It’s fine, you’re doing great.
They’re only talking.
Shit, what does it matter? All these ridiculous feelings that seem to be building for Reign are just that: ridiculous. There is no prize for second best, and that’s all I am. He’s not interested in me, and even if he was, there is no competition. While Slutena wants him, Slutena will get him.
I take another shaky breath and head back in to join the party.
I have a feeling it will be a long night.
~*~*~*~
I’m not wrong.
By the time the auctions are done, I’m ready to go home and get these damned shoes off my feet. They’re sexy and all, but shit, new shoes hurt.
Reign disappeared outside again with Slutena about half an hour ago, and he hasn’t come back. My guess is they’ve finally decided to start talking about what happened, and that conversation has become intense.
When an hour passes, I start wondering if he’s actually still here. I shove out of my chair and walk outside. No Reign. I search the back area, and even near the toilets. He’s not here. My heart aches as I realize he’s left me alone again. Jesus, letting me know wouldn’t be so hard. My chest seizes when I think of how much fun we had tonight.
That’ll teach me for believing I meant anything.
I’m just a toy in his game.
I don’t bother turning to go back to the function; instead, I walk off down the street. Alcohol, Autumn, and possibly a sexy man is all I need. Fuck Reign. Fuck him and the big, ugly horse he rode in on.
I round a corner, stepping into a side alley, when I notice a group of men standing at the other end. An eerie feeling washes over me, and instinct tells me to turn around.
I do.
“Hey,” one of them says. “Wait up.”
Keep walking. Head down. Don’t speak.
“I just want a lighter.”
Fuck your lighter.
I get just around the corner when his hand comes out and curls around mine. I shiver and my stomach lurches. I face him and see he’s a younger man, but his skin is pale and his eyes a sunken. A junkie.
“I don’t have a lighter,” I snap, tugging my arm from his.
“No need to get pissy,” he says, staring down at my short dress. “Just askin’.”
“Well, don’t. Excuse me.”
He takes my arm again. “Just a second, sweetie. I think we might have something that could help loosen you up.”
My heart pounds fast as his friends near. There are five of them that I can count. The words gang and rape play over and over in my head as I try to tug my arm from the young man’s.
“Let me go. My boyfriend is looking for me.”
One of them snorts.
“Good try, love.” He chuckles. “That line doesn’t work. If your boyfriend was looking for you, you wouldn’t be out here, alone, in the dark.”
Dammit. He’s right.
“Please,” I beg. “Just let me go.”
“We won’t hurt you,” the biggest one says, stepping closer and forcing me to back up against the wall. “Just a little taste.”
No.
I frantically look around, desperately looking for a way out. Even if I kick one in the balls, the others will take me down. I’ve no chance against this many men. The bigger man puts his hand on my hip and I squirm, attempting to kick out. His hand clasps over my mouth as he slams me harder against the wall, his other hand sliding up underneath my dress.
“She’s got a mighty fine body.” He laughs to his friends. “Have a feel.”
I open my mouth to scream, but the only sound that leaves my throat is a muffled cry. Tears cascade down my cheeks as his hand slides over my ass, cupping it roughly. There’s another hand on my breast, and another lowering my dress.
I kick my heel out, hitting the main man in the shin. He roars and stumbles backwards, releasing my mouth. I scream. I give it everything I can, screaming so loudly one of them actually presses his hands over his ears. A resounding slap causes my head to jerk sideways, and then I hear someone say, “Fuck.”
I turn myself back towards them, ready to run, when the young man literally soars past my head. He lands with a crack on the ground, blood pouring from his mouth as he rolls to his side, groaning in pain. Then I hear the thumping sounds of a fist connecting with bone, and I turn to see . . . Reign?
He’s got the oldest of the group by his neck, squeezing until the man squirms in his grips. Then he lifts his other hand and hits him so hard the man goes limp and drops to the ground. The others turn and run, hard and fast, disappearing into the darkness. Reign charges forward, lifting the groaning young man off the floor. With a final punch to his face, the young man slumps to the floor.
