by Alexis Anne
“Over here.” I pulled out and took her plush desk chair. She straddled me quickly, her knees buried in the back of the seat, her feet on my legs, and sank down on my dick. “God yes.” I thrust up to take her even deeper. “Touch me, Esme.”
Her fingers came tentatively to my face, danced along my cheek. The nervous energy making her hands shake. “Do you like this?” she whispered.
There was something about the way she asked. It was shy and almost desperate, as if she were unsure about taking what she wanted from me. “I love it when you touch me.”
My words unleashed a beast. She gripped my face between her hands and kissed me fiercely, groaning into the kiss as she rode me.
“You are spectacular. You have no idea, do you? Every gasp, every moan—they call to me. The feel of your body around my dick is heaven. And your eyes . . . when you give them to me . . . are fucking magic.” I thrust up into her slowly, held her so that she had to look into my eyes as I tweaked her nipple, watched the reactions as they crossed her face. Her channel squeezed me tight. Her body tensed. She was right there. Right fucking there.
She came undone. Eyes wild and unable to look away as I took her hard and came with her. I clutched her, a hand on each side of her gorgeous face, memorizing every moment of her orgasm.
Mine for six months.
It was a start.
I was not a patient man and I was absolutely positive I would lose my mind when Marie called me in to work Saturday. My cock had plans, and those plans involved bedding Esme until she couldn’t see straight.
After our unexpected tryst in her office I invited her back to my bed. She accepted. It was very much like a dream waking up with her naked body pressed against mine, but before I could enjoy it, my nightmare arrived in the form of a ringing phone.
I quickly silenced the beast, but the damage was done.
Esme stretched and slowly opened her eyes while I ran my hands over her silky skin. “Good morning, Esme.” My voice was still rough with sleep despite being awake for nearly an hour enjoying simply being beside her.
“Morning.” Her eyes widened and she froze.
I ran my fingers through her hair. “Don’t you dare second guess what happened last night. I won’t allow it.”
She nodded and slowly relaxed, leaning her face against her folded arm. “I guess that answers my question.”
“I’m going to pretend you never thought it. Do you like coffee in the morning?”
She nodded again. “Black.”
“Take your time waking up. I’ll be back in a moment.”
Unfortunately ignoring my phone did not stop it from vibrating. By the time I returned from the café down the street with coffee and breakfast sandwiches, Esme was chewing on her lip and eyeballing the infernal device like it might explode.
“Fuck, has it been going off?”
“I don’t think it’s stopped.”
She accepted the coffee and I noted she was still beautifully naked, so not all was lost.
“This better be good,” I barked at Marie as I answered.
“I must be interrupting something good,” she chuckled.
I was not amused. “Get to your point quickly.”
“Ahhh . . . she’s still there. Got it. Well bad news, I’m afraid. We’re assembling in the main conference room. We need an action plan before this thing blows up in our faces.”
I let my gaze drift to Esme as I sipped my coffee. Work instead of sexual bliss? This was bullshit. But at least I had Esme’s promise. She wouldn’t disappear when I left for work. We had months and months to enjoy each other.
“Fine. I’ll be there in an hour.”
I hung up before Marie made any jokes about how I wouldn’t need to bring condoms for everyone. She loved a good condom joke. The woman was rabid about safe sex and gave out boxes of prophylactics for every holiday and provided information about the failure rates of each kind of contraception. She was ridiculous but also very effective at keeping all of our heads on straight.
“Work?”
I glared at my phone as I threw it on the dresser. “Unfortunately.”
Esme sat cross-legged with the sheet pulled up over her breasts as she clutched her coffee. “Did you mean what you said last night?”
Her voice was so full of apprehension I set down my cup and crawled across the mattress to her. “Which part? That you’re mine for six months? Or that I don’t give a fuck about your past?”
I didn’t care about anything but being with her, even if it was irrational. I was head over heels crazy about her and as far as I could tell everything else was just a problem to be solved. All problems had a solution.
I took her coffee and set it on the nightstand, then removed the offending sheet from her breasts. “Better,” I growled appreciatively. “Now tell me what you specifically need to know.”
I had to admit I was momentarily distracted by the fullness of her breasts, the way her nipples pebbled when they hit the cool air, and the rest of her naked body.
But then she spoke and all I could see were her eyes.
“That you want to understand all of me. The light and the dark.”
I swallowed, smiled, because I swear she needed to see something good right then. “I most definitely meant that, as well as what I said after that. You should be treasured. Completely.”
“How can you be so sure?” She raised her hands to touch my face and again that nervous energy leapt off of her.
So I pressed my cheek into her hand, made her touch me. “There is nothing more vulnerable than giving your trust to someone. When you come for me, Esme, I see all of you. I may not understand you yet, but I’ve seen you.” I took her hand in mine and pressed my cheek even harder into her palm. “You know it’s true because you’ve seen me too.”
She nodded quickly, her dark lashes fluttering as she took a deep, steading breath. “I didn’t expect any of this.”
“That’s what makes it so beautiful.” I lowered my weight on top of her. She spread her legs to cradle my body against hers. Instinctively I rocked my erection against her core and took in the gorgeous site of her reaction.
