Stoned (The Stone Series)

by Berry, Kitty

  Damian ushers me into the wet room bath and once again I am pleasantly surprised. The space is much larger than I thought possible for an apartment in the city. The space is filled with soft soothing lines, and natural materials are predominant throughout the space. There’s a floor standing modular unit with curved lines like the bar in the kitchen pieced together to create the look of perfection on one wall. Inserted into the unit is a double sink. The faucets coming out of the wall are sensors; they turn on when you wave a hand under them. The space showcases part tiling with a splash back being combined with fully tiled feature walls in brown and blues. The shower area looks like a room in and of itself, it’s a massive space that has multiple fixed rain shower heads and separate handheld showers. There are jet streams and mood lighting in the space; this must make a shower an entire experience for the senses. The floors have under floor heating, it is the height of luxury and I wish I could afford to live here; well actually I probably could if I would just use the hush money I have been squirreling away for years but that’s never going to happen, not even to be in Mr. Perfection’s building.

  The last stop on the apartment tour is the bedroom. The space is large enough for a king sized bed, side tables and a chest of drawers but like the rest of the apartment its empty and painted a pure white. It’s a blank canvas and in my mind’s eye I already have it decorated.

  “So, what do you think? Would you like to move in?” Damian offers.

  “Ah, yeah, of course. Who wouldn’t? It’s amazing. The views alone would sell anyone and then add the size of the space and the luxury appliances and fixtures. It’s…I’m speechless but I can’t move in. I could never afford to live here. I have student loans and I haven’t even begun at S&S and when I do I’m not going to make a salary allowing me such luxury, not for years, if ever.”

  “First, I agree the view of the city from this apartment is stunning, it’s a shame actually. Because with you here no one will ever look at the view of the city again, it disappears when you’re here. Secondly, I have a proposition for you that will allow you to stay here” Damian begins and I raise my eyebrows at him. Once again I am thinking that he might just ask me to be his sex slave. And the jury is still out on what my answer will be.

  “If you’re looking for some kind of sex slave” I jokingly begin but am cut off when Damian says, “Don’t tempt me Sydney. You have no idea what I’m capable of” in a playful tone of warning.

  He continues to tell me that he owns the building as I know and that he’d like me to furnish and decorate this apartment giving me the option to change out anything I want. He tells me money is no object, I can spend as much as I want; he wants it to be done very high end. He wants me to live in the space after I’m done as a form of payment for my services. He’s planning on using it as a model apartment. When people are interested in moving into the apartment building they have to put their names on a waiting list. He says he hates to show people his apartment and hates even more to bother other tenants to do the same so this way he’d have a space to show to perspective buyers without bothering anyone. Well, anyone but me, however he promises that he would only show it when I wasn’t there.

  “You’ve never even seen my work, what if I suck and mess it up?” I warn.

  “Alex hired you to work at S&S, no?”

  “Well, yeah but...” He interrupts me, “Then there’s no but, Sydney. If he hired you then you must be good and if you are working for S&S you already work for me. It stands for Stone and Smith by the way; I’m a silent partner, really just the money man. I have no clue about interior design.”

  It’s then that I wonder what else this man owns in this city and then it hits me. The stone facade outside of the S&S office is the same as the restaurant and this apartment building. I feel like I’ve seen it other places as well. He must put the stone facade on all of his buildings. I’ll have to pay closer attention from now on as I walk through the streets.

  ************

  I call Alex the minute I step into the penthouse.

  “Hey man, w’sup?” I ask all innocent sounding.

  “Stone, are you done with your lunch?”

  “Yes, I just got back to the penthouse. Sydney should be calling you shortly.” I let out a sigh at the mention of her name.

  “Did you just sigh? Wow, what the fuck is going on with you?”

  “Fuck. I don’t fucking know, man. Sydney has just gotten to me somehow. I can’t explain it, it’s like a mind-fuck and you know I’m usually the one doling those out not receiving them.”

  “Maybe you just like her. Did you ever stop to think about that? Maybe this girl can be a real chance for you, a real relationship for once.”

  He might be right, there’s something very different about her, about my response to her. Even my body is responding differently. Yeah, my cock twitched all through our meal. When she sucked my finger I thought I would blow in my pants and when I kissed her, my cock was pressed up against her, I know she felt how hard I was and all I could do was think about how good it would feel to be buried deep inside her. I never once pictured needing toys or add-ons to get off. I felt like I was giving myself over to her, not submitting but …different then I have ever felt with a woman before. Like I could possibly be myself with her. My stomach feels panic ridden, as if I’m about to vomit. It’s clenching and as much as I hate to admit it I know I’m in trouble with Miss Sydney Cooper.

  “Alex, I think I’m in trouble here, man.”

