I talked with a few people and made my appearance at the fashion party. As time went on and I was in the public eye more, fewer people saw me as the man who was engaged to Tatum Titan—and then dumped by Tatum Titan.

People were starting to see me as Thorn Cutler again—just a man.

I had a few drinks, shared a few laughs, and then spotted Vincent Ammo across the room. He wore a midnight black suit with a matching tie. Thick like a bull, he stood out against the crowd.

And Autumn was with him.

I didn’t know what the two had in common, but judging by the fact that Connor Suede was standing with them, he must be the missing piece. Vincent had done some modeling for Connor, and so had I. Maybe Autumn did too.

My eyes grazed over her body, seeing the luscious curves in the champagne pink dress she wore. It was an exceptional color on her slightly darker skin. Against her black hair, the color popped even more.

I set my drink aside and joined their conversation, my eyes trained on Autumn.

Vincent noticed me first. “How are you, Thorn?” He shook my hand.

“I’m well. You?”

“Great.” He gave me a polite smile before he turned to Connor. “Connor was just telling us about a new line of shoes he’s been working on.”

“Thorn Cutler.” Connor shook my hand. “A man who always looks good in a suit.”

I nodded. “Nice to see you again.” Before I had a chance to greet Autumn, Connor took the lead.

He wrapped his arm around her waist and looked down at her, more than just professional affection in his eyes. “Let me introduce you to my next star, Autumn Alexander.”

She smiled up at him, obviously comfortable with the way he touched her.

My smile disappeared.

“Ms. Alexander is going to be wearing some pieces for me,” Connor continued. “I know she’ll add a spark to every photograph.” He was dressed in a gray V-neck sweater with black slacks. He had a tight and rigid body, and he had good looks that could get him out of any kind of trouble.

I didn’t like him.

Titan told me details about her physical encounters with him. He was an intense man, and he knew how to handle a woman in the bedroom. She’d been attracted to his confidence and his skill.

I really didn’t like him.

“Autumn and I are well acquainted.” I wasn’t thinking clearly because my temper had been ignited. The possessive way he handled her dug deep under my skin. He was staking a claim right in front of me. He was a flirtatious man because he worked with women all the time. He knew he was handsome, rich, and talented. My arm circled her waist, forced his to move, and I pulled her into my side for a one-armed hug. “We’re going to be working together very soon.”

Autumn maintained her composure, but she flashed a slightly alarmed look in my direction.

“You are?” Vincent didn’t hide his surprise, knowing I was covering Titan’s businesses in addition to my own.

“Yes, Titan as well. It’ll be a great partnership.” I should drop my arm from her waist because the physical contact shouldn’t linger for so long, but I wanted that asshole to keep his hands off her. Before this incident, I’d liked Connor. But now I despised him for some reason.

Autumn gently stepped away from my embrace, doing her best to make it seem like the gesture was only affection between two friends. She continued to wear a composed smile while holding her gorgeous body with perfect grace. “Yes. I’m looking forward to it as well.”

Connor turned his gaze back on her, his eyes intense. They were heavy and dark, like a storm of clouds was building on the surface. He wore that expression all the time, but it seemed particularly focused on her in that moment.

Maybe I was just being paranoid, but it seemed like he wanted to fuck her as much as I did.

Not gonna happen.

“I’ve designed these special dresses that will look perfect on Autumn.” Connor addressed us, but he held her gaze like she was the only one in the room. “The curves of her body are more beautiful than lines of poetry. I work with models every single day, and she has a special quality they lack. From the thickness of her eyelashes to the slenderness of her neck, she’s more perfect than the wonders of the world.”

I wanted to snatch Vincent’s drink out of his hand and slam it down onto Connor’s skull. Who the hell talked like that? He should do Shakespeare in the Park if he wanted to woo a woman like that. It wouldn’t work on someone like her.

But Autumn smiled…and it seemed genuine.

Jesus.

