by Eliza Quinn
Kay took her tea and a bagel to the table in the kitchen and chewed thoughtfully. She was getting riled up over nothing. It was an encounter that stuck with her but it wasn’t life changing. Rich rude bastards weren’t usually her cup of tea. She preferred hipster types with a love for literature and foreign cinema. Man buns to wavy blue black tresses and buttoned up to pretentious professional turtlenecks. So Asher should have been a mere blip on her radar. He didn’t even want her. It was pathetic to keep lusting for a man who didn’t even remember her name. She took a deep breath and straightened her spine. No more. She took a last sip of her tea and finished her bagel. She stood up from the kitchen and went out into the main library. Her gasp left her before her brain keyed into what was going on. Asher stood in the main library, staring in the direction of the kitchen. Staring at her. He didn’t look surprised to see her at all, yet her mind was running a mile a minute.
“You didn’t get around to writing that complaint then?” Asher asked with a smirk and an annoyingly sexy brow lift.
“Yeah well I figured since it would end up on your desk anyway there was no point in reporting the boss to the boss.” Kay shrugged, feigning nonchalance.
“How disappointing, I was looking forward to disciplinary action,” Asher said with emphasis on “disciplinary action.”
Kay flushed at his tone. Was he flirting with her? Why did disciplinary action fill her head with visions of him spanking her bare ass over his office desk? Why did she like the idea so much she was practically soaking wet?
“You’ll just have to keep being disappointed then,” she said coolly and walked – she refused to call it running – to the shelves behind her. The man should have been classified as a weapon of mass destruction.
Chapter Four
The basement didn’t look like a basement at all. Kay wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting in a house that old: some moldy walls, forgotten stacks of books, a portal maybe? Instead, the room was spacious, with low lighting for photosensitive documents. It definitely didn’t smell moldy and the low luxurious looking chairs definitely beat some haphazard stack of books. They had finished the inventory upstairs. The other girl, Charlie, was claustrophobic. Something about a major trauma in her childhood. Kay didn’t want to pry but it was a conversation she’d be having later. She moved into the basement and made sure to shut the door behind her. Everything sensitive was locked away in glass casing – rare manuscripts and texts the academics liked to pore over. Kay preferred books that didn’t cost an arm and a leg and were written in languages that were still spoken in the 21st century, but she wasn’t one to sniff at the beauty of those old texts too.
She took out a handheld scanner, ready to catalog when the basement door opened and closed. She sighed. Celine had been worried about her tackling the task alone. Kay had insisted she could handle it, but Celine didn’t think so.
“I told you I’d take care of it Cel. You shouldn’t leave your desk.” Kay sighed. The hairs on her neck stood up and Kay suddenly knew it wasn’t Cel.
“I’m impressed that you’re so concerned about your friend’s job. I am a bit disappointed that you’re not that concerned about yours,” Asher said, walking down into the basement.
“Excuse me? I’ve been completing all the tasks set out for me,” Kay hissed. He wore a light blue sweater today, almost white. It made his eyes even bluer.
“Yet here you are, touching rare manuscripts without gloves.” Asher closed the distance between them, finally getting as close as he’d wanted to. Her green eyes sparked with fury and something else, something else that had lust clouding his emotions. He had no reason to come down here. All he could think when he noticed on the security cameras that she’d come down to the basement was that he wanted to talk to her. Aggravating her was the easiest way to get her talking. He shouldn’t have liked the way her full lips pursed and pressed together in anger. It made him want to lick them to see if they’d part for him.
“I. Am. Not. Touching. Them.” Kay bit out. He was too close, so close she thought she could see those glass eyes heat and become molten. The waves of heat he gave off melted her core. She wanted to damn the consequences and touch him. Was his body as lean and hard as it looked? Did those noble lips kiss as well as they sneered? She shoved the lust down viciously and swallowed the hot retort that formed in her throat.
“Oh? Where are your gloves then,” he asked, moving slowly toward her. For each step he took Kay took two backward.
Kay sighed. “Mr. Van Der Meer! I would never touch a rare manuscript without handling it properly. I have been trying to avoid you since our earlier confrontations and it is exhausting. I know you think the worst of me. Can you just leave me alone to do my work?” Kay pleaded with him. His lips thinned, then he smiled. That smile went right to Kay’s head, making her dizzy. Frustration and lust made a bad combination.
“Is that what you think? That I find you somehow wanting?” He paused. “Really, that is as far from the truth as it can be. I apologize for my horrible behavior but I do have an excuse,” he said quietly. How could she not know that she drove him crazy with need?
“Of course that is what I think. What else am I supposed to think? Don’t you dare try to deny it Mr. High and Mighty!” Kay snapped.
“Are you kidding me? I can’t get you out of my head. I see you, all of you. You’re gorgeous, irresistible and so maddening… I can’t – gah!” Asher huffed in frustration as Kay’s back hit the wall. Trying to explain things was eroding his control. He wanted her. She was so close he could taste her breath. Whatever it was that drove him crazy about her, he had to get it out of his system.
