The Stand Off (17 page)

“Hey,” she objected as she tried to pull the cover back up.

“I want to see you.”

“You already saw everything and I mean
everything
!
Isn’t that enough?”

“No, that will never be enough for me. The fact that I have
seen everything
is
the reason that I want to see it more. You have to
stop being so shy around me.” He snatched the cover from her hand. “It astounds
me that a woman brave enough to blackmail me with pornographic pictures could
be so shy about her body.”

“I’m just not used to it,” she tried to explain as she
grabbed the cover.

He yanked the cover and tossed it on the floor. “Then get
used to it, I’m going to be looking at you all the time, and I want to see
every single inch of you clearly. I’m going to invest in better lighting
because of you.” He slid his hand over the small bruises on her thigh, “Tell me
about these.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“I do,” he insisted and she looked away from him. “Look at
me Lux.”

She looked back up at him, but she was unsure how to answer
so she decided to lie, “I’m clumsy.”

He didn’t buy it for a second. “Tell me the truth.”

“Stress,” she said flatly and began to chew on her lip.

“That’s what you do to yourself when you’re stressed?”

She shrugged, “Sometimes.”

“Why?”

“Life brings pain that I can’t control. This is the only
pain that I can control, and I can use it to my advantage.”

“Not anymore. I don’t ever want you to do that again. If you
need something to distract you then you come to me.”

“But I can’t control you.”

“Yes you can… your consent gives you control.” He pulled her
closer to him and wrapped his arm around her. “Now let’s get some sleep, we
have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow.”

She pulled up to look at him, her sadness etched into her
face. He held the back of her head and kissed her. She would feel much
differently tomorrow.

***

Dean heard his phone ringing but
had no intention of moving. Not only was he exhausted but he was extremely
comfortable. He was more comfortable on the inflatable mattress with Lux than
he’d ever been in a real bed. He was spooning with her and the feel of her bare
ass against his cock was stimulating him as well as sedating him. His arm was
wrapped around her waist and his hand was wedged between her thighs. His middle
finger was tucked between nether lips and the warmth from her body was
pacifying him. His other arm was spread out beneath her head and she rested
with her cheek on his bicep. Her thick hair was fanned out between them and he
loved inhaling the fresh scent. Despite the annoying ring of his phone, he felt
himself begin to doze. He was on the path to sleep when he felt Lux begin to
move. He cursed under his breath, wishing he’d turned his phone off as he left
his comfortable position to grab the menacing contraption.

Lux was too comfortable to move.
She loved the feel of Dean’s body pressed against hers. She could feel his cock
hardening against her butt as he woke up. She also loved the feel of his hand
cupping her awakening vagina. His finger was dangerously close to her clit and
she knew that if she moved her hips, he would graze it. She was happy that he
had ignored the phone and then equally pissed when he finally got up to answer
it.

Dean was going to shut off his
phone at first but changed his mind when he saw that it was his brother. Johann
would only let it ring that long if it were important. Not wanting to wake Lux,
Dean eased off the mattress and walked towards the old kitchen to take the
call.

“What?” Dean snapped into his
phone.

“I’ve been trying to get ahold of
you all day,” Johann exclaimed.

“I didn’t answer you for a
reason. I’ve been busy,” Dean said.

“You missed a very important
meeting this afternoon.”

“I’m sure that you handled it as
well as I would have.”

“No, he wants to talk to you. You
really should have handled this one or at least given me a heads-up, I was
unprepared. I want to know what’s so damn important that you would miss this
meeting. I know you; you never miss meetings…
never
. I was afraid you
were unconscious in some hospital bed because that’s the only thing that could
prevent you from attending a business meeting of this caliber. But you’re
obviously not unconscious, so what’s up? Please tell me you’re not with some
chick.”

Dean couldn’t tell him what was
going on, so he decided to just go along with Johann.

“I’m with some chick.”

“Since when do you put females
over work?”

“This is work,” he lied.

“Bullshit,” Johann snorted.

“Believe what you want.”

“Well when will you be back? Mr.
Powell insists on speaking to you. Or haven’t you got your money’s worth,”
Johann said figuratively speaking.

“Oh I got my money’s worth. I
just need to finish the last details and then I’m on my way.”

“Wait… are you with Lux? That
would actually make sense of things. Does this have anything to do with the
building you’re signing over to her?”

Dean hesitated before he
answered, “Yes.”

“I knew it. Does she know what
you’re doing?”

“No, she has no clue.”

“I figured she’d see right
through you; she’s a smart one.”

“Luckily she bought the act 100
percent; she doesn’t suspect a thing.”

“I would love to be there when
you tell her.”

“I’m not going to tell her; she
will find out on her own.”

“Okay, well I will leave you to
that then.” Johann said.

Lux pretended that she was asleep
as she listened to every word that Dean said. She could only hear Dean’s side
of the conversation and was devastated by what she’d heard.

“Oh I got my money’s worth. I
just need to finish the last details and I’m on my way.”

“No, she has no clue.”

She felt her insides churn and
her heart begin to ache. She’d been played. As hard as she’d tried to avoid it,
in the end she’d lowered her guard and allowed him to trick her.

“Luckily she bought the act
100 percent; she doesn’t suspect a thing.”

“I’m not going to tell her;
she will find out on her own.”

