Because of You

by E. L. Todd

  “Now get out of my office,” he barked.

  “Okay,” I said happily. I grabbed the Oreos and turned around.

  “Hey,” he snapped. “Leave the cookies.” He pointed at his desk.

  I smiled then tossed them on the surface. “You got it.”

  Chapter Ten

  Skye

  Ward returned to London for two weeks, so I was on my own. I missed his presence because it was dreadfully lonely doing paperwork all day. My dad and Mike were golfing at the country club and I was stuck behind doing the work they didn’t want to do.

  I didn’t complain because I knew this was how it would be. Dad wouldn’t give me the fun work right off the bat. I had to work my way up and prove myself. I didn’t even have an assistant, and I hope my dad would get me one soon. That would be nice to have.

  Around lunchtime, Cayson walked into my office. “Hey, beautiful.” He leaned over my desk and gave me a kiss.

  Sometimes it was hard to understand we were together again. It felt like it’d always been that way. That year of depression faded to the background. Neither one of us acknowledged it, but I had a feeling neither one of us were thinking about it either. “Hey. You’re in a particularly good mood.”

  He sat in the chair facing my desk and shrugged. “It’s a nice day.”

  That was bullshit. He was just glad Ward was gone. I had a feeling he would never get over his unfounded jealousy. Ward was an attractive guy, but I never wanted him when Cayson and I weren’t together. And I obviously didn’t want him now. “It sure is…”

  He rested his ankle on the opposite knee and covered his lips with his fingertips. He wore a gray collared shirt with a black tie. His black slacks fit him like they were made for him specifically. He definitely looked delicious. He seemed to read my mind. “Where’s the Prestons?”

  “No,” I blurted.

  He smirked. “No, what?”

  “You know what.” I finished my note then stood up. “Let’s go to lunch.”

  “Your apartment is nearby…we could have lunch there.”

  I smirked and blushed at the same time. “It can wait.”

  He growled quietly then followed me. We left the office then reached the sidewalk outside. His hand grabbed mine. “Where do you want to eat?”

  “I don’t care,” I said immediately. “I’m starving.”

  “Did you eat breakfast today?”

  “No, I didn’t have time.”

  “You really need an assistant,” he said. “They could get it for you.”

  I shrugged. “I’ll get one when my dad says it’s okay.”

  “And a female assistant…”

  I eyed him incredulously. “You were never jealous like this before. What’s your deal?”

  He pulled me closer to him. “I’ve lost you once. I don’t want to lose you again.”

  My eyes softened. “You never could, Cayson.”

  “And I don’t want some guy checking out your rack all day.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Not everyone finds me attractive.”

  He laughed loudly. “Oh, you’re funny, baby.”

  “They don’t,” I argued.

  “Maybe if they’re gay.”

  I shook my head then kept walking. I stopped when I reached a café. I was starving and this place was close. “Let’s eat here.”

  “Whatever you want.”

  When we ordered, Cayson paid for everything like usual. Then we found a table near the window.

  “You need to let me pay sometimes,” I argued.

  He laughed again. “You’re on a roll today.”

  “I’m serious,” I said. “I have a job and I don’t pay rent. I can afford to pay for our meals.”

  He smirked then took a bite of his sandwich. He seemed to drop the argument.

  I loved the fact Cayson was such a gentleman but it also got annoying sometimes. I was a feminist and didn’t believe in gender roles. Men didn’t need to make more money, and they didn’t need to take care of women. Relationships were equal partnerships. Unfortunately, Cayson had a completely different philosophy. If he had it his way, I’d be a housewife that stayed home all day and my only worry was what to make for dinner.

  Yeah…that wasn’t going to happen.

  “What are you thinking?” he asked.

  “Nothing.” I ate my sandwich then snacked on my chips. “How’s work?”

  “It’s good,” he said. “We haven’t had any incidences in a few weeks.” He talked about his patients and how easily it was for immigrants to introduce foreign pathogens into the country. When he talked about his work, he sounded like he really liked it.

