“Thanks,” she says, beaming at me. “I think you’re right about Greta. We’ll invite everyone else. Meet you downstairs at seven? We can get dinner first, and then dance it off.”
“I’ll be there without bells on.”
“Huh?”
“I’ll explain it on our way back to our floor,” Matisse tells her with a laugh. “Be sexy, but not slutty, Si.”
“Gotcha.”
I smile as I close the door, already knowing what dress I’m going to wear. I bought it about a year ago, even though I had no place to wear it yet. I just loved it, and it fit, so I splurged. I only wish Joel was going to see me in it. Wait, no! I don’t want that, or him. Who am I kidding? I totally want that man, despite the deal he’s made me make with him. Or maybe because of it.
I try to put him out of my mind as I shower, shave, and slide lotion all over my body. I don’t call him as I slip on my shiny black dress with the sheer panels at the top, and the fringe at the bottom. And I definitely don’t consider what he’d think as I step into strappy black heels. Putting my hair into a twist so the back of my dress is shown off proves that I didn’t dress for him. He told me the other night that he loves my hair down, but I’m sure that was just one of his lines. I’m going out for me tonight, and not him. I don’t know how many nights I’ll have like this, so I should make this one count. For me and only me.
That sentiment lasts through a fun dinner with my friends, and even as we walk through the casino to the club. It’s only when we walk inside, and I see Joel, that I feel like I’m there for him, even as Greta is standing too close to him, and he’s obviously flirting with her. A surge of jealousy goes through me, and one word goes through my head: mine.
It takes all of my self control, but I turn from them and walk over to our reserved table. I won’t cause a scene. I’ve only known Joel for one night, and despite our agreement, I know he’s not really mine. I’m his to do with as he pleases, but there was never any reciprocity agreed to. I thought he meant for us to be exclusive, but apparently I was wrong. Thank God for condoms.
Strong arms circle my waist before I sit down, and I inhale the scent that is uniquely Joel—a mix of woodsy cologne, soap, and a hint of sweat—before he whispers in my ear. “You have nothing to be jealous of, Gatinha. Flirting is in my blood, but I belong to you right now.”
“Gatinha? Does that mean cat?”
“Kitten, and it’s also slang for hot,” he smiles against my neck. “Your claws were out. I liked it, and you’re definitely hot.”
I like it, too. That he’s calling me pet names, I mean. I can’t let it show, but I like it. “So you want women fighting over you. Good to know.”
I try to pull away, but he holds me even tighter, and kisses my cheek before moving his mouth back to my ear. “I already told you there is nothing to fight about. I am with you and only you.”
“You mean that?’ I ask, ignoring my friends as I turn to look him in the eye.
“Yes.”
I search his eyes, and see the truth there. “Okay.”
“Okay,” he repeats, a gorgeous smile lighting up his face.
And what a face it is. Despite his mustache and close-shaven beard, he looks like he’s carved from marble. A strong nose, cleft chin, chiseled cheekbones, and intense brown eyes are all perfectly matched to create a beautiful man. His hair, which is short on the sides, but full and messy on top, makes him look even sexier.
His body is no less spectacular. Powerful arms that do more than hint at the fact that he swings a bat for a living. A lean, muscled chest and abs, which I haven’t seen but can tell are there with the tight shirts he wears. His jeans aren’t tight, but I know his thighs and calves will be muscular as well. He’s a professional athlete, and although it’s currently his off season, he’ll still be working out daily. There’s no real down time for these guys.
“Joel, why did you run off like that?” Greta asks, sauntering up to us. There’s no other word for what she’s doing, her hips moving back and forth.
He pulls me firmly to his side before answering. “My apologies. I should have said goodbye, but when Sierra’s in the room, I tend to block everyone else out.”
“You’re with her?”
“I am.”
“Hi, Greta,” I tell her.
“You know each other?”
“Greta is also an intern at the Foundation.”
“I told you that,” she says with a sneer.