  Chapter 5

  The next morning when I am about to leave for campus I am greeted by a knock on my door. I open it to discover a very attractive brunette and a team of men whom I smile politely at and ask them to come in. The brunette introduces herself as Damian’s personal assistant and hands me a new not yet released version of the iPhone. She tells me it’s a gift from Damian. When I ask her how he got something that won’t be released for months she simply says, “He always gets what he wants when he wants it but then he always wants more.”

  “Okay, well, tell him I’ll keep it for now but when I’m done with this project I’m giving it back.”

  By this point the men have moved past us and into the apartment. They are picking up my things and putting them into boxes. Some of the men have begun to move the bigger items out of the apartment.

  “Um, what are they doing with my things? Where are they taking them?” I ask the brunette whose name I have learned is Veronica. She answers in her overly chipper voice for such an early hour, “They are taking your things to be put into storage at Mr. Stone’s building. He said he’d meet you at the apartment around noon to help you get settled then take you to lunch where you can discuss the details.”

  So I guess it’s settled then, I’m moving into the apartment and decorating it for him. I hadn’t completely decided that I would do it. When he drove me back here yesterday I told him I needed to sleep on it and that I would contact him later today but I guess the decision has been made for me. To be honest there was no chance I was going to be able to make myself say no to him, that’s what’s making me so nervous about this set up and about him in general. What else will he ask me to do that I won’t be able to say no to? He’s just so charismatic and alluring.

  I explain that I’m on my way out but Veronica says that it’s fine, she’ll coordinate everything then she hands me a pre-paid credit card with more money on it then I would have thought possible and tells me if I need more to contact her. I tuck it into my handbag astonished and rush out the door. I’m going to be late for my class.

  I leave my apartment and run down the stairs knowing even if I run all the way I will barely make it to campus on time. That’s when I see the black Escalade at the curb and Mac stepping out, opening the back door for me. “Mr. Stone asked that I drive you to campus then back to the apartment for him Ms. Cooper.”

  “Hi Mac, um thanks but how did he know I had class today? Now?” I ask as I climb in but Mac just shrugs his shoulders as he climbs into pla
ce and starts driving off.

  Thanks to Mac I make it to campus on time and hand in the two projects that are due. Now I only have two exams left later in the week then I’m done. Alex has let me out of my final in lieu of the auction which is the night before graduation.

  After handing in my assignments I head back to find Mac right where I left him waiting for me. When he sees me he again climbs out of the SUV and opens the backdoor. I climb in and as we head to my new apartment building, the same one that Damian owns and lives in, I decide to try to get as much information out of Mac as I can.

  “So” I ask, “How long have you been working for Damian?”

  Mac tells me that he has not been working for Damian very long. He owns a security company with his friend, Jonesie and they provide the security for Damian’s cousin, Tate. When Damian’s prior security detail left Damian asked Mac if he’d be interested. Tate is in the music industry but he recently decided to take a little time off so Mac agreed to help Damian out.

  Mac tells me that Damian is a good man. “You should give him a chance. Just know that you’re going to need to cut him some slack sometimes. I think this kind of thing is new to him. You guys will figure it out together though. I shouldn’t be telling you this but he seems to really be into you” he says.

  When we arrive on Park Avenue I can hardly believe this is going to be my new home. I can’t wait to tell Parker. She’s going to go wild; it might even make her want to come back faster if she can. I wish she were here so I could ask her advice on all this Damian stuff. Then again, I’m kind of glad she’s not here to see what I’m getting up to. Something tells me she’d be none too happy to hear what I’ve got going on in my head about him.

  Mac pulls into an underground parking garage and points out the reserved parking spots for Damian and says one is for me. I tell him that won’t be necessary as I don’t have a car but he just smiles and says, “Yet.”

  Mac escorts me into the elevator and we ride it up to the lobby together in silence. I am once again amazed by the buildings modern beauty and decide then to make my design for the apartment reflective of the lobby. I’ll have to call Alex later to talk to him about my design plan.

  As Mac and I are getting onto the elevator to head to the first floor where my new apartment is I realize I don’t know the code on the key pad to get in, I hope Mac knows it. Just as I am thinking I might not be able to get in, music begins coming from my new phone. When I look at the screen I am rewarded with a picture of Damian smiling at me with that sultry look of his, the one that makes an ache form between my legs, a feeling that is completely foreign to me. I look at Mac and he says, “Stone by the Stereophonics. It’s Mr. Stone. Go ahead and answer it.”

  Mac holds the elevator door for me while I step out on the first floor. He waves to me, the doors close and while he continues up on the elevator I am the only one on the first floor. I look at my phone still singing in my hand and answer it.

  “Um, hi” I say.

  “Sydney. I’m glad you have the phone. When it rang for so long I thought maybe you didn’t have it with you” Damian says.

  “I have it but you didn’t need to buy this for me, it’s not necessary, I already had a phone” I try to protest.

  “That phone was old and you need one that I can be sure is in proper working condition. I need to know that I can reach you whenever I need to. Where are you now?”

