by Amy Brent
Even the chemicals and water of the pool couldn’t steal away how ready she was for me, and she only grew more and more wet as I worked her over. And when she came in my mind’s eye, it was perfect. But of course, it was perfect. It was a fantasy, after all.
Shaking my head, I realized that I was tending in my pants painfully. I certainly didn’t want Dom to come out and catch me like this, so with a sigh, I headed back to the bathroom. It was a bit embarrassing, sneaking to the restroom like some sort of high school boy trying to rub one out before his parents got home.
But maybe, once I was temporarily sated, I would be able to shake my thoughts from the beautiful red-head who had currently snared them.
Probably not, but it didn’t hurt to hope.
Chapter Fourteen
~McKenna~
I strode into work whistling, refreshed from my week off and more than a bit stir crazy. At first it had been amazing to catch up on all of my rest and get some cleaning and other errands done. And then my paycheck had finally arrived, and I could get groceries and pay the bills that were lingering over my head, which had been nice too. But by the end of it, I found that I was missing my coworkers and my nightly dance routine. For only having worked there for two weeks, I had certainly made some strong bonds.
Or maybe I was just desperate due to loneliness. If I didn’t go to work, that meant I didn’t talk to anyone. And while I enjoyed solitude and serious reading time, there was a limit to how much quiet I could endure before it got monotonous.
“Hey there, chica,” Davie said, in the middle of loading up his cart for the night. “Glad to see ya back! Was worried something happened to you there.”
Ah, of course they wouldn’t know that my leave had been a gift of the CEO. I was sure that if they asked HR, they had been fed a generic line about how I would be back in a week and everything was fine.
“Nope! I am fine and dandy and ready to go.” I sent him what I hoped was a dazzling smile. “Ready to do some bathroom sterilization?”
“As ready as I can be for a Monday.”
I laughed at that and started putting together my own cart. While it was true that the day janitors were supposed to clean all the upper floor bathrooms, we usually took care of the lower level and basement ones, which were more likely to be used by employees that were staying late to hit a deadline. It worked out well, usually taking us about two hours, and then we would go on to empty all the main garbage on each floor and bring it down to the compactor, take our break, and get to the floor cleaning that everyone hated so much.
But not me. I was actually excited to get some serious floor polishing done. I hadn’t been able to get Rafael out of my mind since I had seen him last, and honestly, I could certainly work off a little steam.
Ugh, just thinking about him made my heart pound again. My dreams had been haunted by his broad shoulders, the curve of his jaw, his intense eyes. Everything about him was what I liked in a man, even though I was still somewhat terrified by the idea of a romantic partner of any sort.
I needed to clear my head and release some anger, and I couldn’t imagine a better way than boogying my heart out all night long. Well, or at least for about three hours.
The first part of my shift went fairly quickly, Alisha had adopted an injured pigeon and a malnourished bearded dragon in the week that I had been gone and Davie had lost another pound. Both of them were more than comfortable telling me about both of their accomplishments every time we were in the same room, so I wasn’t forced up to come up with any excuse to why I had been MIA.
It was nice to listen, though. It really did feel like they were my friends, even if we were just coworkers. I had really lucked out this time around. Besides the whole strange Rafael thing that I didn’t want to think about, of course. I’d worked at plenty of places where my coworkers were all catty and out to get each other, getting their jollies from the drama that they created. But Davie and Alisha weren’t like that, and for that I was grateful.
“I see you’ve finally ditched your slimy deli meat.”
I looked up from the fresh salad with strawberries and grilled chicken that I had brought. It was our half-hour break together and we were all digging into our meals fairly voraciously. “Oh, yeah,” I answered around my full mouth. “I finally got paid.”
Alisha clapped her hands. “Hallelujah, I do like to hear that.” But then her look grew more serious. “Girl, you do know that if you couldn’t afford some actually tasty food, I would’ve brought you dinner anytime, right?”
I shrugged sheepishly, not having expected the kind offer. “I… didn’t know that. Thank you. I’ll try to keep that in mind.”
“Please do. I mean, I hope you don’t ever need it, but if you do, I ain’t gonna let you starve.”
“Ay, my carina would cook you up something happily. She always complains how she can’t cook fun anymore because of my diabetes.”
“I think too much fun cooking might have got you your diabetes,” Alisha said with a chuckle.
With that we were al sharing the mirth and I felt happiness bubble up within me. In just the span of a week, my entire life had turned around and everything was looking up. Even if I couldn’t shake Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome from my thoughts, I didn’t have to worry about much else. I was safe, I was hidden, and I was making new friends.
“We got about five minutes left,” Alicia said after a while, although it seemed much too soon in my opinion. “How do we want to divide-”
“I’ve got top floor!” I cried, jumping to my feet and rushing to put my lunchbox away.
