by Hamel, B. B.
It’s a nice day and I haven’t explored the trails much. I walk slowly along, my phone in my hand, enjoying nature as much as I can while still mulling over this whole experience in my brain.
What could someone want from my room? In particular, what was Carol looking for, if that was her at all?
It wasn’t an object. Nothing was taken, no money, no makeup, no clothes, nothing. Things were thrown around, but nothing was missing. My phone was even still on my nightstand, flipped upside down.
Flipped upside down…
A strange feeling comes over me. I remember putting my phone down face up specifically so that I could see the screen flash on if a text came in. Dread washes over me as I start to scroll through it. There’s nothing strange at first, until I go into my deleted text messages.
There’s just one message in there. I never delete stuff. I stare at it for a long moment, fear spiking through me.
I want to throw up. I have to sit down, right in the dead leaves that line the path. I lean back against a tree and start to hyperventilate.
Slowly, I get myself under control. I raise my phone up again and look at the text.
It’s a screenshot sent to a number I don’t recognize.
The screenshot is an image of the conversation I had with Lisa about hooking up with Baker.
I drop my phone onto the ground and stare up into the sky, heart hammering.
I’m so stupid. I know how this happened and I almost hate myself for it. My passcode is 1111 because I’m lazy and because I never thought it mattered. I never thought someone would try to unlock my phone before.
I can see it now, so clearly. Carol broke into my room somehow, went through my stuff, found my phone. She probably tried a bunch of random passcodes, eventually tried 1111, and probably laughed her fucking head off.
I can’t blame her. I’m so stupid.
After that, it’s not hard to see what happened. She found that conversation, screenshotted it, and texted it to herself. I bet if I called that number, I’d get her private cellphone.
I don’t want to find out though. I sit there and stare up at the sky, feeling dizzy and sick and stupid.
“Uh, hey, excuse me. Taylor? You okay?”
The voice hits me like a bolt of lightning. I look over, startled and ready to run, but it’s just Malik. He’s standing a few feet away wearing hiking gear and frowning at me like I’ve just gone insane.
I can’t blame him. I probably do look insane.
“I’m fine,” I say, barely managing the words. “I’m okay. Really.”
He takes a step closer. “You don’t look so okay.”
I force myself to smile. It probably just freaks him out more. “Really. I’m fine.”
He frowns and doesn’t move. I can tell he’s debating what to do.
“Is there anything I can help with?” he finally asks. “I don’t want to just leave you here alone if you’re having some… trouble.”
“What kind of trouble could I possibly have on this amazing retreat?” The words come out much shriller than I wanted. I hoped to sound light and joking, but instead probably came off batshit insane.
He sighs and walks over, slowly sitting down next to me. “I know these things are stressful. Really, it’s the worst thing in the world.”
I laugh a little. If he only knew.
“I’m okay. Really. I just realized something stupid, is all.”
“Like what?”
I hesitate for just a second. “How would you break into someone’s hotel room without a key?”
He frowns even more. “I’d bribe a maid.”
I laugh again, shaking my head, trying not to sound absolutely shrill. “Right. Of course.”
“Did someone break into your room? You should go to the front desk or the police if they did.”
“No, no, nothing like that. Just a little, uh, thought experiment.”
“Right. Well, look, it’ll be okay. Baker isn’t such a bad guy, whatever’s going on will probably work out, I’m sure.”
“Thanks. I’m okay.”
“Uh huh.” He gives me a long look before slowly standing up. “I don’t know you very well, so I’m going to leave you alone. But if you want to come walk with me for a while, we don’t have to talk. Maybe that’ll take your mind off it.”
I’m tempted. I really am. Malik is a nice guy and I bet he really means what he’s saying. Probably he’d love to just walk in silence with someone else.
But I can’t do that. Right now, I need to find Baker and tell him what happened. His career is in jeopardy.
“Thanks anyway,” I say, getting up. I grab my phone and slip it into my pocket.
