Read Story Starter – Part 1 | Find the other Parts | Other books by this author

If you’ve read the story starter – a very long Chapter 1 – and you’re ready to dive into the story with me, please continue reading.

About the story: (short description. Click here for longer)

“Let Me Love You” is not just a tale of love and sacrifice but also a poignant story of self-discovery, celebrating the human capacity to find love in the most unlikely of circumstances.

Please enjoy the current WIP of Iris and El. This will be published freely up to a point… like the old days and then the entire book will be posted for the full download. I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments. And don’t forget to check out the companion stories. (Wicked Chances, Dreams of Reality, The Convenient Wife & Ravenous)

Enjoy, Your Author, Sylvia Hubbard

start reading below

Read more: Let Me Love You – Chapter 7✍🏾📚❤️ #SylLit #WIP #livestory 📖💓 #marriedwife #demandedconsensual #darkromance

AUTHOR’S NOTE: After Chapter 10, all chapters will only be available to readers who subscribe to this blog. That’s over 1000 readers, but I’m greedy, and I would like more. So if you are subscribed to this blog, then you can keep reading, but if you haven’t, submit your email below:

You’ll get some freebies and of course alerts for updates to this story. I appreciate you and don’t forget to leave comments because It does get a lot of juicy here on out.

Your Author, Sylvia Hubbard (end of author’s comments)

Just as Lester said, what she needed was on the corner of his desk. Iris gathered everything and then braced herself to enter the boss’s office. 

Eledumare Olorun stared into the laptop screen, looking like he didn’t want to be there. The two voices speaking to him were French, and he responded perfectly, as he had been born in France. He didn’t look her way as she came before the desk and stopped just short of the tape. She had to lean over to put the cup of tea on the edge of his desk.

He didn’t look in her direction, and Iris strained not to get any closer. Unsure where she should sit, she looked around the office, away from him. Her eyes rested on the side of the couch where a table and chair were arranged, and she saw the familiar stack of files she had been working on yesterday in the conference. 

Sitting in the chair put her back entirely to her new boss, but she figured this was the objective. 

Going over to the table, she had room enough to fill out the forms printed out by Lester. Just as she was on her last page, Eledumare finished his video meeting and grabbed his tea. She had to look over her shoulder as he took out an alcoholic cloth and wiped down the top and side of the cup. 

Uninterested in his idiocratic ways, Iris returned to complete the paperwork. On the back of the last page, she saw Lester had written on a post-it note: “Please get a copy of your driver’s license and social security card to me before noon.”

Embarrassingly, she couldn’t do this today and felt she needed to let her boss know as soon as possible. “I don’t have my driver’s license, but I do have a state ID. I didn’t bring that or my social security card with me. I planned to ask Dwayne this morning, but he was preoccupied.”

Eledumare raised a light-highlighted burnt sienna brow, pursing his lips together. “He was busy at five in the morning?”

Iris didn’t know how to explain her husband’s behavior without embarrassing Dwayne. “Yes, Mr. Olorun.”

“Call me El, when we are alone and Mr. O in public, like everyone else does,” he ordered. “Mr. Folsom was busy doing what at five in the morning?”

Iris looked down at her lap, unsure how to make Dwayne not seem so stupid.

“Call a duck a duck, Mrs. Folsom,” El ordered. 

“He was sleeping off being drunk, and I didn’t wake him,” she admitted. “He celebrated last night.”

“And you didn’t? Aren’t you happy you aren’t in jail?”

“I’m not a drinker. I’m working off his debt. I don’t know how happy I should be.” Frick! Don’t you dare let Iris out of the box, she reprimanded herself, biting her tongue.

“Thank you for your honesty. I’ll make sure I get those for you.” He sipped his tea and typed something out quickly on the computer screen. “Are you going to ask about the tape?” 

Iris looked at the noted tape on the floor and then back at him. “Why should I? You have your kinks and ticks. We all do. Why do I have to ask? It’s what you do to ensure no one gets close to you.”

A scowl furrowed his brow. “Kinks? There’s nothing kinky about hyperosmia.”

“You’re overly sensitive to smells?”

