Deadly Obsession Read online

  Contents

  Copyright

  Synopsis

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  DEADLY OBSESSION

  By Victoria Paige

  Copyright © 2015 Victoria Paige

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.

  ISBN-13: 978-0-9906796-4-6

  This book is a work of fiction. The characters, names, places, events, organization, including law enforcement and judicial procedures, either are a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to any persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, places or locale is entire coincidental. The publisher is not responsible for any opinion regarding this work on any third-party website that is not affiliated with the publisher or author.

  Cover Design by Robin Ludwig Design Inc., http://www.gobookcoverdesign.com

  Edited by: Hot Tree Editing

  Synopsis:

  *Warning. Romantic suspense with dark themes. Extremely obsessive and jealous hero. Strong language and sexual content with sexual deviant situations that may be disturbing. Mature audience, 18 years and above.

  The first time Jake sees Ella he is struck by her beauty.

  He becomes obsessed.

  His obsession becomes a deadly affair.

  You see, Ella belongs to someone else.

  Someone determined to keep her ... or kill her.

  CHAPTER ONE

  “You like that, my little slut?”

  Jake whispered to the woman he was fucking over the sink. “You’ve been eye-fucking me the whole evening.” He thrust hard as if to make a point. “You think I’m not taking you up on it?”

  “I haven’t,” Ella gasped.

  “Liar,” Jake growled. He lifted away from her, staring down to where they were joined, the hard length of him sliding in and out of her. This encounter was inevitable. Who would have thought his cold shower minutes ago had been useless.

  He had trouble keeping his hard-on down while he lifted weights in the country club’s gym. Maybe if her ass weren't in his face every time he bent over a bench to lift a dumbbell, it wouldn’t be as painful. Watching her dab sweat in between her breasts was pure torture as well. They were flattened partially by a sports bra, but her ample cleavage was enough to tease a saint. Three days this week they danced around their attraction to each other. Well, this shit stopped now. He was taking her up on that blatant offer in her eyes.

  He had just emerged from the men’s locker room when he saw her enter the ladies’ room at the other end of the club. He had checked both sides of the hallway before he slipped through the restroom door. Their eyes met in the mirror. She was still sweaty from her workout. Without a word, he locked the door, stalked toward her, and spun her around. He immediately crushed her lips in a punishing, scorching kiss, after which he pulled away and said, “If you don’t want this, now is the time to say no.”

  She stared at his throat for a beat before lifting hooded caramel eyes to his. “I want this.” The back of her hand brushed his straining erection.

  Clenching his jaw tightly, he turned her around and bent her over the sink. He fished a condom from his wallet and returned it to the gym bag, which he dropped to the floor.

  Freeing his cock from the confines of his shorts, his eyes briefly left hers as he rolled the condom down his length.

  He needed to fuck her.

  Right now.

  This instant.

  He shoved her gym shorts down to her knees, exposing the porcelain smooth curve of her ass. He stomped them to the floor and freed her toned shapely limbs. Kicking her legs apart, he hissed in pleasure as anticipation tightened his balls to an unbearable degree. “You’re so damned beautiful. You’re almost unreal.”

  He reached under her to pull down the zipper of her bra; her tits spilled out. With his forearm hooked under her breasts, his hand squeezed one firm globe. He inhaled sharply, wanting to feast on her tits and suck on a nipple, but his dick was making all the decisions at the moment.

  Jake folded over her back and worked his cock inside her. Her sweat mixed with the scent of her perfume intoxicated him in a raw and sensual way. He could feel her wetness, but she was still fucking tight. He pumped in slowly, pushing in a little, withdrawing, and then pushing in a bit further. When he was seated balls deep, Ella whimpered softly, and that was when he let her have it. Withdrawing almost to the tip, he thrust in fully and started pumping steadily. He increased his pace until he was stroking inside her furiously, his pelvis slapping against her ass.

  His fingers dragged into her hair, taking hold near her scalp to pull her head back. She moaned in response, and he got even harder, if that were possible.

  “More,” she begged. “Fuck me harder.”

  He gripped her hair tighter and rode her. The deeper he slammed into her, the more excited she became. There was a moment Jake thought he was hurting her, for the edge of that sink couldn’t be comfortable, but when he tried to ease up, she protested almost in a panic. “No! Don’t stop.”

  A base instinct took over. He couldn’t hold back as his climax overwhelmed his body. He suppressed his roar as much as he could and grunted his release. He shoved in one more time and came, sagging onto her back.

  “You okay?” His breathing was ragged.

  Ella sighed. “I’m fine.”

  Her response was flat.

  Jake levered up, his brows furrowing. He never thought he’d ever ask this next question. “Did you come? I’m sorry I didn’t ask—”

  “I said it’s fine,” she responded sharply and wiggled out from under him. They quietly put themselves back to rights.

