by Lexi Blake
“Maybe they like their privacy. Maybe they’ve had enough press to last a lifetime.” It wasn’t the reason, but she could imagine it.
“No. That man has plans and I don’t want you caught in the middle,” Shelby pleaded.
“I’m already in the middle. And you need to back off. Let me look into things from this end, but if Drew Lawless is as dangerous as you say he is, you need to leave him be. The man could hurt you. He’s likely more dangerous than Patricia ever thought about being.”
“He’s already tried. I say bring it,” Shelby said, rebellion plain in her tone. “I’m not going to let some one percenter shove me around. Keep in touch and be careful, Carly. Call me if you need help. I’m going to figure this out. I can’t help myself now.”
The line went dead and Carly had to sit for a minute. Shelby knew too much. Or she thought she did.
Where did her loyalties truly lie? If she marched in and told Bran, he would immediately tell Drew. What would Drew do? Would he go after Shelby?
She’d just asked herself how far Shelby would go to avenge her brother. How far would Drew Lawless go? He’d already proven he would have used her to his own ends.
What should she say to him? If she told Bran, he’d tell Drew, and Shelby would likely get hurt. She didn’t think Drew would kill her, but he could do other things. Carly knew there were other ways to ruin a life.
Her gut knotted. She knew Drew was stalking Shelby online and she hadn’t said a thing. She knew Shelby was putting together pieces that could hurt Drew’s plans.
Where did her loyalties lie? With a woman who’d been her friend over the years? Or a man she barely knew. A man she knew she had limited time with?
A man she might be falling in love with.
Carly banished the thought for a moment. She had another problem. With shaking hands, she pressed the button that would take her to her boss. Patricia answered on the second ring.
“Carly? I expected you would be half dead by now. According to your boy toy, you’re far too precious to get up today and do your job. Is there a reason you’re bothering me?”
Well, the bitch was back. She might have been crying the night before, but Patricia Cain was in full force today. “I’m fine now. The doctors wanted me to rest for a day or two. That’s all. If you need me at the office, I can be there in an hour.”
A long sigh came over the line. “Work from home. I’m afraid I find myself in actual need of your boyfriend’s services. Apparently he works for one of the world’s premiere security teams. I spoke with some colleagues earlier and they claim this Taggart person is the best, but he has odd notions about how to treat the help.”
Carly could only imagine. Having met the man and understanding the fact that all of his brothers at one time had worked for him, he likely thought of his employees as actual human beings. That would definitely throw Patricia off. “You fired the security team?”
“Of course. They did a terrible job of dealing with Jasmine and then the utter debacle at the art show. The whole evening was ruined. And the cape Giovanni designed for me is a complete loss. There are grass stains on it. Do you know how furious he was?”
“I can imagine.” The grass stains got there because Carly had been dying at the time. “The next time I nearly die, I’ll make sure to do it so nothing needs dry cleaning.”
An icy chill came over the line. “Watch it, dear. I’m willing to give you the time off your boyfriend requested, but don’t you forget for an instant who holds the power here. I expect you back in the office on Monday. In the meantime, work on the fall issue and ensure that the menu for the LA party is exquisite. I expect the launch for the season will go without incident. Everyone will be there. If it fails, I’ll have your head. Or rather your sister’s.”
The line went dead. Sometimes she could practically hear Patricia cackling like the Wicked Witch of the West. All she needed was a line about “and your little dog, too.”
Patricia Cain was never going to let her go. There was no magic exit door at the end of the next two years. She would find another way to keep Carly in her clutches because Carly kept right on giving her what she needed. She gave that woman all her ideas and her energy and her talent and took no credit, was given no real compensation.
The rest of her life played out like a pathetic reality show. She would always be in the background, always unappreciated. It wasn’t that she needed fame. It was only that she needed something, anything, that was hers.
All of her life it seemed had been spent serving everyone around her, from taking care of her mother to protecting her sister to attempting to be the best wife she could be.
When would she simply get to be Carly? Not someone’s useful thing.
She could hear Bran humming in the bathroom as the shower kept flowing.
Bran might want her help, but he wanted something else from her, too. When Bran was inside her she felt more than she had in years. When he kissed her the numbness faded and she could feel a spark of the girl she used to be.
Who was she fooling? She’d never been that girl. She felt a tiny spark of the woman she wanted to be. A woman who didn’t grovel and beg for the smallest crumbs of fairness. A woman who fought for herself.
Carly stood up and let the phone drop to the bed. Couldn’t she have a few more moments of that feeling before she had to decide which way to go? In the end she would be alone, but for a few days she could be with him.
Bran would always side with his family. He would always go where Drew wanted him to go, but just until the job was over maybe she could pretend that he was with her.
Then they could take down Patricia Cain and she wouldn’t have to deal with the dangerous world of the Lawless clan again. She could move on to the next job and try to find some peace.
For now, she didn’t want peace. She wanted him.
Carly let her hands drift to the bottom of her shirt. By the time she entered the bathroom she was naked and ready to feel again.
