by Nicole Fox
“Just making them feel welcome,” I said.
“Indeed you are,” said Martina with a grin.
I couldn’t help but let my insecurities gush forth.
“Am I being too much?” I asked. “I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes.”
Annie placed her hand on my shoulder a reassuring way.
“Calm down, lady,” she said. “You’re fine. We all have to play the flirt-and-run game; that’s our job. And you’re doing an amazing job at it.”
“And,” said Emma, “you’re paying attention to rule number one—don’t flirt with our men.”
We all shared a laugh, and I felt much better.
Returning to the party, I went about my rounds again. As I met the various guests, I realized that my party was a who’s who of men in the “industry” here. Far from being an afterthought of a party, this little soiree was the event of the evening. And with each man I charmed, I felt a more confident. By the time the late hours set in, I felt like I could take on the world.
Eventually, the small hours of the morning arrived, and the party started to thin out. I made another round through the place, saying my goodbyes to everyone whom I’d met. Around two, the band wound down and the last few handfuls of partygoers filed out. Soon, it was just Russell and me.
“That went better than I could’ve hoped,” he said, pouring himself a half glass of wine from one of the many bottles that we’d ordered for the evening.
“You think so?” I asked.
“I do. I made some good connections, and you looked even more like a natural fit for everything. You and I needed to make a big entrance to LA, and this party was just the thing to do it. People are going to be talking about this shindig for months.”
My heart warmed at that.
“Let’s relax on the balcony before heading to bed.”
I smiled and nodded, ready for a little quiet. Once we were outside, no sound but the ocean waves gently crashing ashore, I began to calm down from the state of heightened tension that I’d been in most of the night.
“Something wrong with the wine?” asked Russell as he sat next to me, his arm wrapped around my shoulders.
I looked down at my glass, realizing that it was the same one that I’d poured at the beginning of the night.
“Oh, no,” I said. “I guess I got so wrapped up in the evening that I forgot to drink.”
Russell gave me a look that suggested he didn’t entirely believe what I was telling him. But he let the matter lie.
“Back to New York in a couple of days,” he said.
I was silent for a moment, reflecting on how fast the last month had gone.
“Feels like we just got here,” I said.
“That’s how this business goes,” said Russell. “You get off the plane somewhere and before you know it, you’re right back on. All I can say is get used to it.”
“Oh?”
Russell nodded.
“Like I said, we’re going to be doing a lot of business between here and New York. But that’s not all. I’ve got my eye on major expansions internationally. Moscow, London, Paris—if all goes according to plan, I’ll be operating out of those places and more. And you right along with me.”
Despite the illegal nature of his work, I couldn’t help but feel a little thrill at jet-setting across the globe, Russell at my side.
“But that’s enough business for one night,” he said, finishing his drink. “Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to hit the hay.”
“My thoughts exactly,” I said, a naughty smile forming on my lips.
Chapter Sixteen
Alyssa
Russell and I were all over each other as soon as we crossed the threshold into the bedroom. He utterly pounced on me, covering my neck with kisses, his hands moving all over my body.
“God,” he said, his voice heavy with arousal. “I’ve been waiting to get you out of this dress all night.”
“Really?” I asked as he moved his lips along the curve of my neck. “Not one of those other girls here caught your eye?”
“Not a one,” he said, his hands moving the back of my dress. “Only you.”
His words sent a thrill through my body. Well, that and the sensual feeling of his lips all over me. He undid the back of my dress so quickly that I worried he might rip it off, though that wouldn’t have been unwelcome. Once the dress was undone, I let the thing drop to my feet, the fabric pooling around my heels and leaving me in nothing but my shoes and the lacy, dark blue underwear that I’d chosen for the evening.
I didn’t let Russell have all the fun. Setting to work on his clothes, I quickly undid the knot of his tie and pulled it off and over his head. Next was his suit jacket, then his shirt. And as I did the necessary business, Russell continued to kiss me, his lips moving along my sides, then over my stomach, then finally to the cleavage that was nearly bursting out of my bra. Reaching behind me, I undid the clasp of the bra and slipped it off, Russell’s attention going right to my now-hard nipples. He licked and sucked my breasts in the way he was fond of doing, and as he did I sighed and ran my hands through his hair, messing up his tight, slicked-back style.
Stepping out of my heels, I let Russell move me towards the bed. Positioning me over it, he took his lips off of my body long enough to look at me with a sexy little smile and give me a playful push back and onto the mattress. My eyes lingered on his breathtaking body, flicking from his pecs to his abs to his tattooed arms. I wanted that body on top of me right that instant.
