We Love Kink - Erotic Romance Anthology #1
Page 24
As she crossed the room, the first tears fell and burned her face. She picked up her pace to the large bathroom.
“Alaina? Baby, what’s wrong?” Gray rose and followed her into the bathroom.
“Nothing,” she said as she climbed into the tub and turned on the water. She didn’t wait for it to heat up before flipping on the shower, squeaking in surprise when ice cold water drenched her.
Gray surprised her by climbing into the tub with her. When she tried to keep her back to him, he took her shoulders and forced her around to face him. He frowned when he saw her stricken expression. “Alaina, what’s happened? What did I say? Talk to me, baby.”
“I’m not beautiful. I’m not special. I’m not anything. I’m just a woman forced to wear frumpy clothes in public because I don’t have enough backbone to quit the job I hate because I’m afraid of her father. I’m just a giant spineless chicken.” With her façade shattered, Alaina began to sob.
* * * * *
Gray pulled her close, forcing her to lean against him as she cried out a lifetime of hurt. As she released all the acid-filled emotion she had lived with for so long, he silently swore that he would spend the rest of his life doing whatever it took to make her happy. She was his other half, his soul mate, his destiny. He had fallen in love with her while spying through his telescope, and knew that this was the woman he would spend the rest of his life with.
“Oh baby, don’t cry. It’s going to be all right, I promise. You ARE beautiful. You ARE special. I’m just sorry no one else sees that. Actually, I’m not sorry. I like the fact that I see what others are too blind to. I’m not going anywhere. I’m not letting you go,” he murmured as he rubbed her back in the hopes of consoling her.
It took several minutes before Alaina stopped crying. Eventually, she calmed and stood quietly with her arms wrapped around his waist. Shudders raced through her as she recovered, with her forehead resting against the center of his chest.
“Gray?”
“Yes, baby?”
She sighed and nestled even closer into his chest. “Nothing. Just Gray.”
“Okay, sweets.”
* * * * *
She felt him kiss the top of her head before he eased back to reach for the soap and washcloth. He washed her gently, but effectively, then swiped the cloth over himself. The gentle time of caring confused her, but she didn’t question it. She was too wrung out both emotionally and physically.
She let him dry her and even allowed him to choose her clothes for work. A pink bustier under a pink chemise with a lacy pink G-string under her new gray suit. The jacket showed off her curves and the skirt ended mid thigh, showing off her well formed legs. When he saw her pull out black ballet slippers he made a face. “Tonight we’ll go shopping for shoes. That sexy outfit needs some sexy black heels.”
With a smile, Alaina reached into the back of the closet and pulled out a shoe box. “Like these?” Opening the top, she slipped on black pumps. The heel was tall enough to look sexy, but not so high that she would be cursing them by the end of the day.
“Oh, yeah, darlin’. Exactly like that.” He stepped closer and kissed her lightly, but stepped away before lust carried them away.
Twenty minutes later, after coffee and toast for breakfast, Alaina paused at the front door. “I’m scared, Gray. How can I go out there looking like this?”
Gray laid his hands on her shoulders and looked deep into her green eyes. “You are beautiful, sexy, strong and smart. I love you now and forever. Take a deep breath and show the world what you’ve been hiding behind these closed doors all this time.”
Chapter Nine
Gray’s declaration of love still echoed through her memory when Alaina walked into the office, five minutes late. For someone always fifteen minutes early for work, this was yet another momentous occasion.
“You’re late,” her father called from his office.
“Sorry,” she called back as she turned on the computer, called in and turned off the voice mail, and prepared for the day.
“Bring me my schedule for the week and Hep Anderson’s file.”
Alaina added several letters left over from Friday that needed his signature before she could mail them, and a pad to take notes onto the pile. Entering her father’s office, she slid the file he requested and his schedule in front of him then took her customary seat across the desk from her father. She carefully balanced the notepad and letters on her knees while wondering if she could cross her legs without exposing anything.
Then her father looked up from his desk as he reached for the phone. “What the hell are you wearing?” Her father slammed down the receiver and glared at her.
“A suit I got this weekend.”
“It’s too short. Take it back. And put on a proper shirt. I can see your underwear.” He ordered as he opened the file and began to flip through the papers inside
“No.” With Gray’s assurances echoing through her thoughts, she now had the courage to do what she should have done ten years before.
“Excuse me?” He looked up and scowled at her.
“This is perfectly acceptable office wear and I am not going to take it back.”
Her father glared at her for another moment then looked down at the paperwork before him before looking up again. “Get out of my office and don’t come back until you’re dressed appropriately.”
“Are you firing me?” She stood and placed the paperwork she held on the corner of his desk.
“If that’s what it takes. You are a member of…”
“Yes, I know, a member of one of the oldest, most respected families in New Bern, and as such am held to a higher standard. Guess what, Dad. I don’t care. I’ve worked here for the last dozen years because that’s what you wanted. I dressed the way I did because you wanted it. Well, Dad, I’m sorry, but I’m tired of trying to make you happy. Because no matter what I do it’s never good enough. From now on, I’m going to live to make me happy. Good bye, Dad.”
