Contract of Shame (5 page)

“Why? I thought men who wanted to know more about a woman would ask her out on a date, not proposition her with a contract so shameful I can’t believe I even signed it. Like you said, Richard, you only want one thing from me, and it’s not chit-chat.”

“I’ve got a family who are a complete nightmare. The only decent one of the bunch of us is Opal. She doesn’t know it yet, but she’s already been bound in a contract of marriage with someone by the name of Charles Clarke.” He opened up.

“Why would they do that behind Opal’s back?” she asked.

“Because it’s what our family do. I like the colour green; don’t know why, I just do. I prefer to drink coffee with full-fat milk, even though it’s against the super skinny theory of today. I love my women to have an opinion and not be skin and bones.”

Scarlet sat back. He wondered if she’d open up as well. The other stuff most people knew, apart from the marriage contract between his sister and a jerk and that he loved bigger, fuller women.

“You sound like you should be making requests on a dating site.”

“We’re here, sir,” his driver called as the car slowed down.

Richard escorted her inside and made sure none of the vultures from his world would swoop down and ruin her. Innocence and niceness were qualities that never lasted in high society. He made sure the boutique was scheduled for tomorrow. Richard wanted to take her shopping and enjoy the next week with her.

The receptionist handed him his key card with a smile.

At the elevator he took her up to his real home. Well, what he considered to be his real home even if it was a penthouse suite.

Richard let her in and waited for her to make the appreciative noises most women would at the lap of luxury presented to them. She made no response. Nothing held her interest. She simply turned to him and waited.

“We became like a family to each other. The brothers we never had,” he said. “Wayne was always so serious while Tony played at being the rebel and tried to get all the parents to hate him.”

“What were you?”

“I.” He paused. How should he answer that question? “I stayed out of the way and tried to make my father happy,” he said honestly.

“Is that why you became a lawyer? To be
honest?
” Richard heard the bitter undertone to her voice.

“Look, I know you’re here through—”

“I’m here through a contract you made me sign. I’m here because I can sacrifice my body for the health and well-being of my son. I’m not here of my own free will.”

Richard stepped closer, and she took a step back. He followed her until her movements stopped with the wall behind her.

“You may be here because you feel I pushed you into this. I probably have, but can you deny this attraction between us? Can you feel your pussy creaming and the need to feel me driving my dick between those creamy thighs inside your cunt? Can you deny that?”

“I know. You’re so much better.” He claimed her lips and went straight to heaven. For the next week at least she’d be all his, and he didn’t want to waste any second arguing with her. He broke from the kiss. “See, you respond to me, and I want you so damn badly.” Richard teased her mouth open and swooped in, his tongue tasting hers. The earth stopped. Her arms wrapped round him. His leg inserted between her thighs, and he pressed up as far as her pencil slim skirt would allow. He wanted the heat of her cunt on his leg. He wanted to feel her cum leaking out.

He growled and tore the jacket from her body. Her breasts heaved over the edge of her blouse. Those luscious mounds begged for his touch. Richard, fired by the lust shooting through his body, pulled her hair out of the band constraining it. Tonight, he’d get to find out if she was a real blond.
Unless she shaved it.
His knees went weak. Everything he wanted was in touching distance. For the past year he’d been left wanting, and in a few minutes he could have it all. Scarlet, naked and open, begging for him to fuck her.

Her silky strands cascaded around his fist, and he tightened his hold producing a gasp from her.

The sounds she made were going straight to his groin. He had to have her.

“Stop,” she moaned even as her fingers pulled his head back for more. Her soft lips were undoing him. His fingers fumbled with the zipper of his trousers. Cursing the person who invented clothes, Richard suddenly felt like a horny teenager with no experience.

“Please, wait,” she gasped out.

He stopped what he was doing with a hand against the wall. “Please tell me you haven’t changed your mind?” he asked. The contract had only been his means of getting her to this point, not in keeping her.

“This is going too fast. I need time. I have to wash, and – please, if you care about me a little, you’d give me time to—”

Richard pressed his finger to her lips. “Don’t say anything. I want you to be happy while you’re here.” He meant the words.

A deep breath later he took one of her hands and led her through to the bedroom. “I want you to be comfortable, and so this is your room. I don’t want you to feel obliged to sleep with me.”

“You want me to have sex with you but not sleep in the same bed?”

His heart constricted at her words. Why did he want her to feel more for him? Maybe Wayne was right; maybe he did feel more for Scarlet. No, he refused to believe it. The men in his family didn’t love anyone. Richard would never force a woman into a full-time relationship with him knowing how he couldn’t love anyone.

She paused, and he watched the tears form in her eyes. “That’s none of your business. If you want this to work, you don’t mention Harry’s father.”

“Look where it got you. Forcing women to sign a contract to get them in your bed. If a father is the kind of man who raises a son like that Harry is better off without one.” The passion and fire of moments ago had been lost. Richard cursed as he saw a tear fall from her eye.

