Chapter 21
He was gone by the time I woke up.
Next to my pillow was a note.
See you at the office. Don’t even think about not showing up.
Remember, I have one of the largest police forces in the world at my disposal.
And I won’t hesitate to use them to find you.
Harrison
Well, good morning to you too.
I crumpled the note and tossed it in the bedside garbage bin.
Then I fell back against the pillows as I pulled the sheet up over my naked breasts.
I didn’t even know how to begin processing what happened last night.
Being with Harrison was like surviving a midnight tornado and then needing a FEMA disaster report after the storm to take stock of what the fuck happened during the darkness and chaos.
It wasn’t even useful to consider the whole boss-employee dynamic at this point. Clearly the man wasn’t the least bit concerned about the consequences of a relationship with me to either of our careers.
And if I were honest, deep down, as much as I used it as a shield to keep him at bay, I knew he wouldn’t really allow my entire career to be ruined by this. Harrison was an arrogant, domineering, possessive, demanding tyrant at times but he was also an intelligent, compassionate man who lived by a higher set of morals than the typical trust fund baby.
There was no way to be certain, but I had to believe he would make sure I landed on my feet if I were forced from the DA’s office by a scandal.
So that left just us.
Well, not really just us. Strictly speaking, I was currently in a threesome.
Me, Harrison, and his horrible fiancée.
Try as I might to conjure up righteous anger for that despicable woman, I had lived in New York long enough to know that society marriages where there was no love lost happened all the time.
It didn’t mean I wanted to be his mistress. Hell, no. But it did mean I didn’t feel the usual moral guilt I would if the man were truly cheating on a woman he professed to love and wanted to marry.
Of course, that meant there was no way whatsoever that what we were doing was going to last. I might be willing to turn a blind eye to the whole fake fiancée thing but only for so long. The moment that man said I do, as far as I was concerned he was entering into a binding contract.
Whether that was with society or God was for someone far more religious than me to decide. I just knew that as a future attorney, I respected contracts and I wouldn’t be a party to breaking one. Fake relationship or not.
Okay, fiancée processed in the tornado report.
Which again brought me back to us.
There was a doomsday clock attached to this relationship. For most women that would have been a deal breaker but it wasn’t like I was on the hunt for a husband. I was only twenty-four. Marriage was the furthest thing from my mind, especially with law school and my career to pursue.
And it wasn’t like Harrison would be the first boyfriend in history to have a doomsday clock attached to him. Women dated men they knew they’d never marry in a million years all the time. They did it for all kinds of reasons. For the sex, for the money, for the fun of it. Just because I never had didn’t mean I wasn’t capable of it.
That was when a small voice inside my head warned me, You’re not capable of it.
Although the illicit nature of our relationship might be adding to the sexy, taboo nature of it, there was no denying I was heading into dangerous territory.
Harrison was tapping into parts of my personality I never knew existed.
Dark, scary corners of my personality that relished in being called a dirty whore while being forced to submit to ever-increasing, degrading, brutal sex.
We had only had sex twice and both times it was twisted and depraved and mind-blowing. Never in my life had sex been this all-consuming experience where I was able to leave all my usual chaotic and distracted thoughts behind and focus only on my body.
In my limited experience, sex was okay but it didn’t erase from my mind the length of my to-do list, or that work e-mail I needed to send, or that bill I needed to pay, or that phone call I needed to return. Unless it was sex with Harrison.
I’d fucked the man half naked, bent over his desk in the middle of the day!
And even knowing that, I didn’t have enough sense to worry about whether someone was going to burst through the door at any moment. All I could think about was his hands, his mouth, his cock.
What the hell was wrong with me?
And that was before we’d even given any thought to the whole birth control thing.
That would definitely need to be a discussion with him. The pill wasn’t an option for me, and we had already taken a huge risk having gone bareback in his office.
My cheeks warmed as I remembered the feel of him fucking my ass. At least that way I didn’t have to worry about getting pregnant. Still, he would need to start using condoms.
That was, if I continued down this super dark and twisty path with him.
So. Disaster report thus far wasn’t too bad.
My job was there if I wanted it and probably secure regardless if I continued to sleep with him or not.
The fiancée wasn’t a concern until she was the wife, but it meant that this relationship had no chance of going anywhere. It was an absolute dead end.
The relationship was dangerous and taboo but also offered incredible orgasms and the experience of a lifetime. I needed to face it. There was no minimizing what it felt like to be on the receiving end of such intense, lustful attention from a man like Harrison and I was not likely to ever experience it again.
Then there were the perks…
Maybe, just maybe, Harrison had a point: I didn’t need to live like a pauper. I could afford a little more if I were careful. Definitely not an apartment like this, but there were programs available to help lower-income residents find suitable accommodations, as well as more grants available than I had really been applying for.
Maybe I didn’t need to do absolutely everything by myself.
If Harrison Astrid, one of the wealthiest men in the city, was offering to give me a hand up, why wouldn’t I take it?
