Illicit Affairs

by Dixon

  Nate’s muscles corded tightly together as the veins bulged down his arms—the only evidence left behind of his desire as he washed the sin from his body and watched it swirl down the drain.

  Nate had known Ms. Archer for only a few days but there was one absolute thing—her tempting beauty had sunk its claws into him and he would not allow something as basic as a primal instinct ruin everything he had worked hard to secure.

  Friday morning—thank fuck.

  Ava was overjoyed when she awoke that morning believing it was midweek only to realise it was the day that every worker looked forward to.

  This morning she was the first one into the office, determined to have her workload completed so she could enjoy a stress-free weekend back at her family estate in Oxfordshire.

  Arms loaded with boxes of paper, she made her way to fill the photocopier when a shiny black object suddenly caught the corner of her eye as her heels scuffed to a halt. There filling the empty spot on the counter sat a coffee machine, but not just any coffee machine, a new and improved machine.

  “What in the—” Ava blinked, staring at the new model, perplexed as her brain worked to piece together the puzzle.

  Did he get rid of the old one to replace it with a better one?

  This revelation made colour rise in her cheeks, but not from flattery, from guilt. “I’m such a tit,” Ava whined in the empty department as she mentally facepalmed herself and continued with her duties.

  At the time, Mr. Brooks’s small kindness had been misinterpreted as an act of assertion as he assumed his new position of power. A gracious and welcoming gift to their department was the last thing she would have expected from her new boss. Ava was starting to realise that she had perhaps been overly cold and chauvinistic to this man, domineering and arrogant as he may be.

  As a way of offering a small olive branch, Ava prepared a coffee for him, timidly unlocking his door and entering his vacant office space. The lights flickered on as she approached his desk and placed the hot beverage down upon his coaster, taking extra care as she turned the mug until the handle pointed in the right direction.

  “There,” she uttered to herself, her good deed done for the day. She turned to leave but stopped as she saw the red tie hung over the corner of his desk. That moment, late last night, was still fresh in her mind: his scent, the warmth of his body close to her own, and that inviting look in his eyes.

  It was no secret that Mr. Brooks was an attractive man, but then again, it was no secret that he was a giant pain in most people’s arses either. Ava was not succumbing to the domineering charm of her boss, and instead, would remain professional despite that gaze of his being so intense that it nearly set fire to her bloody dress.

  However, as she stared down at the red silk draped over his desk, something deep, dark, and rooted within Ava caved and she reached to pick up his tie. Her eyes glanced behind her at the empty department before she took the hit she had been needing since last night. She inhaled deeply, basking in the strong aromas clinging to the threads of silk, her mind walking through fields of lavender, fingers touching the green spines of cedar as her mouth salivated from the peppery essence capturing her senses. She couldn’t remember a time where a man’s scent alone had this power over her.

  In the distance, the chime of the elevator doors opening alerted her as she jumped with a squeak and neatly placed the tie back where she found it, turning to make a quick getaway. However, as she did, her ample hip caught the pencil holder on the side of Mr. Brooks’s desk and sent it clattering to the floor, scattering pens and pencils everywhere.

  “Oh, fuck me,” she hissed in frustration as she dropped to her hands and knees, scrambling to pick the stationery back up.

  It would just be my luck that I try to do one decent act of goodwill and then this would hap—

  “Good morning, Ms. Archer.”

  Seven

  The last thing Nate needed or expected to see was his personal assistant upon her hands and knees, presenting a rather sumptuous and plump derrière to him first thing in the morning—especially after the night he’d had. But alas, as he walked through the empty department, hesitating as he saw his office lights on, he turned the corner into his workspace and dropped his jaw as his wide eyes fell upon Ms. Archer.

  Her skintight dress stretched over her peach, the silver zip running from her nape to tail appearing to be at breaking point as it held the material intact around her tight little body. She was quite literally a piece of liquorice just waiting to be unwrapped.

  The young woman looked to be tidying something up beneath his desk in a rush, but he wasn’t in a hurry at all, not when he had a view of two black lines running up the backs of her creamy thighs, her suspenders holding up her sheer black stockings.

  Damn, if I wouldn’t sell my left nut to see her crawl towards me without that dress on right now—shit, no! Head in the game, Brooks!

  “Good morning, Ms. Archer,” Nate announced, not wanting to devour the sight of her in that state for too long since his recently satiated member was stirring beneath his grey work slacks, and for fear of labelling himself a pervert. However, he couldn’t blame himself for stealing a look—he was a hot-blooded man after all.

  A high-pitched squawk left Ava’s lips. She shot upright, startled from the presence behind her, the top of her head banging against the corner of the desk.

  Nate hissed in empathy for her, watching the young blonde rub at her crown and curse under her breath. Normally, he detested such profanities, but when she did it in that fruity accent, it was endearing.

  “A hand?” Nate asked, extending his hand for her to take, his lips in a bemused smirk as he peered down at glaring eyes.

  God, this kitty has claws.

  “Thank you,” Ava chided, her tone cold and full of pride as she carefully put her hand in his and slowly rose to her feet. Warmth engulfed her small hand as his large paw wrapped around her. Her eyes landed upon his, which were surprisingly soft for once, two pools of honey for her to swim in.

