Kept (6 page)

Hips plunged and rocked him even further into her as she hung on for dear life. An impudent nipple was caught and suckled hard –

six, seven, eight tremendous strokes and he lost it, lost himself, lost her, damned near lost his life, he was sure.

His heart was hammering so hard inside his chest it was a wonder he didn’t have a heart attack right then and there, Reed thought as he struggled for breath.

A few minutes later, a tentative finger tapped his shoulder.

"What?" he was barely able to get out.

Her voice was muffled against his neck. She was still clinging to him, still pulsing around his half-engorged shaft. "I don’t think we’re at all sexually compatible, do you?"

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He started to laugh, which didn’t help his breathing. Finally, he rolled off her to sprawl on the other side of the bed, still giggling at her audacious understatement. "I think we’re compatible enough that one or the both of us is likely to perish one day during the act."

Trish snorted and answered paradoxically, "Coming and going at the same time - I could live with that."

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BacksideOfLove.com

Carolyn Faulkner

hings progressed more rapidly from that evening than Trish would have thought possible, but then, as T she experienced before, the man was a human bulldozer. They spent the night exploring each other, and Reed seemed positively insatiable. When he left her at Maggie’s with a passionate kiss at the door, he growled, "I’ll give you whatever you want. Can you be ready to go over the paperwork in my lawyer’s office Tuesday at ten?"

Stunned, Tricia leaned as far away from him as his tight arms would allow, which wasn’t very far. She ended up craning her neck back awkwardly. "Tuesday? No way! I don’t even have a lawyer yet!"

"Didn’t I tell you last week that you should get one?" Reed sighed impatiently.

Trish tightened her lips and glared up at him. "And Lord knows I just run to do your bidding at the drop of a hat, Mr.

Douglas. I don’t think so."

"Watch your tone of voice, young lady. You’re not at all too big to put over my knee." He didn’t sound like he was making an idle threat, and somehow Trish figured he didn’t know the meaning

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of those two words, anyway. A broad hand covered her bottom and gave her a sharp warning pat.

Hoping he couldn’t read in her face how much this byplay was turning her on, Trish shot back, "Oh, bite me. I’ll talk to Kell and see who he recommends. How about Thursday?" The man was frighteningly perceptive, and all she needed was for him to realize that she wanted him to take her in hand – oh, Lord, what was she thinking? To have a man like Reed Douglas watching over her protectively, keeping tabs on her behavior and curbing her more self-destructive tendencies with regular, thorough discipline delivered while she was lying naked over his strong thighs . . .

She felt him shake her gently. "Trish? Are you listening to me? Thursday at ten, will that work?" She knew he was chafing about the fact that she hadn’t jumped at his Tuesday suggestion, and decided to be gracious.

"Thursday. If I have any problems about that, I’ll call." In the car this morning he’d given her his business card with his office information, then had written both his personal email and his home telephone number on the back in case she needed to reach him.

Another passionate, wild kiss and he was gone, and she faced the lions of Maggie and Kell.

To their credit, they were not trying to talk her out of it . . .

well, at least Maggie wasn’t. She was very excited and happy for her. But Kell out and out hated the idea, and he let her know it in no uncertain terms. He couldn’t seem to sway her, so when she asked him to recommend a good lawyer, he knew he wouldn’t be happy with any other choice.

"I’ll do it."

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BacksideOfLove.com

Carolyn Faulkner

Kell had one of the most prestigious practices in the state, and there was no way that Trish could afford his hourly rate, which is exactly what she told him, but he wouldn’t hear any of it. "It’s on me," he offered in a tone that brooked no disagreement, but then he amended the thought. "Maybe I can even find a way to charge it to him."

Kell and Trish spent several hours deciding exactly what she would ask for, and were greatly assisted when a large envelope was messengered to Trish on Tuesday afternoon, spelling out exactly what he expected of her, and Kell translated the legalese as he read it:

Access to her body for purposes of mutual sexual gratification at all times

She was not to work or accept any type of job – even volunteer – that would interfere with the above requirement.