Connor still hadn’t taken his eyes off her, having a silent conversation with her.

Fuck, this was bad.

Connor’s arm moved toward her waist again. “Sweetheart, let me introduce you to some people we’ll be working with…”

I knew that was bullshit. He just wanted to get her away from me.

If I did nothing, she might go home with him tonight.

I shouldn’t care if she went home with anyone. It’s not like we were exclusive. It’s not like I cared about her. I just didn’t want to share her with anyone else. This wasn’t about romantic feelings, but about male possessiveness.

She didn’t mean a damn thing to me.

But I still couldn’t let her slip out of my fingers and into his arms. “Autumn, I need to talk to you for a second.”

When she turned my way, she didn’t hide her surprise. “Right now? Can’t it wait?”

I eyed Connor’s hungry expression and turned back to her. “No.” I grabbed her by the elbow and directed her away from Vincent and Connor. Her skin was warm to the touch, soft like I remembered it. I’d just had her the other night, but it seemed like a lifetime ago. Now that there was another man who wanted her, I couldn’t get her fast enough.

I guided her out of sight; that way Connor couldn’t look at her anymore.

“What is it, Thorn?” Autumn blurted out the question, her voice full of annoyance.

We stood in a corner next to a blown-up image of Platform magazine. An art light shone directly on the glass, and people talked in groups as music played overhead.

“Connor is a great designer, but he sleeps around a lot.”

She stared at me blankly, like I hadn’t finished my sentence. “Your point…?”

“It’s obvious he wants to fuck you.”

Her eyes narrowed even more as she tilted her head to the side. She stared at me harder. “And so what if he does? Last time I checked, he’s not a married man.”

I wanted to stop this from happening without getting my hands dirty, but it didn’t seem like Autumn cared about any of those things. “I just want you to understand what you’re getting yourself into. If you think working with him is just going to be professional, you’re mistaken.”

“Nothing is completely professional,” she countered. “Look at us. You pulled me from a conversation to tell me something I already know. I didn’t get this far in life being clueless. I know when a man admires me for my brain and my body.”

“And we both know why Connor admires you.”

Her gaze became more hostile. “If we’re done with this ridiculous conversation, I’m going to go on with my evening.”

“Not even close to being done.”

She crossed her arms over her chest, her anger starting to simmer. “Thorn, what’s the problem?”

I stared her down without knowing what to say. I didn’t even understand why I’d pulled her all the way over there to speak in private. “I don’t want you to fuck him.”

Her anger immediately disappeared, genuine shock coming into her features. “Who said I was going to?”

“Are you saying you aren’t?”

“What I’m saying is, whether I want to fuck him or not, it’s none of your business. I’m free to screw whoever I want—when I want. We agreed that this isn’t a thing. It’s just…there.”

“I’m not disagreeing with that. But I don’t want you to go home with him tonight. I want you to go home with me, alright?” I felt like a moron saying that to her. I’d never said that to anyone else. All the other women I spent my time with were just arrangements. The parameters of our relationship were laid out in the beginning. Autumn was different because it was completely spontaneous. She came on to me, and I couldn’t refuse her.

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why do you want me to go home with you tonight?” she asked. “Is it just so I won’t go home with him? Or is it because you want me to be with you?”

“Does it matter?”

“You bet your ass, it does. Which is it?”

I slid my hands into the pockets of my slacks, feeling her piercing gaze heavy on my face.

She kept up her stare.

“Both. There’s something I want to talk to you about…in private.”

“When I said I wasn’t looking for a relationship, I meant it.”

“I did too.” She was getting the wrong impression. “It’s something else.”

She didn’t give me an answer, but her gaze was still tentative.

“Go to my place when you leave. I’ll be waiting for you.” My natural impulse was to lean in and kiss her, right on the corner of her mouth. It was difficult for me to be in a public setting with her and not touch her in some way. I wanted to extend the pleasures of our relationship outside the confines of our privacy. When she looked so beautiful in that dress and those heels, it was hard to keep my mouth off her skin. I stepped closer to her until our faces were almost touching. “Autumn?”

