by Maris Black
“And to pop into my office fifty times a day to gossip.”
“Don’t even try to pretend you don’t like it. You’d be lost without me.”
“If by lost you mean oblivious to the color of Catwoman Cathy’s new glasses or the fact that Alicia’s new boyfriend has a receding hairline, then yes. I’d be completely lost. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Steve said with an endearing grin.
“Now get your lacy bloomers out of here. I’ve got actual work to do.”
CHAPTER 2
KAGE
I woke to a throbbing in my head and an aching body. Rolling over was a chore, and my muscles groaned in protest as I maneuvered myself into a sitting position on the side of the bed. For a disoriented second, I wondered if I’d been hit by a train, and then I remembered. Four trains had hit me, and they’d been wearing steel-toed boots and carrying guns.
I shuddered, remembering how calmly Theodore Brown had smiled as he’d told me goodbye, all the while knowing what I was walking into. Knowing that he had ordered an ambush on me, and that the only mercy I’d be shown was getting to live afterward.
Fucking bastard.
I spotted the bottle of hydrocodone on the bedside table where Jamie had left it for me, along with a bottle of water, a note, and his cell phone. Even when we weren’t particularly getting along, he was thoughtful.
I went for the pills first, shaking two into my hand and then adding a third before gulping them down with water. I needed to be careful. This kind of pain was the stuff overdoses were made of.
Jamie’s note was short and to the point: I’m downstairs working if you need me. Ice yourself when you get up. He’d drawn a cute little heart and kissy lips under the words, and that made me smile.
Yeah, he still loved me.
I shuffled to the bathroom to take a much-needed piss, removed the uncomfortable compression bandages, and made a detour on the way back to bed to grab the dreaded frozen peas from the freezer. Without Jamie’s help, icing my back wasn’t easy, but I managed. I read a little more in Santori’s journals while I was immobilized. I had a burning need to discover everything I could about his life, and hopefully more about my own. It was tough knowing that a huge chunk of my life was just random snippets and fuzzy images, as if I’d barely existed before puberty. I was going to have to learn about myself through someone else’s eyes. That is if my family or I was even mentioned at all.
Just before time to remove the frozen peas, a text message notification sounded. It was a reminder for a doctor’s appointment I hadn’t made, with a doctor I’d never heard of. The message said they were expecting me there in two hours.
For a split second, I was upset. I’d told Jamie no doctors, but apparently he had taken it upon himself to make an appointment for me anyway. I knew he was worried about me, but it was ultimately my decision whether or not to see a doctor. Not his. He had no idea what was at stake here.
I had enough of a conscience to admit it was partly my fault for not being honest with him about the attack, but goddammit why couldn’t he just listen to me? I wasn’t angry. Just disappointed.
After returning the bags of peas to the freezer, I called the front desk and had them transfer me to Jamie’s office. He picked up on the third ring.
“Jamie Atwood.” His voice was all business-like, and I took a second to be impressed.
“It’s me,” I said. “What are you doing?”
“Just working. Going through these millions of emails and wishing I had an assistant.” He paused, then started backtracking. “Not that I’m asking you to hire me an assistant or anything. I don’t really need one. It was a joke, because emails are just annoying.”
“Jamie, I know you’re not hitting me up for an assistant. But if you ever really did need one, I hope you would feel comfortable asking me. I told you I would get you whatever you need for your business, and I meant it.”
He let out an audible breath. “I know. Forget it. I’m just being an idiot. How are you feeling?”
“Shitty,” I admitted. “But I’ll be leaving for the doctor’s office in about an hour and a half.”
I waited, letting my words sink in. It didn’t feel right just launching into a tirade, because I knew he was only looking out for me. He didn’t deserve my anger, but we did need to talk about it.
“Are you okay?” The naked alarm in his voice was a surprise. “Something bad happened, didn’t it? Are you coughing up blood or something? Just sit tight, and I’ll be there in just a minute to help you to the Rover. Wait, I should probably pull it around to the front door. No, I’ll get Steve to pull it around while I come up and get you. Or maybe we should just call 911 and let them take you to the emergency room.”
