“That’s me. As you can see I’m fine after last night.”
“David, went after you. He seemed very concerned about you. Are you two an item?”
The bluntness of his question took me by surprise. For a moment I wasn’t sure how I should answer. We weren’t really an item but I knew a large part of me wanted to change that.
“It’s complicated.” I answered with a sigh and Robert gave me a very knowing smile. Although I wasn’t in the least bit sexually attracted to this man. At least not in the way I was attracted to David. There was something about him that made me want to get to know him.
“How do you and David know each other?”
Robert smiled. “We don’t know each other that well. I’d consider us to be more acquaintances that anything else. Ships passing in the night, if you will.”
“Oh.” I chewed my lip thoughtfully before continuing. “Well as you can see I’m perfectly fine. Nothing to worry about. It was lovely of you to be so concerned.” I moved away and headed down the street.
“Fancy a coffee? I know a lovely little place not far from here. Perhaps there we can get to know each other a little better?” He gave me his best boyish smile again. It didn’t touch his eyes and I could feel some sort of tension radiating from him. There was something very odd about this man. And I was determined to get to the bottom of it.
I smiled back at him in an attempt to make him think I was succumbing to his charms. I wasn’t very good at it. I never had been very good at concealing my real thoughts and feelings.
“Alright. I guess I could do with it. I missed my usual morning coffee.”
Robert raised an eyebrow at my statement and smiled. “Ah, too busy were you?”
Colour pooled in my cheeks and I turned away from him. How could he possibly think this was endearing?
“So I recognise your name from somewhere. Hatcher? It rings a bell but I’m not sure how I know it...” I once again started to walk down the street and he matched my pace easily.
“Hatcher Industries. It’s a company my father owns. One day I’ll take it over from him. That is if he ever decides to retire.”
Hatcher Industries was one of the accounts our firm took care of. If I remembered correctly it was the very one that had accused David of messing up the file transfer. The one that David had punished me for. I blushed as I remembered the feel of his strong hands on my ass. I had never been spanked before. But with David doing it, it had felt absolutely right. I would have given anything at that moment to have David drive up and bend me over the bonnet of his car. Even with everyone on the street watching I would have let him do whatever he wanted to me. It was a strange feeling to know that I would give every part of myself to that man. I would let him do things to me that I had only ever dreamt about late at night.
He was a man who could possess me completely and I could become lost in him.
“Penny for your thoughts?” Robert’s voice made me jump and brought me back to reality with a bump. How long had I zoned out for? This was exactly the reason why David had punished me in the first place. The realisation made me giggle.
Robert opened the door of the coffee shop we had stopped outside. I noticed then that his hands were smaller than David’s. It made me long for his strong touch. The way he placed his hand on my lower back and guided me into a room. When he had done it, it had made me feel safe.
“Carrie, its like you’re on another planet. Have I done something wrong?” I looked at Robert’s concerned face. He was being so nice and here I was acting like a some sort of space cadet weirdo.
I shook my head and smiled. “I’m fine, really. I just need to get some coffee inside me.”
Robert grinned and let me step inside. “Then I think you’re going to like this place.”
I took a seat whilst he went to the counter and ordered our drinks. When he returned we made idle chit chat that seemed to go on forever. I could sense he wanted to ask me something else entirely but hadn’t yet gotten up the courage to do it. Having that feeling made me feel a little nervous.
Finally he got up the courage and when he cleared his throat I knew he was finally going to get to the heart of the matter.
“So you work for David?”
“Yeah, I’ve been his secretary for nearly a year now. Why?”
“No real reason I just find it strange that you work for him and you would indulge him in some of his darker fantasies.” Robert lifted the coffee cup to his mouth and took a sip. I was intrigued. What did he mean darker fantasies? Yes the club had been an odd experience. But David hadn’t done anything yet that I could really attribute to a dark side.
“What do you mean? I haven’t indulged him in any dark fantasies or...” I cut myself off before I could continue. It really was none of Robert’s business what we got up to in the bedroom and I certainly wasn’t going to share any intimate details.
“Oh, well my mistake then. It’s just when I saw you at the club last night and I found out you were with him I just assumed.”
“Assumed what?” My voice had taken on a hostile tone. I couldn’t help it. Every fibre of my being told me I should like Robert but I didn’t. There was something off about him that let me know he was a bad idea.
“Carrie, really it’s nothing. You said it yourself he hasn’t tried his idea of fun with you. Clearly you are something different for him. It’s just I like you and I wouldn’t want to see you get hurt.”
I opened my mouth and then closed it. He liked me? How could he? He didn’t know me and I didn’t know him. Was this how it worked for everyone else? Guys told them how they felt. It was something my friends had spoken about but it had never happened to me.
