by Jacey Ward
“I promise, sis,” he told her cajolingly. “If you do this, I will be out of your hair forever.”
“You say that every damned time!” she snapped.
“This time is definitely different,” he assured her.
“Why don’t I believe that,” Ayla retorted. “No, Ryland, I’m out.”
Without warning, he flew across the room, grabbing her arms with both hands and squeezing like a vice.
“You haven’t even heard my terms,” he snarled, and Ayla choked back a sob as she tried unsuccessfully to wriggle free.
“I don’t want to hear them,” she whispered but she could barely hear herself. “You’re never going to let me go!”
His face seemed to soften slightly but he didn’t release his grip on her shoulders.
“Just listen to what I have to say and maybe you’ll believe me this time,” he cajoled. “Please, sis?”
Ayla swallowed the bile in her throat and nodded, lowering her blue eyes.
“Okay, Ryland,” she mumbled. “What do you need from me this time?”
“Your new boss may be my ticket, sweetie,” Ryland said soothingly. “I have some old connections who are able to make anonymous transfers from offshore accounts.”
Her head moved up slowly and she tried to comprehend what that had to do with her.
“So?” she finally asked when he did not immediately continue. “What does that have to do with me?”
“You’re going to help me get Diren Benning’s offshore account numbers. That’s all I need to make this work, sis.”
Ayla gaped at him, unsure whether to laugh or cry.
“Are you fucking crazy?” she asked him, wresting herself free. “You want to steal money from Diren Benning?”
Ryland’s eyes narrowed menacingly.
“Of course not!” he snapped as if she was the idiot. “I don’t want to steal anything.”
She exhaled slowly, shaking her head.
“Good. Because that’s pretty stupid, Ryland.”
Even for you, she wanted to add but dared not. She was already pushing her luck by speaking her mind so boldly.
He folded his arms across his chest and nodded.
“I agree,” he replied. “That’s why you’re going to do it.”
She stared at him balefully.
“What the hell do I know about stealing and moving money, Ryland?” she asked, shaking her head in exasperation. She tried not to roll her eyes, fearing they would fall out of her head, she was so annoyed.
God, he’s such an idiot. Does he have any active brain cells connected? Can he even comprehend how difficult, not to mention suicidal, doing something like that to Diren Benning would be?
“Nothing, of course,” he answered, looking like he was growing irritated with her. “Like I said, I have connections for that.”
She waited, her own arms folding over her chest.
“Well what the hell do you want?” she almost yelled. “Spit it out so I can say no and go to sleep. It’s two o’clock in the morning!”
“I want you to find out which accounts he has offshores and find me their numbers.”
She laughed aloud even though doing so to Ryland’s face had never ended well for her.
“You make it sound like it’s a matter of clicking open a banking app,” she growled. “It’s not that easy and I wouldn’t even know where to look if I could find a way to access his computers. You think he’s just going to throw me on his personal computer and let me have at it? Come on Ryland, this is insane. Go home.”
“He might let you onto his computers,” Ryland replied quietly, and Ayla could see he would not take no for an answer.
“And how do you figure that?” she sighed. She was growing tired very fast and wanted the sinister presence out of her haven once and for all.
“I think you know how,” Ryland replied suggestively, licking his lips in that way which always sent chills through her body.
“Are you kidding me, Ryland? You want me to seduce my boss?”
“I want you to get those numbers for me,” he snarled, grabbing her by the throat. “I don’t give a shit how you do it!” Spittle flew into her face as he spoke.
**
“You better go get yourself some coffee before Mr. Benning – “ Cat’s voiced snapped her out of the memory from the previous night. Her problems seemed to be stacking, one on top of the other. She felt a headache building behind her eyes. First things first, she told herself. Deal with Benning and his undercover mission first. Then work on Ryland’s last request. She nodded her head to herself, the plan set in her mind, but as she did, the room tipped just a bit to the right.
