of the execs follow his lead.
He swiped up his phone from the mahogany tabletop along with his hefty mug of coffee and stalked out of the room, not paying any heed to the chatter he left behind. His head was pounding as it was supposed to after getting only two hours of sleep the night before. That, though, brought a smile to his lips. Seeing Kiara had certainly been worth it. Thought he hadn’t doubted for a moment that she’d be just as breathtaking as he remembered her, he hadn’t been disappointed one bit.
All her coyness hid a fiery gem underneath, and she intoxicated him. He couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something more there, even if he had already gone far past his usual hard limits – seeing a woman just once or twice a month to avoid having them become too attached. He still wanted more, rules be damned. Being away from her was physically stressing, like she was a drug and he was strung out hard on her.
Damien navigated the luxuriously decorated but painfully minimalist halls until he reached the corner office he was currently using. It belonged to some high-level executive, who worked full-time in the L.A. branch, but when the office had heard that Damien was planning on staying with the branch for a while, they’d taken no time to boot the other guy out. For all Damien cared, the man could have been working out of a broom closet somewhere.
He was looking forward to hearing the reassuring click of the door falling shut behind him, but there was no such luck. Before he could sit down at the desk, he heard the all too familiar clicking of Eliza’s high heels, and when she pushed the door closed behind her, he let out an involuntary sigh. Putting his cup down, Damien turned around, reluctantly ready for whatever it was that she needed.
Eliza stopped in the middle of the room, just a few feet from him. She was absolutely breathtaking, as usual. There had been a time when he would have done everything for that woman, but that time had come and gone. When he looked at her, though he could see the beauty, he also saw the malice underneath – a woman who had got everything she ever wanted, she didn’t know how to deal with things not going her way.
Perhaps that was why she was still so hung up on him. Their relationship had ended a while ago, but it was still hard to look back on it. His mood soured. Rationally, he knew that he didn’t want anything to do with her anymore on a personal level, but there had been nights when he had been just drunk enough that sharing a bed with her had not been the worst thing he could imagine. He’d regretted it every time.
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br /> “I wanted to talk to you about Sunstreak and Mirrorview,” Eliza started, not waiting to be addressed.
Things always had to move at her pace and not a second slower. Idly, Damien let his eyes roll over her long legs and those trim hips, tucking into a perfectly molded Pilates-stomach. She was the carved epitome of delicate, modern beauty. When he looked at her, all he could think of was how much more he would rather have his hands on Kiara right now. He had to smirk at that a little. Oh, how one’s tastes can change.
“What about them?” he asked casually, leaning back against the table.
“I think we should drop Mirrorview from the running. They’re just costing us time, and I’m confident in Sunstreak’s work.”
“I don’t agree,” Damien said, seeing Eliza’s dazzling, soft smile morph into a cruel, thin line.
Even her honey-smooth brunette curls couldn’t do anything to ease the severity of her expression. He had to admit, these days it secretly gave him joy to make her writhe a little bit in irritation.
“I think Divinad has gone for safe options with their marketing, and I’d like to see something done to shake up the status quo a little. We need some change, and Mirrorview might just be the company to make it happen. Besides, we have an agreement with the board to let both companies try and pitch for us, and I’d like to see it through. Unless you have something to tell me that would change my opinion?”
He could almost see steam rising from the top of her head. The crème shift-dress she was wearing accentuated her lovely physique in the best way possible, and her diamond earrings added to the air of cool sophistication that she always seemed to exude.
Even in bed, she was always an ice queen, he thought mildly, remorse weighing heavily at the bottom of his stomach.
She’d been the one to do him in. His first big love, the woman he had given his heart to, and in turn, had only got it trampled upon. He didn’t resent her for it, knowing that she couldn’t do much about being the way she was, but it was disheartening to realize that his time with her had changed him, and probably not for the better. Nothing like Kiara.
“Are you sure your eagerness to move on with Mirrorview doesn’t have anything to do with a certain… person, there?” Eliza asked coolly, cocking a brow at him. Damien couldn’t help but smirk.
“I think they’re doing good work. At the end of the day, I have just one vote, and I think your board is intelligent enough to be able to tell whether something is good for them or not, regardless of my opinion. And…” he got up, taking a step closer to Eliza so he was looming above her. He could see her breath catch and her lips part a little.
Maybe she hoped he would kiss her? Not anymore. He was stronger than that now.
“You lost the right to know who I am spending my time with a long time ago, Eliza. Let it go. It’s none of your business.”
He tucked a lock of hair that had fallen out of her careful do back behind her ear, idly musing how touching her didn’t seem to have any effect on him anymore. Maybe a tint of old, nearly forgotten memories, but certainly not the blazing need he felt for Kiara at just the thought of laying his hands on her. It was liberating in a way.
“Don’t meddle in things that don’t concern you, Eliza,” he said softly, watching her lick her lips with that pink little tongue that had tasted every part of him.
It wasn’t long ago that her doing something like that would have had him throwing her over the table and fucking her raw until she couldn’t take any more.
