by C. M. Steele
I watched as his face changed. If I didn’t know better, I would suspect he thought I was the mother and was pissed about it. I caught him looking down at my bare fingers. I couldn’t make out his thoughts from his expression, but they weren’t pleasant ones.
“Don’t worry. Give us your contact information, and we’ll let you know when we find it,” he stated so firmly that I believed him.
I filled out a piece of paper and before I could hand it to Devlin, the rude Miss Kennedy snatched it from my hand. “Mr. Jacobs doesn’t work here. I’ll take care of it.”
“He may not, but at least he has manners,” I murmured before leaving the office. If I stayed I might have said something not very nice at all.
I returned to the group and Katie was still a mess. I let her lean on me when I sat next to her. We left the museum, and I hoped to hell he would find the necklace.
For the next two days I called and was told they hadn’t. It was that bitch that answered. Since she didn’t work in lost and found, I was sure her ass was full of it. I was tempted to take mine back up there and punch her in the face.
I called the museum a week after the last time I talked to the stuck-up cunt. I was glad it wasn’t her that answered. It was some young man who took down my information again. He said one of the supervisors found it and they would return it. Wow, I wanted to squeal at the news. This would make Katie so happy. I couldn’t wait to see her face when she got it back.
I was working on the lesson plan for my kids when I received a call I dreaded. He found me.
Chapter 3
Devlin
It was two days after our encounter that I caved. I needed to see her again, even for just a hint of that sweet smile. That would be good enough for me.
Who was I kidding? Nothing but having her under me, calling out my name, would satisfy me. It was insane how much I thought about her. It was borderline dangerous. I’d give everything just to look at her.
I couldn’t even explain my actions to myself, so I couldn’t tell anyone at the office why my attitude had done a one-eighty. I was turning into a total dick, scaring some of the staff with my mood swings. I heard one of the guys from the postal room saying I needed to get laid. They were right, but it was more than that. I wanted to know Selene.
I gave the museum a call, demanding to speak with someone in lost and found. A young man answered, “Lost and found.”
“Hello, I’m looking for a necklace that went missing two days ago. It had a heart pendant on it.”
“Yes, we found it, but no one has come to claim it yet.”
“Have you contacted the woman who filed the report?”
“I don’t have anything on a woman losing it. It’s kind of small for a woman’s neck.”
“It belongs to her kid. I was there when the woman asked about it and gave her information. Can you transfer me to Miss Kennedy?”
“Yes, sir,” he said.
“Miss Kennedy, this is Devlin Jacobs. Did you contact the woman about the missing necklace?”
“Yes, I did, but she said it wasn’t worth the trip up here,” she said. What a lying bitch. The kid just told me another story altogether.
“I find that hard to believe,” I said with a growl laced in accusation.
“Seriously, Mr. Jacobs, not that it’s any of your business since we received the emailed letter from your office declining to support the museum, but she refused to return.”
“Maybe your boss would like to know that you’re a dirty, jealous slut, and I didn’t want to deal with a business that employs people like you.” I slammed my office phone. Then I thought she might destroy the necklace just to spite me, so I called the lost and found again.
“Lost and found,” the same kid answered.
I told him that I wanted the necklace immediately. The boy said he would send it via priority messenger to my office today. I also said if a woman called looking for it to take her information and give it to me. “Oh, and if Miss Kennedy comes looking for the necklace tell her you can’t find it. Okay?”
“Sure,” he responded coolly.
~~~~
After spending a week dreaming of her, the young kid, Troy, called me with the information. “Hey, dude, she called when Kennedy was here, but I used the hard writing paper trick.”
“What trick is that?” I was curious what the kid was talking about. He had to be only eighteen to my thirty-three, so I wondered if it was something I’d never heard of.
“You know how you can imprint the paper below if you write hard enough? Then you rub a pencil over it which leaves a copy of the information from the written page above it.” Oh yeah, I knew that one.
“Cool, man. Thanks. If you’re looking for a job come to my offices, I’ll hook you up,” I offered. He agreed and would be coming in next week.
I looked down at the paper on my desk, Selene West. I whispered her name to myself, sounding it out several times before leaving my office. I was heading straight to her address. I got in my car and drove like a madman through the city. An hour later, I arrived at a shit box of a building. It was dilapidated and several of the windows on the other apartments had been covered with plyboards.
I knew that couldn’t be a good place to raise kids. Even though I was pissed she had them, I didn’t like that they lived in squalor. If I could do anything to make her situation better, I would. I walked up to the door hoping that no man lived with her and the kids. I knocked and anxiously waited for the door to open. It took her a long time considering how small the place was.
The petite little blonde opened the door looking shocked and unbelievably breathtaking. She had on a snug tee shirt and pajama pants.
“Hello, Miss West. My name is Devlin Jacobs,” I reintroduced myself.
“I remember. How can I help you?” she asked suspiciously.
“That is such a vague question, but I came here to help you. May I come in?” I asked, even though I knew I wouldn’t take no for an answer. We had a lot to discuss. I wanted to know more about her, but seeing her in the flesh brought out the caveman in me. Her hard nipples peeked through the material, drawing my attention straight to them.
