I stiffened.
“He wants a date, and he wants to take you home and spend the night with you.” Hunter leaned his forehead against my chin. “He wants this because he knows I would never allow it. He wants to tarnish you in my eyes.”
I struggled to find my voice. “What happens if you say no?”
“I fight the contract, of course. In truth, I’ll stand to lose a lot of my wealth. I don’t care about giving my inheritance back, but he worked a lot of damages into the contract. It’s like he knew this would happen. I’m only telling you because I don’t want you hearing it from Blaire or my father.”
“He wanted the upper hand regardless of your decision…”
“Yes. He’s always been one for strategy.”
“How long will you have to be married to Blaire?”
Hunter shook his head, putting his hand to my jaw softly. He looked up at me, his eyes soft. “I won’t marry her. And I won’t give you to my father. I’ll fight it. Fortunes can always be rebuilt.”
Tears came to my eyes. “I can’t let you do that for me, Hunter. I won’t sleep with Rodge, but I won’t be the reason you lose everything, either.”
“Shhh.” Hunter pulled my head down, brushing his lips against mine. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll figure it out. You’re mine—I won’t give you up. And I won’t make a fool out of you by marrying Blaire and keeping you as a mistress. You’re better than that. You’re better than me and my fucked-up life. I’ll fix this somehow, Livy.”
His kiss deepened as his hand fell to my breast again, kneading softly. His fingers played across the swell before pausing at the clasp in the center. A quick flick had it popping open. He pushed the fabric to the side before breaking the kiss and leaning across me, taking one of my nipples in his hot mouth.
I sucked in a breath as his hand fell between my legs. His fingers ran down my panty-covered slit, wet with need. He rubbed the top in a circle while sucking my nipple. Pleasure heated my body, pulsing through me.
“Bend over the desk,” Hunter demanded softly. He helped me off his lap before standing up with me. His eyes were soft yet smoldering, filled with desire and longing both. “I need to be inside of you.”
I walked to the desk and bent over, feeling my ardor rise. I felt him behind me, his legs brushing up against mine. Palms started mid-thigh and pushed upward, moving the fabric of my skirt up and over my butt, exposing my lacy thong.
A brief pause almost had me looking back before I felt a hot mouth against my panty-clad sex. I moaned as his hands landed on my knees, coaxing my legs wider apart. I complied eagerly. Fingers hooked around the fabric covering me and pulled it to the side. A scorching tongue licked up my center.
“Hmm,” I moaned, laying my cheek against his desk.
His touch disappeared. Cool air assaulted what a second ago had been blasting heat.
A zipper sounded.
My heart started to beat faster as I waited for him. Bent over his desk, exposed, anticipating what he would do next.
Clothing rustled. A blunt tip made a trail down my aching sex.
“Oh, Hunter,” I said, my lips fluttering with the delicious contact.
The tip stopped at my opening. Light pressure had me pushing back, wanting the thrust. Wanting him deeply inside me. His palms braced on my butt, though, keeping me pinned.
His erection barely pushed past my lips, then stopped.
“Please, Hunter,” I said. Shivers spread fire through my body. Tingles heightened the expectation, promising exquisite pleasure. “Please…”
More pressure, entering me slowly. Not enough.
“Deeper,” I moaned, clutching the desk in desperation. “Deeper, please, Hunter. Fuck me!”
Agonizingly, the tip pulled out. It slid along my pounding sex, teasing.
“You’re mine, Olivia,” Hunter said in a hoarse whisper. “I won’t ever share you or give you away. Not for anything, do you understand?”
“Yes,” I whispered.
His palms slid over my butt and up my back. His chest lay on top of me. A hard thrust had him pushing deep into my core.
“Oh!” I exclaimed as his thighs hit mine.
“You’re mine,” he whispered again, his mouth to my ear. He crashed into me then, hard and dominating. Each thrust was like a shock of pleasure, exploding through my body.
