DAMIEN
Forbidden fruit. A needy temptress under my touch. And as I drive her head down, the tip of my cock smacking the back of her throat, I force myself to remember why I can't have her.
She's my younger brother's ex-girlfriend, and she doesn't even know. I had multiple opportunities to tell her, but I didn't.
I yank her head up, relishing the way she gasps for air.
I did warn her I wasn't the kind of guy she thought I was.
But then my brother showed up at the club, all drunk and idiotic as
usual. I remember how he touched her, his hand marking her leg. Anger swirls inside me.
The way he spoke to her...
My grip tightens on her hair. "Apologize."
"W-what?" Her voice wobbles in the most perfect way.
"For making me crazy. That a perfect little thing like you would ever be
with a man like him."
She stares at me, shock laced with desire in her eyes.
"Sterling? I—"
Plunging her head down, her answer dies on a choked yelp. I hold her
there, my cock buried in her throat. "Don't say his name. Ever." As I buck my hips back and forth, she makes the sweetest sounds.
Fuckkkk.
I pull my cock all the way out, before I end our night short and spill into her mouth.
Not yet.
Anger sparks in her eyes. "That's ridiculous—"
I force her down for another round. As I hold her longer this time, her moans turn desperate, pleading for me to relent.
I let up, and she nearly chokes, catching her breath. "I'm sorry!" Her black makeup smudges around her eyes.
"Are you?" I coo. "For what?"
"For ever being with him."
My gut clenches when her jaw slackens, sincerity emerging from behind
her eyes. She’s frozen for a moment, before her gaze falls with a keen hunger to my cock, saliva dripping down its length.
"Good girl." I pinch her chin with two fingers. "Now open that little mouth of yours."
She unclasps her lips wide.
"Stick your tongue out and look at me."
Her flat tongue darts out, her eyebrows scrunching together and
eyelashes lifting.
My cock twitches.
I love seeing her this way, on her knees and needy for me. Leaning in
close, I spit down her throat. She jerks back, her mouth clamping shut. "Now thank me."
She hesitates, a glimpse of anger sparking behind her eyes. But then she
bats her eyelashes and bites her lower lip, her demeanor completely anew. "Thank you." Placing her hands on both knees, she opens her mouth again, squishing her tits between her elbows. "Can I have your cock again?" she asks sweetly.
She's asking me to continue face-fucking her... while looking like that. "FUCK," I growl. "So fucking perfect."
I resist the urge to flip her over to her stomach and fuck her right on the
floor. My head spins, astounded before her words, making me question who's really the one in control here.
Standing, I thrust my cock to the back of her throat, both hands buried deep in her hair. "You're such a good girl when you listen."
I widen my stance and thrust harder, retracting all the way to the tip and crashing it back in with a punishing pace. Her tits bounce to my rhythm, rewarding me with a gasp each time I pull out, followed by a high-pitched moan when I slide it back through her tight lips.
"Get on the bed, on your hands and knees."
She scrapples to her feet, rushing to the bed. When she gets in position, I pause, my mouth falling open. Moonlight shines through the large windows, brightening the way her round ass points in the air.
Juices flow down the insides of her thighs, her pussy thoroughly soaked. And when she flicks her head over her shoulder to look at me, her curled hair draping downwards, I nearly weep at the sight. Rushing over and dropping to the floor, my knees scrape the plush carpet. When I grab the front of her thighs and yank her back towards me, a gasp escapes her lips. Groaning, I plunge my tongue into her pussy.
"Oh!" she screams.
I spread her ass cheeks with both hands, working my head in quick motions. In and out. In and out, I fuck her with my tongue. She finds a rhythm herself and pushes back against my face as I lie my arm across her tailbone, driving her stomach into the mattress. She wiggles against my hold, but I tighten my grip in response.
Delving back in, my tongue dances between her folds, savoring her nectar, her essence. Her pussy mewls with slickness with every swipe of my tongue, making her taste even sweeter, like precious honey waiting to be devoured.
