Cage of Desire: (Cage of Design Series, Book 1): An Alpha Stepbrother Billionaire Romance

by Christina Clark

  “Mia, Eric here was telling me how he would love to plan the Student Activities Fair next week, and I know how involve you were in high school extracurricular activities. Why don’t you help Eric plan it?” I couldn’t believe my ears, and it seemed Mia couldn’t also. She looked at me as though I were a trash can she was being forced to empty. I smiled, “Dr. Carter, that’s a wonderful idea and it’s a great way for me to introduce you to everything about Savannah’s clubs and events,” I said, addressing the latter part to Mia. She shot a terrified glance at her mother before nodding reluctantly. “Great,” beamed Dr. Carter, “Why don’t you two exchange numbers and then you can get together and plan it over the week?” I was jubilant, I had just been handed a golden opportunity to fuck Mia; and that too, by Mia’s own mother. My life is so great.

  I stood up after noting down Mia’s number and giving her mine, and said, “Dr. Carter, I’m so glad we had this little meeting- welcome to Savannah, I’m sure we’ll get along beautifully. I’ll leave you to speak with your daughter now, but thanks again for taking the time out to talk to me.” She stood up and shook my hand, saying the warmest goodbye as Mia pursed her lips and looked down at her fingernails, actively avoiding my gaze. I left the office and I heard Dr. Carter say, “Mia, these flowers are beautiful.” I hung around to see if Mia would say something about me or how I had made her uncomfortable, but neither of them mentioned me and after a few minutes, I reluctantly dragged myself away from the door.

  I’d just offhandedly mentioned the Fair to Dr. Carter, but now I really had to start planning it- as well as what I hoped would happen after it. There was only one person I knew who could help me plan an event in a week’s time: Naomi. I called her, and she answered in her usual throaty purr, “Hey babe, I was just getting into the bathtub.” I rolled my eyes, and said, “Listen, I need help with something only a crazy control-freak like you can pull off.” I explained to her what needed to be done, and she said she’d draw up some concrete plans and send them to me tonight. “Thanks, Naomi. I owe you one.” She laughed lightly, and said, “Yes, you do, baby boy.” How she always made me feel a strange sense of arousal and discomfort I never understood, but I didn’t have time to ponder on the crazy thing that is on Naomi’s mind. I had a fair to plan.

  Without realizing it, I had walked straight into Claire, Aria’s new girlfriend, as she stood chatting to Aria and a couple of other people. “Are you trying to fuck her too, doucheface?” Aria spat at me, and I was about to tell her that normally it was her girlfriend who walked right into my dick when I stopped myself, realizing that Aria and Mia were friends now. “I’m so sorry, I wasn’t looking, totally my fault. Are you okay?” I apologized to Claire as all the people in the vicinity stared at me with their mouths hanging open. Claire recovered quickly and said, “Yeah I’m fine, no problem.” I smiled at her before hurrying off towards my chauffeur, who was waiting outside the gates. I could be one charming motherfucker when I wanted to.

  Chapter Seventeen: Mia

  I left Mom’s office as soon as possible and ran off campus the first chance I got. I was so confused, and my thoughts swirled around inside my head making a huge mess of things. I couldn’t believe it. Eric was everywhere; I couldn’t turn a corner without seeing his smirking face and now he had made his way to my mother too? He was so charming around her, though polite and sweet. What if he really was a nice person with a permanent smirk and a bad reputation and a wandering gaze. Wow, I sounded like a total idiot even to myself. I needed to think and clear my head; I needed to talk to someone. I hadn’t made any friends here except Aria and Claire, and we had seemed to have gotten into a bit of an argument today. I felt myself losing composure, and I didn’t know what to do.

  I wound up at the same spot where yesterday a man had almost thrown his iced tea on me. I walked the streets and wondered how a city could make me feel so alive and important one day, and reduce me to feeling alone and confused the very next day. I wasn’t Mia anymore or a Mia that I recognized; I was a strange girl in a strange city obsessing over a strange boy. I found my thoughts wandering to Aidan, the florist. See, Virginia Mia would be crushing on cute Aidan who worked with flowers all day and smelled of roses. But New York Mia had to fall for a womanizing bastard with perfect cheekbones who snuck a peek at my chest every chance he got. I hated New York, and I hated Eric Cage.

