“No touching,” I tell her as I smack her ass lightly. “Me or you.”
She groans, but moves her hand back to her side. I caress her ass, and then move my fingers inside her cheeks. As I run my finger lightly over her puckered skin, she grabs my wrist, hard.
“No, Kace.”
I immediately move my hand around to the front and pinch her nipple. She arches her back as her hand goes back where it belongs. She’s close, but so am I. I need her to come first, or for us to come together.
“I’m going to let you play with your tits now, because I want you to come,” I whisper to her as I snake my fingers into her.
I can’t see what she’s doing, but I know it’s working. She’s drenching my fingers and moving faster. I feel her come as she screams my name. I come right after, shooting my load all over both of us. She leans forward, but then stops. Good girl.
“You can have a taste.”
She places her hands by my sides as she leans down and licks my stomach. Watching her do that has my cock growing again. I lift her up before she can have any more because I won’t be able to take it, and I want to clean us both up. “Kace.”
“I said a taste. Now I need to clean us up.”
I carry her into the bathroom, and place her on the counter. She kisses me before I can do anything else. I pull back and smile at her as I grab the washcloth and soap. I wash her off first and then start to clean myself.
“I love your ass.”
“Thanks.”
“I want it.”
“I said no.”
“Not even fingers?”
“Is this going to be a problem, Kace? Because I won’t change my mind.”
“You’ve never done it?”
“I have.”
What the fuck. “But you won’t with me? Really?”
She pushes me back and jumps off the counter, walking back into the bedroom. She starts pulling on her clothes, and I grab her arm to stop her. She yanks it free and keeps getting dressed. “I sometimes manage to forget how young you are.”
“What does that have to do with anything? I thought we were over the damn age thing.”
She stops and looks at me. “Just because I’ve done something, doesn’t mean I enjoyed it. I’ve done pretty much anything you could think of, Kace. Because I wanted to try it all. I know what I like, and what I’ll never do again. I told you I won’t change my mind.”
“Okay. I’m sorry. I just haven’t done it, and they do it in the…umm…well, stuff I watch.”
“You watch porn and like seeing women get fucked up the ass?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re a guy. That should turn you on. I’m sure one of your groupies would let you do it.”
She’s dressed now. And walking out of the room. I can’t let her leave. “I don’t want them. And I won’t ever try it with you. I promise. Don’t go.”
“I have to, Kace. I-I don’t feel safe with you here.”
I reel back from her words. “Excuse me?”
“It’s just…this is your place. Your band is doing a show here, so you could ask for whatever you want. Do whatever you want—and they’d look the other way, or help you even. I don’t want to wake up and find myself in a situation I don’t want.”
“I wouldn’t ever force you,” I say through gritted teeth.
She leans over and kisses my cheek, not letting me pull away from her as she holds my face so I have to look in her eyes. “I want to believe that, but you were really angry right now. And I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t still a little hurt by what you said to me, and that I feel like we just argued right now because of you still believing it. We haven’t known each other long enough for me to trust you unconditionally. So I’m going to leave. I’ll see you tomorrow at work, and then we can go to my place after.”
“Your place?”
“Yes.”
“So you’ll feel in charge. I get it. I’m really sorry that I made you distrust me. I was being a jerk by getting mad. I understand that no is no. I promise. And I honestly don’t believe what I said. I’ll need to keep showing you that, though, and not just say the words. I get it.”
She kisses me on the mouth. Running her fingers through my hair. “We can both be in charge tomorrow. I just feel more comfortable there.”
“Then that’s where we’ll go.”
I get a few more kisses before she leaves, and she also thanks me for being patient with her. I don’t want her to go, but I won’t stop her. I do understand that how I reacted was wrong. I was just jealous of the guys who got to do everything with her. But I shouldn’t be. They had her for one night, and I’m getting more. If I can work this right, I might even get forever.
Chapter 9
Stella
I know I made the right choice last night, but I hated leaving. I had to stand up for myself, though. If I’d done something I didn’t want to, it could’ve been the end for us. And I definitely don’t want that.
Today’s one of the biggest photo shoots the guys have, so I need to be in clothes that are comfortable. I didn’t feel like wearing pants, so I’m in a sleeveless cropped shirt and a long flared skirt that goes past my knees and has a zipper up the front. It’s still winter, so I throw on an electric blue motorcycle jacket. My hair is up in a ponytail, and my makeup is in place. Shiny blue flats complete my look. I hope Kace likes it. Because yes, I am becoming that girl. The one who dresses for her boyfriend. Or whatever he is.
He smiles when I walk in and comes over to give me a kiss. “I thought I’d get pants today. This outfit is so much better. You look gorgeous.”
“Thanks. I…never mind.”
“Nope. Tell me,” he says as he lifts my head.
“I was hoping you’d like it.”
A smile lights up his whole face. “You dressed for me? Now I know I’m the luckiest guy in the world.”
“Don’t forget it.”
“I won’t.”
“Are you planning on working today, Stella? Or did you come here to flirt with Kace?” Marvin asks me with a glare.
Kace starts to move towards him, but I grab his arm. “I can do both. I’m very good at multi-tasking.”
