Smooth-shaven cheeks did nothing to hide Anthony’s thinning lips, and he held out his carry-on in silence to nod curtly.
“Let’s get this over with, then.” Gruff and hard, his deep voice hit me like a brick to the face, and my smile strained slightly as I took the leather handles of his small duffel bag.
“Right this way, please.” The quiet bubble around us only grew denser on the way out of the airport and back to my car, and tension thrummed through my veins. I didn’t know anything about Anthony Richards aside from his name, but his picture didn’t do him justice.
He was large and in charge—and he was not in a good mood.
Great, just great.
“Take me to the Rochester.” Speaking up from the back seat, Anthony’s demand coiled underneath my shoulder blades as I pulled off the curb and into the ever-flowing ocean of traffic leaving the airport. Rolling my inner cheek between my teeth, I glanced in the rearview mirror to find him scowling at his reflection in the tinted window of the back passenger side seat.
A cell phone chimed a tune I didn’t recognize as I zipped up a highway on-ramp, and I tapped the steering wheel absently. There were definitely worse things that a grumpy client—like a client that never shut up or got personal. Putting pressure on the gas pedal, I checked my mirrors habitually before flicking on my blinker to merge into the far left lane.
“You couldn’t call me in the morning? I just landed, I’m not even at the hotel yet.” Annoyance seeped into Anthony’s thickened voice, and I flexed my toes in my heels as the urge to glance back at him burned between my eyeballs and their sockets. “I know that, this isn’t my first business trip, you know. If you don’t like it, why don’t you do something about it besides complain?”
“You know what—I really don’t care at this point. I’ll call you when I feel like it.” Electricity crackled in the air as Anthony cut the call, and I couldn’t resist temptation anymore. Peeking in the rearview mirror, my eyes widened slightly as I watched him drag his hand down his face. His grimace morphed his expression as he slouched in his seat; even behind his palm, he couldn’t hide the frown that tugged at his mouth.
He looks really stressed.
The thought banged against my forehead just as his eyes flickered to mine, and I fixed mine back on the road without watching his pupils restrict. For a long, tense moment, Anthony stared at the back of my head, and I held my breath as my hair follicles tingled under my cap.
But Anthony didn’t call me out, and after that few seconds slid by on pins and needles, my tight muscles relaxed when he moved his stare to the scenery.
Chapter 3
Anthony
Scrolling through the search page I’d brought up on my cell phone, I frowned deeply at the sheer number of bars and clubs this city had to offer. The elevator gave a shrill ping as it stopped at the ground floor, and I stepped out onto solid ground without tearing my eyes from the screen.
“This one looks the best, I guess.” Slipping my phone into my suit pants pocket, I raked my hand through my hair as my grumble rang in my ears. My bad mood had only gotten worse since landing, and I strode heavily towards the hotel’s revolving doors to step onto the busy sidewalk. This city’s nightlife was insanely active, and I took a deep breath filled with the smell of food from nearby restaurants and bars.
The map to the particular place I wanted to check out branded against my eyelids every time I blinked, and I set out at a leisurely pace. Couples on dates, groups of people just hanging out, flooded every inch of downtown, but the claustrophobia eased some of my nerves. It only briefly came to me that I should’ve asked Hailey for a tour, but I didn’t want to talk more than necessary and end up heaping guilt on what was already a volatile situation.
Music spilled onto the street as I passed a bar-b-que joint that was filled to the bay windows, but it couldn’t stave off my frown. Loosening my tie and unfastening the top two buttons of my shirt as I wandered down the sidewalk, I rubbed my neck roughly before shoving my hands into my pockets.
“At least she didn’t seem to take it personally…” My mumble was lost under all the other noise, floating on the crisp breeze that combated the heat radiating from various eateries. Hailey was a nice surprise from the groveling, insipid drivers that I was usually stuck with; I got the instant impression she was a great conversationalist.
But I’d kept my mouth shut on the 45 minute drive to the hotel rather than test that theory.
Not that there’s not a good reason, though.
