The Miracle Baby Box Set: Volume One: Books 1 - 4

by Hamel, B. B.

  “You’re mad, I know. But you’re still mine.”

  I feel it flare inside of me, and I look up at him. “I’m not yours,” I say.

  “Oh, really?” He arches an eyebrow at me. “I think the contract states you very much are.”

  “What are you going to do if I decide not to play along anymore?” I ask, turning to face him.

  He looks at me with this cocky little smile that drives me insane. I think I’d slap him if we weren’t in a room full of people.

  “The contract has some very… interesting punishments. I’m guessing you didn’t read them very closely.”

  “I didn’t. Enlighten me.”

  “Well, if you break this contract, you forfeit all underwear to me for two years.”

  I gape at him then laugh. “What the hell does that mean? I can’t wear underwear for two years?”

  “Furthermore,” he says, talking over me, “you agree to masturbate with a dildo cast from my own cock for at least three weeks.”

  “You’re kidding me.”

  “There’s more,” he says, holding up a hand. “You have to record those masturbation sessions and send them to your entire email contact list. And you have to go to Times Square, take off your clothes, get down on your knees, and beg for my forgiveness. I’ll be filming it, of course.”

  I can’t help but smile at this. “What else?” I ask.

  “Spankings. At least one a day.”

  “Of course. Spankings. Naturally.”

  “You’ll have to wear a dog collar and follow me around.”

  I frown a little. “That’s degrading.”

  “The worst part is, you have to let me fuck you from behind whenever I want.”

  I roll my eyes. “Gross.”

  He shrugs. “You signed the contract.”

  “Jerk. Seriously. What’s the punishment?”

  “You’ll get fired and I can sue you for damages equal to the potential payment.”

  I clench my fists. “You can sue me for two million? I don’t have that much money. I’m not even worth that much, not even close.”

  “I know. I guess I’d just bankrupt you. Unless you’d prefer one of the other punishments I just mentioned.”

  “The dog collar one sounds preferable.”

  He smirks at me. “Can’t say I’m surprised to hear that.”

  I can feel my anger surging again. “You really do own me, don’t you? And you’re going to just lord it over me?”

  “You signed up for this, Emma. You’re supposed to give me a baby, remember?”

  “What if I don’t want to give you anything anymore?” I snap at him, practically turning red with rage.

  He watches me for a second. “Come with me,” he says calmly, and he takes my hand.

  I pull away. “No, you asshole. I’m tired of your threats and following you around.”

  “Emma,” he says sternly, turning back to glare at me. “Don’t embarrass yourself.”

  I’m a little taken aback by that. He takes my hand again and this time I let him tow me away from the banquet hall and out a side door. There’s a little stairwell up to the upper levels, and we don’t stop until he pushes through an emergency door that leads out onto the roof.

  It’s a beautiful night and we can see the city spread out around us. He walks over to the waist-high safety wall that goes around the roof and leans against it, looking out at the buildings. The theater isn’t as big as the high-rises, but it still gives us a pretty good view.

  I hesitate before joining him. We stand there in silence for a moment, and I slowly calm myself. I don’t have anything to gain by being angry with him.

  “I know you don’t trust me,” he says finally, which is surprising.

  “I don’t,” I admit. “I barely know you.”

  He nods a little bit. “I guess that’s true. Although I feel like you know me pretty well by now.”

  I cock my head. “I guess we have been talking a lot, haven’t we?”

  He nods. “More than normal, at least for me. I don’t usually… I don’t normally get this close.”

  “Why?” I ask, not sure why I even care.

  He just watches the city and I can see his fingers slowly curling along the stone.

  “I’ve been hurt before,” he says finally. “In the past. I was engaged once, did you know that?”

  I’m surprised. I didn’t think he was the type. “I had no clue,” I say.

  “Before Envoy,” he says. “Her name was Kelly.”

  “What happened?”

