CHAPTER THREE
Clarke
I’m beside myself just watching her enter my home.
This is where she belongs.
If it wasn’t obvious from the moment I saw her in my office that she was mine, it would be now. The presence I’ve felt for the last five years in my apartment…it seems to be at rest now, just having Emery there. This place has been missing something all this time—Emery. My angel. She walks in through the door, her petite figure outlined by the city skyline view, and I want to kneel on the spot. Ask her to be my wife and never leave. Already, I’m anxious about tomorrow. What if she wishes to go somewhere without me? To see this Karen? I don’t want to smother her, but I’m afraid there’s no choice. The only way I’ll know she’s safe is if we’re in the same room, preferably touching.
Touching.
God, she turns me into an animal.
I’m stalking her as she floats through the penthouse, the blue dress molded her to delicious ass, her long hair swaying, tickling the small of her back. Self-control has never been a problem for me, but all of my willpower is being poured into not dragging her to my bed and fucking her mercilessly. I’ve got to get a hold of myself.
Any hope I had that sex with Emery would ease some of this relentless hunger I have for her…it’s gone. The way she rode my dick in the restaurant, her ankles smacking off the chair legs, fingernails digging into the back of my neck…I already know I’m in for a lifetime of obsessive need for this girl. I haven’t even been inside of her yet and I’m already desperate to fill her full of my seed again. Again. Again. Until she’s swollen with my child.
And look at her, innocently trailing her fingers along my hallway wall, no idea I’m barely leashing the beast she woke up inside me.
Soon enough, she’ll meet him.
Soon enough, I’ll meet him, too, since she’s the only one who has made him stir. I’m not even sure how ferocious this beast inside me is…or what shape he’ll take. I’m poised right on the edge of self-discovery and it’s all because of this extraordinary girl. Her inner strength shines from within her so brightly, it’s impossible to be anything but optimistic when I’m around her. The trust she shows me…it has reminded me I need to trust myself more. Follow my instincts when it comes to business. That conviction has been lacking of late and she’s given it back to me, simply by being herself.
Despite all of this, I can’t shake the odd sense I’m missing something. Tomorrow will be soon enough to learn everything there is to know about Emery—and I will be learning everything. I want to know where she was born, what movies she favors, her favorite meal. What makes her giggle, what makes her cry (so I can destroy it), and…hell, I want to know what she’s thinking every fucking minute of the day. I want to hear every thought in her gorgeous head as it occurs and I’m going to find a way to accomplish it. Even if it means sitting her on my lap all day, every day, and making the same demand over and over.
Tell me what you’re thinking, angel.
Tell me again.
And now?
I put a hand against my forehead and squeeze tight, trying to gather some semblance of control. It’s a futile mission, though. Emery has turned me inside fucking out and there’s no going back. As if I’d ever want to.
We’re approaching my bedroom now and I hold my breath, waiting for the moment I’ll see her in front of my king-sized, four-poster bed—but I’m not prepared for the primal surge inside me when it happens. Her feet are sunk into the plush carpet, her hands wringing at her waist. The bed so high, she’ll probably have to jump onto the edge and climb in. Or I’ll have to give her a boost, which I’m already striding forward to do…because I can’t wait any longer to make her mine. If my cock doesn’t rip through her cherry soon, I’m going to lose my mind.
Emery turns to me and murmurs my name softly. “Clarke?”
I catch her around the waist and swing her up onto the bed. “Yes, angel?”
She blushes when I slip off her shoes, letting them thud onto the ground. “Why did you look so frustrated and sad when I walked into your office today?”
Trying to think back to a time before Emery is a challenge, but I try. “I think I was on a phone call. Publicity people.” Reaching up to loosen the crown of braids on her head, I sigh. “They think pictures of me are more appealing than the technology.” I wink at her. “And I tend to be just a little disagreeable about that.”
Her mouth ticks up in a teasing smile. “Just a tad?”
I hum, enjoying the act of unbraiding her hair, marveling over the golden waves left behind. “I’m nice to you, angel. That’s all you need to worry about.”
“There you go again, telling me when I should and shouldn’t worry.” Lips pressed together, she reaches up hesitantly, then starts to unravel the knot of my tie. “You deserve to have someone worry about you.”
“Yeah?” My heart climbs up into my mouth. “You want to worry about me, angel?”
“Yes,” she says breathlessly, before her nose wrinkles into a frown and she gives an authoritative nod, like the world’s cutest boss. “And they should be shouting from the rooftops about your new method for naturally producing hydrogen…”
To say I’m stunned is an understatement. “You know a lot about the company.”
