~ Ava

 

I lounged around the penthouse for much longer than was warranted, and almost certainly overstayed my welcome but, Ares wasn’t there to prevent me from doing so, so I explored. The space was much larger than any apartment I’d ever been in before, with two stories and a total of ten rooms. It was, in my mind, hugely grandiose for a single person, but Ares had certainly worked for his fortune, and so, who was I to judge where he decided to live?

I passed the most time in Ares’ bedroom, lounging on the bed as I replayed the previous night in my head over and over again.

It had been perfect. I couldn’t have imagined a better experience for my first time. Ares, in typical un-Ares fashion, had been attentive and patient with me—had treated me like there was something between us. Of course, I knew better. If ever I had doubted that we were anything more than publicist and client, I was disavowed of that particular notion when he left the morning after with barely a word.

I supposed I had to be happy with my lot. The man had given me a mind-blowing first time, which was more than most women my age could boast. I should simply take the boon with a smile and get back into the swing of things. Of course, that meant leaving the man’s penthouse to face the light of day.

Somehow, around noon, I managed to do that. Ruefully, I realized that last night’s jaunt was probably the first and last time I’d ever see the inside of Ares’ apartment, and now, I had to contend with that.

The sobering thought was enough to keep me from going home where I dreaded being alone with my own thoughts. Luckily, the office was open on Sunday and there was always work that needed to be done. I made my way uptown, glad, for once, to keep busy. Maybe once I got to my desk, I’d take a look at the application for my Manhattan townhome—remind myself exactly why I was doing all this.

When I stepped off the elevator on the tenth floor, however, there was a totally unexpected surprise waiting for me.

“Ava!”

I froze in the walkway between cubicles as my mother stepped out to meet me, her smile warm and inviting. I let her pull me into her embrace because there was little else I could do. I had no idea what she was doing in my office. Perhaps, if I was very lucky, she just wanted to see me.

But I knew better. I’d long found that, when dealing with my mother and sister, it was best to treat every situation very cautiously. However well-meaning they might be, the appearance of either of them didn’t usually represent anything enjoyable or welcome.

“Hi, Meredith.” I smiled tiredly, hoping against hope that this would actually be a pleasant encounter. “What brings you to my office?”

“Oh, darling, I do wish you’d address me properly.” She wanted me to call her mother, but that was a stretch. In the wake of my father’s death, Meredith did the best she could to parent me, but what actually happened was more like the molding of a pedigreed puppy. She wanted my life to be identical to hers—a prospect that threatened to make me utterly miserable. I’d never been the type to cling to numbers and medical jargon—which meant that being a surgeon was completely beyond me. Additionally, law had always bored the hell out of me, which meant I wouldn’t be following in my older sister’s footsteps either.

Much to the disappointment of my mother.

“I went to your apartment to find you but you weren’t home, darling. I supposed this was the only other place you could be.”

“Well, congratulations,” I sighed, brushing past her to enter my cubicle. “You hit the jackpot.”

“I can’t imagine the life you must lead...  to work on the weekends.” Meredith shuddered, grimacing as she flipped her perfect blonde hair. Considering that she was a bottle-blonde in juxtaposition to my own natural blonde locks, her color was far more full-bodied than mine...  oh, the wonders of an expensive salon visit.

“I like my job, mother,” I replied in exasperation, booting up my desktop. The way she talked about my company, you might think they were the city’s top reprobates instead of a highly ranked publicity firm. If she wanted something from me, I hoped she would just come out and say it. I was already having a hell of a day and I didn’t need her degradation to add to the mix. “I don’t mind coming in.”

“Of course, you don’t, dear. Anything to earn a few extra pennies.” She picked at a few imaginary specks of dust on the partition of my cubicle. God forbid anything should muss her impeccable Prada suit. “I just came to see how you were doing. I haven’t heard from you in a while.”

Of course, she hadn’t. We had a gigantic argument when I decided to work for a publicity firm instead of going to law or medical school and since then, I’d been reluctant to speak with her. It was hard enough for me to make ends meet already. The last thing I needed was my mother peppering me with criticisms and “I told you so’s.”

“Everything’s fine. I’m doing well.”

“Are you?”

I suppressed a groan. I should have known I wasn’t getting off that easy. Meredith leaned over me, plucking last month’s evaluation from where I’d left it near my monitor. Though I attempted to snatch it back from her, she was far too quick. “According to this, your numbers are some of the lowest in the company. You keep taking on these small-time clients, Ava...  they’re doing nothing for your career. At this rate, you’re going nowhere fast. Weren’t you saving up for a townhouse? Darling, the down payment is two hundred thousand...”

“Yes, Meredith.” I yanked my report from her hand, almost ripping it in the process as my face burned in humiliation. You might think she’d wait to give me a verbal undressing in my own home, but no. That was too much to ask of my mother. “I’m well aware of how much the down payment is.” I only looked at the paperwork every day, all but salivating with hope.

