CHAPTER 16
Present Day
He stopped a few feet away and held my purse toward me.
“Thanks.” I took it and searched for my keys, expecting him to leave. When I found them, I realized Spencer was still standing beside me.
“So, this is where you live,” he said, eyeing the hallway.
“Yup.” Couldn’t he just leave? Did he have to embarrass me even more by pointing out that I lived in a dump? I struggled to get the key into the keyhole. This was humiliating on so many levels. I finally managed to unlock the door and opened it. Good. Now I could finally be rid of him.
“Can I come in?” he asked.
I stared at him for a long while, wondering why he’d want to, wondering what he was thinking, wondering what that meant. Did he want sex? Did he want to talk about my job? Did he want to see how crappy my place was?
“Why?” I asked.
He chuckled. “No specific reason.”
I squinted at him with a frown and he raised his hands as if surrendering. “I just want to chat.”
“Chat? Why?” I asked.
“I’m trying to be… to be kinder,” he said.
“You really don’t have to. Truly.”
“But I want to.” He paused. “You make me want to.”
I studied his face, looking for signs of insincerity. But there were none.
“Fine. But I’m tired so you can’t stay long.” I gestured for him to enter.
“Ladies first,” he said.
I walked in through the door and put my purse on the small kitchen table.
“Coffee?” I said over my shoulder.
“No, thank you.” He shut the door behind him, and it was then I realized I was alone with my Dark Knight. Even though the alcohol was still whirling through my system, I felt his presence in every cell of my body. Dammit. I shouldn’t have invited him in. This was not a good situation—me drunk with a ridiculously handsome man in this closed, confined space.
I continued into the living room. “I just need to change.” After I’d locked myself in my room, I shimmied out of my dress and put on some sweats and an open-neck T-shirt that fell off my shoulder. I wanted to look as hideous as possible because then I’d feel less sexy and would be less likely to give into my urges of wanting to kiss the man. Kiss the man. I should absolutely not do that.
My head still spinning, I sat on my bed and tried to figure out how I’d avoid making a big mistake. Perhaps if I sat here long enough, he’d leave, and I wouldn’t have to worry about what I’d do in my drunken state.
I knew letting him into my apartment was a huge mistake. I knew that if I went back into the living room that I wouldn’t be able to resist him.
Even so, I couldn’t stop myself.
I opened the bedroom door and stepped into the living room. Spencer was sitting on the couch in quiet contemplation. When he noticed me, he looked up and smiled.
“Comfy?” he asked.
“Very.” I sat on the old tattered chair I had picked up at Goodwill and tucked my feet underneath me.
He stood up and walked over to the window.
“I broke it off with Emma,” he said.
His comment surprised me.
“Tonight?” I asked.
“Yesterday. But we decided to go together tonight because we needed to present a united front so we could reach our goal of raising over ten million dollars.”
First, I didn’t know why he was telling me this. Second, he’d never opened up to me about anything in his personal life, so why now? Was this a booty call? It had to be.
“I’m not sleeping with you,” I said.
He turned and looked at me. “I’m sorry. I don’t remember offering.”
At that moment, I turned beet-red. I felt my entire face heat up like a hot Arizona day.
“Good,” I said, all breathy. I stood and walked over to the door and opened it. “I need to get some rest now.”
He stood up and slowly walked toward me. With every step, the magnetism between us increased ten-fold. He stopped six inches from me and shamelessly stared with hooded eyes.
“God, you’re beautiful,” he said.
His comment hit me right in the chest and a surge of energy spread across my entire body. He raised a hand and his fingertips feather-lightly stroked my bare shoulder. I knew if he kept doing that, I’d lose all control.
He moved closer and his fingertips brushed across my collarbone and up my neck, settling on my jawline.
“I can’t stop thinking about when you went skinny-dipping in my pool. Your naked body… God, I’d never seen anything so erotic,” he said.
Oh, wow. He couldn’t stop thinking about that?
“You reamed me out for that,” I said, remembering it as if it happened yesterday.
“Only because it turned me on so much,” he said.
Holy shit. It turned him on? My plan had worked? My lips parted and I exhaled a shaky breath. I leaned my back against the door to try and create some distance between us. He was too close. I didn’t want to succumb to him.
“I’m going to kiss you now,” he said.
If I was smart, I’d say no. If I was sane, I’d tell him to leave right now. If even an ounce of my brain was functioning right now, I’d tell him to get the hell away from me. But I couldn’t.