“You say that like you think that things that affect my business and you don’t affect me, Damien. Don’t forget, this is not just a business you picked up because of its monetary value. This is a business you acquired because of me, and I’m not going to let some colored tramp walk all over that.”
She whipped around and strode out of his office before he could say anything, leaving his hand hovering where her lush curls had just been under his fingertips. Damien smirked to himself as the door banged shut, shoving his hands in his pockets. He did so enjoy seeing her riled up and on a warpath. He’d just have to make sure that Eliza’s misconstrued notions of what was right and what was wrong wouldn’t spell trouble for Kiara.
***
“No, the size is fine. I think I would just like something with more private grounds. I like to keep my business my business, if you know what I mean,” Damien said, flashing a dazzling grin at the realtor that was showing him around.
She was a mousey little woman with a strict bun and a no-nonsense pants suit. He preferred his real estate agents like that – the flashier they looked, the less inclined he was to believe that they’d be of any use to him.
“Noted, Mister T… Damien,” she said, stuttering a bit as he’d told her to call him by his first name.
To her credit, she didn’t blush. She led him through the huge mansion, showing him the bedrooms one by one and the various spaces that could be used for home offices, living rooms, private movie theaters, etc. It was the third house they’d seen in the L.A. area that day, and as far as Damien was concerned, they all started to look kind of alike after a while. There were only so many pink marble countertops and Italian arches he could look at before he stopped giving a damn.
Still, he dutifully followed her through the second floor of the house that could have accommodated a small country on its own, and came to a stop as she showed him into the master bedroom’s veranda.
“The view is gorgeous,” she said, stepping back a bit to let him enjoy it. The green, impeccably kept lawn stretched out in front of him, dotted with flowerbeds and tastefully kept hedges that hid most of the grounds from any curious eyes. He could see a couple of other red-topped roofs of ridiculously lavish mansions in the distance, a few of them closer than he would have liked, but he had to admit that the view was everything he could have hoped for and more.
His eyes tracked the length of the yard, and for a moment, he could see in his mind’s eye kids running around on the freshly cut grass, giggling and playing. Damien smiled, though the thought had come suddenly.
Just a few months ago, the thought of having children and settling down would have scared him half to death. A sworn bachelor, he didn’t even want to consider the possibility of settling down when he was still in the prime of his youth. But, there had been a shift in his life – one that he could only attribute to Kiara’s presence – that had made him consider the option without cringing. Looking at a house was already a pretty harrowing sign of change, as he had always been a penthouse kind of guy.
But a penthouse was no place to raise kids. Of course, he didn’t admit to himself that the said possibility had anything to do with his current house hunting. He would only publicly admit to considering getting some exclusive real estate because of the rising property values.
I wonder if Kiara would like this, he thought absently, a tremor running through him as he internalized the thought.
It should have made him worried, he thought, that this perfectly unassuming but sexy and confident woman’s opinion would matter so much to him, so quickly. Somehow, he felt more at ease than he had in a long, long time.
“Close, but not quite it, I think. Let’s keep looking,” he told the realtor, spinning around on his heel and following her out of the bedroom.
He would find the place he was looking for, and when he did, Kiara would be the first one he would show it to. Of that much he was certain.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Kiara
Don’t throw up, don’t throw up… Kiara chanted to herself, her hands balled into fists and her lips pressed tight.
The smell of hot coffee and cream cheese bagels with lox wafted into her nose, and she had to fight hard to keep from gagging. The conference room was buzzing with a small sampling of the highest executives from both Mirrorview and Divinad, with Eliza Whitcomb-Divinad already seated a few chairs down from Kiara and holding a jovial conversation about the joys of golfing with James Abbott.
It was an early morning
meeting, and as Kiara had recently discovered, she did not fare well with those.
For weeks now, she’d been getting queasy and sick in the mornings for seemingly no reason at all. While she was feeling mostly fine, if a bit tired, the throwing up was getting really old, and it was just about the last thing she needed right now. There was far too much going on in her life to have the time or energy to deal with some odd stomach bug.
Almost every night, she stayed late at the office, working until she could hardly see straight and putting together a comprehensive, and more importantly, a successful marketing campaign for Divinad’s Cadence line. This was supposed to be their first warm-up pitch to Divinad, and all Kiara could think of was how many seconds it would take her to get from the conference room to the bathroom if someone came too close to her with one of those bagels.
“Alright, I think it’s time to start,” Gwyneth said, putting on her best smile as she strolled to the front of the room with a coffee cup still perched in her hand. “Feel free to grab some coffee and food as we get started. I promise we won’t keep you for very long today. This is just an introductory meeting to tell you about our ideas before we really get going, to sort of give you a taste of what we want to offer you.” Gwyneth set down her coffee cup, and the projector hummed to life, showing some charts and numbers Kiara had painstakingly prepared.
“Most of this work has been done by me and Kiara Lockett, one of our most talented employees, so I am confident that what I’m about to tell you has all been dutifully checked and double checked,” Gwyneth said, motioning to Kiara before moving on.
Kiara smiled slightly, beaming with confidence. Yes, she knew the work was good, and even the scorching look that Eliza sent her from a few seats down couldn’t shake her.
