Crave Me - Amy Brent

CRAVE ME A BILLIONAIRE BOSS ROMANCE

AMY BRENT

Contents Crave Me The Happily Ever After Series Hot Menage Romance Billionaire Navy SEAL Adventures Older Man Younger Woman Romance More Billionaire Romance Call me Daddy - A Daddy and Virgin Romance Filthy Boss: Amy’s Hot Seller - Very Filthy Billionaire Boss Romance Exclusive Excerpt & Cover Reveal: Filthy Cowboy (to be released Feb 25th) Similar Books by the Author

Copyright © 2017 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. This is a work of fiction. While, as in all fiction, the literary perceptions and insights are based on life experiences and conclusions drawn from research, all names, characters, places and specific instances are products of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously. No actual reference to any real person, living or dead, is intended or inferred.

Personal Note

Hey,

I am Amy Brent. I love reading and writing steamy romances that are full of heat, heart and humour!

First I want to thank you for choosing to read my book. You have no idea what this means to me - you have chosen to give me your time, your trust and your openness - I am so grateful that you have opened up your heart to my words!

For your reading pleasure, I have included a few bonus stories right after the main book.

If you are a fan of Billionaire Boss Romances, you will definitely enjoy my hot selling FILTHY BOSS. That’s a very filthy billionaire boss book with over 215 reviews on Amazon (average review rating: 4.3 stars!)

NEW EXCLUSIVE: I am super excited to give you an exclusive copy of my new book titled - CALL ME DADDY. This one is a daddy and virgin romance and you won’t want to miss the steamy action in there. It is a

standalone with HEA.

BTW, My editor loved CALL ME DADDY so much that he wants me to write a complete Daddy and Virgin Romance Series. As always, I welcome your opinion.

Also included is an EXCLUSIVE COVER REVEAL AND EXCERPT from my yet to be released ‘FILTHY COWBOY’ (Filthy Cowboy releases on Feb 25th, 2017)

I hope you have as much fun reading this book as I had writing it!

So go on, Spoil Yourself Crazy!

xoxo, Amy

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It doesn’t matter who you are or what you look like, so long as somebody loves you — ROA L D D A HL

CRAVE ME

L ily I have a secret. My boyfriend, Brian, hasn’t been able to get me off! In fact, no other guy has been able to do that. And then I meet Landon – Landon is gorgeous, rich, filthy and forbidden. And then he tells me that he will take care of me. Can I risk my job, my boyfriend, my very comfortable life for this dirty talking, panty melting billionaire? I know I want him to love me like no other man has. I promise I will love him like no other woman has. But is it all that simple?

LANDON I am content with my life. I am a partner at the best law firm, love my work, have loads of respect in the business world and…. I get to f*ck a new woman every day – no questions asked. I am forty with the stamina of a thirty-year old. And then I meet Lily – Lily is sex over heels, she is gorgeous and charming. I know I crave for her! But I want her to crave me! The question is how do I seduce a woman who has everything! I promise I will!

PART 1

LANDON I read the paperwork, fuming at how much my soon-to-be ex-wife, Nadine, was asking for in our divorce. She had the best fucking lawyer in New York, who was well known for going for blood as it was without the ridiculous fees. She wanted the Manhattan apartment and a massive sum for alimony, and all after a mere five years of marriage. I had been a partner in the Morton and Jones law firm for fifteen years, starting off the street fresh out of law school when I was twenty-five and climbing the ladder quickly. Nadine wasn’t around during that time, since she’d hooked her greedy claws into me after I’d been a partner for years, so I didn’t see why she deserved half of my fortune. New York divorce laws could suck my cock. The true love of my life had been my first wife, Madeline. We were married for just one year when she died in a car accident while carrying our unborn daughter. The loss crippled me, and I contributed that to my fast climb in the business. I became a workaholic after the accident, as well as what some would call a manwhore. I was young, rich, and good looking, and the women virtually fell at my feet. Why not take advantage of that and keep my dick busy? There was a long list of women who were regularly in the gossip columns, talking about how I just tossed them out of bed when I was done without any compassion. I was clear about what I wanted with every one of them, so they had no reason to bitch about it. They still did, but I noticed that the women didn’t stop lining up. Nadine had gotten under my skin somehow, but she was beautiful with bright blond hair and bright turquoise eyes. She had an incredible body as well as an insatiable sex drive, and I hadn’t seen her greed through all of that. I’d been too taken with her youthful energy. I learned a lot about that, sitting here reading line after line about what she wanted from me. Even if she got it, I was a billionaire due to my job and the various investments I kept caught up on, so I would be just fine. I was just disappointed in myself, having given love another chance after losing my

family so many years ago. I’d wanted one with Nadine, but she let me know two years after we married that she wasn’t interested in one any longer. Forty wasn’t the end all to that, but the idea of letting another woman in after what Nadine was doing to me was questionable at best right now. I knew sex was a part of my future, because, quite frankly, I took great care of myself and still looked good. Women assured me of that fact every single day. I pushed the papers aside and reminded myself that this would work out, no matter what. Nadine had been quick to point out that I’d cheated on her once I realized that this was going nowhere, but I knew she had done the same. Nadine had been involved in an affair well before I was, and I was ready to just agree that we’d messed up and call it a day, but she was trying to benefit from all my hard work. I glanced at my monitor, seeing that it was approaching five o’clock on Friday. I didn’t have set work hours, but today I was caught up and needed a drink. I had a new assistant starting on Monday who would be a great help to me, so I decided I deserved to hit happy hour and relax a little. I shut everything down and packed the papers into my briefcase before I left for the day. I sent a text out to some attorney friends asking them to meet me, figuring we could make a night of it. I chose a corner bar that offered good food and drinks, selecting a table in the corner as I looked around the room. It was filling up and there were some beautiful women here, making me relax as I ordered a whiskey from the waitress. I was watching her ass when she walked away before my gaze moved back to the bar to see a gorgeous brunette woman sipping from a glass of wine. I narrowed my eyes when I realized it was the woman starting at my office next week, looking quite different than she had during the interview I conducted with some of the other partners. Granted, she’d been attractive and smart as a whip that day, but tonight she looked sensual and somehow soft as she laughed. Her little black dress brushed her mid-thigh, and my eyes roved down her muscled calves before I looked back into her face. Her eyes looked greener and they popped with the dark makeup around them, complimented by the gloss on her full lips. “Picking out your victim already?” Mark, my buddy, asked as he slid into the booth and loosened his tie. “I spent the afternoon reading my divorce papers. I should just stay single forever. She’s milking me for everything.” He gave me a sympathetic look and ordered a beer when the waitress brought my drink. I still glanced at my assistant as I spoke, finding new things I liked about her every time my eyes passed over her. My cock stirred in my pants, and I shifted as I told myself not to get hot and bothered over my new employee.

The others joined us and we enjoyed a few drinks and appetizers as we chatted about work and women, along with some sports talk. Hanging out with friends was comforting, and I could laugh and let myself go a little bit in the familiarity of it. The bar filled and there were more women to talk about and flirt with as they glanced our way with the same coy smile. My eyes always returned to my assistant, who by now I remembered was named Lily. She was twenty-five, though she looked younger. She’d been to college and graduated with high marks and answered every question asked without missing a beat. She was perfect, and tonight I was seeing more of her feminine qualities. We were all feeling the liquor by the time we left, having met a few women throughout the evening. I was going to a condominium close by with Miriam, a black-haired pixie with a loud giggle. She’d increased the flirting as the time passed and my cock was hard from looking at Lily, so I went with it. Once she closed her door, her mouth was locked on mine and her hand was grabbing my cock through my pants as she pushed me against the wall. In the process of stumbling back to her room, we woke up her roommate. Miriam yelled out an apology before she slammed her door closed, pulling me to the bed. I pushed her onto it and lifted her clingy burgundy dress over her head before I claimed her lips again. Miriam was petite but had great tits, and I slipped my hands over her ass as she moaned. She was sliding down my body before I knew it, wrapping her lips around me as I slid my hands into her cropped hair. I fucked her on her back first, driving myself into her as I listened to her moans and cries. This was the best part about sex, making them lose their shit underneath me, over me, and in front of me. The second-best part was when I was left, Miriam passed out in her bed. I walked down the street toward the parking garage to get my Escalade, driving to my apartment on the water. I wouldn’t tell my lawyer this, but I preferred it over the home Nadine was fighting for. That one was stuffy, whereas this place was fresh and welcoming, though smaller. Maybe I should have given the condo to Nadine and just stayed here while I searched for something else. It was just an investment and a bit closer to the office, nothing more. I had a few properties in different locations, and losing one wouldn’t hurt me. I walked inside, looking at the wall of windows that looked over the Hudson River as I dropped my keys on the table in the long hallway. I set my briefcase down against the wall and cracked a window open to take a deep breath of the cool air. I had just a few hours of the night left, but I had no intention of watching the sun rise, despite the great view.

I needed sleep. I closed the window and made my way down the hallway to the large bedroom. I pulled my clothes off for the second time tonight, leaving my boxers on, before I crawled underneath the covers. There were several windows in here as well, and I looked at the moon for a moment before closing my eyes.

LILY I heard the alarm go off and reached over to silence it before my eyes popped open. It was my first day of work at Morton and Jones, and I sat straight up. My phone buzzed on the nightstand, reminding me about the spat I had with Brian last night. He’d wanted me to go over to the apartment he shared with the guys and drink, but I had to work today. I got up and started the coffee pot before I jumped into the shower. It was quick and warm, and I slipped my robe on as I dried my curls enough to calm them down before applying a light layer of makeup. There were some good-looking men who worked there, but it was a career move and not a personal one. My direct boss was handsome, something I’d noticed during the interview. He was older but still looked young, with cropped dark hair and whiskey brown eyes. I could let my mind wander through some naughty office fantasies, but that was a waste of time. I had a boyfriend, even though he wasn’t perfect, and besides, I couldn’t date my boss. After finally determining that the man across the bar last night had been Landon Logan, my boss, I’d watched him leave with a woman, so I found it safe to assume that he played the field. I sipped my sweet coffee as I got ready, dressing in a black pencil skirt and a soft pink blouse. This was a professional place, and I’d enjoyed some shopping the last couple of weeks, buying new office clothes. This was a great opportunity I didn’t want to blow, and I needed to look as perfect as possible. Once I decided I looked like I wasn’t trying too hard, I slipped my feet into sleek black heels and poured some coffee to go. I didn’t pack a lunch today, knowing there were several places to grab something in the area. I might want to get some fresh air and consider drinking for an hour, a thought that made me laugh. I didn’t drink too much at all, even though Brian urged me to all the time. Sure, I was only twenty-four, but I wanted to focus on my career, something I didn’t see in my boyfriend of six months. He had a decent job in computer repair that paid well, but apart from that he always wanted to hang out with friends, reminding me of some frat boy. I wasn’t like that in college. Even then I’d been focused on my degree and the future. I hadn’t even been

part of a sorority. He reminded me of a frat boy in the bedroom as well. He was a touch greedy and all about himself, making me wonder if I was too demanding or maybe not as reactive as I should have been. I’d slept with a couple of guys before Brian, but that was late in high school and early in college. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever have that elusive mind-blowing orgasm I always read about in books. Maybe it didn’t exist, a thought that made me frown as I started my modest Camry and pulled out of the parking lot. I lived in a smaller apartment in the city close to my new job, and I had no intention of living with anyone in the next year while my lease carried on. It was bright and cool in the city today, and I smiled with anticipation as I parked in the garage that had been purchased for the firm, which we shared with the entire building. I ended up on the third floor. I opened my door and slid my hands over my outfit to smooth it as I took a slow, trembling breath. I slipped my pink thrift store purse over my body and grabbed my coffee before I closed the door. I thought about my parents as I walked to the building, wondering if they would have been proud of me. I lost them in a plane crash when I was fifteen and had been raised from then on by my aunt Amy. Amy was thirty-five, just a couple of years younger than my mom, and one of the kindest people I knew. We had always close, but neither of us ever expected to be the way we were now. It was nice to see her dating someone seriously now since she’d taken raising me so zealously for the years I lived there. I glanced up as the light turned green and walked with the crowd toward the building as the wind blew my hair around, making me happy I had a band around my wrist to secure it if needed. I was growing it out and it was at the awkward stage. The lobby was large and open, surrounded by glass that let the light in. It felt comfortable here, but I contributed that more to the fact that I wasn’t here for an interview this time. That was a mess in my head, but I was here, so something must have impressed them. I walked across a floor of alternating shades of gray marble to the elevator, taking that to the seventh floor with several others who got off on floors before mine. The last person with me was a blond woman, and she smiled at me when the door opened on my floor. “Are you new? I haven’t seen you before.” She led the way off the car and I followed with a small nod. “I’m Lauren. I assist one of the attorneys here.” “I am the new assistant to Mr. Landon,” I explained as she gave me a knowing smile. “He’s hot,” Lauren said in a low voice, glancing around and giggling. “Like I’m the only woman here to have ever said that. It’s true, though.”

“He’s not the type to do that sort of thing here, is he?” I whispered as she laughed and shook her head. “Not that I’ve heard, but he is busy outside the office.” She paused as she glanced to her left. “I’m this way, but would you like to have lunch today?” “Yeah. That would be great.” Lauren waved and walked down her hall while I continued forward. I’d been given a thorough tour the day I came in to fill out paperwork, and I glanced at the clock to see that I was ten minutes early. I walked up to the large black desk that was going to be mine and moved around to the back of it, looking over the floor. I could see most of it, and I was relieved that there was a window to my direct left, so I could at least see the outside world. I set my coffee on one of the coasters and opened the large drawer on the left to set my purse inside it. On the desk, there was an impressive computer and keyboard, as well as a phone that looked like it might take a bit of time to figure out. “Miss Neil,” a voice said as I glanced up and smiled nervously. It was Landon, looking handsome in a fitted black suit with a white shirt and a black tie that was draped around his neck. “Good morning.” “Good morning,” I greeted, taking in the casual state of his clothing as he looked at my desk. “Thank you again for hiring me, Mr. Logan.” “Call me Landon. We’re going to be working together a lot, and I like a casual work environment. We can save the formality for clients.” He looked into my eyes and smiled, making my body react in a way Brian never did. “I’m Lily, in that case.” He seemed to consider that before nodding, inviting me into his office to go over a few things. I closed the drawer that held my purse and looked around for a moment, uncertain whether I should leave it there. My bank account was small, but I needed everything in it. “There is a key in that drawer right in the middle to lock that. I trust everyone in this office, but it is such a hassle to cancel all of the cards and go to the DMV,” Landon told me, and I reached for the small drawer that was right under the center of the desk. “Wonderful,” I said as I found the small gold key and secured my things. I followed him into his office, taken off guard by the wall of windows that offered a beautiful view of the city. “Oh, my stars.” “It gives me a lot of peace in my days,” he said as he followed my gaze. Beyond just the view, the office was huge, and it even had a black leather couch and a coffee table against the wall opposite the desk. “My first job here was in this tiny space with just one window. I am grateful every day for what I’ve accomplished. I am glad that I get to sit here every day.”

“You’re partner. That’s amazing,” I told him as he smiled, but what appeared to be bitterness crossed his face. “It is the ultimate goal, isn’t it?” His eyes lifted to look back at my face as I smiled weakly and nodded. “Have a seat. I have some items for you.” Landon gestured to the seat across from him as he took a seat in the large chair at his desk. “You were hired as my assistant, as you know. I have provided you with a top-of-the-line computer, but you also get this tablet with a keyboard if you prefer that as well as a cell phone. I would prefer to be able to reach you at any time for business, though I try to avoid calls at three in the morning if I can.” He smiled, and I giggled as I felt heat wash over my skin. “That’s a good thing.” I reached for the tablet first, an incredibly thin device that was already on, and I felt him lean forward. Landon explained the basics, telling me that this would be used for notes and meetings as opposed to a bigger laptop. Of course, he offered me the choice since he had a laptop available at any time. He turned the phone on and told me he already had it connected to the tablet as well as any programs on my work computer that I would need while away from the office, but I was welcome to add anything I wanted to for personal use. I swore his eyes darkened when he said it couldn’t be used for anything illegal or sexual, making me blush. “Of course not.” He went on to explain that they handled businesses and represented them in court should a client take an issue too far. Much of this was financial and involved unpaid contracts that the clients just weren’t dealing with, something the firm was known for. They always got the money, and often the client paid with just the threat of a court case with their attorneys. They also handled the selling of businesses with another company in the city, seeing to all the details. There was an intensity about him that was thick in the air with every word he spoke. He was intelligent and confident in his position in life, making me sense he had an alpha personality as well. I wondered when he used that for a moment as he excused himself to make some coffee, asking me if I wanted some as well. I still had mine on my desk, so I shook my head as he stood, leaving the office with the door open as I stared out the window.

LANDON I strode out of the room to the large break room, longing to add some liquor to the strong black blend I started most mornings with. I was already feeling the attraction to Lily after the hour or so I’d spent with her, and it had been making me lose my senses as I sat across from her. I stayed for a moment

longer than necessary in the room, listening to conversations around me before I left and returned to Lily. She was standing at the window when I walked back in, staring outside. I took in her ass in the fitted skirt and the legs I’d admired at the bar over the weekend before closing the door gently, making her turn around and flush pink as she hurried to her seat. “I’m sorry. It’s just so pretty.” “No worries. I agree,” I assured her as I walked around to my side of the desk and looked at the column of her neck as she tossed her hair back, sighing softly. I sensed she wasn’t happy with her appearance, at least not completely. That was crazy to me, since she was one of the most beautiful women I’d ever seen. “So, you will be helping me research some of the clients, taking detailed notes on each case. It will keep you busy, but you will learn a lot and I expect that you’ll move up in the company.” “Isn’t assistant to a partner impressive already?” She teased me as I smiled. Touché. “It is, particularly since we are one of the best firms in the city.” I was proud of that fact. She would get a great reputation working, here but I was thinking about a lot more than the job as I shifted in my seat. Her eyes drew me in, her full, glossed lips looking utterly edible as she smiled and nodded. Fuck, I was going to be in trouble over this one. I covered a few more things before I told her to look over everything at her desk and familiarize herself with the software. I watched her leave, waiting her to close the door before I dropped my head back and moaned. I needed to rein this in and keep it professional. I could fuck every girl on the street, just not this one. I focused on reading some emails, and then I knotted my tie before I went to meet a possible new client for lunch to go over the company. I reminded myself to talk to Lily about that as I left and told her to take her own lunch whenever she was comfortable. I knew I would be gone for a bit since these things could run long. I’d endured several of them, catering to the client to some degree. I drew the line at places like strip clubs during the day, but depending on the personality of the client, I’d pushed the boundaries after hours. If they could keep their mouths shut, I was willing to show them a good time, and it often worked. All the partners did that from time to time. Usually it was a fancy dinner or lunch and a few drinks as we talked numbers. Their main concern was what we could do for their company, and it was rare that I wanted to spend time outside work hours with a client, apart from some of the social events we hosted throughout the year. A large part of my job was social, but I liked that. I

could handle it well and I had a high success rate with clients, probably the best among all of the partners. I did my job well. Today the client and I met at a classy seafood place and ordered whiskey before the meal. The client, Jack, owned a successful graphic design business, and he was looking for protection with clients as he started doing better. I was aware of the company, having researched it on my own before the meeting, and I explained in detail about our fees and services. We were there for over two hours, and I left with a new client in the books. I walked back toward the office with a grin and noticed Lily walking with Lauren, more than likely returning to work as well. That hadn’t taken long. Lauren was a nice girl, but she had hit on me heavily when she started working for the company five years ago, taking it so far that she got me into a dark office at one of the parties we had for the holidays. Her lips had been on mine before I pushed her away, explaining that I didn’t mix business with pleasure. Lauren was pretty, with pale blond hair and piercing blue eyes, but I knew she was dangerous, which made me wonder what she was telling Lily right now. Their laughter carried back to me as they headed for the door and walked inside, making me take a moment to pause. By the time I returned to my office, I was on the phone with my divorce attorney as I walked past Lily at her desk. I knew my voice was a little angry, and I glanced at her concerned expression before closing the door. “Damn it, Mark. I can’t believe what she’s asking for. She didn’t lift a finger to build my career.” “I agree. What do you want to barter with?” he asked as I ran a hand through my short hair. “Offer her the apartment. I never cared for it that much to begin with. It’s paid off and I’ll get the few things I need from it and walk away. I prefer this place, to be honest.” The brownstone was a large four-bedroom apartment with all the bells and whistles, and it was a catch for her. Maybe it would shut her up and she could let me move on in peace. Nadine had worked as a model the entire time that we’d been together, so she did fine financially. Mark agreed to contact her lawyer. I set my phone down on the desk and turned around to look out my window, my thoughts returning to Lily. Over the week, I noticed Lily excelling and organizing my business affairs well, which meant she spent a good amount of time in my office. I always took a moment to admire her, noting her quirky style in the scarves she’d wear or perhaps a piece of jewelry. I also noted the curve of her ass on a daily basis, as well as the way her shirts clung to her firm tits. Lily was gorgeous, and I frowned as I passed her desk on Friday and heard

her on her phone as she typed up a report. It was clearly a boyfriend of sorts. Lily didn’t sound happy as she talked, and I continued to get some coffee as I wondered what he must be like. I knew she was twenty-four and probably dated in her age range, which could mean she was dealing with immaturity. When I got back to her desk, she was off the phone and focusing on her work again. “Everything okay? You sounded angry when I passed by earlier.” “It’s the price that I pay for my boyfriend being twenty-three,” she said as she shook her head. “I must be wired differently, as a night at his house with the guys doesn’t sound that fun.” “You deserve a night out: dinner, some good wine, and a man who spoils you,” I told her as she lifted her face to meet my gaze. “That seems more your speed, a man as intelligent and complex as you are.” “Maybe I was born in the wrong time,” she murmured as she looked back down and I returned to my office. I glanced at my calendar on my computer, organized and flawless thanks to my assistant. She helped me in many aspects of my job, and I mulled an idea over in my head. Coworkers could eat together without it meaning anything, couldn’t they? I knew for a fact that some of the staff met for drinks at a bar nearly every weekend, and I could end the night that way, keeping it public and casual. I grinned as I picked up my phone.

LILY I heard a chime and looked around, wondering if Brian was bugging me again. It was the iPhone Landon had given me, and I picked it up to see a text from my boss. I opened it, glancing around for a moment before I read the words. He told me a client had backed out of dinner, leaving him with reservations at one of the best steakhouses in the city. Would I like to join him for some good food and drinks? I made most of his reservations and that one was a mystery to me. I wondered if this was a ruse as the devil on my shoulder whispered that it wouldn’t hurt anything to have dinner with the man. It could prolong going to Brian’s, and I’d get much more intelligent conversation from Landon than from sitting and watching Brian and his friends play video games. I let my fingers pause over the screen before I told him that sounded great. It would likely be more of a business dinner since we’d discuss the firm. I wasn’t going to ask him a lot of personal questions even though I’d seen him stressed out a few times over the week. There was a part of me that wanted to know what made Landon tick, what kept him up at night. I wanted to know

what turned him on, and I jumped as he sent another text, dropping the phone on my desk as I looked around with wide eyes. This was getting inappropriate. He suggested leaving at five and going over to make the reservation, with some time to spare for drinks. I agreed and turned up my music a bit as I finished my report. Before we left the office, I sent Brian a text saying I was held up at work for a bit. I told him that I’d text him later, feeling a little bad about the entire thing as I cleaned up my already tidy desk for the day. I was slipping on my sweater when Landon stepped out of his office, holding his briefcase. “Are you ready?” “I am,” I replied as I put my work phone on mute, as well as my personal one. I stood and we walked to the elevators together, a few other people joining us as we waited. “Hey, you,” I turned to see Lauren approaching and smiled at her. “What are you doing tonight?” I wasn’t sure what to say, but Landon handled it, explaining that we were going to a business-related dinner at the moment. I didn’t understand the frosty look in Lauren’s eyes as she glanced from him to me before smiling. “We’ll all be at the Corner for drinks if you want to stop by. It’s close by,” she said as I nodded, knowing it from the night I first saw Landon. “I know it. I’ll see, okay?” I asked, and she nodded and turned her attention to the girl beside her, talking in a low voice. I felt like the conversation was about me, and I frowned as I watched the door slide open. Landon and I were in the first group to head down, and I looked at Lauren as the door closed, seeing the smirk on her face. I was quiet as we walked to his car, a big SUV that was parked on the lowest level of the garage. Landon opened the door for me and I slid inside, wondering if the friendship that had been forming with Lauren had been fake to begin with. I didn’t have a lot of female friends and never had, so this thing with Lauren had been a nice change. “Are you okay?” Landon asked as he started the engine, looking at me. “She just turned on me,” I said slowly as I frowned. “What did I do?” “There is a certain element to the firm with some of the women that I’ll never understand, but they talk among themselves. More than I’d prefer, but I have too much to do to babysit people,” Landon explained as I glanced his way. “You didn’t deserve that.” “She thinks there’s something between us.” He remained quiet and I looked forward. “Is that what everyone is going to think?”

“I don’t give a damn what they think.” He backed out of the spot and drove to the main road, taking a right before merging into the traffic. We drove deeper into the city and ended up in a part of town on the river before he parked. As before, Landon opened my door and led me up the steps to the heavy glass door to open it. He was so natural at all of this, and I thought about how awkward Brian could be sometimes. The moment he dropped his name to the hostess, we were led to a table in the corner, private and near the elegant fireplace. They asked what we’d like to drink, and Landon checked to see if I liked wine, to which I nodded. I looked around as we were left alone, taking note of the windows that offered a great view of the sun going down as well as the candles and flowers that were on every table. It was beautiful here, and I looked down at the menu on the table in front of me. “Order anything you like,” he urged me as I looked at him, seeing the colors of the sunset on his face along with the candlelight. He was stunning in this light, and I lost my breath for a moment as our eyes locked. The heat between us filled the room as the waiter brought the wine to us, telling us to take all the time we needed to look at the menus. They weren’t even opened yet. I grabbed my glass and took a large sip before I opened the thick menu with shaking hands. It had no prices, which told me it was an expensive place. I wondered if I should offer to pay for mine, at least. I scanned the entrees, finding salmon and some veggies with a great salad. I loved salmon but didn’t eat a lot of it, as I was always trying to save some money and eat on a budget. I smiled and knew that was my choice as I set the menu on the table. Landon already seemed to be ready, his menu on the table and a smile on his face as he watched me. “Did you find something?” “Yes, though it all sounds so good,” I told him with a grin on my face. “This is a special treat.” I paused and frowned a bit as I looked at him. “I can pay for my meal, Mr. Logan.” My voice was quiet, shy. “It’s Landon, and no. I have this, since you are my assistant and this is a business dinner.” His eyes twinkled as he spoke, and I felt a stirring deep inside my body. It was something that should have been reserved for Brian, but for him it was now nonexistent. “Thank you,” I replied as the waiter came over and graciously asked me what I’d like before moving his attention to Landon. He left us alone and I sighed and looked back at my boss. My supervisor. A man who was as off-limits as possible. I assumed we would talk business, and we did for a while. But then

Landon effortlessly changed the direction of the conversation and asked me about myself, about things that weren’t on my resume. I found myself opening up about losing my beloved parents and being raised by an aunt who was learning along the way, just like I was. We had the help of our local grandparents until they passed away when I was twenty, due to separate illnesses. That was another learning process, and I found my connection with my father’s parents unstable as I grew older. My aunt was my entire family now, and I loved her. Landon told me about his parents, divorced and living on opposite ends of the United States. He still kept in close touch with both of them and saw them regularly, along with his older brother of two years. Michael lived in New York and worked in advertising. I was surprised when he mentioned he was going through a divorce, and even more so when he said he had been widowed at a young age. He clearly loved and missed his first wife and was bitter about the end of his second marriage, as well as his soon-to-be ex’s greed for his belongings and money. Growing up middle class at best and having to work my ass off for my accomplishments, I’d always had the jaded view that the wealthy didn’t have true feelings and just blew through life, but Landon was proving me wrong. His face didn’t change a lot as we talked, but I could hear everything in his voice. His eyes were a dead giveaway to his feelings, and I licked my lips as I watched the emotions cross them one by one. He was beautiful when he spoke, open and honest when I sensed he was normally a man who had some walls up. Why was he letting them down for me? We ate slowly, sipping wine until the bottle was empty and I was feeling every bit of it, as well as a growing attraction for Landon. He was everything I would want in a man if he weren’t my boss. When we left the building hours later, I was giddy and I stumbled going to the car. He caught my arm. “Okay?” “I don’t drink a lot. I don’t have such intelligent conversations over good meals. You’re changing my life.” I babbled on before my eyes widened and I stared at him. “I could say the same,” he replied as he took my hand and led me to his vehicle. I knew I had been drinking most of the wine as we talked and laughed. I’d needed the liquid courage. Now that we were alone on the street by his SUV, I gazed into his eyes. Landon The air was cold around us but I was lost in Lily’s eyes as she stared at me with growing heat. All through dinner, I’d grown increasingly attracted to her,

physically as well as to the person she was inside. Lily was an amazing woman who had gone through a lot in her short life. Once we were alone out here, the urge to kiss her was almost too much to bear. She seemed to want it too, as her eyes shifted between my eyes and my lips. “Come home with me?” I asked as she sucked in her breath. “Our secret. I have to have you, Lily.” “But…we work together,” she argued, the heat in her eyes battling with logic. “Nobody will know about this, Lily. I swear that to you.” My eyes were hard as I gazed at her, slipping my hands up her body. I wanted her in my bed, spread naked before me so I could own her body. I wanted to make her scream my name, and her eyes showed me that she wanted the same. “Yes.” Her voice was a whisper, and I wasted no time in unlocking her door. She slid inside the vehicle and I hurried around to start the engine, jerking into the street to drive to my apartment. I didn’t want her to change her mind or even speak at all, not until she was locked inside my home. Lily remained quiet, and I drove through the streets, taking in her sweet and spicy scent. She smelled like fall and holidays, and I wanted to bottle it for every place I would spend any time in. Did her skin taste that way? We parked in the garage and I took a long look at her. She gazed back at me, and I leaned forward to brush my lips against hers, meeting with electricity. “Fuck,” I murmured as I kissed her again, wanting to fuck her right there in the car. Lily was returning all my passion, moaning as our tongues danced together. “We need to be inside.” “Yes,” she murmured against me as I pulled away and hurried to her side to pull her out of the car. The garage was empty and we walked to the elevator, holding hands and breathing heavily. Once inside and alone, I claimed her mouth again and she clawed at my chest as my cock hardened. It was an easy trip to my door, and I unlocked it, allowing her to walk inside before me as I gazed at her perfect curves. Her black skirt was loose around her thighs today, but I could make out her ass as it draped over her backside, and her dark purple silk shirt clung closely to her. “This is beautiful. It reminds me of your office,” Lily told me before I took her hand and turned her toward me. I kicked the door closed and pulled her against me, kissing her hard as I turned her toward the wall. I wanted to slip her skirt off and fuck her this way, hard and deep. My hands ran down her body, finding her skin hot and soft, as she slipped her tongue against mine and groaned. I slid my hands up her thighs as she trembled,

rubbing a finger over the lace of her panties. Her heat was thick on the material, and she rocked against me as I kissed her neck. “I have a boyfriend,” she murmured as I moved past the material and stroked her slick folds. “Does he make you this wet, this hot?” I whispered, and she shook her head. “Does he give a fuck about your pleasure?” She closed her eyes, and I moved my finger faster in search of her clit. It was hard and begging for my touch, and she jerked against me. I made her come against that wall, watching her face as she cried out. I lifted her into my arms and carried her to my bed, placing her on it as she looked wearily at me. “You just touched me. How is that possible?” “I know a woman’s body. I know what she likes as opposed to young men who only know how to stick their dicks into something,” I told her as she moved to take her shirt off. Once her skirt was removed, I saw she was wearing a bra and panty set in a soft gray color. It was sexy and from my experience planned. I lowered by mouth to her stomach. “Is this for me?” “No. I never expected this. I was going to go see Brian after this and I hoped he noticed,” she said, and anger filled me. Brian sounded like a fool who didn’t appreciate the woman he had in front of him. I would do that and more, and I slipped my hands up to cup her breasts as she whimpered and arched against me. I unclipped the front of the lace bra and stroked her nipples as I lowered my body between her legs. I was still dressed, but I knew she could feel my cock against her. Lily clumsily undressed me after some exploration and long kisses, looking stunned as she took me in. I took great care of myself and it showed, her eyes wide as I lowered my pants and dropped them to the floor. I kissed her again before lowering my mouth to her neck, her chest, and then her hard nipple. I sucked and bit gently, listening to her sounds as she reacted strongly with her body. I couldn’t wait to taste her sweet pussy, but I held off, nipping at her and finding that her perfume smelled better than it tasted. That didn’t matter. I moved down her stomach, kissing gently before I lowered her underwear. I dropped them to the floor and looked into her heated eyes before I continued the journey down, kissing her soft inner thighs as she whispered my name. I used my thumbs to spread her open and blew hot air against her as she cried out. I saw how wet she was and inhaled her sweet honey before I placed a kiss gently against her. Kisses turned to my tongue stroking her firmly and quickly as I held her

still to control her wiggling. She dampened and I found her clit and drew it between my lips as she cried out my name and tried to move, fighting my tight hold on her thighs. I was rock hard, and I sucked in my breath as my cock strained against my boxers. “I have to have you,” I said after she came fiercely against my tongue. “I have to be inside you.” She pulled my hair and I moved up her body to stare into her face. Lily was beautiful post-orgasm, her face flushed and her eyes glowing. I reached over, opening the drawer beside my bed to get a condom before I kissed her, sharing her taste in the slow kiss. I shrugged my boxers off and her hand slid down to grasp me, her eyes filled with wonder. “You’re bigger. Will this fit?” “It will be the best feeling I’ve ever had,” I assured her as I allowed her to stroke me. “For you as well. I am going to fill your tight pussy and make you come around me, Lily.” “Oh, god,” she said as she tightened her hand. I allowed it until I was ready to burst, and then I told her I wanted to come inside her. I sheathed myself in a rush before I spread her legs apart and positioned myself before her. I was on the verge of sleeping with my assistant, and I wouldn’t have changed that for the world. She was tight and wet as I slid easily inside her, feeling her wrap around me as she moaned long and low. I started slow, allowing her to adjust to me before I gave in to her pleas and started to fuck her harder. She wrapped her legs around me and pulled me inside as I felt her tighten. “Landon, oh god.” She scraped my back with her nails, and I drove inside her harder as I approached my own release. “Lily, you feel so fucking good,” I grunted as she screamed and flooded me with her heat, making me explode a second or two after. I cried out her name as we held each other, feeling euphoric. I felt the air change as time passed. Lily moved from beside me, sitting up, and I watched her run her hands through her hair. “Lily?” I asked as I reached to pull her down again. “I can’t believe we did this. I can’t believe this happened. We have to work together, and there’s Brian. I…I am not like this.” Pain filled her voice, and I stroked her back gently. Lily stood and began to dress as I sat up. “I need to leave.” “No. Stay. Everything is fine.” I tried to soothe her as she covered her body quickly, dropping clothes in the process. “Lily? At least let me take you to your car.” “There’s Uber for that,” she told me without even looking at me as she left

the bedroom. I sighed and knotted the condom before I tossed it into the trash. Standing, I went out to see her by the window on her phone. She stilled and gave me a scared look as I approached her. “I can take you.” “That’s not necessary,” she said, staring past me for a moment. “That was great but I have a boyfriend. I should deal with that and figure my life out. I don’t want anything with you, though. This was just…what it was.” Lily shrugged and tried to pretend that it was nothing before her phone chimed. “They’re on their way. I should be outside.” “I’ll wait with you.” She sighed and we walked out together, not touching as the distance between us grew. The car pulled up and I took a close look at the young male driver before I glanced at her. “Good night. I’ll see you at work.” Lily got into the car and closed the door as I watched, left alone. I knew I didn’t want that after what we had just shared together, but I understood her fear. I knew sleeping with her had been a risk, but it was one I was willing to take again. I’d felt more with Lily tonight than I had with anyone else since Madeline. I wanted to hold on to that. I looked out over the night before I went back inside, locking the door and turning on a movie in my bedroom. My body was tingling and it still smelled like her in here. I never wanted to wash the sheets.

LILY I cried in the car on the way home. I was so upside down, and I needed some more wine and solo time to think this through. I thanked the guy without a second glance as I slipped out of the car. I unlocked the front door of my apartment and walked inside as I wiped my eyes again. I put my purse on the counter along with my keys and made it to my couch before I dropped onto it and started sobbing. I knew Brian wasn’t the love of my life, but he deserved better than what I had just done. I deserved better. At this point, I didn’t know if I still had a job, which was everything to me right now. What should I do? The sex had been incredible. Landon had done things I’d never felt, and the response from my body had been overwhelming. He’d called it right when he’d suggested Brian just stuck his dick inside me, something that never brought me to release. This time, I got there with fingers, tongue, and cock.

However, Landon was my supervisor. It had to stop. I grabbed the bottle of wine in my fridge and took my phone to my bedroom. I showered as long as the hot water lasted before drying off and pulling a big shirt over my head. I crawled into bed and drank right from the bottle like the rebel I was, knowing it was nothing like the wine I’d had at dinner. It was cheap and my bed was empty and cold, making me cry all over again. I woke up feeling like I’d been hit by a truck, and one look at my phone made me realize Brian had never called or texted last night. Did he even miss me? I went to get coffee and looked at my business phone after I turned it on, waiting anxiously for it to power up. I could be fired, left to start over after losing my mind a week into the job. One week and I’d jumped into bed with my supervisor. What kind of whore was I? There were a few messages, but nothing about being fired. Landon asked me if I was all right, assured me that nobody would ever know, and told me it had been the best night of his life. What a difference from Brian. I sipped my coffee, taking some aspirin with the Vitamin water that was in the fridge. I had not had a hangover like this in some time, not since college. I made my way to the couch, thankful that it was the weekend and I could just stay home and ride this out. I longed to never go back to work and face what I did, but that was out of the question. I would just have to hold my head high and refuse to address our little tryst last night. Little…who was I kidding? It was the single best night of my life given the way he had used his body to please me so well. I swore that the man could probably give a woman an orgasm just by looking at her. It would never be me again, and I might be a bit jealous of the next woman, but nobody would have to know that. No, they wouldn’t. It was back to business and working on this thing with Brian at least a little bit before I gave up. Surely he could be taught the things that pleased a woman in time, since it seemed to me older men had it together. Guys my age couldn’t be all bad. I dozed throughout the day, finally willing to eat something later on. I ordered my favorite greasy sandwich from the nearby deli for delivery and pulled on sweats and a clean shirt to get the door, throwing my hair into a low ponytail before the doorbell rang. I smiled when I opened it, slipping the young guy a bill before I secured the lock and sat down with my breakfast, lunch, and dinner and some hot tea. By Sunday I was feeling a bit better and had finally heard from Brian. He

said they got drunk on Friday, causing him to sleep all day so he didn’t know I never showed up. He made it sound so logical that I was questioning myself for being bothered. He was always the easygoing guy everyone wanted to be around. I was feeling a little less that way, but Friday was a mistake and couldn’t happen again. Landon did not contact me again, though I left my work phone in the kitchen to begin with. It was on if I was needed for any business matter, and I checked it from time to time, but there was nothing. I knew he had tried a few times, but being mature he didn’t want to bother me after my lack of response. I had probably made my thoughts clear when I ran out of his apartment as fast as possible once the condom was off. It made me cringe now, but what was done was done. It was better that we both just ignored it altogether, given the nature of our relationship. I felt human by Monday morning, just reluctant to go into the office. I showered and wore a modest black wrap dress with heels, putting on enough makeup to look professional and not overdone. I pulled my hair into a side ponytail and forced a bright smile on my red-stained lips as I reminded myself that I could handle this. Brian had taken me to dinner last night, and while it had just been a pizza place in the city, we’d had a good time. He talked about the weekend with his friends and I laughed in all the right places while sipping some water and looking across the table at him. Brian had dark blond hair and icy blue eyes that twinkled as he spoke, and I remembered how handsome I’d thought he was when we met at a party in school. To top it off, he was charming and all the girls seemed to notice him. My friend Olivia told me to go for it or step out of line. So, I went for it. We went home together that night, and a few months later here we were. He was still handsome and funny, but he lacked the passion I craved in a man. After Friday night, that was even more apparent. But I put that out of my mind Sunday night as I walked home beside Brian and he asked me to stay the night. “Come to my place,” I suggested instead as I bumped against him. “I have to get up early for work and we’d have some privacy,” “Sure. That sounds great.” We went back to my apartment and watched television in my bed before he kissed me. It was nice but not like Landon, making me groan inwardly as I deepened the kiss. The sex was painfully quick with little to no foreplay, and I stared at the ceiling with dissatisfaction in my eyes when he rolled onto his side with a long sigh. Wasn’t I the kind of woman that made Brian want to try harder? It had been

different when we’d first gotten together, or had it? Maybe I had just settled in faster than I thought, making me frown as he patted my stomach and closed his eyes. “Night, baby.” “Good night, Brian,” I said as I snuggled under the covers, craving the way my body had felt Friday night. I didn’t even want to sleep right away, but I needed to for work the next day. I watched Brian hop out of bed to go home before I locked my door and headed toward my car. I wanted him to look at me like Landon had for just a second, but he just pecked my lips and ran over to his apartment down the street without a second look back.

LANDON I’d had a long weekend waiting for Lily to respond to my texts. I’d told her everything I hoped would help the situation without stalking her. I knew women didn’t want a clingy man, and I prided myself on not being that man, but I was worried about her. She was beautiful, unique, and deserved the best of everything. Her body was made to be worshiped, and I thought back fondly to the way she sounded when she was coming for me. My cock hardened as I entered the building, looking over all the familiar faces to see if anyone looked at me differently. Having dinner with Lily wasn’t entirely impossible, though the restaurant had been fairly empty when we left. I had been too into her to notice if anyone from the building was there, but nobody had come over to say hello. I thought back and realized that we hadn’t been acting overly flirtatious at dinner, not enough to draw attention to ourselves, but the car had been a different story. Everything had come together in that moment, and the kiss we’d shared had been everything I’d wanted and more. I walked toward my office as I looked at the empty desk just outside my door. I had been thinking a lot this weekend, and even after the stress of the divorce, I knew I wanted Lily. It was more than just the sex. I’d never risk work for any woman, though technically nothing would happen to me and I’d protect Lily in any way I could, but I wanted to be with her. I walked through my door and set my briefcase down on my desk as I looked out over the city. The sun was rising quickly, and the sight normally motivated me. Today I just wanted to see Lily. Time seemed to drag before I warmed up my computer and left to get some coffee. I made a cup for myself as well as Lily. I was walking back to my desk

with both cups when I saw Lily standing over her computer with a focused look in her eyes. She looked beautiful but somehow modest today in a dress that covered her gorgeous body. I set her coffee down gently on a coaster, and she jumped and stared at me with wide eyes. “I made you some coffee,” I told her as I stared into her eyes with a searching gaze. There were so many things I wanted to say to Lily, but she just glanced at me and smiled weakly. “Thanks,” she said as she looked away. My eyes drifted down to her neck to see a dark blemish on her pale neck. Did I do that? I played back the night, remembering how careful I’d been with her, and my eyes narrowed once I knew that wasn’t from me. Did she really go running back to that boyfriend after the night we shared together? It was clear he didn’t satisfy her, and everything I remembered about Friday was close to perfect, apart from the way she left. “Anytime, Lily,” I murmured as I watched her cheeks flush pink. I turned and walked into my office as resentment and jealousy singed my skin. I was never jealous over a woman, but Lily was different and she didn’t even realize it. I knew she still felt something for me, but she was going to try to ignore it as she pursued the dead end that was her boyfriend. I played back every kiss as I paced my floor, not finding any part that wasn’t passionate and hot. I didn’t find anything that wasn’t worth repeating, making me groan as I ran a hand through my short hair. At some point, I needed to realize that I’d fucked up by sleeping with her. I had to accept that she didn’t want any more from me. I took a long sip of my coffee and set it down. I wasn’t here to charm my assistant; I was here to be the best attorney and partner I could be to the company. That was all that mattered. Still, I remembered how easily we’d opened up to one another as I handled any communication with Lily electronically. There were emails back and forth, all business without a hint of the version of Lily I’d seen over dinner and at my apartment. Truth be told, I hated it. When I went to get a second cup of coffee, I noticed Lauren standing with a group of girls and snickering. She cast me a curious gaze, and I stared at the coffee machine as I fumed inside, remembering how she’d made Lily feel. Lauren was a self-serving bitch, and while I’d always known that, it bothered me more today. Lily had been hurt by her, and she deserved more than that, and more than her boyfriend and the way he made her feel. “How was dinner?” Lauren’s voice carried over to me, and I stilled as I considered what to do. It would be unprofessional to tell her what a bitch she

was, so I finished my task and turned slightly. I pretended I didn’t hear her to save myself from getting angry. Walking by her out of the room, I heard her whispering. Lily was better off without her in her life and she’d see that, but Lauren could easily turn others against her. I’d never hated these women at the firm more than I did right now, and I looked at Lily as I approached her, realizing how different she was than any other woman I’d seen in years. Even though her shoulders were stiff and she was trying to avoid my gaze, Lily was genuine and soft, while everyone else was selfish and harsh. Friends asked me why I didn’t fuck more women at work, since there were beautiful ones all around me. Granted, I had slipped up a time or two before last weekend, but I knew Lily was the reason now as I passed her. Her scent filled the air, and I realized it was cider. She smelled like a sweet and spicy cider, the kind Mom used to make at Christmas. I never knew women could buy that as a scent for their skin. In my office, I sat and planned. I could give more to Lily than this boyfriend of hers on any given day, which made me want to put my plan into action. I wanted to take it slow and go about this in a subtle manner, at least at first. This week involved a tough client I was trying hard to woo, and Lily would be writing the content I’d presented over lunches that week, even planning drinks for Friday. It was that day that a bouquet of fresh purple flowers would be delivered to her desk in the morning, as well as lunch from the deli. When I passed by her desk on Friday afternoon after lunch, I felt her eyes on me. Lily cleared her throat, and I glanced at her, seeing the curiosity in her eyes. “Is this you?” she asked as she gestured to the flowers and the remains of her lunch. I noticed that she wasn’t having lunch with Lauren or any of the other girls, and I saw the hurt on her face. I wasn’t ready to ask her to join me yet, but I knew we’d be working closely together next week. The opportunity would present itself. “Was there a card?” I asked lightly as she narrowed her eyes. I knew there wasn’t, and I leaned down to look into her face. “It’s just a small thank you for helping me so much this week.” “That’s my job,” Lily reminded me, making me shrug. “That doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate it.” I walked back into my office with a smile as heat flooded her beautiful skin. She murmured a thank you before I was too far, and I paused before closing my door. I considered asking her to join my next client and me, but it was a bit soon after the last time we drank together. I also suspected that this client might enjoy something that

might be a bit much for Lily. I was right. We ended the night at one of the higher-scale strip clubs, and I watched the nude women move to the forced sexual beats of the songs, missing Lily’s curves and soft skin as I sipped whiskey. I had the deal of approval on the contract, so it had all paid off, but I didn’t want to be here. “How about a lap dance in the private room?” James asked with a wicked glint in his dark eyes. He was a pig of a man, but his catering company did very well at some of the bigger events in town. They would make us money. “You go on. I’m just going to stay here and enjoy the view.” I held up my glass, and he nodded as he stumbled toward the back room that I was certain was filthy and likely covered in disease. There’d been a period that I spent time back there, and no matter how classy the establishment claimed to be, they were always the same once you went back to the private rooms. At one time, the impersonal feel of it all didn’t bother me. Now I knew what I wanted.

LILY I left the flowers at my desk when I left for the weekend. I wanted to bring them home, but I’d felt the looks all week from Lauren and the others. I didn’t want to draw attention to myself further, thought I could play them up like they were from my boyfriend. That might make them pay less attention to me, as I knew they a

I’d slept with Landon that night. They weren’t wrong, and I deserved the looks and the whispers. I shamed myself day after day. I had agreed to go to Brian’s tonight to hang out with his friends, and I headed to my car to make the short drive there. I’d chosen a more casual dress for work, something light and, oddly enough, purple. It matched the flowers Landon had sent me, and the thought made me smile now that I was alone. We’d barely spoken this week and the vibe with us was still awkward, though he’d had the decency not to bring up last weekend. I hoped it was over and forgotten, or did I? It was the only fantasy getting me through the nights spent with Brian. It was the only thing that gave me any release, alone or with him. I was pathetic. As I stared out the window after Brian and I were finished that night, feeling lonely and unsatisfied, I was missing the way Landon and I had talked over dinner and the way he’d made me feel when I knew he was going to kiss me. I LL THOUGHT

missed everything about the night I played through my head over and over, asleep and awake. I got myself off silently as Brian slept beside me before I turned onto my side to fall asleep. The party was still going on in the living room, and I tried to drown out the noise, tired from my long day. I wondered if there would come a time when Brian would ever be ready to live in his own place, or maybe a place with me. Since I wasn’t in college anymore, I craved dinners after work as we talked alone in a peaceful apartment. Jesus, I sounded like I wanted that with Brian. Did I? He had seemed to be going in that direction when we met, but all I’d seen him do since was revert to the past, when he’d been in college as well. I lied and told him I had plans on Saturday so I could leave in the morning. I had no plans other than to veg on my couch and in my bed, getting a little solitude. I talked to my aunt a lot, confessing what I’d done, and she talked me through it. Amy assured me that we all got lost in the moment, and after my description, she was certain that Landon was gorgeous. She even googled him and told me that any woman would fall prey to those eyes. At the end of one conversation on Sunday as we watched a movie together over the phone, I was laughing. I promised to come out to Philadelphia next weekend to visit her and her boyfriend, Lance, before telling her I loved her and ending the call. I talked to Brian a couple of times over the weekend too, but he was out and about with his friends while I was hiding from the cold, heavy air. The closer to winter it got, the less I wanted to be outside. New York was lovely around the holidays, no doubt. I just got cold a lot despite having grown up on the East Coast. I went to work Monday knowing it was going to be a busy week, including some late hours as we worked on something for the new client. I’d enjoyed the food from his popular catering company here and there, finding it good, but I found him kind of crass as a person. He’d been in the building several times, and he had hit on me every one of them. It wasn’t even in a flattering way, more in a make-my-skin-crawl way. I stepped inside the elevator with a few other early birds, smiling at a girl who worked on my floor. She was shy and dark haired and far removed from Lauren’s group. We’d said hello a few times, and I cautiously wondered if there was hope for a friendship here as I made my way to my desk. Landon’s door was already open, and I set my coffee down on my desk before sitting down to warm up my computer. I slipped my purse into the drawer and was securing it with the key when I felt his presence. “Nice hat.” I smiled gently, loving my hat collection even if nobody else did. Today’s

choice was a dark gray one to go with my plum blouse and matching skirt. “Thanks,” I replied as I looked at my screen. “Ready for a busy week?” he asked as I glanced at him with a nod. “I want to make something great for James since he is going to bring in quite a profit. I want a detailed contract.” “It will get done,” I assured him as I looked into his face for more than a fleeting second for the first time in days. I knew from the weeks I’d been here that Landon took his job seriously and demanded perfection, something I could provide. I was willing to work as late as he needed me, even if the idea of being alone with him in his office made me shiver inside. I had avoided getting too close for the last several days, though my body still craved Landon. Every time I slept with Brian, it seemed to get worse, and I was gradually losing interest in the waning relationship with him. I did what I could at my desk and then headed into Landon’s office in the afternoon. He was sipping more coffee, and he looked me over for a long moment as I moistened my lips. “So, what is the grand plan?” “I want to draw up what we are going to do for his company. James wants to be stable with his clients and protected in every way possible,” Landon told me as our eyes locked. Oh, god, I was wet already. I sat down and took a deep breath as I forced a smile onto my face. We went over his outline and I entered it into my iPad to be taken to my desk afterward. I knew how hard Landon had worked on this contract, and I listened to him talk about every aspect of it, taking careful notes. He declared that he was hungry a few hours after the building emptied and suggested a nearby Thai place, offering to order in so we could keep working. Close up, I knew he was flirting heavily with me. It was thick in the air, and I knew staying here was dangerous. “Wouldn’t some fresh air be great?” I suggested as he loosened his tie and chuckled. I knew what I wanted him to do with it, and I jumped as he picked up the phone. “We’re not finished yet.” He held a brochure in his hand and ordered a variety of food in a confident voice, telling them that a security guard would be available to greet them in the lobby. Landon ended the call and walked over to the dorm-sized fridge to pull out two beers. He handed me one and I stared at him with wide eyes as I took it. “We’re at work.” Landon grinned and stretched as I watched helplessly. “It goes great with spicy food and we deserve it,” he said as he walked closer to me. “You look nervous, Lily.” “I’m not,” I lied as the bottle shook right along with my hand. I set it down when his eyes dropped to follow the movement. Being alone with him

reminded me of the night we’d spent together, and I cursed the part of me that wanted him all over again. I licked my dry lips as he stood above me, his eyes piercing mine as our gazes locked. “I have been thinking of you every second,” he told me softly as I felt the heat between my thighs. “I can’t count how many times I have jerked off to that sweet pussy of yours.” “Landon, you’re my boss,” I stammered as he slid a hand down the stomach that I knew was tight with muscle over the tent in his pants. “I think we both know that it is more than that,” Landon assured me as he dropped into a chair and rolled toward me. “Tell me that you’re not wet for me, Lily. Tell me that you haven’t been thinking about me as well, craving me.” His arrogance was both maddening and the biggest turn on I’ d ever experienced, and I dropped my head forward. I had been thinking of him, constantly. Every time I tried to rekindle what I’d shared with Landon in bed with Brian, it failed miserably and I’d get myself off after he was asleep. I’d get myself off alone in my bed and sometimes here in the bathroom. I was officially a sex addict, and it wasn’t because of my boyfriend. I felt hands cup my face and then his rough lips were on mine, claiming me as I moaned. God, he was so rough as he nibbled at me, and I tilted my head to deepen the kiss. I couldn’t turn him away. We moved together in the chairs easily, though it should have been awkward. “How long until the food is here?” “Twenty minutes. Raph will hold it for us,” he told me before he lifted me onto his lap. We rolled across the floor as I squealed, holding on to him as he kissed me again.

LANDON I lifted Lily easily and brought her to the couch, dropping her on it as I crawled over her body. She tasted like the little beer she’d sipped, and I thanked her silently for wearing a loose skirt. I pushed it up and parted her thighs with my knees as our tongues danced, feeling euphoric at the contact. I could feel the need in her hard kiss and in the way she slipped her hand over my hard cock. I was ready to plunge my fingers inside her, but she unbuttoned my pants and took me into her hand as she stared down at my swollen cock. I saw her eyes lock with mine, dark with need, before she leaned in to take me into her mouth. Lily didn’t do this the first night, and I groaned as her lips wrapped tightly around me. I slipped my hands into her hair and pulled her

closer as I moved in front of her carefully, so as not to hurt her. She was hungry, sucking me with her mouth, down her throat. She was needy in the way she reached around to my bare ass and pulled me closer, urging me to fuck her mouth as I closed my eyes. I gave in, taking her slow and rough as I swelled further, needing to come in her throat. I wanted to fill her mouth with me and watch my essence drip out of her, and I rocked against her as I edged toward my goal. I came as the phone rang, clutching her face in my hands. Lily swallowed me down as she stared into my eyes, taking all that I had to give her. I stumbled back and walked over to the phone as she licked her lips. Had it been the twenty to thirty minutes like I’d expected? I’d barely gotten my hands on her. I didn’t want the security guard to come up and find us like this, so I assured him in a low voice that I’d be right down to get the food. “Stay there. I’ll be back.” I looked at Lily, her thighs spread and her eyes wide, and licked my lips. “I am not done with you yet, Lily.” I remembered how she’d left that last time and my heart pounded at the thought of it as I fixed my clothes, so I least looked like I was working a late night in the office. I closed my door, tempted to lock it even though I knew it would do no good. Lily could leave it she wanted to, but I held on to the memory of her eyes as she sucked my cock. I knew she wanted me as much as I wanted her. I thanked the delivery guy for the food, handing him two large bills as he looked down with a grin. I nodded at Raphael, my night security guard, and headed back up, my heart pounding with every step. The food triggered my hunger, and I felt a growl in my stomach as I stepped into the empty elevator. The building was empty, and I longed to fill it with the sounds of Lily’s screams as I took her again and again. I wanted her there, waiting for me. I stepped off the elevator, making my way to the office and pushing the door open. I looked to the couch to see Lily against the cushions, fingering her clit as she rocked against her hand. Her voice was low and gasping, and I kicked the door closed and dropped the food on one end of the couch. “Fucking hell, Lily.” I growled as I dropped to my knees and put my mouth to her wet pussy, licking hungrily as she released for me. She was sweet and hot, just like I remembered, and I ate at her eagerly as she whimpered and moaned throughout the prolonged orgasm. Her clit was hard and swollen as I tugged at it with my teeth, making her scream my name. “I am going to fuck you the way you like it. I am going to fuck you the way you’ve been craving me.”

“Yes, please,” she begged me as I loosened my pants and dropped them to the floor. I was hard as hell all over again, and I looked back toward my desk, where I knew I had some condoms. “Are you protected, Lily? I’m clean and I want you right now.” I looked into her face, seeing fear cross it for a moment before she nodded. “You can trust me. I’d never hurt you.” She nodded again and I stood and moved over her body. Her panties were already moved to the side, and I spread her legs with one hand and tore at her panties with the other. Once she was bare, dripping and wet, I slipped forward and inside her. Lily was tight and welcoming, crying out as I buried myself inside her. “Oh, god. Fuck me,” Lily pleaded as I took her repeatedly. “So good. You feel so good.” I lowered my lips to hers and kissed her, pressing our bodies together. Her pussy tightened around me as she moaned, her tongue soft against mine. “I missed you.” We fucked hard and rough before she came a second before me. I felt all her heat and jerked as I came inside her, combining us into one as we both moaned. I never wanted to be inside her covered again, and I fell against her body as I worked her shirt lose to cup her breast over the lace of her bra. I knew that when I pulled out, I would leak from her, and I didn’t want that. I needed to remain inside her. I had a fleeting glimpse of her belly swollen with my child in my mind, and I sucked in my breath. What the fuck was I thinking? I reluctantly pulled out, covering her with my hand to keep myself inside her. Lily looked at me as she breathed deeply, as if to ask what I was doing. Her stomach growled, breaking the ice with following her giggle as I dropped against her body. “Are you worried about a mess?” “God, no,” I told her as I looked into her eyes. “I’ll get the food and we can eat here. Okay?” “Perfect.” I locked the office door before walking back over with the bag, unloading the food, and placing it on the floor. We each grabbed a fork, opening everything and taking bites of things as she looked at me with curious eyes. “This happened again.” “Are you going to run off?” I asked her gently as she chewed a piece of chicken slowly. “Why did you do it the first time?” Lily looked around the office slowly before she gave me a long stare. “I was scared. I work with you and I have someone in my life.” I swallowed the noodles I’d been chewing and stared at the bottle of beer on my desk. “That worked when we were just a one-time thing, perhaps. We

both wanted it this time, sober and well aware of what we were doing. I saw the way you went right for my cock.” Her cheeks flushed pink, and she frowned as she stared at the floor. “It’s like I can’t control myself around you, but I don’t know if that’s the right thing. I need this job and the future it provides me. I can’t risk that for sex.” “This isn’t just sex, Lily. It’s more than that for me, and I can take care of your future. I can take care of you,” I promised her as she ran a hand through her hair. “I…I don’t know. What if we don’t last? Is it worth the risk?” Her voice was soft, and she looked at me, showing me the future I’d attempted with Nadine. As I stared into Lily’s beautiful face, I realized it had never been there with her. “Yes. You remind me of the way I felt with my first wife,” I assured her as she stared into a container of food. “I can take care of you. I can make you happy.” “I worked hard for this job, not to be taken care of,” she told me as she stared at me. “I am not that kind of girl.” “Lily,” I said as she moved off the couch and adjusted her clothes. “Don’t do this again.” “I think we got a lot done, don’t you?” She slipped her shirt into her skirt and smoothed her hands down the material. “I mean, we can call it a night and return to this on Monday.” I heard the shakiness of her voice as I set my food down and stood up. “Stop this. Don’t leave me again. Give this a chance,” I told her as I cupped her face and kissed her, tasting the food as our tongues danced together. I didn’t let her move away, and I slipped her clothes off again as she melted against me. I held her close as she pushed me to the couch, where she rode my cock as I gripped her hips and guided her over me. She didn’t look at me when we were done. She rolled off me and back onto the couch, closing her eyes, as I reached for her. “I can’t believe that happened again.” I watched her dress after she regained her senses, and I didn’t try to stop her this time. I could see that Lily was determined to go this time, and I felt an emptiness settle in my heart. “You don’t have to do this,” I told her as she gave me a sad look. “I don’t want this with you. I don’t know that I want it with Brian, but there’s too much going on between us. I can’t do this,” Lily said as she reached for her purse. “Let me walk you to the car,” I insisted, standing and dressing. “It’s the

fucking least I can do, Lily.” “Fine,” she said as I grabbed my keys and left the food on the floor, her eyes on me.

LILY “Aren’t you going to take that?” I asked him as he cast a dark look around the room. “They’ll clean it this weekend,” Landon murmured, making me shiver. He could be so warm and passionate one moment and so cold the next, making my heart ache as I looked at him. I wanted him. I knew that, yet I still pushed him away, too scared to face my own feelings. I was clinging to Brian, or at least the idea that we had something of a future together. I couldn’t even consider the idea of risking my dream job for an affair that could burn out in no time at all, even though I knew we could both feel the heat between us. I was lost in my thoughts as he cleared his throat, making me glance up at him. “Ready?” The defeat in his voice was evident, and I nodded slowly. “Sure.” I left first, the night playing through my mind as he shut off the light and pulled the door closed. We were silent as we walked to the elevator. Wasn’t I in his lap an hour ago, coming as I cried his name? Didn’t I try to leave once before I went back for more, something I wanted again right now? Warmth flooded my skin at the thought. We rode the car down to the garage, where he led me to my car and stared me down. I saw the want in his gaze, but more than that, I saw the rejection. “Drive safe, Lily. I’ll see you on Monday.” I nodded and slipped into my car, feeling tears slide down my face as he walked away toward his SUV. I knew I was letting an amazing man slip away from me, but I was powerless to stop it as I started my car to leave. I still felt the slickness between my legs as I shifted in my seat, caring more about Landon than I did about the fact that I was ruining my skirt. I made my way home, crying in the shower as I rinsed away all traces of Landon from my body. I still felt the tingle between my thighs from the sex we’d had, but that would fade with time. It would all fade with time, and I hoped I would stop crying before Monday. I stayed in bed the rest of the weekend, dozing and regretting leaving Landon at the office. Part of me wanted him to reach out to me, but my phone was silent on my counter. I did hear from Brian and had dinner with him on Sunday, declining his invitation to spend the night at his apartment. I lied and

said that I needed to be at work early on Monday. Everything that had happened over the last month or so made me doubt my feelings for him. I was confused, and I tossed and turned in my bed as I tried to sort through my conflicting emotions. I thought about the first time I slept with Landon, as well as the last two. They all had one thing in common: pure heat. It was a heat I didn’t want to deny myself as I dragged myself out of bed and showered. I pulled on a black skirt and a black silk T-shirt, pulling my hair back into a low ponytail before I put on a small amount of makeup. I drove to the office blankly, unaware that I was there until I was parked and looking around. Everyone was walking in, and I sipped my coffee slowly as I contemplated going home. I didn’t want to be here. I got out and walked to the building, entering the elevator quietly and moving to the back as Lauren slipped inside before the door closed. I didn’t want her to know about my mistake; it was not for the whole office to discuss. She left before me, striding to her section of the building as I slowly made my way to my desk. “Shit.” I forgot my coffee in the car. I locked up my purse and warmed up my computer before heading toward the break room. I noticed Landon walking toward me, and I took him in with remorseful eyes as he stared at his phone until he was at his door. “Good morning.” He glanced at me with a dismissive gaze as he opened his door to walk inside. It didn’t take much to notice the dark mark on his neck, high and near his jaw, and I pressed my lips together. Landon moved on quickly. I didn’t even have sex with my boyfriend at all this weekend. Landon left every day for lunch, and we barely worked together inside his office that week. It was all emails and brief texts, making me crazy with need. I wanted to talk to him like we used to, see his gorgeous eyes. I wanted him to look at me the way he had the times we’d been together. But I convinced myself that this was best for both of us. Even after telling myself that all week, I broke up with Brian Friday night. I did it over the phone, not even going to dinner or his apartment. I just told him before leaving work and then went home alone, wondering what Landon was doing. I knew I had let myself get carried away with him, that this was my fault. I deserved all the suffering I was going through, as well as the guilt. Brian wasn’t a bad guy at all, just young. He didn’t deserve what I had done to him with my boss. I know deep down that was why I had ended it with Brian. Through all of it, I was going to keep my job. My future was in my hands, and I was going to succeed at my career, even if it was in a place where I had

made so many mistakes. The smile on the elevator did turn into a friendship. Her name was Jasmine, and she was the same age I was, new to the company. She assisted another one of the partners, and it was a relief to have someone to talk to again. We’d go to lunch and discuss college and work, though it took me some time to confess what had happened with Landon. I had needed to know that I could trust her, and Jasmine had proved that I could, so I revealed the truth over drinks at a bar on Friday night two weeks after the first time we had lunch together. Jasmine was sympathetic, and we were both drunk. It felt good to have it off my shoulders, and she soothed me through all of it before the night was over. But then we saw Landon walk in with friends when we were preparing to leave. “Are you going to be okay?” Jasmine asked as she followed my gaze to him. “Yes, of course. We work together after all.” I smiled at her before I urged her to go, as she had to get to her sister’s for the weekend. I gave her a hug and thanked her for the kind words before I reached over for my own purse. Another night alone at home. Great. I was just moving backward when I felt someone close to me, and I stilled as a familiar scent filled my nostrils. “What are you doing?” I asked as Landon pressed against my ass. “We could be seen.” “Nobody comes here from work,” he replied as I frowned. “I fucking miss you. I miss this body.” I knew I was single and technically free now, but Landon was still my boss. “Looks to me like you’ve been busy,” I shot back as his hand circled my hip. “Come home with me.” I wondered how much further I was willing to sink into the abyss I had created. This was not going to solve anything, as much as I wanted it. I’d just talked about it, finally. I was just starting to feel some relief. “Landon,” I murmured as heat flooded my thighs. “I want to fuck you.” With that, I gave in. He slipped me his address on a napkin after I agreed, and I struggled to get a ride with my phone. I was drunk, and there was no way I was driving. Landon walked over to his friends and told them something before leaving. I watched for a moment, realizing that this was actually going to happen. I wondered if the affable guy driving knew that he drove so many people to their sins. He was just chatting about the weather. It was late, I was drunk, and even I knew I was nervous. He told me to have a good night as I left the car,

and I smiled weakly. I had never been inside Landon’s complex this way before, so I walked into the large lobby as I looked around for the elevators. Oh, god. I was going to fuck my boss tonight, and I was dripping wet at the thought. I arrived on his floor and made my way to his door, tapping gently before he opened the door and pulled me inside.

LANDON I claimed her lips as soon as my door was closed, pulling Lily close. The last few weeks of no contact had been rough, even though I’d tried to fuck her out of my system with several women. They just weren’t Lily, who had become incredibly important to me over the time we’d worked together. Our lips crashed together, our tongues dancing as she wrapped her arms around my neck. I slipped my hands down to cup her ass as she wrapped her legs around my waist, and then I carried her to the bedroom. Nadine had the other apartment, and this was all mine. I’d settled for more than I initially wanted to, but it was over. That had been the ultimate goal for me, and I was happy with all of it, apart from the fact that Lily wasn’t mine. I dropped her on the mattress and lifted her dress over her head as she raised her arms. I needed her naked and ready for me. I unhooked her bra as her hard nipples screamed my name. Lily was beautiful. Her underwear was drenched when I pulled it off, finding her pussy glistening with desire. I struggled with what to do first, and finally I stripped off my clothes and covered her body with mine as I kissed her. Our mouths clung to one another, open and wanting and needy as our tongues moved together. I slipped a hand over her body to cup her breast, squeezing her nipple as she moaned. My cock was painfully hard as I brushed against her stomach and reached a hand down between her legs. “You’re so wet,” I told her as I pulled away for a moment, stroking her folds slowly as she panted loudly. I slipped two fingers inside her, and she cried out, pulling me down for another kiss. Lily rocked with my fingers, bringing me deeper with each movement until she was tight around me, flooding me with her heat. “Landon, oh fuck. Landon.” I slid my fingers out to taste them as she watched with blurry eyes. “You came to work with a hickey after.” I heard the emotion in her voice and saw the pain in her eyes as I ate her off my hand. “How many women have there been?”

“They were never enough,” I assured her as I dropped over her body and sucked her nipple into my mouth. She reached around my head and pulled me closer with a keening sound, telling me she had missed me just as much as I’d missed her. I treated both nipples the same before kissing down her stomach and attacking her pussy with my mouth. Maybe I was crazy, but nobody tasted like Lily. Nobody affected me like she did. I nipped and teased her relentlessly until she was bucking against my mouth with a wild orgasm, at which point I held her still and sucked her clit between my teeth. She was screaming in her struggle to move, making me even harder. I pulled away from her and met her wild gaze with my own before I pulled her legs farther apart and dropped my body between them. “Do you have a condom?” she asked in a firm, scratchy voice that left me with no doubt that this wasn’t going any further without one. I didn’t ever want to wear one again with her, but the protest that was on my lips faded away. I wanted to assure Lily that I had been safe with anybody else to a fault, but the wary look in her eyes told me it wouldn’t matter. I reached blindly for the drawer beside the bed and pulled one out, rolling it over myself before she changed her mind. Not only was she still into the idea, but Lily climbed onto her hands and knees to present herself to me. Part of me couldn’t wait to be inside her as I moved forward and found her dripping entrance, but another part of me longed to see her face as she came. This felt more like a fuck right now when I wanted so much more from her. I had been talking to people at work, finding a place for her in the company that would allow us to date without taking away her dream. I had made plans for us for when I asked her for her commitment, thinking of every romantic gesture I’d ever done or heard of to make this work. I knew I fucked up going to the bar that night and then home with…what was her name? She was just the first one. But the arrogant part of me had been happy to walk into the office with that mess of a hickey on my neck, as if I were proving something other than the fact that I was an asshole. I had just been in a hurry to get Lily the hell out of my mind, and it hadn’t worked. Now I was inside her and slapping against her delicious ass when I only wanted to see her face. Still though, she felt good as she rocked with me and moaned or cried out with every thrust of my hips. I hardened as I felt her tighten in her release, screaming my name as she clutched my messy blankets. Fuck. I jerked forward as I filled the latex holding me back from her, still violent but not what I had intended when I brought her here. Seeing her at the bar had just set something off in me. Seeing her beautiful

smile had made me tell my friends that I would be right back before I rushed over to talk to her as that other woman who worked in the building (for a fleeting moment I’d been happy that she was with anyone but Lauren) left. I didn’t expect to ask her to come home with me, and once I did, I never dreamed she would say yes. Now, I grunted her name as my cock drained, gripping her hips tightly as she let out a slow breath. Letting go, I tumbled onto the bed as she moved flat on her stomach. We were both damp with sweat, but still, I pulled her close to me to breathe in her scent. I almost hadn’t known how much I had missed it until now. “You feel so good.” “So do you,” Lily murmured, but she seemed to tense in my embrace. “I know that you think poorly of me now, after how I was acting. I just… couldn’t deal with you walking away from me again. I just flipped out a bit, but I’m over that,” I told Lily, stroking her stomach as she shivered. “I took care of things, and I am free for you. I tied up loose ends. I don’t care how I say it, but I am ready for you. Baby, I want to see you as more than just this.” I knew she’d had a boyfriend once, but she was here, so maybe that was over. Maybe she was ready to be mine as well. “I think I am falling in love with you, Lily.” “You know that after fucking me three times? Is that how many it takes?” she asked, her voice strained and rising. “I know because you make me feel the way my first wife did. I never thought I would find that again, Lily. I believed there was only one for me, but then I saw you. I wanted you then, but once we got to know each other, I knew it was my second chance.” “Aren’t you going through a divorce?” Lily asked me, and I sighed. “That wasn’t love. That was a mistake.” I didn’t say I would consider a third marriage with her, not yet. There were too many details to iron out before then. “The fact that I am your assistant? How about that?” she pressed as she remained in the same position, not looking at me. “You can move around in the building to something that won’t affect us at all.” I slipped a hand over her nipple slowly, feeling it harden. “You can still live your dream, Lily. It would just be with me in your life supporting you at every step.” I knew this was fast and a lot to think about for her, but I couldn’t stop myself. Lily turned in my arms, pressing herself against me as she sighed. Her lips found my chest as she kissed me just where she knew I’d respond. Before too long, I was kissing her and rolling her onto her back as I reached for another

condom. We fucked hard and fast, my hope rising as she clutched at my back with her nails and moved with me. We came together, just another sign that we were meant to be, and after I pulled away to look at her face. Lily’s eyes were closed, her mouth hanging open as I frowned. She had always looked at me before. “Is it the boyfriend?” I asked in a ragged voice as I stared at her. “Are you in love with him?” “I am in limbo with everything in my life. I just want to work and secure my future,” she replied softly in a trembling voice. “I can’t do more than this, and if it’s going to affect things, I think we should stop sleeping together.” “You would work a similar position with the same pay. I am not taking that away from you, Lily. I never would.” “I can’t think right now, Landon. I am so fucking confused,” she told me as I rolled beside her. I could see the stress in her eyes as I looked at her, stroking her hair back gently. “It’s okay. I am not asking for anything from you this moment. I just want you to stay with me tonight.” I saw her eyes lock with mine as I trailed my fingers over her stomach. I couldn’t stop touching her, stop feeling her soft skin. “I can’t, Landon.” She didn’t rush out of there as she had in the past, but she didn’t stay in my arms either. Lily left, allowing me to take her back to her car this time only for me to watch her drive away. She didn’t give me a definite answer when she left. I didn’t know what Lily wanted from me or anybody else. I assumed she was single from her vague answer about the boyfriend, but maybe that wasn’t the case.

LILY Brian started to call a couple of weeks after I broke up with him. I had slept with Landon again amid that. The voice mails and texts Brian sent only increased my confusion. Both men had their own things to offer me, but Landon was so sketchy due to my job. Even if I did transfer to whatever position he mentioned, once word got out that we were dating, I would be screwed anyway. I’d be the woman who slept my way through the company and earned my promotions that way. I’d never be seen as a reliable worker. There was already talk among Lauren and her friends from the single time they’d seen us together, though that seemed to have died down. I didn’t want to start it up again. I was adjusting to my job, and Jasmine was kind. We were building up a great friendship, and I felt like I was getting back on my feet again.

Landon was sexy, mature, and incredible in bed. He could offer a woman —one who wanted to be taken care of—a lot. He had money, a beautiful home, and the capability of getting anything in life that he wanted. I just felt like I was too independent to accept that. I wanted to make my own way in life. Brian was young, like me, but he could be sweet. Sure, he spent a lot of time with his friends, drinking, and didn’t quite have his feet on the ground yet with his career. We weren’t just like one another. He was handsome, though, and with a little work, Brian could be a great boyfriend with a future to offer. Brian made me laugh a lot when I wasn't obsessive about my life, and there was a chance that he could make me relax a little bit. I went to work every day, putting on professional airs around Landon. I saw the defeat in his eyes, but I just couldn’t give in to my desires again. I didn’t know enough about the other job to even consider it, so I threw myself into my current one. Landon brought me into the office to work together afternoons and even some nights, laying on the compliments and feeding me the best food. I sensed his efforts, and I even appreciated them though I resisted his advances. It wasn’t easy with my knowledge of his talent in the bedroom, but I had to stay strong. I saw the women look at him whenever we walked to some lunch place together on the rare occasion that it worked out, their eyes hungry and bright. He was so handsome and drew attention wherever he went, but I just couldn’t pursue him. I knew another night together would just be leading him on since I wasn’t sure about us. Brian kept up as well. He was sorry he hadn’t treated me the way I deserved. He wanted another chance with me. It reminded me of when I first met Brian and he swept me off my feet, warming me up to the idea of taking him back. I’d be so sure of that idea when I wasn’t at work and was talking to him. Brian gave me his full attention on the phone when we spoke, flirting and making me laugh all over again. Could I love him? He didn’t make me weak in the knees like Landon did, but perhaps that was just lust. I had never stayed with Landon, always running after the explosive sex. That meant something, didn’t it? I stayed with Brian, and I wasn’t always unsettled with him. I had been looking for a job when we were dating and stressed out, so it could be different this time. I had an excellent job now and was happier, and it sounded like Brian was working at an office now too since his brother needed help at his construction company. He had a schedule more like mine now and seemed

to be settling down. After working together all morning, Landon took me to lunch a couple of weeks after our night together. The company was picking up in business, and we were staying busy from morning to night. We walked back together, talking excitedly about the new client and what we were going to do for him as we headed to his office. I saw the roses as we rounded the corner and stopped mid-step as I took in the large vase of red blooms. They were beautiful, and I licked my lips nervously as I glanced at Landon. “Those are pretty.” His voice was cold, and I nodded rapidly as I stepped forward. I slipped around my desk to pull the card from the little envelope, hearing Landon’s door close firmly behind me. It made me jump as I read Brian’s words, which had me tearing up as he reminded me that he loved me. He knew he had messed up and he wanted to take me to dinner that night to start fresh. I wavered as I read the words over again, well aware of the man in the office behind me. But Landon wasn’t the safe route, and I knew I had been falling for Brian before this job, this life. He deserved a chance. I locked my purse up and decided to call him in a little while, perhaps on my break. I had work to do, and Landon and I already ran over the lunch hour a bit, lost in a conversation. It had been a good one, reminding me of what a good man Landon was. His eyes had been locked on me as we spoke, despite being surrounded by gorgeous women who were eager for a glance in their direction. Jesus, I had a predicament to deal with. One look at the roses reminded me what the better choice was, and I smiled and nodded, walking toward the door. I tapped on Landon’s door, walking in when he told me to. He was sitting at his desk with his tie loosened and a scowl on his face, and I stared at him as I walked over to his desk. “So, where were we?” Landon gave me a dark look as he turned to me and searched my face. We got back to business even though he looked like he wanted to ask me a question the entire afternoon. I said yes to dinner on my break, and since Brian worked closer to me now, he offered to pick me up. I agreed and ended the call with a long sigh. Was I doing the right thing? Landon was edgy when I went back into his office, and we got lost in work, so it was a while before I looked up at the clock. “Oh my. I have plans to get to.” It was inching past five, and I wanted to freshen up before dinner. “Is that okay?” “Do you have a date?” Landon asked as warmth flushed over my cheeks.

“Did I fail you by not sending you an obnoxious vase of the most overrated flowers in existence?” “I like roses,” I replied as he stared me down. “He knows that.” I looked at the clock again. “May I go?” “Have fun,” Landon said with a smirk as I turned and fled the office. I glanced around to see that I had a few minutes, as Brian didn’t have completely set hours. Unlocking my drawer with shaking hands, I grabbed my purse and hurried to the bathroom. I was already wearing a pretty burgundy shirt with a black pencil skirt and heels, so I just touched up my eyeliner and powder. I added some gloss to my lips before I loosened my hair and let it hang around my shoulders in loose curls. I walked back out to my desk and saw Brian looking around with an impressed gaze. “Hi,” I called, and he spun around with a bright look in his eyes. “I hope you weren’t waiting long.” “No, not at all. If I were, it would be worth every second.” Brian appraised me again as I walked toward him, stopping in front of him as he leaned forward to kiss me. The sound of someone clearing their throat made me jump, and I looked at Landon with wide eyes. “Oh, hi. This is Brian. Brian, this is Landon. He’s my boss. I’m his assistant.” I knew I was babbling, and they looked at me as they shook hands. Brian was loose and friendly as always, but Landon was stiff and cool as he looked Brian over. Landon made a quick exit, and I fussed over my purse and jacket as Brian watched me. “He seems…intense.” I looked at Brian in the empty elevator, shaking my head. “He is when it comes to business, and it’s been busy lately. I am learning a lot, though. I like it here.” I defended Landon, knowing he hadn’t been nice in the least to Brian. The short time they had chatted had reminded me of some pissing contest. “Is he interested in you?” Brian asked, and I gave him a forced incredulous look. “No. Of course not.” I stepped forward as he walked across the lobby with me. “It’s just work. Landon isn’t my type at all.” I vowed to never let him find out that we’d slept together as we walked outside and looked around. “So, where are we going?” I was surprised when Brian took me to the restaurant Landon had that first night. It threw me off, but he was sweet and romantic. He listened to everything I had to say and didn’t toss back a few beers with dinner. It was a great date, and I found myself relaxing about the choice I was going to make

tonight. Brian had a great, stable job that paid well, and he spoke of getting an apartment on his own in just a few months. He was seemingly tired of the way he was currently living. Brian was maturing, and while I didn’t know if I was the reason, I appreciated it. He was giving me new hope for our future as we talked over the meal and then coffee and dessert. When we left, it wasn’t with the urgent rush it had been with Landon. I didn’t want to fuck Brian and leave, but there was a pleasant feeling inside my stomach. Brian told me again that he loved me over dinner, and I responded in kind. I thought I could. We went my apartment that night, laughing as we walked back to my bedroom. His kisses didn’t affect me the same way Landon’s did, but they were sweet and slow. Brian wanted to prove his feelings for me, and I was willing to give him a chance. He paid close attention to my body. He made me come when he went down on me, me crying out his name as I tried to push Landon out of my mind. After we made sweet, slow love, I snuggled into his arms and looked out the window. There wasn’t the sound of his roommates talking loudly in his living room or the smell of pot floating under the door. Brian didn’t usually used to come here with me, but he had tonight, and I smiled as I listened to the sound of his breathing. I was doing the right thing. Brian loved me, and I knew he could be the man I needed, as well as a big part of my future.

PART 2

LILY It was a bit of an adjustment, but I managed to stay at my job even though Brian and I were back together. It wasn’t easy at first, but I stood my ground with Landon about us not being together any longer. Brian was safe and right. Brian was the right choice for me. I settled into my days working at my desk and dealing with Landon alone as little as possible. There was still a strong sexual attraction between us, and I saw the pain in his eyes when he looked at me, but I’d made my choice.

I noticed the circles under his eyes within a month of ending whatever it was that we’d had between us, and I assumed he was out drinking at night. It occurred more and more often, and I’d just watch him as he walked in looking at his phone, ignoring me. When he walked by me in silence, I just reminded myself that this was best and I’d made the right choice. The first time a woman came in just before I was leaving for the night, my blood boiled. She was pretty, and she looked exotic in her clingy purple dress as she gave me a wink and a smile before disappearing into his office. In that moment, I was torn from being the mostly content woman who was comfortable with her choice and became a raging ball of jealousy. When the woman laughed and then something bumped against the wall, I saved what I was working on with a scowl on my face. I turned off the computer and walked out five minutes before I was supposed to, cursing Landon under my breath. It was stupid and I knew it. He had every right to fuck whomever he wanted. Landon was a big boy and could make that choice, but I was fuming when I reached my car. I recalled the night he’d admitted to using this same woman to make me jealous before we made love. I had thought it was flattering that night, but seeing her again hurt deep down. Was he playing the same game all over again? I started the car and drove home to my apartment, where Brian was making dinner for us, walking in and dropping my purse as I made my way to the kitchen. I stopped as I watched him stirring something on the stove, taking in how toned and lean he looked in the shorts he was wearing. “Hey.” Brian turned his head and smiled at me. “Evening, baby. How was work?” “Good,” I replied vaguely as I walked toward him and gazed into his eyes. I eased myself into his arms as I looked at the sauce on the stove, smiling as he set the spoon on a plate and pulled me close. Brian was doing everything he could to make it work with me this time, being sweet and romantic like he had been in the beginning. He was attentive now and spent most nights at my apartment, something that made me wonder what his intentions with me were. I kissed him, needing the contact as I wrapped my arms around his neck. “Mmmm,” I murmured as he tilted his head and deepened the kiss. “Sauce,” Brian reminded me as I heard the thump from Landon’s office play through my mind again. “Turn it off. We’ll eat later,” I said as I kissed him again, feeling him reach behind himself before pulling me against him. I wrapped my legs around his waist as he lifted me to carry me to the bedroom, where he pressed me down onto the mattress. “You are relentless,” Brian said me as he kissed my neck and slipped his

hands under my skirt. “I’m trying to cook you a nice dinner tonight and woo you, and here you are seducing me.” “I want you,” I told him as I felt him slide my panties off before he pulled away from me. “I want you as well. Take off that dress.” Brian watched me closely as I lifted the red vintage dress over my head, revealing my bare breasts. His eyes twinkled. “No bra at work?” “I’m not that big and this dress is thick,” I said as I slipped my hands over my nipples to pluck at them. “Are you complaining?” “Fuck, no. I want to pull your clothes off to find this every single night. You’re sexy, Lily.” Brian dropped his shorts and crawled over me. He kissed me long and hard before he moved down my body with his mouth, focusing on my nipples as he sucked one and then the other between his lips. He kissed down my stomach, teasing me with his tongue as I closed my eyes. I tried to pretend it was only Brian and I in this room together, but memories played through my head as he eased me toward a release. I knew Landon had everything to do with the sensations in my body as I rocked against Brian, whimpering and moaning. He pulled back, breathing heavily before he moved up and slipped between my thighs to slide into my wet pussy. We didn’t use condoms anymore because I was on the pill. That was something I had taken care of right when we got back together, since it was going to last. We moved together as our bodies dampened and I grew wetter for him, tighter. Brian knew I was tight after oral sex, which was when he preferred to be inside me. I came again as I dug my nails into his back, reminded of another time when it was with somebody else. We returned to the kitchen to finish dinner after we recovered, sipping wine from the bottle as we fixed our plates. Brian went to the table first and I followed in my robe as we sat beside each other. Brian was smiling at me, and I gazed at him after another long swallow from the bottle. “What?” “I decided to move out of the apartment and get away from the crowd. I’m looking for something more peaceful, and I was thinking you and I could make a go of things,” Brian said as my eyes widened. “I could move in here or we could get another apartment; whatever you want.” “You want to live with me?” I asked, and he nodded and stared at me. “I told you I love you. I want to make this work and take the next step.” Brian tilted his head and smiled at me. “Sounds good?” I twirled some noodles around my fork slowly and took a bite. Brian had made a great sauce, and I chewed carefully as I considered the offer. Why not? He was a good man, and he’d more than proven his feelings for me over the

last few weeks. “Yes, I’d like that. Do you mind staying here? It just feels like home to me.” “This is a good place. We can turn the second bedroom into an office or something for us,” Brian said, and we began to discuss our plans. We ate slowly and laughed a lot, and I told myself this could work. We cleaned up together and went to bed, making love again as I went down on my knees for him. Once we were done, I dropped to my side and curled up against him as Brian kissed my hair and told me he loved me.

LANDON Brian was playing the game well, sending Lily those flowers, though I would have gone for something a little more unique like she was. The ones I would have picked for her would have reflected her kind and generous nature, and they’d have been a color I saw her wear often, a color that made her skin glow. I noticed the little things about Lily, even now that we weren’t involved anymore. Red roses. What a douchebag. Those could be ordered from any grocery store, much less a florist. No matter what I thought of him, Lily cooled off towards me on that intimate level we were so good at. She was still an amazing worker and did everything she could as my employee, but it stopped there. Gone were the talks in my office when we were supposed to be working, as well as the way I had her on every surface I possibly could. We didn’t go to lunch anymore or plan working dinners. All of that was gone, and I missed it. There were days I wanted to drag her into my office and kiss her senseless, but I contained myself. It was apparent that she was moving on, or at least trying to. I spent the better part of a week feeling sorry for myself, alone at home. I missed everything about her and was well-aware that I’d imagined a future with my assistant. I knew I could get her relocated to another part of the building, but the idea of not seeing her anymore made me feel empty inside. I didn’t want to forget her the way I did Nadine. My ex-wife could drop off the face of the planet for all I cared, but the idea of not seeing Lily’s beautiful face every day was too much to bear. There were nights I was angry with myself for pursuing her at all. Those were the ones when I’d sit on the couch with my bottle of Hennessey and drink my troubles away. Eventually, friends talked me into getting out of the house. They told me I

was working too much since nobody knew about Lily. As a man, that was how I was supposed to handle this hurt: get out there and fuck my way through it, so I met them at the familiar bar one night after work. I didn’t go home with a woman that first night, but a few nights later I found myself in the bed of a blonde. Her name was Lisa, and as hard as she tried to please me, she just wasn’t Lily. I tried a few more times with some one-night-stands and always left feeling unsatisfied. Maybe I needed to step up my game with someone familiar. I had a few massage sessions with a local massage therapist, and it was no holds barred. She was willing to do anything for me, and I took full advantage of that, demanding rough blow jobs as well as tying her up to inflict light pain on her. Molly took it all, and more than that, she loved it. I used her several long nights, fucking her and utilizing her many talents to try to drain myself of my feelings for Lily. I wondered the next morning if Lily even noticed. It was always the same polite smile and soft good morning from her, spoken without the light in her eyes that I missed so much. Did Brian make her happy at all? It didn’t seem like it. The week it bothered me the most, I called Molly and found out she was out with some friends, so I invited them all over to my place. I was drunk out of my mind but was physically able to take all of them on. It should’ve been the greatest night of my life as a sexually active man. I sent them all away once we were too tired to do anything further. I’d fucked, spanked, kissed, and been serviced by the girls. I’d even watched them with each other during the activities. That was any man’s dream, right? But I’d dropped into the bed that smelled of sex and sin and missed Lily’s sweet fragrance that was long washed from my sheets. Despite never thinking about Nadine with another man, I found myself wondering if Lily was in bed with Brian after he’d been inside her sweet body, him wrapped around her as they drifted off to sleep. I didn’t get that he was an attentive and loving man the night I met him. He was clearly into Lily on some level, and I didn’t doubt that my reaction to him had raised some questions for her. I hadn’t been kind, and I’d judged him with my gaze, not hiding any of my disdain. He was one of those younger guys who got along with everyone, the guy you’d see at every party talking to all of the guests in the room. Brian wasn’t the kind of man that Lily deserved, the kind that worshiped and appreciated her. Sometimes I would be a little louder if I heard her on the phone with him, asking her something completely unnecessary. I saw the frosty looks she gave me when I broke into their talks, even though it didn’t happen often. She was

professional about work, and after that first time I never saw him there again. I hoped he had asked about me though. A man like me was intimidating to anybody, particularly a guy like him with an incredibly sexy girlfriend. That was simple math, and I used it to give Brian doubts whenever I could. I’d set the ball in motion the night we met, and I’d seen the insecurity in his eyes. I came in after meeting Molly for lunch to see roses on her desk again a few weeks after we ended. It was the same tired two dozen blooms in a cheap glass vase, making me roll my eyes. The card was on her desk, and I glanced around to see who was around, leaning over when I realized a lot of people were still out to lunch. I am so happy you said yes, baby. I love you and I am going to prove it for the rest of my life. B What the fuck? Did he propose to her? They’ve been back together for a month, if that. Anger rose inside me as I stomped into my office and closed the door, pacing for a few minutes. I sat down at my desk and grabbed my phone, sending a text as I felt some relief wash over me. I set the phone down, waiting for the chime as I glanced at the screen and smiled. Something had to be enough for me . . . something other than Lily. I stayed in my office for the afternoon, even though I wanted to look at her left hand. I kept reminding myself that whether she had a ring on her finger didn’t matter at all to my life. It was her choice. Screw that. We were good together, and I missed the feeling of her body against mine. My emotions were at war, and I stared blankly at the computer as I tried to focus on the research I was working on. Damn it. I didn’t have time to think about this shit, since I had a new client to meet with and had to have my facts straight. I went to the meeting angry and sent Lily an instant message asking her to compile a fact sheet on the business of interest. I could do it, but I wanted her busy. Of course, she responded with an assurance that she would get right to it, which made me more livid. Did Lily look at Brian the way she used to look at me? Did she come as hard with him as she did with me? I did sneak out for some coffee for a quick break from staring out the window, and I looked over at her as she was typing. I tried to see her hand, but she glanced at me with a suspicious look on her face. “Are you okay?” “Fine,” I replied, looking away as I left to go to the break room. I slammed my cup down before I fixed my coffee, noticing the silence that settled around me. I looked around to see Lauren staring at me from the fridge with a glint in

her eyes. “Feeling frustrated, Landon? Do you need a little relief?” Her voice was sultry and ineffective, and I gave her a dark stare. “I can help you with that.” “I think we’ve discussed that matter,” I murmured before I dismissed her presence with a cold look and left. Going for Lauren would bring the ultimate pain to Lily, but I didn’t want to fuck up at work that way. I wondered when I became such an asshole as I walked back into my office. I had been broken beyond belief after losing Madeline and our baby. I’d been bitter, angry, and I’d slept with anything that had a pussy once I finally left my house. It had been similar with Nadine apart from all the grief. I didn’t consider her too much of a loss. Lily was a whole different animal. She reminded me just enough of Madeline to make my heart ache, but she was her own person as well and was unlike so many women her age. She shone like a star compared to most of the bitches who worked here, as well as the ones I went home with from any given bar. Lily was complex and ahead of her time, in my opinion. She was everything I’d been looking for without realizing it since I lost Madeline. It just seemed like too much was stacked against us for it to ever work. I looked at my computer at around four thirty, knowing my hired woman would be arriving soon. It wasn’t something I always did, but I needed experience and skill tonight. I wanted a woman who was open to anything and for Lily to see it. Didn’t jealousy work sometimes with a woman? I heard a tap at my door and a familiar voice calling out my name, so I told Jennifer to come inside. She looked hot in a blue dress with flawless makeup on her face, and I watched her walk over to my desk as she looked around. “Being at the office is different.” “I just needed a break in my day. Late night and all,” I said as she walked around and sat on the desk in front of me. The view was great, but I stood and held out my hand. “Let’s go to the couch. We can have a lot more fun over there.” She chuckled and walked with me, falling noisily onto the leather as I smiled.

LILY The days passed by as I fought my lingering feelings for Landon and tried to focus on Brian. He had moved in over the last couple of weeks, and it comforted me to sleep in bed with him at night. He was tender with me as if he thought I might break, though, which was something I needed to change. I wanted it the way Landon used to fuck me, if only for the familiar feeling.

Brian didn’t know that part of me, not truly. It was time to introduce it to him so maybe I could finally stop thinking about Landon. Seeing that woman going into his office and hearing the beginnings of what they were doing had really affected me in ways that I never expected. I’d thought that I was over him when I chose Brian. Life was complicated, but I was too stubborn to leave such a good job because I’d screwed up. We weren’t the first two people to mix business with pleasure, nor the last. We could both move past this. I glanced at Landon’s closed door as I arrived to the office one day, thankful no more women had come to the building. I knew he was busy away from work, and I still envied those women, but I tried to push away my feelings. I couldn’t help but think about all we’d talked about, reminding me that it had been more than on office tryst. I threw myself into being with Brian: cooking dinner together, going out on dates, and trying to spice up our sex life. We were young and there was a lot to do—something I’d learned from my older man. Brian was willing to experiment, but I still thought of Landon. I noticed Landon on the street with a redhead on a regular basis in the next couple of months, and I hid the truth from Brian about why I initiated sex every night before bed. I demanded more from him each time, pleased with his enthusiasm but still missing the man I’d given up. The days and nights started to blend together, and I finally accepted Jasmine’s invitation for dinner and drinks one night to get a break. We left the office together and walked over to a local pub she had recently discovered and loved. I looked around at the large main room with tables, a massive bar, several television sets, and even a stage for live music. “I feel like I haven’t talked to you in forever,” I said as we found a table in the back and settled into the comfortable bench seats. “You’ve been playing house. How’s that going?” she asked, her green eyes twinkling. Jasmine had a new boyfriend of about a month herself and was crazy about him. “It’s nice, you know? We seem to be so much more about each other now and like real adults. We cook dinner and stuff, and it’s comforting,” I said as she searched my face. She knew I’d gone home with Landon that night and eventually ended it, and she’d helped me through the harder parts of the process. She was the only person I’d told about Landon to this day, knowing Brian could never know about us. “Is everything okay with you and the boss?” she asked as I stared at the

table. “He had a woman come to the office a few weeks ago. She looked so polished and beautiful, and the bitch had the nerve to wink at me. I wonder if he told her to do that to get deeper under my skin.” I knew pain was written on my face as I raised my eyes to look at her. “Did I make the right choice?” “I can’t answer that, but this way you have the guy and the job? Both are important to you, aren’t they?” Her voice prodded me, making me nod. “Things would change with a different choice, and that might not be what you want. Give it a little time and see what happens.” “Yeah, you’re right. It’s just new and everything is changing so much.” Jasmine smiled and handed me a menu. We ordered some drinks and dinner and she told me about her new guy, glowing as her voice rose with happiness. I was comfortable with Brian, content, but I didn’t glow like Jasmine did. We’d also been together about seven months longer than Jasmine and her boyfriend. I felt like I glowed with Landon, but he was so forbidden that it made it hotter. Surely seven months down the line, we wouldn’t be like that anymore. I would be in a different position that might not be right for me, that payed less or maybe didn’t look as good on a resume. I went to college to get a great job and this was it. I needed it for the next step, and leaving it made me worry. What if the truth got out there and people knew Landon and I were involved? I didn’t want that anywhere near my name, and if I stayed on as just Landon’s assistant, there wouldn’t be any suspicions and consequently no rumors. At least I hoped so. I trusted Landon enough not to talk about us, because he told me he wouldn’t. I thought he cared about me enough to keep his word. Jasmine and I were finishing our third round of drinks when I looked up to see Landon passing the window with his friends. He was also with a woman, and his arm kept her close to his side as he laughed at something someone said. I watched for a long moment, and Jasmine caught on to what I was doing. She looked and then frowned as she smiled at me. “Are you okay?” “Yeah. I can’t be with him no matter how I look at it. I must accept that, and it isn’t like Brian is a bad guy. He has been trying hard with me and being what I wanted him to be back then, which is originally what led me to Landon. Right? Women cheat when they don’t get what they need at home…or men, for that matter.” I never did deal with the fact that I had cheated, and I felt a wave of emotion hit me. “Why did I do that to him? I am not that person, Jasmine. I never considered it before and I didn’t then. It just happened.” Tears flooded my eyes, and I was surprised by the strength of my guilt and sadness. “What did I do?”

“Oh, sweetie.” Jasmine came around to my side of the table and hugged me as I let the wall of grief finally break. I cried for a few minutes, knowing people were staring at me but letting them go with the emotional-girl theory. Fuck them. I needed this after the tumultuous last few months, since the guilt and pain affected every part of my soul. I need to let it lift so I could see clearly what I had in front of me and appreciate it. Like the good friend she was, Jasmine stroked my hair and assured me that life just happened. It wasn’t always pretty or easy, quite the opposite. It was hard and fucked up, and we learned something from all of it. When I was calm, she remained by my side and we toasted to the future. We left around an hour later, and I felt lighter somehow. I felt like I could tackle things as I grabbed a cab and rode home to my apartment . . . our apartment. It was set up for us as a team and a couple, with the second bedroom turned into an office and something of a reading room. My apartment wasn’t big, but I did live in New York, so that was typical and everyone just made it work. Brian and I had a plan to get something else down the line once he got a couple of promotions and we could afford something bigger. I gave the driver a large bill with a smile as I got out of the back and hurried into my building and up the flight of stairs. I unlocked the door to our second story apartment, pushing it open as I glanced inside. The light was on in the kitchen, and I closed and locked the door. “Bri?” “Hi, babe. I’m just watching TV. How was dinner?” he asked as I dropped my purse on the bistro table and went into the living room, where he was on the couch watching a movie. “Dinner was good and the drinks were even better.” I’d cleaned up my face before I left, and the cold water I’d splashed around my eyes had helped with the redness. I thought I might pass as being happy, though I really did feel a lot better now. “You cabbed it home, right?” he asked as he looked at me, and I nodded with a smile. I snuggled close to him and he wrapped his arm around me. “Good.” Brian kissed my hair. “I love you too much to lose you.” “How do you know that?” I asked him dreamily as I draped my arm over his bare stomach. “I started realizing it toward the end when things were falling apart. I knew I fucked up when I lost you, and that was when I decided to woo you. I’m glad it worked.” He grinned as I looked at him. I remembered meeting him at a party eight months ago and being taken by him immediately as we talked closely all night. He had been funny and easy to talk to, and we’d started dating right away. I had been looking for a job at the time so I could start

paying for my apartment with a paycheck instead of grants and the money left to me by my parents. Looking back, I knew I’d been stressed out from the pressure, and maybe that contributed to our ending and, consequently, the affair. Tonight made me wonder more than ever if I should tell Brian about it. I was somewhat certain it was over with Landon, that I wouldn’t fall for his charms again, so I just didn’t see any reason to reveal the truth to Brian right now, not when we were working through everything. I liked my job and the experience it was giving me, and I didn’t want to give it up. It had nothing to do with the fact that, in some twisted fashion, I enjoyed seeing Landon every day. I distracted myself from my thoughts by leaning forward and kissing Brian tenderly, knowing he’d respond. I was right; Brian kissed me with a growing passion as our tongues danced together.

LANDON Once we shared the night together after meeting at a bar, I found myself seeing Candy regularly. It had a lot to do with the fact that she was a little young and clingy but great in bed. I just went with it, enjoying the feel of a regular warm body in my bed even if it wasn’t Lily’s. She was obviously moving on even though I had determined she was not wearing a ring on her left hand. If I’d seen one, I might have asked her if she had a fucking clue what she was doing. She had said yes to something, but I didn’t know what that something was. I just knew that flowers appeared on her desk periodically, so I didn’t feel bad when Candy came in for lunch one day, inadvertently meeting Lily. Lily looked bothered by it. A sick part of me was glad that pain flashed across her face when I closed my door and led Candy to the elevator. It had been three months since I’d touched her, and I was pleased that Lily missed me, making me turn around to look at her again. She was looking down at her desk, sadness sprawled across her face, and something tugged inside me as I forced myself to listen to some idea Candy had for the night. We boarded the elevator car and I watched Lily as she looked up when the door slid closed. She looked miserable. I came back from lunch to find her desk empty, and I assumed she was on her own lunch break. Lily preferred a later one, and I noticed that she often left after I was gone on mine. Did that make the time we were apart longer, something I was all too aware of? I went into my office and closed the door to start some research on a new company. It was more complicated than expected

given the way my mind was racing with thoughts of Lily—mixed with the hand job I’d received at lunch today in a back booth. I knew what else I would be getting later tonight, after dinner and drinks with Candy. I sighed. Candy was beautiful, but she was empty if I compared her to Lily. Any woman would be. I knew the interest would fade in time, just like it would with anyone other than Lily. I knew what I wanted, but Lily didn’t feel the same way. After fighting with my futile efforts, I sent Lily a message asking her to come into the office. She walked inside and I looked her over, my eyes resting on the clingy material of her red dress that covered her breasts and waist as she blushed. “What did you need?” “I want to compile something on a new company,” I said, watching her scowl slightly. We had been a great team regarding everything office related before the end of our relationship, but I could see the doubt on her face. “Okay. Tell me about them.” She settled herself at the table where the laptop she used waited and turned it on. “Is there something difficult about them?” “Not particularly. I think it’s me today,” I admitted, and she gave me a slow, curious look. “Does the woman cloud up your mind?” she asked softly as she turned her gaze away and logged into her computer with loud taps of her fingers. “A woman,” I responded as her shoulders slumped. “Have you looked into the quarterly meeting and all that comes along with it?” “I have the information. I was going to make reservations soon. Do you want to attend all of the social events?” Lily asked as I took in her soft hair, highlighted with subtle caramel tones that shone in the light from the window. “Yes. It’s required of me to begin with, though I think you’ll enjoy yourself as well.” I hoped her boyfriend either wouldn’t or couldn’t attend, though guests were mildly frowned upon anyway. This was all business, and any of the fun events were for colleagues only, leaving spouses and significant others to feel left out. “It looks like a nice long weekend. I can’t believe they have it in Belize,” Lily murmured as I smiled. It was always in a great place since we were so successful as a firm. “It makes it a good mix of business and pleasure, as well as being a beautiful place. It’s one of my favorite travel destinations.” I had many memories of Belize, both as a married man as well as a single one. I preferred the latter ones, but this year I knew I was caught painfully between the two. “I’ll have to start looking into that.” Lily sounded bored as she asked me

again about the company in question. We jumped online on our respective computers and started our research, using our privileged resources to get the information we needed. It was an art supplies business that stocked wellknown stores in the world and had a successful website, and they were having some issues with a few of the stores in regard to receiving payment. There were perks with the account, including a discount on supplies as well as complimentary admission to any art gallery any of us wanted to go to. I enjoyed observing art, but I had more of an analytical mind and didn’t do a lot of creative things like that. I looked up at Lily as she jotted something down and sipped from my water bottle as I took her in again. She still wore that fucking scent. “They are offering some great things with the contract. There are discounts on art supplies as well as free admittance to the gallery of your choosing as an employee of the company. Do you enjoy those things?” I asked as Lily rolled her neck back with a sigh. “I dabble in art here and there for a hobby, but it’s just fun. It’s rare. I do love a good gallery though,” she said. I scowled; just another thing we had in common. “There are some events at some of the galleries I’ve enjoyed a lot in the past,” I said. There was a part of me that, had we remained together, wanted to take her to such things, going out publicly as I showed her all of the world that I could. Hell, who was I kidding? That part of me was still very much present, and I felt my body responding to her incredible sensuality as I shifted in my seat. “We’ll be invited if they sign on with us.” “Jasmine loves art. She’ll be excited about that,” Lily said, deflating my hope as I sat up straight in my seat. “The boyfriend won’t?” My voice was shaking, and she stilled in her seat for several moments. “That doesn’t need to be discussed.” Her voice was low, and I heard her pain in it. “It’s a private matter.” “Are you any happier, Lily? Does he satisfy you?” I asked her as I stood and walked over to her, unable to stay away any longer. She was so beautiful. Her spirit and scent filled the room, and I breathed it in. “Stop this, Landon. Please. We’re over.” Her voice was shaking now, and I reached out to touch her shoulder. She jumped when I felt the heat of her skin. “Maybe in your mind we are,” I said as she turned her beautiful, tortured eyes to mine. “Don’t make this harder than it already is,” Lily pleaded as I tightened my grip on her. “Would it be better for both of us if I considered a transfer,

Landon?” “Seeing you is still the best part of my day, Lily.” I stared at her as she frowned and looked away. “Please don’t do that.” “Let me just be your employee, Landon. That is all that I want,” Lily said, and I heard the faltering tone of her voice. I walked away, back to my desk, and she seemed to rush through the rest of the job. She assured me she would get something printed for me soon, in time for the lunch I had scheduled with them later this week, before she walked out and closed the door firmly behind her. I considered blacklisting her at other firms for a moment, determined to keep her near me. I still loved Lily, and I needed to find a way to get her back to me.

LILY I was shaking when I went back to my desk, and I fell into my chair as I took a deep breath. I avoided going into his office for this reason. Landon was the most incredible man I’d ever met, and he still affected me in the same ways as before, if not more so. My body throbbed for him and I craved his lips and his touch, but I had to fight the addiction. I’d been jealous when that beautiful woman had asked for him today. She was just old enough to be mature and yet still young, which made me feel awkward and useless. She and Landon had a sense of familiarity about them even though I hadn’t seen Landon with her in the past, making me realize that he had moved on. That pain was hard to take even if I’d done the same thing with Brian. I couldn’t deny the attraction I still felt for him, nor that it still existed on his end. I’d wanted him in his office. I’d wanted him to throw me onto his desk and rip my dress off, taking me the way he used to. I leaned back in my chair and pressed my lips together. I stood, went to the bathroom, and locked myself in a stall as I lifted my skirt. I slipped my hand down my panties, feeling the wet heat between my legs as I stroked myself slowly. This was so dirty, but he just got to me in ways no other man did. Brian was a sweet man, a good man, but it wasn’t like this with him. I found my swollen nub and rubbed it hard and fast as I struggled to remain quiet. It was best to stay with Brian and just live the life he would provide me. It was safe and secure, not shocking to anybody in any way. We were told often how cute we were together. We were living together now and trying to make it work out,

and I didn’t need to regress. I dropped my head back and came, biting down on my lip as the sensations washed through me. It was intense and harsh, reminding me what I wanted and how he was mere feet away at this moment. I fixed my dress and splashed some cold water on my face before I returned to my desk, noticing Landon’s closed door. I took a deep breath and started on a report as the getaway nudged my mind, making me sigh and open the brochure about it. I knew it was an event for workers as well as their spouses or significant others, though Brian was already scheduled to work. In his sweet honesty, he’d admitted that the subject didn’t interest him a whole lot, though he encouraged me to learn as much as I could. I went to the link for the resort that was located on a private beach in a gorgeous part of Belize, relieved when I found I had enough time to get rooms. I found two cottages close together for Landon and me, admiring the beautiful rooms that offered generous living areas as well as breathtaking ocean views. I saved the page with the confirmation information into a document and sent Landon an email assuring him that he had a room that was perfect for him, a hint of sarcasm in the tone of the text. I also looked into the events, which varied from dinners to openings at galleries, as he’d mentioned earlier. I made reservations for both of us at every single one of them, knowing that plans changed sometimes. I knew I could ask Jasmine to come along, given the size of the room, but at the heat that burned between my thighs once again, I decided to make this a solo trip. I had plans for the trip, plans that might forever change my life if I followed through with them. The whole building started to talk about the trip as it got closer, and I was pleased to find out that Jasmine would be there with her boss. They were staying across the property from Landon and me, but I figured we’d see one another at the events, something that made me happy. Jasmine was my go-to when I was down, as she listened to me talk without judgment. She always made me feel better. I kept my plans for the trip to myself, though. Brian was as attentive as ever during the months approaching the trip, as he should have been. I never told him about Landon, so he had no reason to worry, even though my boss was getting further under my skin by the day. The flirting had grown more intense since Landon knew he got to me now. He had me in his office nearly every day, helping him with something, and he’d always be too close. I always went to the bathroom afterward to get myself off, even at home when I was alone. When Brian was there, I’d drag him to

bed to try to fuck the need for Landon out of my body and heart. It was twisted, but Brian loved it, thinking it was about my feelings for him. I knew I was lying to him by not admitting the truth, but I couldn’t bring myself to break his heart. He sent roses to me once a month, and I always noticed the look in Landon’s eyes. He looked angry and a little sad, and most of the time he dealt with it by having company in his office late in the afternoon or evening, and sometimes even at lunch. There was the woman I’d met before as well as others, and I knew Landon made it a point for me to see them. He was reminding me what I could have even as he flirted unrelentingly with me. He always found a way to touch me. He also always held my gaze a bit longer than needed when we were speaking, and I knew he could see my weakness for him in my gaze. I started to lose myself the closer the trip got. I was obsessed with Landon even though I tried to focus on Brian. I was the perfect girlfriend on the surface, attentive and very physical with him, at least until he fell asleep. That was when I’d fall apart, in the bathroom or out on my cozy balcony. I knew I was sleeping less than I should have, but I blamed work for that, just in a different way than Brian would ever guess. The week prior to leaving, I was late to work because I was in bed with Brian. I was on my knees and begging him to go harder, feeling him grip me as he drove himself deeper inside my body. I knew who was in my mind, but I was a professional at calling out the right name by now. I felt my body tighten as I remembered a moment with Landon, and then the slap of Brian’s hand against my ass shocked my orgasm into action. I screamed as I lurched forward, Brian thickening in me before he jerked and cried out my name. It was perfectly rough but with the wrong man. I cursed as I jumped into the shower and pulled my hair back into a low ponytail. I put on enough makeup to look decent and pulled on black slacks with a burgundy blouse and heels before rushing out of the apartment while Brian told me he loved me. I arrived at the office a half hour late and hurried to my desk as I straightened my clothes with nervous hands. My pussy was still throbbing from the enthusiasm of the morning, but I tried to ignore it and turned on my computer quickly. “You’re here.” I froze at Landon’s voice and turned to face him with a smile. “I’m sorry. It was a rough morning,” I said as I flushed. I had to use those words, didn’t I? “I’ll make up my time with a short lunch, and it won’t happen

again. I promise.” Landon glanced around and leaned over my desk as his eyes darkened. “Are you late because you were fucking someone, Lily? You have that flush to your face and your eyes are brighter. I always loved this look on you when we were done.” I shifted in my seat as he spoke, feeling the discomfort the conversation caused in my bones. “I think it looked better when it was me inside you though. Don’t you?” I lifted my eyes to stare at him as he smiled coldly at me. “I’ll bet your sweet pussy still wants me right now. I’m guessing you’re wet and ready for me to make you come, because it’s never been like that with anybody else, has it?” He stood and ran his hand over the lump in his pants before turning and walking into his office as rage filled me. Asshole. Why did I want him when he spoke to me like that? Brian told me the sweetest things when we were together, no matter how rough the sex was. I knew he loved me, and Landon was just an arrogant jerk. Still, I was wet and ready for Landon just like he said. I was hopeless. I caught up on emails and checked on the reservations for the trip during the rushed morning, still upset about the conversation with Landon. Everything seemed to be in place until I double checked the cottages and saw that my first night had been deleted from the reservation. I lifted the phone and called to find out that someone had given it to another guest for that night, and since they were booked, I wouldn’t have a room the first night. I thanked the woman and hung up with a sigh. It was not that big of a deal since I could stay with Jasmine; she’d have no problem with that. But another idea crossed my mind as I drew my lip between my teeth. Would Landon let me stay with him? We could get this out of our systems and be done with it for the remainder of the trip. I blushed and ran my hand down my hair. That was a terrible thought and an awful thing to do to Brian when he trusted me so much. He was happy about this trip and what it would do for my job. He’d been encouraging me every step of the way. I wasn’t blind to the fact that he was making plans with his friends while I was gone. Brian would always have his friends, and while he’d pushed them to the back burner when we’d gotten back together, I could see them inching forward. It wasn’t a shock since I worked late sometimes, and I didn’t hate them at all, but it reminded me of what had happened before. It fueled my lust for my boss and what we’d had when everything had become chaotic, making me miss it. It made me justify my plan for the trip. It was the Thursday before we left that I pretended to check my email when

Landon was standing near my desk. “Oh, no. My reservation is wrong and I don’t have a room until Saturday night. I swore I had it right the first time . . . I wonder how the lobby is there?” “Call them. You made it for tomorrow, right?” His face was creased with anger.

“It’s gotta be full. The whole company is going. I’ll just see if I can sleep on a couch or maybe bunk up with Jasmine.” I shrugged and sipped my coffee. “It will work out.” “You’re going alone then?” Landon asked, and I glanced at him and nodded. “I usually have a bigger cottage with plenty of room. Stay in mine.” I watched his eyes darkened while he spoke and licked my lips slowly. “Maybe. Is that a good idea?” I asked softly as he looked around. “I want you safe, Lily. With me, you will be.”

LANDON I was hard as a rock and crazy with lust when I found out she was going alone and didn’t have a place to sleep the first night, and I knew my voice was shaking when I told her she could stay in my cottage. I knew from previous trips that it would be big enough, though I had no intention for her to stay in the guest room. Lily was going to be in my bed and underneath me, screaming my name no matter if it was wrong or right. I knew she had the same thoughts as she looked at me and licked those perfect lips. She never said yes, but I knew the idea was there. I knew she was thinking the same things I was as we finished last-minute tasks before we were to be gone for a week. Lily took care of my calendar and business email, making it clear I wasn’t available as well as making sure all the reports were completed for that time. She was efficient in making me able to relax and enjoy the fun part of the trip. Everyone left for the day at two and headed home to finish packing. The company flight left in the morning, and we had an early dinner planned as a group, and then Lily would be all mine. Candy watched as I packed with a pout on her face. She’d wanted to come on the trip despite the many times I told her it was for work. It mostly was, but there was a lot of downtime for some fun. Candy was also annoyed that I didn’t want to fuck her before I left. I was thinking only of Lily tonight, and I walked Candy to the door early, explaining that I needed some sleep. “Are you going to be fucking someone there, Landon?” Candy knew the deal with us, and I looked at her incredulously for a moment. “I always am, Candy. I was honest about that.” “You’re into somebody, aren’t you?” she demanded as her eyes flashed at me. “Fuck, Candy,” I snarled at her. “I need to get some sleep for this trip. I don’t want to do this now.”

She turned on her heels and left with a toss of her hair. I knew somewhere inside that I wasn’t going to see her again. That thought didn’t bother me at all. I closed and locked my door, looking around the condominium to make sure it was set to be empty for a few days before I stripped and crawled under the sheets. I played back the conversation with Lily in my head, reaching down to stroke myself to a release, imagining being inside her again. I came on my hand and kicked off the sheets to wash up, realizing I’d soiled them as well. I slept on the other side of the bed, tossing and turning, wondering where Lily was at in her head. Did she want me again? Was she unhappy with her boyfriend all over again? I woke to my alarm and made coffee before I showered, drinking it as I dressed in casual slacks and a collared shirt. The dress code for the week ranged from casual to business depending on the situation, and I was ready for all of it. I called a car to get to the airport and finished the pot of coffee as I looked out the front windows. Everyone would be flying out within a few hours, but I liked to be on the first flight. I liked getting away from the city more than most of my friends. I checked Lily’s flight and saw it was the one following mine, which would give me time to get the cottage ready for her arrival. I was going to remind her of what we had tonight. I was going to do much better than red roses, strewing candles and softer-toned petals throughout the space. I thought about it during the flight, only paying a small amount of attention to the women beside me who talked excitedly about the week. Lauren was part of that group, and I ended up covering my ears with headphones to allow myself to think. Women dressed scantily in the environment we were heading toward, something I had enjoyed as a single man in the past. These getaways were when most of my indiscretions with work had occurred before, but this trip was going to be different. I would do everything to protect Lily from prying eyes and gossiping lips, but I had to have her again. I took the shuttle with the others to the resort that boasted several pools, bars, restaurants, and beautiful beaches. It was set up so you wouldn’t have to leave the grounds, even though I favored other parts of the area as well. I got my keys and ignored the flirting of the woman behind the desk, even though she was clear about her intentions. I’d fucked similar women here before since it was so easy. They were so eager and were constantly around, but I was in love with someone now. I no longer wanted anyone else, and tonight, she would know that. The cottage was beautiful and spread out, just as I remembered it from the

last time I was here. There were two large suites, both with ocean views and king-sized beds and fireplaces. They each had a deck as well. I didn’t care which one I slept tonight, as long as it was with Lily. The living room had a full kitchen if I chose to stay in for the night, as well as a grill on the deck with all the perks. It was a perfect place, and I noted the small updates as I dropped my bags on the bed in the closest room to hang some stuff up. Glancing at the clock, I realized Lily would be arriving in a couple of hours. I got my clothes hung neatly in the closet and shoved my bag under the bed before I opened the sliding glass door that led to the deck. The breeze was strong and salty, and I took in the white sand and bright blue water that lapped at the shore. This was perfection. I enjoyed a drink from the bar as I sat and took in the natural beauty all around me, glancing around at the other cottages. They were full, judging from the voices that carried over to me from the large spaces between them, and I wondered what had happened to Lily’s reservation. Did she plan this? That thought made me hard as I recalled the flirting, which had gotten darker by the weeks, that had been happening between us lately. There was a definite connection between us, as well as a constant current of desire, and we both had begun to push it toward the end. Every look we shared seemed to make the room heat up, and the touches, when they happened, were lingering. “Hello,” a voice called out, breaking into my memories, and I scowled. An attractive woman stood before my deck, wearing a slip of a pale purple dress and an inviting smile. She looked familiar and I frowned. “You’re here for the conference? I work on the other side of the building and we’ve never met, though you look familiar.” I stood and nodded, walking over to her. “Landon Logan. You are?” “Marilyn James. I just became partner a couple of weeks ago.” She blushed, and I took in that she was about five years younger than I was. “I’ve heard about your early success with the firm. It’s an inspiring story.” “In reality, it is merely a lot of hours and little sleep. Welcome to the team.” I extended my hand and she shook it as her indigo eyes met my gaze. In another place in my life, she was the kind of woman I’d have welcomed into my bed. “Will you be at the dinner later?” she asked as my stomach growled, reminding me that I hadn’t eaten. Marilyn must have heard it, since she laughed and looked down my body. “Sounds like you might not make it that long. Want to grab some lunch with me?” “I’m sorry. I have a meeting scheduled in a bit here, but I will be at dinner.

See you there?” I felt sweat pooling in my hair as I realized Lily would be here soon, and Marilyn seemed to sense my urgency. “Of course. See you later.” She smiled and walked away as I turned and headed inside. I grabbed my phone from the nightstand and glanced at the screen to see if there were any texts. One seemed to blind me after I opened it and read that Lily was on her way. I looked around. The staff had set up the candles and flowers for me before I arrived, so that was all ready. I just needed to order in some lunch for the two of us. I cursed the fact that we could be seen from the deck by any coworkers. I’d have to close the windows for some privacy, likely making people wonder what I was up to. I placed an order for some sandwiches and salads, along with a variety of non-alcoholic drinks for Lily to choose from. I sent Lily a text with my cottage location and number, expecting the food to be here soon after she was. I was nervous and changed into some shorts and a T-shirt before she got here, eying the bathroom that was massive in size and offered a bathtub and shower. I was looking forward to a long bath with Lily later tonight after we’d made love. She arrived with a large rolling suitcase and tapped at my door. I opened it, urging her inside before I closed the door and looked her over. Lily was wearing a green sundress that clung to her curves and flared around her ankles, and I licked my lips at the sight. “This is amazing,” Lily said as she looked around the room with a small smile. I’d closed some of the curtains, still allowing light in but not prying eyes. “Is this what they all look like?” “They differ in size but mostly, yes. I’ve ordered some lunch that should be here soon, if you’re hungry,” I said as she smiled. “That sounds great. The peanuts on the plane weren’t enough,” she said as I stared into her eyes, watching her skin heat up. “Are you sure about this? I can still call Jasmine.” “No. Don’t do that. I need you here,” I told Lily as I led us to the living room and took her luggage into the room. “How many rooms are there?” Lily asked, and I smiled. “You made the reservations,” I reminded her as I turned to look at her. “Not properly, apparently. I messed up my own.” She shook her head. She looked so fresh and pretty, closer to her age than she normally looked at work. It reminded me that Lily was younger than I was and that this might not be a great idea, but my cock won that argument as it hardened again. “Is this the extra room?” I left the suitcase in the room and turned to face her. “I think we both know you’re not sleeping away from me tonight, Lily. It has been in every look we

shared and every touch. I know you still want me.” Our eyes were locked as she remained silent, not denying anything. She was beautiful, and I was just reaching for her when there was another tap at the door. “There’s lunch.” We sat inside at the table as she asked me all about Belize. I explained about the beaches, the activities, and all the sights to see here as she smiled and laughed, still clearly nervous about this arrangement. “I can see that you love it here,” Lily said quietly as she set down her bottle of water. “I’ve considered buying something here in the past.” I smiled as she gave me a wide-eyed look. “It’s not insanely far and it’s a great getaway. Nadine was never into the idea, so I put it off, but with the divorce going through I might take the plunge. If I had done it before, she’d have tried to take it from me.” “She sounds so greedy and not about love at all. I suppose you’re bitter about the idea of marriage again?” Lily queried as I stared at her. I would be with anyone but her. I saw a future with Lily and babies surrounding us. “Not if the right person came around.” I felt her eyes on me as I took a bite of my roast beef sandwich. She took a bite of her salad as I looked back at her, but she avoided my gaze. “I never had kids and didn’t want to after the accident. Now, that might change if the opportunity presented itself.” I looked into her face. “Do you want kids?” “Maybe. I haven’t thought about it. Everything was about school and getting a job for me,” she said as she stabbed a hardboiled egg with her fork. “He doesn’t want marriage and kids?” I pressed, and she gave me a long look. “We haven’t talked about it.” Lily’s voice was soft. “I don’t want to talk about that. I want . . .” “What?” I asked, leaning forward. “What do you want?” Lily dropped her fork and stared at me. “I want to kiss you. I want to feel you again.”

LILY Landon was across the table in an instant, dropping before me to the tiled floor as I watched with wide eyes. He slipped his hands around my face to cup it, moving closer as I swallowed nervously. “I knew you missed me. I knew you wanted me,” he murmured before brushing his lips against mine as the heat rose and burned my skin. It was innocent one second and hard the next as he held my face and tilted his head to slide his tongue inside my mouth. I moaned as I met him with my own, feeling them dance together in a desperate motion.

Somehow, I ended up on the floor with him, holding him tight. Our kiss was careless and rough as we made up for lost time, pressing closer together. Once the hard floor became too much to bear, he lifted me and carried me to the bedroom as he kissed me senseless. “It’s light in here right now, but I have candles and an obscene amount of flower petals for later. I thought you’d make me wait.” “God, no,” I said as I pulled him over me on the bed. He locked his lips to mine again in a hungry kiss as his hands slid my dress up slowly, making me cry out. I had planned this outfit, knowing it was sexy without trying too hard, and now it was a few moves away from being on the floor. Landon pulled away to drag it over my head, moving his lips down my neck as he reached around my body to unhook my bra. Fuck, his mouth was everywhere. I was shaking and needy as I closed my eyes, memorizing the feeling of this. I had missed it while we’d been apart, and I cried out as he latched his lips around my hard and ready nipple, tugging hard as I slid my hands into his hair. I’d taught Brian all of this, so much so that he did everything the way Landon did. The physical acts were the same but the feelings were incomparable. Brian was sweet and pleasant, but Landon lit me on fire. I tugged at his clothing with hungry hands. Within moments, we were naked and kissing, pressed together before he moved down my body again. He nipped at my neck, dragging the skin between his teeth as his hands roamed my body freely. His mouth moved down to my nipple again before he took one and then the other between his teeth and tugged hard, making me cry out his name. I held on to him, my hands in his hair as he sucked and bit me while he spread my thighs apart with his knees. His hands traveled between my legs, feeling the dampness as he stroked my folds tenderly. I writhed beneath him as he spread me wide open and kissed my stomach, teasing me. I knew where he was going, and I knew where I wanted him to be, no matter how wrong this was. All my efforts of pushing him away faded the moment he stroked me with his tongue. Everything he’d done had brought me close to release, and he held me tightly as I instinctively jerked against him. Landon knew better than anyone what set me off, and he liked me still as I came on his tongue, which I was doing within a few moments as he nibbled on my clit and plunged two fingers inside me. It was slow to start but intense, and I screamed as I released, clutching the sheets as he tormented me through the lingering orgasm. It was everything I needed and wanted, and I threw my morals out of the window as I clutched at

him and begged him to fuck me. All my self-control disappeared when I came, and I wasn’t sure it would ever come back. Landon moved up my body as his mouth clumsily kissed my skin, settling between my thighs. He was hard, and I stared into his eyes for a long moment before he kissed me softly. My taste was smeared on his mouth, and I ate it away as he moved against me, ready to enter me. “Are you protected?” His voice was husky as his chest brushed against my sensitive nipples, and I felt disappointment surge through my veins. I was, but not for Landon. I’d made that choice for Brian, and I was going to let another man come inside me. “Yes. Just get in me.” I sealed my fate with those words. He slid forward, pressing into me slowly as I arched against him. His thickness filled me inch by inch, and I moaned raggedly and clung to him, hearing his whispers as he claimed me as his own. “So fucking tight. You feel so good, Lily . . . like you were made for my cock. You fit me like the warmest, wettest glove I’ve ever felt wrapped around me.” Landon buried himself inside me and took a breath as he leaned down to kiss my neck. “I am going to fuck you now, Lily.” “Please.” I almost wept as he started to thrust in and out of me, faster with every movement of his hips. I rocked with him, needing him as deep inside me as he could get. We found a messy beat that worked for us as we both moaned together. I heard my voice, muttering about how he felt and what I wanted to do to him, but it made no sense mixed in with my moans and cries. He dragged against me inside as I came closer to my second release, digging my nails into his back as I felt the pressure release. I cried out as it started all over again, him still driving himself inside me as I tightened around him, wetting his cock before he stilled and jerked with a cry of my name. Landon dropped against me, gasping for breath as he buried his face against my shoulder and whispered my name. He softened as we rested together, and I closed my eyes, breathing in our scent as it filled the room. Fuck, I had missed this. I had missed the smell of our sex and his musky scent as it combined in my nose. Landon slowly pulled out of me and dropped onto the mattress beside me, facing me as he slipped an arm around my waist. “Did you feel that?” “What?” I asked as my body cried out for a nap. I’d barely slept thinking about this trip, and I was here in his arms quicker than I’d expected. I felt comfortable and warm. “How good we are together, Lily. How perfect this is when it will never feel this way with any other person,” Landon said, and I smiled weakly. He had a point, but I was unsure of where we could go with this right now. I didn’t even know what would happen later tonight when we were in the crowd.

Tonight! I opened my eyes and gasped. “What?” Landon asked. “When is the dinner?” Landon glanced at the clock and snuggled against me. “We have a few hours before we have to be there, and it’s at the restaurant here,” he responded sleepily, and at his words, I let my eyes close again. I woke up to him gently shaking me as he whispered that the dinner started in an hour. “What? I have to get ready!” We took a shower together to save time, making love again as he pressed me against the wall. I hurried to dry my hair with the dryer I’d brought along, pulling it back in a loose bun low on my neck with curls peeking out. I grabbed the red dress I’d packed and slipped it on with some heels, adding some red lipstick and mascara before I walked into the kitchen to see Landon dressed in a suit that was obviously made for him. I dragged my eyes down his body. “Are you going to look like that at all of the events here?” I asked softly as he sipped his beer and looked at me with dark eyes. “I could ask the same of you. You look like you need to be kept here in my bed, not out there for other men to see.” His tone made me shudder as I forced a small smile, knowing no other man could ever have me. “It wouldn’t matter,” I assured him as he stepped toward me, staring into my eyes. “It wouldn’t?” he asked in disbelief, and I nodded. “Not here. Not like this.” Landon kissed my hair, promising me so much more to come when we returned tonight. I left first to keep our secret safe, glancing around to see the area empty of other guests. It was a private here, something I’d noticed when I made the reservations. I wandered toward the lobby and the restaurant as I patted my skin, worried about marks. I knew there was really no need to worry, though, as I’d checked closely in the bathroom mirror before dressing. The walkway wound through a courtyard and then a beautiful garden. I looked around as I walked, taking in the peace and the beauty of Belize as I smiled secretly to myself. It was amazing here, and I couldn’t wait to see more of the beaches Landon had spoken about. I was considering snorkeling as I looked ahead at the spacious restaurant. “Lily?” I turned to see Jasmine walking toward me in a dark purple vintage dress and shiny black heels. “You look so pretty.” “So do you. Can you believe this place?” I asked her as we walked together, comparing our thoughts on the resort. “I want some free time to get out and see everything! It’s amazing,” Jasmine gushed as we walked into the foyer to see several familiar faces. I

noticed Lauren and her crowd, choosing to avoid them as I found a seat with Jasmine once we were led to the massive private room. My eyes remained glued to the entrance as we sipped cocktails and chatted, softening when Landon entered with a few men. He had a glass in his hand and his eyes swept the room until he found me, resting momentarily on me before he moved to sit with the other partners. My eyes followed him, and I saw a pretty brunette sit with them. She sipped whiskey and laughed beside Landon. The jealousy inside me was ugly, and I tossed back my drink. I didn’t like it. We ate a delicious dinner of seafood and listened to a presentation about the company and the history behind it. It was interesting, but my eyes kept moving to Landon, as the woman continually touched his shoulder or leaned close to say something to him. She was clearly interested in him. I learned that her name was Marilyn when they introduced the partners and she smiled around the room as she nodded her head. She was pretty and had a maturity that I didn’t possess quite yet. After the meal, they gave us an idea of what we’d be doing that week, passing out a schedule before they released us to socialize and get to know others in the company. Jasmine and I ordered a fresh drink and stepped outside, both content with knowing as few people as possible. My reasons were far different than hers, since I was secretly sleeping with my boss and trying to hide it. She just didn’t care for most of the women who worked for the firm and was rather introverted. We wandered out to a fountain and sat down, sipping our cocktails and discussing the schedule. Some of it was boring work conferences that were mandatory, but there were a few tours lined up as well. Jasmine was talking excitedly about the gallery showing in town, but I stopped listening to her when I saw Landon and Marilyn at the bar together. Again, she was laughing with her head close to him, and I narrowed my eyes as rage throbbed through my body. “Lily?” I blinked and looked at Jasmine. “Are you all right?” “Yeah. I’m sorry. Just tired.” I forced a bright smile on my face. “That dinner . . .” “Must be why they have these things at beautiful locations.” Jasmine smiled back in understanding as I giggled. I asked about the guy she’d been seeing, telling her I was sorry when I learned that it hadn’t worked out for them. When she asked me about Brian, I pretended everything was fine. My emotions were on a roller coaster ride, and I didn’t know how to explain any of what was going on right now. We made our way back to the cottages and I hugged her at hers before

continuing to the one I supposedly had. I didn’t know when Landon would be back, so I slipped my shoes off and walked out onto the beach to stare at the dark water. I felt so conflicted. I knew Brian was at home waiting for me, in love with me. He was being a young guy and his typical social self, partying with friends, but there was nothing wrong with that. It was normal at this age, and he didn’t cheat. Landon had seemed like he was flirting with Marilyn all throughout the evening, and that angered me. I wanted my own cottage tonight even while I didn’t. I dropped to the sand as the wind blew through my hair. Fuck my cocktail dress. I felt done, and I stared blankly at the water as I wondered what the hell I was doing here. Minutes or hours later, someone cleared their throat behind me. “What are you doing out here?” “I don’t have a key. I had no choice,” I said as I kept looking forward. “Maybe I will sleep in the lobby until my room is ready.” “What the hell is wrong with you?” Landon’s voice was low as I turned to stare at him. “Get into the cottage. We’re not doing this out here.” He stalked toward his door and I looked around before following him, unable to let this go. I shut the door firmly and turned toward him with fire in my eyes, and he kissed me hard. “What was that at dinner?” I asked as he pulled away to kiss my neck. “Do you want her, Landon? Did you want her here in this room instead of me?” “Fuck, no. You were already with Jasmine and the partners sat together. Marilyn might have an interest in me, but it isn’t returned on my end. Trust me. I was in the bar, not knowing where you were. I was worried someone was trying to hit on you.” “I have a boyfriend at home and am sleeping with my boss. Why would I add to that?” I asked. He sighed and kissed me again. “Where is this going? What are we doing?” “This is everything. I hated sitting apart from you in there, watching you across the room. I wanted to sit beside you and show you off to every person in there. I want them all to know I am with you,” Landon said as he unzipped my dress and let it slide to the floor. “I have been hard all night looking at you, thinking about you. I can’t wait to be inside you again.” I tugged his pants open and dropped to my knees to draw him between my lips. Landon was hard, thick, and throbbing as I wrapped my mouth around him. The tile was cold, but he was hot inside my mouth as I bobbed over his cock, his hands slipping into my hair as he started to rock his hips against me.

Landon cried out my name as he spilled into my mouth, salty and sweet, clutching my face as I swallowed all he had to give. I dropped onto my ass as I ran my hands through my hair, loosening the bun. All my emotions had been poured into what had just occurred, and I felt weakened as I looked up at him. “I can’t stand the idea of any other woman touching you like that.” “I feel the same fucking way. Every time I see those fucking roses on your desk, I want to throw you over my desk and show you who owns this pussy,” Landon snarled as he lowered himself and picked me up. “I do, Lily. It’s my fingers, mouth, and cock that you crave.”

LANDON I felt possessive as I carried her, weak and shaking in my arms, to the bed. Her emotions fed into my own tormented feelings, and I needed to work them out. Marilyn had told me clearly that she’d be happy to meet me at my cottage tonight, but I’d been blind with jealousy when I didn’t see Lily for some time. Once I saw her sitting there alone on the beach, somewhere anyone could have hurt her, I knew I was going to make her mine tonight. I dropped her on the bed and told her to get on her knees. I’d seen her get dressed earlier and knew that her thin thong, which was all she was wearing now, would be easy to get off. Lily positioned herself in front of me, offering me her juicy ass as I reached over and swatted it lightly. “Mmmm,” Lily moaned as she jerked forward, making me reach down to stroke her damp pussy with my fingers. I used my other hand to spank her again, feeling hot juices squirt out over my fingers as she cried my name. “I want to redden this skin for the world to see, Lily,” I told her as I hit her again, making her squirt again. “Jesus. I love this on my hands.” “I’ve never done that before,” she moaned as I massaged her ass firmly, making her drop her face to the mattress. I slipped my finger inside her, pumping in and out as she rocked against me, bringing her to a rough release. I slipped my cock inside her, slapping against her ass as I fucked her hard and deep. We both moaned as she moved with me, pulling me deeper inside until I was coming again as her warmth washed over me. “Fuck, Landon. This feels so good. I . . . I can’t stop.” Lily kept rocking against me, taking me deep inside until she was crying my name again. I watched in awe as she dropped to her stomach, taking deep breaths. I couldn’t believe the feelings rushing through me, both physical and emotional. I was still in love with her, and I hated the idea that she was so jealous of

anyone else touching me. I knew I had added to that with the women at the office, but she was with another man. There was no ring on her finger—I had checked several times once I’d read the card with the roses—but she had said yes to something. Was she living with him and now here on my bed? Was she just coming for me when she slept with the same man night after night at home? I dropped beside her on the bed and looked her over. What were her intentions with me after tonight, or even after this trip? Lily’s breath evened out after a few moments, and I stood weakly. I needed some water after all the drinks I’d tossed back tonight, so I padded to the kitchen naked through the dim rooms. All the curtains were drawn, so I wouldn’t be seen. I grabbed a bottle from the fridge that had been stocked for my arrival, taking a long sip. I slipped some shorts on in the bathroom and slid the door open that led to the balcony. I made sure I looked presentable before stepping onto the cool cement of the spacious balcony and walking to the railing to stare over the dark sea. The moon was bright and high, reflecting off the swirling water as I watched and tried to take in everything I loved about this place. In the years before, I’d been happy and carefree, here to enjoy the recreational activities along with the gorgeous weather. Whether alone or with my former wife, I had enjoyed myself every time, though I knew now that I had never loved Nadine. It had just been an easy situation to step into, nothing more and nothing less. My feelings for the woman sleeping in my bed inside were a whole different animal entirely. Lily made me want to claim her, to mark her as my own. She made me crazy when I was away from her, and I craved her more than any other woman in my entire life. The thought of how it felt to be with her made me stand at half-mast again, and I ran a hand through my hair. What the fuck was happening to me? I could sleep with any woman here or at home, or even in between. Why was I in love with one who was not only taken, but also my employee? I had tried to stay away from her, but it had been impossible, and now that I had her back, I wasn’t willing to let her go. I was going to fight for her and win this time. I stood outside for a while, contemplating my situation, before I went back inside, locking up the door. I walked back into the bedroom and pulled Lily against me, memorizing the feel of her skin against mine. I thought ahead to the brunch tomorrow with the company and then the free time we had to explore. That was where Lily working for me would come in handy, since she was my assistant and one of the people I was closest to in the company.

She woke up halfway through the night, and I pulled her closer, feeling her lips searching for mine. I eagerly cupped her face and kissed her hard as she wrapped her legs around me. I loved that I could just be inside her without the wait of getting a condom on now, and before I knew it she was on her back and my fingers were plunging inside her just before my cock. She was wet and as tight as the first time we were together, and I got some immature joy from the fact that her boyfriend probably had a small dick and didn’t please her. I filled and stretched her every single time, but she was always wrapped tightly around me the following time, milking me for all I had. This time was no different. I thrust deep and hard into her as she rocked with me, her legs drawing me closer to her. Fuck, we were perfect together, and I wanted to spend every night with her from here on out. We drew close to our release. Lily was first, moaning and clutching at my body as I felt the familiar tightening of hers before she came. I followed as her heat washed over me. I found her mouth in a hungry kiss as we stilled, feeling the intensity of the near-mutual orgasm. I dropped gently over her as the kiss continued, slow and sweet. I felt her love with every sweep of her tongue against mine, as well as with the way she kept holding me close. “Stay with me for this trip,” I whispered once she pulled away to take a breath. “I like this too much to be away from you.” “Yes. I want to,” she replied, and I smiled and kissed her again. We fell asleep in each other’s arms before the alarm went off in the morning. Our day started with a quick round of lovemaking before we poured ourselves cups of coffee. Lily looked at me in the light of the sun that shone through the windows of the kitchen. “I think I should get the key to my room, just to avoid any suspicion.” “Do they even check that kind of stuff?” I asked in a challenging tone as she raised an eyebrow at me. Damn, Lily was beautiful with her fresh, clean face in the morning. “The company paid a lot of money for it, so I should make it look like I’m using it. Maybe we can go back and forth between the two or something. It would throw people off.” Her eyes were hopeful as she looked at me, and I let my bare shoulders drop as her eyes smoldered. “I am not going to out this, not here,” I told her as she stared at the warm red of the kitchen tile with a sad look. “Great. I can worry about you with your colleague and you can agonize about who is looking at me. That sounds amazing.” Her voice was soft and a touch sarcastic, and I set my cup on the marble counter and stepped forward. “I will let the world know that I am with you right now, if that’s what you

want.” Lily stared at me as I took her cup to move it to the counter before pulling her close to me. “Just say the word.” “No. I’m not ready for that. We’ll just keep it hidden during this trip,” she said as I stroked her robe-covered back. I hadn’t wanted her to say that, but I knew that she was right. We had to do that for now so that the entire company wouldn’t be talking about us. Lily showered and then dressed in a pretty pink and purple sundress with sandals before she made her way to the lobby. There was just enough time for her to grab her key before we were to meet for the brunch. While she was gone, I dressed slowly in some casual slacks and a button-up shirt in a soft green that brought out my eyes, according to Candy. Candy was a thing of the past. I thought about her, and the last time I’d seen her, for a moment as I slipped my feet into some comfortable shoes. She had known that was the last time as well, guessing right that I was into another woman. There was a tap at my door, and I opened it to see Lily, who stepped inside quickly. “I got the cottage just to the right. It’s at the end of several and might offer a bit more privacy. There’s just the beach.” “I still think we should keep the windows covered,” I told her, remembering how Marilyn had come wandering by that first day. I didn’t think she would stay away, despite my brushing off her advances. There had been something in her dark eyes that had told me she was a woman who went after what she wanted, and being caught with Lily by Marilyn concerned me a bit. “They’re just thin cotton curtains, so there is still light in the day.” “I want to make love with the doors open, listening to the waves. I don’t want to use curtains and blinds.” Her mouth was set in a pout, making me hate her indecision right now. I wanted the same. “We can light candles and do that in your room. Nobody will see anything but the dim light. We’ll just have to keep from screaming,” I murmured as I pulled her against me and kissed her. “I don’t want to,” Lily told me in a torturous, teasing tone just before our kiss deepened. I knew we didn’t have time for what I wanted, but I pushed her over to the couch and lifted her skirt as she moaned against me anyway.

LILY I gave myself to him there on the couch. I pushed him down onto his back and we undressed just enough for me to ride his cock hard and fast. I was addicted to Landon’s body, to his mind. I came twice on top of him, once before his release and then after at the feeling of his heat filling me. He was

the perfect man. Once I redressed, I took my stuff over to my cottage after making sure there was nobody around. It was slightly smaller than Landon’s, with just one huge bedroom, but that room faced the ocean and nothing else. There were no paths that would cross in front of the window and no reason other than the beach for anyone to be out there. The beach was long though and people could go to the other side. This stretch was all mine. I chuckled, knowing how many people were here who might use this part of the beach. They had every right to, but I wanted the perfect week with Landon. That included a private beach and a room we could open to hear the waves as he took me in my bed. Maybe there was no perfect scenario for us. Maybe this was all it was and would ever be—stolen nights together while we were away from home. I thought about Brian with guilt, realizing I hadn’t checked my phone since I’d arrived. I walked over to my purse, pulled it out, and saw that it desperately needed charging. I pulled my charger out of my luggage and plugged it into the wall near the kitchen counter. I hooked up my phone and watched as it started to charge. I checked my texts, seeing a few from Brian asking me if it was awesome here. He sounded positive in them and said that he was doing some stuff with the guys while I was away, as well as working. My aunt had called as well, checking to see how I was doing. She knew all about my trip and had asked if it was as gorgeous as the pictures she’d seen. I told myself I’d call her later, but I did take a picture of the view from my deck and send it to her. Her response made me laugh. I left my phone there to charge and locked the door to the cottage before I headed to the conference room where brunch was. I was going to meet Landon there, as I would for all the events, and I strolled along as I took everything in during the daylight hours. The flowers were beautiful and the scent was intoxicating as I passed by. The grounds were perfectly kept, making me stop to look a few times before I walked through the lobby and found the conference room we were converging in. It was a large room with several round tables and a wall of windows that displayed the beautiful courtyard of the resort, and the view made me stop and smile. My eyes wandered over the room and caught Jasmine standing beside her own boss. Then I took in Landon, who was looking right at me. He was all man, standing confidently near the drink table as he held a glass of something in his hand. His stance screamed that he was comfortable with himself and knew that everyone saw that, and I couldn’t blame any woman for wanting him. The look in his eyes told me I was it for him, though, and I smiled

his way as a flush passed over my cheeks. I wandered over to the beverage table and took a glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice before I glanced at the buffet-style spread on another long table. It looked delicious and my mouth watered as I sipped the juice. There was eggs and bacon, fresh fruit piled up on trays, some seafood, and a variety of other options. I thought about how I’d need to practice some self-control so as to not gain too much weight here, but then that made me laugh. I’d be working off every calorie I ingested. I gave Landon a look that made his eyes smolder. I was happy to see that Marilyn was focusing on another man this morning and that men surrounded Landon. “Hey, there,” Jasmine said, and I smiled at her as she joined me. She was wearing a gorgeous burnt orange dress. “Good morning. How are you?” I asked warmly, seeing her curious gaze. “You seem better today,” she said as she grinned. “And I’m good. I slept well, and if that food doesn’t get me going, I don’t know what will. What are you doing later?” “I think Landon told me he wanted to show me a particular beach or something. He’s been here several times for these things,” I said, and she smiled and nodded. “Vince offered the same thing. He’s very familiar with the area, and he mentioned scuba diving. I’m terrified!” I chuckled at her girlish laugh, knowing there was nothing between them apart from a boss and employee relationship. I was a little jealous until I met Landon’s gaze again and felt the desire in his eyes. We took seats for the meal and listened to more new laws and policies that the company needed to follow. I took notes on my tablet in between bites of food, making sure to be clear about them so there would be no confusion later. I filled up on fresh tropical fruit and avoided the mimosas so I could keep a clear head later on. Afterward, I hugged Jasmine good-bye as we promised to meet up for dinner later. I headed back to my cottage when we were dismissed, knowing Landon was following close behind. He called my name on the path behind me, and I turned with a smile before leading him to my cottage. I showed him around, making a big deal about the added privacy, before I slipped my phone into a small purse. Landon insisted on rubbing sunscreen on me, leading to a great orgasm with his finger strumming my clit in the process. We headed out after that, taking the luxurious SUV he’d had delivered to the resort the day before. He told me that he was taking me to Xunantunich, a site of ruins. It was several

miles away, but with his skillful driving, it seemed like we were there in no time at all. The drive was gorgeous, a lot of the scenery being the bright blue ocean and cliff views that were breathtaking. I relaxed and laughed with Landon, holding hands since I knew we were alone. We could be seen together, just not in the intimate sense, and I felt like I could handle that with this drive. It was so natural and fun that I almost forgot what we were facing if we were caught. He parked at the base of the ruins and we walked up the hill to the massive stone structures. I was overwhelmed by their size and the feeling in the air as Landon explained a bit of the history behind them. El Castillo had been constructed in painful detail around 800 AD, and it was still beautiful in its detail. I took several pictures of it, a few of the entire structure, and several more of the smaller details, feeling Landon’s eyes on me the entire time. We didn’t go close to it, given the time frame we were working with. We just wandered, talked about all the history of the area, and took pictures. It was one of the most relaxing times of my life, apart from time spent with my adoring aunt. The difference in this was the deep attraction between Landon and me. It was everywhere around us even though we didn’t touch once out at those ruins. It was more than that, though, too. It was the way he listened to me and respected me, showing me I was the only thing in his world at that moment. It was the way he gave me every moment we had together. It was the way he worshiped me without seeming immature about it, like Brian did. Brian faded from my mind increasingly as I spent time with Landon. He seemed more like the boy I met in college and less like a man. Landon showed me things I could have never expected in life: intimacy, depth, and an endless supply of ways to take me places I’d never go on my own. When we were driving away from the ruins hours later, I looked at him as I reached for his hand. I had missed touching him. I thought back to the beach that Jasmine had said she was going to, impressed that Landon had known I would want more. He knew to bring me here and show me the beginnings of this place. It was so thoughtful and, more than that, observant. I kept my plans with Jasmine, enjoying a late meal of seafood and fresh vegetables as we discussed our days and then I returned to my cottage. Landon was inside, working on his laptop, and I smiled as I dropped my key on the counter. “Hey there. I hope you’re not working on vacation.” “Not anymore,” he said easily as he typed something and made a few motions to end whatever he was doing. He didn’t do it in the way a person who was hiding something would, but why should I care if he had? I was the

one hiding something from everybody right now. “How was dinner?” He asked. “Yummy. Jasmine went scuba diving today and saw a shark,” I told him, my shock evident in my voice, and he laughed. “I don’t think I want to do that.” “We’ll see. The sea isn’t as scary as you make it out to be, Lily. It’s quite beautiful, much like you.” I kissed him as I dropped onto the comfortable plush sofa beside him. “Thank you, but I am not yet convinced of that.” “We need to see some beaches during this week. You’ll change your mind,” he said before I kissed him again. It deepened as we pressed together, and soon I was in his lap and he shoved his computer aside. He lowered my dress with skillful hands, finding my nipple with his mouth as I balanced on my knees before him, wrapping his arms around my neck. It was intoxicating the way he drew me between his teeth, flicking me with his tongue as I fell apart before him. His hands slipped the dress down my body slowly, and he traced my hips with his fingers before squeezing my ass in his strong hands. I arched my back, offering him more as he drew me between his teeth again and found my ready clit, hard and waiting. He stroked me as he dragged his teeth over my sensitive skin, making me moan and rock against his hand. I had craved him the entire time we’d been apart, and now that I was in his embrace again, I knew I wouldn’t want to go back to reality. He moved his lips up to my neck and slide his shorts off so his cock nudged my entrance. “Fuck me, Landon,” I told him as I slipped over him and clutched his shoulders. He held me tight as he arched his hips up and took me, easily finding our familiar rhythm as we fucked like it was our first time together. It always felt that way, and I knew he was everything I wanted in my life. It was just wrong in so many ways. Yet it was also so right. We made our way to my bedroom after resting and finishing a movie, where I cracked the window and let the ocean air into the space. I kept the thin curtains closed for privacy, but I needed the sound of the waves as I pulled Landon close to me and kissed his chest. I had just had him inside me, but I wanted him again, and I drew his nipple between my teeth as he groaned my name. “Baby, you’re insatiable.” “I love you being inside me. Don’t fault me for that,” I told him before I kissed him and ran my hands over his toned chest and shoulders. Landon was perfect, and the idea of us ending when we went back home broke my heart. I kept the kiss going to distract myself. We made love with me on my stomach as he stroked my nipples gently, my legs parted as he moved slowly. It was beautiful, and I inhaled our combined desire as I memorized the sound of the

waves as our backdrop. I came with tears in my eyes, and he stilled and whispered my name softly, making my heart soar and my body cling to him tightly. I was so in love with Landon that it was going to kill me. I wiped my eyes before we faced one another. He pulled me against him and kissed my neck until I fell into an exhausted sleep against his hot skin.

LANDON The week passed quickly with the meetings we had as well as the free time. Lily and I were in bed together every chance we got, mostly in her more private cottage. I caught wind of Marilyn telling some of the other partners that she stopped by my cottage a couple of nights but received no answer, making them ask me who I was fucking this time around. I laughed it off and mentioned a waitress at some bar in town. I said she had a condominium near her job, so I was spending some nights there. I made it out to be very casual so they would drop it, but inside I knew I had to keep everything between Lily and me secret for the time being. I was a bit livid that Marilyn stopped by at all since I hadn’t been responding to her advances. I had figured she was going after some of the other partners. I had to give it to her, Marilyn knew who to hook up with and didn’t seem to bother with any of the men in the firm who weren’t at her level, and I wondered how much that had to do with her position. I took Lily to a great private beach midweek to show her how welcoming the ocean was. She wore a two-piece purple bikini that concealed more than some with a sheer black cover-up, and I still wanted to rip it off her and fuck her right there. Every time I was inside her, I wanted her more. I was trying to find a way to tell her my feelings and establish something for when we arrived home, but I kept putting it off. We walked along the soft sand as three other people sat on towels and took in the view, none of them from our firm, as our coworkers seemed to flock to the more touristy beaches where activities were plentiful. I took the chance to take Lily’s hand and pulled her into the surf as it pooled around our feet. She protested with a throaty giggle but clutched me as she followed slowly. “See how far you can see out there? We can walk all the way until we’re swimming and know everything that is around us.” The water was warm and welcoming, and Lily smiled softly as she stepped forward hesitantly. “It is lovely here. I like that we’re nearly alone. I don’t like crowded

places, even if it’s a beach.” I looked at her, taking in her natural beauty for a long moment, before I licked my lips. “I’ll take you to every private place I know of, Lily. I want to show you the world,” I told her as she looked at me through her wide sunglasses. I couldn’t see her eyes, but I felt her grip my hand tighter as she moved farther into the water. I looked at her pale skin, uncovered for this trek, and told my cock to stay down as the water lapped against my knees. This wasn’t the place, even if she did look like the sexiest woman on the planet in her vintage-style bathing suit. She laughed as the waves brushed against her upper thighs and looked back at the shore. I held her hand tightly to keep her by my side. “Where is your favorite place?” Lily asked as she let herself acclimate to the water for a moment. “Let me see . . . I’ve been to a lot of places. I would love to take you to France and eat at this great little place near the Eiffel Tower. I love any coast that I’ve ever been to, but I prefer the ones in Northern California to the ones on the East Coast. They’re not like this, not for swimming. They’re for observing and finding your peace. I love the Hamptons for a road trip. I have friends who live in most of these places, and they often line me up with a great place to stay.” I looked at her to see her staring at me with a smile on her face. “What?” “I have only ever been on the East Coast. I stayed in Philadelphia with Amy after my parents were gone, and then I moved to New York after college. I think a lot of it had to do with a fear of planes initially, but I worked through that. I know history doesn’t always repeat itself and I’ll have to fly to go to the good places, like this. I won’t say I am entirely comfortable with it, but I have ways to cope.” Lily shrugged. “I make do.” She’d told me about her parents when we were first together, and it had made me admire her strength. Lily had been devastated by her loss, but the love of her aunt had pulled her through it, along with a will to survive. I couldn’t imagine what she’d have done if it was just her left behind at that young age. “I think you’re amazing. You’ve been through more than most people ever will, and while you were so young. Others grow up into horrible people, falling back on their life circumstances, but you are making the best of everything. You are going to be a successful woman.” “I don’t know. I’m just plugging along like anyone else would.” Lily brushed my compliment off and I let go of her hand to cup her face as the water swirled around her hips and my thighs. “You’re stunning,” I murmured as I brushed my lips against hers, feeling her freeze. It was risky, but we’d been nearly alone before, and what was a

kiss on a romantic beach? Nothing. “Landon, should we?” she asked before she kissed me again, softly and slowly. “Always.” I wrapped my arms around her and held her still as the current moved around our legs. The kiss deepened and we became lost in one another. We both forgot where we were for several moments, but then she pulled away and looked around with a nervous energy. “We have to be careful, Landon. Anybody could see us.” I stared at the empty beach before I looking into her face again. I pushed the glasses on top of her head so I could see her eyes. “I want them to.” “What?” Lily asked as I captured her lips in another kiss. This one lasted several moments before she pulled away and looked at the beach before pulling me out of the water. “I told the guys I’m fucking a waitress in town when they asked. Word got back to them that I haven’t been in my cottage. I guess someone decided to stop by or something,” I left out the details of who that was, knowing what it would do to Lily. “I want to tell everyone who it really is.” “I thought this was just for the trip. I thought that this was just for fun,” Lily said as she looked everywhere but in my eyes. “It was never for a night, a week, or a trip. I told you how I felt about you before, Lily. That didn’t go away.” I growled as she pressed her fingers between her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose. “What did you say yes to?” “What do you mean?” she asked as she looked at me. “I saw the card with the flowers and he specifically mentioned that you said yes to something. What the fuck was it?” I demanded. Anger flashed in her beautiful eyes. “You just come to my desk and look at whatever you want?” Lily asked as she stepped back. “That’s not part of the deal, Landon.” “No, the deal is that we cannot stay away from each other. Can’t you see that? Can’t you see that I love you and I want to be with you?” I asked her. She blinked and shook her head. “What did you say yes to?” “He moved in with me. He asked me and I just agreed, even though it doesn’t always feel right. Are you happy now?” she asked. I narrowed my gaze at her. “You’re my boss. This job is my future. We can’t be together.” “The fuck we can’t. There’s other equally successful firms in the city, and I could get you on with any one of them,” I told her as tears sprang into her eyes. “I earned this job, Landon. I want this job because of that. I don’t want you to set me up with something else because you know somebody.” She started to cry as she spoke, and I wiped her eyes. “What if we fade away? This fire can’t

last forever, and then I’ll be in a job that you got me. They could let me go once it doesn’t benefit you any longer.” “You would be the best assistant I’ve had even if I wasn’t in love with you. That is what I tell everybody, and I know for damn sure that you have a future in law if you want that,” I told her, but she stepped away from me. I knew our voices were rising, and while we seemed to still be alone, tensions were flaring. “I love that you have aspirations, Lily. I love that you want to work for what you get, but I want you. I want you so badly. I’ll give up all other women for you if you’ll just be mine.” I kissed her, and she threw herself into my arms as it deepened immediately. We stumbled completely out of the water and behind some foliage as my hands slid over her hardened nipples. Lily moaned as I dropped to the sand and pulled her with me. She straddled my thigh as our tongues danced together. I looked around quickly to assure that we were shielded before I unhooked her suit and pinched her breasts, causing her to gasp into my mouth. My fingers slipped down between her legs to feel her heat through the thick material of her suit before I slipped my hands underneath it to stroke her swollen clit. Lily came after a few touches, and I laid her back on the sand as I ripped my shorts open. All I heard was the sound of the waves as I moved her suit to the side and entered her as she cried out lightly. She was hot and tight, and I drove myself into her hard and fast as my need for her consumed me. We dressed afterward and she sat up as she took a deep breath. “I can’t believe I did that here. Do you think anyone saw us?” “We’re in the middle of a lot of trees and bushes, Lily. We’re alone,” I assured her as I stood and looked around. We were for the moment, and she adjusted her swimsuit before she led the way back to the beach. She looked stricken as she turned to stare at the water before she looked at me. “I want to go back to the cottages.” Her voice was shaking, and I took a deep breath. We walked to the SUV and I drove back, terrified of her leaving me forever once we got back to the resort. I knew she feared what was happening between us, and I’d had no intention of declaring my feelings on the beach, or of making love to her right there on the sand. Everything was flashing before my eyes, and I gave her a long look as I stopped at the light just before the resort, seeing her staring forward through the windshield. “Lily?” I asked as she blinked and kept looking forward. She said nothing as we parked, looking around and rushing to her cottage as I stepped out of the car. I let my gaze wander over the parking lot, seeing no familiar faces as I let out a sigh of relief. I walked away from the car, pushing the button to set the alarm as I made my way to my own cottage. I poured a

drink at the bar and sat on the couch with the sliding door wide open, listening to the waves and praying for a knock at my door. I knew I couldn’t go home without her in my life as much more than just my assistant. I’d had Lily twice now, and it had only gotten better, mirroring the love I’d had for my first wife that I had lost so tragically. I kept drinking to get through the pain of the memories of Madeline that were mixing with the ones I now had of Lily. It came hours later, when I was drunk and sloppy. I was half asleep on the couch, and I stirred as I looked around the room, which was lit only by the television. “Lily?” I asked as I made my way to the door blindly. I reached for it, falling to the floor before I could open it. “Lily, come back to me.” I crawled forward and managed to get the door open before I looked up, pain and hope in my eyes.

PART 3 LILY I paced the living room in my cottage as emotions raced through my mind. There was so much confusion about all of this. I ran my hands through my hair, which was tangled from the wind. Sleeping with Landon again had opened so many feelings as well as worries, though I had to admit that I’d set myself up for the fall. I had known we wouldn’t be able to keep our hands off one another the moment we were alone, as much as I’d tried to deny it. I hadn’t stopped to consider the way I would feel when I saw him with other women, not expecting such bitter jealousy. I hadn’t expected that I’d fall harder for him than before, making everything so complicated. Brian was living in my apartment now. We were making a life together, and I blew that here. I barely got back to him when he called or texted, using work as an excuse. I knew he was busy with friends and didn’t worry too much since he’d seen the itinerary and where we would all be staying. It was paradise and full of fun, only not the kind my boyfriend was thinking about. I wasn’t even mad at the idea of him taking things too far with another woman back home. At this point, what did it even matter? I walked to the sliding glass door and stepped outside to breathe in the air, trying to make sense of the mess in my head. We had another two days here that I had to get through, and I pictured doing that without Landon.

I dropped into a chair and let tears slide down my cheeks. I thought about the beach earlier and our urgency to find a private place as I admitted to myself that I was in love with him. I hated myself for that, in part since I’d worked so hard to get this job and my pride was too involved in the situation. I knew Landon cared for me and would get me another job, but what if I looked like the office slut who got promoted because of who I slept with? I knew all too well that people talked a lot and that this would be the rumor of the year. Still, Landon made me feel like no other man had before. Could I get past that? Could I go back home and pretend that we’d never been together at all? The more I thought about it, I realized that I was invested in this relationship with Landon. As fucked up and painful as it was, I was in love with him. I’d slept with him earlier on the beach because I loved him. I came running here with a plan in mind to seduce Landon all over again, so what had I expected? I knew I was getting into something deeper than I could handle, telling myself to just let it go even as I cried. I was in control of all of this. I could go back home to Brian and make everything all right again, put this behind me. Brian didn’t have to know that any of this had happened. I could pretend that things were perfect and we could progress to where we’d been going before I lost my mind for a moment. I walked back into the cottage and closed the door quietly, feeling my strength from outside wane as I ran a hand through my hair. Two more days. There was a conference tomorrow over lunch reviewing some more new laws before a dinner in the restaurant with some dancing and entertainment. It was one of the most popular events here among visitors, but I had no clue how I would get through it. Jasmine would know something was wrong with me since we’d grown close. I had to find a way to make it through the day and then fly home to my normal life. I had to find a way to straighten out my head and my life, even if it meant finding another job. Oh, god. Another job meant I would be away from Landon, and that idea killed me inside. The thought of never seeing him made me feel so empty. I thought back to his offer of another position if we stayed together. Was that something to consider? No. I needed to do what was best for me. I walked into the bedroom to change into something else, looking at the mussed sheets as memories of Landon and me filled my mind. I inhaled deeply and swore that our scent was still in the air as my resolve weakened. My

phone chimed from the living room as I stared at the bed and then looked toward the front door of the cottage. I went to look at the screen of my phone, and I cried when I saw Brian’s name. I dropped it down, not ready to talk to him or deal with what this might do to him. Instead, I picked up my key and walked to the front door, toward the man I did want to see. I needed to talk to Landon, though I wasn’t sure what I was going to say. I just needed to see him. I made my way to his door, pausing when I saw it cracked open slightly. Looking around, I didn’t see anyone else and stepped forward slowly. I took in a breath as I leaned forward and looked through the door into the living room, my eyes widening when I saw the woman from the other morning sitting on the couch. She was wearing a tiny slip of a dress and seemed to be cradling Landon as she spoke softly, her lips close to his. There was a sense of intimacy between them that made me wonder if I had anything with Landon at all. She glanced toward the door as I stepped back and started toward my cottage with my hand over my mouth. I unlocked the door, running inside to the bathroom just in time to throw up in the toilet. I felt used, knowing he might have been sleeping with her while he was with me. I felt stupid because I loved him and he might have been fucking someone else, all the while making me feel like I mattered to him. I finished getting sick and made my way to the bedroom, sitting on the bed as I started sobbing. I was a fool who had risked everything I had at home for this pain. I dropped back onto the sheets and curled up into the fetal position. I cried myself to sleep, dozing off for a little while before I woke up with a start. I looked around, finding myself alone as I remembered what had happened. All the time I had spent with Landon felt like a waste now that I’d seen him with that woman. He must have called her to come and console him when I left him in the car, and that made my stomach twist all over again. I was that easy to replace when he was everything to me. Brian was a good man, and he would always take care of me, but he didn’t make me feel the way Landon did. Was that enough? I pushed myself up slowly and made my way to the living room, where Landon had left his laptop the day before. I dropped onto the couch in front of it, turning it on and waiting for it to warm up. I’d left mine at home, intent on enjoying this trip, but now I knew there was no chance of that. I was relieved to see that there was no password to get into the computer, which made me wonder for a moment if I could trust Landon. No. He was in his cottage with another woman after all we had shared. I went online and

found the website for the airline, swallowing the lump in my throat as I changed my flight to later tonight. I’d make an excuse involving some emergency; I just couldn’t stay here. I paid with a credit card and leaned back, taking a deep breath as I assured myself that leaving would make all this bearable. I packed my bags after I changed into some leggings and a T-shirt, walking through the cottage to look for anything that could get left behind. I’d never come back here, and I needed to ensure that there would be no signs I had been here to begin with. When the time came, I grabbed my luggage and went to the lobby to meet the cab that was taking me to the airport. Landon’s laptop I left powered off in the room. I didn’t look at his door to see if it was open any longer when I walked toward the lobby. I just wanted to get the hell out of here, away from all the bad memories I’d created. I cried the entire flight home, huddled up in a seat by the window as I looked at the beauty of Belize that was imprinted in my memory. I cursed myself for my plan and the results of it, so unsure why I had thought it would be anything different. I fell asleep hoping that Brian would never know any of this. I’d sent Jasmine a text explaining that I needed to return home because Brian was sick and needed help, but that was it. I told Landon nothing. I was going to go back and fix what I’d done to my life if it killed me.

LANDON I woke up on my couch, blinking at Marilyn, who was draped over me in a summer dress that barely covered anything. “What the fuck are you doing here?” I asked her in a hoarse voice, pushing her off me as I scooted back. “What did we do?” Marilyn, wide-eyed, lifted her head after landing on the floor. “You let me in, Landon. Last night. You let me in. Don’t you remember?” I already knew I was working a hangover from the way my head was pounding and the taste in my mouth. I must have been drunk when she came over and remembered nothing about it, even though I knew the reason I’d been drinking. “No. I would have never let you in, much less had you sleep here, if I was sober. Tell me we didn’t do anything.” “You were way too drunk to fuck me, but I sucked your big cock. You were hot when you came in my mouth.” I watched her eyes darken as nausea flooded my stomach, knowing it was a possible lie. I’d never know, though, since I’d

been stupid drunk, and I’d have to live with that. “I don’t want to know anything else,” I told her, standing to go to the bathroom. “Get the fuck out of here, Marilyn. Don’t come back, because this will never happen again.” I stumbled down the hallway, holding my loosened shorts with shaking hands. I dropped down in front of the toilet and vomited, sickened by the idea that I’d touched Marilyn. A vague memory of calling out Lily’s name as I crawled toward the door flooded my mind, making me wonder if that was when Marilyn had been at my door. There was a part of me that wanted to demand every detail of what had happened in my cottage, while the most logical part of me understood that Marilyn would lie to make herself look better. She was all about gain, and she wouldn’t care about my needs or wants. I knew she’d had to fuck someone to get partner, at least in part. She was an intelligent woman, but something was disturbing about her as well. I looked down at my flaccid cock and angrily pushed away from the thought of her mouth wrapped around it. I didn’t want Lily to be erased from my memories, and my heart ached for her for a long moment. I finished my business, cleaning myself up as best I could before I changed into some fresh clothes. I needed to get to Lily now and fix things, tell her I loved her and needed her in my life. A part of me worried that Lily knew what had happened in my cottage last night, but how? Did she come over at any part of the evening and see us? I had to know. I glanced at my couch when I left and saw that the room was empty. I was barefoot and wearing old shorts with a T-shirt that probably didn’t even match, but I didn’t care. I strode to her door and knocked, loud and hard. “Lily, open the door,” I said, when there was no sound. Was she with someone else in their cottage? Had she slept with someone else to get back at me, as it appeared I had? No. I remembered her words about Brian and sleeping with me, and I knew deep down she wouldn’t do that. She loved me, and she’d open this door so we could fix things. That was who Lily was. Only nobody was answering the door. “Lily?” I called out, trying to remind myself that we were in a work situation and I needed to remain calm. “Open the door. We need to talk.” Nothing. Where was she? I turned and tried to think of where she could be. It was too early for her to have left for the work lunch, so I slowed my brain down and tried to think of someplace Lily might go to if she needed some peace. I looked at the water, knowing how much she loved it, and walked

toward the waves. I looked over her balcony to see it empty, and even a closer look at the cottage revealed that she wasn’t there. I kept walking over the sand until I was in a place where I could look left or right and see anyone who was on the beach. There were people, but I didn’t see Lily, and I sucked in my breath. I turned and checked the restaurants, the lobby, and any of the other little place we’d spent time in for a quiet moment. There was no sign of Lily. I was walking back to my cottage when I heard my name. I turned to see one of the partners walking over to me, looking at my outfit curiously. “How are you?” “I was just looking for someone,” I replied vaguely as he smiled and nodded. “When does the lunch start?” “It starts in an hour,” Ken said after checking his phone. “Marilyn is having coffee on the beach.” I stared at him for a long moment before I realized that she must have told the others something about us. He thought I was looking for her, something that disgusted me even though it was slightly better than the truth. “Thanks, Ken. I should take a shower before lunch and get myself together.” I forced a smile on my face as I ran a hand through my messy hair. “I had a few too many last night.” “A lot of us did.” He smirked as I laughed and nodded. “See you in a bit.” I told him the same as I wandered back toward my cottage, not sure of anything. I couldn’t find her. I felt lost as colleagues walked by me and greeted me, nodding and trying to respond as normally as possible. I unlocked my door and walked inside, feeling the emptiness of the room settle over me. It occurred to me that my phone was in the kitchen and I’d never even looked at it to see if she had left a message or called me. I walked over and stared at it, seeing it was dead as I cursed softly. I walked it to the charger in the bedroom, plugging it in, and sat and waited for enough juice to check it. I scrolled past all the other text messages and calls, just looking for her name but finding nothing. “Fuck, Lily. Where are you?” I asked as my head started pounding. If I were in my right mind, I would be doing what was needed to get me through this lunch. Right now, I couldn’t think. I decided I would go to the function, both to see if she was there and to ask around if that wasn’t the case. I could talk to her friend Jasmine if nothing else. Lily didn’t trust anyone but her, so Jasmine would know something. Whether she’d share it was a different story. I showered and dressed in some clean shorts and a button-up shirt, respecting the relaxed dress code of the company. I walked into the conference room and sat with the other partners, refusing to make any eye contact with

Marilyn. I looked calm on the outside, but my eyes scanned the room for Lily every second until someone started talking. She wasn’t there. I sipped some orange juice and nibbled on fruit to calm my stomach as the voices droned on and on. I looked at Jasmine a few times, who was seated by her boss and sipping coffee. She didn’t look upset, so maybe there was a good reason Lily wasn’t here, even though we weren’t leaving until tomorrow. Tomorrow, we would be going back to normal, but I didn’t know what that was any longer. I didn’t know what to do or say. I made my way across the room as casually as possible, approaching Jasmine as she looked at me. “Where is she?” I asked as her eyes narrowed. “I can’t find her. Where is she?” “There was something at home. Lily flew back last night.” I stared at her. “She didn’t tell you. Were you sleeping together again?” There was no one close enough to overhear the question she asked as her keen eyes judged me. “Yes,” I said softly, and she pressed her lips together. “I didn’t force it.” “I know that. I know Lily even though she tried to hide her feelings for you. I could see it in her eyes and all through this trip. She left because of you, didn’t she?” I looked out the window, knowing I would be leaving early as well. “I didn’t hurt her in any way. I didn’t harm her,” I said, and she shook her head at me. “Of course not. You love her,” Jasmine said. “You broke her heart, though. Something happened.” “I have to go,” I said, turning to leave the room. I didn’t say good-bye to anyone, and I intended to get a flight home as soon as possible. I remembered that my laptop was in her room and walked over there to see the door cracked open. “Excuse me?” I called out as I peered inside. One of the maids walked down the hallway, looking at me curiously. “Yes, sir?” “Did you find a laptop here?” She paused and nodded. “That is the firm’s property, and I was hoping to collect it.” The resort was familiar with the company, and she gave me a curious look for a moment. “The woman in this room was my assistant. I assure you that I am telling the truth.” I wanted to push past her just to see the bedroom one last time, to imprint it in my memory. Did it still smell like her? She finally pointed at the small bistro table, and I saw the computer there. “Thank you.” I picked it up and looked around the cottage slowly before leaving to go back to mine. I sat down on the couch and powered it up, finding

the airline already in the search history. I shook my head. She made her own way home by using this computer, and that hit me in a place deep inside. If I’d had my computer with me instead of at her cottage, would Lily still be here? If we hadn’t made love on the beach that day, would she still be here? I could ask myself a million questions that wouldn’t help me at all right now. I focused on getting a flight home and packing my things. I told the partners that something came up and I had to leave, which wasn’t a big deal since the work portion of the trip was completed. I called for a cab, taking it to the airport with an empty feeling inside. I didn’t know what would happen now, because the timing was off. I had planned to leave for home with Lily knowing that I loved her. I wanted to leave with her being mine and looking forward to a future. The last time we made love played back through my mind, and I saw her face as she came as quietly as possible. It had been a beautiful moment despite the harsh words beforehand and even afterward, making me hate that it might have been the last time I ever felt Lily in my arms. I dozed off during the flight, waking up when I arrived home. It tormented me that Lily had done this same trip alone, making me wonder if she was as torn apart as I was. I left the plane, getting my stuff before I took a cab home. The apartment looked the same. There was no trace of what had happened in here, and I wondered if I could make it all go away. I thought of the saying about Vegas and how what happened there stayed there, but this was love. I wanted Lily. I knew the entire firm would be coming home tomorrow and work would resume next week. I didn’t want to give Lily any space now that I was back, but it was clearly what she’d wanted when she left. I lay in bed that night wondering if she was curled up with her boyfriend in their home. I couldn’t imagine her being at peace with herself right now, not after I saw all the feelings on her face, in her eyes, the past couple days. I knew how she felt every time that we were in bed together, and I knew it was more than just sex for both of us. It was everything. I had a moment of weakness when I woke up alone and sent a text to her work phone. I didn’t know if she would even have it on, but I waited for a response. I’d make things so much worse if I used her personal phone. I didn’t want to do that to Lily, as much as I wanted to claim her as mine. I wanted her happy no matter what, and blowing up her life wouldn’t do that. I could wait until work, where we could talk privately. I dressed for work that Tuesday in my favorite suit, determined to get my girl. I looked put together and confident when I drove in, though I feared what

might happen inside. I left the car and walked to my office, knowing I’d never felt like this returning to work after one of the annual trips before. There was the occasional awkwardness that followed a one-night stand with a colleague or fights with Nadine if she didn’t come along with me, but nothing like this. I was earlier than everyone else, and I assumed they were all still recovering from the getaway. I remembered the last dinner being a time of relaxation, partying, and letting loose. It was the night that a lot of careless things happened, based on my experience. There were a lot of apologies in my past from that night and others on trips that I could remember, but I didn’t regret a single thing about Lily. It was more than a night or a drunk moment. I sat down at my desk with the door open, warming up my computer and looking over the city. It was beautiful in a different way than Belize was, since the memories I had of Lily transcended both places, but this was home. I went to make some coffee, and I saw the one woman in the firm I didn't want to see standing in the room. “You have a break room. Why are you here?” I let all my bitterness in my voice, not holding back since we were alone. “I wanted to talk. You left so suddenly,” Marilyn said as she turned to look at me. Her surface beauty was marred by her selfish intentions, and I narrowed my eyes at her. “About what?” I asked, and she smiled and tossed her hair. “I won’t tell anyone about you and your assistant if you continue what we started in Belize, Landon. I want more than I got,” she said. I thought about her words. I could get into some trouble for being with Lily and possibly lose my job, but I also had a lot of years here and far more security than she did. “I think we could be good together,” she said. “I don’t want you, Marilyn,” I told her. Ice flashed in her eyes. “I never did, and I don’t remember anything that happened between us; nor do I want to. I was drunk, and you know I wasn’t truly in the moment. Why continue that?” “You’re willing to lose everything for her?” She was stunned, and I made my coffee with shaking hands. “You and I both know I will be here longer than you are. In time, everyone will know that you’re looking out for yourself, Marilyn. I wouldn’t doubt if they already do.” I turned and looked into her pale face. “Leave me alone and don’t you even look at her. I can have you fired so fast that your head will spin.” I walked past her to my office. The woman I loved was sitting at her desk and getting ready to work. She was beautiful, but I saw the sadness in her face as she stared at her monitor while it warmed up. She glanced over to see me

approaching her, and her eyes widened as a frown crossed her face. “Are you okay? Jasmine said that you had to return home early.” I kept my tone even as a flurry of emotions crossed her face. “Fine,” was her clipped answer. She avoided any eye contact with me, looking pained. “Come into the office when you’re settled in. I have something I want you to go over with me.” I walked through my door once I’d spoken and played back her tortured face in my mind. There was a lot of pain there, and I didn’t know why, but I was going to get to the bottom of things when she walked in here.

LILY I knew he wanted to see me, and as his assistant, I needed to go in there. I also knew it wasn’t business he wanted to discuss, and my heart sank at the idea of facing the pain that had haunted me since I’d looked into his cottage that night. I went to make coffee to kill some time, listening idly to talk about the trip and how much fun it had been. I wish that had been the case for me. I’d come home with a broken heart. I’d come home to change my life and try to put the pieces back together. I walked back to my desk slowly, feeling the ache in my body as I thought about everything. When I got back to my desk, my phone was lit up, and I picked it up to see a text from Brian. He was so innocent in all of this. I shoved the phone into the drawer with my purse and locked it before I took a deep breath. I just needed to get this over with. I tapped at Landon’s cracked door before I heard him tell me to come inside. I straightened my black dress with my hands. “You needed to see me?” I asked as I gave him a hesitant look. “Close the door,” Landon said, and I nodded and pushed it behind me until I heard the click of it shutting tightly. “Why did you leave?” He came around his desk and stepped toward me as I pushed myself against the door. I knew how private this office was, and I licked my lips as he cupped my face, staring into my eyes. “Stop. Don’t touch me,” I choked out, tears filling my eyes. “What?” He sounded shocked as I found the strength to push him away. “I saw you with her. I saw her in your cottage holding you,” I said, and Landon’s eyes widened. “I was going to tell you that I loved you, that I wanted you. I didn’t know I was so replaceable.” His eyes looked haunted, and I pressed my hands against the door, still feeling his warmth.

“You’re not,” he protested, and I gave him a long, searching look. “I thought it was you when I got the door. I guess you didn’t come back before that?” Landon looked at me hopefully before I shook my head painfully. “I got sloppy drunk going over what happened, Lil. I answered the door and don’t remember anything until I woke up on my couch.” “So you slept with her,” I said in a strained voice. “It wasn’t me, whatever happened. I’ll never trust that bitch to tell me the truth, Lily. She is out for herself and nothing else, so she’ll make it benefit her. I can tell you that I never wanted her at all. It’s you. I want you.” Landon stared into my face, into my wide, frightened eyes, before he pressed his forehead against mine. “I just want to turn back time and change the part that changed us. I wanted to come home feeling you beside me.” “I was going to tell you that before I saw her. It was hours after we were… together, and you were in another woman’s arms. I don’t care that you were drunk, Landon. You’re not twenty-one anymore, and you have more control of yourself than that.” I hated that he was an older, mature man and acted so much like Brian in that single way. “I was fucking miserable after you walked away from me. If I didn’t drink, I would have been at your door breaking it down. You needed space, and I needed to escape,” Landon said. Tears slid down my cheeks. He kissed my lips softly, still lighting a fire inside me. “I never intended for anything to happen, if it even did. I only want you.” I parted my lips as he kissed me again, wanting to push him away even as my arms circled his neck. It didn’t fix anything, but it felt so good as he pressed his body against mine until I felt him hard against me. I pulled away, looking down as he glanced between our bodies. “You were that way for her.” “I don’t fucking know if I was. I don’t remember,” Landon said, and I closed my eyes. “You came home to him in your bed, Lily. How am I supposed to feel about that?” I did come home to Brian, surprising him as he slept. I was exhausted and emotional, and I turned his kiss into something carnal, fucking him hard as he gripped my hips. I knew it would replace the feeling of Landon inside me, which had made me ill when I’d seen him with Marilyn. I needed to get all traces of Landon a shower couldn’t touch off my body, and Brian coming inside me was supposed to do that. It only made me feel worse, and I lay awake after he went back to sleep, holding me in his arms. “Do you think I felt good about that?” I asked as I slid away from him and walked to the window. “I hate myself for what I did to him. That isn’t who I

am, or at least who I was. The last few days have been horrible, Landon.” Tears slipped down my cheeks uncontrollably as I felt him move behind me. “It changed everything.” “What do you mean?” he asked. I took a deep, shuddering breath. “I had to take a good hard look at myself in the mirror, inside my heart. I hurt people, both you and Brian.” I didn’t want to pretend it had never happened at all, because I knew it would haunt me inside. I shrugged Landon’s hands off my shoulders before he pulled me against him and kissed my neck, and I cried when I felt my body heat up for him. I still wanted Landon, and I allowed his hands to slide up my body as I pressed against the window. “I hate myself, Landon,” I said. “Don’t,” he said. His hands cupped my breasts, my nipples hardening under the lace of my bra as I imagined his mouth on Marilyn. Did he do this with her as well? “We got carried away.” His mouth sucked the tender skin of my neck between his lips, and I felt an odd sense of relief that I wasn’t cheating on anyone right now. I’d ended it with Brian yesterday after a long time of thinking. He’d wanted more from me than I could give, his eyes pleading with me to tell him why. I felt bare fingers on my pert skin as Landon tugged on me, and I moaned, craving him inside me. I wanted him to fuck me the way I deserved. I needed punishment. I hadn’t told Brian what had happened to bring me to my decision. I hadn’t been willing to hurt him any more than I already had. That being said, I still wasn’t free for Landon. I needed some space, even as he turned me toward him for a heated kiss. This would be sex and nothing more, because I was dead inside now. Landon carried me to the couch, sliding my dress off after he assured me that the door was locked. I allowed it, needing his lips and teeth on me. I asked for more, needing pain, as he stared into my face. I needed closure even though the idea made me sick somewhere deep inside. He slipped his hand over my throbbing clit. Fuck. I jerked against him as I reached out to undo his pants and release him. Landon stroked me hard as I wrapped my hand around him, ready to come as he slipped a finger inside me and continued to stroke my pussy. “Baby, it’s only you I want. Please believe me.” Landon continued to beg as I spread my legs wide and rocked against him before covering his hand in my release. “I love you, Lily.” I gasped and moved on to my stomach, my ass in the air. “Fuck me,” I

whispered, but then something crossed my mind. “Wear a condom.” I heard him let out a breath before he left to go to his desk. I heard a wrapper and then he was inside me. “I’ll get tested. I’ll do anything,” Landon said as we rocked together, one of his hands on my hip while the other cupped my breast. “I just want you.” My body clung to him, and my heart wanted to do the same. When I came again, I heard him moan my name before he jerked clumsily. There was no heat of his release meeting mine, no trace of him anymore. “Lily, oh fuck. I can’t live without you.” Landon dropped against me as we both took deep breaths. “I needed that last time with you,” I told him as he stilled against my body. “I am giving you my resignation today, Landon. I received an offer from a firm across the city and accepted it.” “Brown and Caldwell?” he asked, and I nodded. He leaned down to kiss my hair. “I knew they were going to be contacting you.” “I accepted the job,” I told him, feeling tears in my eyes. “I am going to prove that I am a good worker and not just someone you want to move to benefit us. I am going to do this all on my own.” My heart was breaking as I felt him pull out of me to drop onto the couch beside me. “What?” “I ended things with Brian, but not to be with you. I wanted to stop putting him in a place where he’d keep getting hurt, as well as to stop hating myself,” I said. Landon sat quietly and listened. “I am going to stay in my apartment on my own and take the time to settle into my new job. If I told you I’d be with you, I know it would be a lie. I can’t get the image out of my head of you with her, not when I wanted you so badly at that moment. It is just there, and I need to move past it alone.” “When do you start?” he asked, and I sighed. “One week from today. They wanted me to start sooner, but out of respect for you, I compromised.” I heard him let out a breath as he reached over to take my hand. “I am not going to contact you after I am gone.” “Do you love me?” Landon asked. I stared forward. “Yes, more than anything, but it is wrapped in guilt and all of the wrong that I’ve done. I blame myself as much as I do you…we’re even here. I knew what I was doing when I went to Belize, but I didn’t think it would hurt so much to see you with someone else. I was so wrapped up in need, and I fucked up by staying with you. I got into something I couldn’t handle. I need to heal now and figure out who the hell I am.” “You’re Lily. You’re a beautiful, compassionate woman who feels so hard

and who made a mistake. Life isn’t pretty, as you know. It is difficult, and you learn things the hard way sometimes.” I looked at him to see his eyes intent on me as he tried to smile. “We’ve all been there. I hate myself for losing control and knowing that you saw me in my cottage like that. We both know we needed to be together, but it didn’t happen that way.” His eyes locked on mine. “I am going to miss you around here.” I walked out to my desk a little while later with his blessing for the job, even though it didn’t make me feel any better. I still felt blank inside and not at all like myself, but I was going to make it through this. I spoke to my aunt every night, pouring my heart out to her. Brian moved out right away, and I was alone, fighting the urge to call Landon every moment as I prepared for the beginning of my new life. We saw each other at work, but I was busy training my replacement and only spent any real time with Jasmine. She knew everything as well. She didn’t judge me while I cried and let my feelings out at my now-empty apartment. Jasmine talked to me as all the emotions flooded me and helped me through the long nights. The week I was still with Landon, every day passed by too quickly. Soon I was walking out of those doors forever. His new assistant was a perky blonde and she was smart, someone who would help him a lot. I didn’t think about any other possibilities as I met Jasmine for dinner and drinks, toasting my new job. It was a brilliant company, just as Landon had told me, and I knew it would be a great step for my future. I just wish it was happening under different circumstances. I went to the new office every day, smiling and ready to learn. I did so much of that, using what Landon had taught me as well as what my new supervisor did. Murphy was a smart man who had been in law just over twenty years, and he had been a partner for most of that time. They handled finances for some of the wealthiest people in the world, protecting celebrities from fraud and theft. I knew it was an excellent opportunity, but still. I went to see my aunt Amy the first weekend after I started. We stayed up late eating ice cream and watching movies once I met her boyfriend over dinner and drinks. He was caring and funny, everything that I had ever wanted for my aunt after she took over caring for me. She looked happy and so in love, making me feel bittersweet inside as I celebrated their happiness while I was so alone.

LANDON Life was empty without Lily. I felt worse than when I’d split up with

Nadine, but I kept a smile on my face as I went to work every day and pretended everything was fine. The trip had been beautiful, and according to what I told everyone in the firm, I had enjoyed myself. I laughed at their stories of the beaches and the drinks. They had done what normal people did when they were at a beach or a bar; they didn’t fall in love with their assistant as they fucked her behind closed doors and behind foliage. When I was alone at night after being at a bar with friends, I’d think about what could have been done differently. Did I push her too much? I remembered going to Belize, the story of how she didn’t have a place to sleep, how she knew I would offer. That hadn’t been my doing. That was all Lily, making me realize she had to have known we would end up together. Didn’t she know that I loved her then? Didn’t she know that it would be so much more than a night or a week? Maybe neither of us knew when we jumped in. Maybe we were both stupid. I looked out over the city from my desk, telling myself everything was peaceful now. The firm was doing well, and my assistant was helpful and keen. There was no attraction whatsoever to Kristen, and we worked together on only an intellectual level, making me miss the moments with Lily when we slipped into lust. I would never see my couch the same again, or my desk, and I considered replacing both for the millionth time. I knew it would never make me forget her, but her name faded from the minds of colleagues. I saw the satisfaction on Marilyn’s face when she met my gaze, confident she was the reason Lily had left. She was so wrong. Nobody ever asked me about Lily, and I offered nothing. I just became a robot. I worked all hours of the day and went home to sleep after drinking with friends at the bar. There were a couple of one-night stands to try to satisfy my needs, but it was useless. I still loved Lily, and I wondered how much time she would need to see that. I jumped at the chance to have lunch with Murphy one afternoon to catch up. We didn’t see each other too much, being busy with our firms, but I wanted to see how Lily was progressing. I half hoped she’d come along, but it was just the two of us at the café. I sat down and ordered a glass of water from the waitress who popped by before I grinned at Murphy. He was about ten years older than me and a legend in the world of law. I looked at him as a mentor of sorts. We took the time to order some entrees before talking shop. That was easy to do when two lawyers got together, and we compared cases and clients throughout the meal before the conversation faded, giving me my chance to speak up. “How is Lily doing over there?”

“She’s fantastic. She keeps me completely organized and everything runs smoothly. Why did you let her go?” Murphy asked, and I felt my face fall. I looked across the street as if something interested me. “Oh . . . that’s why.” “That’s why what?” I asked as casually as I could muster while he gave me an understanding look. “While she is a brilliant girl, I sense that she is missing something in her life, or perhaps someone. Did you initialize the process because of something between the two of you?” Murphy asked. I looked at him and nodded slowly. “That was a good plan, but something obviously happened. I don’t think the girl does anything but work and go home, apart from dinner with a friend of hers from your building that she talks about.” “That would be Jasmine.” I filled in the blank and he nodded. “That’s the girl. Lily speaks highly of her,” Murphy said. “She never mentions dating anyone and looks sad sometimes when she thinks nobody is looking. I see it a lot.” Murphy looked curiously at me. “What happened?” “I don’t even know. There is so much between us, but I wonder if it’s too much sometimes. It kind of imploded on us, and Lily surprised me when she took the job and left. She didn’t do it for the original reasons at all.” “Should I apologize for taking her?” I thought of Marilyn and shook my head. “No. She’s in a great place now. It will work out the way it’s meant to,” I said, adding a positive note to the end of my sentence as he chuckled. “Is it the age difference? You do know there are twenty years between Nancy and I, right? It has never caused an issue at all.” I took a bite of my steak and chewed it slowly. “You never worked together. That adds an ugly element to things.” I sipped my water, and he seemed to consider my words. “You don’t know.” Murphy looked at me. “Lily is a lovely girl, and I suspect you were good together. Why don’t you reach out to her?” I promised her space, but it had been a couple of months. Lily didn’t seem to be moving on with anyone, so maybe I would. We finished our meal and headed back to our respective offices as I mulled the idea over. I just wanted to talk to her again. I ended up meeting friends at a bar after work, and I was surprised when I looked up to see Lily walking in with Jasmine and a guy. I gave the guy a hard look until I saw that he was holding Jasmine’s hand. Lily moved to a stool beside them as I watched her carefully from the table I was at, taking in every detail. Lily looked a bit thinner than before, but still gorgeous. Her hair was cut

just a bit shorter and curled around her shoulders, moving with her. I remembered what it had felt like to have my hands in it. She smiled and laughed in what seemed like the right places, but something was missing from her eyes. I reached for my beer as someone walked over to her, hugging her with one arm over her shoulder as she looked back with a smile. It was the boyfriend I’d met at the office. Was Murphy mistaken in thinking she was single? Was she back together with Brian? I watched them carefully as they talked casually, but they didn’t act like lovers or enemies. When Lily stood to go to the bathroom, I excused myself and followed her. I planted myself in the hallway where she’d be certain to see me. When she came out, she bumped into me because of the crowd of people rushing both the men’s and women’s bathrooms. “I’m so sorry . . .” Lily’s voice drifted off as she looked up and met my eyes. “Landon.” “I saw you come back here and wanted to say hi,” I told her as she licked her stained lips and stared at me. “Murphy says you’re doing well at his firm. He enjoys you.” “It’s a great firm and just as successful as yours. It’s a pleasure to work there, just different.” Her face fell as she looked down at the floor, and I reached out to touch her soft skin, lifting her eyes to mine. “How are you?” I asked her as our gazes locked. “I miss you,” Lily admitted, and I cupped her face with my hands. I could do this and anything else I wanted to her since we were no longer working for the same company. “I saw Brian here. Are you with him?” I asked her directly, and she shook her head. “We talk when we come across one another, but no, we’re not. He’s mentioned getting back together a few times, but I keep telling him no,” Lily said as envy flooded my veins. “He doesn’t know why I ended things. I think it would change his feelings.” “Are you seeing anybody?” I demanded, my face closer to hers as people bumped into us. “No, Landon. I meant what I said about needing space. Adding someone else to the mix wouldn’t do anybody any good,” she said sadly as she gave me a disappointed look. “Are you?” “Not seriously,” I assured her, slowly sliding my hand down to take hers before pulling her away from the bar and bathrooms to a more private corner. “I haven’t been able to get you out of my head.” I pushed her against the wall gently before I kissed her hungrily, hearing her moan as she melted into me. The time apart seemed to fade as our lips went right back to the familiar

passion. “You’ve slept with someone?” Her voice in a moment apart broke my heart for a moment as I slipped my hands into her hair and stared into her eyes. “Nothing matters except for this moment, Lily. I was lost without you,” I promised her as she blinked at me for a moment. “I want to see you again, Lily. I want to be a part of your life again.” We were kissing deeply again when hands yanked us apart and I looked into the angry face of Brian. “Who the fuck is this, Lily?” “You remember from my old firm, right? This is Landon,” she said as her face flushed a dark pink. “Your boss,” Brian said, looking from her face to mine. “Former,” Lily reminded him, trying to steer him away from the truth. I saw the moment it clicked in Brian’s mind when he turned to give her a dark look before walking away. I pulled her against me as a cry reached my ears. “Baby, it’s okay.” “He knows. He figured it out, and he knows,” Lily said in shock as she looked up at me. “I never wanted to hurt him, Landon. He was trying so hard with me, and I never wanted him to find out what was happening.” “He’ll be okay once he’s had some time to recover,” I promised her, remembering the way he had looked at her. It had been filled with hatred, making me worry. I led her out of the bar once she said good-bye to Jasmine and her boyfriend, quiet as I held her hand and led her to my car. I drove her right to my place without offering an alternative, and she came along in silence. We ended up in the bedroom right away, stripping our clothes off as we made up for the last few months of no contact. I kissed Lily all over her body, teasing her about how I was going to fatten her up a bit with some good meals while we worked it off in other ways. Lily laughed and held my hair tightly as my tongue lapped at her sweet pussy. It was like being home when I sank inside her, even with the condom on. I sensed she had her guard up given my vague confession early, but we were going to talk about that once she was finished screaming my name again.

LILY I fell against the bed as my body pulsed with my release, breathing in and out. I resisted letting him pull out of me, but Landon moved slowly, tying off the condom before he tossed it into the trash. “I have missed that so much.”

“I have too, despite your thinking right now,” Landon said as he looked into my face. “I am a man, and sometimes we try to fill a void, Lily. It’s idiotic on our parts and solves nothing. I knew you were the only woman I wanted.” His words didn’t make me feel much better since I couldn’t bear the idea of sleeping with another man. Brian had tried several times after the breakup, but I always turned him away. I knew he was angry and hurt now after catching me making out with my former boss, as I’d told him there was nobody else. I wasn’t stupid enough to think it looked like the first time between Landon and me. We were well versed. “I just couldn’t want another man,” I admitted after a moment. “The idea of it hurt so much, even when it was someone familiar trying.” “Brian?” Landon asked with a dark gaze. I nodded. “He’s not going to let you go that easily, Lily. I don’t know why, but I have a bad feeling about him.” “He’ll be okay. He just needs to adjust,” I said, even though I felt uneasy as well. Brian had never displayed violence toward me, though I’d seen him get into a few fights at parties with other guys over nothing. It wasn’t frequent, but still . . . I wondered if he was capable of hurting me. Brian had asked if there was someone else when we’d broken up. I’d always told him no, to spare him the pain involved in my confession. I hadn’t wanted to lie to him, and the guilt had plagued me, but I’d done it to protect him. Now he knew everything. “I can keep you safe,” Landon said as he leaned down to kiss my neck tenderly, making me smile. We both worked a lot but usually met up afterward to have dinner somewhere and stay the night at an apartment together. Everything was great with Landon and me. I still had my insecurities and worries, but I tried to focus on the way he treated me. Landon confessed that he had pinned Marilyn down and she’d admitted they hadn’t slept together that night. She’d tried, but he was unresponsive given his state of mind. He then got her fired once all the partners realized she was trying to get ahead by using each of them. It wasn’t unheard of in any business, but none of them were willing to stand for it. I remembered the way Landon and Marilyn had looked together on the couch, and I shuddered every time. She had seemed too comfortable, and now that I knew he’d been drunk, the image in my head made sense. She wanted Landon, and that was her chance. Landon admitted that he got her fired because of the way she’d acted with the knowledge of us. When I left, it couldn’t hurt anyone, but she was a known gossiper, and the gossip was often unkind. Marilyn was out to hurt people with her words and would have made it out to be much worse than it was. Landon

didn’t want my reputation to be ruined in any way and thus pushed for her termination, with the help of several other partners. Landon preferred to stay with me every night for safety as much as love, but he had a conference to go to for a long weekend before the holidays. I assured him I would be fine and made plans with Jasmine to have dinner. He left, and I spent Saturday decorating my apartment before dressing to meet her at a place nearby. The restaurant was new and modern with sleek tables and mood lighting all around, which made me smile. We were seated and ordered drinks as Jasmine looked around slowly. It was dark, but you could see who was sitting at the tables and the bar, and she was a naturally curious person. Her eyes were wide when I looked at her after reading a text from Landon. “What?” “Brian is at the bar.” I shrugged. “He’s looking right at us, Lily. I think he might have followed us or something.” I slowly turned my head to look, not willing to make eye contact but admittedly curious. Brian was at the bar, staring intently at me, but I was more surprised by the woman beside him. “Marilyn,” I whispered as I turned to look at Jasmine again. “How did he meet her? What’s going on?” “I recognize her now. I was so focused on Brian that I didn’t even see her.” Jasmine sipped her Cosmo as she gazed thoughtfully at me. “That can’t be good.” “Maybe they just hooked up. It can’t be malicious, can it?” My skin burned knowing that Marilyn probably had a lot of information that would make me look even worse than I already felt. I also knew she liked to embellish things. “I hope so,” Jasmine replied before she looked down at the menu. We decided to have a good dinner even though he stared at me the entire night. I tried to keep things normal, but I saw the concern in Jasmine’s face even though I kept the conversation light. I left in a rush with my friend following me, turning left to walk down the street. I breathed in the cold air for a few moments as Jasmine caught up to me and wrapped her red coat tightly around her body. “I am supposed to stay with Mike tonight. Is that okay?” “Of course,” I said, thinking of the three locks on my apartment door. I had gotten Brian’s key back when he moved out, so that didn’t concern me . . . unless he had decided to be a creep and make a copy. “I can stay at Landon’s.” He gave me a key the first day we got back together, and I knew I would feel

safer there. “Perfect. Isn’t he asking you to move in there?” Jasmine asked, and I smiled. “Every chance he gets.” I wasn’t ready yet. It had only been a month since we’d gotten back together, and I was wary of jumping in so fast, particularly after living with Brian under the wrong circumstances. I was enjoying dating and being able to sleep together through the night and wanted to take time for everything else. I knew this was real with Landon, and we didn’t need to rush it. Jasmine and I parted ways, and I took a cab to Landon’s place, smiling at the doorman as he held the heavy glass door for me. I walked over to the elevators, and as I waited I heard my phone chime. I opened the text on the elevator and read that Landon was just getting back to the hotel after a night of drinks. When I told him that I was headed up to his place, Landon asked why. I was explaining when another text came through. It was from a strange number, and I stared at the attached picture for a long, silent moment. There was no mistaking the couch from Landon’s cottage in Belize, but what had my attention was the joined bodies. The picture was taken from the woman’s point of view, but I’d never taken any pictures of us and I did not have the olive skin this woman had. I heard the ringing of the elevator door and glanced up to see that I was on Landon’s floor. I made my way to his door, unlocking it and closing it right away before I locked it again. I walked to the couch and sat down, examining the picture. My phone rang, and Landon’s face appeared on the screen as I blinked my eyes and answered it. “Lily, what’s going on? Why are you at my apartment?” “I . . . well, Brian was at the place we had dinner with Marilyn of all people, and I think I just got uncomfortable. How would they know each other?” I asked as he sighed on the other end. “I have that fucking conference tomorrow, so I can’t leave.” Landon was in Chicago for this trip, and I knew it would be a huge hassle for him to go back and forth over this. “Does he have a key to your place?” “He gave it back to me, and there was nothing wrong when we broke up. I hope not,” I said as I looked around the spacious room. “I am calling your landlord tomorrow, Lily. He’s going to change the locks. Or else you could move in with me?” I heard the plea in his voice as I dropped back against the cushions of the couch. “I love you, and I want this to be forever.” “I know you do,” I said as I smiled in the dim light of the lamp.

“I’ll call him myself tomorrow.” I loved the alpha tone in his voice, even if it was tinged with disappointment. We’d discussed my moving in and giving up my space, all of which were honest conversations. “Thanks,” I replied, the picture weighing heavily on my mind. “There’s something else. I’m going to send you a picture.” I made quick work of it, and I heard him curse on the other end. “Do you know what this is, Landon?” “I know what it fucking looks like. Where did you get this?” he demanded, and I stilled at the tone of his voice. “I don’t know the number," I admitted, and he cursed again. “I was drunk, Lily. I know that, but I don’t remember sleeping with her. I know when I’ve done that,” Landon said, forgetting one main point. It was the reason he’d been tested before going anywhere near me without a condom. “You don’t remember anything, Landon. Maybe this did happen,” I said with resignation as I closed my eyes. It always went back to this and the pain it caused. He took it all on his shoulders, but he didn’t realize I felt my own guilt for walking away from him. I had tried to explain that, but he tended to blame himself, something we were working on. “I’ve repeatedly apologized for this, Lily. Can’t we put it behind us and just focus on us?” he asked softly, the hurt evident in his voice. “That wasn’t me. All of the cottages were similar, and I wouldn’t doubt if she fucked her way through half of it, assuming it’s Marilyn sending it.” That seemed obvious, considering the background and her being seen with Brian. She could have gotten my number without him, but that was the most obvious answer. “You’re right. It doesn’t matter, Landon.” I was pretty drunk from dinner, and by this time I was exhausted as well. “I am going to crawl into bed. I miss you.” “Lock all of the doors and sleep well. I’ll be home in a couple of days. Stay there if you want,” he offered, and I smiled weakly. “I just might do that.” I loved the view in the morning, and it was just as easy to get around from here as it was from my apartment. “I love you, Lily.” I responded by telling him that I loved him as well before ending the call and checking all the locks. I walked down the hallway to the bedroom before I realized that my phone was on the couch, but that might be best with what had happened tonight. I was safe here even if the apartment did feel a little lonely without Landon here with me. I slipped off my dress and took one of his Tshirts out of the dresser to slide over my skin, needing him close. I curled up in the big bed, hugging a pillow as I wondered what the hell was happening to me . . . to us. I just wanted to be with the man I loved without

complication. We’d started off on the wrong foot, but I’d redeemed myself inside my heart by changing my life. Now I wondered if being honest from the beginning wasn’t the better plan.

LANDON I paced my hotel room after I ended the call, furious about the photo. Sure, it had been taken on a couch that was the same color as mine in the cottage and it was a man and a woman in the act of sex. There were no faces in the photo to identify anyone, but I knew how wasted I had been that night. Getting to this point with Lily would be tough, much less with any other woman on the planet. I dropped into bed and examined the picture a little closer, feeling sick that Lily had been exposed to this. Brian and Marilyn were on my shit list now, and I considered ways to warn them to leave her alone. Even Nadine hadn’t been this bad, and she was a demanding bitch. I hated that I didn’t remember what had happened, but I always felt a certain way after I was inside Lily. I’d felt it earlier in the day but not when I woke up with Marilyn on the couch. I’d felt nothing but hungover, sick, and broken that morning, making me think I couldn’t even get it up enough to penetrate anyone that night. I never even had one-night stands when I was too drunk because it was a waste of time. The ones recently were only done when I was wasted enough to let go and attempt sex—nothing at all to brag about to my friends. I needed to find out the truth, but I didn’t know how to go about it. I kicked off my pants that were already loosened, as I’d been hoping for a little phone action with Lily before I went to sleep. My shirt was already off, and I looked down at my cock, which was at half-mast, with a sigh. Nothing was going to happen tonight, so I decided to sleep off the few drinks I’d had and just go to sleep. Lily was safe in my apartment for tonight, but I had to find a way to get her to move in with me. I wanted it anyway, and we were going strong. Her past with Brian was just that, and we had a new start ahead of us. Asshole. I slept fitfully that night, waking up when my alarm went off for the breakfast meeting. I tried to call Lily, but I got her voice mail and told myself it was a weekend. She could sleep in since she wasn’t at a conference. I met up with the other partners and joined them at a table for the event, sipping coffee as I glanced around at their faces. I wondered if I couldn’t press them for information, given that Marilyn no longer worked for the firm and we all shared a dislike for her. After this conference, we could get some lunch and

drinks, and I could start up a conversation. I struggled through the various speakers, taking notes on what was on my mind while reminding myself to look at the notes of the others at a later date. I was not here today, and I kept thinking of Lily. I was relieved when the event ended and we were dismissed, knowing we were done with business. I wasn’t flying home until the morning, though, as I’d made plans for dinner with some local attorneys last week when things were fine. Damn it. I wanted to cancel them, but it was just a few hours. Lily was at my apartment, and nobody should know where that was unless Marilyn had gotten nosy while she’d worked with me. The partners and I all agreed that we could eat again before we rested for dinner, so we hit a local pub. Everyone ordered beers, and I glanced around the table, waiting until everyone had finished their first one. They might be a little more relaxed that way. “I heard that Marilyn got around the week of the annual conference. I can’t remember who said it, but there might be some pictures or something. You guys weren’t stupid enough to do any of that, were you?” My voice was casual, with a hint of laughter in it, and Kevin glanced at me with a smile. “Fuck, no. I might have done her one night, but there was no evidence of that. I was drunk, and shit happens,” he replied, and my stomach twisted. “You sure she didn’t get any of you, Landon? She was pretty happy the morning of the luncheon.” “Nothing happened between us. She stopped by the cottage, but I wasn’t up for anything. Too much whiskey.” I was vague about it. She’d obviously said we’d been together, but I wasn’t going to play it up into something it wasn’t. I pressed a little further and saw some of the pictures the guys had taken, taking special notice of their cottages. James had a couch similar to mine and he resembled me a bit, though he didn’t mention anything about Marilyn. I didn’t see everyone’s accommodations, so I didn’t know if everyone had the same furniture, but it was a start. I wanted to go home with something to tell Lily to calm her down. It was humorous that she was worried about the women I’d slept with during our break since they meant nothing to me. I was more concerned about her relationship with Brian. They’d lived together and he’d wanted a future with her, so he was damn sure going to be pissed off right now. I didn’t even know the names of my hookups and hadn’t gotten their numbers. It was over the moment I left their places to go home, more miserable than when I walked through the door. We headed back to the hotel to rest, and I went over what information I’d gained. I called Lily again, pleased to hear her voice on the other end. She

sounded a little happier now and told me that Jasmine was going to come over and they would order some pizza and watch movies. Lily didn’t seem that eager to go out on the town, and I was glad. I relaxed on my bed and talked to her. I got my orgasm, but only when she suggested it. I could tell she was a little horny and lonely herself, and she initiated the long session of aggressive phone sex. We both had stress to work out, and we did, coming for each other as she cried my name and I shot into the towel that was wrapped around my cock to catch the mess. I told her how much I loved her before we ended the call and I dropped off to sleep, feeling much better than the night before. Earlier, I’d called the desk of my building to up the security a little bit, asking them to pay slightly more attention to who was coming in and out of the building. I might have given a description of Marilyn and Brian as well. I claimed some clients were a little upset with me and you could never be too safe, right? That old gag. I woke up in time to shower for dinner, and then I dressed up for the best steakhouse in the United States before I left with my friends. I reminded myself to bring Lily here for a weekend soon, to take her out to eat and show her the town. It was a relaxing night of food and laughter. We drank beer and talked shop, as always, but then one of the partners announced that he was getting married in the upcoming year. The other guys scoffed at him in a good-natured way, pointing to me as an example of why not to get married. I laughed along with them, but it hit me that I would marry Lily. Nadine hadn’t tarnished any of that for me, because I was a different man with Lily. I was happy. We talked about the destination wedding in Belize, a favorite place of his and his fiancée. It made me feel bittersweet, knowing how much had happened there that I looked back on with regret. The good news was that it wasn’t close to the former resort and I could find somewhere better to stay, proving to Lily that it was a beautiful, romantic place. I looked at the faces of my friends at the table. I hadn’t revealed to anyone that I was dating Lily, wanting to give it a little time first. I was going to be officially divorced in three months, and they might give me shit for jumping into another relationship so soon. The general rule of thumb among my group was to fuck other women and maybe settle down in time, something I no longer agreed with. I’d tell them later since the spotlight was on Mitch tonight. He deserved to bask in his happiness, and I supported him with my words and my tone.

When I got back to the hotel later, I packed my clothes and left something out to wear to the airport. I wanted to be ready to go, as I was feeling anxious to see Lily again. It had felt like a long weekend with everything going on, and I wanted to hold her. I also made reservations for a great restaurant, where I planned to ask her to move in with me again. Hell, I’d propose if that was what she wanted from me. I’d called her before leaving to go to dinner and told her that I loved her, so I fell right into bed to sleep. I rose early, grabbing a coffee on the way to the airport to quicken the process. I boarded on an earlier flight than the others since I had a lot to go home to. I settled into first class and accepted the offer of another cup of coffee from the flight attendant before I flipped through the morning paper. The sun was rising over the horizon as I looked out the window, hoping everything was going to be okay. It had to be. The flight wasn’t long, and it seemed like I was getting my bag in a timely manner and catching a cab to my apartment. I made my way upstairs, nodding to the staff as I headed toward the elevator, punching the button firmly. I walked to my door and unlocked it gently, pushing it open as I looked around the living room. It was spotless, meaning Lily had cleaned up before she went to bed, even though I’d told her not to worry about that. I had a woman come over to clean every two weeks to catch what I missed, so it wasn’t a big deal. I set my bag down and grabbed some water before I made my way down the hallway and through the open door to see Lily sleeping on her side with the blankets half covering her naked body. She knew how I liked her, and I grinned as I stripped off my clothes and slipped underneath the blankets with her. I pulled her body to mine and kissed her hair as she told me hello. “I missed you, baby.” “I missed you,” she told me as I slid my hand up her body to cup her breast. Her nipple hardened as she whimpered, and I began to stroke her gently. I kissed her neck, sucking on her soft skin as she pressed against me. “I don’t want you doubting us, Lily. I am going to get to the bottom of all of this shit,” I whispered as she nodded and slipped her hand over my cock. One thing led to another quickly, and I was happy that she at least let me come inside her again as she moved to her knees, begging me to take her. I drove myself inside her, crying out her name as she tightened around me. Fucking Lily was like nothing else I’d ever done; she was like no women I’d ever been with. I gripped her hips as I moved harder. She came first, weeping my name before I jerked inside her and filled her, calling out her name. I dropped beside her, gasping for breath as she reached over me for a glass of water. Lily

kissed me quickly before she curled up next to me, smiling into my eyes. “Have fun last night?” I asked her as she nestled against me. “Yeah. We ate a ton of pizza and drank margaritas while we watched chick flicks. Thank you for having such a great kitchen, Landon.” She kissed me, and I slipped my hand into her hair. “You know it can be yours as well,” I whispered. She pulled away, looking at me in the light from the window. “I mean that, Lily. I asked you before any of this was happening.” “I know. I don’t think you’re asking because of that at all. I’m just scared . . . like we’re going to be caught or something. I mean, we’re not exactly spreading the news about us out there.” Lily looked at me, making me feel guilty for not telling my colleagues. Not that she was an open person either, but I wondered of she’d feel better if I outed us. “We don’t work together any longer, and after some time, it won’t matter that we ever did. I’ll tell everyone I know, Lily. I’m not scared of that. I was just letting some time pass so we knew where we were at.” I kissed her again as she wrapped her arms around my waist and pulled herself closer to me. “I love you.” We made love a second time, slower and with a bit less urgency. Then Lily took a shower and dressed in some worn jeans with a thick sweater, slipping some boots on before we left to get some lunch. I held her hand as we left the building, leading her toward a deli I’d been craving all weekend as we laughed and talked. We ordered and found a table in the back, where I asked for her phone. I watched her frown as she handed it to me. I pressed a few buttons until I was looking at the text. She’d kept it there, which didn’t surprise me since there was no reason to hide it. I jotted down the number it was sent from for future research and then handed it back to her as she licked her lips. “Do you recognize it?” “No, I don’t. I have ways of finding out who it belongs to, though. I talked to some of the guys, and she was sleeping with several people that week. She could have taken a picture of any of them and sent it to you, maybe encouraged by him.” I looked at her as she nodded and took a small bite of her sandwich. I didn’t want to say names, as I wanted to keep the information between us. “They won’t get away with this.” “I know,” she said with a weak smile. They hadn’t even done too much yet, but I could see the worry in her eyes.

