The Dom: Steamy Boss Romance (Manhattan Records Book 2)

by M. S. Parker

  He didn’t try to hide his disbelief, but he didn’t interrupt, so I kept going.

  “The day after you and the rest of the band met with me to discuss your demo, Calah approached me as I was leaving the building. She asked if she could get the ‘family treatment’ since you two were dating. When I told her I didn’t know what that meant, she said that she wanted to cut a demo too. I told her she had to make an appointment like anyone else.”

  I could still hear her voice in my head as she made her counteroffer.

  “She asked if there was anything she could do to move things forward more quickly. I pretended I didn’t know what she meant, and then she grabbed my dick, right there in the lobby, and said that she would exchange sex for a record deal.” She’d actually been much cruder than that. “I asked what you would think about that, and she said that you understood how the industry worked.” I paused, unsure if I wanted to tell him all of what Calah had said. He was over her, but it’d still hurt.

  That was what had gotten me into trouble in the first place, I reminded myself. Telling him what I thought he should know because I was trying to protect him.

  Ashlee squeezed my hand, and the reminder that she was there helped me get through the rest.

  “She said that you understood it because the two of you were together to help advance each other’s careers. That she’d always wanted you to introduce her to me so she could get on the Manhattan Records label. She said she fucked you to get to me and she’d fuck me to get famous.”

  Joshua’s jaw clenched, and I saw Trissa tighten her grip on him. I was almost there.

  “I told her that if she had sex with me, I’d let her cut a demo. I honestly wasn’t sure that she’d follow through with it, but I wanted her to do something that would break the two of you up. I thought I was protecting you.”

  “By fucking her.” His voice was flat. “You couldn’t have just told me what she’d said?”

  “I don’t have an excuse for how I did it,” I said. “I was young and an asshole. I figured if I could have sex and break you guys up, why not do it that way.”

  He was quiet for a minute, then reluctantly admitted, “I probably wouldn’t have believed you anyway. It wasn’t like we’d had the best relationship before that happened.”

  “And now?” I asked.

  He finally looked me in the eye. “I think we can work through it.”

  Forty-Two

  Ashlee

  Nate’s confession wasn’t what I’d expected it to be, if I was being completely honest with myself. He exercised incredible self-control in the bedroom, but as long as a woman was willing, he didn’t seem to feel the need to restrain himself much. Our own relationship was proof of that.

  The moment I’d told him I wanted him, he hadn’t tried to talk me out of it. I’d assumed something similar had happened with Calah. His brother’s girlfriend threw herself at him, and he couldn’t help himself.

  What did it say about me that I had such a low opinion of him that I was surprised that he took responsibility for his actions? And then there was his reasoning behind it. A bit of immaturity, and as he’d said, being an asshole, but he hadn’t done it with the intention of keeping it from Joshua, wanting to hurt his brother, or even not caring about who Calah was.

  “You’re awfully quiet,” Nate said, twisting a stray lock of my hair around his finger. “Are you sure you want to come home with me? I’ll understand if you need to process everything before–”

  “I’m sorry,” I blurted out. At the confusion on his face, I clarified, “I should have trusted that you’d tell me about things in your own time and that if you were keeping anything from me, I didn’t need to know it yet.”

  He bent his head and brushed his lips across mine once, twice. “I’m sorry I got so defensive about you asking me about it. Even if I just hadn’t been ready to talk about it, I should have handled it better. You were right to tell me that we both needed to think about things.”

  My stomach clenched, and not in a good way. I told myself that he wouldn’t have asked me along tonight if he’d planned on ending our relationship. If anything, since he’d confessed to Joshua in front of me, he seemed more relaxed.

  “We always seem to get interrupted when we need to talk.” His thumb traced my cheekbone. “Maybe I should tell Angus not to let us out until we’ve said what we needed to say.”

  The smile dancing around his lips told me he was half-joking. “Being locked in a car with you for the unforeseeable future doesn’t sound too bad to me.”

  His smile settled, curving his mouth in a way that made me want to kiss him. Then again, there weren’t too many times I didn’t want to kiss him.

  “You asked me to think about what I wanted from this relationship,” he said. “I did, and I talked to Finley because I needed someone to tell me to get my head out of my ass.”

  “And did he?”

  “More or less.” Nate’s expression sobered. “I want this to be something, Ashlee. Not like anything I’ve had before. Every relationship I’ve been in, I’ve always had one eye on the door, waiting to get bored, waiting for something better. I don’t feel that with you. When I call you my girlfriend, I want you to know that, for the first time in my life, I mean it how most people mean it. I’m looking toward a future.”

  A thrill went through me, but I didn’t interrupt him. We both needed to know what the other was thinking, or this would never work. No interruptions until we’d said it all. I didn’t really care how fast or slow we took things – as clearly evidenced by the fact of how quickly we’d slept together – as long as we were moving forward.

  “I don’t know what that’s going to look like each step of the way, but this is more real than anything I’ve ever had, and I will try my damnedest not to lose it.”

