by Mari Carr
“I don’t regret the last ten years, Ferg. In truth, all that work has brought me to a place where I can spend the next forty years or so enjoying what comes next.”
“And what’s that?”
“Marriage, kids, a family.”
“Jesus. I saw some shit in the Middle East that shocked me to the core, but I think what you just said might have overshadowed all that.”
Lochlan chuckled. “Sometimes I wonder why I come around here so often.”
Fergus tapped his bottle to Lochlan’s. “Because there’s always cold beer.”
“You happy to be home?”
Fergus nodded, and Lochlan caught a glimpse of the dark circles under his cousin’s eyes. He suspected Fergus’s time overseas hadn’t been easy. Fergus had trained as a sniper, and up until about a year ago, he’d intended to be a lifer with the military. Lochlan had no idea what had happened to change that, but now wasn’t the time to ask. There were too many pissed-off football fans around.
At least until the Ravens scored to tie the game just before halftime and the room erupted in loud cheers. Yvonne stood up and did her touchdown dance, and beer bottles were clinked together.
Typically, Sundays were his favorite day of the week. The one day where he completely put thoughts of work away and enjoyed this time with his family.
Today, however, he wanted to be anywhere else.
No. Not anywhere. He wanted to be with May.
He tugged his phone out of his back pocket. Lochlan didn’t like the distance she was putting between them. He was tired of acting like a lovesick fool, letting her call the shots in this relationship. Her continued refusal to date him rubbed against the grain. Time to change direction.
He fired off a text.
Can you come in early tomorrow?
She made him wait a full ten minutes before she replied.
Yes.
He considered warning her that they were going to have a serious talk about their relationship, but he stopped himself. It wouldn’t be smart to give her a night to plan her counterarguments.
See you at eight.
It had been on the tip of his finger to remind her to wear a skirt with no panties—the new dress code they’d established this week—but he resisted the urge. He was curious to see what she wore tomorrow, to see how serious she was about building a wall between them.
When she didn’t reply, he tucked his phone away and continued to tune out the game, his family, everything.
Instead, he considered what he was going to say to Miss May Flowers.
Because tomorrow, it all changed.
10
May beat Lochlan to the office. She had been equal parts relieved and terrified by his request that she come in early. So much so, she hadn’t managed to sleep a wink.
She had written up her letter of resignation and arrived at the office an hour before his requested meeting time to print it off. It was currently sitting in the center of his desk—the only piece of paper on the clean surface. May knew she’d never be able to keep her hands from trembling, which meant it was best not to hand it to him. He might misinterpret that as weakness, as a sign she could be convinced to change her mind.
She couldn’t.
She sighed, wondering about his request for this meeting.
Had he discovered their affair was public?
She didn’t get the sense he cared about that, but maybe he’d changed his mind now that the word was out. He’d made that pronouncement in the hotel room after the wedding about lifting the ban on office romances, but he hadn’t put that in a memo and shared it with anyone else.
May sat at her desk, her hands clenched in her lap as she glanced at the clock on the wall again. Quarter to eight.
“God,” she murmured. She wasn’t sure she could survive another fifteen minutes. She was going out of her mind. She stood and walked to the small kitchenette. Perhaps making the coffee would distract her enough to resist the urge to run away. She hated confrontations.
She’d just finished putting everything together and pushed the on button when she heard a voice behind her.
“You’re wearing pants.”
May turned around slowly to face him. She’d chosen her outfit with great care this morning.
Lochlan filled the doorway to the room, looking large and intimidating…and sexy as fuck.
She nodded, unable to speak, her mouth suddenly dry.
Lochlan stepped into the small room and shut the door, locking it. “You shouldn’t have done that.”
She put her hands up, palms toward him, foolishly thinking that would keep the man back. “Wait.”
“You avoided me all weekend.” His tone was pure accusation.
May shook her head. “No. I was busy.”
His eyes narrowed. He recognized the lie. God, he always caught her in them.
Lochlan continued to move toward her until she was trapped against the counter, his body caging her in.
He reached for the first button on her blouse.
She gripped his wrist. “I thought we were going to talk?”
He stilled. “Put your hand down, May.”
Lochlan had two very distinct personalities when it came to sex. There was the fun, affectionate lover. And then there was this man. The one who issued wicked demands in a deep dark voice.
She couldn’t resist either of them. Obviously. That’s why she was in this fucking mess to begin with.
“Lochlan—” she started.
“Put it down now,” he repeated, his voice louder. Anger had never come into play between them, but there was no denying that in this moment, Lochlan was pissed.
She lowered her hand.
May closed her eyes, struggling to catch a breath. All the air in her body was expelled in quiet, soft pants, but it didn’t feel like any was going back into her lungs.
She wasn’t sure how much time passed as she stood there, eyes closed, waiting.