“Did you? Sorry, I guess I wasn’t paying attention.”
“Your loss,” she says, tossing her hair and swinging her hips once again as she walks away.
I can’t fault Joel for watching. I’m watching, too, and I’m not even into girls. Greta has an awesome set of hips, a great rack, and an even better ass. I’ve always been okay with my body, depsite the fact that I’m lacking in the curves department. Until now, that is. Now I feel a little insecure, knowing he could have that. He could have her, and all the luscious curves she’s displaying.
* * *
Joel
I can feel the discomfort coming off of Sierra as Greta walks away, and I know I shouldn’t have been watching. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have looked,” I whisper in her ear.
“Who wouldn’t? She’s hot.”
“Not as hot as you,” I tell her honestly. To me, there is no one hotter.
“Obviously my stellar personality has blinded you to my lack of curves.”
It’s true that she’s not as curvy as the women I normally go for, but I’m really into her. “I love what you’ve got going on. Well, except for you hair,” I tell her, as I reach up and take the pins out of it. “You should always wear it down.”
“I wanted to show off the back of my dress,” she tells me, as I run my fingers through it.
“It’s a very nice dress,” I admit, running my hands over the the sheer panels on top, and the shiny material hiding the rest of her.
“Thanks.”
“Are you ever going to introduce us to your friend, Si?” a redhead with a British accent asks her.
I see her realize that she forgot her friends were here. A surge of male pride goes through me, knowing she was solely focused on me. Truth be told, she was my only focus as well.
“Oh, sorry. Everyone, this is Joel Cruz. Joel, this is Jenysis, Neveah, Matisse, Rose, Camari, Kalila, Harlow, and Rhieve. Along with Greta, they’re the other interns who are training with me.”
“Hi ladies. It’s a pleasure to meet all of you.”
It really is. They’re all gorgeous, and if I wasn’t so into Sierra, I’d probably hit on at least one of them. My body and mind are only focused on one woman, so I give them my polite smile, and not my predatory one. A couple of them narrow their eyes at me, letting me know what they think of me. Bring it, ladies. For once in my life, I’m not hiding anything when it comes to a woman. It may be too soon for me to be thinking this, but I’m all in with Sierra. All the fuck in.
“How did you two meet?” Camari asks. At least I think it’s Camari.
“He’s friends with Zack. We met at the party last night.”
“Actually, we met at Zack and Ainsley’s wedding. I asked you to dance, and you turned me down.”
“You remember that?”
“Of course. I don’t get turned down very often.”
“Oh,” she says, her smile dimming. Shit.
“That’s not the only reason I remembered.”
“I think it’s time for you to go,” the tattooed girl with black hair tells me. I’m pretty sure she’s Matisse, but since it’s not her I’m focused on, I can’t be sure.
“Let’s dance, Si,” I tell her.
She looks conflicted, but then nods. I lead her to the dance floor, and pull her into my arms. “I mean it. You’ve intrigued me since you walked down that aisle, but I didn’t make this agreement with you just because you told me no.”
“It’s okay. We have a deal. Feelings aren’t involved. It’s just sex and Por
tuguese.”
“I asked for more than just sex.”
“Because you want to dominate me, bend me to your will.”
“Partly, yes. But I also want to get to know you. All of you.”
“Why?”
“I honestly don’t know. I just know I do.”
It’s the truth. With most women, I would just take them somewhere to have sex. I wouldn’t stay the night, but I’d leave them satisfied, if not happy. Sierra’s different. I definitely want her, but I want all of her, not just sex. I’ve never taken anything slow, but this right here, whatever it is I’ve gotten us into, I want to take it slow. Get to know her, and then learn what makes her scream in pleasure. I’m not sure I’ll do it right, but I’m going to sure as hell try.
Chapter 3
Joel
“Hey man, you got a minute?” Miles Corrigan asks me as I finish my workout in his company’s fitness center. He gave me access while I’m in town, since their stuff is better than any gym I could join.
