The Parlour (VDB #1) (9 page)

There’s no noise as he comes down my throat – nothing, no cries or groans of pleasure. There’s just his hands grabbing at the back of my hair again and holding me in place roughly. I can feel the ferocity in them being contained, as if he’s withholding some of the strength in his grip. Maybe he’s trying not to scare me. I saw what these hands did to Roxanne, and at the moment, I think this is his version of kind, sated maybe.

He slowly allows me to pull my head away and looks straight out of the window. He doesn’t look at me. He doesn’t put his cock away either. He just gazes out of the window and mumbles under his breath about something as he relaxes in the seat. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more beautiful sight. He’s at least six foot of prime alpha male lounging in his finery after coming in the mouth of a woman he cares nothing for. A primal act no doubt, and something I’m very aware has just intrigued me beyond belief. That someone could be so dispassionate about a passionate act is enthralling to my emotionless sensibilities. Although, a thank you would have been nice.

I pull myself back up and scoot across to the other side of the car, in an attempt to get away from whatever it is that I’ve just done. Why did I do that? What on earth is wrong with me? I couldn’t stop myself from giving a complete stranger a blowjob in the back of a car. Odd. Quite unnerving really. If not fascinating.

“I didn’t enjoy that,” I insist as I jab my nails back into my hand to once again remind myself that this is not love. It’s nothing but sex.

That’s it. Make money. Leave.

“Indeed you did, my dear. And we shall find out why soon enough, yes?”

“Take her to my suite,” he said to Ruebin, who was waiting for them when the car arrived.

“Sir, yes, Sir, but wouldn’t she be better in the–” He snarled at the boy, halting the drivel that would surely pour out, and refusing to deal with another tirade from the child. At twenty-four, he may not have been an actual child, but he behaved as one. He was also becoming dull, yet another reason he hadn’t bothered with any more formal acknowledgment of their status. He was reasonably trustworthy and had a large cock. Other than that, though, he was simply an outlet.

Unlike Ms. Lilah James, who had just sucked him off with an acute instinct to his needs without even realising she could. Perfect teeth, and an undeniably efficient mouth as she’d delivered precision with aplomb. He couldn’t even begin to understand why he’d felt the need to take her. Fuck her, yes. She was potentially the most devastatingly attractive little thing he’d ever seen, with her grey eyes and fiery little comebacks. However, he could have done that while he was there, and yet for some inexplicable reason, he’d felt the need to have her alone. Without being watched. It was highly disconcerting. He didn’t need that kind of distraction in his life. Elizabeth was quite enough. He wasn’t built for this kind of interest in something, and rather more importantly, he only had so much care to give, all of which was for Alexander and his needs.

Ruebin bowed his head and walked past him to the car without another word. Presumably, he was already concerned enough about his wellbeing given the beating he’d taken only a short while ago. He watched his little uncomfortable ass go to her as she waited by the side of the car, and felt a pang of care for the boy. He was a decent sort of thing. Maybe he should find him a match, somebody who could give him the care and loyalty he deserved. He shook his head to himself with a final glance at Lilah’s mouth and wandered into Eden, deciding to give it more thought at another time.

His PA, Hayley Rosset, was on him in an instant, shuffling her papers around and flanking him as he walked towards the office. Good God, he needed a break. He needed a break from his month long break, which was not actually a break. Dealing with Alexander’s emotional state had quite worn him out. Although, he had to admit that having Elizabeth wrapped around him most of the time had been refreshingly agreeable, in a pleasant sort of way. Not a word he’d played with much in his life. She had this air about her, this comforting presence of acceptance. That was, no doubt, why Alexander loved her so. She was a quite infuriatingly tempting woman in reality, one he would have happily claimed for himself, maybe even kept. That time was over now. She would never be leaving Alexander again. If she was still there after witnessing what she had and being made aware of his past, it meant she was giving him everything, her very soul.  She would honour him and be loyal to him for the rest of her existence. And give her soul she would, when he could just figure out how to help them find a balance.

“Sir, all of these need signing,” Hayley said primly as she perched on his desk and dropped several folders in front of him. He rolled his eyes and reached for the decanter of Cognac in irritation, and then his cigarettes, too.

“Why can you not do this? Is it not what I pay you for?”

“Sir, I’m happy to, but since you don’t trust me as far as you could throw me, I assumed you’d want to do it yourself.”

