Lose Control (Firebacks Book 3)

by Linda Verji

  Already strategizing, Chryssa rose up from her seat, “First we need to call Hanna-”

  “We can’t,” Tasha protested. “She’s just going to try to keep R.J away from Kian.”

  “I’m not going to let that happen,” Chryssa reassured. “But because she’s his mother and you’re not his legal father this is a bit complicated. If she figures out that R.J is with you and is feeling spiteful, you’ll be charged with kidnapping.”

  “Oh, you can bet she’s feeling spiteful,” Kian pronounced ominously.

  Chryssa picked up the receiver and dialed Aaron’s extension. He picked up immediately and she said, “I need you to call Green, Green & Becket. Ask them to patch me to Hanna Clayton’s private number.”

  Surprisingly Hanna was at the office. Chryssa wasn’t mother material but she knew that in the same position, she’d be combing the city for her son. The woman snapped into the phone “I’m busy. What’d you want?”

  “I have your son here with m-”

  “What? You have R.J.?”

  “Y-”

  “What is he doing there with you?” Hanna interrupted.

  “He-”

  “Are you looking for a ransom?

  “N-”

  “Put him on the phone.”

  Talk about no breathing space. Chryssa gestured to R.J. to come to the phone and speak to his mother. Maybe he could calm her down. The conversation between R.J. and Hanna was a one sided conversation with R.J. only answering in Yes or No. By the time he gave back the phone to Chryssa, only a dial tone met her ear.

  “She said that I should wait for her at home, ” R.J. said.

  Loathe to leave Kian and Tasha to deal with Hanna on their own, Chryssa followed them to Hanna’s house. Unfortunately they were stopped at the community’s gates. Hanna had given express directions that neither Kian nor Tasha be allowed through. As they waited for her outside the gates, Kian and Chryssa laid out their strategy.

  Hanna was lucky that Kian was only asking for a mediated joint custody agreement and a chance to get to know his son. If Chryssa was making the decisions, the woman would’ve been fighting a full custody suit.

  By lunchtime, Hanna still hadn’t turned up and Chryssa had to go back to the office to deal with the Whitmore’s divorce. After assuring Kian that she’d deal with Hanna, Chryssa left.

  Oh! So Hanna’s playing hardball. Well she obviously hasn’t played in my court.

  Aaron was waiting with her regular water as she exited the boardroom where she’d left the Whitmore’s kissing and declaring their undying love for each other. If that was love, she was glad she didn’t have it. The moment she got into her office, she laid her head on her desk tiredly. What a day? Two more hours and she could go home and rest.

  Her eyes had just drifted shut when the intercom buzzed. Cussing under her breath she pressed the answer button. “Whaaaat?”

  “There’s Dr. Eli Stone at the lobby asking to see you,” Aaron announced.

  Eli. Instantly Chryssa could feel her heart give a jump and she perked up. What was he doing here? She didn’t even have to think twice about it, “Tell them to send him up.”

  She was looking forward to another tussle with Dr. Stone. It was ridiculous for him to blame her for his divorce but it was also a reaction she was used to. People liked to blame the lawyers – that’s just the way things were. She didn’t hold it against him.

  What really interested her about Eli was the fact that he was attracted to her. Even two years ago she’d seen it in his eyes behind all the contempt. But it was equally obvious that he was trying his hardest to resist her. It was fun to poke at the attraction and see if he would break out of his stiff disapproving character and do something about it.

  Eli just seemed to bring out the tease in her.

  She sat up in her seat, smiling as she waited for him to come up.

  Barely ten minutes later there was a light rap on her door and it was pushed open. In walked Eli. Immediately Chryssa could feel her whole body perk up in appreciation. Despite the stony expression on his face, she had to admit he was a fine specimen of masculinity. He looked just as good in a grey suit as he did in scrubs.

  “Well hello Dr. Stone.” The seductive purr to her voice was instinctive – she couldn’t help it even if she wanted. Instead of answering her, he shut the door behind him. For a moment he just stood by the door staring at her. She taunted, “I know I’m fly but seriously, did you come all this way to stare at me? I’m flattered.”

