by Franca Storm
Hearing me shrieking his name was the final straw for him. He grunted and cursed, the combo I recognized as his orgasm sounds.
There was a long silence between us, filled only by our heavy, ragged breathing as we both tried to catch our breath and come down from it.
And then a giggle escaped me.
"What's so funny, sugar?" he asked, amused.
"Can you move right now?"
"Maybe if there was a fire, or some emergency," he answered with a chuckle.
"Same here. What do you do to me? You're not even here and you've got me coming my brains out."
"You like being commanded. That's why."
"And you?"
"I like doing the commanding."
"We work well together."
"Yeah, we do. Really well."
I relaxed back in my bed, feeling sleep trying to pull me in. A yawn escaped me.
D chuckled. "Get some sleep."
"Okay," I murmured. "And, D?"
"Yeah, sweet Sky?" he crooned.
"I'm yours."
"I'm yours too."
I smiled happily, even after we hung up and I settled in to drift off to sleep.
Being a couple was working out so well for us. We were so good together.
Perfect.
6
~Skylar~
"COME ON."
I resumed my grumbling as I once again hit my elbow on the steering wheel, jolting my hand that was holding my lipstick. This time I ended up inadvertently smearing the caramel mocha shade across my face.
I was trying to multitask, slipping my feet out of my flats and into my Manolos as I finished applying my makeup. I was usually a hell of a multitasker. I couldn't run an empire of clubs, restaurants, and bars if I didn't excel at that sort of thing. But today was just one of those mornings where nothing was going as planned.
Rolling my eyes at myself, I reached over to the passenger seat and snatched up my purse. Pulling out a tissue from the little packet in there, I fixed the mess I'd made of my lips, then secured my shoes to my feet. I wished I could drive in any kind of footwear, but, unfortunately, it always had to be flats for me. I had to keep a pair in the car and bring my heels with me.
I grabbed my phone from its hands-free set up on the dash, snagged my purse, then climbed out of the car, stumbling as I did. I really didn't function well when I was off my schedule. Oversleeping this morning had bitten me in the ass in a major way.
But it was a side-effect of having a boyfriend who worked weird hours and had no respect for the regular nine-to-five way that most of the world operated. It was normal for him to call me at three in the morning like he had last night. It wasn't something he thought twice about. I was happy that he was calling and caring enough about what was going on with me and wanting that contact. But I was going to have to speak to him about boundaries, so this didn't become a regular thing. I couldn't operate like this. I needed my beauty sleep. I wasn't in my twenties anymore. At thirty-four, it wasn't easy to operate at my best with next to no sleep. And I had an empire to run, people who were counting on me. Not to mention, I needed to watch myself right now with the massive undertaking I was partnering with Iron Kings on. I needed them to keep their trust in me, to see my unwavering professionalism and competence, not this flighty mess that I was this morning.
God, that man did things to me. Last night had been intense. The memory of Deviant's deep, sexy, commanding voice in my ear as he'd made me come without even touching me, had been playing on my mind all morning. The way he could dominate me in such a panty-melting way even over the phone, just using his frigging voice, was unbelievable. He was such a mesmerizing sexual force.
Drawing in a deep breath, I centered myself, pushed down thoughts of D that were quickly starting to turn me on, and tried to put this whole mess of a morning behind me and focus on the day ahead of me.
I hurried to Excite, punching in the six-digit access code, then rushing through the door and hightailing it up the flight of stairs to the admin area, where my office was located.
Long, wavy hair filled my vision as my assistant, Gia Lopez, sat up at her work station typing away furiously. The clack of my heels coming down the hallway had her jerking her head up.
I smiled to myself at her latest ensemble. Somehow she could blend corporate professionalism with her edgy, bold personality seamlessly. She was wearing a pair of black dress pants, but a chunky belt of connecting silver ovals added an edge, transforming her look from plain and falling within the norm, to something else entirely. A patterned zebra-print blazer just enhanced it and the lace bustier she wore beneath was embellished with gold and silver layered statement necklaces. She was the epitome of rocker chic.
I eyed the clock on the wall behind her desk and cringed. I was twenty minutes late. "Morning Gia. Is Merle still here?"
Merle Rowan was my accountant and we had a recurring meeting set every quarter to go over the finances pertaining to all my businesses, to check in on their returns and identify any issues that needed seeing to.
Gia frowned. "You didn't get my message?"
"What message?"
"Merle had to reschedule. Family emergency. He didn't elaborate."
I nodded. "He's a very private person." It was one of the things I liked about him. He was wholly professional and knew how to exercise discretion in sensitive matters.
"I didn't get the chance to get my messages yet. Shit." I swiped open my phone, frowning to myself.
She grinned. "Wow. You actually put your phone on do-not-disturb mode?"
"I won't be doing it again, believe me." I sighed and disabled the mode. This morning I'd woken up so late and panicked, my normal routine completely flying out of the window.
Sure enough, within seconds, I was reading Gia's message and starting to make my way through the other dozen that I needed to deal with ASAP. "I see it," I told her. I started for my office, telling her, "I need to answer these."
"Sky," she called out.