My mind wandered back to California, and I ground my teeth as the phone call only two hours ago rang in my ears. Irritation flooded my veins at the overbearing tone in my father’s voice, and I curled my hands into fists in their sheaths.
If my father didn’t trust me after all this time to run the businesses he forced me to take over, why in the fuck didn’t he just take them back? The question haunted me more often than I cared to admit, and even after five years, I didn’t have an answer. He was a control freak, he always had been, but that strictness that’d served me well in adolescence was crushing me as an adult.
Our relationship had deteriorated considerably since my father’s heart attack, and I could barely stand to even take his calls anymore.
Money. Hedge-funding. Banking. Properties. Stocks. Everything my father had shoved down my throat, he topped with a direct style of management that I couldn’t swallow. Slowly over the years I had begun to break away from him, but he still found ways to fuck with me.
Like he was doing right fucking now.
My destination was only about a fifteen-minute walk from the hotel, off a side street that was surprisingly clean and well-lit. Staring at the long line of men and women idling on the sidewalk to get in, I frowned absently as my gaze slid to the bruiser that guarded the entrance.
I couldn’t even remember the last time I waited in a line for anything, let alone a club entrance, and I inhaled deeply to exhale heavily.
The bouncer and I were the same height, and he watched me through narrowed eyes as I strode towards him. Recognition flashed in his dark irises and across his face before he reached for his little walkie-talkie.
Hiding the little sliver of surprise that lodged in my chest, I only nodded as he opened the door for me wordlessly.
Even after a lifetime, I still found it amazing that people recognized me almost everywhere I went.
Leather and sex tainted the air, growing thicker and headier as I made my way down the hallway that led to the club’s main floor. Not just anyone could find this place, and I shirked off my jacket to hang it on a peg on the wall.
Pulsing, low music reverberated up from the floor, and my palms tingled as I pushed open an otherwise boring looking, metal door.
A deep, richly stained bar stretched to my immediate left, and the mingling floor spread to my right. Stalking down towards the center of the clean counter, I dropped into a leather-clad stool to signal the bartender.
Ignoring everyone around me, my eyes fixed on the wall of alcohol before me as a woman in a form-fitting, purple dress came slinking towards me.
“Just a beer.” Speaking up before she could even open her mouth, I twisted on my stool to finally take in the characters around me.
Women in collars and scant lingerie prowled the floor in tall heels, their bodies flushed and glistening under the low lights embedded in the ceiling. Men lounged on couches, some alone, some draped in someone sweet, and the sexual tension was so thick I could taste it.
Every club like this was the same, the same atmosphere, the same types, the same anxiety that pulsed in time with the music. My stiff shoulders finally relaxed some, and I rolled them hard to tilt my head back as familiarity wafted into my pores.
“Here you go, Batman.” Whirling around to scowl at the bartender, my lip twitched at the snotty glare she sent me in return. The thick hairs on the back of my neck stood up, but she only flipped her long, blonde hair to strut off to another patron.
S
natching my beer, I eyeballed the mouth of the glass bottle before lifting it to my lips.
At least I can count on the fact that she won’t fuck with my drinks.
Just like with my coat, I had a security in not worrying about other people. The communities were really respectful when it came down to it, and the bartender’s attitude was as far as she’d go. I’d seen it before, and I had no doubt I’d see it again.
Casting my gaze at the floor, I necked my beer as the rush of annoyance in my chest drained to simply enjoying the place. My eyes narrowed, flickering from woman to woman in search for someone interesting to bury my frustrations in. Unlike many other clubs I’d been to, they didn’t wear masks to protect their identity, and that made picking one easier.
But I wasn’t expecting to see a familiar face, drawn in boredom and disinterest, among those crowded in a corner on a loveseat. Straightening, tingles shot down my spine as I watched Hailey pick at her well-manicured, real nails. Even from across the room, I could spy her frown, and my lips twisted into a grimace without any direction from my startled mind.