  Her words spurred him into action. In long strides, he crossed the carpeted length of her office to come behind her desk. He abruptly turned her swivel chair away from the desk so that she was facing him. This was a forceful Eli she had yet to see and Chryssa was so stunned she didn’t stand up or protest when he bracketed her in the chair with his hands on its arms, and bent till they were at eye-level.

  He was so close she could feel his breath whisper against hers as he growled, “I’m not a prude.”

  With those words he dipped his head, letting his lips meet hers.

  CHAPTER 3

  Eli slanted his lips over hers. Immediately he could feel sparks of desire race through his body activating his nerves. Her startled gasp at the impromptu kiss was all he needed to flick his tongue in and taste her. She tasted of a mixture of mint, caramel and woman. So sweet!

  Last night he’d been plagued with dreams of her; dreams where she was doing so much more than just touching him. Waking up was no better. All day all he could think of was Chryssa and how she would’ve tasted had she let him kiss her the previous day. But with the heated wandering came memories of her biting last words and her taunting laughter as she’d exited his office.

  Eli was not a man who took well to being laughed at - or losing and losing was just not something he was good at. He couldn’t let Chryssa have the last word.

  Was he picky? Yes!

  Sometimes blind to other people’s feelings? Definitely

  Exacting? Proudly,

  But a prude he was not and he would prove it.

  Keeping his hands on the arms of her chair, his lips continued to pleasure hers. So steeped in the sweet taste of her was he that it took him a while to realize that she wasn’t participating in the kiss at all. He opened his eyes, his lips still on hers, only to find her staring at him. As if finding her eyes open wasn’t bad enough, there was no desire there, only confusion.

  There wasn’t even a trace of breathlessness in her voice as she parted their lips then asked, “What was that?”

  If she had to ask what that was maybe he needed to give her another lesson, Eli started to bend his head again but this time she was prepared and she pressed her palm against his lips pushing his face away from her. Obeying her unspoken request, Eli straightened up as he said, “I’m not prude.”

  “And how was that…” She gestured between them in reference to the kiss, “…thing you just did supposed prove that.”

  “I just kissed you,” Eli said. This is not how he’d seen this going. The plan was to come here kiss her senseless then leave her dazed as he matched triumphantly out of her office that he had bested her. Instead here he was explaining himself to a completely un-dazed Chryssa. Was she made of stone? What did it take to spark feeling in this woman?

  “I don’t know who you’ve been playing with but that wasn’t a kiss.” Even a slap would have been better than the derision in her tone as she added, “All you did was smack my lips with yours then stuck your damn tongue down my throat.”

  He wouldn’t exactly put it that way but wasn’t that the very definition of kissing? Lips met and tongues clashed. Nobody had ever complained before about his kissing technique before now. And he certainly hadn’t stuck anything down her throat.

  He’d been extremely gentle with her. For Pete’s sake he hadn’t even touched the annoying woman. He shook his head as he looked down at her, “Something is wrong with you.”

  There was a spark of amusement in Chryssa’s eyes a
s she shrugged, “Hey don’t blame me because you’re just too soft for a real woman.”

  “I am not soft.” Eli couldn’t hide the offended outrage in his voice. Her gaze turned wicked as she stood up from her seat. Instinctively Eli took a step back. Even wearing heels as she was, the top of her head barely touched his chin.

  “Aww, have I hurt L’il Eli’s feelings again?” Chryssa asked as she pushed at his chest till his back was to her desk and her body was crowded against his. He didn’t answer, his attention drawn to the feel her breasts pushing against the planes of his chest. It was enough to get him hard and stop him from moving away from her.

  “Do you want me to make it up to you?” she purred. “I can show you how to kiss a real woman.”

