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

by M. S. Parker

  “It’s all right,” Finley interrupted gently. “It’s not your fault.”

  “He’s right, Mom. I know we both wanted something good to come out of this, but I think they just proved that they were only here for themselves.”

  Only once their car disappeared from view did I turn back to the others. “Ashlee’s right. Finley and I both have dealt with enough people over the years who wanted money from us in some way to be able to recognize the lead up to a pitch.”

  “I would’ve given them ten more minutes, tops, before they were asking us to invest in some venture or help them out with some debt,” Finley added.

  “I should’ve known better.” Roberta sat down in her chair and picked up her half-full glass of wine. “Been a little more thorough in finding out exactly why they were here. It’s not like they’re criminal masterminds.”

  “There are always going to be greedy, vindictive people, no matter how well you screen them.” I glanced at Finley. “Just last week, a former employee tried to blackmail me.”

  “What? Who?” Ashlee shook her head. “Never mind. I think I know.”

  I nodded. “Flora Watts threatened to go to the media with a story saying that your promotion was because we’re together.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” Finley asked.

  “I took care of it,” I said. “I paid her what she asked and told her if she came back for more, I’d get lawyers involved.”

  “I never should have come to Manhattan Records.” Ashlee traced the patterns in the wood grain with her finger. “I’ve brought nothing but problems.”

  “Nonsense.” Finley reached over and patted her hand. “Every business has its problems, and we’re no different. People who are going to scheme and try to take advantage will do it no matter what. Flora would’ve found something else to fixate on.”

  I crossed over to her and bent down to kiss the top of her head. “Besides, if you hadn’t come to work for us, neither Finley nor I would’ve ever met you, and that would have been the worst thing that could’ve happened.”

  She smiled up at me, her eyes shining, and I wouldn’t have traded that image for anything in the world.

  “I’m going to reach out to Jailene tomorrow,” Finley said, drawing our attention back to him. “Hopefully, nothing else comes of either Flora or those three, but I think we need to have a legal strategy in place just in case.”

  “Unfortunately, I agree,” I said with a sigh.

  “It’ll be all right,” Finley said. “I’m going to take care of this.”

  “You always do.” I gave him a small nod. “And I know I don’t say how much I appreciate it.”

  He looked up at me, his usual good humor returning as he said, “I hate to have to break it to you, Nate, but this time, I’m doing it to take care of my daughter. You’re only included because you’re a package deal.”

  I laughed, the weight on my chest lifting. “You’re a good man, Finley. A better one than me, that’s for sure. Always have been.”

  “And you’ve always sold yourself far too short,” he said.

  The expression on Ashlee’s face said that she believed the same. I’d spent so many years thinking that all I would ever do was disappoint people, and even when I had something I thought of as good, like a successful business, I doubted its worth.

  For the first time in a long time, I had hope that I could one day be the man I always should have been. The man Finley and Ashlee saw.

  Forty-Six

  Ashlee

  Tonight hadn’t gone as well as I’d hoped, or as badly as I’d feared, which I supposed meant that it’d more or less been a success.

  We’d managed to salvage the rest of the evening thanks to another bottle of wine and a strawberry-rhubarb pie Mom had made for our dessert. Before too long, we’d been talking and laughing as if the interruption had never occurred at all, but it had hovered in the back of my mind, and it wouldn’t have surprised me to discover that it’d done the same with the others.

  Still, none of us brought it up, even as we parted ways. I wondered if Finley was like Mom in that, once something unpleasant was over, she tried not to talk or think about it again.

  “Can I ask you a question? About you and Finley.” I broke the silence that had ridden with us since we’d left the house. “And feel free to say no. It’s been a crazy night.”

  “If you want to know if we’ve had people assume we’re a couple, then the answer’s yes.” Nate winked at me, in a surprisingly pleasant mood considering everything that’d happened in the last few hours.

  “I’ll probably ask for stories about that at some point,” I said, “but that’s not what I was thinking.”

  “Go ahead.”

  “When Finley said he was going to take care of things, you said that he always did.” I glanced at him, but his face gave nothing away. “It sounded like there was something specific you were thinking about.”

  Nate nodded slowly. “Did he ever tell you how he and I met?”

  “No. I don’t think I’ve read anything about it either.”

  “You wouldn’t have,” he said. “Neither of us talk about it even though it shows what a great guy he is. Whenever we’re asked about it, we simply say that I was looking for investors and chance brought us together.”

  A snippet of something I’d read when I’d been researching the company floated through my mind. A couple lines in a bio of Nate that said he’d tried to start a label before Manhattan Records, but it’d tanked.

  “When I was at NYU, I was obsessed with the idea of becoming one of those overnight millionaire college drop-outs. The ones that have those inspirational stories about how they started a company in their garage or dorm room and grew it into a massive empire.”

  I could see him being that way. He had the drive and focus for it, that was undeniable.