The man whose lap Hailey sat on was having some avid conversation I couldn’t hear with another man. My chest tightened, and my eyelid twitched when she tried to get his attention only to get waved off. Swiftly sliding to her dark green, four-inch heels, she gave him the universal sign to fuck off when he tried to grab at her waist.
And God fucking damn was Hailey hiding some serious sexy underneath that unflattering uniform from earlier.
My palms itched to cup her C-cup breasts as they jiggled from her deep saunter, and my fingertips tingled to pull aside her forest green and brown trimmed thong. Necking my beer greedily, I set the bottle down and hopped off my stool to make a bee-line for her before I even processed what I was doing.
Need stiffened my cock and my strides, and my abdomen tightened as tension coiled in my legs. Within the time it took to blink, I was within reaching distance, and I grabbed Hailey’s wrists to blindside her. Her gasp sounded loudly in my ears, and she dug her nails into the back of my palms as the electricity coursing through me jolted my heart.
She’s got sass.
“Get off before I call sec—” Pinning Hailey to the wall, I secured both her wrists above her head and clamped my free hand over her mouth before I realized how incredibly fucking scared her tone was. Her wide, baby blue eyes only got wider when they met mine, and I pursed my lips tightly even while she went slightly limp.
“I didn’t mean to scare you.” Leaning in to hoover up her heavy smell through flared nostrils, I murmured softly in Hailey’s ear. Her only response was to clamp her thighs together against mine, and I carefully released her mouth only to massage the pulse points in her neck as the throbbed wildly. “You’re okay.”
“What are you doing here, Mr. Richards?” Mortification laced Hailey’s high-pitched squeak, and she sucked in a sharp breath that stole the heat from just underneath my collar. “I should go, this is bad. I- I’m going to get fired—oh, shit!”
“Stop.” My command came out an unintentionally harsh growl, and I pursed my lips tightly even as she clamped her mouth shut. “I’m glad I caught you, Hailey. I just wanted to clarify… I’m not having the best day.”
“What?” Blurting out her confusion, Hailey softened against me as a gasp rippled down her throat and against my palm. “Oh, the car… I wasn’t judging you or anything. I’m sorry- I know I should’ve ignored your phone call… you just looked really stressed and unhappy.”
“It’s a long story. What about you, what are you doing here?” Forcefully changing the subject, I leaned back a little as fire raged in Hailey’s soft, blue eyes. They blazed in contrast to the deep red of her cheeks, and my fingertips crept up to circle just under her ear. Thickly lashed eyelids fluttered, and the thrilling anxiety in my gut intensified as her soft moan floated into my ears.
“I- I met a… friend- but he’s been ignoring me, so…” My cock ached something fierce at her stuttering and stumbling, and I didn’t drop Hailey’s half-lidded gaze even as her next words nearly made me cum in my pants. “That feels ni-i-i-ice…”
Chapter 4
Hailey
“You need to calm down before you pull a muscle.” Sucking in air with a hiss as Anthony’s forceful tone shot straight to my core, I clenched my thighs harder together. His intense, cobalt eyes sparkled, and my heart went haywire as my juices overflowed from my panties. “Do I need to really choke you to get you to relax a little?”
“I’m more into the B than the D, Anthony.” My tongue thickened, stringing along words that my fogged mind couldn’t even process, and Anthony froze cold against me. Panting softly at the crackling energy between us, I had to actively remind myself that he was my client. “I- I need to leave. I need to leave…”
“Are you really going to leave, though?” The resolution formed from fear of losing my job drained away at the question, and my heart thudded hard in its suddenly empty cage. As if sensing my fading will, Anthony trailed his fingers down to cup my chin firmly. “I won’t tell if you don’t.”
“My job—” Pitifully trying to maintain some type of dignity even as thick, sticky liquid dribbled down my thighs, I whimpered my protest pathetically. “I can’t risk it for a one-night stand.”
“Let’s not, then.” Anthony’s response shocked me, and my jaw dropped before he cracked what was possibly the most sexy smirk I had ever seen. The action transformed his face completely, and he stroked my chin with his thumb tenderly. “We got off to a bad start—that’s my fault, and I apologize, Hailey. Let me make it up to you.”