  “Are you alright?” he asked, his tone laced with genuine concern as his thick brows knitted together and his eyes traced her face for signs of distress.

  “I’m perfectly fine, thank you very much,” she replied, reluctantly pulling her hand away from his as she brushed down the creases in her dress and placed the pencil holder back in its rightful place.

  “If you don’t mind my asking, why exactly are you in my office?” Nate asked, his level of bemusement at Ava’s flustered face evident in his tone.

  With a dent in her pride, Ava was becoming increasingly ticked off by the cocky smile upon her boss’s mouth, even if it was sexy in an arrogant kind of way. She noted that he wasn’t in a hurry to take a step away from her, their bodies standing a little too close for comfort.

  “I was getting you a coffee.”

  “Ah, so you saw the latest addition to the office, hm?”

  “Yes,” Ava hissed, slowly crossing her arms, refusing to be the person to take the first step back. Her eyes dipped to his crisp linen shirt, the first couple of buttons undone and exposing his angular collarbones, noticing a small freckle on the right side of his clavicle as though a drop of chocolate had landed there for her to lick.

  “Do you like it?” Nate asked teasingly.

  Ava’s eyes snapped up as though she had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar, and stealing a glance at his sun-kissed skin, she wondered if his flesh tasted as nice as it smelt before she squawked, “Do I like what?”

  “The coffee machine!” He laughed, a deep, rumbling noise that resembled rolling thunder through dark clouds.

  “Yes, I guess it’s one good addition to this department,” Ava sneered, still not keen on her new boss’s arrival, nor did she particularly enjoy his teasing attitude this morning.

  Before he could test her patience any further, she turned on her heel and made for a quick exit, a small smile twitching at her lips the second her back was to him.

 
Nate couldn’t help the grin flashing onto his face when his assistant left him stood there, chuckling at her smart mouth and shaking his head. Ava Archer was a definite firecracker.

  The day had dragged on as Nate attended meeting after meeting, his eyes wandering to an unsuspecting assistant of his. He couldn’t pin what it was about her that got under his skin; was it her bratty mouth that needed to be tamed, her obvious beauty, the fact she was off-limits, or was it as simple as her being the only woman not giving him the eyes in this department that drove him wild? There was just something about Ms. Archer that irked him and kept his mind drifting back to his erotic dreamscape that morning.

  It had been years since he found himself so infatuated with a girl—no, a woman. Years since he had felt the bite of desire, years since he found himself wanting someone to take a chunk clean out of his soul. Such thoughts were detrimental to everything he had amassed.

  Ava thought Fridays were meant to be the easiest day of the week but with Mr. Brooks leading the department, it would appear that Friday was just another day to grind down the workload. By the time late afternoon came around, Ava was gladly logging out of her computer, about to slip one arm into her coat when the beep of the intercom sounded on her desk, her eyes turning glacial as she stared at the red dot on the machine.

  “Ms. Archer, my office, now,” his commanding voice summoned, making her sigh as she shrugged out of her coat and strutted into his office.

  “Yes?” she said with a feigned positive smile, her eyebrows raised as she popped her head around the door frame, hinting that she was in a hurry to leave.

  “Come in and close the door,” Nate ordered, sat at his desk and not peering up from his computer, his face as frosty and composed as ever.

  Ava’s brows creased together as she hesitantly shut the office door behind her and took a seat in front of Mr. Brooks. As always, her boss was his usual dark and mysterious self, oozing authority as he rose from his chair and prowled around the large mahogany desk and stood in front of her, leaning back with his hands on his desk.

  “Ms. Archer, as you know, the Forbes negotiation is fast approaching and is taking up a lot of man-hours in this department. The problem is, however, that I alone am running two firms at once and trying to lead this high-profile case, which just isn’t practical.” Nate sighed, a part of him wishing he had someone to offload his busy and crappy week to. Every day he had skipped lunch to hold a call with his Manhattan branch; there just weren’t enough hours in the day. “I appreciate your father did the bulk of the work here and that you acted as more of a clerical assistant to him, however, I require you to be on the front line with me for this case.” Truthfully, he did need her help but it was more than that. He felt a level of guilt for punishing her so harshly on their first day together, especially when she worked so hard to support his every need. She deserved a medal for what he had put her through.

  Ava’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. Even as her father’s legal secretary, her old man had never once given her a front-row seat to the nitty-gritty of the war zone. Coming to think of it, he barely ever gave Ava the responsibility to handle any of the trials that passed through here. She never had a chance to shine. Everything she did was in the background, running the show to a degree.

  “Of course, what do you need from me?” Ava asked, trying her best to hide the glee inside her belly, but she had a feeling that her excitement was showing when Mr. Brooks gave her a small admiring smile, one that made her belly do a flip-flop.

  “Well, first things first, Ms. Archer, if you are to be working this case behind closed doors with me, I need you to sign this,” Nate answered, reaching behind him and holding up a document.

  “And what exactly am I signing here?” Ava squinted up at the file, watching the smirk climb up the side of Mr. Brooks’s handsome yet nefarious face, feeling as though she were about to make a deal with the devil himself.

