Even as I felt embarrassed, I closed the distance between us. I cupped his face and just stared. I didn’t press my body against him. I waited. Time seemed to stand still for me, but I knew it was ticking, waiting for me to make a choice.
Did I cross this boundary or leave it to him?
I was tired of waiting.
Without another thought, I slammed my lips down on his, pressing my body flush against him, crying out as I felt his hard length against my stomach. So good.
His hands went to my hips, sliding down to my ass, and the other worked up into my hair.
I went for his shirt, tugging it off and throwing it across the room. Next, I went to the sweatpants he wore.
It was late, and he’d surprised me by wanting to play a game of chess and being in loungewear. At times, the man had the ability to surprise me.
He helped to kick them off but not before taking the negligee I wore.
“You’ve got me naked, Ashley. What are you going to do with me?”
Gripping his shoulders, I marched him back, going toward the sitting room. I pushed him down into his seat and followed him down, straddling his waist. The hard length of his cock pressed against my core, and I moaned as he seemed to bump against my clit.
His hands on my ass rocked me against him. Sinking my fingers into his hair, I kissed him, biting down onto his bottom lip. He opened up, and I plunged my tongue into his mouth. His nails sank into the flesh of my ass, and I relished the bite of pain.
The rush of pleasure took me by surprise.
I let go of his face and reached between us. My hands shook, but passion took over. I moved over him, and with his help, I got him to my entrance, and I sat down, taking him all the way inside me.
Tilting my head back, I released another moan and Earl took one of my nipples into my mouth. His hands moved down my body, then back up. He cupped my tits, pressing them together, his thumbs moving back and forth over the buds.
Rocking up and down his length, I fucked myself on his dick.
Earl grabbed my hips and showed me exactly what to do. He sped up my strokes, making me go harder as I claimed him.
With him deep inside me, I reached between and began to stroke my clit.
“Yeah, that’s it, baby. Make yourself come all over my cock. I want to hear it. Come on.”
I sank my fingers into his shoulder as I worked myself to orgasm. I came, and he didn’t let up, pounding his way inside me, pulling me down one final time to flood my pussy with his cum.
We were both panting by the end of it.
My hair had fallen forward, and Earl pushed it back. He brought me in close and his lips on mine was the best feeling in the world.
The way he touched me made it harder for me to deny my feelings. I hated lying to him. Hated lying to myself.
This wasn’t good.
Sex was amazing, but at no point Earl did promise more than this.
I didn’t see a future for us. He’d never granted me the chance of having one.
“You’re fucking amazing, you know that?” he asked.
“You’re not so bad yourself.”
The words he said. I easily forgot that he’d taken me as payment. All he’d ever wanted was my hymen, my firsts. The way he talked, it was like we were in a relationship, and each time, I kept on falling for it. I had to learn this meant nothing.
We were a business deal.
That was all.
****
Earl
I got a call from my yacht.
A plea for help.
I’d rounded up my men and went to where it was docked.
Blood covered the walls and floor. I’d discovered ten dead bodies. The three women who’d opted to work for me were slashed up.
To many, this sight was disgusting. With the life I lived, this was child’s play. Wrong, but not unexpected.
This was a clear message, and Knight, the piece of shit, had sent it to me.
My men were already in the process of cleaning it up. Bodies would be destroyed and everything cleaned up as if there was no evidence. My cell phone rang, and I saw it was an unknown caller, but I wasn’t a fool.
I ignored the call.
I wasn’t going to give Knight the satisfaction of gloating.
With the mess being cleaned, I left the doc and found my right-hand man, Ford, waiting. He was the one person I trusted. He’d proven himself to me time and time again. I had no reason to doubt his intentions. He got off his cell phone.
“Security footage shows ten men entering the yacht at which point everything goes black. Within twenty minutes, it’s all back on, and the yacht looks untouched,” Ford said. “The clerk had to use the bathroom. It was the only time he wasn’t manning the desk.”
I could leave a trail of bodies up and down the city, but that was how amateurs played.
If I lost my temper now, Knight won. He’d been wanting my spot at the top for a long time.
My cell phone alerted me to an email.
Without a word to Ford, I opened it up. It was from an unknown sender. Most of these went to spam, so I was more than pissed I was being distracted.
However, I clicked on the wrong fucking thing and opened it to find a picture of Ashley in my apartment. It was taken outside of the building, but I saw her clearly. She stood a few feet away from the window, looking out over the city.
She was terrified of heights, and closing the curtains was a real challenge to her.
Who’s watching her?
The words came with the attachment.
I pulled up my caller ID and started to make a call to the men I left in charge of her safety.
No one was picking up.
“Get me back to my apartment.”
Ford had seen the email and already responded, putting a call out to his men, trying to get one of them to answer.
I ended up calling through to the apartment, but it rang and rang.
The dock was a good thirty minutes away from my apartment.
“Fucking put your foot down,” I yelled at Ford.
I didn’t care how this made me look. The only person who mattered was my woman.
Ashley. She was in danger, and it was all my fault.
I had to get to her. Save her. Protect her.
My heart raced as we made our way through the city. As he drove, Ford was still making calls, trying to find out what the hell was going on, and I was close to losing my mind.
I needed to get to her, to make her safe.
Ever since the accident, I’d put all the necessary precautions in place. More men in the building. I never took her out. I’d even resorted to playing games with her so she didn’t get bored.
Whatever she even suggested, I got her.
I kept her safe.
There was no way Knight should have known about her, unless he had known about her and he’d used this as a distraction to get me out of the fucking house.
Ashley had been safer on my island, but her own mind had been working against her then.
Anger.
Panic.
Fear. I fucking hated the last one. There was no room for it in my life.
It was taking too long for us to get to the apartment. Ford broke every single speeding law known to man to get us as close to the building as possible.
On arrival, the car didn’t even come to a stop before I got out. Charging my way through the building, I spotted the man working the reception desk, passed out, his hand flat on the surface.
I didn’t take the elevator but went the stairs. It was long but my life depended on it.
I heard pants and grunts as I ran up the stairwell.