“Look, Carrie, I can see that care about Ashcroft. But I’m going to tell you this as a warning. He’s a user. He likes to seduce women just to prove that he can. He has taken subs from other Doms in the club. He doesn’t have many friends there. Quite a few members would like to see him disappear. But I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you. I don’t want him to use you up and spit you out like the others. You’re worth more than that.” Robert reached out and tucked some of my stray blonde hairs that had escaped my hair tie back behind my ear. His touch left me cold.
“I have to go.” I stood. My hasty movement shaking the table and spilling the coffee. It spilled across the surface and straight down onto Robert’s lap. He jumped back but it was too late.
Part of me wanted to giggle as I watched the dark stain spread across his grey trousers. The sensible, responsible part of me forced me to apologise.
“I’m so sorry. Really, Robert, I am. I have to go.” I ran from the coffee shop and down the street. This had clearly been a mistake. I should have pretended I wasn’t in. Or just told him to leave.
The sound of a man’s footsteps following me down the street made me speed up. It was an irrational reaction but being chased had that effect on me. Especially after the night before with Richard.
“Carrie, wait.”
I stopped outside my apartment and reached for my handbag if I could get inside the door before he reached me I would be safe. Panic brought bile up my throat as I realised I didn’t have my bag.
“Carrie, you forgot your bag.” Robert sauntered the last few metres to my side and handed me my bag. Shame prevented me from looking him in the eye. I had behaved despicably and here he was still being nice and gracious.
“Look I know this is weird for you. And I’m sorry about what I said about David. But do you think I could come up and get cleaned up?”
I glanced down at his ruined trousers and nodded. It was the least I could do. I fumbled through my bag and fished out my keys. I remained silent as I let him in and we climbed the stairs. It was an absurd situation. Only a few days before I had been contemplating my future. No man in my life and no sign of ever having one. Now here I was with David and Robert. I
didn’t count Richard. He was a Dick in more ways than one.
But David was unlike any man I had ever been with. He was different. Something in him spoke to me. It hit me then. What was I doing? I was mad. Walking away from him had been the worst mistake I could have made. I wanted him and if he wanted me then what was I worried about?
I opened the front door of my apartment and stepped inside. The broken glass on the floor caught my eye and it brought memories of the night before flooding back. He knew exactly what to do to my body to get me to respond to him. He pushed all of my buttons. What I needed to do now was learn to push his right back.
“The bathroom is just back there.” I indicated to a door down the hall and left Robert to find his own way. Heading into the kitchen I pulled open the fridge and took out a bottle of chilled water. I had made up my mind as soon as Robert was cleaned up and he left I was going back to David.
I had been foolish to leave him. He made me feel things like no other had in the past. I owed it to myself to find out just what he could offer me. After all what was the worst that could possibly happen?
“Carrie, can you come here for a minute?” The sound of Robert’s voice from down drew my attention. There was no way he could get the coffee stain out of his trousers but he could at least dry it. Heading to the bathroom I knocked on the door.
“It’s ok you can come in. I just want to ask you something.”
Without thinking I pushed opened the door. I stumbled back into the hall in shock as I caught sight of Robert. He had stripped off all of his clothes. His wet trousers lay across the towel rack and I could see that he had made no attempt to dry them.
The fact that he was naked was bad enough but it was his erection that had me shielding my eyes.
“What the hell are you doing?” I asked my voice was high and breathy but it wasn’t excitement I was feeling.
“I know you want this, Carrie. I’ve sensed the connection between us from when we met last night. But I have just one thing. You called me sweet. And well I am anything but sweet.” He moved out of the bathroom and cornered me in the hall. His hands wrapped into my hair and as he kissed me hard.
For a moment I was shocked and couldn’t move. Surely this wasn’t happening. The moment I felt his erection press against my stomach I knew it was. I pushed him away wiped my hand across my mouth.
“How dare you!” My voice was shaky as I tried to scrub the taste of him off my lips.
Robert smiled and shrugged his shoulders. “Carrie, it’s just a matter of time. Why fight it?” He made to move towards me again but the buzzer sounded.
His smile grew even bigger and a curl of suspicion grew in my stomach. The buzzer sounded again and Robert started to laugh.
“Carrie, you should see your face.”
I didn’t want to answer the buzzer. The way Robert was looking from me to it told me everything I needed to know. For some reason he knew exactly who was downstairs.
“It’s rude not to answer the door.” His grin curved up into a sly smile. If I didn’t answer then I knew he would find a way to get inside. David was very determined when he wanted to be.
I slid my hand across the buzzer and answered.
“Carrie, it’s David. Look I don’t like how we left things this morning. Can I come up? I just want to... to see you. When I got your message... Well let’s just say I’ve behaved stupidly. It’s just I’ve never met a woman like you before who intrigued me so much...”
I opened my mouth to answer him, but it was as though Robert had been waiting for his opportunity.
“Carrie, come back to bed.” He spoke the words over my shoulder and directly into the speaker. There was no mistaking the sound of his voice and what the tone implied.
