Out of Formation

by Ella Fox

  “Are you ditching school to buy sex toys?”

  Her cheeks flushed as she giggled nervously, a sweet sound with a little bit of husky thrown in.

  “No, I’m not ditching school,” she assured me.

  I raised an eyebrow as I stared down at her skeptically. Nothing about her facial expression indicated she was lying, but the evidence pointed to the contrary. “You’re wearing a uniform and it’s way too early for school to be out for the day,” I pointed out.

  Natalie shook her head. “I promise, I’m not ditching. I only had to go in this morning to empty my locker and turn in my textbooks.”

  I assumed she meant she was moving, which made me feel sick. I panicked, wondering if she was leaving the state. I couldn’t let that happen. Forcing myself to calm way the fuck down, I inhaled and exhaled a deep breath as I assured myself I’d figure out a way to stop that shit.

  Slightly calmer, I’d focused on getting some answers. I’d needed to know more while also getting across to her that she had no place in a sex shop.

  “If you were just looking for a way to pass the time, you should’ve gone to the mall or something. You’re too young to be in this store,” I pointed out. “What were you thinking? You could have been—”

  My sentence trailed off when the door to the meeting room opened. Turning my head, I grimaced as my accountant, Robert, stepped into the hall. Before I could tell him to fuck off so I could finish talking to Natalie (who was way too fucking young, I kept reminding my dick) he grinned and walked our way.

  “Hey, Jordan! I see you’ve met Natalie. She’ll be shadowing me for the next six weeks for her Senior Project.”

  I blank stared him as I processed his words. My first reaction was relief that she was a senior. Granted, she was still much younger than I, but at least in a few weeks, she’d be out of high school and on her way to college. I’d been worried I was lusting after a tenth grader. Knowing that wasn’t the case was a weight off of my shoulders. Whatever my wait time would be—and I would’ve waited a lifetime if I had to—I knew it wouldn’t be years.

  Still, her being a senior didn’t excuse Robert bringing her to the store. My anger was a living, pulsing thing beneath my skin. He’d been a fool to bring her into the store.

  “Do you realize how reprehensible it is for you to have brought a minor to a fucking sex store?” I hissed.

  Robert’s hands flailed frantically as he shook his head. “No! God no! She’s eighteen, almost nineteen. I would never.”

  As good as that news was I still wanted to throttle him. She shouldn’t have been exposed to men leering at her while they were in the middle of doing a porn and lube run. I was not okay with the way they’d been looking at her— so clearly imagining her naked. Wanting to touch and defile her. The thought made me sick.

  “Do you fucking realize she was out there on the floor, and perverts were looking at her?” I seethed. “You put her in danger!”

  Robert had a very deer caught in the headlights look about him.

  “Natalie! I told you not to go out there,” he said in a voice full of exasperation. “She shouldn’t have done that. I didn’t—”

  Unfortunately for Robert, I’d been getting more and more agitated thinking about what could’ve happened to her. Someone could’ve touched her, a thought that made my blood boil.

  “Where are her parents and why are they allowing her to come to a goddamn sex store for school? What the actual fuck?”

  At that moment I was so pissed I could’ve spit nails. Natalie needed protecting. I was feeling territorial and fucking angry that no one was caring for my girl the way she deserved.

  That’s right.

  Mine.

  All. Fucking. Mine.

  No one who wasn’t me would ever touch her again. I’d just met her and already I was thinking about spending the rest of my life inside of her. She belonged to me, full stop.

  That was insane, but what was crazier was my dick sending out a claimed vibe. I could almost hear the fucker yelling that he was hers and only hers. Forever. Even then, only minutes into knowing her, I knew I’d never touch another woman as long as I lived.

  “It’s just her mom, and she’s away on business until after Natalie’s graduation,” Robert explained. “Nat lives right above me and even though she’s old enough to live alone, we’re keeping an eye on her while Jane is gone. This worked out perfectly because I can be involved. Don’t worry, she isn’t going to disclose anything about the store, man. The high school won't know which store she shadowed me in. I work for a variety of retail stores, and they already know that for confidentiality reasons specific brands and locations can't be divulged. No one will ever realize she was here.”

  Her mother being away on business was bullshit. What kind of parent left her kid before graduation? Maybe if it were anyone else, I’d have been okay with the whole thing. I’m not sure. The only thing I knew with absolute certainty right then was I was not about with Natalie being there.

  “I give zero fucks about what the school knows or what they approved. I only care about her safety and I’m not cool with this. Natalie can’t be here or any of the other stores,” I bit out tersely.

  Robert’s face went a shade of green as he gaped at me. “This is a graduation requirement for her,” he exclaimed. “After today she doesn’t even go back to class anymore. I need to sign off and verify that she was observing and learning about business math and retail pricing structures.”

  “I won’t cause any trouble,” she promised.

  My gaze immediately went back to her. I’d been trying not to look directly at her in the hopes my dick would let out a little of the goddamn concrete it seemed to be full of. No such luck.

