Page 59 of Strut

I almost threw up. “Get. Off. Me. Now.” I bucked against him. “Or I’ll fucking report you to the police.”

He merely grinned and squeezed me again before finally stepping back, his breathing ragged, his trousers tented. Just the sight made me sick. “No, I don’t think you will,” he rasped.

“You fucking bastard.” I went to shove him away, but he pushed me back against the wall and held me there.

“Oh, come on, Alec.” He licked his lips. “Don’t pretend you don’t know exactly what’s going on. You’re not that naïve. You’ve got something special, there’s no denying that, but you’re out of your league here, son. You haven’t a hope in hell of landing this job against Ray, not without my help.”

“What?” I choked the word out. “Fuck you!” I wriggled free but he grabbed my wrist as I slid past and spun me around, forcing me face first against the wall with my hand held up behind my back.

“I can give you this contract, Alec. Let me do that for you.”

For me?“This has nothing to do with me,” I said coldly, my cheek smarting from where it was squashed against the wall. “This is all about you, you sick fuck.”

“Oh, but that’s where you’re wrong.” He leaned against me, his hard cock digging into my arse. “We all know how this plays out. You and I have some fun, and then you get a leg up into the big leagues, bypassing a whole lot of struggle. It’s a hell of a deal on your side. But if you walk away, you can kiss this promising career of yours goodbye. I will fucking ruin you.”

He pressed his lips to my neck while his free hand ripped my swimsuit down and circled my hips to cup my cock. “Now, doesn’t that feel good? Give me an hour and I’ll give you the career you’ve only dreamed about.”

It took me a second or two to respond, my brain reeling in shock and fear and total disbelief. “No!” I threw back my head and heard the crack as it connected with the side of his. “Now, get the fuck off me.”

“Jesus Christ!” He dropped the hold on my wrist and stumbled back, his hand pressed just above his ear. “You little shit.”

I shoved him again. “Stay the fuck away from me. I mean it.” I tugged the swimsuit up and fled for the dressing area.

Darcy followed. “Don’t be stupid, Alec. Come on. It’s not like I was really gonna force you or anything.”

Like hell.“Get out of here.” I shoved him out of the dressing area, then pulled my trousers on in record time, leaving the swimsuit in place. I dragged my shirt over my head, fumbling to find the fucking armholes, my hands shaking hard enough to rattle my bones. Then I scooped all my gear into my bag and turned to get the fuck out of there, only to find Darcy leaning against the wall watching me, an unreadable expression on his face.

“This could be a win-win for both of us, you know that, Alec.” His eyes chilled me to the core, his tone just this side of threatening. “And I would think very carefully before saying anything about this, if I were you.”

“Fuck off.” I shoved my loafers on top of my bag and pushed past him.

He lunged to stop me, but I was so done with this bullshit.

I pulled free and spun to face him. He must’ve seen something in my eyes because he stepped back and raised his hands, palms up. “It was just meant to be a bit of fun, Alec. I was offering you a shortcut, a favour. Happens all the time, right? Any other model and I’d be fighting them off.”

“Yeah, right,” I sneered. “Well, I’m not any other model. And you’re fucking dreaming if you think that,” I fumed. “Do you know we laugh at guys like you behind your back? We all think you’re pathetic.”

He flinched and I wanted to fist pump the air as I continued, “This is not fucking okay and you damn well know it, no matter what you try to tell yourself.” I spun on my heels and headed for the door.

“If you walk out of here, you can kiss goodbye to Berlini and any other campaign or shoot I work on,” Darcy called to my back. “And don’t think about bitching to anyone or you’ll be done in this industry. A few phone calls by me to the right people, and you’ll be struggling to get cast in a fucking dog food commercial.”

I passed one of his cameras on a tripod and shoved it to the floor. “Get fucked, you creep.”

He followed me up the hall and I tried not to let panic overtake me.

“Shame,” he said, clucking his tongue. “We could’ve had fun.”

What the fuck was he on? I swallowed the bile flooding my throat and kept going, desperate to get out of the place, but the main door was locked. “Open it.” I stared him down, white-knuckling my model bag to hide my shaking hands, but even I could hear the tremor in my voice.

“Of course.” Darcy sauntered to the door, his eyes on me the whole way, a smirk playing on his lips. The closer he got, the more I wanted to bolt, but I wouldn’t give him the fucking satisfaction. I held my ground, legs trembling, my bare feet clammy on the cold tiles.

Still watching me, Darcy keyed in the code. He was barely a foot away and I was sure I was going to lose my stomach. He began to slide the door open, then paused and stared at me for a second. “Good luck, Alec. You’re gonna need it.”

And then the fucker patted my cheek and turned and walked away.

I answered him loudly, “If you think I’m just gonna walk away from this, you don’t know me.” And I was out of that studio and flying down the stairs like I had a fucking army on my tail. I paused a couple of floors down to get my shoes and jacket on and to calm myself. It didn’t work, and I burst out of the stairwell at the bottom of the building with my heart thumping in my throat and ran straight to Hunter who was waiting, as promised.

He shot to his feet, wide-eyed, as I flew at him, burying my damp face in his neck. Then he wrapped me in those safe arms as I hung on, shuddering against him.

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