“Sure. Well, see you around.”
He gives me one more look then wanders off down the trail.
I watch him go for a second, heart racing.
Bribe a maid. Of course.
I hurry back to the hotel, mind racing. I feel like I’m dizzy and sick but I need to be absolutely sure before I find Baker and tell him everything.
The front desk is manned by a young woman with green eyes and a bored expression. She perks up as I approach.
“Hi there, can I help you with something?”
“I have a weird question,” I say.
She grins. “Weird questions are my favorite. And before you ask, yes, there are bears, and no, nobody has ever been attacked by one. Just don’t walk around with food and back away slowly if you see one.”
I blink for a second. Right, Alaska, bears. Of course she gets asked that a lot.
“No, this isn’t about bears. It’s actually about the maid staff.”
She frowns a little bit. “Oh. Okay. Did something go missing?”
“No, nothing like that. I was wondering if any of the maids quit recently? Like last night or this morning?”
She looks surprised. “Actually, yes, one of them did quit. It was kind of a whole thing, actually. Told our manager to—” She stops herself, eyes narrowing. “Why are you asking about that?”
“I just heard a rumor,” I say quickly, improvising. “And one other thing. There’s a guest here named Carol Denver. Is she still in her room?”
The woman turns to her computer and quickly types. “She checked out a few hours ago,” she says.
I feel like I might throw up.
“Thank you,” I say, turning away.
“Is everything okay?” she asks. “Did the maid do something?”
“No, no, honestly. It’s okay, everything’s okay. Have a great day.”
I practically run away as fast as I can, mind whirling as the pieces lock into place. I find myself tucked into the corner of the bar, hiding away from a group of my coworkers that are huddled around a table taking shots and laughing.
I feel like I’m spinning as I work it all out. It should’ve been so obvious from the start. Carol clearly bribed a maid to break into my room, found my phone, unlocked it using that stupid passcode, and texted herself a picture of a conversation I had with Lisa. Now she’s gone, doing who knows what… but I know it’s not good.
Nothing good can come of this.
I said some truly bad thing in that screenshot. I take my phone out and go through it again, feeling my stomach lurch as I look through it.
Carol couldn’t have taken a more incriminating shot if she tried.
God, I don’t know what I’m going to do. I’m so stupid. I never should’ve told Lisa any of that, but I can’t help myself. She’s my best friend and I need to be able to tell someone this stuff. Otherwise, I’ll just bottle it all up and explode.
I notice some of the guys over at the other table shooting me looks. I can’t tell what they mean by it, if they’re just being friendly and getting ready to invite me over, or if they all know about the screenshot. Maybe Carol sent it to the whole company already. Maybe they all read some of my most intimate conversations with my friend and I’m going to look so, so, so incredibly bad.
I’m already mortified.
I can feel the room spinning again.
I get up and move. I have to get out of there. I need to find Baker but I don’t know where he is. I check the dining hall, the banquet room, the restaurant, and even wander the grounds outside. Nobody’s seen him and I’m running out of options.
Briefly, anger swells through me. I can’t believe Carol would violate me that badly just over some petty workplace bullshit. But of course she did. I have to remind myself that she is in fact a fucking psychopath.
She’s the only person in this company that would bribe a maid to break into my room. She’s the only person that would send herself a screenshot.
None of that matters. She has the information that could completely ruin us and I don’t know what to do.
Finally, I end up stumbling back into the hotel. I bypass another group of coworkers, ignoring them when someone calls out my name. I stagger into the elevator and ride it up, my heart hammering, my hands sweating.
I reach our floor and get out. I’m gasping for air. I manage to make it to Baker’s door… when I remember the extra key he slipped me earlier.
“Our room now, remember?” he had said with a wink.
I swipe the key. The door unlocks.
I open it up and step inside.
“Hey, there you are. I was wondering when you’d show up.”