I stopped and turned, eyeing her in question.
"Maybe you should take that vacation we talked about several months ago."
I shook my head. "I don't have time."
"You have things running like clockwork. Me and the support staff can hold the fort for a while so you can take a break."
"I'm in the middle of that burlesque project with Iron Kings."
"Didn't Spartan slow it down, so he could take some time away? Maybe take a page out of his book. He's as much of a control freak as you and he still recognized the need to take a break."
I chuckled. "You know me too well. I'll think about it. How's that?"
She smiled and gave a nod.
I strode into my office, shut the door behind me, and hurriedly settled myself behind my desk and fired up my computer, wanting to deal with those messages right away. People were used to me being fast and highly-efficient. They could always count on me. Being delayed with responding this morning wasn't maintaining that image very well.
I stopped myself at my thoughts. Maybe I was overworked and extra-stressed at the moment. After all, I'd only been delayed twenty minutes. Why was that such a big deal to me? Plus, if Gia felt it necessary to keep pushing me to take a break, the stress had to be showing outwardly more than I'd actually realized. I didn't want that. I couldn't have people seeing that kind of weakness in me. It was bad for business.
And Gia could handle it. She'd been with me for five years and she was the best Executive Assistant I could have ever hoped for. She was always on top of everything and she was a great support to my busy life. Hell, she actually led one herself. She had somewhat of a dual identity. She was my assistant by day and a member of an all-girl rock band in her free time. She was a budding entrepreneur, something I loved about her, and one of the reasons I'd hired her. She wasn't an automaton. She was opinionated, smart, creative, and she could think outside the box.
Yeah, she could handle it. And I also had other systems in place that facilitate
d me being away for a bit. I didn't technically need to exert the level of micromanaging over all my businesses that I was known for doing.
Yeah, maybe, I would take a break.
***
Things were back on track.
Relief coursed through me.
The shitshow of a morning was well and truly behind me and I was back to kicking ass all over the place.
I glanced at my phone and smiled when I saw the time. I was ahead of schedule. It meant I had time to actually take a lunch break today. As I began to consider what to have, a sudden rap at the door jolted me. Strange. I wasn't expecting anyone. I didn't have another in-person meeting until the late afternoon.
Before I could check myself, I was reaching for the handgun I kept in my desk drawer.
Although, I technically ran an above-board, respectable empire, my success and the types of businesses I operated had been known to attract dangerous people every now and then. The gun was a precaution. There was also the matter of Eddie. Although, Iron Kings had dealt with the situation, it was still a nagging concern that I couldn't seem to completely relax about. Besides, it was stupid not to be on guard as a general rule anyway. Naïve was what it was.
And I was far from that nowadays. I'd seen a lot on my long haul to the top. Things I couldn't simply unsee. It'd opened me up to a certain darkness that just wouldn't leave. Once you touched that sort of thing, it tainted you forever. I was sure it was one of the reasons that I got along so well with Iron Kings. They had lived that darkness and could recognize it in me.
As I wrapped my fingers around the butt of my gun, my phone buzzed on the desktop. I eyed the screen and saw a message from Gia.
Sorry, she was insistent. The infamous Anastacia Reilly in the flesh.
What the hell was she doing here? My club wasn't exactly her sort of place.
I released the gun and shut the drawer.
Centering myself now that I knew some heavy-handed dangerous asshole wasn't on the other side of the door, I rose from my chair and strode to the door. I unlocked the latch and opened it to find the infamous society queen, former It Girl, and ruler of the upper class elite standing at my door.
"Anastacia," I greeted.
Her gaze swept over me in that judgmental way as she took in the sight of me in my white suit pants and black silk sleeveless top with its plunging scoop-neck, my long silver necklace only serving to emphasize the racy nature of it. That was my style, edgy and sexy with a sprinkle of class. My hair was down and flowing loosely in soft waves about my shoulders. Presentable, but comfortable. My guest didn't know what being comfortable looked or felt like. Uptight was more her style. She was always impeccably dressed, every single hair on her head in place, her makeup flawless. There was no off-switch for her. Given that she'd spent her life in the spotlight under public scrutiny, I understood it.
She smiled politely, then asked, "May we speak privately?"
There wasn't actually much of a question in it. Her tone was a thinly-veiled demand, mixed with an air of entitlement to this private meeting she hadn't even bothered to schedule with my assistant. Gia's desk was the main barrier to me, at the front-end of the corridor of offices within Excite. She was normally highly adept at being gatekeeper and holding off certain individuals. But I was well aware of Anastacia's rep and I didn't doubt that she'd exercised a great deal of intimidation and, perhaps, even a veiled threat or something, to gain immediate access to me. I knew what a tyrant the society queen could be.
"Come in," I told Anastacia, stepping back to allow her into my office.
"Thank you, dear."
I shut the door, then pointed to one of the chairs in front of my desk. "Have a seat."
As she situated herself in a regal manner, I took a moment to take her in now that the shock of her showing up so unceremoniously had worn off a little.