She quickly stepped back, keeping our interaction professional. “I’ll see you there.” She walked off without another word, her heels echoing against the hardwood floor.

I watched her go, my eyes following her until she was out of sight.

---

The elevator doors opened, and Autumn stepped inside my penthouse. Her curves were sexy in the tight dress, and her dark hair was in curls. She set her clutch on the table near the entryway then stepped farther into my home.

I left my scotch on the coffee table and rose to my feet, drinking in her beauty in a whole new light. She’d never looked more beautiful as when I couldn’t have her. When I stared at her across the room and watched Connor touch her like he had every right to do whatever he wanted, it pissed me off.

Because she was mine.

I crossed the distance between us, feeling her large eyes home in on my face. She held my look with the same confidence, her shoulders back and her chest out.

I moved into her body and wrapped my arms around her petite waist. My mouth immediately descended and I kissed her, kissed her the way I’d wanted all night. I dug my hand deep into her hair, and I yanked on it gently just to feel that she was real.

She kissed me back, like she’d been looking forward to my kiss. She devoured me with the same enthusiasm, her hands sliding up my bare chest until she reached my strong shoulders. She’d been pissed at me earlier, but now that I was caressing her with my kisses, it was like that anger had never arisen in the first place.

She came here to talk, but that impending conversation didn’t seem important anymore. My goal was to get her here and away from Connor. Now her body was wrapped in my arms, and she was sticking her tongue down my throat.

Mission accomplished.

We didn’t make it to the bedroom and settled for the couch. Her dress was yanked up to her waist, her heels were kicked across the room, and then she was on her back, pressed into the corner of my couch.

I fucked her into that corner, giving it to her harder than I ever had before.

She yanked me into her like I wasn’t going fast enough, and the climaxes squeezed my dick until it was bruised. Sweat glistened across my skin, but the heat and fatigue didn’t deter me. I was buried between her legs, exactly where I wanted to be. It felt so good, so tight and wet.

I loved fucking her.

When I finally came, I filled so much of the condom I was afraid it would rip. This woman got my engine revving in special ways. She heightened my senses, made me combust with lust. I sucked her bottom lip into my mouth, tasting her sweat and mine, before I pulled out and rolled the condom off in the bathroom.

I wiped the sweat from my forehead with a towel then stared at myself in the mirror. My hair was messy from the way her fingers had run through it, and there was a thin film of sweat over my chest. Subtle marks from the tips of her heels had left indentations in my skin.

I knew I was a lucky man.

I didn’t have everything—but now I had her.

I walked back into the living room, and she had already composed herself. Her dress was down, her heels were back on, and her hair had been fixed with her fingertips. Like she hadn’t just been fucked on my couch, she sat with her legs crossed and her back perfectly straight.

Made me want to fuck her again.

I sat beside her, my hand moving to her thigh. I squeezed her gently. “I enjoyed that.”

“Me too.” Her gaze moved to my blank TV before she slowly turned her gaze back on me.

“I doubt you would have enjoyed Connor so much.” No man could fuck her as well as I could. Not only did I have the right tools, but I also had the right engine. She was guaranteed a good time when I was in between her legs. I could make her feel fuller than any other man could.

The corner of her lips rose in a smile. “Wow…you’re so jealous.”

“Not jealous.”

She scoffed. “If that’s not jealous, I don’t know what is.”

My fingers tightened on her thigh. “Were you going to go home with him?”

“I don’t see why I have to answer you.”

“Is that a yes?” I pressed.

She continued to smile. “I’ll never tell.”

I pulled my hand away, feeling another wave of nausea rush through me. Just picturing her with him made me sick. Anytime I fantasized about her, her legs were spread for only one person—me.

