Giving In To Love: A Friends with Benefits Office Romance (Strong Brothers Book 2)

by Ajme Williams

  8

  Natalie

  I spent the first day of my new job getting to know the people I was going to be working the most closely with. What I discovered was a group of artists and wordsmiths who were nice enough, and some of them were extremely talented and creative, but for the most part seemed to live within the lines. Being a person who liked to color outside the lines, I was a little disappointed that so many people just wanted to maintain the status quo, and at the same time I wasn't surprised. They were exactly the type of people I figured Hunter would hire to create the type of work he seemed to think was selling his sandals.

  I also spent time reviewing some of their older ad campaigns. The truth was, some of them were actually pretty good. The problem with the European one was that I didn't think it would do very well in Europe. Granted, I wasn't the marketing wizard that Hunter apparently was, but still Europe was a hotspot for art, and they would know something that was contrite. The one thing that art and marketing had in common was the desire to evoke emotion. Where marketing diverged from art was in having that emotion, then evoke a response: buy. The campaign as it was set up now, I couldn't imagine anybody looking at it and thinking they would want to buy a pair of sandals made by Strong Incorporated.

  Over the evening, I decided maybe since I wasn’t really a marketing person by trade, who was I to say that a billion-dollar company was doing something wrong? So, the next day, armed with everything I had gleaned from the day before, I arrived eager to get to work. My intention was to do as much as I could to stay within the constraints that Hunter had given me. He was the expert and even if he wasn’t, he was the boss. But as I went over the campaign, I couldn't get past how staid and trite the art was. I couldn’t help myself and I began to make my own sketches. They didn't look anything like what he had been doing, and I was pretty sure that if he saw them, he’d fire me.

  At lunch, I went with Gavin to the employee lounge area. Everyone in the department was nice and helpful, but I could tell that they looked to Gavin for leadership, particularly after their former art director had left. So, I knew he'd be the best resource to talk to about my dilemma. As we sat across the table, I hoped that in talking with him I didn’t encourage what looked to be an attraction to me. He was friendly and helpful, but also, I’d caught him staring at me a couple of times in a way that suggested that he was interested in more than being my coworker. He was nice enough and good-looking, but I just didn't feel it towards him.

  "These ideas on the European campaign, where did they come from?" I asked Gavin as I opened up the leftover take-out I had brought from home for lunch.

  "I think the overall concept came from upstairs and was given to Liz and then we all worked on it together."

  "So, all the Strong brothers; this is what they want?"

  He shrugged. "Well, I don't know about all of them. I wasn't involved in any of the meetings that they had or that Liz had with Mr. Strong, but my sense is that this particular idea comes from higher up."

  "What do you think of this concept?"

  He looked down into his food, readjusting the bread on his sandwich. "That's all right, I guess."

  "No, be honest with me. What do you really think? I won't tell anybody what we've said here."

  He looked up at me, but I could see reluctance in his eyes. "What do you think of it?"

  "I think it stinks." Perhaps it wasn't the best thing to blurt out my opinion like that. But then again, Hunter knew what I thought of the campaign. And what did I care if I got fired except that I didn't want to lose the ability to show my work at the gallery. But I wasn't a person who was going to say something was good when it wasn't.

  He looked down but I saw a small smile on his face as he picked up his sandwich. "So, what's your idea?" He asked as he took a bite of his sandwich.

  “I was thinking something along the lines of maybe a sixties retro type thing. I mean if you think about what Americans like to buy, a lot of times when it comes from Europe, we want to have that European vibe, right?"

  "Right." He took a sip of his soda.

  "So, I imagine that people in Europe, if they're buying something from America, probably they want to have that American vibe."

  "I can see that."

  "I don't think Hunter does." I stabbed my leftover lo mein with my fork in frustration.

  "I think you should go with that," Gavin said. "There’s something to that and I know that we could probably come up with some copy that would go with it.

  "I don't know, Hunter seems pretty committed to this boring traditional thing going on."

