Fisting one hand in her hair, he loosely wrapped his other hand around the side of her neck, pushing his thumb past her lips.
Sucking the thick digit, she surprised herself with how much she wished it was his cock in her mouth. She swirled her tongue around it, mimicking what her mouth would do to him if her lips were wrapped around him.
Grunting, Brad unleashed the last bit of control he seemed to have been holding on to. His slow, steady rhythm picked up the pace as he pounded into her. Pulling his thumb from her lips, he rested it against the side of her neck, feeling her quickening pulse. They held eye contact, each one unable or unwilling to look away.
She sensed how close he was to coming again, and she wanted to satisfy him, to feel him achieve the ultimate release because of her. It was empowering to know how much she pleased him, how much she pleased her mate. Tightening her vaginal muscles around him, she squeezed, determined to send him over the edge.
BRAD’S WOLF WANTED to howl in satisfaction. He could sense her wolf’s love and devotion to his. But it went both ways. Just as much as she needed to please him, he needed to please her.
“Never without you, Jayla.”
JAYLA WAS IN awe, as Brad’s deep voice seemed to vow to always put her needs above his. His words stirred her core, clicking into place the final piece of the puzzle of how things between their wolves would always be.
Jayla knew she’d never experienced anything more beautiful in her life than Brad intertwined with her body: his masculine features reflecting all the passion she felt deep inside, his blue eyes dark with desire, his heavy breathing mingled with grunts and moans, his bulky, muscled flesh flexing as it glistened with sweat.
Brad lost control of his rhythm but was still anchored to her, not once breaking eye contact. Pounding into her, he pushed them both closer to climaxing. Succumbing to the torrent of pleasure, Jayla exploded into a million pieces. Her loud scream of pleasure rose above them as her pussy contracted, squeezing his cock, demanding it release his cum deep inside her. Only when she was sated, whimpering in his arms from the aftermath of her climax, did Brad let himself enjoy what Jayla knew in her heart was the unmatched pleasure only his mate could make him feel.
Chapter Four
Brad perched on the corner of his cherrywood desk, glowering at his phone as if he could see the very pissed-off woman yelling at him over the loudspeaker. Arms folded across his chest, he ground his teeth to refrain from using language he would regret later.
“If you think I’m going to sit back and let you bulldoze me, you’ve got another thing coming, Brad.” Jayla’s voice rose in both pitch and volume as it blared through the speakerphone on his desk.
Arms still folded, he fisted his hands against the sides of his ribs, baring his teeth, relieved she couldn’t see how much she irritated him. “Jayla, I hate to interrupt you—”
“Then don’t. Mr. Maldonado is my client. His account is the most important account I oversee. It’s sad when I have to fly all the way from Seattle to Albuquerque in order to watch my back against a fellow colleague. The fact you’re trying to steal him is shameful and speaks volumes about your business morals.”
“Jayla, do you not remember Mr. Maldonado contacted my office because he’s interested in moving his headquarters to a city in my region? And coincidentally enough, the city he’s interested in happens to be the very city I live in. Do you not remember because of that fact he sought me out and asked me to put together information for him? Since he’s thinking about doing business in my region, the account transfers to my office.”
“Bullshit. I landed Maldonado over a year ago. You owed me the courtesy of letting me know he contacted you. You saw an opportunity, and you jumped all over it. You’re trying to manipulate the situation in your favor.”
Rising from the desk, Brad slammed his palms down on either side of the phone, lowering his head closer to the speaker. “It’s not my fault if your client has no confidence in you and called me.”
He could have sworn he heard what sounded like a faint growl come through the phone, and his lips stretched into a sneer of satisfaction. She was seething. At least he wasn’t alone.
“Make no mistake. He has every confidence in me.”
“Keep trying to convince yourself.”
“You’re an asshole.” It sounded like she spoke through clenched teeth.
“Careful, Jayla, your temper is starting to show. It’s not good business ethics to curse at me.”
