Highest Bidder – By Aria R. Blue #6
She doesn’t need to be told twice. My name tumbles from her lips like a prayer.
“My pretty little slut,” I praise her.
My words make her even wetter.She likes the praise and degradation. She likes being completely under my control.
“Do you like having my thick finger inside your little cunt?” I ask.“I tried my hardest to be a gentleman tonight, but you had to go and shake those perfect tits in my face. You had to go and make me lose my mind.”
Obsession wraps around my heart. I lived by my rules all my life, but for this girl, I’m willing to rewrite every single one of them.
“You taste like you’re mine already, bella,” I say. “I’m the only man who gets to have this pussy now. I’m the only man who gets to look at you. Do you understand?”
Alarm flares in her eyes.She’s a smart girl, I’ll give her that. She recognizes the dangerous obsession forming in my mind.
But instead of making her draw back, it only makes her pussy wet.
It only makes her want it more.
I wrap her braid around my hand and tug on it.
“I want to hear you say it, bella,” I say. “Tell me you’re mine.”
“I’m yours,” she says, moaning as I push another finger inside her tight little cunt. “I’m all yours, Gabriel.”
I feast on her now, sucking on her little clit like I’ve been starving for weeks. I fuck her hard and fast with my fingers, pushing her over the edge before she can prepare herself for it. Her thighs are locked around my head now. She moans my name like it’s the only word she knows.
“Come for me, Lily,” I order.
And she does.
She comes undone like a fucking dream.Her soft moans reach a crescendo as her thighs shake from the force of her release. The small flowers from her braid fall on the white bedsheets, filling the air with sweet fragrance.
She collapses into my arms, wrapping her limp arms around me and closing her eyes.
Something shifts within me.
The raging inferno of lust is replaced by a steady fire in my heart. It lights up everything inside me. And right now, just holding her is enough. Just being with her is all I crave.
I wrap my arms around her.
I hold her tighter than I’m probably supposed to.
“It was nice meeting you, Gabriel,” she whispers.
Her words land in my chest like a grenade.
She rests her head against my shoulder and dozes off within seconds. I’m left wondering what sort of spell she cast over me. I’m not sure how I ended up here, but the racing of my heart tells me that I’m in big trouble.
I don’t remember the last time I put another person’s needs above my own.
I’m content with just getting to hold her. I feel blessed just to press my nose against her head and breathe in the buttery scent of her skin.
I don’t want this night to end. I don’t want to return to an ordinary life without the magic this woman brings.
Sleep creeps in unnoticed. I awaken to golden sunshine warming my forehead. Lily is still fast asleep in my arms.The soft rise and fall of her chest uncoils something inside my heart. Being with her feels like taking a deep breath when you really need it.
My phone buzzes, interrupting my peace.
I glance over at it to find fourteenmissed calls and twice as many text messages from my brother.
I’m so sorry, I don’t know how it happened, the last one reads.
It feels like a bucket of iced water to the face.
I know without having to read the rest of his messages that he lost our suspect.
I can’t even blame him for it.
It’s my fault.
I brought this upon myself. This is my consequence for letting myself become distracted.
Everything in me protests against it,but I detach myself from the sleeping angel. I put my shirt back on and walk out of the room without saying goodbye.
I leave, but my heart stays with her.
LILY
2 days later
I blink awake as Gigi nudges my shoulder.
"I swear the whole town can hear your alarm clock except for you," she says.
A suspicious amount of bright sunshine assaults my vision. I had overslept.
"Oh God," I say, jolting awake in bed. "I'm going to be late for my first day of work."
"Calm down, you still have like an hour to get ready," she says.
I rush to the bathroom and grab my toothbrush. Gigi follows after me, leaning against the doorframe with a hot mug of chamomile tea in her hands. She blows on the tea as she assesses me.
"Don't," I say.
"I didn't even say anything," she says, taking a slow sip of her drink.
I can hear what she's thinking, though. Gigi has the opposite of a poker face, so I can feel her judging me.