  Eli had met women who were open about their sexuality but none of them were at Chryssa’s level. The woman just did not have any brakes on her tongue. She just said whatever was on her mind, aggressively hoarded control of any situation she was in and did exactly as she pleased regardless of his sensibilities. He should’ve been turned off; even a little intimidated. Instead Eli found himself fascinated.

  He could feel anticipation coiling in the pit of his stomach as he waited for her next move. Deciding to play along he sat on the edge of her desk. He would let Chryssa have control - at least for the time being. He said, “Show me.”

  She ran a finger, tipped by clear nails, over his lips before running her hand to the back of his head and pushing on his neck till their faces were close together. He held his breath as her breath whispered over his lips. “A real kiss should make a real woman burn.”

  The first flick of her tongue over his bottom lip, before she captured the already sensitized flesh and tagged it was sweet torture. He almost groaned from the teasing. Even without a kiss, she’d managed to get the blood thumping faster in his veins towards his dick. Her breath mingled with his as she whispered, “A real kiss should make her want you to do much more than just kiss her.”

  She let their lips finally connect.

  Her kiss was nothing like his. The kiss was designed to get a man thinking of beds, tangled limbs and moaning. Every sweep of her tongue against his was like molten heat. At first his response was tentative, but it was impossible to stay sane when a woman kissed like Chryssa did. She held nothing back – and Eli couldn’t help but receive everything she offered.

  With each movement of her tongue she pressed her body closer between his thighs. Seated as he was, her pussy was lined perfectly with his dick.

  “A real kiss should make me want you to fuck me,” she whispered against his lips before plunging back for another kiss. Hearing the dirty words coming from her mouth should have repulsed him instead all it did was make him harder than steel.

  She wasn’t helping matters with the way she was winding her hips to the beat of her tongue against his and grinding her pussy against his length in erotic circles. It took all the restraint he had not drag her closer and seal her completely against him. He wanted so badly to slide his hands lower down her body and guide her but the gentleman in him kept a tight control over his subconscious.

  You just didn’t treat a woman like that.

  Obviously Chryssa didn’t want a gentleman because she wrapped her fingers around his wrists and pushed his hands away from her waist and lower down her body. There was a hint of irritation in her voice as she whispered against his lips, “I’m not glass. You’re can’t break me.”

  She wasn’t glass! Eli loosened the reins on his impulses just a little bit cupping her firm ass like he wanted to. Chryssa gasped when he dragged her closer to him, so close the sharpest blade wouldn’t have cut through them.

  He wrestled control of the kiss from her, letting the animal in him consume her in a hard kiss. Chryssa wasn’t frightened of it instead she net him kiss for kiss, fire for fire. His plans to get back at her evaporated and were replaced by desire. As much as he couldn’t stand her, the flames she sparked in him were undeniable.

  Her hands ran over his chest frantically as they kissed. She tugged at his tie, flicking open the top two buttons of his shirt before running a hand on the skin underneath. In response he started to tag her skirt up her body. He had just gotten the fabric below her ass when her phone buzzed on the table beside them. Immediately Chryssa stiffened against him and her lips stopped moving on his.

  Parting their lips, she turned her head away to look at the still buzzing phone. He kept his hands on her ass as she pressed the accept button.

  “Miss Williams?” her assistant called over the line.

  Eli mentally crowed at the breathlessness in Chryssa’s voice as she answered, “Yes, Aaron!”

  Finally. She wants me too. As if she could hear his silent triumph she turned to look at him. The still evident desire in her eyes was enough to make him angle his lips in a small smile.

  Chryssa Williams was no rock.

  Aaron said, “Annalise is on line two. She says she and Pete just broke up again.”

  “Okay. Just give me a minute,” Chryssa answered with a deep sigh. Eli’s hands dropped from around her as she pulled away from him. She barely looked at him as she straightened out her skirt and took a seat. When she finally looked at him there was no sign of the passionate woman. The lawyer had crowded her out. Her hand paused over one of the buttons of the phone as she asked, “Was there something else you wanted?”