I moaned and writhed, shoved against the hard wood desk with each thrust. Our skin slapped together. My body wound up, incredibly tight.
“Oh, God,” I exclaimed as the friction vibrated through me. “Oh, God. Oh my God!”
He pounded into me, unyielding. The sensations grew, expanding. Larger. Overcoming me.
“Oh Hunt—oh Go—” Words failed me. My teeth clicked closed. My jaw clenched. Colors burst behind my eyes and a boom of orgasm rocked my body.
“Olivia,” Hunter groaned, shaking over me. His hands gripped me tightly.
He leaned over me more heavily as I panted against the desk, both of us quaking in the afterglow. He kissed my cheek softly with his hands braced around me possessively.
There was no way in hell I would sleep with Rodge, that was for sure. But I had to admit that part of this was my fault. I’d been integral in getting Bruce to Hunter’s side, and Rodge knew it. I was a part of this issue. A big part.
I had to help fix this, even if it meant going into the belly of the beast and visiting Rodge on his home turf. It was the only way.
Chapter Nine
It was a long week, made longer by the amount of work I had on my plate, and the emotional upheaval threatening me. Hunter had his usual million projects going on, but Bruce had stepped up his production and requested a bunch more from me as well. I’d get home after a long day and walk straight into my office, starting the hobby job that didn’t actually pay anything.
And then there was the contract.
I could see the stress eating away at Hunter every day. At work, I’d hear him shout into the phone, something I’d never heard him do before. When I took him his coffee, he might be pacing in front of the window. He tossed and turned at night. Occasionally, when he was in the middle of a nightmare, he’d mutter something along the lines of, “No, Dad, don’t take this one!”
He was reliving his horror of the maid, the woman who ruined him before he’d even turned eighteen. The woman who’d chosen his dad over him, crushing his young, inexperienced heart. Hunter was applying that pain to me. He worried he’d lose me the same way.
On Friday, the day before I planned to take matters into my own hands, I called Kimberly, to ask her advice.
“Have you talked to him about the situation?” she asked.
“Yes. Well…I tried,” I said as I paced my office. “He doesn’t want to talk about it. Brenda said he’s liquidizing a bunch of his assets, prepared to hand it over. This will devastate him, Kimberly. It might even bankrupt him.”
“It won’t bankrupt him, Livy. Not even close. The man has way too much money for that. Plus, he is so smart, he’ll make it all back in no time. Don’t worry about that. But he will have to start over on some things. All because of you.”
I leaned against the wall. “I should feel blissful and happy that he likes me this much, but all I feel is guilt.”
“He hasn’t said he loved you, but he’s prepared to lose practically everything for you…”
I could hear the excitement in her voice. She was missing the point here. “Kimberly, this isn’t a romantic situation. I can’t do this to him.”
Kimberly scoffed in exasperation. “Olivia, he’s making a choice. He could just marry Blaire, stay with her in a sham marriage for however long, like he’d originally planned, and then get an annulment. Who cares—certainly no one else would. That setup isn’t unheard of. The fact that he won’t do that and keep you as a mistress…”
I gripped the phone in anger, hating Kimberly’s squeals of delight. I put my hand to my head. I felt sick. “I have to fix this.”
“Do not tell me
you’re going to go through with your dumb plan.”
I wandered through the empty flat, which was huge and lonely. Hunter was staying at his place tonight, having said he would be working late. I thought he just wanted some time alone. Or maybe he intended to have it out with Blaire again. He had a lot at stake. I didn’t begrudge him taking some time to reflect.
I just wished that didn’t make me have to reflect too.
I plopped onto the couch and leaned back, closing my eyes. “I have to. It’s the only way. He’s trying to sacrifice for me, and what am I doing?”
“You’re giving him what no one else can—a loving woman who isn’t after his money.”
“I’m giving him a headache at the same time as bleeding him dry.” I shook my head. “I have to go.”
“Well, then, I’m going with you,” Kimberley said firmly.
