by London Hale
Looked like it was time to shake things up again. I had some begging to listen to.
Thirteen days of nothing but work, whiskey, and jacking off left me feeling as if I could explode at any moment. I’d been snapping at my assistants, running my team into the ground every day, and avoiding my own home like the plague. What the fuck was wrong with me?
Oh, that’s right. I wanted to go balls deep until I had a woman the same age as my daughter screaming my name. That was what. Those fucking red panties just kept haunting me.
I adjusted myself through my pants for the hundredth time that day and took a deep breath. The McIntyre Steel folder—red, of course—sat open on my desk, the documents still unread. Clark had scheduled a meeting to touch base on the progress, but I couldn’t concentrate. Too many thoughts of red hair, black tank tops, and all the glory of what was underneath consumed my brain. The guilt wasn’t helping, either.
I’d avoided Gen since the night I’d accosted her on my couch, communicating in nothing but Post-it notes. Callous? Yes. Better for her? I could only hope. But at what cost? She had to think I was the biggest asshole alive, though she hadn’t yet left. Whether that was because of her mom or me, I had no idea. I sort of hoped it was the latter. Sort of dreaded it, too.
“Brandon, old boy. I haven’t seen you in weeks.” Clark strolled into my office without knocking on the closed door, a habit that had always rubbed me the wrong way. If I dared to do the same, he’d chew me up and spit me out for disrespecting him.
I rose from my seat, thankful for the sport coat I’d kept on as it would hide the erection I couldn’t seem to lose. Even when Gen wasn’t with me, she was on my mind. Everything red reminded me of her; everything black stole my attention. I needed to focus.
“Clark. So good to see you,” I said, forcing my lips into a smile. “I never got to say thank you for coming to Evie’s graduation party. It was good to see you and Brock.”
“Yes, yes. Great party, though your daughter certainly pulled a number on Brock.” He frowned as he took a seat, eyeing me hard. “He’s been heartbroken.”
I had to work to unclench my jaw. Clark was the biggest name in real estate and development in the Midwest. He’d also been my boss and mentor since I was a fresh-faced kid with nothing more than a bachelor’s degree and a toddler on my hip. He taught me everything I knew about business, but he also expected a lot in return. We had current deals in process in six countries and on three continents, not to mention just about every state in the union. Business hours? That meant all day, every day including weekends—for me and my team, not so much for him.
As business partners, we should have been on an even playing field, but Clark had made sure I could only buy forty-five percent of the business when the opportunity had come up. He held fifty-one to be majority stockholder. Brock held the other four. I was outnumbered, therefore, always at risk. And the bastard never let me forget it.
“Evie tried to be kind,” I said, sitting back and forcing my shoulders to relax. “But she wanted to choose a different path.”
“Yes, I saw her and her new path yesterday at the diner. Interesting pairing, your daughter and your best friend.”
“Yes, well…” No words would come. As much as I wanted to defend my daughter, defend Nate for choosing her, I couldn’t. I struggled accepting their relationship because she was so much younger than he was, yet there I went, chasing after a girl the same age as Evie. I was just as bad, just as wrong, but it felt just as right as what Nate had told me about how he fell for Evie. What the fuck was I supposed to say?
Clark scowled at my non-answer. “I would hope this sort of thing doesn’t run in the family. I’d hate to have to exert my control over the board should any infidelities come to light.”
“I’m not married,” I said, taking a deep breath before continuing. “And my personal life is completely above board. Always has been. You have nothing to worry about.”
“Good, good. Now that this ugliness is out of the way, let’s get to why I’m here. When are we closing the McIntyre Steel property?”
I grabbed the paperwork and let my mouth run on autopilot, trying like hell to ignore the yearning in my gut for the girl at home. The one I felt more connected to than I’d thought possible. The one I was trying to stay away from.
The one who could destroy my entire life if I surrendered to temptation again.
I trudged my way through the front door long before the sun went down. Odd time for me to be home, but I knew Gen would be working. That left me with the house to myself. I had plenty of time to seek out every sign of her having been there, jack off, grab a quick bite, and be back at my office before her workday was even over.
