His Obsession (5 page)

He thought about Ursula. Stephen wanted to be able to go to her at a
moment’s notice and knew if he drank that would be impossible. Turning away
from the drink, he took a cold shower before climbing into bed.

Thinking about Ursula sent a stirring deep inside him. Right now she was
probably lying with her boyfriend. His hands fisted in the blanket as he
thought of that asshole touching her. Would she moan her pleasure like she did
for him?

Stephen went to sleep, his anger sizzling beneath the surface at the
image of Ursula with another man. No woman had ever made him angry. What was it
about her that made him react in such a way?

Chapter Four

Two weeks passed without any problems. Winter was taking hold, and
Ursula hated walking home in the cold. She didn’t want to ask for a ride.
Stephen was always busy. Their conversation had been reserved to talking about
world events, meaning the financial crisis and how she was getting on at
school.

The teasing had stopped to be replaced by seriousness. He never asked
about Paul, and for that she was grateful. Paul hadn’t touched her since the
wrist incident. She knew something would happen soon. Every time he came to bed
and tried it on, she rebuffed him complaining of a headache.

After college, she walked to Stephen’s house to find several cars in the
driveway. She opened the door, putting her coat and bag away in the places he’d
told her. Placing her key in the pot next to his, she walked down the hall. The
sound of voices coming from his office made her stop. She stood in the doorway.
Five men and Stephen were seated, talking. He looked up and smiled. She
couldn’t help it. She smiled back at him.

“If I knew you didn’t have anything to do but chat I’d have demanded a
lift as well,” she said.

“I already pay you well.”

“You get your money’s worth out of me, and we both know it. Am I cooking
for more than two?” she asked, turning her attention to the other men.

“Who are you?” the one with dark hair and a curious frown asked her.

“The cleaner and cook.” She felt all of their eyes on her. “Do you guys
want a drink?” Ursula turned her gaze back to Stephen. “You’re being incredibly
rude, or does your
staff
not get an introduction?” She
folded her arms under her breasts.

“Ursula Mills, I’d like you to meet
Cadeon
,
Sean, Tate, Kevin, and Lucas. Guys, I’d like you to meet my soon-to-be-fired
cleaner-slash-cook, Ursula.”

She shook their hands before giving him a scowl. “You can’t fire me.”

“Why not?” he asked.

“You like me too much. You’d be lost without me, and you know it.” She
turned away moving to the kitchen. The men said something, and Stephen’s
unmistakable scolding voice sounding. She rubbed her arms suddenly feeling the
chill.

She made a drink keeping her head bowed, trying to keep the tears locked
inside her. Stephen’s arms came round on either side of the counter locking her
in place. “Why are you crying?” he asked. Touching her cheeks she felt the
wetness of her tears.

“I don’t know.” He took hold of her arm, turning her to face him. His
knuckles grazed her cheek, wiping away her tears.

“I don’t like seeing these,” he said.

“Why didn’t you want to introduce me to your friends?” she asked. It was
stupid. She was his employee. Their relationship meant nothing out of the
bounds of him being her boss.

He cupped her cheek, tilting her head back to stare into her eyes. She
felt the pull of his gaze, the tightness in her body alerting her to his
closeness. He wasn’t close enough. The obsession she was beginning to feel
about him was scaring her. There was no way Stephen could ever be hers.

“They’re part of a whole other world. When we’re here, you’re no one
else’s.” The words confused her.

“Whose am I?” she asked.

“Mine.”

Someone let out a cough making them break apart. She quickly made the
drink, taking it into the other room. The men stared at her as she placed the
drinks down in front of them. “There is sugar if you want it.”

“What if we want coffee?” one of them asked.

“You didn’t ask, and you get what you’re given.” She left them alone,
doing her chores. For dinner she made them all a sandwich. When Stephen asked
her where hers was, she mentioned getting back to her boyfriend. He glared at
her, but she left without looking back. It was early, and she decided to take a
walk in the park. Her thoughts were all jumbled up. Someone bumped into her
causing her to fall on her ass.

“I-I-I’m sorry,” the girl said, helping her to her feet.

“Don’t worry.” Ursula stood brushing herself down then looked at the
girl in front of her. She gasped. The woman looked like death. Her hands were
shaking, and her hair looked ready to fall out. “Are you all right?”

“Fine.”
The woman walked away. Ursula didn’t know
whether to follow her or not. When the woman disappeared into the darkness,
Ursula carried on moving towards her home. Paul wasn’t an incentive to get home
quickly. She took as long as she could before her fingers were too cold to
stand being outside in the cold.

She entered their apartment. The stench of alcohol and cheap pizza
assailed her. She was beginning to find everything associated with Paul
repulsive.

“Have you been fucking your lover?” Paul sneered. Ursula turned to see
the card Stephen had given her in his hands.

“What are you talking about?” she asked. Dropping her bag on the chair,
she removed her coat then faced him again.

“You’re out of the house. You don’t want me to fuck you anymore. What’s
going on? I’m not good enough for your ugly face?” he growled.

She rolled her eyes, feeling more angry than scared. “Leave me alone.
You’ve been drinking again instead of getting off your own fat ass and looking
for another job?” Placing her hand on her hips, she glared at him. In light of
everything going on around her, she saw the man before her in a new light. How
could she have put up with him for so long? He was a self-centred, lazy-ass
bastard. Her parents’ warnings ran through her mind. At the time when they’d
voiced them she thought they were being difficult. Now she saw what they did.
“I want you out of my apartment. We’re through.” She threw his crap at him
feeling angry at herself for living with such an ungrateful loser. “Get your
shit, and get out.”

