by Amber Rides
Finally, Teekay paused.
“You know what I think? This could work in my favor,” he said.
“What could?”
He made a swift, unexpected move, and he was no longer standing beside me. He was pressed into me, and my back was against a wide tree trunk. He held my hands at my sides and pushed one of his legs between mine.
“Your little vice,” he murmured. “Rooting for the bad guys. Because every single time I fuck up, you’ll be looking for an excuse on my behalf.”
I tried to wiggle away, but he held me in place firmly. And the more I moved, the more apparent it became that he liked it. A lot.
I stopped moving and he chuckled. “And you know what’s good about you looking for excuses?”
“What?” I whispered.
“It means I don’t have to look for them myself.” As he spoke, his fingers released my wrists and moved between me and the tree, up my back, playing across my shoulder blades, then down to my waist, and back up once again. “Which means…I can do any bad thing I want, and you’ll still be rooting for me to come out on top.”
His hands dipped to the hem of my dress and then under it to clasp my thighs. He gripped me tightly and he ground against me, his erection sliding across my underwear. At the same time, his teeth sought my throat. He didn’t kiss me – I hadn’t asked him to – but he did help himself to a little nibble. In response, my breathing quickened and my hips came up.
“For example, Maggie…Why do you think I took you for this walk?”
It was impossibly hard for me to focus on what he was saying.
“I don’t know,” I replied.
“It was so I could get you completely alone, completely defenseless, and do this.”
And he drew one of my knees to his hip, then the other, and lifted me straight up off the ground. His hands were fully under my dress now, holding my rear end possessively and he moved in a slow, circular motion against me.
My back scraped the tree, my dress caught on the bark, and I didn’t care.
I wanted him. Really wanted him.
Affirmation of that fact rolled over me like a wave, sending my desire to a dizzying height.
And for some reason I couldn’t quite understand, he wanted me too.
It was evident in the frantic way he tore at my dress and the way his hardness thrust between my legs.
I gripped him with my thighs and twined my arms around his neck.
His mouth found my collarbone, licking and tasting. It travelled down further and his lips found my breast through my dress. First one nipple, then the other.
“Oh, God,” I moaned.
My cry made him growl and he pushed into me even harder. His hands tightened on me again and they yanked on the edge of my dress so arduously that a loud rip echoed through the otherwise tranquil woods. The sound of it seemed to calm Teekay’s ferocious need. His onslaught slowed.
He nipped my neck once more, then whispered into the flesh there, “Do you know what I’m going to do to you, Maggie?”
“No.”
“Do you want to know?”
“Yes.” It felt so good, so right, to say the word to Teekay, that I had to say it again. “Yes.”
His chest vibrated with amusement. “I’m going to take you shopping.”
My eyes flew open. “Shopping?”
He trailed a finger down my cheek. “Mm hmm.”
“Why?”
He eased me to the ground and gave my dirty, torn dress a pointed look.
“That particular outfit has outworn its welcome. So to speak.” He grinned. “So unless you want to walk around in your panties all day…”
Teekay slid his hand under my ruined dress once more and traced a finger along the trim of my underwear, between my legs, over my wet crotch, then back down to my knee.
My face flamed at the casual familiarity with my body. And at the fact that I just stood there and let him do it.
That you want him to do it, I corrected silently.
“Well?” Teekay teased. “What’ll it be? Shopping? Or nudity?”
“I don’t even have my purse,” I protested.
“Nudity it is then. Strip.”
“I’m not going to strip.”
“I could make you strip.”
I didn’t doubt it. But I wasn’t going to admit it.
“Someone could be watching,” I pointed out.
His smile didn’t slip. “Like who?”
“Anyone.”
He winked slyly. “You didn’t care who was watching a minute ago.”
I blushed. “I wasn’t thinking straight.”
“We’re alone.”
“But someone could walk out here any second. Maybe Donnie.”
“Donnie?”
“Your security guard.”
“I know who you mean. I just didn’t realize you and Jeeves were on a first name basis.” Teekay grimaced. “That asshole would probably enjoy the show. Which is the only reason I’m not going to make you do it.”
Relief washed over me. And most of it wasn’t because I wouldn’t have to strip. It was because I wouldn’t have to admit that I was probably powerless to disobey anyway.
“I can just get clothes from home,” I offered.
Teekay shook his head. “I have exactly three days to play house before I have to start taking care of some family business. I’m not going to spend that time driving back and forth between here and Shackside.”
“Shackside?” I repeated.
I’d heard the derogatory nickname as a kid and it hadn’t bothered me. It was just something the rich kids called the row of seaside houses to make themselves feel superior. But somehow, hearing it from Teekay made it sting.
“You know what I mean,” he said impatiently.
“I know exactly what you mean,” I said back. “Because my house is down there.”
“Yeah, I figured.”
“You figured,” I replied woodenly as I shoved his arms away from my body.
“Hey!”
He reached for me, but I sidestepped him and darted away, ignoring the way I had to hold my ripped dress in place.