Her cries turn desperate, awakening something carnal within me as I lower my head, suctioning her clit. "Yesss," she sighs, her knees sliding against the silk sheets. I suck harder, followed by the swirl of my tongue, before I pull my head away, leaving her panting in a wild craze.
Wetness spills from her entrance, trailing down her skin. Groaning again, I lower myself and collect it with my tongue, dragging all the way to her sex, stopping just before her puffy flesh. "Your taste is so... " I repeat the motion on the other thigh. "Addictive."
She shivers. "I need—"
"I know exactly what you need." I sink two fingers deep into her sopping cunt, and she lets out a high-pitched moan. "You need to open up before you take my cock."
Tilting my fingers downward, I let my thumb rub against her clit. Her walls grip against my digits as I withdraw to the tip.
So tight.
Increasing my pace, I angle towards her G-spot, clamping down hard against her clit with my thumb.
Her moans fill the room until they devolve into cries. "Please, don't stop!" She lifts onto her elbows, arching her ass to the sky. "Don't stop, don't stop!"
Pumping faster, my biceps bulge as I pull her head back by the strands of her hair. Her face contorts, mouth sprawling open in the exact way I want it to. I add another finger, and she takes it all the way, right to my knuckles.
"Come."
She shuts her eyes, her body tensing. I want—no, I need—to see her unravel. Be set ablaze. Succumb to an ecstasy so great that she'll come crawling back to me every night.
She sucks in a sharp inhale, holding it.
I growl. "Look at me when you come."
The whites of her eyes meet mine, her mouth stretching taut on a silent
scream. Swaying her hips, she grinds her clit against my thumb desperately as her pussy contracts on my fingers at a delicious pace.
She slows her movements, chest heaving.
I expect her to topple over on the sheets, breathless. But instead, she rolls over on her back, looking me right in the eyes, a challenge brewing in hers.
She grabs me by my tie, leading me to a sage accent chair next to the window.
"Sit and watch," she purrs.
My heart somersaults with anticipation, before I sink into the seat. Strutting to the windows, her bare ass is nothing short of hypnotizing.
My eyes glue to her, flicking from her silky legs to her full breasts. With the city lights her background in the darkly lit room, she presses her peaked nipples to the glass.
Fuck...
She tilts her head up, her hair falling behind her. Bending her knees, she scrapes her nipples down the hard surface.
FUCK.
I jerk in my chair, ready to spring to my feet and fuck her against the window. But she flings her head in my direction, focusing her fiery attention on me. "I didn't say to move, Damien." Then she resumes to her full height, nipples dragging upwards with a torturous speed.
God, she's gorgeous.
I've never thought a woman was truly gorgeous before.
When I catch her eyes, there's a fierceness to them, something untamed I wouldn't have expected from the girl I met hours earlier. And I realize at this moment, I'll give her anything, buy her anything. All she would have to do is open that pretty mouth of hers and ask.
If I don't get a hold of this soon, she'll be the one ruining me.
But I don't move, continuing to worship each of her motions. She slaps her palms against the glass, high above her head, stretching her ass outwards.
"You don't know what you're doing."
"I'm not doing anything." Her undertone edge with innocence, in a way that tempts me to fuck her senseless, until the only name she can remember is mine.
She's really enjoying herself.
A subtle smile prints on her lips as she grabs both her ass cheeks and spreads them—that's enough.
I burst from my chair.
Her smile widens, and I grip a fistful of her hair. "You think it's funny teasing me?" Ramming my body against hers, I slam my cock inside her in one solid thrust.
"Ah!" she yelps, before I flatten her cheek against the glass.
I fuck her with a punishing pace, not waiting for her to compensate for my size. When her cries fill the room, I plunge two fingers into her mouth. Pleasured screams turn to muffled moans, mingled with loud slapping sounds as my hips pound against her ass.
I pin her tight against the glass. "You like making me crazy, don't you?" Her pussy squeezes on my length in response.
