Coerced (Billionaire romance): Blackmailed by the Billionaire (Buchanan Romance Book 1) (9 page)

He shook his head. “No.”

“Good. I like it rough.”

“And where would this exchange happen?” he asked, curious.

“I have a room above the bar. Vinny lets me stay and do my thing if I give him a cut.”

Vinny must be the bartender/owner, he surmised. The same guy who was pretending not to listen to every word they were saying.

But Sutton wasn’t interested in going upstairs. He signaled to Vinny. The bartender came over with a hard expression.

“You got an office?” he asked.

“Yeah,” he answered warily. “Why you asking?”

Sutton pulled his bill clip and plucked a few hundreds loose. “Where is it?”

Vine covered the cash with his palm and slid it off the counter and into his pocket, then gestured, “Down the hall, first right.”

“Excellent.” He popped from the stool and started walking, knowing Gemini would follow like an obedient puppy.

Sure enough, Gemini was so quick on his heels, he could practically feel her breath on his nape.

Sutton locked the door and surveyed the room. Not much to look at but most likely cleaner than the whore’s rented fuck room.

Gemini, her dark hair a little greasy, hung down her back as she stripped easily out of her clothes.

Her tits, surprisingly nice, perky globes, should’ve been sufficient to rev his motor but he couldn’t help but think of Elizabeth and how her breasts were nearly perfect.

And that just pissed him off.

“On your knees,” he commanded as he released his cock, grimly satisfied to see his shaft thickening.

Gemini sank to her knees but said, “A blowjob is $100, swallowing is extra.”

He pulled about four hundred from his bill clip and tossed it to her, smiling as the bills drifted to the floor. She grinned. “Just for that, I’ll give you a little extra.”

“Intrigued,” he said, wondering what she was going to pull from her carnal treasure trove. “Dazzle me.”

There was something to be said for the skills of a professional — he soon discovered what the extra entailed as her wet finger went up his ass as soon as her mouth closed over his cock.

The sensation of being impaled on that tiny digit while her hot mouth worked his length was just the right cocktail to override his incessant comparison to Elizabeth that kept threatening to rob him of a good time.

Tongue, mouth, finger...it was a heady combination and it worked well enough.

A groan rattled out of him and he spurted a paltry jet of fluid to accompany his weak orgasm but for a split second, he wasn’t thinking about Elizabeth nor fretting about how he wanted to spend every waking moment with her.

Gemini swallowed every drop, grinning with saucy confidence as she scooped up the fallen cash.

She tucked the money into her purse and then returned to him, spinning around to present her ass.

“Think you got some fuel left in your tank to drive this?” She wiggled her ass and he gave her a playful smack, enjoying the way her flesh jiggled from the impact.

He squeezed her ass, knowing he could probably get it up to fuck her but did he want to?

The appeal simply wasn’t there. In fact, he was struck by the oddly disquieting sensation of guilt.

He pulled more cash from his bill clip and handed it to her. “Take the night off, get a pizza and watch a movie.”

Gemini’s eyes bulged at the cash he was giving her and she simply seemed lost for words.

“You sure? I don’t mind working for my money.”

“Just take the money and enjoy,” he said, feeling worse by the minute.

What the fuck was wrong with him? Since when did he feel guilty about anything?

And why the fuck would he feel guilty at all?

Because of Elizabeth? She was his whore. Just like Gemini, only his interaction with Gemini was more honest.

“You’re a good guy,” Gemini said, dressing quickly.

“No, I’m not,” he said, quick to disabuse her of that idea. “I’m simply bored.”

If he’d said that to Elizabeth right after sex she would’ve been hurt but Gemini simply laughed.

“Oh, tough guy, huh? All right, go home to your woman. You haven’t done anything that can’t be smoothed over with a new fancy ring or something.”

“What makes you think I have a woman waiting for me?” he asked, stiffening.

Gemini sauntered up to him and grabbed his cock, startling him with her bold movement.

