by Raven Dark
His brow scrunched, but he took her hand and led her down the hall from the office, through the crowded main floor of the club. Her chest tightened at his warmth and she couldn’t bring herself to pull away.
The noise of the club hit Ella like a wall as they made their way onto the main floor. The place was packed as per usual at night. Somewhere close, a whip cracked and a woman cried out. Up on a stage set aside for public scenes, a man twirled a cage with a woman lying inside, while another bent a sub over a table, fucking her from behind.
A quiet hollowness settled on Ella as she let Rock weave her through the crowd. With her family’s expectations of propriety and professionalism, she’d not felt like she belonged with them since her teens. Strange how for the last six years, even after Rock left, this club had come to feel more like home than anywhere with them.
Here, people accepted her for what she was, kink and all, and didn’t try to get her to conform to some repressed version of herself. Not unlike with Rock, she could be herself here. And now she wouldn’t return for who knew how long. It was like saying goodbye to an old friend, and not knowing if or when she’d see them again.
Rock led her up a set of steps to a promenade that overlooked the scenes playing out on various stages. He lowered himself onto a leather couch. Ella joined him, sitting on the edge and crossing one ankle behind the other. Rock signaled for drinks from a passing waitress and ordered Ella’s usual rum and cola, and an orange juice for himself. Mac allowed drinking only in areas where scenes were forbidden, and once you drank, you couldn’t play.
“Still drinking the O.J. I see.”
“Always. I told you, I never want to end up like my father. But don’t sidestep, Annabella. What did you want to say to me?”
“You could never be like your father, tiger. You don’t hate or abuse women.”
“Sidestepping again.” He tapped her knee gently with his fingers.
Her stomach flip-flopped. He’d done that as her Dom when he wanted her to focus. He didn’t seem to be aware of what he did. Had she imagined something flickering in his eyes when she mentioned the horrible things his father had done?
“Rock, how would you like another case?”
“What? Working for who?”
“Me.”
The corners of his mouth turned down, then he nodded. “You mean against Scalder.”
“Yes.” When he didn’t answer, worry took root in her belly. “Look, I know a new case is probably not what you need now. But you’re already working for the Mosses, dealing with Scalder for them. It kills me that such a wonderful couple could lose everything to him.”
“Annabella.”
She stood up from the couch and paced to the railing that ran around the promenade. “I want to help them, and this is the only way I can.”
“Annabella.” She heard him move behind her and turned. She assumed the hardness in his eyes was the old animosity for her dad.
“Look, I can’t fight Scalder on my own.” Her gut churned with that admission. “I know what will happen to this town if he gets Clayton Enterprises. Add Moss Inc, and the city is finished. He’ll destroy everything. God, I feel so silly asking you this.”
“Why?” He took her shoulders gently. “You know I’d do anything for you. You don’t have to worry about asking me for anything.”
“Because, technically you’d be working for my dad. The company isn’t mine yet, even if I am taking on almost as much as him now. I know how he feels about you, and how you feel about him.”
To her surprise, Rock shrugged. “I’d be lying if I said the idea of working for a man like your father didn’t turn my stomach. What did he call me the last time he saw me? A good for nothing thug trying to take advantage of his innocent daughter.”
“Rock, I’m—”
“No, don’t.” He cupped her face in his hands. “Don’t apologize for your father’s actions. The point is, I’m not doing this for him. I’m doing it for you.”
“Then you’ll help?”
“Of course.”
Something loosened in her chest and she slipped her hands into his. “Thank you. I know what I’m asking of you. My father’s given you every reason to throw him to the wolves.”
“Yeah, he has. But that would mean doing the same to you, and I won’t allow that.”
A waitress in a teddy and collar stopped by with the drinks and Rock took them, leading Ella back to the couch. “Sit with me.”
She glanced at her watch. “I wish I could. I’d better go.”
“Still a brat, I see.”
“'It’s gotten worse with time.”
A deep chuckle resonated from him. The rich, masculine sound made her nerves tingle.
“I’m serious, tiger. I still have some paper work to do and it’s late.” She squeezed his hand. “Why don’t you show me your bike before I go?”
Disappointment flashed in his eyes, but he set his drink down and turned his hand in hers. “Come outside with me.”
Within moments, Rock had led her through the club to the back parking lot. Ella almost gasped at the black beast that sat in a dark corner of the lot. The bike suited him. She ran one palm over the black leather seat.
“Wow.”
“She’s beautiful, right?” He swung himself onto the bike, resting his big hands on the handlebars. He looked so sexy on that thing.
“Seriously, Rock? She?”
“Oh, come on. You can’t spend hours a day on something like this and not think of it as a she.”
Ella picked up one of two helmets, running her fingers over the flames painted on the side. “Listen, thanks for agreeing to help me with Scalder. I feel a lot better having you on board.”
“Sure.” Rock slipped on black leather fingerless gloves. She loved the dangerous look they gave his hands.
“Why don’t we get together tomorrow for lunch and discuss a game plan for getting rid of him?”
“Sounds good. Come here.” He drew her close, slipping his arm around her waist. “We’ll do that. But not lunch. Dinner. At the Cottage.”