  “She got bored and fucked her yoga teacher, some guy named Beaver or some shit like that.”

  “Seriously?” I ask.

  “Seriously,” he says, smiling. “Go ahead and laugh, it’s fucking absurd.”

  “I mean… Beaver?” I shake my head.

  “I know.” He looks back out at the city. “I was a different man then. And she was into that fucking hippie shit.”

  “Clearly really into it. I mean… Beaver.”

  He grins at me. “I know, right?”

  “Did you catch them?” I ask him.

  “Not right away. We were engaged for a few months before I finally caught on and she admitted everything.” He stares up at the stars. “Fucked me up. I started Envoy after that, mostly to forget about her and to start over. I had no clue it would change my life.”

  “Guess it worked out then,” I say.

  “Guess so.” He’s quiet for a second. “I haven’t gotten close to anyone since then, though. Really fucked me up.” He finally looks at me, and I feel a chill run down my spine. “I wasn’t lying to you, Emma.”

  “About what?” I ask softly.

  “About wanting a family. I wasn’t lying.”

  I meet his gorgeous gaze and I have no clue how a woman could get bored with a man like him. He has depth to him, and charm, and beauty, and he’s incredible in bed. All that plus he’s funny and smart and talented and more.

  “I believe you,” I say.

  “That’s why I want this contract to continue.” He reaches out and takes my hand, pulling me up against him. “But only if it’s something you want, too.”

  “A family?” I ask, visions of little Davids running around dancing across my mind. I can see being his wife, raising his children, giving Julie a great home and lots of siblings.

  “No,” he says softly with a smile. “The contract.”

  “Right. The contract.” I nod my head slowly. “I still want it.”

  “Good.” He tilts my chin up toward him and kisses me softly.

  I let myself get lost in that kiss. It’s not the deepest, not the most passionate… but it marks something. I can feel the anger inside of me slowly leeching out. I can feel that part of me that doesn’t care what he knows, doesn’t care about the money, doesn’t care about anything but being with him slowly winning out.

  I can feel that stupid part of me starting to take over.

  He breaks the kiss off and steps back. “We should go back down there,” he says.

  “Yeah, you’re right.”

  “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine,” I say, looking away. “Let’s just get back down there.”

  He hesitates a second. “You really do look perfect.”

  “Thanks,” I say, smiling at him. He takes me hand and we head back down to the party together. I spend the rest of the night chatting with people I don’t know and acting like the perfect date.

  While inwardly, I hate myself. He’s still the enemy. He’s still my nemesis. But for some stupid, insane, totally crazy reason, I’m starting to love my enemy. I’m starting to love the man I should hate, the man that’s trying to control me and dominate me and get me pregnant all for his own twisted reasons.

  He’s not simple, not even close. He’s wrapped in layers of mystery and confusion and for some reason, I love him despite it all. I should be running away, but I’m running toward him. I should be concentrating on Julie, working hard to fini
sh my project at work, and banishing anything that’s remotely distracting from my view. David is the definition of distraction, through and though.

  He’s the enemy. And I’m falling in love with him.

  16

  David

  I know I fucked up that night on the boat, but I think I’m starting to win her back.

  At least, that’s what I think when I get into work early the next day. We had fun last night at the charity gala. I didn’t bring her there to fuck her, but I did want to try and show her that I’m not just some asshole. There’s more to me than just a rich tech bro.

  I hope she’s starting to see it. I’m not comfortable opening up about my romantic past, especially about my ex. I was a different man, a worse and weaker man. I hate the guy I used to be. I let Kelly walk all over me back then, mostly because she had some magic fucking pussy that kept me addicted as hell.

  I worked hard to get past that. I’ve fucked as many women as I can and improved myself. Kelly is just a speck in my rearview mirror now, and I haven’t brought her up in years, but it just made sense in the moment.

