Flame For Two Read online

  Flame For Two

  Raleigh Damson

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, companies, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  Copyright © 2022 by Raleigh Damson

  All rights reserved. This copy is intended for the original purchaser of this eBook only.

  No part of this eBook may be reproduced, scanned or distributed in any manner whatsoever without the prior written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  Warning: This book contains sexually explicit scenes and adult language and may be considered offensive to some readers.

  This book is for sale to adults only, as defined by the laws of the country in which you made your purchase.

  The author is not responsible for any loss, harm, injury, or death resulting from use of the information contained in this book.

  PRINT ISBN 978-1-7780254-3-3

  EBOOK ISBN 978-1-7780254-2-6

  Raleigh Damson Books

  [email protected]

  Contents

  Dedication

  1. CHAPTER ONE - HARPER

  2. CHAPTER TWO - LOGAN

  3. CHAPTER THREE - XANDER

  4. CHAPTER FOUR - HARPER

  5. CHAPTER FIVE - LOGAN

  6. CHAPTER SIX - HARPER

  7. CHAPTER SEVEN - XANDER

  8. CHAPTER EIGHT - LOGAN

  9. CHAPTER NINE - HARPER

  10. CHAPTER TEN - XANDER

  11. CHAPTER ELEVEN - HARPER

  12. CHAPTER TWELVE - HARPER

  13. CHAPTER THIRTEEN - LOGAN

  14. CHAPTER FOURTEEN - HARPER

  15. CHAPTER FIFTEEN - LOGAN

  16. CHAPTER SIXTEEN - XANDER

  17. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN - HARPER

  18. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN - HARPER

  19. CHAPTER NINETEEN - XANDER

  20. CHAPTER TWENTY - LOGAN

  21. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE - XANDER

  22. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO - HARPER

  23. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE - LOGAN

  24. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR - HARPER

  25. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE - XANDER

  26. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX - HARPER

  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN - LOGAN

  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT – XANDER

  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE - XANDER

  30. CHAPTER THIRTY-LOGAN

  31. CHAPTER-THIRTY ONE -- HARPER

  32. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO - XANDER

  33. CHAPTER THRITY-THREE - HARPER

  34. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR - XANDER

  35. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE - HARPER

  36. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  To those who love without condition.

  CHAPTER ONE - HARPER

  Harper’s heart pounded so hard against her chest that she heard the roar of it in her ears, even above the chatter of a hundred other dancers. She took a deep breath, trying to clear her mind, but only inhaled the heavy scents of baby powder and hairspray. She couldn’t believe she was going through with it.

  She had stood in line for four hours to get in, all the while telling herself that this was a terrible idea. And on the walk over to the theatre this morning, while feeling eyes on the back of her neck, convinced someone was following her, she nearly ran for the safety of her office. She stood here, despite this being a terrible idea. Dancing had been absent from her life long enough. Oh, she had her adult ballet classes, and she kept in shape with her CrossFit training sessions but it wasn’t the same as being on stage. The anticipation made her palms sweat.

  Her feet were on the stage floor, and she stood straight and tall as the director marched on stage and welcomed them to the audition for Canada’s Best Dancer. He split them up into groups. She ended up being in group “C,” and then the choreographer came on the stage and showed them the first routine.

  Committing the routine to memory was the simple part. Getting her body to execute the steps with some artistry was the challenge because it wasn’t in a studio where she spent her days but in an office, following her boss from department to department, making sure everyone had what they needed, from the Tech Team needing special wristbands to Team Stealth having the newest non-military Kevlar coated tactical pants that they could get their hands on, the cost not being an issue. She was good at her job, but it wasn’t where she’d thought she would end up.

  She had thought she would be like these other dancers here, maybe with an international company, maybe even as a principal dancer or touring in a stage production as part of the chorus. Dancing on stage was all she dreamed about, following in her mother’s footsteps. After they tried out the routine, they cleared the stage for the first dancers to take their turn.

  Pushing down the rise of emotion, Harper waited in the wings with the rest of her group. Her work was interesting and challenging and made her happy mostly, but it wasn’t what she was born to do. Life had come in like a wicked tsunami, wrecking everything she held dear.

  But she was here now, and she threw her shoulders back, kept her head up, and glided onto the stage with her group. There were a thousand reasons she shouldn’t be here, like the TV cameras that panned the room for their promo shots. But when the music started, Harper didn’t care. Losing herself in the steps of the contemporary routine, her body, even out of practice, knew what to do.

  Before the tsunami of destruction, dancing had made her feel free, a moving part in something boundless, and for the sixty seconds of this first routine, that feeling infused her limbs again.

  The music stopped, and the director walked down the rows. “Cut,” he said to the girl next to Harper, then “Cut” to the girl on the other side of her. As he passed, Harper exhaled. She was still in this.

  “Wave at the camera for me,” the producer said, as Harper took her place in the wings again.

  Ignoring the churning in her stomach, Harper flashed a grin.

  “How does it feel to get through that first routine?” the woman asked.

