She shook her head and balled her hands up into fists at her sides as she paced. Considering the heels she’d put on to compensate for her short stature, I was pretty impressed. She definitely wasn’t the type to trip.
“How dare you. You know how much of a go-getter I am? I work every day, all day. I put myself through school and have loans coming out of my ass. I spend at least five hours all day, every day, working on the NYU paper and at least two on a blog with over five thousand subscribers. Sometimes I don’t sleep more than four hours a night. I love fashion, I know a hell of a lot about it, and if that’s not good enough for you, then I don’t know what is.” She was panting by the time she finished, and I couldn’t help but notice the way it made her amazing chest heave.
I’d been wrong.
There was passion there, lying just under the surface.
I stood up and circled around my desk. I couldn’t help but be moved by her outburst. Maybe I’d pushed her too far, but I’d seen something now; something that made me want her for more than her banging body. She had something deep there, something hungry. I hadn’t seen a woman with that much raw hunger and dedication to her life’s passions in a long time.
It was like a burst of fresh air.
Striding over to her, I placed my hand on her cheek. Selena appeared startled but didn’t move away from me. Her skin was warm against my palm, and my heart raced. I wanted her, craved her already like a damn drug, but I was even more curious than I was desperate for her.
“What’s going on?”
“I think I get to ask that question,” she hissed. Still, she didn’t pull away from me. “You’re a terrible interviewer. Do you do that to all your employees?”
I leaned closer to her. I wasn’t even sure what the fuck I was doing. Maybe I could chalk it up later to some clichéd midlife crisis. All I knew was that there was something fierce inside of Selena calling to me, both her drive and something wounded deep. It felt familiar.
“You’re assuming you’re going to become an employee,” I said, my voice barely a whisper. I was so close that my breath landed on her cheek. “Why were you so out of it when you got here? Do you want this job? After all, who are you really, Selena?”
She swallowed hard but kept her focus on me, seemingly refusing to back down. “I’m a damn fine writer and editor, and you’ll be getting me at a steal this summer. Now, did I get the job or not?”
I couldn’t resist anymore; not that I’d put up much of a fight. My cock was throbbing, and I wanted her; wanted to taste her more than I’d wanted practically anything else in my life. Then, my lips were on hers, my tongue probing her own. She tasted of strawberries and mint, both clean and fruity.
It took everything I had not to grind against her, not to take this any further.
She hesitated for just a moment as I continued but then her mouth opened wider and her arms wrapped around my shoulders. Selena was returning the kiss, her lips grazing mine, her tongue dancing with mine. The intensity built between us. My hand went lower, cupping her ass, and then she stilled.
Finally, she broke away from me.
Her eyes were wide as she stared back at me, dazed. “What… Oh, I never do that. This isn’t me. We were fighting and oh my God! Tammy is going to kill me.”
That killed my libido dead; my erection finally under some fucking control. Saying Tammy’s name was like having a gallon of ice water poured down my pants and smothering my cock. My shoulders went rigid, but I didn’t back away from Selena. I didn’t want to. Whatever was happening between us was something I hadn’t felt in years, and I wasn’t about to lose that now.
“It’s… Sometimes crazy things happen,” I offered, knowing I had to tread carefully.
“You had your tongue down my throat. I think that’s more than just a crazy thing,” she admitted.
“Look, your writing is excellent, and you argued your case. You have twenty-four hours.” I spun around coolly and headed back to my desk. It was a struggle to try and get a sense of equilibrium back into everything, but I’d been a cutthroat CEO for the better part of twenty years. And I’d fucking well better stay in control.
“What?”
“You have one day, Miss Cole. You can come back on Wednesday morning early and take that job, or you can leave it. I think it’d be in your best interest to take this opportunity, but it’s all up to you.” I took my seat and smirked back at her, working to retake control and the upper hand. “Are you really going to walk away from the job of a lifetime?”
Selena took in a sharp breath before she glared at me, that fire back in her hazel eyes. “You really think I’ll take the job after all of this?”
“Miss Cole, I’m counting on it.”
