Lured In (Dark Paradise, #1)

by Avent, V. R.

  “Damn, Abi. This should be on the menu at my lounge.”

  I nearly choked on my food. Did he just say his lounge?

  “Did you just say your lounge?”

  “Abi. Um …” He looked at me and opened his mouth but didn’t say anything. He ate from his plate again, guzzled the rest of his wine, and finally said, “Sens.”

  “Sins what?” I asked.

  “It’s mine,” he replied, looking at me intensely.

  “We all have sins. What sins have you committed?”

  He laughed and smiled at me and then asked me to think about last night at the lounge.

  “Oh! Sens.”

  “Abi. I was going to tell you, but—”

  “It’s fine, Zach,” I said, cutting him off.

  “No. Let me explain.”

  “No worries. Eat up,” I ordered. I looked at him and asked, “How much?”

  “How much what?”

  “Are you willing to spend to get your hands on my recipe?”

  He sat back in his chair in relief and sighed before pouring us each another glass of wine.

  Son of a bitch owns the lounge. Now everything makes sense: the doorman pulling us from the back of the line; the waitress, that bitch, with her stank-ass attitude toward me, knowing what he likes; Zach demanding her to make my drink the way I wanted it and demanding that the chef do the same with my meal, even though they didn’t have it. OK, Mr. McConnallay. Who are you? You aren’t just my CEO, are you? Who the hell did I fuck? Or better yet, who did I let fuck my brains out?

  Zach moved his chair beside mine, put his hands over mine, and said, “I would like it very much if we can continue what we started. I still owe you an orgasm.” He placed his left middle finger on my lips, pacifying me once again.

  Fuck! He’s doing it again. Why would you tease me like that? You play dirty. The left middle finger? Dude, you have got to cut that shit out. You are appeasing me again, as well. Look, I’m trying to figure you out here.

  “Stop trying to overanalyze things, Abigail. Your head must be running a million miles per hour. And come to think of it, why the hell did you leave two hundred dollars on the table last night?” He pulled the same two hundred-dollar bills out of his pocket and threw them on the table.

  I dropped my bottom lip and gasped, as I didn’t expect for him to be so upset about me paying for my meal. He looked so damn sexy being upset over something like that. I bit my lip and kept my eyes on him.

  “I told you about staring at me and biting down on your bottom lip like that. You know what happens when you do that.”

  “Who are you, Zach?” I asked, not expecting anything different from what he’d already told me. I just needed him to stop trying to placate me.

  “I’m Zach Austin McConnallay, owner and CEO of ZAM Enterprises and owner and CEO of McConnallay Enterprises. ZAM Enterprises is my baby, and McConnallay Enterprises is family owned and operated. It belongs to my grandfather, my dad, my brother, and me.”

  I was at a loss for words.

  How do I counter that? ZAM as in the boutique store? The clothes I wear? Oh my God…he did stalk me.

  “You own the boutique store?” I asked.

  “Yes.”

  “That’s how you got my information? From the customer registration form I completed a few months back—it’s in your computer database.”

  “Yes.”

  “Then you are a stalker. How long—”

  “I’m not a stalker, Abigail.”

  “How long did you stalk me before you convinced Carmen to bring me out to your lounge?”

  “Thursday was the first time I ever laid eyes on you. And it was the best day of my life. After you paid for your items and swiped your customer card, I went and asked Cheryl, the cashier, to print me your customer bio. And Carmen, well, she looked familiar to me. And when she came over and told me her name, I recognized her from the pictures in Matt’s office.”

  We continued eating and talked about him invading my privacy, Sens, ZAM, and McConnallay Enterprises.

  “Are you done eating? I would like to wash dishes now,” I said as I got up from the table. I needed time to process what we had talked about. I wasn’t necessarily mad, though I should have been, but I was definitely taken aback a little.

  He stood up with the dishes, and I didn’t turn down his silent offer to help.

  “What about all of the extra food on the stove?” he asked.