  "Hunter's really good at what he does. There's been a lot of times where we've questioned what he was doing and in the end, he turned out to be brilliant. With that said he is open to ideas. You know he doesn't micromanage. He hires people he believes can do the job and he steps out of the way to let us do it."

  I stared at Gavin because that wasn't my experience of Hunter. At the same time, he hadn't come down a bunch of times yesterday to check on me, nor had he at the end of the day. I couldn't be sure if that was because he trusted me to do the job or if it was part of our deal to stay out of each other's way because we had that weird sort of chemistry going on.

  After lunch I went back to my office and pushing the old ad campaign sketches aside, I began to work on something new. I wondered if there was a way I could merge the two ideas together. Opening my creative mind, I began to sketch and draw a variety of different ideas as something began to flesh together and solidify.

  I then pulled out another piece of paper to try and synthesize the ideas that were coming to me. As usual I got lost in my artwork and was surprised when I heard someone clear their throat and I looked up to see Hunter standing in my office.

  "I was curious to see what you'd been coming up with," he said. I stared at him for a moment. He looked really good in a suit, but there was sort of a ruggedness about him that made me wonder what he would look like in jeans and a T-shirt. In some ways he seemed like a round peg in a square world as well. But somehow, he'd softened the curves to fit in the world better than I did.

  "Here's some of the ideas I’ve been working on today," I said as I stood and rounded the desk to show him the sketches I was working on. Just to make sure that he wouldn’t be too upset by the new direction I was going in, I also showed him some of the work I attempted on the campaign that they had already started. I hoped that seeing the two ideas together, he’d realize my vision was best.

  He studied all the work that I had done with his brows furrowing tighter and tighter as he reviewed the work.

  He straightened and let out a breath. "You seem to have put in the most effort into the thing that doesn't go at all with what we've already done. You wasted your time on something that is basically useless."

  I was disappointed although not surprised. "I know this isn't exactly what you were thinking —"

  "It's not even close."

  My hackles rose but I worked to keep my anger in check. I reminded myself of the gallery showing he was going to set up for me. “It's not that far off. I've merged some of my ideas of the Southern California thing that I really think will appeal to people in Europe —"

  "You think it will appeal? This isn't some sort of thesis or hypothesis, Natalie. We aren’t testing anything here. We need a campaign that's going to sell."

  I took a breath to help steady my nerves again. "No one in Europe is going to buy the Mona Lisa from the United States because they already have a Mona Lisa," I argued. "This idea merges your idea and my idea together. It's not Roman holiday, it's more like Princess Grace in Monaco on the beach in the 50s. It's got the elegance and sophistication that you want merged with California beach that Europeans are going to be interested in." I leaned over my desk to point out the various elements that I had included to merge my idea and his together into something that wasn't boring.

  "I've already talked to Gavin about this and he supports this idea," I said, hoping that Gavin'
s opinion would carry weight with Hunter.

  Hunter growled and stiffened at my words which surprised me. "Gavin isn’t the lead on this campaign. I am, and I put you in charge of it. You should have run this by me for wasting your time."

  "It isn't a waste of time. How do you not see that this does include your ideas only in a much more interesting and appealing way?" I pulled one of the sketches closer to us. I was standing next to him, shoulder to shoulder, as I began to show him the different elements that I had taken directly from his campaign and how I had merged them with my ideas.

  I turned my head to look at him. “How do you not see this?"

  He turned his head towards me, his gaze scanning from my eyes down to my lips. It was only then I realized how close we were standing together. How near our faces were to each other. I had a thought that maybe I should back away, but then his lips were on mine again.

  In the past, our kisses had been brief, and yet it had seemed like my body had sunk into it almost immediately. That same melting, sinking feeling happened again as his mouth covered mine, and firmly and intensely kissed me. I suppose this time I didn't want the kiss to end too soon because immediately my fingers were fisting into his shirt and holding him close until I could drink in enough of him.

