by K. Webster
“Beer is in the fridge.” She points toward it. “I picked up the kind you like.”
So domestic.
More so than she’s ever been at my place. For some reason, this bothers me. How is she more comfortable in the whore apartment than in one of the finest homes in the city? Shrimp doesn’t even have anywhere to fly. It’s basically a shithole and Ash is practically singing with cheer. I’ve spent the entire goddamn day immersed in stress while she’s been living her best life.
Shrimp decides I’m critter-free and flaps off toward his cage. I pull out a couple beers from the fridge and set them on the bar once I’ve popped the caps. I wonder how in the hell she managed to buy beer since she’s only eighteen, but I figured with the dress she had on earlier, she got whatever the fuck she wanted with just her pretty smile. Ash sets our food down before climbing onto a stool.
“Sit,” she says, hazel eyes searching mine. “Please.”
I bite back a sigh and drop down into the seat beside her. “This is positively the most disgusting-looking meal I’ve ever seen.”
“Don’t be a diva, Win. Eat your supper like a good boy.”
Her bright smile is what wins me over enough to take a bite. Admittedly, it’s good. But I swear to fuck if I find it came from a can…
“Want to know the recipe?” she taunts, an evil smirk on her lips as though she can read my mind.
“No,” I growl. “You wanted to talk, so talk. I don’t have all night.”
Her playfulness melts away and she sips her beer, a pensive expression on her face. “How did it go today with your mother?”
Not what I expected to talk about. “As good as can be expected when you have to accept your mother’s help to make your sex scandal go away.”
“Does she hate me now?”
“She never liked you in the first place.”
She considers this for a moment. “Hmm.”
“You’re not allowed to do that. It’s my thing.”
“My thing now. I like watching that vein pulse in your forehead when I do it.”
I ignore her to polish off my sloppy hamburger bullshit. She watches my every move as I get up and make myself another helping, pretending not to see the Manwich can sitting on top of the trash can. When I sit back down, she angles her body toward me, abandoning her food to study me up close.
“Win, I said I was sorry.”
“Why? I’m not your boyfriend. What are you apologizing for?”
Anger flashes in her eyes. “I’m sorry for breaking what we had. But, damn, grow up and stop pouting.”
“Pouting.” I bark out a scornful laugh. “You’ve been scheming with a Morelli behind my back, Ash. It’s not pouting, it’s called being pissed off.”
“And hurt.” She bites down on her juicy bottom lip making me want to bite it too. “I hurt you.”
No.
Liar.
“Constantines don’t get hurt. We do the hurting.”
“I don’t believe that for a second.”
“You believe in fairy tales, Cinderelliott, so your opinion is irrelevant.”
“I hurt you and I’m sorry for that. But I didn’t betray you. Yes, I kept things from you because Leo was terrifying and threatening me at every turn, but I didn’t sell you guys out.”
“I said I don’t care.”
“You do,” she argues. “You care about me and it makes you angry.”
“Are we done here?” I bark out. “I’m done discussing this. I don’t care. You’re my fucking employee. How many times do I have to say it?”
Her gaze hardens. “As many times as you need to in order to convince yourself. Meanwhile, I’m not buying the bullshit you’re selling.”
“I’m leaving.”
“And not get to pay me back?” She leans forward, toying with my tie. “That’s not your style. You’re Winston fucking Constantine. You always get what’s owed to you.”
“Hmm.”
“There’s my guy,” she murmurs, tugging on my tie to pull me closer.
“Not your guy.”
“Liar.”
Her lips brush against mine, soft and sweet. For a moment, I almost give in, kissing her pouty lips like I would have two days ago. In the last second, I bite her fat bottom lip. Her hazel eyes flare as she glowers at me.
“Asshole.”
“I think the headlines called me a monster. Or was it a predator? Sex fiend?”
“I’m pretty sure at least one writeup called you an asshole.”
“Your diary doesn’t count.”
I grab a handful of her hair that’s no longer in a sleek ponytail but now in a messy bun. She whimpers when I twist it in my fist. Slowly, I pull her head back, exposing her creamy neck to me.
