Bare Your Soul (3 page)

Even though it was clear she was talking to herself and didn’t expect me to answer, I did some quick calculations in my head. She had two weeks before she wouldn’t have a place to live and another six weeks before school would start. A lot of my dancers were students, so I was pretty familiar with their schedules. And I knew how much they needed to make to pay their tuition because they were always pushing for more time on the stage if they were short.

“You’re going to be my personal assistant,” I threw out, wanting to keep her close to me.

Her head snapped back up at my job offer. “Your assistant?”

“Yeah, it’s a live-in position so you don’t have to worry about paying for an apartment. And if things work out then I’ll be flexible on the hours so you can commute back and forth between my place, school and here,” I explained.

“But that won’t pay enough,” she argued. “Trust me. I looked at other options before deciding to come here to audition.”

“I make more money than the other people you would have worked for, so I can afford to pay you more,” I said convincingly. “Besides, you’ll be available to me twenty-four seven so you deserve more compensation than with a regular nine-to-five job.”

I could practically see the hope spark in her eyes and then she looked down at my shirt covering her body with her white panties peeking out. “But I can’t possibly work for you,” she murmured. “Not after what just happened out there.”

That right there was one of the major differences between us. She was shy because I’d held her in my arms and made her come. But me? I wanted her in my home, working for me and dependent upon my generosity for the very same reason. I’d spent half of my thirty years chasing tail so I knew what happened out there between us wasn’t just lust. There was no way I’d let her walk away from me until I could explore whatever the fuck it was and decide what I wanted to do about it and her.

“Of course you can,” I reassured her. “I’m paying you to help me out, not to sleep with me. Whatever goes on between us is separate from you being my assistant.”

“If I work for you, then nothing else is going to happen,” she insisted, her spine straightening as she glared at me with indignation. She looked like a spitting kitten and even that managed to get me hard again.

“Trust me when I tell you you’re wrong, Angel,” I disagreed. “You may be too young to know it, but I’m old enough to know better. If you and I spend more time together? We’re going to fuck. Because there’s no way I’m going to walk around with a hard-on all day long and my cock gets hard just from the smell of you.”

She gulped at my crudeness. “And you think that’s going to make me want to accept your job offer?”

“No, I think you already want to take me up on it for a few different reasons. You won’t have to worry about a nice place to live. I’ll pay you enough money so that you can cover your tuition and then some. When school starts up, you’ll have learned the ropes already and I’ll make sure you have time for classes and studying. Plus, I’ll give you a clothing allowance so you can dress appropriately,” I explained. “And you can deny it all you want, but the biggest reason you want to say yes is because you want to be near me. You feel this pull between us same as I do.”

“And if I say I don’t?” she retorted.

I decided it was easier to prove I was right than to get her to admit to it. I leaned over and crushed my lips against hers, tasting her for the first time. Her mouth opened as she gasped in surprise, and I took full advantage as my tongue swept inside. I tangled her hair in one fist and held her jaw in the other as I plundered her mouth, demanding the response I deserved. It didn’t take very long for her body to soften in surrender, her tongue mating with mine and her hands grasping my shoulders. I allowed myself to savor her sweetness before pulling away.

“Don’t try to play games with me, little girl,” I growled. “Because I’ll win and you’ll lose every time.”

“No games,” she promised, her eyes cloudy with desire.

“Do you want the job or not?” I asked.

She looked me straight in the eyes and tilted her head as she searched for something within my gaze while she considered my offer. When she answered, she sealed her fate. “Yes, I want it.”

I
didn’t expect my whole life to change forever when I said those four words to Morgan. He bustled me out of his office after calling someone to bring my clothes to his door. While I changed in his bathroom, he switched pants and I was embarrassed to realize I must have left a wet spot on his lap. I apologized for ruining them before he corrected me and then I felt another blush blaze across my skin when I heard his explanation.