My lips brush her ear. "Whose cum are you catching tonight?" I tighten my grip on her hair, thinking about what Sterling said to her. My mind goes visceral, and the slapping sounds grow louder. "Huh?"
Our eyes connect, hers utterly glazed over. "Yours!" Her cry coats my fingers with saliva.
I remove them from her mouth, and she gasps. "Whose?" Pummeling into her, I sheath my cock deep inside her, as far as it will go.
"Yours!"
"That's right. Mine. Beg for it."
And then I witness the apex of her undoing.
"Please! Please, Damien, give me your cum. Please—"
Licking up her neck, I silence her, feeling her shiver beneath me.
Her body arches instantly, indicating her release. I grab hold of her tightly, continuing to thrust into her as she writhes against me, riding out each pleasurable wave.
When her pulsations ease, I pull out of her quickly, my hand wrapping around my cock. In a rush, she twists and drops to her knees, hunger flashing behind her eyes. When her tongue slides past her lips for me, my knees nearly wobble.
Fucking. Hell.
Pumping my hand across my length, I chase the need to mark her as mine. I press my palm to the glass, supporting my weight, until my tip becomes so tight it almost hurts as cum shoots out.
Angling down to her face, I watch as she eagerly catches the droplets. A white pool forms atop her tongue, some dripping off the sides, landing on her tits.
I've never come so hard in my life.
Air whooshes from my lips as I glance down, trying to fight the surprise that must be visible on my face. But she smirks knowingly, a dribble of cum visible on the corner of her mouth, before she swallows.
Yep, I’m ruined.
HAVE you ever had such earth-shattering sex that you almost feel guilty over it? Like something that great couldn't just happen, not without losing something—dignity, innocence... something you haven't realized yet?Maybe I should feel bad for everyone around me. They're missing out on something monumental, life-altering, and they don't even know it. And how could they? They didn't experience what I did last night.I twirl a strand of hair between my fingers, bed sheets sprawling about my body like a sea of clouds. Did last night even happen, or was he some ghost figment of my imagination? But the lingering scent of him reminds me it was real.All of it.I noticed he was gone when I woke up five minutes ago, leaving me feeling disappointed but glad at the same time.I chew on my bottom lip.Would I have been able to look at him after that?Do I know how I feel?Do I regret it? No.But what if nothing will ever compare to that? Possible—probable,even.No, no, don't think like that. It
MY FATHER TAUGHT me many life lessons, one of them about taking what I want.If I see something I want, I take it. No questions. I don't need a reason or a moral justification to lull me to sleep at night. All I need is the comforting fact that it's mine and no one else's.Just like the brunette standing in my personal meeting room, staring at me with the most intriguing anger. She doesn't realize it yet, but she's mine. The moment I saw her up against that window in the hotel with hunger and determination flashing behind her eyes, I knew she was my next taking.I want more than a one-night stand. I want her on her knees every night, batting her eyelashes and puckering her lips for me. I want to own all her moans, all her orgasms. And the thought of her under the touch of another man, especially my brother's, makes my skin boil.Call me obsessive and controlling, but it's the reason I started a multi- billion-dollar business using nothing but my brain and the power of negotiation.I w
RAIN SPLATTERS AGAINST THE WINDOW.I sit curled up on the couch in our living room, watching Seinfeld. I'm on season five, even though I've seen the show all the way through twice. It's my go-to comfort show that I turned on the instant I got home.Sofia is still gone. She texted me saying she's staying late for work. I haven't seen her since the club on Sunday night. We agreed to a late lunch together after my interview, but I texted her it ran long and to go without me.I'm still debating if I should tell her what happened today. I'm not sure how I feel. It's more complicated than when I dealt with the aftermath of Sterling. Then, I felt sad and stupid.And now? I shove my spoon into my tub of chocolate chip ice cream. Now I feel stupid and something else...Pissed. Yes, that's it.For two reasons.One, my chances of working on Silicon Avenue are approaching zero.The Bass family owns half of it, and their reach and influence must stretch down the entire street. My promising client
