by Opal Carew
The next morning, Mac covered his eyes with his forearm to block the sunlight, feeling drunk. He’d come three times last night, and though he’d wanted to come some more, he’d been bone tired. The physical and emotional wrenching of his heart had made it hard to process anything more than showing Maggie how much he fucking loved her.
God, that look in her eyes when she’d seen the earrings. The damn things cost close to a grand, but he’d wanted her to have them. And then to get that artwork. He knew she’d made it. It had the same look and feel as her other pieces, but this one was exceptional. Even he, a dipshit with no artistic talent, could tell it was beautiful. And she’d wanted him to have something personal she’d made.
That would have been the perfect time to tell her how he felt about her. If he’d had the stones. But then he’d pussed out and decided to wait. Only to be blown away by the sexiest woman on the face of the planet.
Fuck if he’d been able to think past the throbbing in his dick, lost in lust and love. That corset, the way it cut into her ass and rubbed her pussy. Her flush tits popping out of the top. Her waist had looked impossibly small, making her curves seem more pronounced. And those heels.
He was raring and ready to fuck again. Shit. He’d been hard-pressed to last the previous night. Talk about a Christmas present to end all gifts.
Mac turned on his side and stared at the wonder of his life. Maggie fucking Doran. He’d fallen in love with her. She complemented everything about him. Her needs fit his; her desires became his. That collar and leash.
He wondered if he should wait this morning or give it to her.
He’d not only had that weird artsy guy make her a killer set of earrings, but a matching choker embedded with a sapphire as well. A decorative collar that he and Maggie would know about but would look like simple jewelry to everyone else.
Mac wanted to keep her. Fuck. To have her, hold her, own her.
Love her.
But he needed to be able to offer her something. He had money he’d saved, but no real path for the future. The gym was temporary. She had her art to pursue, but what did he have except a sexy slave he wanted to keep? For the first time he questioned his value He’d found a woman worth holding, but would she want to stay? Eventually the spice and dirty talk and D/s shit might get old. What would they have together? Aside from the obvious physical chemistry, he liked everything about her. But did she like him without the sex?
He hated that he didn’t understand women. If he had, he’d have reasoned out what the hell he’d done to scare away his mother and Julie. But he didn’t know, and he didn’t think he could handle it if Maggie left him too.
Maybe he’d do better to take it slow. Though they’d been battling this coming together for months, only recently had they started to see each other for more than sex, but for a relationship.
He was startled to realize she stared back at him.
“Good morning,” she whispered.
“Morning.”
She kissed him, and he kissed her back, prepared for the morning-after bullshit. Would she take back all the tender crap she’d fed him? Now that the holiday had ended and she’d gotten her present, was her enthusiasm for him gone?
Her kiss left soon after the thought, but instead of moving away from him, she continued to kiss down his body.
He tensed. “Maggie?”
“Let me,” she murmured against his belly.
She continued down his frame to his hard-on. When she breathed over his shaft, he moaned. But she skirted his dick and sucked his balls instead.
“Yeah, baby. That’s so good.” He put his hand in her hair and petted the soft blond waves over his belly. He’d dreamed about this, but the reality was so much better. She stroked him while she sucked his balls, and then her mouth covered him, and he forgot everything but Maggie.
She drew him deep, all the way to the back of her throat, and then she skated her finger under his balls and back, where she rimmed his ass.
The gentle touch, followed by her finger pushing deeper, pushed him past reason. For once he was helpless to control himself, and he flexed and pumped, shouting her name as he released down her throat.
It wasn’t until he finished that he realized he’d been gripping her by the hair.
He let her go, hazy from coming so hard, and tried to shake free of his euphoria. “Sorry, baby. But shit. That was amazing.”
She smiled at him, her eyes so blue he wanted to drown in them. “You liked it.”
“You think? I forgot my own damn name.”
She laughed and kissed him, and he tasted himself on her lips. So fucking sexy.