Oh god. The Cottage. Their special place. When they were dating, he’d taken her there often. They’d stroll along the bridge among the night blooming jasmine, hand in hand, talking about everything. Enjoying just being in love for hours, away from both their parents, who insisted on keeping them apart.
She shook her head. “Bad idea, tiger.”
He stroked the side of her face with his fingers. The smell and feel of the soft leather on her skin made her pulse jump. “I want to see you. You have no idea how much I missed you.”
“This can’t happen. I can’t be what you want.”
“Why?” He pressed his cheek to hers and his mouth brushed her ear, sending a tingle all the way to her toes. “Who hurt you, Annabella? Tell me.”
“So you can kill him?” She gave a shaky laugh. Rock was slow to anger, but when you riled him, watch out. She’d seen that when he shoved a bully’s head in the janitor’s mop bucket for harassing her in undergrad school.
“So someone did hurt you, then?” He drew back to look at her, his blue eyes blazing with electric heat.
“Never you mind. I can take care of myself. Pick another place.”
“You are kinda switchy, aren’t you?”
“You think?”
His smile was deliciously wolfish. “We’re gonna have to do something about that mouth of yours.” But the threat lacked force, and she thought she knew why. He must have seen more of the fear in her eyes than she intended. Rock knew her well enough to know when pushing only made her retreat further.
“Nuh uh. You can’t discipline me, I’m not yours anymore.” She pulled away and gave him a teasing smile.
He pulled her back and his face became serious. “All right, you get your way this time, girl. We’ll go somewhere else.”
“Rock. I am not ‘girl,’ anymore.”
“Sorry, it slipped out.” His eyes sparkled.
“Yeah, right.
”
He patted her hip and let her stand back from the bike. “All right, I’ll be by to pick you up before noon. Be ready. And Annabella?”
“Yeah?”
“We’ll stop Scalder. I promise.”
CHAPTER 4: CORD’S CROSS
“This is ridiculous.”
Rock lifted his head from the file he was looking at. “What is?”
Ella dropped her highlighter on the table and worked her hands over the small of her back. “We’ve looked at over three dozen of Scalder’s dealings in the last year and I still don’t see anything we can use. Doesn’t the man ever make a mistake?”
Rock couldn’t help a smile. After four hours in a busy greasy spoon downtown, with too much coffee, burned quiche and a hard bench to sit on, she was still looking for something, anything to take down one of the most feared men in real estate.
“Sure he does. He’s good at covering his tracks, but they all screw up eventually.”
“When did you become such a professional, anyway? You’re all lawyer-ey and stuff.”
He snorted. “Tell that to my boss. He scowls every time he sees my bike, even when I wear a suit.”
“You wear a suit? This I have to see. I’m still used to the leather and ripped jeans you wore to school.”
“I only wear one at the office.” He took off his reading glasses and polished them on a rag from the pocket of his black leather jacket, then put them back on. “I don’t like them, but it’s amazing how much people hate when you show up in court in leather pants and a bomber jacket.”
“When did you start wearing glasses?”
“Second year in law school. I started getting wicked headaches when I read.”
“I like them on you.” She pushed them up on his nose and ruffled the dark fringe of hair that fell over his forehead. “Sort of…geek chic meets rebel without a cause.”
“Ha ha. Focus, Annabella.”
“Sorry.” She poured herself more coffee from a pot left on the table strewn with files and folders, rubbed her temples, then rifled through the papers looking for another file.
A chuckle rumbled from him. If she was losing focus this soon, it wasn’t for lack of trying. In the business classes they took together in undergrad, she’d spent the kind of hours studying that would have made his head want to explode, and still had energy to go to the movies with him on Friday nights. If she was getting restless after only a few hours, it had to be the company. Or so he told himself.
She put her head down, highlighted a passage, hunted up a file and highlighted another.
Damn. He should have been focusing on the work, but he couldn’t help watching her. Much as he teased her when she wore her hair twined up, when paired with those high heels, that navy blue blazer and skirt that showed off her voluptuous curves, the tight bun made her look a different kind of sexy. Like the reserved secretary who might have a naughty side.
Heat spread to his cock as an image careened through his mind. He imagined pulling her into this dive of a restaurant’s washroom while no one was looking, shoving her up against the stall wall, pushing her skirt up and screwing her senseless.
Oh, for Christ sake, couldn’t he go over files with his former girlfriend—his former girlfriend who’d made it clear she didn’t sub anymore—without his fucking kink rearing its ugly head?
He glanced around the packed room. The bad lighting, the stained and peeling walls, the clamor of people, the ambiance only made the whole notion hotter in his head. Especially when he pictured Annabella screaming in pleasure until he had to cover her mouth with his hand.
Arousal squeezed his cock and he bit his cheek until it dissipated. Not her scene anymore.
Annabella squirmed forward in the seat as if to find a more comfortable position on the hard bench. A wince pulled at her face as she bowed her back.
Protectiveness welled up in him, dispelling the raunchy images from his mind. He reached over and took her hand.
“Hey. You ok?”
