by A. C. Arthur
Nina cleared her throat. She sat back and smoothed the skirt of her dress, letting her hands rest in her lap. “Look, maybe you don’t have to take this seriously, but I do. Everything we do from the night of the Sip ’n’ Chat to the day we have our fake argument is part of my first impression to the fashion industry.
“My work so far has been on a much smaller scale, but this is my opportunity to show the industry who I am and what my business can do for them. We’re supposed to be an engaged couple. But I’ve gotta tell you, we need to do better. That reporter in there was intentional in her questions. There’s doubt about this relationship. For whatever reason, she doesn’t believe us and if one person doesn’t, then others may be wondering, as well.”
She was right. Appearances were everything, especially in this industry. Wasn’t that why Desta and Riley had come up with this idea in the first place? It’s why they knew including a Gold in the campaign would ensure its success. And now, this woman who had no stake in his family company was essentially telling him he wasn’t pulling his weight.
“What do you think we should do?” If she said get naked in the back of this limo right now, he’d do it. Damn him, he would.
“First, you’ve gotta relax and you’ve gotta act like a man in love.”
His head snapped to hers and he saw that she was staring at him. She looked spectacular today. He’d noticed the moment he’d peeked through the curtain and seen her walking in on Maurice’s arm. A spurt of jealousy had pierced his chest before he’d cursed and pushed it away. But he hadn’t been able to look away from her, not for minutes after she’d taken her seat.
The dress wasn’t formfitting but flowing breezily down past her ankles. The halter top cupped her breasts the same way his hands had before. And the muted colors complemented everything from her skin tone to her eye color, to the soft, barrel curls that fell past her shoulders.
“I’m not going to give the press the innermost details of my life, they’re not entitled to that.” No one was.
“But you’ll agree to a stunt that has the prime purpose of playing to the public? Look, whatever we say to them is a lie. It’s all a lie.” She shrugged as if it were that simple. “We’re not engaged. We’re not a happily-in-love couple and we never will be. This is a means to an end for both of us.”
He wouldn’t kiss her. Major had sworn he wouldn’t kiss her again. But the touching rule? That was out the window. So he closed the slight distance between them on the seat and he reached for her. She came willingly, sitting across his lap.
“This...” he said quietly. “The tug you feel between us? The one that starts deep in your gut and reaches out, wanting to cling to something, someone... We cannot deny this. You can’t deny it.”
She shook her head. “No. I can’t. I’m not. But I’m also not going to play this game with you. I’m okay with taking our façade into the bedroom. I can separate work from personal. But I’m not going to be at your call. Either we stick by your rules implicitly for the duration of this agreement or we don’t. There’s no in between and there’s no up and down.”
Basically, she was telling him to get it together. As she had every right to since he was being a jerk with this hands-off, hands-on situation.
He was impressed. He’d thought watching her masterfully handle Morgana in that press conference was awe-inspiring, but holding her on his lap while she fundamentally just ripped him a new one was damn commendable. He cupped her face in his hands and leaned in. Her lips parted and he almost... Major tilted his head and kissed her neck, suckling slightly, creating a path to the skin between her breasts, which was the softest he’d ever touched.
When her arms came around his shoulders and she arched into him, he sighed with relief and with resolution. He was going to play this game by her rules, but first, he was going to have her again.
He continued running his tongue and lips over her skin, moving his hands so that one was at the nape of her neck, pulling her hair gently to tilt her head back. The line of her neck was bare to him and Major stared down as if he were a vampire, hungry for the taste of her. He licked a straight path from between her breasts up to her chin and back down again. She hissed and arched further in his arms. He loved kissing her. It was a fact he could not deny.
To push that thought out of his mind, he eased a hand beneath the halter top of her dress, cupping her bare breasts and sucking in a breath at how good it felt.
“Why do I want you so much?”
Had he said that aloud? He’d been thinking it so much, he no longer knew whether or not it was in his head or if he finally was ready to hear an answer.
“Take what you want,” she whispered, bringing her hand up to cover his, moving it so they were both squeezing her breast. “Take what we both want.”
Permission. She’d given it before and she was giving it again. Another woman may have walked away from him and this arrangement because of the ridiculous way he’d been acting these past few days. Stacia had walked away from him for less. Any other woman certainly wouldn’t have come to his rescue at the press conference, after he’d asked for answers to his questions in that juvenile email he’d sent her. And she damn sure wouldn’t be in his arms right now, asking him to give her what she needed.
What he desperately needed.
He pulled his hand away, running it down her torso and to her legs where he could pull the material of the dress up. Her legs were bare, and she opened them the moment he touched her skin.
“I’m gonna give you what you need, baby.”