The system was rigged. Everyone knew the system was rigged. There was no getting around it. The chances of me being able to pull myself from complete poverty to prosperity or even comfort without help were slim to none.
I would have been livid with her if someone had given Sabrina this opportunity and she was stubborn enough not to take it. I would have marched her cute little butt back to whoever gave her that offer and forced her to accept it.
Why wouldn’t I do the same for myself?
Amazing sex. A secure job. And a great apartment with hot running water and electricity in a safe neighborhood for a month or so while I saved up to rent a new place.
I could do worse…
I managed to be showered, dressed and ready to go about five minutes before the buzzer in the apartment rang, letting me know my ride had arrived.
I went downstairs to greet the driver. Next to the gilded doors in the opulent lobby was another doorman in the same uniform as the one last night. He tipped his hat to me and opened one of the lobby doors, then ran ahead of me and opened the car door as well.
I made a mental note to myself that just because I could afford more than my studio apartment, it didn’t mean that I should get used to this level of luxury.
Though it was nice.
When I got to work Harrison was already there, his door closed.
Too nervous and unsure to knock on it, I quietly slipped behind my desk and fired up my computer. There was already a stack of files on my desk as well as my usual coffee order so I went ahead and got to work.
About an hour in, his door swung open.
With a start, I turned and just stared.
His gaze narrowed as he stared back.
Neither of us said a word for what felt like an eternity.
My cheeks began to warm, visions of the previous night flashing through my mind’s eye. It didn’t help that at the same time, I caught sight of his massive desk just past his right hip.
My cheeks burned hotter.
Clearing my throat, I rose and shuffled the stack of files on my desk, giving them my full attention.
Refusing to look up, I spoke in a rush to fill the awkward void. “I went through the first three files that you laid on my desk, highlighting all the pertinent information and making notes on cases that we need to check for precedents, and laws we need to review. I have also double-checked the chain of custody forms and highlighted a few irregularities that definitely need to be followed up on. There is some kind of a pattern, I just can’t tell what it is quite yet.”
Harrison nodded. “Come into my office. I have some more files for you.”
I froze. I gave him a bright smile that made my jaw hurt as I rushed to sit down again and tap on the space bar of my computer. “Actually, I’m expecting an important e-mail at any moment. Perhaps you could just leave the files like you did this morning?”
Harrison stepped back and gestured with his arm. “Get in here.”
Glancing around to make sure that no one observed his stern command, I grabbed a notebook and pen and dutifully crossed the threshold into his lair.
Office. I meant office.
I stopped in front of his desk and lifted the notepad, focusing on the small, pale blue lines on the page. “Yes, sir.”
He stood close behind me. “Turn around, Eddie.”
I tightened the space between my shoulder blades.
It had been so easy this morning, secure beneath the bedcovers, for me to be all blasé about what was happening, acting like I was a modern woman who could handle a casual liaison.
It was an entirely different proposition to remain that way in his presence.
In his presence, nothing felt easy breezy.
This close to him, it was as if there wasn’t enough oxygen in the room. The man radiated testosterone, power, and energy. The idea of a relationship on my terms seemed as laughable and impossible as a purple-and-pink polka-dotted sky.
Who was I kidding?
I wasn’t the one in control. Never had been. I could fight it all I liked. I could talk back and try to walk away but in the end, Harrison was the one in control. And worse, he not only knew it, but he also knew how much I secretly loved it.
I swallowed as I pretended to make a note on my pad. “Are the files behind me?”
“No.”
“Are there any files?”
“No.”
I tried to suck air into my tight lungs. The silence stretched out.
He sighed. “If you don’t turn around, I’ll have no choice but to assume it’s because you want me to push you face down on my desk and fuck you from behind.”
I turned around so quickly I got a head rush.
The corner of his mouth lifted. “Good girl.”
I opened my mouth but he stopped me.
He placed a finger under my chin and lifted my head up. “I have no doubt that feverishly intelligent brain of yours has been turning over every filthy moment from last night and the day before.”
I bit my lower lip, the blush in my cheeks spreading over my neck.
He continued. “And I look forward to the naked mock trial we will be having later tonight when I will successfully refute all your arguments and accusations.”
Naked mock trial?My inner thighs clenched at visions of him cross-examining me with a belt in his hand. I flushed hotter.
“In the meantime, I have several meetings I need to attend. You have two days’ worth of work to catch up on. I will be back late but I expect to find you still here. We’ll review your work and then leave together. Is that understood?”
All I could do was nod like an obedient child.
He kissed me on the forehead before grabbing his leather laptop satchel and coat and leaving. Opening his office door, he threw out, “My black card is in your center drawer. Use it for lunch and dinner. Do not leave this building.”
I bristled at his high-handed order.
As if reading my mind, he paused. “Don’t defy me on this, Eddie, or there will be consequences.”
With that, he was gone.
Well, good morning to you too.