Chasing Perfection: Vol. III Read online

  Relief washed over me. I recognized the tone. This was part of his dance. A part that I very much wanted to play along with.

  “After all, this isn’t just some random man you fucked. It’s my little brother.” He walked around to stand in front of me.

  His eyes flicked down and, for a moment, I saw the man he was pretending to be slip away and the real DeVon come forward. His fingers brushed against the skin of my throat, just above the bruise. His mouth tightened, anger heating his eyes.

  I took his hand and pressed my lips against his palm. I loved that I could elicit such a reaction from him, but I didn’t want to rehash Derrick and what had happened. I released his hand and closed the distance between us, running my hands across his chest.

  “You’re right,” I said. “I did fuck your little brother.”

  My words did the trick, drawing him back into the role-playing he’d initiated.

  He buried his hand in my hair and gave a tug. Not enough to hurt, but enough to make me gasp. He took advantage of my parted lips and covered my mouth with his. The kiss was hard and quick, ending before I’d truly registered it had been happening.

  “I hate that he had you first,” he growled the words in my ear. “I hate that any man had you before I did.”

  “But you’re only going to punish me for Franco, right?” I teased. “Because that’s the one that matters.”

  He pulled back, putting several inches between us. His eyes were blazing, making me instantly and thoroughly wet.

  “I know what I want,” he said.

  “And what’s that?” I toyed with the top button of my blouse. I really hoped he wanted to fuck me now. I was more than ready.

  “I’m going to bend you over my knee and spank you until your ass is red and you’re begging me to fuck you. When I spanked you before, that’s going to seem like nothing compared to what I want to do to you.”

  My mouth went dry. Fuck.

  One side of his mouth quirked up into a half-smile. “Or we could make things even by me fucking your sister.”

  “What if I only have brothers?” I was surprised that I’d managed to come up with any sort of comeback after his pronouncement.

  “Do you?”

  “No,” I admitted. “I’m an only child.” The only woman I considered close enough to be a sister was Carrie and I doubted Gavin would want to share, even if that was really an option.

  “Then I guess a spanking is your only choice.” He looked pleased with himself.

  “All right,” I said. I saw the surprise flash across DeVon’s face and realized that he hadn’t truly expected me to go along with it. I smiled. I loved that I could surprise him. “But I’m dictating terms.”

  “Agreed.” DeVon crossed his arms over his chest, as if he didn’t trust himself not to touch me.

  I thought for a moment, letting things play out in my head. Part of me wanted to tell him to just take me right then and there, yank up my skirt to reveal the barely-there panties I was wearing and spank me before fucking me senseless. Unfortunately, I knew that wasn’t a good idea. Too many variables, not the least of which was the fact that I had work to do and I doubted I’d be sitting comfortably when he was done with me. Plus, there was something I wanted us to do first. I’d been thinking about it for a while, and now seemed like the right time.

  “Friday,” I said finally. “Eight p.m. The penthouse suite at the Hollywood Renaissance Hotel.” I wanted neutral ground for this. As much as the idea of it turned me on, I was a bit nervous of how far things were going to go. I’d always considered myself sexually adventurous, but since meeting DeVon, I’d realized that I had no clue what that truly meant.

  “Friday?” DeVon frowned. “Today’s Tuesday.”

  “Then I guess you have plenty of time to store up your energy, because I fully intend to have a long, satisfying night.” I took a deep breath, and then added the other part of my reasoning for waiting. “And that will give us both time to get tested.”

  “Tested?” DeVon’s voice was strangely flat, his face impossible to read. “What are you talking about?”

  I locked eyes with him. “I’m talking about wanting to feel you inside me with nothing between us.”

  DeVon swallowed hard and I knew if I looked down, I’d see that he was starting to get hard. I kept my eyes on his face, however. If I saw evidence of how much he wanted me, I wasn’t sure I could stop myself from going to my knees right then and there. He nodded slowly, but I still couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

  “One more thing,” I said. I had a feeling I was going to hate myself for this, but I also knew the anticipation would make things that much more intense when we did finally come together. “Unless it’s a business emergency, no contact between us until we meet in the suite.”

  “Not even a text?” DeVon looked incredulous.

  I shook my head. “No contact means just that. If it’s work-related, go through Tracy.” I folded my arms to give me a more firm stance. “Deal?”

  DeVon slowly ran his gaze over my body, as if memorizing it. When he made it back up to my eyes, he sighed. “Deal.”

  Chapter 24

  KRISSY

  Thursday. I’d never hated a day so much in my life. I wanted it to be Friday, not because I hated my job or even that I was tired of work. I wanted it to be Friday because I was dying to see DeVon again. We’d kept to the agreement and hadn’t spoken, texted, emailed or even seen each other in passing since I’d left his office Tuesday afternoon. I’d known it was going to be hard, but I hadn’t realized how hard. What surprised me the most, however, was that I wasn’t just anticipating the sex itself. I missed looking at him, talking to him.