  “I usually take some to Carmen and Megan and give some to the building staff on duty. There are some takeout trays and forks over there.” He helped me pack them.

  Everything started to make sense again.

  “Zach?” I called out.

  He turned to me and answered, “Yes, baby?”

  Yes, baby? Whatever.

  “Correct me if I’m wrong. You knew Carmen from the pics in Matt’s office, and you noticed our close friendship when we were shopping. So when you realized that Matt was somehow connected to me, you called him that same night to work on the merger. How soon after I had left your boutique store did you start investigating me and found out that my dad and stepdad were the owners of Capitol Health? Why did you grip my hand so hard when my dad asked Matt if he and I were friends with benefits?”

  Zach grabbed my wrist and asked, “Can we have a seat to talk about this?”

  We sat facing each other, and he said, “You are absolutely correct. After you and Carmen walked away, I got on my phone and called Stan—he’s the chief of security and IT at McConnallay Enterprises. I gave him your information and demanded that he get me everything available on you in two hours. Your dad’s and stepdad’s information was included. I called your dad, introduced myself, and told him about Health Choice and the service we offered. He was interested and said that he would call your stepdad to see if he was interested in meeting that night as well. I met both of them and proposed a merger, to which they both agreed. And the rest is history. As for your hand, I don’t know why I gripped it so tightly in the conference room. I’m sorry about that. I guess I wasn’t thinking about the fact that you and Carmen are practically sisters. But hearing your dad asking Matt if you two were friends with benefits made me lose all of my common sense.”

  “Why would my dad and stepdad agree to merge with your company without knowing you or anything about your company? Do you have something on them that made them agree to this?” I asked calmly yet fearfully.

  “No, Abi. I have nothing on them. They wanted what you wanted, and what you wanted wasn’t going to happen for another year or so.”

  “What I wanted?”

  “Yes. The expansion…increasing the diversity of services for our patients under one roof within our group practice.”

  “Our expansion was well underway. Thank you very much. We now have Ob-Gyn, hematology/oncology, sports medicine, chiropractic, dental, pharmacy, and mental health.”

  “And what about DME, radiation oncology, radiology, pain management, the surgery center, elective surgery, spa treatments, and the other services? You still had to refer out for these services.”

  I felt a bit furious. As if sensing my hostility, he caressed my wrists, stroking them softly, which calmed me down.

  “It’s only been about nine months since we started the expansion, and you know the channels we have to go through to get the licenses and clearances from the state for some of those services. I think I did very well restructuring Capitol Health in nine months. I got ten million from the bank, spent seventy percent restructuring, and turned that into thirty-two point seven million. And the last three—”

  He cut me off and kissed me, and as much as I tried not to kiss him back, it was hopeless. I returned the same level of passion to him. He cradled my face and continued our conversation. “All of the services you refer out Health Choice already had, Abi. Except for the surgery center, your brilliant idea of plastic/elective surgery, facial and spa treatments, and the medical-based health club with water aerobics for people who
can’t do traditional aerobics due to arthritis and other pain issues. And we can obtain licenses and clearance for those services far more quickly than you can.”

  “I know that, Zach. I read the report of the services your company offers. I just didn’t know that this was the reason my dad and stepdad chose to deal business on a whim.”

  “They did it for you, Abi. All they thought about was how less stressed you would be if all of the services were in place sooner. Let me say that turning seven million dollars into thirty-two million dollars in nine months is very impressive and the reason I made you president.”

  “Well, thank you, Mr. McConnallay,” I smiled and blushed, as he was the first and only one to acknowledge that. “What about Lauren?”

  “What about her?” He shrugged his shoulders.

  “I hope she got promoted as well. She can be a bit jealous at times.”

  “No, Abi. She was not promoted—she will continue as practice manager.”

  “The report mentioned the vice president position was vacant. Can we consider her for that position? I honestly believe she would do a wonderful job with it.”

  “You’re the president, Ms. Winterfield. You can do whatever you want, of course with my final approval.”

