“This is awesome,” she breathed.
I grinned. “You’re welcome to use it anytime. I’ll have an extra key made today.”
Her brow furrowed and she shook her head. “No, no special treatment for the newbie. I need to earn my place here.”
Using my thumb and index finger, I pinched her chin to keep our gazes locked. “First of all, you are the most qualified security expert I have on my team. Second”—my eyes narrowed, my voice taking on a dangerous edge—“The way I handle my employees is entirely up to me. Third, this”—I pointed back and forth between us—“is not an illicit affair. I won’t hide it. You are mine, and I’m going to make sure every motherfucker in the state of Georgia knows it.”
“I’ll be branded as the woman who slept her way to the top!” she cried. “I’ve worked my ass off to earn the respect I’m given. We shouldn’t even be having a relationship at all!”
I swallowed an angry retort and sighed, cupping her face and kissing her nose. As much as I hated to admit it, she had a point. About the respect thing, not the relationship because that was definitely happening. “How about a compromise? We keep this low-key, not hiding it, but not a blatant show that we’re together either. And, I’ll start you out with jobs I would give a rookie”—I rolled my eyes at the ridiculousness of it all—“no matter how overqualified you are. And ignoring the fact that if you were just any other guy, with your qualifications, you would have automatically jumped to the top of the seniority list.”
She considered my words for a moment, the cogs of her mind almost visibly spinning. “Well, maybe not all the way down to rookie.” I laughed and let her face go to pick up the towel I’d brought with us. “It would be a non-issue if you’d just realize that working together while fucking is a bad idea.”
My head snapped up, and I glared at her. “Stop fighting what you know feels right, Calista. And, I may fuck the hell out of you at times, but we are more than temporary fuck buddies. I don’t want to hear you refer to us that way again.”
Irritated, I busied myself cleaning up our combined come from her legs and pussy, as well as my groin.
“Shit!” Her exclamation grabbed my attention, and I glanced around, looking for whatever it was that had upset her. But when I faced her again, she was staring at the towel. “We didn’t use a condom, damn it!”
“So?”
“SO?? We may not have to worry about pregnancy, but how the hell do I know if you’re clean?”
I latched onto her comment about pregnancy, but I decided to address her other concern first. “I was tested after the last time I had sex, and it was”—I fucking blushed. Seriously? Clearing my throat, I tried to shake it off—“four years ago.”
Her jaw went slack, and her eyes widened for a beat. Then her face softened, and her mouth snapped shut. She pressed her lips together, but I didn’t miss the subtle lifting of the corners.
“Um.” She couldn’t keep the small smile from forming once she started to speak. Her happiness at my lengthy, self-imposed celibacy made it worth it. “I’m clean too. I’ve only been with one—”
A deep growl rumbled in my throat as fury climbed to the surface. “Stop right there. I can’t handle the thought of anyone else touching you. It makes me want to hunt the motherfucker down and cut off his dick.”
She narrowed her eyes for a second, then shrugged and seemed to move past it. “Well anyway, I’m clean too.”
Now, about that other thing. “What did you mean when you said we didn’t have to worry about pregnancy?”
“I’m on birth control. In my… previous line of work, it was a necessary precaution. So, I’ve been on a shot for years.”
Fuck! That meant my hopes that I’d put my baby in her the night before were dashed. “How long does it last?”
She hopped down from the counter and started donning her underwear. “Three months.”
Being prepared, having a plan, those things were in my nature, something that was an asset in my field. Which led me to the need to calculate the time I’d have to wait before it would be feasible for me to knock her up. The answer would affect the jobs I assigned her, not that I was going to share that information. No need to piss her off unnecessarily. I began to dress as well, casually asking, “When was your last shot?”
She’d been tugging on her pants, but she stopped and looked up at the ceiling as she thought. Then her expression slowly morphed into one of terrified shock. “Motherfucker!” she shouted. She frantically tugged her pants the rest of the way on and scrambled for the rest of her clothes.
