Because He Torments Me

BECAUSE HE TORMENTS ME
(Because He Owns Me, Book Three)

By Hannah Ford

Copyright 2015, Hannah Ford, all rights
reserved.
 
This book is a work of
fiction, and any resemblance to any persons, living or dead, is entirely
coincidental.

***

CALLUM

I couldn’t concentrate.

I was sitting in an important meeting -- one of
the most important of my career -- involving the takeover of a struggling
online delivery service called Arrive.
 
The deal had the potential to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

It was the exact kind of deal that normally
would have sent adrenaline rushing through my body, the kind of deal that would
make my mind race and cause me to live at the office as I sacrificed sleep in
the name of success.

But all I could think about was
her
.

“Wilder,” James Billings, one of my executive
officers, a highly intelligent and gifted man, if a little intense, barked
through the speakerphone.
 
He was in
Seattle, on site at
Arrive’s
company headquarters,
while I stayed here to meet with the executives in the New York office.
 
“Can you sell off the shipping and
receiving division, replace it with something bigger?”

“Yes,” I replied easily, as if I’d been paying
attention the whole time instead of preoccupied with a woman I’d vowed never to
see again.
 
My mind ran over her
body, remembering her skin, the plumpness of her lips as I sucked them into my
mouth, the taste of her tongue, the smoothness of her pussy, which she’d
obviously gotten waxed in order to please me.

I’d gotten her the job interview at Archway
Publishing.
 

It wasn’t difficult, and if it was wrong, I
didn’t give a shit.
 

It was the only way I could think of to keep my
desire at bay, the only way I could ensure I stayed connected to her.
 
I couldn’t be with Adriana again, couldn’t
risk fucking her again, even though my dick hardened at the thought of entering
that tight little pussy while my hand struck her ass with blow after blow.

She’d stirred something inside of me that I’d
never felt before, something so overwhelming that it struck the fear of God in
my heart.

The thought of not being able to control her
and take ownership of her mind, her heart, her soul, her body, was devastating.
 
But what would happen if I did own her
would be even more devastating.

So I got her the job interview.

I needed to make sure she would be working on
my book.

I could keep her safe.

I could make sure she was okay.

I wouldn’t touch her, wouldn’t fuck her again.

She had me twisted in knots, my body on fire.

But I had to stay away from her.

Otherwise I would destroy us both.
 

ADRIANA

Michele began walking down the halls of Archway
Publishing, and I followed, struggling to concentrate on what she was
saying.
 
The whole time, his name
was pulsing through my mind like a bright neon sign.

Callum, Callum, Callum.
 

“So you’ll be meeting with our Publicity
Director, Kiersten Brickett,” Michelle said.
 
“She’s expecting you.”

“Oh,” I said, suddenly thrown.
 
The research I’d done on Archway had led
me to believe I was going to be meeting with someone named Wayne Updike, and
I’d done research on him and the books he’d worked on.

“I’m sorry, “I said.
 
“I thought the Publicity Director was
Wayne Updike?”

“Wayne
was
our Publicity Director,”
Michelle said.
 
She stopped in the
hall and turned to look at me,
then
glanced around to
make sure no one could overhear us.
 
“But he got fired.
 
He had a
little problem with porn.
 
You know,
like, watching it during work hours?”
 
She bit her lip, thinking about it.
 
“He seemed like such a nice man.
 
Of course, everyone thought it was strange when he insisted he get those
privacy blinds installed in his office, but it’s such a high stress job, we
just figured he needed his space.”

She sighed and then turned and continued walking
down the hall.
 
“Anyway, Kiersten
took over for him about a month ago.
 
But don’t
worry,
no one will expect you to know
much about her.
 
She’s an outside
hire.”

“What’s she like?”

“Intense.” I couldn’t tell from her tone if
that was good or bad.

We’d reached the end of the hallway now and it
branched off, opening into a big open space filled with cubicles.
 
There must have been men who worked
here, but every cubicle in my line of sight seemed to have a woman sitting at
it.

The soft muted sounds of phones ringing and
keyboards clacking filled the room, and I knew it was probably impossible, but
I was sure I could smell the scent of books in the air, that scent of paper and
possibility.

I inhaled.

I loved it already, loved the vibe,
loved
the idea of having even a tiny part in bringing
literature into the world.
 

I warned myself not to get too excited.

Because, of course, there was Callum, thrumming
just below the surface of every thought, a constant presence in my mind.
 
Had he set this interview up for
me?
 
And if so, why?
 
He’d made it perfectly clear that he
wanted nothing to do with me, that he didn’t want to see me again.

I could still feel the sting of his hand
against my ass, the feel of his cock spreading me open.
 
I shivered with want and then longing,
as I felt my stomach clench at the thought of never seeing him again.

“That’s Kiersten’s office,” Michelle was
saying.
 
On the left side of the
room
were a row
of offices, three of them, all of them
encased in glass.
 
I looked to where
Michelle was pointing, and I could see a woman behind the glass, sitting at an
oversized walnut desk, her ear pressed to the phone.

