Pursuing Aries

by Linzi Baxter

  I leaned forward and pressed my lips to the scar. His breath hitched when my lips touched his skin. Brandon grabbed my ass with both hands, lifting me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck as he walked us down the hallway to my room.

  He flipped on the switch, illuminating my bedroom. Brandon was the first man I’d actually brought back to my house. Usually, I would insist on sleeping at their home or a hotel, because my bedroom looked like something from a Disney movie, or as Lily liked to say, “pink threw up in my room.”

  Instead of commenting on my room, he ran his callused hand down the side of my arm while placing kisses along the bottom of my neck. “Let me take care of you tonight.”

  My mind was so lost in his touch. I didn’t care what he did to me. “As long as you let me take care of you.”

  He stared into my eyes for a second before capturing my lips and slowly working my red dress up my body. We broke the kiss so he could pull the dress over the top of my head. I was standing in the middle of my room in a black lace bra and matching panties. When Brandon stepped back, I went to cover up my body, feeling insecure.

  “I want to see you.”

  After a couple seconds, I slowly lowered my arms from covering my body.

  His pupils dilated as I stood in front of him. Feeling more secure, I reached behind me and slowly undid my bra, letting it fall to the floor. When I looped my fingers in my panties to take them down, he shook his head. “Lay in the center of the bed.”

  I had never been with someone so direct during sex. It only fed the need to be with him. Sometimes I would find myself second-guessing each move. Now I felt like he understands me if I did anything wrong.

  Once I was in the middle of the bed, I looked up at him and smiled, “Here?”

  He crawled to the center of the bed and kissed my hip bone. “Here is perfect.” He traced the top of my lace panties with his tongue. For a second, I became embarrassed by how needy he was making me.

  His eyes skimmed my body before locking with mine. “I’ve wanted to strip you down and have my way with you since the first time I saw you.”

  “Me too.” My words hitched as he grabbed my panties in his teeth and slowly pulled them down my body. “You’re making me crazy.”

  I couldn’t help but squirm as he ran kisses up the inside of my thigh.

  “You have too many clothes on,” I complained as he pressed his mouth to me. My back arched off the bed, enjoying the warmth of his touch.

  Brandon ignored my complaint and slowly worked kisses up my body, stopping at my breast and taking my taut nipple in his mouth. He bit down slightly, sending pleasure and pain through my body.

  “That hurt.”

  “Hmm.” He ran his finger through my folds. “I think you liked it.”

  “Yes,” I moaned. He was playing my body like a finely tuned machine. My vibrator was the only thing that could ever give me an orgasm, and the way he was touching me, I was close without even having him inside me.

  He switched to my other nipple and took it between his teeth. The mixture between the nip and his lips wrapped around was enough to make me go over the edge. My body arched off the bed, pushing my nipple farther into his mouth. I couldn’t help but rub my sex against Brandon’s jeans as I came.

  “Damn, that was hot.”

  Brandon stood up from the bed, and immediately, I missed his weight against me. He stripped down his jeans and boxers. Before climbing back in bed, he reached down and pulled a condom out of his pocket.

  For the first time, I was so lost in lust. I hadn’t even thought about protection. I was at least glad Brandon was thinking with a level head as he slowly worked himself back on the bed, but I wanted to taste him.

  I pressed at his chest until he was lying on his back. I wanted to give him the same pleasure he had given me. Before he could say anything, I wrapped my lips around his dick. When I heard him moan in pleasure, I moaned. His eyes were locked on me as I took his length in my mouth. With each bob of my head, his jaw ticked trying to keep control. I wanted the total opposite—I wanted him to lose control like he’d made me.

  “Stop,” he ground out.

  I took his length out of my mouth. “You didn’t like it?”

  He rolled his eyes. “You damn well know I liked it, but I want to be inside you.”

  The condom Brandon threw on the bed was sitting next to him. I tore it open with my teeth. His eyes never left mine as I worked the condom down his hard shaft. I raised my hips, so I was above him then slowly worked my way down.

  Something about Brandon brought out a side I had never had. The lights were still on in the room, and he could see every inch of me as I went up and down on his hard member. His fingers bit into my hips, keeping me from going too slow. After a while, Brandon flipped me over on my back and rested his forearm next to my head for leverage, and pushed himself inside me. With each thrust, I arched my back, meeting him. I came again, calling his name. Brandon only made it a few more thrusts before he came.

  He climbed off the bed and went to the bathroom to dispose of the condom before coming back and pulling me against his chest. Throughout the night, he woke me, and we had earth shattering sex more than once.

  11

  Sasha

  Three weeks had passed since we first slept together. I couldn’t stop thinking about the night before—or this morning in the shower. Since college, I had been with a few men, but nothing compared to last night. My lips still tingled from the kiss he’d given me before leaving for work.

  He didn’t care my chest was on the small side. The man spent hours worshiping my body.

  The Black brothers still hadn’t filled the vacancy from my boss’s death. Brandon told me the night before that they were close to making an arrest, but he couldn’t tell me who it was. Sometimes it was frustrating that he had to keep things from me. In the end, I understood that I might accidentally say something. If I didn’t know, I couldn’t let it slip.

