by Diana Downey
We stand there, not making eye contact but studying each other’s body. All this is doing is ramping me up. God, I want him. I can only think about his hard pecs pressed against my breasts.
My blood pulses in my ears and throbs between my thighs. I should hold out. He’s with Nikita.
Shane licks his lips. “Fuck it.” Using his hips, he pushes me up against his desk.
His amazing erection presses against my groin, and I let out quick breaths. He shoves papers off and onto the floor and swings over the arm holding two monitors almost ripping them from their hinges.
His hands travel the length of my torso, mauling, groping, and squeezing. I’m instantly aroused and wet. His lips crash into mine, and it’s a feeding frenzy. He sucks, nips, and bites. He pushes my dress up and smiles at the boy shorts I’m wearing.
“I like your pink hearts.” His voice drops to a low growl.
I kiss him back just as roughly. My fingernails dig into his button-down shirt, and my fingers trace over the scar on his chin and the other one along his jawline. They’re sexy as hell. He’s all male and the most protective man I’ve ever known.
God I want to be mad at him. What if he’s already screwing Nikita? My hips arc into his, completely ignoring my weak protests.
Shane undoes his belt, unbuttons his jean, and Secretariat springs out because he’s not wearing any underwear. Oh how I missed it—long, stone hard, and ready. I can’t stop staring at the damn thing.
“You missed my cock,” he says into my hair.
God, I did. I need to be mad at him.
He pulls down the thin straps of my dress to expose my bra and then kisses my bare shoulder. His hand deftly undoes the bra to free my breasts. His fingers squeeze on my nipples, bringing them to diamond-hard points. The sensation burns in my breasts and then shoots into my sex, tightening and stimulating it. I am so bad. I can’t help it. I’ve dreamt about Shane every night since we parted in Alaska.
His free hand grabs my butt, and he kneads it. “Oh how I missed that ass.”
He sits me on the desk and using his knee spreads my legs. The wood desk cools my bare butt. He pushes my panties aside while tearing a condom wrapper with his teeth.
“I’m on the pill,” I protest, wanting to feel every inch of Secretariat.
His sexy grin curls up his lips. “I don’t want a mess in my office, princess.”
I even missed him calling me princess. I should stop this, but my pussy has other ideas. It’s hungry for him.
He rolls the condom on and slams inside me. The impact makes me cry out.
“Oh God.” The friction is exquisite and my sex clamps down in response to his thick cock.
“You feel so damn good, Cyn.”
He rocks into me, and I throw my head back, exposing my neck to his greedy mouth. His tongue and lips graze the skin with rough kisses. I know he’s leaving marks, but I don’t care.
Shane pounds into me. My breathing becomes erratic, and my heart slams against my ribs.
When my face returns to his lips, he seals my mouth, drawing my breath away. All I can think about is how good this feels—my sex starved for his cock.
“I hope you’re about to come, princess, because I can’t hold out much longer. You feel too damn incredible.”
My pussy reacts to his words, quivering with sharp, strong spasms. His cock responds to the convulsions, shuddering and jerking deep inside me.
“Fuck, I needed that,” he rasps, grinning.
I did too, but I’ll be damned if I’ll tell him that. It felt too good, and he’s rattled my sex so roughly I cannot even think. It’s still pulsing and begging for round two.
“I can’t live without you, Cyn.”
I love this man, and shit. “You slept with Nikita.”
I push on him hard. He yanks his cock out and rips off the condom, tying it in a knot and tossing it into the trash.
“You were smashing lips with another gay guy. What is it with you?”
His desk phone beeps and his admin says, “I know you don’t want to be disturbed, but Timmons won’t leave.”
“That asshole,” I say loud enough for her to hear. He’d interviewed me about Uncle Manny several times, so why is he here?
“You should hire her,” the admin says, chuckling.
“What’s he doing here?” I ask. “I thought he was working with the DEA.”
Shane looks at me oddly. “The DEA?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll see Timmons in the adjoining conference room. It’ll be a minute though.” Shane bites my chin. “Damn, I missed you. If you can get my people paid by the end of the week, you’re hired.”