“What did you want to talk about?” she asked. “Because I hope our conversation about Connor is over.”

“I guess I wanted to clarify a few things.”

“Alright.” She uncrossed her legs and turned her gaze on me.

“I’m not looking for a relationship, and I never will. But I don’t want to share you with anyone either. It’s not about love, just possessiveness. I don’t want you screwing other men when I can give you exactly what you’re looking for. We both know you aren’t going to find someone who can fuck you as good as I can.”

“You aren’t arrogant at all…”

“Tell me I’m wrong.”

She smiled.

I leaned closer to her, my hand moving to the back of her neck under her hair. “Tell me.”

Her smile faded away, and the resignation moved into her expression. She knew she couldn’t deny what I said—not when it was true. “You aren’t wrong.”

Hearing the words from her red lips sent a thrill down my spine. My fingers dug into her hair even though she’d just fixed it, and I kissed her again. Our wet mouths moved together, and our tongues quickly melded into one. The kiss escalated at an alarming rate, and the passion made it seem like we hadn’t just fucked on that couch five minutes ago.

I ended the kiss, knowing I had power over her. Like butter, she melted quickly for me. I could make her turn into a puddle right on the couch. Her body came to life for me just the way mine did for her. There was a connection between us—a white-hot one.

My fingers continued to rest in her hair as I stared at her, seeing the sex-crazed look still heavy in her eyes. “You said you weren’t looking for a relationship. Is that for the foreseeable future?”

“It’s for a while, at least.”

“Why is that?” She was younger than me, that much was obvious. She still had time to find someone and settle down. Maybe she was just taking her time.

“Does it matter?”

I saw the walls rise in her eyes. Whatever this was about, she didn’t want to share it with me. “No…I guess it doesn’t.”

“Why aren’t you looking for a relationship?”

I held her gaze and only gave her silence.

“Looks like neither one of us wants to talk about it…” She turned into my hand and kissed the side of my palm. Her thick lips pressed against my warm skin, leaving a slight residue from her lipstick. “Then let’s leave it that way.”

I wanted to know more about her without giving anything in return. But that wouldn’t be fair. “What do you want from me?”

“Good sex and convenience. That’s all.”

“I can give that to you. Wherever you are, whatever time it is, I can give you a lay you’ll never forget. I can fulfill any fantasy you want. I can make you stretch like every woman should. I can make you tremble, make you forget the shit going on outside these four walls.”

Her eyes remained glued to mine, her intensity mirroring mine.

“So, you don’t need Connor. You don’t need anyone else but me.”

She tilted her head slightly to the side, her lips slightly parted so her teeth were visible. She wasn’t doing it intentionally, but she made herself look like the sexiest woman in the world. She could pull it off so effortlessly.

“But I want it to be just the two of us. Do you agree?”

She took her time before she responded, letting the quiet stretch between us. “Yes.”

She was officially mine—exactly the way I wanted her. “There’s something else I want.”

“Alright.”

“When I’m with a woman, I like to be in control. I like to be the alpha, to order her to do things that I like. When I command her to get on her knees, she obeys. When I tell her not to come until I say so, she listens. That’s what I want from you.”

It was the first time the pleasure disappeared from her face. “Thorn, if you’re talking about Fifty Shades stuff, I’m not into that. I’m not gonna let you hang me from the ceiling so you can whip me. I’m surprised you would even bother asking.”

“That’s not what I’m asking. All I want is to call the shots—and you listen.”

“How is that different?”

“Because there are no chains or whips. There is no pain. But you yield all power to me when we’re fucking. I promise you, I’ll give you even better sex than you realized was possible. It’s what we’ve already been doing, but better.”

After my clarification, her eyes relaxed and the hostility faded from them. “I’ve never done anything like this before.”

“You won’t regret it.”

She turned her gaze away, her expression one of concentration as she thought to herself.

“Tell me what you’re thinking.”