But Russell had other plans. He dropped to his knees, wrapped his arms around my legs, and pulled me close, my sex only a few inches from his face. Slipping his fingers under my panties, he pulled them off, ducking his head as they moved down my legs. Now I was totally nude.
“Goddamn,” he said, looking over my body from his low vantage point. “You are so fucking sexy.”
Knowing Russell, a man who could’ve had any woman at that party, wanted me most of all was a thrill beyond all others. I spread my legs open, giving him a full view of my sex. A smile crossed his face for a brief moment before he placed his lips on my inner thighs, his kisses sending shivers of lust up my body. I wanted what he had in mind more than anything, but Russell, always the tease, didn’t jump right into it. He started with my thighs, gradually moving in closer and closer until I could feel his warm breath on my lips. Then, he began kissing me around my sex, his touch gradually moving in closer and closer to where I wanted him to be.
Just when I thought I couldn’t take it anymore, Russell moved his hand over my pussy and slipped a pair of fingers inside of me. I gasped as he entered me, my sex already wet and ready. He continued to kiss my thighs, now moving his fingers in and out of me at a steady pace. I sighed in pleasure, my hands dug into his hair as I guided him towards me. Soon, he decided that the teasing was over. Spreading me open, he started with long, slow drags of his tongue over my pussy, the feeling beyond compare.
“Oh, God,” I said, closing my eyes and focusing on the twin feelings of his fingers and tongue.
“You taste like heaven,” he said, removing his mouth for a brief moment before setting back to work.
After a series of slow licks of the flat surface of his tongue, Russell picked up the pace and began stimulating my clitoris with quick, lapping darts of his tongue. As soon as this began, I knew that it wasn’t going to take much for me to cum. Russell kept at this for several heavenly minutes, the sound of his tongue doing its work blending with the sighs and moans that left my mouth. Before too long, his efforts paid off. A pulsing, shattering orgasm ripped through my body, and I couldn’t help but scream and shout in total blissful agony. Russell kept at it, stimulating me through the orgasm. When it faded, he stopped and heaved himself up, moving towards me until he was over top of me and looking into my eyes with that piercing stare that I just couldn’t get enough of.
“Please,” I said. “I need it. I need it so fucking bad.”
I was worried that Russell mig
ht tease me a little more, that he might find some way to drag me pleasure out instead of giving me what I craved hard and deep. But his thoughts were the same as mine. Propping himself up on one arm, the muscles bulging and capturing my attention, he undid his belt and pants with the other and slipped the last bit of clothing off of his body. His massive erection pointed straight down, and I felt myself grow somehow even more aroused as I laid eyes on his glorious prick.
Russell took hold of his cock one hand and guided it into me. As soon as the first of his many inches entered me, something took hold of my body, seizing it up in a fit of pleasure. I wrapped my arm around Russell, holding onto him tight. He then began moving in me, sliding his cock in and out of me at a slow, deep pace. And throughout it all, his eyes remained locked onto me. Between his gaze and the pleasure he was giving me, Russell had me in a bizarre trance of ecstasy.
He continued to thrust, his pace staying slow and steady. My hands moved along the hard lines of his body, taking in the sensual feeling of his stone-solid form. And as he penetrated me over and over, I couldn’t help but notice that there was something different about the sex, something … more intimate. Russell was typically the type to pound the living daylights out of me, liking his sex rough and hard. And I was more than willing to enjoy it right along with him. But now, as he moved inside of me with slow, penetrating thrusts, I felt that there was something more between the two of us.
Was this … love?
I didn’t know, but either way, what was happening now was unlike anything I’d ever experienced before with any other man. He continued to gaze down at me with that steely stare of his, the effect of his eyes on me making me feel small and vulnerable yet safe and protected, all at the same time. And all I wanted was for him to keep going, to take me to the heights of pleasure that I knew he could.
Soon, Russell’s pace increased, but only a little bit. His movements into me remained full, deep plunges and the pleasure that he produced was like the slowly-building waves in the ocean outside our home, starting small but building into a crescendo as the force of the water crashed against the shore. I drew closer to another orgasm, and I could sense that he was too. His breathing quickened, and he lowered his body until I could feel the warmth of his sweat-sheened skin all over me.
After a bit more of this, Russell’s thrust increased in intensity. He was now driving into me at full force, lifting his hips and filling me over and over again. I could hardly stand the pleasure, my nails digging into his back as he fucked me. Then, without warning, I came again, this orgasm somehow more pleasurable than the last. Russell’s orgasm soon followed, and with a powerful, deep shudder, and a groan that was almost animalistic, he emptied himself into me.
Once he was done, I felt the weight of his body lower down onto me, his back rising and falling as he caught his breath. After a moment, he rolled to the side of me, his eyes still locked onto mine. Something was different about this sex, but I couldn’t quite tell what.
