There is a distant chiming sound. My head jerks around to where I’ve had a new security system installed. I stride over and touch a couple of buttons, pulling up a screen.
There is Kaia, entering the apartment’s elevator with a frown. She’s right on time.
Stepping outside the apartment’s door, I wait for her.
Thirty seconds later, I watch her walk in. My entire body tightens as I look at her. She’s wearing a short pink babydoll dress and tall white stockings and owning every inch of the look. With her long blonde hair split into two pigtails, she has me hard before she even turns those green eyes on me.
Her mouth twists. “What am I doing here, Calum?”
I smirk a little. “I thought about what you said yesterday. You said you wanted to feel like I saw you.” Walking toward her, I look her up and down.
A blush rises in Kaia’s cheeks. “That was a fraction of what I said,” she says softly.
I take her by the hand, gently pulling her toward the doorway. “Come see.”
She swallows and frowns, her brows drawing down suspiciously. “Calum…”
Reaching in my pocket, I pull out a tiny black box with a white satin bow wrapped around it. When I hand it to her, she takes it haltingly.
“What is it?”
I give her a bemused look. “Open it.”
She drops my hand and unties the ribbon, then removes the lid. Inside, nestled in black velvet, is a shiny silver skeleton key.
Kaia glances up at me. “What does it lead to?”
I jerk my head toward the apartment’s door. “This apartment.”
She bites her lip, shaking her head. “This is generous, Calum. But it doesn’t solve anything between us.”
My lips twitch. “You don’t even know what you’re turning down, beauty. Come and see.”
She gives me an exasperated look. Yet still, she lets me tug her toward the door. I catch a whiff of her perfume as I lead her into the apartment. Kaia always smells so damn enticing, fresh and clean and feminine. That scent goes to my head and reminds me of just what is at stake as I hurry her onward.
As soon as we step through the door, I hear the sound of her inhaling sharply. Seeing the changes I’ve made, she pulls her hand from my grip. I turn and look at her, raising a brow.
Her pouty little mouth is open ever so slightly. Her green eyes are wide, scanning the scene in front of her. A note of puzzlement crosses her face.
“What…?” Kaia looks at me, confused. “You redecorated?”
I fold my arms across my chest, rocking back on my feet. “I did. I thought it would be easier to talk you into moving in if it looked less like an upscale brothel and more like…” I pause, casting my gaze around, searching for the right words. “Well, more like some place that you called home.”
Her brow furrows. “You’re asking me to move in?”
I nod. “Yes. Well, actually… I have a deed of sale drawn up already with your name on it. I want you to own a space more befitting of my…” I swallow, forcing the word between my lips. “Girlfriend. If that’s what you want to call yourself, anyway.”
Her eyebrows shoot up. She still looks confused more than anything. “Calum, this is… quite generous… but…”
“There is more.” I take the black box from her, setting it on the gray marble kitchen counter. I hold up the key. “This has several functions. It opens the front door, yes…”
I walk over to the wall, motioning to a simple black door. I brandish the key, fitting it into the lock. Then I push the door open and beckon to her.
Glancing nervously at me, Kaia tucks a strand of her hair behind her ear. She walks over and steps through the doorway.
The new room we’re in is a simple guest bedroom, nothing fancy. She looks up at me, her puzzlement evident.
“Another bedroom?”
I smirk. “A doorway that leads into my private apartment. No other woman has ever even been invited here, much less been offered a spot next door. Is that enough commitment for you, beauty?”
She seems hesitant, almost stuck in the threshold between my apartment and the one that will hopefully be hers. When she pins me with her green gaze, there is still suspicion in it. “Why?”
Her simple question brings me to a halt. “Why? What do you mean, why?”
I see a flash of anger on her face. She turns away, wrapping her arms around herself. “Why are you offering this to me, Calum? You could just as easily have any other ballerina in the world. Hell, you could have anyone you wanted. And I’m just wondering… why go to such lengths to have…” She stops, pulling in a deep breath. Emotion blooms on her face, tears misting her eyes. “You’ve already had me,” she whispers. “What do I have to offer you now?”
Her words gut me. I stalk over to her, grabbing her arms and pulling her torso against mine. She swipes at her eyes as she pushes me away.
“Look at me,” I command. Kaia shakes her head, still trying to hide though we are pressed together. I give her a shake. “Fucking look at me!”
Her breath halts and her eyes meet mine, shiny with tears. Her little body trembles where I touch it. She seems so tightly strung, as if the simplest touch or word could make her shatter into a thousand pieces.
“I could have anyone I want,” I say. Brushing her hair back, I sink my fingers into it, working my fingers under her hair tie and close to her scalp. I grip her hair tightly, angling her head. “Yet I find myself unable to think of anybody else. All day and all night, I fantasize about having you back in my bed. About the way you sound when you come. About the way my cock feels when I’m buried so deep in your pussy that I can’t remember anything else. About how I feel when I hold you after we fuck.”
I scan her tear stained face, swallowing tightly. She doesn’t seem able to speak. But her wide green eyes are glued to my face.
“I thought I could forget about you,” I say softly, intensely. “But I was wrong, beauty. I really mean it when I say that I missed you. I’ve never missed a woman before. Not like I have missed you. I… I crave you.”
“Calum…” she whispers. A prayer or maybe a plea.
I take the silver skeleton key and tuck it in her palm, closing her fist around it. “Say yes,” I murmur, looking down into her face.
She wipes her eyes then looks at me again. “What about the contract?”
My heart starts thumping against the wall of my chest. “Whatever your terms, I’ll sign it. Take the dollar amount you’re thinking of and double it, Kaia. Say that one little word so that I can fucking ravage you. Right here, right now.”
Her piercing green eyes take in my face. Her hand slides down to my hip. That’s the moment I know that she’s going to agree. I angle her head back, lowering my lips to her pulse point.
She gasps as my lips part, sucking lightly on her neck. She nods her head. “Yes,” she whispers.
A second later, I slide my hands around to her ass and lift her up. She feels so fucking good that I have difficulty thinking. I find her lips and moan at the sweet taste of her. She urges me on, bucking her hips and opening her mouth under mine.
Carrying her out of the guest room, I head for the little bedroom made out of wooden dividers and canopied lace.