FAKE: An Enemies to Lovers Standalone Romance

by Sarah J. Brooks

  “Well, I don’t have a team of girls who have my back. I need a little deeper level of security.” His smile was genuine and warm.

  As soon as the door opened, we walked in for what I thought would be an uncomfortable ride up to the tippy top, but no, Alec wasn’t a wait around in discomfort kind of guy. He immediately swooped in and was on me again. This time, he started with my neck which made me crumble into him.

  “What are you, a vampire?” I tried to wiggle away from the sensations that were exploding my vagina with need.

  He stopped his assault only long enough to answer me.

  “Your neck is an erogenous zone. If I want to get a woman with your um ... shall we say guarded sexuality to open up those gorgeous legs”, he tickled between my legs sending me in a different direction to escape the feelings. “I need to work the e-zones.” He flourished his hand as a sort of playful threat. “Of course, you’re very sensitive here.” His fingers strummed along the seam of my jeans between my legs.

  “Fuck me, Alec ...” I doubled over toward him.

  “Oh, I intend to, trust me.” His eyes glazed over in lust, and I grabbed his arm.

  “I’ll run ... I mean it.” I looked at him with plaintive eyes, and he pulled his hand away and kissed my cheek.

  “Okay.” He took a deep breath. “I’ll give a little ... if you will.”

  “What do you mean by that?” The elevator doors parted, and we walked into an expanse of space so big I’d thought it might be an empty warehouse, but as my eyes adjusted, I saw it was a huge open plan apartment with a kitchen, living room, and bedroom all in one enormous space. The windows had no window coverings and everything ... absolutely every single thing was white.

  “Wow, who cleans this place?” I just blurted out ... not even sure why.

  “Not the first thing people usually say when they enter my home, but my housekeeper cleans it. I pay her an exorbitant amount so don’t start that starving model millennial judgment shit. The woman gets paid. Do you want another beer? Or I have wine, Scotch, vodka, whatever you want.” He moved toward the kitchen at the far end of the room.

  “Water?” It didn’t take much to make me tipsy, and I needed my wits if I were going to take him on.

  “Sure, I have water; it’s good to stay hydrated. You want weed instead of wine?” Ugh …

  “No, just water is fine.” I walked over to the kitchen and plopped myself at the bar.

  “Not very fun.” He put the water on the counter in front of me. “So, this is my place. I don’t usually bring people here. Consider yourself lucky.” He turned to the fridge, pulled out an expensive-looking bottle of wine, took a glass from the rack above his head and poured himself a glass of cold white wine. “Sure I can’t tempt you with just one glass?”

  “I’m good with water.” I raised the glass to offer him a toast.

  “Your place is so big and open; you never feel alone here?” It felt like the loneliest place in the world.

  As I watched Alec sip his wine, I thought perhaps his home was a fortress that kept him locked away and alone because he was hiding behind his palace of white just as I hid behind my girls.

  Chapter 4

  Alec

  I was really playing with fire. I should have left the gorgeous Kylie Morgan at the bar and behaved myself, but the more I talked to her, the more I had to have her. Her naiveté in the face of such glaring media lies about her sexual exploits was so fascinating, even Jesus would want to explore that juxtaposition a bit further.

  When I said it would be dangerous, I was cautioning myself rather than her. Her question about loneliness gripped me because I was in fact very lonely, by choice. I didn’t have time for relationships, complications, or people. When I was done with my day, I wanted quiet solace and clean lines. Nothing could be messy or out of place; I needed order and control. I did like to fuck, though, and so I either had to book a hotel room for the evening or use my other apartment in New York, the one I offered to my clients for the business. I had a house in upstate New York, but as this was very impromptu, the home was the only option.

  I was safe with someone as famous as Kylie because I knew she had secrets she didn’t want me to divulge, so because of this, she’d likely return the favor.

  “So you come home to your tower overlooking the city, covered in snow white furnishings, and play Lord of Manhattan?” she asked swiveling in her chair at the breakfast bar expressing her sexual angst.

