Chapter Nineteen

 

It all happened so fast. Lightning fast. Konrad had his head between Scottie’s legs, kissing her skin, moving with the lust that he’d harbored for days. He pushed her panties harder to the side, licking her until she’d squeezed her thighs against his face.

“God, you’re so good.” She opened her legs and shoved her hands raking through his hair. Breathless, she said, “I had no idea it could be like that.”

Moving up her body, he nipped her skin until his lips touched hers. He wanted her to know how good she tasted. Their tongues touched, danced.

They were on his California king bed in his penthouse. He couldn’t recall how they got there. All he remembered was speed and hands and lips and his cock so hard he’d thought it would burst. And Scottie in his bed—the first to ever be in his bed.

His decision-making malfunctioned in regards to her. He wanted to give her the best pleasure she’d ever known, that was a given. But he wanted more, especially after having her in his bed. But he wasn’t sure how to progress past the physical. He’d never given or received more than that. How would he do it? Would he be successful at the aspects of a normal relationship? He was wading through unchartered waters without a life jacket.

Scottie wrapped her legs around his waist. Warm and soft, her skin was his comfort. He pressed her against the bed with his weight. She jammed her hand between their hot, writhing bodies, pulling up her dress over her hips. His palms formed over the tops of her thighs, the urgency to be inside her taking over.

“Scottie…” He choked on his words. “I want you so fucking bad.”

“I want you too. Please…”

Konrad groaned, wanting to hear her beg for him. He tore off his chambray shirt, the buttons crashing against the tiles. Just as fast, he unbuckled his belt, pushing down his jeans to expose his thick erection. She gasped in response to him, and he couldn’t be more pleased.

“Let me get a condom,” he grumbled, though it didn’t take away from their momentum. He tore through his wallet, pulling a square packet from its depths. When he was properly sheathed, he slipped his hands under her ass and lifted her to him, his tip at her entrance.

“Oh God,” Scottie yelped, lifting her pelvis to receive him. And with a slight move, he slipped inside her.

The tension appeared to have rendered her speechless. She was so small. She’d feel the entirety of him when he was done with her. Leaning in, he kissed her neck, soothing her cries as he buried himself inside her.

“You feel so good,” he whispered against her throat.

She wrapped her arms around him. Their naked flesh sealed together with the beading perspiration from their slick bodies moving together.

“Oh Konrad,” Scottie whimpered, her legs tightening around him.

Heat circulated inside him, concentrating at center. She turned her face, groaning for him, begging him to go faster. The threat of orgasm came fast, but he didn’t want to release yet. Slowly, he moved his hips to maintain a rhythm that kept him on the edge. She, on the other hand, clenched around him, her orgasm coming forth. He could feel it with every move and every sound she made.

“Are you close?” he asked, his lips pressing against her jaw.

Without a response, Scottie cried out again with his movements. He’d grown harder, thicker, and he wasn’t having any mercy on her.

“Faster,” she urged, the word getting caught in her throat.

He complied. Grabbing her ass again, he lifted up her hips, slamming into her as if his heartbeat depended on it. Faster and faster, he impaled her, eliciting cries and moans and pleas to not stop.

“Konrad!” she cried in ecstasy.

Konrad closed his eyes, driving inside her, his orgasm forming stronger than before. He grunted, his fingers digging into her buttocks. His lips fell on hers with his final grunt, kissing her like a starved animal. He dove his tongue in her mouth, tasting her, teasing her. Owning her.

It was the most pleasurable thing he’d ever felt.

“I think I could be here with you like this for a very long time.” The words came out, unfiltered, unconsidered. The longer she didn’t respond, the harder his heart knocked against his chest.

They were silent for a while. His breath slowed, as did his heart. He wanted to be there with her. He wanted to share his bed with her, and he felt no anxiety about her presence in his home. Before, his home had been off limits. He’d had a select few over, but not one woman touched his bed or spent the night.

Konrad wasn’t sure how long they’d stayed in the bed when the doorbell rang several times. His body surged up, lifting from their warm embrace, and he turned to face his phone sitting on the side table. It blinked with text messages. Who in bloody hell could that be?

Scottie sat up, holding the sheet against her naked body. “Are you expecting someone?”

It was the hostess, Jenny, from Uchi. How did she know where he lived? They’d had a dalliance earlier in the year when he’d first arrived to Houston, but he hadn’t seen her since then. He should have acknowledged her at Uchi the moment he walked in, but how would that have looked in front of Scottie? She’d be even more convinced he was an asshole. A player.

“No, I’m not,” he said in reply to Scottie’s question and swung his legs over the bed, picking up his phone. “But, I’m about to have terse words with the concierge.”

A number he didn’t recognize had texted him hours ago when he was at Uchi. He must have deleted Jenny’s number when he’d deleted her from his rotation.

He’d missed a couple of texts from earlier in the evening when he’d arrived at the restaurant.

Unknown: Are you seriously acting like you don’t know me?

Unknown: Is she one of your women? Does she know how many you have?

The last text message had been minutes ago when the doorbell rang. This was his worst nightmare.

Unknown: Can we talk? Are you home?

Furious, he moved his fingers over the keyboard.

