Dancer in Lingerie

by Penelope Sky

  My emotion dominated my logic, and I picked up the phone and called him.

  He answered almost instantly. “Beautiful.”

  I stared at the ceiling, annoyed by the confident sound of his masculine voice. “Don’t call me that.”

  He turned silent.

  I stayed silent too, unsure what to say because I was angry at him.

  He didn’t speak, letting the silence continue indefinitely. He didn’t ask what was wrong, like he knew exactly what the problem was.

  “Are you sleeping with someone else?” I asked bluntly, knowing he would tell me the truth.

  A smile was audible in his voice. “No.”

  “You aren’t?” I asked incredulously, expecting a different answer.

  “No.” That was all he gave me, but that single-word answer was still full of his amusement.

  Now I really had no idea what was going on. I hadn’t seen him for an entire week. He didn’t give me any explanation, and it seemed like I would never get one unless I asked for it. Maybe he was doing that on purpose.

  “You’re angry I haven’t called.”

  I refused to acknowledge the assumption, especially since he hit the nail right on the head.

  “You miss me.”

  I definitely wouldn’t admit that.

  “I’m all yours.” His deep voice was elementally soothing, making me feel aroused and safe at the same time. “I’ve been yours. I’ve slept alone in this bed every single night. All you have to do is tell me that you need me, that you miss me, and I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

  This was all a game to him—and I was losing.

  “Tell me that you need me.”

  I refused.

  “Beautiful, one of the reasons I adore you is your bluntness. You’re the kind of woman that asks for what she wants, isn’t afraid to tell a man how to fuck her. You aren’t timid and shy. You’re strong and unapologetic. If you want me—tell me.”

  Humiliation flooded my end of the line. He had me cornered. That was exactly how I was, and the reason I wasn’t doing it now was because I was ashamed of my emotions, ashamed that my feelings had grown. I’d never chased him before, but now I was the one calling him. He’d turned the tables on our relationship—making me pursue him instead.

  “Tell me what you want.” His quiet breathing floated over the line. I pictured him lying in bed, sleeping in his black boxers with his enormous bulge in the front. I imagined the sleepy look on his face, the subtle stubble along his jaw. I imagined those beautiful blue eyes, the ones that looked into me so deeply.

  “I hate you.”

  “I know you do, Beautiful. But you need me more than you hate me. I could be between your legs right now, pleasuring you the way a real man should. You could be coming around my dick and asking for another round because I’m not a boy who can’t control his load. I could be keeping your sheets warm, making you abandon those thick wool socks you only wear when I’m not there. I could be chasing away your demons, making you sleep soundly knowing a man can never get past me to you. All of this could happen…but you have to ask for it.”

  I felt like a person addicted to drugs. I took a few hits thinking I could handle a taste. But before I knew it, I was blindly hooked on the sensation, needing it beyond reason. Now I was buying more, even though I was utterly ashamed for needing it so much.

  His tone turned more aggressive. “Say it.”

  The command in his voice made my thighs press together. I missed him so much that I couldn’t think logically. I was fine before he came along, indifferent to him completely. But now, I was the one crawling to him—on my hands and knees. “I want you…” A wave of self-loathing washed over me. I despised myself for giving in, but I was also relieved I was finally getting what I wanted—regardless of the price I’d just paid. I’d traded my dignity and self-respect in exchange for this man, a man I didn’t even like.

  Click.

  My door opened ten minutes later, the locks doing nothing to keep him out.

  I stayed in bed, knowing he would figure out exactly where I was. I listened to his footsteps as they pounded down the hallway, his heavy frame causing the sounds to echo off the walls. I’d already taken my clothes off because I didn’t want to waste any time getting undressed.

  He came through the door, pulling his shirt off in the process. His belt clanked in the darkness as he loosened it and got his jeans off. He stood at the foot of my bed, looking down at me with victory in his eyes. His chin was clean from shaving recently, and his hair was styled like he hadn’t been sleeping at all—but waiting for my phone call.

  Every piece of clothing hit the floor until he stood with his enormous erection, thick and throbbing. He gave me a more intense look than I’d ever seen, like he hated me for waiting an entire week to finally make the call.

  Over six feet of pure beauty, he towered over my bed with the body of a Greek god. From strong shoulders to thick arms, he had the perfect physique of a ruler. With thick thighs that bulged with muscle to abs that had more strength than both of my arms to put together, he was dangerously sexy.

  My lungs forgot to breathe.

  His knees hit the bed, making the mattress dip, and he maneuvered on top of me, kicking away the sheets and opening my legs so he could get to get my soaking cunt. He kept up that aggressive stare, like he wanted to backhand me for making him wait this long to fuck me.

  He positioned me underneath him, tilting my hips perfectly and pressing his arms into the mattress on either side of my tits. He stared down at me with a slight scowl on his face. “Tell me you missed me.” He was going to drag this out even more, demoralize me for making that phone call. He wanted to fill me with shame, to remind me that he had all the power in this relationship—even the power I’d once had.