  “My senior year, I decided to start a record label. I brought on a couple wannabe musicians from NYU’s music program and got to work. I’d considered dropping out, but I wasn’t quite that reckless. I graduated – barely – but I was more focused on the insane amount of money I’d be making soon.” He glanced over at me, a wry expression on his face. “Only a couple months after graduation, however, I realized there was an important fact that I’d neglected to take into consideration when coming up with my business plan. Current or newly graduated college students don’t always have the work ethic to support their ambitions.”

  I completely understood that. I remembered how many of the kids I’d gone to college with had dropped out or ended up getting jobs that had nothing to do with their majors. Sometimes, it’d been financial issues or a change of focus, like the one girl who’d left halfway through her third semester to go with her girlfriend doing humanitarian work all over the world. I suspected many people who intended to go into some form of art or entertainment fizzled out because it was harder than they’d expected.

  “I had some investors who helped keep me afloat, but I should’ve read the writing on the wall. I had bands breaking up, people getting engaged and married and pregnant, delicate egos that only wanted to be told how talented they were. None of my research had prepared me for all of those aspects of the job.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “By the time I was twenty-three, everything had fallen apart. I had no artists, no backers, nowhere to live. I couldn’t go back to my parents and admit that I’d failed, so I lived on the streets.”

  I frowned, partially because I didn’t like the idea of Nate having been homeless, but also because I felt like he was skipping over something. I let it go. We’d had a hard enough night, and he was already sharing with me. The next time an opportunity presented itself, I’d ask for more details. Right now, I just listened to him finish up what he was willing to talk about.

  “I managed to get into shelters sometimes, but far from every night, and there were a lot of times when I didn’t eat. Looking back, I know I could’ve gone to my family, but back then, I felt like I had something to prov
e. Telling them I’d failed would only fulfill their worst opinions about me.”

  He lapsed into silence for a few minutes, coming back to himself only when I put a hand on his arm.

  “I’d been out there five or six weeks, long enough for me to start thinking about some realistic options of what came next. One rainy, miserable night, all the shelters were full, and I wandered into a diner, one of those twenty-four-hour things. The man at the counter told me I had to order something or leave. I didn’t have any money, and he knew it. By the way he was eyeing me, I was convinced he was going to suggest an…alternate method of payment.”

  I squeezed his arm, unable to put into words how much I hated the thought of him being forced into making that sort of decision, how much it hurt me.

  “Before he could, someone in one of the booths spoke up. This guy who was older than me, but not as old as my parents, waved me over and told me to order whatever I wanted.” He laughed softly. “I never did ask Finley how much that meal cost him, but it had to be more than a hundred dollars. Anyway, he introduced himself, and we started talking, me trying to remember not to talk with my mouth full but too hungry to follow through with etiquette. Before the night was over, he’d offered me a guest room in his place and said he had an idea he wanted to run by me in the morning.”

  I couldn’t imagine how hard it would’ve been for someone as untrusting as Nate to put his faith in this stranger.

  “I still half-thought that he was going to ask me to have sex with him to pay for the food or the bed, but I was so tired of being dirty and hungry and scared that I went anyway. But Finley isn’t like that. He’s a good man who happened to be in the right place and time to save my life, and he’s never once held it over me.”

  I wasn’t deluded into thinking that Finley was perfect, but I knew he was good, and that was more than enough. But I hadn’t realized just how good he was. Not only feeding and talking to a stranger off the streets, but taking him home…

  It was no wonder Nate practically worshipped the man.

  I’d already been in Finley’s fan club, but now I was struck by the fact that I wasn’t just some random employee who was admiring her boss’s benevolence. This man was my father. I’d never dreamed that I’d not only find my dad but that I’d find a man like Finley Kordell.

  I was truly blessed.

  Forty-Seven

  Nate

  I did it.

  I told her about where I’d been when Finley had first found me. I’d seen no disgust or embarrassment in her eyes, heard no pity in her voice. Maybe soon, I could tell her the rest of the story. Not tonight, though. Tonight, I had other plans in mind.

  Specifically, fulfilling a promise I’d made her regarding another virginity I wanted to take. This one required a little more prep than a condom and foreplay, which was why she’d taken longer in the shower, following instructions I’d given her, while I’d gone straight from my shower to the playroom to set out what we’d need so there’d be no fumbling around.

  Now, I took a few seconds to admire her curves. She was stretched out on her stomach, cheek resting on a pillow that her arms wrapped around. Her hair was braided and out of the way, giving me an unobstructed view of her back and down to her ass. As if she could feel where my gaze rested, her entire body tensed.

  “I’m going to help you relax,” I said as I climbed on the bed, straddling her thighs without putting any of my weight on her. I put some sandalwood-scented lotion on my hands, rubbing them together until everything was comfortably warm.

  The moment my hands moved to her shoulders, my thumbs digging into the tight muscles, she moaned, and my cock twitched in interest. I was already half-hard from the sight of her and the anticipation of what we were going to do. If she kept this up, I was going to end up reciting football stats or something like that to keep myself from coming before I was inside her.