“I’m sorry. I can be such an asshole at times. You’re right. I don’t know your circumstances, and I swear I won’t ever challenge your judgement again.” She jumped when he placed his hands on her shoulders. “The bathroom is right through there.”

He watched her go, her ass still grasping his attention. The door clicked shut, and he looked in the mirror and stared at his reflection. “You’re going to screw this up.” Shrugging his shoulder he grabbed the box off the kitchen counter and took the red negligee he’d bought several months ago and splayed it on her bed.

Richard couldn’t tell anyone about the trinkets in his safe. Ever since Scarlet had turned up in his office looking for a job the obsession had begun. Necklaces he’d walked past displayed in designer windows or the odd present from a store. When she’d left her jacket one evening, he’d collected the size and begun buying items of clothing he thought Scarlet would look good in. The negligee had been an impulse decision. The silk fabric would feel great against her skin. He left it on the bed and walked through the suite to his office where he kept the large safe behind a picture.

In a small box lay a diamond engagement ring. He didn’t know why he’d bought it, but for some reason he couldn’t explain he went into the jeweller’s that day. Richard picked the box up and opened it to stare at the small diamond-encrusted dolphin. He’d noticed the picture frames and the odd necklace she wore with the print of a dolphin. Still, he couldn’t believe he’d brought this. Especially when he didn’t intend to use it.

He flipped it closed and placed the box back in the safe.

Whisky, he needed a really strong whisky.

Chapter Five

Scarlet lay back against the door and breathed a sigh of relief. Her heart pounded in her chest, and her cheeks were on fire. She went straight for the mirror above the sink. The woman staring back at her, she didn’t recognise. Her lips were partly open, and her hair was falling around her shoulders. This was a woman on the brink of womanhood about to partake in her true sexual experience. How ironic that the mother with a child considered tonight the night she’d lose her virginity forever.

She ran a bath and poured in some lavender bubble-bath. Through her search she found some scented candles and dotted them about the room.

Very rarely did she get the treat of a long hot bath, and for tonight she’d treat herself. Her clothes were removed quickly. The fabric was itchy against her skin. She glanced in the mirror and wondered what Richard saw in her.

Her breasts were big and the nipples large with a dark red colour tone to them. Her shape narrowed at the waist but expanded out, revealing large hips. On some of the celebrities where they could put their hands on their hips and practically be touching fingers, there was a wide gap for hers. The round belly gave proof to her once pregnant state including a few faded stretch marks.

There was no use in her fighting what nature had given her. She couldn’t count on her fingers how many diets she’s been on. The weight, regardless of what she did, would stay on.

Instead of crying over her body she turned to the dream of the bath lying in wait for her to enjoy.

Scarlet took a long bath, luxuriating in the bubbles and scented candles. She knew what was expected of her when she went outside. Part of her hated the idea of what she was doing, while another part couldn’t wait to be with him. Richard had forced her to sign a contract, so he owned her body for the next week.

She took the soap and lathered her body. Relaxing baths had been few and far between the last few years with Harry. She relished it like a child would a new favoured toy.

Her hair she washed thoroughly and rinsed of soap. Only when her hands started to resemble dried prunes did she think about getting out.

Gazing down at the bath as she stood and moved away she wondered if it would be wrong to kiss it. As a single mother she rarely had the luxury of a nice long soak in the bath. She shook her head. This was all for Harry, and she needed to keep reminding herself why she was here in the first place. Richard might desire her body, but Harry needed the medical care and attention. Maybe for the next couple of years she’d be able to be the attentive mother. Between work and school she barely had two minutes to spare, let alone spend quality time with her son.

With a towel wrapped around her body she walked the short distance to her bedroom. The size of the room didn’t fail to shock her. A small negligee lay on the bed with a simple note.
Wear me.

Richard must have left it when she’d been washing. The fabric was soft beneath her fingers, and she knew it would feel like a treat to wear. She thoroughly dried her body and made sure the fabric wouldn’t cling or be uncomfortable because of her rush to get it on.

Scarlet pushed it over her head and eased her arms through the thin straps. It fell to mid thigh. A mirror stood in the corner of the bedroom, and she went to check how she looked. The red satin highlighted her large boobs and thick hips. Before she left, she brushed her hair and checked to see if he’d left any panties to go with the negligee. Nothing.

Scarlet sucked in her lips and stared past his shoulder. The thoughts running riot through her mind filled her with insecurities.

“What’s the matter? What are you thinking?” he asked. A finger went beneath her chin and turned her face to look at him.

“You could have any number of women. Thin, gorgeous women. Why did you pick me?” So many women in her situation would think and ask the same thing. She couldn’t deny her attraction to him. It was one of those bizarre occurrences that happened in life. The man had blackmailed her with a contract and forced her to give up her body for a week. She didn’t even know if she could do it. Give him the one thing she’d never given any other man, give him her body for him to use as he saw fit, willingly.

There was her other shame. Harry hadn’t been conceived with two willing partners, and that detail she’d take with her to her grave.