“Now who’s the master?” she teased.
He answered honestly. “You are.”
Later in the day, after Maggie left Mac’s and hurried to shower before her brother realized she’d been sexing it up with “that Marine,” Maggie dried off and dressed before noticing the message on her home phone.
After playing it, she had to sit down. She played the message again. And again. Then she raced out the door to the gallery.
She returned home later, in shock and awe that her life seemed to be changing at the speed of light. She’d fallen in love with Mac, and though still alarmed about how much she cared for him, she’d decided to let it happen. Her brother prepared to live close by, in Seattle. Her best friend had plans to get married, and the art buyer— who’d arrived a month early—interested in displaying her work at several of the galleries he owned up and down the East Coast wanted not just some, but all of Maggie’s work Kim had at the store.
With his contacts, Kim had informed her excitedly, Maggie could stop working as a retailer and focus on making her art, not selling other people’s. She could do what she loved for a living.
Maggie didn’t know what to think. She was so stunned she feared jinxing the good news, so she decided to keep it under her hat until she inked the deal in a few days, just before New Year’s, when she’d accompany Evan Stringer back to Philadelphia to see his main gallery and talk figures.
More exciting than just having her own show was having Evan back her. He bought art for high-end corporations. Fancy hotel lobbies and boardrooms. And he liked her style. He was talking maybe six figures to commission her talents, and from what he’d said, she would have full control of what she designed as long as it adhered to the color schemes the clients wanted. According to Kim, the man was fantastic, honest, and a hell of a businessman.
When Mac called to see what she was doing in the evening, she invited him over to hang out with her and Trevor. She wanted the pair to get along and see them interact.
Unfortunately, she’d chosen the night’s entertainment poorly. The Scrabble game nearly ended in a fistfight…between her and her brother. She should have remembered how competitive he could get. The following night she tried to be on her best behavior, except Mac insisted on a rematch of game night, this time over some stupid rummy game with tiles. When he beat her twice and rubbed her nose in it, she went for his throat. Trevor had to pull her back because Mac was laughing too hard.
He had the nerve to call her a sore loser.
So the next night she left Trevor at home and met Mac at the gym, where she tried to wear him down in her step class. All the hard-core steppers joined in, but Mac refused to fade. He did flag a bit in the end, so she counted it a win. But the people in her class acted as if he’d done the impossible by keeping up with her, and he acted victorious, which made the point of all that strenuous exercise moot.
Mac was still laughing when he walked her back to his office and shut the door behind them. “You’re a sore loser. I never would have expected that out of Ms. Sweetness and Light. This is too funny.” He pulled a bottle of water out of his mini-fridge and tossed it to her before grabbing one for himself.
“You know, I’m just trying to show you that you’re not better than me at everything.”
He looked surprised. “Who said I’m better? I’m stronger, sure, but you�
��re probably quicker. You’re definitely prettier. Smarter… not sure there, but you’re no dim bulb.”
“Thanks, ever so much.”
“And I’d have to say you give better head than I do.”
She deliberately misunderstood. “You’ve blown guys? Really?”
He scowled. “No, blondie. I meant you get me off better than I do you, orally. Jesus.”
She started laughing at the look of disgust on his face and couldn’t stop.
He stepped around her and locked the door, then fixed the shades on the windows on either side of it. This late at night, not many were at the gym. So why would he…?
He had that look in his eye, the one that told her she was about to get fucked. Hard.
“Wait a minute.”
He shook his head.
“I work here,” she whispered harshly, worried someone might know what a locked door meant. But messing around in the office? So naughty.
“I work here too.” He glanced at his desk and calmly cleared it. He crooked his finger.
“No.” She crossed her arms over her chest.
“Oh?” Mac’s grin widened. “Look, Miss. If you don’t want to lose your job, you’ll come here.” He lowered his shorts and showcased a mouthwatering erection.