“Calista,” I snapped. She ignored me, so I grabbed her around the waist and slammed her bottom back down on the counter. “Why the fuck are you freaking out?”
She winced and watched me apprehensively. “I forgot to go in for my last dose.” Her face turned pleading. “I’m so sorry. I was recovering from being shot, and it slipped my mind. I’ll take care of it, I promise.”
Why the fuck was she apologizing? Did she think I’d be upset about it? I was the total opposite, my hopes springing to the surface again. It was entirely possible I’d gotten her pregnant last night. After four rounds, I’d certainly filled her with enough of my come to make sure one of my boys stuck. Our escapade on the gym floor—“What do you mean you were shot?!” I practically shouted as my brain caught up with everything she’d said.
“Calm down, Xander.” She adopted a soothing tone, but it bounced right off my wall of anger. “I’m fine. It was just a little nick.”
We weren’t done with that discussion, but I needed to know something else. “You’ll ‘take care of it’ means what exactly?” I inquired.
“I’ll go to the doctor and get a morning after pill and a new shot.”
“The fuck you will!”
Calista’s expression turned mutinous, her dark, espresso eyes narrowing. Some of her black hair had escaped the knot she’d put it in and floated around like a halo. She looked fucking gorgeous all riled up, and my cock had taken notice.
“It’s really none of your business,” she huffed. “I’ll report tomorrow for my first day.”
“It’s none of—” I almost choked on my wrath, my hard on forgotten—mostly—and before I could get another word out, she spun around and yanked open the door to the gym, letting it slam against the wall with a loud bang.
I followed her as she streaked across the floor, but I had the feeling that I wouldn’t win this argument by keeping her in the office and talking myself to death. Calista was a level-headed, unflappable person. Until it came to me, apparently. The thought made me grin, knowing I got to her. It was obvious she was also stubborn as fuck, and it would take action over words for me to win. And I. Would. Win.
5
Calista
It was hard to believe Xander let me escape his office so easily. I’d figured he’d put up a fight, figuratively and quite possibly also literally, considering how well he’d sparred against me. Then again, the gleam in his eyes when I’d turned back to look at him through the glass doors had me thinking he had his reasons for letting me go. I had a feeling the tricky bastard thought he was going to convince me to do everything his way. The scariest thing was, I was starting to wonder if he might be right about that. I tossed and turned, worrying about it all night.
Once I’d cooled off and realized what I’d actually said, I regretted the way I’d told him it was none of his business. I couldn’t believe I’d been so horrible to him. My only defense was that I’d been thrown completely off balance by the surge of fear, mixed with frustration and attraction, running through my system at that moment. Nobody had ever managed to pull such a wide range of emotions out of me the way Xander did. I was completely unaccustomed to feeling so much all at once, and I’d handled it badly. Really, fucking badly.
Heading back to his offices the next morning, I knew I owed him an apology. A fucking huge one.
Kicking off my first day at work by telling my boss I was sorry for being such a bitch
to him because I completely lost my mind at the idea that he might have knocked me up wasn’t exactly how I’d pictured starting my new career. Hell, the possibility of being pregnant wasn’t a topic I’d ever imagined I’d have to discuss with a guy at all, and the circumstances of my current work situation only made it more complicated.
The morning after pill should be the obvious choice considering everything. And yet, somehow it wasn’t. If anyone had asked me how I’d react to the idea of being pregnant a couple of months ago, the answer would have been simple because it just wasn’t on my radar at all. I’d been completely focused on my career, with no plans to get involved with a guy, let alone have a baby.
Then I got shot, and everything changed. I’d been in the spy game long enough to know when it was time to get out. It was still a tough decision to make, but it had been the right one for me. It was also the choice that put me in the right place at the right time to meet Xander, and even with all the craziness from yesterday, I didn’t regret what had happened between us.
