1001 Dark Nights: Bundle Five

by Julie Kenner

  The poorly named Afton was actually a boy, but that didn’t matter to Mitch. “I didn’t give you those orders, Sharon, and I don’t want glass.”

  “No, I did and I’ve already approved the amount. We are not turning this office into a steel-reinforced bunker.” For a woman who had recently been shot at, Laurel was surprisingly on top of things.

  He should have known she would plot against him. This was what life with Laurel would be like. Every day was a minor war between the two of them. He wanted steak and potatoes for lunch and she ordered in some kind of salad. He wanted a filing system he understood and she computerized everything. He wanted her to not be shot and she made arrangements for windows and possibly hunting blinds throughout the office. He wouldn’t put it past her. She would do it to challenge his authority. He was putting his foot down. “We’re closing up the windows and that’s that.”

  Sharon smiled and utterly ignored him. “Okay then, Laurel. I’ll see y’all tomorrow. But not too early. I want to go with Denise and the baby to her doctor’s appointment. I’m going to be a grandma again.”

  She walked out and he was left shaking his head. “How many does that make? Are her children rabbits?”

  “Seven,” Laurel shot back. “She has three kids and seven lovely grandchildren. They’re all very sweet.”

  Another reason to step back from Laurel. She wanted babies. He didn’t want babies. The last thing he was going to do with his life was ruin some kid’s. His childhood had been a long series of short-term stays with his mother and her revolving door of boyfriends, and the occasional card from his father. No. He wasn’t going to inflict that on anyone.

  “I don’t want windows. People can shoot at you through windows,” he said. It looked like it would be a long night. He started after Sharon. The woman could move when she wanted to get out of work. She was down the stairs and out of the building before he knew it. “And that woman is fired.”

  Laurel followed him, her heels clacking on the stairs. “You can’t fire her. Why would you even want to? Because she’s not coming in until late? You don’t have a single appointment tomorrow. You should be happy. You’ve scared everyone off.”

  He liked not having appointments. It made his day much nicer to not have to deal with people. “I’m firing her because she took too long for lunch. If she’d been at her desk, she could have handed you the tissue and then you wouldn’t have spooked the crackhead. So she’s fired.” He swiftly locked the door and set the security alarm that was getting a serious upgrade in the morning.

  When he turned, Laurel was standing on the bottom step. They were completely alone in the building he’d bought with pretty much everything he’d had left after the divorce from Joy, aspiring actress and expert at manipulating men. If she’d been half as good at auditions as she’d been in the courtroom, she wouldn’t have needed half his assets and three grand a month in alimony.

  “I should call your brother.” Now that he was alone with her, his heart was still pounding but his dick was pulsing too. He couldn’t forget how still she’d been, how there’d been blood on her arms from the glass cutting her. “I would feel better if he looked you over instead of that hormonal puppy who practically humped your leg instead of properly examining you.”

  “Mitchell, he was gay. We were talking about how much he liked my shoes.”

  He frowned. “Really?”

  “No, not really. He asked me out, but the truth of the matter is it’s none of your business and we’re not calling my brother because he’s with Bridget in Chicago. She’s at book convention being worshipped for the goddess she is. I’m fine. You should head home. I’ll handle the contractor. They’re coming in with pre-cut glass so it shouldn’t take them long at all.”

  “I’m not going anywhere and I’m serious about reinforcing our doors.”

  She turned and sighed. “We won’t get any of the natural light from the skylight if you do that. You’ll turn the entire reception area into a gloomy cave. It will utterly ruin everything the decorator did in the last six months.”

  That was where he had her. “Yeah, well it won’t matter because I’m filling in the skylight, too.” There was a massive glass structure on the roof that filtered light down through the building. The four-story building had a courtyard style setting in the middle and glass elevators that ran up the back. That glass over his head might be pretty, but now he was thinking of all the ways assassins could break through and enter, and his security system wouldn’t protect anyone at all. “I’m calling Taggart in the morning and having him redo security for the whole building. I’m going to need you to make a couple of those lemon cakes he likes. Even with a discount the big bastard is ridiculously expensive.”

  She turned and her face was in a fierce frown. Her golden brown hair was slightly disheveled. Sex hair. It looked like she had sex hair instead of almost-got-murdered hair. “I am not going to help you do something like that. Do you know how hard I’ve worked to make this a nice place? Do you even care?” Tears shone in her eyes and she shook her head. “You don’t. You couldn’t care less that the office is beautiful now. Nothing I do matters. You know what? You can keep Sanctum. I’ll find my own place and Will is going to have to be all right with it. Hell, maybe I’ll talk to Master T and he’ll train me privately.”

  She pivoted on her heels and started back up the stairs.

  His gut rolled with anger. He was doing everything in order to keep her safe and she was treating him like this? “Laurel! Stop right where you are.”

  She kept moving. “I don’t have to. You’re not my Dom. You’re not my boyfriend.”

  “I’m your boss.”

  “Not anymore. I quit. I’m not staying in a place where I work my ass off but my boss doesn’t care. You don’t want me but you won’t let anyone else have me.”

