Chapter 4
The Game
BAZ
The way Lanie sipped excited me. This wasn’t a fluke.
She knew what she was doing and gave as good as she got.
I found opinionated women irresistible. She was too good for Caleb—too clever and too demanding and needed someone more experienced and assertive.
In this dress, I’d give anything to run my hand between her thighs and drive her wild.
After dinner, I had to listen to Caleb drone about his opportunity in Islington, but my eyes always fell back to Lanie. And whenever I saw her, she saw me. Whatever we had earlier was electric, but that wasn’t all I wanted. I loved to watch, but I wanted to fuck her.
“So, what do you think?” Caleb asked.
That I want to fuck Lanie.
“About what?”
“The deal? The investment I’ve been going on about! Baz, where are you?”
“Sorry, it’s been a long day. Your margins are too small. That’s my honest opinion. It’s not worth it for me.”
“Baz, it could still turn a good profit for you.”
“I don’t get out of bed for those margins, mate. Sorry.”
Caleb shook his head. “It’s a premium offer and that area is perfect as a tie-in for the stadium.”
“That is not how it works and it’s not my stadium.”
“Not yet,” Caleb said. “But it will be.”
Lanie passed to go grab drinks at the drawing room’s corner bar. She stared at me and bit her lip once she made it. I had an idea. My appetite for this woman won out over reason. I changed the subject.
“Let’s table this. Let’s talk about Lanie,” I said. “She’s fabulous.”
He set his jaw. “That’s madness. She came with me.”
“I know, but I fancy her and we both know she’s not going to be more than your girl for a week.”
He shrugged. Caleb wasn’t a fan of commitment as much as he was women who liked him to flash some cash and fawn over them for a bit. Once they got invested, he booked it.
“She’s fun for now, though,” Caleb said.
“And after?”
Caleb shook his head. “Well, it wouldn’t be the first time. If you want my sloppy seconds—”
“There is no way anything about her could ever be sloppy.”
“She’s completely ridiculous in bed.”
That much I’d garnered. I’d try my luck with her once he was out of the picture. I just needed to put her at ease and be a good host. The evening felt easy. Men drank and smoked cigars, but she seemed unbothered. Instead, Lanie seemed at home. She didn’t glom onto Anastasia.
“I’m gonna talk to Matt. Maybe he will be smarter than you?” Caleb teased.
“Go ahead. It might be big enough for him.”
Caleb rolled his eyes and stepped off. Lanie’s eyes met mine again and I couldn’t help but approach.
“You are an interesting lass,” I said.
“Oh, am I?” Lanie raised an eyebrow. “Why?”
“We both know you enjoyed yourself earlier.”
“And judging by what I saw, so did you,” Lanie said. “I was just playing along.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I’m with Caleb.”
“Really with him or just for the weekend?”
Lanie shrugged. “Only time will tell.”
“He’s never serious. And we’re not particularly territorial.”
Lanie’s mouth dropped. “I don’t like your tone, Baz.”
“I should make you call me Lord Osgoode, in all honesty. You’re poorly behaved and I would bet you’d get off on it.”
She bit her lip. Damn, what I wouldn’t give to see what her lips felt like!
“You couldn’t even respect that I had a profession, what makes you think you’ve earned an honorarium, Baz? I’m not the one who kept watching me fuck your friend.”
“It’s my house.”
“Oh, so you think you have a claim to any woman who steps into it?”
I knew she was about to walk off.
“I wouldn’t dare claim you. You’re spirited, but I do gather you’d like to play. If I could get him on board, what would you say?”
I expected her to tell me to go fuck myself, the thought of which only excited me more.
Then, to my surprise, Lanie replied. “Get him on board and I’m game.”
“I will take your offer and run with it,” I tried to hide my glee.
“You should offer to sponsor his project,” Lanie said. “If you do, I’ll let you watch—nothing more. We’ll see about more after.”
“Do you even know what you’re asking, love?” I asked.
Lanie crossed her arms and shrugged. “You put the idea out there, I made you an offer. Take it or leave it.”
LANIE
I should have hated his overstep. I should have run.
Instead, I longed to be owned. I found his demanding, possessive statement hot.
It was misguided and ridiculous, but I wanted him to want me.
Torturing him became a treat and I was determined to help Caleb if I could.
If his friend was going to be into this, he could put his money where his mouth was.
However, I never expected Baz to go for it.
“You don’t have to. The money is his either way. But I wanted to take the chance. I want you, Lanie.”
“How much did you want me?”
“Very much?”
“In money. Real money.”
“Twenty-five million.”
Twenty-five million. A man gave twenty-five million for the chance to watch me fuck his friend? Who was Baz and how much money did he have to throw around? What should have appalled me was intriguing. I found myself wanting to see just how far he’d go.
“If you’re not breaking guy-code and he’s not territorial, show me.”
“How?”
I didn’t buy Caleb was actually cool with this, but I simply wanted to fuck with both their heads.
“I won’t fuck you,” I said. “But if you give him the support he requests, then you can watch him rail me.”
Baz’s steely gaze never dropped.
He called Caleb over as you might call a naughty dog. “Caleb, come here a moment!”
Baz called the shots, and Caleb fell in line, but then what was this role reversal? How could he stand watching his friend fuck the object of his desire? They were both very fucked up, but I wasn’t opposed.
“Yes?” Caleb asked.
“Lanie doesn’t believe me,” Baz sighed, annoyed. “She doesn’t believe you freely agreed to this, but I will sponsor your project.”
“Really?”
“She made a bargain. I think you’d be daft not to take it?”
He raised his brow.
Baz continued, voice low. “I watch you fuck her. I finance your project. Does that suit?”
Caleb laughed nervously and took a long sip from his drink, “Uh… why?”
“Because you want the money and your development and I want something else.” Baz spoke to me—not Caleb—in a way that sent a shiver down my spine.
Once more, his desire for even a sliver of my time gave me an unexpected high. I turned my chin up, defiantly waiting for Caleb’s response. My desire to watch this play out overran any urge I had to call it off.
“Baz, this is mad, even for you!”
“We have done a lot worse together,” Baz reminded him.
I would love to have more details on that bit. What sort of kinky shit are they into?
Caleb looked to me, then Baz. “You’d really front me the money just for that?”
Again, I should have paused and stopped this fucked up game. Instead, this dirty interlude delighted me. I wanted to watch him torture Baz and take the money and run. Maybe my moral bankruptcy had finally gotten the better of me, but I wanted to stir the pot and twist the knife.
“Yes,” Baz answered without hesitation.
“And you’re alright with it, Lanie?” Caleb asked.
He stammered, “Well, we aren’t together. I didn’t want to… hog you. If I offended you—”
“We’re not together. That’s correct. And I’m not offended, Caleb. I’m intrigued. I’ve just never met a man willing to do this.”
Caleb thought about it, debating it, and asked Baz, “You don’t get involved at all?”
Baz shrugged. “I’ll take what I can get. I will sit in the corner like a good boy.”
“You don’t touch us,” Caleb confirmed. “That’s really what you want, Lanie?”
“I want to fuck you and punish him for this ridiculous deal he tried to strike. Yes.”
“Fine,” Caleb agreed. “I suppose it’s all he earned.”
“Come!” I pulled Caleb by the arm. “I’m bored. I don’t want to wait all night.”
To my surprise, they both left willingly. I’d never had a threesome, but this was even stranger. I should have been a good girl and stayed far away from such entanglements, but that wasn’t my nature.