So, fuck it, I said to myself. Fuck it all. New Aurora was here to stay.
I grabbed Brendon by the tie, pulling him down to my level while I rose on my tiptoes. “I’m not that much of a tease,” I whispered just before covering his mouth with mine.
It was crazy. It was reckless. It was really, really stupid. But hell, it was fun.
Who cared if I screwed up this job by screwing my boss? I’d only just begun rebuilding my life from nothing, and I could start over again if I really needed to. I wanted to be irresponsible for once and Brendon seemed like the best way.
Plus, it was getting downright impossible to resist him.
He pulled me hard against his chest the moment our lips touched, anchoring those large hands on my ass and biting on my lower lip with relish. I moaned and opened up for him, letting his tongue probe my mouth and stroke along my own. His kiss was every bit as explosive and amazing as I remembered it to be, and I soon found myself swaying as I grew drunk on it.
My core twisted, curling tight and hot in my belly as his hands roamed my back and curled into fists in my hair. He pulled my head back and stared deep down into my eyes, lips parted with lust.
He didn’t say anything. I didn’t say anything either. It was almost like he was searching for something in my eyes, something that he evidently found as a moment later his mouth crashed down again.
He pushed me back, back, back, until my shoulders met with the rough cement wall and his muscled torso crushed my breasts flat between us. The kiss grew in fervor, a dance of licking and sucking and biting that we both performed in perfect unison. I groaned and rolled my hips up against his, desperate for some form of release.
He pulled away, panting, and held my face in his hands. His thumbs stroked roughly over my cheeks.
“You’re taking the rest of the day off.” His voice was thick with lust.
“I am?”
He nodded, grabbing my hand and pulling me toward the exit.
I didn’t argue. He was the boss, after all.
It settled in somewhere between Lock Knocks and wherever Brendon was taking me that this was probably a bad idea. Kissing him was one thing, but shirking work to leave with him to presumably go on an all-day screw fest was another thing entirely.
I couldn’t help myself. He was so sexy that it made my heart pound mercilessly in my chest. I was enthralled in the same way I had been that first night we spent together. It was a bit like having an out of body experience, except I could feel every caress on my shoulder, on my arm, my thigh, as we cabbed for his place.
The ride passed in a whirlwind. We didn’t speak. Not with our mouths, anyway. Our bodies were saying all sorts of things to each other, things that we probably shouldn’t say out loud. Not in front of witnesses.
When we finally arrived at his apartment, I barely had time to register how beautiful his place was before he was on me again. He guided me through the front door, his chest pressed against my back and the hard band of his arm wrapped around my torso to hold me in place.
He was so big and tall, so strong and unyielding. When he held me, it felt like I was anchored down to the earth itself. I leaned into him, offering up my neck for him to suck as we shuffled toward the bedroom. At least, I figured we were heading for the bedroom. We could have been on our way to the balcony, to the kitchen, to the stars for all I cared. I just wanted to feel Brendon inside of me again and I’d do whatever it took to get me there.
“I forgot how good your skin tasted,” he murmured, sending shivers coursing down my spine. “You’re so fucking sweet, Aurora. Everything about you…” He bit at the sensitive flesh of my throat at the same time as he pushed me through the door into his bedroom. “So sweet…”
I was one big bundle of nerves and I barely knew which way was up. It dimly registered that I was in over my head with him, that whatever passion was unfolding would probably be way too much for me to handle, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t afraid.
If it had been anyone else I might have been. I might have recognized that these feelings churning in my core weren’t usual to have for somebody I barely knew. If only I had the wherewithal to resist. I was diving headlong into a dark, cavernous lake and I had no idea if there were rocks at the bottom waiting to drown me. What’s the use of breathing if drowning promises such sweet absolution?