She barely had time to process what was happening before Asher’s lips were on hers. Yes! That was all she could think as she kissed him back with the same intensity. This was what she’d been craving. Desperate kisses as their tongues merged and battled against each other. Lust, undiluted lust, pumped in her veins, making her needy. She slid her hands around his waist as he cupped her ass and lifted her up until she wrapped her legs where her hands had been. She ground her wet pussy against his hardness, mewling in his mouth, begging him for more. He tore his lips from hers and stared at her with a pained expression.
“If you don’t want this, you need to tell me right now so I can back off. I want to touch you, all of you. I won’t stop until my cock is inside of you and you’re screaming my name. Tell me now!” he growled.
Kay couldn’t get her brain to form words. Her senses were overloaded. She touched him, fisting his sweater in her hands while he held her. His hungry gaze stripped her bare.
“Yes! Yes! Touch me. Please!” Kay begged. He took her to the sofa and lay her down. Kay thanked her lucky stars that she’d worn a skirt. Asher set her down on the couch and spread her legs wide enough for his shoulders.
“I want to taste you,” he said in a low voice.
Asher looked like a starving man. He forced himself to peel off her underwear, instead of ripping it off like a madman. She whimpered as he spread her legs, staring at her already dripping pussy, and she screamed as he took a long, slow lick, sliding his tongue over her folds to her clit.
“Fuck, you taste good,” he groaned and dived in.
Kay fisted her hands in his hair and pushed her hips down on his gifted tongue. Nothing, no fantasy could have compared to how good it felt to ride his face. She moaned as his hot tongue pressed against the sensitive button of her clit and stars exploded behind her eyelids. She panted, each move pushing her harder against his face and forcing her sensitive nipples against the rough fabric of her shirt.
“I can’t take anymore,” she panted.
“Come for me,” he ordered and took her clit deeply into his mouth. Kay exploded on his tongue. Her walls clenched around the emptiness of his where his tongue should have been as he stood up.
“No!” she protested. It couldn’t be over.
“Don’t worry. We’re not done yet,” he growled. He removed his pants, kicking the
m off, and pulled out his cock. Kay stared at the beautiful length of him through hooded eyes. She couldn’t believe that she was doing this, but nothing could tear her away from fucking him. She reached for his cock and he held her hands.
“If you do that, this might be over long before we have a chance to begin,” he chuckled.
Kay blushed hard and widened her legs in invitation.
“You shouldn’t keep me waiting then,” she urged softly with a seductive smile.
Asher didn’t need another invitation. He grabbed her legs and pushed his cock into her. She was tight, wet and so fucking hot he was burning up.
“Fuck!” Kay cried. He grunted in agreement and thrust into her. She moaned and grabbed his ass, forcing harder strokes. If he had any intention of going slow, it was quickly lost in the heat of their passion. Kay drove him into her, feeling every inch of his cock hit her g-spot. She felt so full of him, so deliciously full. Harder, he slammed into her, groaning at the pleasure of finally having her. Kay gripped his back leaving claw marks on him. She screamed as she rode the wave of pleasure his thrusts elicited.
Her cries were driving him crazy. Deeper, harder, hotter, soaring higher and higher until it felt like they were catching fire. Kay moaned into his ear.
“I’m cumming. Ash!” she screamed.
Her inflamed passion sparked his inferno into an explosion. She screamed his name as she came, and so did he with her name a prayer on his lips.
Chapter Five
“Something happened!” Celine said, cornering Kay in the kitchen.
Kay stared at Charlie, a leggy blonde who gave her a wide-eyed stare filled with mirth.
“I’m not leaving if there’s prime gossip to be had so don’t look at me like that.” Charlie laughed.
Kay narrowed her eyes at Charlie, threatening. She actually liked the girl, but could she say what happened between Asher and her in the basement? The man was basically her boss. Charlie didn’t strike her as judgmental but you never really knew.
“Look, I once did a total stranger in the club one random spring break. I was in a really dark place and the guy left before I even knew his name so trust me when I say I don’t judge people’s choices. For every bad one you’ve made, I’ve made ten.” Charlie winked.
“Spill!” Celine gushed.
“Okay! Okay! Yeesh! Asher and I had sex,” Kay whispered. Charlie gaped at her in amazement.
“What?! Where? When? Details, positions and is he as good as I think he’ll be? Don’t hold back on the details!” Celine squeaked.
“Keep your voice down. Jeez! Besides, why are you thinking of how good Asher is, you have Everett,” Kay whispered.
“I’m in a relationship woman, not dead. Don’t tease me,” Celine pleaded.
“It was in the basement. It just sorta happened and afterward we agreed it was a one-time thing.” Kay tried to get out of the conversation because just remembering that made her want even more. Much more.
