Raw: Book 1

by Michelle Maris

  Madison nodded her head as she did as he said.

  Jeremy brushed his hand over her cheek. “Madison, we’re going to be okay. We’ll make this work. I need to stay here for another eight to twelve months so I can save some money but after that our relationship will feel more normal.”

  “I have so much money. It’s yours whatever you need.”

  “As nice as that sounds, I’m still a man, and I can’t live off of you.”

  Madison understood, so she said nothing further about it. Instead, she tackled her next concern. “I don’t know if I can survive you sleeping with all these women.”

  “Madison, what I’m about to say is going to be so hypocritical and chauvinistic, so I apologize in advance. I understand how you feel because I can’t allow another man to touch you. Your days of booking anyone but me are over.”

  “I don’t need any other man. I knew that after the first time you kissed me.”

  Jeremy pulled Madison into his chest and kissed the top of her head, “I will still have to sleep with other women, but it will mean nothing to me.”

  “Will you promise always to come here afterward?”

  “Yes. I know it’s going to be painful for you, but it’s not forever.”

  “I worry that you’ll get bored of me and fall in love with another member.”

  “Not going to happen. I just need you always to trust me and know that I love only you because you are going to witness me flirting and giving other women attention but it’s just the job.”

  “I know.” Madison wanted to vomit as she thought about how difficult this will be for her.

  “I’ll never rub it in your face.”

  “You’ve always been a gentleman, and I know you wouldn’t hurt me.”

  “Sunday nights, Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesday mornings are all ours and on my work nights let’s have dinner alone here some nights, book me out other nights, and every evening when I finish work I’ll come here.”

  “When you put it like that it doesn’t sound so bad.” Madison felt her anxiety lessen.

  “And remember it’s only temporary. I’m not doing this forever,” was the last thing Jeremy said right before he flipped Madison on her back and covered her with his body. They spent the rest of the morning making love.

  Chapter 17

  “He doesn’t stop looking over here.” Bevy looked across the restaurant at Jeremy. “Even when women surround him, he keeps an eye on you.”

  Madison looked up and made eye contact with Jeremy. “It’s hard for us to have to hide how we feel towards each other. I want to be sitting next to him having a drink, rubbing his knee as he talks about anything and everything.”

  “I don’t know how you’re getting through it.”

  Madison giggled, “He makes up for it after hours.”

  “Ah, you lucky bitch. I can only imagine how good Jeremy's sex is when he’s in love with a woman.”

  “Bevy, it’s incredible. Jeremy knows the female body so well, and he appreciates it, but when we’re intimate, and his eyes burn into mine I’ve never experienced anything like it.”

  “How long are you going to keep this up?” Bevy pitied Madison’s situation as much as she envied it. Bill was a good man, but he didn’t look at Bevy the way Jeremy looked at Madison, not even when they first started dating.

  “He needs eight months to a year.”

  “And then what? He leaves RAW, and you stay. You will always be a part of this since your name is on the mortgage.” Bevy reminded Madison of there sixty forty partnership.

  “We haven’t discussed it.”

  “He could help run it. You should talk to him about that option.”

  “I will mention it but not yet. We’ve only been officially dating for the past nine weeks. We’re taking it slow.”

  “Will you get married?”

  “Bevy! I just finished saying we’re taking it slow and you bring up marriage.”

  Bevy glanced over at Jeremy at the same time he looked over at their table. She raised her hand in the air and waved him over.

  “What are you doing?” Madison scolded Bevy as she watched Jeremy heading towards her.

  “I’m calling your boyfriend over to have a drink with us before he goes to Room One.”

  Bevy stood when Jeremy got closer. She reached up and gave him a great big kiss and gestured for him to have a seat next to Madison. Jeremy slid in next to Madison, and her heart raced. They spent so much time avoiding each other in the restaurant that sitting this close to him made her feel like a school girl with a crush.

  Bevy sat back and watched them. Jeremy leaned in and kissed Madison on the cheek then whispered in her ear. “Sweetheart, you look beautiful. I love you in this dress.” He rubbed his palm up her thigh.

