12 Days: A Dark Reverse Harem Christmas Romance

by Dark Angel

  “Proud? Of what?”

  “Of the way you rose to the challenge… Earl really had us against the wall, you know? But you pulled through. You proved yourself, Clarise, and I think that your father saw that.”

  “Ah, my father…” she sighs. “He’s devastated. He really thought the world of Earl… I guess that he thought so highly of my brother that he was blind to his faults. In a sense, even I was… I mean, drug cartels? What the hell was going on inside our own house?”

  “Just let it go… I know it’s hard, but there’s nothing like time to heal wounds like these. Look on the bright side; I’m here… I’m here with you.”

  “You are.” She cracks a slight smile, looking into my eyes, and kisses me again. “Just promise me that you’ll never leave. I want to hear you promise it.”

  “I promise you. It doesn’t matter what happens in the future, I’ll never leave. Why would I? You’re the best thing that has ever happened to me.”

  “That makes two of us.”

  Pulling her close to me, she surrenders to my embrace. We remain like that for a long while, standing in silence in the middle of Jonathan’s office. When we finally break away from each other, I walk toward the floor-to-ceiling windows that line the outer wall of the office. I look out into the city, the New York skyscrapers rising high, and I place one arm against the window.

  “I can’t believe I considered leaving.”

  “This is your home now, Connor,” she whispers, walking up to me and hugging me from behind. “What are you going to do about the Order?”

  “I’m going to leave the Order,” I tell her. I hadn’t even thought about it, but now it just seems so clear. I’ve outgrown the Order of the Temple, and now it’s time for me to do my own thing. Maybe, if Jonathan wants me, I can remain as an adviser in his company. If not, it doesn’t matter, as long as Clarise is by my side, I know I’ll land on my two feet.

  “You know… I think that my father would be proud of me,” I say, looking out into the distance. Even though my father always supported me when I decided to follow in his footsteps, I think that, deep down, he didn’t want me to become like him. He wanted me to be my own man, to look for my place under the sun and carve something beautiful out of my life.

  And now that I have Clarise, I think I’ve done just that.

  “Of course he’d be proud of you… what father wouldn’t be proud of having a son like you?”

  I remain in silence, just breathing in as I close my eyes. The sun is climbing up now, and its warmness is seeping through the window, bathing my face. Smiling to myself, I let all the events that brought me here replay inside my head.

  The funeral, my first time with Clarise, the feeling of being on the verge of losing everything… It’s funny how life goes, isn’t it? It’s like a rollercoaster, full of ups and downs. You think you know what’s going to happen next, but there’s always a surprise waiting for you at the next bend.

  “Shall we?” I finally ask Clarise, offering her my arm and pointing at the door.

  “Of course,” she smiles, taking my arm and pressing her body against mine. We walk out of the office arm-in-arm, a radiant smile on both of our faces. A few employees look toward us, a look of surprise and admiration on their faces, but I don’t even care.

  The only thing I care about is the woman next to me.

  And I swear to God, I’ll love and take care of her for the rest of my life, come hell or high water. I know I don’t have a good track record when it comes to keeping my vows, but don’t doubt me on this.

  This is the one promise I won’t ever break.

  Clarise

  By the time Connor and I stroll inside the conference room, everyone’s already sitting at the large table. There’s a total of twelve people around the table (fourteen, now that Connor and I are here as well), and closed dossiers sit in front of each one of them.

  The board is made up of some of the toughest business operators in the world (and they all have deep pockets to match their toughness), and I can’t help but feel slightly intimidated as I take my seat at the top of the table, next to my father. Connor sits on the other side, nodding at the whole table.

  “Hello, gentlemen,” he greets them all, his tone one of supreme confidence. If I didn’t know it, I could almost say that Connor was the CEO of the company.

  “Connor, Clarise,” my father starts in a solemn tone. “I’ve already informed the board that Earl is no longer part of the company, so that’s taken care of.”

