Blind Girl: A Dark Billionaire Romance Read online

  Me. It’s a photo of me.

  I recall the memory. The intense view of the city sprawled out before me. The feel of the sapphire blue Faleuro dress against my skin. The stab of self-consciousness as Charles takes my photo against the window.

  “Wow,” I whisper. I can feel him staring at me, studying my reaction to it. It’s a wonderful pose, and for a moment, I believe it’s a different woman. Surely, I’m not that photogenic.

  Charles turns the page to show me the next photo, a variation of the same pose. My eyes are cast downward towards the floor as the edges of my smile tease my lips.

  And then, the third photo.

  A straight forward shot of myself, naked on the hotel room bed on the night of the Blind Girl Party. My hands are bound to the bedposts with gray ties and my eyes are obscured behind the red blindfold.

  I tear my eyes away from it before he can turn another page.

  “No,” Charles whispers. His hand brushes against my cheek. “Look.”

  “Charles…”

  “Look at yourself,” he urges. His fingers move across the photo, tracing the edge of my body. “Look at how beautiful you are. The color of your skin, the curve of your breasts.” He meets my eyes. “You’re perfection, Alice.”

  I step away from the vanity, blinking quickly to try and wipe the image from my mind. “I think you might be a little obsessed with me, Mr. Kent,” I say, making light of it.

  “Would that upset you?” he asks me.

  I shake my head. “No...” He raises an eyebrow in my direction, taunting me to tell him the truth. “Maybe.”

  Charles closes the album and my eyes drift around the room. I recognize the portraits along the walls, similar to those hung up in his office. Except these are far less ambiguous than the others. I can clearly make out the nudity in these portraits.

  “You have specific tastes,” I say.

  “Yes, I do.”

  “You can obsess over me, but you can’t love me?” The question spills off my tongue faster than I can stop it.

  His playful eyes dance in the dark. “Still think I’ve underestimated you?” I don’t answer. “Alice…” His hands grasp my shoulders as he closes in on me. “Let me have you again.”

  “What’s stopping you?” I ask. “We’re alone in your house in the middle of nowhere.”

  He shakes his head. “I’m not that kind of man, Alice. You know that.”

  I nod. “Consent,” I say.

  “Yes,” he says. “Getting a woman to beg for it is far more powerful than taking it from her.”

  A shiver travels down my spine. I take a step back to gather my thoughts, but also to hide the desire in my eyes from him. “You won’t touch me unless I tell you to,” I say. I peek over my shoulder at him.

  His chest heaves in and out as he holds himself back. “Alice—”

  “Sounds like torture,” I say, toying with him.

  “It is.”

  “Charles…” I watch him twitch. “You want me to beg you for it?”

  “Yes…” he whispers.

  I sit down on his bed. My body quivers. “Would that make you happy?” I ask.

  “Very.”

  I pause and take a breath to calm myself. “Is that all this will be then?” I ask. I hear him moving in the darkness. “A relationship with you—”

  “Alice.” He places his hand below my chin and tilts my face upward, but I can’t bring myself to look at him. “You’re trembling.”

  “You frighten me,” I stutter.

  His lips curl. “You’re lying,” he says.

  “No…” I turn away.

  Charles kneels down in front of me. “Look at me, Alice.” I obey with quaking vision. “No,” he says. “This isn’t fear. This is passion.”

  “I can’t be what you want me to be for you, Charles,” I whisper.

  “Alice, I want nothing more from you than what you already are,” he says.

  “Do you care about me at all?” I ask him.

  He smiles. “More than you could ever know.” His entwines his fingers with mine. “When I’m around you, Alice, I completely lose myself.”

  “Is that true?”

  “Every word,” he says. “I was not lying before. I can provide for you. I can offer you any life you desire in exchange for your body. I’ll make you just as happy as you make me, and that’s more important than love.” My breath shakes through my lips. “Anything you want,” he whispers. “Say the word and it’s yours, Alice.”