  Mike, the intern, had been fired a few days after Mr. Walker's death. I still wasn’t sure how the guy had passed the test that NSS gave to new hires. I remember he had all the right answers in the interview. Before being hired, they had to complete a test, and Mike had passed with almost a perfect score. Jared would never consider hiring someone without advanced knowledge.

  I sat down with him a few days after he’d tried to say I killed my boss, but his knowledge was so lacking, I found myself frustrated and sent Jared an email telling him to take care of it. They had taken a lot of his privileges away after he deleted the code, but I didn’t want to chance him doing something else wrong. Jared was also going to look into seeing if somehow he cheated on the test

  My phone lit up with a text. How is work? My face lit up when I saw it was from Brandon.

  I quickly replied. It’s going good. Placing the phone back next to me I went back to looking at code.

  The launch had gone smoothly a couple weeks ago. I’d snagged seats for Brandon in the executive viewer lounge. It was attached to the control station. Lily, Tommy, and Kaylene were also in the viewer lounge.

  Jared and I were always in the control station for each launch to make sure nothing went wrong. We weren’t the only ones. The room was filled with aerospace engineers and mechanical engineers. Even Jacob and Jax stood in the room, watching. The only person speaking during the launch was the person reporting on the rocket. Each person was looking for anything out of the norm, but it worked.

  They tested the first launch in the new rocket built for tourist travel. I still didn’t understand why people were going to pay millions of dollars to go to space for a few minutes. The simulation in the tourist shop at NSS felt just like being in space. It only cost ten dollars and lasted for thirty minutes.

  The first time I tried out the simulation I was light-headed for the rest of the day, and at that moment, I knew I would only assist in building the rockets and never want to go to space. At least if I got sick in the simulati
on, they can stop it and take me out. In space, there was no option. My luck, I would go on a rocket, and it would get stuck in space—we would need to eat the other passengers.

  We’d made the adjustments and ran a simulation this morning. We were working on adjusting the amount of fuel intake the reactor needed to take off. He wanted the number down, so we were improving what other areas that the craft required during the process.

  My phone lit up again with a text from Brandon. That’s good. You want me to pick up takeout on the way home?

  Home. I loved that he called my house home. It was easier staying at my place than taking Benji back and forth.

  I also liked getting to see him every day. I’d never understood what it was like to fall in love with someone. Lily always talked about Jacob and how he completed her. It had never made sense until now. Before my mom died, my dad would worship the ground she walked on. I’d also seen what losing the love of his life had done to my dad.

  My dad was different from me—I could think about the gloom of what-if. but Dr. Rose would throw the Kleenex box at me if I went back down the thoughts of what-ifs. She’d worked years to change my thinking. Every so often, when I would start down a dark path, I would make an appointment with her, but it had been a couple years since I’d last seen my therapist.

  The sound of high heels walking down the hallway tore me out of my thoughts. Kaylene walked into my office and sat down in the guest chair across from my desk.

  I’d almost forgot to reply to Brandon. Sounds good. See you tonight.

  When I looked up from my phone, Kaylene rolled her eyes before handing me a piece of chocolate. She always had chocolate on her when her boss pissed her off. It was also easier to escape to my office and talk instead of Lily’s. Our friend Lily only sat a couple doors down from Kaylene, and Jared would always stop there first when he was looking for Kaylene.

  “From the smile on your face,” She popped a piece of chocolate in her mouth. “I take it you were texting with Brandon.”

  I had nothing to hide. “We were making plans for tonight.”

  “Does he have any hot cop friends you can hook me up with?” A text alert went off on her phone, and she looked down at it. I could only assume it was from Jared, by the frown on her face.

  “Why don’t you just fuck and get it over with.” It wasn’t hard to see the chemistry between Kaylene and Jared when they were in the same room together. But my stubborn boss wouldn’t go on a date with her.

  Tossing me another candy, she narrowed her eyes. “Who do you think I should have sex with?”

  I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. She knew exactly what I was talking about, but didn’t want to admit the attraction out loud. Kaylene had been Jared’s assistant for the past seven years. Every so often, she would quit, and a week later, Jared would talk her into coming back. He never filled the spot when she left. He would become an angry grouch, though.

  “Jared.”

  She let out a sigh. “That won’t happen again.”

  Again? “You two already slept together?”

  “No. I meant, that won’t ever happen.” Her cheeks turned bright red.

  I leaned forward in the chair. “You’re lying to me. You did sleep with him. I promise not to say anything—even to Lily—but I have to know when.”

  She reached across my desk and pulled a red rose from the bouquet Brandon had sent me. “Did Brandon send these to you?”

  She was hoping I would forget the fact that she had accidentally admitted to sleeping with Jared. Over the years everyone had talked about how handsome the Black brothers were. To me, they were more like my brothers and it felt strange looking at them that way.

  “Yes, they are from Brandon.” I leveled her with a glare. “But you never answered my question.”

  She glanced over her shoulder at the door. “Yes, but please don’t tell anyone. It was a mistake.”

  “I’m not sure I agree with you. The two of you have danced around your attraction for years. One day, he will get off his ass, and you guys will end up together. What I want to know is when?” I asked.

