by Ali Parker
"Are you going back into the office tonight or staying here?" She worked on the buttons at the front of his shirt and licked at her lips.
"I'm staying with you." He brushed his hands down the sides of her head, intertwining his fingers in her hair. "Unless you'd prefer-"
"Don't even." She pushed at his shoulders, forcing him to break contact. Her fingers pressed into the tight muscle of his neck as she pushed his shirt from his shoulders. "I want you to myself every night."
"Good answer." He reached down and pulled her shirt off. "Turn around."
She leaned in and kissed his chest several times before swirling her tongue around his nipple. Her hands cupped him tightly as her nails played with the underside of his sack.
"Turn around." He reached down and removed her hands from him, though the feel of them wrapped around him was almost too delicious to refuse. She needed to remember who was in control. Love could have its way with their relationship, but in the bedroom, he wanted supreme reign. He couldn't imagine it any other way.
She pressed her hands to the counter in front of her and arched her back to rub her ass along the front of his slacks.
He growled and reached down to run his hands down the outside of her thighs as he pressed his chest to her back and smiled. "Find something you like?"
"I like it a lot," she murmured.
He moved back and squeezed her thick curves, loving how big her butt was. She seemed to hate it, but he couldn't get nearly enough of it.
"Come get on your knees for me." He popped her ass and reached up to undo her bra before turning and walking to the living room. He worked himself out of his slacks and let them drop wherever they did.
"On my hands and knees, or-"
"Right here, baby. On your knees. Come suck me off." He turned and stroked himself as her eyes moved down his body and widened a little as they reached his cock.
"Fuck yes." She stopped in front of him and ran her fingernails down his chest as she sunk to her knees, the sweet little bitch making sure to run her lips by his dick as she hit the floor.
"Such a good girl, Beth. You know I love you, right?" He slid his fingers into her hair as she reached for his cock and nodded, ignoring his gaze as she focused on his erection only.
"Yeah, I know." She sucked one of his balls into the warmth of her mouth.
He groaned and pulled back on her hair before tilting himself toward her and rubbing the head of his erection against her pretty lips. "Good. Remember that while I fuck you like I don't."
Chapter 4
Bethany
White-hot electricity danced in the center of her stomach as she toyed with him. The minute he took complete control, it burst out from its epicenter and danced along her pleasure points, leaving her exposed, needy, raw.
"I wish you would unload on me." She stroked up his thick shaft several times before leaning in and taking as much as she could in her mouth. The musky flavor of his excitement was almost enough to throw her over the edge. The man was a beast in the bedroom and deserved someone far more adventurous. Something about him made her want to be that girl no matter the cost.
He groaned and tugged at her hair, pulling her closer to his body, forcing more of his cock into her mouth.
"Breathe through your nose and work to take all of me. Don't assume you can't. Make it work, Beth. Push." He brushed his fingers down the side of her face and pumped his hips slowly as he watched her with an intensity she'd never seen on him before. On anyone before.
She forced herself to follow his instructions though some part of her wanted to rebel. There was too much promise in walking the thin line with him in the bedroom to disobey. Anywhere else, and she would have given him a run for his money on dominance, but on her knees in front of him? He was in charge, and the thought left her breathless for more.
He worked himself in and out of her mouth over the next few minutes until his breathing turned to panting, his smooth thrusts turned to fast pumps of his hips.
"I'm gonna come. You want it, baby, or you want me to finish it?"
She reached up and gripped him tightly, pumping his thick flesh as he groaned loudly. "I always want it."
"Right." He locked his gaze onto hers and pressed back into her mouth, losing himself as she watched closely. Never in a million years had she seen someone more sensual, more beautiful and comfortable to simply be exactly what he was. Alpha.
He moved back and dropped down on the couch behind him as he let out a shaky breath.
"So hot," she murmured and moved in between his legs, rubbing at his thighs before sliding her fingers over his tight abs and up his chest. He groaned again and closed his eyes as his head dropped back onto the couch.
"Get up here and fuck me." He took a shaky breath before reaching for her. "Take your shorts and panties off and turn your back to me. I wanna hold your ass while you work me."
There were no words to offer as she got up and slipped her shorts and panties over her legs. He gripped her hard as she turned and moved to sit in his lap.
"God, you smell good. Did you come with me?" He lowered her.
She moaned loudly as he forced her open, taking up every inch of space inside of her and forcing her to accommodate his size.
Bethany pressed her hands to his thighs and pushed back farther as they groaned in tandem. Chill bumps raced across her exposed skin as he brushed his hands up her back and gripped her shoulders, finishing the deal with a strong thrust from beneath her.
"No, not yet. Almost." She pressed her hands into his thighs and lifted up to work him.
"Not like that baby. That's for me. This time is for you." He pulled her back and forced her to lay flush with her back to his chest as he rolled his hips, massaging her body.
She groaned and repositioned her hips, pressing her ass tightly against his stomach as she tried to find enough air to breathe. The man had a way of forcing it from the room without even trying.