Chapter Three
Selena
I was shaking. After the day I’d had, that was the only thing I could do. After Mr. Duncan—God, after my best friend’s father had kissed me… Not just kissed me. His tongue had been deep down my throat, his hands roaming over my body, and I’d felt the heat of him flush against me. Brandon Duncan, the most powerful man in publishing, wanted me. That much was obvious. I could try and lie to myself—say that he took advantage of me and now the job offer was just a way to get fully in my pants. He’d been rude enough to me.
I sat on my bed. We’d come back from the interview, and I’d told Tammy what I could, said I had the offer, and did not mention that I’d be turning it down tomorrow. She’d want to talk me into it, but there was no way I could, no way that I could risk any of this. What if Brandon… um, Mr. Duncan, tried again?
Do you want him to?
No, I couldn’t think like that.
I could not.
My best friend, the closest thing to family I had, was his daughter. I didn’t want to start my career out like this, and it was too much. I’d been upset. There was the complete exhaustion, and shock, from what Kevin had done to me. Then Mr. Duncan had the audacity to say I didn’t want this too; that I didn’t even want my dream job. Sorry if I was acting like a zombie when my heart was broken, and I was humiliated. It didn’t seem to stop Duncan from digging into me. Then the fight and the kiss.
Dear lord that kiss!
How did I even go from screaming at him to having his lips on mine?
I shivered again and leaned back against the headboard. It was only through intensive persuasion that I’d been able to get Tammy to go out with her mom without me. I promised her we’d celebrate this weekend, which was a huge lie, considering I had to turn the job down tomorrow. I couldn’t even explain to Tammy why I couldn’t do this. How do you tell your best friend that you were kissing her father?
And that you liked it.
“Damn it,” I swore under my breath.
That was the problem. I liked it. I loved the way he’d made me feel, the way I’d gotten wet for him so fast, the fact my heart had fluttered a million miles an hour, the way my breath had hitched… All of it. I’d been shocked, at first, but I wanted him. Jesus, the worst thing about all of this was that I was attracted to him too. I’d been alone in my room for almost thirty minutes, and the only thing I could do was think about him, that hint of cinnamon on his breath in my mouth, and regret that I couldn’t have gone further.
Walking in on Kevin must have broken my brain.
If this had happened yesterday, I’d have said no in a hot minute. But it hadn’t. And it was nice for once to feel wanted, to have such a powerful man who knew exactly what he wanted— to kiss me. Plus, there had been something else; something lingering between us. I’d never been kissed like that by anyone in my life, never felt that depth of a connection. A huge part of me wanted more, but that wasn’t something I was allowed to have.
Not unless I wanted to break my bestie’s heart, and be a publishing world punchline before I even had my byline.
Sighing, I surged to my feet and headed to the bathroom. A cold shower would help; it would have to do. Anything else was crazy.
***
The do
or opened.
I sat up in bed and leaned against the headboard. The silhouette wasn’t Tammy’s tall, thin frame. No. The light from the hallway, what dim amount there was, cascaded over the shoulders and broad body of someone else.
I stilled, and my mouth grew dry. I wasn’t sure what to do. It was possibly Tammy had got home in the early hours with a date who’d accidentally mistaken my bedroom for the bathroom. But then the stranger sauntered into my room and my jaw dropped. It wasn’t a new guy in Tammy’s life. No. It was Mr. Duncan. He was dressed in a pair of loose fitting slacks and a dark-hued silk shirt with a button or two undone at his neck.
The dryness in my mouth stopped, and perhaps nuts as this was, my clit throbbed and my pussy grew wet. I’d wanted him since that kiss, which had deepened between us earlier in the day. I’d been thinking about him obsessively, even in the shower. Now he was here as if I’d conjured him from thin air.
“Is this real?” I asked.
He strode into the room, moving with the agility of a jungle cat, and it took every bit of self-control I had to keep my fingers from reaching for my clit; to massage the bundle of nerves that seemed electro-charged, yearning for his touch.
“Does it matter?” he asked, his voice a low rumble that made my panties wet.
“No,” I replied.