“Well, there’s no need to get snippy, dear.” Meredith turned up her nose, obviously offended at my interjection. “It’s not my fault you’re here. I would have chosen a career with more financial security for you. All I’ve ever wanted is for you to thrive.”

Right. All she wanted was a perfectly coiffed little debutante to show off to all her friends—and I had long eclipsed the age where I was willing to play into her machinations.

“I am thriving, mother,” I argued with her, my voice terse. “I’m happy here. I have my own apartment, I pay my own bills. I’m perfectly self-sufficient.”

“Sweetheart, be honest with yourself, at this rate, you’ll be fifty before you can afford a decent apartment. Beyond that, how do you ever expect to make a name for yourself if you can’t even choose the proper clients?”

Fuming, I turned to her, doing everything in my power to keep my tone civil. “For your information, Meredith, I just signed a million dollar contract a few weeks ago, so I think my townhouse will be a reality far sooner than you give me credit for.”

“Really?” She was suddenly bent over me, eager for the information. “When do you get paid? Who’s the client? When will you be introducing me?”

I knew what her reaction would be. Oddly enough, the knowledge only further encouraged me to scandalize her. My head held high, I looked my mother straight in the eye.

“I’m working for Ares Wolfe.”

I might have gotten the same reaction if I’d physically struck her. Meredith staggered into the far wall of my cubicle, her face slack with shock and outrage. “Ares Wolfe?” By this point, her routine had everyone in the office staring, and a pounding headache had started at the base of my skull. “Dear God, Ava, have you lost your mind? That man is an absolute degenerate! He’s in the tabloids every single day, fighting, whoring, gambling, you name it! He’s worse than a dog.”

“He’s changing, Meredith,” I argued, my tone taut with irritation. “I’m helping him change. It’s the only reason I even agreed to be his publicist in the first place—to tame that image.”

“You don’t tame the devil himself, Ava. Lord above, the man wouldn’t know the straight and narrow if you beat him with it! You’re to drop him as a client immediately. I won’t have my daughter consorting with such a man.”

If Meredith had pulled this same routine two months ago, I would have agreed. That was the way of things. My mother demanded, and I weakly hung my head and obeyed. It had been that way for as long as I remembered.

But I was tired of the status quo.

Meredith went through the trouble of coming to my office to humiliate me—she made demands of me and plans for me as though there was no need to listen to anything I said. Above all, she implied that she still knew what was best for me—as if I were still a child.

Enough was enough.

“No.”

At my quiet, firm refusal, Meredith’s mouth dropped open in shock. She began to shake her head but before she could continue, I beat her to the punch. “You don’t have the right to demand anything of me, Meredith. You don’t pay for my welfare anymore and you’ve no right to govern my life. If I want to run publicity for Ares Wolfe, I’ll do as I damn well please.” Slapping my hands against my desktop, I stood, seething with years of pent-up oppression. “I am good at my job. Regardless of if you agree with the path I’ve chosen, I’m here; for better or for worse, and I’d appreciate it if you stopped trying to mold me in your image. I’m not Lilah, and I’m not you—I’ll never be you. I’m keeping my client and my job, thank you very much. Now,” I glanced toward the elevator bay in a clear dismissal, my heart pumping with adrenaline. “If you don’t have any other favors to ask, I think it’s about time you leave.”

The entire office had gone so silent you might have heard a pin drop. Even if people weren’t staring, they had long since stopped pretending to work in favor of eavesdropping on our conversation.

My mother gaped like a goddamned fish as her color rose higher and higher, suffusing her face in a bright, embarrassed blush. I couldn’t even feel sorry for her. It was about time she felt what I felt. Turnabout was fair play.

Ultimately, however, Meredith’s mouth snapped shut as she drew herself up to her full, albeit diminutive, height. “Fine. If that’s what you want, I’ll leave.”

I don’t think I had ever wanted something so badly.

Meredith turned on her heel to leave my cubicle in a huff—but she could never let well enough alone. Halfway to the elevator, she turned back to face me, hands on her hips, stance stubborn. “You will be at the hospital’s charity gala in a few weeks, won’t you?”

There she went again, demanding things of me but at this point, I was willing to say or do just about anything to get her out of my office. “Yes, fine. Whatever.”

Meredith’s eyes narrowed in distaste. “It’s not whatever—it’s the biggest event of the year and I’m being honored with an award, so I expect to see you there with bells on, young lady. Your sister’s bringing her fiancé and five of her co-workers.”

Great. My sister’s boring future husband and a gaggle of lawyers. Sounded like a party in the making.

“Great. See you there.”

“I’ve lined up a date for you, Ava. A fellow surgeon in the field. He’s a remarkable young man who does wonderful work. His name is Hamilton Carmichael.”

The name alone was enough to make me cringe slightly. He probably came from money and had never had to work for anything a day in his life. Not my ideal dinner date. As I was on a roll, I didn’t mind letting my mother know exactly that.

“I’ll be at the gala, Meredith, but I don’t need a date.” When the woman opened her mouth to protest, my gaze narrowed in warning. “I’m not going with him, and if you’re going to make an issue of this, don’t bother asking me to come at all.”