  I was in deep.

  I closed my eyes and put my forehead against my hand. My work performance for the week was going to suck. Fortunately, by Wednesday morning, everyone in Mirage and pretty much everywhere else in LA knew about what Derrick had done. Most people were assuming that my absent-mindedness and inability to focus for long periods of time were due to what had happened. The truth was, every couple hours or so, my mind decided to stray down a path of distraction that usually included me fantasizing about what DeVon was going to do to me tomorrow night.

  Last night, I’d spent a considerable amount of time entertaining various scenarios that I knew were going to pale in comparison to the real thing. I’d come three times before I’d finally released enough tension to be able to sleep. Now I felt like a kid on Christmas Eve, so eager for the next day that minutes were feeling like hours.

  A knock at the door startled me and I looked up. Tracy came into my office, her face half-hidden by the huge bouquet of flowers she had in her arms.

  “More flowers?” My stomach clenched as the scent of fresh gardenias wafted over me. They were my favorite and I had no idea how he’d found that out.

  “Someone’s popular.” Tracy grinned as she set the vase next to the others that had come in since yesterday morning.

  “Not sure about that,” I replied. “This seems a bit more like stalking.”

  Tracy turned the vase until she was satisfied with how it looked. “Do you have any idea who they’re from?”

  I stood, turning my face away from her as I bent down towards the soft white petals. “Someone who’s very impatient,” I murmured. I wasn’t sure if the comment was more for me or her, but it seemed to satisfy her curiosity. I wondered if she knew who they were really from and thought that she probably did. Tracy was the best at her job because she knew more about what was going on than pretty much anyone at Mirage, even DeVon sometimes. She was also extremely discreet.

  I picked up the card and read it.

  What are you wearing? X

  I laughed, remembering how furious I’d been at him when he’d sent me that text. He’d laughed it off as a typo, but I’d always suspected he’d meant it to be sexual. I wondered what he’d think if he knew what I was wearing under my professional business attire today. The deep purple lace bra, cut lo
w enough that it just barely covered my nipples, had been intended to be worn with low-cut necklines rather than a shirt that hardly revealed my fading bruises. I’d started off with matching panties, but by lunch, I’d had to change into a spare pair because all of my little fantasies had left me soaking. Now I was wearing black ones with a peek-a-boo panel, and as my mind diverted to thoughts of DeVon running his tongue over the thin material, I knew I needed to change yet again.

  Damn him. I’d never met a man who could make me so wet without even being around.

  I reached for my purse, intending to use the last pair of dry panties I’d brought with me, when Tracy tapped on the door again. Her eyes were wide as she poked her head inside and, for a moment, I wondered if DeVon had done something. Instead, she said something I’d never thought I’d hear.

  “Your mother’s here to see you.”

  I put my hand on my desk to steady myself. “Come again?”

  Chapter 25

  KRISSY

  “So, this is your new job.”

  My mom looked so out of place in my office, with her Donna Karan dress and expensive manicure. Maintaining her fashionable hairstyle probably cost more than my rent. She looked around, her sharp eyes missing nothing.

  “This is it,” I said, trying to sound cordial. “My little office.” I figured if I threw in a comment about the size – which was actually more than decent considering how long I’d been here – maybe she’d leave things alone.

  “Imagine my surprise when your assistant said you were here, not on a business trip.”

  And there it was. Fortunately, it was an easy lie to fix. “It got canceled.”

  She frowned at me like she knew I was lying, but she didn’t call me out on it. “Did you just get a promotion or something?” She stopped in front of the flowers. “I know it’s not your birthday.”

  “They’re from a friend,” I said quickly. “When did you get in?”

  She ignored my question and continued on with her own. “Must be some kind of friend to send you this many flowers.” She made a face. “Though he could’ve at least sprung for roses.”

  “I like gardenias, Mom.” I forced myself to stay calm.

  “Who is he? This man that knows you prefer gardenias to roses.” Her tone made it clear what she thought of my taste in flowers. “What’s his name?”

  “It’s nothing serious,” I said. “Let’s just leave it at that.” I was starting to get a deep, throbbing pain at the base of my skull.

  “Still,” she pushed. “He must have a name. Why won’t you tell me?”

  I hated when she did that, sounded like some spoiled child who was used to getting her own way. I took a deep breath. I’d had enough. “I’m not going to tell you because it’s none of your business.”

  Her eyes widened in surprise. I’d always been a stubborn kid, but I’d never out-and-out spoken against her. Now that I’d started, however, I wanted to keep going.