As I pushed through the doors to Gray Security, it was as if I conjured him up out of my thoughts. He strode out of his office and straight towards me, with another hot guy right behind him. If I didn’t know better, I’d think Xander had a Calista radar because he didn’t even pause in his steps or need to change direction.
“Shit. Fuck. Damn,” I mumbled to myself, spotting his assistant at her desk and another guy coming down the hallway, presumably just after finishing up in the gym since he was wearing athletic shorts, a T-shirt, and was rubbing his dark hair with a towel.
“Morning, baby,” Xander greeted me, blocking everything else from my vison as his head bent low so he could drop a kiss on my lips.
“So much for not being blatant about us,” I muttered, making him chuckle. He didn’t seem the least bit concerned to see me glaring up at him. He just offered me a confident grin as I stepped away from him.
He gestured to the guy with him. “I don’t think you’ve met Quinn. He’s one of the best here, and he’s engaged to Weston’s sister, Jenna.”
Evie had introduced me to Weston and Aspen when I’d been in Atlanta for a quick house hunting trip the month before I moved here. I grinned. “Ah yes, I believe Weston mentioned something about the fucker who does unspeakable things to his baby sister.”
Quinn laughed. “Guilty as charged.”
“Great, now you’ve met,” Xander interrupted impatiently. “Excuse us.”
Xander put his hand on my lower back and steered me toward his office. His assistant looked like she was about to have a breakdown. I took pity on her and stepped forward to say hello.
“Good morning, Jessa.” I smiled at her. Her eyes skittered back and forth between Xander and me a few times before her shoulders relaxed slightly and she offered me a little grin back.
“Morning, Miss Lewis.”
“Calista, please.”
“Umm, okay.” She shifted in her seat nervously. “I have some paperwork for you to fill out.” She dug through a stack of folders on her desk, almost knocking them over before Xander grew impatient and went to the filing cabinet behind her to yank open a drawer. He pulled out a manila file and handed it to her. She shoved it towards me like she thought it was going to explode in her hands or something. “If you could get most of it back to me by tomorrow, that would be great. But I’d like the contact information this morning, if that’s okay.”
“Sure, but I’ll have to change most of it soon since I’m going apartment hunting this weekend.”
“Oh, okay. That’s fine, I guess.” Her gaze darted down at the folder and then back up to my face. “My grandmother lives in a great neighborhood, and the house next door to her just went up for sale. It’s super convenient to work, too.”
“It’s sweet of you to mention it, but I don’t want the hassle of a house. I’m not used to being around to do maintenance stuff because I used to travel a lot for work, so I never needed to learn how to do that stuff. An apartment or condo will work better for me.”
“There are a couple of open units in my building,” the dark-haired guy offered, having made his way down the hall and into the reception area. His eyes scanned up and down my body as he offered me a cocky smile. “Or if you’re looking for a roommate, you could just move in with me.”
“Shut the fuck up, Reid. And go put on some real clothes, dammit,” Xander growled at him. I felt his fingers wrap around my upper arm, and Jessa looked like she was about to have a panic attack as she stared at us with wide eyes. I let him lead me into his office without putting up a fight. He might have won the little battle on the mat the day before, but that didn’t mean he was going to win all of them. But he didn’t have to know that. Not yet, anyway.
“That’s not quite how I pictured this morning going,” I sighed after he shut the door behind us.
“Fuck,” he groaned, running his hands through his dark hair and making it look like he’d just rolled out of bed. “This is going to be a lot harder than I thought. There’s no fucking way I’m going to be able to stand by and watch as my guys flirt with you. Not even on my best day, which today most definitely isn’t because I barely slept last night. It only took one damn night for me to get used to having you in my arms.”
“I didn’t sleep well, either,” I admitted softly.
He moved behind me and wrapped his arms around me. “I should have done it.”
“Done what?” I leaned against him, feeling myself relax for the first time since I walked out yesterday.
“It took everything I had in me not to break into your hotel room last night. If I’d known you needed me, I wouldn’t have held back. But with the way you stormed out of here yesterday, I figured you needed a little time to adjust.”
