"No, Rachel. I think it would be best if you stayed. After all, I am being accused of a rape I didn't commit. Leaving Ms. Nora here alone with me wouldn't be a good idea, would it?"
"No, sir, Mr. Boa."
"One or the other, Rachel. You don't need to use both."
"Right. Sorry."
Sebastian scrutinized Nora like he wasn't sure what to do with her. Finally, he asked, "Would you like a drink?"
"Yes, please." Nora folded her hands behind her back and looked around. She still wore her uniform and it fit her curves particularly well.
"Rachel, please pour Nora a drink from the bar in my office." He lifted his glass. "Bourbon alright?"
"That's fine."
"Bourbon, Rachel."
"Yes, sir, Mr… Yes, sir."
"Do you play?" Nora asked, nodding to his piano.
"No. Do you?" Too many people knew the truth already, and Sebastian didn't think he could handle a request to play. Remembering the night Mariss had joined him at his mother's piano was painful.
She shook her head, looking sheepish. "I'm not musically inclined."
"Hm. So, tell me why you're here."
Sebastian settled himself on the arm of a chair and took small sips of his drink.
"I thought that you… Well, I was hoping… You said you were cooperative on many different levels."
"Yes, but you're not here on official business. So, what brings you by?" He knew the look he gave her was smug as he lifted the glass to his lips again.
Nora frowned, suddenly angry, but before she could speak, Rachel returned.
"Here's your drink, Officer Copenhagen. Mr. Boa, would you like another?"
"Yes, please, Rachel. Nora, if there's nothing else you need, I don't see why you're still here."
Nora tossed back her drink. He shouldn't have been impressed. She worked with a lot of tough men and brought in worse as suspects in all manners of crime.
"I'm here because…" she faltered.
Sebastian shrugged. "If you can't even ask for what you want, how am I supposed to give it to you?" Yes. This felt more like what he was used to. His smugness and arrogance came flooding back. Everything of himself he'd put away because of Mariss now returned to him with easy gratification.
"You interrogated me not even an hour ago for a rape I'm accused of." He cocked an eyebrow. "If you want something from me, you'll ask for it. I won't be offering anything to you besides that drink, Officer Copenhagen."
She shuddered and he grinned. Nora's eyes went to his mouth and he scraped his teeth over his lower lip. The sexual tension in the room went from fifty percent to seventy five. He thought she was about to tell him what she wanted when the doorbell rang.
"Rachel," he said without taking his eyes from Nora. He thought she looked like she wanted to fan herself, but she shoved her hands in her pockets instead.
"Yes, sir."
Rachel opened the door.
"Who are you?" Hellena barged past her. "What's going on?"
Sebastian nodded to Nora. "Officer Copenhagen wanted something from me." Rachel brought Sebastian his new drink and took his empty glass.
"This is my new assistant Rachel. Rachel, Hellena."
"Nice to meet you," Rachel said.
"Ja," was Hellena's only reply.
"So, Nora. What will it be? You're more than welcome to leave, of course. I would never force anyone into something they were uncomfortable with." He chuckled a little. "Do you believe that? This is Hellena, by the way. She works for me and we have sex rather often. Sometimes she just watches."
He gauged her reaction to that information. Some of her discomfort seemed to ease.
"Nora, I'll be frank. I can be a patient man, but I have somewhere to be this evening and I need to discuss Rachel's job with her a bit further. Is there something you want to ask me? Otherwise, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."
Nora nodded. "I want to fuck you," she said in a rush of words, like if she didn't just get it out she knew she wouldn't be able to.
"Of course you do." Sebastian turned from her and headed toward his bedroom. "I have one other stipulation," he insisted. "We'll be recording it. For my own personal safety, of course."
Nora nodded. "Of course. Do I have your word that this won't, uh, come back to bite me later?"
Sebastian shot her a look. "Oh, yes, that would be a problem, wouldn't it? I'll give you my word, though I'm not entirely certain that you believe that I didn't try to rape anyone, so I'm not sure what good that would do." He chuckled.
