That’s easy to promise. Hard to deliver.
from: [email protected]
to: [email protected]
date: April 19, 11:08 PM
subject: Question
Are you going to let the fear control you?
Good question.
Was she going to let Charlie control every aspect of her life? Right now, from his perch at the back table in Mr. Pong’s, he stared at her like she was a gnat on the bottom of his shoe, and that was after she’d given him his money. The stack was flimsier than usual, but at least she’d won some.
“Get out of here,” Charlie said to her in a cold, calculating voice. “You tire me because you take too long.”
“I won for you tonight,” she pointed out, but then, what was the point? Charlie was in a nasty mood, and maybe it had to do with her, or maybe it had to do with another one of his pawns underperforming.
“Hardly. This is hardly enough,” he said, fanning out the thin stack in her face, smacking her on the nose with the bills. She flinched, surprised that money could wound that much.
As she left the Chinese restaurant, nearly bumping into a man with a well-lined face and sad eyes who stared longingly at the sign for Mr. Pong’s, she pondered all the fear in her life. She was afraid of Charlie, of the veiled threats of him hurting her, hurting Kim, and taking more and more of her business until he was satisfied. Though men like him never had their fill, did they? She was scared for her sister, and wanted desperately to protect McKenna’s hard-won happiness with Chris. Most of all she was terrified of screwing up. What if she couldn’t win the rest of the money? Would she be in Charlie’s clutches forever? Time was running out, and she pictured him snapping chains on her forever somehow, so she’d never ever escape from him.
She didn’t know what would happen.
All she knew for sure was this fear sucked. This emptiness stung. And the only thing that had felt remotely good and real in her life was opening up to Clay. She’d been living in a cocoon of her own necessary lies for so many months, that the sliver of truths she could share with him was freeing.
from: [email protected]
to: [email protected]
date: April 20, 2:02 AM
subject: Good question
I don’t know . . . I don’t want to be controlled by fear . . . but I can’t stop wanting you either.
from: [email protected]
to: [email protected]
date: April 20, 7:32 AM
subject: New side of you
Don’t stop wanting me. This is the most open I think you’ve been.
from: [email protected]
to: [email protected]
date: April 20, 9:52 AM
subject: Blame it on email
Do you like it?
from: [email protected]
to: [email protected]
date: April 20, 3:22 PM
subject: Love it . . .
I like nearly everything about you, except when you run from me.
from: [email protected]
to: [email protected]
date: April 20, 11:08 PM
subject: Run the other way?
Would you rather I run to you?
from: [email protected]
to: [email protected]
date: April 21, 6:03 AM
subject: Yes I would
I would like you on your knees for that smartass comment.
from: [email protected]
to: [email protected]
date: April 21, 9:32 AM
subject: Love that position
I would get on my knees for you. You know that. I would get on my knees and take you in my mouth. Under your desk. While you were in a meeting. I love tasting you. So. Much.
from: [email protected]
to: [email protected]
date: April 21, 3:43 PM
subject: You’re killing me.
I would be stone-faced and not let on.
from: [email protected]
to: [email protected]
date: April 21, 4:04 PM
subject: Relentless
I would do everything I could to break you.
from: [email protected]
to: [email protected]
date: April 21, 4:14 PM
subject: I know, believe me, I know
I bet you would. I have excellent control.
from: [email protected]
to: [email protected]
date: April 21, 7:17 PM
subject: Shifting gears . . .
That’s why you’re such a good lawyer. By the way, I hear you’re Chris’s attorney now. Thank you for taking care of him.
from: [email protected]
to: [email protected]
date: April 21, 7:43 PM
subject: From blow jobs to business . . .
Thank you for the introduction. I’m gonna make him an even richer mofo.
from: [email protected]
to: [email protected]
date: April 21, 11:23 PM
subject: Cocky, and I like it
I bet you are. I wish I had a reason to be in entertainment and have you be my lawyer.
from: [email protected]
to: [email protected]
date: April 22, 5:55 AM
subject: If I were
I’d fight for you, Julia. I’d get you everything you wanted. I’d give you everything you wanted.
from: [email protected]
to: [email protected]
date: April 22, 10:09 AM
subject: You would . . .
What about you? What do you want?
from: [email protected]
to: [email protected]
date: April 22, 5:12 PM
subject: One word
You.
from: [email protected]
to: [email protected]
date: April 22, 8:29 PM
subject: Re: One Word
The same. I want the same.
from: [email protected]
to: [email protected]
date: April 23, 11:10 AM
subject: You ok?
Still there?
from: [email protected]
to: [email protected]
date: April 23, 3:53 PM
subject: Hi
Hey . . . you’ve been quiet . . . everything OK? Don’t make me call you :)
from: [email protected]
to: [email protected]
date: April 23, 9:01 PM
subject: Should I be worried?
Was it something I said?
from: [email protected]
to: [email protected]
date: April 23, 9:40 PM
subject: It was something you said . . .
