Chapter 10
Blake
I was so fucking screwed.
Allowing Marlow to take me to a secondary location was probably just as bad as allowing a serial killer to do the same. Only in this instance, I wasn’t sure if making it out alive was going to leave me better off than if I’d just been taken out by a psychopath.
The thing about Marlow was he wasn’t the kind of guy to be dissuaded easily. Not when there was clearly some kind of plan set in motion and I had no way of knowing what exactly it entailed.
Other than the main focal point being me.
I didn’t like how much I felt flattered by that.
Or how desperate I was to see where this went.
If I were smart, I would’ve pushed him away and given him a polite “no, thank you” before running like my life depended on it back to my cabin and locking myself behind the door before I bent myself over like a dog in heat.
How fucking embarrassing that I was acting like a lovesick teenager when I barely knew this man.
The problem was that our chemistry was off the fucking charts. I knew it. He knew it. Hell, the whole fucking world probably did.
And that therein was the problem, wasn’t it?
Denying anything to Marlow’s keen eye was only going to get him to back me into another corner again and see just how far he could push my buttons before I cracked.
It wasn’t like I made it that hard to do, either.
All it took was a little poking and prodding and I was breaking down into fucking putty in his hands, begging for even a simple lick of affection.
Driving in the cart with him earlier had sent me spiraling. Letting myself spend time with him in his cabin even more so.
This growing attraction was only getting worse and trying to deny myself by plunging into work was apparently just staving off the inevitable.
But how the hell was I supposed to go from Director of the fucking campgrounds to... whatever it was Marlow wanted from me?
A one-night stand?
“Blake.” His voice jolted me out of my thoughts. “You’re thinking so loudly.
Fuck me.
“All I’m thinking about is how you reek of bonfire and booze.” A lame jab, one that had hardly any bite given how nervous I was the closer we were getting to his cabin.
“Aw, come on. I think it smells manly.”
“Did you ever shower from when you took a dip in the river?” Deflection was going to be my best friend today, I could feel it.
He barked out a laugh. “What kind of scumbag do you take me for? I’ll have you know I’m very well kempt.”
“Could’ve fooled me.”
The light from his porch was just up ahead.
Fuck.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
I didn’t even have the foresight to shove a few condoms in my pocket. I’d left them back at my own cabin, shoved into the back corner of my sock drawer, never to be looked at again. Rolling up on the bonfire after Marlow had requested my presence was... impulsive.
And coming up upon him with that couple was fucking maddening. To the point where I almost grabbed his beer out of his hand and tossed it at her the second she slipped her nail-polished hand on his thigh.
Actually, I was being ridiculous. In hindsight, I was stupid to give in and see him so soon after the golf cart incident. And so soon after I’d gotten a grip of myself and actually given in and rubbed one out before I’d gone back to work.
Had it helped stave off the burning in my veins?
Well, up until I saw Marlow again, I thought it had. Clearly, that was fucking delusional.
Warm light spilled out from the door’s window, colliding with the stark white of the porch light that had my head spinning.
Or maybe that was from Marlow’s hand on my arm?
“You eat at all?” He grabbed the knob of the door, unlocked of course, and shoved it inward.
Did I?
I couldn’t remember. My brain was failing to connect the synapses and form a coherent thought outside of Marlow is touching me repeating over and over in my head.
How in the world did people deal with sexual attraction like this?
I’d had the subtle hints of it every so often since I was sixteen; small whispers that alluded to something bigger and better in the future that never quite seemed to come, no matter who I took to bed. I’d tried the docile partners, the rough partners, the in-between-ers.
Nothing ever satiated that part of me that wanted something more.
I always knew there was something wrong with me and had yet to be confronted by it with my stark avoidance of making anything official with anyone.
That was the trick to keeping your secrets.
If you always kept people at arm’s length, they didn’t get the privilege of knowing your deep, dark insecurities.
Marlow shoved me through the doorway, a snicker following along with shutting and locking the door behind us.
I tried to not let the sound of the deadbolt sliding into the jam send my stomach into doing somersaults, and instead, pretended it was my body’s way of screaming at me for forgetting to eat both lunch and dinner.
The place was still immaculately kept and looked barely lived in.
There were two dishes drying on the rack next to the sink, a single coffee cup placed next to that facing upright, and a fork and knife in the cutlery slot.
The couch had only a subtle impression of a body rippled into the surface of it, and past that, there was only one door open to a bedroom, the inside of it dark.
Interesting.
I had a feeling Marlow had a thing for control, seeing as he worked in finance. That bled into his dwelling, apparently. Everything was neat and organized with the only things moved that needed to be moved and nothing more.