“No, you’re not.” I rubbed my eyes, feeling tired and strung out.
“Olivia, if Hunter finds out you went to his father’s house, he’ll never trust you again, especially if you go alone. And if it works? He’ll totally think you had sex with his dad. You don’t want that. He doesn’t want that. You need a witness.”
“If you come with me, Rodge will know it’s precisely because I needed a witness. I doubt he would bend if it wouldn’t hurt Hunter in some way.”
Kimberly was silent for a moment. “True. Dang! Wait…I’ve got it. We can do both—send you alone, and give you a witness.”
“How? You have a crystal ball that works?”
I listened to her plan, feeling a fraction of relief work into my gloomy outlook. Her plan was a good one.
The next day, after I’d finished sorting out some things for Hunter and equally as much for Bruce, I slipped into a sexy, revealing dress and applied the brooch Kimberly had bought for me. The sun was just dipping behind the horizon as I walked out to the living room.
Kimberly and Janelle waited for me on the couch, their chatter dying down as I walked into their midst. Kimberly held up her phone, recording the situation on video.
“Okay, describe what you are wearing,” Kimberly prompted.
I took a deep breath and put out my hands. “A sexy dress that Rodge will think I am wearing to try to seduce him.”
“What else?” she continued.
I pointed to the brooch. “A spy brooch. This has a small camera in it that should catch most video, and will definitely catch the audio.”
“Hopefully.” Kimberly turned the phone so the camera was facing her. The screen pointed at me. “We tested—”
“Kimberly, all it sees is your chin. Turn the camera around.” I adjusted the brooch, letting my hands fall away as Janelle got up and came over. She took over adjusting so it looked right.
“Oh.” Kimberly rolled her eyes. “I’m stupid.” She turned the phone back around before tapping the screen. She pushed the phone away a little, no doubt making sure to capture herself just right, and started again. “We tested it, and it seems to get fisheye kind of video and pretty good audio. If Livy doesn’t go swimming with it, it should do the trick.”
“I feel like a rinky-dink spy,” I muttered, smoothing my dress.
Kimberly hit the screen again. “Tell him what else you have.”
I looked around, holding my hand out for Janelle to give me my clutch. From it I took a small vial with a couple pills. “The secret weapon.” I shook the vial, rattling the pills inside. “This will knock him out.”
“What else?”
I groaned and took out a condom and a small bottle of lotion. I held them both up with a grimace. “The condom will be thrown on the ground. There is no way I am going to touch his penis.”
“She is going to drug him, then she’ll open his fly and shirt, so he thinks he got kinda naked. Then she’ll leave the condom with lotion on the ground so he thinks he…you know.”
“Ejaculated,” Janelle added, tucking the items back into my clutch with a grimace to match mine.
“Yeah. Gross. Then she’ll leave.” Kimberly brushed back her hair. The phone jiggled in her hand. I was pretty positive this video shoot wouldn’t produce the best-quality picture.
“I will try to talk him into breaking the contract before I have to actually pretend to give it up, though,” I explained, putting my wrap over my shoulders.
“No way will he pass up a chance to get you naked,” Kimberly said in disgust. “That man is gross. And there’s no way he will keep all this quiet. Which is why the video is essential.”
“Right. As is the counter-contract we had drawn up.” I took a piece of paper from the table.
“I don’t think that’s what it’s called,” Janelle said in her soft voice.
Kimberly tapped the screen and adjusted the phone again, now recording herself. “I explained everything to my lawyer and got him a copy of the contract you signed, Hunter. Don’t ask me how—I’m sneaky. Anyway, he drew up something that will negate the contract if your dad signs it. Olivia, sacrificing herself, plans to subject herself to your gross dad in order to try and help you out and prove she loves you.”
“Kimberly!” I screeched, clattering over in high heels to try and snatch the phone.