“Sure. What’s up?”
He looks around, making sure we’re the only ones in here. Since it’s the middle of the workday, we are. “What’s going on with you and Sierra Taylor?”
“That’s between us,” I tell him, standing up and walking towards the men’s locker room.
“She’s an intern here.”
“I know.”
“The intern training program is really intense. If you’re messing with her, I’ve got to ask you to stop. She’s a nice girl, and I don’t want to see her mess up her chances just to be another notch to you.”
“That’s rich coming from you. If I recall correctly, you used to leave multiple women in every city wishing for more.”
“Yeah, well, I grew up and got the woman I loved.”
“We can’t all be that lucky,” I grumble.
I know love exists—my parents, and several of my friends have found it—I just don’t know if I believe it will happen for me, or if I even want it. Not even with the beautiful girl with dark brown hair and even darker brown eyes who captivates me more every time I see her.
“Just promise me you’re not messing with her.”
That I can do.“I’m not.”
“If you want to eat here, I think she might be in the cafeteria right now. I can take you there. Just putting that out there.”
“Yeah?”
“Sure.”
“Let me rinse all this sweat off, and I’ll meet you outside in five.”
“That smile on your face just told me everything I needed to know about how you feel about her.”
I whip my towel at him as we both laugh. I take an extra minute to trim my beard after my shower, but I leave my hair messy. I can’t wait to have Sierra’s hands in it. It’s been almost a week since I saw her at the club, and I’m pretty desperate for her. I want to see her, and dammit, I want to kiss her. We haven’t been alone yet, and I don’t want to share that first time with anyone else. I need it to happen soon, though. Very soon.
Miles smirks when I come out, looking me up and down. “You’re dressed to impress.”
“I only had casual shit with me,” I tell him, looking down at my henley and jeans. “I look pretty good.”
“Keep telling yourself that.”
“Asshole.”
“Maybe, but I’m the asshole who’s taking you to see your girl.”
“I’ll give you that.”
“Be still my heart.”
“Just shut up and get me to the cafeteria,” I tell him when the elevator doors open.
He laughs as we walk into the cafeteria. As always, my eyes are immediately drawn to Sierra. She’s wearing a long sleeved sheer blue and black top over a blue velvet bra thing. Black jeans cover her long legs, and her hair is straight and loose around her shoulders. The men at her table are absolutely captivated by her, and my resolve to take things slow dissolves instantly.
I stride purposely to her table, lift her from her seat, and fuse our lips together. The kiss isn’t sweet like I’d planned for our first time. It’s a claiming kiss, one that’s showing every man and woman in this room that she’s mine. I slide my tongue into her mouth as she wraps her arms around me, and we both groan. I kiss her deeply for another minute before pulling back.
“Olá, Gatinha.” I whisper in her ear.
“I think you’re the one with the claws today, querida.”
“Maybe,” I concede, smiling at her use of the Portuguese term of endearment. “Do you mind?”
“Not at all,” she tells me, giving me another peck on the mouth. “I’d started to worry that maybe you didn’t really want to kiss me.”
“Oh, I wanted to. I just wanted us to be alone at the time. And then I walked in here, and saw those guys around you, and yeah, I lost it.”
“I’m not complaining, but what are you doing here?”
“Miles lets me work out downstairs. He said I might catch you up here.”
“Oh wow. I had no idea you’re here sometimes. If I’m not in one of my classes, we could eat together.”
“I’d like that.” A lot. More than I should.
“We’d have to exchange numbers.”
“You want my number?” I ask with a smirk, and then realize my mistake immediately when she drops her arms from my neck.
“We’ll need them so we can arrange our study time, and the duties you need me to fulfill.” She pulls out her phone, and looks at me with her eyebrow quirked. I rattle off my number, and she texts me immediately.
Querida means darling, and Lindeza means prettiness, although it doesn’t translate exactly right into English.