“Oh yes, of course. Please excuse the place. It’s the best I could do on my present budget,” she admitted, hanging her head.
“Miss West, you don’t need to apologize to me for your circumstances.” I looked around the place, and it wasn’t much better than it seemed from the outside.
“So where are your kids?” I asked as I took off my coat. It was February and still blisteringly cold in the Windy City, but her place was quite warm, though bare as hell. There was a working fireplace in the living room/kitchen next to a threadbare sofa. This girl was poor, and I didn’t want her to live like this.
“Kids?” she responded in confusion.
“Yes, you said one of your children lost her necklace.”
“Mr. Jacobs,” she started to respond, but I didn’t like the barrier of formality she put between us.
So, I stopped her with a finger to her lips. “Devlin,” I said insistently.
“Devlin…I was with my class. I’m a kindergarten teacher. I don’t have any of my own.”
Suddenly breeding her crossed my mind again. She didn’t have any leftovers from another man. A possessive jealousy haunted me when I thought she’d had another man’s baby. The moments they shared together that wouldn’t be new for us. It was primal and feral, but what could I say, she was different to me.
“Are you seeing anyone?” I hoped to hell she wasn’t because I didn’t poach. I’d just find a way to end their relationship first.
“Not that it’s any of your business, but no, not at the moment,” she responded with brashness. It’s okay. I liked that she had spirit, it gave her sugar and spice. I had a feeling I’d be kept on my toes with her.
“Well, now you are.” For some reason I wanted to secure her as mine before it was too late, but she didn’t seem like she cared for the idea. She looked at
me like I was fucked in the head. “What’s the matter? Doesn’t the prospect of being mine sound like a good deal? I could get you into a nicer place than this,” I offered, wanting her to live in my condo and sleep in my bed.
She saw the necklace in my hand and asked, “Is that why you came here?”
“Yes, it is, among other things,” I suggested. Just looking at her in that tight-fitting superhero tee with her hair in a ponytail was getting my cock hard.
“Thanks,” she responded as she took the necklace I had held out. Then she walked swiftly to the door, opened it, and said, “Thanks for personally returning it. Now take your spoiled, rich, playboy ass back where you came from. I don’t want you or your mistress gifts. I’m not a whore.” Who did she think she was? She made me feel less than good about myself. I didn’t appreciate her treating my offer as nothing. I was going to give her the good life, and she threw that shit in my face.
When I saw the brief look of pain cross her face, I realized I had come off all wrong. A mistress was the last thing I’d ever want. Paying for expensive sex was pathetic. Even though she got it all wrong, I didn’t know how to correct her. I seemed to be in less control of my common sense when I was around her.
“I’m leaving because I’ve learned my lesson with broads, but I’ll be back. You will be mine, and if I catch any fucking boy trying to sniff around you, they will be dealt with.”
“I’m not yours—nor will I ever be. Get out of my place. My dating life is none of your business and never will be.”
“I haven’t had sex in over a year,” I admitted honestly. As horny as I got, work had been more important.
“If you expect me to feel sorry for you, it’s not happening because I don’t give a shit. It’s only been a week for me, so I’m not that desperate for someone like you,” she said spitefully.
I was going to leave because she needed to cool off, but she said the wrong thing to me. How dare she tell me about another man touching my pussy and putting his cum in her. I want to rip him to shreds with my bare hands. I pulled her arm away from the door and slammed it shut. I grabbed her waist and pinned her to the door. I was so fucking angry and jealous that I punished her with a hard-aching kiss. She moaned against my mouth, pushing her hands into my hair and slipping her tongue along mine. Fuck, it was better than anything I could’ve imagined, but I knew it wouldn’t be enough. I needed to rid this fucker from her mind. Her words about me being a playboy pissed me off. She’d been with someone after we met.
I pulled back and looked at her to see her attitude wasn’t as tough as she claimed. She glared at me with resentment.
I was filled with irrational jealousy for this bastard who’d been in her sweet snatch. “Who was he?” I asked angrily with my body still pressed against hers.
“None of your business,” she hissed.
“You saw him after we met. I’m not going to ask you again,” I snarled.
“Good, I hate repeating myself,” she replied defiantly.
I let her go and stepped back. “Don’t answer me. I’ll find out who touched what’s mine by tonight.”
“What’s yours? I’m not yours and for the last time whom I date and fuck is none of your business.”
“Are you trying to get a rise out of me?” I questioned as she continued to look defiantly.
“I think I already did that,” she sneered, pointedly, glancing at my hard cock that was creating a large bulge.
I leaned into her again, pressing at her soft center and grinding gently. She melted into my body despite the fact she was saying the opposite. “Yes, and you’re about to feel it, too. I don’t want to fuck you to prove a point, so don’t push it,” I warned her. She wanted me, but was denying it. I understood why. A big part of me knew she told me she was with someone else just to get a rise out of me.