“From what I’ve heard, you’d have to be.”
“Don’t,” I tell Kace as I step in front of him. “He’s not worth the trouble.”
I know it’s not just me he wants to punch Marvin for. I’ve seen the pictures he’s protecting. His mom and Marvin were pretty wild, even by my standards. Like seriously, BDSM to the extreme.
“We need good pictures today, Marv. Waving the red flag in front of the bull won’t be a good thing,” Chad tells him.
“And jealousy isn’t a good look on you Marv,” Kace adds with a smirk.
“You think I want her?”
“You’re a guy with a heartbeat. You want her. But she’s mine. So back the fuck off.”
“You’re his, huh Stella?”
“Yes. I am.”
“Just get to work. All of you.”
Well, that was interesting. Kace was right. Marv was practically undressing me with his eyes. I kind of wanted to hurl. I would never. Even if I wasn’t with Kace. I may have slept around, but I have standards. Smarmy creeps are definitely not my thing.
I walk over to the clothing rack, picking things out, and Kace tries to control his anger. “You should’ve let me punch him. No one’s going to talk to you like that with me around.”
“I appreciate it, but you’d be fighting all day and night. He’s not the first, and I can pretty much guarantee that he won’t be the last.”
I hand him some jeans, and he drops the ones he’s wearing to put them on. Damn, if my mouth doesn’t water. “My eyes are up here, love,” he tells me with a laugh.
“A couple of weeks ago, you wanted me to look at your package,” I tease.
“Oh I do. But only when I can do something about it.”
“Later.”
“Oh, I know. Believe me, I’ve been
thinking about it since you left last night.”
I smile, until he takes off his shirt. Then I’m consumed with lust again. He’s not crazy muscular, but he is built. The guys all work out for a couple of hours each day, and I totally appreciate the time he puts in. His shoulders, arms, chest, and damn, those abs he’s rocking. I can’t wait to lick them later. That, and the glorious V I always partially cover up. Little girls don’t need to see that. Okay, they want to see that, but they can’t. It’s bad enough that they get to see at least part of his tattoo.
“Are you going to give me my shirt?” he asks, his eyes twinkling.
I hand it to him and roll the sleeves up a little after he puts it on. I adjust his jeans and briefs. That little hint of his tattoo and a sliver of his underwear above his jeans really is going to drive the girls wild. The shirt isn’t right, though. I motion for him to take it off as I pull a short sleeved one off the rack instead. We trade, and I see I was right. His arm muscles are straining against the sleeves with a hint of his guns popping out of the bottom of them. Hot. Like really hot.
“Perfect.”
“Why thank you.”
“I mean the clothes.”
“No you didn’t. Well, not totally.”
We both smile because we know he’s right. I get a quick kiss on the collarbone before he heads over to the make-up chair. As I sift through the clothes for his next outfit, I feel someone next to me. I turn and see Brett.
“Hi, Brett.”
“Is he nice to you?”
“Kace?”
“Yeah.”
“He is, but that’s really none of your business.” He’s a nice guy but this conversation is a little weird.
“I’ve always thought he was a nice guy. I just wanted to make sure.”
“You’ve been friends a long time, haven’t you?”
“No. Marv added me right before we went into the recording studio.”
“Oh, I thought you went to high school together.”
“He wanted people to think that. Marv even paid someone to plant records of me at the same school as them, and other stuff.”
That’s interesting. Very interesting. “I guess it makes the story better if you were all friends.”
“Yeah. I guess. I better get over there,” he says, motioning to where Kace is watching us from his chair.
“Probably.”
I shrug at Kace when he raises an eyebrow at me. I don’t know what that was about. I take out my phone and text the info to Tegan, Ainsley, and Isa. We need to know who Brett really is.
The shoot goes really well. The guys all bring it and there’s no fighting. My mom and I got to sit and chat for most of the time. It’s really nice to work with her. The other stylists give me a wide berth, which sucks. But it is what it is. Kace and I are just getting ready to head out, when his phone buzzes.
“Motherfucker,” he says.
My stomach drops. I know who it’s from if he’s reacting like that. And it can’t be good.
* * *
Kace
Today has been great. The shoot was actually fun, and I had my girl to eat with on our break. And now I’m planning on going back to her place to make love to her all night. Pretty much the perfect day. So of course my damn blackmailer has to go and ruin it.
I read the text again, as Stella tries to catch my eye. She knows something’s up by the way I reacted. I couldn’t help but react. And I won’t do what it asks. I can’t.
I need to talk to my mom. Tell her what’s going on. Because this will affect her, too. But I just can’t do what I’m being told to. It’s too much.
“I need to talk to my mom. Can I meet you at your place later?”
“Yeah. Is everything okay?”
“No. And it’s only going to get worse.”
“Can I help you? Let me help you, Kace.”
“I wish you could,” I tell her honestly as I kiss her. “I promise to be over later, okay?”
“Yeah. Call if you need me before then. I mean it. Anything you need, K.”
“Thanks.”
She gets a text as she waits for the elevator, and her gasp makes me turn around. She meets my eyes and smiles. “Go see your mom, Kace. I just got a message that shocked me a little.”