  After about twenty minutes, I found myself outside a bar. I’d never done anything like this before; but maybe that’s what college is all about, doing things you’d never do and dating boys you’d never date. I was only eighteen, but I looked older and I doubted I’d get carded; it was worth a shot. I stepped inside, finding the place almost empty. It was just 3:30 in the afternoon, and the bar looked like one of those little hipster places where everything is served in mason jars and has tribal printed walls. I sat on one of the bar stools, and wondered when I had become such a cliché. There was a bored looking redhead behind the bar and I ordered two shots of vodka to start with. I wasn’t an experienced drinker, so I ordered what sounded right in my muddled head.

  I was right, she didn’t card me. I guess the toddler mom aesthetic was really working for me and I was already eight shots in when happy hour began and the bitch behind the bar cut me off. The place had started to fill up, and a bearded guy wearing a white t-shirt with a Native American headdress silhouetted on it was eyeing me from across the room. I had sweet talked my way into another shot when he came over to me, and asked if he could buy me another drink. I blinked at him, taking some time to register what he said, before I raised my shot glass and said, “I have a drink,” narrowing my eyes at him as though he were stupid to suggest such a thing. He tried to flirt and said, “I think you’re really pretty,” but once again, I couldn’t really make sense of his words. I pointed to his shirt and hiccupped, “That’s hic- offensive to Native Americans.” He glared at me and left without another word.

  My head was really starting to hurt now, and I suddenly felt the urge to dance. But I was overwhelmed with sadness and despair as I realized I had nobody to dance with. “Nobody,” I half-shouted at the bartender, “I have nobody,” and she snatched the shot glass from me before I could down it in a big gulp and said, “Go home, lady. You’re drunk.” I laughed then; it was ridiculous. I wasn’t drunk, I was Mia, and Mia didn’t do things like getting drunk in the middle of the day. I wanted to call someone to come get me because I had suddenly forgotten where I lived. I scrolled through my contacts and started crying when I realized all my friends were in Virginia, “Nobody!” I bawled, “I have nobody,” and then I tried to pull myself together.

  The music was loud and my ears were pounding. My thoughts were all mixed up and each segued into another thought, leaving me utterly scared and confused. I saw a name in my recent contacts that made my heart do a funny little dance, Eric Cage. He would dance with me, I was sure of it; and maybe he could tell me where I lived too. Without pausing to think about it, I called his number, and he picked up after a couple of rings, “Hello, Mia? What can I do for you?” I don’t really know what I said but it must have sounded urgent because less than ten minutes later, Eric Cage was helping me off the bar stool, and I was getting into his car with him and his driver. As I sat with him in the car, I leaned over to him and whispered loudly, “There is a man driving your car for you. I thought you should know.” Eric smirked his beautiful smirk and said, “Yeah, that’s Roberto, our chauffeur.” I remember thinking this was very strange before I leaned my head out of the window and threw up on the side of the car.

  Chapter Eighteen: Eric

  My head felt like it would explode any second- Mia had called me and asked me to meet her in a bar and now she was sitting in my car; she was very drunk and puking out the window. She drew her head back into the car and wiped her mouth on her sleeve; she turned to me and said, “Eric, I don’t know where I live anymore.” And I shook my head; she was kind of adorable right now. “Don’t worry, you can come to my house and when you’re
clean and sober, we can figure out where you live, okay?” I spoke kindly, so I didn’t scare her off, She was new to the city and she had obviously not been drunk too often and I worried about what might happen to her on her own. I instructed Roberto to take us home, and I marveled at my own great luck.

  I helped her upstairs to my room and had her sit in an antique rocking chair that stood in the corner of my room. She fell backwards on it and it started to sway violently. I worried that her puking might start up again, so I transferred her onto my bed. She lay down and closed her eyes. I stood there, looking at her, her braid had come loose at some point and her dark chocolate curls were splayed out across my pillow; her sweater rode up slightly and exposed smooth porcelain skin just above the waistband of her pants; and her rosebud lips were parted slightly. She was so beautiful, and I couldn’t stop staring at her. For the first time, I wasn’t just thinking about what I wanted to do to her. I was just looking at her, and it felt like I was really seeing her.