“Please,” she whispered. “Please give it to me.”
It took almost no effort to push the thin silk material of her panties to the side and slip his fingers along the warm folds of her pussy.
She moaned, the arm wrapped around his shoulders tightening against him.
“Yes, baby. You’re so hot and ready for me. Ready for this pleasure.”
He was, too. His jaw clenched with the need to sink himself so deep inside her that he could no longer think of his past mistakes with women, the present situation he found himself in, or the future that seemed to rest on this beautiful woman in his arms.
She gyrated against his fingers even before he could press them inside her.
“You’re ready and you’re hot.”
“You’re talking too much and not doing enough,” she said, grabbing his hand with her free one and pressing it into her juncture.
He needed no further encouragement but eased two fingers deep into her, loving the feel of her inner muscles tightening against his intrusion. It was like a cave, a hot cavern of deliciousness that only he could taste, only he could have at this moment. It took him seconds to twist her around until she was lying flat on the seat. He dragged the panties down her legs, dropped them to the floor and propped her legs up onto his shoulders before dipping his head low. His mouth was on her in seconds, tongue stroking over the plump folds of her pussy, lapping up the thick nectar that tasted sweet sliding down the back of his throat.
She yelled out at the contact and he continued, reveling in the sound of her taking the pleasure he offered and the feel of her soft inner thighs rubbing against his face. He suckled her clit, taking the tight bud into his mouth and holding it there until she squirmed beneath him. When her hands went to the back of his head, pushing him further, he groaned and whispered, “Greedy little goddess.”
But he gave her what she wanted, thrusting his tongue inside her and moving it with the same urgency he would have moved his dick if he were pounding into her.
“Yessssss.”
He would never get tired of that hissing sound in her voice. Never get tired of the scent or taste of her. The taste that was melting all over his mouth at this moment. She moved with his motions, undulating her hips as she held him to her, giving as good as she was getting.
He worked his mouth over her until he
thought his chest would explode with desire. Pulling back slightly, he sank his fingers into her again before dragging them out and letting one slide back to her rear. This time she sucked in a breath and held completely still. He rubbed his finger over the tight sphincter, using her juices to ease only the tip of his finger into her.
“Major, I don’t... I can’t,” she whimpered.
He knew the feeling. He couldn’t think, either, not past the need and the hunger. His mouth was on her again, tongue easing deep into her just as his finger moved slowly into her other opening. She shivered beneath him, and yelled out until he was certain anyone on the street would hear her. And with that cry came her release, pouring like liquid heaven into his mouth. Major swallowed and he held on tight to the sensation moving through his body along with her essence.
He’d never felt anything like this before and he knew he never would again.
* * *
If somebody had told Nina that she’d have a backseat sexcapade in a black limousine, she would have called them a bald-faced liar. Yet, here she sat, closer to the window this time than she had before, staring out at the New York skyline while they drove to her hotel. They’d decided to skip the restaurant and Major was on his phone arranging for dinner to be brought to them there.
She had an elbow propped up on the door, her cheek leaning against a closed fist while thoughts of what they’d done in the back of this limo ran through her mind. Her inner thighs still tingled, and thoughts about whether or not she was doing the right thing ran rampant while her hormones continued to take charge.
There simply was no more right thing to do other than what she was doing. For too long she’d sacrificed everything for someone else, namely her family. Her father hadn’t been the same after her mother had left seventeen years ago. And while only twelve at the time, Nina had known that it would be up to her to help Jacoby in any way she could. And so she had. It had never occurred to her to do anything else. It had also never occurred to her that at almost thirty years old, she’d still be dedicating so much of her time to her father and her sisters. But not for the next five weeks. This time was for her, while all that she was doing would ultimately help her family, these days in this city, with this man, doing this job, were for her. And she planned to make the best of every minute.
Even if that meant spending every minute irrevocably aroused by a man she’d never imagined being with.
“The food will be there shortly after we arrive.”
His voice jolted her out of her thoughts, and she sighed before looking over at him with a wan smile. “Thanks. I didn’t really feel like being out in public again.”
“That makes two of us,” he said with a nod. “It’s been a pretty long day.”
“I bet. How long does it normally take to get ready for a show?” She’d been learning more about the inner workings of the industry while working with RGF. The business aspect of the design house seemed to be a smooth-running machine, but it definitely took the skill and expertise of every one of its three-hundred-plus employees. Before this week, it had been easy to believe her app’s target was just the Gold family because they called all the shots and had made what was one of the world’s most influential and successful Black-owned-and-operated fashion houses what it was today. But this past week she’d definitely learned differently.
“I don’t personally do much with the planning of the shows. I make sure all the technology they need to facilitate them is up to par.”