  I made my way down her arms, then to the small of her back, my thumbs working their way up her spine to her shoulders. I continued the circular path, not rushing, not thinking about anything but taking care of each and every knot. Once her back was done, I moved my hands lower, going over her ass to her thighs and calves. I lingered at her feet, enjoying every sensual sound she made as I paid attention to every stress point I’d learned.

  A couple years ago, Club Privé had offered workshops on a variety of different things that people could do with or to their partners. One of those had been a massage therapy class. I’d used some of the techniques before, but none of those times had been even half as enjoyable as this.

  When I was satisfied that she was thoroughly relaxed, I leaned over her and kissed her shoulder. “If it’s too much, say the word, and I’ll stop.”

  She nodded, smiling up at me in that dazed sort of way that told me she was deep inside that part of her head commonly referred to as subspace. She’d use her safe word if she needed it, but she wasn’t going to panic at the first touch or twinge. Perfect.

  Now for step two. Orgasms.

  I didn’t speak as I maneuvered us both around until I could get my head under her. I wrapped my hands around her thighs as I pulled her down onto my face. She gasped as my tongue teased her clit, hips jerking but kept in place. Back and forth, then circling before sliding along her folds until I came to her entrance.

  I dipped inside, dragging the gathering moisture out and to her clit. I kept the rhythm slow and steady, easing her toward a climax that rolled over her like a wave. I held off as she came, letting her experience the pleasure without additional sensation. I needed her relaxed, not overwhelmed.

  That would come later.

  Forty-Eight

  Ashlee

  The second orgasm left my limbs limp and my breathing ragged. It wasn’t too much, but it was enough that I could’ve gone to sleep right then and there if I hadn’t known we weren’t done yet.

  As I came down, Nate moved me so that I was flat on the bed again, facedown so that my nipples rubbed pleasantly against the soft cotton sheets. The scent of sandalwood filled the air again, subtle enough to be enjoyed without being overpowering. When his finger ran down between my cheeks, I felt the slick of what I assumed was lube and knew it was time.

  A few rogue butterflies fluttered in my stomach, but it was easy to ignore them and concentrate on what he was doing. The tip of his finger rubbed across that ring of muscle, like he’d done before, and the familiarity helped me not to tense up when he applied pressure.

  He ran his other hand up my spine and back down again in a smooth, soothing motion, knowing exactly how to help me as his finger breached my ass deeper and thicker than before. The stretch and burn made me moan, my body not quite accustomed to the feeling…but not totally against it either.

  “Breathe through it.” His voice was gentler than I’d expected, slipping over my skin even as he moved his finger in and out, twisting it as he went. “Remember how it felt, the first time I spanked you? The way you weren’t sure if you liked it or not? If you even should like it?”

  His words struck something inside me, something that neither of us had put in such blunt terms before. The way the things we did could cause such conflicting emotions.

  A second finger joined the first, and the sound I made was halfway between a cry and a groan, the intensity of sensation increasing. I squirmed but didn’t go anywhere, my determination to make him proud of me greater than the strange discomfort that I knew would eventually feel good. He didn’t have to tell me that much; I knew he wouldn’t do anything that wouldn’t eventually bring me pleasure.

  “Ready?” He kissed the small of my back.

  “If you say so.” I hoped my nerves weren’t as evident to him as they were to me.

  I shivered as he removed his fingers, but the hand he kept stroking up and down my back grounded me. How he managed to open a condom wrapper and put the condom on with one hand, I didn’t know, but he must’ve done it because I could feel the cool latex as he pressed the head of his cock where his finge
rs had just been.

  My eyelids fluttered as he eased forward, slowly opening me, stretching me. He muttered a curse, and his fingers dug into my hip.

  “Right there with you.” I barely managed to get the words out, but they seemed important to say.

  He chuckled, the vibration traveling from me to him, emphasizing just how intimately we were connected. His hands slid up my ribcage on either side, fingers teasing along the sides of my breasts even as he sunk deeper into my ass. My muscles were trembling, entire body shaking as each inch threatened to be too much.

  “Fuck, le soleil.” His body stretched over mine, and he bit my shoulder, sending a jolt of sharp pain to join the rest. “Are you okay?”

  I opened my mouth to say something but couldn’t get a word out. I fisted the sheets and nodded, hoping he’d take the small movement for the consent it was meant to be. He did, taking me with slow, deep strokes that pushed the air from my lungs and made my body quiver with pleasure.

  I tried to push back against him, to have some sort of control, but he gave up none. Each thrust drove a whimper from me that I couldn’t quite hold back, and judging by the way Nate was saying my name, he liked the sounds. It was burn and stretch and the way our bodies fit together and the heat between us…

  His fingers found their way underneath me, brushing my clit with quick circles that joined with everything else I was feeling until the pressure threatened to make me explode.

  “Come, le soleil, please, fucking come…” The strain in his voice was in his body too. “I need you to come.”

  That was enough, knowing he needed that of me. In this moment, in this space, it was him and me, and this was what I could give him.

  I let go of the last little bit of control I’d been holding onto and let myself soar.