I can do that. “That’s all? What about Nikita?” I stamp my foot.
“We’ll talk about that and your bi-boyfriend.” Shane types onto the keyboard. “Look under employees. The hours are logged under timesheets.” He shoves me his ledger of checks.
“I have to see this prick,” he says.
“You should tell me why you need to see him and also why you’re screwing Nikita,” I demand.
“Oh, princess. You’ve ruined me for all women. We will talk, and if I see you kissing any more guys, don’t expect them to live.”
Shane tucks his shirt in and gives me a wicked smile. “We’re not done here yet. I need to fuck you some more.”
My pussy involuntarily clenches, missing Secretariat expanding and filling it. “I don’t know about that.” I pinch his arm hard, and he grins. I wish I didn’t love this man.
He walks into another room while I pull my dress down and re-clasp my bra.
It doesn’t take me too long to straighten his books, which are a mess. After two hours, I’ve written well over twenty checks that pay his employees, including their back pay up until the end of last week. That should keep them happy.
The PC I’m working on slows to a crawl, especially the Internet access, so I scan over the vitals and look at what processes are running. I don’t know much about coding or his Hoops N’ Hookups business, so I nose around. It’s a pretty cool app that allows users to scan members and then search for online sporting events, showing the best seating at discount prices. The servers hosting the app seem to contain enough horsepower to handle the traffic, and they have an OC3 SONET leased line—impressive.
After doing the books for my dad, I know a little bit about security. Shane’s servers employ an intrusion detection system, but what’s odd is a port opens while I watch it and then closes a few minutes later. I check what outbound traffic was tunneled. It’s not something I recognize.
I get up and open the conference room door. “Shane, I think you should see this.”
Agent Timmons looks up at me from their discussion. “What’s she doing here?”
“Nice to see you too,” I say.
They both come into Shane’s office.
I open his IDS monitor. “It only happened once, but a port opened for outbound traffic that probably shouldn’t have.” I write down the port number and hand it to Shane. “I don’t think that’s supposed to happen.”
“It’s not,” Shane says.
“And how do you know this, Miss Diaz?” Timmons asked.
The fed definitely remembers me. “It’s on a need to know basis,” I tell him, and he gives me a dirty look.
Shane threads his hair. “I’ll write a packet sniffer tonight and find out where it’s sending the data.”
Since the port isn’t always open, it’s not easy to detect. Now that I think about it. This may be how Uncle Manny did my dad in. “Why are you here, Timmons?” I ask.
He must be investigating the embezzlement of Shane’s last company, but I thought he was working on drugs. I spin toward Shane. Something doesn’t feel right here. “Why are you with Nikita?”
Guilt averts Timmons’ eyes to the point he stares at the ground. Why would he do that?
“You should ask Timmons,” Shane says, folding his arms over his chest.
I look from Shane to Timmons who
’s staring at his shoes and recall an old conversation with Shane. I laugh. “Let me guess. You think Nikita helped steal Shane’s money. You guys are idiots.”
The fed gives me a surly look, and I laugh harder.
I push Shane. “And we’re not done talking. You are not off the hook. Tell the fed to go home.” I wave at Timmons. “I hope I don’t see you again.”
Shane wraps his arms around me. “You should listen to her.”
“We still have a lot to discuss,” Timmons says. “You need to work on Nikita if we expect to find your money.”
Shane thins his lips. He needs that money, but I can’t bear to see him with her. She also is clueless when it comes to what happened to Shane’s millions.
After Timmons walks out, I show Shane his checkbook. “Sign.”
“You’re already done?”
“I paid them for last week too.”
“That may save my ass.” He signs all the checks. “You even balanced my checkbook. Cynthia Diaz, you are more than a princess, and you can start fulltime tomorrow.”