  I wanted Emma to know about her, I think because I wanted her to know that I’ve been through some things in my life. I haven’t just had it easy. I’m not just that blessed rich playboy, or at least I haven’t always been. I come from a humble background and I’ve had my fucking heart broken.

  Maybe that’s why I have my walls up, I don’t know. Maybe that’s why I can’t just talk to Emma about Julie, make her understand that I want to be a part of her life. Things might be so much simpler, but I’m afraid Emma will run away and leave me alone and fucked, the way Kelly did all those years ago.

  I sit down at my desk and swivel my chair to look out the window behind me. Boo-fucking-hoo, I think to myself. I don’t know when I began to think it was okay to bitch and moan about some ex-girlfriend that broke up with me. Sure, we were engaged, but who the fuck cares? Everyone’s been dumped at some point. I got over it a long time ago. I shouldn’t even be thinking about it anymore.

  I turn back to my computer and check my email. I answer a few unimportant things, and ignore a few important ones from Olivia, before going through my usual routine. I check the New York Times for real news and Fox News for propaganda and CNN for fake news. I check the front page of Reddit before diving down deep into a few subreddits. Finally, I end with this Reddit-like tech blog thing called Hacker News where people can upvote and downvote different tech-related stories. As I scroll through, one story in particular catches my eye, and I fucking grimace.

  I click the link. The headline reads, David Carlson With New Young Girlfriend, Also Employee.

  “What the fucking shit,” I say softly to myself as I scan the article. If the tech world had a Perez Hilton, this blog related to Hacker News would be it. That’s where all the paparazzi and rumor bullshit goes, and everyone in the industry reads it. I’ve been on this blog many, many times in my life, but this is the first time that I’ve actually been pissed.

  Notorious playboy David Carlson, that rich, handsome bastard, has another lady. That’s right folks, another one. I mean, we’re up to, what, fifty at this point? Nobody really cares, right?

  Except this time it’s different.

  David was spotted at a recent charity even for inner city schools with an employee on his arm. That’s right, folks. David’s dating within his own company now, which is basically the worst thing he could possibly do.

  I mean, this woman can’t say no, right? He’s her boss, and he’s inherently in a position of power over her. That scumbag, I mean, playboy needs to really go back to basic gender training. I bet his own HR division can provide some salient videos and materials for him to peruse.

  In the meantime, enjoy these photos. We’re told the woman’s name is Emma Maye, but we’re still confirming. She’s pretty, though, yeah? Good for you, David. I guess.

  I keep scrolling through photos of Emma and I, wincing at each one. The stupid idiots spelled her name wrong, but they’ll figure that out eventually. It’s a petty victory, considering the pictures and the little editorial that goes along with them.

  I’m so angry I can only sit back and stare. They think I’m taking advantage of Emma, and now that’s going to be the narrative. Even worse, the whole fucking company’s going to see this. Every single person in the tech business reads Hacker News, and there’s no way they’ll miss an article about their own CEO.

  I’m so fucking fucked I think my dickhole is already aching from it.

  My intercom buzzes and I hit the button, already sure who it’s going to be. “Olivia for you,” Lucy says.

  “Send her in.”

  Olivia looks pissed, even more pissed than normal. She waits for the door to close behind her before she whirls on me, hands clenched into fists.

  “Those fucking assholes,” she says.

  I blink. “Huh?”

  “That trash blog.” She sits down in the chair in front of me. “Posting that shit about you.”

  I almost want to laugh, but I know better than that. I don’t want to risk this moment. “You’re mad at them,” I say. “And not mad at me.”

  She grunts. “Yes, David. In this instance, I’m mad at them. I can’t exactly pretend like my hands are clean of this situation now, can I?”

  I smirk at her. “Guess not. Considering you sent her over to my house the other night.”

  She shrugs, nonplussed. “You were distracted. I was doing you a favor.”

  “You were whoring out an employee.”

  “Are you complaining?”

  “Nope, it’s just so many levels of fucked up, that’s all.”