“Because only a man who has something to lose would think twice about taking what’s right in front of his nose. Besides, you’re only half-hearted into this anyway. It took all my skills to keep you hard, which means one of two things.”

Reluctantly, he prompted, “Which is?”

She gave him a short squeeze before releasing him.

“Either you’re gay and you don’t know it (or you’re gay and you do know it but you’re fighting it) or you’re in love with someone else and same rules apply.”

He released a shaky laugh. “I can assure you...I am not in love. I don’t believe in such bullshit.”

Gemini laughed and slung her purse over her shoulder as she let herself out, saying, “You might not believe, but that cock of yours does. See ya later, honey-pot. You know where to find me if you change your mind.”

Sutton closed his eyes and winced as his injured eye protested.

What a fucked up day
.

And then he dragged himself out of that dive bar, determined to forget everything that’d just happened — and everything Gemini had said because there was no way a simple street whore knew more about his life than he did.

Right?

Bookmark: 12

-12-

Sutton hadn’t returned to the apartment that night and by morning, Elizabeth hated to admit, she was worried.

Not that she was his keeper — what did she actually care where he spent the night? — But there was no denying the anxious flutter in her belly and the fact that she couldn’t exactly sleep without him beside her, his arm tucked around her, drawing her close.

It was absurd.

And her own inane, unbelievable attachment irritated her to the point that she felt as if she might burst from the pent-up tension building inside her.

So when he walked through the door, his face looking as if someone had mopped the floor with it, she couldn’t stop the rush of words that fell from her lips.

“OHMYGOD! What happened?” she asked, going to him with concern but when he shrugged away her touch, anger blotted out anything kind that might’ve been residing in her heart. “Knowing you, you deserved it. I don’t feel bad for you one bit.”

“Good. I didn’t ask for your kindness or your concern. All I want from you is your obedience.”

“If you wanted blind obedience, you should’ve gotten a puppy,” she shot back, crossing her arms. “I’m a human being, remember?”

“I remember that I
paid
for your obedience,” he replied coldly and she tried not to flinch.

He was unaccountably cruel when he chose to be.

And to think she’d been worried about him!

Elizabeth glared, wishing she could drop him out of the window on his head.

She spun on her heel but he stopped her.

“Draw me a bath. I wish to soak. My head is pounding like a bitch.”

“Draw you a bath? What is this? 1852? What the heck does that mean? Sorry,
draw
your own fucking bath, your highness. I have plans.”

But she didn’t get far.

Suddenly she was pinned against the wall by his big body, and she was assaulted by an odd scent on his body that immediately made her stiffen.

Cheap perfume. Something flowery. Something she’d never wear.
NOOOOOO!

She pushed at him, immediately wounded beyond anything she might’ve imagined, tears springing to her eyes. “You fucking prick.”

He tried to kiss her but she kneed him in the groin, dropping him like a stone.

“I hope you got your money’s worth, you fucking asshole. And you know what? Don’t even think of touching me ever again. I’m done with you.”

“What makes you think I paid for it?” he ground out, rising on shaky legs to cast a hard look her way. “And you’re wrong, I will have you whenever I want because just like
her
, you’re my bitch, bought and paid for.”

“Fuck you!”

“Excellent idea,” he said, springing after her faster than she might’ve imagined after sustaining a kick to the nuts.

She shrieked and turned to run for the door but he was faster than her and managed to tackle her to the ground.

They went down hard but Sutton tucked her into his arms so that he took the brunt of the impact but as soon as they hit the floor, he rolled on top of her, holding her tight.

“Have you forgotten so quickly the terms of our agreement, my lovely peach?”

“I hate you,” she said with hot tears streaming down her cheeks. He’d slept with someone else. And it hurt. It shouldn’t but it did.

And the acknowledgement of that fact was a worse feeling than the actual deed.