“How long is it since you fucked my brother?”

“Fabrice? Two years, Sir,” she replied, batting her eyelashes, slipping her ass off the desk, and then wandering round his office as if she owned the space. She did not.

“When did you last suck my cock?”

“Precisely thirty-nine days ago, in London.”

“Hmm... I don’t remember.” He doubted he’d forget Lilah’s mouth so readily. Why the hell couldn’t he get her disloyalty out of his mind all of a sudden? It was a long time ago and she’d proven her worthiness since then. Fabrice was a conniving little cunt who normally got his own way with anything rightfully belonging to Pascal. As he had done all those years ago.

“Why do I still have you working for me? If I do not trust you to do what you’re paid for then I can’t fathom my reasoning for such idiocy.”

“You told me you forgave my indiscretion.”

“I have never forgiven any individual a single thing. I think it may be time for you to leave.”

“But, I... Please, Pascal, you know I can’t leave. I have to pay for my mother’s care,” she squawked, spinning and advancing on him. He moved away swiftly and headed for his desk chair to block her advance.

“A concern for you, I am positive. However, I am tired, and am in need of a secretary I trust implicitly. That is not you. Actually, I am in need of someone to do all of this for me. I am bored with it, undeniably and intrinsically jaded by the responsibility.” And Alexander didn’t like her, never had as far as he could tell. The man was a better judge of character than he gave him credit for. He’d even gone out of his way to find out that she was fucking Fabrice for him. A sign of loyalty indeed. It was no surprise he loved the man so.

“I’ll do that for you,” she said, scrabbling with folders to look professional. Dull. “I know all the businesses inside out. You could just do whatever you liked. In fact, it would be better if you did and then I wouldn’t have to call on you so much.”

“I bet you wouldn’t,” he replied, narrowing his eyes at her as she hitched her skirt a little, revealing her tanned legs. His cock, having just received an impressive sucking, wasn’t the slightest bit tempted by her seduction. In fact, it quite repulsed him. “No. This is finished. You can go today, Ms. Rosset. Send Emanuelle in as you go.”

“Pascal, please! My mother...”

He slammed his hand on the desk, scattering the folders and paper across the floor. Her voice was now irritating him beyond all reasonable standards.

“What about your mother? Hmm? You have accumulated a substantial amount of money in your accounts thanks to your skimming. Yes, I know about the others, too. From what I can gather, you should have several hundred thousand stashed successfully by now. It is plenty for you to live on while you find yourself other employment.”

“But, I–”

“No, enough now. I am exhausted with outmanoeuvring the one person I should be trusting with my life. I have no one who I trust implicitly as he does. I need one of those. You are not it. Go.”

“Please...”

“GO!” She shook at his force and took a step away from him. He kept staring to make sure no further stupidity fell from her mouth. She eventually nodded and backed out of the room, leaving him with silence and a fucking headache. He blew out a long breath and collapsed back into his chair again. Tired – so fucking tired. Keeping up this exterior was truly fatiguing to his sanity. He put his feet up on the desk and gazed at the paperwork scattered around the floor. More fucking hours of work. He hadn’t started all this to have to actually work. When had it all become about numbers and legal documents? Responsibilities. Too many people worked for him, and there were too many deals to manage. Too many clubs, too many accountabilities, and not one person he trusted enough to do it all for him. He’d just sacked his secretary, and only an hour before that he’d told his wife she would not be running that side of their illegal business any more. He needed to close that down first. He had nowhere near enough time to deal with that type of obligation. Yes, he’d call Jon Insbrucker and negotiate a way out, maybe even offer the business to him at a small cost. He didn’t need the money himself anymore, and it would mean he could concentrate on family matters that were becoming increasingly concerning. A wayward nephew and an up-and-coming slut of a niece. Not that he gave the slightest damn about their proclivities, only that they would inherit all he had worked for one day, and he wouldn’t be giving it to someone who would destroy it. His decision to not have children of his own had been one of the easier ones he’d made. No child deserved this kind of existence. Houses of disrepute filled with dishonourable intentions were no place to organise the next generation, and he quite enjoyed their innocence. Their beauty was endearing. He also remembered the first time he’d received his own mother’s version of maternal instinct, and doubted he had anything particularly pleasant to offer as a result.