THAT DID NOT COME OUT RIGHT.I've never done this before—how are you supposed to say that to someone? I sound like I've completely lost my mind.Her chair bursts away from the table, her mouth open on a silent exasperation. She looks frozen, as if she's deciding between staying here with me—who says crazy shit like that—or to bolt and run.My eyes travel downward, to the yellow sundress she's wearing, something so different from anything I've seen on her. It's no less distracting, with its cinched waist and floral design that brings out all her feminine features."Please, tell me I heard that wrong."My collared shirt suddenly feels too tight at the neck. "Hannah, we can help each other."She finally gets to her feet, grabbing her purse and rummaging through it, presumably for money to put on the table so she can ditch me.Her laugh edges with anger. "I don't care about some awakening or your stupid money. You're bad news, and I don't want to hear your fake reason why we need to prete
WHEN DAMIEN TOLD me the conference room would be next to legal, I didn't realize legal made up an entire floor.I meander across the tile flooring, passing by sophisticated men and women dressed in pantsuits, each radiating confidence and knowing exactly where they're going. Unlike me, who's checking each door marked with a number, trying to figure out which direction I'm supposed to go.Room 2090, Private Accord Chamber A.Bingo.The glossy doorknob stares me down as I brush off my dress and nibblethe inside of my cheek. I'm about to enter an unknown domain, where I suspect to be a minnow up against an experienced shark.I wrote my conditions and sent them to Damien last night, but I don't know if they're final or need to be negotiated. He seems to hold all the power and expertise, so I dressed for compensation.Pink pumps and a small, sophisticated black dress with a modest neckline. Sofia didn't pick it out for me this time, because then I'd have to tell her the insane arrangement
TONIGHT'S the worst night of every month.My car creeps by the pristinely shaved hedges and rose bushes that linethe perimeter of my family's estate. Rounding a central water feature, I parallel park my McLaren between a shimmering Rolls-Royce and an Aston Martin.It appears most guests have arrived already for our family's monthly dinner. But I don't spot my brother's sports car.He's late, as always.Stepping out, I stare up at the building. I know those excluded from the highest echelons of society would be in awe of such a work of architecture, with its cobbled walls and tall pillars. But all I see are harrowing reminders of a past I shove deep inside myself.Taking a deep breath, I ascend the long row of steps, passing through the front door.Instantly, I recognize the foyer is different as I shrug off my long coat, studying the space. What was once gold with green accents, is now black- and-white checkered tiles and crystal chandeliers. When I dispose of my coat in a nearby clo
IT'S AMAZING, really, how it takes a single man to ruin a family, leaving the rest obsessive, irreparable fragments of their former selves. My mother and brother bury their heads in their own unique addictions, while I strive for a revenge fantasy that might leave me more broken than before.I can never dethrone my father. I abandoned that notion years ago. His portfolio is too strong and too expansive in the tech industry. But Bass Mobile is his crown jewel, the highest grossing asset he has, and I have them in my back pocket.During the growth of my business, it was essential that they were my client. It sickened me to admit it, but I needed Oscar for the revenue, and he needed me for microchips no other company could outperform. They still can't, and now I no longer need him. Companies around the world line up to be in business with me, and Oscar knows it.He knows his time using Innovex's technology is ticking, and there's nothing he can bribe me with before I cut him off complete
IF WORKING for Sterling is swimming in the shallow end of the pool, then being Damien Bass's personal assistant is getting thrown out to the mercy of the sea with no life jacket."Keep up, Miss Lockwood."I'm going to drown.Trailing his long steps, clipboard in hand, my heels dig into the thin carpet. I don't know what time it is, and I sure as hell don't know where we're going. He gave me access to his online schedule—which I'm apparently supposed to run now—but it's not much help.This man is in demand. So much so, that I wonder if Sterling did any work at all. I barely saw the inside of Bass Mobile, but when I did, he was never in meetings, never on phone calls. In fact, his office was notoriously empty. I never thought it odd, but I do now.Does he slow down? Eat? Take potty breaks? I huff a breath. And does he really need to walk so fast?"Where to next?" I pump my legs harder, finally catching up to him at the rows of elevators.This morning, when I got ready for the final time