  I close my eyes. My desires betray me, pushing me closer to the edge than I’ve ever been before. There’s a final thought, lingering on the edge of my consciousness, holding me back from giving myself over to him completely. I look at him and a tear falls down my cheek.

  “Why me?” I ask weakly.

  Charles breathes a laugh. “Say yes,” he whispers, “and I promise I’ll show you.”

  “Yes!” The word expels from my lips. It knocks the wind out of me and I fight to catch my breath.

  He takes me into his arms so quickly, it makes me dizzy, and when he kisses me, I lose all control of myself.

  “Alice…” he breathes my name, whispering it softly in my ear as he undresses me piece-by-piece.

  He lets my own passions run wild with him. I pull him closer to me so I can feel his hardness pressing against the inside of his trousers, fighting to break free to be inside of me. My tongue taps the roof of my mouth, craving his intoxicating flavors. I reach for his belt, but he stops me and lifts me up onto the bed.

  His eyes fall onto my naked body and he stares at me for a moment before speaking. “Turn around,” he demands.

  I tremble and obey him slowly. I turn over onto my belly and look over my shoulder at him. He pulls his shirt over his head and tosses it to the floor. I watch as he unzips his trousers and pushes them to the floor as his eyes wander across my ass. His member stands on end, stiff with desire. I lick my lips and move to sit back up.

  “Stay there,” he says. “Face forward.”

  I lay back down and look to the wall. I hear him moving behind me and the sound of drawer opening and closing. Something small lands on the bed next to my elbow. I recognize it in the firelight. An unopened condom.

  He climbs onto the bed behind me and balances above me. His fingers trace up my back, tickling the sensitive skin as they climb upwards. I sigh with desire as he bends over and kisses my neck. I feel his tongue against my skin. He moans as he moves, tasting me, relishing in me. Then he quickly pushes himself back and grips my hips. My body jerks upright and he bends me how he wants me onto my hands and knees. My teeth chatter with fresh fear and brilliant desire.

  “Charles…” I moan for him, but then I cry out in pain as his hand connects with my rear. My elbows buckle and I push myself back up.

  “Alice—” he growls. “Did you like that?” I open my mouth to speak, but no words come out. His palm slaps me again and I fall forward against the bed. “Sit up.” I force myself back up, my body tingling with fresh sensations. Charles leans over me, his body pressed against my back, and whispers in my ear. “If you don’t like it, I won’t do it again.” His voice travels my spine. “Tell me, Alice.”

  My muscles twitch below him. My tongue has gone dry. I fight to find my voice again. “I liked it,” I breathe, telling him the truth.

  He raises back up behind me. I bite my lip and prepare for another slap.

  It connects harder and faster than the first two and I scream at the wall. His fingers find my hair and he gives me a quick jerk up. I bare my teeth and whimper with passion as he holds me against his body.

  “How about this?” he whispers. His warm breath strikes my cheek. He holds my hair tightly in his fist and tugs it hard. “Do you like this?” he asks.

  I quiver in delicious pain. “Yes—” I answer.

  “Are you sure?” he asks. His lips graze my ear as he speaks and he lowers down to kiss my neck.

  “Yes,” I moan.

  He drops my h
air and lets me fall back down onto the bed. My arms shake beneath me as I struggle to hold myself upright.

  “Alice,” he says. I flinch as he reaches forward and snatches the condom off the bed. I look back at him and watch as he rips it open with his teeth. “Tell me to fuck you.”

  “What?” I tremble.

  He slides the condom onto his erect cock. “Say it,” he urges. “Tell me what you want.”

  I grip the bedspread beneath me as his tip skims my slit. “I want it,” I whisper.

  His bare palm connects with my ass, hard and fast. “Louder,” he says.

  “I want it.”

  He strikes me again.

  “I want it!”

  He splits my folds and pushes inside an inch but gives me no more. “Fuck me,” he says. “Say it.”

  “Fuck me, Charles.”

  “More.”

  “Please—” I push back, but he holds me in place, refusing to give in to my desires. “Charles, please! Fuck me!”

  He thrusts me once and my arms collapse beneath me. “Get up,” he demands.