“I was hoping you would say that,” Davie chuckled. “We’ve been having to split it between the two of us and we got a complaint that they’ve been dingy all this week. Apparently, no one can clean and polish like you, chica.”
“And don’ you forget it,” I said with a wink.
I didn’t stick around to see what their reaction was, instead just booking it for my cart and headed upstairs, ready to jam out.
But I couldn’t help but feel, as I rode up in the elevator, that something was different. Maybe I had been gone too long, or maybe I just had way too much energy pent up, but either way, I couldn’t quite shake the feeling.
The doors finally opened, and I almost expected there to be a group of people waiting to jump out and yell that I was on some sort of prank show. But no, I was alone.
Well, that was good.
Sighing in relief, I took my headphones out and picked some face paced jams. I wanted to get my heart racing and my sweat pouring. I wanted to tire myself out so completely that I would pass out as soon as my head hit the pillow when I got home and wouldn’t dream anymore. I wanted to be so sore that even my subconscious needed a break.
The music started, and I threw myself into it. First was the sweeping, then the powdering, then the mopping to push it about, and finally a round with the push floor polisher.
I went about step one quickly, my hands feeling some of the burn since I had been away far too long. Just like I wanted, sweat started to build up on my forehead and trickle down my neck.
I was so in the zone that I was almost able to forget about Rafael. But even as I worked as hard as I could, little thoughts about him would float through my mind. He was just so damn unforgettable! I felt like I could even smell the musk of his cologne, tickling at my nose and drawing my attention to the darker, hornier side of my mind.
Wait…no. I really was smelling that.
I jerked upright, dropping my broom. I whipped my headphones off with a jerk only to hear someone chuckling behind me.
Oh no.
Slowly I turned and sure enough, Rafael was there, leaning against a desk and applauding slightly.
“Not bad,” he said, voice low but teasing as he smirked at me. “It only took you-” he paused to look at his watch, “-seven minutes to realize I was here.”
Seven minutes?! That means he had definitely seen me shaking my tail feathers quite emphatically. “I-I
promise I was doing work!” The last thing I needed was to lose this job after I had just been granted a vacation and had dinner with the CEO.
“Oh, I know. Apparently, you’re the only one who knows how to make this place really shine. I guess I now know your secret method.”
I was such a confusing mix of emotions that it was hard to even breathe. On one hand, I was relieved to see Rafael again. It was like my body had been craving him and even just the slightest glimpse of him could offer relief. But on the other hand, my heart was racing, and adrenaline was pumping, telling me that being alone with a man was dangerous and a boss even more so.
“I guess you do.” I said, trying to sound cool and effortless. I didn’t know how well I pulled it off, but if I had to guess, probably not at all. “The question is, are you going to reveal my secret ways to everyone else.”
He shook his head ever so slightly, raising his eyebrow as he appraised me from head to toe. “No. We’ll keep it just between ourselves.”
Against my better judgement, I took a step closer to him. “Then that’s the second secret of mine that you’re harboring. Are you always so tight lipped, or am I just the exception?”
I didn’t know what the hell had come over me! Sure, it had been a very long time since I had been with a man, or even flirted with one, but that didn’t mean that I should start with my boss!
“The exception,” he replied, standing and taking a step towards me as well. If I didn’t know better, I would read his body language as wanting to be anywhere but here, and yet he didn’t move. Maybe he was caught in the same sort of emotional crosshairs that I was? But what could he possibly have to be afraid of?
I didn’t know, and I didn’t get an answer, because he was speaking again and his masculine voice made me lose all track of my thoughts.
“It would be a terrible way to run a business if I hid so many things from the people who work from me.”
“And yet you hide them for me.” Another step closer. I could practically feel the heat radiating from his body.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
Both of our voices were barely a whisper now, and I could feel that same lightning-like feeling crackling in the air between us. We were a breath away from each other, and I swore I could see his heart beating against his chest.
“I should give you space,” he said, muscles bunching as if he was about to turn and leave.
My body made the decision before my mind did, moving suddenly and with an assuredness I hadn’t possessed in months. One moment I was standing there, utterly enthralled by him, the next I was standing on tiptoes and pressing my mouth to his with everything I had.
God! There were no words for the burning desire that ripped through me, finally released from the tiny cage I had pinned it in for so long. It crackled, and leapt and raged, an unchecked inferno of pure and utter want.
For the tiniest of seconds, I was almost afraid that Rafael wouldn’t return it. That I had crossed some sort of terrible boundary and he would never want to see me again -not to mention that whole losing my job thing. But then his arms wrapped around my middle and I was practically crushed into his form.
Yes. My body nearly sobbed in relief and I melted in his form as the fire in me blazed that much higher.
Good. I wanted to burn.
Chapter Fifteen
~Rafael~
I didn’t know what had possessed me to wait after work to see McKenna again. I knew it was a bad idea. I knew that I needed to keep my distance and let her fade from my mind. I knew that she would probably consider it overbearing and creepy to suddenly appear at her work.