“Slow down, Jamie. I’m fine. But—” Confusion set in. There was no way he would be that shocked if he had made the appointment.
“Don’t lie to me,” Jamie said, his voice wavering. “If there’s nothing to worry about, why did you change your mind about going to the doctor? Please don’t shut me out, Kage. Not when it has to do with your health. I’m scared.”
Fuck. If Jamie hadn’t made the appointment, then who the hell had? I needed to figure that out, but first I had to calm him down. I felt guilty for having scared him, and even more for having doubted him.
“Hey,” I said firmly, raising my voice to cut through his heavy breathing. God, it sounded like he was going to hyperventilate. “I’m fine, baby. When I woke up this morning all stiff and uncomfortable, I just decided it wasn’t such a bad idea to go and have someone take a look. Maybe they can suggest something to help me recover faster.”
It was a lie, but it was for a good cause. Just until I could figure this shit out. Eventually I was going to have to come clean to Jamie, but for now…
His breathing slowed and quieted. “You promise you’re okay?”
“I promise I’m not any worse off than I was yesterday. Quit worrying and get back to your emails. I’ll stop by your office in a bit, but right now I need to get dressed.”
Jamie reluctantly got off the phone, and I clicked on the mysterious text message again. If Jamie didn’t make the appointment, and I didn’t make the appointment, then who did? It was too big much of a coincidence to be a mistake. So the logical question was, who all knew I was hurt?
Theo knew, of course. And his goons. But it didn’t make sense that any of them would make a doctor’s appointment for me. Were they planning to finish me off in a public place? Have a doctor administer a fatal dose of something during my examination? It was just totally implausible.
But who else knew? I hadn’t spoken to Dr. Key since the attack. Had Jamie told Steve? Maybe, but it was highly unlikely that Steve would have made an appointment for me, and certainly not without at least consulting Jamie first.
No one else knew. Except… Oh, God.
Aaron knew.
My heart jumped into my throat. When we’d talked on the phone, he said he would be seeing me soon, but he’d been mysterious about the details. He was always mysterious about everything.
Aaron. That had to be it. This whole thing smacked of his down-low espionage shit. Then again, maybe I was just tripping. I had been eating hydrocodone like candy. Hell, there was even a slim chance I’d been so altered by the drugs that I’d made the appointment myself. It was the most unlikely of all the scenarios I could come up with, but I had to admit it wasn’t outside the realm of possibility.
No, it almost had to be Aaron. And if there was any chance it was him, I had to go. He had answers I needed, and after the vanishing act he’d pulled after my uncle’s death, I was pretty sure he wasn’t just going to waltz right in through the front door of the Alcazar.
With a deep sigh, I pulled on a loose pair of gray sweats, a dark blue t-shirt, and sneakers. Too late, I noticed the pile of compression dressings I had forgotten to put on. They were uncomfortable anyway, so I said fuck it and left them off.
I brushed my teeth, ran a hand throug
h my hair, and headed downstairs with Jamie’s cell phone. I limped into the elevator and pressed the button for the lobby, trying in vain to pretend my tenderized flesh wasn’t about to fall off the bone.
Damn, I hurt all over. Thank goodness the meds were starting to kick in hard, the familiar tingle beneath my skin promising relief.
When I stepped off the elevator, I made my way through the lobby as quickly as I could, keeping my head down. I didn’t want to talk to anyone. I wasn’t in any mood to play boss man today. Thank God Steve was away from the desk. If he saw me, I’d be stuck in an endless conversation.
I got through the lobby without incident and headed down the small hallway that led to Jamie’s office. I pushed his door open and stepped gingerly inside, sucking in a sharp breath when I caught sight of him sitting behind his desk.