Okay, so maybe I had a bit too much to drink, she thought defensively. But it was at Benning’s request…kind of.
The interior door opened and the man who had been inside the office with Diren stormed out, his face red with anger.
“He looks piss-y!” Ayla stage-whispered, covering her mouth to stop the giggle from emerging.
“Ayla, you better go - ” Catrina started to say, but Diren appeared before she could finish her thought. He stared hard at her, his eyes piercing clear through to her soul, it felt.
“Ayla, get in here,” he snarled, his jaw locked in fury.
She looked at Catrina, but the woman only averted her eyes, shaking her head.
Gulping, Ayla tripped inside the office, trying to keep her balance on her heels as she entered.
“Close the door,” he spat, and she knew that she was in big trouble.
“It’s not what it looks like!” Ayla told him before he could say another word. He sank into his chair and glared at her.
“Are you drunk?” he snapped.
“Yes, sort of…but – “
“Is this a work day?” he interrupted.
“It is, Mr. Benning, but I – “
“You’re fired.”
The words filled her with shock and she shook her head.
“No!” she retorted, folding her arms over her chest. “You can’t fire me!”
He stared at her in disbelief.
“You’re joking, right? You’re off your face and you expect me to what? Keep you around?”
“I was out doing what you asked me to do!” she yelled back, her face growing red with anger. “You can’t fire me for doing what you told me to do!”
Diren’s mouth formed a fine line of anger.
“I asked you to go get drunk?” he asked, snorting at the suggestion. “Are you insane?”
“You asked me to get close to Delia Craver. That’s what I was doing!”
“And you thought you had to take her out drinking during the day to do it?”
Ayla could see he was not listening to anything she was telling him.
Slowly she began to shake her head. He wouldn’t even let her explain.
“You really are a bastard,” she heard herself say. “It’s not just a rumor. You’re a bona fide prick.”
Diren’s smoky grey eyes narrowed as the words registered.
“You wouldn’t be the first to call me that,” he replied shortly. “But I would have thought you’d be more creative. You may collect your things and leave.”
As if she had already disappeared from his sight, he turned his attention back to his desk.
“No.”
He arched a dark eyebrow, pursing his lips.
“Really? You’re going to make me call security?”
She placed her hands on his desk and leaned forward, spitting her words.
“You can call whomever you want,” she told him furiously. “But if you have me thrown out of here, whatever I learned today goes with me.”
An entirely different expression seemed to come over Diren’s face.
Ayla realized he was weighing the truth in her words.
“And what did you learn today?” he drawled, his lids dropping to leer at her. “That tequila needs a rum chaser?”
She stared back at him for moment, not replyin
g, instead plucking her cell phone from the depth of her purse.
She pressed play and allowed Delia’s voice to fill the room.
“Nope. I was his executive assistant for a year and we screwed from the second day I got the job, right to the very last. That’s why he fired me, I’m sure of it!”
Diren seemed to freeze as she stopped the recording.
“But if you aren’t interested in what else she has to say…” Ayla said, spinning to make a hopefully grand exit. “I will collect my things and leave.”
Her hand on the knob, his voice shot out.
“Wait!”
Ayla paused but she did not turn, waiting for the right words.
“What else did she say?”
“I guess you’ll never know,” she retorted, glancing at him over her shoulder. “Since you like to shoot first and ask questions later.”
Diren stared at her for a long moment and then lowered his eyes in exasperation.
“What are you going to do with that information? Go to the papers? Because I will sue you so fast – “
Ayla scoffed.
“I know - I signed a nondisclosure agreement,” Ayla rolled her eyes as she continued, “But even if I hadn’t, I have no interest in going to the press with this. Or anything else for that matter. I got this recording because you asked me to do it. If you don’t want it, I’m just going to destroy it.”
His head jerked up and he gazed at her, his lips twitching as if he could not imagine she would take such valuable information and throw it away.
“Really?” he asked skeptically. “You would just walk out of here and delete it.”