“I’m so sick—”
“No, I’m sick of you, Ms. Stanton. And I wish I had nothing better to do than walk down the hallway to your temporary office. I would love to further this conversation in a more private manner where I could be more candid concerning my feelings for you. But unfortunately I can’t because I’m busy preparing a report for my new client, Mr. Maldonado.”
The gratifying sound of the dial tone echoed around him. Brad pumped his fist in the air, knowing he scored a small victory in making her hang up on him. Three fist pumps later the triumph was short-lived as his cell phone began vibrating in his pocket. He pulled it out and answered.
“’Lo?”
“Listen, jerk-off, there is no way in hell you’re stealing my client.”
“How the fuck did you get my cell phone number, Jayla?”
“I have my ways.”
“Lose the number.”
“Whatever you say… lover.”
Her voice dropped down to a low, manly tone. A familiar low, manly tone. A familiar low, manly tone that had called every night for the past month, harassing him while he tried to sleep.
“You’ve been crank-calling me?” One corner of his mouth twitched in disgust. “I should have known.” Wrapping his hand tighter around his phone, he concentrated on reining in his anger. “You sound like a man when you disguise your voice that way.”
“Ha. I know. You were sicker than shit at the thought of having a drunken night you couldn’t remember with Martha.”
Brad’s stomach tightened, remembering the terror that engulfed him when a very male-sounding female called him, wanting to take their relationship to the next level. At first he’d thought it a prank. But when Martha began reciting personal information she said he’d shared during their magical night together, Brad almost passed out from the horror of not remembering talking to anyone other than his business associates when he had been in Sin City. It scared the hell out of him thinking about what else he couldn’t remember.
“You are something else, Stanton.”
“Oh, really, Dalton? It’s not fun when someone screws with you, is it?”
“Screws with you? What the hell are you talking about?”
The long stretch of silence clued Brad in to what Jayla referred to: the one blemish on Jayla’s impeccable career, an unfortunate incident which would always be tied to her legacy, no matter how hard she worked to erase it.
“I know you sent the sexual material to Mr. Maldonado’s office.”
JAYLA CLOSED HER eyes tight and cringed as she said the words out loud. She still felt deep ripples of anger and embarrassment over the episode. Right before the formal announcement of Mr. Maldonado’s account joining their firm, someone sent Mr. Maldonado’s office a raunchy basket of hardcore sex toys and photoshopped pictures of Jayla naked, engaging in sexual acts. Mr. Maldonado’s secretary called her, letting her know what occurred. At the time, Jayla laughed off the underhanded move, not letting it bother her. She’d been so naive.
It didn’t take long before word got out, and the next thing she knew her name had been attached to a sexual scandal of sorts. Everything had been blown out of proportion. Whispers of whether or not she was as talented as everyone thought, or if she used her body to gain an advantage, followed her everywhere. Her reputation had been tainted. She’d been hiding out in the Seattle office for the past year as opportunities unfairly bypassed her. Brad had forced her to come out of hiding when he tried to strong-arm her and steal the account away from
her.
“SOUNDS EMBARRASSING.” BRAD regretted antagonizing her about such a despicable act for all of a moment. When he’d first been told about the incident, he’d felt sorry for Jayla, empathizing with how humiliating it must have been both on personal and professional levels. Brad knew she would never stoop to such a sleazy antic. He kept his suspicions to himself, but deep down he’d always surmised it was someone in their firm.
“How sad are you when you have to resort to pathetic tricks to try to salvage your waning career. And you failed, Brad. Mr. Maldonado knows it was a poor attempt to undermine me.”
The moment of regret passed, and Brad offered another zinging retort. “I don’t have to resort to anything, Jayla. But it’s funny how he’s calling me now when it’s showtime.”
Another long pause dragged on before Jayla’s voice returned, sounding chock-full of sweetness. “You know what, Bradford?”
“What, Jayla?” He almost hated asking her.
“I’m going to enjoy working here.” Once again the sound of the dial tone filled his ears, but this time he didn’t feel like celebrating. He had an uneasy feeling in his stomach. Picking up the receiver to his office phone, he called his assistant, Dave.