His strong arm tightened just below her breasts, one hand kneading her as the other slipped into the messy curls between her thighs and tapped against her clit.
"Take your time with me." He licked at the side of her neck as she panted roughly. She couldn't seem to speak, nor did she want to try. The level of pleasure washing over her in waves was suffocating. "Just lock yourself into the best position for my thick head to bounce against the place you need it and let me work you long into the night."
She groaned as a shiver ran down her spine, but nodded. "All night, okay?"
"Yeah, baby. All night." He lifted his hips as she cried out again, pleasure ruling her in a way that left her lost to him. The man had too much power out of the bedroom, but once in it... she was held captive, and willingly so.
*
She woke the next morning to find him gone already. A note sat by the coffee pot with one of the pink roses from the front yard clipped and sitting in a vase beside it. The smile that touched her face faded quickly as she read it.
Beth,
I'm in the office already, I'm sure. Make sure you set the alarm, and leave your ring at home when you're in the office. I don't want to overshadow my father's wedding celebration by talking about ours. We still need to figure out how to ease everyone into the idea of us being together. Let's be smart about it. I know you understand that.
D
"What?" She read the note again and rolled her eyes. Typical. Immaturity raged inside of her as she got dressed in the only clean outfit left in her make-shift closet at Kent's. A pair of black slacks and a peach-colored top. She worked her hair into a bun, wanting to be defiant just because she could and grabbed her keys. A long day promised to keep her thoughts about Damon's request at a minimum, but by the time she reached the office, she'd talked herself into a million underlying messages from the letter.
He wasn't happy with his decision to ask her to marry him and was backtracking, which seemed insane, and yet it was the only conclusion she could come to. Why hide their engagement? No one seemed to giv
e two shits about the situation when she'd brought it up before Jamaica, including Damon, but now he did?
"Overshadow Kent's wedding. Stupid," she mumbled under her breath as she walked toward the elevators in the large downtown building that McKenzie and Bryant owned several floors in.
"Hey you!" Ben walked out of the cafeteria holding a muffin and cup of black coffee. "Did you get a chance to eat?"
"Not yet." She tucked away her internal struggles. "Aren't we supposed to meet this morning? I thought I saw something in my e-mail from you."
"Yeah, in thirty minutes. Let's just do it now, and we can chat while we eat?" He gave her a friendly smile.
"Sounds perfect. Let me set my stuff down and I'll get something real quick." She dropped her briefcase and purse by the table where Ben sat down and started to unwrap his muffin. "You need anything else?"
"A long-ass vacation, a hot woman to love me and a napkin?"
"I can help with one of those, and it's the saddest of the options."
"But the most helpful for the here and now!" he chuckled as she walked off.
Her ring was tucked into the inside zipper of her purse, which was the cause of concern. If someone took her purse, or she lost it, then what? The damn ring had to have cost fifteen to twenty thousand dollars. She was taking chances on something that cost more than she'd paid for her car and school the last semester.
Stupid. And for what reason?
Was Damon ashamed of their relationship? Their situation? Was she?
A little, if she were being truly honest with herself. She grabbed a yogurt and an orange juice seeing that all of the chocolate donuts were gone. She made her way back to Ben and worked to let the angst inside of her go. The night before in Damon's arms was exactly what she needed to keep at the forefront of her thoughts, otherwise she would dig herself into an impossibly deep hole of what ifs.
"Your napkin, Sir." She dropped a few on the center of the table and sat down.
"Thanks. How was the wedding? The beach? Let me live vicariously through you." He grabbed a napkin and wiped at his mouth.
"It was great. The wedding was beautiful, and we all got a quick vacation, which was much needed. Damon relaxed for the first time since I met him a few weeks back. It was fun." She shrugged and worked to open her yogurt. "Anything happen around here?"
"Not really. Sadie has been much more amicable, so we might want to make sure the apocalypse isn't headed this way. I swear the girl has gone from being a two-headed dragon to a firefly."
Bethany lifted her eyebrow. "Too much Lord of the Rings for you?"
He chuckled. "I guess so. We had an all weekend marathon of it."
"Who's we?" She leaned in as her expression softened. Ben was a great guy and deserved a girl in his life that would treat him right.
"Me and my little brother. He's about your age. We flew him in from Seattle." He shrugged. "I wanted to show him around town, but you know how it is. You do what's most comfortable to you. Popcorn and movies are our thing."
"Fun. So tell me about this new job you're pulling me on."
"It's Zarpeth. I think you helped Kent and Damon with some of the inventory audit shit a week or so ago, right?"
"I went up there, but didn't help much. It was tense to say the least." She took a quick bite of her yogurt and decided against it as her stomach tightened.
Should have gone for the omelet.
"It's a mess. We're taking up a new team this Friday to start working on it. Damon said that you had classes starting tomorrow and you're TA'ing for a cost accounting professor, but I figure we'll still have you join us on the weekends if nothing else." He shrugged.
"No rest for the weary, hm?" She opened her orange juice and glanced around, missing Philip all of a sudden. "Hey, do you think Damon would give Philip his job back if he earnestly asked for it?"
