Hard & Lethal: A Bad Boy Romance

by Jade Allen

  He told Becca all of this, and about his lingering pain over losing his best friends. She told him about growing up in Maine and nearly drowning in the river because her brother convinced her that she was a mermaid. They told each other secrets and stories for hours, until it was past midnight, and both of them were flustered and giggly from drinking and talking with their dizzy heads close.

  “Okay,” Becca said at last. “Okay…wow, I put away five of these things,” she slurred, leaning a hand on Damian’s thigh. “I really am reliving those wild college nights.” She giggled shrilly, and the sound was just as charming as her squawking laugh.

  Damian felt an odd tug on his heart, and he smiled. “I’d be studying if that were true for me,” he said, his voice louder than he realized. “And a fox like you would have never spoken to me while I was driving my daddy’s car.”

  Becca laughed and leaned against him harder, her breath smelling of gin and mint. “Fox?”

  Damian blushed, but he met her eyes, his heart pounding now that he saw how close her lips were to his. “Yeah,” he said brazenly, covering her hand with his. “Fox. A stone cold one. What of it?”

  When Becca laughed this time, her breasts brushed across his arm, and he noticed, for the first time, how full and heavy they seemed against the front of her shirt. Her thighs were shapely, perfectly filling out her black pencil skirt; he reached under the table and stroked her knee, slowly inching his hand toward her hip.

  To his surprise, Becca leaned closer, brushing her lips across his jawbone before she spoke. “Are you a lazy dog, or do you wanna jump this fox?”

  Becca turned toward him again, and Damian leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers as she did. A tide of last crashed over him, and he felt it roll over her as she shivered and strained to be nearer to him. He reached out and scooted her stool closer, and she made a soft moan of surprise, but wrapped her arms around his neck as he gently nibbled on the flesh of her bottom lip. Becca’s right hand slipped down his chest and lingered on his belt loop, and Damian’s heart nearly exploded as it finally drifted south to squeeze on the growing bulge in front of his slacks. His hands rested on her thighs, then slid slowly up until they forced up the fabric of her skirt, his fingers digging into her curves until she cried out into his kiss.

  Suddenly she was pulling back, and Damian felt like he’d been hit by a truck. He was gasping slightly, not caring that the bartender was staring.

  “Sorry,” Becca was saying as she tugged on her skirt. “Sorry. Oh god—”

  She hopped down from her stool and wobbled toward the door, hooking her purse under her arm as she wrenched the door open.

  Damian closed his tab out and ran after her, hoping he wasn’t too late. He was nearly as drunk as she was, but he spotted her in the parking lot as she was walking toward the bus station.

  “Becca!”

  Amazingly, she stopped. Damian ran until he caught up with her, and was alarmed to see that her eyes were swimming with tears.

  “I don’t do that anymore,” she said softly. “I don’t go home with pretty boys on the first night because they buy me drinks—not anymore.”

  “Then don’t,” Damian said earnestly. “I’m not asking you to.”

  Becca looked suspicious.

  “Really,” he continued. “I’m not. Becca, you’re beautiful, but that’s not what I want in a woman. I want strength, intelligence, humor…” Damian paused, dropping his eyes. When he pulled them up again, he took a chance and grabbed hold of one of her soft, warm hands. “Becca, I want you, and I want to get to know you more, if you’ll let me. And I know you feel the same about me…I can see it. I can feel it.”

  Becca was watching him silently, her eyes unreadable. Damian thought she might walk away, or even laugh in his face or slap him—but she smiled, and it was like the sun slipping out to burn away the clouds.

  “Okay,” she said. “Give me your phone. I’ll put my number in it.”

  ****

  “Mr. Wyles? Mr. Wyles?”

  Damian looked up to find Alexis standing over him, a look of concern on her face. “Sorry?”

  “I asked if you wanted lunch?” Alexis repeated. “Something from the bakery—”

  “No,” he cut in, smiling. “That’s fine, thank you.”