Kimberly gave an evil grin. “Not love, Hunter. Just…intense lust boardering on desperation to continue being with you—”
“Kim—berly!” I ripped the phone away and ended the recording. I glared down at her. “You better edit that out if you ever have to send this to him!”
“Livy, he has to know by now. You might as well just say it.”
“One thing at a time. First, I need to get through tonight without damning myself. If I do have to drug this guy, he could rat me out. I’d go to jail.”
“That’s why you have to wait until the drug leaves his system before you come forward with the video.”
“Except the video will show me slipping him the pills.”
“Not if we edit the video, dummy.” Kimberly winked at me. “I swear, you are terrible at espionage.”
“Just make sure you provide plenty of evidence of him drinking heavily,” Janelle said, fixing my hair. “That’ll explain him passing out.”
I took another deep breath, butterflies waging war in my stomach. I was no good at lying, and I hadn’t forgotten how I had felt when Rodge had pushed himself on me.
I checked my clutch, running my fingers along the tiny bottle of pepper spray, just in case.
“I just hope Hunter forgives me for this if he finds out,” I murmured as I placed the order for the cab. I didn’t want to take a car in case Hunter got a report about who was taken where. My hope was that he’d never find out about this.
“We’ll have proof nothing happened, Livy,” Kimberly said. “We’ll make sure he can’t blame you.”
I nodded miserably. “He wouldn’t want me going at all. He’ll be mad I took this upon myself.”
“He’ll get over it.” Kimberly patted the couch. “Come sit down and have a glass of wine to relax.”
“Janelle, you can go at any time,” I said, moving toward Kimberly and the bottle of wine resting on the coffee table.
“I’ll wait until you’re tucked into the cab.” She moved to sit down as well.
I took a sip of my wine with a shaky grip. I wasn’t sure I was up to this.
An hour later, I arrived at a large house in the East Bay. The immaculately landscaped front had a path cutting through it, dotted with ankle-high lights leading up to a grand front door surrounded by pillars. The porch light was on, as were various lights inside the house.
I sucked in a breath through a tight chest as I paid the cab driver. Climbing out of the car, I squeezed my clutch to my stomach, going over the various items inside. My brain constantly went back to the pepper spray.
I rang the doorbell with a shaking hand as the cab driver sped away.
Whatever happened to waiting to make sure the patron was safely inside…
Although, in this situation, that might have been worse.
I could barely prevent myself from shaking my head in disgust. She was probably no more than eighteen, and wearing a revealing outfit designed to show off for her employer. Based on what I knew of Rodge’s past, he not only looked, he sampled the merchandise. Disgusting.
“Miss Jonston?” the young woman asked in a sultry voice.
“Yes.” I took a step forward.
“Follow me.” She stepped to the side so that I might enter the house before closing the door behind me. She took her position as my guide, walking on high heels that couldn’t possibly be comfortable to wear for the whole day, and swinging her generous hips.
We walked through the hallway, past the stairs leading to the upper floor, and into a dimly lit den. Books lined the wall and couches took up the middle of the floor, facing each other. Soft music played in the background as candles sent flickering light up around the room.
“Olivia.” Rodge put down a snifter filled with an amber liquid before standing. His eyes glittered with arousal as a slow smile soaked up his features. “I’m so glad you could come.”
“Hi, Rodge,” I said, fighting to match his smile. It wasn’t easy. The man gave me the creeps.
“Stacy, honey, will you bring in the trays?” Rodge didn’t take his eyes from me as he spoke.
“Of course, Rod—Mr. Carlisle.” She curtsied, of all things, and bustled out of the room.
“A little young, hmm?” I asked as I took a seat across from him on the couch.
He sat back down slowly, his eyes roaming my body. “She has no complaints.”
“I bet not. I’m sure the money’s good. And whatever happened to…your girlfriend?”
He smiled without humor as the maid returned, carrying a tray laden with finger foods. “Would you care for something to drink?” she asked.
More, Please (Please Series Book 3) Page 7