—
Bran thought seriously about masturbating. He wasn’t going to get what he wanted. He would get clean and then spend the rest of the day with the most sarcastic bastard he’d ever met and creepy Patricia Cain, who he hoped wouldn’t hit on him again.
And Carly would be here.
Maybe they should go back to her place. Drew was being an ass. The last thing he wanted was Carly to feel insecure because his big brother was completely paranoid.
Maybe then he could get what he wanted, which was back inside Carly’s tight body with her arms wrapped around him. Tonight he could cuddle with her. He could sleep with her body snuggled up to his and wake up and do it all over again.
He really should masturbate. The damn thing wasn’t going down and all the cold water in the world wasn’t going to help at this point. Every time he closed his eyes, all he could see was Carly’s face staring up at him when he penetrated her. Those gorgeous eyes had widened and her hands had tightened on him like she wasn’t ever going to let him go.
And then Drew had practically screamed at her over the reporter. Shelby Gates was driving his brother insane, but Bran wasn’t about to allow that to hurt Carly.
He flipped the dial over to hot. It didn’t matter. He was going to be hard until the next time he fucked her. Then he would have a blissful few moments of peace before he needed her again.
She’d been so sweet. She’d told him he didn’t need a condom because she was on the pill. He never rode a woman bareback, but he would with her. When he was absolutely sure he was safe for her, he would take her without anything between them. Never before, but she was special. He would ensure her safety and then for the entire time they were together he wouldn’t touch another woman.
Of course, after how intimidating his brother had been, she might not want to touch him again.
He reached for the soap and felt a draft at hi
s backside. He turned and then there was zero question of his dick getting soft again.
Carly stood there in the shower doorway, her curvy body soft and naked. Her hair was a halo around her head, her breasts pert and nipples tight. She looked like a fucking goddess standing there. She was so perfect with her curvy hips and soft lips.
He knew exactly what he wanted those lips to do. Need rose up, hard and fast, and he knew in an instant that he wouldn’t be able to be soft and patient with her. Not after the way the meeting had gone. Not after the worry of someone looking into their pasts and trying to make connections none of them wanted made.
He wanted her on her knees. He wanted her serving him, her lips worshipping his cock. His hand hard in all that soft hair so she knew who her lover was.
“Maybe this isn’t the best time, sweetheart.” The last thing he wanted was to scare her. He could be . . . intense. He’d managed to hold off this morning. He was on edge now. He had to go back into the belly of the beast. He had to face Patricia Cain and it bugged him. It made him want to feel like he was in control, and that could frighten someone as sweet and innocent as Carly.
She’d had one freaking lover. She didn’t need to move on to his kinkier needs. She needed a patient, tender lover, and he wasn’t sure he could be that right now.
Her eyes weren’t on his face. “It looks like the perfect time, Bran.”
He nearly growled his frustration. “Sweetheart, I’m a little on edge. I was thinking we could head back to your place. Why don’t you get ready and you can drive into St. Augustine with me and Taggart? We’ll spend the weekend there.”
Anything so she wouldn’t see how dirty he wanted to get with her. So she wouldn’t see how he could use her to take away his pain.
“That sounds wonderful,” Carly replied as she stepped into the oversized shower.
It was beautifully done in sandy tile. He was sure Carly would have all kinds of designer words for the large shower with its bench seating and multiple showerheads. He just thought it was nice.
What was even nicer was Carly herself. Her skin practically glowed. She sighed as the water hit her and ran her hands back through her hair. Her body bowed, breasts upthrust toward him.
His cock jerked as though mere proximity to her was like a magnet, drawing him closer. He had to force his hands not to reach out for her. The instinct to reach out and pull her close was damn near impossible to resist.
“But I think we have some time before we need to head back.” She reached out for him, her hand going straight to his chest. She placed her palm right over his heart and seemed completely unselfconscious of her nudity. “I can get the lunch ready in no time at all. We’ve got at least an hour and a half before we need to leave here. I can think of some ways to spend it.”
Damn it. His cock pulsed. He gritted his teeth. The hot water beat down on him. “Carly, I can’t be tender right now. I think I should go and let you get cleaned up.”
Her lips tugged up in the sexiest smile. “I already took a shower. I’m not here to get clean, Bran. I thought it might be fun to get dirty again.”
Her soft palm worked its way down, brushing over his abs all the way down to his pelvis. She stopped right before she reached his dick.
He reached down and gripped her wrist. She needed to understand what she was getting into because he was rapidly approaching the point of no return. She was too close, too sweet, too much for him to turn away. “Carly, this isn’t a good idea.”
She turned her face up to him. “Why?”
“I’m not in control.” That wasn’t exactly the problem. “Or rather, I want to be in control.”
“You’re always in control, Bran.” She made it sound like a bad thing.
She had no idea how wrong she was. He took a deep breath and tried to find his patience. “I want to be in control of you, Carly. I want you to get on your knees and I’ll teach you how I like to have my cock sucked. I’ll put my hands in your hair and I’ll force my dick to the back of your throat, and at some point I’ll come. I’ll make you drink it down and I’ll want you to thank me for it when I’m done. That kind of control. I don’t want to be tender with you.”