Her shrug is jerky. “I-I work there.”
“Until today, you were in the file room.”
I’m poised to question her further, because damn, she was already too good to be true. Now she has an interest in renewable energy? I want to know how she came by the information. In a newspaper? On television? But she speaks first. “About that whole assistant thing. Are you sure you want me in your office all day?” She exhales a laugh. “Won’t you get sick of me?”
“No.”
She’s obviously waiting for me to expand. When I don’t, she smiles so gorgeously, I have to grind my back teeth together to keep from tackling her onto the bed. “Oh.”
“Emery, I…” I brush her hair back, watching the soft strands filter through my fingers. “It’s been a long time since I had someone inspire me.”
Sadness sweeps into her eyes. “Your business partner, Gary?”
I nod. “Yeah, I forgot what it was like to be excited about what I do. Everything has gone so stale. And then you walk in…” I swallow the sudden mass in my throat. “You walk in and the world is suddenly bright with color and I remember what it’s like to reach for the things I want. You woke me up from a dead sleep, angel. So yes, I want you in my office. I want you in my bed. I want you all around me. Now. Tomorrow. Every day that comes after.”
“I hope you mean that,” she whispers.
“I never say things I don’t mean, Emery.” I press my forehead to hers. “Ever.”
After a moment, she takes a deep breath and nods. Secure in the knowledge that I have forever to convince her I’d die before letting her go, I force myself to relax. As much as possible when I’ve got a hard-on to beat the band, anyway.
Goddamn, this is heaven. Standing here in front of the most exquisite creature in the world and letting her tend to me. She sets aside my tie and—with a shy glance up at me through her eyelashes—starts to unbutton my shirt. The hem of her dress has ridden up, leaving her thighs bare and spread, as if my cock needs to get any harder. Already I’m dripping semen from the tip of my erection, my balls heavy and aching to release their contents as deep as possible inside of her.
When she’s finished unbuttoning my shirt, I let it fall to the ground and I think she’s going to faint again. As her blue-eyed gaze slides over me in unabashed wonder, her breath travels in and out in a wheeze. Color leeches from her cheeks and panic seizes me. “Emery—”
“I’m fine,” she blurts. “I’m fine, it’s just…you’re s-so…”
I grip the tops of her thighs and lean in, brushing our mouths together, memorizing her texture and taste. “Take a breath, angel. It’s just a body.” I tease her innocent tongue into a lazy kiss, hoping to calm her down. “This body is just the thing housing my heart—and that heart is fucking wild for you.”
Our eyes meet for a long beat of time. And then Emery peels her dress off over her head and sets it aside, leaving her in nothing. Not a fucking stitch. Just a wet, virgin pussy, jiggly, little tits and innocent, trusting eyes. It’s a wonder I’m not foaming at the mouth.
At least I don’t think I am.
“Angel,” I groan, stroking my growing cock through my pants. “I’ve waited a long time for you. I’ll do my best to control myself, but it might hurt a little this first time. You’ll forgive me, won’t you? I can’t stand the thought of you being angry at me.”
“I could never be mad at you, Daddy,” she whispers.
And my fucking world explodes with light.
Emery slaps her hands over her mouth, shaking her head vigorously. “I don’t know why I said that,” she says. “I’m sorry.”
She tries to slide off the bed, but I hold her by the shoulders, trying to come to grips with the rapid expansion taking place inside of me. There has always, always been something missing when it came to the opposite sex. Something I couldn’t put a finger on and gave up on trying to find a long time ago. To be exact, I stopped looking for the elusive missing piece the day I started sensing that warm, hidden presence in my world. It brought me far more comfort and contentment than I could hope to find with anyone else. Emery has just given me that same feeling, multiplied by a thousand. A million.
She’s what I’ve needed my whole life.
There is a degree of wickedness in me I’ve always known was there, but I didn’t know how to feed it. That simple word, a single whispered title, out of Emery’s mouth and my universe makes sense. I’m a red-blooded man and I’ve had no choice but to pleasure myself throughout my life. Years ago, I occasionally searched for what I needed with members of the opposite sex, but I’ve never, ever been fully satisfied. The vibration in my blood is telling me this is why. I’ve been missing this girl. I’ve been missing this bond that sings between us.
Not anymore. I’m never going to live without her again.
My hands drop from Emery’s shoulders to her knees and I push them wide open on the bed, revealing her sweet pussy, all glistening and dusted with blonde hair. Mine.
“Don’t be sorry, little girl,” I rasp, unzipping my pants with one hand. “Be nice and quiet while you and Daddy have play time.”