by M. P. Hingos
“Why don’t you call the IT department then?” I asked.
“Because I didn’t want anyone to think I’m incompetent and did I mention I really love this job and don’t want to get fired. Do you think you could not tell your brother and help me?”
If she’d ask me to run around the building and into Central Park naked I would do it. That’s how taken I was with her.
Getting on my knees I crawled under the desk and was about to turn on my back when I felt her squeezing in next to me. Thank God Connor had the sense to have a big desk placed here. I turned to face her and our faces were inches apart.
“Hi, I’m Tyler,” I said, with a smile.
“Hi, I’m Anna,” she said with a hitch to her breath.
Our secret relationship lasted exactly six months. The first three months was explosive. The sex was phenomenal, the best I ever had. Anna insisted we keep it a secret, not wanting to jeopardize her job and I agreed to her request because I would have done anything she wanted me to. Then slowly the relationship started changing. It wasn’t just great sex anymore, it was becoming more. We became invested in each other’s lives. I was always eager to hear how her day was and she became my sounding board when I got stuck with my writing. Six months down the line and I realized I was in a relationship without knowing it. Anna was perfect, she never made any demands from me and she never pressured me for more. I panicked the night when she slipped and said those three word I dreaded hearing, “ I love you.” Like a coward I pretended to be asleep when she said it and a week later I told her it was best we didn’t see each other anymore. To this day I’m haunted by the hurt in her eyes. She didn’t cry or ask if it was anything she did. She simply nodded and said she understood. I was somewhat disappointed she didn’t fight to try and keep what we had but a bigger part of me was just relieved.
It would have been easier to go back to my old ways but something changed inside of me when I walked away from her. I saw the beautiful faces that surrounded me but not one of them called out to me the way Anna’s face did. I avoided her at all cost, trying to purge myself of her and when nothing worked I bought my cabin in Colorado and hibernated there, filling my days by writing. It took a whole year for me to come to one realization and why I still thought of her everyday. I was in love with her, always was and probably always will be. She was my true north, my comfort. It was wrong of me to try and win her back after the way I left her but I was determined to get down on one knee and beg her forgiveness so I could have her in my life. It was a cold, bitter day when I got back to New York. I fulfilled my family obligations by spending time with my family before tackling the biggest challenge of my life, but the cold hand of faith stepped in and dealt me a cruel blow. I overheard Connor telling my dad he met Anna’s boyfriend and although he seemed like a nice guy Connor didn’t really care much for him but he did seem to make her happy. Who was I to take away her happiness. If he made her happy then he was giving her something much more than I ever did. I walked away and never looked back.
I heard the door open and slowly opened my eyes to see who dared intrude on my solitude. My breath caught in my throat as I saw her enter Connor’s office and focus on his desk. Without looking around she took a seat with her back to me and started making phone calls, cancelling Connor’s appointments for the next few days. I stayed as still as I could, barely breathing, enjoying the sound of her voice, my eyes fixated on her. As if suddenly realizing she was not alone she slowly turned towards me. Her eyes blazed for a second before the veil that was usually in place every time we saw each other fell into place. I held her eyes, waiting for her to finish her call.
Sitting up, I said, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“No, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize anyone was in here,” she said.
“I needed alittle space, with everything that’s going on I needed some alone time,” I lied.
“A lot is happening, isn’t it.”
“Yeah….How have you been?” I asked, hoping my small talk could keep her from running off.”
Lowering her eyes, she replied, “I’m good, what about you?”
The six months we were together I learnt a lot about her and one of those things I learnt was that she could never lie to me.
“Yeah? Look me in my eyes and tell me you’re fine then,” I said daring her.
She raised her head proudly and just as she was about to say the words her chin began to quiver and she clamped her mouth shut. In a flash I was on my knees in front of her, her chin in my hand, forcing her to look at me. Tears were glistening in her eyes and I saw the internal struggle she was having with herself to keep her composure.
“Anna, talk to me please,” I begged.
“I’m fine Tyler,” she said a little too harshly as she swiped my hand from her face and turned away form me.
She clearly wasn’t fine and I’ll be dammed if I allowed her to leave before finding out what was troubling her. Gently grabbing her shoulders I turned her to me but she flinched as the pressure of my hands grabbed her shoulders. What the hell? Was she injured?
“What the hell Anna, are you hurt?”