That was enough to shut her up. Her eyes going frosty, my mother finally turned to take her leave. I found myself holding my breath until she was safely contained in the downward moving elevator, at which point I slumped against the edge of my cubicle, my heart in my throat.

Jesus Christ, I was insane. I just told Meredith off. Me.

I’d been letting the woman come at me for decades, belittling and pigeon-holing me into doing exactly what she wanted and then, just like that, I snapped.

“Damn, Ava. That was your Mom?” Stephen, from the cubicle next to mine, popped his head out to grin up at me admiringly. “Nice.”

It was as close to a compliment as anyone in the office had ever of given me, and I accepted it with pride. Now that my mother was actually gone I felt a curious elation filling my chest. I stood up to her. I no longer had to allow her to dictate my life for me—not now or ever—and I’d never felt so free.

I felt like I could tackle anything in the world—up to and including the meeting I had with Ares the next day. After all, who cared what had transpired between us? I could certainly be grateful to the man for rocking my world so completely while continuing to work with him professionally.

No problem. I had this completely under control.

I suppose, in retrospect, I completely got what was coming to me the next day. I went to Ares’ building budding with confidence from telling Meredith off, convinced that we could go back to the way things were. I was his publicist and he was my client...  and now that we’d finally fallen into bed together, all that sexual tension would have melted away.

That last notion, in particular, was proved wrong the moment I entered the man’s office.

“Good morning, Ava.” When he looked up from his paperwork to grace me with a small, sexy smile, my stomach did a little somersault. Still, being faced with my own suddenly insatiable appetite seemed like a small price to pay for being on top of my game once more. “You’re looking very chipper. Someone spike your coffee?”

I merely rolled my eyes, unable to keep from smiling at his jest. “A bit early for that, Ares. Though that would explain why you’re always desperate for your morning cup.”

The dark-haired man chuckled, setting his paperwork aside to lean back in his seat and stare up at me. Whatever awkwardness had been between us the previous morning seemed to have faded and Ares had no problem giving me a very leisurely once over. I was, in my own opinion, dressed in one of the most respectable of the outfits he’d forced on me, but if the man’s expression were any indication, he was most probably imagining me naked. “I wouldn’t dare. You’d kill me.”

I rolled my eyes with a smirk. “Since when did you start caring what I might do to you?”

“Since I’m trying to change my image. I’ve been nothing but the picture of a good boy, haven’t I?”

I supposed I couldn’t argue with him there. With the exception of the time he’d given me my first orgasm in the back of his Rolls, he’d been a saint—all the way up to when he’d taken my virginity two days before.

And just like that, the night came roaring back. How could I suppress it with Ares sitting right there in front of me, eying me like some kind of decadent dessert? My face flushed as I remembered the way he touched me—how easily he brought me to orgasm after orgasm until I could barely remember my own name.

And the feel of him inside me.

“Let’s talk about this week.” I forced myself to perch on the edge of his desk as I leafed through the schedule of events. I straightened my spine to bolster myself, trying to regain the confidence of the previous day. I told Meredith off. Told her off. I could do anything. I was invincible.

“There it is again.”

I snapped to attention at Ares’ comment, low and amused. The man was eying me with a smile of his own—not a smirk or a cutting sneer—but a genuine smile. It reminded me of how the man smiled when he reminisced about his grandfather, and something warm filled my chest. “That gorgeous smile. You look quite pleased with yourself. You going to reveal your secret?”

This time, when I blushed, it wasn’t in embarrassment, but pride. Clearing my throat, I drew myself up to look down at him. “Not that it’s that big of a deal, but I told my mother off. She was trying to embarrass me in the middle of my office and halfway through her tirade something in me just snapped.” I shrugged, still grinning like a loon. “I decided I didn’t want to deal with her bullshit anymore.”

I still couldn’t believe what I said to her. It felt so good to unload...  I’d probably be riding the high for another few months—or at least until I was forced to show up at her boring charity gala.

“Well, well.” Ares chuckled, his look one of admiration. “Look at you. My rebellious little girl’s growing some claws.”

Though I wanted to be upset at the term of endearment he used, instead, I found myself preening. For the first time in my life, I was rebellious. I was sticking it to my mother and coming out of my shell. I was taking what I wanted. Was it really so wrong for me to let Ares own a part of me? After all, I had given the man my virginity.

“Tell me what happened.”

I didn’t even second guess his command. Slipping into a state of subservience where Ares was concerned had become second nature, it felt right and, at some point—I’m not sure when I stopped fighting it. I divulged to him, telling him how my mother demanded that I drop him as a client and how she had always badgered me to pursue a more profitable career. I told him how I had all but shamed her from the building, refusing to attend her gala with some stranger she hand-picked. “Knowing her,” I mused with a frown, “He’s probably boring and vapid...  I’d rather pull an all-nighter for work than spend one minute with him.”