I’m staring, wide-eyed, when Reign turns back to me. He charges over, his hands instantly going to my body, sliding over my skin, as if checking to see if I’m okay. My fear is replaced with rage, unadulterated rage. He left me. He left me with no way home, and I went walking and nearly got raped.
I raise my hand before I can think and I slap him so hard my hand burns.
“What the fuck?” he bellows, clutching his cheek.
“You left me,” I say, my voice coming out low and shaky. “I was alone. I couldn’t find you; I waited and waited. You left me again, for her, and I walked.”
His eyes flash. “I didn’t leave, Tiani.”
“Stop lying!” I screech. “You were gone for over an hour, Reign, and I couldn’t find you.”
He looks away, his cheek red. “Shit got complicated with Selena and . . .”
I take a step towards him, glaring up into his face. “You know what? I don’t fucking care about her. I don’t want to continue going on and on about this: you need to get your shit together. If you want to be with her, fucking tell her. If you don’t, fucking leave. I’m done being your little toy. It hurts too much.”
“You agreed to this job; you knew what you were in for. What the fuck did you expect?” he barks.
“What I expected, Reign,” I snarl, leaning in closer, “is to not care for you so much.”
Then I turn and rush off, leaving him standing in shock. I flag down a cab and jump in, not looking back as we disappear down the street.
The moment I get home, I sink to my knees and I cry.
Really cry.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
I don’t know how long I sit on the floor, head in my hands, tears dripping down my chin. I’m jerked out of my state when the door swings open and Reign comes charging in.
I need to rethink the key idea.
He stops when he sees me no doubt looking pitiful on the floor, sobbing like a broken child. I’m not a broken child, just a stupid girl who thought she had a dream job. Then I went and made the worst mistake I could have made.
I fell for my boss.
The boss who is in love with someone else.
“You can’t say shit like that,” he rasps, “and then leave. We’re not done.”
I force myself to my feet. “We are done, Reign. I quit.”
“No,” he barks out, following me as I walk towards my room.
“Leave the key on the counter, and get out.”
His hand curls around my arm, spinning me around. “I said, no.”
“And I said, I quit,” I yell, shoving his chest.
“You can’t hate me for this,” he snarls, leaning in close. “You knew what I wanted you for. I made it very clear when I employed you. If you couldn’t handle it—”
Oh, I don’t think so.
“Handle it?” I laugh bitterly. “What I can’t handle, Reign, is the fact that you are chasing a woman who is so far up herself I don’t know where she starts and where she ends. I don’t understand your infatuation, because all I can see is a money-hungry whore who doesn’t like the idea that you might be with someone else.”
His nostrils flare and he backs me up against the wall, his hand going up to rest beside my head. “I’ve told you once, and I’ll
tell you a thousand fucking times. My business with Selena isn’t yours.”
“You’re right about that, buddy,” I bark. “Because I’m done. Get that bitch back on your own, but don’t you come to me when you find another man balls deep inside her. Because it will happen again, Reign. Take it from me, it’s written all over her.”
He lifts his hand and slams it down on the counter. “Enough,” he roars.
“Why?” I scream, shoving at his chest. He doesn’t move. “Can’t handle it? Can’t take the fact that she’s only going to break your heart again? If that’s not how you want me to think of her, Reign, then why won’t you tell me otherwise? Why won’t you set me straight? Why won’t you tell me what happened so I can understand? Because I don’t fucking understand.”
“She fucked my personal assistant,” he snaps.
“I know that; tell me something I don’t know. It doesn’t explain your desperation to get her back.”
“She was fucking pregnant when she did it.”
My jaw drops.
“Yeah,” he laughs bitterly. “She was fucking twelve weeks pregnant with our first baby. I fucking adored her, adored that baby. Shit was so hard and that baby was the light. Then she fucked him and lost the baby.”
I stare at him, my heart aching.
