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  Rule’s Addiction

  The House of Rule

  Book Three

  Garrett and Maria’s story

  Copyright 2014 Lynda Chance

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  Maria Alvarez is her own woman and always has been. She’s more than capable of taking care of herself, so when Garrett Rule storms into her life with inflexible demands and an agenda of his own, she has no choice but to fight back.

  Garrett Rule has no room in his life for conniving, bitchy women. When he finds himself inconveniently obsessed with Maria Alvarez, the most conspiring woman of them all, he doesn’t know which is stronger, his need to punish her or the need he feels to have her under his complete sexual control. Luckily for him, he doesn’t plan on choosing; he’ll take both.

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  Rule’s Addiction

  Copyright 2014 Lynda Chance

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  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author or publisher except for the use of brief quotations in critical articles or reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, businesses, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, actual events or locales is purely coincidental.

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  To Susan, my girlfriend of forty-seven crazy years, a woman who probably knows more than she cares to about the hotel industry. Thanks for not rolling your eyes every time I’ve stopped you in mid-sentence to start taking notes whenever you begin talking shop … thanks even more for always being there when I’ve needed you. Here’s to another forty-seven years of friendship. :)

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  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Epilogue

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  Prologue

  As Garrett Rule lay in bed in yet another obscure hotel room on the other side of the world, he didn’t bother fighting the recurring fantasy he’d been having for weeks.

  Just the memory of her voice was controlling his actions; she had him that fucking addicted.

  Sliding his fingers down the planes of his stomach, he fisted his throbbing cock, and closed his eyes in both relief and irritation.

  Goddamn her …he was well and truly obsessed and he’d never even seen her.

  His mouth flattening into lines of aggravation, his eyes opened as he blew out a breath, staring at the ceiling, his cock throbbing in his hand, demanding relief. He tried to put off the inevitable for a few more seconds, but his goddamn dick was in full control; the testosterone fueling his bloodstream was going to win the struggle for control. Giving up, he pumped his hand once, twice, letting the memory of her throaty, husky cadence slide through his brain. He fully understood the situation even though he cared little for it; she was a goddamned preoccupation that he couldn’t control.

  As he continued to jack-off to a hazy, frustratingly faceless vision in his mind, he knew he had to find a way to exorcise the sorcery of her allure. His teeth gritted as his cock engorged by another degree, as if it had a mind of its own, as if pissed that his big head would try to keep him from having her.

  He hated what she was doing to him. She was tearing him in two … fucking with his ability to keep his mind on his job. Almost worse than that, the memory of her feminine, sultry voice was obliterating his desire to screw another woman. His desire? Hell, he didn’t even think about other women … probably couldn’t get it up for one if he tried.

  All he wanted was her … Maria Alvarez. The name sent a wave of heat down his spine and a drop of pre-cum formed on the head of his erection. Son-of-a-bitch. He knew what he wanted … he wanted to hear her speak in person; he wanted to ram his cock down the feminine throat the sultry voice belonged to. The erotic thought had his hand moving faster, his eyes shutting out everything but the memory of her voice as he pumped up and down, over and over, faster and faster. He imagined her taking him into her mouth, taking him so far to the back of her throat that she almost gagged with it.

  The vision in his head told him her hair would be as dark as his, so in his mind’s eye, his fingers tangled in tresses of gleaming silk. Holding her tightly by her dark brown hair, with one hand wrapped around her throat, he controlled her with his hands and fucked her mouth repeatedly. In and out, deeper and deeper. A groan ripped from his throat. Ahhhhh…His abs tightened, his hand jerked as he exploded in orgasm, his seed erupting and shooting onto the corded muscles of his stomach.

  Jesus. His heartbeat remained elevated for several long moments, until finally, it slowed, and his breathing steadied.

  He reached over and grabbed a couple of tissues from the bedside table. The fact that she was an obsession, an addiction, was an admission that he’d needed to make for weeks now. But even though he’d acknowledged his weakness, it didn’t help the situation … maybe when he finally saw her tomorrow, this ridiculous fascination he had for her would disappear. He knew it had to; no woman could live up to the fantasy he’d created in his imagination.

  Yeah, his trip to Florida should do the trick.

  He had to admit, he’d been relieved when Courtney, honorary family member and the Rule Corporation’s newest employee, had called and complained about the girl. Courtney had been so angry that she’d wanted to fire Maria on the spot, but Garrett hadn’t cared for the idea, not a damn bit. Fire Maria? Send her off into the world where he’d probably never be able to locate her if he tried? Never get to see the little witch who was making him so hard that he continued to explode with it time and time again? No fucking way. His cock had immediately rebelled at the idea, swelling and jumping against his stomach, letting him know in no uncertain terms that nobody was firing that girl until he’d had the pleasure of fucking her first.

  That was, if he still wanted to fuck her after he’d actually seen her … his fantasies might dissolve in an instant, and truthfully, he hoped that they would.