What are you wearing?
from: [email protected]
to: [email protected]
date: April 23, 9:52 PM
subject: Not working tonight so the answer is . . .
Shirt. Stockings. Thong. Heels.
from: [email protected]
to: [email protected]
date: April 23, 10:04 PM
subject: Hard . . .
Truth?
from: [email protected]
to: [email protected]
date: April 23, 10:15 PM
subject: Full truth.
I swear.
from: [email protected]
to: [email protected]
date: April 23, 10:22 PM
subject: Better be
Are you sure?
from: [email protected]
to: [email protected]
date: April 23, 10:30 PM
subject: 100%
Yes.
from: [email protected]
to: [email protected]
date: April 23, 10:37 PM
subject: This is not a request
Take off the underwear.
from: [email protected]
to: [email protected]
date: April 23, 10:40 PM
subject: Your wish is my command
Done.
Julia startled when she heard a loud knock on her door. What the hell? It was eleven o’clock at night. Cold dread rushed through her veins. There could only be one person banging hard at this hour. Charlie, or his men. She took off her heels, padded quietly to the door, and peered through the keyhole.
Chapter Eighteen
Her body reacted instantly. Viscerally. Her skin heated up, and she swore she was seeing things. To be sure, she slid the chain, unlocked the latch, and drank in the oh-so-welcome sight of Clay standing in the doorway, unknotting his tie then loosening the top button on his shirt.
She wanted to throw her arms around him. Kiss him hard. Tell him how damn happy she was to see him. She parted her lips to speak, but he was too fast. His hands were on her face, cupping her cheeks, his hot gaze raking over her body from head to toe. “You don’t have heels on.”
“I took them off when I came to the door.”
“Put them on.”
She slipped out of his grip, bent down and slid her feet into her four-inch red pumps. She grew taller as she stood and came face to face with the man she couldn’t forget about. His whole body was ready to pounce, his muscles hard, the vein in his neck throbbing. His stare was dark and intense, and he radiated sexuality. His eyes roamed her body, prowling over her, turning her molten. His hands were clenched at his sides. He took a step closer and cupped her cheeks once more. Her knees nearly buckled; she and Clay were combustible. She wanted him so much, every solitary cell in her body cried out for him. Her skin was ignited, and her heart beat in overtime. She watched him swallow, then brush a thumb over her lips. She panted from that single small touch, and nibbled on his thumb.
His eyes rolled back in his head as she bit gently into him. She thrilled at his reaction, at the way he breathed out hard.
When he opened his eyes, he stared at her momentarily then crushed her lips in a consuming kiss, one that told her he wanted to devour her. That he was hell-bent on it. When he broke the kiss, she went first, whispering her desperate need. “Take me,” she said.
“Turn around.”
She bent over her kitchen table, her chest on the metal, her ass in the air where she knew he wanted it, offering herself to him to be claimed. She peered back, watching as he finished unknotting his tie and yanked it off, then unbuttoned his shirt.
Her chest rose and fell as she watched him, heat pooling between her legs with every move he made. He left his shirt open, and she marveled at his chest, at the hard planes and ridges. Her hand had a mind of its own, and she twisted her arm around to try to touch him. He swatted her hand away, and pushed her tight black shirt up her back, exposing more of her skin, then he ran his hands up and down her spine. He dipped his hand between her legs, sliding a finger across her swollen lips.
“Oh,” she cried out, her eyes falling closed, and her mouth forming a perfect O.
“Have you been touching yourself?” he asked, sounding like a lawyer in a courtroom. She was a willing witness, eager to be cross-examined.
“No,” she said, and he rubbed his fingers over her once more, drawing out a needy moan. She rocked her ass back against him. He raised his hand, and her breath caught, knowing what was coming. Her eyes widened as he brought his hand to her cheek, a sharp sting radiating across her rear.
He bent down to brush his soft lips against her flesh, and she whimpered as he soothed out the sting with his tongue. He slipped his hand between her legs again, sending sparks of heat throughout her body. “You haven’t touched yourself once since I saw you?”
She shook her head. “No, I swear. I knew I’d only think of you if I did, and it would make me crazy not to have you.” He thrust a finger inside her, and she saw stars as he flicked her clit with his thumb. “So you saved it all for me?”
“Yes.” She panted.
“Good. Because I’m going to take it all. I want it all.”
He took his hand away, raising it again and she quivered, knowing he was going to smack her once more. She craved the sharp sweet mix of pleasure and pain, and this time the smack was followed by his fingers gliding between her legs as he rubbed her where she wanted him most.
“I haven’t touched myself either, Julia,” he said as he began unzipping his pants. “You know what that means?”
“What does that mean?” she said as he pushed his briefs down, freeing his enormous erection. Her lips parted at the sight of his cock, thick, hard and throbbing. She wanted him so badly. Wanted all of him. He gripped his cock, stroking himself up and down. She watched, mesmerized, as a low moan escaped her.