El looked shocked that she understood the condition. “You’ve heard of this?”

“My mother had severe migraines and would develop the condition. She died giving birth to my brother, but I remember her talking about that condition. I had it too…” Her voice faltered, and she turned away. 

“Continue,” he ordered.

“It’s nothing,” she said, trying not to tremble. Dammit, why had she said anything about her own past? Talking with him felt so comfortable and she would have to learn not to let her guard down. She reminded herself this could only be for a little while, not forever, and why would he care? The man ensured no one could get close to him – physically or emotionally.

“Please, continue, Mrs. Folsom.”

Turning around, she said, “If I get to call you El in private, shouldn’t you call me Iris when we’re alone?”

“I guess I should,” he reasoned. “As long as you’ll be fully honest with me.”

“Agreed,” she said. “I was saying I developed the same symptoms shortly before I became pregnant, so I understand that some smells can make you ill. Perhaps it comes with age in our bloodline or something else. I’m not sure. I was foolishly worried the baby would have it as severe as my mother had, but the doctor said breastfeeding would… but after the first visit, I never went back, so that was a rather stupid question.” She took a deep breath, feeling ludicrous for talking about her horrible past. “This is your way of functioning in real life. Most people who have the symptoms continuously enclose themselves away somewhere.”

“So, it’s not a kink.” 

“Depends on how the smell affects you,” she added. “I researched the symptoms and the effects on the body to help my mother.”

He was about to say more, but Lester knocked and opened the door. “Mr. O, I’ve scheduled lunch on the patio, and your lawyer said he’d get those papers and documents to you in an hour.”

El became autocratic and empirically asked, “When will Mrs. Folsom’s tech finished with her items?”

Nervously, Lester looked down at his notes. “He said Rome wasn’t built in a day.”

Pursing his lips together, El said, “I’ll call him.”

Lester looked relieved. “Is that all?”

“Please take Mrs. Folsom’s paperwork and let HR know I’ll get the necessary documents they’ll need. That will be all.”

Lester hurriedly took her paperwork and left the office, closing the door behind him. 

“You don’t like him,” El noted.

Iris had a narrowed look as she followed Lester out of the room with her eyes. “Dwayne said he’s nosey and I should be careful, plus he made it seem like it was my fault he didn’t know I was sitting in the lobby.”

“You get blamed for a lot of things, Iris. And you have every right to watch him,” El warned. “What are your kinks, Iris?”

She blushed, but fair was fair, and she answered, “I hide who I am because no one likes the real me.”

“Not much of a kink, but what’s the real you?”

“I tend to talk too much and tell people how I really feel. Are you sure you want my honesty?”

“I need it because of the job you are doing for me. I probably won’t react to half the stuff you say, but as your opinion matters when making a decision, I would appreciate you being truthful about everything we discuss. It stays between us as I expect anything I say to you to go the same.” When she nodded, El said, “Your resume states you know several software programs. Are you familiar with the updated ones?”

“Yes,” she said proudly. “I’ve been doing Dwayne’s work for quite some time, but I’d get done as fast as possible so I could understand the software the company uses and even snuck to read blogs in my field. Dwayne didn’t like me having computers or a phone at home, so I usually relied on my nephew’s Chromebook or his digital device when Dwayne wasn’t looking.”

“Why do you think the men in your life like to use you and hold you hostage, Iris?” he asked, fascinated.

She shrugged. “Shouldn’t you be asking yourself that question?” 

“You’re right. You’re an extraordinary gem in business analysis and research, and I don’t compliment many people.”

“I’ve noticed.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” he demanded to know.

“When you said I smelled. You don’t give out compliments readily. You were awkward, but knowing your condition, it’s understandable -” Iris stopped speaking as he rose from his desk and walked directly to her. 

That clean, crisp nature, along with freshly washed clothes, smell assailed her nose as he pulled her up to stand. There was this look of frustration mixed with curiosity swirling about his unique brown eyes, overshadowed by the frown.

“You remember that night?”

“Every word,” she said.

El pulled her into his arms and kissed her hard, shocking the hell out of her. Wickedly, she allowed herself to give in to his demanding lips for just a moment. El pressed his mouth down onto hers, pulling her body into his own and warming her from her toes to the tips of her hair follicles.