He placed a hand under my chin and lifted my face. My mouth opened and his gaze fell to my lips as he licked his own. A shiver of delight that originated where he was touching me, spread through my entire body, making me unable to resist him any longer.
He leaned in and pressed his lips to mine. At first, the kiss was gentle, polite almost, like we were both experiencing our very first kiss. I inhaled a shaky breath as his tongue softly met mine. For a split second, I came to my sanity and pulled away a little. I shouldn’t be doing this. Not only was he my boss, I hated the man and was scheming for his demise. Letting my Dark Knight have his way with me would certainly mess up everything I was working toward. I was stronger than this. I was!
He reached behind to the nape of my neck, drawing me closer. His scent wafted into my nose, further intoxicating me to him. Would I ever recover if I let him have me tonight? When he thrust his tongue deep into my mouth and drew me so close that our bodies were flush, I felt him. He was hard. He was huge. And I was drowning in him.
Involuntarily, I shoved my hands through his dark, silky soft hair and kissed him back with all the passion I felt inside. He pushed me so my back was against the open door and grinded himself against me. Oh, God!
I hooked my leg around him, and he lifted me up. Lips locked with his, my legs wrapped around his torso, and I vaguely noted that the front door slammed shut and that we moved into the living room. He continued into the bedroom and tossed me onto the bed.
He tore off his shirt and I pulled off my sweater as fast as I could. His shoes, sock, and pants were next to go, and I could see him tenting his boxer briefs. For a moment, I stared, stunned, dazed, mesmerized by the man standing before me. He was perfectly sculpted in every way, in divine proportions.
I didn’t manage to enjoy looking at him for long because he proceeded to pull off my sweatpants and underwear in one fell swoop. I unhitched my bra as he stepped out of his boxers and then he was on top of me, a heavy, heavenly warm weight pressing me into the mattress. The hungry, wild gleam in his eyes was unmistakable. In fact, I’d never seen him this brute, this ferocious. It was as if a primal creature had taken over and he was driven by male hunter instinct. It was the same instinct I felt, a powerful need to see this to completion.
He nuzzled into my neck, his breath hot and heavy in my ear and I opened my legs to receive him. He hesitated for half a second.
“I’m on the pill,” I whispered, barely able to speak, I was so turned on.
His mouth devoured mine and I felt him reach between my legs and position himself at my entrance, a place he was about to claim. My desire for him was borderline unbearable, a deep, throbbing, hotness that needed to be quenched. I lifted my hips, urging him on, seeking for penetration, and he shoved into me with a commanding thrust as he took my virginity.
I cried out in pain, a sharp agonizing ache ripping through me. He didn’t move, only held himself inside me as I accommodated to his size. A tear rolled down the side of my temple and I was gasping for air.
“You good?” he asked.
I nodded, although I wasn’t certain. However, soon, the pain subsided and gave way to pleasure, a fullness so complete I’d never experienced anything like it.
“I’m going to move now,” he grunted. “Christ, you’re squeezing me so hard.”
I nodded and he pulled out, then thrust into me again. There was still a sharp pain but much less and I lifted my hips to meet his.
“God, that feels so good,” I cried out, my eyes stinging with the pleasure of it all. Had I known how amazing this felt, I would have done this way sooner!
He cracked half a smile and continued to move in and out of me, massaging that sweet, dull ache deep within.
“Oh, God.” I gripped his rock-solid forearms as he pushed up onto his hands, and my legs found their way around his waist, clutching, needing him closer, deeper, harder. “Spencer!” I looked into his eyes, but he was closing them, as if concentrating on something other than here and now.
He continued to drive into me, and soon I felt myself starting to wind up, to build to some peak I had never been before. I didn’t know what would happen, but I knew something big was coming and although I didn’t know what to do or where I was headed with my Dark Knight, my body knew exactly where we were headed and took over every movement.
“You’re so tight, Ellie,” he bit out, his voice almost sounding pained. “I’m not going to last long.”
“Oh, shit. Oh, God. I…I…” I let out a whimper as the tension inside me wound so tightly, I felt I’d soon explode. With the next thrust, I felt myself start to come undone, as if I was being hurled over some edge with no way of return. The tightness I’d felt gave way to ripples of warmth, of agonizing pleasure, of sensations so sinfully delicious that all I could do was surrender to them and let them undo me in every way.
My moans filled the small bedroom and soon his primal grunts joined mine as he continued to thrust into me deep and hard. Just as I peaked, it was as if some darkness clouded my mind, taking me to a whole other dimension I’d never known existed.
