Page 30 of Control

And still, I needed more. I wanted her dripping all over me—a sticky, sweaty mess as we rolled around between the sheets all night. I wanted her essence to soak into my pores, marking me as hers.

I shifted to prop my ankle on my knee to ease the growing discomfort between my legs.

Amelia’s eyes bored into my face like she was trying to read my thoughts. “You got lucky!” she exclaimed.

“No, ma’am,” I answered. Though, it was kind of true. It had been satisfying bringing Claire to orgasm yet again. Knowing I had the magic touch to set her off only inflated my ego. Though I hadn’t yet found my release in her company, I didn’t want to push her. I knew she had issues opening up to people, and I worried I’d scare her away if I sexed her the way I really wanted to—hard and without remorse.

I had texted her this morning when she was on her way to class. No signs of regret clouded her replies. In fact, she had sounded more receptive to my attention than before. I had promised to call her when she reached home this evening, to make sure she was safe inside with her front door locked. Lord knew that neighborhood was anything but secure. It didn’t sit well with me that she lived there, but I wouldn’t press her on that matter either in case she pushed me away again, undoing all the progress I had made.

“What are you doing here, anyway?” Amelia asked. It was nearly five o’clock and most people had left the office for the day.

“I just came back from Nirvana. Shyam and I needed to meet with some new associates.” Shyam still ran the club with me as co-partner, so I needed his involvement with most issues. Though my brother was no longer an active employee at Sethi Tech, he was still a board member, so all major decisions here needed to clear him first too. Amelia almost always got her way, though, since he was putty in her hands. Hence, this washerdomain.

“Oh, right. The new liquor distributors?” She bobbed her head up and down as if remembering her husband mentioning it to her.

“Yeah. Shyam stayed back to tie up some loose ends. You know him. Workaholic.”

She chuckled. “I’m no better,” she said, waving her hands around her new empire. She was a better leader of this company than either Shyam or I had ever been.

“You’re the only one who’s free as a bird now,” she joked.

“Hey. I resent that. My shift doesn’t start until after midnight.” That was when the underworld woke up and the bad men slinked in the guise of night, making the world that she and Claire lived in go round. The villains controlled everything. No. Scratch that.Icontrolled everything.

“About that…did you tell Claire what you do for a living yet?” She glared at me expectantly with her delicate eyebrow raised, as if I should somehow have been intimidated by her. The idea of me fearing Amelia made me laugh inside. She was fierce but not nearly as frightening as I could be when pushed to my limit.

“What? No way in hell am I telling her that.” How could I?Hi, Claire. Just wanted to tell you that I’m a drug kingpin. Now, bend over so I can get to that ass.Sure, that approach worked on some women, but Claire was classier than that. And she didn’t scare easily, so she’d probably knee me in the balls and pepper spray me if I told her the truth.

Disbelief on her face, she continued, “So, you’re just planning to keep her in the dark?”

“Yup,” I replied, offering no explanation.

“Jai.” Her voice turned serious. I recognized that tone.Here we go again with the intervention. “How will you ever have a fulfilling life if you continue with the business? We love you and want you to be safe. Your niece and nephew need you around for a long time.”

“Don’t use them to guilt me,” I warned. She knew Meena and Dylan were my weakness and that I’d do anything for them, so it wasn’t fair of her to throw them into this.

“I’m notusingthem. But what happens when Uncle Jai doesn’t come home one day because he pissed off the wrong person? How would I explain that to them?” She fought back tears as she continued to stare me straight in the eye.

My throat tightened with guilt thinking of my niece and nephew crying for me. I swallowed to clear the feeling away, but it didn’t help one bit.

“And now you’re bringing Claire into this. You can’t have an honest relationship if you keep this from her. You should at least tell her if you’re not going to quit dealing.”

“It’s not a relationship.” It was more like an addiction.

“You’ve been stuck on the same girl for over a week. Don’t bullshit me.” She pointed at me, looking more and more like my mother as the days passed—if Mom had sported red hair and freckles of course.

“What happened to innocent Amelia? You’ve really developed a foul mouth since being with my brother.” I crossed my arms over my chest and angled my body away from her. “Such a bad influence.”

“You’rethe bad influence,” she teased.

“In that case, are you sure you want me to settle down with Claire? Wouldn’t I just be a bad influence on her too?” Claire was so young, yet her soul was so much older. It was one of the things that intrigued me the most about her. She was nothing like the twenty-one-year-olds that came to our parties. She understood pain and struggle and didn’t take small things for granted. She held her head high despite not having much money and no family. She was a queen, and God, didn’t I want to be her subject?

Though I was intensely attracted to her, it was still not enough to start something long-term. Like most encounters with women, this too would run its course and I would soon move on. She had called me out on my game, leaving me stunned. I liked that she was difficult because it was even more satisfying getting her to bend to my wishes. I enjoyed the challenge of breaking her shell, and that was the probably the reason she had held my interest for this long.

“You’re being a dick,” Amelia scolded, with fire in her usually serene eyes. “I’ll tell you the same thing I told her. Open yourself up. The walls that you’ve built are just going to hurt you and leave you to die alone.”

“I won’t be alone. I’ll have you guys.” I flashed my most charming smile. I knew how to captivate someone, even her, in two seconds flat.

She rolled her eyes and shook her head at me, irritated that my magic was softening her.

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