  “I would like it very much if she were promoted to that position, effective Monday, September 10, 2012,” I said with a smile.

  “We will interview her on Monday and make an offer. What are you thinking in terms of salary and benefits?”

  “A hundred and eighty thousand with an executive benefits package: four weeks paid vacation, quarterly bonuses, full expenses to attend administrative workshops and seminars and to maintain licenses and certifications renewals, and professional organization membership fees.”

  “OK. I’ll have Matt draw up the contract, and we’ll make the offer on Monday. OK?” He kissed me.

  He pulled me atop of him so that I straddled his legs. We locked lips, and he pulled of my robe. My nipples had become erect, and he wasted no time going to work on them with his hands, mouth, and teeth. He licked the right breast and nipple first, and the areola crinkled in response. He pulled at it with his teeth, never releasing it from his grip, and sucked it hungrily. He did the same to the left breast and nipple. I made love to his neck as he had done to mine so many times. I returned the hungry, sucking pleasure to his nipples. With a fistful of my hair, he passionately yanked my head backward, exposing my neck. He licked the base of my left neck and trailed upward. He bit into my neck, releasing some intense pleasure down below. He bit my neck again and pinched both my nipples simultaneously. He sucked, kissed, and licked every inch of my neck from left to right.

  I stood up from his lap to get the champagne that I had set aside earlier.

  “Damn, baby,” Zach said, pointing to the wet spot I’d left on his cargo shorts.

  “I can’t help it. That is what you do to my body every time I get close to you. Evidence of burning desire.” He blushed, but I decided to play nice and not call him out on it.

  Grabbing the bottle of champagne and two flute glasses, I pranced naked back to the sofa. He popped the cork and filled our glasses, placing the open bottle on the table beside the sofa. We drank some of the bubbly, and he pulled me back to straddle him before leaning in for a kiss. We both jumped in surprise when the ringing of Zach’s phone broke through the heady moment.

  “What is it, Stan?” he answered, frustrated by the interruption. “OK. And who did you select?”

  While Zach was deep in conversation, I began to rise from his lap to give him privacy, but he looked at me with drawn eyebrows, shook his head, and held me down by my waist.

  I drank more champagne and whispered in his free ear, “Don’t move.”

  He glanced at me, equal parts confused and intrigued. I removed his grip from my waist, put his right hand behind his head, and unbuttoned his cargo shorts. I engulfed his erection with my mouth and sucked as if my life depended upon it, maintaining eye contact the entire time. I enjoyed watching him stumble and stammer over his words, trying not to moan. I deep-throated him, and he grunted. I did it again, and he gripped hold of the sofa and silently mouthed, “Fuuuck,” so that Stan couldn’t hear him. We maintained eye contact every suck of the way, and when he was ready to blow his load, he ended the call with Stan abruptly. No good-byes, no nothing, just a desperate press of the end button. He gripped my hair as he had done earlier, but right before he could release, I stopped. I winked my eye, put his wet erection back in his shorts, zipped him back up, and got up from my knees.

  Revenge is so amazing.

  Chapter Seven

  I grabbed my cell phone from the table and called Carmen, while Zach sat there looking at me with the same expression I’d had when he’d left me stranded on the outskirts of Orgasmville.

  “Hi, Carmen,” I said, staring at Zach with an impish grin.

  “Is everything OK? How’d it go with Zach?”

  “Everything’s fine. I was just calling to see if you guys wanted some spaghetti.”

  “Sure. We’re at Matt’s.”

  I took my eyes off Zach and fell back onto the sofa. That was a great sign that she’d kept her end of our agreement.

  “Spill everything when you get here,” Carmen said to me.

  “I promise I wi—” My sentence was interrupted by peals of my own laughter as Zach wrestled with me on the sofa and grabbed the phone from me.

  “No. No, Zach. No fair. Take it like a man,” I said jokingly.

  “Hey, Carmen. Abi’s a bit…um…in trouble right now. We’ll be there soon.”