  I try to push myself up, but my body quakes too much. I moan loudly, unable to form words as he thrusts me again.

  Charles leans forward and grips my hair. “Get up, Alice,” he says into my ear.

  “I can’t—” I moan. “It’s too much.”

  “Do you want me to stop?” he asks, pounding me again.

  “No!”

  He pulls me up by my hair and holds me against him. His other arm cradles my body, squeezing my breasts as he continues to impale me repeatedly. My own strength fails me and I submit to his power. “Alice…” he whispers. “I need this body.” I twitch with every thrust he gifts me, my passions building inside. Once again, I’m rendered speechless and can do nothing but moan. “I want you every night,” he says.

  “Yes!” I scream.

  He drops me to the bed and I push myself up onto my arms.

  “Tell me what you want, Alice,” he says.

  “I want you to fuck me, Charles.”

  He fills me up, harder and faster until I can’t take anymore. I scream his name as I come and he leans forward to hold me steady as my body convulses uncontrollably.

  “Oh, Alice…” he breathes into my skin. I feel him throbbing inside of me, ready for sweet release. He thrusts me one last time and climax claims him with a grunt.

  He releases my body and I fall to the bed below. My head hits the pillows. New sensations destroy my senses as I breathe slowly.

  “Alice.” I turn over onto my side and look up at him. His chest heaves up and down, his body glistening with sweat. “Are you all right?” he asks.

  I lick my lips and manage a smile. “Yes,” I answer.

  He lowers himself down onto his back and lies next to me.

  I close my eyes and listen to the crackling fireplace until my pulsating sex returns to normal. “Charles…” I taste his name on my tongue, satisfyingly sweet.

  “Yes, Alice?” he asks.

  I try to open my eyes, but I’m too exhausted to win. “Will you be here when I wake up?” I ask.

  He turns towards me. “Yes, my darling,” he whispers. His fingers push my hair back behind my ear. “I will be here when you wake up.”

  I smile as sleep claims me.

  ***

  The early morning sun invades my eyes. When I finally open them, I find an unfamiliar ceiling staring back at me. I want nothing more than to go back to sleep, but as I roll over, I see Charles lying next to me.

  My heart swells as I remember his words in my ears, still echoing through my mind from the night before. I fight a laughter of happiness from breaking the silence and cover my mouth as I look at him. His hair looks different in direct sunlight, with the most subtle specks of gray shining through his black strands. I buzz with emotion as I admire his naked form. Part of me fears I’m still dreaming and that sooner or later, I’ll wake up back in my dorm, cold and alone.

  No, this is real.

  I sit up and throw my feet to the floor. As I stand, I feel the pain of stretched muscles throughout my body, remnants of last night’s events. I smile at it as I move, loving every subtle pain inside.

  I find my flannel shirt and slip into my underwear before Charles begins to stir.

  “What are you doing, Alice?” he yawns.

  “You don’t happen to recall where you threw my pants last night, do you?” I ask. He glances around through the slits of his eyelids and points to a chair near the door. I catch sight of my pant leg hanging over the back. “Thank you.”

  “Leave them off,” he says as he leans back against the headboard. “The view is already perfect.”

  “You keep using that word,” I joke as I step into one pant leg.

  “It’s accurate,” he says. “Where are you going?”

  “I have a class,” I say.

  “Skip it.”

  “Don’t you have to go to work?” I point out.

  “They’ll survive one day without me.”

  I stand up and walk over to the bed. “Must be nice,” I say.

  “What?”

  “To be the boss of all those people.”

  Charles reaches out and grips my shirt. “It’s dreadful, actually,” he says as he pulls me in.

  “Charles, stop!” I laugh. He silences me with his kiss and I fall for him all over again. My phone vibrates between us. “Wait—” I pull away and reach into my jeans pocket.

  “Ignore it, Alice,” Charles groans as he moves onto my neck.

  “It’s my mother,” I read.

  He sighs and releases me. “Take it,” he says.

  “Are you sure?” I laugh.

  “Go.”