  They were going to do this here? He started up after her, his blood pressure ticking up every second she didn’t turn around and fight with him. He stepped up the pace because they weren’t done. He knew even as he thought it that it was perverse. He knew he couldn’t have her, knew he should be happy that she was leaving and taking temptation out of his path. But all he could think about was the fact that if she quit, he wouldn’t have her in his life. He wouldn’t be able to watch over her. Not again. She was trouble. A lot of trouble. She didn’t search it out, but it seemed to follow her around.

  He pounded up the stairs, disregarding all the alarms that were going off in his head. It was a mistake to follow her. His palm was itching, his cock threatening to take over. She was pushing all his buttons and she had been all damn day. He hadn’t missed the way she’d called him sir. She knew exactly what she was doing.

  And the entire idea of her being at Sanctum both disturbed and titillated him. What if they could compartmentalize their relationship? What if they could make it work? If he put her under a contract, he could control how much influence she had on his life.

  “Laurel!”

  She stomped her way back to the office she’d spent six months turning into something warm and inviting. It wasn’t that he didn’t understand the work she’d put into it. It was just that now all he would be able to see was her on that floor. He’d only be able to see how many different ways someone could get to her.

  She held a hand up. That wouldn’t have been so bad if she hadn’t only had a single finger sticking up. Yes. She was giving him the finger.

  He had a couple of things to give to her. His blood started to thrum through his system and his good sense was beginning to seem like a far-off thing. Up ahead he could see the way her hips swayed and how perfectly she walked in those four-inch heels. It made him wonder what else she could do.

  She’d almost died. Some asswipe had leveled a gun at her and pulled the trigger and only her quick movements had saved her life. She could be dead. She could be gone, her unique kindness and beauty stopped by a single bullet.

  He should have been questioning himself, but it no longer mattered.
She’d pushed him past thought and into action. He hadn’t had the chance to save her before. She’d been on her own in a place that should have been safe for her. But he could take action now.

  She turned at the door and there was a sudden flare of fear in her eyes that sent a thrill through his system. She was finally aware of him. She wasn’t looking at him like some sad sack she could push around, but like the predator he’d always hidden from her.

  He had to give her one more way out. His cock was threatening to pound out of his slacks, but he still had enough willpower and common sense to give her a shot at coming out of this whole. “If you very politely apologize, I’ll walk you to you car and you can leave, Laurel. We can talk about this in the morning like sane adults.”

  “And if I don’t?”

  “Don’t push me again, Laurel. I’ve had enough. You push me one more time and you’re going to see a side of me you don’t want to see.” For the second time that day, adrenaline pounded through his system.

  Come on, baby. Push me again. Let me take over.

  His dick was so close to getting what it wanted. All these months and it had been ruthlessly controlled, tamped down and put on a leash. Hell, since he’d met Laurel he hadn’t taken a lover, not even for a night. He didn’t want anyone else. He wanted her and if she pushed him one more time, he could chuck his morality for the night and have her. He’d given her every out. She was a smart girl and he’d given her control. All she had to do was make the sensible choice for both of them.

  “Fuck you, Mitch.”

  Decision made. He fell on her like a hungry lion.

  * * * *

  Laurel’s whole body came alive when Mitch’s muscular body pressed her against the door. She could feel the wood at her back, but there was more at her front. He was hard, his cock already thick, and he didn’t hold it back. It was pressed against her belly, insistently telling her that no matter what happened, nothing was going to be the same after tonight.

  “I fucking warned you. I won’t stop this time. I won’t play the gentleman again,” he whispered before his mouth descended on hers.

  Thank god. Six months. They’d passed and every night she dreamed about what they could have had if he hadn’t played the damn gentleman that night in Hawaii. They’d wasted six months. Six months when she could have felt him against her, when she could have had the heat of his body to warm her own. They could have been sleeping together, sharing a life beyond the confines of this office.

  His lips found hers and he was ravenous. He slanted over her mouth again and again, dominating and taking what he wanted. His tongue surged in and she could feel that slow slide in her womb.

  Just like that she was wet and ready. Her body felt malleable, as though it knew this man was the one who could mold her and bring her to fruition. Every inch of her body felt primed. Her nipples rasped against the fabric of her bra, her breasts heavy and wanting. Her clothes were suddenly too tight and she wanted nothing more than to throw them off. She didn’t need clothes around him.

  A sudden vision of what it would be like now that Mitch was finally claiming her stamped itself in her brain. She could hear him commanding her to be naked when they were alone. She would curl up at his feet as they relaxed. It would be the two of them and they wouldn’t have to argue. They would be together.

  His hands found her backside, squeezing. A low groan ground out of his mouth as he explored her. She could feel herself softening, offering herself up for his slow exploration. This was the man who would finally teach her what all the fuss was about.

  Mitch pushed her to be better than she was, to think more clearly about points of law and to challenge herself to greater heights. She’d always known it would be the same in the bedroom. She’d had lovers before, but sex had been something to do, a way to show affection. Sex with Mitch was a force of freaking nature.

