by Nikki Wild
She was stunningly perfect.
But Mom always told me nobody was perfect. I walked past her and ran into the first stall of the luxurious lounge and wondered what this woman’s imperfections were.
It didn’t matter. I had plenty myself and the last thing I wanted to do was think about my own flaws right now, let alone anyone else’s.
I needed to get my head together.
First things first, I’d had entirely too much wine. I took a deep breath, trying to gather my composure.
Second, these shoes were fucking awful. You’d think the fact that they’d cost a small fortune they’d be more comfortable than they were, but they weren’t. They dug into my heel and caused the arch in my foot to cramp. I couldn’t wait to get them off. I yearned for the comfort of my boots once again.
I stood up and stumbled out of the stall and over to the sink, shaking my head the whole time. I turned on the gold plated faucet and watched the water run out in a thin, smooth line. I couldn’t help but muse about the fact that even the water seemed to flow better when money was involved. The sink in my studio back home sputtered and bubbled like a dying fish when I turned it on.
This new lifestyle was going to take some getting used to, but maybe it wasn’t so bad at all. Being out with Bear certainly wasn’t bad, either.
I looked up into the mirror and was shocked to see the woman still standing there. Leaning against the wall and casually checking her perfect scarlet nails, she looked up and smirked at me.
“I saw you with Bear,” she said, raising an eyebrow.
“Y-yes,” I replied, drying my hands and turning to her. “I’m Chloe,” I said, holding my hand out towards her.
She looked down at my hand suspended in the air between us and snarled. She literally fucking snarled! I pulled my arm back down to my side and took a deep breath.
“I’m Zoe,” she said. “Zoe Rothchild.”
“Nice to meet you,” I nodded, trying to muster a polite smile, despite her rudeness.
“You fuck him yet?” she asked suddenly, her violet eyes turning cold and hard.
My eyes widened in surprise.
“He’s my employer,” I replied, finally finding my voice.
“Oh, I see,” she nodded, her eyes trailing over me as she sized me up. “So, not yet.”
“Have you fucked him?” I asked, the wine shooting rare courage through my veins.
“Once,” she quipped. “Let’s just say he has certain peccadilloes that only appeal to a small audience.”
I nodded, biting my tongue, despite the urge to say something, anything, to knock this woman off her high-horse. I hated her instantly.
“Just watch yourself, Chloe,” she drawled, her lush red lips turning to a sickly smirk. “He may be powerful, handsome, and generous—but Bear Dalton is not at all what he seems,” she warned.
“You seem like a nice girl,” she shrugged, staring deeply into my eyes. “But be warned—Bear will eat you alive.”
I had no idea how to respond. Luckily, I didn’t have to.
She shook her head slowly before turning on her heel and walking out.
I exhaled and realized I’d been holding my breath the whole time.
Her words sliced right through me, sending a dagger of doubt right into my gut.
At my front door two hours later, Bear paused before walking in behind me.
“Aren’t you coming in?” I asked, turning to him, hating that I’d slurred my words again.
“Not tonight, Beauty,” he said, planting a gentlemanly kiss on my cheek.
“Why not?” I asked, disappointment rushing into my heart. I’d been anticipating being alone with him all night. Each time he raised his glass to his lips, a tiny shiver ran through my body as I imagined how his touch would feel later. I’d even set out the best negligee I’d bought on my bed.
“Two reasons, darling,” he replied, his voice a low whisper in the hallway. “One, I have an early meeting in the morning. Two, you’re drunk.”
“I’m not drunk!” I insisted.
“Chloe,” he smiled. “You’re adorable and I really don’t care if you had too much wine. I wanted you to have a good time tonight.”
“I did!” I replied. “That was the best steak I’ve ever had in my life!” I was being a little too enthusiastic, but it was easy to blame that on the wine too. “But I really wanted was to spend some time with you,” I said, reaching out and grabbing his tie.
I pulled him close, my lips brushing against his. He kissed me back tenderly, gently, so sweetly my heart swelled with emotion.
He pulled away, staring into my eyes as he reached up and grabbed my hand. He pulled it down, pressing it against his cock. It was rock hard, hot and throbbing in my hand, full of promise. My eyes widened in surprise and I squeezed gently, a tiny moan escaping from my mouth.
“Yes!” I whispered excitedly.
“No!” he insisted, backing away with a smile. “I just wanted you to feel how much I want you, Chloe. But not like this, darling.” He brought his lips to my ear, whispering seductively. “The things I want to do to you right now require complete consent. You aren’t capable of providing that right now and that’s okay. But don’t imagine for a moment that I don’t want you, Chloe.”
I smiled, nodding, as tears sprang into my eyes. I reached up, snaking my arms around his neck and hugging him close to me. He hugged me back, his massive arms so warm around me I could have melted into them forever.
I sighed as he pushed me away.
“You could just spend the night,” I offered. “We don’t have to do anything…”
His laughter echoed down the hallway.
“I’m not that strong of a man, Chloe,” he said, shaking his head, his gorgeous eyes wrinkling at the corners. “I am only human, after all.”
He kissed me again and then gently pushed me inside.