Brendon’s bed was neatly made with navy and white sheets that felt luxurious against my palm as he spun me and backed me into it. His hands found my face, thumbs brushing over my cheeks as he kissed me long and deep. There it was again—that sweetness that had first tempted me the night we met. He was so passionate and driven, but there was always a hint of something warm and gentle in everything he did. It was like watching a wolf gently care for a tiny kitten, except I was the kitten and I had to trust that I wasn’t about to be devoured.
Even though part of me wanted to be devoured.
Brendon’s hands slid down my neck, my breasts, guiding down my hips and over my ass. He worked his way back up with agonizing slowness, unbuttoning my pants and then moving up to pull off my Lock Knocks polo shirt. The second it was gone he lowered his face to the cleft of my breasts, kissing them gently as his fingers unclasped my bra and let it fall to the floor.
Brendon rose to his full height, looking down at me through lust-drenched eyes. I flushed under his inspection. Normally this would be the part where I’d long to cross my arms over my chest and get under the covers as quickly as possible, but I felt confident and sexy under his gaze.
He bit his lower lip and leaned down to kiss me again, pushing down on my khakis until they and my underwear hit the floor. I was completely naked in my boss’ bedroom. My sexy boss. My incredibly sexy, magnetically attractive boss. It was scandalous. It was amazing. I couldn’t wait to tell Amy, but more than anything I couldn’t wait to get him naked too.
I’d been clutching his shirt this whole time like I needed it to keep me standing, and I released my grip now long enough to shakily unbutton it until it hung loose. He shrugged his shoulders to help as I guided it to the floor, exploring me with his hands all the while. It was like there was a current flowing between us, and if either lifted their hands from the other the current would short out and the moment would be lost forever. I couldn’t let that happen.
My hand dipped lower, cupping him through the soft material of his pants. My core clenched at the memory of how he stretched me wide, and I squeezed his heavy bulge with pleasure while one hand unzipped and began to tug down.
Brendon groaned and pushed me back onto the bed, crawling up and losing his pants in the process. He pushed me further and further up the bed until I reached the pillows and he was nestled between my thighs, completely naked and completely eclipsing me.
His weight and heat felt right. He felt right. Everything about this felt so right.
Brendon traced a fiery path of kisses down my neck, over my breasts, and over the flat plane of my stomach. I inhaled sharply as he continued downward, taking his first lick of the bundle of nerves between my thighs and making my body shake.
Within a minute of pleasuring me with his mouth, he proved that his bedroom skills included more than just the ability to screw a woman within an inch of her life. He licked and sucked my clit like he could hear exactly what I wanted and anticipate exactly what I needed. I wrapped my legs around the back of his neck and held onto the sheets for dear life as his probing tongue took me to heights I’d never experienced. My body shook and my eyes rolled to the back of my head. I wouldn’t be surprised if I opened my eyes and saw that I was glowing. I felt goddamn radiant.
“So sweet…”
It was the first time he’d spoken since we entered the room, and the vibrations hummed through my pussy and made my toes curl. I moaned loudly, and it sounded almost like it had come from somebody else. I was floating on a cloud above the bed and the only thing that could bring me back to earth was the god between my thighs.
I came crashing back, tumbling into
fire that burned and sparked with embers of pure pleasure. My orgasm hit me hard. I swirled and danced in a pit of passion.
I felt barely conscious as Brendon’s hot lips seared a trail back up to my lips, kissing me hard and deep so I could taste my essence on his tongue. His hard cock poised at my entrance, he paused.
I sensed his trepidation. I remembered all too well how we hadn’t used a condom when we had sex before, but that experience had been almost like a fantasy. Now that we were back to real life, it was a discussion we needed to properly have.
“I haven’t been with anyone else since…”
He shook his head. “Me neither.”
I tilted my hips up, nudging the tip inside. Brendon’s eyes filled with fire and he hissed through his teeth, pleasure washing over his features. His hips sank down and soon we were joined.