  Courtney had been resolute, complaining about the other girl’s manipulations, assuring him that Maria wasn’t a team player and that she was doing everything in her power to drag out the remodel of the hotel the corporation had recently purchased. Garrett had believed Courtney at once; she was like a sister to him—hell, his mother had brought the girl home to live with them when she’d been orphaned as a teenager—and she’d been so upset that Garrett had known she wasn’t exaggerating.

  Rage at the faceless young woman mixed with the lust he felt, dangerously fueling his blood. Nobody fucked with his family; nobody fucked with the business he and his brothers had slaved over and built into the empire it now was. And here was the kicker, not only did he feel rage, he felt as if he’d been betrayed. Why? Because he’d had the pleasure of speaking to Maria on the phone several times before his intentions of buying the property had become common knowledge.

  The first couple of times she’d been courteous and professional before transferring his call through. But with every call, her voice had gotten warmer and sweeter, until finally, she’d become so friendly that he’d thought they had a rapport. So yeah, her actions now felt like a betrayal, truly pissing him off. This was what he got from the girl who used to be
so friendly that it was almost as if they were flirting?

  Resolutely, he pushed the memory of the tone she’d used to tease him with out of his mind; it only pissed him off further. This goddamn fascination he had with her should have already dissolved; he should have known what she looked like by now. She should have been at the hotel the day he’d flown into Florida to inspect the property before buying it. But she hadn’t been at work that particular day, and his disappointment had manifested itself into a deeper infatuation, the spell she’d cast over him via the telephone staying firmly in place.

  The hotel had been in chaos when he’d arrived. The owner had dropped dead of a heart attack a couple of months before, and the running of it had been left to his widow, a woman who apparently, wanted nothing to do with work of any kind. She had immediately hired a general manager for the short-term, and then had listed the hotel for sale.

  The day Garrett had visited, the general manager had called in sick, and Maria was a no-show as well. He’d asked the widow about her whereabouts; he hadn’t been able to stop himself. He’d been told that she’d taken a personal day, but the woman hadn’t elaborated. He hadn’t been able to let it go at that; he’d done some digging while subtly interrogating some of the other employees and found out that it was one of many personal days that she’d earned over the years but hadn’t seen fit to take before.

  It had made Garrett wonder about her reason for not being there on the day he’d been scheduled to inspect the property. As he’d been given a tour of the facility and came to the desk that she used, the utilitarian look of it made him wonder about her even more.

  Either a man or a woman could have used the space; there wasn’t a single picture or knick-knack to give a clue about the personality of the employee who usually sat there. But there had been a scent. A sumptuous, layered, ultra-feminine scent that conjured visions of naked limbs and smooth skin that had made him even more hotly curious.

  He’d wanted to stay in Miami for another day, strictly to meet her, but he’d already made his decision to purchase the hotel, and had put the pieces in place for the deal to move forward. Hanging around for another day on a whim wasn’t an option. He’d had shit to take care of; lingering for the sole purpose of glimpsing a girl who’d flirted over the phone wasn’t conducive to business.

  So he’d left, proving to himself that his pecker couldn’t rule him, and the sale had gone through.

  The next time he’d spoken to her, her voice had changed. The husky, flirtatious tone was conspicuously absent. In its place was a no-nonsense, professional voice that sounded as if she had no time or desire to speak to him, simply transferring his call without any unnecessary fanfare.

  So it had been obvious to him—the sale had pissed her off. Or the Rule Corporation had pissed her off, or maybe Courtney had pissed her off. Something had pissed her off.

  And he shouldn’t give a shit why the change in her had occurred. She was just another faceless woman at another piece of commercial real estate that he had dealings with.

  But in the back of his mind, he had a tantalizing thought; he now owned the hotel where she worked. Tomorrow morning he was going to get on a plane, and soon he’d be in Florida to take care of things, just as he’d promised he would, so Courtney could get back to the Rule Corporation headquarters in St. Louis … but not before warning her to keep quiet about his impending arrival. There was no reason to give the conniving little Judas named Maria any advantage.

  Putting his hands behind his head, he settled down in the bed to try to grab some sleep. Unable to let it go, he stared at the ceiling and imagined the two possible outcomes when the moment of reckoning finally came. He was either going to see her and get immediate relief from his ridiculous fantasies, or … or, he was going to see her and then have to fuck her to make them go away.

  So much angst because of one damn female. The fact that she was an employee would definitely keep her in his vicinity for a while, which suited him, but it also made him grimace. He admitted, fucking her would be so much easier if she didn’t work for the corporation, but hell, he was probably going to fire her on the spot anyway.

  Why the hell couldn’t that sultry voice have belonged to his doctor’s receptionist or some such shit?

  He pushed the problem from his brain, knowing he’d handle it somehow.

  And the fact that she was undoubtedly as pissed off as he was?

  He’d deal with that setback when the time came as well.