LILY Landon talked me into stopping by the apartment for some clothes so I could continue to stay at his place. We walked in, and he took a good look around as I grabbed a bag and threw some necessities into it. We hadn’t had the locks changed yet, and I just hoped Brian didn’t have a copy of the key. Landon was going to call the following day and explain the situation, getting the procedure moved up quickly. I sighed as I looked around the apartment that had once brought me so much happiness, angry that it was now tainted by my uncertainty. Maybe I should have moved when I’d broken up with Brian, but this was my home. The guilt of my cheating hit me again as I was zipping the duffel bag closed. I wished I could go back and change the order of things, but that was impossible. Brian just needed to let go and forgive me. We hadn’t been happy, and likely weren’t going to be, and he would find someone who appreciated him the way he deserved. Landon told me it looked like everything had been left alone, and I smiled brightly and followed him out of the house. We went to his car that he’d gotten for this particular purpose and drove to his apartment, where I set my stuff on the bed and stepped out onto the balcony. The air was cold, and I felt someone step behind me. “Want to get a tree and decorate it here? I saw you did some stuff at your place. It looked nice,” Landon said, and I smiled and nodded. It was still early afternoon, and we had plenty of time to do that and still be in bed early enough for work the next day. He took me to a lot, which was just a few blocks from the house, to pick the tree. “Have you had a tree lately?” I asked as I looked around and considered each one. “Not for years. Nadine preferred to travel during the holidays and didn’t see the point. I haven’t been in my new place that long. I think it will be fun, though,” Landon said as he eyed a tall tree with a smile. “You’ll have to sit on my lap and tell me what you want under the tree on Christmas morning.” I giggled. “I haven’t done that in forever. My parents were so into the holidays and had a lot of traditions. Once I went to Amy’s, we tried to keep the important ones at first. It was hard to find a reason to celebrate anything.” I glanced at him. “I have some of my mom’s ornaments on the tree at my apartment. I could bring them to your house for yours.” I watched him smile, suspecting he took that as a positive move toward his idea about my moving in. “That sounds great, Lily. I’m honored to be a part of your traditions this year.” “I love sharing them with you,” I said as he walked toward me for a slow kiss. We made our way around the lot, picking out an eight-foot-tall Douglas

Fir that Landon paid for and loaded onto the roof of his beautiful SUV. We drove it home, and it took the help of the doorman along with a guy behind the desk to get the massive tree up to the apartment. Landon told them to lean it against the wall, since we needed to go grab a few things to set it up and decorate, before tipping them generously for their assistance. He took me to the nearest Target, and we got a tree stand that would keep it fresh along with some lights. He told me to pick out what I thought I’d need in addition to the ornaments I’d be bringing from my apartment, and he smiled as he watched me do so with delight. I hadn’t felt this way since I was a kid, and despite the circumstances surrounding us, I was happy. The cart was full by the time we left, both with things for the tree and apartment. I kissed Landon once we arrived at the car and loaded everything inside, and I was thrilled when he held me in his arms to continue the kiss. We went home and made hot cocoa, turning on some holiday movies while we decorated. It was only the beginning of December, and we had plenty of time to prepare. Thanksgiving had been quiet since Amy went to her boyfriend’s parents’ for a week with my blessing. I’d stayed with Landon and cooked a small meal for the two of us, talking to her several times throughout the day for advice. Once the house was brightly lit with festive colors and multicolored lights, Landon kissed me with intent as I melted into his arms. “Have you ever made love by a Christmas tree?” His voice was soft as I shook my head slowly. “Neither have I.” I felt overjoyed to be the first as we slipped down to the soft rug by the tree, bathed only in the colors of the lights he’d strung on it. I kissed him hard as we stripped each other down, moving my lips over his neck as he moaned my name. He settled on his back, giving me control as I slipped over him and cried out his name. It was moments like this, when I rode him hard and slow, feeling him fill me everywhere, that I knew in my heart we could work out. We came together as he gripped my hips and stared into my eyes, making me feel like the only woman in the world. We ordered in dinner, eating in robes on the couch before calling an early bedtime. We both had to be at work early the following morning and vowed to not let our relationship get in the way of our jobs since we now worked apart. I fell asleep snuggled in his arms, thinking to myself that living here didn’t sound too bad. The next day I was off a little earlier than Landon, who was involved in a big case. I wanted the Christmas ornaments for his tree, so I made my way to my apartment quickly to bag them up. It was still light out, and I looked around

as I approached my door, unlocking it before I slipped inside. I set my purse and keys down on the table by the door before I locked it, making my way to the living room. My mouth dropped open when I saw the remains of some ornaments on my hardwood floor, broken beyond repair. I fell to my knees and sorted through the mess, crying when I realized they were the ornaments from my childhood. The glass ones were in pieces, and the others that I’d handmade as a child were ripped apart and scattered. I started to sob. I looked up at the tree and saw another one with my picture in it, still intact but destroyed by a marker. It read: Whore. I fell back on my ass as I tried to breathe and stay calm, taking a few moments before I managed to stand up. I didn’t think all the ornaments were ruined, but I wasn’t going to stick around to find out. The message was clear, and I grabbed my things before I closed and locked the door, making my way out of the building and into the street before leaning against the wall. I reached into my purse with shaking hands to call Landon, crying through my description of what had happened as he told me to catch a cab to his apartment. He would meet me there, and we’d get to the bottom of this. I hailed a cab and slipped into the backseat, telling the driver the address as I felt a sharp pain in my knees. I glanced down to see blood and gasped. “Are you okay, miss?” the driver asked. “Do you have any tissues?” He reached into the glove compartment and handed me a small, sealed pack of the travel ones. “Thank you. I must have cut myself on something.” I was in better shape once I got out and hurried up to Landon’s, making my way quickly to the bathroom to clean myself up with soap and water. I heard the door and him calling my name as I replied that I was in the bathroom. Landon came in, frowning when he saw me sitting down with my skirt pulled up as I tended to the wounds. “What the hell happened?” “I cut myself on some of the glass, I suppose. I didn’t feel it until I was in the cab,” I replied as rage filled his eyes. “Motherfucker. He’s a dead man,” Landon muttered as he knelt down to look at my cuts. “I am calling your landlord to find out why the fuck the locks weren’t changed. I am calling the police to get them to the apartment and make a report. I want to go find him myself and rip his head off, but that’s not going to help you at all.” I was relieved that he saw the truth in those words, and I smiled at him as he looked into my eyes. “Do you want to be here when the police get there, or do you want to talk to them?” “I’ll go. They’ll need to know what I saw, right?” We bandaged my knees

after putting some healing salve on them, at which point I changed into jeans and a sweater. Landon had already made the call, and he drove me to the apartment, leading me up to the door as he kept casting worried glances at me. Landon unlocked the door and turned on a light before I walked inside, taking a deep breath. We walked around together, seeing a few broken picture frames before he walked over to look at the tree. Landon knelt to take in the broken ornaments, cursing when he saw the one that was written on as he turned to take me into his arms. “You’re not, Lily.” “I know that. He’s angry, and he’s going to take that out on me. I did the wrong thing, but I never intended for it to happen that way.” Tears filled my eyes as there was a knock on the door, and Landon told me to have a seat while he answered it. He led two officers to me as they scrutinized the room, letting their gazes rest on the mess on the floor. “Can you tell me what happened?” I explained how I stopped by on my own to get some of the ornaments and found them broken and vandalized. I went more into detail about the breakup with Brian, how there was seemingly no drama at first. They asked the same thing about the key that Landon had, to which I responded that I had no idea before I pointed to the ornament that was hanging on the tree. One of them walked over and read it as heat flushed my skin. I felt exposed and raw as the officers shared a long look. Landon sat beside me, holding my hand as they asked if anything else was damaged. They toured the apartment with me and jotted down all the damage for their report before we were at the door again. The officers suggested to Landon that I spend the night elsewhere, making me smile when he put his arm around me and assured them that I would be. They left and handed me a card for if I had any more information, closing the door as Landon told me to check for anything else I’d need for his house. There was a serious tone to his voice, making me nod as I headed back to the bedroom for more clothes. He was having a heated conversation with whom I guessed with my landlord as I came back into the main room. I looked at him as I walked into the kitchen to get a bag of some of my snacks as he kept talking, his voice rising every moment. I jumped when I heard him say that I’d be moving out of this apartment without penalty given that he hadn’t taken care of the issue when asked. Then he ended the call as he walked in and pulled me into his arms. “That asshole didn’t seem to give a shit about this. He blamed you for giving your key out when he wasn’t on the lease, but he’ll learn not to fuck with a lawyer.”

“So, I’m moving?” I asked in a small voice as I looked around. “From this unit, yes. I am going to handle everything, Lily. You can get another place in this complex or any other one you choose in the city if you don’t want to live with me.” I looked up at him with big eyes as he stared at me. “This is moving goddamn fast, and I know you’re scared, Lily. Your ex is stalking you, and I can see how that would make you nervous, but I want you in my life regardless of any of that. I want you in my arms every night, and I need to wake up with you every morning.” He pressed his lips gently to mine as I breathed into him, cupping my face gently before a crash sounded and I jumped back with a scream. Landon opened my door and ran out, calling something as I took a few shaky breaths. I walked into the living room to see the window shattered. Landon yelled and someone responded as I started to cry. I heard footsteps and looked up as there was another knock on the door. The word “police” was called. I looked through the peephole to see one of the same officers from earlier standing there, and I let him in as he looked at me closely. “Your boyfriend has a guy down there who admitted to breaking your window, and my partner is taking care of him. Are you okay?” “Scared,” I admitted, and he nodded with a sympathetic look. “You can get a restraining order against this guy now that he’s a proven stalker if you come down to the station tomorrow. Unfortunately, I don’t think he’ll get a great deal of time for this, so you’ll want to be protected.” He looked around the apartment. “I’m going to call your landlord to get this place boarded up until you can move out, Lily. I am sorry that this happened to you.” Landon came up a few minutes later and looked me over. “He’s going to the station. The little shit pissed himself when I came running out, and he admitted everything.” He looked into the living room and shook his head. “The cops said they’re calling the landlord to board that up as well.” “Yeah,” I said in a shaking voice before he hugged me to him. “I want to make sure that he gets over here before we leave, Lily. That’s all.” I nodded against him as tears slipped down my cheeks. He waited with me on the couch, holding my hand as I regained control of myself. By the time my landlord arrived, ready to get some wood over the broken window, I was shivering with a blanket wrapped around my shoulders. He grudgingly apologized to me and glanced at Landon, who led me out of there with a dark look on his face. We drove back to Landon’s apartment with my bag in his hand, complete with the ornaments that weren’t broken for his tree. I took a long shower when we were back in his place, drying my hair before I pulled on his robe. I tied it around my body and padded into the living

room to see him on the couch, looking at the ornaments as he set them down on a blanket on the coffee table. He looked at me and locked gazes with me. “Were the ones you loved the most salvageable?” I shrugged. “Some of them.” I sat down and looked over the small collection as I sighed. “I don’t know why he did this. He knew what they meant to me.” “He wanted to hit you where it hurt you the most. Emotions are cruel sometimes, baby.” Landon looked at me as he tucked a strand of damp hair behind my ear. “I’m sorry.” “It’s over, right?” I smiled weakly. “I’ll go to the station and get a restraining order against him like the officer said. He’ll have to leave me alone.” I felt a rush of fear at the idea of what might have happened if I’d been home alone when Brian was there, of where his anger might have taken him. “I want to move out of there. I want to . . . I want to be here with you. I can’t fear moving forward with you because of something that he did. I can’t let Brian hold me back.” I was pulled against Landon tightly as I gasped softly. “You have made me so happy, Lily.” He kissed me hungrily as he cupped my face, and I felt my need for him outweigh my fear. I dropped back on the cushions of the couch as he stripped my jeans off my legs and took me hard, the way I asked him to. Needing the reassurance that he was here for me, I wrapped my legs around him as he thrust inside me, telling me he loved me. I called in to work the next day, still too nervous to sleep well. I went to the station to handle paperwork and get the restraining order in place, and I found out that Brian had confessed to everything while also throwing Marilyn under the bus. She’d sent the picture, though it wasn’t of Landon. She knew it would make me doubt and feel insecure, hopefully breaking us up so she could move in for the kill. Landon assured me that she was blackballed in the state of New York as far as practicing law, if not everywhere else. Brian didn’t get a lot of time, just a few months and probation. I was concerned when he was released, though he made an effort to email me to apologize for everything. He assured me that he would leave me alone— words from my laptop in Landon’s living room.

LANDON I stepped out of the shower and looked in the mirror, brushing my growing hair back. It seemed like yesterday that we were celebrating our first Christmas together, and here it was the following year. Once everything

calmed down with Brian’s brief stalking of Lily, things were perfect for us. We made love by the Christmas tree every night it was up, sometimes sleeping on the couch to watch it along with the moon through the window. Lily relaxed as the days passed by, finally smiling when she knew that Brian was behind bars. She flourished at work, and I knew she could have anything she wanted in the world of law. I had a great setup at my office with a talented assistant who kept everything going smoothly for me, making it easy to go home to the woman I loved. I dressed in some jeans and slipped a button-up shirt over my torso, leaving it open as I walked out to the living room. Lily was hanging the last ornament with a soft smile, and then she glanced at me, her eyes trailing down my bare chest. “Hey. How was the shower?” “It felt good,” I said as I walked over to her for a long kiss. They were still just as electric as they had been in the beginning, and I never tired of feeling her mouth on mine. It was a long last day at work before the holidays, and I was looking forward to some quiet time with Lily. I pulled her to the couch with one hand, sitting her down as I sank to the floor. “What are you doing?” Lily asked, a curious look on her face. “I have been with you for one of the best years of my life, baby. I have seen you through two holidays now and become a part of your family. I have fallen more in love with you with every week that we spend together, and though I never intended to wait this long . . . I want to marry you. I want you to be my wife, Lily. I want you to have my children.” Tears filled her eyes as she stared at me, and I slipped the box out of my pocket and pressed my lips together. “Will you marry me?” “Yes, Landon. I’ve been wanting you to ask me that,” Lily said as she bowed her head to kiss me, our lips melting together. She wrapped an arm around me as it deepened, giggling as emotion overcame her. I took advantage of that moment to show her the ring. Her mouth dropped open. “Is that . . .?” “Amy gave me your mom’s ring. I had it cleaned up and added a slightly bigger stone from my own mother’s ring to combine the two . . . I hope you don’t mind,” I told her as tears slid freely down her cheeks. “I love you, baby.” “I love you,” she replied, smiling knowingly as she allowed me to slip the ring on her left hand. “I have a surprise for you.” “What?” I asked, thinking it was about work. “I found out that I’m pregnant today. I’ve been feeling off lately and started thinking about how I messed up on the pill on our last weekend away. I took a test and, yeah, it was positive. I was considering asking you to marry me,” Lily

joked. I moved up on the couch and pressed my hand lightly against her stomach. “You’re having our baby?” I asked, and she nodded and smiled sweetly. “Shit. I didn’t think that would happen this fast. I didn’t think you wanted this.” “I believe fate took its own course with us,” Lily replied before our lips met in another kiss. We curled up and watched a movie on the couch in the darkened room, which was lit up only by the bright lights on the tree. I held her tightly, thanking God for her as I imagined our future together. In all my relationships and marriages, I’d never felt this way about anybody. She called Amy the next day with the good news, and soon it was spreading around both of our buildings. It seemed like the next week we were getting married on our favorite beach in Belize, one we had discovered at my friend’s wedding the previous year. We had our closest friends watching us as we said our vows, Amy beaming beside Lily, whose stomach was rounded with our first child. Lily was into her sixth month and had chosen a dress that flattered her belly, though she looked more beautiful carrying my child than ever before. We had dinner by the light of the setting sun and danced well into the night before I led Lily to the cottage by the water, watching her smile. We made love for hours as husband and wife before she fell asleep, exhausted from the day. Our daughter, Tinsley, was wearing her out, but Lily loved every moment of it, and I had no complaints about Lily’s overactive sex drive. I held my daughter three months later, staring down into her beautiful face as tears gushed down my cheeks. She looked so much like her mom but had my dark hair. She was also screaming at the top of her lungs. “We’re in for it with this one,” Lily told me in a weary voice as she smiled lovingly at the two of us. She’d done an excellent job with the twelve-hour labor, staying calm and focused, particularly once she’d gotten some drugs. I knew my life was complete, and I kissed Lily as the nurse took the baby to clean her up. I knew that there would be more kids in our future and all the love Lily could stand. She was my everything. We’d had an intense and rough start of things, but she was mine forever now. She and my daughter were the moon and stars in my sky, and I’d never want anything else.

THE END

I hope you enjoyed CRAVE ME. For your reading pleasure, I have included numerous bonus stories. Please refer to the table of contents to choose what to read next.

THE HAPPILY EVER AFTER SERIES

T

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A 2 STEP GAME CHAPTER 1 I clicked on my email inbox and rolled my neck to ease the pain in my muscles as it came up. I’d been studying so much lately, and I just wanted a full night’s sleep, but no. There were still tests for me, and I was going to enjoy this personal break to check into life outside of college for a moment. I read through them, groaning at all of the spam about meeting Russian women (no thanks) as well as people that wanted to tell me my future. Ah, there was something a little more personal. I clicked on the email from my mom and assumed she wanted to talk about the upcoming Christmas holiday. I read through the words and frowned as my eyes stayed glued to the first paragraph. She’d be here in Colorado for business next week and wanted me to meet her fiancée. Fiancée? When was Mom even dating anyone seriously? I rolled my eyes and thought back to her last attempts at a boyfriend since she was a little bit of a gold digger and traveled a lot as a buyer for one of the best boutiques in San Diego. Mom didn’t even need the money of a man, but she liked living the glamorous life, which made the song pop into my head as I bobbed my head. I read through the rest of the email that talked about the month I’d be home with her and my new stepfather and how excited she was to become a little family. The idea made me puke in my mouth a little bit since I still missed my father a lot. He’d been killed in a robbery near the house that

Mom still lived in when I was ten, eleven years ago. I was grown up now, but I still missed him and wondered what it would be like with the new man. Mom didn’t always pick bad guys. A lot of them were decent people, but something was in the mix that caused it not to work out. When I was younger, I suspected that I was a problem for the kind of people that wanted to travel even though Mom had no issues leaving me behind in the car of a friend. Some of the time, it was her or may be her overbearing attitude. It was probably all kinds of things, but I wouldn’t let myself think too much into that. I was trying to release any guilt from my mother not being happy being left with me. My therapist from a few years ago worked hard on that with me, and I did it myself to this day. Oh, well. At any rate, it was a nice dinner in Denver that I was not going to be paying for. It was a break from the day-to-day stuff. There was a good chance that I may never meet this guy and even if I did, it might not last, to begin with. I jumped as someone stepped into my apartment as I was closing down the email. “Hey, Larisa. I brought coffee and those sandwiches that you like so much. Let’s get back to this.” I turned and smiled at my best friend Cole as he set a bag down on the coffee table and smiled. He was in a lot of my classes, sharing the same major of Literature. That’s where I met him, and we clicked immediately. Of course, everyone thought that we were dating because he was a male and I was a female. Cole was a handsome guy with dirty blonde hair and gorgeous emerald eyes, tall and broad so I suppose I could see where our friends would think that. I was cute enough as well with my cinnamon colored eyes and bright caramel hair, and my affinity of doing yoga when I was stressed out. I learned that was a coping mechanism early on and I ran with it since it kept my curves in check. I was tall at five foot ten and carried myself well, but I loved to do yoga in the wee hours of the morning as well when I couldn’t sleep. I knew it wasn’t healthy, but it worked for me and allowed me to eat things such as this hot and cheesy pastrami sandwich that he was pulling out of the bag. Cole didn’t have to worry about that either since he was part of the football team at the college. I didn’t even see him that much between classes, practice, and games. He just liked to study with me for tests because we seemed to help each other so much. “Let’s do this,” I secured my thick hair into a messy bun and slid my reading glasses back up my nose as we settled on the couch to eat and read through our flashcards again. We worked well together, mixing the seriousness of the situation with humor and jokes over the next several hours.

Once the clock hit one in the morning, Cole looked at his phone and groaned. “Shit, Ris. I have practice at seven tomorrow, and Coach will kick my ass if it’s dragging at all. Are you good here?” He looked at me with concerned eyes and I smiled and took my glasses off. “You’ll go to sleep and not obsess all night?” “Yes, of course,” I replied as I leaned back on the couch. He grabbed the bag and shoved his empty coffee cup into it since I’d refilled mine a few times throughout the night. “Get some rest, Cole.” He smiled at me and looked at me for a few seconds before he headed to the front door. “Lock this,” Cole told me as I stood and walked over to the door. I closed it behind him and locked the deadbolt and the chain before turning around to look at the living room. My apartment was lovely, with a spacious living room and kitchen in addition to a large bedroom off in the short hallway. Dad had set aside money for my college and Mom let it sit and gain interest so I could focus on my grades. I was lucky that I didn’t have to work and I turned off my kitchen light and walked over to the couch. I debated on going through my cards just one more time and decided to clean up for the following morning before class. I grabbed my kitten Mushy and carried her to my room to sleep with me for a few hours before I had to wake up. I tossed and turned, thinking of Mom with a new guy and Dad. I was closer to him than Mom. It just worked out that way since Mom worked so much even when I was smaller, where Dad ran a tax business from home. Once he was gone, I was left with family and friends so she could keep working. Dad didn’t leave enough behind to let her stay at home, not that I think she wanted to. He just focused on my college. I closed my eyes and curled up in the fetal position as Mushy purred and stretched her paws towards my head. Getting her at the shelter was one of the best things I’d ever done, and I finally felt myself relaxing into sleep.

CHAPTER 2

THE TEST WENT SMOOTHLY for both Cole and me, who made it by the skin of his teeth to class. He ran a little late with Coach, and the teacher stared him down as he slipped into the seat beside me. We finished around the same time and grabbed some lunch before running to our other classes for the day. I knew that

his days were full and was used to that, which meant that I spent a fair amount of time alone. I had other casual friends; acquaintances. We’d grab a bite to eat or hang out at the bar that served us, but most of the time, I was home. I liked it that way and valued the time to myself. The week crept along, and I knew that dinner was in just a couple of days. I caught up on everything that I needed so I could relax for the night and dressed in some thick black tights with a plum colored sweater dress. I wore high boots and did my hair in wavy curls that dried as I added a little liner to my eyes with some mascara. I got into the modest five-year-old Camry that Mom bought for me when I left for college and started the engine as I shivered in my thick coat. I was already feeling uncomfortable, and I scowled as I backed up and headed to the main street to go into the city. I’d talked to Mom and Brett would indeed be there. She gushed about him and how he was just a few years younger than her at thirty-seven but gorgeous. Mom was forty-two but pretty with blue eyes and my hair so I didn’t doubt she could land a younger man. He wasn’t even that much younger, and I wondered if he had any kids, which reminded me of some of the kids that I’d met in the last. That was so awkward. I was an only child, and I suspect that Mom wasn’t into a big family because Dad seemed to love having me around. I never wondered what it would be like to have siblings until it was just Mom and me, deciding that it became lonely fast. I saw Rioja up ahead and looked for a parking spot in the small lot nearby that would not require me to valet park. I hated spending the extra money on something that I could do myself. Once I was settled, I looked in the mirror and forced a smile on my face before I slipped my keys into my purse and headed towards the front door. It was a cute place with a small intimate room and a clear need for reservations, based on the line that was out of the front door by a few feet. I hoped that Mom had done that since I was starving for anything other than the fast stuff that I ate on a daily basis. I excused myself into the door as I felt eyes on my back and shook my head to approach the hostess station. “I’m here to meet Rayna Jones for dinner,” I told her in a soft, slow voice as I heard the raised voices of the angry people behind me. “Let me see,” the blonde smiled as she went down and list and nodded. “She’s here already, and I think…over there.” The hostess pointed to a corner of the room as I glanced at her name tag and nodded as I saw Mom reading a menu. “Thank you, Nadine,” I told her as she looked at me with a grin. I made my way to the corner and smiled as Mom glanced up. “Larisa, there you are.” She stood, and we hugged before she kissed my

cheek. “You look lovely.” “Thanks. So do you,” I told her as she smiled brilliantly. Mom was blessed with great genes that I hoped she was generous with and looked healthy. I knew that her schedule was crazy, and she traveled a lot, but somehow she looked rested now. “Thank you,” Mom said as she watched a waiter hand me a menu and ask what I wanted to drink. I requested soda to keep myself awake and slipped my jacket off as I looked around. “Cute place.” “Isn’t it? Brett loves it here,” she said as she ran her left hand through her sleek bob, revealing the sparkling diamond wedding set on her finger. “Mom, are you-” I started to ask when her eyes settled on someone behind me and she smiled dreamily. “Brett, I want you to meet my daughter. Larisa, this is Brett, my husband.” Mom stood, and my mouth dropped open as I took in her words. “Husband?” I asked as she frowned at me. “When?” “Last week, we eloped,” she snapped as she indicated for me to turn around. “Jesus, Mom,” I said as I stood and clumsily made my way around to look at my new very official stepfather. I looked into his light green eyes, and there was instant recognition as heat singed my skin. I was taken back to a year ago when I was at a club with some friends, drunk and just feeling like I needed to do something crazy after a recent breakup. “Larisa, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Brett smiled, and it was so familiar as he reached out his hand to shake mine. That hand had been inside of me, and I looked down as I pressed my lips together. “I wanted her to tell you the good news, but Rayna was excited about surprising you.” “Brett. Hi,” I said as I shook his hand and remembered one of the best nights of my life. I saw in his eyes that he remembered me as well with a flash of heat before he replaced the look with a smile. I dropped his hand and turned as he moved to sit next to Mom, longing for some wine or anything that would lift the embarrassment that I was feeling right now. Brett kissed her hair and took his wine glass before he looked across the small table at me. He could hide his gaze from my mother now, and the heat returned as I took a deep breath. We made small talk as we ordered some appetizers and I settled on the artichoke tortellini for dinner. It wasn’t from the main entree selections, but I’d have trouble eating anything right now. Brett was gorgeous, and he’d caught my eye at the club right away. I was looking to forget the other relationship, and I could tell he was older than me

by a few years at least. He was tall and muscular, and at this moment, he reminded me of Cole as I looked at him. A few drinks had led to dancing, which led to making out on the dance floor as he held my body close to his to show me just what I was in for. Brett was thick and hard, and I wrapped my legs around his waist as he carried me off of the dance floor and into a dark corner, where he kissed me senseless before he slid his hands underneath my short skirt. He’d asked me if I’d go to his hotel with him and I agreed. It was close, and we walked the block quickly as I worried about my first one-night stand. I’d been in casual relationships, but this had all the signs of just being the one night, and that was honestly all that I wanted then. I wanted him hard and buried inside of me to erase any memory of Derek, the cheating asshole. Once Brett unlocked the door to his suite at the Hilton, I led him inside and into the spacious living room that overlooked Denver. I turned to face him as I took a deep breath and reached out to pull his lips to mine. The kiss was hot and rough, and I slipped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer. We removed our clothes in between deep kisses, and his mouth peppered my neck as he pushed me back onto the leather sofa. I closed my eyes and arched my back as his hand cupped my ass and squeezed hard while I moaned. “I can’t wait to be inside of this sweet young pussy,” Brett told me before he moved his mouth over my nipple and sucked it deep into his lips. His tongue flicked it, and teeth dragged against me as I felt my thighs dampen where they were pressed against him. The feeling of his heat as he gave each small bud equal attention before he moved his mouth down over my flat belly. I stared down at him as he moved between my legs and breathed against my slick thighs. Oh God, he was so close to me, and I slipped my hand down into his hair as he pressed his tongue against me and slid between my folds. It was Heaven, and I spread my legs like a whore so that he could have all of me. Brett licked me all over as I breathed hoarsely and rocked against him until he held my still with his strong arms. He slowly teased my sensitive clit, ready to burst from all of the pain and pleasure that he’d inflicted on my nipples just a few minutes before. I’d nearly come, and as he sucked me between his teeth, I let out a keening sound and felt myself go. It was intense, a hot wash of heat all over my body and something that I’d never felt before. I cried out his name, something I hadn’t found out or at least remembered when we were dirty dancing for everyone in that club. Brett kept my orgasm going with long sucks of his mouth and thick fingers stroking me as

he urged me to keep going. I was so full, and he traced my sensitive walls with his hand and made me shudder again. I was weak when I felt myself slow down as he pulled his hand away and traced my mouth with his finger. “Taste yourself,” Brett told me as I sucked him into my mouth and tried to keep my eyes open.

CHAPTER 3

I BLINKED as I heard Mom say my name and stared at her. “What’s wrong with you, Larisa?” She snapped at me as I took a sip of my soda and eyed the appetizers spread out before me. “Waiter!” I called as I saw him walk by, smiling when he stopped. “Can I have a glass of your house white wine, please?” “I’ll bring that right over,” he promised me as he looked at me a beat longer with his dark brown eyes, making my thighs ache. The memory of Brett was too much for me to bear and I tried to push it out of my mind. “Sorry, Mom. I’m foggy from studying and school stuff,” I apologized as I avoided looking at Brett. “This looks good. Tell me about the wedding.” I learned that it was a whirlwind and something that Mom suggested. No surprise there. I knew from my night with him that Brett was CEO of one of the biggest mortgage companies in the United States. Anderson and Frank held the mortgages of some of the richest people in the world, including a few celebrities. No, we didn’t talk that night. I’d kept it in mind and did some research after the fact. I knew that he was returning to Los Angeles soon and had no hopes of anything happening between us again, well, no expectations. He was a stable future for Mom, and if and when she decided to slow down at Gail’s, she could settle down happily. Brett was also gorgeous and damn it if I didn’t know how good he was in bed. The idea of him with Mom made me look around to see where my wine was, smiling with relief when I saw the waiter approaching me with a smile on his face. Thank fuck. I thanked him and took a long sip of it before I picked at the food. It was probably wonderful and something I’d tell my friends about if I were with anyone else. Tonight, though, I just wanted to drink myself away from the memory of Brett’s mouth and cock inside of me. My food to wine ratio was getting pathetic as I tossed back another glass

and nibbled on my dinner. I sensed my mom’s anger towards me but I just couldn’t bear with this. When I left to go to the bathroom, I was buzzed, and I dropped onto the toilet and took a deep breath. God, I had to pee. I did and pulled my phone out of my clutch to text Cole that I needed to see him tonight. I needed my best friend to vent to and get this all off of my shoulders so I could move on. Cole: Are you drunk, Ris? Me: I’m drinking wine so probably so. Don’t worry, I am getting a cab home. Be there. I’ll text you when this hell is over with. Cole: I’ll be waiting. Be safe, Ris. I shoved the phone in my purse and stood to wash my hands and return to the table. Mom was kissing Brett, and I looked way as I walked to the table to join them. I slipped into my seat and glanced in their direction as they leaned against one another and took a breath. Their plates were empty, and mine was cold, so I didn’t want it anymore. “Are you feeling alright, Larisa?” Brett asked me as my mother looked at me with an irritated expression on her beautiful face. “Just tired, as I said before. I think the wine is getting to me a little,” I stated with a small smile as I leaned back and took another sip. “Maybe you should eat,” her voice was low and angry as I took a deep breath. “I’m done here, Brett. Can we leave? Hopefully, she’ll present herself a little better over Christmas.” “How are you getting home?” Brett asked me as he leaned forward and looked into my face. Jesus, there was still an attraction there, and this was all kinds of fucked up. “I have a friend coming to get me,” I lied as he nodded and looked at Mom. “I look forward to seeing you at Christmas,” Brett told me as he paid the bill when she called the waiter over in a huff. He ushered her out, and I dropped back into the chair as I closed my eyes. I took out my phone and pulled up Uber to get a ride home, waiting the allotted time before I stepped out to the curb. It was cold, and I shivered as I looked for a car that didn’t seem to belong to anyone, finally noticing a blue SUV that was there for a few minutes. I walked over and the guy that was just a few years older than I was looked over and I recognized him from the picture. I climbed into the back and closed my eyes as he pulled away and headed back to my apartment. My sanctuary. My peace. I texted Cole on the way, still needing company and he agreed to be there as soon as he could. Once I was home, I got out of the car and made my way to my door, closing it before I went to change into some more comfortable leggings and a flannel shirt. I

heard the knock at the door and clumsily buttoned the shirt as I fell onto the floor. “Shit,” I mumbled as I heard Cole call out my name. “Ris? Are you here?” His voice boomed through my small place, and he stepped into the room. “Are you okay?” He leaned down and lifted me up from the floor as I wrapped my arm around his shoulder. “Mom…I can’t believe her,” I mumbled as he took me out to the living room and sat me on the couch. “She eloped with her new guy and sprung it on me tonight.” He looked at me as I shook my head and stared at him. “The worst part is that I slept with him a year ago. Remember when I broke up with Derek? I went out and got drunk that night.” “You never told me that you slept with anyone, Ris. Did he hurt you?” Cole demanded as I smiled and shook my head. “No, he was some of the best sex that I ever had.” I shivered and felt my nipples harden as I looked down to see that the shirt was barely covering my full breasts. “Look at me. I get turned on just thinking about it. Has anyone ever done that to you, Cole? What do I tell her?” “Fuck, Larisa. You’re drunk,” he murmured as he moved a hand to cover me, brushing against my nipple instead as I moaned and arched my back., “You need to stop this.” “Why? We’re best friends, and we can have sex, Cole. I know that you love me,” I told him as I moved into his lap and kissed his mouth eagerly. His lips were full, and they felt so good against mine as he moaned long and slow. I felt him tense up for a moment before he wrapped his arms around me and tilted his head to deepen the kiss. I felt his desire as his tongue brushed against mine and his hands slid up my bare back before he slid one into my hair. I whimpered as I pressed against him and wrapped my arms tighter around his neck and kissed him harder. Cole’s lips on my neck made me cry out, and I dropped my head back to give him more room. He kissed my tender skin softly before he nipped at me and unbuttoned my shirt, sliding it down my back. “Are you sure about this?” Cole asked me as he raked his eyes over my half-naked body. “I’m not going to be able to stop soon. You’re fucking gorgeous.” “I need you, Cole. I need you right now.” He kissed me again and one hand held me still by the hair while his other hand drifted down to grip my ass as I rocked against him. He kissed me senselessly before he moved down my neck again and then found my nipples with his mouth, lifting me up for better access as I dragged my hands through his hair. I heard my voice rise as he sucked harder and then drew the skin between his teeth as I felt my thighs aching. “Cole, Oh God. I can’t take it.” I felt his hand slide between my legs and slide

over my heat as I felt myself swell against him. “You’re so hot and wet,” Cole told me as he stroked me harder. Somehow, I was naked and pressed onto my back in my next breath, and he was spreading me open as he took me in with hungry eyes. Cole murmured my name and things that he wanted to do to me as he fingered my clit and slid a finger inside of me, making me shiver as I bit down on my lip. He moved down against me with his mouth and his tongue found me swollen and ready as he teased me while he held my hips still with his strong arms. He sucked me between his lips and held tighter as I started to cry out his name as I felt my body edging closer to a release. “Cole, don’t stop.” He bit down, and I screamed as I came forcefully against his tongue, feeling him slide it inside of me as my heat washed over him. I stared at him as he pulled away, glistening with my juices as he looked into my eyes. “Ris, I’m so hard. I need to be inside you.” “Yes,” I whispered as he slipped off his shirt and threw it to the floor. Cole was muscular, and I ate away at his abs with my eyes as he stood up. Cole pulled out his wallet and slid something out before he dropped his jeans to the floor with his shirt and dropped the wallet on top of the pile. Cole held out his hand, and I took it, allowing him to lift me into his arms as our lips met in a long sensual kiss. I wrapped my legs around him, and he started to carry me down the hallway, and I assume, my bedroom. My sweet and salty release was all over his face, and I ate away at him, not at all turned off by the idea like I thought I would be in previous thoughts. I loved the taste and the way that he kissed me back, passionately and with the same need that I was feeling for him. I felt my body dropped on my bed gently as I tried to pull him down with me. “Cole,” I murmured as I sought to kiss him again. “Please.”

CHAPTER 4

I STARED at him as he sheathed himself with the condom that he tore open with shaking hands. I was tipsy from the wine, bordering on sloppy drunk. However, I was primed and ready for this as he stared at me and stalked towards the bed. I’d never seen Cole in this way before, animalistic in his need. He knelt down before me and kissed me hard before he pressed me down to the pillows and parted my thighs. “Ris…I need you,” Cole told me as

he positioned himself against my entrance and looked down as he slipped inside. “Fuck, you’re so tight.” It had been a while since I’d slept with anybody and I cried out as he filled me with his thick cock. I rocked against him to bring him deeper inside of me as Cole drove himself inside of me, thrust after hard thrust. He rested against my chest as he kissed me clumsily in between thrusts and I moaned and whimpered as my body came close to releasing. “Oh, Cole. Don’t stop,” I begged him before I let out a keening sound and exploded all around him. I closed my eyes tightly as I held on tightly to him and breathed out as he jerked against me and stilled as he groaned out my name. Heat flushed through my body, and I felt like I was flying for a moment before I felt his lips against mine. Cole was breathing heavily and his damp body heavy over mine before he rolled onto his back. I drunkenly tried to compare the men, but I was caught up in Cole right now. I’d only experienced casual sex as well as a few relationships, some of which were scorching at the moment. I can’t say that I ever felt like I did right now. I moved to stumble to the bathroom and clean up before I crawled back into bed to wrap my arm around Cole. He had nuzzled his face against mine before he told me that he was going to use the restroom and be right back. I was half-asleep when he returned, and Cole kissed me. “Want me to stay?” His voice was a soft whisper and I nodded sleepily as I snuggled against him again. I dreamed about Cole as I slept restlessly, always feeling arms around me when I’d come to. I thought I was dreaming that as well until I woke up and looked around the room to see the sunlight peeking through the blinds. I ran my hands through my hair and felt a headache that could only come from too much wine. I rolled over to feel a warm body beside me and fully opened my eyes to see Cole sleeping naked beside me. I gasped softly and curled up into a ball as I mentally checked over my body, feeling the aches and sore muscles from good sex as I blushed. I remembered some of the night before in vivid detail and frowned as I pictured dinner in my mind. Mom had married a guy that I’d slept with, which was so awkward. I didn’t even know how to deal with that so I dealt with the next issue on hand. Cole…and the fact I’d thrown myself at him and slept with him. I looked him over, admiring his muscles and toned planes for a moment. There was no denying that Cole was a gorgeous man, but he wasn’t necessarily mine to have. We were best friends and had been since we met two years ago. I could think of times that we might have flirted a little here and there, but it

was never serious, and we always ended up with other people. That’s how it was supposed to be. It was different, though, and I felt anxiety wash over me as I closed my eyes. Now I had two nights to regret, and I stood and grabbed my robe from the bathroom. This called for coffee and sobriety. I made a pot of coffee in my pot that Mom and I bought when I got this apartment and checked the fridge. If it was any other morning and Cole crashed here after drinking or something, I’d make breakfast. We’d laugh and pig out, and it would be light and casual. I decided to go with that now and pulled out bacon and eggs, Cole’s favorite. I had no idea if he had practice today though I wasn’t ready to wake him up. I looked into the living room and saw his clothes in a heap along with mine as I blushed. I cooked quietly, sipping coffee to wake myself up and bring back the unfortunate reality. My phone rang, and I glanced at the screen to see that it was Mom, a call that I ignored. I looked down to flip the bacon when I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. I glanced over and saw Cole with a towel around his waist as he went to grab his clothes. “Hi,” I said as he gave me a long look and nodded. “Hungry?” “Always. How are you feeling?” Cole asked as I frowned and thought about my answer. “I think I’m better than last night. I was upset…I’m sorry for calling you over like that,” I said as I started piling the meat on a plate lined with paper towels. I couldn’t look at him, fearing that I’d fucked things up. “I’d come running for you anytime you needed me, Larisa,” Cole assured me as pulled on his pants behind the door the separated the kitchen from the living room. “You know that.” “I didn’t necessarily have what happened in mind,” I admitted as I saw his feet move in front of me. “Do you regret it?” Cole asked as I reached for the eggs and started cracking them into the oiled pan. Cole loved his eggs in bacon grease, and I’d learned to eat them like that over the years. “I…I’m not sure. Do you?” I asked as I watched the eggs sizzle in the pan. “Ris, it was a great night. I’ve never felt anything like that before. I understand that you were drinking and upset, though, and I’m not sure if that’s what you wanted. You’re so beautiful, and I should have stopped it. But I didn’t, and I need to know if you are you okay with that?” Cole asked as I focused on turning the food over with my spatula. “Larisa?” I turned them and looked up at him with a forced smile. “I’m okay with it.

It was great, you know?” I grabbed some plates and slid two eggs on each one along with some bacon before sliding some bread into the toaster. “Coffee?” “I’ll get it,” Cole told me as he poured a cup and added some cream. “Things are going to be weird now, aren’t they?” “They don’t have to be. I mean, we’ve both had sex before with other people and moved past it, right?” I looked at him for affirmation, realizing that my feelings for Cole had officially crossed the line that I’d drawn in the sand. I’d had a crush on him for some time but always hid behind the fact that we were such good friends. “I guess, yeah. That’s what you want to do?” His face looked disappointed, and I turned as the toast popped up, buttering the slices and putting one on each plate. “It’s best, Cole. We’re not like that towards each other.” I stared at him as he walked heavily to the couch and sat down with his plate. I grabbed my breakfast and coffee and followed him, choosing to sit in the chair across from him. I couldn’t stop the memories from replaying through my mind of last night, and I took a quick drink of the coffee as I looked away, towards the television that Cole was changing channels on as he scowled. He ate quickly and made some excuse about meeting the team before he left. Cole was cold and didn’t even look at me as he walked out, and I sighed. It had gone from bad to worse in a matter of hours. I went back and tore the sheets off of my bed, washing the scent of Cole and of us off of them as I allowed self-hatred to fill me. God, I was just messing things up left and right. I spent the rest of the day miserable and studying, pretending that Cole wasn’t ignoring me. It wasn’t that he was always in touch with me, being busy with football and school anyway, but I knew that things were different now. I didn’t know what I would do without him since I didn’t click with a lot of girls and was usually shy with guys. Cole had always been different for me. Mom called that evening to talk about the upcoming Thanksgiving week, which I had off from school. I agreed to come home even though I dreaded spending any time with Brett. I hoped that I would get past this uncomfortable feeling at some point with him since he was my stepfather. Ugh, what an awful thought. My life should be a movie on the Lifetime channel. I had two weeks until I went home and just decided to get through it the best that I could.

CHAPTER 5

SADLY, getting through that time meant a lot of drinking for me. Mom gave me a generous amount of money every month, and I bought a lot of wine and even a few bottles of sweet hard alcohol. I’d go to class and then home, where I’d drink, study and watch anything that I could on television. Cole didn’t call me, and I saw him around school with a new blonde girl. He had his pick of ladies being athletic and handsome and it didn’t come as a shock to me at all. It just hurt a lot more than ever before. I’d see him look at me before turning his head away, punishing myself with the inner shame and hatred all over again. I used to be more important than his flings and even some of his football buddies, but now I was nothing. I was just a fling to him. Ouch…that stung a lot. I left my last class and drove back to my apartment to finish packing. My mom lived close by and it was an easy drive, but there were times that it felt like a separate country to me. I threw some clothes into my backpack and heard my phone chime from the kitchen counter. “Geez, Mom. I’m leaving soon.” I rolled my eyes as I grumbled out loud and walked across the room. To my surprise, it was a text from Cole. Cole: Are you headed home for the holiday? Me: I am leaving now. How about you? There was so much more that I wanted to ask him but I merely waited for his response. Cole: I am going to see my dad over the weekend. He wants to fix things and have me meet his new wife. I knew that Cole had been on the outs for years since his parents divorced when he was fifteen. I’d never met either parent and knew very little about them since he stayed quiet about the subject. Something big must’ve happened for him to go see him since Cole chose his mother’s side from the beginning. Maybe he was just tired of the distance. Me: I hope it goes better than meeting my new stepdad. Cole: I don’t think I’ve slept with any older woman lately, so I’m not worried. Have a good week, Larisa. Was that a dig at me? Asshole! I took a deep breath and decided what to write back. Me: You, too. I’m sorry, Cole. I took the phone and shoved it into the pocket of my jeans as I took one last look around the house. I had everything I needed to make the one-hour trek, and

I slung my backpack over my shoulder as I slipped my purse the other way. I made my way to the car, listening too closely for a text that didn’t arrive. I turned on some loud music to play over the speakers while I drove and sang along as I forced my mind to go numb. My mom could be tough to deal with on a normal basis much less with a new guy. I wanted to be happy for her, but it was just weird right now. I pulled up to the big house with the tall turret and parked near the garage where I wouldn’t block anybody. I gathered my things and headed to the front door, opening it as I smelled something good inside. Mom didn’t cook so maybe she had a chef. I set my bags down on the couch and walked towards the kitchen to find Brett standing at the stove as he stirred something. My eyes roamed over his body, remembering how tight his ass was as I pulled him inside of me and begged for more. I knew what he felt like inside of me, but I had no idea that he was a cook. I found that sad. “Where’s Mom?” I asked as he turned around to look at me with a smile. “She’s out of town for the night. Work stuff.” I frowned and pressed my lips together as I realized what an uncomfortable night this was going to be. “I hope that you like beef. I made a roast with some veggies for dinner.” “It’s fine,” I answered dismissively as he looked me over for a moment, seeming to be unsure of something. “I’m going to put my stuff away.” “Larisa? I think we need to break this iceberg between us,” Brett said as I paused in my spin and frowned. “I recognized you at the restaurant, but I didn’t know who you were before that. I hadn’t seen any photos yet since I was still living in an apartment.” I knew that there wasn’t a lot of family photos here, to begin with. Mom preferred art to real life, it seemed. “If you had, would it change anything?” I asked as I slowly looked at him. I saw the way his eyes darkened and felt the heat in the room as I cursed myself. “I…I wanted to contact you after that night, Larisa. I know we left it with no way to do so, but I enjoyed myself. A lot,” Brett told me as I frowned at him. “It was more than just a one-night thing to me, despite meeting in a bar. I think that if I knew that she was your mom, I might not have rushed into this. I don’t know.” He seemed confused and leaned against the counter. “It doesn’t matter now, right? That was a long time ago, and you’re here now.” I waved my hand around and shrugged. “We just have to find a way to move past that.” “Do you ever think about it?” Brett asked as I looked at him. “I could tell that night that you’re not the kind of girl to just sleep around, though I sensed that you were hurting inside.”

“God, it was a one-night stand. Aren’t those supposed to be epic?” I had asked before my face flushed pink. “Shit. I didn’t mean to say that.” I started to leave the room as I heard him chuckle. “I got my answer. Dinner is at six, Larisa. I’ll see you then.” God, he had a sexy voice, and I snatched my bags from the living room and hurried upstairs to my room. I was in hell, the worst kind of hell. I was still suffering from the loss of my best friend, and now I had to sleep here tonight with someone else that I slept with. “Drinking is bad. Drinking is atrocious,” I murmured to myself as I entered my room and put everything on my bed. It looked the same as when I left for college, with all of the same knick-knacks and pictures in the cork board near my door. I looked at pictures of Brenna, my best friend from high school as I took a deep breath. If she were here, I’d discuss this with her, and we might laugh about it; but she’d been killed in an accident driving home from school in our senior year. That was a lot of why I shut down, and Cole was the only person that managed to break down my walls since then. I sighed and unpacked my stuff to put it in my closet and drawers, letting some music play from my phone. I rested against my many pillows and pulled out my Kindle to try and read a book, but the past kept flashing through my mind as I watched the screen blur through my tears. I woke up when there was a tap at my door and blinked in the dim room. My room. “Yeah?” I croaked as I pushed my hair back and blinked a few times. “Dinner’s ready,” Brett called through the door as I licked my lips. I was starving, and I decided that I needed to move past what happened with him as well as Cole. “I’ll be right down,” I said as I stood and walked into the attached bathroom. I looked a mess, and I splashed some cold water on my face and shoved my hair into a messy bun. The fact was that Brett had seen me drunk and naked and nothing would probably surprise him at this point. I pulled on a flannel over my tank top and wandered down the stairs to the kitchen, where Brett had set up the small table by the window overlooking the lavish backyard. “There you are. I didn’t know if you wanted a drink, given the last time that I saw you.” His face turned up in a smirk as I stared at him and felt my cheeks heat up. “Do you mean the first time or dinner a few weeks back?” I asked in a sarcastic tone as I walked to the fridge and opened it.

“You were drinking both times, weren’t you?” He asked as I pulled out some wine and went to grab a big glass. “You know I was,” I replied as I poured a generous amount and walked over to the table. He brought over something in a glass and joined me as I looked over the spread. “This looks good.” “I hope so. It’s my mom’s recipe,” Brett told me as I looked at him in surprise. He didn’t seem like a mama’s boy to me. He sliced a few thin slices of the meat and loaded it onto my plate before I helped myself to the vegetables and picked up my fork. I tasted a potato and tried to determine what the spices were as I frowned. I took a bit of the meat and ate the same thing and chewed carefully as he looked at me in amusement. “Like it?” “It’s unique. Delicious. What am I tasting?” I asked him as our eyes locked across the table for a long moment before he sipped his drink. “It’s a family secret,” Brett teased me as I raised an eyebrow and picked up a carrot with my fork. I had a memory of his face between my legs, tasting me with his tongue deep inside of me as I gripped his hair and stammered his name, making me blink as the silverware clattered on the table. My hands were shaking, and I grabbed the wine and drank a large sip. “Are you okay? You look like you’ve been crying.” Brett observed as I pressed my lips together. A tear slid down my cheek as I sniffled and he leaned forward. “I…seeing you brought back memories of that night, something that started as a way to forget about my asshole ex and turned into everything I didn’t think it would be. I’d let it go until dinner that night and the way that I dealt with it was sleeping with my best friend at my apartment that night.” “You’re bi?” Brett asked with a dark look in his eyes as I laughed and shook my head. “Guy best friend,” I corrected as he nodded. “It was pretty good, and I knew that I fucked up the following morning. I crossed a line that I shouldn’t have.” “So why not see him as more than a friend?” Brett asked as I looked at him. “I was just confused that night. I was a hot mess,” I confessed as I took another drink of wine and wiped at my tears. “I still am, I suppose.” Brett stepped up and walked over as he offered me his hand. I stared at him as I took it and felt him pull me into his arms. I sensed a sweet concern in this gesture, but there was an underlying heat that was hard to deny for me as I let out my breath and wrapped my arms around his neck. “You’re not a mess, you’re beautiful.” His voice was low in my ear, and I shivered as his hand moved down my back. “This is so fucking wrong, Larisa but I can’t help but to

want you.”

CHAPTER 6

I SLID my hands into his hair and closed my eyes as I pulled. Brett groaned, and I moved away just enough to finish the wine before I looked at him. “I’m already in hell so why the fuck not?” I hated myself as I kissed Brett, my stepfather. I felt like the worst daughter but I was suffering inside, and I wanted it to stop. My need for Cole blended with the memories that I had of Brett as he pulled against him and returned the kiss. His tongue met mine as he lifted me onto the table and gripped my ass. Everything about the night came back to mind as I wrapped my legs around him and tilted my head to deepen things. Brett pressed against the seam of my jeans, and I remembered how well he filled me as I rocked against him. “Oh, God. Why did you have to be hers?” Brett mumbled against my lips before he kissed me again and moved against me as I felt shame filling my body. I pushed away thoughts of my mom and pulled myself up as Brett stumbled for a moment. He dropped me back on the table and pulled away as he took a ragged breath. “What the fuck? I didn’t plan this,” he stared at me with his intense eyes before he downed his drink in one gulp. “I knew there was a connection with you that night, but we left things in that hotel room. But you’re here again and I…” Brett walked into the kitchen and poured more whiskey as the phone on the counter rang. He walked over and stared at it. “It’s your mom.” We both stood in silence as the phone continued to ring and then went silent. “I can’t right now with her. I just can’t.” “She said that you’re not close. She stated that there was a rift after your dad died and she didn’t know how to reach you anymore,” Brett told me as he stared at me. “She didn’t tell me who you were.” I knew that Cole was out of my life now and that I couldn’t go back. Somehow, the men reminded me of each other, and I blinked as he drank a large swallow of his drink. Could Brett fill the void, as sick as the idea was? “We’re not close, and we never were. I was always a daddy’s girl and when he was gone…I felt like I lost everything.” I looked at him as more tears shimmered in his eyes, caught somewhere between lust and pain. “I didn’t even have a sibling to talk to and the one that was closest to that left me years

later.” “Jesus, Larisa. I didn’t know,” Brett said as he stepped forward and cupped my face before he kissed me gently. I melted against him, drunk more on emotions than the wine as he pulled me against him. I knew that I wasn’t going to stop this from happening and we ended up in my room, tearing our clothes off as Brett worshiped my body all over again as I cried through it, hating myself but loving his hands and mouth as he brought me close to the edge over and over. I was begging him by the time he slipped a condom on and moved slowly inside of me. This wasn’t the heated one-night stand that we shared before. This was Brett comforting me the way he knew I needed him to and I pulled him closer to me as he thrust harder inside of me and brought me to an explosive emotional release as I cried out his name. Brett moved slowly through the waves as he sucked on the skin of my neck and then jerked as he came at the very end of my orgasm. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath as he rested against me and kissed my shoulder. “That’s twice now,” he said as I stared at the ceiling. “Yeah,” I said as I stroked his hair. I wanted to feel terrible, but I felt amazing inside as we rested together. His skin was damp and warm as I felt his lips brush against mine. We got up and went down to heat up the food, eating silently at the table with thick robes covering our skin. I felt like he knew me well now, having had me twice and I wondered where this was going to go now. I drank the wine in large gulps, and he had a few more drinks as I got to know him more. I learned that Brett was a partner in a graphic design company here in New Mexico, one of the most successful in the country. He told me that the night that we met but I was drunk and couldn’t remember. Once we kissed, I only wanted one thing from Brett, and I listened closer tonight. I wanted to know him, for the time we had and the future, no matter what happened between us. I talked to my mom, keeping it brief as she told me that she’d be back in two days. Two days alone with Brett here…I didn’t know how to feel about that. I finished my dinner and helped him wash dishes before we went out to the back patio and stripped our robes off to soak in the hot tub. It felt so good to let the hot water soothe my bare skin as I giggled from the effects of the wine and the way that he was making me laugh. I thought of Cole later that night as I drifted off to sleep with Brett by my side, drunk on need and wine. I wasn’t ready to face what I’d done, not yet. I was just trying to feel good inside.

CHAPTER 7

THE MORNING DAWNED bright and jolting as I looked beside me in the king sized bed and found Brett curled up beside me. I stared at him as I remembered the second time I’d been with him in this house, hot and rough compared to the first time. I got up and went into my bathroom as I stared in the mirror and caught the scattered markings on my neck. “Oh my God,” I murmured as I took a deep breath. I pulled on the robe from the night before and went down to make coffee and think. I sat at the table from the night before, sipping my drink and breaking things down in my head. Brett was my mom’s husband, a vow that should be taken seriously. I just knew her and the way that she looked for men with money to take care of her. Marriage was a big step, but Brett was handsome, and I could see why she’d cling to him, but did he want that? They knew one another a few months at best when they married, and I was curious to know what came over him. I jumped as I heard a cup hit the granite counter and looked over to see Brett. He was dressed in some sweats, and he poured coffee in before looking at me. “Morning.” “Good morning,” I replied as I tapped the table nervously. I didn’t know what to say or do. “Can I ask you something?” “Yeah,” he replied as he sipped the coffee. “Why did you marry her?” Brett looked stricken as he stared out of the window and I just watched him. “She made me laugh when I met her. Your mom is a beautiful woman and a catch for any man…but then I saw you at the restaurant. I had no idea,” Brett told me as he stared at me. “It took everything I had not to react to you. It took everything I had not to wrap you up in my arms.” “That night was a mess.” I ran a hand through my messy hair and frowned. “She was so mad at me, and I couldn’t eat. All I could do was drink.” I stared at him. “Did she suspect anything?” “Just that it was you being a daughter that didn’t like your surprise, I gather. She didn’t guess what was really going on,” Brett assured me as I looked into his face. “She’d never guess that, Larisa. It’s too crazy.” “Yeah.” I nodded blankly. I had officially knowingly slept with my stepfather as well as my best friend and I pushed the reality away. “She’ll be home tomorrow. What do we do?” “Do you feel like this more than just the sex?” Brett asked me as I looked down at the table. “If so, I’ll leave it alone and do my best with her.”

I was torn, but Cole was out of my life in that way as well as a possible friend. I enjoyed being with Brett, at least so far. He was older, but there was a spark between us. “Not entirely.” “Okay. We see what happens,” Brett said as we sat stiffly in our chairs. I napped that day while Brett went into the office for a while. He told me that he’d pick up some dinner on the way home before he kissed me softly. Brett was so tender with me, and I watched him leave as I licked my lips. I could still taste the coffee on his lips. I drove around town for a while for some fresh air after I showered, running into a few shops to distract myself from what was happening. I loved my mom in the sense of obligation, and I knew that what I was doing was wrong. It just felt so good. I left one of the stores with a bag full of new lingerie and shoved it into my passenger seat. Driving home, I pulled into the driveway and got out before I headed upstairs and dumped the bag on the bed. Over dinner from a popular Thai place that night, Brett and I talked further. He told me that his son was coming in a few days after not having seen each other for a little while. He was off to college much like me and even in the same state, so he was close. We got distracted by each other after the meal, and I made love to Brett on the couch with a blanket underneath us as I rode him hard and fast. He held me close, sucking my nipples into his mouth as we came together. I pressed against him as I let out a deep breath and reminded myself that we were sleeping in separate rooms tonight. Mom wasn’t due home until later, but we didn’t want to get caught, not like this. I went up into my room and slipped under the covers as I took a slow breath. My body was still on fire, and I pressed my thighs together as I bit down on my bottom lip. I slept fitfully and just kept going back to sleep until late into the morning, I knew that Brett had gone to work and I suspected that Mom would wake me up when she arrived home, which she did. There was a knock at my door, and I looked as it opened and she peered inside of my dim room, finding me buried under my covers. “Still sleeping?” “Just lazy. It’s nice not to have something to study or a class to go to,” I responded as she stepped inside, looking flawless. “How was your trip?” “Very productive,” Mom replied as she looked around my room thoughtfully. “I haven’t been in here for quite some time.” “Yeah, it looks the same as it did back in school.” Mom nodded and ran a hand through her smooth hair pulled into a low bun. “I am going to take a

shower. Do you want to go out to dinner tonight, just the three of us? You can get to know Brett better since last time was so terrible.” I didn’t want her to know how well I knew him. “Sure, that will be fun.” No, it wouldn’t. Mom left, and I turned back over in my bed, feeling sick to my stomach. God, I wanted to talk to Cole, but I’d heard nothing from him since that last text. I couldn’t tell him all of this, ever. He would hate me more than he already did, though I was doing well at that myself. I dragged myself out of bed after a few hours of dozing and showered before I pulled on some tights and a plum dress before slipping my feet into boots. I knew that Brett was home since I could hear them talking, but I didn’t want to go downstairs until I had to. I questioned everything from my hair to my outfit until there was a knock at my door. “Larisa, are you ready?” “Yes, Mom. I’m coming,” I told her as I walked over and opened the door. She looked stunning in a black dress with heels, and I wondered why Brett was with me. I wondered if he’d regret everything now that she was home. We walked down the stairs together, and I saw Brett standing in the kitchen in black slacks and a white shirt with a blue tie hung around his neck. He looked so gorgeous, and I stopped and stared for a moment as Mom glanced down at her phone. Brett looked up, and our eyes met for a moment as I frowned gently. He was beautiful beyond words, and I thought back to that first moment when our eyes met in the bar, knowing that then it would be an incredible night. It was, then and now. I don’t know how I got through dinner, apart from wine and watching him. He spoke well, showed his intelligence and wit as he kept us both mesmerized. I saw the way that Mom looked at him, but it wasn’t with love. It was the same way I did and the idea of them together later turned my stomach as I set the glass down on the table. At least she was past having more kids, a thought that made me stare at Mom. Was she? “Larisa, are you okay?” I blinked as she stared at me and nodded as I sipped the wine. We finished the meal, and I watched as they walked ahead to the car. He was holding her hand loosely, and I took the sight in before he turned his head and met my eyes. There was a heat there that made me shiver as I followed them and I bumped into someone as I blinked. “I am so sorry,” I said as I turned to look at the guy that I bumped into. “That’s okay. It was worth it,” he told me as I looked into dark eyes and the cheekbones of a model. “Have a great night.” I nodded and said something

similar to him as I turned to follow Brett and Mom to the car as he stalked forward with his shoulders set. “Are you okay?” Mom asked as he unlocked her door and opened it as I passed them to get to the back. “Of course. I just remembered that I have some work to do in the office when we get home.” He replied as he stared forward and I dropped my gaze to the ground. Later that night after Mom was asleep, Brett told me how jealous he was of that guy with his mouth between my legs.

CHAPTER 8

I HELPED Mom in the kitchen the night before Thanksgiving, trying not to chuckle at her attempt to prepare to giant turkey for the following day. I wasn’t a great cook, but I’d made enough simple meals living on my own to muddle my way through it. At some point, she started drinking and left to go watch a movie in bed while Brett took her place. He stuffed the turkey with herbs and vegetables as I watched him, explaining that it flavored the juices that he used to make the gravy. It was something that his mom had always done, prompting me to ask him where she was. Brett looked sad and a little lost as he explained that she died of ovarian cancer when he was twenty-seven and that his dad wasn’t a big part of his life. I wanted to give him a hug, but I wasn’t sure if Mom was asleep and I just stared at him. We finished the preparation and stored everything in the fridge for the following day, and he glanced down the hallway to his bedroom before looking at me. Before I knew it, I was upstairs and against my door as he kissed me hard. I held him tight and listened for any noises as we made out like teenagers in the dark for a long time before Brett dragged himself away, though not without giving me a hard orgasm with his fingers against my clit and I struggled not to cry out. He kissed me quiet as I breathed deeply and held me as my knees went weak. He helped me to bed, and I pulled down his pants and blew him on the floor of my room, on my knees as he held my hair and murmured dirty words to me. He left after that to sleep a few hours before cooking, and I made myself come under the covers as I played back the night in my head. I couldn’t get

enough, and I went for round two as I arched my back and bit my lip again. I was addicted and in trouble as I finally slept a few hours before I had to pretend that everything was normal for the holiday. I woke up later than I assumed anyone else would and pulled my hair into a messy bun and dressed to see if anyone needed help downstairs. As I walked down the steps, I could already detect the scent of cooking turkey and inhaled appreciatively as I looked into the kitchen. It was free of people, but there was a full pot of coffee that I helped myself to before stepping into the living room where Brett was watching the parade on the couch with his own cup, dressed in sweats and a fitted t-shirt that made me drag my eyes over his chest. My thighs clenched together, and he glanced at me as I sat in a chair a few feet away. “Morning. How did you sleep?” His voice was husky as he looked me over in my leggings and sweatshirt and I giggled. “Pretty good. I was worn out,” I replied, winking at him as he laughed and stared at me. “Yeah, me too.” I never asked if he was intimate with my mother, though I did wonder sometimes. They were married, and she’d expect it. “Dinner should be ready around three. We can just relax around the house.” “Where’s Mom?” I asked as he frowned and looked down the hall. “Sleeping. She’ll be up to eat; I expect, but it seems she drank quite a lot last night.” I sensed the displeasure in Brett’s voice and wondered where it came from. Did he miss her? Did he just not like her drinking? I kept my thoughts to myself and sipped my coffee as I stared at the SpongeBob float on the big screen television. I wondered what would happen when I went back to school next week. Would we just end and life go on for both of us? I couldn’t imagine that, but I wasn’t naive enough to think that we’d live happily ever after. I was surprised when a couple of high school friends stopped by to say hello, as well as distracted by the way they looked at Brett as they giggled and tossed their hair. I smiled and laughed in all of the right places, but I felt my emotions rising as I sat on the couch and made small talk. There was plenty to say about school and campus life since we’d all gone to different colleges around the country. Once they left, Brett closed the door and turned to stare at me before he glanced down the hall. “Larisa, you can’t wear your heart on your sleeve that way,” he kept his voice quiet, and I blinked at him. “I was fine. We just chatted.” I knew that I’d been tense more than a few times and he shook his head and sat back down. “Did you see the way they were looking at you?”

“I don’t care. I don’t want them.” His voice was firm as he looked again to see if we were alone. “You probably told Mom that and look at us now,” I whispered as I walked into the kitchen and placed my coffee cup in the sink after dumping it out. “Larisa, I don’t cheat like this in general life. This…is bad timing. I’d happily have you if things were different and just you. We’re in a complicated place right now.” Brett talked slowly and softly as I nodded and felt the rush of anger ebbing. I just didn’t have the energy for it right now. I just nodded and held on. We made our way back to the living room and found a traditional holiday movie on as we sat a few feet away from one another on the couch. It was close enough to know that were together here even if it was in the sense of tortured silence. Once it crept closer to dinner and we were still alone, Brett invited me into the kitchen where we finished up the last minute details. Everything smelled delicious, and I was developing an appetite as I prepared some yams in a baking pan. “Look at you. This smells so good!” My mother’s cheerful voice filled the silence, and I jumped as I pressed my hand to my heart. Everything shifted in the room, and I took a breath as I felt eyes on me. “That into cooking, Larisa? You’re a different girl,” Mom teased me as she walked over and hugged Brett for a long moment. I looked for a fleeting second and glanced away as my skin burned. She moved to get coffee and looked around slowly with a smile. “Everything looks and smells so good. You guys are a good team.” Brett thanked her as he and I shared a quick look and forced smiles. We finished plating everything, and the three of us carried things to the formal table as the doorbell rang. I knew that Brett had invited some single friends over and I assumed it was them, so I excused myself to answer the door. I’d changed into a pair of black slacks and a burnt orange sweater for the company after my shower earlier, and I smiled as I saw a few new faces. “Come on in.” The men moved past me as my face fell when I saw Cole behind the group. His face was as pale as mine as our eyes locked and I took a ragged breath. “What are you doing here?” “Larisa? Is everything okay?” Brett asked as he walked over and glanced through the open door. “Cole. You’re here early! Come in.” I stepped aside as my former best friend walked by me and was introduced to everybody. “This is my stepdaughter, Larisa. This is my son, Cole.” “We attend the same school, Dad,” Cole said dryly as he eyed the door like he wanted to leave. “What a coincidence,” Mom said as she slipped an arm around Brett and

looked Cole over. “Please sit. I can get another bottle of wine, and we can start eating, unless you’d like something else to drink, Cole?” “If you have a beer, I’d like that,” Cole said as Brett clapped him on the back and took him upstairs with the duffel bag that he was carrying. “I’ll be right back,” I told Mom as the room started spinning. I went into the bathroom in the first-floor hallway and turned the water on as I leaned over the toilet and threw up. In the few moments we’d had in the foyer, I thought that Cole must have connected the dots and was disgusted by me. I knew that I was. I felt sick, and my stomach was in knots as I threw up the little food that I had in my stomach and leaned my head over my arms. I couldn’t do this. I needed to get my stuff and get the fuck out of here. I didn’t know how long I was in there before there was a tap at the door. “Larisa? Are you coming to the table?” Brett asked through the door in a concerned voice as I closed my eyes. “I…I suddenly don’t feel so well. Go ahead without me, okay? I’m going to lie down in my room.” I sighed as I tried to find a reasonable excuse to go right back to school. “What happened? You were fine all day,” Brett told me as I rolled my eyes. “I had a bit of a fever earlier, but I really didn’t think much of it. I just need to rest. Go eat, Brett. Everyone is here.” I insisted as I remained on the floor, straddling the toilet. It went quiet, and I assumed that he was gone, which was when I stood and splashed cold water on my face. I left the room quietly and made my way upstairs, wondering which room Cole was sleeping in tonight. There were only two other huge rooms on this floor, and I sighed as I opened my door and closed it. I pulled on leggings and a thermal before I crawled under the covers and switched the television on to cover the sounds of my soft sobs. I was alone for about an hour when there was a knock at the door, and I looked up with huge eyes. I’d been crying hard, and I looked at the screen to see The Notebook playing. Thank fuck…but who was it knocking? “Larisa?” It was Mom. She opened the door and came inside, seeing me shriveled under the comforter. “What’s wrong?” “I don’t know. I felt a little off earlier, but it came on so suddenly,” I lied as she sat down and looked into my face with shock. I pointed to the movie, and she looked at it and nodded. “I’m just going to chill out. I’ll be fine.” “You’ll love your new stepbrother. He’s such a sweet kid,” Mom smiled as my stomach twisted violently. “He looks a lot like his father, doesn’t he?” Too much. I’d realized it seeing them together and was ready to flee the scene. “Yeah, I think that he does,” my voice was weak as Mom hugged me.

“Get some rest, Larisa. Maybe you’ll feel better tomorrow,” she said as she looked me over. “We can all visit then.” “Sounds good, Mom.” I sank back against my pillows as she left and smiled as she looked at me. I just wanted to get through the next few days and go back to school. I knew that Cole was there, but at least both of my sins wouldn’t be staring me in the face. I’d have time to isolate and recover from this. I stared at the wall as another movie played before I cried myself to sleep. I woke up a few hours later, trembling from a dream as I sat straight up in bed and took deep breaths. I looked around my room and saw that a shadowed figure was in my chair as I started to scream. “Sshh, it’s me. What’s wrong with you?” Brett asked as I stared at him and shook my head. “You can’t be in here,” I told him as he waved his hand. “Everyone is asleep. It’s midnight, Larisa.” He moved closer to the bed and looked at me. “Are you feeling better?” “A little? I don’t want you to get it, though. You should go.” I frowned as he dropped his broad shoulders and stared at me. “I was worried about you, you know.” I nodded and hid under my blankets as he looked at my door. “I’ll see how you are tomorrow, okay?” I nodded, and he left the room as I fell into a crumpled heap onto my knees. I stood and moved to lock the door before I came back to bed and dropped back onto my pillows with a long sigh. I did the math in my head and realized that I had three more nights here if I left when scheduled. I could lie and say that something came up and I had to go Sunday as well. I didn’t think Cole would mind, judging from the sickened look on his face when he saw me at the door. Hell, maybe I’d just stay sick and blame it on that. I was awake a few more hours with something playing on television as I glanced at that and my phone. I vowed to make some friends at school and get a life, to avoid situations like this. I fell asleep as the sun was coming up and had no plans on leaving my room. It was late morning when I heard a knock at the door while the knob turned. “Why is your door locked, Larisa?” Mom asked as I rolled my eyes. I stood and unlocked it, feigning ignorance as she asked me the same question. I blamed the illness and said I must have locked it going back to bed from the bathroom one of the several times. I stumbled back to bed, falling down as she set a steaming cup on the nightstand as well as a plate with a sandwich on it. “How are you feeling?” “Like crap,” I replied as she sighed and looked me over. “Brett and I are having dinner with friends tonight. Will you be alright on

your own? I know that you and Cole don’t know each other.” She frowned as I nodded quickly and dropped against the pillows. “I hate leaving you.” “I’m a big girl, Mom. I’m sick at school by myself,” I assured her as she nodded and looked down at her left hand where the big diamond sparkled. “Brett was worried about you last night. I think he likes being a stepfather and now that Cole’s back in his life…I believe that it will be sweet to see that side of him,” she said almost dreamily as I felt nausea rising in my stomach. “We’ll be a family.” It took all of the strength that I had to remain calm until she left my room. At that point, I went into the bathroom and closed the door, clicking the lock as I started to run a hot bath. I was never going to have sex again. I’d really messed up the last several times that I did, and I didn’t want to feel this way anymore.

CHAPTER 9

EVENING CAME, and my stomach started to growl. Since I was stressed and not sick as I’d told everyone, I was bound to get hungry sooner or later. I took a deep breath and looked at the clock, assuming they were at dinner now. What about Cole? I knew that I’d truly end up ill if I didn’t eat and I pulled my messy hair back and walked out of my room. I stopped and listened, knowing this house was huge. I walked down the stairs and made my way into the kitchen as I heard the television in the next room. Great. I was as quiet as I could be as I threw together a sloppy sandwich and grabbed a cold Gatorade. I glanced at the open archway the living room as I worked quickly and my heart dropped when I saw Cole’s large frame fill it. “How are you even here? How did you not know?” I demanded as all of my pent up emotions rose. “I didn’t know, Ris. I was estranged from him, more or less and decided to give it a chance when I found out that he got married. I was as shocked as you fucking were at that door,” he shot back as he looked darkly at me. “Let’s talk about something else that struck me when I saw you. You slept with my dad.” I widened my eyes as I hit the counter and took a breath. I wanted to tell him that it was a long time ago and I couldn’t find the words. “Over a year ago. I barely remember,” I stammered as he stepped closer to me. “Because you were drunk like you were with me? Is that why you let him

fuck you?” He asked as I wiped a tear from my cheek. “That’s why you let me fuck you, isn’t it?” “Stop it,” I demanded as I stared at the floor. “You’re my best friend, or at least you were. I wanted you that night.” “How did Dad react when you came here, Larisa? Is he a happy newlywed or is he reminiscing about you two?” Cole demanded as I closed my eyes and started crying. “I don’t know. We’re ignoring all of that. It’s in the past,” I knew that I had to lie. I knew that I couldn’t tell him the truth. “I’m getting used to this, too.” I grabbed the plate and drink and turned to leave. “Ris?” I looked at him as he approached me. “Were you just fucking me that night? Did you mean what you said about there being no us?” His eyes begged me for an answer as I licked my dry lips. “Is that why you’re hiding?” “I’ve seen you with the blonde, Cole. You’ve moved on.” I looked at him as he ran a hand through his hair. “I tried. The night with you was the best night I’ve had in a long time. It’s something that I wanted for a while, and I hate that it happened when you were drunk. I hate that I took advantage of you that way.” Cole shook his head and stared at me. “Now you’re my stepsister.” “Barely. We’re not kids, and we won’t see each other that often. You’ll still be with your mom,” I mumbled as he reached out and wiped my cheek. “Dad wants to try, and I’m going to, Larisa. I think we might have to try to make this work between us as well,” Cole suggested as I looked up at him. “Fine. We won’t be here that much together, so it’s fine.” I turned and walked back to my room, leaving him behind as I closed and locked my door. I sat on the bed and cried as I forced myself to eat, willing myself to not throw it all up afterward. I thought about the story that I was going to make up. I could tell them that a friend had a terrible break up with a boyfriend and needed me to help her through it. Since I wasn’t feeling great anyway, the two of us were just going to sit around and veg out in her apartment. That’s what normal girls did, right? Healthy girls didn’t sleep with their new stepfather and stepbrother in a month’s time. I decided that I would tell them tonight. It was a tragic ordeal for Jane, and I wanted to help her. I could do this. I fell asleep instead and woke up the following morning with a jolt as someone knocked on my door. “Larisa?” Brett called out as I blinked and sat up. I stood on shaking legs and unlocked my door as he stared at me. “Why is that locked?”

“I want to be alone. What’s wrong?” I snapped as he walked into the room and turned to face me. “Did something happen last night? Cole told me that he had to leave today when he was going to stay through Sunday. Did you guys argue?” I fell onto the bed and brushed my hair back. “No, I barely talked to him at all,” I lied as he stared at me. “You know him from school?” Brett demanded as I shrugged. “Not well, no. What did he say?” I asked as I dropped onto my pillows and closed my eyes. “He said that something came up with football. I just wonder if he changed his mind about working things out. He was upset,” Brett told me as he sat on the bed and stared at me. “I just want my son back.” His eyes softened, and he tilted his head. “Are you feeling better?” “Sort of. I got a call from my friend, Jane. She broke up with her boyfriend of six years last night and a hot mess. She asked if I’d come back and hang out with her, do the ice cream and chick flick thing. She even mentioned a fire,” I added details to make it more real as he glared at me. “What the fuck? Both of you are just running off? What’s going on, Larisa? I wanted to spend some more time with you,” he looked at the open door and swallowed thickly. “She’s at work.” “Are you saying that you want me to spread my legs right here and now feeling this way?” I asked him coldly as he shook his head. “No, Larisa. It’s not like that at all.” Brett looked shell-shocked as he blinked at me and shook his head. “It might be good for us to have some space. There’s some time before Christmas to let this all go and just move on,” I told him weakly as Brett sighed. “This is too heavy. She’s my mother.” “I don’t love her. I never did, but I let her talk me into it, thinking that maybe it would work out. The second that I saw you, I knew that it wouldn’t.” He stared at me as I shook my head. “You’re insane,” I murmured as he approached me and took my hands. “Stop this, Brett.” “You didn’t like me touching you before? You didn’t like me making you come?” Brett asked as he moved over me and slipped his arms beside me. “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, sick or not.” “This is done, Brett,” I said painfully as tears filled my eyes. “This can’t go on. I’m going home tonight and telling Mom about Jane. Don’t say anything, just decide what you want with her. Don’t stay if you don’t want her,” I advised him as he dropped down to kiss my neck. “Stop, Brett.”

“Fuck this. I don’t want you to leave. She’s out of town for a couple of days, and we can work this out,” Brett suggested as I shook my head. “No, I’m leaving as soon as I pack. I can’t be here,” I repeated as he pulled away and stood up slowly. It killed me to let him go, but I knew that it was best. He left the room, and I burst into tears as I thought back to the times we were together, finding myself getting turned on by the vivid memories. I thought about Cole at the same time and buried my body under my blanket as I bit my lip. Stress and desire combined inside of me and I slipped my hand down my shorts as I found my pussy slick and hot. I groaned as I stroked myself, fast and rough as I searched for the release that I needed at the moment. My eyes were closed as I came and I moaned as I jerked against my hand. I felt the blankets slide down my body and gasped as hands slipped my clothes off. Brett locked his mouth over me as I cried out his name. My second orgasm was hard and fulfilling as he sucked me between his teeth and tore off his pants. “Brett, we shouldn’t.” “I need you,” He told me as he ripped open a package and sheathed himself with shaking hands. Brett moved between my legs and took me with one thrust as I pulled him inside with my hands on his ass. “Fuck, Larisa. You feel so good.” He moved deep and hard as I cried out and rocked against him, tight around him as my body betrayed my heart and mind. “Baby, I’m going to come. I’ve been waiting for you.” “Brett!” I yelled as I exploded around him and felt him thicken. “Oh, God. Oh, fuck.” He stilled before jerking against me a few more times and his hands slid under my t-shirt to cup my bare breasts. “What are we doing?” “What we should be doing,” he told me as he found my neck with his mouth and tugged on my hardening nipples with his fingers. I didn’t tell him to stop as his mouth moved down my body to take me into his mouth as his finger slid inside of me. I needed him, and I knew it wouldn’t stop until I was out of this house. I was too weak.

CHAPTER 10

I SLEPT with him a few more times before I insisted on leaving Sunday. I was a hot mess as I drove away, weak with tears and want as I stared forward and thought about school. Mom seemed sad enough that I was leaving and I hugged her, so upset that we were doing this to her even as I wondered how she

thought that she and Brett were okay. I listened to Pandora as I drove home and cried. Every time with Brett felt better, but I also thought back to how good it felt to be in Cole’s arms. I never admitted that to him or Brett, but they both made me feel good. If I let myself think about it hard enough, I’d recognize that they fucked alike. That would make me a slut, though. I pulled into my apartment complex a few hours later and turned off my car as I took a deep breath. I was home where things had a chance of being normal. I got my bag out and walked up to the door, unlocking it before I pushed it open. It was so quiet here, and I carried my bag to my bedroom to set it down on the floor. This was a place where I hadn’t slept with Brett. This was a place that was only spoiled by the memory of Cole, making me shudder as I ran a hand through my hair. I took a shower before anything else, needing to clean up and soothe my muscles before I worried about anything else. I longed to spray it inside of me and soothe myself there, but only time would dull those pains. I cleaned myself off and swore a new life before I dried off and brushed my hair. I was making some toast and heard the knock at the door as I tightened my robe. I padded across the floor in my bare feet and peered through the door to see Cole standing there. I knew that he still had his key so he’d get in if he wanted to. I unlocked it and swung the door open, looking up into his face as he pushed his way inside and stomped into my living room. “What are you doing here?” “You’re finally home,” Cole said as he looked at me and I frowned. “Yeah, I stayed a few more days. Unlike you. What happened?” I asked him as he stepped forward and took hold of my arms while he stared at me. “It all came back to me, what happened here. It was too much to deal with along with everything else going on, Ris. I was angry, jealous and all around hurt over everything.” Cole shook his head and raised his hands to my face. “Tell me that you feel something for me. Tell me that we were more than just drunk sex. Tell me that you don’t want to fuck my dad ever again.” Cole pressed his forehead against mine as he stared into my eyes. Part of me wanted to tell him that wasn’t true, that it could happen again and I would wreck my mother’s life. But I didn’t and nodded instead as he lowered his lips to mine. I was practically fresh from being in bed with Brett, but I kissed him back as I wrapped my arms around his neck. What was I doing? I felt his tongue tease my lips open as he kissed her harder and I moaned as he ripped open my robe. Fuck, his hands were on my

hips as he pulled me closer and kissed down my neck. I remembered the mark from Brett’s teeth that he’d left the last time we were together and I hoped that I wouldn’t have to explain it. Cole moved down to kiss my nipples before he sucked one into his mouth and pushed me down onto the couch. I felt his fingers sliding down to enter me, hitting me where I still hurt as I closed my eyes. I wouldn’t admit that as I bit my lip and arched my back to offer him more of everything. We ended up in my room as he took me from behind, hard and deep as I asked him for more. Cole groaned my name as he filled the condom that covered him and made me release with him. I buried my face into my comforter as I felt shame wash over me. We rested together against the pillows as he pulled me close and kissed my hair. I had to admit that it felt good, safe and warm in his arms. In a perfect world, we could be a couple, and I closed my eyes and breathed our scent in. “What about our new situation?” I whispered as he kissed my neck. “We’re adults who have parents that got married. We’re not blood-related and have little to do with them. I think our lives are relatively separate,” Cole replied as I frowned. I wish it were that simple. I fell asleep with him. We woke up together and made breakfast with an ease that would be hard to find with anyone else. My feelings for Cole overruled anything else as we laughed together and sipped coffee. This would be a good thing for me, a comfortable situation. Cole stayed the next night, and we both started back at school within a few days. I felt like I was miles away from Brett and Mom with each passing day as I got closer to Cole. It all came crashing down around me when Brett sent me a text in class. He told me that he was in town at a nearby hotel and needed to see me. We needed to talk. I tried to ignore it, knowing that I was with Cole now, but Brett had a pull over me that I couldn’t control. I agreed to meet him at the Hilton and made my way to his room on the sixth floor slowly as I looked at my phone. Cole was at practice and had plans tonight, not that I planned on being here late. I was going to see what Brett needed and leave. I tapped on the door, and he opened it with a towel around his waist as he dried his hair. “Really?” I asked as I have him a raised eyebrow. “I just finished in a meeting. Come in,” Brett said as he moved for me to walk inside. “What did you need to see me about?” I asked as I felt him behind me, my body tense as I felt his hands on my arms. “I missed you, Larisa,” Brett told me as he kissed my neck gently. “Have

you missed me?” His hand cupped my breast through the lace of my bra and squeezed as I let out a small moan. I was weak, and I reached behind me to tug the towel off of his body before I turned and moved to my knees on the carpet. Brett slipped his hands into my hair as I took him in my mouth and moaned helplessly. I cared for Cole so much, but Brett made me want to please him every time I was in a room with him. He came inside of my throat as I swallowed and closed my eyes. I knew that I was past the point of no return as he lifted me and carried me to the bed, spreading my thighs open as he buried his face inside of me. I came for him, oh God how hard I came for him. I begged him to take me as he covered himself and pushed me onto my knees, reminding me of the day that I bonded again with Cole. I stayed late, eating dinner in the room with Brett as we stared at each other over the table. “So is this one of those things where you pop into town, and we meet up?” I asked him as he let out a sigh. “What do you want, Larisa? Do you expect me to beg you to quit school and run away with me?” Brett asked as I stared at him. “I’d love that, but you’re getting ready for your future.” I’d noticed the ring on his left hand when I got there and knew that he was still with Mom, probably fucking her every night. Jesus, what was I thinking? I was with Cole nearly every night. “Can’t we have this for a time?” “I suppose it will have to do,” I replied as I sipped my water and picked at my fries. “Have you seen Cole?” Brett asked as I lifted my eyes to his and nodded. “How is he?” “Doing well, I think. We have a class together,” I replied vaguely as Brett nodded. I could see that he loved his son and I also knew that I did as well. Cole was good for me, right for me. Brett was with someone else and older, a fact that would make a life together difficult. At this point, I didn’t even know if he wanted that since we agreed to meet up when we could. I left late that night and hoped that Cole was at home. Sometimes he let himself into the apartment to sleep with me, but I was almost sure that his plans involved him sleeping at his place. I let myself inside of the door and checked quickly to see that I was alone as I sighed in relief. I showered and climbed under the covers, ignoring the vibration of my phone on the nightstand. Brett wanted me to stay the night, and I was sure that it was him. I made my way to class in the morning and found Cole waiting for me with a smile on his face. “Have fun?” I asked as I slid into my seat and looked forward.

“I sent you a text after I was drunk. You didn’t respond,” he said as I realized that my phone died when I left it on mute on the nightstand. “It died. I fell asleep before I charged it,” I admitted with a smile as he shook his head at me. We ate lunch after our classes, and he glanced down at his phone right when we finished. “It’s Dad. He wants to have dinner with us,” Cole said as I kept my face neutral. “I guess he pops into town once in a while.” “I have a test I have to study for,” I said with a frown as he typed something back. There was no way that I was going to join them for dinner. I sensed that one would find out about the other at some point, but I didn’t want to be there when it happened. I’d avoid that as long as I possibly could.

CHAPTER 12

I MANAGED to juggle them over the next month or so. It was mostly Cole that was in my bed, but I met up with Brett a couple times in a hotel, managing not to get caught because Cole was so busy with football. I lucked out, but I felt guilty every day that passed. It hit home when Cole was holding me after sex one night and kissed my nose. “I love you,” he told me as I smiled and felt ice slide through my veins. “You do?” I asked as I knew inside that I loved him as well. I loved him, but I was hurting him every time I was with his dad. “Yeah,” Cole replied, leaving a pause as he stared at me. “I thought that we could tell our parents about us over Christmas. Dad knows I’m with someone, but I haven’t admitted who yet.” “Think they’ll be mad?” I asked as I looked at Cole. His eyes showed me that he was aware that I hadn’t returned his affection, along with the pain at the knowledge. “I hope not if we mean as much to one another as I’d like to think we do,” he said as I sighed and pulled him closer. “I care so much for you, Cole. You have to know about that. I’m just getting used to how we are now,” I explained as I kissed him. “I do, but I just thought…” He shook his head. “I’m not going to pressure you. We still have some time before we go.” I was officially worried about the trip for Christmas now. Brett and I were

showing no signs of slowing down, and Cole seemed to be getting more serious about me by the day. I knew that I was getting in deep and I tried to focus on upcoming tests instead of my uncertain future. We drove in separate cars since Cole had time with his mom as well. He split up the holidays now and would sleep at both places while I stayed at Brett and Mom’s house. It was very typical of divorced, blended families but I had to wonder how many of them were as chaotic as our blend. I could only hope for the best as I made the drive and finally pulled into the driveway. Mom always decorated beautifully. This year was no different, and I looked around the house with a smile as I smelled the cinnamon in the air. “Hello?” I called out as I set the bag down and looked at the tall tree that was loaded with presents. “Larisa,” Brett called from the kitchen as I let out a sigh. “Hey,” I greeted him as I walked in and saw him seasoning some steaks for dinner. “I’m glad you’re here. We’re alone tonight since Cole is with his mom and your mom is out of town for a couple nights.” She was always out of town, and I knew what would happen as a result. I looked him over, dressed in worn jeans and a fitted Henley that brought out his eyes. I helped him with the meal, comparing the night with the one I might spend with Cole. They were both good men deep down, but I knew that I’d have to make the choice at some point. I let Brett lead me to my room that night. We never used his-theirs. Oddly enough, that felt wrong, but this here in my bed was acceptable somehow. Twisted, I know. The sex was hot and rough, just the way he knew I liked it. I talked him into not sleeping in there, just in case Cole came here and caught us. It was a legitimate excuse even if I wasn’t with Cole. I woke up the next day, knowing that Brett had to work. I pulled on a robe and wandered into the kitchen to make some coffee and a small breakfast as I watched some television. I ended up moving up the channel list to find some of the porn channels activated as my mouth dropped open. I put my plate on the table and went over the titles, trying to figure out what film was about what. Admittedly, I’d never watched this apart from my phone from time to time. More now than before, since the guys I was with made me horny all of the time. I let out a breath and relaxed against the cushions as I decided on something and clicked on the channel. It was a ménage film, and I took in the woman with two men as I wondered what it might be like with father and son for a guilty moment. God, what a bad thought as I watched the woman take one

man into her mouth as the other leaned in to taste her. I compared them in my mind as I slipped my hand up my thigh and over my pussy. Brett would feel good filling my mouth while Cole bent me over to take me from behind and I stroked myself to the thought. Oh, God, I was wet. I was moving fast and hard against my clit, entranced by the movie when I looked up to see Cole watching me. I whimpered as he stepped forward and looked at the screen. “Is that a fantasy of yours, Ris?” He dropped to his knees and told me to finish as he watched intently. I stroked fast and hard before I started to shudder and he covered me with his mouth and brought me closer to the edge. He yanked open the robe, and my nipples peaked in the cold air as I moaned his name. I knew by now that Cole liked me to touch myself and I slid my hands up to pinch tightly as he kept licking and sucking me. I liked the pain, and I pulled as he watched me with dark eyes as he bit down on me. “Oh, fuck,” I cried out as I rocked forward and exploded. “Cole, oh God.” I looked at the screen at the woman being double penetrated as I grabbed his head and held him there. He dragged out my orgasms beautifully, and I closed my eyes as I enjoyed the waves of pleasure. Cole finally pulled away to kiss me, and I held him close as I tasted myself on his lips. “What are you doing here?” I asked as he pulled away for a moment to look down my body. “I wanted to see you,” Cole admitted as he looked back at the television. “What the fuck are you doing? Are you alone?” “Yeah, I was flipping through, and I got curious,” I told him as he kissed me again. I hadn’t showered since the night before, but I was pretty sure that Brett hadn’t left any marks on me. “Someone has me all worked up these days.” “Is it me or my son that you prefer?” The voice came from the kitchen, and we both turned to see Brett staring at us. “What?” Cole asked as he tried to cover me with his body as Brett laughed. “I’ve seen it. I’ve done it all,” he assured Cole as I started to feel the bottom drop out from under me. “It seems that you have as well.” His eyes locked with mine as I pleaded with him to stop this, but I watched him slide his hand down over the tent in his pants. “She looks like she needs a good fucking to me.” The people in the movie were fucking hard and fast as she let out loud moans and the guys slapped against her body with theirs. “What the fuck?” Cole asked as he pressed against me through his pants. He was hard, and I took that chance to kiss him as he paused for a moment. His tongue met mine as I lost myself in the kiss and he ran his hands over my body.

“Do you want this?” His voice was a whisper and I nodded as he looked at me with worried eyes. I kissed him again, and Cole moved me onto the couch to where I was laying back on it. He tossed my robe to the side, and I heated up as I felt their eyes on me together, tracing every curve hungrily. “Touch yourself,” Brett ordered me as he sat down on the couch with his eyes locked between my legs. I reached down and met his gaze as I stroked my swollen clit, wetter than I’d ever been in my life. I touched and stroked as I moaned and looked up to see Cole watching me hungrily. Oh, God, I was going to hell. We ended up in my room the same movie on the television and my body draped over the bed. I’d already come with my fingers inside of me downstairs, and I felt dazed and needy as I watched Cole lift off his shirt as he sat beside me and stroked my hair back. Brett was at the other end as he stripped and I watched him as he spread my legs. “This wet pussy is driving me crazy,” he murmured, so caught up in staring at me that he didn’t seem to notice his son watching. He stroked me slowly as he met my eyes and saw my reaction. “So pink and swollen,” Brett leaned in to taste me, and I moaned as I felt Cole’s hand over my breast as I looked up at him. He was as needy as I was and he stared at me as I rocked against Brett and whimpered softly. Cole moved only to drop his pants, and I watched as he moved beside me while I turned my head. I could just take him this way, and he slid inside as he grabbed my head. “Fuck her mouth,” Brett said before he dragged me between his teeth and held my hips. I didn’t know what was happening in the movie, but I heard moans and cries as I added to the sounds. The feeling of my clit held prisoner by Brett while Cole slid in and out of my mouth was overwhelming, and I felt pleasure taking over as a release flooded me, causing me to jerk and tighten around Cole as he shot deep into my throat. I swallowed what I could, but some ran down my cheek as I felt Cole pull out and Brett pull away, leaving me empty as I reached out. I was moved onto my stomach and felt someone spread my legs while another pair of hands cupped my face. I knew that I was a mess as I opened my mouth and took the offering, not caring who it was as I felt something hard nudge against my opening. I wanted both of them in every way that I could have them, and I cried out as heat sliced through me and filled me. The man in front of me moved along with the one behind me, and I took them both, wantonly and without shame.

CHAPTER 13

I CLOSED my eyes as my body demanded sleep afterward and couldn’t make sense of what happened. Did I really just have them both? I was more hopeless than I initially thought and I let myself fade as hands touched me and covered me with a soft blanket. I woke later, naked and warm as I opened my eyes slowly. It all came rushing back to me, and I clutched the cloth around me. I’d slept with both men, both of them willing to share me. I knew I’d never forget it as I prayed silently for forgiveness if there was such a thing left for me at this point. The house seemed quiet as I listened and tried to sort through my thoughts. I knew in my heart that today was wrong, but I couldn’t bring myself to regret it. It was a spontaneous moment that none of us could resist, a timing that couldn’t have been planned if we tried. It could affect a variety of relationships but still, I knew that I’d hold it as a precious memory, a moment with the men that meant the most to me. I must’ve fallen asleep because I woke up later and went to the bathroom to shower. I washed them off of my skin and out of my mouth as I moved slowly under the water, in the best pain that I could ever feel. I dried my hair and pulled it into a ponytail before dressing in leggings and a sweatshirt. It was now or never. I walked downstairs and found the television on in the living room as Brett watched a game while I looked for Cole. “He had dinner plans with his mom,” I observed him, and he looked calm as I sat down gingerly on the couch. “I want to regret that, but I can’t. I can’t ever forget the way that made me feel.” “I understand,” I agreed as he looked at me and sipped his beer. “I feel the same way, but I can’t help but to wonder…what now?” “What now,” Brett repeated as he seemed to mull that over. “I had a long talk with Cole after you fell asleep about that. Once the smoke cleared, he was admittedly angry with the situation that I readily admitted to him, seeing as we were pretty raw in that moment. I saw no reason to lie anymore, though, and once he expressed his anger towards me, he seemed to calm down. He told me that he was your best friend at school, which made me realize that my son was the one that you slept with in the beginning.” Brett shook his head and stared at me. “What a mess.” “Yeah,” I agreed as I watched him twist his wedding ring slowly. “I thought about things. None of us regret what happened to the best of my

knowledge, but we also know that things can’t go back to how they were,” Brett looked at me sadly as I felt tears in my eyes. “We both care deeply for you, Larisa. My son is in love with you, though, and he told me that he has been for a long time. I feel strongly for you, but I know that this is a bad situation to have you in and I want you happy.” “Brett,” I said as pain filled me and he dropped his hands. “It’s best if we don’t continue, something that you tried to tell me. I am going to figure out this marriage and what I want in my life, but I am not going to keep you trapped in this. I’d like to think that someday we could talk. I’ll always hold this close to my heart.” “Oh, God. How do we get through this holiday?” I asked as the tears flooded my cheeks “The best way that we know how to,” he replied as he smiled at me. God, he was handsome, and all of the memories played through my mind. “I am not going to mention this to your mom. We had agreed on that before Cole left, but if you two end up working out, then we’ll tell her that. There’s nothing wrong with it technically, and you have a close relationship from what he says.” I went back to my room and mourned the loss of my older lover, getting it all out before Mom got home. It was a critical and memorable part of my life, one that I’d never forget. I also thought about Cole and what we’d built over the years. I loved him, but I was going to leave this to him to decide. None of us could change what happened, and it seemed like we didn’t want to, but we’d have to move past it. I stayed in my room and watched television, upset but not as ill as I was at the beginning of all of this. I’d grown up over the last few months, and I knew that I’d survive this. I heard a knock at my door later that night and looked over to see Cole walk in as he looked at me. I was putting the sheets back on the bed that I’d washed and he helped me lay the comforter over that. I was dressed in pajamas that covered me, but I felt naked as he looked at me with emotions rising in his eyes. “How are you feeling?” I looked at him. “I am okay. You?” “I don’t know. That was…intense.” He looked at me as I nodded. “I don’t know why that turned me on, Ris. Nothing like that ever had before. That being said, I never want to repeat it, not with someone that means as much to me as you do.” “Oh, Cole. I don’t want that either. That was one of the most chaotic parts of my life, probably ever and I will always wonder what I could’ve done differently. I just can’t dwell on that, but he and I did end things. That’s over.”

“I know. We talked about that. Dad loves me, you know. He never wanted to hurt me, but you’re…well, you.” Cole forced a smile, and I gave one back to him. “I want to try us. I know it will be weird after everything and that I have some work to do inside, but I do love you. I always have.” “I love you, too,” I admitted as I sat down and looked up at him. I did, too.

EPILOGUE

I’LL BE HONEST…it wasn’t easy to make it work with Cole after all that happened. We loved each other, and we knew that, but there were times that we both hated what had happened and took it out on each other, leading to fights and tears. I felt guilty during these times and wondered if we had a fighting chance. Other times, the past would turn us on, and we’d go at it like animals. It was rough and hard, punishing in my mind as I screamed his name. I didn’t know whether I preferred that to our sweet lovemaking after a fight some nights, but the truth of the matter was that I loved Cole more than anything. I let the past with Brett go and he tried to make it work for a few more months with Mom, who never learned about our torrid and dysfunctional affair. She only knew that Cole and I developed feelings for one another and acted on them. Brett was moved out by the time January was over, into his own place and dating again. I’ll admit it was weird, but he wasn’t anything more than a man that my mother married at that point, giving me the love of my life and my future. Cole and I spent the nights at my apartment. We did a variety of things together; dates, dinners, movies and sports for him but they always ended in my bed. His kiss heated me up months later, making me weak and needy all over again even after the worst fight. One night, we’d stayed in watching movies with a fire burning in the large fireplace that was the focal point of my living room. We were a year from graduating and looking forward to getting jobs and changing things up a bit. He looked around the room, lit only with an orange glow and cozy before he leaned over to kiss me. Cole knew what he was doing as he tilted his head and deepened the kiss easily. I smiled against him as I allowed him to part my lips and slide his tongue against mine, finding it hard to breathe like every other

time he kissed me. His hands quickly scooped me up and over his body, where I felt his hard cock pressing into the yoga pants that I wore as I rocked against him. “Feeling a little frisky?” I asked as he pulled away to kiss my neck slowly. “We’ve been studying. A lot. I need to be inside of you where I belong,” Cole whispered in my ear as I shivered and found his lips with mine. We’d been going strong for months now, coming up on a year. I felt his mouth crash against mine as he gripped my ass to hold me still, teasing me with the thrusting of his hips. I cried out as he sucked my earlobe into his mouth, finding my clit with the rough edge of his jeans as he continued to torment me. Clothes were stripped quickly in between long kisses, and he lifted me up before he drew my nipple into his mouth. I closed my eyes and tried to rock against him, but he held me tight as I whimpered his name. “Cole…oh God. I need you so bad.” I realized that it had been a busy week with studying and just falling asleep together in complete exhaustion. I pulled him closer to me and slid my feet through the cushions as I found him hard and bare, sliding back and forth against his cock as I moaned. “Fuck, Larisa. You’re so wet,” Cole groaned as he bit down and made me jerk hard. “I can’t take this anymore.” I went on the pill right after we got together so we wouldn’t have to worry about condoms, once we got tested for anything. That was awkward, but we made it through, and I felt the heat of him as he lifted me and impaled me on him with one fluid movement. “So tight. So fucking tight. Fuck me baby. I need your hot cunt,” Cole chanted as I found leverage and started grinding against him hard and fast. He was thick and hard, filling me as I rode him, his lips and teeth still finding my skin with the movement as I whimpered and cried. “I love you, Ris. I love you so much.” He came hard along with me as I told him how much I loved him back, holding me close as our sweaty skin slipped together with our heat. “I want to live with you. I want to make this official, Lis. Please…I’m ready.” I pulled away and stared at him for a long moment as his gaze locked with mine. We took some time with the relationship, not talking about living together or anything too soon. We still spent the night together almost every night, but his words changed everything. “I am, too. Will you move here or do you want to get another place?” We had a lot of memories here now, and he kissed me softly as I closed my eyes. “This will do until we can get a house after graduation. I just need to know I’m waking up with you every morning and go to sleep with you every night,” Cole said against my mouth before he kissed me again. Six months later, Cole was taking me from behind before we had to leave

for school in just a few minutes. I held on to the sheets and pressed back against him as I cried out his name. Cole held onto my hips as he thrust deep and hard and moaned my name before I exploded and screamed with my release. I dropped to the bed and took a ragged breath and closed my eyes. “I don’t want to go to class,” I murmured as he rolled onto his side next to me and pulled me close. “Let’s stay in bed,” Cole suggested as I opened one eye and looked at him. He moved and reached over to his side of the bed and looked back at me with a smile. “We can celebrate with dinner later.” “Celebrate what?” I asked as I crawled up to the pillows and curled up. He held up a dark velvet box, and my mouth dropped open. “I’ve been friends with you for so long now, Lis. We’ve been through a lot as friends and lovers now, and I want you to be my wife. I want you in my life forever. Will you marry me?” I moved quickly and pounced on him with renewed energy as I kissed him. “Are you serious?” “Yes, baby. I should’ve planned a bigger event to ask you and I was going to, but I had the ring, and we were here. It struck me to ask you now.” He gave me a rueful grin as I smiled and wiped at the tear sliding down my cheek. “Can you forgive me?” “Yes, Cole. I can’t believe this,” I sobbed as he opened the box and pulled out the ring. “I can’t wait to marry you.” He took my shaking hand and slipped the ring on my finger before he rolled me over and stared into my eyes. “You’re mine, baby. I love every part of you, and I know that I can’t live without you. I am aware that you need to be in my future, now and forever.” I looked from his face to the ring, a band of smaller diamonds that surrounded a bigger stone, though nothing that was gaudy or too big for my smaller hand. It was simple and beautiful and almost more than I felt that I was worthy of in my darker moments. “It’s beautiful, Cole,” I kept staring at it as the tears slid down my cheeks and wonder filled my heart. “So beautiful.” That was the only day that I skipped school, to stay in bed with him making love before we went out to dinner to celebrate over candlelight with wine. We got married at a small, quaint church a year later after we graduated, ready to start our new lives. Our families were there; both of our parents with their latest significant others of a few months and seemingly happy. I’d like to think that it was a typical family situation, but deep down I understood that it was far from that. I was happy, though, and my new husband loved me completely and without end, and that I loved him just as much.

Thanks to a bad batch of birth control pills, I surprised Cole with a pregnancy two months after the wedding, and we had something else to adjust to. He took it with stride and hurried in finding us a starter house and working on it daily so it was ready for our new arrival. I was sick through most of the nine months and ended up staying home instead of finding a job, but Cole took that responsibility on and did that for me as well. We made love every night before we fell asleep together, me with raging hormones thanks to the baby and him with the last hint of energy sometimes. It was sweet and slow sometimes and at other hard and fast. I was insatiable. I needed everything that he could give me. Our daughter Elena Rose was born in the Fall, and after a long birth, I snuggled her in my arms and looked down at her tiny, beautiful face wrapped in her pink blanket while Cole sat with me on the bed to stare at her with me. We were alone after a long day, and I felt the tears in my eyes as I turned my head to look at him. “She’s so pretty. Isn’t she pretty, Cole?” “Beautiful, just like you, baby,” Cole told me as he slipped an arm around me and kissed my hair before he pressed his lips gently to her soft forehead. “She was worth it, all of it,” I declared, finally at peace with everything. I’d heard that before from people and never quite got it, but I wouldn’t trade anything for this moment; for my daughter. Life was going to change drastically, and we’d have a lot to adjust to, but I was confident that I could handle all of that with Cole by my side. I knew that we could take on the world. We’d already been through so much, all for this. All for her.

STAY with me

PROLOGUE Brett I stood up and glanced down at the blonde spread out on the bed as I ran my hand through my hair. She was one of many as I nursed my way through a crazy point in my life and I dressed quietly so I could make my way out of her hotel room without waking her up. It was another night at another bar, with a different woman. I ordered a cab to the bar that was a few blocks away, too tired to walk to my car now of night. Once I was in the parking lot, I got into my brand-new Range Rover and

pushed the button as I took a deep breath. I had the craziest story of anyone that I knew. I drove home to my apartment on the water and dropped into bed as I pictured Larisa in my mind. She was a one-night-stand that turned into a stepdaughter briefly after I married her mother after a whirlwind relationship. Rayna, her mom, was gorgeous but once I realized who her daughter was, I regretted my choice. Of course, I ended up sleeping with Larisa again for a short time, who was also sleeping with my son and ultimately ended up with him once the dust settled. They were happily married with a son now, and I divorced Rayna soon after Larisa ended things between us. My ex-wife didn’t seem to have a hard time meeting a new man that had a large bank account before I even moved out of her house, so she was doing fine. They were both doing fine, and I was sleeping with various women to get over the memories of Larisa that I still had. I blamed myself for clinging so tightly to them. I never told her and wouldn’t, but she felt incredible under me, on her knees in front of me and sucking my cock. Larisa was beautiful and one of the women that I wanted more with, but we had too much of an age range between us and we were in different parts of our lives. That and I knew how much Cole loved her. I saw that when we had our threesome, just once. It was hot, but things changed rapidly after that night, breaking my heart more than I’d ever admit. I’d deal with it for her happiness as well as my son’s. I just might leave a trail of women behind me as I fucked my way through the pain.

CHAPTER 1 Brett I showered in the morning, rinsing my hair with the hot water as I closed my eyes. I didn’t drink too much last night knowing that I had to work today but the small amount hit me a lot harder at thirty-nine than it had at the age of twenty-nine. I had a new assistant starting at work today, replacing one of five years that had a baby and decided to stay home with her new daughter during her maternity leave. This woman was named Amy Norden, and I’d admired her curves from the moment I interviewed her with a few colleagues. She had a stellar resume, and there was no reason not to hire her since the mortgage business was picking up on a weekly basis. There was also no reason not to hit on her, even though it was

inappropriate. I was a good-looking man, and I knew that she’d likely want it as well. Why not spice things up at work? I seemed to lose all my ethics fucking my wife and stepdaughter at the same time, so where was my line? It was only coming up on two years since everything ended and I had a window to keep screwing up. Besides, I was the CEO. I controlled the company. I dressed in a crisp white shirt and a pair of my fitted slacks, leaving my green tie around my neck as I ran some product through my hair to keep it controlled to the tousled look that women seemed to enjoy. I always brought a jacket with me in case I met with any clients, but I didn’t wear it in the office. I knotted the tie before I went out to my car and made the short drive to my office. I lived in Colorado when I was still married, which was where Rayna and Larisa lived, working from home or the local office and traveling when needed. Once all of that ended, I made the move back to California and started working in that local office daily again. LA was fast and exciting, keeping me busy and amid dating a lot of women. I thought back to Colorado as I parked my car in the garage under the building, a place where I cooked dinners and spent time with the family that I had for a fleeting moment. Now I grabbed take-out on the way home or just drank my dinner at a bar, making me shake my head as I got out of the car and draped my jacket over my arm before I headed across the lot to the elevator. I was one of the first ones in the office, and I greeted the few that were already there, getting their computers warmed up and gulping down hot coffee from the Keurig machines in the large break room. I felt the way that the women looked at me with that familiar flush in their cheeks, but I was only interested in my new assistant at this moment. I’d certainly slept with a few of them here since returning, but now I was only focused on one woman. I turned the corner and saw the curvy brunette standing by the desk that was going to be hers, wearing a pencil skirt and white silk buttoned shirt that many women wore to the office, but she filled it out perfectly. I let my eyes slide down her body to see her black heels with the red bottoms that were so popular and my cock hardened in my pants. Just then, I saw her turn her head and met her deep blue gaze as she raised an eyebrow at me. “Good morning, Miss Norden,” I greeted her as she watched me approach her. “Call me Amy, since I will be assisting you,” she suggested as her full red lips curved into a scornful smile. I liked her already, and I shifted on my feet to try and hide the evidence of that. “Call me Brett,” I replied as I opened my office door to set my things down. “I’ll show you around since I need some coffee.” I took her to the break

room and showed her everything that we offered employees, making a strong cup of black coffee for myself while she chose to fix a Chai tea latte. I showed her where the restrooms were as well and then we went back to my office, where she sat across from me at my large cherry wood desk. “You have a topof-the-line Mac at your desk loaded with all of the software that you’ll need. I am also providing you with an iPad for taking any notes as well as other mobile tasks, a cell phone strictly for business as well as access to my business email in case you have to handle any of my communications.” I leaned back before I sipped my coffee, taking in her pale skin and big eyes as I shifted again in my seat. I listed some of the software that we used, and she nodded a few times to indicate that she was familiar with it. “So, are you the kind of man that wants a beck and call girl as well as an assistant?” Amy asked in a gentle drawl as I tilted my head. I didn’t notice that during the interview. “Depends on what you’re offering,” I joked lightly as she surveyed me with a keen gaze. “Where are you from?” I asked as she sipped her coffee. “Born in Tennessee and lived there until I was fifteen. Mom moved here when my parents split, and I kept the accent since I was homesick for quite some time,” Amy responded as I nodded. “I suppose it’s grown on me now.” She shrugged easily.” Mom was in real estate for years, sparking my interest. I skipped the selling part and got into mortgage end of things. The idea of driving people around to see houses doesn’t appeal to me at all.” “You’ll see clients here as well,” I reminded her as I dropped my eyes to her lips for a long moment. “That I can handle,” she told me as she frowned. “Do you look at all of your assistants like they’re a piece of steak?”

“You’re beautiful,” I told her, leaning forward as I cleared my throat. “Thanks, but you’re my superior, and I want this job. I don’t want to lose it because of a tryst with you,” Amy assured me as I stared at her in surprise. “You’re not that charming, so stop trying.” Even my former assistant flirted with me before announcing her pregnancy, and she was married for five years. I glanced at Amy’s hands and saw no ring as she shook her head. “Somehow I think that wouldn’t stop you.” “You’re probably right,” I replied as she rolled her shoulders back and sighed. I wanted this woman, and I knew that I’d stop at little to prove it to her. “Can we have dinner tonight?” “Stop this now. I am here for a job,” Amy reminded me even though I could see the want in her eyes. “Is there anything else we need to go over?” I took her to her desk and showed her everything on her computer as people passed us with various greetings. Amy was friendly but stuck to business as we went over the few things that she was interested in, nodding as she watched me. I made a point to lean a little closer to her to get a hint of the sweet scent that I noticed, something spicy that reminded me of the Fall. Damn, she smelled good, and she tensed as she sensed my closeness. “Let me know if you need anything. This is a direct line to my office,” I showed her a button, and she nodded as I walked through my door and cracked it, just in case. I was losing my touch. Amy didn’t seem to be affected by me in the least, even with the small amount of heat that I saw in her eyes. I laughed as I realized that it was just her first day. I had plenty of time to wear her down, and I turned on my computer to check some emails as I finished my first cup of coffee. There were plenty after the weekend, and I sent some responses back as well as making some phone calls to some of the top clients. There were always things to discuss, and I tested Amy out by sending her a message on the computer to make a reservation at one of the best restaurants in the city for Wednesday at noon. She messaged back telling me that it was done and I nodded in approval. She knew her way around an office based on her resume and seemed to be efficient with her tasks. Maybe I’d make a dinner reservation for Friday night since I was confident that she’d be my willing companion by that time. For this week, I had Aria to satisfy me. She was a local escort that I visited on the regular since she gave one of the best blowjobs I’d had and she was better with each visit. I sent her a text telling her to expect me later and set my phone on the desk as I rubbed my hand over my groin for a moment, listening to Amy chat with one of the girls out in the main room. I’d have her soon enough, bent over my desk or bed as I slapped that juicy ass of hers.

The day went smoothly with Amy picking up well and making my job easier. I noticed that she had lunch with a few of the other assistants and watched them leave as she turned her head to look at me while the others giggled. They’d line up for me, and this one was acting untouchable. That would change. I took in her body for another moment before I turned to head back into my office.

CHAPTER 2 Brett I told Amy to have a good evening before I left for Aria’s apartment, catching her gaze as she looked up at me. She looked as beautiful as she had this morning, not flustered in the least. Not that I could see anyway. I took a cab across town and knocked on Aria’s door with some Thai food from the corner in my hand, starving since I’d sexted my way through lunch instead of eating. She opened it with a sultry smile on her pink lips, and her silky blonde hair loose around her shoulders. Aria was dressed in a skimpy black dress and heels, and she let me in as I pecked her cheek. We weren’t close by any means, but I was here enough to know her better than some people in my life. “Smells good. You’re going to spoil me,” Aria told me in her light, flirty voice as I set the bag on her glass coffee table. “How about you spoil me first?” I asked as my cock strained against my pants. I turned and unzipped my pants as her green eyes shimmered and she licked her lips. “Get on your knees.” She walked over to me and dropped before me as I watched her tongue glide over my head. I grabbed her head and forced myself into her mouth as she moaned around my cock, my image of her blurring with the one in my head of Amy taking me, making me harder. The idea made me grab her harder as I forced myself in and out of her mouth, making it all Amy in my mind. How would she look like this, taking me hard and fast? I heard a moan and someone shift as Aria tried to control the situation and slow down the pace. I stared down at her, disappointed with the blonde hair and lack of enthusiasm. “Fuck this. Get on the bed and take that dress off,” I told her as Aria looked up at me, knowing how much I enjoyed a good blow job. She stood and did as I asked, revealing her bare breasts and tight waist before I told her I wanted her from behind. I didn’t want to see her, ruining my fantasy and she nodded and climbed on her mattress as I climbed up behind her, kicking off my pants and shoes on the way. I grabbed at one of the condoms and slipped it on before I grasped her hips and thrust inside of her.

I closed my eyes and imagined Amy in front of me, tight and wet. It was a relief to have Larisa drifting from my mind, and I held onto my fantasy as I took her hard and fast, releasing early as she cried out for her own. It took all I had not to call Amy’s name as I shot inside of the latex, feeling her tighten weakly around me to gain her own release. Jesus, I spoiled Aria. She was an escort and here to please me, not the other way around. I pulled out of her as she turned and gave me a dark look before sitting down to face me. “You used to care about my pleasure too.” I ran my hands through my hair and looked at her for a long moment, my eyes wild with lust. I loosened my tie and slipped my shirt off as she smiled. “Let’s eat, and then I’ll give you yours,” I said as she stood and walked across the room, naked and comfortable. We ate at the table, sipping wine as she asked me how my week was going. After we had finished, I stared out of the sliding glass door and breathed in the fresh air. Aria returned to the bed and turned on some music until I made my way back to the bed, pushing Aria against the pillows as I kissed her hard and dropped between her legs. I wanted to feel like doing something other than fucking her raw, and I took in her sweet fruity scents as our tongues danced together. I missed the one that Amy used, but I kissed Aria harder as she wrapped her arms around my neck. I kissed her lips before I slipped down to nibble on her jaw, then at the skin of her neck. Aria started moaning as I found her nipples with my teeth, tugging in time with her sounds as I desperately wished that it was Amy underneath me. I sucked harder and slipped a hand between Aria’s legs to feel her wet cunt, slipping a finger inside of her as she arched her back. Aria tensed as she edged closer to a release and I closed my eyes as she cried out, still pretending. Once she was sated, I grabbed another condom and sheathed myself before spreading her thighs and taking her hard again. It was my turn again, and I fucked Aria in life and Amy in my mind. I was caught up in it as I came and Aria moaned with me when I pulled out. She was gasping, and I looked down to see her dripping with juices as I licked my lips. This wasn’t enough, and I pushed myself back and walked to the table to finish my wine. Aria asked me to come back to bed, but I pulled my clothes on. “I have to meet someone.” “Brett?” Aria asked as she sat up. I was out the door and on the streets of Los Angeles, sweat pouring down my body. I decided to walk home and get some of my stress out, hating myself for wanting Amy so badly. I needed to find a way to make her mine since I

hadn’t felt this way since Larisa. I stopped for a six-pack of beer during the walk and opened one the second I was in my spacious apartment. Even giving Rayna a generous amount in our divorce, partly out of guilt, as well as spoiling my grandson, I had plenty of money and always would. I took a shower and dried off as I tried to watch some scores on television. I was thinking more about Amy than anything else, and I downed the beer as I dropped my head back. I figured that Aria might be pissed off and texting me but my phone was charging in my room so I wouldn’t hear it. I decided to check my work emails and fired up my laptop as I stared at the television screen. I read the several that had come in before closing the computer and trying to take a deep breath. I knew when I saw Amy that I wanted her, causing me to wonder if I should have hired her at all. I had a restless sleep and was up early for a run before I showered for work. I dressed in a similar fashion as the day before and made a cup of coffee to take with me, tired from being restless the night before. Everything looked the same as it had the day before, week before or month before but I was primed to see Amy outside of my office waiting for me. She wasn’t there yet, and I unlocked my door to get my things inside as I opened the blinds. The sun was bright today, and I paused as I felt a presence in the room with me. I turned to see Amy walking in with a coffee in hand, dressed in a red dress that swirled around her knees and clung to her chest. “I needed a cup, so I grabbed this for you,” Amy said as she looked at me, revealing circles under her eyes, indicating the same kind of night that I’d suffered through. Did she think about me? “Thank you. I made some at home.” I paused for a moment, catching the pure want in her eyes before her eyes grew serious. “Didn’t you sleep well?” “I have insomnia sometimes,” she explained with a wry smile as she turned to leave the room. I wanted to call out to her to come back, so I could ask her what troubled her and kept her up at night. Instead, I stepped forward and took a slow sip of the perfect dark, strong coffee with a smile. It was perfect, and it showed that Amy paid attention yesterday, I started to respond to emails and set up some appointments while messaging Amy to get some reservations for me at various places for lunch and dinner. She was on it, just like before and things were added to my desktop calendar one by one. I knew that it was going to be a productive week, but still, Amy was on my mind and keeping me at half-mast as I looked down at the tent in my pants. She came in with a knock to ask about some of the software and leaned over as I looked at my screen and tried to focus on it, rather than her scent.

“You remind me of Fall,” I murmured thoughtlessly before I frowned. “It’s a cider scent. I order it every Fall,” Amy responded as she leaned closer and the heat made us both jump. I licked my lips and pointed at the screen as she murmured something, making me harden further. “Oh, now I see. That makes sense…Brett. Thank you.” She straightened up, thrusting her full breasts out as I looked up at them while turning my chair around. She licked her stained lips slowly before she met my eyes, turning sharply on her heel to leave the room. I was in a frenzy, and I searched my mind for a way to have this woman. There had to be a way to get to her, and I leaned back in my chair as I thought about women in my past. I smiled. Jealousy always worked, even though it could be a low blow. I found a familiar number in my phone and sent Amy a message, requesting her to call the number and ask that Joss stop by later this afternoon. It was clearly an escort service, and I sent a text right after that asking her to stay a bit late and finish a report for me. I wanted Amy to see this and I watched as she agreed to both and then messaged again to say that Joss would arrive just after five when the office would be clearing out. Being the CEO meant that not too many people would say anything, to begin with, and it wasn’t the first time I’d enjoyed a woman in my office. This time, it wasn’t for my benefit completely. I wanted it to bother Amy to a level that she couldn’t stand it and she gave in to the obvious desire that had been brewing between is since the first moment that we saw one another. I worked the rest of the afternoon, finding something to throw together as a report for her to work on, loosening my tie as she came inside when I messaged her. I draped it around my neck, remembering the way that Larisa used to look at me before or after work when I did this. Amy did as well, and she swallowed as she looked at the paperwork in my hand and back at me. She opened her mouth to say something when we both heard a knock at the door. Perfect timing. I glanced up to see Joss standing there in a short, tight skirt and low-cut silk t-shirt, both in black to highlight her platinum blonde hair that was cut into a long bob. She wore some boots and looked gorgeous and every bit like the escort that she was. “Hello there, sexy,” she greeted me in her sultry voice as I smiled and watched Amy’s reaction. Something crossed her face, but she hid it quickly as she excused herself, glancing at me before she pulled the door closed. The click was hard, and I knew that she was bothered. Joss gave me a curious look and strolled forward. “New girl?” “Yeah,” I replied as I felt her hands unbutton my pants while she pressed

her lips against mine. Joss was another one that I knew well, and I allowed it, closing my eyes as I felt her hand gripping my hard cock, hard for Amy. I wondered how much she would hear out there, how, much she cared. Joss stroked me a few times before the took my hand and led me to the leather couch that was against the wall that I shared with Amy. I lay back and watched as she crawled over me, taking me into her mouth tightly. I decided at that moment that all the sex would happen here, knowing that it was only Amy that would know anything. Everyone else was heading out for the night, and my office was relatively private, to begin with.

CHAPTER 3 Amy I closed the door and let out my breath. That woman was an escort, not that I didn’t know that already. She was beautiful, and I knew that she was doing her job in the room behind me as I sat down and glanced down at the papers in my hand. I heard something against the wall as I sat down at my desk. I winced and realized that this didn’t need to be done tonight, as it was for a future client. He wanted me to hear this. There was something that Brett didn’t know, something that most people didn’t know. I had a lot of school loans to pay back, and I had a second job at night and on weekends. I had three phones since I was a phone sex operator during my free time. It’s not something that I advertised on a resume or even casual conversation, but it brought in a lot of money and an odd sense of pride in the fact that I was helping people. The phone calls weren’t always about sex, but my mind jumped right into the fantasies that I’d been harboring since I first laid eyes on my boss. He was sexy and gorgeous, and I sensed that he knew what to do with a woman. I wondered what he would do with me if I were in there instead of the escort, frowning as I heard a moan. I knew that he had a big desk in there that he could throw me over, back or stomach, and have his wicked way with me. I imagined his fingers stroking my now throbbing clit, inside of me and bit my lip. I kept myself aware of my surroundings as I let this play through my mind, though it was emptying out increasingly. Would he fuck me with his fingers or his tongue? The idea of his face between my legs teasing me and tasting me made the juices seep into my lace underwear as I held back a moan that mirrored the one coming from the office behind me, and I stared forward for a moment.

I suspected that Brett liked to be in control and I let my mind wander as the image of him tying me up against some headboard on a bed, hands and feet. I pictured my legs spread wide for him, allowing him to do whatever he wanted. Fuck, I was horny. That didn’t happen a lot, even with my other job. I could separate it, but right now, I needed to come. I looked around the main room, seeing it empty and feeling the silence around me as I focused. I slipped my hand under my desk, working my hand under my skirt and underwear as I spread my legs. My desk was big so nobody would suspect a thing if I kept control of myself. I found myself wet and slipped a finger into my folds, seeking the swollen clit that needed friction. I hadn’t slept with someone in a while, and I was entirely too familiar with my toys, so I let the images play through my mind as I worked myself towards a much-needed orgasm. I pictured myself on my knees, tied up in his bed as he fucked me from behind. In the fantasy, he was thick and long and filled me completely as he took me over and over. It wasn’t gentle, and he even smacked my ass a few times. I held back a groan as two of my fingers slid inside myself. Oh, fuck. I was turned on, and I kept my eyes open. I knew that asshole was on the couch right behind me based on the noises that I was hearing. There were bumps and cries, and I hated him at that moment for tormenting me. Joss let out a long moan that sent me over the edge as a violent release took me over, making me struggle to control myself. Once I had regained composure, I went to wash up in the bathroom. I returned to my desk and stared at the papers that made no sense, knowing the intent behind them. I shut off my computer, locked up my iPad and left work for the night. Let him fire me, since I couldn’t manage anything in this state of mind. I could find a job with an unattractive boss that didn’t invite sluts to his office. I went to get some dinner on the way home and unlocked my apartment, one that was a touch nicer than it should have been. I lived alone, and I wanted something safe and nice to call my own for now, and I made the money to back that up. I closed the door and locked it, dropping my stuff on the table and taking a deep breath as I played back the day. Did I really get myself off at my job of two days listening to my boss fuck another woman, or close? I used to separate my life so well. I didn’t mix the sexual nature of one job with the organized style of the other parts of my life. Everything had its place. I showered and changed into my leggings and a big shirt, pulling out my work phone from my drawer. I glanced at the one that Brett gave me, seeing nothing on the screen that suggested I was fired or that he even noticed my absence. Pity.

I turned on the client phone and turned on the television to mute, glancing at the images on the screen as I let it warm up. This job was all mine, and I made my hours as needed, only making myself available when I wanted to. It was a good salary no matter the hours, and if I kept this current job, the combination of the salaries would be generous. I’d be out of the woods well before the standard time, paying the minimum with one job. My work phone chimed, and I set the other one down to walk over to my purse. Brett: You left without doing the report. Me: Family emergency. I didn’t want to interrupt your meeting to tell you but trust that the report will be completed tomorrow. Unless, of course, I’m fired? Brett: No, you’re not. You can finish it tomorrow. Me: Have a great night. It seemed perfect that my client phone rang and I answered it, finding it to be an older man that recently lost his wife. We’d formed a connection on a few levels, talking about her as well as the loneliness that he experienced over the last year. He was also a kinky man and tonight, I was going to make that work for both of us. I never used my real name, and I tried to keep my voice neutral with clients. I didn’t get personal, but tonight I led the conversation straight to sex and let him hear me as I came from the words. It wasn’t for him, but he would never know that. It was all for Brett, and I just changed the names as I jerked with my releases. They were hard and long, making me pleased that they only fueled Robert on. I decided I might take this job to that level from now on since it worked out for both myself and the client. I had a longer night than usual, talking to Robert and a few others long into the early morning and passing out afterward. What was Brett doing to me and how would this end?

CHAPTER 4 Brett I fucked Joss every way possible in that office. She was a beautiful and talented woman, but it wasn’t for her as much it was me, and Amy. I was livid when we left, and her desk was dark and empty, with the false report sitting on top of it, as if to mock me. I threw it on my desk and locked up before I led the stumbling blonde from the building, ignoring the knowing looks from the

remaining security guards as I followed her. Even as a woman, Joss got a lot of looks with her free style and sultry presence, and she smiled at me as we reached the street. “What got into you tonight?” “You,” I lied as she rolled her eyes. “Is it the pretty woman that works for you, Brett?” Joss teased as my eyes darkened. “Mmmm…she is pretty. I’ll join you guys when the time comes. I’ll bet she’s got a sweet little pussy.” Jealousy filled me when usually, the idea would turn me on. Her eyes twinkled as she slipped a coat over her shoulders and shook her head. “You’ve got it bad.” She was paid with cash inside of the office, so business was handled. Joss stepped away and blew a kiss my way as she turned to walk down the street. I had a feeling that escorts weren’t going to do it for me any longer and wondered what to tide myself over until I had Amy in my bed. I got some food on the way home and unlocked my apartment door. Another night watching sports and eating, making me sigh. That was when I sent a text to Amy, getting back some bullshit about a family emergency. She asked if she was fired and I snorted. I hadn’t slept with her yet, so no way. When she told me to have a good night, I sensed some sarcasm in her tone. Did she leave because Joss bothered her? Did my fucking someone so close to her get to Amy? The idea thrilled me, and I imagined her at her desk, rubbing her clit as she listened. That was a stretch since she didn’t seem the type to risk being caught, so I decided that she went home and masturbated her way through the night. That idea made me hard, and I shook my head, thinking back to all the sex I’d had tonight. I remembered that a friend of mine used a phone sex operator sometimes when he didn’t want to go out for sex. Ned claimed that he got more pleasure from the woman’s voice sometimes than fucking a stranger, or a slightly familiar escort. I found the number still scribbled on my pad by the home phone and entered it into my phone for a possibility in the future. I knew that I liked Amy in a way that I hadn’t wanted anyone for quite some time and perhaps fucking another woman in my office wasn’t an excellent idea in hindsight. I needed to be less of a pig and keep my behavior out of the office and personal life if I was to have a shot with her. At this point, with her sass, I doubted it. I slept little that night, tempted to call the number but resisting. I wanted to clear my head first and just talking didn’t sound all that erotic to me. I ran for a bit and showered as usual before dressing in a pair of black slacks and a gray shirt that I knew brought out my eyes, adding a black tie around my neck. I needed coffee again, and I cursed the hold that this woman already had on me

as I made a cup to drink on the way to work, listening to the radio as I drove in. The office was crowded today since there was a big meeting to prepare for with the heads from another location. There was catering to be set up and drinks to be made while the employees nervously prepared their information. Anderson and Frank was a strict company that liked things organized, and these meetings always sent everybody into a tailspin. My mind was on the woman that was sitting at her desk outside of my office, dressed in black slacks and a deep purple shirt that was buttoned almost all the way up, hiding that gorgeous cleavage that I wanted to see so badly. Her hair was loose around her shoulders, and though she looked tired, there was also a glow about her as she looked at me. Did Amy go off with someone after leaving the office? What the fuck had I done by bringing Joss in here? “Good morning,” she said as she smiled at me, her eyes severe. “I trust everything is fine now with your family?” I asked as she nodded and walked over towards the break room, presumably to make some coffee. I watched her hips sway, imagining some lucky bastard buried inside of her while I shook my head. I fucked up. I prepared for the meeting, slipping my jacket on and getting my notes together before I made another cup of coffee. I knew that someone always ordered in good food so I was set there and quite hungry after my run. Amy was coming as my assistant to take some notes and just to learn more about the company. When I walked out to make my coffee, she was securing her hair into a low ponytail and adding some gloss to her lips before she glanced at me. “Ready for this meeting?” I asked her as she nodded slowly. Was she ever going to say anything to me? Amy secured the iPad under her arm and walked with me, coffee in hand to the spacious conference room in the corner of the building. We found out seats towards the head of the table near the visiting staff and Amy raised an eyebrow at all the food that the company was setting out. “They go all out.” “I’ll say,” Amy murmured as she saw some of the people she knew and waved with a smile on her face. She greeted them in a warmer fashion than she did me. I was acting like a jealous middle schooler, and I sat down and assembled my folders in front of me. Amy went to speak to some of the girls, returning with a plate that she set between us as I glanced at her. It was filled with a selection of breakfast choices, and she powered on her iPad as she bit her lip. Even if she wasn’t talking to me or even making eye contact with me, Amy was obviously a compassionate person. She grabbed a half of a bagel and nibbled

on it before finally looking my way as if to urge me to help myself. The meeting started, and I stood and talked, showing the visitors some stats on the screen that was on the iPad. Amy kept up with me, putting every image that I needed up when I mentioned it and I admired her for paying so much attention to the meeting that we had about this. I felt the eyes on me, male and female alike, but I kept going on and only made eye contact with the people that I needed to. Amy was one of them, and I saw the flush on her cheeks every time our eyes locked. We took a break so everyone could get some more food or their first plate and use the restroom. I walked right over to Amy and leaned down as she looked up at me. “You made me look great just now. Thank you.” “It’s my job,” she replied as I shook my head. “You do it better than anyone else ever has,” I promised her before I went to get some more coffee and some fresh air before the meeting continued. As before, Amy did her part, and I watched the other speakers present with a relaxed demeanor. I knew that the other managers were going to learn something here today and I shook hands with them afterward, where they asked me to dine with them in the city that night. I accepted and looked across the room where Amy was talking to some friends as she sipped coffee. “Is that lovely lady your assistant?” One of the men asked as I nodded and returned my eyes to them. “She’s brilliant. I’d suggest keeping her on as well as inviting her to join us. I’d like to talk to her more.” I knew that Amy could go further in the business with those words and I nodded, assuring him that I’d ask her. Once the meeting broke and we left the room to return to our respective offices, I met Amy at her desk. “They loved the presentation,” I started in without hesitation as she stared at me. “You caught their eye, Amy. They want you to have dinner with us tonight so they can talk further.” When she furrowed her brow, I leaned closer. “You can go places, Amy. You can move higher in this company. Say yes.” “Yes,” she replied in a daze before she blinked. “When and where?” I named a popular restaurant in the city, Cut. We were to arrive at sixthirty, and I offered to pick her up as she licked her lips and seemed to think about her options. It would give her time to get ready and not have to worry about driving through the city, and I knew where she lived. It wasn’t all that far from me, just in a neighborhood a few levels down from mine. I was curious to know how she afforded it, assuming I’d find out soon enough. “Cut? I’ve heard great things about it,” Amy murmured as I grinned. It was one of my favorites and a perfect atmosphere for chatting and getting to know people, mostly Amy tonight. “Yes, I’d like that. I’m not a huge fan of driving in

the city and getting a cab at that hour would be a bit time-consuming.” She gazed at me. “Do you know where I live?” “I can find out if you don’t want to jot it down,” I lied to her as she gave me a calculating gaze. Amy took a piece of paper and jotted something down before sliding it over to me. For me, the day seemed to drag on forever as I anticipated dinner with Amy. I knew that it was a business dinner, that there would be others there, but it was a chance to see her away from the office and pick her brain a bit on a social level. I could still feel the heat between us and thought this might break the ice a bit, with some cocktails and the time in the car. I knew how to wine and dine well, and I planned to pull out all my tricks tonight. When I stepped out of the office at five, Amy was gathering her things together, and I glanced at her. “Would you like a ride home, Amy?” I knew that she took a bus to work and it would save time and get my plan in motion. “Yes, that would be great. It will save time later tonight. Do you have the address?” She inquired as I held up the paper. The drive was quiet as she settled in my SUV, making my way through traffic with ease as she smiled. “You know LA well.” “I’ve lived here a few times,” I replied as I pulled up to the curb in front of her apartment. “Nice complex.” “I like it,” she replied as she gave me a long look. “I’ll see you soon?” “You will.” Amy exited the car, and I made sure that she was at the gate before I pulled away to head home to change.

CHAPTER 5 Amy My heart was pounding as I unlocked my door and pushed my way inside. Holy shit, it had been a crazy day. I knew that I had just a little time to prepare for dinner and I dropped everything on my table and hurried into my large bedroom. Business dinner at an amazing restaurant meant something a little nicer than what I’d wear to work, but not something I’d wear to a club in my mind. I headed into the bathroom first and pulled my hair down to play with it for a moment. I’d pull that up in an elegant bun later, but for now, I started on my makeup. Just a few minutes and I looked polished with foundation and concealer, along with some dark liner on my lids with some shimmer. It was simple with a dramatic flair, and I grasped my hair in my hands and tilted my head. “This is to impress the managers, not Brett. He just has to go,” I told

myself as I looked at my counter. I decided to do a thick braid near my long bangs and twisted all the hair into a low bun with some loose curls. I learned to embrace my curls a long time ago and make them work for me. Once I was finished, I returned to my bedroom and searched my closet for the classic black dress. Mine was knee length and clung to me without being slutty, and it featured cute cap sleeves and a ruffled skirt that looked great with the Louboutins that I pulled out for special occasions. I added some red stain to my lips to match the shoes and glanced at my clock to see that I had just enough time to dab on some more perfume, moistening my neck and wrists before I added a shimmery necklace that fell just above my subtle cleavage. I loved to dress up and my second job didn’t offer a lot of that. This was going to be fun, and my stomach growled as I thought about the plate I was going to inhale in just a little while, as my thighs ached with the lust for the man I’d be dining with. Only one of those could be satisfied tonight, at least until I arrived back home later this evening. I was walking into the living room when my phone rang, making me hurry to pick it up. Brett informed me that he’d arrived and preferred to walk me from my door. I buzzed him in after telling him what apartment I was in and took a deep breath. I was breaking every rule by letting him inside of my private space, something that hit me hard when he walked through my door with his woodsy, masculine scent dressed in one of the sexiest suits I’d ever seen in my life. I had to hold onto the frame before I closed the heavy door and looked at him. His eyes were devouring me, and I swallowed before I forced a smile on my face. “You look…exquisite,” Brett told me in a husky voice that sent shivers down my spine. I felt my nipples harden underneath my push up bra and let my eyes drift down his body for a free moment. “You clean up well yourself,” I replied, knowing that he wore suits every day. This one was different, sexier, and more fitted. “Clean up,” he mused as he looked around my apartment. “This is gorgeous. Do you live alone?” “I do. I prefer that,” I replied, choosing not to add that it was easier to make men come over the phone that way, even the occasional woman. That would be awkward if I had a roommate or even a family. We had made some small talk before I slipped a light sweater over my shoulders before he locked my door for me. I looked at him, wondering how far he liked to take his control as he led me to his car. It was a beautiful night, and I looked at the lights of the city as he headed towards Cut. I had a car, but I drove it as little as possible, not being a big fan

of traffic. He handled it with ease and confidence like Brett seemed to handle life. I guessed that he was close to forty, at least fifteen years older than I was. He didn’t look it as much as he exuded life experience to me. He was handsome and in fabulous shape, everything I’d want in a man if he wasn’t my boss. I pushed the idea away and looked forward as we pulled up to the curb, where a young guy parked the car for Brett. Valet parking. Very impressive. Brett offered me his arm as we faced the glass doors and I took it with a gracious smile. It was good manners, nothing more. There was no heat between us, and I dropped it as he opened the doors for us and told the hostess who we were meeting before a pretty redhead led us to a table in the corner where Mark and Daniel were already sipping cocktails and laughing. “Brett, Amy. It’s a pleasure to see you again,” Mark told us as he stood and shook our hands, telling me how lovely I looked. I thanked him and greeted Daniel, telling him the same as I blushed. I didn’t have three men telling me that I was beautiful too often, not in person anyway. On the phone, they said that my voice was sexy and how much it turned them on as I made up images in my head to tell them what I looked like. I was always thinner and had a smaller nose in these descriptions. I came back to the present as we took our seats and someone came by to take our drink orders. I ordered white wine and Brett some Hennessey on the rocks as I gave him a long look. I knew that he was driving, but I trusted that he wouldn’t drink too much and endanger us. With a few hours of conversation and some food, it would be fine. We started talking about the company, and I was given a rundown of the history of it over salad, nodding and smiling in all the right places. It wasn’t that I didn’t have an interest, just that Brett was sitting next to me at the intimate table and distracting the ever-loving hell out of me. His cologne carried over to me, and I couldn’t help but inhale it as I imagined tasting it on his skin before I took him into my mouth. I had to bring myself back in the moment as out entrees arrived, which was when they started asking about me. I told them about my mother and my start in the real estate business, moving on to my college years that had ended in honors two years ago. I worked for a few smaller companies in that time, but this job was the best chance for me to get ahead, making me smile when all the men assured me that I would. I told them that I was originally from Tennessee but moved here when my mom wanted to make a better career for herself. I loved the business of the city and the ocean being so close. I chatted about LA with them, and we compared stories about their hometown of New York. That was certainly somewhere I’d love to visit someday, and the idea that I could work there in

the future excited me. I knew that Brett paid close attention to every word I said and I did the same whenever he spoke. He was such a complex man and successful at a young age. He had these two men just a few years younger than he was eating out of his hand and it turned me on as I sipped my third glass of wine. I was feeling it but not so much so that I was making a fool of myself quite yet. When dessert came, I couldn’t wait to get home. I was having a great time and everything about the night was wonderful, but I needed some time to myself. I got myself off every night now and was craving it after being in the presence of Brett. I’d never admit it but he was my primary fantasy these days, and I had hours of content to use later. We ended the night with hugs, all closer after talking for so long. There were promises to talk soon, lunch before they returned home and a possible visit to their town in the future. Brett stood close to me on the curb as we waited for his car, quiet until we were alone. “That went well. They liked you.” I glanced at him, letting the wine consume me now as I smiled. “They seemed like they did, yes.” I laughed as I agreed, feeling his eyes on me as we stopped at a light. “Are you drunk, Amy?” Brett asked as heat flooded my thighs and I took a deep breath. “Just a little wine happy,” I assured him as I looked out of the window, falling in love with LA all over again. I was appreciative that Brett told me I could come in a little later tomorrow since it was midnight now and I knew that I’d do some work before bed. Being a little buzzed would make it so much easier. “Are you coming in later tomorrow too?” “A smidge but I am an early riser by nature,” he explained as he parked at my curb. “Can I walk you up?” “Yes, of course,” I replied as he left the car and came around to open my door. He offered me his arm again, and we walked together up to my front door before I looked at him. “I had a great time tonight.” “It was a good time, one of the best that I’ve had for a while.” Brett smiled as he spoke and I dropped his arm to pull my keys out of my small clutch. He took them and unlocked my door, asking me if he could come in and make sure that I was safe. I agreed, and he checked the small apartment as I set my things on the counter, hoping that it wasn’t too much of a mess. I was a clean person, though, and I turned to see him in the living room. “Everything looks good.” “Thank you. I’ve never had a man do anything like that for me.” He frowned as I spoke, stepping closer as I stepped back and bumped into my counter.

“You deserve to have a man do that and more for you,” Brett told me as I licked my lips, watching his eyes drop to take them in with a hungry gaze. “Amy, I…” “You’re one of the most stunning men that I’ve ever met, Brett,” I told him, holding my hands up as he took them. I pulled away and shook my head. “You are my boss. Tonight, more than ever, I realized that I need to focus on my future and make good choices. I can’t let this go anywhere.” I felt empty as I spoke but it was for the best, and I knew that. He looked stricken for a moment before he nodded slowly. “Yeah, you’re probably right about that. I don’t want to interfere with your career.” “Thank you,” I spoke from my heart, even knowing how much I cared about him. I’d love to taste his lips and give in to all my fantasies, but it would be wrong. At this moment, I hated myself for making the responsible choice. He left after that, telling me to lock my door and set my alarm. I let my shoulders droop and went to wash off the makeup and pull on a big shirt to wear to bed, leaving myself bare underneath. Not only was I all kinds of horny but now I was upset at my decision. I needed to work that out and hard. I let my hair down and dropped into my bed with my client phone, turning it on and warming it up. It rang instantly, and I looked at the screen to see Robert’s name, at least the name that he gave me. I saved regulars but never reached out to them in any way. He seemed happy to hear my assumed voice, and I knew that the wine was helping me flirt with him and draw him into my need. Before too long, we were both coming with moans and short breaths before he ended the call reluctantly, needing to work in the morning. I was still restless, and I wondered if anyone else would call when the phone rang again. I glanced at it to see a new number, a local one and I answered in my overdone drawl, identifying myself as my chosen name for the business. The voice was uncertain and husky with desire as the man spoke slowly and asked if this was the line that I worked for. “It sure is, Sugar. What can I do for you tonight?” I said as I relaxed against my pillow and waited. “I’ve never called one of these before. What is the normal process?” He asked as I pictured an older man on the other end, possibly widowed like Robert or divorced and looking for some company. “This goes at your pace. You pay by the minute so with that being said, let’s get to know each other.” I had a whole story that I told everyone over the phone that was far different than my own life. I knew that there was a message before the call was put through reminding callers of charges, being eighteen

and all the legal stuff before I spoke to them. It was standard, and he started to talk slowly as I drew my knees up and longed for it to get sexual faster. His voice was seductive and drew me in as I listened to him talk about a woman that he wanted badly, but she rejected him. I suggested that he tell me what he wanted to do to her, to reveal his fantasies. He jumped right in, and it was everything that I wanted Brett to do to me, so I urged him to tell me more. I knew that he was jerking himself off within a half an hour as he spoke in tense syllables and I slipped my hand between my legs as I told him how wet I was for him. That only promoted his behavior, and the talk grew dirtier as he said what he wanted to do to this mystery woman that he worked distantly with, making me come hard and fast. Everything he said was everything that I wanted for myself. Every act he described, I wanted to be done to me, and I lost count of the times that I came to his vivid descriptions. Minutes turned into hours when he assured me that money was not an issue, making me ultimately get just a few hours of sleep that night despite the later starting time. I was surprised when Brett sent me a text saying to just take the day off with his approval. I relaxed back in bed and played back the night, including the dinner and rejection followed by my new favorite client. He assured me that he’d be calling again and I looked forward to it before falling back to sleep wrapped up in my blankets. In the back of my mind, I wondered if Brett had been with a woman last night after I turned him away. The thought bothered me, but he had every right despite my feelings about it, having been the one to end the chance of anything happening, to begin with.

CHAPTER 6 Bret I knew it was bad when I missed my morning run and chose to stay home from work in the morning. I never missed either, and I couldn’t pinpoint the reason for my feelings this day. Dinner had been incredible, making me fall for Amy’s various charms just before she ended any chance with us. I was certain that she wanted me too, seeing it in her eyes even when she ripped my heart out. I’d fallen for her as easily as I did Larisa, and I had the fresh pain to deal with because of it. I wanted to call a woman over to my house more than anything that night, but I knew it hadn’t helped in the past as much as I’d hoped it would. I found the number by my phone and turned it over in my hands a few times on the couch before I grabbed my cell.

The woman on the other end had a strong accent, one that was clearly exaggerated. I assumed that they did this to hide their identity and decided to appreciate the fact that it reminded me of Amy, particularly when the conversation turned sexual, and I was jacking myself off like a teenage boy. This woman, this stranger, made all my fantasies with Amy come to life in some form and I was still thinking about her this morning. That was when I sent Amy the text and reached for the number again. We spent the day on the phone, talking as well as coming. She had a great story of being from a big family, living in Georgia before she came here to finish school. Cherie, as I knew her, was full of personality and kept me hooked as I spent hundreds of dollars just talking to her about my own life. There was something about her that felt far more genuine than any escort. Though I knew I might tire of jacking off, for now, it worked for me along with the conversation. Something was comforting about it, and I finally ended the last call to get off my ass and hit the gym in my building. I felt sore and tired before I started on the treadmill with my ear buds in, keeping me motivated with some hard music. I felt myself loosening up and took a deep breath as I felt eyes on me as I looked around the room to see a woman staring at me from the vending machine. She was pretty with light red hair and a smoking body, but I knew that I was at my limit with sex for the day. I merely looked forward and focused on the difficult climb ahead of me on the machine and the hot shower afterward. Like an addict, I jerked off in there as well with Amy in my mind. She was bent before me, spread open and ready as I mounted her like an animal. I knew that she’d be wrapped so tight around me and I stroked myself harder as I closed my eyes and let the fantasy play on. Her cries and the way she pushed back against me is what made me shoot all over my shower wall, crying out her name. It had merely been a week since she began working for me and I dropped down to the floor as I inhaled the steam surrounding me. I had to let this go, even though the attraction had been strong since around a month ago when I interviewed Amy. I had no idea that it would turn to this. I resisted the urge to call Cherie, telling myself that it would save some money as I turned in for an early night. That wasn’t any kind of issue, but I needed to sleep tonight and be at the office tomorrow. I arrived early as always, bright-eyed after a run. Everyone looked at me in shock, probably since I missed the previous day of work. That was a rare occurrence for me. I greeted the staff and headed to my office to find Amy at her desk, warming up her computer and preparing for the day. There was no

doubt in my mind that she had gotten the same looks, making me make a mental note to observe the situation and quell any kind of talk in the building. “Good morning,” I greeted her softly as she blinked and looked up at me. She was wearing green, and it made her skin glow even as she yawned. I wasn’t stupid and knew what else could cause that kind of glow, but Amy had the right to be with anyone that she wanted to now. “Good morning,” she responded with a soft smile, almost apologetic. “Did you have a relaxing day off?” I noticed the flush cover her cheeks as she spoke and nodded. “It was unusual for me, but yes,” I felt myself harden at the memory of Cherie’s voice as I grinned and she smiled wider. “I suppose we’ll be making up for it today. Want to get some coffee?” Amy laughed and nodded as she stood, revealing the dress that she wore with heels, making her look downright edible. I looked back over the week and hoped that she’d be quick to get over as well as fall for, following her as I tried not to notice her hips rocking back and forth, displaying the ass that was in my memory from last night. We made our individual cups, and she joined me for a rundown of what needed to be done for the day. Amy was professional today though always kind and I appreciated that she wasn’t the kind of woman to act bitchy after the type of conversation that we’d had. This might work out well, given some time. I couldn’t help but think about Cherie at some point during the day, and I took a moment to dial her number, disappointed when I reached her voice mail. I laughed, knowing that I couldn’t act anything out in here anyway and set the phone down without leaving a message. I’d call her later, but still, I wondered what she was doing right now. Did she have another job? I knew little about Cherie though I didn’t know how much she wanted to reveal about herself. She was a phone sex operator after all, though she seemed like much more to me. I still had feelings for Amy that overwhelmed me, but they had to be pushed back. I had to respect her wishes. I left for lunch, leaving Amy at her desk as I reminded her to take her own. She smiled at me and glanced down at a phone screen that looked like a different one than her company phone. Of course, she has a personal phone. Who wouldn’t? I was lucky to know one of her numbers, and I’d never push for two. I ended up going to a deli with one of the managers from New York, who made everything worse as he chatted about Amy and how great she seemed. I nodded in silent agreement before changing the conversation to the company and prospects for the upcoming year. We ended the lunch on a good note, and I went back to work feeling good about at least one thing in my life.

Amy was gone, making me assume that she went to lunch after I did. I went back into my office and started to return some emails, jotting down meetings that had to be scheduled and restaurants that I preferred. Amy was learning quickly, but she was still adjusting to fine dining in Los Angeles. I longed to show her more but that was finished, apart from any business-related meals. I assumed that Cherie was as well, making me hope that I might meet someone to date sometime soon. I was tired of just fucking at this point. I wanted something real for a change. I left for the night, walking out with Amy as she seemed to rush. “Plans tonight?” I asked curiously as she blushed. “Not really, no. I don’t know why I’m jumpy.” Amy was clearly covering something up, and I felt a little disappointed that she already seemed to find someone new. I knew that she was never mine, to begin with, and I thought about my own evening. I hoped to talk with Cherie, though friends were nagging me to hang out with them. I was well-known as a workaholic, and they reminded me often that going out was a good idea, and not just to find a warm body for the night. I promised my friend Jason that I’d meet him at a bar tomorrow night, claiming that work was busy today. Lies, all lies. I grabbed a burger for dinner, vowing to start cooking again as I walked into my house. I changed into workout shorts and sat down on the couch to eat as I caught up on a hockey game. I had the windows wide open, getting the noise of the cars and people down on the streets as I wondered if Cherie was available tonight. It turned out she was and answered the phone on the first ring. She sounded anxious, and I teased her about missing me as she giggled sexily on the other end of the line. I asked her how her day was and she told me good before asking me about mine. All she knew was that I worked at an office and I’d downplayed my position as just a supervisor. I told her that it went smoothly and she asked about the woman that I worked with and how that went. I told her that it was over and she asked if I was all right with that again. Somehow, the conversation turned around to my marriage and the affair with my stepdaughter, something that shocked Cherie. She didn’t seem to judge me and instead, asked how hot it was to be fucking two women at once. She went as far as to ask if there was ever a threesome, which prompted me to admit that I did have one with my son and stepdaughter, who were together now. That stunned her even more, but it seemed to stir up her desire, and she was soon coming over the phone for me. I loved the sound and reached down my shorts to jerk myself off as I listened, groaning as my release edged closer

quickly. I’d been wanting this all fucking day, and I moaned her name as I shot inside of my clothes, assuring her that it was all for her. It was heading there, and she giggled slowly as I closed my eyes. I’d admitted that I never called anyone before like this and she asked me in the slow, post-orgasm voice how I liked it so far. I told her that I’d love to have her in my bed and fuck her senseless as she let out a low moan. I also assured her that she was hot as hell and turned me on every time that we spoke, both physically and mentally. The days progressed with lots of conversation and growing sexual encounters. I got Cherie to admit that she had a few toys and convinced her to use some on herself, using the speaker phone so I could hear every vibration and moan as they occurred. I noticed as the next few weeks passed that Amy looked flushed and a little tired. She must be staying up late as I was and I was mildly jealous of the man that had her time. We were both cheerful, though, and I knew that I was riding the high that was Cherie and she must be doing the same. We made a great team at work, and the attraction was fading, though still there. We just didn’t acknowledge it and went about our business, making me realize that I couldn’t have a better assistant. I wouldn’t trade her for the world, no matter how things turned out. CHAPTER 7 Amy It was hard not to notice that Brett seemed happier at work as the weeks passed. I hadn’t ordered nor seen any escorts coming through the doors, so maybe he was done with that aspect of his life. Maybe he was hiding it from me rather than flaunting it, something that had been far more successful for him than I would ever admit. There were days that I was happier more than jealous of whoever was making him happy. I knew that I was caught up in the client that I knew as Phil, who I spoke to regularly. I had the same regulars, but he was on the longest with me. Phil had a story to tell and a lot of things that he was getting over, things that should bother me but they only made me want him more. I knew that we took it further with every conversation and I revealed all my darkest fantasies to him as we gave in to our lust and found new ways to make one another come. It was getting dirtier by the week, and I was addicted before I was willing to admit it. I was also falling for Phil, something that seemed impossible in my field. It also felt impossible given my feelings for Brett at one point, and it scared me that I was moving past them. It made me sad that he seemed to be moving past

his feelings for me as well but that was that way it should be, wasn’t it? I started to look forward to the evenings and my talks with Phil. I knew that he was monopolizing my time and my business but either way, I got paid and he was supporting me well now. He didn’t seem to have any financial worries at all, causing me to wonder if he was one of those rich men that liked to use phone sex operators and escorts since Phil admitted to using them from time to time. That was another incredible turn on for me since it reminded me of the day in the office. I would never tell anyone about that, but I did say that I came home and used things during the day for selfish reasons a lot. I told Phil that it was him a lot of the time as I did all the clients, though I meant it with him. I realized that I meant every word as the days passed. I was breaking one of the rules in my line of work and personalizing it. I was beginning to care for one of my clients, and while we’d barely mentioned taking it further, I knew that it was on my mind. I knew that it was something I was considering, but then what? Was I supposed to just stop working or would he be okay with me being the source of pleasure for other men as well? I wasn’t close with any of the other operators since we worked from home. I didn’t even know any of them to ask if they’d ever met a client in person before, but it must happen sometimes. Strippers got together with guys they met at work and more than likely, hookers as well. It was a natural progress of things, but it could change everything for me. Brett paid me generously, and I was appreciative of that, though it wasn’t enough to pay off my loans and my bills. I didn’t want to move into another apartment or change my life since it was comfortable right now. I was happy, and I’d never ask Phil to support me, should he end up being wealthy. I was too independent for that, as well as having pride in the face that I could take care of myself. I wasn’t ready to need someone that much, but Phil was edging around the subject of meeting, and I was beginning to crave. The holidays were approaching, and I glanced at my computer at work one day to see that it was November, stunned with how quickly time passed. I didn’t feel like I did anything but work and talk on the phone, or work if I looked at it another way. It just didn’t feel that way, other than the fact that I was paying down my loans faster than I’d imagined possible. With that, I considered stepping back from Phil for a time. I was getting too involved, bordering on obsessed and I needed to regain control of my life. I kept it separate for a long time and missed that time in my life. I was despondent over the idea, but I chose to leave my phone off after work for a full week. I might lose clients as a result, but I needed to regain the life that I had previously, one that wasn’t complicated.

I slept less than before, and I was edgy to boot, making me irritable at work and everywhere else. I could tell that Brett recognized it by the way that he asked if everything was okay with me, showing a lot of concern. I happened to notice that he seemed on edge as well, finding him on his cell more than usual when I walked into his office. He was never talking, just ending whatever call he was on as anger crossed his face. “Are you okay?” I asked as he seemed to be lost in thought for a long moment. “Yes, I’m just trying to reach a friend. Something important has come up.” Brett looked at me, and I noticed the pale tone to his skin as if he hadn’t slept well lately. We were two peas in a pod, a saying that reminded me of my grandmother as I smiled wistfully. She’d passed when I was just seventeen and not living in Tennessee anymore, and I missed her. “What’s that pretty smile for?” “I was just thinking of my Gram,” I replied as I shrugged. “I miss her.” “Is she back home?” Brett asked as I pressed my glossed lips together. “She died a few years ago. It was after we moved so I’d been seeing her a lot less than before. She got cancer, and that was that,” I replied as he stood and walked over to me, giving me a hesitant look before pulling me close for a hug. “I’m sorry, Amy.” His voice was sincere and brimming with concern as I smiled and wrapped my arms around his waist. Brett smelled amazing, and I’d always appreciate his masculinity, and there was a small part of me that longed to take back my previous decision just for one night. I didn’t have the same volatile orgasms without Phil’s sexy voice to urge me on, and I was starting to go through withdrawals. “Is that all that’s bothering you? You’ve seemed stressed out lately.” “I…I’m fine,” I told him in a shaky voice as I pulled him closer. “Just dealing with something.” I was tempted to ask him out to dinner or drinks this evening, ending the night in someone’s bed so I could get taken the way that I longed to, but he was still my boss…and I was still dealing with my feelings for Phil, whether or not they made sense. I wasn’t the type to use one man when I wanted another, at least not that I knew of. Talking about my fantasies was one thing, but to act on them was another. It wouldn’t be right to do to my boss, someone that I saw every day and at one time had feelings for me. I pulled away abruptly and took a deep breath as I looked into his apprehensive face. “I’ll bounce back.” “I hope so,” he told me as he ran a hand through his hair. His office phone rang, and Brett stepped forward to answer it as I started for the door. “Amy?” I turned and glanced at him. “Daniel will be in town tomorrow and wants to

have lunch with us. Are you free?” “Absolutely,” I replied with a smile. I’d kept in touch with both men and looked forward to seeing them anytime that I could. Between them and Brett, I was always reminded that I was doing a good job at work and had a future in this line of work. I left the office and pulled the door closed to go back to my desk and stare at the locked drawer where my personal and client phones were in my purse. I glanced around and unlocked the drawer to pull the latter out and power it on. I was curious and had to see if he called me if he missed me like I did him. I was staring at the screen as missed calls and texts came through one after another. There were calls from Robert as well as a few other regulars, but most of them were from Phil. There were also a few texts, and I sighed as I read the many times he asked if I was okay. He said that he missed me. I was reading them over and over when someone said my name, causing me to jump and drop the phone on the floor. “Amy?” Brett asked as he stepped closer. I was shaking, and I pressed my hands to my forehead as I breathed in deeply. “Sorry. You scared me,” I explained as I forced a smile on my face. “I’ll say. Is anything wrong?” He asked again, and I shook my head quickly. “No, I was just reading some…messages. Back to work,” I claimed as he stared at me and shook his head. I picked up my phone as he walked back into his office and glanced down again. Something flashed across the screen, and I saw Phil’s name as the phone rang, set to silent as it always was when I wasn’t working. I usually didn’t even carry it with me, but I was becoming a pathetic human being these days. I didn’t answer since there was no way I could talk the way that we both liked here, instead choosing to power it down and shoving it back into my purse. Maybe I’d turn it on later. I finished a report for him with some music playing from my computer speakers as I hummed along to the words, taking messages from my mother on my personal phone about the holidays. We spent them together at her house near me, since Mom loved to cook. She had a new boyfriend for me to meet as well and seemed excited about it as she told me about Ken. She had been mostly single since Dad left when I was only ten years old, only dating here and there. I was happy to meet the man that seemed to mean so much to her. I finished the report and gave it a thorough read before I ran it through my trusty program that double checked my work. It looked great, and I sent it along to Brett as I leaned back and took a deep breath. I needed coffee…again. I stood to go and make some after a quick glance around that I wasn’t

needed. The break room had a couple of people in it, and I smiled as I greeted them, stepping up to one of the machines to make my cup.

CHAPTER 8 Brett Where the fuck was Cherie? I hadn’t been able to reach her for a few days, making me wonder what I did wrong. Did I offend her? Was I too pushy? I called her again, and instead of ringing at all as it had before, it went right to voice mail. It must have been on for a moment but why? I set my cell phone down and leaned back in my chair. Amy was acting odd as well, staring at the phone that way at her desk. Was her new man sending her texts? I felt slightly jealous of him though more concerned about Cherie than anything else. I was going out with friends tonight, finally, so I’d call when I got home after a few drinks. Maybe she’d be available to me then. I threw myself into a report and entered the data as I listened to the news over my speakers, frowning at some of the reports on stocks. I had several investments and was always considering how they were doing, even though I made plenty of money. That’s how a smart man kept his money, and I was always looking for a profit on an investment. Hell, at this rate I needed the earnings to pay my phone bill. Cherie wasn’t cheap, but she was worth every penny. I’d keep her voice in my ear every moment if I could, and looked around for some coffee as I yawned. I didn’t sleep talking to her, or not talking to her. I was damned if I did as well as if I didn’t. Maybe some drinks and laughter with my buddies would be good for me. I stood and left to make some coffee, well-aware of the fact that I was drinking too much these days. I missed the high that was Cherie, and I idly wondered if I should suggest meeting in person, given that we were both local. There was a chance that we wouldn’t click in person, but I highly doubted it would be the case. I walked to the break room, looking forward as I lost myself in my thoughts. Making it was automatic at this point in my life and I didn’t need to think about it at all, at least until I heard a female’s voice say my name. I turned my head with a frown, annoyed that I was interrupted and saw Lisa. She was an assistant to one of my top managers and a hookup at one point when I first moved back to the city. Lisa was a beautiful blonde woman that offered a good time back in the day, though she was the reason I didn’t repeat that mistake. “Hi, Brett. How are you?” Her voice was low and sultry, even though

it wasn’t going to work on me. “Doing well. How are you?” I kept my tone light and looked back at my coffee, since I was familiar with how aggressive she could become when she thought that a man was interested in her. “I was thinking of going out for some drinks tonight. Would you like to join me?” There it was. “I have plans, but thanks.” I didn’t offer up another night, needing to shut this door as soon as possible. “Another time?” She pressed as I thought about what to say. Lisa was an employee, and I had to treat this delicately, or else HR might be all over my ass. “I don’t think that’s going to happen,” I said lightly as I looked around the empty room. “Those times are over, Lisa.” She narrowed her eyes for a moment and stood straighter, pushing her fake breasts out before she smiled. “Are you certain? We had fun back in the day.” “I’m very sure,” I told her, looking at her with a firm gaze. Someone walked into the room, and I picked up my coffee and told Lisa to have a good day before returning to my office. Amy was sitting at her desk typing, and I looked at her curiously as I passed. “Everything all right?” Her voice was light, but I heard the curious tone in it. “It is,” I paused and looked around. “You’re a compassionate person. I appreciate that.” She looked up at me with a small frown, and I reminded myself to tell Cherie that she had the same quality, something that was hard to find. “Thank you.” She sounded uncertain, and I smiled before walking through my door. “It’s a good thing,” I assured her before I closed my door to her soft laugh. I finished my day and left right at five to meet the guys for dinner and drinks at the corner sports bar, telling Amy to have a good night before I walked out. She looked like she was finishing for the day and she smiled wistfully at me as she murmured something back. She looked like I felt inside and I hoped that Amy would end up happy with the man that she was thinking about. I walked to the bar since it was close and beautiful out with Fall approaching. Southern California tended to stay even as far as temperature, so I always appreciated a cool night. I entered the bar and saw my friends at a table in the corner, walking over to join them. The guys were successful in business as I was, living similar lives. Colton was the only one that was in a steady relationship for two years and we all raised our beer in a toast as he

announced that he was going to propose in Santa Barbara over the weekend. A few months ago, I would’ve scoffed at him being recently divorced after my own whirlwind relationship, but I understood it better now. I had the memories of Larisa in my mind as well as my fading feelings for Amy that hit me so hard from the start. Colton and Tracy were great together, showing me what life could be all about with the right person. The idea of telling them that I was regularly taking to a phone sex girl was laughable, and I kept it to myself as I listened to them talk for a while. A trip to Belize was brought up, just the guys and all I could think about was not talking to Cherie in that period. It wasn’t like I was talking to her now and I was surviving, so some time on the beach might do me some good. We also discussed attending some games in the area as I ordered another beer to wash down the greasy burger that I’d chosen for dinner. Between the four of us, we could score tickets to any event in any city, and we used to do that a lot. I needed to get back to that, grinning as I looked at the television screens at the various scores. “Any new women in your life?” Chet asked me as his brown eyes twinkled. He teased me the most about my random hook ups and especially the marriage. “You’ve been back a while now.” “Nothing serious,” I responded lightly as I dipped my last fry into some ketchup. “You’re not tapping anyone at work, are you?” Colton asked, knowing how poorly that worked out with Lisa. “Definitely not,” I assured him, thinking back to today. I heard laughter and frowned as I looked over to see Lisa and her friends coming in. “Fuck. I shouldn’t have mentioned that I was going out.” Colton glanced over and let out a low whistle. “Here we go again.” “No, I am not touching that,” I promised them as I downed my beer. Lisa looked over and smiled at me as her friends dragged her to the bar, making me quickly avert my eyes. I kept my attention on my table despite her loud giggles carrying across the bar. Why the hell did I ever sleep with her? We drank and talked for a couple of hours, and I was feeling the buzz as I stood to leave. Realizing that I drank more than intended, I made my way towards the door and pushed it open. “Brett?” Lisa called out as it closed, making me groan. She came out after me, and I looked at her with a dark glare. “Did you come here hoping to find me?” I demanded as she shrank back with wide blue eyes. “I made myself clear today, or so I thought.” “My friends like it there. I didn’t think I’d see you, but I did, so…what are

you doing now?” She asked as I ran a hand through my hair. I wondered how good of an employee she was as I tried to think of what to say to make myself clear. “I am leaving now,” I stated slowly, not wanting to get angry at this moment. I turned and started walking to the curb to grab a cab home, leaving her standing there. I slipped into the first car that I could find and told the driver my address. I pulled out my phone and looked at it for a long moment. Cherie never called me, but tonight, I wanted to see a message from her or a missed call. Once I was inside of my apartment, I changed into shorts and dropped on the couch with a fresh beer. It was Friday, and I was going to drink. There were weekends that you might find me in the office but not this one. I took my phone from the cushion beside me and dialed Cherie as I took a slow breath. It rang, and I held my breath until she answered in that sexy drawl of hers. “Where the hell have you been?” I asked as I heard her suspire before she laughed. “I was just…busy.” Her words were vague as I leaned back on the couch. “Did you miss me, Phil?” “More than you’ll ever know. I’m hard right now just hearing you.” It wasn’t a lie, and I stroked myself over my clothes as she told me that she wanted me inside of her. Things progressed quickly from there, my inhibitions all but gone with the beer in my system as I talked her through an orgasm before coming in one of the Kleenex that I kept in every room now. Once we were done with round two, I sipped some water and took a deep breath. “Are you okay, Cherie? I was worried about you,” I confessed as she sucked in her breath. “I am great, Phil. Don’t worry. I just got busy and couldn’t spend a lot of time on the phone,” she replied as I nodded. “Do you work another job?” I asked, pushing the boundary that she seemed to prefer to set with clients. Maybe it was too personal, but I wanted to know more about her. “This isn’t my forever, Phil. Of course, I do,” she replied in the slow drawl that I’d grown to love the sound of. “What is it?” She chuckled on the other end, and I waited for her to deflect the conversation. “You know that I won’t tell you that.” I did know, and I laughed myself. “I thought I’d try.” I didn’t tell her the whole truth about my job. Being local and something of a celebrity in some circles, I knew that my relationship with Cherie was better left a secret. I was already known as a playboy since

the dissolve of my marriage, and I didn’t need the details of escorts and phone sex added to that rumor. At least with Cherie, I didn’t have to worry about her knowing my identity and looking me up on Google. We were both equals in this situation. I considered pushing her for a meeting, but I held back, for now, worried about the consequences. We talked casually for a bit longer and then she seemed to start seducing me all over again, making me wonder what she’d be like in person. Cherie was insatiable but what about the woman behind the voice? She told me about her fantasy of being completely bound to a bed, unable to move, while I did anything I wanted to her. I already knew about her love for toys in the bedroom, having heard the proof over the phone and decided to take it a bit further. “What if I were to use a plug on you, pushed on your stomach with your ass spread out for me?” I pushed as I stroked my hardening cock. I’d experienced anal sex with a couple of women in my life but longed for it more than ever right now, at this moment. “Mmmm, push it in,” she urged me as I heard the familiar moan fill the room. She was touching her clit for me, and I gripped myself tighter. “All the way, Phil.” “I want to be inside of your tight ass,” I told her as she let out a few harsh breaths. “I want you there. I’ve never wanted anybody there,” she admitted before crying out again. “I want you to fill me.” “I’d fuck you so hard, Cherie. I’d take that ass so deep and slow until you begged me for more,” I was stroking myself hard now, chasing the orgasm that didn’t seem to be enough anymore. I wanted more. “Yes, keep talking,” she urged me in a trembling voice that held some familiarity in it, something I just brushed off as too many conversations. “I’m so close.” “I’d stroke that clit while I fucked you, Cherie. I’d touch every part of you that I could while I slid inside. You’ll be so tight and warm, just like that sweet little cunt of yours. I want you everywhere, in every way. Fuck, I am so hard. I want you, Cherie.” I cried out as I reached for another Kleenex and shot into it. “I want to be with you for real, so much. I want to fuck you. Please,” my last word came out as a long moan, and I heard her fall silent in the middle of her own release.

CHAPTER 9

Amy I was coming, so hard, but his final words shocked me into silence. Phil wanted to meet me? I didn’t do that. It was against the rules. There were so many reasons that it couldn’t happen but as the waves washed over me, I knew that I wanted Phil inside of me and I let the idea sink in as I jerked on my bed. Could I do that? Would it stop at one night or would we both want more? Could he keep my identity secret? Would I be surprised at his? I never wanted to take this to a physical level. I liked the anonymity of phone sex, conversations in which I could lie about who I was. I hung up, and it was all over, at last until Phil called me that first night. That changed everything just as Brett started to change everything in my real life. What a combination and I smiled bitterly as a tear slid down my cheek. I waited until my body was still, taking in the sounds of him on the other end. “I can’t meet clients, Phil.” “Why not? This is more and you know it,” he argued as I pressed my lips together. I couldn’t have either man, and that made me sad. “This is work,” I told him, waiting for the pain to set in. “You’re a great man, and I love these chats, but I don’t want more.” I was lying to both of us now, and I felt the tears in my eyes, I fell for Phil early on, close to the same way that I did for Brett. “I want you to find your real, Phil. Some woman deserves all of this from you, but it isn’t me. This is just a job for me, and I never think about meeting the clients. I talk to more men than just you the same way.” Ouch, I just hurt myself. “I see. I was foolish to feel more for you. Just a job,” he repeated as I heard him sigh. “I can fuck any woman that I want, Cherie and I will. I’ll fuck them all and think of you,” he promised me in a cruel voice as tears slid down my cheek. “What will you do? Keep talking to strange men and getting yourself off, when you can have the real thing?” “Stop it,” I said as my voice shook with tears. “Are you crying, Cherie?” His voice softened, and I rested my head in my hands. “I have to stick to the plan, Phil. I should work for my future, and I can’t let feelings get in the way of that. I can’t just meet you without thinking of the repercussions,” I told him as I drew my knees to my chest. “It’s a risk to both of us.” “We’ve been talking for a couple of months, Cherie. I know that I feel something and I’d like to examine it. I already lost one girl, and I am not losing another.” I thought back to the woman that he worked with and smiled ruefully. “Hell, I’ve lost more than that, and I want to dive into this and feel you in the

flesh.” “I’m still not sure,” I replied as he sighed. This was going so much further than I ever expected it to, so much faster than it ever should have. I was scared, excited and nervous all in the same breath and I didn’t know if I wanted to step off my safe, sheltered little ledge. I knew that everything that I built was falling apart around me whether I stayed here in my bubble, that I wanted more than to be the girl on the other end of the phone. I pushed Brett away already, and I wasn’t certain that I wanted to do that same thing in this case. “It could change everything, Phil.” “It could be great. It will be between us in a private place. Nobody will know about this,” he assured me, sweetening the package even further. I imagined us in a hotel room together, acting out every fantasy that we’d discussed and my hand slipped between my legs again. I was wet and ready for him, and I slid my fingers over my clit as I let out a low breath. “Baby, we could stay up all night getting to know each other intimately, personally. I could taste that sweet pussy for hours.” I let out a moan, and he laughed wickedly on the other end. “Are you touching yourself?” “You make me want to for hours, Phil. I always feel turned on thinking about you,” I told him as I slipped two fingers inside. “I do it away from these calls. I think I’m addicted.” “I am just as addicted. Meet me. I’ll get the best room for you and pleasure you for hours. I want to see your face when you come, Cherie.” Phil murmured more words to draw me in further and make me explode against my hand, longing for so much more. He came right after me, and I fell weakly against my pillows as I took a deep breath. I wanted him. “Fine. I will.” I gasped at my words and closed my eyes. “You will?” He asked as I frowned. “Yes, in a couple of weeks. I need time,” I replied, knowing that I wouldn’t sleep for weeks now. I needed to go to a salon, get waxed, lose a few pounds…the list was endless. “I am going to use that time to make it the night of your life,” Phil promised me as I laughed nervously. “Can we still talk before then?” “Yes. I couldn’t live without that,” I said, smiling as he agreed. What was I planning for myself? We talked late into the night. With it being Friday, why not? He drank beer, and I drank wine, leading to more sex as we talked about our night together. I knew that we didn’t have any rules from our conversations, and things were bound to get a little crazy. I’d discussed being tied up, spanked, fucked in every way possible and giving him complete control. I didn’t even know what

Phil looked like. What if he was old and ugly? There was no way. There was a huskiness to his voice that seemed familiar to me, that promised sin in the best of ways, and I knew that he wasn’t ugly. I spent every moment talking to Phil when I wasn’t working. We planned our night repeatedly, giving into different fantasies every night. I grew more knotted with anticipation as the days passed, tired and edgy every single day at work. I worked through it, but I know that it didn’t go unnoticed. In fact, Brett seemed to be the same way when I looked closely at him. I was working on something at my desk, sipping another cup of coffee as he paused one day. “Are you all right, Amy? You seem a bit…jumpy. Is something going on?” “I’m working a lot. I have a freelance job on the side,” I told him, going on to tell him that I was a writer of short stories and blogs for a few clients. He asked me if I didn’t overdo it working so much and I shrugged, admitting that I liked the extra income so I could get ahead of the game while I was still young. I didn’t see the want in his eyes as he looked at me and nodded, telling me that he appreciated a woman that worked hard. He mentioned that he knew someone like that with warmth in his eyes, making me realize that he’d fallen in love. I was happy and envious all at once as he looked at me with genuine respect before telling me to take care of myself. That was all there was now; respect. I started with my pampering the second week of what I termed as the wait. I had my curly hair trimmed and highlighted with shared of honey and caramel, loving the way the colors bounced around my shoulders with the layers as I looked into the mirror after the cut. I had shopped a bit, changing up my style just a little bit with the prospect of a new life and I picked a special dress for the night at the hotel. It was a slip of a plum silk dress, with tiny straps and a short skirt that was going to be covered with a long black cardigan for reasons of my own, at least until I stripped it off and gave myself to Phil. I was going to pair it with black heels that matched the black of my mascara that I was planning to wear that night. I also got a Brazilian wax one night after work, gritting my teeth through the pain as the layers of wax were ripped off my most sensitive area. I knew that Phil liked bare skin and I was going to give that to him. Brett gave me a double take when he saw me for the first time with my cut and color, pausing to smile at me. “Very pretty,” he complimented me as I blush, still aware that he got to me even in my Phil fog. He was a handsome man that wanted me once, and I’d always be proud of that. Phil, while I didn’t know what he looked like yet, reminded me of Brett somehow in the way he

spoke though the voice wasn’t spot on. How lucky could a girl get? “Thanks,” I told him as I smiled at him. “You seem so happy,” Brett observed as I shrugged. “I hope it ends up that way. It’s new, you know.” He nodded, and I could see the same look in his eyes. “I understand. I hope your dreams work out for you, Amy. You deserve it.” Brett headed into his office, and I turned my attention back to the report open on my computer, appreciating the way we worked so well together. I loved my job, feeling good about it as I risked my night job meeting Phil. I didn’t know how that would end, but it was risking my job as an operator on some level. That was the first thing that I thought about when he asked me to meet him, but why couldn’t I do something else instead? It was an option, something that I was comfortable with as the days passed by.

CHAPTER 10 Brett I was getting restless as the days seemed to drag. I pried everything that I could out of Cherie about her likes and dislikes. I was planning to have a dinner set up for her, even though I’d want her naked and on the bed before anything else. The talks were getting hotter as we discussed what we wanted to do to one another and I was so relieved that I’d be inside of her soon. I was tired of my hand, holding out for my night with her as opposed to my usual behavior. I didn’t want anyone else, at least not for now. There was a chance that we would tank once we met, and I’d be left to start over, though I doubted that. She’d let her walls down some but was keeping what she looked like as a surprise. I secretly hoped that she would look something like Amy, who was getting more gorgeous by the day. She seemed like she was falling in love with someone and I knew that he was a lucky man. She was changing just a little, her clothes getting sexier while keeping her classic style with an edge. There was the hair cut as well and the anticipation shining in her dark blue eyes and the smile on her face. I let her go completely, wishing her the best in my heart as I looked ahead to meeting Cherie. It was the last week before we met at the Sunset Marquis. It was a beautiful hotel, and I reserved a villa for us along with some of the best seafood in the area, since she’d confessed to it being her favorite food. I

planned a spread that we could nibble on in between long sessions together on the bed in the room filled with the scent of vanilla and roses that were going to be on the dresser as well as a night stand. I had a small kitchen in the suite so we could reheat if needed, realizing that I was going a long way to woo this woman. I had it all mapped out. I knew that I was living off adrenaline at the end of the week approached. We were meeting at four on Saturday, and I was already going to be in the room waiting for Cherie. I had the fear that she’d back out at the last minute deep inside even though she sounded as excited as I was when we spoke. I hated the idea of this falling through as well. I ended up having lunch with Amy in my office as we worked on a report that was due first thing in the morning. She ate sushi as she typed, her hair pulled back from her face as she focused on the words on the MacBook that I’d provided for her. “Why did the client need to change the deadline again?” Amy grumbled as she paused to sip her tea. “We had through next week.” I sensed that she was especially edgy today as I glanced at her, drinking a large gulp of coffee. “It happens in this business. I’m sure you’re aware of that.” She gave me an irritated look, and I could see her unraveling before my very eyes. “I know. I’m just out of sorts. I’m sorry,” Amy apologized as she rolled her head around. “It’s a busy week for me.” “You could work just the one job,” I suggested as I reached for another roll on the tray. “I’m not wealthy like you,” she replied, sarcastic as always. I heard more in her voice and gazed at her. “I’m sorry. I just should make it on my own, and it requires long hours. Surprises don’t suit me.” “Don’t I pay you enough?” I asked as she sighed and looked over at me. “The pay here is amazing. I just have the student loans that I’m attempting to pay off before I die and I am fussy about where I live,” Amy told me with a weary shrug. “It’s my choice. I need to stop whining about it.” “It’s okay. I’m here to listen,” I assured her as she forced a smile on her face. “There’s that smile. It’s a good one.” “Am I pretty enough?” Amy asked suddenly as I stared incredulously at her. “I know that I might be a little chubby and have some flaws.” “Are you fucking kidding me?” I asked her as she gave me a wide-eyed gaze. “You’re gorgeous. I thought that I made that clear to you. Now, you’re even more beautiful. Why the doubt? Doesn’t your boyfriend tell you nice things?” “Boyfriend,” I mused aloud as I stared forward. Wait, I was supposed to

have one of those. “Of course, he does. He’s great. I’m just a girl, that’s all.” I’d never admit the truth to him. Brett could get any woman that he wanted, and I was certain that they were all beautiful. We kept that part of our lives private and as much as I assumed that he was serious about someone now, I wasn’t sure. He just seemed settled somehow or close, at least. “Clearly he needs lessons in telling you more.” Brett turned back to his own computer with a supportive smile, and it was back to work. We had eaten all the sushi before we finished for the night, both groaning that we needed to get to the gym before we walked out of the building. It was home for a few hours and then back to work, cutting deeply into my phone time with Cherie. That used to be my life before she came along, and no woman ever competed. “I’ll see you in the morning. My turn to bring coffee and donuts.” Amy smiled as she walked down the street as I watched her with concern. “Let me give you a ride. It’s so dark.” I called out as she glanced back. She didn’t live incredibly far, but it wasn’t safe for any women to walk these streets at night. “I’d love that,” she replied as she followed me to my car, allowing me to open her door for her. I headed down the road and pulled up to the curb to let her out as she smiled her thanks at me. Amy looked tired, and I watched her carefully as she walked to the secured entrance to her complex, wondering if I should walk to her door with her. I felt so protective towards Amy, needing to let that go. She had someone to take care of her. I sighed and drove home, walking in to take a hot shower and change into shorts before bed. I sat on my bed and looked at the clock before I dialed Cherie’s number. I just wanted to hear her voice but the call went straight to voicemail as I ended the call. I only had three more days before we met but I missed her at work today. I missed her voice, her laugh. I was tired and climbed under my sheets, needing some rest before the morning. I’d have all night with Cherie soon if not all weekend assuming we hit it off. For now, I had to get through this week with Amy and I was grateful for her help during busy times. She got it, and she knew what to do. I woke up when the alarm went off, groaning at the abrupt end to a dream about a faceless woman riding me as she screamed my name. I went for a brief run and showered before dressing for work. I got in the car and listened to the news as I drove, parking with a yawn as I leaned back in my car. It was going to be a long day with more reports, and I vowed to just make it to the weekend when I could work it all off inside of Cherie. Amy was tired as expected and we both started the morning with strong

coffee. She cleaned up the report from last night before sending it off and shifted in her seat before she opened a blank word document. “Here we go with number two.” I laughed at the reference as she narrowed her eyes at me. “Sorry. It’s funny.” “You’re a fool.” She grinned. “You need some sleep.” We ordered lunch in to keep working, and I could see the looks that I got when I went to refresh my cup of coffee. There were rumors about how closely we worked together, but none of the staff knew what was going on in my life. I was sure that they might know that I was a player before but to know that I was talking to a phone sex operator was so much more. The fact that I was planning to meet her since I was falling for her sounded absurd in my head, not to mention saying the words. Somehow, the rumors about my assistant weren’t so bad.

CHAPTER 11 Amy I made it through that day, vowing to have some time on the phone with Phil after work. Last night I was beat and fell right to sleep since keeping up with the day job was important to my future. Hell, it was my future since I didn’t have any intention of settling on a man to take care of me. I was going to choose love. If I ended up loving Phil, then everything would be perfect. I smiled. Life wasn’t that easy. I got home at six and turned on my phone after I walked into the apartment. There were some missed calls and texts, and I read them as I changed into a tshirt and dropped onto my bed. I only wanted Phil. I waited until it rang and saw his name, answering it with a breathy hello. He seemed eager to talk to me too, asking if the weekend was still on. He asked if I was all right since I didn’t answer last night and told him that I had a little cold and slept it off. I assured him that I was looking forward to Saturday and asked again if he’d say what he had in mind for me. Phil refused teasingly, and I pleaded, adding to my accent as he laughed at me. This was so much more than just sex. It was comfortable and natural, making me hope that it was this easy in person. I knew that I stayed up late talking to him and getting myself off yet again to the idea of Saturday night, but it would be worth it. Tomorrow was Friday and then it would be the weekend, something that had taken forever to come. In two nights, I would be coming around his tongue and his cock, milking him for everything that he had to offer.

We ended the call with just a few hours left to sleep, and if I were a different person I would just call in the following morning. I earned some sick time as well as vacation time, and it made sense, but it just wasn’t me. I dragged myself out of bed and showered, wearing a red dress to work with heels. I was going to be happy today, vibrant. No matter what, I was going to think about Phil and what was going to happen in mere hours, concentrating on that. Brett and I had made a lot of progress the night before and today would be easy in comparison to the last two. I knew that he was tired as well by the coffee that he kept drinking and the circles under his eyes, though he still looked happy. Gorgeous, too. I worked at my desk and made sure that all the loose ends were tied up for the weekend since there was no way in hell that I would come into the office after five o clock tonight. I went to lunch with friends and listened to them talk about their dates and plans for the weekend, while I held my own in. Nobody knew about the phone job, to begin with, so how could I explain meeting a client? They did notice the haircut, the color, the mani and pedi as well as just my slight change in style though and hounded me about it since the beginning of last week. I just explained that I had a great job for a change and wanted to make the changes for fun, given that I was a twenty-six-year-old woman and it was completely normal for women to do such things. It was true, in part. The afternoon dragged when I returned but finally. Finally, it was time to go home. I planned to get some sleep tonight at nearly any cost so I could be prepared for tomorrow. Phil agreed that he was going to try and rest as well, making me not turn my phone on for any calls. Instead, I stood in front of the mirror and stared for several moments, wondering if he’d like me at all. I never told clients what I looked like, choosing instead to make up a glamorous woman of their dreams based on what I knew about their likes. I still didn’t reveal much to Phil, wanting him to be surprised. I wanted a natural reaction on his face the first time that he saw me. I knew that I was pretty, but I saw every flaw tonight as I looked myself over much harder than I needed to. There were the few extra pounds from sitting too much for work and the good meals that I enjoyed near the office. It wasn’t excessive, but I swore that I saw every pound. My hair was still fresh and vibrant, so I couldn’t criticize that too much, other than the fact that it was wildly curly. That was a fact I wasn’t yet ready to change. I stepped out of the bathroom in my pajamas, sitting down on the couch to watch a movie to relax my nerves. I thought about the fact the small group of friends and I stopped spending time together when I started working two jobs,

not due to a fight but just life happening. I thought about texting someone but what would I say? My plans for tomorrow were insane, and job talk could only last so long, right? I decided to just watch something and go to sleep as early as I could. I woke up on the couch early the following morning and blinked. I looked around to see the morning new playing and searched for the time on the screen. It was seven, so I had a lot of time today. Meaning I had a lot of time to worry about what could go wrong. I sighed and got up to make some coffee, padding around the kitchen in my bare feet as I looked around. This apartment was beautiful and cost about one thousand more than something in a different area would run me, though it wouldn’t be safe as this one. I lived in a great part of the city, and if I didn’t work both jobs, I wondered if I could afford it. Brett paid me generously and today wouldn’t affect that job. I could afford this with a little rearranging of my budget and possibly another type of second job. Nothing would pay as well as the phone job, at least nothing that was a lot more intimate and personal. I was getting ahead of myself, and I sipped the strong liquid as I forced my mind to slow down. Nothing might come from tonight, nothing life changing anyway. I didn’t need to plan everything this morning. I went shopping to kill time and found some cute clothes to add to my closet. I ate a light lunch, thinking about the dinner that Phil planned for tonight. He didn’t tell me any details other than the hotel room number and the time to arrive. I headed home with time to get ready, taking a fresh shower and letting my hair dry naturally into its trademark curls. I added enough product to keep the frizz under control and stared into the mirror as I planned everything else. I didn’t want to look like I tried too hard for Phil but I wanted to take his breath away, if possible. I settled on a light foundation to even out my skin and a dark liner on my lid to bring out my eyes. I added a shimmer under my brow and mascara on my lashes before selecting a gloss that matched the dress perfectly. I knew that I looked good since Brett told me that enough at work to mean it. I just had to let nature take its course that night. I grabbed a bigger purse that I could fill with things for an overnight stay and looked around my house as I stepped toward my front door. I’d arranged for a ride since I didn’t care for driving in the city. I pulled my long sweater around my body and my purse over my shoulder before I locked my front door and went out to look for the Uber. It was a bright blue car, and I slipped inside and smiled at the girl driving as I slipped the belt over my body. Every press of the brakes resonated with me, and I memorized

every building that we passed. Tonight was going to be something to remember no matter how it turned out. We stopped in front of the stunning hotel, and I took a slow breath as I stared at it for a moment. “Thank you,” I murmured as I slipped her a bill and stepped onto the curb. It was sunny and breezy out, typical weather for Southern California and I relaxed and let the sweater fall open as I smiled. I could do this. I walked through the heavy glass doors, smiling at the doorman that opened them for me as he gave me a second look. I blushed and walked towards the elevators as I took a wide-eyed look around the beautiful lobby. I didn’t stay in places like this on my own, and I felt a bit intimidated as I nibbled on my lip. Was this Phil’s life? Was he accustomed to luxury and the best of everything, and more than that; did I have anything to offer him? I pressed the button to the elevator and waited with a neutral expression on my face as my thoughts raced through my mind. I was suddenly close to trembling with nerves, and I walked inside of the half-filled car on shaky legs as I dropped my gaze to the floor. The room I was searching for was on the seventh floor, the top floor. I stepped out with a few other people and paused as they made their way to their rooms. I checked the signs to see that the one I was looking for was to the right as I made my way with slow steps. A part of me wanted to run back to my apartment, my safe place where nobody knew Cherie. I wanted to talk to Phil just a few more times until I had the strength to sever all ties with him and move on. Just a few more doors and I’d be there. I stopped walking and took a deep breath. Was I ready for this? Did I want to take this to the next level? The next thing I knew, I was in front of the door. I raised my hand as my breath stilled and knocked, softly and slowly. This was the moment that could change everything in my life, good or bad. My heart pounded in my chest as all my feelings for Phil combined in my stomach, knotting it tightly as I raised my eyes up as the doorknob turned. My mouth dropped open at the face that was staring back at me. “No,” I murmured as I started to step backward.

CHAPTER 12 Brett I opened the door after running a hand through my hair. I arrived early to make sure that everything was set up correctly and showered there, dressing in black jeans and a button up shirt in white to answer the door. The room was

beautiful, and I noted many areas to christen if we found our chemistry to be as strong as it seemed. I took a last glanced around as the knock sounded at the door, feeling my heart start to beat harder in my chest. I stepped towards it, a million thoughts twisting in my mind as I turned the knob and pulled the door open. “The fuck?” I asked as I saw the face on the other side of the door. I saw her every day at work, and she looked as beautiful as every right now, with her wide eyes and pink cheeks. “You’re Cherie?” “No, oh my God. I have to leave,” Amy stammered as she started to turn and walk away. I reached out and took her arm gently as she stared back at me. “Come inside,” I urged her as all the blood raced to my groin and my desire turned into need. “I’m sorry. I should leave,” she told me, resisting as she pulled away. I saw the fear in her eyes and understood that Amy was concerned about her job and stability, but I pulled back. “Please,” I begged her as our eyes locked. Amy licked her lips and stepped forward as she glanced on either side of her, slipping through the door before I closed it. “I can’t believe that it’s you.” “I’m mortified,” Amy admitted as I remembered all the fantasies that she’d shared with me, including several office themed ones. “This ruins everything, Brett. This changes everything.” For me, I saw her as the incredible person that I always had. I was stunned, sure, but I knew Amy inside and out, and I wanted to give her everything that she wanted. “It doesn’t. You’re as safe with me as you’ve always been, Amy.” I stepped forward, cupping her face as I leaned in to kiss her without hesitation as she moaned against my lips. In between long, deep kisses, I told Amy that I knew her every desire and how she sounded when she came, watching her eyes grow heavier with every word before she’d lean in for another kiss. “I am so glad that it was you,” I whispered as I slipped the sweater off her body and let it drop to the floor. Our tongues danced together as she wrapped her legs around me and held tighter to my neck, showing me the side of her that I’d been fantasizing about for months. I carried her to the couch, a soft leather piece of furniture that offered room to get to know each other. Lowering Amy to it, I knelt beside her and kissed her harder as she pulled me close. “I’ve wanted you since the day I saw you,” she murmured as I moved my lips to kiss her jaw slowly. I nibbled as she cried out, knowing her every turn on now and planning on pushing all her buttons. “Brett,” Amy moaned as I kissed down her neck, inhaling the scent of hers deeply as I tasted it on her skin. I sucked on her skin and slipped my

hands up her thighs, feeling her heat as she arched her back towards me. My cock was straining against my pants, needing to be inside of her after months of need. I slipped a hand between her legs and found her hot and wet as my fingers slid under the lace of her boy shorts to search for the clit that she needed to be touched. I knew how hard she came from clit play and she rocked against me as I stroked her, finding it swollen and hard. I groaned as I kept moving my hand over her, feeling her wetter as she moaned and pushed against me. I lifted my face to watch her come, jerking against me as her eyes closed and mouth hung open. It was beautiful just as I knew it would be, both seeing her on a near-daily basis as well as listening to her over the phone. Amy dropped back down to the couch, and I moved beside her as her hand found my cock under my pants, painfully hard by now. “Take all of this off. I’ve wanted to see you for so long,” her voice was scratchy and weak as I dropped onto the floor beside the couch to find her mouth with mine. I couldn’t count the number of times that we’d gotten one another off at this point and I memorized the taste of her tongue against mine as we kissed heavily. I stood slowly and stripped my clothes off as her eager eyes took in every step of the process, resting on my cock as I fisted it. “I am hard for you right now. I’ve been hard for you daily since I met you, Amy.” I stared into her needy eyes as I spoke. “Me or Cherie?” She asked as she moved into a sitting position and stared at the head of my cock. “I pursued you first,” I answered as I stepped towards her and cupped her face. She’d often spoken about sucking my cock, and I knew that she wanted it as she licked her lips. “It was always you. This is a dream come true for me.” Amy opened her mouth, and I eased my way inside of her as I closed my eyes. Her mouth was hot and wet, wrapping tightly around me as I felt hands circling my ass to pull me closer. She was encouraging me. I gripped her hair and started to move slowly so she could work around me, tight and soft as I slid in and out. Before too long, we’d established a rhythm, and I knew that I was finally going to come in her sweet little mouth. It didn’t need to be discussed as Amy grabbed and pulled at me, greedily eating away at me as I shot into her throat and called her name. It already had been. I dropped to the couch once I’d emptied myself inside of her and she moved against me with a soft moan. I pulled her close and held her as we started talking together. “I can’t believe it was you. I always wanted it to be

you, but I was falling for Phil.” “Phil was falling for Cherie as well,” I assured her as I looked into her eyes. “Just like I was falling for you, Amy. It makes so much sense now, the way it felt so natural. I thought I was crazy a few times.” “So did I,” Amy said as worry filled her eyes. “But what about everything? Work? I can’t have anyone knowing about the phone stuff, Brett.” “I’d never tell anyone, baby.” I didn’t want her to do it anymore, feeling like she was all mine but I remained quiet. “That is our secret, and we’ll deal with work when we have to. Not tonight.” We started to kiss again, not done fulfilling our spoken fantasies as I carried her to the large bed in the spacious bedroom. She clung to me as I dropped her to the mattress and kissed her hungrily, pushing her down against the comforter. “What do I smell?” Amy murmured as she raised her arms so I could lift the small dress over her head, finding her nipples bare and hard for me. “Vanilla candles and roses,” I responded as I leaned down to suck one into my mouth. Had I known, I’d have searched for cider candles to match her intoxicating scent. “Thank you,” Amy told me as I raised my eyes to hers in the softly lit room. “You made this so much more than sex.” “It was always more than sex, Amy. There’s just so many ways that we want each other right now that I can’t keep my hands off you. It’s not ending with that, though.” I crawled over her body to kiss her neck as I roamed her freely with my fingertips, stroking here and pulling there. I ravaged her dark pink nipples with my tongue and teeth, making her cry out as she pulled me closer. I kissed her soft stomach down to where her legs fell apart, dropping between them, and tasting her sweet honey. It consumed me as I licked and tasted her, finding even more sweetness dripping against my mouth as I focused on her clit. She moved with me, far from shy and wanting everything I’d promised her on the phone. I pulled and teased her, using my teeth as Amy screamed and tried to thrust against me when I held her still. Amy was going to be at my mercy right now. I grabbed the box of condoms off the table once she’d come and was begging me to fuck her, ripping one pen and sheathing my thick cock with it. My hands were shaking. This was something that I’d wanted for months, and I looked at her, laying back against the pillows with her halo of curls and her knees dropped haphazardly, open and tempting. I moved over her, finding her mouth as I positioned myself and savored the moment. I slipped inside of her, slowly, inch-by-inch. Our lips molded

together, and our tongues danced as she gripped me like a vise that was made just for me. I buried myself all the way in and moved back to side in again as she wrapped her legs around me. I wanted this to be slow, but it was too hard to hold back, and before too long we were fucking hard and fast, both searching for a mutual orgasm as our bodies rocked together. She felt so good, and her moans echoed around me as I watched her face as carefully as possible, wanting to see every release pass across it to make up for all the ones I’d missed. She started a beat before me, tightening and washing me with warmth before my own orgasm started, our voices raised together as we came hard and long. I dropped beside her, holding close the best thing that ever happened to me as our damp skin pressed together. It had never felt like that. I had great sex in my years, sex I thought was for the record books, but tonight it felt different. Tonight even made light of my affair with Larisa as I played that back for a moment, knowing that it was nothing more than lust. It would’ve burned out had we chosen to continue it. This made everything before Amy pale in comparison and I knew that I wanted to cling tightly to her.

CHAPTER 13 Amy The room was thick with our heat and scent as we relaxed together, while I tried to make sense of all of this. Phil was my boss all along. I knew there were similarities but the idea never crossed my mind before now. I felt him pull me closer and smiled as I acknowledged the feelings in the room as well as the amazing attraction. I’d wanted him as Brett, but logic won in that situation. It sure fought a fair fight this time, but I gave into my feelings and need and had never felt better as I did right now. I knew him inside and out since we’d just talked so much in addition to all the sex. We talked as friends, potential lovers and two people that were falling for one another and he was in front of me the entire time. I saw him every day and longed to change my decision as I watched him seem to be in love with someone else, but all along that was me. I knew that I was in love with Brett. The idea thrilled and terrified me all at once when I started to think about the next day or even the next week. Brett said that we were going to focus on tonight and I rolled in his arms to face him as I buried my face into his broad chest. He was all man, powerful and muscle and everything that I’d dreamed of. I kissed him with firm presses of my lips and heard his sharp intake of breath as I tasted the damp sweat on his skin. I’d

made him sweat like that, more than just tonight. I’d heard it, and all the memories played through my mind as I licked at his small, firm nipple. Brett groaned as I bit gently and tightened his grip on my back. We made love one more time with me on top and our eyes locked before hunger got the best of us. Brett called down to order our dinner, smiling at me knowingly as I slipped one of the robes in the bathroom around my body. “What?” I asked with a blush as he slipped on some shorts. God, the man looked good when he wasn’t wearing clothes. I played with my hair absently as I stared at him, deciding to pull it up into a messy bun for a little while. “Do you like what you see?” Brett teased me as I felt heat wash over my body. “I always have,” I responded as I followed him to the living room and looked around for the first time. “This room is stunning, Brett.” “Only the best for you,” he assured me as I smiled at him. We got cold water from the fridge in the nearly full kitchen and sat on the couch to talk while we waited for the food. “That was incredible, Amy.” He stared into my eyes as I smiled weakly. “Everything I thought it would be and more.” He sipped his water. “You don’t strike me as the type to sleep around, though.” “I’m not. That’s why I work the phone because I can’t do anything more personal. That even took some getting used to for me, to be honest.” I admitted as I frowned and thought back to the disastrous first night while I chuckled. “How did you get into it?” Brett asked, and I gave him a searching look for a long moment. I hadn’t dated anyone since I started the job and I didn’t know how it would affect this. Brett was just looking at me with curiosity and warmth in his eyes, no judgment. “A friend did it and when I graduated and got wind of how much I owed for the loans, told me about it. I didn’t have this job with you then, and it seemed like a good way to get ahead of the game to me.” I shrugged. “It was embarrassing at first for me. Once I got some regular clients and grew to know them, it was easier, and it felt good to be able to support myself.” “You don’t have a big family, do you?” Brett asked as someone knocked at the door. He stood and let them in, telling the young man to leave it by the table overlooking the city before he slipped him a bill. Once we were alone, he gestured to me to join him, and I walked across the large room to look out of the window. “Is all of that a story?” “Yes, it is. It’s just Mom for me, and she lives in San Diego now, doing the artist thing. We talk a lot, but she’s happy living that life.” I replied as he nodded and stared at me. I knew about his family from work, which gave me an absolute advantage. I knew a lot more about him from our conversations,

and I frowned. “You were truthful with me, weren’t you?” He nodded slowly as his eyes went somber as if was waiting for me to judge him. “You did have an affair with your stepdaughter while you were married. That’s crazy.” “I know that, Amy. I think about it every day and regret what I can, but it’s life, and it gets messy sometimes,” he told me before walking around and pulling me to him. “Tonight, feeling you wrapped around me made me realize that I have never felt this way before. This is different for me, no matter who or what is in my past.” “I felt that too,” I admitted as I breathed him in, feeling the addiction set in. “Let’s eat,” he suggested as he felt my stomach growling against him. Brett lifted the lids to reveal a decadent seafood pasta with salad and crusty bread. My mouth watered and he heaped some food on the two plates for us before setting them on the table. Brett poured us some wine from the bottle on the tray and gazed at me across the small table. There was a bigger one in the room off the kitchen that I noticed, but I liked being this close to him. I wrapped some of the pasta around my fork and moaned as I took a bite, tasting the seasoned white sauce. We talked over the meal, mostly about the city and work a little bit before he cleared his throat and sipped his wine. “I have this room for the weekend, and I’d love for you to stay with me, Amy.” “What about Monday?” I asked as he licked his lips. “We can’t be seen this way, Brett.” “I know. I agree with that, but I think we could keep it between ourselves,” Brett replied as heat washed over my body. “I don’t want to fuck you and have that be it. I want us to have something more.” Brett ran a hand through his hair and looked at me again. “I’ve been talking to Daniel. You know how impressed he was with you and he’s made mention of moving you to his office. Not right now but in the future. I don’t know what you think of that idea, to begin with, but with this new development, I thought it might be an option.” “New York?” I asked as he nodded with a slow smile. “It’s a gorgeous city, Amy. You’d learn so much with them,” Brett encouraged me as my eyes widened. “How would we see each other that way?” I asked as he chuckled. “I have a house there as well, two to be truthful. There’s a charming brownstone and a house out on Long Island as well. I could move there easily and oversee the company from a distance.” “You’ve thought about this, haven’t you?” I asked as he tilted his head and smiled down at the table. “Not as seriously as I am tonight. I didn’t know who you were, but I like to

keep my options open when I can. I just came here to work at the office, Amy. Moving isn’t an issue for me, not to be with you,” he told me as I frowned at him. “Cole is grown with his family, and I can visit them anytime in Colorado. I’m going back for Christmas since they have a daughter close to being born. I don’t have any ties but him and the woman I’m dating.” “You want to date me?” I asked as he smirked at me. “Haven’t I made that clear enough?” Brett asked as he stood and finished his wine. He excused himself for a moment, and I looked around the room and out at the lights of the buildings as I considered his words. Age wasn’t an issue. I didn’t know Brett’s exact age, but he was fourteen years older, give or take. He looked good for his and was fit and healthy, something I craved in a man. He had money, but I wasn’t seeking to be supported by anybody. Sex was incredible with him, and I wanted it again sitting here letting my meal digest. I knew that I was in for the weekend as well as the future and I smiled as he walked back into the room, taking his toned torso up to his handsome face as he watched me. “I think I prefer this to you not looking at me at all,” Brett told me as I stood and took my glass of wine to the couch to sit down. “It was uncomfortable for a while, wasn’t it?” I asked as he nodded and took a seat beside me. “The night I told you there was no chance for us nearly killed me. I have never wanted anything more, but I feared the work situation, and still do. I just know that fate gave this to us and it feels too good to try and fight what I feel anymore.” “I agree,” Brett told me as I looked into his face and leaned in for a kiss. He tasted like wine, and the spices from dinner, and I parted my lips to let his eager tongue in as he pulled me gently over his body. We cleaned up the food and put the tray in front of the door before rushing back to the bedroom with an urgency that was new to me. I think we spent hours pleasuring each other, dozing in between. I’d wake up with Brett between my legs, or he’d wake up inside of my mouth, depending on who woke up first. I was sore but it was a mild pain, and I wouldn’t be turning him away anytime soon, not after the foundation that we had. It was one that I could never deny and the idea of telling anyone how we met made me blush. I might be stumbling into the office Monday, something I dreaded but a thought that I pushed away as he pulled me against his body again.

CHAPTER 14 Brett We stayed the weekend together, tangled together in bed and talking after

making love yet again. It was probably excessive, but Amy never complained and initiated it easily on her own. I watched her getting increasingly comfortable with me, and she smiled often and laughed a lot. Sunday morning, she rolled against me and snuggled close as her lips found my nipple again. “How do we handle tomorrow?” Her voice was muffled against my body, and I slipped a hand into her hair. “We act like we always have,” I told her as she remained silent. You’re my assistant, and we act that way unless of course, we’re alone in the office. After hours, I want you in my bed and my life as much as possible.” “I’d like that too,” she said as her hand slipped down to grasp me, hard and ready for her tight pussy. I loved taking Amy every way that she’d let me, and now she moved to her knees once I was ready and let her know. Her ass looked good in front of me, fitter than she saw it but juicy as I slipped inside of her. I’d already slapped her when we did it in the kitchen, bent over on the counter when we were trying to make some snacks and got distracted. I loved the sound of her voice as she came, more ragged and out of control the more we were together. I didn’t know how I was going to leave her tonight without begging her to come back to my place and arriving at work separately. I was getting too used to her warmth beside me. I fucked her hard, gripping her hips as I drove myself inside of her over and over. Amy gripped the pillows as she rocked with me, her hands just over the ropes that I tied her up with the night before. I came with her like we did most every time and I longed to feel her bare. “Baby, are you on anything?” I asked as I watched her fall to the bed with a happy sigh. “I get that shot, but I didn’t want to seem too eager to say that,” she admitted as she looked at me in the light of the lamp. “I am clean, though. Are you? I know that you’ve been with escorts.” We hadn’t covered that yet, and I looked at her. “I am always careful, Amy. Always. That…was a dumb ass ploy to make you jealous.” I remembered telling her about it on the phone and how crazy she got. “Did it work?” “In a way. It made me mad and hot all at once. I…got myself off at my desk listening, wanting to be her. She was so beautiful, and I think it hurt on some level.” Her face fell as she spoke and I pulled her close. I had fantasized about her doing that, and I hated the erection that was growing between my legs again. “Then on the phone I made you talk about it, your time with those girls. Am I twisted?” “You’re curious, and I love that. I want you to work it out with me, and I assure you there have been no women since we started talking.” She looked surprised, and I kissed her with a smile.

“Really?” She asked as she stared at me. “How?” “I only wanted you, and once the idea of meeting was in my head, I knew that was what I wanted.” I kissed her neck as I rolled her onto her back. “I can be with one woman despite my tainted past.” “I never thought otherwise,” she told me as she looked up at me. “I could tell that you were passionate about what you wanted from the first time that we met.” “That became you quickly,” I said as I leaned down to kiss her. “I care for you a lot.” “I feel the same way,” Amy replied as she slipped her hands down my back. “When we check out, will you come home with me?” I asked her as I slid inside of her, leaving myself bare as she gripped me tightly. “Holy fuck.” “Spend the night? What about work?” Amy asked as I rocked inside of her again. “We can get there separately and play it off,” I assured her as she pulled me down for a long kiss. “We can handle this for a time. I can do it because I want to be with you.” We made love for the last time in that bed, and I came deep inside of her as I felt her warmth wash over me. Amy left first after we showered and dressed, going out to the curb and down the street to get a car to take her home to get some more clothes. She’d agreed to stay the night. After a few weeks of watching her get multiple Uber drivers, I started coming in earlier than before and bringing her along with me. I didn’t like the danger that came along with public transportation, and she was stubborn about driving to this day. Amy had a car, something that would get her around fine but she preferred not to drive it in the city. I’d leave the vehicle a few minutes before she’d head up and we’d greet each other like everything was casual between us. After a couple of months of dating, she was staying at my place every night. It was close to the office, and she could walk if she wanted to. I smiled as I watched her bring more clothes over and sprinkled her things over my counter. Daniel had talked further about moving her out to New York after the first of the year, and we talked about it in bed together after work. Though she’d be sad to leave her mom, Amy knew that it was a great chance for her and was thinking about it. They would be in town closer to Thanksgiving, and once we all had lunch and they presented the idea to her, Amy accepted with a smile. She’d be the assistant to one of their top guys, though I kept it to myself that I’d

be moving with her. My friends thought I was crazy to be moving so quickly after everything with Larissa, Rayna and the other flings that had had. I knew that it was moving fast, but neither of us could help it, and the heat between us only continued to grow. Amy admitted that the phone job didn’t appeal to her as much anymore and we agreed that she’d stop since she did well at the company and decided to give up her apartment, selling everything inside so she wouldn’t have to move it. Amy lived with me and would in New York as well, in the brownstone near the office where she could just head over a few blocks if the weather was nice enough. Otherwise, I had a driver since that city was less of a driving one. It was hard to keep quiet about us, and I looked forward to moving across the country where we could date in public. I was going to run the company from home and travel as needed, being less in the spotlight. It was such a large city anyway that everything seemed to blend in and I looked forward to living there. We joined her mother for Thanksgiving, and I could feel her eyes on me several times through the night as I got to know her and her boyfriend, Ken. They were both free spirits and artists, suiting each other well but being very open to who Amy and I were as well. I could see that her mother knew how much I cared for her and wanted to take care of her, getting her approval in the form of a hug later that night. Margaret admitted that she was a few years older than Ken when we talked later that night. She didn’t mind that at all, but she wanted to be sure that I'd be right to her daughter. Margaret verified that she hadn’t been with a lot of men and since she didn’t seem to know how we met, I never mentioned her phone job. Our story was that we met in LA and ended up working together, which we were looking to change after the first of the year. Margaret was excited about the upcoming move, suggesting to Ken that they follow eventually to see about the art community there. It made Amy smile seeing that her mom was not sad for her, but happy and willing to consider the same for herself. We stayed a few nights and returned home a couple of days later so we could be at work. It was the last month that Amy would be working in California since her promotion was announced and the going away party was planned for her. She’d be finishing before Christmas and traveling with me to Colorado to see Cole and his family before we went on to New York. I hadn’t made an official announcement about anything of the sort for myself. I could drift without anyone being too nosy since I was the CEO. It

was expected, and I wanted to keep the rumor mill calm for if possible. We worked some overtime towards the middle of December, making good use of being alone in my office after hours. It was something of a goodbye to our life here as I took her on the desk as she spoke about when I still knew her as Cherie. Since this was always my office, I didn’t have to worry about cleaning it out. I merely locked it when I was out of town along with the offices I held in each building across the country. Some of the top executives had access to it if needed, but I gave them clearance to access what they needed from their own desks. I sensed Amy getting nervous as Christmas approached and her way to avoid talking about it was through sex. She seemed to work a lot of things out that way with me, even though I was falling more in love with her every day.

CHAPTER 15 Amy Things were happening so quickly. My apartment was likely rented to someone else now, and I was living with Brett after just a few months of dating. I was moving to New York to promote and I couldn’t believe it. Everyone was excited at the office without knowing how it all came about, something I was happy to keep secret for if possible. Brett and I worked hard at keeping it quiet, staying in his apartment most of the time. I couldn’t get enough of him. Getting to know him the way that I did opened a huge assortment of problems, it seemed, and I was willing to try each fantasy that I’d ever had with him. We made love all the time, my favorite fetishes being taken from behind while spanked as well as anything tied to the bed. I still found it hard to talk about some things, such as the upcoming Christmas trip. I knew that he was over the situation with Larisa and just going to see his family, but I was nervous. I felt uncertain about us at times, given the speed at which we were happening and I used sex to distract myself from all the thoughts. He cornered me in the kitchen one night after he went to the gym when I was making spaghetti one night. We’d been working some overtime and were tired, but I was craving my mom’s recipe. “What’s going on with you?” He asked, making me jump and come back to the present. “What do you mean?” I asked in a light tone as he came up and kissed my neck. “Something is bothering you. I know that you try to hide things and distract me, but I can see it in your eyes,” Brett whispered to me as I melted against

him. “Talk to me, Amy.” I paused and stirred the sauce. “I’m nervous to meet her.” “Her who?” he questioned as I blushed. “Larisa,” I whispered as his arms tightened around me. “I know it’s over, but I just can’t help but doubt myself a little bit.” “Stop it. I love you,” Brett said for the first time as I stilled in his embrace. “I love you more than anything or anyone else in my life, and you don’t have to worry about anything.” “I love you,” I told him as I turned to face him for a slow kiss. The words had been dancing around us since nearly the beginning, and now they were out there. I felt infinitely better, and he pushed me up on the counter as he kissed me deeply. We ate after we’d made love, sitting on the couch with bowls of pasta on the table in front of us. I was all smiles now, and we talked about the trip and the move over the sound of his scores on television. I’d seen pictures of both houses in New York, and they were stunning. The apartment was on the twentieth floor, something that I couldn’t even imagine. It was furnished as was the house on the water and it was going to be a much easier transition than expected since I just had to pack clothes, shoes, and a few other things. Later that night, once we were tucked in bed, I told him that I loved him over and over as we made love before falling asleep. The plan was to visit with Cole and Larisa for a week so that Brett could catch up with his grandson and see his new granddaughter for the second time. Declan was coming up on three and Kaylee was six months old at this point. It was during Christmas, and we’d be leaving the day after New Year’s to get to New York and start our life there. We flew in first class, holding hands for the short flight. Brett and I had only improved since spilling our feelings for one another, but I thought about Larisa during the flight. Did she harbor any feelings for Brett? She had a husband and two small children, making me assume that everything was good between her and Cole. It was just an odd situation. She was just a year or two younger than I was and there had to be similarities between us. When we landed, I smiled at Brett as we went to get our luggage and meet Cole. He was waiting with a small boy that had his dark blonde hair and features that they both shared with Brett. Cole hugged his father and then me, tightly as he told me how many good things he’d heard about me. Brett was holding Declan as he asked him about his sister and the house, getting a long response in return to the questions. It was clear that they were family and nothing more now. Even when we

got to the house and I saw how pretty Larisa was, she was so in love with Cole and her little family as she chattered to us with the look of a tired mom. The spacious house was decorated for the holiday with stuff everywhere and a huge tree in the living room by the fireplace. That night when we were in bed, I asked Brett if he regretted just having one son. Watching the two children interact was sweet tonight, and it made me think about my own future. It wasn’t something that we discussed before now, being so busy with our lives. “It worked out that way with his mom. We split up shortly after he was born and I didn’t think about it with anybody else.” Brett rolled over to wrap an arm around me and kissed my hair. “Do you want babies?” “It’s always been on the back burner with me since I was career oriented. But they are so cute, and Cole is crazy about Larisa.” Brett smiled in the dim light coming from the wall, and I stared into his eyes. “How do you move past what happened?” “Time,” Brett told me as he tugged my body against his. “Lots of time and I am sure lots of talking for them. Perhaps fighting. They had the hard part of everything since I just stepped away and quietly divorced Rayna. I had to get over it in my own way, but now it feels like it was never anything, to be honest.” “I can see that,” I replied as he kissed me. There was just a strong love between all of them, and that was it. “I love you.” “I love you,” Brett whispered back as we settled in bed to fall asleep. I was in between homes with this man, but I’d never felt more secure in my life. We had a beautiful holiday with his family, and I met Rayna and her new husband, a wealthy oil man that doted on her every need. The brief nature of her marriage to Brett was evident in the way they interacted, and I could see how fast she’d moved on. It was the morning after she left that Brett took us out to eat in town. It was a beautiful lodge style restaurant, and I helped to get Declan in his seat as Brett sat beside me and made sure that the kids were both safe. We chose an early dinner for the sake of the two children, and the sun was settling slowly out of the window as I took a long look. I’d had a chance to speak to both Cole and Larisa one-on-one and was feeling much more comfortable now. Larisa told me that she was in love with Cole from the beginning but that they were just friends for a long time. Once she went through a rough breakup and slept with Brett, everything started happening quickly, leaving her very confused. She admitted to being in a bad place when she was involved with Brett for the second time and was so relieved that they worked through

everything as well as they did. She and Cole were thrilled with their life and family, and she didn’t look back into the past at all now. In fact, she was happy that Brett had found somebody to love like he did me and excited for our future. It was at that dinner that Brett knelt to the floor, taking me completely by surprise. We’d been together for six months at this point, and it seemed fast as he asked me to spend the rest of my life with him. I stared down at him, glancing at the ring in the box that shimmered in the light from the room before I stared into his eyes. Once I told him yes, Cole teased him a little about the whirlwind relationship but it was with love as we all laughed. Brett wrapped his arm around me as Larisa looked at the beautiful band encrusted with diamonds. “I need to give this girl some babies before I’m too old. I’ve not wanted that with anyone else.” Cole and Larisa shared a look as I blushed and giggled, feeling his lips against my hair. We finished our visit and moved on to New York, where the size of the city caught me off guard. Everything was bigger, and there were so many people on the streets. It was much more fast paced than Los Angeles as a home and business, but I was the assistant to Daniel, and I loved working with him. He’d guessed about Brett, and I from our first meeting and the ring on my left hand was no surprise to him or the staff. Better yet, neither did anybody else because that’s how it was in New York. The company was too busy making millions, and Brett loved working from home as he watched all the locations. We went out a lot here. There was always something open for dinner, maybe a play to see but I loved it all. We decided to get married in the Spring in The Hamptons on the beach with just some family and friends around. It was intimate and beautiful with the sun setting as we kissed for the first time as husband and wife, keeping it quiet that I was three months pregnant with our son at the time. There was a big dinner and reception outside afterward where we danced and chatted with the guests, and I was over the moon. I was so happy, and I felt complete in my life now.

