The Master's Choice (6 page)

“Who the hell are you to tell me what to do?” Kevin’s voice chilled her soul and his fingers bit like steel into her flesh.

Her ex’s arrogant, superior tone jolted her back to the situation. She nearly rolled her eyes. That would get him nowhere with the master she knew. Without answering, JW strode from the elevator and gripped the Kevin’s wrist like a vise. Ally watched in satisfaction as pain filled her ex’s face and he released her arm.

“Are you all right?” JW asked, touching her cheek with his other hand.

“I’m fine now,” she replied, smiling up at him.

“I don’t know who the hell you are but when I get to my meeting, I will be sure to have my contacts remove—”

Her ex stepped into the elevator and nearly choked when JW pulled her into the car.

“What are you doing?” he demanded hotly.

“How do you know this ass hat?” JW asked her, pushing a button. His arm held her tightly against him. He sent a suspicious glance at Kevin before looking at her.

“He’s my ex-husband,” she answered, leaning into the strength and protection he offered.

JW raised an eyebrow as his gaze went from her to the nearly apoplectic man on the other side of the car. Ally looked at Kevin’s anger-flushed face and wondered if he was going to have a heart attack.

“Well,” JW murmured. “I have a feeling things are about to get very interesting.”

“Fools,” muttered her ex, straightening his coat and smoothing back his hair. “Just follow me, and you will rue the day you pissed me off.”

Ally clapped a hand over her mouth and unsuccessfully smothered a giggle. Her ex was arrogant enough to assume that they’d just blindly follow him.

“You little bitch!” he snarled, taking a step toward her.

JW tucked her safely against his side and gave the man a warning look. “Touch her again and I’ll toss you out the nearest window.”

“Are you threatening me?” Kevin’s eyes widened in shock.

“Threats are a waste of time. That was a promise.” JW grinned with obvious malice at the smaller man.

“No one threatens me and gets away with it.” If possible, Kevin seemed to puff up even more with his expanding ire.

The elevator came to a stop and the doors opened. Her ex strode out and disappeared down the hall.

JW stepped out, bringing Ally with him. Pulling her to the left where several ficus trees created an alcove, he held her against his chest. For a brief moment, she closed her eyes, feeling herself calm down after the encounter with her ex, and drew strength from him. His hands stroked up and down her back. One cupped her ass while the other caressed the back of her neck.

“Ally. Look at me.”

Hearing the rasp in his voice, Ally felt his cock hardening and pressing against her stomach. She lifted her head and met his gaze. “Yes, sir?”

Amusement twinkled briefly in his eyes at her automatic response. His hand squeezed her ass and she felt her pussy tighten in response. She had to remind herself that she absolutely would not drop to her knees and pull his cock out. No matter how much she wanted to suck him deep into her throat. She could not beg him to fuck her.

His lips brushed her ear and the low growl of his voice nearly made her come right then and there. “I have to take care of some family business. You’re coming with me…”

“No, I can’t,” she gasped, suddenly remembering why she was there to begin with. “I have to…”

His tongue clicked against his teeth and she winced at the soft reproach. Last time she’d heard him react like that, he’d spanked her, before fucking her ass. The last time he’d fucked her. She fought back the orgasm.

“I don’t know what forces of nature brought us together, but I intend to take full advantage of it.” He gazed down at her. “I can see it in your eyes, Ally. I know exactly what you want me to do.” Heat flared in his eyes. “And that you’re fighting the urge to kneel in front of me, aren’t you?” His voice dropped and she nodded.

“Yes, sir,” she whispered. How the hell did he affect her like this? She’d missed him, yes, but… “But…”

“You’re staying by my side then leaving with me,” he told her. The vibrations in her ear had her entire body trembling. His hands pressed her against his chest and her breath caught in her throat. His cock was fully erect. “Any argument?”

“N…no, sir,” she stammered. She didn’t care where they went. He was there. He wanted her with him. He wanted
her
. She had this effect on him. She nearly cheered.

“Good girl.”

He took her hand and drew her down the hall. She caught a glimpse of a company sign—Franklin Enterprises—and gasped. She glanced up at JW and he winked at her.

“Just a little family business to take care of,” he told her.

Opening one half of the double doors at the end of the hall, JW pulled Ally into a conference room where several men sat around the end of the table and grinned at their entrance.

