by Jolie Day
8
Charlie
I head back to my desk with coffee in hand, ready to settle back into a good workflow. I stop for a moment to appreciate the view overlooking the city, feeling optimistic that this job will work out to be my ticket to stay here until my visa is up. Well, that is unless I walk in on Joel shagging what’s-her-name (the bitchy one from the other day), much like I did when I found my previous boss getting a blow job in the mail room—that girl may have been twenty at best. Yeah, that was the first strike. I gag a bit at the memory.
My phone dings just as I return with a message from Nora, asking if she can swing by to check the place out. I notice the other workers have visitors stop by from time to time, especially during lunch hour, and decide it can’t do any harm. Once I’ve given her directions to my workstation, I lose myself in the tasks I’ve been given for the day.
Nora seems particularly impressed when she arrives a short time later, stopping to marvel at the luxurious office floor as she walks towards me.
“Girl, this place is amaaazziiing,” she gushes, handing over a bag from a vegan deli around the corner. “I’m so jealous! It has a gym and a spa and everything! Have you taken advantage yet?”
“Thanks for lunch!” I take out a sandwich and dig in, offering her the other one from the bag.
“No, I already ate. Hmm. What the hell?” She snatches it from my hand. “This looks delicious.” She digs in, taking a huge bite, staring at me and waiting for me to answer her question. “Damn. What the actual hell. This is freakin’ delicious. Those vegans know their shit.”
“No, not yet. I’ve been too busy trying to get settled in…and recover from my embarrassment over the other night.”
With a knowing nod, she glances around the room in search of Joel. “Have you talked to him since?” she asks around a mouthful of food, unable to hold back a chuckle and nearly chokes.
“Briefly.” I sigh. “He didn’t bring it up, thank God. I can’t believe I did that. I won’t be drinking again for…maybe ever.”
She clears her throat. “Don’t sweat it, Char. A guy like that…I’m sure he’s used to girls throwing themselves at him. In fact, I think he expects that kind of behavior. Right? I mean, he didn’t fire you, so he must not have minded at all.” She takes another huge bite.
I try not to dwell on just how much he didn’t seem to mind when his lips melted against mine. If Eric hadn’t interrupted, who knows how far it could have gone. But it’s for the best, I think. A quick drunken kiss with my new boss isn’t as bad as tumbling into bed with him.
“And the best part is now you can stay here in the city with me!”
“Hopefully.” I give her a promising smile. “Just so long as I prove myself enough that they keep me around.”
“They? You mean he.”
“No, I mean they.”
“Okay then, they’d be crazy not to keep you. Speaking of which, I’ll let you get back to it.”
Her giddy reaction to the lavish building and the prospect of me staying the next six months is infectious. I can’t help but smile when she hugs me goodbye and leaves, but just as she reaches the elevator, none other than Joel Embry himself walks up next to her. I almost don’t want to look so as to not get caught staring but keep peeking at them out of the corner of my eye. She tries to act inconspicuous as they wait for the lift to arrive but doesn’t resist turning around to me and discreetly pointing to him.
“O-M-G,” she mouths from across the lobby. “Look at that ass!” And dear God, she makes grabby hands right afterwards.
I want to palm my face, but I can’t. Otherwise, I’ll give myself away.
Joel glances down at her just as she’s finishing her little display, but she’s quick to whip around and play it off innocently.
I laugh to myself, shaking my head, and try to get back to work as I finish my lunch. A short while later, I feel like I’ve accomplished enough to earn a little break and decide to stretch my legs for a bit.
The spa is complete with every service and amenity you’d expect at any other facility, even though it’s exclusive to Embry employees only. And the gym seems just as expansive. I find myself feeling a bit lost as I wander through the massive building, but I embrace it as a chance to walk around and get acclimated.
I spot a door near the gym that looks like the one I came in through. At least, I think it does. But I realize just how wrong I am when humid steam seeps out from behind it as it opens. It wasn’t locked, so it can’t be off-limits. It smells nice. Curiosity gets the better of me, and I decide to step inside and take a look around.
