MasukI look up at him. His eyes meet mine and the air between us possesses a quality I don't want to disturb. "Dea...." "Mr. Banks." I close my mouth as Rooke steps into the doorway, arm extended, holding a phone."Leave." Banks says it without looking at him. I catch Rooke's eye and give him the faintest look of silent apology. He doesn't move."What company?""It's your mother, sir." Rooke cuts in again, carefully, clearly having assumed Banks was speaking to him. His mother. Banks turns toward Rooke sharply with an exhale, registering the phone in his hand for the first time."The guards said you weren't picking up and she is....." Banks takes the phone from him before the sentence is finished. His jaw is harder than it was a moment ago. His face is even harder: he looks unhappy, angry and worried simultaneously. The combination sitting in the sharp set of his brows and the tight line of his mouth. I step back and watch as he brings the phone to his ear."Where is she?" He question, t
His arms stay at his sides and the absence of them is its own kind of answer."It's not that." "I own subsidiaries, Anor. I have people I can call. If you didn't want a business connected to me directly, we could have searched out the right company together, reviewed the investor, looked through every term and demand side by side. I could have opened you an entire building with your name on the door and every legal documents if you had any concerns about keeping things separate." He pauses. "I would have done it without question." The hurt in his voice tears me apart. It's quiet, like he's reading out a suicide note, which somehow makes it worse than if he had raised it. I hug him tighter."You've helped me enough. I didn't want to keep disturbing you. I just wanted to....." He grips my arm and steps me back. Not roughly, but firmly enough that I lose my hold on him."This is your first business." His eyes find mine and hold them. "I watched you work at that store. I watched you cr
ELEANOR POV"You're smiling," Banks points out and I lean my head against his shoulder without apology."I'm happy." He presses his lips to my forehead, his hand moving slowly through my hair as we wait for the outfit to be brought out. The room around us is quiet. It's just us, and the soft rustle of clothing being selected somewhere down the hall."I'm proud of you." Strings of warmth knot through my chest at his words. But they don't ache the way praise sometimes does when it arrives from the wrong angle. His appraisal makes me feel pretty, proud and warm, and I feel happy in a way that makes me want to take up more space rather than less. I feel like I could grow wings."I didn't even think the rumor would affect my business at all.""You have people who love you.""I do," I agree, leaning upward slightly when I see a staff member moving toward us with a tray balanced in both hands. Banks tightens his hand at my waist, drawing me closer against his side without breaking the quiet
"You broke up with me! You publicly humiliated me in front of the entire student body! You explicitly commanded me to leave, what alternative did I possess?!""You were supposed to hold onto me like I fucking taught you to!" she shouts back, her eyes flashing with sudden tears. Carlton lets out a harsh, disbelieving laugh. "You're still as selfish as always, Arnetta. Time passes, yet you refuse to abandon your habit of thinking the world evolves around you. And stop fucking lying." She rolls her eyes sharply. "The world doesn't need to revolve around me" She whispers, crowding him and he takes a step back"Your world is all that needs to revolve around me, as yours revolve around me" Carlton grips his hair, looks up then down at her"Stop fucking lying" She steps closer. Anthony crosses his legs with a grin, looking at them with glaring interest."Lying about what? About the fact that I taught you how to date? How to be a man?""Silence yourself," Carlton warns, his voice dropping a
BANKS POV"So you are truly getting married ?" I take a slow, deliberate sip of my small-batch Bourbon, only half-listening to the conversation bouncing between Anthony and Carlton. My attention remains anchored to the glowing display of my phone as I scroll through a cascade of messages Eleanor has sent over the past two hours. She sent strings of images about her latest scent batch, practically vibrating with pride over the fact that her stocks at Catherine’s store has completely sold out, save for two final bottles."I am," Carlton answers, releasing a long, exhausted breath that seems to reverberate off the soundproofed walls of the private lounge.The exclusive VIP suite is insufferably dull for a singular reason I know: Anthony isn't flirting with any woman, and I've no sub by my side. Neither of our women are occupying the room with us. Not that I harbor any desire for high-society nightlife anymore; I would immeasurably prefer to be in Eleanor's laboratory, resting my chin on
I remind and watch the ghost of a smile reach his eyes before his expression settles. He did that, but I need to cum. "Your holes are mine, Anor." He curses and pushes back.... into my pussy instead. I close my eyes on impact. My body exhales, genuinely heats up. The heat and the fullness of his cock in my pussy instead of ass settles through me like the last piece of something fitting into place. I love his cock in my ass, his mouth and his hands in every way he uses them, but his cock inside my pussy is different from everything else. It feels like arriving. Like he has hit the exact center of my core. He pulls out again and I look up immediately — not this, not yet."Please let me come, Master." He lifts my head until we are both looking at each other through the mirror: His chest is sheened with sweat and the arrowhead tattoo watches me back through the thin, bright light framing the mirror. His hips press against my ass in a slow, grinding push that seats his cock deep insid
BANKS POV"I never knew you loved plump girls."I put down my phone and clear my throat, hating that I can't watch her scramble for me, or whoever she imagines dare to release onto her."I do now," I reply dismissively to the partner who had made himself my friend and wouldn't stop prying. It is si
Eyes on me, she pours. A slow tilt. The wine trails down and I watch it move across her and feel my jaw tighten with the effort of stillness.She sets the glass down and lowers to her knees.And crawl towards me.Her eyes locked on me, gaze unwavering with heat that burns through the ice of my body
BANKS POV She is sitting, eyes darting everywhere except me.Still refusing to sign so I switch tactic. “You bleed heavy.” Her head lifts sharply at my words and I hold her gaze: steady and unhurried. A dare dressed as an observation.“How did you know that si....master?” The correction comes qu
Banks is leaning against his sofa; relaxed and expecting. I should sign but all I can think of is WHAT LED US HERE? WHY ME? WHAT BROUGHT US TOGETHER? WHAT WENT WRONG... Or is it right? "Sign," he orders like it's a statement and I look at him. I sit back on the chair, the folder right on my lap wa