“Oh, uh… okay, I guess that’s okay.” Desperately trying to rationalize this sudden development, I glanced back towards where Denny sat. He was still deeply immersed in his conversation, and I scrunched up my face as his words from earlier floated into my mind’s eye. For the past 20 minutes—well, before I left him—he’d been talking about how to ‘properly’ hogtie someone.
But he wasn’t even good at it.
And he had a small dick, which is why he needs to talk so much.
“Keep your eyes on me.” Anthony’s possessive snap rang in my ears, and my head whipped to the side to find his gaze fiery. All thoughts of the reason I’d even come here tonight flew from my mind, and he borderline glared at me for a hot, long second before nodding firmly.
“Good girl.”
The deep, satisfied purr that flowed off Anthony’s tongue sent shivers raking violently down my spine, and I gasped loudly at the friction that set my body ablaze. His total and complete ability to dominate sparked a fire in my abdomen that I had never felt before, and I shuttered my eyelids tightly together.
“I can’t—I can’t do it.” A burst of adrenaline gave me the power to break free, but even as I took my first steps, I realized that Anthony hadn’t made any move to protest. His eyes bored into my back as I ran in heels towards the nearest corner, and goosebumps rose on my skin as every hair on my body stood straight up.
Leaning heavily on a cool, concrete wall, I gasped for breath as what just happened hit me square in the chest. My fingers trembled as I dropped my head in my hands, and thick sweat trickled down my neck and acted like glue between me and the thing keeping me upright.
The sexual tension of Anthony’s shocking appearance seeped away to leave horror in its wake, and my mind raced in a vicious circle that pounded against my forehead.
Anthony freakin’ Richards—I’d wised up after dropping him off at his hotel and searched his name on the internet. He came from oil money—old oil money—and was an only child. His mother committed suicide when he was 20, after 25 years of marriage that was constantly in the tabloids.
He himself started in hedge funding and real estate, but a massive majority of his current wealth came from his father’s companies that had been handed down to him after his old man had a mild heart attack.
But it slowly began to dawn on me with a sharp, physical pain that what had just happene
d was unimaginably awkward. Anthony was my client, a complete stranger, and definitely not my type. There was no way I’d be able to avoid him for the next three days; I was at his beck and call.
Granted—it was nice that he took the opportunity to apologize about giving me the cold shoulder at the airport.
“Shit.” Sucking in a sharp breath, I held the heavy air deep in my lungs and squeezed my eyelids shut tightly. My core wept and quivered, desperate for even just a glance that would set me off, and I clenched my jaw hard.
Anthony’s intense, azure eyes flashed in the darkness, like bio-luminescence, and I exhaled loudly into the burning landscape that was my inner thighs. “I’ll just ignore him… as much as anyone can ignore someone while confined in a car—and this never happened.”
Because I’ll be fucking damned if I let some hot, rich guy get in the way of my promotion. It’s my final obstacle.
“Hailey, you okay, baby?” Sam’s concern crashed down on me like icy water, and I peeked out from between my fingers as he crouched down. “Did something happen?”
“Yes, but not like that…” His expression tightened even as I shook my head furiously, and his dark eyes narrowed into fine points while I licked my lips. “I’m okay—I just saw my client from work, but I literally met him, like, two and a half hours ago. It was crazy. I just need a minute or two.”
“Wow, talk about awkward. What happened?” The weight of expectation was absent in his question, and Sam rocked back on his heels to sit down fully. Wrapping his arms around his knees, he cocked a brow in question as I battled the wave of desire that crashed into me riding my memories.
“I don’t know if it was because he recognized me, or he genuinely finds me attractive… but… I’m gonna feel it for a while, if nothing else.” My confession brought a hollowness to my chest, and I blew out a hot breath as Sam hummed softly. “I noticed it when we first met… his eyes, they’re… immeasurably intense—intimidating.”
Needing Her Page 2