Chapter 22
James
“Shh, I’m having fun,” she says in a mock-serious tone.
She drags one finger up the thick vein underneath my shaft and I groan deeply.
She smiles playfully as her strokes become more sure, her grip tightening.
I have to hold myself back from thrusting into her small, soft hand.
I look down and I can see her fingertips barely able to touch around my girth, and feel a sinful satisfaction when she has to use her other hand to have a firmer hold on me.
I watch reverently as she moves herself between my legs and continues her exploration. I buck when she moves to cup my balls, and she smiles wickedly. Maintaining unwavering eye contact, she lowers herself until the tip of her tongue brushes my cock.
I almost lose it right there, knowing that I’m defiling this sweet, angelic woman, and that she craves it.
Craves me. She keeps licking in small swipes around my thick shaft, using her hands in tandem to torment me.
She looks nervous as she pulls back for a moment, considering, before she leans forward and takes the whole head in her mouth.
Holy fucking shit.
My head falls back, growling as I hold back from fucking her mouth. Her hot, wet, perfectly pink mouth. She bobs lightly, trying to fit more of me into her, but if she keeps going like this I’m going to come in her mouth.
Waking up from the best dream I’ve ever had is almost the worst moment of my life until I realize that someone is tucked into my side.
Her gentle breathing has a soothing rhythm.
She broke the rules and fell asleep here.
I’m not about to call her on it though. I sit and watch her for a while, mesmerized by the peacefulness of the scene before I make myself move.
I’m as careful as I can be, pulling myself out of bed.
I drag the comforter up to cover Stella’s shoulders, and she burrows her way deeper in her sleep.
Goddamn, she’s cute. I sneak out of my room and head straight to the coffee maker.
That outfit she pulled out for me yesterday floored me, then she proceeded to wear me out. Her tiny body somehow holds enough energy to fuck me into next week. For someone who recently started having sex, she has dived right into the deep end.
A grin tugs at my lips as I remember how eager she was last night, how receptive to anything I tried with her. She really is a little drop of sunshine and energy.
I sit at the kitchen table and set my phone down, waiting for the other reason I got up so early.
Every Sunday morning, my dad calls to talk business and asks when I’m going to finally ‘get my head out of my ass and take the opportunity he’s handing me.
’ I’m not ungrateful, it is a massive opportunity, but bile still gathers in the back of my throat, curling around the excuses I mentally start preparing.
I only have to wait a moment for the harsh ring to cut through the silence.
Always anally on time… I think to myself as I answer.
“Hey Dad.”
“Son,” he starts, “have you reviewed the emails I’ve been sending you? Quarterly reports, plans?”
“Yeah.” It made me nauseous, but I did go through them. Most of them anyway. Well, some of them.
Okay, I made it through the first few pages.
“Don’t lie to me. It’s unbecoming,” Dad snarls.
He’s never been one for patience. It killed him that I didn’t jump on this job the second he decided to give it to me years ago.
He thinks he should have been grooming me for it all this time and he’s playing catch up now.
“Make sure you’ve gone through it all before Christmas.
There are a few things related that we need to discuss. ”
“Really? On Christmas?” I wish I could be disappointed, but this is typical for him. “Can’t you leave it for one day?”
“Business doesn’t take a day off, James.” It literally does, but whatever. “Besides, it’ll just be the three of us. We may as well take advantage of our time.”
I wonder if I can get a new identity before the holidays?
“May I speak to him, dear?” I hear my mothers voice rattle through the phone.
Despite her hoity-toity appearance now, she can’t hide the fact that she smoked a pack a day until she met Dad.
“Hello darling,” she coos. “I know we wanted to keep our Christmas intimate this year,” which is code for refused to ask Nessa to come, “but we think you should bring your new friend.”
“New friend?” I ask as sweat gathers down my spine.
“Yes, that girl who’s been keeping you all to herself.” I can hear my dad sputter on the other end while I go pale.
“Who are you talking about?” I ask, playing dumb.
“That little blonde thing you’ve been trotting around with. Stella, I believe her name is?” I can perfectly visualize the sneer my mom is wearing right now, and righteous indignation boils inside of me.
“Why do you know about her?” I grit through my teeth.
“Darling, you’re smarter than that. Surely you’ve figured out we prefer to keep an eye on things, make sure everyone is… behaving.”
A P.I.
They got their fucking P.I. to follow me around. This is a new low. I never liked Claude Arbour much, even less now that I know he’s been in my business.
“Anyway, please bring her. We would love to meet the girl who managed to capture our… flighty son’s attention.
” I get ready to protest, feeling it ramp up, ready to explode.
“If not, we can always get Claude to look further into her for us. Is that what you’d like?
” I stay silent. “That’s what I thought.
See you in a few days, dear! Mwuah!” She hangs up before I can wrap my head around what just happened.
Your mother hijacked your dad’s “business call” and threatened you into bringing Stella to Christmas. I fight the urge to smack my head against the table, instead, grabbing my coffee cup and crawling back into bed. I sit next to Stella’s sleeping form, borrowing some of her peace.
This was all supposed to be temporary; I know that, I even promised her I understood.
She’s planning on leaving, doesn’t want any attachments.
But fuck, I’m attached now. I brush some hair away from her face and it’s just enough to pull her out of sleep.
Her eyelids flutter, crinkling into a smile when she sees me.
“Good morning,” I mumble out.
