An Alpha's Desire Read online

  “Your mom’s sister or whatever, Tonisha, was on vacation in Arizona with her boyfriend and then ended up staying longer than expected. You know how those people follow after men,” Azalea says. She has the ability to shade people without being aware of it. “I swear, your mom would have insisted that James left you with Tonisha, instead of with me. Although, I had extra room. I took you to the beaches, and you met some of my friends…”

  Damn, I remember. My mom was sick and Aunt Azalea spoiled me rotten. “My mother had breast cancer.”

  “Yes, she did. And she was in the hospital for almost a year, off and on. But after that, you and I became so close. You called me auntie. James allowed it. She has always resented our time together. I suppose, I can understand, it’s as if she lost almost an entire year of time with her child. Though she was strong enough of a woman not to keep you from me afterward.”

  I shake my head. This is weird…something isn’t adding up. I wrack my brain for all the lifetime movies I’ve seen. Hell, maybe Azalea is my mother and my parents raised me because of her—

  “Desire, I only brought that up to say, your mother isn’t interested in any advice from me.”

  “Are you keeping something from me, Auntie?”

  “What?”

  “I just keep thinking back to when I was a child. I’m in love with a man and I won’t be whole until my parents regard him with respect. My dad has always said, ‘if you like it, I love it.’ He’d joke about that when I was a kid wearing dookie braids or doing that dumbass dance, the butterfly, because I was so bony. My knees knocked together awkwardly and I was so young that I didn’t do the dance as well as Tonisha’s children, and my nieces and nephews on my dad’s side.” My brain begins to race with rapid thoughts, none of them matching up. “Auntie, you know I’ve never given a damn about anybody liking me. Hell, I tried my damnedest to steer Lauren away from men who could give a fuck about her. But they’re my parents. I need them to like Daniel. Am I paranoid, I honestly need a resolution…”

  “Your mother will come around. Desire, she loves you with all her heart. She’s just stubborn, and you have a double dose of it from both of your parents. Just let her see the two of you interact with each other. Force her to preview the love you both have. Darling, your mother will love him, once she is aware of how much you care for each other.”

  My eyebrows knit together. My aunt is right. Mom never gave us a chance. She never gauged our feelings for each other. Mom just made inferences due to Daniel’s association with Azalea. Though we’re oceans away, my aunt’s morsel of encouragement wraps around me like a mother would her child.

  “All right, Auntie. Thank you.” I smile, happy that I don’t have the inkling to call her The Madame, which I often silently do when I feel she’s being manipulative.

  “No thanks necessary. I hope the next time you’re in Los Angeles, that I’m able to take the two of you to lunch. If I still had the number to the man who took me to Siubu, I’d insist on him meeting you all for lunch.”

  “I’m sorry. I argued with Mom not an hour after we arrived in L.A. Then I went home and Lauren had a stranger in my bathtub!”

  “I could snatch her up by that scrawny ass neck,” Azalea scoffs. “Let me tell you something embarrassing. When I was a teen, I was like Lauren. Me. Me. Me. Didn't have a child to slow me down, but damn, some people never learn. Let me stop ranting, darling.”

  “No worries, Auntie. I’m heartbroken, though. Lauren won't let me see Riley anymore.”

  “Seriously? Actually, Lauren is jaded. She'd break her son’s heart to win … life isn't a game though. I bet that's why Riley isn't aware of his own father’s name. Karma is a bitch, Lauren will have her comeuppance.”

  “Well, I’m just … I’m speechless at how separated my relationship is with Lauren now.”

  “Tsk, don't let her ruin your mood, Desirenda. You're in one of the most romantic countries. Monique will come around. She loves you more than anything in the world—shit, now if you ask me about Monique. Her love for you is the only thing I'm sure of. I'd bet my Harry Winston rubies, baby! For now, I'm sending my love.” She makes a few kiss noises and we hang up.

  Daniel

  “The world is a book and those who don’t travel read only one page,” I quote Saint Augustine while leisurely driving through the cobblestone streets of Sighisoara in the Transylvania region.

