The Philanthropist (Trillionaire Boys' Club Book 5) Read online

  “Two minutes,” she says. “But if you try anything, I’ll mace you.”

  The line goes dead.

  I won’t try anything. I won’t need to.

  Jamie is already mine, whether her conscious mind knows it or not.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  JAMIE

  I HATE MYSELF FOR AN arousal I can’t understand. I only know that I was keyed up before Aiden’s arrival, then even more so after he stood on the porch. Undressing for him on the phone has me dripping.

  I hate this man. His personality and moral compass disgust and repulse me. He has a reputation as a philanthropist, but from all that I’ve seen he’s just manipulating the world — trying to make people believe he’s good, when he’s really an ass.

  Not to mention that he thinks it’s funny to basically blackmail girls into undressing for him.

  Or … it would maybe be blackmail if I hadn’t sort of wanted to follow along, indulging a secret thrill.

  Because … damn. When I dragged my panties down, it felt like Aiden was watching. When I slipped the top half of my gown off to unfasten my bra, I felt his eyes on my bare breasts. It didn’t matter that he was only on the phone — or that, strictly speaking, I didn’t have to do as he asked. I could have lied — told him I’d stripped, then stayed in the shadows when I got to the gate, to make it unclear whether I had.

  Or I could have not gone outside, because why should I? I could have let him stay there. Let him wait all night, if he wanted.

  I don’t have to do this. I don’t have to obey what Aiden Page, of all people, tells me to do.

  And so I wonder if what he told me is true. Maybe I’m doing this because I want to.

  Regardless, thirty seconds after we hang up I’m opening the front door, very aware of the breeze caressing the bare skin beneath my gown. My pussy tingles, flesh brushing flesh as I walk.

  My breasts are full, my nipples erect. Every motion causes my nerve endings to stir.

  Is it okay to be turned on by someone I can’t stand?

  It’s become increasingly clear that I am.

  Is that really such a terrible thing?

  And that leads to another scintillating, forbidden thought: what would it be like, to sleep with Aiden Page? What would it say about me if I did? Would that make me a slut? Would it mean I have no backbone, because my ideals could be so easily bought?

  Or is it not that way at all? Maybe by having sex with a man I’m attracted to but don’t like, I’m coming off as the winner. I mean, sure … he’d have “gotten” me, but that wouldn’t mean I’d fold and give up all I’ve been fighting for.

  I’d have what I wanted from him as well.

  Men do this — so do plenty of women, though I’ve never been that way myself. I’m a one-man girl, and that man has to be someone I adore. I can’t have empty sex, especially with a man like Aiden.

  Maybe lusting after him, even inside the privacy of my own mind, is a betrayal of sorts. Maybe it means I’m weak, unable to stand up for what I believe in, betrayed by carnal feelings.

  I stop, suddenly aware that I’m weighing arguments.

  I’m not really considering the pros and cons of having sex with Aiden, am I?

  Of course I’m not.

  But I didn’t bring any pepper spray. The motion of my legs feels like a slow hand rubbing me in all the right ways. By the time I see Aiden standing in front of his car, still in his gala tux, I’m having to alter my stride. If I keep walking in the same inner-thigh-brushing way that I normally do, I’ll have an orgasm on the driveway, right in front of my worst enemy.

  I stand back from the gate. I keep thinking of the way he reached through the mail slot to grab me. If I get too close, he might do the same thing through the gate. Instead of grabbing my hand, he might get a handful of my dress. He could pull it off me, and I’d be left standing nude before him.

  What might happen then?

  “You look beautiful,” he says.

  “Where is my license?”

  He flicks it like a man shooting cards into a hat. It avoids all of the fence uprights, bounces off the concrete, and skids into the grass.

  “Just like that?”

  “You did as I asked.”

  “That’s right. So go. Get the hell out of here. Tell Anthony you’re off his board.”

  “For that,” Aiden says, standing away from the sleek black car, “I’m going to need more.”

  “I already did what you asked.”