Ares seemed even more amused now that I’d let him in on the entire affair. His smile was still firmly in place as he leaned back in his chair, resting his head on his arms. “Good to know. Not like I would have allowed you to see him. No one touches what’s mine.”

My eyes widened at his profession even as a flare of heat ignited in my lower belly. His...  I was his. “I don’t...  It’s not a matter of allowing, Ares.” I had to at least pretend to keep a semblance of my pride. If I fell apart all over the man at this juncture, I’d just embarrass myself. “I’m my own woman.”

“Of course, you are. And that woman belongs to me. If I’m fucking you, you’re mine and no one else’s.”

Goddamn him—this was far too much like the old Ares for my taste. Brash, dominant, and demanding and Christ if I wasn’t all but soaking my panties over it. The man was all over the place, at some points tender and caring and others completely overbearing...  but I couldn’t tear myself away.

And it had nothing to do with the paycheck. Lifting my chin, I eyed him directly, my body burning with want I hadn’t even realized had been accumulating. I’d been craving Ares again since the moment I left his penthouse, and now, my physical desires were threatening to overhaul my rational brain. And so, I took a chance. I stared down my nose at the glorious man sitting before me, and I baited him. “You can’t tell me what to do.”

In the space of a single second, his expression changed from humoring to predatory. Ares rose from his seat to round his desk and I shrank back, almost falling off the edge. But the man didn’t approach me. Instead, he stalked across the length of the room to pull his office door closed and lock it with a condemning click.

When he turned back to me, I knew I was in more trouble than I might have ever imagined. His gaze never leaving mine, Ares reached for his tie and unknotted it, taking the silk length between his two hands to fist menacingly. Slowly, I began to shake my head, both horrified and more turned-on than I’d ever been in my entire life.

“Get up, Ava.”

His low growl rolled over me and I shivered, a moment before I slid from the edge of the desk to stand on somewhat unsteady legs. Ares approached me—step by torturously slow step—until mere inches separated us. The scent of his cologne enveloped me and my breath hitched as he took one of my wrists, and then the other, to place a heated kiss against each.

Then, in a smooth motion, he forced me around until I was bent over his desk, my behind shamelessly pressed against his very obvious erection. As my cheek touched the cool glass surface beneath me, I struggle not to pant like a goddamned animal. I writhed against the man as he wrapped his tie around my wrists, tying them securely behind my back a moment before he was hiking the bottom half of my dress up and over my hips.

I was drenched, embarrassingly so, my own slickness beginning to slide down my inner thighs. At the sight, Ares growled possessively. “You don’t want me to own you, Ava? Then why are you so fucking wet underneath me?”

This was unorthodox. Everything about it screamed wrong. We were in an office building for God’s sake. His office building, in his office! Atop that, there was a row of goddamned floor to ceiling windows staring us in the face and, restrained, I could hardly keep my goods from being displayed.

But, somehow, incredibly, I didn’t protest when Ares tugged the bodice of my dress down, freeing my round breasts with their painfully taut nipples. I didn’t tell him to stop when he tugged my panties aside and stroked over the wet seam of me with searching fingers. When he finally unzipped his slacks to free his throbbing cock, I could do little more than wriggle and whimper, trapped between the desk and his insatiable appetite. I was willing to do anything to have him inside me again; to have him really own me.

It occurred to me, briefly, that I’d taken leave of my senses. Careful, calculating, professional Ava was on vacation somewhere green and tropical and she’d left some desirous, subservient, eager-to-please Jezebel in her wake.

And then Ares took two handfuls of my behind and filled me in a swift, breathtaking thrust that halted all my thought processes entirely. My toes curled in the ridiculously uncomfortable high heels I wore and I bit back a cry, instead dropping my head against my chest as my entire body shuddered.

Dear God, that was sublime. Ares filled me so divinely that it was a struggle not to come on the spot. As I pressed back against him needily, his hand fisted in my hair and he drew me backward, making a taut line of my spine. The pain was only slight, but it was enough to remind me what the point of this endeavor was: he was owning me.

“You feel like you needed that, Ava?” Ares rasped in my ear, his own breathing labored as I clenched around him enticingly. “Feel good?”

“God, yes...” I gasped, wiggling back against him until his opposite hand came down unexpectedly against my ass with a sharp crack that made me jump. The sharp sting blossomed into pleasure as I trembled violently. What the hell was this man doing to me?

“That’s my girl. Mine, do you understand me?” He pressed even deeper until my hips were pinned sharply against the desk and I was sure there would be marks later. He slapped me again and I cried out, wiggling in a vain attempt to escape. With my arms bound behind me, there was no way I could get purchase against either Ares or the desk—which meant I was screwed.

Literally and figuratively.

“I...  I...”

“You’re mine, Ava.” His hand somehow slid between me and the desk to find and rub at my clit ruthlessly until I was gasping and squirming. It took less than a minute to wring a powerful orgasm from me, and I was helpless to do anything but writhe on Ares cock as he forced it upon me.

This was far from the romance he’d shown me over the weekend, but somehow, just as powerful. Incredibly, his rough treatment made me even more aroused than his tender, languid loving and I found myself begging, nonsensical words spilling from my lips.