And honestly, I don't blame her. I haven't felt like myself since returning from the club.
I glance at my reflection in the mirror. I even look different. There are hollows under my eyes, and my face looks gaunt from the lack of sleep. I've been tossing and turning all night, and it shows.
"You know you're going to have to tell me eventually," Gigi says. "What's going on with you, Lily?"
I glance down at the sink.
The same memory keeps playing in my head on an endless loop.
The soft white sheets. The cold bed. The emptiness that crept into my heart when I realized he was gone. He didn't even leave a note.
All I had was a notification from my bank, telling me I could now pay off my brother's gambling debt. It's more money than I've ever even seen in my life, but it only made me feel numb.
"See, this is what I'm talking about," Gigi says, pointing at my face. "I've never seen you like this, and it's scaring me."
It's been more than forty-eight hours since I met Gabriel Montgomery, but I haven't been able to get him out of my head. Not even for a single minute.
He didn't owe me anything. We didn't mean anything to each other. It was only a brief moment in time.
But...I liked him.
And I thought he liked me too.
"It's nothing," I say to Gigi. It's the most I can trust myself to speak right now.
"You've been acting strange ever since you returned from Elysium," she says. "Whathappened there, babe?"
"Nothing happened," I say. "I already told you."
She takes a sip of her chamomile tea.
"So it doesn't have anything to do with the man you met?" she asks.
"I need to shower," I say, putting my toothbrush away and walking toward the shower stall. Gigi doesn't get the hint because privacy is a joke in our apartment.
"I could stand here and try to play the guessing game, or you could just tell me," she says. "What did Mr. Montgomery do to you?"
Hearing his name is an uppercut straight to my gut.
Heat rushes to my cheeks. There's a tightness in my chest, and it's too much. Before I know it, moisture rushes to my eyes.
I don't let myself cry in front of people. Ever.
I never make myself an inconvenience. But I just can't help it right now.
"Lily, what's wrong?" Gigi sets her teadown and comes toward me. "Did that bastard do something to hurt you?"
I shake my head.
She pulls me into a hug, holding me close against her chest. Her compassion only makes mecry harder.
"Was it something he said?" she asks. "Because I can hunt his ass down and make him apologize for whatever he did."
"It wasn't him," I say. "It was me."
She pulls away to look at my face. "What?"
"I felt things for him that I never felt before," I say. "Is that wrong?"
"You...have a crush on him?" she asks. "Is that what this is?"
"It doesn't feel like a crush, Gigi," I say. "A crush is supposed to be fun and light-hearted. This feels too heavy to just be a crush. I don't know how to explain it."
I feel stupid saying this out loud,but Gigi doesn't try to discredit the way I'm feeling. She gives me a small smile, telling me without words that she understands.
Maybe it's just a part of girlhood—falling hopelessly in love under the worst possible circumstances.
Maybe it's something I'm not alone in.
"My heart aches," I say. "I can't sleep. I don't want to eat. I don't feel like doing anything."
"Why?" she asks.
Her question catches me off guard.
I haven't stopped to ask myself why.
I spent the past two days ruminating on why he left without saying goodbye. I wondered if it was something I did. Maybe if I had been a little more alluring and focused more on his pleasure,he would have stayed, even if it was just to say goodbye.
"What if I never feel these things for anyone ever again?" I confess.
Saying it out loud feels like taking a dagger to my chest. But there's also a strange sense of relief in finally opening up to my best friend.
"You really liked him," Gigi says.
"I really liked him," I affirm.
"Do you want to know what I believe?" she says. "If someone is meant for you,the universe conspires to bring the two of you together. No matter what. If he's really meant to be in your life, hewillbe in your life."
"He's a billionaire, Gigi," I say. "We don't exactly run in the same circles."
"Never doubt the universe, babe," Gigi says. "It works in mysterious ways that are beyond our understanding. And even if you never see that man again, trust that itjust wasn't meant to be. You could have dodged a bullet without even knowing it."
I take a deep breath.
"I probably look so stupid right now, crying over a man I barely knew," I say.