  Chapter One

  Garrett strolled into the hotel after eleven o’clock the next night. As he walked through the vestibule, he glanced around and quickly took in the updates to the décor that had been implemented since the last time he’d been there. Most were easy to spot: new flooring, fresh paint, updated furniture.

  Dropping his single bag at his side in front of the reception desk, he glanced at the time. Eleven-fifteen. Neither the general manager who was temporarily in charge, nor the girl he had intentions of ambushing would still be around. Only the night staff were in attendance, and he was impatient with the delay. By all rights, he should have had jet lag, but he didn’t. He’d had a private room on one of the new Emirates airplanes, and he’d slept like a baby and was even now, raring for his first sight of the girl.

  As he checked in, he looked around. The bar was closed, as was the on-site restaurant. A janitor pushed a trolley unobtrusively down the hallway next to the elevators. Flattening his lips, he knew he had to find a way to expend his pent-up energy. If he didn’t, he’d be awake all night and he’d be fucked the next day.

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  Maria completed swimming her ninth lap, did a somersault underwater and pushed off the edge, putting everything she had into the final round. Her thighs were burning, her biceps were screaming, but unfortunately, her frustration level was still off the charts.

  She hadn’t even finished yet, and already she knew the intense exercise wasn’t going to help. Not one iota, not a damn bit.

  She was too pissed to calm down. There was one concept that sent her admittedly volatile temper into the stratosphere, one thing she hated most in the world, and that thing was nepotism.

  She hated nepotism … fucking hated the word and the meaning behind it. Nepotism sucked. Nepotism could eat shit and die. And the Rule Corporation could eat shit and die with it.

  Garrett Rule could eat shit and die, the son-of-a-bitch.

  With that thought, refusing to show weakness by using the steps to climb from the pool, she pushed up out of the water at the edge, forcing the last bit of strength from her spent muscles as she stood to her feet in a puddle of water.

  Pulling her hair from the band that held it, she squeezed the long ponytail with her fingers, trying to get at least some of the water out, knowing it would only soak the towel she was about to pick up.

  A small noise caught her attention in the otherwise quiet poolroom and she snapped her head around, seeing a man leaning negligently against the back of a wrought-iron chair. He stood silently, his arms crossed over his chest, one foot over the other at the ankle, while he conspicuously stared at her.

  She should have felt any number of emotions, fear probably being the most appropriate. But as she watched him watching her, in an area of the hotel that was off-limits to guests at this time of the night, she felt only one thing, because she knew. She immediately knew who he was, and the feeling that was bubbling up and taking over her senses wasn’t fear, it was anger. He’d undoubtedly been given the type of key-card that only designated staff were allowed … the kind that opened all doors at all times. And the only thing she was feeling now was pure, unmitigated, unadulterated anger at his presence.

  As she watched him studying her with narrowed eyes, she took in his appearance with a single, all-encompassing glance. Motherfucker was gorgeous, damn him. Well over six feet of powerful male, with dark hair and dark eyes, stood silently watching her as if he had every damn right.

  His eyes continued to run up and down he
r body as if he owned her as well as the grounds and the building they were standing in, and her muscles stiffened in involuntary response. Setting her mouth in firm lines, she grabbed the towel and pulled it around her torso, leaving her dark, wet hair to hang down her back in wild disarray. Fuck it. Who cared? She was as good as fired, and damned if she cared.

  He continued to stand silently and raised a single eyebrow, so she lifted her chin a notch and retaliated to the silence that was obviously meant to intimidate her. “Your little girlfriend couldn’t fire me all by herself? She needed to bring in reinforcements?” At her questions, his jaw set and a subtle tension seemed to invade his body, but she didn’t care. She was fearless, both because she was pissed and because she’d had her exit strategy planned for a while now. “No answer to that, Mr. Rule?” She forced a smile to her lips that he’d have no problem as identifying as fake.

  When he pushed away from the chair and took two steps closer, she suddenly realized that his indolent grace was hiding a fury that he couldn’t altogether disguise. Fisting her fingers around the towel, she braced herself.

  She immediately recognized his voice when he finally spoke and it indisputably confirmed his identity. “Is that why you got so pissed off all of a sudden? Refused to play nice with me on the phone? Something lead you to believe that Courtney’s my girlfriend?”

  At his implication, a quiver of something ran down Maria’s spine that she immediately tamped down. Whether the other woman was his girlfriend or not was moot at this point. Yeah, keep telling yourself that, Maria. “I’m pissed about a lot of things,” she tossed back truthfully, attempting to ignore his anger and focus on her own.

  “Yeah?” He took another imposing step closer. “What would those things be?”

  Maria held her ground, refusing to step back. “Why would you care? You’re only here to get rid of me. I’m not stupid, I know what this sudden trip of yours is all about.” She tried to slow her heart rate by breathing deeply, but that idea was shot to shit when his eyes dropped to her breasts. And son-of-a-bitch, he had beautiful eyes.