I couldn’t help but scoff. “Wow. You have balls the size of church bells.”
“You really think Dev and I are so different?”
“Yes, I do,” I gritted between clenched teeth. “So what happens on January 1st, when I wake up in the arms of my husband?”
He shrugged. “Then I’ll concede the defeat to true love. But that’s not going to happen. And I’m willing to bet every single dime against it. How many weeks until your wedding?”
I had to think about it. It was just shy of six months away. “Twenty-seven,” I finally answered.
“So what is twenty-seven times $10,000?” he asked. “More than a quarter of a million dollars, yes?”
I figured he knew damned well that it was. He came into this meeting with a plan. “You tell me,” I snapped.
“Two hundred, seventy thousand, in fact,” he answered with that asshole smirk. “But I’ll cut you a deal, since we’re only meeting for one day a week. For now,” he added as he looked me over. “So a cool quarter-mil. How does that sound?”
“You do realize that you’re betting on my unhappiness. You understand what kind of person that makes you?”
He nodded as he released me and returned to his bike. “A hustler. Same as Dev. Same as you.” He caught my surprised look. “Come on, CC. You didn’t call me because you wanted to work out. You just wanted to see what kind of cards I held so you could know how to manipulate me for the next six or so months, probably to keep me from running to Daddy with the scandalous truth.” It was obvious that he found my surprise amusing. “Come on. I knew that the minute you let me grope you on the dance floor. What happy newlywed does that?” He laughed. “Dev really should have warned you. You can’t con a con.”
I followed him, albeit reluctantly.
“Take comfort, sweet Coralie,” he smiled at me as we started back up the bike path. “At least I’m being open and honest about what I want. And that’s more than you can ever say about Dev, whose allure has always depended on his mystery. But it’s all calculated, right down to every last detail. Admit it. He had a plan of attack already in motion by the time you left dinner last week, didn’t he? Probably not unlike your first date with him, when he magically seemed to know what you wanted before you could tell him, even before you met. You think that’s an accident?”
I gulped hard as I thought about the clothes that Dev had gotten from Darcy, right down to the size.
“This time he asked you to play a part, to go along with it,” Caz finished. “But do you really think I’m the only one he’s playing, CC?” Off my look he continued, “Look at you, CC. You’ve already started to change. A recurring theme with Mr. Masters, isn’t it? He romances unattractive women with means all the time, because he has to. But if a woman is going to be on his arm, she has to change. Why do you think he wanted you to hire me as your trainer, not just a tennis instructor?”
I didn’t say much of anything all the way back to the store, and Caz seemed content to let all the information he’d shared come to a simmer at the base of my brain. I was still processing it all long after he left me at my office.
Devlin was quick to check in with me on how it all went. He locked the door behind him so we wouldn’t be disturbed, a necessary precaution now that Oliver just waltzed into my office whenever he pleased.
“So?” Dev asked as he plopped down in the chair across from my desk.
“He wants a quarter of a million dollars,” I stated simply as I leaned back in my chair.
Devlin broke out laughing. “He’s got balls the size of watermelons,” he said, inadvertently echoing what I had said. “I guess I have to give him that if nothing else. What did he say when you told him you weren’t going to pay him?”
“That’s just the thing. I only have to pay him if one criteria is met.”
Dev’s green eyes pierced mine. “And that is?”
“If we break up by New Year’s Day.”
Devlin’s smile faded. “I see. What else did he say?”
I took a deep breath. There was no other option than to tell him everything. “He said that you were playing me, virtually conning me out of half of my estate by marrying me, just so you could get Darcy in as a designer at Cabot’s.”
I watched his jaw clench tight. “I see,” he repeated again.
“He put all his cards on the table, Dev. Didn’t even try to hide it. Told me that he knew that I had hired you from the agency. He said he was there when my email came through, and how you scrambled to rearrange your schedule to accommodate me. That it was your plan all along, to get revenge on someone who was rich because you basically hate all of us because of what happened with Suzanne.” I took a deep breath and forged on. “He also said that in order for me to be your wife, I would have to change, to get fit, to be worthy to be seen on your arm, just like Suzanne did. He thinks by going through with these workout sessions, I’m being played too.”
He hadn’t moved a muscle, but those eyes were lethal. “And did you believe him?” he asked me at last.
That certainly was the question. “No,” I answered at last, because there could be no other response.
He nodded. “Good.” He rose to his feet and I thought he might leave the office entirely. Instead he took off his jacket and tossed it over the back of the chair. Then he walked around my desk and pulled me up into his arms. His lips crushed mine before I even knew what was happening. I was breathless when I pulled away. “What are you doing?”
His voice was soft. His eyes were deep. And I felt his body harden against me. “Rewarding my good girl,” he said before he reached around to swipe everything off my desk and onto the floor. I nearly yelped as he lifted me up and tossed me onto my desk, landing on top of me, fitting his body between my legs.
“Dev,” I started, but he placed a finger against my lips.