“It means I’ve been rock hard since you left me. I’ve been walking around New York City at full fucking mast, thinking of you and not doing a damn thing about it for the same reason,” he said, dragging the head of his cock against her wet pussy lips. Sweet agony sang in her body as she tried to rock back into him, to draw him into her body, awash with never-ending lust. “I didn’t want to think about you because you were all I was thinking about already,” he said, as he reached into his pocket for a condom, tore open the wrapper, and rolled it on.
“It was the same for me.” She could hear the desperation in her own voice. She needed this so much; not just the physical connection that burned hot between them, but she needed him. This man, the way he made her feel inside and out. He’d touched something so deep inside of her, a part she’d kept hidden and well protected. But he was there, working his way around the fortress of her hardened heart, and she wanted all of him. She could not be more grateful that he’d shown up tonight—the first clear evidence that maybe her luck was changing. “I kept thinking about you too. I want you so much.”
“I want you too.” He bent over her body, laying his chest over her as he rubbed his hard length against her entrance. “And I hated the way you left me.”
“I hated it too,” she said as she writhed against him, struggling to guide him into her. He gripped her wrists over her head, pinning her on the table.
“Julia,” he rasped out, grazing his mouth along the column of her throat, eliciting a desperate groan from her. “I have to tell you something.”
“Yes?” she asked, breathing hard, her back arching, her body molding to his.
He pulled back to look her in the eyes. His voice was ragged. “I’m crazy about you, but right now I’m going to fuck you like I hate you. I need to fuck you angrily but don’t forget this: I’m crazy for you.”
She bit her lip, desire coursing through her like a shooting star speeding across the sky. “I’m crazy for you,” she murmured, but the last word was swallowed as he thrust into her, filling her in one quick move.
She moaned loudly and closed her eyes, savoring the feeling of his hard, hot length inside her. God, he felt amazing, stretching her. He began to pump, hard, fast, rough. Just like he’d promised. Her breasts were smashed against the kitchen table, and she didn’t care that they hurt. She welcomed the hurt. The way every part of her body felt him. Her legs shook as he drove into her, her wrists twinged with his rough grip, and her cheek throbbed with how she was pressed hard against the unforgiving metal surface. But with each thrust, she took him in deeper, her heat rising. She grew wetter with every punishing stroke, needing terribly for him to fuck all the stress, all the problems, and all the troubles out of her life right now.
“Harder,” she urged, and she was rewarded with a slam.
“Be careful what you wish for,” he said roughly against her ear.
“I like it like this. I’m not regretting it.”
“Don’t ever regret me,” he said, his stubbled jaw rubbing against her cheek.
“Never,” she said in between pants. She raised her ass higher. “Touch me,�
�� she said, and she sounded like she was begging, but she knew he’d like that sound.
“You want me to touch your clit?” he asked as he pounded into her.
“Yes, please.”
“Good. I like how you asked nicely for it,” he said, letting go of her wrists. He stood behind her now, ramming hard as he held her hip with one hand, the other hand reaching between her legs to rub her clit. The second he made contact, she shrieked in pleasure.
“Yes.”
It was all she could say. All she could manage. She shouted yes over and over as he pounded into her, taking her body, taking it back for him, claiming her with the hard, rough fucking she wanted. His finger raced across her swollen clit, hitting her at just the right pace, just the right friction until the world spun away, and everything blurred out but the unholy pleasure that rang through her body. Her climax rushed over as she tore past the brink. He was there with her, gripping her hips, plunging deeper, unleashing himself until he collapsed on her.
She breathed out hard, panting as if she’d just run a race. Then his lips were on her neck, kissing her softly, gently, as he mapped her with his mouth.
“I’m so crazy about you,” he whispered, and though her body was hot from the coming together of their mouths, her heart flooded with warmth too from his words.
“I feel the same, Clay. Exactly the same,” she murmured, turning her head so he could dust her mouth with his lips.
He pulled out, tossed the condom in the trashcan, and returned to her. He lifted her spent body from the table, where she was still splayed out, awash in the aftershocks, and glanced around, quickly finding the door to her one bedroom, then he carried her there. He laid her down on the bed, walked to the bathroom, grabbed some tissues and brought them to her. She cleaned up, and handed them to him to dispose of.
She wondered briefly how he’d found her apartment, but figured a quick Google search had likely revealed her address to him.
When he returned once more he scanned her bedroom, and she wasn’t sure if he was going to stay the night here or not. Nerves raced through her, as she wondered what he would do next.
Chapter Nineteen
So this is where she lay at night when she’d sent all those emails. Curled up on her king-size bed, on top of the wine-red covers, half-naked, wearing only her shirt .
At least, that’s how he liked to imagine her, and how he liked to look at her.
Girl Meets Billionaire Page 136
