CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Drake
She was even more beautiful than I remembered. That red dress … it was so wrong, yet so right at the same time. Completely inappropriate for a business meeting, but totally appropriate if you remembered who was wearing it. Because Cleo was the queen of smut remember? A millionaire many times over, laughing all the way to the bank as we downloaded her products, watched her perform on-line.
But I wasn’t about to go to Starbucks just to be ogled by passing riffraff.
Instead, I pushed her into my waiting car at the sidewalk, scooping that curvy figure into the backseat of the limo.
“Wait!” she gasped. “There’s a Peet’s around the corner, we don’t need to drive, I can walk.”
But it was too late because I was already in the backseat with her, directing the driver to head to my condo. “Home,” I growled before raising the partition between us.
And it was then that I turned to look at the redhead. She was gorgeous, even curvier than I remembered. The years apart had allowed her to fill out into a woman and what had previously been Double Ds were even bigger now, those creamy, luscious curves practically falling out of her the vee of her dress. And her legs … oh god, those legs. They were revealed through a high slit in her dress, smooth, long, with the meaty thighs that I liked, the kind that you can bite into. In fact, the slit went so far up that her snatch was practically bared, which only made my cock punch out harder.
“Baby, we’ve got a lot to discuss,” I said smoothly, my expression giving nothing away despite my body’s heated reaction to her.
“But why are we here?” she gasped, trying to arrange her dress to cover her legs, the miles of smooth flesh. I found it funny, kind of. After all, you could find her in her birthday suit on her website, in countless vids and pics, all available at the click of a mouse. But I guess real-life is different for everyone, even strippers. They don’t want to be on display if they don’t have to be.
So it was endearing to watch her scramble, pulling the glittery fabric over her knees. Except that there wasn’t enough material, so she just held what she could in place, crossing her legs to cover as much as possible.
“Honey, don’t you think it’s too late for that?” my eyebrows arched. I didn’t mean to be cruel, just realistic.
And that really set her off.
“You have no idea,” she spat, a beautiful flush crawling over her chest. “You have no idea!”
What was the redhead talking about? She’d left a life with me, a life in the lap of luxury, to dance at a seedy joint. Suddenly, I was pissed too. What the fuck?
“You better get a grip girlie,” I warned, my expression grim. “Because you’ve had more than enough chances.”
“More than enough chances!” she shrieked. “What are you talking about? About the time that you booted me out of your house, too cowardly to tell me about your other woman?”
Okay, at least we were on the same page. Neither of us was interested in discussing Hustler, we were interested in re-hashing the past.
“What other woman?” I growled. “And I never kicked you out of the house … you left.”
That made her pause for an instant.
“Don’t pretend,” she said tightly. “I know all about her. About Marie.”
“What about Marie?” I said, my expression frozen, willing myself to give nothing away. There was a lot of history surrounding the dog-walker, but I wanted to figure out what Cleo knew first to minimize any damage.
“She’s the mother of your child,” said Cleo scornfully. “What, you won’t even acknowledge that?”
Now I knew things were really off course.
“Cleo,” I said slowly. “It’s true Marie was pregnant, but it’s not what you think.”
But upon hearing those words, the redhead had flushed again, her expression so hurt, so pained, that I had to continue immediately, I couldn’t stand putting her through this. Best to yank off the band-aid in one fell swoop.
“Marie was pregnant with a child which she thought was mine,” I said slowly, “but I never fucked her.”
“Drake,” said Cleo woodenly, looking out the window, unwilling to meet my eyes. “You don’t have to lie to me. I know how babies are made. You don’t have to make up some crazy story.”
And it was then that I seized her shoulders, gripping the narrow frame, forcing her to look at me, my eyes flashing. I had to make her understand.
“Lorena’s lies have messed shit up so bad that it’s impossible to disentangle,” I growled, “but I’m going to try. I have to try.”
“Baby,” I said slowly, “you know your mother was insecure right? That she was getting older, starting to sag, that she was worried I was going to divorce her and kick her out, right?”
But Cleo wouldn’t even acknowledge me, instead staring out the window, her expression frozen. But I saw a single tear streak from the corner of her eye, and that tear broke my heart, a great surge of emotion running through my big frame. My girl hurt and I had to fix it asap.
“Cleo,” I continued, more gently this time. “Lorena and I never had a real marriage, you know that. Back then, I just needed easy twat and Lorena was it. She never expected anything, never bothered me, so I married her for convenience,” I said. “But she started getting insecure because her body was starting to go to shit, sagging, showing her age.”
Cleo still wasn’t looking at me, but I could tell she was listening, biting her lip while staring out the window, that one tear still streaming down her cheek.
I tried to explain some more.
“Lorena wanted my lifestyle,” I said slowly, “and she was afraid that I’d kick her to the curb, divorce her once she started getting old. So she turned to all sorts of shenanigans to keep me hooked.”
That got the redhead’s attention finally. She turned to me with a hurt expression on her face.
“She pushed me towards you, did you know that?” she said softly. “Her own daughter, she offered me in her place, as a replacement for her. Did you know that?”
And I nodded slowly.
“I’m so sorry honey, it’s some fucked up shit,” I said from the heart. What had happened to Cleo wasn’t fair, not by a long shot. No one deserved Lorena as a mom. “I didn’t know at first, but I figured it out after a while and when I did, I wanted to stop but you were so beautiful, so tempting, and we’d already started the sex …” I rumbled, pausing, unsure.
Cleo flushed, biting her lip again. I have to admit, the word “sex” aroused me too, my john instantly coming alert, the blood beginning to pulse in my groin. But there was too much to say, and I commanded my body to behave for the time being.
