Designer Desires (7 page)

Korrine tried to wake Tony up early. She wanted to repay the favor; he made her orgasm three times and she fell asleep. She felt bad about that, so she decided to wake him up by licking around the head of his penis. She slowly caressed his balls all the while she was licking his shaft. She felt Tony began to slowly move, pumping himself up and down. She looked up, and his eyes were still closed.
He’s still sleeping. I need to do better with my wake up calls.
Korrine put his entire penis in her mouth, sucking up and down. She licked up one side and down the other, gripping his shaft and moving her hand with precision. He began to moan, and she knew he was awake. He looked down at her through sleep-filled eyes, and he smiled his megawatt smile. Korrine began to really move, being turned on by the sounds Tony began to make. She knew he was close; his hips began thrusting at a frantic pace, and he grabbed her head pumping into her warm hot mouth. Korrine stayed perfectly still, opening her mouth wide while taking in all of him. She rubbed his balls with one hand while stroking his dick with the other. Tony got impossibly hard and went completely still while his cock drained into the back of her throat. Korrine licked her lips and Tony pulled her on top of him, kissing her before pulling the comforter over them and quickly falling back to sleep.

Tony

Tony loved when Korrine woke him up like she did; her beautiful mouth and plumped lips were wrapped around his cock.
Ummmmm, I love that shit!
He couldn’t believe his life. He could get used to waking up next to Korrine. He couldn’t help but reach for her in the middle of the night; her curves and aroma that were all her own had him dazed. To know that she was in his bed had him with a feeling of contentment that he had never known. When she wasn’t next to him in his bed, he felt incomplete. Four months ago he would have never even thought about waking up with a woman. In fact, he did his best never to spend the night with any woman; get in and get out, no sleepovers! But Korrine was worming her way into more than his bed; she had a place in his heart. He knew she wouldn’t be just a fling, but the thought of a relationship was not Tony’s style. How could one petite little woman play such a big part in flipping his world upside down? The thought of not having Korrine when he wanted—touching, kissing, licking her when and where he wanted—just wasn’t something he wanted to comprehend. To think of anyone else having her was incomprehensible. He couldn’t wait to make her his on a more permanent basis; he just needed to get her to trust him. However, there were a couple of problems. First, he had to make sure she knew that he was not a playboy, and he was serious about her. The biggest problem was that Korrine had a stalker; until he found out who the hell was stalking her, keeping her safe came before any wining and dining he may have done.

Tony couldn’t believe that Korrine wasn’t taking this stalker seriously. She continued getting the weird phone calls, but they weren’t long enough to trace. Some were even coming from different computer IP addresses. She had a stalker for Christ’s sake, and she had no idea who it could be. However, Tony had a solution to that problem; he was going to hire a private investigator. This shit was coming to an end, and he didn’t care how stubborn she was; there was no way he was going to let this nonsense continue. Korrine tried to act tough, but he knew deep down she was afraid. After that first phone call, she was shaking like a leaf. She tried to say she was angry, and no doubt she was, but she was frightened too. He knew his sweetness, and he would protect her any way that he could; even if that meant her not knowing about the PI.

With everything that was going on with Korrine, Tony totally forgot about the dates or “booty calls” he had set up months before. His assistant Sarah called him on his office phone to let him know that Misty Austin, one of those many “dates” he forgot to cancel, was on her way up to his office.

Misty Austin was a beautiful blonde socialite. She had a rack you couldn’t ignore (although they were clearly fake), legs that kept going and going, and beautiful crystal blue eyes. She was a dream to look at, but she was a gold digger if he had ever seen one. But she was an easy lay with pretty good head so Tony would entertain her from time to time.

Misty entered Tony’s office in a huff. She was wearing a super tight, pink bandage dress that was entirely too short to be wearing anywhere but the bedroom. She was clearly upset about something, but Tony just really didn’t care about what.

“Misty? What can I do for you?” Tony asked.

“What can you do for me? Are you serious, Tony? I have been calling you for weeks without even so much as a text in response. You have stood me up for three dates without even calling!” Misty practically screeched in a high-pitched voice that had Tony wincing.

