Liberated Heart (Windy City Book 4)

by Measha Stone

  "Oh fuck!" He gave her ass a hard slap. "Stay like that. Don't fucking move."

  She didn't think it possible, but he drove even harder into her, filling her and stretching her with every stroke.

  "I have to come!" She turned her head to the side and screamed. "Please! I have to. Can I?"

  He grunted. "Yes," he managed to say between thrusts. His nails went deeper, his cock pushed harder and before she knew it a second orgasm slammed through her, rippling through her body as he found his at the same time. Pulling her hips to meet his thrusts he pounded into her twice more, then stilled behind her, bellowing out into the room his release. He collapsed onto her back, muttering a few more well versed curses before pinching her hip and pushing upward to kiss her just below her neck.

  His gentle touch sent a shiver down her spine and she sighed into the mattress. Slowly she lowered her leg back off the bed, feeling all of the tension in her body begin to ease and be replaced with a soft ache.

  "Was I too rough?" he asked after pulling free from her body and manhandling her until she was standing on her own two feet.

  "Rough?" The word didn't even register properly in her brain which was completely fried. He broke her brain.

  He just grinned at her and began to untie her hands. She noticed his cock was clear of the condom already and wondered if she had fallen asleep for a few minutes somewhere. Her body felt as though it could melt into the bed and never roll out again.

  The small tingles in her fingers started to fade away once the ropes were unwound and her circulation was back in full effect. Moving her fingers around she watched him let it all fall to the ground. He scooped her up into his arms and carried around the bed before depositing her in the center of it.

  She scrambled to pull the covers down and slipped beneath them, suddenly feeling a little shy with him watching her. She had done so many dirty things. All of which she wanted, needed, and begged for.

  The bed dipped when he sat next to her, facing her with concerned eyes. "Are you okay?"

  His voice sounded far off. She swallowed and nodded. "I used my safeword." She blinked at him, and realized she was waiting for him to laugh at her, to rebuke her for having used it.

  "I know." His teeth flashed when he smiled. "I'm proud of you for using it. A small part of me worried you would be so caught up with trying to please me, you'd never use it." He brushed some hair from her face. "How are your nipples?"

  "You aren't mad?"

  "The safewords are there for a reason, Erin. I would be mad if you hadn't used it and kept going, letting yourself be injured or begin to hate what we were doing."

  "Oh." She nodded. He had told her that before, hadn't he? A thought struck her. He was genuine. The concern he expressed, the pleasure he said he wanted her to have—all if it was completely real. He wasn't playing games. He wasn't just role playing for her benefit or just using her body for his own fulfilment. Until that moment she hadn't realized how afraid of his rejection she really was.

  "Erin. Your nipples. How are your nipples?"

  "Fine." She nodded again, swallowing and realizing how thirsty she was. "They're fine," she said again, pulling the blanket up to her chin.

  He laughed. "I'm going to get you some water, and then I'm going to look at them to be sure, and I want to check your wrists again. I had you bound longer than I planned." He pressed a warm kiss to her forehead and grabbed his jeans from the floor, shoving his legs into them.

  She watched him saunter out of the room, the muscles of his back moving with each step, and let out a heavy sigh. Leaning back against the plush pillows, she closed her eyes to let the warmth of the bed soothe her aching muscles.

  She would need to start working out to increase her endurance if they played that way often. For a moment she'd closed her eyes, just for a second. She groaned when the bedding brushed across her tender nipples.

  He was a mean bastard. She'd been right about that. She'd been even more right when she qualified that he was mean in exactly the right ways.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  "Bradley, you want to join the rest of the class?" Travis laughed in his low snorting way and for the fourth time in the last five minutes crossed and uncrossed his legs.

  The meeting to confront the two embezzlers finally took place. Calling off at the last minute, Travis had delayed for another few days, but finally had been roped into attending. Now all Alex and Bradley had to do was get their signatures on the intent to sell documents and get the attorney's to finish their work.

  Bradley finished making his drink at the small wet bar in his office, telling himself to focus on business. He could analyze his obsession with Erin later.

  Once he took his seat in the fourth armchair he looked to Alex to get the ball rolling. "As the two of you are aware Bradley and I have been looking into the finances of the club, not just Top Floor but all three levels. There have been a lot of discrepancies that we aren't able to understand, nor is the accountant we hired—on our own—to look things over."

  "What's this?" John's eyes narrowed at them. "What are you getting at?" His right leg began to bounce on the ball of his foot.

  "There's been a lot of charges going through the company that aren't for the company." Bradley dropped the accounting reports on the table between them. "This is a listing of all the charges that appear to be for personal items, and these are just the ones that are blatantly obvious. I'm sure there's more if we dig a little deeper."

  John swallowed then looked over at Travis with a furrowed brow. "Everyone runs a few things through the company, you know, to avoid income taxes." Travis waved a fat hand through the air dismissively.

  "Not this company." Alex shook his head. "We never discussed any sort of personal spending accounts for any of us. I haven't run a single personal item through the company and neither has Bradley."