  Jared regularly made sure Kaylene was taken care of. A couple years back, a new engineer had made a pass at her and been fired the following day. Since then, no one had ever said anything terrible about Kaylene or hit on her. She’d made comments that Jared needed to mind his own business, but from the twinkle in her eye, Kaylene liked how protective he was over her.

  “At the hotel room when we were in New York for the gala.” She popped another chocolate in her mouth. “The afterglow hadn’t even settled before he profusely told me how big of a mistake it was, and it will never happen again.”

  Jared didn’t have the best life growing up, and Lily said that was why he wouldn’t settle down. I also remembered a woman in a red dress coming to pick him up when we got back to Houston from the trip. She’d pressed her lips to his on the tarmac.

  “That’s why you quit.”

  She rotated the rose in her hand. “Yes.”

  I could tell she loved Jared and was hoping he would come to her, but I doubted he would ever change. And after finding out he’d pulled such a dick move, I sure as hell didn’t think he deserved her. “I’m sure Brandon has a hot friend on the force I can hook you up with.”

  She placed the rose back in the vase. “Do you think he could find someone to go with me tonight?” She tried to hand me another chocolate bar. The bag was almost empty, and I was pretty sure I’d eaten more than I needed. “Jacob is having people over. Lily said I could bring a guest.”

  “It’s kind of short notice,” I explain. “And I don’t even know if we’re going. Lily didn’t say anything when she dropped the flowers off.”

  “That’s because Jacob just brought it up to her an hour ago.” She stood and brushed off her skirt. “Let me know. I’m not sure I can go alone. The skank that picked Jared up from the airport will be there tonight. He had me call and ask her to come.”

  Shaking my head, I stood up and walked over to give my friend a hug. “You don’t need him.”

  “I know,” her voice hitched. “But for some reason, my heart won’t get on the same page.”

  “It’s always easier for someone to stand on the outside and tell you how they feel.” I wiped the tear from her face.

  “I told myself if I came back here, I wouldn’t waste any more tears on him.” She wiped her other eye. “It’s only been three weeks, and I’m already crying again.”

  I shook my head. “Having you work here is the best thing, but maybe it’s not the best for you.”

  Her eyes wandered to the photo on my desk with the Black brothers, her, Lily, and me. “I’ve tried, but other jobs don’t pay the money I need to take care of my mom. Then I finally found one that did, and Jared wrecked it.”

  “How?” She’d never told me why she’d changed her mind and came back.

  “He bought out the business and fired me.” She let out an aggravated sigh. “Just when I think I’m rebuilding my life and over him, he comes in and fucks everything over. He knows I can’t leave the area because of my mom and her care. The house we live in is paid for. I only have to pay for the nurse to take care of her during the day.”

  I nodded. “Well, then we find you a hot man that can’t be bought off. I’m sure he wouldn’t bribe a cop.”

  She laughs through her tears. “I hope you’re right. Oh, and maybe the cop could cuff me to the bed.”

  Her phone dinged again, and she looked down and let out a sigh. She pinched the bridge of her nose. “I better head back up before he drives Lily up the wall.” She leaned forward and wrapped me in a hug. “This talk, along with the bag of chocolate, made me feel better. Let me know if your sexy cop has a friend he can bring tonight.”

  I glanced at the roses on my desk, and I couldn’t wait to thank him for the gift later.

  12

  Brandon

  Sasha smiled as I walked into her office, locking the office door behind me.
It was the middle of the day, and I had a cup of her favorite coffee from the shop across the street. Her gaze raked over my white T-shirt and jeans.

  I went home early after working two weeks nonstop on the case. Each night, I would go over to Sasha’s or she would bring Benji over to my house. Her dog loved my back yard. When my boss called to tell me they had a break in Sasha’s boss’s case, I jumped in the shower, changed, and headed down to NSS.

  Sasha stood up from her desk, and two quick steps later, she was in my arms. Her lips pressed firmly to mine. I ran my hands through her long hair, pulling her in closer. After a few seconds, I released her and stepped back.

  “You can kiss me like that every day,” she says. “But I’m guessing you came for another reason. I have to say the roses were nice.”

  I glanced down at her desk to see two dozen red rose in a blue vase sitting on the corner of her office. Stepping to the side to get a better look, I asked, “Was there a card?”

  “Yeah.” She walked over to her desk and picked up a two-by-three-inch card. “You didn’t send it?”

  I grabbed a Kleenex from the box on her desk. “Let me see.” I pinched the card between the tissues, making sure not to touch it. “No.”

  Sasha stood next to me as I read the note. “Do you think the person who killed my boss sent them? Not sure why they would, but I don’t have any other clue who would send me flowers… I really thought they were from you.” The last part came out as almost a whisper.

  I glanced up from the note. “No. Who delivered these to your office?”

  She paced the length of the small office and let out a sigh. “Lily brought them to me. She was walking by the front desk and asked who they were for.”

  The lady at the front desk was now down at the station for questions. She was the reason I stopped by Sasha’s office building in the first place.

  “It will be fine.” I reached out and pulled her toward me. “I think I might know who sent them.”