I’m eyeing the shiny black locker and a nice-sized closet door, when suddenly I’m stopped dead in my tracks by something planted firmly in front of me.
My brain pieces it together rapidly. Damp, hot flesh. Muscles. A giant wolf tattoo that feels like it’s staring at me, ready to pounce, and enough to startle me. That’s when the figure turns around, and to my shock, I find myself face-to-face with my boss, Joel. Oh, no.
I can’t read his expression, but I do quickly gather another important fact of this unfortunate accidental encounter.
He is completely naked.
I try to apologize, but nothing comes out. Even if I tried again, I’m sure I would only produce a string of unintelligible muffled nonsense.
My eyes meet his, and I’m certain my cheeks are red as blood. We’re both frozen as if neither of us know what to do. For a brief moment, I’m angry—why the hell wouldn’t he think to lock the freaking door if he was going to be walking around naked…inside his own locker? Okay, honestly, I have no reason to be angry, but still…how was I supposed to know?
But slowly, I make note of another important thing that’s happening…or rather not happening. He’s standing there with all of his tattoos and slick muscles and most private parts on full display (a rather huge display at that), and he’s not budging an inch.
He doesn’t seem shy at all. He doesn’t even reach for a towel.
No, in fact, he’s staring me down with an unreadable expression. Can he see what I feel boiling up inside? Since he doesn’t flinch, and I can’t think of any way to talk myself out of this one (“Hello there, boss, how are you? Long time no see…nice company you have…brilliant view.”), so I can’t help but linger and take in the sight. That incredibly perfect body that I’ve seen straining against his clothes during all of our little run-ins is right there (and damn!), ripe for the taking, or it would be if this were any other situation in which we weren’t at work. And if he wasn’t my boss.
Okay, here’s my chance to act professional. I’ve got this. This time, I will not mess this up.
“Holy hell.” The words spill out of my mouth as I try to pick my jaw up off the floor. I know, like a complete legless wazzock. Brain, what the hell! FML.
I should have said the other line—what I’d been thinking when I first walked in. You know, “Hey, boss…brilliant view.” But no. It’s as if my mouth isn’t connected to my brain. Shit! Damn. I mean, how can it be when a naked godlike male of all that scrumptious gorgeousness stands in front of me…naked. Yeah, said that already.
Shit. I’m so screwed.
He doesn’t seem to mind me gawking at all. Oh, no. Can he see the irrational urges I’m having? If so, he’s not letting on. His gaze moves over me in a slow sweep, but he still doesn’t move.
Everything I’m thinking must be written all over my face. It always is. I want to say something else, but I’m afraid if I do…Oh, this is painful.
Yet, my brain is screaming at me to stutter out any form of an appropriate apology that I can manage and then bolt for the door, slamming it behind me to forget that any of this ever happened, just like our kiss from the other night. But my body is acting beyond my control, just as it did then. Only this time, I don’t have alcohol to blame. I’m stone-cold sober (unfortunately), and my legs still wobble beneath me, threatening to send my body hurtling against his.
“Charlie.” He
finally speaks, but in a low rasp. “Can I help you with anything?”
It’s the right thing to say. After all, I’ve just barged in on him in his changing room, and now I’m just standing here like an idiot. But the way he says it, hints at something else entirely. The words are in line. But his tone is so deep and suggestive, it makes my knees go weak.
“I…I just…” I try to reply, but once again my words are mush, and he’s still not backing down.
He’s my boss, I keep reminding myself over and over, not that it’d be any more appropriate to do the kinds of things I’m thinking to any employee I had run into like this. The tension between what I know I need to do and what I can’t stop myself from wanting to do, all comes to a crux and catches in my throat in the form of a giant knot.
