Page 77 of Devoured
“What security?”
His glossy eyes blinked up at me. His lips were soft and puckered, waiting for me to touch them. And I wanted to. He almost made me forget what I was saying.
But we had business we had to attend to first. I adjusted myself, focusing on his eyes only.
“I talked to Kendall about staying,” I said, “and she’s in.”
“Mmm,” he hummed. He pulled on my hand. “Lay down with me.”
“Later,” I said, straightening myself. I looked forward, avoiding eye contact with him. Seeing him like that—his bare abs, the veins on his arms, that cocky grin—all of it was too distracting. “She made a good point though. She said if you stayed a bit longer, you could convince the right sort of clients to—”
He hoisted me up, lifting me by the hips so that I was straddling him, his hard cock pressing into me. “Roland,” my voice squeaked, “Come on. Let’s talk about business first.”
“This is business,” he murmured. His hands reached up my sides, under my shirt, and onto the bare skin of my waist, making me shiver. I closed my eyes, trying to ignore the sensation.
“I think you should stay,” I said. Finally, I opened my eyes. “It’ll be good for the club.”
“I want to stay,” he said with a lazy smile, “but not for that.”
I waited for him to explain, but he grinned and closed his eyes. “There I go, with those feelings again.”
“Those feelings?” I whispered.
“You know the ones. Those emotions that scream: I love Iris, that gothic queen with the dragonfly tattoo.”
I blinked my eyes, my whole body filling with heat. Love? Was he really using that word? What the hell was going on? He reached towards my pants, about to flick a thumb against where my clit would be, but I pushed him away.
“Roland,” I said, my voice stern. “I came here to talk about the club. I need your help.”
“And I’ll help all right,” he chuckled.
“Seriously. Stop. Let’s talk,” I said. I closed my eyes tight, then added, “We need you to stay. You could bring in good clients. Better club members. As much as I hate it, weneedyour help. There are people depending on you.”
People who need this to work, I thought.People who need your help.People like me.
It was hard to admit that when I had wanted to do it on my own for so long.
Bliss was painted across his face, that silly grin staring at me, then flickering to the ceiling. He hummed to himself as if he hadn’t heard a word I had said.
“Did you ever know that your voice sounds like a rainbow?” he said. “I think it’s the tattoos. You’re so colorful that your voice sounds like that. Like a light shining through a prism.”
It should have been a compliment, but it wasn’t. His eyes were vacant. Like he wasn’t actually there. Like those words didn’t mean anything.
“Roland,” I said quietly, “Are you high?”
“I am.”
My heart grew heavy. It’s not like we were screwing, but still, it broke me. He had been doing so well. He was a billionaire and had obviously worked hard to get where he was, in spite of the drugs, but that didn’t mean that I had to accept his bad habits. Not when it directly affected my business.
Not when it affected me.
“We can talk about business later,” he said. “Just be with me, Iris. That’s all I want.”
“I’ll call you a cab,” I said, my voice fading.
“What? Why?”
“You just said you loved me,” I snapped. “And you’re high.” I got off of the bed and looked down at him. “I’m not going to put up with that. We’re both too old to be getting high and pushing around meaningless words. I’m your business associate,” I said. “I deserve more respect than that.”