“Misty, I’ve been entirely too busy to entertain you,” Tony said dryly.

“Have you been busy with that black woman I’ve seen you with?” Misty accused Tony; narrowing her eyes.

Before he could answer her, Misty began ranting at Tony. She started pacing back and forth, waving her arms around frantically as her voice kept getting louder and louder.

“I can’t believe you chose some black girl, some wannabe designer, over
me
. She clearly doesn’t have the pedigree that I have; she can’t complement you like I can. There is no way in hell she looks as good as me on her best day. What are you thinking? How will your parents respond to this girl? You can’t take her to meet your father; he will have a heart attack! What you need to do, Antonio, is stop playing games with this girl and get you and me back on track. I’m tired of waiting for you to come to your senses!”

Tony just stared blankly at Misty for a minute. He couldn’t believe the audacity of this woman to come to his office and question him.

“Who the
fuck
do you think you are?” Tony growled through clenched teeth.

Misty stepped back; the fury radiating from Tony was almost tangible. Misty hadn’t noticed how angry Tony was during her rant, but now it couldn’t be missed.

“I…uhhh...uhhh…” Misty stuttered, shocked by Tony’s anger toward her. He had always been in total control, never showing much emotion toward her. He never even raised his voice at her. Although he wasn’t shouting now, the look in his eyes and the cold chill in his voice made it unmistakable that Tony was indeed very, very angry. She took a deep breath, calming herself down, and took a step toward him.

“Tony, I came here to let you know that I’m not mad that you have been having some fling. But you blowing me off for some black girl is unacceptable, and you should know better. I’m the one you need to get serious with, not some ghetto hoe…some gutter trash with barely a career,” Misty said with all the disgust she could muster.

Tony had to step back from Misty; he was looking at her in a whole new light. He knew she was vapid and shallow. Hell, he even knew she was a gold digger. She didn’t care what he looked like or how he treated her, as long as the expensive dinners and the VIP treatment kept coming. Although he and Misty weren’t ever an official item, she looked good on his arm at special events when he needed a date. He would take her out to dinner every once in a while. But mostly it was a hot quickie when he needed to get off and there was nobody else. He would call it friends with benefits, but he wouldn’t necessarily call Misty a friend. She was barely an acquaintance…more of a bed warmer.  Before he could talk to what was obviously a crazy person, Tony had to calm himself down. He would never put his hands on a woman in anger, but this bitch had lost her damn mind.

“I don’t owe you an explanation.
Get the fuck out of my office
,” Tony said this with a calm that was almost scary.

Misty shook her head in disbelief. “I’m leaving now, but know I will be back. I will give you a couple of days to calm down, and I will give you a call. And, Tony… you better fucking answer.”

Tony couldn’t believe the crazy that was coming from this woman. Had he been so caught up in her tits that he missed the crazy in her eyes? He knew she was hard up for cash these days. Her family’s money was practically gone because her deadbeat father had gambled and swindled almost all of the money from their family business. They were living on favors and reputation. Misty knew she had to marry well, or she and her family weren’t going to be able to keep up the charade for much longer.

“Get out, or I can call security. It’s your choice,” Tony demanded, dismissing Misty while holding open his office door for her to leave.

Misty took in a deep breath, narrowing her eyes. “Stay away from that girl!” Misty sashayed from the office as if it were hers with her head held high, her expensive purse in the crook of her arm, and her mouth formed in a perfect thin line. She thought she had won.

Tony was so livid that he was afraid of responding to Misty as she left his office. In fact, he was so upset at her impudence that he missed that she knew way more about Korrine than she should. Tony hadn’t seen Misty in months, since before he started seeing Korrine, so she shouldn’t know anything about her. However, Tony was so angry at the fact that this woman, who was essentially a bed warmer to him, tried to tell—no demand—that he do what she said. He couldn’t think straight or see straight. He needed to calm down before he did something stupid, like chase after Misty and scare her away.