  Aiden nods. “And for a stupid little piece of plastic, I’m willing to take you on faith. But not when it comes to relinquishing a rather expensive position on a charity board that would look excellent on my resume.”

  I move closer, into the light. I run a hand down my sides, jutting my hip to display the lack of lines under my dress. I’m embarrassed, but showing him nothing, and it’s a simple way to prove him that I have a price. And that Aiden has paid it.

  “Not good enough.”

  “There’s nothing under.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “Are you crazy? Look.”

  The longer I stand here rubbing my hip, my sides, and now my breasts, the more this encounter’s bizarre nature is turning me on. If I’d done this quickly, I might have been able to convince myself that it didn’t happen. Less than a flash. I gave him nothing.

  But now he’s looking me over. Coming closer. He doesn’t try to reach through the gate, but it’s not like that means anything. He came through earlier. It wouldn’t be impossible to climb, if he truly wanted me.

  “Unacceptable.”

  “What do you mean, Unacceptable?”

  “I don’t think I’ll resign. I’ll keep my position instead.”

  Now I’m furious. I want to pound his pretty face with my fist, slap his chiseled jaw with the flat of my hand. “We had a deal!”

  “I didn’t think you’d actually do it.” He laughs. “When we met in Inferno, I figured you had more self respect.”

  “Fuck off. Fuck you.” I turn to stalk off.

  “So, what? You’re just going to walk away?”

  “Yes.”

  “You can’t do that.”

  “Watch me!”

  Aiden stops me by shouting my name.

  Without knowing why, I freeze.

  “Jamie,” he repeats. “Come back.”

  “No,” I say without turning.

  “You’re angry.”

  Yes. Yes, I am. But I’m many things. And I can still feel his eyes all over me.

  “And,” he says, “you’re confused.”

  I turn my head. The fact that I’m bare-ass naked under my fancy dress is front and center in my mind. I feel like a fool. And still I like his eyes on my body. I’m still responding. Still aroused even as we face off.

  What is it about this man? The air is charged between us, steering my thoughts toward unthinkable deeds even as I stew with fury.

  “I’m confused?”

  “You’re confused, because you don’t understand why you did what you did. You’re confused because, all your life, you thought you were one kind of person, and that kind of person wouldn’t bare her pussy for an asshole like me, even if she keeps it mostly covered. You’re confused because of what you did, Jamie, not because of what I did. But don’t you see? My leaving solves nothing. You still stripped for me, whether it leads to anything or not.”

  “It would never lead to anything with you.”

  “Bullshit. Women come on to me all the time. It’s embarrassing. I have my pick, and yet I keep thinking of you. How fucked up is that, Jamie — that I’d have my fantasies about a girl who’s caused me so much trouble?”

  “Good for you.”

  “I know how to tell when a woman wants me. You can try and hide it but I know the truth. I saw it tonight. Don’t pretend you didn’t feel it, too.”

  I try to snarl a cruel little laugh. Who the fuck does this man think he is? His lines might work on some girls, but not on me. I wo
n’t be told what to do or who I am.

  “Why did I help you tonight?” he asks.

  “Rare moment of respect and chivalry?”

  “It’s because he was touching what was mine.”

  I laugh, but the sound is hollow, because Aiden is still staring right at me.

  “I’m leaving.”

  “I’m leaving,” he says, mocking me. “I’m hanging up. You’re big on telling me what you’re going to do instead of just doing it. If you’d wanted to hang up, you wouldn’t have taken my call. And you definitely wouldn’t have called back. If you wanted to go, you wouldn’t have come down to meet me. You wouldn’t have taken off your panties, if you didn’t want me.”

  “I didn’t really do it. I lied.”

  “Bullshit.”

  “It’s true.”

  “Then prove it.”

  “I don’t have to prove anything to you!”

  “Have a spine, Jamie!” he shouts, his voice savage. “Tell me you hate me and mean it! Tell me you want me and mean it! Don’t do this bullshit where you lie to save face.”

  “I’m not lying. I didn’t take anything off.”