EPILOGUE

TEN YEARS LATER, I replaced my manager when he retired. Our son Nathan was now nine and his twin sisters Olivia and Avery five and Brett worked from home and cared for them. We were more in love than ever, traveling to see

Cole and their family of four kids as much as possible. It wasn’t necessary to fly to California to see Mom since she was in New York as well, making herself known in the art world. We still cherished our time together at night when the kids were sleeping, and it was blissfully quiet. We’d make love for hours on those nights, just being a little quieter than before. The girls were grumpy if they didn’t sleep enough. Brett made sure to go away with just me at least once a year as well, somewhere where we could revisit the past. I never knew that my life would turn out this way, but I wouldn’t change a thing. I had everything I wanted and needed, feeling the love in my life every day. The End

HOT MENAGE ROMANCE

A llgirl.these stories are MFM menage romances where it is all about the TWO HUGE

CHAPTER 1

THE ELEVATOR RIDE was a long one. More than a few times she wanted to hit the button that would take her back down to the lobby, but she didn’t, she was too excited about the meeting that she was about to go into. Whatever he saw in her it didn’t matter, he was attractive and his invitation to the party had come as a surprise in the first place. The doors opened and with a deep breath, she made it the next three steps to the door of the room. As she was about to knock someone opened the door. He was gorgeous, tall and lean and only wearing his boxer briefs, and obviously intoxicated. He pulled her to him quickly and rammed his tongue in her mouth before pulling her into the room, leaving her speechless. As he thrust her into the room, she stood in shock, unclear what she was doing there after all. There must have been 20 people in various stages of undress, some completely naked. On one couch were a couple obviously having sex and then she saw him. The man was in the kitchen with some woman sitting at the bar in front of him. She was naked and he was kissing her. He saw her arrival and made his way over to say hello. He was

naked. Not just a little, but completely. He hugged her to him and kissed her lightly on the cheek. He took her hand and tried to pull her into the room. He noticed the look on my face and walked me to the corner of the room instead. “Hey, you ok? You are far too dressed baby.” he asked me. “I am afraid I wasn’t sure what kind of party you were talking about that’s all.” He chuckled loudly as he waved the woman he had just kissed over to join them. She was beautiful, her massive breasts jutting out of the tight shirt she wore. “Give her a kiss Lacey.” The woman smiled and moved her hands over Lila’s shirt, pulling her tits out and putting the nipple up to her painted mouth, sucking hard on them until she felt my knees tremble slightly… Lila woke up with a start, knowing she was dreaming once more. It was something that had started recently, the dreams ranging from sex with a stranger to sex with a group. It was always a surprise when she fell asleep at night, never knowing anything aside from the fact that she would be wet in her most sensitive areas when she woke, with no release in sight. Glancing up, she noticed the rain pouring down on the window outside of her apartment and she sighed. It wasn’t about the rain that bothered her so much. Lila was more than happy with the rain. It suited her mood if she were being honest. The week had been one of her longest, first losing her job and then today… She sighed just thinking about it. She had been one of the lucky ones, at least she thought so. Standing at 5’5 she was one the shorter side, but it did nothing to help with all the curves that came with her. She had long black hair, big blue eyes and her skin was soft and white. Jack, her ex, would often tell her she was like a fluffy pillow when he would lay his head down on her at night when they would go to bed. Her curves weren’t a problem, not really. Being a big girl certainly had its perks. Two of which sat on her chest. At a size 44E she had massive breasts, something Jack had also loved. It was as far as she let it go when they were together. He would spend hours playing with them, rubbing his fingers over the fat puffy nipples until they were rock hard and standing tall. He loved that she reacted to him like that. What he didn’t love was waiting, and she had made him anyway. Some part of her felt responsible, at least a little. They had been together a year, and he had shown some genuine interest in her for a long time. He, like all of her boyfriends in the past, had also been a big person, it was a place she was

comfortable. The idea of being with someone smaller than her simply too intimidated to think about, and she had always avoided it. He’d said all of the right things, had gone as far as to be there for her through more than a few setbacks over the last year. He said he understood that she was a virgin and wouldn’t push, but when she’d come home and found some skinny girl in their bed, grinding down on him like there was no tomorrow, she knew he wasn’t going to wait any longer. Some part of her knew wanted to yell or scream. The other part of her, the part that took over, simply waited and watched until finally one of them realized she was standing in the doorway. They both had the decency to look guilty. Something that hurts even more. Some tiny part of her brain wanted the girl to have been clueless about her existence, but the red faced inability to meet her eyes gave way to the truth, she was just some nasty homewrecker. They scurried, both of them. Part of her was surprised at his choice in women. Skinny and tall with no breasts at all, unless you count nipples only as breasts. She was the total and complete opposite of who Lila was. As the skinny one grabbed her things to run out of the apartment Lila, folded her arms and simply waited. Somehow she had expected him to panic or look a little more distraught than he actually did. Instead, he grabbed a blanket and pulled it up with him and walked towards her, a sad look on his face. “We are done Lila; I just need more.” He shrugged with slight indifference. “Apparently Jack.” I still held my ground, waiting for him to say or do anything else. Instead. He headed for the front door. “I’ll come get my stuff later.” She waited a good long while, long enough to make sure there was no chance of him coming back up, or walking back in before she let herself lock the door and cry. She had loved him, given him everything she had, but not her virginity and it just hadn’t been enough for him. She was starting to think holding on to it wasn’t worth it after all, but then how would she know what an ass he really was? Time went slowly as she helped pack his things, tossing them methodically out into the stairwell for him to pick up eventually. She called a girlfriend to come over and together they changed the locks on the doors, apparently something that is a standard course of action. The days that followed only made things seem even more bleak. She applied for every Administrative Assistant position she could find, but nothing seemed to be working out right for her. That being said, at some point Jack had come to get his things without saying a word and he slipped out of her life for good. Friday came, and with it came opportunity. As she started out her day, her

phone came to life and on it was an operator asking her to come in for an interview. Excited that something was finally going right, she got up early, squeezing into her best interview outfit and set off for the address she had been given. The building was tall and full, but the storefront was quaint and appealing to the eye, and customers on the street. As she pulled the doors open to the storefront, she had to wonder if she would fit in here at all. As she moved into the darker interior she was struck with the enormity of the actual storefront and everything they had inside. The best way to describe it was a high scale jewelry store, with every imaginable diamond and stone anyone could ever want. Moving around the counter, she smoothed down the front of her dress once more, thinking of how she looked, and how badly she needed this job. “You must be Miss Winston.” He came around the corner, and she felt her eyes drawn to him immediately. There was something dark about him, mysterious, almost that made her feel like she was being drawn into him. He was at least 6 ft tall and his black hair was short. His half smile was full of charm and life as he held out his hand for her to shake. She did so, swallowing hard. “Yes, please Lila.” She did her best to seem relaxed but just the contact form his hand was like someone had burned her. He paused a moment, looking at her strangely before he spoke again. “I am Derek, I am the CFO of the company, I do all of the hiring and processing, and handle the money matters. Although to be honest, there are only a handful of us, I like to keep people close to me.” She would have sworn there was some hidden meaning to his words, and she swallowed hard once more. He went on. “My brother is Blake, but he is out of town until this weekend. He is the CEO, and knows far more about running the business side of things. So tell me about you lovely Lila.” She felt his eyes on her, boring into her skin and she was suddenly hot all over. “I have many years’ experience, though not in fine jewels like you have here.” “Do you like pretty things Lila?” He was staring at her once more. “Of course, I am a girl after all.” She smiled slightly. “You are not a girl, Lila; you are a woman. Never forget the difference.” It was almost a command, and she agreed quickly, not wanting to upset him in anything. It was amazing how much she felt around him, a heightened sense of awareness or something. He stood and waved her to follow him, which she

did. He gestured to the diamonds in the case below them. “See that one there?” He pointed to the largest one in the case. She nodded. “There is a smoothness to it, something that sets it apart from the others. Like skin, under a person’s fingertips.” Once more she felt herself blush at his words, this was very unfamiliar territory for her after all. He turned once more to walk towards the front door. “When can you start? I will need you to meet my brother on Saturday if you can.” She smiled. “I can come anytime Saturday.” She watched as he chuckled at her words. “There is so many things I want to say to you right now lovely Lila.” He smiled. “Come… come at 10 that should be about right.” She smiled up at him once more, her tongue darting out to wet her lips. She watched his face harden immediately. “Be careful now Lila, he touched her chin with his thumb and turned to go back inside, locking the door as she left.

CHAPTER Two The entire interaction struck her as odd, though she had never been more excited in her life. With the horrible week she’d had, just flirting with a handsome stranger was a nice treat. Something about him, made her feel like he was really up for more than just flirting, but she also knew there was no possible way a man like that would be interested in her. The only thing she knew for certain was that she had wasted far too many years, holding on to her virginity for mister right. Saturday came and she found herself back in front of the store, this time during business hours she it was easier to go inside where she met a nice older woman running the store, showing and selling items out of the massive cases. She only took a moment when she saw him standing in the corner of the room. He smiled as he waved her over to him, and she did as he asked as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Smiling down on her, she felt his hand on the small of her back as she was led to a staircase leading to the apartments upstairs. “Blake is upstairs making a mess in the kitchen, as usual. He is eager to meet you.” He let his gaze linger on her for a long moment. He pushed open the main doors and she came face to face with a mountain of a man who was doing exactly as he predicted, making a mess. He turned to face her and she felt her stomach drop once more. He was sculpted perfectly,

and just as gorgeous as his brother, though his hair was lighter, and longer. He also had a full goatee on his face, making him appear rougher around the edges. He gave her a once over and then glanced over at his brother who arched an eyebrow in return. He smiled widely at her. “You must be Lila? My brother did not tell me what a beautiful woman you were, if you don’t mind me saying?” He smiled widely at her, his dimpled cheeks making him even more attractive. “You are both very sweet to have such kind words to say.” She felt her body react to him, just as strongly as she had his brother the day before. “We have similar tastes in women.” He said it simply and the two of them smiled at each other before he gestured for her to take a seat. The interview was a simple one, no real questions came out of it aside from what she liked to do in her spare time and her favorite foods. He pushed a stack of paperwork over to her to sign and she did so, glancing at each one before doing so. They ordered dinner and champagne, much to her surprise. “What exactly would my duties be?” As they went over the administrative part of the job, she felt her body relax. She knew it was the champagne. It was not something she usually enjoyed, so even a slight amount could impair her for hours. “Of course we discuss everything, and share everything so please understand that. There is nothing I don’t tell Blake and vice versa.” She nodded in understanding. “In fact, there isn’t much we don’t share, is their little brother?” Blake smiled over at his brother who simply smiled taking another sip of his drink. She gulped, blinking innocently as they both watched her as she sat there. Deep down, she should have been concerned, but there was a bigger part of her that was excited, mainly about all of the hidden meanings behind every word they spoke. “You ok over there Lila, you look tense.” Blake moved to stand behind her, rubbing her shoulders slowly and carefully. She leaned back into his hands, the feel of the strength there was intoxicating. “I’m good, very good.” She had a suspicion these tow wanted to do far more than just be her new bosses and her suspicions were proven when Derek was there before her finally. He was staring at her intently as she slipped her pink tongue out to lick her lips, watching his face harden once more. His mouth was hot as his lips found hers in a searing kiss. She could barely breath as he nipped and sucked on her bottom lip. His tongue slipping into her mouth, swirling wildly with hers.

“She no longer cared about her virginity, or anything else. She wanted to live for once and for all, finally! She wanted this, wanted to feel and finally put an end to the ache she felt deep down. She felt Blake’s hands come around under her shirt, pulling it up and off, tossing it on the floor, his mouth was kissing her neck, biting her gently as Derek’s fingers rid her of her bra, unleashing her massive breasts in his mouth and hands. She felt a sense of embarrassment as he looked at her, just taking in her appearance. She moved to cover up but he grabbed her hands holding them down by her side. She couldn’t move as he held her. He moved behind her trading places with Blake, who now had free access to her breasts as Derek held her hands down, gently but firmly. She felt the hard bristles on her pale skin as his mouth covered first one and then another nipple teasing it into a hard aching peaks. She whimpered as she tried to move, but Derek held her fast and tight. He whispered in her ear. “Just feel him, we won’t hurt you, we only want to please you.” She relaxed slightly as he kissed her, the feel of his mouth on her combined with the flicking of Blake’s tongue on her nipples caused her to moan. She felt Derek move, then, pulling her with him to the bed in one of the rooms. Blake was behind her holding one of her hands gently. “Wait, there is something you should know… I’m a… virgin.” She watched both of their faces, as they smiled. Derek kissed her again. “We will be gentle Lila.” With one of them in front and the other in the back they undressed her completed. She was no longer concerned about her appearance. She wanted to just lose herself in the feel of them. She moved to climb up on the bed, Derek following her to lay beside her as Blake moved to position himself between her thighs to explore her even more. She glanced up at Derek’s face as he kissed her upturned mouth gently, his free hand tugging gently on her nipples that were still hard and erect. As she looked at him she felt Derek’s hands moving to feel the softness between her thighs, and her body trembled anxiously. She heard Blake’s sharp intake of breath and then Derek moved his hand down there to feel what Blake was so worked up about. She felt him groan as he made contact with the intense wet heat coming from her. Blake slipped in first one finger into the tight sheath of her as Derek moved his thumb intently over the tiny nub of excitement just above him. She felt her body arch up in reaction to the double stimulation of them both. She had never felt anything like this and it was intoxicating and overwhelming. She was no longer in control of her body as she moved, grinding up against

their hands and fingers. She felt her body flush and the heat overtake her as she moved. She was working her body moving towards something as she felt hands and heat everywhere at once. It was almost too much as Derek kissed her once more. “Come on baby just let go Lila.” She looked up into his face as Blake pushed in two fingers deeper than before setting her over the edge finally into an orgasm that she felt shoot through her arms and fingertips. She was shuddering as Blake moved, coming up to her face, kissing her hard and then slipping his fingers in her mouth. “Taste yourself Lila, its beautiful.” He smiled down at her as he pulled himself up showing her his massive manhood standing erect and ready. She turned to look at Derek who had done the same his manhood even larger and more intimidating. “Oh no.” Lila blinked, looking back and forth between them. “What’s wrong Lila.” Derek waited. “Sir… mmm… sirs… I can’t,” She gulped. “You’re too HUGE!” Both men chuckled slightly. “Just taste it Lila, we won’t do anything you don’t want to do.” It was Derek, who spoke and she tentatively reached out to touch the velvety hardness of his hard skin. She heard him inhale and she grew more eager to please him as he had done her. She stroked the length of them both, watching their faces enjoying the power she had in her hands. It was exciting, feeling them both harden even more under her movements. Finally, she moved her head slightly as Derek pressed the hardness to her lips. She opened her mouth wide to accommodate the largeness of his size, she tasted him, licking him and sucking just slightly as she had seen done in a movie once. He bucked against her face as she did so, slipping even further into her mouth. She sucked a little harder, tasting the saltiness of him as she used her hand to grab him at the base, holding him there as she moved her lips up over him and then down again, slurping as she went. She found her mouth wet and waiting for him with every thrust into her waiting mouth. Her saliva was a natural lubrication as she moved her hands over him as he showed her what to do and what he liked. She moved to sit between his legs on the bed, taking him in almost all the way as he put his hand in her hair, pushing into her mouth a little further once more. She naturally gagged almost instantly, but he would move out quickly and then push back in, telling her to tighten her mouth around him. Soon he was pumping long, swift strokes into her mouth and she sucked and slurped on the length of him. While she did this she could see Blake out of the corner of her

eye, leaning back on the bed, watching her intently as she worked her mouth on Derek. He was stroking his massive length eagerly, waiting for his turn to use her mouth. Derek stopped her, giving Blake a chance to test her mouth himself. She found him to be slightly thinner but longer than Derek, which made taking the length of him in her mouth even harder. He pushed her limits, enjoying the gagging sound she made with each stroke. He put his hands in her hair, holding her chin as he pumped into her mouth. She felt Derek moving then, coming behind her on the bed, running his tongue along her back and down her buttocks until he let his tongue flick against her went entry once more. She moaned on Blake’s hard member as Derek tasted her juices, causing her to shudder almost violently. It was clear he was preparing her for more and she soon found herself on her back. Blake resting on his knees beside her tapping her mouth with his hard member as she felt Derek move between her thighs, spreading her wide. He smiled down at her as he tested her wetness with his fingers. “You are sure you want this right, Lila?” She nodded, knowing full well she had never wanted anything more in her life. She saw his smile as he pushed a little, rubbing the head of his hardness against her there, running up against the tiny nub of delight and back down again until he was covered in her juices. He pushed slightly forward, pressing the length into her, filling her slightly before he rammed his thickness into her in one swift deep thrust. He paused for a moment and She welcomed Blake’s deep kiss to soothe her cries as she felt it rip and burn of the loss of her virginity. She felt Blake nip at her lips gently, and sweetly as Derek pulled out and pushed back in, gentler this time, taking only a little more with each stroke until soon he was pushing his entire length back in once more. She glanced up at Blake, who was erect and she reached for him, catching his smile as she did so. She tasted him with her mouth as Derek, pushed and moved within her, creating a pressure and thrilling ache deep down to her core. Blake held her head down, then, keeping her from moving at all as he stroked his great length in her open mouth. She moaned loudly as Derek began pumping harder and faster still, this time creating a sweet friction she had never imagined possible. She felt her body move on its own, her hips arching up to meet his as he pumped into her. She climaxed hard and he soon followed, pulling out right as he found release. Soon she found Blake moving harder and faster in her mouth and he too groaned out in ecstasy as he climaxed onto her luscious breasts. The three of them were still for a moment, before the two men laughed and

smiled, grabbing a towel strategically placed by the bedside. Together they cleaned her, smoothing over her skin and all over until she was clean and pretty once more. One at a time they both kissed her full on the mouth and helped her redress, both serving her in a way she could have only imagined in her wildest imagination.

CHAPTER Three Her job was an easy one, and she was doing it well. Despite the level of theft that had been rampant locally. She had been working hard for two weeks now, and had only caught a glimpse of Derek from time to time as he came in with a stack of paperwork for Blake to sign and then he would be off again. Blake was around more, but he kept a safe distance from her, which had her puzzled. Even now she remembers the days following what they had all shared, her tender body not used to things they had shared. She smiled just thinking about it and wanted to know if they didn’t like it, or if it was something they did all the time. It had nothing to do with them, not individually. She cared for them both, and they treated her with the utmost respect. She thought long and hard about how she looked at them both and realized she liked them both equally. Blake’s good natured humor countered the Derek’s dark, mysterious side perfectly. She went back to work, knowing, thinking about them wouldn’t bring them back any quicker. On Wednesday she found an email requesting her presence at a team meeting that evening at a local Italian restaurant. She was concerned, her job meant everything to her and without it she would be penniless once more. As she made her way to the restaurant that evening she was on pins and needles. She should have never crossed the line with them, it probably had cost her job and that was more important than any threesome she could have dreamt of. She made her way inside and found them both nestled into a curved booth in the back corner. She approached the table and they both stood, making room for her to scoot in. She saw that they had ordered wine and as she settled in she remembered what had drawn her to them in the first place. They were both full of a powerful energy and she was comfortable with them both. Derek gave her a smile. “We wanted to talk to you about a couple of things Lila. Some good, some not good.” She frowned. “Have I done something wrong?” “No, no, nothing like that.” Blake chimed in, giving Derek a hard look. “We aren’t seeing any gains lately, some of the product we brought back isn’t

selling so we need a push on that front. I need you to get some feelers out there, find a few buyers who are serious.” He smiled at her and she relaxed slightly. “May as well go on about the other things too Blake.” Derek smiled at her this time, he took her hand in his under the table. Running his fingers over hers. “Yes, there is that.” Blake stopped only long enough to order for them, knowing full well what everyone would want. She waited, and when they didn’t respond, she asked them, the tension almost unbearable. “What do you need?” “Well, in a nutshell, we want you Lila.” Derek answered this time and Blake smiled at her. She swallowed hard, unsure what to say next. Simultaneously, as if it had been planned that way she felt both of their hands on her thighs at the same time. She exhaled slowly, enjoying the feel of them there, the pressure of their fingers making her excited. “I wasn’t sure… you’ve been so distant.” She bit her lip as Derek moved higher still, his fingers gently grazing her most sensitive area. “It’s how things work with us. We like to share… everything. That means without the other we rarely seek out female companionship. You, on the other hand were good… almost too good. We want you to come home with us tonight.” She gasped as they traded off, not Blake pushing a finger down the front of her panties, slipping between her lips there. “I want that too.” She barely got the words out and did her best to compose herself as the waiter brought their food. Even as the waiter asked if they needed anything Blake continued to rub her there and she had to hide exactly what he was doing to her from the guests in the room and the waiter himself. They managed to enjoy dinner, both men making sure she had everything she needed. As the car moved through the city, she was reminded of how much she wanted them both equally. They pulled up in front of a massive house, two stories and beautiful. As they went inside, they showed her around the house and finally they stopped at one set of double doors. “As you can see we both have our own wing of the house. This room is a special room we had put together, for a special… ah guest.” He pulled open the doors and she looked around the massive room, complete with a huge bed in the center. On the wall beside her there were a few riding crops and different ropes and handcuffs that could be used in many different ways. There was soft lighting, a red hue landing on everything in sight. She let her eyes move around even more, seeing the silk scarves hung to

one side of the bed and leather straps were attached to both the headboard and footboard. “Oh my…” She trailed off. “There is a whole other world out there Lila, and we want to show you.” Derek smiled at her as he led her into the room. He was a bad boy in almost every way. He knew what he wanted and when he wanted it. He stood in front of her gently stripping her of her clothes. She felt Blake come up behind her and slip down the ties of her dress, letting everything fall to the floor. The anticipation of them was almost overwhelming. She wanted everything at once, and she wanted them both. They lifted her putting her on the bed. She sat waiting for them both, and soon they were losing their clothing as well making their way up the bed on either side of her. She felt hands on her body all at once and she moaned in the anticipation of it. She watched as Blake lay on the bed this time, pulling her to straddle his lap. She stood up and he guided her soft wet heat down the length of him, she gasped at the entry of him as she found herself impaled on his massive length. She cried out as he first started to move, making him smile with his intense need. He helped her to rock on him gently, and she inhaled as Derek’s hot mouth found her massive fat nipples as she moved shifting slightly to and fro. He suckled her hard, causing her to arch her back up towards him as her lower half rocked over Blake, the flow of him almost too much for her body which was so new to lovemaking. She found a rhythm, and he gripped her hips tightly with his massive hands, pulling her down harder grinding onto him. She watched as Derek moved then, sitting in a chair on the far side of the room, stroking his massive length watching her move. She loved the power she felt as she knew watching her was pushing him farther and farther into reaching his goal. She felt Blake move, almost angrily now, picking her up and twisting her on her side. She felt her leg being lifted until she was in a scissor position. He pushed into her with such force she yelled out, making Derek move to her side, slipping his great manhood into her mouth, giving it a few quick strokes. She felt Blake start to move faster and she knew he would go at any time. He pulled out, spilling his love on her and she smiled up at him as she lay there. Derek grabbed her hands, then locking them into the leather bonds and leaving her vulnerable to him. He was watching her then, looking down at her with a heated gaze as he brought out a massive purple toy from the side table. It was bigger than he was, thick and hard and she eyed him as he flipped a switch on it causing it to move in a circular motion. She gulped as he moved to slip the fat head of it within her walls, stretching her wider than she had ever

been before. “Derek… I can’t.” She moaned loudly as he pushed it in even further. He pulled it out slightly and turned it on, and a vibrating rhythm began to build up where it made contact. She moaned loudly, feeling her legs tremble uncontrollably. He worked the thick fake manhood in and out of her as it vibrated, causing her to yell out loudly as she climaxed on its length quickly. She thought he was done, but she was in for far much more. He continued on, and she moaned loudly, feeling the agonizing push and pull him. Blake found her that way, pulling her into his lap and he held her as he tweaked her nipples while Derek loved her this way. She came not twice, but three times, soon her body stretched out as far as she imagined possible. The huge fat tool filled her completely, and even in the end Derek used it on her relentlessly. When she was exhausted, only then did they both cover her body in kisses, loving her and cleaning her up with such a gentle hand it was hard to imagine what their hands had just been doing moments before. They shifted, lying together in the massive bed, her between them and soon she was asleep, her body simply exhausted from the experiences they were showing her.

CHAPTER FOUR Her life was almost perfect. Twice more she had been called to a meeting since the initial introduction to the love room at their home. Derek was in town now with some frequency and it was when they would call on her, but only when they were together. She glanced down at the streets below her apartment wondering who she even was anymore. Gone was the sad virgin who was afraid to be touched by a hot man. Now she was her own woman, and she loved the power she had when she was with them. It filled her with a new sense of accomplishment and in many ways… love. There was nothing she wanted for sexually, together they both met any and every need she could conjure up. Anything she was curious about they would show her and she loved them for it. As time went on she found herself content, but then it may have been simply because they seemed to have time for her and only her. There was an unspoken understanding between them, and yet when Blake brought around a beautiful and exotic woman to meet her one afternoon, she felt the sting of it in her face. She did her best to hide her true feelings about it, but as he walked away, he let his eyes linger on her a moment longer than usual, and she knew that he knew she was upset about it. There was a message sent to her a short time later

that requested her presence and this time she turned it down. She wouldn’t be some play thing for them any longer, she was her own independent woman now. She instead went home to her apartment and settled in for a long weekend. Looking at her reflection, she noticed the subtle changes in her appearance. There was a glow about her that was obviously due to being well loved, and cared for. She was finally in a happy place and she refused to allow anything to mess that up for her, even if it meant having to let them both go. She was lying on the couch still thinking about her new life when the knock came on the door. She tensed up, knowing it was likely Blake, coming to question her behavior. She pulled open the door surprised to see Derek there instead. His eyes roamed over her and he cursed under his breath slightly. “How do you do that Lila?” She frowned at him. “How do I do what?” She crossed her arms over her chest. He walked into the room, kicking her door shut behind him. “Managed to look so damn sexy, even in sweats and a ponytail. You drive me crazy.” She swallowed hard, giving him a half smile. “Did he send you?” He sighed loudly, running a hand through his hair. “Yes, he said something was wrong, wanted me to come because I am the dark and mysterious one.” He gave her a half smile, which was very much over exaggerated. “He brought a woman around today.” She barely got the words out and she felt her bottom lip tremble. “A woman?” Derek frowned. “I know I have no rights to anything, whatever we have is… fun I guess?... but it hurt nonetheless to be introduced to her the way I was.” “Fun? I’d say it’s much more than just fun. As for another woman, I have no idea what that’s about, but I’ll find out.” He stood then, dialing a call and leaving her to go back to folding her laundry. He walked up behind her and she could feel the heat coming off of him from where she stood. She wanted him, just him. It was almost like a punishment to not include Blake somehow. He turned her around his mouth finding hers in a kiss that was almost painful. Derek was the more aggressive one, and it was just what she needed right now. She stood before him, her eyes glazed over in her excited state. Derek never said a word as he led her up the stairs and to her shower. He pulled her into the shower with him and soon she found herself being bathed with a loving hand, scrubbing her body until it was glistening. “Lila, you’re a beautiful woman, I don’t remember a time when I wanted

someone more than I want you.” “I don’t understand… “He cut her off. “You don’t have to understand Lila, just follow three easy rules. Trust me, do as I tell you and Feel everything. It's then that you will understand.” He finished bathing her and pulled her to her bed that filled up the room. She was angry and excited, but most importantly, she needed him, needed his touch. She wanted answers but the not knowing made her want Derek that much more. She watched him, moving slowly, undressing and she could practically see the gears in his mind turning. She wasn’t sure what he had in store for her and yet all that she cared about was knowing that she would give him anything he wanted. “Get on the bed and lay there, on your back. Hold yourself open to me. I want to see you.” He watched her as she did it. Lila was surprised, she felt some small concern over what Blake would say if he found out, but it was soon tamped down by the intensity in which Derek looked at her. She could see his face as he watched her and she took great care to move slowly and run her fingers down over her body as she moved. She wanted to do as he asked, she felt an overwhelming desire to please him in all things, more than anything else. It was new to her, touching herself in this way. She had them to touch her, to give to her. “Touch yourself Lila, I want to watch you please yourself before we do anything else.” He sat in a chair beside her bed and she did just as he asked her to do. She moved her fingers over herself testing and teasing, enjoying the wet heat of herself for the first time, even in her dreams she had never imagined this. She remembered how they touched her and she used that to rub and slide into her wet walls. She also took pleasure in knowing that he would love seeing the effect he was having on her. She loved knowing that telling her what to do was more than just a minor turn on. She rubbed harder and faster as she moved closer to orgasm, her fingers now making fast flicking over her hardened nub. She quickly found a system that worked for her, and the wet mess she was making on the bed was almost too much. Start slowly, slipping and gliding and increase the tempo as she went. She found that she loved to go in with at least two if not three fingers, doing her best to stretch herself to her limits. “We are going to do something new. You are not allowed to cum, at least not until I tell you to Lila do you understand?” She felt herself respond shaking her head yes to him. He was in control of her, of everything and she was merely a tool for him to use for his own pleasure.

He stood moving closer to watch her as she slid her fingers deeper and deeper inside. She whimpered from the ache that she created until suddenly he was there, moving with her fingers, working their hands together in the wet hot mess together to find that special rhythm. He was fingering her wildly now, filing her with four fingers and stretching her wider than she imagined she could do. She was still sore from their last encounter, but the tenderness was nothing in comparison to the wonderful ache he was creating inside her now. She loved helping him, gyrating against their hands wand pushing on towards release. As he worked her with his hands, suddenly she felt the softness of his tongue on her there. It was almost too much. She moved her hands back and gave him access to her and he grabbed her lifting her up, until he was diving into her head on. There was nothing gentle about Derek, he used his mouth on her almost angrily. He sucked on her and licked her in every possible direction. Treating her tiny nub like a nipple that he wanted hard and erect for him. He focused on her there, swirling around it and sucking on it, all the while he was three fingers deep into her. She was moving now, bucking and grinding into his face with wild abandon. Nothing else mattered but finding release and doing it just for him, knowing Blake would feel something about it made her want it even more. She knew time was too short, she needed it right now, more than she had ever needed to climb that plateau before. Suddenly he stopped. “No Lila, you’re not allowed… not yet?” She frowned at him and whimpered. She was so close she needed it. She whispered “Please” and he moved in front of her quickly “I told you no Lila, you have to be punished. Rules are rules and they are very important Lila.” He stood and pushed her legs back together, almost forcefully and pulled her upright. Her hair was a mess around her shoulders and her chest was heaving, the look in her eyes almost ready to strike out at someone… anyone for that matter. She needed it more than she had ever wanted anything else, and he had told her not yet. She kept her head down, not making eye contact. She would do as he asked even though it was painful, but she needed no further promise of punishment. She had seen the room, and the riding crops found there. She knew Derek was a fan of those, and she was not ready for that yet. This was a world unfamiliar to her, something new and dangerous, but she loved it. He had found a part of her no one else could touch. She trembled and held her breath in anticipation waiting for his next move. He moved over the side of the room to her desk and told her to come over to him, of course she did as he asked. Her body was aching and she could feel

her own wetness as it ran down her leg slightly. She would have done anything he asked if it meant letting her find release. At the desk He pulled her to him kissing her deeply, sucking on her tongue as he forcefully bent her over the rough wood. She welcomed the coolness of the wood on her chest. Her fat hard nipples now enjoying the friction of the wood as he moved her until she was right where he wanted her to be. She felt him slip a finger into her, but only for a moment. He focused his attention on moving her wetness to her other entry and she knew he was preparing her for something new, something she was terrified to explore. He moved his finger around her tight back opening. She could feel him rubbing gently probing a little at a time, moving her wetness over the area. She tried to allow herself to relax. This was new for her and she really didn’t know what to expect, but she would try… for him. He felt her resistance and knowing this was a first for her, he felt himself get even harder. He would be the first in this area too and she knew he took great pleasure in that. “I won’t hurt you Lila, I promise if you trust me we can both enjoy it.” Lila could feel her legs starting to tremble even more. He continued to lubricate her and slip a finger in deeper and deeper until she was stretched. He guided his throbbing member into the opening and pushed gently, feeling her stretch even more to accommodate him. She inhaled sharply. It was too much, and she was scared more than she realized she could be. Her body was no longer hers, it hadn’t been in a long time. In this moment, however she really had to give over to Derek and trust him with her everything. She had given over to the desire that swept through her and carried her to new places, and new heights with or without Blake. “You know Lila, this is the first time in a long time for me too, having a woman like this. I knew you would let me do anything I wanted to, Lila, and it is good so good, you are perfectly shaped for me.” She felt his hand on her throbbing button again, rubbing her, exciting her. She forgot about her fears as he rubbed harder and harder, the glistening nub throbbing even more now if that were possible. He slowly pushed into her more. She felt him fill her up. She was in the most intimate position she'd ever been in. Her body was stretched out in a new way and she slowed her breathing down to enjoy the feel of him there. She heard his labored breathing and she knew he wanted it… he needed it. He pulled out slightly and pushed back into her, slowly and deftly. He did it repeatedly until he was pumping into her over and over. He was slow at first, just making long strokes into her. She was moaning loudly now the increase in the strong sensations there were overwhelming and good. He increased his strokes until he was pumping into

her with abandon, she couldn’t stop her cries and he grabbed a fistful of hair riding her hard. Pain mixed with pleasure and she had never felt anything like this before with them, it was all new and almost simply too much. She could feel him getting closer and closer to climax as his body shuddered over and over again, and it excited her more. “That’s it Lila, … that’s it baby move against me, back into me.” He worked her, giving and taking with her as he went, pushing her to take even more in. Lila moaned his name and bucked wildly on him wanting and needing it hard and deep. She was lost in a swirling haze as she finally made the climb. She orgasmed with such force it created a lasting effect throughout her entire body, wracking her entire length from head to toe twice. She felt it in every part of her and loved it. She loved the way he used her and took great pleasure in his moans, groans and cries as he pulled out and spilled himself over her massive tits. It took more than a few moments for her to be able to move again. Her body was changed now forever. He was massive in size and he gingerly withdrew and moving to clean himself up, and as usual he made sure to serve her as well, cleaning her up anywhere she may need him to. She waited until he motioned for her to get up as well and she moved to the bathroom to take another quick shower. She felt him there behind her soaping her up once more, this time the pressured of his body was different, less sexual. She let him wash her and he kissed her gently, almost lovingly. She knew she would have to ask him, but she didn’t want to. “What will; Blake say Derek… about this?” She paused and then went back to getting dressed. “He won’t say anything. We are fine to do whatever we want at any time. There is so much I want to share with you, but I will wait until tonight.” He stood to go, leaving her even more confused. “Tonight, what’s happening tonight?” “Come to the house. We need to talk.” She sighed, knowing she was weak where Blake was concerned. “OK fine, but dinner that’s it.” She watched him leave, only then realizing what kind of pain she was in thanks to him. Even the pain was exquisite and would make her think of him often.

CHAPTER Five

She stood at the door, her level of anxiety was high, but it had to be done. The door opened and Blake was standing there. His lighter hair reflected the last remaining rays of sunlight and he took a step towards her. She backed up slightly. Glancing up, she saw the pain in his eyes, and for a second she felt his pain as well. “Lila, don’t do that… don’t back away from me.” He was almost pleading and she squared her shoulders and took a step in his direction. He only waited a split second before pulling her into him covering her mouth with his. “She was nothing. And nothing happened. I’m sorry Lila if you think otherwise.” He pulled back to look into her eyes. She felt the tears well up and she let them fall, pausing only to let Derek come pull her into a hug as well. “Ok ok come inside so we can show you properly Lila.” Derek led the way and she was greeted by a tour down the west hall into a small alcove. She gasped as she opened the door in front of her. Everything about it spoke of her, the light gray and purple of her favorite colors, were splattered all over the walls, and her bed was beautiful. She turned to look at them questioningly. “We want you Lila…” Derek started. “And no one else but you. We want you to live here with us. We are all so full of pleasure it will be a wonderful thing to have you and you have us anytime you want. We both love you, so no one else for any of us.” Blake smiled at her and she knew in that moment she could trust his sincerity. She reached for them both, pulling them in close and feeling their sweet kisses as they covered her face and neck. She looked up at them knowing they would always be there, and she could love them in her own way. As always, things may get complicated eventually, but they were all very open and she knew she had finally found a way to be content in her life. As she slipped off her clothes she began the short trip over to her bed, turning to face them her fat nipples hardening in the coolness of the air in the room. She backed up and on top of her new bed, crawling across it until they both sprang to life, she moaned loudly as she rolled on her back, spreading herself wide for Blake’s fat tongue as he tasted of her love juices. She would be happy this way, now and for always. She felt her body begin to suck and as she was grinding down on his face, she found herself eye level with Derek’s glistening rod, she sucked and loved him eagerly. Loving the taste of him as he stroked her mouth deep and fast. Her climax came fast and hard and with it came Derek’s This time, he held her head there, filling her mouth with his love

juice and she eagerly accommodated him much like he always did for her. She felt the bed move as Derek lay on his back, and she got on her knees to serve him better. What she didn’t anticipate the was the feel of Blake pushing his hard rod into her from behind, filling her up. As he moved she lost herself in the rhythm once more. IN this way she wanted him to pound her harder and faster, the sweet ache only there when she was loved hard, and angrily. Soon she was at the plateau once more and she tweaked her nipples in anticipation of her climax. As she soared through it, she felt Blade hold her tightly and Derek kissed her on the mouth full and hard. Yes, there was no doubt in her mind that this as indeed a very good way to live, and she loved them both. They would take care of her, and she was a happy girl indeed. ***THE END***

TWO HARD

BLURB:

LYLA IS LOVING her life as the most sought after stripper in an upscale club. Her two loyal clients love her to death and…..they love to share.

WHAT HAPPENS when Lyla finds out that the two HOT men she services privately in the club are going to be her stepbrothers?

WILL Lyla continue to service them or will she become a victim to that older man who refuses to share her with anybody?

READ ON TO FIND OUT! CHAPTER 1

SHE FELT his hands on her thighs, slowly moving upwards higher and higher still. She felt another hand on her other thigh, and she smiled to herself knowingly. It was always this way with them; they both were eager to touch her and she loved having two sets of hands on her. She felt them move higher now and the first set of fingers slipped into the wet heat of her, apparent as he slid his two fingers in and out and back in again. She bucked her hips slowly, riding his fingers as the other set of hands slipped further back, rubbing her other entrance gently. He always wanted more of her, wanted to push her limits. She kept moving, coming down harder onto the fingers inside her, feeling the end of a finger in her backdoor. He always started this way, just enough to make sure she felt him there before he did anything more. She moved to her knees now. She had one in front of her and the other in behind her. The man behind her, still nudged a little more, pressing the finger into her another half inch, causing her to moan. He pushed her forward slightly, and she grabbed the broad shoulders of the man in front of her, who still fingered her wetness, this time using three digits. She grinded down on both hands, feeling the back finger slip into her fully, and a soft moan escaped her lips. Moving her body up and then down she sloppily fucked both sets of fingers, urging them onward, taking everything they wanted to give. She glanced down at them, both lost in her actions. Her massive 44DD breasts were bouncing and swaying with every frenzied movement she made, the fat puffy nipples now harder and darker than they were normally. She reached up, grabbing a hard nub in both hands, which only pushed her further. She wanted to cum, hard and fast, but they wanted to play, pausing and playing with her until she was frantically slamming her hips down on their fingers. It was too much now, and she felt the man in the back move slightly, and she knew what was coming. He replaced his finger with something bigger, thicker, and as he pushed into her, she whimpered slightly, the size almost too much. He pulled out and pushed back in until soon she was full of him in her tight backdoor. He moved slowly at first, and soon he was jerking in and then out in quick motions, the tightness almost too intense for him. She looked up and the man in her front smiled at her as he used his thumb to rub the tiny nub of her womanhood. She moaned loudly as she felt the first stirrings begin again; this time she wanted it more than ever. She was coming down hard on him, using him to make herself cum and as she did, the wave hit her hard, causing her body to shudder over and over, pushing the man in the back into pulling out and finding his own release.

As he finished, she smiled to herself, proud of her efforts. She was still smiling when the man in the front pushed her down on her back roughly and slammed his manhood into her full and hard. She inhaled sharply as he pounded into her harder and harder, with no thought to her. She wasn’t sure if it thrilled her to have him use her body as a vessel, or if she was thrilled because he slammed into her over and over with no sense of softness in his actions. He used her, until he was finished, kissing a trail of kisses down the length of her body as he stood before cleaning himself up. As always, the two men held out a hand to her and helped her stand, both working together to clean her up, and giving her gentle kisses. She smiled at them both as she redressed, and casually made her way out of the private room. They were the exception to the rule, they were the only ones, and she liked it that way.

CHAPTER 2

LYLA MONTGOMERY WASN’T your ordinary girl. In fact, she was far from ordinary in any way, shape or form. At 21 she was barely making it, and yet deep down she was still ready to take on the world. She was never herself, not her true self anyway. Sally Mae, her birth name, had been replaced years ago by something more interesting. Lila seemed to be a good fit for her then; she and her mother had picked a new name for her, for a new life. Even now Lyla seemed like a name a regular girl would have, but she was never a regular girl. She was 5’6, taller than a lot of girls, but she had a flared hip, and a curvy figure without being too big. Her black hair fell in curls down her shoulders, and it contrasted to the soft paleness of her skin. The look was completed by a set of piercing blue eyes, and freckles that spread across the bridge of her nose. Performing had its unusual way of presenting situations that could help keep her lifestyle the way she liked it. Even now glancing up at the tall building covered in black where she worked most nights, she smiled; she really did love when the two of them came to see her. It was rare these days -only once every few months, but when they did she always enjoyed them. Separate they were just ordinary men, but together they seemed to bring life to her body that no one else had ever done. She pulled up the neck of her jacket,

convinced that the cold air was good for her as she made her way home. Home, even that was a word that was foreign to her. Ever since she turned 5 she and her mother had struggled, moving one place to another and never quite getting it together. One home after another, they saved and pinched every penny just trying to stay alive. Now, as an adult, Lyla had finally landed a job 6 months ago, though stripping wasn’t exactly the position she thought she would find herself in when she daydreamed as a child. She and her mother still lived in a one-bedroom apartment, in the bad area of town. Though lately, her mother had spent most of her time with a boyfriend she had managed to snag a few months back. Being alone was hard, but it wasn’t something she wasn’t used to. Her mother often found new boyfriends and she would leave Lyla alone in a hotel, going off to enjoy her still youthful life. At the age of 36 she was young and still looking to find a man to love her just the way she is. Lyla, on the other hand, wanted nothing of that nature. She would rather do it all herself. So, when she had been approached by a man in a black suit 6 months ago, she took his card, never really expecting to call him. One night, bored, she did and since then she had been a hit. Reggie was a good boss, and he allowed her to keep a larger chunk of her money than some of the other girls. He taught her everything she needed to know about dancing, and how to appeal to men. She had been inexperienced in seduction, but she had been a quick study. Dancing came as second nature to her, the easy way she moved her supple body made men crazy and she loved the affect she had on them. There was a sense of power that came over her and she loved that feeling. Even though it was enough to keep them afloat the real money hadn’t started coming in until she met them.

CHAPTER 3

CHARLES AND NICKOLAS, brothers so they told her. One was dark in every way; his black hair, facial hair and skin was just slightly darker than his brother’s. He had dark eyes, and was dominate in his interactions with her. Nickolas, on the other hand, was different. He had sandy hair and was a giver. His clean cut look made him look like a model out of the catalogue, but in their private moments he was the one to give her pleasure first, until she was exhausted, and then he took over.

They were a package deal, and they had explained that from the first time she danced for them. They had paid an elaborate amount of money for her to visit their private room, and she had danced for them, letting them both touch her only slightly, as touching very clearly was not following the rules. In that one time there was something very special about the way they interacted with each other. She was turned on more by the both of them than she had ever been in her entire life combined. There was something special about how they loved her, and how they touched her, both working with the other to take her to the highest levels of pleasure. In turn she did the same thing for them, giving them both all of herself, and it was a wonderful thing they had going. It took a good while before they crossed the lines they had. In fact there had been long conversations and just simple private dances long before it had gone too far. Even now she remembered the first encounter like it was yesterday. Since then she would receive a black card in her dressing room, letting her know that they were in town together, and were requesting her time. The routine was one she knew well. She would make her way to the stage, and do her show. One she had put together for the upper class men who came to this venue in the first place. She started with black silk; the long trails of her lingerie would touch the ground, but flare out when she spun around, making circles along the stage. Her massive breasts pushed through the top, almost spilling over, every time she moved and her hair was wild and hanging freely down her back. It was part of her act and part of what made her so appealing. The song was soft and sweet and she would walk the length of the stage, moving with grace as she found herself crawling on the floor, much like a cat. Her long, slinky strides we deliberate as she crossed the length of the stage, reaching her hands up high to grab a long rope that hung there. As she did, her swelling breasts would pop out of the bottom of her lingerie; the swollen globes would remain there, peeking out from under the bra built in the outfit. Being exposed always fueled her desire, and her puffy fat nipples would harden almost instantly under the watchful eyes of the patrons there. She loved giving them the impression that she was simply dancing, without any clue how exposed she was. The innocence in that act made the men crazy, and she loved it. Soon she would pick up the pace, using the rope as a tool in which she straddled and moved along the length as if she were riding a man. Her breasts swayed and jiggled with her every move, and soon she freed herself from the bindings completely, her shaved pussy bared and giving off an even younger appearance. They would love watching her as she danced seductively, moving her hips and ass in time with the music, creating a slinky, sexy feeling in the room. She

never touched anyone, but she especially loved the men who would sit near the edge of the stage and she could lay on her back, spreading wide to expose herself to them. She was always very wet and she would see the desperate excitement in their eyes as they caught a glimpse of the pink wet between her thighs. On more than one occasion she had watched men masturbate for her as she danced. Some of them were discreet, some more open about it. She could see their hands moving furiously over the stiff members in their hands under the tables. It was almost like a game for her, to try and guess how big a cock would be that night based on the man who was stroking it. Some of them were average, but on occasion there was something bigger, and special, she could watch in action. Something she could use later when she was alone and wanted to please herself. Once in a while a man would pay for a private dance and she would love those times the most. The extra money she made during a private dance was hers and only hers. So she could work the situation to her advantage, and make much more money that way, all without touching any of them very much.

CHAPTER 4

THE LAST PRIVATE dance she did was two months ago, before Charles and Nickolas had crossed the line with her. After that she knew better than to ever cross a line again. An older man, a frequent visitor actually, had finally asked for a private dance, and she had done so eagerly. She had been watching him; months now he had been coming in spending money on every woman that worked there. Then one day, he had come to her show, and he had been a regular there since then. He spared no expense and she knew he liked the way she moved. On that particular day she had been feeling alive, and maybe just a little lonely, mainly because of the black card she found at work. Letting her know the boys would be in town on Friday. As she danced, she thought about their attention, and the feelings they put on her again, and how wonderful that was. She saw the older man watching her, and he gave her a smile. As she finished, she found herself escorted to a dark room down the hall. Typically, she only did a private dance from time to time, but she felt a small thrill of excitement as she walked down the long hallway. As she entered the room, she saw him,

in the center of a couch, and he waited for her. “Dance for me -- take everything off.” He demanded it with a quiet calm that sent a thrill up her spine. She did as he asked, hearing his breathing change as she did her moves, gyrating on his lap, grinding down hard on the firmness she felt there. He wanted her and she loved knowing it. The night went on and she soon found herself laying back on the small platform that had been built into the side of the room. “Will you touch yourself for me? I want to watch your face, I want to see you cum, and I won’t touch you.” She licked her lips, feeling the swirling sensation in the pit of her stomach. She let her fingers drift down, slipping and sliding in the wet valley between her thighs as he watched. She spread her legs wide as he came to stand over her, but without touching her. True to his word he simply watched, his hands stroking his massive cock that had made an appearance as she rubbed herself between two fingers, making soft swirls, her body eager to find release. She saw him moving his hands harder on himself and she wanted to taste him, but she knew better. She felt the orgasm rise up within her and she knew what he would like. “Cum on me.” She whispered it and even the words pushed her over the edge. She came hard, her moans loud and sharp in the small room. She heard him moan loudly and felt the explosion as he did as she asked him, rubbing his love juice into her skin, feeling the proof of his lust drip off her pert nipples. He pulled up his pants, smiling at her as he did. “You are amazing.” He dropped a stack of bills on the table beside her as he walked out. “You did well. I am looking for a new girl, one who will belong to me and only me. That is the rule you will live by if I choose you.” He reached for her, running his hand down the length of her face, smiling at her. She felt something shift, and a deep seeded fear creep up in her as he talked. He moved his hand again, this time moving up towards her throat, letting his fingers linger there for a moment before he blinked, smiling at her once more. She swallowed hard, unsure of what to say to him next. Fortunately, he moved towards the door. “I will let you know if you are the one dear.” With that he was gone, leaving her with an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach.

CHAPTER 5

SHE PICKED UP THE MONEY, suddenly feeling something akin to disgust. She had just gotten paid for something she did all the time, but somehow what had started off as a sexy thing, had become something dark and bad. She jumped up to clean up the mess, and head for home. Whatever he had meant about being chosen, she would make a point of steering clear of him from this point forward. That had been then, and ever since he would simply smile at her as he passed her on the way out of the building if he happened to be there. It was no surprise that she rarely saw him anymore, until she noticed him spending a great deal of time with Chelsea, anyway. Chelsea, for all intents and purposes, was her only true friend. She noticed his frequent visits with her, and Chelsea was gradually changing. Her outfits became more elaborate, and her time was spent with him more often than not. Some days she wouldn’t show up for work at all, calling in to say she was sick, but Lyla knew something different was going on. As time went on Chelsea had less and less time to spend with Lyla, and she knew something was wrong. When she did see her, her usually bubbly attitude was somehow solemn and quiet, which made no sense. Lyla, did her best to reach out but ultimately knew it wasn’t her situation to handle Whatever the old man had been trying to get from Lyla, he had obviously found in Chelsea. Late on a Thursday, she watched as Chelsea made her way down the long hallway, carrying a rose with a black ribbon in her hand. She made her way outside and then home, not really thinking about it again. The next day, she woke to the frantic cries on her phone from Megan, another dancer from the club. “Chelsea is dead! They found her body in the ditch across the street from the club. They say they may shut it down Lyla, what are we going to do?” She wailed loudly on the other end of the phone. Lyla sat up with a start. “Wait what? Start over. What are you talking about, Megan?” After some time went by Lyla had enough information to last her a lifetime. She sat on the corner of her bed, lost in her own world, thinking of her friend. Whoever had done it had been brutal and angry, somehow taking out his frustration on her. She let a tear slip down her face. Chelsea was a good girl, just dancing to pay off her student loans and taking care of her baby boy. She thought about the last time they had spoken, and how she had smiled as she passed her in the hall to go down for her private dance. “Oh no.” She spoke it out loud. She shook her head. He couldn’t be behind it. He was just some random

old guy who liked pretty girls, that was it. She shifted her focus on the day to come, putting the rest of this behind her. The police were making rounds, asking a lot of questions, but she had carefully avoided them. She didn’t need the attention, or to accidently say something wrong. She hated police, and everything they had done to her when she and her mother were hungry and homeless. Today was the last day she had to get through before the boys were there tomorrow. She hadn’t worked in days since the club was closed for a while. Tonight, however was another matter, and she needed the distraction. Her mother had cornered her that morning and told her she needed to come to dinner that night. Reluctant to meet yet another boyfriend, she had tried to get out of it, but after an hour she knew it was obviously important to her mother so she had agreed.

CHAPTER 6

GETTING out of stripper mode she pulled her mass of hair back, and slipped into a simple black and white dress and pumps. She did her makeup, needed only a little to accentuate her features. Her mother had stressed the need for her to dress nicely, since they were all going to a nice place for dinner. She made her way out to the car and followed the directions she had been given until she pulled into a very nice neighborhood. The community was elaborate and obviously upper-class. She pulled the car into the driveway at the house she had been told to come too. As she knocked on the door, she was surprised to see her mother answer. “Lyla, I’m so glad you’re here. Come in come in.” She scurried her through the door and finally Lyla met the boyfriend. “This is Alex Randolph; Alex this is Lyla.” He had a kind face, and he looked at her mother with a sense of complete devotion. Lyla felt her body relax as she watched them together. “Lyla, Amanda has told me so much about you, I’m am so glad to finally meet you.” He hugged her slightly and then a strange look passed between him and her mother. Something was going on, that much was obvious. “I’m afraid I can’t say the same, Mr...?” “Call me Alex, please.” He slipped his arm behind her mother, pulling her to him. “The boys won’t be able to come here to meet us so we are going to have to meet them at the restaurant. We have some time; ow about a drink?”

Lyla nodded and he set off to make her something. She glanced at her mother with a knowing smile on her face. “What?” Her mother actually blushed as she asked. It was obvious this relationship was far different than any other one she had been in. He came back with a drink and the three of them settled into the kitchen, all chatting happily about nothing. “You two seem to be doing well.” Lyla watched her mothers’ face as she asked. It was priceless how she knew her so well. She gave her a reassuring smile. “I guess I just mean you two look happy.” Her mother turned to face Alex for a moment. “We are.” He looked at her mother. “Yes we are.” He turned back to look at Lyla. “We are really glad you came to night.” He checked his watch. “You ready to go dear?” At her nod the three of them filed back outside and she slipped into the door of the Bentley he held open for her. She tried to make some eye contact with her mother, but it was useless, she was so enthralled with him. As they took the short ride to the restaurant she was once more lost in thought. She could be working tonight, but her mother had made it very clear that this was an important night for them. She could only imagine what was going to happen as they made their way inside. She could practically smell money in the air, the place was so full of the upper class. She felt the air being sucked out of her lungs and immediately needed a break. They had just been led to their table when she felt like she needed to go. She excused herself to go to the restroom, and made her way down a long corridor to her destination. Once inside she splashed water on her face, taking in long deep breaths. This was not her world, but she could sit through it for tonight, she could do that much for her mother. She straightened her dress, smoothing back her long tresses. Another moment passed and she made her way back outside and towards the table to enjoy dinner when she finally looked up from the floor. Her heart stopped beating. It was them. Lyla let her frantic gaze flicker between the two of them, confused. She saw the look of surprise on Nickolas’ face but Charles remained unfazed by the new developments. She was still unable to breathe when Alex introduced her to them. “Lyla this is Charles and Nick, my sons. They are not much older than you. Boys this is Lyla, Amanda’s only daughter.” She swallowed hard, plastering a smile to her face as she shook first one hand and then the other. They moved so that she could sit between them, and

she smiled at her mother as she settled into her seat. They all spoke about their careers, she expounded on her classes that she was taking and she noticed the gleam in Charles eye from time to time. She found herself relaxing as the night went on, it was obvious neither of the two men were planning on giving her up to her mother. Soon dinner was underway and they dined on black sea bass and vegetables and she finally felt like everything would be fine. It was then that she felt their hands on her thighs. They didn’t move, not really, but simply held her there, gently applying pressure to let her know who was in control after all. There was something about the pressure that made her relax; she was there for her mother and despite her initial concerns, she relaxed, doing her best to enjoy the time spent with her mother, and the two of them. Everything would be just fine. She was safe and she was thankful for that. Soon the evening came to an end but not before Alex and her mother stood, holding hands. “We are so glad all of you came to dinner tonight.” Alex said and then looked at her mother, before turning back to look at the three of them. “We have decided that we don’t want to date anymore, instead we are getting married.” Her mother practically bounced with happiness and Alex hugged her close to him. It was clear that they were in love, and she felt a smile form on her face. Her mother had worked hard her entire life to get her raised and fed every day, and more often than not it had been a struggle. She felt pressure on her thighs once more before both men stood, smiling and hugging both her mother and their father. Everyone seemed to be happy, despite the fact that that she had been sleeping with her soon to be step-brothers. “Dad, why don’t Nickolas and I take Lyla back to the house. She can get her car from there and you two can have some alone time?” Alex and Amanda exchanged looks. “That would be wonderful Charles, thank you. That is if you don’t mind, Lyla?” She shook her head and smiled slightly. She felt some anticipation start to stir deep down. “Great, sounds good. I know your mother has a lot of planning to do so I hope you can make time for that.” He smiled, hugging her close once more before he set off on a walk around the water with her mother. As she and the two men made their way to the parking lot she felt something akin to sadness. She would miss them, and the passion that seemed to explode between them. She waited until they were at a long black car before she turned to face them.

CHAPTER 7

“THANK YOU, both of you, for not saying anything. My mother doesn’t know what I do, and the fact that we had a special arrangement wouldn’t really sit well with her, I’m almost sure of it.” She gave them a half smile. Nick spoke first. “Why would I say anything; we are friends, aren’t we? Just special friends.” He moved to stand beside her, his mouth finding hers in a sweet, soft kiss. She blinked up at him when it was over, somewhat confused. “I just assumed that since we have to stop it all now… I just don’t want things to be awkward, that’s all.” She bit her lower lip. Charles spoke next. “There is no “used to” as it relates to us Lyla. Nothing has changed, despite the new twist of fate that we’ve been dealt. Now, since we are alone once more, take off your panties and lean against the car, Lyla.” There was no asking of her for anything; instead Charles demanded it of her, always. She did as he asked and she felt his hands creeping up the front of her dress, until he used his left hand to press down on her chest, holding her in place. His right hand was moving up her thigh, seeking the most intimate part of her. She whimpered as he made contact, his fingers cold from the night air as they pressed into her heat. He focused his attention on the tiny nub he found there, his concern only in making her body react to his as she always did. She arched into him, the threat of being caught was overwhelming, but even as she glanced around the parking lot she soon lost control, no longer caring if someone caught them in the precarious situation they were in. She pushed down onto his hand, wanting more of him. He gave her another thrust and soon she felt the wet heat of his mouth as he feasted from her body. She was laying on the car completely now, her legs spread wide for his mouth. She felt each of her breasts being popped out of her bra and soon she saw Nick’s head as he bit down slightly on her raised nipple, causing her to buck wildly. He was good at that, manipulating her massive breasts into pleasure. She let her eyes meet his and he kissed her slightly before he sucked a nipple into his mouth, pulling and stretching it between his lips roughly. She felt her body shake and shudder as the two of them worked her body into a frenzy. When her orgasm came it crashed into her and she violently grinded into Charles’ mouth. They stood, straightening their clothes, letting her breathe for a mere second before she let them help her up. She redressed, thinking about how wrong it seemed to continue on the odd relationship they seemed to have started. As they neared the house she moved to go to her car but they stopped her,

slipping a piece of paper in her hand. She frowned slightly as she looked down at it. It was simply an address. “Come there tomorrow night. We will be there waiting for you.” Charles was the one who gave instruction in all things and she merely nodded at him as she slipped into the cool leather seats of her car and started off. It had certainly been an interesting day. The next day she woke feeling under the weather, something she hadn’t felt in a long time. There was nothing else to do but sleep in and nurse herself back to health. She lay there thinking long and hard about her life and what she wanted to do with it. She was somewhat sheltered, having only been with two men in the last year. She heard the click, before she recognized that someone was at her door. Standing, she made her way over to peek out of the door, but she saw no one, though a shiver went up her spine. As she turned to go she saw the rose and black ribbon laying on the mat of her apartment. She swallowed hard, feeling fear well up inside her. The card attached was just as frightening. Good girl, It’s your turn to shine! I don’t share with others, lose the boyfriends or they will end up like your friend. I’ll see you soon. She knew it was from him, the last person who had been with Chelsea, and she also knew it was a dangerous game she was playing. He seemed to think she avoided the police because of him, when in truth it had nothing at all to do with him, it was about herself. She clutched the card to her and moved back inside to lock the door. She put the rose in the trash, pulling the card off first. Maybe it was time to tell someone something after all. For now, she crawled back into bed. There was little doubt in her mind that they would be upset that she didn’t make it the night before. Charles had given her an instruction, and she typically followed it to the law. Last night, however, whatever had her feelings so poorly had made her sleep into the early hours of the day. She lay there, soothing her fever and as she did so she felt the bed shift slightly. Glancing up she saw Nick there. She frowned as she tried to raise up, but her body refused to move. “Lyla, you should have called.” She felt the coolness of a rag on her forehead. “I could have been here for you.” He continued on with his ministration and soon she was napping quietly. The next time she woke up she was in a clean sheet, laying on her bed. She felt better than before and she smiled to herself as she looked around the room, coming face to face with Charles.

She took in his dark look, concerned about what he would say next. He was an avid lover, but she knew better than to ever cross him, and she did her best to obey his wishes whenever he requested something of her. “If you’re sick Lyla, you will call us from now on, is that clear?” He was quiet as he spoke, his words short and clipped. “I didn’t think…” She trailed off. “No you didn’t, that’s why I am upset. This will never work if you’re not open with us, Lyla.” He looked up at her, taking a few long strides in her direction. She wanted him to pull her close, but she knew better than to expect that of him. He stood by her, lifting her chin up to make eye contact. “Tonight we are coming to see you. There are some things that need to be discussed.” “Okay.” She let her gaze drop down, but looked up at him once more when he lifted her chin. “How are you feeling?” He stared at her face intently, searching her over for an explanation of why she had felt so bad. “Much better actually.” She barely got the words out before his mouth found her neck, kissing and dipping his tongue into the collar of her neck. She moaned as he moved over her, running his fingers down her collarbone and into the cleavage there. She moved the blanket away, giving him access to her, knowing he would want her to be submissive. He almost smiled at her actions, but he regained composure quickly, not revealing himself to her. “How much better are you feeling?” he whispered it as he trailed kisses down her chest, his tongue flicking out to taste the peaks of her breasts. She moaned, finding her body reacting to him. “I’m…o-ok.” She managed to sputter. He moved to remove his clothes, and she was reminded of how perfectly sculpted he was. He lowered his body to slide along the length of her. His hands moved against her skin as he put his face next to hers. He looked her over as he moved his fingers into her, teasing her and touching her most sensitive areas. It was unlike him to be so close, his actions were so different than Nick ‘s when they were together. He seemed concerned, almost vulnerable as she looked up at him. He moved and she felt him shift until they were almost joined. “Don’t scare me like that Lyla, ever.” He kissed her as he pushed into her roughly, taking and claiming his body as her own. She clung to him, this new side almost taking over and pushing his body to own hers with a sweet abandon.

Soon he switched, flipping her over onto her stomach as he pushed into her roughly, grabbing a fistful of her hair at the base of her neck. He pulled back on her, making her back arch roughly as he pummeled into her, owning her body as is should be. He moved faster and faster until suddenly he slowed, making long, deep strides inside her. Her body trembled and ached with his movements. She felt him then, pressing against her other opening, preparing her for a new entry. She spread her legs wider, knowing what he wanted, and as he let her hair go, she lay face down on the bed, baring herself to him completely. He moved slowly at first, pushing into her, moaning loudly as he owned her in this special way. She cried out as he pushed and then pulled once more, slipping and sliding as he soon found himself pushing in all the way, until she was full of him, and she knew he was satisfied. Sated, he rolled over, pulling away from her. She waited for him to say something, and he stood, kissing her lightly on the forehead. “We will be back tonight Lyla. There is much to discuss.” She watched him leave, and only then did she let her guard down once more. He was a superb lover, and she would miss him when she was gone. She picked up the phone, cradling it in her hand as she thought about what to do. She hated losing her mother, and leaving the two men she cared about most behind, but she had to help Chelsea. She deserved that much.

CHAPTER 8

SHE LOVED THEM, she knew that each of them were special in different ways, meeting a need that she had when the other couldn’t. Now, they were going to be a family, and she felt the only good thing in her life starting to slip away. She rolled over in the bed, letting the tears slip down her face. Now that it was real there was no way of keeping the truth from them, and she would have to go sooner rather than later. There was no way she could stay around and let this crazy person hurt the people she loved. She grabbed a few things, nothing special, as she made her way down to her car to go. It wasn’t her fault. Not really. She would do whatever it took to keep them all safe. She had never been worried before, not like this anyway. It ultimately came down to choices and her choice to get involved was why she found herself here now.

The call had been a short one; the detective who answered asked her more than a few questions and he had asked her to bring the card down to the station. She felt the same fear she’d had years ago as she walked slowly inside, pushing down bile that came with her panic as she went to the desk for help. She saw him as he walked her way, and she followed behind, certain somehow the older man was watching her every move. She told him everything, including her interaction with the man. Anything she told them may be helpful later. “How well do you know this guy?” The detective gave her a once over. She crossed her arms, staring back at him. “I don’t, not really. I’ve danced for him before, and we had that private dance. The whole thing was weird and then I saw him with Chelsea all the time. I got the card this morning.” “If you really want to help your friend, there is one thing you can do.” He stared at her and she swallowed hard before agreeing to hear his plan. She left the station, slid into her car, and made her way to see her mother to say goodbye and to take the next step.

CHAPTER 9

“I DON’T UNDERSTAND, Lyla; what do you mean you have to go?” Her mother’s eyes filled with unshed tears as she frowned at her. “It’s a situation with work. I just need some time off, that’s all.” She did her best to sound flippant about it, but inside she was terrified. “How long, dear?” her mother pressed on. “A couple weeks, mom that’s all.” She hugged her quickly, and then she made her way outside before the tears fell. She failed to see the tall figure in the grass behind her. It took a week to get everything together, and to separate herself from everyone. It was difficult, but she knew it had to be done. Finally, after some correspondence she was heading off to wrap everything up once and for all. As she pulled into the hotel she took a deep breath, hopeful that things would be fine in the end. She smoothed down the front of her outfit, hating the way it clung to her, and she held her head up as she went into the lobby of the hotel. She saw him, sitting just as he said he would. She moved over across from him, slipping her gloved hand down the front of his jacket invitingly.

“Hello, Lyla. I’m glad you came to your senses.” The older man smiled up at her and then gestured for her to sit across from him. “I told you I would do as you asked, but I want to understand why?” She paused, signaling for the waiter to bring her a drink. She could feel her hands trembling, but she did her best to look composed. “She was a problem, nothing more, Lyla. I told her to do something and she didn’t listen. You on the other hand, you know exactly how to listen, just as I like you too.” He smiled at her, running his finger down the side of her leg. “I know better than to push my limits if that’s what you mean.” She smiled at him and he laughed loudly, as she took another sip of her drink. “We will see young lady, we will see.” He grabbed her wrist then, turning it over painfully. She felt tears spring to her eyes and she blinked hard. “You seem to think that I am an idiot Lyla, that somehow I don’t know that you already have two men in your pocket. I know everything little girl, and I know that tonight I am going to show you who is in charge once and for all. I’ve been watching you, and how you have separated from them. That’s good. Chelsea didn’t listen; she wanted more and more and I warned her that it would be me and only me. Sadly, she didn’t want the same thing.” He stood then, pulling her with him as he moved. She felt herself being dragged up the stairs and she coughed loudly, hoping to trigger a response from her actions. “It doesn’t have to be this way,” she whimpered and he grabbed her even harder, pushing her in front of him. “Actually it does. I know you went to the police, and I know they are probably watching me even now. See I don’t know why they would think I would hurt any one of the whores in that place, but then Chelsea was special, wasn’t she?” She felt the cold steel as he pressed it into her side, causing her to freeze in her spot. She glanced up at him, right before he dropped. His body fell, landing on the flat plane of the hotel hallway. She fell with him, and then she looked up, coming face to face with Nick. It was only then that she allowed herself to relax and she fainted. Lights were the most obvious thing she saw when she woke up. She sat up quickly, feeling her chest for the wire she had been wearing. It was gone, and as she glanced around she saw the room filled with police, and she saw Nick and Charles. They moved together, hugging her tightly. “You could have told us, Lyla.” Charles, more reserved as always, stood back slightly as Nick hugged her close. Her eyes made contact with his, and she felt the emotion coming from him.

“He was going to hurt you all, I went to the police instead. I wasn’t sure what else to do. Seems like you were watching over me anyways.” She stood shakily, as the officer came over to talk to her. “We have everything we need. He knew the police sent you there, but not that you were wearing a wire. We got his confession, he admitted to hurting Chelsea and the matching cards will help. You did well, Lyla. You’re going to help bring justice to her family.” She smiled slightly, and as the officer left she wrapped a blanket around her shoulders, the two of them leading her away to their car. As she slipped inside she thought about the long day that they’d had, and how some peace and quiet would be nice. The car pulled up to a long set of condos, and she hesitated for a second before stepping out. She glanced at the address and smiled; they had brought her home. As they made their way inside she smiled at them both, looking at how they lived. “Lyla, I know you’ve had an eventful day. Go take a bath, we want to talk to you after.” It was Charles and she nodded at him as Nick led her down a long hall to a bedroom, covered in white and ink hues. She did as they asked, relaxing in the tub, finally feeling more like herself. She wanted everything to get back to normal and soon. After her bath she stepped out onto the fluffy white rug, toweling off and slipping into the robe she found lying on the chair nearby. She wasn’t sure what the nature of their relationship would be now, but she knew it was time to discuss it once and for all. They were waiting for her in the main room, both more handsome than ever, and both standing when she came into the room. She smiled at them both, loving them in her own way. She sat down across from them in an overstuffed chair. “I’ll get right to the point, Lyla. We want you. What I mean is we want to be with you.” Nick seemed flustered and Charles stepped in. “What my brother is trying to say is that we want a relationship with you. Both of us. I am obviously more reserved than Nick, but when you are home, I want just as much of you as he has. No more strip club please; no one else touches you but us.” She blinked twice, looking at them both. “But our parents.” “Can do whatever they want. There is no telling where this will go, but for now, you belong to us.” Charles said it very matter-of-factly. “If you will have us, that is. No more secrets though; this situation with the dead girl, and the old creepy guy…it was too much. Once we knew what you

were doing we watched and waited, but we don’t want you in any kind of danger like that again.” Nick added quickly, giving Charles a heated look. She thought about it a few moments, until she knew her answer was an easy one. “I love you both, so yes. I’ll be with you.” She looked at Charles for a longer second. “Only yours.”

CHAPTER 10

CHARLES MADE his way over to her and held out his hand, which she took eagerly. As she walked she reached back for Nick’s, who encased her hand in his warmly. The threesome made their way into the west wing of the condo and opened the doors to a spare room. She ran her hands over the red silk sheets and she turned to look back at them, letting her robe fall to the floor. She watched their eyes as they ran over her; her huge breasts were high on her chest and her puffy nipples were growing harder in the cool air of the room. She crawled up on the bed, moving enough so that both men could wrap her wrists in the rope that was hanging off of the bed. She felt the ropes twist slightly and tighten as they stretched her arms, causing her breasts to jiggle with their efforts. They did the same with her feet, putting her into a strained position, leaving her everything open and exposed to them. Finally, she was blindfolded, and she could only lie there and feel. She felt the mouths on her, kissing down the length of her, one side sweet and warm and the other side harder and menacing. She loved them equally, feeling her body reacting as they moved over her. She was wet; she could feel the evidence of her desire as her inner thighs soon became moist with her juices. She wanted more and she ached for it. She felt something hard at the apex of her thigs and she blinked open her eyes, feeling the hard vibration against her as Charles pushed the foreign object inside her, filling her completely. She gasped at the initial entry, and then felt the vibrations move through her, hitting her insides in just the right way. He worked her with the dildo, slamming it inside her over and over, watching her muscled pop as the toy would exit, only to be pushed back in once more. Nick began to help, touching a tiny vibrating toy on her love nub, moving and flicking it as Charles worked her from the inside out. She wanted to grab them both, pull them to her, but she was powerless to move at all. Her first

orgasm rocked through her, making her entire body convulse as she cried it out. Spent, she tried to stop them, but they only smiled and started yet another onslaught, this time adding a third toy to the mix. It was thin and grew bigger as the shaft went on. She knew this was where she would be tested on her limits as she felt the tiny end push into her other entrance and move slightly while the two men worked her other areas. She soon found the pressure there building as the thin end pushed in farther and farther until soon she was fucking and bucking wildly on both toys, both holes filled to the maximum. She moaned and cried out loudly as they used her body, each toy pushing and pulling into her, and the tidal wave that crashed over her was unlike anything she had ever felt before. The blindfold was pulled away and she looked up at them as she continued to shake while aftershocks hit her over and over again, both men moving slightly away, undoing her hands enough to allow her to stroke both of their long, hard shafts on either side of her. She loved touching them, feeling the hard desire they had for her. She pumped them both wildly, watching their faces as they grunted with her every move. “My mouth, I want you there, please.” She begged them and they agreed. She felt Nick move between her legs leaving the toy in her back entrance and replacing the other with his own thick rod. He pushed into her, carefully moving the one in the back as he moved, causing her body to rise up off the bed. She cried out as his fullness was almost too much. She looked up in time to see Charles grab her head and move her into position, and he slid the thickness of himself into her mouth, and down her throat. She didn’t love him with her mouth, no, instead he turned her head slightly, holding it in place as he pumped into her mouth, using her throat to stroke himself deeper and deeper until she felt him stiffen and pull out only to give her a chance to grab his shaft and pump him wildly, licking and kissing the head of him until he exploded. She felt the surge hit her head on and she kissed the length of him, caressing him and reveling in the mess he made on her. Nick was close, she felt his fast hard pumps into her and she looked down at him, her eyes on his pushing him into the next peak, he too pulling out his rod and covering her other half in his love juice. She lay there, content, covered in them both. They cleaned up and then moved to help her into the shower. She kissed them both one after the other and she smiled to herself at the wonderful life she could see in her future for the first time ever.

TWO FOR ONE

CHAPTER 1

SADIE JAMISON WAS a bit suspicious of the text from her best friend Vivian about meeting her for lunch at her art gallery when she received it in the morning, but she went during a break from her article for the local paper despite her concern. Vivian Adams had a good heart much of the time and wouldn’t do anything to embarrass Sadie -- not too much.

SHE WALKED through the thick glass doors of the art gallery that Vivian managed and took a look around at the new pieces on the wall with appreciation as she made her way back to the office down the long hallway. “Yo Viv,” Sadie called out as she tapped on the heavy wooden door with her hand.

“COME ON IN.”

SADIE PUSHED the door open to see delivery from one of the best places in town spread out over the long table against the wall as Vivian frowned at her phone. “What’s wrong?” “I don’t know why the yearly charity event can’t ever go smoothly.” Vivian groaned with a frown. “My hostess agreed to do the auction, but she suddenly has a new boyfriend and backed out. The event is this coming weekend!” Vivian looked over Sadie thoughtfully as her friend frowned. “How about you?”

“WHO IS GOING to want me?” Sadie eyed the food with a raised eyebrow as she shook her head. “This was a trick, wasn’t it? You’re bribing me with food.” Sadie was five foot ten but also heavier than any of the past bachelorettes that were involved in the auction that raised money by ‘selling’ a woman to a man for a dinner date for an inflated amount of money. They claimed it was

innocent and just for the event, but Sadie was not into being a hooker for the night. She didn’t even think it would be sincere given her size eighteen frame and the fact that she was black.

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME? You’re gorgeous.” Vivian told her as she sat up straight and tossed her platinum blonde hair back with a toss of her shoulders. “We have a great make-up artist and hair girl to bring out that gorgeous caramel skin and your bright green eyes, Sade. They’ll get you a hot dress; we’ll make some cash, and you can just do dinner. I know things have gotten scandalous in the past, but you don’t have to do anything that you don’t want to do. I swear. It makes so much money every year, and everyone says it’s their favorite part of the event.” Vivian pleaded with her friend with her big blue eyes as Sadie smiled. “I can’t do it seeing that I’m getting married in two months, you know.”

THE UPCOMING WEDDING to a local artist that was starting to get a name for himself was huge news to the girls. They were working hard on the ceremony that was going to be on a private beach in Santa Monica with Vivian and Seth’s closest friends and family, and it forced a bigger smile on Sadie’s face. “Touché. I’ll do it. It’ll be fun to get dressed up for the night, and I’ll make him take me to the best place for dinner.”

VIVIAN LAUGHED AND NODDED.

THREE DAYS LATER, Sadie was staring at herself in the mirror in awe. Her long dark hair was in wide curls and highlighted with streaks of a honey color, which was so much more than she ever did with the curly mess. Her hair came from her father and his black heritage while her lighter skin and eyes came from her Brazilian mother, which was a combination that she didn’t think about too much before now. At twenty-two, Sadie had learned that the majority of men didn’t appreciate bigger women.

TONIGHT, though, she looked amazing. Sadie dressed in a clingy emerald green

dress with makeup that made her eyes pop. They had been done up in a smoky style with a stunning plum gloss, and she shook her head slowly. She still wouldn’t make the former thousands of dollars that previous auctions had, but anything helped.

VIVIAN CAME to get her in the dressing room and led her to the stage as she babbled excitedly about the night. Sadie swallowed the lump in her throat as she stood on the steps and waited for the cue to her entrance. When she heard the call for the beautiful bachelorette, Sadie forced a smile on her face and stepped out to thunderous applause and cat calls. The announcer called out her likes as if it were a dating ad and started the bidding at one thousand dollars. Sadie swayed her hips as she fought a laugh and walked down the added runway for this part of the show. The champagne that she’d enjoyed in her room was doing the trick, and she narrowed her eyes as she tried to see who was looking at her.

BIDS WERE CALLED out throughout the crowd, nothing too far above what the original number started out as until a booming voice rose above the crowd. “I’ll offer five hundred thousand dollars for the lovely lady.” Everyone gasped, and Sadie’s eyes widened as she struggled to stay standing on her stiletto heels.

“WHAT?” She whispered as she looked around to see who the man was in the bright lights.

“SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND,” another voice called out as she spun around to try and see any of them.

“WELL, well. This is the fastest auction that I have seen in quite some time. Where are we at, gentlemen?” The announcer teased the crowd as everyone waited anxiously for a response.

“SIX HUNDRED TWENTY-FIVE THOUSAND.” It sounded like the first bidder again.

“SEVEN HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS.” These guys weren’t playing, and Sadie clenched her fists as she wondered what more there was to this. The bids jumped up in smaller increments as everyone waited to hear the outcome and once it hit over a million dollars, there was the sound of mutual laughter from the crowd. “Gentlemen, let’s do this.”

“WE’LL GO in together with two million and she’ll get to date the man that she chooses.” The crowd reacted as Sadie stared forward in shock and the announcer brought the crowd to an ear-piercing cheer. Sadie felt someone next to her, urging her off of the stage.

SHE WALKED off of the stage right into Vivian’s waiting embrace, who spun her friend around. “We’ve never done this well, Sade! I'm in total fucking shock right now, but you rocked it. I can’t wait to see these men…men. Can you believe it? Two men bid on you. Talk about scandalous!” Vivian chattered on as Sadie let her tense body relax.

“WHAT NOW?” Sadie asked as Vivian pulled back and looked at her with sparkling eyes. “We have a meeting room for the new couple to get to know each other. There're appetizers and drinks. I won’t lie. Sometimes they hate each other, but I am looking forward to this one.” Vivian took her hand and led her down a hallway to a door and pushed it open before she poked her head in to look around. “Empty. Come on.”

SADIE FELL into a comfortable chair and ran her hands through her hair. “How did that just happen?”

“YOU’RE BEAUTIFUL. That’s how it happened.” Vivian told her as she sat down

across from her. She poured them some champagne, and they toasted with broad smiles. “Remember, no matter how much they gave to the cause, what happens is up to you.”

CHAPTER 2

THE WOMEN DRANK and waited as Sadie grew progressively more nervous. When the door opened again, she looked up with curious eyes as two men walked inside of the room.

THEY WERE both tall and wearing exquisite suits that were custom fit to their muscular bodies. That was where the resemblance ended.

JACOB LANDON WAS dark haired with seductive whiskey eyes and a full mouth that promised the best of sin to Sadie as he slowly let his eyes rove over her body and she understood the goose bumps that she had on stage at this moment. He looked built, confident and she knew that he was rich just from his appearance. Brent Taylor was similar in build but with tousled blonde hair and bright blue eyes. He looked to be more of the wealthy surfer boy with all of the traits that Jacob offered and Sadie shared a long look with Vivian, who stepped up with a smile and outstretched hand.

“GENTLEMEN, I am Vivian Adams. I manage the Berman Art Gallery, which is a primary sponsor of this very event.” They shook hand in turn, and she surveyed them curiously. “I must say, that was a very impressive effort tonight. My girl is worth every penny, though.”

“THAT WAS apparent the moment she took the stage,” Brent agreed as he looked Sadie over. His eyes were dark, and they made her shiver as she looked from him to Jacob, both of which had already introduced themselves just after

walking into the room.

“I SUPPOSE I should leave the three of you to get to know one another.” Vivian winked at Sadie as she prepared to exit the room. “See you later, Sadie. Treat her well, gentlemen. She means the world to me.”

SADIE SWALLOWED the last large sip of her champagne and set the glass down as they each took a seat across from her. “So you like long walks on the beach, hiking and dancing. Tell us more, Sadie,” Jacob told her as his eyes rested on the generous cleavage that the tight shimmery dress provided as she crossed her arms over her chest.

“THAT SOUNDED like such a generic dating ad. I didn’t know what to say.” Sadie pressed her lips together and looked at both of them again. “I do love all of those things; it’s true. I am also a writer, an avid reader, and I love experiencing life to its fullest. I love feeling things to my core.” Her voice was shaking as Brent gave Jacob a look. “Do you know each other? I mean, you seemed so comfortable with the mutual bid, and I am told that’s never happened before now.”

“WE ARE best friends and partners in one of the most successful architecture companies in the world. We have done work in every country and just happen to be based in the Los Angeles area.” Brent responded with a twinkle in his eye as he looked into her eyes. “To my knowledge and the past years of attending this event, it is the first double bid. What are you going to do with both of us, Sadie?” She gulped at the insinuation and the men shared a long look.

“IT WAS FOR DINNER. The auction?” Sadie inwardly groaned as she heard her own words. Even her body was telling her that she’d be a fool to stop at dinner with these gorgeous men that clearly had a different idea of their night. She wondered if the after party would be with one of them or…holy shit…

both. That was new to her.

“TECHNICALLY, yes.” Jacob responded as he took her in with his intense gaze and leaned forward. “I’d like to get a drink out there with you, get to know you. We can enjoy the rest of the event and go from there.”

“YES, I’d like that,” Sadie agreed. The heat in the room was overbearing and she knew that she’d lose all willpower if she continued to be alone with these men. She was only twenty-two and though there had been some sex in her life, it was nothing like these men were going to give her. They couldn’t be that much older, thirty at the most, but they held the world in their hands. Brent seemed to be a bit more relaxed but that quality also made him extremely appealing next to Jacob’s arrogant confidence. They stood and offered their hands to help her up as she felt warmth heat her cheeks. She was feeling that same heat in places that needed to be touched and Sadie licked her full lips slowly.

“CHERRY BLOSSOM. I love that scent. Does it taste as good as it smells?” Jacob leaned close and murmured in her ear as Sadie’s knees buckled. They opened the door and the three made an impressive entrance into the event as she held both of their arms between the men, something that surely got the tongues in the room wagging. They found a private table and in between people coming up to congratulate them or thank them for their generous bid, the men peppered Sadie with questions about herself as she stared at them.

THEY COMPLIMENTED HER SKIN, her bright eyes and surprisingly, her curves. The men had never been driven to bid before with the skinny mindless women that were offered in the past and they had honestly arrived separately due to work. The fact that they were both bidding surprised them and they playfully went against each other until they decided to join forces with the big donation.

SADIE COULD TELL that it wasn’t a lot of money to them as she sipped her second

drink after sitting with them, feeling lightheaded and shamefully pumping with lust deep inside of her core. The night was coming to a close and groups and couples left the room to go home with their drivers or up to their rooms for the night and she gave the men a curious look. “It appears as though everything is coming to a close. Would you like to have a nightcap with us upstairs?” Brent asked her as he reached across the table and stroked her hand as Jacob stared at her with a hooded look. Sadie nodded.

ONCE INSIDE AN ELEVATOR ALONE, Sadie felt her body turn to jello as she looked up at Brent before he leaned down and kissed her. It was demanding yet gentle and she clung to his thick arms to hold herself up as their tongues danced together with heavy desire. Sadie had felt it all night between the three of them and as she felt her hair lifted and another pair of lips on her neck, her tiny lace thong dampened between her legs in a rush of need. She was barely aware of the elevator opening and they all stumbled out into a room as she clung blindly to Brent before hitting something soft. Her dress was falling forward and Sadie wondered when it had been unzipped when she saw Jacob kneeling before her. He kissed her hungrily.

JACOB PULLED Sadie gently forward on the king sized mattress as she felt the cold air on her skin. The dress stayed behind. She wanted to call out for them to be careful with it but she was too occupied by his eager mouth and skilled tongue. Her breasts fell free, and her nipples pebbled as hands reached around her body to pinch and tug at them as Sadie moaned.

ONE OF THE hands slipped down between her legs and slid the thin barrier of clothing aside. Sadie whimpered as fingers moved through her folds and found her hard nub before stroking it hard and fast. “Oh, oh…I’m close,” Sadie murmured as she kissed Jacob slowly and raked her hands through his cropped hair.

“I WANT to hear you come. Now, Sadie,” Jacob urged her as she winced and

cried out loudly with her surprising release. She’d never come like that to begin with, much less on what seemed like a command before. Sadie wilted against Jacob as a mouth moved over her pussy to suck and lick as she trembled in Jacob’s arms.

“I NEED you to fuck me,” Sadie groaned as she blindly reached out to try and pull Jacob’s clothes clumsily off. “Oh, God. Oh, Brent.”

“DOES SHE TASTE GOOD?” Jacob asked as he found a pert nipple and started to pinch it before he tugged slowly. Sadie cried out again as another orgasm flooded Brent’s mouth and he sucked it inside of his throat without hesitation.

“LIKE FUCKING HONEY,” Brent sad in a muffled voice before he started to slide his tongue back over her as she closed her eyes and took a slow breath.

“I’LL MAKE us some drinks, Brent. Keep her going.” Jacob said as she heard him move from the bed and clothing start to hit the floor. As amazing as she felt, Sadie wondered if they shared women often before Brent dragged her clit through his teeth.

“FUCK ME,” Sadie was shocked at the words leaving her mouth with these men, and a finger slid inside of her slowly.

“I INTEND TO. I want you on your knees like this as I spread your legs and bury myself inside of your tight pussy while you let my best friend come down your throat.” In and out. “I want you sitting on his face as you come with my cock in your mouth. The things that I wanted to do with you when I saw you up on that stage.’ His fingers slipped out and deeply back inside as she moaned. “I saw your beauty and your strength all in one moment, and I want to break that and make you come harder than you already have before we wake up together tomorrow. I want to see what you’re hiding in those eyes.” Brent stopped

being so easygoing and sounded hoarse as he spoke and Sadie dizzily smiled as she rocked against his hand.

“YOU’VE DONE a great job so far,” she told him as he reached for her hand and placed it on his cock that settled between his loosened pants. “Oh my God.”

“I MADE US SOME DRINKS. Let her recover for a while,” Jacob said as Sadie sensed a bit of irritation in his tone. She looked over to see him dressed just in his pants as he set the tray on the table in the room before he dropped them and freed his impressive member. She met his eyes and stroked Brent just a pulse longer before she found the strength to settle against the pillows. Brent had moved beside her thighs and Jacob next to her before he reached over to rip her thong off of her body. “That’s better.”

CHAPTER 3

SADIE TOOK the glass that Jacob offered her with a small smile as she curled up against the pillows and tried to cover herself and be comfortable at the same time. With her frame, that had never been an easy task. Sadie sighed and sipped the sweet but strong alcohol as she weighed her discomfort with her need, and the latter surpassed any negative feelings. They were there, though. She looked at the men who were both staring at her and raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“YOU LOOK A LITTLE WORRIED,” Jacob offered as he set his drink down and leaned closer to her. “I have never seen a woman as beautiful as yourself when you come, Sadie. It breaks down every part of you, and there’s no shame in that.”

“I JUST…I haven’t done this before. I’m a little scared,” Sadie told him as she looked at Brent. “This isn’t your first time, is it?”

“THAT DOESN’T MATTER. We found you, so nothing before this matters.” Brent assured her as he slid a hand up her leg slowly and watched her eyes darken in the soft light from the hallway. She wanted his hands inside of her, his mouth on her and for them to be wrapped around each other’s bodies right here and now. Sadie had taken a deep breath and a long gulp of the drink before she moved over Jacob to set it beside his.

“I HAVE NEVER WANTED anything more than this,” she whispered before she kissed him hard. Jacob slipped his arms around her back and held her close as their tongues moved together roughly, and she felt his hard cock against her thigh.

“GET ON YOUR KNEES, baby,” Jacob told her as she rolled off of his hot skin and complied without a second thought. She felt his mouth on her just before something nudged her lips apart. Sadie opened her eyes to see Brent sliding his cock into her. He filled her as she licked him slowly and started to move just into her throat. Sadie had not been good at this in the past, but she swore that she’d take anything that he gave her tonight as the sound of a wrapper getting torn filled the air, and she felt something thick slide inside of her.

HER MOUTH TIGHTENED around Brent as he gripped her hair and watched his best friend fuck Sadie with slow, deep thrusts. She was shaking and whimpering before Brent started to move on his own in sync with Jacob and drove himself inside of her hot little mouth as she moaned something, caught between the two men. Jacob had looked over her body before he began to jerk harder inside of her and he gave Brent a hooded look as he managed a few hard pumps before he released into the condom instead of inside of her body like he wanted to do. Sadie groaned as she closed her eyes and let Brent fuck her face with abandon now until he told her he was coming. Sadie swallowed him with pants and gulps as he stared down at her and realized that this was much more than a night, or even a simple auction meant to raise money.

AS TIRED AS SHE WAS, Sadie wasn’t done. She wiped her lips and moved over to kiss Brent again as she settled in his lap as he fell back against the mattress. Brent held her tightly as he kissed her and felt his cock ready itself for her before he held out one hand to Jacob.

SADIE SLID the condom over him and pressed him down onto his back before she slid her body down. They both moaned at the feel of her wrapped tightly around his cock as she started to move and press him deeper inside. Neither Jacob nor Brent could keep their eyes off of her bouncing tits or the way she closed her eyes and leaned her head back. “Ooh, oh fuck. You feel so good, Brent.” Sadie continued to rock against him as he held onto her hips and closed his eyes for brief periods of time. She came seconds before him. Though softer than before it was still incredible. Brent came after, roaring as he shot into the barrier between them so soon after he’d just been in her throat.

THEY ALL RELAXED against the pillows to drink again. Sadie felt complete and tired, though she knew that she couldn’t get enough of these men. Ever.

THEY FINISHED the night with Sadie on her knees servicing Jacob with her mouth as Brent filled her from behind. He slipped a hand over her ass and his finger just pushing inside of her tight rim had them all coming around the same time.

SADIE KNEW that she needed sleep. She knew that she couldn’t move from this bed tonight and her body curled to have both of them pressed against her as she let her eyes flutter closed.

SADIE WOKE up first with a great need to use the bathroom, and she gently untangled herself from their bodies. She blushed as she looked at the two men, good-looking even in sleep as she eyed the muscles and the planes of their bodies. She glanced around the huge bedroom that she hadn’t bothered to look around before as she made her way to an open door that she assumed was the bathroom before stepping inside and widening her eyes. “Holy shit.”

IT WAS the size of her bedroom in her small apartment in Brooklyn. Not only that, but it featured a huge shower with multiple heads for water to come out, a jetted tub and even a small fireplace. Sadie used the toilet and cleaned up as best she could with all of the toiletries that the hotel left the guests on the counter before she looked into the mirror. She felt a bit like Fiona in the movie Shrek as she looked around for something to wear. “So much for this fantasy.” The good hotels always had robes, and she took one and slipped it around her body as she tried to figure out what to wear when she left.

MAYBE VIVIAN COULD SEND something to the room. She managed to do so much else that seemed nearly impossible, but there was no way that Sadie was wearing that dress out of here. It needed to be returned to the company that lent it to the event, and Sadie prayed that it was in decent condition for that transaction. She pulled her hair back and secured it with a fresh band from the counter as she looked at the door.

THE MORNING AFTER. Sadie was not accustomed to this at all. She walked back into the bedroom and headed right for the wall to the left of the bed that seemed to be all windows, despite being covered with thick blinds. She pushed one aside and gasped at the view of Manhattan and the Hudson River that she could see from what was easily one of the top floors of the swanky hotel. The city had never looked so beautiful. Sadie let them fall closed again and bent down to pick up the dress, frowning as she saw how it had wrinkled, crumbled into a heap on the floor before she located her purse a few feet away.

“GOOD MORNING,” Brent made her jump with his greeting and Sadie turned to look at him with wide eyes. “He was my college roommate. Not too much wakes him up early, so don’t worry.” He stood, and she took in his body with eager eyes as he walked to the bathroom for a pair of workout shorts before giving her a mischievous smile. “Do you like what you see?”

SADIE BLUSHED and left the bedroom as he trailed her down the long hallway.

“THIS IS A HUGE HOTEL ROOM.”

“IT’S THE PENTHOUSE. It has four bedrooms in all in case we have friends stay in it.” Brent replied as she stepped into the foyer of the main room lined with windows.

“YOU GUYS AREN’T…gay?” Sadie asked and heard Brent laugh.

“NOT SO MUCH. We both loved pleasuring you, but we don’t feel the need to pleasure each other. I guess if a hand slips or something next time, then we’ll see what happens.” Brent was so confident in himself and his sexuality, and she walked to the windows to get away from him as she thought about everything that happened in the last twenty-four hours. She thought mostly about the next time they were together...would there really be one? She admitted deep inside that it was one of the most intense experiences of her life and that she wanted it to happen again, but there were things about that which confused her. The view was just as impressive here, and she felt him approach her from behind as she shivered against the thick cold glass. Brent moved his hands forward to loosen the sash of the robe and slide his hands over her tingling breasts. “I’d fuck you happily against this window all by myself.” He slipped one hand over her hips and against her clit as she fell forward and moaned his name.

“THE WINDOW,” she managed to say as he moved his mouth over the reddened skin of her neck.

“WE’RE FAR above the city and if someone wants to watch, let them. You’re beautiful when you fuck, Sadie,” Brent assured her as he slipped the robe down her body and spread her legs, sliding a finger inside of her. She felt her

skin press harder against the glass as she gasped and rocked against him to chase another orgasm. Just before she was there, Brent ordered her to stay just where she was before he left the room for a moment. She stilled and looked over the city. They were high, so much so that anyone in an apartment would need more than just the naked eye to take a look at her body and what she and Brent were about to do. But that was part of New York living and why she kept her blinds closed so the perverted old man across from her wouldn’t try to watch her change.

SHE HEARD FOOTSTEPS, and he was behind her again. Brent spread her open further and slipped inside of her as she cried out with the feeling. Her body welcomed him and wrapped tightly around his cock as she pressed her hands against the glass. He moved in and out as their bodies moved together while he pressed against her ass. He was holding her tightly, and her nipples were pushed hard into the window as he fucked her harder. She let herself imagine someone watching them before they started to masturbate and Sadie panted as she came around Brent before he thickened and stilled as he released.

BRENT LET her drop into his arms and carried her to the leather couch to set her gently on it. “You don’t have friends here right now, right?” Her voice was shaking.

“JUST THE THREE OF US,” Brent told her before he pressed a soft kiss to her lips. He asked if she wanted some coffee and she nodded as her body continued to throb gently. Sadie couldn’t even hear him in the kitchen, and she closed her eyes as she memorized how her pussy was pulsing, and her nerves were reacting all over her body. This was so wrong and so right all at once. She should get her purse and arrange for Vivian to get her some clothes and just leave. Threesomes were something that a lot of people enjoyed and Heaven help her, but she was now one of them and Sadie just longed to have the strength to leave this penthouse. Brent returned dressed in his shorts with two cups of coffee, one of which he handed to Sadie. “I was planning on ordering some breakfast from room service. What do you like?” “I…ugh…I guess some bacon and scrambled eggs.” She realized that she was hungry as he mentioned food and remembered that she hadn’t eaten much

last night. Come to think of it; her head was hurting a bit, and he handed her a few pills. “What is this?”

“TYLENOL. I’ll order up some Gatorade as well for you. That always helps my hangovers,” Brent offered as he walked over to the phone and started to read something. She took it with a sip of the sweet, creamy coffee and thought to herself how good it tasted. Sadie stood up as an afterthought to get a robe and sat down as someone walked into the kitchen. “Morning,” Brent called out cheerfully before he picked up the phone to order.

“WE’LL DISCUSS that after coffee,” Jacob grumbled as he walked into the room wearing a pair of shorts similar to Brent’s. His eyes rested on Sadie as she picked up her cup and she regarded him quietly. She felt good about Brent’s enthusiasm toward her but was uncertain about Jacob. Perhaps this was a one night stand to him. “You’re still here.” A smile started at the corner of his sexy mouth, and she couldn’t help but to return it.

“I AM. Brent asked me to stay for breakfast.” Sadie admitted as Jacob nodded and glanced over at his best friend.

BRENT THANKED whoever was on the phone and looked over at the pair on the couch. “I ordered your usual, Jake.” He came over and sat on the left side of Sadie, sandwiching her between the two men. The thought made her blush about last night all over again.

JACOB THANKED him and looked from Brent to Sadie. “Look at her. You guys already fucked today, didn’t you?” He shook his head.

“I HAVE a meeting today in a few hours. You’ll have her all to yourself.” Brent assured Jacob as he grinned at him.

CHAPTER 4

ONCE THEY’D ALL EATEN, Sadie looked at the guys. “I don’t have any clothes here, so I was going to have my friend send some to the hotel so I can leave. The dress was a loan.”

“IT SUFFERED some damage last night. We already bought it and we'll have it cleaned, since it looked so beautiful on you,” Jacob offered with his charming smile as she stared at him. “Do you need to leave? Do you work today?”

“NO, I make my hours. I just thought that you might prefer that,” Sadie hesitantly replied as the guys shared a look. They bought her that expensive dress?

“WE OWE YOU DINNER. That was the arrangement of the auction.” Brent protested as she gave him a long stare.

“HE’S RIGHT. Stay. We’ll get you some clothes delivered, and you can even get some from your apartment.” Jacob stepped in, and she looked at him for a long moment.

“DO YOU WANT THAT?” Sadie asked and watched as they both nodded. “Well, I can still have her bring me a change of clothes until we decide what to do.” She excused herself to get her purse and pulled her phone from the small black pouch. She bit her lip as she decided what to say and finally decided that Vivian would see through any lies.

SADIE: Yo, Viv. I am at the hotel, and I need something to wear for a bit. Can you get me some jeans and a shirt some undies with a bra and send them to the penthouse? I’ll check what room number it is. Vivian lived in the same complex as Sadie did, just in a bigger place.

A TEXT CAME RIGHT THROUGH.

VIVIAN: The penthouse at the hotel from last night? Did you stay with one of the guys? Sadie: In a manner of speaking. She rolled her eyes at the vague reply that her best friend would pick apart. I only have the dress from last night and that’s not entirely appropriate to leave in.

VIVIAN: I heard that someone called the designer last night and purchased the dress. Whore!!

“WHAT IS the room number here?” Sadie asked as she walked back into the living room to see the men talking closely together.

“2003. Did you get some clothes delivered?” Brent asked as she stared down at the text coming in.

“YES.” Sadie sent the room number to Vivian and gave them a scared look. “Probably in person. Do you remember my friend from last night?”

“VAGUELY,” Jacob casually said as Sadie raised an eyebrow. Vivian was one that was noticed all of the time compared to her. That was why she seemed always to be dating famous New York guys until she met her fiancée. Sadie wondered if her best friend had any threesomes along the way.

BRENT EXCUSED himself to take a shower and came back dressed in business casual wear. Sadie and Jacob stopped talking to look up at him. She was growing comfortable with both men, and it scared her…to death. What was a girl supposed to do with two gorgeous and easy to get along with men that were best friends? People couldn’t be in relationships like that, could they?

BRENT LEFT, and Jacob immediately moved closer to Sadie to kiss her on the couch. It was like he was waiting to be alone with her and she pulled him closer as he started to untie her robe and slide his hands over her body. They were moving closer to being completely naked and ready to go when there was a knock at the door. “Shit. That might be Viv.” Sadie understood that she wasn’t looking like a supermodel after her first tryst of the day, and she pushed Jacob away and fixed her clothes.

JACOB RAN a hand through his hair slowly and stood as he fixed his shorts. He strolled to the door and opened it before thanking someone and closing it again. “Just the staff.” He smiled at Sadie as he slipped his shorts down and walked over to her after setting the bag on a table.

AFTER SHE HAD SUCKED his cock nearly dry, Jacob moved it to the shower where he held her up and fucked her with her back to the wall of the shower. Sadie cried his name as she came, clutching his shoulders as his lips found hers for a deep kiss.

THEY WERE both dressed and watching a hockey game in the living room when Brent returned in the afternoon. “Are you a fan as well? Jake used to drive me mad watching this all of the time.” Brent had glanced at the game and the score before he sat down. “New client. Hotel guy.”

“THE BEST KIND,” Jacob responded as he sipped his beer. “Sadie likes seafood

as much as you, so we’re even.”

THEY LEFT in the late afternoon in Jacob’s incredible Range Rover with all of the bells and whistles to go to her place for a bag and so she could change for dinner. They were going to a place on the Hudson River, and since the guys were a bit dressed up, Sadie wanted to be as well. When they parked on the sidewalk, Sadie gave them a careful look. “My place is dreadfully small. Like you might not be able to fit in it kind of small. Do you want to wait?”

“OF COURSE NOT,” Brent said as he hopped out of the back and opened the door for her. Sadie sighed and got out as she imagined what everyone that saw them was thinking. Sadie’s imagination led her to a place where the auction was in the paper with scandalous headlines since it was a charity for the wealthy and famous of New York. Good thing she didn’t ever read it. Jacob joined them as she led them through the quaint but run down courtyard with the fountain and up some stairs almost in time to avoid the sound of Vivian’s voice.

“THERE YOU ARE,” she looked cheery enough, but Sadie knew her. Vivian wanted the dirt.

“HELLO, Vivian,” Sadie said in a polite tone as Jacob extended his hand first to greet her, then Brent. “I am just getting some things, and we’re leaving again.”

VIVIAN LOOKED from one man to the other before she gazed at Sadie. “Let’s do lunch this week. There are more plans to go over.”

“OF COURSE. I’ll text you.” The degree that Vivian wanted to interrogate her was strong from the look in her eyes. Sadie grinned and turned to unlock her door as she walked in and let them follow her. “See? Small.”

“HAVE you been friends with Vivian for long?” Brent asked as he seemed to ignore the tiny living room and looked at her.

“SINCE THIRD GRADE. I think we drive each other crazy sometimes, but I adore her.” Sadie replied as she glanced back at them. She and Vivian had never shared a man, and Sadie wondered what that must be like, given how comfortable they both were. “I will just get my things. Make yourself at home.”

SHE WENT into her even smaller room and pulled out her worn duffel bag from an old gym to pack some clothes. Not knowing how long she’d be gone, Sadie threw in a few pairs of jeans, some shirts and a few of her sexier bras and underwear. She looked in her closet for a dress and found a flowing red one that looked great with some mascara and fire engine red lipstick. Sadie threw herself together and slipped her feet into some matching red heels before she walked out into the living room again. “Sadie, you know how to rock the color red,” Brent said as he stood up and approached her to kiss her cheek. He looked down the fitted top that teased her cleavage and the skirt that moved around her thighs with every step. “You look beautiful.”

“THANK YOU SO MUCH,” Sadie told him as she shyly smiled and looked over at Jacob. Somehow, his approval was just as important to her.

“YOU STUN me with your beauty.” Jacob kissed her other cheek and inhaled as he lingered for a moment. “You do taste as sweet as you smell, as well.”

SADIE STARED at him for a moment before she thanked him and they prepared to leave. They went to a place that offered them the small private nook that overlooked the water more than any other table and talked and sipped wine while Jacob chose to drink water until they got back to the room. They told her they rented it a lot just to do business in the area and hang out with friends since their apartments were a bit more uptown. Of course, as they explained it,

a lot of the people from the event stayed for a long weekend.

SHE WAS tipsy as Jacob helped her to the car while she giggled at something that the hostess said to them upon seeing her acting affectionate with both men. Jacob’s face was set in a scowl as they walked and Brent knew that Sadie would feel a lot worse about the comment if she were sober, since she was sleeping with both men at this time. She just didn’t feel any pain right now.

CHAPTER 5

IN FACT, Sadie was the one who initiated everything by pulling the men to bed and stripping each one in turn to give him a sensual blowjob. They pleased her when they weren’t inside of her mouth, and Sadie came hard in their mouths before Jacob turned her onto her back to pull her legs to his shoulders and took her hard and deep. Brent knelt down to suck on her sensitive nipples as they bounced with every thrust and she pulled him closer to her as she closed her eyes and wondered how she’d be able to do this one on one with anybody ever again.

BRENT TOOK her on her knees as he played with her ass with the tip of his finger. It went deeper with each thrust and she cried out as she came hard all around him as Brent kept moving inside of her. For every thrust that she felt, there was a hand or a mouth pleasing her or a cock down her throat. Sadie felt herself drowning under the surface of her lust as she pressed her face into the mattress and took a deep breath.

THEY ALL RETURNED to their homes two days after going out to eat and just hanging around the city when they weren’t in bed together. Every moment got hotter, and every encounter left her desperate for more before she finally drove home with her duffel bag in the passenger seat and the green dress folded up in the back. Brent had it taken to a cleaner so it was ready for another special occasion but Sadie knew that it would always remind her of the two of them.

She might never wear it again.

THEY HAD EXCHANGED numbers before she kissed them both goodbye in the room and told them that she wanted to see them again. Sadie felt the emotions that she was feeling inside in both of their kisses and their tight embraces, with Brent’s goodbye being a bit wordier than Jacob’s. It’s who they were, and she appreciated each and every bit of Jacob and Brent that she knew so far. She parked in her tiny reserved spot under the aging carport and missed the luxury of the hotel as she settled back into home. Her clothes barely seemed to fit into the small closet, and her full-size bed was just too small for her now.

SADIE WANDERED AROUND before she fixed a sandwich in the kitchen and sat on the loveseat to watch some TV. She set her computer on the portable desk that she dragged all over her apartment and tapped out a story as she squinted at her thirty-two-inch set that was just a mere three feet in front of her. Everything seemed dull to her now, and she sat back and let herself miss the life that she’d lead over the weekend.

BRENT CALLED LATE THAT EVENING, and they talked late into the night and planned on lunch the next day. Sadie managed to get herself out of bed and get in some writing time before she showered and walked down to the curb. Brent pulled up in a fancy sports car that she later found out was a Ferrari F60 America in a pretty blue that brought out his eyes. He took her to a great deli in another part of town, and they ate sandwiches and chips as they watched a game on the television in the corner. “This doesn’t seem like your kind of place,” Sadie noted as she took a drink of her soda and glanced around the faded paint on the walls.

“I GREW up in places like this out in Long Island with Jake. We have money now, but I like to go back to simpler times here and there, particularly since my family has all passed away. Airplane crash seven years ago…I like to hold onto the memories.” He stared into her eyes. “I thought that you’d like it here as well.”

“I DO.” She smiled. “I just remember the hotel and the dinners. It was all so fancy, but this is nice. I ate at places like this as a kid too. There’s a certain charm to them.”

“I MIX things up so you’ll always be guessing.”

AFTER LUNCH, he brought her back to her house and parked the car. “Don’t you have to work?” Sadie teased him as he got out of the car and came around to open her door.

“I’M THE BOSS, and I have a meeting,” Brent winked at her as he walked to her apartment by her side. Sadie took his arm and breathed in his scent as she made a mental note that Brent smelled fresh like the ocean and Jacob smelled clean like mint and herbs. Sadie unlocked the door and pulled him in by the hand as their lips met with all of the restrained desire that they were feeling over the last hour. Brent kicked the door closed and lifted her up to carry her to her bedroom as she wrapped her arms around his neck to hold on with a loud giggle.

“IT’S SO small in here,” Sadie protested as he dropped her onto the bed and kissed her hungrily. She undressed in minutes, and he was kissing down her body as she stroked his hair and watched. Just like before, Brent was fantastic on his own, and he made her come three times when it was all said and done. They had to be creative since his over six-foot frame didn’t fit so well on the bed but they laughingly agreed to go to his place next time. When he kissed her goodbye, Sadie missed the both of them. She watched him leave as a blonde strode purposefully towards her door as she licked her lips. “Yo, Viv.”

“WAS that a lunch date that you just got back from?” Vivian asked as she surveyed Sadie’s sloppy appearance.

“YES AND SO MUCH MORE.” Sadie pulled her best friend in and shut the door as she stared at her. “I don’t know what to do.” She told Vivian everything from the night of the auction to the weekend as her friend widened her eyes.

“OH MY FUCKING GOD…both of them? Sadie, that’s so unlike you,” Vivian sympathized as Sadie nodded with a frown. “They’re gorgeous, though. If I wasn’t engaged, I might be a little jealous.” Vivian smiled since they both knew her soon-to-be husband was a handsome man that she was crazy about. “Who would you pick if you had to?”

“I DON’T KNOW,” Sadie admitted as she looked at Vivian. “They’re opposites, but I like both of them.”

“RIDE IT OUT. Hell, fuck the ever loving hell out of both of those men. You deserve it for so many reasons.” Vivian was no stranger to the way most men were towards her friend and called all of them stuck up assholes that didn’t know what they were missing.

“I GUESS. It just feels so…taboo. Something like that.” Sadie had mused before she shook her head. The girls talked for a bit longer before Vivian went back to the gallery and Sadie got some writing done until her phone rang later that night.

IT WAS JACOB. He asked her to dinner, and Sadie accepted before she finished up her article and checked it before sending it to her client. She dressed in a dark purple dress that clung to her curves and some black heels with dark liner and nude pink lips. She walked out to the curb to find Jacob walking towards her as a smile crossed his face. “You look gorgeous.” He kissed her softly and led her to a car that rivaled Brent’s, where he opened the door for her.

DINNER THAT NIGHT was a steak and seafood place where she found herself enjoying it as much as she had the lunch date. They were different men, but a part of her was beginning to care deeply for them both. He bought the best wine in the place and allowed her to drink to her heart’s delight before they left and they headed the opposite direction of her apartment. “Where are we going?”

“MY APARTMENT, if that’s okay. I want you to see it.”

SADIE SMILED as they pulled into a garage and wondered where Brent lived. Was it close to here and would she ever see his place? Jacob got out and opened her door, leading her by the hand to an elevator. It took them to the twentieth floor into a luxurious hallway where he unlocked an enormous white door and pushed it open. The apartment reminded her of the hotel room with a spacious living room and a marble fireplace with an equally beautiful kitchen that she could see a part of from the foyer. She watched as Jacob slipped off her jacket and set it on the chair before he turned towards her. “I’ve been thinking about you since we all left the hotel.” Jacob stepped forward and cupped her face with his hands. He leaned down to kiss her as she parted her lips in anticipation and slipped hers around his neck. Their desire was slow but very steady, and Sadie moaned into his mouth as he lifted her and pressed her against the wall.

SHE WAS TUGGING at his clothes after she lifted her dress over her head and Jacob let his pants slip down his legs as his cock sprung out. He ripped off her satin thong and fingered her clit before he pulled her to the bedroom and reached into a drawer on the nightstand.

JACOB PUSHED her onto the bed and spread her thighs apart with his knees as he rolled the condom over himself. They hadn’t done a lot of foreplay this time, but he didn’t need it as he slid easily inside of her. She grunted as she wrapped

her legs around him and scraped her nails down his chest. Sadie arched her back as he held her still and drove himself into her over and over until she was gurgling his name in a volatile release as his fingers dug into her hips.

HE DROPPED over her for a long kiss before he pulled out slowly and she tasted the sweat above his lip. “Fuck if I don’t crave your body all of the time, Sadie. I knew that night that you were something to hold onto and when Brent got involved…I went with it because he’s like a brother to me.” She felt her heart drop. “Not that it wasn’t hot watching you with him, but this is nice. Just us.”

“YEAH.” She replied as his hand slid down her body and found her clit with his finger. They were soon headed into the rabbit hole as he made her come with his finger and hand before asking her to ride him hard so he could watch her tits bounce. Sadie fell asleep there, and they dressed hurriedly in the morning so he could get to work and she could do a conference call with a new client.

THE KISS that he gave her before she slipped out of the car made her lips tingle, and Sadie stared into his eyes before she got out on her own. She walked to her apartment slowly as she realized that she cared deeply for both Brent and Jacob.

THE NEXT TIME she went out, Sadie saw them both. They ordered Thai in and spent the night at Brent’s apartment eating and fooling around on the couch. Sadie found it to be more casual than Jacob’s with a hint of a beach theme, but the bedroom was just the same as both of the men took turns tasting her and biting at her nipples before they filled her pussy and mouth. She felt fulfilled as she was coming around Jacob and swallowing Brent, her body taking the beating that she loved and craved. She cuddled close to both of them as they fell into a silence and Sadie fell asleep harder than she had since the hotel.

THEY CONTINUED this way for a few months, mixing it up with just one man and sometimes the three of them. It was hot as ever, but Sadie noticed three months

later that she was seeing them alone. Both seemed stressed and tense even as they fucked her in their beds but there was no mention of the other guy. She also knew that she was falling in love with both of them, more and more with every night that she spent with Jacob or Brent. Sadie could see the look in their eyes sometimes when she met their gaze, and she almost said it, but something held her back.

SOCIETY TOLD her that it was wrong. The looks that she got from people that knew her from the auction made her ashamed of what she was doing. Vivian had to fire her assistant for gossiping about Sadie and the guys and wasn’t kind about it as she screamed at her staff to keep their mouths shut. It was uncomfortable for Sadie in many ways, and she considered just ending things and finding a man that she could just love for who he was without complication.

THE NIGHT that she realized something was terribly wrong was a night with Brent. He was the easygoing one, pleasant compared to Jacob at times. This particular night, he’d taken her to a cute place for dinner but was sullen throughout the meal and afterward took her to his apartment. There was no kindness, no affection. He fucked her like he always did, but this was angry, and she sensed that he was troubled by the whole situation as she looked into his face after they collapsed on the mattress. “What was that? What’s going on with you and Jacob? You’re both being assholes these days.”

BRENT LOOKED SHOCKED since she rarely used that kind of language before he ran a hand through his messy hair. “We’re not speaking too much right now outside of work, and even that’s touchy on most days. We both…we both fell in love with you and being together as a threesome is too much for us. I think it’s also too much sharing you now. We never meant for this to happen that night with the auction.”

“OH,” Sadie said as she stood and started to dress. Brent watched her quietly. “Maybe it’s best if we just end it then. You have been friends forever, and I

don’t want to break that.” Her voice was shaking from the tears forming in her eyes and she stared at the floor. She was madly in love with both of them and hated what was happening, but she couldn’t stay here. Not tonight and not anymore. Sadie looked back at Brent on the bed, perfectly toned from what she assumed was additional exercise to work out the stress and gorgeous to look at. She wished that it was just lust. Sadie whispered goodbye and walked out to get her purse before she got a car on her phone.

CHAPTER 6

SADIE DIDN’T CONTACT THEM, and they remained quiet for the next week. Her heart ached over the loss, but her body missed them as well. She found herself tossing and turning at night alone in her bed, not sleeping as she tried to make herself come with her hand and the toys that she’d purchased recently. She needed to feel like she did with Brent and Jacob but the releases that she gave herself were so understated compared to what she was used to. Still, she tried. Sadie masturbated in the shower, in her bed and anywhere in the house just to try and fill her needs.

VIVIAN STARED at her over lunch one day with worried eyes. “You look miserable, Sade.” They were supposed to be going over details for the wedding rehearsal, but Sadie was tired and grumpy, much like every day.

“I JUST…miss them. I miss both of them. I wish that I could pick one over the other or even just blend them into the perfect man, but I can’t.” Vivian knew about what had happened, and she took a bite of her salad and chewed thoughtfully for a moment.

“SO GO TO THEM. Throw all of this out there and just set things straight. It’s not the norm to be with two men, not even here in the city. You’ve just looked so terrible for these past few days, and I think you know what you need as much as I do.” Vivian told her with a serious face. “Fuck the gossip. Fuck

everybody. Just live your life and make yourself happy.”

“YEAH?” Sadie asked and watched her best friend nod fiercely.

“HELL, yes.”

THEY PLANNED over the rest of the meal and even did a little shopping. Sadie woke up the following morning and put on the new red dress over a black garter belt and matching bra after she applied her makeup to perfection. She wanted to wow the men and fix everything that had gone wrong. Sadie slipped her feet into heels and walked out to her car before she looked up the address of their building.

SHE HAD TAKEN a deep breath before she pulled out into traffic. The robotic voice told her where to turn as Sadie followed the directions and found a garage to park in. Sadie looked at herself in the car mirror and ran a hand through her curls before she got out and walked to the intersection to cross the street. There was a catcall from a window, and Sadie made eye contact with a young black man as he gave her a thumbs up sign before driving through the light.

THAT MADE HER FEEL GOOD.

SADIE WALKED into the massive building and looked around the impressive lobby that was all windows and couches and chairs surrounding a prominent marble desk located against the wall with two women sitting behind it and assisting people. A tiny little brunette looked at her and asked if she could help her as Sadie cleared her throat. “I am here to see Brent or Jacob. No, both.”

“DO YOU HAVE AN APPOINTMENT?” Her voice was snotty, and Sadie stared at her for a long moment.

“CAN YOU GIVE ME A NAME?”

“SADIE JAMISON. No appointment,” Sadie replied slowly as the receptionist’s eyes darkened.

“YOU’RE the bitch from the auction. They’ve been difficult since then, and it’s your fault. What are you doing here?” Sadie widened her eyes at the question as the blonde looked over at her and gasped.

“JOSIE, stop it.”

“YOU KNOW I’M RIGHT, Maddie. I don’t think I should let you back there.” Josie told her, and Sadie felt her skin flushing red.

“SCREW YOU. I am going to talk to them. Where are they, Maddie?” Sadie asked as she stared at the blonde with a dark expression.

“SEVENTH FLOOR. The elevator is to your right,” Maddie told her quickly as her coworker glared at her. “Go right past the desk and their offices are side by side at the end of the hall.”

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Sadie heard Josie hiss as Sadie walked away towards the bank of elevators.

“THEY HAVE BEEN SO UNHAPPY. Let them have a chance to get what they want.”

SADIE THOUGHT about the words as she walked and realized that she'd caused the rift between them and ruined their friendship. A part of her wanted to turn and leave and not see them, though Sadie reminded herself how much she loved them and that she was here to try and save things between all of them. She would always regret it if she didn't try far more than if she walked away now without trying anything at all. She knew that she wanted Brent and Jacob more than she'd ever wanted anyone before in her entire life. They were worth fighting for.

SADIE PUSHED the button and waited for a door to slide open before she stepped on and pushed the button for floor seven. It was beautiful inside with a mirrored ceiling and plush burgundy carpeted floors, and she looked up as she imagined getting taken in here by her men. Sadie felt her clit start throbbing and she let out a trembling sigh. She waited for the ride to end, and when the doors opened again, it seemed like hours later. Sadie walked out and noted where the desk was before she walked forward. “Can I help you? Ma’am? Who are you here to see?” The nasal voice of the woman there followed her as Sadie strode down to the end of the hall where there were two doors, and she looked blindly between them before she opened Brent’s and walked inside.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?” He stared at her for a moment before standing and walking around the desk. “I thought you decided that you wanted out. I thought we were over.” Brent’s hands found her face as he claimed her lips in a demanding kiss that she had to fight herself to stop. “I want to see Jacob in here. I want you together.” Sadie demanded as he stared at her in disbelief.

“WHY? Do you want him instead?” Brent asked her as he tried to kiss her again.

“I NEED to talk to both of you,” Sadie demanded as she stepped back and took deep breaths to regain her composure. “Now, Brent.”

HE DROPPED his hands and walked around the desk before picking up the phone. “I need you in here.” There were none of the comfortable jokings that Sadie loved running between them, and it was tense and ugly. “He’s coming.” Brent stared at her like a starving man that needed food, his eyes dragging down her body slowly as he took her in.

“GOOD,” Sadie told him in a shaking voice as she looked slowly around the office. It was spacious with a large leather couch against the back wall and even a small kitchen to the left of the door. There was even a television against the wall where Brent could watch something while he worked at his massive black desk. She could see that they ran a successful company just from the office alone, without all of the papers spread out on top of the desk and a sided table as well. Just being near him, smelling him, made her shake, and she looked back into Brent’s darkening blue eyes. The door opened, and she shook with the noise as well as the scent of Jacob behind her.

“WHAT DO you-” Jacob’s cold voice stopped as she felt his eyes roving over her. “Sadie. What are you doing here?”

SHE SWALLOWED the lump in her throat and turned to face him. “I need to speak to both of you.” A tear slid down her cheek as she pressed her hands against the soft cotton of her dress before she licked her lips.

HE WATCHED every move with a riveted gaze as she took in the circles under his eyes and the light scruff on his chin, something that Brent was sporting as well. “About what? I thought that you were moving on since I haven’t heard from you.”

“I KNOW what this was doing to you. I know what both of you were going through.” Sadie admitted as he looked down at the floor. She stepped forward. “I know this isn’t what people do. I know that the three of us is a crazy idea, but I’m in love with both of you. I can’t live without you.” “What?” Brent asked in a hoarse voice from behind her. Sadie spun around to look in his eyes. “I told you that we can’t do this any longer, not that way.”

“I CAN’T CHOOSE. I love you.” Sadie stepped forward and kissed him as she clutched his face tightly between her hands. “I need you.” Brent responded to her kiss as his tongue slipped between her lips and she moaned. Sadie forced herself to pull away before she turned and walked over to Jacob. He looked doubtful as she approached him and Sadie traced a hand over the smooth fabric of his white shirt to feel his muscles underneath. “I love you, Jacob. I love the way that you’re looking at me right now and I need you.” She leaned up to kiss him and breathed deeply as his lips molded against hers.

SADIE STEPPED BACK and looked at the floor before she raised her gaze to look at both of the men. She reached into her small purse and pulled out her phone to find the music app on the screen before she pressed play. Sadie tossed both on the sofa softly before she pressed her back to the wall and ran her hands over her body with her eyes closed.

THE POLE DANCING classes that Vivian bought them as a goof were going to pay off and Sadie cracked her eyes open to see them staring at her from their same places on the floor. She slid forward on her black stilettos and swayed her hips before she traced Jacob’s face with her fingers and down his body to find him hard for her. Sadie gripped his cock through his pants before she moved over to Brent and pressed her body against his back as she slid a hand through his hair and over his neck.

SADIE TOOK that moment to untie the string that held the wrap on and let it slide open before she stepped out and let it drop to the floor. Everything that she wore underneath was sheer and the thong left little to the imagination. Sadie

cupped her breasts through the lace and hardened her nipples with small tugs as each man took a step forward.

SHE REALLY WANTED a pole as she spun around and opened the clasp at the front of her bra before she let it slide down her shoulders. Sadie turned around and tossed it their way before Brent tugged off his tie and pulled it tight in his hands. She felt her nipples between her hands again and moaned as they cried out for the attention of the two men that were watching her. Sadie dropped to the floor carefully and spread her legs as she stared up at them before sliding her hand over her pussy. Sadie stroked herself to the slow beat of the song and slid two fingers inside as she pushed herself back to the couch across the cool, smooth hardwood. Once she felt the leather against her skin, Sadie leaned back and started fucking herself with slow deep strokes as she heard heavy breathing in the air.

THIS WAS SO NEEDY, but she felt good with them watching what she’d done since walking away from them. Sadie wept as she brought herself closer to an orgasm, heady from the feeling of their presence and the way that they were watching her as she gazed at them with hooded eyes. “I do this every night thinking of you both. I want to be in your bed every day and feel you inside of my pussy, my mouth…my ass.” That was something that they hadn’t done yet, and she watched Jacob slip off his tie before they both stepped forward.

SADIE WAS LIFTED onto the couch and pressed back as Brent tied her hands and pulled them above her head. Jacob took her feet and tied one to the bottom of the sofa before he buried his face in her hot core and feasted on her hungrily. “You’re not fucking moving for a while,” Jacob said against her before he dove back in and his voice vibrated against her throbbing clit.

SOMETHING FIRM GOT CLIPPED onto her nipples, and Sadie looked down to see the clips used for thick stacks of paper pressing her together as she cried out. The pain was intense, but it urged her orgasm forward as she arched her back and offered more of herself to Jacob. Brent covered her mouth with his and

kissed her hard and long as she closed her eyes and memorized the feel of the men that she loved against her.

SADIE CRIED out as she exploded against Jacob and Brent sucked her tongue into his mouth as he reached a hand down to tease her clit as Jacob drove his tongue into her. “Fuck, fuck fuck,” Sadie whispered in the seconds that her lips were free of the kiss. “I love you, both of you.”

“I LOVE YOU, Sadie,” Brent whispered against her lips as he stroked her clit harder and drove her into another full release.

“I NEVER STOPPED THINKING about you,” Jacob breathed as he dropped his pants and rolled on a condom before he drove himself inside of her. Brent watched, not moving his fingers as his best friend fucked the woman that they both loved without envy or anger. Sadie leaned her head back and moaned as Jacob took her harder before he released her foot and dropped onto his back. Jacob tugged Sadie over him, and she found him with her center as she slid over him and rode him with her hands pressed against his rippled abdomen.

BRENT SLIPPED a hand between her ass cheeks and found the tight entrance as he prodded with his finger. “Oh God. I need you, Brent.” She vaguely heard him dropping something to the floor. He walked somewhere and came back before he parted her and slipped his cock over her rim and moved inside inch by inch. Brent ripped off the clips and cupped and squeezed her as he filled her with his cock and she leaned back against him.

SADIE ROCKED onto Jacob as Brent moved into her in a rough rhythm and she knew that she was going to break apart with the sweet pressure of both of them filling her. Sadie whimpered softly as her body tensed and let go before Jacob shot deep inside of her and stared into her eyes. Brent gripped her hips and thrust once, twice before she felt his hot come filling her ass as she cried out his name.

“YOU KNOW that I can’t live without this, don’t you?” Sadie asked them as she leaned forward against Jacob and stared into his eyes.

“I FEEL THE SAME down for a kiss.

WAY,”

Jacob replied as he untied her hands and pulled her

“I WANT to give this a try. I choose us over all of the other fears that I have.” Sadie said to both of them as Brent pulled out of her and leaned forward to kiss her back.

“YES. I missed both of you, and I can’t live like that,” Brent added as she smiled and found Jacob’s full lips with her mouth.

THEY ORDERED lunch in and ate on the couch as the three got to know each other again without all of the strain that had been between them before. Sadie cuddled against both men before they made love again with Brent taking her from behind and Jacob in her mouth. They told her that they loved her.

SADIE LEFT the office with a smile on her face and her body aching from their afternoon. She didn’t look at anybody and went home to get ready for dinner with her men, feeling complete and full inside.

THEIR RELATIONSHIP WASN’T NORMAL, but it made them happy. Three people could love one another and risk it all for their happiness, and that was what she was going to do.

SHE WAS GOING to live her life for herself.

TWO HOT TO HANDLE

CHAPTER one No doctor has been able to tell me what exactly I have and over the years therapists have dug into my psyche to see what they could do. I think that deep down they just wanted some kind of sound bite for a condition that they had never heard of before. As far as I knew, I was a unique package that was able to live within my fantasies. I sometimes had problems differentiating myself from that of fantasy and reality. “Celeste, you have done some amazing work for us and I have to commend you on your work ethic. There isn’t anybody that has been able to make headway of our books for a long time. You may be wasting your time in research, when you could be dealing with the finance part of the business.” Drake was that rare breed of nerd and hunk rolled into one beautiful man. “I have to say that your praise makes me smile, but it’s not necessary. I’m just doing my job and besides you were the one that brought me into this. We work very well together. I think we need to find more time to do more than just work.” This was not like me and this had to be one of my fantasies coming to life in my mind. “You look a little flustered and maybe I can do something about relieving you of some of that frustration.” I felt this need deep down and Drake was the meaning of dark and handsome. It was kind of endearing to see him wearing glasses with the pocket protector in his right pocket. “I…I don’t think that we should do anything that would be considered bad behavior.” The very word bad had many meanings and the very thought of him thinking of anything untoward was making my temperature rise. The short black leather skirt had risen a few inches on that swivel chair in front of his desk. I moved myself into the position of the Lotus. My knees spread and of course that gave him an unobstructed view of my soaking wet panties. “You really shouldn’t do that and you have no idea what you are asking for.” It was after hours and being here to all hours of the night was not uncommon for me. It was nice to have somebody here to accompany me, but I was hoping that somebody else would show up. “Don’t you want to be bad? Haven’t you gotten tired of the stuffed shirt persona that you project to everybody around you? I know that I’m through being that meek and mild young thing that nobody sees more than just

wallpaper. I want more from my life than going through the motions.” Knowing that this was a figment of my imagination it had allowed me to reach further than I’d ever gone before. I grabbed his foot and I played a sexy game of pulling at his shoes and then taking off his argyle black socks. I scooted forward, raising my ample legs and placing them on either side of his sitting against the desk. I had his foot in my hand and I was rubbing his big toe up and down the wet center of my panties. They were the sheer baby blue kind with a lace trim with a very thin material that could be ripped on contact with just about anything. “MY GOD. I never took you for this kind of sexual creature.” I used his big toe to move the fabric out of his way, so that he could feel the bald mound of my sex. I had the recipe for disaster and it was written for me to follow step by step. “You make it very hard to stay celibate.” I’d known from the moment that I came to work at the firm that Drake was saving himself for marriage. He was apparently quite the bad ass in the day, but he had changed his ways. He had cleaned up his act and was finding a true purpose for himself here. This was his chance to use that intellect that had gone unnoticed by most. “You need to take a step back and look at what you are denying yourself.” He belonged to me and all I had to do was crook my finger in just the right way to motion him closer to the source of my desire. “You are exactly like me and we both need to live a little. It’s time to get in touch with your past.” There was the sound of clapping and we both looked towards the door to see the blond Adonis of Tyler standing there quite amused by the site that greeted him. “Alas, I couldn’t have said that better myself. You both live under a rock when there’s a whole world out there ready to explore. You’ve been out of the game too long, Drake. I’m definitely not going to be the one that anybody’s going to take home to mother and I’ve never claimed to be the good guy. I don’t consider myself the bad guy either, but there is something to say for being naughty.” He had his cock already out and the glistening glaze along the shaft told me that he had rubbed his own stuff into the skin. “I’m not sure that I feel comfortable about any of this. You two are fucking crazy pardon my French.” He could say that, but Drake did not stop me from using his big toe to separate the lips of my labia. He wasn’t thick by any means, but it certainly was a jarring sensation. This prepared me for the inevitable insertion of something a lot bigger than his big toe. I pulled him away for a moment, so that I could relieve myself of my panties. I took them off and I smelled the middle, inhaling the aroma and then tossing it over my shoulder to be snatched from the air by Tyler standing there ready to receive them.

I went back to using his toe and then another one of his toes alongside the big one joined in on the fun. I was rubbing my clit with one finger. I watched Tyler move his cock back and forth through the sheer material of my panties. He was leaving behind quite the mess and I was beckoning him forward, so that I could suck on the head. He was jerking the shaft with my panties enclosed around his charging rhino. His impressive monument of manhood was quite daunting and even getting the head into my mouth was not an easy feat by any means. I felt those toes come away from me and the plaster of Drake’s shaved face was followed by the extension of his tongue. It slithered into my folds, separating any resistance and driving deep within my core. The force that greeted him pulled him in. He wasn’t prepared for that type of reaction. Scientifically speaking, it was fascinating to lend myself to this kind of experiment. I moaned around the cock in my mouth, while my 6’3, 250 pound musclebound freak had taken a hold of my long black hair. He curled many locks in his fist making it impossible for me to relinquish my hold. He knew how to handle my big body. Not many men were man enough to manhandle my girth “You suck cock like a fucking pro on the street. You could make some serious cash giving yourself to men.” I couldn’t believe that Tyler could think of me like that, but there was also this special little shiver that ran down my spine at the very idea of letting some strange man take advantage of me. Drake had taken his tongue out and now narrowed his attention on my clit with rapid movements that had me practically falling off the chair. The only thing that was preventing me from doing that was Drake’s hands underneath my huge ass. One of his fingers made contact with my asshole. I was soon having an anal induced climax with his tongue now enhancing it with a suction that felt out of this world. I don’t know how it happened, but I found myself over the desk and each one was taking turns pounding me over top of it. There were moments that I didn’t even know which one was doing it and it was kind of exciting to think that I had lost myself to the moment. “You’ve got one fucking hot hole. It’s so fucking hot and wet that it amazes me that it belongs to somebody like you.” I suppose I could have taken that as a backhanded compliment, but for some reason I didn’t care, as long as they were giving me what I wanted. He grunted his reply and soon was shooting streams of it over my back making it as far as my hair. I felt so dirty and alive and then Drake was forcing his into my ass. I don’t know why he felt compelled to do that, but I wasn’t going to ask any questions to ruin the

moment. “You’re such a nasty little bitch and I don’t know how you bring this out of me. I haven’t said anything so gross and demeaning in some time… in… some…TIMEEEEEE.” He gave one final jerking motion and then he was shaking with the relief of his balls now boiling his seed to the surface. It sprayed with the force of a hose and I was left slightly stunned and completely used and abused in a way that I could never imagine in real life. Chapter two I awoke with the start and I was at my desk and there was nobody around me. The only sound that could be heard was the ticking of the clock. I wasn’t sure if I was back in reality or still in my fantasy. Was all that even a fantasy, or did I live in the moment and do something totally out of character for the first time in my life? I quickly checked for any evidence, but there was no sticky residue left behind after our ill advised union together. My panties were showing signs of excitement with a wet stain that really was quite telling. I had been poring over documents and trying to verify the results of something extraordinary. We were working on a way to give the dopamine levels in our brains an enhancement to make every day a happy one. Everything so far was inconclusive, but we did come to a very strange discovery. The pill once given to one of our specimens had cured a certain malignant tumor in its monkey body. There was a lot more research to do to even consider getting it FDA approved for the open market. My eyes were blurred I could barely see 2 feet in front of me. I was overtired and barely able to function without the necessary caffeine injection with cup after cup for the last few hours. I was jittery, but lack of sleep had the disadvantage of making me fall into a deep slumber. Once my head hit the pillows, I would be out like a light. “You can’t be here at all hours of the night, Celeste. You’re making me look bad and that’s not good when I’m the boss.” Tyler with his blond good looks that you would find in some kind of magazine for beautiful people was standing there in front of me. He looked haggard and the expression on his face told me that he was ready to call it for the night. I was surprised that he didn’t have a date. It seemed that there was a different flavor every week. “I’ve gotten one final adjournment. This is the last one that they are going to allow before they ask for some kind of results. Just remember, this cannot be like any other drug out there. This has to be something that we can buy over the counter and not have any of the side effects of withdrawal or addiction. I know it’s a hard pill to swallow, but if anyone can do it, I know that somehow you will pull it off.”

“I’m just about done myself. I don’t know how much I can do without seeing all of these wavy lines in front of my eyes. If you would wait, I will come with you to the elevator.” I didn’t know if this was fantasy or reality and that gave me something to look forward to. I had bypassed all reason and judgment and was ready to throw caution to the wind. I couldn’t care less about anything, but I also harbored a distinct fear of doing something that was going to get me thrown off the project. This was too important and besides I didn’t have the courage to do something to initiate anything. “I’ll give you a few minutes to finish up. I need to check some emails and then I’ll meet you down at the elevator. Don’t leave without me.” It was strange thing for him to say and maybe I was reading too much into it. The office area was deserted and not even the cleaning staff was here. They were to arrive in the next couple of hours, which left a lot to happen between now and then. I finally pushed myself back from the computer. I was exhausted and unable to think straight. I rubbed my eyes with my glasses dangling from my fingers. I put them back on and smoothed down my plaid skirt. I stood on my own 2 feet in the 4 inch black high heels that I wore like a testament to the bad girl I wanted to be. “I don’t know what’s taking you so long, but I really do need to get home and get something to eat. I’m famished and I could probably eat a horse right about now.” I heard laughter and I mistakenly thought that he was getting a big thrill out of what I had to say. It made me smile I went to his door to see that he was busy on a phone call. “Of course I want to be with you, baby. You have everything going for you and I can’t wait to strap on the saddle and ride you like never before. You know that my cock is best suited for a woman of your obvious qualities. You know that when you scream in orgasm it’s like an aphrodisiac right to my privates. My cock is already hard for you, baby. Why don’t I come over right now and show you what I’m talking about. You can’t possibly deny me after everything that we’ve meant to one another. Of course, I know that we haven’t seen each other in some time, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t be friends with benefits. What better way is there for both of us to get off than by using each other’s body like some personal sex toy? I’m glad to hear you say that. It won’t take me more than 10 minutes to get over there.” He hung up and I was standing there with my hand to my mouth in shock. “I didn’t mean to overhear any of that, but you have to admit that you weren’t exactly being subtle about your overtures. I’m guessing that you found something to do for the evening. I hope that you can stay awake long enough to

get her there.” I wanted him to look at me like the way that he was talking to that woman on the phone. For the most part, I figured that he saw me as a little sister and nothing more. “It certainly did make you blush and I’m not just talking about your cheeks.” I looked down and my chest had turned this rosy hue. I couldn’t help it and his words did affect me. The way that he stalked me from across the room was making me look at him like he was crazy. I couldn’t let him see how much his teasing was turning me on. He grazed my face with his hand. It had me practically begging to be taken. “You’re not so bad when you get close enough to see your natural beauty. I kinda like the curves and you wear it well. I think that you and I could have a lot of fun and maybe I could be the one to make you experience something that you’ve never had before.” I made my way down to the elevator. “I really don’t think that we should be doing anything of the sort. You have to admit that workplace romances never work out. They’re always messy and awkward at the end of the day. I really don’t need that kind of drama in my life.” He was behind me and most likely staring at my ass and wondering what it would take to get me out of the plaid skirt. “It’s not like you don’t have a better offer. She sounds like she’s ready for you and why you would you even try to get into my pants god only knows.” It must’ve been the old adage of something that was unattainable. “I don’t know what it is, but maybe I’ve always seen you differently than others. I thought that I had to protect you, but I also felt like you needed to wake up and experience the world. You’ve never been one for taking chances. I’ve seen the way that you’ve been looking at Drake and why the two of you haven’t jumped each other’s nerd asses is beyond me. His lingering glances and you staring at him when he’s not looking doesn’t go unnoticed by me. I also think that you have something of an attraction to me. It’s something that scares you and it should, because I can be quite overwhelming.” The feel of him pressed up against me was not for an innocent girl like myself. “You can’t be doing this, Tyler. We work together and you know as well as I do that this is only the lack of sleep that’s talking. I don’t want you to think of me as easy prey. I’m going to do us both a favor and put a stop to this before it goes any further.” He was purposely bumping up against me to let me feel the full effect of his elongated member. “You can’t tell me that you don’t have any feelings for me. The way that you’re backing up against me tells me differently. This is something that you think of often and believe me I know the feeling. Drake is a damn fool for not doing something about the obvious attraction between the two of you. I’m not

one to lay back on my morals and I think that if it’s fun, then you should just do it and forget about the consequences. The worst that’s gonna happen is that we won’t be able to work together and what a crying shame that would be.” He might have thought that I was a dime a dozen, but I didn’t have that same sentiment. I didn’t want to lose the best job for one fleeting moment of pleasure. “You can’t do this and it’s wrong on so many levels.” I watched the lights getting closer to this floor and I was praying that it would get here sooner than later. “I can’t have anything to do with you outside of the office.” He spun me around and kissed. His one hand went between my legs and was gradually moving that very plain skirt up a few inches. “Who said anything about outside the office? We can do a whole lot with what we have around here. The break room has a very comfy couch. I’m sure that we could put it to good use.” His knee was rubbing up between my legs profoundly and I felt myself getting that necessary jolt of adrenaline to do something that I wouldn’t normally do under any other circumstances. “You’re too abrupt and you’re not the type of guy that I usually go for. I need time to get to know someone and even though we’ve known each other for the last six months, I don’t know that much about your personal life. What I do know is that you are a bit of a womanizer and that you use women like you use Kleenex.” I was trying to get through to him, but I was doing nothing to stop him from stirring the embers down below. “You are a bit of a tease, but I like that in my girls. It’s the hunt and the conquest that makes me want to do something about it. Every woman that I’ve known and gone to sleep with told me that my persistence was what made me appealing. I don’t give up and I don’t give in, until I have their panties on my floor and their bodies splayed out over my bed. It doesn’t matter if they are married or single. If I zero my sights on someone, I will have them by hell or high water. All you need to do is open yourself up to my brand of seduction.” I heard the ding of the elevator. I walked towards it quickly to escape his clutches. I heard him saying something, but I had placed my hands over my ears. I never noticed the sign at my feet or the feel of it scraping against my heel. If I had, I probably wouldn’t have plummeted into an open elevator shaft. Chapter three I didn’t remember a damn thing, but I did seem to recall both Tyler and Drake lamenting over something. I was lying on the couch with what I perceived, as a bandage around my head. I had no idea how much time had gone by, but it felt like an eternity. I had this throbbing in my head and it felt

like a kind of pain that could only be felt when you were going through a lobotomy. It’s not like I had any reference for something like that. “I called for an ambulance, but they are backed up with a ten car pile up on the interstate. They told me to keep her awake and talking. That’s hard to do when she’s unconscious and not responding to any kind of stimuli. You know as well as I do that she’s not going to survive. The blood loss alone is enough to kill anyone and she’s holding on by sheer will alone.” That was Drake’s voice and he must have come in at Tyler’s request or maybe he just showed up out of the blue. “I feel responsible. I knew the elevator was under maintenance, but I got a little ahead of myself. I was only thinking with one head and didn’t realize it was out of order, until she took that one fatal step too far. She fell five floors onto the top of the elevator that’s stuck between floors. It was lucky. If she had fallen the entire length of the shaft, there would be nothing left of her. I know what you’re thinking, because I’ve been thinking the same thing. You know that the results are inconclusive and that we’re opening ourselves to a lawsuit that could bankrupt us.” “Tyler, you of all people know how I feel about her. I can’t let her go not if there’s something that I can do about it.” I had no idea what they were talking about. Most of what they were saying was like it was coming from a long distance tunnel. It was an echo of one voice after another. “We’ve always wanted to try human test subjects. We have one lying right here in front of us. We have to try and it’s her only chance for survival.” I felt like I was slipping away and that their voices were slowly fading to almost a whisper of what they were before. I was struggling to remain in the here and now, but I was also looking forward to losing myself in the environment of fantasy. “If we do this, we have to monitor her extensively for the next few days. We don’t even know if it’s gonna work. There’s only one way to find out. I’ll go get one of the pills and you make sure that we have a glass of water on hand to help her to swallow the damn thing.” The pill that they were talking about was something from the making of my own hand. If they were thinking about giving me that, then they were truly desperate enough to do just about anything to save my life. “Drake, I know that you can’t stop staring at her chest through that red blouse. Her nipples being hard like that are courtesy of me playing those sexual games that I’m known for around the office. I was just going to hit it and quit it, but I didn’t get the chance. I don’t think that she truly knows what she’s capable of. Maybe this brush with death will open her eyes to new possibilities. She may even see what’s in front of her and grab you for a

quickie in the bathroom. I wouldn’t hold your breath, but anything is possible.” Drake didn’t give him a response to his query. I would have to say that he didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of playing his game. According to his own ego, Tyler was apparently the second coming and every woman was supposed to fall on their knees to worship him. I was not immune to what he had to offer and the length of his staff was something that could be easily seen. I mistakenly rubbed up against Drake a couple times and I knew that he was not exactly shy in that department. They both had an amazing physique and now they were working together to save my life. They lifted my head and made me open my mouth and not in the good way. This all felt like it was happening to somebody else. I felt the pill in my mouth and the contact with my tongue was soon being chased with water that I could barely swallow. It wasn’t long before I saw all of these pretty colors and I followed them with waves of my hands. Both guys were sitting vigil watching me intently. I had heard that they called the ambulance and told them that it was a practical joke from a teenage kid that had gotten access to their telephone. They didn’t want them to show up and find me this way. I was flying high, as an elephant’s eye. “Be still and I just want to check your bandage to see if there’s any improvement.” Things were moving in slow motion and when Drake leaned over me, I saw his crotch and it was like a living heartbeat in front of my eyes. The thing had its own presence and then I heard an audible gasp that had nothing to do with me touching him in any way. “You have to see this, Tyler. It’s better than our wildest dreams come true.” Tyler leaned over me and both of them were now in reaching distance. I tried to lift my arms, but they felt like I was carrying ten pound weights around my biceps. “It has not only stopped bleeding, but the wound is sealing itself. I know that it was rumored to have this kind of effect, but I guess I had to see it to believe it.” Both of their cocks were pumping like the beating heart underneath the floorboards to signify guilt. My fingers were tingling and that sensation was traveling exponentially down over my body. When it reached my lower extremities, I was feeling like I wanted more than anything to show them how I felt about them. At the moment, I was not feeling exactly like myself. I needed time to adjust. “I have to say that I’m quite impressed and this could net us a small fortune when it reaches the open market. I’m not saying that it’s going to be easy and we have a lot of hurdles that we need to overcome to get there. It might be at least three years before we see anything from any drug company that is willing

to bend over backwards to pay through the nose. It would be easy just to pawn if off on one of them, but it would be, so much more lucrative if we were able to hold out and deal with all of this on our own.” I was feeling a little dizzy. My mouth was dry and I needed something to quench my thirst. I saw two very hard spigots ready to spew what I wanted. They had exactly what I wanted and I licked my lips with anticipation of getting them even close to my mouth. My eyes were showing a tint of yellow around these guys like it was their own personal aura. “I think that we need to take this one step at a time, Tyler. There’s still a lot of work to do, but we do have a willing subject. She’s not going to say anything and besides we saved her life with the very compound that she had come up with for this project.” I could smell the musk of their manly aroma. It was like everything about me had been supercharged. “There’s no reason to talk about me like I’m not in the room. I can hear what you’re saying and I think that you’re both damn fools to do this. I know that you felt like you were up against a wall, but you don’t know what that’s going to do to me in the end. You could be making things worse by trying to make them better.” I got up on my elbows to see that somebody had undone the first couple of buttons on my red blouse. The color was the only real risk that I had ever taken. I’d seen it in my closet and it was used as a hooker outfit for an adults’ only Halloween party. “I’m sorry that I took advantage of you. I thought it better that you felt comfortable and I didn’t want to restrict your airways.” I thought for sure that it was Tyler that was responsible, but apparently Drake had done the honors. If only he had gone all the way, I might’ve been crawling on my hands and knees to get to him about now. “You stopped too soon.” I couldn’t believe that I had said something like that. It was like everything that I had been thinking was coming out of my mouth with no filter whatsoever. “You both should have stripped me naked, spread my legs and ate my little pussy, until I creamed all over your faces. I know that is exactly what you want.” I tried to stop myself without success. It was a diatribe of dirty talk that was having the desired results. I tried to reach for them, but both Drake and Tyler decided together that they weren’t going to take advantage of me in that way. I was beside myself with the feelings that were creeping up in between my legs. I needed something that was going to take the edge off. “Neither one of us want you to do anything that you’re going to regret in the morning, Celeste. It would be best that you stay here and let us monitor you for the evening. The way that you’re acting, I believe it’s better for all of us that

you are locked up where you can’t get a hold of either one of us.” I could see that Drake meant every word that he was saying, but I was turning to Tyler hoping that he was going to see that this was his opportunity to strike while the iron was hot. “Let’s not be so hasty, Drake. She’s obviously feeling the effects of the drug running through her veins and there’s no reason why we can’t have a bit of fun. She looks so damned good and there’s something about her that draws me like a magnet.” This was exactly what I wanted to hear. Drake biting his bottom lip had me convinced that it wouldn’t take much to get them to see things from my point of view. “You should really listen to Tyler. He makes good sense and it’s not like I’m doing anything that I’m not fully aware of. I’ve never felt like this and my head is literally swimming with endorphins. They are sending these very intricate messages back to the rest of my body.” I found myself over Drake’s shoulder. He took me into a room and locked it with his own code. I looked to them with hunger, licking my lips and stripping off my clothes. Drake was forcing Tyler back and making him stay away from me, even though it was Herculean effort on both of our parts. Chapter four During the night, I was wasting my time trying to get their attention. I rubbed my bare breasts up against the glass. I watched them squirm underneath the pretense of trying to be good guys. I squeezed those nipples and pulled at them with a fire to get off by any means necessary. I finally drifted off to sleep lying there completely exposed, until I opened my eyes and felt that things had changed. I put on my clothes and looked out the window to see that both guys were sleeping soundly with their heads thrown back in a most uncomfortable angle. That was going to hurt when they woke up and maybe a nice massage from my nimble fingers might be the thing that cures what ails them. “You can open up the door. I’m feeling a whole lot better now.” Drake was the one that stirred first and he stared at me with suspicion like he didn’t quite believe what I had to say. He got up and approached slowly still eying me with curiosity like I was something to be seen underneath the microscope. “I’m serious and I’m not so fucked up like I was last night.” I was still feeling the urge to satisfy my own carnal cravings, but it was not to the point of wanting to do something inconceivable. “It bodes well that you are dressed. You have no idea how hard it was for us to keep away from you last night.” My eyes lingered a little longer than necessary at his crotch. I smiled and licked my lips and then his hands covered

the object of my desire. “I’m not sure that I believe you and you still have that look in your eye. It’s not as wild and untamed as it was last night, but it’s still pretty damn daunting.” I did notice that the staff had not come in and I had to assume that they had done a necessary precaution of calling them and telling them that they could have the day off. “You have no idea how good I really feel. It’s like just touching myself is enough to bring me to the Promised Land. This is, so much better than what we talked about. I’m not sure that I would call this addictive, but it is pretty powerful and potent stuff.” I ran my hands over my clothes and even the feel of the fabric against my skin was enough to make my legs turn to jelly. “I can’t explain it. The only way that you can truly know what I’m going through is to do it yourself. That would put us all on an even playing field.” The melodic lilt of my voice was causing him to sway to unseen music like I was some kind of pied piper leading him astray. “You do make a valid point and it might be good to experiment a little bit further with human trials.” I motioned with my eyes and he followed my gaze, until he was punching in the code to the door and releasing the lock. It opened and I pulled him inside by the collar of his shirt. I ripped the first couple of buttons in my haste to touch him. “I’ve got this feeling inside my bones and there’s this electricity that I can feel when you first see a member of the opposite sex that attracts your attention. It’s that feeling enhanced by 1000 times and I can only imagine what sex would be like in my condition.” I ran my hand down his chest hearing him breathe heavy and staring at me like he couldn’t quite understand what to do next. “I’ve always had a thing for you, Drake, but I never have the courage to actually act on anything. Those days are over and if you think that you’re getting away from me, then you really don’t understand anything.” I saw over his shoulder that Tyler had awoken and he was stretching his limbs and doing his best to come back to the land of reality. He was still foggy around the edges and I used the momentary reprieve to rip open Drake’s shirt the rest of the way. It was with a passion to release what was going to be mine. I kissed his chest and left behind the mark of my lipstick smeared against his flesh. He was pretty hairless with only a tuft in the middle of his chest. Just touching it made me purr and having it graze against my cheek had me wrapping my leg around his waist. I rubbed my naked mound up against his imprisoned member. I felt the throbbing presence of his manhood and it certainly did give me food for thought. “What you need to do, Drake is to open up your mouth and then you will get a big surprise.” He was trying to push me away, but his eyes were

following that one lone pill that I had in my possession. I was tempted to take another one, but the one that I had already taken courtesy of them stuffing down my throat was still very much doing its thing. “Don’t you want to be just like me? It’s what the kids are all doing and maybe it would be best that you give into peer pressure.” I was having a bit of fun at his expense, but then his mouth opened and I placed that little white pill on the tip of his tongue. “No…don’t do it and we don’t know what it will do to a man.” Tyler had gotten to the door a little bit too late. He had his hands pressed up against the glass. He looked terrified like we had done something, so horrible that it was going to come back and haunt us. “You two can’t be trusted to be together in the same room. The feelings that you have for each other is being uncovered by the use of a pharmaceutical substitute. Don’t you see that this is not the way?” Drake looked over his shoulder for a moment and then he swallowed that pill before he chickened out. “I know that you’re trying to do the right thing, Tyler, but maybe you should come in here and take one of these pills yourself. It’s pretty damn obvious that you want to fuck me and I need somebody to fill my pussy with their cock. One of you is going to have the honors of giving me the old sausage first.” I stuck my hand down Drake’s pants. The look on his face needed to be photographed for posterity. That shocked expression had stunned him into silence with his mouth parted and my hand pulling his head down for the insertion of my tongue. Nobody had ever told me that it could be like this and maybe if somebody had said so, I wouldn’t be so staid or vanilla. “I would love to, but I’m trying to be the only voice of reason. It feels wrong trying to be something that I’m not. It should be Drake out here and me in there with you feeling your body and touching you in the most profound way possible.” I reached for the door to let him in, but I realized that the lock was a combination only known to Drake. “You can still stop this before it goes too far. Find that little voice inside and you’ll know what to do.” “You’re right about one thing, Tyler. It does feel like the devil on my shoulder. Unfortunately, the angel has already been killed and buried 6 feet under. There are coins on his eyes and a RIP sign on a gravestone in his name.” I raked my nails down Drake’s chest paying particular attention to his nips. Each slight graze along the surface of his nipples and he jerked against me with his package pressed even tighter against my wet and demanding mound. I was stroking his cock through his briefs and then that wasn’t enough for me anymore. I dropped to my knees pulling down his pants and his underwear, until my prey was revealed in all its glory. When I first saw him in the office, I could tell that he was curious and I was just too afraid to say anything.

“I’m the one that’s usually causing trouble and it’s not right that I have to be subjected to this show.” God bless him. Tyler was still trying to pull us back from the abyss. It was pretty obvious that he was jealous. I never took him for a guy that liked a little meat on the bones. My tongue stabbed into the hole and I manipulated his flesh with my fingers. I made sure to concentrate on the head touching that very sensitive spot and making him shudder with my skillful hand job. I pulled at his leg hairs, until I had that specimen begging me for my sweet mouth. I opened up and breathed hot air across his glands. I loved his reaction, but it was going to get a whole lot better than that. He suddenly grabbed my hair and drove the first half of his 8 inch love staff into my mouth. Just the feel of him touching my tongue had me shaking in disbelief. That orgasm was minor compared to the big one that was slowly coming up on me. “I don’t even know where to begin. The pill is amazing and I see all of these colors and you should have explained it better last night. I’m not even sure that anybody would have the right words and it’s like my body is charged with a very unique kind of adrenaline. This is all about sex and the only drawback is that I feel dry like the Sahara Desert. I have noticed that my allergies are gone. I can breathe clear for the first time in years.” Drake was fucking my face and staring down at the woman that had captured his lust from the moment that he laid eyes on me. Tyler was still watching and his hands were no longer in sight. By the movement of his body, I could only assume that he was using the five palm sisters. He was working himself into a lather and he didn’t even have the accompaniment of the drug to draw him further into sexual depravity. I’d never felt, so alive and I had to feel what it was like to have his cock deep in my mouth. I could feel him leaking and it was this thick sickly syrup that clung to my tongue like that of a paintbrush would to a wall. I buried him deep hearing an outcry of pleasure from both of the guys with one in the horrible position of having to see it and not experience it for himself. Drake balls were now full like that of a basketball being inflated with the use of some kind of electric pump. He was grunting and rivers of sweat had now accumulated down his chest to pool around his balls in a wet matted mess that smelled better than it looked. I inhaled those pheromones, as the pressure in his loins began to grow, until finally the dam burst. I swallowed as fast as I could, but the drug was now producing more than I could handle. I had to relinquish my claim letting the overflow stream down my chin and over my body like a clear and sticky paste. I rubbed it into my

skin and then I heard the telltale click of the door behind me. After Drake had gotten his, he was now ready to share the bounty. I was still on my knees and looked to see the large encompassing bulge advancing closer. He was rubbing it in a circle and there was a telltale wet spot from where his excitement had gotten a little too overindulged. I knew that this was only the beginning and that what I had done to Drake was the catalyst to what was going to happen next. Any lingering doubt had vanished with the help of the drug. I knew that this was not the way that I would act normally, but I kind of enjoyed the freedom of letting the drug do what it was meant to do. It was time to bring Tyler into this and I happily motioned him with one finger to come closer to get the same kind of treatment that Drake got. Chapter five “I want to go on record to say that I don’t need a drug to fuel my desire for you, Celeste. I’m only doing this. as a purely scientific curiosity and nothing more.” I had no idea who he was trying to convince myself or him. It really didn’t matter and he had already swallowed the pill and we were just waiting for it to take effect. I was rubbing my hands up and down his legs. My fingers were doing most of the work, but not quite touching on what I really wanted to get my hands on. It wouldn’t take long for him to feel it and then I saw the glaze over his eyes. His head was moving back and forth and that was when I took control of the situation. I unzipped him and fished inside to find what I was looking for. It was a prize to behold and one that was slightly bigger than Drake, although it really didn’t matter to me one way or the other. It could’ve been 6 inches for 10 and I would have gladly consumed it, until he had nothing left to give me. “I thought that I would need time after such an explosive discharge, but as you can see I’m ready and raring to go again.” It must’ve been one of the many side effects that we were experiencing together. I was glad to see that Drake was up and not deflated after having me siphon every single drop from his balls. “This is so much better than Viagra. I’m sure that once this gets out there that we will find ourselves completely inundated with requests from every pharmaceutical company known to man.” I couldn’t understand how Drake could be thinking about business when his cock was thumping with its own heartbeat. “We can think about that later, Drake and don’t you see that we have a beautiful and compliant woman ready to do our bidding?” I wouldn’t exactly say it like that, but then I wasn’t completely in my right mind at the moment. I was completely off in my own little world and I had no desire to come back

anytime soon. “Celeste is a beautiful woman and it’s a crying shame that neither one of us has done anything to show her that.” I’d always thought that Tyler thought of me as a little sister, but this was no way to act with a sibling. “I’m not sure what you want me to say. I think that I can let things go for the moment to enjoy the kind of sex that everybody will be clamoring for.” I gripped Drake tightly and heard him gasp with arousal, as his cock began to show me that one blow job was never going to be enough. He should have shown some signs of deflating, but it seemed like they had only grown bigger. I had them in my hand and I could feel the weight with the kind of pressure that his arousal was causing. He lifted me, until I was bent over at an angle with his hands on my hip and his cock rubbing up and down my slit. He purposely slapped it against my clit several times and of course that made my whole body tremble and my knees begin to shake from the effort. He applied enough pressure to that presence and it opened up the gates like that of a magician with a wand. I felt it rubbing up against my walls and it continued to slide along my wetness, until only his balls remained. “I don’t know how long I’m gonna be able to keep this up. Just moving seems very difficult and the feeling of you wrapped around me is nothing short of euphoria. The sex that I had in the past was good, but it doesn’t even compare. I’m worried that this will become addictive and that we are only asking for problems trying to put it out on the open market.” This time is was Tyler thinking about something more than the moment. I couldn’t have that, so I slammed my mouth down on him and started to suck him on my own. Tyler was slapping his own face like the added bonus of pain was needed. He was shaking his head with his eyes closed and my mouth now showing him a way to a pleasure filled trip that he would never want to come back from. I’d already experienced that myself, but it was slowly subsiding, which meant the drug that I was on was coming to the end of its cycle. I was stuck like a pig from both ends on the spike of both of their cocks. My skin was on fire and my flesh quivered with this need for the kind of release that no woman could ever do without. I pitied those ones that thought that they were getting everything they could from a relationship. One taste of this kind of sex would have them tossing their significant other to the side for the chance to feel like this. Nobody would be immune and that was a little scary and also exciting at the same time. “Your mouth is driving me crazy, but I really do need to fuck you. You have no idea how much it’s hurting me to see him taking you like that.” I heard a bit of anger in his voice and the bit of spittle coming from his mouth told me that

that anger was only getting worse by the second. “I can’t take it anymore.” He pulled free of my mouth, leaving me empty and sticking my tongue out to try to draw him back in. I heard what sounded like somebody grimacing in pain and looked back to see that Drake had a bloody nose and was stumbling back with his cock bobbing up and down. He was lucky that his nose wasn’t broken. Tyler was acting like a jealous boyfriend, when there was more than enough of me to go around. I looked up to Tyler and the look on his face told me that I was in for it now. He lifted me with a strained look and made me wrap my legs around his waist with his cock finding my eager hole with one long and determined thrust of his hips. Our bodies were pressed up against each other with my hands around his neck and his mouth now encompassing the space at the side of my neck. He was bouncing my big boned frame up and down with no signs of slowing down. He turned and drove me up against the wall making me feel the impact and knocking the very breath out of my body. “Fuck me… Fuck me… Oh my god… I can’t believe that you are doing this to me.” I came undone like my whole body was now one limp rag doll. I hung there precariously, while he force fed me an injection of beef. I saw the look and knew from personal experience that it could only mean one thing. His face was this contortion of pleasure and then he was pulled free of me, as he began to shoot into the air and not inside me where he belonged. Drake carried me to a nearby metal counter. The cold was quite jarring against my skin and I shivered on contact, before he plugged me solid once more. The counter shook and the beakers began to dance along the surface, until they jumped practically on their own to the floor to their death. They shattered on contact. I don’t think that any one of us really cared. “I’m cumming again… I’ve never had a multiple orgasm, but I guess there’s always the first time for EVERYTHINGGGGGGGG.” He was working very hard and if he wasn’t careful, he was going to blow the top off of this cock. I could feel my inner muscles working along his length. I had orgasms before, but this one was by far better than all of them combined. I literally blacked out, but not before I felt that knob expand and the sweet cream release like that of something that you would find in a fireman’s hose. I took the brunt of that attack and I lie there with no control over my faculties. My ears were ringing and my vision blurred, but I knew that I could never have it this good again. “Yeah…this is what you wanted and I’m now going to give it to you every damn day for the rest of your life.” He gave me one final lunge forward and the last of his seed spilled within the lucky

confines of my warm embrace. I was lying there in a sexual induced coma of sorts. I could make out that there was a fight ensuing. They were naked and felt no shame, as they rained blows on each other like that of some kind of secret fight club. I wanted to intervene and tell them to stop, but it was useless in the condition that I was in. The last of the drug died away and I was left shivering. “She’s mine and you can’t have her.” Drake drove his fist into Tyler’s stomach blowing the wind out of him and making him double over in pain. He lifted him by his hair and punched him three times in rapid succession. Watching this was fascinating, but also terrifying in ways that I could never imagine. “You’re going to have to kill me to have her.” The next punch landed in Tyler’s fist and he rose to his full height and squeezed with the kind of force that you would find in some kinda muscle-bound freak. He made Drake fall to his knees with a tear in his eyes from the obvious pain that he was being afflicted with. “You don’t deserve her and you’ve never deserved her. You are a coward. You’ve never lived a day in your life. I’m the one that goes out on a limb and tries new things just to say that I did it.” His right foot came out and squarely caught Drake in the ribs’. They were soon rolling around on the floor and then suddenly they stopped abruptly. They lie there moaning and it wasn’t from any kind of pleasure. They were writhing in agony and then they passed out, but thankfully they were still breathing. It took another couple of hours, but I finally got back on my feet with their seed dripping out of me and down over my body. Normally it would have dried to a paste, but my skin was still warm to the touch. I sat down in the Lotus position between them and I looked at their bodies and couldn’t quite get enough. The drug had worn off, but I was still feeling this desperate need to be with them. It was like the drug had unlocked something that was already there. It was the key to bringing about those experiences that I’d only thought about and never did anything about. I stayed with them, until they both opened their eyes at almost the exact same time. They bolted straight up and sat there looking slightly dazed and confused. “I do believe that we have some things to iron out. The way that this drug is right now is not fit for consumption by any one. We were stupid to do this and we risked our own health for something of a hidden desire that we didn’t even know we had for one another.” Drake was using his clinical side to see things for what they were. Tyler was still a little out of it and he was nodding his head like he agreed

with everything that Drake was saying. “Drake’s right and we need to take things slowly. I don’t think that we really needed that drug.” I got up and grabbed them both by the hand. “I’m not saying that I don’t want to do that again, but I don’t think that it’s necessary every single time. In fact, I would like to try a new experiment where all of us go back to one of your place and see what we can do about burning up the sheets without the drug feeding that need. Whatever this drug is can’t be controlled. I do like the after effect and that newfound sense of sexual self is not a bad thing at all.” I had them in my hand and after they dressed, they put one hand each on my ass through my skirt. We left there with smiles on our faces and we stopped momentarily at the elevator to look back at the drug. We knew that this was not the first time that we would try that. It was inevitable that we would fall back into old habits, but for now it was time to take things to the next level. I didn’t know where we went from here, but I was willing to throw my body at them to find out. “I have to say that we may have jumped the gun by introducing human trials. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure that Drake will attest that what we did to save your life is something that we don’t ever wanna take back. I just think that we were playing god and maybe it’s time that we start thinking clearly and doing something about these feelings in a more constructive way. I don’t think we were being forced to do anything that we didn’t already want to do.” Tyler was a clever young man. “I don’t know about the two of you, but I think the drug was the perfect way to reveal our feelings. We no longer have to hide or think that what we’re doing is wrong. We know that we feel this for one another and to deny ourselves that kind of pleasure is foolish. I can’t believe that we have wasted all this time being alone.” The door to the elevator closed and with it came an awakening that was going to have me clawing at their bodies, until the wee hours of the morning.

TROUBLE WITH DOUBLE

CERISE RHODES HANDED her stepbrother a five-dollar bill. She tried to ignore his little smirk as he put it in his wallet but at that moment it was awfully tempting to smack him a good one. Jaxon Davies gave her a helpless little shrug and put the bill in his wallet.

The bet between them had been whether her boyfriend—or soon-to-be-exboyfriend—was going to show up to mount the cabinets and build the bar. Jaxon had said “no”. Cerise had said “yes”, but by now even she had realized that Devon Brown was a slacker. “He’ll probably come in as soon as we’ve got it fixed,” Jaxon said, taking up a wire-stripper. He was the electrician of the bunch. Cerise scowled. “Stop it,” she said. “You know he’s like that,” Jaxon said, teasing her this time. “He’s only into you because you’re black, you know that, don’t you?” “I wouldn’t presume,” she sniffed. They—Cerise, Jaxon, and Miles, Jaxon’s twin—had really been feeling the pressure lately. The three of them had bought the burnt-down husk that had once been Philadelphia’s Laser Tex at a steep discount, but the costs to shore up the main support beams, re-do the interior, furnish the place with the kind of booths and tables that would be worthy of the next “trendiest spot in town”, had all been higher than expected. They were doing a lot of the work themselves—Cerise was doing all of the design herself, using every connection she’d made as a graphic artist to find the materials and furniture. Jaxon was doing most of the plumbing and wiring. “It’s all poles in holes,” he said, which wasn’t exactly reassuring but so far the toilets he’d installed were still functional and the lights that had been put in hadn’t shorted and burned down the place—again. Yet. Miles was the brains of the bunch. He knew how to spot trends and cash in on them, and he knew how to wrangle smallbusiness grants from the city government to help offset the costs and work the taxes so that they came out only slightly the worse for wear. But no amount of bookkeeping magic could conceal the fact that they were two weeks from opening and the place was still only half-finished. Cerise had seen enough interior redesigns to know that the bulk of the transformation happened in the last three or four days, but they should have laid down the flooring by now; the walls needed primer and the lighting on the stage needed to be fixed. Instead, she was still sanding the panels that held the bar together with a belt sander, and she’d need to fit the doors to the cabinets before the end of the day. Jaxon was still wiring the sound and lighting systems to a central switchboard. The club had a dance floor in the middle and a small stage opposite the entrance, where they’d planned to have bands play on the weekends. But now they had to contend with the fact that Devon, the guy who was helping with the building and carpentry work, had probably bailed on them. She had to admit she wasn’t exactly surprised. He was the kind of guy who yelled at waiters and waitresses just for the power trip and ran over stray cats

for fun. They’d only been together for two months—and at this point the only reason she hadn’t called it quits was that he’d been helping remake Laser Tex into their own nightclub. But for the last week he’d been ditching them, not showing up when he’d said he would, and then showing up when they weren’t there, only to call them up to yell about how he was the only one doing any work around the place. “You gotta ditch him,” Jaxon and Miles had told her. Now, Jaxon was saying, “Can you dump that motherfucker already?” “Done,” she said. She already had her phone out and was texting him. Just a short one: “We done”. It was so cold that even she felt a little cooler. “Was that really that hard?” asked Jaxon, teasing her again. She pretended not to notice that he was teasing her. He’d always teased her, ever since the first time they met, as kids, outside the library. She was reading a book, the new girl in the neighborhood, waiting for her mother to finish buying groceries from the bodega. He was kicking a can around with his brother. They were, in her words, “Gross”, as her mother liked to remind her, though she couldn’t remember what they’d been doing to make her think that. Miles and Jaxon were two years older than she was, so while they went to the same schools and played in the same neighborhoods and hung around the same pools during the summer, they weren’t exactly friends growing up. If anything, she still remembered running after Jaxon, screaming with fury at the top of her lungs when she found that he’d decapitated her Barbie dolls. They grew up and moved away on the periphery of each other’s consciousness. She had dreams of moving to Europe and making something with her art, and she was living small while saving up the money to make it happen. So she was slightly annoyed when her mother called her and said she was getting remarried—weddings were expensive—but it was just a small affair, friends-and-family only, capped with a backyard barbecue that was the hallmark of Philadelphia social life. Nothing big, nothing fancy, just a good time. It was strange—when she met the groom she knew that he was Jaxon and Miles’s father but for some reason the fact didn’t click until they were all sitting around on the porch, drinking lemonade and iced tea and waiting for the barbecue to get going. They were lounging next to the shed, with their respective (now-ex-) girlfriends when she saw them, and her heart skipped a beat—they’d grown up. In retrospect that shouldn’t have been the surprise that it was, but she still remembered them as the lanky, pimpled guys who had funny laughs and the weirdest hair who stole her Barbie heads. Seeing them at the wedding, as men, their bodies having grown into their height, their faces unblemished, and their hair neatly trimmed, had really knocked her perspective

on these guys sideways. She’d been a bit apprehensive about approaching them, but in the end Miles had seen her first and waved her over. “I guess you’re our sister now,” he’d said. There were empty beer bottles lying around —Miles and Jaxon were just tipsy enough to have no shame saying, “That’s too bad—I always thought you were cute.” Then over Christmas Laser Tex had been burned down, accidentally, by a crew of graffiti artists who for some reason decided that it was a good idea to use a lighter around their cans of spray paint. It was Miles who smelled a good deal in the making and somehow conned—she maintained it was a con, but “charmed” was the word he preferred using—Jaxon and Cerise into ponying up for equal shares to make the “biggest, trendiest club around.” Thank God for YouTube—that was all she could think, now, as she used the sander to carefully smooth the edges so that they would just fit together. Her mornings now consisted of taking notes while watching YouTube clips of how to assemble furniture, and then following those directions in the afternoon. She wondered, now, what it was about Miles that she’d agreed to this insanity. “Where the hell is Miles?” she grumbled. Finally. The panels fit together smoothly. Now it was just a matter of glue screws, some wood-putty, a day to let everything set, and a new stain—or, in other words, when the real work began. “Ask and you shall receive.” Miles came in, wheeling in a box that was as high as he was tall. He was virtually identical to Jaxon, but there was an air of assurance and seriousness about him that invited people to trust him. She’d always liked him better of the two, even though Jaxon was the funnier one. “Oh my God, did you get it?” Cerise asked, her annoyance forgotten in the excitement of seeing the box. Jaxon and Cerise gathered around. Miles grinned and cut open the tape with his pocketknife. It was one of those things that everybody, including Cerise, always teased him about—“Yo man, this is Philly, ain’t no Boy Scouts here”—but little blade came in surprisingly handy at the weirdest times, and she caught the little smirk of triumph he gave her (See?) and she rolled her eyes back at him (All right, all right). As the sign emerged she felt a shiver run down her spine—for the first time since they signed the mortgage for the property the enormity of what they were trying to do hit her. Shit be real. The sign was big, bold, the typeface one of the brush-script fonts but still regular enough so as to be easy to read: The Azure Code. It came with a bunch of individual letters, numbers, and symbols so they could advertise specials and what-not.

“Sweet,” said Jaxon, holding his hands up for high-fives all around. They obliged. “Well, let’s set it down here,” said Miles, carefully sliding the box and dolly between a two stacks of chairs, so that it couldn’t fall over. “Come on, we’ve got a lot of work to do. Let me guess, Devon bailed again?” “I’m five bucks richer,” said Jaxon. Miles sighed. He’d seen this coming, too. “Well, least he ditched after putting up the support beams,” he said, taking off his jacket. It was spring, but this year had warmed up quickly, and the building had the odd tendency to hold in heat. “Cerise, can you handle the flooring, too?” She rolled her eyes at him, but when he opened his mouth she joined him and Jaxon in saying, “All for one, one for all.” It was probably silly to quote the Three Musketeers but it got them through the hard parts, which was al that really mattered. ***

TWO WEEKS later it was opening day. Her arms and her back were aching and sore but she had to admit that three months of working with power tools and heaving lifting had toned her body better than anything she’d ever done at the gym. She was waiting the bar on opening night, wearing a silver-sequined spaghetti-strapped tank top and a short tight skirt. She’d debated wearing stilettos, but in the end decided to go with her stripper heels—a pair of heavy, sturdy platform heels that professional strippers used—because they were comfortable but made her look damn sexy. She’d almost forgotten that she had a body to show off, what with all of the hard labor that she’d been doing. And now, looking in the mirror, she was pleasantly surprised to see that all of her curves were still there, and then some. It was all about the sexy tonight, and as she dusted her self with body glitter and painted her lips she had to admit it was an exciting change from being in old t-shirts and torn jeans all the time. Just a touch, she thought, as she put her hair up in a messy up-do. Not too much. The goal was to be attractive but not overtly sexual—to look hot enough to get the men’s libidos up but not hot enough to make their girlfriends jealous. She brushed on a little mascara and stepped back from the mirror, pleased with the effects. Miles and Jaxon almost didn’t recognize her when she showed up to help them open the club. “Damn—you sure you Cerise?” asked Jaxon, as he helped her out of her car. “I ain’t never seen her look this fine before.”

“You sayin’ she ain’t fine?” Miles asked, punching his brother lightly in the arm. “Where yo’ manners?” Jaxon scowled. They were wearing tight-fitting black t-shirts and pants and work-boots; their jobs for the night were to manage the lights and sound and bounce the place if needed—and judging from the size of the crowd that was already gathering, it would very much be needed. “Come on, guys,” she said, as she opened the back door. “Let’s show these people what a good time is really like.” All nightclub openings were relatively big events—Philadelphia had its share of them and people were always looking for something new, exciting, edgier than the last one. But for its size, the Azure Code opening was huge: the crowd had been gathering for more than an hour before the opening time and by the time they opened the doors they were ready to party. Miles had flown in a Dutch DJ—their selling point was “sophistication”—and as soon as the crowd entered he began laying down beats that got even Miles to shake his fine, fine ass on the dance floor (he may have been her stepbrother, but that didn’t mean that she was blind). The drinks orders started coming almost right away—brightly-colored spritzers and, along with Jaxon, but even they managed to have a good time—and their tips ballooned when she, just drunk enough to think that this was a good idea but not drunk enough to fall off, got up on the bar to dance, shaking her body in sync to be beats. The DJ seemed to be timing his tracks to her, and the dollar bills kept raining down. Miles had been right—this nightclub was definitely going to make a killing.

“JESUS, Mary, and fucking Joseph.” The previous night had been one epic bacchanalia: she remembered booze (pouring it, mostly), dancing, more booze (drinking it, this time), more dancing —but then her memories were fuzzy, indistinct, veiled by the mother of all hangovers and the ache of muscles that she didn’t even know she’d had. I was dancing on the bar? Wait—was that really me? She remembered thinking how awesome the full tip-jar was, so full that the men involved but then her memories of the night turned dark. What she remembered was vague, fuzzy— not the least because she had the mother of all hangovers. She didn’t quite remember falling asleep in booth, but she did remember Miles easing her away from the bar. “Cerise, you okay?” She looked up and saw Jaxon standing over her, his eyes studiously

averted, a towel dangling from his hand. That was when she realized that she was nearly-naked: her skirt had hiked itself above her waist and the sequined top had gone missing. “What the—” she gasped, grabbing the towel that he’d been holding out to her and wrapping it around himself. “You were amazing,” he said, quietly, handing her a glass of some kind of juice. She gulped it down. “Who did—” He pressed his lips together, and looked up. Miles, who’d been mopping up and sweeping the floor, looked over at them, and blushed. “You did,” Jaxon said. “I didn’t,” she cried. “I couldn’t have. I ain’t a stripper.” Jaxon and Miles shared an apprehensive look between them. The only sound was Miles, mopping and sweeping. Had she— Take it off, take it off! Kiss her! And then the memories of the night came back in a flood of impressions— the nonstop requests for drinks; she was moving back and forth, shaking this, mixing that; the DJ laid down four tracks, getting the crowd going; a guy who’d looked vaguely familiar ordering; conversations with the guy who’d looked vaguely familiar revealed that they’d gone to school together—Ben Harmon. He looked good, now—a little underdressed for a club—but even through his baggy clothes and work boots she could tell that he’d lost the bit of pudge he used to carry. She found herself wondering whether it was appropriate to ask if he was taken. Get out! You were in my class?! Hell, yeah! Remember those pep rallies? Go Wildcats! Then her remembrance took a leap to midnight: the nightclub kicked into third gear. It was the hour of drinking games—she filled shot glass after shot glass. They ran out of vodka. “Just use whatever you’ve got,” Jaxon had said. “They’re too drunk to notice or care.” And then for some reason she was doing shots, too. The shots made her feel the thoomp-thoomp of the bass and her body began dancing, and then Ben got behind the bar with her and put his hands around her waist, which was fine —and then slipped his hand up her skirt, but she was drunk enough to think that was funny. Jaxon was right—she had taken off her own top, staring into Ben’s eyes all

the while, feeling more than hearing the wild exhilarated whoops of delight coming from the men who’d gathered around. Jaxon was behind her, his hand pushing her skirt up to her waist as they twisted and ground against each other, while Ben pressed his lips against her throat and began squeezing her breasts in his hands, sending thrilling vibrations straight into her pussy, which was so hot and wet she was drenching Jaxon’s hand as he slid his fingers in and out, in and out. “You were there,” she gasped now, staring at Jaxon. “You were—” Somehow a woman had worked her way past the bar and now they were kissing and her delicate fingers were gentle against the soft flesh between her legs. Kiss her! And the three of them bent her backwards on top of the bar and opened her to their world, while she felt the woman’s soft lips against her pussy— And that had been the end of her memories of that night. Cerise gasped— the woman had been Jaxon’s ex. This is how to do a woman properly, since you ain’t never figured that out yourself. Had she imagined hearing those words, or had someone actually said them to her? “What were you thinking?” she demanded, now. The headache was beginning to abate, but right now she preferred the pain of the hangover to any more memories from the night before. “I wasn’t,” Jaxon muttered sullenly. “But it was Miles’s idea. We just never thought you was—” “You find yourself another bartender,” she said, standing up and pulling her skirt down. “I’m going home. I’m taking a fucking shower. And I ain’t never working the bar here again.”

MILES CAME to see her late that evening but he left without convincing her to come back and keep the bar. “Look,” he’d said. “I understand that you’re a bit shaken by what happened last night but we need you otherwise the bar fails.” “I got my barkeeping license two months ago,” she had snapped, as she slammed the door in his face. “Go find someone on Craigslist.” Cerise was furious—she went to the gym late that night and ran on the treadmill until she could hardly stand, completely spent, because the urge to smash things against the walls of her apartment was overwhelming. How fucking dare they, she thought, as she showered. At least her anger was articulate now, instead of wave after wave of wordless fury and hate that made her want to destroy everything a la the Hulk. She took a turn or two at the punching bag, even—something that drew stares from the usual patrons. She thought about all of the horrible ways to die that she’d seen on TV, wondering

which method to use on which brother—not that she was seriously entertaining the thought of killing them, but simply because her fury at them demanded that they suffer, even if it was all just in her head. How could they let me do those things? Why did they let me do those things? What were they thinking? But eventually, sanity returned. By Sunday afternoon she’d accepted that what had been done was done, and now all she could do was move on with her life—without her stepbrothers. Being pissed off at them didn’t pay the rent or put food on the table, and when she checked her bank accounts she realized that while she might scrape by for another 30 days—if she ate ramen noodles for dinner every night like she had in college, if she stopped buying meat, if she was careful about not going over the limits with her phone—she was going to need another job, and fast. She spent the rest of her weekend at the partition between her apartment’s kitchen and living room, which doubled as a breakfast bar and dining area. She used it as her desk—the rest of her one-bedroom didn’t have the space required for a good office setup, and it wasn’t as if she ate much at home, anyway. She hit up every job posting and fired off a volley of letters and resumes, hoping that her resume would catch the attention of someone, somewhere. It was probably a good thing that she wasn’t independently wealthy—her job hunt kept her too busy to obsess about ways to get back at Miles and Jaxon, but that didn’t mean her worries about the videos leaking had abated. Thank God for little mercies. By Wednesday she was starting to feel a little optimistic; the reviewers who had been there either left before things got insanely crazy, or else they’d chosen not to write about it. The videos that did pop up were too shaky (thank God for strong liquor) to make much out besides that there was someone naked on top of the bar, but most of them forgot to focus and the ones that did weren’t interested in her face. And that at least nobody had thought to ask her for her name—not that she could remember, anyway. Cerise was an uncommon-enough name that doing a search for her would be easy—and if there was a video tagged with her name on it, she’d never be able to find another job in her life. But by Friday she was starting to feel hopeful: nothing scandalous was coming up on Google searches for her name, and she’d even gotten a few replies from the companies that she’d applied to. And even though she hadn’t spoken to either Jaxon or Miles since that awful morning after the opening, they kept their promise to her-a third share of the profits—all the same. A week of deleting voicemails and ignoring text messages and blocking calls hadn’t released them from the contract they’d signed, and there was a nice fat

three grand deposited into her account, with a digital memo to please, please, please come back and work for them. “Guy’s all right, but he don’t got that thing you do,” the little line concluded. You mean he don’t got no tits, she thought sourly, as she debated whether to accept the money or not. Her job hunt was going well—she’d sent out fifty job applications by now and had already made arrangements to do her first few interviews for the following week. It wasn’t unreasonable to suppose that she’d make it all right without them, but three-thousand dollars—and that was just her share, too—after being open for exactly one week was tempting. A girl needs to eat. A girl needs to know that there are things that matter more than money. Still, there was no getting around the fact that dignity didn’t pay the bills. She decided to sleep on it. It was Friday night—she could balance her virtual checkbook tomorrow when she wasn’t foggy-headed from crafting cover letters and tailoring her resume. A little beauty sleep would do her a lot of good— There came a knock on the door of her apartment. “Who is it?” “Cerise, that you?” Ben Harmon. She wasn’t exactly glad to see him—she still remembered his hands on her body, but for some reason he was easier to forgive than her stepbrothers—but she couldn’t help grinning as she opened the door all the same. It wasn’t until he blinked, surprised, that she realized that she looked like a mess: still in sweatpants, a stretchy undershirt, her hair still in loose and sloppy twists winding around her head like Medusa. “Hey there,” he said, grinning at her. “You look lovely.” “Please,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Come on in. You don’t have to hide the fact that I look like something the cat dragged in.” “Well, the cat has good taste,” he said. She had to smile at that. “Want something to drink?” she asked, opening her refrigerator. Shit. She hadn’t gone shopping all week—she had a few cans of some random sodas that she’d filched from the supply closet at her last job (she reasoned that if she was “supposed” to drinking them then it didn’t matter when) and a quart of milk that had been dated sometime last week. “You know what?” she said, closing the door. “Maybe we should go out for drinks instead.” “I’m game if you are,” he said. “Thought you’d be working the bar—” “Not after what happened that first night,” she said. “Did you—” He shrugged, turning ever-so-slightly darker with shame. “I didn’t do nothing to encourage you, if that’s what you’re sayin’. I mean, I’m sorry I got

you to take that first shot, ‘cuz it led to all the shit that happened later, but I didn’t think it’d lead you to that—” “So you were there, and you didn’t stop me?” He put his hands up and said, “Wasn’t anything I could do,” he said. “You was flinging yourself at me and takin’ off all your clothes and all I could do was go along with it.” “You make it sound like I forced you,” she said. He looked away, and then back at her again. “I’m sorry,” he said, quietly. “I was drunk, and I’ve liked you since forever—I think part of me just wanted to, y’know, have you all to myself, ‘cuz I seen how you looked at me—I knew what you wanted. I know it was wrong of me, but your brother was there—I remember thinking that he’d beat the shit out of me if he thought it was wrong, so maybe it wasn’t so bad to begin with?” She could feel the anger rising in her blood, a sharp, hot, stinging anger that reminded her of what she’d been avoiding all week: the fact that this had happened while her stepbrothers were there. They were supposed to look out for each other—they were supposed to be there for each other and they were supposed to catch each other before stupid shit like this happened. “Fuck Jaxon and Miles,” she snarled. She could forgive Ben—it’d been years since they’d last seen each other, some mixed signals were inevitable, and it wasn’t as if he was family or anything. He had nothing to lose. She could forgive him —that didn’t mean that she had to. “Come on, Cerise—we were both drunk,” he said, plaintively now. “I swear, I ain’t like that normally.” “No,” she said bitterly. “You just like that when I’m pourin’.” “At least lemme take you out for dinner, then,” he said. “You know, to say ‘sorry’ and stuff.” Well, your fridge is empty, she thought. “Fine,” she said, after a while. “Where we goin’?” ***

THE OYSTER SHACK in Center City wasn’t her ideal for a dinner, even though it was posh in all of the right ways. She never liked to be reminded that her upbringing was decidedly quite a few income levels beneath the ones that could afford fresh oysters. Hell, it was a miracle that they could afford a chicken for Sunday night dinners; as it was just her mother and her, they’d eat it all week if they could. She’d once bought three oysters on a trip down the shore, in Atlantic City

—it’d been a drunken dare between her and her college friends at the time, and three oysters had been all she could afford. They did their vodka shot and then slid the mucoid creatures down their throats. Rhonda had gagged as it went down, but she got it down in the end and didn’t throw it back up, unlike Aisha, who’d run underneath the pier five seconds later. But Cerise had managed it— easy-peasy, as if she’d been slurping those suckers down her whole life. “It tastes like cum.” Cerise didn’t remember who’d said that but for some reason the words had stuck in her mind, and made her confused about giving blow jobs. All of which she confessed to Ben now, sitting across from the table at him, in the pause between the arrival of the wine and the appetizers. So this was why he’d been willing to wait the twenty minutes—that was how long it’d taken her to piece together her outfit: a cotton summer dress with a halter top and a silk scarf, ballet flats. Pretty, but not ostentatious—something that a “good girl” would wear on a date with her boyfriend, and as they’d made their way from the subway station to the restaurant she was aware of how many admiring looks they’d received. We do make a nice couple, she thought, as the waiter drizzled a light vinagrette on the half-dozen slime puddles on a bed of ice in front of them. “Enjoy,” said the young man pleasantly enough, backing away with a little half bow. “Come on, admit it, you never thought I’d mean dinner,” Ben said now, a big smile cracking across your face. “Bet you didn’t think I’d be doing so well, didja?” “Is it that obvious?” she asked, making sure that the teasing note was in her voice. He shrugged and picked one up, tilted his head back, and tilted the creature down his throat. “Mm,” he said. “You oughta try one.” As she picked it up she suddenly realized that this was some kind of test: swallow the oyster and pass, gag on it and fail. But the consequences of passing or failing were lost on her. They’d gotten along all right last week, but she wasn’t sure she wanted a boyfriend just down. She was okay with her life right now—she’d be better if she could figure out what to do about Jaxon and Miles—being single and hanging out with her friends and doing projects and things just because they were fun, well, who wouldn’t like it. But a boyfriend —she was flattered, but even as she tried to think of a way to politely-butfirmly tell him she wasn’t interested, she could feel his eyes on her, expectant. She tilted the little thing into her mouth, feeling the cold quiver as it slid down her throat, surprised at how bright and light the vinagrette made it. “That’s—that’s actually really good!” she said, surprised.

“Better than cum?” he asked, and he reached across the table and took her hand. “I wouldn’t know,” she said. “I’ve heard it tastes different for each guy, and whether they dip their cocks in salad dressing beforehand.” “Whoa—that’s kinky!” “I’m not actually into that,” she said quickly, lest the night end with him getting his cock stuck in a bottle of ranch. “All right, I’ll bite—what are you into?” he asked. “I don’t know,” she said, slowly. “I know what I’m not into,” she added, “if that helps.” He took another oyster. “So then, what aren’t you into?” “Do we really have to discss this now?” she asked. “Not if you don’t want to,” he said. “What are you doing now?” she asked, with no small amount of relief. How the conversation took that hard of a turn left was beyond her. Starting over, with the default first-date-small-talk, as probably the best that was going to happen. “I’m a biology professor at Penn,” he said, mildly. “You’re what?” she gasped. “That’s incredible!” “Oh, don’t get your hopes up just yet. The wait-list for getting tenure is at least another decade.” “But you always said you wanted to teach,” she said. “I’m glad that one of us is getting to live out their dreams, at least.” “You’re not?” he asked, tenderly. “I mean, I gathered from the barkeeping gig that things took a little detour.” She smiled sadly. “That was a venture my stepbrothers persuaded me to get into with them,” she said. “Promised me an easy gig, a one-third share of the profits if I went in with them for the costs. Gave them my savings that I was going to use to start a life in France. I was going to be an artist,” she said, sighing. “I’d love to see your portfolio,” he said. “What do you draw?” Her heart jumped into her throat at those words: she drew anime, which most people didn’t get and the ones that did invariably asked her about hentai, which was tacky and full of silly and random tropes, in her opinion. “I do anime,” she said, after a moment, watching his face, bracing herself to get up and leave at the slightest hint of ridicule. She was not going sit here and take it. “That’s cool,” he said. “Teenage-diary drama, or kaiju and space monsters?” Their main courses arrived at that moment, saving her from having to be

astounded that he wasn’t laughing at her choice of medium. The waiter lifted the cloches, revealing a ceviched scallop for her, the translucent slices arranged into a delicate fan, decorated with sprinkles of some sweet-smelling green herb and brushed with a clear, lemony sauce. For him, he’d ordered a lobster tail, artfully butterflied and draped with silvery-white threads, and somehow the effect was that it was peeking out from under a layer of snow. When she tasted it she found herself wanting more of the sauce, a fact that annoyed her until she realized that was the effect the chef wanted. “It’s delicious,” she said, to his unspoken question. “Is my apology accepted?” “Very well,” she said, feigning petulance. “But if my brothers put you up to this you can tell them to go—” “They didn’t,” he said. “It just felt wrong, to leave you like that—I really did want to say sorry to you.” “But?” “But, well, I can’t say that I’d be devastated if you’d agree to a second date with me.” “That’s a little forward,” she said, “considering that you haven’t brought this one to a proper conclusion yet.” He squinted at her, as if he couldn’t believe his eyes, but he only raised his glass. She raised hers, too, not really sure what they were toasting, and even though her gut was saying, “I don’t think this is such a hot idea” she could feel herself throwing caution out the door—it was just one night, why not have a good time?

BY THE TIME they got back to her place it was late, almost eleven. “Where does the time go?” he murmured, as they rode the elevator up to her apartment. She wished she knew. The evening had been wonderful—they’d talked about old friends that they both knew, former lovers that they’d lost, and his time in the army. “Two tours of duty,” he’d said, laughing in a way that made it clear he was hiding something, “in the shittiest places on earth, with people shooting at us left and right and IEDs popping up every other day, and I’m still too chicken to walk into Kensington alone.” “Kensington isn’t that bad,” she’d said. “They aren’t smart enough to make bombs.” He’d raised his eyebrows when she’d said that and smiled. Now, as they were walking down the hall to her apartment, she wondered if this was what people meant when they said, “Love at first sight”, because

she had spent the entire evening with him, talking with him and not to him. She knew more about him after four hours than she knew about men she’d dated for four months, and she was already felt as if her life wouldn’t be complete without him. There was a quiet desperation in the way their hands clasped each other, as if they couldn’t bear to let go “Thanks,” she said, as she opened the door to her apartment. It was that awkward moment of a date, when she should be offering coffee except that a) she didn’t have any coffee and b) it was obvious that what they both wanted wasn’t coffee. At some point after dessert but before the dinner mint, their pretenses dropped away and it was all they could do to make it back to his car in the parking garage, his hands wandering up her thigh and playing peek-aboo with her pussy behind her panties. It’d been fun, but now as she closed the door behind him things took a more serious turn. This wasn’t just about a good time anymore, and as she gazed into his eyes she could feel his soul surrender to hers. There was nothing that he wouldn’t do for her at that moment; and strangely enough, she felt the same way. The kiss happened. She didn’t know who started it, but his lips were searching against hers, and as she tasted him and the lingering traces of the dinner mint on his teeth and tongue she became aware of something happening inside of her—it felt as if her heart had cracked, and there was some kind of warm, liquid light streaming out from it, reaching every last fiber of her being and illuminating her with a love that surprised her with its ferocity and urgency. Suddenly she was clinging to him with a desperation that she’d never known, a dizzying, almost frightening sense of need that had taken her over without her being aware that she was even capable of such need. She was not a desperate person: she’d spent her entire life playing things safe, and even when she was in a tight spot she didn’t lose her cool, she kept her head and played the game and found her exits and kicked ass whenever she got the chance. But something about the way he touched her now, careful, slowly, savoring her curves even as he undid the halter to her dress one thread at a time, leaving her exposed, as if to say to the universe, “See, this is beauty,” kindled a flame inside her. She felt herself surrendering to his touch, letting him take everything—his fingers found their way to her clit and they began to pulse against it, each press weakening her knees until he lowered her onto her sofa. He kissed her again, pressing warm gifts against her skin all the way down her throat. His lips were soft and smooth on her breasts, and when he took her nipple in his mouth he didn’t pinch her between his teeth. Instead, he mouthed her gently, insistently, sucking on it, pulling all of her awareness into her

breasts—and then he ghosted his tongue over the tip, sending a shivering bolt of electric passion running through her spine, arching her back and slicking the folds between her legs with the hot scents of animal passion. He opened her to the world and drank her in, his tongue flicking the soft skin of her pussy and worming its way inside her, rendering her helpless with waves of ecstasy that, for some reason, couldn’t make it past her solar plexus —she needed to close her legs, she needed to come, and he wouldn’t let her, forcing her knees apart the way he did. She groaned and cried out in her need, her body’s desires too strong to be contained. If he didn’t— His cock was inside her all of a sudden—her body almost couldn’t contain it. She could feel herself straining around him, and as he went deeper and deeper she felt him touch a spot inside her that she didn’t know existed. Just once, and then twice—and all of a sudden all of that ecstasy had had been building up inside her ripped through her body. Her mind shut down, and all she could see was stars.

SHE WOKE up the next morning, in her own bed, to the smell of coffee. She was still naked, but she was at least under the covers this time. Ben called, “Be about ten minutes,” from the kitchen, and she heard the ticking of the gas as he fired up the stove. Her body felt new—she got into the shower and could feel every last drop of water on her skin, creeping over every nerve with the same delicacy of touch. Her breasts were especially sensitive—she groaned as she washed them, the same electricity arching through them when she touched herself as when he’d mouthed her the night before. She couldn’t stand to have the towel against her naked skin. She wrapped her hair and stood looking at herself in front of the mirror, wondering what could have changed so much between yesterday and this morning. Her body—the twin eyes of her breasts, the swoop and dip of her hips and waist—seemed to stare back at her. She reached between her legs and spread apart the folds, marveling at the sweet pinkness of the flesh down there, how smoothly intricate it was. So that’s what I look like, she thought, and she remembered the strange woman who’d kissed her there. She wondered what she tasted like. She heard Ben come back into the bedroom. He’d set a tray down on her bed, a tray carrying an omelet and two mugs of coffee, and he’d also bought strawberries and arranged them on the plate. She stepped out of the bathroom naked except for the towel around her hair, and grinned when she saw his eyes grow wide. “Please don’t dress,” he said, as she reached for her robe. “I want

to see how beautiful you are, all morning. I want to show you off to the world —” “I’m not one for public nudity,” she said, but she climbed into the bed naked again, arching her back slightly so that her breasts were level with his face. “That’s a shame,” he said, kissing her nipples, running his tongue around them, coaxing them to hardness. “It oughta be a crime to keep something so beautiful out of sight. I could sit here and kiss you all day. “And I could sit here and—” She heard the sound of the key in her door. What the—she sat up, too angry to worry about modesty: Miles and Jaxon had copies of the key to her apartment, just as she had a key to their places, as a precaution against getting locked out. But coming in without being asked—that was a step too far. “Cerise—” Jaxon said, coming into the bedroom just as she was getting up to put on her robe. His eyes took in the breakfast on the bed, Ben sitting in the bed, his arm entwined around her waist, her nakedness—and he realized what he’d walked into. And then Miles came in behind him, saying, “Cerise—look, we’re—” It was silent for what seemed like forever, as the four of them stared at each other—mostly at Cerise, and she was too petrified with shame to move. Ben spoke first, “Well,” he said, his voice sounding oddly strangled. “I’d better get going.” Jaxon and Miles moved away to let him out. She could hear him gathering his things, and then the door slammed shut. Still, the silence hung in the air, but it seemed that, with Ben gone, her modesty recovered itself and she wrapped the robe around her body. “What the hell are you two doing here?” she demanded. “What the hell are you doing with a man like Ben?” Miles asked. “Don’t you know—” “He apologized to me, which is more than either of you have done,” she snapped. “We’ve been trying to reach you—” “Not hard enough,” she retorted, folding her arms and scowling. Miles and Jaxon both grimaced. What can I say, she thought. I have standards for the guys in my life. “I told you we should’ve gone to see her,” Jaxon murmured to Miles out of the corner of his mouth. “She wouldn’t have let us in,” Miles said, but he was staring at Cerise as he said it. “Sayin’ ‘sorry’ isn’t something that has to be done here,” she said.

Miles didn’t have a comeback for that. Finally he gulped and said, “Look, Cerise, we need you, ‘kay? Guy is all right for the weekdays, but he don’t get ‘em the way you do. We’re sorry. Truly, deeply, from-the-bottom-of-my soul sorry, about what happened to you. We’ve been going back through footage of the night—we think Ben drugged you.” “Get out,” she snarled. Bad enough that they’d let her do a striptease on top of the bar, now they were trying to pin it on the one guy who’d actually had the balls to apologize? “I told you she wouldn’t believe you,” Jaxon said. Miles sighed and set down a USB stick on her dresser. “At least think about it,” he said. “It happens at ten before midnight. Please, just please come back to us. We need you for the weekends, at least. I’ll keep a water bottle under the bar for you, and Jaxon will watch your drinks while you’re pouring.” It sounded like a reasonable plan and they’d clearly thought through ways to keep it from happening again, but there was one thing that Cerise wanted to hear that she still hadn’t heard yet. She waited, keeping her face a blank slate, even though their visible discomfort made her want to smirk and pump her fist in victory. Finally, Jaxon said, “And we’ll watch out for you and not take advantage of you.” “There,” she said, coldly. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?” Miles and Jaxon glanced at each other, wondering what else she expected of them. Finally, Miles said, “Look, Cerise—the reason we didn’t want to come over—” “Yeah?” she said, escorting them out of her bedroom. “You tryin’ to make excuses again?” Miles gulped and said, “No ma’am. But it’s—” And then Jaxon grabbed her arm and pressed a kiss to her lips. “I’m sorry,” he grunted. “I’m sorry it took us so long to apologize to you. I’m sorry that it took what happened last week for us to get the balls to do this—” He’d said, “Us.” But it couldn’t happen. Not even if she wanted to. Did she want to? And Miles was touching her, now, too, tugging the robe away. “Jaxon—” We have to stop. We can’t. He kissed her again, with a fierceness that surprised her—her first response was to freeze out of surprise, but then he did something with his lips that sent a bolt of pure pleasure straight through the very core of her being, and her body, still a mess of jangling nerves from the night before, responded by returning the kiss before her thoughts could catch up. He’s your stepbrother— But then she felt Miles reaching around her from behind, his lips against her throat, his fingers on her breasts, a slow grinding rhythm working its way

between them, their bodies swaying in sync against hers, the gentle pulse of one hip against another, the hypnotic swaying that lulled the part of her that was panicking about them being her stepbrothers to sleep. And then Jaxon dropped to his knees and began kissing her feet, working his way slowly but surely upwards, gently pressing her knees apart when he got there. Miles had shifted to her side, now—he took her leg and held it up against his body, opening her for his brother—the barest touch of his finger on her clit and her thigh glistened with the wetness, the heat perfuming the air with the scent of her—salty, with that trace of muskiness that made Jaxon lose his patience entirely and all of sudden he was lapping away at her pussy and suckling at her clit, sending wave after wave of crazy through her body—a mix of joy and lust and desire, making her want more and more and more even though her body couldn’t take it anymore, and a cry rose up through her at the injustice of it all. She felt Miles pressing himself against her, his cock twitching anxiously against the fabric of his pants, and for a moment his hand fell away from her breast to free himself. Without him, she fell to her knees in front of Jaxon, who’d also managed to disentangle himself from his pants at some point when he was making her go crazy. He was big, and she was till tender and raw from the night before, so everything was magnified a thousand-fold, it seemed. Every twinge from taking him inside her became an exquisite, joyous agony, every time he thrust into that spot deep inside her, her body seized around him, clenching him for more, even as she knew she couldn’t take it. She wanted them to go on forever—she wanted them to stop—the twin desires left her incapable of speaking as Miles shoved himself, groaning and moaning, up her ass. There were no words to describe the feeling of heaviness in her as they both began rocking and thrusting together, gently at first, and then harder, stoking a kind of pleasure that she felt in her bones. On some level she was vaguely aware that she had a body, and that they were doing things to it— Jaxon was nipping at her nipples, sending little squirts of pain to pull her back down to earth—but she was riding a wave of ecstasy higher and higher, and it was too much—one mind couldn’t handle this— But it can.

SHE WOKE up in her bed again, naked again, unsure of whether the threesome with her twin stepbrothers had really happened. God, she thought, as remorse overwhelmed her. I’m such a slut. She’d slept with Ben, and then her

stepbrothers—but that couldn’t have been real, could it? They were her stepbrothers, after all—it couldn’t have happened like that. She took another shower, still just as confused and bewildered by what she’d done. On the one hand, it wasn’t technically criminal—and it wasn’t even really incest—they were her stepbrothers, after all. But they were her stepbrothers, which somehow made it different— —and oddly enough, special, in its own way. As she washed away their cum, she realized that she hadn’t felt this calm in a long time. Her body felt more like her own, no longer the jangling mess of confused and twinging nerves that she’d been earlier in the day. She felt as if her movements were more sure, and as she put on makeup and a plain light blue button-down and slacks, she understood what had changed: Ben was just for fun—she would’ve been fine if he’d actually stayed for coffee and then left. They might have been best friends in another life but they’d never be anything more than that. But what had happened between her and Jaxon and Miles had been special— confirmation of what they’d known since the day they’d met, at some level— that they were meant to be. That was the only explanation for why, even though she knew it was wrong, it still felt so right. You can only be yourself if you’re true to who you are. The quote popped up, unbidden, in her head, though as she grabbed her keys she couldn’t think of anybody who’d actually said it. She was getting ready to leave—a night out at the Salty Dog or some other bar was as good a way as any of spending Saturday night, and she could text Ben when she settled on the right place to tell him it wasn’t going to work out —when Miles’s USB stick caught her eye, and his accusation about what Ben had done came back to her. In the heat of the moment she’d chalked it up to jealousy but now, calmer, she wasn’t quite so sure about that it had been an empty accusation. Miles wouldn’t have given her the USB stick otherwise. Do you really want to know? Just a little peek. She couldn’t see it: Ben, drugging a girl’s drink in a bar that was known to have security cameras— And then she recalled that they hadn’t had time to put up the “Smile! You’re being watched by the most sophisticated video surveillance system in the world!” signs before they’d opened. “Well,” Jaxon had said, “it’s not as if we’re going to get robbed before we have any money.” The cameras were well-hidden, too, concealed in the shafts in the ceiling that carried the wires criss-crossing the entire club, linking the sound systems and lights. Nobody who was looking for a camera would see them.

She felt a chill in her gut as she plugged the USB stick into her laptop. There were six feeds, one above each bathroom door, one over the bar, one watching the parking lot, and three covering the rest of the club. It wasn’t too hard to figure out which feed to fast-forward through. For ten minutes, then, she watched herself serving drinks to the crowd around the bar. Her glass was sitting behind the bar—where it should have been safe. It was so fast she’d have missed it if Miles hadn’t told her when to look: Ben leaned behind the bar, looking like he was reaching for a napkin—and then his hand drifted over her glass and that was it. That was all it took. Five minutes later she watched herself take another sip from the glass—and at fifteen minutes past midnight, she was dancing on the bar. She ran into the bathroom and threw up. When she came out of the bathroom she was so furious she was shaking. That man had made her do those things—that man whom she thought she liked so much—that man had slipped something into her drink. A part of her knew that the right thing to do would have been to call the police, but the part of her that screamed for revenge wouldn’t let up. She drove to the Azure Code, trying to think of (legal) things she could do to Ben to get back at him, but her anger made it impossible to think straight. She wanted to drug him, to hurt him— maybe flay him and have him walk down the streets stark-naked. That might be justice. Or maybe walk him out to the overpass above I-95 and make him balance across it—if he lived, she’d forgive him. If he fell off…well. The darker angels of her soul were still having a field day with what she wanted to do to Ben when she arrived at the Azure Code. She put those thoughts out of her head for a moment: first there was the matter of admitting that Miles had been right—a task that was, for some strange reason, always harder than it should have been, given that he was literally a rocket scientist. Or rather he had been, until he bought and turned Azure Code into something that made it rain buckets of money. “You saw it,” Miles said, when she walked in. It wasn’t a question. He was wiping down the bar, while Jaxon was mopping up the floors. “What are we going to do about it?” she asked, taking a seat at the bar. “Oh, it’s ‘we’ now, is it?” Jaxon asked, grinning. She swallowed her pride. It was hard to do, but after a moment’s silence she finally said, “I’m sorry I blamed you for everything. I should’ve listened to you.” Miles shrugged. “It’s like I told you when I first started this thing,” he said. “All for one, one for all.” Jaxon came over to her, bouncing with glee: “You have no idea what

we’ve got planned for Ben if he ever comes back again.” Jaxon wasn’t the kind of guy who harbored grudges or killed other people, but then again, neither was he the kind of guy who put much thought into the consequences of his actions, and Cerise felt a little twinge of apprehension as she asked, “Do I want to know?” He shook his head, suddenly much calmer. “I’m just playin’ with you,” he said. “Ain’t nothing to do. Everything fun is illegal, everything legal ain’t fun.” “Not everything,” said Miles. “Are we going to kill him?” asked Jaxon. “Of course not.” “Then it is everything.” “No,” said Miles. “I’ll tell you what we’re going to do. Cerise, you text Ben, tell him that you’re filling in for this one night. You make yourself two drinks, keep one hidden behind the bar, and leave your drink out there, in the same place as last time, and Jaxon will be watching Ben like a hawk from the moment he walks in. As soon as Jaxon sees Ben doing something funny, he’ll text you. “Now, here’s the hard part: Cerise, you’re going to have to switch the tainted drink for the one that you made earlier. You’re going to have to be seen drinking from the untainted one—and then carry one with business as usual. If you can, keep at least one drink under the bar, out of sight.” “What’s the play?” asked Jaxon. Cerise nodded, understanding now: “Ben is going to flip at some point when he thinks I’ve been drinking his shit all night, and when he does, we’ll have video cameras watching his every move.” Jaxon whistled. “Damn bro,” he said. “That’s one hell of a good plan.” Miles grinned. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s finish this fucker once and for all.” Cerise had to smile as she donned the apron and began setting down the coasters as the first customers walked in. This was where she belonged—with her stepbrothers, through thick and thin. And, she had to admit, making Ben Harmon see red was going to be fun, as well. They could do anything, as long as they did it together. And not everything that felt so wrong was actually wrong – their together now seemed so right! They were going to be like that forever – together forever – “All for one, one for all.” DOUBLE DARE

CHAPTER 1 I sat in the chair and let the makeup artist work her magic as I listened to the activity around me. I remembered asking my agent if I really needed to do this fashion show since I was an established plus sized model here in New York, but she assured me that it was a charity of sorts by a well-known architecture company and for a great cause, helping the local hospital in the interest of sick children. I would be walking the runway in fashions by an up and coming designer who’d recently graduated from Parsons at the top of her class. I think her name was Valerie something. I wasn’t interested in work that didn’t pay cash, but Monica assured me that this would be fantastic exposure, and my agent hadn’t steered me wrong. I’d forgiven her for the calls that were for skimpy barely there lingerie a few years ago since they presented themselves as a legitimate clothing store. I was a bigger model at size eighteen, but my curves were firm and sexy. My favorite look that I had was the highlighted loose curls that I’d given in to when I was young, highlighted in a soft honey shade, completely natural and wild. My sister shared my hair and taught me how to treat it and what products to use, and so far, it had done well for my modeling career. I also had some green eyes that while dark, could lighten depending on my mood. I wasn’t good at hiding my feelings about too much, and they’d flash as my voice started rising when I was irritated. “Your skin is amazing. You look about nineteen!” The cute blue-haired artist told me as she brushed something over my broad cheekbones. I was twenty-six, so I liked that. “I barely need any foundation with this gorgeous caramel tone and I never say that.” “Thanks,” I told her as my eyes darted to the mirror to make sure I didn’t look awful. I’d been zoning out since I got here, tired from staying out late with my roommate at a club opening the night before. We had stayed a bit later than necessary and enjoyed the free drinks more than I normally did. I looked good, and she’d added some highlighter on my skin that popped out in an alluring way. It would look great with the slinky red dress that I was wearing tonight, and she’d done a great job darkening my eyes with smoky colors and great blending. “Ah, thanks. I like this. Can you do my face on a regular basis?” A lot of them took away from my skin color, and I would have to have them fix their errors. “I’d love to. What do you think about a glossy red on these full lips? I hear you’re wearing a red dress tonight?” She asked, and I nodded as I raised an eyebrow. She giggled. “They tell me this stuff before the models come in.”

“I thought you were psychic,” I replied with a smile as she shook her head and grinned. “I like that idea.” I was done within a few minutes, and I thanked her and headed to wardrobe as I tugged on the low messy bun that the man had done in my hair. It showed my curls but suited the dress, and I smiled as I pushed the door open and watched the madness for a moment. Models were running everywhere with clothes in their hands, and people were barking at them as I shook my head slowly. This was the reason I preferred solo work and photo shoots. I ran my hands down my yoga pants and stepped forward to the platinum blonde I’d spoken to earlier, who looked completely frazzled by this point. “Hi. I am here for my dress,” I told her as she asked me my name. “Trina James.” Her tired brown eyes searched the paper on her clipboard, and she glanced up at me and pointed to the corner of the room. “Over there, number fifteen. There’s a place to change right there.” “Thanks,” I told her as I smiled and turned to search the room with my eyes. The little curtained off areas weren’t the best conditions for getting some of the clothing that I’d worn on, but it was the nature of these events. I walked over to the spot where my dress was hung and stepped inside of the thin blue material as the noise level increased around me. I was quick to slide it on, and I made sure that it was covering everything before I stepped out, thought it was cut in such a way that it showed off all of my curves. I looked in the mirror and slipped my feet into the Louboutin heels that brought me from five foot nine to over six feet tall. I needed some quiet, so I left the room to put on the black choker and earrings in the hallway as I reminded myself to never take a job like this again. Models were hard to deal with on a smaller scale, and this was chaos. I walked over to where we’d be entering the stage area, early enough to be on my own and find a seat as I prepped myself for this. These things were always bright lights and loud music, usually with a rambunctious audience that was drunk from the cocktails and little food they’d eaten over the dinner they paid top dollar for. I smoothed my hands over the top that was tied around my neck and cut daringly with a good tease of my cleavage. I knew not to mess with my face or press my lips together from the near ten years of experience that I’d gained, but I was nervous about this evening. I wasn’t sure just why, but my stomach fluttered as I heard other models approaching. They were all dressed up in revealing dresses of various colors, and I had to admit that the designer had a good style about her. I’d opted to wear only one and be out of there since I wasn’t fond of the quick changes and Monica had grudgingly agreed. I might stick around in the back and check out some of

the other clothes, but that was my limit. I wasn’t getting paid for this.

CHAPTER 2

THE ANNOUNCER STOPPED the music that was playing to announce the fashion show and the designer, Valerie Bacceli. She bounced by us, tiny and young in a black dress with an edge. She looked happy, and I smiled as she walked out and waved to everyone before answering the questions the man asked her. She was flustered and nervous and absolutely adorable. The crowd cheered obnoxiously, and I waited as they started calling our names to walk the long runway. I was the sixth model and walked out to a Sade song that I favored. I walked to the sensual beat; shoulders raised and eyes forward as I let them pass over the vague crowd as if I could see them. I wanted to make Valerie look good, and I knew damn good and well how to own a dress. I flirted and swayed before making a turn at the end to show off every part of the dress from every angle. I paused for a moment as I felt someone staring hard at me and blinked before I started back towards the exit. It seemed to take forever, and I was happy to step into the dimly lit hallway as the next girl took the stage. I was done for the night, but I figured that I’d change back into my clothes and watch a little more from the back just to see more details in the clothes. Once I was changed into my yoga pants and sweater, I was surprised when the blonde handed me a bag in the changing room. “What’s this?” I peeked inside to see the dress I’d modeled as well as the heels and I stared at her. I was only in the bathroom for a few minutes rinsing off my makeup. “Why are you giving this to me?” “I was told by my sponsors to give that to you since they thought you looked so beautiful in it. There’s some paperwork that you’ll want to read as well.” She gave me a bright smile, and I tilted my head as red flags showed up everywhere in my mind. “Who might the sponsors be?” I inquired as she laughed. “Brighton Architecture, among other businesses all over the world.” That’s right. My agent told me about them, but I’d hardly paid attention. “Do they do these kinds of things often?” My question seemed to fluster her, and she shrugged mysteriously. “Have a good night.” “Thanks. You, too.” I left with my purse slung over my body and the bag in

my hand and skirted around the crowd to watch some of the remaining show. The dresses were quite impressive, but I found it odd that none of the other models seemed to be leaving with a bag like mine. I was at the bar ordering a drink when I felt someone beside me. “You’re the sixth model, correct?” I turned to see a handsome man sitting beside me, muscled and dark and a few years older than my twenty-three years. “I am. How do you remember me?” I asked as he smiled seductively and extended his hand. “Colton Brighton. Trina, was it?” He asked, and a lightbulb flashed in my mind. “Brighton as in the company?” He nodded, and I wondered what he did there. The man couldn’t be older than thirty. “You sponsored this event?”