“God, Ellie!” He drove into me one last time before collapsing on top of me. Instinctively, I reached my arms around him and placed my palms onto his sweat-damp back. The moment was so intimate, my heart ached with a deep need for something I somehow knew would never be: for him to be mine and for me to be his. Sweat collected between our bodies as the silence continued on, nothing but our pants being heard.
As I slowly came to myself, fear started to creep in. What had I done? What would this mean? God, I was an idiot. I knew this would never end well. I knew this would complicate an already outrageously complicated situation.
I ran a hand through his damp hair, and he rolled off me and sunk into the mattress. It was then I realized I hadn’t taken my pill for a few days. With everything going on, I’d simply just forgotten.
Staring into the popcorn ceiling, I felt a sense of dread come over me. What had I done? I had given my virginity to a man who didn’t deserve it—my Dark Knight—that’s what I’d done. I closed my eyes and pulled the sheets over my body, as if that would somehow make things better.
I glanced over at him and he was looking at me. He offered me a crooked smile and I could feel that his walls were completely gone. Seeing him like this, naked, in the afterglow of our union, it was the sexiest thing I’d ever seen. He seemed so young and pure now, not my Dark Knight. Not my enemy. Not a man who was constantly scheming to break me. But a man who was as vulnerable as I was.
Maybe things could be normal between us. Maybe I needed to just chill and not overcomplicate things, not overthink things.
“Are you good?” he asked.
“That was… that was amazing,” I said, my voice giddy as I let my apprehension about the situation melt away. “We should do it again.” I glanced over at him, giving him as flirtatious look as I could.
“I… it doesn’t work that way,” he said.
“What do you mean?” I asked as I climbed on top of him, straddling him. I wanted to please him. I wanted to please myself. I wanted this night to never end. “I need you again.” God, how I needed him.
“It’s getting late, and…” He let his voice trail off and I could feel him grow harder as I rubbed myself against him. He appeared baffled for a moment, confused even.
“This doesn’t usually happen,” he said.
“What?” I asked as I reached down and wrapped my fingers around him. I felt so powerful knowing that I could make him hard for me.
“It usually takes time for me to be ready again.” His fingertips were sliding over my bare back, leaving tingles wherever they went.
I stroked him up and down, up and down, and he hardened even further.
“What are you doing to me?” he asked.
“I need you,” I said. “I’ve needed you for a long time.”
He reached between my legs and pushed two fingers inside me. My head fell back, and my lips opened with a moan when he started to massage me.
“Like this?” he asked.
“Yes,” I breathed. “God, yes!”
He pulled his fingers out of me and fisted my hips. Feeling his strong manly hands on me spurred my need for him to unbearable heights.
Setting one hand on his chest for balance, I raised my hips and hovered over him. The scent of desire was heavy in the air, a mix of the previous union of our bodies. My skin felt hot everywhere and could see that sweat misted his forehead.
I guided him into me and lowered myself over him. We both moaned as he went deeper, and the beautiful ache I had felt when he had possessed me earlier immediately returned full force.
“God, Ellie,” he gasped as I let him slide deeper inside. I held my breath as I brought him in all the way, feeling stretched, feeling taken just beyond what I thought I could handle. Our eyes locked as the pleasure built at the place where we were connected.
Using both hands, Spencer controlled my rhythm as he shoved up and into me, tilting me at just the right angle so he rubbed against a hypersensitive spot deep inside. As he thrust into me again and again, I realized I was going to climax again—and fast.
“Spencer!” I pressed my hands to his chest and threw my head back as the orgasm wracked my body, glorious wave after glorious wave pulsating through me.
Once I’d come, he tossed me off him and commanded I get on hands and knees. I did as I was told, with no resistance whatsoever. Everything felt right and I had no hesitations about letting him do with me as he pleased.
He knelt behind me and spread my legs with his knees. A second later, I felt him enter me from behind. When he started to move, my body took on a mind of its own and I shoved backward every time he thrust into me. He reached around my hips and between my legs. Deftly, he massaged my smal knob, making me hazy with need and making me start to build all over again. God, he was driving me so wild that the lines between where I ended and he started were becoming blurred.
I let out a soft moan as I felt myself begin to build for the third time.