I captured her hands above her head and took my time bringing us both to orgasm. Something told me we both needed it. The orgasm and the slow build. There was so much left for us to say but our bodies weren’t willing to wait. In a way we said what we couldn’t as we moved together, giving, begging, and finally coming together.
“Here’s a key.” I set my spare on the dresser. “Take all the time you need. My shower is yours.” I wanted to offer her a change of clothes but there was no way I had anything that would fit her. “You should bring some things to keep here.” I sat down beside her and gave her a soft kiss goodbye. “Dinner tonight?”
She nodded. “I’d like that.”
“I’ll call you when I know more about my evening.” I couldn’t resist running my hands through her soft hair one last time.
Just as I was about to stand she reached out and grabbed my wrist.
“Wait.” She sat up abruptly, still clutching me. That nervous energy she’d been vibrating with all morning multiplying so much it scared me. “Your meeting. It’s about football, isn’t it?”
I suddenly felt very cold. “Yes.”
“Football players acting . . . oddly? And maybe having extra cash to throw around?”
She had my full attention now. I switched our grip so that I was the one holding her hand in mine. “Do you need to tell me something, Esme?” My heart thundered in my chest.
Yes, I’d hoped she had information that might shed some light on the things happening, but in my sex fog I’d mostly forgotten about it all, and, honestly, hoped it would vanish into thin air.
She lowered her gaze, her eyelashes hiding her eyes from me. “I can’t tell you anything. But if you happened to look at the players you’re suspicious of . . . what positions they play and their statistics, you might find the information you’re looking for.”
I practically skipped into the Bancroft Sports offices I was so fucking happy. There was a bounce to my steps, a smile on my lips. I was humming for fucks sake. I’d made it my mission to completely satisfy Esme and in the process I was the one who left in a fog of complete bliss.
Yes, bliss.
It wasn’t a manly word but what else adequately described sublime happiness?
In fact I was so happy I forgot why I was at work on a Saturday.
“What the hell are you wearing?” Roman St. James asked from the head of the conference table. He was leaned back far enough to put his feet on the table. He wasn’t, but he could have.
I glanced down at my dark designer jeans and blue cotton t-shirt. “It’s Saturday.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in a t-shirt,” Roman said, letting the chair snap upright. He wore practically the same outfit except his shirt bore the Mantas emblem in the top left corner.
“Well now you have.” I dropped into a seat beside Maddie, another agent.
“He’s right. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in jeans.”
I rolled my eyes. “What is with you two? I wear real clothes like real people on the weekends. Come over for football and you’ll see.”
“Yeah, but when you visit clients on the weekends you wear a suit. When you come into the office on the weekends . . . you still wear a suit. You’re not in a suit,” Maddie grinned.
Marie flopped into the chair opposite mine. “That’s because he was with a woman.”
I had several pairs of interested eyes on me now.
“It was a Friday night. Why is it surprising I had a woman in my bed this morning?”
Marie looked down at her laptop but there was a grin plastered to her face.
Roman was the one who took the fall. “There’s a rumor floating around the office that you’re retired.”
Maddie nodded furiously. “Yep. Everyone’s talking about how you haven’t mentioned even one of your ladies-of-the-one-nights in months. Months!”
Suddenly my collar felt too tight and a sweat broke out over my skin. It was too soon to talk about Esme, especially with Marie in the room.
“So if you’re aren’t satisfying the women of Tampa Bay, who was in your bed, Leo?” Roman tapped his fingers on the table.
It was like one of those drums of doom they played before they strung up some poor bastard for stealing bread. “I thought we were here to work.”
“You know what I think?” Maddie turned to Roman. “I think he’s dating someone. As in one woman.”
I yanked at my collar. My skin itched. “Okay fine. You’re right. I’ve retired from my hobby and am currently involved with someone I care very much about.” There. Maybe they’d back off now that I’d thrown them a few crumbs.
“Who?” This time it was Marie of all people, looking at me over her laptop with a genuine smile and eyes filled with curiosity.
Unfortunately, as a childhood friend of Esme’s, she was the one person I didn’t want to tell. So I shot her a look. “When I’m ready to tell you nosy Nellie’s, you’ll be the first to know.”
Marie held in a laugh as she looked at Roman and mouthed, “Nosy Nellie’s? Really?”
Yes. Along with my strange hybrid accent I also enjoyed bizarre sayings. Sue me.
Maddie smiled at me shyly. “You don’t have to say anything specific. Just tell us what she’s like.” Then she shrugged. “You know all of our partners. We care, Leo.”
She made a valid point. I was close with Marie’s husband Greg, as well as Roman’s wife, June. Maddie’s partner I was less familiar with but that had more to do with the fact that Rachel traveled all the time and they’d only been together for a year.
Maybe it was the fact it was a Saturday and we were all under a lot of stress that brought out their gossipy sides. These were my coworkers but we were also friends. When you spent that much time with people you had two choices: to keep a professional wall up at all times, or make them family. I’d had jobs where that professional wall was imperative. My bosses were morons and my fellow employees untrustworthy assholes. Work was work and nothing else.