  Jake was feeling all kinds of douchebag for not making sure she came first. He had always prioritized his partner's pleasure. Then again, no woman ever made him lose control this way. And there was that elephant in the room.

  “So, what now?” he asked warily.

  “What do you mean?”

  Jake snorted in disbelief. “I don’t normally fuck someone else’s girlfriend.”

  “You didn’t seem too concerned just now.” Her lips twisted derisively. She leaned back against the sink. “I guess I’ll skip my cardio and go home.”

  “Home where? Back to him? Tell me, Ella, are you going to tell him how you spread your legs so readily for a man you barely know?” Jake didn’t understand why he was this furious. She was someone he fucked, and for some perverted reason, he felt justified. So why was he disgusted with himself and pissed at her?

  She exhaled another sigh and walked to the door. “There’s nothing to tell.”

  “You’re right. Because this is the last time this is happening.”

  Her face was expressionless as she digested his statement.

  “I can live with that,” Ella said.

  She left him feeling as unsettled as ever.

  *****

  Pathetic.

  He had become a pathetic bastard ruled by a needy dick.

  Jake Hopper sat in his Chevy pickup as
he surveyed the sprawling estate before him. Behind the automated iron gates lived the woman who had driven him insane with the pleasures of the flesh. He was under no illusion this was love. For the past month, he had become obsessed with fucking Ella Michel. He blamed it on the excitement derived from the secretive nature of their relationship. After his vehement declaration he wasn’t going to have sex with her again, that resolve crumbled the very next day. He dragged her into the linen supplies closet at the club and took her against the wall. He fucked her raw, not easing up pounding into her until he forced her to come. This continued for three weeks. Ella came in late at night to the club’s 24-hour fitness center, so he timed his workouts to match her schedule. Sometimes they would be the only ones left in the club’s gym. Their last encounter took place in the ladies’ locker room after she was pink and damp from the shower.

  He couldn’t stop this madness. Something about her reeled him in helplessly. He fully understood the extent of his insanity when she failed to show up last week. Until then, Jake denied his insidious jealousy and growing feelings of possessiveness. She wasn’t just a woman he could fuck and forget; he knew that now. That realization had led to this point.

  Seven days he had been without her. Jake didn’t share, but it was the only way he could have her. Imagining her getting fucked by Samuel Clayton was like acid burning through his brain.

  Samuel Clayton.

  The man who had seduced his ex-wife—Leslie. Samuel Clayton had been a client of his company, Steele Construction. Leslie headed the interior design department. Little did he know that his wife was offering more than the company’s services. Jake’s marriage to Leslie had been troubled in its last two years. Counseling and vacations did nothing to salvage his lackluster feelings for his wife, now ex-wife. Their only common ground was business, which never translated well into any chemistry at all in their personal life. What he thought was a strategic marriage four years ago, crashed and burned when his private investigator showed him pictures of his wife sucking Samuel Clayton’s dick. Jake started divorce proceedings immediately, and Leslie, who had fought it before, had eagerly accepted the dissolution of their marriage a year ago.

  Even if he initiated the divorce, her reaction didn’t sit well on his ego that time. He had been like a dog who no longer wanted the bone, but didn’t want another to have it. And Jake had hated Samuel Clayton since then. Needless to say, new business with the man was no longer an option.

  Jake’s eyes drifted to the front of the house, remembering the first time he had seen Ella. He moved in the same social circles as Clayton. He would never have stepped into that fucker’s house if it wasn’t for what he had done to Leslie.

  A little over two months ago, Jake received a call from the hospital informing him that Leslie had been in a car accident. He was still her emergency contact person. His ex-wife suffered several broken ribs, bruises, contusions to the face, and a broken wrist. The doctor told him he didn’t believe all the injuries were due to the car accident. Jake tried to talk to Leslie, but his ex-wife was tight-lipped, almost afraid even, to say otherwise, but her eyes said it all—Clayton had beaten the shit out of her.

  Jake, plagued by guilt, plotted ways to confront Clayton. The solution came a few days later when his company received an invitation to a black-tie affair at Clayton’s mansion. Jake believed the party was a manipulation on the millionaire’s part. By showing up with a new girlfriend on his arm, any accusations by Leslie would only be the rants of a woman scorned.

  All eyes were on Samuel Clayton’s new girlfriend, Jake’s included. Ella Michel was presented elaborately in a speech where Clayton hinted he may very well be taken off the marriage market. Jake couldn’t fault the other man’s taste and made him second-guess Leslie’s injuries. Maybe the doctor was wrong? There was no question that Leslie Hopper was breathtakingly attractive, but compared to Ella, whose otherworldly beauty robbed Jake of coherent thought, his ex-wife’s charms paled considerably. Ella had the face of an angel; impossibly long, dark lashes framed unusual caramel eyes under perfectly arched brows. Her delicate nose tilted up pertly above full pillowy lips, and her oval face was graced with high cheekbones. Creamy skin, hair the color of dark mahogany and seductively wavy, he longed to dig his fingers in her glorious tresses just so he could tilt her head to gaze upon her face. Jake wasn’t a poet or a man of flowery words, but the arresting beauty that was Ella certainly inspired that sentiment in him.