“I went wild. I thought I hated her. Then I heard she was moving on. I saw her with other people and I realized how much I still wanted her. Do you think I don’t hate myself for it? I can’t just switch that shit off. I want to switch it off; I want to move on and forget about her. Even now I doubt myself; I doubt her. We fight every time we talk, but then she’ll do something, something so small, and it reminds me that she’s all I fuckin’ have.”
“It doesn’t change the fact that I don’t like her, Reign,” I whisper. “And I think she’s going to hurt you.”
His eyes burn into mine. “I’m not askin’ you to like her, but I’m also not askin’ you to fuckin’ like me, either.”
I laugh bitterly. “Do you think I want to like you, Reign?”
His eyes scan my face. “I wasn’t finished. I didn’t ask you to like me, but I didn’t expect that I’d find myself lusting over you, too. Fuck, Tiani. It’s not meant to be confusing for me, I want her and yet I find myself smiling around you. When you danced with me the other night, all I wanted to do is feel how your sweet pussy would hug my cock as I drove it inside you.”
I swallow.
“I want to taste you, to see how you feel, to kiss your lips and fuck you until you don’t remember anyone else before me.”
“I feel a but coming in here,” I rasp.
“I’m not going to be able give you what I know you want.” He leans in closer. “But fucked if I can’t stop thinkin’ about it.”
I lick my lips and his eyes slide down, following the movement.
“It doesn’t change my mind. I’m still quitting,” I breathe, staring at his lips.
“No you’re fuckin’ not.”
“You don’t get to—”
Lips crush against my mouth, swallowing my words. I can’t hold back the moan that escapes my lips as he slips his tongue inside, tangling it with mine. He presses his hard, large body against mine so I can feel every bit of him. His cock rides against my pussy, causing little bolts of pleasure to shoot through my body.
“Reign.” I gasp as his lips slide down my neck.
“Fuck questioning this. I need to taste you.”
I whimper when his hands slide down to cup my ass, using it to slide his cock against my dampening panties. He takes the hem of my dress, sliding it up until my panties are exposed to his fingers. He slides them up the damp material, causing a breathy moan to slide from my lips.
“Wet, so fuckin’ sweet I can smell you.”
I tremble when his lips find mine again, and he kisses me into oblivion, making me forget everything around us. His fingers disappear under my panties and dip into my heated flesh. “Oh God,” I groan when the tip of one swipes over my clit.
“Your little nub is aching for me,” he growls against my lips. “So tight and fuckin’ sweet.”
I drop my head back, exposing my neck to him. He presses his lips to the hollow of my throat, and his free hand takes hold of my dress, jerking it down to expose my breasts. My nipples harden in anticipation. He makes a throaty, pleased sound and kneels in front of me, his mouth in line with my desperately waiting nipples. He leans forward, sucking one into his mouth while his fingers explore my pussy, stroking and probing until my back arches off the wall.
He sucks my nipple deep in the exact moment his finger slips inside my wet entrance. I whimper his name as an orgasm tears through my body, starting from my womb and stretching right out to my toes. I slide down to the floor in front of him, legs spread wide, back pressed against the wall, breasts rising and falling with every breath I take.
“Fuck,” he groans. “You’re fuckin’ stunning, so fuckin’ beautiful.”
He takes hold of his jacket, shoving it off before tearing his shirt open, sending buttons flying everywhere. I lick my lips when I see his gorgeous, bronze, broad chest in the dim light. Shit, he’s fucking stunning. He takes hold of his jeans and my eyes drop down. I’ve seen Reign’s cock, but knowing that erection is for me has my body tingling with anticipation.
The moment his pants are jerked away and it springs free, my body heats up and my pussy clenches with want. He reaches forward, taking hold of my hips and lifting me up. He lets himself fall backwards against the other wall, his hands desperately shoving my panties aside as he pulls me over him. I straddle his lap, nails sliding down his perfect flesh as I lower myself over his cock.