Only a couple of hours had passed since I’d left my motel this morning and yet here I was, packed up and walking through the door of Morgan’s home. He didn’t want me to drive my own car and somehow I found myself riding with him instead. I wasn’t sure what it was about him that made me want to obey. Maybe it was just the situation I found myself in and the strict control I’d lived under the last few years. I didn’t know for sure and it scared me a little that I honestly didn’t care either. I just wanted to let go for a bit and see what happened next without worrying so much.

“Holy fucking shit!” I gasped as I got my first glimpse of my new home after Morgan pressed a button on the visor of his Maserati. The gates opened to reveal a sprawling estate that was hidden from prying eyes behind the tall fence and palm trees lining the street.

“Language,” he growled.

I couldn’t help the eye roll that was my response to his command since I’d heard him swear many times already today. “So you get to swear, but I don’t?”

“Oh, you’ll fucking swear all right. In bed. With me. As I drive you out of your mind with need and you beg me to fuck you,” he promised. “But outside of the bedroom, I don’t want to hear foul language coming out of your pretty little mouth.”

I wanted to protest his words, but the rush of moisture they caused made me pause as I considered what he was asking. This wasn’t just a man who wanted to get in my panties. He was my new boss who acted like he knew he was going to get in there. And if I was honest with myself I knew he was too. So what did it hurt to play along for the time being?

“So you want me to be a good girl for you, Morgan?” I breathed out.

He dropped my bags where he stood and stormed over to me. “Maybe I wasn’t clear enough earlier, Angel,” he rasped as he lifted me up and wrapped my legs around his waist before backing me against the door. “You walked through that door of your own free will. It was your decision, baby. And now that you made it, there’s no backing out. You’re mine. Lock, stock and barrel.”

“I thought slavery was illegal,” I pointed out.

He thrust his hips against me and I could feel how hard he was. I felt a measure of relief knowing that the craziness I was feeling wasn’t one-sided. He felt the same insane pull towards me as I felt with him.

“Oh, the things I want to do to you definitely border on illegal. But I’ll wait until you’re begging me for them,” he promised before his lips swooped down to capture mine.

I shivered at his touch, and as much as his words inflamed my desire, they also freaked me out. I had no experience with this. I was sure my actions led him to believe differently because of how I had acted from the moment I’d met him. Certainly nothing like the virgin I was. But in my defense, I hadn’t hung on to my virginity because I wasn’t interested. There just hadn’t been enough time to do anything about it. Now I had all the time in the world and no reason to fight the blazing chemistry between us. None except for him being my boss and that I had put myself in a position where I relied on him for everything—food, shelter, clothing and tuition.

“Morgan,” I protested slightly as fear crashed down on me. I pushed away so I could take a step back. “I don’t know if I can do this.”

His dark eyes gleamed with unrestrained lust as he stared down at me. My confusion must have shown in my expression because his eyes softened. “Give me five minutes to prove you wrong. To show you how fucking amazing it’s going to be between us. I won’t even unzip my pants, I swear.”

The laughter that sputtered out of me was as much of a surprise to me as it was to him, but he sounded exactly like the teenage boys I’d just graduated with. I might not have had time to date lately, but I’d certainly heard promises like that in my sophomore year before my world turned to shit.

“Do lines like that actually work for you?” I teased.

Morgan smirked down at me, his eyes dropping to my lips before he looked back into my eyes and responded. “I don’t know. It’s been a long time since I’ve had to bother using one. You tell me, is it going to work?”

His reply was like a splash of cold water against my face as I was reminded of the difference between us. He was hot, confident and wealthy. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that women probably threw themselves at him on a regular basis. Meanwhile, I was young, broke and inexperienced. How the hell could anything between us ever work? Especially if he was my boss.

“I’m guessing no by the look on your face right now,” I heard Morgan mutter before he pulled me into his chest. “I get this might be scary for you. I can’t promise you anything except that you have nothing to fear from me. No matter what does or doesn’t happen between us, I’ve made a promise to you. One that I’ll keep.”

“And what promise is that?”

“You have a job that will pay for your schooling and a safe place to rest your head at night,” he swore.

