Lose Control (Firebacks Book 3)

by Linda Verji

  “Don’t underestimate my charm.” Eli took a pen from the front pocket of his Doctor’s coat to sign at the bottom of the form before handing it to Angela.

  “Are you sure you aren’t a pediatrician?”She asked as she took Melissa’s form and tucked it into a blue file. Angela was one of those women who were just made for nursing. From the open smile she always had to the slightly motherly air she projected with her rotund appearance. She added, “You’re really good with kids.”

  “Nope.” Eli smiled back. “These hands are made for cutting.”

  Actually if he hadn’t been so determined to figure out the brain, Eli probably would’ve ended up in pediatrics. He liked kids because they were uncomplicated. They told it exactly as it was. If they didn’t like it, they didn’t like it, unlike grown-ups who engaged in subterfuge all the time.

  “I can’t thank you enough for taking the extra shifts,” Angela said as she pushed the file beneath a stack of others that lay on the desk.

  “It’s no problem,” Eli dismissed as he felt a prick of guilt. Angela didn’t need to be so grateful. His presence at the clinic was more about avoiding his large empty house than altruism.

  He was lonely.

  His proposition to Chryssa yesterday had been impulsive, but a night of thinking over it had only firmed up his certainty that it was the right thing. To fix his loneliness he needed to learn how to be a more interesting mate. Chryssa, despite all her faults, embodied interesting.

  He was giving her three days to cool down. Three days then he’d call her and try again. This time he’d make sure to have a script that wouldn’t offend her.

  To Angela he said, “Do you have any more patients you’d like me to look at?”

  “We always have patients.” Angela laughed. Rather than sit in the hotel twiddling his thumbs as he waited out Chryssa and her temper tantrum, Eli had decided to volunteer his services at the free clinic. “There’s a teenager in E7. Be careful with him. I’m told he’s got itchy fingers.”

  An hour later, Eli finished up with his patient then headed upstairs to his office. Extracting his keys from his pocket ready to press it to the key-hole but was surprised when the doorknob turned easily in his hands.

  He’d locked the door.

  The moment he pushed it open, she arrested his attention. He didn’t even need for her to lift her gaze from the magazine on her lap to know that it was her. It was in her familiar scent. It was in the way she sat, confident and comfortable in the loveseat tucked on one side of his office, one long leg crossed over the other.

  It was in the way his eyes lingered over that curvy body encased in a grey vest and pant-suit tastefully accompanied by a long sleeved striped shirt. It was in the way his heart lurched when it added all these things to come up with one word. Chryssa.

  He said the first words that came to his mind. “How did you get in?”

  ***

  She didn’t need to turn her gaze upwards to know Eli was here. She’d heard the keys clinking outside the door as well as his entrance. But she was pissed off at him. She’d been waiting for one hour in this office.

  Nobody!

  Nobody kept Chryssa Williams waiting.

  Pretending that she hadn’t even heard his question, she continued studying the models pouting at her from the glossy pages. However, she was aware of his every move. The air in front of her rustled heavily as he moved closer until his polished leather shoes stood toe to tow with her black heels.

  He repeated. “How did you get in?”

  Dragging the moment, she took a slow perusal up his body – and almost swallowed her tongue. Three days of erotic dreams about the man and none of them came close to him. People said clothes made a man but in Eli’s case, the man definitely made the clothes.

  All that fabric could not hide the latent strength that characterized his long muscular body. The charcoal-grey fabric of his pants clung to his thick thighs wickedly and lightly skimmed over his groin. His royal blue shirt, a perfect contrast to the white doctor’s jacket over his arm, glided over his taut belly and molded over his firm chest.

  She had to keep herself from biting or licking her lips in need.

  Oh yes! She wanted him.

  How she could want such a rude man was beyond her. Maybe she was into self-punishment and she didn’t know it. Arching her eyebrows, she finally answered his question, “I picked your lock.”

