Obsession (16 page)

“I’ll text it to you now and we’ll
talk when I get home later.”

Landon reluctantly said okay then hung
up the phone.

I crawled across the sheets, laying my
body down next to Rod’s. My hands begged to touch him, so I gave
in, letting them roam his bare chest, collar, neck. The course
hairs on his chin and jaw were scratchy, and visions of how they
rubbed against parts of my body last night flooded my
memory.

“Mmm, move lower,” his deep voice
commanded as he was being pulled from his sleep. I grinned, doing
his request. My fingertips slid under the blankets, following
downward where he was more than happy to be awake and lying next to
me.

“Like this,” he hummed, guiding my
hand the way he wanted it to move. I giggled but was quickly
silenced by Rod cupping the back of my neck, pulling my mouth to
his and dipping his tongue inside, showing his
gratitude.

Just as I was about to hop on top of
him, Rod pulled his head back and held our hands still. “I want to
do something different.” He sat up, leaving the bed, then coming
back with two long, thin, white pieces of fabric maybe six inches
wide.

He sat on the bed, his eyes heavy with
lust. “Straddle me.”

Smirking, I found my way to his lap,
wrapping my arms around his neck. Just as I was going to lavish him
with my mouth, he chuckled, grabbing my wrists and pulling them to
his sides. “I love your eagerness. Let’s try something
new.”

His eyes were stormy as he
held up the white fabric, then bound my wrists together behind my
back. The fabric was silky and smooth, and I suddenly wanted to be
covered with it, along with Rod’
s tongue.

“Can you move your hands?” I shook my
head. “Good.”

He held the second piece of fabric
between us, eyeing it with a smirk, then began wrapping it around
my neck, leaving both ends long enough so he could grip them
firmly. He tugged at the fabric, causing it to tighten slightly
around my neck.

My body jerked, my arms pulling on the
restraint of the fabric, wanting my hands freed so I could grab the
silk from my neck.

Rods’ eyes lit up like wildfire as he
saw my reaction to the limitation of my breathing. “You’re going to
love this, Jamie. The high you get when your blood pumps slower
will have you coming so hard, you won’t know where you
are.”

I bit my lip, my body fidgeting in
discomfort. Coming so hard? He’d gotten me off with his hand a few
times, but never during sex. Although I was slightly curious, this
was very new, and not something I was entirely sure I was ready to
try, if at all. The thought of not being able to breathe scared me
and was even more frightening when I couldn’t move my
hands.

“What if I want you to
stop?”

The excitement in Rod’s eyes brought
on the same fear that crept into my nerves as when he said he loved
me. “You won’t.” A lump was thick in my throat, the smooth, silky
feeling that felt nice a few minutes ago no longer brought
pleasure, but insecurity. “I’ll start slow, I promise.”

Rod let go of the fabric, reaching for
my face to kiss me tenderly. His slow movements cured the tension
in my neck, welcoming me to his fantasy.

Which would soon become my
own personal hell…

Chapter Twelve

Flying to Grand Rapids was supposed to
be comforting for me, but even with Nathan sitting by my side,
trapped next to the window 30,000 feet in the air, Rod haunted me.
For all I knew, the freak probably hid cameras throughout the room
so he could whack off to me getting undressed.

Dinner with Becca’s family and the
Conklin’s was a helpful distraction, but the note I’d found outside
of Nathan’s condo when we left for the airport caused me to panic.
I’d shoved it into my purse before Nathan noticed it.

Nathan’s eyes were glassy from the
dose of Dramamine he’d polished off before the flight. “You ready
to present what you’ve been up to in Miami to the Grand Rapids
crew?” he asked without taking his eyes from his iPad.

“As always,”
I
sighed
. “Maybe I can convince someone to
come out and give me a hand.”

Nathan snorted. “Gain more clients,
and then you can have an assistant. Let’s not go broke
now.”

I laughed.
“Nathan, you own a
multi-million dollar company. You’re not going to go broke over a
sixty some thousand dollar salary.”

He glared at me. “Tell Tyler that,
then we’ll talk.”

I rolled my eyes. “Speaking of Tyler,
is he going to be in Grand Rapids?” I secretly hoped not because I
wanted Becca to stay with me.

“Supposedly he’s staying in
Chicago.”

My insides sagged in relief while on
the outside I remained passive.

When we landed, I tried calling Becca
to see what she was up to, but she didn’t answer. Nathan generously
offered to drop me at my condo before he went to his standard suite
at the Amway.

“You can stay with me tonight if you
don’t want to stay at the hotel.”

“Nah, I’m sick of you,” he said
evenly, but I noticed his lip twitch.

“Whatever,” I teased back.

He glanced at me as we
drove in silence. “
You al
l right?”

“Mmm-hmm.”

“Why are you so fidgety then?” he
asked, nodding his head toward my bouncing leg.

My legs immediately stopped, then
crossed.

“I’m just sick of sitting,” I
lied.

Nathan moved his eyes to the road,
then pulled out his phone. “Hi, yes, I need to cancel my
reservations under Conklin tonight…No, keep it for tomorrow. Thank
you.”

“What, now you miss me?”

Nathan chuckled. “You
wish.”

My grin was wide as I looked out the
window. He was a terrible liar. Just as I was going to say
something smart back to him, my phone buzzed. I jumped, hoping it
was Becca.

Mitch:
If you were a burger at McDonalds, you’d be
McGorgeous.

Shaking my head, I
responded.

I hate McDonalds.

Mitch:
We can go to Burger King so you can have it your
way.

I snorted.