  I roll off the bed. “I’ll be right back,” I tell him. He smiles at me as I step out into the hallway. “Hey, Mom,” I say into the phone.

  “Alice, where have you been all night?”

  “What?” I tread quickly down the stairs. “Why?”

  “I called you three times last night,” she says. “I called Gabby, too, and she said she didn’t know where you were.”

  I sit down on the bottom stair. “Mom, calm down,” I tell her.

  “Don’t tell me to calm down, tell me where you were and then I’ll decide if I want to calm down or not.”

  “I’m…” I sigh and lose my train of thought. I’m not awake enough to think quick enough to answer her. “I’m officially late for class,” I spit out. “Can we talk about this later, please?” I lower my head and rest it against my knees.

  “This is not okay, Alice,” she continues, “I need to know where you are.”

  “No, Mom, you really don’t.”

  “I don’t like this attitude.”

  “I’m sorry you feel that way,” I say. “I have to go, Mom.”

  “Call me back. Tonight. This conversation isn’t over.”

  “Okay, bye.” I hang up and slink back onto my knees.

  “Sweet and innocent Alice Hughes, rebelling against her mother?”

  I jolt around and see Charles standing above me in a black bathrobe. He extends his hand to me. “Trust me, it’s been coming for eighteen years.” I take his hand and pull myself off the stairs. “Please tell me you have coffee.”

  He shakes his head. “Unfortunately, no.”

  “You don’t have coffee?!” I drop his hand.

  “No,” he says. “I don’t like coffee.”

  “I don’t think we can see each other anymore, Charles.”

  He snaps my hand back with a grin on his face. “Come with me.”

  I let him pull me into the kitchen and I slide onto a stool next to the counter after he releases me.

  He grabs two mugs from the cabinet. “You should drink tea instead,” he says. “It’s better for you.”

  “Old people drink tea,” I tease.

  He inhales sharply and flicks his eyes at me. “I’m going to remember this moment for the next time I have you bent over my bed.”

 
I pop an eyebrow. “Kinky.”

  Charles tosses a teabag into each mug. “When is your class?” he asks.

  “Nine-thirty.”

  “Perfect.” He takes the kettle from the stove and fills it with water. “Harvey can take you after he drops me off.”

  “Maybe he’ll bring me some coffee…”

  Charles glares at me for a moment as he sets the kettle down on the hot stove, then smiles. “Alice…”

  “What?”

  “I have to go to Paris for the weekend,” he says.

  I sit back. “Oh… cool.”

  “I want you to come with me.”

  I grip the counter to keep myself in the chair. “What? I... no,” I laugh. “I can’t.”

  “We’ll return on Tuesday,” he urges. “You’ll be back at school before anyone realizes you’re gone.”

  “No, really.” I shake my head. “I legally can’t. I don’t have a passport.”

  “You’ve never left the country?”

  “No. World travel was never much of an option for us…” I look down at my twitching fingers.

  “Get your passport,” Charles says. “You’ll come with me next time. I go a few times a month on business.”

  I tremble at the request. Less than twelve hours with him and I’m already seeing stars. “Yeah, sure…” I choke on my words. “Maybe.”

  “Just say yes, Alice.”

  “I thought you didn’t mix business with pleasure.”

  He bites his lip. “One of many rules I’ve broken for you, my darling.”

  I look at my fingers again and I see them shaking.

  Chapter 8

  Lie to Me

  I step off the elevator onto the top floor. Charles’ receptionist looks up at me and smiles. “Hello, Alice,” she says.

  “Hey, Kate,” I greet. I unwrap my snow-covered scarf from around my neck. “Is he in?” I ask her.

  “He’s in a meeting on the third floor,” she tells me, “but I’m sure he won’t mind if you wait in his office. He’ll be back soon.” She reaches over and taps the button to unlock the door.

  “Thank you,” I tell her. I pull the glass door open and walk down the hall.

  His office is empty, as expected. I step inside and glide over to the sitting area to toss my purse and coat on it. I sit down in his desk chair and spin about on it while I watch the outside world tumble by through the windows.