First stop, the whiskey bottle in my office. I loosened my tie and undid the top button of my shirt, giving myself room to breathe. Second stop, the couch in the family room. I was a sick fucker for getting so worked up about a piece of furniture, but I couldn’t help myself. I loved imagining her there, remembering her all wide-eyed and flushed. Wishing she was there again. She’d sprawl out, her red hair falling like flames to the floor, her legs opening in invitation. I’d crawl between her thighs, lift her wet pussy to my mouth, and I’d get to taste her. Finally. It was all I wanted to do—lick that sweet pussy until she came on my tongue. Drink down every ounce of her pleasure. I hadn’t gone down on a woman in almost twenty years, hadn’t even considered it before Gen. Now, it was all I could think about. All I wanted. A craving that wouldn’t let me go.
Every day, I followed the same routine. I’d drink whiskey and imagine how ripe Gen would taste. How sweet and wet she would be. When the need got to be too much, when my cock was hard and my head filled with pictures of her red hair and pale skin, I’d rush upstairs to my shower so I could stroke myself in peace. The whole time I would run my hand over my cock, tugging from base to tip, I’d pretend Gen was in the house with me, living with me not because she had to but because she wanted to. Because she was mine. And later, after I’d come at least twice, I’d head back to work pretending she had never been in my house at all just to get through the rest of the day. That was my hell.
Just like every other day for the past two weeks, I grabbed my whiskey, sat down on the couch, and let my imagination run wild. But my plans for solitary stimulation exploded when—as I sat with one hand holding a glass of whiskey and the other rubbing my cock over my pants—I heard a tsking sound from the hallway.
“Is that the kind of thing you normally do when I’m not here, Brandon?”
If I’d been half the man I should have been, I’d have been embarrassed about being caught jacking off. I’d have gotten up off the couch and headed back to the office. I wouldn’t have even offered Gen more than a casual apology as I blew past her.
But I wasn’t that good of a man, especially not after two weeks of needing her, wanting her, knowing she was sleeping two doors down from me and not being able to take her. Not even close.
I gave myself one final stroke, eyeing the tight-as-fuck jeans and tank top she wore with more than a little interest before dropping my hand to my thigh and taking another sip.
“Shouldn’t you be at work?” I asked, my eyes refusing to leave the soft curves of her body.
“I am working.”
“In that?” I set my whiskey down on the end table and gestured to the tank top barely covering her tits. Fuck, I wanted to rip it off her. Wanted to yank it over her head and taste all that sweet flesh.
“Fits the part,” Gen said with a simple shrug. “My boss wants me to try out this new vibrator and report back.”
It took a few seconds for her words to register. Something about my sweet Gen and vibrator didn’t go together at first, but then they did. I sat straight up, stumbling over words until I finally yelled, “You brought a sex toy home with you?”
Just the thought, the image of her with her fingers between her legs, her nipples tight as she brought herself closer to the edge. Just the possibility that she mi
ght have been thinking of me when she did that… I had no words. Not really. Maybe a handful, though they weren’t at all what I really wanted to focus on. “Where the hell do you work?”
She didn’t flinch, didn’t even react to my raised voice with anything more than a quirked eyebrow. “Sin.”
“Fuck,” I breathed, the sound long and drawn-out even to my own ears. Fucking hell, she was going to kill me. I closed my eyes, fighting back the need to touch her. To drag her ass under mine and fuck the ever-loving shit out of her. She worked at the sex shop across town? How had I not known that? Half the guys on the island had probably hit on her at one point or another as they trekked inside the two-story brick building for their porn and sexual accoutrements. I knew that shop, had been the one to sell it to the current owner’s grandmother too many years ago to think about. I’d been in every room, every floor, in every closet and niche. And now I could picture Gen in there, her hair loose, her jeans and tanks so much sexier than all the lingerie in the place.
And all the men who’d be trying, looking to get a date, a touch, a taste. Fuck and no.
“You can’t work there.”