  His mouth snapped open and anger flared in his eyes – a sure sign that he was about to say something stupid again. Chryssa was pleasantly surprised when he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then opened his eyes again. “How may I help you, Chryssa?”

  “Good boy!”

  “I’m not a boy.” He sounded tired and his motions slow as he slung his jacket over the arm of the couch. The couch dipped slightly as he settled next to her. Chryssa’s awareness level shot up to two hundred percent. The warmth of his body next to hers was intoxicating as was his clean masculine scent.

  Turning slightly to face him, she asked, “Did you just come from surgery?”

  “No.” He lay his head on the back of the couch and closed his eyes. “I was downstairs in the free clinic.”

  It was obvious that Dr. Stone was worn out. Her fingers itched to soothe the crease on his brow and help him ease into sleep. Surprised by her sudden tender feelings, Chryssa voice was curter than she intended when she said, “You look tired, maybe this isn’t a good time…”

  “Don’t go.” His hand shot out to latch on to her wrist. Her pulse jumped at his touch. Opening his eyes and turning his head towards her, he said, “Tell me why you were waiting for me.”

  Confronted with the purpose of her visit, Chryssa suddenly felt nervous. Plotting was fun, sharing her plans was not. Subtly licking her dry lips, she plunged in. “I reconsidered your suggestion.”

  Eli sat up straighter. “You did?”

  “I did.” She shrugged. “I’m open to an arrangement.”

  His intent gaze met hers as he assessed her words. It almost felt like he was dissecting her like one of the brains on his table and trying to figure out what was going on. She expected him to ask what had changed her mind and had even prepared an elaborate speech over how she was a forgiving person but he surprised her again when he said, “Okay, so how are we doing this?”

  “First let’s just agree that they’ll be no exchange of money.”

  “But-”

  “No money,” she insisted.

  “Can we-”

  “No money.”

  “You can’t keep cutting me off each time I start to speak like that. We both make the rules in this game,” he said firmly. “So explain to me why no money?”

  “Because getting paid for sex makes me feel like a whore,” she answered in frustration.

  “I know you’re not a whore,” Eli said undisturbed by her burst of temper. “But fine I understand how it could be misinterpreted that way. So what do you want instead?”

  Chryssa was a little bit startled at how Eli had masterfully taken control of the conversation, reeled her in and driven it to the crux of the matter. For a moment she felt unease afraid that she wasn’t as much in control of the situation as she thought. Her unease was also tempered with anticipation. Very few men were man enough to go head to head with her. Was Eli man enough?

  We’ll see!

  Going for the shock factor, she simply said, “I want you to be my man.”

  It worked. Eli’s eyes widened in shock but before he could flat out refuse the offer she quickly barreled on, “Not for real. Tasha and Zain are trying to hook me up so I’d like you to pretend that we’re in a relationship so I can head them off. I give you lessons you pretend to be my man. Quid pro Quo.”

  The shock in his eyes had been replaced by quiet contemplation before he asked, “Why don’t you want to be in a relationship?”

  “None of your business,” she said. “Just tell me if you’ll do it or not.”

  He kept silent for a minute
but she could tell he was intrigued by the glint in his eyes. “What exactly would this fake boyfriend thing involve?”

  “Do you always have so many questions?” She stood up. “If you don’t want to do it…”

  Eli stood up swiftly, stepping in front of her to block her escape. They stood toe to toe facing each other as he said, “What is it with you and this impatience thing? I haven’t said No. I just want to know what I’m getting myself into.”

  Uncomfortable by the proximity and how he dwarfed her, Chryssa sat down again and Eli followed. This time he was much closer and his body brushed against her. Ignoring the instinctive flare of desire, Chryssa explained, “All you’d need to do is attend events that include my friends and act like my man.”

  “Act like your man?” he asked.

  “Yeah, you know hold hands, kiss.” She shrugged. “The kind of boring things couples do.”

  “So I’ll have to pretend I like you,” he summarized her offer. “You know that’s a stretch, right? Nobody will ever believe it.”

  “Why wouldn’t anyone believe it?”