“Tell me you’re mine,” Ares growled against my neck, biting and sucking a line of marks against my skin. “Say it.”

“Yours...” I managed, half moan, half-wail. “I’m yours, Ares, anything you want, just, please...”

“Please what?” He pinched my clit and I yelped, sensation singing through my nerve endings.

“Fuck me.” I groaned shamelessly. “Give it to me...”

With a low growl of satisfaction, the man did just as I asked. He pulled from me almost completely before entering again, beginning a pounding rhythm that had me all but dancing on the edge of the desk. I swore he was so deep I could feel him in the back of my throat—that he would break me for rutting so wildly against me—but not once did I ask him to stop. I took everything he offered me greedily, arching back against him as much as I could as the sound of my moans and whimpers filled the office.

“That’s it.” Ares took hold of my hips, hefting me into the air so my toes barely brushed the floor and my weight pressed my breasts and torso flat against the surface of his desk. “Take it. Take everything. You look so goddamned perfect wrapped around my cock...”

That did it. With a keening cry, I came apart around him, my body quivering so hard I thought every muscle might cramp up. The pleasure was immense and overwhelming, rushing over me in a tide of delectation so powerful I went lightheaded with it, and at the feel of me clenching around him, Ares groaned hotly against the back of my neck, his hand fisting in my hair as he bucked into me one last time before the white-hot evidence of his completion filled me.

For a moment, it was all I could do to remember to breathe. I slumped against the desk as Ares lowered me back to the carpet—though my legs threatened to buckle. As I came back to myself, I realized that it was probably a very good thing that I had waited this long to lose my virginity. If by some miracle, I’d ever encountered sex as good as this before Ares, I might never have done anything else.

When he pulled out of me, I inhaled sharply, pressing my thighs together in an attempt to stem the mess I knew was coming. Next came the rush of sensation as Ares untied my hands, allowing the blood to come rushing back into my fingers.

I was glad that Ares, at least, knew what to do after mind-blowing midday sex in his office, as I laid there much like a ragdoll as he cleaned me up with some tissues. The immense man tugged my panties back into place before lowering my dress back to a more proprietary position. When I finally straightened to turn and face him, my face was scarlet and I could feel him dripping out of me.

But Ares was smiling, wide and indulgent and so sexy my womb clenched with it. All at once, I was even more profoundly satisfied with myself than I’d been the previous day. I pleased him. I was his good girl.

And damn if it didn’t feel good.

“Think you can make it to the bathroom on your own, Sweet?”

I forced myself to meet his eye despite that knowing, predatory smile that threatened to buckle my knees. “Yes...  I mean...  I should be fine.”

“You were already quite fine,” He smirked, lowering his head to press a brief kiss to my lips. “Now get.”

It wasn’t until I was halfway to the bathroom across from Margaret’s desk that I felt the slight sting of the dismissal. Part of me wished there had been a bit more between us in the aftermath of our mad rutting—despite the fact that it was the middle of the day and we had probably given someone one hell of a show.

I wanted him to kiss me and hold me...  to stroke me as I came down and comfort the tremors that still ravaged me...  but I supposed this would have to do.

As I washed up as best I could in the bathroom, I could feel my thought process begin to kick into overdrive. What I’d just done...  what I felt...  it could only spell trouble for me. Sandy had once suggested that a raunchy affair might be just what I needed—but I was quickly entering territory that had less to do with sex and more to do with...  well...  more.

Pausing mid-action, I gazed at myself in the mirror. What the hell was I getting into? My own reflection seemed to judge me, a mixture of pride and worry etched deeply on her face. I was flush cheeked and well satisfied physically, but to let him do that to me...  to be hurt by something so trivial as a light-hearted dismissal.

No.

I shook my head slowly as something very much like panic turned itself over in my stomach. Ares was the antithesis of what I was looking for in a man. Though he certainly had his moments, and I was willing to admit that there was far more to him than brash selfishness, that didn’t mean that my developing any type of feelings for him was justified. At all. I might be able to change his outward behavior but, at heart, Ares was still the playboy everyone knew him to be. There had never been any evidence that I could see that he was even capable of staying with a woman for more than a few weeks...  the fact that he’d decided that I was his...  well, that just meant that I was his next flavor, didn’t it?

The realization stung more than I would have liked to admit. Of course, I hadn’t gone into this expecting Ares to fall head over heels for me; I wasn’t trying to “fix” him for my sake. It was all for his investors whose millions depended entirely on how much Ares could charm. This, I reassured myself, had nothing to do with my feelings.

The moment the thought entered my mind, I winced. Now I was lying to myself. Wonderful.

“Why him?” The words slipped from me into the gratefully empty bathroom before I could stop them. Ares wasn’t and could never be my type. I wanted to start a family someday. I wanted a man who could love me the way my mother never had—who could support and bolster me through thick and thin. I wanted someone I could trust to want me until both our brains were jumbled and senile.