“But if we were sleeping together then Lorena had succeeded, she had a golden ticket already,” said Cleo slowly. “Why would she try to break us up?”
And here, I took a deep breath.
“Because I was falling in love with you baby,” I said gently. “If I fell in love with you, who knows what would happen next? I’d want to marry you, have babies with you, which meant I’d definitely divorce her, kick her to the curb.”
And here, Cleo’s eyes grew wide. Her mouth opened but before we could get into the heavy stuff, I interrupted again.
“Baby, let me finish,” I said. “When Lorena realized that her plan with you had backfired, she hatched another, even more diabolical plan. She wanted a baby with me, just for the money. Because even if I divorced her, I’d probably still have to pay a shit ton of cash just in child support.”
Cleo looked confused at this point.
“But how were you going to conceive?” she asked, shaking her head. “Lorena knew you had no interest in her body anymore, there was no way to make a baby,” she finished.
And this was the most twisted part.
“Through Marie,” I said slowly, “that stupid dog-walker. She convinced Marie to be her surrogate.”
Cleo gasped.
“What? How?” she asked. “Being a surrogate is no joke, and where would she get the sperm, anyways?”
Here was the despicable part, the part that made my voice curdle with rage again.
“Your mother,” I said, my voice choking at how amoral the slut was, “saved my sperm from years ago, froze it, and asked the clinic to create a zygote from my sperm and her egg. She had the zygote implanted in Marie’s uterus.”
But Cleo was incredulous.
“She saved your sperm?” she asked, gasping. “How did Lorena do that?”
I shook my head, still stunned by the woman’s sheer tenacity.
“From used condoms,” I said simply. “There were a couple times after I fucked her when I’d find used condoms lying around, still filled with my jism. Your mom didn’t throw them away on purpose. She was saving my sperm so that she could get a zygote made.”
Cleo gaped at me before her face shuttered, turning away.
“I don’t believe it,” she said stiffly. “This is so complicated that it’s unreal. Maybe Marie got pregnant from the sex you were having, like normal people,” she said bitterly, not looking at me still.
But this was where Lorena’s plans had gone off the rails.
“No Cleo,” I said forcefully, putting a big finger under her chin to get her to look into my eyes. “I knew the child wasn’t mine. I knew they were lying all along.”
But Cleo was just tired now.
“You don’t have to lie to me, Drake,” she said. “You slept with Marie, you got her pregnant, it’s that simple.”
“No, listen to me,” I said forcefully. “I never had sex with Marie. I never put my penis in her pussy. That’s how I knew that everything Lorena said was lies.”
At this, Cleo flushed again.
“Well, even if you never had sex with Marie, what happened with the baby?” she asked slowly. “There was still a zygote from your sperm. Where is your son or daughter now?”
“That’s the thing,” I said slowly, “I don’t have a son or daughter. Marie was pregnant, sure, but it’s some other dude’s kid. Honey,” I said taking a deep breath. “I had a vasectomy ages ago. It’s something that I did when I was young, there were so many women out to get me, to catch me in their web. I fucking hated it, all these bitches wanting to be my baby mama, get a nice payout for life, so I had a vasectomy,” I concluded simply.
And here, Cleo drew in a deep breath.
“I’m confused,” she said slowly. “Whose baby was Marie pregnant with then?” she asked, shaking her head.
“Who knows?” I asked. “Lorena was a fucking manipulator. She figured that if I had sex with Marie, I wouldn’t even question the pregnancy until it was too late.”
“But you always knew it wasn’t yours,” said Cleo slowly.
“Yes,” I growled. “That bitch implanted Marie with some random dude’s sperm mixed with her egg. I threw them both out the minute they confronted me with the pregnancy.”
And Cleo just shook her head.
“This is so confusing,” she said slowly. “I can’t believe Lorena would go to such lengths.”
But I shook my head.
“Believe it,” I growled. “I was a lifestyle to her, nothing more. With me, she could keep up a lavish life, even sleep with the pool boy if that’s what she wanted. But once I decided I wanted to be with you, she knew her days were numbered, I wasn’t going to let her continue her depraved ways forever.”
Cleo was silent for a moment.
“So you’ve never had a child? Never had a child with another woman?” she asked slowly.
“Never,” I grunted, staring at her hard.
“And have you … ?” she asked, her voice trailing off, eyes looking out in the distance as she bit her lip nervously. But I knew what she was asking, and despite the ridiculousness of the situation, it was true. I’d essentially been celibate for four years and wasn’t afraid to say it.
“I haven’t slept with anyone since I was with you,” I said harshly. “No one’s been with me since you.”
And here, Cleo drew a deep breath.
“I never would have guessed,” she said slowly, “Drake Markham, alpha male, man about town … on his own for four years.”
I paused for an instant.
Well,” I drawled. “I wouldn’t say that I was ‘alone,’ exactly.”
That made Cleo look up again, eyes flashing, chin lifted.
“Who have you been with then?” she asked, challenging me, straightening her shoulders as if for battle.
And I smiled at her.
“With you, baby. With your videos, the live cam feeds, the toys you’ve produced. I’ve been living with a simulation of you in my arms, albeit from a distance, but it’s always been you, honey.”
And with that, Cleo drew in a deep breath, that beautiful décolletage rising, her boobs creamy and full, tempting, distracting me.
“I see,” she said slowly. “I see.”
“Yes honey,” I rumbled, taking her hand. “And it’s time to make it real once more.”
And with that, my lips crashed down on hers, taking what was mine, what belonged to me … forever.