“What can I do to make this better?” she murmurs, her body shuddering as I run my nose along a silky path on her neck to her jaw. “I want to fix us.”
“We’re not an us, therefore we were never broken, thus there is nothing to fix.” I bite her jawbone making her gasp.
“If I find a way to get Leo back, will that make it better?”
His name on her lips has a fierce growl rumbling through me. “Don’t you fucking dare speak to him. Ever again.”
She laughs, sexy and a little bit crazed. “I could hire one of your hitmen with all my money. Rich guys like you probably have paid killers on hand. Am I right?”
“Get on your knees. Your mouth is only useful for one thing at this point.”
Her head pulls back despite the savage grip I have on her hair. With eyes watering from the pain of it, she flashes me a filthy grin. “You can only shut me up for a little while with that thing,” she sasses. “In forty seconds, we’ll be back to discussing how you’re going to fall in love with me even though you hate the very idea of it.”
“Forty seconds,” I scoff, forcefully jerking her away from her barstool and onto unsteady feet.
“Like a typical man, that’s the part you fixate on.”
Ignoring her, I state in my most businesslike tone, “Name the terms.”
“I suck you off and then you stay the night.”
“Fuck no.”
“For Shrimp.”
The damn bird actually chatters from his cage in agreement.
“If I stay over, I won’t let you sleep. I’ll fuck you and use you like the toy I pay for. Every hole, Cinderelliott. All three of them belong to me.”
“Maybe the next headline can be Hot Gold-Digger Trades Anal for Movie Night with a Billionaire.”
“Like I said, your diary doesn’t count as real news, little girl.”
Her hands brush over the buckle of my leather belt, and her lips part. I suck in a breath because sometimes she’s too damn beautiful for my mind to operate properly. Like now when her lips are just begging to wrap around my dick.
“New rules,” she says. “You want this to be a transaction? Fine. But I’m done trading in money. You don’t care about it. And honestly, neither do I.”
“This should be good,” I say in an impatient tone. “Get on with it so I can deny you.”
She rolls her eyes, her lashes batting at the movement. “And here I thought you liked a challenge.”
“I’ve been playing with your obnoxious ass for quite some time now. I’d say you know I do.”
“Good,” she purrs, unlatching the buckle of my belt. “You messed up by giving me a bazillion dollars, a boat, a car, and a college fund.”
“Spoken like a true spoiled brat.”
She shrugs. “Not my fault you made me that way, Win.”
“Get on with it. I don’t have all night.”
“We’ll trade in what I want too. You want to stick your big dick in my ass and call me mean names while you bite me?”
My cock jolts. Fucking traitor.
Her hazel eyes gleam in a knowing way. “Fine. Great. Deal. However…” She twists her lips into a wicked grin. “I get what I want in return.”
“Flowery words.”
&n
bsp; “No, Constantine. I’ve upped my game. I’m playing a big one now.”
“What could you possibly want that I would be willing to give you?”
“Just you.”
I grit my teeth, boring my hard gaze into her. “Elaborate.”
“If you want to do all the filthy stuff, then I get the boyfriend stuff after. End of story.”
“This game is boring. Maybe I should find a new toy.”
“No other toy entertains you like I do,” she throws back in a cocky tone. “Admit it.”
“Bragging about being a toy. Hmm. That’s all you have to offer?”
“Take it or leave it, Win. I won’t budge on this. The stakes are too high. I’m all in.”
I study her face for a beat, quickly weighing all the risks. It’s foolish to play such a dangerous game with such an intelligent, sassy, hot-as-fuck woman. She has the potential to destroy me.
I’ll just have to keep her a sobbing, begging mess so she’ll be too exhausted to do much else. The mental image of her cheeks smeared with black mascara as she cries, lips stretched over my dick are what seals the deal.
“Okay, Cinderelliott, we’ve just leveled-up in our game. I don’t think you know what you’re asking for.” I release her hair to grip her delicate chin, squeezing it. “I’m a Constantine. I always win.”
