Ruthless (A Lawless Novel)

by Lexi Blake

  He didn’t want her to worry. It caused him actual physical distress. His stomach knotted at the thought of her being tense and anxious.

  “Steven is blackmailing me for two million dollars.”

  He let the soap drop from his hand. Somehow hearing it from her lips made the righteous indignation he’d felt come roaring back. He turned her around again. “He’s doing what?”

  She frowned. “Well, if I’d known my bath would stop, I wouldn’t have told you.”

  She knelt down and picked up the soap.

  “Ellie, this is serious. What the hell are you talking about?” He wasn’t about to allow her to figure out he’d already known. She was talking to him. He was in.

  She went to work on his chest, diligently soaping his skin. “He has his endorsement of me as CEO to hold over my head. With my dipshit sister selling her stock and thereby her voting shares, I’m in a precarious position. I have you now, but I had to use my own stock to fund your seat, so that’s not really a gain.”

  It was as though telling him had calmed her. The tension had left her shoulders and she was simply talking it out.

  He’d given her that. She trusted him to work through it with her. He brought his hands up, cupping her face and forcing her to look at him. “I promise I will make sure you get that job, Ellie.”

  Maybe not exactly as quickly as she wanted it, but he would ensure it.

  Her lips curled up slightly. “Nothing is for sure. I have to decide if I trust Steven enough to write him that check. It’s like a prebuyout loan. Not loan. It’s a small advance.”

  “Then I’ll make him sign a contract.” He wasn’t about to let her sign that check, but he couldn’t overplay his hand. He would make sure that Castalano never saw that money. And he might add a little extra pain because the fucker was messing with Ellie. No one got to mess with Ellie.

  Well, no one except him.

  She shook her head. “He made it plain that he won’t do that. He’s in some kind of trouble. I think it might be the illegal-gambling kind of trouble.”

  He went still under her hands. It was time to herd her toward some inevitable truths. Maybe if she figured some things out on her own, the inevitable blow wouldn’t be as rough. “Ellie, do you think he would ever do something really illegal? You said there was an accounting issue. Could he embezzle from the company?”

  “I would have said one hundred percent no yesterday. Today, I don’t know. I’ll look through it tomorrow and talk to accounting.”

  “I could have a forensic accountant take a look.” McKay-Taggart had one.

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea. We have reporters looking at us right now. If word gets out, the stock gets devalued.”

  “And you owe Castalano less.” He didn’t see how that was a bad idea. In fact, they were kind of counting on it.

  “I’m not going to willingly devalue my company. It’s not right. Between the accounting issue and what’s going on in R&D, the stock could go into free fall. I’m not going to do that. Not even if Steven’s acting like an ass.”

  Her hands felt so good on his body. She was making it hard to think straight. “Ellie, you can’t give him that money without a sound and solid contract. He’s trying to steal from you. Let me take the accounting issue. I’ll deal with it very quietly.”

  She worked her way down his arms. “All right. But I only have a few days.” She looked up at him, grinning suddenly. “How do you manage to think with that thing? Is there any blood left in your brain?”

  He groaned because likely she was right. His dick was throbbing and desperate for attention. “It’s not easy. I’m used to being in control. Unfortunately, he is a little in control right now.”

  The grin turned distinctly sensual. “Really? I kind of thought I was the one in control right now, Counselor.”

  Her low tone went straight to his cock. He could feel it in his damn balls. That sensation warred with the knot he got in his gut when she mentioned R&D. She couldn’t possibly know about his late-night escapades in R&D. He’d done what he’d needed to do two nights before, but he’d been certain he’d gotten away clean. “Ellie, baby, we should talk about this. Tell me what’s happening in R&D. You were down there all day. I thought you were avoiding me.”

  She rubbed the soap along his belly, getting dangerously close to that part of him she really was in control of. He was almost ready to beg her to touch him. “I was, but R&D is having trouble. There was an issue with the calibrations on a couple of the machines. It sent out false data. I fixed it. It took me a while. Someone’s a dipshit.”