Gen laughed, as if what I was saying was a joke. “I hate to tell you this, Brandon, but I can work wherever I want.”
She moved across the floor, a lioness on the hunt, coming closer with every step. Rolling her hips in a way that should have been illegal. Fuck, I liked being her prey. Too much. Way too much.
“Gen, for my sanity, you can’t work there. I can’t get arrested for beating the shit out of someone at the local smut shack.”
More steps. A sexy sway to her hips that made my mouth water as she moved closer. “Why would you beat the shit out of anyone?”
And wasn’t that the question of the hour? I’d given her a piece of me, taken something from her, then walked away and pretended she didn’t exist. And for what? To lose my mind every day thinking about her? To push her away to save myself some possible professional embarrassment? I was an idiot. She deserved better than that, better than me. She deserved to be loved and cared for, to be spoiled. To be worshiped every single day.
And I planned on doing that, starting right then.
“You don’t know?” I grabbed a belt loop of her jeans as soon as she was close enough, yanking her until her knees bumped the edge of the couch. Needing to have my hands on her, but not convinced I should. Not sure if she’d accept my touch. “You don’t get it?”
“What I get is that you liked what we did right here on this couch, but then you ran like a coward. And now you want to tell me what to do?” She placed one knee on the couch, brushing mine, spreading her legs just enough to force my eyes to her covered pussy. The jeans were so much sexier than the tiny shorts she’d worn the other night. Left more to my imagination, and my imagination was good. Strong. Especially in regards to Gen. Unable to stop myself, I ran my hand up her thigh, stroking my fingers over the seam covering her pussy. Teasing her, giving her the chance to pull away. She didn’t. In fact, she rocked closer. Oh yeah, I was closing this deal.
“You know what I think?” I tugged her forward, forcing her to straddle my lap. The move was so much like two weeks before, my cock twitched at the thought of a repeat. “I think deep down, you want me to tell you what to do. You want me to care enough to say no.”
“Nope. Here’s the thing—I’m not one of your subordinates, Mr. Catalpa. What I want is for you to man up and admit you like me. That we have chemistry. Or is that too much to ask?”
Oh hell. Her calling me by my surname should not have turned me on so much, but it did. As did the way her eyes practically glittered as she looked me over, a predator and her prey. But if she thought I was simply surrendering, she was wrong. I still had a little power here, and I was going to use it.
“Everything about you is too much, Genesis.” I flipped us both, dropping her to lie on the couch and sliding down her body until my chest rested between her spread legs, my knees on the ground. Lower still, tugging the denim down and biting a path over her hip. Breathing in the deep, delicious scent of her need. “You know what I wanted to do to you that night?”
“Fuck me?”
“Yes, but that wasn’t all.” I unfastened her jeans, kissing the flesh revealed. But as I slid them down over her hips, I froze. Motherfucking red—lace and tight and skimpy as fuck. I could already tell. I’d dreamed of those exact panties for weeks, and she was wearing them? I was going to see her ass cupped by the red lace of my fantasies? I was done for. “Fuck me, I love these panties.”
Gen chuckled, her body shaking against mine. “Focus, Brandon. What else did you want to do?”
Everything, I wanted to answer. But I couldn’t—not yet. Not until I had her ready for me. Once I admitted my need, there’d be no holding back. I pulled Gen’s jeans lower still, spreading her thighs as soon as the fabric cleared her knees. With one hand on her hip, fingers stroking the lace there, I took the time to remove the denim from around her ankles before gifting myself with a look at her in the panties that had haunted my dreams. Before taking a deep breath and seeing how good my imagination really was. How accurate. When I had her legs free, I kissed her knee and turned my head enough to look. To see. To finally take in the vision of her in lace.
One look, and every ounce of blood I had rushed south to my already rock-hard cock. That slip of red fabric covering her pussy was wet—soaked, really. Her desire a physical thing I got to see, to touch, to taste. Pulled tight across her, the fabric fit snug and low in a way that seemed almost obscene. Accentuating her curves even as she sprawled across the couch. Bright red against pale white. Pure perfection on the seduction scale.