“Shhh,” he said before he kissed me, deep and slow. I was powerless against him as his mouth dragged from mine, towards the curve of my chin, down the length of my neck and across my chest. He used his teeth to unbutton my shirt, revealing more milky white flesh for his inquisitive, magical mouth. I gasped when he shoved my bra out of the way so he could take my breast into his mouth. Down the hall I could hear the phones ringing, or people talking in the other offices. And yet here I was, reduced to a puddle of goo, simply because Devlin’s mouth was on my body.
He wasn’t done. He revealed my body inch by inch, using mostly his teeth to disrobe me, until he landed square between my legs. He knelt on his knees on the floor as he parted my thighs with his strong hands. The cool air from the air conditioner wafted against my sensitive skin. He used his fingers to open me up, just like a rose. I trembled in anticipation of what that tongue would feel like, swirling against me, circling my clit and coaxing yet another flurry of orgasms, although this time it was right in my office, right in the middle of the workday, so scandalous and inappropriate and wrong.
And sexy. So. Goddamn. Sexy.
I grabbed his dark hair in my hands to push his face against me. He sucked me into his mouth so hard that it made me cry out in spite of myself. Despite the fact he could work quick magic on me, and often did, he took his time, savoring his naughty mid-afternoon snack. He would take me right to the brink before he’d slow it all down again. It didn’t take long at all for me to forget where we were. In Devlin’s hands, and particularly at the tip of his tongue, I was lost in my own little world.
“Devlin,” I gasped softly.
He chuckled against me, which made my whole body shudder. “You can’t have it till I hear you scream, darlin.’”
I shook my head. He was asking the impossible. This wasn’t just my place of business, it was my family company. I couldn’t let everyone know we were having dirty sex in the office like a couple of animals. I had standards to uphold. I had obligations. I had a brand to protect, including my own.
But I also had an ache inside me that demanded one thing and one thing only. “I need you inside me.”
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He continued to tease me, flicking that skillful tongue against my engorged clitoris until I practically bucked against his face. “Scream,” he commanded, before taking me into his mouth and sucking hard. I cried out but I couldn’t bring myself to scream, even as he teased me with his fingers, drawing circles against my skin without ever penetrating me. I was so frustrated I practically clawed the polished wood of my desk.
“Devlin, please…,” I muttered.
He shook his head, dragging his mouth against me. “Obey your husband, Coralie,” he murmured against me.
“Please!” I cried out, louder this time. Two fingers slipped inside as he clamped his mouth on top of me. He didn’t stop until I was thrashing against his face. He made me come hard, twice, before he stood up. I could see his hardened silhouette in his designer slacks, which he quickly unfastened to let them drop.
His scorpion tattoo curled towards the waistband of his underwear, which he likewise quickly abandoned. His heavy cock sprang forward, and I could already feel it inside of me. “Turn over, Coralie,” he said as he started to stroke that impossibly hard shaft.
I was still trembling from my last orgasm as I positioned myself on my stomach, baring my ass for him. He nudged my thighs further apart before using his fingers to open me. I heard the condom package tear. Seconds later, without any preamble, he slammed himself up inside. I had no choice but to scream.
He curled his body around me, his chest to my back, his hand in my hair as he tugged my head back so he could latch his mouth onto my sensitive neck. “Let them hear,” he said, dragging his teeth against my skin. “Let them all know that your husband is fucking the shit out of you.”
He slammed into me again, which elicited another scream.
“That’s it,” he said as he began pummeling me from behind. His fingers curled, tugging his handful of hair, yanking my head back so he could latch his mouth onto my neck. I hadn’t had a hickey since the eighth grade, but he seemed determined to leave his mark. I clawed at the desk, unable to do anything but obey his every command, even when he told me to come.
He pistoned in and out of me, with primal grunts and deep groans, until finally he thrust himself up inside me one last time. Finally he collapsed against me.
“That’s for anyone who thinks I might be faking how much I want you, how much I need you, just as you are,” he said. I turned to face him. His eyes were dark.
“Devlin,” I started, but he shut me up with another kiss. His hand slid between my body and the cool wood of my desk, to disappear between my legs. He nearly choked me with his tongue as he fingered me towards yet another orgasm, where my contracting muscles practically milked him dry. This time he didn’t have to ask me to scream.
He kissed his way down my body before he finally stood and withdrew himself so that he could dress. Within minutes, we had straightened our clothes, rearranged my desk and Devlin went back to whatever he was doing for the new clothing line, with only a bemused smirk by Simon to let us know anyone at all knew what we had done.
That, and my body, which bore the imprint of his every time I dared move. Our passionate union had been rougher than usual. Defiant, almost, as if Devlin had something to prove. I was once again claimed, irrefutably so.
And Caz was effectively forgotten for the rest of the day.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Thoughts of Caz were put on the backburner all the way to the following Wednesday, when I was scheduled to “work out” with him again. I figured I could play Caz’s game for a few months. It would keep him preoccupied and away from Father, and then when New Year’s Day came and went without the world falling apart like he predicted, we could send him on his way without one red cent.