  Bevy watched Madison tense as Jeremy touched her. “Madison, relax! Jeremy is an Essential, and you are a member, you’re allowed to be touchy feely with him. Look how all those girls throw themselves out him.”

  Jeremy nodded his head, “She’s right, Madison, it’s okay if we flirt with each other in front of people.”

  “I know I’m just afraid they’ll see how I feel about you because it will be written all over my face.”

  Jeremy brushed her cheek with his fingertips. “I don’t care if they do. Staring at you right now I see it, and I love it, and I love you.”

  Madison brought her hand up to the base of her neck and cleared her throat. “I’ll be seeing you later?”

  “As always.”

  “You’re in Room One again, and you have the newest member tonight,” Bevy interjected.

  “Yes, but we try not to talk about it, Bevy.” Jeremy fixated on Madison when he spoke.

  “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. Well, you better go, it’s almost ten.” Bevy brushed him off.

  Jeremy kissed both Madison and Bevy goodnight and headed back to the bar. When he got there the new member, Rachel waited for him. Madison checked her out and then frowned at Bevy. “She’s pretty.”

  “But not beautiful like you.”

  “Did she opt for the curtain open?” Madison asked.

  “She did but no sound.”

  Madison couldn’t believe what she was thinking, and she shocked even herself when she said it out loud, “Bevy, I want to watch.”

  “No, Madison, you can’t. It will be torture. It could ruin your relationship.”

  “Please Bevy, come with me, I don’t want to do it alone.”

  “Madison, why would you do that to yourself?”

  “I need to watch. I need to know there’s a difference. I need to see the difference.”

  Madison and Bevy walked into Room One’s viewing room. They sat in the last row of seats. Only three other women were sitting up front, and they didn’t turn around when Madison and Bevy walked in because the scene already played out in front of them.

  Rachel stood naked with her arms around Jeremy’s neck. Madison sat forward in her seat scrutinizing everything about the interaction. She watched where Jeremy placed his hands and how firm he gripped her skin. She examined his face analyzing the way he looked at Rachel. Madison searched for something different in his gaze.

  Rachel’s lips moved while she placed kisses on his neck and down his chest. Jeremy had his arms around her while he shook his head in response to whatever Rachel said. She brushed her fingertips over his nipples then brought her mouth over his nipple and sucked on it.

  Jeremy dropped his arms, and Rachel spun around and crawled onto the bed. She flopped on her back and waved Jeremy over to her. Jeremy crawled between her legs covering her body with his, and they kissed. Jeremy turned towards the mirror while Rachel sucked on his earlobe.

  Tears welled up in Madison’s eyes as the man she loved pressed his naked body against another woman. Anxiety and fear bubbled inside of her and she felt like she could pass out.

  Jeremy focused on the mirror, but he seemed to fix his stare on Madison. His eyes receded as his eyebrows shadowed them. Madis
on turned to Bevy, “Can he see me.” She whispered in a panic.

  “Not possible but it looks like he’s staring directly at you.” Even Bevy felt uncomfortable as Jeremy glared at the two-way mirror. “He looks enraged.” Bevy felt forced to turn away as Jeremy’s eyes pierced through the glass in their direction.

  The few ladies up front walked out, and when Madison and Bevy turned back to the mirror, Jeremy was gone, and Rachel was putting her clothes back on. “Where did he go?” Madison whispered, nervous and unsure of what she witnessed.

  Bevy looked past Madison and pointed to the door leading to the hallway. Madison whipped her head around. Jeremy stood in the doorway wearing his pants with his crisp white shirt fully opened revealing his chest and stomach. His suit jacket hung on his finger over his shoulder.

  At first, he looked angry but then his face softened, and sadness took over. He walked up to Madison. “Sweetheart, come with me.” He held out his hand.