  "Whereas the two of you have run up a bill for yourselves to the high pitched tune of nearly a hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Each." Bradley kept his voice flat, but his anger simmered beneath the surface. Nearly three hundred thousand dollars walked out the door with those two assholes. He was never very close to either one of them, but he'd done business with them in the past, and he never saw any signs of something like what they pulled with the club.

  "That's not even possible. We haven't even been open a year, yet." Travis scoffed and leaned back in his chair. His double chin becoming more prominent as he scrunched up his face in disbelief.

  "Go ahead, take a look." Alex pushed the reports closer to them both. "Your tallies are written on the last page. We'll expect that amount put back into the account by close of business tomorrow."

  Bradley braced himself for the blow back.

  Travis was the first to explode, his face reddening as he burst out of the chair. "If you think I have that kind of money just hanging around you're nuts."

  "I don't think you do, which is why you've been living off the company for so many months. You've been charging your fucking groceries for Christ sake!" Alex looked over at John who sat passively staring at the reports, but not reaching for them.

  "Maria must have done that. It must have been an accident," Travis declared. "I'll talk to her, take her card away."

  "She never should have had it in the first place, Travis." Bradley spoke but only moved his eyes to look at him. He needed to keep his composure if they were to get through the next part. "If you can't pay the company back, then there are only two options left to us."

  "What's that?" John looked more intently at Bradley, his toe was tapping on the ground.

  "One option is you two give up your shares in the company." Alex looked at John when he gave the option, but it was Travis who responded.

  "Fuck that! Our shares are worth more than that! I'm not just walking away from this place. I own a quarter of it. You two want us out, you'll have to pay for it. And I want ten percent more than I paid for my shares." Travis began pacing behind his chair, throwing out numbers and percentages
that made little to no sense.

  "He's right, we did pay more than that to buy in," John said calmly.

  Bradley ran a hand over his smooth head, and leaned forward a bit, concentrating on John since he seemed to be the voice of reason between the two. "Yeah, but you see, you stole from the company. You took money that wasn't yours, money that could have been earning interest in the bank, money that should have been distributed out."

  "Distributions! Just take it out of our distributions." Travis slapped the back of the chair with his hand.

  "No." Alex leaned back in his chair. "I don't do business with people who steal from me. If you won't walk away, we'll have no choice but to alert the authorities."

  "What?" Travis nearly pushed the chair over with his explosion. "For a measly hundred thousand? Do you know what that sort of investigation would do to my life? I'm a fucking district attorney! I can't be associated with this club publicly, and if you do that my whole fucking life goes under the microscope." Spittle flew out of his mouth. "This is fucking blackmail that's what this is."

  Bradley looked to Alex. "Did you force his hand at spending all that cash on weekend getaways with his mistress, or sending his wife on wild lavish spa dates so he could spend time with his girlfriend?"

  Alex grinned. "No, not that I remember. Maybe you forced him to buy his girlfriend an entire new wardrobe from Lane Bryant?"

  "Ah, yes, he does like his girlfriends a bit curvier than his wife."

  Their banter only fueled Travis's anger. "I'll fucking sue you both for blackmail and—and extortion!"

  Bradley outright laughed. "It's not blackmail. But if you really do see it that way, I'll just have my attorney begin filing whatever he needs to file to pursue a legal case against you. Not only criminal charges, but there will be a civil suit as well." He pushed off his chair and walked around his desk reaching for the phone.

  "Wait." John held up a hand. "Just wait." He turned to Travis. "I can't go through a lawsuit. I'm no big lawyer like you. I just started with a new practice, my client base is minimal, and I sure as hell can't pay back all that money." He buttoned his jacket as he rose from his seat. "I'll make one counter offer. Let us keep part ownership of the first floor. That floor makes a decent profit. Silent partners, just take our distributions as they come, no access to accounts. Just quarterly reports."

  Bradley glanced at Alex to gauge his reaction to the proposition.

  "Fuck that, John. That floor won't make us shit," Travis grumbled.

  "Ten percent of that floor for each of you. No access to any accounts nor will you have any say in the business at all. We don't answer to you in anyway. Purely an investment on your end," Alex clarified.

  "It's the best you're going to get from me." Bradley settled his gaze on Travis. "I'd rather let you squirm with the cops, but if it gets you out, fine. Ten percent of the bottom floor."

  "Fine with me." John nodded and turned to Travis.

  The man looked as though his body was about to combust. For an attorney he sure as hell didn't have much of a poker face. "Fine," he said. "Get the papers drawn up and send them to my office. You might as well drop my membership to the fucking club. I'm never stepping foot inside this shit hole again." With that said, he turned on his overly priced knock off shoes and stormed out.

  After the door slammed, John turned to Alex and Bradley with a somber expression. "Not that you have any reason to believe me, but I want you to know I never intended for it to get so out of hand. And I never intended it to be a theft."

  Bradley believed him.

  John followed Travis, that wasn't news. They'd known each other since childhood, but he was a grown man and needed to start putting his own better judgement to work. "I'll send you my attorney's information and will alert him to complete the transaction as quickly as possible."

  "Thank you, John." Alex held out his hand to him and Bradley watched them shake hands.

  John gave a nod to Bradley, but didn't reach for his hand. "I should be thanking you." He gave a weak smile and headed for the door.