  Her hand brushed over the head of his cock. She was trying to make him insane. He should stop her. They needed to talk, but something about that saucy smile gave him pause. She was happy now. He found he couldn’t deny her that. He also couldn’t not ask a few questions.

  “So someone screwed up the machines?” He needed to know if she suspected anyone. Prayed she didn’t since he’d been the one to do it. It was part of the plan, a part he was certain they wouldn’t have to use. It was their nuclear option.

  “That about sums it up. Oooo, I think this part is seriously dirty.” She dropped to her knees and caressed his cock, taking it in her hand.

  Was she really going to do that? Fuck. He needed to concentrate. He needed to make sure she’d fixed what he’d fucked up so the issues didn’t become more than he wanted them to. All he wanted was a couple of reports that showed problems with the coolant system. It would be easy for her to fix, but might cause a little chaos that would slow down the buyout.

  “Who calibrates the machines?” Getting the words out was a struggle.

  She leaned over and licked the head of his cock, and then that was absolutely the only thing that mattered in the entire world.

  “They used interns. It’s a simple job. I used to do it. Apparently, this intern isn’t very good at reading a manual.” Her words hummed along his flesh, making his cock tighten. “I fixed it. It was kind of nice. I liked working down there again. It’s quiet and I can focus. I like to focus, Riley. I like to do a job properly. I’ve found that every job requires the proper attention, no matter how small . . . or large the job may be.”

  He’d known deep down that if he could get her into bed, she would be a sensual thing. He hadn’t expected this playful side. Riley relaxed again. She’d done what he’d known she would do. He had his reports on file and she’d fixed the problem. Hopefully, he wouldn’t have to use them. It didn’t matter now. All that mattered was how good it felt to be with her. “You’re known for your attention to detail, Ms. Stratton. It’s why you are such an amazing executive.”

  Her eyes came up, mirth sparking there. “If I didn’t have such high self-esteem, I would have a problem with that. As it is, you’re right. I’m quite good.”

  “I make it a point to never argue with the boss.” He let the issues with the research and development team float away as she licked the head of his cock.

  Fire sizzled along his spine. He looked down and watched that pink tongue begin to work its magic.

  “Who the hell are you, Ellie? I don’t know if I believe this. Not ten minutes ago you were ready to kick me out because you couldn’t accept the fact that I wanted you.”

  She took his cock in hand and began to stroke him. “You got pissed at me. You’re always smooth and easy, like you’re managing me. You got mad and let me see it. You were real for a moment. So I have to think the rest of it is real, too. It’s just how you are. I’m always thinking about you, but there are moments when I know I’ll never stop, when I’m absolutely certain you’re important to me for way more than business or pleasure. When you told me about your childhood. When we talked about your brothers and sister. And when you got mad at me for not believing in myself. This is the me I want to be, Riley. If we’re going to be lovers, I want to have fun with it. I want you to ge
t the me no one ever sees. I think that’s what you gave me in those moments.”

  He put a hand on her hair and tried really hard to quell the emotion he felt at her words. Too much. He couldn’t feel this much about her. He needed to bring it back to where he was comfortable. “I’ll give you more than that, Madam Executive. I think we were having fun. I get to be in charge in the shower.”

  Her eyes lit again and the moment had passed. “I agree to do absolutely anything you require of me in the shower, Counselor. Consider me your girl Friday.”

  If he hadn’t been crazy about her before, playful Ellie would have done it. Her honest, open sexuality made his blood pound. “I’m going to need you to suck me, baby.”

  “I think I can handle that task. Have I told you how pretty you are naked, Riley?” She leaned forward and took him in her mouth.

  No one had ever called him pretty before. Hot. Sexy. Not pretty. He wasn’t sure he loved the word, but he damn straight loved hearing it from her.