  “So, you’re enjoying it?”

  “Yeah, it’s cool,” he said. “Unfortunately, most people contract pathogens and diseases from unclean water. If they just had a way of getting water that wasn’t contaminated from the runoff from the land, it would fix a lot of problems.”

  “Where do people get unclean water?” I asked.

  “Mainly in Africa, but that isn’t the only place. Since mothers drink from contaminated wells, they often catch malaria, and then when they breastfeed to their infants, they pass it along. The whole situation is unfortunate.” He ate his chips and looked out the window.

  “That’s horrible…”

  “Yeah, it makes you realize what you take for granted, right?”

  I nodded.

  “So, how’s work going with you?”

  “It’s fine,” I said. I had nothing new to report. “It sounds like you really like your job, Cayson.”

  “Yeah,” he said with a shrug. “I’m not a doctor but I still help people. That was the whole reason why I wanted to go to medical school.”

  I picked at my chips and thought quietly.

  “What?” he asked.

  “Nothing.” I looked at my watch. “I should probably head back to work.”

  “Or we could stop by your apartment…” He flashed me a grin.

  “It can wait until after work.”

  He sighed in irritation.

  “We do it every morning before work,” I said. “Isn’t that enough?”

  “I’d prefer it like meals. You know, breakfast, lunch, and dinner.”

  I rolled my eyes. “You’ll survive.”

  “Hey, I’m making up for a year of not being with you. We have a lot of catching up to do.”

  “I still don’t think that means we should have sex in my office in the middle of the day.”

  “Like Sean and Mike don’t.”

  I cringed. “Okay…stop.”

  He laughed. “Sorry, I just figured you knew that.”

  “That doesn’t mean we need to talk about it.”

  “Well, when they’re gone, it’s going to happen.”

  I gave him a firm look. “So my employees will think I’m a whore?”

  “A whore?” he asked. “Having sex with your husband in your office doesn’t make you a whore.”

  “It makes me unprofessional.”

  He shrugged. “It’s okay to break the rules every now and then.”

  I stood up and tossed my trash. “Let’s go.”

  He walked with me up the street, the opposite way of his building.

  “You don’t need to walk me to the office, Cayson. I can make it the rest of the way.”

  He grabbed my hand like he hadn’t heard me and kept walking.

  I sighed and didn’t bother arguing.

  We walked inside the lobby then headed to the executive elevator, the one only me, my father, and my uncle used.

  “I’ll see you later.” He gave me a long kiss before he pulled away.

  “Okay.” I melted at the short embrace.

  He kissed my forehead before he walked out.

  I sighed then got into the elevator. Then I looked at the watch, wanting time to pass so I could be with him again.

  Chapter Eleven

  Cayson

  As soon as we got home, I took Skye hard on her bed. I di
dn’t mess around. Once we were behind closed doors, she was mine. She tried to act like she wasn’t as desperate as I was, but it was pretty obvious she’d been thinking about me all day. As soon as I moved between her legs, she was soaked. I was good, but not that good. She’d obviously warmed up already from thinking about me in dirty scenarios.

  Once we were done, we cuddled in her bed and didn’t say anything. I was at her place all the time and wanted to move in. It didn’t make sense to have my own place anymore. But I didn’t want to rush anything. We just got back together, and I didn’t want to ruin it by moving too quickly. A year was a long time not to be together, and in a lot of ways, we were getting to know one another all over again.

  I leaned over her and sucked each of her nipples, loving the feel of them in my mouth. She started to gain back the weight she lost, and her chest was returning to its previous busty size. I would never get tired of her body.

  “You’re ready to go again?” she asked incredulously. “We just finished.”

  “No,” I said. “But I like kissing you.”

  She closed her eyes and ran her fingers through my hair while I continued. “I forgot how good sex was…”

  I moved over her and pressed my face close to hers. “I’ll make sure you don’t forget again.”