“You’re late, cousin,” the businessman at the head of the table commented with a smile. “Traffic or did you have problems parking?”

“Morning, Grant. This asshole was bothering Ally downstairs in the lobby,” JW replied, gesturing to where her ex now sat at the other end of the table.

Ally kept her expression calm. Somehow she’d landed in the middle of a Franklin Enterprise board meeting. “Family business” indeed, she mentally snorted. But why were the MacLaurens here? She frowned slightly as instinct told her that her ex and his family were up to no good.

“You—” Kevin whipped his head around to glare at JW. “You bastard!”

“Shut your mouth,” ordered a man at what Ally considered the friendly end of the table as he smacked the table.

“Bronson,” the man who could only be Grant Franklin said mildly before looking down the table. “MacLauren, keep your nephew under control or get him the hell out of here.”

“Why is
that
woman here?” Ken MacLauren demanded. She bit her bottom lip. Her former father-in-law had not hidden his anger at her when the deal with Andy had fallen through. “And who is he?”

“Must be hell not to know who you’re dealing with, Ken,” smirked the man named Bronson.

“You must be the Ally he’s told us about,” observed the man named Grant. He stood, strode toward them, and put his hands on her shoulders for a soft kiss on the cheek. “I can certainly see why he’d want to keep you to himself.”

Straightening, Grant gave them both a wink. JW smiled slightly as Ally blinked. Had he mentioned her to his cousins? Of course, he might have remembered the scandal when her marriage had fallen apart and was gentleman enough to give her some cover in front of the MacLaurens.

“Get your own woman, Grant. This one’s mine.”

“I should have put it together sooner,” Grant murmured, glancing at her glaring ex. “The mysterious Alessandra Marie Colson-Brown who married Kevin MacLauren, divorced him six months later, then disappeared.” He gave JW an amused look. “You didn’t waste any time picking a pretty woman, did you?”

“Actually, it was annulled,” she corrected. Drawing a deep breath, and clutching at JW’s hand, she looked at Kevin. “As if the nightmare never happened. Unfortunately, my memory wasn’t so easily erased.”

“You little—”

“Kevin, shut up,” the older man told him.

“I don’t like cities, Grant,” JW stated in a terse tone. “What is this meeting about?”

“MacLauren wants to expand into Indonesia with our help. They’ve picked up some prime land there and—”

“It’s on Sumatra,” Ken MacLauren interrupted, leaning forward. “Totally undeveloped, perfect beaches. And the natives practically gave it away.”

Ally had to speak up. “Is this the same deal you tried to make with Andrew?” she asked. When Kevin glared at her, she turned to Grant. “Kevin married me thinking Andy would automatically sign on the dotted line. When the deal didn’t happen, Kevin filed for the annulment, saying I’d committed fraud.”

“Do you know why Andrew didn’t agree to the deal?” Bronson asked her.

“Not the details,” she replied, shaking her head. “He just said he didn’t like how Kevin did business.”

“I’ve heard enough,” JW spoke up. “My vote is against anything to do with MacLauren. I don’t like the way they do business and I don’t like the way they treat women.”

“Who the fuck are you?” Kevin demanded.

“Where are my manners?” Grant murmured. “This is my cousin, JW Franklin.”

“The war hero,” Bronson added helpfully, grinning at JW.

“I’m voting with JW,” a man still seated spoke up.

“As am I,” put in Bronson as four more men around the table nodded.

“Makes it unanimous,” Grant announced. “Sorry, MacLauren. Franklin Enterprises will not collaborate with MacLauren Corporation.” He moved to the still open door and pulled it open a bit more. “Please leave.”

Muttering under their breaths, the three older men stood and walked out. Kevin was the last to leave as he glared at Grant, Bronson, and JW, who moved Ally behind him.

“You haven’t heard the last from me. You or your friends,” Kevin warned.

“Is that supposed to frighten us?” Bronson frowned.

“Maybe we’ll rue the day?” JW murmured sarcastically.

Ally pressed her cheek against his coat and giggled. Kevin swore and stalked out. JW pulled her around into his arms.

“I’m assuming Liam mentioned Ally to you?” JW murmured to the remaining men. “Gossiping about me?”

“He mentioned it in passing,” his cousin replied.

A fortyish woman appeared in the door. “Grant, the Berlin office is on the line.”

He left and JW looked at Bronson.

