Untamed Obsession (Den of Sin) Read online

  Untamed Obsession

  A Den of Sin Novella

  Ambrielle Kirk

  Contents

  THE DEN OF SIN SERIES

  UNTAMED OBSESSION SUMMARY

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  BEFORE YOU GO…

  COPYRIGHT

  THE DEN OF SIN SERIES

  The Den of Sin is a multi-author shared world series. That is to say although each story is unique and the author voices are different, the rules are the same, so the fictional Hotel Beaudelaire is always familiar.

  Each story stands alone, though there may be some character overlap and recurring themes. The stories need not be read in order, but they may reference past events and previous guests of the Hotel Beaudelaire. To learn which stories are connected, please visit the Den of Sin website at http://www.denofsinseries.com, click on a story title in the menu, and scroll down to the section titled “Related.”

  * * *

  STORY LIST

  Season I – New Year's Eve Party

  Forbidden Rendezvous by Mel Blue

  Ménage à Troys by Holley Trent

  Redeeming the Amazon by L. V. Lewis

  Wicked Surrender by Ambrielle Kirk

  Shamelessly Taken by Mel Blue

  Two Strikes by Holley Trent

  * * *

  Season II – The Beaudelaire Bacchanal

  Debauching the Virgin by Mel Blue

  Illicit Passionsby Ambrielle Kirk

  O for Two by Holley Trent

  * * *

  Valentines Day (Special)

  As Sweet by Holley Trent

  * * *

  Season III – Winterball Masquerade

  Melt Into Me by Renee Luke

  Reckless Attraction by Ambrielle Kirk

  Three Strikes by Holley Trent

  Unbidden Desires by Melissa Blue

  Winterball by Holley Trent

  ***

  Season IV – Beaudelaire's Big Easy Luau

  The Heat of Him by Renee Luke

  Untamed Obsession by Ambrielle Kirk

  His Every Touch by Melissa Blue

  One In Waiting by Holley Trent

  Rekindling the Flame by L.V. Lewis

  UNTAMED OBSESSION SUMMARY

  Mark Mavericks is highly driven, cocky, and a billionaire. He runs his marketing firm with no room for error. He’s not fond of the word no. And he’s obsessed with having everything he desires. When a family incident brings him to Hotel Beaudelaire, he doesn’t expect his untimely visit to reunite him with the only woman who has ever turned him down for a date more than once. Candace is everything he’s never had. He’s already experienced how enticing she feels while in his arms and he wants to relive that moment again. She’s already made it clear to him that she doesn’t date playboys whose intentions are unclear. But Mark is no playboy and his intentions are quite clear… he’s a man after the woman who tests his limits.

  CHAPTER ONE

  As I sauntered into the office with my empty coffee mug in hand, the receptionist’s voice rang crystal clear through the intercom system announcing that I had a call waiting on the line.

  Who would call me after hours? I was scheduled to be off an hour ago and had just begun to pack my suitcase and call it quits for the day. Reluctantly I sat down behind the desk and pulled the wireless headphones back on my ears. “This is Candace Montgomery.”

  “Candace, this is Pam. Over at Toby Manufacturing.”

  “Hi, Pam.” Pam was a new client of mine. Silverman, Mott, and Grummet, LLC, the accounting firm I worked for had held the Toby Manufacturing account for over ten years now, but Pam was the new assistant controller and I was the lead auditor on this year’s internal review.

  “I hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time, but I needed to push back the time we were supposed to meet tomorrow.”

  “Let’s see…” I held in a sigh and tried to hide my disappointment. I hated when clients called at the last minute to break appointments. I grabbed my planner from the suitcase and flipped through pages and pages filled with personal and work related tasks. “It looks like you’re scheduled for third party confirmations tomorrow. At 9 AM.”

  “Yes, but I have a dentist appointment that I totally forgot about. I can’t cancel this late or they’ll charge me. Can we push it back to ten?”

  “Ten should be fine, Pam.” I crossed out the 9 AM appointment and made some notes in my planner. “Paul Sandler will come out this time. I’ll inform him of the change.”

  “Oh, so you won’t be coming out tomorrow?”

  “No, Pam.” And good thing. Pam was a nice lady. I just didn’t know how much more I could take of her discussing what she had to go through with her four kids. Kids being her four Maltese puppies. “But we do have another appointment a week from today. I need to go over the status of things with you, so I’ll be there for the next one. You’re scheduled for 9 AM. that day as well. Is this still a good time for you?”

  Pam was quiet on the other end, probably looking at her calendar, and then she said, “Yes. Thanks, Candace. I’ll see you next week.”

  “See you next week.”

  Before I forgot, I sent a text message to the junior auditor assisting me with the Toby account telling him that the appointment time was pushed back one hour.

  I was a senior auditor and assistant office manager at Silverman, Mott, and Grummett, LLC. I had started out about four years ago as an intern while I was still studying at the university here in New Orleans. After graduating and continuing to study for my MBA, SMG offered me a senior position. I was happy here and comfortable with my other partners and the staff. Plus they paid well, so I accepted.