  Madison slipped her hand into Jeremy’s. “Bevy, I told Rachel I had an emergency to take care of. She understood, and she asked if anyone else was available. I told her you’d take care of her.” Jeremy explained to Bevy.

  Bevy only nodded because Jeremy left her speechless.

  Jeremy and Madison walked out of the viewing room in silence holding hands. They walked back to Madison’s apartment saying nothing. Madison feared that when they were behind closed doors, he was going to let her have it.

  Once in her bedroom, Jeremy removed her dress and lifted her onto the bed. They still spoke no words between them. Jeremy walked into the bathroom. He came out a few minutes later naked with his hair damp.

  Madison hadn’t moved from her bed. Jeremy stretched out next to her resting the palm of his hand flat against the skin above her breasts. With their eyes fixated on each other Madison broke the silence. “I’m sorry.”

  “Shh.”

  “But how did you know?” She whispered.

  “I felt you. I knew you were there.”

  “Are you angry?” She asked.

  “Do I look angry?”

  “No.”

  “No, I’m not. I’m in love, and we’re going to have to make some changes, but we’ll talk about it tomorrow because right now I need to make love to you.”

  The next afternoon, Bevy called Jeremy into her office. Jeremy sat in the upholstered chair in front of her desk.

  “Jeremy, what do you see when you look at my desk?”

  Jeremy scanned the contents of Bevy’s desk, “A mess.”

  “Ding! Ding! Ding! You are correct; someone give this man a prize!” Bevy paced the space behind her desk. “And do you remember when you came here for your interview what my desk looked like.”

  “A mess.”

  “Correct again! My desk is always piled high with papers, probably some critical documents but you know what Jeremy I hate this part of my job.” Bevy circled her hands over her desk.

  “It’s not for everyone,” Jeremy added, as he waited for Bevy to get to the point of this meeting. Madison booked him out for the evening, and they planned on going on a real date, so he was anxious to get the night started.

  “But I think it would be for you.” Bevy leaned on the desk on her fingertips.

  “Me?”

  “Yes, you and I both have a dilemma. I can’t have an Essential running out on a member, you can’t hurt the woman you love, I don’t want to see her hurting, and you need a job. So, I’m offering you a new position at RAW, the VP of Operations.”

  “Does Madison know you’re offering me this position?”

  “I mentioned to her that we should find you a new position, but she felt you and she should wait to discuss it, but after last night, I don’t see the point in waiting.”

  “I need to discuss this with her.”

  “You should, but I’m taking you off the schedule until you two settle things.”

  “How much does it pay?”

  “I did my research and it seems the average for running the show of a resort/hotel this size is around $260,000 a year.”

  Jeremy absorbed that nugget of information, “I’m taking Madison out to dinner, so I’ll talk to her about it tonight.”

  Jeremy sat across from Madison in this small but charming restaurant. Her skin glowed and her eyes bright. She looked like a woman in love. She knitted her eyebrows together as she took in the information Jeremy shared with her.

  “Will you be happy in that role?”

  “Actually, very happy, I like to run things, and I like that I’ll be taking care of something that is yours.”

  “It would make me happy but I don’t want you to be miserable doing a job that’s not fulfilling to you because you may eventually resent me because of it.”

  Jeremy sucked in a breath then rapidly released it. “Sweetheart, when I came back to the mansion after being away for two weeks, I realized it became my home over the past year and everyone in it became like family. It’s not the sex with various women that kept me there; It’s the place, the people, the camaraderie, and you. It’s all of it and the idea of running a place I’ve grown to love satisfies me.”

  “As long as it makes you happy but if ever stops making you happy, you need to tell me.” Madison felt relief knowing that he was no longer available for the other women.

  “This also means that we can start openly dating.” Jeremy reached his hand across the table. Madison slid her hand into his.

  “How are we going to explain my existence at the mansion if I’m no longer an active member?” Madison was not ready to tell the world that she was sixty percent owner of RAW. That bit information would change her life exponentially. It would most likely destroy her career as a lawyer.

  “We tell people you live with me at the mansion.”