  She opened her eyes and sat up, holding her head in her hands, “I think I’m dying,” she groaned. “I kept my voice soft, “No, you’re not dying, you just had too much to drink. Listen, you need to eat something, it’ll help. I’m going to get you some food, stay here, okay?” I waited for her nod before I left the room and hurried down to the kitchen. I couldn’t find Claudia so I decided to fix something up myself. The only problem was I’d never even made a snack myself and I had no idea what I was doing. A sandwich should be manageable, something simple like peanut butter and jelly. But I soon realized that I had no idea where anything was kept, and I resigned myself to dialing up Dominos and ordering a large pizza.

  I went upstairs to find Mia sitting on the edge of my bed, with her knees drawn up to her chest, and holding her head in her hands. “Mia?” I said tentatively, “I couldn’t find any food in the kitchen but it’s on its way, okay?” She didn’t say anything, and I realized she was silently crying, her shoulders were trembling and I could hear small sniffles coming from behind the curtain of her hair. “Hey,” I said, not really sure what I should do, and sat down next to her, gently patting her back, “What’s wrong? Please, don’t cry, Mia.” She raised her head and looked at me, and I could see that her eyes were red and tears streamed down her face. She wiped her eyes quickly on her sleeve, smudging her makeup and leaving black marks across her cheekbones. “I’m so stupid,” she hiccupped, “I did this stupid thing and now- hic- I don’t know what to do.”

  I shook my head, “You’re not stupid, Mia, you’re a normal college aged kid who got drunk. So fucking what? And it’s okay if you don’t know what to do, you’ve got me and I know exactly what to do. So come on, let’s get you cleaned up while we wait for food.” I walked over to the closet and pulled out a grey hoodie and a pair of white shorts. I pointed to my attached bathroom, and said, “Why don’t you go take a shower and change into these? You’ve been wiping stuff with your sleeves all day now, come on.” She smiled at me and said sweetly, “You know, I used to think you were such an asshole,” and I laughed, and then said seriously, “You know, I usually am but something about you right now is making me really want to help you.” She stood up and said, “You have a bathroom in your bedroom, whoa,” before walking over to me and taking the clothes from my hands.

  She walked into the bathroom but left the door open behind her. I pretended to tidy up my closet but I watched her from my peripheral vision as she peeled off her sweater and her pants. I inhaled sharply, and abandoned all pretenses. Looking straight at her, I realized she was more beautiful than I had ever imagined. She looked at me too, standing there in a black bra and baby blue panties, with her hair loosely tumbling in waves and curling at her throat, and she smiled. I could hear my own heart pounding in my ears as she turned around and unhooked her bra; she slid the straps off her shoulders and let it fall to the ground. Her bare back was pale and dotted with freckles; my own back was tense with anticipation, and I could feel my blood rushing as I hardened.

  She hooked her thumbs into the waistband of her panties and let them slide off as well. She was standing naked right in front of me, and I drank in the sight of her. She stepped into the shower and turned on the water, which streamed down her figure eight body; then she reached out and grabbed the shower gel. My mind struggled to make sense of what was going on, but right then Mia turned to face me and I got a look at her large beautiful breasts, her smooth stomach, and her rounded thighs. My brain stopped functioning completely. She squeezed the tube of gel and it came pouring out on her breasts, which she started to rub as she soaped herself. She was putting on a show for me. She stepped out of the shower, still covered in soap and walked up to me, swaying seductively. She reached out to kiss me, and God I wanted it so badly. But she was drunk, and as awful as I was, I was not going to take advantage of her. I moved back, and suddenly, she stopped dead in her tracks.