  Bradley and Alex watched him leave in silence.

  "Well, that could have been worse." Alex blew out a long breath and threw himself down into a chair. "Travis might give us some trouble later on, and we didn't get them to sign the intent to sell."

  "It wouldn't matter. They can change their minds anyway." Bradley scooped up the papers from the table and brought them back to his desk. "If Travis gives us trouble, we go the legal route. I'm not fucking with him."

  "I suppose." Alex scratched the back of his head. "I'll get the attorneys all lined up to start drafting everything. The sooner I get Alyssa's signature on those papers the better I'll sleep at night."

  "You still think she's going to run off on you? She forgave your stupidity, leave it alone." Bradley rolled his desk chair back and sank into the plush leather.

  "No, it's not that. My father won't leave me alone until it's done. He wants to make sure she can stand on her own two feet. The man acts more like her father than mine some days."

  Bradley laughed.

  Alex walked up to his desk and folded his arms over his chest. Since he stopped working at the advertising firm, he spent more time at the gym, and it was starting to show. His suits were getting a little tighter in the arms. "About Erin."

  Bradley groaned. "Don't do the big brother thing with me, Alex." His phone buzzed in his suit pocket, and he snatched it, checking the screen. Not Erin.

  She had gone in to work already before he left for the club. He checked on her wrists before she hopped in the shower that morning. All of her twisting and turning during their play a few nights before had left her skin a bit tender. She insisted she was fine, but he still checked to be sure there were no abrasions.

  At every turn the woman met his expectations and pushed for more. He didn't think he would ever find a woman who got just as hot and bothered about her ironing his shirts nude as he did, yet there she was yesterday morning, stark naked and pressing his pants. He managed to at least wait until she finished before he threw her over the bed and took her, hard.

  "I'm not going to do the big brother thing." Alex nodded. "I'm going to do the friend thing. I know how you play, Bradley. I've seen you. I just can't see Erin being able to keep up with you, and I know she says she's over Jonathan, but really do you think she could have gotten over him that quickly?"

  "Are you concerned that I'll hurt her, or that she'll hurt me?" Bradley grinned over the desk, trying to keep his attitude light.

  Alex sighed, dropping his hands to his sides. "Hell, I don't know. Both I guess."

  "Look, Erin is an adult, and so am I."

  "Fine. I'll leave it alone. Besides, the girls will keep an eye on her. Just be careful with her."

  Not again. "Right. Because she's a fragile little bird that everyone needs to coddle." He rolled his eyes. If her friends could see the things she'd endured for pleasure they would change their tunes. Erin could take care of herself just fine without everyone always running around with a safety net under her ass, but they still didn't see that.

  "That's not what I meant."

  "Sure it is. It's what you all mean. Just because she's been sheltered, just because she's not explored this part of herself before doesn't make her weak."

  "I know it doesn't." Alex narrowed his eyes as he watched Bradley gather his phone and start heading for the door.

  "I have a meeting with Kendrick. I'll be back later."

  "Kendrick?" Alex caught up with him in the lounge and walked with him toward the elevators.

  "It's nothing. Just need him to look into something for me." He escaped into the elevator before Alex could push for more answers than he wanted to give.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Erin fidgeted at the corner table at Lou Mitchell's Restaurant waiting for Jonathan to show up and sign the listing papers for the house. The waitress came by again and refilled her water glass. She wanted to cancel the dinner, but Bradley insisted s
he go out, not knowing who she was going out with. He had to work late at the club and he saw no reason for her to sit home alone. But he was worried about her, she could see it in his eyes when he looked at her.

  He'd asked her several times over the course of the week if she'd received anymore letters. But if he had meant had she gotten any word from Jonathon, she would have been lying. He contacted her several times wanting to get the sale of the house going. Apparently, he needed the money. Served him right, the bastard.

  She wanted to talk to Bradley about the house and having to meet with Jonathan, but whenever she tried, her mouth dried up and her tongue tied into a knot. Thinking about the situation sent her into a tailspin of worry, so she just avoided the whole topic all together. It was time she did things on her own, anyway. She didn't need Bradley to babysit her while she talked with Jonathan. They would meet in a public place, and she wouldn't let him bully her. She could take care of herself.

  Although, keeping him in the dark of her decision, who she was meeting after work probably pushed that line of honesty a bit further than he would agree to, but she couldn't think of that. She had to focus on getting Jonathan to sign the papers, and then she'd tell him later.

  Although weaving lies into their relationship wouldn't help them in the long run, she needed to stand on her own feet. She would get through this last thing with Jonathan and be rid of him for good.

  "Hey." Jonathan plopped down in the chair across from her a little out of breath. His hair was disheveled and his lips swollen, giving her the reason for being late. Behind him a little blonde thing slid onto a stool at the counter. The blonde whipped her eyes away from them when Erin connected with her momentarily.

  The blood ran from her face, and her stomach clenched. "Really? You brought your girlfriend?"

  His eyes widened briefly before he gave her a nonchalant carefree look. The one he'd perfected over the years to hide any real emotion he may have been experiencing. "It's not like you haven't moved on." His snide remark dripped with venom.