“MY COMPANY DID, yes.” He said easily as a man that looked just like him came to stand beside him. I looked from one to the other and wondered what kind of family would produce such gorgeous people, twins at that. “This is my brother, Declan.” I shook his hand as we greeted each other and could immediately sense some tension thick in the air. I wasn’t sure if it was of a sexual nature since they were some of the hottest men I’d laid eyes on and I’d be crazy not to think a few dirty thoughts. I also sensed it between the siblings as I looked them over. “We own the company.” “Did you send the dress and shoes with me?” I asked them directly, and one of them smirked as Colton smiled widely. Colton seemed to know more about it, and he nodded. “Why?” “You were stunning in it. It belongs on your body,” Colton’s deep blue eyes drifted down my now covered curves, and I felt my skin heat up as I licked my lips. “There’s also an invitation of sorts in the bag.” Declan looked at his brother and brushed back the dark hair that hung slightly in his face as he waited for the answer. Colton’s hair was cut shorter and slicked back some, and I couldn’t decide who was more handsome. “We’re looking to shoot some ad shots in a few places that we’re going to be building in, and we’re interested in you as a model. That was the actual reason for this show, to be honest. You won our vote.” “I didn’t hear anything about a contest when I signed up for this.” Colton shrugged. “We didn’t want it to be hard on the models and add more stress then there already is backstage. None of them knew.” He leaned closer to me, and I could

smell his intoxicating cologne that reminded me of a lush forest with a hint of spice. “You are one of the most beautiful women that I have ever seen.” “Thanks,” I found myself flustered which was unlike me, having made my way up from the bottom in this industry. “There’s a breakdown of our plans inside a portfolio in the bag. It will serve as a lovely vacation as well with a lot of extracurricular activities when you’re not working.” For a fleeting second, I considered the activities to be a menage with these men, though they seemed too competitive to share anything in my eyes. It was clear just watching Declan get frustrated with Colton’s advances towards me. “There’s a number in there to call. Please let us know by the end of the week once you’ve reviewed everything.” Colton looked at his brother as he stepped away after kissing my cheek and bidding me farewell. I looked at the bartender as he slipped me my drink with a smile and assured me that it was covered. I watched as the brothers seemed to argue as women approached them the entire way until they reached a table and sat down. They didn’t pay attention to any of them even though they were beautiful and built a lot differently than I was. This was a weird night.

CHAPTER 3

I HEADED HOME ONCE everything died down and sat on the futon in the tiny living room of my one bedroom apartment. I found the portfolio that outlined the offer, which included three weeks in Belize and the surrounding beaches since they had plans for a big resort chain over there. It included a round trip flight first class and lodging in various five-star places in the locations that we’d be shooting at. Both of the brothers would come to overlook the shoot, which made sense since they were owners. Still, though, I was nervous about having them around to watch me since they already did wild things to my imagination. When I got to the part about payment for the job, my eyes popped out of my head. They were offering a salary that I could generally make in a few months working steadily in town. That would get me ahead so I could think about a backup plan, such as school. I’d skipped it to move here and stay with a friend until I got some work and my own apartment. I decided to take the risk, and I called my agent to tell her about the offer.

She was thrilled and since I didn’t have a lot going on over the next few weeks since it was Fall here. They did less outdoor shootings, particularly with the rain we’d been having. That was another reason that I’d agreed to do the fashion show, and it apparently paid off for me. Monica assured me that I should take this job and even popped over to read through the contract in her excitement. “Trina! This is incredible money and with the expensed paid for, I think this is a great opportunity. I think you should go.” “It’s too good, isn’t it?” She gave me a strange look, and I nibbled on my lip. “I didn’t know there was any kind of contest at the show. They say that I won something, but they’re paying me so much.” “You’re a beautiful woman, Trina. They should pay you,” Monica smiled and looked down at the papers again. “This isn’t that unusual. Companies like Brighton pay millions for their advertising.” “Do they use models regularly?” “They build in some beautiful places, so yes. It’s not unheard of.” She grinned at me. “This is a fantastic chance for you. Go for it and have some fun somewhere beautiful.” I made the call the following day and spoke to Declan, who sounded surprised that I accepted the offer. He took down my address and phone number, explaining that I would be receiving items for the trip. We were leaving in three days…together. A flight with those guys would be torture. “We’ll pick you up in a town car and take you to the airport. How does seven am Friday morning sound?” “Perfect,” I replied as I heard a dark chuckle at the other end of the line. “I look forward to it, Trina,” his voice promised sin before he ended the call and I dropped back onto the couch with a sigh. Within a day, packages were being delivered to my apartment. I got a beautiful set of luggage in a lovely red color and so many clothes. There were bikinis, dresses, shorts and tops and all of them were sexy and revealing. I looked at the sizes, and they were dead on, and I remembered the fashion show. I blushed at the lingerie that I found in some boxes from a very prestigious store in the city and looked through the lace and the satin that made me wish I was going with a lover. Maybe I’d meet someone. It had been a while since I’d dated, even casually. I’d never even slept with anybody yet. I was selective, and I wanted it to be right. Here I was fantasizing about two gorgeous men! My mind wandered back to the brothers, and I bit my lip as I thought about them. They were both so handsome, and Colton attracted me with his bold flirtations while Declan seemed to offer a more subtle invitation. Either one

was appealing, and the idea of sharing them was beyond my wildest dreams. I giggled and called Monica if all of this stuff was normal. “Look, I did some digging, and they don’t work on ads too much, Trina. When they do, these guys go all in with their expenses, so enjoy it. They’re gorgeous too!” She whistled on her end, and I laughed. “I’d have a hard time keeping my hands off of them, and I do mean both of them. Live vicariously for me!” I managed to pack everything into the suitcases that they sent me as well as a few comforts from home. I needed them to feel like I was still myself since this was like a dream. I set everything by the door and chose a soft pink dress with some sandals for the flight, along with a cardigan sweater. I slept fitfully that night and woke up early to shower and make some coffee. I dressed in my outfit as I stared outside and watched the city come to life as the sun rose. I walked out of my apartment and locked the door as I took a deep breath. I rolled the large suitcase to the elevator and managed to fit the smaller one above it so I could toss my purse over my body. I went through my checklist in my head to assure myself that I didn’t forget anything and stepped out to the curb to see a sleek black car pulled up and waiting. The door opened, and Colton stepped forward, looking fresh in his black slacks and a buttoned up white shirt that was unbuttoned at the neck. “Good morning, Trina. You look lovely,” he looked me over as I stepped forward and got lost in his eyes. A man stepped out of the driver’s seat to put my luggage in the back and Colton gestured for me to get into the car with his big hand as I licked my lips. Declan sat on my left, and I moved across from him as Colton moved back to sit beside me. It was a roomy car, but it felt small as the heat inside made me start to sweat. “You look beautiful,” Declan told me as I smiled and thanked him. He was dressed as his brother was but in a light blue shirt that brought out the blue in his eyes and I found myself staring at him for a moment. “Ready for some fun?” “I am thinking of this as business, seeing that you’re paying me generously for this.” I hinted as I looked at them with a slow smile. “We have a generous budget for marketing. It’s everything to a company.” I looked at Colton as he offered me coffee after that phrase. “We stopped by Starbucks. There’s black as well a cafe mocha and that caramel drink they serve. I always forget the name.” “That one sounds good. Caramel.” He handed me a tall cup, and I noticed that the brothers had their own beside them. “Thank you.” I didn’t want to admit how much coffee I’d had waiting for this moment. We made the drive to the airport through all of the traffic heading to morning jobs. Once we cleared that, I was surprised to drive right through the gate and up to a private plane

that was parked away from the bigger passenger jets. I was stunned since I thought we were flying commercial. “A private plane?” I squeaked as Declan grinned at me. “Company perk,” he winked at me as I blushed and felt Colton stiffen beside me. He left the car first, and I watched as the driver and another man unloaded the trunk and got all of our bags into the plane before Colton held out his hand to assist me onboard. It was beautiful with large seats that were spread apart with something that looked like a room in the back. The plane would hold twelve people, and I looked around with a smile. “There’s a bedroom back there should you need to rest. It’s quite comfortable,” Declan said behind me as I turned to look at him. His eyes offered company if I wanted it and I stared at him before I felt a hand brush my lower back. “Want to join me in the seats, Trina?” Their voices started to blend together, and I allowed Colton to take me to a place as I tried to catch my breath. We buckled our seat belts as instructed as I looked at Declan across the aisle from me as he sipped the coffee. The engine fired up, smooth and quiet until we took off and soared into the sky. I gasped and felt a hand cover mine as I looked at Colton. “It’s a rush, Trina. We’ll even out in just a few moments, and you can breathe again.” His blue eyes comforted me as I leaned my head back and stared into his beautiful face for a long moment. He leaned closer to me, and I sucked in my breath as he brushed his lips against mine gently before pulling away. “Feel better?” I realized that we were flying smoothly through the air now, and I swallowed. “Do you always use that trick to calm nervous flyers?” “Not that I recall. Did it work?” Colton asked as I stole a glance at his brother. Declan had seen everything, and I could see that he was planning on upping the ante as my heart pounded in my chest. “It was impressive,” I replied as I stared forward and took a deep breath. That was just a peck if that. What would a real kiss feel like? We made the flight ion a few hours and soon were landing in Belize in a small airport. We’d made some small talk about the trip that was loaded with sexual tension, and I stood gratefully to step down from the plane. It was breezy and beautiful here, and my hair blew into my face as I looked around. “I can’t wait to pull that hair when you’re crying out my name,” Colton murmured behind me as I felt my knees weaken. He chuckled and wrapped his arm around me to hold me steady before he assisted me down with Declan following with an intense look on his face. We went to a car that was waiting that whisked us away to a gorgeous beach resort. I couldn’t stop staring as we drove past beach after beautiful beach with scattered trees and flowers. It was

amazing here, and I felt someone slip a hand over my thigh as I turned to see Declan grinning at me. “You look like a kid at Christmas,” he observed as I smiled. “I don’t travel like this, for work or pleasure. This is beautiful.” We pulled into a parking lot, and as soon as the guys left the car, staff hurried from the lobby to assist with bags. They didn’t even check in but rather followed the men down a sand pathway to a cottage on the water. It was massive, and I walked through the door first to see a comfortable and luxurious main room that offered all windows on the back to overlook the light blue water of the ocean. I walked over as I got lost in the view and pressed my body against the warm glass. The men that came with us seemed to move in high-speed mode before I saw Colton slip a few bills to all of them. I watched him look at me before glancing at his brother. “There’s three rooms here, Trina. They all face the ocean and offer every luxury. Which one would you like to use?” I wanted to tell him one with both of them. I had only barely kissed Colton but the way that his brother seemed to mesmerize me every time he spoke to me was almost too much for me.

CHAPTER 4

I CHOSE the room closest to me and wandered in to see a beautiful round room with a king sized bed against the wall and a huge bathroom to my right. The bathroom was private with a door, but the shower had a window open for some of the fresh ocean air and a beautiful bathtub. The colors were done in cream and blue with a few patches of light yellow and it felt very beachy in here. Of course, there was a wall of windows that offered another extraordinary view. “I must be dreaming,” I murmured to myself as I slid open the door to my balcony and stepped out. The wind blew around me as I inhaled the salt of the ocean. My balcony had a padded chaise, and I walked the few feet out to see that we were a bit over the sea with the beach to my right. I decided that I just might sleep out here tonight and look at the stars. That was tonight, though. I was here to work, and I turned to go back inside. I couldn’t remember the plans for the day with everything that had happened and I made my way back to the living room. “What are the plans for

today?” Declan came out of the room beside mine with his shirt unbuttoned and showing off his muscular torso and abs that seemed almost unreal to me. He was perfect and I stared openly at him as he chuckled. “Dinner and drinks. We’re going to have some fun this first night and get to business tomorrow. Colt is meeting an owner after we eat but I’ll have a good time with you instead.” He winked, and I think I died inside. He was fun while his brother was intense. “How do you like the room?” “I never want to leave. It’s so beautiful,” I gushed as he laughed and nodded. “It is. I like to leave my windows open at night and let in all of the air that I can.” He glanced up as Colton walked back into the living room, still buttoned up and staring at his phone. “Always the serious one.” “If it weren’t for me, this company probably wouldn’t be doing as well as it is,” Colton reminded him as he glanced at us. “I don’t know why Dad left it to both of us when he died.” “I do my part, and we’re still rich. The company is stable, and everyone is happy,” Declan said before he walked into the open kitchen and opened the fridge. “This staff is the best.” He walked back in with cold beer and raised his eyebrow at me. “Do you like beer?” I didn’t usually, but I nodded and took it. I needed the liquid courage. “Thanks,” I told him as I walked around the room to look at the kitchen and then out to the bigger balcony. There was a sliding glass door with a screen, and I left that open as I leaned over the railing and looked down into the clear water. I could see a few fish swimming below me, and I smiled as I took this all in. The beer was cold and refreshing as I sipped it and looked over the sea. A small part of me worried about being over the water this way, but it seemed sturdy enough. We started getting ready for dinner after I’d spent some time outside to regain my composure. I headed into my room and pulled out my suitcase to look through it and decide what to wear. There was a pretty red dress that I held up to myself as I looked in the full-length mirror. It was sexy with a tie around the neck and it draped over my big breasts and clung to my waist. It went down to my knees but there was something about the way the skirt would swing around my legs that appealed to me, and would certainly please the guys. I showered in the huge glass enclosure with the multiple shower heads and the wind blowing through the open window. It was stocked with products, and

I used the coconut and vanilla body wash and rubbed it over my body as my nipples hardened. I was weak with need, and I closed my eyes and imagined the guys naked in their showers. My thighs ached as I imagined them hard for me and my hand slipped down my stomach and over my pussy slowly. I was wet and swollen, and I massaged myself as I moaned softly. I hadn’t masturbated a lot, but right now it felt good, and I pushed myself towards a release as the water hit my back. It was hard and intense, and I gripped the top of the shower as I rocked forward and tried to control my moans. I didn’t want them to hear me even though a part of me longed for them to. I wanted them to come in here and dominate me, a thought that made me blush as I took a deep breath. The idea of them here together, one behind me fucking me hard and deep as the other pushed my mouth over his cock made me wet all over again, and I got myself off for a second time. I got out of the shower and let my hair down after I was dry. I hadn’t washed it and just planned on twisting it on one side tonight. My skin was flushed, and I was glowing as I smiled and went to get my smaller bag for my make-up. I just did a light layer of powder and some dark liner on my lid with mascara. The real wow factor was the red lipstick that I filled my full lips in with. It was a simple look, but I knew how responsive that men were to it, even if I was still innocent. I wanted that to change. I pulled the dress on and added a musky scent on my wrists and behind my ears. I twisted my hair to my right and pinned it with some bobby pins before I decided I was ready. I’d slipped the shoes from the fashion show into my bag and put them on before I checked myself in the full mirror. I only wore a small thong since the dress didn’t allow a full bra. Stepping into the living room, I looked around and found myself alone. I wondered who had picked out all of these clothes as I walked over to the fridge and opened it. There was a bottle of wine inside of the fridge, and I stared at it before I heard a throat clearing. “Dec is finishing up. Can I get you anything?” Colton watched me stand, and his eyes locked on my chest as I felt my hands shaking. “That dress…” “Who chose the clothing?” I asked as I boldly grabbed the wine and set it on the counter. Colton cleared his throat and went to get some glasses from the white cabinet and opened the bottle. “We have a woman that helps us with model clothing. I used your measurements from the fashion show and showed her that, telling her to base the selections on it. It was incredible on you.” Colton poured three glasses and handed me one as I took it and thanked him. “Of course, I ordered more than

usual, but I was interested in seeing you in a lot of different things.” “The man behind the idea?” I suggested as he ran his hand down the loose button up shirt in green that covered his slacks, comfortable and casual and perfect for the island weather. “He had my approval from the get-go,” Declan said as I jumped and looked over at him. He was dressed in a similar fashion though his shirt was teal. “Now the question is what brother will you choose?” “I think that’s obvious, Dec. Trina likes a man that has some control, not a surfer boy.” Declan laughed at his brother and shook his head. “I am all man in the bedroom. Just ask some of your ex-girlfriends.” Colton’s eyes narrowed, and I saw the discontent forming as I swallowed a large gulp of wine. “Why don’t we go?” They seemed to relax, and Colton got the keys so we could leave.

CHAPTER 5

DINNER WAS at a local place on the water by a window that opened to the ocean. The breeze blew in as we ordered drinks and the guys selected a few appetizers to get us started. The table was wound so I had one of them on either side of me and I sipped the tropical drink nervously. The food was excellent and fresh as I tasted the meats and vegetables throughout our conversation. They discussed the island and the beach we’d be shooting on tomorrow; a future site for a resort of one of their customers. I listened quietly as I kept drinking and eating, taking the time to look each brother over for periods of time. Whatever was going on at the cottage seemed to be more under control now, and we finished our meals as Colton checked his phone when it chimed. “That’s Bob.” He eyed his brother and then me. “Where will you be?” “That open bar down the street. Trina needs to dance,” Declan replied as I watched Colton’s eyes simmer for a moment. He assured us that he would meet us as soon as he went over business and Declan turned to me as we were left alone. He took my hand, and we walked down the crowded sidewalk and found a cute bar that was quite open to the street that featured a band playing a song with a great beat as my hips started to move. “There we go. I knew that you were meant to move, Trina.” He led me inside, and I didn’t miss the way

that the women looked him over before giving me looks with various degrees of dislike. We ordered; a cocktail for me and a beer for him as he glanced over the spacious dance floor. “That night at the show, I was bored. We’d done that show for a few years, and once I realized how empty the women were, I started to check out. Then you were up there, more of a woman than any of them. You entranced me, and I soon realized that you had Colt’s attention as well.” He sipped his beer. “I can’t hate that he got you here so easily, but I don’t think it gives him an advantage. Do you?” “It all came from the same money, didn’t it?” He nodded as his eyes lit up. “What difference does it make?” I licked my lips as he watched. “Why do I have to choose?” “He doesn’t share, never has,” Declan said darkly as I sipped my drink. “I wasn’t entirely kidding back there in that I have slept with some of his former girlfriends but it was by chance. It wasn’t done to hurt him, but then, Colt never had a problem finding a woman.” “You’re twins,” I observed, and he grinned crookedly before he slammed the beer down and took my hand. “Drink. Let’s dance, Trina.” I finished what I could and allowed him to take me out to the dance floor as a dark beat started to play. “Move your body for me.” It wasn’t hard to do as I lifted my hands over my head and began to sway to the music. Declan moved with me and brought his hands over my hips as he eyed my bouncing breasts. “I like that. I want to see them bare for me so I can watch your nipples harden.” Mischief formed in his eyes as they reached towards him and he looked into my eyes. “I think you like a little fun in the bedroom, no?” I blushed and stared at him. “I wouldn’t know.” His eyes widened, and he pulled me close to him. “You’re a virgin?” I nodded with some shame crossing my features, and he shook his head. “No, that’s beautiful. Nobody has felt you wrapped around them, tasted you,” his eyes questioned me, and I shook my head as he slid his arms down over my ass and moved his body close to mine. “That makes it even more interesting. Which one of us will you give yourself to?” “Is that why I’m here?” I asked as I stared into his eyes and felt his hard cock pressing against me. “No, not just that. We do have photo shoots for the company, and we chose you. A little brotherly competition only adds to the fun.” Declan pulled me to him as the song slowed and I slipped my arms around his neck. “There you go, Trina.” He lowered his lips to mine and caught them in a soft teasing kiss as I closed my eyes. It was slow, but soon his tongue was teasing me to part for

him as we stopped dancing for a moment. I lost myself as I compared him to the chapped lips of his brother and realized that they were both growing on me a lot. The next song picked up a bit, and I pressed against him as my nipples hardened. Declan stroked my hips and I felt him pull back and take a breath. We danced quietly, still close and I found some comfort in his arms as the crowd seemed to blend around us. “That didn’t take you long, brother of mine,” I came back to reality as I heard Colton next to us and looked up. “That color suits you.” I saw that my lipstick was smeared on his lips and blushed. “I think so,” Declan said as he grinned and looked at Colton. “How was the meeting?” “We’re all set for tomorrow,” he said as I excused myself and went into the bathroom. I set my clutch on the blue counter and fixed my smeared lipstick carefully before I washed my hands and used the toilet. I was feeling buzzed, and I wandered back out to the bar and looked for my men with a smile on my face. I knew that this was going to a place that I might not come back from, but right now it felt too good to stop. They were at the bar talking closely, and I walked over as I frowned. “Hi,” I knew that I sounded drunk, and Declan slipped an arm around me while Colton looked on and downed a shot. “Want to dance some more?” I drank a few more drinks and danced for a couple of hours until the guys collected me to take me back to the cottage. I had danced with both of them or just one of them throughout the night, only getting more turned on. Our cottage was close, and I looked up at the sky as I held onto their arms beside me. I was drunk and feeling loose, and I tightened my hold on both of them. “Thank you, I had fun tonight. It’s been a long time since I loosened up that way.” There had been intimate moments with both brothers: being held during a slower song, touching them as I danced with them and feeling their breath on my face. I was edgy and needy when Colton unlocked the door and let me walk in first. “Stay away from the water, Trina. I don’t want you falling in.” “I want to look at the stars,” I insisted as I giggled and walked over to the balcony. I pulled the pins out of my hair and let it fall over my shoulders as I slid it open and heard a voice behind me. The moon was high and stars bright above me as I sank down onto the chaise lounge as the metal fell from my hand. “Trina, you have to be careful,” Declan said as he came out after me and sat down in the seat across from me. “The water is right there.”

“Have you ever seen anything as beautiful as this sky?” I asked as I looked up. “I’ve barely left the States, and this is amazing to me.” “I’ve been everywhere, and you are amazing to me.” I stared at him. “Let’s get you to bed. It’s late.” I heard the pain in his voice as I pressed my lips to his and felt his groan vibrating against my mouth. I slipped forward into his lap and wrapped my arms around his neck as he moaned and lifted us slowly. “Walk, Trina.” I managed to move backward as he pushed me into the house and then my room, slowly making his way towards my bed. I fell back onto the mattress, and he stood and stared down at me as the moon filled my room. “I don’t want to take this from you drunk. You’re better than that.” “I need something,” I pleaded as I reached out for him and watched him rake a hand through his hair. “I have wanted you since I saw you, both of you. I have never felt this way before about anybody.” Someone set a bottle of water down on the night table, and I looked up to see Colton. “Drink this.” Declan shot him a dark look and opened it for me before holding it out. He sat on the bed beside me, and I took a small sip. “Feel better?” “I need to come,” I told him as I took his hand and placed it between my legs. “The fuck?” Colton asked as Declan started to stroke my thigh. “I am just going to give her one orgasm. She’s drunk, Colt. She needs it before she goes to sleep” My legs parted and I felt him slide a finger under the lace of my thong as I moaned. “She’s so fucking wet. If you weren’t so pure, I’d take you right now, Trina.” “She’s a virgin?” Colton asked as Declan found my swollen clit. “I never would’ve thought that.” I leaned my head back, and Declan caught me as I started to fall back. “That’s a girl,” Declan murmured as he sped his fingers up and brought me closer to my much-needed release. I cried out as it rocked through me, feeling my body against a pillow as I jerked against Declan. I reached out for him as I felt the sleep start to take me over and a blanket cover me.

CHAPTER 6

THE SUN WAS POURING into the room as I slowly woke up. My room had never been this bright before, and I groaned as I turned back into the pillow. I

listened to the sounds in the room and heard waves as I rolled over on my back and looked out to the ocean. “Good morning, Sunshine.” Declan walked in with some coffee and water as I blinked at him. “Hi.” I looked under my covers to see my naked body as I frowned. I wasn’t so drunk that I didn’t remember what happened, and didn't think that I’d had sex with either of them, but I couldn’t help but warm up at the memory of the orgasm. “How do you feel? Are you up to the shoot today?” He looked closely at me as he set the drinks down on the table beside me. “You had a lot of drinks last night.” “Yeah, I’m okay. Who changed me?” I asked as I tucked the blanket against me. “It was just in the moonlight after you fell asleep. Nothing else happened.” Declan sat beside me, and I looked him over in his workout shorts and bare chest. I nodded and reached out to sip the water before sniffing the coffee. It was sweet as I liked it even though my stomach was a little tender. I managed to drink some of them before I asked Declan for a robe from the bathroom. He got it and smiled as he gave me some privacy to pull it on before I walked out to look at the ocean. It was gorgeous with the sun rising slowly in front of me as I looked down to see more fish. “Good morning.” Colton walked out and looked at me as I smiled shyly. “Want something to eat?” I shook my head and tried to find the words. “I’m sorry about last night.” “It was hot. I am surprised to know that you’re a virgin.” I blushed and looked at the ocean. “Was that just from the alcohol?” “It gave me courage. Why didn’t you touch me?” I asked him curiously as he seemed to consider his answer. “I knew that I might not stop. I liked watching though and that time will come,” he assured me as I widened my eyes. “So I thought we could hit the beach and do some shots if you’re feeling up to it. We can get some lunch once you’re feeling hungry.” I nodded and sipped my coffee. “What am I wearing?” “Put on one of the bikinis and pack the others. I think the coral one would be good to start with, Colton cleared his throat, and I remembered how skimpy that suit was. “Dec is the photographer.” Shit. I went inside and showered quickly before I donned the robe again and went to the luggage. As nice as all of this clothing was, I knew that I needed to unpack. I found the swimsuits and lay them on the bed as I looked them over. The coral one was just a top with tiny triangles and a string bottom that left little to the imagination. I took it to the bathroom and put it on and tried to

cover as much as I could with the material before pulling a white cover up dress over it. I worked with my hair and made it as smooth as possible before I slipped my feet into flip flops. The guys were on laptops in the living room, dressed in shorts and t-shirts. They glanced up at me, and I sensed the tension in the room as I cleared my throat. “What kind of makeup do you want for the pictures?” I glanced at Declan. “I assumed that there was no artist, but I’ve learned a lot over the years.” “Shimmer. Gloss. Just a little bit of shadow on the eyes to make that green pop. I don’t want you slathered in it with the setting,” Declan said as I remembered his fingers on me. I shuddered, and his eyes darkened. “Noted.” I turned and went back to the room and pulled out the makeup that I’d packed. I found a bronze shadow with a darker color in the crease. I had finished with some bronzer and some clear gloss before I returned to the living room. Colton whistled, and Declan turned from the camera bag that he was packing up. “You do know your stuff.” Colton let his eyes drift down, and I felt him trying to undress me. He’d see what he wanted soon enough. We took a rented Range Rover to the other side of the island and parked on a dirt road. “This is untouched ground so far. The client wants to build a resort up against the road here, but the owners have been stubborn about selling up until two months ago. The beach is the focal point.” I couldn’t help but smile to Colton’s pitch as we walked down the soft sand towards the blue water. It was a stunning place and private from the road as I turned to look back as I trembled. Declan settled into business and suggested my laying on the beach on the hot sand so he could start some shots. I lifted the cover up over my head and heard them suck their breath in before I dropped it to the ground. I walked closer to the water, and Declan directed me to kneel down as he drew closer to me. It started innocently enough. I kneeled. I lay down as he shot image after image from all of the angles with the ocean as a backdrop as well as the land that would house the resort. I felt beautiful as he directed me in a hoarse voice and turned onto my stomach as the water brushed against my chest. I could feel the tips of my nipples hard and cold in the water as I moaned and spread my thighs open. I wasn’t feeling any effects from alcohol now, but I did want them. “Jesus fucking Christ,” Colton swore behind me as I rolled over and looked at him through my legs. “How the fuck do you look like that when you’re supposed to be off limits?”

I moved the top away from my skin and ran my hands up my breasts as Colton stepped forward. He slipped his hands up my legs and ripped the bottoms from me before he knelt down before me on the sand. “Dec made you come with his hand, and I get to use my mouth on you.” He pressed his face into my pussy as I cried out. Colton’s tongue dragged over my folds before he centered the tip around my clit and flicked it. I slid my hands into his closecropped hair and pulled him closer as I felt his teeth. The water slid through my hair as I whimpered and felt the pressure inside of me moving. I came with a cry as Colton licked and teased me into a drawn out release. “So sweet. You taste so good.” He pulled away and tugged me forward to kiss me as I wrapped my arms around his neck. I could taste my salty sweetness, and I ate away at his lips as he pulled me over his lap. “I want to fuck you so badly.” Hands tugged my damp hair, and I dropped my head back to see Declan looking down at me. He dropped to the sand to kiss me and moaned as my juices coated his tongue and his hand cupped my breast. I moaned against him and felt a hand gripping my ass Colton slipped his hand over my sensitive clit. There wasn’t sex between any of us, but we knew that we were moving closer to that as we moved apart. I had come a few times by then, and I was stunned by the ability between the brothers. I dressed in the suit again and started to wander the beach to get my thoughts together. We ended up leaving to go to another beach of another potential resort, and I donned the sea blue bikini in the back of the car, given that this was a more public spot. The shots were seductive and beautiful, but we’d sated our desires for the time being. We grabbed some lunch at a small Mexican place on the coast and enjoyed chips and salsa along with fresh shrimp enchiladas. I drank water to hydrate myself as well as to remember the feeling of these men pleasing me. We laughed and talked as we shared long glances and slow touches between our seats. The feelings were heavy in the air, and we wandered around some shops after we ate. I was still in the cover up, and my flip flops, but I didn’t care that I was revealing skin as they bought me everything that I exclaimed over. We went back to the cottage with several bags and I entered the living room swinging the one that I had. We hadn’t gotten a lot of work done today, but I hoped that Declan got some shots that they could use, assuming that it wasn’t a front. They could have me without the cover up of advertising, and I looked back as they came inside talking about one of the stores. They were completely different men, but I cared for them both. I had never been in love with one man much less falling for two before.

CHAPTER 7

WE FOUND some steaks in the freezer and defrosted them outside to grill as I peered into the cooler for what else I could make. There were some vegetables, and I looked behind me as I heard them on the balcony. “Who stocks the kitchen?” “Staff. We told them in advance what we wanted.” Declan called back as I smiled. These men had everything they wanted at their back and call and all of the power that money could buy yet they wanted me. I managed to find a bowl, and I marinated some asparagus in a mixture of oil and seasoning that I threw together and set some sweet potatoes on the counter. I made my way to the balcony and looked over the water as the guys sipped beer and chatted about the following day. It sounded like business as usual, but I could feel the heat between us as I sat down and dangled my bare feet into the clear water. Declan came to sit behind me as he massaged my neck and I smiled. “Watch your feet in there. It’s relatively deep.” Colton told me as he sat on the lounge behind us. “I can’t be scared of water that I can see so clearly,” I mused as Declan laughed. “It’s comforting that you can see something chomping at you?” I squeaked and lifted my feet as he leaned forward to kiss my neck. “You taste like salt, Trina.” I leaned my head back to kiss him, and Declan molded his lips to mine. We ate dinner out on the balcony by candlelight and the moon as I took everything in. The living room was lit behind me, and I could see other cottages with the lights on, but I felt like we were all alone. I sipped on a glass of wine as the stars brightened in the dark sky and leaned my head back. We went inside to clean up, and I found myself standing beside Colton as we washed the plates and glasses while Colton edited the pictures on the MacBook in the living room. He handed me the plates to rinse and set in the bamboo drying rack as he seemed to try to form something in his mind. “I don’t share, but I can see that you care for Declan.” “And you. I care for both of you.” I turned to him, and he gazed down at me. “I hate that I want both of you, but it’s the truth.” “I know. We’ll find a way to make this work,” he told me as I cupped his

face and stood on my tiptoes to kiss him. We watched a movie in the living room with the door open and the breeze coming into the room. I stretched between the men, needing to touch both of them as I felt Declan massaging my feet while Colton stroked my hair. We turned off the television and Declan locked the door as I looked at them. “Come in.” I walked into my room and lifted the cover up over my head as I looked out of my window. Colton followed me first as Declan followed and I untied my top and dropped it to the floor beside the cover up. I turned towards them and lost the bottoms as they watched. Declan stepped forward first to kiss me long and hard as he gripped my hips.

It led easily to me laying back on the bed as Declan moved his lips over my breasts and sucked a nipple between his lips. I slipped my hands into his hair and looked at Colton as he stood awkwardly by the bed and watched us as he slid his hands down his legs. I could see the hesitation in his eyes in the moonlight, and I held out one hand to him. “Come here.” Declan sucked harder as his brother stepped over to me and looked down into my face. I reached out and stroked his thighs as his eyes darkened before I found his hard cock under the shorts. “Trina,” Colton said as he closed his eyes and pushed his hips forward. I wondered how he was going to fit inside of me as I squeezed lightly and looked at Declan still latched onto my nipples. Did they match in that way as well? Declan slipped his hand down to stroke me as I tightened my grip on Colton. Sensations flooded me, and I moved my hand up to tear at the button as my clit was dragged across Declan’s teeth. “Trina, I…” “Off,” I urged him as Colton finished the process and I cried out. I gripped his cock in my hand and moved it up and down as I tried to control the movement. I didn’t want to hurt him but judging from the sounds that he was making, I was doing everything right. My nerves shot heat all over my body as I gripped him and pulled on his shaft as Declan inserted a long finger inside of me. It was so thick and I moaned as he filled me, prodding my entrance until he could fit another one on. “You’re so tight. I want you to milk my cock of every drop of come,” Declan told me as he lifted his head and stared at me. He glanced at Colton and watched what I was doing for a moment before he started fucking me in earnest with his hand. His fingers scraped my walls, and I jerked as my head dropped back. I came just as Colton groaned and tore my hand away from him and turned to walk towards the door. “Come back,” I called out as I came and rocked with it. “Colton!” “I want you to suck my cock. I want to fill your throat,” Colton sounded stricken as he turned to look at me and I bit my lip. “I want that. Please, I want that.” I begged him as Colton stepped back to me and glanced at Declan. I sensed that they never had done this before as they shared a long look before Declan scooted me to the edge of the bed. My head dropped back slightly as Colton teased my lips with his tip before sliding it inside of my mouth. He was large, as I knew, and he took his time with me as he slipped himself inside inch my inch. Declan played with my clit as he watched us and I spread my legs open as he looked down. I gave him a long look, and he swallowed as he stared back. “Trina,” he murmured as he looked between my legs and ran his hand over

his groin. “Not now.” Colton blinked as he looked between the two of us and realization crossed his face. “Trina…are you sure?” I nodded, and he continued to move inside of me as Declan unbuttoned his shorts. He dropped them, and I realized that they were twins in every way as he sprung forward, hard and ready. “Get a condom from the suitcase. Get the box.” Colton ordered him as Declan looked at him for a moment. He disappeared from the room, and Colton cupped my face as he stared down at me. “You want this?” I moaned and nodded as he frowned and took me in carefully. “You’re so beautiful.” This wasn’t about owning me or claiming me, but about feelings. Even the way he took my mouth was still gentle in his movements, something he’d fought. “I am going to move a little harder. Can you do that?” I nodded again and wrapped my mouth tightly around him as he moved deep and slow. He edged towards the back of my throat as I moaned and felt him swell as he stroked my cheeks. Colton grunted and stared at me. “I need to come.” He moved again, and I sucked harder as he grimaced and closed his eyes. “Trina…suck me. Feels so good. Fuck. I am going to come.” He shot with his next thrust and filled my mouth as I struggled for a fleeting second before I swallowed him. He slowed as he watched me, pulling out as I swallowed again and took a deep breath. “You looked so good that way.” I wiped at the drops that slid down my cheek and felt nearly complete as a few tears joined them. Declan came into the room and looked at us as he walked towards the bed.

CHAPTER 8

I WATCHED as Colton pulled away from me to drop to his knees. “You okay?” He asked gently as I nodded. This was everything that I wanted and probably what I’d always wanted. Who knew their own needs before they had a chance to examine them? Declan came towards me and sat on the bed as he looked me over. “Do you want this?” “I’ve never wanted anything more,” I told him as he opened the box in his hand and pulled out a foil wrapped condom. Colton took my hand as I reached out for him and we both watched as Declan slipped the latex over his cock and

took a deep breath. I wondered if this was weird for them until I felt a finger stroking my clit and arched my back. My need replaced any other concerns, and I begged him to take me as he teased my wanting core. Declan pulled away and crawled between my legs as I looked into his eyes first, then Colton’s. “This is for all of us,” I whispered as I felt something sliding in and filling me completely. “Oh, fuck,” I moaned as Declan moved slowly while Colton glared at him. There was a pinch and then a slight burning as he moved deeper, and I dropped my head back and pinched my eyes shut. “Dec, I feel so full.” “You’re fucking tight as hell. Jesus, Colt…you need to get in here,” Declan grunted as he shifted forward and looked down at me. I felt desire flood me as the pain decreased and I scratched my free hand down his chest. “Harder, Dec. Oh God, I need you.” He pulled back and pushed back into me as I felt my hips moved to meet him as he stared into my eyes. It took a few seconds or possibly minutes, but soon our bodies were rocking together in a mad frenzy as we both tried to find our release. I felt a hand slip over my breast and arched my back into Colton’s hand as I looked over at him. I came as he pinched my nipple and cried out as I pressed against Declan and watched him release as he bent his head forward and thrust one more time. He dropped beside me after he pulled himself out of me and removed the condom. I looked from him to Colton as my body trembled with the force of the orgasm. Colton rested his head against me, and I scooted closer to Declan to give him room. Somehow, we fell asleep that way. It wasn’t uncomfortable or awkward since I knew I belonged with these men. I woke up later to the sensation of a mouth on my pussy and groaned softly. I felt the warm body on my left, and I opened my eyes to look down at Colton’s face between my legs. He licked and sucked on me until I watched him reach for the box of condoms that fell to the ground sometime last night. Colton slipped one on and moved between my legs as I slid my hands down to pull him towards me for a kiss. His cock slid inside me as our tongues met and I marveled at how different sex could be with the various people at various times. Declan had been good to me last night, caring and so giving when it came to my needs, and now it was Colton who was making love to me. I always thought that he’d be the cocky one, the demanding one. I was as attracted to him as I was Declan but their roles were so different than I expected. He moved deep and slow inside of me as I wrapped my legs around him.

The sun was rising so it was still dark in the room, but I felt him with my hands as he moved deeper. It was slower, but my orgasm was intense and powerful, Colton felt me around him and came with me as I held him close. We stayed close and fell back asleep together. I woke up first and grabbed a robe before I went to look over the water as I thought about the night before. It had been so different than I expected but so good. I remembered being a young girl and thinking I’d find a nice man and settle down someday, but never two of them. I made them breakfast, and we headed out to another beach for a photo shoot, something that began to mix with pleasure so easily. We had sex as often as we could and going from brother to brother wasn’t hard for me. The intimacy was sometimes just the two of us but at night we slept together in my bed, more often than not. The night that I had both of them happened a couple of weeks after the first time, and I knew that I wanted them both inside of me. I was kissing Declan and pushing him back onto the bed when Colton crawled behind me and pushed inside of me. He was hard, and I rocked against him as I kissed Declan harder. I told Colton that I wanted him to take my ass since he’d shown an interest in that since we started sleeping together. He yanked back and out of me as I slid onto Declan and he gripped my ass. Colton started with his fingers as he spread me open slowly and I moaned at the double penetration. Colton worked up to his cock as he stroked his hand with lube and pushed inside of me. I cried out as I felt them both and gripped Declan’s shoulders as I felt one slide out as one entered me. It was rough and intense, and I tried to find a rhythm of my own to get them inside of me faster. We were a mess of three bodies, and I whimpered and moaned as they moved harder, and I closed my eyes. They were both inside of me as I came and dropped onto Declan with the force of it. I heard the ruptured scream come from my throat as Colton slammed into me with a moan and Declan stroked my head with his hands as he whispered my name. I pulled back and kissed him when I’d caught my breath and felt Colton wrap his arms around me. “Thank you,” his voice was shaking behind me, and I realized that we had just crossed a line, one that Colton probably never intended to pass in his life. Declan was his brother, and they competed before this with every word. “You’re welcome,” I whispered back as I took a deep breath. Our trip came to a close the next week, and we were all closer by then. I didn’t show them outward affection when we were together in public but behind closed doors, I was savage with both of them. We fucked together, and I

had times with each man alone, and I was becoming insatiable. I couldn’t get enough. I sat between them on the flight home, and one hand was on Declan’s thigh while the other rested on in Colton’s grip. There were many memories from this trip, both inside and out and we had so many pictures to look back on. Declan did a spectacular job with the professional ones and with his edits, a few would make good prints for advertising. The others were just of the beauty around us and shots we took together making faces and laughing together as we all fell harder into our growing feelings. They took me home with them, and I looked at them in the back of the car with surprise. “My apartment is down that street.” “We know,” Colton said as he looked at his brother. “We want you to stay at our places.” I stared at him. I knew that they each had a condo in a very exclusive building though I’d never seen it. “There’s only one of me,” I reminded them as Declan laughed and shook his head. “We were thinking of selling them and buying a big house that we could all share.” He reached for my hand. “I never thought I’d share anything, much less anyone, with Colton. I never even considered it before, but when we both saw you that night in that sexy red dress, something changed. We both wanted you and by some twisted luck, you wanted us as well.” He stared at Colton for a moment. I honestly don’t know how the fuck something like this even works, but I want to try. I want to be with you, Trina.” Colton nodded. “I am willing to do what it takes as well. I have never felt this way before you, Tri and I need you in my life.” “What do we do until the condos sell?” I asked as I cuddled between them with a smile. “Find a bed,” they replied together as I laughed and kissed them one by one. “Can we travel sometimes?” I smiled at Colton. “You have the company and all to run.” “We’ll travel. He’ll deal with the company and make all of the money,” Declan joked as I laughed with him and felt him kiss my hair. “Fuck that. I’ll hire a manager.” Declan smiled again, and I looked at Colton as he kissed me. “I am going to change my life up a little.” I stared back as the island faded away from my sight. What a trip it had been, and I pulled my men closer as I closed my eyes. We’d been up very late the night before christening every room in the cottage before it was time to leave. “I love you,” I whispered as they squeezed me and told me that they

loved me as well.

THE END.

IN TWO DEEP

CHAPTER one “I hope you know what kind of chance we’re taking on you, Tamara. Jacob was a friend of ours and we’ve known you for as long as we’ve been in business with him. We sympathize with your loss, but this is a matter of utmost importance. These jewels are to be shown to the public for a limited exhibition of two days only. We have borrowed them from an anonymous source. They would like to be left out of it and we have graciously permitted them their anonymity.” Grady was one of those secretive types with a black suit and dark glasses to match He was shadowed by two burly and strapping young men. I could tell that they were conditioned to follow orders to the letter. Their stance was the same and there was something strangely uniform about their posture. The obvious bulge in their jacket was not because they were happy to see me. These two were deadly and they had that expression of one of no emotion. I was worried for my safety and saying the wrong thing would end up getting on their bad side. “I appreciate the kind words and his death has been a lot to adjust to. It’s been three months and I’m still trying to make sense out of many facets of the business. He had a method to his madness, but I’ve yet to determine the rhythm or what kind of code is used. I have everything that I need from you and I believe that I can be of some service.” I could see that Grady was looking at me the same way that he always did when he came to visit Jacob. I did everything I could to accent the positives, which included low cut dresses that showed off a very prominent asset in my possession. I did not shy away from exhibiting my sexuality. I had in depth negotiations with Jacob and those clients that were fortunate enough to grace our shop with their presence. The eyes were the windows to the soul. They didn’t lie and you only needed to know what to look for to see if there they were truthful. “In this metal case is $50,000,000 worth of jewels. It is quite instrumental

that they never leave your sight for a second. If it was up to me, I would’ve denied the request to have them exhibited at the museum. Unfortunately those higher up felt it was good for their image to give into peer pressure. Don’t worry; there will be security on hand. These two men will never be too far away. You may not know they’re there, but trust me they will be overseeing the entire operation. Jacob was a good friend and I mourn his loss. I send a silent prayer to his family.” Grady was impeccably dressed and the only difference between him and the other two standing by his side was a blood red tie. "I want you to know that I take this responsibility seriously. You can’t be in better hands.” I was seeing this exhibition as a way to display some of my wares. I had jewels that I found quite by accident in back. It was those in Jacob’s personal collection. They had a hefty price tag that would net me a small fortune if sold to the right party. I didn’t trust Grady and I never did and there was always something slightly off about the way that he smiled with no real meaning behind it. “You are a sophisticated woman and you have the air of someone that was born with a silver spoon in their mouth. I know your background like the back of my hand. It’s amazing that you were able to climb out of your current position in life. You and I both know that you owed Jacob a debt that you could never pay back.” Being a woman, I felt like I was always struggling to make it, but being a black woman did not exactly afford me the opportunities like others. I was an impressive female creature standing at 5’9, 160 pounds with all of that weight accumulating in just the right areas. My breasts were marvels of the natural variety. There was nothing fake or plastic about me, except for my eyelashes. I had an ass that just wouldn’t quit and I wore clothing skintight to make people stand up and take notice. I escorted Grady back to the door and I watched him climb into a very distinctive black Tahoe with tinted windows. It was all very clandestine and made me feel like I was part of some secret that I didn’t know anything about. I locked the door behind them as they left. The camera overhead and the Security System in place were to keep these jewels safe, until the actual exhibition in two days. I’d tried to get my foot into the door, but being relatively unknown was making an obstacle that I couldn’t hurtle on my own. It was fortuitous that Grady came to me and gave me this window of opportunity. I wore a purple dress with strategic cuts up each side to give a good look at my ebony curves. Each time that I moved a certain way, you could practically see heaven and beyond. I did have one guilty pleasure and that was lingerie that could have any man crawling on their knees for a chance to be

with me. I never considered myself to be alluring, but the perception of what was acceptable these days had been changing significantly. The ringlets of my hair flowed freely down over my shoulders and my captivating green eyes were that of a cat. I made men feel like they were trapped in my web of sexual desire. I carried myself with superiority, but underneath it all I was still that scared little girl growing up in the boroughs. Getting out from underneath that was a Herculean effort and made easier by Jacob giving a young girl a chance to make something of herself. My parents were still alive and every Sunday, I would show up for dinner to be grilled about the same damn nonsense over and over again. My two brothers were already married and had kids of their own and now they were looking to me to provide them with a grandchild. I had no interest in getting pregnant and every guy that I had been with was a dismal disappointment. They made me think that all guys were after one thing. I was hoping for a lot more substance than something physical. I did enjoy sex, but I wasn’t about to throw my affections away so easily on a fleeting moment that would be mostly a memory after all was said and done. The slight chill of the air conditioning above was causing my nipples to become so hard that they could probably cut through glass. I could see the chunky tips pushing up against the fabric and I grazed them with the palm of my hand to tremble at my own touch. I’d been responsible for my own pleasure for as long as I could remember. It was nice to have the expertise at hand when it was needed the most. Usually it was in the dead of night and where the bed was cold beside me. It wasn’t about to take a lover just to have the companionship. I wanted more from my life than that and I wasn’t going to let anybody browbeat me into doing something that I wasn’t comfortable with. My brothers teased me mercilessly and I had shrugged it off like it really didn’t bother me. Deep down, I wanted everything that they had and that jealous streak would always raise its ugly head at the most inopportune time. I looked at myself in reflection of the glass leading out into the parking lot and I saw this desirable woman ready to live for the first time. I had allowed my father’s philandering ways to dictate my life choices. I could never look at my mother the same way knowing that she was accepting of his faults. He wasn’t exactly good at covering his tracks. Lipstick on his collar and late night phone calls not to mention long business dinners that went into the wee hours of the morning had always been a glaring sign of the inevitable. I thought for sure that my mother would kick him to the curb, but she apparently loved him with all of her heart. That was not the kind of relationship that I was looking

for. I wanted something that was going to stand up to the test of time and not leave me with a bad taste in my mouth. Chapter two It was the last day of the exhibition and I was quite fortunate to say that I had paved the way for my future. Those jewels that were on display were only there as a conversation piece, but I also had the collection from Jacob becoming quite a growing concern of its own. I had spied the two bodyguards with Grady, but they were like ghosts in the machine. “I’m just not sure and what kind of deal can you make me on this?” This guy had obvious of wealth and it was oozing out of his pores from the Gucci loafers on his feet all the way up to the custom made tie that probably cost more than my rent in one month. “I’m sure that the price tag can be negotiated. I always like to feel like I’m getting a deal.” He was a man that had the knowledge to navigate in the boardroom. His bald head was gleaming from the light overhead. “Mr. Booth, I do believe that the price that I’m offering is fair. With that being said, I’m sure that we can come to some kind of reasonable solution that would benefit the both of us. I’m going to write down a number and you’re killing me with even taking it down a dollar.” I had learned from the best and Jacob was a consummate professional when it came to giving the client what they wanted. “I think that you should really take a good look at this and tell me that it’s not worth the money. The woman in your life will be thrilled to have this hanging around their neck.” I was careful not to mention a wife, because you never knew what their intentions were. I was wearing a black and red dress flowing over my body like it was made just for me. I bent slightly at the waist to give a bird’s eye view of my cleavage and the treasures that was found within. I wore no bra I felt that my sexuality was my best weapon. My sultry voice and seductive tone was also a good way to seal the deal before the ink was dry on the paper. He moved closer and with his face practically in my bosom, he was panting and staring, but he wasn’t looking at my eyes. I scribbled the number on the paper and let him look at it with a careful eye. “I believe that we have a deal. I don’t suppose that we could finish this transaction right here and right now. I would hate to lose out and I know how this business works.” I had the paper work already done up and all I needed was his signature and a credit card number. He passed me a wad of bills and I counted them under the counter out of the sight of prying eyes. The museum was abuzz with the electricity of people walking around and perusing those little treasures that they couldn’t get enough of. I spied two men

dressed casual in pullover black shirts that really did mold to their skin. I saw the accent of their muscles and the way that their blue windbreakers didn’t exactly hide what god blessed them with. “I don’t think that you could’ve gotten a better deal anywhere, Mr. Booth.” This was not the first business that I had done in the last two days. I had enough to keep the business afloat for some time and even more importantly a bit left over for something special for myself. I had my eyes on these pair of shoes in the window of one of the higher class boutiques in the area. Being a New York native, I knew that those shoes would not be there long. I’d purposely hidden them in the store. It was just a matter of time before the proprietor found them and put them back on display where they belonged in the window. I had my back turned when I heard a commotion. I whirled around with my dress following to see that one of those two guys that I had seen in the windbreakers was now getting into a tussle with the security guard. It wasn’t really the security guard, but it was the security that had been left to me by the government. This big guy had wrapped his hand around the man’s neck and I could see the color of his cheeks turning a deep purple from lack of oxygen. I was the only one that could see what he was doing. They were hidden within an alcove and I think that was by design. “Please don’t do anything to attract more attention to yourself. We don’t want to hurt anybody, but we will if we have to.” I was shaking in my boots and the voice was behind me. “I’m sure you can feel what that is pressed up against your back.” I felt the hard substance of what I could only assume was a gun, but there was also something more. The revealing motion of something up against my ass had me wondering what kind of man could get excited about doing a broad daylight robbery like this. “Please…don’t kill me. I promise I won’t say anything. I have a wife… I mean I have a husband and a child that I care for deeply.” My words were flustered and I was only trying to instill a bit of sympathy in the man that was holding me hostage. “Who exactly are you trying to convince? I see no visible ring on your finger and no tan line to say that you took it off during this exhibition. My brother and I need to get out of here quickly. I’m afraid that we’re going to have to take you with us. Don’t be alarmed, because we only want you as leverage in case things go sour in a hurry.” His brother had dragged the unconscious weight of the man behind the counter and out of sight of any one that might be looking. He had a black bag and from the sound of what was inside, I would gather

to say that they had gotten what they had came for. Amazingly, there was still the collection of government jewels sitting there for the taking. It was guarded by an unbreakable case and a security alarm that would pierce the eardrum of anybody that wanted to break in. Whatever they had come for was by far something on a smaller scale than the jewels that the government had given me to show off. “I don’t want anything to do with either one of you.” I felt like I needed to do something desperate and maybe that’s the reason why I felt a little overwhelmed. I looked around for anybody that could come to the rescue. I was hoping to see a police officer making his rounds and they had been quite prevalent during the exhibition. It was obvious that they didn’t have the manpower to fully cover the whole exhibition floor. They were mostly here as a courtesy to the museum. “You don’t have any other choice. You can either come with this, or we can kill you very quietly. You’re the only one that has seen our face and not even that security guard was able to accomplish that feat. We can’t have you describing us to a sketch artist. When we are sure that we are safe, then we will gladly let you go.” The one behind me was being courteous and nice. The one in front was menacing and showing that he was willing to do what it took whether it be killing or otherwise. “My brother tends to use flowery words. Just help us leave quietly and that is all that we will ask of you. Be nice to us and will be nice to you.” I had a glance over my shoulder and the shaved head and the kind eyes didn’t really go together. I saw the makings of a tattoo on his neck and that told me that prison time was part of his past. “I don’t really condone violence, but there is always a time and place to use force when necessary.” The one behind me had a nice melodic voice. It was almost angel like. “What exactly are you doing with these two hunks over here?” The security was lying at my feet and Jessica a buxom young blonde had decided to interfere where her nose didn’t belong. “You shouldn’t be hiding men like them. If it was up to me, I would have them both displayed in my bedroom. They would be that little toy that I could call upon when the need arises. Are you going to introduce me, or do I have to guess what their names are?” The one behind me nudged me with the gun making it very clear that I had to get rid of her posthaste. “I would like you to meet Erin and William Erickson.” The last name made her eyes go wide. She cocked her head to the side like she was trying to place them from somewhere. “These are the infamous Erickson brothers.” I’d known

for quite some time that the Erickson brothers were recluse and they barely ever allowed anybody to see them in the light of day. The harsh lighting around here was making it possible to make her believe what I was saying. “No shit. I suppose it shouldn’t be all that surprising that they would come out for something like this. Did you already hammer out a deal or do I have a chance to get in on this?” She was always using her sexual charms to steal away clients from myself and Jacob. Jessica came from a long nine of jewelers and she was not about to let anybody encroach on her territory. “I think I should at least have a chance to show off some of my stuff. Give me a few minutes to gather some of the finer items in my collection and I’ll be right back.” She was anxious to make a sale and I could see the dollar signs literally dancing in her eyes. “That should keep her busy for a few minutes. It won’t be long, until she’s back and I suggest that you get out of here while the getting is good.” I thought that I had done my part, but they didn’t see it that way. “That was pretty quick thinking and it might be an advantage to have you around.” I didn’t want to go with them, but I felt like I was in an untenable situation. “Like I said before, we’re not usually one for violence, but I sometimes can’t speak for my brother. I do think that it would be better that you cooperate. Let these unsuspecting people go on with their lives not knowing what’s going on. You have to know that we will fight back if cornered. Do you really want to have their deaths on your conscience? How are you supposed to live with something like that when you could’ve done something about it?” He was obviously the one that was more a wordsmith, but there was something strangely enticing about all of this. “Follow me and try not to do anything that’s going to get any one of us killed. I have too much to live for.” He had the gun pretty much concealed behind me. We made our way down the maintenance hallway to an exit leading to the back of the building. It was a good thing that the janitor was not around and I don’t think that they would have taken kindly to anybody getting in their way. “I’m not going to try and tell you what to do, but having a hostage is only going to make more problems than it’s worth.” “She’s really not saying anything that we don’t already know, Cody.” I had more knowledge than I did before. The other brother had slipped. Cody was obviously the shy and quiet type with this strength in reserve. He was a gentleman, but if pushed came to shove, he would push back with the best of them. “Nobody asked your opinion. I’m the one with the street smarts. Have you forgotten who took the rap for you when you got in over your head yet again?

There would’ve been no way for you to survive long enough in prison to get out relatively unscathed. Your temper would have gotten the best of you. By the way, how many times do I have to tell you not to call me by name?” Cody was the voice of reason and we walked around to the other side of the building, until we came to a nondescript white car at the corner of the lot. It was an old model cutlass and had a roomy backseat that I had become intimately acquainted with when I was in high school. It brought back some very poignant and quite powerful memories. My first time was awkward with a kid that was all hands and no technique. I slid in with Cody pressed up beside me with the gun digging into my ribs. The other brother was the getaway driver. “I’m sorry about this, but I really can’t have you seeing where we’re going.” I was about to turn in his direction, but I felt a clubbing blow to my neck. Everything went black and I think that I had a semblance of falling face first into his lap. There was the presence of something against my mouth, but I didn’t have a chance to fully absorb that it was his stiff staff. Chapter three “I don’t care what you have to say, Brody. We got what we wanted, but that’s not going to end there. They are going to come after us and having her might be the difference between life and death. Don’t look at me like that. I promised that I would get you out of this mess and I’m not going to go against my word. I just can’t believe that you dragged me into this right after I got out for another one of your harebrained schemes.” I had my eyes closed, but I was awake and breathing regularly. “She’s not some dumb bitch that is going to stay with us willingly. She’s a sophisticated young woman in the prime of her life. There are obviously going to be people looking for her and how long is it going to take them to find footage of us inside that building?” I had thought about that myself and most likely the police were already going over that footage as we speak. Cody literally slapped him upside his head. “You really do take me for fool. I already took care of the cameras and erased any sign of us. It didn’t take much to hack into their systems and it wasn’t like we were trying to take over NASA or some other government facility. All they will find is static and maybe a few witnesses that might be able to describe us. I wouldn’t worry about that, because most people have a tendency to blur the lines between fact and fiction.” He was good and the muscle of the group was Brody and it was obvious that he had no problem getting the definition on his arms and biceps. Brody’s hair was cut short, but not the kind of stubble that Cody was wearing. They were both the same height at around 6 feet. I would say that

Cody was maybe 180 pounds with a kind of lean physique that would have me crawling for the chance to supply him with my pleasurable orifices. “I don’t like this, Cody. You’ve already called them and they have been reluctant to get back to you. Maybe this plan of yours is going to blow up in our face. They told us what we had to do and you decided to go your own way. I’m following you because you usually have a pretty good keen insight for these things.” Pretending to be asleep was a good way to get more information. I had my eyes open just enough, so that I could see them, but not attract the kind of attention that would alert them to me being awake. Cody stopped with his hand raised in the air. He lowered it and came over to me. He hovered over top of me with his two hands on either side of my head. “I didn’t hit you that hard. You may as well open your eyes or do you insist on me doing it for you?” I fluttered my lids making it look like I’d just come too, but the smile on his face told me that he knew differently. The windbreakers were replaced with only the black pullover sweaters. “You do know that she knows too much. We can’t afford any distractions.” I stared into his eyes. I’d never been particularly attracted to white men, but these guys really did hold their race to a different standard. Brody was muscle-bound and a freak of nature that I wanted to take the time to trace every individual muscle with my tongue. “I have to say that she looks a far cry better than seeing your face every single day when I wake up.” Brody’s gruff voice had him appearing to be menacing. “The same goes for you. There’s no sense in trying to hide and she already knows our names from pretending to be sleeping.” I tried to move, but it was a little difficult with handcuffs wrapped around the bar of the bed. I was half expecting to be naked, but they did relieve me of my dress. The black and white ensemble of lingerie didn’t exactly leave me completely exposed. “I’m sure that you’re wondering if we are perverts, but trust me I have a method to my madness. Taking your clothes and leaving you in this outfit not only pleases me, but keeps you from running away. This neighborhood will eat you up alive. Let’s just say there are unsavory characters that would gladly take you for a test drive.” The very idea made me cringe. “How long do you suppose to get away with this without getting caught? Somebody is going to miss me.” He put his hand on my jaw making me look him in the eye, while his shadow Brody stood behind him with his arms to his side. “I really don’t think that we have anything to worry about. You don’t take me for the socializing type. You may project something else to the public, but I see something a little different deep down where it matters. The only concern I

have is when the other security that is on the government payroll comes to collect his unconscious buddy. That is when all hell will break loose. It will be more sedate than the actual authorities. They won’t want to make a scene and they will quietly dismantle your exhibition before coming in search of you. That being said, I would estimate maybe 24 hours before they have a full blown manhunt for you. That should be plenty of time for us to finish our business and get out of here.” “I’m going out for takeout. Don’t even start with me. I’ll get whenever I damn well want and you’ll eat it because it’s the only thing in this place.” The obvious disrepair notwithstanding, I could hear the sound of water nearby. The dripping from the pipes and the sawdust on the floor told me more than being able to see where I was going. “Take care of her and don’t let her manipulate you, Cody.” The one thing that Cody wasn’t was a pushover. He would see though any kind of game I was playing. When he was gone, I got this leering gaze from Cody. He made me feel like I was underneath a microscope. “I’m usually able to read most people, but you are different in some way, Tamara. You have this way of showing me something of a raw sexuality that oozes out of every pore of your body. You also have this manipulative way of speaking that keeps me off my guard.” We began to talk mostly about nothing at all and basically feeling each other out. “I can honestly say that I’ve never been with a black woman. You have this exotic quality. It’s something that I find myself very much attracted to. You’re also stronger than you give yourself credit for and you can literally stand up against just about anything.” “I’m not going to lie and say that you don’t have a great body, but I’m not going to get caught up in some kind of nightingale syndrome. I’m not going to begin to personalize with my captors if that’s what you’re hoping for.” I wanted to believe the words that I was saying, but deep down I had already begun to see them differently. Cody was talking to me like I wasn’t underneath his thumb. “I appreciate that you haven’t hurt me. That will go a long way during the trial.” He threw his hands up and apparently I had just stuck a knife into a festering wound that had yet to heal. He put the gun up to his forehead tapping it lightly and then putting it back down and looked at me sternly. “I’ve already been down that road and trust me I’m not going to go back. I would rather go out in a blaze of glory than to have anybody put shackles on me and take my freedom away again. I kind of curse my brother’s name daily and he really doesn’t know how to stay out of trouble. I’ve always been the one to hold him back from doing something stupid, but there are times that I’m not around that he sometimes slips through the cracks.”

I had a feeling that something else was going on here. I needed to get deeper into the reason why they had done this. “You should really start with a moment of truth and then we can build from there. What exactly did your brother Brody get into that you had to feel the need to bail him out? Don’t you think that he should learn from his own mistakes? The only way that he’s going to grow as a man is to take responsibility for his actions.” I struggled against the shackles and they were biting quite severely into my wrist. Even with a bottle of Crisco, there was no way that I was going to slide free of my bonds. “When I was inside, he was responsible for keeping the bank from foreclosing on our family home. I squirreled away enough money that he could pay the bills and still have enough for the mortgage every month. Unfortunately, the bank had other ideas and they decided to use a very devious plot. They upped the payments to double of what they were before. They expected us to fall in line with no argument. We fought them tooth and nail with a lawyer that wasn’t worth his salt. I’m sure that he was being paid off to look the other way and to throw the case.” I was on the edge of my seat. I wanted to hear the rest of his tale. “Is it always your position that everybody is out to get you? If what you’re saying is true, then it still doesn’t explain what you were doing at the exhibit. What does any of what the bank is doing have anything to do with that?” He was very forthcoming and I felt like we had built this connection out of mistrust and anger. “My brother foolishly went to a loan shark for the necessary money to keep our home in our family name. I was able to smooth things out by talking to the loan shark myself on the phone. He wanted my brother and me to break into a safe deposit box. It meant going into a bank and holding it up and that was not a risk that I was willing to take. Looking into his background further, I found that the loan shark namely Jason Anderson had a supply of blood diamonds. We knew that he was using the exhibition as a front to do his dirty dealings under everyone’s noses.” Blood diamonds were very illegal and came from the backs of slaves in African mines. “I don’t think you went against the loan shark for any humanitarian reasons.” I wanted to castrate him for getting involved, but it didn’t look like he had much of a choice. He sat down beside me with his hands on his knees and his eyes in a faraway glance. I placed my hand on his. He looked down and then at me. He came forward with his lips very close to touching mine. I wanted him to own me and to possess me like somebody would cattle. I wanted to feel

overwhelmed and in need of his form of relief that was currently showing itself with a very telltale bulge in the middle of his pants. He pulled away and got up with his back straight and showing a sort of defiance against my obvious seduction. “I don’t think that we should. It’s going to make it more difficult when we have to let you go.” There was something more and he decided to change the subject…sort of. “I have no right to ask, but my brother is having a birthday starting at midnight tonight. There’s no way that we can go out to celebrate, but maybe there’s something that you can do.” I was curious and he really did have me willing to entertain any idea. “What exactly did you have in mind?” I closed my hands over my chest in defense and he laughed out loud at the very idea that I would give my body to his brother on his birthday. It was kind of appalling, but exciting to think about. “It would be a shot in the arm for him to see you dance for your supper. I’m sure that a girl like you has rhythm. I would really like to see you shake your stuff. I wouldn’t normally ask, but I was planning to take him out to a strip club for his birthday. I was even going to buy him a lap dance on me, but maybe this is better. You’re not being paid to do anything and it’s entirely up to you if you even want to consider what I have proposed.” There’s a part of me that wanted to tell him to go to hell, but there was also a bigger part that wanted to let him see my body. “I have given this some thought. I believe that I will help you out this one time. There is one condition and it is that you have to stay in the room with us the entire time.” I found him to be enticing, but Brody had that burly man type of attitude. They were different, but I still felt like I could turn them both into a puddle of what they used to be. “I’m not suggesting that you get to touch me, but maybe if you play your cards right, I might want to do more than just dance for you.” He clapped his hands in a mocking gesture. To me, he was a genius and taking what belonged to the loan sharks had allowed him to write his own ticket regarding paying back the principle of the loan. It was a dangerous game and one that could get us killed. Why I was even sticking myself into their plan was beyond me. I could only assume that they had gotten underneath my skin and I really didn’t see that happening. Chapter four Cody and I both had this secret and it was obvious to Brody that we were holding something back. For a guy that didn’t have the kind of IQ that his brother did, he was remarkably astute at seeing when he was being made a fool of. That was his perception and he continually looked at me and Cody like we had something to hide. He had brought back his favorite of Gung Pao chicken and various Chinese

dishes. This was his treat to himself unbeknownst to him that there was another one coming a lot more pleasant and more pleasurable than some Chinese delicacy. “I don’t know what’s going on with the both of you, but I suggest that you get a room. I see the furtive glances and I’m not stupid. There’s obviously an attraction and if you want me to leave, then just say so and I will give you your privacy.” He wasn’t entirely out of line and I did have this need, but what he didn’t realize was that it was for the both of them. “It’s interesting that you would say something like that to me, brother. You know that I had plans to take you out for your birthday, but I think you know that there’s no way that we can show our faces. We need to stay under cover, until the meeting in two days. They will call back and it’s just a matter of dangling the bait in front of his eyes. Jason is a reasonable man and those diamonds mean more to him than the marker that we owe him. Of course, he’s going to try to double cross us, as there is no honor among thieves. It would be foolish of us to think otherwise, but for right now I think that Tamara has something for you.” That was my cue and I stood up and took a deep breath before turning on the radio and dialing in a particularly rocking Latin beat. Brody was looking at me and I started to shimmy and shake with my eyes closed and running my hands through my hair. I heard the scraping of two chairs and I peeked to see that they were both on the edge of their seats. “I hope that you didn’t allow my brother to make you do something that you don’t wanna do. I’m not complaining and the view is far better than most of those strippers that he was going to take me to. You really do know how to move what your mama gave you. If you’re going to do this, then I would like to see some skin.” I was already down to my bra and panties. That was just a tease for more to come. “Do you think that it’s possible that I can take out my cock and play with it while you do your thing? I don’t want to offend you.” I bit my lip and nodded my head in obvious arousal to see him doing what comes naturally to a man. “I’m sorry that there’s no pole, but I think that I can use what I have right here in front of me.” I leaned forward and undid my bra, so that it landed very lightly in his lap. I heard the gasp coming from the both of them. That kind of gave me the necessary incentive to go further. I put my hands on the back of Brody’s chair and then I grabbed him by the back of the head with both hands and pressed him up against my bosom. The contrast of our skin colors, as he motor boated between my breasts was something of a distinction that could easily be seen. “I have to tell you, brother this is the best birthday present that you’ve ever

given me. You’ve never been very good at choosing a gift and most often than not I end up taking it to the pawnshop.” I could feel his tongue in between my breasts and I held him tightly, until I abruptly pushed him away with my heel at his crotch. I felt liberated and able to cast aside all of my doubts and inhibitions. “I don’t know what you’re going to do for an encore, but I’m waiting with bated breath.” I grabbed his shoulders and pulled his jacket down, until he was immobilized. I heard the clanging at my ankle and I looked down to see that I was pretty much a captive. I kind of enjoyed that I had no place to go and these two men were in the palm of my hand. I pulled my panties and made them stretch, until they started to rip on their own. I grabbed it with my teeth and I ripped into it, until the fabric gave way. I was naked and my bald mound on display. I straddled his lap and sat down where his cock was now out and proud. I threw my head back, tossing my locks back and forth and grinding up against the hot shaft underneath me. The wetness of my hole slid along his length, but I did not allow him the satisfaction of sliding into the gates of heaven. The music was perfect and had the kind of beat that could make me dance all night long. I was known to get on the dance floor and not leave, until the last person was left standing. I had a bit of a back ground in dance in various forms including hip hop and a Latin flair that came naturally to woman of my obvious character and sensuality. “I don’t think that I’ve ever had it this good. You really have made my birthday something special and maybe you can finish it off by blowing out my candle.” The obvious euphemism was not lost on me I think that he was only doing it to make me feel uncomfortable. “You have the most kissable lips and they are so plump that they would look perfect wrapped around my cock. I don’t want to sound crude, but I’ve been a little lonely lately. I’ve never been able to pay for the services of a woman of the night. It seemed too sleazy and I’ve never been the kind of the guy that could seduce with my words.” He was really getting to me and I found myself unbuttoning his shirt and then getting on my knees to whip him with my hair across his lap. I had my hands on his pants. Every time I moved my fingertips a little closer to his raging member, it would jerk like it was expecting me to take that next step. I glanced over my shoulder at Cody and he was sitting there with his hands in his lap smiling like the cat that ate the canary. “I think that you should do, as he requested, Tamara. It’s obvious from the look in your eyes that you have a desire to taste him. Why not give in to it and it’s not like we have any place else to go.” His permission meant the world to me and I blew warm air on Brody’s cock. He squirmed in his chair like

somebody was sticking him with a cattle prod. “If you do this, then you’re going to make me the best brother in the world. I just need to go on record that I didn’t pay you for any of this or even threaten you with bodily harm.” “Oh no…you didn’t do any of that, but you certainly gave me food for thought. I kind of get this thrill out of being a birthday gift and you’ve already unwrapped it. I believe that you deserve something and even though your brother talked me into this, I’m finding myself quite enthralled by the aspect of doing this in front of him.” He was that fly on the wall with a voyeuristic nature that had me wanting to consume the large piece of real estate in front of me. “That makes me feel a lot better about this.” I moved back and kicked his legs open. I shook my head to tell that I didn’t want him to touch himself. I ran my fingers around my lips. I stuck three in and then came back out with a glob of my spit clinging to the surface of my finger. “I think that what I need right now is to take matters into my own hands concerning my own pleasure. If I feel like it, I might succumb and do something to relieve you of your problem. I think it goes without saying that I don’t want you to finish yourself off, until I say anything to the contrary.” “I learned the hard way not to do anything that a girl doesn’t want me to do. I’m more than happy to watch and I’m sure that Cody feels the same way.” I had their undivided attention and I was going to make the most out of it. I motioned for Cody to take off his shirt and he was very quick to comply. He went for his belt, but I shook my finger back and forth. Neither one of them was to do anything other than watch for the time being. “You really are surprising me and I have to say that Brody will be talking about this for years to come. I don’t even know how I’m supposed to come up with anything even close to this again. I’m going to have to think more outside the box and not with linear thinking.” They both had their battle wounds and scars that they were wearing like badges of honor. The one that was the most alarming was a bullet wound to Cody’s chest. “I could probably say that I wanted this all for myself and my brother would have gladly left the room. I feel I owe him a debt of gratitude that I can’t pay back in my lifetime. This goes a long way to show him how much his assistance has meant to me over the years.” I was down on the floor with the sawdust sticking to my body and spreading my legs in a wide V to give them a peek at my wet slit down the middle. I smiled and pulled those lips apart to show them the bubbling cauldron in between my legs. There was already a stream of wetness. I was able to use that to sink my pinkie in as deep as it could go. They moved closer with their

chairs, until they were practically on top of me. I could tell that Brody wanted to stroke his package. I decided to give him that moment of reprieve. I crawled over to him took his hand and placed it on his cock. He got the idea pretty quickly of what to do. I found it quite hot to see them both getting this much excitement by watching me put on a show that was worth the price of admission. “I don’t suppose that either one of you would like to see me fuck myself with three fingers?” They were both nodding their head and I had them spell down from the moment that they saw my body and my chocolate skin staring them in the face. “I don’t know. I’m not sure if you deserve that privilege. What exactly are you going to do for me to entice me to give into my nasty ways?” I knew what I wanted, but I needed to hear them say it. I didn’t care which one, but somebody was going to have to bite the bullet. “I will fuck you and make you scream with my cock, so fucking deep inside you that you won’t be able to pull me away from you.” I smiled seductively and went back into the position of spreading my legs and driving three fingers into my sweet cream. The juice on my fingers was easily seen and I started to moan with a real need that was not fake. I rammed those fingers hard and this was more intense than what I would do in the bedroom if I was on my own. I needed to see that fire in their eyes and the way that they were staring unblinking was a good indication that I was getting exactly what I wanted. “I wish…that this was one of your fucking cocks. I want to feel my pussy wrapped around it drawing your seed from your boiling balls. Oh god the very thought is driving me insane and I’m going to… I’m fucking cumming.” My body responded to my fingers manipulating my pussy and before long I was humping up against my hand with a thumb now circling my clit to enhance the experience. I was shaking all over and my knees were trembling with my toes flexing into the air. I fell back breathless, but I got on my knees and with the energy I had left, I crawled like a panther over to Brody. He was doing a good job of abstaining and even though I had given him permission to jerk it, he knew better than to spray his load. I put my mouth over top and I felt him shudder. I was licking in a circle around the crown. “I’m so glad…that we took her with us. She’s absolutely fucking awesome and the only thing that could be better is if she could…HOLY FUCK.” I inhaled the entire thing, until his balls were pressed up against my chin. I heard his moans of desire and I could feel his hairless orbs slapping up against me each time that I made myself deepthroat that thing. It was 8 inches of a solid

monument of manhood and the vein along the back was pronounced and throbbing. “I don’t think that anybody would believe me if I were to regale them with this story.” His hips were moving and the sweat gleaming on his skin and the way that his cock was growing that extra inch told me that the time was near. I decided to surprise the both of them and jumped on my feet and drove my hot little pussy down the column of flesh. “YES… God damn it…you do know how to hold a girl hostage literally and figuratively.” I grinded in a circle and I could feel that all important orgasm of my own. “Let’s get one out of the chamber and maybe them we can turn to getting you both out of this mess… YESSSSSS.” He had taken the initiative and was now rubbing my clit. It was so much better than when I was doing it on my own. I came with my wet pussy gyrating around him and squeezing, so damn hard that it was virtually impossible for him to hold back any longer. His nuts were full and I jumped off in time to see him shoot into the air. It was quite impressive and I grabbed onto him and milked him of every single drop. There was absolutely nothing left and I decided to lick him clean, until we were kissing with me in his lap. Brody obviously tasted himself. I was pleasantly surprised that he did not try to push me away. I walked on shaky legs back to the bed, casually making a glance towards Cody and giving him a seductive leer that told him that I wasn’t close to finishing with him. Cody took that as an invitation and he attacked me, pushing me back on the bed and stripping off his clothes in a frantic hurry to get inside me. He held me down by the wrist and aimed at my sizzling hole. He drove in with one hard thrust and held still and let me get used to his obvious size difference. He was thicker than his brother, but they were remarkably similar in length. “You have teased me long enough and I think that you’ve been quite the bad girl.” His hammer came down heavy and then this shadow appeared to my side. I was soon taking both of their cocks. Brody was depleted and had very little left to offer, but that didn’t stop him from taking advantage of my open mouth. “I’m going to do something that I’ve never done in a long time. I’m going to cum more than once in one night and it’s all due to this creature that has come into our life.” This sexual tryst with the two of them had ignited my cerebellum and I was coming up with an interesting plan that would hopefully get them out from underneath their problems. “I’m very lucky that you are here and I doubt that very many women would be found in your position like this. Your pussy is very hot and demanding. I

was already close when I came over here.” His body came down on top of me with my legs spread and my hole already accustomed to his size. He buried it several times and pulled it out to let me feel my hole close up. He was stabbing with the intrusion of his manly spike. “I can’t seem to get enough of you and I do believe that you have created two monsters. I just hope that you can keep up with the demand that we’re going to put on you.” I felt like he was never going to stop. Any time that he came close, he would slow down and let that sensation pass before continuing forward. He pounded me very deeply and I felt the jarring impact. The slapping sounds of our flesh and the taste of the leftovers on Brody’s cock was more than enough to make me want to stay with these guys. Cody’s face was flushed and he was watching intently, as I sucked off his brother. He finally pulled free with streaks of his juices crisscrossing over my body. I lie there and I felt the heated waves touching my skin. The grunt of approval from Brody came from seeing his brother get off. It was almost like they were in competition to see if he could do the same thing. “I don’t know how much more I can take of those sweet and beautiful lips of yours. You are certainly more than we bargained for, but in a very good way. That’s it…let me in and I’ll show you another taste of what you’ve already had.” I slapped his bare ass. That was made possible by him dropping his pants to his ankles. His obvious endowment aside, he still had a very thick body with the necessary muscles to make a girl come back around for seconds. Brody shot across my lips and I used my fingers to clean up whatever didn’t land in my mouth. My body responded with yet another orgasm on top of the first. It had me curling into a fetal position with both of them, as bookends beside me. Chapter five “I love the way that your mind works and I believe that we can help you. It can be our little secret that you are now working with us. We don’t have to tell anyone that you were involved, but it comes with a condition.” I’d spent the morning going over pertinent details and my plan was perfect. The police would find the diamonds because of an anonymous call that we had made to them from a pay phone that was still in working order. They would find out who made the call and that was what I was expecting. “I have no idea what you want from me that I haven’t already given you both.” I wanted more, but how was I supposed to tell them that last night meant more to me that I could ever say. “I’m more than willing to listen to what ever demands are going on in that pretty little head of yours, Cody.” Brody had gone into the warehouse and Cody and I were outside. My plan

could only work if all the pieces fell into place in just the right way. The blood diamonds found in Jason’s greedy little hands would put him behind bars, but it wouldn’t stop him from working behind the scenes to make the boy’s life a living hell. I made my own phone call and things were going to get interesting in a hurry. I had to have a few minutes and time was not a commodity that we had much of. “I’ve talked this over with Brody and we both want you to stay with us. We’ll keep the secret of you helping us in exchange for sex with you in various forms. I’m thinking maybe once a day at the very least and maybe once a week with all three of us together at the same time. Do you think that is something that you can live with?” “No…No I can’t.” The look of surprise on his face was priceless. “What I mean by that is that one time a week with the both of you is not nearly enough and once a day is not going to cut it. I’m going to need it a lot more than that and I only hope that you are up for the challenge.” I left him there and I went through the jimmied window and down into the bowels of Jason’s organization. I found his office and I heard mumbles coming from outside. I used the combination that Cody gave me. He apparently heard someone talk about it inside the prison walls. I opened the door and I slipped the blood diamonds in with one black bag and then the other black bag went in with it. I heard someone screaming for everybody to get down and there was the obvious gunfire that ensued. I kept down low and crawled out into the hall to make my way back down into the basement and away from the dangers of getting one between the eyes or in the back. I came out and found Cody with a hand to help me through the opening in the window. “I think that we did the right thing in giving Brody the chance to be the hero. He’ll inform those that are currently putting him into custody that he was responsible for bringing them to the party.” It wasn’t just the police that showed up, but it was also my good friend agent Grady and a platoon of black clad individuals in government issued vehicles. They would find one lone diamond worth in excess of 30 million dollars. With a sleight of hand behind the brothers back, I had taken that one diamond. Amazingly, it was going to come in handy to make this mess go away. I just couldn’t leave it there unattended. It was a risk I wasn’t willing to take. “It’s unfortunate that he’s going to have to stay inside for a couple of hours to get things cleared up. They won’t believe him at first, but all the evidence

will point to him giving the government and the authorities everything they want on a silver platter. They’ll find the blood diamonds, but also find the government jewels that I was entrusted with. That should keep Jason out of our lives permanently. Grady will put him into a dark hole and he will never see the light of day again.” It wasn’t long before we were at the front of the precinct to pick up Brody. He was in the process of doing some kind of press conference with the chief of police standing there proudly shaking his hand on behalf of the city. “I just want to say that it was my pleasure to help the police take down an organization that has been running amok for too long.” He was offered witness protection, but he had turned it down, as it was planned. We could disappear and that was exactly what we were going to do. I’d kept a couple of the blood diamonds and the boys even had a buyer that was willing to give us top dollar. A couple of days later and we were on a tropical beach with umbrella drinks. I turned to the both of them to see that their white pasty skin had turned bronzed. They weren’t as dark as I was, but they were coming along nicely.

DADDY AND HIS BEST FRIEND

CHAPTER 1

ELLE MARSHALL PULLED up to the brick mansion with a sigh as she shut off the engine to her Range Rover. It was late but she’d almost rather of been home sleeping than trying to spice up her love life with Lance again. They were the same age-twenty-one-but Lance was every bit the college kid and still learning his way around the bedroom. He was used to quick fucks at a frat party or romps after a night of partying when he liked to call her and have her cum over for a quickie before he passed out for the evening. Case in point, tonight. She didn’t even want to spend the night. She had a better chance of having an orgasm at home with her vibrators. Elle certainly had the fantasy in her older but very sexy stepfather, Nolan James. He was coming up on forty, but he took very good care of himself and looked years younger. Elle was lucky that he’d let her stay at the house after her mom had passed away after a sudden car accident three years ago. They’d been married for seven

years, and Nolan had pulled them out of a dangerous place, living in the wrong part of Seattle in an apartment as her mom Breanne worked two jobs to keep their heads above water. Elle’s father had left when she was just four years old without a trace or any sign of a child support check. Breanne had gotten a few jobs and taken the help from friends with her small daughter, and Elle had nothing but gratitude for her. She loved Breanne, and her death had been devastating, but she had Nolan to thank for taking her in and treating her the same as he always had. She’d like to thank him in many ways for that. Elle had seen some of the women that he’d started dating, for lack of a better term. She’d heard some of the sounds coming from the den on nights when she was coming home late, and they made her unsatisfied pussy heat right up again. It led to many nights with her hands and toys trying to scratch the itch and Elle knew that she was in for another night. She’d had some hot one night stands that didn’t lead to anything else going to bars and clubs. Perhaps she was too young, or they didn’t appreciate her curvier build, but Elle had fond memories of those few nights. She’d experienced everything: being tied up, spanked and flogged, some of the hardest sex to date and even a three-way one night. That was the best, but she knew that it didn’t happen on the regular. Elle got out and closed the door to the car before she walked up to the door and unlocked it with her key. It was after three, but there were still some lights on in the lower floor and the sound of the television from the den as she paused. Porn. Nolan loved a good porn, and she listened for a moment as a woman screamed and another cried out within the room. “Lucky girl. At least she’s coming tonight.” She headed upstairs to her room that took up most of the second floor. It had a balcony that overlooked the bay and the best bathroom that money could buy, but Nolan was wealthy from his investments in businesses all over the Northern end of the United States. He had a few houses in some of the best vacation spots all over the world. That didn’t matter to Elle. What mattered is that she’d been fantasizing about him since she was around sixteen and after her mom had passed away, she was exposed to another side of Nolan that only fueled her desires. He didn’t date right away, that she could give him credit for. He didn’t take the marriage lightly, but Elle knew that her mother enjoyed a good night of wild sex as much as her daughter. They had a natural attraction, and her mom was beautiful and judging from the sounds that Elle had heard over the last few years, her handsome stepfather had an enormous cock. Elle closed her door

and dropped her purse on the dresser before she slipped off her heels. What a waste it was to leave at all. She’d been involved in a new movie on her television when Lance called and wanted her to stop by his apartment and Elle had hope that he’d figure out what he was doing, so she gave him the benefit of the doubt. Lance didn’t even attempt foreplay. He’d never gone down on her and barely fingered her most of the time. He just got her wet enough to shove his mediocre dick inside of her until he came after a few thrusts. It didn’t even matter if he was drunk or sober; it was always so fast, and she had yet to have her release with him. Elle knew that she couldn’t deal with it much longer, and she found something on late night cable that she used as she massaged her clit with the fastest setting on her vibrator as she closed her eyes and imagined Nolan pounding into her, with her feet on his shoulders as he ruined her hungry pussy. She wanted that so bad, and she grabbed the one that would massage her and go deep inside as she furthered the fantasy to where she was on her knees and he was behind her. His hands were slapping her ass, and his cock was so deep inside of her that it almost hurt even as she screamed for more. Elle came as she heard the woman on the show crying out and she bit her lip as images played through her mind in vibrant color. Her body jerked forward as she came hard and long and she kept her Dido inside of her as she just kept going. Elle dropped her hand as the toy slid out of her slick heat and she panted as she fell back onto the pillow. That was fucking intense but she wanted the real thing, and she opened her blurry eyes as she took another breath. Elle left the bed and walked into her bathroom to slide on a dress so she could walk outside. She didn’t worry a lot about being seen since their house was relatively private but she should at least be dressed. Elle walked out on the balcony and inhaled the fresh air as she looked over the ripples over the water of the bay. The moon was bright tonight, and she gazed at the reflection on the water as her pussy continued to pulse. She heard grunts below her and sighed as she listened to Nolan fuck his woman of the night. He was relentless, and she closed her eyes as she imagined herself underneath him down on the patio, or on her knees in front of him. She’d take anything. Elle listened to all of it and even got herself off all over again as she dropped into one of her chairs and played with her sensitive clit. When they got rougher, she slipped her fingers inside of herself and fucked to their rhythm as she bit her lip to keep herself quiet. She closed her eyes and decided that things were going to change. She

wasn’t going to keep spinning her wheels with Lance and find a man that could give her what she wanted. Since it was summer and she didn’t have her final year at the university for a month and a half. It was time to recreate herself into the woman that she knew she was inside. Elle woke up an hour later when she got cold and walked inside to curl up under the covers and sleep the day away.

CHAPTER 2

THE NEXT DAY, Elle woke up in time to start dinner since their chef was on vacation. Nolan was at work until all hours, but she’d take the chance and see if he’d be there. Later that night, Elle was going to dress up and go to a club and get what she craved. She was just finishing the shrimp Alfredo when Elle heard the garage. She pulled out some lettuce and vegetables for a salad and heard the door open as she glanced up. “That smells good, Elle. Thanks.” “I figured I’m home so why not? How was work?” Elle asked him as she tossed everything in the bowl and smiled as she felt his eyes on her ass. She’d worn the cutoff shorts on purpose, and the little tank top didn’t hide her generous breasts at all. It didn’t hurt to tease, right? This wasn’t much different than what she’d be wearing tonight so she should get comfortable with her new self. “Some exciting new prospects are happening that might end in a nice payday. Want to go to the house in Belize before school starts?” Nolan asked her as she looked into his mesmerizing blue eyes and nodded. “So, do you have a date with Lance tonight? Is that what those shorts are for?” Elle laughed and carried the salad to the table that overlooked the water. “Lance is a child, Nolan. I think that it’s time to move on.” “Does he know that you’re going to rip his heart out?” Nolan followed her with the pasta before she passed him to get some plates and silverware. “I doubt he’ll miss me,” Elle mused as she watched him grab a bottle of wine from the fridge and some glasses. They sat down to eat, and she took in his wavy brown hair that complimented his eyes and olive skin. She wouldn’t even think about his abs underneath the shirt and tie that he was wearing or those toned legs that she wanted all over her. Nolan was the best looking man that Elle had ever seen,

and she blushed as he raised his eyes to meet her gaze. “What’s on your mind, Elle?” She brushed her light Blondie hair over her shoulder and giggled before she sipped her wine. “You look good today.” He raised an eyebrow and speared a piece of shrimp before eating it. “You do as well. You should show off your body more, Elle. The curves are sexy.” “I will take that into consideration, sir,” she told him with a wink as he shook his head. Elle had been dressing relatively conservative the last few years, probably because her mom urged her to. The nights that she’d had the one night stands were ones that she was more aggressive towards men and begged them for everything that she wanted. They gave it to her and with the little black dress that she was wearing tonight, Elle figured it wouldn’t be difficult. “That sounds dangerous.” She winked at him. Nolan shook his head before he sipped the wine and took a big bite of salad. “To be young again.” “You talk like you’re old. Have you seen yourself? I’d give you thirty at best, Nolan. I think you get plenty of action,” Elle told him as something darkened in his eyes. She decided to press it. “This house is big, but not that big.” It was easy to find him when she wanted to listen, and he took a deep breath. “A girl like you doesn’t need to be listening to people, Elle. I’m dark…I don’t think you’re ready for that. The women I bring here are older, more experienced. Stay young as long as you can.” His face was set into a frown as he looked at her and shook his head. “Maybe you shouldn’t dress like that. You might get more than you bargained for.” “I’m twenty-one, Nolan. Not sixteen,” she reminded him, and he nodded. “I am a big girl now.” She thought that she heard him mutter something to the effect of ‘don’t I know it’ but wasn’t sure. Elle took a long sip of wine and tried to calm her raging hormones as she forced herself to get some food into her stomach. She’d need it because she was going to drink a lot tonight and let loose, particularly after this conversation. Elle cleaned up as Nolan disappeared into his home office on the first floor and loaded the dishwasher before she went to dress for the night. She did a smoky eye look that made her light green eyes pop as she added a few coats of mascara. Her face was shimmering with a pretty highlighter before Elle carefully slid on the dress. It was clingy and tight with a plunging neckline that she added a large fake diamond to bring even more attention to her cleavage. Elle spun around in front of the mirror before

she naughtily considered asking Nolan what he thought of her outfit. Elle slid her feet into some heels and slipped her phone and some cash into her purse before she sent away for a car. There was no chance of her driving tonight and she got the time of arrival and checked her face one more time. The text from Lance would go unreturned tonight. He could find another woman to bore, for all she cared. The house was quiet when she left, and Elle assumed that Nolan was out for the evening. Perhaps she shouldn’t have revealed that she’d heard him with the women since that might have ruined her fun. She walked down the driveway and unlocked the gate to get to the curb to meet the car just as a little Prius pulled up. “Where are you headed?” The girl asked as she looked over Elle’s outfit with a long look. “Club Jade,” Elle told her as she watched the driver punch the name into her navigation and wait a second. It was in Seattle and would be expensive, but money was no object thanks to her step daddy. Elle wasn’t quite ready for a full BDSM club, but this was one that provided a lot of room for dancing, be it on the floor or more on display. After a few drinks, Elle was aiming for the latter. She enjoyed the ride as the driver made small talk with her and smiled when she was told to have a great time as she got out of the car. Elle paid the cover and walked through the room to one of the bars as the heavy beat pulsed around her. She ordered a cosmopolitan and glanced around to see that the dance floor was crowded with men and women, both straight and gay from the looks of things. Some of the women danced alone in cages or on lifted levels, and Elle watched as she slid a bill across the bar. They were sexy, and she tossed back the drink as she vowed to be better than all of them. A few drinks later and Elle was feeling no pain. She started dancing in an empty cage, but that wasn’t enough for the newer bolder her. She picked a long table and climbed on top of it before she started to move her hips to the slow beat as heat flooded her veins. This place had a great vibe, almost like a strip club with the way some of the girls were dressed and moving to the beat. Elle leaned her head back as some of the comments reached her from the voyeurs that were standing below. Hands touched her calves as she dropped her hips down and smiled. This was what she wanted: to be touched. She wanted to be taken hard and fast, and she licked her lips as she spun around and took a look at the crowd. Young, young, young and too young. She wanted a man tonight. Elle let her eyes pass over the faces of the people her age and they rested on a chiseled face that looked a little familiar. The light was spotty, but he had cropped dirty Blondie hair and what looked like darker eyes that were eating her up as she

moved. Elle knew that hadn’t fucked him-her one night stands were not nearly this gorgeous-but she wouldn’t mind changing that tonight. She slipped off of the table and made her way to the bar for some more liquid courage. Elle ordered and wasn’t surprised when she was told that the drinks were taken care of. She also wasn’t stupid, and she made sure that they were handed right to her before she drank them down and headed back towards the table. The room was blurry, and she stumbled as arms caught her. “Feeling good tonight, beautiful?” She looked, and it was the older man from before and fuck was he gorgeous. Still familiar but her mind wasn’t clear enough to think too hard about it. “You look good.” “Thanks,” Elle said as he sat down and stared up at her. “Do I know you?” A chuckle rose from him as he leaned back and looked her up and down. “Do you want to?” She nodded and moved towards him as one of her favorite songs started to play. Elle hadn’t ever given a lap dance before, and this was not a strip club, but she was drunk and horny. She was ready to play. Elle turned her back to him and started moving along to the song as she sang the words. Her ass grazed his knee, and she moaned as she lowered it back down and moved between his legs as they parted. He gripped her hips for a moment as she gasped and raised his hands to cup her heavy tits through her dress. “You’re a dirty girl, aren’t you?” “Yes,” Elle moaned as she leaned back and dragged her hair over his chest. Catcalls and cheers filled the air as she moved and she giggled as she faced him and slid her hands through his hair. The man pushed forward, and Elle lowered her body over his as any inhibitions slid away from her mind. Elle lowered herself into his lap and ground her body against him as she felt his cock harden, and she felt one hand grab her ass as the other moved over her thighs. She murmured something as he leaned forward and claimed her lips with his as he pulled her against him. “Do you want to get fucked tonight, Princess?” She frowned as she nodded and he kissed her again as his tongue swept through her mouth. Elle had no choice to rock against him with the way that he held her and tasted whiskey as he slipped a finger under her lace thong. “He’s going to love this.” “Who?” Elle asked as she felt him stroke her clit. “Fuck. Don’t stop.” “Do you want two cocks tonight?” His voice was in her ear as she moaned. “Yes.” It had been a while and the only other time was at a party for a college friend and was clumsy at best, even at its hottest moment. “I want you to fuck me.”

“Oh. I plan to. Let’s get us a car and we’ll get out of here,” he promised in a hoarse voice as he slipped a finger inside of her. “I want you naked and on your knees for me.” “Yes,” Elle agreed as she felt him remove his hand and hold her on his lap. She guessed that he was sending for a car. “Ten minutes, then you’re all mine,” He told her as he kissed her and slid his hands over her ass. “You’re a dirty girl and going to get deep dicked tonight.” She arched her back and rocked against his cock in his jeans for some friction as he gripped her tightly. “Jesus fuck. You’re all kinds of ready. I would have never guessed.” She was on the edge as he lifted her and carried her through the bar, desperate for the orgasm that she knew she was close to. Elle clung to him and slipped into a car as he told her to and slid beside her. The man leaned forward and said the address to the guy in a low voice as she leaned back and felt the alcohol hit her as she dropped her head back. “Don’t you pass out on me. We have plans.” His hands slid up her body and down the front of her dress as she felt him tug at one of her nipples. “Like that?’ All she could do was whimper as she felt the car driving and the man sucking at her neck. He promised her dark pleasures in between kisses and she begged him in a whisper as they continued to drive. He freed one of her tits and lowered his lips to suck the nipple into his mouth as Elle bit her lips. She was vaguely aware that they were in a car with a driver, but she didn’t care as he kept drawing her between his teeth and stroking her slick thighs. She had never felt this horny, and Elle knew that this man was going to deliver on his promise. She couldn’t wait. The car came to a stop, and she felt the man messing with his shirt. “I want to surprise you.” She felt something slide over her eyes before she was pulled out of the back seat and led up a small hill. Her mind was spinning, and her legs were weak with her growing desperation as logic tried to make its way into the situation. She didn’t even know his name or where they were. This was how girls got assaulted and killed, but there was a familiarity to him that she somehow trusted. The man held onto her as he unlocked something and they continued to walk outside as she tried to make sense of this all. They then went up some stairs, and he opened another door as she became aware that they were going into a building. He took her hand and pulled her to the right to the sounds of moaning and a woman begging for more. Were they at an orgy? Elle froze and listened before she decided that it was porn, and she felt pressed onto a soft couch as the man chuckled. “Look who I found tonight.”

“What the fuck? Where?” The voice sent shivers down her spine as the first man told him what club she’d been at and how she was drunk and dancing like a little slut on the table for every man to see. She heard him tell Nolan all of this and felt her thighs dampen as she realized that her stepfather knew who she was and what she wanted. “She’s ready to fuck, has been since we left. I think we should both do her.” Elle did the math and realized that the man with his hand on her leg was Chad, his best friend and the man that she called her uncle. Shit, no wonder he looked familiar. How drunk was she not to recognize him? Elle did know that she’d always seen him as a sexy older man much like Nolan, one that could give a woman what she needs. There had been an equal attraction for Chad the most part as well, but she’d shied away from pursuing it just like she had Nolan. She knew that tonight she had gone for his personality more than what he looked like, and now that she knew how he would play her body, Elle wanted him to finish what he’d started. She’s my stepdaughter, Chad.” Nolan’s voice was hoarse, and she trembled as she felt pushed back on to what she knew was their black couch. “So fucking what? There’s no blood relation and look at her, Nolan.” Her dress was pushed up and over her hips before he eased it above her head, leaving Elle only in her skimpy thong. Her arms went up on their own accord, and she whimpered as she felt the men looking at her. “Look at this sweet pink cunt. Don't you want that? It beats watching it on television, no matter how hot the porn.” Chad spread her legs, and she felt the air hit her as he stroked her clit and managed to get a whimper from her. “She’s wet. “ The woman on the television screamed out, and Elle jerked as she imagined Nolan holding his cock in his hand as he watched it, wondering it was hard with her spread out before him spread open. A finger speared her, and Elle rocked against it as she heard a deep intake of breath across the room. “I sensed that she was flirting earlier…that nothing outfit and the way that she was acting. Fuck,” Nolan murmured as she pressed her lips together. “I told her to dress that way more often, but that dress is…” “Hot as fuck,” Chad finished before Elle felt him lapping at her needy pussy. She cried out as his tongue dragged against her swollen nub and teased her before he sucked her between his lips. What was Nolan doing? Chad had told him what a bad girl she’d been, and she knew that he could fuck a woman well. Chad had told him every detail of the way that she was giving him the seductive lap dance and how he’d fingered her body right there in front of everybody. Chad told Nolan that she would have let him fuck her right on the table and Elle let out a groan as his teeth

dragged against her hard and slow. “Fuck her here, Chad. I want to hear her.” She shuddered as Nolan spoke and her hands tore at the cloth covering her eyes as she realized it was a tie. She shoved it over her head and turned to see her stepfather staring at her with his hard cock in his hand. “Elle.” “I want you both,” she told him as he looked at her with tormented eyes. “I want to be treated like the slut that I am.” “Jesus. I always thought that she was hot, but I didn’t think she wanted this,” Chad said as he lifted his head to look at her. “I want to tie her up and just fuck her senseless.” Elle nodded and begged for that as Chad looked at her. He moved and stretched her arms over her head and tied them to a lamp that was securely tucked behind the sofa as she watched with hooded eyes. Elle loved confinement like this, and she moved her gaze to Nolan.

CHAPTER 3

CHAD TOLD Nolan to get some toys for them to use on her and Nolan hesitated before he left the room. Chad returned to eating her out while he waited and Elle felt him intensifying it before he’d slow down and move his lips to her thigh, over and over. She screamed at him to make her cum as Chad laughed and drove two fingers inside of her. “You’ve wanted to cum since you got into that club, didn’t you? You went there looking for cock.” “Yes,” Elle panted as he drove deep inside of her and searched roughly with his fingers before she jerked against him. “Fuck! Right there.” He dragged them against her as she arched her back and writhed against him with her eyes closed. “I need to be fucked by a real man.” “Two real men. I am going to convince him, Elle. Do you want your step daddy to fuck you tonight?” Chad teased as he brought her close to the edge again with another finger. “You’ve wanted that for quite some time, haven’t you? I have a little secret. So has he.” “Chad?” Nolan had asked before Elle heard something dropped to the floor. “I’ve seen the way that you look at her, Nolan. Hell, it’s the same way that I’ve looked at her since she was legal. She wants this, and we can punish her right.” Chad pulled his hand out Elle whimpered at the empty feeling before she opened her eyes. Chad moved to the case and opened it as his eager eyes searched the contents. “Perfect.” He grabbed something and looked her over.

“Your nipples are so big and sexy. Do you like them when they’re hurting?” Elle nodded, and he brought something over to her before he gave Nolan a long look. Chad leaned down and kissed her before he tugged a nipple between his teeth. He laughed at her grunts as he pulled and moved to the other one. “She tastes good, Nolan. These nips are like cherries.” Chad slipped his button up shirt off and moved beside her as she gazed into his eyes. “This is going to pinch some.” He clamped her right nipple as she jerked up and bit her lip as she let the pain set in. Chad did the same with the other one, and he told her that he wanted to turn her over and fuck her that way, so she felt it. Elle whimpered in agreement as he spread her legs apart and teased her opening. “I am going to fill you tonight, Elle. I think that a girl like you is ready for that right? Sluts love cum.” Elle had nodded before he drove himself inside of her hard and fast. She cried out and felt her body rocking with the near violent movement as Chad told Nolan to get his dick out of his hand and into her mouth. Nolan gave her a scared look, and she licked her lips and dropped her head back to stare at him. “Fuck my mouth, Daddy. Fuck me like the slut that I am. I want to taste you.” She pleaded with her eyes as his gaze hardened. “I’ve heard you with women and fucked myself to it so many times. I just wanted it to be me. Please punish me, Daddy.” “Fucking hell. You’ve gotten off to that?” Nolan asked, and she nodded as he moved behind her on the couch and slipped his hands into her hair. “I was on the balcony above you the other night,” Elle told him as he groaned and parted her lips with his hand. Nolan slipped the head of his large cock into her mouth as she dropped her head to a near painful angle and took him deep into her throat. Her pussy was getting pounded by the man that Elle considered her uncle and it got wetter as her stepfather started to fuck her mouth with earnest. Elle grunted as she felt herself tightening around Chad’s long thick cock. She stared up at Nolan as she took in his tight abs and skin while he touched the back of her throat. He was hotter than she’d imagined and she felt her body start to explode as his cum filled her mouth and she closed her eyes with the shock of it. Elle swallowed with throaty gasps as her pussy coated Chad with sweet cum and he fucked her harder until his heat was mixing with hers. It ran down her chin as Nolan pulled himself out and looked at her with dark blue eyes. “How is that cunt, Chad?” “Tight and very wet,” Chad told him as he pulled out and looked her over. “She’s a great little fuck, but she needs more than just cock. I think Elle has a dark side.”

“How dark?” Nolan asked as his eyes locked with hers. “I like everything. I just haven’t had enough of it,” Elle admitted as Nolan shook his head. “You’re like she was.” He reached down and tugged on the clamps that pinched her and pulled as she moaned. “I could tie these to the lamp and pull hard the entire time that we use you, Elle.” “Anything,” she agreed as he licked his lips. His breath seemed to come out in rough gasps as she watched his chest move, muscular and tight. She’d only seen him dressed before but the clothes highlighted all that he had to offer, and she watched as his arm flexed and dropped. “These big tits,” Nolan murmured as he let his hands stroke them. She was a 38 DD and more than a handful, and she watched as he squeezed tightly. “I want to fuck these tits and cum on your face, Elle.” Nolan moved around as he straddled her and reached a hand behind him to play with her messy pussy. Elle’s knees were up and parted, ready for anything that they had to give to her. His cock was hard again, and he traced her clit as he looked back at Chad. “Fuck her with big blue when I’m up here.” Elle felt her stepfather press her generous breasts together as he dropped his cock between them. She knew that she was sweaty from everything happening, and he used it to his advantage as he thumbed her nipples and pressed hard on the clamps as he moved hard against her. Elle cried out as something slipped inside of her and vibrated against her clit hard and fast. Whatever it was felt bigger than Chad and it stretched her open as Elle tried to focus on Nolan riding her as he squeezed harder. She felt her body protest for just a moment before her pussy started to tingle and respond to the dildo as it was shoved in and out of her body. Nolan was still going and moving faster as he pressed her tighter around him and groaned her name. Thick spurts of cum covered her face as Elle gasped and felt her orgasm rip through her as the vibration was steady against her, almost too much. She opened and closed her mouth as Chad moved it around and prolonged her release as she cried out in a weak voice. This was already more than she’d expected out of tonight and Elle moaned as Nolan moved off of her and leaned over to take a close look at her. Their eyes locked, and he panted as he gazed over her body. “Hottest thing I’ve ever seen,” Nolan murmured as he got up and left the room as she took a few deep breaths. Elle looked up at Chad and took in his well-defined abs and chest, though he was a little smaller than Nolan. His build was just a bit slighter, but she didn’t think any less of him. Chad was a hot man in his right, and she thought

back to the times he’d been over for a barbecue and in the pool, showing her his sexy body. The two of them combined was dangerous, and she sensed someone walking back into the room. Nolan leaned over her and let some cold water dribble into her mouth as she eagerly swallowed it down. “What now?” Chad asked as Nolan slowly took in her sloppy appearance. “I want her on her stomach with the clamps on. I think she needs to feel them when she’s being taken from behind, don’t you?” “Yes. Anything else?” Chad was hard again, and he stroked his thick cock as she watched him with blurry eyes. “I want something on her clit the entire time. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone like that so much before,” Nolan said as Chad reached back into the case and found something. “On your belly, Elle. Show us that juicy ass.” Nolan coaxed her as she struggled to move. He assisted her, and she moaned as she pressed hard on the unforgiving clamps. Nolan wiped her eyes with a damp towel so she could see without them burning before he spread her legs with his large hands. She felt something being clamped between her legs and the vibration start as she shifted around. It was tight around her clit, and Elle felt it everywhere as need filled her again. Nolan told Chad to move in front of her, and she watched as he did. Chad took her face in his hand sand laughed. “You made a mess of her. My turn.” He shifted forward and his thick cock filled her mouth as she groaned helplessly and moved her pussy. He fucked her slow and hard as Elle took every inch and waited for something to happen to her pussy. The vibration was steady and intense, and she moaned as a hand slapped her ass. “Don’t use your teeth, Elle. Work through this, you dirty girl,” Nolan told her as she nodded and controlled her mouth over the cock that pounded inside of her lips. He gripped her hair and moved faster as Nolan slapped her ass again and slid a finger inside of her. “Wet little slut. You love this.” He alternated between fucking her and spanking her with his hand as she sucked Chad eagerly down her throat. Her body ached and burned in places, but she knew that she wasn’t done with these men. Not tonight or possibly ever. Chad cried out her name and tore at her hair as he came inside of her throat with a rough jerk of his hips and Elle swallowed him hungrily as Nolan started to smack her in a hard fast pattern. He told her that she loved reddening her pale skin as she felt Chad pull out of her and her head dropped forward. “How many times have you cum to me, Elle? Tell me.” His hand smacked her hard. “So many,” she admitted as he hit her again and she jerked forward.

“Did you want me to fuck you earlier when you were in those tiny shorts and that shirt that showed your hard little nipples? Tell me,” Nolan demanded and she screamed yes as the clamps dragged over the couch. “Did you want me to rip those clothes off and fuck you right on that table like I wanted? My cock was so hard that it ached looking at you.” “Yes, I wanted you to fuck me. I have always wanted you to fuck me, Daddy,” she sobbed as she felt him spread her thighs and enter her with a hard groan. “Fuck me hard. Fuck me fast. Fuck me like your little slut, Daddy.” Nolan did, and he gripped her hips as he slammed into her ass and pussy with moans and whispers. His body pressed into her, and she felt the vibrations even deeper as she felt something in her body snap. “Cum for your daddy, you fucking little whore. Cum on my cock,” Nolan roared as she cried out and felt her pussy tighten. “Take my cum inside your hot little cunt!” “Daddy, oh God. Daddy,” Elle stilled as he took her one more time before he filled her with his seed and tugged on her hair. “I didn’t fuck anyone tonight, baby girl. I wanted you after seeing you at dinner, so bad. I wanted your pussy around me, milking me like this.” Nolan assured her as he stilled inside of her. “Nobody feels the way that you do. “Your cunt is fucking perfect.” She started to cum with him, and he held her still as he murmured her name. “I was jerking off thinking of you tonight. Now I am fucking you, and I never want to stop.” They both stopped moving, and he dropped onto the couch as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. There was a mixture of emotions inside of her as she took in what had just happened. Elle loved Nolan; as her stepfather and the person that took care of her, but she also wanted him as her lover. She had felt a flash of guilt before she told herself that he was single now and that she wouldn’t change this. She didn’t hurt anybody.

CHAPTER 4

THE MEN UNTIED ELLE, and she moved her arms around slowly as she tried to get the feeling back in them. She wasn’t going anywhere, and Elle took the water bottle that was offered to her as she perched up to drink it. She unclipped the small clamp from her clit as Chad told her how to before she dropped it and fell onto her back. They each released her nipples, and she rubbed them as the

men watched with eager eyes. Elle could feel the cum sliding out between her legs, the cum of two different men. She memorized the feeling as she realized what had happened here and she slid her hands over her reddened nipples that ached with every touch. Elle couldn’t help but moan as she felt the nipples harden under her hands and she noticed that the men were both focused on her as she tugged on them. “Show me what you do to yourself, Elle. Show me how you get yourself off,” Nolan told her as he and Chad moved to the end of the couch and each secured a leg as they spread her open. “Do you fantasize about both of us?” Oh, God she had. Elle nodded as the men shared a long look and she slipped her hand between her legs. “I have wanted you both for years. In the pool, I would just watch you until I could find some time alone and I’d do this,” she stroked her clit and bit her lip. “I’d do this as I closed my eyes and pictured you both inside of me.” She slipped a couple of fingers inside of herself and forced them deeper as Nolan murmured her name. “I want one of you fucking my pussy and one in my ass. I want to be with both of you so bad.” She leaned here head back and slid deeper as the men swallowed and stared between her legs. “I want you to fill me at the same time and feel you dripping out of me when we’re done. Oh, fuck. I’m going to cum.” She slammed her hand inside of her as she rocked with the movement and Nolan moved forward. “Oh God…I can’t stop.” She cried out and trembled as Nolan slipped forward and licked her clit lightly while he dropped her hand to the side. He gently moved her to her stomach and asked her to go to her knees before he slipped his hands between her ass cheeks and parted them. Nolan leaned forward and prodded her tight hole with his tongue as Elle whimpered beneath him. He slid a hand down to stroke her pussy as she moaned and felt him moving deeper inside of her. Nolan eased into her before he used a finger and looked at Chad. “Get under her. This ass is all mine.” Chad moved onto the couch, and she moved over him eagerly as he slid his cock into her used pussy and kissed her. Nolan started working the finger harder, and she rocked against him as Chad slowly started sliding in and out of her at the same pace. He slowly built up as Nolan lubed up his cock before he penetrated her with a long groan. Elle cried out as the pressure from both men filled her and Chad lifted a nipple to his lips and sucked as she stared into his eyes. “We’ll take it easy, Elle. How do you feel?” “So full and complete,” she murmured as he sucked her between his lips again. “It hurts but it’s a good pain.”

The men shared a long gaze as they started to move inside of her to allow her to adjust to the extra penetration and Elle was soon begging for them to go harder. She couldn’t believe that she was doing this at all much less with these men, and she allowed Chad to claim her lips as she felt them rocking back and forth as they took her just a little faster and deeper. “So tight. So good,” Nolan muttered as he held her hips and moved harder. “Take our cocks like the bad girl that you are.” She cried out as it grew more intense and screamed as she came and Chad followed. Nolan slid his cock in a few more times before he shot inside of her ass and cried out her name. They all fell onto the couch as she slid flat on her stomach and closed her eyes. Nolan and Chad took up residence on either end of the couch, and they all dozed off from exhaustion. Elle woke up first and felt every part of her body aching. She looked at the men and moved into a slow stretch as she realized she’d just lived her fantasy. Both men were so attentive to her, and she stood and walked to the kitchen to get a cold bottle of water. Her skin was covered with old sweat and dried cum, and she knew that she must look a mess even as she smiled to herself. A glance at the clock told her that it was just past four in the morning, and she sipped the water before going to her room for a shower and a light dress before she tied her hair up and returned to the couch to sleep pressed against Nolan’s body. The trio woke up a few hours later, and the men went to shower as she headed to the kitchen to cook breakfast. Her body still ached, but she’d never felt better in her life, and she watched as they walked back in with shorts on and damp hair. “How are you feeling?” Nolan asked her as he walked up behind her and stroked her bare shoulders. Elle could hear the hint of remorse in his voice, and she looked back at him as she stirred the eggs in the pan. “I feel amazing.” He stared into her eyes and leaned down to kiss her as she sucked in her breath since she didn’t remember this tenderness from the night before. It was incredible, and she felt him pull away as she focused on breakfast. They didn’t talk much during the meal, and it felt to Elle like they were trying to work around the situation before Chad told them that he was going to head home. He leaned down to kiss Elle and told her that he’d be happy to accompany her back to the club any time before he mussed her hair and went out to call for a ride home since he’d left his car. Elle looked at Nolan, who was staring at her with intense eyes. “Are you

alright with everything?” “I feel like I…should not be, but I’m fine. That was the best night of my life,” Elle confessed as he nodded slowly. “Are you sure?” She nodded again. “After last night, I don’t want you to go looking at a club for that. It’s not safe. Last night, I knew exactly who you were with and that you wouldn’t get hurt by either of us. I don’t know about watching you again with Chad, even though he’s my best friend. I want you all to myself.” Nolan looked at the dishes and took her by the hand before he pulled her to his bedroom. “Are you okay being in here?” “Yes. I have good memories in this house of her, Nolan. I do know that she’s gone, though. I know that I am not hurting her,” Elle explained as he frowned and shook his head. “I feel a little bad. You’re her baby.” “I am a big girl now,” Elle told him as he stripped her dress from her body and cupped her face with his hands for a deep kiss. She slipped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer as he kissed her senselessly. He pulled away, and she took a deep breath. “I am a dirty girl, and I want you to be the one to scratch my itch when I need it.” Nolan kissed her again. He stripped off his shorts and pulled her onto the king sized mattress before he kissed her for several moments as he held her close. This time, he was more gentle as he kissed over her skin and sucked on her raw nipples with soft lips. Elle held onto him as she arched her back and welcomed him between her legs as he dropped over her. Nolan turned up the heat as he moved down her curvy stomach and dragged his tongue over her clit as she sighed happily. Elle came hard for him before she found him in her face again and kissing her with her taste all over her lips. His hard cock moved in her, and she jerked against him as he moaned against her mouth. There was a promise of naughtiness in the passionate sex they shared together but Nolan really just wanted them to share intimacy after everything the night before. He moved slow and deep inside of her as she rocked with him and moaned his name as her body responded everywhere to his heat. She came again before he released inside of her and rolled beside her and pulled her to him. “Are you protected or will there be a souvenir from last night?” “I am on the pill,” Elle assured him as she felt sleep taking her over again. They came to an agreement over the next few days. Elle ended her relationship with Lance and just went to Nolan when she needed the kind of sex that he could give her. Nolan was her primary lover even though she slept

with Chad a few times alone and both of them again after too many margaritas at a barbecue. They had their couch cleaned shortly after their night together, and Elle giggled in the kitchen as she heard their maid’s reaction to the mess. “Mr. Nolan…is this what I think it is?” “Just clean it, Ruby.” His voice was calm as Elle shook her head and thanked the stars that they did it in bed now. Nolan had an even better collection of toys in there, and she learned so much more about control and the various ways of pleasure. She would never want Ruby to know their secret, and she hummed as she stirred the soup on the stove. They weren’t talking about their growing feelings but each and every time they had sex, Elle could feel the bond strengthen. She wasn’t willing to give him up, and she chose to remain silent as she heard the sound of something in the den. She felt eyes on her and smiled as her stepfather passed her on the way to the pool with a roll of his eyes. “Join me if you finish that up.” The pool house was another favorite place of their sand she grinned at the idea. “Be there soon.”

THE END

THE NAUGHTY SECRETARY Chapter one I stand here outside of the unemployment office looking at my last check and seeing those weeks fly by. I thought that I had plenty of time to find a job, but these months really did teach me a lesson. I wanted to take a moment out of the rat race and enjoy those rare seconds in the day where I could smell the roses. I had been stuck behind a cubicle for almost 10 years and I felt it was almost a lifesaver when they finally gave me my walking papers. I knew that they were downsizing, but I had no idea that my department was going to get the worst hit. I was devastated when it happened, but then I began to think that it was the best thing that could have happened. My best friend Tina, a blond bombshell with a rack that had most guys staring and drooling at the prospect of sticking their head between them was waiting for me outside. I had no vehicle and my basic transportation was

taking the bus. I did mind public transportation, as it gave me time to immerse into many cultures including Chinese and even Arabic. If I had the money, I would have loved to travel, but it wasn’t like I was rolling in it. My parents barely had two pennies to rub together and asking them for help was out of the question. Besides, I didn’t want to face their disappointment. “Cheer up, it could be worse?” I looked up confused, but I had no idea how it could be any worse. “You could not only have no job, but you could be dealing with an incurable disease. There’s always a silver lining and you just have to know how to look for it. I know that I mentioned in passing a job at my current employment. I’m hesitant to even mention it again, but they are still looking.” After a few glasses of wine, Tina had told me of these two men that were looking for a secretary. It was their way of keeping things straight, as their organizational skills were not where they were supposed to be. She told me that they were not actively looking and was only doing it because the head of the company had decided for them that it was best for business. Tina hovered over me by a couple of inches. I was not exactly considered stick thin, but what I had I was more than happy with. According to all accounts, doctors were quite stymied by the fact that I was the healthiest that I could be at the weight that I was. Being 170 pounds and only 5’4 had made me a compact and delicious treat for those that were looking for that type of body. My black hair was not natural and I would say that the drapes didn’t match the rug. “I know what you said about those two guys, but I’m starting to think that I might have to bite the bullet and try out for the position. You did say that they haven’t been putting too much effort into hiring someone. I could get in on the ground floor and impress them with my credentials.” I had an MBA and another degree in sociology which made me aware of how the human mind works. Men in general really only had one thing on their mind when it came to a pretty face. “I will set it up, but I don’t want you to come crying to me when you tell me that it’s not working out. I’m just doing this as a favor. I’m not even sure that I would consider it a favor. The stories that I’ve heard of these two guys have been nothing, but negative. Brent and Julian have always been brothers from another mother. I don’t know from personal experience, but I have heard recollections where they can’t seem to keep it in their pants.” I actually didn’t mind the attention. I did dress provocatively enough that my many curves were on display. I like to throw it in their faces and bend at unnatural angles to give them a brief peak at the good stuff. “I know that I might be regretting this, but I’m going to have to ask you to

put a good word in for me. As you know, I don’t have anything pressing, so any time that I can get an interview, I’ll take it.” She drove silent and I could see that something was going on in that head of hers. “I’m beginning to wonder that there’s something more that you want to tell me about Brent and Julian. Something about all of this doesn’t sit well. I know you said that they can be dogs, but most men are exactly like them in some regard.” I sat there in my green windbreaker open at the collar to show off an abundance of flesh in the right light. “It’s just that I’m not sure that I want to send you into the lion’s den. I would rather that I was there to fend them off for you, but you’re a big girl.” I was hoping that she wasn’t putting me down, but I got this feeling like she believed that I could take care of myself. “You know how to play the game. Flirting is almost a prerequisite in any business, as long as you don’t go too far with the joke.” I’d heard one story of how she had slept with her boss. They were both drunk after getting sauced in some bar and ended up in the back alley doing the nasty. “I may not have been in the position of fending off too many male suitors in my day, but I do know how to get my point across. These guys really don’t have a chance. They don’t sound like my type. I’m looking forward to making them think twice about putting their moves on me. I find it a bit of a challenge and one that I am ready to take on. Besides, how do you know that I’m even going to be their type? Not everybody goes for the kind of girl that has the kind of booty that goes into a room right after she does. I don’t know about other girls my size, but I tend to feel liberated.” Tina was breezing through traffic with that white leather skirt inching up along her thighs. This girl had legs that went on forever and then some. We were roommates and I had heard some interesting noises coming from her bedroom in the middle of the night. Sometimes there was a guy or girl involved or she had taken things into her own hands. I kind of found myself living vicariously through her, until some young gentleman had taken an interest in me. That didn’t happen very often, but more times than most would imagine. “Ill just have to have eyes in the back of my head to make sure that they don’t try anything funny. I don’t even know if I’m going to get the job. It’s not a foregone conclusion, but I’m going to put my best foot forward.” I slapped my forehead, as I realized that my landlord Jerry was going to be waiting for me with hand out for the rent. I just didn’t have it for him and my brother Kenneth was still under lock and key for drug possession. He was always trying to find that easy road.

There were times that he had more money than brains. It’s just that he never knew when to quit. He would constantly push the envelope daring the authorities to catch him in the act. “I hope you know what you’re doing. I’ll call personnel and get them to see you as soon as possible. I think that you’ll find some opposition. For some reason, they have been reluctant to take any kind of help, but their boss is not going to take no for an answer. They have been stalling and maybe this is exactly what they need to get off their ass and do something about it.” She dropped me off at my apartment in a not so great neighborhood. The ladies of the night were on the street, at least those that were not currently suffering from some kind of hangover from the night before. I smiled at one beautiful black woman that looked like she had a lot more going for her than slinging it on the street. I cautiously went through the back way and up the stairs. I wanted to avoid Jerry at all costs, but there he was in his customary snug blue jeans and dirty tee shirt that was stained with yesterday’s supper. I could actually smell the garlic 100 yards away. Was he trying to ward off some kind of vampire attack? “I’m guessing from the way that you snuck in that you don’t have my rent. I told you this before and I’ll tell you again there are ways around that. I’m going to give you three more days and then I’m either going to get what I want or you’re going to find yourself out on the curb. I do hope that I have made myself very clear.” He was looking me up and down and I think that he had this desire to climb every mountain. Having been blessed with a huge chest, it was always getting the worst kind of attention. “Three days should be plenty of time for me to get the money.” I didn’t even dignify that last comment with a response. He was a sleazebag, but there were those in the building that were desperate enough to take him up on his offer. Chapter two I was dressed to impress with my resume in hand very professional and showing all of my credentials. Julian was a black bald man with a slight goatee with distinguished gray hairs in the middle. He was about 200 pounds and was built like a linebacker ready to take the field in battle. He carried himself with authority and being 6’3, he had a tendency to intimidate others. He wore that suit like his own personal shield. Brent was this blond playboy with the prerequisite white gleaming teeth. His smirk made me feel dirty sitting in the chair. They were both constantly looking at me and not saying one damn word. I felt like I was underneath a microscope. They must’ve shopped at the very same place, as they were

practically wearing everything identical. The only big difference was that one was wearing a red tie and one was wearing a black one. Ironically, Brent was the one that was wearing the black one. Brent was the same size and I had to admit that they looked good in their suits, but they probably would look better out of them. I was a little uncomfortable and I felt this moisture inside my panties that told me that I was interested in more than just professional business. “I don’t know about Brent, but I think you’ll make a wonderful addition to our little family here. I do hope that you are comfortable with public displays of affection. We are very friendly in this office and sometimes we can show that in the most unexpected ways.” They circled me like I was some sort of prey on the Serengeti. “You will be asked to work under both of us and I do hope that you are ready to take on that position.” Julian’s words were laced with a sexual tone that had them both smiling at each other in knowing ways. “I wouldn’t take too much out of what my partner says. He’s a bit of a horn dog and he’s always looking for his next conquest. I will say that you have a lot to offer.” At first, I thought that he was meaning something like my education and experience, but it was obvious from the way that he was looking down my blouse that he was more interested in my more prominent attributes. “We don’t have to look any further to find the right girl. You’re not what we usually have around here, but we can work with it.” He was not even trying to be subtle. He actually grabbed his crotch. He squeezed and then turned around like he thought that I would believe that it was an accident. If questioned, I’m sure that he would say that he was just adjusting it. “I’m not sure what your availability is like, but we would really like you to begin today. We have a lot of work and we don’t need to be bogged down with the meager details. Working our fingers to the bone every night to put away the paperwork has been draining. I’m sure that with your experience that you can make short work of our disorganization.” Julian had not even blinked. His use of eye contact was a little disconcerting. I was wearing something that my friend Tina thought that would be good to get underneath their skin. She was with me in the morning going through my wardrobe and then used a telltale pair of scissors to make some alterations. The black skirt was long enough. It went past my knees, but she had made this very significant slit up the side. It gave off a very revealing look at my bigger than average smooth thighs. The yellow blouse was undone the first couple of buttons. The bra underneath was something of a secret. It wasn’t mine and I probably wouldn’t have been caught dead in something so risqué. “I can tackle just about anything. I have my own program that I will punch

in the numbers from all files that you have currently piled on my desk. I don’t know how long I’m going to be here, but I doubt that I’ll get out of here, until after seven tonight.” I got up and gave them the customary handshake. I turned and stopped at the doorway. I glanced over my shoulder to see that they were both looking at my bountiful posterior. They were both licking their lips. I wanted to call them out for their behavior, but I secretly enjoyed the feeling of being objectified. For the rest of the day, I was consciously aware of them coming by my desk and making idle chitchat. Neither one of them really had any shame. I don’t think they were wearing underwear. I could see the telltale bulges nestled inside their pants. They were snug enough that I could actually see the shape and the size of both of their organs. At lunchtime, I went into the unisex bathroom and found a cubicle that was unoccupied. This was a private bathroom only used by Brent and Julian. It kinda gave me a giddy thrill to be sitting in the very spot that one or both of them had been in at one time or another. I thought of their bodies and I stripped away their clothing in my mind to see how they would measure up to each other. I had my panties to the side and I was tracing the wetness and then sticking it into my mouth like I was sucking one of their cocks. I brought the other hand up to my mouth and with two fingers from each hand, I mimicked what it would be like to do this to the both of them. To look up into their eyes and see them staring. I wanted to do something that was quite out of my comfort zone and these two had me thinking all of these naughty thoughts. It was kind of distracting, but in a good way. I took two fingers from one hand out of my mouth soaked in my spit and I drove them with no mercy in between my legs. The lips fluttered closed around my fingers, as I drilled myself repeatedly. I was biting my bottom lip. I tried my best not to scream out in obvious arousal from those feelings and images that were taking me quite by surprise. “Oh god… Brent… Julian. I want to feel you shoot it in my mouth and all over my face like a dirty little slut. I want to feel it dripping down my chin and staining my blouse. Please, someone needs to fuck me. Put my legs over your shoulders and drive into me with no regard for my own feelings. I want both of you deep in both of my holes.” I thought that I heard something outside the doors. I stopped momentarily and brought everything to a complete standstill. My two fingers were still inside me and my muscles were gyrating along those digits. It was kind of exciting to think that I could get caught in the act.

I bent down, as much as I could, but I saw nothing that would indicate that anybody was there. I decided to risk it. I was already this far and it seemed stupid not to go all the way. I continued to fuck myself and I only wished that I had brought one of my toys from home. There was one in particular that had this interesting little curve that could touch me in just the right spot. Add to that the vibration of that toy coming to life and I was pretty much powerless to resist. I had my legs spread and over the toilet. My feet were striking up against the walls of the cubicle. I didn’t even know that I was capable of spreading down the middle like some kind of gymnast on a cheerleading squad. My panties were already saturated and I could literally smell my own sex wafting up to my nose. I heard this squishing sound of my fingers and the feel of my juices dribbling down onto the lid. “Yes…fuck me…Julian you big black stud. Don’t worry, Brent I have more than enough to satisfy you. You guys make me feel like I can’t get enough of your sweet cream shooting out of those cocks. That’s exactly what I want from the both of you. Cum inside my mouth and drip your seed down the crack of my ass. Please…make me cum… Cum… CUMMMMMMM.” I lost my composure and my whole body went into these convulsions that I had never felt before. My feet were literally slamming with my high 4 inch heels up against the wall. My head was banging against the back of the toilet and my arms and legs were flailing like puppets of a marionette. I saw two pairs of shoes directly in front of the cubicle door. I heard something of a gasp and I lie there and could swear that they were out there jacking off. I was a little scared to think about what they were going to do. I decided to throw them off their game by clearing my throat. I brought my heels down onto the linoleum floor and that signified to them that I had finished what I had wanted to do. I heard muffled moans of excitement and then their footsteps leaving the bathroom. I thought for sure I would find evidence of them being here, but thankfully I did not allow it to get that far. I waited for quite awhile, until I finally was able to stand. I was not ready for the onslaught of my orgasm. It was such a fired intensity that I was parched. I had a bottle of Evian water back in my desk. It had my name on it. I could almost think of it as their cocks blowing off in my throat. It would pale in comparison to the real thing, but at least it would satisfy my curiosity for the time being. I went over to the sink and splashed cold water on my face. It was a very

good and satisfying climax, but it was nothing like having one with a willing partner or partners as the case may be. I took a deep breath and steeled myself for being around them for the next couple of hours. I walked out and was accosted by a man in a gray pinstripe suit. He had maturity and a mane of white hair, not to mention a pair of glasses of the coke bottle variety. “My name is Wilson Anderson. I own this entire building and we need to talk.” I thought for a moment that he was going to call me on the carpet for my behavior in the bathroom. If he had heard any of that, he would assume that I was not worthy of the position that I was in. I didn’t want to lose my job over the insanity of manually stimulating myself in the office. “I need your help. I hate to put you in this position, but you’re the only one close enough to do what I ask. I believe that I can make it worth your while, but that’s entirely up to you to either reject or accept my proposal.” I wanted to tell him that I wasn’t for sale, but the blank check and the number that he whispered into my ear was more than enough to garner my attention. Chapter three I sat at my desk and waited for them to leave. It was only my first day, but everybody knows that the root of evil is money. The owner of this building was offering me a six figure salary not to mention stock options and bonuses. I only had to be a fly in the wall and to dig deeper into some discrepancies. He put me on the right track, but mostly it could be all explained away. I had to believe that the owner of this building and this business wouldn’t be suspicious if he didn’t think that there was fire where there was smoke. If I were one of them, I would keep anything unusual and suspicious close at hand. That meant that I had to get into their offices. It was funny, but there was actually a third office with a touch pad entrance. “I believe that we are going to call it a night. Brent wants to visit his ailing grandfather and I have some personal business to conduct. Vivian, we will see you in the morning. Be here bright and early at 8:00 AM and do try to dress for the occasion. We are very loose around here. A more casual dress code is how we roll.” I was going to mention that they were both wearing ties, but they had taken them off and unbuttoned the first couple of buttons at the collar. “I don’t suppose that you would like to join me for dinner. I have a standing reservation at the French bistro down the street. I can promise you good conversation and maybe a little hanky panky underneath the table.” He smiled, knowing that he was making me blush. “Julian, leave the poor girl alone. She’s trying to make sense of all of this and you constantly coming onto her is not going to help matters any.” Brent put

his hands on the desk and I noticed that his blond hair had been taken out of the ponytail. He looked like Fabio in the right light. I could seriously see him walking down the runway, as some kind of model. “You don’t have to take his abuse, unless you like it. In which case, I believe that you’ll find that we do bite.” I didn’t know how to answer such an obvious sexual innuendo. “You guys are too much. You’re definitely good for my ego.” I was playing it off like it was some sort of joke, but I knew that deep down that they were serious about taking on a tag team position. “I see a lot of words, but I don’t see any action. I don’t think that either one of you would know what to do with a real woman. I would destroy you and ruin you for other girls. None of them have any idea how to do it right and believe me I have more than enough experience to teach you both a thing or two.” I figured if I could play the game that they would see they were outmatched and outwitted. “With that, we will leave you to it. Just don’t be surprised if we take you up on your offer one day. I could definitely see myself getting lost and not necessarily in your eyes.” Brent walked away and Julian stuck around for one moment to undress me with his eyes. When they were both gone, I waited and continued to look at the elevators to see if they were returning for something they had forgotten. I stepped slowly towards the room at the end of the hall. The big sticking point was going to be the touchpad. I took out some makeup and I blew the powder onto the dial, so that I could see the fingerprints of what numbers were used. I followed a tried and true method of touching the digit that looked like it had been used first. I was soon seeing that red light turning green. I opened the door and I was hit with a very cold chill that ran down my arms and legs. I stepped into the room. The ventilation system was causing me to see my own breath and made both of my nipples hard as stone. There was a bank of servers and computer terminals. Amazingly, they had left one of them open. I didn’t need to find a password. Opening up those files had allowed me to see their dirty little secrets. Money was transferred from one department to the next. It had started off small in increments of a dollar from each department. I could tell there was more here, but I just couldn’t put my finger on why they would need this kind of cash. It almost felt like they were working another angle. This was a miss representation of the company’s funds and could lead to both of them being dismissed. I didn’t want to be the bearer of bad news for the company president, but he had asked me to do this. I had found exactly what he wanted. I felt like some kind of spy in one of those James bond movies. I was

essentially a double agent. I turned to leave the room, only to see both Brent and Julian standing with the door closed. “I was just…” I had made up my mind I was going to tell them a part of the truth, but it wasn’t needed. “We know exactly what you’re doing, Vivian. We were fortunate enough to be curious about you. We were watching you on the close circuit television screen in the security office.” I’d no doubt that their main reason for doing that was to zoom in on a particular trait. My bosom was something they wanted to see more of. I couldn’t say anything, but it would’ve been best for me to turn the tables. “I don’t think that you understand. Julian and I really did like you. We have no choice, but to punish you.” I thought that he was going to fire me, but instead they cornered me against that desk. Before I knew it, Brent had me bent over the desk holding my breath, while Julian was inching my skirt up along my naked legs. I heard a whistle of appreciation and then I made an involuntary gasp when he struck my left cheek with the palm of his hand. “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean anything by this… I’m sorry.” I thought that maybe if I showed them some kind of remorse they would give me a moment of reprieve. “Oh believe me, Vivian you are going to be sorry. I think you’ll find that Julian and I have the same idea when it comes to security measures.” Brent climbed up on the table. He pulled my hair, so that I was looking directly at him. My mouth was open in shock and he stuck one of his fingers down my throat and then back out again. I was literally gagging for their amusement. “I’m looking forward to see how much you can choke down. I have about 8 inches you can chew on, so that you can practice for the black snake.” I felt something large behind me and that presence made me immediately aware I was in no position to fight back. This room had the constant drone of those servers and was loud enough it would most likely muffle any kind of exclamation of surprise or pleasure coming out of my mouth. “I love the way that your cheeks spread open around my hard black cock. You have the perfect buns and I have the perfect meat to place between them. I do hope that you like a long and dark piece.” I had fantasies revolving around being taken in this fashion. I could feel my heart beating and then I heard the zipper of Brent’s pants being pulled down. He still had a hold of my hair. He fished through the opening and then pulled out a very real flesh and blood piece of equipment. It had that one very pronounced vein down the back and the head was a plum sized engineering marvel of mankind. His anatomy was that of a Greek god and when he pulled

open his shirt, I was stunned. He took that moment of complete astonishment to plug my mouth with his meat. He had both hands on the top my head and was forcing me down that pillar of strength and virility. “That’s what I’m talking about. Shut the fuck up and do exactly what we tell you to do. This is the only way you’re going to get out of this room with your job still intact.” Julian was running his hands down over my ass, squeezing the fleshy exterior and pulling them apart, so that he could see both of my hidden targets. I felt something wet at my asshole and then his thumb began to penetrate. I moaned around the invading presence in my mouth. He was making me take it and I probably could have tried to fight them off, but I really didn’t want to. I was exactly where I wanted to be and who I wanted to be with. They had been teasing me mercilessly all day. I took a moment at lunch to satisfy that yearning for the both of them. They were more than happy to follow me into the bathroom. He had me slobbering all over his package. He was delving deep with his cock head going in and out of my tight throat. He pulled out and wiped it along my lips. I could tell that his excitement was quite evident by the way that he was leaking like a sieve. “You really do know what to do, as long as you have the right teachers. I have to tell you that we were planning to do this anyway, but we wanted to take our time. Eventually, you would want us and we would be more than willing to have you crawl on your hands and knees to get some. It was just fortuitous that we were watching you at the end of the day and it gave us the opening that we were looking for. Actually, it gave us three openings that we were looking for.” Brent was making me gag. He left it there for about 10 seconds while pinching my nose closed. I couldn’t breathe. I heard Brent moaning and then I felt the stiff member of Julian rubbing up and down. He wasn’t trying to fuck me, but he was certainly giving me the idea he was thinking about. I heard him behind me huffing and puffing and I knew that he was getting a thrill out of dry humping me. “Go ahead…dump your load down her throat. I want to see her swallow every single drop.” Julian was bent over behind me whispering this into my ear. I’m sure that he noticed that my excitement was not exactly hiding from them. “She’s so fucking wet. You wouldn’t believe how nice and glistening her lips are. She’s practically begging for it.” I scratched my teeth along his shaft just remind him that I was not some docile little lamb. That was exactly the right button to push and that mixture of pain and pleasure had pushed him over the edge. He continued to slam heavily against my face making his balls slap against my chin. His knob expanded and fried

hot and heavy ropes that spread across my tongue. He had the head in my mouth and was jerking with his hand to finish himself off. The look of elation on his face made me more than eager to swallow the mouthful he had deposited. I was pulled off the desk and pushed up against the door with my hands above my head. Julian was behind me breathing hotly and pushing my legs open with his own. His knob found my wetness and began to enter very slowly at first. “This is what you really want, isn’t it a little girl? You’ve been asking for this and we did see the signals. We did follow you into the bathroom. Had you not stopped when you did, we would’ve splashed our seed all over the door. I’m glad that you left us wanting. It makes it that much more delicious to take you like this.” He had his hand over my mouth and his other hand was pinning my hands over my head. He was using his hips to push that long hard member into my folds. “I don’t think…” He once again stopped me from saying anything. I had pushed his hand away by biting his palm. This only fueled his lust. “That is precisely the reason why you are here, Vivian. You didn’t think. I don’t know what you were trying to accomplish, but we can’t let you get away with it. “I looked to my side to see that Brent might’ve been out of commission, but he was rapidly getting back into the action. He may have been flaccid right now, but I could see the stirrings of something. “Do you know that I only have about 5 inches inside you? I have 5 still to go. Are you woman enough to take it without screaming on one hard and determined stroke?” He didn’t give me a chance to answer. He pressed on the small of my back. He took my black frilly underwear down with his foot, until they were around my ankles. He gave it to me hard. It really did make me speechless. I couldn’t move and I could actually feel my ass cheeks quivering. “God help me…but I want more of what you two can give me. I’ve never felt like this before and I don’t want to lose that feeling.” Julian was giving me all of him and not holding anything back. He was pushing me up against that door and the very frame began to shake. It was such a demanding fuck that I began to push back against him to get him even deeper. “This one takes the cake. I knew that she was repressed, but I had no idea what kind of animal we were unleashing. I’m a little tired and maybe you can take over for a moment, Brent. I don’t want to ruin this too quickly.” He took it out of me and left this empty feeling which was soon filled by what Brent possessed. They were both happy with what god gave them and they knew exactly how to use it.

“I was waiting for my chance. I’m glad to see that we’re both on the same wavelength.” He was behind me and slapping my cheeks and making them wiggle with his cock head striking against my flesh. “I do like it when these kinds of girls are more eager than those that think that they are god’s gift to men. They are, so receptive and responsive that it seems almost a pity they don’t get it as much as they should. There you go…all the way in. Look at you swallow that beautiful cock inside you. I love the way that you make it disappear and then reappear. You have the fattest lips. You certainly have the kind of hole that hasn’t been fucked by many.” They continually changed places with me captive and more than willing. The sound of their bodies slapping against mine was music to my ears. It was a symphony playing just for me. Their grunts had only confirmed that they wanted what I could give them. “Give it up to me. You know that you both want to cum. Pick your poison. Will it be all over my face, streaking across my ass or do you have something else in mind?” Julian was getting very close. I could tell from his labored breathing and the way that his cock was swelling to the touch that it wasn’t going to be long now. He spun me around to face him and the contrast in their colors and body chemistry was like I was given two for the price of one. He pushed me down onto my knees roughly and they both grabbed their male endowment. They stroked right in front of my face and I instinctively opened my mouth and stuck out my tongue. “Oh yeah…you’re going to get one hell of a load. Brent may not cum as much as I do, because he has already giving you his fair share. It doesn’t matter and I’m sure that you can handle just about anything we dish out.” I didn’t take my eyes off them and then they both made this animalistic growl in the pit of their stomach. Their knobs flared along with their nostrils and then their bodies emitted a high pitched squeal that was followed by a jettison from Julian. There wasn’t much from Brent, but it was still enough to remind me that I was in a subservient role. They left me dripping lying at their feet with my clothes completely in disarray. Brent had my panties in his hands and stuffed up to his nose. He inhaled the aroma of my sex. They both walked out laughing and snickering at my expense. Julian stopped and turned and put his hands up on the doorway looking down at me on the floor. “I do have to ask you why you were in here in the first place.” “I would like to lie to you and tell you that it was all a big mistake, but I’m

not going to do that. The owner of the company had some concerns. He gave me an offer that I couldn’t refuse to look into it on his behalf. I found a lot of funds that have been transferred and they have nothing to do with a pharmaceutical company. I don’t even see any records to confirm that this company deals with anything remotely pharmaceutical. On the surface it looks that way, unless you know what to look for.” Julian and Brent looked at each other and I could tell they were trying to figure out the best way to explain things. “We made those in charge believe what we wanted them to believe. We found something a lot more lucrative, but not exactly family friendly. We primarily deal with selling sex toys on consignment for other companies. The profits you see not accounted for becomes a bonus for the both of us. We pad the books and we give the company president exactly what he wants. I guess we didn’t do a good enough job of hiding what we’ve been doing.” “Julian came to me with this proposal. I thought that he was crazy at first, but then I saw what kind of numbers could be made. I started off skeptically, but when it blew up, we had what we considered a gold mine. I’m suggesting that you come into business with us and take 1/3 of the profits.” It was interesting and the projections didn’t lie. “I’m not sure what you want me to say. It doesn’t feel right that you should have this kind of money. You started this business with money that wasn’t yours. I can’t possibly begin to think about working with you or becoming partners, until you make it right. I’m going to give you the night to think about it and then I need to see something that proves to me that you are honorable men.” I walked toward the door and they were still hesitant about letting me leave with this kind of information. “We are all going to have to trust one another to make this work. Let Julian and I talk about this tonight and we should be able to come up with something that satisfies all of our misgivings about getting into business with one another. I’m glad to see that you are not easily swayed by money. If you had been, I would think that you could still be a threat. You would give up your loyalty for the kind of payday that would make dollar signs appear in your eyes. We’re going to take it on faith that you won’t say anything, until you speak to us personally tomorrow morning. I will say that part of our partnership has to be physical. Both of us really enjoyed ourselves and we can tell from your reaction that you weren’t exactly unwilling.” Brent moved to the side. I saw that Julian wanted to do something drastic, but he allowed this to play out naturally. “I will say that I’m not opposed to the idea of getting together with you

both again. I like that you can take me out of my comfort zone and show me things that I have only dreamed of before. I’ve had fantasies of two men, but I never thought that it would actually happen. It seemed like one of those stories you read about in dirty magazines. You know they couldn’t be true, but in the back of your mind you want them to be.” They were both nodding their head like I had pinpointed some kind of male secret that they didn’t want me to know about. Chapter four “Let me get this straight. Not only do you get to work with two handsome and available men, but they also both want to sleep with you. There has to be a catch and I’m sure that you’re not telling me everything. You have the best of both worlds. I’m a little envious that you have not only the benefit of some hunky white guy, but you also have the ebony god to take you to new heights of pleasure.” Tina had found me playing with myself and moaning both of those guys’ names over and over again in a post orgasmic ecstasy. She had watched me for quite some time; before she finally announced that she was standing there watching me. Thankfully, she had waited until I had gotten it out of my system. Lying there with a cool sheet over me and her sitting on the edge of the bed getting the blow by blow of what happened on my first day was one of the best girl talks that we ever had. “Let’s just say that I have them where I want them. I just have to decide what I want to do with that information. They want me to go into business with them and to share the profits three ways. I can’t say that I’m not tempted, but I’m really struggling on whether I can trust them. I think you can tell a lot by how a man fucks. They both have demanding and forceful sexual appetites. I was at first a little leery about taking them both on, but imagine my surprise that my body was ready to experience a three way.” She was sitting there in that white leather skirt and I could see that our discussion had made her quite excitable. “If you keep talking like that, I’m going to cream right here in front of you. I will say that watching you made me want to join you. Maybe you can talk to them on my behalf and we can find some time that we can all be together. I can only imagine what three people can get into and add another and you could have a whole different dynamic. We might even have to succumb to our lesbian needs. Don’t say that you don’t have them, because I’ve seen the way that you look at me from time to time. I know it was primarily because you weren’t getting any, but I didn’t exactly make it easy on you.” “I don’t see any reason why I can’t broach the topic with them, but not until we cement this new arrangement of ours.” I didn’t tell her about the blackmail.

I wasn’t sure how she would react. I felt by keeping this dirty little secret between the three of us that it was making us that much more bonded as partners in business and in bed. “I was hoping that you might say that. I told you I heard stories about them, but I never was sure what was real and what was made up. From what you tell me, they like to play it fast and loose in the office. I like the idea of having them sniffing around my desk. You really did step into something good this time, Vivian.” I had to smile and she punched my shoulder in a playful way to let me know that I didn’t have to be so happy about it. “I just have to figure out the logistics, but I believe that my answer is going to be a resounding yes. I just need to make sure that we are all on the same page.” She left me alone sitting there with a sheen of sweat covering my skin. I was going to need a necessary hot shower. I might even have to turn it to a cooler temperature to turn down the heat between my legs. I lie there after taking my shower feeling that cold chill, but then a distinct warm sensation running through my extremities. They turned me on and left me running like an engine overheating. I had more to give and they were about to learn that unleashing this monster was the best idea. I had become insatiable, in need of sexual release and the only way that I could get it was with them or with my eager hands that were more than happy to comply with my wishes. I woke up early and I found Tina had already left. I walked out and found the landlord Jerry standing there waiting for me once again. If I had any reservations with working with Julian and Brent, I didn’t anymore. “Tick Tock… Tick Tock.” He didn’t say anything else and walked away with keys twirling around his fingers. I knew what he was referring to. The very idea of being with someone like him made me want to gouge my eyes out and run screaming naked into the night. I thought about what it would be like and it didn’t give me that same rush of adrenaline that I got from my two new lovers. I could see us working well together, but that was if we could come to terms. There had to be something written in blood and a contract that was solid as stone. There couldn’t be any miss interpretation. I’d spent some of last night doing up such a document. There was nothing legalese about it. It was straightforward and to the point. I was going to present it to them in the boardroom and hopefully they would see that I meant business. I got there earlier than expected and found that they had not graced me with their presence. I was left to go over the finer details of the contract. I had to make certain conditions. I liked the idea of putting it down on paper that they had to service me at least once a week. I also wrote down that I was more than

willing to take a more submissive role one time during the week. It wasn’t specified which day it would be and mixing things up would make for variety. I was there for almost an hour before they finally arrived in the same black suit looking every bit the professional. They were both carrying briefcases and they slammed them down on the table on either side of me. They looked over my shoulder and I could feel their hot breath on my neck. The feeling made me a little weak and I had to sit down before I crumbled. They read the contract and they made a certain notation on the bottom that made my eyes bug out of my skull with the idea of doing something like that. “This is perfectly acceptable to me and Brent. We don’t have any problem with giving you one day that you’re the one that gets all the pleasure. We just want to add one addendum. It’s nothing major, but it is a bit of a deal breaker. We’ve been searching for something for a while and now we think that we can have it.” Julian was pulling at the tie on his neck like it was a noose about to choke off his air supply. “I’m curious, but I need to see what you have a mind.” As if on cue, they opened their briefcases and inside away from prying eyes were various sexual implements of torture and delight. There were a cat of nine tails, a flogger and several different sex toys, which included the very one that I had at home under lock and key. I picked it up and moved my fingers up and down the curvature. “That’s one of our bestsellers. Julian and I can’t seem to keep it, before somebody is snatching it up. I guest word of mouth has gotten around that this thing can hit you in just the right places. It’s the perfect tool for those that are single, but it’s also a wonderful marital aid.” I was kind of shell shocked and unable to move, until they got me over the table and lifted my black dress with the white belt accompanying it. “I don’t see any reason why we can’t adjourn for a private meeting. I did ask you to do something and I’m hoping that you paid attention to my request.” They slid a piece of paper in front of me, while getting rid of my underwear. I heard both of their zippers and I felt both of their shafts slapping against my bare ass. “We made sure to give back the money that we started this other business with. We even made it look like a clerical error. I’m sure that you’re thinking that we should give something more, but that would only attract more attention. This way nobody is the wiser and we can continue to do this for as long as we want to.” Julian’s husky voice was only punctuated with the sliding of his meat down the crack of my ass. He fucked me with it and then pulled it back out before introducing a new element to our little arrangement. That toy that I knew so well was graced with

something warm and then inserted, until the buzzing had me practically on edge. My teeth were chattering. “I would think that having to use something like this would emasculate a man. I don’t see it like that. I actually enjoy using one of these things myself.” Brent used those words carefully, before once again sliding up onto the rectangle table. He had his cock out and it was already showing signs of arousal. His vanilla cream was dripping down his obvious endowment. Julian was fucking me slow and then fast with the pussy pleaser. Brent slid underneath me and in the process pulled me up onto the table with Julian following me right along to the center. Brent was underneath me, until he was grasping onto that curved vibrator. They had me at their mercy. I must have looked quite the sight. If anybody were to walk past at that very moment they would either run or stay to watch the show. I moved my mouth down the length of Brent’s cock and heard his surprise wafting over my clit. I stopped with my mouth full to feel that Julian was about to embark on a journey that I had never taken before. He was poised at my Hershey trail and was using a combination of some very intense lube and his own sweetness to seal the deal. I took my mouth off of Brent long enough to tell Julian “I’m going to ask you very nicely to go slow. I’ve never done anything anal and the most that I’ve had back there is a couple of fingers. I’m not saying that I’m not curious, but I do think that you should do me the courtesy of making me want it that way. Tease me and please me and I’m sure that will get me to do practically anything you want.” The cock head that was ready to push against the resistance was now replaced with something more agile and wet. He was tongue fucking my ass and spreading me open by the cheeks to get a bird’s eye view of what he was doing. I might’ve been a bigger girl, but my stamina was above reproach. I could run for few miles and then return the same way and only feel a little winded. My lungs were in fantastic shape and my Dr. told me that my heart was that of a 20 year old. “When I told you to please me and to tease me, I didn’t exactly…mean that. You’re not seeing me…complaining… Ahhhh… Ahhh.” I wrapped my lips around Brent and I could feel that excitement in the air. I played with his joint, smoking on the top and drawing out that little bit that was soon to be followed by a whole lot more. The toy was still deep inside and the vibration had been turned up to close to the highest setting. I’d only had the guts to turn it up all the way to full blast one time. It left me comatose until morning.

“Damn… Julian you really do need to fuck her ass. I want to see it and I’m sure from what Vivian has said that she’s ready to take that ride with you. I do believe that it might be time to slip in.” It was interesting they could do this together and not be even remotely shy around each other’s naked body. It showed they were comfortable in their own skin. That was a far cry from how most men would feel when they were crossing swords. “I do believe you might have a good idea for once, Brent.” Julian straddled me from behind. I looked over my shoulder to see that he was holding onto my ample hips. “You’re the kind of girl that knows what it takes to bring the boys to the yard.” He was nudging at my spit slippery entrance. He pushed it up against that dilated hole. I thought for a moment it was never going to happen. He was constantly applying more lube and squeezing the tip to get more of that sticky substance. “I don’t think that it’s going to go…INNNNNNN.” I had barely gotten the word out of my mouth when his knob finally made its way within that tight opening. I was breathing heavy and the hot air over top of Brent was certainly making him happy. “Ahhh…that is not exactly what I was…expecting.” I didn’t have to tell him to go slow, as I had already done it. He was taking my words at heart and he pulled out with a wet pop, before moving forward and doing it again with another inch firmly implanted within my ass. Before long, he was all the way in and I thought for sure that I was going to faint from the sheer pleasure. He was doing it nice and easy, but with long and determined strokes to take my breath away. I didn’t think that it was possible that I could do this, but I was happy to see my body had other ideas. “I thought that your pussy was something, but your ass is doing things to my cock that no one has ever done before. I’m glad that you were caught by us in the act. It makes what I’m doing right now, so damn good that I can hardly keep it contained.” “Somebody better start sucking my cock again.” I greedily devoured that piece, loving the feel of it on my tongue. I felt the distinct signs that it was ready to take things all the way home. “Well…you really do know how to suck a golf ball through a garden hose. I don’t want to share you with anybody other than Julian. I hope that we can depend on you to keep this a secret between the three of us.” “Don’t you mean the four of us?” We all turned at the same time to see Tina sitting there with her high heels in her hands. “Don’t mind me, I’m just going to sit here and enjoy the view.” They were looking to me for answers. I did the only thing that I could do under the circumstances. I worked them into a frenzy by driving Brent’s cock into my throat and Julian’s deep into my ass.

“I think that we can forgive you…but you do need to be punished for speaking out of turn.” Brent’s knob was being spit shined and my drool was collecting down by his sack. I’d taken the opportunity to take both orbs into my mouth, but then I returned to the prize that was easily a delicious morsel that could satisfy my longing for quite some time. “I know exactly what you’re thinking, Brent and I wholeheartedly agree.” Julian’s strokes were getting more determined and I could tell from the sound of his breath that he was rapidly closing in on his own climax. Both cocks were going to spew their contents and both my holes were going to take them simultaneously. “I’m cumming…I’m fucking…CUMMMINGGGGGGGGG.” I didn’t know who was saying it in a baritone voice, but it could’ve been either one of them. It didn’t matter, because both of them went off and my mouth was filled. I was swallowing and taking the shot from behind in my ass. I moaned around the dipstick in my mouth, feeling that vibrator inside me being turned up full blast. I looked down underneath to see that Tina had taken the liberty of doing the honor. I was shaking, so badly that the cock in my ass was pulled out. I let go of Brent and he fired on long stream across my nose. I must’ve passed out. I woke up to find that they were all looking at me with great concern. They soon realized that I was perfectly fine and that I had no ill will towards what they had done. We agreed to bring Tina into this, but that was another story. The real deal was that I get to keep 1/3rd of the profits, have the pleasure of satisfying myself with two men and one woman, climax to my wildest fantasies and be a test subject for all their new sex toys and sexual fantasies. It was quite a deal and I couldn’t say no! Who says that you cannot have your cake and eat it too!

SURRENDERING TO THE 3 ALPHAS Chapter one My mother told me that I would get myself into trouble if I hanged out with my friend and she wasn’t wrong. Joan looked like the most straight-laced woman that you would ever meet, but underneath she was a dirty little girl. She would constantly pull me into these situations that were ripe with consequences. This girl had a one-track mind for only those that were packing a substantial offering. “Michelle, you have no idea how nice it is to find someone that is willing to go outside their comfort zone. I know that my other friends would gladly do

that, but they’ve all got married and are having kids. I don’t know where the time has gone. I’m almost reaching my 40th year and I still don’t have any need to settle down and have a conventional way of living. There are too many young pieces that have not tasted a woman like me and they are about to find out that I can be quite a handful.” She was wearing her customary red dress, as armor, going into the battle of the sexes. “Every time that I say that I will never do anything like that again, you always seem to find a way to draw me back into your web of depravity. Guys really don’t have a chance when they are around you and I tend to get the blowback of what you don’t want. I haven’t had one that was able to hold their liquor long enough to give me what I wanted.” I thought I didn’t need anybody, but myself, but cold sheets had a way of getting old in a hurry. “I’m an only child and you can imagine that means that I’m looking for approval where ever I can get it.” I tried to take things nice and slow, but Joan had a funny way of pushing the envelope of good sense and judgment. “You can’t kid me, Michelle. You know as well as I do that this is something that you need in your life. If it wasn’t for me, you would have been stuck in your home diddling yourself.” The one thing that I can always count on from Joan was to be straightforward. She wasn’t exactly easy to be around and sometimes I found myself embarrassed by her actions. Ogling guys and whistling at them as they walked past was just one of many little things that she did that made me want to crawl into a hole and die. My long black hair was pulled into a ponytail and the little black dress that is customary for every woman’s closet was now adorning my body. I was never very comfortable with displaying this much skin, but sometimes walking a different path lets you see a new perspective. She walked right into the club and was immediately surrounded by a gaggle of men looking for her attention. It was obvious from the way they were acting that it wasn’t an uncommon occurrence. I may not have gone out with her all the time, but that didn’t mean that she didn’t go out alone. There were times when I was working in the office punching numbers into the computer that I felt like wallpaper. There was no way I could stand on the sidelines in this club and be some kind of fly on the wall. I would have thought that she would get lost in the sea of available men, but she took the time to come back over and drag me into the middle of things. One guy, in particular, was sizing me up, but his playboy act was not working on me. The gold chain around his neck was sleazy and the way he leered at me made me feel like I wasn’t wearing anything at all. “I want all of you to meet a friend of mine. Michelle needs a little fun in

her life and I expect all of you will do your damnedest to show her a good time. Just remember, I will be watching and if I see anything that is making her uncomfortable, then you can expect me to step in to intervene on her behalf.” She was an interesting friend to have in my Rolodex, but it wasn’t like I could stand being around her for more than one day a week. “I do believe that somebody said something about buying some shots.” She was the life of the party and I was a meek and mild young thing at the age of 21 with barely any life experience. Why an older woman like her would take me underneath her wing was beyond me. I was listening to the music and sipping my drink gingerly when somebody grabbed me by the wrist. It was with enough force that some of my drink went spilling over the top of the glass. I managed to put it back down on the counter by reaching out to my arm before I was pulled onto the dance floor with the one that had been looking at me from the moment that he had laid his eyes on me. “Michelle, my name is Michael and I would like to tell you that you are the prettiest thing in this room. The only thing that is missing is your clothes on my floor and your body splayed out on my red silk sheets. I have a mirror over my bed that allows me to watch every single motion.” I got the feeling that he thought he was telling me something that would endear me to him, but it was doing the exact opposite. “I want to get you out of that dress and to see what you’re hiding underneath.” He was grinding against me and I had my hands on his chest, but not in an intimate way. I wanted him to leave me alone, but I didn’t have the courage to say something like that. He was persistent and domineering and he really didn’t want me to leave his side. “I’m sure that there are other girls that would love to have your kind of attention. Don’t let me stop you from finding your next conquest.” I thought that I was making myself very clear, but apparently, everything I said went in one ear and out the other. “I don’t know if you know this, but I’m more into girls.” I thought that might throw cold water on his parade, but instead, his package only grew by the mere mention that I might be into giving women what they wanted. I should have known that he would have had that fantasy and every man probably thought about that at one time in his life. He tried to kiss me and I moved my head just in time for him to get my cheek. I thought that his advances being rebuffed would be enough to stop this game, but apparently, it was a hunt that he was hot for. “You need to loosen up and maybe a few more shots will put you in a better mood.” The mood that he was talking about was swaying to an unseen

beat with my head swimming and my body practically begging for any man regardless of race, creed, or color to take me to heights of pleasure that I had never known before. “You and I are going to have fun whether you like it or not.” With those words, he grabbed my waist. I made an involuntary gasp, but it certainly wasn’t from arousal. “I’m not the kind of girl that you think I am. Joan was only suggesting that I enjoy myself, but not necessarily in the way that you are taking her intention.” I was using big words and stringing them together to make him cock his eyebrow with that of curiosity and confusion. “I’m not looking to hook up and I don’t know how much clearer I can be.” That didn’t stop him from pushing his pelvis up against my own. Even though he was not my type, that didn’t mean that his cock wasn’t rubbing me in just the right way. Working in a dead-end job had its advantages. People rarely looked in my direction and I was left to my own devices. I liked my solitude, but Joan was not about to let me become some kind of a hermit. I enjoyed a good book and I didn’t even own a television. It came from growing up in the great outdoors. My parents were always stressing to enjoy life and to take every opportunity to experience something new. I may not have been very sociable, but I did take to extreme sports like a duck does to water. I really didn’t want to be in his arms and his sweaty body and very pungent cologne were making me a little sick to my stomach. I got lost in my head. I thought about the last time that I went skiing. I could feel the cold whipping my face and making me feel alive as my speed got even more intense. I was smiling and I think my dance partner took that as a form of surrender. He put his lips on me and I could taste something disgusting like garlic permeating his breath. I was brought back to reality and I started to pound on his chest with him taking that for a challenge to his manhood. He snuck his hand up underneath my dress. He was touching my inner thigh, therefore making me concerned for my safety. “Take your damn hands off her.” I glanced to my side to see this handsome dark-haired stranger wearing a pair of jeans that were two sizes too small. His shirt was busting out with all sorts of muscles and with one wrong flex, he woyld have probably ripped through it. “I don’t think you heard what I said and maybe I should do something about that.” He put his hand on this sleaze bags shoulder. The smile on Michael’s face told me that things were going to get ugly in a hurry. I really didn’t want to be the cause of some kind of bar fight, but I kind of enjoyed that this guy had come to my rescue like an old-fashioned knight in shining armor.

Chapter two The music was still playing very loudly and not very many people knew that the drama unfolding was going to turn into a bloodbath. The man holding onto me let me go before he had his finger where it shouldn’t be. I didn’t give him any encouragement and apparently he didn’t need any. He turned to face my savior, but he didn’t stop with that. He swung his fist and made contact with this man’s jaw. I jumped back startled, but it barely did anything. In fact, he turned his cheek for a moment and rubbed his finger on a drop of blood on his chin. It did not raise his anger, but he did act as if the punch didn’t even bother him. “My mother hits harder than that.” He got one more punch for mistakenly trying to bring up his mother in conversation. “I wouldn’t make the mistake of trying something like that again. I’ve been very patient, but my patience only goes so far.” The guy that had manhandled me was looking at him like he was some kind of alien. He was already three sheets to the wind and that only enhanced his courage and gave him the incentive to do something more. He tried for one more punch and the guy literally grabbed his fist in midair and squeezed with enough force to bring this guy down to his knees. “My name is Sean and my two brothers are John and Billy.” As if on cue, two more handsome dark haired gentlemen stepped into the light like they were there all the time to lend a hand. “It’s nice to meet you. Permit us to get rid of the garbage and we’ll be right back to take a bow of victory.” All three of them forced their will on this man and seeing that he was outnumbered and outgunned, he decided to make a strategic exit. I looked around for Joan, but she was already busy with two young college kids that couldn’t have been more than 20 years old. She was definitely robbing the cradle and told me several times that getting together with young men gave her back her youth. I was about to call it a night, but these three guys came over and surrounded me with enough testosterone that it was actually thick in the air. “Let me buy all of you a drink.” I tried to push past John, but he was like a damn tank and built to take a beating. He literally lifted me into the air over his shoulder and carried me into the back room where there was apparently a high stakes poker game going on. “I have to apologize for John and sometimes, he acts like a Neanderthal. I understand the sentiment and I do admit that I find you quite attractive. I own my own tailoring business with my brothers and I would say that you were 5’4 and 120lbs.” I was stunned that Sean could pinpoint me down to the exact measurements.” I had quite the handful on my chest and being in their gravity

had made my nipples eraser hard. There was one guy lying on the table with the losing hard of a pair of kings in his hands. He had passed out with drool coming out of the side of his mouth. It looked like the game had just about finished and the bounty was claimed by the three brothers. Sean scattered the money around on the table before lifting me off my feet, until I was planted with him sliding easily between my legs. My dress had already risen a few inches and I couldn’t help to notice that all of these guys had their eyes on me. “I get the feeling like I just went from the frying pan into the fire.” The smile on Sean’s face was soon coming closer until we were kissing wildly. I had never felt so out of control and then I felt hands all over me igniting a fire down below that was no mere ember. This was a four-alarm blaze and one that I could not deny. “What the fuck…we only live once.” I wasn’t sure how far I was willing to go, especially in a semi-public place like the backroom of a club. Billy was the shy and quiet type, but I did get the sense that he was waiting for an engraved invitation. I reached out with no regard for what I was doing, grabbed his collar, and pulled him to me. If I had to drop the pretense of being shy, then he was damn well going to do the same thing. He looked a little out of place and was biting his lip with nervousness that only made me want to corrupt him even more. John had placed his hands on my inner thighs to spread me open. I was wearing panties, but they were a mere nuisance. John pulled them down and gave them to me. I looked at them and wondered what he had in mind, but Sean showed me in no uncertain terms. He brought my hand up to my mouth with the panties enclosed and he made me chew on the fabric. John had inserted his tongue where no man had been for over four months. I literally went crazy, shaking from an orgasm that slapped me across the face out of nowhere. I dropped back on the table with my legs over John’s shoulders. I humped the air and grabbed onto his hair, which was very short, but still very manageable. I wanted to scream, but the panties were stifling any kind of exclamation of surprise and pleasure. It really didn’t matter and the music outside the doors was keeping anybody from knowing what was going on. It was kind of exciting and scary at the same time, but I found myself believing that they wouldn’t hurt me. My feet were dangling over John’s shoulders, while the dress was being pulled down over my more prominent assets. My breasts were right there for the taking and Sean and Billy were more than anxious to sample my wares.

Their techniques were different. Billy was softer and Sean wasn’t exactly holding back by biting the tip. I moaned with my eyes closed and feeling like this sexual creature that had just been given license to do whatever the hell she wanted. The table wasn’t all that big and lying back had my head hanging over the side. I heard a growl of satisfaction and then the sound of a zipper being pulled down right in front of my eyes. I looked up into the blue eyes of Sean and he was ready to get is cock out and into something warm. Upside down, this thing looked gigantic and I would probably put it at 8 inches and thick enough that it would probably be a match for any beer can. “We have to take our cue from her. We don’t do anything unless we are sure that this is what she wants.” Sean was trying to be the voice of reason for all of them. He didn’t have to worry because my body was pretty much betraying any kind of argument that my mind might’ve had. I was squirming to the touch of John digging his fingernails into my thighs. His tongue was deep inside me and my pussy was grabbing onto him and trying to rip his tongue right out of his mouth. Sean moved his cock head back and forth in front of my eyes as if he was trying to hypnotize me into doing his bidding. The droplet on the top was making my mouth water for a chance to taste it. I had never been so reckless or careless in my life and I knew that my mother would be appalled if she had seen me in that position. I was old enough to know better and old enough to not give a damn. The panties were pulled out of my mouth and I screamed. “FUCK me with your tongue… I want to cum all over your face and leave you glazed like a doughnut.” My wet pussy was pretty much telling me what to say and even though the words sounded foreign, it did feel nice to let go and do something totally out of character. “Somebody better fuck my mouth and I mean right now.” It sounded like somebody else, but then Sean was right there with that mushroom cap ready to take advantage of my otherwise perverted nature. “We found a wild one.” Sean forced his way past my teeth and my jaws stretched to accommodate the girth of such a weapon. I had to give John credit and he stayed down there for a good solid 20 minutes giving me the kind of oral experience that any woman would have been happy to have. Guys may not know, but if you give a girl an orgasm with your tongue, then she will do anything. “I don’t know if I can do this. I’ve never done anything like this before and it feels a little strange. I don’t mean to be the poison pill, but maybe we should stop and talk about this before we go any further.” Billy was the only one of us

that was using logic. It was not hard to see that his excitement was raging out of control. I reached out with my hand and made him gasp, but he did not stop me from reaching in and pulling him to the open. He easily succumbed to my nimble fingers working him over into a frothy frenzy. His cream was spilling over the top and this was just from being over stimulated. I had to admit that his willingness to back away, even when his body was telling him something else was admirable. “I don’t know about John, but I have no reason to talk about this. She’s willing and she’s not exactly fighting us much.” Sean laughed at my expense with his cock deep in my mouth. “I don’t know if I could even stop if I wanted to. I’m going to fill her mouth and make her swallow it.” I was being objectified, but I don’t think I cared in the very least. In fact, I found it quite exciting to give these guys a moment of pleasure before going our separate ways. I came and that orgasm was so powerful that my ass literally drove itself up into the air. I was going into convulsions and screaming at the top of my lungs. My mouth was open and my tongue lazily lapping at the shaft that was still taking pleasure from my mouth. “Now you’ve done it… little bitch… YESSSSS.” The knob expanded and began to expel shot after shot that had me literally scared of being drowned. I had to swallow several times and this was the first time in my life that I didn’t feel like I faded into the woodwork. I was alive and I had no idea how I could justify my actions, but I was not about to shine a light on any of that. It felt like a fantasy and something imaginary, but I knew from the way that my body was responding that it was all too real. Amazingly, John did not stop and he gave me two more good orgasms, while Sean sat down and was stroking new life into his appendage. Billy was sweating and I could see the look in his eyes. There was no doubt that my hands were the magic touch. “God help me…but I guess if I’m going to hell, then I may as well do it in grand fashion.” Billy fucked my fingers and he was the only one of them that had the makings of a beard. It wasn’t thick, but you could see that he could easily become something like a grizzly Adams in a matter of days. He was breathing heavy and then grunted with a shower of his seed all the way up my arm. The feel of the heat hitting my skin made me shiver with something more than just pleasure. I was quite taken with all of them and that was when I felt something nudging down below. With whatever energy I had left, I got up on my elbows to see the moment of truth. John grabbed me by the back of the hair forcing his tongue into my mouth, while at the same time driving with insistence until he was balls deep. I

moaned loudly with my eyes wide open and the motion of his thrusts getting to the point of pain and pleasure mixed in for good measure. “Don’t break her. I wanna crack at that sweet little body of hers.” Sean had enough time to put some lead in his pencil. He was stroking to the spectacle of John fucking me. I was beginning to believe that sex didn’t have to come with a one pump chump. “I don’t think that you have to worry, Sean. There’s more than enough to go around. I’ve been looking for any sign that she wants this to stop, but I don’t think that she has any aspirations to put the brakes on.” How he was able to talk and fuck me at the same time was something that was a little disconcerting. It was when he started to hammer me deeply that I found my legs splayed open like that of a Turkey getting stuffed. “I’m cumming…trust me…I’m not going to be the only one.” John didn’t look like I was serious, but then he felt what was happening and that smug look was wiped off his face. He tried to pull away, but I grabbed onto his ass and made sure that escape was not an option. He came inside me, but he did find the strength to take it out and shoot the last couple of streams over my bald mound. John rubbed it into my skin as if it was some kind of elixir of youth. They were all in their late thirties. I should’ve felt like they were taking advantage of me, but I really didn’t. “Let me have seconds.” What Sean meant to say was sloppy seconds, as John fell back in a chair exhausted and looking like he was going to pass out. Sean slapped my clit and made me jump out of my skin with how sensitive I was after already cumming too many times to count. “Let’s see how you deal with a real man.” He took aim at my hole and didn’t even stop until he too took me balls deep. He was not gentle. He slapped my ass, pulled my hair, and literally glared into my face with the insistence that had me meeting him stroke for stroke. I found myself turned around with his hands on my ass and doing me like that of an animal. He pulled my hair back with my neck straining against the effort and then kissing me with nothing that even came close to passion. This was raw animalistic and out of control. I don’t think I could’ve been any happier. “I’m going to cum all over your ass.” He didn’t even ask for permission and then he too unloaded and it wasn’t just all over my ass. I don’t know how he was able to manage it after already cumming in my mouth, but his first shot went all the way up the small of my back. It stained my dress and I had no idea how I was going to explain that to my dry cleaner. They were pretty much finished, but I wondered how long they would be

out of action. I looked at the clock and noticed that we had been going at it for over 2 hours. It was the advantage of having three guys at the same time. There was always one that was ready to jump back in the saddle. Chapter three I walked out of there a little unsteady with all three guys smiling like they had gotten one over on me. In the cold light of day, I was feeling slightly ashamed about taking the walk of shame. My panties were literally balled up in my purse. My legs were trembling with the need to grab onto their shoulders for some kind of support. “I want all three of you to come over to my place for dinner tomorrow night.” I didn’t understand why I said that, but maybe I needed home field advantage. “I make the most amazing ravioli that you have ever taken into your mouth.” I noticed by getting a closer look that they all had this swarthy complexion. They were Italian by birth, but they had been transplanted to the states when they were too young to remember. That was what John had told me. He was a bit of a chatty one. “I don’t think either one of us can say no to a home cooked meal. Our parents are 1,000 miles away and let’s just say that the local fare around here doesn’t exactly measure up to our mother’s cooking.” John was the one that decided to be the spokesperson for the group. He was still looking at me up and down and I had no doubt that he was not even close to through with me. “It would be our honor and we will even bring a bottle of wine for the occasion.” Having dinner with three guys that I hardly knew was a bit out of my comfort zone. It was time to shake things up. “I think tomorrow night that you’ll find a different woman waiting for you. Don’t be surprised when I’m the one that takes control and I use your bodies for my own pleasure. If you can’t handle that, then I suggest that you rethink coming over. All three of you are going to be my special living toys. I’m giving you a fair warning to give you all a chance to back out gracefully.” They had already taken what they wanted and it was about time that I did the same. I had visions of a blindfold for each of them and a pair of handcuffs to keep them from doing anything that I didn’t want them to do. I might have to rethink the blindfold. I wanted them to see everything. “This may come as a bit of a shock, but we’ve never actually shared a woman before. I know that doesn’t sound probable, but trust me this is one of those times that will live in infamy.” Billy lifted me by the shoulders to give me a kiss with my legs wrapped around his waist. It was quite passionate and had me swooning to his touch. “I very much look forward to seeing what you have in mind tomorrow night.” I could feel his member trying to touch on

something that he didn’t get a chance to experience. “As long as I get to fuck you, I don’t care what you do to me.” That was a bold statement to make. I wasn’t sure that he had the balls to back it up. He put me back down on the ground. I found John cupping my neck with the same kind of passion all over again. Sean was not one to be left out, but his kiss was messy and he was rubbing up against me like he wanted to start a fire. I did moan and the smile that I saw creasing his features told me that was exactly what he wanted to see. I grabbed each of their hands and I wrote my address in ink. They would either have to commit it to memory or write it down somewhere before they found themselves washing it off in the shower. I breathed deeply, sighing with a sort of excitement from picturing them all in the shower together with me. That was an image that I was going to keep me up at night. The taxi was idling at the curb and I had gone looking for Joan, but she was nowhere to be seen. I had to assume that she had already found a better offer and was most likely showing that young gentleman what an older woman could do. “I do hope that you didn’t take offense at what we did to you in there. It doesn’t seem that you feel that we went too far. We may have gotten a little carried away and you can account that to our Italian blood.” John escorted me into the taxi. I sat there, as we pulled away from the curb with my eyes turning and looking at them and wondering if I’d gotten in over my head. I didn’t sleep much that night and with visions of them flying around in my head it was no wonder that I was pretty much a zombie by the morning. I was thankful that it was a Saturday and I could sleep in. I was curled into my sheets like my own personal cocoon. I awoke to start thinking that I wasn’t alone and then I noticed that Joan had somehow gotten in without my permission. “I rang the doorbell several times. I thought something happened to you. I see that something did, but it’s not exactly what I was thinking.” She raised the stained material of my black dress from the floor on the toe of her very expensive shoes. “I would say that you had a bit more fun than I gave you credit for.” She was in a pair of jeans that molded to her body like a second skin. “I don’t need your permission to test my limits. You brought me there locked and loaded. What did you expect to happen?” I was only teasing her and there was no way that I could possibly keep a straight face. “Do you want me to guess, or are you going to tell me all the nasty details.” I saw that my window was open in my bedroom and one of my figurines had broken upon her entry. For an older woman, she was quite agile

and had kept up a regiment every morning with a personal trainer. “I think that it goes without saying that I got lucky. I was left with a smile on my face and a need for a repeat performance. I’m going to be cooking dinner tonight and hopefully, I will be the one that’s in control of what happens after.” I was purposely leaving out the fact that it was three guys instead of one. She could believe what she wanted to. I’m usually more forthright and telling tales out of the school was not uncommon when we got together. Unfortunately, it was usually her tales with me living vicariously through her, but maybe the tables had turned. “I think that you are leaving something out. I’m not sure what it is, but I will find out. I’m just glad that you had fun and trust me I wasn’t exactly alone for the evening. College guys really do have the stamina to go all night long. I walked out of his dorm room with my heels in my hand and several guys giving me the eye. I do believe that I’m going to get my paramour to introduce me to some of his brothers.” The very thought of brothers brought to mind what kind of slut I was last night. I was tempted to tell her what had happened, but I kinda wanted to keep it to myself. It was the first time that I had a secret that I wasn’t willing to share and I found the idea of letting it all hang out like something that I would never have done under normal circumstances. It could’ve been some kind of nightingale syndrome from them coming to my rescue, but I think it went well beyond that. “Michelle, I know how it is to have secrets, but I think that it would make you feel better to get it off your chest.” She was doing her best to weasel information out of me, but I really was in no mood to play this game. “I don’t need the details. If this is something that you wanna keep to yourself, then do it by all means. Don’t let me pressure you. I do think that you have slept long enough and that we should get out there and enjoy this nice sunny day.” I couldn’t have agreed more. We went for a jog together and I felt energized, even though I had been fucked like nobody’s business last night. It gave me a sense of self and I found that giving the brothers license to have my body was making me want to do the same thing, but in reverse. I had never been one to ogle the merchandise, but today was a different story. Each time that a young man with a nice physique went by me, I would bite my bottom lip and feel my lips quivering. Those boys had awakened something and now that monster wanted to come out and play. “I know that look and believe me I was the one that invented the look. Whatever happened last night has opened you up to new possibilities and

experiences. I say grab a spoon and dive in. You never know how long that feeling is going to last. For me, it’s every day of my life, but I’m not like normal and everyday girls. I tend to throw caution to the wind and do what feels right. It might make me feel empty afterward, but I always find someone to take away that loss.” I had never heard her talk about herself like this and it was a real eye-opening experience. “What I’m hearing you say is that you are ready for a commitment.” She stopped me and put her hand on my chest, which only exasperated my condition. “I didn’t mean to say anything, but do you hear your biological clock ticking? You always said that you wanted a big family, but you never found the right guy to settle down with. Perhaps, you need to be more selective and to get to know a guy before you jump into bed. I know that’s a novel concept, but it’s time to stop acting like you’re still 20 years old.” I had given her a little to think about and the look on her face was of shock. “On some small level that is exactly the way I’m feeling. Why is it that any time that I talk to you I always come back with something of a different perspective? You should probably take your own advice, but you’ve been living in the shadows away from the real world for too long. You let what happened with Joseph get the best of you. If this guy makes you happy, then I say don’t hold back and do whatever you can to hold on to that feeling.” Joseph was supposed to be the love of my life, but he ruined that by dying. It wasn’t his fault, but I still blamed him nonetheless for leaving me after only two months of us finding one another. “We were made for each other and I don’t think that I will ever find that kind of love. Any other man will pale in comparison. I really don’t want to put him in a position to feel like I’m not entirely invested.” We finally made our way back to my small home. We said our goodbyes and I knew that I wouldn’t be able to keep my so called relationship with the brothers under wraps for long. I had very nosy neighbors and one in particular that had a pair of binoculars that was always using them as if she was part of a neighborhood watch. I had a feeling that those boys would be arriving around 6:00 PM. It gave me enough time to shower. There was a moment that I thought I was going to take matters into my own hands. I stopped myself because I had other ideas that were just too delicious to pass up. I prepared the ravioli from scratch and it was the way that my grandmother taught me from the moment that I was old enough to pick up a spoon in the kitchen. I had her recipe and it was something that was passed down from one generation to the next.

The pasta was cooking, the sauce was simmering and I had a medley of fresh vegetables ready to join the rest of the meal. I even made a Caesar salad, but I didn’t take them for the kinds of guys that would be interested in a salad. I went through my closet. I picked up the black dress and relived every single moment of last night. I smelled their manly aroma on the fabric and I stuck out my tongue to lick the stained material to bring back the memory of what they tasted like. Remarkably, they all had similar qualities and I had to believe that came from the same kind of diet that they had followed strictly. I still couldn’t believe that they lived together. I decided to make them my bitches and the best way to do that was to catch them off guard with something that was going to make them realize just what kind of trouble they were in. 4 inch red high heels accentuated my long legs that had been shaved to a smooth and baby bare texture. The red dress had a plunging neckline and underneath was a black widow outfit that was going to come in handy to make their tongues fall to the floor. I heard the doorbell and I knew that the night was young and things were going to get interesting in a hurry. Chapter four I wasn’t prepared for what greeted my eyes upon opening the door. They were all dressed impeccably in black suits and the only difference between the three was that Billy was wearing a blue shirt, John was wearing a white shirt and Sean was wearing a red shirt. It was the same color that I was wearing and that was not lost on him, as he took in the sight and gave me an appraising wink to tell me that he approved. “As promised, we brought the wine and I do hope that a Red Bordeaux will go with the meal.” It was obvious that John was more sophisticated and worldly. I think that I was going to have to grill him on his past and to find out more about these guys. I didn’t want to treat them like they were a piece of meat, although I’m sure that they wouldn’t mind. “Let me open it for you” Before he could walk past me, I took the initiative and jumped into his arms with my petite frame wrapped around him like a boa constrictor. I left John stunned with my lipstick smeared across his mouth, as I swayed my hips from side to side to show them that tonight was going to be something extraordinary. They were ravenous at supper and I was playfully sucking my fingers of the sauce from my plate. All three of them were squirming in their seats. I had definitely started something that I was going to have to finish. “I hope that you have all left room for dessert.” Upon those words, I took a deep breath and steeled myself for what I was about to do. Taking a long

swallow of the wine, I put it down and then I climbed up onto the table with my knees on either side of my forgotten plate. I slithered towards them with all three of them not able to blink or take their eyes off me for a single second. “I see somebody that didn’t get enough to eat.” I had zeroed my sights on John at the head of the table. I was soon positioned so that he would see that I wasn’t wearing any panties. He took a big breath and he most likely got the aroma of strawberries. I had taken the liberty of using a strawberry scented lube to get me ready for the festivities. He tried to move forward and grab my thighs, but I stopped him with my foot up against his chest. The stiletto heel was digging in to make my point. I had placed a black bag on the table and I knew that they were wondering what was inside, but nobody had the guts to ask. Had they even broached the topic, I would have changed the subject and let them believe that it was my business and none of theirs. I lifted my leg over the other and I pushed my hips out so that he was face deep in my ass. His tongue snapped forward, but I wasn’t going to allow him to turn me into a pile of jelly. I stood up, put my hand on his face, reached out, and did the same thing to Billy. “You boys are in for quite a treat and I’m feeling particularly nasty tonight.” I produced different colored scarves and neither one of them stopped me, as I tied them to the chair with knots that I had learned from sailing. If they tried to get away, those knots would only get tighter and cut off their circulation. Sitting back down on John’s lap, I ripped open his shirt and bit his nipples to hear him cry out with surprise. “You really do know how to make an interesting impression, Michelle.” I slapped him across the face. He looked at me and smiled. “I think I like this side of you.” I placed my finger on his mouth and I made him suck it back and forth to mimic what I had done to other guys in the past. “You’ll find that last night was the catalyst to how I’m feeling today. I plan to make the most out of my freedom. You took what you wanted last night and tonight it's my time. Not one of you is going to ruin it.” I made sure to rub up against him through his pants to get him bulging obscenely. He looked completely out of it and I don’t think that he liked that I got up and went to do the exact same thing to Billy. I ran my hands through his short-cropped hair and I kissed his mouth with my hand around his throat to let him know that I meant business. I ripped open his shirt and then I moved on to Sean who was trying to be the big man by breaking free of his bonds. He was making that chair bounce up and down in his eagerness to take me by any means necessary. “What’s the

matter? Don’t you like being on the receiving end?” I sat on the table in front of him teasing him mercilessly and then producing a silver vibrator. “Don’t you wish that this was your cock?” I moved it back and forth in front of his eyes and then I stuck it in my mouth and let my spirit drool down the sides. I spread my legs and raised that dress, until he could see the garters and the painted lips of my pussy. I turned on the mechanism and it came to life with Sean grinding his teeth together in an obvious need to get off. “I’m going to tear you…” I stopped him by stuffing a blue scarf in his mouth and gagging him so that I didn’t hear his inflammatory comments. The buzzing of that toy gave me encouragement and I ran it up and down my slit to leave behind a wet trail all the way to my aching hole. “You are a bit of a chauvinist. This first orgasm is going to be by my hand and all of you are going to witness what a girl does in the privacy of her own bedroom.” I didn’t just slam it forward like they did the other night. I took my time and made myself into a private sex show for all of them. “This is cruel and unusual punishment, but I have to say that I like it.” John was being very calm, but I couldn’t help to notice that his cock was actually throbbing inside his pants. Having them a captive audience was making it easier to do things that were riskier. “Oh yeah…having all of you here and touching myself with this vibrator is driving me insane.” I used one hand to handle the toy and the other hand to manipulate my clit into complete submission. It wasn’t long before I was screaming and pounding my stiletto heels into the chest of Sean. Watching him uncomfortable was like an aphrodisiac that I couldn’t get enough of. “Yes… I’m cumming… I’m coming for all of you.” They could’ve taken that two ways and I meant it in both. I gave one final jerk against the toy before I pulled it out and moved the fragrance of my sex under Sean’s nose. I got a giddy thrill when he stuck out his tongue to taste me and to lap off my juices like that of a kitten. “I can’t believe that you just made me do that.” I smiled and placed the toy on the table before pushing Sean away from the table with the chair legs scraping across the wood floor. I looked back one time to see that I did draw the blinds. I didn’t want to give the old lady a heart attack. It was kinda fun knowing that nobody had any idea what was going on inside this house. “I wouldn’t worry about your masculinity, Sean.” I circled John, grabbing a fistful of his hair and hearing him gasp with his mouth wide open. It gave me more than enough incentive to climb up onto the legs of his chair. I was teetering on the edge and one wrong move could be fatal, but it was that risk of doing something wrong that made it feel right.

“I know what you want and I don’t see any reason not to give it to you.” John was soon using his tongue once again. He was showing his expertise in this field. I had to hold on to his shoulders and it was a wonder that I didn’t collapse underneath my own impending climax. I stopped him before he could go too far. I landed heavily in his lap. I fished in between us to release him from his prison. He was still my prisoner, but his cock was released for good behavior. I threw my legs over the arms of the chair and then lowered myself very slowly with my hand wrapped around his neck. “I want you to beg me for it. I want you to plead and make me believe that this is what you want. If I don’t feel that you’re being truthful, then I will just leave you here with a case of blue balls.” I could see that he was contemplating showing weakness in front of his brothers. I had a feeling that the sexual pleasure was going to win in the end. “I want you to sit on my cock. I want you to slip that nice little pussy of yours down over me. I’m begging you for that sweet release that only you can give me. Please…don’t make me wait any longer and you’ve already driven me crazy. I don’t know what I will do if you leave me in this condition.” It was a good start. I wanted to show him that it was not always the girls that had to be submissive. I felt his knob begin to kiss my lips. I was already quite excited and I showed him by how easily he penetrated those first couple of inches. The head was bigger than the rest of his shaft, but after it was fully imbedded, it was easier to take that ride all the way down to the bottom. All the breath in my body came out of my lungs at the same time and I was literally on cloud nine. I used his shoulders to lower and rise with my eyes looking into his to see how hard it was for him to hold back. “Neither one of you are allowed to cum until I tell you to. If for any reason you do, then you are done for the evening. Trust me; you want to be a part of this.” I left him with the vein pronounced and the rest of his cock looking like it was going to take launch. “I have to wonder which one of you will fall victim first.” I did the same thing to Billy. He was a little bigger than his brothers were, but that didn’t stop me from bringing him to the brink and then stopping right there on the edge. He looked slightly stunned when I jumped off and left him with his mouth wide open. I was having the time of my life. Sean was going to be the biggest holdout. He didn’t like having a woman tell him what to do and it was about time that he found out what his victims had felt every single time that they found themselves underneath him in whatever position he wanted them.

I turned my back on him so that he could see my hard ass converging on the object of my desire. I reached back and took out his cock. Without giving him warning, I took every single inch in one long drawn out moan. I stayed buried and moved in a circle so that he was hitting all of those special spots. I went back and forth from each one and I had to admit the idea of getting them all off at the same time was quite a thought that I couldn’t get rid of. I just didn’t know how I was going to make it work. They looked like they were beside themselves and especially Sean was giving me this evil glare. It was primarily him that I was trying to teach a lesson, but I think it was lost on him. The sentiment that I was trying to get across was that women should not be treated as objects of sexual desire. I was treating him like he treated every other woman, but I think he liked it. “You all have done amazingly well, but I wonder what you would do if I were to pull out all the stops.” I got down on my knees and I moved under the table where they couldn’t see me with the tablecloth obscuring their vision. “I see all of these cocks and I’m not sure which one should have the honor of getting my mouth. Each one of you will cum tonight and in different holes.” I think that my intention got the best of them and their cocks were leaking quite profusely. “That’s right; one of you will fuck my ass and fill it with cream. It’s just a matter of which one. I haven’t decided that yet and I guess only time will tell.” I turned my attention towards Sean and I slapped his legs with enough force to hear him grimace in pain. I raked my long clip-on nails down his thighs. I scratched through the material like a tiger after its prey. He was kicking out his legs and then I surrounded his knob with my mouth for a moment before popping clean. I crawled over to John and did the same thing and then Billy got the same treatment. “None of us were expecting this, Michelle. I can’t speak for John or Sean, but I’m really enjoying being at the center of attention.” I had them all practically begging to cum. It wasn’t until I got to Sean that he finally succumbed. His balls erupted and maybe he didn’t mean to, but it was like he had no choice. He grunted and I could tell that he was ashamed of himself. I drank down every single drop and left him depleted. I emerged from under the table with my finger waving back and forth in front of Sean’s face. “It looks like you’re not going to have my ass, after all, Sean. You might want to consider what a girl feels like when you go off prematurely like that. Just because you get your jollies, doesn’t mean that she does. I think that what you need is a woman like me to teach you the finer arts of abstaining for as long as possible.” He was nodding his head and if I got

anything from this tonight, it was showing him that a woman needed more than just a man’s cock to feel satisfied. I dropped onto John’s cock with my feet on the floor planted firmly. I bounced up and down for 10 very quick thrusts of my hips. I stopped right there and I went over to Billy and did the same thing. His face had turned maroon and his eyes looked completely transfixed on the moment that he was experiencing here and now. I don’t know how they were able to keep it up for this long and it took another 20 minutes of 10 thrusts apiece before John finally gave me a supply of his jizz. “Fuck…fuck… I don’t want to do this…but I have to.” The feel of his member going off was sublime. It left Billy with the spoils of war. I siphoned every fucking drop out of John, before pulling free with a lot of his stuff now collecting down the length of his own cock. I bent over and I cleaned him while he thrashed like a fish being caught on a line. I kissed him, letting him taste himself and then I prepared my dainty little asshole for something that was a lot larger than a finger. Billy was smiling and I could tell that he really wasn’t expecting to win out in the end. “I can’t believe that this is happening and I’ve ever done this before.” The fact that I was giving him his first ass was almost too much for me to handle. “I thought for sure that John was going to beat me, but I was able to hold back for just a little bit longer.” “I am a woman of my word and trust me, you haven’t felt anything yet.” I dropped the dress at my feet and his eyes and his mouth went wide with seeing me in something that I probably wouldn’t be comfortable at any other time. “I’m going to take my time and I don’t want you to do anything.” I reached into that same black bag and got some necessary numbing lube. I drove my fingers into my ass, clenching tightly and closing my eyes to the initial pain. It soon turned into pleasure and this was when I was numb enough that I was ready to take something of his size. I sat there facing him and I was watching his reaction, as each inch slowly made its way into the one hole that had never been touched by a man. This was a journey of self-discovery for both Billy and me. It was about 10 minutes before I was taking it all. “I hope that you’re ready for this and I’m not going to make it easy on you.” I started to bounce up and down with my breasts hitting his face. I would squeeze a little bit tighter to hear his exclamation of pleasure. “I don’t know why I haven’t done this…before now.” I was finding that I was more connected to one of them than anyone else. I was glad that Billy was fortunate to win this little battle of wills. I got a little bit quicker and I was

using my finger to get off at the same time. “This is where I get… OFFFFFFF.” My body went into hysterics, grinding on top of him and taking what was rightfully mine. The rippling motion of my ass drew out his seed. I took all that he could give me. I sat there on the table. I looked back and forth from each of them and I knew that I had found the other half of my heart. John and Sean left shortly after and I think they knew that their time with me was limited. I grabbed Billy before he could leave and I think that we shared a knowing glance that was followed by the closing of the door. He was mine, but I had this feeling I was going to crave for all four of us to be together again. I just felt like I had a lot more in common with Billy. His gentle nature was exactly what I was looking for. I’m sure that I would want something wild and I had a feeling that I wouldn’t have to twist their arms. I wasn’t sure if I was in love with Billy, but I was willing to at least give it a shot. It was kind of interesting that I had found the man that was going to make me happy, but I had to do it by sleeping with his two brothers. I would do it again, and again, and again. They were definitely three of kind and I was the joker that was wild.

STEPBROTHER -WET AND WILD SEDUCTION

THE DEAL ‘Okay, sis…so, you think I cannot seduce Anna? ’ Mark, my stepbrother asked. ‘I think you can seduce women. Yes, you definitely can… but not Anna. She is different. She won’t fall for your cheap tricks,’ I replied. ‘And what if I do seduce Anna?’ ‘Well, if you do manage to seduce Anna, you can have me.’ Mark looked at me with hunger in his eyes. I knew he could not believe what he just heard. ‘Oh…come on bro, I know you have always wanted me’, I said playfully as he watched me shake my ass. I think it was mutual – ever since my mom married Mark’s father, I was attracted to Mark. I guess he was also attracted to me – in fact, I was sure that he was attracted to me. He had mentioned it casually so many times but both of us were skeptical about the taboo associated with this kind of an intimacy.

I, actually think about it sometimes and want to go for it – the thrill and pleasure that this will bring would be far more than the taboo, wouldn’t it? ‘Okay sis, here’s the deal. I will seduce your friend, Anna and then I will be allowed to have you the way I want to - any way that I prefer. You ok with that?’ ‘Yup.’ I had imagined myself in bed with Mark so many times. I could do anything to touch those lovely balls and feel those perfectly toned muscles. Just that I did not want to admit it to Mark. I had always wanted Mark to beg for my body. May be this seduction thing works! May be Mark is able to seduce Anna and eventually have me. Wow! How amazing would that be! I loved his sexy, rugged look. ‘Ok sis…do me one favor. Just get Anna to the Christmas party this Friday.’ ‘Oh..yes, I will.’ ‘And one more thing…prepare yourself for me…I will take you to the moon on Saturday.’ ‘Wha..’ I could not figure out what he meant by that. ‘Well, you will definitely feel like you are on the moon when I lick and kiss that lovely body of yours.’ ‘Get away from here…you will never be able to have me’. I knew I was not able to do a good job hiding my feelings. I was wet there and wondered if he would sense that. Ever since my mom had married her boyfriend, I had secretly wished of playing with my stepbrother’s dick. How I wanted him to play with my body….licking and kissing every single inch of my body….I ached with desire! ‘Well, sis…you do want to have me, don’t you?’ ‘I said get away from here and create a strategy for Anna.’ ‘Oh, come on. Don’t tell me that your nipples don’t ache to be touched by my rough hands or your clit doesn’t want to be fucked by my so wet mouth.’ ‘MARK, I am your sister.’ ‘No….you are my step sister. So, it is ok. Besides, we have a deal.’

THE FRIDAY PARTY

‘COME ONE, Anna. We will get late’, I shouted as Anna took her own sweet time to dress up. ‘Who am I meeting today, Claire?’ Anna inquired. ‘Well, that’s a surprise’, I chuckled. ‘By the way, you look beautiful Anna’, I complimented her as I noticed that she had taken time to do her hair. She had made a nice French bun and it looked so gorgeous on her oval shaped face. Her lashes seemed bigger than usual. Was it the mascara or could it be false eyelashes? Anna was aware of how beautiful she was and took pride in the fact that she only dated Billionaire men. In fact, she would often make fun of me – getting involved with the not so rich or ‘not her class’ is what she would refer them to be. I really wanted her to learn her lesson. I wanted her to be fucked by my step brother – just so that she learns how disastrous it could be to insult me. I was confident of Mark too – he was a true charmer – an absolute God. (And he was not a billionaire!) We reached the party on time and figured out that all men were wearing masks. Okay…Mark had acted clever. He created a dress code – a ‘men in masks’ dress code. All that Anna and I could see were some really handsome hunks holding their beautiful arm candies. Jimmy seemed to be all over Liza and Liza did not seem to mind his fondling with her breasts in front of so many people. Their hands were all over each other as they pretended to dance. Oh my God, watching them made me so wet. In fact, now Jimmy was sucking her nipples and she was playing with his hair so wildly. I guess it was Jimmy – he was masked. They seemed to be so engrossed. The music was really loud. Otherwise, I am sure, we could hear Liza’s moans. If only, I could have Mark in place of Jimmy and myself in place of Liza! Mark, I really need you to want me. I just could not figure out who was who as most men were wearing masks. Anna and I decided to sit near the bar and begin with a few drinks. Anna was having a hard time trying to figure out her kind of men. ‘I guess that man playing with Liza is Jimmy, correct Claire?’ ‘I think so too, Liza seems to be enjoying this so much. I wish I could have a threesome today.’

‘You are acting naughty, Claire.’ ‘You don’t know it Anna. I am already wet. I love threesomes and I am sure I am gonna have great fun today. I am determined’, I smiled playfully. Suddenly, I noticed this man approaching us. He seemed to be out of a GQ photoshoot. ‘Would you like another drink?’ he asked Anna. Mark! This was definitely Mark. Only Mark could be sooooo handsome. But I was not allowed to say that. So, I decided to move to the dance floor – all by myself. ‘I will excuse myself’, I said and moved towards a group of men who seemed to be eagerly waiting for some woman they could play with as they danced. I was ready to be their toy. It would give me a glance of what was happening between Mark and Anna and I would get my kind of a fun. ‘Everybody here knows I enjoy threesomes’, I told myself. I remember I was high (after four tequila shots) and began dancing – I think wildly – four men trying to seduce me in various ways. I had never had that experience before – so this was what – a fivesome? I could feel their hands all over my body. My breasts were hard and swollen and I was dying to strip out of my clothes. I noticed a man bend down touching my legs and moving his hands all the way up my thighs as we slowly danced to the soft music. The other three were positioned in front of me – one of them pressing my boobs and the other using my hands all over his hard swollen member. I could feel the third one hold me from behind, his hardness pressing against my butt cheeks and his hands feeling my waist. The one on the floor was doing an awesome job – moving his hands in slow circles all over my clit. Yes, he had bypassed the barrier of my black, satin panties and was working his gorgeous hands all over my freshly waxed flower. His lips were doing a good job too, teasing my moving legs. I loved this party. I loved getting this kind of attention. I had always loved being loved by multiple men. But this was by far the best – this was in public! Slowly, his fingers moved inside my sweet spot and found my perfect spot – a spot where I had never been touched before. I moaned in pleasure as the pace of his thrusts increased. My hands pressed against another man’s dick and I cried in ecstasy, begging one of these men to bite and suck my nipples. ‘I am gonna cum’, I was shouting. ‘Cum for me, baby…’ I heard one of these men. ‘Harder, faster….please..’ ‘Yes, baby...you like it?’, I heard another voice and felt a pair of lips

sucking my left nipple really hard. My dress was all wet from there. My clothes were still on, but the third man’s hands had found their way inside my bra. He held me from behind and was pressing, massaging and pinching my right breast as his hard member tried to pierce through my dress. It was so rock hard and felt awesome against my butt cheeks. ‘Ooooo….I love it…harder…’ Their hands and mouths were working like magic. They seemed to be so well coordinated. They knew what they were doing and they were in command. I loved being teased, touched and fucked by four men – at the same time! I guess I was having the time of my life. ‘Cum for me, baby…. You like being our slut, don’t you?’ ‘Yes, I love it…’ ‘Jack up my thing…’ commanded the fourth man who signaled that I move my hands over his dick. I did as I was told. I had never experienced so intense pleasure before. It was out of the world. ‘Please….I want this inside me’, I moaned as I played with a dick. ‘Yeah, baby…you will get that. But to deserve that prize, you will have to perform really well. So, cum for us, right now’. ‘I want it harder…’, I moaned as a man’s fingers worked their way inside my clit.

I was standing - moving down – up - gyrating in slow circles….playing with four dicks simultaneously….loving every moment of it. It seemed so unreal and yet it was happening. ‘Yeah…slut…I think you are cumming’ ‘Yes, I am ….’ And I squirted on his hands. He took it hand out, brought it to his mouth and licked his finger. ‘You taste divine,’ he said as I continued to work another man’s dick and the third man continued to lick and suck my nipples. I felt a warm liquid over my dress – right over my hips. The fourth man who was behind me had released his load on me. Even though it was messy, it felt so good. ‘You ready for more?’ another man questioned. ‘May be next time’, I smiled as I moved towards the ladies room to clean myself up. My panties were all wet, so I threw them into the trash can. I was sure I wouldn’t need them now. The pleasure of pleasing four men and being pleasured by four men at the same time was out of the world. I was at an all-time high as I moved out of the ladies room. My eyes drifted towards Mark and Anna now. Oh my God, what was this? Mark and Anna were talking – and talking like the best of friends! Anna seemed to be drooling over Mark.

THE GAME

NEAR THE BAR COUNTER, Anna and Mark were playing a different kind of a game. ‘Okay, anytime that man makes a pass at a woman, we take a shot’, Mark said. ‘That will be too many shots for today’, Anna winked playfully. ‘Alright, here’s the first one’. In around one hour, they had had over seven shots each. ‘Anna…there’s better booze in my room. Let’s get in there’, Mark said. ‘Do you say that to all women? …….I don’t even know your name’ ‘Call me ‘Sir’ for now. How is that for a name?’

‘Do many women get to call you by that name?’ ‘No, only the ones who look super pretty in that corset’, Mark held out his hand and Anna let him hold her. They moved to the elevator and as the doors closed, Mark moved his hand over her cheeks. ‘Did I mention that you were the prettiest flower I have ever seen? I wanna pluck you now. I wanna show you how pretty you are…’ His fingers were now on her breasts and her pussy was trembling in desire. The elevator doors opened and he moved with her towards his room. It was a suite, a pretty awesome one – Anna thought. She moved towards the dresser and felt Mark’s hand withdraw several pins from her hair. Her soft curls brushed past her cheeks. He held one of the strands of her hair and moved his hands over it. ‘Gorgeous’, he whispered. ‘Will you remove that mask for me please?’ Anna asked. ‘Sure’. He removed the mask to reveal his rugged look. ‘You are breathtaking, Anna’, he said as his lips moved to take hers. Next, there was a trail of soft, moist kisses – all over her jaw, then her shoulder and then her throat. ‘I want to see you Anna’ he whispered, trying to open her corset. Frustrated that it was too complicated for him, he grabbed the front with both hands and pulled hard. Her corset ripped open and her hands moved over to cover her breasts. ‘Remove your hands, Anna’ he said softly as he cupped her breast into his rough hands. His thumb began to move over the tightened peak. His mouth gave attention to the other peak as his lips and tongue teased her nipples. Her hands moved over his hair, pulling him tighter towards her. He clasped his teeth around her nipples and then sucked her breasts. Her body screamed for more – there was so much pleasure in this pain. Within seconds, Mark tore apart the rest of her dress. ‘Don’t worry sweetheart, I will get you something nice to wear when you head home. There is a shop in the hotel.’ She stood there in her black silk stockings, lace thong and a garter belt. ‘Anna, darling….you are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen,’ he muttered as he lifted her into his arms and carried her towards the large, inviting bed. He placed her on the mattress gently and began unbuttoning his shirt.

‘I want you to lean against the headboard and open your legs for me. I want to see you’, he commanded softly. She did as she was instructed. ‘I love black lace’, he said as he undressed in front of her. She looked at the hunger in his eyes, feeling more aroused. God…he was teasing her to death. ‘I want you to do something for me. Will you?’ ‘Yes’, she was already moaning in desire. ‘Have you ever rubbed yourself so hard that you came in your hand? Has that sweet looking pussy ever got the attention of your hand?’ She was dripping wet with her panties soaked in desire. ‘Yes’, she said. ‘I want you to show me how you do that’, he commanded. She longed to have him inside her. Watching him undress and talk dirty at the same time was the biggest turn on. Her hand moved down to her stomach as his pants fell on the floor. It moved further down as he removed his shirt. As she observed him in his slacks and vest, her hands were moving over the lace of her panties. She was rubbing hard and her wetness had completely soaked her fingers. He removed his vest and her hand slid down under her panties. She was now moving faster – drawing her fingers up and down her slit. Till now, she had been unaware that watching a man undress in front of her could be such a big turn on. She panted as she glided the moisture up and down her clit. ‘I want you to keep your eyes open’, he said softly as he stepped out of his slacks, his erection protruding from his underwear. ‘Sir….come near me…’, she was moaning in pleasure as her hands moved with more force. He removed the last piece for clothing he had – his underwear and now stood in front of her – totally naked. She saw him move his hand up and down his bare shaft as he commanded ‘Turn over’. She rolled over onto her stomach. ‘Move up’ She did as she was instructed, her body begging for more. ‘Anna, darling I want you to spread your legs for me’. She did as she was instructed and he moved his fingers inside the bottom of her thong.

‘I don’t think this is working for me’, he muttered as he pulled down her thong. ‘Why don’t you sit up?’ Once again, she did as she was told. His arms were now tightly wrapped around her thighs as he moved his face closer to her dampness. She tried to move away as the pace of his tongue increased – he was licking her, sucking her – faster and faster – deeper and deeper. Her body was trembling with the pleasure she was getting. This was probably the first time in her life that she was experiencing so much pleasure. ‘Oh….Sir…..pleeease….I beg you…come inside me,’ she whispered. She was panting and screaming like crazy as he moved out from beneath her and sealed her lips with his. ‘Why don’t you get down on your elbows and knees?’ ‘Yes, sir…’ ‘You have got such a lovely little ass’, he said as he smacked it playfully. The thick head of his large, erect member was now teasing her asshole. She was moaning and screaming in pleasure. ‘Pleeeease….please sir…’ ‘Please what, Anna…please what?’ ‘I want to feel you inside me….fuck me…hard…’ He pushed himself into her as his huge cock filled her emptiness. He pulled out…then in…once again out….and then in… He teased her for several minutes. Finally, his pace increased. He was moving faster and faster – riding her deeper and deeper. Her moans were getting louder and she did not care if anybody was able to hear them. He groaned as he noticed her tits bounce with pleasure. She felt her orgasm explode as he emptied his load inside her too. This was just too perfect. But he was not done yet. He lifted her gently and made her sit on his lap. Then, he kissed her again – intensely – there was desire once again. Their tongues explored the curves in each other’s mouths as his cock found its entry into her clit. Riding her hard, he moved his lips over her breasts. He sucked her nipples as their movement became more intense – he was deep inside her – and he was soooo good at it! His cock throbbed as it drained. They stayed like that for some time and then he lifted her once again –

really gently and she collapsed on the bed. He moved into the bathroom to clean himself up and then emerged with a towel to clean her up too. ‘How very thoughtful!’ she thought as she dozed off to sleep.

THE NEXT MORNING

‘ANNA, darling here is a dress for you which you get to wear only if you promise to be a good girl and take all my orders going forward’, Mark said as he handed over the pretty red dress to Anna. ‘Yes, I will do anything to please you Sir, Anna replied adjusting the sheet that covered her. ‘Alright, first you will remove that sheet from your lovely body. Your body deserves to be worshipped Anna, you deserve to be touched, licked, loved…’, Mark said as he moved his lips over her neck. ‘Ummmm…this feels so good’. ‘Now my love, as I lick your sweet pussy, make a call to your dear friend, Claire and tell her how much fun you are having with me.’ ‘You know Claire?’ ‘She is my step sister’. ‘Wha…was this all set up?’ ‘Anna, honey I would love to worship your body every day. Wouldn’t you love to play with my dick, everyday? I am grateful to Claire that she introduced me to you – otherwise, I wouldn’t have known the definition of true beauty’, Mark said as he moved down south to kiss Anna on her navel and then began to fondle her breasts. Mark had one hand on her breasts and other on her pussy. He was rubbing it hard and she was moaning in desire. ‘More….I want you inside me, baby… fuck me harder’. ‘I will do all that you want me to do, my lovely sex-kitten. Just let your friend know how you are feeling’, Mark replied as he dialed Claire’s number and handed over the phone to Anna. ‘Hello….’ This was Claire’s voice on the phone. ‘Hi Claire…’, Anna said as Mark moved two fingers inside her clit and simultaneously sucked her very hard nipples. ‘Anna, is that you?’

‘Mark…fuck me hard….I want you so badly’, Anna dropped the phone as her hands reached out for his shaft and she began to play with it, moving it up and down. ‘Take it in your mouth’, Mark commanded as he moved into the 69 position, his fingers and mouth both delighting Anna’s pussy. ‘Yes, sir…I will do as you say’ ‘Cum for me, Anna’. He rubbed her hard and she was sucking him with full force, they continued to play with each other until both of them reached orgasm simultaneously. She squirted on his mouth and he licked her juices efficiently. A second later, he exploded his load inside her mouth and she swallowed it, not wasting even a drop. Anna seemed to be contended in Mark’s company as he was now thinking about his stepsister and how he would satisfy her…..

MARK, I am ready

‘HEY SIS, you ready for me?’ I heard Mark’s teasing tone. ‘Mark, stop teasing me. I know you won the bet. Let’s get home first’, I said as I pressed the accelerator of the car, hoping we could reach faster. ‘Okay, tell me about Anna, how is she in bed?’ I asked. ‘Well, I am sure you will be a lot hotter. I can’t wait to lick your lovely pussy’, there was victory in Mark’s voice. Yes, he had won the bet and as per the deal could have me whichever way he liked. ‘Mark, mom dad are gonna be upset’. ‘Only if they come to know’, Mark winked. My body froze as his hands moved to touch the inside of my thigh. For a moment, I forgot I was driving and the accelerator just got pressed harder. ‘Sis, you are over speeding.’ ‘Stop calling me sis. It just does not feel right’. I shouted. His hands moved again, this time a little higher on my thighs. ‘MARK…. If you let me concentrate on driving, I promise I will get you home faster than you would expect. Besides, mom dad are not going to be in town for at least a week now. So, we have all the time that we need.’ ‘Okay, sis…er…sorry Claire, tell me something…have you never

fantasized about me?’ ‘I…I have… a number of times.’ ‘Tell me about one of those fantasies’, he said as I pressed the brakes. We had finally reached home. All I cared about now was getting fucked – fucked my Mark – living my fantasy! Mark, with his super toned body and rugged looks was devastatingly handsome – every girl’s dream. We entered the living room and I threw myself on the couch. Mark sat next to me. I don’t know why I was a little nervous. This wasn’t my first time, nor was it his first time. ‘Okay, Claire, tell me about your fantasies’, he broke the silence. ‘Wha..’ ‘Yes, I want to know about your fantasies, Claire. I want to hear them out.’ ‘I have fantasized about you touching, kissing and licking me everywhere, I guess that’s it.’ I said lustfully. ‘How?...Tell me Claire, how was I touching you? How did I undress you?’ his dirty talking was making me wet with desire. ‘You undressed me using your mouth….your hands were on my breasts…..and your mouth on my lacy…white…panties…’ I moaned and whispered as he brought his lips closer to mine. Our tongues met and slowly danced in each other’s mouth. Oh….he was soooo….good. Not for nothing did my friends at college drool over him. I was in a different world as his hands moved down my spine. Our lips parted and he whispered, ‘So, did I ever eat your pussy in your fantasy Claire?’ ‘A number of times….’ I moaned trying to move my hands over his shirt. As I tried to unbutton him, his strong hands held mine. ‘We will get to do that all night, Claire. In fact, we have the complete weekend to ourselves. Let’s talk. Let’s get to know each other…’ I wanted to do anything but talk! ‘Alright, how did I eat your pussy Claire? Did my mouth draw circles over your nipples as my hands worked your clit?’ ‘Oh…yes… Mark….I don’t want to talk. I need you….’ I was begging and I heard the ringtone.

ANNA

MARK’S PHONE RANG. ‘Yeah….baby…but before we get to that, I have a surprise for you.’ ‘And what is that?’ ‘Would you mind opening the door?’ ‘I did not hear any doorbell’. ‘Be a good girl Claire, go – open the door’, he commanded. I got up to open the door. ‘Anna?’ I was in a state of shock! Anna walked in and removed her coat. Holy fuck….this woman knows how to seduce! As she removed her coat, both I and Mark could not help but drool over Anna’s curvaceous body. She was dressed in a black corset with red detachable bra flaps. Her pussy was exposed as she wore a crotchless G string and Garter belt. The high vinyl stilettoes looked super sexy too. And her bare ass – that was a treat! And here, I was in my regular jeans and t-shirt. ‘How come Anna is here?’ I looked at Mark. ‘I invited her over. I thought you would need some company, he said as he spanked Anna’s bare ass. Mark, I need that spanking too!

THE TREAT

ANNA LOCKED the door and headed towards the couch where Mark was seated. She sat on Mark’s lap, adjusting her posture so that the bulge of her chest becomes all the more obvious. They kissed wildly – like lovers who had met after so long – I was filled with jealousy. I saw Mark’s fingers move over the swell of her breasts as she pressed her tongue inside his earlobe. Watching the two of them was a different kind of a thrill. I had never been so turned on earlier in my life. ‘Alright Anna, let’s treat your friend here to some wet and wild sex’, Mark commanded. ‘Claire, undress yourself babes’, Anna said. ‘No, Anna. I want you to undress her. Let me watch you’, Mark was in full

control as he once again kissed Anna. They were kissing so intensely – Anna’s hands were under Mark’s shirt, feeling his bare chest and Mark’s left hand was pressing her right breast. His right hand was stroking her pussy. Anna was having the time of her life. My dampness was killing me. I could not resist myself as I moved towards them. They were too engrossed to notice me as I kneeled down on the floor to unzip Mark’s trousers. Mark felt my hands over his erect member and immediately withdrew himself. They broke the kiss and Mark moved three steps away. Anna moved towards me. ‘Wait! Anna you will do exactly as I say, okay.’ ‘Yes, Sir, Anna chuckled playfully pinching my breasts against my top that was now beginning to hurt. My nipples were begging for attention. I did not want to be teased so badly. I could do anything in the world to make love to Mark. ….And Anna. ‘So, first you will kiss her…I mean drown yourself in her mouth as I watch you girls get all over each other’. Anna obeyed and wildly kissed me. She bit my lower lip first and then her tongue moved inside my mouth. Her mouth was exploring the cervices of my mouth and her hands were trying to gain an entry inside my jeans. I tried to press her buttock cheeks. Oh Christ! I had never thought it could get this sexy with Anna. She was the perfect figure, and it felt so damned great. ‘Remove her t-shirt, Anna’, I heard Mark’s voice. Anna obediently removed my t-shirt and planted moist, wild kisses on my shoulder, my neck, my tummy and began unfastening the hooks on my bra. ‘No, let that be there…Remove her jeans’, it was Mark again, his hands on his erect member. My nipples were piercing against my bra, I wanted to get out of it as soon as possible and here Mark was not letting Anna undress me. ‘Mark, I want to kiss you…I want to kiss you all over…I want to hold that lovely dick of yours and taste it….please’, I begged as my hands moved towards the detachable flaps of Anna’s corset. ‘Anna, let me suck your nipples…please…’,I begged once again as Anna moved her tongue inside my navel. I was about to tear open Anna’s corset as I heard a voice. ‘No, Claire that is my job. You are not allowed to touch my naughty doll’, Mark commanded once again as Anna removed my shoes and my jeans.

‘Now, use your mouth to remove her bra. Let’s bring her fantasy to life’. Anna unhooked my bra strap using her mouth and then removed the side straps, again with her mouth. Her tongue brushed passed my supple breasts and she licked one of them. ‘Ummm….your sis is delicious, Mark’, she smiled at Mark. Then, her tongue moved over to my nipples and her hands over my panties. I was dying to feel her sexy curves against my body – in reality, all I cared about was getting fucked. I had never known that someday I would want Anna so badly. She seemed so perfect and it all felt so good. ‘Anna, enough of playing with boobs. I would like you to spare the rest of Claire for me. Why don’t you use your mouth to take off those lovely looking panties?’ Anna’s mouth moved down, kissing and licking my navel once again and then, she was there – her mouth was over my wet panties. I was soaking down there and Anna was licking my juices. Holy fuck! Could this be more perfect! Mark had planned this so well. My first lesbian encounter and I was on cloud nine. I placed my hands over Anna’s hair and shouted – Faaster, Anna. Pleeeeease…..Faster. Love me, Anna….I wanna play with you…I need your hands inside me and I want….I want to suck your peaks… ‘Alright Anna, take these and tie my voluptuous beauty. Tie her to the chair. I don’t want her to be using her hands or feet at all now – so tie them properly.’ Mark commanded again. Anna took the handcuffs and the satin rope that Mark threw at her. I wanted to use my hands so much – I wanted to feel her body against mine, I wanted to see those lovely breasts, undress her, lick her, pinch her nipples, finger her pussy…..Oh….I wanted to show Anna how beautiful she was. I guess she figured that out and therefore first used the handcuffs to tie my hands. The anticipation of what was going to come next was filling me up – I was so wet – I could feel my thighs wet with my juices dripping down. I wanted to touch myself but was so damn helpless. I was actually at my stepbrother’s mercy and loving every moment of it. Anna then used the satin rope to tie me to the chair. ‘Spread your legs wide’, Mark ordered as he removed his shirt. His tattooed chest seemed tanned and his biceps were so damned toned. I had never seen a guy so handsome as Mark. His eight pack abs…Oh, I could kill to feel those strong muscles and abs.