“That’s it, baby,” he said as he continued to massage me and drive into me. “Give me one more, Ellie. Just one more, babe.” He gripped my hair, pulling gently at first, then harder. He spanked me once and growled. I whimpered as all the sensations and sounds caused everything to tighten, and I felt the sweet tension build as his deep rhythmic strokes quickened.
I cried out when the first intense tremor ravaged me, then again as I peaked again and again. He gripped my hips and pumped upward and into me with a ferociousness that I could only describe as primal and animalistic. I was so turned on and so in the moment that I continued to rise higher and higher. There seemed to be no end in sight as he brought me to a place so high, I felt I had been brought to Heaven’s door. Our connection was startling intense—did he feel it, too? He growled my name as he came long and hard with three more slow, sustained thrusts.
As we both slumped into bed, my entire body tingled and pulsed.
“Wow,” I finally managed to say.
A quick flash of his boyish grin stopped my heart for a moment.
“Wow is an understatement,” he said.
“Is it… is it always like this?” I asked, feeling particularly vulnerable since this was my first time and he, obviously, had a lot of experience.
“No. It’s you,” he said.
“Me?” I laughed. “I didn’t really do anything,” I said, knowing he did all the work and I was just receiving pleasure.
“It’s us. We have amazing chemistry,” he said. “You bring it out in me.”
I beamed at him as I ran a hand across his bare chest.
“I guess we should have done this sooner,” I said.
“I tried,” he laughed.
“I’m glad you didn’t give up. Maybe… maybe things can be different moving forward.”
I was reveling in this lightness between us. In this moment, it felt like we belonged together. He appeared to not have a care in the world and his face was soft, his smile warmly affectionate. For the briefest of moments, an idea flashed through my mind. This is what it would feel like to be with my Gentleman. And that was followed by a surprising question: Spencer… is he my Gentleman?
I closed my eyes and shook my head, the thought completely unbelievable, insane even. When I opened my eyes back up, I looked at Spencer.
He was no longer smiling, and all of a sudden, his walls were back full force. He had withdrawn completely from me, our brief connection nothing but a faint memory, making me wonder if I had perhaps just imagined it all.
He stood and started to dress, and I found myself shutting down as I clutched the sheets. I got the sense that he had gotten what he had come for and now I was nothing but a piece of trash to be disposed of.
“You’re leaving?” I asked, my voice vacant.
“I have an early flight to catch tomorrow.”
I watched as he dressed, a sickening feeling spreading through my gut. I wondered what had gone wrong, if I was to blame.
Once he finished, he sat on the bed right next to me.
“That was amazing, Ellie.” He kissed my forehead as he finished buttoning up his shirt.
“It was,” I said, a faint hope taking hold of my heart.
He eyed me for several seconds, his gaze studying my face. The way he drank me in felt just as intimate—if not more—as when he was claiming my body with his own. Again, the barrier that was always there between us seemed to have slipped away for a brief second. Which made this entire situation all the more confusing.
He lifted a hand and stoked my cheek. I leaned my head into the palm of his hand and closed my eyes, allowing myself this tender moment. Why couldn’t it always be like this between us? I knew that we were capable of this, yet we never seemed to arrive here.
“I’m glad you’re finally learning to trust me,” he said. “When you trust me, I can give you everything you want. I’m even able to protect you.”
“Protect me?” I asked.
“From men like Mike. We have a pact. We stay away from each other’s claimed territory.”
“Wait, you slept with me to protect me from Mike?” I asked. “And I’m considered territory now?!” I yelled, smacking his hand away.
“My territory,” he snarled.
“I’m no one’s territory!” I was so fuming mad I thought steam might be oozing out from the top of my head.
“In my world you are,” he said.
I scooted back, not wanting to be anywhere near the asshole.
“And don’t worry about Mike anymore,” he added. “I had my secretary report him to the cops. He’ll be taken care of. I’ll see to it.”
“So, this is your sick way of being the hero,” I said.
He nodded as if that was supposed to be a compliment. “And just to be clear, this doesn’t change anything,” he said. “You still work for me and you don’t get special treatment just because of tonight.”
“I wasn’t expecting it,” I said, bitterly.
“Good.” He stood and headed toward the door, but before he exited, he turned around and looked at me. “It’s not every girl who gets to fuck a billionaire her first time. Consider yourself lucky.”
Outraged, I picked up a book from the nightstand and hurled it toward him with a scream. Quick as a cat, he swung the door in front of him so the book hit the door instead.
As he walked away, he said over his shoulder, “For that, you’ll be back in my garden on Monday, weeding.”