  My hands gripped his arms, and I sighed in relief at his warmth. Touching him brought me a sense of joy that I couldn’t understand. I needed him even more than I’d realized, more than my brain would allow me to understand.

  He pressed the head of his cock inside me, stretching me slightly. “Say it.”

  My hand moved into the back of his hair, and I pulled his face to mine to kiss him. “I missed you…” The weight was lifted off my shoulders as I made my confession. I wanted him so badly, to the exclusion of all less. Until I got my next fix, I would say anything he wanted me to say. I needed this intense passion more than I needed air or food. I needed this man buried deep inside me, to please me since it’d been so long since he’d last fulfilled my needs.

  “Tell me you need me.” He kept making his commands, knowing I would obey.

  “I need you…” I grabbed his hip and slowly pulled him inside me.

  He stopped himself, not entering me any farther. He fisted my hair and forced my gaze on his. “Say it again.”

  “I need you, Bosco.” I held his gaze, my lips parted and desperate for his kiss.

  “Tell me you don’t want me to sleep with anyone else. Tell me it would drive you crazy.”

  “I don’t want you to sleep with anyone else…” Just the thought pissed me off. When he didn’t call, I’d assumed he’d found someone else, and it made me feel so low. “I want you to only sleep with me.”

  He sank a little deeper, rewarding me for my obedience. “You were angry I didn’t call.”

  “Yes…I was.”

  He moved in deeper, stretching me so good. “Tell me when you want me. Call me when you need me. Use me when you want to be used. Do you understand me?”

  “Yes…” I just wanted him to start moving, to make my toes curl with a perfect climax.

  “Now beg me to fuck you. Beg.”

  “You’re such a fucking asshole.”

  He sank deeper, sheathing himself until he was balls deep. He wore that handsome lopsided grin. “I know, Beautiful. But you love fucking this asshole. Now, beg.” He didn’t move, resting deep inside me as he watched me squirm.

  “Please…”

  “Louder.”
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br />   “Please.” I dragged my hands down his back and panted against his mouth. “Fuck me, Bosco. Please…”

  He pressed a soft kiss to my lips. “Good job.” He started to move, thrusting into me deep and hard. The headboard began to tap against the wall immediately because he took me so hard right in the beginning. He ground against me, making my clit catch on fire and my back arch in impossible ways.

  I held on to him tightly as he screwed me better than he ever had before, going right for the perfect spot and making me come within a minute flat. I was probably just turned on like crazy, but he pushed me to the finish line with his stellar moves. His fat cock was big enough to make me writhe, to make me shake because it felt so perfect inside me. “God…yes.” My head rolled back, and I clawed at him viciously, pulling him closer against me as I widened my legs farther, squeezing his dick so hard with my powerful orgasm.

  “So fucking wet.”

  “I’m always wet for you…”

  “I know.” He hooked his arms behind my knees and deepened the angle, preparing to fuck me again and give me another climax.

  “Bosco, I want you to make me come two more times…” It’d been an entire week without pleasure, and I was losing my mind. That first climax, while wonderful, wasn’t enough to fill my hunger.

  He stopped moving, looking down at me with a slight grin on his face. “There’s my woman…”

  10

  Bosco

  When I woke up the next morning, Carmen was on top of my chest. As time passed, she snuggled with me more and more. And now she was curled up on me like a cat. The only thing missing was the sound of her purring.

  I moved my hand through her hair and pulled it from her face, so I could get a better look at those plump lips and beautiful cheeks. She looked softer than a rose petal when she was asleep, peaceful knowing nothing could get through me to her.

  Her alarm sounded a second later, making her jerk slightly at the obnoxious noise.

  The serene moment ended.

  She reached across the bed to her nightstand and shut off the alarm. “Ugh…” She yawned and ran her fingers through her hair, slowly waking up after the long night we had. We didn’t fall asleep until a few hours ago.

  She moved back to me, hugging me like a pillow. Her hair brushed against my skin, soft like a feather. She finally directed her eyes on me, and as the memory of last night flooded her mind, her cheeks began to redden noticeably. Then she looked away altogether, ashamed she’d given in so profoundly.

  I enjoyed every second of it.

  She needed to be reminded that she needed me, that I wasn’t just some man she was sleeping with. She could pretend I meant nothing to her, but we both knew that wasn’t true anymore. I could feel her rage over the phone, how pissed she’d been that I hadn’t called her all week. She wanted to keep pretending to be indifferent to me, but I took that away from her.

  Now I’d evened the score.

  She moved away from me and rose to her feet. “I’ve got to get to work.”

  I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face, loving the way she loathed herself from submitting to me so completely. She’d missed me like crazy. I already knew it before she told me, but it was still nice to hear. Maybe I was an asshole—but I was her asshole.

  She pulled on a pair of jeans from the floor and then clasped her nude bra around her waist.

  I watched her before I got out of bed and pulled on my clothes.

  She skipped the makeup, but brushed her teeth and fixed her hair before she left the room and walked to the front of the apartment.

  I followed her, watching her heart-shaped ass shake.

  She grabbed her purse and pulled it over her shoulder, her phone stuffed into her back pocket. She kept avoiding eye contact, unable to meet me head on.