“Close the door and lock it,” he ordered.
I smiled, stepping back into the apartment, my eyes glued to his. I didn’t want him to leave, but I was beyond impressed with his manners.
“Goodnight, darling,” he whispered, as I closed the door, my heart heavy, my head confused and five stupid words running over and over in my head.
‘Bear will eat you alive…’
Chapter 12
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” I cried. Bear stood in the doorway of my new office with a self-satisfied smirk on his face.
“I take it you approve?” he asked.
“Like it? I love it!” I said, twirling around in a delighted circle. The room was massive, almost twice as big as my apartment. It was a corner office and made up completely of windows and steel. A huge bouquet of roses was sitting on the credenza behind my desk. I walked over to it and read the card.
Chloe,
The sky’s the limit!
All my love,
~Bear
“Thank you, that’s so sweet,” I said, smiling over at him. He walked in and led me to the window.
“Look,” he said, pointing at the incredible view. “You can see everything from here. There’s the Empire State Building. And there’s the Old Met Life Tower over there,” he whispered, bringing his face close to mine as he pointed them out. I shuddered at the heat rolling off of him. The chemistry between us was flying like sparks and being this close to him was proving very difficult. “That’s the Williamsburg Bridge, it’s my favorite.”
“It’s beautiful,” I said, leaning over and kissing his cheek.
He pulled away and shook his head.
“Not at work,” he said.
“Oh, sorry,” I replied. “I forgot.”
“That’s okay,” he smiled. “I’m glad you like the office.”
“I do,” I said, turning to face him, “but honestly, Bear, don’t you think you might want to hire someone more qualified? Someone who’s done this before?”
“Nonsense. Like I said last night, I believe in you, Chloe. Have a little more faith in yourself. You’
d be surprised what you can accomplish when you set your sights high. That’s the only thing separating anyone from success, really—believing that you can do it. Once you have that, and a little bit of courage, you can do anything.”
“I want to do a good job for you, that’s all,” I said.
“Don’t worry about making mistakes. We all do. That’s why you surround yourself with experts, to keep yourself in check. You can run everything by me before you make any major decisions, if it makes you feel better, but I trust you’ll have good judgement.”
“You barely know me and you have such faith in me,” I said. “Why?”
“I think I know you better than you realize,” he shrugged.
I smiled at him gratefully and turned back to the view. I took a deep breath, feeling like I was about to jump off a cliff.
“Alright,” I said. “I’ll give it a shot!”
“Good girl,” he whispered, his eyes trailing down my body, sending shivers of delight through me.
I closed the distance between us and I couldn’t resist reaching out and touching his arm. As soon as I did, I realized how much I missed his touch. I vowed to never drink that much wine around him again. He put his hand over mine and squeezed gently, smiling down at me as he nodded encouragingly.
“Everything’s going to be okay, Chloe,” he said.
“Thank you, Bear,” I whispered. “For everything. And for being such a gentleman last night.”
He smiled and lowered his voice.
“Don’t worry about it,” he growled. “I’ll take my frustrations out on you later.”
I swallowed hard and my stomach flipped. I bit my lip and looked back up at him before pulling my hand away from his.
“I look forward to it,” I nodded, as we walked out into the hallway, a perfect picture of employee and employer, nothing more.
“That’s what I like to hear,” he said. “Now, let’s go meet your new assistant. You can look over all the blueprints and figure out what you need. You have a budget of three million dollars. Let me know if you need more.”
I froze in place and he kept walking.
“What did you say?” I asked.
“What’s wrong?”
“Three million dollars, Bear?” I said, my voice high and squeaky.
“I said you could have more if necessary,” he said, with a flippant wave.
“Bear! I’ve never handled that kind of money before.”
“Handle it? You don’t handle it, you spend it. It’s not that hard, Chloe. Money gets easier to spend the more you have, and it’s even easier when it doesn’t belong to you. Don’t worry about it. You’ll probably be begging me for more by the end of the project anyway.”
I laughed and shook my head.
“Come on,” he whispered, his eyes landing on my lips, “before I make you beg for something else first.”
My eyes widened with pleasure and I licked my lips.
“That’s my girl,” he growled, his voice lowering. “Now, listen. Get your self orientated and go home early today because this afternoon I’m picking you up and we won’t be back at work until the day after tomorrow. You can start working after we get back. There’s no rush right now.”
“Alright,” I whispered, silently cheering that I would get another chance to be with him tonight. “I’ll go easy on the wine this time.”
“Good girl,” he chuckled, “let’s go.” He turned on his heel and walked away.
I smiled and followed him.
I was getting very good at following him.
The view was even better than the one in my office and as I watched him walk down the long, narrow hallway, a secret shiver of pleasure passed through me as I realized just how lucky I was.
Maybe Zoe Rothchild couldn’t handle him, but I had every intention of letting Bear eat me alive anytime he wanted.
Chapter 13
My assistant, Abby, was a godsend. I tried to ignore the look of horror in her eyes when I told her I had a fashion degree and that I’d never done interior design before, but she was so knowledgeable and patient, that by the time I left at noon, I felt like this was something that I might actually be able to pull off.