  He leaned to the side slightly and I worried he was about to break away, so I held him tighter. Instead, his hand swept over my desk, knocking all the sketches off of it. It nearly made me break away from the kiss to ask him what the hell he was doing. But before I could, he turned me and maneuvered me, lifting me to sit on the edge of the desk. He'd pulled my skirt up and he stepped in between my thighs, pressing his groin against my cleft and everything became clear. His intentions became clear.

  His dick was long and thick as it pressed against my pussy sending the most delicious sensations through my body. In the back of my brain, I knew this shouldn't be happening. There was a long list of reasons why I should push him away, starting with the fact that he was my boss and moving all the way down to the fact that he and I were like oil and water. We didn't get along at any time, except of course when we were kissing.

  But my body wanted him. It wanted him badly. My skin was tingling with the need for him to touch it. My pussy was contracting in a rhythmic motion with a desire to feel him inside me. The physical need, pushed the wisdom of what we were doing out of my head.

  "You make me crazy, you know that?" he murmured as his lips trailed along my jaw into my ear giving my lobe a gentle tug as his hands slid up my waist to cup my breasts.

  "The feeling is mutual."

  "Does that mean you want me to fuck you?" he asked as his thumbs brushed over my hard sensitive nipples making me gasp. My body arched and my pelvis pressed forward seeking his dick.

  My hands tugged at his tie and worked the buttons open needing to touch his hot flesh. "Does that mean you want to fuck me?" I repeated his question.

  "Unless you tell me no right now, that's what I intend to do."

  All the neurons in my body lit up at his naughty words. "Unless you say no, I'm not going to stop you."

  I suppose that's how it was between us. Even something like this, something we both desperately wanted, we couldn't quite give in to each other. It, too, had to be a battle of wills.

  He tugged the zipper of my dress down, and with a yank, the sleeves were off my shoulders and the dress was bunched around my waist. His deft fingers unhooked the clasp of my bra and soon my breasts were free. He groaned at the sight of them as he held them like he was weighing them in the palms of his hands. Then he dipped his head and sucked my nipple into his mouth, and holy moly, I felt it straight down to my pussy. I'd never had an orgasm from a man sucking on my nipples, but I began to believe that it was a possibility as his tongue lapped and his teeth scraped and his mouth sucked my nipple, first one and then the other.

  I couldn't help but praise his effort. "Oh, that's good."

  "You like that, Natalie? You like it when I suck your tits?" It was no surprise to me that Hunter would talk dirty during sex. What surprised me is how much it turned me on. I'd always fancied myself more of a romantic. Someone who wanted to make love over having base primal sex. Not that I didn't like adventure or spice in the bedroom. But I never thought I would want just a fast and furious fuck with someone like Hunter. Right now, I felt like I'd die if he didn't take me hard right this minute.

  "Yes." I gave him that, but I also wanted him to give to me as well. But in order to do that I needed to touch him. I needed to do something for him that made his brain spin out of control like he was doing to me.

  I undid the buckle of his pants as well as the button and zipper pushing them along with his underwear down as far as I could reach. Then I slid my hand up between his thighs, cupping and massaging his balls.

  He let out a groan. "Touch my dick, dammit," He demanded.

  I had a moment of nerves before I reached out to stroke him. I couldn't be sure why, as this wasn't the first time I'd ever touched the man. For some reason it was important to me that Hunter enjoyed what I did to him. I knew he had scads of women before me and would have more of them after me. For reasons that probably had to do with pride and ego, I wanted to make sure that despite all the women, he never forgot me. I wanted him to think that I was good at delivering pleasure.

  I pushed him back slightly.

  "What the hell?"

  I slid off the desk and dropped to my knees, knowing that men liked most, or at least second to fucking, was a blow job. I gripped his dick in my hand and looked up at him as I brought it to my mouth.

  "I'm not just going to touch your dick, Hunter. I’m gonna suck it."

  “Fuuuuucccck.”