“Baby,” he murmurs, his eyes blazing into mine. “Slowly.”
I slow down, feeling him sinking into me inch by perfect fucking inch. I stretch around him, gasping at the intense pleasure already shooting up my spine. Reign’s hands are on my lips, his mouth on my neck as I finally take all of him. I shift my hips, whimpering with pleasure as I grind against him, feeling him pulse inside my pussy.
“You’re so fuckin’ tight. Just how I knew you would be,” he growls against my throat.
He uses his hands to lift my hips, slowly bringing me up and down over his cock. I use my knees to control my thrusts, clutching his chest as I begin to ride him. It starts off slow, with me just enjoying the feeling of his cock slowly entering me before disappearing again. Then desperation takes over, pleasure builds, our groans become more frequent and frenzy kicks in. I fuck him, hard and fast, grinding and rotating, moving over his cock like I own it.
His head is back, his jaw is tight and his hands are pinching into my skin as he thrusts upwards, slamming into me as I hungrily fuck him. Sweat trickles down his neck and glistens on his chest. I drop my face down, sliding my tongue along the salty muscles, loving how it feels when they flex beneath me.
“Stop doin’ that baby,” he pants. “Or I’ll come so fuckin’ hard you’ll not have time to find your own release.”
I’m close too, my body winding tighter and tighter as I lift myself up and down. I close my eyes, trying to concentrate on matching his thrusts, but my knees are burning. As if reading my mind, he lifts me off his lap, murmuring, “Need to fuck you harder.” Then he flips me over onto my hands and knees before sliding his cock back inside me.
Oh. Yes.
“Reign,” I pant as he grips my hips, using them to drive his deep thrusting.
Fucking good. So good.
“I’m going to come,” I scream tilting my hips and arching my back.
“Fuck, baby, yes,” he bellows. “Come around my cock, come for me now . . .”
I do, as if my body knows his commands. I come with an ear-splitting scream. Pleasure rips through my body, so much so that my hands give way and I slide down until my face rests on the floor. Reign holds my hips up with his hands, fucking me so hard our skin slaps together. Then, with a curse, he roars his release. I can feel his cock pulsing inside me as he m
ilks himself with my aching pussy.
Then we drop onto the floor, panting and sweaty.
“Holy shit,” I pant. “We just made fireworks.”
“Baby.” He rolls over, taking me into his arms. “Holy fuck.”
“You can say that again.”
We lay on the floor, staring up at the roof for long moments. I’m tucked in his arm and every now and then I get a waft of sex. It smells fucking amazing.
“I think my back is broken,” I say, shifting. “Ouch.”
“I think my fuckin’ hips are broken. Shit, girl, you ride it like you stole it.”
I laugh softly. “You know me. I never do things in halves.”
“Best fuckin’ ride of my life.”
I turn to him, and he’s looking down at me. “Don’t use your charming words on me, Reign Braxton.”
“I’m fuckin’ serious,” he says, leaning forward and running his lips over my forehead. “That felt fuckin’ amazing. You gave it your all.”
He lowers his mouth, offering them to me. I take them, sinking into a deep yet super-soft kiss that has my skin prickling.
“Careful,” I whisper pulling away. “I have a good sex drive, and it’s very likely that I’ll want your dick again.”
He groans and sucks my bottom lip into his mouth.
“My dick will be fucking you again, Tiani. Don’t you doubt it. But it sure as fuck won’t be on this floor.”
“I don’t do beds, charmer,” I point out.
He pulls me over him. “Care to tell me why?”
“Beds are boring, I like spontaneous fucking. Against walls, in a car, on a beach, bent over the couch.”
He rumbles and reaches down to squeeze my ass. “Ever been fucked somewhere that you could be caught any second?”
“No,” I say, my voice husky and low.
“Picture this,” he says, running his hand over my backside. “You’re bent over your balcony, tits bouncing as I fuck you hard from behind. Anyone walking down the street could catch you. A car could see you as they drive past.”