I felt whole, and not just physically. It was unnerving to have such a strong emotional reaction to somebody I barely knew like this, but it was intoxicating all the same. He drove into me and made my body tingly and warm. My body responded to him like he was its master, and I was so drowned in the pure bliss of it all that I couldn’t find it in me to be disconcerted by this fact. I just rode the waves of pleasure, letting Brendon take me on a journey that I wouldn’t soon forget.
A journey that I hoped I would always remember.
Chapter 12
Aurora
I shuffled the papers on my desk, moving the two stacks aside so I could focus on the drawing in front of my keyboard. It was the layout of one of the larger LA locations, with all the aisles and shelves marked perfectly and precisely—just as I’d asked for. I made notes on the piece of paper to the right of it, a scribbled mess that only I could decipher. Brendon made a joke once that he never expected someone who made such beautiful chalkboard signs to write in such chicken scratch, but it was the only way I knew to get my ideas on the page fast enough.
I’d been working on the design team at Lock Knocks headquarters for two weeks now, and it had been two of the best weeks of my life. Then again, it probably would have been the best two weeks of my life even if I’d been working in a greasy spoon diner. The job certainly helped, but the real reason for my satisfaction was my sexy, charming boss.
Someone knocked on the door and I jolted, a flush rising to my cheeks. It wasn’t like anyone could tell what I was thinking, but I was always so paranoid that somebody at the office was going to find out about our illicit little affair just from me thinking about it. Then the respect that I’d worked my ass off to earn would slip away just like that. People in the office were already suspicious about my abilities considering I had no formal education. Brendon had essentially scooped me out of obscurity and popped me into my own office without blinking. I felt the pressure to prove myself and I didn’t want to screw up my chances of making friends by the others thinking I was only here because I’d slept with the boss.
Luckily, the fact remained that others could not hear my thoughts.
The door whispered open a crack and a head of shaggy brown curls popped through. I smiled at Georgina.
“Hey, come in,” I welcomed, putting aside my pen. Georgina was the closest to my age and had so far been the friendliest person in the office. The curvy office manager’s unruly hair had become a focus of my fascination from the moment I met her. Her curls put my waves to shame.
Georgina stepped inside holding a paper bag, smiling. “There are butter horns in the break room,” she said. “Or at least there were.” She thrust the bag toward me. “I didn’t want you to miss out even though the accounting guys were on them like hyenas to a zebra carcass.”
The gesture touched me.
“Thank you so much, Georgina,” I said, smiling and taking the bag from her. I opened the crinkled package and took a whiff of the delicious baked good inside.
Only I didn’t find the smell so delicious.
There was something sickly about the sweetness, and the thought of how rich the pastry would be made me gag without meaning to. I looked up at Georgina in horror, worried that she’d think I was rejecting her thoughtful gift. That worry was soon eclipsed by another—that I was going to vomit all over my desk.
I charged toward the door, sending my chair skittering back and knocking over one of the piles of paperwork on my way. I spared no thought for the mess I was leaving in my wake and instead focused all my energies on making it to the bathroom before I spewed. The heady illness threatened to swallow me whole, and a cold sweat broke out on my forehead.
People stared as I ran past, but I didn’t notice. My sights were ahead, looking for the bathroom door that I knew would be my salvation. I made it, but barely. I was barely inside of a stall before I started retching, filling the bowl with the lunch I’d consumed quite happily only an hour before. What the hell was wrong with me?
God. I hated throwing up. It wasn’t a pleasant experience for anybody and I knew that, but I especially hated the feeling of helplessness that accompanied not being able to keep my lunch down. By the time I was finished, Georgina had entered the bathroom and was standing on the other side of the stall door.
“Hey, you okay?” she asked, voice heavy with concern. “Do you want me to call somebody? Are you sick?”
I didn’t want to answer all those questions because I wasn’t sure what to say. I wasn’t sick. At least, I didn’t think I was. Had the pressure gotten to me or something? If I didn’t know any better, I’d wonder if I was pregnant.