  My life was like a music CD. A CD with a set number of songs that played over and over again. I liked it that way. I didn’t like surprises and I didn’t like doing things out of the norm.

  I got up early in the morning, laid out my clothes, did my hair, and made myself presentable. Most mornings, I had time to make a hot breakfast. It took me about twenty-five minutes to take the commute from home to the office. After drinking two cups of coffee, I got to work. After I had been promoted to manager, more and more of my time had been spent in the office instead of on the road. My life after work was pretty simple. I went home and watched soap operas and day time television shows that set to prerecord on my TiVo. If I went out, it was either to the gym or to visit my best friend, when she complained. Like the mornings, most evenings, I had time to make a hot dinner. Nowadays, I had an excuse to stay in the house with all the continuing education classes I took. At least that’s what I told everybody when they asked why I was such a homebody.

  Boring, I know. But I didn’t want to be in the limelight at all. This life kept me sane. For the most part…

  An alert tone sounded from my cell phone and I read the text message from Paul confirming that he would be at Toby Manufacturing at 10 AM tomorrow. I threw the planner in my suitcase again and snapped it shut. Sliding my keys and cell phone in my handbag, I got up from my chair again.

  “Candace! I’m so glad that I caught you before you left.” It was Priscilla. She was the secretary to the other office manager in our company.

  I smiled, sweetly, back at her. “And I was literally just about to walk out the door.” I swung my bag over my shoulder and walked towards her.

  “Edward told me to
remind you that we have a meeting with a potential client tomorrow. Are you gonna be able to fit it in your schedule?”

  “Mavericks Marketing? Yes, I had to reschedule a phone conference, but I’ll be there.” I locked my office door from the inside and closed it.

  “Great. I’ll send Edward an email in the morning.” She fell in step beside me. “When is Monique coming back from vacation?” She followed me out of the office and down the hall.

  Monique Brown, who happened to be my best friend, was also my secretary. She was what Priscilla was to Edward. Monique was on vacation, so Priscilla was filling in for me too for the time being.

  “Next Thursday. You’ve been doing a great job of helping me out, Priscilla. I really appreciate it.” And now if you don’t mind, I really want to get home and watch my TiVo.

  “No problem, babe.”She smiled.

  I pushed the elevator down button and placed my suitcase beside me while waiting for it to come up twenty floors. “See you tomorrow.”

  “Oh wait…” Priscilla leaned against the wall. “How’s that brother of yours?”

  I looked up at Priscilla, inquisitively. I couldn’t manage to hide my smile. What a pretty girl she was. She probably hadn’t experienced one bad day in her entire life. One of SMG’s partners was her cousin or something like that. Her father was also a lawyer. She grew up in a rich well-to-do family, so she was probably fed with a silver spoon as a child. She kept her hair straightened—black and silky. Her nails and toes were always done a different color almost every day of the week… and wore designer labels. She meant well though. And between her and Monique, they were probably the only women that I could stand at this firm.

  “My brother is doing fine,” I replied.

  “Oh.” She looked down at her fingernails and pretended to be interested in a cuticle. “Can you tell him that I said hello?”

  Priscilla went clubbing every weekend, so she and my brother were probably on first name basis. My brother never went into details about the numerous chicks he dated. I wouldn’t even be surprised if he and Priscilla were beyond first base. Maybe even second. Their relationship wasn’t any of my business.

  “Sure.” I nodded

  The elevator door opened, and I picked up my suitcase and stepped on, glad to be getting away. After all, I was not my brother’s keeper.

  “See you tomorrow,” Priscilla sang as the doors closed.

  On my way home, I picked up the take-out dinner I had ordered just before calling it quits at the office. Ten minutes later, I was at the front gate of the place I called home. The front gate always stayed locked. You needed keycard access to get in. When the gates opened, I noticed that there were already three cars in my driveway, so I maneuvered around them and pressed another button to enter the three-car garage. I pulled up my BMW between a Hummer and a Mercedes-Benz.

  Balancing a bag of food, my suitcase, and handbag between my shoulders and hands, I managed to get out of the car. I had to enter a separate five-digit code to get into the 8,000 square foot mansion through the garage. This led me into the kitchen. A gourmet kitchen that was rarely used for gourmet cooking. You could tell by the shiny, unscratched pots hanging over the center island. Everything from the cherry oak cabinets, to the stainless steel appliances, to marble counter tops and floors, and finally, to the kitchen-staging courtesy of the designers and a housemaid.

  The home was purchased about four years ago for just under one million dollars. Cash, that is. Complete with five bedrooms, two of which were masters and five bathrooms. There were also two formal living rooms, a formal dining room, a study, and a basement complete with home theater system and game room. The pool and hot tub were added in the backyard two years ago. Too bad I shared the home with my brother. But of course, he was more outgoing than me and held the occasional party here almost every quarter.