“I want you to get lost,” she stated plainly, pushing me away from her, and I immediately felt the sting. I resented the way she could easily enjoy the kiss and then not care the next second. I was so damn confused on how I was the one being needy.
“Already there, baby,” I hissed, letting anger cover the hurt. “Move.” I wasn’t in the mood to be polite.
The moment she stepped away from the door, I opened it and walked out. When I got to my car, I called her to give her a warning, “I meant what I said. If another dick starts sniffing around you, you best send him on his way.” I didn’t have the right to tell her what to do, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t try. Especially when it came to other men.
“Get lost, Mr. Jacobs.” She hung up on me. No broad had ever done that before. I wanted to go back up and deal with her ass, but I wasn’t fit to think straight. I didn’t care for the way I was feeling right now—vulnerable. I punched my steering wheel, angry with myself for being unable to shake my thoughts, insane hunger, and coming on like a horny teen. Returning the stupid damn necklace only served to make things worse.
I drove back to my condo and poured myself a large glass of brandy. I had to think about our future and what I could do to make her stay. First things first, I’d get all the information I could. Tomorrow was Monday, so she was back at school.
Chapter 4
Selene
“Oh my gosh,” I sighed to myself. “That was intense.” I couldn’t believe what had just happened. Devlin Jacobs showed up to my apartment after he destroyed my beauty sleep for the past week. Now as I stood by my door, I knew I would never forget him. The more he kissed me the more I wanted.
I dreamt of him every night. I tried to fall asleep, but thoughts of him coming here to see me would disturb it. It would start off amazing, but when Devlin and I would start to have sex, Ken would show up, and I would wake up screaming, reliving the past.
I really wanted to cave when he said we were a thing, but besides my own issues, I looked him up online. He was nothing but a love and leave ‘em type of guy. His relationships never lasted, and I wasn’t going to be his latest conquest.
What’s the matter? Doesn’t the prospect of being mine sound like a good deal? I could get you into a nicer place than this, I groaned just thinking about his insulting offer. I wanted to cry because I wanted to think better of him.
I locked the door and walked back to where I was packing. Moving again. I hated it, but I didn’t have a choice. I didn’t want my past to find its way into my present, but it always did. I didn’t know who gave me up, but all I knew was I had to continue to move. When Ken showed up at my door in Kentucky, I was scared out of my mind. I was running out of places to hide. I thought Chicago would be a great place because it was large, overpopulated, and too noisy for me to be afraid, but he found me anyway.
He didn’t know where I lived yet, but it wasn’t going to be long. Ken had called my cell yesterday and made his threat. My number wasn’t even registered under my own name and all my bills were done online with a fake mailing address. I did everything I could to protect myself, short of carrying a gun. I didn’t have fake IDs, so it wouldn’t take long once I got a gun permit. It was stupid of me to try and work again, thinking I would be safe.
The cops had been useless in protecting me. All I was able to do was get an order of protection, but that didn’t work because then he had to be informed of my location so he could avoid it. What the hell did they think that piece of paper was going to do for me? Now he found my new number. It wouldn’t be long before he found out where I lived.
My phone rang and it scared me to think it was Ken again, but it was Devlin. His command was cute because tomorrow I’d be gone, and he would move on to his next choice for a glorified hooker.
I thought back to when my life changed for the worst. When I became a teacher I never thought I’d have a reason to fear my workplace. I’d just lost my parents, so I tried to return to a normal life, and that meant starting my chosen profession. It was my first year of teaching. I’d just graduated and was grateful for landing the position at Malcolm Elementary in Salem, Oregon. Ken Matthews was my co-worker
at the time, he taught fifth grade while I had kindergarten. He was an attractive man, but there was something about him that kind of made me uncomfortable and not in a good way, but in that creepy, eerie way that left me feeling dirty when he looked at me.
We’d never gone on a date, but he never stopped trying. At first, I thought it was harmless flirtation on his part, until one day I was on a date with the guy who worked at the gym by my house. We were just leaving dinner when a man in a mask came up to us and shot James right in the chest. He didn’t shoot me, but in a muffled but recognizable voice said, “This is all your fault.”
I knelt down to help James to stop the bleeding. He made it to the hospital and survived, then he moved out of town for his safety. Last I heard he was happily married with kids. We had an understanding that it was best I not see or talk to him again because of Ken. He couldn’t identify the shooter, and no one believed me. He had too much clout and there was no evidence to prove it.
I would never forget the sound of his voice. After dealing with the police who bought Ken’s alibi, I was forced to leave town. I changed my name and managed to keep my teaching license by a slim miracle. I didn’t date again. My fear of him attacking another man because of me was too strong, and as much as I wanted Devlin, his angry words brought all that back. No matter how strong Devlin was, it wouldn’t matter. It didn’t stop James from almost dying.
I didn’t hire any movers as usual, I took what I could and slowly loaded it into my car. My place was almost empty when Devlin had shown up.
Once I was packed, I drove off to find a place to stay. I didn’t have any family or friends nearby. I left my life behind in Salem. It was safer that way for everyone if I ran. Now it was time to find a place to hide in the city while I finished out the school year.