My question only angered her. Pushing her chair back she leapt to her feet and bolted for the door but I was faster. Springing to my feet I got to the door just as she did. Grabbing her arms I pulled her to me. This time she cried out in pain. Struggling to escaped my grasp seem to irritate her injury even more as she cried out again. Grasping her firmly around the waist with one hand I used the other to push the open jacket she wore over a small dress off her shoulder. She struggled to stop me but I saw enough for me to start seeing red. There were ugly blue and black marks marring her perfectly white skin. It didn’t take much effort, despite her struggling for me to get the jacket off. As I took in her bruised arms, tears welled in her eyes and began flowing freely down her cheeks.
I stood there and held her in my arms for what seemed like an eternity as she let it all out. After the tears ended I led her to the sofa and swore to myself I wasn’t allowing her to leave until I was satisfied she told me the truth.
“Tyler, I’m sorry,” she said, confusing the heck out of me.
“You and your family have enough to deal with without adding my drama to the mix.”
I looked at her beautiful face for a long time taking in the dark circles under her eyes and the sadness in her face.
“Please tell me what’s going on? Is your husband hitting you?”
I saw the shame in her eyes and knew without a doubt he was beating the shit out of her. I wanted to scream, tear him apart, limb from limb but she needed me now and I had to reign in all my emotions.
“Tell me everything Anna,” I commanded.
She shook her head, refusing my command.
“Do you want me to go out and find him and have him tell me,” I asked, making a threat I had every intention of carry out if she didn’t open her mouth. Panic overcame her and she grabbed my hand, hoping it was enough to keep me still.
“Okay,” she said with a deep sigh, as if the weight of the world rested on her shoulders.
“Six months ago I found out he has been cheating on me. He goes to these underground sex clubs and….well I don’t have to explain what happens there. I confronted him and told him I was leaving. The next day I went to the bank to remove his name from my account only to find out that everything I’ve worked for and saved was gone. My account was cleared out two weeks before. I went home to confront him and that’s when the other shoe fell. Apparently he “borrowed” three million dollars from his biggest client and they found out. He didn’t have a lot of other clients because he always relied on this Russian business to sustain his accounting business but now that they found out he stole from them they refused to pay him and threatened to kill him if he didn’t pay back the money. Eventually they came to an agreement. He gave them a lump sum, which was everything I had saved and he would pay a monthly installment until the debt was paid. The fucked up part is I m
ake a whole lot more money than he every did so he decided on his own, mind you, that he would use whatever he made for his recreational purposes, because he had no intentions to stop visiting the sex clubs and he would use my salary to pay the house bills and his monthly installment.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. It took everything in me not to speak as she continued.
“He threatened me. Apparently this Russian business he stole from is the Russian mob and they knew he was using my money to pay them off. He said if I said anything to anyone, or go to the police or try to leave him he would have them come after me. I didn’t know what to do so I stayed. A couple months ago he started hitting me. I wanted to say something, to Tess or Connor but I was so ashamed so I kept my bruises covered and pretended everything was fine.”
Her tears were flowing again and my heart broke into a million pieces for her. My beautiful, sweet Anna was battered and bruised.
“I can’t let you go back to him Anna.”
The scared look in her eyes told me I had a battle on my hands but there wasn’t a doubt in my mind I was going to win this battle. Common sense told me I had to go about convincing her I was right in a delicate manner. She was already traumatized by everything that slime ball did to her so the last thing she needed was to deal with my temper.
“Anna, I’m going to take care of this okay. He can’t touch you again and I’m not going to let anyone else harm you. Please say you’ll let me help you,” I pleaded.
The sorrow and pain in her eyes were becoming unbearable for me. I knew in my heart I would do whatever it took to keep her safe.
“I don’t know how you can,” she said sounding as despondent as she looked.
The door opened before I could reply and Connor and my dad stepped in the room. One quick look at us and Connor was giving me the stink eye as though I was the one who made Anna cry.
“What did you do Tyler?” he asked.
“He didn’t do anything, I just got some bad news from my sister. One of my aunts died,” Anna lied to Connor.
“I’m sorry sweetheart,” my dad said, expressing his condolences.
“Anna, stop it. Tell Connor the truth,” I demanded.
I hated doing this to her but I knew if I was going to help her I needed help from my family. Connor already had the resources in place to protect her until I could ensure her scum of a husband was taken care of.
“Anna, what’s going on?” Connor asked.
“It’s nothing for you to worry about Connor. You guys have enough going on without adding my worries to your plate.”