Logically, I knew I had nowhere to go and that it would only take a few moments for Teekay to catch up to me. But I didn’t want him to see the hurt on my face. I dashed down the path toward the house.
I made it as far as the kitchen before Teekay’s powerful grip closed on my shoulder.
“Let me go!” I cried out, a surprising amount of force in my voice.
But Teekay wasn’t moved by it anyway. “No.”
“No?!” I retorted angrily.
“Not until you tell me what the fuck just happened.”
“I don’t owe you an explanation. I don’t owe you anything. I don’t owe anyone anything.” My words started out fierce, but as I finished, I grew closer to tears, and my voice got smaller and smaller until it was barely more than a whisper.
Teekay released my shoulder, and I thought my anguish was too much for him. No. I knew it was too much for him.
And why wouldn’t it be?
A popular, attractive guy like Teekay had no reason to be patient with a sad, pathetic girl like me. I was a mouse. I knew it. Everyone who met me knew it.
I hung my head, overwhelmed.
But Teekay didn’t leave. Instead, he scooped me up, set me on the counter, and wrapped his arms around me. I resisted for less than a second before I sank into him.
“What was it, darlin’?” he murmured as he smoothed his hands over my hair. “When I said Shackside?”
“They’re not shacks,” I replied, a tremor audible in my voice.
Teekay leaned back but continued his gentle strokes over my hair.
“I didn’t mean it like that.”
I didn’t give in to the urge to just nod my head. “I know they’re not mansions like yours, but they’re still houses with people and—”
Teekay cut me off. “Maggie! I know that. I swear to you, I didn’t mean an
ything by it. It’s just a habit. And I’ll break the habit if it bothers you that much.” He met my gaze, then touched my cheek. “I like the beach house area. I swim there almost every day. Even my dad, real estate mogul extraordinaire, bought up some property down there. I’m sorry if I made you feel devalued. Cross my heart. I’ll never say you-know-what again.”
His eyes were full of sincerity and when he offered me a smile, it was small and hopeful. Warm. Sweet. And it made my heart swell in a way I couldn’t define.
I reached out hesitantly and ran the back of my hand down his face. It was the first time I’d touched him voluntarily without the heat of the moment spurring me on. It felt good. It was almost empowering. Especially when his eyes closed and he leaned into my caress.
“I’m going to show you my sister’s closet, okay?” he said softly. “You can pick something to wear while we shop.”
“Can’t I just wear something of hers until you stop holding me captive?”
He opened his eyes and smiled a little stiffly. “No.”
“Why not?”
“One, my sister would freak the fuck out if she knew I lent you something. Two, her clothes will be six inches too long for you. And three, because I really, really want to know you’re wearing something I bought you.”
It was impossible to argue with the boyishly hopeful look on Teekay’s face, and two minutes later, I found myself standing just outside the middle of the pinkest room I’d ever seen. Rose-tinted walls were the backdrop for a cotton candy-colored bed and wine-hued furniture.
“It looks like a bubble gum factory threw up in there,” I said.
“My sister. The overgrown princess,” Teekay agreed
Everywhere I turned hurt my eyes. I was scared to even look in the closet for fear of finding nothing but frills and lace.
“Pick something…pretty,” Teekay teased.
“You’re not coming?”
There was that same, stiff smile. “Hardly. Pink and I don’t get along. I’ll meet you by the front door in ten minutes.”
He leaned in, his lips just shy of my forehead, then pulled away abruptly and left me standing in front of the abyss of a closet.
5)
I swallowed apprehensively as I eyed up Teekay’s sister’s clothes. The closet was full to the point of explosion, every item a different pastel colour. And it was all piled together in no discernible order. Shorts with dresses with bras with jeans.
I stuck out a reluctant hand and gripped a t-shirt at random.
Unlike most of the others, it was a muted shade of purple. And when I pulled it out, I saw that the tag was still attached to the sleeve.
My eyes strayed back to the closet. A lot of the items inside still had the prices attached.
Who buys this many things and doesn’t wear them? I wondered.
If I brought my entire well-washed, well-worn wardrobe and stuck it into this closet, it wouldn’t take up a tenth of the space.
“How am I supposed to pick something?” I muttered to myself.
With a resigned sigh, I reached for the simplest thing I could find – a plain white T-shirt. But I dropped it quickly when I spied the tag.
Three hundred dollars?! For a T-shirt?!
A never-worn T-shirt.
I took a step back and decided whatever I picked had better not be brand new. If I wrecked anything the way I had done to my dress, I didn’t want it to be something worth more than my life. Especially considering how clear Teekay had made it that his sister wasn’t big on sharing.
I dug through a pile of particularly wrinkled items and settled on a pair of faded leggings and a tunic-length shirt.
I got changed quickly, then eyed myself distastefully in the mirror.
The shirt hung to my knees and the leggings bunched at my ankles. But at least I wasn’t wearing a three-hundred dollar T-shirt.
I folded up my clothes and shoved them under my arm, then made my way downstairs before I could change my mind.