  “None of this is your business. That’s why I told you not to come.” My voice wanted to rise but I kept it even. “This is my life and I live it the way I want to. Like you always have.”

  Two spots of color appeared high on her cheeks. “There’s a difference, young lady. I was never reckless. I never abandoned my responsibilities to the family so I could go gallivanting off to college. I never moved across the country to work in some low-class show business job that is even a step down from a divorce lawyer.”

  “At least I have a career,” I shot back. “Not like you who’s never worked a day in your life.”

  She laughed. “Don’t get me wrong, sweetie. I’m proud of you becoming a lawyer, just like your dad...”

  “Don’t patronize me.” I frowned at her. “You always hated Dad and his work. You held it over his head that you were the one who came from the high-class family with old money, but you despised the fact that he wanted to work.”

  “You have no idea what it was like living with your father.” Her eyes flashed.

  “Right, because I wasn’t there when you left him for...what was her name? Or do you even remember who you were with when you walked out? Being on, what is it, your fifth wife now, must make it hard to keep track of all those names.”

  “It was a prison,” she said, doggedly clinging to her claim. “We never did anything together. He was always working, leaving me alone in that house.”

  “Alone?” I gave a bitter laugh. “Alone with me and a dozen servants?”

  She kept going as if I hadn’t said a word. “He loved his work more than his family and he still does. He’s going to keep working himself until he has another heart-attack and that one finally kills him.”

  That was it. I could take a lot from her, but not that. “It wasn’t work that gave Dad his first heart-attack. You did.”

  She looked genuinely shocked. “Excuse me?”

  “You constantly pushed him, ran him down, said he wasn’t good enough for you. Didn’t you think I could see it? You never loved him. You were the boarding school prom queen who grabbed the most eligible bachelor with the most promising career. You just never thought he’d turn down the chance to take over after Grandpa died so he could stay at a job he loved.” My hands were shaking as I curled them into fists to keep my mother from seeing. “I know you never loved Dad because you never loved men. And I can see why that made things so awful for you. That wasn’t the problem. The problem was that it took you years to admit it. And don’t pretend you stuck with him because of me. I’m not stupid. You insisted on keeping the marriage alive despite the arguments and your affairs for appearances. So your precious society friends didn’t have to see that your life wasn’t picture perfect. Sometimes, I think if Dad hadn’t had his heart attack, you would’ve found a way to keep the two of you together still, as long as you could have your women on the side.”

  I fell silent, waiting for her to explode back at me, or at the very least, tell me what an ungrateful brat I was. Instead, she didn’t say a word for almost a full minute, and when she finally did speak, her voice was falsely bright. “Well, I should be going. I have errands to run before the big charity auction on Sunday.”

  Her change of topic almost gave me whiplash. “What charity auction? You’re here until Sunday?”

  She gave me a plastic smile. “Monday, actually. And, yes, an auction. I decided to donate a couple of art pieces that were just cluttering up the house.”

  “Oh, well, good for you.” I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to respond to her complete disregard for everything I’d said.

  She started to leave, then stopped and gestured towards the flowers. “I wouldn’t get too attached, if I were you. Men who come on strong like that rarely stick around.”

  I laughed again. “You, giving out relationship advice? That’s a first. And considering your track record, male and female, I think I’ll pass.”

  “Mock me as much as you like. It’s still the truth.”

  I watched her walk away before sinking down in my seat and putting my head in my hands.

  “Krissy?” Tracy’s voice came from the doorway. “Is it okay if I bring in the rest of the flowers?”

  A laugh bubbled out of me. More flowers? “Sure.”

  Chapter 26

  DEVON

  I’d always prided myself on my control, my ability to restrain myself as I mercilessly teased my partner. These past three days, however, had tested my patience like nothing else ever had. The day that Krissy had walked into my office and confessed that she’d slept with Franco, everything had changed. Did I like the fact that my brother had slept with the woman I...felt something for? No, I didn’t like it, but the fact that she’d told me rather than trying to hide it meant more than she could know.

  And then when I’d half-jokingly suggested I punish her, I’d never thought she’d agree. I figured I’d get an “in your dreams” kind of response. Sure, she’d let me spank her before, but that had been a heat of the moment thing. For her to agree to it with just a little fl
irting was different. Now, I was standing in the penthouse suite at the Hollywood Renaissance Hotel feeling like a kid on prom night. The fact that I was wearing a tux just added to the feeling.

  I heard the key card click in the door and I shifted the bouquet of gardenias from one arm to the other. I knew we were going to role-play her punishment, but I’d wanted to make a grand gesture. Guys like me, expensive gifts were a given. That’s why I’d stuck with the flowers. I knew they were her favorite and showing her that I knew something personal about her would mean more than some flashy gift. I’d sent her friend Carrie a very nice thank you gift for giving me the inside track.