  “Imagine what they’d say.” She gestures at my computer lazily. “Probably that you’re raping Emma and destroying the world, or something insane like that.”

  I sigh and lean back in my chair. “Are they wrong, though?”

  Olivia stares at me, surprised. “What are you saying?”

  “She is my employee,” I say slowly. “I can’t exactly dispute that.”

  “It isn’t simple,” Olivia counters. “They don’t know the whole story.”

  “Would that matter?” I say, laughing. “Shit, if they knew, it’d be even worse. I’d be the rich playboy blackmailing a woman with money into letting him fuck her.”

  “Bribing,” Olivia says.

  “What?”

  “You’d be bribing her, not blackmailing her. But at any rate, your point’s well taken.”

  I roll my eyes. “I just shouldn’t be seen in public with her.”

  “No, you shouldn’t,” she agrees.

  “But I didn’t know I was in public at that event.”

  “No, you didn’t.”

  “What do we do now?” I ask her.

  She leans back in her chair, crossing her legs. I let her think for a moment, and normally the silence would drive me nuts, but it’s Olivia. I’ve gone through this moment with her countless times. I know that if I just let her think it through for a moment, she’ll have an idea.

  “You have to make a statement,” she says. “You need to counter this narrative. Make it clear that you’re not with Emma.”

  “I’m not,” I say.

  “Right. Say that you took her as a gesture of good will, or a reward for service, something like that. Under no circumstances will you admit to dating her.”

  “I can do that,” I say. “Since we aren’t dating.”

  “Good.” She clears her throat. “And you can’t mention that you’re fucking her, either.”

  I bark a short laugh. “Yeah, I know.”

  “Good.” She watches me for a second before my intercom buzzes again.

  I lean forward to answer it. “Just a second, Lucy,” I say.

  “Uh, David, Emma’s here to see you.”

  I can tell by Lucy’s tone that she knows all about the article. “Of course she is,” I mumble and sigh. Olivia gives me a tight smile. “Let her in,” I say to Lucy.

&n
bsp; “Be nice,” Olivia says, standing.

  “Same to you,” I grumble.

  Emma comes in, looking sheepish. She’s wearing a loose black skirt and a pale cream blouse, making her pale skin look smooth and gorgeous. She smiles at Olivia.

  “Hey,” she says. “I, uh, just wanted to talk with David.”

  “Of course you did,” Olivia says, heading to the door. She pauses in front of Emma. “You look really good in the pictures.”

  Emma blinks and Olivia leaves the room, shutting the door.

  I groan, shaking my head. Olivia can’t help herself. She’ll gladly take any opportunity to mess with someone’s head.

  Emma turns back to me, still frowning from that little encounter.

  “Please, sit,” I say to her.

  She shrugs a little, but doesn’t sit. “I saw the blog,” she says. “Well, it was emailed to me like fifty times.”

  I sigh. “I figured that would happen.”

  “This is really bad, David.”

  “I know.”

  “What if they find out?” She starts pacing a little bit, rattling off some nervous energy. “I mean, what they wrote is bad, but can you imagine what they’ll say if they knew the truth? If they knew what we’ve been doing?”

  “Do you plan on telling them?”

  She stops in her tracks and look at me. “Absolutely not.”

  “Good. I don’t either. And I guarantee Olivia won’t. Who else knows?”

  “Nobody,” she says.

  “Maudette might suspect,” I muse. “Well, not the extent of it.”

  Emma groans. “Maudette,” she says. “Of course.”

  “Relax. Maudette’s been with the company for a long time, and the worst she can do is tell them that we’ve been seeing each other. Is that really so bad?”

  “Yes, according to that blog. You’re practically taking advantage of me.”

  I wince. “I wish you wouldn’t put it that way.”

  “Sorry. It’s just, I’m frustrated.”

  “I know you are.” I stand up and come around the desk. “Listen, Emma, I promise this isn’t going to hurt you. If anything, it’ll hurt me.”