I sat there admiring my stepbrother in all my naked glory. Anna used another rope to tie my feet to the two ends of the chair – my legs were spread as wide as I could and I felt even more wet and helpless as I noticed Mark admiring my dripping pussy. ‘Okay, let’s leave her alone, Anna darling’, Mark said and Anna was on all fours. She moved towards Mark on all fours. Her ass was probably the sexiest ass I had seen and the manner in which she was shaking it was making me mad with desire. I wanted to play with it and spank her all over. Mark removed his trousers and then his underwear. Anna still on her fours came closer to Mark and took his erection in her mouth! Oh! God, I wanted to be there, I wanted to be a part of it. I was moaning, loudly…and Mark was leaving no stone unturned in teasing me to the max. His hands held Anna’s hair as he groaned, ‘Faster, Anna babes….move it up and down…Tight….up…down…yeah baby….’ ‘Mark, don’t tease me, I wanna cum and feel you….’I was shouting and moaning from my distant chair. ‘Anna…jack it up today….faster….tighter….you are so good….my beautiful darling…’, he was groaning. Anna was working really fast and I was moaning too loudly…..Mark….I need you….I am begging you….please…..play with me, Mark…..let me show you how I can Jack it up….. Anna’s movements became more intense – she moved faster and Mark came in her mouth. She swallowed his curd and got up to hug him. He opened the flaps of her bra and began sucking her breasts. He used one hand to rub her pussy and the other to rub her ass. His lips were alternating between the two breasts as he licked them ……sucked them……. played with them. Her pussy was gyrating in slow, rhythmic motion and the pleasure of Mark’s touch was evident on her face. ‘Claire…’, I heard his voice between my loud moans. ‘Yes…’, I moaned. ‘Would you like to join us?’ ‘Oh…yes…holy fuck! YES’, I moaned in delight. He continued rubbing Anna as he said, ‘So, if we open your handcuffs and release you, what would you do?’ I could hear Anna moaning in delight and moving her lips over his nipples. ‘I would take that gorgeous cock of yours and put it in my mouth….’ I

moaned as Anna continued to suck his nipples and he moved his fingers inside Anna’s clit. I wasn’t sure if it were two fingers or three fingers…I could simply see Anna’s face …She looked gorgeous as she moaned in pleasure. ‘That’s the right spot, baby….rub me there…’, she moaned. Apparently Mark had found her G spot. ‘Then…..Claire? What would you do with my cock in your mouth?’ Mark questioned as he continued to pleasure Anna. ‘I am cuming baby….give it to me harder…I am cuming for you….’, Anna was shouting. ‘Mark….. I will lick that lovely cock, suck it hard…..in my mouth…all the way to my throat…I will play with your balls….’, I was moaning as they teased me even more. ‘Ok, then….What next Claire?’ Mark said as his hand continued to pleasure Anna. This man was so good at multitasking! ‘Mark…harder baby…I am cumming…’Anna was shouting as she squirted over his hand. Mark removed his fingers from her pussy, brought them to his mouth, licked one finger and came closer to me as Anna sat there watching. ‘Yes Claire, what next?’, he asked me. ‘I will play with your balls and let you play with my tits…Mark….I need you….please take me….please’, I begged as he brought his ‘wet from Anna’s juices’ finger close to my mouth. I licked it like a hungry bear, begging for more…. And then I felt Anna down…she was sitting in front of my chair, licking my dripping pussy. It felt heavenly. ‘Mark…let me feel your bodies…let me touch you….’, I was pleading. ‘Patience, baby…Patience is what will get you rewards. Let your friend try and give you some more pleasure…you liking it baby?’ Mark whispered bringing his lips closer to my ear. He licked my ears and his hands moved over my swollen breasts. I moaned as Anna licked my pussy and Mark played with my breasts. They were both so good. I wanted them both…and I wanted them so badly…. And then…I felt my hands and feet loosen. Anna was taking off the satin rope from my body and Mark was on his knees now, licking and sucking my breasts. ‘Oh, God Mark, you feel so good….so much better than what I expected’, I bit my lip. I looked at his face, fascinated by his rugged features as he struggled with

his patience and control. I felt Anna planting wild kisses on my nice rounded ass. ‘Argh..’ I cried out with intense pleasure as my hands moved over to play with Mark’s hard and waiting member. I was now on the floor and Anna was sucking my breasts. Mark had one hand on my pussy and another on Anna’s breast. Our lips parted, as I pushed Anna aside and wrapped my legs around Mark, crossing my ankles just above his buttocks. I pulled him closer to my entrance. The fat, rounded tip of his shaft entered slowly, stretching the tight circle of my entrance. As I felt the delightful swell of flesh, I tossed my head back and released a groan of pleasure. Anna, meanwhile was licking Mark’s ass. God! It felt divine! ‘More’, I panted tightening my legs around his waist. He inched a little further, making my eyes pop with sensation. He felt even bigger than he looked. I felt my muscles contract and release hurriedly, in order to expand for him. ‘Ugh’, he groaned. ‘Mark, I want you…I want you deep inside me…And Anna….. I want you to continue eating Mark’s ass as he empties his load inside me….then…I want you to swallow both of us…lick my pussy after Mark is done…..and you will be able to taste both of us…..’I whispered loud enough to be heard. ‘Sure, Claire. I have wanted to eat that lovely, pink pussy of yours since a long time,’ Anna was moaning as she kissed Mark’s tailbone. ‘Claire,’ Mark wheezed as his hips jerked a little. ‘I don’t want to hurt you….I want to make it the best so far for you….wet and wild.’ ‘Don’t say a thing. You are not hurting me. Please. Mark, I need you,’ I insisted. ‘Good God,’ he panted, his hips driving forward until he was buried to the hilt. ‘Mark, you feel so good.’ ‘You feel awesome too, baby’. ‘Is Anna taking care of your ass?’ ‘Urgh…’he moaned, kissing my cheekbone and then finding my lips. ‘Claire, you are so tight, so good’, he mumbled against my mouth. I groaned as his rigid length swept across the slick softness of my body until he was just hovering at my entrance. ‘Harder’, I cried in ecstasy. This time there were no questions. He thrust his hips deeper, forced his

erection into my body, deeper than before. ‘Oh, yes!’ I screamed. This was the most explosive pleasure I had ever experienced. I had been extremely good with my hands and would often stimulate my G spot with my hand. However, until Mark, I don’t think I had ever noticed anything soooooooooo pleasurable. I don’t know if it was his size, style or something else. Or was it Anna? All I knew was that I had never ever experienced such intense pleasure in my life. I guess, Mark was all I needed. I was on the verge of climaxing myself. ‘Claire…you are so beautiful…,’ he whispered. ‘And what about me, baby?’ I heard Anna’s voice. ‘Damn, the two of you are an explosive combination,’ he groaned as Anna moved her hands towards her clit with her mouth totally focused on Mark’s tailbone and ass. ‘Faster,’ I begged. ‘Harder.’ My plea triggered something in him and he broke into a rapid pumping rhythm. He went as deep as he could, and then withdrew almost completely – every single time! Christ! It was divine! The movement of his shaft was hurried and he was giving me exactly what I needed. I rolled my hips and stimulated my clit against his pubic bone whenever it was close enough to be pressed against me. ‘Mark,’ I moaned. ‘Yes, yes…’ ‘Yes Mark..’ I was shouting in ecstasy. ‘Oh, God Claire…’ he hissed. His eyes were shut and the muscles of his buttocks seemed to be clenched. Then….his hips jerked against mine and he exhaled…’Jeez..’ he mumbled as I felt the warmth of his juices inside my body. He opened his eyes really slow and continued to roll in lazy circles that was leading my orgasm to roll on and on. I wanted him to be inside me forever. He slowly released his weight off me and let Anna take over. He kissed the nape of my neck and whispered, ‘You are beautiful,’ as Anna began licking my pussy. I noticed my orgasm build up again. ‘You liking it, Claire?’ he asked. ‘Yeah…I am loving it. It is incredible,’ I moaned as Anna licked my pussy and then thrust her tongue inside my clit.

I held Mark with one hand and pressed Anna’s head into my clit with the other hand. ‘Anna…baby give it to me faster…Rub me hard…’ Mark got up to kiss Anna’s ass as she licked my pussy. I heard Anna moan as he spanked her hard on her ass cheeks. And then, I heard him groan – once again. Anna was moaning in delight as Mark inserted his shaft inside her tight asshole. The three of us did not care if the world heard our moans. All we needed at that time was another round of wet and wild sex. Mark was thrusting his shaft into Anna’s tight hole and Anna was shouting, ‘Deeper…please…deeper..’ I was sucking Anna’s nipples and she was fingering my clit – I did not even realize that she had three fingers inside me – she was so good… I returned the favor, my hands inside Anna’s clit and Mark’s dick fucking her from behind. It was so damn wild. All of us came together as I squirted on Anna’s hand and she reciprocated. Mark released his load over Anna’s ass and we lay on the floor…naked… preparing ourselves for another round. After, all we had the weekend to ourselves. And we were happy to lie down there for hours……

DOUBLE TROUBLE (DADDY’S 2 BEST FRIENDS)

CHAPTER 1

MAYA PULLED into the long driveway of the house and shut the engine off as she blissfully thought about the beautiful beach that was waiting for her just out of the back steps. Summer break was here, and she was going to relax. Her first year at Harvard studying Criminal Law had not been an easy one. Maya was a very smart girl and pulled the high grades she was accustomed to, but she had time for little else at school, and she craved peace and quiet. She had that here at her Dad’s house while he was gone for another couple of weeks on business overseas.

Maya got out of the bright blue Escalade and looked around at the sand that had blown haphazardly around the front yard with a small smile. This was home to her, so much more so than the condo that her father had bought in Boston. She tossed back her thick dark curls and walked to the front door to unlock it and push the heavy wooden obstacle open as she looked inside. Dad had bought this seven years ago after Mom died of Ovarian Cancer. There had been a lot of insurance money, and he wanted somewhere for his only daughter to get away since she was struggling so much with the loss. Maya had fallen in love with it and stayed here as much as possible. The house was in Martha’s Vineyard in a private little cove, and she loved it. It was close enough to town to go for dinner or drinks, but she often found herself here relaxing alone. Maya walked in and glanced at her thick figure in the mirror with a critical eye. She took after her mom with her generous curves and dark brown eyes, and it seemed that a lot of guys didn’t seem to love it. There were a million skinny nothings at school that they all flocked to, and she sighed slowly. When she thought about what she didn’t do in college, guys were at the top of that list. Oh, well. She was on the dean’s list, right? She continued into the expansive living room and curved to the right where her large bedroom was located as she smiled. It backed right up to the beach and had a lot of windows to make her remember that, as well as a secure French door with pretty shades of stained glass to add color to the mostly light colored room. Maya threw her bags on the bed and kicked her flats off under the bed as she unzipped her large bag to start hanging up her clothes. She heard the front door open from across the large house and tilted her head. “Maya? Are you here?” It was her dad’s best friend James Brocky, and she smiled as she thought about how handsome he was. “Just got here. I’m in my room.” She replied and heard him walking across the hardwood floors of the living room. He poked his head in the door, and she watched as his eyes took her in slowly for a moment. Maya felt her skin flush as the stunning man finally lifted his gaze to her face. “That dress suits you.” “Thanks,” Maya barely managed to whisper as she swallowed the lump in her throat. Her father was only forty-five and his best friends James and Cory were just a couple of years younger and handsome as fucking hell. They were also single. They worked at the base office in Boston with him and made extremely good money handling the real estate locally while they hit the gym hard and took care of themselves. Today, James was dressed in some long black board shorts and a tight t-shirt that showed off all of his hard work.

“How was the drive?” James pressed as he moved into the room and over to the window. “I was coming out here anyway, so I thought I’d say hi. I wanted to see that you got home safe.” “Long but good. I can’t wait for some down time.” Maya admitted as James shot her his crooked smile that probably dropped a lot of panties. “Want to grab some dinner in town after you settle in? We could get some drinks and just catch up. Paul says you’re doing very well at Harvard.” James casually chatted even as she felt his eyes brushing over her exposed skin in the coral dress that she wore. It was short and hung over her curves and flowed around her thighs as she moved. “Is Cory around?” Maya asked as she thought she saw James frown a little. Cory was the opposite of his dark hair and eyes and smoldering looks with tousled light Blonde hair and intense green eyes, and she was very close to him as well. If she were honest, then she wanted him there as well. “We could all catch-up.” “I’ll send him a text and see what he’s up to,” James replied as she smiled and let her eyes drift down his muscled torso. “You know I am only twenty, right? I can’t drink outside of the house.” Maya looked back into his face as a confident smile crossed his face. “I have that covered. You are going to relax after your heard semester tonight, no worries at all.” James assured her as he met her gaze for a torturous heated moment. “You’ve grown up so much, Maya. You’re stunning.” “Oh, James,” She blushed as she felt heat race up her thighs and widened her eyes. “Thank you. You’re looking good these days too. Any girlfriends at the moment?” He thickly swallowed as she watched him closely. “I’ve been pretty busy, so no. How about you? Any guys at school?” His voice held a heavy tone of curiosity, and she shook her head slowly as she ran her hands over her thighs to dry off her damp hands. “Not a one,” Maya admitted as he pressed a hand to the bridge of his nose. James said that he was going to go down to the water for a while and left her to unpack in the house alone. “Interesting.” Maya murmured as she hung things in the closet while playing Pandora over her brand new phone. She knew that she was a bigger girl, but she also had the best mixture of looks from her black mother and Korean father. Maya had the darker skin from her beautiful mother, but her eyes took after Paul, and she had a particular exotic look about her. It wasn’t even that nobody approached her at school, but Maya had never felt interested in the popular frat guy or even most guys her age.

Growing up with a father that treated her like a queen with two friends that looked the way James and Cory did guide Maya down a different path than her friends. She respected them as older men but had started lusting after them when she got a little older, and teenage hormones had kicked in. Maya couldn’t count the number of times she had masturbated to thoughts of one of the other, sometimes both. That was her ultimate fantasy: two self-assured men taking her at the same time and showing her the pleasure that she had wanted all of her life. Fuck the fact they were best friends with her father right now. She adored him but she was a big girl, and he wasn’t here to know a thing.

CHAPTER 2

JAMES POPPED BACK in a couple of hours later with some alcohol to add to the stash there. He told Maya that Cory was in for tonight and raised his eyebrow as she licked her lips and set her Kindle down on the chaise lounge she was sitting on. The house boasted a beautiful back deck with a pool and a very nice BBQ station and she had chosen to relax for a little while in some skimpy cutoffs and a bright green sheer tank with a thin camisole underneath. She was going to have her way tonight and Maya planned on pulling out all of the tricks to get it. “Great, James. Thanks for calling him. I am looking forward to tonight.” “Want a drink to start it off?” James asked her as he headed over to the outside bar area. “I’d love that.” She told him to surprise her when he asked what she’d like and leaned back to watch as he stripped his shirt off and tossed it to the railing casually. Fuck she wanted to lick him so bad. James made something easily and brought over a glass that had a bright red liquid in it. He leaned down to hand it to her and she almost reached out to touch him. Maya smelled it, and it was perfect for this setting: sweet and tropical. “Thank you.” She sipped it, and the liquid easily slid down her throat as he watched her drink it with tension in his eyes. “I know that I am not supposed to be feeling this way about you, Maya. Fuck, Paul is my best friend, and I have known you since you were little.” James softly told her as he stood up and ran his hands through his cropped hair. “I noticed you when you started to hit the teens, and you were gorgeous then…

and so young.” “I am not that young now.” Maya spread her legs open on the chair and leaned forward as she sipped the drink again. “No, you really aren’t.” James agreed as he licked his lips and looked down at her. “Anything that happens, he can’t know about. Paul would kick my fucking ass over it.” “Of course not.” Maya shakily agreed before she finished off the drink and handed the glass to him. “Another please?” “I also don’t fuck drunk girls that aren’t capable of making a decision,” James warned her as she stared up at him. “Take it easy, Maya.” He went to fix her another drink and handed it to her before he sat down beside her with a beer of his own. James and Cory were here so much that they had their own rooms and clothes, so it was no surprise to her when James got up to take a shower for dinner. They had been flirting heavily, and Maya felt the slight effects of the alcohol as much as she felt the desire coursing through her. She rested back against the cushioned chair and let the breeze blow over her as she ran her hands through her curly hair. “I want you so much right now,” Maya softly whispered as she closed her eyes and focused on her throbbing pussy. Hands slipped over her legs, and Maya opened her eyes to see him going for her tiny shorts. “I can smell you, Maya. I can smell how wet you are for me.” James unbuttoned them and looked around to see if anyone was around. “Is there anyone on the beach?” “I am so glad your dad wanted a private setting,” James gratefully said before he slipped the denim down her thighs. “Jesus, you’re dripping.” He moved her tiny thong to the side and slowly traced the skin of her upper thighs with his thumbs. “Have you ever been fucked before, Maya?” “No. I always wanted you. The guys at school, have never turned me on the same way you do.” She moaned as she dropped her head back. “Cory as well?” James questioned her as she bit her lip hard. “I know he’s thought about you this way as well. Should we wait for him to get here?” He lifted his fingers to stroke her folds hard as she cried out and dropped her legs open. “God, no.” Maya groaned as he found her sensitive nub and slipped the tip of a finger inside of her. The sound of the waves dimmed in the background, and she thrust her hips up a bit to make him go deeper. James circled her clit as she lifted her hands and clutched the chair. There was a pressure inside of her that was rising to the surface, and Maya knew that it was going to overcome her in a way that nothing had before.

She bit her lip and closed her eyes as a keening sound came from her throat. It changed to a yelp when he removed his hand from her body and opened her eyes to watch him crawl between her legs and meet her eyes as he breathed on her pussy hard. James leaned in and licked her firmly and slowly as she stared down at him. “You taste like honey.” He licked her several more times and then separated her and sucked her clit between his lips as she rocked forward uncontrollably. “James…oh, James.” Her voice was rising as she felt his mouth sucking her and his fingers stroking her and all of her senses started to combine as she felt the pressure release. He kept his movements hard and fast as she came and she dropped her hands to grasp his head and dig her red nails into his skin as he winced and raised a hand to grab hers. “Baby…you’re going to leave marks.” She dropped her arms to the side and rode out her orgasm as he nuzzled her and drank her in slowly. “What the fuck did you just do to me?” Maya asked as she felt her bones transform into jelly, and her body go lax on the chair. “Whatever it was, I like it. Take a shower with me and wash up for tonight.” James invited her as Maya stared up at him silently. She managed to stand and grabbed her things absently to put them into the house before he took me upstairs to the loft area where he and Cory stayed. There were two bedrooms with attached bathrooms up there and a loft area that served as space where they watched television and worked on their computers. Maya hadn’t been up there, and she followed him into one of the rooms as she looked slowly around. James loosened his shorts and Maya watched as he slid them down his toned legs in awe. He was bare underneath, and she admired his ass before he turned to face her and she stared at his long hard cock. “Take that shirt off and show me your body, Maya. I want to see all of you.” Maya lifted both shirts up and over her head before she dropped them onto the floor and fought the urge to cover herself. She blushed and looked down at her hands as he approached her and clutched her wrists in one large hand. Maya lifted her eyes to his, and he gazed intently at her for several seconds. “Come with me.” James took one of her hands and led her into the large bathroom, where he turned on the shower and tossed some clean towels on the counter. “In.” Maya stepped under the hot spray and closed her eyes as it slid down her skin. She felt him behind her, hard and pressing into her ass as he slid his arms up the side of her body. James moved his hands around to cup her full breasts and tease the hard nipples with his thumbs as she dropped back against him.

James adjusted himself to rub his cock between her legs and she nibbled on her lip as more desire surged through her. She turned to face him once she couldn’t take it anymore and reached up to pull his face down to hers to give him a deep, hungry kiss. Their tongues moved together instantly as she slipped one of her hands down his neck and then over his shoulders. He was one of the most gorgeous men that Maya had ever seen, and she opened her mouth wider to give him full control. Her hand slipped over his back and down his side as she felt him shiver and groan softly. James took her hand and brought it down to his cock as he circled his palm over hers and showed her how to stroke it slowly. Their kiss deepened into a messy embrace as they ate at each other and she continued to stroke him as he rocked forward. She groaned as she pulled away to look down at him, dripping and desperate, and slipped down to her knees as he watched her silently. “I need to…I want you.” Maya looked at the purple head that was pointing up and away from her mouth and took it gently with one hand to take it deeply into her mouth and suck lightly. Her other hand slipped between her legs to touch herself and give herself anything like what he’d done to her outside. Maya’s body was sensitive, and she wept against his body for a moment as she slipped him deeper into her throat. James wrapped a hand in her wet hair and tugged her in a rhythm that he matched with his hips as she slid a finger inside of herself. “Yes, baby. Fuck yes.” James groaned as he rocked into her and increased in size as she moaned with him. “Swallow me.” He thrust and released inside of her mouth as she scraped a finger over her clit and weakened gently as she released along with him. Maya struggled to keep up with him as she sucked him down into her throat and tasted his come that was almost choking her. She pulled him closer with one hand by his ass and drank him in even deeper as he grunted and stared down at her.

CHAPTER 3

“WHAT DO we have going on here?” A masculine voice interrupted them once they had rinsed off and started to walk out of the shower. Cory was standing there smirking as Maya moved to cover herself shyly with one of the towels. “Fucking daddy’s little girl, James?”

“Not yet,” James told him as he met Cory’s eyes through the steam of the bathroom. “We were waiting for you.” “It’s about damn time. I’ve been watching you blossom for years into this body.” Cory said with relief in his voice as Maya stared at him. He and James seemed too comfortable with each other, with this situation. Had they done this before? “Settle down, Cory,” James said as he walked forward and slipped his arms over Maya’s shoulders. “Nobody has touched her before. Maya is innocent…at least until today.” James suggestively said as he stroked her skin almost unconsciously. “I can assure you that she’s very passionate when she wants to be.” “I don’t doubt it,” Cory replied as he stepped forward and looked into her eyes. “Does it feel like you’re going to hell yet, James?” “In some ways, yes. We have an agreement, though. He’ll never know that any of this happened, but she wants this.” James said as he tugged on her long hair. “Don’t you, Maya?” “Yes,” She only had to utter one word before Cory’s eyes darkened and he stepped closer. “I promised her a nice dinner out tonight. She just arrived for a break from school.” James spoke sharply, and Maya blinked as Cory narrowed his eyes. “We have two weeks here alone with her, but we won’t be waiting that long.” “Dinner.” Cory agreed before he turned and walked out of the bathroom. “Drinks and dancing maybe, too,” Maya called out before she heard Cory sigh. “This isn’t about sex tonight, Maya. It’s about you feeling safe with us and your pleasure. We owe you more than just a fuck.” James promised her as he lifted her hair and kissed her neck. They had done such intimate things already, and her skin pebbled with the light press of his lips. “Get ready, beautiful. You are going to be wined and dined tonight before we have you.” James left the bathroom, and she sucked in a breath before she tucked the towel closely around her body. Her body was pulsing from the things they had already done, and she tried to imagine what it would feel like to have two men pleasing her like that. She walked downstairs and went into her bathroom to dry her hair and get something in it to control the frizz before she ran her fingers through it and walked to her closet. Maya felt beautiful as she pulled a clingy deep green dress out and held it up to her body. She returned to the bathroom to apply a little cream to her face to even it out, though not too much. She didn’t want to kill the glow that she had going. She applied some dark liner to her eyes and winged it out before

she applied some mascara and looked over her collection if lip products. Maya put her dress on and turned as she watches the short ruffled bottom flare out around her thighs with her small spin. Maya smiled and turned to see the front of it cling to her breasts and waist that didn’t seem that big right now. If this was how she felt after some foreplay, then what was the sex going to do to her? Maya added some black heels and then dabbed a bit of dark gloss on her full lips to stain it with color before she added a layer of shiny gloss. She grabbed a small purse that she filled with a few necessities before she walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge. “Looking for something?” Cory asked from behind her as she jumped and pressed a hand to her heart. “You scared she shit out of me.” Maya gently reprimanded him as she reached for a bottle of wine that was in the door. Cory took it and poured her a glass before he took her in with his eyes. “You look stunning tonight.” “Thank you.” She looked him up and down in his black jeans and gray button up shirt before she met his eyes. “So do you.” “Are you sure about this? Are you sure about us?” He waved his hand in the air and looked thoughtfully at her as she sipped the wine. “I have always wanted this. I think it took me leaving and realizing that the boys there at school weren’t going to be the right choice for me.” Maya thoughtfully said as she kept looking at him. “Maybe after tonight, they’ll never be, but I have to try this.” He still looked worried. “I’m twenty. I am in college, and I can make big girl decisions like this.” Maya smiled at him. “You’re not that much older.” “Your father would disagree,” Cory told her before he stepped forward and took a sip from her glass. “This is our secret, Cory.” He stared at her before he pressed his lips against hers in a firm kiss. She parted her mouth and accepted his tongue willingly as she let her own dance with it slowly before the kiss deepened. Cory pressed her against the kitchen counter and slipped his hands over her hips to pin her there as he tilted his head to deepen it even further. “I don’t even want to go to fucking dinner. I want to eat you.” He grumbled as he pulled away enough to talk before he kissed her again. “I didn’t eat on the drive here, so I do need some food,” Maya softly went against his wishes, and he smiled. “You will need it because I am going to make you feel so good tonight,” Cory promised her before he stepped away and took a deep breath. James stepped into the kitchen dressed similarly to Cory and eyed them with a

wicked gleam in his eyes.

CHAPTER 4

THE THREE CALLED for a car and took it to a five-star restaurant on the water where they both quizzed her about school. In some ways, James and Cory were like fathers to her since she’d known them for so long. In other ways, they were a fantasy that was going to come true. They ordered wine and sipped it as they ate fresh seafood and talked for a couple of hours after dinner. James then led her by the hand to the intersection as Cory followed. Maya looked slowly around as she wondered if anybody was looking at them. Did they know what she was planning? They went to a smaller club, one that men would take a girl to and not the kind of vapid place that any college guy would bring her. Everyone seemed to know the guys and she was given another drink as she raised an eyebrow at James. There was a band playing some catchy jazz with a woman singing, and Maya found herself captivated by the music as they settled into the booth in the corner. She leaned forward and sipped her fruity drink as she felt two hands on her thighs, each belonging to a different man. The men took turns teasing her to release with their hands on their thighs and under her lace underwear as she pressed back into the seat and lost her composure with all of it. Maya couldn’t decide who was better as she spread her legs and bit her lip to keep from crying out. They stayed until they couldn’t take it anymore and before they drank too much. Both Cory and James didn’t want her to be drunk for this, and they slipped her into the back of the sedan for the ride home. She leaned against James and found his lips in the dark. Cory slipped his hand under the soft material of her dress to cup her breast as her tongue danced with James’ and she wilted against them. They made it to the house, and James unlocked the door before he pushed her inside. Cory closed and locked the door behind him before he kissed her hard, and she clung to his neck. James moved behind her and lifted her dress to access her pussy as he stroked her clit hard and fast. She groaned against Cory as he lifted her and James followed them up the stairs as he made sure that Maya was safe. They fell onto one of the beds in one of the rooms, and she struggled to pull off her dress as James helped her. The only item of clothing

that she wore underneath were the tiny panties, and she fell back on the bed as someone covered her and sucked a nipple into his mouth. Teeth dragged against her, and Maya cried out as she felt a pair of hands rip off her underwear and spread her thighs. Someone buried their mouth between her thighs and feasted on her as Maya slipped her hands into the hair of the man worshiping her nipples. Short hair. It was James, and she pulled him closer as she arched her back and panted from everything that was happening to her. Cory was the one tasting her this time as she came and James covered her mouth in a hungry kiss. It was intense, and she jerked up against him as she felt the drawn out release. Fingers slipped inside of her, and she helplessly clung to James as Cory massaged her tight walls. She was left alone for a moment and looked around in the dim room to see her men stripping off their clothes as her eyes glazed over. Even in the light that was on in the room showed off everything that they had to offer and she scooted up onto the pillows. Cory finished first and moved onto the bed to join her as he kissed her swollen lips. He still tasted like her. James sat down and pulled up a square wrapper and stared at it for a moment. Cory was slipping his fingers over her as James rolled the condom on and the men shared a look. It was as if they planned it this way and she stared down between her legs as James positioned himself before her. She was still wet from before, and he pushed gently inside of her as she moaned softly. Cory kept his finger moving over her as James pushed a little more with his mouth kissing her chest in little pecks of his mouth. He would lean in to suck her between his teeth here and there, and she moaned as James went even further. It didn’t hurt more than a slight pinch, and she begged him to go deeper as her body screamed silently for it. She wanted all of him and all of Cory, and she reached her hand out to grasp Cory in her hand and stroke him as he pinched her nipple and moaned. James went all the way in as she looked down and saw their connection and then looked into his eyes. “I want you hard. I want you fast.” Maya softly told him in the room as she tightened her grip on Cory’s cock. James pulled back and started moving fast as he thrust inside of her over and over. Cory jerked as he came all over her hand and Maya let out a little scream as she felt James swell inside of her and slide against her as he grunted and thrust harder. “So good, James. I am so close. Come inside me.” She was babbling, but Maya didn’t care as she felt her body disconnect and lighten with her orgasm as she closed her eyes and lost track of where she was for a moment. It was Cory that took her next, on her knees as he drove himself into her

and she clutched the headboard as she pushed back. Against him hard and fast. He didn’t wait too long after James to slide his condom on and tell her to turn over. It was painful in a way but so addicting, and she cried out with every thrust as she closed her eyes. They rested on the mattress with some cold wine for a few moments. They were still naked and tangled in each other, and Maya looked from James to Cory with a sated smile. “How do you feel?” James asked her as he met her gaze. “I knew that it was going to be like that. I knew that you were the right ones for me.” Maya responded as she stroked Cory’s chest with her hand slowly. “I can’t wait until we can do it again.” Within an hour, she was on her knees with Cory in her mouth as James took her from behind. Before she could come that way, she found herself riding Cory and sucking her essence off of James. It was overwhelming as she rocked against him with her back to him while Cory thrust up inside of her and James held her face so he could fuck it hard and fast. Cory came while she was swallowing everything that James gave her. She fell into sleep for a short period in the large bed before she’d wake up touching one of them or with one of them touching her. Maya’s body was so tired but needy as she took both of them two more times during the night, rough and hard. She fell into a deeper sleep in between them as she wondered how she could ever find something better than this. In the morning, they got up together, and James cooked breakfast as Cory and Maya snuggled together on the couch and drank coffee. They ate outside as she rested her leg over James at the table and planned their day. Maya hadn’t been down to visit the water yet so that was first on the list after breakfast and she pulled on her turquoise two-piece bathing suit with a sheer white cover-up before theta chased her onto the sand. She felt light and happy as she turned left and ran towards the small cluster of rocks where she often found sea life in the tide pools. They played on the rocks and in the water for a few hours before she led them into a shallow but private cave. They both got long blow jobs as she took them on her knees and then managed to find a ledge to sit on while they both took her, one after the other. They were bare, but none of them cared as she clung tightly to them as they made love to her in the dark space. Their moans and whimpers filled the space as they came deep inside of her and she kissed them softly during their release. They went to dinner again that night to an Italian place this time. They drank red wine and ate pasta on bread, and James took her to another club, this

time, one that she’d go to as a college student. The vibe was heated in there as they drank and danced together, and Maya loved taking turns with the men as she seduced them on the floor. She loved going home and going right back to bed with them, this time in the other room. They maneuvered her between them easily, and she looked down at Cory as she rode him while James parted her and slipped a finger into her ass slowly and gently. She cried out with the feeling, and he matched the rhythm that she had with Cory until she came apart between them. Cory and James were there with her as much as they could be for the next two weeks after work and on the weekends. They were forming a strong bond, and she enjoyed every moment that she had with them, just going out to dinner or coffee shops. They spent as much time in the house as they could, and she let them take it anywhere that they wanted to. The night that she had them both inside of her was incredible. Maya was riding James and Cory took her from behind after he lubed up his cock. She felt trapped between the men, but she loved it as they moved in sync. She came harder than she ever had in her life and tears slid down her cheeks as Cory wrapped his arms around her. They spent their last nights together dining at the house on the deck. The guys grilled, and James made them drinks as they avoided the topic of Maya’s dad coming home. She pressed against them inside of the hot tub that bubbled near the end of the infinity pool and took tums kissing her men that were growing to mean so much to her. Maya gave them each their own time with her after they dried off since she had never just been with one man. They were similar yet different. They made her feel all kinds of wonderful and she knew that she would always want the both of them after this experience. She went to sleep cuddled between them and memorized their scent, one like the sea and one like the trees in a forest though she didn’t care which scent went to what man. It didn’t matter at all. The following night, she slept alone in her room in anticipation of her father coming home. It was quiet and lonely, and she listened to the sounds of the waves from the beach that came through the open windows in the loft. Paul arrived home first thing, and she cooked him breakfast as she talked about school and all of her classes with him sitting at the same table that she had eaten at with James and Cory. They made an appearance later in the day to go to dinner, and the glance that Maya shared with them assured all three that they were still going to sleep together. They would take the time they had together alone when they found it and they would since her father was away more than they were.

She watched them leave that night as she forced a smile on her face. Maya’s life would never be the same.

THE END

TRIPLE TEMPTATIONS

ALISHA REYES HAD ONLY three things on her wish list for her twenty-first birthday: 1) a car, 2) tequilas at the Blue Diamond, and 3) a real, honest-toGod, orgasm. She already knew that the car was out of the question, and that her friends would be taking her for tequilas, but the matter of achieving the Big O was neither impossible nor possible. It should have been possible—she’d been dating Calvin Harris for six months, now, but they still hadn’t gotten busy. For some reason, she liked the way he kissed and she didn’t mind his eyes falling on her naked body, but his touch repulsed her—there was something about the way his fingers moved on her body that made her skin crawl and made her want to join a convent. The buzzer to her apartment went off. She got off the couch, where she’d been napping, to let the person in without seeing who it was. It was one of those things that she wasn’t supposed to do—it was why she’d gotten an apartment where you could only enter by being buzzed in, after all—but it was four in the afternoon on her twenty-first birthday. There were only so many people it could be, and as she heard heels clacking against the linoleum on the stairs she knew it was Stella. Stunning Stella, Stupendously Gorgeous Stella— whatever, the girl had never looked anything less than gorgeous, with her long, lithe limbs and her body always bikini-ready. It always mystified Alisha, how a girl could be so slender and yet have such a perfect ass. Stella had been modeling since she was six—her skin and hair were tawny and the perfect blend of white, black, Hispanic, Arab, and Greek features made up her face: the little snub button-nose, the wide gold-and-green-rimmed eyes, and thick luscious lips with high cheekbones. It was easy to see why everybody wanted to fuck her, but Stella had always demurred when they went out together, telling the guy who was hitting on her to see if Alisha wouldn’t be more willing. Alisha couldn’t understand why Stella did that. Stella may have been the

pretty one but Alisha was the one who always seemed to have a boyfriend— ever since she was sixteen she’d never gone longer than two weeks without a man in her life. So it wasn’t as if she was free to date whatever guy Stella dumped into her lap, even if he was cute and hot and had biceps bigger than her thighs. And anyway, a dancer’s life wasn’t exactly conducive to being in a relationship. The only reason she and Calvin had lasted as long as they had was because they were both in the same dance company, though they danced different styles so they mostly did different shows. But the dedication to the physicality of their art demanded a lot from them, and until they’d gotten together the longest relationship Alisha had been in was two months—and that was with the man who would later become her stepbrother. “There’s my girl,” Stella called, as her head appeared above the floor. The rest of her quickly followed: she was wearing a sheath dress, with leaves on top of nude panels that had been dyed to match her skin so that it looked as if she were in graver danger of exposing a nipple than she actually was. “Happy birthday!” “Thanks,” Alisha said. “Let me get changed,” she said. “What are you wearing?” asked Stella, as she came in. “I hope it’s something hot.” “I can’t decide,” Alisha said, beckoning Stella into her bedroom. “This one—” a slinky, strapless number, covered in iridescent green sequins “—or this one,” a gauzy, shapeless dress that was just translucent enough to suggest that there might not be anything underneath; Alisha had paired it with underwear that matched her skin tone—a rich, dark brown—to complete the effect, though with her skin tone it was impossible to tell if she was wearing anything underneath it anyway. “Go with the white one,” said Stella, without hesitating. Alisha grinned— she’d favored the white one, too, but she hadn’t been sure she could pull it off. “Nothing underneath it, though.” “Nothing?” “Nothing. Fuck, girl, you’re twenty—one. If you can’t live a little why we taking you out?” “All right, fine,” Alisha said. She shooed Stella out and slid out of her clothes Alisha took a moment to stare at her naked body in the mirror. Curves —she had breasts and hips and muscles on her thighs and calves—stared back at her. For a moment she questioned Stella’s judgment in picking out the diaphanous dress, but when she put it on she was glad she listened. In the dress she looked airy—delicate, even. What costumers never understood about her when they came up with her costumes was how to enhance her curves without

making her seem overly huge and busty and heavier than she actually was. Hard enough being the only black female dancer in the New Haven Dance Company—that the costumes never looked right on her added insult to injury. It was a relatively long dress—and though it was breezy it also draped nicely so unless there was a stiff breeze nobody would see. She could make this work, and as she stepped out Stella nodded her approval, saying, “That’s what I’m talking about.” “I feel like I’m going to flash someone,” said Alisha. “You probably will,” said Stella. “The key is to control it.” “What’s that mean?” “You look lovely,” Stella said, handing her a pair of sandals. They were little more than two pieces of leather with a mess of silver cords holding them in place, running up her leg. “Christ, I do this enough at my job,” Alisha grumbled, as she laced the shoes up to her knees the same way she tied her ballet shoes. “Yeah, but you don’t look this hot,” said Stella. “I have seen you dance— you are beautiful, but you ain’t sexy up there on that stage.” “That’s the point,” Alisha said. But Stella only winked and started heading out. “Makita will meet us at the bar,” Stella said, while they headed down the stairs. Thank God. Makita was the sensible one: she’d majored in accounting and worked in something finance-related. The stories about women who grew up and moved out to the ‘burbs—that was Makita, who’d Succeeded. Stella could get into some pretty wild shit—with Makita along at least the damage would be contained. “Isn’t she pregnant?” Alisha asked. “Yeah, but they make mocktails these days,” said Stella. The Blue Diamond was one of the fancier nightclubs in New Haven. Alisha had never been inside it—she couldn’t afford the cover, never mind the cost of drinks, but Stella had somehow gotten her hands on a VIP pass and she’d promised Alisha that she could get them in without any problem. On this night, as with most nights, there was a line a mile long, and Stella waltzed right up to the bouncer, with Alisha in tow, and flashed a gold card at him. “Right,” the bouncer said, stepping aside and undoing the velvet rope. “But not your friend.” “Oh, but it’s her birthday,” Stella pouted. “Sorry, I don’t make the rules—” “But if she’s not in there with me, how can we do this?” asked Stella, right before planting a kiss on Alisha’s lips. Alisha, surprised as she was by the kiss, was even more surprised to find that she liked the feeling of Stella’s

tongue against her lips, and the grasping, gasping little tugs of Stella’s mouth against hers. A ring of shouts and hoots went up around them, but all Alisha could feel was the delicate play of Stella’s tongue on hers, and feel Stella’s hand warm on her breast, her fingers teasing the nipple so that it tented the fabric of her dress. Stella’s hand slid Alisha’s dress higher and higher up her side, and the coldness of the air against her pussy pulled Alisha back into what was happening. A shock of mortification went through her, but much to her surprise when Stella broke away all Alisha could think was More. The bouncer was visibly flustered, and then Stella guided Alisha’s hand to her own breast, moaning, “You don’t want the party to get boring now, do you?” Finally, the bouncer shooed them both in. Stella blew him a kiss as they stepped past the ropes. “I’ve got to get one of those cards,” said Alisha, trying not to show how rattled she was by the kiss that Stella had planted on her. The inside of the club was dark, black lights and neon lights flashing all over the place. It was too early for the dancing to start, but there was already a sizeable crowd around the edge of the dance space. Club music was pumping through the sound system, a steady thoomp thoomp that stirred the dancer in her, and she could feel her body began to sway to the beat. “Sure, babe,” said Stella, waving. There was Makita, at a booth, a glass in front of her. She didn’t look the least bit pregnant, and as they exchanged kisses and hugs Alisha wondered what was the polite thing to say about her figure. “Hey Makita, tell the birthday girl what she has to do to earn one of these VIP passes.” Makita laughed. “All you have to do is eat out the owner’s pussy in a way that makes her come.” “Quit it,” Alisha said, feeling a blush start over her body. She didn’t like to be reminded that she was the youngest of the three—and she especially didn’t want them to find out that she’d been with Calvin for six months and she was still a virgin. Stella would probably go down on her right then and there. “It’s true,” Stella said. “She’s very particular. If you think you have the skills—” “So what’s the deal with the tequila?” Alisha asked, a little too loudly. Happily, Makita began telling her about the ritual—shot, salt, lime. It’s a good thing I’m a dancer, Alisha thought. She wondered how people who were drunk managed. “People who are drunk don’t order tequila,” Makita said, guessing her thoughts. Stella merely winked. The waitress came around and when she found out

that it was Alisha’s birthday she brought out a shot glass of something blue and purple, and set it on fire. “Happy birthday,” said the waitress, winking at Alisha. “Ooh, she wants to tap that,” Stella said, as Alisha watched the flames die out. “Drink up!” Alisha took a deep breath and tossed back the concoction—surprisingly and pleasantly sour—in one gulp, trying not to sputter when the alcohol stung her throat and eyes. Stella laughed and clapped her on the back. “Now that’s how you celebrate turning twenty-one!” she cried, tears streaming down her face, she was laughing so hard. Alisha could feel the booze working its way through her, the first tendrils already winding their way through her mind, loosening her thoughts and spreading a smile across her face. “So, you still with Calvin?” asked Makita, as they waited for their tequilas to arrive. “Yeah,” she said. “You like him?” “I guess,” she said. “I mean, he’s a nice guy and all, but I can’t stand the way he touches me. It’s like he’s trying to push a button, literally. It’s awkward and horrible and we’ve been together six months and we’ve never had sex.” “You know what your problem is?” asked Stella. “You don’t know how to masturbate.” At that moment their tequilas arrived, lime wedges and little bowls of salt. An awkward silence settled between them as they waited for the waitress to finish setting down the drinks. Makita ordered some cheese-bread, whatever the hell that was—Alisha was too infuriated with Stella to care that Makita was ordering carbs. “I do know how to please myself,” Alisha hissed, even though she suddenly realized that she’d never actually done it. She grew up in the projects —she and her mother and brother and sister had shared a one-bedroom, and there wasn’t much privacy there. Or anywhere, for that matter—the dance academy had even less privacy, four girls sharing one room. Now that she was living on her own it’d simply never crossed her mind to touch herself. “Sure,” Stella said, breezily. “There’s knowing, babe—and then there’s knowing,” she said, leaning into Alisha and sliding her hand up her dress and brushing her finger against the edges of her Alisha’s cunt. Alisha felt a shudder run up her spine. Stella pulled her knees apart. “That’s right,” Stella said, taking her hand and guiding it between her legs, sending a little shiver of pleasure right up her spine. In front of them a group of guys began to stare eagerly, their eyes taking in everything, noticing the flash of pink between her

legs before Stella tugged her dress back over her knees. “Come on,” Makita said, taking up the the salt. “Bottoms up.” It was over faster than she’d thought it would be: drink, salt, bite of the lime. The flavors melted together through the burning alcohol and once again there was a pleasantness that began to seep its way through her. And despite the strangers watching her, pointing at her, Alisha wanted to feel that little shiver again. She felt her knees falling open again, the giddiness taking over— what could possibly go wrong if she were to touch herself? She’d attracted quite a crowd—Stella and Makita had to push the table away from them so that they would keep their distance. “No touching, boys,” Stella was saying. “Tonight she’s flying solo.” Makita reached over and untied the halter top, and the dress fell away to her waist, exposing her breasts for all to see, and with Stella’s guidance Alisha found her hand squeezing her own breast, pinching her own nipples, tugging them into tight little nuggets on her breasts. It was strange, how titillating the sensation was, how happy feeling her fingers on her nipples made her, how the excitement began to rise and swell from those two points on the tips of her breasts. Stella moved Alisha’s other hand between her legs, and when she whisked the fabric of Alisha’s dress up to her waist the coldness of the air on her pussy prompted a rush of heat and Alisha felt her hand grow warm and slick as she found the tender nub of her clit with her fingers. The first touch set off an electric shiver all throughout her body. She felt her eyes roll closed of their own accord as her fingers worked their way around the folds between her legs, gently prodding and eliciting sensations of liquid fire through her body. The world around her faded to one point, that rising swell of pure ecstasy that was pushing its way through her body and suddenly flooded her veins, so much that she was afraid that she was going to burst like the stars that were blinking in her mind’s eye. And then it was over—her body turned into Jell-O, and Stella’s and Makita’s hands were the only thing keeping her in the seat. Around her, the people who’d been staring at her were applauding. Stella pulled her dress back over her breasts. “Welcome to womanhood,” she whispered in Alisha’s ear. Alisha suddenly realized what she’d done, but even though she knew she should be mortally ashamed, she only felt pride, a faint glow of achievement flushing her cheeks. “I have to go to the bathroom,” she said, as she got up. The men who’d been watching her parted before her—one man slid his hand over her breasts but she grabbed his hand and slapped him, and all around them the men and women booed him. He fell back, chastised. That was

the power of being a woman, and when Stella took her back to her place she realized she’d gotten her orgasm—and so much more. There was something incredibly freeing about having been truly seen and found beautiful—she fairly skipped up the stairs to her apartment that evening, wondering what the next day would bring.

CALVIN CAME over to her place before dinner the next night. She’d been expecting Stella again, which was why she’d buzzed him upstairs without asking who it was. As soon as she saw the blond curls, though, she knew she’d made a mistake—and that he’d heard about what she’d done last night. “Calvin,” she said, as coolly as she could manage. “Alisha,” he said. He had his hand behind his back as he came up to her. He had an earnest look on his face, now more so than ever—when they first met he reminded her of a puppy, sweet and innocent, and she’d thought that was a facade. But as they grew together she realized that it wasn’t just a facade—he really was a sweet man, which was why she hadn’t had the heart to break up with him even though he had yet to give her any satisfaction. Now, his face was strangely grim, and she found herself precariously close to hoping that he was handing her a breakup note. But instead he handed her a box: four chocolates from Godiva, and a rose. “Happy belated birthday,” he said, his voice sounding oddly strangled. She blinked, surprised, and let him in. It was the least she could do, given that he seemed disinclined to make a fuss about her masturbating in front of a crowd last night. She at least owed him a civil breakup, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t feel bad about it. He’d done nothing wrong, after all. He’d agreed to wait until she was ready for sex—he planned interesting and fun dates, and when they hit the dance floors together she could tell that the passion between them was real. His touch was certain yet delicate, and his body felt sensuous and strong against hers when they danced together—but he’d never been one for true public affection, and while they got hot and horny on the dance floor, the ardor never translated into their private moments. “I heard about last night,” he said, as she set a glass of water down in front of him. He was more disciplined than she was: no booze, no sugar, only whole grains if he had to have carbs. “That must have been interesting.” “Look,” she said. “I know you mean well. I like you, I really do—you’re a great guy and one day you’ll make the right girl—” “You are the right girl,” he said. “Don’t you feel it?” She didn’t say anything. They’d started out romantically enough, but lately,

she’d found herself getting frustrated with the way he touched her. It had been one thing when they were first dating—she could forgive a few clumsy advances—but it was six months and he still hadn’t figure out that treating her nipples like the joysticks of an X-Box simply didn’t do it for her. She’d given him blow jobs that had him coming so hard and so much it looked as if she were frothing at the mouth, and tried to show him the kind of touches that would turn her on. For some reason, as gifted as he was at commanding the stage, though, he never quite managed to figure out how to please her, and after last night, she’d come to the realization that she didn’t need a man to make her feel like a woman. “Honestly, Cal—you’re a great guy, but you just don’t do it for me,” she said. “And you think you can get off for the rest of your life with vibrators?” he snapped. She flushed. After what had happened last night, she’d taken the dance floor with Stella, and the feel of Stella’s hands on her breasts, gently squeezing as Stella guided her to follow along with her movements, had awakened an awareness in her about what it meant to be touched. Alisha, up until last night, had been willing to accept that one night she would get drunk enough and Calvin would touch her and she would simply accept sex with him because he was her boyfriend. But now—now that she understood what it meant to be touch and be touched, and the power behind a single finger, carefully placed, simply accepting that he would fumble at her while she moaned and groaned and pretended to enjoy it seemed like sacrilege. She couldn’t lie to him or herself anymore: she was ready for sex, just not with him. “I’m sorry,” he said, now. “That was uncalled for.” “I know I can’t get off with you,” she said, finally. That took him back. “What—what do you mean?” he asked. “We’re great together, aren’t we?” “Yeah,” she agreed, “but the way you go about touching me—it just gives me the creeps—” “I’m not the one stripping you naked in front of a crowd—” “I’d let you if it meant you could make me feel—like that,” she said, remembering how powerful, serene, and beautiful she felt, especially when she’d caught the eyes of the women that had been there. “I need to feel like a woman, Calvin, not like a sex toy.” That stunned him into silence, and she could see the tears welling up in his eyes. “I’m sorry,” she began, but he wiped his eyes quickly with the back of his hand and said, “No, I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m sorry that I never understood

what you needed. Please, just give me a chance to learn what to do, and I swear, I’ll make you the happiest woman alive.” She’d never expected to hear that from him. Some begging, sure—all of her previous boyfriends had begged her not to break it off, and some of them had even asked for a last chance. But Calvin was so sincere about it—and she’d be lying to deny that she wasn’t touched by it. Damn it, she thought, because she could feel her own eyes welling with tears and her vision go blurry as she realized that it she owed him one more chance. Because they did fit well together—that was indisputable. And Calvin genuinely loved her—she could see it in his eyes, now, and the look brought her back to the times when they’d danced together, so perfectly in sync, his touch real and passionate. He could make her happy—and she owed him the chance to prove it. “All right,” she said, finally. “But we’ve got to see someone,” she added. He drew away from her. “Really?” he asked. “Look, you’ve had six months—if you haven’t figured it out by now you’re not going to, and damn it, I want you to figure it out,” she said. He bit his lip and nodded. “All right, fair enough,” he said. “But I get to pick. Since I’m the one with the issues about doing it in front of people.” She had to smile at his squeamishness—he couldn’t even say “sex” without blushing. “All right,” she said, kissing him. Her oven timer went off, a little bell that pulled her out of the drama that she was wrapped in. “Stella’s late,” she said. “Want to stay for dinner?”

A WEEK PASSED, a week where Stella came over to help her pick out a vibrator and show her how to use it. She lay in her bed after the sessions. Stella would insist that she be naked, and while Alisha was sure it was entirely for her own gratification, the feel of Stella’s hands on her breasts how gently her fingers parted the folds between her legs were so gentle and loving she didn’t mind being used. And when she felt the vibrator slide inside her and her body close around it as she flipped it on she was sent back to that night in the club, feeling the hungry eyes of the crowd on her as they eyed her body and licked her lips, men and women alike. There had been a feeling of intimacy, as if she was sharing her pleasure with those men and only those men—as she felt the pressure build inside her she remembered the way Calvin touched her when they danced, how certain he could be. And when her body gave in—when the fireworks in her head exploded and all she could see was stars and her body felt like one big puddle of pleasure as it clenched around the vibrator again—

it was with a longing for that passion to be made real. “I’ve got an appointment,” Calvin had told her. “Saturday. With a licensed sex therapist.” “There is a such a thing?” she’d asked. He’d shrugged. “You can find out a lot if you just ask around.” So now she was waiting outside her apartment for Calvin to come pick her up. He had a car—or rather, his parents had given him their old one—and she was looking for the old green Chrysler, acutely aware that, even though she was modestly dressed in a floral, knee-length dress with a cardigan and ballet flats, she was getting stares from drivers wondering if she was a hooker. It would be just her luck if a cop pulled up and asked her if she was waiting for someone. They probably heard, “I’m waiting for my boyfriend,” all the time. Luckily, Calvin pulled up before a cop did. She got in quickly, before she attracted any more stairs. “So where are we going?” she asked. Calvin said, “Somewhere in Harris.” “Harris?” Harris was the richest county in the area, the kind of place where shopping at Whole Foods was the norm and everybody drove a BMW. “Jesus, how much are you paying this guy?” Calvin cocked his head at her and said, “Actually, they said they’d do it for free.” She laughed nervously. “You’ve got to be kidding. I know you’re charming and all but you can’t be that good.” “Hell if I can figure out why,” he said. “At first I thought that maybe they’d want a video of our session but he assured me they don’t do video unless it’s a turn-on for both partners.” “Is it a turn-on for you?” she asked, teasing him now. He blushed and ducked his head in that cute and charming way he had, and for a moment she was able to forget the frustration of the last six months, the needs that had gone unsated, the desires that she’d only recently been able to figure out how to quell, but she couldn’t quench them, not entirely. She wanted to be touched by him—she wanted him to make her feel the way Stella did. The house they drove up to was at the top of a hill, on a long and winding driveway. A valet met them at the door and took the keys to Calvin’s car and drove it to a long garage at the bottom of the hill. The garage had six doors— one of them was open, and he parked it there. Alisha was still trying to get used to the idea that some people had six cars when the front door opened and her stepbrother opened it. “Mars?” she gasped. “What are you—” “Alisha, Calvin,” he said, bowing. “Welcome to Paradise.”

***

MARS TRACY WAS A TALL, imposing man, athletic and muscular, and he towered over Alisha and Calvin as they stepped inside, suddenly aware of how tacky and mean their worn clothes and scuffed shoes seemed next to Mars’ pressed linen suit and shined blue leather shoes. He’d lost the beard and gained a tan, which made him look leaner and hungrier than she’d last seen him. He wore his dark hair slicked back into a neat ponytail. Inside the massive carved wooden doors was a massive foyer with a sweeping spiral staircase white with an intricate cast-iron railing. The rooms of the house were closed off by doors, but there was enough art on the walls and the rugs were fancy enough for them to get the general impression of a latter-day Downton Abbey. There was a slim black side table with a small silver tray on it, and Mars, smiling gestured at it. If you please. It took a moment for Calvin to realize that he was supposed to put his keys and wallet there. Alisha followed suit and set her purse down, a little uncertain about what was going to happen now. “Follow me,” said Mars, opening a door and leading the way down a hallway. “So, uh you know each other?” Calvin asked nervously. “You could say that,” Mars said. “She used to date my brother.” Calvin’s look of discomfort would have been hilarious if it weren’t for the fact that she was feeling the same way. “So what happened?” Calvin asked, as they were shown into a library. “Well, she took him home to meet her father, and—” “He invited us to a family barbecue, and then my dad met their mother,” Alisha finished. “But your last names—” “We were old enough to be emancipated, so we kept our last names after Mr. Reyes married our mother,” Mars said, smoothly gesturing to the chairs. Alisha and Calvin sat down obediently. She began to understand why Mars had been chosen for this task—if someone wanted to back out now they’d be subjected to his imposing figure in front of them. “Hi Ally,” Altaire said, entering from the other door. He grinned sheepishly at her. “Never thought I’d see you here.” He was tall, like Mars, but slimmer. If Mars was a brick of solid muscle, then Altaire was reedy, sinewy, but strong. His hair was the same color and Mars’, but he kept it short and neat —he looked like any other banker and even now she was uncomfortably aware

that if she hadn’t known that he was Mars’ brother she wouldn’t have known his name. He looked pale, as if it’d been years since he’d stepped into the sun. Calvin was starting to look even more panicked than he had been. “So you’re the one she was dating?” he asked, his voice cracking. “No,” Altaire said, smiling. “Though I wish she had—Sol was never good enough for you, you know?” Two and two came together like a thunderclap in her head: so this was what Sol had been up to for the past three years. She knew he was a therapist, but she’d always assumed that meant he had a couch in an office, the same as any other shrink. But a sex therapist— Oh God, he’s going to be watching me have sex with Calvin—and if that didn’t set her weird-o-meter off then the fact that Sol would be telling Calvin how to please her certainly added an element of twisted incest into it. “It’s not as if we’re blood relations,” said Altaire, coming up behind Calvin and placing his hands on Calvin’s shoulders. He began to rub Calvin’s shoulders. “There,” he said. “Just relax. It’s not illegal—” “But it is sure as fuck embarrassing,” said Calvin, as a little sigh of relief escaped him. “That’s a matter of perspective,” said Altaire. “We all love Alisha, we want to see her happy. You make her happy, except in this one regard—so we make her happy. You see how this works?” Much to Alisha’s surprise Calvin nodded. She vaguely remembered that Altaire had studied yoga and was a massage therapist as well. No wonder Calvin basically melted into a puddle. “Yes,” said a new voice—Sol came in through the main door and closed it behind them. She gasped in shock when she first saw him—he’d bleached his hair to a luminous platinum blond, and it floated down to his shoulders like a curtain of white lightning. He was built somewhere between Altaire and Max, and he seemed to glide over the ground more than walk on it. Unlike Altaire and Mars, he was wearing a Nehru jacket, the high collar unbuttoned at the throat. He was dressed entirely in black, and now as he sat down across from Alisha and Calvin she suddenly recalled the suave patter that had charmed her into his arms. At that point, though, she had been just starting out with her career, and the relentless practice schedule and the exhaustion that she was left with took their tolls on their relationship almost before it’d begun. Still, seeing his familiar features—the aquiline nose, the sharp, green eyes that the other two also shared—brought back a wave of good memories. She’d met his brothers at that barbecue where she’d introduced her father to their mother—they’d all had a good time talking with each other and they treated her

like the little sister they’d always wanted to have. Mars had taught her a bit of street fighting, “just in case,” he said. She’d actually used it once—it’d worked, and the guy whose nose she’d broke had ended up with a hospital bill. They’d just been starting out back then; when their parents married they’d just started their practice, but she’d been under the impression that it was just a regular shrink’s practice where Altaire could teach yoga and Mars could do physical therapy in conjunction with Sol’s therapy. Sex therapy wasn’t something she was even aware of until three days ago—that her step brothers had gone into. “Let me tell you what’s going to happen,” Sol said, as Mars set down a tray of tea (when had he made the tea?) with little chocolates. “I’m going to ask you two some questions, and you need to answer them as honestly as you possibly can. There’s no point in being dishonest—I can tell if you’re lying and if you are going to lie Mars will kick you two out the way David Beckham kicks soccer balls.” Alisha nodded. Calvin gulped, and then he nodded. “Once we ascertain where we stand and what we need to do, we’ll take you upstairs to one of the therapy rooms—” “Therapy rooms?” Calvin’s voice cracked when he asked the question. “Rooms where we get to try out different things and practice what I’ve told you, in a safe space,” he said. “How kinky do you think we’re going to get?” Alisha sputtered. “I’m a virgin—I’ve never had sex with a man.” “You’d be surprised and how many clients discover fetishes they never knew they had,” Sol said, “or else they were too afraid to embrace them. Keep in mind, most people don’t like to talk about their needs—they’re told that such things are awful, and despite all the openness about gay sex and the recent uptick in interest about bondage, these aren’t the videos getting the views on porn sites.” Alisha fell silent. Calvin stared at his feet. He was probably wishing that they were anywhere but here—but he’d picked the place, now he had to live with it. “All right,” said Sol, smiling and looking back and forth at them. “Let’s begin, shall we? Alisha, what is it that you want most out of sex with Calvin?” She gulped. “I want to feel like a woman,” she said, in a small voice. Next to her, she could feel Calvin turning red. “I mean, I want to feel—to feel like he knows me and wants to please me.” “Why do you think he’s not pleasing you?” asked Sol. Fuck, I can’t believe I’m talking to my stepbrother about this, she

thought. “I—I don’t know—” “I want something more,” Calvin said, suddenly. “I want to take her and feel her body change underneath me, to feel like she’s becoming something more than me—like—like she’s the goddess I want to worship.” She gasped. She’d never known that Calvin had wanted that. “I love her,” he said, now, to Sol. “I love her and I want to please her—but I don’t know how to give her what she wants in a way that makes me feel worthy of her love.” “Happily,” said Sol, “that’s what you’re here for.”

IT WAS JUST AS WELL that Sol was there to listen. By the end of the hour Alisha was beginning to understand what the point of therapy was—there were so many questions that she hadn’t even thought to ask Calvin that rolled off Neil’s tongue as easily as if he’d been discussing the Patriots’ last play. And she had learned so much about what made Calvin happy that she had a few ideas of what she was willing to try, so that she could make him happy and so that he could make her feel like that. “Well,” Sol said, “I think there’s a lot we can do to make things better between you two. Please give me a moment to confer with Mars and Altaire.” The three of them left the room, and Calvin leaned back in his chair, deflated. “Shit,” he breathed. “I don’t think I can do anything more after a conversation like that.” “Me neither,” she said. “I had no idea you felt that way,” she added. “It’s not something I usually get into with the girls I date,” he said. “You were right—we needed to see someone. Still not sure how I feel about them being your stepbrothers, though.” “They’re a recent addition to my family,” she said. “It’s not like we grew up together or anything.” “Still, it’s just weird.” She nodded. For the first hour it’d been possible to treat it like any other couple’s therapy session, in as much as she knew what they were supposed to be like. Sol had been quietly professional in the questions he asked, prefacing the truly personal ones with, “You don’t have to answer this if you don’t want to, but don’t lie to me.” Now they were rapidly approaching the time for the therapy rooms—and she wondered what they would look like: the dungeon from Fifty Shades of Gray? Or some elaborate nineteenth-century boudoir? And what would they do? Would Sol be touching her? She didn’t mind Stella, but Sol was her stepbrother—there was some kind of line, wasn’t there?

Altaire came in, carrying two stacks of towels and robes. “For this part of the therapy session we’re going to ask you to bathe each other. This is a typical aspect of foreplay that you might do with each other, even in the absence of a luxurious house. You might choose to get a room in a hotel, for example.” He handed one to each of them and began heading down the hall, up the sweeping spiral stairs, and down another hall. “Calvin, you, for instance, might take a few minutes each day to prepare for the weekend—get your candles and scents on Monday, for example, set aside your fluffiest towels on Tuesday, clean the bedroom on Wednesday—you get the picture. And you, Alisha, might start stoking the flames of desire a little: send him pictures showing a little cleavage, arrange his lunch in a suggestive manner when you meet for lunch, tell him about a particular fantasy, that sort of thing.” “Do you have the Cliff notes?” asked Calvin. “That’s why we have you do this,” said Mars, who stepped out of a room and held open the door for them. They stepped inside, into an enormous, almost palatial bathroom, compared to the cramped showers that were six inches from the toilet that were in their respective apartments. The room was white, except for the curtains and the candles, which were the boldest, mostbrilliant aquamarine blue, and a side table, which was starkly black. The room was scented with the crisp, clean scent, one that she couldn’t quite place, but for some reason it reminded her of the ocean. “It’s not exactly rocket science,” said Altaire. “Please,” he gestured to the table. Alisha and Calvin laid their towels and robes down on it. There was an awkward moment where they stood waiting for the brothers to leave, until Altaire said, “Oh, I see. You think we’re going to leave you— no.” Mars picked up Calvin’s wrists. “Relax,” he intoned, as he lifted Calvin’s arms. Calvin dropped his shoulders automatically, and let Mars guide his hands over to Alisha. “Undress her,” he said. “I’m not wearing—” Alisha began, but Altaire put his finger over her lips. “Your job is to experience this,” he said, turning her so that her back was to Calvin. “Touch,” Mars said, and on one shoulder she felt Mars’ massive hand engulf her collarbone, while Calvin’s wispy touch settled on her other shoulder. “No,” Mars said. “Remember, she wants to please you—we’ve established that. You have to show her what you want her to feel.” “Strength,” said Altaire, reaching around her and moving Calvin’s hand to her waist. “Feel her breathing. Let it flow into yours. Feel her, sense how strong she is—give her what you want her to be.”

“I don’t want to hurt her,” said Calvin. “She will give you what you give her,” said Mars, as he began to squeeze her shoulder, and she could feel the strength in his hands seeking out the bones of her body. “Like this,” and she felt Calvin’s hand squeeze her shoulder, as he’d always tried to do—but it was different this time. This time the pressure didn’t come from his fingers, it came from his hand, and this time she could feel the muscles in her shoulder giving in to his touch, her body revealing its strength to him—and the gasp of surprise when she moaned softly. Mars’ hand disappeared from her shoulder. In the mirror, he’d moved behind Calvin. “Touch,” Altaire said, now, as he came around behind her and ran the back of his hand down her spine. “This is the most direct path to her mind. So what you give here, she feels a hundred percent, here,” he said, touching the top of her head with his finger, and then he pressed his palm against her breast, over her heart. “And here.” “What do you want me to do?” Alisha asked, as Calvin ran his hand down her spine, with a firmer touch than what Altaire had done. It awakened a tingling warmth in her spine, and she could feel his fingers working the zipper of her dress down her back. “Just wait,” said Mars. “He needs to see you change, remember? So you just have to be, until he changes you.” Calvin’s hand on her waist became firm, and Mars said, “Yes, that’s right,” as her body pushed against his hand, the resistance foreshadowing a taste of what was to come. She looked up and saw Mars’ hand on Calvin’s waist. There was something about that sight that turned her on. “Now,” came Altaire’s voice. “Both hands—open her.” She felt Calvin’s slim bony hands butterfly open on her shoulder blades, and he slid her dress of her shoulders with a single, smooth push. Altaire helped tug the dress over her hips, and the fabric puddled on the floor. “Both hands,” Altaire repeated, and Calvin’s hands slid down to her hips and worked her panties over her hips, then back up and she felt her bra come loose, before it, too, joined the pile of discarded clothes on the floor. Mirroring everything that Mars was doing to him. She had been facing the mirror—she’d seen her naked body reflected back at her enough not to be surprised at it, but what did surprise her was Calvin’s face behind hers, and the longing in his eyes as he reached his hand around her and took her breast in his hand, using the same cupping motion that Mars had taught him on her shoulder, and for the first time she felt warmth instead of cold, she wanted more instead of less—she desired instead of tolerated. “Not yet,” said Sol, as he came in. He’d changed into a tank top and loose

pants, showing off his bulging biceps. He turned her around to face Calvin, and she felt his hand on her ass as he pushed them together, so that their bodies just touched. “You want her to anticipate, not to be gratified. This is just the beginning. Now, look into her eyes,” Sol said. “Remember what you felt when you told me about your desires. Kiss her with that feeling.” Calvin turned her around and began to kiss her, more deeply and sensuously than she’d thought he was capable of. His lips didn’t quiver this time—they were as sure as Stella’s had been that first time, teasing her with gentle tugs, his tongue coaxing the first swell of pleasure out of the depths of her being. When he broke away the only thing she wanted for him to keep going, and as Sol and Mars eased them into the water she found herself thinking only of what was to come. The water was warm and Sol and Altaire and Mars gathered around them. Altaire and Mars removed their suit jackets—they were wearing sleeveless shirts underneath—and reached into the water, guiding Alisha’s and Calvin’s hands to each other’s bodies. Altaire showed Calvin how to fondle her breasts so that she craved his touch, how to gently ghost his finger over her nipple to send shudders down her spine, right into her pussy. Sol traced his hand down Calvin’s chest side-by-side with her hand; when they reached his cock Sol wrapped her fingers around him, one at a time, and as he moved her hand up and down, slowly, pinching her fingers slightly tighter at the beginning and end of each stroke, Calvin’s face took on a look of pure wonder. I did this, she thought—and her stomach fluttered at the idea that she had that kind of power inside her. Sol’s fingers were toying with the skin on the inside of her thighs as she leaned into Calvin for a kiss—and found herself kissing Altaire, instead. For a moment she was taken aback, too caught up in the pleasure of the kiss to stop, too guilty wondering what Calvin would think to continue. But then Calvin reached for her face and turned it to Altaire, and she felt Calvin kissing her breasts, his tongue making luxurious circles around her nipples, setting off fireworks inside her belly. “Now,” whispered Sol, placing two sponges in their hands. “Bathe each other.” Mars drew her up to her feet, and Calvin, reached up and ran the loofah over her breasts, around her belly. Something about the way the water trickled down her body made her want to move, but Sol’s hands around her hips kept her still. She ran her sponge over Calvin’s face—and Altaire ran his fingers up her legs, stopping just before he got to her pussy. She groaned and tried to move her body down—she just needed some satisfaction, some closure—

“It’s time,” Sol said. “Come.”

THE BEDROOM WAS FARTHER from the bathroom than she’d thought it would be, which gave her enough time to waver between desire and “What the fuck am I doing?” as they followed Mars’ massive figure past a half-dozen closed doors. “What’s in there?” asked Calvin. “Things that don’t concern you,” said Sol. Mars opened the door—the bedroom was not a nineteenth-century boudoir nor a love suite out of the seventies; she didn’t quite know what to make of the room. There was wood paneling on the bottom half of the wall and ornate, gilded wall paper in red and gold on the top half, but the rest of the space was simple. A dresser against the wall, white gauzy curtains, and the massive bed was in the middle—and there were silk scarves and blindfolds spread out on it. She balked, but Altaire and Mars were pulling her along and Calvin was too dazed by Sol’s patter about what was going to happen now to notice that she was getting dragged over to the bed, and her vision went black when the cool silk slid over her eyes. “I’m not into kinky stuff,” she protested, but then she felt hands on her body, easing her down on the bed, and she could hear Sol’s voice saying, “Now, if you don’t mind, Calvin, take your hand—no, everybody always wants to start with the pussy, but you saw how eager she was back there, didn’t you? Yes, like that—” She felt a mouth close around her nipple—and then another one. Calvin’s body was hot against hers—and much to her surprise she felt another naked body, firm and hard underneath her hand, writhing against her. She felt her legs coming together of their own accord, but someone forced them apart and Calvin slid himself down her body, pressing warm kisses to her belly. Then he was gone, and then someone—she didn’t know who—was kissing and licking her pussy, running his tongue against her clit and his lips and tongue against the folds, while hands—tugged at her nipples until her body drenched the sheets between her legs. She cried and begged for release— And then a cock thrust inside her, and while Mars—she could tell it was him, he was the biggest of them all—sat her up on his lap she could feel his erection hard against the small of her back. Was he really— Whoever was thrusting inside her suddenly withdrew and suddenly she felt the rubbery tip of the cock against her mouth and she took it obediently, not the least because at that point she had to gasp as Mars shoved himself up her ass and groaned—he was huge so it hurt, and not in an entirely pleasant way, but

he did it slowly enough so that whatever pain there was could be coated in a layer of pleasure, and eventually, when he was all in, she found the sense of fullness marvelous. Someone else shoved himself inside her cunt and all of the anticipation that she’d been accruing for the past two hours came to a head and as the three of them thrust inside her the waves of pleasure and ecstasy took her to entirely new heights. She suddenly understood why masturbating wasn’t everything—her body drank in everything the men had to give, greedy for the sudden rush she knew was coming, eager for it to be as big as possible. And when it happened—when he came inside her mouth and then Mars slid out of her, and the release was total, complete. The cries that came out of her seemed to come from another world—the visions that danced in front of her eyes certainly did—and the gush of ecstasy went on and on, until finally, spent, she curled up on the bed. Someone removed the blindfold; another covered her naked body. This was the last thing she was aware of before she fell asleep. ***

“ARE YOU STILL TOGETHER?” Two weeks later she’d gone back to see Sol and her stepbrothers, at their request. It was a family visit—they’d told her as much—but she was a little concerned when Sol showed her to the library where they’d started that epic session. “Yes,” she said, now, watching as Altaire poured her a cup of tea. “He’s learned a lot,” she added. “He makes me so, so happy.” “We’re glad,” said Mars. He’d taken Calvin’s seat next to her, and his massive hand settled on her knee. “All right, boys, what do you want?” Alisha asked. “Do you want to fuck me or something?” Sol turned red. Alisha felt her eyes get big. She’d been joking—the session had been a success, and Calvin was now a much, much better lover. That was the end of it, right? “Seriously?” she asked, standing up. “I don’t fucking believe—” “Please, hear us out,” said Altaire, now, putting a hand on her shoulder and gently pushing her back into the chair. She glared at him—it’d always been a mystery to her, how a man so slender and reedy could be so strong. “It’s not like that.” “Then by all means, enlighten me—what’s it like?” she snapped. Sol ran his fingers over the front of her dress, and she shivered when his touch brushed her nipple. “It’s like this,” Sol said. “We frequently find

ourselves aiding single men who want to learn how to please a woman. They need, shall we say, practice. Some of them want to try out bondage, others want to try out being bound. Sometimes we have women, too, who want to command—” “Wait, what?!” “We need someone who’s relatively easy to bring to orgasm, a woman who’s open-minded to trying new things, and who isn’t ashamed to get naked in front of strangers—” She flushed when she remembered that night at Blue Diamond. Hm, maybe they’ll teach me how to go down on the owner, she thought—and then at once she felt a deep and burning shame for having thought that. She was getting propositioned by her brothers—and all she wanted to was a VIP pass to the Blue Diamond? She’d always been a proponent of the idea that sex was fun and should be enjoyed, but the idea of going down on the owner of the Blue Diamond just to get a pass was too close to prostitution. “I never said I was into trying new things,” she protested. Sol looked at her: Really? “We won’t let anybody else fuck you,” Altaire said, softly. “We’ll make sure that it’s one of us who’s going in-” “Please, Alisha,” Sol said, brushing her other nipple with his hand. “Was it that bad the last time?” “No,” she said. “But you’re talking about me having sex with someone else —I’m quite happy with Calvin, okay? You’ve seen to that already.” “What if we told you that Calvin is okay with it?” She felt her jaw drop open with surprise. “That doesn’t sound like Calvin at all,” she said. But then again, he had let three strangers touch her, and two of the cocks that had been inside her weren’t his. Sol was looking smugly, infuriatingly, amused again. “As long as it’s one of us,” Mars said, sliding her dress up her leg. “You’ve got nothing on underneath,” he said, surprised. “It’s laundry day,” Alisha muttered, turning red. Between that, and everything that Calvin had been doing to make her go wet and wild, she didn’t have anything clean that day. But it didn’t matter, so she’d told herself. “Alisha,” Sol said, “just try this one thing, okay?” “One thing,” she repeated. Sol nodded. Altaire helped her to her feet, and said, “Feet shoulder-width apart, please.” Sol pulled out a slender stick, with a little piece of stiff leather on the end. “What’s that?” she asked. “It’s called a riding crop,” Sol said, slapping his own knee with the little

patch of stiff leather. “In sex, it’s used to hit certain body parts, to elicit a certain reaction. Some of our clients find this pleasurable to watch—” “—and some of them find it fun to do,” said Mars. Sol dragged the crop over her breasts—and then he raised it suddenly and she flinched, bracing herself for the sting. She could imagine it falling on her nipple, the crisp smack as it hit her, the little shot of pain that would go through her. But the blow never fell—and much to her surprise the thought of getting hit made her wet. So stepped up close to her and reached up her skirt, sliding two fingers into her cunt. “See, if you weren’t into this, you wouldn’t be wet,” he said, softly. “If the thought of you being taught how to take a fist didn’t excite you in the least you would have left at the beginning of this meeting, no matter what I’d asked. If the thought of getting your pussy hit with this stick really left you cold, you’d have closed your legs by now.” Alisha didn’t know what to say. She didn’t quite know if what Sol was saying was really true, but it felt that way. “And yes,” Sol continued, “there’s the fact that you’re beautiful and we’d like to keep fucking you if we can.” “We’re prepared to offer you forty percent,” said Mars. “Forty percent?” she repeated. She was aware she sounded like an idiot. “Of our profits, from the sessions that include you,” said Altaire. “You are, after all, the one who’s going to be putting up with men who couldn’t find a clit if you tattooed a little sign to it, saying, “I’m the clit!’” “That doesn’t sound reassuring,” she said. “But just think,” Altaire said. “You remember how unhappy you were with Calvin just two weeks ago? Just imagine being able to help other women like you—and help them feel what you do and love their men the way you love Calvin.” Altaire always knew how to appeal to the best in her—but he did have a point: between the three of them they’d saved her relationship with Calvin. She could feel herself wavering. “Doesn’t every woman deserve a shot at happiness?” asked Sol. “All right,” she agreed. “But first, do me a favor.” “What’s that? “Smack my pussy with that,” she said. “I want to know how it feels.”

THE END

BILLIONAIRE NAVY SEAL ADVENTURES

F

our HOT Navy SEALs show their woman what love is all about!

A BABY FOR MY SEAL

CHAPTER 1

SHAREENA HUES SPENT most of her time in nature. As a photographer, which was her passion and hobby, nature always had her in awe. Sure, she had to pay the bills by doing portfolio work, but her love was nature. Birds and wildlife, the way the plants, trees, and streams would look. She never felt more at peace as she did when she was deep in the woods snapping pictures, and capturing pieces that very few people took the time to appreciate. She had been published in numerous magazines, and had written articles to go with them. Writing wasn’t nearly as fun for her, but she was getting good at writing descriptive articles that allowed visuals in words to go with the pictures. What she stumbled upon today surprised her. Out in the middle of nowhere, there was a body, laying in a field face down. Carefully making her way over to it, she poked it with her toe. The body shuddered and she realized he was alive. Bending down she helped him turn over and saw a very attractive man, in a navy uniform. It was a good two hours from the nearest naval port or

coast, so he was a long way from home. “What are you doing all the way out here?” She asked him as he woke up and looked at her with one eye. “Bachelor party… gone wild.” He muttered and sat up, holding his head. “You had a party all the way out here?” She asked him, shocked. “No, it was in town a few minutes from her. The stripper was giving me a ride home. She dropped me off here, took my wallet, and left me to rot. She took my cell phone too.” He muttered. “I know, I know, but I don’t hit ladies. So don’t give me that look.” “You let a stripper take advantage of you?” Shareena stared at him and then started to laugh. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” “You remind me of hot chocolate and smell like vanilla and cinnamon. Unless you want me to eat you, please help me up and let me borrow your cell phone so I can call a buddy to come rescue me,” realizing he didn’t give her his name, he paused and felt slightly embarrassed. “Charles, sorry. My name is Charles Danlies. You can call me Charlie though.” “Okay Charlie, I’m Shareena. I have my cell phone back in my car, if you think you can walk that far without falling over.” She helped him up and realized that he towered over her. She could feel his muscles through his uniform and while she wasn’t a small girl, he made her feel delicate and tiny compared to him. The man was a giant. “Did you know you have skin the color of mocha? And your eyes remind me of whisky.” He told her, as he looked down at her, “I totally am not hitting on you. However, you are beautiful. Thank you for your help.” Shareena didn’t know whether to laugh or feel embarrassed. The man was clearly still intoxicated, despite his night spent in the grass. “So, is anyone missing you?” She asked him quietly, changing the subject. “No, I work for Navy intelligence. I’m an investigator. I’m on vacation right now. I spent a few years as a regular navy guy. I also spent some time as a navy seal, but I found my interest was investigations and undercover work. I’m also talking too much, so tell me what a beautiful woman like yourself is doing out here.” Charlie asked her, and wondered how to get her number without coming off like a creep. “I’m a photographer. I was out here trying to get some work done. Actually, hold on, don’t move, the lighting is perfect.” She told him, and then stood back and took a few pictures of him with the sun high in the sky with him looking bewildered as she snapped a few pictures. “Perfect!” “If you say so,” Charlie muttered. “I have a consent form in my ca. I will just need a signature to use and sell

these photos, if you don’t mind?” Shareena asked him and smiled in his direction, her teeth flashing between her lips. “Only if you agree to go on a date with me,” Charlie told her and raised a brow as they reached his car. She hesitated slightly. She barely knew him, but it was clear he was a bit of a trouble maker despite being navy intelligence with a background that she admitted had her fascinated. She’d never gone out with a military man before, of any sort. Normally she dated bankers, and intellectual types. This man had brute strength and reminded her of Hercules. Maybe a change of the type of man would be a good thing. She could at least use a little fun. Handing him a release form and a pen, she nodded. “Deal, but I get to pick when and where.” “As long as it’s within the next week, or I get to decide,” he told her as he filled out the paper and handed it back to her. “Can I use your phone now?” “Sure, or I could give you a ride?” Shareena offered before she could stop herself. For some reason, she felt the urge to help him. Something about him had her drawn to him. Despite his size and his obvious military training, she wasn’t scared of him. His bad boy nature seemed to extend to acts of stupid, rather than scary. “I’d offer to pay for your gas, but I’m missing my wallet.” He gave her a quirky grin and she laughed. “I think I can afford the gas to help you out, as long as you pay for dinner.” She told him and got into her car, and started it. When he slid into the seat next to her, his blue eyes twinkled. “I wouldn’t expect anything less. A gentleman always pays for a pretty lady’s meal,” he told her and winked. “Somehow, you don’t strike me as much of a gentleman,” Shareena told him, then started to back out of the park’s parking lot to take him where he needed to go.

CHAPTER 2 Shareena hadn’t intended to get overly involved in her wayward navy man, but the dinner date went so well and she had such a good time, she found herself agreeing to another outing. A picnic. “You love nature so much, a picnic is the perfect place for us to have our next date,” he told her and cupped her cheek outside of the restaurant. He didn’t do more than kiss her cheek, which left her stomach in flutters. She had taken him for a more aggressive type of man, yet he was holding back with her.

She wasn’t sure if she was flattered, or slightly offended. Amused either way, she smiled at him. And agreed to a time and date. “I will see you then Charlie,” blowing him a kiss as she walked away from him and back to her car. She could feel his eyes on her back and knew he was watching her. When she got home, she fed her cat. She smiled at Frosty, her white kitty with blue eyes, and told him all about her date with Charlie. The cat paused when eating to look up and tilt its head, as if he understood what she was saying, before going back to eating his food. Shareena stopped to pet him for a moment, then went about her business. They’d be meeting again in three days. It was his next day off, and he wanted to take her back to the park where they’d met. He had joked about remeeting under better circumstances there, and where she could get the pictures she’d missed since she’d stopped to help him. She wondered what it would be like to kiss him, he had such soft, pink lips. He was hard in all the places that mattered, she’d describe him as stocky. He was solid, and looked like he could hold his own if he ever got in a fight. She liked his body type. She wasn’t exactly a tiny girl, but next to him, he made her feel downright feminine. His hands were huge compared to her. It made her wonder what else about him was huge. Smiling to herself, she fell asleep that night with images of them making love in the sunshine on a picnic blanket. When the time came for him to pick her up a few days later for the picnic, Shareena took extra care primping in front of her mirror. She knew that he probably didn’t care nearly as much as she did, but she plucked and massaged until her face shined and there wasn’t a single stray hair out of place anywhere. She picked a summer dress with a light over-coat in case it got cold and strappy sandals she could walk in. Normally she was a jeans and a t-shirt kind of girl, but for Charlie she felt the urge to dress up. The dress hugged her curves like it was glued on, her abundant cleavage left nothing to the imagination as it was impossible to hide in most shirts in general. Might as well show it off. He opened the door for her, and she smiled at him. She had her backpack with her, which had her first aid kit, portable camera equipment, wallet, cellphone, and keys. She never went anywhere without it, even on a picnic date. You never know when you’d need something, or want to stop to take a picture. They drove to the field where she’d first met him, he spread out a blue and white blanket and got a picnic basket out of the trunk. Setting it down in the

middle, he sat down and pulled out two wine glasses and a bottle of red wine. “This okay?” Charlie asked her and she nodded at him. Sitting down next to him on the blanket, she could feel the sun shining down on her back as he unpacked the basket. He had meats and cheeses, breads and butter, and the red wine. He had dark chocolate candies for dessert. Most of it was snack style foods, and she appreciated the variety. Eating quietly, they talked about their jobs and their families. He was an only child, and he admitted that when his parents died, they’d left him an inheritance. She didn’t ask him if he was rich, or how much. But the impression he gave her when he clammed up when talking about money, he was pretty well off. It made him more attractive that despite the money, he still chose to work. She told him so too. He laughed then leaned over and wiped off some chocolate off her lips. Their eyes met and he leaned forward and kissed her. Shareena kissed him back, closing her eyelids, she let her mouth and lips do the feeling. Charlie was gentle at first, then grew more demanding as his tongue teased her lips for entrance. She parted her mouth and their tongues met in an erotic melding that had her moaning softly into his mouth. She reached out and wrapped an arm around his neck. When his hand came and rested on her thigh, she shivered but didn’t push him away. Instead she deepened the kiss. This was completely out of character for her, yet with him, she wanted to be wild, do something dangerous and daring. He was like nature. Unpredictable, exciting, and beautiful to watch. She wanted to see him in action. Running her hands through his hair, she touched the side of his neck and shoulder softly. He brought his hand up and cupped one of her large breasts through her dress gently. Squeezing, he stroked the lobe with care as her nipples puckered against the fabric. It was aching to be released and touched. She moaned softly as he worked her out of her sundress. He took his time and she could feel the sun touch each inch of her skin as he slowly pulled it down exposing her. His lips were against her skin, leaving soft kisses until her breasts were exposed. He sucked one large tender nipple into his mouth and lapped at it until it puckered into a rock hard nub. He switched to the other side after a few moments and paid equal attention to the other side as he slid the dress down further until it hit her hips. Charlie slipped the dress down her long legs and set it on the blanket next to them. Reaching between her legs, he touched her with his fingers through the fabric of her panties. Stroking her, he massaged her until the fabric was wet with her arousal before pushing them aside and touched her skin with his

fingers. He worked a finger inside of her warm hole and used his thumb on her clit. He leaned up over her and lowered her body to the blanket as kissed her. His fingers never stopped moving inside and against her flesh. Shareena moaned, opening her legs wider and met his tongue with hers as he kissed her. He stroked her until her hips were grinding against his hands, his tongue and lips working their magic against her own as she moaned into his mouth. Eventually, when her juices had coated his hands and her thighs, he settled himself between her legs, and kissing down her neck to her chest. With the sunshine warming their skin, he pulled his pants down. He rubbed himself against her thigh, and when she reached up behind him to grab his butt cheeks, he positioned himself against her opening after moving his hand out of the way. He thrust deep inside of her, in one hard movement of his hips. Rocking her body with his own, he bent his head down and sucked one of her nipples into his mouth as his cock filled her, one stroke after another. She wrapped one of her long legs around his hips to pull him deeper inside of her, and let her head fall back against the blanket. The sun shone on her face, warming her skin. It was erotic, and the slight breeze in the air and smell of the grass and flowers made the situation just feel right to her. Shareena wasn’t normally the type of woman to jump into bed with a man on a second date, but it felt right. He felt right, and he was pushing on just the right spot. A moment later, she let out a loud howl as her orgasm curled her toes and made her entire body shake from the knees up. Quivering, she could feel her body clench tight around him, and she dug her nails into his back and held on to him as the stars exploded behind her eyes. By the time she could breathe and had stopped shaking, he’d had his own climax, and was breathing hard, looking down into her face with a lopsided grin. He rolled over and lay next to her on the blanket. Taking his hand in hers, the two of them just relaxed under the sunshine for a while together. Eventually, his stomach growled, and he sat up. “I think I’m ready to eat.” He told her, “actual food this time.” Shareena laughed, and nodded at him. She put her clothes back on, and it never occurred to her that they were careless under the sunshine, on the blanket, in a field full of daisies. Had she realized what they’d done, instead of getting caught up in the moment, she wouldn’t have ended up in the situation that was coming next.

CHAPTER 3

Shareena had been so tired and sick feeling the last few days. She missed Charlie, but he’d been on an assignment for the Navy department that he worked for as a detective. They’d had some money go missing from a weapons funds he was investing and he tended to be overly focused when he was working on a case. She knew how that could be. When she was working on her photography, she could get lost for hours and forget to come up for air. Right now, she was hugging the toilet, and wondering if she’d picked up a flu. She had just done a high school senior photo project that had paid fairly well, and allowed her to do her art because it paid the bills. Maybe one of the teenagers had gotten her sick. Putting her head against the cold glass, she decided to call her doctor and go in. She had the urge to text Charlie, but decided not to bother him over something silly like a flu or stomach bug. But she did miss him, and wished he was here to hold her hand. When he wasn’t busy working on cases, they texted and talked non-stop. She had learned a lot about his history, including that he had a reputation as a bit of a playboy. She supposed she wasn’t his normal type either. She was chocolate skinned, busty, leggy, and had curves in places that no diet would fix. According to his mates that she’d met when he’d taken her to play pool a couple weeks ago, he was more into petite blondes with too much makeup and a penchant for going braless. She wasn’t sure if she was offended that she was so different from his normal type, or that maybe something between the two of them was different. That he found her different, and that it meant they would have something more lasting, or special. He seemed to really like her. He didn’t seem to notice other women when he was with her. He didn’t have the wandering eye of a playboy, even if he had been one prior to meeting her. Shareena had told herself after hearing about his way with women, that maybe she was different. Maybe it’s why he actually brought her around his friends, and their relationship was slowly progressing over time. They rarely talked about family, or money, or financial stuff. She could tell it was a sore spot with him, so she avoided it. There was no reason it had to be brought up right now. She wasn’t in a hurry to get settled down or married, those things could come in the future when the time was right. Right now, her time with Charlie was fun. He seemed to be enjoying her and she was enjoying herself with him. Except the puking. Shareena groaned and grabbed the glass of water she’d set on her bathroom sink and swirled it around her mouth, hoping to get the disgusting taste out of her mouth so she could call her doctor. Forcing herself to her feet, the room spun a little bit and she wobbled to

the bedroom to find her cell. Calling her doctor, she explained the situation and the nurse told her to come in right now and they’d fit her in. Thanking her, Shareena hung up. She brushed her teeth and threw on some clean clothes. She knew she really needed a shower, but couldn’t bring herself to do it at this point in time. Grabbing a bowl, she went to drive to the doctor and didn’t want to risk throwing up in her car. When she got there about twenty minutes later, she signed in and was still clutching the bowl to her chest. She had dry heaved a couple of times, but it appeared that she’d cleared most of her system out by now, and it was just the motions without the big mess at this point. The nurse got her into a room right away, took her vitals, including her temperature. When the nurse saw that she didn’t have a fever, she looked slightly puzzled. She then gave Shareena a reassuring smile and told her the doctor would be right in as soon as she was done with the patient she was currently talking too. Sitting on the bed, holding the bowl in her lap, Shareena closed her eyes and waited. When the door opened, she nearly fell off the bed, not realizing she’d started to fall asleep. “Well, I’d ask you how you are doing, but since you’re here because of a tummy bug, is it a safe bet to guess you’re feeling like crap?” Her doctor asked her and gave her a gentle smile. The woman was an older lady with gray hair, who had a belief in mixing modern medicine with holistic approaches and whole body wellness. It suited Shareena’s desire to trust nature, while still giving her access to medicine when she needed it and know that it was actually warranted. Her doctor didn’t prescribe unless she absolutely had too. “I’ve had better days Miranda, I’m hoping you can tell me what’s wrong, fix me up, or at least make me feel better while I suffer?” Shareena told her, then felt the dry heaves coming on and buried her face in her bowl for a few moments. “How long have you been feeling this way?” Miranda asked her, rubbing her chin looking at Shareena. “A couple of days, but this is the first time it’s been bad like this.” Sighing in relief when the sensations stopped, she closed her eyes for a moment. “I want a urine sample; do you think you can pee for me, then we can talk?” Her doctor asked her and Shareena realized she did have to go, so she nodded. Digging a cup out of the cabinet above the sink the doctor handed it her, gave her instructions on how to use it, and where to leave it in the bathroom. “I need to see another patient, but it should be quick. I’ll come back in

about twenty minutes after we’ve had time to test your urine for a couple of things.” Miranda patted her on the arm as she walked past her. “You’re going to be fine, even if you feel like crap right now.” Shareena nodded, and clutched the little plastic cup to her chest. She went to the bathroom and followed the doctors’ orders, peeing in the cup. She went back to the room and sat on the bed, waiting. It was almost an hour later when the doctor came back again. “Sorry, that took a little longer than I expected. But we have the results from your urine.” Miranda shut the door, talking as she walked into the room. “And?” “You are pregnant. I need to do a blood test to confirm, but I’m guessing based on your vitals, that’s all that’s wrong with you at this point. Once we do a blood test to confirm and figure out your levels, I’ll know when to order an ultrasound, unless you know exactly when you conceived.” The doctor was making some notes on the computer and glanced up to look at Shareena. “When was your last period?” “I don’t remember?” Shareena said, making it sound more like a question then a real answer. “How is this even possible… we always used protection except…. Oh my god.” “I’m guessing you just remembered something?” Miranda said quietly. “We weren’t careful once. It was just once though.” Shareena closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I mean, I know it can happen, but…. I can’t even…” “Well, let’s get you in for an ultrasound, and then I can refer you to a midwife or doctor of your choice, and you can discuss your options.” Miranda said in a very non-judgmental way. Writing a couple of prescriptions on her medical pad, she ripped them off and handed them to Shareena. “This is for the ultrasound, take it across the hall to radiology, and have them schedule you. Here’s the proof of pregnancy to get you into a doctor or midwife, and this is for labs, which is next to the ultrasound office. Good luck Shareena. If you need anything, just let me know, okay?” “Thank you,” Shareena said, picking up her bowl, and feeling in complete shock. “Oh, wait, here’s one more. Here’s a prescription for some prenatal vitamins. Although, I highly recommend you buying gummy ones instead. I’ve heard women have had less trouble with them than the horse pills you get from the pharmacy.” Miranda said and smiled at her. Shareena took the last prescription and it took her a few minutes to walk out the door to start moving forward with her next step. In a daze, she had no

idea what her plan was, or how to even tell Charlie. Oh god, telling Charlie. She closed her eyes and groaned loudly to herself. This was the last thing she wanted to do.

CHAPTER 4

A COUPLE WEEKS HAD PASSED, she’d had confirmation of her pregnancy via the blood test, and her first ultrasound. She’d seen the heartbeat, and that the baby was viable. She was offered to council her on her options. She was keeping the baby. She hadn’t planned on having a baby but now that she was going to have one, she couldn’t do anything but keep it. Now she just had to figure out what to do. Her one-bedroom apartment and her cat would need to get a bigger house of some sort, she had a decent amount of savings and good credit. She could probably buy a small house. She was planning on raising this baby alone, but she knew she shouldn’t make any real plans until she’d spoken to Charlie. Shareena was inviting Charlie over for dinner tonight. She set her table with candles, and a white cloth and was ordering pasta, salad and garlic bread from an Italian place down the road that had amazing food. They even delivered. When she got the table all set, she put a bottle of apple cider in the middle. It was a non-alcoholic drink, so she could have some too. When Charlie arrived a little while later, she let him in and he kissed her, backing her up until she hit the wall and she moaned into his mouth. She loved his strength, his stocky build, he wasn’t scared to use his strength when it came to sex games, and she loved the way he made her feel. “Hungry?” She whispered to him between kisses. “Smells good, almost as good as you,” he told her as he pressed kisses against her mouth and his hands wandered all over her, gently squeezing and touching her. “Let’s eat, and we need to talk before we do anything else,” Shareena told him. She hoped he’d still be in the mood for sex after she dropped this big bombshell on him. “Eat? We can do that. What is there to talk about?” Charlie asked her, tilting his head to the side curiously as he took a step back and cleared his throat. He adjusted himself and then followed her to the kitchen to eat. He sat down and grabbed a bowl of the pasta to load up his plate, then

some bread. He eyed the salad, but skipped it and Shareena raised a brow at him and then smiled. She loaded her plate up and it was the first time in a couple weeks she actually felt hungry. “Cider?” She asked him holding up the bottle after pouring herself a glass. “If you prefer, I have beer in the fridge.” “Cider is fine,” he told her and then started to eat his food. He closed his eyes and sighed in bliss as the food touched his tongue. It was good and he could appreciate a fine tasting meal. “I wanted to talk to you,” Shareena started to stay and then felt like a cork was lodged in her throat. She didn’t know how to bring it up or even say it. Honestly, it just needed to be spit out. Charlie shrugged and waited for her to continue talking. He picked up his cider and took a sip. “I’m pregnant.” She just said it, and then regretted it. He started to choke on his cider and sputter, she jumped up from the table and pounded on his back. She felt bad, it wasn’t probably the best way to state what was going on. “That’s not what I was expecting to come out of your mouth,” Charlie told her when he finally stopped coughing. He looked at her and his eyes widened as they settled on her stomach. Realization dawned on him when he remembered their first encounter. He hadn’t been careful like he normally was and it looks like he was going to pay the consequences for it. “Well, it wasn’t how I was planning on telling you, but it just… well it’s out now.” Shareena told him and sighed and sat back down in her chair to pick at her food. She waited for the news to sink in, not wanting to pressure him or upset him further. Charlie put a bite of food in his mouth and chewed slowly. He looked thoughtful. He swallowed his food then looked up at her. “What is your plan?” He asked her quietly. He didn’t make accusations, or sound angry. It was a simple question. To Shareena, she felt like she was standing in front of a firing squad, her answer could change everything. Swallowing hard she opened her mouth to answer him. “I plan on keeping it.” She finally said quietly, “I would hope that you’ll choose to be involved, I like you Charlie. I really like you. While this wasn’t planned, I do feel a connection to this baby already. I can afford it if you want to walk away, and I won’t pressure you. But, I do sincerely hope that we can move forward, and at least stay friends.” “Friends?” Charlie sputtered at her staring in shock. “What I feel for you would make it impossible for us to just be friends, Shareena.” “What do you mean?” She asked him, blinking trying to understand what he

was telling her. “Friends. I cannot just be friends with you. I’m attracted to you, and while an unplanned pregnancy wasn’t on my list of things I was hoping to have happen anytime soon, we can figure this out together. But friends? I think I’m insulted. What exactly was I to you?” Charlie asked, feeling as if she was about to tell him he was just for sex, and she felt nothing more for him. Until this moment, he hadn’t even realized how deeply he’d started to care for her. “I didn’t mean it like that,” blinking at him rapidly, she realized that she hurt his feelings. “Then how exactly did you mean it?” He asked her. “I mean, well… I just meant that I’m an adult who can take responsibility for her choices and actions in life. I like you a lot and I have strong feelings for you too. I also don’t expect you to feel the same way as me, or even be supportive or want to be involved when a surprise situation happens. I just… wanted to give you choices too. I don’t want you to feel trapped. If you want to be here, I want it to be because you want to be.” Shareena told him and then reached out to touch him. “I want you involved. That’s my personal preference. But I don’t want to make you feel like you have no options or choices in this situation. We are both adults, we both should be on the same page in this.” “Why didn’t you just say that to begin with?” Charlie asked her and shook his head. This woman in front of him confused him. She quirked a brow at him and snorted, “Like I have any previous experience with a conversation like this? I think I’m lucky to have just spewed out basic information and let the dust settle.” “So… what happens next?” He asked her, deciding to just move on. “I go to the doctors, I figure out a due-date, and I guess I decide what I want to do from here. I mean, I’m keeping it, but there’s so many birth and pregnancy options and it’s a little overwhelming.” Shareena muttered, “Like, if I want a water birth, I may need to go with a birth center. But since it’s a first baby, I maybe should do it in a hospital, or… it’s complicated.” Charlie nodded, not really understanding anything she just said. He was mentally ticking off insurance stuff, and if he could help out to pay for the pregnancy, and how they would balance and manage raising a child together if they didn’t cohabitate. “I think we need to consider moving in together. Give it a trial run before the baby is here to see if we can handle being a family. If not, then we have time to figure out how to be… friends as you put it and raise the child in a mutually beneficial situation for all of us.” Shareena nodded, not trusting herself to speak, the panic at the idea of

having her personal space invaded, even by a man she liked had her wanting to go hide in her room to breathe. “We’ll be okay; we’ll figure it out as we go along.” He told her and squeezed her hand.

CHAPTER 5 Charlie was at work. His thoughts were filled of Shareena, the baby they’d accidentally made together, and trying to figure out how his work schedule would make him a half-way decent partner. He’d spent the last few years just screwing off, and he’d been lucky, and extremely careful with women. Until her. Something about her had him lose his head, and he still wasn’t sure what it was that made him lose track of time or get lost in physical sensations so he made errors or mistakes. She was different. He could tell that much, but what did that mean? That he loved her? He knew her, but they were still getting to know one another. You can’t just meet someone and love them, could you? He believed in chemicals and animal lust, but the heart and emotions getting involved where a different story and he’d always made a point not to get involved. He was on a stake out with his partner, a grumpy old man named George Stiff who was snoring next to him and let him do most of the watching. They were waiting for a navy man to get off the ship to arrest him. They didn’t want to create a scene, and approaching him once he got off the boat was the best way to avoid a scandal. Pictures of the man had been sent to the Navy Intelligence Office, they had included him selling weapons and items off the ship in different ports. He had to be held accountable, and the evidence was solid. So it was just a matter of picking him up. He had a picture of the man in his lap, and was mentally checking off the men and women who got off the ship until he saw the one they were looking for. Nudging his partner to wake him up, he started his car, and followed the sailor. Who veered away from the groups heading towards the bars and downtown area? Following him, he was curious what the man was up too. When he went into an alleyway, he parked outside of it and got out of his car, drawing his weapon. He nodded at his partner then went into the alleyway, only to see the sailor go through a back door of a building and it slamming shut. Following him, he went to the door and tried the handle. It was unlocked and he went in. A large warehouse with boxes and bins were stacked in small rooms, and the place looked like a maze. Following the flashes of the man’s white

uniform, he found him stopping to open a box and take a gun out. He was busy loading it when Charlie approached him. “Mr. Danner? We need to talk, can you put the weapon down?” Charlie approached the man cautiously. “Who are you?” The sailor looked at him, nervously, his hand tightened on the gun and it made Charlie raise his gun a notch higher. “I’m Charlie, with the Navy Intelligence Office. I need you to come with me, we need to ask you some questions.” Charlie tried to be calm and address the situation to keep the situation defused. The last thing he expected was the man’s eyes to widen and him to shoot at him. Feeling a burning sensation in his shoulder, he realized he’d been hit, and he fired back before diving to the ground as the man shot at him again. “Put the gun down Danner, I don’t want to shoot you, last warning,” Charlie told him, taking cover behind some of the boxes and bins. He saw a glimpse of his partner coming up behind him, and kept talking, to distract him. Shooting a man was the last thing he wanted to do, so if they could get out of the situation all alive, in relatively one piece that would be his goal. His partner put a gun to the back of Danner’s head and told him to drop his weapon. When the sailor did, cursing, Charlie stood up and came out, his shoulder throbbing in agony. “Think you can handle cuffing him?” Charlie asked, feeling a little dizzy and light headed. “Sure, we need to get you back to get that looked at, think you can make it?” Stiff asked him, eyeing the blood pooling into his clothes. “Yeah, if anything weird happens, my girlfriend may need to know. She’s my last called number in my phone.” Charlie told him as they walked out to the car. “I’m driving, get in the passenger seat,” Stiff ordered him, not wanting him to drive wounded. They rode back to the station where they dropped the suspect off, and Charlie ended up being forced to go to the hospital emergency room to be checked out and treated, then had to write a report about shots fired and being hit in the line of duty. He sighed, he didn’t get in fire fights very often, but this was his least favorite part of the job. He texted Shareena after he’d been patched up, but they were keeping him for observation after digging out the bullet and stitching up for a few more hours before releasing him. He had to do the paperwork as soon as he was released and could go back to the office. Right now, he just wanted to see her beautiful, chocolate face.

She arrived a little while later, looking a little traumatized. “Are you okay?” “Yes, I’ll live. Couple days on painkillers and I’ll be good as new,” Charlie joked and then pulled her closer to him so he could kiss her. “I’m glad you came. You make it less boring to sit here in this bed. There’s nothing good on T.V.” “Oh, one of those are you?” She smiled and rubbed his arm affectionately. “One of what?” He asked her, curiously and cringed when he moved in the bed and his entire arm felt like it was on fire and being stabbed by a knife. A burning knife. “A big, strong man, until he’s injured. Then whines because the radio is broken.” Shareena giggled. “It’s silly, I dunno. The idea of you sitting here hurt has me a little freaked out.” “Well, I’m okay.” He reassured her. “So, what did you do today?” “I had a few photo shoots for senior proms, and then I went and took some nature photography, and I have a scheduled appointment this afternoon for a lady who wants me to take pictures of her cat.” Shareena grinned. “I do a lot of dogs and babies too.” “Sounds like a busy day, I’m not keeping you from anything, am I?” Charlie asked, not wanting to slow her down if she had other things she needed to do. “No, there’s nowhere I’d rather be, than right here with you right now,” she told him and leaned down to kiss his head affectionately. “My appointment isn’t until nearly dinnertime, so I have a few hours.” “Good,” Charlie said, then watched the nurse slide the glass door open and come in. She was holding a needle and gave him a half-smile. “Pain meds. It may make you sleepy, but if you rest up, they doctor will let you go home tonight, as long as you have someone to drive you.” She said and walked over to the IV and inserted the medication after verifying his patient information. “I’ll take him home. Just text me and I’ll be on standby to come get you,” Shareena told him and then sat with him until he fell asleep from the meds knocking him out. When she came back a few hours later to take him home, she realized that she’d been his only visitor. She helped him out to the car, by carrying his bag of items, and wouldn’t even defend him when the nurse insisted on using a wheelchair to take him out to the car. “I was shot in the shoulder; my legs work fine!” He muttered, but the nurse ignored him, reminding him that the medication for pain could make him walk

wobbly, and it was a liability and she wasn’t going to lose her job because of his pride. Shareena tried to bite back a grin, and almost succeeded until he looked up at her and gave her a glare. “Just you wait, when you’re having that baby, and they make you use wheel chairs and you just want to walk,” he muttered. He climbed into her car and let her drive him back to her house for the night. “We should probably talk when you’re feeling better, about getting a house together,” he told her once he got inside of her apartment. “My lease is almost up on my apartment anyways, and the market’s not bad for buying a house right now.” “Let’s talk about it in the morning, when you’re feeling better,” she told him and handed him the prescription she’d stopped at the pharmacy to pick up on the way home. “I’m not an invalid,” he told her and then laid down on the couch and let her bring him some water to swallow the pills with. “No, but you got shot, and it is okay to need a break for a few days while you recover.” She told him gently. “Besides, once you are feeling better, you can brag about how tough you were to all your friends.” “No, I’ll be bragging about how my hot girlfriend fussed over me and took care of me and I let her,” he said and groaned when he moved and bumped his shoulder on the back of the couch. “Let me grab you a couple of pillows,” she said, frowning, watching him try to get comfortable. “Or, you could come lay on my bed with me.” “Your cat will lay on my head,” Charlie muttered, already dozing off again. Shareena went and got him pillows and a blanket, and helped prop him up so he’d be more comfortable and then snorted when her cat jumped up on his chest, curled up and started to purr. If he’d been worried about the cat, laying out in the open made him a much easier target when she could have locked him out of the bedroom. Shaking her head, she went to go do some editing work on the photos, and keep an eye on him tonight. The nurse had made her promise to watch for fevers and other signs of complications for the first couple of days. She had been so focused on work and him, she’d almost forgotten about the baby.

CHAPTER 6 A few weeks later, they were at the ultrasound, eager to find out the gender.

They still weren’t entirely living together, and hadn’t found a house they’d both liked, but they’d grown closer together with each afternoon and night they’d spent in each other’s company. “And… it’s a girl!” The tech announced, and showed them the three little lines that indicated gender. “Congratulations.” “A daughter,” Charlie said and felt panic. The idea of chasing off boys, brushing pony tails, and fluffy dresses had him swallow hard. He had been kind of hoping for a rough and tumble boy, at least a boy he knew what to do with. Since he was a boy. Man… correction. He was a man. Shareena beamed at him. “A little girl, how exciting.” “Guess we really need to knuckle down and start picking out a house.” Charlie muttered and gave her a smile, he was happy. He just felt a little frightened at the prospect of raising a girl. The next words out of his mouth were a surprise to him, and shocked Shareena. “She’s going to need a brother. At least I know what to do with boys.” “Woah!” Shareena’s eyes widened and she choked, “how about we have this one, before we start talking about anymore.” Charlie nodded, and wasn’t even sure where the thought had come from, he placed a hand on her belly after the tech had finished wiping it off and leaned down and kissed her. “Marry me?” He asked her. It wasn’t the most romantic of proposals, but in the moment, with his hand on her belly, looking down at her, it felt right. And sometimes, timing and the rightness of the situation, made up for everything else. Shareena blinked at him, and then nodded, though she was a little frightened by how fast everything was moving and almost worried that things would be too good to be true. She wanted to believe and have faith that this could work out like a fairytale, but something was holding her back. When they got back home, he pulled out some fliers he’d been saving to show her of houses in nicer areas. He handed them to her and shrugged. “If you want to see any of them, just let me know. If you don’t like any of them, we can keep looking. I know you’re doing all the work being pregnant, but I can do heavy lifting, painting, and anything else that needs done, if you tell me.” Charlie told her quietly. He wasn’t a person who had felt insecure very often in his life, but this was such a big deal, he wasn’t sure how he’d handle it if she rejected his offers to help. Shareena looked down at the papers and burst into tears, Charlie panicked and wasn’t sure if he should hug her, or back away slowly. So he just stood there. Staring, and waiting for her to tell him what to do.

She sobbed harder and finally he reached out and hugged her tight, patting her on the back and not saying a word. He was too worried if he opened his mouth, it would make her cry harder. After a few minutes, she settled down and her sobs turned to sniffles and then quiet snorts until finally she buried her face against his chest and took soft, little breaths until she could talk again. “Are you okay?” He asked gently, his hand still rubbing her back softly. “Yes, it’s just… you’re so good to me, and everything is happening so fast, and I’m not ready for a baby, but there’s a time limit on how long I’ll be pregnant and then it will just be here. No, she will be here, and I don’t even have a name picked out.” Shareena talked fast, then sniffled when she took a breath. “Well, we can pick a name, and if you don’t want to look at houses, we don’t have to right now.” Charlie said, trying to accommodate her. “No, we can’t put it off any longer, I don’t want to be so big, and fat I can’t move things around the way I want them.” She looked up at him, and her eyes were big and red from her crying. “Okay, then we can start looking, and we can look at baby names together. We can pick something out so she has a name.” Charlie told her and then hugged her, resting his chin on the top of her head and closing his eyes, taking a deep breath. As far as hormonal pregnant women went, she wasn’t so bad, but the panic he felt at seeing her burst into tears made him realize he’d rather face down a million men with guns aimed at him, than not know how to help her when she was upset. “Okay, that sounds good. I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean to cry,” Shareena wiped a hand on her cheek and then leaned up on her toes and kissed him. “Take me to bed, I need a distraction.” Charlie nodded. That he could do. Sex was something that came naturally to him and he was good at it. Learning how to navigate the pregnancy hormones, and a new relationship and trying not to screw it up, was a lot scarier to him. In the end, they might not know how it was going to play out, but he knew, that whatever was growing between them, would last if they paid attention to it and didn’t let it slip away. As he followed her to the bedroom, he knew that he was right where he wanted to be, and despite his fears about the future, he didn’t have any regrets.

CHAPTER 7

“I’m glad we picked this house,” Shareena told him. They’d moved in a couple weeks ago, and while it had taken some time to unpack and get organized when she was so close to her due-date, she knew that waiting for the right place had been worth it. The back yard was huge, with a covered sitting area, a pre-installed wooden swing set, and a hot tub on the back deck that was huge and had room for eating outside or a bbq. The inside of the house was clean, but not so brand new you’d be worried a cat or a child would damage it. Her cat had been hiding under the bed and had barely come out since she’d moved in, but she knew it was just a matter of time before he got brave. It had three bedrooms upstairs, and two downstairs, one they could use as an office, the other as a playroom when the baby got bigger, it had two living areas, and while it didn’t have a formal dining room, the kitchen was huge and you could easily fit a gigantic table in there for holidays if you needed. It felt homey. Right. It was on a corner lot, surrounded by trees and felt fairly private despite being in a neighborhood. There was a fence, trees and bushes separating them and the neighbor, and the neighbor’s garage was closest to the fence instead of the house. It gave them the illusion of more privacy and quietness. The neighborhood had a small park, and an indoor pool that was open during the year that the neighborhood had chipped in to pay for. She was happy. While it wasn’t a country house, or a ranch, raising kids felt right in this environment for now and it was close enough to the local state parks she could always go for a drive. Getting up to waddle downstairs from the nursery where she’d been folding linens and putting away baby clothes in the dresser, she felt the urge to seek out Charlie. He was in the garage, trying to organize all his tools and supplies and cussing as he dropped a wrench on his foot. “It might help to wear shoes when you’re working in the garage,” Shareena said as she stood there, watching him rub his bare foot. “That would require thinking ahead about the possibility of damaging my toes with a wrench,” he told her and gave her a more thorough glance when he noticed her hand was on her belly and her posture was different than normal. “You feeling okay?” “Yes, I think so…” Shareena took a step forward, then looked down at the pool of water on the cement floor, running down her legs. “Then again maybe not?” “Is that your water breaking?” He asked, his eyes getting all big. “Okay, before I panic; what do you want me to do?”

“Let’s give it a little bit of time. Put the bags in the car, let’s hang out here for a while, and when things get too intense, we’ll go in.” She said logically, “I think I want a cup of tea, do you want one?” Charlie stared at her for a minute, blinking at her sudden calmness. “Sure….” He didn’t want to do anything to upset her and decided to just go along with it. A few hours later, when she was nearly biting his arm, he was glad he’d given her the chance to be calm, because as she pushed a baby out while standing next to the edge of the hospital bed, refusing to move, her fingers and nails were digging into his skin. And it hurt. “You can do this, two more big pushes and your daughter will be born,” the hospital midwife encouraged her. She was kneeling on the ground, with gloves on, linen’s next to Shareena on the bed and some linen’s spread out on the floor to help collect anything that fell on the floor. “I can’t do this,” Shareena nearly yelled in Charlie’s ear, making it ring. “I want an epidural.” “It’s too late, you need to push, now.” The midwife told her, and then brought her hands up between Shareena’s legs as the head started to emerge. “You’re almost there, one more big push.” Shareena groaned and bared down, the baby sliding out with the help of gravity. Breathing hard, she nearly roared as one more big push delivered the shoulders and body into the hands of the waiting midwife. The midwife brought the baby up to Shareena’s chest, and had her sit back on the edge of the bed, because she was now trembling. “Just have to wait for the placenta, and we’ll be done soon. Hold your baby, she’s beautiful, look at her. Did you guys decide a name?” The midwife asked as she assessed the baby as quietly as possible not to disturb either new mother or baby as Shareena held the baby to her chest. “Jade. Jade Adella.” Shareena said and squeaked when the baby latched on to nurse, without any assistance or help. The midwife smiled, “That’s good, and that will help your uterus to contract and to expel the placenta. Let her nurse.” Shareena nodded, and stared at the baby in complete awe, words escaping her in that moment. Charlie hugged his arm around Shareena, and watched his new daughter eat. Feeling stunned by the experience. It had been intense, passionate, and a calm before the storm. Yet he wouldn’t trade a minute of it. “There’s only one thing missing,” Charlie finally announced. Shareena looked up at him and tilted her head, confused, “What is that?”

“You still haven’t married me.” “Oh. That.” Shareena laughed, “I guess she’s just in time to be the flower girl?” “Absolutely.” Charlie said and felt complete. His world was whole, he finally felt like nothing was missing.

PREGNANT BY THE SEAL

I MET Jack at an airport in Northern Syria, the day before our expedition was due to head out. It was a sweltering day, high 90's, and the tiny airport didn't have any air conditioning. I stood there fanning myself with a folded map of the surrounding area, wishing we had scheduled this trip during the winter months instead of during one of the hottest weeks of the year. Timing was important, however. The Islamic State militants had been causing all kinds of trouble throughout the region for months now, and this was one of the only times things had settled down for it to be safe for us to get into the country. Though there was still high risk of terrorist attacks in the area, which is why Jack was here. He got off the plane, a small private jet provided by our benefactor, Tremaine Industries, and headed straight towards me with a purposeful stride. He had a lot of swagger for a white boy, stalking across the tarmac with his jacket slung over his shoulder, a fine pair of Costa Del Mar shades covering his eyes. He had dark hair and a square jaw covered with a few days' stubble, and he moved like someone who knew how to handle himself, scanning the area as he walked for any possible threats. His resume listed him as a formal Navy SEAL, so I figured he knew his business. Why he was working private security now, I didn't know, but I was glad to have him along. “Ms. Harris?” he asked, offering me his hand. “Jack Carmichael.” “My pleasure, Jack,” I said, giving his hand a quick shake. “And it's Camille. We're gonna be working together, might as well be on a first name basis.” “Works for me,” he said. He had a roguish smile, almost cocky. Though I liked a little confidence in a man. “I assume you have a car waiting?” “Right this way.” I led him through the airport to where our rental car, also

courtesy of Tremaine Industries, waited in the parking lot. There were only half a dozen other vehicles there. We'd chosen an isolated airstrip to reduce the chances of running into any trouble. Not that our job here was all that dangerous. But terrorists had blown up a few temples and other historic sites over the past few months, all as part of their religious war. They considered statues and graven images to be idolatry, and they hated with a passion anything that went against their extreme view of Islam. My group had been sent here to retrieve as many historic and religious artifacts as we could, in order to save them from destruction and relocate them to museums in less disputed territories. I walked over to the driver's side door and opened it, but Jack thrust himself in front of me and blocked the door. “I should drive,” he said. “Just in case we need to make a quick getaway.” I arched an eyebrow at him. He seemed awfully paranoid for a white boy, but I guessed that he was right. “Fine,” I said, circling around to the passenger side of the car. It was a large, all-terrain SUV, ideal for our job here since we'd be venturing off the beaten path to get to some of the excavation sites. I was just glad that the car we'd been given was roomy enough. I was a big girl, after all, and it was no fun squeezing into a tiny compact car in a hot, sweaty day. I eyed Jack as he drove us to the hotel, not even trying to hide the way I was checking him out. My mama always said a girl should never have shame in admiring a man, no matter what anybody had to say about it. This man was built, with firm muscles straining against his tight black t-shirt. The navy didn't take scrawny boys or scrubs and turn them into SEALs. For them it was only the finest of the finest. And believe me when I say he was fine. A smirk crossed his lips when he caught me looking. “Like what you see?” he asked. “Mm-hmm,” I replied, pursing my lips. “You got it going on.” He laughed, and some of the tension in his shoulders seemed to release. “I hope we can have a good working relationship, Ms. Harris...Camille. I take my work very seriously. I wouldn't want to see any harm come to you or your team.” “You really think there's any danger?” I watched him out of the corner of my eye, studying his reaction. If he tried to coddle me just to ease my worries, I planned to catch him in the act. “There hasn't been any activity in this area for a while now, at least according to the reports Tremaine gave us.” He shrugged, keeping his attention on the road and watching the other cars we passed, alert for any possible trouble. “I'm cautionary by nature, Camille.

I'd rather be over-protective if it helps reduce the risk to all of us. Americans in this part of the world aren't treated well when they cross the wrong sorts of people.” A shiver went through my spine at that. I'd seen the news reports. There had been people out here who'd been captured, tortured, even beheaded. The artifacts we were here to retrieve weren't really all that valuable, beyond their historic significance. It sure as hell wasn't anything worth dying for. And I had never had any silly ideas about being some sort of Indiana Jones, and not just because being a large black woman, I wasn't exactly much like Harrison Ford. “Let's just get the job done,” I said, “and get home. I ain't planning on winding up on the news.” Jack patted my knee. His touch was firm and sure of himself. “I like a woman who keeps an eye on her goals,” he said, winking at me. “I can see why you were chosen to lead this expedition. There are plenty of other archaeologists with your credentials, but a task like this takes someone with some moxie.” “Mr. Tremaine chose me because I'm the best woman for the job,” I said. Not that I'd ever met the mysterious billionaire. He had funded several expeditions I'd been on, going back all the way to my college internships. I'd worked hard to make a name for myself in the field, working under several prominent archaeologists on digs all around the world. This was my first time leading my own expedition, and I had Mr. Tremaine to thank for it. Though all I knew about him was what the news said: that he had a strong interest in preserving historical artifacts, and that he spend a generous portion of his vast fortune trying to save priceless artifacts from destruction. Though those stories were mixed up with news of Tremaine industries performing hostile takeovers and laying off workers by the thousands, so sometimes I wasn't sure what to think. I never knew for sure how secure my job was, so I made sure to be the best that I could, so that I'd be an invaluable resource. I doubted that I'd ever meet Tremaine himself, but as long as he kept signing the checks and funding our supplies and travel expenses, that was just fine by me. “I'm confident that Mr. Tremaine made a fine choice,” Jack said. He looked almost amused as he said it, though I couldn't be sure why. We arrived at the hotel without incident, though we still got plenty of looks from the locals as we made our way through the lobby. Americans in general weren't too common in these parts, and I doubted any of the people here had ever seen a white man and a black woman together in the same place at the same time. Though there were plenty of neighborhoods back in the States

where we would have gotten even more looks, all things considered. We met with the rest of my team in a cramped little conference room on the hotel's second floor. It was hot, it was sweaty, and there was a bit of a rank smell coming from somewhere I couldn't place. Worse yet, there was no air conditioning, just a few old, rusty ceiling fans stirring the air from above. The rooms we were staying in weren't much better. It wasn't that Tremaine Industries wouldn't have footed the bill for a nicer place. We were just in such a remote region that staying in a five-star hotel wasn't really an option. “This is Jack,” I said as we entered, introducing him to the rest of the team. “He's gonna watch our backs over the next couple of days. Make sure we all get home in one piece.” Jack took a look around the room, checking the windows and looking under the table and behind the old, dusty paintings on the walls. “I'd appreciate if everyone checks in with me before going out anyplace on your own,” he said, his tone all business. “I'm not keen on having one of you wander off and getting yourselves kidnapped or something.” “Is that a thing?” William, one of the younger members of the team, asked. “I mean, is that a thing we need to worry about? Kidnapping?” “Not while I'm around,” Jack said, exuding confidence. Seeming content that there were no bombs or hidden cameras in the room, he threw himself into a chair and propped his feet up on the table, crossing one ankle over the other. Suddenly he looked less like an expert in personal security, and more like he owned the place. “It's good that you're sure of yourself, Jackie boy,” I said, smirking at him. “But do you mind keeping your filthy boots away from my maps?” I knocked his feet off the table, then brushed the dirt off the maps spread out before us. “My apologies,” he said, giving me a wry smile. He pulled over a spare chair and propped his feet up on that, acting as if nothing had happened. I had to give it to him, he didn't miss a beat. “I guess the Navy doesn't teach manners,” Tracy said. She was our expert on Middle Eastern history. She also had a bit of a chip on her shoulder. Jack ignored the jab and leaned back in his chair, folding his arms behind his head and flashing Tracy a smirk. I eyed him for a moment, surprised at his poise. Most men I knew would have a quick comeback or pointed remark waiting for a woman who mouthed off to them. Jack didn't seem to feel the need to defend himself. It raised him up a notch in my estimation. Bickering could get so petty sometimes. The team and I spent the rest of the afternoon going over the details, plotting out where we'd be heading, what to expect, and how to handle

ourselves while we were here. What we were doing wasn't strictly legal, though it fell into a bit of a gray area. We had to make sure we didn't draw the wrong kind of attention to ourselves. Though most of our work would be in isolated areas. These sites had been well-preserved before the conflict in the region started, but now a lot of them were surrounded by wartime ruin. Jack observed the meeting with detached interest, only chiming in when he had a security-related concern to bring up. The meeting ran smooth as can be, and around supper time we called it a night, with plans to head out first thing in the morning. After dinner I wandered into the dusty little bar just off the lobby of the hotel. The lighting was dim and a few shady characters lounged at tables off in the corners, while a slender man with a thick mustache polished the bar. A few lazy ceiling fans spun overhead, but they did little to stifle the heat. I was surprised to find Jack there, sitting at the bar, nursing a drink. I sauntered over to him and asked, “Mind some company?” The corner of his mouth perked up in a grin and he nodded to the stool next to him. “I always enjoy the company of a lovely lady.” I took the stool, laughing. “Lady?” I shook my head. “Baby, I ain't no 'lady.' I am a woman, and proud of it.” He looked me up and down, his eyes roaming over my generous curves. “You are, at that,” he said. I ordered a whiskey sour, and Jack's eyebrows went up when he heard my order. “Definitely not a 'lady' drink,” he said. He raised his glass to me and took a long drink of it. “I like my drinks like I like my men,” I said. “Tall, cool, and hard.” He laughed and took another swig of his drink. We had a few rounds, all on Tremaine's dime. One of the advantages of working for a billionaire was that he didn't look too closely at the expense reports. “So tell me,” he asked once we'd had a chance to loosen up, “what brings a woman like yourself traipsing around the globe, running errands for a billionaire like Tremaine?” “I ain't no errand girl,” I said. “I do it for history.” “For history?” He arched an eyebrow, looking at me quizzically. “History deserves to be preserved.” I finished off my third drink and ordered a fourth. I was just a bit light-headed, but it was a nice, gentle buzz. “My family lost our history. It was stolen from us.” “Slavery?” he asked, his voice grim. “What else?” I shrugged, tapping my fingers against my glass. “You ever see that movie, Roots?” He nodded.

“Well, the guy who wrote it, who wrote the book it was based on, that is, he did all kinds of research. Traced his family history all the way back through their time as slaves and on back to their original tribe in Africa.” I took a slow sip of my drink, savoring the cool burn. “But the thing is, it wasn't all right. I loved that movie, and it was the first book I ever went out and read on my own as a little girl. I always wanted to find my own roots.” I shrugged, running my thumb along the edges of my glass. “But later on I learned that the author messed up a lot of his facts. That doesn't mean the story isn't true, in a manner of speaking. But he couldn't get everything right.” “So you want to preserve what you can of history,” Jack said. “Make sure that people have what they need, so they can get their own stories right.” I shrugged, not sure what point I was really trying to make. He reached over and took my hand in his. His grip was firm and strong, his hands calloused like a working man's. It felt like he had hands that would keep a girl safe in the night. Strong, but gentle. Protective. Sensual. His fingers caressed mine. Maybe it was the whiskey, but his touch sent a thrill through me. I looked up at him and caught his eye. “You're a fascinating woman,” he said. “Is that so?” I arched an eyebrow, studying his rugged features. “I bet you say that to all the girls.” “Not at all.” He reached over with his other hand and held my hand between both of his. I squeezed his hand tight, feeling like this was a touch I didn't want to let go of. It had been awhile since I'd known the touch of a man. We'd only just met, but sometimes, that's all it takes. I intertwined my fingers with his. The look in his eyes told me he knew what I had on my mind. “Why, Ms. Harris,” he said, a playful lilt to his tone. “I do believe you're trying to seduce me.” “You'd better believe it, honey.” I slipped a hand around his neck, pulled him close, and pressed my full lips against his. His scruff scratched my chin, delightfully rough. His calloused hands cupped my cheeks, a solid, working man's hands. I wanted to feel them roaming over my body. I took his hands and stood, pulling him along with me to the stairs. We slipped into my room, his lips caressing mine, his hands caressing my sides. I wanted more than that. I grabbed his hands and put them where I wanted them. He was eager to comply, massaging my breasts in his firm grip. Before I knew it he had my top off, then my bra, and I felt his rough touch against my soft, smooth skin. We didn't take our time getting down to business. I slipped my hand down his pants, eliciting a groan as I found what I was looking for. We collapsed

onto the bed, our bodies intertwined. He caressed my curves, hugging my ample hips against his, showing no shame in taking what he wanted, what I was more than willing to give. He made love the way he did everything else: careful, deliberate, and sure of himself. He took his time taking care of my every need, until I was bursting with euphoria and I felt like my body would sing. Afterwards we lay there under the electric hum of the ceiling fan, a light sheen of sweat across both of our bodies. He took my hand in his and raised it to his lips, planting a soft kiss on the backs of my fingers. “That was unexpected,” he said, a soft smile on his lips. “I know.” I laughed, still basking in the afterglow of our lovemaking. “This trip is turning out to be a lot more pleasant than I'd expected.”

***

THE NEXT FEW weeks were a mix of business and pleasure. By day, I led the team on expeditions to various sites around the region. We searched through ruins and abandoned buildings, collecting whatever artifacts we could for delivery out of the country. Everything was carefully packed, tagged, and cataloged, then shipped off to be studied in greater detail at the various museums and universities that Tremaine Industries worked with in this region. By night, Jack and I continued exploring our newfound passion. The man was as generous as he was sensual, and he had the stamina of an ox. The rest of the team could tell that there was something going on between us, though we kept our exploits behind closed doors. Once we were on the job each day, it was all business, with no time for hanky panky. Not that I would have been ashamed of anything. I was an adult and a woman in my prime, and there was no reason not to embrace passion when I found it. I just wasn't one for public displays in front of people who worked for me. I realized something was up when I was packing away a collection of small statuary out in the field one warm, dry afternoon. I was recording the dates on the newest batch of shipping labels when I stopped, looking at what day it was and doing the math. I thought back to the packing I'd done before the trip started. When you travel halfway around the world, you have to plan ahead, and there were certain necessities you made sure to stock up on. Tampax had been one of the items at the top of my packing list before I ever

got on a plane. It wasn't like I could run to the pharmacy out here and pick some up. But I realized that I hadn't needed them yet, even though I was more than a week late. “Damn,” I whispered, tapping my fingers on the shipping container. The healthcare system in this country had broken down after the years of armed conflict in the area, making this a place where you couldn't exactly stop at the corner store for a home pregnancy test. I realized I was stuck waiting until I got back to the States before I knew for sure. Though a gut part of me was convinced it was true. It wasn't as if Jack and I had been particularly careful during our exploits. It's not like that I could have known in advance to pack condoms for the trip. I was trying to decide whether to bring the subject up to Jack, or if I should wait until I knew for sure, when the sound of a revving motor filled the air around the excavation site. After a moment I realized it was several motors: a small group of jeeps driving towards us at top speed. I stared at them, wondering who it could be, considering how far we were from any populated area. Jack came rushing up and shouted, “Get down, get down!” A moment later, the gunfire started. I ducked behind a stone pillar of the ruined temple we were excavating. Jack pulled me down low and covered my body with his. I clung to him, trembling. I'd never been shot at before, and the sound of gunshots in the air made me freeze with panic. “Stay here,” Jack said. He pulled the pistol from his belt and opened fire, using the pillar for cover. He shot several of the terrorists in quick succession, dropping them with the precision that only a Navy SEAL can possess. I watched from my hiding place, in awe of the fluid grace with which he moved. He showed no signs of fear, though I knew somewhere inside he had to be as scared as I was. He just had his fear under control, thanks to his training. Before I knew it, the gunfire stopped, but then a voice shouted from behind a crumbled stone wall. “Surrender yourself to us, Mr. Tremaine! You are a thief and a heathen, and you will pay for robbing these sacred sights.” “Mr. Tremaine?” I looked up at Jack, confused. “Put down your weapons and walk away,” Jack said, keeping his weapon trained on the terrorists. “And let those people go.” I peeked around the pillar and saw the terrorists had two of my team held at gunpoint. They were holding them hostage and using them as human shields to keep Jack at bay.

“It is you who will surrender, Tremaine!” one of the men shouted. “Ours is the just cause, in the name of Allah! The world will see you made an example of, so that they know that rich capitalist pigs cannot violate our lands for their own gain.” The man shifted his stance and aimed his weapon at Jack, which was his final mistake. As soon as Jack had a clear shot, he took it, dropping the terrorist to the ground. The other man panicked and tried to run, but Jack dropped him with a shot to the head. It was all over faster than I could have imagined. Jack walked over to me and held out his hand. I took it and he pulled me to my feet. I clung to him, trembling from head to toe. “It's okay, Camille,” he said, stroking my hair. “It's over. You're safe now.” I took a few deep, shuddering breaths. Then I leaned back and looked Jack in the eye. “Why did he call you Mr. Tremaine?” He smirked, holstering his pistol. “I've been meaning to find the right time to tell you.” He held out his arms in a humble stance. “My real name is Jack Tremaine. I'm the one who's been funding your expeditions.” I stared at him for a long moment, dumbfounded. Then I raised my hand and slapped him as hard as I could across the face.

***

I STALKED across the excavation site, grabbing whatever equipment I could carry and hauling it off towards our rental trucks. The rest of the team was standing around in a daze, staring at the bodies, at the guns, at the blood on the ground. I couldn't stand around and stare. I had to keep moving. “Camille,” Jack said, following me to the truck. “Don't talk to me.” I dumped a load of tools in the back of the truck, then turned back to collect some more. Jack stopped me and grabbed my shaking hands. Part of me wanted him to hold me. Part of me wanted to scream at him. Instead I just shoved away from him and went over to the folding table where we had all of our maps and documents about the site. I rolled everything up in a clump, not caring if some of the pages got rumpled. Jack stood off to the side, watching me. “We should go,” Tracy said, pulling herself away from the scene of violence. She smacked William on his arm to get him moving. “Come on, Will.

This isn't the place to be hanging around.” “Should we call someone?” William asked. “The...the police? The government?” “We're not calling anyone,” Jack said. “If any hostiles know we're in the area, our only option is to evacuate. We've saved enough history for this trip.” “I'm sure Mr. Tremaine doesn't want to risk bad publicity by having his excavation team captured by terrorists,” I snapped. I shoved the maps and papers into a long black tube, twisted the cap on, and tossed it into one of the trucks. The rest of the team stared at Jack. They were probably as stunned about his identity as I was. “I just don't want anyone to get hurt,” Jack said. I didn't even look at him. I couldn't. Not until I calmed down. Soon we had everything backed into the vehicles and we were on our way. Jack drove at the head of the caravan, his hands keeping a firm grip on the steering wheel. “We'll head straight to the airport,” he said. “I'll call ahead. My jet's been waiting there since it landed, and the crew has instructions to keep it prepped for flight at all times.” “Your jet,” I said, shaking my head. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. This man, this fool man that I'd let myself fall for, was the infamous head of Tremaine Industries. “Is your name even Jack? Was that a lie too?” “My given name is Herbert Jacques Tremaine,” he said, keeping his eyes on the road, as well as scanning the horizon for any dangers. “I'm sure you can understand why I prefer 'Jack.'” “Herbert,” I said, snorting. “Seriously? Herbert?” That was the whitest of rich white boy names I could ever imagine. He laughed and shook his head. “Named for my grandfather. I never cared for it. Or for him.” We drove in silence for a time. I had a million questions to ask him, but I couldn't get them all straight in my head. Eventually, when the airport was coming into view ahead of us, I asked the most immediate question on my mind. “Why did you lie?” He didn't answer for a long time. We pulled into the airport parking lot. Crew members in the employ of Tremaine Industries came out to meet us and started unloading our excavation gear and the artifacts we had recovered. The rest of the team was already getting on the jet, while Jack and I sat in the car. He finally turned off the engine, rested his hands on the steering wheel, and started to explain.

“I never asked to be rich,” he said. “I was born the heir to the Tremaine fortune, and that's how it was. But when I was a teenager, I started thinking I needed some kind of better focus in my life.” “So you joined the Navy.” He nodded. “At first it was a chance to work out my aggression. And man, was I ever an aggressive kid. I got kicked out of two boarding schools for starting fights. The Navy helped me focus that aggression into purpose, and I stopped being so angry all the time.” He shrugged and turned away, staring out the window. “But when I got done training and started actually doing the job, it turned into something different. I was saving people. Helping keep the country safe. I did more for America than my father and my grandfather ever did with their engineering firms or their overpriced pharmaceuticals.” The tension started to ease out of my shoulders as I listened to his story. This wasn't the Tremaine I'd imagined. My image of him, of his family name, had been tainted by his father's legacy. “When I got out,” he said, “it was just after my father died. I had to take over the family business. I almost sold it all, just so I wouldn't have to deal with it. But the companies that made me offers were notorious for doing major takeovers and then 'reorganizing their new assets.' Which is a fancy way of saying they shut down any unprofitable plants and make major layoffs. So I keep things running, and to hell with the shareholders if they complain that profits are down. We keep people employed. And I use my own profits for personal projects.” “Like preserving little pieces of history,” I said. I reached over and touched his knee. “Among other things, yeah.” He finally turned to face me. His expression had softened. “You didn't quite answer my question, though.” I arched an eyebrow. His story had touched me, but I wasn't letting him get off the hook just yet. “Why lie? Why pretend to be someone else?” “I like to get involved,” he said, shrugging. “I like to help. And since I've got my SEAL training, it makes sense to work as security. I fund a lot of other things besides your expeditions. Scientific and medical research, wildlife preserves, and so on. I go from one to the next, taking on a simple security role, and I can feel useful. Plus it helps me keep an eye on things, make sure the people I pay don't squander their resources or try to do anything illegal.” “So you were here to spy on us?” I asked, my hackles rising. “Make sure we didn't try to steal any of these artifacts for ourselves?”

“That's only a small part of it.” He looked at me with a somber expression haunting his eyes. “And I wasn't expecting this to happen, between us. I wasn't expecting to fall in lo—” “No,” I said, cutting him off. “Don't you say that. Don't you dare. Not now.” “Camille...” “I need time to think about this.” I got out of the car and stalked away from him. He followed, but kept his distance, respecting my need for space. We boarded the jet, and I made sure to take a seat far away from Jack. I needed to be alone for a while. I needed to sort this out. I needed to figure out if I could still love this man, when I had just found out I didn't even know who he was.

***

I DIDN'T TALK to Jack when we got back to the States. He gave me his personal cell phone number and asked me to call him when I was ready. Though for a little while, I was too busy to consider what I might say to him, for which I was grateful. My entire team had to be debriefed on what had happened, giving full reports to the people at Tremaine Industries. In order to keep us from getting into trouble with the government for removing the artifacts from Syria, we all agreed to sign Non-Disclosure Agreements. The items we'd recovered would be quietly shipped to places where they could be studied and kept safe, and we were all paid substantial bonuses as compensation for the danger we'd faced. The details of our work were quietly swept under a rug, and we were able to get back to our lives. The morning sickness started not long after I returned home, and I decided it was time to see a doctor and confirm what I already knew. The tests came back positive—I was pregnant. With the baby of a man who wasn't at all what I'd thought he was. I sat at home one afternoon with his number punched into my phone, working up the courage to hit 'send.' I normally wasn't a girl to be shy about calling a man, but this was a call I'd never had to make before. Finally I let out a long sigh and hit the button, then held my breath while I waited for him to answer.

“Camille,” he said as soon as he picked up. “How've you been? I've been waiting to hear from you.” “I'm...I'm good,” I said, nervously picking at the threads on my shirt. “Listen, baby, you and I need to talk.” “That's good,” he said. “Talking is good. We've got a lot to talk about.” “Honey, you don't know the half of it.” He was quiet at that, and his voice was hesitant when he spoke. “Camille, is everything all right? Listen, I know this was a crazy situation...” “We'll talk in person,” I said. “This ain't something to discuss over the phone.” “All right,” he said. “How about dinner? Something quiet. Intimate.” “That sounds good.” We worked out the details and I hung up the phone, trying to ignore the churning in my gut. I wasn't sure if it was nausea from the pregnancy or from my nervousness, but either way I felt like I was going to throw up. Jack picked me up later that night. He brought flowers, though I refused to give him any brownie points for that. We went to a restaurant with a private dining hall. There wasn't another soul there besides the staff. I wondered if Jack had bought out every table in the place in order to give us more privacy. Once we were settled in and we'd decided on what to eat, Jack uncorked a bottle of champagne and poured us each a glass. “I'm glad for the chance to see you again, Camille,” he said, raising his glass. I raised mine and tapped it gently against his, then set it down without taking a sip. “So, how have you been?” He leaned forward, propping his elbows on the table. He still looked like the same old Jack. He was dressed simply, in slacks and a black t-shirt, and to look at him you never would have guessed that he was a billionaire. Billionaire. I couldn't get my head around how much money a billion dollars really was. I'd grown up poor and worked my way through college to earn my archaeology degree. I was still paying off my student loans. “I'm fine,” I said, my voice tight. I'd planned out everything I had to say, but it was getting all jumbled now that I was here. “Listen, Jack, we need to sort this out. About us. If there is an us, I mean.” “I'd like there to be,” he said. “I know you must still be mad at me, but can you at least understand why I did what I did? I mean, it's not like I can travel under my own identity. You saw what happened...those men somehow figured out who I was, and they came after me.” I hadn't thought about that before. It's likely the terrorists didn't just want to stop us from violating their holy grounds. Jack Tremaine would have been a

valuable hostage. Even if they didn't care about money (most extremists didn't), they could have made a public example of him. Killing a rich American industrialist would raise them up in the eyes of those that supported their cause. “I understand,” I said. I took a sip of my water, wishing I could try the champagne so I could calm my nerves. “But what happens now? It ain't like we can have a normal relationship.” “Why can't we?” he asked. “I don't live a high society life. I prefer to travel. You can come with me. There's got to be plenty of places around the world you'd like to see. We can scout locations for future expeditions, and see the world while we're at it.” “That isn't going to work,” I said. I couldn't see hauling a baby around the world, jetting from one country to another. I couldn't set up a crib at the edge of an excavation site while I was on a dig. “I need to settle down for a while. I'm thinking about teaching.” “Teaching?” He arched an eyebrow. “That works too. I have some contacts at quite a few universities. I can help set you up with something.” “I don't need your help.” I shook my head. “I can get by on my own merits.” “Of course.” He gave me an apologetic smile. “I didn't mean to imply otherwise.” We were quiet for a while as we ate. I couldn't figure out how to say the things that needed to be said, or ask the things that needed to be asked. I couldn't just come right out and tell him I was pregnant. He'd want to get married and take care of the baby, just because it was the right thing to do. But then I'd spend the rest of my life not knowing whether he actually wanted me, whether he loved me, or whether he was just saddled with me because he'd knocked me up. Damn, I wished I hadn't gone and gotten myself into this mess. “So what about the future?” I asked him. “Our future?” he asked. “I hope it will be a bright one.” “But have you actually thought about it?” I put down my fork and peered at him from across the table. “We had a fun few weeks out there, sure. But did you ever stop to think about whether it was going anywhere?” “Actually,” he said, “I haven't been able to think about much of anything else.” He wiped his mouth with a cloth napkin, then set it on the table. “Listen, Camille. I'm not going to make any promises. This is just the beginning, right? We've got time to figure things out. I just want to get to know you more, to become a part of your life. And we can figure out the rest as we go along, can't

we?” “No,” I said, tears welling in my eyes. “We can't.” “Why not?” He looked so distraught, half rising from his chair as if he thought I was about to run out the door and he'd need to catch me. “Because I'm pregnant.” He stared at me for a long moment. He settled back into his chair. He cleared his throat, then took a sip of his champagne. “Oh,” he said. “Oh?” I stared at him, leaning forward with my palms on the table. “Oh? Is that all you have to say? God damn it, Jack, I'm having a baby. Your baby. Don'tcha have anything more to say about that?” “Have you been to a doctor yet?” he asked. “I can find you the best OBGYN in the state. And don't worry about the cost, I'll take care of everything.” I sat there and stared at him. “That...that's it?” I grabbed my napkin and threw it at him. “You want to know about the damn doctor?” He caught the napkin and set it aside. “I'm not sure what else to say. I'm a practical person, Camille. Your health, the baby's health, that's the most important thing. The first thing I thought of.” I let the tension release from my shoulders. It was actually sweet, when I thought about it. He heard that I was pregnant, and his first instinct was to take care of me. “What else do we need to talk about?” he asked. “Living arrangements? We've got time until the baby is born, so maybe we—” “I want to talk about us, Jack.” I clenched the edge of the tablecloth in my fists. “I wasn't ready for this. I don't know what's going to happen. And before you even think it, don't go popping the question on me now. I want to focus on doing what's right for this baby, first, before we consider whether we want to get married or something. But we need to figure 'us' out. Figure out where this is going, how we're going to manage things.” He smiled and rose from his chair, then circled around the table and knelt beside me. He took my hands in his and gave them an affectionate squeeze. “Don't you worry at all, Camille. We're going to take this one day at a time. We've got months before the baby is due, and we can spend that time getting to know each other more. Growing closer to each other. I'll make sure the baby is provided for, you have my word on that. And we'll figure 'us' out. The important thing is moving forward, right? We'll make a great future together. And when the time is right, when we have all the pieces in place and we know we're doing it for us, and not for the wrong reasons, then we'll talk about

marriage, and the future, and all of that. Okay?” Tears welled in my eyes. All I could do was nod. I leaned over and kissed his lips, glad that he was here for me, that he wasn't going to try to push me into something before I was ready. It was going to be a strange life, raising a baby with a daddy who was a billionaire and an ex-Navy SEAL. And a white boy, on top of that. My mama wouldn't bat an eyelash at the rest of it, but when I brought a white boy home to meet her, she was going to blow her top. I put my arms around him and cradled his head against my chest. I hadn't expected any of this to happen, and I knew I wasn't ready for it. But was anyone ever really ready for a baby? The important thing was that our child would have two loving parents who would do anything to support and care for them. And I knew Jack would do whatever it took to provide for his child. Our baby wouldn't have to live through the kind of struggles my family had gone through while I was growing up. It wouldn't ever have to worry about whether there would be dinner on the table, or whether we could afford to take it to the doctor. It would grow up and go to college without ever having to worry about debt. I cupped Jack's cheeks in my hands and raised his face towards mine. We kissed as tears of relief fell down my cheeks. After a few moments, our kiss became more urgent, filled with need. Jack stood up and took my hands, then led me out of the restaurant and to his car. We kissed more sitting in the parking lot, his hands roaming my body like we were a couple of teenagers. Then we went back to my apartment. We headed back to the bedroom almost immediately. I worried about what Jack would think of my simple place, with my IKEA furniture and my dirty clothes strewn all over the floor. But he didn't show any signs of judgment for my middle-class lifestyle. He just focused on my needs, on my touch. He lowered me onto the bed, gentle as can be. There was none of the urgent, athletic movement from our prior encounters. He was slow. He was tender. We savored every moment. He slowly pulled my clothes off, one piece at a time, his lips trailing kisses over the bare skin he exposed. Shivers ran up and down my body, and while part of me wanted to tell him to hurry and give me what I desperately needed, a bigger part of me wanted to cherish this experience. We made love deep into the night, an elegant melding of our bodies into one. I lost track of time, of where Jack ended and I began, and of any worries beyond his touch, his kiss, his loving caress. Then, once it was over and our energy was spent, we lay there together as two lovers sharing each other's embrace.

Eventually Jack dozed off, and for a time I watched him sleep. My fingers traced tiny caresses along the lines of his face. I thought about the future and what it would bring. I thought about the life growing inside of me. I wondered whether it would be a boy or a girl. No matter what, this child would know love, support, and kindness in its life. Our new life together would start the next day. I could already see it now. A new home, something simple, with no need for excessive luxuries. A big back yard our child could play in, unlike the row home I'd grown up in with barely more than a patch of scruffy grass out back. The best schools, the best care. And once our baby was grown, I knew we'd see the world together. I'd take my child to Africa, make sure it knew its roots. Recapture all of the history that my family had once lost. Laying there with Jack, dreaming of the future, I almost felt like I could actually see it all happening, like the folds of time were open to me and my baby's life was laid out there for me to explore. In the morning I awoke with Jack still there in my arms. He opened his weary eyes and looked at me, a pleasant exhaustion etched across his features. “Morning,” he said. “Morning, love,” I said, smiling at him. We kissed, then we touched, then we made love again as streams of early dawn sunlight poured over us through the bedroom window. Eventually we got dressed, lost in the quiet comfort of two people who had shared the deepest parts of themselves. The gentle romance of the moment lasted until a grumbling in my stomach reminded me that we hadn't really finished dinner last night. “Hungry?” Jack asked as he pulled on his shoes. “Mm-hmm.” I sighed, remembering that I hadn't stocked up the fridge since I got back into the country. “Can we go out to eat?” “Certainly.” Jack smirked, standing up and buckling on his belt. That swagger that had first drawn me to him was back in his every step. “As a matter of fact, I know a lovely little place.” “Oh?” I could see by the mischievous light in his eyes that he was up to something. “In Paris,” he said. A grin slowly spread across his face. “Well, what are we waiting for?” I said. We didn't bother to pack. Jack promised to buy me new clothes once we got there. I couldn't wait to see what the most romantic city in the world had in store for us. And it would be nice to travel around the world for pleasure, for once, instead of digging up ancient ruins and getting shot at by terrorists. Though I reminded myself that when you were dating a rich, powerful, charming Navy SEAL, just about anything could happen.

THE SEAL’S SURPRISE BABY

I KNEW I was going to have a tough night when the group of marines walked into the bar. It was a Tuesday night, which was usually a pretty slow night. We had all the regulars here: the handful of lonely men who sat on the same bar stools every night, nursing their drinks; the couple who got a table near the window, splitting a bottle of wine; and the table full of rowdy college kids, who always insisted on getting the exact same table and always got separate checks. I was keeping myself busy stocking up behind the bar, taking advantage of the slow period to make sure we had plenty of napkins, straws, and sliced limes. But then half a dozen burly men with buzz cuts and boisterous attitudes strolled in and took over two tables near the center of the room. One of them walked up to me and slapped his hands down on the bar, grinning wide. He wasn't in uniform, but I could tell he was a marine by the dog tags around his neck and the USMC t-shirt he wore. A couple of his friends were wearing fatigues, probably having just gotten off duty. They'd no doubt come from the base a few miles up the road, near the docks. “Couple of pitchers of whatever you've got on tap, little lady,” he said. I turned an annoyed look on him. I hated being called “little lady,” both because it was a sexist term meant to put a woman in her place, and because at my weight, no one called me “little” without meaning it ironically. But I kept it professional, and simply asked him, “You boys want to run a tab?” He handed me a credit card to swipe. “You bet. And keep 'em coming, okay?” I poured him the first two pitchers and added them to the tab. The marines worked up quite a ruckus as they started drinking, I kept an eye on them as I served the few other customers that came in. I usually didn't have any serious trouble when the boys from the base came down here. They were loud, they took up a lot of space, but they were good tippers and they didn't harass anyone. Mostly, they just gave me a headache. That would have been all, if not for the second group that came in about half an hour later. There were four of them, and they were as muscular and hopped up on testosterone as the first bunch, though they were quieter about it.

They had more of a deadly grace about them. They took a seat at a table near the back, and one of them walked up to place an order. When I poured drinks for the man and his buddies, he looked me right in the eye and said, “Thank you, ma'am.” He had a slight southern accent, and held himself with more dignity than I would have expected. He wasn't too tall, but he was broad in the shoulders and had a solid build. He wore a navy blue t-shirt with a logo on the breast, depicting an eagle clutching an anchor and a trident in its talons. Above the logo were the words “U.S. Navy SEAL.” He took the drinks back to his friends and they sat and shared a toast. I didn't expect any trouble from them at that point. But I was in for more than I'd bargained for. I noticed the marines leaning close and whispering something to each other, right before one of them came over with their empty pitchers and ordered a refill. I filled the pitchers and handed them to him. Then he leaned close and asked, “And can you do something for me, sweetheart? Send a round of drinks to our friends over there.” He nodded towards the SEALs. I took a deep breath, knowing where this was going. “What do you want me to send them?” He smirked. “Four Shirley Temples.” I sighed and shook my head. I made the drinks—as long as they were paying customers, I'd give them what they wanted—but I gave the marine a serious look and said, “I don't want any trouble from you boys, now, you hear? You keep this nice and friendly.” “Don't worry, Miss,” he said with a wink. “We're just showing our navy buddies our appreciation.” I delivered the four bright pink cocktails to the SEALs' table and nodded over to the marines. “Courtesy of your friends there, gentlemen.” The SEALs frowned at the drinks and cast some scowls at the marines. But the man I'd spoken to earlier played it real cool. He picked up the drink and turned to the marines, raising his glass in a salute. The rest of the SEALs followed suite. “Mighty kind of you ladies to buy us a round of your favorite drinks,” he said. The marines scowled. A couple of them slapped each other on the arms and pointed at the SEALs, leaning close and whispering to each other. Both groups cast death glares across the room at each other. “Don't go starting trouble, you understand?” I told the SEAL. He nodded and took a sip of his Shirley Temple. “Nothing to worry about,

ma'am. I wouldn't dream of letting anything inappropriate happen in your bar.” “You'd better not.” I headed back to the bar to deal with a couple of other orders from my regulars. I kept watching the marines and the SEALs as much as I could. I knew their types, and I knew this little pissing contest wasn't over yet. The next round started a little later, after both groups had a few more beers in them. A couple of them headed to the men's room. When they returned, one of the taller SEALs patted one of the marines on the shoulder and said loud enough for the whole bar to hear, “We need to get these boys out on a boat. This boy here clearly doesn't have his sea legs.” The marine just glared at him, clearly not getting the joke. The SEAL snickered and added, “I saw you swaying in there so bad it looked like you were about to fall in! And don't they teach you marine boys how to aim.” The marine stepped closer, shoving his face in the SEAL's. “I keep trying to work on my aim,” he said, “but your momma can't seem to hold still and keep her mouth open.” And that was the trigger that set off the whole lot of them. The SEAL that had just been insulted raised a fist. All of the men at both tables shot to their feet. The gentlemanly one moved the quickest, grabbing his buddy's arm before he could take a swing. “Now, Charlie, don't go doing anything that would make the nice lady kick us out of here, all right?” I raised my chin and looked all the men over in a broad sweep. “You all settle your britches, you hear me? I thought they taught y'all better manners than this.” The men slowly separated, a couple of them straightening their shirts and holding their chins up high. Though one of the marines couldn't quite manage to keep his mouth shut. “The navy needs to teach their boys when they've bitten off more than they can chew.” The tall SEAL, Charlie, looked over his shoulder at the six marines and said, “Maybe he's right, fellas. Six on four? Maybe a couple of us should sit this one out and give them a fighting chance.” The marines made condescending sounds and laughed. “Maybe you should shut your mouth before you say something that makes me forget my manners,” one said. He made a fist and slammed it into the palm of his other hand. I slammed my hand down on the bar. “That is enough!” I shouted. “All of you, out, now. You're all done here.” There were various protests, with both sides blaming the other. Fingers were pointed, names were called, and curses were hurled across the room.

I wasn't sure who swung the first punch, but before I knew it, the entire group of them was engaged in a giant rumble. I grabbed my phone and called the police, ducking behind the bar as fists started flying. One of the men broke a glass pitcher over another's head. Two men started grappling and they fell back onto one of the tables. It collapsed under their weight and shattered into a thousand pieces. Another man was slammed back into the wall, knocking down several pictures and a neon sign, which broke and sent up sparks. The gentleman started pulling his men back as quickly as he could, forcing them to withdraw from the brawl. A couple of the marines tried to rush him, but he held up his hands towards them, palms out. “I think we all proved we've had too much to drink tonight,” he said, staring both of the marines down. “How about we call this one a draw and stop before someone gets seriously hurt.” The marines grumbled to themselves, but they backed down. A few moments later, the police arrived. All of the men, marines and SEALs together, were marched outside. The police checked to make sure no one else in the bar was hurt, then they started taking witness statements. All of the stories varied, with no one quite sure which group had started the whole fiasco. I was just grateful to have the men out of here before things had gotten any worse. A squad of MPs from the base showed up to take custody of the men. I knew they'd all get a slap on the wrist, and maybe be stuck with latrine duty for a few weeks to teach them a lesson, but that would be it. By the time the police, the MPs, and the drunken louts had all left, all of my regular customers had gone as well. I was left with an empty bar and a bunch of smashed furniture. I sighed and grabbed a broom, then started cleaning up the mess. The worst part about the whole thing, aside from the damages to the bar, was that since both groups had been hauled off, none of them had been able to leave me a tip.

***

CHAPTER 2: The next day, I opened the bar early. There were at least a few hundred dollars worth of damages from the fight, and I had to bring in some extra business to make up for the cost. A couple of my regulars wandered in the door

not long after I turned on the neon OPEN sign, though they weren't some of my best tippers. I went through my day feeling the weight of last night on my shoulders. Watching the marines and the SEALs brawl had shaken me. Don't get me wrong, I'm no wilting flower. I've tossed a drunk or three out on the curb when I had to, and being a big girl gave me a lot more upper body strength than most people gave me credit for. But that was different than trying to break up an allout brawl among trained soldiers. These had been men who were trained to kill, and there had been no way I was putting myself in between them. I was still considering what to do about the whole situation when one of the navy SEALs walked in the front door. It was the gentlemanly one, the one who'd called me “ma'am.” The only reason I didn't tell him to turn around and leave the moment I saw him was because he'd been the one working to break up the fight. “I hope you left your friends back at the base,” I said as he approached the bar. “I'm not looking for any more trouble here tonight.” “No trouble, ma'am,” he said. “My boys are going to spend the next few weeks regretting what they did here, after the way our superiors dragged them over the coals. I can assure you, they were not behaving the way the navy expects of its men.” “Well, good,” I said, somewhat mollified. “Just as long as they learn their lesson and don't do this sort of thing again.” “I'd also like to pay for the damages,” he said, reaching into his pocket. “I feel responsible, and I'd like to make it up to you.” “You don't have to do that,” I said, though in truth I very much wanted to be reimbursed. “I've got insurance...” “Please, ma'am. I insist.” He handed me a folded check. “And again, I apologize. You have yourself a nice day.” “I...” Before I could say anything else, he turned and walked out the door. “Well, thank you.” I shook my head and unfolded the check. Then my eyes just about fell out of my head. He'd written out the check for the amount of $10,000. I growled under my breath and stepped out from behind the bar, hurrying to try to catch up with him. I pushed the door open and stepped outside into the fading daylight. “Hey, what the hell is this? Some kind of a joke?” I looked around, but all I saw was a military Humvee, already driving off. If the man heard me, he gave no sign of it. I was left standing there, holding the check, wondering what I was

supposed to do with it. I didn't believe for one minute that it would be any good. Though if it was some kind of prank, I figured I could at least try to deposit it. If it overdrew the man's checking account, that would be just the kind of punishment he deserved for messing with me. I sighed and shoved the check into my pocket, then headed back inside. I had had about all I could handle of military men, though at least this time I'd managed to avoid having anything broken.

***

CHAPTER 3: I waited until the end of the week, when I was depositing the bar's receipts for the week, to take the check down to the bank. The teller did a double-take when she saw it, but she didn't say anything about it. I almost told her that I thought it was a prank, but I decided to keep my mouth shut and see what happened. Over the next few days, I mostly forgot all about it. It was business as usual, and the weekend was always a busy time for me. I made sure to tell my other bartenders and waitresses about the fight, and warned them that they should call the police if anything like that happened again. We got a few men from the base who came in Friday and Saturday night, but I didn't recognize any faces from the night of the brawl, and none of the military men caused any problems. I'd practically forgotten about the whole thing until days later, when I was going over my bookkeeping for the end of the month. I booted up the computer in my office and started going over all of the daily sales reports from the bar, tallying my deposits and deducting the various expenses that had to be paid: the lease on the building, the liquor license, the beer costs, the electric bill, and so on. It wasn't until I saw the bar's account balance that I realized something was off. There was actually $10,000 more in the account than the ledgers showed. The mystery man's check had cleared. I hadn't even bothered to record it in my books, but there it was. “Well, I'll be.” I sat there, staring at the monitor, unable to form a coherent thought. $10,000 was a lot of money. I could take a vacation. Pay off what was left on

my car. Fix the walk-in freezer in the back so that it would stop icing over. I could do just about anything. But more than the thought of what I'd do with the money, my mind focused on the mystery of the navy SEAL. How had he come by that kind of money? I didn't really know much about military pay grades, but I was pretty sure they didn't pay enough to cover something like this. The question bothered me for days and days. I kept wondering who this man was, and how he had come by that kind of money. I wondered if he was up to some kind of illegal smuggling operation. It didn't seem to fit his character, but I couldn't think of another explanation. Super rich men didn't just up and join the navy. Did they? I finally got to the point that I just couldn't stand not knowing. One afternoon while I was getting ready to open the bar, I set aside my work and sat at the computer to look up a phone number for the base. I found a contact number for concerns from the general public, dialed it, and waited until a gruff-sounding man answered the phone. After he introduced himself, I said, “Hi, umm, this is going to sound kind of strange.” I heard him sigh into the phone. “Yes?” “Well, see, it's about one of the men from your base.” “Can you give me his name?” he asked. I heard noises over the phone, as if he were rustling through a desk for a pen. “Well, I don't know his name exactly.” “What is this regarding?” he asked. “Well...” I bit my lip, trying to figure out how to explain it without sounding like a nutcase. “See, there was a fight at my bar the other day...” “Ahh. Yes, ma'am. I can assure you, the men involved in that incident have already been disciplined.” “No, you see...” I sighed, rubbing at my eyes. “One of the men came back, to pay for the damages? And, well, he wrote me a check.” “All right,” the man said. His tone was growing impatient. “And, well, it was for $10,000.” There was silence on the other end of the line. “Hello?” “Yes, ma'am,” the man said. “That would be Rick Donaldson.” My eyes widened. I was surprised the man on the phone would know who I was looking for, just like that. “He...he's one of your men, then?” “Yes, ma'am. Navy SEAL, Chief Petty Officer. We call him Richy Rick.” “You mean Richy Rich?” I asked.

“No, ma'am. Close. The boys got the name from the old cartoon.” I leaned back in my chair, trying to get my head around this. “So...he's in the navy, and he's rich.” “That's right, ma'am. Listen, if Rick wanted to pay you back for those damages, I suggest you just take the money and be grateful. He does this sort of thing.” “But...” “I'm sorry ma'am, but I really have other business to attend to. Have a nice day.” He hung up the phone, leaving me with more questions than I'd had before. Though my mystery man at least had a name. Rick Donaldson. I decided to Google him and see what else I could learn. What I found out about him just blew my mind even more.

***

CHAPTER 4: Over the next few weeks, I couldn't get the story of Rick Donaldson out of my mind. I read dozens of news articles, trying to figure him out. The perspectives on his story changed depending on who was writing the article, but certain facts and details stood out the same across all of them. Rick was the only son of a rather wealthy industrialist. By all rights, he should have been a businessman himself, preparing to run the family business so he could take over as President and CEO when his father eventually retired. Instead, he'd run away from home and joined the navy. There were several interviews with him where reporters asked what prompted him to leave behind his family and his wealth in order to serve his country. His answers varied, but he always said something about how he wanted to do something more with his life, something that would have a greater impact. It seemed that he'd caught a case of patriotism, and considered it more important than his heritage. He was also known for using his money to help people in countries all around the world. When the U.S. military invaded Afghanistan, Rick had sent millions in relief funds to help the refugees in that country. When there was a terrorist attack at a U.S embassy, Rick sent money to the widows and families of the deceased to help support them in their time of need. He'd made the news dozens of times over the last ten years for his charitable donations, and

whenever he was asked about it, he said it was simply his civic duty. For a while I kept hoping that he would stop by the bar again, but as the weeks passed, he never did. I figured he probably felt guilty for what had happened the last time he was here. But he remained in my thoughts, and I had the feeling that we would run into each other again, sooner or later. It was almost two months after the bar fight before Rick and I crossed paths again. A really bad storm passed over the east coast, tearing up trees, flooding the streets, and causing damage to hundreds of homes. Our neighborhood didn't get hit as hard as some did, though there was some flood damage to the bar and we were without power for two days. I was out the day after the storm with a bunch of the other local business owners on my block. We all tried to help each other out in times of need, from the time a fire gutted several businesses in the strip mall down the street, to the time construction on the main road ruined business for all of us, since so much traffic had been diverted away from our area by the detours. We'd all worked together to make sure that no one went out of business, and after the storm we did the same, working as a team to clear away debris, board up windows, and cut down trees that had toppled during the storm. The local coffee shop owners brought out thermoses of free coffee to keep all of us warm and refreshed as we worked, and the baker's shop down the corner brought everyone donuts. I was taking a coffee break, leaning against the back of a truck, when I spotted him. Rick and a group of men, presumably all from the navy base, were just up the road from me, hard at work. He was wearing a pair of thick work gloves and heavy black boots. He trudged through the puddles at the edge of the road, working to clear some large branches that were blocking the street. He and his men worked efficiently, no doubt due to the training they'd had in working as a team. Looking for an excuse to go over and talk to him, I went to refill my coffee, and got several extra cups. I balanced them carefully, something I had a lot of experience with, being a bartender, and walked over to Rick and his men. “Well,” I said, looking the SEALs over. “If it isn't Richy Rick.” Several of the other men laughed. No doubt they were well aware of Rick's nickname. Rick smiled bashfully at me and said, “So, you've heard about that.” “Wasn't exactly hard,” I said. I stepped closer and held out two of the paper coffee cups, one stacked on top of the other's plastic lid. “I thought you boys might like a warm drink.” “Thank you, ma'am,” Rick said, taking the coffee. He handed the cups to his men, then helped relieve me of the others I was carrying.

“It's Chantelle,” I said. “I didn't expect to see you navy boys out here helping out. I didn't think this was part of your duties.” “Not our official duty,” Rick said. He sipped at his coffee. “We're off-duty. Just lending a hand.” “Awfully kind of you.” I took a sip of my coffee, looking him up and down. He didn't look rich. Didn't look like anything but a navy boy. I would have expected to see him in an Italian suit, wearing a gold watch and being driven around by a chauffeur. Not getting himself muddy hauling debris out of the streets. There was a long silence as we stood there with our coffee. I had trouble making eye contact. He couldn't have known how much I'd been looking up about him over the last few weeks. I wondered if he would find it flattering, or creepy. I decided to avoid mentioning it. “Thank you,” I said. “For the check, I mean. It helped out a lot. Might still need some of it to help pay for storm damage repairs.” “I was happy to help out,” he said. “You obviously aren't hurting for money.” He smirked, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye. He didn't say anything. Didn't have to. He held himself with a quiet confidence. He didn't seem to need to show off his wealth. He looked almost embarrassed to have it brought up. “So how's your business going?” he asked me. “I hope the storm didn't hurt you too bad.” “Nothing major.” I shrugged. “Insurance should cover most of it. Everything's been fine otherwise.” “If there's anything I can do to help,” he offered. I studied him for a moment. Part of me, the prideful part, didn't want to take any more help from him. The more practical part wanted me to milk him for whatever I could get out of him. If he was willing to throw his money around, there was no reason I couldn't take advantage of that. But I felt guilty at the idea of taking advantage. So instead I said, “The mom and pop grocer's on the corner, they got hit the hardest. I don't think they've got enough insurance to cover it. If you could do anything...” He looked down the street at the grocer's. A huge tree had smashed in their roof, and once the roof had collapsed, the store had been flooded. The building was in horrible shape, and they'd lost a lot of their inventory when the grocery shelves were flooded, ruining most of the food. Rick nodded. “I'll see what I can do.” “Thank you.”

He smiled at me, and for a moment, I thought there was something in that smile. I caught his eye roaming when he thought I wasn't looking. I was a big girl, but I still had curves in all the right places, and I saw him eyeing my curves with an appreciative gleam in his eyes. My face started to grow warm and I hid my blush behind my coffee cup. He finished his coffee and walked over to the wastebasket on the corner to toss it in. “Thanks for the coffee,” he said. “We should do this again sometime.” “Cleaning up after a storm?” He chuckled and shook his head. “Coffee. If you're free, that is.” I eyed him appraisingly. “I'm sure I could squeeze in some time,” I said. “As long as you're buying.” He smirked and nodded. “Of course.” “Stop by the bar sometime,” I said. “Actually,” he said, “I was hoping for something a bit more...private.” I arched an eyebrow, studying the look on his face. I couldn't tell if he was serious or not, but everything about him so far had seemed sincere. “All right. Give me a call sometime.” I gave him my phone number and he programmed it into his phone, promising to call. Then he headed back to his men, who started hooting at him and teasing him for being a flirt. I walked away, ignoring the burning in my cheeks. I resisted the urge to glance over my shoulder to see if he was still looking at me. But there was an itch between my shoulder blades that told me his eyes were still on me the entire time.

***

CHAPTER 5: Rick called me the very next day, while I was going over insurance forms for the damage to the bar. I set aside the paperwork and answered the call, trying not to let the butterflies take over my stomach. “Hey,” I said. “Hello, Chantelle. I hope I didn't catch you at a bad time.” I looked over the messy pile of forms spread out all across my desk. “No, not a bad time at all. How's things?” “Doing quite well,” he said. “I was hoping you might be free this

afternoon, perhaps? I took quite a liking to the coffee from that shop on your street.” “That sounds great,” I said. “And they offer a discount to the other shops on the street.” He laughed, and I realized how foolish I sounded. This man was rich enough that saving 10% on a cup of coffee really didn't matter to him. We picked a time to meet at the coffee shop. I hung up the phone and stared at my insurance forms, unable to focus on them. I had a date. A date with a rich navy SEAL. I couldn't quite get that thought straight in my head. I set aside the paperwork and grabbed my keys. I had to head home and change into something more presentable. I usually came to work in jeans and a t-shirt, since tending bar didn't exactly require me to look fancy. But for a date, even if it was just a coffee date, I needed to make myself look a bit nicer. An hour later, I walked into the coffee shop wearing black slacks and a deep violet blouse. Rick was already there waiting for me. We ordered our drinks, then sat down at a private table in the corner. We chatted for a little bit about the storm and how things were going with the recovery efforts. I carefully avoided bringing up my insurance situation, since I didn't want to feel like I was trying to get something out of Rick. Eventually, the conversation moved on to more personal topics. “So, tell me,” Rick asked, “what's it like running a bar? Is it all drunken buffoons and people starting bar fights?” I laughed and shook my head. “No, trouble like that tends to be few and far between. Most people keep to themselves, or come in in small groups, just there to have a good time. Sometimes I get guys who are a little too aggressive trying to pick up some of the single women at the bar, and I have to toss them out. But usually, it's quiet.” “What made you get into the business?” he asked. He watched me as he sipped his coffee, and I felt my cheeks warming up at the look in his eyes. “Originally, I got a job there when I was in school,” I said. “It seemed like a good way to pay my tuition. But I found I had a knack for it. I switched majors to business in my junior year so I could learn how to run a place of my own. Then, a few years ago, the owner decided to retire. I took out a loan so I could make him an offer, and now the place is mine.” “That's great,” he said. “It takes a lot of gusto to run your own business. Especially one like that.” “What about you?” I asked. “I mean, I read up on you a bit. You decided not to run the family business.”

He shrugged and leaned back in his chair. “I guess I didn't think it was a good use of my time. Even when my dad retires and I become primary shareholder, I can just appoint someone to run the day-to-day affairs for me. I have better things to do with my personal time.” “Like helping out people in need,” I said, thinking of his volunteer work after the storm. “Exactly.” We made small talk for a bit longer, until it was time for me to go open the bar. Rick walked me to my car, and when we got there, he took my hand in his. He looked into my eyes, and I saw the spark of desire there. But I hesitated. I couldn't see myself having a place in this man's life. Could I? “I'd enjoy seeing you again,” he said. “I...I'd like that.” I blushed and lowered my eyes. He reached up and touched his fingers under my chin, tilting my face up towards him. I held my breath. He leaned in and pressed his lips against mine. I slipped my hands around his neck, savoring the taste of his kiss. His stubble scratched my chin, delightfully masculine. He put an arm around my waist, holding me. His arms were strong. Safe. I was breathless as we parted. I leaned back against my car, trying not to giggle like a little schoolgirl. “Dinner, sometime soon?” Rick asked, caressing my cheek. “That is, if you ever have a night when you're not bartending.” “I take Mondays off,” I said. “One of my workers runs the bar that night.” “Monday night, then,” he said. “I'll pick you up at 6:00?” “Sounds wonderful.” He headed off, and I got into my car and drove back to the bar. For the rest of the night, I found myself thinking about his kiss, and looking forward to the dinner date next week.

***

CHAPTER 6: Rick picked me up for dinner Monday night and took me to a little steakhouse downtown. I was surprised, but not at all disappointed, that it was a small, middle-class establishment. I knew quite well that Rick could afford a lot better. It made me wonder if he was trying to pretend like he was a normal,

everyday guy, or if he was worried that I'd have thought he was showing off if he took me to a five-star restaurant with meals that were $200 a plate. I didn't want to ask, though, so I decided to be more subtle. “You come here often?” “Oh yes,” he said as he held my chair out for me. “Me and the boys come down here every couple of weeks. Nothing beats a good steak.” I smiled at his response. Maybe, I figured, he simply had good old fashioned down to earth tastes. I ordered a hearty steak and potatoes myself. Most girls I knew tended to eat more daintily, trying to watch their waistline. I'd been a plus-size girl since I was a teen, but I was more than comfortable with my weight. I knew I had curves in all the right places, and that I could be sexy and seductive without starving myself in the process. I could also tell that Rick was a man who appreciated the way I looked. While we ate and talked, I kept catching him sneaking a glance here and there. It brought a swell of pride to my chest to know that I could draw a man's eye, especially a man like Rick. After dinner, Rick ordered a bottle of wine to go, and slipped our server an excessively generous tip to get her to look the other way when he took two wine glasses with us on our way out. We drove down to the waterfront and went for a walk under the moonlight. A paved path wound its way along the shoreline, looking down over the cliffs. The waves crashed against the cliff face down below us, and the lights of some ships shone off in the darkness near the horizon. Rick poured us each a glass of wine. We sipped the wine as we walked, quiet for a little while, until we were far enough down the walkway to have privacy. “You know, you're a fascinating woman,” Rick said as we stopped to lean against the railing, looking down over the shadowy waves below. “Oh?” I asked. “I don't see what's so fascinating about me. I'm just me.” “You're strong,” he said. “You aren't afraid to stand up for yourself, even when you're up against drunken marines. You've got a good heart. And lovely eyes.” I smirked. “I bet you say that to all the girls.” “Only when it's true,” he said, turning towards me. He reached out and caressed my cheek. I nuzzled against his palm and sighed. He had a gentle touch, and it made me feel warm. He ran the backs of his fingers down my cheek, then slid his fingers back into my hair. “You're very soft,” he whispered. He stepped closer, pressing his

body against mine and leaning in to whisper in my ear. “And warm.” I sighed softly, letting myself melt against him. His fingers felt amazing, and I found myself wanting him to touch me in other places as well. “I bet you're the kind of woman who takes what she wants,” he whispered, tracing his fingers along the curve of my neck. “And doesn't hesitate.” “You're right,” I said. I took his face in my hands and pulled him close, tasting his lips. He slipped his arms around me, caressing my curves as we kissed. His touch sent shivers throughout my body. I moaned against his mouth as his hands roamed lower, squeezing my ass. I felt his excitement as he pressed himself against me, and his arousal was contagious. I slipped my hand down and reached for his crotch, giving it a gentle squeeze. He gasped and shivered. “You really do take what you want,” he said. “I'm definitely ready to take it.” He kissed me again, then took my hand. He led me down the path until we found a trail that led down to a small stretch of beach, framed by cliffs. It was dark and private, and when we laid down on the sand together, it was like there was no one else in the world. We laid together on the sand, taking our time, exploring each other's bodies. Rick's hands moved slowly, caressing my ass, my hips, my breasts. I kicked off my shoes and let my toes curl in the sand as his touch sent tingles through my body. He unbuttoned my blouse and started planting soft kisses along my breasts. I ran my fingers through his hair and pulled his face closer, moaning in pleasure. When I couldn't wait any longer, I pulled him on top of me and started unbuttoning his pants. I slipped my hand inside and found what I was looking for, stroking it firmly. He moaned and leaned over me, using his knees to push my legs open. I spread my legs eagerly and pulled him closer, guiding his movements until he was inside of me. We made love in the sand, under the stars, until my body ached with such pleasure that I couldn't contain it any longer. I clung to Rick as he thrust into me, my nails digging into his sides. I didn't try to hold back my screams of ecstasy. I let them out, crying my pleasure into the night, knowing that there was no one else but Rick to hear the sounds of my climax. Afterwards, we lay there holding each other. I closed my eyes and listened to the sounds of Rick's breathing. Each shift of my body sent grains of sand sliding off my sweaty skin. I reached up and traced a finger along Rick's lips. “That was something else,” he said. “Is that a good thing?” “Mmm, a very good thing.”

He kissed me softly, gently, then laid his head against my chest. I held him for a long time, until the chill of the night air started to cool the sweat that coated my skin. We got up and brushed as much of the sand off of us as we could, then we got dressed. We walked back to the car hand in hand and Rick drove me home. “Boy, I need a shower,” I said as we pulled up to my place. “I'm sweaty and I've got sand in...places.” Rick smirked at me and caressed my cheek. “You want some company in that shower?” I eyed him sidelong and grinned. “You sure you don't need to be back at the base, soldier boy?” “I've got a forty-eight hour pass,” he said. “I can stay out as long as I like.” “Well, in that case, I could use someone to scrub my back.” We had as much fun in the shower as we'd had on the beach. Rick pinned me against the wall and soaped me up, then rubbed me down, taking his time to caress every curve. By the time we finished, I was pleasantly exhausted. We collapsed into my bed together and he wrapped his arms around me, holding me close. Just before I drifted off to sleep, I whispered into the darkness, “Rick?” “Yes, babe?” “Is this something serious for you? I mean, not just a good time?” “Everything I do is serious to me,” he said. He kissed my neck and squeezed me tight. I sighed in contentment, then closed my eyes and went to sleep.

***

CHAPTER 7: Rick became a regular part of my life over the next few weeks. He came down to the bar when he had time off, keeping me company when it was slow, and lending a hand when it was busy. I let him work behind the bar and found that he wasn't half bad at mixing drinks. It was nice to have him there, and it made my nights much more pleasant. Sometimes we slipped back into my office and made love on the desk. Other nights, we went back to my place and he spent the night. He never took me back to the base, which was just fine. I didn't want to be around all of those

other military types. Only Rick. One night, weeks later, we were having a quiet, candlelit dinner at my place. Rick had insisted on cooking, saying that he had some news to share with me, and he wanted to set the right mood. I sat and waited while he cooked, my nerves all riled up. I had some news of my own, and I wasn't sure how he was going to react to it. As he was serving the meal, I wrung my hands under the table. “Are you going to tell me what your big news is?” I asked. He finished setting out both of our plates and sat down. “I was hoping we could enjoy a nice dinner first.” “I'd really rather hear what it is,” I said. I didn't even touch my food. “I...I have something to tell you myself. And it's pretty important.” “What is it?” he asked. “You go first.” I kept my eyes lowered, too nervous to look at him. I picked up my fork and pushed the food around on my plate, but my stomach was tied in knots, and I couldn't bring myself to take a bite. “Well,” he said, unfolding a napkin and setting it in his lap. “I have a decision to make. And I was hoping that you would be part of it.” “Decision?” I asked, frowning. “What are you talking about?” The knots in my stomach just got even tighter. “At the end of the month, they're going to be transferring me,” he said. I looked up at him and he met my eyes. “Overseas.” “Oh God.” I felt faint and swayed in my chair. I took a sip of water, suddenly feeling parched. “You...you're leaving me?” “No, no!” He got up and moved around the table to kneel by my side. He took both of my hands in his. “That's what I want to talk to you about. See, I've never had any reason to stay in one place before. I always just went where they needed me.” “But?” “But,” he said, “now I've got a reason.” He squeezed my hands. I took a few deep breaths, trying to calm myself. The last thing I needed right now was to find out he was moving to another country, even if it was only temporarily. He could be gone for a year or more, and that would ruin everything. “What are you saying?” I asked, once I was calm enough to speak. “Are you leaving, or not?” “That's what I want to talk to you about,” he said. “I have an option. I can resign my commission, and then I won't have to go.” I held my breath for a moment while I sorted through that thought. “So is

that what you're doing, or...?” “That depends a lot on you,” he said. “I feel like things have been going really well between us. And I'd like our relationship to grow into something more. But I need to know if you're in the same place I am. That you want the same things I do.” “And what is it that you want?” He reached up and cupped a hand against my cheek. “I want you.” I leaned my face against his hand and closed my eyes. “Are you sure?” “Of course.” “And if I ask you to stay...?” “Then I'll stay,” he said. “As long as I know what we have is something serious. I'm not asking you for marriage or something. Not yet at least. But I need to know this is a real commitment.” I opened my eyes and looked down at him. My heart raced in my chest. “Before you decide,” I said, “I think I should share my news with you.” “Of course,” he said. He got up and sat in his chair, scooting it closer to me. He took my hands in his and squeezed them. I took a deep breath and slowly let it out, trying to find the right way to share my news. In the end, I decided there was only one way to do it. I had to be direct. “I'm pregnant.” He froze in place, staring at me. His hands went limp in mine. My mind raced, imagining the worst possibilities. That he'd take the job overseas after all. That he'd leave me to raise this baby alone. Sure, he'd pay child support, and he was wealthy enough that the baby would be well-provided for. But that wasn't the same as having a father. A real family. “Are you sure?” he asked. “Yes.” I sighed and lowered my head. I braced myself for what was coming. Then he laughed. I looked up at him and saw that he had a huge, goofy grin on his face. “Really? I'm...I'm going to be a father?” He laughed again, but it was a laugh of joy. He grabbed my face and kissed me. Tears of relief slid down my cheeks. He pulled back and brushed a thumb across my cheek, wiping away my tears. “What's wrong?” I shook my head. “I thought you would leave me.” “Are you kidding?” he asked. “Now I've got even more reason to stay. I'll put in my resignation tomorrow.” “Are you sure?”

“Of course I'm sure,” he said. “I was ready to stay when it was just for you. Now, I've got even more reason to stay. We can do this. It'll be great.” I let out a shuddering breath of relief and leaned against him, putting my arms around him. He held me close and stroked my hair. My fears started to fade away. There was still a lot to worry about. I'd never had a baby before, and I wasn't sure if I was ready. But at least now I knew I wouldn't be doing it alone. I took Rick's hands and stood up, then led him to the bedroom. “What about dinner?” he asked with a mischievous grin. “It can wait,” I said. I pulled him onto the bed and pushed him over onto his back. I pulled down my panties, pulled up my skirt, and straddled him, leaning down over him to kiss his sweet lips. He reached up and massaged my breasts, then slid his hands lower and grabbed my hips. He pulled me against him and started grinding up against me before I even had his pants off. I could feel him through his pants, and I ached in that moment to have him inside of me. I pulled his pants down and lowered myself onto him. He moaned in pleasure and thrust up into me, holding my hips as I moved in time with his motions. I ached for this man, needed him, craved him. And now I knew he would really be mine. In all of the excitement, it didn't take long for Rick's eager thrusting to bring him to climax. I coaxed him onward, stroking his face and whispering sweet nothings to him. I let him fill me, giving me what I craved, what I needed. Then I collapsed atop him and planted little kisses all over his face and lips. When it was done, we laid there in bed, holding each other. I knew there were a lot of details to work out. I'd have to talk to Rick about whether he wanted to move into my place, or if we'd be getting someplace new together. I could offer him a full-time job at the bar. Not that he needed the money, but it would give him something to do now that he wouldn't be in the service any longer. And we had to make plans for the baby, getting ready to be a family. But all of that could wait for another day. For tonight, I laid there, holding my man in my arms, at peace with the world. And I couldn't have asked for anything more.

THE SEAL’S SECRET BABY

CHAPTER ONE

DEACON CAMERON LEFT the range with his best friend Trevor James, walking back to his Range Rover to head out to lunch. They did this on Wednesday mornings when Trevor was home in Washington D.C. and enjoyed the time together since Deacon was no longer a Seal due to a knee injury received on the job three years ago. He missed the job more than he cared to admit, hiding that behind the interest he showed in Trevor’s stories as he pushed down his pain. One thing that hadn’t changed in his life was a schedule. Deacon had been smart enough to invest what he’d earned well along with the inheritance from his grandfather so that he could live well now without worry. He helped out with his brother’s security company part time just to keep busy, working long days whenever James needed the assistance as well as Thursdays and Fridays on a regular basis. He still woke early, something that would never change, using that time to hit the gym and keep himself fit and healthy with a regular trainer. After the gym, he’d run a short distance if he was still feeling restless near his house where there was a nice nature trail. Today, he’d done all of that early and his knee was hurting a bit as he started the engine of his car. He drove into the city, automatically heading to the diner that they always had lunch at as Trevor pulled a ball cap over his cropped blonde hair and laughed at him. “What’s your problem?” Deacon asked him, slipping on his sunglasses as the bright spring sunshine nearly blinded him. “We don’t always have to go to this place, D. I love it and everything but anytime you want to change up, it’s fine with me.” Trevor teased him, knowing how rigid his best friend was to his habits. “Shit, this place has been around for thirty years already.” “It has, and we’ve been eating here since high school.” Deacon replied, feeling a little contemplative as he pulled into the lot and parked the car. It was one thing that he could still hold onto since losing his job, his memories going back to friends and family as he ran a hand through his own cropped hair. Some of the guys he knew had let theirs grow out as well as growing beards, but Deacon still kept himself clean-shaven at all times. It was what he knew and what he’d seen the men in the family do before him. “I don’t know, Trev. It just means something to me to go here.”

“I hear that. We have a lot of memories here.” The guys left the truck and went inside, sitting at their regular table and ordering the burgers before Deacon sat back and looked around. “How’s Tina doing?” “She started seeing her ex last week. I started seeing this girl Lorna now. Man, dating is fucking crazy.” Trevor shook his head as Deacon smirked. “When are you going to give it a go? You’re retired now, buddy. “Like I want a part of that crazy.” Deacon responded, shaking his head. “Ever since James got a divorce, I’ve watched him go through it. It’s insane.” “Don’t you want to settle down and have a family? I mean, now that things have calmed down a bit?” Trevor watched a stubborn look cross Deacon’s face as he shook his head, longing for it himself as he dated girl after girl to see if she’d be a good fit. Being a Seal made it difficult to work for his friends that were married with kids, but they were all happy and made it work. Something was holding his best friend back. Trevor looked up as their lunch was brought over, taking a bite of the ultimate comfort food as he smiled to himself. Someday Deacon would meet a woman that turned his whole world upside down. They parted ways after that, since Trevor had to meet up with his parents and Deacon headed to the large house that he’d bought himself five years ago. It was in one of the best areas of the city, offering a quick drive to most anywhere that he went and it was secure. The house was a two story brick structure that offered everything he wanted despite living in it alone. Deacon parked his car in the five car garage next to his red McLaren 650s and the Harley that he’d bought the first year he’d left the Navy to take a long road trip on. He glanced at both of them with a yearning in his eyes to take off again as he headed through the garage door into his kitchen. Deacon grinned as he heard his husky barking in his crate, going to unlock it as Tasha jumped up to greet him. “Down, girl!” Deacon told her, looking down at the pup that he’d brought home from Kuwait when he’d gotten hurt. “Want to go out for a while?” Deacon let her out into the yard and walked out to look over the large expanse of grass as he crossed his arms, considering building a pool now that he was home more. The summers got hot in D.C. and it would make things more bearable, though his mind wandered to other places in his job that had been much more intense as he stared forward blankly. He glanced at Tasha to see that she was playing with one of her toys on the lawn, wandering back inside for some water from the fridge. Once he’d let her back in, Deacon wandered to the office to check on CM Security using his laptop as Tasha came in to lay down on the floor with him. James had worked hard on building the company, using his part of the

inheritance to start it and keep it strong and now his soon to be ex-wife Susan was going after him for part of the company. Deacon shook his head angrily, remembering the look on his little brother’s face when he’d confessed that she was cheating on him with a lawyer from her own job. Nobody was perfect and he knew that James had his issues, but he worked hard to make their life enjoyable and Susan had ripped his heart open. They’d hired a lawyer to protect him in court and Deacon watched as he started to date girls that were younger than his age of thirty. Finding someone to warm the sheets was understandable but James was taking it further than that, getting emotionally involved despite Deacon’s warnings. He sent a message to his brother via the messenger app they used, seeing how things were as he sipped his water again. James replied with the news that they would be hooking up a new business with their top package the next day, making Deacon grin. He also asked Deacon if he’d like to hit the local BBQ joint up for some dinner since a date had fallen through and neither brother cooked too much.

CHAPTER TWO

DEACON PULLED on a button up shirt that matched the gray in his eyes, tucking it into worn jeans before he left his large bedroom. He slipped his feet into some chucks by the door and decided to take the sports car tonight for a change, heading into the garage to start it with a grin as he slid the garage door open. The two brothers were close since their parents were both gone following a robbery in their home town of Denver. Wrong place at the completely wrong time. The boys were only twenty-five and twenty at that time and Deacon was already in the military with the Seals, so James stayed with their Grandpa and went to the local community college. Once he died a couple of years later, James joined his brother on the east coast and they were both doing well, apart from the divorce issues and Deacon’s current state of unemployment from what he loved. Deacon pulled out onto the quiet street, keeping the speed safe as he headed towards the main road. The sun was setting and he looked ahead of him intently as he noticed the red light, hitting his brakes carefully. It was a gorgeous night out and he lowered the windows as he drove, paying no mind to the stares that he received as he passed the other cars.

He and James were both good-looking guys with dark hair and the same eyes that could be bluer or grayer, depending on a few factors. They’d had their fair share of women over the years until James had gotten married and Deacon got involved in his military service, always keeping things casual and very short lived at that point. His job was his life and he didn’t want to settle down with the instability of where he’d be at any given time. Even since he’d stepped away from his career three years’ prior, Deacon still hadn’t really dated. He focused on getting his knee as healthy as possible so he could stay in the shape that he was accustomed to. That had turned into working out several hours a day until he started working with James and soon Deacon found himself with little free time to even consider a relationship. Once James started dealing with his marital issues - that turned into more working hours so that Deacon could support his brother emotionally as well as helping him run his increasingly successful business. Deacon pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant, seeing James standing beside his black Tahoe dressed for work and very similar to himself. They’d always leaned toward the same style and Deacon parked before getting out of the car and ribbing his brother good-natured as they headed inside. Deacon noticed a crowd by the hostess station and stepped forward to look over everyone to see a woman passed out on the floor. “Call 9-1-1.” He told the hostess, who looked terrified as she dialed on the phone. He made his way down to the floor carefully, feeling for a pulse as he took in her dark skin and caramel highlighted curls that framed her face, trying to figure out what was wrong. “What happened?” “She was picking up a to- go order and just fainted. It just happened,” a customer babbled in his ear as he nodded and realized that she was stable and breathing, still needing to get to a hospital. “She teaches my Art Literature class at the college…I just saw her today. She seemed fine.” Deacon glanced up to see that his brother was thinning out the curious crowd as sirens sounded over the loud music in the foyer of the restaurant. Flashing red lights filled the room as the door was pushed open and two guys rushed inside with a stretched. “Deacon...what did you do here?” Steven greeted him, taking in the situation. He’d worked with Deacon on a few volunteer shifts after he ended his career with the Navy. “This woman fainted getting her order. She’s stable but needs to be checked out.” Deacon told the paramedics as they loaded her carefully onto the stretcher and towards the bus as Steven glanced at him with curious brown eyes. Deacon looked at James who stepped forward and clapped his brother on the back.

“You know that you like to see things through as much as I do. We’ll grab some grub after. Got room for two?” James asked Steven, who nodded as the men headed out with them. They knew James as well just from town and Steven moved next to the woman once she was secured inside as they brothers sat beside each other. “Any idea of what her name is?” Steven asked, checking her over quickly as they both shrugged. “Someone said she’s a teacher at the school. Maybe American? Art something.” Deacon replied, looking at her as they sped through the streets. The woman appeared to be in her late twenties or so and was curvy, wearing a loose plum dress that seemed to hide her body from what Deacon could tell. He didn’t mind a little meat on a woman and he looked at her face to see her full lips moving before he took in her tight curls that were spread out onto the canvas. “How is she?” “Stable, like you said. The docs will have a look at the ER.” Steven replied, letting out a breath as he looked at the brothers. “The call before this was a head on out by the monuments. A family was killed by a drunk driver, so this is a welcome change.” “Asshole,” James muttered under his breath, both of them hating people that took the lives of others so carelessly. It had started with their parents, who had just been stopping for some milk on the way home. They’d both seen some awful things since then, particularly Deacon. Little did they know the situation that was right in front of them! They arrived at the hospital and she was rushed into a small room as James and Deacon stood back by the nurse’s station to observe from a distance. She was moved onto a bed and the staff surrounded her as Deacon watched closely. There would always be a part of him that wanted to save people, beginning from when he was a kid and saving every animal that he could. His mom had always told him that he had too big of a heart even as she adopted every domestic pet that they could handle as he gave her his wide gaze. Deacon glanced up as he heard someone greeting him, half-smiling at one of the nurses that he’d gotten to know when he was helping out on the bus. “What are you doing here? I thought you chilled out on the volunteer work.” “Came in with her. We were going to eat but she fainted by the hostess stand and you know me.” Deacon nodded in the direction of the room as Lisa smiled and shook her head. She told them that she would check on the woman and stepped over to look in and talk to the doctor that was looking her over. “They’re going to take some blood and run some tests. If you guys want to grab something in the cafeteria, I’ll text you when I know something.” Lisa told

them, smirking as James rolled his eyes. “That’s just like Hill Country.” Deacon punched him in the side as he looked at Lisa. “Headed there.” He shot James a mock glare as they walked away, noticing his brother’s eyes lingering on the lithe strawberry Blondie for a long moment. “Keep it in your pants, Casanova. She’s my friend.” “Why didn’t you tap that again? She wanted you bad.” James reminded him, watching as Deacon shrugged. “Timing.” He’d been a mess after he was done with the Navy and dump that on a nice girl like Lisa wasn’t a good plan. He pushed the button for the elevator to head to the ground level cafeteria and stepped onto the empty car as he ran a hand through his hair. “There’s this thing called casual sex, D. It feels really good.” “Says the man who keeps getting involved with his rebounds,” Deacon reminded him as James leaned against the carpeted wall of the elevator. They got off and grabbed some coffee and two sandwiches to take to a corner table as Deacon paid with a large bill. James sat back and glanced around the large room where families sat around tables dealing with the bad or the good and a few of the hospital staff tried to have a decent meal. The brothers discussed work and the following day as they ate the turkey sandwiches that would tide them over until Deacon was ready to leave, something James really didn’t mess with him over. He knew how much his brother had always tried to save everything and everyone that he could, particularly since losing their parents. The phone vibrated on the table as Deacon reached over to look at the screen. “It looks like she’s awake. I just want to go say hello and make her comfortable.”

CHAPTER THREE

THE BROTHERS HEADED BACK UP to the ER and walked to the room where Lisa was talking to the scared looking woman. Deacon took a look into her stunning face, seeing watery light green eyes against dark skin with long dark lashes as he stopped at the foot of the bed. She was beautiful and she said something to Lisa before she looked into his eyes, essentially shutting his world down with the intensity of her gaze.

“These two were at the restaurant just after you passed out and decided to come along on the ambulance to see how you were doing.” Lisa smiled comfortingly at the patient before she looked up at the brothers. Deacon and James Cameron, this is Rowan Weathers.” “How are you feeling?” James asked her easily as Deacon managed a low hello, getting a weird look from his brother. “I’m going to be fine but all of this was a surprise.” She had a slight drawl as she spoke, making Deacon step a little closer. She’d obviously been crying and he stared into her face as she glanced at him. “Thank you for helping me back there.” “It was the least that I could do,” Deacon told her sincerely, seeing a faint smile on her face before she stared down at her graceful hands. “I heard someone say that you were a teacher at one of the colleges?” “Yes, I am. I teach art at American.” She replied as he saw some color return to her flawless skin. “I suppose I’ll be well enough to return tomorrow, Lisa?” “Certainly. Just keep that appointment and take care of yourself. We’re going to hold you for a bit and keep an eye on some things though.” She looked into Deacon’s face. “You did good, D.” The brothers said their goodbyes slowly before leaving, as James immediately brought up a real dinner. They caught a cab to the original choice and found it to be much less crowded, finding a table in the corner right away. They ordered a couple of beers while they waited for their plates as James took a close look at his brother. “You seemed a little stunned back there, Deacon. Everything okay?” How did he tell his brother that she was the most gorgeous woman that he’d ever seen? How could he really make it clear how much it had thrown him off completely? “She just looked so sad. Do you really think she’s going to be okay?” Deacon asked James, watching him shrug. “Lisa seemed to think so.” He tore into the roll, buttering it before he took a huge bite. “That sandwich was a joke.” “I think the big plate of meat that you ordered will take care of your poor starving tummy, James.” Deacon told him sarcastically as he sipped the cold beer thoughtfully. “What time is the job tomorrow?”

THEY MOVED onto work over the course of the late meal and headed home after as Deacon lost himself to thoughts of Rowan. His gut told him that something

was wrong and hurting her from the look in her beautiful eyes, making him wonder what. It made him want to fix her, to rescue her. Old habits never die. He tried to go to sleep early to be ready for the next day of set up but found himself to be too restless to sleep. Deacon made a pot of coffee before he showered, drinking two cups before he even left the house. Taking the Range Rover, Deacon met his brother at the new Sports Center that had just been built in the middle of downtown. When he passed Rowan’s college of employment, he looked over at the stoplight as he wondered again how she was doing. Deacon found a parking spot in the back and took the last sip of coffee that was in his travel cup with a sigh. They did a walk-through of the large warehouse that featured basketball courts, a rock climbing wall, a racquetball court and a small gym area. The brothers decided to wire all of the eye level windows, including offices as well as all of the doors to the building. There was a lot of equipment to protect and in some cases, steal. They started at opposite sides as Deacon focused on the job and tuned out everything else except for the rock music playing over the speakers. It was a tedious job with his perfectionist tendencies and he leaned his head back after an hour to stretch the sore muscles before glancing around to see what James was up to. They’d been communicating via text with small questions and some clarification and he rolled his eyes when he saw his brother talking to one of the female staff members. His eyes wandered to the front desk, seeing a familiar face as Rowan leaned forward to talk to someone, deep in conversation. Deacon watched her for a moment, seeing her nod with relief as she took something back from the guy and headed towards him with a gym bag in her hand. She still looked a little distracted, dropping her gaze to the ground as she walked along the cement walkway with a deep frown on her face. Rowan glanced up to see him a couple of feet away and recognition flashed in her eyes. “Oh…I met you last night, right?” “Yes, you did. How are you feeling?” Deacon asked her, watching as she smiled nervously. “Much better. I ended up with the day off and thought I’d try a small workout.” Rowan told him, tucking some of her soft curls behind her ear as he let his eyes roam over her body for a moment. She was curvy and bigger than some men preferred, but perfect to Deacon. In the sunlight shining through the windows, her skin was a softer tone than the night before, resembling a cup of black coffee with a hint of creamer swirled inside. Her eyes were a brighter green with hints of hazel and taking in his greedy gaze with a challenging look. “Do you like what you see?”

“I’m sorry, Rowan, but you’re beautiful. I can’t help it and I mean no disrespect.” He apologized to her sincerely as she nodded and let a smile cross over her full lips. “I can tell that just from the look in your eyes. Some guys…” She let her voice drift off as she met his gaze again. “What are you doing here?” “Installing their new alarm system with my brother.” Deacon nodded to James across the room, just ending his conversation as he looked over at them curiously. “That’s my job.” “That’s it? You seem to be military or something to me. My dad was in the Army so I get used to seeing the signs.” She eyed his hair slowly as she laughed softly, watching him shrug. “I was in the Navy. A Seal.” She frowned and nodded as he saw sympathy cross her face, assuring her that it wasn’t a serious injury. “I…hopefully I’ll be done in a few hours. Would you like to have dinner with me?” Shock passed over her face as she seemed to think about it for few moments. “Really?” There was doubt in her eyes as he nodded and Rowan pressed her lips together. “Sure. Why not?” “Oh. Okay.” He’d expected her to tell him no with a polite thank you added on and Deacon struggled to regain his composure as something surged through his veins. “Can I have your number just in case you leave before I see you here again? I’ll pick you up later.” She asked him for his phone shyly, making him dig in the pocket of his worn jeans to hand it to her. She searched the screen for a moment with furrowed brows before she smiled and entered something into it. “There you go…Deacon, was it? Deacon and James.” She recalled as he nodded, impressed. “You both seemed so concerned for me and you came all the way there with me when you could’ve stayed behind for supper.” “It was nothing.” Deacon assured her again as she smiled and looked past him. “I’m going to head in but I look forward to hearing from you later.” Rowan told him, her voice low as she gazed into his eyes. She walked on down towards the gym as he forced his gaze not to watch her ass as she moved away, getting back to work instead. James texted him to ask what that was all about, making Deacon shake his head. They finished the job within three hours, an hour and a half after Rowan left with a nervous smile for him. James helped carry some bags to the cars, looking over at Deacon. “That was Rowan, wasn’t it? From the hospital?” “It was. She seems to be doing better.” Deacon replied, following James to the van he used for work. “And?” James pressed, making Deacon pause for a moment as his brother

unlocked the doors with a press of a button. “Damn it. You know me too well.” Deacon pulled the heavy door open, setting the bags down before he looked at James. “I asked her to have dinner with me tonight.” “Really?” James looked at him in disbelief as Deacon frowned. “I thought you sounded nervous around her last night but wow…dinner?” Deacon nodded as James whistled softly. “She was beautiful, man. It looks like she’s going through something to me, so don’t make this a rescue project. Okay Deacon?” “That’s not what this is, James. I just want to get to know her.” Deacon told him, grabbing his keys from his pocket. “Have a good time tonight.” James told him, both of them smiling as they headed to their cars. Deacon called her from his driver seat, fascinated by the soft drawl in her voice as they agreed for him to pick her up at six’s clock. Rowan gave him her address and they hung up, Deacon starting the car with a trembling hand.

CHAPTER FOUR

DEACON SHOWERED when he arrived home, cursing the lack of sleep that caused him to miss his own workout that morning. He dressed in black slacks and a button up blue shirt, adding a tie that complimented both at the end. Slipping his feet into some Docs and tying them, Deacon took a look in the mirror. Hopefully, she’d like it. He headed out in the Range Rover to pick her up, pulling up to a cute little cottage in an older neighborhood. Rowan clearly loved gardening, judging from the flowers and trees he passed on the way to the small wrap around porch that boasted more plants. Deacon knocked softly on the door, taking in the stained glass in different colors that made up a circular pattern in the white wood as he waited. The door opened slowly after he heard a chain and lock disengaged and Rowan peered out curiously. “Hello.” “Evening, Rowan. This is a nice place you have.” Deacon told her, watching her deep pink lips curve into a beautiful smile. They matched the dark shadow that brought out her eyes just enough to make them smolder. “Thanks. I inherited it from my Grams.” Rowan told him, opening the door wider so that he could come in. The house was painted in vibrant colors with artwork hanging on the walls of a large oblong living room that boasted a large

fireplace with what looked like the original brick. It was very feminine and warm and he looked at the talent of the paintings with a curious gaze. “These are yours.” He stated more than asked, seeing her in the dashes of dark and light color over the canvas. “They are. Hence the teaching art, since I don’t want to depend entirely on sales.” Rowan admitted softly as he looked over at her. “They’re beautiful. You’re beautiful.” Tonight she was dressed in a long gray dress that hung loose on her body with a plum shawl pulled over her shoulders, her hair loose around her shoulders. “You’re very talented.” “Thank you.” He loved that her skin was light enough to see the pink that flushed her cheeks. They had already agreed on a nearby Cajun place for dinner and they made their way out to his car, where he opened the door for her and made sure that she was safely inside before walking to his side. There was a tangy scent of citrus with a hint of pear on her skin, making him hungry for more than dinner as he opened his door. Deacon started the car and pulled away from her house, trying not to breathe her in too hard as he drove to Bayou. He was pleased to see that in her heels, Rowan was close to his height when he opened her door again to let her out. He led her inside with the hand on the small of her back, letting the hostess know that he had a reservation. They were seated along the back wall at a cozy table as Rowan smiled at him and sipped the water that was immediately set down before them. Rowan selected lemonade to drink, making Deacon second guess his choice of beer and switch to iced tea quickly as she gave him a long look. “I just don’t drink.” She explained, her face falling for a moment as he nodded. “I’m driving you tonight so I shouldn’t either.” They ordered the mussels and fried green tomatoes for appetizers before Rowan explained that her grandmother was originally from Louisiana as was her mother. She’d cooked this kind of food a lot, teaching Rowan and her sister Lily the recipes once she’d moved to help her daughter once Rowan’s father had died from cancer when she was ten. Her love for her Gram was shimmering in her eyes as she spoke, mixed with sadness as she wiped at her eye slowly. “This is great,” Deacon told her as he tried a mussel, pitching up on the strong hints of garlic. She chose a slice of tomato, taking a small bite with her fork as she smiled at him. For dinner, he chose the NY strip and she the seafood creole as he sipped his tea slowly. They shared bites of their meals across the table, both moaning with the taste as he felt himself harden under the table against all of his willpower. This woman was getting under her skin, despite the hint of mystery that surrounded her. They left after a couple of hours of light conversation and great food,

standing on the sidewalk for a moment as she breathed in the cool air. He watched her lean her head back and smile, wanting nothing more than to pull her into his arms. Rowan looked up at him, her eyes wide as their eyes locked and held. “Would you like to take a walk with me?” Deacon indicated the sidewalk that boasted coffee shops and other places to eat, with a lot of people wandering around to shop before the stores closed. “Sure.” He knew now that her accent was from the time they’d lived in Louisiana before her father had gotten a transfer with the Army to Washington D.C. They turned to the right and he reached for her hand automatically as their feet started to move together. They browsed some stores before it got to be too late and had some coffee before she reluctantly told him that she had an early class the following day. Deacon drove her home, walking her to her door where she gazed up into his eyes with a hint of fear. “I had a great time.” “I did as well.” He replied, stroking a piece of her hair back slowly. “Can I see you again?” “I’d like that.” Rowan replied, moving up as she lifted her hands to his shoulders before she pressed her lips to his. Deacon groaned at the hot feel of her parted lips and the spices from their dinner that made his own mouth tingle all over again. She pulled back and joined her hands behind his neck. “There’s a part of me that knows I have no business doing this with you but I can’t help it.” She kissed him again, welcoming his tongue into her mouth as she met it with her own. After several kisses and few words, Deacon forced himself to step back. He couldn’t move this fast with her, though he wasn’t sure exactly why. He reminded himself that he wasn’t that guy to take advantage of her on their first date and that she wasn’t anything like the girls he’d had casual flings with over the years. “I’ll call you tomorrow, Rowan.” She nodded and pushed her door open, looking back at him again with longing in her eyes before she closed the door. He walked out to the car, fighting the urge to turn around and knock on the door again as he got inside and started the engine. Deacon drove home, feeling a desire that had been dormant for a long time as well as the strong urge to protect her from something that he couldn’t pinpoint. He reminded himself that it was a protective feeling and not one that wanted to repair her, as James had suggested earlier. She didn’t need to be fixed though there were things that were troubling her. She’d pulled through something and retained a part of who she was, something that encompassed her whole living room when he was

there. It was addictive and he knew that he wanted more, sleeping restlessly again as he tossed and turned.

HE DIDN’T IGNORE the alarm this time and got up to work out and run before heading to the office for the day. Deacon needed the release.

CHAPTER FIVE

JAMES WAS WORKING at the computer of their shared studio that they used as an office, since their work was typically done at the place their customers lived or worked. He sipped his coffee and looked up as Deacon walked into the room to take a seat at his own computer. “How was it?” His brother’s voice was light and curious as Deacon looked over at him. “Nice. She’s a great girl. We had dinner at this Cajun place.” Deacon replied casually, logging on. “How was your night?” “I went out with a new girl. Paula.” James told him, making Deacon shoot a look across the room quickly. “It was impulsive. We were talking on Match and it just happened.” “It’s okay to just be on your own for a while.” Deacon told him, seeing the sadness in his brother’s eyes. “That’s just it. I don’t have kids and when she left, I was alone. I am just trying to get a feel for things out there, D. It’s been seven years.” James had wanted kids while Susan had always pushed it aside, telling him the following year she’d be ready. She never had been. “I know. Just be careful.” Deacon told him softly, feeling his brother’s eyes on him. “Should I be warning you about that?” James asked him, making Deacon shrug. “I’m not sure yet.” They spoke with customers, old and new, scheduling appointments throughout the day as they grinned at each other. Business was really picking up, hopefully for James and not the benefit of Susan. They grabbed lunch at a place nearby, ordering roast beef sandwiches and

sodas to eat outside. James dug right in and Deacon knew that he didn’t cook too much now that he was alone. Their mother had been an amazing cook and spoiled the boys, though they’d both tried their hand at a few dishes. They were quiet as they ate, comfortable enough with each other that they didn’t always need to talk. They had covered a lot in their few words at work. “I heard that Sue’s pregnant.” James dropped the bomb after he’d finished his lunch, eyes filled with pain as Deacon stared at him. “He’s not just a coworker…he’s a partner.” “Shit. I’m sorry, J.” There was a lot that he could say, like telling him that he had plenty of time to have kids or that he was better off without her. While they were both true, it wasn’t what James needed to hear right now. “It hurts, a lot. I just need to get past it and try to rebuild my life.” James told him, sighing as he took a sip from his cup.

“YOU’LL DO IT. Day by day.” That was what James had told him when he returned to D.C. to stay after losing everything. “I’m here for you.” “I know.” They ended the hour lunch and headed back to work, spending the afternoon planning installs and equipment. They always gave an estimate based on what the customer needed and finalized it just prior to the job being done. The guys headed out at five, with Deacon knowing that James was going to take some time alone to work through everything. He’d let her keep their house for now, moving out to a condo near Deacon so he wouldn’t be reminded of her every day. Deacon watched him drive away, heading to his own house as he considered calling Rowan. She’d been on his mind all day and he wanted to hear her voice, wanted to see her. He wanted to taste her lips again. He ended up calling her an hour after he arrived home, spending some time outside with the dog before he dialed her number. She picked up after four rings and he heard some music in the background as he strained to hear her voice. “Rowan?” “Deacon…hello. Let me turn this down.” He heard the music get louder and then softer before she returned. “I was just in the studio working something out.” “Are you okay?” He asked her carefully, listening closely to her tone. “Yes. For the most part, I am. I was just in the mood to paint. Sometimes that happens after I teach all day.” Rowan replied slowly, making him lean forward in his chair. “How are you tonight?”

“I want to see you.” He admitted, sounding possessive and demanding as he closed his eyes. “I want to see you as well. I’m covered in paint though. Want to do some take out and stay here?” Deacon agreed, changing into some better jeans and a deep green tea with his Docs. He crated Tasha with a pat to her head and a few treats, thinking to himself that he should get her a friend sometime soon. Slipping on a dark gray flannel, he left the house and went to pick up the Italian they’d agreed on and head to her house. She opened the door, dressed in some baggier yoga pants and a gray tank top streaked with paint and pulled over a camisole that teased pink lace straps under the cotton. Rowan’s hair was pulled up and back and she smiled out at him warmly. “Come in.” Deacon walked inside and followed her to her kitchen, small and cozy with a bistro table in front of a large window. It was also very colorful and decorated in a wine theme, making him wonder if she liked it having said that she didn’t drink at the restaurant. She looked apologetically at him from the fridge. “I just have some water and juices. Is that okay?” “Water is perfect.” He responded, watching her get two bottles and bring them to the table before going to get some plates and silverware. They plated their food before digging in as he watched her wrap her mouth around the food. She was very natural today and still beautiful, looking every bit the artist that she was. He asked her how teaching went and she spoke admiringly about one of her students that was showing so much potential as an artist and learning everything that she could. It turned out that Rowan also gave lessons at a local studio for a little extra income and many of her students took the class for the hands on experience. She glowed when she talked about it, nearly making him forget about the times when her face looked sad as he watched her. She gave him a tour of the house, showing him the studio and her current work in progress. While beautiful, it showed despair and he looked closely at her as she avoided his gaze. Rowan looked forward and led the way out of the room and further down the hall, turning right into a doorway as he followed her slowly. “This is my room. It was Gram’s but I chose to take it when I moved in.” It was small but beautiful with a big four poster bed and vivid yellow walls. The little furniture that she had was simple and he looked around to see some pictures on the wall. Stepping forward, Deacon saw images from when she was a child as well as a teen, surrounded by family that clearly loved her.

