24. Ethan
I stalk around a stack of boxes, hunting the shadows with narrowed eyes. I should be in my study, but I’m too busy playing Peekaboo with Cassidy.
As if I could concentrate. I keep wondering if she’ll stay another day, and if I’ll somehow be able to convince her to come with me to the city. I spent over an hour mentally redecorating the guest room in my penthouse suite…just for her.
Frustrated, I came downstairs to make myself some coffee, hoping a kick of caffeine would help me focus. That’s when I saw the bucket of cleaning supplies. The light shining inside the cellar. And the open basement door.
“Cassidy!”
There’s no response. For all I know, she bolted upstairs when my back was turned. I stalk down a row of boxes, pausing at the end. There’s a box lying on the floor. I pick it up, examine it.
Was she going through my receipts? But the box is still sealed, so that can’t be it. I scan the rest of the nearby stack, and my heart nearly stops when I realize what I’m looking at.
My jaw clenches painfully tight as I push away another box full of paperwork and see the name scrawled on the side of the box beneath.
BECKS
I trace a finger over the letters. Should have gotten rid of these months ago. But it was easier to store them down here and pretend they didn’t exist.
Pretend she didn’t exist.
My gaze snaps to the stairs. Did Cassidy see these boxes? Did she try to look inside?
What if she did? What the hell would she think of me?
A flash of rage bursts through me. I snatch the box from the stack and hurl it away from me. It hits the nearby wall with a sickening crash and thumps to the floor.
My breath comes hard and fast as I run a hand through my hair.
She had no right to be down here.
No right to go through my things.
Who was I kidding? I don’t need this kind of complication in my life right now. Why the hell did I ask her to stay? Parker is supposed to handle all the buyers tomorrow. I probably shouldn’t even be here.
I sweep up the stairs, flicking off the light and closing the door. There’s no lock on the basement because I never thought I’d need one—now I’m wishing there was a deadbolt. Maybe if Cassidy sweats it out for an hour or two down here, she’ll realize my bite is worse than my bark.
Stalking through the kitchen, my eyes flicker left and right.
“Cassidy!” my voice booms out. “You’d better show yourself, girl, or?—”
“Or what?”
I spin on my heel, facing Myles’s little spitfire. She saunters nonchalantly over to me, rubbing her hands together. Face calm, jade eyes serene.
Eyes that widen in surprise when I storm up to her.
The scent of hand lotion brings me to a halt. My gaze flicks past to the guest bathroom a few feet behind her. When I focus, I can hear the toilet’s cistern filling with water over the sound of blood rushing in my ears.
“Did you need me for something?” she asks sweetly, if hesitantly.
“Where were you?”
Her eyelashes flutter. “In the bathroom. Is that a crime or something, Sir?”
“I told you the basement was off limits.”
“Why?” She glares up at me. “Do you have something to hide?”
I’ve been wanting to wrap my fingers around her creamy throat since she first challenged me with her fierce green eyes.
Cassidy gasps, the sound cutting off when I slam her back into the wall behind her. Her hands instinctively grip my wrists, but she’s too shocked to peel my fingers away.
Or maybe she doesn’t want to.
“I’ve had enough of your insubordination. Myles was just trying to get me back into the game by sending you, but his timing couldn’t have been worse. Not that I’m blaming you. He’s impulsive.”
She frowns at me. “What game?”
Myles would have briefed her of what to expect, and me telling her I don’t have time to play with her probably wasn’t something he’d have mentioned.
Cassidy squirms, her gaze moving over my face as if she can’t figure out where to look—my eyes, my mouth, my ticking jaw.
The thrum of her pulse under my thumb is getting me so fucking hard I’m struggling to think straight. “Forget what I said about the open house. I don’t need you.”
Panic floods her eyes. “Did I do something wrong, sir?”
I bite back a groan. “Stop calling me that.”
“God, make up your fucking mind!” Her eyes drop to my mouth, but she quickly looks away, licking her lips as if she’s wondering whether I’ll make her regret her outburst.
My lips curl as I study her. “So you were nowhere near the basement this morning?”
She rolls her eyes. “Do I need to put my hand on the bible or something?”
“I’ve got a better idea.”
Cassidy gives her lips another nervous lick. The moment I apply pressure on her throat, forcing her down toward the floor, her eyes widen.
“No,” she whispers fiercely. “No fucking way.”
She goes pale when I chuckle. “What makes you think I’m giving you a choice, toy?”
“My name’s Cassidy,” she spits out.
But she’s halfway to her knees, and she’s just realized that my cock is already tenting the front of my gray sweats.
“Take it out.”
Her mouth is a thin, trembling line as she glares up at me with open hate on her face. “Fuck you.”
I switch my grip from her throat to her hair, reveling in the feel of the soft chestnut waves between my fingers. “Now, toy.”
