The Seduction (10 page)

She’s not here.

I look around, towards the bathroom, but
there’s no sign of her. The patio door is open, night air blowing
cold.

Then I hear a car engine. I rush out the
bedroom and sprint to the front door. I throw it open in time to
see headlights. Keely reverses out of my driveway with a
screech.

“Keely!” I yell.

But she’s already gone.

SEVENTEEN

KEELY

I drive home, tears streaming down my face,
flooding my eyes until I can barely see the road in front of me, my
heart aching so much it feels like my chest has been cleaved in
two.

How could I be so stupid?

“I told you. Nobody turns
me down. She’s begging for it, just like I said she
would.”

The snippet of conversation I overheard
echoes in my mind. His voice, so cavalier and cruel.

Who was he speaking to? How could he talk
about me that way?

I’ve never done anything even close to that.
I’d come so close to giving him everything. Letting him do all
those things to my body. It was so freeing, to give myself up to
the sensations I’d been dead to for so long. He never made me any
promises, but I thought our connection was real; that the charge
between us meant something. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Was this just some fucked-up game to
him?

You were just a cheap slut. A filthy whore
for him to use.

I finally pull into my garage and sit there,
sobbing helplessly in the dark. The pain in my chest is unbearable.
I feel so humiliated. After I heard what he said on the phone, I
didn’t even have time to grab my clothes or purse. I’m wearing
nothing but one of Vaughn’s shirts, that I found over the back of a
chair as I bolted out the back door.

The fabric smells of him, taunting me with
memories.

Oh God, I wanted him so much. I would have
done anything he asked; totally surrendered to the moment and that
dominating glint in his dark eyes.

It was a lucky escape, I tell myself
miserably.

Finally, my sobs subside and I get out of
the car. My phone is ringing. Thank god I’d left it in the car --
Vaughn, I know before I even check the screen. I decline the call,
but seconds later, it starts ringing again.

I can’t face talking to him, so I just
switch the ringer off, fumbling for my keys as I climb the steps to
my apartment. But when I reach the front porch, there’s someone
waiting for me.

“June?” I ask, recognizing Ashcroft’s nurse.
“What are you doing here?” I hope she doesn’t notice I’m only
wearing a man’s shirt.

She steps into the light, and I can see
she’s been crying too. “Are you OK?” I ask, my own problems pushed
aside. “Come in, please.”

I unlock the door and open it for her, but
she shakes her head. “I can’t stay. If they find out I’ve been
talking to you...” She looks nervously around. “I’m going to my
sister’s tonight. She lives in Atlanta. I should be safe
there.”

“Safe from who?” My head is spinning. “What
are you talking about? Who would find out?”

“I have to tell you something before I go,”
she whispers, dropping her voice. “He made me promise to tell
you.”

“Ashcroft?” I try to follow.

June nods. A car passes by and she startles,
drawing closer to me. “He’s dead,” she tells me, wide-eyed. “He
died tonight. They say it was another stroke.”

“Oh God, I’m so sorry,” I say. “But, I don’t
understand. Why are you here? Do you need to talk to the
office--”

“No!” she yelps. “You can’t trust them.
Don’t trust anyone.” She grips my arms, her expression full of
fear. “They’ll come after you now. They won’t stop for
anything.”

“Why? June, you’re scaring me.” I try to
pull away, but she’s holding too tight. “Nobody’s going to come
after me. I’m just a paralegal. I’m nobody.”

“Not anymore.” June swallows. “He named you
his heir. In his final will, Ashcroft left you everything. Five
hundred million dollars.”

What?

My mouth drops open in shock. “I don’t
understand. I saw the paperwork. There’s got to be some
mistake.”

“He made a new version, one you never saw.
His kids won’t stop until they destroy you,” she says, fearful.
“There’s already a plan. I don’t know what, but you can’t trust
anyone!” June breaks away from me. “I’ve already said too much.
Just be careful!”

She bolts, skittering down my steps and into
the night.

As her car headlights recede into the dark
night, I try to get a grip on things, but after the night of wild
pleasure and crashing disappointment, everything blurs into a
terrible mess. I let myself in, exhausted, and sink to the floor
with my back against the door.

Vaughn. Ashcroft. The money. It whirls in my
mind until I can’t see straight anymore.

Five hundred million dollars, and I’m the
only heir? June must have been mistaken. It’s impossible. It has to
be.

And then my phone starts to ring, piercing
the dark silence. I brace myself, and answer.

“Hello?”

TO BE CONTINUED….

PART TWO OF THE SEDUCTION
IS COMING JUNE 12TH.

THE SEDUCTION 2

Show me a woman who doesn’t like to be
dominated, and I’ll show you a fucking liar.

It’s OK, you can admit it. I won’t tell. You
want it rough and deep and dirty. You want to hear the steel in my
voice when I tell you exactly how to please me. And you want to
know, I won’t hesitate to punish you if you don’t follow my
commands to the letter.

Yeah, that’s right. I’ll punish you, and I
won’t go gentle either. I’ll bend you over and spank that sweet ass
until it’s branded with my handprint. Until it hurts so good, you
forget where the line is between pleasure and pain.

Who am I?

The Seducer.

And now I’m in way over my head.

I thought she was just a job to me, another
girl to screw. But now she’s under my skin, and I can’t just walk
away.

My secrets are spiraling out of control, but
I can’t quit now. She doesn’t realize the danger she’s facing -- or
that her biggest threat is me.

I want to protect her, but I could wind up
destroying us both.

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