  “This, Ava, is a non-disclosure agreement.”

  Eight

  “I mean, it’s pretty impressive when you think about it, one million steps in one month and it’s for a good cause.” Peter’s voice droned on somewhere in the distance over the noise of the busy cocktail bar, but Ava’s mind was elsewhere as she thought about the terms of the NDA she had just signed.

  The contract was straightforward: do not speak to anyone other than the client, her attorney, or Mr. Brooks about the Forbes case. However, it wasn’t the legal bindings of the agreement that was playing on Ava’s mind. Mr. Brooks had been very clear that every day she would be required to work after hours with him. The contract detailed that a private meeting would be held daily, in his office, to discuss the details of the case, that their calendars should be booked out during this time, statuses set to do not disturb, and for the office door to be locked. Something about that last condition put Ava on edge, sparking her excitement at the thought of being alone with him, but she couldn’t quite understand why he had that effect on her. It was one thing to be attracted to a man, but it was something else completely when you lusted after one to the point of it becoming an obsession.

  “Ava?” Peter asked, waving his hand in front of Ava’s vacant stare fixed on the street outside the bar window, the glass a series of bokeh lights from the raindrops trickling down the glass.

  “Hm?” she asked in a daze, turning her attention towards him again.

  “Hey!” He laughed and took a sip from his pint of lager. “You were a million miles away, ol’ girl.”

  “Sorry, my brain is still in work mode.” She sighed with a smile, sweeping her long hair back from her face and resting her head on her hand. “What were you saying?”

  “I was just talking about the charity ball coming up. I presume you’ll be my arm candy for the evening?”

  “Very presumptuous of you, Mr. Taylor. What makes you think I don’t have a date already?” Ava teased, her long legs slowly crossing underneath the high bar table as she hid her smirk behind her glass of wine and enjoyed Peter’s staggered expression.

  “You do? Who?” Peter inquired, a hint of envy laced through his tone that brought the green out in his eyes.

  “Why does it matter?” Ava shrugged, her coy smile evident as she lowered her glass.

  “Just so I can size up the bloke.”

  “What?”

  “You know, so I can cut him down to size and politely tell the gent that he is punching way above his weight with a lady such as yourself,” Peter explained confidently as he rolled up the light-blue sleeves of his shirt exposing the ink running up his forearms.

  Ava threw her head back and laughed. “You absolute knob!”

  Peter’s face lit up watching her laugh like that, his hand slowly snaking around her knee and making Ava’s expression turn sober when she saw that familiar look on his face.

  “Let’s get out of here, yeah?” Peter asked, his bottom lip caught under his teeth.

  The front door banged open as it did most Friday nights and the pair tumbled into Ava’s apartment like a hurricane, a frenzy of copper and gold as jackets were tossed and shoes were kicked. Books thumped against the floor as Ava pushed Peter up against the bookshelf in her hallway, her mouth latching on to the side of his neck and tasting the bitter spice of his cheap cologne. Hearing him hiss from between his teeth only spurred her on as she tugged at his shirt, roughly untucking it from his work slacks and jerking apart the lapels until his buttons popped open and his chest was exposed for her hungry mouth to lap up.

  “Jesus Christ, Ava,” Peter huffed hotly, his fingers digging into her ample hips, bringing her closer. “The hell has gotten into you? Not that I’m complaining,” he scoffed before groaning as Ava’s teeth grazed against his left nipple, his eyes closing as he leaned his head against the shelf behind him.

  Truthfully, Ava didn’t know what had gotten into her, so amped up after a stressful few weeks with her father taking ill and working the week from hell with her enigmatic new boss. Something had her desperate for a r
elease, needing to vent all that pent-up energy and take it out on her plaything.

  “Shut up,” she snarled erotically, looking up at Peter with a burning demand in her eyes, a dark grin sprawling across her face that Peter mimicked before he yanked her body forward and crashed his eager mouth against her own. Her tongue chased after his, fingers tangled around auburn strands as feet stumbled through her apartment leaving a trail of clothes in their path.

  “Bloody hell,” Peter laughed incredulously as his back bounced against Ava’s mattress, the blonde woman standing at the end of the bed smirking down at him like a cougar about to pounce on its dinner.

  “I said…” Ava warned, reaching behind her to slowly pull the silver zip down her dress. The material eventually sprung apart before the shoulders slid down her arms and sensually revealed her underwear as she sneered, “Shut…up.”

  She couldn’t help but revel in Peter’s reaction, his mouth snapping shut before his jaw slowly descended upon seeing the French lingerie adorning her voluptuous body. She had an affinity for all things luxurious and her lingerie certainly fell into that category.

  “Yes, madam.” He gulped, nodding his head and propping himself up on his elbows to get a better view of this woman that he couldn’t get enough of, even after the several times they fucked. That black lace teddy with red roses embellishing her smooth tummy was enough to bring any man to his hands and knees.

  This was Ava’s game; one she had mastered after many one-night stands. The fiery little vixen crawled provocatively onto her mattress between the redhead’s legs before eventually straddling his lap and peering down at the many tattoos covering his bare chest.