I paled, my face becoming as cold as the porcelain toilet in front of me.
When was the last time I got my period? It was late, wasn’t it? How had I not noticed that two weeks had gone by without a period? I suppose I was busy with my new job, but it was an alarming realization to suddenly have while I was puking my guts up in a stall at work.
“I’m fine,” I croaked. A lie, but a necessary one. I didn’t need to pull Georgina into my dismay. I just wanted to be left alone.
“Are you sure?” she asked. “Do you think it was something you ate?”
Not unless I ate a baby.
“I don’t know.” I flushed the toilet and rose onto shaky feet, wiping my mouth with some toilet paper and tossing that into the bowl as the water was sucked down. “Maybe. I think I better go home, just to be sure.”
“Of course.”
Her kind face was the first thing I saw when I emerged from the stall. I flashed her a weak smile.
“Do you mind letting Brendon and the others know for me?”
She shook her head. “Not at all.” Raising her arm, she showed me the purse dangling on it. It was mine.
“I brought your stuff,” she said. “I thought you might need something or might need to go in a hurry.”
“You’re an angel,” I said, filled with gratitude for my first work friend.
The realization that I might be pregnant was a lonely one. While I couldn’t (or maybe I should say wouldn’t) share this information with Georgina, it was nice to know she was there for me anyway.
I grabbed my purse and headed out of the office, a few curious stares singeing into my back as I walked to the elevator. Since they all saw me run to the bathroom, I presumed they all figured I was sick. They probably didn’t question it, but I was anxious to get out of there nonetheless.
I took a cab home since I didn’t trust myself on the stuffy, uncomfortable subway. If it broke down or I needed to vomit again, that would ruin my day. Well, more than it had already been ruined. I was desperate to call Amy, but had to wait until I was back in the safety of my apartment. The drive felt impossibly long.
I collapsed onto the sofa of my new apartment the second I walked through the door and pulled out my phone to call my friend. I had no idea what time zone she was in or if she’d even pick up, but I desperately needed her.
“Tatiana speaking, how can I help you, lover?” she answered huskily.
I rolled my eyes. “You’d think you would have my phone number in your contacts by now.”
>
She laughed. “I do.”
Man, I missed her. It was like that day we ran into each other in Bridgefield reignited our friendship and we’d picked up right where we left off, except now she was gone and I missed her just like I did when she first went off to college.
“Do you have time to talk? I’ve got a bit of a situation,” I said.
I heard shuffling and then a door closing. “Talk away, darling. I’ve got the whole villa to myself and I’m inside in the air conditioning now. You have my full attention.”
I sighed. I wished I was somewhere beautiful and warm and far away from here and the revelation I was about to make for the first time in full. I hadn’t allowed myself to think about it on the way home, so telling Amy would be the first time I’d really unpacked this information.
“Amy, I think I’m pregnant. I just vomited my guts up from the smell of a butter horn at work and I’m two weeks late for my period.”
She shrieked. “Holy shit! Actually? Brendon’s, right?”
“Has to be,” I said. “My birth control must have failed. We’ve been having sex without condoms since that first night…”
“No condoms?” She gasped. “Girl, when did you get so raunchy? I always use condoms with clients, especially first timers. Not that I suppose you knew he was a client at the time.”
I gritted my teeth. I didn’t like to think of him as a client at all.
“It happened so fast and I was feeling crazy and young and free,” I muttered bitterly. “As it turns out, the craziness was something I was correct to feel. And now I’m pregnant with my boss’s baby. I’ve out-crazied myself.”
I hung my head over the back of the arm of the sofa and stared at the opposite wall, letting the blood rush to my head. “I can’t believe this is happening. I don’t know what to do!”
“It’s not necessarily happening,” she said in a soothing voice. “It could just be a coincidence. You won’t know for sure until you take a test. Have you done that yet?”
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