by Sam Crescent
“Can I consider you my friend?” she asked.
“Yes. I consider you the same. I like the time we spend together.”
She smiled. “Me, too.”
Silence fell between them. Daniel teased her hair, and the tension in the air seemed to grow. She didn’t say anything for the longest time, and when it looked like he was going to, the doorbell rang.
“Food,” he said.
“Yeah, food.”
She climbed off him, grabbing a robe. He already had on a pair of shorts and was going to answer the door before she’d even finished getting dressed. She really needed to get her shit together when it came to Daniel.
Securing the belt on her robe, she stared at her reflection and berated herself. He doesn’t want a woman that wears her heart on her sleeve.
Feeling happier that she was in control, she made her way toward the dining room where Daniel already had food waiting for them.
Don’t fall.
Do not fall.
****
“I look like a fat nurse,” Elizabeth said.
Daniel grabbed her hand, pulling her over his lap and lifting up her skirt. Within seconds, he slapped her ass three times, making her scream as he swatted her flesh.
“Hey!”
Releasing her, he lifted her up, laughing as she rubbed her sore ass.
“That wasn’t funny,” she said.
“Don’t put yourself down. I think you look rather sexy, and you’re making me ache.” He grabbed her hand, placing it on his cock. “This is what you do to me.”
Standing up, he cupped her face, slamming his lips down on hers. He’d picked up their costumes before driving to the apartment he had just for their meetings.
She refused to move in even though it would be cheaper for her. He would never understand women.
“How do I look?” he asked.
The doctor’s uniform had a stethoscope, and had droplets of blood all over.
“Like the sexy doctor with a killing streak.”
There was blood on her uniform, which gaped at the breasts, showing a great deal of cleavage. He’d gotten her size right as well, which he loved.
“I can’t promise this party will be any fun.”
“Will it beat the haunted college?” she asked.
He frowned, looking toward her.
“It’s really lame, but campus has been preparing for Halloween all week, and they’re really excited about it. They do this haunted college every single year. They sometimes do these little tricks that if you enter a room you’ve got to solve it to get out while things jump out at you and freak you out.”
“Were you invited to go?” he asked, not liking the jealousy that once again struck him. In the past couple of months he’d noticed the guy who’d been sitting with her—Billy, she said his name was—kept watching her.
Daniel didn’t like it, and all it made him want to do was to stake his claim on her and to show everyone else who she belonged to.
Each time he had to force himself to stop because that wasn’t the agreement they had. She showed no interest in any other man. In fact, he’d seen her smile brighten more when she saw him.
“I was. My study group is going, and that guy Billy asked me to stop by. I told them all I couldn’t. I had a date and he wanted me to go with him.” She finished brushing her hair and placed a cap on her head. “I’m ready to go when you are.”
“Let’s go.” He took her hand, leading her toward his car. No one paid any attention to them, as it was Halloween and there would be random parties all around the city. Nothing to jump out at anyone.
The venue he was going to was one his offices had rented out. The party was always a big deal, allowing clients, friends, and family to come together.
Most of the time he avoided it, since to most people it was more of a pissing contest for who’d won the most cases, or who had the better family.
He didn’t compare shit with anyone.
This would be the first time he’d gone and ever taken a date.
Elizabeth wasn’t like the people he worked with. She was a sheep among wolves, but the only way he could get through the party was knowing she would be there so he had something to look forward to.
“What do I do when people ask how we met?” she asked.
“A friend of a friend. It’s not a lie,” he said.
“And what do I say if they ask what we mean to each other?”
“You’re my girlfriend. We stick to all the normal stuff. They don’t need to know our arrangement.” He took her hand, pressing a kiss to her knuckles. “That’s private and between us. No matter what, I won’t tell a soul what our arrangement is. Of that, you have my word.”
She relaxed a little but not completely. Arriving at the large venue, he rolled his eyes at the decorations. Shaking skeletons, coffins, cobwebs, it was all over the house, and so was the loud music as well.
Valets stood waiting, dressed as zombies. Handing the keys over, Daniel took Elizabeth’s arm, and together they entered the lavish party.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like this,” she said, grasping his arm. Once inside, he saw a large buffet table, and everyone was dressed up as something.
“Well, well, well, I didn’t think for a second that you’d turn up. Isn’t this a little out of your league?” Lydia asked.
He smiled, looking toward one of his exes. She was a fellow lawyer who worked for another company. This was the point of the party, several different companies coming together to show how amiable they could be.
Daniel called it bullshit, and another reason to exploit their differences. He wasn’t interested in comparing cases he’d won or lost.
“I couldn’t resist seeing what all the fuss is about. After all, I help to fund them all,” he said.
“Yeah, but you’ve never brought yourself low enough to actually be part of it all. Who is this? A budding lawyer?”
“This my woman, Elizabeth. Baby, this is Lydia.”
“Hello,” Elizabeth said, shaking her hand.