“I’ll delete it before I walk out of here, if you want,” she replied, her hand hovering over the button.
“Wait!” he cried, realizing what she was about to do. “I want to hear it.”
She fully turned and eyeballed him, waiting.
“Let me hear it,” he ordered, and she shook her head.
“You owe me an apology,” she told him. “And my job back.”
His eyes narrowed dangerously at her.
“A what?” he spat. “Are you crazy?”
A flash of nervousness bolted through Ayla and she realized that in her intoxicated state, she might be pushing her luck with the powerful CEO a little far. Okay, a lot far.
He rose from his chair and stalked toward her and before Ayla could react, he pinned her against the door, his eyes bright with anger as his hand cupped the side of her neck and his thumb raised her chin to the angle he wanted.
She gasped, her heart hammering.
“You want an apology?” he growled, his hand tightening around her face. “Here’s your apology.”
*****************************
Diren stared into her eyes as his hand held her in place, noting the look of panic in her face. It stirred him deliciously.
Before he could stop himself, he crushed his lips to hers, tasting the bite of vodka on her lips as he slipped his tongue inside her mouth.
She gasped, raising her hands to push him away but the action was without any effort and Diren felt her acceptance of his forceful caress, as she allowed her mouth to part, permitting him entrance. His right hand began to explore as his left palm slipped back to cup her rear, pulling her curvy but toned body toward him.
Any semblance of a fight was forsaken as she entwined her fingers in his hair, pulling his head toward hers.
He half wondered if she would have pretended to protest his actions if she had not been tipsy. It didn’t really matter; her resolve was farcical in any case.
His hand massaged her full, round ass cheeks with hard, almost pinching motions as he dipped her head back and sank his mouth into her neck.
Ayla sighed, and his hand slipped back to twist her dark hair into his closed fist, while lifting her skirt upward to expose her thong.
She cried out slightly as he bit into the soft flesh of her neck, pressing her fully against the door of the office with a thud.
Ayla’s hands tightened in his hair, as he pulled hers, his lips traveling across her neck, down to the buttons of her blouse. Her core responded to the brazenness of his caresses by flooding her panties with moisture.
Between her voluptuous buttocks, he rubbed, toying with the string of her thong, allowing it to slap against her center as his fingers danced precariously close to her openings, causing her core to clench with anticipation.
With long, deliberate strokes, he teased the entrance to her pussy, his thumb caressing her most delicate slot as he slipped a finger inside her.
She moaned softly, aware of Catrina sitting a few feet away at her desk, but she could barely stifle her cries when he added a second finger, his mouth finding the taut skin of her nipple.
He bared his teeth, nipping at her sensitive breast as the movements of his fingers grew more aggressive and Ayla began to writhe, trying to reach the precipice that was looming fast, trying to force him to send her over. But it was no use.
Diren had her exactly where he wanted her.
He sucked forcefully on her nipple, simultaneously working on her clit, the motions in tandem, robbing her of breath. He paused, just as a rush of liquid heat flooded through her to dampen his hand.
“Is this the kind of apology you’re looking for?” he taunted her as she realized she was trapped in this spot, at his mercy against the wood door. “Do I seem sorry enough yet?”
She whimpered as he rose to his full height, withdrawing his fingers to slowly slide one inside her gaping mouth, leaving the sweet essence of her on her own tongue.
The sensual and shocked look in her eyes as he pulled his finger away only added to the throbbing between his own legs and he boldly sucked on the other honey coated finger himself. The punch of lust that went straight to his groin at the taste of her almost made him groan out loud.
She looked so innocent as she stared at him, licking her own lips tentatively, and then sucking the trace of juices away eagerly.
He knew if he let her go, she would fall. Her body was soft beneath his.
Slowly, he began to slide his hand down the front of her body…
********************
To find out what happens to Ayla and Diren in this 5-star rated book, click on the cover to get the full story on Amazon.
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