I sit down beside him, and the worst part is he makes it hard to concentrate. “Doing your books will probably take forty to fifty hours a month. I need fulltime work.” I’ve only got three classes and then I graduate, so I have plenty of free time. I need forty hours a week, but I’d never rip anyone off, even if Shane owes me now.
He gives me a wicked grin. “You could work for me in other ways. I’d pay you handsomely for that.”
I give him a dirty look, though satisfying his needs and mine works for both of us. “What about Nikita?”
He pulls me onto his lap, and I feel too comfortable cocooned in his arms. “What about your gay friend?”
“He wanted to make his ex-boyfriend jealous. I was just helping him out. Nikita? You have some explaining to do.” My voice goes up several notches.
Squeezing me hard and sucking on my neck, Shane leans back in his chair. He exudes masculinity and smells amazing. Every time I think about him I remember the rain hitting the tent under the shroud of pines where we made love. I miss us together, but the thought of sharing him makes me nauseous.
“Like you guessed, the feds believe she helped someone or others to embezzle and steal commercial trade secrets from several companies and not just my money. They want me to ply her for information. I unfortunately need to see this through.”
“I already told you. She isn’t capable. Did you sleep with her? And don’t lie.” I poke his chest, and he sucks on my finger. He’s so dirty, and I love it. “I saw you coming out of her place this morning.”
“You’ve been stalking me. I like that.” He kisses my neck. “I didn’t fuck Niki. I got drunk and crashed at her place. Don’t kiss anymore guys.” He winks at me.
This isn’t fair. “And how are you supposed to pry information from Nikita? Don’t you have to kiss her eventually?”
He lets out a long breath. “I’m supposed to date her. Yesterday, Timmons asked me to fuck her.”
“Lovely. He is an asshole. Are you? Have you kissed her?” That would kill me.
“No. Red Sky is pulling in money, and I started making small payments on my back taxes. They should leave me alone soon, but I need to pretend for a little while longer.”
I poke his hard chest. “I better not taste her on your mouth.”
He laughs. “That would make us both sick. Does my explanation make you feel better?”
“No. You’re eventually going to have to kiss her, even I do that on the first date.”
“As of today, you’re off the market, princess, and we’ve never actually dated. All I did was allow you to sleep in my tent.”
I laugh. “You pressed Secretariat into my butt all night long. What was I supposed to do? I’m only human.”
He kisses me deeply, not letting me up for air. “I have to work late, and I’m supposed to have dinner with Niki. You don’t have to worry about me fucking her. I have no interest. Once I drop her off, I’d like to come by. I miss sleeping next to you, Cyn.”
I don’t know how I’ll deal with him dating Nikita, and spending time with her won’t help his financial situation. Uncle Manny had guys who could hack into systems and trace bank accounts. I could try to use one of them, and maybe we could find the paper trail to his money, but I don’t have any money to hire one.
“Don’t expect me to wait up for you?” I say, placing each of the checks into a labeled envelope.
He kisses me, lifts me off his lap, and then logs into his laptop. “Please hand these out, and thank you. Doing payroll so quickly saved my ass. I’ll pay you tonight.” He squeezes my ass.
My pussy squeezes at the inference to sex. “You better.”
I figure out each of his employees from their name placards outside of their cubicles, but some I know, like his worthless security guy Jeremy and his best programmer Tang.
I stop by a cubicle where a few women work. They’re attractive, but do I feel secure in my relationship with Shane? He did just screw me on his desk, but he’s taking Nikita to dinner tonight and not me.
A pretty blonde with hazel eyes and clothing more appropriate for a nightclub waits for me to shovel through the remaining checks. “I’m Sonia.”
Wondering whom she dressed up for, I give her the check. “Cynthia Diaz.”
“Thank God Shane hired someone to hand out our checks. I thought I’d have to take another job, and I wouldn’t want to do that. We work for the hottest man in town.”
I half consider telling her he’s taken, but then that would ruin his chances of courting Nikita. I should then. “Doesn’t he have a girlfriend?”
“Like that would stop any girl from going after Shane O’Flannery.”
One of the other programmers rolls her eyes, and the other one shakes her head.