After his afternoon meeting with Misty, Tony decided to go work off some steam in his office gym before meeting with the PI about the logistics of the job he wanted him to perform. He also had the background information on Steve. He didn’t trust that guy, and it wasn’t because he was jealous.
Am I jealous of that guy?... Naaahhhh.
Tony couldn’t think of himself as the jealous type. He knew his self-worth; hell, he was a catch. No, Tony didn’t like Steve because of how he tried to push his way into Korrine’s life. Every time he turned around, he was looking at Steve.

Steve McKinney was a smarmy bastard. Tony found out that he moved to Houston almost three years ago. His real estate business was doing pretty well, but he upped and moved to Houston for what seemed like no reason. But Tony had found the reason. Oh, Stevie boy had an estranged wife he was chasing. Seems like his wife had a new man, and Steve didn’t like that much. He moved back to Dallas recently, but it looked like his wife had moved from Houston, not leaving much of a trail as to where she might have gone. Was she running from Steve and, if so, why? Steve had some skeletons in his closet concerning relationships, and Tony didn’t like that one bit. Especially since Steve decided to pursue
his
woman, Tony knew that Steve was untrustworthy. But Korrine, being Korrine, only saw the good. That’s what he loved about her…
Wait... Love?… Shit! Holy shit!

He loved Korrine. But it had only been four months. He couldn’t
love
her. No, he couldn’t, but…he did.

Tony

The realization of his love for Korrine was very confusing for Tony. In all of his thirty-four years, he had never been in love…lust definitely…but never love. Although he certainly lusted after Korrine and her luscious body, he knew that he loved her. He wasn’t ready to admit that out loud yet; the notion was too scary. Besides, they hadn’t even defined what they were doing. He would lightly bring up the subject of what they were, and she would lightly change the subject. Tony felt like the girl in all this, and the feeling was foreign to him. He needed to talk to someone—a man who could make heads or tails of “feelings.”

Geez, he was definitely the girl.

“Jake, how have you been, man?” Tony asked his best friend and cousin.

“Hey, buddy. I’m good. How’s it going? To what do I owe this rare occurrence?” Jake asked with obvious amusement.

“I met a woman…” Tony let his statement trail off, not knowing what to say next.

Jake chuckled. “Aww, a woman…it’s about damn time.”

“What? You act like I’m some virgin or something,” Tony said slightly offended.

Jake chuckled again. “Come on, Tony. We both know you haven’t been a virgin in what…two...three years now,” Jake said laughing at his own joke. “I’m just stating the obvious; you have never been the type to call to ‘talk’ about a woman. Never!”

Tony sighed. “I know you know what type of man I am. I don’t know how to deal with all these emotions and feelings and shit. This woman has me on edge, and I know I shouldn’t be. But before I can stop myself, I’m saying and doing things I’ve never done before.”

Jake laughed again. “Yeah, buddy, it’s called love. No matter how much of an alpha male you might be, we all fall sometime.”

Shit. Jake was right; Tony had fallen hard. He couldn’t stop his growing feelings, no matter how he tried or what he did. He just resigned himself to the fact that he would have to do what he always did: take control of the situation.

“Yeah, I guess so. This feeling of not being in control is not something that I like. Anyways, this isn’t just about this girly shit,” Tony said changing the subject. “Korrine has a stalker, and we can’t get a handle on who this fucker might be. I have some people on it, but I need family on this. Jake, she’s important to me. I have to keep her safe.”

“Oh, so Korrine is her name…nice,” Jake replied with a smirk. Then he changed to a more serious tone void of his earlier amusement. “Okay, we will discuss the girly feelings and shit later. This stalker is serious, Tony. It’s not often that
you
can’t find information out. This guy must be real crafty.”

Jake wasn’t just Tony’s best friend and cousin, he was also ex-military—special ops, to be exact—and he was the best in private security and investigations that Tony knew. When Tony thought of who could help him find Korrine’s stalker, he knew only one person he would trust: Jake. However, Jake wasn’t available. He was doing a special private security for some big client and was out of the country. Since Korrine hadn’t had any physical contact with her stalker, Tony got a local guy to handle her case. But now that he was back, Tony wanted Jake’s expertise.

“Yes, actually he is,” Tony agreed. “Even my IT guru can’t pinpoint the location these calls are coming from. All he found out was that it’s some kind of computer program that switches IP addresses at random, so we know it’s not coming from a cell or a landline but a computer. What we don’t know is who or why.”