  Nothing I could say would be able to compare to that, so I didn’t even try. I kissed him this time, my mouth covering his as I attempted to show him how his words made me feel. The rest of the ride back to his place was heat and touch and the sorts of embarrassing noises that would have mortified me if I’d actually been capable of thinking about anything other than how much I never wanted this to stop.

  I gave Angus a sheepish wave when he opened the door for us, and he winked as we passed. I pressed my face against Nate’s arm, certain that evidence of our activities was written all over my face for all the world to see. Not that we’d actually been doing much to be embarrassed about, especially not when I knew something far less innocent was waiting for me in Nate’s apartment.

  He’d whispered things to me in the car, the words low murmurs of promises too licentious, too wicked for good girls, though not too much for me to hold tight, hoping for each and every one of them. He’d given me enough fodder for years to come, and I was more than eager to continue with our lessons.

  Once inside his place, he sent me to his bedroom with instructions. I was to undress and stand in front of the full-length mirror, my hands clasped behind me, back to the door. I wasn’t there for long when he joined me, stripping off his clothes so that he was completely naked by the time he was standing behind me, his cock brushing against my back.

  “Have you ever watched yourself come?” He pressed his lips against the side of my neck. “Recorded yourself masturbating? Done it in front of a mirror?”

  I shook my head, my eyes glued to his reflection. His hands slid over my sides, then up my ribcage to cup my breasts, thumbs moving back and forth across my nipples until they were tight little bullets, desperate for attention. My breathing came faster as heat coiled in my belly, my body eager for the release he’d bring me. When he dropped his hands, I made a sound of protest, half-expecting him to punish me for it…and more than half wanting him to do exactly that.

  He didn’t say anything, though, as he went to the plush chair in the corner and dragged it until it was directly behind me. He sat down and reached out to grasp my hips, turning me toward him. I smiled as he pulled me onto his lap, my knees st
raddling his legs, but when he kept me from getting close enough to get him inside, I frowned.

  “Not yet,” he said with a chiding smile. “I just wanted to get your tits closer to my mouth.”

  I groaned as his lips closed around my nipple. I put my hands on his shoulders for balance, but I needn’t have worried about that. His hands moved to my back, holding me in place as he sucked and licked until I was writhing in his lap, practically ready to come right then and there. Then, suddenly, a bright flash of pain and my eyes shot open. He grinned up at me, his teeth still lightly holding my nipple.

  “Again, please, Mr. Lexington.”

  His eyes darkened, and he turned to the other one, repeating every toe-curling moment. My head fell back, and I cursed, nails digging into his shoulders until a hiss of pain snapped me back to attention. I stared at his skin, horrified that I’d broken through in a couple places.

  I started to apologize, but he put a finger on my lips.

  “Do you have any idea how fucking hot that is?”

  “I made you bleed.”

  He bit the side of my breast, just enough to hurt but not enough to cause any damage. “And every time I feel them, I’ll remember exactly what you looked like when you did it. I’ll probably have to hide behind my desk for most of the next couple days to avoid some awkward conversations about why I’m hard.”

  I had to admit, some primal part of me liked the fact that I’d marked him as mine, even if no one else would see the wounds.

  “Now, stand up.”

  I was confused but did as he instructed. He opened a condom wrapper and rolled it on, his fist sliding down the thick shaft and then back up again. I had the sudden urge to tell him that we didn’t need anything between us, but I kept the thought to myself. I trusted that he wasn’t having sex with anyone else, and I was fairly sure I’d been on the pill long enough now for it to be effective, but I knew we weren’t at that trust level yet.

  “Turn around.”

  I did, still not understanding until I remembered we were right in front of the mirror. His fingers curled over my hips, and he guided me back until I was almost sitting on his lap. When he draped my legs on either side of his knees and spread me open, I realized what he was doing.

  Fuck.

  “Look at how wet you are,” he said as he reached around to slide his finger inside me. “Now, pay attention. I don’t want you to miss a second of what’s coming. I want you to see my cock disappearing into this tight, hot cunt. I want you to see your swollen clit as it throbs, begging for friction. I want you to watch me fuck you until you come.”

  I shivered, fighting the urge to close my eyes. He hadn’t given me an explicit instruction against closing them, but I intuitively knew there’d be some sort of punishment if I didn’t watch the entire time.

  At some point, I would probably find out what that was, and I couldn’t say that I was entirely opposed to whatever it was he’d do, but for now, I was mesmerized by the sight of him guiding his cock inside me. It was one thing to feel him stretching me, to know how impossibly full I felt, and something else entirely to see our bodies come together in a way that shouldn’t have been possible.

  The muscles in my legs trembled as I settled on him, and I wondered if I’d even be able to ride him in this position. A moment later, my question was answered when he put an arm around my waist and pulled me back until I was resting on his chest.

  “I’ll do the work.” His lips brushed against my ear as he spoke. “You just enjoy the view.”

  His hips rocked up and down with shallow strokes that never left me empty, but instead showed me each time just how perfectly we fit together. When his fingers parted my folds to reveal my clit, I found myself wondering how the view would change if he’d chosen to take my ass this way. A rush of warmth went through me at the thought, and I made a mental note to ask sometime in the future. Right now…

  “Fuck,” he groaned as I tightened around him. “Didn’t I say I’d do the work?”