She gasps when I twist my grip, her lashes fluttering as tears flood her eyes. I can hear her breath hitching as she reaches for my waistband with shaking hands, her eyes now fixed ahead as if she can’t stand looking at me anymore.
My cock bounces happily as soon as it’s free of my pants, and she stares at it like she’s never seen a dick before.
“This your first time?” I ask roughly, tightening the hand in her hair.
Her face scrunches up with pain before she smooths her expression, then she hesitantly wraps her hands around my shaft. I have a thick cock, and her dainty grip makes it look like a fucking python.
I’m already imagining how wide her plump little mouth will have to open.
“On your knees.”
She’d been crouching in front of me, but at my sharp command, she quickly sinks onto her knees. This puts her face right by my crotch, and she has to lean back to avoid getting poked in the eye.
“Do you really think I have all day? Start sucking, you little fuck toy.”
Her cheeks turn rosy, and when she looks up at me, my cock throbs in her hands from the scowl on her face.
She does not like being degraded.
I grab her chin, yanking it down to force her lips to part. Keeping her head in place with the fist in her hair, I duck my hips and line up my cock with her mouth.
“Put that thing in my mouth, and I’ll bite it off.” She says it calmly. As if she’s been considering it for a while and has concluded that she not only has the balls, but the jaw strength, to pull it off.
The determination in her eyes fades when I smile at her. She blinks a few times, like she’s not sure she likes this new version of me.
I don’t smile often. Not anymore.
The hand in her hair loosens. I stroke her head, beaming down at her like I’m proud of her.
I am.
It takes a lot of guts to stand up to anyone. She’s on her fucking knees as I tower over her, and she still thinks it’s a good idea. That takes courage, and a shit ton of stubbornness.
“Do you know what a flogger is?”
She frowns for a moment, and then her face smooths with realization.
“Now that we’re on the same page…open your fucking mouth, toy.”
Her lips part reluctantly.
“Good girl.”
Fisting her hair, I thrust my cock between her lips. She immediately starts gagging, but I don’t give her a chance to catch a breath. The moment I sink into her warm, wet mouth, I become more beast than man.
“Fuck.” I groan when I hit the back of her throat, watching mesmerized as my shaft disappears between her lips. Her hands shoot up, pressing against my hips to shove me away, but I’m much too strong for her.
I pull her off my cock, hauling in air as deeply as she does before plunging back into her wet mouth.
“Open wider, toy. I want every inch of my cock inside your bratty little mouth.”
She gags as I force myself in deeper, down her throat, until I can feel her muscles constricting to push me out. Her tongue wiggles uselessly under my cock’s girth, flattened, her lips spread into a wide pink O.
Her teeth scrape against my shaft, but not to bite me—there just isn’t enough room in her mouth for my dick.
I now have both hands in her hair, holding her head in place as I draw out halfway, before slamming back inside. She splutters and gurgles around my length, her fingers digging into my hips as she tries to fight back.
Tears stream down her face, saliva shining wetly on her chin as I pull out and study her for a moment to catch my breath.
“P-Please—” she whispers urgently, her voice thick with saliva and panic. “I can’t?—”
“You can, and you will, toy.”
She gurgles when I thrust roughly back inside. She glares up at me, her wet lashes quivering as I assault her mouth, forcing my cock deeper and deeper down her throat.
Fuck, I’m so close.
I drag myself out, grab my cock in one hand, and slap it against her face so hard it leaves a red mark on her skin. She peers up at me with wide eyes, shocked.
I chuckle as I feed my cock back into her mouth.
“You’re being such a good girl for me,” I murmur, cupping her face in one hand, the other still in her hair so she can’t pull away.
Tears trickle down her face as I fuck her mouth fast enough to leave her gasping when I finally pull out.
“Are you ready, toy? Because if you don’t swallow every fucking drop, I’m going to go upstairs and fetch that flogger.”
She’s gasping and spluttering for air, but at my words, she nods emphatically.
“Open wide.”
I guide my throbbing cock between her lips, groaning as her wet warmth envelopes my shaft, inch by inch. I go slow this time, relishing the sensation as I slide over her tongue, as my cock enters her throat, as her muscles tighten around me as she gags.
Cupping her face in both hands, I stare down into her wide, green eyes as my cock throbs once, twice, and explodes down the back of her throat. Her eyes widen even more, and I groan loudly as her throat constricts with a hard retch as I spurt cum down it.
Her face is red, her cheeks tear stained. She gasps for air as I pull out and then retches.
I clap a hand over her mouth, dragging her up to her feet as she struggles not to puke.
“Every drop, toy.”
When I’m satisfied she’s got herself under control, I peel away my fingers and study her lips. They tremble, but she seals them into a tight line as I watch, and then slowly licks her lips.
It’s the sexiest fucking thing I’ve ever seen, and I almost throw her over my shoulder and take her upstairs to finish what I started.
Instead, I drag my thumb over her lips and suck it into my mouth.
“Good girl, Cassidy. Good girl.”