  “So, my apartment becomes yours?”

  “Yes.”

  “Which means we will be living together?”

  “Yes.” Jeremy searched Madison’s face for approval.

  “I can live with that.”

  “Good then it’s settled.”

  “Will we need to make some big announcement?” Madison worried this would pull her into the center of attention and the thought unsettled her.

  “No, I’ll tell the guys myself. You just keep doing what you’ve always done.” Jeremy rubbed Madison's arm. “Take it day by day and you’ll see everything will feel pretty much the same.”

  “Except now we’re living together.” Madison pointed out.

  “Sweetheart, we’ve been living together for a year.”

  Madison thought about what he said, “I never thought of it like that but you’re right.” Madison giggled.

  When they returned to the mansion, Madison called Bevy and Jeremy got on the phone. He accepted the position and would start immediately in his new role. They discussed a few other changes and decided to send out a notice regarding a mandatory meeting Monday morning to make the announcement.

  That night Jeremy made love to Madison. They didn’t think their sex could get any deeper but knowing they no longer had to hide their feelings took everything to a new level. The closeness and intimacy they both felt was like nothing they ever felt before. For Jeremy it was what he always craved and for Madison it was something she never knew existed until she met Jeremy.

  Chapter 18

  Bevy announced Jeremy’s promotion, as Vice President of Operations, first thing Monday morning. No one acted shocked by the news since many of them thought he was too smart for what he was doing. While the guys talked sports and women, Jeremy stuck his nose in a book.

  Michael was the only one feeling vulnerable about Jeremy’s new role at RAW. Would Jeremy be replacing Michael? Or, would Michael remain as Bevy’s assistant or did the responsibility shift to Jeremy? He sat back and waited for Bevy to explain what this meant to everyone at RAW.

  “As you all know I hate paperwork, and ordering things, and details, and numbers, and pretty much everything that runs this business. Luckily,
I have kept up enough to keep RAW running successfully, but now, I don't want to do it anymore. I’m still in charge, but Jeremy with Michael by his side will run the daily operations. So, if you need anything, see them.” Bevy pointed her thumbs out to Michael on the one side of her and Jeremy on the other. “And if you just want to chat, see me. You know I love to keep in the loop.”

  Bevy paused and looked out at all her boys, “Oh, and by the way, give them both a couple of weeks to settle into their new roles and then bombard them with everything. Understood?”

  “Understood.” They shouted out.

  Bevy left the restaurant, and the crowd slowly dispersed, only a few bellied up to the bar to order Bloody Marys with their breakfasts. Jeremy glanced over at Michael. “Can we talk?”

  “Yeah man, we’re going to need to.” Jeremy heard the sarcasm in Michael’s tone.

  They walked over to a table in the corner to hash things out. “Are you angry?” Jeremy asked first.

  “A little.”

  “Can you hear me out before you shut me down?” Jeremy asked.

  “I’m listening.”

  “Michael, I spoke with Bevy before the announcement regarding your role, and she agreed with me.”

  “About what?” Michael crossed his arms in front of his chest as dropped back in his seat.

  Jeremy shifted in his chair and cleared his throat. Michael’s reaction surprised Jeremy. “First, you are no longer an assistant; you will take on a Supervisor role and with that a significant raise.”

  Michael's shoulders sagged as he dropped his arms, “Shit, I didn’t expect this. I thought you were going to treat me like your bitch.”

  “No man, you know me better than that. Are you cool with all of this?”

  “Yes!” Michael stood up, and Jeremy followed. He grabbed Jeremy’s hand but paused mid shake, “But wait can I still be with the ladies?”

  “If you want.”

  He continued shaking his hand, “Hell yeah. What about you?”

  “There’s been a few more changes in my life other than the promotion. Madison and I are dating exclusively, so I am no longer an Essential and she is no longer a member, but you will see her here because she’s moving in with me on the other side of the mansion.” Jeremy felt relieved to say it. Michael was the first person Jeremy said it to, and it flowed easily.