“You have a guest.” David’s voice had turned icy and a shiver ran down my spine.
“David, wait I can explain.” But the only sound on the intercom that I could hear was static. He was gone.
Cursing I turned back to Robert who had retrieved his clothes from the bathroom and was tugging them on. He smiled at me. Anger blurred my vision and my body shook.
“Why? Why would you do that?” Tears spilled down my cheeks, hot and heavy.
“Nothing personal, sweetheart. This is something between me and David. Call it an old score.”
“But why? I don’t understand. What did I have to do with it?”
“You were perfect. Played right into my hands. If I’m honest I’m not sure what David sees in you. Usually he prefers the skinnier types. But you do have a certain charm, I suppose.” He buttoned his shirt as he spoke.
“But...” My words were choked off with tears which I scrubbed angrily from my face.
“God you are gullible. David cares about you. You are different. He has never behaved this way with a woman before. He has never chased a woman before. So I knew you were his weakness.”
“Weakness for what? Why would you do this to him? To me? It doesn’t make any sense.”
“I told you. It’s payback. Some say it’s a bitch.” He gave me his boyish smile and my hands itched to slap it right off his face.
“Anytime you fancy some no strings fun. Give me a call.” He dropped his card on my table and opened the front door. “It’s been a blast. Hope you have a good evening.” He left and his laughter echoed in the hall. I ran after him and slammed the door.
He had ruined it. David now thought I was playing away with another man when really the only man I was interested in was him. I needed to salvage it. If Robert was right and David did care about me then I stood a chance of fixing it and setting it straight.
I needed to go to him. I had to show him that he was the only one for me. If that meant agreeing to his proposition, no matter what it was, then so be it. My future happiness depended on me fixing this issue.
***
The ride over in the taxi was excruciating. Although I had just been to his apartment the night before being driven there by someone who knew the way and giving directions to someone who didn’t were two very different experiences.
When the car finally pulled up in front of an apartment building that looked somewhat familiar I jumped out. I flung some cash into the front seat before looking up at the building before me. All I could do now was hope that he was in. If he wasn’t then I would just have to sit and wait for him. However long it took. I would wait for him.
I pushed open the doors of the lobby and scanned the area. The door man looked familiar and I let out a sigh of relief. Being in the right place was the first step. Making my way over to the desk I tried to calm my nerves. If David refused to see me I wasn’t sure what I could do.
“I’m here to see, Mr Ashcroft, David Ashcroft.”
The doorman gave me a disapproving look before picking up the phone.
“Who may I say is here?” He asked as he placed his hand over the receiver.
“Miss Grant.” I squared my shoulders and pushed my hair back off my face. I didn’t need to let the doorman see that his disapproving looks were getting to me. After everything that had happened I already felt bad enough. Part of me wondered if he remembered me from the night before. Perhaps that was part of the reason for his objections to me.
The doorman replaced the receiver and gave me a hard look. “Take the elevator to the second floor.” He turned away from me and I didn’t thank him. As far as I was concerned he was judging me unfairly. He didn’t even know me.
Getting into the elevator I tried to take several deep breaths. My mind was in chaos and my stomach was full of butterflies. Would I be able to go through with this? Would I truly be able to submit to David? How hard would it be?
I had heard plenty of horror stories about women abused by men under the pretence that it was mutual pleasure. David wasn’t like that. Or was he? Nervousness made me chew my fingernails. And when the elevator came to a halt and p
inged open I jumped.
Closing my eyes I sucked in a deep breath. I needed to do this. I needed to know if we had a future. I stepped out into the hall and looked up and down its length before I spotted David’s door. It was the only black door in the hall. I hadn’t paid too much attention to it the night before. I had been far too engrossed in what David was doing to my senses and my body.
Standing outside the door I rang the bell. Several seconds dragged by and I was sure David wasn’t going to answer the door. When he did my heart sank.
He gave me a cold hard stare. He looked at me as though I was a stranger and it hurt to see him do it. I knew that from his perspective it was justified. But if he knew me. The way he claimed to know me then he would know that I wasn’t the type to randomly pick up men.
We stood staring at each other and several minutes passed by. Finally I gathered enough to courage to speak to him.
“Can I come in?” My voice came out more as a squeak than a normal human voice.
He merely stepped away from the door and moved further into the apartment. I followed him inside and shut the door.
“Look about earlier...” I stared but he cut me off.
“It is none of my business. I was a little disappointed to see that you had lied to me but it is not something that I can’t get over.”
“Lied to you?” I asked. Confusion clouding my mind.
“I asked you last night had you received a better offer. And you denied it. I see now that you had. Tell me, Carrie, what could he give you that I didn’t?” David’s voice remained cold and clinical. It was almost as though he were discussing the pro’s and con’s of an account at the firm.
At the Billionaire's Pleasure 3: For Love or Lust? (BDSM Billionaire Series) Page 2