“Yes,” I gasped as he inserted a second finger and moved them around inside of me.
“Your wish is my command,” he breathed with a smirk. He pulled out his fingers, slipped off his boxers, and rubbed his massive erection against my hood. I moaned and chewed on my lip.
“Put it in,” I begged. He spit in his hand and rubbed it along his member. Then, he crawled on top of me and I spread my legs. I gasped as he entered me.
I then screamed as I felt him dive deep inside of me. He grunted and thrust his hips towards mine.
“Oh, babe, you feel so good,” he breathed. He explored my walls and I felt my eyes roll back into my head with pleasure. I bit on my lower lip as hard as possible to stifle a loud scream, clawing his back with my fingernails.
“Oh, Liam!” I screamed. “That feels incredible!”
“Oh God,” he grunted, moving inside of me even harder. I dug my fingernails deeper into his back and emitted another loud scream. I felt his manhood stiffen inside of me and I knew that he was going to reach orgasm quickly.
“Come on, baby,” I urged. “I'm almost there. Come with me.” His movements grew sloppier and I moaned as he hit my g-spot. I was nearing climax and I knew that he was too.
“I'm gonna come, Ally,” he breathed. I felt him become tenser inside of me and he released. “I'm coming, baby. I'm coming.” I screamed and climaxed with him. He collapsed on top of me. We both closed our eyes and tried to catch our breath.
“That was the best quickie I've ever had,” I said, breathlessly. I exhaled happily and wiped the sweat from my forehead.
“Me too,” Liam replied. He kissed my cheek and rolled off me, breathing heavily. He pulled his boxers back on and lay his head on one of the throw pillows. I smiled at him and then looked at the clock on the wall.
“Damn it!” I cursed, getting to my feet. “There is no way that was twenty minutes!”
“Whoops,” he said, airily. “Patrick will be fine. He's a big boy.”
“Yeah, but the whole point was to curb his suspicions. You really think he's going to believe I just couldn't keep my hands off Nate the janitor? He'll never buy it,” I retorted, pulling on his tee shirt. I pulled it back off. “I probably shouldn't wear your shirt if I want to throw him off.”
“Yeah, probably not the best idea,” he replied, rolling onto his side. “I'm going to take a nap.”
“Where are my clothes?” I asked. “Liam?”
He let out a snore and I rolled my eyes.
“LIAM!”
He jerked awake and asked, “What was that?”
“My clothes? Where are they?”
“Try the bedroom,” he replied. “Alright. Night, night, babe.”
I scoffed and hurried to the bedroom to retrieve my clothes. I was surely going to raise Patrick's suspicions, considering how late I was.
I pulled on my work dress and caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. My hair was far too messy to convince him that I had not been having sexual intercourse.
Scowling, I walked into the bathroom and seized one of Liam's hairbrushes. After I fixed it to the best of my ability, I hastily sauntered to the living room and slipped on my business heels.
“I'll be back later,” I said as I opened the door. Liam offered me a loud snore in return and I rolled my eyes, slamming the door behind me.
Patrick was sitting in the corner of the small coffeehouse. His chin was resting in the palm of his hand and he was scrolling across the screen on his cell phone. I tip-toed towards him and sat in the chair across from him, setting my cup of coffee on the table.
“A little later than you thought, hmm?” Patrick asked, not looking up from his cell phone. “Oh, you have to see this cat video. It's the cutest thing you'll ever see. It's wearing a hat and then—”
“So what about the new accounts?” I interjected. He was not acting strange in any way, but I was determined not to allow the conversation to head in the wrong direction.
“Well, I got nineteen new businesses to bite on subscriptions,” he said, setting his phone on the table. He pulled a small notepad out of his inner jacket pocket and set it on the table. He pushed it towards me and nodded towards it.
“Restaurants, bakeries, even a couple convenience stores with those tacky little hotdog rotisseries.”
