Page 10 of Sinister Devotion

"I don't want to hurt you unless you ask me to, and then we're talking about something that doesn't involve us training."

"Does it include what happened in the car today?"

I grin and look away from her, trying my best to reel in my lust. "That was following through on what you started. Next, you're going to pretend you're walking to get pancakes."

"For fuck's sake, let it go, Julian." She laughs to herself and turns her back to me. She enacts my command in dramatic fashion.

Claire swings her arms, ridiculously exaggerating a joyous walk while speaking in a melody. "Mm, I can't wait to slather myself in hot maple syrup. Even better if they have boysenberries."

I shake my head, approaching her from behind with an arm around her waist and one over her mouth. The moment I start to drag her backward, she maneuvers her hands to clasp together in front of her and throws all of her weight to the ground. She pulls me down, which gives her leverage to headbutt me. I back away in time for her to miss my face, but there's room for her to break free.

Claire pivots in her kneeling position to slide between my legs and knocks me forward onto a knee. She's supposed to run away at this point, but she jumps on my back instead, giggling as she tries to put me in a headlock.

I spin her around too easily and pin her underneath me, where no amount of flailing will get me off of her.

"This is why you're supposed to run, Claire." My voice is low, raspy even, restraining my desire to keep her in this position. "What are you going to do, now?"

Claire surprises me by pushing her face closer to mine and licking my lips. "You taste just how I imagine."

She has no idea. I lean down, covering her mouth with my own to give her a true kiss. My tongue pushes between her lips and my hold relaxes into the intimacy between us. Her tongue chases mine and I can't help but wonder what a mouthful of that delectable pussy tastes like. The sample from earlier isn't enough to hold me over, to sate my need to claim her, to make her mine. When I feel Claire's hand dip into my shorts, I don't stop her.

My urge to be so close to her feed off this moment, having my cock in her small hand is so good, I nearly come in it. She strokes me as I move one arm under her and the other hand to slip inside her waistband. I rub her clit as my tongue probes her mouth. When I slip a finger inside of her tight walls, I can feel her gasp.

The wince from the pressure, the pain, it makes me stop and pull away.

"Fuck. What am I doing?" I ask myself, rolling onto my back, which forces her to move her hands off me. I tell her, "This isn't right. I'm sorry, Claire. Good work on your training."

I get up and leave her alone in the training room. A cold shower, a quick meal, and then barricading myself in my office until I fall asleep is how I spend the rest of my night. I do my best to put Claire out of my mind, so I don't barge into her room to make her come all over me.

The next morning is an exercise on how best to avoid Claire. I send her on countless errands to the point I inhibit her from doing the job I hired her to do. She's a buffer as my assistant and a buffer is exactly what I need when I come back from lunch to see a pair of faces I had no intention of seeing today.

My mother, Bianca Marzano, and her brother Armande are sitting outside my office in chairs I don't remember being there. My mother gets up with an expression of disapproval.

"Julian, sweetie, I already told you that dark colored suits are much better in a position of power like yours." Her words force me to look down to remind myself what I put on, and it's a tan suit because it's a thousand fucking degrees outside.

"Good afternoon, Mother. How nice of you and Zio to drop by. I wonder where my assistant is and why she didn't tell me you were here." I grimace and look at my phone, where I see a number of unanswered messages.

Fuck.

Armande clears his throat. He doesn't say anything as he gets out of his seat and walks into my office like he owns the place. When the Don of the Marzano crime family comes in for a face-to-face meeting, things can't be good. I approach the office to see Claire inside, organizing papers on my desk.

She offers me a timid smile. "My apologies, Mr. Blackwell, I couldn't reach you. However, everything's ready for your two o'clock. I can push it back?—"

"Don't worry about that, sweetheart," Armande interjects. "I won't be here that long. Mr. Blackwell can keep his meeting. Now, if you'll excuse us."

Claire looks at me and I give her a nod to leave us. She closes the door behind her and with a threatening glare, Armande sits in my chair.

"Who the fuck do you think you are?" He snarls.

I'm not easily intimidated, nor am I easily bullied. I press my hands against the top of my desk, leaning in close as I respond in an equally menacing tone. "I'm exactly the man this world needs me to be."

5

CLAIRE

When I walk out of Julian's office, I can't stop thinking about last night. The way he felt in my hands, the way his fingers felt inside of me, his tongue, his touch…it's everything I want and more.

My mind continuously plays the scene in my head, dissecting every minute to see where I went wrong. The sound of Ms. Marzano snapping her fingers at me brings my attention to her. Bianca Marzano is stunning with wavy dark brown hair and a dress that shows off a very flattering figure for a woman of her age. She's gorgeous, but her attitude is as toxic as a biohazard dump.