“Yes, that’s right. Hate me. It’s better that way, sweetness because we are not a
thing
. Do you hear me? We are not
dating
, we are not
anything
. You are my plaything and as such you exist solely to pleasure me and if you fail in that occupation, I will no longer have need of you. Do you understand?”

“You’ve made yourself perfectly clear,” she said, choking on her inexplicable grief. “Get off me.”

But his cock was hard. She could feel it grinding against her belly and she wanted to cry big giant drops of sad-flavored tears.

So much for thinking that Sutton was insatiable for her and only her.

“Why are you doing this to me?” she cried. “If you wanted to be with other people, why did you mess with my life? You could’ve left me alone.”

Sutton’s gaze faltered and his mouth seamed tighter as if trying to keep back what wanted to fall from his lips.

Was it more hurtful words or was he holding back something deeper, something more human?

“I never promised fidelity,” he said quietly, as if that absolved him because let’s face it, Buchanans didn’t have to answer to anyone and he’d made that abundantly clear the night at the restaurant.

“Neither did I,” she returned boldly, as if she had someone waiting for her to say the word and they’d come running.

But even as preposterous as it sounded, Sutton didn’t seem to like it at all. His nostrils flared and his grip on her arms tightened.

She tried not to cry out but she could feel her flesh bruising beneath his grip. “You’re hurting me!”

“You belong to me,” he told her, his voice like silken steel. “This body belongs to me. Your sweetness is for me alone. Do you understand? The only man between your thighs will be me.”

“But the same doesn’t apply to you?” she shot back, hating that her belly trembled with unbidden desire, that need coiled deep inside her at the feel of his body pressing down upon hers. “I don’t operate that way.”

Sutton, for all his cold bluster, seemed torn, almost broken in half.

Was it possible that Sutton felt remorse?

Could it be that he felt something he wasn’t ready for?

Before she could press him for answers, his mouth descended on hers and that ravenous hunger that seemed to bloom only for him, raged out of control for them both.

Within moments, he was tugging her yoga pants down to sink between her thighs like a man searching for heaven and when his tongue found her clitoris, she lost the ability to push him away.

He was a man possessed, driving her mercilessly to that brink of inescapable pleasure and then pulling back only to drive her again until she tumbled with a strangled cry straight into oblivion, blanking out with extreme pleasure as carnal bliss temporarily erased all else.

Nothing existed but Sutton and his touch.

He plunged into her, impatient, desperate. His thrusts were manic, and frenzied and it was all she could do but hang on and ride with him.

It was wild and dangerous, passionate and unbridled. This was a side of Sutton she’d only ever caught a glimpse of and it frightened her how much she was drawn to him.

She clung to him, her hands clutching at his back, the sweat beneath her fingertips mirroring the sweat dripping down her sides.

This was madness, this was debilitating in its total annihilation and she couldn’t get enough.

“Holy fuck,” Sutton gasped, his climax wringing him out like a wet dishcloth in the hands of a barmaid. “Holy…gonna have a heart attack…”

He rolled away from her, flopping onto the floor and remaining there, one hand flung over his eyes, trying to catch his breath.

Tiny pulses rocked her body as she soaked in the bliss of an epic orgasm. For a long moment, they both basked in the uncomplicated nature of pleasure but soon enough the pulses faded and reality intruded.

Sutton slowly rolled to a sitting position, sighing as he pushed his hand through his hair.

There seemed a heaviness between them, something bigger than either were willing to admit and Elizabeth sure as hell wasn’t going to be the first.

She didn’t know much about love but she knew it changed a person.

And she felt different.

There was something so…enigmatic about Sutton that she couldn’t exactly explain why she couldn’t refuse him.

Not even when her morals had been on the line.

Hadn’t she signed on the dotted line, knowing full well the consequence?

Sure, there was Gretchen to consider but the fact was, she would’ve found a way.

A part of her had been stubbornly intrigued by Sutton Buchanan, the way he commanded a room, the way he took what he wanted without apology.

She yearned for qualities such as that.

Qualities that had always eluded her in her life.