  Alexis hesitated, but she backed away, nodding. It wasn’t the first time in the last four weeks she’d found him daydreaming, and it wouldn’t be the last—not if he kept seeing Becca as frequently as he did. Hell, even if he stopped seeing her, he’d probably continue to think about her uninterrupted until the day he died, because nothing on Earth was better than being with her.

  It wasn’t an overstatement or a delusion. Spending time with Becca made him happier than anything had in years, and it showed. He was more productive while he was working, but when he wasn’t, he was reliving the previous night’s date or heavy physical encounter with eyes wide open, sometimes even with people around.

  Becca continued to keep sex off the table, but Damian was more than happy with where they were at presently. She really was the most striking woman he’d ever seen, and though she was small, she was strong and passionate and seemed as enthralled with him and he was with her. Because it sometimes took her an hour to get to his place, he sent a car for her and sent one back so she wouldn’t worry about falling asleep. They both worked early and had long hours most days, so their few hours were either languorously sensual or crammed with activity.

  Their first week, he took her to Chinatown and they had a private dinner on the rooftop of his favorite restaurant. The second week, he flew her to New York to see her favorite play on Broadway. They stayed in a swanky hotel on Fifth Avenue where he’d spent all night exploring her supple body with his mouth and tongue, kissing over her pale nipples and nibbling the mounds of her breasts as his fingers ran over the slowly dampening triangle of cloth between her legs. While he kissed her, she tugged on his throbbing shaft while he struggled to keep from exploding, not wanting the moment to end before it had to. She only let him caress her until she got close, and when his breath came too fast, she made him back off. Still, they lay together for hours, and by the third week, Damian was sending Becca roses at work every day.

  His own employees were giving him grief for it, but he didn’t mind—until something happened to bring him under a microscope.

  “Have you seen this?”

  Victor, his security expert, was showing him reports of a data breach. Their software, which was supposed to protect sensitive information and alert its users of credit changes, had somehow glitched and made thousands of customers vulnerable. Damian stared at the report helplessly, trying to understand how this could have happened. He triple checked all the code himself before it was implemented, and it was run through security walls. They’d done tests with the best hackers available, and everything had checked out. This isn’t possible, he thought, even as his eyes told him it was. It’s not happening.

  “This is bad, boss,” Miles said gravely. “People are upset. They feel exposed, upset, like we messed up—and I feel like we did.”

  Gary was nodding, but his eyes had a nasty glint. “Not trying to point fingers, but you’ve been very strict with who’s allowed to go over that code before it was implemented. Maybe if you hadn’t…”

  Damian bristled, rage flashing through him. “What are you saying, Gary? That you’re a better coder than I am?”

  Gary shrank back into his chair, but his eyes remained defiant. “I’m just saying. You’ve been understandably distracted. We dropped the ball on this one, because you always say we’re a team—but maybe we wouldn’t have dropped it if we were more of a team. Do you know what I’m saying?”

  Damian did, but he didn’t respond. The rest of the men sensed his anger and fell silent, dropping their eyes one by one.

  “Get back to work,” Damian said coldly. “All of you.”

  The shock of their faces was worth his sudden change in tone. He watched them stand and st
art to filter out, but their motion was stopped by Victor standing and raising his hand.

  “Just got word,” he said, peering at his tablet. “I ran a sweep, because I don’t think you’d make a lazy mistake,” he shot a look at Gary, “and it paid off. Looks like we have evidence of a bug being planted from our side that weakened our defenses, then the hack occurred.”

  Damian swallowed, his heartbeat speeding up. “Wait. You mean…it was an attack? And someone planted the bug from within our systems?”

  Victor nodded, then frowned as he realized the implications. His eyes swept over the men, and smiled a predatory smile that held no warmth.

  “Looks like we’ll be working late tonight, boys.”

  Damian sat in his office and called Becca from his cellphone.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey,” he said. “I have bad news.”