His beauty caught me off guard, as if it had been months instead of hours since I’d last seen him. He was fresh-faced beneath the boyish waves of his dark hair, and he was wearing those damned sexy glasses. My own personal Clark Kent, and only I knew how freaky he could get when the glasses came off.
His warm brown eyes stretched wide when he saw me, and he smiled, melting me with that unmistakable air of innocence he always carried. It was just like the first time we met, when I’d felt the undeniable pull of something rare and precious. I needed his innocence. Needed to own it, eradicate it, and preserve it all at the same time. I didn’t understand my own conflicting feelings, but it was a conundrum that I’d happily spend the rest of my life trying to work out.
All thoughts of my mysterious doctor’s appointment evaporated. Right now all I could think was that Jamie looked like he needed a good fucking—to be bent over that desk with his dress shirt and perfectly-fitted slacks torn off and lying in a heap on the floor. I wanted him naked and begging for my cock. Unfortunately, with my injuries, I was pretty useless at the moment.
Maybe tomorrow…
Jamie removed his glasses and set them on the desk, but his bright smile morphed into a smirk as he noticed I was hobbling around the desk to get to him. “Great. I’m dating an old man.”
I used every ounce of willpower I had to straighten my gait and pretend I wasn’t about to fall down. “Trust me, babe. I may walk like an old man, but I fuck like a cheetah.”
Jamie laughed. “A cheetah? That is the most disturbing analogy I’ve ever heard. What does that even mean?”
“You know… old men are slow, cheetahs are fast.” My face colored. “Fuck, I don’t know. I’m thinking with the wrong head right now. Just go with it.”
I bent down over him with some effort, my face coming to hover just above his as he gazed up at me. So much better than the last couple of days when we’d been arguing. He graced me with another of his innocent smiles—something I hadn’t seen enough of lately.
It made me fucking hard.
I covered his mouth with mine and forced his soft lips apart with my tongue, invading him and taking every bit of pleasure I could. He opened wide for me, making slutty little moans with every pass of our greedy tongues, getting off on me as much as I was on him.
I knew this feeling. It was us, and I hadn’t felt us in a while.
His fingers wound tightly in my hair and pulled, grinding my mouth down hard on his as if he thought I might try to escape. I groaned long and low and redoubled my efforts to ravish his face off.
“I want you so bad,” he panted between kisses. “Feel how hard I am.” He pulled my hand down beneath the desk and pressed my palm to his crotch, grinding against me like the little slut he was.
The hardness I found between his legs was too much to resist, and with no care for appropriate workplace behavior, I wrapped my fingers around his cock as best I could through the fabric of his pants and started to stroke. He shuddered against my lips and giggled.
So fucking adorable.
“You weren’t expecting this, were you?” I asked playfully.
“Not even close. Did you just stop by to mouth-rape me in my office?”
“Hell, no. If I’d had any idea this was going happen, I would have worn underwear.”
He got that little mischievous glint in his eyes I knew all too well. I had about half a second to realize this was about to get serious before he drew his head back and eyed my dick, which was currently snaking its way down the left leg of my sweats.
“Is all of that for me?” he asked, licking his lips.
“Mmm hmmm. Every inch of it.”
He tore into my pants like he was unwrapping a gift and freed my cock, drawing it up and out and straight into his mouth.
“Jesus, Jamie,” I cried out, as much from shock as desire. “You don’t mess around, do you?”
He was hungry for it, pulling off of me and murmuring, “Not today,” before gobbling it down again.
Watching him lose control that way was a total high, affecting me even more than the painkillers that were slowly spreading through my system. My instinct was to close my eyes and lose myself to the sensations—the wet warmth of his mouth around me, the slick glide of his tongue along the underside of my shaft, the drag of his soft lips against my aching flesh.
But as soon as my eyes fluttered shut, they flew back open again. I wanted to watch. There was nothing I’d rather see than my sweet Jamie swallowing my cock.
As usual, he made it very clear with every movement and every sound that he wanted me to use him—to rough him up and make him take more than he thought he could. So I obliged, shoving my entire length down his throat and making him choke on it.