She would live in a residence that he provided, and would not maintain a separate residence of any sort.

She would be required to undergo a physical, inclusive of AIDS and Hepatitis tests, and would be subject to both physicals and AIDS/Hepatitis tests yearly while the agreement was in effect.

She would be required to act as his hostess/date for his business and personal functions

If at any time she engaged in sexual activity with another person during their association, the agreement was null and void and she would be required to vacate whatever residence she was in a that point if he was the one paying the rent or mortgage on the property.

Any illegal activity – drug use, etc – would also negate the agreement.

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The agreement was for a term of one year, renewable if agreed by both parties.

If he wished to end the agreement prior to the one year term, he would be obligated to pay out the remainder of the contract, as well as allow her to live in whatever residence until such time as the contract would naturally have expired.

If she wished to end the contract at any time she could but he was requiring a thirty day notice.

That last idea made Trish chuckle. "So, no getting pissed off at him and storming out, huh? That sucks."

"Yeah. If you spend more than two nights away from him that is not the result of an emergency situation or an agreed upon absence, then you’re fired."

Those only made her laugh harder. "Oh, man, this is totally surreal, isn’t it?"

Kell was not amused. "Yeah. Surreal."

"Hey, birth control isn’t mentioned anywhere in there."

Kell jotted notes in the margins as she spoke. "What do you want to say about it?"

This stopped her cold. After a few moments, she said, "I’ll take responsibility, but I want a stipulation in there that if there should be a child as a result of this relationship that I would retain custody."

Kell knew that there was no way in hell that Reed would go along with that, but they’d cross that bridge when they came to it.

"Nor is there anything about compensation, but I imagine he’s waiting for you to ask for what you want and then he’ll negotiate from there."

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BacksideOfLove.com

Carolyn Faulkner

Trish stretched out on the big leather couch. "So, what do I want?"

"You tell me."

"Well, I have no idea what I should ask for a salary."

The end of Kell’s pen was getting a workout between his sharp teeth. "I would say let’s ask for a hundred K, and we can negotiate down from there."

Seconds later, he got up to slap Trish on the back, hard, as she choked loudly on a swallow of Diet Coke. "A hundred thousand dollars? For sex?"

It seemed these days that Kell wore a perpetual frown. "It’s not just sex. You’re giving up a promising teaching career, moving away from friends and family, giving up the possibility of developing a relationship that might end in marriage and children, giving up children, traveling with him at the drop of a hat regardless of your preferences . . . "

"That’s still not worth a hundred thousand dollars a year as far as I’m concerned. Fifty would be pushin’it."

"No. That’s a very bad attitude and he can definitely afford it." Trish still looked like she was going to insist that he only ask for fifty thousand – which means that Reed’s lawyer would probably make them settle at about thirty, and that was totally unacceptable, as far as he was concerned. "It’s not like this is going to be money coming out of his own pocket, not that he couldn’t afford that, either. He’ll probably just put you on the payroll of one of his companies as a personal assistant." Kell rifled through some of the papers. "There’s something in here about a list you had mentioned to him . . . ?"

"Oh, God, I don’t even remember what was on that list – "

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" - Car and driver, house, allowance, credit card, 401k, stocks, travel, jewels, clothes . . ."

Trish sighed. "That was just a stupid thing I put together off the top of my head when I thought we were just discussing this casually."

Kell looked at her questioningly. "Seems like a pretty good list to me."

"No, no, no. Now, I’m not going to try to soak the poor man. It’s not like having sex with him is such a hardship, for God’s sake."

Kell winced. "I think I could have gone my whole life without hearing that, thank you." He sighed.