  She had no idea who she was toying with.

  “With my stock portfolio, I don’t have to play anything.” I moved around the kitchen counter and approached her.

  Time to get closer. Perhaps closing the distance would distract her from her hurtful and honest questioning.

  “Should I call you Master?” She laughed and sipped her water.

  “That would certainly get this evening started a lot faster. Speaking of playing, since I promised you conversation, do you feel like playing a little game?” I moved into her and made sure to brush my erection across her knee.

  She had to remember what the goal was here. Insulting me had its price.

  “Um ... what kind of game?” Her eyes narrowed, and her face screwed into a grimace.

  “Well, you get to ask me a question, and I can decide to answer it or not, and if I do answer it, I get to move us one step closer to where I want this evening to go.” I drank my wine and waited for her response.

  “And so, what if I ask you a question, and you don’t answer it?” Fear sparked up in her eyes.

  “I forego moving us forward for that round, and I ask you a question. If you don’t answer it, I get to take my turn. For example, you ask me how many women I’ve slept with, and I’ll tell you I’ve had too many to count. I get to kiss you again. If you ask me my bank account number, and I refuse to answer, I get to ask you a question. If you answer it, you get another question, if you don’t answer it, I get to take off that ugly T-shirt.” I took a beat to stare at her for a moment. “Understand?”

  “Yes,” she swallowed.

  “Do you want to play?” I pressed my hard cock into her knee.

  “What if I want you to stop and end the whole thing?” A shiver ran up her spine as she shook a little; it was so fucking sexy.

  “You mean when you see how big my cock actually is and get terrified?” I wasn’t really kidding.

  “Or your ego.” Her head cocked, and she glared.

  “Anytime you genuinely want to stop and not because you can’t handle the lovin’ but truly want to leave that very minute, you can. You’re not my prisoner.” I backed away from her for a moment to give her some space. “So, what do you say?”

  She gave the proposition some thought, which I considered surprising.

  “I’ll play.” She perked up and must have worked out some sort of game plan to keep me from her, but I was good at games, especially ones where women ended up on their backs as my reward.

  “Okay, you start.” I grabbed a stool and sat very close to her, thinking of the first, seemingly innocent things I could do before I had her screaming and writhing on my cock.

  “Do you have something to eat? I’m pretty starving.” She smiled as if she’d won the round.

  Having me fix her a meal was pretty clever as it would stall for time; I couldn’t kiss her if her mouth was busy chewing.

  “I didn’t think models liked to eat.” I pretended to be shocked.

  “I was going to order some chicken wings at the bar, other than that I’ve had a Chobani and chia seeds today. I’m hungry. I can door-dash something if you’re one of those billionaires who can’t cook for shit.”

  Oh, the snarky little devil, no wonder her modeling agency took the bad girl approach.

  “Oh, I can cook. But I’d rather we eat each other.” My expression darkened, and I thought long and hard about what she might taste like.

  If she tasted half as good as she smelled, we were going to have a really long night of fucking ahead. Who was I
kidding? We were going to have it anyway. I didn’t care; I’d gone to work without sleep before. I wasn’t sure what her day was going to look like; it was a school night, but I didn’t care.

  “So, you are a vampire.” She took out her phone and fired up an app. “The Green Leaf can have something here in twenty minutes,” she said, about to order something on her phone.

  “I’m afraid you’re going to be naked with your ass in the air in twenty minutes.” I laughed. “Maybe I can find something to whip up for us.” I winked at the word ‘whip.’

  “I doubt you’ll conquer me so quickly. I’m good with anything. A salad, PB and J, just food ... any kind of food sounds amazing.” Her eyes grew big as I opened my refrigerator.

  In it were a few bottles of water, an apple, and a huge roasted turkey. My housekeeper, Ms. Castle had caterers on call. Everything was brought in and neatly discarded with when I was done. Saved a little work for her because I much preferred to eat out. The turkey was something she made because her cousin had harvested a few turkeys on their ranch, and Ms. Castle thought it would be a nice treat for me.