I stare at him, barely comprehending. Baker’s sitting on the couch, his feet up on the coffee table, a book in his hands.
“I thought… you were with… the managers?” My eyes are wide, my heart racing.
He closes the book. “We finished early. I’ve been reading. Are you okay?”
“Baker. Carol. She has it.”
He stands up slowly, putting his book down. “Has what?”
“My phone. She texted herself. She knows.”
Slowly, he walks over to me. “Come here.” He takes my hands, leads me to the couch. He sits me down and gets me some water. “Drink.”
I sip it slowly, composing myself. Finally, I just unlock my phone and pull up the text, holding it out to him.
“This was in my deleted messages folder.”
He stares at it, frowning. “This is a conversation between you and a friend?” he asks.
“Carol. My phone’s passcode is 1111.”
Slowly it dawns on him. He grabs his own phone from the coffee table, types in the number that the text was sent to, and groans. He turns his screen to me.
The text reads CAROL DENVER.
“She knows,” I whisper.
“Fuck.”
We sit in silence for a long minute. His hands grip my phone tight before handing it back. I take it and toss it onto the coffee table, letting it clatter. I wish I could smash the thing.
I wish I had set a better passcode.
I wish a lot of things.
He stands up and walks to the windows, hands behind his back. He looks outside and I just sit there, terror ringing through me.
“Baker? What do we do?”
He doesn’t answer. He doesn’t look over.
He just stands there, staring.
I get to my feet and walk to him. I’m afraid but I can’t help myself. I get close and he suddenly turns to me, a frown on his face.
“This isn’t your fault,” he says.
That surprises me. I expected him to yell, to scream. This is going to affect me, but I think it’s going to be worse for him. I doubt any company would want to hire a CEO with this sort of scandal hanging over him.
But his face slowly softens and he sighs. “Come here.”
He pulls me against him, wrapping his arms around me. He hugs me tight against his chest, holding me close.
I finally take a breath. I finally start to thaw out.
I let him hold me and I cling back against him, grabbing onto a life raft in the middle of the ocean.
Slowly he tilts my chin up toward him and kisses me softly.
“It’s going to be okay, my sweet,” he whispers.
“How can you know that?”
“I can’t,” he admits. “Carol is unpredictable because she’ll do things we’d never consider. But it just doesn’t matter.”
“That screenshot could ruin you.”
“Maybe… maybe.” He just shrugs and kisses me again. “Right now, I don’t think I care.”
“Baker—”
“Listen to me.” He kisses me again, but this time with a little more emphasis. “You need to understand something, Taylor. I haven’t wanted like this before. I haven’t felt… like this.”
I meet his gaze for a moment and stand up on my toes to kiss him. I pull him down to meet me halfway and I hold him there… as excitement floods through my body.
I feel the same way, god, I feel it. I’m just afraid of ruining this man that I want so badly, all because I was careless.
But as his hands explore my body… I don’t think he minds nearly as much as he should.
16
Taylor
He unbuttons my blouse slowly, pushing me back against the large window. I groan as I feel the cold glass against my back. He pulls my top off, kissing my chest, lips lingering.
“Fuck everything else,” he whispers in my ear.
I feel the same way.
His hands roam my body, so skillful, so simple. His fingertips trace around my skin as his lips kiss me. I groan when he finds my nipples, teasing them with his teeth and tongue, moving back up to kiss my neck.
I love the way this man touches me. I love the way he makes me feel.
I need to forget. I throw myself into the moment, my heart pulsing so hard I can barely take it. I groan into his kiss, writhing, gyrating. He kisses me back just as hard, and I know he feels the same way.
We linger there before he finally turns me around roughly. I gasp as his hand grabs my hair, pulling it hard. Pleasure, pain, it all wipes everything else from my mind.
He spanks my ass before dropping to his knees. He takes my jeans off from behind, sliding them down my skin. He bites my ass and kisses it before bending me over again.
