Claimed by a Stranger (Craved Series #2) Read online

  And the fucked up thing was that he wasn’t my Dad anymore. I’d worked with enough addicts to know this person in front of me had nothing to do with my Dad. He was a monster, a mutation of the man my Father used to be.

  He always had his troubles, of course, but he’d reached a new low. And every time I bailed him out I couldn’t help but feel that he was dragging me down with him, that I wasn’t doing either of us any favors.

  After all, Dads are supposed to protect their children from the kind of things, people, and places that he’d gotten involved in, not introduce them to new levels of seediness.

  But he wouldn’t leave. I’d tried to discuss it with him, to suggest he might be happier somewhere else, but he wouldn’t listen. Frankly, I was beginning to think he had a death wish, and I didn’t know what to do about it besides enable him.

  But it was one thing when I was woken up in my apartment in the middle of the night or when I had to sneak out of Jin’s bar to help him out. At least then I could return to bed or go back to the party, arriving with a snack so no one would suspect anything.

  However, interrupting my date with Audrey was a step too far. And he wasn’t even coherent enough to care about how badly he’d fucked up my night.

  I let my head fall back against the chair and looked through the cracked blinds at the dark beach in the distance. I should’ve been with her. I should’ve been watching the way my sheets draped over her body as she slept peacefully in my bed after a night of filthy fun.

  I should’ve been watching how her face looked in the moonlight as my pillows absorbed her scent. After all, I wanted to experience her with all of my senses. I wanted to know what turned her on, what made her laugh, and whether or not she swallowed.

  And even if I hadn’t met an amazing woman tonight, I still should’ve been living my life, doing what I wanted to do. I was a fucking millionaire for god sakes, and I’d worked hard for everything I had. I shouldn’t have been limited by anything besides my imagination.

  So why was I here with a sloppy old man who didn’t give a shit about me anymore?

  I sighed.

  I knew why. It was cause I loved him, even though it had been ages since he’d done anything to earn my affection or my loyalty. Still, taking care of him was keeping me from taking care of myself.

  Heck, maybe I could love Audrey, too?! It was too soon to tell, of course, but it was just an example, an example of the way his shenanigans were interfering with my ability to get close to anybody.

  Realistically, though, there was no question that I liked her. A lot. More than I wanted to considering the fact that she’d be gone in a few days. But I couldn’t help it.

  There was something about her, a spark of something that intrigued me. Whatever it was, it made it impossible for me to look away when she was talking.

  And any man would be attracted to her. She was so curvaceous, so feminine, and so unapologetically sexy. And the moments she chose to be shy were so unexpected I was fiending for her like an addict myself.

  I could’ve been inside her by now. I could’ve been filling her mind and body with sensations she’d never forget, making her lose control until she had no choice but to give herself to me.

  She was the one I wanted to be loving- or at least fucking- right now.

  Instead, I was the one getting fucked, and I had a peculiar feeling that it was all my fault.

  I needed to stop giving him the benefit of the doubt. Every time this happened, I convinced myself like some kind of idiot that it was going to be a wakeup call for him, that he was going to have a hangover so severe that he would seek help instead of reaching for another drink.

  It was like some sick twisted dream I nurtured even though I had no reason to believe it would ever come true.

  The fact of the matter was that he wasn’t going to change on his own. At some point, I was going to have to accept that tough love wasn’t going to save him and do what I could to save myself.

  But is that what people did when their family members were in this state?

  Did they just get tired of being mistreated and taken for granted and wash their hands of the problem? Seriously, if what he really wanted was to drink himself senseless and get the shit beat out of him every night, was I just supposed to step aside and let that happen?

  It wasn’t in my nature to stand by while people harmed themselves, but I had to stop babysitting him like this because it was sucking the joy out of my life.

  Plus, I deserved better, even if my Dad was too far gone to see that. After all, it wasn’t even quality time we were spending. This thing we’d been reduced to couldn’t even be called a relationship.

  It was just bullshit.

  And I was starting to wonder how many more chances I could give him to change before I began to loathe him beyond repair.

  I stood up, refilled my glass, and set it down next to him. The more water he drank the better, and I knew he wouldn’t be getting up anytime soon.

  Then I laid a wet washcloth on his forehead and left without saying goodbye.

  Chapter 4: Audrey

  I woke up to the sound of the key in the door and cracked my eyes open in time to see Megan sneaking in like a teenager breaking curfew.

  “It’s okay,” I groaned. “I’m awake.”

  “So you are,” Megan said, crawling onto her bed in her full clothes and makeup from the night before with a smug look on her face. “Well?”

  “Well what?” I asked, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

  “How was your evening with Dr. Jack?” She bent an elbow and propped her head up on her hand. “Did he take your pulse? Give you an internal exam?”

  I laughed. “No, none of the above unfortunately.”