  “It feels amazing! I’m so thrilled.” Harper offered the woman a smile, twirling on the spot.

  “Thanks,” the producer said and moved on to another of her row mates.

  Three hours later, she was packing up her dance bag in disbelief about making it through to the solo round.

  Other than feeling slightly guilty about lying to the producers by ensuring them she would be available for interviews, she felt great. For the first time in seven years, she had accomplished something all on her own.

  Coming out of the changing room, Harper smoothed down her sunflower-covered pencil skirt and tucked in her black high collar blouse. Refreshing her lipstick, she pulled her long mahogany hair into a ponytail and exited the theatre into the grey drizzling November afternoon, turning on her phone as she walked.

  Immediately, her phone started buzzing. She was never offline, certainly not for most of the day, and she knew her assistant Claudia could only cover for her for so long without questions. Harper started walking down the main street. Work was only a few blocks away, and it was easier to walk there than hail a cab.

  Her skin started tingling. She checked the windows of the buildings she passed by, using them as a mirror to glance about her, reassuring herself that nobody was following her. It was all in her head. Years of looking over her shoulder made her paranoid.

  Crossing the street, Harper looked over her shoulder, but it was only other people in the crowd going on with their day.

  Reaching the street where Axis Management stood proudly, like a contemporary modern art piece, all in black glass and sleek materials, Harper slowed down.

  “Harper! Harper!”
br />   Harper turned at the familiar voice. “Josie, hi.”

  “You walk so fast! Where were you coming from?” Josie stopped, leaning on her crutch.

  “I had an appointment,” Harper said. “What brings you by?”

  “I was hoping to catch Ares, but there is no way into the building. I tried calling him but couldn’t get through.”

  “They prefer it that way,” Harper said with a smile. “Ares should be on a plane flying home. Do you want to come up with me?”

  “No, if he’s not in, there’s no point. It’s just…” Josie looked away, running her hands through her short black hair. “One business he sent my way cancelled their contract with us, and I wanted to know if he knew why.”

  “Sorry to hear that,” Harper said. Josie was sweet as the pies her catering company made, and Harper knew it was uncomfortable for her to ask for help.

  “Just so I can improve, if something was wrong, I don’t want him to fix this or anything,” Josie said. “I can get my own business.”

  “Your food speaks for itself,” Harper said.

  “Thanks,” Josie said, glancing down. “I’ll get in touch with Ares later in the week. You should come over for dinner. My mom would love to see you.”

  “I will, definitely,” Harper said. Josie and her mother, Fleur, were two of only a small circle of people who knew about her personal tsunami.

  “Take care,” Josie called.

  Continuing to the door of the shiny metallic glass building, Harper stopped by the seamless entrance and punched in the code to activate the retina scanner. When the lock flashed green and the doors opened, she walked into the smooth terrazzo main floor of Axis Management, the security firm that did everything from bodyguarding to government contracts and more. The main floor was empty, the curved front desk clear. She passed the conference room before stepping into the elevator and riding up to the executive floor.

  “Hello,” she said to their receptionist, Viv.

  Viv raised her eyebrows at her and pointed down the hall.

  Yeah, they’d be looking for her. Harper glanced at her watch.

  “Harper!”

  Halfway to the office, Claudia flew towards her. “You need to check your messages. Ares’s plane is delayed, and there’s that fundraiser tonight. My sister thinks the baby is

  coming tonight but I can stay if you want.”

  “Go! Keep me updated!” “Thanks!” Claudia grinned.

  Harper sighed. She did not need this after the rehearsal; she wanted to go home, curl up with a book and tune out the world.

  Entering the executive wing, she smiled. Her desk sat outside the door to her boss’s office. His door was closed. Putting her bag away, she sighed. He was going to need a suit.

  She waved bye to Viv, who was shutting down her system, walked down the hall, hitting the elevator’s up button while rearranging the schedule for tomorrow in her head. When the elevator opened, she strode to apartment number one, the biometric lock opening to her touch. This was a ridiculous hassle.

  “Totally unnecessary,” Harper grumbled under her breath. From the closet, she took out a suit and folded it over her arm. She made a couple of quick phone calls and returned to the executive wing again. Passing her desk and the door to his office, she paused at the door.

  But interrupting came with the territory of being the executive assistant to Xander Montague, billionaire and genius extraordinaire. She knocked once. Her phone buzzed in her pocket. If he didn’t get a move on, they would be late, he hated being late almost as much as he hated wearing a suit, so she did the whole swipe her hand over the lock thing again.

  When the door whisked open, she wished she hadn’t interrupted.

  “Hey,” she said, leaning against the door like it was no big deal she had walked in on her boss getting a blow job at five-thirty in the afternoon.

  There he sat on the black leather couch in the lounge area with his head resting back, his curtain of dark hair flowing along his arm, his hand guiding the woman’s head, while Harper acted like she was just passing through to drop off a file or wake him from a nap. Like it didn’t make her heart twist in a twinge of jealousy because she wished it was her between his strong, muscular legs.