Teekay was waiting for me, one elbow lifted and arm resting on the railing. He’d changed into a pair of low-slung, dark denim jeans and an open-collared, short-sleeved dress shirt. With his damp hair curling on his forehead and his tanned throat exposed, he looked like a modern day Greek god.
And I looked like I was one fanny pack and a jewelled ball cap short of a senior’s discount.
When he spotted me, a lopsided grin formed on his face. He eyed me up and down, and I waited for him to tell me I resembled a teenage boy dressed in his grandmother’s clothes. Instead he bent down and his hands closed over my feet.
I gasped. “What are you doing?”
“Shoes, darlin’.”
His fingers worked to slide my sandals on, then reached around to do up the straps while I pretended that the humble gesture didn’t send tingles through my whole body.
When he was done fastening the shoes, his hands played over my feet and ankles for another sensual minute before he came to his feet.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Thank you,” I breathed, then blushed at my unrelated reply. “I meant yes. I’m ready.”
Teekay just chuckled. “You’re welcome.”
He threaded his fingers through mine and led me out the front door, where a flashy sports car – the kind that brought to mind girls in bikinis lounging on hoods – sat waiting in the driveway.
“What about your bike?” I asked immediately.
“Figured you’d be more comfortable in my car,” Teekay replied.
“In this?”
“Something wrong with it?”
“No, I – Teekay…How much did your jeans cost?” I blurted.
He looked down at his denim-clad legs. “Huh?”
“How much did they cost?”
“I dunno. A hundred bucks? I don’t usually look at the tags.”
I took a breath. “Teekay…I think you should take me home.”
He frowned. “Because of my jeans?”
“Because of the jeans…Because of the car…The house…Everything.”
He narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean?”
“A hundred dollars is enough money to pay for everything I eat in a month,” I explained.
“So?”
“So…You’re wearing my monthly grocery bill.”
“What about it?”
“It scares me,” I admitted in a whisper.
“Hundred dollar jeans scare you?”
I refused to back down. “Not the jeans, Teekay. What they mean.”
“What do they mean?”
“That you have so much more than I do. That what you have is worth so much more than what I have.”
“Okay, Maggie. Two things. First. What the fuck? And the second…What the fuck?”
I looked away from his vicious tone. “Teekay—”
He cut me off. “You are so lucky that I’m a man of my word, Maggie. Because if I hadn’t sworn not to put my lips on you until you asked, I’d be kissing the idiocy out of you right now. And it wouldn’t be nicely.”
“I—”
“Get in the fucking car,” he snarled, and whipped open the passenger door just as Donnie pulled into the driveway in a nondescript sedan. “Now. Before I do something we both regret.”
The thought of getting into the car with him made me fearful. But I was more worried about what he would do if I didn’t comply. So I leaped into the car and Teekay slammed the door behind me, hard enough to make my teeth rattle.
In moments, he was behind the wheel, jamming the car into gear and tearing down the driveway.
And I was suddenly grateful for the dark-colored car following behind us. Because at least if Teekay drove the car off the road in fury, there’d be someone to drag me from the wreck.
“Let me get this straight,” he said in a cold, measured voice that was completely at odds with his reckless speed. “You want me to take you home. Because I can afford nice things. And because my jeans are too fucking expensive.”
�
�I didn’t mean it like that.” I spoke in a weak voice, and when Teekay didn’t answer immediately, I thought maybe he hadn’t heard me and I tried again. “I—”
He cut me off once more. “How the fuck did you mean it, Maggie? I mean, is there a way to hate someone because they’re well off that doesn’t make you a prejudiced asshole?”
“I—”
“Do you have money, Maggie?”
My face flamed. “No.”
“Did I stop and ask you how much that pretty little dress of yours cost before I dragged you away from Delia and Ennia?”
“No,” I said again.
“Because that would’ve been a dipshit move. And because I don’t care how much or how little something costs.”
His words, as angry as they were, made sense. And I suddenly felt guilty. I opened my mouth to offer an apology – a real one, not a habitual one – but he spoke again, and my words died before they were even born.
“Why the hell would anyone think social status mattered that much?”
And a floodgate opened.
“Because it has!” I cried. “Because it does! Because every single day for the last four years, someone has made sure I know just how far below them I sit! You want to know why I didn’t fight back at the beach yesterday? Well that’s why. I know how little material value I have and I know how impossible it would be to make girls like Kirby think otherwise. And just because you suddenly say it doesn’t matter, doesn’t change that!”
Teekay slammed on the brakes and swerved off the road, sending the car careening over the gravel shoulder. We bounced along jerkily before we came to a shuddering stop. One tire leaned precariously over the ditch on the side of the road.
Donnie whipped past us in the sedan, and I could only imagine what was going through his mind as he yanked the car off the road several hundred feet ahead of us. But Teekay didn’t even seem to notice.
“Who the fuck did this to you?” he demanded.
“I told you! Kirby! And every girl like her,” I told him.
“And your friends?”
“What friends?”
He ran an angry hand through his still damp hair. “Jesus. What about the guys?”
“What about them?” I countered.
“They just let the girls pick on you?”