  “Boooo,” she said, sticking out her bottom lip. “Did you have a good time at least?”

  “Yeah.” I rolled onto my side and stretched my legs out in time with a yawn. “I had a great time.”

  “That’s good.”

  “So tell me all about your night with Matteo,” I said. “And why you’re just coming home now.”

  She sighed.

  “You’re obviously bursting to tell me about it.”

  “Is it that obvious?”

  I rolled my eyes. “It’s not subtle.”

  “Okay.” She cleared her throat. “First we went to dinner.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Then he took me to a nightclub in the next town.”

  “Which one?”

  “I haven’t the slightest.”

  “In a tuk-tuk?” I asked.

  “On his motorcycle.”

  “Cool.”

  “Then we went back to his apartment. Or I guess it was his company’s apartment-”

  “What’s he do?”

  “Property development?” She furrowed her brow. “He told me. I just can’t remember.”

  “Go one.”

  “Anyway, it was one of those long stay places, and I get the sense that he spends a lot of time here.”

  “Was it nice?”

  “Really nice.”

  “And then?”

  “And then I gave him lots of reasons to speak dirty Italian to me all night.”

  I smiled. “Glad to hear it.”

  Sunshine soaked through the light pink curtains behind me, casting a soft rosy glow on our white beds. I didn’t roll over to look at the clock, but I knew it was early cause I could hear the caged birds in the lobby singing amongst themselves.

  “So,” she asked. “What did you get up to with Jack?”

  “Well, first we went for an amazing seafood dinner, like so amazing I can’t stop thinking about it.”

  “Yeah.”

  “And then we sat on the pier talking for ages until he had to leave.”

  “What?” She lifted her head like she was sure she’d heard me wrong. “Where did he go?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know, but he had to leave in a hurry.”

  “That’s weird.”

 
“I know,” I said. “But at least I got a goodnight kiss before he left.”

  Megan smiled. “I’m glad.”

  “Me, too,” I said. “It was a good one.”

  “Sounds romantic.”

  “It was.” I fluffed my pillow under my head. “And he’s taking me to dinner and a show tonight.”

  Megan raised her eyebrows. “Is that so?”

  “Yep.”

  “A lady boy show?”

  “I doubt it,” I said, “but he wouldn’t say.”

  “If he’s too into it, run for the hills.”

  I rolled my eyes. “It’s not going to be a lady boy show.”

  “I’m not judging.”

  “There’s nothing to judge.” I rolled onto my back. “But I think I might have a teeny problem.”

  “What?” she asked, crawling towards my half empty bottle of water on the nightstand.

  I squeezed my eyes shut. “I think I like him.”

  She smiled and unscrewed the cap. “Is that such a bad thing?”

  “Kind of,” I said, staring at the ceiling.

  She drank the water in big, audible glugs. “Why?” she asked, gasping for breath.

  “Cause we’re on vacation,” I said. “So it can never work out. Why can’t I meet a nice guy in Seattle? How come when I finally meet a guy I like he happens to live on the other side of the world?”

  Megan made a buzzer sound. “I know this one. What is Life’s a Bitch?”

  I groaned. “Life is a bitch.”

  “So you might as well just try to have a good time and not ruin it by wanting what you can’t have.”

  I made a pouty face. “But that’s what I’m best at.”

  “Well, maybe if you decide to want what you can have instead of what you can’t, you’d be a happier person?”

  I rolled my head towards her. “Are you on drugs?”

  “There may still be some alcohol in my system.”

  “Some?!”

  “Look, all I’m saying is that you’re overthinking things again.”

  “I know.”

  “Just enjoy the handsome male company and no strings attached affection that’s coming your way before you start worrying about whether this guy you met less than twenty four hours ago would get along with your parents.”

  “Ugh.” I covered my face with my hands. “Now that is something I definitely don’t want to think about.”

  “No shit.” Megan sat up. “No skid marks, remember? Just fun. No feelings.”

  “Enough already,” I said. “Can’t a girl feel sorry for herself for just two seconds in this beautiful country where everything is cheap and everyone smiles all the time and the sun shines every day and the food is heavenly?!”

  Megan cocked her head at me. “My point exactly.”

  “It’s a good one.”

  “Now promise me you’re going to have a good time and not overthink things?”

  “I promise to try.”

  “I guess that will have to do,” she said. “And promise that tomorrow night, you and Jack will join me and Matteo for dinner so we can celebrate our last night together with yummy food and strong drinks and plenty of eye candy.”

  “Sure,” I said. “If he’s not busy.”

  “Fair enough.”

  “On one condition.”

  “What?”

  “Can you promise to keep your hands off Matteo long enough for me to enjoy my meal without causing me to lose my appetite?”

  Megan pursed her lips.

  “Oh my god would that seriously be so hard?”