  Xander’s eyes flew open, and the brunette woman between his legs startled. Xander swore, and his hands came around the back of the woman’s neck, pulling her off.

  “Sorry, Cindy, I’ll make it up to you.”

  “You could tell her to go.” Cindy pouted.

  “I have business,” Xander said, his voice firm. He had already thrown on his boxers and guided Cindy up from the floor and smoothed down her dress.

  “Bitch,” Cindy murmured to Harper as she walked past her.

  Harper flashed her a smile as wide as her lips could stretch. It didn’t matter how many women came, they went, and she stayed.

  “Cindy.” That tone made Harper feel small. He never used that deep baritone voice on her, like that, though she wished he did. His tone of dominance sent a thrill down her spine.

  He grabbed Cindy’s arm and raised an eyebrow at her.

  “Sorry,” Cindy mumbled, looking at the ground.

  “I’ll call you,” Xander said.

  As Cindy exited the office, the doors swished closed, and Harper adjusted the suit bag in her hands.

  “No! Not the suit!” Xander said, with a hand across his face, as if he was a vampire, and the suit bag Harper had draped over her arm was the blazing sun.

  Harper sighed. He refused to keep suits in his office, so she had to keep them stashed in a closet up in the apartments Axis Management had above their offices and they went through this routine whenever she had to get him one. “You know I wouldn’t bring it if it wasn’t for a good reason.”

  “Nope, didn’t see it. I’m sure I have a meeting somewhere.”

  Harper shook her head and watched as Xander tapped his keyboard and frowned.

  “You locked me out of the system!”

  “You gave me executive privileges for this reason. Go shower, the car will be here in half an hour.”

  “I’m expecting Erik, and there is that meeting with the Martin Group, and I have to go paint a wall or fix a fence.”

  “No way out of this one. I told Erik you weren’t available tonight. He’s going to see you at one tomorrow. Ares is Zooming with the Martin Group from the hotel.” She put the suit in Xander’s hands. “And Mr. Montague, you have never fixed a fence or painted a wall.”

  “Are you so sure?” his voice purred.

  Harper smiled. This was the side of her otherwise serious and dour boss that few people got to see.

  “Positive.”

  He had created a popular scheduling app that had made him his first million, and he designed a sleeker better satellite phone for military operations that made him another million and other things, but Xander didn’t own a hammer.

  “Is there no way he can get here?” Xander pulled back his hair into an elastic band. In another second, his rock band T-shirt hit the floor, revealing his tight abs and broad shoulders.

  “Ares doesn’t like you doing these things, either,” Harper said. She turned away as Xander’s hands went to his waistband and walked down the corridor with the muted, dove grey walls to her inner space.

  When they had been going over plans for this building, Xander had insisted she had a space of her own, and Harper disagreed. She followed Xander wherever he went during the day and when he was in his office on this floor, she was at her desk, just outside. A wholly separate space for her wasn’t necessary, but after having this retreat for a few months, she loved it.

  She’d had this office done in what she thought of as an “ocean light” theme. The walls were light blue, the curtains in soft pink and framed photos of beaches were scattered around the room. A standing desk and a comfy chaise that doubled as her bed when she worked through the night were the only pieces of furniture in the room. From the closet next to her bathroom, she pulled out a re
d sparkly gown and kicked off her flats, replacing them with heels. She hung the dress on the bathroom door and started her make-up.

  “Are you sure he can’t get here? We can’t send the plane?” Xander appeared in her bathroom doorway with a towel wrapped around his waist.

  Harper met Xander’s steel eyes in the mirror. The press called him the “Prince of Darkness of the Business World,” and with his pale skin, powerful features, and that long black hair, it was a title he nurtured.

  “It’s a security threat, so the whole airport is closed. He had to do some sweet talking to leave the airport and go to the hotel. He’ll be on the first flight out as soon as they have cleared the threat.”

  While Xander was the Prince of Darkness of the Business world, Ares, his brother and co-CEO, was known as the Archangel, having a reputation for never saying no to a request for a donation or a photo op, never refusing an invitation to a charity function.

  “Not this one,” Xander said, taking the gown from her and walking out of the room with it in his arms.

  As she finished making up her eyes, Harper smiled, being used to Xander’s whims. He had a reason for everything he did.

  “Wear this, tonight.” Xander held up a light purple A-line gown. As he dangled it in his hand, Harper saw it was asymmetrical. The front of the skirt would be slightly shorter than the back.

  “It’s lovely,” she said.

  Opening a drawer, she selected a pair of earrings and went to put her hair up.

  “I saw it and thought of you,” Xander said.

  As their eyes met in the mirror, Harper’s pulse raced. He was always surprising her.

  “Are you sure there is no way out of this? They don’t even feed you at these things.”

  “Axis Management gave ten thousand dollars to the Firefighters’ Foundation. This dinner is to thank their top donors.”

  “And ask for more money,” Xander grumbled.

  “Naturally. We’ll get through it, then you can play Zombies till dawn.”

  “Outriders,” Xander mumbled.

  “Go get dressed,” Harper said, closing the door on him.