  The way she looked at me told a story. Her eyes were dilated, her cheeks flushed. She was ripe for the picking and knowing that didn’t soften my dick one little bit. In fact, my looking down at her and seeing evidence of her attraction to me made the fucker drool. If I hadn’t been wearing skin tight boxer briefs and black pants, I’d have been on the verge of humiliating myself with a stain. I gritted my teeth and steeled myself from imagining coming on her, in her, or down her throat. My need for her was ferocious and it was growing bigger by the minute.

  Natalie could promise until the cows came home, and it wouldn’t change a damn thing. She was trouble whether she intended to be or not.

  “You can’t help it,” I said softly.

  I didn’t want her there, in the store, but I also knew I couldn’t send her away never to be seen again. There was no fucking way I was letting that happen. Not when I’d just found her.

  “I won’t be able to graduate if I don’t do this,” she said pleadingly.

  I was barely holding onto my shit knowing she’d been out on the floor and she’d only been there for a few minutes. I knew if I backed down and tried to roll with it for six weeks, I’d go insane. She couldn’t be in the goddamn store, and that was that.

  My mind scrambled as I tried to figure out a solution. Everything I thought of involved keeping her with me, permanently.

  Right where she belonged.

  The way I was feeling toward her was pure caveman. I tried to think business and solutions but kept getting distracted by thoughts of holding her in my arms while she slept.

  Bottom line, I was not letting her go. She stayed with me, no matter what. The only reason Robert was still standing right then was because he was gay. If I thought for a second he’d had lustful feelings about her; I’d have fired him on the spot.

  From the very first instant, Natalie was reshaping my world. I’d never felt so territorial about anyone or anything before.

  A grin spread across my face when a solution finally occurred to me.

  “She’ll come work with me,” I announced.

  A breathy little gasp escaped her.

  “I will?” she questioned.

  I looked her over, checking to see if she was against the idea. As much as I wanted her, if she did
n’t feel safe with me or had indicated in any way that she didn’t want to go, I’d have figured out another way. From the very first moment, she came first, no matter what. She still looked nervous, but she didn’t look like someone who didn’t want to go. Quite the opposite, in fact.

  “Yes,” I confirmed. “You’ll love it.”

  “My project has to relate in some way to business math,” she said anxiously. “If you won’t let me into the store…”

  “I own more than just sex stores,” I explained. “We’ll be working at my record store. I sell vinyl to collectors.”

  Robert choked out a laugh of disbelief. “Jesus, Jordan. You live damn near two hours away,” he squeaked. “Do you know how fucked it is to ask her to drive back and forth from Riverside to Malibu for six weeks? That’s at least four hours in the car every day! The junker she drives would probably explode on day one. That’s not cool, man.”

  I shut him down with a withering look, angry that he in any way questioned how far I’d go to keep her safe. I calmed down by reminding myself of what I knew for a fact. Mainly, that I was his biggest account, which meant he didn’t want to fuck with me. He’d only been my accountant for sixteen months, but I paid a fuck load for him to be at my beck and call. He was making more than he’d ever earned before and I knew he loved the job. Without me, he’d make sixty percent less a year, which I knew gave me leverage. The certainty that he was questioning me purely because he cared for Natalie was the only thing that kept me from snapping his head off.

  “That won’t be a problem since she’ll be staying with me. This way, she won’t need to go back and forth at all. She doesn’t even need to bring the car with her. I’ll take care of her,” I stated calmly.

  I planned to make it permanent, fast. In addition to coming with me (and never stepping foot into one of my sex stores again), she would not be driving a car referred to as a junker. I would do whatever it took to make damn sure my girl only ever had the best from there on out.

  I’d have been worried and maybe even scared of how desperate I was to claim her if I hadn’t inherently known I wouldn’t be able to go on without her.

  Robert’s jaw dropped as he realized what I said. “Stay with you?” he sputtered. “That’s crazy! You don’t even know her.”

  What was crazy was just how wrong he was. On a cellular level, I knew everything I needed to about her. And the most important fact was that I needed her with me. She was mine and I was hers. Both were facts.

  “She’ll be more than safe with me,” I assured him.

  “Of course she would,” he said in a conciliatory voice. “I wasn’t saying she wouldn’t be, but… I mean come on, man. You don’t think it would be weird having a girl you don’t even know underfoot?”

  I didn’t. I knew she wasn’t going to be underfoot. She was going to be at my side. She was going to be cared for. She was going to be worshipped. And she was going to be under me, taking my cock. Not wanting to show too much of my hand to Robert in case he decided to do something stupid like attempt to keep her away from me, I decided to try being calm. If it didn’t work, I’d be throwing down. One way or the other, she was leaving with me.

  “If you want her to get the work experience for the senior project, it’s the only way I see to make it happen. That’s on you, though,” I bluffed. “If you’re cool with her failing I’ll just butt out of it.”

  “The decision is mine. I want to go with Jordan,” Natalie interjected firmly.

  As she spoke, she stepped in closer to me, close enough for our arms to touch. I stifled a groan and tried not to move. The closer she was, the more I wanted to hold on to her. It felt wrong not to be anchored to her in some way—holding her hand or wrapping my arm around her waist. In my entire life, I’d never had even one second where I felt like that way toward anyone until she exploded into my life.

