“Maybe we should go back to your place?” I say once we’re inside.
“Good evening, Mr. Cole,” the same hostess greets with a warm smile. Instead of asking me to sign my life away like she did the last time, she keeps her eyes locked on Kase.
“Hello, Cassie. Ms. Charles is accompanying me tonight. Mr. McMullen is still in charge, should you need any assistance.”
“Certainly, sir.”
Kase opens the door behind the podium and pulls me into a dark hallway. “Are we supposed to be going this way?”
He makes no attempt to answer as we walk down a hall lined with doors. Instead of numbers, each door has a different name. We pass Expert, Stallion, Crew, Jungle, and Hammer before Kase stops in front of the one that says, Ace. Pulling a key out of his jeans, he unlocks the door and waves me in.
The night Brenna brought me here, my mind ran wild imagining what was behind the doors I was forbidden to go through. Therefore, I’m slightly disappointed. Other than black walls, the room looks like an average hotel room. A king-sized bed, a chair in the corner, and a small bathroom.
“What’s with the look?”
“I was picturing whips and chains,” I say with a shrug.
His eyebrows rise. “Is that something you’re interested in?”
“I think with the right person, I’d be willing to give it a go.”
“Good to know,” he says with a laugh, walking to the window. He pulls a cord and the blind goes up revealing a mirror. “You like the idea of someone watching us?”
“Um…I…um…”
“I wasn’t about to fuck you in a club filled with lunatics filming us. But if you like the idea of someone watching… That’s what you’ll get.”
My gaze remains locked on the mirror. Earlier, Kase had me hot and bothered, and I know I said I didn’t care where we were, but he’s right…I would have after the fact, especially if someone was videoing us with their phone. Standing here, making the decision when his hand isn’t between my legs is totally different.
“I can close the shade, if you want?”
“No. Leave it open.”
His eyes widen with an impish grin. “I knew under the mask you show the world was a naughty woman in desperate need of a good hard fuck.”
He closes the distance between us, his eyes darkened with desire. Kneeling in front of me, he glides his hands up my legs, hooking his fingers into the sides of my panties and slides them off. Gripping the hem of my dress, he stands up and whips it up and over my head, leaving me standing in front of him, completely naked.
His eyes trail over my body, appraising every inch. “You have no idea what you make me feel.” He runs his hands over my breasts, down my stomach, running a finger through my slit. “Being with me won’t be easy.” He thrusts a finger inside. “But I promise it will be worth it in the end.”
He drags his tongue through my slit before he enthusiastically attacks my clit like his life depends on the pleasure he’s giving me.
“Oh, God, Kase.” Without a care in the world, I grind my pelvis against his face, taking what I desperately need until my vision blurs and my legs weaken. Coming down from a high I only seem to get from this man, my eyes lock on the mirror behind him, wondering how many people watched me climax.
His gaze follows mine, immediately darkening. “I think I’ve shared you enough for one night.” Once the blind is shut, he unbuttons his shirt and tosses it on the chair while I lie on the bed. His expression is a mix of surprise and annoyance. “Did you savor the idea of strangers watching you?”
“When I’m with you, you make me forget anyone else exists.”
He strips his jeans and boxers off and prowls toward the bed. There’s no doubt in my mind, I want this man—someone I barely know—a man I feel like I’ve known forever. “I want you.” Always.
He grabs a condom off the nightstand and seconds later, he buries himself deep inside me. His forehead rest against mine, our eyes locked as he slowly pumps in and out. Unlike the times before, something in this moment feels different…better.
“You deserve to be happy, and I’d give anything to be the person who gives you that.”
“You do, you are.”
“No,” he whispers. “I’m not but I want to be.”
His thrusts come faster and faster until I’m falling over the edge, gasping his name and taking him with me.
Once our breathing evens, he cups my face, and his eyes soften. “There are more than a million reasons why I should walk away but…”
“Tell me what they are. Maybe I can give you a reason not to.”
“You already have.”
Kase
My phone buzzes with a message from the back pocket of my jeans, lying somewhere on the floor, but with Delanie passed out in my arms and my imagination running wild, I make no attempt to get up.
There was a time when Stella was my saving grace, my place of refuge. Young and wealthy makes a recipe for disaster for a single male with no intentions of sharing a life with someone. But tonight, bringing Delanie here made me feel the opposite.
She was hot, bothered, and turned on at the idea of someone seeing us—therefore, I didn’t think twice about bringing her here but even with her safely tucked into my side, I’m left with an eerie feeling that has more to do with my past then it does with Stella.
The night was early when we arrived, not to mention the rooms on this floor cost a small fortune and aren’t used as regularly as the ones on the main level. I doubt anyone was watching us, but for some reason, she appeared to be getting off on the thought. The idea of sharing her on any level makes my blood boil, which left me with only one option. What I can’t seem to wrap my mind around is why. Woman come and go. I’ve enjoyed some more than others and I’ve had my fair share of repeats with members of the club but from the second I saw her here, when she turned those innocent eyes my direction, I was a goner. I haven’t known her long enough to be in love with her. Still, no matter how hard I try, I can’t shake this feeling that she somehow belongs to me. And fuck if I don’t have the urge to keep her.