That makes two of us. I nod and turn back around, walking up to my mom as she’s packing up her e-reader. “I need to talk to you, Mom.”
“Of course. What’s up?”
“Not here.”
“Okay? You’re scaring me a little.”
“Something’s been going on. And it’s pretty bad. I was trying to keep it from you—I wanted to protect you. But I can’t anymore.”
“You don’t need to protect me. It’s my job to protect you.”
“Will you go with me, somewhere?”
“Of course.”
I take her hand and we walk out. I drive to the Corrigan & Co. building. When I texted Mel, she said I should meet her there at the Corrigan & Co. Foundation offices. I’m not sure why, but she’s the professional. The guards are expecting us, and we’re waved through to the parking lot.
This place is like a fortress. The receptionist gives us badges and activates the elevator for us. There’s no button for me to push inside, and when it moves on its own, I feel like I’m in a spy movie. Kind of like at Stella’s place.
The receptionist in the foundation offices is Alex Griffin. “Hi, Kace. It’s nice to see you again. They’re expecting you in the conference room. I’ll take you there.” She introduces herself to my mom and shakes her hand.
She has to have her eye and hand scanned to open the inner door. Serious spy stuff around here for sure. She opens the door and then walks back to her desk. I shake my head as I walk in. Then stop in my tracks. Jane Corrigan is at the head of the table. Mel’s to one side of her and Stella’s friend, Reina, is on the other. Tegan is also here, along with the girl who showed up at the loft that day, and Zack Taylor’s fiancé is next to her.
“What the fuck?”
“Hello, Kace. Please take a seat.”
“No. Why am I here? Did you tell them, Mel?”
“I told you I was having friends help me.”
“How are some chicks who work at a foundation going to help me?”
“Because we’re the best,” Stella says, walking into the room and looking pissed. “And I don’t have a Sugar Daddy. I know you were wondering about that.”
Well, fuck. “I just needed to know how you could afford all that.”
“And of course you immediately thought I got it from some guy. While I was fucking you, in my bed that you thought someone else paid for. You’re such an ass.”
“You came to my room last night.”
“I have a job to do.”
“Fucking me is just a job?”
“Aww, did you really think I wanted it from you?”
“Stella. This is not the time or place,” Reina tells her. “You can kick his ass later. And do not suggest you slept with him as part of your job. That is not something we do.”
“Sorry,” she says, looking vulnerable and sad.
“I’m not sure what’s going on here,” my mom says.
“You told my mom that you needed help because you found a blackmail note. So, she came to us and got help,” Stella says.
“You knew?” I ask my mom.
“I found a note in the trash. That’s all I knew. What did you do that you need to hide?”
I don’t answer her as I sink into the closest chair and put my head in my hands. “It’s not me.”
“What?”
“The pictures aren’t of me.”
“Stella?”
“I met him after you saw the note, so that would be a no. Although pictures of him pulling my dress down and groping me are pretty much everywhere.” She turns to look at me. “Thanks for that, by the way.”
“Stella,” Reina warns her again.
“He hurt me. Why can’t you get that? I already went and begged
for my job back, even when I wanted to just punch him. How much more do I have to suck up to him, or suck his cock, before it’s enough?”
“Go to your office. We’ll talk later,” Reina tells her as I just sit there in shock.
“Yay. We can be on probation together,” Tegan says and they high five.
“What’s going on here? You’re on probation, Teeg? And Stella’s gone off the rails? I helped train you better,” Mel says.
“This mission’s messed with both our heads. I got worried she’d ditch me to hang out with asswipe over there, and I told some tales I shouldn’t have. Then she actually fell for him and got her feelings hurt, so she quit her job and had to get it back because none of us could take her place,” Tegan tells her.
“But they’re both on track now. Or they will be.”
Reina looks stressed, and I don’t blame her. I’m holding onto Tegan saying Stella fell for me. That means it was real—she wanted me, even though she just said she didn’t. Or maybe Tegan’s lying. It’s too much right now, and I need to get back on track.
“The pictures are of you and Marvin,” I tell my mom.
“Oh my God.”
“Why were you with him? I mean, you could do so much better, Mom.”
She doesn’t want to answer. I can see that she doesn’t. But then she does. “I got drunk one night when we first met him. I slept with him and told him some things. Things I’d never told anyone else.”
“So he blackmailed you?”
“Yes and no. I mean, I kind of love him. So I wanted to be with him. I just didn’t want him recording it. But he said he wanted to watch us later.”
Oh God. I’m going to throw up. My mom and Marv? Disgusting. But if she loves him, I have to support her. “Does he love you?”
“He says he does. I know he’s an ass with you and everyone else. But he really is good to me. And he’s furious about your behavior. So I don’t think he’d be the one blackmailing you.”
“Well someone got their hands on the tapes. We may need to bring Marvin in on this,” Reina says.
“You’re still going to help me?”
“Yes, Kace. We don’t give up on missions once we take them on. But I’m only going to tell you this once. Stella is amazing. And if you can’t get your head out of your ass and treat her right, you need to move on because there are nine women and at least five men who will tear you apart if you keep hurting her.”
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