  “You’re going to have to teach me everything again,” she said with a smile. “I seemed to have forgotten.”

  “Just lay there, baby. That’s all you need to know.”

  She chuckled then cupped my face and wrapped her legs around my waist. “I love you, Cayson.” Emotion was in her eyes, showing me how much she missed me. Her eyes coated with a light layer of moisture. I knew the look was from both happiness and agonizing pain.

  “I love you too, Skye Preston.” I felt my own eyes burn.

  “I’m sorry—”

  “It’s in the past. Let’s not talk about it again.”

  She fell silent and swallowed the lump in her throat. “Okay.”

  My cock had hardened after seeing the love in her eyes. We just finished but now I wanted her again. I moved over her and slipped inside in one fluid motion. Of course, she was wet.

  She immediately dug her nails into my back and held on. “Oh, god…”

  I looked into her eyes and concentrated on the feel of our bodies moving together. Everything else in the world faded. It was like nothing else but she and I existed.

  ***

  When I got out of the shower, I peeked around the corner to make sure we didn’t have company.

  She spotted me and chuckled. “No one is here.”

  I relaxed then walked into her living room with a towel around my waist.

  She eyed my body while I moved. “I could eat you.” She trailed her fingers down my tight stomach.

  “Yeah?”

  She nodded and bit her lip.

  I growled. “I’ll take you again. Just watch.”

  “Actually, it’ll have to wait.”

  “Hungry?” I asked.

  She swatted my arm. “No. We’re going out with Slade and Trinity.”

  “Why?” I demanded. “We just saw them last weekend.”

  “We’re going on a double date.”

  “I’d rather stay home with you.” I soaked her up every chance I got. I didn’t care about anything else in the world. I only went to Slade’s show because he was my best friend and I knew it was important to him. If it were something else, you wouldn’t be able to drag me out of the apartment.

  “Cayson, it’s been months. We need to join society again.”

  “Why do I care about society when I have you?” I leaned into her and kissed her neck.

  “I’d love to disappear too but we can’t do that.”

  I sighed in annoyance. “What are we doing?”

  “Bowling.”

  I rolled my eyes. Throwing a ball down a lane for two hours sounded terrible. I wanted to lie on the couch while Skye lay on top of me. After being with her again, it was painful to be apart from her. Every time we were separated, it reminded me of our time apart and how unbearable it was. It was like I had separation anxiety.

  “Get dressed,” she said.

  Complaining wouldn’t change anything. “Okay.” I headed back into her room and got ready. I had my own drawers, and the spare closet was for my things. I practically lived here as it was.

  Skye came into the room then changed.

  I watched her in the mirror, staring at her tits when she changed her bra. I got hard again but I restrained myself. If I kept up this pace, I would make her seriously sore.

  We finally left and walked hand-in-hand.

  “I think it’ll be fun,” she said.

  Now that we were out of the house, I stopped being a brat about the whole thing. “Yeah. Should we do teams?”

  “Well, if Trinity and I are on a team you guys don’t stand a chance.”

  I laughed. “Yeah, okay. Maybe if we let you win.”

  “Hey, we’re pretty cool.”

  I grabbed her and pushed her against a building. She was caught off guard and released a small scream. My hand protected her head and back from the bricks, and then I pressed my mouth against hers and kissed her hard. The need overtook me for absolutely no reason at all. Normally, I would combat the sinister thoughts, but losing her taught me a valuable lesson. You never knew when you were going to lose someone, and you should cherish every moment of every day. Because, one day, it will be gone. And I doubt I’ll be lucky enough to get her back the second time, especially since death will claim her and nothing else.

  I pulled away and held her hand as we kept walking. She looked winded, and her face was red. I imagined she had stars in her eyes.

  “Um…” That was all she said.

  I smiled and kept walking.