  Her tongue worked over and around his head like a playful butterfly on his skin. Everywhere she touched he felt the connection.

  Yes, this was what he needed. He needed to forget about anything but the sex. Need poured through him. He wanted to get a fistful of that soft hair of hers and force her to take him deep, but he was willing to let her play.

  He didn’t want it to end. When it did, he would have to head home. He couldn’t risk sleeping with her. He never slept with a woman. Never rested near anyone.

  She rolled her tongue over his cock and then sucked him lightly.

  His eyes nearly rolled to the back of his head. He forced himself to focus. Her mouth felt far too good. If he didn’t retain control, he would come in her mouth in seconds, and he needed this to last.

  “That’s what I want. Take more.” He let his hips move as she started to devour him.

  He watched as his cock disappeared between her lips.

  Her hands came up, cupping his balls and rolling them gently.

  Over and over, she used her tongue and lips to send him higher. Her hands came up, running over his thighs and around to his ass. Her nails lightly scored him, but all that did was make him hiss and want more.

  He was going to come, but he wanted inside more than her mouth.

  He twisted a hand in her hair, lightly pulling her. “Stop. I don’t want to come unless you’re with me. Get up here.”

  The words came out more harshly than he’d intended, but he was running on pure instinct. She’d given herself to him tonight and he was going to take her any way he wanted, any way that she needed. She didn’t want the smooth lover. She wanted the other part of him, the part he didn’t share, the part he hadn’t really known existed until he’d found her.

  The possessive, obsessive lover.

  She kissed his cock one last time and then rose to her feet. She moved close to him, her breasts rubbing against his chest. “Riley, I’m on the pill. I didn’t stop after the divorce. I suppose I was thinking positive. I haven’t had a lover since. And I happen to know you passed the physical you recently took.”

  He’d thought he couldn’t get any harder. The idea of getting inside her with absolutely nothing between them made him pull her close. She was right. He’d passed the physical the company had required before the stock transfer. “I did, but you should know I’ve never had sex without a condom. Not once in my life.”

  “Oh.” Her mouth formed a little O and she started to nod. “Okay. Do you have another? I don’t actually have any here. I wasn’t that optimistic.”

  She’d totally misunderstood him, but he wasn’t about to waste time correcting her. She’d given him permission, and he was taking it. He picked her up, shoved her against the wall of the shower, and thrust inside. So tight. She was tight, but wet. She responded so readily to him. “You feel so good. So fucking good.”

  He wrapped his arms around her and let gravity do its work. She groaned as she sank onto his dick. He gripped the silky cheeks of her ass and moved her up and down.

  “You know, I once said I wasn’t all that into muscley guys.” She gasped as he lifted her up and down. “I would like to totally take that back now.”

  As long as he was the muscley guy, he was fine with that. “Hold on to me.”

  Her legs circled his waist and he could feel her nails lightly digging into his back.

  He fucked her hard, all thoughts of making it last gone now. He only needed to make it last until she was satisfied. He moved back, pressing her against the shower wall again so he could angle up and hit her clit with his pelvis. He ground against it as his mouth found hers. He needed to be inside her. Mouth to mouth. Arms wound tight. Cock deep inside. He was surrounded by Ellie, and for those brief moments, he blocked out the rest of the world. She was his world.

  Her fingernails dug in, her legs squeezing him as he felt her pussy pulse.

  “Riley,” she breathed. “Oh, how do you do this to me?”

  She held on as she came, her orgasm sparking his own.

  It raced along his spine, flaring through his system like a wildfire. He utterly lost his cool, slamming into her again and again, drawing out the pleasure.

  As he emptied himself deep inside, he wondered how he would ever leave her.

  Her legs slowly unwound but she still clung to him. Her eyes were sleepy as she smiled up at him. “I think I’m dirty again, Riley.”

  He pressed his mouth to hers. Yeah, she was dirty, and he wouldn’t have her any other way.