  Robert looked back and forth between us dubiously. “Sweetie, are you sure? You don’t know him.”

  “I know you’ve said he’s a dream to work for, and he’s quickly become your favorite client,” she answered. “He’s someone you do business with, not a stranger.”

  Robert was conflicted, which meant it was time for me to allay his fears. Somehow I needed to do it without straight up lying, too. I was not about to fucking tell him he had nothing to worry about as far as me touching her went. Even if he believed me, I knew I’d be busted pretty damn fast since I had no intention of keeping her a secret. I wanted everyone to know she was mine—and vice versa.

  “Look, she’ll never be safer than she’s going to be with me,” I assured him. “My house is massive, so it’s not like I don’t have the room for her. She’s going to live in the lap of luxury, right above the beach while being pampered to within an inch of her life. I promise Natalie won’t want for a thing. Anything she wants is hers.”

  I meant that literally. If she’d asked me to build her a rocket made of Unicorn hair, I’d have found a way.

  Lifting his arm, Robert rubbed the back of his neck and let out a long breath.

  “I know she’ll be taken care of,” he assured me. “Without a doubt. Don’t think for a second I believe otherwise. It’s just weird that the two of you have never even spoken, and you’re asking her to move in with you for almost two months.”

  I had to bite my lip to keep from pointing out that I wasn’t asking.

  “I’m trying to be helpful,” I said. “She can’t be here, man. You should’ve seen the looks she was getting out there. This is no place for someone like Natalie.”

  He grimaced and looked away. “I swear I told her not to go out onto the floor,” he groaned.

  “He did. Don’t be mad at him,” Natalie said pleadingly, biting her lip as she stared at me with a worried expression.

  Looking down into her gorgeous face, I once again realized there was nothing I wouldn’t do to make her happy. I wanted to give her the fucking world. The idea of denying her anything was abhorrent. Fortunately, in that moment, I had the ability to settle her mind easily.

  “I’m not mad at him,” I said soothingly.

  Her smile was like sunshine, so hot I could feel the heat coming from it. I’d do anything to make her smile at me just to bask in the glow.

  “Thank you, Jordan,” she murmured.

  I wanted to tell her she never had to thank me for doing what came to me as naturally as breathing, but our conversation was interrupted by my bookkeeper, Roslyn, stepping into the hall.

  “Hey,” she called out cheerfully. “Are you guys coming in or do we now do hallway business?”

  “Plans have changed,” I answered. “You’ve got everything under control, and you don’t need me here. I trust you enough to know there’s no reason for me to micromanage. You and Robert have at it. Give me a rundown at the end of every day and if there’s anything I need to do, I’ll get on it.”

  Ros stumbled, her eyes widening as she gaped at me for a second. She looked shocked but ecstatic as she shook her head in wonder. “Wow,” she laughed, “I guess miracles do still happen. I never even hoped… I mean. Wow,” she said again. “Yes, I’ve got this. I’ll give you a detailed briefing each night.”

  It was on the tip of my tongue to tell her I wouldn’t be devoting hours to talking things over, but I let it go. If I started showing my caveman cards there in the hall, Robert could have decided to block me and I didn’t need that at all.

  “You’ll do great,” I said sincerely. “Head on back into the meeting room. Robert will be right there.”

  After Ros had walked away, I turned my attention back to Robert.

  “Well?”

  He shook his head. “Not like I’ve got much choice. You’re right. She shouldn’t be around the store. I didn’t think it would be a problem, but I can’t fault her for being curious. Besides, she’s an adult. I can’t hold her against her will.”

  I breathed out slowly, forcing myself not to show how relieved I was by his acceding to my plan. I was one step closer to ha
ving Natalie where she belonged—which was with me, but I knew I needed to do something else to get him totally on board.

  “How about you and Eric come out to the ‘Bu in a couple of weeks?” I offered. “We’ll hit the beach and barbecue. It’ll be a fun time.”

  When Rob’s face lit up, I knew the invitation had been the right move.

  “That’d be great,” he answered enthusiastically. “I’ve heard your house is epic.”

  For what I paid to build it, it damn well better have been.

  “It is, and there’s tons to do. You’re welcome to stay over in the guest house.”

  “Wow! That’s awesome. We’d love to.”

  “I’ll email you, and we can pick a weekend.”

  Just like that, I had him in the palm of my hand.

  More importantly, I had Natalie.

  “Make sure you email your mom and tell her about this,” he said to her.

  “I will,” she assured him.

  I was miffed neither one of them expressed any concern about Natalie’s mom hitting the roof when she found out about the new arrangement. I knew for damn sure I’d have a fuck of a lot to say if my daughter up and moved in with a stranger. Granted, my intentions were better than good, and I planned to take care of Natalie forever, but still. A parent should’ve been worrying about her.

  I stood by silently as Robert and Natalie spent a few minutes talking about how he’d need to check her mail while she was gone. After she gave him a hug and a kiss goodbye and assured him she would text him later that night, I shook his hand and then escorted her out of the store.