"Rachel, you're free to go." Sebastian pulled his shirt over his head as his new, incompetent assistant stuck her bespectacled face out of the office door. Her cheeks flushed bright red and she stumbled face first into the marble floor. Rachel's thick-rimmed glasses skipped across the slick surface and hit the wall on the other side of the front hall. Her little cry of surprise and pain brought Sebastian to her side.
"Are you alright?" he asked, his voice laced with concern. He helped Rachel into a sitting position. Blood ran from her nose. "Bloody hell. Hellena, get a towel." To Rachel, he said, "I don't think it's broken."
"Oh, that's alright. It wouldn't be the first time."
"Hm. Well, we'll get you some ice for that. Nora, if you don't mind?"
"Of course."
"Kitchen is through there," Sebastian said, pointing around the piano. "You're quite clumsy aren't you?" he asked Rachel.
"Yeah. Sometimes. It's no big deal though."
Hellena came back with a hand towel. Sebastian pressed it to Rachel's nose. "Hold it there," he commanded. "Tilt your head back to help stop the bleeding."
"Here's the ice," Nora said. She handed him a tied baggy she'd found in the kitchen.
"Thank you." He pressed this to Rachel's nose too, over the towel. "Do you want to go to hospital?" he asked, noting that her left eye looked like it was starting to bruise.
"No, I'm fine. I think I'll be okay."
"I'm going to send you anyway." Sebastian put Rachel's hand over the ice pack on her nose. "I'm going to call my car and have you taken to make sure you're not concussed, yes?"
"Yes, okay. Thank you, Mr. Boa, sir." Rachel heaved a heavy sigh and started to cry. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to be so clumsy."
"Don't cry, sweetheart." Sebastian rubbed Rachel's arm. "Stop that. You're alright."
Sebastian called his driver. "I need you to take my new assistant to hospital. Would you please come up and get her? Thank you." He hung up and said, "It's done. He'll be up in a moment. You doing alright?"
Rachel nodded, even though her head was still tilted back against the wall.
"Good. I want you to text me when you make it to the ER and again when you find out if you have a concussion, are we clear?"
"Yes, sir, Mr. Boa. Thanks you."
"Can't have you bleeding on the marble, can we?" he joked. Rachel smiled.
Sebastian helped Rachel to the door when his driver came for her, then turned to Nora and Hellena. Their wide eyes blinked at him like they'd never seen him before.
"What's the problem?" he asked, his voice dropping to an almost-growl. "Why are you two still dressed? Hellena, set up the camera in the office, yes? I'll be right there."
Sebastian went to the kitchen and looked in the refrigerator. It took him a moment to find what he wanted. He carried it into the office with him.
Hellena sat behind his desk while Nora sat in one of the other chairs. They were both naked.
"Clear the desk, Hellena. Nora, lay on top. Is the camera on?"
"Yep," Hellena answered. Sebastian shot her a look and she grinned. "Yes, sir."
"Good." Once Nora was situated, Sebastian splayed the banana peel across her stomach and held up the peeled fruit.
"Where the hell is that supposed to go?" Nora shrieked.
Sebastian just grinned.
***
The book launch was supposed to be a role play party. Of course, seeing that a club like his - owned by a ma
n similar to himself - was the main focus of the story, he'd been asked to dress as the main character in a three piece suit and tie. All black on red, of course.
What he hadn't banked on was that Mariss was asked to portray the main female character. Having not read the book, he hadn't expected Mariss' character to show up in a black lace corset dress that hid nothing but her breasts. And even they weren't fully covered. She by no means stood out, at least not in the manner of her dress, but he couldn't take his eyes off her. Hellena would never have worn something so revealing because of her scars.
The cream-colored breast cups stood out against her honey-toned skin with matching boning running down to her hips where it disappeared in a froth of skirts that barely covered her arse. Everything else was see-through.
Sebastian took a moment to collect himself before he walked over to the table he'd set up for them. The club was in full swing by this time of night and the table was crowded. Rachel tagged along behind him.
"I'm surprised your husband let you out of the house looking like that," Sebastian said in her ear, so she would hear him.