  —

  An hour later, he tucked her into bed. She turned toward him, laying her head on his chest.

  “So you won’t be here in the morning, huh?”

  It didn’t sound like an accusation to his ears. There was something resigned and a bit sad about the way she said the words. She cuddled against him. He would get up and get dressed after she went to sleep. He didn’t want her to show him the door. He wanted her to have the illusion of a man who could be with her all the time. Who could sleep beside her.

  “I will. I’ll be back here as soon as I wake up. I also think maybe I should look for a place closer by.” He sighed and let his fingers play along her skin. He liked the way her hair felt against his chest. So often she put it up in a bun or pulled it back. He loved the way it looked spread out and wild. “I’ll pick us up some coffee and donuts.”

  She shook her head against him. “Don’t. I’ll make us breakfast. Take my keys and lock up behind you.”

  “It isn’t that I don’t want to stay.” Despite the fact that she’d accepted his explanation that he didn’t sleep well with others, he felt guilty. If she’d fought him on it, it would have been easier. She’d simply kissed him and asked him to hold her until she went to sleep. Why couldn’t she be more difficult? Then he wouldn’t feel this desperate need to make her understand. “I learned to sleep with one eye open in the group home.”

  Her head came up, eyes meeting his. “It’s all right. I understand.”

  But she didn’t. She couldn’t, and suddenly he really wanted her to. He wanted someone to understand him. He smoothed back her hair. He’d never talked about this. He avoided it at all costs, but somehow it was bubbling up tonight. As though his fear and hurt had found a safe haven. “After my brother aged out, I was alone. I asked him if I could run away and be with him, but I had my last year of high school to finish. They don’t let homeless kids in. That’s pretty shitty of them, I think. So I stayed.”

  She didn’t say anything. She simply put a hand over his and threaded their fingers together.

  “My brother had made some enemies there. He’s really good at that. Two nights after he left, they decided to take out their anger on me instead. At the time I wasn’t as strong as I am now. Like I told you before, I was all about school. I studied. I never worked out. After that night, I worked out. A lot. And I didn’t sleep much.�
�

  He had nightmares. Nothing like Bran’s, from what he could tell, but enough to scare Ellie very likely.

  “I want you to rest, Riley,” she said quietly. “Whatever you need, that’s what you’ll get from me. So you go home and sleep and come back to me in the morning.”

  “I want to be normal.” It kind of shocked the hell out of him. He meant that. He’d always tried to look at what had happened to him as a good thing in the long run. It toughened him up for the fight.

  He wanted to be able to sleep with his girlfriend.

  “There’s no such thing, babe,” she whispered. “We all want to think there’s some magical normal out there that we could achieve if we only did this or believed in that. It’s not true. Normal for humans means struggle. We’re all out there trying to make it through. We’ll find what works for us.”

  She kissed him again and then he felt her breathing turn normal.

  It was a long time before he let her go.

  Seven

  Ellie had to force the grin off her face as Riley stopped by her door. He leaned against the frame, his gorgeous body encased in a designer suit.

  Was there anything sexier than a man in a tailored suit?

  Oh, yes. That man naked.

  “Good morning, Ms. Stratton,” he said in a deep voice.

  A week and a half into her relationship with Riley Lang and all he had to do was turn on that deep voice of his to get her motor running. Sleeping with him every night was having an effect on her.

  Not sleeping. Making love. Every night. Some mornings. A couple of times in the afternoon in her office or his.

  “Good morning, Mr. Lang.” She was fairly certain she was blushing.

  He stepped inside and shut the door. “I’m sorry I missed you this morning.”

  The man practically lived at her place since the night they’d first gotten together. With the single exception of the fact that he wouldn’t sleep with her. He made love to her over and over again, and then he held her until she fell asleep. She never woke up next to him. A few mornings, he’d made it back to her place before she woke up and then he greeted her with coffee, and once had made her superlate for work, but he slept at his place.