  She shrugged. “I’ll do my best, but I can’t vouch for him. The guy’s an animal.”

  “Thanks for the warning,” I said, tucking my hands under my head.

  “Now if you’ll excuse me,” she said. “I’m going to take a shower because I’m covered in Italian slobber.”

  I shook my head. “Jesus.”

  Megan laughed. “Oh yeah. His name definitely came up a few times last night.”

  I sighed as she pulled her dress over her head and threw it across the bed before walking into the bathroom.

  I was happy for her. Really I was. She needed a messy, fun affair to take her mind off Max and remind her that the six years she spent on him hadn’t decreased her market value or her sex appeal.

  Of course, I was a little jealous, too. I wished I had a layer of filthy sex sweat to wash off my body. After all, with Emmett I’d gotten used to rushed hook-ups where my skirt would get bunched at my waist and my panties would stay around my knees.

  And while that kind of secret hooking up was probably really sexy in a normal relationship, when it became the most I could hope for, it started to feel kind of dirty in a bad way.

  On the other hand, I wanted Jack to look at my naked body the way he looked at my face after we kissed last night, like he couldn’t believe his luck, like he was desperate to know where I’d been hiding his whole life.

  And if that was too much to ask, maybe he could at least fuck my brains out…

  So I wouldn’t have to think so much anymore.

  Chapter 5: Jack

  I stretched my body out and groaned, my abs sore and tight from paddle boarding as I rolled over and opened my eyes. It was nine o’clock.

  Shit.

  I was late for class. The girls would be pissed. Actually, they probably wouldn’t even give away mild irritation. It wasn’t the Thai way, but that still didn’t make it okay.

  I sprung out of bed naked and searched the floor for a pair of shorts. When I saw a pair hanging over a chair, I slipped them on over some clean boxers. Then I slid my balcony door open and pulled a clean shirt from where it had been drying on the railing. Including the time it took me to brush my teeth, I was out the door in less than three minutes.

  Jin’s bar was just down the street so I managed to get there quickly on my bike, but I was still ten minutes late by the time I got in.

  “So sorry I’m late, ladies. Please forgive me,” I said, running my fingers through my bedhead and leaning against the edge of the pool table.

  A half a dozen women looked at me and smiled, but despite their good graces, I could tell they thought I looked a hot mess.

  “Everything okay, Jack?” Mai asked.

  I nodded. “Yes, thank you. Everything is fine,” I said, avoiding eye contact with Sammy.

  “Are you sure?” Mai asked. “You look like you were up all night.”

  I pursed my lips and exhaled through my nose.

  “Maybe Jack had a hot date,” Sammy said.

  “Ooooh,” the girls cooed in unison.

  “Is that true?” she asked. “Did you have a hot date?”

  I looked at Sammy and smiled, grateful that she’d single handedly changed the class’s tone.

  “We’re here to talk about you getting hot dates,” I said. “Not me.”

  “Was she a Thai girl, Jack?” the youngest woman asked. “Is it anyone we know?”

  “No,” I said.

  “A Thai girl wouldn’t let him leave the house with his hair like that,” another added.

  I shook my head. “There’s no girl.”

  “That’s not what Jin told me,” Mai said. “Jin said you are in love.”

  I cocked my head. “You don’t believe everything Jin says, do you?”

  Mai shrugged. “Only when he’s not talking about Jin.”

  I laughed. At least she had a good strategy.

  “Is she a farang, Jack?” Sammy asked. “Like you?”

  I sighed. It wasn’t worth lying. They were too desperate for the gossip, and I’d rather they heard it from me than Jin.

  “Yeah,” I said. “She’s a farang.”

  “Where is she from?” they wanted to know.

  “America,” I said.

  “Is it serious?” Sammy asked. “Can we meet her?”

  “Absolutely not,” I said, crossing my arms. “I just met her yesterday. We only went to dinner.”

  “Dinne
r,” one of the girls said, covering her giggling mouth. “Sounds spicy.”

  “It was,” I said, narrowing my eyes. “But only because of the chilies.”

  “Did she suck your balls?” Sammy asked.

  “No,” I said. “We only had dinner, and she was a classy lady. Plus, that kind of thing is only for when you’re in a relationship.”

  Sammy looked unconvinced.

  I admit I was, too. I would’ve happily let her suck me off every way she knew how and spent the rest of the night showing her how much I appreciated it, but it wasn’t to be.

  “What do you mean by classy lady?” Mai said.

  “I’m so glad you asked,” I said, eager to take the spotlight off me and the fact that I didn’t get any last night. “A classy lady is the kind of lady a man wants to date.”

  The girls nodded and a few of them pulled out their notebooks.

  “We all know the difference, right?” I asked. “If you’re not classy, a man might still want to sleep with you, but he will not want a relationship.”