But here it was different. I might never have chosen Marie or Roman out of a lineup, but we shared the same passion for sports, got the same thrill from negotiating contracts. Our friendships developed slowly. Trust was built over time.
“She’s extremely intelligent and very beautiful.” I realized I was smiling at the image of Esme naked and tangled in my sheets. “I like talking to her because there’s always something to talk about and I’ve begun looking forward to seeing her more than anyone else.”
I blinked away my memories of this morning and refocused on my coworkers. All three of them were grinning.
“She sounds lovely,” Marie said.
“It’s important to have a partner you can talk to,” Maddie agreed. “I’d die of boredom if Rachel wasn’t so much smarter than me.”
I knew Esme was brilliant from speaking with her. That was confirmed at the fundraiser. But I still barely understood the depths of her intelligence. It was just one of many things I was looking forward to exploring over the next six months.
“How does she feel about this?” Roman asked, waving his hand around the room.
“Conflicted.” And I hoped my job wouldn’t become one of the reasons she pushed me away. I could understand why it might be too much. I hoped it wasn’t.
The glass conference room door swung open. Gwen Hartley and Oscar Gomez came hurrying in.
“Sorry, sorry!” Gwen called, plopping down beside Marie.
Oscar came around and sat on the other side of Maddie.
“Okay, that’s everyone.” Marie glanced around the group. “What we discuss doesn’t leave this room. I trust the five of you completely and expect discretion from each of you while we work our way through this problem.”
Roman was a close family friend to Marie, as well as a damn good agent. Maddie, Gwen, and Oscar were lower down in the company but all solid. People I trusted. Also, I couldn’t help noticing, all agents of the football players Marie and I had identified as connected to an influx of unaccounted for money.
She brought everyone up to speed on which players we’d identified as well as the money or prizes they’d come into.
“What I don’t get,” Roman fiddled with a pen as he looked up at the information on the whiteboard “is the connection. These players are all on different teams. They came out of different college programs.”
“They play completely different positions,” Maddie agreed.
Esme’s advice suddenly came back to me. “Positions.”
Everyone turned towards me as I scrambled to remember exactly what she’d said. “Let’s dig deeper into that. What positions do they play and how have they been playing this season compared to past seasons. Maybe there’s something that jumps out at us.”
I felt like the answer was staring me in the face. It was like forgetting why you walked into a room but knowing there was a reason, you just had to retrace your steps to jog your mind.
“We’re not seeing something because we expected there to be an obvious connection. We have to stop looking for the expected.”
Marie stared at me, nodding. “Let’s pull the information and take a coffee break. Meet back in twenty?”
Maddie and Gwen ran off to the break room while Roman retreated to his office and Oscar made a call in the hallway. That left me alone with Marie.
“What do you think we’re going to find?” she asked, her suspicious gaze locked on me.
“I honestly don’t know.” I kept my eyes trained on my laptop as I pulled up Derek Byers and Russ Watkins’ stats from last season.
“I saw the light bulb go off over your head while Maddie was talking. You’re thinking something. What?”
I shoved back the laptop and sighed. “I don’t know. It’s just . . . if they aren’t connected by anything obvious, then it has to be something
else. Roman said the obvious stuff. It’s not one team or owner. It’s not a single agency, there’s no past connections between all of them. So when Maddie mentioned they don’t even play the same positions it just got me wondering. What changed this season? What is the common denominator?”
And why couldn’t Esme simply tell me what she knew? I didn’t get the impression she was playing games with me. If anything she seemed scared. In fact, now that I thought about it, her strange behavior at the Renegades party made a lot more sense if she were being threatened in some way.
Maybe she knew exactly what was happening and that knowledge was dangerous. God, I hoped not. Just entertaining the idea made my pulse race.
“Okay. We’ll dig in deeper,” Marie said, pushing up from the table. “We’ve got to figure this out. If they’re doing something illegal—which they most likely are—this is going to come down on all of us.”
Which begged the question, “And what do we do to stop the consequences when we figure it out?”
She shrugged. “Hope it’s not so bad we can’t recover?”
I slipped off to my office for a snack and some privacy. I wanted to call Esme but I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from asking questions. So instead I sent her a text.
Leo: I can’t wait for dinner.
I immediately got a response that made me smile.
Esme: And I’m looking forward to dessert.
Leo: You’re killing me. I’m hiding from my coworkers so they can’t see what you do to me.
Esme: Says the man who left me in his bed. Your sheets smell like you. Not fair.
I gritted my teeth at the image of Esme smelling my pillow while she touched herself. I now had a full-blown erection that was borderline painful.
Leo: I changed my mind. We’re having dessert before dinner tonight.
Esme: As long as I see you.
My breath caught. So many emotions thundered through me at that simple sentence. I knew her well enough to know that sentence meant a lot more than it seemed. There were hidden depths in those six words. Depths I felt too. I wanted to see her. To listen to her talk about her day. To smell her and touch her skin because they made me feel more alive. I wanted to see her smile because of something I did. This thing between us was fragile and volatile for both of us, but especially her. To know she wanted to see me tonight and was brave enough to admit it meant this went both ways.