"Not at all," she says. "It's just what you feel right now, and that's okay."
She gives me another hug. Some of the heaviness lifts off my chest.
I take a quick shower and get dressed for work. Before I leave,Gigi hands me a travel cup with her strawberry breakfast smoothie.
"You're an angel," I say.
She grins at me. "I know. Also, where are your glasses?"
"Oh, my God, I totally forgot," I say, running back to my room to grab them.
I hug Gigi goodbye, then rush out the door. Luckily, I catch the Philly bus just in time.
It's a twenty-minute commute. I want to drink the strawberry smoothie, but I'm nervous about spilling it on my white blouse. As I stare out the window, my mind is plagued by visions of him.
It feels like a fever.
Like a sickness.
And I don't know how to get it out of my system.
The bus comes to an abrupt stop, jolting me out of my thoughts. I glance outside to see that it's my stop. I grab my bag, mutter a quick "thanks" to the driver, and step off into the crisp morning air.
I stare up at the office building.
It's just an ordinary building, but to me, it's the promised land. It symbolizes everything I worked so hard for.
I'm about to join thesocial media marketing team at CM Enterprises—definitely a big leap from my last gig as an intern. If I play my cards right,this could be the start of something real for me.
I walk toward the entrance. The cold air bites into my skin, but I can't stop smiling.
I scan my new ID and head toward the elevator. I press the button for the eleventh floor and then open the smoothie cup to take a sip. Just as I raise the cup to my lips, I see someone enter the foyer.
Tall. Broad shoulders. Piercing gray eyes I would never forget.
It's him.
Gabriel Montgomery. And he's walking right toward the elevator. The smoothie cup slips from my hand. The pink liquid splatters all over my white blouse before I can catch it. When I look up again, I see that he's closer. He's deep in conversation with someone, so he doesn't see me right away.
I bolt out of the elevator.
I feel people turning to look at me. Heat rushes to my cheeks, and tears sting my eyes. I keep my head low as I try to find the bathroom.
"Are you okay?" A gruff voice calls out.
I stop in my tracks. I want to pretend I didn't hear it, but his voice echoes in the foyer.
I turn toward him, but still keep my head low.
"I'm fine, thanks," I say, turning on my heel. I can feel his gaze lingering on me as I walk away. Even though I didn't see his face, I cantell he didn't recognize me.
I slip inside the ladies' room and lock myself in one of the stalls.My heart beats in a wild staccato against my ribs.
The bathroom door slams open with a bang, making me nearly jump out of my skin.
For a second, I think that it's him. But it's two women laughing and talking amongst themselves.
"I can't believe he's actually here," one says. "He usually only works from the California headquarters."
"God, I hope he visits more often," the other says, sounding a little breathless. "He's so dreamy and unattainable. It just makes me want him more."
"I know, right?" the first one says. "Having the CEO around will make coming to work so much more interesting."
The threads come together in my head.
CEO. California headquarters. Gabriel Montgomery.
When I first heard his name, I got the feeling that I knew it from somewhere. It only dawns on me now that the 'M' in CM Enterprises stands for Montgomery. Gabriel Montgomery is the CEO of this company.
My first instinct is to leave the building, go home, and never look back.
But I know I can't. I worked too hard to get here. I can't turn my back on my dream now.
I grab my phone out of my purse and dial Gigi's number.
"I need you," I say.
"What's wrong?" she asks immediately.
The words she said to me earlier this morning haunt my head.
If someone is meant for you, the universe conspires to bring you together.
"I'm in trouble, Gigi," I say. "Big trouble."
I tell her what happened. She agrees to meet me here with a change of clothes, a wig, and some makeup. She promises to transform me into someone he won't even recognize.
It's a sound plan.
While I wait for her, my mind takes me in a thousand different directions. It shows me a million different possibilities.
Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I'd end up in a situation like this.I'm scared, but there's also a light flutter in my heart.
It feels like the end of the world, but in other ways, it also just feels like the beginning.
THE END.