“I’m one of the many exes around here. Don’t worry, you won’t be short of company. Daniel gets around a bit.”
He gritted his teeth. “Pleasure to see you. If you excuse me, I want to dance.” He took Elizabeth onto the dance floor.
“You don’t have to worry if we bump into one of your exes,” she said. “She seemed … pissed.”
“I ended the relationship when she hoped for a ring. I only wanted a good time. She wanted forever, and to use our names to further her own career. I believe she wants to run for office or some shit like that. She has no interest in the law. She’s using it to get elsewhere.”
“You have no interest in doing anything else?”
“I love the law. I spent a long time living and breathing it. I’m not going to throw it away on a future that is uncertain. If you love something enough, why change it to be something else?”
“I get it. I do. I respect it as well. I’ve also decided my major, and my classes will be changing after Christmas so that I can focus more on psychology.”
“That’s what you want to be?”
“Yes. I truly believe I can help people. That’s what I wish to do, and I have you to thank for that. I wouldn’t have been able to figure out what I wanted to be without you.”
It felt good having her in his arms.
“I’m glad.”
She pressed a kiss to his lips. “Thank you.” She rested her head on his shoulder, and for a few seconds he closed his eyes, basking in her touch. The way she drew him in, and just made him fall for her even more.
There was nowhere else he wanted to be right now.
Lydia had embarrassed him with her brash attitude, and the way she made it clear he’d been with her.
Elizabeth took it all in her stride, though.
After a dance, they mingled a little more. Several of his clients were intrigued by Elizabeth, but he didn’t let her out of his sight, not once.
Friends of friends had arrived as well, and he saw that a couple more of his exes had arrived.
“I couldn’t believe it when Lydia said you were here. Imagine my surprise, darling,” Katie said, leaning in as if to kiss him.
Taking her hand, he shook it.
“Katie, I’d like you to meet my girlfriend, Elizabeth.”
He watched as Katie gave her a contemptuous look. Wrapping his arm around Elizabeth’s waist, he pulled her close.
“Wow, I didn’t think for a second you did the girlfriend thing,” Katie said. “You know you’re one in a long line of them. If I was you, I’d stay clear of this man. Really clear.”
“Leave,” he said.
Katie shot him a glare before turning on her heel and walking away.
Turning to Elizabeth, he tilted her head back and saw her smiling. There was a little sadness in her eyes, but she didn’t say anything to him. “I think a couple of women miss you.”
He laughed.
There was no way he could help it.
“Come on, let’s dance a little more.” Once again, he had her on the dance floor, enjoying the beat of the music.
He held her hand as he twirled her out from his body, then tucked her back in so that her ass nestled against his crotch.
“I wish we were elsewhere,” he said.
“You weren’t kidding about women wanting a lot more from you,” she said. “They really don’t like me.”
He spun her around and brought her close to him, staring into her brown eyes. “Don’t let them get to you. I didn’t bring you here to throw them in your face. I’ve been asked to come so many times, and if I’m being honest, I wanted you here so that you didn’t go to your party on campus.”
Daniel had seen the flier in the coffee shop before she’d brought it up. In fact, he had to bring it up first in order to get her to even talk about it. She rarely talked about herself or her friends. They discussed everything but personal stuff, and it had taken him a long time to realize that he didn’t really know all that much about her. Sure, he knew what she liked in bed, and how to touch her to bring her to orgasm.
He didn’t know her favorite color, or what she enjoyed.
After mingling for a couple of hours, and her meeting his colleagues, Daniel couldn’t wait to have her to himself, and so, escaping the party, he took her toward one of the spare rooms.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
Opening one of the doors, he pulled her inside, pressing her up against the wall. “I think it’s time for the doctor to see you now.” He pressed a hand between her thighs, finding her incredibly wet.
His cock pulsed as a fresh wave of arousal washed over him.
“I feel sick, doctor. Only your tender care can help.”
Pulling down his pants, he pulled out his cock, lifted her up, found her heat, and filled her. Her tight pussy surrounded him, and he pulled out only to slam deep inside her.
There was no way he could give this up.
No way at all.
Chapter Eight
Lizzie: I like it when you go all dirty. You make me so wet.
Time didn’t seem to matter to Elizabeth anymore. Her time was spent with Daniel, college, or work. She found herself looking forward to the times with him more than anything, and that scared her a little.
So when he said he needed to leave to help with a case several hours away, she didn’t mind. The distance helped for her to put their relationship into perspective.
They didn’t have a relationship.
He was her boss.
The guy she slept with for money.
Standing in the library late one Friday evening, she glanced through the shelves, looking for a title that would help with her latest assignment, learning and identifying behavioral practices.
“Hello, stranger,” Billy said, startling her.
She gasped as she’d been so deep in thought that she didn’t hear him come close.
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you.”
“It’s fine.” Closing the book, she held it in her arms and was about to pass by him.
“I’ve not seen you around here for a couple of weeks.”
“I’ve been really busy.”
