by Lia Lee
Rena cocked her hip, and the attitude pissed me off and turned me on at the same time. “What about rule number two?” she asked.
I had said to her one of the rules was that no one could know. But everything had changed the moment I’d found out she was pregnant.
“Fuck the rules,” I bit out, and Rena looked surprised. “You’re having my baby, and you’re not shutting me out. Do you hear me? I won’t have it. I have done nothing to deserve you cutting me out of your and the child’s life.”
Rena looked over her shoulder. The door was still open, and everyone was in the office already. No one was staring outright, but I knew somewhere, someone would be listening. They always were, around here.
“I wasn’t planning on shutting you out,” Rena said. “I just won’t let you pay for the baby.”
“Why is the money such an issue to you? It’s the child’s right that I support it. It’s the law.”
“Well, I don’t want it,” Rena said. I was raising my voice, and she matched mine. “I don’t want any of your money. I don’t want to be that woman.”
I shook my head. “What woman?”
“The one that forced you to settle down because of the baby. The one that made you change your ways. You’re only going to end up resenting me. You’re going to see me as the woman who took everything away from you, tapping into your bank account. I don’t want your money.”
She carried on about the money. I noticed that some of my employees had stopped pretending to work, and they were obviously listening. But I was past the point of caring, and this was the choice Rena had made. So we would shout about it in front of everyone. At least we were talking about it. Sort of.
“This has nothing to do with you tying me down. Do you think I don’t know that this was an accident? Fuck, Rena, what do you think of me? I’m not heartless. I want to be there for the baby. It’s not only an obligation—I want to take care of you.”
“You don’t have to,” Rena said, and her voice was cold. “I’m finding a new job.”
I was suddenly furious.
“What the fuck? Now you’re just ditching me altogether?”
“It’s nothing more than what you would have done to me when you were tired of me. Wasn’t that the point of this thing we were doing? When it’s done, it’s done. No clinginess and no drama. Remember? Well, this looks like a hell of a lot of drama to me. So I’m making a plan to stop the drama.”
She turned around, about to walk away from me. I wasn’t going to allow that. I wasn’t done talking, and she had to face me, no matter what. We had to be in this together to make anything work. I moved in front of her, blocking the door, then took a step closer to her, and another step and another. She backed up whenever I took a step closer. When she was up against her desk, I blocked her in. Her eyes were defiant, her lips pursed into a thin line, and her body was coiled like a snake, ready to strike.
She was so hot like this. Anger became her. Her eyes were fiery, radiating her anger, and seeing her on fire like this made me want her. Badly. There was something irresistible about how angry she was.
“Why are you doing this to me?” I asked. Despite how turned on I was, I was just as angry.
Tears welled up in her eyes, and I was taken aback. I hadn’t expected her to start crying.
“Do you think I don’t know how you play this game?” she asked. “Do you think I haven’t heard about how you go through women because you don’t want them to take your money?”
“What?” I asked, shocked. I had always thought my past was a secret, that no one knew why I never married. Apparently, there were rumors everywhere if even Rena knew about it.
“Yeah, it sucks knowing that I don’t have a chance with you. But I won’t be the person everyone points at, saying I managed to get my hands on your money, after all. I won’t be that woman. I’m not after your money. I have never been.”
I shook my head. My past came crashing down on me. Gina had been with me for my money. I had loved her, and when I’d found out what her plan was, I had dumped her immediately. I had assumed every woman would want my money, and I’d kept them all at arm’s length. But Rena was different. I wanted her close, because she was genuine and she cared about me, not my money. When I realized that, I wanted to spend all my money on her. It was never about how much money I had. The women in my life who wanted it could have had so much of it if it had been about more than that. But it had never been about more. With Rena, it felt like it was about me.
At least, that was how it had been while we’d been together. She’d cared about me. I wanted to do this with her—I wanted to take care of her and the baby because I knew what I would get in return. Sometimes, a relationship wasn’t only about who the other person was. It was also about what the other person made me feel. And Rena made me feel like I was worth it despite my money.
But she thought she was like every other woman I had fucked.
Rena tried to get away from me again, but I wouldn’t let her go. Not now.
“You can’t keep me here,” Rena said.
“What if you’re different?” I asked. “Did you ever think that maybe you’re different than the rest of them? How do you know that you’re the same as everyone else?”
“I don’t know—maybe because you gave me rules and made it clear how you play this game? It sounds a lot like you treated me like everyone else.”
She was right. Of course she was. I had done that. I had treated her like the others. But that had been because, at first, I hadn’t known her. I knew who she was now. I knew that she was different.
“Things changed,” I said. “I started seeing a different person.”
“Well, how the fuck was I supposed to know that?”
I shook my head. She was right. How could she have known that I felt differently about her than about the others? And now she wanted to leave. She wanted to get another job and walk out of my life with my baby, and I would never get to make this right again. I should have told her something. I should have done things differently. But I was only a man, and sometimes I fucked up. I didn’t deserve to be punished like this.
“I’ll just have to show you,” I said.
“It’s too late,” Rena replied.