At that moment, I meant it. I didn’t care if this was a dream or a hallucination. I didn’t care if he’d come to me in real life, completely out of nowhere, to make my fantasies a reality. After how much I’d tossed and turned thinking about Mr. Duncan—about Brandon—and now he was here.
“Why are you here?” I asked.
He smirked, a look that should have been outlawed, and unbuttoned his shirt slowly. Heat flared through my body, my pussy throbbing more with need and desire, the thin cotton of my panties soaked through. God, he was gorgeous. Even at close to fifty, he was a total Adonis. As he let the shirt fall from his shoulders, the light of the moon hit his chest and torso. It illuminated his abs in startling relief, and I wanted to lick and trace secret patterns over the ridges with my tongue.
“Why do you think I’m here?”
I swallowed hard. “For me.”
“Yes,” he said, a simple declaration without an ounce of doubt in it.
I assumed that was how Brandon always treated things, and how he’d grown such a powerful company. He never had to apologize, never had to be unsure. He was the master of his universe, of all he owned or wanted to own. How great that must be for him.
“What if I don’t want you to be here?” I challenged.
He chuckled as if my naiveté were a joke. “No one ever says no to me. I know you’re the same. Besides, I want to savor you right now. Taste every inch of you first. By the time I finish, you’ll be screaming for more, begging me to shove my cock deep inside of you and fuck you harder than you ever have been before.”
I blushed and was glad for the darkness shrouding my side of the room. “I’ve never had sex before.”
His smirk widened as he drew near the foot of my bed. Brandon crawled over it like a lion stalking over the savannah for his prey. His body was over me now, the heft of him, as he pinned my wrists to the mattress, the ridge of his hard cock grinding into my hips even with his slacks on.
“That’s the best kind. I’ve always liked to give women what they need. To let a virgin know exactly what she’s been missing is an honor, Selena.”
I swallowed, thinking over Kevin; how he’d treated my desire to take things slow like a curse. When he’d figured out I’d been that inexperienced, he’d spent a week or two making pointed jokes at my expense. I think he’d hoped that if he did, then he’d be able to humiliate me into wanting to have sex. As if I’d beg for it in order to make the harassment and snide comments stop. But I’d wanted my first time to be special.
Brandon licked his lips and then claimed my mouth with his own, his tongue probing deeply, twisting and tangling with mine in a way that made me teem with wetness. My clit was pulsing; a riot of sensations coming from my sensitive nerves. I needed him. Needed so much more.
“Please.”
He nodded, and I sat up just long enough for him to pull off my night shirt. He trailed kisses down my lips, my chin, and my neck. Brandon scraped his teeth delicately over the soft skin, all the way down to my collarbone, and the goosebumps rose across my body. I moaned and thrust my hips against his, my non-subtle cue for him to do more. The bastard was taking everything slowly and, suddenly, it was as if a dam had burst. I’d been the good girl for twenty-one years, and it was now the last thing I wanted to be.
Tammy’s feelings didn’t matter. My reputation in the work world didn’t matter. Even the years I’d waited for my first time weren’t a concern.
When my first time already felt this amazing, left me shuddering with pleasure and he hadn’t yet touched my pussy, then I couldn’t wait to feel the full effects of everything.
“Please,” I said.
He smirked after he pulled away from my neck. I thought that would be enough to nudge him toward my panties; toward the relief my aching clit demanded. It wasn’t. He wanted to make this last; draw every experience out. One hand wrapped around my left breast, kneading it with a dedication and skill I’d never felt before. Kevin had always pawed at it, fumbled like the boy he was. Brandon was experienced, knowledgeable in every single way to please a woman and it showed, from the way his thumb and forefinger skillfully teased my peaked nipple to the domineering grasp of his palm over my tit.
He licked his lips again. “I bet you taste divine.”
“You’re the one teasing it out,” I countered. “I want to feel your tongue wet and hot against my clit.”
“I live to serve, but, Selena, I don’t want to miss any delicious part of you.”