  He looked up and down her body as if measuring her. His eyebrow arched as he said, “You’re not my type. I like my women skinnier.”

  For a moment she was too shocked to react. Had he just called her fat? She didn’t even say a word. She was done with rude disrespectful ass. When she tried to stand he pulled her back down to the seat with firm hands on her waist.

  “You’re such an easy target.” He laughed still keeping his arm around her waist and holding her down. He pressed a fast kiss on her temple. “Of course you’re any man’s type. You really should learn to control that temper.”

  “Fuck you Eli,” she said but instead of standing up, she muffed the side of his head. “That was not funny.”

  Eli continued to surprise her. Apparently, underneath all that stiff starch, was a funny bone.

  She asked, “So are you going to do it?”

  “Why not?” He shrugged.

  “Let’s talk terms.” She tried to dislodge his arm but he didn’t move it. Ignoring the sensations his nearness and touch was causing she continued, “I think having a lesson once or twice a week for the next three months should be enough.”

  “Why three months?” he asked.

  It was an arbitrary number she’d just come up with off the top of her head, but she defended “It should be enough for you to get your act together and enough to convince my friends to drop this ridiculous project. After that I’ll just say I tried and it didn’t work out.”

  “What if one of us finds someone to get in a relationship with?”

  There was no risk of that happening to her but Eli was an attractive doctor. There was every chance of him finding a woman before three months was up. “Then our agreement becomes null and void. I also want us to use protection each time.”

  “I wouldn’t want it any other way,” he said. “I’ll buy some.”

  “No I’ll bring them.” Chryssa didn’t trust anyone but herself when it came to protection. She didn’t want any unplanned pregnancies and since she couldn’t take pills or shots like other women for fear of the effects of the hormones on her conditions, latex was the only way to ensure there were no surprises. “I’d also like for our sessions to always be in a hotel or somewhere other than our homes.”

  “You are just brimming with these conditions, aren’t you?” he asked. Chryssa simply arched an eyebrow. This was another non-negotiable. Bringing a man to your home was just another step into a relationship. Sighing deeply, Eli nodded. “Okay, fine. We can have them here. So do we have a deal?”

  “We have a deal,” Chryssa said. This time when she moved to stand up he let his hand fall to the couch behind her instead of keeping her seated. Instead of picking her bag to leave though, Chryssa did the one thing she’d been itching to do since she touched Eli’s dick at the hospital. She popped open a button of her vest.

  “What are you doing?” There was surprise in his voice instead of the desire she was expecting, but they’d soon fix that. Instead of answering, she popped open another button, then another, then another and another.

  Finally getting it, Eli exclaimed, “Woah! This is my office.”

  “So?” She threw the vest to the floor.

  “Someone could come in.”

  “Then you should probably lock the door.” She started on her shirt buttons revealing the frilly pink bra underneath.

  “It’s still day time.”

  “Lesson one…” She shrugged off her shirt leaving her only in her bra. Eli was too startled at the fast events to protest when she lowered herself to sit on his lap facing him. His hands automatically grasped the naked skin of her waist as she hooked her arms around his neck. She lowered her head, letting her breath brush his lips, “…there’s never a bad time to fuck.”

  Her lips met his.

  CHAPTER 6

  Eli was too surprised by the swift turn in events to react for a brief moment. But when Chryssa leaned forward and brushed her lips against his, desire replaced shock. Her mouth was soft but firm, moving against his expertly. He closed his eyes and allowed his hands to rest lightly at her waist as she played him with her mouth.

  He almost sank into the kiss. Almost – but then she pulled back separating them. Missing her already, Eli’s eyes snapped open only to be confronted by the sunlight glaring between them. His eyes darting to the long glass windows, he said, “Can we at least close the blinds?”

  “No.” With a finger on his chin, Chryssa turned his head back towards her and lowered her head. Just as she was about to press another kiss on his lips, Eli turned his head again towards the windows. He could see light reflected from the windows of the opposite building glint at him.

  He complained, “Someone could be watching.”