Me: I don’t know how you found out where I live, but if you don’t leave immediately, I’ll call the authorities.

Cell phone in hand, he stormed through his bedroom, down the corridor, and through the long living room until he reached the door. Peering through the peephole, he didn’t see anyone. His heart calmed, but he was still furious. How could he be so reckless? This wasn’t what he wanted. It especially wasn’t what he wanted Scottie to see.

“Was that one of your women?” Scottie’s voice came from behind.

He closed his eyes, his heart falling. Fuck. He turned, meeting her hardened gaze. How could he answer her?

“Will I have to send another bouquet of flowers on Monday?” Her words crushed him.

I’m such an asshole.

“It’s not what you think.” It was absolutely what she thought. And more. He scrubbed his face. “She’s someone I had a fling with earlier this year. That’s all. I haven’t seen her since.”

Scottie crossed her arms over her chest, spinning on her heels back through the living room with him following behind her until they reached the bedroom again.

“I don’t know who you are, Konrad.” She collected her clothes. “I see the Konrad who I swear makes me feel like I am the only person in the world, and then I see the other Konrad who has a different woman every day. Women who show up at his house unannounced. Women I have to send flowers to.”

He reached for her, though she pushed his hands away. He let out a sound of frustration. “You are the only person in the world right now.”

“Right now.” Her anger flashed through her ever-changing eyes.

“That’s not what I meant.” Dammit. He kept screwing up, saying the wrong thing. This was not his game. He had no idea how to get her back to where she was before the doorbell rang, when they’d been comforting each other, and he was thinking how much he liked her in his bed.

In a flash, she was dressing and walking across the massive bedroom again.

“Wait, Scottie.” He followed her, completely naked and not giving a shit. “Don’t leave. Talk to me. Please.”

She turned, her face flushed. “I can’t help how attracted I am to you, Konrad.”

“And I can’t help how much I am attracted to you.” The sweet feel of relief was on the wings, waiting to return. He needed to know she’d still want him when he could do this better, when he knew how to treat her the way she deserved.

“But I also know what I get with you.” She waved her hands in exasperation. “I can’t do this. Every time I think about who we are, I know this is too much for me. It affects me in a way you don’t understand.”

“Then tell me,” he pleaded, which sounded so odd. He’d never seen this side of himself. “I want to understand.”

Her teeth worried over her bottom lip and for a brief moment, he thought she was going to tell him. Instead, she shook her head. “I can’t fall for someone like you. I’ll hate myself.”

She turned, dashing from his room and through the living room and in the direction of the exit.

“Wait. Let me at least drive you back to the office if you’re not going to stay.” She’d left her car there.

“No. I’ll order a car.” She bumped her leg on the white leather sectional on the way to the door. He followed her, his wide stride keeping up with her fast legs with no problem.

“Be careful, love. Don’t hurt yourself.”

Spinning around just before she reached the front door, she held her hands up, making contact with this chest. “Stop it! Stop being sweet, Konrad. That makes it harder to not like you, to not want you.”

“You don’t have to go. You don’t have to make a decision about me this very moment.”

Their eyes met, lingered. Would she stay? He had no idea. He knew absolutely nothing about what she would do or say.

“I work for you.”

“You work for A-Plus Temporaries.” The need to take her in his arms was intense, but he didn’t dare touch her, not after she dropped her hands from his chest.

“Yes, you’ve mentioned it.”

“I don’t feel the same as before.” Words flew from his mouth, words he should have kept inside. “I don’t want to be who you think I am.”

“But you are.” Her voice was soft.

When she turned, he felt the biggest hole in his chest emerge. Complete emptiness inside. And just like that, she was on the other side of the door. His forehead fell against it after it closed.

In a whisper, he said, “You’ll see. I’m not.”

****

In the morning, Konrad opened his eyes, despite the brutal sun slicing in through the opened blinds in his bedroom. He reached for his phone, checking for Scottie’s response to the text he’d sent her after she’d left him.

Me: Please let me know you’re safe.

Nothing. She’d not responded. She might regret giving him her number, because he intended to contact her whether she wanted him to or not. He put his fingers on the screen, typing another message, then rereading it twice but not pressing send.

Instead, he deleted his overly emotional message. God, this was not like him. And, fucking hell, it was such torture to feel the way he did—out of control, desperate, needy, yearning. It all sucked.

He typed a message to Dallas instead.

Me: I need a cocktail. Brunch?

He glanced at the clock. It was after ten in the morning. He normally didn’t sleep that late. Usually, he’d been to the gym by then.

Dallas: I’m down. Mariposa? I need to talk hotel stuff with you.

Me: An hour.

Dallas: Cool.

An hour later, Konrad sat at the Halman Hotel bar. Dallas had already arrived and was typing on his computer into a maps and navigation application.

“Running comps?” Konrad sat next to him at the bar where they’d met so many times before. He nodded to the bartender, Bea.

“Bloody Mary?” she asked from across the bar.

“Yes, love.” Konrad slapped Dallas on the back. He’d hoped the short drive to the Museum District would calm him. It had done the opposite. He wanted to expel everything that happened. “How’s it going, mate?”