“Yes, boss man.”
“Is Jayla here permanently?”
“Who?”
“Stanton. Jayla Stanton. She’s not here permanently, is she?”
“Uhhh…yeah. I, uhhh…emailed you this morning.”
“No fucking way.” Turning toward his computer, Brad scrolled through his emails again. “I’m looking through my in-box, and I don’t see anything from you sent today.” The annoyed sigh on the other end of the phone had Brad’s mood souring even more. “What did the supposed email say?”
“Brad, I was on my way out the door for lunch. Can’t we talk about this later?”
“What did it say?”
Dave took a deep breath. “It’s official as of this morning. She transferred down here. She got permission from the top man. Larry Graybar himself gave her his blessing. Her team is already being shuffled back to Seattle. As far as who gets credit for the merger and move, it’s still up for debate. But the fact she’s been given the green light to step on your dancing shoes is a big indicator of who’s running the Maldonado show.”
“Fuck… Shit… Fuck.”
Brad ended the call, sinking his face into his hands, concluding his life had become a nightmare. On cue his shoulders began to cramp from the tension inflicting turmoil on his muscles. His head began to throb. Brad didn’t get headaches. At least, he hadn’t before Jayla.
Rubbing his temples, he let out a sarcastic half laugh, half snort as Dave’s words sunk in. Dave was on his way to lunch. Lunch? Where had the morning gone? Did he really just waste the better part of his busy day having a bitter fight with the same woman he’d literally fucked all night long? It was almost as if last night never occurred. As soon as he set foot into his office this morning, they began arguing. Neither one acknowledged they’d spent the night in the other’s arms. They were doing such a good job of concealing their attraction from their coworkers that Brad started to doubt his sense of reality. If the scent of their bodies fused in sex hadn’t been etched in his nose, he would have thought he’d hallucinated their hotter-than-hot night together.
It’d taken the entire night of Jayla in his arms to appease him enough just so he could focus on something other than fucking her. Then early this morning, she’d done the unthinkable. She’d had the nerve to get dressed and leave his home. The few words uttered between them before she departed: an agreement to stay away from each other at work. As she started her car, possessiveness had engulfed him, and he’d almost followed after her and dragged her back into his house. The reason he’d been able to let her go was he knew he would see her a few short hours later at work.
This morning he’d clung to a small dose of comfort, knowing he would have to endure a few more days of foolishness. He could weather the storm until she left for Seattle. Then everything would go back to normal. But now, learning she’d be here for good, his whole world felt like it was about to crumble around him. How the hell was he supposed to function?
Closing his eyes, he could still feel her soft, delicate hands skimming across his skin. He could still see her full lips whispering his name as he tasted her flesh. He could still hear her sexy, sultry voice that made his cock stiff as a board. It couldn’t be the same voice that made him cringe when they discussed business. Could it?
Last night hadn’t doused the flame of desire; it gave it more fuel. He groaned out loud as memories of sexual positions they’d been engaged in popped into his head. Reaching down, he started rubbing his hard shaft before he realized what he was doing.
What the fuck am I doing?
It pissed him off that, instead of working, he sat in his office with a raging hard-on, trying to figure out how to make it through the day without ripping Jayla’s clothes off. He couldn’t remember the last time something other than his career situated itself on the forefront of his mind. Now, something else consumed him to the point of obsession.
Jayla.
He grew desperate to see the look of contentment on her face after she came. She was a beautiful woman, but when she was naked in his arms, trembling and vulnerable, that was when she was breathtaking to him. No other woman had him acting like a sentimental ass. No woman had ever done that to him before. And it irked the hell out of him.
Brad had never been the guy at work fantasizing about a woman. Never been the guy caught walking around with an embarrassing erection. He enjoyed sex as much as the next man, but he’d always been more than capable of keeping his personal life from crossing over into his work life. He’d been in a few long-term relationships, but from the very beginning he knew they were never going to go anywhere. He poured everything into his job. He didn’t have time for drama. Plus, being a shifter complicated things. Since he didn’t date other shifters and he wasn’t stupid enough to out himself to a nonshifter, the complication actually simplified things. It left little room for anything to get too serious. Just the way he liked it.
