The Unblocked Collection (39 page)

We finally stilled, and I felt him move next to me, gently brushing his fingertips over my nipples. They were more sensitive than they’d ever been.

“I had no idea something like
that
was even possible,” I confessed, “especially from inside of
there
.”

Derek propped himself up on his arm, running his fingers over my cheek and through my hair. “I told you I’d be your first for many things, and I promise you’re going to like them all.”

“If they feel anything like that, consider me your lifelong pupil.”

His thumb pulled on my lip. I loved it when he did that, when he focused on my mouth and nowhere else. It made me feel like he was longing to kiss me, and kissing Derek Block was one of the most overpoweringly personal experiences I’d ever felt. He was rough and unrefined, robust and all man. His mouth had been all over my body, in places where no one had ever been before. But kissing was so intimate and soft—an emotional expression more than a sexual one. He didn’t show a lot of emotion, but he did when his mouth was on mine.

“So submissive,” he whispered.

“Only with you.”

He cocked his head. “That means there are no others.”

It wasn’t a question; he was too demanding for that. He already knew the answer, but maybe there was a part of him that needed reassurance, the same way I had needed his earlier. “No, Derek. There are no others. Just you.”

“I like that answer even more.”

DEREK

I SAT
in my Suburban in the parking lot outside the motel. My eyes traveled up the stairs and across the doors until I saw 212. This was the room Tamra was in. She’d called a half hour ago and asked to see me immediately. I tried to push for a different date, another time; she wouldn’t budge. Will was in a vendor meeting offsite and hadn’t been able to plan an escape for me. Before leaving Timber Towers, I’d asked one of the assistants to call and make up an excuse that required me to get back to the jobsite. I hoped the time I had chosen would get me out of there before Tamra decided to take her clothes off…I needed to get my dick out of this mess, but I didn’t know how. Tamra was our only contact, the only source we had who was inside Randy’s circle. Without her, I would have no knowledge of his dealings, and I couldn’t jeopardize that just yet.

I got out of the SUV, climbed the stairs and knocked on the door. I had a feeling she’d be wearing something sheer and tight and would do everything in her power to get me to touch her. I’d bailed the last two times I’d been in her presence; she wasn’t going to let me get away with a third. And hell, I was right. She opened the door in nothing but light pink panties and a matching bra, her nipples so hard they made the fabric buckle.

I kept my eyes on hers. “Risky to be answering the door in just that.”

“No one would be knocking on it besides you, baby.”

My stomach churned. I wasn’t her fucking baby. I wasn’t her anything. She was lucky I was still standing there. I wasn’t sure if this was even worth it anymore.

I stopped her when she reached for me, clamping her wrist for a second before pulling my hand away. “Don’t make me remind you.”

“Don’t make me remind
you
, Derek.” Her voice was whiny and pleading. “You haven’t touched me in so long, I’m beginning to think you’re using me.”

I almost laughed, but it would have only confirmed that she was right. “Don’t start. You know how this works.”

“I do, and it seems like I’m the one doing all the giving and you’re doing all the taking. It’s my turn to take.” She walked to the bed and took a seat on the edge of the mattress. She ran one of her heels up and down her leg as if she were sanding her skin. “Like them?”

The heels must have been the gift I’d had Will send her. “I picked them out for you, didn’t I?” It was a pathetic lie…and a pathetic answer. But her smile told me it had satisfied her.

“You did, thank you.”

“You didn’t ask me here to talk about your shoes, and you know better than to call me just to service your pussy. If you have something to tell me, then say it.”

She reached down and rubbed her clit over her panties. “Randy closed on the land in Hull a few days ago.”

I looked at her feet. “Move your hand.”

“But I want to—”

“Move your fucking hand. You don’t touch yourself unless I tell you to.”

She sighed. “Fine.”

I waited, hoping for more. Nothing came. “That’s it? That’s all you have to tell me?” I was losing my patience and trying not to make it so obvious, but I couldn’t stand seeing her in lingerie, or that I was even here, or that after all these goddamn years Hayden and I hadn’t been able to secure a different source.

“Well, no,” she said. “I’ve been looking at all the numbers and I ran a few more comps and I’m beginning to wonder if the land is actually worth what he paid. I mean, once the investors pulled out, I questioned it, but Randy knew I had a friend in banking and pushed hard for me to connect them.”

“Good deal or not, it shouldn’t affect you.”

“But it does.”

It all clicked into place then. If any part of me had wondered whether Tamra had ratted me out to Randy, I had just been reassured that she hadn’t.

“You’re not getting your commission, are you?”

She shook her head. “Turns out, it’s all happening off the books. I brokered the damn deal and I’m not getting shit! Can you believe that cheap fucking bastard wasn’t going to tell me? Probably planned to drag it out for as long as he could, then lie about the funds or something…like I haven’t been sucking the lenders dick and getting all the inside scoop.” Her eyes widened. “Sorry. I probably could have left that part out.”

I wasn’t focused on whose dick she was sucking; I was focused on the transferring of the money. Tamra’s commission must have been kicked back to the lender, which was how Randy would pay the extra points. He couldn’t afford to pay it any other way. Had he come to Timber Towers to gloat over his win, or to drool over mine? “So the deal is absolutely done?”

“The money was already wired and not one dime of it is coming to me. He even had the balls to ask me to look for more properties. He wants Boston, Back Bay—as close to your building as I can find.”