  “Love your enthusiasm and philosophy while we travel through Transylvania, but I’m still leery of Count Dracula popping up out of nowhere.”

  “And do what?” I ask, weaving by ancient structures. “Get his old ass ran over?”

  She scoffs. “Dracula is invincible. He would run alongside the car, reach in, and bite my neck. How's that for starters?”

  I shake my head as she chuckles. “The paranoia is exactly why we didn't need a television in the bedroom.”

  “Yeah right. You have a ridiculous amount of stock in that high-end electronic company, LXR.”

  “Damn right, I do. It's my second greatest asset. The instant my grandfather, Wentworth, inducted me as CEO in 2006, I let our outsourcing contract expire with another electronic company. All new planes and jets were purchased through LXR. But first my investment team seized a good chunk of the company. LXR wasn't all that hot until Titan. I'm the asshole on their board team who actually has a voice.”

  ###

  Desire and I opt into a walking tour of the landmarks. There are ten of us. The tour guide is a thin, gray haired woman, educated and snarky. In one sentence she mentions her credentials, including a Masters of Romanian history at the college. The next, she rubs her hands together with a devilish grin saying, “Thank goodness there are no children on this tour. I had to water down the jokes and the truth…anyone here too afraid of learning the brutal reality?”

  “Heck no,” says one guy in particular, with a beer belly. During the ice breaker, his wife who is nudging his side mentioned they'd been married for over thirty years and have lived in Wyoming all their lives. He's the designated clown for today.

  I reach over and kiss Desire's earlobe, and then whisper, “Should I disclose your fears?”

  “Shhh!” Desire grins.

  “Sighisoara is one of the most well preserved, beautiful inhabited citadels in Europe...”

  We meander over cobbled streets and past colorful citadel towers. Desire’s tiny hand is entwined with mine. It isn’t soft like silk as it once was before I allowed her to assist me with renovating. It has a more consistent satin feel to it and reminds me of another reason I love her. Damn, I never thought I’d fall in love so hard. Not after my mother was so jaded by my father. My woman’s head is nestled against my shoulder at that.

  “…Sighisoara is a gateway to the Middle Ages due to its authentic medieval looking buildings.” The guide points across the street. “This landmark of the city is the Clock Tower…”

  “What are you thinking?” Desire whispers, looking up at me.

  I glance into her gorgeous, chocolate brown eyes, eyes that I’ve had a hand in adding a happy spark. So unlike Celine’s listless blue ones. Though my mother was gorgeous even in her despair, I just recall once seeing a photo of her, prior to wedding my father. She was happy.

  “Daniel, talk to me?”

  I kiss Desire softly on the lips. “Do I make you happy?”

  She laughs, then glances around as the tour guide and the closest couple to us have caught her attention. Then she whispers, “Damn it, you are usually such a dictator. You don’t ask me if I make you happy, you beat it into me.”

  “Well ladies and gentlemen, next week, the Clock Tower will be transformed for the medieval festival which takes place in late July. There’ll be knights and princesses and a very grand event.”

  The crowd of ten groan about missing it just shy of seven days.

  I rub my thumb against my jaw in thought. Desire was more interested in the tour guide’s mention of Dracula about a half mile back.

  Most of o
ur BD encounters have been to clear her mind of why we left Los Angeles.

  “You’re thinking again?” she mumbles.

  I glance down at my woman and ask, “Are you ready to encounter Count Dracula?”

  Desire

  What does he mean by encountering Count Dracula? My eyebrow arches as we meander toward an eatery the tour guide had raved about on our two-hour walk. “I had the most wonderful time, Daniel. Don’t ruin it.”

  “You secretly desire to be tamed by Dracula, and I’m here to do that for you.”

  I glance around. The small crowd we were a part of has dispersed in all areas. But there’s a couple a few paces ahead of us. The thought of them hearing us is embarrassing, so my voice lowers, “What are you talking about?”

  “BDSM, beautiful. We’ll role play. As previously stated, you have a desire to be compelled,” he tells me.

  “Hmmm, then you mustn’t be aware of how much you already compel me,” I murmur. Damn, did I just say that aloud?