"I got the outfit approved before I left," she admitted.
"Of course you did. You look lovely, at any rate."
"Thanks. You look resplendent, as always."
As always. So then, it wasn't much of a complement, was it?
There was a commotion at the front door and the three models from the shoot came in. Paul was half dressed, wearing fireman's trousers with red suspenders and a fireman's helmet. Tattoos was, of course, in leather pants and no shirt so his ink was on full display. His arms were wrapped in leather bracelets. A large silver cross hung from his neck and his eyes were thickly lined with dark eyeliner. The Marine was dressed like a Marine. How original.
Something brushed against Sebastian's arm and he looked down to see Eloisa standing next to him.
"Mr. H is here!" she called, referring to the character he was supposed to be portraying. "Now the party can get started." She winked at him.
Sebastian grinned. "I know nothing about this Mr. H."
Eloisa shrugged and took a drink. "That's alright. Donna, the author, has a bit of an obsession with you, so you're pretty much him. Except that he's in his twenties and has longer hair and brown eyes. She didn't want it to be too obvious." She winked.
Sebastian laughed. "No, that wouldn't do. And the three models? What are they here for?"
"Mariss invited them this afternoon. They're supposed to be the three strippers in the book."
"Right. It sounds like someone has some latent sexual fantasies." Eloisa laughed at him. "Which one is the author?"
She pointed to a woman sitting on the outside of the table. She was pretty with long, chestnut hair and well done makeup. When she smiled, he could see that she was a very kind woman.
"She's not married or seeing anyone." Eloisa shrugged. "She's a great woman though. We've all enjoyed working with her."
Mariss lifted her glass into the air in an attempt to get everyone's attention. Sebastian made his way closer to them. After a moment the table went quiet, though Mariss had to shout over the rest of the noise in the club to be heard.
"First of all," she began, "I'd like to thank Sebastian for the use of his club tonight and welcome him aboard as half owner at Red Wife Media Group." She shot him a pointed look.
There was a round of applause and cheers. Sebastian bowed and fought to look humble and sober. "It was my pleasure," he said.
"Donna, we want you to know how much fun we've had working on your project and we hope to work with you on many more." There was more cheering. "And we wish you all the success in the world. Alright. Enough with the serious stuff. Time to party!"
A loud cheer went up from the table, drawing the attention of the other clubbers.
Sebastian made nice with the partiers, signing autographs and making jokes. As the night progressed, so did his drunkenness until he forced himself to take a seat before he fell on his face. It was about that time he realized how tipsy the three models were getting.
Donna was getting a lap dance from the marine who finally seemed to be enjoying himself. Sebastian looked for the other two and found Mariss sandwiched between them, dancing like she was having the time of her life.
Fury made his blood boil. Convinced she was doing this to make him look the fool, he looked around for someone, anyone, and caught Eloisa's hungry stare. He crooked a finger, motioning her over. She didn't hesitate. When she was in front of him, Sebastian tugged her closer so she was straddling his hips.
"You want to go to the backroom?" he asked.
Eloisa nodded.
Sebastian stood and dragged her beside him. When he got to the office, he locked the door and set her on the edge of his desk. She wore a miniskirt and a tube top with no bra that he could see. He shoved her skirt up over her hips and spread her legs wide to find she wasn't wearing any panties either.
"Did you come prepared?" he asked.
"Maybe."
Sebastian raised an eyebrow and knelt in front of her. He wobbled a little as he took a sip of his ice cold drink.
Without preamble, he pushed his cold tongue into Eloisa's warm depths. She moaned and let out a heavy sigh that suggested she'd waited a long time to be with him like this.
"Do you want this?" he asked before he took another sip. He popped a piece of ice in his mouth and rubbed it leisurely up and down her slit. She tried to jerk away from the cold, but he gripped her hips in place. "Answer the question, Eloisa. I'm sure you know by now that I'm being framed for rape. I want your consent before I do anything, or I'll record this."
"Yes, I want this," she moaned when he put the ice to her again.
"Just so we're clear." Sebastian licked the excess liquid away. He wasn't particularly turned on. With so much alcohol buzzing through his system it would take more than this to get him going.