Her eyes flicker with defiance. “You’ve never played anyone like me before. Game on, Win.”
CHAPTER TEN
Ash
Lust swims in his blue eyes but there’s a vulnerability peeking through. Something he’d die if he knew I could see. I was right. I did hurt him because he does care about me. He can spout off all he wants about us being nothing but a business deal, but I know better. I may not be the older person in our relationship, but I’m not emotionally closed off. He’s busy trying to keep his guard up that he’s blind to what’s right in front of him.
Us.
We’re a thing.
We’ll be a big thing if he’ll let us.
It’ll take a helluva lot of convincing on my part, but he’s worth it. Beneath the icy cold asshole exterior is a man I could see myself spending my life with. Decades of our fiery banter. The most incredible sex ever. Each of us showing the other glimpses into a world they know nothing of. Win is used to enemies at every turn, but I want to show him that just because someone isn’t your blood, doesn’t mean they don’t have your back. No matter how pissed he is about Leo, it doesn’t change the fact I did it to protect him and his name.
He’s not a man who believes words, so I’ll have to prove it with my actions. Right now, the action he’s craving is my lips around his dick.
“Stand up,” I murmur, palming his cock through his slacks. It jolts at my touch and I grin in a taunting way that earns me a scowl.
He shoves me down to my knees but obeys me, sliding off the stool. Peering up at him through my lashes, I unbutton the top button of his slacks and then slowly drag the zipper down. Shrimp has gone quiet, so the only thing that can be heard is the soft ticking as I unzip him.
I want to undress him completely to ensure he stays with me, but I know he’s in control freak mode right now. He’ll want this filthy. He’ll want me frazzled and teary-eyed and coming apart at the seams. I draw his pants and boxers down far enough I can free his dick but not his balls and then curl my hand around his hot thickness. A bead of pre-come glistens at the top. Greedily, I lick it off before flashing him a pleased smile.
His features are impassive as though me blowing him is the most boring chore he’s had to deal with today, but the sharp glint in his blue eyes is telling. The slight tick of the vein in his neck is too. He craves me so bad he can barely keep himself in check.
I lick a circle around his tip, teasing him, before darting my eyes back up at him. “Should we talk about which movie we’ll watch?”
A growl rumbles through him and he loses control as I’d hoped. With a possessive grip on my hair, he shoves his cock into my mouth, not relenting when it meets resistance in my throat. I fight a gag but lose the battle. Hot tears spring in my eyes but I don’t blink them back. I let them fall. Win likes it when I’m his messy little fuck toy. A groan of pleasure can be heard above me which makes the gagging and inability to breathe worth it. Jerking back, he completely slips from my mouth as though to catch his breath.
“Almost forty seconds,” I tease.
His lips curl into an amused smirk that feels like progress. A thumb caresses my scalp so tenderly I nearly lean into it and then the vicious Winston Constantine is back, pushing his throbbing dick between my lips once more. He thrusts his hips forward, not at all put off by the way my throat constricts as I struggle to find air. More tears leak out. This blowjob is different than our usual. He’s upset and punishing in his very Winny way, but it’s also a test. I think if I can make it through to the other side, he’ll warm up to me again.
This goes on for far longer than forty seconds. In fact, my jaw aches and I wish he’d finish on my face instead.
“Am I boring you, Cinderelliott?” He doesn’t let me answer, just tightens his grip on my hair, fucking my mouth like it’s the last time he’ll ever come.
Slobber runs down my chin and I can feel it leaving a slick puddle on my thighs. My lips are numb and my throat is growing sore from his constant thrusting. Just when I think I might have to tap out to draw a few breaths, his cock swells and begins to pulsate. My name is uttered from his lips and I swear to God it sounds like a prayer. I keep that sound tucked away in my memory. Something just for me. Something I won’t ever tease him about because it’s too sweet and unexpected. I’m not sure he even realizes he said it.
“At least you’re still decent at taking my dick down your pretty throat,” he bites out, though his words are lacking the venom from earlier. He pulls out, painting my lips with remnants of his leaking come.
