“See, Max, you should have spoken to me sooner. You’re not the only one with specific abilities,” Liliana laughed as she finally felt like she had caught a break. She was on her way to finding out who Sentinel was. That might just come in handy down the line.
*
Rose couldn’t help feeling that she was being watched. She’d felt eyes following her for days now, and she was almost certain it was one specific pair of eyes. Sentinel. He was following her, waiting for her to mess up and reveal something she didn’t even know.
She had no privacy, and she hated it.
She hadn’t even undressed fully since the watching began, switching from underwear to swimsuit ungracefully in an attempt to not reveal anything. It was exhausting. Yet, sleep eluded her.
Gulping down her third coffee of the morning, Rose found a small desk in one of the many tents Tanya had set up outside of the half destroyed office building. Rose wondered how long they were going to be working in tents. She thought a new workspace would have been a top priority, but no. Tents were what they had.
She plugged in her laptop and started transferring the latest batch of photos she had taken around the city. The focus of her team lately was on the rebuilding efforts around the city. People pulling together to get back to normal. It was a fluff piece built into a major story. Tanya tasked Rose with capturing the various efforts across the city.
“Ah, Rose. There you are,” a shrill voice called over to her desk. Tanya was pushing her way through the desks to get to her. “I’ve been waiting for you to come in.” She was actually early, but sure.
“What can I do for you?” Rose asked, dreading the answer.
“I need to speak to you about Ms Masters,” Tanya said. Of course, this was about Liliana.
“What about her?” Rose replied.
“I am aware you are friends outside of work,” Tanya began. “I need to know what you spoke about the other night. Does she know anything more about Max Victor?”
“You want me to report on my friendship?” Rose asked, her brow creased in a frown.
“No. I want you to do your job and report on the important news stories of the day,” Tanya barked. “Like it or not, Ms Masters is important to the current events, and you have a unique insight into her mind. Does she know anything else about Max?” Tanya asked again.
“No. She doesn’t. She knows what kind of man he turned out to be so she’s distancing herself from him,” Rose replied, lying through her teeth. She knew it wasn’t that simple for Liliana, and she suspected she wasn’t quite done with Max. But with eyes watching and Tanya listening, she couldn’t very well throw her best friend to the hungry wolves. Not until Liliana knew of what she was doing and what consequences were coming her way.
Tanya didn’t look convinced by Rose’s answer.
“So, are the two of you hooking up, then? Like the reporter suggested last night?”
“That’s none of your business. Even if it were true,” Rose retorted.
“It is my business if one of my employees goes and gets involved with the front-page story of the day,” Tanya replied, either unaware of how inappropriate she was being or she just simply didn’t care.
“No, it’s really not. In any case, we are just friends.” Rose almost said that they had dated before but it didn’t work out. But that was just adding fuel to the flame.
Tanya narrowed her eyes at being told off by Rose. They stared at each other for a moment, each waiting for the other to say something else. For once, Rose wasn’t willing to back down to Tanya. She needed to protect herself and Liliana. Protect their friendship.
“Fine. I believe you. For now,” Tanya finally broke. “Get to work. The new starter will be here soon. I’ll need you to show him the ropes,” she ordered as she walked off.
Well, that order came out of nowhere. One minute Rose was being interrogated and the next it was business as normal. Rose looked forward to the day she could finally quit and move on with her life, away from Tanya. Although she did occasionally fantasize about one day being Tanya’s replacement.
She delved into her work for a time, thinking about a rose-coloured day where she could get rid of Tanya. Because of the need for gritty, real-life photos for the story, the pictures she uploaded needed little work. She finished a lot sooner than she thought she would, just hitting save to the last picture as it found its way onto the office cloud.
“You’ll be sitting here, next to the best photographer in the business.” Tanya’s annoying voice made its way back to Rose. It shocked her to hear Tanya give Rose a compliment; she must be trying to impress the new reporter.
Rose sucked in a deep breath and turned to great the newcomer.
“What are you doing here?” she blurted out before she could stop herself.
“Hello there, Rosie,” Tim smirked down at Rose.
“Ah, you two know each other. Brilliant,” Tanya smiled. “I’ll leave you to show Mr Westfield how we do things around here.” She hurried off before Rose could object. Tim grabbed a nearby chair and pulled it up to the space next to Rose.
“So, how do you do things around here?” Tim asked sarcastically. Rose groaned and rubbed her eyes.
Chapter 18
Job hunting sucked. It sucked hard. It starkly reminded Liliana why she stuck at her last job despite the horrid boss. She’d updated her CV and updated her social media pages. Nothing. Application after application. Whenever they deigned to give her a response, it was an overly polite rejection.
While she knew it had only been a couple of days, and she didn’t really want a new job, it was disheartening. If she weren’t actually planning a prison break, Max’s defeat would have ruined her career in this city. She shared a quick post lamenting her rejections, she had to keep up the charade of trying to move on with her life, and logged off the computer.
Leaning back on the sofa, the laptop moved to her side, she rubbed her eyes. Once again faced with a tough reality. Her body ached, drained from a day of training and job hunting. The two halves of her world smashing against each other, each vying for attention just at the wrong times. She needed to unwind.