  “Show me a bra strap. Show me anything at all to prove it.”

  “This isn’t a peep show. I’m not showing you anything.”

  “Then come over here.”

  I’m not sure why, but I go.

  “Open the gate.”

  “No.”

  “Open it or I’ll break it.” Now his tone is berating, lecturing me like a scolded pupil. His words come out clipped, impatient, annoyed. “Open it or I’ll climb it again. Open it, and I’ll show you exactly what you want from me. And don’t tell me that you’re going to call the cops, Jamie. If you wanted them here, then they’d be here already. And if you didn’t want to fuck me, you’d never have taken my call.”

  My heart is pounding. I can barely breathe. A drug has swallowed my senses.

  I’m floating through another reality, my head swimming.

  This isn’t happening. And if it is, I’m appalled by what he says …

  … right?

  I’m not standing still, clenching, so I don’t come from the blunt caress of his words.

  I’m not imagining what Aiden is saying, picturing some double of myself doing tawdry things that the real Jamie Kyle would never do.

  Seeing myself from the outside, like an observer, I open the gate. It slides slowly away, and now there’s nothing but tension between us.

  “Taking the things you want,” Aiden says as he steps forward, “doesn’t make you a whore.”

  “I don’t want—”

  “Get on your knees.”

  “I won’t …” I swallow. I can’t even say it, so I finish without filling in the blank: “… just to get you to resign from the board.”

  “That time has passed. I’m not going to resign. I’m a goddamn philanthropist; charity is what I do. I won’t back away from Anthony, make you promises, or honor any of your conditions, just to get you to suck me off.”

  “I’m not going to …” But I stop, because I’m on my knees already.

  I don’t remember kneeling, but here I am. Aiden’s slacks are less than a foot away. The fabric shifts as his cock stirs.

  “You’re going to suck me off,” Aiden says, “because you want to.”

  “Fuck you.”

  But my hands go to his belt. It opens. I find the clasp. It separates. My fingers find then lower his zipper.

  My palm presses against his boxer briefs. Even his undergarments feel like they must cost hundreds of dollars.

  I feel the throb of his hard cock. I see the way its length tugs the top edge away from his flat stomach, seeking freedom.

  I move to reach inside, but Aiden puts a hand on my hand, moving it away.

  I look up. I’m lost. I don’t know where I am. All I feel is the need.

  “No,” Aiden says.

  I look up at him, a question in my eyes: No? Really? After all of this?

  “Beg me,” he says.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  AIDEN

  “PLEASE.”

  “PLEASE WHAT, JAMIE?”

  “PLEASE let me do it.”

  “I don’t know what you mean.”

  This is a bit much, but I know her look. The girl is practically hypnotized. This is a talent I have: knowing people better than they know themselves. Deep down, we’re all animals. Deep down, the need to couple and procreate drives our species. That’s what no one acknowledges: sexuality isn’t a flaw in the human design; it’s the key to who and what we are.

  On the eighth day, He created lust.

  All I need, in order to have Jamie, is to be bold enough to claim her.

  “Please let me suck your cock.”

  “Then suck it, Jamie. Take it, if that’s what you want.”

  Her lips are like silk on my dick. I look down to watch, seeing the way she rolls her eyes up to meet mine.

  Her gaze is haunted, primal.

  My response, when she wraps her soft lips around my shaft, is equally so.

  “Oh God,” I say. “Yes. Yes, Jamie. Suck it. Suck my cock.”

  She doesn’t just suck it. She doesn’t merely do the job because it’s what I’ve commanded. She’s doing exactly what she wants. She wraps a hand around it, moving in slow arcs up and down my spit-slicked shaft. Her eyes close as she savors the sensation. Her free hand moves down, but she’s not quite bold enough to hike up her dress and touch herself. At least not yet.

  I reach down to help, to give her permission.

  I lift the dress, and of course she’s bare beneath.

  “Touch yourself. Put those fingers in your pussy for me.”