  I grabbed her by the elbow and yanked her toward me, making her face me to look me dead in the eye.

  Now she held my gaze without blinking.

  “No more games.” My arm circled her waist and pulled her deeper into me. I gripped her lower back and let my lips hover above hers. “You look me in the eye when you tell me goodbye. You call me when you want me. You treat me like I’m yours—not some dirty secret. Do you understand me?”

  She knew it would be stupid to defy me, not after the way I made her crumble into pieces last night. “Yes…”

  I kissed the corner of her mouth. “Tell me I make you feel safe.”

  Her arms hooked around my neck, and she pressed her forehead against mine. “You make me feel safe.” Not only did she repeat the words, but it sounded like she meant them. I didn’t need to be between her legs to make her cooperate—because I’d already conquered her.

  “Have a good day at work.” I kissed her on the mouth before I walked out the door, saying goodbye like a man did to his wife.

  I heard her voice trail behind me as I left. “Thanks…you too.”

  I was sitting in my office when Drake knocked and walked inside. “Sir?”

  I was doing the bookkeeping, making sure no one was hacking in to our systems and stealing our cash. The memberships people paid kept the casino going. I took my share every month as a salary for keeping the place going, along with insurance and liability. In addition to that, I gambled myself. All payments were transferred digitally, so there was no cash in the building.

  The men would be too tempted to rob me.

  “Come in.” I quickly logged out of the account, cleared my history, and then shut the laptop. I didn’t take chances with anyone—except Ronan. “What’s up?” I glanced at the only picture on my desk, a picture of Ronan and me with my mother. It was taken a year before she was diagnosed with cancer. It was Christmas morning—and I’d bought her a car.

  Drake approached my desk, visibly tired after his long shift with Carmen. “I eavesdropped on a conversation Carmen had with Vanessa. I’m not sure if this is information you want to know, but I thought I would ask.”

  I had my men tail her everywhere she went, joining her in restaurants and posing as potential flower shop customers whenever someone remotely shady entered her store. It didn’t seem like she aware of it, minus the pedophile who almost tried to touch her nephew. She had no idea how extensively I controlled every inch of this city. But my intention had never been to invade her privacy. I didn’t spy on her inside her apartment, and I didn’t tap her phone lines or listen to her private conversations. “Is there a problem?”

  “There’s no problem with her safety. But she talked about you—and told the truth.”

  I froze on the spot, shocked that she’d told her cousin the truth about me.

  “She asked Vanessa not to share the information with Bones.”

  I wondered if she would keep her promise. “What else was said?”

  “Vanessa told Carmen she should stay away from you. They talked about it for a while, and then Carmen said she didn’t see a future with you, that she’s afraid you won’t let her go when she wants to leave…and you aren’t right for her.” Drake looked awkward telling me this, like he wished he were doing anything else besides discussing my personal life.

  I felt the rage circulate in my veins, the fact that Carmen actually considered trying to get rid of me.

  “Said she wants a house in Tuscany with her husband and four kids—and her husband will never be you.”

  I didn’t give a shit how she pictured her fairy-tale life. Fairy tales weren’t real, and no other man would give her what she really wanted. No other man would be able to handle this woman, provide for her and protect her. She needed to forget about that happily ever after because it would never happen. “That’ll be all, Drake.”

  He took the dismissal and walked out.

  I sat in my leather chair, my office not having any windows because it was protected by layers of concrete on every single side. The only way inside was up a long staircase that led to an elevator that could only be accessed with a special card.

  I was a bit paranoid.

 
No one had ever made an attempt on my life, probably because the chance of success was so small. But that didn’t mean it wouldn’t happen someday. When it did, I would be prepared.

  I was prepared for anything.

  I considered Carmen’s gossip with her cousin and wondered when that conversation had taken place. It must have happened before she called me, pissed off that I’d ignored her all week and desperate to have me again. Maybe she knew I was bad for her, but that wouldn’t change how much she needed me.

  She wasn’t strong enough to leave me.

  If she were, she wouldn’t have gotten in this deep to begin with.

  And if she did find the courage to walk away from me, it would be the greatest mistake she ever made.

  Because she would find out what kind of monster I really was.

  I refilled my glass as I sat on the couch, the TV on in the background. I was reading a book, wearing just my fitted black sweatpants without a shirt. It didn’t matter that it was freezing cold outside.

  I was always warm.

  I hadn’t called Carmen because I wanted her to make the first move—to remind her how far she was under my thumb.

  She texted me, her words popping up on my screen. I just got home from work.

  I grinned when I saw her name flash across my phone. I had seen her that morning—and put her in her place. I grabbed my phone and wrote back. How was your day?

  Slow. Didn’t make a single sale.

  It happens. I didn’t invite her over or head to her place. I’d been doing nothing but chasing this woman around. It was her turn to chase me.

  She didn’t write back for a while, probably hating herself for messaging me at all, treating me like I was some kind of boyfriend.

  I definitely wasn’t her boyfriend. Boyfriends were for pussies.