Her caramel-brown hair was pulled up into a perfectly-coiffed bun, held in place by a jeweled clip. She was wearing a pastel-pink pencil skirt with a white blouse set beneath a textured tweed Chanel suit jacket. Her quilted bag was also Chanel. A pair of nude Jimmy Choo pumps completed her ensemble.
"What can I do for you?" I asked, as I sank into my office chair. I doubted very much that she'd come to schedule one of her society events with me. Excite wasn't exactly the type of place for that sort of thing. It was far too risqué, not like the tame banquet halls and museums she was used to. I couldn't think of any of my other businesses that would work for her either.
Instead of answering my question, she smiled. It was that tight, polite smile again. It was impossible to tell if it was actually genuine or fake. In the few times we'd encountered one another over the years, I'd never been able to read her. She was a closed book.
Just like her son had been for the longest time.
She gestured around my office and commented, "You've done well for yourself, come a long way since the evening we first met at that gala in support of the small business community. You certainly aren't in that category anymore. The owner of several extremely successful enterprises, a true mogul."
"Is that why you came here? To compliment me?"
"I know a great deal about you, Skylar. I keep an eye on persons of interest."
"And why do I interest you?"
"I understand you are seeing my son."
I tensed. Talk about awkward. And disturbing that she was watching me at all.
"I have very talented private investigators on my payroll, dear," she went on.
A chill ran down my spine hearing her say the actual words aloud. It kickstarted my defenses and it was a struggle to contain the darker edge I'd developed in response to threats of any kind. I needed to hear her out before I reacted. Showing my hand too early would be foolish. "Why does that concern you?" What was going on? Why did she care?
She sighed and conceded, "I'll speak plainly." Shifting her weight uneasily, she took a beat, then told me, "You are my only connection to him. Luke—or, Deviant, as he apparently goes by now—is unreachable. I don't have his number, email, or anything. The town him and his club are located in doesn't allow for unknown visitors either." She pinched the bridge of her nose, looking really distressed as she eked out, "I need his help."
"Oh," I murmured, more than a little taken aback by this whole thing.
"You are the only outsider whom he has made a personal connection with since leaving his family. All the other people in his life are members of that club who keep to themselves, sequestered away inside that small town of theirs. I realize how unconventional and… inappropriate this is, but my options are very limited." She opened her purse and pulled out a business card. Pushing it across the desk toward me, she said, "Please get this to him as soon as you can. The situation is urgent."
I snatched up the card. "I'm going to need more than a card to light a fire under him, given how he feels about you."
Her eyes narrowed briefly at my reference to the tumultuous non-relationship between her and her son. But she was asking me for a favor, the least she could do was offer up a bit of transparency and something to go on, so I knew what I'd be bringing to D's door.
"His brother is in trouble." A dark look shone in her eyes, something that I hadn't expected to see from a hoity-toity, elitist woman like her. "Trouble that Luke's lifestyle will be very conducive to assisting with."
Wow. What on earth could D's little brother, Matthew, be caught up in that would have his mother actually reaching out after all these years to her estranged son?
"Tell me everything," I insisted.
She nodded and settled into the chair and I braced myself for what she was about to reveal.
7
~Deviant~
"CHECK EVERYBODY."
Alex and Gavin nodded quickly, almost frantic about it. Good. I was giving them a second chance after their fuckup with Sky's protection and they were eager to redeem themselves.
"No matter how hot they are, even if they fucking well flash you, they aren't get
ting in here unless they're on the list," I emphasized.
Alex, the easygoing of the two, gave me two thumbs up.
Gavin scrawled another note on the pad he'd been clutching in a death grip since I'd called them out here to the courtyard for this briefing. I smiled inwardly. The guy was intense. His high-strung personality reminded me of Sky. It was really hard for her to let go and just chill once in a while too.
It was one of the reasons she'd wanted a guy like me, somebody who could dominate her in bed and clear her head of all the stress and busyness plaguing her. And I'd wanted a strong, powerful woman who could submit to me and take the dirtiness that I needed with my fucking. It was amazing that things between us had evolved so much from that.
"Deviant," Wrecker called out, striding out of the clubhouse toward us. "You done briefing them? Am I good to show them the equipment and get them into position?"
As he reached us, I slapped his shoulder. "You're good to go. I'm gonna check that Anarchy's ready too."
Wrecker laughed. "He's been good to go since you gave the okay for this pussy party. The fucker blew through all the setup in record time. Him and Tricks have already divvied up the guest list between them. They reserved one of the backrooms too."
"Good thing Wraith's staying away then. He wouldn't be down for that."
"Yeah, he's way too much of a hard-ass about security. He'd never let club whores beyond the lounge. Or, as he calls it, the party perimeter."
"He considers them outsiders. Only actual club brothers aren't in his eyes. Everybody else is a potential threat."
"Well, we can thank Little A for distracting him so we can do this."
"She ain't a chick no man in his right mind's gonna say no to," Alex piped up.
Wrecker smacked him across the back of the head. "Hey, kiddo. That's the club princess you're taking about."
Alex had the balls to grin. "Just fucking about."
I pulled Wrecker away and told him quietly, "If they do a good job, let them join the party for a bit."