I shook my head. Fuck that. It wasn’t too late. She was just being full of shit. My cock was hard in my pants, and my chest was bursting with what I felt for this woman. And she was throwing it all back in my face.
“Come with me to my office,” I said.
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” she spat.
“Yes, you are.” I grabbed her, picking her up. She was so surprised she froze for a second, and it was enough time for me to throw her over my shoulder and grip her legs properly. She yelped.
I turned and stormed out her office, marching to my own. Joe was at the door to his office, watching the whole thing, and when I caught his eye, he grinned at me. But this wasn’t a high-five moment between bros. This was about Rena and showing her that she was wrong. That I had been wrong. This was about making it right.
I wasn’t good with words, but I was great with actions. I could step up to the plate any day, but I couldn’t explain how I felt.
Today, I was going to show Rena exactly what I felt. And I didn’t care that the whole office had heard our fight. They could know, too. The world could know how I felt about her. All I cared about was Rena and showing her that she couldn’t just walk away from me.
Chapter 27
Rena
He picked me up and dragged me to his office like some caveman, and I had been so shocked that he’d put his hands on me at all that I hadn’t thought fast enough to stop him. Now, I was thrown over his shoulder and pounding on his back with my fists. He didn’t seem to even feel it.
I was painfully aware of all the eyes on us. Everyone was seeing this. Everyone must have heard our fight. I had been arrogant enough to think Brent was bluffing when he told me we would have it out in front of the office if I wouldn�
��t go with him. I had called a bluff that hadn’t existed. And now, everyone knew. They knew about the sex and the money and the baby.
This was a twisted walk of shame, and I was embarrassed and humiliated—and incredibly turned on. Brent was so hot when he went all alpha on me, and he had taken what belonged to him now. I pushed him away because we weren’t doing this anymore. I vowed that I wasn’t going to give him anything because I owed him nothing. But with him throwing me over his shoulder, I couldn’t help but melt at his touch.
Damned if I was going to show it to him.
Brent walked into this office and shut the door, locking it before he finally put me down. I was breathing hard, and the anger crackled in the air around us. He was as pissed off as I was. The atmosphere was charged with a mix of lust and fury, and I couldn’t think clearly.
“That was completely uncalled for,” I said.
“So is looking for a new job.”
“I am an adult. I can do whatever I want.”
Brent folded his arms over his chest. “I’m not going to let you walk away.”
I stormed to the door. A stupid little lock wasn’t going to keep me in. “Yes, you are. And when I walk out of here, you’ll never see me again. We’re done.”
Brent moved so fast it felt like he had come out of nowhere. He put himself between me and the door, and I was suddenly pressed up against him so tightly, I noticed his perfectly blue eyes had a tiny bit of green in them. It was great to know there was an imperfection. In every other aspect, Brent was perfect.
“We’re not done,” Brent countered.
“Who the fuck are you to decide that?” I asked. “It’s all a game to you. I’m not playing anymore.”
Brent shook his head. I reached for the lock, but Brent grabbed my wrist.
I glared at him. “Unhand me,” I said.
Brent let go of my hand, but he wasn’t going to move. Even if I unlocked the door, I wouldn’t get out of the office.
“I don’t know why you’re being so full of shit,” I said. “Why won’t you just let me go? It’s not like you give a shit what happens after this.”
Brent’s face changed, and I couldn’t tell what his expression meant.
“I’ll show you what this means,” Brent said, and he grabbed my face, kissing me. I froze again. It was so unexpected, I had no idea what to do. It flickered through my mind that I wanted to slap him, but something stopped me. Something warm and melting in my center. No matter what Brent did, he was my weakness, and when he kissed me the way he was kissing me now, everything dissolved until it was only the two of us.
Brent picked me up again, but this time, I didn’t fight him. I wrapped my legs around his waist, and he walked toward the other side of his office. He climbed onto a couch I hadn’t seen before, laying me down beneath him.
“This is new,” I said when he broke the kiss.
“It was delivered yesterday.”
That was all we said. Brent started undressing me, and the urgency built. I wanted to get naked with him. I wanted him to strip me down until there was nothing left. I reached for Brent’s shirt and undid the buttons. We peeled each other’s clothes off, driven by a need I didn’t understand. Whatever it was that consumed us, we were in this together. After our fight where I had insisted I was done, I was letting him take me again.
Maybe one day I would be able to resist him.
Today was not that day.
When Brent pulled off my bra, he dipped his head and kissed my breasts, sucking one of my nipples into his mouth. I cried out. I wasn’t even trying to be quiet now. Everyone knew what was going on anyway, and I doubted they thought Brent had dragged me to his office so that we could have a civil conversation.
Brent’s hands were rough on my skin, but today I wanted it rough. I was still pissed off, and this was an outlet. From the way Brent handled me, I knew he was angry, too.
He worked his way down my body, kissing as he pulled off my clothes until I was naked on the couch. Brent kneeled between my legs and closed his mouth over my pussy. He pushed his fingers into me at the same time, and I cried out again. He fingerfucked me and licked my pussy, and the first orgasm shattered me, rocking my body like no orgasm had done before. I was still reeling, trying to recover when Brent stopped and clambered off the couch to pull off the last of his clothes.