"I don't know." Ben stood and wiped his mouth before stretching. "I'll ask him, but for now, just download the client files and get yourself up to speed on Zarpeth. The information on the company is in their file. We're going to be pulling seven days a week until we get everything sorted out. I think the plan is to head down to their main warehouse in Florida next weekend, not this one. We'll see who's going on that trip, but I remember Damon mentioning that he wanted you there."
"All right. I'll jump on the review and get ready. I guess me being there Thursday night to Monday morning is going to be enough?"
"Yep. We'll take every bit of help we can get." He gathered his stuff. "Let me know if you have any questions and I'll keep you in the loop as much as I can."
Chapter 5
Damon
It was just after lunch, and she'd yet to stop by or text. She was upset, and he couldn't blame her, nor could he console her. It was a simple request to leave the ring at the house, and it had very little to do with him not wanting to show her off, and everything to do with laying the proper foundation for their relationship.
He'd been cocky about the situation before, but that was before he decided to up and ask the pretty girl to marry him.
Marriage. Fuck. The word alone seemed to bring with it a whole host of feelings that Damon wasn't ready to face. It was supposed to be the binding of two people into a relationship that spanned time until the end showed up for one member or the other, but it rarely happened.
The phone buzzed as he sat at his desk, taking a quick five-minute breather for the only break he would have that day.
"Mr. Bryant, Erica Hall is on line one for you. Are you free to-"
"Put her through, Linda." Damon sat up and pressed his forearms to the desk in front of him as Erica's voice filled the room.
"Hey there. You recovered from all the Mai-Tais yet?"
"I'm definitely feeling a sense of longing to be back out there. Nothing like walking into a shit-storm after a relaxing vacation."
"That's the way it always works, but something tells me that you create shit-storms if there isn't one waiting on you. It helps you feel wanted."
He chuckled. "Right. What can I do for you, Miss Hall?"
"Back to business, I see." She cleared her throat as Damon increased the volume on the phone and got up to pace the floor. He slipped his hands into his slack pockets and tried to let his worry over Bethany go. They would work things out.
"Always business with me." He smiled.
"Agreed. This call is a bit of business and pleasure, I guess. I wanted to make sure that you guys were still planning on being in town this next weekend."
"We are. We're meeting with an art dealer for Matthew and working on an audit for M&B for the rest of the time. Are you wanting to get together while we're there?"
"Actually, yes, and I'm hoping that you're still working on Matt about joining me up here. I think him finding someone to sell his art is great, but he still needs a steady income."
"You just want him near you, Erica. You're not fooling any of us," he snorted and stopped by the window.
"Is it that obvious?" Her strong tone dimmed a little.
"It is to me, but I get it. He would be great working in the advertising department as a designer-"
"Lead designer."
"Right, but Matt doesn't care about being in leadership or ruling Corporate America. He cares about being free to be and do what he wants to do. He doesn't need money, though I suppose he's trying to cut the ties from our father as I did just after college."
"Then he can just come and be a designer for me. I think he would really love the city, the people, and he could grow so much as an artist here."
"I agree. I'll talk to him and see where his thoughts are. I can't promise much as Matt has always been a free spirit, but I'll have the conversation."
"Soon please. I need to fill the spot I have available, and I'd love to put his name on it instead of opening it up to the public." She sighed, and Damon couldn't help but let the smile on his face widen. The woman had been after Matt since they first met five years ago at a large conference for growing busi
nesses. The fact that she'd come to work for M&B three years after that conference left him to believe that some part of it was to get closer to Matt.
It was creepy, and yet sexy as hell.
"Will do. Anything else?"
"Not really. You and Bethany okay? I know you made a big decision while you were in Jamaica. How is the aftermath of that?"
"Good. It's great. I gotta run, but we'll see you this weekend." He waited for her to say her goodbyes and pressed the button to end the call. He wasn't sharing his feelings with anyone, especially not another woman. He might have the reputation of a playboy with an open invitation to get hit on, but he was far from it. The day he'd found his mother in bed with some random guy from her work had changed everything.
Fucking around was out. Nothing could tempt him to change his mind, not even a ghost from the past.
*
"Damon, I'm not sure if you remember, but your father scheduled an interview for the open Senior Manager position we have. One of the interviews are today and the rest later this week. I do believe this one comes highly recommended from a good friend and your dad was leaning toward giving her the job. He just needed to go through the motions to make it look legit." Linda stood just inside the office, her back to the door.
"Really? Damn." Damon reviewed his schedule and didn't find the interview anywhere. "Was the interview with me or him?"
"She's supposed to meet with him, but he's out of town, as you know. Can I show her in?"
"I guess. Cancel my lunch appointment with Bart Darren today and reschedule it. Get me a sandwich with the office order if you guys are ordering out."
"Ham and swiss cheese with mustard?"
"Yep, and chips. Surprise me." He stood and pulled his jacket off the rack behind him as he walked toward the small circular table in his office. He needed the candidate’s resume, but hopefully she brought it with her.