I’d be lucky if Ares stayed interested until the end of his contract. Whatever this was to me, it wasn’t the same thing for Ares...  and I had to come to terms with that.

Which was perfectly fine...  Or, at least, I’d make it fine. I was an adult, and I’d been through far worse straits than having a handsome billionaire lavish me with attention.

So, I’d just have to enjoy it while it lasted.

After going over Ares’ schedule with him, I found myself with a rare afternoon off. I planned to spend it going over my finances for the townhouse my mother was so convinced I couldn’t afford, but Sandy called me and saved me from an afternoon of reflection. The chick flick she invited me to see wasn’t necessarily at the top of my list, but I was willing to entertain any excuse to see my best friend.

I’d be lying if I tried to tell myself I wasn’t anxious to tell her about being with Ares and the new turn our working relationship had taken. I gratefully changed out of the clinging dress and heels the man required for our meeting and into jeans and a t-shirt.

A glance at my image in the mirror, however, gave me slight pause. I’d grown so used to seeing myself in Chanel and Prada over the past few weeks that the cheap denim and old vee-neck suddenly seemed somehow wrong.

I hesitated for only a moment before finding a pale blue button up which I matched with a silk Miu Miu skirt. I’d recently splurged on a new pair of shoes—nude kitten heels, which I figured I could wear for both work and play—and on they went. All in all, the outfit was much more figure-flattering and polished than jeans and a t-shirt. Ares would have been proud of me.

Before I could dwell much more on what Ares thought, I hurried from my apartment and toward the movie theater where Sandy was waiting. Though the buses were running slowly, I managed to make it with twenty minutes to spare, and the dark-haired woman spotted me the moment I stepped into the lobby. She waved me over with a grin before enfolding me in a warm hug that managed to momentarily melt away all my troubles.

“Look at you.” When Sandy pulled back, she was beaming. “I barely recognized you! You look gorgeous, Ava.”

My face burned at her compliment as I embarrassedly did a little three-sixty at her direction.

“Don’t tell me that’s one of the outfits Wolfe bought you?”

“Just the skirt,” I rebutted in my own defense. “The shirt and shoes are mine.”

“Hot damn, girl! Now that you’ve discovered your inner fashionista, we’re going to have to go shopping sometime!” I couldn’t help but laugh at the prospect. While I certainly liked looking polished, Cassandra Banks was the queen of retail. I wouldn’t even know where to start if she dragged me along. “So, tell me, how are things going with your top client? I want to know everything.”

As we took our places at the end of the line for tickets, I braced myself. There was a crap ton to tell, and I could only imagine how Sandy might react to a good majority of it. I knew she wouldn’t judge me, and that knowledge made me far more comfortable with her than I was with anyone else...  but that didn’t change the fact that it was time for me to divulge everything.

We stood in line for about twelve minutes while I spoke, and Sandy didn’t interrupt me a single time. Of course, there were certain junctures during the conversation when her mouth dropped open and I was fairly sure I was going to have to help her pick her jaw up off the floor, but nothing much more extreme than that, thankfully. By the time we had our tickets in hand, I didn’t know whether we were actually more interested in the latest rom-com or if, perhaps, a bar nearby might have been a better choice. We lingered outside the theater for the last few minutes before the movie started, choosing to gossip in low voices in favor of getting snacks in the concession stand.

“So, all the stories are true,” Sandy mused, her expression both disbelieving and admiring at the same time. “My hat’s off to you, Ava.”

I groaned, shaking my head. “The rumors are true. The man is the ultimate playboy. He screwed me in his office, for God’s sake.”

Sandy didn’t seem nearly as abashed about that particular detail as I was. When I mentioned it, she grinned, cat-like. “But it was good?”

I didn’t even need to hesitate. “Yes. Life-altering, even.”

Sandy laughed. “Then I see no reason to complain. Ava, trust me, I understand your concerns,” Sandy cut me off before I could voice much of a protest. “But seriously, I don’t think you’re giving yourself enough credit here. Yes, the man is certified rake, but look at you. He keeps coming back again and again...  he’s not the only one with the power here.” She took my shoulders, her smile all but glowing. “If you really want the man to be straight up about what’s going on between you, just confront him—for the sake of his state of mind and yours. I’d be willing to bet money that if you’re conflicted, there’s at least some part of him that’s conflicted too.”

At that hypothesis, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. “Clearly we’re not talking about the same man here. Ares Wolfe? Multi-billionaire? Slept his way through the roster of half of the world’s most beautiful women?”

“You among those women, Ava.” Sandy frowned, punching my arm lightly. “What you fail to realize is that if the man chose you, you’re among those ranks. Not that that’s any surprise to me.” She smirked secretively. “I’ve been watching Stephen and Jones ogle your ass for the past two years.”

My eyes widened in shock. “You liar!” I refused to believe it. Stephen and Jones were some of the only guys in the office I felt comfortable talking to because I was sure they weren’t objectifying me.

“Cross my heart.” Sandy laughed, shaking her head. “I’m not saying they don’t respect you...  they just think you’re hot. And why shouldn’t they?”