  ***

  Trinity and Slade obviously got tired of waiting for us, because they were making out in a chair. Trinity sat on his lap, and they were going at it like no one was around. The music was loud overhead so at least we didn’t have to hear their kissing noises.

  It was hard to be annoyed with them when they were obviously so happy. Slade had grown so much from the guy I used to know. He was never sweet, thoughtful, or selfless. Now he’d been remade, and Trinity was responsible for that. He said he never wanted to get married, but I had a feeling he would change his mind, if he hadn’t changed it already.

  I nudged him as I walked past. “Okay, knock it off.”

  Slade kept kissing her.

  I rolled my eyes then put my shoes on.

  Slade held up a finger like he was almost done.

  Skye smirked. “They’re cute,” she whispered.

  “We’re cute but we aren’t making out right now.”

  “Like you don’t want to,” Skye said.

  I gave her a serious look. “You wanna?”

  She laughed then grabbed a bowling ball. “I’m going first.”

  Slade finally came up for air. “What’s up?”

  “Oh, hello,” I said sarcastically.

  Trinity rubbed Slade’s shoulder before she stood up.

  Slade smacked her ass as she walked off. “One fine piece of ass…”

  Trinity smiled then found her own seat.

  Skye rolled the ball and made a strike. “Oh yay!” She jumped up and down and clapped her hands together.

  “Good job, baby,” I said. I admit I was surprised she bowled so well on her first try.

  “And your ass looked great while you did it,” Trinity said.

  Skye sat beside her then Trinity got up to bowl.

  I stayed in my seat next to Slade.

  Slade turned to me. “For the record, I didn’t want to come to this. I know what you’d rather be doing right now.”

  I shrugged. “It’s not so bad. Skye needed to drag me out. We were turning into hermits.”

  “I love being a hermit with Trinity,” he said. “The only people I enjoy being around are the gang and Trinity. What’s the point in g
oing out?”

  I smiled because he sounded like an old married man. “Yeah…”

  We took our turns bowling. To my surprise, Skye was winning.

  “Baby, are you cheating?” I asked.

  “Nope. I’m just good.” She gave me a pointed look when she sat down. “Like I said.”

  I eyed her suspiciously.

  We kept bowling until we reached the last turns.

  “Damn, Skye kicked our ass,” Slade said.

  “That’s my girl,” I said. “She’s got an arm on her.”

  Slade winked. “I bet.” He acted like he was jerking off.

  I slugged him in the arm. “Knock it off.” I smiled when I said it, sounding unconvincing.

  “Don’t act like you don’t love those handies,” Slade said.

  “Well, I’m not in eighth grade, so I can’t say I do,” I said.

  He shrugged. “I like anything Trinity gives me.”

  “We’re heading to the bathroom.” Trinity walked off with Skye, her head held high.

  “Why do they always go together?” Slade asked.

  “I stopped wondering that a long time ago,” I said.

  “Whatever. I wanted to talk to you about something anyway.”

  “What’s up?” I asked.

  “I’m taking Trinity on a trip. I’ve got disposable income from selling t-shirts and demos and playing shows.”

  “Cool,” I said. “Where are you going?”

  “Amelia Island. It’s right off the coast of Florida. They got some really nice beaches.”

  I whistled. “Sounds pretty sweet.”

  “Yeah, I thought it would be fun to get away. My apartment is dirt cheap because it’s a hole in the wall and my dad gave me another raise so I have money to spend.”

  If Slade wanted to take trips with her, he must be really serious, more serious than he realized himself.

  “And I wanted to give her this. Tell me what you think.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box.

  “Holy shit! You’re going to propose!”

  “Keep your voice down,” he hissed. “And hell no. I already told you marriage was off the table.” He opened the box and pulled out a thin platinum bracelet. Engraved in italic writing was the name Penelope.

  I raised an eyebrow and looked at him. “Uh, why are you giving Trinity a bracelet with another girl’s name on it? I know you’re dumb, Slade, but come on.”