“So you would break up a couple?” I ask hesitantly.
“It’s not like he’s married,” Sonia says, opening her check. “Gosh, he paid us for last week too. Party!”
“Okay,” I say. “Nice chatting with you.”
Feeling a little disturbed, I step out of the cubicle farm and head toward the lobby. I knew women were attracted to Shane, but I never realized to what extent. I need to ensure Shane wants to be with me. We’ve never said those three fatal words, “I love you.”
I hand out the last check to Shane’s admin.
“Thank you,” she says. “I see Shane hired you. That’s excellent news. I was thinking I’d have to apply for food stamps. I have to pick up my son, so I’ll see you tomorrow. Goodnight, Cynthia.”
I tell her goodbye and head back to Shane’s office. I want to go over the company’s books for the app. That should increase my hours, so I work a couple more hours.
Lots of the programmers work late, and it’s getting dark by the time I leave. I take the elevator to the covered parking lot. A cool breeze floats under my dress, reminding my pussy how ignored it’s felt until a few hours ago. I miss sleeping with Shane. I miss everything that man has to offer.
Before I reach the Camry, shivers work their way along my spine, like someone’s watching me.
Cars and trucks fill the open-air garage. From behind me, the low rumble of a vehicle growls to life. I keep walking, hurrying my pace. At the squealing of tires, I slip out of my heels without turning around and rush to the car.
After the gangbanger threatened Willa and I earlier, I’m not taking any chances.
A black Escalade screams across the parking lot, cutting me off from the Camry where my gun lies in the glove box. I dash to the stairwell exit, my heart hammering in my chest. The cold concrete cools my bare feet.
The SUV wheels around and careens toward me. I squeeze between two parked cars, and the SUV clips their bumpers, ripping one off. I scream, vowing to carry my small gun in my bag from now on. My feet move faster than my mind and sprint to the glowing exit sign.
I run up the steps two at a time, and the sound of the garage floor level door opening and closing beh
ind me thrums in my ears. Thankfully, Red Sky is only on the second floor. I open the door and rush into the hallway and down to Red Sky.
I tug on the office door. It’s locked. Down the hall from me, the stairwell door shudders closed with a bang. I pound on Red Sky and pull harder on the door. Heavy boots clomp behind me, and my heart rate spikes.
Shane comes into the lobby to open the front door for me. I glance over my shoulder while fear overcomes my good sense. As he opens the door, I slam into him, throwing my arms around his neck.
“Someone’s after me,” I cry.
Shane locks the door behind me and watches down the hall, but the person belonging to the boots never shows. “What happened?”
“Someone tried to run me over,” I gasp.
“It’s okay,” he says, kissing the top of my head. “I’ll be right back.”
Shane leaves me standing by the locked lobby doors, and when he returns, I see the holster around his shoulder under his jacket. “Stay here.”
“Oh hell no.”
He smiles. “You haven’t changed one bit, princess.”
After he locks Red Sky, I follow him down the stairs. The SUV is gone, but the evidence of the mangled cars is left behind. He gets out his cell and calls the stupid fed.
“Did you get the license plate?” he asks.
“No. The tag was behind tinted windows, like new cars.”
He ends the call and pilots me back up the stairs. “I have to get a few things and then I’ll take you home.”
Shane gathers up his laptop and some papers. Everyone else has cleared out of the office. He calls Nikita and cancels.
Yay. I could stop him from seeing her forever.
“You aren’t going to see her?” I ask coyly.
“This is a good excuse for me to keep an eye on you, princess, and my eyes are all over you.”
“I’m no longer a princess.” I lost my castle. I lost everything, my mom and our home. I have Willa though, but I don’t really miss Fay.
He kisses me, long, slow, and deep. “You will always be my princess. I’d much rather spend my time with you, and fucking you earlier today only wetted my appetite.”
Sex will ease some of my tension but not all. What if Manny realizes my Achilles’ heel, Willa? If he takes her, I’d do anything to get her back. It won’t be long before he figures that out.