My hands are flat on the glass as he spreads my legs. I’m so exposed and my heart’s racing so fast I feel dizzy and wild and free.
He licks me from behind. He licks me top to bottom, tasting every inch of me. I gasp, arching my back, as his tongue presses harder against me. Pleasure floods through my body as his hands grip my hips harder.
He spanks me again, driving me wild. I gasp when he stands up, pulling my hair. I’m wearing just my panties, bent over the windowsill, palms flat against it. I’m groaning as his fingers push aside my panties and tease my pussy.
“Dripping wet,” he groans in my ear. “Soaking wet. You dirty girl. You are a dirty girl for me, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” I groan. “Oh, god, Baker.”
I can feel him smirk as he spanks my ass harder. His hands are rough this time. I feel him undress, pulling off his shirt and his pants quickly. When he steps up behind me again, I feel his hard cock pressing against my soaking pussy.
He spanks me harder, pulls my hair rough. I groan and push back against him with a gasp. I feel his hard tip pressing into me, ever so slightly, so fucking slowly.
“You came here to get fucked, didn’t you?” he growls in my ear. I gasp as he grab my hair tighter and spanks me again. “You came here to take my big cock, didn’t you?”
“Yes,” I moan. “Baker, yes. Please fuck me.”
He slowly teases my pussy before sliding himself deep inside.
I gasp, back arching. I feel him fill me in one smooth thrust. My fingers curl against the glass and I lean further down, taking him deeper.
He grabs my hips, slaps my ass. I want it so badly, I want him to punish me, take me, control me, dominate me. He spanks me hard and starts to fuck me, not taking it easy at first, not going slow. He fucks me fast and deep with a growl on his lips.
I take him deep and gasp, wanting more. I buck my hips back against him, soaking wet, needing every inch. His
growls and groans drive me wild and I push back faster, faster. I buck my hips and take his thick cock deep inside me.
He spanks my ass and grabs my hair. He holds me there, holding me tight, controlling me completely. He fucks my pussy rough, thick cock pumping deep inside. Pleasure and pain and everything sweet wars in my mind and rolls in my body as his hard body controls me and takes me.
“Sweet fucking thing,” he purrs. “You feel so goddamn good. I love fucking your tight little cunt. It’s heaven, you know that?”
“Yes,” I moan, “I love having you inside of me. Please, keep going.”
He growls and pulls back. I gasp as he pushes me down to my knees. I take his cock into my mouth as he grabs my hair. I can taste my pussy on his shaft as he slides into my mouth and throat.
I suck him faster, tongue rolling around his tip. He growls and I can tell he’s in a frenzy. I am too, losing myself completely as I suck his big cock. I let him push me down, make me gag, fuck my mouth. I moan as he does it, as he teases my breasts and takes me rough.
He pulls me back and kisses my lips before pulling me to my feet again. I stroke his cock fast with both my hands and he groans, pulling me over to the couch. He pushes me down, turning me around, ass up in the air.
There’s nothing gentle or slow about him this time. He grabs my hips and thrusts inside of me easily. I’m soaking wet, dripping down my thighs, and he takes advantage of it. He fucks my tight pussy fast and without mercy, filling me with his rock-hard cock, driving me absolutely wild.
I push my hips back, bucking and loving it. I can barely think about anything else as his cock fills me, drilling into my core, filling me with pleasure.
He pulls back and turns me around, spreading my legs. He drops down and licks my clit, sucking it and tonguing me all over. I gasp, grabbing his hair, pushing him tighter. I roll my hips as pleasure blooms and blossoms all through my body.
He’s gorgeous, beautiful, incredible. His body is ripped and chiseled and he can’t get enough of me. That’s the best part, the sexiest part, that he can’t get enough of my body. Even now, when he just got potentially devastating news, he can’t help himself.
I love it. I love that he wants me so badly and I want to give it to him, absolutely every inch of me.