  Her jaw dropped open and I could see tears pooling in her eyes as she looked at me with intense hurt and pain. She turned and ran back into the bathroom, this time slamming the door shut behind her. I cursed under my breath and I waited five seconds before I knocked gently on the door. “Mia?” I called out softly, “Mia, please come out,” and she did. She threw open the door and pushed past me- she was wearing the hoodie I had given her but had stuck to her own pants. Her wet hair clung to her face, and she was crying again. She stormed right past me and out of my room. I was so stunned it took me a few seconds to register what had happened, and by the time I followed her she was already downstairs and heading out the front door.

  “Mia!” I called out as I followed her into my driveway. She spun around and said, “Thank you for coming to get me when I called and thank you for the clothes. I’ll be going home now.” With this, she spun right back around and continued storming away. I ran as fast as I could to catch up with her, and grasped her arm. “Mia,” I panted, doubling over, “Listen please. You’re still drunk, and you haven’t had any food. And you just told me you forgot where you live...” She cut me off and said loudly, “Thank you Eric, but I’ll be fine on my own.” I watched her desperately as she walked away from me and I didn’t know how to stop her. My head was spinning; there was too much happening to process and I ran after Mia again.

  “Look, I’m sorry if I upset you, please, I just couldn’t respond... you know, the way I wanted to. You were drunk Mia,” I pleaded with her, “Please just stay. Please?” She stopped then and looked at me, confused. She opened her mouth, as if to say something, but then changed her mind and turned around again to walk away. “Okay wait,” I said, “Take Roberto, my chauffeur- he can get you home safely. Please, Mia, I can’t let you go out alone like this.” She paused, and then slowly nodded, “Okay, I’ll take your car, but I don’t want you in it.” I held up my hands, “Yeah, I swear, just you and Roberto.” I called him and he brought the car around. In the two minutes it took for him to get to the gate, Mia and I stood together in awkward silence. As he pulled up, I started to say, “Listen, I know-” but she didn’t wait to hear what I had to say as she climbed into the backseat and slammed the car door shut. I winced and stepped back as they drove away.

  Chapter Nineteen: Mia

  Roberto dropped me off at my apartment and I was slowly climbing up when I sat down in the stairwell and cried. I had never felt so humiliated before; the first boy who had ever seen me naked had turned me away. I didn’t even want to think about what I had been doing, stripping and dancing around like that. I could almost hear my mother’s voice in my head, yelling at me about what a disgusting shameful slut I was. It was only when Eric had refused my kiss did I suddenly feel acutely aware of my actions and completely sober. I cried harder, and my entire body convulsed with the force of my tears. I realized that I had almost acted out the sex dream I’d had with one obvious difference. In my dream, Eric had wanted me to do those things; he had told me to do them but in reality, he was repulsed and he moved away from me.

  My phone was buzzing incessantly
and I pulled it out of my pocket to see seven missed calls from Eric and five texts, each saying a different variation of Please give me a chance to explain what happened. For a second, I began to doubt my own interpretation of the situation. Hadn’t he said that he couldn’t respond the way he wanted to? Maybe he did want me; maybe he really did have a girlfriend. I thought wistfully of the perfect blonde in his Instagram pictures. But then reality came crashing back into my mind, reminding me that I was just trying to delude myself into thinking I was worth loving or wanting.

  Still crying, I pulled myself off and made my way to my apartment. I couldn’t get the key to fit in the lock, because my hands were shaking so badly. I had just managed to enter my apartment and shut the door behind me when the doorbell rang. “What the fuck?” I muttered under my breath, suddenly terrified that Eric had followed me or that my mom somehow magically knew that I’d taken my clothes off in front of a guy. I steadied myself and opened the door to find a teenage boy with an acne riddled face and a Dominos uniform. He was carrying a large pizza and an envelope. “You Mia?” he asked me, and I nodded.

  “I went to the other place and some guy, Derek, I think, or maybe it was Eric- well anyway, he paid me double the amount to deliver the pizza here instead and hand you this envelope. So here,” he thrust the box and envelope into my arms, “And I’m off.” He left and I was alone in the hallway carrying a large cheese pizza and an envelope with Mia Carter scrawled across it. I carried my new provisions inside and sat down in the middle of my room. I couldn’t help thinking that this was actually the sweetest thing he could have done, and maybe he really did care about me. I opened the box and the delicious scent of the warm pizza made me feel better instantly.