“Nineteen?” I asked, incredulously, seizing the notepad. I flipped through the pages. “How did you sell that many so fast?”
“Skills,” he answered, coolly, clicking his fingernails together. “So how was Nate, anyway, Ally? Did you two get stuck cleaning up vomit or something?”
I swore that my heart stopped. His words caused me to panic, but I quickly regained my composure.
“No, nothing like that. He was doing my laundry because I accidentally left my clothes there,” I lied.
“He's very thoughtful like that. I guess those cleaning skills stick with him at home too.” I laughed nervously and took a sip of my coffee, looking away from him.
“He dry-cleans?” Patrick asked, narrowing his eyes.
I looked down at my dress and knew that he had caught me in a lie. My dress was dry-clean only and Patrick was very familiar with that fact, since I sent him out with my dry-cleaning on dozens of occasions.
The dress that I was wearing was one that he had dry-cleaned for me several times.
“Alright, alright. I just didn't want to tell you we were having sex,” I murmured. It was my last chance to keep him from asking more questions.
“I knew you'd make fun of me for sleeping with Nate the janitor so I couldn't say anything. You caught me!”
Patrick chuckled and replied, “Ally, no one cares if you're sleeping with Nate the janitor. It's not like you're having sex with your boss or anything.”
I swallowed and averted my gaze to the floor. Liam was not, technically, my boss, but he was my business partner and our relationship was just as unacceptable. I knew that I would not be able to hold up the lie about Nate the janitor for very long, but I did not know how else to explain myself to Patrick, yet.
I sighed and reminded myself that I needed to discuss everything with my therapist. I truly had no idea how I was going to come clean.
“Thanks for being such a good friend,” I said with a smile. “I mean that, Patrick. You've been the best friend that I could ask for. It means a lot.”
“Oh, stop being so sappy,” he said, a telling smile on his lips. “You're going to make me cry or something.”
“I mean it,” I pressed. “Now, as my friend, please don't mention me and Nate's relationship at work.”
“Why?” he asked, furrowing his brow. “You're glowing, honey! If that trash collector makes you happy, so be it. Nobody's going to judge you.”
I shook my head and quickly made up an excuse.
“It's not that I'd be embarrassed,” I lied, taking a sip of coffee. “He's married.”
Patrick gasped. “No way!”
I nodded, further digging a deeper and deeper pit of dishonesty. I took a large gulp of coffee and wracked my brain for details.
“Him and his wife are separated but I could get into some serious trouble with public relations if we're caught, okay?” I whispered. I leaned closer towards him and looked around the room. “We're risking both our reputations here.”
“Girl, my lips are sealed,” Patrick said, miming a zipping motion in front of his mouth. He smacked my arm and looked me up and down. “I can't believe you!”
I could hardly believe what I was doing either, but not for the same reasons that he could not. Patrick was my best friend and I was lying to him, possibly causing a problem for someone that was not even involved in the situation.
If I had been truthful with him from the start, I could have avoided all of the fibbing. However, I was infatuated with my forbidden relationship. The problem with forbidden relationships is that they are never as easy as fairy-tales portray them to be.
As much as I told myself that I was going to tell Patrick the tr
uth, I knew that I was in too deep.
“Listen, I'm so happy you got all of the new accounts,” I said, standing. “I really can't stay any longer though. I have somewhere to be.”
“Are you meeting Nate?” he asked, loudly.
I gave him a dirty look and he made an apologetic face. The coffeehouse was far from empty and although it was not likely that we knew anyone in there, he could have easily just revealed a secret. 4
His Freudian slip quickly made me remember why I had to lie to him in the first place. He would never air my dirty laundry on purpose, but at one point or another, he would by accident.
“No,” I corrected, sternly. I threw my purse over my shoulder. “I have an appointment with Fred at five.”
“Oh dear, you haven't been shoplifting again, have you?” he asked, quietly.
I gave him another dirty look.