He’d gotten his money’s worth;
he’d filled his conquest… he won. Now here she was, filled with feelings that
he could never fulfill. It was as if in order for him to heal from his desire,
he needed to infect her with the disease. And infect her he did. Now that she
was toxic, and she was finally willing to admit that she wanted him, he was
magically cured. He no longer had need for her, and she knew that. He’d never
lied; he’d never told her it would be anything other than sex.

She’d been right all along: he
was
callous, and he did take whatever he wanted. He was a tricky tongued womanizer,
and she was a simpleton who had caught a case of the feelings but if he thought
he was keeping that building, he was sadly mistaken.

“Damn,” she whispered as she felt
the tears sting her eyes. She’d done exactly what she’d sworn she wouldn’t. “I
knew it; I’m so fucking stupid.”

She jumped off the mattress and
began to put her clothes on. It was then that Dean walked back into the room.

“What are you doing?” he asked,
surprised to see her out of bed and getting dressed.

“What does it look like?” she
snapped as she grabbed her skirt and pulled it on.

“Why are you getting dressed?”

“I’m leaving,” she snarled at him
before she turned to leave.

“What? No you’re not, get back
here.”

He grabbed her arm and pulled her
back.

“Let go of me,” she demanded but
he refused.

“What the fuck is going on?”

“You know exactly what’s going
on. We both got what we wanted; now the game is over, now it’s time for me to
leave.”

She yanked her arm away. She
refused to let him see her cry; she would walk away from this with as much pride
as she could muster. She’d made the stupid mistake of falling for him but she
would never let him know that now.

“What did you just say to me?” he
stepped towards her.

“You heard me.”

“What the fuck happened in the
short time that I stepped out of the room?”

“Nothing happened.”

“Then what is this about?”

“We made a deal. I held up my
part of the bargain so I see no need to stay.”

She squared her shoulders; she’d
be damned if she was played by Dean Blake. She would not be like her mother;
she would not allow a man break her.

“You’re joking.” He looked at her
for a moment, obviously confused, but she would not enlighten him.

“No.”

She turned to walk away, but he
grabbed her arm again and held her tight.

“Why are you doing this?”

“You know why.” She yanked her
arm back.

“Tell me,” he felt his temper
begin to spark.

“Because it’s over, the deal is
done. You said sex and we had sex; now the building belongs to me,” she lied so
convincingly, he believed her.

“You’re not going anywhere,” he growled.

“You can’t keep me here!” She
yelled, starting to really lose her cool.

“Yes I can,” he said
threateningly.

“Why would you want to? The deal
is done; it’s time for me to go.”

He was taken aback, completely
caught off guard. Normally, this would be a good thing for him, but this was
not what he wanted from Lux. It was crazy to him, he’d finally felt something
for a woman and now he learned that it was all a trick.

“You’re not going anywhere.”

“Why? Is that part of the
wounded-ego healing process? Do you have to be the one to tell me to leave
after?” she scoffed.

“Do you really still believe
that? After all this? Do you think that I really wanted you to fulfill a
fucking conquest?” he beseeched her. “Or is that just the excuse you use to
deny your own feelings?”

“What else do you want from me,
Dean? You got what you wanted, there’s nothing else that would interest you.
You hate relationships, and you don’t date. All you wanted was sex, you made
that perfectly clear. So why do you want me to stay?”

“I don’t know, but you’re not
leaving my side until I figure it out.” He shrugged his wide shoulders.

“There’s nothing to figure out; I
am not going to be anyone’s whore. I am not the open relationship type of
female. You could never give me what I want, and I do not see the point of
continuing.”

“That just makes things harder
for
you
because nothing, not even you, will stop me from figuring this
out. I may not want monogamy, but I still want you.”

“That’s too bad,” she yanked her
arm away from him and turned to leave.

“If you leave, you can forget
that building,” he barked and immediately regretted it.

“No!” she turned around and took
a step towards him. “That’s not fair, I held up my end of the bargain. I had
sex with you!”

Like a bull, he charged towards
her and backed her against the wall. He put his hand over her mouth.

“Don’t you fucking say that! You
didn’t fuck me for that building; you fucked me because you wanted to. Admit
it!” he pulled his hand from her mouth to allow her to answer.

“I did it for the building,” she
lied with a straight face.

He felt his rage pop but instead
of retaliating, he let go of her and stepped back.

“Then by all means, leave.”

She eyed him warily as she
grabbed her duffel bag and stepped away from him. She was headed out the door
when she stopped and turned back to stare at him for a moment. Her heart felt
heavy enough to fall from her chest.

“I expect the deed to the house
soon,” she said.

“Sooner than you think.”

“Goodbye,” she turned and walked
out.

He watched her leave, but it
wasn’t until he heard the door slam that he headed after her.

“Lux,” he yelled, but she was
already out of the house and rushing towards her car. He stood there for a
moment, conflicted with his own feelings. Half of him wanted to run after her
and demand that she stay with him, but the other half refused to let him. He
had too much respect for her to start something he would never be able to
finish.

“Could you finish it?” he asked
himself as he walked outside to the limo. He got into the driver’s side,
started the car, and looked at himself in the mirror.

Suddenly monogamy didn’t seem
like such a terrifying thing. It seemed a lot less harmful to his psyche than
not being with Lux. He honestly could not imagine her not being a part his
life.