Of course, her usual method of relaxation was unavailable to her. Locked up in a prison several miles away. Max always knew what to do, how to help her unwind after a tough day at work.
*
Liliana slammed the door behind her as she walked through the entryway of Max’s flat. Throwing her bag at a random chair, she let out a huff of exasperation.
“Rough day?” Max asked, coming out of the kitchen. He was carrying two glasses of wine.
“You have no idea,” Liliana replied, thankfully taking the glass that was offered to her.
“Go ahead and rant, you know you want to,” Max said, smiling at her annoyingly.
Liliana took in a deep breath and let out her frustrations.
“She is refusing to fire him!” she started.
“Who?” Max asked.
“Walter. The new intern,” she replied. “He screws everything up and won’t admit he’s wrong. She doesn’t see it.” Of course, she was referring to Tanya, the she-devil in charge of the paper.
“Tanya’s not the type to let screw-ups go unpunished,” Max said, furrowing his brow in confusion.
“Not normally. But Walter can get away with anything.” Liliana paced the living room, gulping down her wine mid-rant. “All because Tanya is screwing his rich daddy.” Comprehension showed on Max’s face.
“Ah. So, he has a free pass.”
“Until Tanya moves onto the next unsuspecting victim,” Liliana admitted. Max nodded along with her rant. “Normally, I could ignore his stupidity. But not today.”
“What happened today?” Max asked.
“The boy cancelled half my appointments on my calendar before I even had a chance to double check everything this morning, so I missed several important interviews,” Liliana half shouted in frustration. “Do you have any idea how unprofessional that made me look? I ended
up spending my lunch break chasing everyone down to apologise and reschedule.” She took another gulp of wine.
“That sucks, Lils.” Max stood to rub her shoulders, trying to help her calm down. She just kept pacing, moving out of his reach every so often.
“Damn right it sucks. I could even see that it was him that made the mistakes. The edit log literally had his name all over it. Do you think he admitted he was wrong?”
“I’m guessing not.”
“Of course not. He just shrugged his shoulders and walked away from me. Smug asshole.” She let out another huff of exasperation before slumping down onto the annoyingly comfortable sofa.
“Given Tanya’s track record, it shouldn’t be too long before the guy gets fired. Then we’ll celebrate if you like.” Max sat down next to Liliana, trying to cheer her up.
“That’ll be nice,” she replied, leaning her head on his muscular arm.
Max leaned over and kissed the top of Liliana’s head, his warm breath flowing down her hair, caressing the back of her neck.
Liliana sighed contently as she took in the scent of Max’s cologne. Faded since that morning, but just powerful enough to put a smile on her formerly stressed face.
Max wrapped his arms around her shoulders, pulling her in close. He gently tipped her face up to his, a finger under her chin, moving her closer.
“You’re sexy when you get all riled up. You know that, right?” Max whispered in his deep tone. Before she could respond, Max closed the gap between them and kissed her. Deeply, passionately. He stole her breath away and woke her body up all in one moment.
She remembered to put her wine down this time. No more distractions. Liliana twisted to kneel on the sofa, using her hands to cup Max’s face, refusing to break the contact their lips had made.
Brushing Max’s dark locks away from his face, Liliana returned his kiss, eager for more. For release.
Max’s hands drifted down from Liliana’s face. Down her side, gently grazing the sides of her breasts. Down past her waist, coming to grip her hips tightly. He guided her to sit across him, which she did happily.
Their kiss deepened. Liliana wasn’t sure how, but it did. She ran her hands through Max’s soft hair as she felt him explore her body. She pressed herself against Max, as close as she could get. Only their clothes holding them apart.
Max broke the kiss first, pausing to look up into her eyes, pushing her long hair away, letting the light shine against her tawny skin. “Gorgeous,” he said simply before bringing her back down for another kiss. She responded by moving her hips slowly, but firmly, against him. It only took a second before she could feel him reacting. Max groaned into her kiss and moved his hot lips to kiss down her neck, prompting Liliana to move her hips some more. She could tell Max was aching to move with her. But he seemed to enjoy what she was doing too much to change.
Still running her hands through Max’s hair, she pulled tightly, making him kiss her again. He loved it when she took charge. As a reward, she moved against him, rougher than before. That was his breaking point. He pulled Liliana’s dress above her head, leaving her in her underwear. He twisted, throwing her down on the sofa, taking back control.
He left a trail of kisses down her neck and across her flushed chest. As he kissed her, he lifted her hips slightly and pulled her underwear down. Next, he slid a hand in between Liliana and the sofa, undoing her bra clasp. Soon her body was fully exposed, while he knelt above her, yet to remove a single item. She could feel his gaze moving all over, taking in the sight of her body, laid bare. She looked up at him as he had the goofiest smile on his face, as if they hadn’t done this before.
Neither of them said a word as he finally lifted his t-shirt over his head and threw it to the floor with her clothes. His lightly toned torso was in shadow as the light shone behind him, making the edge of his muscular arms glow slightly.