I knew all that, and yet I did it anyways.
The whole week that she had been gone had been torture, with my mind whipping up about a million and one different fantasies each more explicit than the other. I just wanted to talk with her again, to have the calm that she exuded fill my churning thoughts.
How had I become so hooked on her? We had met less than a handful of times and yet she had taken over a little chunk of my brain and made herself cozy.
So, I had stayed. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting. Maybe some solid rejection, or even just fear in her face so that I could forget about everything and go back to normal. I almost wondered if she wouldn’t show up at all. Her week-long vacation would be the perfect time to apply to jobs where she didn’t have a CEO that threatened her and then took her out to lunch with his son the next day.
But none of that had happened and instead of looking at me with revulsion, McKenna was kissing me.
I stood there, a bit in shock, as her mouth pressed desperately to mine. It was even softer than I had imagined and oh so warm. It took several seconds for my brain to catch up with reality, but when it did, I wrapped my arms around her and crushed her to me.
I couldn’t believe this was happening. I had wanted her for so long, and had denied myself of her just as long, yet here she was, throwing herself at me like she wanted me.
Our mouths moved against each other, mine dominating hers as my tongue slid past her accommodating lips, tasting, plundering.
We stood there for several moments, her soft form pressed against mine, bringing all sorts of thoughts and fantasies to mind. But as much as I wanted to take her there and now, I needed to be responsible. This was my office, and she was on the clock. More importantly, I was in a position of power over her.
And then, in the very back of my mind, something whispered that she could also be trying to use this as an opportunity to blackmail me. It was a terrible though, full of distrust and darkness, but I couldn’t quite shake it. I had long since learned that people would do whatever they could to get a leg up in the world.
It took all of my strength to pull away and take a step to the side. McKenna almost fell over as I withdrew my support, her lips slightly parted and wet while her face was flushed pink.
God, her face looked even better than I had imagined, and I had imagined it plenty of times. I almost caved and grabbed her right then and there, but I forced myself to stand ramrod straight.
“Apologies,” I ground out, mentally telling my lower half to calm down. “That wasn’t appropriate.”
I couldn’t believe the words out of her mouth as she took a step towards me once more. “I don’t care,” she whispered, a shaking hand reaching out to me. “If you want me, I want you too, and I’m tired of trying to pretend I’m not.”
She shouldn’t have said that.
She really shouldn’t have said that.
But the words were out, and my body was reacting instantly. She wanted me. The man who had disrupted her life and probably nearly given her a heart attack. But she still wanted me.
And maybe this was a trap. Maybe she had predicted my arrival and had some sort of recording so she could use this all against me.
I didn’t care. The only thing that mattered was the woman I had been lusting after for nearly two weeks needed me and I wasn’t about to make her wait.
I closed the distance between us and gripped her again, picking her up slightly to rest her luscious backside on the closest desk. She laughed, a slightly manic, desperate sound, but it was music to my ears and I quickly reclaimed her lips again.
She was just as enthusiastic as I this time, less unsure in her actions as her hands roved my body. Her fingers traipsed along the shoulders of my suit, down the lapels, encircling my waist and applying pressure like she needed to make sure that I was real.
But I was real alright. And so was the pressing need that was pressing painfully against my pants. All of my body called for me to strip her immediately and take her hard, but she deserved more than that.
So much more.
Her hands grew bolder, and the next thing I knew, she was prying my suitcoat from my form. I broke our kiss just long enough for her to shuck it to the floor, and then my hands were on her again.
Her uniform, that I had once loved so much for the way
it hugged her curves when she danced, now stood in my way. It was too thick, too baggy and preventing me from exploring her like I wanted to.
I took me several seconds to finally find the zipper at the front of her jumpsuit, hidden between her ample breasts. I gripped the head of it, and slowly zipped it down, revealing a skin tight white tank top underneath.
I almost lost my breath at that. Her breasts were nearly spilling out of the top, bolstered by the two sports bras that she was clearly wearing. Well, that was two sports bras too many; I would have to relieve her of both of them.
But I couldn’t just take her in the middle of the office. As much as my mind told me I could get away with it, I didn’t exactly want to leave bodily fluids over someone else’s paperwork or make more of a mess to clean.
There was only one thing to do, I supposed.
Gripping her backside, reveling in the way my fingers sank into the flesh there, I hoisted her upwards. She let out a surprised yelp and broke our kiss, her legs automatically coming up to wrap around my waist.
I could feel the warmth of her center between us and that just fueled me further. With long, long strides, I carried her right to my office and set her down on my own, sturdy desk, knocking things over as I did so.
Now here was where I could make a mess and not have it be noticeable by anybody else. And I wanted to ruin things. I wanted it to look like a hurricane ripped through the room, so it could at least mildly reflect the levels of lust and desire rushing through me.