With that, she turned and walked out of his office. Retrieving her purse from her desk, she left the office where she had spent the last dozen years. Her heart pounded. though she was not sure whether it was with excitement or fear. She had done it. She had quit her job.
She climbed in her car and drove away without a backward glance. She made it home in one piece, though she had no recollection of the drive. After turning off the car, she sat. Then the shaking started. She had quit her job. Oh my God. What would she do now?
“Oh my God,” she whispered as her door opened.
“Alaina?” Gray knelt beside her and touched her face. His fingers felt so warm against her skin.
“Oh my God,” she repeated.
“What happened? You’ve only been gone twenty minutes. Are you all right?”
She blinked and turned to look into his eyes. Those silver eyes she loved. Those silver eyes that turned her on with a glance. “Gray, I love you.”
“I love you, too, baby.”
Alaina unhooked her seatbelt and climbed from the car, forcing Gray to straighten and take a step back. Looking up at him, she smiled. “My father hated the suit and told me to change back into my old clothes. I said no. He threatened to fire me…”
When she didn’t say anything further, Gray took one of her hands in his own and lifted it to brush a kiss over the back of it. “And?”
“I told him I liked my new suit, hated my job, and I quit. I quit my job. What am I going to do now?”
Gray smiled at the note of amazement in her voice. “Why don’t we go inside, take off our clothes, and talk about it? I’m sure together we can think of something.”
Alaina laughed at his comically overdone leer as she turned to the house. “That sounds like a very good idea. If nothing else, I can always go to work for one of the other agencies in town. I am, after all, a certified financial planner and licensed insurance agent.”
“No way,” Gray opened the front door for her then followed her inside, closing
and locking it behind them. “From now on you’re only doing things you love.”
“Like loving you?”
“Yeah, like loving me.” He swept her up in his arms and carried her up the stairs to her bedroom, where they celebrated her newfound freedom.
The End
Kitten’s Cotton Candy Clouds
By Sidda Lee Rain
Chapter One
Sterling
For chrissake I’ve been staring at the same spreadsheet for the last hour, and I’ve yet to read it. I don’t know why I’m surprised. It had only taken a few months before I realized that there’d never be a chance in hell that Sarah and I would make it. Not one in a soul sucking, breath stealing, erection crushing, chance in hell.
Don’t get me wrong the woman is an absolute catch. A strong, independent woman with not only a models body but a killer head for business on her shoulders. In many ways I was honored the day she moved into my penthouse, because Sarah’s not the kind of woman who would settle for just anybody. But, it only took weeks for me to know just how wrong I had been.
The woman was a workaholic. Had her eye on the prize and wasn’t willing to settle for second place, or in this case VP at the advertising agency she works at. Nope, Sarah wanted President of Castle and Kellehers written in front of her name on that little brass plate attached to her office door. In my eyes ambition like hers is second to none.
However, she’d spent every waking hour at the agency, and every minute in between strategizing her next move. Sarah’d made CK Advertising more money in the last two quarters than their previous two years—that’s saying something.
Yeah, saying that Sarah went for what she wanted, worked hard on what she loved, and strived to make the important things work. And, sadly? I apparently met none of those criteria nor had our relationship.
Now, don’t get me wrong I’m far from heartbroken. It wasn’t love—never was. Watching as another one of her boxes leaves in the arms of some guy with a far too tight t-shirt on and khakis from the moving company she hired…I feel nothing but relief.
My time with Sarah has taught me a few things. I’m not the kind of man to take a backseat to a career. Not that I would ever say those words out loud, I know how it would make me sound. It’s the truth though. I need someone who wants me as much as I do them. Someone who will let me be the man, act like the man. As chauvinistic as it sounds? There’s something in the way I feel when I’m able to take care of a woman. Let me be her hard place as well as her soft. I want her to know she’s safe within my arms. That there’s no one else for her…or me for that matter. When I open this penthouse door? There’ll be a female on the other side of it, waiting. Waiting for me to arrive.
Of course I don’t expect her to fetch my slippers, and have a seven course meal warming in the oven. No, I’d like to be the one who does those things and so much more for her…for the woman I think about often. She doesn’t exist, you know? Well, in my head she does. I have to believe in my heart she’s out there too. Because, there has to be more to my life than what I have now. But, for now there’s nothing but a shadowy figure whose face never comes into focus.
“I believe that’s everything, sir.”
After slipping the college kid $200 I watch as they load the last boxes containing dozens of designer pumps and I feel the smile on my lips. Sarah doesn’t have weakness’…but one, expensive as hell shoes. Perhaps, Jimmy Choo will be the only man she’ll ever love.
Locking the door behind me I make my way down the long narrow hallway towards the master suite. My shoes echo through the empty space and I see the significance in that in more than one way. Leaning against the doorway, taking in the now barren room, not even a twinge of sadness hits me. Nothing but relief floods my veins. She’s gone, Sarah’s gone. There’s no more pretending, not another minute wasted on wondering if I’d ever feel anything more for her than I already did.