I thought that Ares had a monopoly on making me blush but it seemed I underestimated Sandy. Ducking my head, I looked away, torn somewhere between pleased and incredulous. “So, are we seeing this movie or what?”

Sandy sighed long-sufferingly. “I suppose we paid for the tickets...  but bar after. This discussion isn’t over.”

I should have known I wouldn’t get out of it that easily—and part of me was glad. After being emotionally oppressed since my father died, I was lucky to find someone like Sandy who not only understood my inherent shyness but helped bolster my confidence. She was my diamond in the rough and when I was with her if only for a few hours, everything was right with the world.

“Ava.” Before I could turn to enter the movie theater, Sandy caught my hand to squeeze reassuringly. “I hope you know that nothing you’re doing is wrong. It might be complicated to be wrapped up in a man like Wolfe, but this experience is good for you. Coming out of your shell, exploring your sexuality...  it can’t hurt that you’re having these experiences with a man who knows how to make your experiences memorable. So, don’t guilt-trip yourself, ok?”

I had to force a smile. Guilt-tripping myself was habitual. Much as I loved Sandy, it was going to take more than her simple suggestion to kick that habit...  and I didn’t know if I was up to the task.

Spending the evening with Sandy did me a world of good. I finished the night up tipsy, with more on my mind than my dalliance with Ares. My numbers were up in the office by simple virtue of having the most profitable client of all the employees, my townhouse was almost in reach and there was little, really, that I could complain about.

At least until my high wore off. When I returned to my apartment, kicking off my kitten heels, I planned to head straight for the shower and pamper myself with half an hour-long session. Before I could escape to the bathroom, however, my phone rang.

Assuming it could only be the office or Sandy at such an hour, I picked the device up to check the caller—and immediately frowned.

Why the hell would Lilah be calling me at eleven at night?

For a moment, I contemplated. In her line of work, she was in the office at seven every morning and religious about her sleep schedule. If she wanted to call and speak to (or lecture) me about something, she usually did it during her break or on the weekends. Late night was a bit of a stretch for her, which meant that one of two options was on the table: One, it was an emergency; or Two, my mother had put her up to it.

If I was carrying a little more of the moxie I’d found over the weekend, I might just have ignored the call altogether, but with Sandy gone and the guilt creeping back in, I found myself answering, even as I wondered what I was getting myself into.

“Hello?”

“Ava? Are you still awake?” My sister called me so rarely it was strange to hear her voice. Growing up, we had been worlds apart; she Meredith’s prized show pony while I struggled to make her proud for even a few minutes. Lilah had always been her mother’s daughter. I clung to Dad,  even after he died. We were polar opposites, which made it only natural that we drifted apart after we left the house we grew up in.

“Hi, Lilah. I’m awake.” I kept my tone carefully neutral as I sank down on the couch. “I find it weirder that you’re awake.”

“Yes, well...” She hesitated for a moment, making me even warier. “I was worried about you.”

Oh boy. This couldn’t bode very well. Now I was almost certainly sure that Meredith had put her up to something. Jesus, my day had been going so well.

“What’s there to worry about?” I inquired lightly, leaning back against the sofa as I did my best to remain civil. Her call had already put me on the defensive, but there was no need to jump the gun. Meredith and I had a bad enough relationship that I wanted to at least try to preserve what might be between Lilah and me—even if that hope was a dim one.

“Ares Wolfe.” I winced at his name from her lips. I might have known. “I heard about your contract, Ava, and I suppose that some congratulations are in order.”

For a moment, I wasn’t sure I’d heard her correctly. Congratulations? Wasn’t she calling to chew me out like our mother had? “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

Lilah laughed softly. “I want to congratulate you. A million-dollar contract is no mean feat. I understand it’s your most profitable to date. I’m proud of you.”

My emotions had been running a wild gauntlet since taking Ares on as a client but this, by far, was the strangest turn of events I’d seen. My sister was congratulating me. This was the woman who had once told me that there was no money in publicity. That I would make a better surgeon and should have followed in Mom’s footsteps. Lilah had even preened when our mother compared our paychecks, humiliating me in front of more than a few family friends.

And now she wanted to congratulate me. I honestly didn’t even know what to say. “Thank you...”

“I’ve always known you had the drive, Ava. I’m sorry if I’m not the best at showing it...  but I was hoping that maybe things could get better between us.”

Despite how wary I was of some kind of plot involving Meredith, I couldn’t deny that Lilah had me intrigued. When I was growing up, my father always told me that the bond between sisters was closer than anything in creation. He insisted that Lilah should be taking care of me, and I, her. When he died, however, everything had changed.

“Better...  how?” I probably sounded like a freaking parrot, but I couldn’t come up with anything more eloquent. My rational and instinctive brains were in conflict, trying to come to terms with one another. Until they did, I was stuck with one-liners.