  “No!” Becca said. “You’re cancelling on me?”

  “Yeah.” Damian sighed. “It looked like we were hacked, and someone helped them from our side.”

  Becca gasped. “What? One of your employees?”

  “Probably a higher up,” he confirmed. “Victor is doing some questioning now, and he’s also trying to find out more about the bug.”

  Becca made a thoughtful noise. “Hey, why don’t I come visit you? You sound super stressed. I bet I can help with that.”

  Damian laughed. “Becca, I highly doubt what you’ll do to me will relieve pressure.”

  He could hear the smile in her voice as she spoke again. “Are you sure about that?”

  Damian started to respond, but her velvet tones made him pause. “Are you saying you want to…”

  “Yeah,” Becca chirped.

  Damian let out a startled laugh. “Here? Now?”

  “No time like the present,” she confirmed. “I’m putting on my shoes now. But no pants,” she said softly.

  The front of his slacks were straining at the zipper when he hung up, and Damian passed a hand over his erection, his mind buzzing with thoughts. He had no idea what had made Becca decide she was ready to have sex with him, but he was incredibly grateful she was finally comfortable enough. She used sex as an ice breaker in college, she explained, but she tried to make it more personal now.

  ****

  Damian heard her lock the outer door behind her as she came in, and his heart leapt to his throat. He’d taken off his shirt and belt in anticipation of her arrival, and he was standing when she strode in, red hair floating around her like a burning halo. She was wearing his own tan-colored trench coat belted tightly around her waist, and her eyes were alive with fire as she looked into his eyes.

  Becca unwound the belt and let the coat fall to the floor, revealing her naked body in all its glory. Her tear drop shaped breasts swung as she stepped toward him, and he started to push his pants to the floor just as she reached his side of the desk.

  Becca met his eyes and smiled, flashing him her dimples as she stretched up on tip toes to wrap her arms around him. Her stomach brushed his erection, and she giggled. “Someone’s happy to see me.”

  Damian slid his palms against the warm curve of her ass and pulled her soft body against his. “I’m always happy to see you, Becca. I want you, and I love you.”

  Her mouth fell open, and Damian realized he’d never said it aloud before now. He wondered if he should take it back, but he couldn’t do it without feeling like he was lying, so he waited for her to speak with his heart hammering in his chest. There was fear in her eyes, but something else, too—and it was slowly taking over and warming her gaze until her dimples returned, and she smiled again.

  “I love you, too,” she said softly, and Damian saw at once that she meant it. His heart cracked open, and he lifted Becca with both hands and lowered her body to the desk, raking his eyes down the curve of her body as he pressed his engorged cock against her already slick folds.

  Becca pressed her hips upward as Damian leaned forward, sinking himself inside her slowly, so that her walls quivered as they swallowed his shaft. Damian leaned his body against hers, relishing the press of her round breasts against his hard chest as he hilted himself inside her. He gasped and thrusted again, grinding his weight against her clit as he moved.

  “Oh,” she breathed against his ear. “God, Damian. You feel…perfect.”

  Becca’s strong thighs locked around his waist as he slowly drew back and pushed his shaft inside her again. His body was on fire with pleasure, but he fought to pace himself as he slipped inside her over and over again. Damian gazed down at Becca’s face, her features a picture of rapture as he slipped out of her and surged forward again, pressing against her g-spot as his strokes grew harder and faster.

  Damian buried his face in the soft curve of her neck, fingers pulling and twisting on the point of her nipple. He’d never felt anything so incredible, and he was sure he’d never feel it again, so he needed to make it last as long as possible. Becca’s sharp, delirious cries spurred him as he drove his hips against hers, and Damian felt controlled as he pounded her body harder and faster against the desk, but the gentle squeeze of her body was too intense to resist for long.

  “Becca!” Damian called, digging his fingers into her breasts as his member rocketed between her thighs, slick with her wetness. “Becca, I’m coming!”

