Chapter Twelve #3
“She’s ruthless,” he gritted. “If our yearly earnings slip even a dollar below her mandated minimum, there’s a clause in the contract that says she can fire me and demand her investment back.
Doing that would not only leave me without a job, but destroy my business and leave my employees with nothing.
What I need to do is buy her out completely, but the firm is in bad shape after paying to settle someone’s lawsuits.
” He crooked a brow at me, making me once again wish I didn’t share a face with that shit-peddling fraud.
“Say what I would about you, you throw an A-list party, Sue.
“In two weeks, I’m going to be in a room with dozens of potential high-value clients. The kind of clients that can drag our bottom line above the minimum—”
“—before the yearly financial report comes out,” I finished. “And maybe even inject you with enough capital so you can finally get rid of her.”
He tapped his nose, winking at me. “See? We weren’t talking about you. For once, you’re not the woman who’s causing the most grief in my life.”
I rolled my eyes, smiling slightly. “But what does any of this have to do with Micah or Alex? Because they were grinning just as creepily and twirling their mustaches over the thought of being free of your investor.”
Rhodes frowned. “Sue, you know this.”
Oops, I do? That’s not good.
“Remember what happened to Micah’s parents?”
“I—uh—yeah,” I squeaked. “Of course, I do. Sorry, I got mixed up for a second. Don’t like to think about it.”
His frown deepened, then smoothed out. “Yeah, that’s fair.
None of us like to think about a greedy piece of shit scamming a sweet, elderly couple, but since the cops were never able to recover the money, Micah sends every cent he makes to his folks.
And since Alex stays home with Lily and you’re not working, we all depend on the investment firm,” he said.
“Last thing we need in the new year is my severance package.”
It was my turn to frown. “I get all of that, but I still don’t understand why we’re spending sixteen million dollars for you to schmooze. Why not use that money to buy out the investor?”
“The buyout price is fifty million.”
“Flip flipping fuck!” I cried, eyes bugging. “So you have always been stupid! Why would you sign that contract?”
Rhodes busted up, his whole aura lighting up and making his eyes dance.
“Ease up on me here. I’m not the only one in these woods who makes unwise business decisions.
” His smile took the sting out of his words.
“In my defense, I was starting a high-end investment firm in New York City. No one worth billions would’ve signed with a guy working in a one-room shitpit above a restaurant. I needed money to attract money.”
“You needed a financial literacy class,” I shot back, “which is hella ironic. I don’t even know what to do with you right now.
Do you have a backup plan in case you can’t get anyone from the party to sign with you?
You know, people generally don’t like being hit up for money when they’re in the middle of getting shit-faced. ”
“Trust me.” A hand slinked around my waist, pulling me closer and widening my eyes for another reason. “I’ve got that part handled. But...” I blinked at his growing, wolfish grin. “If you really want to know what to do with me, I’ve got an idea.”
“Um... what’s happening right now?”
“What’s happening,” Rhodes whispered, tracing the shell of my ear with his lips, “is that we never did get to go on that date Friday night.”
My pulse picked up fast, running away as Rhodes’s hand traveled lower... and lower. “Pretty sure it wasn’t a date. It was an appointment for me to suck your dick.”
“And I’m deeply interested in rescheduling that appointment.” He kissed the sensitive spot just beneath my ear—once, then twice. My nipples sprung up like Rhodes-seeking missiles. “Now a good time for you?”
“Um, sure, I guess—”
That was all the confirmation of consent he needed.
Hands grabbed me and the world spun. I was left blinking and still trying to catch up as Rhodes pushed me up against the tree. “Our sex life has been stale for years. If you decided it’s time to spice it up, that’s a thing you’ve got to let a guy know.”
“Oh?” I hopped up, wrapping my arms and legs around him. “Consider my sudden need for spice a post-accident-related new lease on life. The last thing I’m going to do is die without ever having your cock in my mouth.”
Said cock snapped to attention, poking my middle.
“I completely agree,” he gruffed hoarsely. “That would be a terrible way to go, so we’d better not waste a second. There are bears in these woods after all.”
The man had abandoned all shame and subtlety.
Giggling, I nipped his nose. “I’d better get to it, then.”
I slid down his hard, strong, ropey body... taking his running shorts with me.
Rhodes had his shirt up and off in an instant, tossing it somewhere over his shoulder.