My mind was a jumble of thoughts. I’d left my cheap motel room this morning expecting to strip for strangers to make ends meet, and suddenly I had this drop-dead gorgeous man standing in front of me promising to make it all better. It was hard to believe things could change for the better so quickly. Not with how my luck had been lately. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

Morgan’s eyes lit and his smirk changed to a full-fledged grin. “Damn straight I’m sure.”

“How can you be so certain?” I asked, shaking my head in disbelief. “You literally met me less than two hours ago.”

“You sure you wanna know why?” he asked, his voice dropping to a husky whisper. I nodded my head in response. “You’ve gotta know you’re fucking gorgeous. I’ve seen plenty of beautiful women, but there’s something about you that surpasses each and every one of them.”

My heart stuttered at his words. “But that can’t be it,” I argued.

Morgan placed his finger over my lips so I couldn’t continue. “The very fact you’re arguing with me over something most women would leap at the chance to get from me is another reason.”

I smiled and he moved his finger away. “There are lots of honest women in the world, Morgan.”

“Not in my world, Angel,” he countered. “And none who look like you but also have a fighting spirit. You’ve been dealt a shit hand lately and you didn’t let it stop you from going after what you want. You have no idea how fucking hot that is, baby.”

“I’m just not sure what to think about all of this. You’re going to be my boss. I’m going to be living in your home. I may be willing to fight for what I want, but it seems like I’d be risking too much if I agreed to sleep with you too,” I worried aloud.

“Then I’ll just have to find a way to convince you I’m worth the risk, Angel,” Morgan said, before he brushed his lips across mine.

“That’s going to take time,” I warned him. “I don’t know you and I’m in a vulnerable position here. It doesn’t exactly make me comfortable. Especially since I’ve learned the hard way that I can’t always trust men to stick around.”

“I’ll give you time to get used to me, but I can’t promise it’s going to be very long,” he offered. “And I’ll do what I can to make you feel a little more secure in our situation.”

I cocked my head to the side, studying his face and looking for any sign of dishonesty. I breathed a deep sigh when I didn’t find one. “I think you really mean that.”

“I do,” he promised, extending his hand out to me. His warm fingers tightened on mine as I placed my palm against his. “Let me show you your new home.”

W
ith Angelica’s hand clasped in mine, I gave her a tour of the house. A place where none of the women I’d bedded in the past had ever crossed the threshold. And yet there I was, calmly leading her into my territory without a second thought. Not just for a visit either. No, I’d gone completely crazy and invited—no practically forced—her to move in with me.

She was pretty quiet, only asking a random question here and there as we walked through the first floor. It wasn’t until we climbed the stairs and I opened the door to the master suite that she hesitated again.

“I’m in here,” I told her as I watched her gaze scan across the room and stop when she saw my bed. It was a huge four-poster bed with dark oak spindles in each corner. The California king sized mattress was big enough for me to sleep comfortably and the frame was masculine enough to suit my tastes. I’d never really thought much about my selection until now when I could so easily picture tying her spread-eagle across it, leaving her at my mercy.

“It’s beautiful,” she whispered, a pretty pink blush staining her cheeks.

I nudged her so she’d walk further down the hall, giving me a moment to adjust my cock since it was straining against my zipper at the thought of her naked and begging me to take her. Without thought for the implications, I stopped her at the next door and opened it. As masculine as my décor was, the guest room was feminine. A queen-sized bed was the main focal point with champagne fabric tufted headboards and breezy curtains.

“And you’re in here,” I said, pulling her gently through the door as she stood there gaping at the room.

“No, Morgan,” she argued. “I can’t possibly stay in this room. There must be something smaller I can use instead.”

Of course there were other rooms she could use, but I wanted her close to me while I bided my time until she shared my bed. And I wasn’t about to take no for an answer. “I’m afraid you’re out of luck then, because this is your room. I keep odd hours and placing you far away from me would make it difficult should I need your assistance in the middle of the night.”