  “An unfortunate matter of events,” a grisly man at the end of the table says, his long white hair making him look like the business version of Hemingway. His name is John, but everyone just uses his surname, Sullivan. “But, if I’m allowed to say it, it’s for the better. He wasn’t cut out for this,” he finishes, and a few more board members nod their agreement.

  “But still,” Richard, another of the members, says. He’s still in his early fifties, not a single grey hair peeking from his perfectly combed hair, “we have to worry about the implications of what Earl was doing. If he was really involved in some illegal scheme, we have no idea if he has already pulled the company into something shady. We’ll have to review every single project he has worked on, and that --”

  “I’ve already taken care of that,” Connor says, pushing his chair back and going up to his feet. Placing his closed fists on the table, he stands as tall as a God. “The moment I had my first suspicions about Earl, I started a thorough investigation. I personally reviewed every single transaction he was involved in. Despite his lack of success and profitability, there was nothing illegal about what he did. Now, if he had managed to make the company invest in Red Lion Aviation, there’d be trouble. But he was stopped before he could do any damage and, as such, everyone in this room is safe.”

  “Now that’s impressive,” Sullivan says, nodding his approval. “It seems that this young man really lives up to Edward’s reputation.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Connor smiles, sitting back down and looking at my father, waiting for him to address the board again.

  “It’s true,” my father continues, “Connor’s been doing a great job ever since he started to work with us. But now, I have some important news to share with all of you. Taking into account what happened today, I’ve made an important decision.”

  I notice a few of the board members shifting in their seats, anxious to see what kind of decision my father could've made in such a short amount of time, but they seem to relax as my father opens up into a smile.

  “Six months from now, I’ll be vacating my position as head of the company,” he says, and that anxiousness creeps upon the face of the board members once more. With my father stepping down, who the hell is going to take the helm of the company? Earl was the one pegged to be his successor, but with him out of the picture… Unless…

  Oh.

  Can it be?

  “During these six months, my daughter will be acting as interim CEO. After that, she’ll take the reigns of this company,” he gives everyone a moment to allow what he said to sink in, and then he places one hand on my shoulder. “Despite being the leader of my family, I never realized the kind of man Earl was. If Connor and Clarise hadn’t stopped him, this company would've ended up becoming a ruin. As such, it’s time I step down and give my daughter what she deserves. I propose we move to a vote.”

  “Very well,” Sullivan says, leaning back against his chair and grinning. “I vote yes,” he continues, raising one hand up in the air. “I just don’t understand what took you so long, Jonathan. Clarise has been doing a tremendous job ever since she started assisting this board, and I can’t think of anyone else to follow after you.”

  “Seconded,” Richard says, nodding solemnly and raising his hand up in the air. One after the other, all members of the board raise their hands. I watch it happen with my jaw hanging open, barely believing what’s happening right in front of my eyes. Is this a dream?

  To have my Connor by my sid
e would suffice to make this the greatest day of my life, but now this… Seriously, can someone die of happiness? Because I’m afraid that might happen right now.

  “I don’t even know what to say…” I start, going up to my feet and addressing the board.

  “If I were you,” my father says, “I’d keep Connor as your senior adviser.” He smiles at me, and then gives me a heartfelt wink.

  “That’s an excellent idea. If Connor still wants the position, of course,” I say, looking at him hopefully. He just smiles back at me and nods, no words needed for him to reply.

  “With that done, then… I want to announce that I intend to follow my father’s philosophy. The company will slowly transition into new markets. We’ll start with merchant banking and shipping, and we’ll go from there. Our focus will be on building a legacy, not on turning profit at all cost. I believe that if we focus on legacy, the money will follow. No need to sacrifice our integrity to stuff our bank accounts.”

  “Now that’s quite a speech for a CEO,” Sullivan says with a grin, and then he leads a round of applause. I just stand there, looking at the scene in front of me and barely believing it.