His hot, sweaty, heaving body lures me in like a magnet, and before I can think better of it, I find myself throwing my body against his with another greedy surprise kiss. Doing the same thing again. He’s as still and silent as a rock until the moment my lips touch his, and then something else entirely takes over. His arms grab around my waist, pulling me in close enough to feel the rising desire between his legs, and a few loose strands of hair fall into his face.
A pained moan escapes my lips as his tongue moves to open my mouth wider for him. Wait. He’s not stopping me. He’s actually into it? After a few moments of what’s arguably the hottest and most passionate kiss of my life he takes a step back, causing our bodies to part, but his hands are still holding my waist.
His questioning gaze meets mine. If I want out, this is my moment to say it. I can’t think of anything to say (surprise, surprise!) to explain my uncontrollable urge to have more of him. So, I try to let my body do the talking. I crash my lips to his once again, but he plants his hands firmly on my shoulders and forces me to look into his eyes.
“Is this what you want?” he says somewhat teasingly with a hint of mischief in his eyes, and it only makes me crazier with need.
“I know you’re my boss, but I’m leaving in six months, anyway. Would you like to go to dinner with me?”
“To dinner?” he repeated, surprised.
“Oh, forget that. How about some dessert now?”
I barely get the words out before he’s barreling back into me, quickly lifting me from the ground with his hands wrapped tight around my ass. It looks like he was fighting it just as much as I was, but one second of verbal confirmation, and all bets are off. My back is pressing against the wall with his mouth drinking me in, and his greedy hands devouring my body, desperately tugging at my clothes—the only thin barrier left between us.
Once my feet return to the floor, he reaches for the zipper of my skirt and pulls it down so fast, I’m surprised it doesn’t break. Within seconds, he’s sliding it down my legs and moving to the buttons of my blouse, removing it and my bra, while never taking his lips and tongue from mine.
I whimper and arch against him, unable to resist taking the length of him in my hand. In nothing but my panties, I stroke him, teasing against my own throbbing need. I peer up at him, begging with my eyes for him to keep going. He responds with a bold grin and uses his fingers to shove the lace fabric aside and slide inside my wetness. His touch draws a sharp gasp from my lips as he masterfully caresses all the perfect spots. I pull him in closer to me, noticing how delighted he appears with my pleasure. But just as it begins to build, he stops to yank my panties off and lifts me up again with one arm.
He reaches into his locker, his gaze never leaving mine. “Let me grab a condom.”
I shake my head, near breathless. “It’s all right. I’m on the pill.”
He stares at me for a moment and then nods, all talk forgotten, and he seizes my body once more.
I’m impossibly wet as he holds the weight of my body in his strong arms and thrusts inside. Ohhh. Ohhh. I’m in Heaven. I immediately roll my eyes back as I take in just how big he is. He keeps me pinned above him, giving him complete control to pull out and push in again slowly…too slowly, to torture me. I writhe in his arms, doing my best to move faster against him, but I’m at his mercy. He takes his time, drawing in and out of me, and the moment he fills me, he lunges forward with a satisfying jolt, accompanied by a delicious groan.
Both of us seem to stop breathing each time he pulls out again, only to explode with breathless moans of pleasure as soon as he pushes back in. He manages to get harder still with each new thrust, and soon I’m lost in the relentless wave of him crashing into me over and over again, moving faster and harder as he goes.
My breasts bounce, and he doesn’t shy away from taking in the sight of my body as he pounds into me. His pace quickens until I feel a sudden orgasm ripping through me. He grunts, moving faster, with a string of murmured expletives. But I feel like I’ve forgotten how to speak or interpret English entirely (weird, I know) as I crash over the edge, clawing my nails deep into his shoulders, bucking my body against his in satisfaction.
I realize he’s climaxing just at the tail end of my own, and it somehow lures another one out of me right on top of the first intense swell of pleasure. I can’t remember any man ever being able to make me come twice in a row with no pause between, and it leaves me limp and moaning with my back still braced against the wall.