Since that night, Iris had wanted to taste his lips and succumb to the pleasure of the clean, neat kiss. 

Suddenly, El pulled away as if she had initially kissed him and had the nerve to look insulted. 

“I shouldn’t have done that,” he said with disdain, rubbing his lips as if to wipe away something forbidden on his skin.

“No, you shouldn’t have,” she agreed. 

“But you kissed me back,” he said accusingly. 

Sticking with her honesty, Iris said, “That’s because I wanted to kiss you since that night, El. But I knew it was wrong.” 

He was glaring at her now as if she had been the one in the wrong.

Iris said, “You said to be honest. I thought about my actions as well.”

El stepped away as if he couldn’t trust his back to her until he was across the line before turning to sit down at his desk. “We’re not doing that again,” he announced. “Could you just not mention that night anymore?”

Confused and still partially aroused, Iris couldn’t understand this man. One moment, he was stoic, and the next minute, he was on her like white rice. “Before we stop discussing that night, can I ask you a question?” 

El gripped the desk as if to hold him where he was. “Go ahead,” he warily gave her permission. 

“Did you want to kiss me since that night?”

“Of course, but when I realized who you were the next day and when I realized what you were doing for your husband, I was in a conundrum.” 

Iris was nearly at a loss for words. 

El was back to giving her a look as if she stole something from him. 

Surmising, Iris said, “You made this deal with my husband and me not just to get me to work for you, but you were expecting something more, weren’t you?”

“Does it matter?” he said in avoidance.

Throwing his words back at him, she said, “Call a duck a duck.”

“I get what I want.”

“But I’m married.”

“An inconvenience on your part,” he said with a shrug. “Plus, that’s one of my real kinks. For some reason, I gravitate towards married women. I’ve been getting into trouble with this fact all my life. When I saw you yesterday, I realized it was the perfect opportunity to arrange without getting caught up. For once, my vices were working in my favor toward someone I really desired.”

Iris flushed because he admitted in so many words how attracted he was to her despite her marriage. She should be upset because he also revealed his intentions to seduce her. She decided to play devil’s advocate. “So, if I were not married, the appeal would just be my work.”

“Only your work,” he agreed. “But I came to the realization last night, although I intended to make love to you, I needed your brain more than I needed your body, especially in these upcoming months, and it would be best if I kept our relationship business only.” He shrugged with disappointment. It’s not what I desire, but it’s what is best for my business, and that always comes first in my life.” 

Iris nodded as if she could understand what was wrong with him and then sat back in her chair. 

“That’s it,” El responded, tilting his head in confusion because of her lack of response to his admission. “Are you even the littlest bit angry at me because I intended to make a deal with your husband to have you this afternoon?”

“You’re a businessman, El,” she pointed out. “Whatever you decide to negotiate with Dwayne can’t bother me.”

“Because you do whatever your husband tells you to,” he remembered. “It doesn’t phase you that your husband would be negotiating sexual favors for you?”

“With you? No, I wouldn’t mind.”

Her honesty invigorated him, but he also looked wary. “So he makes deals for you often?”

Iris was initially heavily reluctant to be in her love life on display, but he did ask for her honesty. ” 

“No,” she admitted immediately. “Dwayne and my sister, Violet, used to do the swinging stuff, but I never participated. And Dwayne,” Iris paused. “He is not attracted to me like that. Every once in a while, he’ll get drunk, roll over on me, call me Violet a couple of times, but other than that, he can barely tolerate me. He’s still in love with my sister.”

“But you agreed to marry him.”

She explained, “For my nephew’s sake, I want partial custody and anything to get out from under my father’s thumb.” 

“You know it’s the twenty-first century, right? You’re a thirty-five-year-old woman. Your father doesn’t have a say in who you are with,” he pointed out sarcastically.

“You know I killed my baby, right?” she said. “And they’re still looking for the murderer. If any one of them or you go to the police, I’m screwed. My freedom depends on the truth of never getting out, but there’s still my nephew. Someone’s got to protect him. Someone’s got to mother him. If I’m not there…” Her voice faded a moment. “If you don’t mind, I don’t want to discuss my servitude or reasons why I’ve chosen the life I have.”