You’re a dork.

Mitch:
In my pants.

What?

Mitch:
Dork AKA: a blue whale's penis, the largest penis in the
world.

“What’s so funny?” Nathan asked as I
attempted to control my giggle.

“Remind me to never call someone a
dork again.”

***

The Grand Rapids building moved much
faster than what I’d grown accustomed to in Miami. There were
always a few people wandering around the tiny building, but here
there were multiple floors filled with busy, career-driven
employees on a mission. The thought of building an environment like
this in Miami thrilled me. Dreams of being in charge of my
department had pushed me to succeed back in Florida; a change of
pace considering I’d been contemplating falling off the face of the
earth to get away from Rod.

“I ordered Louis Benton for dinner,”
Nathan said, distracting me from a spreadsheet.

“Great, I’m famished.” I hadn’t eaten
all day.

Nathan grabbed the paper from me and
swapped it for a glass of wine.

“We’ve worked enough. I need to vent
about my stupid brother.”

“Which one?” I teased.

Nathan smirked, then sat in a brown
leather chair across from his desk, patting the chair next to him
for me to come join him.

“They both have their moments, but I
was referring to Mitch. Why don’t you think he’s hiding
drugs?”

Oh, not this
again.

“Just because he works on-site doesn’t
mean he knows the ins and outs of the properties enough to hide
drugs.”

“I don
’t want to think he’d sell
us out like that, but fuck, Jamie.
I just don
’t know
what to believe anymore. The way he interacts with Chino makes me
nervous. He’s pushing me away.”

But he’s pulling me
in
. “He doesn’t have marks on his
arms.”

Nathan blinked. “I hadn’t thought to
look.”

“Not that drug dealers use, but most
do.”

“If this drug scheme is as big as I
think it is, he could do some major time if he’s
caught.”

“You don’t know if he’s hiding drugs,
though.”

Nathan held a tumbler of amber liquid
to his temple as he thought. “It’d crush my mom if he went to
jail.”

My hand found his forearm, caressing
it to bring him comfort. “Nathan, I know you think he’s your
responsibility, but you can’t control him. He’s what, twenty-five
years old? He’s an adult. Your mom would never blame you for the
actions of your siblings.”

Nathan sighed, then downed the rest of
his drink.

We spoke lightly through dinner,
leaving me to my own thoughts. The day had been wonderful, but now
was the time I’d be haunted. I couldn’t help but wonder where Rod
was, and if he was going to make an appearance in this foreign
city.

“Come on, let’s go see
Becca.”

I stood from my chair, bringing both
mine and Nathan’s empty plate to the trash can. I’d meant to go see
her throughout the day, but hadn’t had a free moment. Nathan stood
from his seat after filling his third glass. He downed the drink,
then grabbed his sport coat to follow me to Becca’s
floor.

I was startled when I noticed the
time, realizing how late it really was, and my legs felt tired as
we entered the elevator. “Are you staying with me again tonight?” I
asked nonchalantly.

Nathan looked toward me. “Depends…You
going to make me breakfast in the morning?”

A giggle escaped me as the elevator
dinged.

Becca
’s floor was a ghost town as
we traveled past the lowly lit cubicles toward her office. The
light was shining through her windows, and as we got closer, I
noticed she wasn’t alone. In fact, the person who was with her was
extremely close to her.

“Get. A. Room,” Nathan
exaggerated.

Tyler pulled away from my best friend
and laughed. I hadn’t seen him smile so wide in a long time. Becca
clung to him, blushing slightly but looking just as enamored as
Tyler.

“What are you two doing here so late?”
Tyler asked, snuggling Becca.

“We had a meeting. We were discussing
Chino.”

Tyler’s face straightened as he held
Becca tighter to his body. “Yes, we need to address that
situation.”

“I don
’t know how to get that
asshole out of here. He doesn’t seem to take no for an answer. I
think we need to force our lawyer on him,” Nathan sighed, taking a
seat in one of the office chairs.

I took the seat next to Nathan. “I say
we find his drugs and dump them in a large body of
water.”

Nathan shook his head. “That sounds
like a sure way to get ourselves killed. That man is a lunatic. I’m
shocked he didn’t pull a gun on us last Saturday.” He glared at
Tyler.

“What?” Tyler said defensively. “I’m
sick of his shit.”

Nathan laughed, then leaned forward in
his chair. “Almost? Tyler you punched him in the face.”

Tyler’s cocky grin radiated throughout
the room. “Yeah… I got him good didn’t I?”

Nathan rolled his eyes. “Purely
unprofessional.”

“That asshole needs more than a swift
punch to the face,” Tyler growled.

“I agree, but we need to fight dirty
with him. Chino plays mind games. Jamie might be on to something.
We find his drugs and use them against him.”

“
How do we plan on doing
that?”

“Why don’t you talk to Mitch? Maybe
find out some of Chino’s insights,” Becca suggested.

Nathan shook his head. “Mitch won’t
say anything. I’ve tried every aspect possible.”

“Yeah, the only way into
his thick skull is through a woman,”
Tyler grumbled.

That’
s true.
Throw a half-naked woman in front of that man and his head
would turn in a heartbeat. I began playing with my nails, annoyed
at how much of a Neanderthal he was.

“
Yeah, too bad we don’t
know any single, desirable women who could take advantage of him,”
Tyler said slowly.

That feeling you get when
someone is staring at you consumed me, and when I moved my eyes
from my nails, I realized the three of them had their eyes planted
on me. I eyed each one of them slowly, understanding where their
minds were going, but I was
so
not on the same page as them.