  This is the best day of my life.

  Connor

  “Oh my God, I still can’t believe it,” Clarise squeals, jumping into my arms. We’re in her father’s office again, and now we’re behind a locked door. “Me, CEO? What the hell just happened in there?” she continues, her eyes shining with joy.

  “Are you really that surprised”? I laugh, holding her hands and making her spin around the room. “Because I’m not.” I pull her into me again, my lips finding her fast. “You deserve it, Clarise… It was only a matter of time until your father would see it.”

  “Yeah, my father…” she says, lowering her gaze. I can see her becoming lost in her own thoughts, and so I place two fingers under her chin and force her to look up at me.

  “Hey, don’t worry about your father. He’s still a bit shaken up, and that’s understandable. After all, it was a lot to take in. But he’s right; he’s not exactly in the best frame of mind to lead the company. You’re the one to do it.”

  “Well… Me and you,” she tells me, finally cracking a smile. “After all, I want you by my side every single hour of the day, Mr. Senior Adviser.”

  “I live to serve, my esteemed Chief Executive Officer,” I tease her, a whole future with her by my side playing behind my eyes. And to think that a few months ago I believed I’d never share my life with a woman; who would’ve said that, by now, I’d be head over heels with someone like Clarise?

  “Oh, you better serve me right too,” she teases me right back. “Because I’m a very, very, demanding lady…”

  “How demanding?”

  “The kind of demanding that keeps you awake at night,” she says, lowering her voice into a whisper and then biting down on her lower lip.

  “That’s disappointing; only at night? I thought that someone like you would be demanding 24/7, not just during the night,” I continue to tease her, sliding one hand down the side of her body and grabbing her ass firmly.

  “Don’t tempt me. You might get more than you bargained for.” Running her fingers down the length of my tie, she pulls me into her and we kiss again, our tongues finding each other for a long, wet, dance. As we kiss, I start pushing her back, and I only stop when her ass is pressed against the edge of the desk.

  “I’d like to see that, Clarise… I really would.”

  “Haven’t seen enough?” she laughs, slowly loosening the knot on my tie. “We’ve already done a lot, you know?”

  “But now we have so much time … I think we can do more. So much more,” I tell her, resting one hand on her knee and sliding it up to the hemline of her dress. I stop right before I slide my hand underneath it, enjoying the way her eyes seem to narrow in anticipation. She’ll be a hungry woman for life, there’s no doubt about that. And you know what? That’s exactly the kind of woman I need her to be. After so many years of celibacy, I have a lot of catching up to do.

  “What do you say we get out of here?” she tells me suddenly, pursing her lips and looking into my eyes. “I want to show you my bedroom…”

  “That’s funny… I don’t think I’ve ever shown you my bedroom either.”

  “Let me call the limo,” she breathes out, jumping down from the desk and walking around it. Sinking down in her father’s seat, she leans back against it and grabs the phone there.

  “Can you get me the limo? Yeah, I need it now,” she says into the phone, her eyes never leaving mine as she speaks. “It’s done,” she says as she puts the phone down, once more going up to her feet.

  “Good, I can’t wait to see what kind of sheets you have on your bed,” I imagine that, once we’re done, the sheets on her bed will be the sweaty kind of sheets. Which is fine, very fine.

  “Pink sheets. I’m a princess after all, didn’t you know?” she starts walking toward the door, holding my hand and dragging me after her.

  “Well, you’re my princess,” I shoot back and, before she manages to get the door open, I stop her. “Why don’t we christen this office first?” I tease her, pulling her back into my arms.

  “That’s not a bad idea…” she whispers, and she seems to consider it for a second. “But no, I want to do it when it’s my name hanging on the door, not my father’s. That just seems kinda wrong.”

  “As wrong as fucking in a church?”