“Sim—yes.”
She nods. “Obrigado, Joel. Adeus.” And then she sits down, with her back to me. Thank you, and goodbye. I’ve been dismissed, and hell if it doesn’t kind of turn me on.
“Até logo, Gatinha.” I’ll see you soon, I tell her, because I definitely will.
* * *
Sierra
“Today, we’re going to do things a little differently,” Jade tells us when we enter the sparring room later that day. She’s standing on the steps to the MMA cage that dominates the room. “Most fights you’re going to find yourselves in aren’t civilized or fair. We’ve taught you to classically fight, but now you need to learn how to do it for real.”
Her husband Nate, who’s an MMA legend, walks to the bottom of the steps with their friends Ellie and Aiden. I’ve met them a few times, but I don’t know them well. Ellie is Harlow’s mentor, while Jade is Rhieve’s, and they’ve both told me they’re great to work with one-on-one. The guys are pretty tight with Darcy, and they’ve been cool every time we’ve come in contact. I’m thinking today will be more fun than usual with all of them here.
“I’m going to pick your names from this hat,” she says as Nate hands her a ball cap with a wink. “And that will determine who you spar with.”
“Why can’t we just pick someone ourselves? I know who I want to fight,” Greta yells out.
“Is there a problem we don’t know about?” Ellie asks, narrowing her eyes.
“Of course not. I just think it would be fun to fight a certain someone.”
“Who do you want to fight, Greta?” Jade asks her.
“Sierra.”
“Bitch,” Jen whispers next to me. “You don’t have to do it, Si.”
We both know that’s not true. I can’t back down when I’ve been called out. What kind of superspy is afraid to fight? Not me, even if I am a little afraid. I’ve seen Greta spar with Jade, and they’ve been pretty evenly matched. I’m good, but I’m not on their level. Even so, I step forward.
“Okay. I’ll do it.”
We walk to the cage, and get inside. Jade shoots me a concerned look before closing the door, but I manage to smile at her. I don’t think it reassured either of us. I throw my shoulders back and crack my neck, trying to loosen myself up for what’s to come.
“You should’ve stayed away from Joel Cruz, Sierra.”
>
“In case you hadn’t noticed, he’s the one who doesn’t stay away from me.”
“He will once I’m done with you today.”
“You do realize we’re supposed to work together and be friends, right?”
“That’s not my style,” she tells me, before launching herself at me.
I manage to hold my own for the first five minutes or so. We’re both bruised and bleeding a little, but I’m not doing too badly. I can see when she realizes that what she’s doing isn’t working. It’s almost like she’s flipped a switch inside of herself. One that brings out her true nature, her dark side.
I have no chance once she unleashes herself. The blows become more brutal and dirty. They’re somehow faster than before, and even as I tire, she seems to find strength in giving me pain. It doesn’t go on long before the cage door is open, and Nate goes for her while Jade and Ellie rush to me. There’s a moment where I think she may take Nate down too, but then he’s got her over his head, and he drops her to the mat none too gently. The last thing I see before blacking out is that damn smirk on her face before she starts laughing.
I wake up in a hospital room. From our tour, I know it’s the one in the Foundation, and not somewhere public. My mouth is dry, my head is throbbing, and I have no idea what time it is. When I turn my head, I see Darcy sleeping in the chair by my bed. Zack’s not here, which means no one told him what happened. I’ll have to thank them all later.
“Darce?” I whisper.
Her eyes pop open and she jumps from the chair. “She’s awake. Kenny, she’s awake.”
“Calm down, Darcy. I don’t think they heard you in your husband’s home country,” the Foundation doctor, Kendrick, tells her as he walks into the room. “Hello, Sierra. I was hoping I wouldn’t see you in here until you were at least mission ready.”
“Hi, Kendrick. Sorry to disappoint you.”
“Not to worry. I’m used to it with this group.”
Society Girls: Sierra Page 3