“What have you shown him?”

It looked like all the air had been sucked out of her body, wilted on that bed like a discarded balloon. “I haven’t looked. I needed a few days to cool off.” Her hand dropped to her thigh. “So now do you see why I’m not in such a giving mood?”

Randy had financially fucked her. I felt bad about that. Although she had never been loyal to him, she had worked as hard as she was capable of, and that had to count for something. “I get it,” I said.

“Will you get my mind off it, Derek? Come over here and make me feel better…”

I crossed my feet and leaned into the dresser. “Are you quitting your job?”

“I want to. He’s been acting so crazy lately, scrambling to buy anything he can get his hands on.” Her fingers paused at the edge of her panties. “I want you to hire me, Derek. I’ll give you a little head over lunch…my ass over dinner. We’d make such a good team.” She sounded excited about the arrangement.

My phone dinged from the front pocket of my flannel. I pulled it out and read the text from Hayden:

I got what we need, brother. He’s finished. FINISHED. Be at my place at 7:00 tonight.

Hayden practiced fact, not theory. She wouldn’t have sent it unless she was positive this new source was a strong one. It wasn’t time to celebrate; it was time to get the fuck out of this motel room. The disaster who was spread eagle across from me with her fingers on the verge of plunging into her cunt was no longer needed.

But I couldn’t cut her off completely. Tamra had been a good source. Needy, whiny, demanding to the point where her punishments got rougher than I’d intended…but she’d been loyal. That was something I couldn’t forget.

“What if I got you a job? Not with me, but with someone I think you’d work really well with.” Someone who liked to use her mouth as much as Tamra did. I wasn’t positive I could make it happen, but Will had been dropped off at work this morning, and the woman in the backseat looked suspiciously like Julia.

She started to stand. “You’d do that for me?”

“I would.” I put my hand in the air to stop her from coming any closer. “But what’s going on between us has to end.”

“It was the dick-sucking comment, wasn’t it?” It was too stupid a question to even consider answering. “I knew it as soon as I said it.”

“I’m going to head out and let you get dressed. I’ll be in touch once I hear something. In the meantime, stay with Randy. I’ll get you out of that job soon enough.” I gave her a nod and moved toward the door.

“Hey, Derek?”

I looked over my shoulder.

“Thank you.” She sounded sincere.

“You got it.”

I got back inside my Suburban and pressed the number for Frankie’s cell.

“Calling me during the day…this must be serious,” she said. Her voice was like a scalding shower, washing away every image of Tamra that lingered in my head.

“Bad news, baby.”

“You’re cancelling our plans tonight.”

I hated how disappointed she sounded. I never wanted to be the reason she was upset, or be the cause of her anger or sadness. I only wanted to make her smile…and moan. It was a disconcerting realization—one I wouldn’t let myself really think about.

“I have no choice.” I turned at the light, heading back toward the city. “Something big has come up.”

“With work?”

She wanted more from me, and I knew that, in the same way I wanted more from her. When it came to Randy, I’d already broken the seal with her. It wouldn’t hurt to give her a bit more. “It’s not exactly work-related.” I pounded my fingers on the steering wheel. Talking about it was harder than I thought. “It’s Randy. Hayden uncovered something, and she wants to discuss it.”

“Are you free right now?”

I glanced at the time on my dashboard. Will would be in that vendor meeting for at least another hour; the crews would call if something came up. “I have some time…why?”

“Come to my office.” She didn’t sound hurt anymore. Her tone was similar to when my tongue was on her.

My balls began to ache, my dick pushing against my fly. Just the thought of being with her in that office made me so goddamn hard. “Should I bring anything?”

“Just you.”

FRANKIE

“MR. BLOCK IS HERE,”
Brea said after I picked up the phone.

“Please send him in.” I ran my fingers under my eyes to catch any loose powder that had fallen and fluffed the sides of my hair. “And remember, no staff interruptions until I give you the okay.”

“I’ve got it handled, don’t worry.” I hadn’t told her my plan, but she knew—she knew
everything
…like how keeping Derek interested took work and how I was trying things I’d never done before. I planned to do both today.

I felt him before my eyes found him in the doorway. His stare was fierce and captivating; it hit my breasts, the folds between my legs. It stirred a chaos of emotions.

“Frankie…”

“Lock the door.” I realized I had given him an order and added, “Please.”

He turned the knob and tucked his hands into his pockets.

I had wondered how it would feel to have Derek in my office, a space much more formal and colder than my condo. My father liked to keep things ultra-contemporary with sharp lines and random blasts of color. He believed this style screamed wealth, which was what we needed to portray to our book of business and potential clients.

Derek’s casual, almost lumberjack style didn’t seem to clash with the décor. What really screamed in here was my need for him, my desire to be closer and to feel his power in my hands. “Come here,” I said.

His stance widened, and he glanced at his boots. “I don’t know what you have planned, but I’m the one who does the demanding.” His eyes locked with mine. “Not you.”

I walked to him and grabbed his hand, holding it in front of my pussy so he could feel the heat coming off me. “I’m not trying to control you, Derek.” My free hand touched the outside of his jeans, running up and down his fly. “I’m just trying to show you what I want.” It amazed me how much power his fingers could hold. How the grazing of one fingertip could make my wetness pool, how his hesitation to my command could make me desperate to try harder.