  I squeezed him again, then yelped as his fingers slapped down on my clit hard enough to hurt. The rush that followed, however, was all white-hot bliss. My eyelids started to drop, but another smack jolted them open.

  “How close are you, le soleil?”

  “Close.”

  “What do you need me to do for you to come?”

  My brain scrambled for anything close to a coherent sentence while my body tried to tell me all the different ways Nate could get me over the edge.

  “Where do you want my hands?”

  “Clit.” I managed one word, then a gasp before breathing out a second word. “Nipple.”

  I hoped to hell he knew what I wanted him to do to them because I had no clue. A sharp pinch for one and quick, brisk friction on the other, and then I was watching myself orgasm.

  My limbs went rigid, my hips jerking even as my fingers tried to find something to grab, something to tear and rip if only to find some outlet for the nearly overwhelming pleasure coursing through me. Nate’s arm tensed around me, and my eyes locked with his in the mirror. Seeing myself climax was amazing, but it would be this moment I carried with me. The moment his walls began to crumble.

  Forty-Three

  Nate

  Finley had been right. Telling Ashlee the truth about what’d happened between Calah and me had helped our relationship rather than hurt it. Trusting that she wouldn’t see that part of me and reject me hadn’t been easy, but it’d definitely been worth it. We still had a lot to learn about each other, but crossing this hurdle made me hopeful about what was to come.

  That, combined with the relief I felt now that Joshua knew the truth too, was why I was whistling as I rode the elevator down to the lobby to meet Ashlee. She’d asked me to come to the dinner at her mom’s where Roberta and Finley would meet for the first time, and since she’d wanted to go straight from work, we’d agreed that meeting downstairs would be enough removed from business that it wouldn’t cross any personal / professional boundaries. If she had a job working in one of the other companies in this building, we could’ve met like this without raising any eyebrows.

  “You’re in a cheery mood,” she said as I leaned down to kiss her cheek.

  “Is that a good or bad thing?” I asked, letting my gaze wander over her as if I hadn’t already seen her a couple of times today. She wore a nice pair of dress slacks that wouldn’t be too fancy for dinner and a shirt that accentuated her curves without being form-fitting.

  “Good,” she said, smiling. “That’s the kind of positive note I want to start the evening with.”

  Pleased that I could make her happy simply by being happy myself, I reached for her hand as we headed to the car. I’d driven today, so I could drive us to Roberta’s and not need Angus to be on call. It was also an absolutely beautiful day for a drive. April had finally given up trying to be winter and was embracing spring in full force. Normally, that meant rain, but today we had sun.

  “Did you talk to Finley today?” she asked as she checked her phone for what was probably the hundredth time. “I didn’t see him come in.”

  “He worked from home,” I said. “He wanted to make sure that he didn’t get caught by someone when he was trying to leave and end up being late to dinner.”

  “That’s good,” she nodded absently, scowling at her phone.

  “Your mom blowing up your phone with questions?”

  “She hasn’t sent me a single text today.” Ashlee sighed and dropped her phone back into her purse. “I know that means she probably has everything under control, but is it too much to ask for a ‘hey, I’m alive and the house hasn’t burnt down’ text so I’m not constantly worrying that I’ve missed a message or a call?”

  “I’m guessing that means you’re stressing out about this more than your mom.”

  “No shit, Sherlock.” Less than a second after she said it, she shook her head. “Sorry. I’m a little wired right now.”

  She didn’t have to explain why. When she’d
met Finley and then again when she’d told him who she was, she’d feared rejection, but now that she was building a relationship with him, she was terrified that he and Roberta were going to hate each other and she’d have to choose between them.

  Considering what she’d told me about how Roberta’s ex had just walked away from the family without a second look, it made sense that Ashlee would be worried about that. I didn’t try to tell her any of that, though. She didn’t need me to mansplain what she was feeling. She needed to know that she had my support, whenever, wherever, and however she needed it.

  I reached over and took her hand, giving it a firm squeeze. No matter what she needed, I’d take care of her. The new kind of protectiveness was foreign to me. It was more than possessiveness born of control. She was mine beyond the physical.

  This wasn’t the time or place to go into that, though. Once I wrapped my own head around it, I’d talk to her.

  “It was nice of your mom to volunteer to make dinner for all of us,” I said. “Does she enjoy cooking?”

  “She does, and she’s usually really good at it. I’m just hoping she isn’t going to try anything too crazy. She has a bad habit of seeing something on a cooking show and thinking she can pull it off perfectly the first time.” Ashlee’s smile indicated this was more of a mark of amusement than it was annoyance. “Once, when I was fifteen, she got this idea to make a vegan lasagna. It’s fine for people who eat that way, but neither one of us is vegan, so I have no idea why she thought that was a good idea.”

  “It didn’t go well, I take it?”

  She shook her head. “It did not.” She chuckled. “Burnt it to a crisp. The smoke in the kitchen was so thick we had to open all the windows and leave for two hours.”