Brandon lunged forward, taking my right nipple into his mouth with determination and raw hunger. He sucked it, and fire erupted over my skin. My clit was throbbing so painfully that I felt like I’d detonate at any moment, the arousal and excitement welling in me, almost too much for any woman to bear. He switched tactics, flicking his forefinger fast over my left nipple while his tongue laved lovingly at my right. I arched my back, and the cotton sheet beneath me was cool, a contrast with the heat of desire surging in me. The hint of cinnamon and his own musky aroma hung thickly in the air and the sound of my own ragged breaths harsh in my ears. I felt like I was running a marathon, like every gulp of air was a precious gift. It was all because my heart was pounding wildly due to the heights of passion Brandon was taking me to.
“Never stop.” I gasped, feeling the flames sizzle across my skin, knowing I was close to the edge.
He pulled away and shook his head. “Not until I taste the sweetest nectar you have to offer me. Lift your hips.”
I obeyed the order, letting him slip the thin cotton covering—the soaked cotton covering—off my legs before settling back to the mattress. “Do whatever you want. I trust you.”
He picked up my feet by the ankles and ducked under them, letting my legs at the crook of my knees rest on his shoulders. Brandon didn’t waste any time, finally, blissfully, diving headfirst into my soaked, desperate pussy. His started by licking my labia, those tender lips, tasting me that way. I bucked my hips a little, aiming my body and hips toward him so he’d have the best angle to do whatever he wanted to me.
Whatever he could imagine.
I was so ready.
His tongue plunged into my core, tasting me from the inside out. I moaned at his ministrations; the effort that made me feel like I was a bomb ready to blow apart with the pent-up passion finally unfurling inside of me. He fucked me with his mouth for a long, languid moment. Then he moved his tongue from my channel, from my innermost core and moved instead to my swollen clit. The first lick sent sparks arching up from my belly, across every limb. Then he wrapped his lips around that nub of nerves and suckled. It was everything I needed. The harder he sucked, the more enthusiastically he brought my clit into h
is mouth, the more I responded. As Brandon suckled, he shoved three thick fingers deep inside of me, plumbing the darkest depths of my core. He worked harder and faster, harder and faster until everything was a blur to my eyes.
I came then, as if my body had exploded into a million little pieces, the ecstasy and the pleasure too much to bear.
My eyes opened, but I was alone.
My breath came in ragged gasps, and my heart still pounded ferociously against my sternum, but I was alone, and the room was completely dark. No sign of Brandon. The curtains were still drawn so tightly that no sliver of moonlight snuck into my room at all. Reaching down, my hand trailed over my sleep shirt. My panties were still on.
Jesus, what a dream.
I’d never had one that vivid before, or where I’d come like a damn freight train, or come at all for that matter.
I needed that.
Wanted desperately to have the real thing.
Blinking at my bedside clock, I frowned at the glowing blue numbers staring back at me. A little past three a.m. It was a bizarre time to send an email to human resources, but I didn’t want to wait another minute. Grabbing my cell, I blasted off a reply to the letter HR had sent me, a yes, and promised that I’d be in the office tomorrow to do all the paperwork. Considering I was exhausted from the most intense wet dream of my life and thoughts of Brandon from earlier, I hoped that I hadn’t sent off something full of typos. When Brandon Duncan entered the equation, I couldn’t even think straight.
Maybe I didn’t want to.
And that was the scariest and most thrilling part of it all.
Chapter Four
Brandon
I knew she’d be back.
There wasn’t a woman on Earth who’d turned me down yet. Granted, things had gone to hell with Melanie, my first wife, but she’d said yes in college eagerly to our first date. I had women with wet panties the moment I entered the room. Hell, sometimes I had them ready to drop them the moment I whispered in their ears. I liked it that way; craved it. So, when Selena came back to the publishing house the next day, I was far from shocked. But I also had a plan. I wanted to get to know her better. Yes, it was a dick move to date my daughter’s friend. Yes, I’d worked hard to rebuild my relationship with Tammy. At the same time, I hadn’t stopped thinking about Selena, about her tongue tangling with mine, in three days. Sometimes, I needed to explore things for myself.
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