This club served a need, a desire to keep my sex life simple and uncomplicated, but after tonight, just like Delanie, I know it’s not something I should keep.
Chapter Twelve
Delanie
At my request, Kase dolefully took me home Sunday night. Being with him is intoxicating; my grip on reality lingers somewhere between a rainbow and a leprechaun with a pot of gold. I needed a break—time to think about the warning signs he’s clearly trying to give me.
“I think you need to call your mother.” I startle when I hear Brenna’s voice.
“I didn’t know you were home.” She’s dressed in a short gray T-shirt dress that barely covers her ass.
“I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m…” She glances at her watch. “About ready to leave for work.”
“Is she calling you a lot? Maybe it’s time for you to block her number too.”
She wolfishly winks. “Nah, I enjoy messing with her. When she called today, I told her you were out screwing a guy you barely know.” Her face brightens even more. “You can imagine how that went over.”
I hope she’s kidding but deep down, I know she’s not. “I’ll call her, but please ignore her calls from now on.”
“Not on your life. If she’s dumb enough to keep calling, then I’m going to take as much amusement from needling her as I can.”
Oh, dear Lord.
“I’ll call her. Tonight. I promise.”
She shrugs without a care in the world and grabs her keys off the hook by the door. “If I miss you in the morning, have a great day at work.”
When the door clicks shut, I open my phone, scroll through my settings, and unblock my mother’s contact.
My entire life, I’ve lived under this woman’s thumb. I used to fool myself into believing she was just a tad overeager, trying to ensure I always had the best, but shortly after my thirteenth birthday, I overh
eard her telling Carter’s mom with my wide hips and small boobs, I’d be lucky if a boy wanted to date me.
At some point, I should have told her to fuck off, especially after my breast nicely filled out, but I didn’t. Instead, I continued trying to please her until Carter finally pushed me too far and reasoning with anyone who thought I should stay with him was enough to make my head spin.
Acid works its way up my throat the second I dial her number. I wanted to believe, cutting her out of my life, she’d change but again, I was only fooling myself.
“Delanie?”
“Hi, Mom.”
“Hi, Mom? After a month of ignoring my calls, that’s all you have to say?”
“No.” I pinch the bridge of my nose. “That was my greeting. If you give me a chance, I was going to ask how you’re doing.”
“My only daughter up and left me to deal with the fall out of her pending wedding. How do you think I’m doing?”
“It was never my dream to marry Carter; it was always yours.”
Her breath hitches when she says, “You’re probably right. Your dad and Doug have told me as much, but you’re an adult, Delanie. You don’t deal with a fallout by running away.”
I blink several times in shock from hearing the words, you’re probably right. I doubt I’ll ever get any closer to an apology than that.
“Carter listened to a beautiful woman whispering in his ear and fell for her web of lies. It was wrong but it happens.”
“Wow, for a second, I thought we were going to be able to move past this, but you’re never going to stop pushing the two of us together, are you?”
“He loves you. He just listened to a lying little tramp.”
“Oh, my God,” I groan, my eyes filling with tears. “I have never been more thankful to be an only child than I am right now.”
“Oh, Delanie, stop being so—”
“Dramatic? Yes, I know, I have a flair for that. Or at least that’s what you tell me anytime I dare to disagree with you.” My voice cracks with a sob. “Have you once stopped and listened to what shit you’re spewing? My fiancé informed me seven weeks before our big day that he knocked another woman up, and instead of being mad at him, you’ve turned this around on me.”
“What he did was wrong, and I’m not trying to pretend otherwise—”
“Yes, you are. You’ve spent your entire life pretending to be the perfect wife, the perfect friend, the perfect mother by either turning a blind-eye or manipulating those around you. And right now, you’re about to come undone because you’re not the one calling the shots.”
She gasps in shock, which shouldn’t surprise me but it does. “I don’t know if you have been calling or texting because the last time we spoke, I blocked your number. Tonight, I was feeling guilty for shutting you out my life but consider this your last warning. I. Am. Done. With all of it. And don’t bother calling because I won’t be getting your messages.”
The phone drops to my lap, and the room blurs from unleashed tears the second I end the call.
I didn’t know it was possible to hate someone you love until now.
The next morning, I get up early enough to hit the gym and still arrive to work with enough time to stop for coffee. Moving on autopilot, I pay for my order and step to the side. My gaze moves to the door when it opens, and in walks Kase. He casually looks around on his way to the counter but the second he spots me, he changes direction.
“You’re here early.”
“I didn’t realize you knew my schedule?”
His eyes flare before he chuckles. “Coffee, water, then wine. I’ve tried to make it my job to memorize your likes and dislikes. And…” He glances at the clock on the wall. “You still have twenty minutes before you have to be at work.”
“I got up early. I couldn’t sleep.”
“That wouldn’t have been a problem if you were in my bed.”