Not that she was any more upset when I asked her to move out. She’s a smart woman, straddling the line of genius like a well versed tightrope performer. It clearly wasn’t working for her as much as it wasn’t for me. Perhaps it was my male pride that had hoped for a tear or two, but she hadn’t even given me one chin wobble, one quiver of the lip, or one plea asking for another chance…nothing. Nada. Zip. Sarah had merely smiled—even though weakly and said she was surprised we’d made it as long as we did. Honestly, she had thought that three months was a good stretch?
Our relationship hadn’t been horrible. Wasn’t filled with screaming and fighting. There weren’t any lies or deception. Nobody cheated, neither one of us had lingering feelings for an ex. Nothing. We just had exactly that…nothing. As a couple we merely existed. I’d seen the way men looked her way more often than not, and not once had I felt a drop of jealousy. Sarah was stunning, but she wasn’t the woman for me. I’d felt like arm candy, a chair filler when I’d accompany her on a business dinner. She hadn’t wanted to dance with me at the banquets. It was her waiting for me before the charity events. She’d never let me take her out, buy her dinner, do anything other than dutch on an evening shared.
Don’t get me wrong I’m proud of the woman she is. Steadfast, loyal, so focused and successful that I nearly felt incompetent next to her. She just isn’t the woman for me. I need more, yet in so many ways I want so much less.
In bed it was always what Sarah wanted and when. Not surprisingly it wasn’t often and never anything other than missionary—except for the rare exceptions in the shower. Sad thing? I think the only reason she went along with the shower sex was to save time. She wanted sex and I just so happened to be there. Sarah hadn’t wanted me…she used me. Oh, I’m far from innocent. I’d used her too. Asking her to move in when I knew I didn’t love her. Pretending on a daily basis that I was happy she was here when she could’ve just as easily been gone. Even pretending that what we had was real—that it was something when I knew it was far from anything significant.
Sarah will make some man very happy someday. She’ll find a workaholic who desires nothing more than missionary and the occasional shower sex. Hell, I’d bet she’s the kind of woman who’ll toss in doggy-style on his birthday or their wedding anniversary—that is if she remembers the date.
As for me? Well, I happen to be quite familiar with my right hand, we’re old friends you could say. I’ll continue my relationship with Rosie Palmer until I find the kind of woman I desire, one who desires me just as much.
Flipping off the light I make my way through the darkening penthouse. An orange glow from the setting sun illuminates my way towards the wet bar in the corner of the living room. A glass of scotch for dinner sounds just about right, food is highly overrated.
The ice hitting the glass echoes in the space and suddenly I’ve never felt more alone. Which is ridiculous because Sarah’s things may have been here but more often than not she wasn’t. Call me sentimental, call me a pussy, but what I wouldn’t give right now to have a warm, soft woman to hold in my arms as we watched the sun go down over the glass and steel of the city view below. To curl up on my leather couch beneath a chenille blanket as orange faded to black, sun to moon, awake to sound asleep, all while holding a woman who wanted to belong to me as much as I wanted her to belong.
Someone who’s mine…mine to keep. Mine to care for, and mine to cherish the way she deserves and then some.
Chapter Two
Katarina
2 months later…
Another one of my father’s boring barbecues. He’ll invite a few of the guys from work, A few neighbors will show up despite my mother’s wishful thinking that they won’t. My uncle, handsy Henry. Yes, my father’s own brother has a few cocktails in him and suddenly he’s very affectionate with me and my sisters. It’s sick, and more than a little gross. Seriously, eww.
Of course, he will probably be here too. My father’s best friend from high school. Sterling. Beautiful Sterling. Oh-so handsome Sterling. The man that all others pale in comparison to. Wide shoulders, broad
chest, the kind of deep voice that vibrates off your soul not only your eardrums. There’s always a dusting of hair along his jawline no matter the time of a day. Almost as if he’s too masculine to wait until five o’clock to actually have a five o’clock shadow. A man’s man. All square jawed, veiny forearms and those killer green eyes. The very man who haunts my dreams and night, and fantasies during the day. If I was being honest I’d confess that I’ve been in love with the man for years.
Listening to hours of golf talk will all be worth it when Sterling arrives.
“Katarina!”
Making my way towards my father I plant a faux smile on my face as I wind my way through the small crowd gathered on our back patio.
“You bellowed, father?”
“I need you to fetch the two cases of water from the back of the Navigator.” He nods with his head. “Those two coolers have some room in them, I think. Fit what you can in there anyways.”
Saluting him I head towards the garage where my mother’s massive SUV is always parked, several of my father’s colleagues and college friends greet me as I pass. I simply smile and give a little wave. However, I don’t risk stopping to chat because I’m well aware the conversation always heads back to that time my father said this, or my father did that. My father is the one who likes to dwell in his glory days…not me.