Like Mariss. If this was Mariss he'd be ready to go. He twitched a little at that thought. Sebastian licked the salt off the inside of Eloisa's thigh. That helped some. Without looking, Sebastian reached up and pulled her top down so he could palm one of her breasts.
"You want to do the honors?" he asked. When Eloisa frowned he said, "I've been drinking all afternoon. Old boy doesn't want to cooperate."
"Oh, I can fix that."
Eloisa slipped off the desk and hit her knees. She quickly unfastened his trousers and pulled him free. Making some comment about his lack of underpants, she took him into her mouth.
She was right. Eloisa was very good with her mouth. In no time at all she had him more than ready to seal the deal. Sebastian set her back on the desk and fished a condom from his pocket. When it was on, he braced himself on the desktop, his hands on either side of Eloisa's hips, and rammed home.
Eloisa cried out, her hands gripping his shoulders. Sebastian growled into her shoulder. He licked a line up her neck to her ear, then bit her earlobe. She came suddenly, her lips pressed into his suit jacket to muffle the sound.
Sebastian took a handful of her hair and scraped his teeth over her jaw. He came on a moan, licking more salt from her skin, and shuddered.
Pressing a kiss to her jaw, Sebastian pulled out. It wasn't his best performance, but it surely wasn't his worst. Eloisa didn't seem put off by it, so he cleaned himself off with some tissue and tucked himself back in. He straightened his appearance in the mirror and let Eloisa do the same.
"Do you need a brush?"
Eloisa shook her head as she ran her fingers through her hair. "Nope." She grinned.
Sebastian opened the door and the din of electronica became a blast of sound as they made their way back out to the floor. He rounded the corner to be caught in Mariss' level stare. How long she'd been waiting he couldn't be sure. Eloisa came up beside him and stopped short.
The emotion drained from Mariss' face a lot like it had earlier that day. Sebastian nodded to her, raised his glass, and hooked an arm around Eloisa, pulling her against his side. She w
as stiff against him, so he let her go.
Mariss nodded to someone, said something to Juliet, and grabbed a purse and jacket. In one smooth motion, she covered herself with a knee length trench coat. Sebastian watched her walk to the door, then outside.
"Damn," Eloisa said under her breath and hurried after her. He stayed on her heels, pushing the door open.
"Mariss, stop." Eloisa jogged down the sidewalk, barely able to catch up.
Sebastian kept quiet, taking long-legged strides to catch up to Mariss. All of a sudden, she spun around and nailed Eloisa with a betrayed look that didn't match the calm tone of her voice.
"Did you have sex?"
Eloisa stumbled to a stop. "Yes."
"You're fired. You." Mariss poked him in the chest.
Sebastian looked down at her finger, then back up at her face.
"I don't know what I did to deserve all this." She blinked hard a few times. Bloody hell, she was crying.
Mariss didn't say anything else. She turned and got into the car that pulled up next to them.
"I mean it, Eloisa. Come to the office in the morning to get your things. You're fired."
The car door slammed and pulled away from the curb. Eloisa turned to him, but she didn't look particularly disappointed.
"Was it worth it?" Sebastian asked.
Eloisa shrugged. "Was it?"
He frowned. Something in her eyes shifted and she turned away from him.
***
Sebastian wasn't sure how long he stood on the curb. When Hellena found him, he was sitting down.
"Bash? What are you doing out here?"
Sebastian looked up at her. "I'm not sure. I've been drinking."
"I can smell that you have. Let's get you back inside."
"No. Call my car. I'm going home."
Hellena took his mobile from his pocket. It wasn't until she settled beside him on the leather seats and the car was moving that he snapped out of whatever trance had fallen on him.
"You alright?" Hellena asked.
He nodded. "Thank you."
"You don't have to thank me."
"Yes, I do." Sebastian took her hand so she would look at him. "I don't let you know just how much I appreciate everything you do for me."
Hellena's eyebrows went up, then she laughed. "Sebastian, you're drunk."
The Man Without Rules Page 28