  “As you can see, I’m a little low on options.” I was about to close the refrigerator and move to the cupboard when Kylie stopped me. “We can just nuke the turkey. I’m good; it’s Keto.”

  “Nuke? I assume you’re referring to a microwave?”

  She nodded her head. “Don’t tell me the Lord of Manhattan doesn’t own a microwave.” She rolled her eyes.

  “Why would I?” I turned on the oven and prepared to reheat the turkey. “This should take about ten minutes. There’s a convection function. So, my question has been answered, and quite elaborately, I must say. My turn.” I turned and strode toward her like a cat ready to pounce on a rat.

  “Wait? You have to tell me what you’re going to do first.” She panicked as her back stiffened.

  “That isn’t one of the rules.” I continued my advance.

  She breathed. “Aren’t we going to eat first?”

  “No.” I reached her and lifted her off the chair as she squealed.

  “Alec, no!” She went rigid in my arms.

  I took her seat on the barstool and placed her in my lap; she weighed absolutely nothing. In this position, my cock was between her legs, but we were both fully clothed. I needed her to get a feel for my size. Her tiny stature was going to present a problem for us. I’d worked with slim women before, we would make it fit, but I didn’t want her too surprised when I unleashed the beast.

  “I promise. Clothes stay on. We have ten minutes for the turkey to get warmed up. So, that’s ten minutes for me to play with you fully dressed.” I nibbled at her neck, and her pussy heated up. I stared at her dead on. “Scared?”

  “Not yet.” Her eyes met mine.

  “Good. Nothing wrong with a little bump and grind.” I pulled out my phone and found “Let’s Get It On” by Marvin Gaye.

  It was the perfect kind of cheesiness.

  “No, you didn’t just do that.” She looked at my phone.

  “The next song is better. Two songs, ten minutes. Then you get another question ... and something to eat.” I didn’t give her time to protest. My mouth was on hers, and I pressed her down onto my cock, pulsing into her with gentle rhythmic strokes in time to the music.

  It had been a while since I’d dry-humped anyone. Most of the women I took to bed wanted to be there. Kylie was a strange anomaly. As I rocked into her, I realized how sweet and oddly innocent she was. Not my kind of woman at all ... but intriguing, beguiling. When I ground into her, she stiffened and breathed. Most women would have been squirming on me, but she ... she took it like it was a chore. Strange.

  I decided to focus on kissing her, and that went much better. In fact, I eventually shifted her into a bridal style position and just focused on her mouth. She was an excellent kisser, that, she must have done a lot. I was so tempted to feel the pert breasts that had been poking through the shirt all night, naughty little thing not wearing a bra, but I was pretty sure that would be a ticket to ‘call me an Uber please.’ I needed to give this time to marinate.

  As soon as the first song was over, I put on Sia’s ‘Deer in the Headlights’ thinking it fun to be literal. What I loved was the joke wasn’t lost on her.

  “Love your taste in music.” There was the snarky girl again.

  “I like a little foreshadowing.” That stiffened her up again.

  I moved from her mouth to her breasts; I was dying for them. I sucked her nipples over the soft T-shirt cloth and took the first bud into my mouth as I blew hot air over it.

  “Ahhhrrg.” She arched into me.

  Oh, so responsive. I considered maybe changing my preference from slutty women to ones more like Kylie ... a little innocence was fun. I worked over her clothed breasts, biting, blowing hot air and sucking ... until two little wet stains adorned them. She looked down at the mayhem I’d caused and shook her head.

  “You’re a little weird, Lord of New York.” She aired out her shirt, trying to dry the stains.

  “Oh, this is just a warm-up, sweetheart. Baby steps.” I wanted it to sound threatening and seductive, and by her shocked expression, my mission had been accomplished.

  At the end of the song, the timer on the stove dinged and dinner was served.

  “So, I get to ask a question, right?” she confirmed as I gently set her on the stool next to mine and went to fetch her food.