There was a look in her eyes that she seemed to be missing sometimes and he smiled at one of the photos before turning to her. “Your family looks very loving.” “They are. Mom lives in Georgia with her husband of five years now, so I don’t see as much of her as I’d like. Holidays and that kind of thing now. My sister lives over in Maryland and is going to college.” Rowan smiled fiercely as she looked at a picture of her and her sibling as children. “I adore that girl with everything that I have, much like you do with your brother.” She looked into his eyes. “I saw it that night. You are protective of the ones you love, Deacon. Aren’t you?” “Very.” He stepped towards her, his eyes darkening as he slowly cupped her face and stared into her eyes. “Can I kiss you?” She answered him with a press of her mouth, pulling him closer as their lips collided with the deepening of their kiss. Deacon held onto her as he stumbled across the room, both of them falling on the bad as she pushed him down onto the mattress. He tore her hair out of her ponytail as she leaned over him, grasping it in handfuls as they kissed each other hungrily. He slipped one hand down to her hip and tried to pull her closer, noticing that she kept her distance as he wondered why. Her tongue was moving with his and he could hear by her sounds that she was turned on, making Deacon frustrated for a moment before her realized this was their second date. Was it even a date? He didn’t come here to have sex with her, but her body over his was making him want to. Deacon moved them so he was on top of her, draping himself lightly over her body as he looked into her eyes. They were hazy with desire and something else that held him back for a moment, panting as he felt his lust come in waves. “Rowan?” “I want you so much but I can’t tonight.” Her voice was low and tormented as she spoke, taking gasps of air as he looked down her body slowly. “It’s fast. I don’t want it to happen like this.” Deacon assured her, watching her close her eyes slowly. “Want me to stop completely?” “No. I want to kiss you.” Rowan spoke up as her eyes popped back open, watching as he leaned down to kiss her jaw slowly. “Don’t stop.” They stayed back there kissing and touching for a while, making it to the point where her tank top was off and he was kissing her over the straps of the thin camisole that left little to the imagination. Deacon looked at her in between open mouth kisses, seeing all of her in the thin material and wanting her even more. She was beautiful and he ran his hands down her body to brush against the sides of her full breasts as she shivered under him, opening her

eyes to look down at him. She ran her hands fiercely through his hair as he groaned, thumbing her nipples gently. He moved down her body to slide the top down and take one of her deep pink nipples into his mouth as she cried out loudly and arched her back. He could smell her sweet perfume as he tasted her skin, making him harder as she held on tightly to his head. Deacon sucked harder, drawing the skin between his teeth as she jumped under him. “Are you okay?” He asked her instantly, looking up to see her staring at him. “So sensitive. I’m sorry.” She apologized, watching Deacon as something crossed his face. He moved away from her momentarily, resting against the pile of pillows as he drew her into his arms, half-naked and shivering. Her face was relaxed with need and her eyes shone brightly against the dim light of the amber lamp in the corner as she regarded him quietly. “There’s something that I need to tell you.” Deacon remained quiet, stroking her soft skin as he gazed at her with gentle eyes. “For one, I’ve never wanted someone the way I want you after such a short time.” “Nor have I.” He replied, watching her eyes fill with emotion as he found her hair to stroke it slowly. “Oh, Deacon. I wish we’d have met just a few months before this. It would be so much easier.” Rowan told him, her eyes filling with tears. “What’s wrong, Rowan? Why were you in the hospital?” He questioned her, wiping one that slid down her cheek. “That’s a story.” She admitted in a trembling voice, shaking her head slowly. “I found out that night that I was pregnant, Deacon. Just over three months.” His eyes widened as she watched him take it in as his hand stilled briefly. “Do you have someone in your life? A husband or a boyfriend?” Rowan couldn’t tell if he was angry with her or the situation in general, but his sexy eyes were flashing as she reached up to stroke his cheek. “I'm alone in this, Deacon. There’s so much more that I need to say.” Rowan began, snuggling against his warmth as she silently wished for him to stay with her. “About four months ago, I was at a bar with some teacher friends just blowing off some steam. I had ordered a drink, running to the bathroom before I stepped outside to the small patio for some fresh air. It was hot and crowded, something that can get on my nerves really fast.” Rowan swallowed as she watched his face harden, feeling his arms hold her tighter. “I remember feeling dizzy out there and stumbling towards the door to find my friends before I fainted, something that was getting stronger by the moment. Everything went black until I came to in the cold air somewhere dark. It was so quiet and scary.” She trembled again as he held her tighter. “I was in the

alley behind the club, alone and scared, but I managed to get myself together enough to get back inside. Even if my clothes weren’t ripped, I could feel that something had happened to me.” Tears slipped down her cheeks freely as she spoke, her pain from the memory still fresh in her mind. “I still felt so sick and so violated, but the staff that was cleaning up for the night called the police for me. An ambulance came to take me to the hospital and…it was awful. They determined that I was raped but there wasn’t enough DNA to find the person or group that did it.” “Fuck.” Deacon said slowly, still as all of his protective mode started to take over. “They helped me recover from whatever was in my drink…some date rape drug. I forgot the name of it as soon as I could. Physically I was fine and I went home the next morning, since I was too much of a mess to be alone that night. The nurses were so good to be, comforting me and trying to make me laugh. It worked sometimes.” Rowan looked at him. “I’m a strong girl. I talked to someone about it and worked through my feelings so I wouldn’t shut down. I knew that I had to go on.” She shook her head and pressed her lips together. “I knew that I’d been feeling…off, but I assumed that it was just the physical effect of the recovery. I kept trying to exercise more, breathe more. I did everything that I’ve ever been taught to do but I just kept feeling worse. The night at the restaurant, I’d done a long Hot Yoga class and was grabbing dinner before I went home.” She let her eyes widen as she let the memory flood her. “They told me that I was pregnant. I don’t sleep around a lot to begin with, so I knew that the baby was a result of the rape. It was so much to take in but I knew that I couldn’t abort. No matter how this came to be, this baby was mine and deserved love. I was talking to Lisa and I looked up and saw you…it was like being hit by a train. It was everything that I’d read about or seen in movies but it was at the worst fucking time possible.” She started to cry. “I couldn’t believe it when I ran into you at the gym the next day. You looked even better and I knew that what I’d felt was real. Your smile made me weaken and say yes to dinner and I knew that I was going to fall. I couldn’t stop myself but I couldn’t lie to you about any of this either.” She stopped, closing her eyes as she waited for the goodbye. The part where he tells her that he can’t handle all of this. The part where she lost the person that she was certain she was meant to meet when she had a possibility with him. “I want to kill the mother fuckers that did this to you, Rowan. I want to rip their throats out.” His voice was low and serious enough to make her shiver. “I admire you for going through with this. I know why you are because it’s who you are. It’s your heart.” She heard him sigh and stroke her shoulder. “I can’t

just walk away from you, Rowan. It’s going to be hard at moments but I need to see this through.” “You’re staying with me?” Rowan asked, opening her eyes to look at him. “I’m a disciplined man, Rowan. My family was in the military…I was a Seal until my world changed three years ago. I have struggled so much with what I was supposed to do since that time.” Deacon stared into her eyes. “The only constants that I have in my life is my brother and my best friend. I haven’t dated anyone seriously since I went into the Navy and that’s what I’m used to. Seeing you at the restaurant and then at the hospital shook my world.” He reached out to stroke her hair again. “I don’t want to lose that feeling. It gives me hope and the way you’re giving this baby life…inspires me. I want to try to bend here and see what I can take.” “Oh. Good.” She spoke slowly, nodding at him. “That’s good. My hormones have been driving me crazy and I want to come so bad. I want you to take me every way that you can, Deacon.” Her eyes were hooded as he felt himself respond to her words, hard and ready to go. “I clearly can’t get pregnant but I’ll understand if you want to use a condom. I’m free of everything so far but still testing regularly.” Deacon kissed her hard as she gasped, pressing her thighs apart with his knee as he moved over her. “I have one.” He kissed her neck and she cried out as she arched against him, needy to the point of begging him. “This is so embarrassing.” Rowan told him, making him look at her with stormy eyes. “I’m so horny.” Deacon moved off of her, stripping her free of her pants as he looked at her legs hungrily. “Let’s take care of that.” There was no reason to slow down now that everything was out in the open. He needed to do this to either connect with her or be done, but Deacon needed to be inside of her. He watched as she shed her camisole, freeing her heavy breasts. Deacon parted her legs and watched her stare greedily at him as he stroked up her skin, seeing how ready she was for him. He found her inner thighs that were soft and damp, watching her drop her head to the pillow as he ran his fingers over her teasingly. “Please.” Rowan begged, closing her eyes as she felt his finger enter her. The therapy had been to move on and accept this as a regular part of her life, while dealing with her feelings. She wanted Deacon more than anything, though thinking too much beyond this night scared her so much that she pushed it away. The first orgasm was hard and strong as he sucked on her swollen clit and curled his fingers inside of her tight walls. She cried out through it, opening

her eyes enough to see Deacon watching her in awe before they closed again. The second orgasm was longer but just as intense as she wrapped her legs around him and felt his thick cock take her again and again. Rowan felt tears slide down her cheeks as the waves hit her over and over, feeling him tense and thicken as he stilled inside of her. Deacon came with a low grunt, crying out her name as he kept moving slowly with his orgasm. They collapsed together, naked and sweating as Deacon realized that he was all in with this girl. He was willing to let go of the past that had hurt him so much and allow something new in his future, even if it was something that he wanted to handle differently. “I’m going to stay.”

EPILOGUE

ONE YEAR LATER, Deacon carried the steaks out to the grill as he glanced over the pool to see everyone having fun. James was trying to drag his girlfriend into the pool, who just happened to be Rowan’s sister. They’d met just a few months ago and hit it off immediately. Lily looked a lot like her older sister and was just as sweet, doing something for James that had made him so much happier. His divorce was final and Susan hadn’t taken him for everything except some money and the house. Their lawyer was good. James paid her what he needed to and went out and bought another house near Deacon, meeting Lily soon after. She was now living with him and attending school in Washington to be closer to James and her family. Trevor and Lisa were the newest couple and working well, given his busy schedule. There had been an awkward moment between him and Lisa where she had told him that she liked him as more than a friend, concerned when he explained that he was with Rowan. She already knew everything that had happened. Rowan was sitting under their umbrella, holding their daughter in her lap as she smiled happily. Corinne was named after her grandmother with the middle name Nora for his mother and she’d been born looking just like she was really theirs. He hated the person that had raped her still but had found that the result had made both of them so happy. It didn’t affect their love for Cori or each other. Deacon still worked out every morning if the baby hadn’t kept them up too

late and helped his brother with the growing company. They now had a bigger office and some staff to help them, making it possible for the brothers to spend time with their families and make some new memories. He brushed the hair out of his face before tossing the meat onto the grill, feeling his fiancée watching him. She loved the new hair even while he grumbled under his breath about it, secretly loving it when she used the soft waves to seduce him. Within the next year, they planned on another baby that would be theirs as much as Cori was. Life was working out.

THE END

OLDER MAN YOUNGER WOMAN ROMANCE

Personal favourite - I loved writing these and I know this is the M ygenre you love most! So go on, get spoilt!

OBSESSED

CHAPTER One SABRINA

“OH JULIAN,” I muttered to myself, gripping my pillow in one hand, careful to keep my voice low. My parents weren't home – at least, not that I was aware of – but I knew that Rosa, our housekeeper was there and was busy making her rounds of the house. Despite the risk of Rosa walking in on me, I couldn't help myself. I needed release. I needed to get off. Though honestly, I couldn't even begin to imagine how awkward it would be to explain to her what I was doing – although I had a feeling she'd have a very good idea of what I was doing. What would be difficult and awkward to explain was why I was calling out my father's friend's name while I was doing it. With my vibrator clutched in a near death grip as I bit down on the inside of my cheek to keep from crying out, I massaged my clit as I imagined Julian's

tongue upon me. I pictured his face, the feel of his stubble on the insides of my thighs. Imagined the feel of his hands as he spread my legs apart and buried his tongue deep inside of me. I imagined feeling him slide two fingers deep into my tight little pussy as he sucked on my clit – it was enough that I almost lost control and came right there. But I wanted to make it last a little longer – prolong the pleasure a bit. It was true that I'd never experienced any of that with Julian before – but I had a very good imagination and could pretend I had. I could imagine what it would be like for him to taste me, to savor me, to feel me – to make me cum harder than I ever had before in my life. I was laying in my bed, or rather, the bed I used to sleep in when I'd been a child. I was staying with my parents while I searched for a place to live – a situation I hoped to rectify very, very soon. Living in my childhood home gave me very little privacy, so I made sure to take advantage of them being gone every chance I could get. Thankfully, because they had a relatively busy social life, I was able to have enough private time to keep my desires sated. Most of the time, anyway. I shifted the angle of my vibrator as I imagined Julian sliding his finger between the folds of my pussy. It made me gasp and my knees buckled slightly as I thrust my hips upward, groaning in pleasure. “Take me, Julian.” I begged and pleaded with my imaginary paramour, yearning to feel his stiff, thick cock inside of me more than I yearned for anything else in my entire life. This wasn't the first time I'd gotten myself off while thinking of him – not even close – and it sure as hell wasn't going to be the last. Though one day, I hoped to give him the gift I'd been saving for him for a long, long time. I squeezed my eyes shut and pictured his face looking down at me as he slammed his fingers deep into my tight, wet little hole. “Take my virginity, please,” I murmured. “It's yours, Julian. I saved it for you.” Yes, I'd saved myself for him. I'd abstained from sex all of these years because I wanted the first cock I felt slamming inside of me to be his. And yes, I'd had plenty of options over the years. I could have given myself away to any number of college guys, I'd had plenty of chances. And there were times I'd been tempted. A couple of times I'd even come really close. But I'd always pulled away at the critical moment, never letting just some random guy whose name I probably wouldn't remember in a couple of days fuck me just because I needed to cum. I had my vibrator and a collection of wonderful toys for that. It had been difficult. Really, really fucking difficult. But I'd gone through

school, I'd kept myself pure, promising to give myself to the only man I could see myself with. Julian Pierce. I buried the vibrator into my pussy and gasped, biting my lip and gripping my sheets tight with my free hand. I knew it was just a toy, just a piece of vibrating plastic, but in my head, it was Julian's cock. His thick, hard, amazingly long cock. The one I'd coveted and had savored from a distance for so long. I couldn't shove the toy in very deep, not without hurting myself. But I taunted my opening with it, imagining what it would be like when Julian would push past my hymen and finally make a woman out of me. The sheer pleasure of the fantasy sent my body into a fit of pleasure, spasming and twitching as I writhed against the bed. I moved my vibrator in and out of my dripping wet pussy, thrusting it in as deep as I could without feeling any pain. Julian was bound to be bigger, I told myself. I should be ready for him. I should make sure I could accommodate him as well as I could. Little by little, I pressed the toy deeper inside of me, experiencing a mix of pleasure and pain as I slid it further and deeper inside of me than I had ever gone before. While it hurt, I figured that it felt more like the real thing. And that was enough to make me call out his name, crying into my pillow, “Yes, yes, Julian... Oh God, yes. Fuck me, please.” I came, hard. Harder than I ever had before. I jerked and twitched on my bed as bolts of intense pleasure rocketed through my body. My every nerve ending was on fire and I felt like I was being shot through with electricity. But even as my body experienced pleasure beyond my wildest imagination, I knew the real thing had to be better. Knew that when Julian made me cum, it was going to be a hundred times more intense than what I was feeling in that moment. And now that I was back home, well within reach of the man I'd loved since I was a little girl, I was determined to finally make my dream – my fantasy since I'd been a young girl experiencing her own sexuality – a reality. I was going to have Julian. I was going to give myself to him. And since as of tonight, he'd be staying with us for a few days, I figured I was going to have plenty of opportunities to fuck the man I'd coveted for years upon years. The one problem was that Julian didn't know about my plan yet. Had no idea that I coveted him the way I did. Had no clue that I was going to give him my virginity and make him fuck me like the dirtiest little whore in the world. I couldn't wait for it. He knew none of that. But soon. He would know everything soon enough.

Soon, he'd take my virginity and fuck me hard – just as I always imagined he would. It wasn't a matter of if, in my mind – it was a matter of when.

OOO000OOO

THE DOORBELL DISTURBED my post-climax relaxation, but I didn't care. I knew who was going to be on the other side of that door. I smiled from ear-to-ear as I threw on the dress I'd specially picked out for his arrival and then checked my hair in the mirror – it wouldn't do to have sex hair when I greeted him. Not even if the only sex that was had was with myself. Rushing down the stairs, I giggled as I hit the landing and beat the housekeeper to the door by mere seconds. Rosa looked at me curiously but then just shook her head and smiled as she turned and walked away. I cleared my throat and tried to get my heartbeat under control. Only then, did I open the door. Framed by sunlight – and probably rainbows and glitter too – stood the most perfect man in the world. His sandy blonde hair made him look the stereotypical California type of guy. If it weren't for his meticulously kept, very stylish, well-tailored business suit and well-groomed appearance, you might actually mistake him for the typical California surfer-dude. He was naturally tan and had the blue eyes that really augmented that stereotype to boot. Oh, and yeah, he worked out. Even underneath his suit, you could see the muscles in his arms. I grew a little bit wet imagining the feel of those arms holding me tight to that big, strong body of his. He was Hollywood gorgeous and probably could have been a model if he'd wanted to be. His eyes widened and he looked surprised when I opened the door and was standing before him. “Sabrina, I was expecting you here,” he said, flashing that fatherly smile he often had for me – a smile I fully intended to wipe off his face and replace with something else. “Yeah, my parents said you'd be stopping by. They're out, but should probably be back soon,” I said sweetly, opening the door to let him inside. “I heard you were going to be staying with us for a little while?” “Yeah, just until the house remodel is finished,” he said. “It's getting a little too chaotic over there for me. I offered to rent a place, but you know your father – ”

I put my hand on his arm as we shared a laugh while I escorted Julian to the landing at the foot of the staircase. I figured it was best to start acclimating him to feeling my hands on him. Start slow and work upward from there. Yeah, I'd thought out almost every last detail on my little mission. I started to walk up the stairs in front of him, fully intending to show off my ass in the teeny little dress I was wearing, but he put his hand on my elbow and stopped me. “You don't have to show me around,” he said with that warm, kind smile that said you're a sweet kid, but I'm not going to fuck you. I hated that smile. “I'm familiar enough with the house.” “No, it's okay, I don't mind at all,” I said. “I want you to feel welcome here.” “I already do,” he said, grinning from ear-to-ear. He already does? Had there been something more behind those words? Had he been looking at my body when he'd said it? Or had I imagined that all? Or was it me simply wanting him so much, that I was reading too much into his every word, glance, and gesture? It was probably the latter. We headed upstairs and I led him down the hallway to the room he'd be using while he was with us. The guest room my parents had chosen for him was, ironically – or perhaps, fortuitously – directly next to mine. Julian stepped inside and dropped his bags on the queen sized bed, which was made up beautifully by my mother. Or rather, made up beautifully by Rosa – my mother would likely take the credit for it though. Julian turned to me, awkwardly, as if trying to figure out what he should say or do. Or maybe wondering why I was still standing in his room staring at him. Though I wasn't trying to be obvious about it, I was taking in every inch of his amazingly delicious body. I stood in the doorway, leaning on the door frame and giving him my best “come hither” stare. As I caught his gaze, I felt my stomach do a flip-flop and it felt like a bonfire had been ignited between my thighs as I grew slippery and wet. “So I heard about Beth,” I said, wincing as I spoke his ex's name. “I'm so sorry.” Julian ran a hand through his thick, wavy hair, staring at the ground. “Yeah, but it's probably all for the best. We weren't good for each other, you know? We just had different goals and ideas in mind. Wanted different things out of life.” Oh, I knew alright. I knew everything he was saying after the first time I'd ever met Beth. The two of them were not good for each other, she only wore him down. I saw that from a mile off and had called it from day one. Needless

to say, I never liked Beth and it wasn't all about my feelings for Julian. She was just a snobby bitch who I thought, was more into Julian's money and prestige than she was into Julian himself. But hey, her loss was my gain. If everything went according to my plan, he wouldn't be thinking about Beth at all. Ever again. “No, you weren't. She was a little too uptight,” I said, trying to sound concerned and yet diplomatic about the whole thing. My gaze remained locked on his as I ran a hand through my hair, twirling my chestnut brown curls around my finger. I wasn't sure if my signals just weren't getting through, if he was being intentionally obtuse, or if he was just pushing away any – impure – thoughts he might be having about me. I wanted to catch his attention. But more than anything, I wanted to make sure he knew and understood that I was no longer the little girl he once knew. I was a woman. A woman with needs, desires, and the ability to make my own decisions – like who to sleep with. “That's one way to put it,” he said. “Let's face it, she was a bitch,” I said flatly. “You were way too good for her.” Julian looked surprised by my language, but it brought out an adorable and surprised fit of laughter out of him. I knew that he often still thought of me as a child. I could see that in the paternal smile he flashed me – which was about the infuriating equivalent of a pat on the head. He still saw me as the bratty teenager who would always pick on him and say outlandish things. In truth, though I did tease him a lot, I was simply trying to hide the fact that I was flirting heavily with him. He had to have known I crushed on him hard as a teenaged girl, right? As I looked back on it, on my past behavior, I knew that it would have been obvious to a blind man. If he did realize it back then, he obviously didn't seem to think that those feelings would remain as I grew into a woman. The truth of the matter was that not only did those feelings remain, they grew stronger over the years. Or maybe he just wasn't picking up my signals because he still thought of me as a child. “If you don't mind,” he said, licking those scrumptious lips, “I think I'm going to put my clothes away and change into something more casual. No need to wear my business clothes around here, right? Unless your dad is requiring shirts and ties at the dinner table?” I laughed and shook my head. “No, feel free to wear whatever you want, Julian,” he looked at me with an inscrutable expression. “Oh, I'm sorry. I can call you that, right? I just thought that since we're both adults and all...”

I was giving him yet another perhaps not so subtle signal that I wasn't a little girl anymore. But again, surprise – and little more – crossed his face as he looked at me. Rather than picking up on my cues though, he instead just seemed utterly stunned that I wasn't calling him Mr. Pierce like I had for my whole life. But I just felt like we were both adults now and I might as well address him by his first name – the name I'd be calling out when he fucked me. “Uhh sure, I don't mind,” he said softly. “Of course.” “Good,” I said. I continued to stand in the doorway, hoping he'd finally take the hint as I let my eyes wander up and down over his body, quite obviously, undressing him with my eyes. I'd hoped he would take the hint and realize that my parents were not home – that except for Rosa – we had the entire house to ourselves, so if he'd harbored any secret little sex fantasies about me all these years, now would be the time to act on them. I licked my lips somewhat suggestively. “I hope we can be on friendlier and more – adult – terms. Now that I'm all grown up, that is.” “All grown up,” he muttered to himself, shaking his head. “It's hard to believe that sometimes. Most of the time, I still think of you as that little girl who used to tease me relentlessly. But then I look at you – ” “Yes?” I said, standing at attention. He was finally recognizing me, recognizing that I wasn't a little girl anymore. He'd admitted to looking at me and seeing something different – so what did he think? He looked me up and down, but only briefly before looking away, his cheeks a bright shade of red. “Just that you're all grown up, Sabrina,” he mumbled. “Obviously.” “Obviously,” I said, grinning at him. “Now if you don't mind, I'd really like to get settled in before dinner.” Right. Of course he did. I couldn't expect everything to happen right away, not this fast. It would have been nice and the throbbing between my legs told me that I'd been hoping it would happen, but the pragmatic part of me knew that it might take a little time. He was only just now coming around to admitting that he saw me as a woman rather than the young girl he'd known. The rest would take a little time to come together. But it would come together. And I would have this man deep inside of me. “Okay then, but let me know if there's anything you need. Anything at all,” I said. “My room is right next door, as you know.” I stepped out and closed the door behind me with a smile, a flutter in my heart, and a pair of panties that were absolutely soaked. I was one step closer to getting what I'd wanted for so long. He wasn't

even going to know what hit him. But oh, would he enjoy it. As I would.

CHAPTER Two JULIAN

SABRINA WAS ACTING STRANGELY, I thought to myself as I unpacked my bags and arranged my clothing in the closet and dresser. I hadn't seen much of her in a little while. She'd been off at college for a few years, of course, only coming back for holidays. But the time had gone by so fast. Years had gone by in what seemed like the blink of an eye. I supposed it was true that the older you got, the faster time seemed to go. After all, it seemed like only yesterday that we'd celebrated her sixteenth birthday – and back then, that had felt like a big ordeal. But now, she was an adult. An actual, honest-to-goodness grown woman. And she looked like one too. Gone were her pigtails and braces and typical teenage attitude. That had all been replaced with long, flowing locks of hair, perfectly straight teeth behind a gorgeous smile, and a cultured and refined manner. Dave must be proud, I thought. Dave was her dad – my best friend. Old college buddies. I literally remember the day Sabrina was born. Although, truth be told, those days were a blur for me. While Dave was getting his life together and started doing something productive, I was still partying away and wasting time. I didn't get married until much later and had no children. Now I was divorced, so not having any children was actually a blessing. Considering Beth was going after everything she could get her hands on, I breathed a big sigh of relief over the fact that we didn't have children together. That would only have served to give her more leverage than she already had. Or at least, thought she had. My lawyers were going to go to town on her. If she was lucky, she'd end up with a modest alimony payment. If she was lucky. Sabrina was right – she was a bitch. I smiled and shook my head as I looked at some family pictures on the wall of the bedroom and the memories came flooding back to me. Sabrina had always a challenging child. A little too bright for her own good. Or rather, a little too bright for our own good. She was a clever, precocious girl, that one. Which is why it didn't surprise me that she'd graduated suma cum laude from UCLA. Just like her dad. Following in his footsteps – which wasn't a bad

thing. Not at all. I unpacked my bags, filling the drawers with my clothing as I waited for Dave and Miranda to get home. Yes, perhaps getting my house remodeled, all at once like this, had been a huge undertaking. Maybe too big all at one time. But it had been built with Beth's tastes in mind, and as we were no longer together – well – out with the old, in with the new. Meaning, I'd finally have a home that felt like my own. In a few weeks, that was. Hopefully, the contractors wouldn't take any longer than their estimate called for. The last thing I wanted to do was impose on Dave and Miranda any more than I already was. I stopped pacing the room and tried to listen for voices coming from downstairs, but heard none. I changed from my business suit into a pair of black slacks and a light blue polo shirt – something casual without being too casual. I didn't feel comfortable enough to throw on a pair of sweats and a tshirt to wander around their house. Once I was finished changing, I opened up the door and listened, trying to see if Dave and his wife were home yet – or if I was still home alone with Sabrina. If I were being honest, I would have to say that I didn't feel entirely comfortable walking around the house with her there. Especially given how odd she'd been acting since I showed up. I was no fool. I knew she still had a crush on me – even after all these years. But now, she didn't even try to hide the flirting or sexual suggestiveness in any way, shape, or form. She'd been pretty blatant about it. It was all I could do to pretend to not catch her signals. But honestly, I would have had to have been a corpse to not pick up on the heavy suggestions she was throwing my way. When she was younger, it was cute. She was a young girl with a crush on an older guy. It was a scenario played out a million different ways across the world. Nothing new under the sun about that. But as she grew older, it just started to feel – weird. As she began to blossom into womanhood, her flirting turned a little more serious and earnest. I'd deflected it then – and I'd deflected it now. No matter what, she was still the daughter of my best friend. A girl I'd known since she had pigtails and braces. She was a kid – and I was an old man. And now that she was an attractive young woman – a young lady of legal age, intent on getting me into bed – there was a big part of me that didn't trust myself around her. I was, after all, a newly divorced, warm-blooded man with needs and desires. And she was a curvy, attractive young woman who was literally throwing herself at me. I would be lying if I said there hadn't been a fantasy or two floating around my mind about bending her over my desk and

fucking her good and hard. I'd be lying if I said that there hadn't been a time or two I hadn't jerked off thinking about having those big, beautiful eyes looking up at me as those soft lips were wrapped around my cock. Which was why it was better to keep my distance, lest I do something stupid. Something that I'd regret. And something that would most assuredly, impact my relationship with Dave. I didn't hear her at first as I was busy peering down the steps, hoping Dave and Miranda had come home, but I turned when I heard Sabrina's soft footsteps on the floor behind me. She moved like a cat, that one. I hadn't heard her step out of her room. Dammit. “Dad just called,” she said, flicking her hair over her shoulder. “Said they're almost home now. Should be here any moment.” “Thanks, Sabrina,” I said. My eyes fell upon her lips, which were a soft pink and oh so plump and felt the familiar stirrings below my belt. The last thing I wanted was to get hard standing in front of her. She had her mother's perfect cupid's bow pout. She could have easily followed in her mother's footsteps and tried her hand at modeling. But instead, she'd gone to college and had gotten her degree. Wanted to do something different and something with a little more substance with her life, she'd once said. Smart girl, that one. She was curvier than the last time I'd seen her – which only added to her appeal. She'd never been a stick thin girl, but she'd always been blessed with a womanly body. And now that she was older, it was even more pronounced and more – alluring. I cleared my throat and tried to focus on something else. The last time I'd seen her – yes, when had that been? Christmas, almost a year ago? But I couldn't keep my mind from straying and cataloging the changes I could see in her. Her hips were fuller, her breasts were larger – and yes, I mentally kicked myself for thinking of my best friend's daughter's breasts. But how could I stop it? I was a man – she was a gorgeous woman. I tried to tear my focus away again, think of something else, but it was too late and I felt a bulge growing in my slacks. As soon as I realized I was looking and felt myself getting stiffer because of it, I tore my gaze away, turned, and walked down the stairs. Sabrina, of course, fell into step beside me. It was almost as if she knew she was having this effect on me and was enjoying herself. Enjoying teasing me, flirting with me – enjoying the fact that I was quite obviously noticing the beautiful woman she'd grown into. “How's work these days? Dad said you recently expanded into France?” she said, her tone light and conversational.

“Uhh, yes. We have a few hotels over there now too – mostly in Paris for now, but we're looking at other sites around the country.” “That's fantastic,” she said. “Have you ever considered expanding into the Asian markets? My understanding is that they are very easy to work with and actually provide incentives for Western companies to set up shop over there.” “It's something we're considering, actually,” I said. “But we're leary of expanding too fast. We want to be deliberate and smart about it.” She nodded as if she understood. Perhaps she did. “That's probably a good idea,” she said. “Make sure the brand takes hold before growing it too much.” It was surprising to have such a grown up conversation with her – which again, reminded me that she wasn't a child anymore. She was a woman. A very smart woman. “I'd love to visit Paris again someday soon,” she said. “I haven't gone since our family trip a few years ago. I think I was too young to fully appreciate it back then, but now that I'm an adult, I really need to see it for myself. Really need to immerse myself in the culture and absorb it all, don't you think?” We'd reached the bottom of the stairs by that point, and as we stood in the foyer, I heard her parents at the door. I breathed a sigh of relief and looked for anything to hide the bulge in my pants – the last thing I wanted was for Dave or Miranda to see me standing next to their daughter with a raging hard on. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Sabrina looking and a smirk painted upon her face. She'd noticed. God dammit, she noticed. Hopefully her parents didn't. I would have to deal with the fact that Sabrina knew she'd given me a hard on later. Hopefully, it would be one of those things that was just never talked about and allowed to die. “We don't need a new painting in the dining room, Miranda,” Dave said, arguing with his wife as they stepped inside. “The one we have is just fine. Besides, if we got the painting, you'd want to remodel again and – ” “What's wrong with that?” Miranda pouted. “Don't you think it's about time to freshen things up a little bit? I read somewhere that rearranging and remodeling your home every now and then helps stave off boredom and even Alzheimer's.” Dave rolled his eyes. “Oh, dear God,” he moaned. Their eyes fell on me as they stepped inside, and Miranda looked exceptionally pleased with my presence. Her smile was wide and genuine. “Here, let's ask your friend,” she beamed. “Julian, do you think it's too soon to redecorate the dining room?” “Uhh, what's it been? Two years?” I asked.

“Three,” she said. I looked at Dave, then back at Miranda. “Come on, you're remodeling your entire house,” she said. “Surely you're on my side on this?” “I'm not on anybody's side here, Miranda,” I said with a laugh, stroking my chin. “I don't see a reason to meddle in your relationship. Or your redecorating plans.” “It's not meddling if you agree with me,” she said with a wink. Staring at Miranda Evans-Prescott, I was struck again by the fact that her daughter was a spitting image of her – except about twenty years younger. Miranda was at one time a high fashion model. She often used to grace the runways of Milan and other fashion hotspots across Europe. But then David Prescott, CEO of his own software company – empire, really – managed to sweep her off her feet. Not long after that, she had given up modeling and pursued other artistic endeavors. Apparently, her latest passion was for home décor and remodeling. Miranda’s long, dark hair was currently pulled back in a high, tight bun on her head, and she was wearing bright red lipstick that showed off that perfect pout. The same pout her daughter inherited. And there I was – thinking about Sabrina again. Dave and Miranda were now walking away from me, still playfully bickering about the painting and redecorating the dining room, leaving Sabrina and I alone in the foyer. Sabrina was grinning at me and shaking her head. My eyes fell from her eyes down to her cleavage, which was peeking out from her low-cut dress. “Those two,” she said, rolling her eyes playfully. “Huh?” I said, totally getting lost in the sight before me and forgetting about anything else. Sabrina pointed toward the living room, where her parents had retreated. I mentally slapped myself. I couldn't be thinking about Sabrina like that. Especially not with Dave and Miranda in the house. Not ever, really. I had to stop it. Had to get my mind off of Sabrina and what a knockout she'd become. It wasn't just inappropriate, it was – wrong. Wrong on so many levels, in so many ways. “Oh yeah,” I said, feigning a laugh as I scratched my head, doing everything in my power not to look at Sabrina. “We know your dad will give in. He can never say no to your mother. I think that's why she stays with him.” “Of course,” she laughed while winking at me. “We Prescott women always get what we want. Eventually.”

With that little quip, she retreated, following her parents, swishing her hips as she walked – quite a bit more than necessary. But it was a glorious sight, I had to admit. She knew I was watching and she put on a show for me. I was doomed.

CHAPTER Three SABRINA

THAT NIGHT, I heard Julian moving around after everyone else had gone to bed. Well, everybody but me. I was awake, lying in bed, touching myself and thinking about the first time Julian and I would make love. It was a foregone conclusion in my mind. When I heard his bedroom door open, I held my breath and waited, hoping he'd come to my room for a quiet midnight tryst. But I exhaled and felt disappointed as his footsteps retreated and went downstairs instead. I was wearing nothing but a tiny little nightgown that clung to my curves. It covered just enough to not get me in trouble with my parents if they saw me walking around in it – but it barely covered the necessary bits. It fit more like a t-shirt than a standalone nightgown. I thought I looked hot in it. And it was all the better for what I was about to do, too. I was feeling a bit emboldened. After seeing Julian standing there with a very obvious hard on, looking every bit the awkward teenager, I was feeling powerful. I was feeling in control. I knew that I needed to take the bull by the horns if I was going to get the satisfaction I wanted. As quietly as I could, I climbed out of bed, opened the door, and listened in the hallway. My dad was snoring away and the light was off in their room down the hall, which meant mom was no longer up reading. With them sound asleep, I walked quietly down the stairs and found Julian standing at the fridge, getting himself a glass of water. I was behind him and he hadn't heard me yet, so to avoid scaring him – and draw any unwanted attention – I spoke softly. Barely above a whisper, but loud enough that I knew he'd hear me. “Can't sleep?” I asked innocently. He looked over his shoulder, a bit surprised at my presence, but he smiled. “It's always strange sleeping in someone else's home,” he said. “Yeah, it's weird when it's not your own bed,” I said. “I always have trouble sleeping whenever I go anywhere.”

“What about you?” he asked. “I thought you went to bed a couple hours ago?” “I did,” I said, biting my lip. “But I couldn't sleep either. Just too much going on in my head, I guess.” I gave him my best bedroom eyes, hoping he'd take the hint and understand what it was that was keeping me up so late. “Sorry to hear that,” he said rather abruptly. He placed his glass of water on the table nearby, leaning into it and looking at me – really looking at me for the first time since I'd opened the door for him earlier that afternoon. His eyes took me in, drinking me in like a thirsty man drinks a glass of water. It made me feel sexy. Desired. Wanted. Even though he didn't say a single word to give his thoughts away, I could tell what was going through his head. And I had to say, I approved. I knew that Julian would struggle with the decision about whether to take me to bed or not – any decent man would. I knew he had to be conflicted – he'd known me since I was a child. My dad was his best friend. He was more than twice my age. But none of that made it wrong. We were both consenting adults. We both had needs and desires. And it just so happened that ours coincided. Why should anybody look askance at that? “Nothing for you to be sorry about,” I said. I leaned onto the table across from him, staring deeply into those beautiful eyes of his. He truly was a sight for sore eyes. I'd missed him. When I was younger, I would see him every day. Now – not so much. Even though he was much older than I was, he was – and always would be – I thought he was the sexiest man in the world. No college guy could ever compete with him. Which was why I'd turned them all down and had saved myself for him. There were a few moments of silence as we stared at one another awkwardly. And yet, expectantly. I could see the struggle in his mind, plain as day. I knew what he was thinking. Knew the arguments and counter-arguments he was having in his internal dialogue. I wasn't sure what I could do to tip his decision my way, but I felt like I needed to do something. Say something. Make sure he knew that this was okay. That this was what I wanted. I tried to convey it through my eyes, through the set of my body, and through the little smile I was giving him. Julian cleared his throat, looking away, and said, “Sabrina, I think we need to address the elephant in the room. I know you've always had a crush on me – ” “Oh, it's more than a crush, Julian. Far, far more.” “Whatever it is, I see the way you look at me. And yes, you're a gorgeous

young lady, but this – you and me – we can't work. This can't happen.” “Why not?” “Because – ” “Is it the age difference? Because we both know my mom is a lot younger than my father, and no one sees anything wrong with that.” It was true. My mom was about ten years younger than my dad, but nobody said a word about it. Sure, Julian was almost twenty years older than me, but the fact remained that age didn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. “At the risk of sounding like a cliché,” I said. “Once we're consenting adults, age is just a lame excuse to not do something we both want to do.” “It's not just that, Sabrina,” he said. “I literally watched you grow up, in front of my eyes – ” “So?” “So? Your father would kill me.” Julian glanced toward the hallway, as if afraid my dad would walk in on us at any moment. We were still alone, but he pitched his voice lower anyway. “It's not okay, Sabrina.” “You haven't denied being attracted to me,” I said, standing up tall and grinning as I watched his eyes automatically take in my curves. “What does that have to do with anything?” he asked. He scratched his chin and looked away again, I knew he was trying to keep from addressing the real elephant in the room. “It has a lot to do with all of this,” I said. “All your reasons are nothing more than weak excuses. And they're not nearly good enough.” “Not good enough?” he asked, arching his eyebrow. “No, not even close,” I said. “Because I see the way you look at me. I can see the thoughts going on in that mind of yours.” I walked around the table, moving closer to him, but he stepped away. Almost as if he was afraid I was going to bite. Or do something much more delicious – something he wouldn't be able to step away from. “And let's face it, Julian – I'm not the little girl you watched grow up anymore,” I purred. “I'm a grown woman now. A legal adult. My father can no longer dictate what – or who – I do.” Julian had backed himself into a corner, both literally and figuratively. He was now pinned against the wall, with me standing in front of him. I smiled as I closed the distance between us and stood close to him – very close. But I didn't get so close that I was literally up in his face. I didn't want to be rude to him, after all. Yes, I wanted to fuck him silly, but I still respected him. Hell, I respected him a lot, and I knew this wasn't going to be easy. Switching his mindset from seeing me to a little girl to a sexual creature was going to be

difficult. He had to want it as much as I did – and I was pretty sure he did. But he had to be willing to live with the consequences – which we both knew existed. Yes, I was an adult. But my father was his best friend. What I was suggesting was forbidden, though not outright. It was one of those unspoken rules. After all, it wasn't like my parents said I could never get involved with Julian. But on an unspoken but acknowledged level, it was taboo. Something they couldn't have imagined. And I was more than sure Julian himself struggled with that as well. “When you're ready,” I said to him, speaking softly, “You know where to find me. We're both adults here, Julian. Stop treating me like a child and maybe, just maybe, you'll see that what I have to offer you is exactly what you need.” I stepped away from him, turning to go back upstairs, when he touched my shoulder. I looked back and waited for him to say something. The conflict on his face was clear. I did feel bad for him in that regard, but he also needed to realize that we were adults, free to do with each other as we pleased. “Yes?” I asked, eyes wide as I waited for a response. “We can't do this, Sabrina,” he said, gripping my shoulder tight. His voice was far less than certain as he'd said it, so I turned around and faced him. This time though, I didn't hold back. I was close enough to feel his breath against my cheek, felt his body pressing into mine. I could tell he was turned on – I felt how hard his cock was as it pressed against my belly. “Yes, we can, Julian,” I said, stroking his cheek. “We can do anything we want.” I moved my hand from his cheek down his chest and then went lower, letting it linger over the erection he was trying so hard to hide. I gripped him tight, slowly moving my hand up and down his long, thick shaft, jerking him off through his pants. “We can do anything you want, when you want it,” I said softly. “You just can't be afraid.” Seeing the mixture of fear and lust in his eyes, I let go of his cock and stepped back. I saw something akin to regret in his eyes as I moved away, picking up his glass of water and drinking from it. I watched him over the rim of the glass carefully, waiting for – something. But he didn't say a word, nor did he move. He just stood there, pressed against the wall, staring at me with a look of pure need on his face. “You're a divorcee,” I said. “I'm a horny twenty-three-year-old woman. Who says we can't have a little fun together? Where is that written into law?”

And with that, I left him there in the kitchen alone with his thoughts and his throbbing cock, the memory of my words as well as my hand on him in his mind. As much as I wanted to fuck his brains out right then and there, I knew that leaving him like that would only make him yearn for me more. He'd go back to his lonely bed, my words implanted into his mind, and think of all the dirty things he wanted to do with me. Hell, he'd probably even jerk himself off while he thought about it – a thought that turned me on more than I could say. We'd get there, sooner or later. Hopefully sooner, of course, but the slow build-up of desire between us would make our first time even hotter. More intense. More gratifying. If nothing else, it gave me something to look forward to – and plenty of fodder to masturbate to as well.

CHAPTER FOUR JULIAN

THAT WAS A CLOSE CALL. Too close. Had she stayed there in the kitchen with me, well, I couldn't have been held responsible for my actions. She was right about one thing – I was a divorcee and she was a horny twenty-three-year-old. And it was true that I was lonely – she'd hit the nail on the head with that shot. For the first time in many years, my bed was empty. I had needs and desires that weren't being met. And there she was, offering up her body to me – a horny, hot young woman. Had she not been my best friend's daughter, I wouldn't have waited that long to nail her. I probably would have fucked her right there on the kitchen counter. But considering the circumstances – it was probably a good thing I wasn't thinking with my dick. Still, I knew the longer I stayed in Dave and Miranda's house, the harder it would be to resist her advances. I'd almost given in right there and that had only been her opening shot. Sabrina was like her mother in a lot of ways – she knew exactly how to get what she wanted. And it seemed she had her mind set on me. I always thought she'd eventually outgrow that childhood crush she nursed through her teenage years. But the adorable crush of a kid had turned into something more, something deeper. Something naughtier. I watched her as she walked away, swishing those hips in that tiny little nightgown as she left the room without so much as a second glance back at me.

She was too good at this, way too good. Sabrina had a plan and come hell or high water, she was determined to get what she wanted. It took me a few minutes to regain my composure, but I eventually managed to pull myself together. I listened to make sure Sabrina had actually retreated to her room and wasn't waiting to ambush me in the foyer before I walked back to my own room upstairs. I practically walked up the stairs and down the hall on tiptoes carefully, not wanting to wake anyone – or to bring Sabrina back out of her room. God knew it had been nearly impossible not to jump on her before, but upstairs, so close to our bedrooms? Hell, I wasn't sure there was a man alive who could resist her in that situation, not in that teeny little nightgown. Once I was alone in my room, I closed the door and locked it just in case Sabrina got a wild idea to sneak in and try to seduce me again. Staring at the empty bed left me hurting. Sure, it wasn't my bed, not really. It was just a bed I was sleeping in for a little bit. But it reminded me of my empty bed at home too – the bed Beth had picked out for us. The bed I'd be sleeping alone in for a while. “Hell, maybe I should just get rid of the thing,” I muttered to myself. “Get something new.” In all honesty, it wasn't so much about missing Beth or even being lonely. We'd been separated for close to a year now, so I was used to being alone. Didn't mean I enjoyed it. Didn't mean I wasn't ready for companionship again – or that I didn't yearn for intimacy once more. I was ready to share my bed with someone again, and if Sabrina had her way – I shoved that thought out of my head right away. That couldn't happen. I wasn't going to let that happen. The erection in my pants wasn't going away, however, and if I couldn't actually have her physically, I could at least relieve some of the pent up desire on my own – hopefully keeping me out of trouble. I removed my pants and crawled into bed. With my eyes closed, I pictured beautiful woman after beautiful woman – some I'd had, some I'd merely fantasized about – and yet, each time, the face in my head morphed back to the woman sleeping in the next room. Sabrina. Dammit, I cursed myself as I stroked my cock. The fantasy was too strong, however. I couldn't think of anybody else no matter how hard I tried. But what would indulging in a little fantasy about Sabrina hurt? It wasn't like it was something I would actually act upon. It was make believe. No harm in that, right?

I imagined the way her pussy would feel wrapped around my cock, how amazing it would be to be sheathed inside of her tight little hole. I pictured her bouncing up and down on top of me, her breasts jiggling as she moved, her perfect mouth wide open as she whimpered in pleasure. I pictured myself thrusting my hips and driving my dick even deeper inside of her, making her gasp, making her scream my name. I tightened my grip around my cock and pumped it even harder, thinking about how tight she must be. Was she a virgin? Doubtful. With the way she looked, she could have had any male on campus and maybe had. But I had to admit, having known her for so long, it was hard to imagine that sweet girl as anything but a virgin. Either way, her pussy was likely nice and tight, probably tighter than any I'd had before. I was fully immersed in the fantasy, stroking my cock and dreaming about my best friend's daughter fucking me, and that's when I heard sounds from the room next to mine. Moaning. Sabrina's moaning. Her sounds were muffled by the wall separating us, but I could hear her still, and that only added to my rich fantasy. I now knew what she sounded like in the throes of pleasure, and it sounded amazing. Now, not only was I picturing her bouncing up and down on my cock, I could hear the sounds of her own orgasm approaching. I tried to picture what she was doing. Was she on her back with her legs spread wide? Was she up on her knees? Was she fucking herself with her fingers? Or did she have a dildo she was pumping in and out of her sweet little hole? Sabrina got louder as I tried to stay quiet. I didn't want her to know I was getting off on the sounds of her touching herself – that would only add fuel to the fire and encourage her to continue pursuing me. But oh God, it was so hot. “Yes, yes, yes,” I heard her call out from the room, a little too loudly, I was afraid. It was almost like she wanted to be heard. It was just what I needed too. I felt the cum bubbling up inside of me, and as she called out once more, sounding like she was coming, hard. That threw me over the edge and I came too. I pictured being inside of that tight little pussy and filling it with my cum as I exploded in my hand, cum flying onto the bed next to me and covering my lower body. I thrust my body upward, imagining burying myself deep into her one last time as I shot my load just as her cries of pleasure were finally subsiding – almost as if we'd just come together. In a way, I suppose we had. As I fell asleep in a strange bed, in someone

else's house, for a brief moment, I didn't feel so alone. And I drifted off to sleep peacefully and easily for the first time in a very long time.

CHAPTER Five JULIAN

WITH THE SMELL of fresh coffee in the air, I walked downstairs to find Sabrina and her parents sitting at the table. I'd already gone for my morning run, showered and was ready to start my Saturday. Sabrina was still wearing the nightshirt from last night, but had thankfully added a pair of matching shorts this morning. Her parents were both dressed and ready for the day ahead as well. “Good morning,” I said as I poured myself a cup of coffee. “Good morning, Julian,” Sabrina said. Her dad gave her a weird look – just as I had the first time she didn't call me Mr. Pierce. But he let it slide without comment when he saw it didn't bother me. Her mother apparently didn't even notice – she was flipping through a home décor magazine. She looked up and smiled at me when I sat down to join them. I couldn't bring myself to look at Sabrina without images of the fantasy I'd indulged in the night before running through my head. So, I avoided her gaze as much as possible without it getting awkward. There was nothing but silence and the rattling of paper in the room – and an odd sense of tension in the air. I expected it was sexual tension between Sabrina and I – her parents didn't even seem to notice. But every time I glanced over, I caught her looking at me with an expression of pure lust. I picked up the newspaper and flipped it open, pretending to read about the local high school football team, when Sabrina cleared her throat. “So what are everyone's plans for the day?” she asked. I had no plans. Not officially, anyway. I had some work to get done, all of which I could do from my computer without leaving the house. But as I thought about hanging out there all day with temptation sitting just a few feet away, I thought perhaps getting out would be good for me. Safer, anyway. Unless, of course, her parents were going to be around all day. I looked over at them, waiting for an answer. Dave looked at his wife who held up the magazine for me to inspect.

“I'm going to pick this up today,” she said. Leaning closer, I saw that it was a painting – probably the exact painting she'd wanted for the dining room and had been hectoring Dave about the day before. “And I'm going along to pay for it,” Dave said, laughing. “She talked me into it. Like there was any doubt about it” “Want to join us, Julian?” she asked. As tempting as it was – just to get away for a bit – I didn't want to be part of that circus. I knew from experience that when Miranda went shopping for anything, it was usually a whole day affair. Even if she knew exactly what she was getting, it often led to other purchases as well. “Thanks for the offer, but no, I have some work to do – ” Sabrina smiled as she took a sip from her mug. “ – so I think I'll be heading into the office for a bit.” Her smile wavered and a pout crossed her lips. “Don't be silly, Julian,” Dave said. “Use my home office if needed. Mi casa es su casa, my friend.” There wasn't a reason I couldn't use his, not really. I just needed to respond to some emails and look over a few proposals. I racked my brain, trying to come up with a reason I needed to into the office. But the only reason is that I didn't want to do any of the work I needed to get done was that I didn't want to be in the house with Sabrina. But I couldn't tell Dave that. “What about you, sweetie?” Miranda asked, as if reading my mind. “Any plans for the day?” “Not really,” she said. “I figured I'd relax a bit. Maybe search online for some places.” “Why don't you come along with us then?” Miranda asked. For a second, I thought I might get lucky. That I might catch a break. “No thanks,” she said. “I think I might hang out around here, apply for some jobs and stuff.” Damn. “You sure, honey?” Miranda asked. “I hate for you to be cooped up here all alone, all day.” “I'll keep Julian company,” Sabrina said, winking at me. I was staring again, even though I was studiously trying to avoid looking at her. Try as I might, I couldn't stop looking at her – and she caught me every time. She shared a smile with me, a mischievous little grin that seemed to say so much and sent chills down my spine. All I could think about was last night – about how great it felt to jack off

thinking about her riding my cock. Of course, the sounds she'd made as she masturbated in her room next to mine only heightened my experience. The sounds she made had been delightful, and I had no doubt they'd sound even better in person, close up. I gulped down the last of my coffee as I stared down at the table, feeling immense guilt over my fantasy now that her parents were sitting across from me at the table. I couldn't bring myself to look at either of them. It was as if I were afraid that just by looking at them, they'd know the horrible, dirty thoughts I'd had about their daughter – about a girl I literally watched grow up. If I thought that was bad, that the guilt about a simple masturbation fantasy were bad, I could only imagine what it would be like if Sabrina got her way and we ended up in bed.

CHAPTER Six SABRINA

MY PARENTS LEFT and we had the house to ourselves. Julian was locked away in his room – he hadn't left for his office, though he'd talked about it. He never actually left, which to me, said he didn't really want to leave. And if he didn't want to leave, maybe it was because he wanted something... I knocked on his bedroom door and listened – remembering the sounds I'd heard coming from the room last night. Yes, he'd tried to be quiet, I could tell, but there were times he couldn't stop himself from letting out small groans and grunts that I recognized as the sounds of someone orgasming. At first, there was no answer from inside his room. I thought maybe Julian was asleep. But then I realized that more than likely, he was avoiding me. It made sense. He was probably freaked out. Bless his heart, this probably was a bit much for him. But I'd heard the sounds he made – I knew he wanted it. I knew he wanted me. I knocked again, this time speaking, “Julian? You awake?” After a second, the door opened and he was standing there, staring at me with those beautiful blue eyes of his. “I thought maybe we could talk?” I said, biting my lip. “After what happened last night and all. I'm sorry if I made you feel awkward – that wasn't the point.” His eyes softened, but it took a moment for him to say anything, so I

continued, knowing we were alone in the house. “I heard you last night,” I said. “Through the walls. Just like I know you heard me.” Julian backed away from the door, turning around and preparing to shut me out, but I pushed on the door and stepped inside the bedroom. I wasn't going to let him get away from me that easily. “Sabrina, please – we can't do this.” “Yes, we can,” I insisted. “I see the way you look at me, I heard you jerking off last night. I'm no fool. You want me, Julian. And I want you. Why keep denying ourselves something so special? Something we both quite obviously want.” Last night had made me ballsy. It had reinforced the idea that I was right about him being attracted to me. And having heard him jerking off – knowing he was jerking off to thoughts of me – I didn't hold back this time. Instead, I walked right up to him and stood within inches of him – my face kissing distance from his. “I saved myself for you, Julian. Did you know that? Of all the boys I could have had in college, I didn't give in. Even being as horny as I am, I waited. For you,” I said and smiled. “And do you really want to deny me what I've been waiting my entire life for?” Julian took a deep breath in, as if he was shocked by what I'd just said to him. As if he couldn't believe it – maybe didn't believe me. But his eyes were wide, and yes, there was some fear in them – but there was also plenty of lust. The more I talked about being a virgin, the more lustful and longing his look became. I had to wonder if he'd ever been with a virgin before? “My virginity wasn't something I wanted to give away to just anyone,” I said. “I wanted to save it for someone who would appreciate it, appreciate me, and who would be gentle, loving and kind Just like I know you will be with me.” I reached out and stroked his cheek, expecting him to pull away. But he didn't. Instead, he reached his hand out to me as well. I leaned into his touch, closing my eyes and savoring the feel of his hand against my cheek. “Sabrina, wow – I mean, that's such a big thing, and I don't think I'm deserving of that honor,” he said. “Even if you seem to think I am. I think you deserve so much more than I can offer you. You deserve a younger man. A better man” “It's my decision who's worthy or not,” I said, my voice low as I leaned in closer to him. “And if I say you're worthy, trust me, you are. I'm a consenting adult, Julian. I'm not a foolish little girl. I know what it all means, and I want

my first time to be with you.” Before he could say another word, I kissed him, long and hard and with such a force that even he couldn't pull away. I held his face close to mine, pulling him into me, my tongue pushing past his lips and into his mouth. At first, he resisted – just slightly – but once our tongues touched, it was like a dam of lust and desire had been broken. He gripped my upper arms and kissed me back. I felt the heat and fire in his body as he kissed and touched me. I released my grip on him, and he continued to kiss me as if finally, he'd given himself permission to do something he'd been wanting to do for so long. His lips were soft, his face stubbly and itchy. He wasn't the first man I'd kissed – that honor had gone to a boy named Trevor when I was fourteen. It was a stupid decision, but he was the first mature man I'd made out with. And I had to admit, it was far better than any stupid high school or college boy, whose hands groped and pulled at me as their tongue barely moved inside of my mouth. No, Julian knew how to kiss. He knew the art of kissing, and he knew exactly how to take my breath away. My hands worked at the buttons of his shirt. I fumbled with them, growing nearly frantic to get his shirt off, eager to feel his flesh beneath my hands. But he stopped me. Grabbed my hands before I could remove a single button. “We can't,” he said. “Oh, but we can,” I said, kissing him again. “And we will, Julian.” I pried my hands free from his and started removing the buttons again. This time though, I got his shirt halfway off before he pushed me up against the wall. He gave me a lusty grin as he pinned my hands to the wall above my head. “No, Sabrina, this is wrong,” he said. I felt his erection pressing into my belly as he spoke which told me he didn't think it was entirely wrong. “Then why does it feel so right, Julian? Admit it, you want it. I can feel it. Your body wants me as much as mine wants you.” He didn't deny it, but he adjusted, slightly so he wasn't pressing against me. Without the use of my hands, I thrust my hips outward, pressing my lower body into his, feeling his erection pressing against me once more. I wanted it. Needed it. Had to have it inside of me. As I ground myself against his hard cock, I smiled at him – the mischievous grin of a woman who was used to getting exactly what she wanted. He looked at me, a low, lusty growl escaping his throat as I pressed myself against him even harder. “Your parents could be home – ”

I kissed him before he could finish, tasting his sweet lips and feeling his tongue against mine. I wrapped my legs around his body so that he was holding me up – and that meant he was pushing his hard cock into me. My body was on fire and I was absolutely dripping wet. Keeping clean, dry panties when Julian was around was apparently, an impossible task. I let out a muffled groan as I ground my body onto him, feeling his hard dick pressing into the very center of me. Julian shuddered, but kept his position, holding me up with only his body and hands. He stared into my eyes, and I saw his need clearly. He trembled with it. But he fought so hard within himself, struggling with the idea of fucking his best friend's daughter – the little girl he'd known, all grown up now. I knew it had to be weird for him. But time changes everything. I was a woman. He was a man. We presumably both liked to fuck. So why not do what we liked doing together? “I can't – ” “You can,” I said. “Oh, I know you can, Julian. I know you can. I can feel how bad you want it. Believe me, I want it just as bad.” I whimpered as I continued rubbing myself against him, like a dog in heat. I needed him so badly, I couldn't control myself. I just wanted him to tear my clothes off and fuck me against that wall. Right then and right there. I wanted that hard cock deep inside of me and I honestly didn't care who was home or who heard. I needed him. “Please, please, Julian – fuck me, please. Fuck me now. I can't wait any longer, baby.” His breathing was ragged and heavy, and I knew he was fighting so hard against his need. Struggling with what he obviously wanted against what he thought was right and proper. He was trying so hard, but I could see the look on his face. It was primal. Animalistic. His base nature – the base nature in us all was beginning to emerge. His need was winning out, the little devil on his shoulder was working overtime, trying to talk him into this. “Please, baby? Please, take my virginity and fuck me. Be gentle with me, but you can do whatever you want to me, Julian. You can have me any way you want. Make me to anything you desire,” I continued, purring into his ear. “I've waited for so long.” “Fuck,” Julian muttered, his voice harsh. His eyes were squeezed shut, and I could tell he was fighting so incredibly hard to not give in to me. His body was shaking with a raw need, a need that was taking over his body bit by bit. It was a slow erosion of his sense of what he thought was right and moral. But I was wearing him down – slowly, but

surely, I was weakening his defenses. The battle was turning and it wouldn't be too much longer before I could claim victory in the war. And of course, to the victor go the spoils – which, in this case, was his very hard cock. He was mine. I just needed to seal the deal and we'd be together, our bodies united as one. “Oh God... Oh God, please...” I continued rubbing my sopping wet pussy against him, begging and pleading in a breathy voice. “Don't deny me this, Julian? Please don't deny me... don't deny yourself either. You know you want it. So do I.... Let's just do it, baby. There is nothing wrong with it. In fact, there is everything so right about it.” The more I spoke, the more he shook, but he continued holding me there, caught between a rock and a hard place. He wanted me, he wanted this – but he was scared. But as his eyes opened back up, I saw that they were full of a primal heat, and I knew – the devil had won. Which meant that I'd won. “Yes, oh God, yes,” I murmured. Julian kissed me long and hard, pressing me harder into the wall with his body. I felt his size pushing into my pussy, only clothing separating us, and I knew I was in for a treat – a long, thick, hard treat. My body was going to need to take a little time to get used to him, sure, but once it did – oh man, it was going to be amazing. Even more amazing than my dildos and vibrators, that was for absolute certain. They served a purpose. Were a means to an end. But there was no way in hell they were going to be able to compete or compare with the real thing. Julian let go of my hands, and I wrapped them around his shoulders, as he carried me over to the bed. He looked deeply into my eyes as he laid me down, his body falling on top of mine. Propping himself up on his arms, he stared down at me, that look of need still there on his face, and kissed my neck. Then he moved lower, kissing and sucking my collarbone, making me groan in pleasure. All the while, he continued pressing his hard cock against the hot, wet center of me. His hands worked at my shirt, and after what seemed like an eternity, he managed to slip it off, pulling it over my head and exposing my breasts in a silky black bra. He cupped my breasts in his hands and stared down at me, that animalistic need to just fuck burning bright in his eyes. I welcomed it. “God damn, you're so fucking sexy, Sabrina,” he croaked. “When did this happen?” He tickled my nipples with his fingertips, making my body twitch beneath

his touch and drawing a throaty sigh from me. “Please – ” I begged him, my head moving from side-to-side on my pillow. “No, I can't just fuck you, Sabrina,” he said. “Not if this is truly your first time. It wouldn't be right.” I stared up at him, afraid of what he'd just said. “But I want you to be my first – ” “If I am to be your first, it needs to be special, Sabrina. I'm not going to rush it and I'm not going to just use you like a common whore or a drunk girl at a frat house. You're far more special than that. And you deserve to be treated like it.” I felt the smile returning to my face. “And this is exactly why I wanted you to be my first, Julian. I knew you'd treat me right. I knew you'd know how to be a gentleman.” “Of course,” he said, kissing me softly. “Of course, sweetie. But I really want it to be perfect for you, so let's not rush things, okay?” I bit my lip, afraid that this was his way of getting out of it. That by “not rushing things,” he was saying that we'd work on this over time – meaning, not today. Though, I had to admit that this was perfect. That as of right now, this was living up to the hype I'd built up in my head and blowing away all of my expectations. It was perfect, I thought to myself. “This is exactly the way I want it to be, Julian,” I said, stroking his cheek. Unlike before, he didn't pull away from my touch. Instead, this time, he actually leaned into my hand and closed his eyes, a relaxed look on his face. “This is already perfect. There's no way it can't be perfect as long as you're the one inside of me.” When he opened his eyes, he looked down at me and sighed. It was a sound that was pleased. Relieved. It wasn't a sight of frustration, but one of absolute happiness and contentment. As if this was exactly what he was waiting for too. I started by kissing his lips, then moved to his neck – dotting it with small, soft kisses. He moaned softly as I started to lick and suck on his neck. As I kissed him, I let out little whimpers of anticipation as he continued grinding that beautiful cock into me. My legs were wrapped around his body and I pulled him down onto me. “This is perfect,” I whispered into his ear, nipping at the lobe. “This is exactly what I've been waiting for Julian, so give it to me – please? Give it to me?” He was fighting once more, but his resolve was weakened quickly. Far faster than it had before. In a moment of weakness, I pushed him off me and

flipped us around so I was the one on top of him – mostly so he couldn't change his mind. I was the one in control and I straddled his body, pressing myself down onto him. Now that he was on bottom, looking up at me, he looked even more afraid than before. But I wasn't going to let him change his mind. Have second thoughts. Whatever. I was going to make sure he couldn't get away from me so easily. As I continued to kiss him, undressing him some more, his body finally started to loosen up. He let his hands wander across my body a bit more, cupping my breasts as I sat up and removed my bra. He licked his lips as I let my bra fall to the bed and exposed my plump breasts to him. His eyes went wide as he stared at them, obviously liking what he saw. “See? I told you I was a grown woman, Julian,” I said, grinding my hips down onto him. Biting my bottom lip, I reached down and with a coy smile, started unbuckling his pants. He didn't stop me, he just continued to stare at me with a look of absolute desire on his face. He put his hands on my hips and held me down a bit as I started to thrust his hips upward, grinding that hard dick into me – drawing a groan of pleasure from me. Slipping my hands down his slacks, I took hold of that thick, hard cock and watched as his eyes rolled back in his head. He moaned in pleasure as I squeezed his dick tight, stroking it up and down a little bit. He was nice and thick, and large – just as I knew he would be. Larger than any toy I'd ever used on myself, that was for sure. I couldn't even wrap my hand around it completely, but I did my best, stroking him as he let out a low groan. “See? That feels good, doesn't it, Julian? Nothing wrong about that. In fact, there's nothing but good about that.” I was enjoying the look on his face as I stroked his cock. It was an expression of pure rapture. Bliss. As I kept softly jerking his cock, I was growing wetter by the second – my panties were going to be soaked by the time we removed them. It would help him slide inside of me though. Hopefully, at least. Might as well get as lubed up as possible, to help ease the transition. I'd done my best to prepare myself for this day, but there was nothing that could prepare me for him. “Yes. Oh yes,” he muttered between clenched teeth. His head was back on the bed, his eyes were struggling to stay open as he watched me stroking his cock. I took his dick and placed it between my legs, my skirt up around my hips and only a thong separating us now, and I rubbed him against me. Feeling his hard cock against my most intimate parts caused me to spasm, feeling so close to orgasm before we even got started. That's

how badly I wanted him inside of me. But I wanted to hold off. I didn't want to come until I had that amazing dick deep in me. I rocked my hips up and down as I stroked him against my body, and then with the tip of his cock, I pushed the panties aside and we touched. It was something I'd wanted and had dreamed of for so long, that the sudden fulfillment of that fantasy was almost too much. Just feeling the tip of his prick against my tight, wet little hole brought me to the edge of orgasm. His cock against my clit. It was an amazing sensation for our most intimate parts to be together, so close, and yet so far away. I continued to rub against him, feeling like my entire body might explode with pleasure before I even slipped him into my pussy and rode that delicious cock. Moving his dick lower, I placed the tip directly against my opening as I watched him. His eyes were wide and filled with need as I rubbed him against my opening, the tip of his cock getting slick and wet with my juices. “We'll have to go slow,” I said, nearly breathless. “To let me get used to you, of course. I need a moment to adjust to your size.” “Of course,” he said. “Go as slow as you need to.” This was it. We were doing it. My stomach was doing flip-flops, my heart was racing, and my pussy felt like it was engulfed in flames. I lifted my body and placed the tip of him against my opening, using my hand to help me find exactly the right spot. I couldn't take my eyes off Julian, I needed to look in his eyes as he entered me for the first time. Wanted to see his reaction to his dick slipping inside of me. I wanted to see his face, if for no other reason, than to remind me that this was really happening – that this wasn't another toy and another fantasy. This was for real. That it was his cock inside of me – not a dildo. Gently, I lowered myself down, taking just the tip between the lips of my pussy, but even that was exquisite. There was a little pain, but nothing too bad yet. Nothing I couldn't handle, and nothing too bad at all. But then, we weren't very deep yet. I knew that I had to expect some pain – maybe even a little blood too – though I'd done my best to prepare myself for this moment with my toys, so I hoped it wouldn't be too bad. I slid down on his shaft just a little lower, this time gasping as I stretched open further than I'd been stretched before. The feeling was surreal – a mix of pleasure and pain. Julian's hands were on my hips and he kneaded my skin gently, lovingly, as I continued slowly lowering myself onto him, taking him deeper and deeper inside of me. “You can stop at any time,” he said. “I don't want to stop,” I gasped, taking even more of him into me.

My eyes shot open wide and I yipped when I moved a little too deep too soon. This was slightly uncomfortable, but not terrible. The fullness was unlike anything I'd imagined, and it was amazing. I needed more, and I needed it fast, but I knew to keep moving slowly. Julian's jaw was clenched tight, and I knew he was struggling. He thrust upward slightly, plunging himself almost completely inside of me, and I cried out. “I'm sorry – I didn't mean to – ” “I know, baby,” I said softly, easing down even further. “It's okay. I'm fine.” This was it. I was about to take his entire cock inside of me. I closed the distance, felt him buried deep inside of me, and it took me a second to get used to the sensation. I just sat there, a moment, rejoicing in the feeling of having him inside of me. The pain was there, just a bit, but the pleasure was overpowering. Intense. Even better than I'd imagined and fantasized that it would be. I stared down at Julian, and he placed his hands on my hips, holding me there, savoring my tight pussy around his cock. He twitched and I felt him move inside of me. It was such a strange sensation, but one I enjoyed immensely. I slowly started rocking my hips, moving gently back and forth on top of him. His hands worked over my body, cupping my breasts, his fingers pinching and teasing my nipples. Feeling him filling me up and moving inside of me sent electrical signals throughout my entire body that caused me to speed up. Soon, Julian's body was moving with mine, in our own little rhythm, as I leaned forward to kiss him. But he beat me to it, grabbing my head and pulling me down toward him, kissing me long and hard as he moved his body underneath me, fucking me gently – just as he promised he would. I was still getting used to everything, my movements weren't perfect, but Julian didn't seem to mind. He was kind and patient with me. Everything was at my pace, and while going slow was nice, I wanted more. I wanted him to fuck me. I wanted to feel him pounding his hard cock deep into me. I wanted to wanted to hear the sound of flesh slapping against flesh as he fucked me. “Please, take over,” I said. Julian knew what I'd meant right away. He held onto my hips as he moved, rolling over and changing positions so he was on top of me – all while never taking his cock out of me. Now that he was on top, staring down into my eyes, I knew that the real fun could begin.

Julian moved slow, at first, but I begged him, “Faster, please – please, fuck me, Julian. Fuck me hard. Fast. Deep. Just fucking pound me, baby.” He was concerned, watching my face carefully as he sped up. His brow was furrowed, but on his face as an expression of pure bliss as he thrust inside of me. He slammed his cock as deep as he could go inside into my pussy, drawing a gasp out of me. “You okay?” he asked, his voice full of concern. “Did I hurt you?” “No,” I said. “Not at all. It's good, baby. Don't stop. Keep going.” That was a lie, it actually had hurt a bit. But I wasn't going to say anything that might make him stop since it had mostly felt so good. It felt so fucking amazing to have him deep inside of me, at last. “Keep going!” I begged, writhing underneath his lean, strong body. “Don't stop! Keep fucking me.” Taking my hands in his and holding them against the bed, he started to really fuck me – just like I'd always wanted him to. He thrust his hard dick into me again and again, pounding me so hard, the sound of our flesh slapping together filling the room. He took me to new heights, giving me more pleasure than I'd ever experienced before. Far more than I'd actually anticipated all those nights I fucked myself with a vibrator, pretending it was him. “You're just so tight,” he grunted. “So fucking tight – I've never felt a pussy like yours before, Sabrina. – I don't know if I can last very much longer.” I wrapped my legs around his body and pulled him tightly against me, wanting him to lose control, wanting him to fill me with his cum. I wanted so badly to feel his hot seed spurting deep inside of me. “Cum, baby,” I said. “Please, cum inside of me. Shoot that hot fucking load deep in me, Julian.” “But – ” “I'm on the pill, I'm not stupid. I want you to fill me up with your hot, sticky cum. I want to feel it dripping out of me, baby.” I ran a hand through that sandy blonde hair of his, marveling at the beauty of the man. Marveling at the feel of his cock inside of me. Still, Julian slowed down, which made me pout a little bit. He didn't want to end things so fast – and for that, I was a tiny bit grateful. Okay, more than a tiny bit. Extending the length and intensity of the pleasure wasn't a bad thing. But then, my entire body started spasming, my pussy clenching around his cock, causing him to shudder against me as he kept fucking me. Sweat rolled down his face and poured down upon me. It dripped from his forehead and splashed down on me, as he tried everything in his power to keep from exploding inside of me too soon. Or at least, sooner than he wanted to. Seeing

him so close to the edge, and imagining our orgasms combining together was all it took to send me over the edge. My body bucked up toward his as I screamed out, dragging my nails down his back as I came. I moaned and groaned, calling out his name as I shuddered with my orgasm. And Julian watched me as I climaxed, a look of desire in his eyes and a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. He was enjoying having his hard prick inside of me as I came hard all over it. “Julian – Oh God, Julian,” I cried out, barely able to form a coherent sentence, much less do anything besides moan. No amount of masturbating could have prepared me for this. This was a whole new level of pleasure – far beyond anything I'd experienced before. And I loved every goddamned second of it. I wanted more. That's when Julian's breath grew ragged, his thrusts became more determined, and I could tell he was close to coming. My spasming pussy was literally milking the cum from him. His eyes grew wide and he grunted as he buried himself deep – so deep it hurt – and let out an animalistic groan that sent shivers through my entire body. His warmth filled me up and caused me to climax again, and this time, we came together, holding onto each other and groaning, barely able to breathe. It was hard to tell where his body began and mine ended as we both were washed away on an intense sea of pleasure brought on by our simultaneous climaxes. Once the pleasure died down, we stayed like that – united as one – for a few seconds while we both regained control of our bodies, breath, and hearts. Julian's cock slipped out of me and I felt some of that hot, sticky cum leaking out of me as well. He turned over onto his back and stared up that the ceiling. He'd fallen down beside me as he fought to catch his breath. I was shaking, and was on the verge of tears. And once he saw the look on my face, he pulled me close. “Oh God, Sabrina – I'm so sorry.” “Sorry?” I asked. “Why are you sorry?” “I should have tried harder to stop all of this. Look at you – ” “I'm not crying because I regret it, silly,” I said, looking into his baby blue eyes. “I'm crying because I'm happy. So very happy.” He wrapped his arms around me and kissed my forehead. I felt warm. Content. Happy. I got the feeling that this might not be the last we saw of Rory? We were silent for a while after that, mainly because it was hard to find the words to talk about what happened between us. I was afraid to ask what this meant for us – if there was an us. And I think Julian was just trying to figure

out how he felt about it all. I wasn't sure if this was going to be a one-time thing, or if it was maybe something Julian and I could do again. Maybe regularly. Only time would tell what became of us, however. And I was going to have to wait and see the long term fallout of this – of whether or not Julian would be okay with what happened. God knew I wanted this to go somewhere. I wanted to be with him. But I couldn't force it. I got my dream – or at least my fantasy – fulfilled at long last. Now to see what happened once I woke up – well, we'd just have to see about that one.

CHAPTER Seven JULIAN

DINNER THAT NIGHT WAS AWKWARD, to say the least. Dave and Miranda were so caught up in making their plans to redecorate that they barely even acknowledged Sabrina and I at the table. Thankfully so, in all honesty. I still had trouble making eye contact with either of them. I'd slept with their daughter just hours before, and there we were, eating lasagna like nothing had ever happened. If Sabrina felt weird about it all, it didn't show. She was very good at hiding it. Every time I looked over at her, she flashed me a mischievous little grin that promised more of the same of what she'd had earlier today, later on. Sometimes she moved her foot and used it to rub my leg with her foot. Or the other, marginally less subtle thing, was when she accidentally touched me as she passed the plates around the table. She was playing with me still, all while her parents were at the table with us. Which was why it was a good thing they were so caught up in their interior designing. And even though I felt bad about lying to my friends, I couldn't help but look at their daughter in a new light. Every time she smiled at me, I pictured those lips wrapped around my cock. When she touched me, I remembered the way her hands raked down my back, scratching me raw as she came. Remembered the feel of the soft skin of her hands as she gripped my cock, stroked it. When she got up to get something to drink, she swished her hips and I stared, a little too obviously, at her ass, remembering the way she felt beneath

me. Remembering how those legs felt wrapped around my waist as I pounded my cock into her. “What do you think, Julian? Think it looks good?” Miranda asked. I nearly spit my wine out on the table, fearful that I'd been caught staring at her daughter's ass. Sabrina turned toward me in that moment and caught me, smiling. Miranda, on the other hand, was focused on the paint swatches she held in front of me. “I think it looks very good,” I said, unsure of what I was actually commenting on. The only thing I was sure of in that moment, was that it wasn't their daughter's ass – which yes, did indeed look very good. Felt good in my hands too. “See? He agrees with me,” Miranda said. Dave shot me a look of death, his expression promising retribution later. I honestly had no idea what I'd just agreed to, so I shrugged, trying to play it off. Hopefully whatever it was, it wasn't too bad and he'd get over it fairly quickly. “He's just saying that to get you to shut up, Miranda. Julian hates yellow.” For the first time since she started talking, I looked down at the swatches. Yes, they were yellow. Incredibly yellow. Obnoxiously yellow. Dave was right, I hated yellow. And the swatches she was showing me only validated my choice to despise the color. “You want to paint your dining room that color?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “That's what we were talking about, yes! Seriously, were you not listening to a word I said?” Miranda flicked her dark hair over her shoulder, giving me a look that rivaled her husband's. This was exactly why I didn't bother to get into such talks with them. You could never win. “I think it would look fantastic, mom,” Sabrina said, egging her mom on. “Bright and cheery, which is what this house needs more of. I think that's what Julian was thinking, dad.” “Exactly. I thought we were talking about accent colors,” I lied. “Oooh, an accent color. Maybe that would be better,” Miranda said, holding up the yellow swatch to get a better view – as if she hadn't been obsessively staring at it for hours already. This time I smiled over at Sabrina, thankful to her for saving my ass, literally. She walked past me, from behind, and ran a finger over the back of my neck, sending shivers down my spine. She was having way too much fun with all of this. Still, there was something energizing about this little game of cat and mouse we were playing with her folks. Something forbidden. Taboo. Something that just made you feel alive, knowing that you were doing

something so taboo. “You cold, Julian?” Dave asked. “No, I'm fine,” I said. “If anything, I'm a bit warm.” “Yeah, it is a bit hot in here, dad,” Sabrina said, fanning herself as she sat down. She winked at me playfully. Dave looked confused, giving me a questioning look. All I could do was shrug again and stare down at my plate. “The lasagna is great, Miranda. Did you make it yourself?” “Do I look like someone who cooks?” she scoffed. “No, Rosa made it before she left. Used my mom's recipe though. But it's missing something...” If there was one thing I could count on, it was Miranda talking about something. You never had to worry about a conversation when she was around – she was content to carry on all by herself. Which meant as long as I could keep her talking, we could avoid conversing and I wouldn't give anything away. Since I was still feeling incredibly guilty about fucking their daughter, I felt that was the best route to go. “Oh, speaking of Rosa, she said you didn't end up going into work today, Julian,” she said. “Are you feeling okay?” It was meant to be a joke, I could tell the way Miranda was laughing at me. But I couldn't bring myself to laugh along with her, I had to choose my words carefully for fear of being found out. “I decided to rest instead,” I said. “After everything I've been through, I figured I deserved a bit of a nap. And it felt wonderful, let me tell you. Dave pretended to look out the window. “Sorry, just checking to see if Hell has frozen over.” They laughed, so I feigned a laugh to at least seem like I was amused as well. But as I tried to avoid talking about what – or who, actually – I did that afternoon, Sabrina ran her foot all the way up the length of my leg, coming a little too close to my intimate parts. I coughed, choking on my last sip of wine, causing both Dave and Miranda to stop their teasing and look at me, seriously. “Maybe I'm not feeling so well after all,” I lied, faking a follow up cough. Sabrina taunted me this time. “Awww, poor baby have a little cold? Maybe you should go upstairs and get some rest?” Her foot was still wedged between my legs, her toes teasing my cock. She smiled as she teased me from across the table, her parents oblivious to what their daughter was up to. I felt those familiar stirrings in my groin again and knew that I was going to have a raging hard on any moment. I just hoped I didn't have to get up any time soon. “Maybe so,” I said. “That might not be the worst idea ever.”

At least it would get me away from this table, this awkward conversation, and a girl who seemed hell bent on forcing me to fuck her on top of the table in front of her parents, I thought to myself. I stared down at my plate, wondering how I was going to stand up and take it into the kitchen without Dave and Miranda noticing the fact that I was aroused when Sabrina came up behind me and grabbed it, placing it on top of hers. She tipped me a wink and gave me a small smile. She obviously knew what she'd done to me and was throwing me a life preserver. I was more than thankful for that. “You too, Sabrina?” Miranda asked, a touch of disappointment in her voice. “I have a job interview in the morning,” she said. “I want to get some rest to make sure I'm ready for it.” “A job interview? On a Sunday?” Sabrina and I shared a look as she took my plate into the kitchen, dropping it into the sink with a clatter. “Yeah, I thought it was weird too. But the guy I'm interviewing with is apparently traveling all next week and wanted to meet with me before he left. Said he's hoping to fill the position sooner rather than later.” She was so smooth and so polished as she talked her way through that lie, even I believed her. Hell, maybe she was telling the truth. For all I knew, she actually was meeting with a guy about a job tomorrow. I had my doubts, but what did I know? “That's great, sweetie. Where at?” Dave asked, turning to look at his daughter. “Uhh just a small start-up, I can't remember the exact name offhand,” she said. “I have it written down upstairs though.” Okay, now she was failing. She was stumbling over her words and looking at me for help. “Didn't you mention an interview with Harper International? Is that the place you're interviewing?” It was a completely fictitious company, but it sounded good. No such place existed – and I hoped Dave wouldn't go and look them up online – but I'd had to think fast, coming up with it on the fly – using my ex-wife's maiden name. Kicking myself for my terrible lie, I just prayed no one thought twice about it and they'd just take Sabrina at her word. “Yeah, that's it,” she said, waving it off. “It's nothing major. Probably nothing I can really build a career around, but it could be some good experience that I can parlay into something better, you know?” I excused myself before I could be brought into anymore lies, and slipped

off to the guest room. As soon as the door was closed behind me, I fell against it and closed my eyes. Taking a deep breath, I exhaled – and kept up that exercise until my heartbeat returned to normal. Damn. That was hard. All of the lying and deception to cover the fact that I was fucking my best friend's daughter. I shook my head and felt the first tinge of regret filtering through me. Maybe I had made a mistake. Maybe I should have resisted a little more. Maybe I could have prevented it from happening at all. But she knew exactly how to push my buttons. Knew exactly how to get me right where she'd wanted me. It had been utterly amazing and a big part of me wanted more of it. More of her. Part of me was hoping her parents would go out – or at least, go to bed – so I could have her again. I mentally kicked myself for thinking that way. I shouldn't do it again. I shouldn't fuck Sabrina ever again. It was wrong. And it was risky. Very risky. But damn, it had felt amazing. Talk about conflicted. And to think, I still had a few more weeks to go before my house would be ready. And years of dinners and golf outings to get through after that. Years and years of looking Dave and Miranda in the eye, knowing that I'd had my cock inside their little girl – and had to hide it. It would never get easier, would it? A knock on my door startled me and set my heart racing again. If I didn't have a heart condition before coming to this house, I sure as hell was going to have one when I left. “Yes?” I said, almost afraid to open it. “It's me,” Sabrina said, her voice low. “Can we talk?” Talk. Huh. Isn't that how she prefaced it last time? And we saw where that had gotten us – an afternoon of hot sex, under the table foot jobs, and a whole hell of a lot of awkward, strained conversation with a couple of my oldest friends. Of course, I couldn't put all the blame on her. It wasn't all her fault. I'd certainly played my part in all of this too. I'd made my bed, now I had to lay in it. Even though I thought letting her into my room to “talk” was a bad idea, I couldn't exactly turn her away. Not after what had happened between us, we did need to talk. She deserved that. I owed her that. I was a grown man and I needed to stand up. Needed to take responsibility for my actions. Which meant opening the door and talking to Sabrina like the adults we were. But the moment I opened the door, I knew that Sabrina had other ideas. She pushed her inside my room, kicking the door shut behind her and hushing me with a kiss before I could protest. Her tongue was in my mouth and I felt my wall of resistance crumbling. She ran her hands all over my body as we kissed

and I followed suit. Her tits just felt wonderful in my hands, as did her ass. And when she grabbed my cock through my pants, it was all I could do to keep from bending her over the dresser and fucking her right then and there. Eventually, I managed to extricate myself and take a couple of steps back, out of breath, my head spinning with lust and desire. “What happened to needing to talk?” I asked, pulling away. “Oh, we do need to talk, but I figured we could do other things first – ” She dropped to her knees in front of me and reached for my pants, but I stepped back, pulling her up from the floor. Which was hard, because I really wanted to see those perfect lips wrapped around my cock. Really wanted to see those big, beautiful eyes staring up at me as she sucked me off. Really wanted to pull her hair and fuck her mouth, shooting my load deep into her mouth as well as all over her gorgeous little face. But no, we couldn't. We had to be smart about all of this. “Your parents are right downstairs,” I muttered, quickly buttoning my pants back up. “So?” she said with a laugh. “They're busy bickering about paint swatches and what style of fabric goes with it. We'll just have to be quiet.” “I'd rather not risk it,” I said softly, lifting her face up to look into my eyes. “Let's talk, Sabrina. I think we need to chat, don't you?” “Why? Because you're going to tell me we can't do it again, right?” She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Why must you be so difficult, Julian. Seriously – ” But this time, I was the one who stopped her. I kissed her, surprising us both. Because let's face it, I probably should tell her that what we had was a one-time deal, but I wasn't able to do that. I was weak. Unable to do the right thing. I was letting my cock determine my behavior – which wasn't a good thing. To say the least. What happened between us was amazing in more ways than I could count, and this woman was driving me crazy. I wanted her. Needed her. But knew I shouldn't have her again. I tried to convince myself of all the reasons sleeping with Sabrina was a bad idea and was something that shouldn't be repeated. I went through the list in my head several times – the whole time knowing that it was rubbish and I wasn't going to adhere to any of those reasons anyway. I was going to fuck Sabrina again. It seemed to be a foregone conclusion. We just needed to be smart about it. “I don't know what is going to happen between us, Sabrina, but whatever happens – we need to talk about it first. I think it's critical that we set some boundaries and ground rules. We've got to figure out what the hell we're doing, because I feel like I'm losing my mind here.”

“Me too,” she said. “But it feels amazing.” “Yes, it does,” I admitted, stroking her cheek. “It really does. And that's the reason I need to be cautious about us moving forward.” “Cautious? Why?” “Because the last thing I want is to cause trouble for either of us,” I said. “Well, any more trouble than we've already got on our hands.”

CHAPTER EIGHT SABRINA

WHAT I FELT for Julian was real. So very real. It was so real, it hurt. And I wanted to believe what he felt for me was just as real as what I was feeling, but it was hard to tell. He struggled with what was happening between us. I could see that he was still trying to deal with the morality of it all – despite the fact that there was nothing immoral or wrong about what we were doing. But when I'd gone to his room that night, I saw something that made me think perhaps there was a little something more there too. Maybe deep below the surface, but I was pretty positive that it was there. I knew he'd been lonely ever since Beth had left him. And I often wondered why he didn't date other women. He certainly wouldn't have had any difficulty finding somebody else if he'd wanted to. He was filthy rich, incredibly gorgeous – and if they ever got to see that amazing cock he had in his pants, they'd be lining up around the block. But he'd remained alone. He'd he had a few flings here and there, maybe. I didn't know for sure. But if he did, he never talked about it. And he most certainly never brought any women around. Instead, he remained utterly alone and seemed to focus on his house remodel and work more than anything. That was, until that day he took my virginity, then everything changed. And we continued having sex, by the way. It became less awkward, and much less painful too, as the time went on. But it still remained every bit as amazing as the first time we'd done it. “Yes, oh yes,” he muttered quietly as I sucked his cock for the first time, my red lips wrapped firmly around that thick base. I watched him and his reactions from below as he looked down on me, stroking my hair. The first time he came in my mouth, it was hard not to gag at the strange taste, but I had managed to swallow it all down, wiping it from my chin with a

gleeful grin. I looked up at him with eyes that literally begged for more. He looked at me, amazement in his eyes – along with a very healthy dose of lust and need. He never seemed able to get enough of me. I couldn't count the number of times he'd cum either in me or on me and be ready to go again. It was like his cock never softened until he commanded it to. I'd always heard that older men had difficulty performing multiple times, but with Julian, I knew that I'd never have to fear that. He was as virile as a teenage boy and had the stamina to boot. And Julian was always ready and willing to give it to me, every chance we were alone. We fucked, yes, but it was more than that. We also talked. We talked a lot. We kissed. We cuddled. And overall, I filled his bed on many occasions, always sneaking out before my parents would wake up and catch me sleeping over. It was a risk, but after a while, it was one we were willing to take. Up until the moment we got caught, that was. It was another Saturday, much like the one when we'd first slept together. My parents were out running errands and Rosa was off for the day – leaving the two of us alone in the house. So naturally, we did what we did when we had time and were alone – we fucked each other's brains out. I was on top of Julian, riding him hard and fast, fucking him as he sucked on one of my nipples. Because we were alone, we didn't even bother being quiet. It was always hot when we were able to be loud, able to say anything we wanted and talk as dirty as possible. For me, I always loved hearing him calling my name – as well as calling me a few other, naughtier things. So, it always made things more intense when we didn't have to worry about keeping our voices down. My parents had literally just left, so we were confident we had at least a couple hours to spend fucking each other. “Fuck yes, Julian,” I cried out, riding him hard, bouncing up and down on his cock. I was on the verge of coming, I could feel my climax burning inside of me, readying itself to burst, but I was holding out. I always loved when Julian and I came together. It was a magical moment when both of our bodies spasmed and shuddered in shared bliss, and I was holding out for it. Waiting for it, letting it build within the both of us. Julian was close, I could tell by the way he was breathing and grunting – and by the way he was thrusting deeper and harder into me. It was like he was out of control and was so desperate to come, that he was trying to make it happen. But I thought he sounded almost like an animal when he was close, going buck wild, literally, as I fucked him as hard as I could. He met my

rhythm with his own lunges upward, shoving himself deep inside of my tight little pussy. I clenched down tightly, causing him to cry out in pleasure, a sound I'd never get tired of hearing. “Yes, yes, oh God – Yes!” I screamed out at the top of my lungs. Julian loved the sounds I made and the things I said, it made him come even harder and I wanted that hot seed spilling out of me. Julian let loose of my nipple and muttered, “I'm....cumming...” before his body jerked upward. He grabbed onto my ass and pulled me down hard on top of him, and that was it. I lost all control, screaming out his name as my orgasm tore through me like a bolt of lightning. My body felt like it was on fire as wave after wave of pleasure rolled through me. It wasn't until our pleasure had subsided that we realized someone else was in the house with us. Footsteps. On the stairs. I stared down at Julian and he stared at me, both of us wide-eyed as I rushed for my clothes and he rushed for his. I was halfway to the closet when the door swung open with no warning. It had just flown open, slamming into the wall behind it with a hard thud – the sound of judgment. And there was my father standing there in the doorway, glaring at us. He'd heard everything. I could tell from the look on his face. Even if I managed to hide in the closet, he'd heard it all. “Daddy,” I muttered, covering myself with my shirt, “What are you doing back already?” His face was bright red, his fists were clenched at his side and he wasn't even looking at me. He was staring at Julian, a fiery rage in his eyes that I'd never seen before. It was half-crazed and made him look scary. I half expected Julian to spout out a terrible line about how it wasn't what it looked like, but he knew better. We both did. There was no use in trying to lie or cover it up. We'd been busted red handed with our hands in the cookie jar. “Sabrina, go to your room,” my dad said, his voice colder than ever. “I need to speak with Julian.” “Listen, Dave – ” Julian said, but perhaps he shouldn't have because my father pulled his fist back and launched it straight into Julian's jaw. The sound of my father's fist slamming into Julian's face was like a gunshot. It was a loud, solid popping noise. I watched as Julian's head snapped backward and he grunted with pain. Watched as blood erupted from his nose, running down his face in a gushing line. Julian hit the floor with a grunt, before he jumped to his feet again and stared my father down. I screamed, rushing toward them and trying to stand in the way. “Daddy, stop! I'm not a little girl anymore!”

“Get the fuck out of my house,” my dad said, staring at Julian and ignoring me. “Now.” Julian didn't fight back. He simply nodded and picked up his clothing and threw them on – and started to leave, his head down, avoiding everybody's eyes. I could see the look of guilt, shame, sadness, and anger that was burning in his face. I started to follow behind him when my dad stopped me, grabbing me by the arm. He spun me around and stared at me. The demented, halfcrazed look in his eyes hadn't abated and the fact that he was looking at me like he was unnerved me. I half expected him to punch me in the face like he had Julian. “Let me go!” I demanded, fighting against his grip. “I love him!” My heart stuttered in my chest and my blood ran cold. What was I saying? We hadn't said the L word yet – hadn't come close to it. But there I was, blurting it out like an idiot. Julian paused in the doorway, but he didn't turn around to look at me. I was now sobbing, my body racked with sobs, trying to get to him but my dad held on tightly and wouldn't let me go. “I love him,” I repeated, hoping he felt the same way about me. Maybe if he said it back, my dad would see – this wasn't just about his friend fucking me. He and I had something special and something wonderful building. Yeah, we were fucking like rabbits, but we were also getting to know each other on a deeper level. I wanted him to tell me that he loved me back so I could shove it in my father's face, show him that this was about a lot more than just sex. But Julian didn't say another word. He just walked from the room silently and sullenly, his head down and his hands in his pockets. And my father wouldn't let go of me until we both heard the front door close behind Julian as he left the house. As soon as he let go of me, however, I threw on my shirt and rushed down the stairs. I opened the front door, but it was too late. Julian's car was already roaring down the driveway, pulling out onto the street and speeding away with a squeal of his tires. Julian was gone. My mom stood nearby, staring at me with her mouth hanging wide open. She looked at me, then up at the stairs at my father as if she was torn about what to do – comfort me, or back my father up. “I love him,” I said a third time, this time for my father's benefit, not Julian's. “I'm a grown woman, free to do and feel what I want. And I love him.” “You don't love him, Sabrina,” my father said, walking down the stairs.

“You're too young – ” “You're one to talk, you goddamn hypocrite,” I said, motioning toward my mother. “She was in her thirties when we married, child – ” “I'm not a fucking child, dad,” I screamed at him. “I'm an adult. I'm a grown woman who is fully capable of making her own choices about who to fuck and who to love, whether you like it or not.” “He took advantage of you, sweetheart. He's an older man, you're a naive, younger – ” my father said. His voice was softer, gentler. It was as if he were trying to connect with me. Get through to me. To see the deeper wisdom he obviously believed. The problem was, it was all bullshit. “I'm not naive, and I was not taken advantage of,” I said, crossing my arms in front of me. “For your information, I'm the one who came on to him and made my feelings known. He resisted and tried to talk me out of it, but I wore him down. I persisted until I got what I wanted.” My mom took the moment to speak up. “I agree,” she said softly, staring at my dad as she spoke. “If there's one thing that can be said about our daughter, she's not naive. And she has always been longing after Julian, Dave. You know this. You've known this ever since she was a teenager.” “But he should have known better. He should have had the balls to tell you no,” my dad said. “How long has this been going on?” “Long enough to know I love him, dad,” I snapped. “And that's all you're entitled to know. I am a grown woman, after all. I'm entitled to my own secrets.” I no longer had any desire to speak with him. Just looking at him, remembering what he'd done to Julian made me sick. He made me sick and I wanted to be where ever he wasn't. I wanted to get upstairs to my phone and call Julian. After the bomb I dropped on him – saying I loved him – and the way my dad had talked to him, I needed to speak with him. I needed to make sure he was okay. “Get back here,” my dad said as I walked up the stairs. “We're not done here.” “Yeah, we are,” I snapped. “We're so fucking done, dad.” I didn't even turn to look at him, it disgusted me to even think about looking at him in that moment. Instead, I flipped him the bird from behind as I reached the top of the stairs and went into my room, slamming and locking the door behind me. I fell into my bed, the tears falling harder than before, as I reached for my

cell phone. I dialed Julian's number but it went straight to voicemail. Not that I was entirely surprised. What if this was it? What if it was over – before it even had a chance to begin? No, it couldn't be, I cried to myself. It couldn't be over. It just couldn't. There was still so much to see, so much to do. There was so much to learn about one another and so many nights to spend together. I loved him. I'd meant it when I'd said it, and I think, deep down, I might have always loved him. I couldn't lose him now. Not when we were so close to something so special.

CHAPTER NINE JULIAN

MY PHONE BUZZED, but I couldn't bring myself to look at who was calling. Besides, I already knew who it was bound to be. It was either Sabrina calling to talk about everything that had just happened. Or it was her father, threatening to kill me for sleeping with his daughter. Either way, I wasn't really up to talking to anybody at that moment. I just wanted to be left alone. Not only had I lost my best friend, there was more going on that I couldn't comprehend. Like Sabrina telling me she loved me. Did she love me, really? Or was that something she was saying just to get under her father's skin? I couldn't deny that my fondness for her had grown immensely over the time we'd spent together. And I had to admit, I enjoyed her company more than I ever thought possible. But love? Could she love me? Or was it infatuation? A little girl's fantasy? And how did I really feel about her? But she wasn't a little girl anymore, that much was true and obvious. Perhaps we needed to stop thinking of her like she was. I'd learned that much over the past few weeks. Sabrina was all woman, all the time. But her father apparently never got the memo. Not that I blamed him. If I'd walked in on him sleeping with my daughter, no matter how old she was, I'd have punched him too. I wasn't angry with Dave, not at all. His reaction – though strong – was understandable. I wasn't mad. I was simply – sad. In mourning for a longtime friendship lost. My phone continued to ring, and as I pulled up to my house, I looked at the

display and saw that it was Sabrina. On a whim, I decided to answer it. Though I wasn't sure why – maybe I needed to hear a friendly voice amidst all this chaos. “Julian,” she said, her voice hoarse from crying. “Thank God you answered. I'm so sorry – ” “No, I'm sorry, Sabrina,” I said, wishing to be able to comfort her through the phone. “This is my fault. I should have--” “Don't say it, sweetheart,” she begged me. “I can't bear to hear you telling me that you regret what we've done.” My heart broke. “I wasn't going to say that, sweetie. I should have handled things better. Maybe I should have even talked to your father before he caught us – or something. I don't know.” “He never would have listened, no matter what,” she said. “You know how he is. You know what an absolute asshole he can be.” I knew that to be true, but what happened just didn't sit well with me. I didn't want to lose Sabrina, but I also didn't want to upset and hurt my best friend. At least, not anymore than I already had. There had to be a better way of going about this, of fixing this thing between us. I racked my brain but couldn't come up with idea one. If there was a good idea out there, I couldn't think of it. My mind was blank. “To him, I'm always going to be a child,” she said, sounding annoyed. “I'm sick of it. I just want to be treated like an adult, you know?” “He's your dad, Sabrina. You'll always be his little girl.” “But he needs to let me grow up,” she said. “He needs to understand that I'm able to make my own decisions about things.” That was true. I couldn't argue with that fact. Still, I did see her father's side as well. Maybe that's the reality of being her father's age – I could actually see his side of things, probably clearer than she ever would. I could relate to her dad in ways that she couldn't. “What are we going to do?” she asked me. “I can't stop thinking about you.” “We'll figure it out, Sabrina. Just give your father some time to cool down first, then we can see what happens. Maybe we can find a way to talk to him about everything that happened.” She didn't sound too happy about that. “I just need to move out already.” “Get a job first. Then talk about moving out. I want you to have the best possible start in life, Sabrina. I don't want you to struggle or scrape by.” “Now you sound like my dad.” She chuckled slightly on the other end of the phone.

“Well, I am closer to his age than I am yours.” “Very true. But you're not like him, Julian. Not at all.” “I'm more like him than you know, Sabrina. But I'm not your father, and for that reason, you'll always see me differently. And I'm glad for that. I truly am.” “Me too.” She was already sounding happier, and hearing her cheering up made me feel a little better. I knew that I very likely lost my best friend, and I wasn't sure how I was going to continue carrying on with his daughter, but if Sabrina was going to be okay and get through this – well – I'd figure out a way to survive too. I always did. “Julian? I meant what I said, you know.” “I know,” I said gently. “I know you did.” There was silence, almost as if she was giving me a chance to say it back. And in that silence, I heard the unmistakable sound of expectation. I knew she wanted me to tell her that I loved her too. But I didn't want to tell her I loved her like this. Not after an emotionally intense – and distressing – situation. And certainly not over the phone. If I did tell her that I loved her, it needed to be under better circumstances. Not over the phone. Not like this. “I guess I better get going.” The sadness was back in her voice and it sent a lance of pain through my heart. Closing my eyes, I tried to think of how I could reassure her. How I could let her know that I indeed cared about her. I settled on something sort of generic that probably wasn't as reassuring as I'd intended it to be. “This isn't the end, Sabrina,” I said. “It doesn't have to be the end of things. You know that, right?” “I hope not,” she said softly. “I couldn't bear losing you.” Everything in me hurt. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to stop the tears from falling. “And I can't imagine losing you either, sweetheart. I really can't. Somehow, someway, we're going to get through this. Together.” “I hope you're right, Julian.” “Trust me.”

CHAPTER NINE JULIAN

SABRINA and I spoke every night for the next few weeks, and it always killed

me to be away from her. There were times when she was fighting with her father or stressed about a job interview, and I wanted to go over there to comfort her. Reassure her. Make her see and believe that everything was going to be okay. But I couldn't. I needed to keep my distance from her family, let them repair their relationship before I interjected myself into the mix again. Sometime, later on down the line, when Sabrina and her father had fully healed, we could see what happened between me and her dad from there. Or at the very least, we could wait until Sabrina was out from under her parent's roof and on her own. Because that was my first, and worst mistake – we should never have slept together in her parent's house. Not after they'd taken me in as their guest. Not that I had much say in it, but looking back, I felt terrible about crapping on their hospitality by secretly sleeping with their daughter. It had been a low class, low rent thing to do. And for that, I was sorry and ashamed of myself. Every night, before we'd get off the phone, Sabrina would tell me she loved me. Then she'd wait for me to say it back for a few, long, awkward moments, but I never did. She never stopped telling me, however, and for that, I was grateful. In the middle of the night, when I was alone in my hotel room, and eventually my own bed back at my finished house, I'd remember her and remember her sweet smile, and it kept me going. I was tossing and turning late one night, unable to sleep, when my phone rang. I assumed it was Sabrina, calling back as she sometimes did when she couldn't sleep. I didn't bother checking the display when I grabbed my phone. I'd simply grabbed it and answered. I was surprised however, when it wasn't Sabrina's voice I heard, but a man's. “Sorry if I woke you up,” Dave said quietly. “You didn't wake me, I couldn't sleep anyway,” I said, sitting up in my bed. I was stunned, almost too stunned to comprehend what was happening. I was beyond shocked that Dave was reaching out to me. “What's up?” “We need to talk.” “Yes, we do,” I said. “My daughter insists she loves you and that I'm being ridiculous about all of this,” Dave said. “Am I?” “I don't know if I'm a good judge of that, considering the circumstances. I wouldn't consider myself an unbiased source in the matter.” “My wife agrees with her, mostly. She still thinks what happened and the way it all went down is pretty fucked up. But she thinks I'm being too hard on Sabrina too. She thinks I'm being an overly protective asshole. Which is the only reason I'm calling you right now. Let me ask you one thing, Julian – do

you love my daughter? Was she more than just a good time for you too?” I swallowed the lump in my throat, unsure of how I should answer such a question. Either way, I was talking to my best friend about fucking his daughter. No matter what I said, I was still the asshole who'd not only slept with his daughter under his roof, but had damaged what had been a good relationship between Dave and Sabrina. The family was at war and that was my fault. “She wasn't just a good time for me, Dave,” I said. “That much, I can promise you.” “But do you love her?” he asked me. Taking a deep breath, I decided now was as good a time as any to answer the question that Sabrina had been asking me too. It wasn't how I wanted it to come out – I actually wanted to be in front of her, looking into her eyes when I said it. But the whole situation was all kinds of fucked up and there was no idea scenario for any of us in this situation. I'd wanted to tell her in person, but I obviously wasn't going to get that chance. “Yes, I do actually,” I said softly. “I love her very much.” Dave was quiet for a moment before saying, “Well I guess that makes it somewhat better then. Or at least, not quite as fucked up.” I wasn't sure how to respond to that, so I didn't. Dave asked, “Can we get together sometime tomorrow and talk in person?” “As long as you promise not to punch me again,” I said. “You kinda deserved that.” “Yes, I did,” I said. “I'll admit that I screwed up. But I'd like a chance to make things right. Not just between you and me, but with Sabrina as well. Because believe it or not, Dave, I have fallen head over heels in love with your daughter, and I'd really like the opportunity to tell her that, in person. If you'd be willing to let me.” “Not so fast, Julian – let's take this all one step at a time. But yes, we can talk. Tomorrow. And I promise not to throw any punches.” “Fair enough.” At that point, I wasn't really in a good position to bargain with the man. The fact that he was giving me the time of day to talk it out at all was more than generous. All I could do was talk to him, see where it all went, and hope for the best.

CHAPTER TEN

SABRINA

“YOU COMING DOWN FOR DINNER, sweetheart?” mom asked, peeking her head into my bedroom with a friendly smile. “I'd rather not,” I said, flipping a page in my book. “I'll grab some leftovers later. Either that, or I'll just go out and grab something.” My mother sat down on the bed beside me. “I know it's hard, Sabrina. Your dad is stubborn, sure, but he's also hurting. You're his baby girl and Julian was supposed to be his best friend. What happened between you two – he's struggling with it.” “But we both know that Julian would never, ever take advantage of me, mom,” I said. “How long have you known him? Do you really think he's some sort of deviant sexual predator?” “I know he's not. And I also know that you've been in love with him since birth, pretty much. It just took us all by surprise, that's all,” she said. “You never expect your daughter to end up with a man that's your age. Especially one who watched her grow up. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, I'm just saying that it takes a little time to adjust to the reality life throws at you sometimes. And you know your father – he sometimes doesn't do well with unexpected curve balls. Especially, when they're of a personal nature.” I knew all of this. I understood it. “But it doesn't make dad's reaction right. Not at all.” “No, it doesn't,” she said. “But it makes it more understandable, doesn't it?” “Maybe so,” I mumbled. “But to keep me from seeing Julian? After I've told him a million times that I love him? That's an absolute dick move, if you ask me.” “Your father isn't perfect, but he's willing to admit when he's screwed up, Sabrina. Give him a chance to make amends. He might just surprise you.” “I highly doubt it,” I said. “Old dogs, new tricks and all that.” “Just come down to dinner and let's talk, as a family.” She gave me a small smile as she patted me on the back. She stood up and walked toward the door, turning and looking back at me. I saw a look in her eyes that I couldn't quite place. It was then that I realized she was pleading with me – with her eyes. She had been caught in the crossfire and was watching her family get torn apart. I knew she was hurt and she didn't deserve this. The least I could do was go downstairs and enjoy dinner – ignoring my dad as mom and I chatted about whatever. I could go and have dinner – with

her. “Fine,” I said. “I'll be right down.” My mom smiled and then walked downstairs before me, but I followed behind soon after. As I walked down the stairs, however, I noticed that there were four settings at the table – not just the typical three for us. “Are we having company?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at my mom. “Yes, we are actually,” my dad said, walking into the dining room from behind me. I turned and my jaw hit the ground as I stared at Julian, standing only a few feet away – and next to my father. My first instinct was to run to him, to embrace and kiss him. But I put that instinct in check. I knew that if I did that in this environment that had been superheated ever since that day, it would more than likely cause even more problems. There seemed to be a fragile peace in place and the last thing I wanted to do was jeopardize it. I needed to keep it together, keep the peace, and perhaps my mom was right – maybe we could make amends. I mean, if my father was willing to invite Julian back over, I supposed anything was possible. “Sabrina,” he said softly, a smile on his face. “It's good to see you.” My heart skipped a beat. “It's good to see you too, Julian.” My father cleared his throat before speaking, “Julian, I believe you have something to tell my daughter.” I looked at my dad, then back at Julian, a curious look on my face. I had no idea what was about to happen, but a million different nightmare, heartbreaking scenarios flashed through my head. My heart was thundering in my chest and I felt my palms growing damp with sweat. I didn't know what was about to happen, but I feared that I wasn't going to like it. “What is it?” I feared for the worst. I was suddenly sure that my father had gotten to him, convinced him to break things off with me in order to save their friendship or something equally as cruel as that. My head spinning and my heart racing, I steadied myself by placing a hand against the wall. And when Julian began to speak, I was suddenly grateful I'd had the foresight to brace myself against something. “Yes, I do. I have something to say to your daughter,” he said, clearing his throat and stepping forward, coming toward me. He took my hand in his, holding it as he spoke. “Sabrina Prescott, I know this may come as a surprise, but I love you.” My knees went weak and I almost toppled to the floor, despite the fact that I was holding on to the wall. “You what?” “I love you,” he said, and a nervous smile was shared between us. “I love

you, Sabrina. There, I finally said it. And it feels damn good to say it too.” “I – I love you too,” I said, feeling as if I might pass out from all this going on at once. Right there, in my family's dining room, Julian was professing his love for me and I was able to give it to him in return. In front of my parents? Was I dreaming? Was this some sort of cruel hoax? An alternate reality? What in the hell was going on? I looked over at my mom who was smiling, her eyes welling with tears. She took my father's hand in hers and squeezed it tight. And while my father wasn't smiling and still looked distinctly uncomfortable, he at least looked to be handling this better than I thought. At least he wasn't throwing punches at Julian. While I was looking away, Julian dropped down to his knee. It took me a few seconds too long to process what I was seeing and realize what was happening. It wasn't until I saw the ring in the box in Julian's hand that it hit me. “No way,” I said, shaking my head, tears welling up in my eyes as I looked over at my father in disbelief. “Sabrina,” Julian said, holding my hand in his, “I've already asked your father permission, and he gives us his blessing – will you do me the pleasure of being my wife?” “Seriously? Yes! Yes! Of course,” I said, my mind and body alternating between a sense of euphoria and a state of shock as he slipped the giant rock on my finger. He stood up and we kissed, but I still felt like I might pass out. “When? How?” I asked, not able to form a coherent thought, let alone sentence. “Your father called to talk to me last night. Then we met earlier today,” Julian explained, pushing my hair from my eyes so he could stare more fully into them. “We worked things out, Sabrina. We worked it out and he understands now. He understands that what we have is real. And this isn't just some old guy preying on a young, naïve girl.” “Daddy?” I asked, choking on the words. “Is this true?” “It is,” he said, a small smile on his face at last. “I just want what's best for you, sweetheart. And Julian is a good man. He's one of the best I've ever known. If you two are in love, I support you being together. It's just going to take a minute for me to get fully used to it and comfortable with it. But – I'll get there. Just be patient with me, honey.” I couldn't believe it. Not only was my father saying we could be together – openly – he had given us his blessing to get married. Never in my wildest

dreams could I have imagined anything remotely like that happening. “Are you happy, sweetheart?” my mom asked me. “Very much so,” I said, tears of joy filling my eyes. “I'm getting married to the man of my dreams! How could I not be happy?”

EPILOGUE TWO YEARS LATER SABRINA

DO you ever look at your life and wonder how you ever got so lucky? It's like, you can't quite figure out what you've done to deserve all of the good fortune to come into your world. It happens to me every single day of my life. I've got a husband who adores me, takes care of me, who provides for me, and who treats me better than any man my own age ever could, I feel truly blessed. Sure, people comment on our age difference and assume I'm with him for his money. Little do they know that I was once a little girl madly in love with him, long before he found success in business. It wasn't his money, it was him. But some people would never be convinced. I could just shrug those people off though, knowing the truth of the matter. I find myself sitting next to him, doing mundane things like eating dinner or watching tv, when it hits me all over again – he's my husband. Julian Pierce, the man I'd grown up around, the man I'd always crushed hard on, was my husband. This was real. Absolutely real. It was no longer a dream or a teenage girl's fantasy for me. I was better for him than Beth ever was too. I knew a side of him that very few people did, a side that only came from having grown up around him and seeing him in normal, everyday, mundane life. He was so amazing to me back when I'd been a child – I always knew he'd make a wonderful father. He was scared, of course, but once we discussed the idea, weight out all of the pros and cons, he realized that maybe I was right. My parents were excited for their future grandchild – a little girl according to the ultrasounds. Our family was just getting started, and no matter if we'd only have the one child or many more, I knew we'd be happy. The day Ella was born was the best day of our lives. I'll never forget how beautiful she was. She'd stolen my heart from the first moment she'd drawn breath. She was the most beautiful little girl in the history of the world. I was

convinced of it and nobody would ever be able to convince me otherwise. But even more amazing than seeing my child enter this world and draw breath for the first time, was seeing both my father and Julian doting over the little girl, making cooing noises, and planting soft kisses on her chubby cheeks and belly. “She looks like you,” Julian cooed. “She looks so much like you.” My mom beamed proudly at me, tears rolling gently down her cheeks. Her genes were good genes to have, I had to admit. Ella wasn't going to be lacking for beauty, I was convinced. Between my mother's genes and the genes of my very handsome husband, Ella was going to be the envy of many girls. I thought I did pretty okay for myself with my mom's genes – I did snag the man of my dreams, after all. But I knew that Ella was going to be an absolute stunner. She was going to do just fine for herself in this world. I was sure of it. And I made Julian promise me that no matter what, he'd always be understanding of Ella, allowing her to be her own person and be free to love whoever she loves. The last thing I wanted was for him to turn into my father and start punching out the men she fell in love with. Not only would he probably break a bone if he tried to punch somebody at his age, he would be a giant, flaming hypocrite if he objected to somebody she loved. All I needed to do was remind him of the incident – and that should shut him right up. Oh, and he better not punch any of her future boyfriends, no matter the circumstances. Because just like she was his little girl, I had been someone else's daughter once too. And he'd swept in and swept me off my feet. He needed to make sure to make allowances for such a fairy tale to happen for our little girl. But I had to admit, as I stared down at her sweet, innocent face, I understood my father – and my mother – more than ever before.

DAD’S BUSINESS PARTNER

CHAPTER 1: Megan It is a fact of life that when a woman wears sexy lingerie underneath her clothes - no matter how modest - she will feel confident and beautiful, even if no one sees it. It is a fact of my life that if I wear sexy lingerie underneath my clothes, not only will I feel confident and beautiful, but I would want someone to see it.

I grew up around fashion shows. My father created one of the top modeling agencies in the country. Fashion had become my life - The slinky models with clothes that're barely appropriate, the snooty onlookers with money and skewed standards of what's acceptable, the electricity in the air. There was lust in the air too, tonight. I wasn't sure if that was because of me and my intention to get laid, or if it was the particular designer who had a way of making even a coat seem sexual. I was back from college at the ripe age of twenty-three - we grow up so fast - and I was aware of the undercurrents now when I hadn't been before. The men's eyes that told women so much more than their lips did. The women who had so much more to offer than a limply extended had. The potential of something wild when everything was so damn sophisticated. The show was open-air, the night air clung to my cheeks the same way the sweaty urgency clung to my waist and my breasts, and I was on the prowl. He sat opposite me with the ramp between us, one leg crossed with his ankle on the other knee. His suit pants rode up to reveal dark socks and Italian loafers. He leaned against his hand, finger on his cheek, and there was nothing sexual in the way he looked at the models. Good. If was going to make sure he ended up inside me tonight the sex in his eyes should only be aimed in my direction. There were two flaws in my theory of sex on demand tonight. One, I was a virgin. Sure, I wanted sex. I wanted it all the time. But I'd been around enough guys my age at college to know that they were exactly what I didn't want. Two, Brian Waters was almost twice my age, wildly successful, rich basically a wet dream - and my dad's business partner. They'd set up the modeling agency together and he saw me as his partner's little girl. He'd never seen me as a woman, not even when I'd started developing breasts and physical urges and a crush on him. Tonight that was going to change. He didn't recognize me - he would have done something if he did. He didn't know that I was the Megan Philips. I was dressed to kill. I knew it because all the other men were staring at me. My dark hair was blown out and hung over my shoulders like a waterfall. Men would just love to stick their hands in it. My dress was scandalously short but I covered up more than the models on the ramp. My heels were high enough to make my ass look like dessert. There was a break between shows. The models were all off the ramp and backstage getting dressed at breakneck speed. The designer had just made his final bow and stepped off. Brian's eye slid over the row of people opposite

him and fell on mine. My heart fluttered and my stomach turned a little. I was nervous. I hadn't ever done this before - not the flirting, of course, that I did all the time. But following through. I knew that this was what I wanted, though. I uncrossed and crossed my legs, knowing I was giving him a show of my own. His face didn't change at all - there was nothing sexier than a man with an expressionless mask of steel. But he tugged at his collar, then his belt, and looked away. It gave me a chance to stare at him openly. His hair had turned silver in the time I was gone, but not in a way that made him look old. Just distinguished. He still filled out his suit like he used to and he sat just like he walked - with an air of complete control. My friends think it's weird that I like older men. If they even know about it. I tend to keep my different sexual preferences a secret. There's just something orgasmic about a man who has money, power, sex at the tips of his fingers. The younger ones don't even know who the hell they are yet. How will they be able to handle a woman like me? It wasn't fair, of course, They others never had a chance. I'd been fantasizing over Brian for six years. When I masturbated I imagined him, his mouth all over my body, between my legs, his tongue doing what my finger usually did. It was the perfect recipe for a shattering orgasm. The images were left wanting now. I didn't feel naughty when I touched myself thinking of him anymore. I just felt unsatisfied. I needed more. The people around us started getting up and moving toward the finger food buffet or the champagne bar. Chatter filled the air like a flock of birds. I stayed seated, pinning Brian with a look he couldn't break free from the next moment he looked at me. He swallowed visibly and uncrossed his legs. My father made his way through the crowd and held out his hand to Brian. I got up, turned my back, and disappeared into the crowd. I wasn't going to make sexy eyes to Brian with my father right next to him. I was desperate but I wasn't stupid.

CHAPTER 2: Brian Owning a modeling agency is one of the best jobs a man can ask for. I'm in the business of women's bodies. Ask any male. That's the best job there is. There are the occasional models that will even sleep with the boss. I'm not proud of my actions all the time, but who am I to say no to a pretty face when she's throwing herself at me? I'm divorced and I like to play.

The night air felt clammy against my skin. The tie was too tight, the night dragging on too long. I didn't like the finger food - I'd gotten food poisoning from a mini quiche before and my digestive system wasn't what it used to be. Champagne hurt my head the next day. I reiterate. My digestive system wasn't what it used to be. Tom was somewhere making the right friends to make our business grow. That man had a knack for business, an eye for money, and he knew exactly how to combine the two to make both of us rich. Being a business partner with him was the best choice I could ever make. There was nothing I would let get in the way of our company. Giving how things were going now I could retire soon, and didn't that sound like music to my ears. I didn't see myself as old, but it happened more and more that I was around the sixteen-to-twenty-year-olds and I felt like I didn't really belong anymore. It's been a long time coming, but growing up, and then growing old, is a bitter pill to swallow. This time, though, it was different. It wasn't one of the models that caught my eye, the way they usually did. And it wasn't instigated by me, either. The heated stare came from the other side of a ramp from a woman I'd never seen before, and desperately hoped I would see again. Her hair was dark and luscious and she sat there like a goddess, offering herself for me to look at. When she crossed and uncrossed her legs my erection punched against my pants and I had to look away before I openly drooled at her. Men my age shouldn't have little boy crushes anymore. I've been married, divorced, and through the mill when it came to sex. I knew how to keep my cool, dammit. Except then she licked her lips - delicately, not in a slutty way - and rolled them, and I knew I was in trouble. I had to have her. It sounded wrong. Women weren't possessions. But I wanted her. And judging by the looks she gave me she was on board with that idea. She was young enough to be my daughter. That hadn't exactly stopped me before, as long as it didn't stop them. Again, I didn't get the feeling it mattered to her. Tom came out of nowhere and stuck his hand in my face. I pulled myself back to reality and smiled, standing up to shake his hand. "Schmoozing again?" "I met a woman I think we might be able to work with." I nodded, rubbing my hands together. "I knew you would have something for us to work with. I can always count on you." "That's what partners are for." I glanced toward the seat where she'd been sitting. It was empty. I looked

around, searching, but she'd disappeared. "Who are you looking for?" I shook my head and looked back at Tom. "I thought I saw someone I knew." Liar. "How's your daughter?" I didn't ask for a name because I kept forgetting what he called her. How old was she now...? I didn't know that either. I was a poor friend if I couldn't keep track of his life, but then again, we were business partners first and foremost. "She's good, thank you. Traveling up tomorrow. She got her MBA now." I nodded absently, trying not to look like I wasn't searching the crowd. Yes, I was being juvenile. Yes, I could have anyone I wanted and it didn't matter who the woman was if it was just a body to get off. And by extension, yes that made me sound like an asshole. But this one was different. I didn't know if it was that she looked like more than just an ass or a pair of tits, or if it was because for the first time since my divorce a woman had made me feel worth more than just a cock with a lot of cash, but I wanted her. Specifically. "Oh, that's Sonya Schiffer. We have to show face," Tom said. I looked in the direction he was pointing, didn't register anything, and shook my head. "I think I'm going to go grab something to eat." Tom frowned. "You never eat at these things." I raised my hand to my head. "I forgot to eat earlier and my blood sugar is dipping. You don't want me stealing the show by passing out in front of everyone, do you?" I nudged him and grinned. He smiled but it didn't reach his eyes. Maybe he didn't think I was funny. Maybe he wasn't buying it. I didn't care. "I'll catch up with you later. I just need to get something in the system." I patted my stomach but when I said 'something' I didn't really mean food. Tom passed me to make nice with Sonya Someone and I made my way to the buffet. If she wasn't here she would be at the champagne buffet. If she wasn't there... I didn't know. I spotted her at the champagne buffet just as I was running out of options. The dress she wore was royal blue. Golden jewelry. Fitting. She defined the word Goddess. I walked up to her. "Are you enjoying the show?" I asked. She smiled at me, her eyes dark and drowning deep, and nodded. "You know, I own the model company that." She raised her eyebrows. "Really. So you're in the body business." I chuckled and scratched the back of my head. "Yeah, something like that." She nodded and looked around. "Looks like business is good." I looked her up and down. Curves. Hips drew my eyes to her secrets.

Breasts that made my mouth water. And she knew it. When she noticed I was looking she shifted her weight from one leg to the other, turned her body to me. She wanted me to look. "You should be on the ramp." Of course, there was nothing about her that would qualify her as a model. She wasn't sickly skinny or taller than I was. But that wasn't the point. "Oh, I can't do that." I frowned. Was she going to be modest and say she wasn't pretty? "I think you could pull off modeling." She shrugged. "Maybe, but if I joined your company you would be my boss. There's no sleeping with the boss." I blinked at her, at a loss for words. Had she just said that? Straight up? She looked at me with an open face, an innocent smile, and eyes that told me I would be a fool if I believed at all that she wasn't capable of dirty things.

CHAPTER 3: Megan He was eating from the palm of my hand. If you show your body to a man he's like putty in your hands. There are very few men that can look away from a pair of breasts staring them in the face and say no, anyway. That was honorable. I wasn't looking for honor tonight. It was sweet that he was trying to throw compliments about being a model my way. We both knew that would never happen, but he was trying. That counted for something, at least. I had to admit I did feel like a million dollars standing there. A million dollars playing with fire. Brian was around forty now if he was anywhere near my dad's age, and my dad was around here something. He didn't know I was, though, so he wouldn't just recognize me. I'd come up a day earlier than I was supposed to. My dad was a man and he wouldn't be looking for my face in the crowd. "How long is this night still going to be?" I asked. I wanted to go home. I wanted to go home with Brian. "It's still a long event, I'm afraid. I can call you a cab if you would like, though." My heart sank with the ugly weight of disappointment. He was so eager to ship me off. Was it because I was too young? Or because he knew who I was? "Of course, it will be a pity to see you leave before the real fun starts." I shivered when he said that. His words weren't that special but the way he looked at me when he said 'the real fun' made me think we weren't talking

about the after parties that usually happened after the fashion shows were over. "You think it will be worth my while to stay?" He nodded immediately without giving it any thought. "Absolutely." He smiled at me. I smiled at him. In those two smiles, something passed between us that came dangerously close to the point of no return. "Will you escort me to the party when it's time?" What I really wanted was to be alone with him. Brian looked at his watch. It was a golden Rolex, screaming out how much money he had. Of course, that wasn't what it was about for me, but the fact that he wasn't just an older guy but a loaded older guy made it all the more exciting. I grew up with enough money in my life but my father had never spoilt me. Maybe he'd thought it would make a difference. Judging by what I was planning on doing before the end of the night it really hadn't made that much of a difference. "Of course. It's still some time before the party starts - the guests need to leave and then the rest of us need to mingle. We're looking at an hour." I looked around. "And the rest of you hang around here drinking champagne for an hour?" He shook his head. "Some of us have a look at the view from the terrace." "Some of us?" He grinned, looking sheepish. "It's not really open to anyone. But the view is spectacular from there." This was where I needed to make my move. I wrapped a hand around his arm. "Will you show me?" He hesitated. If it wasn't open to anyone I would be alone with him. The thought made me shiver again. "Okay." Score. I left my hand right where it was on his arm and he led me through the crowd and then away. The chatter and the music faded to a dim background sound and the silence of the night took over. Brian led me around a wall that jutted out into the middle of nowhere in a presumptuous pose of design and then we were completely alone. The terrace was a wooden deck that jutted out over a cliff and the city lay stretched ahead at our feet, lights twinkling, the world sleeping. "This really is beautiful," I said. I hadn't expected it to be so breathtaking. Brian was looking at me when I turned my face to him. He moved my hair to the side, his fingers touching my skin and leaving a trail of fire behind. I

trembled. Now or never. If I didn't make a move I was going to chicken out and regret it for the rest of my life. I stepped into Brian and pushed my lips against his. He froze against me and I was scared for a moment that he would push me away. But he'd brought me here and I was sure he'd picked up what I'd been putting down. It took only a moment before he started kissing me back. He grabbed my arms with his hands and pulled me against him. His lips moved against mine and then his tongue was in my mouth. He didn't taste like alcohol at all - only peppermint and himself. Hadn't he been drinking? I was the only one with sufficient alcohol in my system. He was doing all of this completely sober. I felt the stubble on his lips, his fingers digging into my skin and his erection in his pants. It awoke something inside of me that overpowered the nerves of the inexperienced. My body knew what it wanted, what was happening. Heat flooded my body and pooled between my legs. I moaned into Brian's mouth. His hands left my arms and found my breasts and there was no going back. I wanted him. More now than ever. Brian marched me backward until my back hit the wall we'd rounded to find the terrace in the first place. Some sort of creeper plant hung around my head and tickled my shoulders. I ignored it. Brian slid his hands down my body, over my hips, and onto my bare leg. His body was pressed up against mine, grinding his hunger against my hipbone. A hand found its way under my dress, pushing it up as he moved up to where I wanted him to be. When his fingers pressed against my panties I gasped. I pulled them to the side and pushed them into me. I moaned, trying to keep quiet. I'd done all of this. I'd done everything besides sex. I'd wanted to save my virginity for someone that was worth that special part of me. I was willing to give it to Brian. He removed his fingers for a moment and pushed his hips away from me, fumbling with his belt and then his zipper. He freed himself from the confines of his pants and I stared. Hard. Veined. Eager. There was nothing middle-aged about his manhood. The tip glistened with lust and I was right on board with that. I pulled my panties down, let them fall off one foot and hiked up my leg. I felt the cold air on my exposed sex and shivered. Briand didn't let me stand in the cold for long. He closed the space with his body. I felt the buckle against my thigh and then he placed himself at my entrance. I shivered again with anticipation this time instead of cold. Or nerves. When he pushed into me I cried out. The ecstasy was followed by a sharp

pain that shot into my abdomen. Brian frowned, searching my face. He looked confused only for a moment before his eyes widened. "Oh, my God." He looked me straight in the eye. I closed my eyes for a second. "You're a virgin." His voice was hoarse, gravelly, already lost in what we were about to do. I nodded. How could I deny it? It wasn't like he wouldn't be able to tell that I hadn't had sex before. There were signs. He swallowed. "You want me to keep going?" His breathless voice told me how hard it was to ask the question. I nodded, breathing hard. I needed him to keep going. He shook his head, braced himself against the wall with one hand and his other on my hip. He pushed into me. The pain was acute, but a moment later the pleasure overrode the pain and I was in a new world of bliss. Holy shit, was this what I'd been holding out on? It was fucking fantastic. But it was worth the wait. I knew that someone older would be the right choice. he made me feel like I was everything and the moment he'd realized I was still a virgin he changed gear and handled me like I could break. It was exactly what I needed. I gasped, my eyes squeezed shut, getting lost in the sensation. He put his head in my neck and I felt his lips on the soft skin, nibbling, kissing. It only pushed me closer to an inevitable orgasm of a proportion I'd never known. He grunted in my neck, moving faster and faster. My body adjusted to him and a moment later it wasn't bad anymore. It wasn't comfortable but it wasn't bad. An orgasm washed over me out of nowhere, starting at my core and spreading through every part of me so that I curled my body around Brian's and cried out into his shoulder to muffle the sound. I grabbed handfuls of his blazer and squeezed until the light subsided and I came back to reality. When the orgasm was over Brian lifted his head and looked at me. There was a mixture of concern and raw lust all over his face. "Do you mind if I...?" I shook my head. "Please." I needed this to be good for him. He nodded and slowly picked up his pace. He pumped into me, faster, harder. With it came the sharp pain again. My body was okay when we were going slow but this was something else. I cried out but Brian was in his own world now, his actions animalistic rather than thought out. He hammered into me and his body trembled and shuddered. I closed my eyes and gave myself over to the sensation where everything blurred until I was floating in a cloud of delirium. His strokes shortened and quickened another time and a moment

later he released inside of me. His cry was guttural. Mine was sharp. And then it was over. He stayed inside of me just a moment longer before slipping out and leaning against the wall next to me. He breathed hard. I breathed hard. I looked at him. "We have to get back to the party," he breathed, swallowing hard. I nodded. I found my panties, pulled it over the leg it had fallen off and pulled them up. I felt how wet I was when the material was against my skin wet from my lust and his combined. This had been my first time and I was scared Brian would just leave me now. I hadn't thought it through. I hadn't thought about needing to cuddle afterward, needing physical reassurance after the first time having sex. I should have. Brian took my hand. "Are you ready?" I nodded. I was wobbly on my legs and it felt like I teetered on my heels but I wasn't going to look vulnerable now. "Let's go." He took my hand, pulled me closer to him, and half of my fears were doused. He was going to stay at my side. This wasn't spooning, but it was better than I'd feared. Thank God.

CHAPTER 4: Brian I walked back with her - the nameless virgin goddess - on my arm and it felt like everyone knew what we'd just done. And they envied me for it. They were jealous of her for it. I felt like a boss. I'd just taken this woman's virginity on the terrace. She'd wanted me to. Sleeping with her felt like a feat in a way that was different than any of the other women I'd conquered. "Megan!" We both turned, me because I recognized Tom's voice, and her because I was guessing she was Megan. "I didn't know you were here tonight, I thought you were only coming up tomorrow." She smiled and she was beautiful in the young innocent way she hadn't been at all while we'd been doing the deed on the terrace. "I wanted to surprise you." I had the terrible feeling that something was wrong, a sinking in my gut. Tom gave her a half-hug and clapped me on the shoulder. It didn't seem right to think that she was a feat now. I wasn't sure why.

"I see you've run into my daughter." Blood drained from my face and I felt like I was going to throw up. This was Megan Philips? God, she'd grown up. And I'd helped a little with that, hadn't I? My stomach turned again. "You're taking good care of her, I hope?" Tom asked. I gave him a wan smile. "Of course." "Brian is showing me around," Megan said in a syrupy voice and I wanted to claw her eyes out right there. She'd betrayed me. She'd cheated me. She'd tricked me into sleeping with her and now an ax hung over my head and I would never be able to get away from it. If Tom found out what I'd done this would be the end of my career, of our partnership, of my friendship with him... this was such a mess.

CHAPTER 5: Brian

IT DOESN'T MATTER how much time passes. Sleeping with your partner's daughter who is half you age isn't something you can every outrun. Months have gone by and it wasn't so raw and fresh anymore but I still hated the fact that it had happened. I still felt like I'd was the one pulling on the short straw. My business suffered from it a little. I was distracted and I felt like a traitor somehow. A traitor, a womanizer, a disgusting pervert. Sleeping with her had been nothing different than sleeping any of the other models I'd slept with. They were all roughly the same age and part of my career as a model agency owner in some way or another. Except, she had been a virgin. And she was Tom's daughter. Which meant that it really wasn't the same at all. It didn't influence my relationship with Tom at all, which told me one thing. Megan hadn't told him that it had happened yet. I was walking on pins and needles, though, tip-toeing around him, terrified every time I saw him that he would say something, that he would call me out and it would finally be the day that everything in my life broke. I got out of the car I'd ordered to pick me up from the airport. I'd been out of town for a week and it had been the only week I'd slept without waking up a couple of times in the night, waiting for the other shoe to drop. I thanked the driver and walked into the lobby. Our offices were situated at the very top of a

tall shiny building that could be seen from anywhere in town. "Brian." I looked to the side. Tom stood in the lobby, waving at me. Megan was at his side. My stomach turned and I wondered what excuse I would use if I threw up right in front of them. "Morning, Tom." I nodded at her. "Megan." She smiled at me. It was a beautiful smile - she really was a looker - but I was still angry with her and all I could see was a woman that had put me in a very difficult position and I wasn't talking about Karma Sutra. Judging by the smile on Tom's face and the fact that he let me within twenty feet of his daughter meant that Megan hadn't told him yet, but that didn't mean it wouldn't change. I was terrified that at some point she would use it when that priceless piece of information would be to her advantage. And my downfall. The problem was that it was a sort of dream standing in front of her right now. I hadn't seen her since the fashion show, but she had been a constant in my mind. Whether it was because I was thinking about how she'd done me wrong and jeopardized my career, or whether it was because she had been different than anyone else I'd been with was beside. She was always on my mind. I didn't want to admit that there were times I thought about her and I didn't think about how she'd fucked me over by not telling me who she was, but I thought about what we'd shared and how much I'd thought - at the time at least it was worth. How much I thought she was worth. I looked her up and down. Damn, she really was a beauty. She had an hourglass figure in the truest sense of the word. Breasts and ass that balanced each other out. he wasn't leggy and tall like the models I was usually with but she moved with grace and elegance I hadn't seen on any of the girls we sponsored and her hair was like silk. It was pulled back in a ponytail and it made her dark eyes even more pronounced. Her face was open and innocent yeah right - and a part of me wanted to do her all over again. I had to regain control somehow. "Don't you want to help me out?" Tom asked. I blinked at him. I had a feeling it had to do with Megan and I wanted to say no. I didn't. I couldn't, though, so I rubbed my hands together. "What can I do for you?" Tom looked at Megan who was looking at me. I wished she wouldn't. Her eyes were big and liquid and it made me unsure of what I felt. "Megan has been having a tough time finding a job now that she has her qualification. I hired her as one of our talent managers." Oh god. "I'm off to Paris in the afternoon so I won't be able to make sure she's alright here and

knows where she needs to be." He took me to the side a little, leaving Megan a few steps behind us. He spoke in a lowered voice. "She's a little raw and vulnerable, not really used to the real world yet." Oh, if only Tom knew exactly how part of the real world his little girl was. "I was hoping you could take her under your wing, look out for her, make sure that she's alright around here. You know what the fashion world is like and I've kept her out of it all these years. I trust you, I know that you won't let anything happen to her." I wasn't so sure of that. Tom had no idea what his daughter could be like. If she wasn't the one that was getting herself into trouble, I wasn't exactly someone Tom could trust, either. Look at what I'd done. I nodded and smiled. "Of course. I'll make sure she finds her way." What else could I have said? Tom smiled, looking relieved. "I knew you would come through for me. You're like an uncle to her." God, I hoped not. We turned back to Megan. Tom smiled. I plastered something that resembled a smile onto my face and looked at her. "Brian will see to it that you're in the right place, honey." He stepped toward Megan and kissed her on the forehead. "You know you can call me anytime." He squeezed her hand and she nodded. She looked emotional. Was she going to cry? I really hoped not. Tom turned and hurried away. Megan and I stood facing each other, each with a mouth full of words and nothing to say to each other. "Shall we?" I gestured toward the elevator. "You need to be on the ninth floor." She nodded. I pushed the call button for the elevator and a moment later the chrome door slid open. Megan stepped in first. I followed. When the doors closed us in I was aware of how small the space was, how close we stood to each other. The last time I'd seen her I would have given an arm and a leg to be in a such a private, confined space with her. Now I felt claustrophobic. The tension grew between us, the air in the elevator getting thicker and thicker as we slowly slid up one floor after the other. "I don't appreciate what you did," I said, unable to bear the silence anymore. "It's not what I did, it's what the two of us did. Together." I glared at her. I was angry now. "You could have told me who you were." "You wouldn't have slept with me, then." I shook my head, looking straight ahead. It was better not to look at her. I was furious and infatuated and I didn't want to like her. I wanted to be angry

and angry alone. "That's the point I'm trying to make." She was silent for a beat. "Did you want to sleep with me?" I swallowed. "That's not the point." "Did you?"

Dammit. "I did, but--" "Then there are no regrets because it was what I wanted and it was what you wanted and we did it." How could she be so blasé about this? Maybe because her career wasn't at stake the way mine was. I glanced at her. She was composed and calm, the opposite of what I felt. I was frantic, screaming on the inside, trying to justify what I'd done, trying to justify it by saying that I'd been tricked. Even though she was right - it hadn't just been her. She looked like nothing was wrong. She was more in control of the situation than I was. Between me and her, I was the child. It made her sexy as hell. There was nothing more attractive in this world than a woman who knew what she wanted and oozed confidence and conviction. Shit! I couldn't want her. This was wrong. I couldn't feel this way about her. She was Tom's daughter. She was a child. She was... making me spin out of control. This couldn't happen. The door pinged and opened on floor nine and I was relieved that I could escape her now. This could not happen.

CHAPTER 6: Brian For weeks after she was hired I only heard good things about her. I couldn't set foot in the office without hearing how well Megan was doing, how on top of things she was, how she was mastering her position. Raises, promotions, an office of her own - these happened in quick succession. The office was on the same floor as mine. I hated it. I tried everything not to have to run into her. Most of the time it worked. I sat at my desk trying to balance figures until it was way past dark. When I looked at the clock it was nearly ten. I looked out the window. The city was stretched beneath the window with twinkling lights in the night. Cars crawled in the distance, headlights two little specs in the dark. I got up, collected my coat and my briefcase and locked my office door. There was a light still on, coming from one of the other offices on the floor. Someone else was working late. When I got closer I realized it was Megan's new office that still had a light burning in it. This spelled trouble. I was already in a bad place with her - I couldn't afford to sleep with her again and I didn't know how well I would be able to control myself if she made a move on me the same way she had last time. She wasn't only seductive and beautiful but her success in the company added to

her attractiveness. I tip-toed past the door, peeking in. The office was empty, thank God. If I hurried I could get out of the building before she came back from wherever she was and the chaos would be averted. The sound of someone throwing up pulled me up short. It wasn't uncommon for the models to make themselves sick but they didn't do it around where we could see it and this sounded almost desperate, the kind of retching that made you think the person was coughing up a lung. I took a step toward the bathroom. A moment later Megan appeared looking pasty and tired. My heart flipped a little. I tried to tell myself it was sympathy, not affection. It had to be. "Are you okay?" She flashed a watered down smile and walked toward her office. She wore a pencil skirt that hit her low on her thigh - quite a modest look for her, fit for the office. It looked spectacular on her. Her knees below the skirt line were red like she'd been kneeling on the floor for a while. I followed her to her office. It was my job to make sure she was okay, even if my motivation was a little skewed. No one had to know what but me. No one had to judge me by it more than I already judged myself. "Are you sure you're alright? Can I get you something?" She sat down at her desk and rubbed her hands down her face. When she looked up at me again her eyes were tired, like it was much more than just lack of sleep. "Really, Brian, I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me." If there was anything I'd learned through my divorce and all the women I'd dated it was that if a woman said she was fine, she probably wasn't. I turned and left the office, walking to the water cooler and filling a paper cup with water for her. I carried it back to her office and held it out to her over her desk. She looked at me, eyes uncertain before she took it. She drank a bit. "Why are you being nice?" Was this a trick question? I shrugged. "I just want to make sure you're alright." She chuckled without emotion. "Nice of you. I can't imagine what your motivation is." I sat down on the chair facing her desk where she received visitors. "Just because you did something I felt you shouldn't have doesn't mean I shouldn't care about your well being." "Because I'm your friend's little girl?" There was bitterness in her voice. I shook my head. "Because you're a person and no matter what the situation

was we still slept together. That puts me in the bracket where I still care about your existence." She sighed and her lip trembled. Tears welled up in her eyes. "What is it?" She shook her head and looked down at the desk although through teary eyes like that I was sure she wasn't looking at anything. "I can't tell you." I took a deep breath. "I'm not going to tell your father if that's what you're worried about. I respect you as an individual. The fact that you're Tom's daughter is a coincidence. Inconvenient, but a coincidence nevertheless." She sobbed, a small, fragile sound. "Thanks, but I don't think this is something you can help me with." That sentence just made me want to help her that much more. There was something about a woman crying that awoke the protective primal male inside of me and that fact that it was Megan - delicate and young - that made it that much more. "Come on, try me. Maybe we can fix it. Maybe it isn't as bad as you think." She swallowed. "I'm pregnant." It felt like something sucked all the air out of the office and I couldn't breathe. My face must have shown it because her face closed. "Still, think it's not as bad as I think?" I opened my mouth to say something, couldn't find the words, closed it again. "And just before you ask if I've been whoring around, I haven't. The child is yours. I'm not expecting you to do anything about it, but I'm not a bad person for what we did together." She said it with defiance as if she was trying to justify it to herself, rather than me. As if she was trying to convince herself. The truth was, though, I hadn't for one second thought the baby was some other poor bastard's. A man could always hope, but the fact that she'd been a virgin when I'd met her told me everything about the kind of person she was.

CHAPTER 7: Megan He asked me to dinner to talk about the baby. I was raw and vulnerable and I felt impossibly alone in the world. I agreed. The fact that he'd cared for long enough to find out what was wrong in the first place made me think that he wasn't a bad guy. Of course, I knew that he wasn't, but seeing a man through the

eyes of a little girl versus the eyes of a woman that had gotten to know what adults do were two completely different things. The restaurant was nice. The kind of place that made sense for Brian. I'd been to it once or twice for business lunches or dinners. Tonight the decor and the music and the food did nothing to cheer me up. The place reminded me of what I would lose as soon as the company found out about the baby. I was four months along and I wouldn't be able to hide it with loose shirts forever. The music annoyed me. The food made me feel sick even when I just looked at the menu. Why did they call it morning sickness when it hit you any moment of the day? "Brian, it's very nice of you to take me out to talk about this and to care for me when I was throwing up, but this really isn't your problem." I looked at him sitting opposite me at the table for two. He blinked. "It's my baby, Megan. Of course, it's my problem." I shook my head. "I should have been clever about sex. I wasn't. I didn't think that I would fall pregnant right away." I felt like an idiot saying it but I forced myself to do it anyway. There was no reason to keep anything from him now that he knew the truth. "Not sleeping with people for so long has made me naive about these things. I got a rude awakening now. It's still not up to you to do something about it." Brian took a sip from his wine glass. I had water in mine. When I'd fallen pregnant I was horrified that I wouldn't be able to drown my sorrows in alcohol. I was so sick all the time now, throwing up without any good reason at all, the thought of alcohol was almost alien. "I'm not going to leave you hanging. I'll pay for whatever you need to take care of this. You just tell me when you need the money and I'll pay it into whatever account." The salad I'd ordered arrived. It was plain, a few leaves, a piece of tomato or cucumber here and there. Brian had ordered a steak with cheese sauce. The smell made my stomach turn. Brian was willing to pay for me to take care of the pregnancy. Not the baby. "Brian..." I looked at my salad, not willing to look at him. "I'm not going to have an abortion. I'm going to keep the baby." He was silent for long enough that I glanced up at him. "What are you going to tell your dad?" I was relieved he didn't challenge me on my reason for keeping the baby. I took a bite of lettuce and sat back in my chair My lower back was killing me. Joys of pregnancy. "He already knows. I told him it's an old college boyfriend's baby."

"You protected me?" He sounded surprised. I nodded. I couldn't have ratted him out like that. He looked at me for a moment, admiration on his face. It was misplaced. He had nothing to admire me for. "Megan," he reached across the table and touched my hand. I pulled it away. "If you're having the baby I want to be a father to it. It's not right to let you go through it alone and for the child to grow up with only one parent." I shook my head. "My dad will know, then." Brian sighed and nodded." He will, but that's something I'll have to live with." "You can't do that. What would that make him think of me? I can't tell him I seduced you, he'll be so disappointed. And you can't tell him it was your doing because I don't want you to take the fall for something you did. No, I'm having this baby alone, okay?" Brian shook his head. "You can't do this. You can't shut me out of the child's life. Let me be there for you. I have a legal right to." I was angry now. He was bullying me into a corner when I was still trying to figure out my life. "This is about legality now? Stupid of me to think you wanted to be there for me and the baby because you actually cared." "That's not what I mean and you know it. But I do have a right to be in the child's life." I looked at my salad. It suddenly looked so unappetizing. I pushed the plate back a little, feeling sick to my stomach. Again. Always. "I can't do this, Brian. I don't want to talk about it. I've made up my mind, I've set out my plans. I can do this alone. You're not going to risk your career for me." "Don't tell me what I will and won't do. You're having my baby and you're just a child yourself." That did it. My ears started ringing. Almost everything else had been okay but his condescension had pushed me over the edge. I put the napkin on my plate and got up. "Don't treat me like you're my dad." "Where are you going?" "Away." He sat back. I expected him to fight for me, expect me to stay. I was going to march right out the door if he did. I was just waiting for him to tell me what to do. I challenged him with my eyes, daring him to do it. He folded his arms over his chest.

"Fine." Fine? Was he fine with me leaving? Was he just going to let me go? It sucked the wind right out of my sails and every argument I'd built up to throw at him fell on the floor. Hello, rejection. I turned around and walked away, but it wasn't nearly as satisfying or as effective if I wasn't wanted in the first place.

CHAPTER 8: Brian It was time for the fall shoot. It had been two weeks since Megan and I had argued in the restaurant. We hadn't spoken to each other since. It wasn't just because we were still angry at each other but because the Fall shoot was one of the biggest events in our company and we were all running around without time to catch a breath, let alone talk about the future. Every time I saw her around the office we both had so much to do there wasn't time to talk, and you couldn't exactly throw in a comment about the weather in passing after the one we'd had in the restaurant. Now that I knew she was pregnant, though, I looked for the signs and found them everywhere. She wasn't glowing the way pregnant women usually did. She looked tired all the time, and I noticed how many times she ran to the bathroom. I didn't know what morning sickness was all about but it seemed like there was a lot more than just in the morning. And it wasn't stopping. I tried to work out how long it had been since we'd had sex. Four months? A little more? She was quite far along and not showing as much as I thought. She did wear baggy clothes, though, shirts that were loose, jackets that had a lot of embellishment now that it was colder. She hid it well. Except I could see the baby bump because I knew it was there. The shoot was crazy. We all stayed late for it. The floor where we held it was a large open space with the screen and camera and lights set up against the one wall. The rest of the place was divided into a dressing area for the models where they ripped off their clothes all the way down to the nude and got into the next outfit without blinking an eye. There were makeup stations where artists did what was necessary for the shoot, hair stylists that walked between models and a row of computers that worked on the photos that had already been taken and made sure that the schedule ran as seamless as possible considering what we were doing. It was chaos. I had created all of this. I stood to the side, watching the shoot. The models were comfortable in front of the camera, comfortable with nudity in front of others, comfortable

with being painted and tugged on at every station before stepping in front of the lights again. I spotted Megan in the dressing area. She was trying to organize a line of models. She looked drawn and tired, with dark circles under her eyes. She walked like she was in pain and every now and then she put her hand on her lower back. Lisa, her boss, walked to her and she looked pissed. I knew from experience that Lisa was a tough woman to work for. Many people had tried it and quit, but you couldn't be soft in the fashion world and Lisa knew that. "What the hell is this?" she asked in a raised voice, looking at the clothes. Megan looked at her, confused, before turning her eyes to the clipboard on the floor at her feet. "This is not until those models there are done. You're screwing up the whole line." "I'm sorry, Lisa." "Don't tell me you're sorry. Don't get it wrong in the first place and save me a headache. God, I don't know what's wrong with you lately." I walked closer. Lisa was coming down hard on Megan. Of course, she didn't know the girl was pregnant, but still. "Is everything alright here?" I asked. Lisa looked irritated with my presence. Megan looked like a deer caught in headlights. "Everything's fine," Lisa said tightly. "Lighten up on her, will you?" She pulled a face. "Are you telling me how to do my job?" "I'm just asking you to lighten up on her." Lisa narrowed her eyes at me. Someone called her and she turned away. I looked at Megan. "Why don't you sit down for a bit, hand this over to someone else?" I expected her to agree, to thank me. Instead, she glared at me. The emotion was unexpected. "I don't need you to come to my rescue when something goes wrong." "I was just trying to help." She shook her head, pressing her fingers to her temple. "I don't need your help. I thought I made it quite clear - I don't need anything from you." I sighed. "Come on, Megan. This isn't necessary." "You know what isn't necessary? You trying to be the big boy in my life when I've been on top of everything without your help." I wanted to fight with her, to argue, to say what was on my mind. I wanted to tell her that she was completely out of line. The look on her face stopped me short. Her face was so pale I wasn't sure how she was still standing. Her eyes

were glassy, her lips slightly parted and it looked like she was having trouble breathing. She tried to say something, but then her eyes rolled back and her knees gave way. She crumpled to the ground. I jumped forward and caught her, lowering her gently down.

CHAPTER 9: Megan When I opened my eyes I wasn't looking at my ceiling at home. The room I was in was clinically white and a chemical smell pinched my nose. I turned my head and realized I was in the hospital. Brian sat on a chair, elbows on his knees, hands in his hair. "Brian?" When he looked up there were worry lines on his face but he looked relieved and then his eyes smiled at me. I knew that we'd been getting stuck lately and the last to interactions weren't friendly ones, but I was so happy to see him now. And I was relieved that he looked happy to see me, too. I shouldn't have felt that way, but I did. "What happened?" I put my hands on my belly, suddenly terrified that I was here because something was wrong with the baby. "The baby is fine," Brian said, his voice calm and gentle. "They did scans and checks and everything and the baby - a boy - is completely healthy." Relief washed through me and I sagged on the pillow. If something happened to the baby... "What happened?" I asked again. "You collapsed at the Fall shoot." I raised a hand to my head. "The shoot. Shit." Lisa had been so mad, God knew if I still had a job after that. "Don't worry about that, I organized a replacement for you." "You did?" He nodded. "It pays to be the big boss. The doctor says you're overworked. You need to take it easy from now on. No more long hours for you." I shook my head. "I can't take it slower. I need the money." I had to take care of the baby somehow. "When are you going to understand that I'll help you? I'll be there for you. I've got this, and I have more than enough money to take care of you." I wanted to argue again, reject his offer, but the truth was that the idea of not having to worry was damn attractive right now. I had been a ball of tension since I'd found out I was pregnant. The idea that I would be able to relax for a

change sounded heavenly. A doctor in a white coat walked in and looked at my chart before looking at me. "You gave us a scare, Miss Philips," he said. "But luckily everything is still going well. You just need to take it slow. I recommend bed rest. At least six hours a day." I sat up. "I can't!" He shook his head. "You're going to have to if you want to have this baby and stay healthy. Your job is too stressful and that's not good for you or for the baby at this point." My dad walked in through the door. "Oh, honey, you're awake. I was so worried." The doctor looked at my dad. "She's doing just fine. If it wasn't for the father bringing her in so quickly she might have been off worse." I looked at Brian. He looked at me. The tension grew. My dad laughed. "That's not the father!" He clapped Brian on the shoulder. "If he was the baby's father I would have to acquire a shotgun." He laughed. Brian laughed, too, but it was forced. I chuckled nervously. The doctor wasn't amused. A moment later he left. "How are you feeling?" my dad asked me. "I'm okay. I'm just tired." "She's had a bit of a spell, overworked herself, what with the pregnancy and all." Tom sat on the edge of the bed. The bed was narrow and felt trapped but I didn't ask him to move. "I guess you know now," he said to Brian. "I'm going to be a grandfather. I didn't want to say anything at the office... you know. These things can come across wrong." Brian nodded. "I can imagine." He looked at me again and it felt like everything that was said was loaded with double meaning now. I felt sick. I wanted to throw up. I wasn't sure if it was panic or morning sickness. "Hundreds of thousands of dollars for an MBA at one of the best schools in the country just to be a mom, eh?" He nudged me and I smiled, trying to look like it was funny. I really wasn't. "Kids these days. But accidents happen." I knew my dad supported me, but I had a feeling it was just because he didn't know who the real father was. Brian seemed uncomfortable on his chair. My dad's phone rang and he stepped out of the room to answer it. Brian glanced at the door where he'd walked through and then at me.

"If he finds out he's going to kill me." I swallowed and nodded. Brian was right. If my dad found out he was the father he was definitely going to kill him. Kill him and disown me, or something equally serious. I took a deep breath and let it out in a shudder. "I don't know what to do." "Let's just take this one day at a time, okay?" Brian put his hand on my leg and rubbed it up and down. It was the first time he'd touched me since that night on the terrace and the touch was warm and welcome and it felt like it was long overdue. I couldn't rely on it, though. I had to remember who I was and what was a reality. I didn't expect Brian to give up his career for something like this. I had to keep in mind that I was going to raise this baby all by myself, that Brian would be introduced as a family friend, if anything and my happiness would from now on always be last on the list. The baby, Brian, my dad, their happiness had to come first. Chapter 10: Brian She was a typical model - tall and leggy with a waist the span of my hand and poofy lips. Her name was Amanda. She wasn't much of an intellectual challenge - the conversation at the dinner table had been drab, but I wasn't with her tonight for her mind. I wanted sex, some kind of release. I'd been edgy for a while now and I needed to get rid of it. I just needed to be able to think straight. She wore a wine red dress with an open back and a scoop neck that showed too much cleavage and it would probably hit any other woman on the knee but it only covered her ass and other important bits. "I'm so glad you were available tonight," she said with a purr. She looked at me like she knew what she was going to have for dessert. It irritated me when women were like this, but once again, I wasn't with her for anything else than what she would offer me sexually. If I even started to compare her to someone like Megan I would be put off by her and send her home, but I couldn't keep putting my life on hold for a woman that was determined on pushing me out of her life. I wanted to give Megan everything she needed, everything she wanted. She was the kind of woman that deserved more than just sex and money and provision. Someone like her deserved to be loved and lately I'd been starting to think that was something I would be able to give her, too. But if she didn't want it I wasn't going to force myself on her. I wasn't going to expect her to return my sentiment if she just wasn't interested. "After the Fall shoot I thought I wasn't going to model again, but that kind

of life is just impossible to get away from, you know? I was born to do it." I stepped into the elevator with Amanda, irritated with her, trying to smile and pretend like I wanted her company. She'd been talking about her career as a model almost the whole evening. If I had to hear anything else about how she was good at what she did or cut out for the job or looked good in everything I was going to throw her out on the street. When we got to the penthouse suite someone stood in front my door. The brown hair, the hands on her back, I didn't need to see her face to know who it was. When she turned around her eyes fell on Amanda and she looked the woman up and down. Amada returned the favor, looking at Megan like she was something the cat dragged in. Megan looked like she was upset. There were new lines on her face, worry lines, tiredness, that hadn't been there before. A woman her age shouldn't look like that. "Are you okay?" I asked, stepping away from Amanda and toward Megan. "I'm fine," she said. She really wasn't. I turned to Amanda. "I'm sorry, Amanda." Not sweetheart, like I'd been calling her all night. Not in front of Megan. Amanda frowned. "I'm going to have to call you a cab." Her mouth opened in disbelief. "You're kicking me out? For that?" She pointed at Megan. "Don't be rude," I scolded her. In that one sentence, I realized two things. One, I was able to throw about my single, carefree life for Megan in a heartbeat and not feel bad or torn about it at all. And two, I cared for Megan a lot more than I'd been willing to admit. I had a model on my doorstep, a woman that would be able to give me the night of my life, and all I could think about doing was taking care of Megan, the beautiful woman who was pregnant with my child. Amanda scoffed at Megan and turned, walking away with hips swaying. When she the elevator doors opened she stepped inside and turned around with a look on her face that told me she was righteously pissed. "I'm sorry to ruin your night," Megan said. "I didn't realize you were with someone." I shook my head. "Don't be sorry. What's wrong?" Her eyes welled up with tears and she pressed her thumb and forefinger against her eyelids, trying to stop the tears. She wasn't wearing any make-up, she was dressed in slacks and a t-shirt and she was pregnant, and she was still the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. "I didn't have anywhere else to go. My friends are all upstate where I studied. My dad and I had a fight and he's so mad at me." I stepped closer to her, slowly, trying not to scare her. She leaned into me

when I was close enough and I wrapped my arms around her. That barrier of anger and regret between us was finally broken. We stood like that, holding onto each other, for the longest time before I pulled back. I unlocked my door and switched on the lights. "Your place is nice," she said, looking around. It was nice but it was a bachelor's place. Everything was expensive and new and it looked like no one lived here. It wasn't the kind of place to raise a child. I shook off the thought. I couldn't think like that. "Do you want to talk about it?" I asked. Megan nodded and sat down one of the white leather couches. I sat down next to her instead of on a different one and listened to her talk. She told me about the fight, about the money she wasn't going to make now that she had to take it slow and her father's insistence that she take care of herself because she'd messed up. I tried to be objective about it, tell her that he was just scared of what she was going through. I wasn't sure she believed me. "It's just going to take time. I know it's hard but maybe it feels bigger because you're already emotional and struggling." She nodded and leaned into me again, her face in my neck. With her face this close to mine, I was hyper aware of her lips, her smell, everything about her. She was the one that tipped up her head and kissed me. It wasn't like it had been before - this was purely sensual. I pushed my tongue into her mouth, then stopped myself and pulled away from her. I wasn't going to do this to her now. This couldn't happen. "I'll prepare the guest bedroom for you and you can stay the night," I said. She wiped her cheeks and nodded. I wasn't sure if she felt rejected. If she did she wasn't showing it. "Thank you."

CHAPTER 11: Megan I didn't have any clothes with me. I hadn't meant to stay over but when Brian offered the idea of staying away from home for the night was an offer I didn't want to refuse. He gave me one of his old t-shirts. "You can wear it with your slacks. It should be more comfortable." It was. Not just because it was better than what I'd been wearing but because it smelled like Brian, and it had been worn so many times it was soft from use. I took off my slacks, sleeping only in the shirt. For the first time in a long time I slept well, and when I woke up I felt like

I'd rested. The room he'd let me stay in was decorated in dark blue and gray and it was classy and homey at the same time. I was willing to bet it was the only room in the house that was homey, but Brian was a man and without a woman's touch nothing would be as homey as it could be. I checked the time. It was six in the morning. I listened for sounds in the house but everything was quiet. I was sure Brian was still asleep. I walked in sock and the t-shirt to the kitchen and found cereal in the pantry. Milk in the fridge. A bowl after three different cupboards. A spoon in the drawer. I made breakfast and sat down at the kitchen island. I was halfway with breakfast when Brian stumbled into the kitchen still looking half asleep. "Morning," he said. I smiled. "Morning." He sat down on one of the barstools and looked at me. We sat in silence for a while. I wasn't sure what he was thinking. His eyes kept roaming over my body but not in a way that made me feel exposed or uncomfortable. In fact, the way he looked at me made me feel beautiful. I hadn't felt beautiful in a long time. It was hard to feel beautiful when you were as big as a house. I still wasn't really very big - at five months my belly was still small, but I felt stuffed and ungraceful. "Do you mind if I have a shower?" I asked. " "No, please. Make yourself at home." I nodded, rinsed the bowl in the sink and walked to the guest bedroom. The bathroom was also blue and gray. The water was hot when I stepped under the spray and it felt good. I let it run through my hair, feeling it wet the strands like fingers, and closed my eyes. A moment later there was a knock on the bathroom door. "Yes?" "Can I come in?" I hesitated. What would it lead to if I said yes? Did I want to say no? "You can." My voice sounded hoarse. Brian stepped into the bathroom and closed the door again. The glass shower walls were steamed up so I was sure he could only see a blurred image of me, but I wanted him to look. At my backside, at least. I was unsure about my pregnant tummy. Brian started getting undressed. He stepped into the shower and stepped under the spray, coming face to face with me. My breath caught in my throat. He lifted a hand and pushed wet strands of hair out of my face. "My tummy," I said in almost a whisper.

"Don't. You're beautiful." His gray hair got wet and clung to his head and the edges of his face. He lowered his lips to mine and kissed me. It was different than it had been the first time. It was soft and sensual. Brian kissed me all over, his hands exploring my body as if he was committing every detail to memory. He was hard and obviously eager to get inside of me, but he took his time. He made me feel like every inch of me was beautiful. When it finally came down to sex and he pushed into me it was completely different than what it had been before. There was no pain, only a hell of a lot of pleasure. He pushed into me and pulled out, slowly, carefully, building up momentum and speed only when he knew I was ready for it. My body responded to his. The hot water on my skin and his sex inside of me pushed me closer and closer to an orgasm until it washed through me, light filling me up and clearing everything out until I was reduced to nothing but a blubbery mess. He kissed me and held me and made me feel like it was all for me. His pleasure, his release when it finally came, was just an afterthought. This was all about me and it made me feel like it was so much more than just sex. Like whatever was happening between me and Brian was so much more than just a quickie at a fashion show. Like it could become something so much bigger.

CHAPTER 12: Brian She was beautiful. She kissed me like she was unsure of herself. The confident vixen I'd met at the fashion show had been replaced by someone that was unsure if she was wanted, and I wanted to show her that she was. that I wanted her. Even if she was pregnant, even if everything had changed since the last time we were together. Her body was hot around my sex when I was buried deep inside of her, her breasts mashed up against my chest, nipples hard and erect. The hot water streamed in rivulets down her skin and mine, making our lovemaking - that's what it was, not sex - look like something from a porn scene. Except it was so much better because Megan was real. This was real. When I released inside of her she shuddered with me and I was so aware that this act was what had gotten her pregnant, what had gotten us here in the first place. When she'd told me in the elevator it was something we both wanted then so there was nothing to regret I'd been irritated with her, but she was right.

It had been exactly what I'd wanted at the time, and it had caused something beautiful to happen. I kissed her, helped her clean everything up, washed her with soapy suds. I helped her out of the shower and took a towel. The towel racks were heated and her towel was warm. Megan looked exhausted. I was guessing her energy levels were low because of the baby. I wrapped a towel around her hair and dried her body off with another one. "Why are you being so nice to me?" she asked. "You keep asking me that." She shrugged."I just didn't think you would care this much. When I met you I just wanted to have sex with you. This is so much more." I didn't answer her. I helped her get her hair combed and dried and peeled back her covers for her so she could get in bed. She was still naked. She grabbed onto my hand and pulled me onto the bed. "Please, stay." How could I say no to that? I climbed in under the covers, too, and lay against her. Her skin was warm and soft, her breathing regular. Her eyes were closed but she wasn't sleeping. I traced the profile of her face with my finger, the curve of her nose, her full lips, her perfectly manicured eyebrows. "Have I told you you're beautiful?" She smiled, her lips curling up under my fingers. My phone rang in the other room. "I'll be right back," I said. I found the phone and answered. It was a business call. When it was over I looked at the screen. I dialed my secretary. "I'm not coming into the office today," I said. I made arrangements for my meetings to be postponed and turned off my phone. When I got back under the covers with Megan she turned her face to me. "You're not going to the office?" She'd heard that. I shook my head. "Why?" "I want to spend the day with you. We can stay in bed, or go out to breakfast, or do whatever you feel like." She looked at me for a moment, eyes searching my face, and then she smiled. "I'd like that." I kissed her again and we messed around a little but I didn't sleep with her again. I didn't want to wear her around. When we were done she lay in the crook of my arm, her head on my chest and it was like we were made for each. We fit like puzzle pieces. "I'm going to speak to Tom," I said. I'd pushed the words out before I could

change my mind. Megan lifted her head and looked at me, frowning. "You can't." "I can. I will. I want to be with you, Megan. I want to do the right thing, I want to be there for you and the baby. I'm not going to sneak around behind your father's back. I need to come clean about this." She sat up, covers tucked to her chest so that she was decent. "He'll be so mad." I nodded. Tom was going to be furious. "I have to do this. Not just for the baby, but for you. It's going to be okay. There's nothing he can do about it, and I know once he accepts it he will be okay. He won't lose you, he loves you too much." She looked like she was going to cry, and I understood it. It was terrifying. I was forty and telling my friend and business partner that I had gotten his daughter pregnant wouldn't be easy, but it was the right thing to do. I wanted to do right by Megan. "When are you going to tell him?" I shook my head. "I don't know. Not today. I will soon, though. But today it's just you and me.

CHAPTER 13: Brian Fashion shows are hard work for everyone involved. There are people that do more than others, like the dressers and the stylists and the designers and those responsible for the venue, but there are also those that behind the scenes. I was a partner that had started up a modeling agency and I even ran around on a fashion show. I tried to get out of it but most of the time there was just too much to do and not enough people to do it. Megan wasn't going to attend this one, thank God. I'd spoken to her doctor and he'd given her the advice that she had to take off instead of attend. The pressure was far too much for her condition with the baby and she wasn't even that far along yet - problems got worse the closer it was to the birth. I didn't want complications now. Lisa was too hard on her, the pressure was insane and she was emotional, hormonal and unsure about being pregnant to start off with. I ran around trying or organize the models and where they needed to be, making sure that Megan's replacement filled her shoes the right way. When there was time to take a breath I made my way outside where the smokers stood. I didn't smoke but I liked being somewhere people forced themselves to

take a break. Smokers have no choice - addiction is an ugly business - but how many of us that don't have the bad habit of smoking will take that time to recuperate for five minutes at various intervals throughout the day? It's good to regroup. Tom came outside a moment later. He looked stressed out. I stood a short distance away from the smokers to avoid the actual smoke, and he came to stand with me. "It's a madhouse in there." I nodded. "It always is. Occupational hazard." He stuffed his hands in his pockets. "I'm glad Megan was booked off for this one. I'm really starting to worry about her. I'm scared something will happen." I didn't answer. I didn't want to say too much and sound concerned where I shouldn't be. The fact that Tom was worried was news to me, though. Of course, he cared about her well-being, but going by what Megan had told me about the argument between them Tom didn't want her to keep the baby if she wasn't in a place to look after the child herself. "How do you feel about the baby?" I asked. We hadn't had a chance to talk in the past couple of weeks, and before that I'd been avoiding him. Tom shrugged. "There's not really much of a choice. She's going to keep the child so there's nothing I can do. I think she's making a mistake, though." I frowned. "Why?" "Because she's just out of school, she has nothing to her name - no career or reputation or money - and she's going through this alone. That scumbag that got her pregnant would do better than just leaving her to go through it alone." I swallowed and a fist of nerves grabbed my gut and twisted a little. "Of course, I understand why she wants to keep the child, and being a new parent is the most wonderful thing. I just wish her circumstances were different." I nodded. These were the standard worries of a parent. I cleared my throat. "I wanted to talk to you about something." I had to do it now or I would never get the courage to. Megan needed me and I had to be there for her. I couldn't keep hiding it - it would prevent me from doing what I needed to do. Tom looked at me. "God, I hope it's good news. I could do with some right now. ' I swallowed hard. I was going to be a hell of a killjoy. "I'm the baby's father." The words were out there and the tension in my body clamped down even more. It felt like time froze. I waited for the reaction. This was the moment of truth.

Tom frowned. "What?" He looked confused. "I slept with Megan. I'm the baby's father." Tom's face was a blank for a moment before what I said dawned on him. His eyes laughed at first like I was making a joke, but when I didn't retort with 'Naw, just kidding', the laughter drained and anger set in. "What the fuck?" I nodded, looking at my shoes for a second. "I know. But I want you to know that I'm planning on caring for her and giving her the life she deserves. If there's anyone that can do that, it's me." "You bastard!" Tom launched at me, remembered we had an audience and stopped before he did any damage to my face. I was aware of his hand curled into a fist. "How could you do that to me?" I took a deep breath, still struggling to fathom how close I'd been to a broken nose. "It wasn't planned if that's what you mean. It just happened. But I plan on taking responsibility for her." Tom opened his mouth like he wanted to say something. He was so angry, though, he couldn't, and instead of having an outburst like I knew he wanted to he turned around and walked away. It was the epitome of self-control. I had to respect his ability. I didn't respect his space, though. I followed him. I needed to have this out now, once and for all, or I would never have the courage again to talk about it. "I'm all in with this, Tom. I love her." He froze, his back to me. I tried to decode it - his stiff neck, his tense shoulders. When he turned around he had fire in his eyes. "You knock her up and you want to tell me you love her?" I pushed through. "I didn't when it happened but I've been spending more time with her and I do. I've fallen in love with her. She's a stunning person and she will be a great mother. And I would like to stand by her and be the father the child deserves, the man she deserves. You know me, Tom. You who I am. You said yourself I'm a man of integrity." "I was talking about the damn company when I said that!" He threw his hands up in the air. "I wasn't talking about you sleeping with my daughter and then being with her." I reached into my pocket and pulled out the black velvet box that had been nagging at me since the beginning of the night. I opened it and showed Tom the ring. "I intend to marry her, Tom. She's not just a floozy to me. She's everything. I want her to be everything. You said I can build an empire with the business, you said you trusted me to do the right thing."

Tom shook his head, looking over my shoulder. "It's still not the same thing, Brian. My company versus my daughter? How can you compare the two?" I nodded. "I understand, but I want you to know that I intend on doing right by her and never disappointing you as a father." Tom looked at the ring again. He sighed and his shoulders sagged. "I can't say this is what I would have chosen for her, but if it's what she wants..." He looked up at me. "She's old enough to decide for herself so if she's happy I'm happy. But if you do anything to hurt her, I swear to God I will kill you with my own two hands. I'm not exaggerating." I nodded. I knew he wasn't.

CHAPTER 14: Megan I didn't go to work anymore. I accepted that I was too far along with the pregnancy to keep going at the pace the fashion world asked for, and I wasn't going to be able to hide it, anyway. Besides that, I was letting Brian pay for things the way he wanted to. I'd accepted that he was going to be in my life. It wasn't what I'd ever imagined would happen, but it wasn't a bad thing. Brian was kind and caring and honest and dedicated. I could see why my dad wanted him as a business partner. I imagined he would be just as committed as a life partner. I wanted to be a part of the fashion world even though I couldn't work there. When he visited me he told me things about what happened at the office and I ate it up. When there were fashion shows I read about them in magazines or papers and I started attending them as a guest. Tonight was another one of those. The show was in a conference center that had been turned into an extravaganza. It was barely recognizable. It was one of the biggest shows of the year and everyone involved was going mad with stress and panic. I was relieved I wasn't a part of it. I was six months along, swelling by the day and I was perpetually tired or in tears or both. I made my way to the seats and sat down where Brian had reserved one for me. When I attended he made sure I could sit in the front row with him so that I wouldn't miss a thing. I developed a new love for fashion seeing things from this vantage point and I realized that even if I wasn't in the back working my fingers to the bone I wanted to be involved with the fashion world somehow. The seats were filling up. Background music filtered through the air, laced with the chatter of the already-seated guests and an excitement about the upcoming show that was addictive. I looked around, hoping to catch a glimpse of Brian. My dad walked past and waved at me before moving on. I waved

back. What would he think if he saw me sitting next to Brian? He wasn't usually at the shows. Lately, he'd been doing a lot more paperwork and a lot less schmoozing. The show started and it was spectacular. It was swimsuits and lingerie and the designers had come up with some next level garments that would take the fashion world by storm. I could almost tell what the articles would say. Brian appeared a little late and sat down next to me. "Sorry, there was so much to do," he said. I squeezed his hand and we watched the show together. When the designer came out after the line was presented he waved. "I'll be right back," Brian said and hurried away. I watched him go. There was a lull where no one was on the ramp and people murmured and look around. I looked around, too. This wasn't supposed to happen. Brian appeared on the ramp and walked to the middle of it. Oh God, what was he doing? "Ladies and gentleman, can I have your attention, please?" The audience fell quiet, everyone eager to hear what he had to say. This wasn't how it usually worked. I expected him to inform us of some kind of emergency or something. "A short while ago I met a woman at one of these fashion shows and she turned my world upside down. I thought I'd had it all covered, I thought I was living the life - models, money - but I was wrong. I didn't need models and money. I needed that woman – I needed Megan." Blood drained from my face when he said my name. When he looked at me I mouthed 'What are you doing?' He smiled and held out his hand like he wanted me to join him on stage. That wasn't happening even if I could climb the ramp. "Megan Philips, will you marry me?" A collective gasp rippled through the crowd and my heart nearly stopped. Had Brian Waters just asked me to marry him? Everyone turned to look at me. Brian looked at me expectantly. "Are you going to stay up there?" I asked Brian smiled and jumped down the side of the ramp, coming to me. He took both my hands in his. "I love you. I want to be with you. I want us to be a family. Say you'll marry me." I took a deep breath. "I'll marry you." The truth was I'd thought about this for a while now. I wanted to be with him. I wanted to marry him. Where I hadn't wanted him to be part of the picture

before, for his sake, I had become selfish. I wanted him to be part of it now. He smiled and produced a velvet box. He opened it and it contained a ring that made me clap a hand to my mouth. Brian removed it but before I gave him my hand I looked around, looking for my dad. I spotted him in the crowd. He was looking at me, smiling. I looked at Brian, who was smiling at me too, and gave him my hand so that he could slide the ring onto my finger. And in that one second….I felt different….I felt complete…happy… satisfied…..in love forever!

A GIFT FOR MY COACH

CHAPTER 1

JAMES I watched the team jogging around the track as I ran my hand through my tousled brown hair, trying to ignore the vibration of my cell phone in my pocket. I didn’t like to bring it to practice, but my future ex-wife was being a pain in the ass about our divorce and her attorney was hounding me. It didn’t help that I worked as head coach for the pro football team in Philadelphia and they both wanted all of my money. Why was it on me? She was the one that hooked up with a player from Maryland, not me. He made plenty of money as the team quarterback, so let him support her. I sighed and looked down at the screen of my phone with an annoyed expression. I married her when I was thirty-two, ready for my coaching career after a brief stint in the pros myself. Wendy was blonde and gorgeous, ten years younger than me. I don’t know why I thought that it would work out. Maybe I had too much hope. At least I still had football and I was only thirty-five now, still in great shape so I wouldn’t have any issues getting the ladies into my bed for a rebound fuck every now and then. I just wouldn’t choose greedy young women anymore and stick to ones that were closer to my own age so the situation would be clear. I glanced at the sky and saw that the late afternoon sun was setting in and shoved the phone back into the pocket of my track pants. “Ok, guys. Get back over here!” I yelled as they glanced over and started to jog in my direction.

“You played like shit today. I know that it was Rob’s bachelor party last night but use some common sense. We’re close to the Super Bowl and I don’t want to lose our chances because you guys are acting like you play for a college team. Understand?” They shared long glances, knowing I was right. I kept myself in the loop and the party at the high end strip bar was the talk of the league right now. I wondered what the fiancée would think if she heard about the shenanigans, but that wasn’t my problem. Rob was quarterback for another successful team made millions so she might be willing to overlook his transgressions from the evening. “Sorry, Coach.” I looked at the quarterback and nodded sharply as the others echoed his apology. “I was young like you once. I had fun but I also had priorities. Go shower and get some rest. I’ll see you here at nine tomorrow morning.” I watched as the headed to the locker room and shook my head for a moment. I was being generous with the time, all things considered. I also figured that I could get a run in early to start my day. All of this divorce shit had my head spinning. I started to leave the field and walk back to my office, just near the locker room. I was going to shut down my computer and close up for the day and go to the gym. Then I’d grab some dinner at that BBQ place I liked and relax at home. I was still learning to call the brand new condo home. I bought a house when I married Wendy, but she was hell bent on holding onto the ten thousand square foot palace. I didn’t need the space so I just rented a condo from a buddy in real estate for the time being. It was three bedrooms and spacious enough for me. I brought my great Dane Jack with me and gave him a room to himself for when I wasn’t around. I also had a dog walker that took him out on the regular, a kid next door that had more time than I did. I heard voices as I rounded the corner and saw the owner Gary Ridge with his daughter, Tory. He popped in every now and then to check on things, though I didn’t know why she was with him. She was in school for engineering, first year I think. Tory was all about her studies and I barely saw her at the house when I went for dinner every now and then. “James. How are you?” Gary called out as I watched the girl type something into her phone. She was a pretty enough girl, even though she didn’t do much with herself. Tory had pale honey colored hair and bright blue eyes but she kept things simple. She was too damn young to even be thinking about and I saw her look up at me before I glanced at her father. “Good. The team was a bit off today, but I sent them home for some rest, and I’ll work them tomorrow,” I replied as I felt Tory’s eyes burning into my

skin. “The party. I heard it got wild,” Gary responded as he glanced at Tory with a guarded expression. She made sure to look back down at her phone, and he rubbed her shoulder gently. I didn’t think that he had too much to worry about. Tory didn’t put out the vibe that she would be wild in any way, and I wasn’t concerned about her having any interest in a bachelor party. I’d only known Gary for the last year since he bought the team and it was evident that his only daughter was his princess. I also knew that his wife worried about her, and it was probably going to blow up in their faces at some point. I was glad that I never had kids with Wendy. We made some more small talk and I couldn’t help but to steal glances at Tory as I followed along. She was wearing some skinny jeans and an oversized shirt that covered her body, and I wondered what she looked like under all of that. She wore glasses almost all of the time and looked like she was always solving a problem inside of her intelligent brain. I couldn’t help but to notice that she resembled her pretty young mother more than her father, pushing the thought away as he told me to have a good night. What the hell was wrong with me? I knew that there had been some sparks between us tonight but she was twenty-one at the most. Did I learn nothing from my marriage? Stick to over twenty-five and do not think about your boss’s daughter. That was a surefire way to lose my good job, one that could afford this divorce and keep me close to the lifestyle that I was accustomed to. I went into my office and cleaned up the desk as her eyes played back through my mind. Damn it, I didn’t need this kind of distraction but she pleaded with me to bring out her bad side with just one look. I shut down the computer and called into the locker room for the guys to have a good night and sleep. No drinking. Then I walked to my car in the garage and got inside as I felt someone looking at me. I glanced over to see Tory leaving with her dad and I waved with a polite smile. I needed the gym and an easy woman. I glanced in the mirror as I finished at the gym. I was a good-looking guy with a head full of messy hair that women seemed to love and forest green eyes. I kept my body in tip-top shape and ate good ninety-nine percent of the time. I had my shit together on the outside but was a bit cluttered inside of my own head. I knew that there was a waitress that had a crush on me at restaurant and I figured that I’d order it for there and lay on the flirting. She was still young but well older than twenty, so I figured she was good to go. She also knew the

drill from previous times and went right along with it. Amber was working her way through college and didn’t want anything serious. She wanted to study Psychology and make her own money that way, never looking for a handout from anybody. She just enjoyed a good time and was wild enough to have a repeat with.

CHAPTER 2

TORY I rolled my eyes when Dad said that he wanted to stop by the stadium on the way to meet Mom for dinner. I could’ve met with my study group for the test in a couple days for the time I knew he’d spend there. This was the fifth team that he owned in twenty-five years, and I knew the drill. I had no idea how gorgeous the new coach was, though. James had to be six-foot-tall, with a muscled body in his track shorts and a fitted t-shirt. He had the kind of hair that you just wanted to drag your fingers through and deep green eyes that promised sin on a stick. I couldn’t stop looking at him, trying to figure the man out. I guessed that he was in his thirties mainly due to his job, but he looked like he could be in his upper twenties. I was drawn to him, more than I’d ever been to a man in my life. He was sexy and looked like he could handle a woman in bed, unlike any of the guys that had paid me any attention through school. They were all as into school as I was and had the moves of a turtle. The few kisses that I’d had were dull and awkward, but James had full lips that promised a good time. Jesus, my hormones must be in full gear. Way to go at twenty years old when I was trying to solidify my life and goals. I needed to keep that way from Dad’s work, but there was some heat between James and me that I couldn’t ignore. All of the other coaches that he’d worked with were more of a fatherly age. There was no sex appeal whatsoever, and I’d be able to talk to them anytime without feeling a single flash of heat. It was business as usual. James made me want to get to know him better and become a part of whatever world he was hiding underneath those clothes. I saw him going to a shiny black Escalade in the garage when we were leaving. He waved and I swear that our eyes locked for a moment before he was gone and I was left with the team heading out around us as they greeted

Dad and tried to give me sly looks. They were young and dumb, jocks to the fullest degree. Not my type. I wanted someone that could have a real conversation with me, challenge my mind. I wanted someone that knew what to do and when to do it. Athletes were not my bag but nor were the guys that I knew from classes or labs. “What’s his story? He seems young,” I observed as I got into my father’s brand new gray Range Rover. “He played for San Francisco until he got hurt a couple years back. It was a knee injury, and he was out of the game but had a lot of skills to offer a group of guys. I didn’t hire him, but I would have if I’d been the owner at the time. James is going to take this team far this year.” I played with my messy bun and watched as he drove out of the garage and turned to head to the excellent steakhouse that he favored. “So you might be going to the championship?” “I hope so. This town needs it,” Dad told me as I looked over at him and pushed my glasses up with my left pointer finger. “Maybe you’ll actually get into the sport that way.” I grinned at him. Dad was always giving me a hard time for not loving sports the way that he did. “That’s why you have Ryan and Thomas, Dad. They watch the sports with you.” My brothers lived for games. I think Dad gave up with me early on when it was obvious that I was more of a bookworm. “True, but you’re always invited.” I nodded and looked forward as we kept driving down the crowded road. My body was still hot and throbbing in places that were new to me. I nodded and leaned back as we got lost in traffic. Maybe I should get into football, at least to see more of James. We went to Barclay Prime, since it was Mom and Dad’s favorite place to eat. It was nice inside with the black and white floors and architecture inside, very pleasing to the eye. The food was also good, though I leaned more towards ordering salmon than I did any red meat. I wasn’t a vegetarian by any means, I just preferred the fish and artichoke for a meal than the standard meat and potatoes. I ordered an iced tea and smiled as my brothers joined us, ready for a night of sports talk. I didn’t think I’d mind it if I could watch James discuss it. He could make anything sexy and I shivered at the idea of him teaching one of my classes. God, what a divine thought that was. When you’re in a major such as Engineering, most of the professors matched the subject to a t. Mom listened to her men with a loving smile on her face but also asked me about school. Her and Daddy were protective of me, though I wasn’t sure why.

I’d been one of the best behaved of the three of us, always quiet and responsible. Maybe it was because I was the youngest and a girl and it was natural for parents to want to protect daughters. I guess I might come off as naive sometimes as well, but I was observant and sharp when it came to people. I just didn’t give in to what they wanted most of the time. That’s why I was still a virgin. I didn’t want a clumsy excuse for a first time with someone my age, just to get it out of the way. I wanted someone that knew what they wanted, someone that could show a more dominant side with me. I was the smartest kid in school since the beginning and it seemed like a lot of people did what I wanted as a result. I needed a change for that and my virginity was a subject that I would be stubborn about. I pretended to listen to the conversation as I picked at my plate and daydreamed about James, knowing that he was the man that I wanted.

CHAPTER 3

JAMES I heard the alarm go off and took a deep breath. I wanted to go for a long run and I looked beside me to see that Amber had left. She was good about taking off when the sex was over, almost as if she was never there. It had been a great night and she’d been a willing recipient to my cock that was hardened by a young dangerous girl. I imagined Tory’s messy hair piled on top of her head as I felt my body responding and reached down to give myself a little tug. There was something in her eyes that went against her clothing and appearance, a need that I didn’t see often in a woman. It was something that screamed for me to take care of it but I knew that she was off limits. I jerked off in the shower despite the numerous positions I’d had Amber in last night. It felt good to shoot all over the blue tile and I jerked forward with it as I tried to picture her naked. She looked like she had some decent tits and I wondered if her nipples were large or small. Did she liked them sucked or bitten? Jesus, I was fucking hard again and I rinsed off and changed into my shorts and tank top to jog in before practice. It was still early and the sun was just rising as I hit the city streets. There were always a few people around running along with me, but for the most part the city wasn’t alive quite yet. This was the best part of the day in my eyes and

I took it in as I set an even running pace. I listened to the alternative rock playing in one ear and stared forward as I tried to think about my team. They were a good group of guys ranging in age from just out of college to a few years in. They worked well together and for the most part, focused on the game. I sometimes had to ride their asses to pay attention to the moment but that was part of being young. I thought I had forever in my career when I was younger, but it turned out that I didn’t and I wanted these guys to appreciate every moment. I never had kids with Wendy but my team was like a whole group of them to me, despite my young age. I stopped at a light and jogged in place for a moment as I watched a woman move in front of me, my eyes dropping to her ass in the tight black running pants that she wore. I eyed her slowly as I waited for the light to change and she moved in place as my eyes rested on her neck with her hair pulled up into a ponytail. Honey colored hair…I wondered if this was Tory as the light changed and she jogged across the street in a fluid motion, much different than what I’d expect from the girl in the baggy shirt that I saw yesterday. Her ass was round enough to move with the running, but tight enough to make me hard all over again as I followed her. She jogged to the next corner and moved to the right to enter the gym, and I watched her every movement as she disappeared from sight. I did hear someone say the name Tory as the glass door closed though and I wanted her even more now. I considered working out instead of jogging, since it was the same gym that I belonged to keep working out separate from the team and my job. I settled for running a bit longer and then going in for a quick workout, as least as much as I could before I had to be at the stadium. I stepped into the gym and glanced around as I headed to the treadmills. I didn’t need to jog more but I wanted to see her again and I took my spot on the machine, turning it on as I took another look around. I was acting like a horny teenager but now that I caught more of a glimpse of her, I was even more turned on by her. I reminded myself of Wendy and the hell that I was in because of her. The hell I’d be in if I was caught with the owner’s daughter was far worse than anything that could happen in divorce court. I’d lose my job, possibly my career. Gary would blacklist me from the NFL. I needed to calm my shit down and pretend that she didn’t exist. There were plenty of women that I could spend some time with and Tory was never going to be one of them. I was getting into a good run on the treadmill and watched the news as I

started to relax. I was almost done when I heard laughter and looked over to see a group of women leaving a class, dressed as skimpily as they could be and still be decent and sweaty. Tory walked behind all of them as she tugged a large tank over her black sports bra and raised her arms over her head. They headed to the door to leave and I looked away as her head swiveled my way. There was no way I would make eye contact with her. There was no reason to, since nothing could happen.

CHAPTER 4

TORY I started to see James around town. We went to the same gym and I’d see him jogging on the road the same time of morning that I was out. I always looked at his muscled legs and tight ass with hunger in my eyes. I even thought that I drooled sometimes. I never saw him look my way or acknowledge me and it made me want to try harder. I knew that Christmas coming. Daddy always threw a huge party at the mansion and invited the team and everyone involved with them as well as several other celebrities on Christmas Eve and I needed to up my game by then. He didn’t notice me right now and there was no other man that I wanted. I was working out a lot more and doing yoga before classes, just to tone up my already athletic body. The closer it got to the holiday, I had some more time off and I hit a salon one day when I was Christmas shopping for my family. I cut off my long hair to a long A line bob and added some caramel lowlights and lighter blonde highlights to the strands. It looked beautiful and I felt like a different person as I stared in the mirror. I left with a smile on my face and felt the eyes on me as I hoped that I could affect James the same way. I went home with all of my bags and unloaded them from my Lexus to the door before bringing them upstairs to my room on the second floor. I was the only one on my level and I had a lot of privacy. I unpacked the gifts and also a dress that I’d purchased for the party as I held it up with a smile. It was going to make everyone give me a second and a third look. I didn’t anticipate my parents cock blocking me. I was in the red dress with the spaghetti straps and tight bodice that ended mid-thigh with a sexy ruffle. I was doing yoga enough to have toned up enough to rock this outfit and I bought some makeup to make my eyes pop with a dark

smoky look. My hair was sleek and soft around my shoulders, something that Mom had falteringly accepted after I explained that a friend wanted a salon day and I agreed. Wasn’t it cute? My glasses were on the dresser and I had my new contacts in and some stiletto black heels. I turned to leave my room and my father was staring at me with a deer in the headlights look. “Tory, what the hell is that you’re wearing?” “You look great too, Dad.” I smirked as I spoke and looked over his crisp suit as my mother walked in wearing something similar to my dress, except that it was silver. “Really? Did you see her dress?” “Tory, there’s so little to that. Don’t you want to cover up more?” She fidgeted and I looked between them. “Mom, I am turning twenty-one next month. I think it’s time that I start trying out something new. I’ve been a nerd all my life and I want to be a woman,” I told her as my eyes flashed. “Is this about a man, sweetie?” Mom asked and I rolled my eyes. They’ll never know the truth. “No, it’s about me. I want to have some fun with clothes for a change.” I spun around. “Everything is covered. Nobody is going to see any more than this, because that’s not what I’m looking for. I just want to change my style a little bit.” “Fine, just…be careful.” Mom turned and left the room on her own silver stilettos as Dad looked from the doorway to me. “Are you sure? You know who’s going to be here tonight and they don’t all have great reputations. I think I prefer the innocent version of my daughter, to be honest,” Dad told me as he came over and hugged me. “Prepare for your brothers to act like guard dogs.” “I know,” I replied as I added a layer of clear gloss to my lips and pulled my door closed behind me. They were likely at the bar in the game room and I smiled as I wondered if James would be here. We walked downstairs and I started to greet the arriving guests, feeling my parent’s gazes on me as our friends told me how different I looked tonight. They used words such as sexy, gorgeous, stunning and so many others that made me blush and thank them as my hopes rose higher. Would James think the same thing? I’d masturbated to him so many times in my room at this point that I forgot my own name sometimes and tonight was going to be the night I got him. I bought sex toys in the mail to use as I moaned his name night after night. I had to have the real thing. I was near the bar in the game room telling my brothers to stop acting like overprotective apes as I saw him enter, dressed in a sexy suit with his hair

mussed perfectly. I made eye contact and watched his widen as he took me in with a hungry gaze. I excused myself from my brothers and walked across the room, lifting my head as I met his eyes and passed him with a brush against his body as I felt his erection. I felt my thong dampen as he inhaled my cherry blossom scent and walked up the stairs, offering him a fine view of my ass. I’d never felt so powerful in my life. CHAPTER 5

JAMES That little bitch had the upper hand. Seeing Tory’s body squeezed into that red dress with a hint of her cleavage made my body go rock hard, and I headed to the bar for a whiskey on the rocks to ease the tension in my body. I watched her at the gym for over a month now, working her body to perfection. I slipped in my fight to not want her more and more each time but reminded myself of what would happen if I took a taste of her. I jacked off nightly to try and work her out of my system. I fucked more women than I normally would, just to scratch the itch that Tory caused in my body but nothing worked. Tonight, I knew that I was damn close to giving in and I finished the drink in one burning gulp as I heard Gary’s voice. “James, good to see you. Thanks for stopping by.” There was a part of me that knew it was a bad idea. I’d seen Tory’s new hair and had a feeling that she was changing herself to be the woman that she hid until now. “No problem. I don’t have to be anywhere until tomorrow. How are you?” “Doing well,” Gary replied as some of the team came over and we started talking business. The team was heading to the Super Bowl and we were slotted to win. For the life of me, I could not focus on it. The Super Bowl was a dream of every coach and every team and I was thinking more about the girl in the red dress. The girl that was forbidden to me, that could take away all of those dreams. I asked for another drink and excused myself to get some fresh air outside. My skin was hot and I felt like my tie was choking me as I stepped out onto the extensive back balcony. It was cold but I needed the reality check and I stepped forward and leaned against the railing. I inhaled the cold air in deep breaths as I closed my eyes, downing the drink before I set it down on a glass table close by. I heard a door open and turned my head to see a woman silhouetted in the doorway in a dim light. It was Tory and she raised her arms

over her head as I dragged my eyes over her body. “Hi, James. Having fun?” Her voice, mature over the last time we’d met, traced over my skin and I sucked in my breath. “Your dad throws a great party,” I offered as she laughed and stepped forward. I knew that the party was inside, several feet away from us. I think that she knew it as well and was working that in her favor. “So do I,” she offered as I shook my head. “You’re my fucking boss’s daughter, Tory. I can’t do this with you.” She smelled so good and I inhaled the sweet scent of her skin. Tory was right beside me now and I looked over her shoulders and down to the hint of cleavage that she was giving me. “You’re too young.” “I am old enough for you. I want to be dominated by a man that knows what he is doing,” Tory told me, slipping her hand in mine and pulling me over to the room she’d come from. “What is this place?” I asked as I looked around the room with a bed and some furniture. “One of the pool rooms as well as a guest room. We have many of them so nobody will think about coming out here and looking for us. Everyone loses themselves at these parties and there can be a lot of scandal that goes unnoticed.” Tory closed the door and walked towards me as she locked gazes with me in the light of the room. “My brother fucked an entire group of cheerleaders one year, one by one. I didn’t see them and nor did anyone else, but I heard about it the following month. They all think that I’m the nerdy girl that doesn’t notice anything, but I notice everything.” She slipped her hand between my legs and found my cock hard and throbbing for her. “You were beautiful the first time that I saw you,” I groaned as her fingers tightened and stroked me. “Fuck, Tory.” I clenched my fists before I reached out and took her arms and forced her hands away from my body. “This is wrong. So wrong.” “It’s just one night, James. Nobody will ever know,” Tory’s eyes were alert as she stared at me I wrapped my hands around her body and pulled her close to me before I kissed her, feeling all of my inhibitions disappear as our tongues met in a wild dance. Tory groaned against me and nibbled at my lower lip as I cupped her ass and ground my cock against her. “I want to bend you over and fuck you harder than you’ve ever been fucked before,” I told her before I kissed her senselessly again. “I want that ass slapping against me as you scream my name.” “You’re the first person, James. I’m giving you my virginity tonight. I want

it to be you that makes me come for the first time,” Tory said against my lips as I froze for a moment. “Think how tight I’ll feel around you.” I hadn’t had a virgin since high school and I swear that I hardened more as I plowed her mouth with my tongue. I pushed Tory back to the bed as I asked her if she locked the door and she cried out that as I found the zipper in the back of her dress. I pulled it down and the material pooled around her ankles as she shimmied her hips to force it to drop. Her full breasts were bare and small nipples hard for me as she slid her hands over her body to cup them. I stripped off my tie as I watched her and unbuttoned my shirt. Her eyes took me in hungrily and I slipped it off and loosened my pants before I stepped towards her. Our lips met as she wrapped her arms around my neck and fell back onto the bed. My pants were halfway down my legs and my cock pressed against her thigh as she rocked against me. Her pussy was hot and wet and I dragged my lips down her jaw and dragged my hardness against her needy folds. I sucked on her neck as she arched her back and pressed her hot nipples against my wife beater that I wore under my shirt. My desire for Tory released into an uncontrollable urge, leaving behind all sense and logic. I forgot that she was forbidden as I kissed my way down her body and dragged her skin between my teeth as she jerked against me. Her tits were pressed against me as I found her nipples and sucked hard as I pressed my cock between our bodies and fucked the lace of her thing. “James, oh God. I want you to fuck me so hard,” Tory begged me, sounding every bit the young woman that she was as I pulled up and looked at her. “Are you on anything?” I asked her in a hoarse voice as she nodded. “Bad periods. I’ve been on the pill since I was sixteen,” Tory told me as I slid my hands between her thighs and pulled off her underwear. She moaned as she spread her legs and I fingered her before sliding a finger into her tight entrance. “Make me come.” I stared at her as my thumb found her hard clit and stroked it as she dropped her head back.

CHAPTER 5

TORY The feeling of his hand stroking me and inside me was almost too much to bear as I closed my eyes. This was what I’d dreamed of as my own hand

stroked my clit and slipped inside of me in the darkness of my room. I knew that I was close and I begged him to make me come as he increased the pressure against me. I hadn’t lied about the pill but I wouldn’t mind a mistake. I wouldn’t mind a future with James and give him a baby. I would just focus on this right now, this night. It was going to be perfect and memorable. James moved over me and kissed my neck as he whispered that he would move slow for me. I knew that he would take care of me and that was in part why I chose him, though I preferred older men to begin with. He lowered himself between my legs and spread me open as I cried out and tried to lift myself to him. He pressed against my entrance and I slid my legs around him and pulled him down to me for a long kiss. That was when he slipped inside, little by little, kissing me sweetly as our tongues slid together slowly. Oh God, the pressure. He filled me and I grabbed his head and strung my hands through his hair. “Are you okay, baby?” James asked me as I nodded and begged him to keep going. He just had to move a little further and the pain would be over and I could enjoy this. I could have my dream. There was a sharp pinch of pain as me moved forward and I cried out as he stilled and looked down at me before he kissed me again. “I’ll stay here for a minute. You feel so good around me and I know you will love this in a couple of minutes. Just bear with me.” “I know I will. Just keep going,” I urged him and sighed as he slipped further inside. Pain blended into pleasure and I was soon wrapping my legs around him and rocking against him to feel him deeper and harder. Oh God, it felt so good and I never wanted him to stop. I felt something snap inside of my body and I was crying out his name as I came long and hard. I didn’t want him to wait but he swore that I was going to come around him so he could feel me. I did. James kept moving until he stilled and I felt his heat filling me. He murmured that this was the best Christmas ever and that I was a great gift as he held me tight in his arms. James kissed my body as I stared at him and smiled. I knew that this wasn’t the last time that I would have him. I would make sure of that. We made love again, this time with me on my knees as he took me from behind. It felt so good and I gripped the sheet as he pounded into me. He was thick and I knew that I’d never want anyone different, at least until I got what I wanted. James realized the time after we rested together and stood to dress. He fixed himself as best as he could and hit the restroom that was closest to the entrance while I sat on the bed and played back my night. I had sex, sex with a

real man that knew what he was doing. All of the changes that I made were worth it and I could feel that my life was about to change. I dressed and crept through the door that led to my locked room as I washed my face and took off my dress. The party was over for me and I got what I wanted. I smiled as I closed my eyes and snuggled under the covers, completely oblivious to the noise of the party. I looked forward to future times with James and the path that my life was headed as I drifted off to sleep with the cool air blowing in the cracked window. Our chef Mary was cooking breakfast when I woke up and made my way downstairs. The house was empty and messy and I looked around as she laughed. “I think there’s a few stragglers in the basement, though I’m not sure. If so, I’m making enough food.” I wondered if James was still here, what he’d done after our time in the guest room. Was he still thinking about me? I decided that there was no way that he couldn’t be after the way that he looked into my eyes as he was giving me my first experience with sex. James was so concerned with me and my feelings throughout the experience, so caring and good. It was perfect. I made plans for our future as I ate and looked over the pool before my parents stumbled downstairs. As always, they’d been drunk the night before and didn’t remember the small fight over my dress or the fact that I’d disappeared for the night. Nobody really remembered anything from our infamous parties and I’d planned my night based on that. It was easy to go with Dad to the stadium on my break for business that he had to attend to and I even agreed to work on some of his accounting since his normal accountant was on a month’s leave for the holidays. It was easy to me and I could come alone there when I needed to, or at least pretend to need to. Dad would never know. I also went to the gym a lot and waited to see James there so I could casually say hello. It took a week but finally, I saw him on the treadmill watching something on the television screen in front of him. I was just finished with my yoga class and I approached him as I forced a flirtatious smile on my face. “James, hello.” “Tory. Hi. How are you doing?” He looked me over in my tight pants and cropped tank top and I felt my body heat up inside. “Good. I just finished class.” I glanced at the clock and got an idea. “Want to grab something to eat when you’re finished? I was busy today and never really got around to it.” His want was all over his face and James swallowed after a moment. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea, Tory.” He glanced around but we were alone

and he licked his lips. “I don’t know if anything should ever happen with us again.” “Didn’t you like it?” I asked as his face flushed pink. “Of course, I did. I’m honored that you wanted me that way but your father would kill me if he ever knew.” James gave me a long look and licked his lips. “He’ll never know, James. Dad’s busy with the team and the investments that he’s always involved with. I get out on my own all of the time and I’d never tell him.” I looked around carefully. “I don’t want you to lose your job.” My words were low and he glanced around as he seemed to consider my words. “Give me your number,” James suggested as he handed me his phone. I sent myself a text so I’d know his number and he looked at me for a long moment. “I’ll send you my address and you can meet me there in half an hour? I’ll order in.” I grinned and nodded. “That sounds perfect. I’ll see you soon.” I made my way to the locker room and showered quickly before I changed into some skinny jeans and a long sleeved shirt before I pulled on my gray fleece jacket. By the time I was in my car, I had his address and I entered it into Google maps as I let the car warm up.

CHAPTER 6

JAMES I must be out of my fucking mind. I should have told Tory no and that this could not happen again. My job was on the line if anybody found out and possibly my life, but the way she looked at me made me weak. I remembered how she felt, so tight and hot as I claimed her for the first time. I hadn’t had a woman for the first time in years and she addicting to me. I thought that once more wouldn’t hurt before she worked me out of her system and I could just go back to my casual flings. I couldn’t wait to see her hot little body again as I parked in my garage at the end of my long driveway. I was away from the street in a quiet neighborhood and I knew that we would be left alone. Gary didn’t come over, since we weren’t friends like that. I was his employee and I’d see him for the occasional dinner to talk business or a party, like the other night. I don’t even think he knew where I lived, to be honest.

I ordered some Thai food from the place a few miles away and was told that it would be delivered in about twenty-five minutes. That gave me time to tidy up and start a fire in the massive fireplace that was the focal point of the room. It was a lot of why I’d purchased the house and I looked around at the warm glow from the flames as I heard the doorbell. Why was I trying to romance a young woman that I wasn’t going to see again after this? Tory didn’t care about these details and I shook my head as I went to answer the door. “Hi. Beautiful house,” Tory told me with a bright smile as I ushered her inside and looked out. “Thanks. It’s not up to your standards, I’m sure but I like it.” I joked as she laughed. “My house is too big for me. I like the idea of something cozy like this. Maybe once I finish school, I can find something.” She walked to drop her purse on the coffee table and slipped her coat off. “You’ll have a good future. I’m sure you can get a beautiful house.” Tory smiled as she looked up at me. “I ordered Thai. Is that okay?” “Delicious,” Tory replied as she sat on the couch and looked up at me. She was gorgeous, and she knew that as I met her gaze with a hungry one of my own. “Want something to drink?” I offered as I thought for a moment. “I have some beer in the fridge and maybe some wine. As far as non-alcoholic, there’s some soda and milk, since you’re young.” That got a laugh from her. “I don’t think you care about my age that much, do you?” Tory asked as I pressed my lips together. “I’ll take a beer.” “I’ll be right back,” I told her and walked into the kitchen to grab two bottles from the fridge. I looked at the wine from a date that I’d had some time ago from a date that didn’t call for a repeat and looked towards the living room. Did I want this night to call for one? I looked at her settled back against the couch as I walked back in. She was beautiful in the light of the fire along with a couple other lamps I’d left on. Tory was fresh faced and young and I knew that the guys at her school had to be interested in her. She was beautiful before but the changes that she made turned her into a bombshell and after this break, they’d be breaking down doors to get to her. I could enjoy her until that day came and I glanced up as there was a knock at the door. I asked her to wait for a moment as I went to pay for the food and bring it into the living room. “Eat by the fire?” “Sure,” Tory agreed as I went to get some plates and forks. We filled our plates as I found a movie on television and settled in beside her.

“You don’t seem twenty to me,” I observed as she took a bite of Pad Thai and looked at me. “You seem mature and smart.” “I’ve always been smart, James. Maybe maturity comes with that.” Tory shrugged as her shirt slipped off of her shoulder and bared her pale skin. “Maybe I’m not too young for you.” “Fifteen years is quite a gap,” I disagreed as she reached up to let her hair down. It dropped around her shoulders in waves and I watched her for a moment. “You’re not ready for anything right now, anyway. Finish school first and then see about a relationship. You’re beautiful and you’ll have no trouble getting a guy.” “I want a man, James. I want a man the way that I had one the first time,” Tory told me as she set her plate down and took a long sip. She set the bottle down and moved to crawl over to me with a cunning smile on her face. Fucking hell, this woman had me. I shoved my plate onto the table as she moved into my lap and kissed me. Her mouth claimed mine hungrily as our tongues moved together with the taste of beer and spicy food on our lips. I lifted her shirt over her head as she moved up, finding her nipples bare and pebbled for me before I leaned forward to suck on them. Tory had showered while I was still a bit sweaty from the work out, but I didn’t care at this moment. I wanted to drench myself fucking her all night long. I gave both nipples equal attention before I moved up to kiss her lips. Tory slipped my shirt over my head and kissed down my chest before she drew my nipples between her teeth as I groaned her name. “Have you slept with anyone else since the party?” I murmured as she teased me with a laugh. “No, why?” “You don’t seem like you were a virgin just a few weeks ago,” I observed as she reached down for my pants and pulled them down. “You seem like you know what you’re doing just fine.” “I had a good teacher,” Tory told me before she moved down my body and took me into her mouth. Jesus, her mouth felt good. I slipped my hands into her hair and tugged her close as I moaned Tory’s name. She sucked hard and slow to tease me before bobbing over me as I cried out her name. I came within a few moments and Tory drank me in as I jerked forward. She moved up and I stared down at her as my mouth watered. “Take your pants off,” I demanded as she dropped onto her back and slid them down her legs. It took me no time to kick off my pants and crawl towards her as she watched me with bright eyes. God, she was so bare and I spread her thighs wide to smell her as she sucked in her breath. Our first time had been heated and quick, but this time I was going to

worship Tory. She was sweet like honey and I kissed the soft skin of her inner thighs as she arched her back and slid a hand into my hair. I buried my face against her pussy and licked her thoroughly before I circled her clit with the tip of my tongue. Tory moaned as she rocked against me and I wrapped my hands around her toned thighs to keep her still as she cried out. “Fuck, James. That feels so good,” Tory told me as he hands ripped at my hair to try and make me let her go. I held firm and drew her between my teeth as I sucked her clit and she screamed as she came into my mouth. I drank her sweet juices in and felt my cock throbbing for her. I always like the feel of a woman after an orgasm so I released her thighs and moved over her body to enter her. Tory stared at me with glazed eyes as I slid inside and moaned softly. I knew that she was overwhelmed right now but I had to feel her. She pulled my face down to hers for a long kiss, tasting herself. I started moving faster to make her come again. She moved with me once she had some time to adjust, and soon we were rocking together in the search for a mutual release.

CHAPTER 7

TORY I read a lot of books and watched a lot of porn in my research about sex. It was easy to assume that the books were embellished, and the porn was scripted right to make it seem far more exciting than it was. Not that I didn’t get myself off to it all of the time. What kind of person would ignore that opportunity? When James was between my legs with his mouth attached to me, I was in Heaven. He knew just what to do and how fast to do it. He knew every trick, and I almost ripped a handful of hair out of his head when he locked his arms around my legs to hold me still. Sweet torture. His mouth sucked on my sensitive pussy and drew the part that needed him the most between his teeth. Fuck me running, but that felt amazing. I felt the release coming painfully before it exploded and released to every nerve ending in my body. I have no idea what James did because I was too overwhelmed to feel it for a few seconds, but he was quickly crawling up my

body and inside of her, thick and hard. He felt too good inside of me, and I moaned to try and tell him this even as my body wrapped tightly around him. Traitor. I gave in to the feeling and started to move with him, rocking against him in search of another perfect orgasm. I found it just before he did and the feeling spread through my body just like before as his hot seed filled me. “Tory, baby. You feel so good.” I told him something similar as our bodies locked together and we enjoyed the feeling of our heat combining. We rested on the couch after for a few moments as I felt numb. James was the perfect lover, and I was not going to let him go. I would assure him constantly that nobody would know about us just to keep him inside of me like this. No man would ever compare, and I watched as he stood on weak legs to put the food away and get some fresh beers. The light was dim, but I could see every muscle on his body. I couldn’t believe that this man was mine, even if he didn’t know it yet. “Want to go to bed?” James asked as he stood naked before me with the bottles in his hand. I was in. I smiled and nodded, moving slowly to a standing position as James’ eyes raked over my body. “That sounds great.” I knew that drinking the beer would prevent me from driving home too soon and being in his bed would hopefully make us fall asleep together. I reminded myself to assure him that I had a private entrance to my room, and I was with friends, so my parents wouldn’t worry. They’d never dream that their sweet daughter would be fucking the coach, and I’d make sure it was never a thought in their minds. I looked around his room, complete with a smaller version of his beautiful fireplace and decided that a house like this would be perfect for me. I didn’t need the square footage that my parents did. I just wanted this with a man by my side and our family. “Want a fire?” James asked, and I nodded at him with a slow smile. There was a lamp on, and he made quick work of starting something while I went to the attached bathroom. His semen was dripping out of me, and I looked down as I sat on the toilet. Would part of him manage to break past the barrier that I’d formed, giving me my dream? James was gorgeous, and I knew how beautiful our baby would be, and I wiped as I said a silent prayer. The room was bathed in a warm glow as I went back in to find him on the bed, still naked as he waited for me. He was gorgeous, and I joined him on the mattress against the pillows as he wrapped an arm around me. “I love your house,” I murmured as I kissed his neck.

One kiss quickly led to me on top of James, riding his cock like it was a bucking bull. I’d worried about my lack of experience for a moment when things started, but his hands guided me, and James was happy to thrust up inside of me as I moved. I dropped my head back when I came as a howling noise escaped my throat and probably shocked the both of us. He joined me, and we sipped the beers as we relaxed back against the pillows. “Do you watch porn or something?” James asked her after taking a deep breath. “Who doesn’t these days?” I teased as I watched his jaw set into a firm scowl. “Do you get yourself off to it?” James pressed, and I felt my pussy tingle again. “Every time,” I admitted as his eyed moved down my body to the apex of my thighs. “I’ve been thinking of you a lot these days, James.” “Fucking hell, Tory. That image will never leave my mind,” he growled as I smiled and dropped my legs open a bit. “I’ll show you sometime,” I promised, sealing the deal for another tryst as I reached for my beer and took another sip. I was on top of the world right now, and nothing could change that. I was going to keep fucking this man, and I couldn’t wait for the next time. He was perfect.

CHAPTER 8

JAMES Tory’s pussy was a magnet. I listened to all of her assurances that her parents were not as protective as they came off, both of them being so busy. She had an alibi for every time that we were together, which must have turned into at least ten times over the next couple of months. We’d see each other at the gym and be at my house, fucking every possible way that we could like animals. Sometimes one would text, and that was all that it would take. I fucked her at the gym late one night, out by the pool. It was one of the hottest things that I’d ever done, and I’d always remember her muted orgasm. She masturbated for me every morning that we woke up together and I’d claim her like a wild beast after she came from her hand. My team didn’t go to the championship that year due to a few severe losses

and everyone was disappointed. I buried myself inside of Tory when I could and tried to keep the team spirits up as needed. Gary told me that we had next year with a grimace on his face and I knew that I’d disappointed him. What would he think if he knew that I was nailing his daughter? There was always that chance that a coach could be replaced after a tough season and I worried about that as I sunk into a depression of my own. Tory was back in school, so I had some time to myself. I ate horribly and slept a lot in that time and at some point I realized that a couple months passed by. Tory hadn’t been around, and while I was in something of a blackout state, I wondered why. Was it school? Was there someone else in her life? We were never more than casual, and I knew that Tory moving on was a distinct possibility. I hated the thought, though. She was a smart, beautiful girl, and I enjoyed the time that we spent together, a lot of which included conversation. I missed her sweet body, though. I couldn’t help but think about her in the morning when I was finally coming out of my cave, just as we were going to start a camp to get back into shape as a team. I’d jack off, sometimes angrily, before showering and heading out to the stadium to meet my guys. Something was missing in my life. I saw Gary there, watching us. He was always alone and I knew that I couldn’t ask him why his daughter wasn’t responding to my calls and text messages. It would out us since as far as Gary knew, I had only seen her a couple of times. My divorce was going through and I didn’t have to give Wendy as much as I initially thought. It was a generous amount but I had plenty to keep living my life and I was happy to put that behind me. I knew that next time, I’d listen to my brain instead of my cock even as my mind drifted to Tory. I worried as the communication went on to be ignored and tried to assure myself that Tory was just dating someone her age, as she probably always should have done. I would find someone for me that I could show off in public, not a girl that I had to hide in my bedroom for fear of losing my job. I was miserable when I wasn’t at practice or the gym, which became less and less. I never saw her there. When Gary invited us to his house for a BBQ to celebrate summer and the upcoming season, I felt my heart shoot into my throat. I knew that this invite meant a family atmosphere and a place for the guys to bring their families while Gary included his own family. Tory would be there. My cock ached for her, and I needed to see her

beautiful face again. I wanted to talk to her about everything that I was feeling and see the same emotions in her eyes. The weeks passed slowly before the big day, and I dressed in shorts and a button up shirt as I looked in the mirror. Thanks to my obsessive gym routine, I knew that I looked good, and I hoped that she wouldn’t be able to resist me. Had I fallen for this girl? I left to drive to his house, joining the cars on the sidewalk as the guys and their families walked with me to the door. One of the brothers opened it and greeted us as he invited us in, telling us that everyone else was by the pool. I tried not to appear manic as my eyes searched the house for Tory while I made small talk with the players. I saw her in the kitchen with her mom, still as beautiful with her hair a little longer and back to its natural color. She looked a bit tired, and I felt the electricity when she looked up and met my eyes. I could only see above her neck where I was before the guys opened the door and went to the back. I had to bide my time and I walked around with a beer, talking to everyone about what a great season we were going to have. I played the part of the coach well and appeared like I was here to party. It took everything that I had not to drop the bottle onto the deck as Tory descended with her mother, carrying food down to the tables that were set up on the grass. Her belly was rounded, and she had to be at least four months pregnant. I did the math and realized that there was a good chance this was my baby that she was carrying. A mixture of anger and disappointment filled me as I watched her walk, dressed in a green sundress that hugged her new curves. Tory was beautiful and she had some explaining to do. I held in my rising emotions and waited until we could talk alone, which ended up being after we ate. I managed to follow her to the second floor without anyone seeing me, catching her by surprise as she opened her door. “What the fuck, Tory?” I hissed as her eyes grew wide in shock and fear. “You scared the shit out of me, James!” She admonished me as anger flashed in her eyes. Yep, the hormones were getting to her. Her big round tits looked amazing though and I eyeballed them for a moment. “When were you going to tell me?” I asked her as I pushed her into her room and closed the door behind us. There was so much activity going on downstairs and outside that I knew we weren’t going to be bothered. “I wasn’t, to tell you the truth. You have a job to worry about, and my parents think that this is the result of a one-night stand, so you’re safe. I can do

this on my own,” Tory snapped as she turned her face away from me and walked over to her window. “This is my baby, too. I want to support you both…I want to know it once it’s here. Do you know what it is yet?” I asked her in a broken voice as she looked at me with shimmering eyes. “Soon,” Tory said as I took a deep breath. “I don’t need you, James.” “I want you, Tory. I want you and this baby. Can we work something out?” I asked her as she took a slow breath. “Please, baby. I miss you.” “I…” Her youth showed on her face as she looked at the floor. “I don’t know how to tell my dad about the baby, so I shut you out. He was livid when I lied about the one-night stand but it’s all I knew to tell him. It took him at least a month to calm down and he’s still not happy. He thinks I am going to quit school, but I can do both.” Her full lower lip jutted out and I wanted to suck it into my mouth. “I can help you. We can work on a way to tell him,” I assured her as I stepped closer. I reached out for her and she melted into my arms as I held her. “I’ll do anything you need me to.” “I’m doing okay, James. This is a safe pregnancy…I knew it would be. I feel healthy, and I am doing everything that I need to. Just sleeping more,” Tory tried to joke as I looked into her eyes. “Can I see you? Can we work something out?” I asked her as I cupped her face in my hands. “I’ll answer your texts, but we have to be careful,” she told me as I saw the fear in her eyes. Tory wasn’t the girl that she was before, willing to push the boundaries. Now she was soon to be a mother and scared of her future. I kissed her as she moaned into my mouth. I wouldn’t take it further here or ever if that’s what she wanted. I just wanted to support her and do what I could. My mind already moved forward to decorating one of my rooms for the baby and then I saddened as I pictured not having Tory there was well. We agreed to have dinner this week before I made my way back to the party and she cleaned herself up from crying with me. My heart was twisted as I drove home that night, not sure of what to do. I wanted Tory and the baby, but I was fearful of telling her father and losing the job I’d worked so hard for.

CHAPTER 9

TORY Seeing James broke me. I was so strong until I met his green eyes. I was staying away from him to protect him after finding out that my wish had come true. I’d never forget the day I took the test. I was so excited, and when I saw the positive result, I wanted to scream. Then reality set in, and I knew that James would lose his job for a baby that he didn’t plan. We were casual lovers, nothing more. He wouldn’t want his entire future ruined by a baby with me. I ignored his calls and texts as I cried alone in my bed. I played the strong woman for everyone else, pushing through my lies to my parents as Dad ranted on and on and Mom cried. How could their brilliant daughter be so careless? How could I slip up this way? I’d never admit that I stopped taking my birth control pills towards the end of my affair with James, wanting this until I actually had it. Mom was accepting of it now and even getting excited. She couldn’t wait to find out what the baby was so she could plan for it and start buying things in earnest. Dad was sullen, but I knew that he loved me. I tried to show him that I had this together every day as I continued about my life with a child growing inside of my stomach. I knew that he’d come through at the end, but now that I’d agreed to see James again, I couldn’t help but worry. I knew that I still had feelings for him, and I didn’t know where we’d end up. A big part of me hoped that I’d be in his bed soon. I was horny as hell, and my hand wasn’t enough anymore. I wasn’t about to sleep with some random guy to satisfy my needs, not with this baby inside of me. I deserved the best. I knew that sex would be hell on my emotions, but my pussy ached for him every night, and I cursed that part of pregnancy. I had a great thing with James and I hated giving it up. I made my way back to the party with my make-up fixed and a smile on my face. It was hard not to move towards James, towards the pull that he had on me. I just talked with everyone and played the part of the owner’s daughter. I acted excited about the baby and kept the tears at bay until I was in my room that night, alone under my covers. The next day I received a text. Dinner was at his house, just like before. I smiled when he asked me just what I wanted, making sure that it met his requirements for being healthy. I was obsessively healthy with this pregnancy. I wore a pair of capris and a t-shirt, since I was supposed to be studying

with friends. It was casual on the surface, but there was a heat that filled the room as he ordered in some big salads and poured me some ice water. James drilled me about every aspect of the pregnancy as I answered his questions in between bites of food. He’d already done this in texts and calls and it was sweet somewhere under all of the obsessive nature of it. But hell, I was still obsessed with him. Yes, I was eating healthy. No, I never had any real morning sickness, which made it a bit tougher to figure out for me. It wasn’t a problem to keep going to school and I’d be taking a little time off when the baby was here. It was all planned out…without James being involved. I wasn’t losing my future in all of this and I didn’t want him to, either. Were my brothers pissed off? Livid, actually. I never revealed who the father was, claiming a stupid drunken night at a party so they never had a face to attach their rage to. Now they were warming up to the idea of being uncles and helping me raise the baby, which I wasn’t certain about quite yet. We ended that night with just a kiss, though I wanted to rip his clothes off with my bare hands. He was sexy and the way that he wanted to take care of me was more of a turn on than I ever could’ve imagined. The next time I was there though, I attacked him. I told him all about what the hormones did to me between hungry kisses and his fingers moved to ease my ache as his lips claimed mine. Sex had never felt so good and I begged him for it again and again, throwing us right back into the affair that we’d started. I rode him once I assured him that sex wouldn’t hurt the baby. He took me from behind when I wanted it rough and hard and found ways to make missionary some of the hottest sex that I’d ever had. I made the visits to his house more than once a week once I realized that I’d found the itch to my deep scratch. Once we found out the baby was a girl, he started shopping. I went with my mom to find out, still sticking with my secret and James cried when I called him as soon as I could to tell him. He made such a beautiful room for her and I snuggled close to him in bed as looked down at my growing belly. We hadn’t decided to tell my parents yet and I felt like I was living a lie, in some ways. I wanted to tell them that I was happy and falling in love with him though I was acting like I was doing this on my own. I lied every time that I was with him, telling them something about school or studying. I knew that it was affecting my grades and my life and after two months of seeing each other behind everyone’s back, I looked at him in bed one night. “I hate this. I want to tell them so bad, but Dad is just getting excited about

her,” I told him as I rubbed my bare belly. Thanks to my hormones, I focused on sex more than talking and when we did talk, it was about the baby. We didn’t deal with anything else, staying inside of our bubble when we were together. “He’s going to kill both of us when he finds out and we won’t know our daughter at all.” “Baby, I can quit as a coach. I have money saved up, and I can start a business to support us,” James told me as I looked at him. “I’ll tell him. I’ll ask for your hand in marriage.” “He’ll kill you. We can’t tell him now.” I sighed and rested my head against his shoulder. “When did this get so complicated?” “It wasn’t planned,” he assured me as I looked down at the sheets. “I messed up with my pill. I think that I’m at fault.” I knew about his divorce and the details now, and I felt guilty, knowing what he went through with that. I didn’t know too much about it at all before the pregnancy. “I don’t want to trap you like this.” “I’m happy with you, Tory. I don’t mind that this happened,” James assured me as I stared at him. “I could’ve walked away once I found out about her, but I didn’t. I want to be in your life.” “Are you sure?” I asked as I read his expression. He was giving up everything for our daughter and me. “Yes. We’ll work through this.” James kissed my head as I closed my eyes. I always fell asleep here, and I was glad that my parents didn’t pay that much attention to me at night, even though they grew more concerned as the pregnancy moved forward. I was always home when they woke up in the morning. Around the sixth and a half month mark, they started to call me more and more if I was out late. I felt worse lying now and I’d go home earlier, taking time away from James. I knew that he was trying to focus on the beginning of the season in a few weeks and that the team was working hard to prepare. I knew that my absence bothered him since he was as worried as my parents were behind the scenes. I didn’t want to be a burden and I reconsidered us telling my parents all over again, though I’d have to either way. He’d want to see his daughter whether or not we were together. James was going to be an excellent father and I’d never take that away from him. We started to fight as I stayed home more and more. I was getting more tired as my stomach grew and school work was dragging me down more now. I talked to James and texted him as much as I could, but he said that wasn’t enough. My hormones agreed and I made a point of going over on the

weekends to try and pacify the situation. I wanted to make everyone happy and it was taking everything out of me. I couldn’t wait to be on a break from school and be able to focus on all of the other chaos in my life.