  “I’m just getting to the door of the apartment but I don’t know the code to get in and I’m returning the phone to you when I’m done with this project.”

  Then the door to the apartment opens and he’s standing there in the doorway. He’s wearing a white stretch cotton crewneck t-shirt and a pair of dark blue Diesel jeans slung low on his hips. His hair is once again messy in a sexy just been rolling around in bed sort of way and I hope that is not how he achieves that look. Instead I hope he spends hours in front of a mirror running his hands through his hair and adding product to get just the right look of hotness that he exudes.

  I daydream about him doing his hair in front of a mirror with just his jeans on. His feet are bare and his chest is wet. His pectoral muscles are large and smooth; the only hair on his impressive chest and washboard abs is in between his hard, bulging pecs and leading into his low slung jeans that would be unbuttoned. The jeans are so low they reveal the triangle leading to his manhood and I fantasize about running my hand down his bare chest, over his ripped stomach and into those low slung jeans. Just when I am about to see what I can find in there he snaps me back to reality when he says, “Sydney, what are you day dreaming about?”

  Oh, no, can he read my mind? “Um…I’m just a little overwhelmed” I lie, well it’s really not a lie, overwhelmed totally describes me right now.

  “Mmm, that’s too bad. I thought maybe you were thinking about me. Come in, it’s your place. Oh and the code is 78663, Stone. You should remember that, right?”

  I nod my head and enter into the apartment.

  “Now about the cell phone” he begins. “You will keep it and keep it on at all times that you are not with me. It is very important to me that I know I can reach you. If I know you have your phone with you I’ll know you’re safe and if I need to call you I can. Okay? Deal?” he asks and I reluctantly nod my acceptance.

  I tell Damian that I am planning on talking to Alex later today about my design plan for the apartment and that I will begin my shopping tomorrow. I tell him that I need to be on campus on Thursday but that I should get a good start on the project before that. He brushes it off when I tell him he has put way too much money on the credit card and that it makes me uncomfortable to have access to that amount of his money. It’s as if this huge sum of money is like spare change to him.

  “I know I told you that you could do whatever you want in this space but I was worried about where you’d sleep tonight so I had a bed delivered. It’s the ultimate sleep experience, I love mine, can’t sleep on anything else. It’s crafted out of the finest materials, interlocking springs, a personal comfort zone system, and it gives great lumbar support. You’ll never have a better night’s sleep in your life, well.” He smirks at me then continues, “I got the recommended bed frame but if you don’t like it or if it’s not what you were thinking of for the room you can get something else. You’ll have to get sheets; I had no idea what to do about those.”

  I thank him and smile, he looks nervous and excited for me to approve of what he’s picked out. We head into the bedroom and I tell him honestly that it’s perfect; it’s just what I would have gotten for the space. It’s a large California King and the headboard is upholstered in a removable tufted cover that I will match my fabric with for the rest of the room’s décor.

  “I love it, thank you.”

  He smiles and looks pleased with himself.

  “Not to change the subject but what’s that amazing smell?” I ask him.

  “It’s lunch. I hope you don’t mind eating in. I know I had Veronica tell you we’d go out to lunch but I have to get back to my office soon and I didn’t want to waste any time getting across town to Stone’s so I had them deliver our lunch here.”

  We enjoy a lunch of the most mouth watering eggplant parmesan and oven fresh bread I have ever tasted. Before long Damian is apologizing for running off but saying he needs to get into the office. He asks me if I want to ride with him then have the use of Mac but I decline telling him that I need to put my ideas on paper and finalize my design plan first before I can start shopping. I also want to speak with Alex. When Damian gets to the door he turns around and asks if he can stop by when he’s done with work tonight, maybe take me out for dinner. I agree to allow him to stop by but say we’ll see about dinner, I don’t want to seem too eager or easy. Ha! That’s a laugh, me easy, if he only knew the truth about just how hard to get I am. He presses his lips gently to my forehead before leaving and I’m left standing in my new doorway wanting more for the first time in my life.

  I step back into my
new apartment and close the door. I slide down the back of it with a smile on my face, a smile brought on by Damian Stone, Mr. Perfection.

  I reach for my phone to call Alex. He answers on the first ring, “Professor Smith.”

  “Alex, its Sydney. Is this a good time? Can you talk?”

  “Sydney. Yes, we need to talk. What’s going on with you and Stone? When I called you yesterday he answered your cell then I didn’t hear back from you and now your cell phone’s been turned off.”

  “Um…this is my new number, the one I just called you from. Damian gave me a new cell. He said mine was unreliable and he wanted to be able to reach me if he needed to. I’m doing a project for him at his apartment building. That’s why I called actually.”

  Alex sounds annoyed but I tell him all about the arrangement Damian and I have and he talks through my ideas for the apartment with me. We hang up with promises to talk on campus on Thursday about the auction and I start my sketches for the space.