  Zach ended the call, put the phone back on the table, and stared at me impishly with a grin of his own. He came closer to me as I lay on the sofa, and we began kissing.

  “Aah, Ms. Winterfield, I underestimated you. And what great a revenge it was. I would have never imagined that you would make love to me with your mouth while I talked business on the phone. Do you know how painful that was for me? Holding back all of my passion and pleasure just so Stan couldn’t hear how you make me feel. Were you really going to leave me longing for release?”

  “Why not? You left me the same way,” I replied with a smile, licking my lips.

  “Indeed I did. So can I call it even and take you right here?”

  Zach started kissing my throat and running his left hand over my right breast. He pinched my left nipple between his right index and middle finger and tugged it outward. I sighed deeply as he sucked my left nipple slowly, gently. He turned and repeated the same to the right breast and nipple.

  He looked ardently at me with pure desire in his eyes and began to kiss my neck, whispering lovely sweet nothings in my ear.

  “No, Zach. I have to go to Matt’s. We can finish this later.”

  “No. Now, baby. I need you now,” he said in low tones as he removed his erection from his pants.

  “When I come back. I promise I won’t be long.”

  He rammed his bare erection inside me while promising that he wouldn’t be long either. He thrust inside of me and I screamed, “Get off of me! Get the fuck off of me!”

  Tears immediately came pouring from my eyes. He saw that I was in distress and jumped off of me. I curled into a fetal position with my back to him.

  “Oh, God. Not again. Please, God, not again.” I must’ve said this over and over before Zach finally came out of his stupor.

  “Abigail?” he called out, but I didn’t answer.

  He called out my name again, and still I didn’t answer. He gently touched my left arm, and I started screaming again. “Don’t touch me. Don’t fucking touch me.”

  “It’s me, Abigail. It’s, Zach. Abi, look at me. Look at me, please, Abi.” He quietly and patiently waited behind me. I never turned to look at him, so he slowly walked to the back of the sofa so that I could see him.

  “Abi? Look at me, please. Abi, it’s me, Zach.”

  I looked up at him and saw fear in his eyes, and I realized what had happened. I op
ened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Zach, holding both hands up in front of him, came around the sofa and sat beside me. He grabbed my robe from the floor where he had dropped it earlier.

  “Abi, I’m going to drape this over you. OK?” he said in a soft and calm voice. “Abi, I am sorry. I wasn’t trying to hurt you, at all. I thought…I…um. I thought we were…um. I thought it was OK to…um.” His voice belied his confusion. He didn’t know what to say or how to say it. “I should’ve listened when you said no. And I am so very sorry. My intentions were not to hurt, harm, or scare you. You have to believe me, Abi. I will never, ever hurt you.”

  “It wasn’t you. It’s me. Please leave,” I managed to say. I was outright embarrassed that my past had come to surface in a moment of innocent intimacy.

  “I’m not leaving you here like this. No fucking way, Abi. I’ll sit here until you are better. Besides, it was my fault. I should’ve waited like you asked. I honestly thought it was OK to push forward. You have to believe me, Abi.”

  I looked at him, closed my eyes, and started crying again. He reached out to console me but stopped halfway from reaching me in fear that he would set me off again.

  “Abi, I am going to lie behind you and wrap my arms around you. Is that OK with you?” he asked serenely. I didn’t respond. He slowly eased over to me, lay down behind me, put his right arm under my head, and gently wrapped his left around me. We lay silently together for what seemed like eternity.

  “Abi, can I get something for you? Do you want something to drink? Water? Tea? Anything?”

  “Carmen,” I answered with a shy whisper.

  He got up from the sofa and grabbed my phone from the table.

  “Seven one five one,” I called out, low in tone.

  “What’s that?”

  “The security code to my phone. Seven one five one.”

  Zach used the code to enter my phone and found Carmen’s phone number.

  Carmen was completely surprised to hear Zach’s voice from my cell requesting her to come right away. Carmen promised Zach that she would gut him like a fish if he had done anything to hurt or upset me.