  The intensity and power of the way he said that one word gave me the confidence I needed to take him into my mouth. I licked and sucked and I took him in, pumping him deeper and deeper until he hit the back of my throat.

  "Jesus fucking Christ," he said in a desperate gasp. He pulled away, his hands reached down lifting me by the arms. He tugged my panties down and set me back on the desk. From somewhere he pulled out a condom, unwrapping the wrapper and rolling it on.

  "I hope you like hard, fast and quick," he grunted as he took his dick and rubbed my pussy with it.

  I moaned. "Fuck me Hunter." My hands gripped his biceps as my body sought more contact with his.

  In one hard thrust, he pushed inside me. Our groans reverberated through the room and it seemed impossible to me that the marketing department, or hell, the entire building, didn't know what we were doing. And in that moment, I didn't care because inside me Hunter Strong felt so, so good. He withdrew and thrust again, each time the friction building and it was so fantastic, I couldn't hardly believe it.

  "Tell me you're going to come," his voice said harshly in my ear.

  I was so close. Nearly there. And as badly as I wanted to come, I also thought it was too fast. I didn't want it to end. Not something this good. Not yet.

  He pushed me back so that I was laying on my desk. With one hand holding onto my hip, his other one slid over my thigh, and his thumb began to rub my clit. I might've wanted it to last longer, but now it was out of my control. The minute he rubbed my hard, aching clit my entire body went taut as pleasure mushroomed like a nuclear blast, and then spread like wildfire throughout my body.

  I cried out. My hands gripping the desk as my world seemed to spiral away in pleasure.

  "Fuck…yes come on me…fuck me…” Hunter was chanting as he continued to thrust and thrust. He drew out my orgasm or maybe I was having many of them one after the other. I didn't know. All I knew was that it was so good. So, so good.

  9

  Hunter

  I was no stranger to sex, but Jesus fucking Christ, Natalie’s pussy gripped my dick like it would never let go. Stars were bursting behind my eyes. My hips pistoned back and forth as I drove hard and fast like a fucking freight train toward oblivion. I didn’t want it to end, and yet, any minute my lungs were going to bu
rst and my thighs were going to give out.

  “Oh God…” she moaned and her pussy squeezed my dick again, and that was it. I plunged in hard, shoving the desk as I shot off. I kept coming, more and more with each thrust until my body went completely lax.

  My lungs burned as I worked to suck air after the intense orgasm nearly brought me to my knees. "Holy hell."

  I was finally able to get my vision and focus again and looked at Natalie on her back over her desk. She brought both her hands over her eyes. "Oh my God I can't believe I just did that."

  I couldn't either. But I couldn't regret having done it. Of course, I put the cart before the horse. I was supposed to have a discussion about fucking her first. I withdrew from her and held out my hand to help her up. She took it, but once she was sitting, she pushed me away. Her hands were a flurry of movement as she fixed her dress. She jumped off her desk straightening her clothes.

  "Get dressed," she demanded of me.

  I considered telling her that, no, I was going to walk around with my pants around my ankles all day. But now didn't seem to be a good time for our kind of banter. So, I pulled up my pants and put myself back together as well.

  The endorphins from the orgasm were still flying through my body, and I scraped my hands over my face as the magnitude and intensity of that orgasm overwhelmed me. It was no secret that I liked sex, a lot of it. But it'd been a long time, if ever, that I had an orgasm that nearly knocked me off my feet. I glanced at her and she was still fluttering around in a tizzy.

  Hoping to calm her little bit, I moved to her, putting my hands on her shoulders. "Natalie."

  She stepped out of my grasp and hurried behind her desk. "I can't believe we did that. I fucked my boss, for God sake." Finally, she looked up and made eye contact with me. "That can't happen again. Ever."

  "That's going to be easier said than done, don't you think?" I didn’t want to be a jerk, but it didn’t seem possible that she and I could be around each other and not have this chemistry build to the point that we’d end up fucking again.