And now, she was falling for the man who would most certainly break her heart into a million tiny pieces and then feed them to her, one bite at a time, knowing full well, it would kill her.

Was this what a future with a Buchanan looked like? Always wondering who he was fucking when he didn’t come home at night?

Cringing when she smelled another woman’s perfume clinging to his neck, or worse, his cock?

Stuffing down an ignoble sob, she struggled to her feet and ran to the bedroom, slamming the door shut and leaving Sutton on the other side.

She wasn’t surprised when he didn’t follow.

But she was devastated when she heard the front door open and close as his footsteps receded down the hallway.

Tears snaked down her cheeks.

What had you expected, Elizabeth? A declaration of undying love?

Buchanan’s weren’t capable of love.

And you’d known it from the start.

***

Sutton couldn’t stay there a moment longer. Elizabeth’s pain cut at him in ways that were unfathomable.

How had this woman wormed her way into his psyche so quickly, so completely?

It was frightening and it threw him off his game. He needed time to regroup. To collect his thoughts and put his head back on straight.

He made his way to the Buchanan mansion and showered in the guest room he’d formerly occupied.

As soon as he’d showered and dressed in fresh clothing, he started to feel somewhat more like himself but a residual sense of loss continued to shadow his steps.

His sister Whitney found him at the bar and he wanted to groan. The house was the size of Manhattan and yet, he still managed to run into one of his family members.

“What are you up to, big brother?” she asked, sliding into the sofa with the languid grace of a ballerina. “I heard you and Reece are stirring things up a bit in the boardroom. You know there are less painful ways of making things interesting.”

“I should ask the same, little sister. What mischief has kept you away from the business of making more Buchanan money?”

She waved away his question. “You know I was never one for such things. I don’t have the head for it, as father would say.”

He frowned. “Father was a misogynist prick and I never took you for one who ever listened to whatever shit fell from his mouth. You’re plenty smart enough and you know it.”

But Whitney had changed in the past year, turning into a shadow of her former self and he’d yet cracked that code.

Truly, he hadn’t tried all that hard but it seemed Whitney was definitely hiding something behind that faint, beautiful smile that never quite reached her eyes.

He poured her a drink and brought it to her, sitting opposite her. “Are you okay?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” She sipped her brandy.

“I don’t know. Frankly, I was surprised you were willing to come and spend some time with the west coast cousins. You were never truly one for the things we used to do. At least not with us.”

Sutton wasn’t ignorant of the things his wild-child little sister had been rumored to have done but he wasn’t one to cast stones either.

Besides, he loved his little sister, even if she drove him crazy and cost the family a bundle with her shopping sprees.

“Well, I thought to spend some time with Laird but it seems he went and found himself a wife.” She shrugged. “And maybe I wanted to stick around and see just how attached he was to his new arrangement.”

It was no secret he and Laird Teichert weren’t friends but he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t shocked by
that
recent turn of events.

It was as if there were something in the water, brainwashing formerly virile, aggressively pleasure-seeking males into docile purse-holders for the women in their lives.

Disgusting, really.

“I wouldn’t hang your hopes too high on that,” he said, finishing his drink. “Teichert has guzzled the same Kool-Aid as the rest. He’s hopelessly pussy-whipped. I never thought I’d see the day…”

Whitney’s smile seemed forced, pained even, but she finished her drink with a negligent roll of her shoulder. “His loss. In the meantime, why don’t you stop needling the cousins? Two against one is hardly fair.”

Sutton gingerly touched his lip. “If Reece hadn’t simply watched, it might’ve been a more evenly matched event,” he said dryly.

“Well, Reece has never been much of a fighter. You were foolish to think he might feel compelled to jump in.”

“He was the one who’d started it,” he grumbled, knowing he sounded like a pansy baby. “Anyway, it’s over. I no longer give a shit whether or not Vince and Nolan want to sell or keep the club. As soon as this quarter is over, I’m heading back to New York. Maybe it’s time to break off and separate.”