“I’ll be fine. I had an accident a while back. Most of the time it’s fine. Except when it rains or gets cold. Or too hot.” She chuckled at his raised brow. “If I sit on the wrong type of chair too long, it plays up. I'll feel better once I move around.”
Accident. Then why wouldn’t she look at him? The need to take care of her rocked him. Rock put the papers in his hand down. “All right, that’s enough of this.”
“What?”
“Let’s get out of here.”
She looked at him with confusion.
He leaned over so the waitress wouldn’t hear him. “The food’s better at the hotel, and the leather couches won’t kill your back.” And I won’t have to kill myself trying not to drag you off and bang you in the bathroom like some kind of sex-crazed pervert.
Annabella smiled and handed him her papers. “No argument here.”
Something in Rock’s stomach loosened. He helped her pack the files into his briefcase and paid the bill.
* * * * *
As soon as they got back to the hotel, the animal that had tried to claw its way to the surface inside, went silent. Irritation pricked him as he led Annabella from the elevator to his suite. No, that was wrong. The beast hadn’t silenced. It had just retreated deeper inside him. Now that they were alone, in a setting normal to intimacy, it was as if he ceased to be whatever he was outside those venues and became a normal man again. A good, safe man. A clean man whom a woman could be proud of.
No, no one could call his brand of sex clean. Rock clenched his hand around his keys until they dug into his palm, the bite of pain dispelling his futile thoughts.
“I feel so much better now.” Annabella took a deep breath as he led her into his suite and shut the door. She toed off her pumps, and Rock kicked off his own shoes. “I think the grease in that place was giving me a headache.”
“Do you want some pain meds?”
“No thanks. My head’s already clear and my back doesn’t hurt now that I’m off that hard bench.”
He put his hand on the small of her back leading her to the couch. She sat and massaged her feet. While she got comfortable, he ordered room service and added a dessert, careful to lower his voice so she didn’t hear what he asked for.
“What was that?” She looked up from spreading the files from his briefcase across the coffee table.
“You’ll see. It’s a surprise.”
“Sap.”
“Brat.”
A few minutes later, the room service arrived and they were deep in the paperwork again. Still, they hadn’t found anything constituting a crime on Scalder’s part, nothing they could use for grounds to stop him from eating up both of the biggest corporations in the city. But at least they were full of good food and comfortable.
Rock finished his steak and mushrooms and Ella dug into the surprise dessert he’d ordered for her. She’d moved to the floor sitting with her legs folded under the coffee table, her back against the couch.
“Oh my god, Rock, I love you.” She turned to look up at him as she bit into her third maraschino cherry covered in dark chocolate. Her eyes closed in ecstasy. “I can’t believe you remembered these are my favorite.”
He struggled to keep his face nonchalant at the endearment. When they’d been together, they’d never gotten to the “I love you” part. He’d always wondered what the words would sound like from her.
Her pink tongue darted out to lick some of the sticky cherry sauce filling from her lip. His cock pressed against the zipper of his leather pants. She offered him a cherry and he shook his head sitting back in the crook of the couch to watch her.
“Nope. There’s only six to a box and it’s more fun watching you eat them.”
An impish smile pulled at her lips. She reached over and pulled one of the chocolate mounds from the box. “You mean like this?”
Biting it in half, she closed her mouth around the opening sucking the cherry out and then licking the succulent sauce from the center with deliberate
sensuality.
Fire spilled into his cock and he nearly undid his pants and fisted himself right in front of her.
“Don’t do that if you want to work on your case.”
She chuckled, that throaty timbre raising his body heat. “I like torturing my subs that way.”
“Do you now? How does that work? They get pain and you get those? That’s cruel.”
“I have one who loves these. When he’s good, after a session we share them. But he likes to fight, so when he gets too uppity, I make him watch me eat them the way I just did, in between flogging him.”
“That’s torture.” Rock curled his hand around the arm of the couch in an effort to keep from pulling her up to him. The idea of topping her made his pulse race.
“I don’t flog hard. Unless they’re into that.”
“I wasn’t talking about the flogging.”
“I know.”
She rubbed her shoulders with a groan then shook herself as if to clear her head before turning back to the papers.
“Here, move forward a bit.” Rock slid across the couch to her side and swung his leg over so he sat with her back between his knees. He took his reading glasses off and set them on the coffee table.
“What are you doing?” She glanced at him but moved forward like he’d said.
“Take off your shirt.”
Annabella turned her head. He almost chuckled at the look on her face. Amazing how, with a light tightening of those lips and a flick of a brow, she looked so much like the foreboding Domme. Somehow, the severe bun of golden sun-like hair and the three-piece suit made her look all the more so.
“Don’t look at me like that, like you want to get the crop. I meant the blazer. Take it off.”
She obeyed, leaving a sleeveless white blouse behind, giving him perfect access to her shoulders.
“Better. Lean back.”
“You’re such a Dom.” But she leaned back into him. He ran his hands over the curve of her soft, creamy shoulders and almost groaned deep in his throat. His mouth watered with the urge to kiss and lick the feminine line of her back, her shoulders, her neck, until she squirmed with pleasure.
Rock worked his fingers into the line of her shoulders, thoroughly kneading out the knots and tension until she moaned and put her head back.