She pressed her lips together briefly before she opened them again. “I’m a very busy woman, and taking the time to meet someone new and be disappointed is frustrating. A lot of men act like they know what they’re doing, but when it comes down to it, they don’t know how to please a woman. With you…you’re very talented.” She looked into my eyes without shame for what she said, and there was no reason to be ashamed. “You’ve got a very nice package, and you know exactly what to do with it. That’s the kind of man I’m looking for…one who knows how to fuck. So it sounds like the perfect arrangement for me. I don’t see a downside.”

“Neither do I.” Every time she flattered my cock, my ego inflated. There was nothing better than hearing a beautiful woman compliment my dick like that. She was transparent in her thoughts, telling me exactly what she was thinking.

That was sexy.

“Then we have an understanding,” I said. “You give me your tests, and I give you mine.” Not only did I want to keep Connor away from her beautiful pussy, but I wanted to be inside her—skin-to-skin. I wanted to feel her intimately, to feel her lubrication right against my dick. The only way we could do that was through monogamy. Keeping my dick in my pants around other women should be simple since she was the only woman I wanted anyway—for the time being.

“That sounds like a good idea.”

When I first saw Autumn, I didn’t think there was a chance in hell I could be with her. She was either tied down with someone else, or she wanted a happily ever after. I never expected her to be as detached as I was, to want something meaningless for a long period of time.

It was almost too good to be true.

“Then I should get going.” She rose to her feet, walking in her heels to the elevator.

I didn’t try to get her to stay. I already got what I wanted, so I didn’t want to push my luck. My hands moved around her waist, and I held her in the doorway, looking down at her gorgeous features and pretty eyes. My hands squeezed her waist before I reached a hand behind her and hit the button. My actions were smooth as I kept my eyes glued to hers. “I’m yours. Use me however you want.” I kissed her softly on the mouth, pressing my lips against her plump ones. I kept my mouth closed because parting my lips would only ignite the fire of passion once more.

She pulled away, her hands moving down my chest. “I will.” She stared at me with the same fiery expression, her nails digging into the skin of my abs. “And just so you know…” Her eyes trailed down my body, taking in my chiseled grooves with obvious obsession. “I was never going to go home with Connor.”

My cock came to life in my sweatpants. It was the quickest I’d ever gotten hard in my life.

She leaned into me and pressed a kiss to the corner of my mouth before she turned and stepped into the open doorway. “I only wanted to go home with you.” A mischievous smile was on her lips as the doors slowly slid shut in front of her. She kept up the expression until the doors closed fully and she was gone from my sight.

As if I’d been punched in the face, I was glued to the spot. The wind had been knocked out of me, and now I could hardly breathe. One of the sexiest women I’d ever seen just teased me with only her words.

And now I wanted her more than I ever had.

---

I’d just finished a meeting with a few of Titan’s regional managers. Now I had a short break before I met with Kyle Livingston and Vincent Ammo after lunch. We were putting all of her products on international shelves. Kyle Livingston was only along for the ride because he chose to work with Titan over Vincent. He’d remained loyal to her, so she wanted to do the same for him once Vincent had a new offer on the table.

It worked out well for Kyle.

I sat at Titan’s white desk and looked over the folder Jessica had left next to my laptop. My tablet kept lighting up with emails that I needed to address for my own businesses. I hadn’t abandoned all of my work to take care of hers. Instead, I was handling two things at once. It made for exceptionally long days. After hitting the gym, managing two empires, and taking a few breaks in between, by the time I got home, I was ready to go to sleep so I could wake up and do it all over again.

Jessica spoke through the intercom. “There’s a woman here asking for Titan. I told her she wasn’t available, but she could meet with you.”

I held the button down with my forefinger. “What does she want?”

“She wouldn’t share that with me.”

After Titan had been shot, I’d become a paranoid man. Even the sanest people weren’t what they seemed. If you crossed someone in the wrong way, there was no predicting what would happen next. The information Jessica was giving me was mysterious—and a bit concerning. “What’s her name?”