“No, I have not been shoplifting,” I sneered. “I've just been dealing with a lot of stress with the company and everything. I just have been seeing him to try and work on some coping methods.
I think it's good for me. I have to go, Patrick. I'll see you in the office tomorrow, okay?”
“Alright then,” he replied with a wave. “Say hi to Nate for me!”
I glared at him and he covered his mouth. Not telling him about Liam was clearly the right decision.
*****
Chapter 8
I fiddled with my cell phone as I waited for Fred to finish with his patient before me. Fred had been my therapist since I had gotten health insurance. There were a lot of things that I could not discuss with anyone other than Liam, even Fred, but Fred helped me tackle a lot of the excess stress that I dealt with on a daily basis. He had helped me more than I ever could have thought he would. Seeing therapists was frowned upon in rural Idaho. The stigma that I had grown up with led me to believe that I would never jump on the New Yorker bandwagon and depend on a shrink to get through my problems. Nevertheless, I was sitting in a psychologist's office, watching a cheesy afternoon talk show on the waiting room's ceiling-mounted television.
Fred's office door swung open and a large woman with frizzy, black hair waddled out of the room. She used a cane to help her walk towards the billing assistant's desk. Fred raised his thick eyebrows and beckoned me, wordlessly. I stood and walked into his office.
Fred closed the door behind us as I sat on the leather sofa. His office was small, decorated mostly by books. The small, toupee-adorned man did not even have a desk. Instead, he sat in a red leather armchair that did not match the black leather sofa at all. He placed his clipboard in his lap and clicked his pen.
“So, how are you this week?” he asked.
“I'm doing okay,” I said in an unsure tone. “My company got a really great investor, so I'm excited about that.”
“Oh yeah? Tell me more about that.”
“Well, we have been working rather closely together. It really seems like we work around the clock. In fact, I see him so often—”
“Are you intimate?”
I choked on my own words and bewilderment became evident in my facial expression. I brushed my hair out of my face and blushed, looking away from Fred so I did not have to look into his eyes.
“No! Of course not! Why would you ask such a thing?” I asked, defensively.
Fred let out a heavy sigh and scribbled something onto his clipboard.
“Aaliyah, why were you so defensive there? Everything you say here is entirely confidential unless I have any concerns that you or another person may be in physical danger,” the elderly psychologist reaffirmed, sternly. “To get all of these feelings out, it's important that you're honest with me.”
I sighed and put my face in my hands. As I rubbed my temples, I pondered whether or not I should tell him. It was confidential, so there really was not any reason that I should not. I took a deep breath and looked into his kind, brown eyes.
“I'm having a bit of a moral dilemma,” I admitted.
“What kind of a moral dilemma?” he asked, penning down notes.
“Well, I have sorta been seeing my business partner. We're supposed to be professional but we just can't stop,” I confessed. I took another deep breath. “I-I think I truly have feelings for him but we can't be open about it in the office. Our P.R. team would have both of our heads. We didn't really think it would be that much of a problem but then my assistant caught onto us.”
“How did you handle the situation with your assistant?”
“Well,” I started with a light chuckle. “I lied to him.”
“Lied how?” he asked with a frown.
“I kind of just said that I was in a relationship with a guy named Nate and he assumed I meant one of the custodians that works at the office. I kinda panicked and just went with it,” I admitted. “It was the most convenient excuse that I could find. I really didn't know what else to do.”
“Wouldn't you also be in trouble for pursuing a relationship with a custodian? Is he not still an employee of your company?” Fred was scribbling down notes more quickly than I had ever seen. I wondered if he thought that I was reaching some sort of breakthrough.
“I wouldn't get in trouble for pursuing a relationship with him, no,” I corrected. “We do not have any strict policies regarding dating in the workplace.
The reason that Liam and I have had to keep our relationship a secret is because he has a reputation in the business world and I am developing my own reputation. Business partners having a relationship can lead to some really negative feedback from other people in the business world and we don't need that kind of media attention. I know that isn't an excuse to lie, but I just didn't know how else to handle it.”