My face breaks out in a smile. “Very true. At least if I was tired today, it would be for a different reason.”
He tells the person behind him in line to go ahead of him, then looks at me with a serious expression. “What happened?”
“My mother happened. I called her hoping things would be different only to be slapped with the harsh reminder that she’s never going to change.”
“Shit, I’m sorry. I was expecting you to complain about your neighbors being too loud.”
I grab my coffee while he orders and pays for his. Instead of heading to work, I wait by the door, and with caffeine in hand, we step outside just as the sun is finally making its appearance.
“So, what did your mom say that upset you?”
I force myself not to groan from embarrassment. “Carter, my ex, he didn’t just cheat on me. He got his receptionist pregnant.”
He nods. “That sucks.”
“Oh, that wasn’t even the worst of it.”
His eyes darken as he snags my arm and moves us out of the flow of people and off to the side of Walton Towers. “What do you mean, that’s not the worst of it?”
“Ah…” My face and ears turn red. “I’m not making excuses for him or maybe I’m making them for me, I don’t know, but…”
“Delanie,” he growls when I take my time sipping my coffee.
“He asked me to raise the baby with him as if it were our own. He was drawing up legal papers and everything.”
“That fucker,” he grumbles under his breath.
“Yeah, well that fucker expected me to absorb the fact that he was not only cheating on me but that we were going to adopt his bastard child in the same breath. When that didn’t happen… Things got ugly.”
“What do you mean? Did he put his hands on you?”
Yes. “No, he didn’t. But…” I glance at my watch, “I need to go or I’m going to be late.”
There’s an edge to his voice when he says, “Let’s go.”
We step into the elevator along with at least ten other people, and he places his hands on my waist. The ride to my floor is made in silence. When the doors to my floor slide open, I turn with a wink. “I’ll see you later.”
He cracks a small smile. “You most definitely will.”
My feet slow on my way to Mike’s cubical when Paula spots me. “Just the person I was looking for. I scheduled your broker’s exam for Friday. Spend the rest of this week at work studying because when you come into work next Monday, you’ll be on your own.”
“Thanks. I’m excited to finally be a part of the team.”
Her eyes dart around the office with an uncomfortable expression. “I’ll email you the information regarding your exam. I don’t expect you in the office on Friday, so whenever you finish your exam, you can start your weekend.”
“Thanks again, I really appreciate—” I stop mid-sentence when she swivels on her heels and storms down the hallway toward her office.
I’ve studied for this test until I’m blue in the face. I didn’t need another week to prepare but I have it regardless and since I won’t have to listen to Mike yapping in my ear, I might as well get the next ball in my life rolling.
My own apartment. I love Brenna, and the truth be told, she’s rarely home when I’m there, but I practically forced myself on her without any notice. And shaving off some time on my commute sounds like heaven.
My mouth drops open the second I step into the apartment. “Oh, my God.”
“Girl, your vagina must have some kind of special power.”
At least ten boutiques of bright beautiful flowers line the kitchen table and cabinets. “These are for me?” I drop my purse on the floor and walk to the table.
“I didn’t read any of the cards, but the delivery man asked for you.” Brenna looks at me. “I spent several weekends doing unspeakable things to his friend—who, for the record, is into some pretty kinky shit—and the most he’s bought me is dinner.”
My nose turns up. “Ew. Stop talking, please.” Being a nobody, I rarely see Roan at work, but the images I’ll have in my head at t
he next department meeting he decides to sit in won’t be pretty.
“I’m just saying, whatever spell you cast, it must be powerful.”
I open the card on a vase filled with pink and purple tulips.
I’ve been buried in the dark for so long, I was blinded by your light.
I open the card on an arrangement of daisies.
Your smile could change the world.
And the next…
I’m tired of focusing on what could go wrong, instead of what could go right.
With you, everything seems possible.
You’re not running from your problems. You were on a path that led you to me.
“Well, what do they say?”
I breathe in a long gasp of air, slowly exhaling it. “He’s…I don’t know.” I hand her a stack of cards. “Oh, my God. Delanie, this man is in love with you.”
“No, he’s not.”
Her eyes thin. “You send a woman you’re seriously interested in a boutique of flowers. But if you’re in love with a woman and you’re rich as fuck, then…,” she waves her hand around the room, “you do this.”
“Okay. I’ll admit, this seems a bit over the top. Maybe he thinks he’s in love with me, but that doesn’t mean he is. He’s hasn’t known me that long.”
“There’s no set amount of time to fall in love with someone.”
“And how many times have you been in love?”
She rolls her eyes to the ceiling. “You’re the one who had her head stuck in romance books all during high school. Love is love, and when you find it, you should grab that shit and not let it go.”
“I literally just got out a long relationship. It’s not a good idea to jump straight into another one.”
Her face softens. “Carter manipulated you for years. He scared you in a way that’s not going to fade overnight, but don’t let your past keep you from the future you want.”
I open another card. My soul was meant to find yours.
Kase Of Deception Page 9