“A man of my heart,” she said and then clapped her lips shut. It was probably best not to talk about her heart where he was concerned. This wasn’t that type of party and she didn’t want it to be. Watching her father nurse a broken heart was enough to swear her off any type of emotional connection with a man.
“The programs you’ve put in place at the fashion house are innovative and seem to be helping to keep things running smoothly,” she continued, trying to stay focused.
He stuffed his phone into his pocket and looked over at her. “Technology is the way of the future. And nobody else in my family has the patience for it, so that became my contribution to the company.”
Nina felt the same way.
Her sisters worked and sometimes—when berated and guilted to no end—contributed to the expenses associated with taking care of their father when his savings and insurance didn’t meet the need. Her love of computers and desire to create had landed her a few contractual jobs that pulled them out of a financial bind a time or two, but she wanted something more stable, something that would allow them to live more comfortably without having to go through the guilt and arguments with her sisters.
“Everyone in your family seems to have found their niche,” she said.
“Yeah. I think so.”
“Did your parents always expect you’d go into the family business?” She figured if she talked more about his family, she’d feel less depressed about her own.
“Ah, yeah, I think so. I mean we didn’t grow up with sketch pads in our hands or fashion magazines instead of literature for reading time. But we learned how much the company meant to our father and my grandfather at a very early age. We all went to college and selected a major with the notion that we’d bring that knowledge back to RGF. It was like an unspoken expectation.”
“And none of you strayed. That’s amazing and commendable. There’s something to be said about family loyalty.” Jacoby had taught her and her sisters that when they were young. While Nina knew it was her father’s not-so-subtle jab at her mother’s leaving, she could also see the overall value in the lesson.
Major didn’t reply, but it didn’t matter, they were already pulling up in front of her hotel.
Minutes later they were walking into her room.
“I’m just gonna go freshen up a bit. I’ll be right back.” She headed to the bedroom, did a quick washup and changed into leggings and a bright yellow shirt that hung past her hips, its black-sequined letters spelling “QUEEN” across her chest.
An hour later Major had removed his jacket and they’d finished the most delicious stuffed cheeseburgers, fresh-cut fries and chocolate milkshakes she’d ever tasted. When he’d suggested they order from the burger place instead of some fancy restaurant, she’d almost hugged him. Now, full from the good food and amiable conversation, she sat back against the cushions and sighed.
“I’m sorry for being such a jerk these past few days.” He was sitting with his head resting on the back of the couch, just like her, both with hands folded over now full stomachs.
“It wasn’t how I intended to start this agreement between us,” he continued.
“Me, either,” she admitted. “I mean I really hadn’t thought our pretending would lead to actual sex, but I wasn’t totally bothered by it.”
“I wasn’t, either.” He paused for a second. “At least, not while it was happening.”
“What bothered you about it afterward?” Why she wanted to know, she had no clue. If Major Gold, the reputed Fashion House Playboy had some hang-ups about sex in real life, that was none of her concern.
“I didn’t want to seem like I was taking advantage of the situation or mislead you in any way.”
“Oh.” She hadn’t expected that answer. Truthfully, she didn’t know what to expect from Major from one minute to the next, but this solemn, compassionate admission definitely wasn’t it.
“Despite what the press says, I never want any woman I’m with to have misconceptions about what our relationship is or what it isn’t. Even though our connection is more rooted in business, I feel obligated by the same standard.”
“That’s understandable. But so is being physically attracted to someone.”
“I agree.”
“So how did you manage to get this reputation that follows you around like a lost puppy, if you’re so careful about how the women you date perceive your relationship?”
“When people don’t have enough information, they make things up.”
“And you don’t care to give them more information,” she said, thinking back to the way he’d refused to speak at the press conference.
“They’re not entitled to know every aspect of my life. Nobody is unless I want it to be so. Just because my family is notable and our business is in the spotlight, doesn’t mean I have to personally be there, as well.”
She was quiet while she digested those words. Being in the spotlight had never been a problem for her, but she wondered if there was something to the thought that her family wasn’t entitled to every aspect of her life, either.
“But you did date three different women in three days. That’s gotta mean something.” She chuckled lightly after the statement because the pang in her chest as she’d thought about her relationship with her family was far more uncomfortable than ever before.
“One was a distribution rep that was in town from London and was having problems with her laptop. Another was a family friend and a favor to my mother. The other was a real date that I’d scheduled weeks before and didn’t feel comfortable backing out of at the last minute. Does that sound like the life of a playboy?”
It didn’t. It actually sounded kind of lonely, because at no point had he said he “wanted” to be on a date with any of those women. At least Nina made the choice when and who she dated and, for the most part, she was active in that date. Major sounded as if he were just along for the ride.