Her eyelids flew open when Lochlan cupped her cheek with one large palm. The second she saw his face, she realized the anger had passed. He was back in control. Typical. The man was a master of controlling his emotions.
Meanwhile, she was a whirling dervish, careening madly out of control, constantly.
“We’re going to talk about everything, May. But not yet. I can’t. You hid from me all weekend.”
She didn’t bother to deny it. He’d asked to see her Saturday and Sunday, and she’d offered lame excuses to avoid him.
“And you’re still hiding.” His fingers returned to the buttons on her blouse, and she didn’t resist this time as he slipped each one free. She’d thought her choice of clothing would make her feel stronger, give her the ability to do what had to be done.
Chalk up another tick mark in the failure column.
Once her blouse was completely open, he slid it over her shoulders but didn’t take it off. Instead, he used the material to bind her hands behind her back. Bondage was one of the few things they hadn’t experimented with, yet it was the one thing she’d longed for ever since that first night in his bedroom.
Then he reached around her and unhooked her bra. He did some fancy move where he stretched the lacy material over her head, pushing it and the straps down her arms and adding it to the blouse tying her hands.
She wasn’t getting loose.
“No more pants,” he murmured, his lips moving along her face to the shell of her ear. His breath was hot and she trembled with need.
His comment did nothing to remind her why she was in the pants and to snap her out of this trance. One touch from this man and she lost all common sense.
He unfastened her pants, pushing them and her panties down.
“Step out of them.”
She obeyed.
God. She always obeyed.
It was so easy. So hot.
After a lifetime of ignoring her own desires, she didn’t have it in her to deny herself this. Him.
Once she was completely naked, Lochlan spu
n them around, slowly walking her backwards toward the small table in the room. He lifted her up on it, stepping between her outstretched legs.
She wasn’t sure she’d ever get used to this feeling of…pure possession. More often than not, their “lessons” involved her being fully naked while he was almost completely dressed.
There was something scandalously sexy about being tied up and draped over this table while Lochlan—hot as hell in his suit and tie—stood over her.
Lord and master.
Her Viking.
The thought prompted a grin.
“Something funny?” he murmured.
She shook her head. This wasn’t funny. It was another nail in her coffin. Probably the last.
Regardless, when she was with him like this, she was happy. Beyond all reason and logic.
Lochlan pressed on her shoulders until she dropped back to her elbows, her bound hands resting in the middle of her back. The position thrust her breasts out, which was clearly his intent. He loved them. Told her so all the time. Then proved it by sucking and nipping at them until she was out of her mind.
This time he didn’t put his mouth on her. Instead, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny box.
“What is that?”
Lochlan didn’t answer. He didn’t have to when he opened it and pulled out the first nipple clamp. He’d mentioned them to her before, told her he wanted to use them on her.
She wasn’t sure she’d like the sensation, but Lochlan had proven to her several times over that pain could be very pleasurable. May begged for his spankings, the hard heat of his hand—and once a ruler—against her ass driving her to the edge of an orgasm every time.
Lochlan bent forward and roughly sucked one of her nipples into his mouth, the tip tightening, growing. Once he’d awoken the sensitive bit of flesh, he snapped the clamp in place.
She hissed, her lips parting to tell him to take it off.
The brief flash of pain gave way to something better.
He repeated the same things with her other nipple, and once the second clamp was in place, he straightened up to study his work.
Each clamp had three little beads, and he used those now, tugging on them to increase the pressure, not loosening his grip until he provoked a groan from her.
Her chest rose and fell heavily as her pussy started to clench.
“I need you,” she said on a gasp.
“I needed you all weekend. You hid.”
Oh shit. Suddenly she realized Lochlan’s intent. He would give her pleasure, she didn’t question that. But the man was going to make her ache and beg first.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
He gave her a sweet smile. “I know. But I also know you’re a smart woman who thinks that apology will save her. It won’t.”
She opened her mouth to argue, but it turned into a pained cry when he pulled on the nipple clamp again, reminding her that she was his captive. Her hands were useless to her. She wasn’t even sure she could sit upright without his help.
He had her where he wanted her, and he wouldn’t free her until his wounded pride was assuaged.
Part of her—the part that pissed her off—actually considered this tiny bit of sensual revenge his right.
She had held him at bay. And the hard truth was she intended to make that distance permanent before the end of the day.
So she’d give him his revenge while greedily stealing one more memory for herself.
He continued to play with the clamps, licking and tugging until she was panting, all pride gone.
“Please. I can’t take any more.”
He wrapped his hand around her upper arm, pulling her to a sitting position on the table. She lifted her legs, trying to use them to pull his hips to hers.
“Inside me,” she pleaded.
He chuckled, a dark, humorless, almost dangerous sound, and she knew her punishment wasn’t over.