An art to the practicality that I could appreciate.
A wave of pressure came up from behind me, hovering right out of my peripheral. It had me freezing, holding my breath to wait for it to pass.
It didn’t. It stayed right there, close behind me.
“You sure are chatty today,” Marlow murmured.
“Is that a joke?”
He snickered again. “Nope. Your thoughts are written all over your face, Blake.”
Ugh.
“Sorry.”
He trailed a hand along my shoulder, moving it across to the other one like a trainer would do with a spooked horse. “Listen, you don’t need to over think things. This doesn’t have to be scary.”
Was I that obvious?
Did I read like a book to him?
Marlow was, on the surface, a playful personality with plenty of wisecracks ready to rip at any moment. And yet, under all of that, his calculating side was ever-present.
How else could he get to be so successful in the financial world?
It wasn’t solely on his charm. There was a knack to analyzing and picking apart your opponent that would fly over the head of someone like me, but for me, it was like learning a second language.
Hard at first and then a fucking breeze.
“No need to be sorry.” When he stood in front of me, he was close enough to lean into, his hand still hooked around my shoulder in a casual way that felt anything but. “We’re just getting to know each other.”
“Are we?”
Yeah, right.
He huffed out another laugh. “What do you think this is?”
“You can’t honestly think I’m that dense, right? I got the jab about being naive yesterday. But come on.”
To my surprise, his grip on my shoulder tightened and he used it to drive me backward until my back hit the wall right next to the door. My heart stuttered in my chest, a hard thump that was so loud in my ear I was convinced he’d heard it too by the way his smile grew into something smug.
“Blake.”
I swallowed. “Marlow.”
He leaned down, his breath tickling my face. “You want me. You don’t need to be ashamed of it.”
My breath shook as I exhaled slowly. He was so close and smelled like a fucking pine-infused bonfire.
How was it possible for a man to smell that good?
It was unfair. I was no match against a man like him.
His lips were slightly wet from his tongue darting out to swipe at them, pink and a little swollen from sucking on the lip of his beer bottle a few minutes ago when I’d stolen him from his friends.
Or had he stolen me?
“Tell me I’m wrong.” His voice dropped down an octave.
My dick ached in my pants.
“You... We’re supposed to be—”
“Professional?” he teased.
“Yes.” I was too acutely aware of how badly my face was burning. “You’re my client.”
“Guest. We don’t need to go all corporate.”
“Marlow.”
His hand grazed down to flatten over my pec, keeping me pinned to the wall. “Listen. This doesn’t have to be a forever thing. I want you, you want me. What’s the harm in giving in?”
Every-fucking-thing for one.
For two... would it be?
A one-time thing sounded too blasé for whatever the fuck this was.
Could we let it go after tonight, hang up the towel, call it a day and be on our way?
Could I?
I wanted to believe it was possible. Like Marlow said, there was no getting around this. I couldn’t deny the quite obvious attraction I had for him and it was sort of ruining my focus on anything work-related unless it involved him.
Perhaps there was something to this offer. Get him out of my system and then move on with my life—as it were.
I blew out a breath. “Listen to me. If we... if I do this with you, we need to keep this between us. I can’t have my entire staff knowing I slept with a guest.”
He winked. “You got it. I’m good at keeping it on the down low. Trust.”
Yeah, I highly doubted it. But at this point, Marlow wasn’t giving me any reason to distrust him. So far, he’d been as best behaved as it seemed possible for him.
A hand cupped my chin, tilting my face to the side. I bit my tongue hard enough to hurt as he brushed the tip of his nose along my jaw, trailing down to the spot just below my ear. His breath was hot against my skin.
“How’s this sound, you leave all your troubles, your worries, your control at the door. You let me take all of that. I’ll take good care of you. I’ll make tonight worth your while.”
My knees almost buckled at the promise.
Giving up control—fuck, I wanted that. All I did was delegate and spit out orders all day. I wanted—needed—someone to pamper me in the most fucked up way possible. Take me and turn me inside out, molding me into someone new.
Reaching down to the hand still pressed against my chest, I curled my fingers around his wrist and tugged at it, guiding the long digits up until I had them wrapped around my throat.
“You better not break your promise. Or I’ll kick you off the property first thing in the morning.”
The chuckle I received in return to my threat was a deep and throaty call as to what was to come. “A promise, is a promise. I’m a man of my word. And I always deliver on what I say I will.”
Desire thrummed through me. “Good. Show me what you’ve got, Knight. Don’t keep me waiting.”