  “That’s another façade of BDSM, sweetheart. Psychological domination is my favorite. Disciplining you, controlling you is for your benefit. It allows you a sense of strength and drive.”

  I think back to our first encounter at the hotel in Dallas. Daniel had my wrists bound, but what had me feeling so tied up was the fact that I couldn’t touch him. My pussy milks at the thought of his cock stroking along my clit, not entering me. That was torture. So, the psychological aspect was definitely transforming me into a dick dizzy chick. Now for the hits? I love that pain, but I will never admit it though. I glance at him sideways. “Spanking me reminds me that only you can curve my emotions, whatever you say.”

  “You’ll love the role playing.”

  “Oh, and here I thought you preferred to beat me.”

  “Not as much as your backside enjoys it. We will work your way up to a paddle.”

  I roll my gaze away from him while we meander next to a gargoyle type of statue.

  “You’ll love that too. I’ve already purchased the perfect paddle for you, Desire. The handle is diamond encrusted, and I mean eight carats worth along the handle. It’s beautiful. At a half of a mil, you’ll love it. I’ll make you love it.”

  “Whatever, Goldilocks. I’m not a big fan of diamonds, Daniel, and you already know that.”

  “Yeah right, you love diamonds when naked.”

  “I love you when naked. Now, stop with the creepy talk. If you don’t feed me—”

  “Well discuss the role play later, Hammy.” He stops before Restaurant Casa Vlad-Dracul.

  “This isn’t the one with raves and reviews, Daniel. C’mon, this is our first time eating out.”

  “Not my fault. We stepped inside of a five-star resort in Constanta, but you were afraid of the food.”

  “So, what, don’t be so bossy.” I pout, tugging his hand. “At least let’s try the one we were recommended. At that restaurant in the resort I saw jelly pork and damn it…black people aren’t the most adventurous when it comes to different foods.”

  He laughs. “All right, we can keep walking. We’ll start with Pălincă.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Booze, baby. It’s either you get tipsy, or I take you in the bathroom, place you over my knee and—”

  “And again, we are outside of the confines of the bedroom. So you have better luck watching this ass walk away.” I slap my left ass cheek and strut along.

  Daniel

  August

  Dissimilar to the states, the weather isn’t anywhere as hot as it was in July. The nights in Romania are cool, and after loving my woman's body, my mind won't cease. I've run her bath water, picked her naked body up out of the bed, and placed her in the water.

  “Are you getting in?” she murmurs, throat raw from screaming my name.

  “Just gonna wash you, sweetheart.” I reach across, grab the loofah and soap, sud it up really well, and apply it across her shoulder.

  She grins a megawatt smile. “Am I that spoiled? Have you created a monster?”

  “Hmmm, a monster.” My voice is deep. I reach between her legs, clamping my index finger and thumb against her vulnerable clit.

  Hurt flashes in her gaze before she pants, “Daniel, fuck me again…”

  “I could fuck you all the time.” My mouth dominates hers in a furious kiss. I let her clit go, sliding my palm against her fleshy lips that have been beaten in by my cock.

  Desire's body is radiating, calling out to me. And my dick is seeping at the seam, about as wet as my chest from reaching into the hot water for a taste of her lips.

  But I cannot fuck her again tonight. My brain isn't caught up in the rapture of Desire as usual. It's consumed with another Taylor woman.

  Monique Taylor must give us a chance.

  Desire’s birthday is days away, and she has yet to engage in a single conversation with her mom. Six whole weeks of Monique avoiding her. I'm breaking her, physically breaking her with sex, and mending her. But fuck! I'm not a man who isn't accustomed to begging.

  Desire’s eyes close as I wash her. She said spoiled. Nah, my black queen deserves better. Better than my lies, Wentworth I hatred, or her mother’s perceptions.

  Her caramel skin is glowing, her perky breasts rising, falling evenly as if she’s fallen into a peaceful slumber. I silently rise.

  “Daniel,” she whimpers my name.

  “I’ll clean you up in a second, sweetheart, my cell is ringing,” I lie. Why does deception cause more deception?