“I did,” I sighed.
His arms tightened. “I understand, or at least I’m trying to. But never again, Calista. If we have a problem, we’re going to hash it the fuck out right away. There won’t be any going to bed angry, or without each other, in this relationship.”
“I wasn’t angry when I went to bed.” Even though he couldn’t see my face, I closed my eyes as I opened myself up to him. I might be a badass when it came to my job, but not so much when it came to being emotionally vulnerable. “It was guilt for how I reacted. For what I said to you. I’m so sorry.”
“Calista. Baby,” he sighed, turning me in his arms and cupping my jaw in his palms to turn my face up. “Open those fucking gorgeous brown eyes and look at me.”
I did as he asked, and the soft look on his face made me want to cry. “I’m not going to ask the doctor for the morning after pill,” I blurted out. “I’m going to go in and see her, though. If we’re going to keep on doing this, then I need to do something about birth control. For the future. In case I’m not already pregnant.”
“There’s no if about it, Calista. We’re definitely going to keep having sex." My lips parted, but he didn’t give me the chance to argue before he swooped down and claimed my mouth in a demanding kiss. One that left me almost breathless by the time he lifted his head again. “Often.”
“You’re too damn sexy for my own good,” I grumbled.
“I promise to make it up to you.” His dark eyes twinkled with humor. “With as many orgasms as you want.”
“I’m so fucked,” I whispered.
“You’re going to be.”
I made a mental note to stock up on condoms since we wouldn’t know if I was pregnant for a couple more weeks. At the pace we were going, if he hadn’t already knocked me up, he could do it a million times over before then.
6
Xander
Sleeping without Calista had been fucking torture, and I refused to do it again. Considering her determination to be strictly professional at work, I was pretty sure I could convince her that I had the solution to both. I kissed her again, enjoying the feel of her incredible body as she melted into me. My hands traveled down to grip her ass, and I jerked her forward so there was no room betwe
en us.
When we finally came up for air, I was panting and hard as a rock. Fiery desire licked at my body, and the matching look in her eyes broke me. Kissing her again, I backed her up until she was caged between me and my desk. I grasped her waist and hoisted her onto the tabletop before sliding my hands down to her knees and opening her wide, so I could step in between. I loved how tall she was, her body fitting so perfectly with mine. I broke the kiss as my fingers danced up her blouse, making quick work of the buttons until I was able to part the fabric and marvel over the most perfect tits I’d ever seen.
Her chest was rising and falling with her rapid breaths, and it made them bounce seductively. Hooking my index fingers over the rim of the lacy, red cups, I tugged them down, revealing her rosy, peaked nipples. My mouth watered at the sight of the tight little buds.
“Xander. We can’t—” Her protest turned into a moan when I wrapped my lips around one nipple and sucked in hard. Fuck, she tasted good, her honey skin almost as potent as her delicious pussy.
“I fucking love your tits, Calista,” I mumbled as I let one go, only to move over to the other.
I was so fucking hard I was sure my cock would burst through the crotch of my thousand-dollar suit pants at any moment. Letting her nipple go with a pop, I groaned. “Need to be inside you, baby.” Slamming my mouth down on hers again, I unbuttoned her pants and shoved a hand down, pulling aside her underwear and sinking one long finger inside her. “So fucking wet.”
She moaned, her hands gripping my shoulders, fingertips digging into the muscle. I retracted my digit and brought it to my mouth, sucking it clean. It made me desperate to feel her slick walls clamping down on my cock. I practically attacked her pants, growling in frustration as I realized what a pain in the ass it was to get them off. “Skirts from now on, baby,” I grunted. “Nothing but skirts. I need easy access to my woman’s pussy. Underwear is optional.” The thought of all those drooling idiots who worked for me getting a glimpse of what was mine had me rethinking. “Forget that. Underwear at all times unless we’re at home.”
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