  I washed and rinsed my hands in the kitchen sink. After pouring some tap water in a glass, I grabbed a plate from the cabinets and began plating my dinner while it was hot. There was nothing worse than eating cold take-out. As much as I wanted to get upstairs, take a nice hot shower, and cuddle under the sheets with the remote control in my hand, I was extremely hungry. Lunch today consisted of a club salad at my office desk. My stomach had been grumbling in hunger only two hours after I had eaten it. Thinking about the day’s events, I attacked the pasta before me with gusto.

  Earlier this morning, my boss, Silverman, called a meeting with me and Edward Smith to tell us we’d just been given ten percent raises with the understanding that we would both be required to take on several new accounts over the next few months. I was given Mavericks Marketing, a firm that I knew nothing about. I had the rest of tonight to research them. One thing I did presume was that Mavericks must have been a very important company if Mr. Silverman had requested that we reschedule any appointments to accommodate them.

  As I was washing up my plates, I heard voices in the house coming closer to the kitchen. My brother had visitors at least twice a week, so I wasn’t surprised. Grabbing my purse and suitcase, I walked out of the kitchen, heading to my room upstairs. I confirmed that there were four guys in the living room. They were seated on the couch, PDAs and cell phones in hand, talking.

  They all looked up when I entered.

  “Candace, when did you get here?” My brother, DJ, looked up at me.

  “I’ve been here a while,” I said as I continued walking toward my room. “There’s Italian take-out in the kitchen if you’re hungry.”

  “Thanks, sis.”

  I only recognized one of the guys and that was DJ’s best friend, Travis. He was like DJ’s right hand man in business. DJ trusted him like a brother. Aware of the other sets of unfamiliar eyes on me, I diverted my gaze and headed toward the spiral staircase. I was pressed for study time and I didn’t want to entertain small talk at all.

  “Hey, hey.” DJ snapped his fingers. “That’s my sister. She’s off fucking limits. You get my drift?”

  “Yeah, man,” one of the guys said.

  DJ, my brother and only known living relative, took joy in scaring the heck out of any man who crossed him or me.

  When I was just six years old, our parents were shot dead right in front of us and left to die in cold blood. Even with our moves from foster home to foster home, DJ promised that he would always look after me like any father would. We were in this together and we’d made it this far.

  CHAPTER TWO

  My hair maintenance routine was absolutely taking up too much time in the morning. Maybe it was time for yet another big chop or maybe a pixie cut. When it came to meeting with potential clients, I generally dressed a little sharper. My morning routine was taking a bit longer than usual.

  DJ was probably still in bed. He was a businessman of the night. He slept up until noon most days and worked all through the days, and sometimes all through the night. He had a million dollar net worth and started from nothing. I wasn’t exactly sure what he did to get here, and he wasn’t all that open about his career path either. He was on the payroll at Jax Research, a pharmaceutical company. On the payroll, but not exactly an employee. He started out with the company when he was only 18 years old as a maintenance man. While there, he decided to pursue a degree—a career in medicine. After he graduated with a B.A. in Biology they offered him a position as an independent pharmaceutical sales representative. That was seven years ago.

  When they offered employees a chance to buy stock in the company to raise money, he used his savings to buy ownership while still working there, right when the company started out and just before it went public. He earned a good living from dividends provided to its stakeholders. He had made a smart move when he invested because now Jax Research was a top Fortune 100 company and reaching number one status as the most successful pharmaceutical research company in the world. And to this day my brother owned a part of it. He stayed there at the company even after he was accepted into medical school. Instead of entering Med school, he took a posit
ion as one of the lead scientists. They thought he was just being a loyal employee when he stayed on, but DJ had other ambitions on his mind.

  With returns, he continued to invest in some start-up companies that showed promise. Some went belly up, but the majority of them are now multi-million dollar corporations to this day. When he discovered that dividends provided more than enough for him, he resigned while still keeping a majority stake in the company. Even then, his employment at Jax Research was a cover-up for his real career path of choice.

  While employed at Jax, my brother discovered that he could remain a millionaire by investing in other operations. Underground illegal operations of which I still had no knowledge. For the most part, his investments were enough for him to sustain his current lifestyle. The good thing about it was that his savvy investing skills continually boosted his net worth by the day.

  That was my brother in a nutshell. The man that could have done anything with his life… with his brains… with his ambitions… but yet he chose a riskier path.

  I spread some cream cheese between two bagel halves and stuffed it in a sandwich bag and headed out the door. Breakfast on the run.

  At the office, I only had time for one cup of coffee, before a scheduled telephone conference with a client. After that I had some time to go through my mail before I realized that it was time for the meeting with the owner of Mavericks Marketing.

  Edward and Priscilla were already seated in the conference room. Priscilla was pointing to some information on a report. There were two junior auditors seated across from them with their laptops opened on the table.

  “Good morning,” I announced myself and took a seat where someone had placed a report with my name on it.

  “Good morning.” Edward smiled. He stood up, walked over to the refreshments station, placed a coaster on the table it in front of me and handed me the bottle of water.