He unbuckled his trousers and lent back down to kiss Liliana again. She took the chance and ran her hands up and down Max’s sides, memorising the feel of him pressed against her, free of clothes. After another heat-filled kiss, Max returned to kissing down Liliana, taking his time to move down her body. Liliana moaned as he dipped down to her stomach. She could feel his chest hovering above a rather sensitive area. She couldn’t decide if she wanted him to continue downward or to come back up so she could wrap her legs around him. Although she could do that either way, she supposed.
Max leant against her as he kicked off his trousers, finally. She got a brief feeling of contact with her before he moved down. His hands gripped her hips, stopping her from trying to rise for more. He chuckled as he noticed how worked up she was getting. He teased her by gently running his hands between her legs, making her gasp and moan once more.
“Patience, my love,” he said, still smiling that goofy grin. He returned to kissing, now down to her hips, just above his hands. Her hands were gripping the sofa in anticipation. He hovered above her, his breath leaving her tingling and wriggling for contact. He peeked up at her before his mouth finally made contact. Liliana moaned in pleasure.
Max held her down while he devoured her. Liliana barely held back from screaming as Max let his tongue go to work. Liliana didn’t think it could get any better, but then she felt one of his hands drift down to join his mouth. He slid a finger in where his tongue just couldn’t reach, taking Liliana over the edge, into oblivion. He gently massaged her as she rode out the orgasm, only just holding back from holding his head down there.
As she came down from the high, Max pulled away to grab a small foil packet from the trousers strewn on the floor. Liliana normally thought it presumptuous that he carried them with him. Not today. Today she was grateful he had one so close.
Once he was protected, he lay above Liliana, hovering once again. “Ready?” he asked.
“More than ready,” Liliana replied, aching for him to be closer. He lent down to kiss her as he lined up and gently slid inside her. They groaned together as they revelled in the sensation.
Their kiss grew stronger as Max moved, making full use of his size. Liliana wrapped her arms around his waist, running her hands across his back as he moved. She could feel the pressure building again. He dipped his head down to kiss her neck, to the sensitive spot only he knew to find. Her back arched against Max as she went over the edge once more, unable to stop the scream that time.
As she came down from the high once again, she pushed Max back to climb on top of him. He sat against the back of the sofa and used the freedom to run his hands anywhere he could reach. Liliana lowered herself down onto him, kissing him to capture his moan. It was her turn to be in control, and she enjoyed it. She liked to explore Max’s enticing body, finding new ways to elicit reactions from him.
Liliana lent back slightly to run her hands down Max’s chest. He took the opportunity to do the same. He cupped her breasts as she moved against him. The goofy grin had disappeared, replaced with wonder and wilderment. She let him explore for a minute before she fully took charge. She took his hands and pinned them against the wall above them. He could easily move, if he truly wanted to, but he loved being the sub occasionally.
Holding their hands together up high, Liliana moved up and down beside Max. She could feel herself slowly building again, and going by the sound of Max’s breathing, he was doing the same. The more they built, the more restless Max became underneath her. His hips bucked into her as he struggled to control himself. Liliana enjoyed watching Max wriggle beneath her. It was interesting, the powerful sensation. She knew she could bring Max to his knees with ecstasy if she wanted to. He could truly let go with her. He trusted her fully, and she felt the same. Trust made the sex so much more enjoyable.
Liliana tried to focus on Max’s reactions to her movements, but she couldn’t ignore the sensations herself. The two of them were reaching the crescendo when Max lost control and thrust into her repeatedly, sending them spiralling together. Their lips crashed together as they enjoyed each other fully. Slowing down to
revel in the moment, they softly kissed each other. Liliana’s hands now back in Max’s hair while his hands dropped to her waist, pulling her closer as they embraced.
“Feel better?” Max asked. The grin had returned.
“Much,” Liliana laughed. Her boyfriend had an interesting method of distracting her from her job.
*
She wished she could feel that level of trust again. That level of intimacy. Even if she were standing right in front of Max, she didn’t think they could connect on that level anymore. Their reunion was sure to be complicated. Part of Liliana wanted to avoid the confrontation, but she knew it had to happen if their relationship stood any chance.
Chapter 19
“You know how to do your job, Tim. You’ve been in this field as long as I have,” Rose groaned. He wouldn’t leave her alone. Acting like he was an intern on his first day.
“I was told to talk to you about settling in here,” Tim said. “And that’s exactly what I plan to do.” He was being his usual smug self, and Rose hated it.
“Sit down at a computer and write. Research. Find a story to tell.” Rose dumbed his job down for him as much as possible, trying to make him sit down and leave her alone.
“What system do you use?” Tim asked.
“Google,” she replied sarcastically.
“You know what I meant, Rosie.” Tim raised his eyebrow. “Where do you store your work? How do I get onto the server?”
“You should have got your login details via email,” she replied.
That seemed to have finally shut him up. He was engrossed in his computer. Rose took the opportunity to run off for a coffee while his back was turned. She hurried into the café they camped outside of still.
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