“Good morning,” she replies as she curls into me. “Your feet are cold! How long have you been up?”
“Eh, only a little while. My dad called.”
She frowns before burrowing her head into my side. “I’m sorry, that sucks.” Her eyes are far away.
“Come here, sunshine,” I say, bundling her towards me. Having her in my arms makes my heart swell. “I’m guessing you’re visiting your dad over Christmas?”
“I’ll swing by, but I won’t be spending a lot of time with him, unfortunately.”
“Can I ask why not?” I’ve learned that Stella is more than happy to over share, so if she’s not telling me something, it’s for a reason.
“It’s complicated,” she replies with a thin smile, one that doesn’t quite reach her eyes. It’s not my place to pry. I understand how difficult family relationships can be.
Despite having her naked in my arms, we’re not that close. Maybe that’s why I’m kicking myself when I blurt out; “Apparently, you’re invited to my parent’s house for Christmas. You could always come to that.”
She stiffens in my arms, her head snapping to stare up at me, and I can already read half of the questions in those sparkling baby blues.
“It’s not a huge deal, Nessa doesn’t come home for the holidays anymore, we don’t have to stay over, even though they’ll offer, and it’ll keep them from jumping down my throat about what I’m doing with my life.
” I don’t want her to know I was threatened, or feel pressured into coming.
Because I know if she knew, she would agree in a heartbeat.
They can have that level of control over me, I’ve accepted that, but she doesn’t owe them shit.
“How do they even know about me?” she asks, which is a fair question. Since this wasn’t supposed to grow into… whatever we are now, we agreed not to tell people.
“Apparently, they had a private investigator tailing me and he mentioned you.” I brace for her anger.
“That is such an invasion of privacy!” I start to pull away from her. “I can’t believe they’d do that to you.” I’m shocked. She’s not mad at me, she’s mad for me. “Do you want me to come?” She’s so earnest when she asks it makes my heart ache. Of course she would do this for me.
“I don’t want to subject you to them. They’re not the best people.”
“You don’t trust their intentions.”
“Yeah… they might be trying to be nice, or they might be…. Fuck, I don’t even know what they’re up to.” Stella thinks for a moment, weighing something in her mind before she speaks.
“They’re showing interest in something they think is important to you.
” I start to interrupt her, but she keeps going.
“I know what this is. I’m not delusional.
But even if they’re seeing it wrong… if they’re not manipulating you then they might actually be trying to connect. Don’t you want to find out?”
I can feel myself pulling back, cutting off this horrible false hope. Hope. Not something I can count on in this situation. She may have a healthy relationship with her dad, be able to expect decency from him, but that’s not how it is in the Finlay household.
“I know it might seem deceitful, letting them think what we have is more important than it is. If nothing else, you won’t have to face it alone.”
That makes me pause, tilting her head up to look me in the eye.
“Stella, what we are is fucking important.” She gasps. My hand glides down her neck until my thumb rests firmly on her pulse. “You are important to me. Don’t for a second think otherwise.”
“Okay,” she squeaks out, her startlingly blue eyes not relinquishing the grip they have on my gaze.
“Just for the day?” She asks carefully, biting that plump lower lip.
“Just for the day. For the backup.”
“Backup?”
“Things are… tense.”
“Tense how?”
“They have expectations of me.”
“Goddamn, this is like pulling teeth,” she huffs, turning in my arms until she’s facing me, one leg slung over my hip.
“Would you pretty please tell me why you’re so stressed about going to your parents’, what their expectations are, why you’re so upset about them, and I don’t know…
any other relevant information?” She arches her eyebrows at me in a challenge.
“Brat.”
“Yup, now fess up.”
“I won’t just be working for my dad. He wants me to take over the company.” The words fall out on their own, relieved to be told to someone finally.
“And this is a bad thing.” Stella’s face scrunches in confusion.
“Yeah, I just… don’t want it. They’ve built a construction empire, and they want to hand it down. Some people see it as an opportunity, but I can see the effect it’s had on my dad and… it’s not for me.”
“Construction?”
“Yeah, my dad is the CEO of Finlay Construction, passed down to him by his dad. And now it’s my turn, but I would give anything for it not to be.”
“Finlay Construction… I’ve heard of them. I knew you had the same last name. I guess I never put it together…” she trails off, her words tight and clipped.
“I’m guessing you’re familiar with their shady business practices?
” I shake my head in disgust. “It’s partially why I want nothing to do with it.
I’ve seen the way they treat people, and how they function.
Even if I’m in charge, the way the place is set up, I would have to tear it all down and build it back up for it to be better. And I don’t want to build it.”
Stella nods thoughtfully.
“Even though it’s your legacy?”
“Yup.”
She pauses before she speaks. “It’s good that you know what you want and that you’re following it. Too many people get stuck somewhere thinking they have to be there when their heart is calling them somewhere else.”
Her voice is a balm. It soothes the ache in my heart that I get when I think about the future that’s been planned for me. A future that I want no part of.
“Thank you,” I whisper, ducking my face into the crook of her neck, letting her drag her fingers through my hair, playing with it where it’s long enough to start curling.
I place small, deliberate kisses along her shoulders. She shifts in my arms, a contended sigh escaping her as I begin to kiss lower down her chest.
“So, you’ll come with me?” I ask, knowing I’m not playing fair at all. Her grin turns sassy.
“If you keep doing that, I just might.”