  I wasn’t hungry, but that didn’t matter, I was really going to enjoy feeding her.

  “You do,” I said as I took out the turkey and started slicing meat from the bone.

  It was a little dry, having been reheated, so I pulled out a bag of gravy from the inside of the bird, something Ms. Castle had stuffed in there after packing it into the fridge and poured it over the slices of meat I had carved out.

  “Okay. Why don’t you have a significant other? You’re one of the richest men in New York and maybe the world. You’re hot, not too messy crazy, and smart ... so my question is, what’s your damage?” Her penetrating blue eyes pierced me.

  Fucking, right to the point. What’s my damage? Not something I’m ever going to share with a supermodel who will probably mean nothing more to me than tonight. Bingo, gold star for knowing there was a wound, but damned if I was going to share that tidbit with her or anyone.

  “What’s yours?” I turned to her and asked, my mood darkening a shade.

  “Is this an ask back?” She leaned in on her elbows. “No more dry fucking? I get another question if I answer?”

  “Fair.” I plated her food and waited for her answer.

  I’d postpone my next move to find out why the gorgeous Kylie Morgan was a straight-up prude when she wanted the world to think she was a playgirl and a slut.

  “Foster kid shit that only my therapist will ever know and no one else ... ever. Your pervy mind can fill in the details.” She tossed that out there onto the kitchen counter like an atom bomb.

  “I see.” I brought the plate over to her. “I have a lot of questions.” I sat on the stool again. “As one would, but let me just say ... I’m sorry.” I took her hand.

  I was too. She was a sweet woman; I could see that the moment I met her. Whatever she suffered, especially if she was a child, she didn’t deserve.

  “It was a long time ago.” She dropped her gaze to the marble counter, no doubt losing herself in the pattern ... finding a happy place.

  “You get another question, Kylie.” She looked at me with soft sweet eyes.

  “How did you make billions? The media is so vague about it, and who did you step on to get there?”

  For such a kind-hearted woman, she asked some cold-hearted questions.

  “Well that’s two questions, but I’ll let it slide. I’m a real estate developer; I work with malls, apartment complexes, and hospitals. Most of my real estate holdings are overseas, that’s why the media is so vague. I do own a fair piece of Manhattan, though, so Lord of Manhattan isn’t too far off base. I
didn’t step on anyone but stepped over my grandfather’s grave when he left me most of what I own and operate as an inheritance. The only child of billionaires ... there was no escape.” I looked at her. “Time to eat.” I lifted a fork full of turkey to feed her.

  She bit her lip.

  Chapter 5

  Kylie

  He was so sexy and scary. I was tempted to call a bathroom break and Google all I could in the time it would take to pee. I knew a few things about him. He was always at the best parties. He had loads of women dying for him. Alyssa Cain from my modeling agency dated him, but I didn’t know her well, and I didn’t really listen in when she was gloating about him. He really pissed her off, which I didn’t find surprising at all.

  He brought the plate of turkey over, and it looked so good, I didn’t really care that he was going to go all Lady and the Tramp on me. I just needed something to eat.

  “I’m really looking forward to seeing how you’ll make turkey and gravy sexy,” I teased, and the minute I did, I regretted it.

  “I’m really looking forward to it too.” His smile was devilish. “The rules for this are simple. I feed you. You can’t use your hands; you must keep them by your side or better sit on them, then you won’t be tempted. If you don’t obey me, I’ll get a rope.” He ... wasn’t kidding?

  “And I’ll get a cab …” I raised my eyebrows.

  “The rope will just make it easier for you to follow the rules.” His mood lightened, and he laughed.

  I laughed too. “Why would I want to do that? I like being a rule breaker.”

  “Oh, maybe because not following the rules makes things ... a lot ... harder.”

  Shit

  “After this, I get a question, right?” I was so ready to ask if he was into bondage because if he was, we were done.

  “Yes.” His expression revealed he knew where I was heading.

  “How many songs for this?” I asked getting ready, how much could he do to me with a plate of turkey?