Jake noted the worry in Tony’s voice and said, “Well, gather all the details that you can and have Korrine available to speak to me. I will be there in two days at the latest. I would be there sooner, but I have to wrap up this last client and get my men in order. After that, I will be on the first thing smokin’ to get to you and your girl.”

“Thanks, man. I really appreciate your help,” Tony sighed in relief for his cousin’s help.

“Of course, man. It’s always family first. You know that. I’ll see ya in a couple of days. Oh and I can’t wait to meet Korrine. I bet she’s something if she’s got you this torn up,” Jake teased, the humor returning to his voice.

Tony smirked. “Oh man, you have absolutely no idea.”

Once Tony disconnected from Jake, he felt lighter than he had in days. He knew Korrine could take care of herself, but he felt it was his job to protect her. He had an overwhelming need to make sure that she was safe and loved.
There’s that damn word again…Uhhh…Why can’t I get love off my brain? I have too much to do,
Tony thought.

Before he realized it, Tony was meeting with his last client of the day. He had a full day, and he still couldn’t shake the feeling that stuck with him after the meeting with Misty and the phone conversation with Jake. Both conversations made him realize that maybe, just maybe, Korrine might be the one for him. It all just started out as fun, but with all the serious things going on with his sweetness, he couldn’t help but get caught up in his feelings for this woman. It wasn’t just about a quick roll in the hay or a beautiful woman to sate his needs. It was about knowing that this woman, who snuck up on him and found a place in his heart, needed to be safe. Tony would do any and everything he could to make sure that would happen.

Tony had a date with Korrine the next evening but, since he spent more than half his day either talking or thinking about her, he decided he would give her a call to see what she was up to. Even though his PI, George Anderson, had her under surveillance for the time being, he still needed to hear her voice.

The phone rang four times before Korrine picked up, seeming out of breath. “Hello?”

“Korrine? You okay, baby?” Tony asked.

“Hey, Tony. I’m fine. I was just finishing up a client, and I left my phone in the front of the studio. I had to run…you know, running is
not
my thing,” Korrine explained chuckling.

Tony relaxed slightly. “Okay, I was wondering if you want to meet for drinks when you’re done.”

Korrine curiously asked, “Yeah sure, but I thought we had a date tomorrow. Are you canceling on me?”

“Nope, I just had a long day. Just wanted to see you is all,” Tony replied.

“Are you doing ok?” Korrine asked a little concerned.

“I’m fine, sweetness. Are you almost done? Do you want me to swing by and get you?” Tony smiled.

“Sure, that way I can have a couple of drinks. I finished up my clients, so I actually have some time off for a couple of days before I have to start another design,” Korrine stated happily.

“Good, I’ll pick you up in thirty minutes?” Tony asked.

Korrine smiled. “Great, see ya then.”

Exactly thirty minutes later, Tony pulled his white Range Rover up to Korrine’s studio. He noticed that her car wasn’t parked in her normal spot, but the lights were still on. So he hopped out of his truck and went to ring the bell. When he reached the door to her studio, it was ajar and he heard raised voices coming from inside. Tony paused when he heard a male voice.
Who the hell is that? And are they yelling?…At Korrine?…Wait a damn minute.

Tony’s steps quickened as he got closer to the voices. Not wanting to let his presence be known just yet, he walked quietly to see who the male voice was that was talking crazy to his girl. When he rounded the corner, he saw Steve standing entirely too close to Korrine. His stance was rigid and tense, and his fists were balled at his side. Tony didn’t know what was going on, but Steve’s demeanor alone had Tony wanting to whoop his ass.

“What the hell is going on?” Tony asked Steve with a menacing tone.

Steve instantly took a step back from Korrine, and she noticeably relaxed. However, neither said anything…which made Tony even angrier.

“I asked a question. What is going on?!” Tony asked again still looking at Steve.

Steve didn’t answer, but Korrine did. “Steve was just leaving, Tony…Weren’t you, Steve?”

Steve took another step back with his fists still clenched and his face turning redder. He turned around and narrowed his eyes at Tony. “Yeah, I was just leaving.”