  “Nobody’s watching,” Chryssa said forcefully turning his head back to her. She dipped in for a kiss again, but this time Eli’s lips were unmoving beneath hers. Lifting her head, she asked, “What?”

  “What if they have binoculars?”

  “Then good for them. Anyone who would bother to go through that much trouble deserves a show,” she said caressing his angular jaw in her palm. She touched a fingertip to his lower lip, “The nearest building is too far off anyway.”

  “What if-”

  “I swear if you bring up those blinds again, I’m walking.” She didn’t bother hiding the frustration in her voice. When Eli opened his mouth to protest, she cut him off, “I’m not playing with you. This won’t work if you’re going to question my every move so it’s either we do this now or we don’t do this at all.”

  Eli’s eyes darted to the window again. He was all for public displays of affection – as long as it wasn’t him doing it. His father had drilled into him the importance of propriety and public displays of affection were not proper. What Chryssa was proposing skittered dangerously close to exhibitionism. Granted the building was far and anyone watching would have to be someone deliberately looking to be a voyeur, but still…

  “Okay, time out.” Chryssa started to rise but Eli’s hands immediately clasped over her thighs firmly keeping her on his lap. He didn’t say anything, just kept his eyes on her hazel ones. This was against his every instinct but letting Chryssa go seemed out of the question. She arched an eyebrow in question, “Are we gon do it?”

  He took a deep breath. “Okay.”

  “Good boy.” Her lush lips arched into a pleased smile. The moment their lips met again, his pulse leapt in welcome, but he couldn’t shake the idea of a peeping-tom and his body remained stiff. As if knowing the reservations plaguing him, she caressed the length of his throat as she whispered, “Relax.”

  Maybe it was her hands on his throat and shoulder soothing him or the hushed murmur of her voice but Eli slowly relaxed in the seat. When she lightly nipped at his lower lip, he opened his mouth in invitation. Her tongue darted in, flicking against his in a challenge to duel. Instinctively, he picked up the gaunt
let, winding his tongue around hers. Any lingering doubts flew with the fiery intensity of that kiss.

  Tongues tangling, twisting, playing each others like a harp; mouths melding, moving, matching to the others tune; Eli had yet to meet a woman who could speak sex with just her mouth like Chryssa could.

  She wasn’t even moving on his lap just kissing him while her fingers slowly danced on the nape of his neck and yet she had his nerves skittering in arousal, the blood fast moving towards his shaft. The leather hissed as Eli shifted uncomfortably on the couch trying to get her to line her pussy with his length.

  In the little corner of his brain that still held some semblance of thought, he remembered her telling him that it was okay to touch her. He let his hands slide lower down her body to cup her ass. Molding the firm flesh in his hands he dragged her higher up his body until they were perfectly aligned. Just there.

  The first slow swirl of her hips almost broke him. Eli groaned into her mouth as she rubbed her heat along his length so hard he could feel her pussy lips open up over his swollen erection even through their clothes. Her arms wound around his neck as she dragged her upper body close to his and pressed her tits on his chest. If he wasn’t already hard, the feel of her plump flesh would have turned him into steel.

  Damn! His hands tightened on her ass, aching for her to do something that would stop this need that had already begun pulsing in his blood. His tongue lashed against hers as the hands on her ass begged her to move faster. Instead she separated their lips. Taking a second to steady her breath she asked, “Do you know the best thing about fucking during the day?”

  Keeping his hands on her ass, he shook his head, “No.”

  The smile on her face was wicked as she pushed his hands away from her body then stood up. Hands on button of her pants, she said, “You get to see all this.”

  Thank god she didn’t ask anymore questions because Eli doubted he would’ve been capable of speech. First to go were the heels kicked to the side of the coffee table to reveal her dainty feet topped by red varnish. Next was the slow unbutton, unzip and lowering of her pants down her voluptuous toffee tinged thighs and leaving her in pink boy shorts. He could imagine the long length of her legs wrapped around his waist as he pounded deep into her.