I ran my hands up his chest—splaying my fingers across his abs, and soaking in the rising heat burning through his body.
Somehow, some way, this man was all mine, and I wasn’t going to waste a minute of this miracle.
“Any preference, or does it not matter what I do because you’re so wound up, you’re going to burst from the first lick? ”
“I’ll let the answer to that be the jack you spring from the box.”
Matching wolfish grins connected across his tall and sexy landscape.
Flicking down, I bit my lip—trying not to do something embarrassing like purr. Rhodes’s cock stood erect and proud between his legs, demanding that I take it on. How could a cock be demanding? You’d only have to switch places with me to discover the answer to that question.
Palming him, I licked his tip, then made a show of reeling back—ducking side to side like I was avoiding the coming explosion.
Rhodes laughed so hard he fell against the tree, and over me. A tender smile graced his lips as he stroked my cheek, brushing the hair from my eyes. “It’s just so impossible not to want you. You’re so adorable, my heart can’t take it.”
I heated up body and soul. “I— Uh— We—” Diving forward, I swallowed him to the hilt, literally putting a stop to my nonsensical rambling.
Rhodes choked on a sharp hiss, thighs tensing.
I went wild. My head bobbed between his legs—licking, sucking, and nipping his length to my heart’s content. Filthy promises and sweet nothings poured from his lips, telling me all the things he was going to do to my pussy when it was his turn.
Rhodes rocked back and forth on his running shoes, thrusting in and out, in and out of my mouth—picking up speed the harder I sucked.
My cheeks caved in. My head banged against his stomach. My nails pierced his thighs—leaving my mark for me and only me to see.
Rhodes Newbury was mine.
“Ugh, fuck,” he gruffed, eyes pinned shut and head digging into the bark like the exquisite torture of my mouth on him would kill him—but if it did, he’d die happy. “Holy fucking fuck!”
I never thought I was that good at giving blowjobs, but Micah and Rhodes sure knew how to make a girl feel great about her skills. I was starting to expect an award.
Rhodes suddenly drew back—slipping out of my mouth with a pop. I didn’t get a lick of warning before hot ropes of cum painted my lips, chin, and chest.
“Fuck, that was so much better than I remember.” Legs giving out, he fell on me—grasping the back of my head, he tipped me up and kissed the crap out of me.
I had a second to gasp, and then I gave in to it hard—pushing him over and rolling around on the grass and leaves—making out like a couple of horny college students.
Which I knew without a doubt we would’ve been if I could’ve gone back in time and gone on that eighteenth-birthday date with Rhodes, Micah, and Alex.
So much would’ve been different if that demon who called herself my sister hadn’t made it her life’s mission to take everything good away from me.
I would’ve been a successful attorney who committed my life to helping people the way Rhodes wished to—and I would’ve gone after the double-dealing, shitty corporate bastards that took that dream away from him.
I would’ve listened when they were vulnerable. Supported them when they felt like failures. Took the slack when they needed rest. And gave them mine when life came for me too.
We would’ve made something big, amazing, and wonderful out of our lives living in New York, traveling the world, and loving each other in all the places between. It would’ve been perfect—
But then, there would have been no Nari. A small smile tugged at my mouth. So maybe everything worked out the way it should after all.
“Uh-oh.” Rhodes flipped us both—dropping me wide-eyed and blinking on his lap as he stretched out on the grass. “You haven’t taken a hard enough pounding yet if you’ve still got time to smirk.”
I blushed like the silly girl with a crush I was. “I cannot disagree with you there.”
I squealed when he practically ripped my shirt off me, freeing my breasts from their confines. My pants were next to go. I was up and balancing on the balls of my feet in a blink. I grasped the bark beside me as firmly as he grasped my thighs—positioning me over his mouth.
Rhodes buried his head between my legs, devouring my pussy like a starving man. There wasn’t another way to describe it, and I loved that. Rhodes was never one to do a thing halfway... and making my pussy sit up and beg was no different.
My fingers tugged on his thick, coiled hair.
Head thrown back, I moaned from a deep, primal part of me when his tongue slipped past my folds and plundered the treasure trove.
Large, warm hands were soft, cupping my breasts while rough, calloused fingers tweaked my nipples mercilessly.
The man was undoing my sanity right there in the dirt, and he’d just gotten started.