“Bridget Creed.”

That didn’t ring any bells.

“She seems a bit distressed.”

“In what way?” I asked.

“When she asked about Titan, she seemed upset.”

Maybe this was someone Titan knew. She could be a colleague or an acquaintance or something. “Send her in.”

“Alright.”

A moment later, Jessica opened the door and allowed the woman to step inside.

She was in her fifties, but she held herself like a young woman. In a black dress with heels, she had a slim figure. She had brown hair that stopped just past her shoulders. A gold necklace hung from her throat, and she wore a wedding ring on her left hand.

I understood what Jessica meant when she said this woman was distressed.

I could see the sadness around her eyes, the stress in her tight mouth. If she weren’t frowning so severely, she would actually be a pretty woman.

She walked up to my desk and didn’t shake my hand. “Thank you for seeing me, Thorn.”

I didn’t appreciate the way she addressed me so casually, not when I’d never met her until that moment. “It’s Mr. Cutler.” I slowly rose to my feet and extended my hand.

“I apologize,” she said quickly, sighing under her breath. “I feel like I know you…”

“Why?”

“I just…I see you on the news all the time.”

For bullshit that wasn’t even true. I returned to my seat and kept up my cold stare, unsure what I was dealing with. She didn’t seem dangerous, just a little uneasy. I sat back as I examined her, my guard up.

She didn’t take a seat. “When will Titan be back in?”

“She’s still recovering at home. She’ll be back to work eventually, but she needs more time.”

In the time since she stepped into the office, she’d barely blinked two times. Her gaze was glued to my face like she was afraid to miss a single instant. “It’s been taking her a while…were there other complications? Will she be alright?”

Everyone asked me how Titan was doing. Some people genuinely cared, and others didn’t. But even the people who actually knew her didn’t look as upset as this woman. Once it’d been declared that Titan had survived the surgery and was making a recovery, everyone calmed down and started talking about someone else. But this woman’s chest was rising and falling with rapid breathing like she couldn’t get enough air. She was as panicked as I’d been sitting in the waiting room. “Titan is the strongest person I know. If anyone can make a complete recovery, it’s her. I wouldn’t worry too much about it.”

That didn’t erase the lines of worry on her face. If she had nothing left to say, she should thank me for my time and leave. But she stayed put like there was something else to discuss.

“How do you know her?” If they were close, she would call Titan directly. But since she was standing in front of me instead of Titan, that told me their friendship was more an acquaintance.

It was the first time she broke eye contact. She looked at the white desk, examining the vase of lilies and the gray MacBook. Her eyes combed over the desk, searching for something, before she turned back to me. “I was out of the country for the last few weeks. When I got back to town the other day, I heard the news. I didn’t know what else to do, so I came here…”

Why didn’t she answer my question?

“I just need to know that she’s going to be alright…”

“I’m sure she will be.”

She gave a slight nod, her chest still rising and falling rapidly. She took a slight step back from the desk, drawing away from me.

I rose to my feet again. “Should I tell her you stopped by?”

“Uh…no.” She tucked her brown hair behind her ear then turned away from my desk. “Thank you for your time, Mr. Cutler.”

Something in my gut said something was wrong here. Titan would never be acquainted with someone who lacked professional grace. This woman seemed off-balance, far too affected by Titan’s tragedy than an objective person should be. “Ms. Creed?”

She turned around when she reached the door, just as much sadness in her eyes as there was when she walked in.

“How do you know her?”

Her hand moved to the handle, and she rested it there for a moment. It seemed like she was going to give me an answer judging by the way she opened her lips slightly. But something must have changed her mind, because she yanked the handle down and walked off at a quick pace, like I might decide to chase her.

Whatever her relationship was with Titan, she didn’t want me to know about it.

It made me wonder if Titan even knew about it.