“You’ll fire me?”she asked in a husky voice, totally turned on despite her astonishment at his threat.
“I know how much you need this job, what with you looking after sixteen brothers and sisters. You’re so desperate, I can do whatever I want with you.”
She understood and had to smile. She liked his creativity. “But this is sexual harassment, Mr. Jameson,” she said, keeping her voice low.
“You’re damn right it is. Get over here.”
God, he looked so thick and hard. She scurried to his side, hoping no one would knock on the door. “But I’m so gross, and I—”
He turned her onto her belly over the desk and yanked down her shorts and underwear. Without giving her a chance to refuse, he angled between her legs and rested just inside her pussy.
“Wet for me. I like that. But not too wet. Hmm, this may hurt.” The bastard continued to push, grunting as he worked his way inside her.
Bent over with her legs pressed together, she felt too tight, too helpless to resist as his fat cock stretched her. At the thought of such vulnerability, she grew wetter.
“There we go. My naughty employee wants to keep her job, doesn’t she?” he growled.
“Yes, Sir.”
“That’s right,” he bit out as he sawed in and out of her, excitement taking its toll on his restraint. “Would you do anything to keep your job?”
“Yes, anything,” she breathed.
“Like what? Tell me.”
As she came up with all kinds of scenarios, he thrust faster. She liked his desperation, because too often he took his time while she writhed, caught up in his talented, beautiful body.
“Fuck, you’re so hot,” he said in a low voice. “God, Maggie. I can’t stop. Gotta fill you all up. Yes,” he hissed as he pumped again and stilled, coming while she groaned her frustration. “Hold on, damn it.”
He reached around her and played with her clit, and before she knew it, she’d spasmed around him, her orgasm powerful, the more so because she fought to keep silent.
When she’d climbed down from such pleasure, she felt him withdraw and return to her with something between her legs.
“Sorry, but consider your workout towel needing a good wash.”
“Whatever.” She moaned at the tingling in her limbs. Mac’s sexual prowess left her limp and sated, every time. She knew how rare that was, and how that track record would probably fade with time. Yet being near him, feeling so close, went beyond sex.
“Only thing better than this would be you wearing those earrings and that corset while I did you on the desk.” He chuckled. “Now that would be something to see.”
She turned in his arms and waited while he set her clothing to rights.
“You’re all sweaty,” she complained. “You should take off more clothes next time.”
“Hussy.” He grinned down at her, and she wanted to tell him how she felt, scared yet excited to confess her feelings. Except she’d want to spend more time with him after she confessed her love, and she had a plane to catch. Tomorrow.
She swallowed hard, aware she should have told him before now. “Mac?”
“What’s up?” He sat back in his chair and laced his hands behind his head, keeping her caged between his knees.
If there was any good time to tell him, it was now, when he had that happy glow in his eyes.
“I have something to tell you.”
“Yeah?”
“In my defense, no one knows this yet. Not even Shelby.”
He sat straighter in his chair. “Spit it out.”
“A few days ago I got a call from Kim. That guy from Philly, Evan Stringer? The artsy guy who was interested in my stuff? Well, he flew out here early since he has family in the area, and he stopped by The Beholder.”
“And?”
“He wants my art. All of it! I gave him the rest of my pieces, and I’m flying out to Philadelphia tomorrow to spend a few days going over details about a showing and what he thinks he can do for my career. Corporate sales, fancy businesses that have money, I mean. This could be my big break. My dream.”
Mac didn’t say anything for a moment. “So you’re going out to Philly with this guy?”
She couldn’t gauge his tone, but he sounded less than happy for her. “Mac?”
“Sorry, I just… It’s a surprise. I’m happy for you, Maggie.” He stood up and took her in his arms.
She hugged him back. “I’ve been dreaming about being a real artist forever. I mean, I know I’m real, but to make a living doing it would be fantastic. Kim says that Evan’s legitimate. But that I should have a lawyer look over contractual stipulations, which I will. She gave me a contact to talk to. But Mac, he wants to buy my work. To sell to other people!”