I kiss the tip of his dick, eyes locking on to his intense blues. “That was fun. Ready for dessert?”
His nostrils flare. “Dessert?”
“Calm yourself,” I tease as I tuck him back into his boxers and slacks. “Not me. Ice cream. I got your favorite.”
“I don’t have a favorite.”
“Not yet.” I stand up and press a quick kiss to his lips. “You will.”
* * *
Turns out, the mean, tough billionaire has a thing for Cherry Garcia. Leave it to Ben & Jerry to smooth things over with my surly guy. I’d bought several different four-ounce mini cups for us to try. Once he’d tasted the Cherry Garcia, he stopped trying the others and leaned away any time I tried to steal a bite.
He is so my boyfriend and doesn’t realize it yet.
“I don’t like that smile,” he mutters, polishing off the rest of his container. “It’s a devious one.”
I adopt a more innocent grin. “Just happy is all.”
He bristles at the word “happy.” “I don’t like it.”
“Too bad.” I set down my mini cup of Chocolate Fudge Brownie. “Get used to it.” I reach over to place my hand in his. “It’s okay for you to be happy too.”
His phone buzzes from his pocket and relief floods over his features. I give him some space to take the call while I clean up our dinner and dessert mess. He greets someone by the name of Ulrich and the rest of the conversation is a bunch of affirmative grunts. By the time I’ve put away the leftovers and washed the last dish, he’s ended his call. I sneak a peek at the way he bends over in front of Shrimp’s cage, petting our little bird on the head.
Shrimp adopted him, so he’s our bird now.
I bite back a smile and then make my way over to him. “What movie do you want to watch?”
“Oh no,” he deadpans, “I left the coupon book at home. Guess we’ll have to watch the news instead.”
I smack at his chest. “I’d rather stare at the wall.” Or you.
He must feel something similar because his glare is heavy and probing, cutting into me like a blade. Seeing parts of me I’m
not keen on sharing. But, if he needs this, then I’ll give it to him. Win needs to feel in control.
“Take your clothes off,” he growls, his eyes lingering at my bare shoulder. “I need to see my investment.”
Ignoring his poor attempt to put a wall around his heart, I peel off my shirt. His tongue peeks out and runs a delicious trail along his lower lip as he drinks in how my breasts are nearly spilling from my bra.
“Like what you see?”
“It’ll do,” he rumbles, his voice playing for uninterested but also failing.
I unbutton my shorts and then shimmy them down my thighs. He takes a step closer, his nostrils flaring. The denim falls to the floor at my ankles. I step out of them and peer up at him.
“This red thong has to be the hottest thing you’ve ever worn.”
His confession makes my heart thud double time in my chest. I reach up to unknot his tie. He narrows his eyes, jaw clenching, as I slip it from around his neck. In a teasing way, I flick my way through each button on his shirt and the ones on his vest. He’d already divested himself of his suit jacket before dessert, so all I have to do is make him lose the vest and dress shirt. Once I’ve peeled off the vest, I let my palms roam over his undershirt, untucking it from his slacks so I can slip my fingers to his hard, bare skin. Everything about Winston is so perfect.
“I missed you,” I confess, shivering at the possessive grip on my ass.
He ignores me, certainly not returning the sentiment, choosing to squeeze my ass hard enough I yelp. Dipping down, he captures my earlobe between his teeth and tugs. His hot breath tickling my ear sends a shudder of excitement down my spine. I push his shirt off his shoulders, and he lets go of me long enough to wrestle out of it. Once it’s gone, I greedily play with his abs again, running my fingers along the sharp grooves.
“For an old man, you have the nicest abs I’ve ever seen.”
He grabs my hips, turning me away from him, and pushes me onto the bed. I land on my elbows, my ass in the air. Like the predator he is, he pounces on me, not wasting a second. The heat of his body envelops me from behind. I’m awarded with the press of his cock through his clothes against my backside. His large, capable hand teases along the crack of my ass, hooking into the material of the thong and pulls it aside.