HANNAH - 5 YEARS LATER"Are you... crying?"Sofia avoids my stare. Her head angles down towards the stage directlybelow us, to the ballerina twirling in circles on her toes in the hands of her partner. Wearing a white tutu, her brows droop downwards in an expression of pure drama and struggle."No." More sniffles."Oh my god... You are." After shooting me a stern look and retrieving a fresh handkerchief from her purse, she returns to craning over the side of the gold box railing. "And to think, only yesterday, you didn't want to come. Said it'd be too boring."She ignores me, her eyes widening when fog floats from the corners of the stage, the intense music growing ever louder.I don't blame her. I was skeptical about attending my first ballet show, too. But now I understand and appreciate its beauty, in a similar way when Damien plays the piano for me when we're alone. I can recognize the same thrill and excitement in his features as the dancers below.Tonight's performance of Swan
HANNAH"ISN'T it so much better when I plan our weekend getaways?"My lips thin, overlooking the ocean from the balcony of our villa."You've asked that every day we've been here, Damien."His chuckle is low in my ear as he wraps his arms around me, raisingmy temperature even higher than the private hot tub we're in. Our view is impeccable, along with the other villas that stand proudly in the water, tracing along the island's coastal line.Who knew houses come on stilts?We've been in Bora Bora for over a week, and I've enjoyed every second. At first, he told me we were going for a weekend vacation, just us two, and loaded up the jet with a bag I didn't pack. He then ignored all my questions about where we're headed.My guesses were Florida and Mexico. But no. I realized I was dead wrong after our flight took over eighteen hours. And then I made the even bigger realization that Damien... Damien was taking a real vacation. Not a weekend, but nearly two weeks off.I smirk.He's come s
THESE WALLS NEVER BUILT A HOME.They built a cage.My steps across my family's estate’s hallways are slow, my eyes wandering to key destinations of my childhood that would always spark awful memories.Because, when I normally pass by the archway that leads to the kitchen, I wouldn't see it as the beautiful architecture that it is. I would see my mother's last act of rebellion, struggling against my father's hold on her, before she received the final blow that turned her into the mindless aristocrat she is now. All the genuine joy expressed through her love of dance—gone.And when I'd near my father's study, I would hear Sterling's small cries as he banged against the door that always proved to be permanently closed. Often, it was me he'd hear inside, not getting much better treatment, until some maid would sweep him off his feet to carry him back to his room.But on this day, I don't see the house the same way. Right now, it seems fragile to me. Like glass.My steps quicken, with one
HANNAH SITS in a simmering silence that would intimidate anyone. Makeup artists blot fuzzy brushes to her face. A man behind her clamps a strand of her hair between an iron. And another tapes a wire underneath the strap of her blouse. Sitting on a black swivel chair, the bottoms of herflayed pantsuit reach the ends of her thin stilettos.She hasn't said a single word since entering backstage over an hour ago,and I know she must be planning something, not that she's going to share anything with me. She distinctly left that part out last night when she blew up my entire world to splinters, then informed me to go about our presentation as normal.Do you trust me? she had asked.And I didn't hesitate then, and I won't now, even before dozens of live- recording cameras and thousands in the audience.Mysterious schemes rage behind her eyes like dark tides of the sea, hinting at the rarely seen danger inside the woman before me, making me question who it really is I'm in love with... It's