Her hand moved lower, fingertips brushing his cock. She moved in and her nipples touched his chest. “You think you should always be tender?”
He hadn’t been for so much of his life, but he wanted her to have what she deserved. It was precisely why he couldn’t stay with her. There was too much of him that was dirty and undeserving. “I think I should with you.”
She frowned up at him. “I want you, Bran. I want all of you, and that means I want the rough side, too. I don’t want to be some doll you gently make love to and then treat me like I’m made of porcelain. I’m not. I’m strong. I want to be your lover, not some sympathy lay.”
His right hand found her hair and twisted lightly because she needed to understand that was not acceptable. He would take a lot from her, but never that. “Don’t talk about yourself like that. You’re no one’s sympathy lay.”
Her lips curled up, and he realized he’d fallen into her trap. “Then show me the Bran who wants to control me. I can handle you. I want to handle you.”
She dropped down to her knees, his hand coming out of her hair. Her palms ran up his thighs, her eyes tilted up and on him.
And he couldn’t stop himself another second. “You want to know me? You might not like all of me.”
“I think you’ll be surprised at what I can handle.” Her tongue licked over her bottom lip.
Fuck. She was going to make him insane.
He stared down at her, his whole system threatening to go on overload. This was a part of himself he wrestled with, the need to overpower and overwhelm. Not in a bad way, but in a way that would end in her pleasure. He was always about a woman’s pleasure. There had been times in his life he’d taken none for himself. He’d started eating pussy at a young age, finding he enjoyed making women happy, watching them come. Sometimes he hadn’t needed more than that.
He wanted to be selfish with her. He wanted more than the mere knowledge she’d enjoyed her time with him.
He wanted her to crave him and what he could give her, and to need to give back to him.
“How do you like having your cock sucked, Bran?” Her voice was low, but every word went right to the body part in question.
He bit back a growl and resigned being gentle to hell. Maybe he could show her a little of the beast inside him. Maybe if he started to feed it the smallest of meals it wouldn’t come out, it wouldn’t need blood. Maybe he could hide that nasty side of himself from her.
He reached out and touched her hair, threading his fingers through. “I told you how I want it, though I was serious about the testing. I won’t come down your throat. Not until I’m sure it’s safe. I don’t have sex without condoms, but I’ve been to some unsavory places and nothing’s a hundred percent effective. That particular lesson is going to have to wait, but that doesn’t mean we can’t play a few games. Stay on your knees, but move to the bench. Spread your legs wide.”
He’d been careful about sex, but there were nights he didn’t remember, nights when he tried to obliterate himself with alcohol only to wake up in some random woman’s bed. He had a yearly checkup, but he wasn’t putting her at risk. He stepped out into the bathroom and opened the drawer where he’d stashed the condoms Drew had given him when he’d asked for some. Drew had rolled his eyes, shaken his head, and muttered some sort of lecture about not falling for the girl.
Bran hadn’t mentioned that he’d already done that.
“Did you really get condoms from your brother?” She was turned and looking at him. Not at all in the place he’d left her in.
“Yes, I did. Get to the bench, Carly, or we can clean up and I’ll gently make love to you and put this whole idea of play out of our heads.”
Sh
e turned quickly, her legs moving apart. She likely didn’t realize it, but it gave him a spectacular view of her ass. Pretty heart-shaped ass. She was built for a man to fuck, with curves and hips and breasts that made his mouth water.
He got to his knees and ran a hand down her spine. “Don’t move. If you move I’ll stop what I’m doing.”
“What kind of game is this, Bran? One of those kinky games where I call you Sir?”
“No. It’s one of those games where you do as I say and then I give you an orgasm. No Sirs needed, though if you ever want a spanking, I’m your guy.” He would love to see her over his knee, the globes of her round ass waiting for the smack of his hand.
“You would spank me?”
He gave her ass a smack. Nothing too rough, though he bet the heat of the water made it sting.
She gasped but managed not to move.
“That wasn’t so bad, was it?” Bran asked, running his hand over the spot he’d smacked. He didn’t need it. If she hated it, he would never do it again. He could fantasize about it, but he didn’t really want to hurt her.
“No, it wasn’t bad.” The breathless sound of her voice let him know she was telling the truth.
“Lovers should be able to play games. Sex should be fun.” Or at least he’d always thought it should be. Not that he’d had many women he would call lovers. Only two had stayed with him for more than a few nights, but those two he’d definitely had fun with. Light sessions where they role-played, talking through their fantasies.
No. Talking through her fantasies. He’d always catered to his lover. Carly was offering to give to him.
What was his real fantasy? A woman who explored with him, who let him find what he needed and then gave it to him.
He needed her to trust him. He needed her to need him.
He smacked her again, watching the way her skin went pink. The squeal that came out of her mouth went straight to his dick, making it pulse and demand attention.