“He’ll come up with something new,” Dev warned me that following Tuesday night, as he held me in his arms. Like the dalliance in my office, he made sure he staked his claim prior to my seeing Caz Bixby again, so we made love practically from the time we got home from work to the time we went to bed. It wasn’t as barbaric as before, but by the time we went to bed that night, there wasn’t a part of my body that didn’t bear his signature.
Even the way he held me in his arms was possessive. He practically curled his body around me, as though I had disappeared within his embrace. I had honestly never felt safer or more at home.
To me, that was the only thing that mattered.
“He can come up with whatever he wants to, Dev. It doesn’t change anything. I love you, and I always will.”
His eyes sought mine in the low light of our bedroom. “You make everything worthwhile when you say that, Coralie. You know that, right?”
I cuddled up against my husband’s hot body, still covered with a slight film of sweat from our last explosive union. “All I know is that I need you to shut up and kiss me.”
He did exactly that.
Like Devlin, I needed to fortify myself with our love so that I could tolerate seeing Caz Bixby again. As much as I had tried to avoid it, he had gotten inside my head. Every single time the executives had met over the past week, talking about Darcy’s new clothing line, discussing with her what kinds of tricks she used to make her clothes accommodate more than just one standard type of body, I couldn’t help but hear the echo of Caz’s words bounce off of the deepest parts of my brain where I had tried to bury them.
“It’s only been a month and already he’s an executive, who is likely sliding his sister right into place. He probably even made it seem like it was your idea.”
I watched my husband in our board meetings, carrying himself with authority, bringing a keen insight into marketing strategies, no doubt things he had learned at Stanford in their business program. He was compelling and commanding. No one questioned his right to be there, least of all me.
He deserved that chance, I decided. He had worked hard for it. His life hadn’t been easy. He had always done whatever was needed to survive. And from what I could tell, people actually thanked him for what he did for them. This included the ebony enchantress, who had came knocking on our door over the weekend for their first “training” session.
Devlin surprised me by introducing me right away as his wife. It surprised Simone as well. There was some minor embarrassment as she admitted that she thought I was his sister, which he effectively refuted the minute he pulled me into his arms in front of her, cuddling me from behind as he buried his face along my neck. “If she’s my sister, then you should probably arrest me for all the things I’ve done to her for the past seven weeks.”
“I’m sorry,” Simone apologized yet again. “I just never thought you were the kind of guy to settle down.”
“Neither did I,” he admitted as he stared down at me with a love so potent, I was glad he was holding me up so I didn’t melt right to the floor. “Coralie was my game-changer.”
The whole weekend was filled with romantic little moments like that.
We had gone house hunting again, only this time we talked openly about what rooms we’d use as a nursery, or what schools were best for kids in the area. We were talking about a future far beyond January 1st.
It made me a little more confident as I waited for Caz to arrive that Wednesday evening.
We decided to meet at my apartment after I got home from work, so that we could use the private gym we had on the premises. Meanwhile Dev headed straight to my father’s house to give Aubrey her first piano lesson.
By the time Caz showed up, I was finally ready to face him for Round Two, where he would no doubt try to weasel into my psyche and plant more suspicion and doubt. He wore a pretty self-confident smile when I opened the door. He also wore a suit and carried roses, along with a bottle of champagne. He entered the room with the swagger of a man who thought he had the upper hand.
“I thought we were going to work out,” I stated as I closed the door behind him.
“Oh, we will,” he said as he handed off the roses to me. “But there are several ways to do that, aren’t there, Mrs. Masters?”
I took the roses into the kitchen to find a vase. He followed behind.
“This is really some place you have here.”
“Thank you,” I said in a clipped voice. I knew he was circling something and, of course, he was.
“You ever wonder how many women Devlin had to fuck to afford this place?”
I sent him a severe side-eye glare. “It doesn’t matter how many women he fucked in the past. He’s only fucking me now.”
Caz chuckled softly. “Oh, the many ways those words can be interpreted. So tell me. How did the hubby take the news when you told him about our deal?”
“What makes you think I did?”
He shrugged. “Because you’re a good girl. And a good wife. You’re going to give him a play-by-play of all our interactions because you still feel like you need to earn his trust.”
I gave his outfit the once over. “I take it that you showed up tonight like we were on some kind of date just to undermine my efforts.”
“Of course,” he admitted gleefully, with a self-satisfied smirk. “You’re paying $10,000 a week for my services. You might as well get what you paid for.” He walked towards me until he was practically shadowing me from behind. His voice lowered as he toyed with a tendril of my long hair. “Fucking, by the way, is definitely on the table. Just in case you were wondering.”
I pulled away with a scowl. “I wasn’t.”
That made Caz laugh too. “Let me guess. Good ol’ Dev has fucked you so much and so well this past week, you’re too sore to even consider it. And you probably think that was an accident, too.”
I turned to face him. “He fucked me often and well because that’s what we do.”
“Right,” he agreed. “Like I said, you get what you pay for.”
“You’re disgusting,” I snapped before I walked away from him.
“But I’m right,” he said as he followed me. “And deep down, you know it.”
Masters for Life Page 18