I WISH I could go back to the girl I was a month ago, who was only trying to save her family from bankruptcy.Not from their murder.Sitting on the floor of my bedroom, I rest my back against the side of my bed as light streams underneath my closed door. I twist the engagement ring around my finger, embracing the pointless warmth it gives me.Damien and I can't be. But I still put it on the instant I got back, allowing myself to pretend for a while longer that the world believes we're newly engaged and we're unveiling the most anticipated microchip of the twenty-first century.But that can never happen. Tomorrow, Damien will be alone on the stage, his father watching with satisfied eyes as he tells the audience it's Bass Mobile who wins the prize for an entire year. Their stocks will skyrocket, their phones soon reigning supreme, and its users will never know the danger they slip into their pockets.My phone rings on the floor next to me, shining a familiar face I’ve grown to love on
MY BIOLOGICAL FATHER doesn't want to be found.One quick search of Victor Strauss online gave me all the information Ineeded, including his company and personal phone number. I've called many times—late last night, early this morning and an hour ago—stating who I was and practically begging him to talk to me.Which felt wrong in and of itself, because why should I have to be the one to beg? Was his reaction at the charity event all an act? He certainly recognized me and tried to chase me down before Damien got to me first.The only answer I received was as a cryptic envelope slipped underneath our door ten minutes ago. Inside, black ink marked a white slip of paper.The Crimson Lotus9:00Lifting my head to the Vietnamese restaurant glowing neon red againstthe rainy night sky, I cross the street, studying those inside. But I'm unable to see anyone. The windows are quite dark, which wouldn't bother me so much if this wasn't such a sketchy part of the city.Upon my entrance, a bell ab
NOTHING SPARKS my imagination more than the touch of the wheel beneath my fingertips, even if I'm not tall enough to see through the windshield."Vrr... Vrrr!" I mimic the purr of the engine, feeling vibrations as I pinch my lower lip between my teeth and push air from my lungs.There's no light inside Daddy's shop, not when it's past midnight, aside from the glow from a small desk lamp on top of his workbench. But that makes the thrill more worth it, sneaking out late without making a sound, letting my mind run rampant.With one turn of the wheel, I'm roaring down an open road with no destination in sight. A sandy breeze whisks my hair past my shoulders, invading every crevice of the roofless red Mustang I drive beside an endless ocean."Brrr." My lips flop with a funny feeling.With the next turn of the wheel, I'm a champion speed demon on my sure way to win my seventh NASCAR trophy. My legs elongate to their appropriate size, the bottom of my foot pinning the gas pedal to the groun
HANNAH IS a presence I've grown to need, much like a soothing melody to my ear or oxygen for my soul.For the past two weeks, her warmth has chipped away the chronic stress from my shoulders like wax dripping from a candle, leaving behind a man I can hardly recognize—with a sense of calm and joy.On several occasions, I've laughed so hard with her at the most mundane of things, that tears lined my eyes in a way they haven't since... I don't know how long. It's very clear to me now that she makes me not only a better lover, but a better person, who sees optimism in an unpredictable future, instead of trying to control it.A week ago, she convinced me to take a day off work to go have tea with my mother. Never would I have done that—obviously, not because of my mother, who I adore. But because the very thought of leaving my company unattended, even though I know there are people I specifically hire to handle my affairs when I'm absent, has always been horrid to me. As if one day off cou
HANNAH IS a presence I've grown to need, much like a soothing melody to my ear or oxygen for my soul.For the past two weeks, her warmth has chipped away the chronic stress from my shoulders like wax dripping from a candle, leaving behind a man I can hardly recognize—with a sense of calm and joy.On several occasions, I've laughed so hard with her at the most mundane of things, that tears lined my eyes in a way they haven't since... I don't know how long. It's very clear to me now that she makes me not only a better lover, but a better person, who sees optimism in an unpredictable future, instead of trying to control it.A week ago, she convinced me to take a day off work to go have tea with my mother. Never would I have done that—obviously, not because of my mother, who I adore. But because the very thought of leaving my company unattended, even though I know there are people I specifically hire to handle my affairs when I'm absent, has always been horrid to me. As if one day off cou