“This is my place,” he yelled.

“Yeah.
I’m the one who has been paying the rent. I
paid for this fucking furniture. The landlord put the place in my name seeing
as I was paying for everything. You were already close to losing it anyway.”

She snatched the card out of his hand. “This is mine.”

Paul pushed her. The anger she’d only seen once before was unleashed.
She dodged his hands moving away. The slap to the face caught her off guard. In
no time at all, he pinned her against the sofa, his foul breath on her face.
She screamed, and he covered her mouth.

“Do you really think you’re better than me? No man would want you. I
took you in because no one else wanted you.”

Ursula thought about Stephen. It was time to make that phone call. She
wished she hadn’t left before talking to him properly. Using all of her
strength she pushed Paul off her, running into her room and locking herself in
the bedroom. Her hands were shaking, but she managed to dial his house number.
When no one answered she growled in frustration. She glanced at the door when
she heard Paul kicking and yelling at her.

She dialled Stephen’s mobile number praying for him to pick up.

****

Stephen watched her leave. He’d upset her, and he hated to see her hurt
when he’d been the one to cause it. Introducing her to the others hadn’t
entered his mind. The moment he saw her standing there in front of him, he’d
been a goner. In her winter clothes, she looked so adorable. The image of her
naked had struck him making him jealous, watching the other men in case they
were thinking the same thing.

“You never told us you had a new house cleaner,”
Cadeon
said.

“I didn’t realise whom I employed was any of your business.” His hands
fisted as he thought about these men lusting after his woman.

His woman?

Where the hell had that come from? Ursula wasn’t his woman. She never
would be. He didn’t want her that way.

Stephen shook his head in an attempt to rid the thoughts from his mind.
The rest of the men were smirking at him. “Can we just get back to the problems
at hand?” He listened with half an ear while the other thought about the
revelations going through his mind. The way he touched her wasn’t appropriate
as a simple employer/employee relationship. Licking his lips, he recalled the
feel of her full, lush body in his arms, the buds of her nipples pressing
against his chest. His dick began to swell in his pants at the thought of
Ursula and her body. Would her nipples be small or large?
Red
or brown?
Sensitive?
Did she like to be nibbled
or sucked?

Running his fingers through his hair, he forced himself to pay
attention. The news they’d been able to gather wasn’t great. Rebecca remained
safe inside her home. The doctor’s visits were being monitored with extra care
along with the people who called at her house. His call to James at club Ravage
had been held with caution. The other owner agreed to keep in touch with
regards to the Black situation. Apparently Lloyd Black’s son had been banned
after getting too heavy with a sub.

Stephen was tired of dealing with the crap at the club. Why couldn’t he
go back to having a drink while he watched the singers on stage?

You wouldn’t have Ursula if it went
back to normal. You hated your life until she entered your world.

When they left to go to the club, Stephen was thankful for the reprieve.
He drove himself wanting to get home alone. Relying on a driver to take him
everywhere was starting to wear thin.

They all entered through the front. The new doorman greeted them.
Stephen hadn’t learnt his name yet. He kept his jacket on, going straight
through to his main desk to check on business. There were a few checks he
needed to cash and bills that needed to be paid. He phoned through the usual
payments for electricity and food. When the bills were sorted, he checked
through the rotas and then set in motion their pay-checks before he left. His
father had told him to make sure the club was kept in pristine condition at all
times. He might not feel like his father about women, but he would certainly
adhere to his wishes.

He’d seen so many couples pass through the doors who looked exactly as
his father described them.
Possessive.

“Son, they want a place where they
know their women will be left alone. To be around like-minded men who feel the
same way about their women.”

“But don’t all men love their women
like that?”

“We all deal with things
differently, Stephen. One day you’ll meet a woman and know what I mean.”

Stephen recalled one of the many conversations he’d had with his father.
His biggest regret was not giving his father what he wanted the most,
grandchildren. No woman had been worth taking home to his parents.

He switched the light off,
then
locked the
door.
Cadeon
and the others were in the bar room. A
different singer was up on stage entertaining. Stephen didn’t recognise her.
Lucas must have employed her. He noticed all the men were drinking coffee, and
a glass of whiskey was waiting for him. Stephen stopped at the bar to order a
coffee before sitting down with the rest of the men. They stared at his coffee
then at him.

“What?” he asked.

“She’s changing you, and you don’t even know it,” Tate said.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He sipped the coffee ignoring
their stares. Ursula had never complained about his drinking. She’d told him on
many occasions that he didn’t need to waste his life in the bottom of a bottle.
He was going to cut down before she entered his life. Stephen refused to
believe she was responsible for the change inside him. He checked the time on
his watch, surprised to see it was past ten.

He wondered what Ursula was doing. Would she be sleeping by her jerk-ass
boyfriend?

Stop thinking this shit. She’s not
yours.

I don’t want her to be mine.

No? Then why are you thinking about
her?

“Hey, Stephen.
When are you taking a woman to
Ravage
to share?” Sean asked.

He glared at all of them. The thought of another man touching Ursula
sent the blood pounding through his veins. No man would touch her except him.

She isn’t yours.

But she’s going to be.

At the last thought, the demon inside him began to calm down. He
couldn’t describe what was happening. Seeing her with someone else would set
him off. He knew it.