“That’s fine. We can discuss that later,” El said with a promise. “For now, I’d appreciate it if you could look through those files and give me a report by the end of the week. “I’d like to finalize everything for the next project.”

Getting back to business was comforting. Iris nodded since she had already been looking through these files and was halfway done with her analysis. “That is doable, El.”

He looked like he was about to get back up again but held the desk to keep himself down. Iris returned to her chair and forced herself to concentrate on the files. 

She was used to writing by hand and then entering the information later. Not having her own laptop wasn’t a hindrance to her. As minutes turned to hours, she relished making detailed notes in her notebook and reading while she read through all the files. With this company going through a merger, there were a lot of departments that needed auditing, and it had been Dwayne’s job to go through each one to give reports about what should and should not be expected, along with weaknesses and strengths to progress the company or if El decided to sell the company off. 

Occasionally, her thoughts turned to her new boss, and she was positive she could feel his eyes on her spine. She would bite her lip and rub her finger over her lower lip, remembering his clean taste. Still, when she would drift too far and feel the tingles starting to overwhelm her body, she would force herself back on track and not dare to look over her shoulder because maybe if he was still staring, Iris might be inclined to get out of her chair, come around his desk and finish what he had started earlier. 

A quiet titter escaped her lips. 

“What’s so fucking funny?” El said, perturbed. 

Looking over her shoulder, Iris said, “Just thoughts.”

“I never heard human resources reports being funny.”

The fact that El knew what report she was analyzing made her feel a little good about her job. Dwayne barely knew what she did. Her husband could scarcely crack open a file folder and, most of the time,, didn’t even know what department did what or that the company even had different departments. It was so hard to explain all the details to Dwayne when he had no idea about business structures or simple basic business practices. 

Of course, El was well-versed in businesses, and this was not his first rodeo. People paid him to come into companies, get the merger done in a short amount of time, and turn the company over to the new owner or owners. Having a personal analyst to guide him in ensuring every department could be improved was lovely, and she could understand why he decided to pull back on his seduction of her. Having her mind was more valuable than having her body.

Could she change his mind about that?

Knowing Dwayne would consent to anything to get the debt off of him, Iris was assured her husband would sell his son’s soul. In this regard, she needed to be careful and with El having the advantage over Dwayne, she would have to work this situation to her advantage. 

Responding to his agitation, she said, “My funny is not everyone’s funny.” Turning to him, she thought she’d address her concern about facing him instead. “But if you want to know, I was thinking about our kiss and several other things.”

She saw him tighten up.

“That’s not going to happen again?” he said, almost apologetic. 

“Because you don’t want to or because you’ve gotten into trouble in the past?” she questioned.

“Both,” he answered. 

“It’s wrong,” she admitted. “But you have your kinks. My problem is I don’t even know what my kinks are.” Iris noticed he gripped the desk again to hold himself there, but she quickly changed the subject slightly. “If Dwayne is stupid enough, he will do anything to pay off his debt.”

“This is the second time you’ve implied sexual favors,” he said, shifting uncomfortably. “I’m not going to accept your body to pay off his debt.”

The thought was wrong, but for once, she wanted to walk away from being used. “I have no control over my life. Hell, I can’t even get my identification if I decide to leave. And I’m tired of allowing people to use me because of the secrets in my past. I love what I do, but I want more to say in this. Plus, I love my nephew like my child.” Knowing the importance of having an analyst on his team, she blurted out, “El, I’ll work for you for free if you can get Dwayne out of my life and get me custody of my nephew.”

“Now we’re talking,” he said with a smirk.

A wild excitement came to his being, and she rolled her eyes, cursing herself that she had forgotten that this man loved negotiations too much.

End of This Chapter | Post your thoughts in the comment | Let the author know what’s going on in your head

Let Me Love You (c) 2024 Sylvia Hubbard All Rights Reserved

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual person, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only.  This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people.  If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient.  If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please go to the author’s website book page and purchase the book.  Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the site for further updates!