  Jake’s carefully prepared words accusing the other man of physical abuse sounded ineffectual now. So he stood by in a corner, drank the man’s liquor, and watched Clayton dote over his new acquisition.

  Jake hated him more that night because Samuel Clayton had something he coveted. Quite desperately, as he soon found out.

  Jake’s mind returned to the present when the gates to the mansion opened. The latest model of the Mercedes S-Class sedan purred out from the driveway. He recognized Clayton at the wheel. Financially, Clayton and Jake were on equal footing. The other man was old money. Jake was new money, earned from sweat and blood. Clayton was tall, lean, and blond, a refined gentleman—although that could be up for question. As for Jake, he was told that even wearing a tux, he could never hide his rough beginnings from the streets of Chicago. And he was fine with that. Dark-haired and standing at six-three, years at construction sites and his previous life built his deep tan and solid muscles.

  Watching Clayton’s car drive away, he contemplated pushing the buzzer at the gate. Would Ella let him in?

  The choice was taken away from him when the gates swiveled open again. This time, Ella’s silver Crossfire zipped out to the main road. Curious, Jake started his pickup and followed her. He checked his watch. He didn’t have a meeting until 10:00 a.m., so he had about an hour and a half to play stalker.

  He frowned when Ella took the road to a rundown part of the city. The road was speckled with cheap motels and strip bars. What was her business here?

  His chest pounded when she turned in to one of the sleaziest motels in the area. A weird feeling in his gut threatened to make him puke his breakfast. What the fuck? What the fuck was she doing? Was she meeting another lover? Was this assignation the reason why Jake hadn’t seen her in a week?

  Jake shook his head, clearing his riotous thoughts. He did have confirmation that Ella and Clayton left on a trip.

  This woman was driving him insane.

  He drove past the motel and circled back just in time to see her walk down to one of the rooms. She wouldn’t recognize his pickup because he used a different car when he went to the club. He parked a few doors down from where she stopped and watched with trepidation. Ella knocked on the door, looking right and left apprehensively as if sensing she was being watched.

  Yes, my little slut, I have my eyes on you. A rage so deep pulsed through his veins.

  The door opened, but Jake couldn’t see who was inside. Ella disappeared into the room and the door closed. A myriad of emotions gripped him. A part of him wanted to kick in the door, haul her over his shoulder, take her to his house, and tie her to his bed. The logical part of him told him to check with the front desk to see who was in room 22. But his pride told him to drive away.

  Drive the fuck away, Hopper, you pathetic shit.

  Red hazed his vision and he had impulsively taken out his business card and scribbled on the back of it. He slammed out of his pickup and stalked to her car, affixing his card to her windshield wipers.

  Jake was going to drive away, but he wanted her to know he knew what a whore she was. It took some effort, but he managed to make himself drive out of the parking lot and get on with his life.

  *****

  “We’re on track for our third quarter revenues, 350 million for our end-of-year target of 1.5 billion.”

  Jake sat at the head of the conference table listening to his CFO, business partner, and friend, Rick Steele, give the management team a rundown of the company’s performance for their presentation to the board members ne
xt week. Steele Construction had been in Rick’s family for over a hundred years, but the market crash seven years ago nearly wiped out the business. Jake had worked fifteen years for the company, starting as a humble construction worker while he pursued his college degree. When he graduated, he was immediately transferred to their engineering department and worked his way up to project management. When the company ran into financial troubles, Jake and Rick were instrumental in turning the company around. Jake had money saved up, and in the end, he had invested his own money and was made CEO soon after. Only Rick knew of Jake’s previous life and how he had made the money. That was a life Jake hoped he had permanently left in Chicago.

  “We’re getting at least 250 grand interior design work from the Pallas Hotel Group,” Leslie added. “I think the contract will be signed before we close this quarter.” One of Steele Construction’s specialties was boutique hotels, which were becoming popular in their Washington DC/Northern Virginia location as well as their San Francisco branch.

  Jake nodded at his ex-wife. During the early weeks of their divorce proceedings, their business relationship had been strained. But they had soon developed a cordial rapport. Leslie was one of the area’s best interior designers and Jake would be a fool to let their personal issues affect the company. Leslie, though, had been trying to get back into Jake’s personal life, dropping hints of dinners and sometimes calling him over to fix some imaginary problems at her house. Jake had no desire to rekindle anything with her, especially now that he was in this fucked-up situation with Ella.

  He tried to concentrate on Rick’s closing pep-talk and grunted, “Good work everyone,” when the meeting ended. Everyone got up and started filing out the door, chattering and mumbling, oblivious to the dark cloud hanging over their CEO. Everyone that is, except Rick and Leslie.