“Oh, what an ungodly mess,” Lilah said from the door. His head shot up from his maudlin musings.

“I told Ruebin to take you to my suite.”

“I know, and he did, but I’ve been locked up long enough already. I wondered if there was anything I could do for you. Looks like there is,” she replied as she got down on the floor and started gathering the documents together. Her hands worked meticulously, fingering the paper and filing it as she went. Her lithe form swayed and undulated as she twisted and turned in front of him, and he couldn’t remove his gaze from her body. He was so shocked by her daring to disobey him that he simply watched the show and pondered the correct response for such an act of defiance. This would normally constitute a beating, but maybe a spanking would be sufficient for such a small error of judgement. She was, after all, an innocent in these ways. Still, his fingers itched at the prospect. Perhaps he could spank this overemotional mood out of himself.

“Get up off the floor and lean over the desk.”

“Excuse me?”

“My dear, did I or did I not tell you to go with Ruebin?”

“Yes, but I was–” He raised a brow and watched her lips come to an abrupt halt. He pointed to the desk and pulled his legs from it to make room for her. She gingerly pulled herself upright and inched her way toward it with a frown. “Does it hurt?”

“Yes. This is the point of a punishment, no?”

“Yes, I suppose it is,” she replied calmly, easing herself onto the table and turning her face towards him. He gazed at her eyes for a moment and watched as she exhaled a breath and stared back. She reminded him of something – something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Her eyes were hard, yet kind, not yet tainted maybe. She didn’t seem scared, in fact, she seemed positively peaceful as she continued with her gaze and placed her hands on the desk quietly. A natural submissive, quiet, controlled in her quest to please and do as she was asked. Whether it was a true need to appease him and receive her dues he didn’t know, only that she didn’t fight him about it. He stood and dragged her dress up across her ass as he moved past her.

“What is your favourite month of the year, my dear?” he asked as he ran his fingers across her quite lovely skin.

“July, I like the summer months. It’s warm, and I enjoy spending days lazing in the park, eating picnics, drinking wine. Alone.” It sounded an appealing prospect, not something he’d entertained in many years. He spanked her backside so sharply she yelped out in pain, so he did it three more times and then poured his glass of Cognac straight across the reddened imprint of his hand. She sighed, and then began to twitch around as he rubbed the alcohol in and allowed her a brief respite from the pain that would surely come the moment he sank his teeth in.

“July is a good month. There are only four letters in it after all,” he mused, pressing his hands onto her back to hold her in place. He bit down on her ass as viciously as his current mood would allow and savoured the sound of her scream. It touched him in places he hadn’t felt with anyone but Elizabeth and Alexander lately. It was guttural, bellowed from the depths of her very being, a true indication of a need she was not aware she owned. Her skin quivered against his lips as he ran his tongue across it and pondered the amount of pain she would take from him. Was her cunt as needy as her skin for his touch? Mmm, possibly. He decided he would find out later, regardless of the fact that she was presently pushing herself at him and widening her legs gracefully. His cock immediately argued with his decision making process. It didn’t do that often. Normally it did as it was told.

He chuckled to himself and released her back from its confined position. She didn’t move, didn’t say a word, just waited for him to instruct her. “You are a natural, my dear. I am satisfied with this outcome. Now, go back to my suite and wait there.”

“Okay,” she replied quietly as she raised herself from the table and cast her gaze at the mess on the floor again. “Or I could tidy that up for you?” He sighed in dismay at her defiance.

“My dear, have I not just beaten your ass for disobeying me. Do you require more?”

“No,” she said softly, without the slightest sense of fear. “I just, well, it seems you need someone to help. I can do that, help.”

He stared at her with an amused expression. She was an interesting creature, full of guts and gumption, and seemingly not bothered by her beating in the slightest.

“Do you not fear the possibility of an exasperated response to your disobedience?”

“What are you going to do? Ruin a money making prospect before you’ve had a chance to train her?” she replied haughtily, getting back down on the floor and shuffling papers around again. “I may be in an unusual position in my life, but I am far from dense when it comes to making money.”

He stroked his chin while watching her and lighting up a cigarette. He found himself suddenly more amused at his own odd reaction to her disobedience than hers. She intrigued him with her noncompliance as she rambled on about making money.

“There are many clients who would very much enjoy watching you cry, my dear. Many men and women who would pay handsomely to watch you scream and beg for mercy.”