“You coming out to the manor?” Bronson asked.

“I hadn’t planned on it.”

“You come to the city and won’t even see your mother and grandparents?” Bronson frowned.

“Don’t push me, Bron,” JW warned him, turning to leave with Ally in tow.

“How can we reach you?”

“On my cell.”

She stayed quiet as they walked down the hall. When he pulled her into the elevator, several people already took up much of the space. Ally was more than content to stay close to him, and silent. Once the elevator descended to the parking garage, he pulled keys from his back pocket as he guided her down the rows of vehicles. It wasn’t until he’d bundled her into a gray SUV and sat behind the wheel that she spoke.

“Have you been all right? You disappeared that night and didn’t…” she said as he shut the driver door. “I…” She stopped as he turned in his seat to look at her. “I hoped to see you at the Club.”

“Why were you at the MacLauren Building?” he questioned right back.

She gasped and started scrambling for the door latch. “Shit! My interview!”

He caught her arm and pulled her back around. “What interview?”

“I have a job interview with MacLauren Computing HR division,” she replied, more frantic as she looked at her watch. “Oh, God! I’m so late!” She slumped in the seat. “What am I going to do? How would I even explain all this?”

“Why are you interviewing for a job?” he frowned.

“Because I need to support myself.” She bristled at his questions even as she knew she shouldn’t. One night at the Club didn’t mean a lifelong relationship. He’d been under no obligation to return or even to choose her if he did. And she didn’t owe him any explanations either.

“I thought you had a contract with the Club. What about your family—Andrew and Belinda?”

Ally felt her cheeks flush with embarrassed heat. “My contract ends the first of December. Andy helped me send out resumes and get some interviews. I don’t want to rely on my family. I need to face life and get on with it.” She shrugged. “I don’t think I’m really a submissive anyway. No matter what the questionnaire results were.”

“Why would you think you’re not a submissive?” he demanded. “You were perfect!”

“No,” she contradicted him, shaking her head even as a rush of pleasure filled her at his compliment. “I tried. I really did, but it just didn’t work out.”

Scowling, he looked at her. His left arm was draped over the steering wheel and his fingers drummed the dashboard.

“Why would you marry a man like Kevin MacLauren? He’s an absolute asshole.”

“I didn’t know that two years ago when I met him. I had just lost my family and Andy and Belinda let me stay with them. I…” She shook her head and looked out at the grungy cement block wall beyond the windshield. “He seemed charming and kind and, before I knew it, we were in his plane flying to Vegas. Unfortunately, what happened in Vegas didn’t stay in Vegas.”

“And it only lasted six months?”

“Six months longer than it should have,” she replied with a sigh not understanding the edge in his voice. What right did he have to be upset? “He…um, the physical side of our marriage wasn’t…”

“Did he hurt you?”

“No, nothing like that,” she replied, feeling something warm at the concern. “It just wasn’t the way I thought things should be. The way I’ve seen other relationships. I didn’t know what to do or how to fix it,” she raised her hands in a helpless gesture, “I saw a therapist but that didn’t help.” She grinned. “Well, it did, in a way. That’s when Andy suggested the Club.”

“Did going to the Club help?”

“Sort of,” she replied, hoping he wouldn’t ask what had gone wrong. That would be nearly as humiliating as some of the things Kevin had said to her. She didn’t want to get into any of that. “So, I tried being a submissive and setting limits to an extent before letting go. It’s not working and I have to move on with my life.”

“Maybe it’s because you set limits,” JW murmured, studying her.

The way he was looking at her made her uneasy even as a rush of heat swept her body. She knew it would be totally unacceptable to throw herself at him and beg him to fuck her anyway he wanted.

“What do you mean? Submissives can—”

“Slaves can’t,” he reminded her.

Ally felt her jaw drop.
Slaves?
“I’m not a slave,” she stated, narrowing her eyes. What game was he playing?

JW’s arm stretched out across the console and his fingers traced her jaw. It took every bit of strength in her not to cuddle her cheek against his palm.

“Really? You practically were with me. I fucked you into exhaustion and didn’t give you a chance to use your safeword,” he continued, leaning toward her until their foreheads nearly touched. “Hell, I didn’t even ask for your safeword. I used you like a slave, Ally. I took total control of your body, and you loved every minute of it. I did what I wanted. I could’ve done more and you wouldn’t have tried to stop me.”