Fred nodded as his pen danced across his clipboard. I furrowed my brow and, out of sheer curiosity, I craned my neck to try to see what he was writing. He pulled the clipboard to his chest, looked back up at me, and smiled.
“This is a very trying situation,” he noted. “Your career is on the line, but the emotions that you have for this business partner of yours are very real. Usually, I would have to suggest that you tell the truth, but from what I understand, that would not be worth the backlash.”
I nodded, giving him an expectant look. Since I already knew everything that he had just said, I wondered what advice he was going to offer me to fix the situation. I longed for an answer to my problems.
He sighed and added, “Do you have any concerns that this relationship may be based on either you or your business partner's unfulfilled desire to be in a forbidden relationship?”
The thought had never crossed my mind. I did enjoy the thrill of forbidden romance, but I had never considered that it was the foundation of my relationship with Liam. He had never mentioned anything of the sort, either, but I felt inclined to ask him. Were his intentions only to use me until he had fulfilled his desire to be in a forbidden relationship? I frowned at the very thought.
“I find the forbidden aspect absolutely exhilarating, don't get me wrong,” I said, choosing my words carefully, “but I don't think that I am interested in him only for that reason. I feel an actual connection there. I...I can't be certain whether or not he's only interested in me for that reason.”
Fred nodded and wrote down more notes.
“Aaliyah, what do you know about his past?” he asked, lacing his hands together and placing them on top of his pen and clipboard.
“From what I understand, he never knew his dad and his mother was a drug addict. I don't know much about him other than that. Why? Do you think that's important?” I inquired. I was beginning to have doubts about Liam's feelings for me.
Fred pursed his lips and began scribbling again. After a moment, he looked up at me and cleared his throat.
“We are nearly out of time, but my suggestion is that you speak with your partner about his past and your future together. If he opens up, I would make the assumption that his feelings are genuine. If he seems a bit guarded, he may be trying to fulfill some fantasy,” he sa
id. He chewed on his pen as his eyes met mine and I sighed.
“I suppose I need to have a talk with him, don't I?”
Fred nodded and said, “Our time here is up, but I think I would like to conclude this session by saying that my suspicion is not law. He may very well be interested in you and just is a heavily guarded individual.
Nevertheless, it is something to keep in the back of your mind in case you see any signs that may lead you to believe that he is protecting himself from you because he desires the situation, not necessarily you as a person. I hope this clarified some things for you and that you take the next necessary steps.”
I pursed my lips and nodded, slowly, “Yes, I believe it did... Thank you again, Fred.”
He shook my hand and I walked out of his office with hundreds of questions rushing though my head.
When I arrived at Liam's penthouse flat, he was still in his boxers on his cell phone talking about business with somebody. I sat next to him on the sofa and took a deep breath to deter myself from yelling at him while he was speaking about important matters.
For a moment, I pondered whether or not I should have even returned to his apartment. I had not been home in several days other than to collect more of my things. Fred's words echoed in my mind and I grew more and more irate as I looked at Liam's smiling face.
I did not want to be in a one-sided relationship.
He hung up the phone and beamed at me. I crossed my arms and offered him nothing more than a scowl. “Did you not hear all that?” he asked. “Babe, I just got us four accounts! Paolini Pizza wants us at every one of their locations! Isn't that great?” I sucked on my teeth and shrugged.
“What's wrong?” he asked, frowning. “Why haven't we talked about your past or our future or anything like that?” I inquired. He looked taken aback as he slowly responded, “We've only been seeing each other for what? A couple weeks? Ally, most people don't talk about those things right away.”
“But I told you all about my past!” I exclaimed, getting to my feet. “Is this relationship just some kind of a joke to you?”
BILLIONAIRE: Protected (A Dark Billionaire Romance) Page 5