Page 21 of Control

The stickiness of her cum on my fingers had nearly made me blow my own load. I couldn’t stop fantasizing about how her cunt would feel around my dick, squeezing me tightly as her muscular dancer legs held my hips in place while I drilled into her. My dick tented in my pants every time my mind wandered to those dirty depths, only to have frustration at the rejection wash over me again.Fuck.

“Maybe you need to leave that one alone?” Zayn pressed his fingertips together under his chin.

I should just let her go. Chasing her would be too much work, and I could easily find another who was more than willing to warm my bed. But there was something about her that I couldn’t quite figure out. It was more than just her looks, which weren’t like anything I’d witnessed before—classic. “She’s fucking gorgeous, though.”

She looked young, really young, but since she was able to get into Nirvana, I knew she was at least allowed to drink. She should have looked innocent, especially with her golden hair and crystal blue eyes. Though, nothing about her seemed naïve. In fact, her baby blues held more wisdom than I had seen in women nearly twice her age. Those eyes had seen things. Dark things. Things that had probably changed the rest of her life. I wanted to know more—peel back her layers and understand why she felt like she had to protect herself from me.

“From what I see, you should try to win her over with flowers and candy or just move on. No sense pining over someone without doing anything about it.”

That was some big talk from Zayn, who never brought women around us. His sex life was even more of a mystery than Shyam’s was before Amelia.

Screw flowers and candy. I just wanted to fuck her. “I’m not into that girly shit.”

“Then move on,” he repeated, his expression flat.

He was right. Fuck her if she didn’t want me. She was just one woman. A girl, compared to my age. Jai Sethi had an unlimited library of pussy waiting for him to check out, and life was too short to waste it on some fickle girl.

Happy with my decision, I stood up from my chair and walked to the door to check on the progress outside. “Round up the guys. Tell them to bring some fresh meat to the hotel suite.” Too much time had already been wasted on Claire. My job was far too stressful to be chasing even more stressful tail. Tonight, I would release of that tension.

Zayn studied me for a moment before responding, like he wanted to say something more. Instead, he settled on, “Yes, boss.”

Chapter IX

Claire

Iwas completely sidetracked during Meena’s private class. I had almost cancelled because the anxiety of running into Jai again gnawed at my gut like a parasite. However, the need for money won out, and like I always did when it came down to receiving a paycheck, I showed up.

“Mommy!” Meena ran to her at the end of class to chatter about the new moves she’d learned for the day. I had yet to see Amelia, since her butler had shown me to the studio instead. I wondered if she had been in bed nursing a hangover since she had probably stayed at Nirvana later than I had. I hadn’t had a chance to say goodbye to her because I’d been too flustered by what I had let happen in the booth. My face grew hot just thinking about how far I had let things get out of hand and how much I still wanted more.

“I’m surprised you showed up today.” She eyed the bags under my eyes with concern. She looked surprisingly refreshed, in a flowy white blouse and jeans. I, however, looked like shit from the lack of sleep. I might have left early but I had spent the night stirring restlessly thinking about my stupidity. Everything I had fought so hard to protect would probably be endangered by my greedy hormones.

Nervously, I laughed off her worry, hoping to avoid the conversation going any deeper. Explaining my hasty departure, especially without the friend that had come with me, to Jai’s sister-in-law would be too embarrassing. I didn’t want to have to resign from this job because I let Jai finger fuck me at her club.

Meena let out a sigh of boredom too big to have come out of her little body, then turned and ran out of the studio, leaving us alone.

“Everything okay?” Amelia’s brows knitted her forehead. “When we came back from dancing, you were gone.”

I cringed inwardly, thinking of what to say next.Your brother-in-law rubbed me out until I came, and I got freaked out about letting someone get close to me.I was a loner for a reason. I couldn’t afford to bring other people into the shit show that was my life. Instead, I did what I was an expert at—I lied. “Yeah, everything was okay. I just had a headache and wanted to go home early to rest.”

Her eyes remained glued to mine as if she didn’t buy my explanation. I blamed it on mothers’ intuition. “Did Jai do anything wrong? Do I need to smack him upside the head for you?” Her tone was stern like she meant it.

Although I appreciated her defense of me, even against her own family, Jai wasn’t the problem. He had done everything right…so right. “No, it’s not him. It’s me. I’m just not looking to date right now.”

If I didn’t carry so much baggage, I would have gone home with him and probably still been over at his place at this very moment. I could have woken up with him after a night of satisfying sex and probably even asked for seconds. We could have had breakfast together and argued over the last piece of bacon before showering together. If only things were different, and I could allow myself to have those kinds of experiences. But I couldn’t. Not with Jai or anyone else. I had to stay alone if I wanted to keep anyone I cared about safe. I barely knew Jai, but I couldn’t risk getting invested in him anymore than I had already become.

She studied me carefully. “I get it. I wasn’t looking for anything serious when I met Shyam, and lord knows he always had one foot out the door, but somewhere along the road, we realized we were ready to open up our hearts to each other.”

I wished it were that simple—just a matter being of open to commitment. “It’s just not a good time for me to get serious with anyone, no matter how good-looking they are.”

“I’d kill to see his face if he ever heardyoucall him good-looking.” She chuckled. “It’d inflate his already too-large ego. We’d have to grease the doorway just to kick him out of here.”

I couldn’t help the snort that left my nostrils, which sent Amelia into a fit of giggles. Hearing her talk about such a powerful and sexy man like she was his little sister knocking humility into him was too funny to shake. I gripped my belly, steadying my laughter so I could catch my breath. “He must get it all the time, though.”

“Yeah. He does.” She rolled her eyes, probably fed up with all the women who showed interest in her brother-in-law. Resting a comforting hand on my shoulder, she looked toward the doorway of the gym. “I was just about to make myself some tea. Care to join me?”

The only friend I’d had since I moved here was Lana. Our personalities couldn’t have been more opposite, but she had a good heart. She always checked on me throughout the day to make sure I ate and was safe riding the subway to and from work. Her boy-craziness was the only thing that made her flaky, but even then, she was still concerned about me. But she was the only person I spoke to regularly.

Being here with Amelia was a reminder of how nice it was to talk to someone new. My conversations with her always flowed effortlessly. “Sure.”

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