“I haven’t always stood up for you when I should. I know it’s been hard for you. Mom can be kind of overbearing sometimes, but she has good intentions.” Yeah, like driving me up the freaking wall. Despite Lilah’s oversimplification, I forced myself to keep listening. “And I just wanted you to know that landing a contract with Wolfe...  that’s no small feat. I can’t imagine what you have to go through to keep the terms.”

On that, I had no comment. At this juncture, things between Ares and I were less about keeping terms and more about the thick vein of sexual tension that permanently existed between us. But that wasn’t something I was going to discuss with my sister. “It’s easier than you might think,” I said. “Things are working out well between us. Ares might be a handful but I think I’ve got him well under control.”

“Do you, Ava?” I stiffened as Lilah’s voice came back firm and inquiring. “I need you to understand, it’s not that I don’t have faith in you. You’re good and sweet and innocent and Wolfe... he’s just that. A wolf. He preys on those closest to him and I can’t stand the thought of you caught up in that.”

I opened my mouth, then shut it, mulling over the proper response.

Sweet. Innocent. That was the general consensus in my family when it came to me. Up until I met Ares, it had generally been true. I did the best I could with what I was given and rarely ever stepped out of line. But all that had changed recently. I found that, given my reputation, people could severely underestimate me—no one more than those in my family.

“Lilah, I’m fine.” The slight waver in my voice caught me off guard. I’d meant to say it with just as much steely frost as I’d used with Meredith the previous day, but it simply wouldn’t come. The fact of the matter was that there was, perhaps, one person who underestimated me even more than my mother and Lilah... and that was Ares himself. “Really.”

“You don’t sound fine, Ava.” Lilah’s tone was surprisingly kind... kinder than I had heard it in a long time, and I found myself fighting tears. This woman wasn’t Sandy, I reminded myself. She was on Meredith’s side and our mother had almost certainly told her to call... but she’d reached me when I was most vulnerable.

Damn her timing.

“Well, I am,” I insisted. “I’ve submitted the application for my townhome, I’ve got more money in the bank than I know what to do with and my life is just peachy. Thanks for calling, but there’s really absolutely nothing to worry about.”

There was silence on Lilah’s end of the line for a long beat before she answered. “Ava, I just don’t want him using you. You’re so kind... so good... I can’t see him being anything beyond a negative influence on you. You deserve better than that.” She sighed as I clutched the edge of my sofa in a death grip, willing my heart rate to slow. “I know Mom has a complicated way of showing it... but she loves you, Ava. She only wants what’s best for you, and I think, deep down, you know that.”

It was guilt-tripping, pure and simple, and I knew if Sandy was there, she would tell me so; but, in the absence of my friend, I found my resolve weakening. No one could dispute that Ares was a dangerous man to get involved with. I could only guess how many women had offered up their hearts on silver platters only to have their hopes dashed. Sure, the man was amazing in bed... but once the sex was over. 

I tried not to remember the way he’d all but fled his own penthouse to avoid speaking to me after our first night together—or how he sent me off to the bathroom with a pat on the head like I was some kind of favored pet after our little office interlude. I wondered if Ares really knew how to be intimate with someone. Certainly, he had the sex part covered, no problem. But beyond that... there seemed to be some barrier that I couldn’t get past.

I frowned. If only he could be the way he’d been that first night with me consistently. The way his face lit up when he talked about his grandfather and how he’d built his business... for a moment, I almost felt like I really knew him.

But I didn’t. I could make Ares play the good guy all I wanted but I doubted I’d ever really know him the way a healthy relationship required. And while we were on the subject of healthy relationships, what I was doing with Ares was the antithesis of healthy. Sexual exploration was all well and good, but when business got wrapped up in the mix.

Jesus. All at once, I wondered what the hell I was doing... just maybe, Lilah had a point. She and my mother had always been hard on me, but the wanted what was best for me—and clearly, that wasn’t Ares.

“Was Mom upset about the other day?” I asked before I could stop myself, knowing I had just sealed my own fate, but in that moment, I realized that Ares wasn’t, and could never be permanent. My family was and I owed it to them to try and make things work.

“She was. A call from you might cheer her up though.”

And just like that, everything was back to normal. I was the quiet, apologetic daughter who did just as her family expected. I felt awful for shaming my mother even as my stomach twisted at the idea of committing myself to her control once more. By the time I hung up with Lilah, the sheer liberation that had been driving my actions for the past few days had faded to something more rational, and infinitely more necessary, self-preservation.

Lilah was right. What the hell was I doing trying to contend with a man like Ares Wolfe? He was far out of my league—and beyond that, the way things stood threatened to ruin our business relationship.

Maybe this entire affair had been a mistake after all.

I made myself a cup of strong coffee before returning to my place on the couch. I had always been a safe person—a sound thinker. Yes, I was different from my mother and sister, but that didn’t mean I had to push them away. At least I was familiar with their brand of manipulation. Ares, he was something entirely different. One moment he was sweet and caring and the next he was a sexual predator. He confused the hell out of me in a way that had nothing to do with client-publicist relations.

And that meant that the most rational thing to do would be for me to end the entire thing.