  He pressed her against the door. His mouth was a marauder, plunging in and taking what he wanted. His hands gripped her hips and suddenly she felt her feet leave the ground. Mitch had a good half a foot on her, but it didn’t seem to matter. He simply lifted her to where he wanted her to be.

  “Feel that. That’s what you fucking do to me,” he growled against her mouth.

  His cock. His very large cock, from the feel of it, was pressed right against her pussy. She had to gasp when he ground that big erection against her clit.

  She intended to give as good as she got. “You can’t tell what you do to me because there are way too many clothes between us.”

  “Tell me, Laurel. Tell me how wet your pussy is.” His voice had gone deep, smooth and richer than normal. This was his Dom voice and it made her obey with ease.

  “So wet. My pussy is already soft and wet for you, Sir.”

  “Do you want my cock?”

  “I want everything,” she answered honestly. She wanted him to take her in every way a man could take a woman. She wanted long nights where they simply explored their boundaries. She’d been fooling herself. Sanctum wouldn’t mean anything without Mitchell as her Master. She only wanted to submit to him and only in the bedroom. She wanted to be his partner out of it. He needed her. He needed her to push him past his shell and she needed him for so many things. She needed the safety she’d found with him. No one had ever taken care of her the way he did.

  His hips kept moving as he kissed his way across her face. He licked the lobe of her ear. Damn but that felt good. He nipped her before lifting her easily. “Put your legs around me. I don’t want to wait. I can’t. I need to be inside you. I’ve waited too fucking long.”

  She did as he asked because she’d waited too long, too. Months of yearning made her reckless. She wrapped her legs around his waist, forcing her skirt up around her upper thighs. She could already feel the way her panties were damp and clinging. She was going to make a mess of his slacks, but it didn’t matter. Her brain couldn’t wrap itself around anything but how good he felt as he held her up and opened the door.

  He strode through the office she’d worked so hard to turn into something comfortable for him, past her own office where she kept the set of legal books Mitch had bought for her when she’d finished her paralegal certification classes. He’d said anyone who could put up with him while she attended school deserved something. Most women would see them as a simple tool, but the law was the only thing Mitch truly loved, and sharing it with her had been an act of affection on his part.

  She could see through him, see to the softer side of the man. Why had it taken him this long to acknowledge that they were good together?

  He strode into his office, her weight not holding him back at all. She’d watched him as he played basketball with her brother and their friends, so she knew the strength that lay under his white dress shirts. Always white with black slacks. He had what must be fifteen pairs. The only things that changed were his ties.

  He kissed her as he moved toward his desk. Their tongues melded and there was nothing awkward. She’d always found kissing awkward, a little messy. She was never sure what to do with her hands or how to move. She didn’t have to with Mitchell. He took over. He moved and she followed as though they’d done this a thousand times before.

  Heat flashed through her system. She’d never been so aroused in her life. It was like all the tension of the day, of the last six months, was being crushed under a tidal wave of desire. Her blood thrummed through her system, waking up parts of her body she’d never thought of as sexual. When he touched her back, she shivered all along her spine.

  She heard a crash and realized Mitch had shoved everything off the top of his big desk. He set her there, one arm around her at all times. Even in his passion, he was gentle with her, making sure she was safe. Now she could see the advantages to the massive thing as he settled her on it. He didn’t stop kissing her for a second. Their mouths moved together, tongues sliding and playing.

  His big body was in between her legs, forcing them apart as his hand moved under her skirt. She felt his
palm on her thigh, moving up and up to where she needed him to be. Her head fell back as his fingers moved under the waistband of her undies and started to slide over her labia.

  “You’re so wet,” he groaned against her neck.

  “I told you, Sir. I’ve never been this wet before.” Only for him. He invaded her every thought, all her dreams. She had no idea why this surly, gloriously masculine misanthrope did it for her, but he did. Chemistry. They had it in spades. Mitch walking into a room could make her temperature spike.

  He moved back and she watched as he pulled his soaked fingers from her core and brought them up to his nose. He breathed her in deep. “God, you smell like fucking sunshine, Laurel.” He sucked them inside his mouth, licking her essence off. “And you taste even better. I knew you would. I knew you would be the sweetest thing I’d ever tasted.”

  “Please, Mitch.” She knew she was begging, but she couldn’t do the whole foreplay thing. She needed him. They’d waited far too long to take their time.

  His face turned savage. “Yes, I think it’s about fucking time I pleased Mitch.”

  His hand went to the buckle of his belt and he shoved his slacks and boxers down with a single thrust, his cock jutting out. She caught a brief glimpse of the gorgeous monster before he was kissing her again. His fingers were back on her pussy, but he seemed to be pushing her undies aside…and then he was there.

  Oh, she had to force herself to breathe as she felt the broad head of his cock start to push its way inside.

  Alarms bells started to go off in her head, but they were a distant thing. She clutched at his arms, feeling the muscles of his big biceps through the fabric. She loved how his daily wardrobe hid the gloriously masculine body underneath. It made her want to unwrap him, to slowly rid him of the garments until he was naked in front of her and there was nothing else between them.