  “And in a chapel,” she laughs, and I finally let her get to the door, mentally noting down in my schedule that, once she has her name on this door, I’ll have to fuck her right on the desk behind me. In fact, I think that as her adviser, her first official act must be to pleasure me…

  God, I can already imagine her naked back sprawled on the desk, all the folders on top of it being swept off to the floor. I wonder if the walls in here are soundproof… Ah, fuck it, I doubt we’ll able to resist the urge to fuck even if everyone on this floor hears us. Sure, that might not be the best course of action for a CEO on her first day on the job, but what the hell… It isn’t like I’ve done all the right things either, and everything turned out alright.

  “Come on, let’s go,” she says, derailing my train of thought. “There’s something I want to confess to you once we get home…” She bats her eyelids as she says it, and I can tell exactly what kind of confession is on her mind.

  “Then you better be ready to pay the penance.”

  “Oh, I was born ready.”

  Clarise

  “I can’t wait to get home…” I repeat as the elevator doors close in on us. I press the button that’ll take us to the ground floor, and a second later the metallic box we’re in starts its descent.

  “Fuck, I’ll fuck you right here,” he chuckles, pushing me back against the wall and pinning my arms over my head.

  “I doubt we’ll have the time for that…” I chuckle back at him, running my tongue between my lips as my heart starts racing inside my chest. Mm, if only we could stop the elevator without raising any suspicions… But no, I completely forgot to use the executive elevator reserved for us higher ups, and so we're taking one of the regular ones. If this elevator stops working out of the blue, people are going to start asking questions.

  “There’s no way I’m going to survive the drive home, then,” he sighs playfully, letting go of my arms and allowing his hands down the side of my body. Cupping my ass cheeks, he pulls me into him and I gasp as I feel the rock hard cock hiding under his pants.

  Yeah, judging by how hard he is, there’s no way we’re going to survive the drive home. I almost regret leaving the office, but then I remember something very important.

  “You know, the back of the limo is soundproof,” I whisper, taking my hand straight to his crotch. Curling my fingers around his hard cock, I give it one hard squeeze. “Do you think you can wait till we’re in the limo?”

  “That depends… Can you wait?” he shoots right back at me, his cock throbbing hard against m
y fingers.

  “I’ll have to, won’t I? But don’t worry… Once we’re there, I’m going to take real good care of you,” I continue, moving my hand back and forth and stroking him over the fabric of his pants.

  “Yeah? And how are you going to do that?” he asks me defiantly, and my first response is to press so hard on his cock that he groans.

  “Wouldn’t you like to know, huh?” I purr, massaging both his cock and balls as the numbers on the electronic panel mounted overhead crawl downwards, signaling that we’re already in the middle of the building. “Maybe I’ll stroke you hard… Or maybe I’ll use my tight little mouth, wrap my lips around your cock, and suck on it until you cum. How does that sound?”

  “That… that sounds good,” he replies, breathing faster now.

  “Or maybe I’ll let you cum inside my pussy… Or inside my ass. God knows I enjoy all these things,” I continue once again tightening my grip on his cock so hard that he can’t help but groan.

  “You’re driving me fucking insane, Clarise. I might have to fuck you right now,” he threatens me, the tone of his voice letting me know that he isn’t joking. Yeah, if I keep teasing him like this, he might push me against the wall and fuck me like a champion, and I think that even if a swarm of people stepping inside the elevator as we fucked, he wouldn’t stop. He’d just keep going at it, fucking me relentlessly.

  “I can see that,” I laugh, finally letting go of his cock and taking one step back. As much as I want him to do it, we can’t risk going at it in here. What kind of image would it give to my soon-to-be employees? Soon enough I’d have to adopt a you-can-fuck-in-the-elevators policy. Somehow, I doubt that would help me turn into the Boss of the Year. But, then again, it might not be such a bad measure.

  “Thank God,” Connor breathes out as the elevator doors slide open, their ding signaling that we’ve finally arrived at the ground floor. Grabbing me by the hand, he drags me out to the hallway, and we start walking fast toward the exit.