Steve left through a side door not having to pass Tony, which was good because Tony was ready to snatch this asshole up for talking to Korrine how he was. Although Tony didn’t hear exactly what was being said, the tone he heard and the body language was enough.

Tony looked at Korrine with a raised eyebrow. She smiled a weak smile that didn’t reach her eyes, and Tony instantly knew something was undoubtedly wrong.

“Sweetness…why was he yelling at you?” Tony asked.

“It was a misunderstanding, Tony…Nothing major. Steve just lost...I…he’s been going through a lot lately,” Korrine stuttered then smiled uncomfortably.

Tony stepped closer to her and spoke so seriously that Korrine shuttered. “Baby, let’s get one thing straight. No man will yell at you in front of me or otherwise, and I will just let it go as a ‘misunderstanding.’ So although I’m very aware that you can take care of yourself, if you don’t tell me what he was yelling about, I will catch that motherfucker and beat it out of him.”

Korrine let out a sigh. “Really, Tony, it was a misunderstanding. He wasn’t yelling. I wouldn’t let anyone disrespect me, friend or not.”

Tony didn’t want to fight with Korrine, but he would catch Steve later. This was not the end of this shit. People were testing him lately, and he didn’t like it one bit…not one little bit.

“Okay, sweetness, if you say it was a misunderstanding, then that’s what it was. Just know that he better not
misunderstand
anything else with you using that tone,” Tony replied.

“Fine, but it really isn’t that serious…Okay?” Korrine tried to persuade him. “Just relax, and let’s go get a drink. I really need one now.”

Tony let it go for the time being. He didn’t want to push the subject with Korrine, especially since he was going to ask Steve about it anyway. He smiled at Korrine, and went and wrapped his arms around her. He kissed her on the top of her head and breathed in her scent. She always smelled like some kind of fruit and lilac, with a bit of Korrine mixed in. It was intoxicating, and he couldn’t get enough. She visibly relaxed in his embrace, and her arms went around his waist. She squeezed him gently and smiled up at him. When their eyes locked, Tony slowly lifted his hand and caressed Korrine’s cheek. He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. The kiss started out slow and gentle. But it quickly heated up, with the passion seeping in and making both Korrine and Tony want more. Tony stepped back, nipping Korrine’s bottom lip but releasing her slowly. She whimpered at his departure, opening her eyes slowly.

She asked, “Why did you stop?”

He smirked, answering, “Because, sweetness, if we don’t get going, we are going to be having sex in your studio.”

She smiled and nodded. Korrine grabbed her purse, and they headed out to the local dive bar down the street from her studio.

When they reached his truck, he opened the door and let her in. He got into the driver’s side and pulled out still looking for Korrine’s car.

“Sweetness, where’s your car?” Tony asked.

“I had to put it in the shop because of something with a light. I don’t know…” Korrine trailed off.

Tony cut his eyes at her, not wanting to keep his eyes off the road for too long, “Something with a light? Did the mechanic tell you what it was?”

Korrine nodded. “Not yet. He’s a friend of B’s, so he won’t cheat me. My bucket will last me a little longer. It’s nothing serious, and it starts right up. I just wanted to get it checked out while I had some time off, and I didn’t have to come to the studio for a couple of days.”

“Okay, well that’s reasonable. How did you get to work?”

“Brandon brought me. I was going to hitch a ride with Steve. But you called and I didn’t need to…so…” Korrine stopped when she saw the look on Tony’s face.

“What’s the look for?” Korrine asked.

Tony was really trying not to argue with Korrine, but even the simple thought of Steve made his blood boil.

“Nothing, I just don’t want you to have to depend on somebody like Steve,” Tony said simply.

“Somebody like Steve? What does that mean?” Korrine asked starting to become annoyed.

“Somebody who
yells
at his friends. If you need something, Korrine, just let me know. I have extra cars; you can use whichever you want for however long you need to.”

Korrine just stared at Tony’s profile; she didn’t want to fight with him, so she just let the comment go. She would have some drinks and go home to relax. If Tony acted like he had some sense, he could stay. But if he kept acting an ass, she would relax in a bath…alone.