We got to the door of Kiersten’s office just as
she was finishing up her phone call.

“Michelle,” Kiersten said, standing up and giving
her a smile.
 
Her teeth were
perfectly shaped and just white enough not to look
fake
,
and I wondered if she had veneers or just a great orthodontist.
 
She was wearing a gorgeous fitted grey
suit over a burnt orange button up blouse.
 
The matching grey skirt was tight, encasing her long legs, but the
blouse was slightly oversized, and she’d looped the sleeves of the blouse
around the sleeves of the jacket and rolled them up.
 
Chunky gold jewelry completed the look,
and her hair hung in soft auburn wave around her shoulders.
 
If I got this job, I was going to need a
serious wardrobe upgrade. “Who do we have here?”
 
Kiersten asked, turning her attention to
me.

“This is Adriana O’Connor,” Michelle said.
 
“She’s here for the publicity assistant
position.”

“Nice to meet you,” Kiersten said, her voice
warm.
 
She held her hand out for me
to shake, and I took it.
 
Her hands
were small, her wrists delicate.
 
She was wearing a rose gold Michael Kors watch and a matching
rose
gold bracelet.
 
“Go ahead and have a seat.”

“Thank you,” I said.

“Good luck, Adriana,” Michelle said.
 
“I hope to see you around.”
 
She gave me a wave and then she left,
shutting the door behind her.

“Just let me pull up your resume,” Kiersten
said, clicking around on her computer.
 
“I’m sorry if things are a little crazy around here, I’m still getting
used to this job myself.”
 

“Oh, it’s no problem.”
 
I fidgeted a bit, my nerves starting to get
the best of me, and I willed myself to stay still.

“Ah,” Kiersten said as she studied something on
her screen.
 
She sort of nodded to
herself, then turned her computer screen away from her and leaned back in her
chair.
 
“So, here’s the deal.
 
I’m going to be straight with you.
 
Callum Wilder recommended you for this
position.
 
He’s one of our most
important authors, so I have to hire you.”

“Oh.”
 
My face burned with embarrassment.
 
What had Callum told them about me?
 
Had he said we’d slept together?
 
No, I decided, not after making me sign that ridiculous contract.
 
The only thing I could be sure of when
it came to Callum Wilder was that he valued his privacy. But still.
 
The whole thing was humiliating on so
many levels.
 
“Ms. Brickett, I don’t
know what Callum told you, but I can assure you I never asked him to recommend
me for this position.”
She flitted my concerns away with her hand.
 
“Please, Adriana,” she said.
 
“Don’t worry about it.
 
Publishing is an extremely competitive
business, and everyone has to get
their
start
somewhere.
 
I got my first job
through a sorority sister of my mother’s.”

I let out a sigh of relief.
 

“But you do like books?” she said, raising her
eyebrows.

“Oh, yes!” I said.
 
“I love books.
 
Publishing is my passion.
 
I’ve been applying for every position I
can find.”
 
Then, realizing how that
sounded, I rushed on, “I mean, not
every
position.”

She smiled.
 
“So ultimately you want to work in
editorial?”

I nodded.

“Publicity can be a great springboard for
that,” she said.
 
“With the
downsizing that’s been taking place and the merging of departments, an editor
really is a publicist in a lot of ways nowadays.”
 
She leaned forward.
 
“Who are your favorite authors?”

“I have so many,” I said.
 
“The classics are J.D. Salinger,
Charlotte Bronte.
 
For genre
fiction, I’m obsessed with Stephen King and Rachel Gibson.”

“And non-fiction?”

“I’m drawn to memoirs,” I said.
 
“I love learning about people’s lives.”

“Have you read the new book by Aubrey Zane?”
Kiersten asked.
 
“It just came out
last week.
 
We worked really hard on
her launch.”

“No.”
 
I shook my head.
 
“But I’ve
been wanting to.
 
It’s on my to be
read list.” Aubrey Zane was a pop star, one of those girls who’d been on a
G-rated kids show before turning into a teen sensation.
 
Her career had been in trouble when
she’d been
outed
as a bulimic drug addict, but she
was clean now and she’d recently written a book about her quest for
sobriety which
was being pitched as a vehicle for her
comeback.

“You have to read it,” Kristin said.
 
“It’s getting great press.
 
Usually people don’t take the memoir of
a twenty-year-old seriously, but the book dives into some really important
topics about celebrity and the dangers of young Hollywood.”

I nodded.
 
“I will definitely check it out.”

“Good.” She tilted her head.
 
“Two questions.”

“Okay.”

“Do you know your way around twitter and
facebook
?”

“I can tweet and friend with the best of them,”
I quipped, earning me
another
 
smile
.

“Can you start tomorrow?”

“Yes,” I said.
 
“Yes, of course.”

“Seven
am
?”

“Seven am,” I said confidently, not caring that
the day started so early.
  
Hell, I wouldn’t have cared if she’d asked me to come in at midnight to
work an all-nighter.
 
I had a
job!
 
At a real live publishing
house!