  He wanted her back in his arms. He wanted them to continue where they had left off. He wanted to see that look of desire on her face again. Eli gave himself a mental slap. He had come here to knock Chryssa off her pedestal not to pleasure her. Straightening off the desk to his full height, he answered her, “No.”

  With the one word he walked out of her office. He nodded a distracted goodbye to her assistant before he made his way to the elevator and pressed the down button. As he waited it out, thoughts of Chryssa filled his mind.

  Despite his determination to forget her now that he had proved that he could make her want him, it was hard to deny that without her prodding he wouldn’t have done it. She had pushed him to move beyond his normal inhibitions.

  No other woman had ever been able to do that.

  He was all about self-discipline, planning and keeping his life in tight check. It was what had gotten him this far in his career. In his personal life however the effect had been different. Eli liked being married. He liked having someone he could come to every night. He’d fought to forgive Renée, even staying with her one more year after he’d found out about the cheating. During the divorce, Renée had thrown at him that every time they had sex, it felt like he was working on a manual.

  Nobody wanted a machine for a partner.

  Back then he’d laughed it off. Then yesterday Chryssa had re-affirmed Renée’s words. Now he couldn’t help them running around his brain.

  Was he really too uptight?

  Eli had no intention of staying single, but the next time he got married, he wanted it to be for keeps. Maybe this was what he needed to make that happen; someone who could teach him how to lose control enough to keep his next wife.

  The elevator pinged as it came to a stop. The steel doors opened up but instead of getting into it, Eli turned on his heels headed down the hallway.

  “Did you forget something?” Aaron asked when he spotted Eli.

  “Yeah,” he said as he pushed open the door to Chryssa’s office.

  “Annalise, now you’re just being spiteful. That his grandmother’s armoire.” She was still on the phone but when she saw him she wound the conversation down. “Okay, I’ll talk to Pete and his lawyer and see what I can do.”

  He didn’t even wait for her to speak when she finally ended her call. He simply said, “Teach me.”

  ***

  After the way he’d wrecked havoc in her body with that kiss, Eli’s bursting into her office again was certainly not what she needed.

  The game had gone much farther than Chryssa wanted or expected. Sinking into that kiss had been unintenti
onal. All she wanted to do was tease him a little bit more, shake a little bit of that starch out of him before she flicked him away like a troublesome gnat. She certainly hadn’t expected that he would break this hard or that she would break right along with him.

  And once he broke, Eli Stone was all man!

  From the way his tongue dueled possessively with hers to the way his hands had stamped his seal of control on her body. If Chryssa didn’t already have a weakness for alpha-males she certainly would have developed one from Eli’s kiss. She found herself spiraling into his sensual web faster than a rocket when she was the one who was supposed to be running this show.

  Thank God for Annalise Whitmore. Without her call who knew where that kiss would have gone. The call had given her a cool down period. She was just beginning to settle back into her normal rhythm when her door was thrown open, and Eli walked back in with his, “Teach me.”

  Adopting a cool expression to hide the fact that her body had perked up in excitement the moment it had sighted him again, she asked, “Teach you what?”

  She wasn’t sure whether to be disappointed or relieved when instead of walking around to her side of her desk as he had before, he took the seat opposite her. Gone was the anger he’d come in with, the first time he’d stomped into her office. Instead it’d been replaced by a determined glint in his eye as he said, “I want you to teach me how to loosen up.”

  Huh? People didn’t learn how to loosen up, they just did it. Chryssa said, “Isn’t that what all those self-help books I saw in your office are for?”

  “I’m serious,” Eli leant forward with his elbows on her desk. “I need to learn a few tricks in the bedroom.”

  “That we agree on.” There was amusement in Chryssa’s voice as she asked, “But what does that have to do with me?”

  “You looked like a pro.” Eli shrugged.

  She wasn’t sure whether she was being insulted or complimented. Considering that he wasn’t a fan of hers she wouldn’t be surprised if he was throwing barbs. But then Eli was from the suburbs so he might not have known the connotations behind the word ‘pro’. It could be innocent.