  And she does. My balls tighten as she squeezes me, nearly milking a surprise orgasm. I moan. My control falters. I want to be inside her. All the way.

  I want to own Jamie. Make her mine.

  She pushes my slacks farther down. Her free hand cups my balls, gently rolling them. It’s electric, telegraphing up into my body and down my legs. I could come in her mouth right now.

  But that’s not what I want. And it’s not what she wants, either.

  “Get up. Hurry.”

  She stands. I was cool and composed, but now I’m urgent. My cock twitches as it leaves her lips, already missing their soft, wet embrace. I push her to the car, ramming her ass against it. We’re all arms and garments. The next thirty seconds must look like a fight, as she rips off my jacket and shirt, as I pull her dress away, as we find ourselves naked in the open air with my cock touching the soft, hot slit of her pussy.

  “Fuck me,” she says. “Please fuck me.”

  “I want you, Jamie. I want to stick my dick inside you. I want to see your face when you come.”

  “Fuck me,” she repeats, “and fuck you.”

  Jamie is writhing beneath me, already leaning back against the side of the car, scooting up enough to ride the now-cool hood. She spreads her legs, swears at me, claws me, says my name. Her hands find my ass and pull me into her, my thick shaft laying long in the cleft between her legs. Her pussy is blushed red, opening a little, inviting me in.

  “Your pussy is beautiful. I want to taste you.”

  “Fuck you, Aiden. Keep your fucking mouth off me.” She grabs my hips. Pulls me forward. My cock, still lying between her lips, rides higher, making us both flinch with pleasure.

  I look down. She looks so tight, I almost don’t want to ruin the anticipation with entry.

  “Look at that tight little pussy.” My hands find her bare tits. I paw them, more frenzied than delicate. She moves beneath me. It stirs my lust, swells my need.

  I take hold of it in one hand, then dip the head inside. She opens as I rub the tip of my cock, its skin wet with her juices, along her slit. She shines in the overhead light. Only my tip is inside. Her muscles are working, squeezing me, inviting me all the way.

  I thrust, hard, and Jamie gasps. A delightful sound, belying her prior bravado.
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br />   How long have I watched her, hating her?

  And how long has she hated me?

  She’s in my way. She’s stopped me.

  And I’ve been the constant thorn in her side.

  But over and over again, I’ve fantasized about this moment. About claiming what I craved — as she strutted about with her attitude and too-good-for-it bearing.

  Watching Jamie, and hearing her angry rebuffs whenever I tried to reach Anthony, it would be easy to believe that no one could make her whimper like I have. It would be easy to believe that she was immune to pleasure, that nobody — ever — put their cock in her smooth little pussy.

  Jamie is tan all over. I take her in, watching her as I thrust. She’s so much more magnificent, undressed, than I’d imagined. As much as this bitch annoyed me, I wouldn’t have thought I could be so inexplicably drawn to her.

  But it’s true.

  Right now, I can’t get enough. I can’t stop watching the way she moves, the way I’m making her feel. Her head tips back, her back arches, and she pushes against me, hard.

  I savor her orgasm, feel the contractions grip me, watch abandon take her — no longer my enemy nor my quarry’s gatekeeper, but just a woman.

  And I want her.

  Oh God, how I want her.

  There’s a moment, as Jamie is thrashing against me, already coming again, that I wonder if I’ve made a mistake. I wanted to hook her, find my way inside Anthony’s graces by putting myself inside Jamie.

  But this?

  This is something else.

  She captivates me like nobody else.

  All this anticipation? It’s hooked me, too.

  I wonder if I can stop. If it’s too late.

  But of course I can’t. I thrust hard as Jamie’s orgasm fades. She watches me, her brown eyes on mine, her expression full of misplaced trust, desire, and abandon. And as I falter, my body takes us the rest of the way. I slam into her, mashing mouths with my enemy.

  I look at Jamie, and realization of what we’ve just done dawns on her face.

  The same expression is surely on mine.

  Our eyes meet, then dart away from each other, unable to hold their stare.