His cock was hard, straining, the tip slick with lust, and I wanted him. His balls were heavy, and I stared at this perfect specimen of a man. Brent’s blue eyes were dark with desire, a primal hunger etched on his face, and he came toward me like he was a predator and I was his prey.
And I wanted him to take me. God, I wanted him more than I’d ever wanted him before.
Brent grabbed me and pulled me toward him. I stabilized myself with my arms when Brent flipped me over. I was on all fours in no time, but Brent didn’t position himself at my ass. Instead, he stood in front of me. His dick was impressive. I knew what he wanted, and I wanted to give it to him. I wrapped a hand around his base and took him into my mouth without ceremony. He groaned as I sucked on him. I pumped my head, sliding his cock in and out of my mouth. I rolled my eyes up to look at Brent. His lips were parted, and his eyes were on mine.
As if that had pushed him over the edge, he pulled back and his dick slipped out of my mouth with a pop. He wanted to fuck me. I wanted him to.
Brent moved and I moved as well, turning so that I faced the back of the couch. Brent stood behind me, grabbing my hips, and he pushed into me with vigor. I cried out as he rammed into me hard and fast. I could do nothing but brace myself on the back of the couch as Brent pounded into me. It didn’t take long before I orgasmed a second time. I collapsed against the back of the couch, my body going numb with pleasure. Brent held me up by my hips and kept going at it even though I was limp and gasping and breathing hard.
This was the sex I needed. This was what we both wanted. It was rough and angry.
After a while, Brent pulled out of me and I straightened up. He spun me around and kissed me, his body pressing against mine so hard I thought we would become one. We collapsed on the couch in a tangle of limbs, and I opened my legs. Brent pushed into me again, rearing up above me. His arms were planted on either side of my head, and he started fucking me again, harder than before. My body rocked back and forth on the couch, my breasts swinging, and I knew I was going to have to brush my hair back down again before heading into public once Brent was done with me.
Another orgasm rocked through me. I curled on the couch beneath Brent, holding on to his arms, letting the orgasm take over completely. My muscles contracted, and I squeezed my eyes shut.
It was barely over when Brent came inside of me. He pushed into me, deep, and pumped come into my body. It was only now I realized that he hadn’t even used a condom.
And what would the point have been? The sex was so much more intense this way, with nothing between us.
Brent’s orgasm drew mine out, and we were melded together by ecstasy. Everything fell away, and the world around us became a blur where it was only the two of us in focus.
Finally, it was over. Brent pulled out of me almost immediately, and I felt his absence acutely. He walked away from me. I lay on the bed, panting and gasping, and regret replaced the ecstasy I had felt a moment before.
Why had I done this? I was disgusted with myself for giving in. I had been so pissed off at him—I still was—but I had been hot for him, too. The moment he’d kissed me, it was all over. It was pathetic. It had been the best sex ever, but it was pathetic.
“You should get dressed,” Brent said, but his voice was gentle. He handed me a box of tissues. When I sat up, I realized what a mess I was downstairs. Without a condom, everything was messy. I was angry again.
“We shouldn’t have done this,” I said when I was cleaned up. I found my clothes on the floor and started pulling them on. “This was a mistake.” I stood up, running my hands through my hair and hoping it was enough to get out of the office. I wal
ked toward the door.
“Don’t go,” Brent said.
I shook my head. “I can’t do this.”
Brent followed me and grabbed my hands. It was surprising, but it wasn’t the same as earlier when Brent had been furious. When he held on to my hands and looked into my eyes, he was gentle and full of emotion.
“I was wrong not to tell you how I feel,” Brent said.
“What are you talking about?” I had an idea where this was headed, and I wasn’t sure if I was ready for it.
“You couldn’t have known that you’re not like the other women I’d been with, because I never told you.”
I shook my head. I was getting closer and closer to crying.
“Brent,” I started, but he shook his head so I would stop talking.
“I fell for you,” he said. “I thought it would just be another game, but it’s you, Rena. You’re nothing like them, and I don’t want this to be a game between us. I want more. I’ve never wanted more, but you’re different.”
Tears welled in my eyes, and I felt like an idiot for crying.
“I don’t know what to say,” I said.
“Just don’t go,” Brent pleaded. His eyes were so gentle, his expression so genuine I couldn’t help but believe him. And I felt the same about him. I had kicked myself for developing feelings for someone who was only here for a good time, but I hadn’t been able to help myself.
And now, it turned out Brent hadn’t been able to help himself, either.
Chapter 28
Brent
When Rena finally emerged from my office, eyes red from crying, everyone else pretended that they had heard nothing, seen nothing.
The rest of the day had gone on as per usual. I’d been able to focus on my work now that I knew Rena and I were all right again. Rena had thrown herself into her work as a distraction, and I understood it. So much was happening it was hard to keep up.
After work, I asked Rena to come home with me and she agreed. This wasn’t about fucking and spending the night wrapped up in her naked body. This was about spending time with her as a person, getting to know her better, showing her how serious I was about what I’d said.