Annoyed, Tricia got up and paced while she spoke, rubbing her forehead as if she had a bad headache. "Well, I can tell you I’m keeping my own damned car. And the 401k and stocks – and health care, for that matter - would be a part of the employee package, assuming that that is what he’s going to do with me. I’ll buy my own damned clothes, thank you very much, and I certainly don’t want him buying me jewelry – expensive or not."

A loud flopping sound occurred behind her as Kell dropped negligently into his desk chair. "You know, you are going to be the cheapest mistress any filthy rich guy ever had."

"Have I just been insulted?" Trish wondered out loud.

"If you’ll excuse how apropos the expression is, you’re selling yourself short here."

"Well, I have my own damned credit cards, thank you very much – "

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Carolyn Faulkner

"Now, that one I’m not going to let you give up. Take it for emergency’s sake, if nothing else." God, he hated to hear himself pleading.

Her answer was a non-committal snort. "I do want him to pay all of the things associated with wherever I end up living – and I want the choice of apartment, house, or condo. And, if I stay with him, say for five years, by annual mutual agreement, I want the house put in my name – but I still want him to pay all the bills for it."

Well, that was something, anyway, Kell mused. "Annual bonuses – "

"Based on performance reviews?" Trish threw in, just to see him blush a fire engine red, which, of course, he did. "I don’t think so. Oh, that’s another thing – he is to give me absolutely no birthday and no Christmas presents." She could hear the exasperated sigh from across the room, but that was tough. "Also, I want a month of paid vacation to be taken whenever I like. AWAY

from him." She thought for a few more seconds. "Let me see his list of requirements, please."

Kell handed her a copy. "Access to my body at all times, barring illness or injury . . . I want him subject to the same medical requirements as I am . . . I’ll be a date if I absolutely have to, but I won’t act as a hostess . . . " This puzzled Kell, but he was too busy furiously writing to question her. "The monogamy and the illegality clauses are reciprocal . . . I don’t know about that stupid thirty day notice thing." Trish tapped her front tooth thoughtfully. "What do you think?"

"Knowing the woman of your family, I think it’s ingenious." A soft, overstuffed pillow hit him square in the side of the face.

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Trish sat forward a little. "Do you think we’ve about covered it?"

He looked weary, pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers. "I think so, unless there’s something else you can think of."

"If I do, you’ll be the first to know," Trish patted his shoulder as she left the room.

~ ~ ~

They were early for the appointment, and Reed was five minutes late. He entered apologizing and looking angry. Not a great start to this type of negotiation, she didn’t think.

They sat in a very casual meeting area with couches and chairs rather than at a conference table. Kell passed out the papers he had composed with Trish’s input, showing the points to which she’d agreed, the changes she required, and her salary and compensation requests.

Reed’s lawyer, who was a woman, seemed surprised by what she was reading, and Reed just looked angrier than ever. He practically came out of his chair at Kell, saying, "What the hell kind of lawyer are you – letting her sell herself to me so cheaply?

Just how big do you think the annual bonuses are going to be?"

Kell was no lightweight, and he wasn’t one bit afraid of the seething man in front of him. He leaned back in his chair as if he hadn’t a care in the world. "I’m a lawyer who presents my best advice to my client and then lets her make the decision."

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Carolyn Faulkner

That laser glare swung to her next, and he ground out, "Did you think that, by asking for less, that I’d be a sex-blinded fool and offer you more?"

His accusation that she was trying to underhandedly manipulate him into giving her more money when nothing could have been further from the truth hurt her, though she didn’t want it to, and she refused to let him see her pain. Drawing what little dignity she possessed around her, Trish sat up straight in her chair, answering him in a calm monotone. "I don’t want any annual bonuses – I hadn’t realized that Kell left that in there after I’d told him to take it out." Kell groaned, but she didn’t spare him a glance.

"I asked for what I want – no more, no less. If that is not agreeable to you, then we needn’t discuss this any further." She swung her pocketbook onto her shoulder and stood up, turning to leave.