As my pleasure fades, I expect things to become incredibly awkward. I can’t believe what came over me enough to lead to all of that, but the lingering sensations in my body tempt me not to care. I feel more at ease as he runs his hand along the nape of my neck, arching my face to his for a long, soft kiss. When he pulls back, he trails his thumb along my bottom lip, giving me a strange look somewhere between chastising me and admiring me.
He carefully lowers my legs back to the floor, but they’re shaky, and it doesn’t feel solid anymore. As I catch my breath, I can’t help but laugh.
“Oh, blimey.” I feel a blush creep up my cheeks as I reach for my clothes scattered across the floor.
He grins. “I came in here to blow off some steam, but…”
“…and that’s exactly what you did,” I stammer, unable to contain my smile. At least I found my voice again! “I guess I should say I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me.” I stand as I slide my skirt back over my hips, and I’m surprised to find him standing inches away again, staring me down intently. It causes my voice to drop, and I lose myself in his blue eyes. “I’m glad I could help you blow off some steam, though. Stressful day?”
“I guess, yeah. But once you walked in here, I thought about how you teased me with that kiss the other night, and I couldn’t resist.”
“Oh,” is all I can say, a dreamy daze on my face.
But suddenly his demeanor changes. He clears his throat and turns to get his own clothes, his voice returning to normal. “But I should be clear about something: I’m not looking for a relationship right now.”
My brain struggles to keep up. A relationship isn’t exactly what I had in mind when I told him he could have me for dessert right here in his changing room. But I didn’t really have my mind on anything at all beyond his glorious, naked body standing there in front of me.
“Me either,” I agree casually. “I’ll have to return to London in six months, anyway.”
“So you’ve mentioned.”
“Less than six months, to be precise.”
His position as my boss becomes glaring as I speak the words, realizing it’s my performance here at this job that determines whether or not I get to stay here in the states until then. With a heavy sigh, I think it’s definitely for the best neither of us expect some office romance to come out of this. I thought he was strikingly handsome when he helped me on the side of the road, and seeing him in that suit when he interviewed me only made it worse. Maybe after this, I can finally let go of this ridiculous attraction to him.
“Okay, I’m glad we’re on the same page.”
I snap to, realizing I’d been staring off into space as I tried to collect my thoughts. “Right. It’s good we got this out
of our system. Now things can go back to normal. You know, in a professional sense.”
He seems relieved, but there’s a tinge of something else behind it. Surprise, maybe? Or amazement? But I shake it off. He’s probably used to women begging him to rethink and trying to make him settle down.
“Well, I should get back to work.” I check my reflection in the mirror, after having cleaned myself up, so it won’t be obvious to everyone that I found more than I bargained for on my jaunt around the building. Once my hair and makeup are back in place, I turn for the door.
“Charlie?” he calls out to me, walking up too close.
I’m suspended there in his gaze once again, not knowing what to expect next. I feel his hand press against the small of my back as he pulls me in for one last painfully sweet and gentle kiss. Definitely not the kind of kiss that says this is the end of it, but I know it has to be. I believe it must be some sort of ploy to leave me wanting more, and it works—almost. He pulls away, and my eyes are frozen shut with my lips still parted.
“I’ll talk to you later,” he murmurs.
A surge of happiness fills me up inside, maybe just at the relief of finally having sex again—good sex, no less—with a devastatingly attractive man in a way I thought only ever came true in Hollywood movies.
I nod, excuse myself and head back to my desk, eager to put the whole thing behind me. But there’s no reason why I can’t cling onto the sense of satisfaction I feel inside.
9
Joel
The boys and I meet up at the club’s garage a couple blocks from the Hell’s Seven’s strip club, Sinner’s Lounge, to gear up for our trip to Vegas. A few guys from the Rhode Island chapter of our MC join us, including Max. Vorn’s here, our boss, and Ralphie—his second in command. Don’t let his “kid from a cutesy-ass Christmas movie” name fool you—his full beard and rough appearance is enough to make just about any man piss himself if it came down to a fight. I’ve seen it happen a few times.