Jayla’s scent wrapped around him, deflating all hope of his life ever going back to the way things used to be. He couldn’t go on like this. Not when his body ached like he hadn’t had sex in years. Knowing Jayla was just down the hall had his wolf on the brink of exploding. Closing his eyes again, he found himself needing her right now. The thought of her naked, pinned underneath his body, offered him relief for a moment.
He was starting to feel claustrophobic; his gaze traveled around his office as the wide space seemed to be closing in around him. Pushing a hand through his hair, he then let it rest on the back of his neck, giving himself a quick massage. He shut his eyes tight, trying like hell to focus on something other than her. He just needed one moment in his day when she wasn’t tormenting him.
Heat rolled over his body, making Brad as uncomfortable as he was worked up. Feeling confined in his clothes, he loosened his tie and undid the top button of his shirt. Taking several deep breaths, he rolled up his sleeves. Jumping up, he walked over to the watercooler in the corner of his office and poured himself a glass. The sweat collecting on his brow began to trickle down his face.
When did it get so fucking hot?
He continued to pour glass after glass of water and down them like he would pound beers. The refreshing cold water did nothing to quench his thirst as the temperature in his office continued to rise. His canines throbbed, yearning to lengthen as his lips curled, and he released a short growl. He never lost control of his wolf. Never felt the urge to shift during work. He could feel the testosterone strumming through him. Jayla Stanton made him want to shift, find the biggest wolf he could, and pick a fight.
Chapter Five
Slumped in her leather chair, Jayla pulled off her four-inch heels. Her feet were killing her. The only time her feet ever hurt was when she stressed about something or some asshole. As she rubbed the
bottom of one foot, she knew which asshole made her size eights ache. Brad Dalton, the bastard of the century.
Closing her eyes, she inhaled his manly musk permeating the building, creeping into her office, making her crave him all over again.
Damn. How the hell am I supposed to get any work done if I can only concentrate on last night?
She tried to meditate her aches and pains away. But all she could focus on was all the ways Brad had rocked her world last night. He’d shocked the hell out of her with his high level of performance in the bedroom. She’d assumed they’d have a forgettable fuck and her life would be normal again. But leave it to Brad to surprise her. Jayla didn’t think she’d ever be able to sleep with another man and find satisfaction.
Growing flustered, she fisted her hands until they throbbed from the tingling sensation of her claws wanting to extend and shred…anything. Her heart sped up as panic consumed her, and she fought against her wolf bursting free. If she were honest with herself, she would concede that ever since Brad popped onto her radar, there was always an itch in the back of her neck, bringing the urge to shift closer to the surface.
Jayla’s pussy became wet as thoughts of her night with Brad crept into her mind. Try as she may, she couldn’t keep them at bay. She’d been turned into putty in his very capable hands. She would have let him do anything to her. The thought alone scared the hell out of her. The tenderness he bestowed on her would have been something she cherished if it hadn’t come from him. She rationalized it was fake intimacy and forced chemistry. They were part animal, and they’d had no choice but to give in to it last night—over and over and over and over again.
Staring at her door, part of her—and she knew which part—wanted to go to him. The man had ravished her body last night. She’d never been ravished before, and good God, it amazed her she could even walk this morning. Never in her life had she experienced anything close to the ecstasy he’d gifted her. A nervous giggle almost erupted from her before she placed a hand on her throat, choking it down. She needed to get a grip. There was nothing to be giddy about. Brad wasn’t the one who’d given her an amazing night. It was his wolf—his inner animal. The part of himself he couldn’t control. Their night together meant nothing. She couldn’t turn into some needy, desperate, romantically deprived woman and let a man’s cock be her undoing. They’d had sex. So what? They hadn’t had a choice. Their wolves would have taken control, and so they’d done what they’d needed to take control back. Very soon everything would go back to the way it used to be. And they could continue hating each other happily ever after.
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