CHAPTER 10

JAME I was relieved when Tory agreed to see me again, not at all surprised that we began to sleep together immediately. We already had a strong pull, and she was pregnant, so it seemed natural. I didn’t want her with anyone else, and she assured me that she did not want anyone else. That happened after I questioned whether or not the baby was mine. Tory was pissed and threw a glass across my kitchen, reminding me not to mess with her out of balance hormones. She insisted that there was nobody but me and how could I think that there ever could be? She was a firecracker when mad as well as in bed, and I was falling in love with her. I let the issue of us go for a few months after we got back together to keep her relaxed, but I knew that I couldn’t do it forever. I needed to know that she and my daughter were going to be a part of my life. I didn’t even tell her that I loved her and she never said the words to me, though I was sure that it showed in the way that we looked at each other. It was in the way that we loved each other behind closed doors. It was in the way that I hoped out daughter looked a little more like Tory than she did me, because her mother was beautiful. Even the team asked me what was going on in my life. There were times that I was content and relaxed with them as well as days that I was on edge. They teased me about a new girlfriend and I was frustrated that I couldn’t tell them the truth. I couldn’t tell them anything. These were like my sons and I wanted to share my news with them, knowing that they’d be the overprotective uncles to this baby. At this rate, I wouldn’t be with her mother since we kept fighting with all of the stress hovering around the situation. It was terrible and I grew more on edge being alone in my house as I worked on a pretty pink nursery for my baby girl. The season started and I was busy with that, but missing Tory. She only came over on weekends since her parents were acting worried, something they

had the right to when I didn’t. It was making me crazy and I picked up the phone one day to make some calls. I had to find a way to make Tory mine so we could be a family once and for all. I decided to give everyone until the upcoming holidays to drop the bomb. It would be a break for Tory and we got together for a big Thanksgiving party every year. I’d skipped it last year since my mother had come down with a serious flu that put her in the hospital, but this year I’d be home and able to go through with my plan. I made some calls and hung up with a grin on my face as I stared at my phone and considered calling Tory. No, this as a surprise to her as well and one that I hoped was well received. I had just over a month to plan and I took what Tory could give me in that time. I knew that she was stressed out and the upcoming due date wasn’t helping matters. Her parents were being overbearing and school was nothing but studying for her right now. I let her study at my house in the evenings, watching her on the couch one night as I went over plays. She looked beautiful with her long hair and growing belly, and I saw her glance at me. “What?” “I want you to move in,” I told her, nudging the subject as she stared at me. “How? You’re lucky that I’m here at all. I doubt that they’ll let me leave the house once she’s born.” Tory was crabby, and I reached over and took her hand. “Just study. We’ll worry about this later.” I assured her as she smiled at me and looked down at her book. She finished with all of her tests just before the middle of November, and I saw her a little more than usual. It was hard to leave her house, but Tory told her parents that she wanted to shop herself for things, even though there was a shower coming up just before Christmas. I sat back and let my plan form. Tory took advantage of her parent’s party planning and came by to see me more since she wasn’t allowed to help this year. She looked gorgeous even though she claimed that she was a beached whale all of the time. I disagreed.

CHAPTER 11

TORY

The party was next week, and I was so glad to be done with school. I helped Mom from the couch as she planned the caterers, called the bartenders and scheduled delivery of the additional tables that we’d need. As stressed as party planning made my mom, she loved it. Nothing made her happier than keeping busy. I knew that she had a baby shower planned for me as well, though I’d asked for something smaller. I didn’t want it to be one of the events that they planned for the team or the extended family. That was intimate. I left the house when I could to see James, loving the feelings of his arms around me. He soothed me in a world that seemed so uncertain, though he didn’t bother me about moving in anymore. He just acted happy when I was there as though he didn’t want anything else and I got scared with that. My mind was mush. I didn’t know what I wanted anymore, and I grumbled about the party. “It’ll be fun, Tor. Lots of good food, the team. It’s tradition,” James told me as I rolled my eyes. “Maybe we can sneak off into that little room for old times’ sake.” I smacked his shoulder for that and crawled over him as I kissed him. It wasn’t easy, but we managed these days, and he seemed happy. Too happy. I managed to help Mom decorate for the party here and there, looking forward to it being over. Maybe then, James and I could sit down with them and tell them what was going on, just the four of us. I knew that there was going to be a fight afterward, and I wanted to keep it as calm and quiet as possible. This was so nerve-wracking for me. I wore a beautiful purple dress the night of the party with some black flats. It had cute cap sleeves and hugged my chest while it draped over my stomach down to my knees. I looked in the mirror after I lined my eyes with some dark liner and added some mascara. I didn’t want the bombshell effect from the party the year before since I got what I wanted, just without the man. I just wanted to be pretty because the cameras would be going off and my daughter deserved a beautiful picture of her mother before her birth. Then I would go cry for what I didn’t have in my life; the man that I loved but was too afraid to say the words to. James hadn’t told me that he loved me either, even though there had been hints about my moving in here and there and his telling me that he wanted me in my life. That was all I had and I wanted love for us. I wanted love for our daughter. I went downstairs when the guests started arriving and forced a smile on

my glossed lips as I descended carefully down the stairs. The team was arriving and I greeted them as they passed by me on the way to the bar to grab a drink, accompanied by their cute kids and beautiful wives. I told the family members that were walking in and hugged them as they told me how beautiful I looked. James took my breath away when he came in, dressed in a classic suit with his hair slicked back. He shook my father’s hand and kissed my mother’s cheek before he moved to me. “Looking beautiful as always,” James told me before he leaned down and pressed his lips gently to my cheek before moving into the house. I felt wrecked with the idea that I couldn’t join him, holding his hand and walking around with him. I imagined him here with a date and the idea killed me as I watched him smile at everyone as he chatted, looking happy and content. What was his secret? We sat to eat dinner and I considered myself lucky to be at the same table that he was. My father said a blessing as he always did at big meals and he teared up when he mentioned the baby and looked at me. I fought my own tears after all of the silence and stress I’d seen him go through over the last year. I glanced at James, who was smiling to himself as he raised his glass. Why was he so damn happy? I wiped the tears away that were more than just a reaction to my father. I wanted to stand up and scream that I was in love with James and that he was the father of my baby. I wanted them all to know. I was done with my plate and I pushed it away as James stood and cleared his throat. I stared at him, wondering what the hell he was up to. “I have a few things I’d like to say here.” He looked at my father and smiled. “Gary, I have been blessed to coach for your team. The guys are like my own kids but I’ve made the decision to resign and my assistant coach is happy to step up and take over for me. I have something else that I want to pursue in my life.” “James, what’s going on?” My father stood and looked at him with angry eyes. “Is it money?” “No, sir.” He stopped in front of my chair and dropped to one knee as my mouth dropped open. “I am in love with your daughter and she’s giving me a beautiful gift. The baby is mine and I want her to marry me more than anything and be a family.” I felt tears slide down my cheeks as the room reacted, but nobody stronger than my father. “You did this to Tory? She’s a kid, James. What the hell is wrong with you?” I winced as we were all a witness to Dad’s anger and I looked at him. “I’m going to be twenty-two soon, Dad. I am young but not too young to be his wife and a mother. I love him, and we’ve been seeing each other for months, only secretly. We didn’t know how to tell you, and I didn’t expect…

this.” I looked at him and wiped my eyes. “What are you doing?” “I’ve been dying to say all of this to you, Tory. I wanted to do it big and prove to this entire room that I’m in love with you.” He stood and looked at my dad. “Can I have your daughter’s hand in marriage, sir? I promise to take the utmost care of her and our daughter. I will make them my everything and give her the world. I just know that I can’t live without her.” “Shit, James. I don’t know whether to punch you or kill you right now. She’s my baby…” He looked at James and me. “You two are really in love?” “Desperately,” I told him as the tears ran free down my cheeks. “Take care of her,” my brother said as he stood with my father, joined by the other one. “Take care of her and the baby.” “For God’s sake,” I said as I wiped my eyes and looked down at James. “I know he will.” “You bet your ass he will,” Dad said as Mom looked over his shoulder and glared at him. “Go ahead, James. Do what you’re going to do.” James swallowed and looked at me. “Tory, I have loved you for far longer than I might be willing to admit and I’d love for you to be my wife. I want to make a home together for our baby. Will you marry me?” “Yes, yes and yes. I’ve been waiting for you to say this to me.” I laughed nervously as he pulled a ring from his pocket and slipped it on my finger as I started to cry again. It was beautiful with a band covered in diamonds surrounding another rock that was big enough to sparkle but not gaudy. I loved it, and Jack stood and pulled me slowly into his arms as everyone started to clap. He kissed me softly and whispered that he loved me. He whispered that he always loved me, and I agreed before kissing him again. We pulled away and looked around at the faces staring back at us. Some were shocked, others were smiling, but the most notable faces in the room were my parents as they lifted their glasses in a toast. “I am going to offer you the job back as well, James. I don’t mind keeping football in the family, but don’t expect any special treatment from me. I still expect the team to win it all this year.” Dad said as we both stared at him. He winked and James looked at me. “What do you think?” “What do you think? I get to keep you either way,” I told him as I stared at him. “I was going to take some time off with you, travel once the baby is here and maybe join a business with my friend. I want to be home with you,” James told me as I smiled at him.

“You’ve taken the team this far already this year, and I’ll be busy with the baby once she’s born. We won’t be traveling anywhere for a while. We can go on a great trip in a few months. Stay for a while,” I urged James as he kissed me. “I’ll take that offer…Dad.” Dad groaned, and I pulled James closer for another kiss. I knew that we could make it. I knew that we had the love for each other as well as our baby.

THE END

DADDY’S BEST FRIEND

"IT'S good to have you home again, Max," said Sam. Would that I could say the same, she thought. But her modeling career, in as much as she had one, had gone bust, so while her parents thought it was great that she was at home again, the sting of failure was still a bit hard for Maxine Sawyer to stand. Her mother, a small, lean woman with frizzy hair and 1970s-style aviator glasses, led her upstairs, back to her old room. It felt weird, being treated like a guest even though she already knew where everything was. Her parents hadn't done much to her bedroom--they'd donated or otherwise got rid of all of her old clothes and cleaned out her trove of high school art projects, from the time she'd thought she wanted to be a designer. They'd kept some of her better pieces, though, she was glad to see. But otherwise her room was much as she'd left it when she landed her first modeling contract in Los Angeles--the white lace bedcovers were still there and the walls were still the warm shade of butter-yellow and her old crocheted rug was still next to her bed. "Wow," Max murmured, as she threw her suitcase on her bed. "This brings back memories." "Your father and I were hoping that you'd stay, go to college--" "Mom, not now, okay?" Max said. Her parents had never liked the idea of her being a model. They said it was a career path fueled by drugs and alcohol, one that turned pretty girls into old women before their time. Max could see the truth of that, even as a willful teen, but she was determined to make a living

of it all the same. She did everything right--she worked whatever jobs she could find, her green eyes and blue-black hair landing her opportunities that most models couldn't get. She had a "charming, beguiling look", as the modeling agency that hired her maintained. But after three years, the contracts started drying up. She wondered what it could be--certainly not her weight, which she'd maintained at a steady 112 pounds since the beginning. And her reputation--eager, hardworking, creative, intelligent--was stellar. "Sorry kid," Gerry had said. That was the Gerry O’Connell, the manager of the All Occasions modeling agency she signed with, when she called to ask him why she had no work. "These things come and go. One moment you're in, the next everybody wants sun-kissed blondes. Right now it's a Brazilian moment—deep tans, tousled salt-sprayed hair. Maybe you'll have better luck in Ireland." Well, she would have gone to Ireland--she'd thought about it, and even started the visa application, at least until she realized that just filing the papers would cost her $500, and that was $499 more than she could spare. Damn the EU, she'd thought. Only later did she realize that even the cheapest flight to Ireland was easily in the four digits. So it was on to Plan B, which she would have been okay with if Plan B actually paid anything. In LA, if you couldn't make it as a model then you hacked it as a waitress, worked bit parts as an extra in movies and shows, or you signed up for making porn. Waiting tables was a hellish hustle, which would have been worth it nonetheless until she realized that every diner would have to tip her at least 18%, and she needed at least 30 hours a week, before she could make rent. And given that the management always skimmed a bit off the tips and she could have her hours cut without notice, it became impossible to both pay rent and eat, and while CopaCopa did give the wait staff free meals it was only one meal in a day, and that was barely enough for even a model. She wound up going through Whole Foods, because they at least had free samples, but after the second assistant asked her if she needed any help she realized that it would be suspicious to go to Whole Foods and never buy anything. Working as an extra was mostly about free food and strong coffee. Porn actually did pay, but just the process of getting cast was more humiliating and degrading than she had the stomach for. For some reason her being a virgin was supremely desirable--but when they began talking about lessons on how to give proper blow-jobs suddenly calling her parents and asking to come home didn't seem so bad. "I'm just glad you're home, sweetie," her mother said, now. "Dinner at six,

okay?" "Thanks," Max said. She wondered how to tell her mother that her diet had changed—when she’d tried to explain what veganism was her mother just nodded blankly (they were using Skype) and asked if organic butter would be all right. She’d sighed and nodded. Her mother would still be cooking luscious meaty casseroles and heavy, creamy soups, accompanied by thick slices of cheesy, buttery bread---and in the meantime, she'd added gluten to the list of food that she didn’t eat, so that was another thing she’d have to explain. Basically, if her mother cooked, it was off-limits. But as the smell of chicken pot pie wafted into her room, she found herself wondering if maybe eating a full meal for the first time in three years could really be a bad thing. Her parents did mean well, after all, and they'd taken her in again without any "I told you so" or making her feel guilty about not heeding their advice. Maybe college wasn't such a bad idea--as she looked over the pieces of her portfolio that her mother kept she realized that they weren't halfbad--she could get a job somewhere while she worked towards a degree in graphic design, and maybe even design clothes one day that people would fight to model. Irony was a funny thing, she thought as she put her clothes away. Still, this was a second chance, and she knew that most people didn't get one. And it began with eating her mother's chicken pot pie and telling her parents that she was going to enroll in college.

IT’D BEEN a long time since she was back in Maryland. She’d forgotten a lot about it—she’d fallen asleep on the drive home from the airport and therefore missed a lot. But now, in the morning, she woke up in her bedroom which felt bigger than the entire apartment that she’d shared with four other girls, also all models, to the sight of the sun coming over the trees in their backyard—it felt a little like she’d landed on an alien planet, where the hot water worked and there weren’t hair clots the size of her fist in the shower. She pulled on a long shirt/short dress, depending on whether she was wearing leggings with it (it was leggings weather), going for “boho chic”, but she realized that she’d sold all of her turquoise jewelry for the plane fare home. She still had some cheap costume jewelry, though—some dangly feathers, a string of wooden beads—so just plain “boho” it was, then. As she went down the stairs and into the kitchen and smelled eggs and bacon it was amazing how badly she wanted some, even though she was a vegan (until last night).

“Good morning,” her mother said. “Hi,” Max said, as she sat down at the table, sheepishly—unable to hide how much she’d missed having eggs and bacon. Her mother gave her a sidelong look and plated out one egg and a strip of bacon, and added an English muffin to it for good measure. “It won’t kill you,” her mother had said the night before, when she’d tried to explain (again) what being gluten-free meant. “How do you know?” she’d asked. “Did you know that we’ve only been eating wheat for five-thousand years? Before that we were hunters and gatherers—” “The world didn’t change overnight,” her father had said. “You think they invented plows and tamed oxen and built cities in two days?” “No—” “Then we’ve been eating wheat and cows and chickens before then, too,” he said, gruffly. “This is our home, and if you want to stay here then you have to live by our rules.” It had seemed gauche to start a ruckus about lifestyles and living decisions on her first night home, so she’d bitten her tongue and ate the chicken pot pie. But now, she could tell that her mother wanted to discuss something with her, and it wasn’t about her pseudo-reluctance to eat the eggs and bacon. Her mother was putting away the dishes in the dishwasher, a focused frown on her face as she composed her speech. Max waited. “They’re hiring at Lincoln,” her mother said, finally, picking up a mug of coffee on the counter and sitting down across from Max. Lincoln was the main strip mall in the area—for all that they said that strip malls were dying Lincoln was still doing a bustling trade, not the least because it was the only place in twenty miles to get anything. “Thanks, mom,” she said, not-saying that she was so not going back to retail, or waiting tables. Everybody at CopaCopa had told her that at least they weren’t getting robbed outright, like they did in the suburbs. She’d worked at the Gap, herself, in her teenage years, for a pathetically low wage, and there was one thing she was certain of: nobody ever made it anywhere by working in retail. “You’ve got to start somewhere,” her mother said. “I know,” she said. “Can we just agree that it’s going to take me a little while to come up with some kind of plan, though, please?” “How long do you need?” “I’m going to go to Montco today to see what their requirements are for enrollment,” Max said. Her mother smiled, as Max knew she would. “Maybe

see about a work-study while I’m there, and then go for a swim.” Her mother had a family-wide membership for the local YMCA—it was cheaper than getting three separate memberships, especially since her father used the gym irregularly and she was only in two a few times a year. And she did have to work off the chicken pot pie from the night before. “Work-study would be good,” her mother agreed. “At the very least, you’ve already worked, so you know what they’ll expect.” Didn’t you spend three years telling me that modeling wasn’t a real job? Max thought, but she kept her mouth shut. She wasn’t in a mood to pick a fight with her mother now—and her mother really did have good intentions for her, she reminded herself. It was just that, having been a housewife for almost twenty years, she really had no idea how things really worked out there in the real world. Max ate the egg white and scraped the rest of her plate into the trash, while her mother sighed. “I told you,” Max said, as she pulled on her shoes. “I’m gluten-free and vegan now.” “Bring the car back before three,” her mother called. Max nodded. It’d been a while since she’d last driven; she was always the designated driver when she and her modeling friends had gone out—the stories about girls getting drugged and raped were too common for it not to happen, and her friend Jenny had had a close call. If Max hadn’t walked into the men’s room at the club by accident, there was every possibility that Jenny would have been raped—her dress was pulled down to her waist and the man had just whipped out his cock, and Jenny was clearly out of it. So she never drank in public places—and anyway, after her modeling gigs dried up she was too busy scraping together rent money to party, anyway. So it was rather incredible how fast and automatic everything still was— look left, look right, check her blind spots, scope the mirrors, turn, merge. She wondered, briefly, if this meant that she was supposed to be living in the suburbs, with its perfect tree-lined streets and two cars in every garage, stifling her with its Stepfordian perfection. It was what had drawn her to the city—or rather, pushed her out of the suburbs—and now, as she pulled into the parking lot of Montgomery County Community College it was hard to think of this as a way out, instead of as a prison. She got the standard admissions tour, which came with a run-down of the amenities (a library with 134,682 books, as if someone had actually sat down and counted them all) and a brief explanation of how work-study worked. Her GED, which she’d taken to become emancipated at the age of sixteen, was still good, so she didn’t need to take that again. The arts program was nice—they

worked in traditional media but also alongside programmers and animators— and she thought that there was something in it for her, especially when she saw some of the students’ projects. Her mother and father would be pretty darn furious about it, though. A fine arts degree from a prestigious university was pretty darn useless as it was— never mind one from a community college. But she could spin graphic design as a good skill and a worthy degree to have. If there was one thing living in LA had taught her, it was that people were suckers for good design. It was barely noon when she left the admissions office, resolved to talk out the financials with her parents that evening. That gave her three hours before she had to get the car back to her mother—plenty of time to take a dip and do a few laps. At noon in the middle of the week there were very few people there, and the people that were there were mostly old and saggy. Still, swimming was swimming, and as she dived into the pool she felt her body come alive again, and what a joy it was to be weightless in the water. She could still do nearly a full length of the pool without taking a breath. Freestyle, breaststroke, butterfly—she did them all, and as she hung onto the pool after a series of laps she heard someone behind her say, “You’re quite a swimmer.” She turned around, expecting to see one of the old men who were doing languid laps in the pool—there were always older guys around looking to flirt with her, and that went double because her swimsuit had cutaways in the sides, enough to be interesting but not enough to be risque. He was treading water behind her. He was definitely older, but his arms were lean and ripped, and she thought she could make out a well-defined six pack despite the water. His face was vaguely familiar—she had the feeling that she’d seen him before on TV, which was ridiculous because there were no celebrities in Bloomsdale, Maryland. But he seemed pleasant enough, open and honest, with a nice smile. “Thanks,” she said, pleasantly surprised. Most of the men who wanted to talk to her were old enough to be her grandfather, which she found sketchy as hell. “Name’s Jack,” he said. “I’d uh, shake your hand but I’m kind of busy right now.” “Max,” she said. “That’s all right.” “Race you to the other end,” he said, grinning. Oh really, she thought. He must have only just arrived—otherwise he wouldn’t have made such a silly challenge. “What’s the prize for winning?” she asked, as he slid under the lane marker and into the one next to her. “If I win, a date with you, if you win, how about twenty bucks?”

She should’ve known that he would go or something like that—not that she planned on losing to him. “One date,” she said, “that’s it.” “One date,” he agreed, “though I may ask you out again.” “You’re assuming that you’ll get that lucky,” she retorted, grinning. “Oh ho, getting cocky now, are we?” he asked. “Not as cocky as you are, thinking that you can beat me,” she said. He shook his head, smiling. “I knew I’d like you the moment I saw you,” he said. “Make it fifty,” she said, trying to decide between her butterfly and crawl —the butterfly was a faster stroke, but it took a lot out of her. But then again, there was only one lap— “Fifty it is,” he said. He must be loaded, she thought, as she braced herself against the pool “Go!” he shouted, and she took off, kicking against the water with both legs in an explosive burst that took her almost a quarter length of the pool before she had to kick again. The butterfly was faster but it was harder to get right, and if she didn’t time every movement, from the sweep of her arms to the rippling kick with both legs, it would be a sure way to lose. But she was good at the butterfly, if only because it was more fun than lifting weights to keep her upper body toned for her modeling career. She flexed herself, snapping her legs into the water again, certain that he was behind her—three more strokes to go and victory would be hers. He was nowhere in sight. Two more strokes and she would be fifty dollars richer. One more stroke— And then all of a sudden he rocketed past her and touched his wall just a fraction of a second before she touched hers. “Ha!” he shouted, ripping off his goggles. She stared at him, bug-eyed with disbelief: how did this happen again? He wasn’t Michael Phelps, was he? “Don’t feel bad,” he said, reaching over the rope to shake her hand. “I should’ve told you that I was the state champion and an Olympic contender.” “That—that wasn’t fair!” she sputtered angrily. “If I’d known—” “You’d have still raced, don’t deny it,” he said. “To be honest, I didn’t think I’d beat you.” She scowled and pulled herself out of the pool, heading to the bench for her towel and flip-flops. “Oh come on,” he cajoled now, following her. “One date with me isn’t so bad, is it?” She bit her lip and rolled her eyes as she headed into the women’s locker

room. You did make a bet, she thought reluctantly. One date—not the end of the world. She would survive. “Pick me up tonight at seven, 1725 Wynwood Lane,” she said. “Wear something hot,” he called, as the door slammed shut in his face.

“YOU WHAT?” her father sputtered. “You what?” her mother gasped. I probably should have told them, thought Max, now, turning red. She wore a short skirt and high heels and a sequined, silvery camisole top, with a cute little black bolero. It was a far cry from the jeans and sweatshirt that she’d worn earlier that day, and when her parents saw her outfit they, predictably enough, flipped out. And then, when she told them why she was dressed “like a two-bit whore” as her father put it, she thought they were going to ground her or something absurdly childish like that. “I’m not a child anymore,” she said, which set off another round of apoplectic anger and speechless stuttering noises from them both. At that moment, though, the doorbell rang, and she could see the conflict: politeness for the stranger, or scolding their daughter for her bad decision? Max didn’t care: she straightened her back and opened the door. “Hi Jack,” she said, as he stepped inside. He was wearing rather tight jeans, she noticed appreciatively, and a simple white form-fitting t-shirt that showed off his slim waist. He carried a black leather jacket over his arm. When he saw her parents, he nodded and said, smiling, “Sam, Darlene, nice to see you—” “Wait—you know my parents?” she gasped. “Are there any other secrets to you that I should know about?” He shrugged, grinning. “Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of her,” he said, to her parents, who were still trying to figure out what to say. “Max,” her father said, now, a low, dangerous anger in his voice. “Can we talk?” “Dad,” she said. “Now,” he said. She looked at Jack helplessly, but he waved her towards her parents, saying, “I can wait. I was expecting this.” He sat down on their living room sofa, while her father pulled her into the kitchen. “Max,” her father said, before she could protest. “Jack and I have been business associates for most of our adult lives, now. I know the guy—he’s sketchy as fuck—yes, I just said the f-word. That’s how bad he is—” “Dad,” she said, “I know you think I’m still a little girl, but I’ve been

living on my own in LA for three years. It’s just one date, okay? No big deal.” “You say that—” he began, but she was already on her way back out and she walked out the front door quickly, before her parents could catch up. She knew her father would be trying to run after her, trying to say something that resembled a coherent sentence instead of useless, futile rage. Jack followed her out and opened the door to the car for her. “What was that about?” Jack asked, as he settled into the driver’s seat and pulled on his seatbelt. “My dad says you’re a terrible person,” she said. He laughed. “Yeah, yeah, he would,” he said, softly. “Well, I don’t think you’re terrible,” she said. “Rude, maybe. Pushy, sure. But you don’t kick puppies or anything, do you?” He smiled at her. “You know, I knew you’d understand.” ***

FOR AN OLDER GUY, he definitely knew where all the fun things were. She’d had her share of men in LA; the younger ones would take her to skanky clubs where the cover was only a dollar and drinks were three for five. The older ones would take her out to classy restaurants and take her dancing. Thirty seemed to be the age of demarcation—she’d never dated anyone older than thirty-five, and now here she was with a guy old enough to be her dad, in a wine club on the outskirts of Bethesda, sampling glasses of wine, olives, figs, and roasted nuts. “I’m not twenty-one,” she’d hissed as they approached the entrance. “I’ve got that taken care of,” he said. And he did. Somehow, he merely whispered something to the man standing outside—a bouncer, perhaps, except the place was hardly rowdy enough to need a bouncer—and she was escorted in with him. They took their places next to each other in a booth, and every few minutes someone would come up to the table pushing a cart with a bottle wine and a small plate of food, and they could either take a glass or send it along. It was sort of like dim sum but for wine and tapas, and as she popped a stuffed olive in her mouth she felt Grown Up in a way that she’d never felt before. On her previous dates, the guy would order the wine, and try to tell her how she should swirl the glass, what to look for, how to taste, but Jack would merely say, “Oh, this looks like a good bottle. Shall we try a glass?” “You’re not going to tell me how to aerate my wine?” she asked now, sipping at the dark, rich liquid on her tongue. “Why should I?” he asked. “Presumably if the wine needed to breathe,

they’d have done it already.” “Most of the guys that I’ve dated want to teach me things about wine, that’s all.” “Do you want to learn?” She shook her head. “If it’s good—like this one—the that’s enough for me.” “Not a fan of tannins,” he remarked. “Is that what makes your mouth go dry?” He smiled at her. “You’re good,” he said, approvingly. “I knew you were smarter than most people think you are.” “Try telling that to my parents,” she said. “They still think I’m a stupid fourteen-year-old who has her mind in the clouds thinking that she can model. What do they have against you, anyway?” He darkened a bit, a combination of embarrassment and anger. “My exwife. She says that I beat her.” “Did you?” “Not exactly.” She blinked at him, wondering what on earth he could possibly be talking about. He tilted his glass down his throat and gulped it down. “What the hell,” he said, finally, his voice harsh from the wine. “It’s not like we’re going to fuck tonight, anyway, right? I mean, you’re probably still a virgin, right?” She blushed. Now it was her turn to be embarrassed and angry. “What’s it to you if I am?” she demanded. “Just because I have standards for the men that I will go to bed with doesn’t mean that I’ll never sleep with anyone.” He leaned back and studied her for a minute, debating whether to tell her. Then he said, “I know what the stories are about me, but I didn’t beat my exwife. But my sexual tastes run into the realms of the—shall we say, perverse.” “Oh my God, you’re not into children are you?” she asked—a bit too loudly, it seemed, because all of a sudden he seemed to panic and tried to shush her. Fortunately if anybody noticed they at least had the decency to ignore her remark. “No, no—nothing like that. I mean things like—well, blindfolds, whips, handcuffs—that sort of thing.” She had to stifle a giggle when she heard that. For some reason she always associated “handcuffs” with “pink fuzzy things that never really locked” and it just seemed absurd imagining him with them, his arms above his head— probably getting tickled with a feather duster. “Sorry,” she said. “It’s just—not something I’d expected to hear from you.” He was her father’s age, after all— granted, he was far better-preserved than her father had ever been—and for

some reason she never thought of older men as being into anything kinkier than maybe having the woman on top. He shrugged, relieved that she wasn’t going to blurt out any more incriminating insinuations about him. “I am what I am,” he said, stopping one of the waiters and pointing to the bottle on her cart. She poured, and when she walked away he continued, “My ex-wife thought she would be into it, but when push came to shove, no pun intended, I hurt her—that part is true. But it was always part of the game, you see—for people like me, pain and pleasure go together. Our pleasure is heightened when there is an edge to it. It transcends the act of sex and turns it into an—well, an experience, to put it mildly.” He was getting excited as he spoke and she could feel herself getting drawn into his words, her curiosity making her wonder if maybe she could have done it, after all. When she’d been looking into doing pornos the guys who directed those kinds of videos had surprised her when they said they didn’t pay—they didn’t have to, they explained. Women actually paid them, and that had never made any sense to her—they were getting penetrated, shocked, chained, bound, and gagged—why suffer all the extra humiliation if they weren’t paid? But now that he’d explained it to her she began to wonder if there wasn’t something else to it, after all. “You have to know what you’re doing and know your limits and trust your partner completely,” he said, now, looking into her eyes. “There’s an element of faith involved—there’s no middle ground, no ‘I’ll trust him if’. You’re either all in or all out.” “You must really need to know someone before you try that,” she murmured. Strangely, she found herself thinking, I could trust you. But why was that? She’d only just met him—objectively there was no reason for her to trust him, other than that he seemed to be, well, trustworthy. But unlike her parents, he didn’t make her feel like an idiot, he didn’t twist her words to mean what she clearly didn’t—he respected her enough to take her opinions seriously, even if they didn’t always agree. As a case in point: another bottle of wine and another plate of tapas floated by—crispy eggplant, covered in aioli sauce. What the hell, she was thinking. It wasn’t as if she would ever model again—at nineteen, she was officially “middle-aged” as a model, and if she reached twenty-one without obtaining supermodel status the most modeling she’d ever do would be as one of the nudes for the art department at Montco. And what the hell, too: her parents would be furious with her anyway for going on a date like this—she might as well give them a reason to be infuriated. It was a shitty reason to have sex for the first time—but at least he would know what he was doing, which was more than she could say for any of her other

dates. He sighed and continued, “And then there are people who aren’t wired that way—for them, pain is just pain. There’s no pleasure in it, and no matter how much they want it they just can’t feel it, you know? My ex was one of those. We tried for six months—and then she filed for divorce, and the rumors began. I spent a small fortune settling that—and, well, my reputation has never recovered.” “That’s hardly fair,” she said, sympathetically. “It is what it is,” he said, popping a crumb-covered fried mushroom into his mouth. “But that’s why your parents don’t like me, and truth be told, I wouldn’t approve of you dating me, either. I’m quite the disreputable charmer, according to those who know.” “So charm me,” she said, “if you can.” “Are you sure?” he asked. “The kinds of role-play I like aren’t for virgins who have yet to discover what turns them on.” “I haven’t had sex yet,” she said, evenly. “That doesn’t mean I don’t know what turns me on.” It was a lie—she didn’t know what she wanted just yet— but she did know that his description of pain and pleasure had excited her curiosity like nothing else. He frowned at her, studying her. “You have to want it because it’s what makes you happy,” he said. “I can’t give you that.” “Then teach me,” she said. “All right.” He reached under the table and rested his hand on her thigh, tracing his thumb back and forth across the tender skin on the inside of her thighs. A shiver ran through her, and from it, came a tiny little spark of anticipation. His hand moved slightly higher up her thighs, but his thumb was still making that slow sweep back and forth, back and forth, setting off tremors of anticipation all over her skin—but just when she was getting turned on by it— just when she could feel herself getting wet and hot—he stopped. “What—” she began, her voice hardly more than a whisper. “Rule number one,” he said, softly. “You can always say ‘stop’. It won’t always be that word, exactly—but when we get to my house we can pick a safe word. Until then, though—if it ever gets to be too much, you can always say ‘stop’, and I will stop, and I’ll bring you home, and we’ll never speak of it again.” “Got it,” she said, wishing he would resume. “Rule number two,” he continued, “total honesty. I will always tell you what I’m going to do to you—but it is up to you to tell me what you think is all

right.” “I can live with that,” she said, and then she felt his hand work her skirt up all the way. She gasped—not at the embarrassment of being exposed like that —there was nobody to see, not where they were sitting—but at the suddenness of it, the audacity the man had. And what she felt was glee. “Rule number three,” he said. “Complete submission. As long as I tell you what I’m going to do and as long as you say it’s all right, you must obey me. Even if it means getting down on your hands and knees, right here and now, and blowing me in front of the entire restaurant.” “Do you really want that?” she asked. “No, but I do want to cut those spaghetti straps, so that the only thing between you and a public indecency charge is that bolero that doesn’t quite close all the way.” She looked at him, feeling as though it was some kind of test. She had no compunctions about showing off her breasts—she’d modeled half-naked before, and between the lighting guys and the cameras and the makeup crew modesty was one of the first things to go on set. But here—this was a restaurant. He was right that the bolero would keep her breasts covered, but neither did she want to spend the entire night worrying about a nipple accidentally popping out. “Not here,” she said, finally. “The company’s too nice.” “But elsewhere?” She nodded. He raised his hand for the check—and then she wondered what she’d gotten herself into.

HE TOOK her to a movie theater. It was pretty crowded, being Friday night, and the movie wasn’t anything remarkable, something about a boy and his dog. But no sooner had they taken their seats when he leaned over and whispered, “Now, I want to cut the straps of your top.” She nodded, feeling a tightness coiling in the pit of her stomach. He pulled out his pocketknife and sliced through the straps, and reached through her bolero and pulled the sequined top down to her waist. Nobody seemed to notice—the seat backs were relatively high and when she threw a discreet glance sideways the young couples on either side were too busy kissing and making out to notice. As soon as the cold air kissed her breasts, she shuddered —and realized that she was completely at his mercy. All it would take was a single flick and she would be exposed. “Put your head on my chest,” he whispered, as the movie started.

She did as he told her. It felt nice, to have his heartbeat in her ear while the movie began—and then his hands began toying with her breasts, his fingers gently squeezing her nipples, nearly making her cry out with an odd sensation of pain and curiously intense anticipation. She felt her hips begin to grind into the seat, almost of their own accord, and then he whispered, “I want to touch you. I want to feel that moment you become wet, when you become a woman under my hands.” “Okay,” she whispered. She could feel his arm snaking around her body, and his hand snaked its way down her skirt and cupped her pussy. “So smooth,” he breathed, “so soft.” And then his fingers resumed squeezing her nipples, extracting little bolts of lust from her and all of a sudden one of them went straight into her crotch and it took everything she had not to cry out as she felt wetness soak his hand, her panties, her skirt. “Taste yourself,” he said, now, moving his fingers to her mouth. “One at a time, don’t get greedy, now—yes, just like that—” Salty-sour-sweet—and the skin on his hands were so soft, she’d give anything to be touched with those hands again. “Silent,” he whispered, as a whimper rose in her throat. “If I hear a sound out of you I strip you naked right here.” She clenched her teeth as he touched her pussy again, this time reaching between the folds until he found the little swollen bud of her clit. Her entire body clenched and coiled as the need built up, like water building up behind a close hose. If he didn’t let her go it would explode out of her— “Yes,” he whispered. “You want to cry out, don’t you?” She could only nod, the tears in her eyes blurring the image on the screen —she thought she could hear people snickering at her but in the darkness of the theater she could see nothing. Then he whispered, “Do you want to come?” She had only a vague idea of what was meant by “coming”—something with a lot of screaming—but it was exactly what she wanted to do. She nodded. “Then come with me, let’s go home.” ***

SHE’D THOUGHT he meant back to her home, but at some point in the dark she realized that he’d taken a turn into the rural countryside; that part of the East Coast had some houses dating back to the colonial days, and she soon found herself outside an old-fashioned colonial house, three stories, with a wraparound porch. It looked like a smaller version of a plantation house, and

before she could say anything he said, “I wish I could say it dates from the Civil War. As it is, I just paid a very good designer very much money to make a very good mock-up.” She stepped out, aware that her tits were flopping about all over the place, wondering if he’d meant for her to cover herself up. The fabric brushing against her nipples would not allow her to forget that she was nearly halfnaked. And you’ve only just met Jack and you know he’s into BDSM and you’re going into his house. How does this end well, again? The living room was nice enough, the space clean and modern, but the furnishings curvy in a nod to the faux-antiquated design of the house. “You have a nice house,” she said, as he went to the drinks cabinet. He looked at her questioningly. She nodded—a little liquid courage never hurt. “Thanks,” he said, as he poured out her drink and handed it to her. “Any second thoughts?” he asked, pushing aside her bolero and taking a look at her tits. “It’s now or never.” “If I back out now my parents will never let me hear the end of it,” she said, looking at him over the rim of her glass. “So never it is.” “That’s not a good enough reason to want this,” he said. “You promised me I could come,” she said. “So I did,” he said. “But you’ll live without it—and with any amount of luck, you’ll soon have a twenty-something who’s hotter than fuck at your beck and call—so why me?” “You said you knew what you were doing,” she said, starting to feel a little uncertain about this, now. Of course he had to make sure she really wanted it —but it just seemed cruel, now—dangling the promise of a sexual experience like none she’d ever had before, and then taking it away just because he chose to be careful. She was the one being reckless—shouldn’t her opinion count for something? “And I want to feel like I did in the movie theater—I want to feel like—you’re taking care of me,” she added, haltingly. “Like you know who I am on the inside and you don’t care that it’s not perfect.”

He nodded, and took a sip of his whiskey. “Then we’ll start you off with something light,” he said. “You will strip naked in front of me, and I will put you in this dog collar, and we will go down to the basement, where I have my little, ah, playroom.” She gulped. But he’d already seen and touched her—any pretense at modesty now would be hypocritical. “And then?” she prompted, mostly to buy herself a little time to work up the nerve to strip in front of him. “And then I will chain you, and whip you with a riding crop. We’ll stick with something simple—if it ever gets to be too much you can just say Coca Cola and we’ll end it, okay?” She found herself nodding helplessly—part of her realized that this was incredibly stupid, trusting a guy she’d only known for three hours to whip her until she came. But that was exactly what she found herself wanting, and as she faced him and took off her bolero top the quivering excitement in the air was palpable, now. “Fuck,” he murmured, as she peeled off the sequined top, and then worked her skirt over her hips. “I knew you were hot—but this—” “I take it you’re happy?” she murmured, smiling. “No speaking,” he snapped. “You’re mine, now, mine to do with as I please, do you understand? You don’t do anything unless I permit it, and you don’t speak except to answer my questions. Keep your eyes on the floor.” She licked her lips but did what he said, feeling the first pangs of humiliation running through her—the first twinges of doubt. “Now,” he said, as she took off her shoes and worked her panties off her hips, “I know it’s rather disconcerting being a submissive for the first time. You still want to have some control, but that’s the whole point of submission—surrendering everything, trusting entirely—” “How can I get past it?” she asked. “Embrace it,” he said. “Suffer. And live.” It seemed a little odd to her, but as he pushed her down to her knees and put a dog collar on her she began to feel a little better about it all, strangely enough. She was already naked, what more could being on her knees do? He led her down the stairs, through a gap in the shelves. The room he’d prepared was small but it was clean and brightly lit—and there was an apothecary dresser, with its dozens of little drawers, standing in one corner. He pulled her over and took out a pair of handcuffs from one drawer, and a pair of leg irons from another—and two long steel chains from a third. Did all of the drawers have something kinky in them, she wondered, as he cuffed her hands together and raised them above her head, hooking the cuffs to one of the

eyelets in the ceiling, and then spreading her legs apart and shackling them to the floor. “Comfortable?” he asked. She nodded. He hit her. Not very hard—her cry was more from surprise than from pain, because it was where the smack was that was so shocking, a long, sharp stroke up the inside of her leg. She hadn’t noticed the thin, flexible rod while he was chaining her, so the touch came as a pure surprise, not the least because it left behind a tingling sensation that somehow worked its way deep inside her-Again—this time closer to her pussy. This time the tingling went deeper, and this time she found herself craving the next stroke even as she writhed from the initial sting. He was an artist with the rod, knowing just how hard to hit and where to hit and how long to wait— Again—and she let out a groan as it smacked her right between her legs, kissing her clit with a sharp sting and then leaving her own body to work itself into a frenzy of pleasure—but this time he didn’t wait: he hit her again, and again, and again—almost letting the pain dissipate between each smack but not quite, so that even as the pleasure became more and more intense so too, did the pain, and as she cried and moaned and screamed he stepped into her and kissed her with a fierceness that matched her own. She felt his hands stroking her breasts again, and as he squeezed her nipples she felt herself clenching around his tongue, which only seemed to excite him more. “Make me hard,” he said, letting her arms down and pushing her gently to her knees. She gulped and whispered, “I don’t know—”

“JUST LIKE in the movie theater,” he said, stepping out of his pants. His cock was before her, shining and gleaming and impertinent in its erection. “What you did with my fingers—taste—” She got the idea, even though his fingers were smaller. She licked it tentatively at first, wanting to please him, and she felt his hands clench her hair with glee. I can make you do things, too she thought, and she sucked on him just a bit, watching his body twitch. A little harder, and he began to swell inside her mouth, tasting strangely sweet as his cock pulsed inside her. A little more, and there came an animal groan from his throat and she was not the least bit surprised when he pushed her to the floor and thrust himself inside her— It hurt, like no other pain she’d ever experienced—a searing, tearing kind

of pain, and yet when he pulled himself out she wanted nothing more than it for to continue, because with the pain came a brilliant, scintillating ecstasy that made her cry out and whimper. It changed as he thrust inside her, each thrust bringing another wave of pleasure mixed with pain, and each time the pleasure became greater and greater, each wave higher and higher—and when she let herself go and rode it, it felt like nothing she’d ever had before. “Thank you,” she heard herself whispering, as every nerve in her body quivered and sighed with relief. Relief that it was over, relief that it felt so good.

SHE’D ONCE THOUGHT that keeping the things Jack did to her at night a secret would be hard, and sometimes it was: sometimes her nipples were so sore from the night before that she could hardly stand the feel of a t-shirt over them —which wasn’t a problem on the weekends (Jack didn’t demand that she be naked but he did like it, and she liked to please him) but during class it was all she could do not to squirm, and she knew that some of the younger men snickered at her for not wearing a bra sometimes. But for the most part what took place in the basement, as they worked their way through the various clamps, vibrators, blindfolds, straps, chains, and ropes that were in that chest of drawers, was easy to keep secret, because it was something that she didn’t want to share with anybody. It was an odd arrangement when she thought about it, which wasn’t very often, nowadays. Six months after that first date, she had her own room in his house, and her own car to take to and from classes. He paid for her classes at MontCo. She even managed to find a modeling agency that was not too far from Jack’s house, and even resumed modeling. It wasn’t glamorous work, to be sure—mostly catalog work—but it paid enough for her to pay for her own gas and go shopping and get her hair done—all the little things that she felt weird asking Jack to pay for, even though he probably would. But what was their relationship? The question of whether she was a whore used to bother her immensely—there was no question that he was willing to keep her because she was willing to let him fuck her thirty-six ways from Sunday. But at the same time, she liked it—she liked pleasing him, she liked what he did to her, and she even liked him. They’d once spent a morning at the National Smithsonian discussing the virtues that got Michael Jackson’s glove into the exhibits but not David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust outfit. He’d discuss business with her over dinner; she’d talk about her classes and how eerily similar programming and coding was to languages. And no matter how long the day was, how tedious their lives were, she would wait in the basement on her

hands and knees for him every night, the collar around her throat, hoping that she could please him. Was this love? It certainly felt like love, but she couldn’t deny that her parents—when she spoke to them, which wasn’t very often—had a point: what would happen to her once the sex stopped? What would happen if he truly hurt her? What would happen if she did refuse him? “It’s only love until you say, ‘No’,” her mother had said over the phone, haughtily. But that was the thing— he’d never, not once, asked her to do something that she would refuse. There was no real way to talk about how safe he made her feel, even as he nearly exposed her in public, even as he made her writhe on the floor in a strange combination of agony and ecstasy, and so she never tried to defend him—not that she had to. Her smiling, beatific presence by his side at corporate gatherings, next to all those hawkish forty-something wives who’d spent years stifling their own desires and snuffing out those of their husbands, was enough. She was young and pretty and they were happy together. “They just can’t stand to see people happy,” Jack would murmur after those nights. “My father was there,” she said after one such gathering. “He didn’t seem to approve.” “So fuck him,” said Jack. “The people who want to tear us apart are the ones who can’t get what we have.” But how do you know? She lay next to him, wondering if her parents had really been unhappy, and how they’d masqueraded such an appearance of bliss —and why they went to such lengths. “Truth be told, I feel bad for them,” he said, now. “They think that if they play by the rules, ‘work’ on their relationship, that makes happiness—but happiness is really just dumb luck, just like success—” “Hey,” she said, turning to face him. “That’s funny, coming from a selfmade guy like you.” “If we’d been having this talk fifteen years ago, I’d have agreed,” he said, rolling onto his back, and she followed him, running her teeth over his nipple making him draw in a sharp breath and arch his back. “Ooh, you naughty little vixen,” he murmured, sliding his hand between her legs now, pressing on her until she quieted, becoming still. “Fifteen years ago, I’d have said that I did everything to get myself into the top law firm in the area, and that I was the one working my ass off to make partner. And that’s still true. But now I realize just how lucky I was: I got into and out of law school when it was still possible for lawyers to find a job, when going to a mediocre law school wasn’t a demerit on your resume but something that could be overcome with a shit-ton of hard work. I was lucky to be born into a race and gender which is universally

favored by law firms. And above all, I was lucky enough to have had a summer job caddying for Jordan Wexler, the owner of the firm. We all get lucky,” he said, moving down to suck on her nipple. “Some of us just get luckier than others.” “That’s a very—” she gasped, as he did that thing with his tongue again “—optimistic way to look at the world.” “Optimism is the only way to see the world,” he said, his voice muffled by the blanket as he slithered down her body. “Hello, what have we here?” He’d trained her to spread her legs and lie still, whenever she heard him say those words, and now, she could feel her body flush with glee as she waited for him to take her. Usually it would be with his hands first, stretching her even as her body clenched down on his fingers, but sometimes he’d surprise her with a vibrator and make her scream. But a minute, then two, passed, and he did nothing. “Do you want to use some toys?” she prompted. “Or would you like me to masturbate for you?” “No,” he said, finally, pushing her legs together. “Neither. Just let me be with you for now. I want you to be fresh for tomorrow.” “What’s tomorrow?” she asked. “Well, I think you’re finally ready for the weighted clamps.” “For my nipples?” “And your labia,” he added, and she squealed with delight. She blushed and bit her lip, trying to hide how delighted she was, that he finally thought that she was ready for the weights. “I do love to please you,” she whispered. Which was why, the next morning, she was shocked to find out that she was, indeed, pregnant. She’d never really tracked her periods—but it had been a long time since her last one and she didn’t exactly know when she should have had it, but then last week on her way back from MontCo, while picking up some facial cleaner and cotton wipes and more lip gloss, she suddenly realized that it had been a long time. She’d picked up a pregnancy test, but after she put it away she’d forgotten about it for a while, until this morning when she was making her list of things to shop for and checked her stash of tampons. Even as the lines appeared she didn’t really believe this could happen, even though what she could remember of sex was hazy. She just remembered that getting pregnant was unlikely—and she’d always thought that Jack would have asked her to use birth control if he thought that it would be likely. But that was one conversation that they’d never had. She took the day off to ponder how to tell Jack. He would probably be

delighted, but she couldn’t be sure. They were happy together, weren’t they? Wasn’t that enough? So why introduce a baby into this whole thing? Babies changed things—she could get back into shape, sure, with enough time at the gym, but there were parts that never felt quite the same, and tits would never be as perky or bouncy as they were now. She thought about her mother—as petite and as trim as she was, there were parts that sagged, a pooch that didn’t go away. Would he still love her after that? And how would they handle sleepless nights, endless diaper changes? Would they be able to swing child care, especially since they were so far away from anywhere else? And how would she make the kid realize that normal women did not wait in the basement every night for their husbands to spank them and make them scream? She did the only thing she could think of: she went home, to her parents’. Her mother was home but her father was not, which was fortunate because she didn’t think her father would handle the news very well at all. It wouldn’t be easy to tell her but Max needed to tell someone. Her mother sat her down at the kitchen table with a cup of tea. Here goes. “I’m pregnant,” Max said, after a moment. “You’re—what?” Max just nodded. Her mother’s eyes went wide, watery with tears, and she broke out in a huge smile. “Oh, my sweet—I’m so happy for you—” Max had never felt more relieved in her life. Her mother dabbed at her eyes and said, “I suppose that means you and Jack will be getting married soon?” “That’s the thing,” Max said. “I don’t know if he’ll take kindly to the news. A kid changes everything.” “Well, yes, of course,” her mother said. “But your father wouldn’t be the man he is today without you, Max. And believe it or not he does miss you—” “He has a funny way of showing it,” Max muttered, recalling how her father had told her that Jack would beat her. Which was true enough. Just not in the way he thought—and she wasn’t about to give him any ideas. “Well, a grandchild would be a wonderful thing,” her mother said. “Leave your dad to me. I promise, when the child is born, your father will be the best grandfather in the world.” “He always did like to sneak me candy,” Max said, laughing. “He misses you,” her mother said, softly. “Give him a chance, will you?” “Jack didn’t beat his ex-wife,” Max said. “I think he’s finally gotten to accepting that.” By the time she left her parents’ place it was already getting late in the day. Jack would be home soon—and there was no way not to tell him about it. She

wasn’t normally out this late—he would know something was up. Simple, direct—just say so, she thought. Like the way she’d told her mother— Except her mother was her mother, and Jack was—she didn’t want to call him her boyfriend, because he was so much more than that. But neither were they married, and while she might have been all right with being his sub forever had she not been pregnant, things were going to change, whether she wanted it or not. Jack’s car was already in the drive when she pulled up. She gulped. He’d wanted to try the weighted nipple clamps tonight—she’d finally earned them— but she wasn’t naked and waiting for him in the basement, which meant that he would be displeased—and that meant that he would get rough. She saw him sitting in the living room, waiting for her, through the window —holding the cat o’ nine. As soon as she came in, he raised his eyes and with a single look, commanded that she strip naked, “Please, let me speak—” He stood up and swatted at her legs with the cat. “What excuse could you possibly have for being late?” he demanded. “You know the rules, you know where you need to be, and you know the consequences of disobedience.” “I know,” she said, feeling his eyes on her breasts as she shimmied out of her dress and panties. “But I swear, I have a good reason—” “Hello, what have we here?” and when she looked into his eyes she saw that he expected her to obey, even now. “I’m pregnant,” she blurted out, as she laid down and spread her legs, closing her eyes against the tears that were welling up in her eyes, turning her face away because she knew he would whip her breasts. This wasn’t fair! She had something important to tell him and all he wanted to do was play his sex games—she could feel the cry starting in her chest— He picked her up and held her. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered. “I had no idea—I mean, I’m so sorry I thought you’d actually go against me—is it real?” She looked at him, now—his face had softened. He was happy, much to her surprise—so happy he was crying, even. “It is,” she said. “I found out just this morning. I had to see my mother, first—that’s where I’ve been—” “Oh, I am so sorry,” he said holding her tightly as he rocked her back and forth—trying to quiet her cries even as he began sobbing with joy himself. “I —I thought you’d left me or that you were using me and now—I’m just—we should go on a trip—let’s go to Vegas and get married—” She was crying, now, too—from relief. “If it’s a girl I’ve always liked the name Laila,” he said. “Nadia,” she said. They laughed, both of them, together, now, and as he helped her to her feet she could feel his hands warm on her ass. “Lincoln if it’s a boy,” he said.

“I like that,” she said, splaying a hand over her belly. “I never thought I’d be a father,” he murmured now, as they interlaced their fingers. “After my ex-wife left, I just—I never thought it would happen,” he said. “And now—oh, I can hardly wait to meet you,” he said, talking to her belly. Strange, how one little line on a pregnancy test can mean so much, she thought. How much hope could be contained in it, how much happiness and joy could be contained in that promise of new life. His hand pressed against her abdomen, now. “We’ll have to take good care of her,” he murmured.

HER GUARDIAN ANGEL

CHAPTER One Everything was so boring in the summer, so boring that it made Kate Dillinger want to scream. She shifted her weight in her bed, stretching her arms up high and glancing outside her window onto the balcony. She needed some excitement, something worthwhile. She was still lost and a bit turned on by the evening before, though she was hesitant to admit it to herself, much less Aaron. Even now she could still see him, coming out of the pool, but this time he was naked, thinking she was out for the night. He had a woman over, which was rare all by itself. Kate stood crouched in the pool house, watching as the woman seemed to be in control at first. She kissed him, letting it deepen more and more until she found herself straddling him on the couch, her hands in his hair, kissing him, as he moved his hands up her back to pull her closer to him. They both kissed with abandon, seeking and searching the other for something more. Kate felt her own body reacting the scene unfolding in front of her. Aaron was her guardian, and he was certainly not an old man. She saw that he was fully erect, helping the woman as she knelt down taking him in her mouth. She felt the excitement rise as he put his hands in the woman’s hair, winding it up until he controlled her head, using her mouth to make him feel good. He moved his hands down her body, roughly and eagerly, caressing her in every spot she wanted. He stood then, lifting her easily and flipping her over on the chaise lounge where he had just been. She was outside of herself, doing things that were completely outside of her comfort zone. This was not who she was and she loved it. She was deftly

slipping her hands down into her panties, her eager fingers rubbing at the tiny nub there, stroking deftly as she watched Aaron push his massive rod into the woman on all fours. He hit her ass hard, the red tint could be seen even where Kate sat in the secluded room. His hands were everywhere, and she felt heat red hot course through her young body. He was using that woman, pounding into her from behind and owning her in a way Kate had only seen in movies. He moved with sure thrusts, pumping madly into her quivering body, her cries could be heard loudly as he moved more and more. He seemed to be touching her everywhere, his hands branding her body like fire. She was still moaning loudly when he stopped suddenly, standing up tall and erect, offering himself to her. Kate felt the pressure building as she pulled one of her rounded breasts out of her dress, pushing them together until she could just barely reach her own nipple with her pink tongue. She flicked at it wildly as she watched the woman move in front of him, and he pushed her back on the lounge once more. He moved his fingers down lower, until he grazed the soft opening of her, gently pressing there causing her to moan loudly. He continued on, playing and seeking her until she was panting with desire, her body flushed and her womanhood ready for him. He straddled her gently, pushing his length against her, seeking her opening where she eagerly gave herself to him once more. She looked up at him, pleading with him to take her and to own her. He was stretching her almost too much, but as he moved, her body learned to accommodate his girth. He held her legs apart wide and buried himself deep, grabbing the top of the chair and pumping into her groaning with each thrust. His movements were sure and swift as she watched him push and pull into the woman’s body. She wanted more, much more and as she rose up to meet him thrust for thrust, he moved faster, harder and deeper. Kate felt herself climbing that familiar climb, seeking that pinnacle of desire. She moaned his name, as she crested that peak, Hearing and seeing the woman doing the same on the lounge, her body convulsing as she quivered beneath him. It was almost more than she could take and she yelled out to him. Kate smiled as she watched him shake slightly as well, as he pulled out just in time to cover her body beneath him with the proof of his desire. Kate slipped off, out of the back of the pool house and into the front door, she made it upstairs and shed her clothes, her panties too wet to wear now. As she showered and got ready to crash, she was still shocked at her actions and how she had reacted to seeing Aaron with that woman. He was built like a

stallion and she had never felt an orgasm like that in her life. It was strange how quickly life could change things. Today started off like any other day, him getting ready for work, and her packing even more into her suitcase. She was ready to go and it couldn’t happen sooner for her. Some part of her was sad, wishing her parents were there to see her off, but they were gone and had been for years. She could remember them, especially her mother, who would sit by her side, holding her hand and comforting her whenever she needed it. Even the night they died, she had been in denial, still sitting by the window waiting for them to return home. She had been 13 then, unruly and wild, and without a soul in the world to care for her. Aaron came the next day, his kind eyes, and gentleness was something she hadn’t had much of n her short years. She was left with no one and nowhere to go. He took her in, helping her to get settled in his house, and making sure she was able to go away to all of the best schools. He had literally saved her life. After yesterday’s events she wasn’t sure if she could ever look at him again, not in the same light anyway. She knew she wanted him, in a way she had never wanted anyone in her 20 years. She had been waiting, saving herself for someone to love her. Of course, she had fun, pushing things to the limit, but ultimately she had saved herself for someone special. She had learned to please herself, getting what she needed, without asking anyone else. Now, she was in a new situation, one she wasn’t sure she could get out of. Aaron had been there for her through everything, and to see him in this new light was a shock to her system, and it made her want more. She heard him shuffling around as he left for work and she went down to meet him for breakfast. He was tall, and broad, his shoulders making him look far more menacing than he probably was. He was muscled, and well-built especially now that she had seen him completely naked. He took care of himself, his dark hair and goatee were just slightly tinged with gray, and his eyes sparkled when he laughed, something she had always loved about him. Aaron had been her father’s best friend, and she had seen him off and on growing up until he had taken her in. She had never really looked at him like a man, until now. Seeing him through a woman’s eyes certainly gave her a new perspective, and she wanted to push the envelope even more. She was sure he only saw her as a child, as a guardian would someone they had taken in. There was little doubt in her mind that he didn’t see her as a woman. She rounded the corner and he was there, giving her a quick glance and smiling at her.

“So I know you are set on moving away, and all that but I have something for you.” His eyes twinkled as he handed her an envelope. She took it from him delicately, smiling at him as well. He was always doing things for her, and she felt a rush of excitement as she read the letter inside. “We are going on a road trip?” She smiled at him. It had been something the two of them had talked about for years, and finally they were going before she moved out to L.A. “I thought it was about time.” He gave her a wink, and something deep down quivered at it. “I am so ready, when do we leave?” She was already thinking about the closeness in the car. “In the morning, pack and be ready tonight so it makes things easier.” He grabbed his things and was gone. She stood there thinking about the next three days and what could happen. There was so much that could go right, or wrong. She smiled to herself as she went upstairs to pack.

CHAPTER Two Packed everything was ready to go that night as he asked. She saw him give her a one over as she bounced down the stairs happily, her tight t-shirt was hugging her curves and her denim shorts were as well. She wasn’t a small girl, in fact she was curvy, in all the right places, and she knew it. She had been fortunate enough to get signed to a modeling contract which only accepted her curves with a happy smile. In some ways she was a pioneer, paving the way for women who didn’t fit into societies idea of the perfect woman. She had a mass of red hair, that was her signature thing. It spilled down her back in a mass of curls and she had deep blue eyes that most guys she had dated said were her best quality. She made her way into the kitchen, flinging her hair behind her shoulder and grabbing dinner from the side board. She saw him arch an eyebrow in her direction, so it was clear he was aware of her. She decided to push the envelope a little over dinner. She leaned forward as they ate, doing her best to give him a perfect view of her cleavage, which he seemed to ignore at first. There was something about him, something that seemed off edge, and she used that to try again. She moved to pick up the dishes off the table to help and when she did she let her breast bump his arm. There was an obvious moment that passed, though she didn’t want to focus on it, instead she kept going, though when she looked back he was blushing.

She knew she affected him somehow and as she slid into bed that night she was once more plagued by images of him naked and pounding into the woman on the chaise lounge. She sighed as she stripped herself free of her nightgown, running her hands over her curvy body once more. She could imagine him again, but this time it was her under him, feeling as he pushed into her hard, taking more and more as he went. She let her hands drift down, rubbing and touching herself. Her massive breasts were standing at attention on her chest, the peaked tips aching against the sheet. She pinched them gently, knowing she like how that felt and gently moved her hands farther and farther down her body. Soon she slipped on hand unto the wet heat of herself, at the junction of her thighs. She was surprised to feel the heat and wetness there, and the ache started down deep. She wanted to make it better, needed to and she rubbed the swollen nub she found there gently, moaning as she ached with the sweet clenching feeling it caused. She envisioned him slapping her ass hard, like he had done the woman. Him riding her harder and harder until she couldn’t take it anymore, and until her body was open to him completely. She felt her hips buck against her own fingers as she worked the tiny bud of desire into a frenzy, only stopping when she finally climaxed hard and full. She smiled as she rolled overthinking about what fun she would have for the next few days. Morning came with a full spread of sunshine, giving her even more to be happy about as she dressed for the trip. She decided on a tank top, no bra and some cut offs, which she knew he would arch an eyebrow at. She bounced happily down the stairs just as he put the last bag in the jeep and turned to face her his eyes immediately going to her chest and then back up to give her an odd look. “Missing some clothes Kate?” He slid into the seat and she could only smile as she got in beside him. “NO not really, we will be in the car most of the time right? I may as well be comfortable.” She started humming a tune ignoring his pained expression as they set off for the mountains. The trip was pleasant both chatting about life and work. She couldn’t help but bring up his afternoon escapades. “So seeing anyone?” She tried to be nonchalant, but he hesitated before answering. “No, not really. How about you Kate, no boys hanging around yet?” He gave her a smile. “Some, but no only one that I think I have feelings for.” She knew he would never guess it was him.

“Really, that’s interesting. You are so young.” He looked out the window as he drove. “Actually Aaron, I am 20, I am not that young anymore. You just don’t want to see me as a woman is all.” She went back to humming her song, noting his strange expression. The found the campsite for the first night, pitched a tent and settled in, both laughing over the campfire neither of them were able to start on their own. Soon they were eating and happily talking about the next few days. She stood stretching her arms up high as she checked out the water. “I think I’ll go see how cold that water is.” She started walking quickly down to the water’s edge, knowing he would follow her. She turned around to face him as she quickly stripped off her shirt, her massive breasts jiggling in the moonlight. She saw his face tighten as he looked at her and then he quickly averted his eyes. “Kate, be careful that is probably full of snakes or worse.” He wouldn’t look at her, but she had seen the lust in his eyes, she had all the answers she needed now. She splashed water at him as she stripped off the rest of her clothes and let the cold water seep into her skin. It was invigorating and she quickly got back out, smiling as she watched him putting out the fire at camp. She slipped her clothes back on, still damp from her escapade and made her way back to the tent. As she climbed inside she noted how close the sleeping bags were, though he had put a clear gap between them. She smiled at him as she wrung out her hair. She saw his eyes drop down, her fat hard nipples poking through the wet t-shirt she had on. She waited, letting him look before she turned around to crawl under her sleeping bag once and for all. He took his time coming to sleep, but soon he was laying nearby, and she could tell he was awake. “Whatcha thinking about Aaron?” If anything the element of surprise would be on her side. “Nothing really, just been a long day.” He sounded preoccupied, and she knew why. She was still thinking about his answer as she drifted off to sleep. There was a sound, but she was unclear what it was exactly. Rolling over carefully she lifted her eyes just enough to glance around the tent, hoping whatever was moving around wasn’t some kind of animal trying to get in. At some point in the night she had gotten hot, her shirt was hiked up both breasts spilled out freely in the coolness of the night air. She saw then what the noise was, and what was making it. Aaron was laying in his sleeping bag, doing his best to be

quiet, as his eyes raked over her exposed breasts as he as he methodically stroked his huge member in his sleeping bag. She felt her body respond to it, knowing he would stop if he knew she was awake, not wanting him to quit. Her nipples grew hard as she lay there thinking of it, her hooded gaze keeping her secret as he could barely make out her luscious globes in the dim light from the lantern. She heard his gasps, and a slight moan as he found release, all the while his eyes still looking at her. She heard him sigh as he drifted off to sleep, and she did the same.

CHAPTER Three As the morning came they set off for a hike, something on her list of things to do. They were dressed appropriately, and spent the better part of the day enjoying each other’s company. She went out of her way to let her breast touch him or to linger longer than usual, she knew she would have to make her move soon. She was tired of being a virgin, she wanted to have sex, and she wanted it with him. As the night finally came she showered and settled in for the night, waiting for him to come inside the tent as well. She made small talk then shifted the conversation completely. “Aaron what is it like to have sex, I mean the truth. My friends tell me one thing, but I don’t believe them.” She gave him an innocent look, as she watched his face pale. “I don’t think I am the one to talk to about this Kate.” He fussed with his blanket and adjusted the lantern to keep himself occupied. “Well I don’t have anyone else, please tell me. Does it hurt?” She heard him groan slightly. “No… well yes and then no.” He gave her a strange look. “You haven’t had sex yet? Like at all?” “Only with myself.” She said it hoping for a reaction and she got one, he seemed to be lost in a moment, but he recovered. “It hurts and then it doesn’t. That’s it.” He said it as if he were explaining the way you ride a bike. Hmm, she sighed letting it go, knowing he would be awake later, and she would make her move. She didn’t have to wait long; she woke to hearing the muffled sounds once more. She smiled knowingly as she gently stripped off her clothes, and slid the sleeping bag further down, until she was completely exposed to him. She heard a groan, and she turned to face him, spreading her

legs a little wider as he continued to stroke himself. She was sure he thought she was just moving in her sleep, but he would know better soon enough. She moved her hands down touching herself as he watched her and soon she felt his gaze change, and shift to focus on her more intently. “Let me watch.” She managed to whisper to him, and despite everything telling him no, he froze. She moved over towards him, doing her best to help him. She moved the sleeping bag out of the way, exposing the massive staff pointing upwards. She lay next to him, her full body spread out for him to see. She ran her hands down her chest, pinching her nipples and he moaned loudly, the member still bobbing freely. She moved her hand lower and lower until she spread wide for him, and she rubbed her tiny jewel of excitement. She enjoyed the playing for a moment and stopped long enough to smack her womanhood with her hand causing a stinking sensation, that thrilled her. He moaned and she saw his hand once more stroking. Moving to her knees she crawled over to him, her huge breasts swaying as she went. He was stroking madly as she fed him one of the globes, rubbing the fat nipple across his mouth gently. “Kate, we shouldn’t.” He tried to say but before he finished his tongue flicked out and grazed the nipple she offered him. She felt the heat of it, and a thrill rushed through her. He looked up at her as he suckled at her breasts now, sucking harder and harder, flicking and biting the hard peak and then she switched to the other one, giving him more to take. Smiling she moved closer to him, until she was close enough for him to touch her. She moved her hands to work her tiny nub of excitement, watching him slow his movements as she increased hers. She looked at him. “Please help me.” He moaned loudly moving so that he could cover the apex of her thighs with his mouth. The warm heat of him and his tongue wildly slashing out to her tender flesh. She felt both hot and cold at the same time, and the thrill of him tasting her, sucking her juices and lapping at her was almost too much. She felt him slow his movements, tasting her now and making his movements more precise that he had before. His tongue worked her nub like an instrument, teasing and playing as he swiped it back and forth over her, finally making a swirling pattern on her. She felt the familiar climb happening, though the intensity was far stronger than it had ever been alone. She felt her hips move on their own, as they bucked wildly onto his face, grinding into him, feeling the pressure of his mouth. Finally, she saw stars as she exploded on his face, and he grabbed her ass,

lapping up her juices. He sat back staring at her, his body taunt with the need for release. He moved forward then, using a finger to test her, feeling the opening of her. Sitting back, he did his best to simply stroke himself, finding release. She opened wider for him. “Take me.” She managed to get the words out, and she heard him groan and stop his movements once more. “Kate I can’t.” He grit the words out. “Yes you can, come take me.” She used her hand to open up her womanhood to show him how wet she was and he moved forward, pressing the massive rod against her opening. She felt him there, and the pressure of his hardness as he pushed into her slightly, with the help of all of her wetness, he managed to rock back and forth a few times to loosen her up. He pushed in a little further the next time, causing her to gasp and she looked up at him smiling. “This is when it will hurt.” He managed to say, before he plunged into her in one even thrust. She yelled at the impact of him inside her, the feel of him consuming her body as he stayed there for a long moment, before he pulled out and plunged into her once more. She shuddered at the feel of him, her body a mix of both pleasure and pain. Soon the pain was gone followed by a sweet aching feeling deep down. She felt the world swirling around her as she met him thrust for thrust, until he was soon moaning out her name, collapsing on top of her. She felt the heat of him as he found release inside her walls. Neither of them knew what to say, though she knew she was far more content than he probably was. He sighed loudly, no doubt lost in thought over everything that had just happened. He turned finally to look down at her. “Why Kate, why me? You should have saved yourself for someone else, someone better that you can be in a relationship with.” He paused. “It’s not your fault, its mine. I should have been stronger, should have known better. I’m sorry Kate, please forgive me.” She was confused and angry at the same time. She grabbed her things standing up, giving him a hard look. “How can you say that?” With a huff she went outside, making her way towards the smoke where the fire had only recently been put out. She felt the tears fall, knowing it would be fruitless to stop them. She felt him behind her before he said a word. “Kate… please I didn’t mean to upset you.” She could hear the pain in his voice. She spun around to face him. “Why don’t you look at me like more than just

a child then? Why would you say that I should have waited for someone I could have a relationship with?” He touched her face gently with his hand. “I am so much older than you Kate, you are beautiful, and vibrant. You could have anyone you want.” “What if what I want is you?” She felt the tension in the air, though neither of them knew what to say. “I’m sorry Kate I’m no good for you.” He walked back to the tent, carefully settling in for the night, leaving her alone and upset She waited an hour, knowing that inside that tent was a man she was falling in love with and her innocence. She knew going back in there she would have to face both of them head on. At the very least she could hope that he was asleep, leaving her to deal with her broken emotions alone. She made her way in, hearing his deep and even breathing. He was in fact what she wanted, though she hadn’t been 100% sure of that before, instead saying whatever she thought would hurt him later. But looking at him now, laying there she wanted nothing more than to curl up next to him, and feel his hands on her again. There was no way he could have touched her, and taken her to places he had earlier, and not felt anything. She wanted to wake him, tell him the truth of all of it but she was afraid he would tell her no, denying what he felt once more. She settled into her sleeping bag, feeling a few tears still fall as she drifted off to sleep.

CHAPTER FOUR Morning wasn’t a welcome sight for her, she rose, knowing it was later than they had planned and glanced over at his sleeping bag only to see that is was gone, and rolled up in the corner of the tent. It was their last day and in three days she would be gone, for good. She had to step outside, she knew she would have to face him, and face what had happened. He was missing from the camp, and hearing the splash she knew he was in the water. There was no better time than the present, to plead her case. She made her way down to the lake, seeing him naked from the waist up. She stood there, arms folded watching him. Finally, he noticed her on the bank. “Kate.” He could only say her name, afraid to do or say anything else. “I have questions.” She wanted the truth no matter how harsh. “Ok, I am willing to answer them, you know that.” He made his way closer to her whiles still staying submerged in the water. “You don’t want me, you made that clear but I want to understand why?”

She cleared her throat. “I told you why it won’t work Kate, I never told you I didn’t want you. You should know that after last night.” He sighed looking at the water. “You are fine with fucking me, that was clear, but you don’t WANT me. That’s altogether something different Aaron.” She crossed her arms once more, staring down the hill at him. She felt tears threated to spill again, but she held them in check, and held her ground. “It’s not like that Kate, I mean yes your sexy but I don’t think of you as an object.” He had the decency to look up at her and frown this time. “Do you think I’m sexy, or just parts of me?” She was yelling now. “I saw you with her you know, the blond in the pool…I know I am not her, nothing like her.” She paused for effect. “Oh my God Kate, you saw that?” He ran a hand over his hair, sighing in the process. “She was beautiful, is she the reason why you don’t want me?” “Her, hell no Kate, she is a friend. We get together from time to time that’s all.” He was visibly embarrassed. “She was very different than me, I can tell you that’s one big thing isn’t it. Let’s just be honest about the whole thing. You don’t want me because I am inexperienced, and because I am fat.” With that she spun around and made her way back to the tent, cramming her things into her duffle bag as she went. It was too much, too overwhelming. She felt his hand on her arm and he spun her around to face him. “Have you lost your mind Kate? Neither of those things are true and you damn well know it.” “I don’t know it Aaron, but things are much clearer to me now.” She had barely gotten the words out when him mouth came down on hers in a searing kiss. She tried to breath, but he crushed her to him, him mouth and tongue exploring her mouth, bruising her tender lips as he went. “Touch me Kate.” His vice was hoarse. She did as he asked, his girth growing in her hand. “How can you even think any of those things, look at what you to do me?” “Then why, why don’t you want me, why don’t you think of me as more than a child?” “Fine, you want me to treat you like a woman Kate?” He pulled her roughly with him into the back of the tent where her sleeping bag still lay on the floor. He pulled her clothes from her, and she helped him to remove his own. She wanted him, and hated him for making her feel small at the same time. Soon she was naked and he attacked her pale flesh with relish, his mouth

on her everywhere at once. His body reacting to hers in a way she had never imagines. The roughness of his bearded face left scratches on her chest as he traveled down the length of her, kissing and nipping his way down. From there he pulled and bit each nipple, branding her with his lips, teasing her and making her feel like she was losing all control. He moved his hands over her, cupping her full breasts as his mouth made its way down her body, kissing and loving every inch of her. She looked up at him his mouth finding her again and kissing her with a feverish eagerness, making sure she knew that he wanted her, and she had no doubt of it. She let her hands wander as well, hearing his sharp intake of breath as she raked her nails lovingly down his chest, running over his nipples delicately. He gasped at her onslaught then grabbed her hands pinning them above her head as he pushed her down onto the sleeping bag. Stuck she couldn’t move, her body a mind of its own, moving on its own accord, reacting and giving him everything he wanted. She had no choices, she simple was there, for him to do as he saw fit. She felt his body press against hers and she gasped at the heat they created between them. She wanted and needed more. She felt his hands roam over her body, leaving nothing untouched. Soon his hands roughly made a path top her womanhood, slipping a hand between her thighs to find the softness there. She reacted to him, her body opening up to him giving him access to her, all of her. He moaned her name into her mouth as he kissed her, wanting to be close to her as he moved his hands over her creating a reaction, making her want him. She reached her first climax as he moved his hands on her, she was panting with desire as he moved then, deftly slipping between her thighs, holding her up to meet his thrusts as he entered her. She felt like she was flying as he lifted her up higher, making sure each thrust was deep and true. Soon they found a familiar rhythm, and she met him thrust for thrust until he stopped. Pulling himself from her. “Get on your knees Kate.” He said it with such calm that it made Kate shudder as she did as he asked. She felt the red flush creep into her cheeks as she stayed that way, in position for him, exposed in such a way she would have never imagined being comfortable with. She felt his hands gently graze her ass, tapping her gently. She was reminded of the woman in the pool, and how he had hit her, leaving a mark. She felt her body tremble in anticipation of what would come next. He dropped soft kisses down her spine and she relished in those sweet moments. Soon he was behind her again, and she blushed once more which only made him chuckle. She felt him push at her opening from behind and as he

found the entrance, using her own wetness as a guide, he plunged into her. She reeled from the feel of him, buried deep inside her. He was almost too big, filling her too much. She lay down flatter on the sleeping bag, hoping to accommodate him more and give him more access to her sleek sheath. With one final thrust he was buried deep, and she felt him grow even more inside her as he pulled out, only to push back in once more until together they moved as one, both taking and giving to the other both seeking out that final release. His hand hit her bare ass, the curvy rounded orifice jiggled with the hit and the dark pink stain was likely very evident on her pale skin. She felt him deep as he found his climax, that matched her own. He withdrew once more, only this time, she curled up against him, not wanting to move until later, much later. When finally, they did, they went down to the lake to clean up, where he made love to her again on the bank side. That night as they sat together around the fire, he held her to him, his mouth dropping kisses on her whenever he could. Things had shifted, had changed somehow but neither of them wanted to talk about it.

CHAPTER Five They had to go back, and she was leaving. There was nothing more they could do about it. The ride home was very different from the one heading out. Their relationship had shifted and changed so much now that neither of them knew exactly how to behave. The closer they got to home, the more distant he became, and she knew he wasn’t ready to accept her as anything new yet. She made her way inside, locking herself up in her room needing some time to think about everything that had happened over the last few days. She needed to decide what she needed to do. Thinking about being without him now was like a piece of her missing, but she knew this opportunity in L.A. was one that wouldn’t come up again later. She had a shoot next week that would cover her bills for the next year. She came down after dinner, knowing he would be in his office and yet he was there waiting for her. He stood in the doorway, watching her as she came down, knowing she would come down eventually. “You were waiting for me?” She whispered, her eyes roaming over him. “I knew you would come down eventually, I just had to wait.” He folded his arms across his chest, watching her. He took her in, she could tell by the way his eyes roamed over her. “I don’t know what to do Aaron, with everything that’s happened. I don’t know what to do or think about any of it.” She felt tears well up, but she held

them in check. “I am in the very same place Kate. I am lost.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I can’t stop thinking about you, or wanting you. Everything I do is about you and yet I am torn because I know you deserve more, and better. I’m a much older man Kate, I am not like the guys you are used to.” “I am leaving in the morning, how am I supposed to do that?” She blinked at him rapidly. How do I go off and live a new life and never think about this?” “I don’t know Kate, there is no right or wrong answer. I just don’t know anything.” “I’m going to bed.” She whispered it. Giving him a glance as she went. It couldn’t have been more than an hour before she made her way to his bedroom. She was no fool, and neither was he. He didn’t say a word, instead he simple pulled the covers back for her as she stripped down and climbed in beside him. There was a tenderness to how he touched her that hadn’t been there before then. He moaned into her mouth as he kissed her. Loving every inch of her as he went. She met him with ever kiss, touch or thrust that he gave. She prided herself on being what he needed, even if she didn’t know what it was she was doing. His hands touched every inch of her leaving nothing un touched, or unloved. She was smiling when she finally woke up, the sun beating down on the empty bed, where he had once been. She felt the spot, wishing he were still there with her, and leaning over she grabbed one of his pillows, burying her face in it and breathing in his scent. She wanted to remember that smell as she went on with her life. She showered and dressed, putting the last few things she would need into a travel case and making her way downstairs to the front door. She knew he would be waiting, and as their eyes met she blushed profusely. “I guess it’s time.” She gave him a half smile. “Don’t go Kate. I don’t want you to go any more than you want to go. We can figure it out somehow, just not publicly that’s all.” She knew he was sincere, but what she needed was to be herself, and take some time to figure things out. She knew after the shoot next week, she would have a lot of down time and she would use it to think long and hard about the next phase of her life. “I can’t … not like this Aaron… not like this.” She felt his arms pulled her close his lips finding hers. She kissed him deep and he smiled at her response to him, though his face fell when she picked up her bag once more.

“I want us to be who we are. I don’t care about what you or anyone else things. I like what I like and I want you. I just don’t want to hide from it, or from anyone else for that matter. I have a lot on my mind and a lot to think about. Goodbye Aaron.” She said it with such finality that she was quickly gone, and she didn’t turn around to look back, fearful he would see the tears that were streaming down her face. The trip to the airport was quick, but the wait to board the place was another matter altogether. She had more than enough time to pace the lobby, fighting with herself not to get in a cab and go back, throwing herself into his arms. Finally, she boarded and as the plane flew she looked down at the city below, wondering if he were thinking about her as well. She needed to focus, get her head straight about life. She was still lost in her own thoughts when she landed safely in L.A. Everything from this moment forward was about her and her future. Perhaps Aaron was right, she needed time to focus on something different. She found her hotel, and she marveled at how well done everything was. Her photographer was there within hours setting up for the shoot, and she found herself fraped in some of the most expensive clothing she was sure she ever will touch. They had two more full days for shooting, and though Aaron tried to call her a number of times, she hit the ignore button. She knew he would reel her back in, and do his best to tell her to fly back home to him. But she couldn’t be what he wanted, no matter how hard she may try.

CHAPTER Six It had been three weeks. Three long and lonely miserable weeks. She missed him, there was no way she could ever deny that, no matter what she told herself. She had taken on three more jobs, and was set up financially for quite some time. Her days were spent at the pool, and roaming the hotel for things to do. That was her life, the life of a maid model, up until now. She wanted to cry, or scream or anything else for that matter. She held up the stick to check it once more, hoping it would say something different but it was no sue, she was very definitely pregnant. She knew Aaron would feel strongly about it one way or another, but she was her own person, and she made her own rules about what she wanted. She would keep this baby and love it with everything she had, just as she did the father of the child. Sighing she knew her hat with him tonight would be hard. Some part of her wanted to be excited, but she would have to see how he feels first. As she

picked up her phone she dialed him, waiting for the husky timbre of his voice on the other end. “Kate, I have been waiting for you.” She could hear that he was perturbed. “I’m sorry if I kept you too long.” She frowned. “You are just fine Kate; it’s just been a long day. Someone brought in 5 kids to the shipping station, and they were everywhere. The parents were negligent, and the whole thing was a mess. I am telling you it was exactly why I am so glad I don’t have kids.” She felt his words like weight in her stomach. “I see, well you have had quite a day then.” They talked about the house, changes that needed to be done, and he told her he missed her, and wished she were there. She sent him love as well, hanging up without saying a word about the issue at hand. He had clearly said he was so happy he had no kids. She put a protective hand over her stomach, she would have to take it all on alone, it was as simple as that. She did her best to stick to her plan, trying to separate herself from Aaron more and more. She knew he had to be seeing that woman again, there was no way he was sitting at home pining away for her, though she wanted him too. The days went by quickly and she did her best to stay focused and busy, booking more jobs as show went, knowing that soon she wouldn’t be able to work anymore. Her belly would be a clear indicator that she was far less suited to model than other things. She started shopping more, picking out little things at first and then bigger ones, until she was sure she had too much of everything. She pulled her money out of savings, finding a small two-bedroom house where they could stay for a long time. She saw her phone ringing once more, seeing Aarons face and she decided to answer it this time. “Hello Aaron.” She said it with a smile. “Dammnit Kate, where the hell have you been? I’ve been worried sick about you.” She could hear that he was worried, but she knew distance was for the best. “I am sorry Aaron, things have just been crazy here, I feel like all I do is work work work.” She laughed lightly into the phone. “Kate listen to me, please don’t disappear on me. I worry about you. Hell, I think about you all the time. At least check in with me one or twice a week.” “Ok I will.” She could give him that much, he deserved that much. As the months went by, she slowly put together her new life. She took on new classes, getting ready for the baby, she set up her house and she got bigger and bigger. L.A. was no place to be raising a child, but she really had no place

else to go. She certainly couldn’t go back home, to him. She felt the loneliness settle on her like a blanket and she did her best to go out and make some new friends. Her talks with Aaron were so random, she started looking forward to their chats about the weather, or the newest things popping up in town. He gave her strength when she was afraid she was losing all sense of direction where the bay was concerned. He told her she was beautiful, and smart and he loved all the pictures she sent him. She never asked about the blonde woman, and he never asked her if she was dating either. By the time she was 6 months pregnant she was far too overwhelmed with everything and she took time away from school to focus on the baby. She would chat with Aaron for hours, doing her best to keep from breaking down and telling him everything. They talked about everything under the sun, and she fell in love with him even more with every conversation. With those conversations she would feel the pain of losing him all over again and she made the decision to stop talking to him altogether. It was by far the hardest thing she had ever had to do up to that point. Everything she did, made her want to call and tell him about it. But she would pick up the phone cradle it for a moment and then put it back down. She sent him and email, telling him she needed some alone time. She simply chalked it up to getting too emotionally attached to him. She also told him she wished him well, hopeful that he would meet someone who could be what he needed. Once the letter was complete she wiped away her tears, and said a sweet goodbye to him in her head and heart. She rubbed her protruding belly, knowing that soon enough she wouldn’t be lonely anymore. She was both terrified and excited, though she knew she could take on any challenge she was given at this point. She blocked him from contacting her, knowing it was the only way she could function. She didn’t want to see anything from him, knowing that her love for him was deep and she would likely give him whatever he asked for. Her last checkup was a long one and she watched the baby on the screen look back at her and she felt her heart explode. Everything was good, the baby was fine and she could rest easy knowing that when the baby came, she would be find and happy. After her appointment she made her way home, carrying what little groceries she could manage in with her to her house. She had just put everything down on the table when she heard a knock at the door. She opened the door, and she found herself face to face with him.

CHAPTER Seven He glared at her, never taking his eyes off her face. She swallowed hard, her instinct to run and hide but instead she held her ground, and she waited. “What the hell was that email Kate?” He was beside her then, his eyes roaming her face. “I had to say goodbye Aaron, I just do, obviously.” She glanced down and he did the same. She felt his emotions as he reacted differently for a few moments. He was confused, terrified, and concerned all at the same time and she saw him back up, leaning against the back of the door for support. “Kate… you are pregnant.” He told her as if he was giving her the news himself and she had to smile slightly at that. “I am well aware of that Aaron.” She rubbed her protruding stomach slightly. She watched his face change a number of times before he walked a few feet away and then come back to her. “I’m sorry Aaron, I know I should have told you. Actually I tried to tell you.” She bit her lip. He looked at her incredulously, “Kate, this is a big deal.” “I know Aaron, it is. You made it clear you didn’t want any part of kids, you even said you were glad you didn’t have any.” She stood up taller, then spun around to go inside the house. “You can’t be serious Kate?” He said it barely as a whisper, following her inside. “Listen, Aaron. We are fine, more than fine. I have this place, enough money to last the year and I’ve been stocking up on things he will need.” She gestured towards the room closest to the living area. “He?” Aaron was in front of her now, his hand gently as he touched her swollen stomach. His eyes met hers and she felt tears well up once more. “Yes he, it’s a boy.” She let one tear slip and suddenly she was in his arms again. He kissed her gently, her face, mouth and eyelids. He pulled away and she saw tears in his eyes too. “Kate, I say a lot of things. I am a grumpy old man sometimes but never, ever would I not want a child of my own. This child is a product of us, and of love. Don’t ever keep anything like this from me again, please.” The tears fell freely down her face. There was a sense of relief as she felt some of the weight that she had been carrying lifted off her shoulders as he held her. There was no doubt that she wouldn’t be alone. “There is one more thing though.” He started, turning around to face her. “I

know exactly why you left, and what concerned you. I know you want us to be us, and not care about how it looks to the world around us. I get all of that now, when you left everything changed. Life was bleak and sad and I realized that I missed you as I would the woman I love. I don’t see you as a child Kate, instead you are so much more to me than that.” He moved back from her slightly, pulling something from his jacket. “I had a plan, a dinner some place fancy with candles. I wanted to put this in a glass of champagne and let you find it yourself. I wanted to declare my love for you to the crowd around us, and make a spectacle of ourselves. That being said, I want you to clearly understand that I came here for this, because I love you and for no other reason.” He knelt down opening the box, showing her a ring that brought tears to her eyes. “Oh my God Aaron.” She whispered, the tears steadily streaming down her face. “Kate, will you, and our son, marry me and make me the happiest man in the world?” He waited as she shook her head yes, he pushed the ring onto her hand. Soon she was enveloped in a hug where he gently kissed her all over her face. She knew things would be better, and she was finally happy.

ONE YEAR LATER…. If anyone had told her what labor would be like, she would have foregone having kids at all. She was thinking it as she lay basking in the afternoon sun, she draped a hand gently on her stomach, smiling as she thought about the irony of that statement. Aaron would likely lose his mind a little over the announcement of another baby, but since Jack was born he had done nothing but smile. She was only 2 months now, so he was clueless about it, but she would tell him soon. She enjoyed her afternoon away from the boys but soon she was perfumed and ready for him to come home. He found her that way, draped across the bed, naked. Her massive breasts full and eager to please him. She knew what he liked and made sure she was doing all of it when he walked in the door. She had bought a new toy, one that she could strap on and let it work for her, giving her two free hands to massage her breasts and alternate between sucking each one of her own nipples. He lost his clothing quickly, smiling at her wickedly, moving to join her on the bed, his hands moving to her hair as he pulled the stiffness out of his pants,

and gently tapped her lips with it. She loved him like this, ready eager, and demanding. She opened her pink mouth open for him, and he guided his hardness into it, feeling her tongue slide over the length of him. She felt him moving, sliding in in and out gently, working her mouth until she could take more and more. Finally, she felt him move into position. He grabbed both of her massive breasts and held them together, sliding his huge member between them, fucking her this way over and over. He moaned loudly as she licked the top of him each time it poked out of the top of her breasts, giving him just a tease of her mouth again. “Oh God Kate, yes.” He groaned out until he couldn’t take it anymore. He flipped her over, and she smiled with his actions. This was her favorite, and he knew it. She felt him spread her wide, and she lay flat on the bed this time. Feeling him push into her she moaned loudly and arched her back slightly. He always gave her exactly what she wanted. He pushed into her over and over, the two of them becoming one and she knew it would always be good between them. He rolled her over, this time she found herself on top. She slid her tight sheath down over him, until she rested on him, fully encompassed by her body. She leaned forward slightly as she slid up and off slightly and then back down hard and swift. She felt his hands on her hips, guiding her and she watched her huge globes pound him in the face as he worked her hips on his member. She pumped harder and harder, faster than she thought possible as she gave him everything she had. She made circles slowly, but he refused to let her slow down, instead grabbing her hips with his hands, and using her to pound hard. “Please oh….please, Aaron.” He looked at her as she climaxed reaching her orgasm as she came down hard on his staff. He gave her time to recover, before turning her slightly until she was laying on her side, and he had on leg on his shoulders. He was able to push in even deeper this way and she yelled out as he pushed into her the first few times. Soon he had a rhythm, pounding her hard as he smacked her ass with one hand, pinching her fat nipple with the other hand. She was his, and he was using her now, just like he had the blonde at the pool. She felt another surge of ecstasy as he fucked her hard, using her tightness to get off. She urged him on. “Use me Aaron, take it…..take it.” She yelled out his name as she found another orgasm this time she felt the evidence of it as she felt the wetness covering him as he pumped into her. He moaned loudly, this time pulling himself out of her, and she took over, her mouth replacing her wet sheath as she let him pump into her mouth over

and over, only stopping as he cried out her name and he spilled all over her face and chest. After, they lay together, him staring at her with a faraway look. “What?” She asked him. “What are we going to do with another baby love?” He arched an eyebrow at her and she blushed profusely. “How did you know?” She had a feeling she already knew the answer to her question but she asked it anyway. “You do a little something special when your pregnant Kate, and you scream with your orgasms, they are so much more intense. I know your body.” He gave her a wink as she moved into his arms, letting him hold her tightly. “I was going to tell you…” she trailed off. “Well I saved you that conversation then didn’t I?” He kissed the top of her head. “I love you Aaron, I have to wonder what would have happened if I didn’t see you with the blonde in the pool that day. If I hadn’t embraced being turned on and let myself have the orgasm in the pool house.” He pulled back “Wait what?” “Oh yes, I did it right there, watching you. leaning back on the chaise lounge in the pool house, I played and rubbed, if I recall I actually called out your name when I found release.” She blinked at him innocently. He moaned. “What’s wrong my dear?” She licked her lips wickedly, knowing what he would say. “I am an old man Kate, but somehow you find a way of making me forget that every time you’re near me.” He glanced down at his swollen member alert growing and reacting to her story. “Poor baby, let me see what I can do about that.” She gave him a gleaming smile as she moved down the length of him, kissing nipping and touching his every muscle until she licked his rod, watching it grow bigger with her every move. She sighed as she heard his moans and intake of breath, her sweet soft mouth covering him and sucking him. She loved pleasing him, and only stopped when they heard the soft cries from next door. “I’ll go.” She offered, standing as she threw on a robe and he gently stroked himself. “Don’t waste that, I’ll be back.” As she walked down the hallway to Jacks room, she reflected on how much her life had changed in such a short time. She kissed her baby boy, knowing everything was precious. After he was asleep she made her way back

to the room, where she dropped the robe and her husband welcomed her with open arms. Daddy’s Girl (Amber) Chapter one

I SIT HERE in my bedroom and I watch the young man with the huge cock fucking this blond temptress with fake tits and all I can do is slip my fingers into my virginal white panties. I have my eyes glued to the screen of my computer and I’m consciously aware that that door could open at any moment with Jordan slipping in to say good night. Thankfully, I can hear his footsteps and the floorboards creak in a certain spot before he reaches the threshold to my bedroom. “You really are a naughty girl. I never took you for someone that watched this stiff…I mean stuff. It’s kind of liberating to know that I’m not the only one that finds comfort and sexual enticement from the Internet. When you told me that you had something to show me, I thought that you might be referring to something else.” Sandra was the only one that I could confide in about my feelings for a certain someone. I thought that it was destined to go unrequited and that I would have to move on to those of my own age. “I can honestly say that I’ve never seen anything like that in my life. This guy is blessed and he knows exactly what he possesses. His confidence is a little unnerving and you can tell that when he fucks a woman that it’s mostly for his own pleasure. That thing would probably kill a woman that has never been taken like that before.” I remembered the brief glimpse of what I had seen of Jordan coming from the shower. He was that specimen that was made to satisfy in all the right ways.

“FROM HOW YOU have described a certain part of a man’s anatomy, I would say that you have come very close to seeing it in vivid clarity. Do I have to mention him by name, or do you think that it is good enough that I only remind you about the shower incident. How you accidentally walked in on him as he was wrapping that towel around his waist. The way that you have talked about him often, I’ve wondered if you’ve ever done anything to express yourself.” Sandra was that promiscuous blond that could have any man. I thought that it was safe to confide in her about Jordan, but now I think that I’ve created a monster.

“I CAN SEE that look in your eye. I don’t want you to even think about it. As far as you are concerned, he is off limits.” I could see the disappointment, but we had a bond of trust that could not be broken by one man. She had her pick of the litter and losing her virginity when she was 15 had certainly opened her eyes to the pleasure that could be had. She had been trying to get me to drop my guard with Michael. He was that jock at school that could say all the sweetest things. I just didn’t know if I could trust him with something as delicate as my virginity.

I PROMISE that I will keep out of it for your sake. I will do that only on the condition that you tell me what happened with Michael last night. You did go to the movies. I’m sure that you took my advice about taking a seat in the very back so that people wouldn’t be able to see what you were doing.” I had a feeling that subject matter was going to come up and I was ready with a detailed explanation. I was going to get very nasty and I wanted her to be practically begging me to satisfy her curiosity.

“WE SAT in the back and when the lights went down things became more interesting. I reached into the popcorn container and I felt something that wasn't at all normal. It was hard and unyielding in my hand. I could feel something sticky and instead of pulling away, I jerked it like I’d seen on some of these movies. It’s amazing what you can find on the Internet these days.” I saw her lying back and now those panties were pulled to the side to show me the puffy red lips of her sex.

“I’M JUST GETTING a little more comfortable. Do you mind sharing your toys? Hand me the silver one with the multiple settings. I want to live vicariously through your words. I’m going to close my eyes and bring myself off. I promise that I will stifle any kind of moan with my fist in my mouth.” My stepfather Jordan was most likely sleeping one off after drinking too much. He never got completely shit faced, but he certainly was feeling no pain after my mother died. This was his way of self medicating and maybe it was time for some

kind of intervention.

I OPENED the drawer and pulled out the toy that she had requested. She flicked the switch and turned it to the highest setting. She didn’t even tease herself first. She pushed past the resistance of the elasticity of her lips. I was in the perfect position to see everything. This was not the first time that we had been in the same room playing. We had learned a lot from each other and we had even practiced kissing to make sure that we had a certain technique that had become something that the boys wanted most of all. We had gone through the necessary tutelage of using a banana to teach us how to deepthroat a monster cock like no other.

“I HAD my hand wrapped around him and I feel it dripping over my hand and into the popcorn. I pulled out the sticky strands and I ate them with him staring at me the entire time. I have to say that I loved the look on his face as I manipulated his flesh. The shaft was so fucking hard and even squeezing it didn’t show any give to it. I reached further down and I found his balls and they were well taken care of and groomed to perfection. I could feel the smooth surface and I squeezed like you taught me to get him to grunt. He coughed into his hand to stop anybody from getting wise to what we were doing.” She was not the only one that was getting excited by my retelling of what had occurred between me and Michael.

“OH YEAH...fuck… Oh fuck…that vibration is so fucking good.” She had promised that she wouldn’t make any unwanted overtures, but now her hand had landed squarely on my chest. I wasn’t sure that she knew what she was doing and that maybe she was too far gone to give a damn. “I wanted to do that at the movies and I have no idea why none of the boys that I’ve gone out with have tried something like that.” Her wet pussy was stretched open and that cylinder object was moving back and forth at a steady pace.

“I THINK that I can do that better than you.” She must have thought that I was talking about doing that to myself, but she found out differently when I took her

hand away from where she was satisfying her own desire. We both knew that it felt better when somebody else did it and now I was the one that was stirring things to the surface. “He had one of the biggest cocks that I’ve ever seen in my life besides this guy on the screen.” The guy was a freak of nature and had what I would consider a baseball bat hanging roughly 11 inches stretching from his body.

WITH HER HANDS FREE, she could lift that Scooby Doo nightshirt and begin to play with her ample bosom. We both had primarily the same size in that regard, but her nipples were a little bit chunkier than mine. Mine stood straight out where hers were fat and looked good enough to sample. I’d never done anything like this and even holding this weapon of choice in my hands and slamming it back and forth inside her was a departure from our usual staid sleepovers.

“IF YOU’RE NOT FUCKING careful, you are…going to make me cum all over this thing. Is that what you want to see, Amber? Do you want to see my cream sliding down the surface of that thing? If it is, then keep up what you’re doing and you will get your wish one way or the other.” I had no idea what came over me or why it felt so important to see her bubble and boil over like a pot that you wouldn’t leave on the stove without watching it carefully. She was pinching her nipples with her eyes closed and then I heard her scream with her knuckle pressed into her mouth to stop herself from giving Jordan any reason to come in here to check out what was going on.

I HAD my hand firmly placed against my clit and two fingers were moving back and forth to supply me with the necessary incentive to drive myself up the wall. I had just reached that plateau when she kissed me and tongued my mouth. She was prolonging that moment into something long and everlasting. In the afterglow and while we were sitting there breathing heavy, I turned and noticed something that was slightly out of the ordinary.

THERE WAS a teddy bear that I didn’t recognize. There was also a very strange

thing happening with its eyes. I knew what it was. I had a feeling that I knew who the culprit was that had decided to invade my personal space. Tomorrow morning was going to be one hell of a fight that was going to be of the knockdown variety. I was tempted to tell Sandra, but she probably would have wanted to put on more of an explicit show. I wasn’t ready to do something like that and I felt violated by the camera. It was situated in a way that it could see my bed and everything that had happened on it. I wasn’t sure how long it was there. Chapter two

I WAS SITTING THERE at the breakfast table glaring at Jordan, who was reading the paper and making it look like he had nothing to hide. Sandra was going on about something about school, but I really wasn’t paying attention. My anger was seething like a raw and festering wound. I envisioned what it would be like to wrap my hands around his neck, but came back with visions of curling my hand around something else instead.

“I HAVE TO GO. A few friends are meeting me down at the pool. I think that this will give me the right moment to reveal my new two piece bikini.” Before I could stop her, she was stripping off that tee shirt and dropping her pants to show her body encased in what had turned out to be some kind of floss. It didn’t cover her breasts at all and only her nipples that could easily be seen through the fabric were covered.

I HEARD the rustle of paper. Jordan was looking over the edge of the paper to look at my flamboyant friend showing off. She twirled around and even bent over to make that bikini look like it had disappeared altogether. The bottoms were sheer and one pull to the side would reveal her nakedness to anybody that was willing to take the risk.

JORDAN NOTICED that I was watching him and put the paper back up with this trace of red in his cheeks. It was a good thing that he showed some modesty, but that wasn’t going to justify spying on his stepdaughter. My only concern

was how long this was going on and what exactly he had witnessed and heard.

I FOLLOWED Sandra out to the front door. She had her bag with her clothes firmly inside. “I don’t know what has gotten into you, Amber. I think that what you truly need is to get laid and you have the makings of a great story right underneath this roof. Do yourself a favor and reach out and touch somebody before it’s too late.” I closed the door and lay back against it with my hand up to my chest to feel my heart beating.

I TOOK a deep breath and I walked into the kitchen with a purpose only to find that he wasn’t there. I took a few steps into the kitchen and then I felt his hand over my mouth and something hard pressing into the back side of my jeans. “I know that you saw the camera. I was watching you at the time and believe me, I was getting myself off. I came precisely at the moment that you looked me in the eyes. You’re old enough to know that I haven’t been with anybody since her mother. I haven’t been touched in five years and watching you parading yourself around in front of me in those skimpy outfits made me want to do something about it.” I tried to move, but he was stronger than me and I kind of found it exciting to be on the receiving end of something so dominant.

HE DRAGGED me out of the room with my feet sliding across the wood floor and heading towards the living room. I found myself falling onto the soft feel of that black leather couch. I was wearing a pair of cutoff shorts and what constituted as a bikini top. It wasn’t much and I think that I was only doing that to taunt him mercilessly.

“I CAN’T BELIEVE that you would do that. You must know by now that I feel something for you. I haven’t even… I mean… I haven’t…never mind.” I became flustered and the look in his eyes told me that he knew exactly what I was going to say.

A GIRL like you with that kind of body should not be keeping it under wraps.

You should be sharing it with every man that you find a certain attraction for. I’m not suggesting that you become some sort of slut, but pleasure is the one thing that you should always strive for. It’s the one thing that a woman like you should never be without.” As he was talking, he was taking off his shirt and showing me the product of several hours down in the makeshift basement gym. I heard him on several occasions and I went down to spy on him and the way that his muscles would glisten underneath the one lonely bulb swinging back and forth on a strand of wire.

“I DON’T THINK that you are thinking clear. This is wrong and you know that mother would never condone something like this.” I should not have evoked her name and that made him stand there with this glazed over look that had me placing my hands over my chest in defense for my honor. “I don’t see your mother here. You are exactly like her when I first met her several years ago. She had a child of three years of age and I welcomed her into my family. I’ve seen you grow up and become the spitting image of the one thing that I lost. You don’t know how much it hurts me to see you walking past me with that same crook in your smile. I’m only a man and I can take only so much before I crack.” He had his hand on the lump in his pants and it was that considerable presence that made me get up in a seating position.

“I WOULD TRY to fight you, but I think I want this as much as you do. I’m just not so willing to jump into this without thinking about the consequences. This would change everything between us and we better be sure before we do something that is going to make things awkward.” I was giving him this moment to back out gracefully and maybe apologize for videotaping me for his own personal pleasures.

“I KNOW what you’re saying and I have gone over this too many times to count. I think about you in your bedroom with me down the hall from you only a few yards away. I think I might go crazy without doing something about this. That’s the reason why I have to have you. I want you to be a good girl and open daddy’s pants for him.” It sounded wrong for him to say it like that, but it also sent a chill down my spine into my lower extremities. “I know that you want daddy’s hard cock. It’s right here and you can’t say that you’re not interested.

Don’t think that I haven’t noticed the way that you look at me out of the corner of your eye. You’re constantly undressing me with fantasies and now those fantasies can become reality.”

MY HAND MOVED towards that zipper and I pulled it down to see that he wasn’t wearing underwear. I jumped back momentarily frozen and then he unsnapped the button and let it fall to his knees. His cock was this pillar of strength and virility and the head was so damn big that I had no idea how I was going to get that into my mouth. It wasn’t as daunting as the one that I’d seen on the Internet, but it was as close as I was going to come.

“I WANT you to suck me off. If you do a good job, maybe I will do something about getting rid of your virginity. It’s not gonna happen right now, but it will when you least expect it. You’ll never know what day in the very near future that I will find you somewhere in this house and give you what you’ve always been wanting. You’ll have this anticipation of a cloud over your head and you’ll be on edge. You’ll always be looking around every corner to see when I am going to pounce.” He grabbed my long hair and wrapped the strands in his hands to pull me closer to the pungent aroma of his manly scent.

“I DON’T WANT to do this. You’re going to have to…MMPPHHHHHH.” I had my mouth open and he used that to his advantage. His cock slid across my tongue and tapped very hotly against the back of my mouth. I looked down the length of him and I could see that there were at least 4 inches that were unaccounted for. He pulled back out and slapped his cock head at my mouth. He left behind a tease of what was most likely going to be one hell of a load.

“YOU PROTEST TOO MUCH, Amber. Your words might say one thing, but your body is saying something else entirely. I’m not a fool and for you to take me for one is only going to get you punished. I do believe this blow job is the correct punishment for the crime. This disobedience will not be tolerated and I’m through walking around on egg shells. From now on, it’s going be my way or the highway and believe me the world can be a cold and lonely place without

a roof over your head.” I couldn’t believe that he was threatening me with being homeless, but he certainly did make a valid point. Without money, I was practically swimming upstream against the current with no way to prevent myself from drowning.

“I WON’T DO this and you can’t…make me.” I wanted him to make me and his cock found its way back into my mouth. My lips clamped down on those inches and I saw the look in his eyes that told me that not 1 inch was going to remain without the kind of attention that I could inflict on it.

“I WANT to see all of it go into your mouth like you did with the banana. I’ve been watching you for some time and it’s not only with the bear. I found a way to tap into your web cam and it’s amazing what kind directions you can find on the Internet. I watched you in my office downtown and even on the subway when I was coming home from work. I’ve seen you do some amazing things with that mouth, but none like you’re going to do right now.” He soon had his cock down my throat. I choked on it a little, but I think he liked that. “Take it all and when I cum, I want you to gobble down all the protein like it is the best thing that you’ve ever had in your mouth.”

THE FORCEFUL INJECTION was nothing compared to the way that he was pulling my hair. I could feel the pain and it only incited a desire to see what I could do to make him spill his load. I tried to reach for his instrument, but he pushed my hands away. He was using my mouth and the feel of my lips holding him tight while my tongue was doing all sorts of different and nasty things was too much to take for one night.

“I THINK that you’re going to be quite the pro after I’m done with you. My god…it’s amazing how similar your technique is to your mother’s. It’s like she has been reincarnated within you. Fuck… Fuck…that’s only going to get your mouth full in a hurry. I don’t want to have this come to an end. I’m going to build the pressure until the only thing that I can do is to release it across that tongue of yours. When I do cum, it’s most likely going to be quite the volume. I

would seriously suggest that you don’t lose a drop.” I think that he was threatening me with not taking my virginity. I could’ve easily pulled him out at the last second and let him spray into the air and that would be the end of our time together.

I FELT it approaching and the knob had swelled and the veins were more pronounced than ever. I swallowed the whole thing and then I wrapped my lips around the base. The first couple of very intense shots went directly down my throat. I pulled back those last few inches and I worked my mouth to supply him with the necessary attention to work him into a lather. I did not let one errant drop come out of my mouth. I even made sure that he was cleaned of any residue. That kind of made me pleased to make him jerk and buck against me after he had finished. It was that extra sensitivity that I was playing with to make him see me as the woman of his dreams.

HIS COCK FELL out and was a lot smaller than it was a couple of seconds ago. His eyes were glazed over with his mouth open and his tongue lazily moving around his lips. “That was pretty good for your first time. You’re definitely going to need a lot of practice. I think that I can sacrifice my valuable time to teach you the finer points. That will happen after I take your cherry and pop it. It’s going to happen. I don’t want you to tell anybody about this and this is our little secret. I want you to continually think about my cock. I want you to crave it and want to beg for it on bended knee.” He tucked himself back in and zipped his fly before walking up the stairs.

I SAT THERE TOUCHING my lips and not believing for a second that this really happened. It seemed so out of character. I actually looked forward to the day that he would find me, but it was the waiting that was going to be the hardest part of all. Chapter three

“I DON’T KNOW what the hell is wrong with you and you seem to be on edge. Every time that we go back to your home, you stop at the door and make this

sigh. I’m getting the feeling that you’re not at all happy with the way things are going with Michael. He told me that you have become distant and not at all responsive when he wants to take you out on a date. Is there something going on that you want to tell me about?” I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to respond. Sandra was my best friend and yet I’d kept the secret to myself as I was requested by Jordan.

I DIDN’T SEE his car in the driveway and that at least gave me a moment of reprieve from wondering if today was going to be the day. It had been two weeks and my nerves were frazzled. Any time that I was about to please myself, I was aware of the fact that he could come in and stop me. My only chance to get rid of that building pressure was to go into the bathroom at school and take matters into my own hands. That had at least relieved me of what I couldn’t do at home. It would also give me 8 hours to ready myself for the possibility of losing my virginity on my return home.

LET’s just get inside and start our homework. I thought that college was going to be easier, but I’ve never had it this rough.” I opened the door and I saw that the house was in pitch black darkness. I was about to say something, but that same hand that had clamped over my mouth two weeks ago was right there with a taste of leather on my lips.

“SANDRA, I want you to close the door and come over here where I can see you.” The light came on and Jordan was dressed all in black with a pair of leather gloves affixed to his hands. “I want you to witness this. I think that it would be good to have you here to see her deflowering.” I thought that Sandra was going to come to my defense, but she was bouncing on the balls of her feet with excitement.

“YOU DON’T HAVE to ask me twice.” She took a seat and placed her hands in her lap with her fingers touching the hem of the black leather skirt. I was wearing a denim fabric kind of dress and suddenly found myself pushed down onto the floor. Sandra had moved closer in her chair with her hands on her chin with a

smile that told me that she was not going to do anything about this. “I’ve been wondering when this was going to happen and this couldn’t have happened at a better time.” In this position, I could see that her panties were wet. I could also see that Jordan was feeling his oats.

I SCRAMBLED to my knees and I started to crawl away in a vain attempt to show that I was not easy pickings. He caught me very quickly and lifted that Denim material to find that I wasn’t wearing anything underneath. “I always thought of you as a good girl, but it appears that my assumption was incorrect. You are a bad girl and wearing no panties would leave a lasting effect on some boys that got themselves a brief peek at the good stuff. I think that your friend should get me ready for you. I want you to wear this moment as a symbol that you belong to me and nobody else. That way, you’ll understand from the moment that you come through that door that your place is in servitude to me.” I felt this excitement in the air and I stayed in that very spot in that same position.

I WATCHED him present his cock for inspection and this was the first time that Sandra had gotten a good look at it. She was sucking him with a vacuum suction that looked like she had become unglued. That mouth was working wonders and was bringing him to that rock hard stiffness that I remembered when I went down on him two weeks ago.

“I DON’T…know which one of you is better at this. I would call it a tie, but I believe that my stepdaughter has you beat. You might have to step up your game.” I could tell that he was only teasing her, but she took that as a challenge and began to work him like a prized whore. She was humming a tune and working her fingers along the length while at the same time that her mouth was leaving behind a ring of her purple lipstick. “Don’t bring me all the way off. I want to save that for Amber. You’re going to see me inject my seed and you’re going to see my hot cum dribble out of her after I’m done with her. I’ve been waiting for two weeks and I haven’t even done anything to bring me any sort of pleasure.” If he was telling the truth, then he must’ve been like a dam ready to burst.

SANDRA WAS USING her spit that was clinging to his shaft to draw the skin up over the head and then back down in rapid succession. There was plenty of pre cum and she was licking off every little bit. It was being replaced by more.

I DID SEE the outline of the shaft pressed up against her cheek and then he turned to do the exact same thing to the other side. He fucked her face and held her steady to make sure that every inch was given its proper home inside her throat. We had both learned how to control that gag reflex. It was coming in handy with the piece that he possessed.

“I WANT you to really slobber all over it and get it ready for Amber’s tight little hole. She deserves all the lubrication that you can provide her. It’s the only thing that she’s going to get.” I didn’t even care that my best friend was giving him oral and it seemed almost like we were an extended family. It was true about what they said about people with glass houses throwing the first stone. You never knew what was going on behind closed doors and that was never more evident than what was happening right now.

HE PULLED AWAY from her with strings of her saliva now sticking to him like a paste of glue. He walked back over with that sizable donation still simmering on a low heat within his balls. I felt his hand on my ass and the hard swat was a good distraction for him to push the head passed any kind of resistance that he found. I could feel him nudging against that barrier. I took a deep breath and waited for the moment of truth.

“NO…it’s too big… Oh fuck… Yes… Yes…fuck me.” It had changed just like that from pain to pleasure. It was almost instantaneous. I was kind of amazed at the way that my body was now responding to its first fuck. After he had done what was needed to break through that wall there was no stopping him. It was a long and progressive journey that ended with his balls pressed up against me from behind.

“YOU’RE SO FUCKING TIGHT. I have to say that I’ve fantasized…about this moment. It could never even come close to what I’m actually feeling. Having my hand around my cock and stroking to you playing with yourself in your room is nothing compared to this. I want you to remind me of a hole that I haven’t been able to get to. Tell me and maybe the next time, we’ll have you with my cock buried in that hot ass. Isn’t that what you really want? To have all of your holes open for me any time that I feel that need arise? Don’t you want to crawl on your hands and knees down the hallway and open my door to wake me up in a very profound way? I know that is what I want and what I will have.”

“I JUST WANT that cock and I will do anything to have it. I will give you anything and do anything. There’s nothing that you could ask that I would ever deny you.” The intensity of the moment was reaching its peak and the way that he was smacking his hips against me and burying himself deep was bringing about all sorts of different feelings. “Fuck… I’m going to cum. I’m going to cum all over your cock, daddy.” I was getting into the swing of things and saying that word had only made it that much more nasty.

“YOU ARE TAKING daddy’s cock and you will be taking it all the time. I’m going to fill you with my seed and you’re going to have my baby. You may have not thought of that, but maybe you are now.” I’d always wanted to be a mommy and this might have been a different way of going about it, but I was not about to shy away from the results. “Yes… so damn close…so fucking close… YESSSSSSS.” I didn’t know that it was possible to shoot that much. Saving it

up for two weeks had a tendency to leave behind a gaping reminder of our time together.

AFTER HE HAD SATISFIED his longing, he once again pulled up his pants and walked away without saying another word. I knew that my ass was the next that was going to feel the product of his lust for me. This time, I was going to try and turn the tables and find him unaware. I had the perfect idea in mind. I just had to time it exactly right and then I would be the one in the driver’s seat.

MY FRIEND SANDRA was beside herself. She asked me all sorts of questions and I was more than obliged to tell her exactly how I felt. “I told you that you would love it. I told you that the day that you finally gave it up would be the best day of your life. It couldn’t get any better than this. You’ve had that moment that every woman has for their first time, but you did it in style with your stepfather. I have to say that I never thought that you would do something like this, but I’m glad to see that you have blossomed.” I didn’t even take off the dress and I could still feel him swimming around inside me. Chapter four

I WAITED in the darkness of his bedroom and I knew that he was out carousing with his friends. He would be no condition to defend himself. I heard the door and then the stumble of his feet as he approached the very place that he thought that he was safe. I was standing on a chair behind the door and he came in. I jumped on his back and made him lose his balance and fall onto the bed. In his inebriated state, I was able to strip him of his clothes and leave him vulnerable and looking like a hit and run victim with my lipstick all over his body.

HE TRIED to push me away, but he didn’t have the strength or the fortitude to keep up this kind of resistance. I tied his ankles and his wrists to the bedpost and essentially had him hogtied and my prisoner.

I WAS ALREADY NAKED and I let him see that he was staring right at my asshole. I

lowered it to his mouth. He tried to say something with his tongue stuck in my ass. I’d never felt anything like it and I had to admit that pressing his tongue into the forbidden hole was doing wonders for my need.

“MAKE sure that you get it nice and wet back there. You’re such a dirty boy tongue fucking my ass like that.” I bent over and took his cock into my mouth. At this angle, I was easily able to fit it down my throat and back out. In his state, he was pretty much powerless and I was able to pull the strings like a puppet. I had to say that this guy didn’t pull any punches and the way that he was sliding that dick back and forth had me wanting to finally break the last cherry out of the three.

WITH MY LEGS TREMBLING, I was able to forcefully move away from him before I had what was considered an anal induced orgasm. I could’ve easily let myself go, but I thought that I would show him the same kind of restraint that he had shown with me.

“ARE YOU SURE THAT YOU…want to do this… Amber? There’s a real big possibility that I won’t remember this in the morning. I would rather that we were both mentally competent.” I was over top of him with his cock touching the one place that he had not gone before. That feeling was in the air. That impatience of living with this over my head for two weeks was now on his shoulders. My legs were close to giving out and the moment that his cock fit into my ass was one that I would remember forever.

“YES…you’re in my fucking…ass. You’re in my fucking tight ass…daddy.” He was soon balls deep and the way that I was grinding against him was making those stars sparkle in front of my eyes. “There’s not an inch to spare. I fucking love the tight way that my ass squeezes down on you. I love the look in your eyes as I give you my ass on a silver platter.” I bounced up and down slowly at first until I got going with a bit more speed. I enjoyed the way that he bottomed out each time and I stayed completely still for a couple of minutes.

“I WAS GOING TO…cum and you fucking stopped me. How can you do that to your stepfather? How can you treat me like this and expect not to have some kind of retaliation in return.” I actually liked the dynamic of our relationship where we were constantly pushing ourselves to find different things to bring about this moment of release.

“DO you want to know the reason why I stopped each and every time? I never thought that I could lose my virginity with someone that I cared about. I never thought that I would lose my virginity to a man that knew what he was doing and not just clumsily pawing at me like some kind of animal.” I had my hands on his chest and I could feel the slickness of his sweat accumulating in his chest hairs. I twisted them in my fingers and I could hear him grimace as I once again rode him like a stallion about to be broken.

“I THOUGHT that I had you…ahh…where I wanted you. It appears that you are as good at giving as you are at getting. I awakened something inside you and there’s no way to put that genie back in the bottle.” He was approaching the end of his rope and I was fanning myself to mimic that I was overheating and needed something to put out that blaze.

“WE BOTH HAVE that dominant side and now I have a way to let that part of myself out to play.” I drove myself to the limit and then I felt that he was never going to last. I stopped and pulled out his greasy member and then stuck it into my pussy upon injection of his sweet cream. If I wasn’t pregnant before, then I would be after tonight. I lay down beside him with his cock spent and him now snoring like a steam engine. He was already tied up and going nowhere. I decided to keep him that way until the morning.

I UNTIED him after the sun came up. He pinned me down and fucked me again with the metal headboard slamming up against the wall with such ferocity that the plaster began to fall from not only the ceiling but the wall itself. He once again filled me with what he had left which was amazingly at least three spurts more than I thought it was going to be.

I DID FIND out that I was pregnant and the only person that knew that he was the father was Sandra. She thought that it was fucking cool and told me that she was willing to baby sit on the condition that she would be allowed to suck his cock again. I had no problem letting her perfect her skills on my man, but orally was as far as it was going to go with another woman. That could change down the road, but for now my wet pussy and my ass were the only ones that he was going to find himself using.

WE DID HAVE the baby and Sandra did eventually move in to conserve expenses. It did help that I was able to rely on her to give Jordan her mouth whenever I was tired and in no mood to do anything but sleep. I even went so far as to go down on her in a 69 position until we both were screaming into each other’s pussy. That was when Jordan fucked me while at the same time dipping his balls into her mouth until he was overcome with the moment.

WE HAD THIS DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY, but it did work for us and that was all that mattered. Sandra and I would become partners in a lucrative business that Jordan was also a part of. We would work and play together and that was the best of both worlds.

DADDY’S GIRL (NICOLE) Chapter one “It looks like you have a lot on your mind. People have told me that I’m a pretty good listener and I don’t mind being treated like a bartender at some club. You’d be amazed at how many confessions I here in the run of a day inside my taxicab. If you don’t mind me saying so, you don’t look exactly happy to be here.” I was looking out the window watching the scenery go by and twirling my hair in a nervous habit that had become something of a staple in my life. I was in no mood for idle chitchat and this was not what I would consider a pleasure visit. I was wearing a black leather jacket kind of short and a black sports bra underneath that. I liked to give the boys something to think about, even though I

would never do anything to get myself in the family way. I had lived through that mistake and I saw what it had cost my mother after she got pregnant unexpectedly with me. She treated me like I was that dirty little secret to be swept underneath the rug. She informed me when I was old enough to know better that she didn’t want anything to do with me. She was happy to provide me with everything that I needed, but there was no place in her life for a daughter that was conceived in the back seat of a band members van. “You really shouldn’t ask questions that you don’t want to know the answers to. I would gladly tell you everything about the reason why I’m here, but it would probably leave you shaking your head in disgust. Are you sure that you really want to learn about my drama? I’m sure that you have enough drama in your life to last a lifetime.” I was eyeing him suspiciously in the rearview mirror. His expression had this sinister and almost dirty feel to it. I was worried for my safety, but I had a can of mace in case things went terribly awry. “I don’t want to be here. This is the last place that I ever want to find myself. I was perfectly content living my life on my own without the entanglement of family. Unfortunately, this is unavoidable and I’m going to have to confront my mother. Believe me, I don’t want to and I would rather be anywhere but here.” I only told him enough to whet his appetite for more. He was compelled to know the rest of the story. My long black hair fell lazily over my shoulders and the tight jeans that I was wearing were practically painted on my body. I had to slide into them every morning, but it was worth the effort to see the look that I got from every guy and even some girls. I didn’t consider myself to be promiscuous and doing something reckless as having sex out of wedlock had never occurred to me. I had those needs like everybody else did, but I did not let the boys with overactive glands get any further than a few errant glances to satisfy their sweet tooth. “I know how family can be quite the headache. If you don’t know anything about Italians, I can tell you that we are a rambunctious bunch. We tend to fight with tempers that flare over just about anything. It doesn’t matter if it’s trivial or serious. I’ve gotten my fair share of black eyes from some of my cousins over the years. What is it about your family that can be so overwhelming that you don’t want to see your mother? I’m sure that you have your reasons, but the one thing that we can never change is who our parents are.” What I had mistaken for a sleazy leering gaze was more concern for my well being. I did look a little bit younger than my 18 years. I made guys ashamed for even looking at me in a less than platonic way. I kind of got a bit of a thrill playing with their minds and their bodies. I had developed quite early when I

was only 14 and having breasts had become something of a curse and a blessing in disguise. “If you really want to get into this, then I have no problem unloading for the sake of getting it off my chest.” At the mention of my chest, his eyes had moved slightly below my eye line. I didn’t mind the attention and the sports bra did very little to hide those otherwise prominent assets. “I was born out of a knee jerk reaction to get closer to a band member. My mother was a groupie. She found herself with the whole band. She doesn’t remember who the father is. It could’ve been any one of the five. I’m sure that eventually I will go looking for DNA evidence, but two of the band members have already died of self inflicted wounds. One of them is drug addled and the other is booze riddled. The only one that seems relatively sane is the lead singer. He already moved on to greener pastures and has a family of his own.” I could see that I had his undivided attention and his dark and mysterious eyes were practically glued to every word that I was saying. “I can’t even imagine what that’s like. I’m sorry that you have to go through something like that. Being young has its own pitfalls. There are those that actually live sheltered away from this kind of dysfunction. They don’t recognize what’s going on around them and they can’t believe that somebody can have a family that is not as loving as theirs. The day that they take the blinders off is the day that they realize that their sheltered existence has been shattered.” I sat back and I breathed deeply knowing that we were getting closer to our final destination. “My mother gave me away to my grandmother and then when I was old enough she made sure to tell me that I wasn’t wanted. I was perfectly fine with that, until this past week. I realized that my funds had dwindled down to nothing. It’s one thing to abandon me, but it’s another to leave me to fend for myself. I will not stand for that and she’s about to learn that this girl has teeth.” I got a solemn nod and then we pulled into this cul-de-sac that was a little too perfect for my liking. He dropped me off at the curb of this house that was a wall of windows on the front. I gave him a healthy tip and then he drove off after becoming something of a sounding board for my problems. I walked up the driveway with the knees cut out of my jeans. The house was pretty much secluded at the end of the road. There was a small lake in back and I could see what appeared to be a couple of kayaks lying on the grass. “Dave… Oh my god….what the fuck…yes…fuck me in the ass. You have the perfect cock to give me the ride of a lifetime. You always know exactly what to do… fuck… fuck me like I’ve never been fucked before.” My mother’s

voice was very familiar and for whatever reason, I felt compelled to walk back to where the source of those voices had come from. “Maria, I have never met a woman that can take cock like you. You certainly do know how to keep your guy satisfied. Getting a blow job any time that I want it has been something that I’ve always dreamed of. You can deepthroat like nobody’s business and I swear that you could probably suck a golf ball through a garden hose. Your pussy is extra tight and you really do make use of your time wisely to concentrate on those muscles that are going to keep me smiling from ear to ear. God damn…being this deep inside your ass like this has been a long time coming.” It sounded like there was trouble and I was secretly happy for this rift that was coming between Dave and my mother Maria. “You know…FUCK ME…that a Latin firecracker like me it too hard to contain for long. I can feel your cock. Every fucking inch is enveloped in my wet tight ass. I might be a little older, but with age comes wisdom. Experience and the willingness to take you in my ass gave me what I needed to win your heart.” I could see in the window the way that they were tangled up in the sheets. It was obvious that he was the one on top, but I had a feeling that wasn’t going to last long. My mother was a bit too domineering to be a in a vulnerable position unless it benefited her in some way. I should have interrupted them, but it looked like they were having a little bit too much fun. Besides, I was a bit of a voyeur and I was waiting for that moment when the sheets would come off and reveal the kind of man and the kind of body that my mother would be drawn to. Chapter two I didn’t even know when it happened, but my hand had already moved down into the waistband of my jeans. I could feel the supple skin of my mound and the way that it was nicely shaved like that of a newborn baby. I stuck my finger inside and my eyes were never going to close for one moment. It was that moment when the sheet came off that I had this momentary panic attack. I gasped quite loudly. My only saving grace was that they didn’t hear me over their carnal desires for each other. “It’s too hot to stay under the covers like this. I want to see your cock sliding in and out of my scalding asshole. I want to see you as your face changes to that of pleasure to one of outright euphoria. I look down and I see the way that you have stretched me out and I don’t think that I’ve ever had a cock this big before in my ass. You really are something. I’m sure that other girls left you because of your size, but I have never been that kind. I’ve always wanted something of a baseball bat to come home to. You might be a little bit

more than some would bargain for, but I see it more of a challenge.” She had got my curiosity and my finger was moving lightly across my clit to excite and stimulate that particular region of my anatomy. “I have to say…AHHH… Oh my god…yes…keep doing that and I will fucking fill you with my seed. Better yet, I will pull out and shoot it all over your face like a nasty facial. You…you remember the first time that we met and how I took you behind the club. I fucked that little mouth until I squeezed out everything that I had stored in my balls. I squirted so much that you were left with a smile on your face that couldn’t beat the band. I actually enjoyed the way that you looked up at me on stage pawing at the air to get closer to my leather pants.” It appeared that my mother had a type and I suppose I couldn’t blame her for that. She had found herself in the saddle and he was giving me a bird’s eye view of the rest of his body except for that one important part. I used my one hand to pull down my sports bra so that my tits could find the freedom to breathe. I grazed the nipples, pulling at them lightly and getting the necessary reaction with my juice running down my finger. It was definitely soaking through my panties. I could only hope that it wasn’t going to leave a telltale stain through the denim material of my jeans. There was a way to avoid that, but it was with its own risks. “I still can’t believe that I was able to take it right down my throat that night. It wasn’t like you were giving me any choice. The more that I gagged and struggled for breath; the more that you laughed at my expense. I can feel you and I know that there’s nothing that I want more than to be sitting right where I am right now. I wonder if you have given any more thought to my proposal about going into business with each other?” It would stand to reason that she would want to speak about business when pleasure was at hand. “I know that it’s a lot of money, but I promise that the investment is well worth your time and effort. If you can’t trust me, then who can you trust?” I had my mouth open ready to say something, but I stopped myself because they had not finished what they had already started. There were several certainties in life and two that always came to mind were taxes and dying. She had no idea that I had come a long way to see her with my hand out. She promised me a life of comfort and I was going to hold her to that responsibility. She pulled back slowly and as that piece of him became more revealed it was like my eyes grew wider with each slimy inch that came out of her ass. I stared at that thing until it finally emerged with this huge helmet on top. It was

the last thing to come out. It was covered in her ass juices and I still couldn’t believe that that thing was real. I had no idea how he could hide something like that even when it was flaccid. This guy was blessed and had the kind of equipment that made me wish that I wasn’t a virgin. “I don’t know if it’s a good idea to go into business with family. We’ve been married for only a short time. Let’s not talk about something that doesn’t belong in the bedroom.” He tried to get up, but her hands on his chest kept him immobile like that of her captive prisoner. “You know that I like to have control and I think that you are doing this on purpose.” She was purposely pulling him back into the contents of her asshole and pulling back out to let him practically beg to do it again. “If you think that denying me is a good way to get me to say yes to anything then you don’t really know me at all.” I was getting to know him. The way that those muscles flexed underneath the lampshade that was in the corner had illuminated quite a specimen of man. I would say that he dwarfed my mother by a least a few inches in height and his weight had to be at least 200 pounds. Those arms were like tree trunks and his shoulders were well defined with pectorals that were hard to ignore. “I think that I can change your mind.” She thought that she could use sex as a weapon. She probably did have quite the run of success using that particular technique, but I saw that Dave was not going to fall into that kind of trap. “You do want to cum…don’t you? I seem to recall you mentioning shooting streams of it all over my face. I will gladly give into that request on the condition that you give me a down payment of say $5000. It’s not like you can’t afford it.” This was the first time that I had noticed that they were in a very affluent neighborhood. There was no need for security and this place was on the outskirts of everything and away from the criminal element that would prey on those that felt weak and inferior. The truck and its gleaming chrome in the driveway must have cost a pretty penny not to mention the two jet skis that probably cost at least 20,000 apiece. This guy was rolling in it and I had no idea what he did and I’m not sure that it mattered. “I’ll…I’ll compromise and give you 2500. That’s all you’re going to get until I see some sort of return on my investment. I didn’t get to where I…where I…stop that and I was trying to say something.” She was grazing her nails over his nipples and I could tell that they were extra sensitive. Guys were little more secretive about what made them tick. I’d heard through the Grapevine that there were certain areas on a man’s body that got the desired results. Manipulating those areas would have a man begging and crawling on bended knee to get more.

I pulled my pants and my underwear down to my ankles and I stepped out of them to make sure that I didn’t leave any kind of a mess on my clothes. I was within the shadows and the cool breeze that was tickling my lips did not go unnoticed. I squeezed those internal muscles and I kept rhythmically doing that. It was the exact exercise that had become something of Dave’s Achilles’ heel. I pulled my nipples and watched her ride Dave like she was going to put him back wet. “I suppose I could live with that kind of compromise. Never let it be said that I didn’t show pity to a man that gave me everything on a silver platter.” It was obvious that she was a bottle dyed blond and that her natural dark blocks like mine were hidden to give her that bimbo quality. She didn’t want somebody to know how smart she was. The act of grifting was not an easy talent to come by. She had found a mark that was worth sticking around for not to mention the kind of cock that would choke a horse. They were soon rolling onto the floor with him holding onto her legs and pile driving in between her thighs. They were screaming nonstop and then he pulled out at precisely the moment that she had just had one earth shattering climax. She was left completely stunned and Dave drained that snake all over her face. She really didn’t have the energy to fight back and lying there with a pool of his stuff clinging to her features was a small price to pay. “My god… I don’t think that I’m going to have anything left for at least a week. You do have the tendency of draining me of everything that I have. I don’t think that there has been any woman that has done that more than you have, Maria. It must be that Latin temper and fiery passion that allows you to take things to the next level. You look fucking sexy with my cream dripping off you like that. You should really clean up and go and fetch me something for supper. I did do the courtesy of taking the roast out and it’s been simmering in the stove marinating in my special spice blend.” Whatever he did for a living made it easier for him to come home and cook for her and not the other way around. It was a sweet deal and this was not one that I was going to allow to pass me by. I went around to the front of the house with my black sports bag over my shoulder. I had to be careful and there was no way that I could actually climax without them overhearing it through the open window. What I could do was buildup that pressure and use Dave’s mighty cock as a focal point for my fantasies. I needed a chance to really get into it. I knocked on the door again and I waited impatiently while drumming my fingers against the jam of the storm door. It opened and there standing with her barely cinched robe was my mother. It took her aback and she stared at me and

then looked upstairs. She couldn’t afford her secret getting out. Unfortunately, Dave was already coming down the stairs with only a pair of jeans with the button undone. I’d seen him and I wanted to see more, but how could I do that without alienating my mother? I’m sure that I could sway my mother to allow me to stay here. “This is not the time or the place little girl.” She was not going to get away with dismissing me that easily. This was my life that she was messing with. I had plans which would require the necessary funds to make it happen. I wasn’t asking for the world and just enough to get my degree in sociology. I learned a lot in the last year and my plan was to become a therapist, even though, I probably didn’t look like one on the surface. “Mother, it’s nice to see you again and I do believe that we have a lot to talk about. I’m guessing from his expression that he had no idea that you had a daughter let alone an 18 year old one. I don’t want to go into every vivid detail, but you still owe me considerably for keeping my mouth shut. I will be happy to keep that arrangement, but only after I get what I came for. That money was always there each month. It was not there this time and I want an explanation. It’s one thing for you to cast me aside, but it’s another thing to leave me twisting in the wind.” I felt justified by my actions. She was fuming and I could tell that that seething rage was getting close to turning into something more physical. “You dare come here and you drop this bombshell on Dave and you still expect me to follow through on keeping you flush” I was only getting about $1000 a month. I was certain that some of her marks had given her enough to live in the lap of luxury. I had spies and they were able to tell me of some of the extravagance that she had spent on herself. At first, I didn’t care, but now that the money was drying up, it became bothersome. I kept staring at his crotch out of a corner of my eye. Maria didn’t have any clue that I was looking at him like something that should be devoured whole. It should’ve been very evident, but the only one that seemed to know was Dave. He crossed his hands over his crotch, but that wasn’t going to prevent me from seeing every vivid detail of every vein crisscrossing the large and imposing figure between his legs. “It’s late and I think that we should table this until morning. I don’t know what’s going on here, but we can get to the bottom of it after we get a few hours of rest. I really don’t think that it’s good idea that you stay underneath my roof, but I don’t see any way around it at the moment. There’s a guest room down the hall to the left at the top of the stairs. I do hope that you won’t be staying too long and I’ve never been comfortable around children. I thought

that I made that clear when I got together with you, Maria.” “That’s the reason why I didn’t tell you about Nicole. I thought that you would see me as some sort of gold digger trying to get her hand in your wallet.” She told him the truth while at the same time making it sound like a joke. I knew the truth and she may have had strong feelings for Dave, but I don’t think that she ever had the capacity for love. “I’ll see you in the morning. I do want to go on record to say that I’m not going to easily go away. You know what I came for and I better have it in my hand before I leave here tomorrow morning.” I mistakenly brushed past Dave and my hip made contact with the object that had been servicing my mother for the past hour. I felt this cold shiver down my spine and my lower extremities began to heat up in a very distinctive way. If my mother wasn’t around, I might have considered letting him go further than the occasional rub against each other. Chapter three The mattress was lumpy and the pillows were too damn soft. The fact that I was enamored by Dave was something that could not be fully realized. Their bedroom was right beside mine and I heard a muffled conversation in a heated tone. I had to smile knowing that my mother was doing the two step to try to figure out a way to explain that her daughter had suddenly came calling. I lay there with my hands across my chest feeling this need to do something about what I had seen before I knocked on the door. I’d always been more comfortable naked when I slept. My nubile young body was now on display and I left the door open a crack on the off chance that he might be going by my door to go to the bathroom or to go downstairs to fetch a drink of water. It was about 2:00 AM when the room next to me became silent. I was used to noise and the crickets outside my window were something that I was going to have to get used to. I was more the city girl with very minimalist needs. I didn’t ask for anything that I wasn’t deserving of. I certainly wasn’t greedy enough to parlay that into a blackmail scheme. She was the one that offered and I would’ve been damn fool not to jump at it after being treated like something at the bottom of her shoe. She told me that she was never a mother and she never wanted to be. The reason why she didn’t get rid of me was because she felt that every life was worth something. That was high praise coming from a woman that had given me to my grandmother. She was the kindest woman until she died. My mother came on my 18th birthday during the saddest and most crippling time of my life. I heard the floorboards and I knew that he was coming ever closer to seeing me in a different light. The hallway light was on and I saw his shadow

approaching. I spread my legs purposely and turned my head with one eye cocked to see what his reaction would be. “Oh my god… I see that mother and daughter are both fucking hot. Jesus… that pussy looks so damn inviting. That firm body…that firm 18 year old body. What the hell am I saying? It must be the stress of the situation that is getting the best of me.” He moved past the door and I waited patiently for him to return, but this time his baby blues were going to fall upon something of a different view. I had turned over on my stomach and arched my ass in just the right way that he could probably see a straight line from one hole to the other. I heard the gasp and then the pounding of feet as he once again joined my mother in the bedroom. It was the dead of night and the voices that I heard earlier had become clearer. The only thing that I could make out was “Not tonight honey… I have a headache. Didn’t you get enough already? My god… are you an animal?” I’m sure that left him with a case of blue balls and no way to satisfy those longings that I had stirred within his loins. I was kind of hoping that he would come back and stand in front of my door using my body to fuel his fantasies. I wanted him to take out that magnificent piece and give it the required attention that it deserved. I waited an interminable time and then I found myself drifting off to sleep and then waking up at the briefest sound. I was tempted to get up and go down the hall to see if he was taking matters into his own hands. I didn’t see him risking the kind of ridicule that my mother would inflict on him if she were to wake up in the middle of him satisfying himself. I fell asleep and then I woke up to find that another day had arrived. I got into my skimpiest white bikini top with those cutoff shorts that made me look like an 18 year old seductress. I wanted to give my mother a run for her money. I was never going to do anything about my feelings for him. It could be that I just wanted to get back at my mother for treating me like I was something to be thought of later. I bounded down the stairs and Dave was standing there with a cup of coffee up to his lips. He almost sputtered it out of his nose at the sight of me. I had to admit that I did enjoy turning up the heat. It was interesting to play with his mind and his body. It seemed only fair, because what I had seen already had played with my mind and my body. “Your mother and I have talked about it and we would like you to stay. I don’t like children, but you are…ahem… far from a child. You and I are going into town and get some provisions for a barbecue in the honor of your visit. I think that a few tasty T bones would hit the spot and make it easier to digest

that Maria is old enough to have a daughter that looks like you. She’s sleeping in and you could say that I wore her out.” He gave me that knowing wink most likely thinking that I was old enough to know exactly what he was referring to. Amazingly, I felt pretty comfortable in my own skin around Dave. He was cordial and friendly and it didn’t hurt that he had a rocking body. We weren’t gone that long and we decided to come back early to get things started. I saw this red motorcycle parked just across the street from us. It seemed a little unusual and there was this tension in the air that I could cut with a knife. He didn’t say anything as he opened up the door and went inside with groceries in hand. He placed them gingerly on the counter and then he made his way up the stairs to the sound of something that was more in line with what you would hear on the natural geographic channel. It wasn’t my place to step in where I didn’t belong. It was best that I leave well enough alone and then I heard what sounded like a fight and my mother screaming. I couldn’t help myself and I ran up and into the room to see Dave literally pummeling a naked man on the floor into a bloody pulp. The guy didn’t stand a chance against this kind of rage. I put my hands on Dave’s shoulder. This seemed to quell his desire for deadly vengeance. “Take your lover, your daughter and yourself out of my house and never return.” The icy cold feel of his words struck me like a hammer to the front of my skull. I could see that my mother was trying to find a way out and then she just shrugged and accepted her fate. “I’m sorry that you had to find out about it this way, Dave. You might have the kind of cock that would make women eager to try it, but my ex boyfriend Max is better with his mouth. I missed what it’s like to cum hard with only a man’s tongue inside me.” She was helping Max to his feet. It looked like he had lost a couple of teeth. He wasn’t even close to ready for round two. Maria tried to grab me by the arm but I shook her free and then looked to Dave with compassion. “You’ve done enough for today, mother. Leave and I will try to smooth things out to give you guys a chance.” Dave was sitting on the bed looking straight ahead. My mother and Max went downstairs and left the house before things got more volatile. “I put my hands on his shoulders like I had before to stop him from killing Max but this time something was different. He turned and instead of tears, I saw more of a fire that needed some kind of outlet. He lifted me with my legs wrapped around his waist. He carried me down the hallway into the bathroom until I was sitting on the counter with my legs spread. His hand was touching me through my clothing and I think that he was gauging me to see how far we

were both willing to go. “I’m not going to lie to you, Nicole. I’m only doing this for revenge. You’re just a means to an end. I thought that you should know that there is no future for us. This is strictly physical and nothing more. If you can live with that, then let’s get naked.” He had said those words with such conviction that I felt almost like he was willing my clothes to fall off my body. I stripped off the bikini top and I reached down to undo the button on my short shorts. He lifted my ass and pulled them off to see that I wasn’t wearing anything underneath. He stared at the cleft of my pussy and then he used his two thumbs to open me up to see that I was already as wet as I could ever be. “Right now, I don’t care why you’re doing it…only that you are. I think that angry sex sometimes is the best sex, although I really don’t have any reference to claim one way or the other.” I didn’t mean to blurt out the secret that I had been untouched. I’m not sure that he fully understood what I was saying with all the blood rushing down below his waist. “I have only one request. Treat me like I’m just some piece of ass. If you can do that, then this one time is more than I can ever ask for. I think that you deserve something for living with my mother.” He pressed his tongue forward and slid into me very easily considering that I was extra stimulated from the moment that I had seen him and my mother getting it on. I looked down and I could see that this was not his first rodeo. He was smiling like he knew the blueprint of the female anatomy like the back of his hand. What he didn’t realize was that every woman was different. I noticed that he started to do one thing and when he wasn’t getting the desired reaction, he would change tactics. That showed that he really did know what he was doing and wasn’t just doing it for show. I could see down between us that he was playing with himself. It was too bad, because wasting that on his hand would’ve been a crime against nature. I didn’t have time to think about it, as he started to bury two fingers inside me while concentrating on my excited clit. When he latched onto it, it began to throb like it had never done before. I was beginning to see that maybe I was wrong about keeping myself until marriage. “Yes… Fuck me you nasty boy. I’m just an innocent girl and you’re fucking me with your tongue. You should feel ashamed of yourself, but I know that you don’t. You just want to stick it to my mother by sticking it to me and I’m perfectly fine with that. Do it…make me cum and I promise that won’t be the only thing that I do.” I came with my legs around him and grabbing onto his head to give him added incentive to stay in the position that he was in. He never gave up and he continued to enjoy the fruits of my loins as those juices

seemed to continue to flow like there was no end. I’d never had a multiple climax and this was one that made me feel like I was in the throes of something otherworldly. I went into a fit of sexual rage with my heels slapping heavily against his back. I was afraid that I was hurting him, but that was only a secondary thought to the pleasure that he was inflicting me with. Those signals in my brain had overloaded and I fell back against the mirror with my head making contact. I heard the crack and the old wives’ tale about seven years of bad luck came to mind. If this was bad luck, then I would take it over good luck any day. He got up and brought his cock up to the gates of heaven. He pressed deeply with his knob and my lips started to bloom out to meet him. I finally got back a semblance of sanity. I put my hands up to his chest with whatever energy I had left to stop him from going any further. He looked a little confused. I wanted to make it perfectly clear that this was going to happen, but on my timetable. “Not like this. Angry oral is one thing, but angry fucking is another thing altogether. I want this to be more than just a knee jerk reaction to seeing my mother cheating on you. I want you to hunger for me. I want you to want me in the same way that I feel that I want you. Trust me; you’re not going to have to wait very long. I won’t be able to keep it in my pants and I’m sure that I can say the same thing for you.” My lips were plump and had that very satisfied feeling. “I don’t know how you can expect me to wait. I’m literally climbing the walls.” He backed away albeit reluctantly and then he put back his cock where I wasn’t going to have to worry that he was going to make an effort to penetrate me against my will. I would’ve enjoyed a little bit of rough play, but that could wait until later. He didn’t need to know that my next action was more for his benefit than mine. Chapter four That evening at supper, I made him a meal that would stick to his ribs. The pork roast with all the trimmings including little onions and carrots along with baby potatoes were the offering of the day. He came in to find me slaving over the stove. I turned to see that he was smiling like I had been caught doing something that I shouldn’t be. I had on an apron, but that’s all that I had on underneath. There was nothing but pure skin and that didn’t go lost on him. His eyes and his pupils dilated upon learning of my special surprise. “You can make yourself useful by setting the table.” He made a deep sigh and then went ahead and made sure that the cutlery and the plates were in place. “By all means, have a seat and I’ll be with you in just a moment. I’m

just finishing up and I believe that this will be to your liking. I’m sorry to say that I don’t have any dessert, but I think that we can come up with something.” I could see that he understood the meaning behind my words and he looked at me with this raw animal lust that I could not ignore. “You didn’t have to go to any of this trouble and I could’ve ordered something in for the both of us. I don’t want you to think that you are obligated to do any of this because of your mother’s betrayal. I think that we both have a reason to be upset with her. I’m through playing nice and this time is the last time that she’s ever going to fuck around. I’ve known for quite some time that her desires sometimes get the best of her. I always find a reason to welcome her back and I thought by putting a ring on your finger that it would change things.” He was eating and I don’t think that his heart was into it. I decided to do something to put a smile on his face. He wasn’t going to expect this from innocent little me. I needed to take a few shots of tequila from the bar before dinner to have the courage to go though with this part of my plan. I feigned surprise when I dropped my fork and then I purposely slid underneath the table and crawled to him like a panther after its prey. I touched his leg and he hit his knee up against the table in surprise. “Continue eating and I believe that my meal is already to be served. It’s exactly what I wanted. This is a full course meal with its own creamy dessert.” He didn’t miss a beat and lifted his body so that his pants could come down and wrap around his ankles like his own personal straitjacket. He was at my mercy and this was what I was hoping for. “I don’t know how you expect me to eat with what’s going on down below. I’m going to try, but I just hope that I don’t choke on something.” He was not the only one that was hoping that they weren’t going to choke on something. Seeing it rising from his crotch was like seeing something small become something daunting. He grew to a diameter in size that seemed almost impossible. I’d seen it upstairs in the bathroom, but this was a lot to take in when I was this close to the object of my desire. I grabbed it and I gave it a healthy shake before squeezing from the bottom to the top. I found what I was looking for and it looked so damn delicious that it felt like I was compelled to move forward to lick it off. I touched his cock with my tongue and it was like a live wire was pressed into his shaft. It literally began to leak like someone had turned on a faucet and I was right there to make sure that none of it went to waste. This had been building up and there had to be a reward. “I don’t know where you got your technique, but your mother could really use some pointers in this department. Yes…you fucking take that damn cock

and I want you to fucking swallow the whole thing. There really is something to say for youthful exuberance. I thought that I was through with those girls that were naive, but apparently I still have a taste for them.” The only taste that I was interested in was the stuff that was pooling on the surface of my tongue. It had this sweet quality like he had eaten a lot of fruits and vegetables. I had a feeling that my mother had dictated the terms of his diet to make it more palatable. I slapped his thighs and I was happy to see the red welts left behind. The added benefit of pain with pleasure was something that I wanted him to be aware of. I’d heard that it can be quite an aphrodisiac and the way that his cock seemed to jerk in my mouth told me that what I had read was pretty much on the mark. “I don’t know…what to say. You’ve gone above and beyond to make me feel like I’m wanted and desired. You have no idea…how much that means to me. You have no idea what you’re doing and for a novice, you certainly do put some of the girls that I’ve been with to shame.” I could see that his legs were visibly trembling and those muscles were now rippling with the effort to hold back the bursting dam between his legs. I was in no hurry and the very notion that he was going to supply me with a mouthful was keeping me on the edge of my seat. I delivered my best work and even though I didn’t know what I was doing, I was taking my cue from his reaction. Every time that I slipped over the top, he would thrust his ass off the chair. I found myself holding vigil at the top, swirling my tongue and making him grunt his response, as he slapped his hands down on the table in frustration. “You might be my stepdaughter and this might be wrong, but I don’t care. All I want is to bury myself in your throat and then shoot my cream all over your face. Isn’t that what you really want, Nicole? Don’t you want to be treated like a little whore and let daddy make you his personal whore? I know that is what you want and by god that is exactly what you’re going to get from me. I’m not going to take no for an answer and this time I want to see those pretty little eyes looking up at me.” He pushed the tablecloth up on top of the table, so that he could see my bobbing head and the way that my hair fanned out along his crotch. I was letting him have his way with me and the feeling of being dominated was better than I had thought it would be. I purposely put extra emphasis on squeezing his balls. He pushed his chair back which of course pulled him from my mouth unexpectedly. There were strings of my spit connecting my mouth to his cock. He wrapped his hand around his cock and began to stroke it. He

made a motion with his head for me to mimic the exact same action. “I’m not sure what to do, but I’ll do my best to make you proud of me.” I grabbed him with both hands and I jacked him slowly at first until I saw that the color of his face was changing to that of maroon. His tongue was lazily moving across his lips. I didn’t know for sure, but this was pretty damn telling that things were going to escalate further than they already had. “Open up your mouth and stick out your tongue. My little slut is going to get a healthy helping of sweet cream to whet her appetite for something even more. Once you get a taste, there’s absolutely no way that you’ll be able to go anymore than a few days without wanting it again. Every girl claims that they are the ones in control, but I know differently. You just want cock and I’m happy to supply it any time that you look like you are in dire need. That’s it…a little faster and for god sake don’t stop when I begin to…CUMMMMMM.” His knob flared like that of a balloon and the small hole in the middle opened up. That was followed by one hot streak of his juice that cascaded from the top of his cock all the way between my eyes. I’d heard that it burned if you got it in your eyes and I was hoping that wasn’t going to happen. That would put a damper on what we were doing and there was no way that I wanted this to stop any time soon. “Come on… Daddy…give me all of it and don’t leave anything behind.” My hand was still moving and that vein along the back was quite prevalent. He was like a gun going off with one shot after the other. Each one had its own intensity, until the final few shots were not as strong as the others. He looked like he was out of it and I decided to give him something else to think about as I wrapped my lips around him. I found out that he was extra sensitive after such an imminent explosion. “My god…you really don’t give a guy a chance to catch his breath. I could barely breathe…fuck…stop that… I can’t take it anymore.” He had to literally push me away and I think that he saw that I wasn’t going to relinquish my claim without being forcibly made to. “I’m going to need some time, but I will find you and we’ll finish this. You were right about denying me that pleasure. Letting things simmer on a slow boil is better than instant gratification.” I wasn’t sure if I agreed with that sentiment, especially when my finger was not enough to bring me all the way there. I wanted it to, but something was forbidding me from doing it. I had to believe that I was waiting for that initial penetration and the feeling of being taken by a real man and not some boy pretending to be one. “I know that my mother cheating on you is very painful, but I’m grateful that she turned out to be a bottom feeding slut. Now that I have gotten a taste, I

think that you’re going to have your hands full. I’m not like my mother and I’m going to need it a lot more than just once a week. I do hope that you can keep up with the demand. If you can’t, I’m sure that I can find somebody that can.” I was throwing down the gauntlet and letting him know in no uncertain terms that his business tonight had not concluded. “I’m one horny little bastard all the time and your mother has always been the one to dictate when and if we do it. I don’t know why it always has to be the woman’s way or the highway. I would think that pleasing both parties is exactly what a relationship is all about. I don’t want to always have to initiate and be turned down flat. It’s different when a girl wants it. A guy will practically trip over himself to get a piece. I have to say that you wearing me on your face is a very delicious sight. I don’t think that I’ve ever seen you look sexier than right at this moment.” I was cleaning myself off with my fingers and sticking my finger covered in his stuff into my mouth. “I can’t seem to get enough and I do hope that you have more where that came from. One taste is only opening up the floodgates. I can’t possibly keep that desire from rising up. You’re going to have to be ready and willing any time that you come through that door. I am going to be all over you and it would be a good suggestion that you don’t bring anybody home with you at the end of the day. I don’t want them to find me completely naked strewn across the couch with a ball gag in my mouth and handcuffs to keep me from running away.” I got up on my feet with the apron stained with the essence of man. “I look forward to having a very healthy sex life with my stepdaughter. That is until I get what I so rightfully deserve. Once that divorce is final, we will not have that taboo notion of being my stepdaughter hanging over our heads. We can indulge and nobody will blink an eye, except for those prudes that don’t like the idea of an older man with a younger girl.” I kissed him and he did not back away when he tasted himself on my lips. I saw our sex life as a growing flower. Chapter five I went looking for him around midnight and found that his door was locked. I called out to him, but he did not answer. I assumed that he had taken to drinking away his worries. I went to bed feeling disappointed and then I woke up to have him standing over me completely dressed in a tailored gray suit. “I have an idea about how to take your virginity. You didn’t think that I was listening, but I was. I want you to come to the office with me and be my secretary. My current secretary is out indefinitely on stress leave and I doubt that she’s going to be back. I want you to take her place.” He brought me one of my mother’s dresses and amazingly it fit like a glove. It was tight and there

wasn’t a lot of room to maneuver, but it certainly did accent the positives. When we got to the office the place was abuzz with activity. I sat at the desk and I found that I was easily able to figure out things on my own. By noon hour, I had my own way of doing things. It might not have been exactly the way that my predecessor would have done it, but I found my own style. The intercom went off and I heard a distinctive voice calling me to action. “Nicole, would you mind coming in here so that I can dictate the terms of your employment.” I was a little curious and I picked up a pad and pen and walked in to find that he wasn’t sitting at his desk. I felt his hands on my waist and then his fingers were bunching up the material of my blue dress until he found that I was wearing only a smile underneath. He gasped at the knowledge that I was going commando and then he lifted me in the air. I dropped forward until my hands were firmly planted on the carpeting. I think this was what they call the wheel barrow position. I heard his zipper then I felt his knob pressing into the one spot that no man had gone before. “I would suggest, Nicole that you find something to keep your mouth occupied.” The fire that was consuming his cock, as he entered with just the head was only the beginning. “You are fucking tight and I don’t think that I’ve ever had this kind of welcome. I don’t even think that I’ve had girls my own age that were able to strangle my cock like this.” I was waiting with my body on high alert for the penetration that was going to take my breath away. “Ready or not…here…I come.” He found the obstacle nothing to be worried about. “Oh fuck… Oh fuck… Oh fuck.” I was trying to keep my voice down and he was now demandingly fucking me with a wild man mentality. “Dave… Dave… I never knew… I never fucking knew that it could be this good. Fuck me…make me into a woman and I promise I will never…leave you.” He pulled out. I fell down on my knees with him following me with his hand on the small of my back. More… I want fucking more and I never want it to end. You have created a monster…an unrelenting monster that will always be ready for you. My wet pussy craves to be filled and now I know what those other girls were talking about behind my back.” I’d lost my composure and my arms had given out with my face plastered against the floor. “Jesus…how am I supposed to hold out with you practically milking me of my seed?” When he was at the edge, he once again left me empty and came around to let me taste myself along the length of him. I gave him the hot recess of my throat. I left him glistening and ready for more. His smile told me that he appreciated my efforts and then he buried it deep within me one more time. I was shaking to the core and my body was responding with my juices

streaming down the length of him. He fucked me hard and drove me around the office like I was some wild stallion to be tamed. He never ceased to amaze me. Every time that he was getting close, he would bring things to a standstill. “I don’t think that I’ve ever cum…that many times. Let me bring you the kind of pleasure that you gave me.” This time, he didn’t hold back and the pounding presence of his member was relentlessly slamming up against my slippery walls. “I’m so happy that I was the one to take your virginity. I would hate to think that somebody else got that pleasure. Yes…just a few more thrusts and that should just about…do it… AHHHHH.” I felt that moment arrive and the heat that filled me was giving me this sense of euphoria. I basked in the way that he fucked me until he had nothing left. I was only glad that I was able to keep things down to a dull roar. “Damn… I think that your mother leaving was a blessing in disguise. Is it just me, or do you also feel like she deserves to know that we have found love in each other’s arms? I won’t announce that until she signs the paper and then we’ll see what her reaction is.” All I had to do was fold my dress back into place. I went back to my desk with his seed dripping down my legs. I was glad that the desk was hiding my shame although I really didn’t think that I had anything to be ashamed of. At the end of the day, he fucked me over my desk with the possibility of somebody returning for something that they forgot. We were insatiable. It was like we had been waiting for each other all of our lives. In the months that followed, we were trying everything in the book. I wanted to know every aspect of what sex had to offer and the very idea of a ball gag and handcuffs had now come into play. The added bonus of the blindfold made it possible for him to bring in a young lady of feminine persuasion. I found myself eating my first pussy and having my pussy eaten by a woman. I found that it wasn’t as good as Dave and maybe he had that extra something that turned my crank. I appreciated the fact that he was willing to share me and I was planning something of a surprise for him that might have him thinking that he was seeing double. There were twin blonde babes at my gym and I had talked openly about my relationship with Dave and they were most anxious to meet his acquaintance. Dave made my mother an offer that she couldn’t refuse. She signed on the dotted line and then I walked in to wrap my arms around the love of my life. She was shocked and called us every name in the book, but then she stormed off leaving us to live in harmony. I found out that I was pregnant and there was no doubt that Dave was the father to be. He was a little concerned at first, but then he realized that my

mother’s opinion meant nothing. We had found each other. I didn’t care how it happened. It was enough to know that I had found the man that would always challenge me in and out of the bedroom.

DADDY’S GIRL (STACEY) Chapter one I sit here wearing this beautiful black dress that hugs my every curves and I know that I have gotten John’s attention from the way that he looks at me when he thinks that I’m not watching. It brings this flush to my cheeks and I know that tonight is the night that he wants to consummate our relationship. I can feel that sexual tension in the air and the way that he licks his lips makes me wonder if I have the courage to go through with this. This restaurant is ripe with romance. The candles are lit and the tablecloths are made of this very soft silk that feels good against my fingertips. I’m 23 years old and I’ve never let liquor touch my lips until tonight. The wine had this fruity balance of sweetness that had me overindulging despite my misgivings about my inhibitions flowing away within the influence of that alcohol. I couldn’t say that he didn’t look good in that blue suit that hung on his body like it was made specifically for him. I touched the rim of my glass and I moved my finger around it absently looking at him and knowing that this was his plan all along. I could feel his foot unencumbered by socks or shoes running up the calf of my leg and igniting a certain spark that was only going to take the mere hot breath of his mouth to bring it to an all time boil. The grazing motion of his toes caused me to squirm and feel like I was that close to succumbing to my baser instincts. “If I haven’t told you already tonight, then let me be the first one to tell you that you look amazing. I will say that that dress would look better lying on the floor of my condo. I know that you said that you would think about it and I was hoping that maybe you had an answer to my proposal. It may not be conventional for couples to engage in extra marital sex before the marriage, but I don’t see why we have to stick to that tradition.” He was saying all the right things and it didn’t hurt that he was smiling and giving off that air of sexuality. That man was a catch that had most women speechless. “I’ve given this a lot of thought, John. I know that you intended to seduce me with the food first and then the liquor to complement it. I feel that we have come a long way and that a few more nights are not going to hurt us. It will

make the wedding night even that much more special, but I have to say that this whole thing that you have set up tonight has given me food for thought.” In one breath, I had told him that it wasn’t going to happen and in the next, I was giving him that inkling of hope that he could grab onto. “The one thing that I haven’t heard from you is the word no. Let’s not dwell on something that is in the near future. I’m sure that we can do other things besides going all the way. I know that I’ve been anxious to taste you.” I sputtered the wine that was in my mouth. I’d never heard him talk so blatant, but it was an easy way to supply me with the necessary encouragement to take this to the next level. “I can’t promise you anything, but you are certainly on the right track.” I’d forgotten about my mother’s invitation coming back unanswered. She left me five years ago to fend for myself under the strict guidance of my stepfather Joseph. I was 18 at the time and seeing her walk out of my life without even a second glance was not something that a daughter should have to endure. I understood that she wasn’t in love with Joseph anymore and that the young buck across the street had turned out to be more than just a casual acquaintance. “I mean every word that I’m saying to you, Stacey. We’ve been together for over two years and you have to admit that I’ve been very patient. I don’t know if it’s the dress or the restaurant or maybe it’s the liquor, but it’s causing me to feel this need for that release.” He was talking about his manhood. I’d seen him when he was aroused and all the blood that had accumulated down below was not hard to recognize with the naked eye. “I know that you’re being sincere and maybe we can do something before the wedding. I’ve had a little bit too much to drink, but it still is not enough for me to cast aside my moral upbringing. I go to church every Sunday and they stress abstinence until marriage. It’s not what you want to hear, but I’m trying to be honest with you. I do think that I can give you something to at least whet your appetite for the main event.” I never saw anybody pay the check that quickly and then he dragged me caveman style out to the car. We drove over to his old high school and he pulled me against my will until we were standing at the goal post. He circled me and then bit my neck causing my legs to shudder and shake under that kind of attention. I felt his hands linger along the straps of the black dress and then he was lifting it over my shoulders and letting it fall over my curves until it was landing at my feet. He expertly undid my bra and let it magically appear in his hands. I instinctively put my arms over my chest, but he peeled them aside to look at my huge assets. He touched me and my nipple became instantly erect and then he

gave them a tongue lashing that had me practically ready to jump his bones. I had blond hair down to my shoulders, and green eyes that seemed to see through any of those lies that other guys would say to me. John was different and I really couldn’t tell when he was putting on airs or giving me the god honest truth. “I think that I can give you some incentive.” He followed that up by getting on his knees, holding my hips and raising the skirt part of that dress every little inch until my panties soaking wet with my excitement was now right in front of his face. He took a swipe with his tongue and I had to hold onto his shoulders with my nails digging into his flesh to prevent myself from falling to his eager hands. He peeled my panties to the side and I heard the wet fabric between his fingertips. He leaned forward and I heard him sniffing and then making this animal like sound like he couldn’t control himself. The only light was from the brief peek of moonlight coming through the clouds, but it was more enough for me to see what he was doing. He had somehow opened my legs and the high heels that I wearing was teetering on the edge. I had to finally kick them free from my feet and I had no idea where they went in my overanxious state. I might not be like other girls, but John seemed to gravitate towards me, even though I didn’t project that kind of hard body. I prided myself on being different and standing at 5’5, 150 pounds left me with a lot coming and going. My breasts were all natural D cups and I had a feeling that was the main reason why John had shown me any sign that he was even interested. “I don’t know if we should… Oh fuck…WOW… I didn’t know that it was gonna be better than my fucking fingers.” I’d never had a guy go down on me and John had touched me inappropriately a couple of times, but it was by my own request. This was a whole lot different and was drawing out those moans of excitement that I couldn’t contain within myself. I was breathing heavy, chest rising and falling with each breath and my skin was now showing signs of a glistening perspiration. He had my clit right where he wanted it and was now sucking it with the purpose of getting me off. I held on for as long as I could, but his insistence was intoxicating. I came with this splash of confidence and he never moved from his position like I was that finger licking good. “I have no words. I have to do something for you. You’re going to have to be patient and this is the first time that I’ve ever done anything like this.” I was

on my knees and I had his fly open with his cock touching my lips and then the sound of eight cylinders came roaring down onto the field. The headlights caught me with his cock in my hand with a string of his stuff now clinging to my lips. “I won’t let you do this.” I shielded my eyes and I looked to see that Joseph my stepfather had decided to interfere where his nose didn’t belong. “Get in here, unless you want me to come out there and drag you to this truck. I told you that I didn’t trust him and until that ring is on your finger, none of what you’re thinking about doing is going to happen. Do you know what the minister would say if he saw you like this? He would never be able to look at you the same way again.” I saw the disappointment in John’s eyes and then suddenly he looked like he couldn’t stand it anymore. His cock jerked and I moved to the side before he could give me that first blast right between the eyes. He stood there and gave into that sensation, while I gathered my clothes and grabbed the one shoe that I could find. I left him with his eyes closed and a permanent smile etched across his face. I didn’t do much more than kiss the tip, but it seemed to be enough to send him over the edge. Chapter two The wedding was scheduled for tomorrow and here I was looking at this letter that John had cowardly slipped underneath the door at the crack of dawn. “I can’t live with your stepfather’s constant interference in our lives. To be honest, I was only in this to see if I could sleep with you before the wedding. I’m leaving with an old girlfriend that knows how to please her man. This wedding was a sham from the moment that I gave you that ring. If you have any delusions of pawning it, then don’t bother. It’s not worth anything. You thought that it was a diamond but it only looked that way. I don’t really care if you find happiness and I’m just glad that I’m away from the ice princess.” He never signed it, but his words struck a chord that I wasn’t expecting. I dropped the letter and I ran upstairs and slammed the door shut to feel this pit of isolation come over me. I couldn’t even imagine why anybody would want me and now that John had cast me aside, it was bringing back those doubts that I was even worth anything at all. I didn’t want to give him that kind of power, but it was difficult not to think that something was wrong with me. “I know that you can hear me. I read the letter and it’s better that you find out before the wedding than after. He was never good for you. It’s not what you want to hear, but I think that a change of scenery is best for both of us. I’ve arranged for us to go to my friend’s condominium in Barbados. You won’t have to pack much. A little sun and surf won’t do you any harm. I’m not taking

no for an answer. If you’re not down in that truck within the next 10 minutes with whatever you can carry then I’m going to kick this door down and don’t think that I won’t.” Joseph was the one person that would always tell me the truth and it didn’t hurt that seeing him coming out of the shower with a towel on had raised a few fantasies that I couldn’t seem to get away from. Even when I was about to go down on John, I was thinking about Joseph. Even while he was eating me, I was imagining that it was Joseph supplying me with that necessary reprieve from daily life. I didn’t have anything to hold me here and the job waitressing was pretty much dead end. I was planning to go back to school and get my degree to become a teacher. I thought that I had a lot to give and my biological clock was ticking. 5 minutes later and I was wiping the tears and hoping that getting away from all of my worries would do me a world of good. John had done the impossible by opening me up to the possibilities of a truly physical relationship. I just had to find a way to convince Joseph that my honor was his for the taking. I was looking forward to shedding some layers and showing my curves. It might give him ideas and it’s not like I hadn’t noticed the way that he has been watching me lately. He would disappear into the bathroom after seeing me sunbathing in the backyard. It did stroke my ego to know that his interest in me was more than just fatherly instinct. He had tattoos on his shoulders and one of a very intricate snake wrapped around his neck. I’d seen him coming out of the shower and that tattoo went well below where my eager eyes could see. I didn’t want to make it look too easy for him, so I feigned a stubborn attitude with my arms crossed. I didn’t think that was going to last long. “Stacey, I don’t want you to even give him a second thought and he’s not worth all the heartache that you are feeling right about now. This is where you finally close that chapter on your life and start another. You probably thought that he was the only man that would ever want you, but trust me there are guys that would knock down the door to be near you. You are sexy and you have more to offer than most would ever imagine. I’ve seen the way that you have blossomed into a young woman and I know that things are going to look up for you. Just keep your eyes open and you never know when opportunities will come around when you least expect from.” He was giving me his stepfather advice, but his cock was rising and becoming something of a focal point for my wide open eyes. It probably didn’t do him any good that I was wearing this very short leather blue skirt and a white halter top that didn’t exactly contain my overabundance. I don’t even know why I had put these on. I was begging him

for more than just a casual glance. “You might be right and what I’ve been looking for might be right in front of me and I didn’t even know it. I don’t know how to say this, Joseph, but I think that I want you to be my first.” I had no idea how I came up with the right words to convey what I wanted to say. It seemed like my tongue was two sizes too big for my mouth and I was so dry that I could’ve probably drank a liter of water and still be parched. There was this awkward silence inside the truck as his fingers gripped the steering wheel. I waited to see what his response was going to be and then I got the surprise of my life with his fingers touching my bare knee. It moved cautiously up underneath the hem of my skirt. His fingers came in contact with the wetness of my desire for him. This had to be some kind of wet dream that I was going to wake up from with my hand digging obscenely between the lips of my pussy. “I’ve always wondered what it would be like, but I never thought that this day would actually come. You deserve so much better than John. He was unworthy of your love and affection. I don’t think that you were truly in love with him and maybe you were just clinging to the only man that you thought could ever love you. If you’re serious, then I would be honored to give you your first lessons. I do have to warn you ahead of time that I can be a pretty strict taskmaster.” The idea that he would be firm and demanding had never occurred to me, but now it was sending a chill down my spine with more than anticipation. I swallowed hard, realizing that I had put it out there and he had grabbed the ball and was now running for the touchdown. His fingers had touched me and that one moment of sheer bliss radiated through my features like I couldn’t get enough. He pulled them aside and unlike John, he was in no hurry to go any further than what he had already done. I was one that grabbed his hand and pressed his fingers against the sodden opening. Waging war against my virginity had become my mission in life. I felt those two fingers begin to inch forward and slip within the tight confines of my velvety opening. I applied pressure to his hand and waited, until I could feel that restriction preventing him from going through to the other side. I used his hands, as he moved them to stimulate those nerve endings that made me tremble in his grasp. I opened my eyes and I stared at him, as he brought me closer and closer to that moment. It was a slow building exercise that made it necessary for me to grab onto something while he was driving. I’d learned to drive stick when I was younger, but this was nothing like those sticks that I had taken control of.

This was more than I bargained for and the shape and size really did cement the fact that he was blessed. “Stacey, I want you to cum all over my fingers and then I want you to be a good girl and lick them clean. What are you waiting for? This is your first class lesson and I expect obedience at all times. If I don’t get it, then I might have to resort to more extreme measures to make my intentions clear.” I felt the endorphins of my sex drive becoming too much to handle. I took his fingers in, as far as they would go without breaking through that thin layer. He was the one that finally touched me with his thumb, circling my clit and using the wetness that was provided to draw in a complete circle one way and then back the other way. “You want me to cum…so badly…and I don’t think that I’m in any shape to refuse…YOUUUUUUUUU.” I came and the feeling was sublime like my own personal fantasy coming to life right in front of my eyes. I ground against him, soaking his digits and then I pulled them into my mouth and gave them the kind of attention that I was going to give John’s cock. “Oh yeah… that’s the way that I want you to do it. I want you to learn how to do it the right way. Gag on those two fingers. Believe me; you’re going to have to get accustomed to something a lot thicker and longer than what my two fingers are. This is only the first lesson and there are so many left that it’s hard to me to figure out where to begin.” I used my tongue to make sure that his digits were completely cleaned off. I lay back with a sort of contentment. He was asking me to do something that was considered unladylike. I felt this dirty and naughty feeling that took control of my actions. “That was like I was coming and going at the same time. Are you sure that there’s not anything more that you want me to do? I feel that you deserve something for all of your hard work. It doesn’t seem fair that I would get all the pleasure and you were left with a perpetual case of blue balls.” He almost laughed and the snicker under his breath that ensued was a little disconcerting. “I am a very patient man. I have no interest in ruining a good thing. Making you wait for it is better than jumping headlong and taking things too far too quickly. I know that you’re anxious and it’s that sense of wonder and excitement that I am counting on.” He had to go around and open the door for me at this private airfield. A Learjet was waiting for us with the prerequisite captain wearing his hat and sunglasses upon our arrival. I got out and I felt a little lightheaded and Joseph was right there to hold me up. The bit of grey at his temples gave him that maturity and sense of experience that I was looking for in a lover. We boarded the plane and I wanted to join a certain club, but I was too drained from the day’s activities to

do much of anything. I could barely keep my eyes open. I felt his hand moving through my hair and the soft touch of his fingers along my cheek was most welcome. “We’re going to turn you into more than just a girl with attitude. We’re going to transform you into a woman and I’m going to be there every step of the way. I want to see you gradually become more than you could ever hope for. I want to draw you out of your shell and let you experience what your sexuality is supposed to be all about. You don’t have to hide from it and maybe, I was a little jealous to allow somebody else to maliciously take what is so precious.” His voice lulled me into a deep slumber and his words brought a sense of satisfaction to a young woman’s heart. Chapter three We walked off the plane to that feeling of humidity smacking us in the face. It was a little jarring and took my breath away for a moment, but then I found myself acclimating to this new atmosphere with a sense of abandon. I’d changed in the bathroom for a more island look with a wraparound colorful skirt that was only being held together by one small pin at the side. The white bikini top did not exactly hide the peaks of my tits. The huge dollar sized nipples were poking through and I could see that the local guys had taken quite the interest. “You’re certainly allowed to look, but you can’t touch without my permission. I do find a certain fascination with you showing some of your skills to those less fortunate. Some of these guys haven’t seen a white woman and it might be time for you to see what all the fuss is about a black man. Some of the rumors are true and aren’t exaggerated in the very least. It’s something that you should see for yourself and to judge for yourself.” I had no idea what he was planning, but the hushed tone of his conversation with a couple of those guys had me at a loss for words. I was going to question him on what he had been talking to them about, but I didn’t really want to know. That sense of surprise and discovery was exactly what I was looking for. I was glad that I didn’t give in to those feelings with John. If I had, I probably wouldn’t be getting the chance to do this for the first time. We separated from those two guys that were giving me the once over and making me feel a little self conscious and sexually available at the same time. “They’re going to meet us in a little while. In the meantime, I think that I should get a look at what has become something of an obsession for me.” Before I even had a chance to react, he was pulling the string at my neck and letting my breasts be shown in a different light. The driver couldn’t take his eyes off of me and for some reason that voyeuristic sleaze was giving me an electrical jolt between my legs. “You look so much better like that. I have to

take a moment to let it all sink in. Don’t even try to cover up, unless you intend to be punished for your disobedience.” He slapped his hands together and the sound echoed like a gunshot going off. It made me jump practically out of my skin and the very idea that he would lay hands on me had gotten my blood pumping. “I feel exposed. I want to cover up, but I know that I would have to be punished. I’m not sure that it’s worth it.” He didn’t try to touch me, but my body was revealed and making me feel like I was a feast for more than one person. There were those that were driving by that took a moment to fully appreciate the site that was greeting their eyes. The island of Barbados had this feeling of freedom and the ability to express yourself in whatever way you desired. We got to our destination and he was about to tip the driver, but he waved it aside like seeing me like that was tip enough. “It appears that you had an audience and I don’t think that was lost on you all the way here.” He surprised me with his mouth encompassing one nipple and then doing the same thing to the other, until they were both dripping. I could feel the warmth of the sun and the cool breeze from over the palm trees that were tickling those nubs. “I do appreciate that you are allowing me to take you underneath my tutelage. I think that before they arrive, you should at least know a bit of the basics. Don’t worry; I have no plans to let them anywhere near your virginity.” I was shocked that he would say that while the driver was standing there with his eyes cast upon my bountiful breasts. They were a meaty morsel and one that this dreadlocked man wanted to get his mouth on. He drove away and I thought that he was going to slam into a tree, but he managed to avoid that messy entanglement. I followed Joseph from behind and I couldn’t help but to admire how those white pants were calling attention to his posterior. We followed this path made of white stone all the way up to this huge oak door. It opened to show the white porcelain floor and the island depictions scrawled across the walls. I’d barely stepped in when he turned me towards the door and pressed me up against it. “I believe that I promised you a lesson in the basics. The best place to learn is on your knees.” I thought that he was joking, but his stern expression told me that he wasn’t. “I would suggest that you assume the position.” I was still a little nervous, but my need to see him without those pants certainly was enough incentive to abide by his wishes. I didn’t have to bother unzipping his pants, as he had already done that for me. The rest was a job that was fit for the woman in his life. I reached inside and the first touch made me realize just how far I was willing to go. I gave his cock the freedom to feel the soft lips touching the head. That was as far as I

had made it with John. Nobody was going to interrupt this moment and then I decided that it was better to get it over with than to procrastinate. I’d just taken his cock head into my mouth, when he grabbed me by the hair and drove down into my throat for one solid second before coming back up with me sputtering like an old steam engine. “You have to get used to taking it all the way. If you really want to satisfy a man, then you need to learn how to do it without showing any kind of gag reflex.” He once again grabbed me by the hair and I instinctively opened my mouth to let him take his pleasure. I could taste that sticky paste sticking to my lips. It was the first time that I had any real knowledge about what that would have been like. I’d seen my fair share of movies, but there was nothing that could truly prepare me for what I was getting in the real world. I applied suction like I was drawing sustenance from a straw. I heard his audible gasp of excitement and the way that his hips flexed forward gave me an idea that he was more than a mouthful. I was only mimicking what I had seen on some of those movies and it appeared to have what I would call a profound effect. His cock literally lurched in my mouth and then he was holding me by the ears, as he pistoned with great delight back into the recesses of my tight throat. I could feel those veins more pronounced and the head seemed to grow like some kind of magic mushroom inside my mouth. “You’re learning very quickly. This is only part of your training…YES…just keep doing that and I promise that there is a reward in your future.” That reward came with the end of his cock shooting great volumes of sweet delight across my tongue into the back of my mouth. I was afraid to swallow and I allowed his flavor to linger on my tongue, until it was too much for me to contain without spilling it from my lips. I don’t know why I did it, but I wrapped my hand around the base and I jerked him through the last few shots, while swallowing and making sure that there was room for what was coming out of the end of his manly spigot. I could feel it and I knew that this was not going to be the only time that I found myself face first in his lap. That feeling of power and knowing that I could hold it in the palm of my hand was an enticement that was worth the effort of getting him down my throat. His had to be a good 8 inches and thick enough that I had trouble at the very beginning. “I have to say that your teaching technique is a little different than I was anticipating. You certainly do like to take a hands on approach, but it’s not like I’m complaining.” I was licking my lips. I was waiting for what other little interesting acts he was going to make me complete for his amusement. The knock on the door and him calling out to whoever it was to come in had turned

out to be those two black gentlemen that he had been talking to earlier. They were both patting their crotches and the length of their snakes was more than I thought that I could handle. “They are just in time to show you the difference of what a man possesses. We all have different sizes and mine is nicely proportioned, but these guys are freaks of nature.” They proved that by dropping their pants and showing me a growing size that didn’t seem possible. “I want you to service them in the same way that you did me. You’re not to give up, until they both cum. I don’t care how long it takes you to accomplish that feat. This will give you an understanding that pleasing a man is not always about a certain way. Every man and everywoman is different in what they like. You need to learn how to recognize those signs and to watch for their body language to guide you.” I should’ve slapped him across the face for even thinking that I would do any of that, but I found myself crawling on my hands and knees like a good little soldier. “I have to say that I never thought that you were serious, mon. It’s not the first time that I’ve been approached by a white couple. They are usually a lot older than she is and you are one very lucky man to have her. She’s young and impressionable. You are certainly more experienced than she is.” As I got closer, those black phalluses seemed to grow like objects in the mirror are closer than they appear. “Nobody is to touch her other than to have your cock sucked. Keep your hands to yourself, unless you want me to get nasty.” I had no idea what he was referring to, but these guys really didn’t care as long as I drained their pipes. “The rest of her body is off limits and I only want to see what she has learned to make an assessment of her progress up to this point.” I wrapped my hands around each of them and the heat that was striking against my palm was enough to warm me on those very cold winter nights. “I think that we can do a lot better than having her degrade herself on her knees on the floor. We should take this to the bedroom, where we can both lie down and she can slide into place. Being comfortable is one of those things that people take for granted, mon. Normally, I wouldn’t care, but she seems like she would be a lot more fun if she was enjoying the process.” I followed them and for some reason I stayed on my knees and crawled up the stairs. When I got to the top, Joseph was right there to relieve me of the skirt with a flick of his fingers. It left me in a transparent pair of panties that had already become more than skin tight with the wetness that had penetrated. “I want you to give this your best effort. I would suggest, as a hint to concentrate on the head where they are most sensitive. Stroke while you are sucking and that

should get them there faster than normal. Don’t forget about the balls and they can be a source of great pleasure for some and not for others.” It was nice of him to give me a few pointers. I had a feeling that my jaw was going to be mighty sore in the morning. “I only want to please you, Joseph. I don’t even know why that is important, but your pleasure is my pleasure.” He kissed me deeply and this was the first time that he had shown any kind of intimacy outside of shoving his dick down my throat. I felt disarmed and that deep kiss left me wobbling on shaky legs. “That was not what I was expecting.” “Follow me and our guests are waiting for you. When you’re done with them, you will have this feeling of euphoria and that is when I’m going to take your cherry.” I felt like I had something to look forward to. The faster than I got them off, the faster than I would have him where I wanted him. “These guys are going to be the true test of your oral capabilities. Don’t let them intimidate you, even though their cocks are amazing and most likely would make other women more seasoned run from the room.” I was already on my knees in a subservient position and I was ready to give these guys something to think about. Chapter four Those magnificent beasts were laying on that king size bed with their hands behind their heads waiting for me to come to them. Their glistening skin was subjected to the cool breeze from the ceiling fan overhead. The mosquito netting was a nice touch, as I moved to get into place. All of us were completely naked and I turned towards Joseph to see that he had already gotten rid of his clothes and was fisting a rejuvenated piece of anatomy. “Remember what I told you about not touching her. She has promised to make you cum, but only with her mouth and hands. You’re not to grab her by the hair or force feed her in hopes of getting all of it down her throat. She knows what to do.” He was giving me far too much credit and I was intimidated and felt like I was really ill equipped to deal with something of this magnitude. The island spirit of love came over me and I wanted to show these guys that white girls could do it just as good as those of island color. “Boys, I am glad to meet you and I’m sure that after I am done that you’ll be counting your lucky stars that Joseph approached you in the first place. If you don’t mind, I would like to take stock of what I am looking at. If I were to make an educated guess, I would say that both of you are topping off at 10 inches a piece. I have to say that’s quite the daunting task, but I believe that I am up for the challenge.” I had both of them in my hands once again and I drooled my spit

over the both of them, so that I could continue this exploration with only my hands at first. “You have our undivided attention, mon.” The one with the long dreadlocks decided to say something and there was a familiarity that went beyond just friendship between the two of them. Their facial features were similar and that led me to believe that they were brothers under the skin. “My brother has never had a white woman. I told him that if he ever got the chance that he should jump at it without even thinking about the consequences.” I started at the bottom, moving my tongue length wise and stopping at the head to watch as a bubble of his excitement appeared. That translucent fluid was now joined by more of the same, until finally it was too much and began to roll down the head and over the shaft. My fingers started to move up and down slowly, using not only my spit, but his manly essence to pave the way for a more pleasurable exploration of his flesh. While I was concentrating on him, my other hand was moving lazily up and down the length of his brother. The boy could pull off the bald look and his shaven pubes had certainly made it easy to think that I wasn’t going to choke on a hair. “You’re doing very good, Stacey. Perhaps, you should leave some for his brother and not just concentrate your efforts on one. Go back and forth. Leave them wanting more and I think that you’ll be surprised by the results.” It was nice of have him to lend a bit of guidance. He would know more about their anatomy than I would. I had enthusiasm and moved back and forth to treat them like my own personal ice cream cone. Every time that something appeared at the head and began leaking over the side, I was right there to make sure that it didn’t get anywhere near their balls. I didn’t need Joseph to tell me what to do, but it was nice to have that voice in the air. I got the basic idea of how to determine when they were about to take launch. Their balls would rise against their scrotum and their cock would turn a different shade of purple at the head. When that would happen, I would lay back and let a few minutes lapse to keep them from succumbing to my womanly ways. They were squirming and they may have thought that I was just going to take them all the way, but I had no intention of letting this moment pass without fully appreciating the moment. “This girl be a tease, but I think I like it, mon.” The one with a bald head looked like he was close. Every time that I touched his raging member, it would make this noticeable jerk that was hard to keep from happening. He was literally fucking my fingers and when I thought that he was there, I decided to take the initiative by clamping my lips over the head. He began to let go of that burden and I buried him in my throat and didn’t taste the first couple of shots

before I pulled him back and was quite amazed that I had actually taken such a prize. “You’re making me very proud over here. I can’t even touch myself without letting things go too far. I need to calm down and be ready for your final lesson.” I didn’t want to have that moment of premature expulsion. It was better that he bring himself under control. Now that that one was lying there satisfied, I could turn my attention to the other. I took a hold of his balls and I sucked each one not completely liking the texture, but enjoying the way that he was reacting. Power was something that women took for granted when they were in this position. I never knew how exhilarating having his pleasure in the palm of my hands would be. I’d taken it into my mouth when I moaned noticeably and gave him something that I would call a hum job. Joseph had taken that moment to catch me by surprise with the penetration of his tongue into my ass. He was slapping my ass and the pain only made me go after that black Adonis with a ravenous hunger that I’d never felt before. It was like I had become obsessed and the only thing that would cure me was the sweet elixir that was churning inside his shaft. I could feel that tongue and it was drawing forth that orgasm that was waiting in the wings. I thought for a moment that I would go off just from the act of fellatio, but I didn’t have to worry about that. I came with my mouth full with that cock inside now being subjected to the scream that vibrated down along the length of him. I buried him repeatedly in my throat and after several minutes, I knew that my throat was going to be raw after I was done with this. I made sure to give his balls the chance to fill up until there was only one inevitable conclusion. I was bobbing my head like I was going after his apples and sticking my tongue out to swipe across those orbs. I think that he was surprised by my need to please and this was not just me going through the motions like some girls do to save face. The mattress was rocking and my body was moving back and forth and then suddenly the dam burst and his spewing member was now drawing lines of sweet cream across my tongue. The heated concoction made me want something else, but instead of giving me that, Joseph had moved back to let the rest of my joy escape the lips and drizzle down the inside of my legs. For my first time, I think that I did remarkably well and out of my peripheral vision, I could see that hungry look on Joseph’s face. I never thought that I would do this, but maybe what happens on the island stays on the island. I wasn’t sure that I would be content with just one man anymore and maybe that was Joseph’s intention to make me see that variety was the spice of

life. Chapter five I sat there on the bed with my arms crossed over my knees not believing that I had just sucked off two black men. It wasn’t me and this was some manifestation of a rebellious act that I should be called on the carpet for. I was ashamed of myself and all of that changed when I saw the look on Joseph’s face upon returning after escorting our guests out of the house. He was still sporting quite an erection and looked ready to pop like a warm bottle of champagne. “I can only wonder what you’re thinking. I’m sure that you never thought that you would be in this position, but you were the one that asked me to be your first. I did tell you that I was a strict taskmaster and that I would turn you into a woman. That was only to get you ready and I have to say that I was sincerely impressed with how you handled yourself.” I looked up with this shocked expression on my face and wondered how he could say such kind things to a complete slut. “How can you look at me the same way after…after…I…I can’t even say it without being sick to my stomach.” I was trying to show him that I was not that kind of girl, but underneath I wanted to attack him and make him see me as more than this sniveling little bitch wallowing in self pity. “I know that I pushed you into doing this, but I didn’t see you complaining. I thought that I was going to have to coax you, but you took to it like a fish does to water. You only needed the right encouragement and incentive to take off the veil of naiveté. Underneath it all, you were waiting for this moment and didn’t even know it. You showed me that you were ready when I found you with John on that football field about to do the honors of blowing him. I brought you here in hopes of cementing our bond. I was going to seduce you slowly, but it was like you were giving me the keys to your purity by asking me to be your first.” I had walked a fine line and crossing over into this world of debauchery and decadence was not as hard as I had imagined. “I would like to sit here and tell you that I am appalled by my behavior and I think on some small level I am. I don’t want to think about it anymore. I don’t want to give it that kind of power over me anymore. I’m through playing with kid gloves and it’s about time that I enjoy what sex can be like with someone that I care for and trust with all of my heart.” My arms came loose from around my knees and my legs spread to show him that I was ready for more than just talk. “We can take some time if that is what you want. I told you before that I’m a patient man. I don’t have to fuck you right now, but it will happen.” I didn’t

give him a chance to back out. I jumped into action, grabbing him by the back of his head and pressing him down into the mattress in a more compromising position. “Less talk…more action.” I got that feel of his mouth on me and I had to reach for the headboard and hang onto it for dear life. “Yes…fuck me with your tongue and make me cum and then give me that cock.” The words that were coming out of my mouth seemed unnecessary, but it was also something that made me feel ready and willing to take that final step. My body was in his grip with his hands underneath my ass to apply a certain amount of pressure to his tongue stabbing within me. He was really loosening me up, but my wet pussy remained as tight as possible. He showed special attention to my clit, bringing his mouth over top of it and inhaling it with his tongue manipulating it into submission. “Fuck me…fuck me…fuck me.” He must’ve taken me literally, because his tongue vacated its position and was replaced with the spongy tip of his knob`. “Do it…fucking do it and let me see what I have been… MISSINGGGGGGG.” His body joined with mine and that sensation of my virginity being taken was painful at first, but that didn’t last for long. He did me the courtesy of waiting for a moment for me to catch my breath and to get accustomed to the size of this invading presence. “I hope you know that I’m not going be able to keep this up for long. I’ll do what I can, but it appears that your pussy is very greedy to get to the source of my climax.” I had my arms up in the air and my hands are wrapped around his neck. I brought him down for a kiss as he started those movements that began to push me to the edge. “This is exactly…what I’ve wanted from my first time. I found a man…that knows how to do this the right way. A man that isn’t just after my body. I don’t think that I could’ve gotten any luckier than to have you to be my first. Joseph… Oh god….Joseph… Yes… I can’t even believe that I’m doing this with you. I can’t believe that I’m doing this.” I thought that I knew what an orgasm was, but what he was stirring to the surface was a magnitude of a climax that was going to take my breath away. “Fuck me… Yes… Yes… YESSSSSSS.” Everything seemed to be moving very slowly and I could feel every inch as my walls closed around him in a rhythmic fashion that really was something to experience. I saw his face change from pleasure to euphoria and that mask of lust was now punctuated with short jabs of the pleasing package between his legs. I could feel those veins getting more pronounced and the knob expanded like a flower blooming. I was lying there like a limp doll with my arms outstretched

to either side and my face pleading with him to take me like a real woman. “That’s enough… I’m not going to let you do this to me. I had a plan coming into this and I’m damn well going to follow it by hell or high water.” I didn’t know where this was coming from and then he took himself away from me, I felt empty and alone and the product of my desire was coating his shaft. “I promised myself that I wouldn’t get caught up into this and I think that it’s time that we take a step back.” I didn’t understand what he was thinking and why he would even consider walking away from me. “I have to say that I’m a little surprised. From everything that I’ve learned about men, it’s very difficult for them to deny themselves this pleasure. I thought by now that you would be lying beside me with a combination of both of our juices dripping out of me.” He was shaking his head vehemently and then he leaped from the bed and walked out that door with his cock still showing signs of a raging inferno. Chapter six For the next couple of days, he stayed away from me, no matter how much I begged him with my eyes. We slept in separate rooms and I got this feeling that he was allowing that feeling of needing him to draw me to him like a moth to a flame. It was about midnight one night that we had gone to bed and I was sitting there with my arms crossed over my chest and looking at the ceiling. He had purposely gone skinny dipping, allowing me to see him dripping with water down his muscular body. It was obvious that he was teasing me and he even stood with his cock no more than a couple of inches away from my mouth. I couldn’t stop staring at it the entire time that he was standing there unashamedly putting on quite a spectacle. I remember the way that he touched me accidentally on purpose several times to elicit a noticeable moan of desire coming from my lips. I felt like I was at the end of my rope and I finally had enough. I jumped out of bed not even bothering to cover up and I went down the hall to his bedroom that was already wide open for my visual inspection. He was lying there naked on top of the bed stroking himself slowly and smiling like he had a pretty good idea that I was going to come to him. “You are a special kind of prick. This was your plan all along. I should slap you for even considering playing with my feelings like this.” I didn’t give him a chance to say anything as I rushed to him and jumped on top of him with all the air rushing out of his lungs upon impact. I reached down to push his hands away and then I went down on him with the same voracious attitude that I had with those two black men. Just thinking about them gave me a reason to

supply him with those little tricks of the trade that I had learned. It wasn’t long before I felt what was going to happen and this time it was me that made sure that he wasn’t going to complete that transaction. “You’ve learned the most valuable lesson of all. Sex will always be considered a weapon in a woman’s arsenal. She can pull it out of her quiver at any time and make a man dance to the beat of her own drum. You see what you do to me and for the last couple of days and nights; I have been lying here thinking about you. I was that close to going to you. It’s better this way… Oh god… It so much better this way.” I was not even paying attention to anything that he said. My main concentration was on the plum sized knob that was quite inviting. Every time that he came close, I would stop and cease all other actions. I would let him calm down enough and then that was when I decided that taking a more hands on approach was necessary. He lifted my body easily and I was surprise because I wasn’t exactly considered a lightweight. My heavy thighs draped around him and then landed on more than just his lap. My hole stretched to awaken the beast. It went in very slowly this time and my body had still not adjusted to his size. I couldn’t get the last couple of inches, so I scratched his chest and made him lift his hips to give me those last two inches. I had my hands on his shoulders and I was moving my ass up and down over the large and in charge object. “I know that I still have a lot to learn, but with you as my teacher, I think that I can excel.” He smiled as I bounced up and down on top of him. I was the one in charge and I could slow down the pace or quicken it for my pleasure. I ground in a circle, knowing that this was the perfect position to strike a little bit of excitement into my clit. “Damn it…you better know that this is the one time that you’re not going to get away from me.” To prove my point, I pinned his arms over his head. He most likely could’ve gotten away, but he didn’t try to and that was a good sign that he wanted things to continue until the inevitable moment. “I’m not going anywhere, Stacey. I’m exactly where I want to be inside that sweet little snatch of yours. The way that you do that is better than any woman including your mother.” To hear him compare my sexual appetite with my mother’s should’ve been sickening, but it only fueled me into showing him that I could be more than just a limp doll underneath him letting him get his jollies off. “Does my mother do this?” I slowly took him all the way out and then I went down and savored the taste of both myself and him saturating his shaft. I heard him moan and I buried him in my throat before coming back up with strings of my saliva making him slippery to the touch.

“I…I don’t think that anybody has ever done that before.” I wasn’t sure if I could believe him and with his experience and way with the ladies, I would have assumed that this was not something new. I had to believe and I had no reason not to trust what he was saying to me. I slipped back into the saddle, letting him feel those young walls holding him hostage. The only way that he was going to get out of this was to supply me with the necessary creamy ransom. This time when I felt that he was there, I decided that slowing down was not an option. “I’m cumming… I want you to cum with me.” I wasn’t sure if that was possible, until I felt the bucking motion of his hips and the way that his cock was now reacting to the orgasm that was now squeezing him in a tight vise. He exploded with such ferocity that I could see how this was affecting him by the expression on his face. I didn’t stop and I rode him all the way through his orgasm giving special attention to the knob that was still quite sensitive after giving into my womanly ways. I cleaned him with my tongue like a cat does with her young. I knew that I was causing him some discomfort, but it was the kind of discomfort that any man would give their left nut to have. I found out that I was pregnant and instead of going home, we decided to stay here in paradise. He had found that he could do his job by delegating authority to his underlings. He could take a step back and enjoy the fruits of his labor. I was going to have his baby and what better way to say that I truly loved him than to bring him that heir that was going to put a smile on his face. Those lessons would continue and even when I was showing, he had me on my hands and knees taking one black cock and his at least once a month. I never thought that I could be the kind of woman that could satisfy him, but he had done a remarkable job in teaching me the finer arts. John was now a distant memory and a part of my past. This child and Joseph was my future.

DADDY O

CHAPTER 1

RICK HENSON WAS SUCH AN ASSHOLE.

Brie Larsen pulled into her driveway as she narrowed her eyes in anger and stopped after the few moments that it took to arrive at the end. She was nineteen and done with her first year at U- Dub and was looking forward to spending the summer with Rick, her boyfriend of a year. They had met the first day of school, and everything seemed fine as they planned a few trips to see his parents in California and hang out at the beach. It was something different and fun, and since her mom had died a couple of years ago, Brie enjoyed getting out of the house. It was going to be their first time being really together and her first time at all. Brie waited a while to take that step but with Rick; she was ready. At least until she found out that he was sleeping half of the campus the entire time they were together. Brie found out in the bathroom of all places when she was in a stall, and one of the girls was talking about last weekend when she’d done him at a party. She kept saying how good he was, and it took every ounce of selfcontrol that Brie had not to fly out of the stall and scream at her. What would that have accomplished? Nothing. She fell for the wrong man, and it was just time to move on. Seattle wasn’t that bad of a city, after all, and she lived right on the water with her stepdad, who had a variety of ways to enjoy the shore that their massive house was on. Brie ran her fingers under her reddened blue eyes to wipe away the mascara that had run with her tears and stared into the mirror. “Am I that awful?” She didn’t think so because she looked a lot like her mother with eyes that looked like a tropical ocean and soft red hair and Brie always thought her mother was the most beautiful woman that ever lived. They were so close and losing her in a sudden tragic accident had devastated her. Brie’s stepfather Jimmy was a nice man and kept taking care of her the way her mom would have, but she wasn’t sure about his ways of coping with the accident. Jimmy was a very good-looking man of forty with book cover good looks, and he was gaining quite the reputation in the city for his love of sleeping with a lot of women. Brie always heard stuff at school and was even teased sometimes by girls that asked if she’d ever slept with him? They asked her if she liked his collection of toys and whips which always made her blush. It also turned her on a little. God rest her mother’s soul, but Brie was a curious virgin. He kept himself in shape and was muscular with tousled chestnut hair and eyes that were forest green. Jimmy was magnificent for forty and Brie was only human. She had to look now and then. That probably had a lot to do with her being so ready with Ricky. She had never listened to her mom and Jimmy because that was gross. However, she

had heard him with various women down in the basement where she’d always thought he had a man cave. They always moaned and sometimes it sounded like they were weeping when she’d hear the slap of something against their skin. Even through the tears, they always begged for more. He must be doing something right, much like her ex-boyfriend. Brie sighed and got out of the car before she tossed her backpack over her shoulder. Brie headed through the open garage that showcased Jimmy’s small collection of expensive cars and walked into the kitchen to see their assistant Marie stirring something over the stove. “Hey, Marie,” Brie greeted her as the lovely black woman glanced up with a smile. Marie was a miracle, and she cooked, cleaned, organized things for the house and did all of the grocery shopping. Brie would be forever grateful because she really stepped up her game after her mom had passed away, leaving Brie free to grieve. “What’s cooking?” “Stew but let’s get to the real point. Why are your eyes so red?” Marie demanded as she set the spoon on a plate beside the five burner stove and walked over to Brie. “What happened?” “I broke up with Rick. It turns out he was sleeping with half of the school because I wouldn’t give it up.” Brie replied and Marie shook her head slowly as her dark eyes glimmered with anger. “I don’t understand young men these days. Women like you are so rare and valuable.” Marie hugged her as Brie bitterly laughed. “You must have me mistaken with someone else.” She smiled as Marie pulled away and patted her arm. “I guess it’s summer in Seattle.” “You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Marie chided her as Brie shrugged. “Your dad got some champagne to celebrate school being over. We’ll have it with dessert later since I made the chocolate cake that you love.” “You are a goddess, Marie,” Brie smiled and walked through the expansive kitchen to the large living room and continued down the hallway to her room. It was in the back of the house and offered a beautiful view of the water. She set her backpack on the full green window seat and stared out for a moment as she took a deep breath. Rick was just a guy. There would be another one, and she shouldn’t let herself feel so bad. Brie sighed and walked into the attached bathroom to pull back her hair and change into some shorts and a tank top even though she was feeling self-conscious about the ten extra pounds that she had gained over the last year. Brie checked her computer and sent some emails out before she headed into the kitchen to help with dinner. She passed the basement along the way and paused to hear a soft cry as she frowned and listened. What did he do to

those women and why was it turning her on so much right now? She felt her face redden as she kept moving and reminded herself that Marie was home. “Can I help?” “You still have a bit but do you want some wine? We can chat for a while.” Marie offered as Brie laughed and nodded. “I am only nineteen, you know.” “You’ve been through a lot, and you were an old soul to begin with. Just don’t try and drive anywhere and I won’t worry about a glass or two of wine.” Marie said as she went to the fridge to pull out a chilled bottle along with two glasses. Brie took hers, and they tossed the end of a great year and took a long sip of the cold drink. “Is that my stepdaughter drinking wine?” Jimmy’s voice called out as Brie jumped and looked over at him. He dressed in his usual worn jeans that he wore at home and a button up shirt that matched the green of his eyes. Brie asked herself how that even mattered as he grabbed another glass and poured himself a drink from the bottle. “All done with school for the summer?” “Yes,” Brie replied as he looked her over. “How are your grades?” Jimmy pressed as she rolled her eyes. “The best they could be,” Brie told him as she gave Marie a warning look not to say anything about Rick. Jimmy had always disliked him and told her that he wasn’t good enough for her to begin with. “Good girl.” Jimmy gave her a tight hug, and she smiled into his toned chest as she appreciated his support. “So what are your plans for the next few months?” “The usual. Hang out with Kat, maybe get a part time job. You know.” Brie replied as he raised a brow at her. “You aren’t mentioning the boyfriend in any of this.” “He’s an ex now. No more Ricky,” Brie quietly admitted as she looked down at the floor. “I can tell that he hurt you and for that, I’m sorry. I do think that you’re better off without him.” Jimmy told her in a sincere tone as she nodded and weakly smiled at him. “Well make it a great summer.” Brie didn’t doubt him. He was a billionaire from investing as running a company with some important clients that invested through him and had made a million dollars by the time he was twenty-four. He had met Brie’s mom Natalie when he was thirty-four and been happily married for five years after dating for one before that. Brie had lost her father to cancer when she was just three years old and was left with no memories of him at all. Jimmy had taken over raising her easily and without

complaint about the bad nights of dealing with a teenager.

CHAPTER 2

THE THREE ATE dinner and drank some more wine before Marie brought out the cake and champagne. Jimmy congratulated his stepdaughter all over again as he popped the cork and made Marie and Brie laugh as it bubbled over a little bit. Brie was going to swear off things like this soon, but she enjoyed every bite of the cake tonight. She helped Marie clean up and soon the woman went home to her cottage on the property where she lived with her husband, Kenny. Brie felt a little buzzed as she wandered through the house towards her room and also a bit melancholy as she thought about Rick. She had thought that she loved him, and now she was alone with no man at all. Brie hadn’t had sex with Ricky, but they did other things that piqued her interest in sex a lot. She was bothered by the fact that she would have no outlet anymore, and it made her wonder what Jimmy was doing since her mom had died. He didn’t wait long to start dating, but it wasn’t quite dating. Brie only caught glimpses of the women that he brought home since they had a separate door to leave from in the basement. They were never the same ones. She knew that he tried to keep it separate from her as much as possible, and Brie appreciated that on some level. She was just more curious about all of it now. She heard the television in the den and assumed that Jimmy was watching something as he worked on his laptop. He always worked when he wasn’t busy with other things. Whether it was at his office in the city or here, Jimmy was a workaholic. It apparently worked for him since he was rich with a good house and nice cars. He provided very well for Brie and she appreciated that. Brie wandered to her room and turned on her laptop. Since she didn’t have Ricky’s hand or mouth anymore, it was time to take matters into her hands. She found a website that sold sex toys and slowly looked over the selection, quickly realizing that she didn’t know too much about any of this. There was a selection of the most popular items and she clicked on a couple of vibrators before she added them to her cart and paid for them to be shipped quickly to her house. Brie blushed even though she was alone in her room, both from excitement and embarrassment. She had asked for fast shipping, seeing no reason to wait to start this journey.

The next few days, Brie hung around the house and the pool just being lazy. The UPS man delivered a very plain box by her second day in, and Brie took it to her room before Marie saw it and asked what she had received. She looked at her locked door and turned on some music as she opened it to find a long thick rubber dildo that she could use in a few ways as well as something that would just stimulate her clit, from what the description said. She turned them in her hands before she went online and found an erotic story site to find something that might start her in this process. There were a lot of different stories to choose from, and Brie settled on the taboo section. That sounded so naughty. Surprisingly enough, there were several stories involving stepbrothers as well as stepfathers, and she widened her eyes as she clicked on one of the latter ones. Brie laid against her pillows and pulled off her bathing suit bottoms as she started to read it. Her fingers slipped over her folds as things heated up quickly in the beginning and she felt around to see what was the best. Ricky had always favored her clit, and Brie found it and stroked it as she felt herself getting wet rapidly. When she got to the part where the stepfather was in between his own stepdaughter’s legs, Brie felt for the rubber cock and turned it on to a slow vibration. She stroked her clit with it as she felt her eyes roll back into her head. Brie focused again on the story as she read how eagerly the girl sucked his cock and she turned it up and moved it faster against her swollen nub. It was an amazing feeling, and she slipped the tip inside of her just a little while she continued to hold it against her body. Brie pushed the computer aside and drove it slowly into herself as she came quietly with pants and breathy moans. She didn’t regret losing Ricky so much now. He wasn’t as good as her new best friend and had only raised her interest in sex. Brie dropped her toy on the bed and relaxed as she wondered what more there could be to feel. She looked at the clock to see that Kat was coming over to swim soon and quickly rinsed off in the shower before pulling on her bikini. Kat Adams had been her best friend for years now, probably since first grade. They connected immediately then and still got along just as well. Kat was a huge part of Brie’s healing process. Brie answered the door when the beautiful black haired girl arrived in her bright pink bathing suit and gave her a hug. “Hey you. Have you been as lazy as me so far this summer?” “Badly. I think we need to do something soon.” Brie laughed as she looked around her house. “Well, other than this.” “Hey, I love your house,” Kat argued as she walked inside and glanced into the kitchen. “Hey there, pretty lady.”

“Well, well. I was wondering when you’d pop in for a visit.” Marie came over to hug Kat, and she eyed her bikini. “You pull that off so well.” Brie’s suit was just a soft green and nowhere near as an attention getter like Kat’s. “Go on out, girls. I’ll bring you some refreshments.” They headed out to the large pool, complete with a hot tub and a grilling area and set up their chairs under the trees for a little shade. They liked the sun, but they weren’t looking to get skin cancer anytime soon. Brie popped her Pod into a docking station and turned on some upbeat music as she thought about how she felt after what she’d done in her room. She still felt a little wobbly and couldn’t wait to do it again. “So is that hunk of a step dad going to be home for dinner?” Kat asked as Brie shook her head at her and laughed. Most of her friends weren’t shy about their interest in Jimmy but today it made her heat up just a little. She didn’t tell them all of what went on in her house and what she heard through closed doors, just that he was a good dad. “Usually does,” Brie replied as she slipped sunglasses over her eyes. “I hear he’s busy. I guess he wanted to jump back into the game, right?” Kat asked as she gave Brie as sad look. “I suppose. I don’t see it too much. He’s forty and still has a good life to live. Let him.” Brie defended him as Kat nodded slowly. “He slept with a girl at school. A senior. I guess he is into some wicked shit.” “At least someone in this house is getting some.” Brie snapped as Kat leaned back and put on her own sunglasses. “You won’t be single forever. I mean, look at you. We’ll get you out of this house, and you’ll be right back in.” Kat assured her as Brie took a deep breath. “I waited a year with Ricky. It was a hard process and not always easy…I can’t imagine going through that again.” “You don’t have to. Just meet someone for the moment. You don’t need to date them.” Kat explained as Brie scowled. “I wanted my first time to be something special. I can’t stomach the idea of a one-night-stand.” “So make it a one week stand or a month.” Kat offered as Brie looked at her in frustration. “Okay, okay. We won’t talk about it today.” Marie came out with a tray of various snacks and some cold drinks and chatted with the girls for a moment before heading inside. “Do you think she’s slept with Jimmy?” “Marie is as married as she could be. They’ve been together for twenty years, Kat. No, I don’t.” Kat shot back in a dark voice as her best friend stared at her before popping a chip into her mouth. “I was kidding. Why are you acting this way?”

“I think I am still dealing with the whole Ricky thing. I’m sorry.” Brie looked at her friend. “Did you know about him?” “I heard things but…I don’t like to get into your business. I mean, I am your best friend, so it was hidden pretty well from me. I think I’ve heard more about Jimmy, to be honest.” She held up her hands as Brie looked at her. “He’s a hot older man, Brie! We’re supposed to look at him and think like this at our age. Have you read some of the books out there?” Brie blushed and turned her head to reach over for the cold lemonade in a hurry. “They’re crazy. I know. I just don’t think I should be thinking like that about him.” “I would if he were my stepdad,” Kat suggested as she grabbed her drink and took a sip. Brie sipped her drink as she leaned her head back and caught movement in a window. She knew that she had her sunglasses on so she remained still as Brie realized that it was Jimmy’s office. Had he come home? If so, he was watching them, and she felt goose bumps pebble over her skin as she shivered. The girls chatted and swam throughout the afternoon, though Brie’s stepfather never made an appearance, at least not until dinner needed to be prepared. He grilled burgers outside as Marie and her husband joined them for dinner. It was relaxing on the surface, but Brie felt skittish, and she wrapped the towel around her body as she ate at the potion table and picked at her food. Jimmy seemed at ease as he sipped a cold beer and talked to Vince about whatever guys talked about and the women chatted about the celebrity gossip and some of the plans for the summer.

