Claiming Cleo (Masters Club 2)

Cleo was enchanted by his sweet, open demeanor and obvious sincerity. “Thank you, Benny. And you’re quite handsome, especially in that football jersey.”

Benny’s face opened again in another joyous, infectious smile. Turning to Jack, he cried with a gleeful laugh, “She says I’m handsome. You heard that, right? She said I’m handsome!”

“She did,” Jack agreed. He slipped a folded bill into Benny’s hand. “Can you take our bags up, Benny?”

“Sure thing, Mr. Jack.” The young man looked down at the money Jack had handed him, studying it for a long moment. Then he looked up again, his face scrunched with concern. “My mum will tell me this is too much. She doesn’t want me taking ‘vantage of the patrons.”

“Not at all, Benny,” Jack said in a kind tone that warmed Cleo to her bones. “You work very hard. That’s no more than you deserve. You can tell your mum I said so.”

Benny’s face smoothed into another beatific smile, his small eyes sparkling with pleasure. “Thank you, Mr. Jack!”

As they rode up in the lift, Cleo turned to Jack. “That was very nice, the way you treated Benny. We had a fellow like that at the hair salon, but he wasn’t quite as high- functioning.”

“Benny’s great,” Jack said with a smile. “If I ever leave London, he’s one of the few people I’d miss. He’s not an official employee of the building. He’s the caretaker’s nephew, and he often brings Benny along to work with him. Benny loves sweeping and running errands. He’s actually rather bright, given his limitations. We all try to give Benny little odd jobs, and he’s quite helpful.”

“If I ever leave London…”

Don’t go there, Cleo cautioned herself. Not yet.

When they got to Jack’s floor, their bags were already waiting at his double front doors. “Wait. How did Benny get up here before us?” Cleo asked, confused.

“They have a service elevator for employees and vendors. It’s faster than the main one,” Jack explained.

He punched in a code to the left of the entrance and the lock slid open. Opening one of the doors, he gestured Cleo inside.

Though the building’s façade was clearly much older, Jack’s flat was ultramodern, with clean lines, large windows and plenty of light. A curving spiral staircase led to a second floor.

Cleo’s mouth hung open as Jack took her on a brief tour. The place was beautifully decorated with understated elegance, and looked like something out of Architectural Digest. The first floor had an open plan living and entertaining space, with the sitting room at the front leading through to a dining and kitchen area.

“This place is awesome,” Cleo breathed. “I didn’t know flats came this big in London.”

Jack smiled and shrugged. “They come a lot bigger than this. But yeah, I’ve been thinking about selling it. It’s too big for just me.”

His remark reminded Cleo this had been his home with his late wife. She couldn’t help but glance around, looking for family photographs. There were none on display, at least not downstairs.

The second floor had three bedrooms. Jack waved vaguely toward the two smaller rooms down a hallway, saying, “One is a guest bedroom, the other the playroom.” A twist of pain flickered over his face, gone as quickly as it had appeared.

He led the way into the master bedroom, which was as large as Cleo’s entire studio flat had been in Piccadilly. L-shaped, it had a separate sitting area, along with two huge walk-in closets. Jack set down the bags. With a dramatic sigh, he collapsed back on the bed, fully clothed.

“I didn’t realize how beat I was until just now. I hardly slept on the plane. You were snoring too loud.”

“I was not,” Cleo retorted hotly. Then she saw the grin on his face.

“Gotcha,” he said, still grinning broadly. “Now, get over here and undress me, slave. I’m too tired to lift a muscle. But first, you get naked. While in the apartment, you will always remain naked unless otherwise instructed.”

“Yes, Sir,” Cleo replied, instantly aroused.

She stripped out of her things and laid them neatly on top of her suitcase. Coming over to the huge bed, she first removed Jack’s loafers and socks. Next, she opened his belt and unzipped his trousers. She dragged them down, along with his underpants, as he obligingly lifted his hips. His beautiful cock, already at half-mast, rapidly hardened as she straddled his hips to unbutton his shirt and lift it away from his body.

All at once, he pulled her down and rolled so he was on top of her. “I’m suddenly not so tired anymore,” he growled in a sexy voice. “Prepare to be ravaged, slave girl.”

“Yes, Sir,” she eagerly replied.

Chapter 21

After making mostly vanilla love, Jack and Cleo slept solidly for about four hours. Jack woke slowly, disoriented. His first thought was that it was odd that Annette was still asleep, as she had always been a very early riser.