Not alone, of course. But with Abby’s help and Bear’s input, maybe it wouldn’t be so foreign to me after all. I had a good eye for fabric and reading the blueprints wasn’t that difficult. I felt a lot better after meeting with her and going over everything, so I went home feeling a whole lot better about my situation.
If I could work and be useful to Bear, then maybe it would make everything else a little easier to endure.
Not that I was ‘enduring’ anything. God, that word has such a negative connotation, but I didn’t know what else to call it. It’s not like I’d pursued Bear myself. I hadn’t asked for any of it, it had merely been thrust upon me, so to speak. But now that I was smack-dab in the middle of it, I was determined to make the most of it. I was hardly enduring anything, I was a full-fledged, willing participant.
Especially because I had yet to identify one bad thing about it all.
A free apartment in the middle of New York City? Check!
A challenging, handsomely paying position for a top development firm in our nation’s greatest city? Check!
A drop-dead sexy hunk of man that made me scream like a woman possessed? Check, check, and check!
I had nothing to complain about, so I didn’t.
Sure, I had questions.
I didn’t know exactly how in the hell I was going to be able to pull this job off exactly, but I had determination and I figured as long as I added a little perseverance and open-mindedness to the mix, I had a good shot.
And I had questions for Bear. Personal questions that were only now starting to take shape in my mind.
Most of all, I wanted to know why. I wanted to figure out what made him tick, what made him move and talk and lead his life the way he did. I wanted to crawl behind his mask and unveil his secrets. I wanted to know things about him that nobody else knew.
I’d been thinking about Zoe’s warning in the bathroom at the restaurant, contemplating whether I should mention our meeting to Bear or not, but so far I’d kept my mouth shut. Telling him seemed so petty. Nothing she’d said made any difference.
Sure, Bear could be a little rough, a little domineering, but so far, he seemed harmless really. He’d certainly not hurt me and he’d had the chance last night.
After he insisted on saying goodbye at my front door, I’d gone straight to bed, peeling my clothes off as I stumbled to my bedroom, cursing myself the whole way for drinking too much wine. I’d spent the entire day working myself up, anticipating fucking Bear again and I’d blown my chance.
I had no idea how long this little game we were playing was going to last. He could end it at anytime. Sure, he’d told me I could, too. He’d insisted on that safe word.
Peaches, of all things! I knew I’d never look at a peach the same way again.
But anyway, that didn’t mean he wouldn’t just change his mind at any point.
Maybe he didn’t have the patience for inexperienced two-drink Chloe going way past her limit. I was pissed at myself because I knew better. And I’d ruined our entire night, even if he’d been a complete and utter gentleman about it. When he’d made me touch his cock to see how hard it was, it only reminded me of what I was missing out on—as if I could forget that beautiful monstrosity between his legs.
So, I’d fallen naked into bed and tried my best to ease my frustrations. Nothing I did worked though, no matter what. I finally feel into a deep, dreamless sleep that only made me more frustrated by the time I awoke.
I was determined not to let any of those events repeat themselves tonight.
It’d been a good day and by the time I returned to my apartment, I was beat. I drew a bath in the huge soaking tub and made a cup of hot tea to relax, determined to leave the wine bottle corked. I was also hoping for a second wind, because I had no idea what to expect tonight.
Bear hadn’t given me a lot of details, so I had no idea where we were going. He’d said we wouldn’t be home till tomorrow, so I packed an overnight bag and laid out a pair of casual black slacks and a red silk blouse on the bed to wear.
I had an hour before he was due to show up and once again, my nerves were raw. He’d been so different each time I’d seen him, and I never knew who was going to show up — the sweet, kind gentleman or the demanding, raunchy sex machine. I was really beginning to like them both but after going to bed so unsatisfied last night, honestly, I was hoping for the latter.
When he finally showed up an hour later, I opened the door with a smile. He was dressed casually tonight in dark jeans and a black sweater. It was the first time I’d seen him in a pair of jeans and the outline of his cock bulging against the denim sent chills up my spine.
“Hello, Beauty,” he said, kissing my cheek before walking in.
“Hi, Bear,” I replied. “Can I get you something to drink?”
“No, I’m fine,” he said, grabbing my hand and pulling it up to press his lips against the back of it. “I’m happy to see you. You look beautiful, as always.”
“Thank you,” I replied, feeling the dreaded blush rush to my cheeks. “I’ll just grab my bag then.”
“I should have mentioned that we’re going somewhere very cold and very rugged. You might want to repack. You won’t need much. Just jeans and sweaters and a warm coat if you have it. We’ll be staying in most of the time.”
“We’re going somewhere colder than here?” I exclaimed. “What’s colder than here? The North Pole?”
“Well, it is Christmas time, isn’t it? We could give Santa a visit.”
“I’ve always been afraid of Santa,” I laughed.
“Really?” he laughed. “Don’t worry. We’re going North, but not that far. I have a cabin up in the Catskills. Trust me, there will be plenty of warmth. You can park yourself by the fireplace the entire time, if you want. I’ll do all the stoking,” he winked.