Lochlan lifted her to a standing position before pressing on her shoulder.
“On your knees.”
May went without thought. He’d introduced her to blowjobs on Tuesday.
He unzipped his pants, his erect penis level with her face.
She licked her lips. She was a big fan. Especially when…
May leaned forward, intent on taking him into her mouth. That was when Lochlan pulled her hair free of the ponytail and gripped it tightly, using it to guide her, direct her.
She whimpered when he pulled, her scalp burning slightly. She tried to decide if there was anything she liked more than Lochlan’s hands in her hair. It was a no-fail turn-on.
He pushed his cock between her parted lips, pushing deep on the first thrust. Lochlan clearly meant what he said about suffering this weekend. He made no attempt to take it easy on her. This was possession—pure and irrefutable.
She loved the guttural grunts and groans she was able to provoke. She nipped at the head of his dick, applying pressure until he pulled her head back.
“Bad girl,” he murmured. She smiled and took him back inside, trying but failing to control the pace and rhythm. Lochlan wouldn’t give way, his hands in her hair driving the blowjob.
“You’re mine,” he said, and the words gave her a second’s pause. Lochlan must have noticed her hesitation because he pushed in deeper. “Swallow. Take it all.”
She was ready.
Lochlan erupted in her mouth, jets of come sliding down her throat.
May moved away as his climax waned, resting her ass on her ankles.
Jesus. What a picture the two of them made.
If anyone walked in at that moment, they’d see exactly what she was trying to walk away from.
May, naked on her knees, bound, as Lochlan, her boss, stood over her, nothing revealed but his cock.
How had she let him take her back here so easily? Without a word of argument or complaint?
She tried to stand. She had to get out of here.
Lochlan reached down and lifted her. Something in her face must’ve revealed her feelings. She started to step away from him, even as she knew she was helpless to leave. Her hands were tied and her clothing on the floor. Until he released her, she was stuck.
And the man knew it.
“We’re not done,” he warned her.
She glanced downward, intending to make a face at his soft penis. That failed when she realized the asshole was already growing hard again.
“Seriously?” she said. “Please, Lochlan. You have to understand how this looks.”
“I know exactly how it looks, but looks are deceiving.”
She didn’t have a clue how to interpret that.
“This isn’t what you think, May. It’s not an affair. It’s not that goddamn boss-fucking-his-secretary cliché.”
It was on the tip of her tongue to ask him what it really was. But she saw that look again. The one she’d dismissed twice before.
Lochlan had feelings for her. Genuine feelings.
She feared the same expression was on her face—they were mirror images in desire and…God help her, love.
But she couldn’t give in to that. He didn’t want kids. And she already had two.
“Please untie me.”
He shook his head. “I can’t. You’ll run.”
She threw her head back, closed her eyes and prayed for the strength to do what needed to be done.
Before divine intervention arrived, Lochlan was there. He twisted her toward the table once more, bent her over it and slammed into her aching pussy from behind. The sound of the clamps tinkled against the table, reminding him they were there.
He reached around her. “Hold your breath.”
That was the only warning she got before he removed both clamps at the same time.
“Shit,” she breathed, as blood rushed back into the tight tips painfully. Lochlan cupped her breasts with his hands, lightly massaging them until the pain morphed into something better.
Then he started to thrust inside her, pounding
deep and hard and true. She came within a dozen strokes. And once that orgasm waned, he pushed her over again in a dozen more.
“Harder!” she demanded, the sound coming out in a snarl. He’d reduced her to a wild beast, only interested in one thing. She needed the pleasure, but God help her if she didn’t need the pain too.
Lochlan seemed to recognize that. He released her breasts, using his fingers to pinch her still sore nipples tightly. It was as if he’d pulled the trigger on a gun.
She shoved against him as best she was able, considering she didn’t have the use of her hands.
She needed more. “My ass… Fuck my ass.” She had no idea where those words came from. While they’d toyed with anal play with his fingers and a small butt plug, they hadn’t gone further.
“No.”
She tried to shove away from him, intent on forcing the issue. She was completely out of control, but she didn’t care.
“No,” he repeated, slapping her ass hard. “We don’t have lube, and I’m not doing it without. It would hurt.”
“I want—”
Before she could finish her thought, her hands were freed as Lochlan loosened the knot in her blouse, pulling it and the bra off. He was still buried deep inside her, but he wasn’t moving.
He gripped her wrists, pulling her arms in front of her, both of their upper bodies propped up by their elbows, his chest against her back. She felt the expensive material of his shirt sticking to her sweat-soaked back.
Lochlan pressed a million soft kisses against the side and back of her neck, using gentleness to calm her.
It took several minutes for her head to catch up to her, for her wits to return.
“I don’t know…why I acted like that.”
She felt his lips tip up in a smile, even as they were still pressed against her neck.