  “No fair, our phones are supposed to be off today.”

  “Rest for a moment. Besides, I’ll make it up to you. I always do.”

  I pick up a pair of pajama pants from the floor, deciding to cover my bare ass first. Then I grab my cell phone off the chaise. It hadn't rang a few moments ago.

  But I'm Wentworth Daniel Rutledge III, not a fucking pussy. I've ruminated over one thought all day today.

  I rub my temple and dial Ephraim. Bypassing a greeting, I order, “Make the call to Rydell.”

  “Are you 100% positive about this move?”

  “Never been so sure in my life.” I rub the callused padding of my fingertips together.

  Yeah, I'm guessing at this exact point in my life. But I can't live with lies. I need my slate clean. Allowing Rebecca to become privy of what my grandfather wished before must be done. Especially given the chance to persuade Desire's mother that I'm not the piece of shit she regards me as. So no lies.

  “Daniel, I have an angle. I’m working it hard.”

  “What angle?” I huff.

  “Breach of confidentiality at this time—”

  I repeat his words, shaking my head.

  “We don't have any non-disclosure agreements. Not one single NDA. Daniel, nobody besides you, myself, and Rydell is versed on Wentworth’s contract. You aren't some celebrity, toying around an entourage. So separate NDAs aren't a necessity. The estate lawyer is prepared to look the other way if you decide to make things a little more official with Desire. Let them proceed as is.”

  “Pull Des out of the equation, Ephraim. Consider the big picture. I don’t want a sleazy fix while the Rydell money management team feigns ignorance. There’ll be no shirking fiduciary duties.”

  “Rebecca is none the wiser, Daniel. You must listen to me. She has five more months in the pen, three for good behavior, but goddamn it the night of the museum exhibit Crackhead Becky was probably just blowing smoke out of that loose cunt.”

  “Probably? I have fucking risk assessors, Ephraim. A whole arsenal of them but that's for investment purposes. In all areas, I need control.”

  “Fuck, who are you telling?”

  “You said you have an idea?”

  “Yeah, but…”

  “Eph, no probability. No perhaps. No fucking buts, man. I'm not just any motherfucker running a Cracker Jack corporation.”

  “Bro, that's what the fuck I just stated. No entourage. No excess waste to hush. I know.”

  “I don't
think you do.”

  “Daniel, as of today, I’ve been in the U.S. of fucking A for more than the length of time I have been for the entire last two years. So, trust me when I say, I'm on the job here. I'm at my law firm. All the junior clients are handling big cases. All the top dogs are reassigned to none other than you. We're searching laws left to fucking right. The problem is, situations like this are never handled in court. NDAs go hand in hand with celebrities, and that’s because nobody can keep their fucking mouths shut, Daniel.”

  “I know the drill, Eph. My family is blue blood, American royalty, not reality TV royalty. I swear, the longer it takes you to rein in this situation increases a chance of media coverage, regardless of disloyalty on my team. People like me aren't having their name slammed for family squabbles because we aren't friendly fucks. Now have Rydell admit to their error.” I don't need the bad karma. I need a wing and a prayer.

  ###

  LOS ANGELES

  After the jet landed in Nassau, Bahamas, I handed Desire my credit card and surprised her with a day of pampering for herself and her friend. I had surprised Desire by having Neicy come to the resort in order to do her hair and keep her busy for the day. I’d promised that tomorrow would be devoted to making her birthday perfect. I’d lied about having to meet my investment team. But here I am in Los Angeles in record time. The pilot has a job pulling me from a much-needed deep sleep. After her initial excitement, Desire slept in my arms from Romania to the Bahamas. During much of that time, I was unable to train the gears of my mind to cease from agonizing over this precise moment.

  Not in the mood to drive, I’m escorted through morning traffic to Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles off Manchester in Inglewood. I toss my suit jacket in the car while getting out.

  Damn, I never knew the feeling of being on pins and needles—scratch that, Odessa humbled my spoiled ass. But regardless, I've never lacked. Never had to strive too hard without an analytic team reminding me of the billion-dollar price tag for succeeding at said goal. And women have always come to me.