“Not bad, my friend.” Dallas looked up from the laptop, the sun rays catching his brown eyes. “I think I got us a better location. It’s not on the market yet. I got a tip.”

“Tips are good.”

“Indeed.” Dallas turned his laptop toward Konrad. “You know the Le Petite Moreau?”

“Of course. It’s a world-renowned posh boutique hotel. Why?”

The Bloody Marys arrived, set on thick monogramed coasters. Dallas lifted his glass to Bea. “Thanks, sweetheart.”

“My pleasure. I’ll come back to take your orders.” She walked away to tend to other patrons.

“Well…” Dallas pointed to the location on the map. It was perfectly tucked away in the heart of the Montrose neighborhoods. “Moreau is getting out of the hotel business.”

“No shit!” Konrad was stunned. “How do you know this?”

Dallas closed the laptop with emphasis. “I talked to Moreau myself.”

“How in bloody hell did you snag an appointment with Jacob?”

A crooked smile emerged from his lips. “I didn’t. I ran into him yesterday while I was in Dallas last night checking on the Dallas Halman location. He just happened to be in the bar having a drink after dinner.”

“So, you just shot the shit with the lad? Like no big deal?” If Konrad had a man crush, it was for Jacob Moreau, mogul extraordinaire. The man made more money in a day than Konrad made in a year. Konrad’s eight figures a year was mere pocket change to Jacob Moreau.

“It was casual as fuck, but we got to talking, and he’s decided to sell his hotel and concentrate on pharma and technology.”

“My God, the man has his hands in everything.”

“He does. And now we’ve got Le Petite Moreau, if we want it.”

Konrad shook his head in disbelief. “It can’t be this easy.”

Dallas lifted his glass, and Konrad followed suit. “But it is.”

“Well, cheers to that.”

They clinked glasses and took long, drawn-out sips of the Bloody Marys, which were perfectly spiced.

Konrad placed his glass on the counter. “When can I meet him?” He’d not ever formally met Jacob.

“I told him I’d give him a call on Monday.” Dallas took the menu in his hands, reading over it. Konrad already knew what he wanted.

“This is absolutely amazing. I didn’t expect to get this news.” No. In fact, he’d expected to tell Dallas about his news with Scottie.

“I knew you’d like it.” Dallas settled on his stool, the menu back on the bar again. “And the way you walked in here, it looked like you needed some good news.”

Dallas was too perceptive for his own good—Konrad’s good. Did wanting a woman make a man predictable, make him wear his emotions on his sleeve—or face, as was his case—for everyone to see?

“It happened again. Last night…” Konrad trailed off, his gaze on his friend, who followed him closely without more detail.

“Ty said you didn’t show up again last night at H Bar.”

“We worked late on a presentation. I had intended to meet the blokes afterward, but that didn’t work out.”

Dallas took a sip. “I think you’re getting caught up with this girl.”

Konrad dropped his gaze to his naked wrist. He really missed his watch. “I am.”

“Do you want a relationship with her?” Dallas chuckled. “God, I never thought I’d ask you that question.”

“I never thought I’d have a different answer to that question than ‘no fucking way.’” Konrad raked his fingers through his hair. “But now I only know the answer isn’t no. It’s maybe. Bloody hell … no, it’s not maybe. It’s yes. I do. I do want something with her. But I don’t know what or how.”

“Fuck, Kon.” Dallas didn’t say any more until Bea came back to take their orders.

When she was gone again, Konrad said, “Fucking Fabian and his pussy-whipped ass.”

Yes, Konrad still blamed Fabian for falling in love, making it appealing.

“It can’t be easy.”

Konrad thought about his childhood. “No, it’s not. My Mutter, the poor girl, didn’t fare well. I mean, she would have bent over backward for my father if he’d wanted. And she did. It was always whatever he wanted.” He gazed at his manicured fingernails, remembering the times his mother took him with her to have their nails manicured. It was some of the most memorable times of his childhood before his father sent him off to boarding school. “I don’t like feeling out of control. This has to be exactly what she felt.”

“You worried about it?”

“Fuck yes, I’m worried.” Konrad felt anger for his father. For his mother, too. His father had led her to an early grave.

“What’s the worst that could happen? You end up like Fabian?”

“No. That Scottie ends up hating me because I don’t know how to make a commitment.” And worse than that, Konrad would end up hating himself.

“She might hate you already.” Dallas laughed, though not in humor. It was his way to lighten the conversation.

“You’re probably right.” Konrad needed to lighten up. He needed to be rational. He was not his father. He could not hurt anyone out of pure selfishness. “She left my place cross with me last night, but I want to change her mind about me. It that moronic?”

Dallas stared at Konrad, searching his face for several beats before he answered. “I’ve never seen you like this. So I say no, it’s not moronic. You want to be different for her—”

“For myself.” He didn’t know how to begin. He’d have to wing it.

“Then, definitely, it’s not moronic.”

Konrad blew out a hefty sigh. He’d hated talking about his feelings. He was lucky Dallas could be a gentleman about it and actually give decent advice, unlike Tylund and Fabian. “I’m going to need about five of these Bloody Marys before brunch is over.”