“That bad?” Charlie asked with a snort.
“Nope. Quite the contrary. It was so good, the best even!” Kay groaned.
“Then why won’t you…” Charlie asked, sounding confused.
“We don’t even like each other, and he’s my boss. It’s complicated.” Kay tried to explain.
“Not that complicated,” Celine said with a wink. Kay rolled her eyes and left the two women to it. It was obvious that they only wanted to keep teasing her about it. As she walked away Celine caught up with her.
“Are you okay though?” Celine asked.
“I’m okay. I promise,” Kay whispered.
“If he breaks your heart, I’ll lace his morning coffee with arsenic,” Celine whispered seriously.
Before Kay could state that it wasn’t like that, Celine had moved on.
Kay could scream until she was blue in the face and they wouldn’t take her seriously, but whatever was going on with Asher had been a fluke. A one-time thing they had both gotten out of their systems. It wasn’t going to happen ever again. Asher walked into the library as if conjured by her thoughts. The way he looked, well put together in a coat and a new turtleneck had her wanting to reach forward and strip him again. He paused at the sight of her and both of them stared at each other.
Asher wondered how it was possible that Kay looked better now that he’d seen her without her clothes. That’s all he’d thought of all night – the way her touch inflamed him, the way she said his name. He’d never been more attracted to a female in his life and one night hadn’t been enough to dull the need. His lips tilted up.
“Hello,” he said, managing somehow to pack a plethora of sexual innuendos into that one singular word.
“Hi,” Kay replied breathlessly, shamelessly staring at Asher.
“You two need to get a room before the rest of us get pregnant just by being in the same room with you,” Celine said and Charlie snorted in agreement. Kay stared at her friend in exasperation. By the time she’d turned around Asher was gone. It was just as well because she was already imagining him without his clothes on again.
Chapter Six
It took a while for Kay to admit that whatever was going on with Asher wasn’t some fluke that just happened. For one, she couldn’t go into the basement without feeling like it was possible to spontaneously combust. Every time she ran into Asher, she wanted to tear his clothes off and ride him all over again. It was a desire so strong it was edging dangerously into “need” territory. And it was suddenly harder than she remembered to avoid Asher. She struggled with admitting that perhaps she didn’t want to as much as she should have.
Asher made it a point in his day to arrive just as Kay was arriving. He made a point to leave just as she was leaving even though he’d most likely have to circle back to complete work. It was insane to think one woman had so much power over him but he couldn’t seem to stop himself. He barely knew her but he knew her already in the most intimate ways possible. He had tried to tell himself what happened in the basement was a one-time thing but it wasn’t sticking anymore for him. He wanted more and there was no reason he could see why he couldn’t ask for more. He stopped fighting it and decided to give it a shot. He went looking for Kay and found her in the kitchen taking a lunch break.
“Hello,” he said.
Kay swallowed the taco she was eating hastily and turned to find Asher walking into the kitchen. She hoped for one crazy moment that he was here to rip her clothes off and make love to her.
“Hi,” she said calmly, hoping her face wasn’t as readable as she worried it was.
“Look, I’d like to talk to you. After work? Would you like to go to dinner with me?” he asked quietly, searching her face, trying to decipher her thoughts.
“Uh… Dinner? Like a date?” Kay squeaked, completely taken by surprise.
“Yes dinner. Like a date. I want to talk to you, get to know you better and discuss some things that are inappropriate for the work environment. Despite my total disregard before, I do like to keep things professional. So what do you say?” he prodded. He couldn’t quite read all the emotions that flitted across her face. They were too fast and too many.
“Yeah. Sure. Is it fancy? Or?” Kay asked.
“Casual. We’ll save fancy for another time. I’ll come pick you up at 8. Is that okay?”
“Sure but don’t you need my phone number? Address?” she asked, remembering how Everett, Celine’s boyfriend, had asked her out on their first date without any essential exchange of information. Granted he’d shown up on time but it had been nerve-wracking for Cel.
“No need. I have what I need.” Asher grinned.
“Do you all share private investigators or something?” Kay muttered with a frown.
“What?” Asher asked, confused.
“Nothing at all. See you at 8,” she said.
“It’s a date!” Celine giggled as Kay assessed her outfit choices.
“It’s kinda a date,” Charlie agreed.
“Cel I expected this from yo
u. Charlie on the other hand? You disappoint me. I invited you because I thought you’d keep a level head,” Kay sighed. When Cel had insisted on coming along to help her get dressed, she’d invited Charlie too, hoping for someone whose head was not in the clouds.
“You changed jeans ten times. Yeah it’s a date. I think you should go with a dress, the casual maxi dress with the side slit. It’s casual without being too casual,” Charlie suggested.
“Yeah well, might as well. Since Asher only has turtlenecks and pants in his closet like a psycho professor,” Kay grumbled.