Chapter 3

Rico

The tension between us has been building since the first time we met, but this... this is the moment where I see it all click into place. The moment where I feel that tension finally snap, and the moment where everything changes between us.

I'm going to make her mine.

I'm going to consume her. I'm going to consume her body, and I'm going to consume her soul.

I'm going to make her come to me, again and again.

She's never been with a man before, and I'm going to make sure that by the time I'm done with her, she's begging me for anything I'm willing to give her.

"Rico..." she whispers.

The sound of my name on her lips leaves me throbbing and desperate to press myself into her warm, wet depths.

I pick her up and press her back against the soft, padded wall. She holds her breath and her eyes widen with uncertainty, unsure of what to do next. I roughly lift her skirt with my fingertips, giving her the space to wrap her legs around me.

As her thighs grip my hips, I feel her keeping some distance between us. I grit my teeth and swallow hard, not wanting our time here to end with this wall between us. I hold her gaze and wait silently as I am wanting her to pull me in close and let me fill the void.

But she seems tense, even as I grab her wrists and pin them to the wall on either side of her head.

"I want to fuck you, Sandra," I growl in her ear.

She moans in response, the tendons in her wrists flexing as she tries to free herself from my grip. I let her go and her hands clutch at my shoulders. Her fingertips dig into my flesh, and I know she's looking for control, a way to ground herself in this lustful whirlwind.

“Rico, I...”

She seems to be trying to think, as if her mind is clouded by a thick fog of confusion and lust. “I think you're misunderstanding why I'm here, Rico.”

She says the words with more clarity than she seemed to have the entire time she's been here, and I hear the serious edge to her voice. “Rico, we need to talk.”

“I'll listen to anything you have to say.” I bury my face in her neck, inhaling her sweet scent as I touch my lips to her skin. I've never wanted her more than I do in this moment.

“Rico, Clarke asked me to cancel his contract.”

The second she says the words, I feel my body react. All the need, desire and arousal filling me instantly halts, and my brain switches over to business mode. I set her down on her feet and begin to pace back and forth in the room.

She wrings her hands, as if unsure what to do or say now and I realize I’ve been a fool. Of course, she's not here to be with me the way I hoped. She's here to help me keep a client from walking out with all his money and leaving us high and dry.

“I already told him that we have a clause about terminating the contract early and that he'll owe everything agreed to, but he told me he's going to have his lawyers look it over and find a loophole.” She sounds terrified and I turn to her.

“Thank you for bringing this to my attention right away.” The fact that she had braved her discomfort and came into my club to talk to me about my other business and warn me of a potentially ugly situation doesn’t escape my notice.

She nods her head. “Of course.”

I can still smell the heat rising off of her but getting in her pants is the last thing on my mind at the moment.

Right now, I'm focused on figuring out how to keep Clarke’s contract intact.

I need to reach out to my lawyer, I need to make calls, and I need a clear head - easier said than done now that Sandra has gotten under my skin the way she has.

As for Clarke himself... either he’ll stay or I’ll destroy him, everything he stands for, and everything he cares about.

He should know better than to fuck with me or my business.