He stepped back and crossed his arms over his chest. “When did you get the news?”
Uh oh. “A few days ago.”
He frowned. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I don’t know. It didn’t feel real. I mean, the guy could renege. He could be some lecher who just wants to get in my pants.” When he opened his mouth to retort, she stopped him. “But he’s not. I didn’t just go off Kim’s word. I inquired online and spoke to a few friends in the art world, some prominent instructors who’ve heard of him. I mean, it’s commercial, but it’s my art. More than selling to galleries but to big firms who pay big money. I’m so excited.”
“Excited, yet you didn’t want to tell me because…? Tell the truth, Maggie.”
She sighed. “Because I didn’t want to be a failure if it turned out he was pulling my leg. Aren’t you happy for me?”
“Yeah, I guess. Hell, I’m sorry. I just… I’ll miss you when you go. That’s all.”
A huge admission, and his honesty eased the pain that he might not support her. “I’ll miss you too. I don’t think I’ll be back for New Years.” She took a leap. “But do you think you could fly out there to be with me? It would mean a lot. I know it’s last minute and won’t be cheap, but I’d like you to be there if you can come.”
Mac looked away and clenched his jaw. “It’s a busy time now. I’d like to go, but right after New Years is when we get our crush. All the idiots making resolutions show up like gangbusters. I’ll need to be here.”
She felt the tension between them but couldn’t help it. “Look, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before. I’m still scared this isn’t real, if you want the truth. I’ve worked so hard to get to this point.” She touched his shoulder, but he remained on edge.
He smiled at her, but he didn’t look that happy. “So are you thinking of moving out East?”
“Honestly, I’m not thinking beyond signing a contract. That’s if his original offer is still good.” But Trevor
is here, my life is here. You’re here, she wanted to add, but Mac’s attitude made her think twice. If she started spouting the idea of a more permanent relationship with Mac, she might scare him off. He was already annoyed she hadn’t told him her good news when she’d learned of it. She’d do better to wait until he was happy, then she’d confess how much she loved him. And, a part of her added, you want to see how he reacts when you’re gone. Will he miss you? Does he care as much as you think he does? “Who knows what the future will bring?”
“Yeah, who knows,” he muttered. He shrugged and grabbed his workout bag. “Well, I concede you beat me.” His grin made her feel worse, not better. “I’m tired, and I have some early work tomorrow. I’ll see you later then, okay?” He kissed her briefly before urging her toward the door.
Something had changed between them, and she didn’t like it but couldn’t help it. If Mac didn’t want her to pursue her dream, he couldn’t be the man she thought he was. But he’d always seemed to support her. She didn’t know what to think, Maybe he was still pissed she hadn’t confided in him before, and he might have a right to be annoyed. After their recent closeness, if something monumental had happened to him and he hadn’t told her about it, she’d be upset with him.
As they left the gym and walked to their cars together, she continued to study him. His face gave nothing away, but he seemed more distanced from her than they’d been in quite a while. They’d argued plenty of times before today, but this was the first time she’d felt true unrest between them.
She stopped him at her car before he could walk away to his. “Wait. Mac.”
He turned to face her.
“I’m truly sorry I didn’t tell you. I wanted to, but I didn’t want you to be disappointed in me if it all turned to crap.”
He frowned. “Why would I be disappointed in you?”
“Because you’re so successful. Shelby is a wonder in business. Shane’s some bigwig architect. Mimi and Ron are the cream of the crop in the design world, and Trevor has one success after another. I’m the only loser in the crowd, it seems.”
He sighed and cupped her cheek, and she wanted to sag in his arms and have him tell her it would all be okay. “Honey, you’re not a loser. You’re one of the hardest working people I know. You selflessly took a job with me to get dirt on Shane.”