  “I’m coming!” she screamed at the same time, throwing her head back as she shouted her pleasure to the ceiling. “Damian! Oh, Damian!”

  She bucked her hips upward and screamed a final time, just as he exploded inside her spasming walls. Damian saw stars as he slumped over her body, pushing himself against her weakly as her cries softened and lowered in pitch.

  Damian kissed her as he pulled out, handing her a towel he’d kept by the desk for this occasion in particular.

  Becca giggled at the gesture. “Thank you. You’re prepared.”

  Damian pulled out a towel of his own. “Damn right I am.”

  The intercom chimed, and Victor’s voice issued into the room. “Hey, boss? I need you. Alone.”

  Damian raised his eyebrows and laughed. “Wow, that sounds serious. Think we got caught?”

  Becca smiled as she pulled the trench coat over her body, but it was distracted. “What?”

  Damian laughed. “I’ll let you collect your thoughts.”

  He finished dressing and walked out to his outer office to find Victor standing near the door, his expression grim.

  Damian frowned. “Did we hit the intercom button? Did everyone hear us?”

  Victor shook his head and held out a manila file folder. “Look at this.”

  Damian was disconcerted by Victor’s attitude and opened the folder without question, flipping through the pictures and sheets of paper as he spoke.

  “Looks like you were targeted,” Victor said. “But not just in general—someone was trying to embarrass you. Ruin you.”

  Damian’s eyes skidded over emails between someone named Falcon and a series of people who only went by their initials. They were all discussing various plots to take his company down, shame him publicly, and hurt him—but why? These people had personal knowledge of him and his family members…as well as his old friends from school, Jack, Roger, and Ian, who were mentioned there by name. So someone is targeting some tech brats?

  Damian looked up, the confusion clear on his face. “What do we do with this?” he asked. “It seems like this is your arena. Find out motive, turn this in, that kind of thing.”

  The door opened behind him, and Victor looked uncomfortable. “One of the people conspiring against you was actually someone they recruited, and they pulled out early. I thought that was odd, so I did some digging…they only went by B. But there’s a series of pictures there, of them meeting and handing over a small device that was probably used to hack into the system.”

  Damian went through the pictures again, more slowly this time. Victor was watching him, so he assumed he’d know it when he saw it—and he did.

  It was Becca.

&
nbsp; He turned around to find her standing before him, tears streaming from her eyes. She already knew.

  “Did you just fuck me because you knew you were about to get caught?”

  Becca winced at his phrasing and took a few steps toward him. “N-no! Damian, it’s not like that—”

  “Then what is it like?” he spat. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

  Becca held up her hands, as if in defense. “They told me you had something to do with a human trafficking ring,” she said softly. “A few tech giants are, they’ve proven it to me and a few others—and they thought you were one of them.”

  “So you attacked my company?” Damian shouted. “You planted that bug on my phone with that little device, didn’t you? Used the moment to get what you wanted. Why not just call the cops?”

  “The police weren’t cooperating!” Becca said, stretching her arms toward him. “They weren’t listening to us! And Damian, I only planted that device because I thought you were in on it, and they needed to make you vulnerable so you’d come forward—” Becca sobbed. She pressed her hands over her mouth and took a deep breath before dropping them. “They were going to use me to do it. But then… I fell in love with you,” she said gently, resting a hand on his arm. “I did, Damian—I love you so much.”

  Damian was shaking his head. “Fuck no.”

  Becca’s eyes were wide with terror and pain. “Damian, please, let me make this up to you—”

  “You can’t,” Damian cut in, and the finality of his tone made her stop short. “You betrayed me. I don’t forgive after that.” He looked at Victor. “Get her out of here.”

  The heartbreak on her face was sharp enough to slice his veins. Becca screamed as Victor pulled her back. “Damian!”

  He turned away from her cries, stone cold from the feeling of betrayal that now wracked his soul.