“What?” I said, a smile on my face.
“Nothing,” he said. “That was just really nice, is all.”
I smiled. This was unlike Russell; it was more … tender. Then, he slipped his arm under me and pulled me close. I tucked into the warmth of his body, a smile on my lips.
That was when it occurred to me what the difference was: all of the sex up until now had been something else—something less intimate. It was amazing every time, sure, but any sort of real emotional connection was lacking. But this time … this time was different. Now, we’d finally actually made love. I wanted to say something, to ask Russell if his feelings toward me had indeed changed.
But I decided to let things lie. Everything was perfect as it was, and letting the sound of Russell’s heartbeat lull me to sleep, I was soon off in a wonderful dream.
Chapter Seventeen
Alyssa
As much fun as I’d had in LA, I couldn’t help but be ready to come back to the city I’d called home for years. As we approached New York, the building-packed shape of Manhattan appearing through the cloudbanks, I let the satisfaction of a job well done come over me. After all, this last month had been hard work—for me and for Russell. But I knew that he had no time to rest; as soon as we returned home he had inventory to offload and another trip to LA to prepare for.
“You gonna be able to entertain yourself tonight?” he asked me.
“Big plans?” I asked in response.
“Got a meeting with a distributor,” he said. “Gonna have to be out late.”
“I think I’ll be fine,” I said with a smile. “Not hard to find things to do in the city.”
He didn’t return the expression. Instead, a hard look came across his features.
“What?” I asked.
“Listen,” he said. “I want you to stay in tonight. Don’t go out; just relax at home, order some take-out or something.”
Worry gripped me. I could tell that there was something Russell wasn’t telling me.
“Why?” I asked. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s … just do what I say. Don’t leave the house.”
His voice was grave.
“Sure,” I said, knowing that the odds of him telling me exactly what was going on were slim. “But … am I in danger or something?”
“It’s just been a long trip, and I’d feel a lot better knowing that you were in the apartment tonight. Just do this for me.”
“Okay, Russ,” I said.
With that, he left the living room. Feeling out of sorts from the conversation, I headed to the bedroom to put away my things. The strange conversation weighed heavily on my mind, and though I wanted more than anything for Russell to explain just what was on his mind, I decided to let it go for now.
Gotta trust him if we’re going to keep going with this … thing we have.
That was another issue: just what was going on here with the two of us? Technically, it was still what it was before, with me being Russ’s property. But after our time in LA, things seemed different; it seemed like we were on more equal footing than we had been. Once I finished unpacking my things, I stomped on the ground in frustration. I hated being left in the dark, but it didn’t look like there was any way around it. Russ would tell me when he deemed fit.
A bit later in the afternoon, as I tried to push my worries aside with a little reading, Russell approached me.
“Okay,” he said. “I’m heading out. Remember what I said about staying in.”
“Sure,” I said.
“I’ll be back later in the evening.”
Then he left without another word. Once I heard the engine of the car start and fade into the distance, I hopped up from my seat and got my shoes on. Russell had said to stay in, but there was something I needed to do to put my mind at ease.
An hour or so later, I stood in the bathroom with the pregnancy test I’d bought in hand.
Two bars. Positive. I was pregnant with Russell’s baby.
Feeling lightheaded, I sat down on the toilet and tried to collect my thoughts. I had no idea what to make of this new information. Never at any point had he and I discussed this possibility, and I was at a loss to figure out how a baby worked with the whole “property” situation.
Does that mean the baby is his, too? I thought with a smile that was equal parts grim and amused.
I paced around the house for a while, the test in my hand. What was I supposed to do? Was I supposed to call Russell now? It didn’t seem like there was a good option in any of this. Sure, he’d been warming up to me, but I had no idea how he’d take the news that we were about to become a family.
Before I could consider the matter for much longer, a ding sounded from the direction of Russell’s office. It sounded like the noise of an incoming text message and was followed by another one, then another one.
I walked slowly towards the office, knowing that the room was more or less off-limits to me. But after that strange conversation about me staying inside today, I had to try and
find some clue as to what was going on with him.
Opening the office door, my eyes fell on Russell’s iPad which was sitting plugged in on the desk. Normally he’d take it with him, but he must’ve forgotten. I knew that he’d be furious if I touched his things, but I couldn’t help it. I took the device off the desk and saw that the screen was filled with text messages.
They were from Cory.
“Bro, you gotta help me out,” said one. “Please, bro, I’m begging you, I’m at the end of my rope,” said another. All of the texts were full of desperation, and judging by the fact that they were one after another, I could see that Russell wasn’t responding to them.
Then, they all disappeared. Russell must’ve either checked them or blocked Cory’s number.