“That’s it, baby. Take that dick.” I grabbed him by the back of his head and locked him in place while I gave a few rapid-fire pumps into the back of his throat. “You love it when I use you like that, don’t you?”
When he gagged hard, I pulled out, watching as a thin string of saliva stretched from his mouth to the head of my cock before breaking and disappearing. I wound my fingers into the fine hair just above the nape of his neck and pulled. Jamie yelped in surprise, but then his lashed lowered, and his eyes went unfocused as he responded to the pain.
“You know I love it,” he said in a low, lust-slurred voice. “Don’t stop.” He darted his tongue out and dragged it slowly over the head of my dick, pausing to kiss the slit and lick into it. He was shameless. Wild-eyed. Completely undone with need.
“Take your dick out,” I told him. “Get it out now. I want to see it.”
He scrambled to unfasten his slacks and pull out his flushed and straining cock. Not waiting for any command or suggestion from me, he started stroking. Hard and fast like he was trying to beat me to the finish line. And I’ll be damned if his mouth didn’t open right back up in a blatant invitation for me to fuck it.
I did, pushing in without preamble and picking up right where I left off—buried deep in the back of his throat. He sputtered and moaned, yanking mercilessly on his own dick.
I watched him work himself, turned on by his own rough treatment of his equipment. I’d never seen him so desperate to get off. The level of his need was staggering, and my own body responded to it with a feral hunger of its own. The sensation grew inside me until I thought I would explode from the sheer magnitude of it… and still, it wasn’t enough.
Words spilled out of me. “Yeah, jerk it, baby. That’s it. So fucking hot. I’m gonna tear that tight little ass up tonight. You won’t be able to walk straight for a week.”
He moaned in response, unable to speak with his mouth stuffed full of me, but I could see how frantic my words had made him. His hand blurred over his cock, moving so fast in his desperation to get off that I thought he might hurt himself.
The sight of it sent waves of impending orgasm rippling through my belly and my balls, and I wanted to scream, No! Not now. Not when he’s so fucking beautiful.
But then he groaned around my cock, eyes rolling back in his head in blissed-out surrender, and came all over my sweats.
God, it was sexy and messy and so damn filthy. There
was no way I could see a thing like that and not spontaneously unload in his sweet mouth. I filled it up with spurt after spurt of hot come, my orgasm so forceful it felt like it was being ripped out of me.
Jamie was so dazed and lethargic from his own orgasm that he couldn’t possibly swallow it all down. I watched from beneath leaden eyelids as a thick stream of semen spilled out of his mouth and dribbled onto his slacks.
Jesus…
I pulled out of him slowly and reluctantly, my knees wobbly and my breath coming in harsh gasps.
“Uhhh…” Jamie groaned before slumping back in his chair, so boneless I thought he might slide onto the floor. “Wow. That was—” His head lolled toward the door as though he might pass out from satisfaction, but then he flew up from his seat and started frantically stuffing his dick back into his pants.
What the hell?
Dimly, through my post-orgasmic hydrocodone haze, I heard a yelp and turned to see Steve standing in the open doorway. The shock on his face told me all I needed to know, and I flipped my damp sweats back up over my still-stiff cock.
I think I was too medicated to be startled. But I was pissed off. Jamie rested his forehead on his desk and groaned, draping his arms over his head in utter embarrassment.
“What the fuck, Steve?” I demanded, hearing the sluggishness in my own voice.
His kohl-lined eyes nearly bugged out of his head as he stared, opening and closing his mouth in an unsuccessful attempt to form words.
I glared at him. “Have you ever heard of knocking? Jesus Christ.”
“I was trying to be quiet,” he wailed.
“You were sneaking up on us?” I was getting more furious by the second, and his explanation wasn’t helping.
“No, no,” Steve said, looking like he was about to piss his khakis. “I just—I heard voices through the door. I thought Jamie was in one of his video chats, so I tried not to make any noise. Oh, shit. I’m so sorry.”