“Brandon,” Gen said, her voice breathy. “Tell me.”
Her hands were in my hair, pulling. I groaned and bit her thigh, just a nip, really. Just enough to tempt myself with her flavor.
“I wanted to taste you. I wanted to lick this pussy until you came, screaming my name.” I teased a knuckle over the fabric covering her, desperate to touch, to make sure the red wasn’t a dream. She shivered, so I did it again, inching closer, forcing her knees apart with my shoulders. “I still want to.”
Gen didn’t hesitate. Didn’t falter for a second. She looked me square in the eye the second I tore my gaze away from those dream panties, her face flushed and a challenge obvious. “So, do it.”
With a smirk I couldn’t have wiped away if I tried, I leaned in and opened my mouth on that seductive red fabric. I ran my teeth over her, carefully biting down to catch just the fabric, even as I purposely rubbed against her clit, and then I pulled back. The red lace came with me, trailing down her legs, baring her to me in a slow slide that made my cock leak with precome. When the fabric hit her knees, I let go of it and used my hand instead, shoving the scrap of fabric into my pocket before moving up her thighs once more.
“Those are mine now.” I bit down on her thigh again, a little harder this time, making her jump.
“You’re taking my favorite panties?”
“I’ve jacked off to thoughts of you wearing those too many times to count.” I spread her wider, pulling her ass right to the edge of the couch so I could have access to all of her. Every sweet, pink inch on display for me. “I think I earned them.”
“You don’t earn them by getting yourself off. You earn them by getting me off. Think you can do it?”
“Is that a challenge?” I licked a path along the side of her pussy, barely letting my tongue tease where I knew she wanted it. She was so soft and hot, so motherfucking tempting. I was going to enjoy every single second of this. “Because I accept.”
I gave her one small kiss before spreading her with my thumbs so I could lick her clit. Gen jerked and moaned, her hands falling to my shoulders before returning to my hair as I flicked and sucked and teased. When I knew I had her good and ready, when my chin was wet from rubbing against where she was swollen with need, I dragged two fingers along the seam of her thigh and slid them inside her.
Gen arched and shuddered, tightening around my fingers. “Holy shit, yes.”
“I shouldn’t fucking want you, but I do.” I closed my eyes, resting my forehead against her thigh. Concentrating on every breath from Gen, every shiver, every clench as I worked her pussy with my hand. “How the fuck am I supposed to resist you?”
“I never said you had to.”
I wanted to believe her, to give in and be sure us being together wouldn’t blow up in my face at some point. Doubt lingered, though. Worry about her age, about my job, about how the people of Temperance Falls would react to us together. But when Gen arched her back and dropped her knees, rocked her hips and rode my fucking hand, I was done. I couldn’t imagine giving her up, couldn’t stop what I was doing, couldn’t resist the chance to taste her as she came. She was so wet, so tight and perfect. So fucking responsive as I teased. I had to have her. And once I had her, she’d be mine. Forever.
Unable to resist her taste, I brought my mouth back to her clit, licking and sucking as I kept my hand moving. As I focused on giving her everything I could, on making sure she came at my hands. That I gave her the pleasure she needed. Ignoring my own wants and needs, I spent every second working her pussy. Owning it. Worshiping her sex until she was a writhing, sweating, moaning mess of a girl ready to explode. And then I curled my fingers and pushed her right over the edge.
Gen came with a yelp and a groan that had my cock leaking. Back arched, legs hugging my shoulders, she rocked and shook as she milked my fingers. As she tugged at my hair and chanted my name. I kept up the assault on her clit, kept licking just enough to push her through, even though I wanted nothing more than to pull out my cock and yank her down on top of me.
Apparently, Gen had the same idea.
Without warning, she practically lunged off the couch, knocking me backward and straddling my hips as I pulled my hand from between us. Her mouth found mine, her arms wrapping around my neck, but that was the end of her leading. I gripped her hips and yanked her closer to settle her weight over my cock, kissing her deeply.