Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 275

slap the side of my head, and I reached up, fumbled for her wrist, and slammed it into the mattress while still slamming my cock in and out of her drenched cunt.

She screamed again and beat the side of her head against mine. I ignored both, marking her so well that it would take a hell of a lot of makeup to cover up what I was doing to her. This felt good… it was like fucking Bobbi, but different. We danced together… a dance of defiance, lust, and outrage. We were in bed together in a metaphorical sense as well as a literal one. Her husband hated both of us, and we hated him in turn. We couldn’t beat the shit out of him, so we beat the shit out of each other as we sated each other’s primal needs.

We spent the next two and a half hours fucking the shit out of each other until we both lost count of how many times Carla came. The woman was a walking G-spot, with a prominent, thick clit that set her on fire whenever I manipulated it directly. None of our moments of reprieve were tender or caring… we were two people who wanted to keep going… to continue our depraved act of defiance, but we were simply mortal with mortal needs. Then, when half-rested, we attacked each other in different ways.

I had Carla on her stomach, a fistful of her hair pulled tight as I fucked her from behind. She tried to smother me as she flooded my face with the sweet nectar from her pussy. I pounded her ass while she fought me, making me earn it while yelling at me to fuck her harder. She sat in my lap and rode me in an animalistic fury while trying to bruise my lips with her teeth and tongue.

It was well into the small hours of the morning by the time I limped out into the hallway with my jacket in hand. I wasn’t sure where Chloe had waited the entire time, but within moments, she was beside me as we slowly made our way to the elevators in complete silence.

On the way down, we exchanged glances.

“You sure that was a good idea?” Chloe asked.

I started to pull a face and immediately winced, my lips feeling like they’d been punched repeatedly.

“Might as well do the crime if I’m gonna pay for it.”

Wednesday, 9:35 am

I’m taking off tomorrow and Friday to go out of town for the weekend. Let me know if you need anything before I leave. I stared at Natalie’s text message for the third time this morning, trying to decide whether to respond. She'd mentioned working over the weekend so she could take some time off near the end of the week to go on a getaway with her rich new boyfriend.

That could’ve been me. I could’ve been the rich new boyfriend if I had acted sooner. Hell… looking back on our relationship since breaking up with her old boyfriend, I’m pretty sure Natalie would have said yes if I’d broken up with Jessica and asked her out. There had been enough cues that I’d been too blind to see at the time. Hindsight was twenty-twenty, and it stung like a bitch.

My disgust at the inability to act sooner must have been evident. “Everything okay?” Erin asked, sitting on the bench seat opposite me as we rode in the SUV to Ray's funeral.

My phone vibrated in my hand as I received another notification—a text from a new number I didn’t recognize. Hi. It’s Astrid. Want to hit a few rounds with me this afternoon, then perhaps get something to eat? Does 15:00 work for you?

“Yeah,” I said, not wanting to hash old Natalie stuff with Erin. I waved my phone, flashing the screen at my assistant. “It’s Astrid. She wants to play golf this afternoon.”

“I hear golf is pretty popular in Norway,” Erin said, looking out the window. “Not a fan?”

“Nah,” I said. “Never really understood the appeal.”

Our ride slowed considerably, and a glance from the window showed why. We were slowly passing gravestones as we traveled through the cemetery where Ray was going to be buried during a small graveside service open to only the people closest to Ray.

Apparently, he didn’t have a lot of family. His very Presbyterian parents were estranged because of his lifestyle choices, and he’d been an only child. His only family consisted of his husband and in-laws; it was nice that he’d managed to find a family that accepted him. I only wish he’d been alive longer to enjoy it to an old age.

“Are you going?”

“Yeah,” I said, still peering out the window. I spotted the freshly dug grave and a few people standing around it, preparing for the ten o’clock service. “With Roger, Kelly Maddox, Cartwright, Amber Bell, and now Hiro Tanaka out there, I need friends.”

“It’s hard to make friends if you’re fucking them all,” Erin said. I glanced at her, but she was still staring out the window.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.

“Don’t,” Chloe said.

Both of us looked at her. “What?” Erin asked.

“You don’t get to throw a bunch of tail in his face and then bust his chops when he bites,” my bodyguard said, staring out the other side of the window.

“I was just kidding,” Erin said.

Chloe stopped staring out the window to level a gaze at Erin. “This isn’t the time.”

Erin immediately closed her mouth and glanced away, looking a little abashed, and I felt the tension in the air turn up a few degrees. I felt bad for the part I played in getting Ray killed, but I hadn’t known him all that well. Chloe had worked with the guy for a while, so it made sense that she would be on edge.

My assistant glanced in my direction and we shared a long look. I was trying to piece together what she had meant by that comment. Had she been jealous?

Despite my confusion, I didn’t want to feed into Erin’s sudden discomfort after Chloe’s reprimand. I enjoyed seeing her get bullied by the other girls in fun ways, but when Erin looked genuinely upset, it felt like I’d just seen someone kick a puppy. I gave her a small smile, hoping it’d make her feel a little better. Still… I made a mental note to talk to her about that later.

Aware we were approaching the grave, I texted Astrid back. Hey. I haven’t played much, so don’t expect much from me, but I’ll be there. Just text me where to meet you.

I decided to keep Natalie on read.

The service was a simple, non-denominational affair, with the pastor sharing Ray’s virtues with the attendees, including me, with Erin and Chloe flanking me. Probably less than ten people from Dan’s family were present; apparently, Ray's husband also had a small tribe. In fact, between my people and those from Hannon Security—Ray’s and Chloe’s security agency—there were more non-family present. Besides Dan’s people and Hannon, it was me, Erin, Chloe, Shea, Natashya, and Emily.

Maintaining respect and stoicism during the funeral was important to me. After all, I felt partly to blame for Ray's death, even if I hadn't pulled the trigger. It was hard enough to look any of them in the eye when I was the reason he was dead, and paying proper respect to his memory felt like a good way of showing how much I cared. Unfortunately, my attention kept wandering to Emily and Natashya.

I hadn’t spoken to either of them since Monday, and Emily hadn't exactly left us on the best of terms. As tragic as Ray's loss was, and as much as I wanted to carry that burden with me, Emily was still alive. If this taught me anything, it was that none of us were promised tomorrow, and I was going to make damn sure things weren't going to stay this way between us. Repairing our relationship dominated my attention throughout the entire service.

Once it was over, I made my way over to Ray's husband, catching him as he exchanged a few low words with the officiant. I touched him on the arm as soon as they were done, grabbing his attention. “Hey, Dan. I’m sorry we haven’t met in person before today.”

I felt like a heel for not talking to him sooner. Erin had coordinated with Dan’s mother to make all the arrangements for the funeral while I’d been busy with the board meeting and the fallout from that. He had every reason in the world to be angry with me at his husband’s funeral, but all he did was give me a tearful smile as he hugged me tight. “Thank you for everything,” he sniffled. “It’s a beautiful spot… a beautiful ceremony. Ray would have been honored to have all of you here.”

He pulled away and looked me in the eyes. “He called me, you know. That afternoon, before he died, he told me you were going to help us adopt. Mr. Upton, you made my Ray so happy. I can’t thank you enough for that.”

The backs of my eyes started to sting, and I looked away, blinking rapidly and trying to pull myself together. I didn't want to break down in front of the guy whose husband died, but goddamn if Dan’s words tried their best to pull tears out of me. I caught Erin watching me with the sweetest smile on her face, and I returned it with a weak one of my own.