It was like she was on auto-pilot, repeating the same lines for everyone.
“Oh for Christ’s sake Anna, tell them or I will,” I shouted at her, allowing my temper to get the better of me for a minute.
Connor decided to take a different approach. He sat down next to her and took her hand.
“You know you’re more than just an employee to me right. You’re one of the few people I trust completely with my business, you’re my wife’s friend and I’m hoping mine as well. You’re invested in my family and I’d like to think you consider us part of yours as we do you. We’re here for you no matter what and I’m hoping you trust me, my whole family in fact to help you if you’re in trouble.”
Connor’s little speech brought tears to her eyes. She looked at me and I nodded to her, assuring her I felt the same as Connor did, even though I wanted to rip her clothes off and have her scream my name the way she did when we were together, every time I see her.
“You could tell them Ty,” she said in a small voice.
I told Connor and my dad everything she told me and just like me they were both livid, especially when I got to the part where slime bucket beat her up.
“I’m not even going to ask why you didn’t come to me at the beginning but Tyler’s right, there’s no way in hell we’re allowing him to come near you ever again,” Connor told her in his no non sense voice.
She simply nodded her bent head.
Looking at my dad, I asked and prayed he had answers, “Dad, what do we need to do?”
“Anna if you agree to it, I’m going to file for an emergency restraining order against your husband and then start drawing up divorce papers. I have a few strings I could pull to ensure that I get enough proof of his cheating, so the divorce will be a walk in the park. If you’re cut off from him legally he can’t demand money from you so he’d just have to find another way to pay off his debt. In the meantime, especially with everything going on here, maybe it’s best if Tyler took you to the beach house in the Hamptons for a few days, with some added security for both of you.”
Three hours later after collecting some of her stuff, we were on our way to the beach house. On the drive there I prayed to everything Holy that I had the strength needed to survive being close to her over the next few days.
**********
Chapter 22
I entered her apartment first with her trailing behind me. I stood in the foyer and turned to face her as she slowly closed the door before turning to face me. There was so much we needed to say to each other but before I could get the words out she said,
“I love you,” before stalking towards me and slamming her lips to mine. My lips parted and I felt her tongue invade my mouth. There was hunger and need and reassurance in her kiss. My hands tangled in her hair and I deepened the kiss, taking control. I pushed her back to the door and pinned her there. Her hands were groping at my clothes, trying to tear it off without withdrawing from the kiss. It needed to be done though, to get what we both needed, so despite her protest I broke the kiss. I quickly undressed us both before pressing her against the door once more.
“Legs, baby,” was all I had to say to get her to wrap her legs around.
“I love you Ally,” I said in a hoarse whisper before slamming my throbbing cock inside her.
I pumped my love, my heart and my soul inside her and felt her orgasm hit one time and then another and then again as my lips crushed hers. I wanted this to last. I needed to satisfy the hunger inside both of us.
“Gabe, now please,” she begged as I felt her tighten around me, on the brink of yet another orgasm.
“God, baby, I love you so much,” I said with a harsh breath as I felt my cock stiffen inside her.
“I love you Gabe, I love you,” she screamed as her orgasm hit and I emptied my cock inside her. This was the second time we had sex without a condom and feeling her raw tightness and waves of orgasms was my undoing. I pressed my forehead against hers and held her up against the door as we tried to catch our breaths. After my labored breathing calmed, I withdrew from inside her and held her against me. With measured steps, I walked to the bedroom, fell to the bed on my back, bringing her down on me. With her firmly secured on top of me, I brushed back her beautiful hair that cascaded around her face and kissed her. She whimpered as I felt my cock grow hard once again. Breaking the kiss she reached back and grabbed my length with her hand, gently stroking me as I grew beneath her touch. Her eyes never left my face and I watched her as she licked her lips in anticipation. She moved off my stomach and positioned herself above my hard length. As she lowered herself onto me I moaned from the feel of her tightness.
“Ride me, baby,” I begged, barely able to contain myself.
She rode me, slowly at first, savoring the feel of me inside her. Little by little she increased her tempo, teasing me and testing my endurance. It didn’t take long, however, for her to get caught up in her own heightened pleasure and her movements became frenzied. She was giving me one wild ride and I was enjoying every second of it. When I felt my hips bucked, I knew it would not be long before I exploded inside her. As she came down on me one more time I tightened my grasp on her waist and held her down. I pumped into her before I felt her familiar clasp around me and moaned out loud as the universe exploded around us.