“With your older boyfriend?” he asked.
She didn’t say anything, waiting for whatever he was going to say. Since the Halloween party she’d been trying to put some distance between her and Daniel. She answered whenever he called, but she also stopped doing so much studying while she was in his company.
For some reason in the past couple of months she’d gotten into the habit of sharing stories she’d read online that she found shocking or just plain funny.
With him away, she was more than okay to try to focus on her studies and work. Even as she tried not to think about him, her body had other ideas. At night she’d wake up missing his touch, and the way he’d stroke her just to hold her.
“You’re very quiet about that. You don’t speak about anything, do you?” he asked.
“My relationship is no one else’s business.” She shrugged. “I don’t expect you to share your relationships with me.” Nor was she interested in knowing the details.
“So you’re still dating him.”
Elizabeth sighed, staring at him. “What is all this about?” she asked.
“What’s what?”
“Cut the bull here. I’m not a sophomore or a high school girl. I’ve seen the way you and your little clique operate. I’m not buying this sudden interest in me.” She tilted her head to the side. “Is this some kind of joke, or are you betting money? I’m sure that’s the latest rumor I’ve heard.”
Spending most of her time alone, and tending to be invisible, she got to hear a lot of the gossip. Most of it was crap, but she heard there was a bet going on between Billy and his friends that he can’t get a girl into bed. If he does, he wins a couple thousand dollars, and some car.
Billy’s face went bright red, and for some reason, Elizabeth found this to be the most entertaining thing she’d seen.
“Wow!” She shook her head. “I’m the girl. Right? You’ve made a bet to see if you can get me into bed.” She bent over laughing, and remembering that she was in the library, she continued to laugh all the way back to her desk.
She saw several of his friends waiting at the table, and that just set her off. Even though there were several people studying, and she hated being the center of attention, she couldn’t control her humor.
“This is just … I cannot believe this.” She picked up her bag and books before returning her attention back to him. “No. Hell no. It’s never going to happen.”
She borrowed out the books, leaving a shocked Billy and his friends behind.
Walking the short distance to her apartment, she dropped her bag and books before calling Daniel.
This was the first time she’d have called him in a week.
Grabbing a soda out of her fridge, she dropped down into her chair and waited for him to pick up.
“Hello,” he said.
She frowned as he sounded a little put out. “Would you like me to call another time?”
“No, no, everything is fine.” Elizabeth heard some laughter in the background along with music.
“What’s wrong?”
“Oh, nothing was wrong. I just wanted to tell you something. You know, to do with Billy.”
“Are you dating him?”
“No, of course not. He asked me out, and I figured out that it was all for some kind of bet. I’d been hearing a lot of rumors, and I couldn’t—”
“Daniel, baby, come on. It’s our party. Come and join the fun.”
Everything inside Elizabeth froze.
The feminine voice sounded flirtatious and familiar with Daniel.
Biting her lip, she heard Daniel respond.
“So what was this about a bet?” he asked.
“Erm, it’s nothing. I’m tired. I’m sorry to have disturbed you. I’ve got to go.”
She quickly ended the call, dropping her cell phone onto the sofa between her thighs.
Her heart raced, and she hated that her tears began to sting from the pain.
She didn’t know what to think in that moment. Her cell phone buzzed, but with how close the tears were, she didn’t trust herself to answer. Turning her cell phone off, her apartment seemed so quiet.
He was with another woman, and she sounded way more familiar than Elizabeth would have liked.
Determined to put it to the back of her mind, she focused on the book right in front of her, wishing more than anything that she could just forget it. She didn’t need or want to think about Daniel right now.
No matter how hard she tried to focus on the pages of her book, her breaking heart wouldn’t let her. Finally giving up, she grabbed her cell phone and headed toward her bedroom.
She needed to turn it on as she used her phone as an alarm.
Sitting down on her empty bed, she stared at the phone, wishing she could just leave it, and not have to worry about him calling her.
In that moment she realized that even though he didn’t want to share her, and she’d agreed to no other men, Daniel hadn’t done the same about women. He was the boss, and this she needed to remember. Just because she enjoyed his company and he was a lot of fun, he paid her to be there.
It didn’t matter if she hated that reality as it was the truth.
Finally, accepting that, she turned her cell phone on. She lay down in bed, getting comfortable. The moment her cell phone loaded, her cell began to beep with missed calls and texts.
She saw five missed calls and several texts.
Daniel: You didn’t need to hang up.
Daniel: It’s not what it sounded like.
Daniel: Look, I’m at a family party, and there’s a lot of women here from my past. Not lovers either. Just people I remember growing up, their kids, and whatnot.
Daniel: The woman you heard is the mother of two kids, and is very much in love with her actor husband.
Daniel: Elizabeth … please answer the phone.
Staring at the messages, guilt swamped her, and she gasped as in that moment, her cell phone began to ring.
She debated answering it but saw no real choice.
“Hello,” she said.