CHAPTER 3

EVERYONE HEADED to their houses and Brie walked into her room as she took a deep breath. Jimmy wasn’t acting different, but there was something about him today that made her horny. She admittedly had a fantasy earlier that he was watching her through the window and that Jimmy was perhaps jacking himself off or just imagining something with Brie as he watched them earlier. That is if he was even looking at Brie. Kat was gorgeous, and there was a very definite possibility that Jimmy was looking at her. Kat was experienced and had a lot more to offer than Brie, and she wasn’t family. Brie couldn’t believe that she was even thinking all of this as she reached

for her drawer and dropped back onto the bed. She grabbed her smaller vibrator and was thinking of using it before as idea hit her. She wanted more than a story to use for fantasy tonight. Brie listened for a moment and clutched the black device in her hand as she left her room and started padding barefoot over the hardwood floor. The house was lit up and empty, and Brie looked around as she frowned. “Are you up?” Jimmy called from the kitchen as her eyes widened and she looked around. “Yeah. Just wanted some water.” Brie stuffed the vibrator into the nearest chair and hid it behind a plump cushion before moving forward. She realized that she was still in her swimsuit and bit her lip as she looked down with a nervous gaze. “Want some wine or a drink?” He called out and she straightened her shoulders and thrust her pert chest forward as she walked into the brightly lit room. “I’d love a drink. What’s on the menu tonight?” Brie asked him as she felt his eyes pass over her body and blushed. “Daiquiri?” Jimmy asked, and she nodded before taking a seat at the bistro table and watching him. He mixed a watermelon daiquiri for her, Brie’s favorite on a lazy summer night. Jimmy poured it into a large glass and set it before her as she tried not to stare at his muscular and bare torso. He sat across from her with another beer in his hand and Brie looked into his eyes to see that they were a little bloodshot. “Thanks,” she told him as he lifted his eyes to her and nodded. Jimmy slipped his phone from his pocket and typed something in before he dropped it onto the table and looked at her again. “What do you have planned with Kat for the summer?” Jimmy asked as he seemed to look everywhere but her. It was Kat, and her shoulders slumped. “I think she wants to go to some concerts a little later on. Otherwise, we’ll just hang out and do the usual,” Brie replied in a monotone voice as she took a slow sip of her refreshing drink. If it wouldn’t have given her a raging headache, she would just down it and end her misplaced envy with the numbness that came from drinking. “Maybe a trip to the Oregon coast and into Portland?” Jimmy suggested, and she nodded absently as his phone vibrated on the table. He picked it up and looked relieved as he read the text before downing his beer. “Good night, Brie.” Jimmy left her at the table and tossed his bottle into the recycle bin in the garage before grabbing a couple more from the fridge. He headed back towards the basement, and she heard the door open and close as she took a

deep breath. “I guess he found a companion for the night.” She grabbed her Kindle from the counter and read a few pages of a new book while she slowly finished her drink. Why stop with that? Brie found the open bottle of wine and poured a glass before she drank it in one sip. She was starting to feel the buzz that she desperately needed and headed back to her room on wobbly legs. The house was dim with just the light above the stove on, and she walked past the door to the basement before she paused. It was dark, and she could hear him talking to somebody if she listened hard enough. A cry rang out, and Brie felt her thighs dampen as she looked into the living room. Reaching into the chair, she found her vibrator and slipped against the wall in the small nook next to the door that would hide her perfectly in the dark. Brie slid to the floor and let her legs fall open as she closed her eyes. The woman on the floor below was moaning and begging him to fuck her as Brie heard the sound of metal as there was a small grunt. Brie slipped her suit aside and ran her fingers over her folds to find her clit hard and ready. The moans rose from the basement, and Brie imagined him behind the woman and driving his cock into her as she cried out again and again. Brie turned on the vibrator in the dark and ran it over her aching nub as she slipped her fingers inside of her needy pussy and pressed it down harder. The noises that Jimmy made were softer as they came up the stairs but they really made her want to come as Brie fucked herself harder. She felt her release coming as the woman below her screamed Jimmy’s name while there was the sound of a hand against skin and Brie jerked against the wall as she bit her lip to stay quiet. She wanted it hard like that. Brie just wanted to let a man use her and make her cum the way Jimmy was doing to his partner below. She dropped her hand to the floor, and the vibrator fell as it buzzed along the ground and seemed to resonate through the room. Brie reached over with a shaky hand to turn it off before she slumped over in a heap. Brie remained there as the couple went for round two and she lost count of the orgasms that she had before she knew she was at risk of falling asleep right there in the living room. Brie stood on weak legs and stumbled to her bed before she ripped the suit off and passed out naked under the covers. Brie had dreams of the ways that she wanted a man to take her and slept fitfully. She stayed in bed until noon and slowly opened her eyes before she reached into the nightstand for the vibrator again. She knew that she was becoming addicted as she closed her eyes and spread her thighs wide to chase the release all over again. Brie went for two times using the memories from

the night before. She stood and dressed in a pink sundress that was on the dresser before she walked to the kitchen to make some coffee and come to life. Marie had the day off, so Brie had been left to her own devices in the kitchen. She appeared to be alone in the house and made some coffee and eggs to eat before she took it to the table to read some more. She felt disoriented from the past several hours and slowly read as she thought about using the toy again to try and relieve the ache that was deep inside of her body. When did this happen? Was Ricky to blame the way that he involuntarily ended things after they were ready to have sex? Fuck Ricky. Jimmy was gorgeous and single now, and she was in a long line of women that wanted him, though she had the least chance of ever getting what she wanted. Brie could find some random guy out and about with Kat and use him for an orgasm, even though the idea of her first time with s stranger didn’t sit well with her. She knew that Jimmy was at work and wouldn’t be home for hours. Brie looked around and pushed the Kindle away as she took a deep breath. She stood and walked to the basement door, unable to stop staring at her spot from last night. It was perfect at night, and Brie knew that it was going to become a regular thing, assuming it didn’t kill her. Brie tested the door to find it locked, and she pushed against it. What did he have down there? Was it something that had always been in the house, something her mom enjoyed? Brie missed her so much, but she was overcome with lust for her stepfather and made her way back to her room where she masturbated several times in between naps. The sound of the phone ringing in the kitchen roused her from her sleep and Brie glanced at the clock to see that it was getting close to five o clock. She thought that she would take a chance and make some dinner in case Jimmy came home. Brie pulled on the same short dress with no underwear as she walked out to the kitchen and took inventory of what there was to prepare. Thanks to Marie, there was a lot. Brie took some organic chicken breasts from the fridge and threw them in some boiling water to cook them for a while. She pulled out the carb balance tortillas and some enchilada sauce to make a casserole before getting a can of jalapenos and some cheese. Brie shredded the meat once it was cooked and layered everything in a casserole dish before she turned on the oven to bake it for a few moments. She poured some wine and sipped it as the food cooked. Brie wandered outside and sat in a chaise lounge in the shade as she closed her eyes and let her thoughts torment her. She came back to reality when her phone beeped to let her know that dinner was ready to come out of the oven, and Brie looked up to see Jimmy walking towards her undoing his tie. “What smells so good in

there?” “I threw together an enchilada casserole for dinner.” Brie stood and brushed past him as her thighs ached from her marathon earlier. She was losing her mind. “I think I’ll make some salad to go with it. She looked into the fridge and found a salad kit for Caesar and dumped it into a bowl to mix it together as she heard the sliding glass door open. “You look tired, Brie. Are you okay?” Jimmy asked her as she glanced up and nodded. “I’ve been sleeping all day. So lazy.” Brie brushed off his concern, and he tilted his head at her. “Were you alone here?” Brie looked at him curiously as she mixed the dressing into the salad. “Yeah. Why?” Brie asked as his eyes darkened and he took her in slowly with his eyes. “You look flushed. It is one of the most beautiful looks a woman can have,” Jimmy’s voice was husky as she stared at him and he headed to the fridge for a beer. “You’re growing up so fast. Your mom would be so proud of you.” “Do you miss her?” Brie asked as he cleared his throat and looked at him. “Did you love her?” “I loved her…very much. I do miss her, and you look so much like her that I feel like she’s around every day.” Jimmy shook his head as he mumbled something else. He took a long swig of his beer and turned to go down the hallway before she heard him run up the stairs to his room. Her head was spinning, and Brie blamed the wine as she pushed the bowl of salad towards the center of the island near the cooling dish that James had removed from the over earlier. She heard him coming back and ignored him as she grabbed two plates from the cupboard along with napkins and silverware. “It’s all ready.” Brie grabbed a Vitamin Water Zero from the fridge and loaded up her plate with a small amount of food before she looked at him. Jimmy was dressed in shorts and a t-shirt now, and he looked like he was shaking. She remembered him telling her that she looked flushed, and she knew what Jimmy meant now. Jimmy’s face was red, and he looked like he was both stressed out as well as sated. It made no sense. They took their plates outside and ate overlooking the water on the high back deck, and he disappeared into the house as soon as his phone chimed in his pocket. Brie didn’t think she had anything left in her, but she was in her nook that night with her skirt pushed above her thighs as she slipped the dildo inside of herself to the rhythm of the grunts and cries in the room below her. She didn’t

even have the strength to cry out as her release washed over the rubber and onto her thighs as she stared blankly at the floor. Brie managed to make it back to her room and into her bed before Jimmy came back into the house, though she couldn’t remember if she’d leaked onto the floor. She would check in the morning since he’d be rushing off to work. She drifted off to sleep nearly in pain as she frowned and tried to sort out her feelings about what she was doing. Marie was in the kitchen in the morning when Brie rose for the day. She made a concentrated effort to dress in some clean shorts and a loose t-shirt and smile as she breezed into the room for a glass of orange juice. “Morning.” “Good morning. Would you like some breakfast?” Marie asked her as she looked Brie over. “You look tired, honey.” “I think it’s the lack of a schedule. I am just a sloth,” Brie created the lie, though she was sleeping a lot. She just felt tired from her newest addiction and all of the emotions that came along with it. Brie was exhausted from the fear of being caught that both thrilled her and scared her deep inside. She was as confused as she’d ever been in her life. “So, breakfast?” Marie pressed as Brie blinked her eyes and opened the fridge. “Anything you want?” Brie ate some French toast with yogurt and took a long swim to collect her thoughts. She knew that sex in itself had the ability to be a healthy thing. At one point, she was ahead of the game and wanting to make it special for herself, so she figured she had some good knowledge on the subject. However, getting herself off to her stepfather’s sex life didn’t feel as much like a regular thing. Still, there she was in front of the door with both of her vibrators, only, this time, he was in his upstairs bedroom. She didn’t understand the change, but Brie had certainly searched the house that night for his location after needing to feed this demon all day. It was so much better here. She wasn’t as hidden here as she was downstairs since Brie was right in the small hallway before the stairs, but it was dark, and she knew that there was a massive attached bathroom for them to use. She could hear everything as she sat on the ground with her knees up and skirt pushed to her thighs. Every slap echoed through the hallway. Every moan and cry filtered out of the room and made Brie fuck herself a little harder with the new longer Dildo. She knew that the woman was tied up just from conversation and Brie imagined herself tied to the bed that had been her mother’s as she begged to be

spanked and whipped like the woman inside. Brie knew that she would give Jimmy everything, and she came along with the woman inside after hearing their bodies slapping together. Brie was just closing her eyes when she heard the click of a door and looked up into Jimmy’s eyes. There was nothing she could say to explain the situation, knowing how wrecked she looked. He gave her a wicked smile. “I’ll be back with those waters.” He went down the stairs wearing nothing but some shorts and Brie scrambled to get up and run down to her bedroom to lock the door. She slept fitfully, terrified of what would happen. Brie was embarrassed yet turned on that she’d been caught. She felt sick inside. Brie made an excuse to Marie that she was coming down with something to stay in her room all day, and she slept when she was too exhausted to stay awake any longer. Her calls went ignored, and Brie just curled up further into her blankets when she heard the vibration against her nightstand. Brie knew the next day from experience that Marie would not leave her alone for too long. She forced herself into the shower to come back to life, missing her release as she promised herself that she would get out of this horrible situation. Her mother would be so disappointed in her, and Brie wept under the hot stream of water as she let that thought hot her full force.

CHAPTER 4

MARIE AND JIMMY were both in the kitchen when she went downstairs, and Brie felt her stomach lurch as she looked at the ground. “Good morning.” Her voice was quiet, and she felt eyes on her as she went to the fridge for some of the fresh squeezed orange juice that Brie knew she would find. “Feeling better?” Marie asked her in her kind voice, and Brie nodded. She poured a glass of juice and slipped it slowly just to keep it down. “I think it is just the sun that I’ve been getting. I am used to classrooms.” “I have a perfect solution for that,” Jimmy said, and Brie stared at the counter in front of hard enough to burn holes through the gray marble. “Marnie is taking some time off due to some pregnancy complications and might not be back this summer. I could use your expertise there.” Jimmy let the idea sink in as Marie asked if she poor girl was okay and how the baby was doing. “I am told that it’s common issue that bed rest will solve, and I know how good Brie

will be in the office. How does that sound?” Brie nodded as she forced herself to look at them. “Sure.” He assured her that she would still have time for summer fun and that they would work out a good schedule. Brie just nodded and looked at him again when he asked her to come in with him over the weekend to go over the basics so she could get to work soon. He had to have something in mind for her, and she was ashamed to admit that her thighs dampened at the prospect of what it could be. She swam and kept herself busy the rest of the day even though she was a trembling mess whenever she was alone. Brie headed to bed after dinner when Jimmy told her to be ready to leave at eight and just to dress casually. She knew that the clothes she’d picked the last few days covered a lot more than normal and could hear a particular tone in his voice at the last request. Brie didn’t sleep well. She used her memories to get herself off that night and finally fell asleep after midnight. Brie rose to shower and braided her hair after choosing a dress that was comfortable and knee length to wear. Brie made a cup of coffee to go, and he added some to his cup as she mixed the little bit of sugar and cream in hers. She knew that he would probably buy lunch and Brie grabbed a ready-to-go protein shake for mid-morning. “Want to drive with me? I don’t expect that we’ll be there all day.” Jimmy asked her as she gave him a wide-eyed look. “Sure. I have no plans today.” They walked into the garage and Jimmy led them to the newest addition to the garage, the Bentley Continental. He opened the door for Brie, and she slid into the buttery leather of the seat as he watched her. Jimmy walked around to his side of the car and started it before lifting the third garage door and pulling out. Brie looked at her mother’s Range Rover that she’d been given shortly after her death. “We will upgrade that soon,” Jimmy told her as she gave him a stricken look. It was important to her, though she was trashing her mother’s memory with every fantasy about Jimmy as it was. He pulled out onto the main street and headed into the city where his office was. She could smell the light cologne that he wore, so much like a lush forest and something spicy and made her thighs ache. He reached over and placed his hand on her leg as she stilled and bit her lip. “Did you like listening to me, Brie.” His tone demanded an answer and pulled her under his spell with its sharp and husky tenor. “I did.” “How many times have you done that?” “A handful.” She let out a sharp breath as his hand slid up her leg slowly. “I see,” He was quiet the remainder of the drive but kept his hand on her.

The sexual tension in the car was overwhelming, and Brie found it difficult to breathe as her throat closed up. She tried sipping coffee to relieve the discomfort but it only burned her throat, and she shoved it into the spot in the smooth center of the car in a blind attempt. They arrived and pulled into a nearly empty garage before Jimmy used his card to get into a private elevator. Brie stepped inside first and pressed her back against the wall as she pressed her aching breasts forward and took a slow breath. The car slipped upward in a matter of moments, and Brie was reminded of the movie Fifty Shades of Grey for a moment as she let her imagination wander. Kat had wanted to see it after loving the book.

Jimmy was much more handsome that Christian but there seemed to be some solidarities in this situation. He gave her a look as the door opened and she forced herself forward on her heels as she went towards his office. Empty building as far as she could see. Brie walked his office since he never instructed her to do otherwise and she already knew that he was in charge of everything today. “Have a seat.” His words were clear, and she took a seat across from his expansive cherry wood desk in a very comfortable office chair. “I didn’t want to bring you into this. Brie.” “Into what?” “You looked so flushed, and I had to force myself not to drag you into my bedroom and fuck the ever loving hell out of you. I kept reminding myself who you are to me, but now all I see is a beautiful adult that wants me as much as I want her.” Jimmy admitted as her mouth went dry. She heard him walk to a door and open it before he returned to her and stared down for a long moment. “Is that right?” Brie nodded as tears slipped down her cheeks and told him yes over and over. Jimmy took some rope and tied her right hand to the armrest first before he went around to her right one. “Did you fuck Ricky?” Jimmy asked her as he knelt to the ground to spread her legs and tie them as well. “No. I have never…done that.” “You’re a virgin? I thought so but fuck; I am so hard now.” Jimmy said as he paced back and forth and dropped his hand down to cup his groin. He moved back to Brie and fell to his knees as he pushed her skirt up over her thighs and seemed to memorize every detail. “I don’t want to hurt you, Brie. I want this, but you need to as well. Tell me a safe word, please.” “Blue means stop,” Brie said quickly, and he gave her a look so full of lust as he tucked her skirt around her body securely. Jimmy slipped the slim straps of her dress down and revealed her pale breasts with hardened pink nipples that he started to stroke. “I know that you come with sex toys. I have seen that first hand,” Jimmy pressed his thumb against her as he stared at her dampening lace underwear. “Have you ever come from just nipple play?” Brie shook her head. Ricky had barely touched her breasts always wanting to get to the part where she jacked him off. She cried out as he covered one of them with his mouth and started to suck hard and slow while pinching and tugging the other. It was overwhelming, and Brie felt every nerve ending in her body respond as she struggled against her binds. The moment Jimmy dragged his teeth across her skin she whimpered, and he tugged on her other nipple hard.

Mouth and hands brought her to a keening mess within minutes, and Brie closed her eyes as she exploded with his ministrations that had nothing to do with her pussy. “That was fast, but you loved it. Hold it this time.” Jimmy had told her before he told her that he wouldn’t touch her again if she came too fast this time. Teeth tugged and hands pinched as her aching clit throbbed and headed towards another release. She wanted him to touch it so badly, but it was primed and ready, and she cried out as she struggled to control herself. “Not yet.” Jimmy sucked her harder into his mouth as he switched sides. “I can feel that you’re ready, but not yet.” She used every bit of her strength to try and control her racing lust, weeping as she succeeded and then exploding when he told her to let go. Brie didn’t understand it as she closed her eyes and dropped her head forward. She desperately needed him inside of her and Brie took ragged breaths as she heard the sound of a zipper and clothing. Brie forced her eyes up to see his cock in his hand, dark and hard as he stroked it and closed his eyes. “Do you rub your clit when you listen or fuck that tight pussy with the cock that I saw you holding?” He sounded like he was ready to snap and Jimmy stroked himself harder as he tried to catch his breath. “That tight, new pussy…” “Both,” Brie admitted as she ached between her legs and tried to move her hands. “I use the cock when you are fucking them with your bodies slapping together and I use my clit when you are spanking them, or whatever else. What do you do to them, Jimmy?” “I make them scream. I hurt them to their liking. Is that what gets you off, Brie?” Jimmy demanded as he looked at her with wild eyes. “I think about you with every thrust and want it to be you spread before me. I didn’t know that you wanted it as well.” He let out a grunt and stepped forward to cup her face as he pressed the head towards her mouth. Brie parted her lips and welcomed him inside as he pushed forward as slowly as he could stand it. “Swallow everything.” He slipped deeper into her throat, and Brie felt him swell before he pulled back and came into her mouth. She carefully drank it all in as he stroked her hair before tugging the braid out and dropping back down to her knees. “When you turned seventeen, I watched you start to grow into this girl that you are now. I loved your mother; God knows that even as he looks down on me right now. When she was gone, I saw you suffering and I wanted to do everything that I could to comfort you. I knew that my needs were too much for you so I turned to other women, willing ones that would let me take everything out on them.” His mouth moved to her lower thighs and Brie sucked in her breath. “Are you willing enough to come downstairs tonight? Did you like

this?” “Yes, Jimmy. I need this.” Brie told him as he continued to move up to the soft slick skin of her upper thigh. His hand ripped aside the thin lace as he stroked her and watched her face as he found all of the parts that her body that she’d used to relieve her desire for him. Her clit was hard, and Jimmy teased it relentlessly as she tensed in the chair and he just kept going. There were no words about holding it in this time, and Jimmy made her come twice with his hands before he covered her pussy with his mouth. His lips sucked her in, and Jimmy dragged her through his teeth gently as she cried out and then attacked her with his talented tongue. Brie closed her eyes and bit her lip until it hurt and she finally called his name into the room as she released and he pressed harder to taste as much as he could. Brie felt so much relief as well as guilt as she recovered from Jimmy. She prayed that nobody was there, but deep inside she knew that they were alone. Jimmy had been careful at first about the women and wasn’t home most of the time with any of them. That had started in the last few months, and he realized that it was convenient for her to hear all of it. Had he wanted this and planned it that way? Worse yet, did Marie know? Brie knew that she could never let this secret get out to their assistant because it would kill her. Brie and Jimmy left after they put themselves back together. She was going to be covering for Marnie, but they both knew that Brie knew this office inside and out. This wasn’t her first time at this rodeo and Jimmy had suggested this so Marie wouldn’t pick up on anything odd. They stopped at a crowded restaurant for lunch, and Brie picked at a salad while he had a steak for his meal as they looked over the water. It probably looked normal to an outsider, but they were both thinking about later that night. She felt her hair loose around her shoulders and could still feel Jimmy’s hands pulling out her braid as she swallowed him down her throat. Brie could tell that he was feeling the same way as he shifted in his seat and looked at her from across the table. They went back to the house and found Marie preparing a roast chicken for dinner that night along with vegetables as she asked them how it went. “I remember a lot, so it didn’t take long at all.” “You’re a smart girl,” Marie told her as she smiled at Jimmy. He looked at Brie and even though he cleaned up well, she could see his face as he was between her legs to taste her. “You should hire her, Jimmy. Give her a summer job.” Brie couldn’t help to think that he already had as she excused herself to get her swimsuit on and dive into the pool. Kat came over for a few hours, and they talked about their week with far fewer details on Brie’s end, though she

did tell her friend about the job. Jimmy was scarce though she saw him in the office looking at them a few times. Her jealousy of anything having to do with Kat had subsided, and Brie relaxed in the shade, at least until Kat invited her to a party that night. Brie begged off, telling her friend that she didn't feel that great and even came home early from the office. Brie was just swimming to stay a little cool in the heat, and she expressed her concern at it worsening her little bug. Kat had dinner plans with the friends that she was going to the party with so she left early, and Brie slipped on a sheer green cover up over her dry bathing suit and went in to help Marie. “I miss youth,” Marie complained in a friendly tone as Brie smiled at her. She wasn’t fat by any means, but being forty she just wasn’t slim anymore. “You’re beautiful, and that husband of yours adores you,” Brie shot back as she prepared a salad full of vegetables and mixed it all together. “Come on now. Both of you are gorgeous,” Jimmy broke in as Marie laughed and shook her head at him. Brie just stared at him as he met her gaze and kept his eyes locked on her until she looked away. “It’ll be no time before this one has a new guy breaking down your door.” Marie teased him as Jimmy frowned and walked to the fridge for a beer. Brie couldn’t imagine wanting another man. She joined them at the table and ate some of the food on her plate as her mind raced forward to what was going to happen later. Would he tie her up again? Would he have sex with her? There were so many possibilities and she forced her mind to the present as Marie discussed her upcoming cruise with the two of them. Brie and Jimmy shared a long look as he assured Marie that they would be okay, given the amount of food that she was preparing and freezing for them. Marie thanked them with a hug for each of them before she went to clean up after dinner. Bubbling over about her two-week cruise to Alaska. Jimmy took very good care of Marie as an employee, and this trip wasn’t difficult for her to take, and Marie knew that and worked hard to make life easy for them while she was gone. Brie and Jimmy both went to their rooms until they knew that she had gone home for the night. Brie showered and dressed in a thin cotton dress in a soft pink as she dried her hair into a straight mass that hung around her shoulders, over the spaghetti straps of the dress that clung to her body. She wore nothing underneath. Jimmy had destroyed her panties earlier, and she knew that he would do that again. She added a hint of pink gloss to her full lips and walked downstairs through the quiet house as she took a few breaths. In and out. Brie had paused by the basement door before she tested it to assure herself that it

was open. Brie turned it easily and looked at the stairs that descended to the place that would change her life. It had brought her so many different feelings over the past months, and she took her first step down. Once she had a better view of it, the large room was something of a man cave. It did have a television that was huge and a couch, but the back wall was taken up with a huge bed with an iron headboard and large black cabinets located on either side of it. Some restraints were hanging from it already, and Brie jumped as she heard Jimmy’s voice. “I could have made this soundproof. I certainly have the money, but I think a part of me wanted you to listen to what you were doing to me. I never expected to find you like that outside of a door, but moving to my room was a good idea. Wasn’t it?” Brie nodded. “Take off your dress and get on the bed,” Jimmy told Brie as she nodded and walked towards the back of the room. Music came on, something that sounded like piano and Jimmy hurried up the steps as she lifted the clothing over her head. Brie shivered on the air conditioning that blew down on her bare skin, and she looked towards the bed to seen that it was lit with soft lights installed on the ceiling as well as amber lamps on the cabinets. “The door is locked.” She looked back at him as he took in her body and slowly unbuttoned the short sleeved blue shirt that he was wearing as he met her eyes. “You’re beautiful.” He stepped forward and dropped the shirt as he told her to get onto the bed. Brie moved onto the mattress and fell back onto it as she crawled forward and memorized the sounds of his labored breathing. “I am going to test what you like tonight. Remember your word, Brie. I never want to hurt you.” Jimmy secured her to the headboard with soft cloth restraints that Brie realized gave her plenty of room to move into different positions. He also pulled something similar from the end of the bed and secured her legs as well, spread far apart as Brie blushed and forced herself to calm down as her aching nipples pressed against the soft sheets. She watched him go to the left cabinet and withdraw some items that he dropped behind her on the mattress. She froze as he crawled up between her legs, only to melt as he took a small vibrator and traced it over her pussy and ass, back and forth. Brie had never felt what it was like to be touched there, and she shuddered as her body readily responded. Jimmy focused on her hard nub as he pressed it into her and moved it back and forth before he smacked her ass with a loud crack. Brie shot forward as her release trickled down her thighs and she gasped. “Oh my God.” Jimmy moved on to whip her with a small whip, and Brie cried out as the strips hit her hard and spread out over her ass. Once he clipped her clit and she jerked forward in pain and ecstasy as she knew that she was close again.

Jimmy took another item from behind her, and it took him a moment to place something small into her ass as she groaned. “I want you here at some point.” His voice was telling her how much he was losing all restraint, and she felt his hand slide down after pressing the plug in to roughly finger her waiting center as she rocked against him. “You’re so tight. All mine.” Jimmy murmured as she continued to search for the release that she needed in a broken voice. “Come for me, Brie. I want to feel you on my fingers.” She did with a scream and Jimmy maneuvered her onto her back as he buried his face between her legs to deliver another orgasm as she cried and whimpered his name. Jimmy’s hands covered her nipples and pinched and pulled as she arched against him and felt herself trickle over his tongue as he sucked harder on her. Jimmy pulled away and stood to drop his shorts as she got another look at his spectacular body and hard cock. “I need to be inside of you. This will be slower so that you’re not in too much pain.” Jimmy moved back onto the bed and kissed her hard. Their first kiss. She tasted herself on him, and Brie sucked at his lips as he positioned himself in front of her. “Birth control? I am very clean, and I’d prefer you bare.” Jimmy told her as she nodded at him. “Since I was fourteen. Bad periods.” Brie replied as he let out a sigh of relief and watched as he slid his cock inside of her slowly. “So fucking good.” Jimmy breathed as he filled her and her body wrapped tightly around him as he just kept sliding deeper. He felt so good as he pulled out and went back in, too carefully for her as Brie pleaded for him to go harder. “Fuck me, Jimmy.” He gripped her hips and went hard at her body as Brie met him thrust for thrust. The minimal pain had disappeared now and replaced with a deep need for him to have her in every way possible. The combination of the small but long plug being pressed inside of her as Jimmy went at her fast and deep made Brie have the kind of orgasm that she never knew existed, and she screamed as she came. “I need to soundproof this now. Fucking hell, Brie. I am going to come so hard.” He thrust hard and stilled as she felt his warmth combining with hers as his fingers dug into her skin. He kept her tied there, spanking her with several things to find out what she liked best as the plug remained secure in her ass. Jimmy clipped items to her breasts, causing a constant pinch as he used his massive selection of toys on her pussy and made her have orgasm after orgasm. Jimmy carefully made a drawer of her favorites before he released Brie ‘s arms and legs from the restraints. She let them drop down, weak and sated but wanting so much more of him. Brie had never used her safe word, and she didn’t think that she ever would.

Jimmy crawled over her body again and slipped inside of her again as she stared into his eyes.

CHAPTER 5

THEY CONTINUED THEIR RELATIONSHIP, sleeping together in the basement during the weeks while Marie was away. Had she not cooked for them, the pair would have eaten much worse than they were accustomed to thanks to her. Brie and Jimmy would come up the stairs and heat up food, shoveling it into their mouths before they went back to explore one another. Brie loved his spankings and whips. She also discovered that she loved it when he bit down on her skin, in only those places that nobody else would see. Her nipples throbbed regularly, and her ass ached as she lay outside with Kat the few times that she could. Working for your stepfather as well as fucking him took a lot of time. “You look different. Are you seeing someone?” Kat asked her curiously about a month later on a Saturday. They had only gone out a couple of times to a club or a concert and Brie had rushed to Jimmy the moment that she was home. No college boy could every make her feel the way that he did. “No, not really. I mean…when do I have time?” Brie forced a laugh. “I chat with guys on some of the apps but nothing serious yet.” “Do you miss being with Ricky?” Fuck, no. Brie loved things with Jimmy, but she bit her lip in a false thoughtful motion as she remained silent for a few moments. “A little. I don’t think I want to risk my heart that way again.” Kat murmured in agreement as she closed her eyes in the shade and they dozed off before dinner. Brie did go to see a new movie with her that night and had some dessert, but she pulled into the driveway and turned off the car as she noticed another one in the driveway. Brie walked into the kitchen, dimly lit with only the light above the stove on and listened carefully. The basement quickly had become soundproofed so she couldn’t hear anything from there but she tried the door. It opened. Brie walked down the stairs and turned her head to see a young blonde woman strapped to bed as Jimmy rested his face in his hands. “What’s the issue, Jimmy?” She was naked with large breasts and a tight little waist, and Brie felt her heart break as she surveyed the scene.

“I just can’t do this,” he told her as he stood and started to pace the room in his shorts. He paused and stopped before looking up to see Brie as his face fell. She turned and left before she started to cry. That was the moment Brie knew that she was falling for her stepfather, and she dropped onto her bad as the tears slid down her cheeks. They fucked, and he hurt her most of the time, but there were moments when it was just them on the bed as he claimed her body as his. It was his, and she would never want another man. Footsteps sounded in the hallway, and she tried to wipe her eyes with her hands. “Brie. Fuck, let me explain.” “We never said this was exclusive. I don’t know why it hurt me, but I’m a big girl.” Brie would never give him up and was willing to share. “I didn’t do anything with her. I called her here and tied her up, but I didn’t even want to touch her.” Jimmy told her as she turned her head to look at him. “I needed to try and break what I have with you, but I know that I can’t.” He dropped onto her bed and kissed her as Brie pressed against him. They made love on her bed that night, slowly and deeply as they looked into each other’s eyes. Brie came hard and cried out his name as he cupped her face and kissed her though his release before he dropped his head against her chest. “No more women. Only you.” The months kept passing and about three weeks before school; Marie looked closely at Brie as they fixed breakfast. “You look a little pale. Are you feeling alright?” Brie had been feeling a little more tired than usual and drained, but she blamed the strep throat that she’d gotten earlier this summer from an intern at the office. The idiot had still come to work to get a job but was quickly released when Jimmy saw how sick Brie became. “I haven’t bounced back from the strep. I had such great medicine for that, but I still feel tired. Medicine. Antibiotics. Holy shit. That hadn’t even occurred to Brie when she was taking the medicine and what it would do to her birth control pills. It stopped their effectiveness and Jimmy was still fucking her when she was getting better and on the pills. She dropped the knife that she was using to cut fruit for a salad for a BBQ with Marie and her husband along with Kat and her new boyfriend. “Are you okay?” “I need some water,” Brie told her as she went for a fresh glass of ice water. She sipped it and returned to her job as her stepfather entered the kitchen from a morning at his office in a meeting. He smiled at the women, and Brie noticed a gleam in his eyes as she felt her stomach twist. She made it through the meal by the pool though she denied any drinks.

Jimmy informed Kat and her boyfriend that they got the pool house that night with the summer cocktails that they were consuming even as he cast a worried glance at Brie. Jimmy was following her inside as the other couple made their way to their beds for the night, drunk and laughing. “What’s wrong?” His voice sounded laced with concern, and she took a deep breath before she turned to face him. “I was on antibiotics this summer, baby. I didn’t think to use condoms and…I am late by a couple of months.” Brie slowly admitted as she stared at him. She had just called him baby, and that hit her harder than the words that explained her situation. “We need to test,” Jimmy told her as she nodded. He looked thoughtful for a moment before he urged her upstairs to his room with his hand on the small of her back. “I have some here. Let me check to see if they’re good.” Brie sat on the bed as the realization of why he might have some hit her and he went to look in the bathroom. “Did I almost have a sibling?” She asked as he came back into the bedroom holding a box in his hand. “There was a scare once. Here, use this. It’s still good.” Jimmy rushed through his sentence, and she took the box with shaking hands. “I think it’s easy to do.” Brie went through the motions behind the closed door as everything hit her. Pregnancy. Stepfather. This was a bad movie, and she set the stick on the counter as she pulled her shorts back on and sat on the floor. Jimmy tapped on the door, and he moved to sit beside her as a tear slid down her cheek. “I am so sorry. You didn’t want this.” “Nothing is final yet.” Jimmy took her hand and stroked it softly. “I want to tell myself that this is wrong. I want to know that I am older than you, and you deserve someone young and in the same part of life that you’re at.” Jimmy sighed. “I want to feel the need to go back to a different woman every night, but I did that to work you out of my system. I did that, and it got me here, and I don’t want anything else.” “I want to tell myself similar things, but I have fallen in love with you, Jimmy. I am scared to death right now, but I love you so much.” Brie softly admitted as she looked up at him. “I love you too. I am sure that I am going to hell for what I’m doing, but I love you and I kind of like the idea of a baby. I never wanted that before, even with Nat. I was all about business and taking care of the two of you, but there’s something more here.” Jimmy was almost thinking out loud as he glanced up. “Is it time?” Brie sighed and stood up to pick up the stick and look for the word that

told them what their future was. PREGNANT. “Holy shit. We’re having a baby.” Brie said as Jimmy stood and pulled her into his arms. They stayed in his room, talking and making love until Brie thought it better to go back to her room. She knew that there would be a lot of judgment on the choices that they were making, but Brie prayed for some support along the way as she curled up under her covers and closed her eyes. Brie apologized to her mother in soft whispers as she stared at the picture of the two of them from a BBQ. She heard something across the room, and Brie looked over to see another picture had fallen over. She got out of bed to see that it was one of her mom holding her as a baby. Brie frowned. There was no way that it would have just fallen with the weight of the frame and the lack of air in that corner. “Is that you showing me your approval?” Brie whispered as she set it back up. She returned to bed and fell into a restless sleep as she mentally prepared to tell Marie and her friends what she was planning.

CATCHING UP WITH DADDY

CHAPTER one “I don’t know why are you are being so stubborn, Penny. You knew that eventually that I would marry again and for you to show me this kind of disrespect only makes me painfully aware of the fact that our relationship is never going to be the same. You’re coming home and I was hoping that meant that we were going to mend some fences. I want you to meet my husband and it might’ve been a whirl wind courtship, but we feel that this is the right decision for the both of us. I want him in my life and I won’t let you do anything or say anything to the contrary to ruin what I have with him.” My mother was notorious for shacking up with just about anybody that had two pennies to rub together. “I will do what I can to make nice, but I’m not promising anything. I was mistaken and I don’t think that I will be there for the next five days.” I decided after hearing about her nuptials that shortening my trip was best for me. The visitation that I would have with my mother would hopefully allow me to leave without saying something that I would regret. I had a new job lined up

and I was ready to start this new chapter in my life. “It’s just as well. He’s away on business and the money that he has doesn’t come without long hours and trips. Did I mention that he’s a billionaire and his work in real estate has amassed him some kind of respect amongst his peers? I wish that I had a photo to send you, but I guess you will see him when you see him. You both should be arriving at precisely the same time.” I was glad for the reprieve and this impromptu road trip to various small towns would keep me occupied long enough to realize that she was besmirching my father’s name. I was a girl with a long memory and my father might have died, but he was still very much in my mind and in my life. I had that gold locket around my neck and the picture of him with me on the other side was a good reminder that I would always have him in my heart. “I think that you’ll find that I will never accept any man in your life that isn’t my father. Besides, we both know that you are a consummate gold digger. It would be one thing if I believed that you were in love, but to sleep with him just for his money is deplorable. You should be ashamed, but I know that you’re not. You never had to work a day in your life and you’re not going to start now.” I didn’t mean to be that defensive, but she really did know how to push my buttons in just the right way to elicit the kind of response that would have us arguing. “I really don’t want to get into this with you young lady. You’re my daughter if you’re not careful, I will make sure that none of his money ever lands on your doorstep. Think about that very carefully and money may not buy happiness, but it sure goes a long way.” I hated to admit that she was right, but my collection of shoes was rapidly getting out of control. “I’ll be home in five days and we can continue this discussion when I arrive. This guy better not be the same as some of those other guys that couldn’t keep their hands off of me. I had to scald one with a pot of hot water to get him to stop leering at me with more than a passing interest. I kicked one in the nuts and broke ones finger for even trying to touch my ass.” I thought that I heard a snicker on the other end of the line and that was the final straw. I slammed the phone closed, fuming mad and not paying attention to what I was doing. I went to the side of the road and I hit this huge pothole that made the entire truck bounce back and forth on the road after I got control of it again. I saw the makings of a small town up ahead and I decided to exit the highway in hopes of some suitable lodging for the evening. I found a very dilapidated garage that still had its lights on. I stopped the truck and I knew that it had something to do with the suspension and the last pothole must have

broken something quite severe to cause this kind of damage. I had on a pair of blue jeans and they were cut perfectly like they were made for me. My young innocent 19 year old ass projected nicely from the back giving me the kind of caboose that would have most guys clamoring to pant after me like dogs. The denim shirt was tied at the middle and my flat midriff was perfectly staged to show that I was no stranger to working my body into a frenzy. I might’ve been only 19 years old, but I had an old soul that you could see in the windows of my eyes. “I don’t know what to tell you. It’s not like I’m some miracle worker. I know that you’re my cousin and all, but you need to realize that parts for that kind of car are not going to be easy to attain. I’ve already made some inquiries and I’m having that part sent here by morning. In the meantime, you’re going to have to find some place to stay. There’s no way that you’re staying with me and Mary. She hates you and she has every reason to after those very explicit photos that you sent of my bachelor party. You know that it took me almost three days after the wedding to finally consummate our marriage.” “Earl, I just wanted to show you what you were missing and I suppose I should have thought about your future instead of just a good time.” I knocked lightly on the door and cleared my throat, so that my entrance was not going to make them jump out of their skin. “What can I do for you? I’m just about to close up for the evening, but for a pretty thing like you I will try to refrain.” He had greased covered coveralls, but he seemed to be pretty handy with a wrench and that was exactly what I was looking for. “I think I broke something on my truck.” He motioned for me to bring it into the garage and then he took it up on the lift and gave it the once over with his buddy hanging back and watching intently. “I can fix it, but I’m going to have to have the part sent to me. It won’t be here till morning, but there are several vacancies in the motel down the street. I’m sure that Angel will be very happy to show you. There’s also a nice little diner and it’s mostly a greasy spoon, but you can get a pretty fair hamburger. Nothing else is edible, but they are known to cultivate their very own beef from local farmers in the area. You’re not some kind of vegan are you?” I was at one time, but the attraction of a juicy piece of hamburger or a steak barbecued to perfection was hard for me to ignore. “I like hamburger like anybody else does.” I don’t know why, but I was watching this man intently and I wasn’t talking about the mechanic. “I just remembered that I’m not going to be in the shop. I have an overdue fishing trip. I’ll be gone for five days.” I couldn’t stay here that long, but the

truck was in no shape to go anywhere without causing me undue harm. “Earl, you don’t have to worry and you know that I’m the one that taught you everything you know. Being in the Marines, I learned what it took to put things back together again. Leave me the keys to the shop and I’ll be happy to fix her truck with no cost to you.” I wasn’t sure that I liked this arrangement, but I had very little time to raise an objection before Earl was passing over the keys. “He’s right. He did teach me everything that he knows. He’s probably better at this stuff than I am anyway.” I wasn’t sure if he was just saying that to get out of being made to show some kind of responsibility instead of taking that fishing trip. “Come back in the morning and my buddy will set you up and have you on your way before you know it. I’ll even wave some of the fee and it’s the right thing to do.” I thought that was mighty neighborly of him, but for him to do that for a complete stranger showed just what kind of hometown values I had been missing. I agreed to their terms, pulling at my hair which was a short blond cut. I had an apple bottom and a pair of breasts that were more than a mouthful on a 5’4, 120 pound lithe frame. The guy that was going to work on my car had these pair of sunglasses that were mirrored and made it very difficult to see the intention behind his eyes. The open shirt showed a white tee shirt and the black pants was a little unusual for a man that was rough around the edges. The belt alone was custom made and had this Italian craftsmanship that you didn’t find here in the states. “I can give you a lift down to the diner and the hotel is just across the street from that. I’m staying there myself and I have some business to conduct in the early morning that needs a very delicate touch. I have my eye on a certain parcel of land that I plan to develop it into something of a resort. Through the trees is a beautiful lake. It’s taken a lot of time to convince the previous owners to give up their legacy, but there is always a price for everything.” “Didn’t he just say that you’re going to have to wait for the part to come in for your car to be fixed?” He stopped and slapped himself across the forehead. It was obvious that we were going to have to walk the couple blocks down to the diner. “I guess we’re both in the same boat.” He went to his car inside and that he locked up for the evening with my truck currently in the second work bay. We walked in silence and there were moments that I had to stop and look at his tight ass in that black pair of pants and wonder if I could find some way to make them come down a little. I swallowed hard and envisioned the way that his hips would flex, as he

gave me what I’d never had before. Chapter two “This place might be a hole in the wall, but their hamburgers are to die for.” I wanted to argue with him, but with my mouth full of this delicious meat, it was hard to say anything disparaging about a place that really looked like it had been in the throes of better days. The atmosphere was of a roadside stand and the people were the kind that knew the value of a hard earned dollar. I couldn’t say the same thing for my mother. I often thought that she got pregnant with me to trap my father. “I have this compulsion to talk to the chef and inform him that he is doing one helluva job. He shouldn’t be cooking here and there are places in the city that would gladly snap him up in a second just for these hamburgers alone.” I saw the billow of smoke coming from the kitchen and I saw somebody in behind that smoke, but they were distorted and made it difficult for me to praise his virtues. I sat there eating that hamburger and stripping him of every piece of clothing one at a time in my mind. I could see his chiseled chest and the way that his hips tapered into that V that would have most women crying out in passion on the release of an orgasm that was currently building up inside. I had to purposely move my fingers into the waistband of my jeans. I touched the wet material of my panties and I knew that his presence was currently making me very uncomfortable in a good way. He was older than me and could’ve been my father, but there was no way that I could have these kinds of feeling for my father. There was that flicker of a flame. A brief understanding and the exchange of glances that we were sharing made me believe that he was thinking the same thing. He was a total stranger and yet I was thinking about sleeping with him and giving him the purity of my body. “I know the chef personally and I can have him come to your table.” I heard him saying something, but my main focus was the way that his chest was falling with each breath. I could see the way that his shirt was pushing out against the muscle of his obvious well defined hunky body. “That would be nice…so very nice.” I wasn’t even talking about the meal and certainly not about the chef. I had my eyes on a certain dessert that would be most at home inside my mouth. I wanted to taste his seed and to drain him of all of his bodily fluids in one mad dash to the finish line inside that no tell motel across the street. I envisioned him planting his tongue deep inside me and then drawing out the conclusion of our union with sharp thrusts of his hips against me from behind. He would be slapping my ass and pulling my hair like

a dirty little girl. I wanted him, but I had no idea how I was supposed to profess those feelings without looking like some sort of slut. “I’m sure that he would have no problem hearing from a visitor to this town about his prowess in the kitchen.” The only prowess that I was looking for was the way that he was going to make me squeal with a certain delight that came from an orgasmic offering. He motioned for the chef and he came out and actually wiped his hands on his apron. “I never thought that I would see you here again. When you left after graduation, I saw you as a rising star and one that was going to leave this no nothing town in your rearview mirror.” It was obvious that they knew each other and that coming from this town was something that they had in common. He had close cropped dark hair and standing at 6 feet and 200 plus pounds was more than this diminutive little frame could take. “Hank, I want you to meet a friend of mine. She’s only here for the night, but she wanted to personally thank you for your efforts in the kitchen. I don’t think that it comes as a big surprise that she found your hamburgers to be delicious.” I wanted to say that it was the best thing that I’d ever had in my mouth, but I was thinking that maybe there was something else in this diner that might surpass that. “She might even show up for breakfast tomorrow morning. You do have a hearty kind of breakfast that sticks to the ribs.” Hank shook my hand and I told him that he was wasting his talents, but he said that he was never going to leave what he considered his family. I drank my coffee and continually looked over the rim of the cup to see that he had undone one of the buttons on his shirt. It wasn’t much, but it was certainly enough to stoke those fires just a little bit more than what they already were. “You have been a welcome company. A stranger is someone that you haven’t had the fortune to meet. It’s all about being in the right place at the right time.” I had purposely undone one of my buttons and leaned forward let him see the ripe melons that could be his if he played his cards right. He escorted me over to the motel and I paid for the room in advance for one night. We both got our keys and went up the stairs. I don’t know if he could feel the heat between us, but I felt like we were going to turn into a ball of flame. His room was right next to mine and there was an adjoining door inside. I stood there with my door open and I was waiting for that inevitable kiss. He leaned in and moved this strand of hair away from my ears before leaning forward and kissing my forehead in a platonic way that took that sizzle down to a simmer. “It’s been a nice evening and I don’t want to ruin it with some kinda one

night stand. I’m not that kind of guy and I’m afraid that this is as far as we go together. You are a little young and I would feel like I was robbing the cradle if I were to even contemplate anything that wasn’t strictly on the up and up. I’m sure that it would be fleeting and memorable, but I’m looking for something with more longevity. I can’t in good conscience do something to ruin that.” It was obvious that the ring on his finger was cutting off his circulation to his brain or maybe another part of his anatomy that was having the life choked out of it. He didn’t recognize a good thing, but I had to say one thing for him and that he was loyal to a fault to whatever woman that had ensnared him in her web. “You’ve been something of a surprise and I don’t usually find myself interested in older men. I’m a little disappointed, but I’m also glad to see that some people have morals that are still intact.” I could say that, but it still didn’t mean that I wasn’t willing and able to show him some kind of tender loving care. “I’ve always believed in fidelity and the vows I took were sacred in the eyes of the lord. I’m not saying that I’m not tempted, because I would be a damn fool if I said that I wasn’t. It’s just that I don’t think it would be a good idea for me to come in there with the way that we are feeling about each other. I don’t want to give you the wrong impression or send any kind of mixed signals to indicate that I would even do something like this. Hell, I don’t even know what I’m saying any more. It would be best that I just go inside before I do or say anything that I will regret.” I felt this longing and the yearning for something more than just his attempt at idle conversation. He had made his bed and now he was going to have to lie in it alone. Unfortunately, that meant that I was going to have to do the same thing. “Whoever your wife is, I have to say that she is a very lucky girl to have a man that can resist the temptation of a nubile young thing like me. I hope that she’s worth it and you have no idea how good it was going to be.” I really had no idea of that myself, but it sounded good in my head. I hadn’t had sex, but I did come close several times. I wasn’t exactly innocent and going down on a guy and having him shoot into my mouth was one of my guilty pleasures. I was very good at skinning that flute and making a man pump volumes that seemed impossible. I was selective and I had to get to know the man or the young pubescent boy that was going to make his way into manhood. “I sometimes think that monogamy is a crime against humanity. It’s certainly not what the bible would tell us to do, but he does work in mysterious ways. I can only assume that throwing you at me is a test of my willpower. I only wish that my wife could see me and know that she means

that much.” He opened his door and looked back one last time, as if he was trying to convince himself that grabbing me around the waist and pulling me into the room would be the worst mistake that he had ever made in his life. I licked my lips and made a certain part of his anatomy show interest by how he was filling out those pants. If that was with underwear and I had no reason to doubt that it was then he was well endowed. I wanted to see it and I was this close to attacking him and having my way, but I forced myself not to put him in that untenable situation. I was in my room lying down with my legs wide open and running my hands down over my milky white flesh. I knew that he was no more than a couple of feet away and that the only thing that was separating us was a bit of drywall and a thin wooden door. It would’ve been so easy to knock and have him come over, cry on his shoulder about some nonsense and then use that to seal the deal. I’d already taken a cold shower, but that did nothing to negate the simmering heat that had taken control of my body and good senses. He was now making it impossible not to touch myself. I barely scratched over my clit and my entire body jumped with an audible gasp of excitement escaping my lips. I wanted this complete stranger and I could bring him to life in my mind’s eye like a fantasy. It was his hand that touched me and it was his finger that elicited that moan of desire. I could see him so clearly and yet everybody knows that one’s own hand does not have that unpredictable nature. “Yes…my fucking stud…finger fuck my hole.” I purposely raised the Octave of my voice, so that he could get a good idea of what I was doing. I could only pray that he would take his own cock and we could ride that manual train together to the end of the line. “I want your tongue…I want your big hard cock within my folds.” I had no other recourse than my own fingers and a bottle of hand lotion that I had found in the bathroom. I should’ve had one of my many battery powered toys, but they were currently locked in a chest underneath my truck seat. “Please…you’ve got to stop this. Your hand feels, so fucking good and if you don’t stop, I’m going to blow all over the place.” It was his voice and I wondered if maybe he was trying to compete with me. It was going to be an interesting way for us to have sex and not have sex at the same time. “Take me in your mouth and let me see your tongue working me into a frothy frenzy.” If I listened real hard, I was sure that I could hear the slapping of his hand against his stick of dynamite. “Take my mouth, use it as you see fit and cum deep into my throat.” I had three fingers driven inside of me with my sticky residue now slathering over

my fingers. This was where his cock should’ve already been. “You have such a sweet mouth and a girl like you should always have a cock inside it. I can feel it coming and I want you to join me in a moment that will live in infamy in both of our minds. Suck it…suck it harder…pull my balls and make me cream inside that young….oh so very young…mouth… AHHHHHH.” I could almost taste him and it brought to mind those few guys that had been privileged enough to hold my hair in their hands and deliver a deposit that was worthy of a girl with my skills. “I just took your load in my mouth. I’m stroking you back to a stiff one. I’m spreading my legs and letting you slide down between my heaving bosom. You leave a trail of what little bit is left inside your balls. You grab me from around the thighs and you plunge solidly and with no mercy to make me cry out in passion. You slap against me, as you pound me harder and harder into the mattress with my eyes rolling into the back of my head. I scream and you look at me with this hunger that can only be satiated by giving me what I want.” I was telling him a tale that could have happened if he only let himself live a little. “I feel my cock wrapped up in your tight little hole. I look down and see how the lips are caressing me on each stroke and I reach under and grab your ass to pull you towards me. There is no denying that you’re not going to get away. I drive like a piston from a machine, making your body bounce on that mattress, as you squeal with delight and throw your head back in obvious enjoyment of what I’m doing to you.” There was no way that I could handle that type of dirty talk without touching on the pleasure that was currently in reach. “I’m cumming…do you feel me cumming all over your meaty cock? Do you love the way that my juices run in rivers down the length of you and cover your balls? I’m cumming for you…only for you… YESSSSSSS.” I twisted and turned, letting my passion unfold naturally and I lay back with a satisfied air surrounding me. I wanted the real thing and there was no substitute for that first time encounter. This was the next best thing, but it was likely a pale comparison to what it would be like if he was here in person. His body would be glistening and his eyes would be showing this intensity that made me aware that this was not the only time that we were going to bring each other to the pinnacle of pleasure that night. “Thank you.” It was the last thing I heard before I fell asleep and I knew that after such an explosive moment that I would have the sleep of the angels.

CHAPTER three I suppose I should’ve been surprised when I awoke to find that he was no longer there. I knocked and there was no answer. I went downstairs and found my truck already sitting in the very spot underneath the room in which I had slept with visions of him running through my head. “He told me to tell you and I’m sure that you’ll understand that in another life and in another time that it might’ve been possible. I normally don’t concern myself with other people’s business, but for $50.00, I’m more than happy to relay a message. I also have this letter.” The manager was this balding idiot with a stained blue shirt that looked like he had slept in it. I walked out into the parking lot and I couldn’t wait to tear into that piece of paper. “Last night is something that I will cherish. I wish that there could have been more and I’m sure that you feel the same way. We gave each other something to hold onto. You still have your whole life ahead of you and a future that is probably ripe with a lot of guys standing in line to be with you. I can only hope that you’ll find the happiness that you deserve. I know that we have only known each other for a short time, but I feel that it’s been longer than that. I was tempted to knock on your door this morning, but I have this funny feeling that I would never be able to keep my hands off of you. I wish you all the best and that all of your dreams come true.” He signed it with the letter A. It brought to mind the symbol of adultery that women wore when they cheated on their husbands back in the old days. I breathed deeply and turned my face towards the sun with the heat now touching my cheek. I had a few more days and I was going to make the most out of my time. I stopped off at various places along the way, talking to complete strangers with the words of my fantasy lover continually echoing in my ears. A stranger was only a person that you haven’t met. I learned that they all had stories and I lived vicariously through each and every word. I even stayed in this little old ladies house, so that I could listen to stories of her late husband, a war hero that had seen his life snatched away from him at an early age. She never remarried and she confessed that she believed that there was nobody out there that could hold a candle to the one that got away. I stayed with her for about two days and then I moved on and found this farmer couple that was just making inroads into a new marriage. This guy was handsome and I could tell from the way that he was looking at me that there was interest. The word fidelity didn’t mean much to me before, but it did now. I did nothing to encourage his advances. I ignored his wandering eyes and I did not call him on his behavior when I caught him staring at me, as I came out of

the shower with only a towel wrapped around me. I left there and I was on my way back home with the window down and a country song playing on the radio. I wasn’t into the genre of country music, but the lyrics seemed to make sense to me like they hadn’t before. Lost love and jilted love was the common theme. One in particular talked about a man that had come into a woman’s life and left her to wonder if anybody else would be able to make her feel the way that she did on that one day. I saw a lone female hitchhiker with long flaxen hair blowing in the breeze. I knew that she was only asking for trouble. No doubt a man would try to take advantage of her and I thought that it was my duty as a woman to make sure that didn’t happen. I pulled over and I waited with bated breath, hoping against hope that he she wouldn’t appear with some kind of knife with an ultimatum. “You have no idea how long I have been waiting. I don’t know how to thank you.” I found out that her name was Rebecca and that she had run from an abusive relationship with only emotional scars to keep her from moving on. “I want you to remember that not all men are like that. There are some good ones and I was fortunate enough to meet one and then let him go.” She slapped her hand up to her mouth in shock and then I told her my story and she listened intently, until I had come to the end of my tale. “That man was strong and confident, but I’m glad that I didn’t do anything to ruin what could be the love of his life. Some may think that what happens on the road is fair game. The likelihood of meeting again is slim. He was not of that same sentiment and it touches me deeply that he would even consider me that much a threat.” “Penny, I don’t know you all that well, but it was probably a good thing that you didn’t throw caution to the wind. Trust me, I’ve been down that road to many times to count and it always leads to heartbreak hotel. They say that they’re going to leave the one they are with, but their intention is just to get laid. I will say that older guys know how to seduce with not only their eyes but their words. It’s their sophistication and experience that makes it impossible for us to pull away at the last second. I have to give it up for your mystery man with the initial A. There aren’t all that many men out there that would deny themselves the possibility of stripping you of your clothes and putting you into, so many positions that it would be hard for you to keep track.” If I were into women, I would most likely make a play for her. She did have the kind of body that would have a lot of guys vying for her affection by beating each other to death. The last one standing would be the victor and the spoils of war would fall into his grateful hands. “You have said that you have done this a few times, but would you do it again if you had a chance to do it all over? Don’t you think that you would

have a little bit more self respect for yourself than to give yourself freely to those men that caught your eye?” I only asked these questions, because my own sex drive was at an all time high and I needed something to curb my appetite for cock. “There are a few that I would take back, but for the most part, I’ve lived my life the exact way that I wanted to. I’ve never regretted anything and I’ve always played safely. In this day and age, you would be a damn fool not to and the one thing that my mother didn’t raise was a fool.” We talked for some time and then we finally made it to this small fruit stand on the side of the road. I could see that her main interest was with a young man with a shaven face and stubble on his head. He had that military look in his eyes. I left that roadside stand on my own and was somewhat jealous of her ability to throw away the rule book. She did what she wanted and didn’t have anybody to answer to. I didn’t think that the man that she was going to be with was going to be long-term. She was still sowing her oats and leaving bodies in her wake from one end of the highway to the other. She would leave them with a memory and maybe a token of her gratitude. I wanted to be like her, but I felt like I had something to prove to myself by waiting. I had this feeling that my mother’s freedom with her body had made me a little reluctant to go down that same destructive road. I sat there at the edge of my street after another few hours of driving with my hands on the steering wheel and wondering if maybe it would be a good idea to turn around and go back the way that I came. My new job was another 200 miles away. I already put a down payment on apartment sight unseen. I finally gave myself the encouragement needed to face my mother. I stepped from the truck and knocked on the door with it swinging open to find that her husband to be was the one that had given such good and nasty dirty talk a few nights ago. We both looked at each other and had to prevent any kind of recognition. Chapter four “You took your time getting here and I was getting a little worried that maybe you were in a ditch somewhere. I was close to calling out the authorities.” My mother was always a bit of a worrywart or at least she pretended to be when other people were around. “You could’ve given me a call and you really did put a good scare into me. Angel was here to tell me that I should give you some room to breathe and that you probably just got lost in your thoughts or something like that.” I tried not to look at him, but it was very difficult when I continually glanced to make sure that this wasn’t a figment of my imagination.

“Your mother tells me that you have been dabbling with journalism. What branch are you interested in?” How he was able to talk without cracking his voice was a mystery that was only known to him. “I have a few connections that might make it easier to open up some doors for you. My business ventures are mostly real estate, but I do own a couple of radio stations.” That was my dream job to be a producer and the creative force behind any kind of advertisement that would be heard on that station. I wasn’t sure how I could justify taking him up on his offer without wondering if there were strings attached to the proposal. “Your new stepfather is reaching out and I want you to give him the benefit of the doubt. He’s only trying to help and this is in no way to ingratiate himself into your life. I know that our relationship has been strained, but I would like to make amends and see if we can’t find a way past our differences.” My mother had never shown this kind of interest in opening up the path of communication between the two of us. I could only surmise that this was Angel’s doing and what a fitting name for a man that seemed like he had come down from heaven built from the blueprints of what a man was supposed to look like and act like. I was feeling a little short of breath and I touched my forehead to feel the heat of what might have come from the farmer’s wife. She was under the weather the last might that I was there and I was now showing symptoms of the same flu that had afflicted her. “It’s been a long drive and I will certainly take your proposition into consideration. For now, I would really like to lie down.” I didn’t tell her that I was sick and she was oblivious to me being sick when I was growing up. It was always my grandmother that would sit with me, but she had passed away a couple of years ago, leaving me to fend for myself. It was a hard lesson to learn, but one that gave me the strength of character to strike out and not let my mother belittle me into thinking that I wasn’t worth investing in. “I have to get to work.” It was only 8:00 AM and my mother was already out the door before I had a chance to say anything more. “You have to forgive your mother and I convinced her that it would be a good idea for her to put in her notice.” It appeared that she was only pretending to work and this was the girl that had never held down a job a day in her life. Where was she going and was it possible that her affections for Angel were not as deep as I was led to believe? “If you don’t mind me saying so, you don’t look well.” The room was spinning and I fell back into his arms. He carried me like a fireman would a victim outside of a house. He kicked in the door with his masculine body hovering over me, as he

lowered me onto a bed that wasn’t mine. I looked around and the room was the same, but everything else had changed. My childhood memories were boxed up in a corner and she turned my room into a guest room. “It was probably a good thing that we didn’t do anything. It really is a small world.” I felt this chill run through my body and I grabbed for the white duvet to cover me. I had my back towards him and then I felt the weight of his body sitting down beside me. “I don’t know what I would’ve done had we succumbed. To hear you in the other room giving yourself pleasure was almost too much for me to take. This was the ultimate test and I faltered a little, but for the most part…I passed. Penny, I want you to rest and I’ll bring you something to eat to settle your stomach.” It felt nice to have somebody to take care of me and my mother was always the hands off approach when it came to parenting. “Thank you.” I didn’t mean to say that and it brought to mind the very last words that he had said to me after we had supplied each other with enough incentive to drive each other up the wall. I waited for him to say something, but instead he stopped momentarily at the threshold to my bedroom. I could hear him breathing and then the door slowly closed. I couldn’t believe the odds of having him, as my new stepfather. It didn’t seem possible that god would be that cruel to dangle him in front of me and then to have him here underneath the same roof was only asking for problems. He came back about ½ hour later and placed a cool cloth over my forehead. He helped me to lift my head, so that I could have some tomato soup. This was not the normal kind that you would find in a can. This was absolutely delicious with a bit of spice to sweat the infection out of my body. I had a fever and in my delirium, I reached out and grabbed him inappropriately. He took my hand away from his crotch with my fingers moving with this need to complete that connection. “You don’t know what you’re doing and I’m not going to take advantage of you in your current condition. Try to refrain from throwing yourself at me the best way that you can.” He was wearing the same pants that he had on when I first met him and I wondered how many of those pairs that he might have in his closet. A guy is a little bit sparse with his collection of clothing, unless you’re counting ties and shirts of different motifs and styles. Pants and shoes would not be as plentiful, as the ones that were currently in a garbage bag behind my truck seat. “I don’t even know why you are with her. She doesn’t deserve you and she will hurt you. I think that you should be forewarned that she gets bored quickly.” My hand once again rested on the bulge that was now pushing up

against my hand. He pulled away and placed it back across my chest. He grazed my nipples through the shirt that I had undone. There was nothing preventing me from throwing back the covers and showing him the peaks of a 20 year old woman. I still couldn’t believe that I was a virgin and the way that my body was reacting had nothing to do with purity of the heart. “Yes…well…I’m…going to take a shower. Get some sleep and I’ll be back later to check on you.” He was gone no more than 10 minutes. When I heard the shower, I felt compelled to see him in more than the visions in my head. I was feeling a lot better and this flu must’ve been something that came and went at a moment’s notice. I found myself standing at the bathroom door with that very door open a crack. I could see the reflection of his chiseled body through the thin layer of a bathroom curtain. I had to believe that my mother had something to do with that and I actually had something to thank her for. I couldn’t stop staring and he opened the curtain himself like he had an inkling that I might be there. The rest his body was covered and we had this moment of eye contact before I took a step backward and went back to my room. Chapter five I stayed there for a month and I did take him up on his offer to shadow the producer and creative writer at a radio station in town. I called my other job and told them that they would need to find somebody else. I was actually happy and hearing that the producer was about to retire put me at the front line courtesy of Angel’s influence. I’d just had a very productive day and having somebody tell me that my work was appreciated had gone a long way to stroke by ego. It had been an effort in futility to try to keep him away from me. We would have lunch every afternoon at a different restaurant of his choosing. The culinary delights that were offered whet my appetite and gave me the feeling that I might be a food snob. I arrived back home to see that my mother was standing with her arm around a young man that could’ve been my younger brother. Angel was standing in front of the double doors leading into the house with his own arms crossed and showing his distaste by the way that he was tapping his foot incessantly. “I’m telling you that I want a divorce. If you don’t want things to get ugly, I would suggest that you offer me a monthly stipend to stay out of your life. If not, then I will gladly take you to court for everything that I can get from you.” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing and yet it made me happy at the same

time. “I’ll give you $5000 a month and that will be the end of it. You will sign a contract that states that that is all you are entitled to. If you insist on threatening me, then you can be assured that I have the money and the lawyers to bury you in court. I don’t need that kind of publicity. Greed is a funny mistress and one that you should be very careful about listening to. Leave now before I forget my manners. I’ll have one of my lawyers drop off the forms. The one thing that I want you to take from this is that this isn’t charity. I am not knuckling under and I just want this over with, so that I never have to see you again.” The guy with her didn’t say a thing. He was the strong silent hunky blue eyed blonde surfer boy type. “I think that you can do a lot better than that, Angel. I’m not going to push it.” I wouldn’t if I was her. I had no doubt that Angel would make going to court one of the worst mistakes of her life. “I want to stay here with Angel. We’ve gotten to know each other and I consider him a friend. It’s more than I can say for you.” I was being a bit defensive, but it was only because I didn’t think that Angel deserved any of this drama. “I am proud of you and my love for you will never change. I may not be mother of the year or ever will be for that matter, but I still hold a dear and special spot in my heart for you. You are my only child and that motherly bond will always be there in one form or another. I have no problem with you staying with Angel. I will at least know that you’re taken care of.” She actually hugged me with more of a compassionate care behind it than I had ever felt before. Angel and I walked back into the house. “I don’t know how quite to tell you this, Penny. I guess the only way is to put it out there and see what happens. I may have fallen for the wrong woman, but I think that mistake led me to the right one. I will confess that I have never been able to get you out of my mind and maybe on some small level my affections towards your mother was a little lacking. I know that this is wrong and that I should be ashamed of myself, but I’m through torturing myself over something that is out of my control.” He grabbed me by the waist and pulled me towards him with an exclamation of surprise coming from me. I liked his aggressive attitude. I put my hands on his chest and moved my lips away from him. “I want you to take a moment. I won’t be some kind of rebound girl. If what you’re saying is that you want me in your life then you’re going to have to be more than just my friend. I haven’t been with anybody and I don’t want my first time to be some angry sex against my mother.” I’d never said anything like this before,

but that didn’t stop him from holding me tightly and moving his hands down to the small of my back. “I wanted you from the moment that I met you. I think that we needed to take a step back and to get to know each other before committing ourselves to a lifetime of memories. I am a little taken aback by your confession about being…well…you know what you are. I’m a little nervous and seeing that you don’t have anything to compare me to, I want your first time to be something more than just a frantic display of sexual aerobics.” He made me stay downstairs and I heard him doing something upstairs, but I stayed exactly where I was. He came downstairs with his hand outstretched with a blindfold that he intended for me to wear. I was a little reluctant, but I finally relented and let him wrap it around my eyes, so that all my other senses were now playing catch up. “I want you to fully immerse yourself into this experience.” He escorted me upstairs and I could smell the scent of cinnamon in the air. It was a pleasing sensation and was only enhanced by the way that his fingers began to take off my clothes. When my nipples were free of my bra, I could feel the breeze of the air conditioning caressing those peaks. I felt his hands on my panties and I was biting my bottom lip with anticipation for what was to come. “I can’t believe that I’m doing this with the man of my dreams. Not only that, but the man my dreams is the guy that made me cum with my own fingers by the words that he was saying through the wall.” I felt the bristly ends of his strong mescaline jaw wedged between my thighs. His thumbs were prying me open for a more visual inspection of the bright pink interior of my snatch. “You look so fucking sexy standing there completely naked while I’m still clothed.” I heard the rustle of fabric and then the jingle of his belt, as it came undone. I wanted to look so desperately that I was prepared to take that decision out of his hands. I found the resolve deep down to let him dictate the pace of how my virginity was going to be taken. “I bet you say that to all the girls.” I was only teasing and apparently he had taken that as an affront to his manhood. His fingernails gripped me tightly and my legs spread with his tongue now sliding around my clit and leaving a wet residue behind. “Well… I didn’t have any idea. I thought that I would wait for marriage. I wanted to be better than…my mother.” I lost my train of thought, as a very long and agile oral appendage sunk into the deep recesses of my vibrating hole. I grabbed onto the short hairs on his head and dug my fingernails into his scalp. I was pushing him tighter against the opening between my thighs. The

wet slurping sound was only punctuated by a playful slap to the inside of my thighs. I was grinding against his mouth, feeling that pressure buildup and knowing that he was the one that was going to touch on that switch. “I wanted this for so long…so fucking long that it has been hard being under the same roof with you. I waited for the day that you would…tongue fuck me like…like…THISSSSSSSS.” I came in the rush of emotions that came over me. This was simply a detour to the pleasures that were waiting for me. “Fuck… Fuck… Fuck… Fuck.” It became a litany of profanity with my legs trembling and making my legs buckle out from underneath me. I fell forward, breathless and lying over his shoulder, biting on his neck and feeling that fire that could not be contained. I had to literally push him away with a glaze of my sauce clinging to his lips. The smile told me that he was happier than he had ever been before. I had to sit down and the blindfold had come undone, leaving me with a ringside seat to the presence of his love muscle that was hidden behind a thin layer of cloth. I was too stunned to realize what to do. He did the honor by pulling down his shorts and then standing with no regard for his nudity. He moved forward and the slippery portion of the head ran over my lips, until I opened my mouth and allowed him to slide with delicate care across my tongue. I felt empowered and then he was the one that was holding onto the back of my head, as his hips fleeted back and forth like a man that had never been given the kind of blow job that I could give at a moment’s notice. This was my time to shine and I had him close to fulfilling his part of this bargain. I was more than happy to siphon his balls dry, but he had other ideas. He retrieved what was left of his willpower by pulling away and leaving me to thirst for the cream inside his balls. I lay back and he mimicked the exact words that I had foretold of this moment in time. His hands wrapped around my thighs and he pulled me towards him with my legs spread and my pussy already well lubricated from the oral exploration of my flesh. The head kissed the opening and then along with a combination of both of our juices, he began to insinuate himself into the driver’s seat. I thought that he would stop when he felt the thin membrane, but he continued to force his way in, until we were both looking at each other with surprise and wonder on our faces. “I have to look at you and know that this is not a dream that I’m going to wake up from. You are everything that I have ever wanted or have ever needed in my life, Penny. You are a tight piece of ass with the soul of a poet.” It was an interesting backhanded compliment and I took it in the spirit in which it was

given. “I don’t know if I want to ruin this moment. This is perfect in every way and the only thing that is missing is the orgasm to go along with it.” I could feel myself stretching to accommodate his length and thickness. “I feel the same way, Angel, but I do want you to finally fuck me.” He pulled back slowly, until only the head remained and then he buried it one more time with my body arching my chest in the air and having my toes pointed towards the ceiling over his shoulders. “Oh fuck…that is exactly what I want and exactly what I need. So, fucking good and it makes me wonder why I have wasted my time on others. Your cock fits me like a glove and my wall surrounds you with the sweetest kind of treat that you’ll ever find yourself this deep inside.” The mask of pleasure on his face was now realized with several sharp jabs of his hips that had us working together in tandem to find that perfect pace. “I’ve always considered myself to be…unlucky in love. I don’t feel that way…anymore. Your body is so responsive and that tiny little pussy is in need of the kind of attention that I can give it. Fuck… I want to make sure that this is something that you remember forever.” He had me by the ass and only my upper half was now lying on the bed. I threw my hair back and forth, whip lashing the sheets and gripping the soaking material with my fingernails and hoping that I wasn’t going to make any permanent damage. “I’m there…I’m fucking there and it’s so much better than I even imagined… YESSSS.” His cock had stirred up the scalding presence of my orgasm. The searing heat that penetrated the skin of his shaft was more than enough to make him join me almost at the same time. His grunt of approval was followed by several jets of his white hot cream. I wrapped my legs around his waist and we continued to show each other this kind of warmth and comfort, until finally we laid back breathlessly looking at each other and knowing that this was only the beginning. The next few orgasms were not exactly the same as the first, but that was a first that I was going to be able to call upon in the dead of night. Losing my cherry to Angel was better than any awkward moment that I would have with somebody of my own age. “I hope that you don’t have any regrets about what we did here today.” He was lying on his side looking at me with one hand drawing circles around each of my nipples. I was staring at the ceiling and then I really had only one thing to say to his query. “I do have one regret.” There was this pause that was followed by him waiting on bended knee at the side of the bed. “The one regret I have is that I didn’t find you sooner than this. I wasted so much time and effort trying to find

the perfect man. I wasn’t even looking and you came to me like a gift from god. Of course I will marry you and I will gladly have your children.” He slipped the ring on my finger and seeing him naked on his knees made him look vulnerable. He was the sexiest man that I had ever seen in my life. We were lucky enough to find each other when some go all of their lives never knowing the true meaning of love. I could only imagine what my mother would say, but her opinion didn’t amount to much of anything. I was happy and the only thing that I could hope for was that I could make him as happy as I was for the rest of his life.

A GIFT for Daddy

CHAPTER 1

BRENT DANIELS LOOSENED his tie as he walked into his office and set his briefcase down on the desk. The flights from New York was long, and he was happy to be home as he glanced at the bright Los Angela's sunshine out of the window. Sun meant one thing here, and Brent stepped towards the window to look over the expansive backyard. Brent was a very successful investor for a company he’d founded here in California, and he eyed his wealth in the four acres that were spread out in front of him. The focal point today was the bright blue pool, and he searched for Cammy in her chaise lounge with her headphones in her ears, as was usual on a nice afternoon. Cammy was his stepdaughter, and while they’d lost her mother, Noreen when Cammy was just eighteen in a car accident, Brent had insisted that she stay in the seven thousand square foot home. He’d been married to Noreen for five years, having met her at a conference when he was thirty-two and falling instantly in love. It didn’t help that she was a dirty woman as well and very compliant to Brent’s need for domination. He eyed her daughter as she stretched out on the soft cushioned chaise lounge in her tiny yellow bikini that merely covered what he wanted to see the most of so she could tan her soft olive skin. She wasn’t a small girl, but he’d used her full breasts as a fantasy for a few years now, and he narrowed his eyes as his cock grew hard in his pants. Her frame was thick but curvy, and he looked over her toned calves as he unzipped his slacks and dropped them to

the floor. Brent fisted himself and stroked hard as he thought about the sheets that were locked in his desk securely. He’d been lucky enough to find her journal on her bed when she’d rushed off to a class at UCLA and copied every page of it before she arrived home. Brent replaced it and acted like he’d never seen it but he was all too aware of her documented fantasies, and he knew that he was about to spray the wall with his cum as he grabbed a Kleenex from the desk. Brent shot into it and moaned her name as he leaned his hand on the wall for support and closed his eyes. God, she looked like her mama, and he turned to toss the Kleenex into the trash. Cammy was more like Noreen than he’d ever thought with her dark erotic fantasies about him that she’d been writing down for the last two years. According to her words, she’d only had sex twice, but it wasn’t satisfying, and she admitted to wanting him but was far too shy to tell him. A dip in the pool sounded like a good way of refresh himself after the flight and Brent went into the bedroom to change into some board shorts that would allow him room to harden as he spent time with her so that she might not notice unless Cammy looked close. She acted sweet and innocent, but he was hoping that those pretty topaz eyes would see and act on her desires that she’d written with what looked like a shaky hand. He walked down the long stairs to the first floor and grabbed a couple of beers from the fridge before going outside. Cammy moved as he walked over the deck and down the stairs to the pool and set the bottles down on a glass table. “Beautiful day, isn’t it?” He called out as she sat up slightly and crossed her legs together with a nervous smile. “Did you just get in?” Her voice was sweet, and it made him hard all over again as he imagined her crying out his name as he drove into her from behind. He could see her looking around for a towel, but they were closer to him on a chair, and he nodded as she crossed her arms over her barely covered nipples. “I wasn’t expecting you.” “I got a flight first thing this morning. I wanted to be home.” Brent looked over at her as she slid big sunglasses over her face and tried to relax again. He knew that this part of their house was a big stage for a lot of her fantasies from the journal, and he felt her eyes devouring his muscular torso as she thought he didn’t notice. He walked over to the deep end and dove in perfectly as the cold water drenched his body and soaked his shorts as they tightened around his erection. Brent pictured that little suit as he swam to the surface and wiped his eyes with one hand before he looked at her. “Have you been in? It feels great.”

“No, not yet. I was just sunning myself after Tasha left.” Cammy called back, referring to the woman that kept the house today and prepared the meals in advance for them to eat. “I helped her today.” “You don’t need to do that,” Brent gently reminded her as he was reminded that she missed having a mom. “You do enough going to school and studying.” “I enjoy it. I won’t live here forever, so cooking is a great thing to learn.” Cammy replied as he rested his chin on the marble edge of the deep end of the huge pool. “I don’t mind you staying here,” Brent said as he stroked himself over his suit and longed to jerk off again. “I know that, but you’ll want the place to yourself sooner or later,” she responded as he gripped the edge of his cock under the water. Quite the contrary, he liked her being here and adding some warmth to the place, and he knew from her journal that she didn’t want to leave herself. She enjoyed watching him walk around the house, and Brent bit his lip as he looked over at her. Her nipples were hard under the sun, and he slipped his hand under the material and gave himself a few tugs before he pushed himself easily out of the pool. “I brought you a beer,” Brent told her as he walked it over to her. Cammy took it and thanked him in a low voice as he let his eyes run over her body slowly. This is what she wanted based on what he’d read, and he watched as her legs parted slightly while she opened the bottle. “I’ll grill tonight. Did Tasha make those burgers for us?” “I made them,” Cammy told him and the idea of her sweet little hands forming the meat made heat surge through him again. “There’s some fresh spinach and some potato salad in the fridge too.” “Perfect,” Brent replied as he turned to drink some of his beer. All he had to do was nudge the material just a little, and he’d see her full nipple, and he fought the urge to do so as he took a long sip. “Are we alone tonight or do I need to cook extra?” Sometimes she had friends over, and he was relieved to see her shake her head. “Lisa went to Vegas with her boyfriend and everyone else is on their vacations.” Her caramel colored hair was clipped on top of her head and fell in loose curls as she pretended to settle back in the chair while she stretched her long legs in front of her. Cammy was making no effort to cover herself now, and he smiled as he took the seat next to her with his body still dripping. The wet felt good on his heated skin and Brent stared forward as he took a deep breath. “How was the city?” “Productive,” he responded as he looked her over from this angle. Her

chest pushed up and gave her a lovely silhouette the rest of her body sunk into the chair as the sun beat down on her. Brent played back the words in his mind that he’d read, and he reached over to stroke her thigh as she jumped under his hand. “How was your week?” He wondered if she’d gotten herself off in the house alone as he circled a finger over her skin in a slow movement and Brent watched her swallow from under his sunglasses he’d finally put on. “It was okay. I just relaxed…you know.” Her last word came out as a breath as he smiled and moved his fingers down her leg. “Nothing special.” He was aware that Cammy knew that he was dominant though he wasn’t sure how. Perhaps she’d made her way into the lower room and seen his room where he fucked the women that he wanted. There weren’t a lot but sometimes he had to scratch the itch that she wasn’t taking care of. He knew from the women in his past that his cropped dark hair and bright green eyes were appealing and that many of them didn’t hesitate when he gave them his orders. “I’ll be home for quite some time now, I suspect. The East Coast office can handle most things on their own.” He felt Cammy scoot closer to him and he, in turn, slid his hand towards her inner thigh as he heard her suck in her breath. “What are you doing, Brent?” Her voice was soft, and he looked directly at her. “You look beautiful in that suit. I can’t help myself, Cam. Do you mind?” He knew that she didn’t want to be dominated immediately but rather teased, and he continued his slow torture closer to the edge of her bikini bottom as she looked over at him. Brent had slowly been increasing his flirtation with her since reading her darkest desires, and she drew her full lower lip into her mouth. “You’re a gorgeous woman, Cammy. When is the last time that you came?” “Oh my God. Brent, I don’t know.” He could see her skin flush pink, and he suspected that it was relatively recently. “Why are you asking me that?” “I want to be the one to make you cum right now. I want you to spread your legs and move that material over so I can access your pussy.” They had a very private backyard, and she whimpered as she stared at him. “You can’t be completely surprised by this, Cammy. I’ve expressed my interest in you for months now.” Ever since he’d found out what she wanted, Brent had turned up the heat, and he slipped his large hand under the suit as she jerked against him. “We’re two consenting adults. None of this is wrong, and I can make you feel good. Don’t you want this?” His hand traced her bare skin before his fingers slipped into her wet folds and found her hardened clit as she closed her eyes and arched her back. “Yeah, you want this. That pussy is soaked for me.” A moan escaped her lips as he plunged a finger inside of her and continued

to stroke her as she met him with her hips. Fantasy number one well into play. Cammy loosened the top at his request and her breasts spilled out with their dark pink nipples hard and ready for him as he fucked her harder and harder with his hand. Her pussy tightened around him as he leaned over her to take a nipple into his mouth and she panted as her release washed over his fingers and down into the seat. Brent kept stroking her clit as he sucked and bit her skin while she jerked underneath him. “Brent, that feels so good.” All of Cammy’s inhibitions were gone now as she lay in a mess in the chair and he stared at her. “I’m going to cum again.” “I want you to wait this time. I want you to stop it until I tell you I’m ready for you to.” He knew how sensitive she was and Cammy’s beautiful face twisted in near pain as he moved his hands harder over her. He sensed her readiness to explode, but she tensed and seemed to try to hold it in as he kissed her stomach gently. “I am going to own this cunt, Cammy. I will control it.” “Please, let me. I’m dying.” Cammy pleaded as he slipped three fingers inside of her. “I’ll do anything.” Brent loved when they begged, and he let the ideas surge through his head. “That’s a dangerous offer, Cammy.” “Anything, Brent. Fuck I need to let go. I’ve wanted this for so long,” Cammy revealed, and he reached over with his free hand to pinch one of her nipples as she jumped underneath him. Brent imagined her with clamps over her nipples as he pinched harder. “Cum.” His voice was a whisper and she rocked against his fingers as she gushed into the chair and cried out his name. “That’s girl. When’s the last time?” “Today, out here,” was her breathless answer and he smiled. “By yourself?” “I masturbated today thinking of you coming home,” Cammy confessed as she looked down at her body. “I’m a mess. I’ve never been like this before, Brent. I’ve never felt like this before.”

CHAPTER 2

BRENT EASED her into the cool water of the pool naked and watched as her eyes closed while she ducked her head underneath. Cammy came up with her mouth

open and her eyes more alert as she stared at him. “What was that? You’re my stepfather.” “One that you’ve been lusting over for quite some time, no?” Brent asked her as her eyes widened and her face flushed. “No blood relation here. Like I said before, just two consenting adults and you want me, Cammy.” His voice was even as he moved closer to her and she gasped. “Mom,” she whimpered as he pressed her against the side with his body and bent his head to nibble on her earlobe. “I miss her every day as you do, but I have watched you turn into this woman that deserves the best. She knew that I found you sexy as well. We talked about it when I fucked her.” “What?” Cammy asked in shock as Brent slipped his hand between her legs again to press his fingers inside. “You..did?” “Yes. She’d beg me to tell her when she was on her knees in front of me while I spanked her for thinking such naughty thoughts,” Brent assured her as she stared into his eyes. “You look so much like her, and I remember those nights well.” He continued to manipulate her clit as she watched his face and Cammy came when he told her to before she slipped her arms around his neck and slumped against him. “I’ll cook us dinner and make us some drinks. Rest over there, beautiful.” Cammy made her way to her lounge chair and covered it with a towel before she fell into it and curled her legs under her body. Brent wrapped a towel around his waist and went into the chef’s kitchen to see what he had to work with as he grinned. He was getting his way so easily, and he grabbed the burgers and wrapped some corn on the cob in foil before going back outside. Cammy appeared to be asleep, and he warmed up the coals and watched her with curiosity on his face. Once they were hot, he set the food on the grill and looked around his yard. It was beautiful with a lot of grass and flowers in addition to the pool and barbecue area; it felt like his peace though his body was feeling tormented right now. Brent had everything, but the one thing that he wanted was behind him in that chair, and she wanted everything that he did. He knew that he’d have her eating out of his hand as he forced her to play out each and every one of her fantasies. Brent had made his money early on investing the money that he did have in various things, but business was what he succeeded at. Once he’d gotten the knack of buying and selling broken companies once they were fixed, he’d slowly been able to have all of this around him by the time that he was thirty. He admitted that the house was a bit on the large side, but Brent had fallen in love with the yard more than anything else as well as the privacy.

He could have an orgy out here, and nobody would be bothered. In fact, Brent had before he met Noreen. Those were good memories but Brent preferred one-on-one now, and he knew just who he was going to be with as much as possible. He had flipped the burgers and the corn before they were done and he plated them and took everything inside before he came back outside and gently shook Cammy awake. She opened her eyes and then widened them as she looked down to see herself naked. “Dinner’s inside. Come in when you’re ready.” Brent termed and walked back to the house before he turned to see her wrapping a towel around her body and slowly standing up. Brent had made some margaritas in the blender and fixed an easy spinach salad in a bowl by the time Cammy walked in and looked around. “I think I am going to put something on. I’ll be back.” Brent glanced up as she walked towards the stairs that led to her room on the second floor. She shared that part of the house with nobody else while his room was on the third floor and Brent smiled as he poured two drinks into large glasses and set them on the counter. Cammy returned with her hair braided and a thin green cotton dress on that ended at her lower thighs. Brent knew that she’d thought about what to put on upstairs, and he liked the tight dress that showed off all of her assets. They loaded up their plates and walked back outside to the large table with their drinks as she looked at him with hooded eyes. “You want me too?” “I noticed you growing up all along, Cammy. What man wouldn’t?” He asked her as her topaz eyes flared and she took a long swallow of her margarita as he warned her to be careful. “We’re here alone, and I don’t want to wait anymore.” He took a bite of his burger and leaned back as he chewed it and watched her lean against the table as she caught her breath. “Seeing you by the pool like that made it impossible not to come out here and touch you. That bikini is incredibly sexy, and I have longed to see you cum for so long now.” “I’ve never felt like that,” she whispered as he gave her a reassuring smile. “It doesn’t end there,” Brent told her as she played with her salad for a moment before taking a bite. “There’s so much I want to show you.” “I’ve seen the room. There was a call for you, and I was looking for you and the door was unlocked. I forgot all about the phone once I realized what it was. You have women down there, Brent? You tie them up, and you spank them and…more?” She narrowed her eyes. “My mom liked that?” “Your mom was a sub long before she met me. She just didn’t tell you about that part of her life. It was the reason that your father left, from what she said. He was a sub too, and they didn’t work for long.” Brent told her in a matter-of-fact voice as he looked at her. Her father never contacted Cammy

after he left and he saw her sadness on her face. “That had nothing to do with you, and I’m sorry that he never came back. That was very wrong on his part, but you have me now.” “You’ve been here for me for so long. I feel like this is wrong in part,” she told him as he still saw her desire in her eyes. It was flaring, and her eyes were bright as Brent felt himself harden again. “Nothing is wrong with it. You want to learn, and I will be the one to teach you.” Brent was sure about himself, and she stared at him before she nodded slowly. She was under his spell, and he ate his dinner slowly, knowing that he’d need the fuel. They cleaned up together, and he watched as she leaned over to place a dish into the washer and her strap slid down her shoulder. Cammy stilled as he reached up to push it back over her skin before he reached down to cup her full breast in his hand. She let out a whimper, and he cupped the bare nipple in his hand as he stroked it. “These fucking tits of yours drive me crazy, Cam. I’ve jerked off to you by the pool more times than I could count in my office imagining what they looked like. These nipples are so hard and ready for me.” He pinched, and she jerked forward as her legs gave out on her. Brent carried her to the couch and placed her on her back as he moved over her body. He eased the dress off, and she was naked before him as he dropped it to the floor. Brent looked his stepdaughter over before he leaned over her and dragged a nipple through his teeth in a slow movement. His hand fondled the other one, pinching and tugging as he paid close attention to her reaction. “I’ve made women cum just from this alone. Do you think that you could?” The way she arched her back and moaned answered his question, and Brent started the slow torture on her with his hands and mouth. He knew just when to be gentle and suck her between his lips as well as when to bite her and make her cry out his name. It was several minutes later that he watched her moan and rock forward in a jerky moment and knew that she’d cum. Her pink folds were wet with it, and he looked down as he continued to soothe her reddened nipples as she stared down at him. The words about wanting his mouth on her after she came thinking of him played in Brent’s mind as he kissed her nipples one last time before he parted her legs with his hands. Brent slipped his fingers over her to find her soaked for him before he leaned down to taste the slick skin of her thighs. Cammy gripped his head as he smiled and dragged his tongue along her skin to feel her tremble. His tongue slid over her folds as she cried out and arched her back.

Cammy was sweet, and Brent fought to control himself as he kept his movements slow and controlled. He wanted to eat at her like an animal, but he spread her open with his hands before he tongued her swollen clit. She reacted in so many ways, and Brent made her swell more with strokes of his tongue before he drew her into his mouth and sucked gently. “Oh fuck, Brent. I’ve never had this so good.” He knew. Brent sucked her in a few times, slow and hard before he let his tongue work her some more to the point where he was aware that she wanted to come. She’d given in too quickly to submission, and he felt her holding back as he glanced up into her face to see it twisted into a painful expression.

CHAPTER 3

CAMMY CAME at the sound of his whispered command, and he drove his tongue inside of her to taste all of it. She was gripping him hard, and he felt her nails against his skin as he felt her wrap around his tongue in short bursts as he continued to feed his mouth. “Beautiful,” Brent commented as he pulled away slightly and reached for her hand. “I love your pussy, Cammy. I know you want to cum again, and I want to watch you.” He placed her fingers over her weak core and loosened his shorts. “Show me how you touch yourself, Cammy. Show me how your fingers work to make you cum.” He released his hard cock as she started moving her fingers over her clit and stared helplessly at him as he started to stroke himself. He wanted to fuck her more than he wanted anything, but Brent wanted her to beg for him. He was all too familiar with this haze of lust she was under from previous experience, and he knew that it would be soon. She whimpered as she manipulated her clit with eager fingers as her eyes locked on his hand. Cammy licked her lips as he smiled and stroked harder. “I want to fuck that sweet mouth of yours, Cammy. I want to shoot this down your hungry throat and watch you swallow me, just like I swallowed you.” He knew that his lips were still covered with her juices, and he licked slowly as she dropped her head back. She drove two fingers inside of herself as she spread her legs, and he watched what he had read about as she tried to find her release. Brent knew how much she did this, and it was gorgeous to watch as she knew that he was looking at and doing the same. She came with a cry, and her body trembled as Brent felt himself twitch. He leaned forward and shot his cum all over her

chest and stomach as she opened her eyes and watched him. “Next time, this will be inside of your mouth.” He went to get a warm washcloth to clean her up, and she lay quietly as she watched him. Brent could see that her plea was on the tip of her tongue, but Cammy looked so tired, and he smiled at her as he finished up. Brent got her a blanket and covered her before he wiped his cock down and buttoned his shorts. “Let’s watch a movie. You need some rest.” He knew that Tasha had the following day off so they would be alone, and he found something in one of the cable channels. It was something she’d enjoy with just a hint of heat and Brent watched as her eyes brightened at the sex scenes and memorized the low breath that she released. He could see her maturing in her face from the little that he’d done to her, and Brent stroked her face as she stared at the series that was very popular on HBO. “Lust comes in many forms, Cammy. This here is nothing compared to some of them.” They watched together before her eyes dropped close and she fell into a deep sleep. Brent had watched her sleep before he got up to set the alarms for the night and finish the show as he imagined everything he wanted to do to Cammy. He was so entranced by her that he had left his phone in his office and not taken any calls or emails about business or pleasure before he fell asleep pressed against her warm body. Cammy woke up first the next morning, eager to start her day. She felt incredible, and she let her eyes pass over Brent next to her on the huge couch as she shook her head. She was involved with him, this gorgeous mature man and someone that had cared for her more than anyone else apart from her mother. Mom. Mom was gone, and they both missed her. Cammy couldn’t say without a doubt that her mom would encourage this, but even she’d known what a good man Brent was during their time together. She’d been happy, and her daughter cared for, and now that was just advancing. Cammy thought back to the long looks from Brent the past few months and the delayed touches. It had fueled her fantasies, but she told herself that he was just kind. She’d heard Brent with a few women since he’d been alone and he was obviously not lacking in female attention. Why her? She felt the blanket against her naked skin and stretched slightly as Brent murmured something next to her. Her eyes focused on his firm jaw and full mouth as she slipped a hand underneath the blanket and found her heated core. Cammy had never been like this with anybody before him, and she stroked her sensitive skin like a sex starved person that she didn’t recognize. Cammy bit

her lip to stay silent as she searched for the needed orgasm and just as she found it and jerked against her hand, she felt someone watching her. Brent was watching her intently as she let out a breath and met his eyes. “Without me?” His hand joined hers, and he held it as she felt the aftershocks of her explosive release. “I love your eyes after you cum. They soften, and you just seem too relaxed. Content.” He offered to cook some breakfast and stood up after he’d sucked the juices off her fingers. Brent made some coffee and fixed a meal of eggs, bacon, waffles and some fresh sausage as Cammy dressed and went to shower in her bathroom. She didn’t know who she was anymore and the fantasies that she’d written down mixed with the reality as she rinsed her hair and soaped up her body. Everything was sensitive; her nipples hardened at just the brush of her hands and Cammy swore that her thighs would have a permanent ache between them. She pulled on a cotton skirt and a soft t-shirt to go back downstairs, not bothering with a bra or underwear because she hoped her clothes would be removed before too much time had passed. The food smelled amazing, and she took the coffee that Brent offered her with a small smile, and they sat outside to eat for a little fresh air. He excused himself to go upstairs, and she offered to clean up while he took a shower of his own. Cammy did the dishes in the kitchen in between sips of coffee as she thought about everything all over again. The pool fantasy had been so much like what she’d imagined in her head. Brent would touch her almost innocently before he was inside of her and make her feel so good and they would end up fucking somewhere out there or in the house, possessed by uncontrolled lust. That hadn’t happened, but the feeling of his hands on her still filled her memory as she slipped the last glass into the dishwasher with a moan. Cammy was hopeless. She glanced around the clean kitchen before she sighed and headed upstairs to where she heard the shower running. Cammy pushed open the cracked door and stared at Brent inside of the glass shower as he soaped up his body with his eyes closed. Brent was perfect with hard planes of muscle and toned skin, and she took him in with hungry eyes. Cammy had tried shower sex once in a dorm room. It was uncomfortable and painful as she and the guy tried to maneuver inside of a tiny shower and after that, she’d hoped never to repeat it. Today, though, there was so much room in there with him, and she watched as his eyes met her hungry gaze. Cammy was pulling off her clothes before she was even aware of it and stepping inside with him as hot water hit her from every angle. “You’re so eager and willing, Cammy.”

“I can’t stay away from you,” she told him as she felt her clean hair dripping down her skin while she took in his body. Her hand reached down and gripped his hard cock as he stared into her eyes and told her not to stop with one look. She stroked slow and tight before switching to light and fast as Cammy tried to read his gaze and she gasped as he put his hands in her hair and pushed her to her knees. He was inside of her, nudging her throat with himself as she wrapped her hands around his body to his ass and pulled him further inside of her. Brent spread her open and made her choke on her spit a few times as he eased into a good speed and started to fuck her face with earnest. Cammy took it all as she felt him tugging on her hair with jerky pulls and closed her eyes just to taste this man before her. The pain combined with a hot throbbing between her legs as Brent moaned her name and told her to eat his cock. He came as he slowed his thrusts and she felt thick spits of his cum inside of her throat as she worked hard to swallow it all down. She fell back against the tile as shame and adrenaline filled her body, feeling the water pour down her face along with a bit of Brent as she looked up at him. He looked tired and frustrated as he reached down and offered Cammy his hand. “That felt so fucking good. If only you knew…” She reached out and took his hand, allowing him to pull her up as he gripped her body tightly. He held her for a few moments as she took in the feeling of his damp skin pressed against hers, slippery and hot. “Rinse yourself off, Cammy.” He reached out for a sponge and Cammy inhaled the scent of citrus and woods that she connected with him before he started to wash her gently. They finished the shower and wrapped up in thick towels before Cammy wandered downstairs to her bedroom. She dressed in another cotton dress, this time soft pink, and tried to read from her Kindle for a while in the warm sun that was streaming through her windows. Cammy felt like she needed a break from this situation that she was in, something that she’d never dreamed would happen to her. It was crazy, in both good and bad ways alike, but she knew that she couldn’t give it up. Not yet.

CHAPTER 4

CAMMY WOKE up later when the sun was a bit lower in the sky, and she looked around with wide eyes. “What time is it?” She didn’t know what difference it

made, but she looked at her alarm clock to see that she’d been asleep for just over two hours. Cammy stretched and reached for her phone before she saw the bouquet of pink tulips on her nightstand. She saw a small card and opened it with curiosity, reading it with flushed cheeks. I’ll never forget you on your knees for me. We have so much more to experience together. Yours, B The bouquet was enormous, easily two dozen and she stared at them for a moment. She could remember back to a time when she’d first met him, and he’d asked what her favorite flower was. She’d told him tulips and that while any color was pretty, she loved the pink ones. Brent remembered that. Cammy reached for her phone and checked to see a text from her friend Chloe and she clicked on it to read it. There was an invitation to have drinks, and Cammy agreed to meet her at a place nearby so they could catch up. She looked in the mirror and managed to make something out of her mess of hair that had dried when she was asleep, twisting it and wrapping it in a thick black tie before she looked in her closet. Cammy wanted to stay home with Brent. She wanted to eat with him, swim with him, and learn more about him, but that wasn’t healthy. She needed to break this connection, this unhealthy addiction that she was building to her stepfather. Did he feel that way or was she just another notch on his bedpost, even with their past? Cammy would never forget the downstairs room. The bed was massive with a four poster frame in dark metal that he could easily tie any woman to. There were cabinets around that she imagined had some of his tools inside, but Cammy had been in such shock by the room in general that she didn’t snoop any further. It made sense that he had a bed in his bedroom and that he had sex there, but the basement? Cammy had always imagined that to be some sort of man cave. She longed to be tethered to that bed and used in any way that Brent wanted her. Cammy wanted total domination, and she flushed as she blinked and forced herself back to reality. What was wrong with her? She decided on a pretty green dress from her closet with a light cardigan. Cammy put on a little bit of makeup and dressed slowly, reluctantly walking down her steps as she listened for Brent in the house. He was watching a game on the television in the living room and glanced up as she stepped off of the stairs. “Going out?” His voice was casual, and she nodded as he looked her over. “I’m meeting Chloe for drinks,” Cammy explained as he solely nodded. “You didn’t plan on cooking tonight? I didn’t think to ask.” “I can run into the office for a bit. Want me to drop you off so you won’t

have to worry about driving?” Brent asked her, and Cammy thought about his offer. She wasn’t a big drinker by nature but right now her head was a mess. “I’ll pick you up whenever you’re ready.” “I guess, yeah. You don’t mind?” Cammy asked, and he gave her a long look. “I don’t mind doing anything you need,” he responded as she shivered. They left a few moments later in his newest car, some fancy sports car that was as smooth as silk when he started the engine. Cammy sat back in the leather seats and watched as they began the turns through the neighborhood before they reached the city. “Just you and Chloe?” Cammy looked at him. “Yes, you know I’m not into meeting guys at a bar. Right? It’s not my thing.” She didn’t add that no man that she could meet would ever stack up to Brent but the look she had on her face when he stared at her probably conveyed her thoughts just fine, given the slow smile that crossed his stunning face as he looked back towards the road. Brent pulled up to the cute little restaurant and parked at the curb as he looked at her. “You’re mine, Cammy. No other man is to touch you tonight or at all while we’re involved.” She raised an eyebrow at him. “What?” “Does the same apply to you?” “Undoubtedly,” Brent assured her as she nodded and licked her glossed lips. Cammy slipped out of the car and turned to look at him. “Text when you’re ready to come home. I’m close by.” She nodded and left the car to walk through the glass doors, looking for Chloe even as she was aware that he was pulling away. Her friend was sitting in a small booth and waved with a smile on her pretty face. “Hey, Cam. It’s been a while. How’s your summer going?” The bubbly strawberry Blondie asked as Cammy joined her at the table. “It’s been nice not going to class, but I think I’ve been pretty lazy.” “Who dropped you off?” Cammy looked over to see a clear view of the front door and the curb from where they were sitting. “That car was gorgeous!” “That was Brent, my step dad. He was coming into work, and that means I can drink more since I don’t have to drive,” Cammy replied as Chloe smiled. “That hot step dad…goodness, that man. You’re so lucky that he kept you there, even though my mind goes right to some naughty porn plot with how gorgeous he is,” Chloe winked as she teased Cammy and Cammy silently agreed with her. Everything about this situation was like a taboo porn movie. “I wasn’t a small kid when Mom died, so I guess he figured I wouldn’t be much trouble. I am very grateful to him for letting me stay there and helping me

out. It’s been a lifesaver,” Cammy told her as Chloe nodded. The waitress came over, and the girls ordered a large order of nachos with a few happy hour margaritas to start their night off. Cammy enjoyed the sweet, refreshing drink as she chatted with Chloe about school, friends, and guys. “You look happy. Are you seeing someone?” Chloe asked as Cammy came close to spitting out the sip that she’d just taken. She managed to regain control of herself and shook her head slowly. “That went down the wrong pipe.” Cammy sipped her water slowly. “No. Nobody. How about you?” “Just Daniel sometimes. It’s a mess, but I can’t stay away from him,” Chloe went on to tell Cammy about her on again, off again boyfriend before she glances across the room and laughs. “We are getting looked at. Very cute guys!” “What?” Cammy asked as she turned her head to see some very southern California guys looking their way as they smiled at her. Normally, this might be her thing, but Cammy knew that her heart belonged with Brent, as wrong as it was. “I don’t know, Chloe. I can see them look at you but me?” “Guys like all shapes and sizes, Cam. You’re gorgeous.” Chloe told her as she watched the guys stand and walk over towards them. The brunette introjected himself as Nathan, and the Blondie was Jackson, and they scooted into the small table and ordered another round of drinks. Cammy talked and laughed with them as she sipped her drink, but she kept playing back her conversation with Brent as she watched Chloe and Nathan get closer and closer with each passing moment. They were close to kissing when she felt Jackson nudge her and clear his throat. “I think we’ve lost them. Would you like to get out of here?” His lips were close to hers, and Cammy blinked as she hated herself for only thinking of Brent. She was pretty certain that Jackson had a job as a successful lawyer and was perfect in most girl’s heads, but he did nothing for her. “I actually work early tomorrow. I’m sorry,” Cammy hated the lie even as she said it and Jackson’s face fell into a disappointed expression. He’d been flirting heavily, and Cammy didn’t realize that she’d been acting that responsive. Cammy excused herself to go to the bathroom, and she sat on the toilet as she slipped her phone out of her pocket. Had it been three hours since they arrived? No wonder she felt so tipsy, yet still not at all attracted to Jackson. She managed to send Brent a text that she was ready and leaned back to wait for a response as she stared at the canary yellow paint on the wall. I am leaving right now. Take your panties off, Cammy. I want you bare when you get into my car.

Holy holy…Cammy read the responder a few times before she let it sink in. Bare…Brent wanted her naked. She finished her business in the bathroom and slipped her lace underwear off before rolling them into a ball and shoving them into her purse. Every breeze seemed to blow up her skirt and over her bare folds as she made her way out of the restaurant with barely a look towards her table. Cammy pushed the door open and looked up and down the street as she stepped outside. The cool air traced her naked skin and Cammy heated up as she saw the silver car ease up to the curb. Brent was inside with an angry look on his face, and she stumbled towards the door with a soft cry. “Are you drunk?” Brent asked as he rushed out of the car and leaned over her where she’d tripped to the cement. “I had a few margaritas, but I’m fine.” She tried to gather her dress around her as Brent lifted her and moved her towards the car as one of the men opened her door. “Thank you,” Brent told him as he secured her inside with a dark look before going to his side of the car. He had revved the engine before he pulled out into traffic and she let her breath out. “How much did you have to drink?” A few, I don’t know. I didn’t have to drive, and the guys kept buying them,” Cammy replied as he stopped at a light and turned to look at her. “What guys?” “Chloe invited them to sit down. I didn’t want them there.” They merged onto a freeway, and she felt Brent’s hand on her leg. “Did you obey me?” His voice was quiet as she nodded. “Yes, sir.” His hand slipped over her thigh and under her skirt as he touched her wet pussy with his fingers. “Oh fuck.” “Bare and soaked. How long have you been like this?” Brent asked as he drove in the dark while his finger entered her. “Since…I…messaged you,” Cammy replied as she spread her legs and dropped back into her seat. “Did you get wet from me or did one of these guys make you this way?” Brent asked as she panted and felt him slide deeper. “Only you. It will only ever be you,” Cammy told him as she felt him add another finger and start to manipulate her clit with his palm. “I want you, Brent. I want to fuck you so bad.” The alcohol was making her lose whatever inhibitions that she’d had, and all of the truths spilled out. They stopped at a light, and he continued to spread her open with his hand as he told her all of the things that he wanted to do to her as Cammy lost herself in a sloppy orgasm that dampened his hand and her dress. She curled up on the seat as he finished

the drive to the house and felt herself sobering up with the realization of what she’d just done. Brent pulled up into the garage and closed the door behind him. “Come inside,” he told her as Cammy blinked and followed him into the kitchen. “I am going to get some wine. I want you naked and on my bed waiting for me upstairs.” “You do?” She asked as he nodded at her. Cammy gripped her purse, and she walked to the stairs on shaking legs before she walked up to the third floor. She’d wanted to be in control with this, but everything had come out in the car with her ridiculous pleas. Brent didn’t want a kid to tell him all of the awkward stuff that she wanted from him. He wanted a woman that did what she was told but wasn’t she that woman as she pushed open his bedroom door? Reality and fantasy blurred together as she moved to the bed and slid her clothes off. Everything felt too tight, and she dropped the dress and sweater to the floor before she remembered the underwear in her purse. Cammy got them out and dropped them onto her pillow as she tried to remember a time when her mom was still here. The memories faded with every year, and now the room smelled like Brent as she dropped onto the pillows and took a deep breath. It was all Brent, and Cammy looked around to see a bachelor’s bedroom, complete with a huge television and king sized bed with warm brown paint on the walls. The door opened again, and she looked as Brent walked in with a couple of glasses and set them on the table by the bed. “I want you to masturbate for me, Cammy.” She gulped and stared at him as he sipped from one of the glasses. She’d always wanted to do that for someone, not just anybody. She wanted to do it for Brent, and here he was asking her to. “Touch that dirty cunt for me. Make it spit for me again.” Her fingers slid between her legs as he took a seat at the end of the bed and watched carefully. This was a welcome sensation to her, but the idea of him watching her made it that much hotter as she stroked and touched herself before sliding some fingers inside. “How many times have you done that with me in mind?” “So many.” Cammy keened as one of her most secret dreams came true and she came with him watching her. Cammy couldn’t stop touching herself, and she rubbed her clit fiercely as he watched to cum again. “Oh my God. I am so horny right now. I don’t want to stop cumming for you.” Cammy jerked as another explosion dampened her fingers and she gripped the sheet with her hand. Brent dropped between her legs and held her hand in his as he dipped his tongue over her to lick her. “Honey. You taste like fucking honey.” He licked

her again before drawing her clit into his mouth. “I want to lick you until you’re wet and begging for me to take your tight cunt. My cock is ready for you, Cammy.” “Give it to me. Give me your cock. I need you to fuck me hard.” He shoved her legs apart and licked her thoroughly as he found every fold and taste of her juices. Brent spread his fingers over her nipples and spread her taste onto one before he started fucking her with his hand again and sucked it off with his teeth. “Are you ready for me?” Brent asked, and she reached for him as she tugged at his shirt. Brent stood and dropped his clothes to the floor before he reached into the drawer of the nightstand. “I am getting you on something, we don’t need these. I need to feel you bare.” “Are you safe?” Cammy asked as she watched him cover himself and look over her body. “I always fuck without a condom, if I fuck at all. Sometimes I spank them and watch them come before I shoot all over their backs. It’s not always about sex but with you…I can’t wait any longer,” Brent told her before he moved to the bed and drew her feet to his shoulders. Cammy watched as he positioned himself before her, knowing that this was her first time at anything but awkward attempts at sex. “Are you a virgin, Cammy?” “Not technically but I’ve never felt anything during sex before.” He slid forward and carved her open with his massive cock as she cried out. “And now?” Cammy screamed that she felt everything as he buried himself inside of her and stilled so she could adjust. Brent pulled back and drove into her again, sometimes slowly and sometimes hard and fast. She knew that she was close, but Cammy tried to hold it until he gave his command and she watched as he smiled down at her. “That’s a good girl. You’re a natural, Cam.” Another deep thrust. “I am going to cum baby. I want you with me.” She was screaming his name when he pushed into her again and gripped her hip with one hand while he leaned on the other. “Shit, you feel so good. So tight,” Brent moaned her name as he jerked into her one more time before he collapsed on the mattress. “You’re everything that I thought you would be, Cammy.”

CHAPTER 5

BRENT OFFERED her some wine after they’d relaxed for a while and asked if she was hungry. “I know that you ate, at least I hope you did.” “I think we had some appetizers,” Cammy replied as she felt too heavy to move. Her body ached everywhere, but it was a pain that she never wanted to forget. It was a pain that she didn’t want to give up, and Cammy blinked as he kissed her shoulder. “I’ll order some of the Thai that you like. They’re open late.” Brent reached over the bed to grab his phone and dial a number before he placed an order easily and hung up. He dropped beside her on the mattress and turned on the television as he too in her useless form. “Are you okay?” Cammy moved to sit up and drink more wine before she forced herself to answer. “I’ve never felt like that. I’ve never cum like that or anything like that.” She looked up at him as he pushed her hair back with his hand. “What’s happening to me?” Her voice started to rise as he stroked her breast and nipple with one hand. “I am teaching you how to give someone control. I am teaching you about the best sex that you could ever have,” Brent assured her as she stared at him with sad eyes, “I am giving you life, Cammy.” She downed the wine, needing the intoxication to distract her from the overwhelming thoughts that she was having. Cammy knew that she was sinking to a dangerous level, but she talked herself out of being afraid as they ate on his bed with forks and more wine as they discussed the upcoming Stanley Cup Finals. Brent was always a sports fan, and Cammy had a close friend in school that was originally from Canada and had gotten into hockey back then. She argued her point with the reigning West Coast team versus the east coast team as he laughed and shook his head. Moments like this made him seem more like her stepfather that took her in and loved her, and the guilt started to set in. She dropped against the pillows and Brent took notice. “Are you okay?” He asked as she nodded and stared at him. “I just remembered growing up with you after you met Mom. I always felt so welcomed by you.” “You still are, just differently. We grew into something different.” Brent looked at her. “Did that feel good to you?” “God, yes.” “It only gets better,” Brent promised her as Cammy shuddered and curled her feet up to her chest. They watched some of the scores quietly before he took the leftovers downstairs and she settled back. This was a comfortable room, and she knew that she could sleep in here, sleep in his arms.

“Shit,” Cammy said as she sat up when he walked back into the room wearing his shorts that he’d slid on to go back and forth through the house. She blushed as she realized that he was there. “What’s wrong?” Brent asked as she looked down at the floor. “I just thought that Tasha works tomorrow. I should go to my room.” “Tasha works at nine. She also works in the rest of the house and has been instructed not to bother us in our rooms.” Brent stared at her as her mouth fluttered open and closed. “She can’t find out that we’re doing this.” Her eyes were wide, and he closed the door and dropped his shorts easily. “Doing what?” Brent asked as he pressed her back onto the bed and kissed her stomach. “What are we doing?” There were so many things that she could say, but Cammy only allowed one word to cross her lips. “Fucking. She can’t find out that we’re fucking.” “She won’t.” Brent moved his lips over her neck as she gripped his body and pulled him closer. He took her on her knees this time, hard and deep as she cried out his name. They slept after that and Cammy woke up at eight to sneak back into her room as she dragged the imaginary tail between her legs. She crawled into her bed in her light and airy room as she looked around. She didn’t want this anymore, and Cammy closed her eyes as she tugged the sheet up over her naked body. She wanted to think that this was just sex and control for him, but this would end badly when it finally came to a close. They couldn’t repair what had happened between them, and Cammy started to cry softly in bed before she drifted off to sleep for another couple of hours. Cammy got up and showered before she dressed in some shorts and a tank top to go downstairs. She looked into the mirror for a long time as she braided her hair over her shoulder, taking in every detail. There were no marks on her skin, nothing showing what she was doing with him. There was nothing in her face or her eyes that she could see, but Cammy knew that she was different. Her core ached as she walked, but it was a pain that she no longer knew how to live without. There was a pain in her heart that she knew would only grow stronger. “Hi. Tasha.” Cammy smiled at their assistant as she went into the kitchen and poured some coffee. “How was your weekend?” “Great. We went to Santa Barbara to see Gene’s parents for the day.” Tasha scrubbed something in the floor before she looked up at Cammy. “Yours?” “Relaxing. I went to have drinks with Chloe. That was fun.” Cammy smiled as she looked around the house. As large as it was, it sometimes felt

like it was closing in on her. “How fun. How is she?” Having worked for them for a while, Tasha knew most of her friends, and they all loved her. “Good. Summer and all.” Tasha told her that Brent had gone into the office, and Cammy nodded as she pretended to look at something out of the window. “He was on the way out of the door when I arrived. That seems late for him.” Tasha noted. It was. “Is it? I don’t really pay attention to when he leaves.” Lies. She had before and she would now. “I just like sleeping in.” She preferred early classes when she was in school so she’d have time to study and get some rest for the following day. God but she was a boring person. She helped Tasha make some French toast for breakfast and drank some orange juice as they talked at the small table that looked over the backyard. Tasha was in a great mood, and she talked about the brunch they’d enjoyed as Cammy tried so hard to listen to her but she found herself tuning her out. She dressed in a traditional pink one piece and jumped into the pool to try and bring herself to life. This area only reminded her of the first time with Brent and Cammy swam laps to try and work out everything that was brewing inside of her. She felt so hot and cold as she kept playing her new relationship over in her mind and went over the wrongs and the rights surrounding it. Cammy dragged herself wrapped in a towel to one of the chaise lounges and curled up in the shade from a tree to take a nap. She was so tired and needed just to stop thinking for a moment. She woke up later and rolled over to look over the yard. Cammy looked up to the window on the third floor and wondered if he was there as she spread her thighs apart slightly. How many times had he jerked off watching her? Cammy blushed as she thought about the bikini that she’d worn before when she wanted some sun, but there was a part of her that hoped he’d see her. He had and now look where they were. The afternoon dragged on, and Cammy sat up to go back inside as she thought about actually doing something for herself this summer. She should get a job just to get out of the house. Brent was in the kitchen talking to Tasha as she walked inside and her breath caught in her throat. “Hi.” “Hello, Cammy. Tasha was just telling me that there are some fresh salmon fillets in the drudge for dinner. Sound good?” His voice was casual as he kept his back to her and Cammy struggled not to stare at his ass. She knew all too well what it felt like to grab onto it, and her face heated up as she walked to the fridge to stick her head in it. She grabbed some water to make it seem like she should be there and felt him looking at her. “So, is the salmon fine?”

“Of course. I like salmon.” She smiled as she opened the water and took a drink. He grilled after Tasha left and they ate outside as he looked Cammy over in her suit. She hadn’t changed for dinner because she liked the way that he looked at her now and then when it seemed like Tasha wasn’t paying them any attention. They cleaned up together, and Brent took her hand and led her to the door of the cellar as he gave her a long look. “Let’s try something new.” He told her to undress and wait for him on the bed. She sensed his domination as she slipped the suit off and sat on the edge in a demure position and rested her hands on her legs as she stared at the dark hardwood floor. Brent walked towards her, and she didn’t look up as his muscular frame loomed before her. “You want me to dominate you. You want me to control your body, don’t you?” Cammy nodded. She had no idea what that entailed, but she couldn’t wait to find out. “Call me sir when you speak to me,” Brent told her in a soft but firm tone, and she nodded again. “We need a word that tells me to stop when you don’t like something.” “Can’t we use that word? Stop?” Cammy asked as she looked into his eyes. She couldn’t imagine asking him to stop anything as they stared at each other. “I could say ‘Stop sir’ and you’ll know.” He cleared his throat as he loosened his pants. “You could.” He swallowed as she looked at him. “I want you on your knees tonight on the bed. She moved to face the wall and lift her ass into the air as she watched him pull something from the sides of the bed. Brent tied her hands, giving her a little room but not enough to leave the bed. He stroked the skin of her ass gently as she moved towards him as best she could. “I am going to make this skin red tonight. I want to see how you take the pain.” Cammy heard him leave her before one of the drawers opened and closed. “We’re going to do soft and hard.” He rubbed something over her back and ass as she sucked in her breath as he slipped a finger inside of her pussy. “I think you want this, Cammy.” She was soaked. He slid it deeper as he smacked the material against her ass and made it sting just enough to make her gasp. It reminded her of a towel against her body when she was younger and was hit as a kid by a friend. “Yeah, baby. You’re getting wetter for me.” He hit her one, two and three more times as she jerked forward and buried her face in the soft red sheets of the silk comforter. It was a hint of pain, but she knew that there was more to come. The cloth was replaced by what she suspected was leather that dotted her ass as he smacked her a few times. “I

love your red skin.” Brent slipped two fingers inside of her as she closed her eyes and rocked against him. She was so close to coming when he took his hand out and smacked her again. Cammy knew that she was red and possibly even wet before he held her by the hips and thrust inside of her. Brent took her hard and fast, and she pushed back against him even as her skin hurt and ached with the friction. “God, you’re so fucking ready for me, Cam. You’re so wet.” She came by the thirst thrust, exploding against him as she cried out with it and felt him take her in shorter movements before he was calling her name. Brent pulled out and spread her legs as he fingered her to another orgasm. “I could watch this all day.” He moved to release her hands and Cammy dropped onto the mattress on her back. Brent walked into the attached bathroom and walked towards her still hard as he leaned her head back over the edge of the mattress. Brent angled his body so his cock slid easily into her mouth and she closed her eyes as she took it all. He fucked her slow and deep as she let him slide back into her throat and swallowed when he came hard. Brent rocked back and fell on his ass as he looked at her and shook his head. “You’re something. You’ll take anything that I give you.” “So far,” Cammy agreed as she wiped her mouth and flipped onto her side.

CHAPTER 6

THEY WENT BACK UP to his room after they finished, though she knew that there was more. Brent placed her on the mattress and fucked her on her back as he held her hands above her head. “I like you confined like this. I like seeing you take my hits.” He thrust again. “It feels good….. I….I want more.” Cammy told him as she wrapped her legs around him. “I see how hungry you are,” Brent said as he shot inside of her again while she bit her lip and held in her scream. They collapsed onto the mattress, and he held her close as she took a deep breath. “How many times have you slept with other men?” “Only three. They were all awkward and…fumbling. They never left me satisfied, only wanting for more.” Cammy shook her head. “I started to think that maybe I was too big for most guys.” “You’re curvy. That’s a good thing.”

“Is it?” Brent nodded and kissed her neck as his hand moved to cup her breast. She fell asleep like that and woke up in the morning curled up against him as Cammy blinked and looked around the room. She saw that it was past eight, and she made her way to her room to crawl into bed and sleep some more. The days passed by slowly until Brent came home from work one night with pizza. “I have a proposition for you.” She poured some soda for herself and got a beer for him. “What’s that?” “My assistant at the office is going on maternity leave next week, and I was wondering if you’d like to fill in until school starts. We could ride in together and leave together, and you’ll earn what she was making. It’s generous,” Brent suggested, and she looked at him as she brought plates to the small table. They were sleeping together every night, and she tilted her head. “Work and home?” Cammy questioned, and he nodded. “Yes. I can think of some things to do in the office,” Brent teased her as she flushed. They hadn’t advanced much from spanking, and she was craving more. “Consider it a bonus.” “So what time is work?” “We’ll leave at seven,” Brent told her as she took a bite of the pizza and nodded. They went to his room and watched a movie before he set the alarm for the next morning. Brent took her that night but it was softer this time, and he held her closer as they went to sleep. She woke up later than planned and rushed to her room for a quick shower before she pulled her hair into a low bun. Cammy pulled on a black pencil skirt and a purple silk shirt with some heels as she added a quick coat of mascara and gloss before hurrying downstairs. She was going in to be trained today so it wouldn’t be just her and Brent and Cammy wanted to come off as professional as possible. They sipped their coffee in travel cups as he drove and she looked over the morning sky. Cammy loved mornings. She glanced at Brent in is a suit and licked her lips as she blushed. “You look like that guy from that book. Christian, I think?” “Did you read that book? Is that why you’re with me?” Brent asked her as he pulled to s smooth stop. “I wanted you since before I knew anything about that.” She stared forward as she lied just a little. She had been attracted to Brent but after knowing his lifestyle, she’d wanted him more. Cammy had craved it. The office was bustling as she kept up with him and met a pregnant Christina. Her left hand boasted a huge diamond ring and Cammy did her best to take note of everything she was taught. Brent’s assistant kept track of

everything for him and handled appointments as well as doing some of the office tasks. “So you’re the wife’s daughter?” Christina asked as she sipped a decaf green tea at the desk as they took a short break. That summed it up. “Yeah, I am.” “It’s perfect for you to help. Mr. Daniels speaks highly of you,” Christina noted as Cammy cracked open a soda. “He says you’re doing well at UCLA.” “Yeah, I am. That’s nice,” Cammy said as she knew that was all that he’d say about her. They couldn’t be more. They ended the day by picking up some Mexican food on the way home and ate outside. “You did well today. Want to train anymore with Christina or take the week off?” Brent asked as he looked at her in the lights that came on around the yard. “I think I’ve got it. Do you?” Cammy asked as she looked at him. She knew that Lisa was back and would appreciate a pool day, but she didn’t want to disappoint him. “Yes. I like the idea of you being there, though.” Brent assured her as she smiled and sipped her soda. “Do you have plans?” “I was thinking of having Lisa over. She’s been gone,” Cammy told him as he nodded. “Take the week off. Enjoy yourself.” Brent took his plate inside, and she followed with her own as they washed up. Cammy led the way to the door tonight, and he followed her downstairs as she smiled. “What are we doing down here?” “What do you want to do?” Cammy asked as she turned to face him. “I want you naked except for the heels. I want you on that bed riding my face.” They stripped off their clothes, and he moved onto his back as she crawled over him. Cammy realized that he’d never kissed her. Brent rolled over and moved to the nightstand as he pulled something out. “Come here.” She knelt before him, and he clamped something to her nipple as she looked down. “Like it?” It hurt, but she moved around as she nodded. Brent added the same to the other nipple and tugged as she arched her back and moaned his name. “Look up.” Cammy glanced up to see a bar hanging from the ceiling, and she stared at it. “What do I do?” “Hang on,” Brent said as she reached up and he moved under her body. “Tight.” She gripped it as he slipped his face under her pussy and sucked her into his mouth. “Oh God.” His tongue dragged over her and teased her clit as she

struggled to hang above him before he started sliding his tongue inside of her slow and hard. Cammy rocked with him as she felt her body responding and she felt his body slide and his cock under her. Cammy lowered herself on him and let go of the bar as she started to move over him. Fingers gripped the clamps and tugged as she cried out and tried to keep up with him before he pushed her down and started to fuck her. “Brent.” “Do you like fucking your stepdaddy?” His voice was harsh as she nodded and started weeping. “I love it. I live for it,” Cammy replied, and he took her deep and rough as his chest brushed against her throbbing nipples. “Fuck me, Daddy. Fuck me harder.” She came with a scream as he stilled and rocked into her slowly as she slipped her hand over his shoulders and looked into his face. “We’re going to get you on some birth control,” Brent told her as they lay on the bed together. She made no effort to take off the clamps, and she looked at him. “Next week when you’re working. The office is right down the street.” “Will I be safe?” Cammy asked as he looked at her. “I am always getting tested, and I am safe. I have no interest in disease and dealing with that. I just want sex. I know that you’re clean because you’re innocent.” Brent told her as she rolled over to face him. “I don’t think I am that innocent anymore.” “No. Do you mind?” Brent asked as she shook her head. “I just don’t want you to use your skills with anyone else.” Did that mean he wanted something from her? Did Brent want something real? “I wouldn’t.” Lisa came over the next day once he was at work and they sat by the pool as her best friend discussed the trip to Vegas. Cammy laughed as Lisa described all of the romantic things that Mark did before she looked at Cammy. “What’s up with you?” “What do you mean?” Cammy asked as she glanced over at Lisa. “You seem different. Are you seeing someone?” Cammy shifted in her seat and shook her head. “No. I am going to start working at the office next week, with Brent. His assistant is having a baby, and I am going to fill in. I might be there full time, so I’ll have a lot less time for this.” “Isn’t summer for relaxing? He can’t hire someone?” Lisa asked as she frowned. She had no idea why I wanted to be there or what was going on, and I wouldn’t tell her. I wouldn’t tell anybody. “It’s not a big deal. He’s supporting me, Lisa. I can help him out.” I told her as she leaned back and closed her eyes.

“I heard he’s sleeping with one of the teachers from school. Like really sleeping with her. I wonder if she’ll be moving into your house.” Her stomach twisted as she heard the words and knew in her heart that they weren’t true, just rumors. It was better than the truth, though. “We’ll see, I guess.” They both soaked up the sun but in her mind, Cammy was just waiting for him to come home to her. She wanted her fantasy and to sleep in his arms and pretend that they could be together. Lisa had left before he got home to get ready for a date. Cammy showered and dressed in one of my most revealing summer dresses before she went into the kitchen. Tasha had left early for a doctor’s appointment, and they were on their own for dinner, so Cammy decided to do something with the fresh shrimp in the fridge and make some scampi for him. Her fantasy only kept playing through his head as she imagined herself doing this for him every night after work and the idea of him coming through the door to kiss her hello stopped him in his tracks. Brent didn’t kiss Cammy; he fucked her. Just like he fucked everyone else. She stirred the butter and the garlic into the pan with a few herbs and mixed the shrimp as she looked at the boiling water behind the pan. The door opened, and she smiled as he greeted her. “What do I smell in here, Cammy?” “Tasha had an appointment so I thought I’d fix some dinner. How was your day?” “Good. I’m looking forward to seeing you there every day,” Brent stepped up behind Cammy, and she shivered as he traced her hips with his hands. “Look at this dress. I like it.” He leaned down and kissed her neck as she closed her eyes. “Do you need anything for the office?” “It’s business casual, right?” Cammy heard her voice shaking as she spoke and he sucked her skin between his teeth. “That’s right,” Brent replied as she groaned softly. “I think I’ll be fine,” Cammy responded as she turned off the scampi and gripped his hand with hers. “I need you, Brent. God, I need you to fuck me right now.” “Come with me,” his voice matched her urgency, and he dropped his hand to clutch hers and pull her into the living room and down the stairs. Cammy followed as she felt her nipples harden, and her thighs heat up. She walked inside and removed her dress without any orders before she turned to face him with her face looking down towards the floor. “Sir?” She knew that he was undressing as she heard his clothes dropping to the floor, but Cammy didn’t look up. “We’ve done a lot down here, Cammy. Want to step it up a notch?”

“Yes, more than anything.” He told her to sit on the bed and wait for him, so Cammy turned to sit on the edge of the mattress. Drawers opened in front of her, but she didn’t look. Cammy knew better and received a spanking the couple of times that she did look. Brent walked forward and attached some large clamps to her nipples as she moaned softly. “These are tighter.” “You’re advancing nicely,” He looked her over with a hungry gaze and nodded at her. “On your knees on the bed.” Cammy complied and waited for him to come behind her. The first thing that she felt was something dripping between the cheeks of her ass before a finger slid inside of her. “Are you going to have me there?” “Not quite yet,” Brent assured her as he withdrew his finger and slipped something else inside. “Let’s see how you like this.” It didn’t come out, and she squirmed as she felt herself stretched open just a little bit. “Let’s see how you like this.” The first crack of the leather made her sting and Cammy cried out. The pain and the pressure combined as he continued to flog her and Cammy gripped she sheets as she cried out his name. She was starting to like this a lot and worried that she would never have a vanilla relationship after this, which could be tricky. Brent dropped something to the floor, and she heard a wrapper as she felt her thighs dampen. Cammy responded well to the way that he treated her, and she knew that this night would be no different. Brent spread her legs and drove himself into her as she cried out and felt herself release onto his long thick cock. “Oh, fuck. I’m coming, Brent.” “I feel you. Your cunt is so tight, Cammy. I can’t get enough of it.” Brent drove in deeper, deeper, and deeper as she continued to pulse around him. She felt the plug press further into her as her nipples rubbed against the sheets painfully but she didn’t stop coming around Brent as he yanked on her hair and fucked her harder. He yelled her name as Cammy felt him still and release before he dropped behind her and she fell forward onto her stomach. She dressed as she heard him rustling behind her and they returned to the kitchen. Cammy determined that the food would be okay if she cooked some more pasta and heated up the shrimp and she made quick work of that as he fixed a salad in shorts across the kitchen from her. Her nipples were free, and everything was back downstairs, but she could still feel her body pulsing as they talked about the office and what to expect with her working there. They sat inside to eat tonight, and she glanced at him a few times as he took generous bites and complimented her on her cooking.

CHAPTER 7

“ARE YOU SEEING ANYONE ELSE?” Cammy was surprised by the question as she asked it and his face showed that Brent was as well. She thought back to her day with Lisa and hated it and found herself not liking a lot of her life before she started sleeping with Brent. “Why are you asking me that?” Brent demanded as he set his napkin down and placed his hands on the table. “Lisa was talking today, and there are some rumors.” Cammy sipped her wine and tried to appear calm. “Rumors? That’s all they are. I am only sleeping with you right now.” Brent insisted as she looked at him. “I knew that deep down, but it slipped out. She just…she wouldn’t understand this,” Cammy said as she gestured between them. “She asked me if I was seeing someone and told me I looked different. I can’t even tell her why.” “I know, Cammy. I know, and I don’t know what to do about that,” Brent told her as he sipped his whiskey. His eyes looked tormented, and she frowned at him. “This is wrong in everybody else’s eyes. This is taboo.” “Just a little bit,” Cammy agreed as she shook her head. “I don’t want to stop this. I like what we have,” Brent told her as she smiled at him. “I don’t either,” Cammy admitted, and he smiled at her as they seemed to agree. “I can work with that.” She knew that she had changed in the last month and that her life as a supposedly single twenty-two-year-old was over in some ways. She wanted this; dinner at the table and sex in any room with the man that just happened to be her stepfather. It wasn’t a blood relation in any way, but it was still looked down upon. It made her happy, though. If she had to hide that until it destroyed her, she would. “Good,” Brent answered as he seemed to relax. Cammy wondered if he was as scared of losing her as she was of losing him? He’d made it clear that he was not ready to be out in the open, but they were the same behind closed doors. They went to his room, and she looked at him as she sat on the bed. “Do you want me in here with you?” “I do. I like the feeling of you beside me. That’s new for me,” Brent admitted as she looked at him. They turned on a movie to watch as they relaxed with some wine and she snuggled close to him. They had sex before they fell asleep for the night, though Cammy sensed that it was becoming more

than just sex as they came together this time. “Did your life revolve around everything downstairs in the room today?” Brent asked her sleepily as he pulled her naked body against his. “I did. I crave you during the day when you’re at work.” Cammy told him as he traced her stomach with his fingers. “Wait until we’re there together,” Brent told her as she smiled. “Long lunches with the door locked as I have you on my desk and my couch. I can’t wait.” “You’ll be able to do that while hiding this?” Cammy asked as he fell silent for a moment. “I’ll find a way.” They slowly fell asleep together and Cammy woke up early as usual before she went to her room. That was a habit during the week so that Tasha didn’t catch them and she always fell back asleep in her bed all alone. It wasn’t as nice as being with him and she often missed him leaving for work, though that would change in a matter of days. Today Cammy got up late and decided to go shopping for the day on her own. While Cammy had told Brent that she had some clothes, it wouldn’t hurt to get some more for the office. Hers were mostly for school and fun, and she took the car that he’d purchased for her last year and headed to the mall. She found some great skirts and a few new shirts, as well as some comfortable, sexy slacks. Every time she tried something on, Cammy wondered if Brent would like it if she were smaller. Her mother had been skinnier than Cammy and from what she’d seen of the past women in his life, that is what he seemed to enjoy. Cammy was a firm size sixteen, and he’d never complained, but she couldn’t help but wonder as she paid for her purchase with the credit card that he’d given her early on. Cammy took some bags to her car and locked it back up before she ventured inside of the mall again and looked around. Victoria’s Secret was right across from her, and Cammy smiled as she sauntered across the floor and paused in front of the door. “Cammy!” She turned her head to see a friend from college and waved as she felt her enthusiasm drain out of her body. “Hey, Kelly,” Cammy smiled as the redhead approached her and glanced at the store. “I heard they’re having a sale. I thought I might stock up.” “I’ll check it out too. How is your summer?” Kelly asked her as Cammy reluctantly followed her into the store. “I’ve just been relaxing at home for the most part. I am going to start working at my stepfather’s office next week to help him out so that’ll make time pass by. I was just buying some clothes for that.” They looked through the sale that Cammy had completely made up and selected a few things before

Kelly got a text from her boyfriend and had to leave. Cammy took that opportunity to walk into the other part of the store. She found several items that she liked for Brent and tried everything on to narrow down her list. She had a woman assisting her and ended up with pretty corsets and thongs along with some short and skimpy items of lingerie. Cammy picked a few edgy items as well and tucked them into her pile before she paid and left with another giant bag. The cashier told her that she hoped her boyfriend loved everything and Cammy blushed as she thanked her. Lisa walked through the door as Cammy was leaving and she looked her friend over before her eyes rested on the bag in her hand. “You could’ve called me. I’d have shopped with you.” “It was last minute,” Cammy told her as Lisa nodded and asked her what she bought at Vicky’s. “Oh, just some stuff on sale. It was time to stock up.” “That’s a big bag. I think you bought more than just a few pairs of underwear,” Lisa accused her and watched as Cammy flushed. “What’s going on with you?” “Nothing, Lisa. I told you that already.” Lisa just stared at her. “I just did some shopping. You know that I do shop sometimes, right?” “Of course, I do, but there is something different with you beyond that.” Lisa shot back as Cammy winced. She wanted to open up and tell Lisa how much things have changed and how happy that she was in a situation that was so wrong. Cammy wanted to tell somebody so badly that she could taste it, but she’d agreed with Brent not to. “I can see that you’re not going to tell me, but I really thought we were best friends. We have been for years.” “We are,” Cammy choked out before Lisa turned and left the mall to walk back to the parking lot. Cammy stared at her as she stepped out into the hot summer air and tears filled her eyes. What was happening to her? She was changing so much, and Cammy walked to heart car with her shoulders slumped instead of being excited to show Brent what she’d purchased. Her stepfather. She drove home and put the clothes away slowly and methodically before dropping into her bed in a t-shirt. Tasha was there and making some soup for dinner, but Cammy claimed that she was feeling ill and wanted to rest. She crawled into bed and fell into a fitful sleep for the rest of the day as she dreamed of alternate futures for her situation. It was dark when there was a knock at the door, and she blinked as Brent walked into her room. “Cam? Are you okay?” “I was just feeling off,” Cammy told him as she felt him sit on the bed. Her body responded violently, and she closed her eyes as she tried to control her

hormones. “I wanted to lie down for a while.” She was glad that everything was tucked away into her dresser and closet because she wasn’t even sure that she wanted to wear any of the lingerie now. It just felt so wrong, but her skin heated up as he slipped his hand under the cover and touched her bare thigh. They’d never done anything in here, and she suddenly wanted to soil this room with memories of their deprivation. “And now?” Brent asked as she sucked in her breath. “Are you hungry or anything?” “For you,” Cammy responded in a weak voice as his hand slid over the lace of her underwear. “Oh God.” “I’ve never been with you in here. It seemed like your space, and I just didn’t think that you’d want it. Do you?” “Yes. Is she gone?” Cammy panted as she dropped her legs open and arched her back. “She is,” Brent assured her as he stroked her clit and she rocked against him. “What’s wrong, Cammy?” “I need to cum. I want you to make me cum, Brent. I want you,” Cammy panted as he slipped one thick finger inside of her as he kept stroking her. “I think about you all day, and I can’t talk about it. I just reflect on this and being in that room with you.” She felt the covers pulled down and a hand pushing up the soft material of her shirt to grab at her breast. “I think about you all day. I can’t wait to get home, and I’ve been blowing off later nights at the office to get home,” Brent responded as she rocked her body against his fingers to find the release that she needed so badly. “This is changing my life.” He watched her as she winced and tightened around him to wet his fingers as she whimpered his name. “Jesus, to see you like this.” He ripped his hand away and removed his suit quickly and tossed it onto the floor. “I want to fuck you so hard right now. I want to cum inside of you so much. Turn over.” Brent ordered her as she lifted her shirt and threw it forward before she got on her knees. Brent loved her right after she came and he pounded himself into her as she cried out his name. It was hard and rough, but she loved it as he gripped her hips and took her in deep thrusts. “So. Tight. So. Hot. “Cum for me.” Cammy cried out as she did and he pushed a few more times before she felt him pull out and shoot something hot on her back. He didn’t wear anything, and she dropped her face into her bed as she sucked in deep breaths before she was rolled over onto her pillow. “Suck me, baby. Suck my cock clean.” She latched her lips around him and sucked Brent into her mouth as he held her head and thrust into her. Cammy was glad that she’d closed all of her blinds for some privacy, and she parted her lips further as he

took over with long deep thrusts and shot some heat between her lips as she cried out and swallowed him. “Baby, yes.” They slowed as he dropped onto the bed and looked at her. “We need to wash the sheets. Tasha can’t see this.” His words were spoken after a long silence and Cammy stared at him. “Maybe she’ll think I fucked someone else. She might be relieved.” Her voice was bordering on bitter, and he stared at her. “Is that what you want? Do you want another man to do all of this to you?” Brent demanded as she moved back and stared at his angry face. “No. I love you, and I’ll never want anybody else.” Cammy told him as huge stared at her in shock. “I want you and I can’t fucking tell anybody that.” Brent yanked her forward and kissed her as she froze. They’d never kissed before, and she felt his lips part hers before he slipped his tongue into her mouth. Cammy moaned as she felt herself kissing him back with all of the emotions and feelings inside of her as he pulled her over his body. “I’ve been trying to fight this.” He kissed her again. “I’ve been telling myself that I can’t have these feelings for you.” Another kiss. It was so wrong in society’s eyes, but it felt so natural to Cammy. She crawled over him nibbled on his jaw before he pulled away to suck the skin of her neck. Brent moved down to pull her sensitive nipple between his lips as she moaned and pulled him closer. She felt him hard against her thigh and lifted her body as his hands gripped her ass to pull her over him. This was more intimate than anything they’d done in the past. He was holding her as she rose up and down over his cock with no barriers but his lips were on hers, and his tongue was inside of her mouth as she felt her body stretch around him. Cammy wanted to stop this, but she kept moving as his lips brushed her face and drew her earlobe between his teeth as she slipped her arms around his neck and rocked onto him. “Brent, I need to cum again.” He kept moving with her through her release before he pulled out and shot his semen onto her stomach with a low groan. “You need to get on something. I’ll call my doctor tomorrow, and we’ll take care of this. I need to fuck you raw.” Was this fucking? Cammy looked at him as she held on and swore that they’d just made love. She’d told him that she loved him. Cammy blushed as she remembered the words and he pulled her face close for a kiss. They moved to his room that night and while Brent didn’t tell her that he loved her, Cammy knew that he was different. He did take her to the doctor the following day, and she was sent home with something with the promise of condom-free sex within a few days. Brent took her for lunch after and Cammy

looked around the pizza place as he led her to a table in the corner. It was crowded this time of day and Cammy followed him as she glanced around. The waitress came by, and Brent ordered a large combination and some soda for them as he looked at her to make sure that she was okay with that order. Cammy nodded as she watched him and memorized the strong line of his jaw and the way that his eyes sparkled. Brent looked around the room as he leaned forward to say something to her. “I might not have said it that night, but I do feel that way about you as well.” Cammy felt her cheeks flush pink as someone said her name. She glanced up to see Chloe and smiled as she forced something out of her mouth that she hoped sounded like a greeting. “What are you guys doing?” Chloe asked as she gave Brent a shy look. “Errands. I know that Cam loves this place, so I wanted to bring her to lunch. How are you doing?” Brent laid the charm on thick and Cammy watched him with a mixture of envy and fascination as they made small talk. She looked back at Chloe as she said her name again and gave her a weak smile. Chloe shot her a curious look as she said goodbye and Brent sighed across the table from her. “You need to be a bit more into the conversation with your friend, Cam. We need to be low key about this.” “Sorry. What you said just before that threw me off,” Cammy told him as he smiled and nodded. “I can see that. It’s intense for me as well. I’ve always cared for you but this…this is different. I can’t get enough of you.” Brent was close and spoke low so nobody else would hear his words and she found herself swooning as she allowed herself to feel a percentage of the intensity of her feelings. Their drinks were set in front of them, and she leaned back and wondered what it would be like to be on a date with him. Cammy imagined them sitting on the same side of the table, holding hands and kissing as they waited for their food and she knew that she was getting ahead of herself. It all came crashing down two weeks later when Tasha found them asleep under a blanket on the couch, where they’d been watching a movie together. Cammy would never forget the look on her face as she stared at them with horror on her face as Cammy tried to cover her naked body with the blanket. Brent woke up a moment later and looked at their housekeeper as all of the color drained from his face. “Tasha.” They’d been discreet about their relationship, and nobody seemed to know, but now the truth was out there. “Shit. We need to talk,” Brent called out to her as he slipped his shorts on and stood to follow her into the backyard. Cammy started to cry as she

clutched the soft blanket around her body and prayed that everything would be alright. Even if Brent wasn’t her stepfather and her mother’s former husband, he was over ten years older than she was. There was nothing right about this, and she grabbed the cloth and hurried to her room to hide in her bed as she sobbed. They had fallen more for each other once the truth was out between them and she was so happy until she saw the look on the face of the woman that was like a mom to her. Would she have to move out? Were they over? Cammy took a deep breath as she heard the door open but she didn’t look up. “Cam, I talked to her. I explained us.” Brent sat next to her and stroked her hair back. “She’s angry with me, but it’s because she loves you.” “Are we over?” Cammy heard her voice shaking. “No. I told her that I loved you and that we’re together. It isn’t going to be easy, but we’ll do this.” Brent lifted her face and kissed her. “I called the office and said that we got some food poisoning from dinner last night.” She’d been working with him for the entire time, and she spent a lot of time behind closed doors while he acted out every office fantasy that she’d ever had. “We didn’t make it to my room to hear the alarm.” “I’m sorry, Brent.” Cammy’s eyes were full of tears as she looked at him. “I just fell asleep.” “It’s okay, Cammy. We both did, and now we are real. Now someone knows.” Brent pulled her closer and kissed her hair. “It might be a good idea if we consider letting other people know.” “What?” Cammy asked as she stared at him. He was looking into her eyes as she stared at him. It was like a wildfire at the office, and she was relieved when Christine returned to work, and she could just go back to school. The rumors just kept going around about how much older he was than her and how gross it was that he was her stepfather. Cammy went to school the first day and could tell by the looks on her friend’s faces that they knew as well. “I knew that you were up to something. You were fucking Brent the entire time, weren’t you?” Lisa asked as Cammy walked to her car that afternoon. “He’s gorgeous, but there’s so much wrong with that.” “I love him, Lisa. I didn’t plan for this, but it happened, and I can’t change that.” Cammy looked at the disgust on her former best friend’s face and felt whatever ties they’d had breaking before her eyes. Chloe wasn’t too much more understanding about things, and Cammy knew that it was just going to be her and Brent from now on. Eventually, she made more friends that accepted

the situation and settled into another life.

EPILOGUE

CAMMY RESTED in the hospital bed as she watched her husband pace the room. “Brent, sit down. You’re making me nervous.” She panted with the new contraction as he stared at her and took her hand in his. “Jesus. This hurts.” They’d been married for two years and decided to have a baby once they’d done some traveling and single couple activities. It was fun trying since they still practiced the same habits in the bedroom in the process. Cammy was thrilled even though there was a part of her that felt guilty for what she was doing. She was even more shocked when she realized that Brent had acted out her fantasies from her journal that he’d read and as she looked back, he’d nailed them all. Love came in many forms and Brent was one of them. They were happy together, and he took good care of her like she knew her mama would want for her. The other one of their son and daughter that were born a few hours later at midnight screaming their way into the world. She wasn’t working with the pregnancy and Brent was still running his company and doing just fine. She held Madeline and Brent sat down beside her with Than in his arms as they smiled at each other. “Hi, Daddy.” His eyes darkened as he looked at her for a long moment and then their babies. “You’re their Daddy. They’re going to adore you as much as I do.” “I love you, Cammy.” Brent kissed her and looked at his daughter. “I’m so happy.”

THE END

TAKEN BY DADDY’S BOSS

REGINALD Business was booming and there was nothing else Reginald Covington

loved more. At 49 he was tall, in great shape and despite his two failed marriages, he still had more than enough money to last the rest of his life. He glanced down at the laptop on his desk, knowing he needed to find a few more applicants to interview for the assistant position. He sighed heavily, running a hand over the salt and pepper stubble on his chin. Human resources were never his area of expertise, and he didn’t want to start doing it now. A sly smile lit up his face when he thought of why this had all happened in the first place. Sheila was a firecracker, and the sex had been great. Sadly, she had wanted more than he was willing to give and when she quit, he wasn’t really surprised. It left him in a lurch temporarily, and left his bed cold. He tapped the screen of the monitor, leaning back slightly as it buzzed to life. He had known better than to even start the affair up, but he had done it anyway. He knew then it was the one and only time he would mix business and pleasure. He heard the buzz of the intercom. “Mr. Covington. Mr. Baker is here he needs a word.” “Send him back Linda.” He smiled widely as the tall door swung open, and Baker came in. Benjamin Baker had been one of the few loyal employees that Covington Enterprises still had. There from the very beginning he had helped make the place its first million. He stuck his hand out to welcome him in. “Ben, how was the flight in? I hope it went well.” He arched an eyebrow at him, gesturing at the seat in front of the desk. “It went well, actually very well.” He tossed a file on the desk. “Twentythree percent more than your asking price.” Close in age Ben sat a head shorter than his boss, though they shared a camaraderie and respect between them. Reginald nodded his head as a smile formed on his face. “I knew you were the right man to send.” Ben tipped the glass Reginald had offered him as he replied. “Thank you boss.” Reginald made an odd sound. “You’re as much a part of this company as me Ben. Really, thanks.” Ben finished his drink, and then smiled as they walked towards the doors. Reginald patted his shoulder once more. Running a hand through his hair. “You ok Covington? You seemed a little put out.” “Yes, just trying to do the hiring now that Sheila is gone…” He trailed off, and Ben coughed lightly. He gave Reginald a reassuring pat on the back. As he was leaving, he spun to face him once more. “You know Chelsea just moved back out this way, she may be a good fit.”

“Little Chelsea, I haven’t seen her since she was what 7, 8?” Reginald arched an eyebrow, Ben laughed lightly. “She is far from little. She is 24 almost 25. Just think about it.” Ben smiled and said his farewells as he made his way down the long hall towards the elevators. He slid back into his chair and went back to work doing his best to figure out what qualities made for the best assistant. He let his thoughts drift back to Sheila and he smiled once more. He would have to make an effort to check in on her soon. She wasn’t a bad woman; in fact, she was quite pleasant to be around. With her short black hair and striking features she was more than a little fun in the bedroom. She had surprised him in more ways than one with her wanton behavior and hidden talents. Even now he could feel himself getting aroused thinking of her as she lay before him. He felt his cock throbbing and thought about jerking off on the bathroom. But that’s not what he needed. He wanted something soft, something warm…. Yes, he would have to get in touch with her and see if he could smooth over her broken heart. What she wanted was impossible, but what he could give her had been more than enough for her before. Grabbing his jacket, he made his way down the long hall and into the garage. He knew where she would be and in no time he found himself at her door.

CHELSEA She stood back looking at her reflection once more. Her green eyes were sharp and focused, fringed with dark lashes that enhanced them even more with the paleness of her skin. Her mass of auburn hair was flowing around her shoulders in soft curls and she shifted her focus to her outfit. Scrunching up her nose, she turned ever so slightly to look at the back of the dress, hoping she had managed to put everything where it belonged. The dress actually was flattering to her curvy figure, but she bit her lip as she concentrated on how she felt. At 24 she had really been sheltered. What experiences she’d had had been limited to some heavy petting and toleration on her part with a few guys who ultimately had no interest in her anyway. Tonight she was going out with her girlfriend, and hopefully once and for all rid herself of her virginity. Turning once last time she finally gave up. “It’s all I got.” She smoothed down the front, and marched out into the living room of her father’s house. She had been home a week now, and although she had been gone 14 years, it

seemed like only yesterday she had played in the front room with Leslie, both having no idea what life had in store for them. It was also in that room when her parents had sat her down and told her they were getting a divorce. Looking back now it made sense. They were both very different people. In some cases, that was a good thing, but in others it made for drift, and when someone wants to live life and is being held back it can be hard. Even now her mother was off in the Alps somewhere. She had wanted to see the world her entire life and she was finally doing just that. Her father, on the other hand, was content in the family home and working his daily job. Initially she had gone with her mother, but in time she had grown tired of the loneliness when her mother was gone and gone away to school. It was there that she learned more about who she was and what boys were like. After that she had called her father, who had welcomed her back home. He continually pressed the issue that there was plenty of room for her, but she wanted to get her own place, and to make a name for herself. Hearing the honk, she made her way outside. “Bye Dad.” She slid into Leslie’s car and they pulled off just like old times. “So what's the plan tonight.” Leslie methodically thumped her thumb on the steering wheel. “I don’t know, I just want to do something crazy and live little. I don’t care just pick a bar or something.” “You sure you want to give it away this way Chelsea, I mean it's kind of a big deal?” “No at this point it’s just a thing that makes me different. Yes, I'm more than sure.” They pulled into a bar, it was a smoke filled waterfront place, full of people who were more than likely regulars. The two of them settled into sets and did a quick glance around the room. The usual blend of people were present, most of which were already drunk. There was one guy in particular, dark haired and staring at Leslie, to which Chelsea nudged her. “Oh wow its Bill Cooper.” Leslie shifted in her seat, taking a long drink from her beer, blinking rapidly as he approached. He moved with a fluid grace and smiled widely at her. “Well, well how are you two pretty ladies?” “Good, good how are you Billy, haven’t seen you lately?” “Just got back recently, so want to talk a bit.” He held out his hand to her. She glanced at Chelsea and with a nod she was suddenly off walking with Billy Cooper of all people. Once the town hero and football star he had lost

his way and come home, doing his best to pick up the pieces of what he had once been. Chelsea knew Leslie had had a crush on Billy since grade school, and she knew that nothing would keep her from hanging with him now. Chelsea glanced back around the room again, this time a head catching her eye. He was older, graying just at the temples. The biggest thing was that he was watching her intently. She felt a rush of heat course through her as she discretely looked around to see if there was anyone else nearby. She smiled slightly, looking at him once more. Older, but still handsome, and dressed impeccably in a suit he signaled with one finger and the bartender moved quickly to make him another drink. The power almost exuded from him and she watched as he seemed to do his best to ignore a woman who stood nearby him. She knew he wanted her to come over and she stood then, taking in a few deep breaths to calm her racing heart. Who better to help her than someone with a little experience? She moved slowly, feeling his eyes on her as she walked over towards him. She flung her mass of hair behind one shoulder and ordered a drink, doing her best to seem uninterested in him. She could feel his eyes, almost caressing her as they roamed down over her frame and back up. As her drink arrived, she watched him gesture to the bartender once more, without a word. “The drink has been taken care of miss.” He gave her a smile and was gone once more. She turned to look at him now, his eyes were a deep blue and he was more man than she had been around in a long time. She smiled at him, taking a drink once more. “Thank you for the drink.” “The pleasure is all mine.” She felt heat, then once more. It seemed to rush through her veins as he turned to face her head on. She did the same until they were facing each other, him in the seat and she stands. “My name is Linda.” She held out her hand, feeling the heat of him as he took it. She felt funny using a fake name, but the last thing she needed was to give out too much information. After all, this was all for the sake of losing her virginity. “Reg, nice to meet you sweetheart.” He let his hand linger in hers for mere seconds before he let her go. “Thanks for the drink Reg.” She felt comfortable with him, and her body reacted to his as he moved closer to her. “SO, Linda…what is a pretty girl like you doing in here?”

“I am just trying to meet new people that is all.” She blinked at him and felt the excitement rush through her as they spoke. The conversation carried on until the hour was much later. She was comfortable with him and he made her laugh. She glanced at her phone to get the time. “Hot date?” He asked her, his eyes resting on her mouth for a second. “No, it's just getting late, that’s all. My friend was taking me home, but…” She trailed off as she looked around the corner. “I have an idea, why don’t you let me take you home?” He smiled warmly at her. She swallowed hard. This was her one chance to do it. “Unless you'd like to go somewhere else?” She felt her heart beating wildly in her chest as he gave her a lazy smile. He stood then nodding once at the bartender as he put his hand at the small of her back leading her out of the place. She quickly made and sent a text to Leslie, complete with a thumbs up emoji. She slid into the cool leather seats in his car, surprised at how easily she had gotten comfortable with him. He sat down in the car, resting his hand on her knee for a moment before he set off for home. She could feel the pressure of his hand through her dress, she knew then that she’d made the right choice. As they pulled into a parking lot she found herself nervous and excitement all at once. She glanced up at the towering building, waiting as he reserved a room for the night and then he escorted her inside. Some part of her should be worried, or scared. She had only spent a couple of hours getting to know Reg. He was ruggedly handsome, and even now as he held the door for her he towered over her, the confidence oozing from him. She heard the click of the door as she turned to face him, instantly finding his mouth covering hers. The kiss was all hot as he delved into her mouth and kissed her until neither of them could breath. He moved with casual ease as he slowly unzipped the dress in the back, letting the soft, slick hit the ground at her feet. Being a big girl she was immediately concerned about her size, but she felt his hands, then, both running down the length of her cupping her thighs gently as he kissed her once more. They moved again, this time he moved towards the bed, pulling her with him. Soon he was seated on the bed and she stood before him her body clad only in a bra and panties. She felt his eyes taking her in, and slowly they made their way upward and he looked into her face. He gave her a wicked smile as he moved his hands up, then following the curve of her hip and up, sliding

back until he ran them up the small of her back causing her to shiver slightly. He gently moved up even more until he found the clasp at her back and deftly undid it. He moved upward once more his fingers tracing a path as they went, hooking the straps of her bra and as he ran his hands down the length of her arms he pulled the contraption off with them. Having always been ample in that area her breasts thrust forward as he tossed her bra on the floor. The puffy pink of her nipples harden instantly as the air hit them, and his eyes took her in. She felt his hands moving, covering first one and then the other. His touch was gently, as he rounded the smoothness of the creamy mounds until he found a nipple between his thumb and forefinger. He rolled it gently, pulling and tugging until it stood hard and erect. She gasped as he brought a new sense of excitement to her body. She opened her eyes to look down at him as he covered one of the taunt peaks with his mouth. The fire was almost too much as he sucked hard on the nipple, playing with it and teasing her. He moved his hands under her breast holding it up, suckling at it hard. He loved the other one before he let them rest, both hard and erect a visible tribute to her arousal. She felt the wet heat at the apex of her thighs as he moved and once he sat back, she was heady with desire, unsure where he would turn to next. Her wonder was short lived as he moved again, this time his hands trailing lower and lower still until he slid one hand between her thighs, slipping one finger under the panties and to the moist heat he found there. His left hand rested on her thigh as he moved his right hand lower, his finger reaching the wetness eh knew was there. She felt his hand tighten on her thigh as he found the wet heat equally exciting. He moved again, his forefinger slipping through her until her found the tiny jewel there. Subconsciously she arched up and against his hand, her body felt as though a shock had coursed through her. It was clear he loved her reactions, as he did it over and over again, and she was powerless to stop him. She moaned softly as she closed her eyes, feeling his massage and rub the tiny button, her body trembling slightly. Her deep breaths came in soft gasps with every stroke and suddenly he stopped. Looking down at him she smiled as he moved her back just enough to pull her panties off, tossing them on the floor. He smiled at her and then moved her back where she stood before, and pulling her closer he covered her most private area with his mouth. She felt the heat of his mouth, his tongue darting out to taste the already swollen flesh. Her body trembled as she arched herself against him wanting more, needing more. He continued on until he paused, moving her back and

standing beside her. “Lay on the bed.” It was a demand, and one she was happy to agree with. She lay back, her hair a wild, fiery halo around her and she waited. She felt him move, ripping his clothes from his body, and soon he was parting her thighs once more, this time to lay between them. She was exposed to him, her womanhood open and eager for his touch. His body held one leg down as he gently opened the other, spreading her open even more. He looked making eye contact as he tasted her once more. She moaned loudly, excitement over watching him love her with his mouth. No longer gently, he licked and sucked every inch of her, finding a rhythm that she needed. His tongue spun circles on her as she bucked wildly off the bed, and arched up against his mouth. Gone was her fear of behavior or noise, instead she was eager for release. She moved her hips, helping him and soon climbed higher and higher until in one loud wail she crested that ultimate peak, the light shattering behind her eyelids. She felt him slow down softly kissing and nipping at her. He stood, this time she looked at him. Fit and trim he stood beside the bed, slowly he moved between her thighs and she moved her hands down, stopping him for a moment. She wanted to touch him, wanted to know him as well. She found the hardness of him in her hand, and softly she stroked and moved against the velvet heat. He sucked in air as she stroked him, her hands grazing him and she felt the massive member grow even harder in her hand. He pulled back suddenly. “No more, I want you now.” He pushed her knees back spreading her as wide as he could. She felt the head against her womanhood and she waited for the pain. He moved carefully, slipping the head around her opening, probing until he found it. She felt him move, pushing in slightly, only to pull out and move to try once more. He was large, larger than she had anticipated but the pressure of him there felt good. He slid in as deep as he could, finding her barrier there and he glanced up at her face, a look of surprise filling him. She knew he would stop now and instead she took control, thrusting upward until he was completed encased within her. She felt the pain burn, but the damage was done now. She looked up at him, a strange look on his face as he moved slowly, knowing there was not turning back now. He pulled back, carefully sliding back in more and more until she no longer felt the burn or the pain, but instead she wanted to find a rhythm with him. He thrust gently into her, this time filling her completely. She heard a low

moan in his throat as he did it over and over, until soon he was wildly pumping into her body, the length of him buried deep. They moved together, both moaning loudly as they took from the other, until he collapsed over her, with one final thrust. As he pulled away, he lay beside her on the bed, both of them lost in the moment. After a moment she glanced over at him, his handsome face staring at her hard. “You were a virgin.” It was a statement, more than a question. She felt his concern, but he pulled her to him nonetheless, cupping her beside him as he sighed. “Yes, was it… I mean was I..” “You were perfect, but you shouldn’t have wasted it on me honey.” He sighed, dropping a kiss on her cheek. “Let's get some sleep.”

REGINALD He looked down at the mass of flaming hair sprawled across the pillow. She had been more than he had bargained for when he saw her in the bar. Curvy and beautiful and now in the reality of the sunrise, she was young. Too young for him anyway. It had been a long time since he had slept like that, the good sleep that keeps you in bed longer than you should be. He slipped on his shoes watching as she rolled over in the sunshine, still sound asleep. The blankets had been tossed away, her curvy frame exposed to him now and he drank her in. She was shorter than him, her body molded just right when he pressed into it. Her breasts were glorious, and larger. Now rested the nipples were soft and supple. Her belly was just slightly there, but her hips were curvy, and reminded him of a roller coaster as he ran his hands over them more than a couple times in the night. She was beautiful and wonderful. And a virgin. He tried not to think about it but it was the truth. She had given him that, and it was a night he would never remember. He slipped out of the room and down to the front desk where he paid for a late check out, and ordered her room service in the morning. Additionally, he left $50 for a cab to get her wherever she needed to go. She would want to shower, and breakfast seemed like it was the least he could do. He slipped into his car, a smile still firmly planted on his face as he thought about the night they had shared. The sex was great, true, but there was something else, something that had struck a chord with him. He had enjoyed her company and her quick wit. Part of him wanted to turn around, but there were rules about this kind of thing. He pulled into his condo, quickly taking a shower to head back into town

for work. He would have to get an assistant and soon. He looked over the list and frowned at what needed to be done. Perhaps today he could find someone who sutured him. He drove into work and made his way upstairs into his office quickly. Only then a few hours later did he find himself settling into his desk and looking over the paperwork that needed to be done. He did his best to put the girl out of his mind, but he was having a hard time forgetting this one. He settled back in his chair, raking a hand through the darkness of his hair. He heard a knock and welcomed them in. “Reggie, hey, I wanted to bring Chelsea by, she is hoping to get a chance to talk to you about that opening.” He smiled widely at his friends and held out his hand to meet his daughter. What he found instead floored him. It was her! Gone was the wanton behavior and the softness and in its place was a full blown professional woman. He searched her face and noticed the paleness in her face. Fortunately, she recovered quickly and took his hand, shaking it methodically. “It's so nice to meet you Mr. Covington, my father always has such wonderful things to say about you.” “Well, I assure you the pleasure is all mine.” He looked at her hard, and then smiled widely. “Your father is convinced you want to work here.” She swallowed hard, “Yes, I am looking for something.” Aside from going home with strange men. He couldn’t help but think it as he watched her flush slightly. “So what are you two up to today?” “Well, I have a meeting and Chelsea is hanging out here while I am gone. Thought it might be a good time for you two to chat.” Ben smiled at them both. “Dad, I don’t need a babysitter I am fine. I am sure Mr. Convington has more pressing issues.” “Oh no, not at all Chelsea, why not talk about the position and see how you feel about it. She is in good hands Ben.” He gave him a smile and watched as Ben gave her a slight hug before heading out. Silence filled the room as they both waited for the other to say something. He finally went first. “So I don’t know what you're up to “Linda” but I can assure you no good will come of it.” She spun around and face him, her eyes full of fire. “What are you talking about? I am not up to anything I had no idea who you were last night.” She clenched her fists and he smiled at her. “It seems you're more passionate in more ways than one.” He watched her

face flush and she relaxed slightly. She faced him now, looking him over. “Last night was… well wonderful, but I didn’t know you would be gone this morning. But then I didn’t think I’d run into you like this either.” “I assumed leaving was just simpler. Did you enjoy breakfast?” He smiled. She sat down in a chair across from him. “Yes, and thank you.” She picked at the string on the leather of the chair. He looked at her closely, she was in a black and white dress, her body fitting its curves into every inch of it. Looking at her today she was even more beautiful than she had seemed last night. “I really enjoyed last night, and not just the obvious part of it. I enjoyed talking to you. You’re a smart girl.” “Well, I'm not a girl, I'm a woman so there's that. I am smart I graduated at the top of my class and I want to get in on the ground floor somewhere and make something of myself.” “So you do want the job?” He gave her a smile and watched her turn another shade of red. She crossed her arms angrily. “I don’t really think that’s a good idea, do you?” He stared at her hard and long thinking of the best way to answer her question. On one hand, she was more than qualified for the job, but on the other he would have to look at her all day, and never get anything done. “I leave that up to you.”

CHELSEA She glanced up at him, and the smile he seemed to have plastered on his face. He was gorgeous, even if he was a little older. His hair was almost black with just a slight tinge of gray at the temples and the goatee suited him. He seemed unbothered by all of this, which she found strange considering she was his friend's daughter. “This whole thing with us… we have to forget it ever happened. I mean, if I am working here.” She waited for his response. He exhaled sharply. “That may be a problem, I want you again right now.” She glanced up to meet his eyes and she felt the heat rush through her. There was no doubt that he knew she felt the same thing. Standing, she decided to go find another place to wait for her father. She smoothed down her dress and grabbed her things to go. “I should probably go find a place to wait for him.”

He stood then moved across the room to stand in front of her. “He will be at least a couple hours. At least have lunch with me.” She felt the passion coursing through her the closer he stood to her. Instead of touching her, like she thought he would do he moved towards the door. She nodded at him, what harm could come for lunch? Once in a public place the atmosphere changed drastically. He easily slipped into corporate mode, his tone changing and shifting as he talked about the company. She found herself enthralled with him, listening as he spoke and asking questions along the way. “So when we see a company, we want to take it.” He gave her a smile as the food was delivered. She frowned at him. “It seems to me there is a better way to do it, some sort of finesse in the way you handle things.” “Such as?” “Have a floater, one who goes in schmoozes things over, you know makes nice.” She took a long drink. “That way there is a friendly partnership and not just someone taking something from someone else.” He leaned back in his chair. Watching her and she felt the tension rising in the air. “You are so beautiful Chelsea. I don’t know how you're not married and settled already.” “Would that make all of this easier for you Reg? Me being saddled with a husband and a baby?” She watched his face shift and she knew she had touched a nerve. “Anyway, I'll happily take their position if you will have me.” She felt the double meaning in her words and she blushed profusely. “Even that, the blushing… it makes me crazy Chelsea.” They looked at each other long and hard only to be interrupted by a waiter. He walked with her back towards the car, parked in an alcove. Once more she was lost in thought as she moved. He touched her lower back with the palm of his hands and she jumped. “I can't help but be a gentleman Chelsea, I won't hurt you.” He paused at the car, brushing a wisp of hair back from her face. She glanced up at him quickly. “I know you wouldn’t hurt me Reg, I'm not sure how but I know that. It’s just you… drives me crazy.” His mouth crushed hers in a searing kiss and she felt her body respond to him. Winding his hands in her hair, he pulled her to him, pressing the length of his body against hers. The kiss went on, both eager to feel the other until finally he pulled away.

“We can’t do this, I don’t know what's wrong with me, you're my friend’s daughter for goodness sake, and I am old enough to be your father. It wouldn’t work.” He swore and dropped his hands. She felt his rejection like a bitterness that swallowed her up. “Don’t worry Reg., I won't be a problem in the office or out.” The ride back was almost awkward in the silence that surrounded them. She felt his eyes on her more than once, but she held fast to his deep rooted ideas about what he could or couldn’t do with her. Once they made it back, she made her way into the building, leaving him to follow her. She had almost succeeded in ignoring him completely until she felt him hook her elbow and pulling her into an empty office space. “What Chelsea, what is wrong? You seem fine, then I kiss you and now you are pissed off at me!?” “I'm not angry Reg.” She yanked her arm back. “I don’t know what I am to tell the truth. I have this night with you, and now we can't even be in the same room without fighting or touching each other.” “I didn’t know who you were Chelsea..” “Or what Reg? You wouldn’t have fucked me last night? Wouldn’t have woken me up in the middle of the night to touch me and then have breakfast delivered so you could run? “That’s not fair, Chelsea… or Linda. I have done nothing wrong, in fact, you invited yourself home with me if my memory serves me correctly.” She felt the impact of his words, knowing full well he was right. She sighed, looking up at him. “You're right, about everything. I don’t know what I expected. I’m sorry Reg, really.” She slipped out of the room and back up the stairs, opting to wait for her father somewhere else in the building. She was sitting in the main lobby reading when he finally showed up. He smiled at her as she stood and joined him. He was a good guy and moving back was the best thing she could have done. “What you want for dinner, Chelsea?” “Anything is good, I can cook something when we get home.” “Oh no… Reggie told me you got the job, so tonight I am taking us to dinner.” He smiled at her. She felt a sinking sensation in her stomach, either from the excitement of working with him, or simply seeing him again tomorrow.

REGINALD

He said the words, but had his reservations about it now that Ben was gone. She would be a wonderful asset to have on the team, but he would have to stay away from her for good. There was something about her that made him want to do more, or push the company into being better somehow. He thought about going out, but there was something unsettling about it now. Chelsea had put him on edge about meeting women in bars. He went home his focus on work, and of what he was doing with himself. Maybe there was more to life than just womanizing and making money. He knew he had no right to even think about her in any way at all. She was too young for him, too sweet and innocent. His age and life experience would break her down and he wouldn’t do that to her, despite the second guessing he was doing about the situation. She was waiting for him the next morning, all smiles and indifference. He looked her over, his stomach flip flopping as she bent over the desk to get a folder that had all of the upcoming appointment files. She excused herself and made her way out and into her office, and he could do nothing more than watch her go. The next two weeks he saw her, working beside her in many things. She did her best to be pleasant, but he could still see something in her eyes and he felt awful for it. He found himself. At the beginning of the third week he decided to go find her once and for all, they had to clear the air. Wondering about her all the time was doing no good. “You’ve been busy, ” He took in the work space she had been given. There were various stacked invoices and property deed all neatly sorted into manageable stack and everything was arranged so that she could sort and file things away. She turned to look at him with a smile on her face. “Yes, in fact, there are a lot of things I want to go over with you, can we set aside some time to work on it?” “Sure, Chelsea. In fact, I have a couple hours now.” “Great” She dug out a file to give him, both of them settling in to discuss it. He could smell her perfume, and that only made him think of the smell of her skin. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and looked down at the form once more. “Reg, I just wanted to thank you for accepting my apology and for making it so that I can work here. I love the work, and there are so many ideas I have.” She looked so sincere, he couldn’t help but smile at her. “Chelsea you had no reason to apologize. I'm glad you’re here. In fact, I wanted to ask you something.” He paused when Brian Sommerville came into

the room. “Brian hey there.” Reg held out his hand to the young associate. “Mr. Covington, hello sir.” He stood up straighter, nodding at him, clearly seeking approval. “I just wanted to confirm dinner with Chelsea, and then I'll be on my way.” She smiled at him sweetly, and Reg felt his stomach turn. After he was gone he stood, frowning as he thought about Chelsea with that young idiot. He walked over to look at the increasing pile of documents. “Chelsea, I think I am going to go get a drink, think we could move this to my office in say, an hour?” “Sure sounds good, I'll see you there.” She never glanced up at him and the pain he felt was intense. He made his way into his office, all the while he clenched his fists in frustration. So she was dating, he should be happy for her in that. The fact of the matter was that he simply wasn’t. In fact the idea of Somerville touching her at all set him on fire. He was waiting for her when she arrived, more determined now than ever to prove that he still affected her.

CHELSEA She smiled as she heard him leave her office. Everything was as it should be. She was in love with the fool, and when it had happened she wasn’t sure. She smiled to herself, remembering the look on his face when he had gone, there was some distaste over her choice in dating partner there, she just knew it. Over the last two weeks they had worked together, but the underlying tension was still present. She had thought to tell him how she felt, and tell him about the other thing, but she wanted him to face his feelings first. She turned to go, catching herself cupping her stomach slightly. She knew so much that would change everything. She turned to go, casually making her way to his office where he was no doubt pacing and waiting. She opened the door and he stood by the window, lost in thought and she had to home she was the reason why. She paid no attention to him as he turned to face her. She walked over to the window to join him, looking casually down into the streets below. “Busy day out there, isn’t it,” she smiled at him sweetly and soon she found herself in his arms once more. She kissed him back, uncaring about anything other than the way he felt, his mouth and his touch both consuming her in fire only he could create. She

kissed him back her body melting into his hands. Until the door opened. “What the hell are you doing to my daughter Reggie.” He moved quickly, coming between the two of them in a rush of motion. “Oh no.” She moved between them, doing her best to calm the already festering situation. “Dad calm down, he isn’t doing anything I didn’t want him to.” She looked at Reg, his face, glancing between both her and her father. “Ben, listen I know you won't believe this, but I never meant for it to happen… I didn’t even know who she was.” “You son of a bitch, I don’t care. You know now don’t you? Damn Reggie she could be your daughter.” “Alright Dad, that’s enough! I am a grown woman and I can do who and whatever I want.” Her father looked at her, and swore once more before he stormed out, leaving her to face Reg alone. She didn’t look at him, instead she made her way across the room to quietly lock the door behind her father. Walking back over to him she felt the pain he was feeling, his head he held in his hands and he looked up at her. “Well, that didn’t go well at all.” He tried to joke, but it was clear that he was concerned. “I meant what I said Reg, I'm a grown woman.” “Yes, you are Chelsea, but that doesn’t make what he said any less right as well.” “None of that matters to me, you know that.” She tried to get him to look at her. “No, I guess not now. I mean really Chelsea Simmons?” Finally, he looked up at her and she felt his anger boiling up. “That kid is green as hell, and there is no way he is going to keep you satisfied… in any way.” She had him exactly where she wanted him. “Well, you didn’t want me so that’s not really for you to say now is it?” She turned, ready to storm out and he was on her in an instant. She felt him pulled her to him roughly, his face inches above hers. The kiss was demanding and full of emotion. There were not words between them as they pulled the clothes from each other, tossing them on the floor of his office. He buried his head in the crook of her neck as he fell onto the soft leather of the couch in the office space, in front of the window. She straddled him, feeling his hands on her everywhere at once. He nipped his way down her body, feasting on her upturned breasts, first one and then the other.

Unlike before this was rough, eager and demanding. She held them up to his mouth offering herself to him, and the onslaught of his mouth. She felt his hands grazing and dipping lower until he was rubbing and moving over her wet heat, seeking and searching for proof of her excitement. She wanted release, needed it and moved her hips against his hands, grinding into his fingers until he stopped her, then moved to gently to shift his weight until she took control, gently sliding the length of him inside her as she rode down on him. She felt herself overthinking for a moment, offering her weight was an issue, he made quick work of that by gripping her hips, and pulling her down onto him until she was full of his length. She stopped momentarily, the feel of him almost overwhelming as she slowly moved, rocking on him, until she found a satisfying rhythm that they both enjoyed. She slid first up and then back down on him, moving in slow circled up and down the length of him, slowly, languidly until he finally had enough. He gripped her hips in his hands holding her there for a long moment and he then moved once more. “Stand up Chelsea.” She did as he asked, waiting her breath coming in short gasps until he stood behind her, his hands sliding up her hips and across her stomach to cup her full breasts from behind. She leaned back against him, the soft hair on his chest pressing into her back as he tugged and pulled on her nipples until he knew they were full and hard. Gently then he pushed her forward, until she was standing beside the couch, she felt the pressure of his hands as he bent her over it until the hardness of her nipples were pressed into the soft leather arm of the couch. Her backside faced up at him and she felt him moving, running his hands up her inner thighs until he moved and she felt the pressure of him. She moaned loudly as he pushed into her from behind, reveling in the new sensations she was feeling. He slid in slowly, first moving a little more of him at a time until he was fully pushed to the hilt. She moved slightly at the fullness of him, raising her leg until it rested on the couch and she was more open to him. He moved then, pushing into her with such deep thrusts she gasped with each push. Soon they found the age old rhythm as she arched her back to take every inch of him. She felt her body tensing up as she neared the peak of excitement. Soon she moaned loudly as she crested the peak, and he soon followed. She felt him lean on her for a moment, before he was gone again. She took a deep breath and stood, carefully redressing and tidying up from the experience. She looked at him, but he dressed, avoiding her eyes. She felt eh heat between them still, knowing there was more that needed to be talked

about. Finally, he looked up at her. “I’d say I'm sorry, but I'm not Chelsea. I've wanted to touch you for weeks, and then that damn kid came in eager and…” He trailed off. “I don’t want him Reg, you know that.” She waited, pausing to look at him. He ran a hand through his hair. “That’s not the point, you should want him…. You should go out with him.” She felt the pain start deep down. “You don’t mean that Reg, I know you don’t.” “I can't give you what you want Chelsea.” He gave her a pained look. “You don’t even know what I want, you never seem to think about asking me what I want.” She grabbed her things, and spun around to leave. Giving him one last look before she was gone.

REGINALD He watched her go, hating himself for touching her, for loving her and for everything in between. What he hated the most was hurting her, of all things, he never meant for her to hurt. He had sworn to not even bring up Simmons, to not say or do anything to let her know he was bothered by him, but it had been too much, and now he had basically pushed her towards him. There had been no intention of touching her either, but that had been thrown out the window quickly. She had given him that look, and stood up to her father for him. Seeing her on fire like that had pushed him over the edge and he was drawn to her, more than ever before. What he felt for her was more than he could put a name to, more than he could really handle. He poured himself a drink, swirling the amber liquid around as he thought about her with him. There was something about her, a glow she seemed to carry every time he saw her that ripped into him like fire. For more than an hour he sat there, lost in his own thoughts. He had been the first to touch her and he damn well wanted to be the last. He also knew he was a coward, and he wasn’t made for commitment. Hand picking a few women to have fun with, that was more his style. At least it had been before, Chelsea had come into his life on a night he had never seen coming. He knew the first thing he needed to do was work things out with Ben, and do his best to explain. Then he would talk to her, explain why he can't be more for her. He smiled as an idea came to him, he quickly dialed the number in the file he found. Once that was done, he smiled to himself as he left the building. He made his way to Ben’s house, knowing she may be there, hoping in fact that she

could be there and make him feel better. Knowing she was safe. The steps he took to the door were some the hardest he could remember taking. He knocked twice and waited. The door came open in a short burst. “What do you want Reggie, haven’t you done enough?” “I know your pissed Ben, hell I’d kill you for less. Can we talk, please?” Ben moved aside, letting him into the foyer of the house. He glanced around quickly. “She's gone, if that's what you're doing… looking for her?” He frowned. “What do you mean she is gone? Gone where?” Ben sighed, pouring himself a cup of coffee. “Back to her mothers, I guess. Wherever she is going it’s your fault. She was fine until this afternoon, then she packed her things, tossed them in her car and was gone.” “Damn it!” He stood again once more thinking about how he could find her quickly. “Where is her mother? I mean literally, Ben, it's important.” “Why the hell would I tell you that?” Reg took a deep breath calming himself. “You're right, I owe you an apology Ben. I met her and it was all a mix up. I didn’t know who she was and then when she showed up that day…” “Why didn’t you stop it, why did you let her fall in love with you, the player that you are. I mean only a couple months ago employees were dropping like flies, because of you.” He felt his temper rising, but the truth was there, right out and open. “You're right Ben, but it's not like that with her.” Ben snorted. “Why because she is fresh and new and young. We both know you Reggie, you don’t change.” “I love her Ben.” They both stopped, each surprised for different reasons. Ben slumped down in the chair at the kitchen table, taking a long drink from the glass sitting there. Reg followed suit, pouring a drink for himself in the glass Ben handed him. He took a long drink, thinking about her and what would happen when he found her. “She loves you too you know, in case you missed that part earlier.” “I don’t know how to do this Ben, I mean I love her I want to be there… I want to protect her and… I just don’t know what to do next.” “Not much else you can do except tell her.” He glanced up at Ben then, his face a mask of concern. “She loves you, it would kill her if you didn’t approve.” Ben sighed loudly. “You know today, when she left I think I would have

done anything to keep her safe. That’s the part of being a father you will have to learn to get used to. Then I realized there was something more, something bigger that she needed. The man in her life wasn’t me anymore.” He took a drink. “She is in town at the Braymore Hotel. She is heading to Fauquier to her mother’s tomorrow. She needed a place to go think.” Reg jumped up grabbing the keys he had tossed on the table a moment before. He turned to go, pausing only once. “Wait, what did you say?”

CHELSEA She stared out the window of the room she had rented. Letting the tears fall freely down her face now that she was alone. She hated all of them, falling down her cheeks a reminder of the pain she felt. He’d been honest, she couldn’t fault him for that. She had tried and he had said no. Even her date with Simmons had been a bust, something about a call from a big project that needed his attention. She would give herself tonight, one night to feel sorry for herself. Tomorrow she had much bigger things to deal with. She heard the door, and frowned as she made her way over to it. She peeked through the hole and took a step back, swallowing hard. Opening the door, she let him in. “Chelsea, are you ok, I mean, do you feel ok?” She rolled her eyes. “I guess he told you then?” “Why did he have to tell me Chelsea, why wouldn’t you? A baby I mean a baby Chelsea?” She felt her temper rising, and her voice followed suit. “I didn’t do it on my own Reg.” He sighed loudly. “I know, I know. Just sit down here.” She did, crossing her legs and arms simultaneously. He sat down across from her, and she waited, all the while looking him over, his face as perfect and she did her best to remember each and every detail of it. “Why are you here Reg? I was going to tell you, you have to know that.” “I know, but you didn’t. You just left today and said nothing.” She laughed, letting the tears well up once more. “I set the whole thing up like an idiot. Getting Simmons to ask me out, just to make you jealous.” She sniffed loudly. “Then I was going to seduce you… and it worked and still even then, you said sorry can't.” “Oh Chelsea, that’s on me. I let you walk out of there and I sat there kicking myself, hating to hurt you. You took the light with you, when you left. I

felt everything go with you and I knew then I could let you. I couldn’t watch you go and leave me waiting and wanting you the way I do. I went to your fathers, to tell him the truth.” “I’m sure he figured it out Reg.” “No Chelsea, not that truth. The truth about me.” She glanced up at him, waiting not giving an ounce of attention to the hope that welled up within her. She watched his face, the raw emotion there made her heart beat even faster as she watched him speaking the words she longed to hear. “I love you Chelsea, I don’t know when it happened or what I need to do now because the truth is I am lost here. I am so completely out of my element and my comfort zone. All I know is I love you, and I want you. I don’t want anyone else to touch you, not ever.” She smiled up at him, letting the tears fall freely as he spoke. “I love you too Reg, I have always loved you.” She stood then, feeling the warmth of him as he pulled her to him, his mouth finding hers in a deep sweet kiss. She let the clothes she word fall to the ground. Lifting his hands, she lifted her breasts up to him and he soon found himself buried in them, breathing deeply. He moved carefully, as though she was delicate. She managed to take over moving him herself. She freed him of his clothes, this time pushing him back on the bed. “Chelsea we don’t have to..” “Shut up Reg, just let me love you.” He moved slightly as she took his already stiff member in her hand, gently caressing it with her hand. He moaned as she moved over him, carefully until she moistened her lips and took him in her mouth. He stiffened groaning as she moved her mouth over him, slowly and agonizingly carefully. She ran her tongue along the length of him, and suckled him in once more until she felt him moving, quickly changing place and he buried his length into her deep and true. There were no words of love that needed to be shared as he loved her with everything he had. His movements moved faster and deeper and she met him thrust for thrust, calling out his name with each new push. She found her release first, moaning out his name as she did, gripping the bed beneath her head. He soon followed, and with one last push he called out her name. He lay on the bed beside her, taking in her naked form, she smiled at him as he reached out to gently touch her stomach, as if he knew what was to come, or expected something to be there for him. She covered his hand with hers and smiled as he pulled her into him, keeping her there as he had once done before.

The months seem to fly by as they adjusted to a new life together. Reg was no longer afraid of loving her and was happier for it. She stood once more, rubbing her lower back as it cramped once more. It had been like this all day and she was ready to have this baby out and into the world once and for all. She made her way back into the kitchen of his condo. She was still here, and he would join her later tonight after work. The house they were building was taking longer than anticipated, but soon it would be ready for them. She felt the cramp once more and frowned as she felt something wet between her thighs and she knew then this was no normal back ache. She dialed his phone and heard his panic stricken voice on the other end. “You ok, baby?” “Reg, calm down you’d think you were the one in labor.” “Labor! Ok oh oh Ok labor.” She managed to giggle through the pain. “Just come home and take me to the hospital, please.” “Oh damn, I mean, yes I'm on the way.” She laughed as she realized he had simply tossed his phone down and left, never even taking the time to hang up. She made her way to the bench by the front door, breathing through the cramps, but all the while smiling as she wondered if this was going to be more like raising two children. Pulling up, he jumped out together, helping her walk towards the car one step at a time. She noticed his face a mask of fear and she patted his leg as he drove. “Reg listen to me. I need you, and we need you to be ok. Now calm down and get me there safely.” He relaxed some, taking in a deep breath as he pulled into the hospital and helped her inside. She was loved and she knew it in every action he took. She found her father, equally terrified waiting for her inside and she rolled her eyes slightly. He helped her get the wheelchair into the nurses offered and before long she found herself safely tucked into a bed, hooked up to more than a couple monitors, and gripping the side rails of the bed tightly. He was by her side, and she felt his love with every push and soon she found herself holding an 8 pound baby boy, with eyes as clear as his fathers. She smiled up at her husband, and saw the tears of joy in his face, knowing he was as much in love with this baby as she was. He frowned slightly, and she knew he had his doubts. “Chelsea, he is perfect.” “Yes, he is.” She agreed eagerly. “I worry… about what I can do. Do you worry about my age Chelsea?”

“Reg, I love you, I married you and I just gave you a son. There is very little I am worried about. Your age is nothing to me, as long as you love us, we love you too.” “I don’t think I have ever been this happy Chelsea, I suppose I'll have to stop calling you Linda now.” She laughed slightly. “In our room, you can call me a good many things, as long as you always remember just who I am.” “I think I am happy with Chelsea, my wife.” “Let's name this young man, and then you get some rest. I’m no young man anymore. Before long I'll need you to take care of me too you know.” He moved away from the bed to get some water. She smiled as he laughed and she threw the pillow beside her at him. They were happier than they had ever been.

MORE BILLIONAIRE ROMANCE

L oads of steamy billionaire boss action in here! THE BILLIONAIRE’S SURROGATE

CAMILLE

THE ATMOSPHERE in the casino was electric. All around me, faces were watching the game, sharing in my success, living vicariously. Through me. If you've ever been the center of attention, the one person in the room no one can keep their eyes off of, you know how addictive it is. I wasn't addicted to gambling. I'd done it a couple of times and I'd won and lost. Nothing prolific, nothing to urge me to go there again. But this, this was different. I was breathing my success; it had replaced the oxygen in the air. A downer of a night at a friend's party had driven us here. Sharon had left at midnight. One more round of Blackjack, I'd told myself, and I was leaving, too. Everything changed, then. I started winning. Winning big. Winning big is addictive. The gasps and the cheers and the fan base you build when you're winning and winning and winning again are addictive. I never understood people who gave up everything for gambling. I still don't. I wasn't giving everything up, I was making the Casino cough up the dough. A cute guy sat across from me and he made eye contact. Cerulean blue

eyes. Flawless skin. A smile that made me weak at the knees. He was going to ask for my number after the game. Or ask for me to join him in his hotel room. Maybe we would have a couple of drinks before undressed me. Maybe he would dive between my legs without waiting, leading me to a different kind of climax than what I was running on now. I was aware of my dress against my skin, my low neckline and what he saw. Caramel skin. Big curly hair. The swells of my breasts rising and falling with my breathing. My lips, full and plump and glossy. The money in front of me, making me worth it. I played another hand. Winner, winner, chicken dinner. He was looking at my cleavage when I looked at him again and I liked it. I wanted him to stare. After tonight, when I'd won my money back more than fivefold, I was going to make sure that he knew all about winning, too. The look in his eyes said it all. He wanted me. "You should cash in," a woman said behind me and when I looked over my shoulder I frowned. She looked like the motherly type. Maybe even the grandmotherly. She still wore a mink stole the way they used to back in the day. Wrinkles on her face suggested she was too old to understand that I was building my own future here. I ignored her. I was on a roll. Everything slowed down. My heart thundered in my ears. I felt the crowd around me draw a breath. I held my own. The electric blue eyes and the green felt table was the backdrop to my winning streak. After this, my life would never be the same. I put the final card down. The dealer played his hand. Everything around me shattered. The crowd exhaled disappointment. The dealer won this hand and drew my money away from me. The whole pile of chips. I watched it move away from me in a blur. I looked up at Mr. Blue Eyes. He stood up without looking at me and sauntered away. I looked back at the chips, counting the white space between every heartbeat. That woman had been right, I should have cashed my chips when I was ahead. And I had been right, too. My life would never be the same. I had a hundred left in my pocket. A crumpled note that seemed forlorn and weary after the gold I'd had at my fingertips. I sat down at the bar and ordered vodka. A lot of it. I was going to drown my sorrows. If I ended up drowning myself in the process, so be it. Somewhere Sharon arrived and grabbed me by the arm. "What the hell is wrong with you, Camille?" Her tone was pitying, not angry. I let her pull me to my feet. The room spun. There were three bartenders when the whole night there had only been one. I felt like vomiting. This was

what being a failure felt like. It tasted bitter in my throat. "You could have used the last money to get a cab instead of drinking yourself into a stupor. I'm glad you called me instead of plastering yourself to a pavement." I'd called her? I let Sharon steer me out of the door, through the parking lot, toward her car. "You lost everything, didn't you?" I couldn't hold it anymore and threw up on the tarmac right next to her car. I heaved and retched until there was nothing left. "God, it's all on your dress. You couldn't have bent over first?" I thought I had. A tissue appeared in front of me and I wiped my mouth. Sharon opened her car door. "You owe me for the smell of puke that's going to linger for the next three months." I owed her but there was no money. Didn't she know that? I put my head on my knees, smelling the coconut body butter I'd put on after showering to come out, mixed with the sweet-sour tinge of vomit. My head spun as fast as the wheels did as Sharon drove back to the dorm. She parked and helped me out of the front seat like a child, steering me into the building. Inside I pulled my own clothes off. It felt like sandpaper on my skin. I needed to get out of it. The bed was softer than I remembered it. The room danced around me and threatened to make me throw up again but darkness closed in and I let it take over. This was much better than vomiting and spinning. Sharon said something but I was too busy concentrating on the darkness coming at me to save me. When I opened my eyes light pierced my eyes and I complained, closing them again. My head throbbed. I rolled over, my head lolling off the bed. The cold air in the room tingled over my skin and I sat up. Too fast. The world spun around me. God, how much did I drink? I pressed the palm against my head, trying to calm the fluttering pain. It didn't help. I was naked and hungover over and... The events of the night before rushed toward me and hit me in the face like a physical punch. My stomach turned and I scrambled to the bathroom, making it all the way to the toilet. It tasted like old alcohol and despair. I hugged the toilet for half an hour before sitting back. Fifty grand. That was how much I'd lost. No, I'd lost a lot more. I'd started off with fifty grand. I'd doubled it and doubled it again and one more time before I'd lost it. I pulled myself up over the basin and splashed water on my face. Reality was a cold hearted bitch.

What was I going to do? My mom had given me everything she had to finish my degree, to take care of myself while I was away from home. She'd been a hairdresser all her life with nothing more than a diploma. She'd given me that money so that I could make more of myself than she'd been able to. I'd meant to make the money more. My car was on the verge of breaking down so I had to keep taking the bus. I needed new clothes. I wanted new clothes. I'd wanted to make the money more. Instead, I'd lost it all. I was studying finances. I should have understood the concept of probability. I should have known better. Should have, would have, could have. Those never helped anyone. They sure as shit wouldn't help me. I needed to make a plan to get money. I couldn't tell Mama. If she found out what I'd done she would never forgive me. She wouldn't be angry. She would be disappointed. The worst thing in the world was to disappoint Mama. I showered in the dorm showers and got dressed. I took two Aspirin, a glass of tomato juice from my little fridge, and felt just as shit as before. This was going to be the darkest day of my life. A newspaper was in on a table in the communal area and I tucked it under my arm. I went downstairs and waited for the bus. I needed to start looking for a job to earn back that money if I wanted to pay my way through school at all. The movement in the bus made me wonder if I was going to throw up again. Would it wash out of the suede jacket of the woman next to me? I opened the newspaper, hoping it would distract me from my rolling stomach. My head pounded. The letters danced in front of my eyes. The chances were slim but at this point, all a girl like me could do was hope. I browsed through the classifieds. All the jobs that had money worth working for needed the education I was still in the process of getting. All the other jobs - waitressing, cleaning, tutoring - didn't pay nearly enough to make it worth my time or my degree. I closed my eyes and opened then again. Bad idea with the bus swaying from side to side. I paged through the rest of the newspaper. On the page with the Homosexual and Adult Services ads, something caught my eye. Buried between the Immorals was an ad for a Surrogate Mother. Someone needed a belly to breed a baby in. The payment? Fifty thousand dollars. Exactly what I needed. How long would I have to stay away from my mom for, nine months? I only saw her every six months as it was to save on traveling costs. If I skipped once I could have the baby and be done when I finally went back home. Mama would never have to know.

I looked at the ad again. A surrogate mother. The truth was, I’d done worse.

MARK I had both hands on the steering wheel to ground myself. Marina sat next to me, fussing with her shirt. I glanced at her. Her blond hair fell in a curtain and I couldn't see her face. "Are you sure you want to do this?" She turned her head and I knew I would see her face now if I looked. I didn't look. I knew what her face would look like. Lately, she'd been looking at me with this unbelieving expression. "We talked about this, Mark. We can't just turn around and go home now. The interview is set up. Do you want to leave her hanging?" I shook my head. My knuckles were turning white. God forbid I should leave someone else hanging. Marina was getting what she wanted. This woman we were going to meet, the one that was supposed to carry my baby, was getting what she wanted. What about me? Was I going to get what I wanted? Marina had always wanted a child. It was one of the things on her to-do list when we got married. It hadn't bothered me then that she had this list, that she had a timeline. It should have. I should have asked her if I could see the list and checked if I was on par with her. The house had been fine when we'd bought it but she'd needed an interior decorator to redo the whole thing. Why hadn't we just bought somewhere else if she was unhappy? When I'd asked her she'd told me it wasn't her fault I didn't care what other people thought of us. I didn't understand why it mattered when we were happy. Maybe that was what she meant. When I had the opportunity for a raise but it would take me away from her, she'd urged me to do it. We would just grow sick of each other if we spent the rest of our lives in each other's personal space. I thought that was the point of marriage. She was happy being the housewife while I slaved at the office. Maybe it helped that my PA was too old to be attractive. Maybe Marina knew that I would always come home to her no matter how many reasons she gave me not to. "You have to take Seventh," Marina said. She fussed with her blouse again. "You look fine." "I look old." I frowned and looked at her. I was forty. She was four years younger. We'd

been married for nine years. I was sure she'd married me for my money but I'd never asked. It would have been rude. The doctor had said it wasn't due to her age she couldn't fall pregnant. She blamed me for waiting too long. I wasn't sure if she understood that I wasn't ready to be a father. The same way I hadn't been ready to be a husband when she'd put forward an ultimatum. We'd been dating for three years at that point. Marriage or breakup. That was it for me. I hadn't wanted to lose her. Too often I wondered how my life would have been if I'd chosen myself over her instead. I'd grown used to being a husband. Maybe I would grow used to being a father, too. We parked in front of the St. Joseph Hospital and got out of the car. I tugged on my tie. Marina's heels clacked on the tarmac and then on the linoleum as we walked into the building. The air inside the hospital was cool. It smelled clinical. Doctor Kamal was in his office when he arrived and he smiled, his teeth white against his coffee colored skin. "She's ready for you," he said in his American accent that sounded out of place against his Indian appearance. He gestured toward the room where we were going to conduct the interview and Marina walked first, all business. We were talking about the body that would host her baby - our baby - after all. She was a slight thing, with big brown eyes and even bigger hair and a caramel colored skin. Her lips were a pinkish red and stretched as she smiled. She looked young, healthy, fit. The right kind of body for a baby. Not like Marina's who was patched up with makeup to hide the wrinkles, who had had two plastic surgeries on her breasts to make her body seem as young as she wanted to feel. "Camille Tyson?" Marina asked. The girl nodded. "We're the Owens. I'm Marina, and this is my husband, Mark." I held out a hand and Camille took it. Her skin was soft and warm. She wore jeans so tight it looked painted on and a loose shirt that had settled around her breasts, outlining her body. Hourglass figure. Narrow waist. Upright. None of that mattered. We sat down on opposite sides of the coffee table that was littered with maternity magazines. One was open. Camille had been reading. "Do you understand what we're expecting of you?" Marina asked. She spoke to Camille like she was a child. Camille nodded. "Carry the baby to term." "Our baby," Marina emphasized. Camille nodded. She didn't look like the kind of person that could do with a baby of her own right now. I knew exactly

how she felt. "All your expenses will be paid for the duration of the pregnancy," I said. Marina glanced at me. We hadn't discussed this but I'd decided it for myself. Marina did her best to spend as much as she could of it, but in the end, it was still my money. An expression flicked over Camille's face when I said it but it was too quick for me to read. "How long do you need to think about this?" Marina took out her handheld and poised the stylus. "We are in a bit of a hurry, you can imagine." She was in a hurry. I wished she would stop saying we and us like this was something I'd been dreaming of feverishly. "I don't need to think about this." Camille looked from Marina to me and back. Her eyes were a deep, dark brown. The kind that reminded me of varnished wood, dark, rich. "You're sure?" She nodded. "I'm ready to go when you are." Marina looked at me and there was pure happiness in her eyes. I couldn't remember when last she'd looked at me like that. Her eyes seemed a brighter green than usual and for a second I thought that maybe, just maybe, this would be a turning point for us. Maybe this would be the impossible miracle to save us rather than the spiral of despair I'd come to see it as. We got up, said our goodbyes and waited in the interview room until Camille left. "She's very tan," Marina said when we were alone. "Does that matter? Our baby will have our genes. It's not necessary to discriminate." "She's young, too." I rolled my eyes. "Maybe it will work, then." The quip was unnecessary and I regretted it the moment I said it, but it was too late to take it back. I would man up and mean it. I wasn't going to grovel. Marina's face was an expressionless blank and when Doctor Kamal cleared his throat in the door we both plastered our perfect smiles on and walked into his office. "I have more interviews set up for you," he said. "That's not necessary." I was the one that spoke up. Marina had opened her mouth to say something, maybe she wanted to see more girls. I was happy with Camille. "We want Camille." See, I could do we and us when Marina didn't want it, too. She glared at me but I ignored her. "She's ready to start, so all that's left is to set a date."

Doctor Kamal nodded. He glanced at Marina but she was pouting like a child. She would sulk before the rest of the day and if I didn't do something special for her we would fight. We could go out for dinner later, blow a grand. She would forget. If I threw money at her everything was right with the world. I wondered when I'd stopped seeing that as a problem. Maybe when that had gotten easier than trying to argue with her. "I'll have to do a couple of tests, do some checkups on all of you, and then we can start harvesting." He made it sound terrible, like were crops and we were ready for picking. That was how it would work, though. My side would be easy - a cup and a porn magazine. Marina's would be more invasive. I was glad she was the woman. "I'll phone you and let you know a date. I have to congratulate you on this, though, Mr. and Mrs. Owen. The next step is parenthood." He smiled. We smiled. None of us meant it. I wondered if he knew how worried I was. Maybe he just knew how hard life with Marina would be for the next couple of days. Maybe he was just using a business smile and he didn't care about me and my personal life at all. Either way, this was happening. Smile and wave.

CAMILLE I had an appointment with the doctor. Three weeks and it hadn't really sunk in. I was sure it would only happen when the baby was inside of me. I was doing this for Mama. She deserved this from me, even if she didn't know about it. St. Joseph hospital was big and intimidating. It was a labyrinth of sick people and science and I didn't feel like I belonged. I was scheduled for a checkup with the Doctor Kamal that the Owens were using for the surrogacy. He was nice enough but it made me nervous. I'd only ever gone to female gynecologists. When I finally found his office Mark Owen leaned against the wall. His eyes were closed and he looked tired. Gray had started creeping up his brown sideburns and when he opened his eyes he looked like he'd been far away. "Sorry," I said, not knowing what I was apologizing for. He shook his head and smiled. It looked like the smile had fought through a lot of unhappiness before it surfaced. "Don't be. I was just waiting to talk to Doctor Kamal, I don't have an appointment. Are you here for your checkup?"

I nodded. I was aware of what I'd chosen to wear. Cutoff jeans, a shirt that showed my stomach. I would have dressed differently if I'd known he would be here. "Can I ask you a question?" When people started their sentence with that I always tried to brace myself. Usually, it meant they were going to get personal. I nodded. I was curious now that he'd posed the question. "Do you feel forced into this? Because if you do you need only to give the word and you'll be released from the contract. It's early enough. The moment you're pregnant..." I knew what he was asking me. I had the feeling he wasn't asking me because he thought I felt stuck, though. I had been on board with this from the start. Of course, I had been forced into this situation through my own stupidity but that was beside the point. "I'm perfectly happy to continue," I said. His eyes searched my face for a moment like he wanted to be sure I wasn't lying, and then he nodded. "Good. I'm glad." We stood side by side in silence for a while. He looked at me again. "Are you still studying?" I nodded. "Finance. I just started Third Year. One more year to go." He nodded. There was silence again. I cleared my throat. "What do you do?" "I own a string of investment businesses. It's passive income, really. I worked hard when I was younger but now it's really just about managing it." I nodded. "That sounds like the way to go." I'd noticed his suit and her clothes at the interview. Her earrings had had gems in them. I'd been sure they were the real deal. She'd had a ring on her finger with a diamond so big I would be nervous to walk around in public with it. I hadn't seen their car but I was sure it was a fancy one. These people had a lot of money. I wondered what it would be like to live a life where money was never an object. "It's better than having to work my fingers to the bone every day," Mark agreed. "You and Marina can spend a lot of time together, then." He sighed. "When the baby arrives I expect she'll be too busy for that." That didn't sound very cheerful. I carefully pushed forward. I never knew when to stop. "You'll have time together as new parents, that's always fun." He looked at me and his eyes were sad even though his face was kind and businesslike. His poker face, I thought. "She's really the one who wants the baby. I'm not sure I'm ready to be a

father and I'm sure she'll end up hiring a nanny, anyway. I can't imagine she'll give up her precious time to plod around with a child." That didn't make a lot of sense. "You're not happy about having a baby?" He shook his head. "It's not that I won't love the child, but I don't know how to adjust our lifestyle and I believe it's wrong to let a stranger raise him or her. Marina loves the idea of being a mother. I'm not sure if the practicality of it will appeal to it. And I don't know if I have what it takes to be a father in the true sense of the word. I know what it's like to have someone around that helped with the reproduction process - as my father did - but I want to be able to be there morally, emotionally." It was noble. He'd really given this a lot of thought. And he sounded sure he didn't want to take this road. "Why don't you speak to Marina about it?" He chuckled without emotion at it and after a while of silence, I realized that was the only answer I was going to get. He glanced at his wristwatch. "I have to get going," he said. "I'm going to be late for a meeting. I'll have to schedule a meeting with Doctor Kamal. Good luck to you, and I'll see you soon." "Good afternoon, Mr. Owen." "Mark, please." He smiled and it looked genuine for the first time. He walked down the corridor. I watched him leave. His square shoulders were stiff and upright. His dark hair brushed his collar. He walked with determination. He was a man that knew what he wanted. I felt sorry for him that he was so sure this was something he didn't want. I realized how ironic it was that I felt sorry for him. He was established in life, distinguished as a gentleman, obviously, with a hell of a lot of money and a bombshell of a wife on his arm. He didn't look happy. I imagined people had to be happy about having a baby. Of course, there were always some scenarios where having a baby wasn't the highlight of their lives. Still, this was a choice for both of them. I wondered what she was like when she didn't have her perfect speech on, all her make-up and jewelry, her expensive clothes. Who was Marina, that Mark Owen seemed unhappy about his position in life when he really had everything anyone would ever want? I closed my eyes and pictured him smiling the way he'd smiled when he said I could call him Mark. That smile had been dazzling. It was a glimpse into who he really once. Once upon I time I imagined him to be very charming, suave, gentile. The kind of man that was attractive to every woman. Not that he wasn't attractive now. He still had a very striking face, square jaw, nose as straight as an arrow.

His hair was luscious and thick - men were always so damn lucky when we needed product for our hair - and it hadn't been slicked back this time like it had been last time. I wondered what it would feel like if I pushed my hands into it. I opened my eyes. What the hell was I thinking? He was married. Married and about to be a father. I'd met his wife. And he was like, twice my age. The thought was completely inappropriate. His eyes had slid over my body when I'd arrived but that part had been my fault. I should have dressed differently. I couldn't think like that about him. He was married, not happily but still, and he was old. He was everything I should never want. After the pep talk to myself, the stern admonishing, I felt better. It was just a thought, anyway. Nothing more, and only after he'd left. It wasn't like I was perverted. I just knew how to appreciate something good when I saw it. That was it. Doctor Kamal's door finally opened. "Camille, I'm so sorry. I had to take care of an emergency. Please, come in.” The thought about Mark slipped away as nerves took its place. I walked into the office and took a deep breath. I was scared now. This wasn't implantation yet, but it suddenly hit me what I was doing. What would Sharon say? She had her head screwed on right. She would never make the mistakes I made. She would never end up in a situation like this. The money. I had to keep my mind on the money. There were worse ways to get it. This was all just clinical, an experiment, if you will. My stomach turned to stone and I struggled to breathe. I was going to panic. "Just relax," Doctor Kamal said. Easy for him to say. He wasn't on the receiving end. Just relax. Bah. Nine and a bit months from now it would all be over. I just had to keep telling myself that.

MARK I felt like an idiot when I left the hospital. I was Mark Owen, entrepreneur, billionaire, soon-to-be father. I was calm and confident and controlled. This was what people said about me when I turned my back, when my name up in conversation. I was never involved in scandal, I adored my wife, doted on her, I had everything I could have asked for. My life was perfect. At least, that was what I'd lead everyone to believe. It was easier to put on

a smile when someone looked at me than to admit that something was wrong. It was easier, still, than to have to explain that I lived a life I regretted if I thought about it too much, that I may have been hasty saying yes to an ultimatum, that I may have been giving in - or giving up - when I'd agreed to having a child with Marina. I wasn't ready for any of this. I didn't miss the bachelor life, but I missed a life that belonged to me. I missed being able to be myself and to feel like that was enough. It's a hell of a thing to be missing. It's almost like losing someone you loved and your life is forever empty after that, no matter who else attempts to take their place. The only problem was that the only person I lost was myself and no one was going to comfort me, telling me there was a chance, hope, something that might lead to better days. When people were around me, when they asked, I smiled and told them I had nothing to complain about. I hadn't expected Camille to come down to the hospital. Of course, there was no way I would have been able to know if she would or wouldn't come, but I would have been more prepared if I'd thought someone I knew would be walking toward me. I'd been emotional and vulnerable and as a result I'd said things that I didn't usually talk about. It wasn't all me, though. There was something about her that made it easy to talk to her. She was comfortable to be around. I hadn't felt that around people since... I wasn't sure if I could remember if I'd felt that comfortable with anyone at all. I'd told her all sorts of things that wasn't her business. I should have kept my mouth shut and used my stick on smile. Had she felt it too, though? Had she felt the connection? She hadn't seemed disappointed in me, like I was someone different than she'd expected me to be. She'd just listened. I wondered if she knew how rare that was. I wondered if anyone had the capacity to listen anymore. The people in my life, in my circles were only interested in talking about themselves. Marina's voice was the loudest in that regard. If they weren't discussing themselves, they were discussing someone else. Gossip or gloating. Those were the topics du jour. I shook off the thought. I shouldn't be thinking about Camille. Well, thinking about her was the right thing to do - she was going to 'house' our baby for the next nine months - but I had to think about her as someone that needed an allowance to keep the child safe and nothing else. She was pretty. Her eyes were big and round and caring and thoughtful. Her mouth was quick to smile. Her hair was big and messy and suited her perfectly. Everything about her shouted individuality, freedom, life. Everything that felt absent from my life now that I'd settled down with someone that...

I shook my head, trying to physically remove the thoughts from my mind. Pretty college girls weren't going to be on my mind. I was on the way to fatherhood. Marina was going to be a mother, it was what she always wanted and I'd found a way to give it to her. She was my wife and my sole goal in life was to make sure she was happy. I was going to give her everything she needed because that was what I'd promised to do when I'd married her. For better or worse. Even if it was worse far more often than it was better. Even though sometimes I wasn't sure if I should have meant it, I did at the time. She deserved me to be devoted and loyal and that was what I was going to be. When I arrived home Marina was on the couch, drinking glass of wine. Now that we weren't trying to have a baby anymore she could drink all she wanted again. Sometimes she had more than I liked but we were both adults. She could make her own choices. I stooped over to kiss her. She turned her cheek to me. I pretended it didn't sting and sat down next to her. "How was your day?" She nodded, not looking at me. "Sonya says Charlene and Mike are getting a divorce. We knew it was coming but now that it's actually happening it seems surreal, doesn't it?" I nodded. The lifestyle of the rich and famous. Gossip, gossip, gossip. "Have you heard from Doctor Kamal?" She nodded and took another sip of her wine. "Implantation is set for the thirtieth of May. I got off the phone with him just before you arrived." I breathed in through my nose and out through my mouth. The marble tiles underneath my feet were spotless, gleaming. The imperfections, the veins of darker stone that ran through them, was part of their makeup. No matter how often you polished them. That was why marble was so beautiful. I wondered if that counted for me, too. I'd wanted to talk to the doctor before we set a date. I wanted to ask him if he thought this was a good idea. I'd needed a professional opinion, a voice that wasn't involved. It was too late, now. "Have you been out today?" I asked. I preferred Marina to go out from time to time just to get out of the house. She finished the wine in her glass and put it on the coffee table. I frowned and moved it onto a coaster. "I had coffee with Mavis." "Who?"

She looked at me like I should have known who that was. "I told you about her, Mark. At least, try to pretend you're interested when I speak." Mavis, Carla, Sonya, Danielle, the names had started merging into a sea of facts that I struggled to keep up with. I knew their husbands, we worked together or played golf together or saw each other at the gentleman's club, but I didn't care about their lives the way Marina did. I cared about escaping it all. Marina cared about submerging herself deeper and deeper. "What are we doing for supper tonight? Shall I order in?" Marina stood up and checked herself in the mirror. She fluffed her hair. She pulled her blouse down, stretching it over her cleavage. She reapplied lipstick on already too-red lips. When had she become this woman? When had I stopped seeing her the way I used to? Which image had been true and which had been an illusion? "Let's rather go out. I want to celebrate the implantation, have a bit more to drink before I have to sober up for the harvesting." Right, as long as we could show face in public, spend an obscene amount of money, be somewhere we're forced to have a civil conversation with each other. She turned to me. "Is that alright, honey?" I nodded and smiled my million-dollar smile. "Of course, sweetheart."

CAMILLE I opened my eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling. My head felt like and airy like I'd been drinking, but if I had then I wouldn't be feeling like that anymore. I'd be hanging. A sharp chemical smell pinched my nose and the beeping of monitors pulled me back to reality. I was in the hospital. The implantation. The baby. I wasn't going to be drinking for a couple of months. No hangovers for me. My head throbbed all the same so I closed my eyes again. Something pinched my hand. It was a dull pain, one that I felt strangely numb to. When I moved it slightly something tugged on it and the pain became sharper. The IV needle in my skin. I remembered hyperventilating when they'd stuck it in me. I was terrified of needles. I'd passed out almost immediately when they'd given me the anesthetic because my breathing had been so fast. Maybe that was why my head was swimming. Low voices drew my attention as if I was coming out of a fog and all my senses were sharpening. I focused on them. It was soothing to know I wasn't

alone. I recognized the voices, too. Mark, with his rich voice, and Marina with her specific accent, the one that suggested she came from the south. I was going to hear their voices for a while. "I'm not saying I don't want to have a party. I'm just asking we wait for a couple of days. The implantation just happened." "It's not like she's going to be there, and I'm not pregnant, Mark. There's no reason to wait. Why don't you want our friends to know about the baby?" "I don't mind telling them. I'm happy for the world to know that we're expanding our family. I'm just asking for a few days. I want us just to be us first before we settle into the gossip channel again." This conversation wasn't a happy one. Listening in wasn't soothing and I felt like somehow I was eavesdropping. I opened my eyes and tried to sit up. "No, lie down," Mark said as I'd expected he would. I'd just wanted to stop their argument. When I looked at him he had a hundred-watt smile plastered on his face. Marina was smiling, too, when I looked at her. She put her hand on my leg and rubbed it through the blankets. "How are you feeling?" "Dizzy," I said. They were acting like everything was perfectly fine. Marina smiled, stretched her hand over the bed to Mark. He hesitated only a fraction of a second before he took it. They were united, a couple, smiling, in love. But the hesitation had been there. The smile wasn't a hundred percent genuine. I thought couples who were ready for a baby were in love, happy together. I thought that people with everything they could ever dream of couldn't find a reason not to be happy together. Maybe I thought wrong. "Doctor Kamal said the implantation went really well. We're so happy." Marina really did look happy. I glanced at Mark. He wasn't sure about being a father. He looked happy, too, though. How good was his poker face? Or had he changed his mind? "So that's it?" I asked. "I'm pregnant?" "Potentially," Doctor Kamal's voice came from the door. "We just need to make sure everything's going the way we planned. We have a few days where we'll all be holding our breath. I wouldn't pop the champagne - or in Camille's case, the fruit juice - just yet." Mark gave Marina a pointed look, but it was over so fast I wasn't sure if I'd imagined it. "I want you to come back in the next three days and we'll do a scan, see what's going on in there. I'm sure it will all be fine, but it will be good to know

for sure we're in the clear." He put a hand on Marina's shoulder. His hand was dark against the butter yellow of her blouse, the wheat color of her hair. Bottle blond? Surely not. That would be cheap. "Thank you for everything," Mark said and held out his hand. Doctor Kamal removed his hand from Marina's shoulder to shake Mark's hand. "We have a long road ahead of us but we're off to a good start. That's always a great sign." Marina nodded and smiled. Mark just smiled. Doctor Kamal excused himself and left the room. Mark sat down again. For a moment a very awkward silence hung between us. "Are you carrying on with your classes for the duration of the pregnancy?" Marina asked. I nodded. I couldn't afford to stop it all now. That was what this was all for. Marina's cell phone rang and she left the room to answer. Mark was left alone with me. He cleared his throat and tapped his fingers on the bed. I wasn't sure what he was nervous about but his list was getting increasingly long. "I want you to keep in touch with us, let us know how things are going. We'll be there during the sonar scans and I'll send you a check once a month for your allowance, anything you need." My head was still spinning from the medication but the concept an allowance every month made me feel like I was floating. I'd been stressing about money so badly. I could pay my studies with it and make sure I had all my books. "Thank you so much." Mark shook his head. "Whatever you need, Camille." His eyes fell on mine and they were drowning deep. He smiled and the small wrinkles around his eyes fanned out, changing his face completely. A real smile was so much hotter on him than a fake one. The air around us changed. It got thicker and I struggled to breathe. "It can't be easy sacrificing nine months of your student life to have someone else's baby." The current in the air broke and I felt like gasping for air, the disappointment hitting me square in the chest. Of course, the baby. Whatever I needed to make sure the baby was healthy and safe. God, I was such a fool. It had to be the meds in my system making me think stupid shit like Mark actually caring about me as a person. He was married with a baby on the way - I was the surrogate mom - and I was here thinking all sorts of romantic thoughts about him. I had to be high on medication.

Marina came back into the room. Her eyes were sparkling. When she looked at Mark it was like she dimmed a little. Or was I just dreaming? I was building stories around Mark's confession, the small snippet of an argument I'd heard, what I wanted from Mark. It would be convenient for me if he was interested in me and the spark between him and his wife had died. It would be perfectly disgusting, in fact. It was disgusting that I'd thought it at all. What a bitch I was being. Here they were, on their way to starting a family together, and I was being nasty about it. "We have to get going, honey," Marina said. Mark nodded and looked at me. "Will you be fine?" I took it for what it was this time - a question about the carrier of his baby - and nodded. "You'll probably be able to go back to your dorm in the morning." I nodded again and smiled at them. Marina leaned over me and gave me an awkward hug. "Thank you so much for what you're doing for us. We're happier than you know." She touched my face and they left my room. Her perfume lingered around me after they'd gone. That was what it was all about. They were happy together. They wanted this baby together. I was being ridiculous. I was going to carry this through, give them what they deserved, and behave, otherwise. I closed my eyes again, suddenly tired. This was going to be a long road; the Doctor had said. I agreed with him. Classes, tests, exams, pregnancy. I was going to juggle it all. I just had to tell Sharon. She still didn't know. I wasn't sure how to say it to her. It was something I could worry about later, though. Right now, sleep sounded like the best plan. I took a deep breath, let it out again, and let the medication in my system drag me under again to a deep, warm, black hole.

MARK We had a baby on the way. We had a baby room ready from all the times we'd been trying. We - or at least, I - looked at finances. It wasn't necessary, of course, I would always have enough to care for the child. I did it anyway. Another responsibility, another life, another person in my life that was somehow dependent on me. We announced it to our friends before I felt comfortable with the idea but she waited as long as she was willing to, which was more than she initially would have if I hadn't fought her with it. Celebrations had happened. They were planning a baby shower. They

were just waiting until we knew what the gender was, what colors to arrange. Blue or pink. Yellow, green, gray, those were out. Those were for people who didn’t know, people who didn’t plan right. Materialism could run as far as colors when you had enough money. Sometimes I didn’t understand who Marina had become. I sent Camille a check for the first two months. I didn’t mail it the third. I got in the car, the check signed and in an envelope on my passenger seat, and I drove to the college where she studied. I needed to get out of the house. It was one of the biggest houses in the neighborhood, the most expensive. I felt like I couldn’t breathe when I was in it, like it was too small, closing down on me, suffocating me. Of course, I was just being dramatic. My life was perfect. Everybody told me so. Most days I told that to myself, too. There had been a time when I believed my own lies, but somewhere along the way I’d learned not to trust myself when I told myself how happy I was. That was the start of a very slippery slope. The dorm was a lot like the one where I’d studied, a thousand years ago. It felt like a different life, now, a different person altogether. The brown bricks had faded to a deep, dark color. The steps up to the front door were hollowed out they’d seen so many students’ feet and everywhere there was the sign of life and ambition, sparkling eyes, new goals, the beginning of a journey. Don’t trust the golden glow, I wanted to tell them, there’s still a chance you can end up like me. Her door was closed and music came from underneath it, a tune that crawled under my skin. I knocked on the door, loudly, so she could hear me. The door opened and the music rolled out of it. She stood in front of me wearing pajama bottoms that only covered the most important bits and a t-shirt with Sylvester and Tweety on it. Long, caramel legs went on forever. Her curly hair was pulled back, emphasizing big, surprised eyes. “Mark.” I nodded. She leaned to the side and the music clicked off. I wanted it back. It had been warm and comfortable. I held up the envelope. “I brought you your check.” She took it from me, tracing a finger around the corner before looking up at me. “Trouble at the post office,” I lied. I didn’t have a good reason to be here and now I felt out of place. I could be any of these kids’ father. Soon I would be. The idea made me feel like I was choking. “Are you alright?” Camille asked and she sounded worried. A teenager

was worried about me, one of the wealthiest men in town. “Fine, fine.” I waved my hand. “Do you want to come in?” I peered over her shoulder into the dorm room. It was small, cozy, full of posters and books. I shouldn’t say yes. I should turn around and go home, I knew that. I nodded and stepped into the room when she held open the door. It was warm in her room. Comfortable. She cleared the chair for me, stacking the books on her desk instead so that I could sit down and climbed on her bed. She crossed her legs and pushed a pillow into her lap. Thank God. Her legs were so damn distracting. “Are you enjoying your studies?” I asked. The books on the desk were all finance books. Terribly boring for someone so out there as Camille. She looked like she should be doing art or music or drama instead. She shrugged. “It’s a degree. I can get a job with it. It’s something my family hasn’t had for a while. The degree, I mean.” I nodded. “Your family must be proud.” I thought about the baby. The girl sitting opposite me was pregnant with my child. My and Marina’s child. “Do you have a boyfriend?” I felt like an idiot the moment I asked. That shouldn’t matter. She chuckled and the sound of her laughter was light and airy. Her eyes sparkled and I liked seeing her smile. “Between having a baby and studying finances I won’t have much time for dating.” Right. The baby. It wouldn’t work if she was in a relationship. I should have known. “I am sure they’re all falling at your feet, though, a gorgeous girl like you.” I snapped my mouth shut the moment I’d said it, wondering where the hell that had come from. I wasn’t flirting with her, was I? I was just making conversation. That was it. When I looked at her again she was smiling but the smile was softer than before. She shrugged with one shoulder and her breasts moved underneath her shirt. I forced my eyes away. “I don’t really think I’m cut out for dating,” she said. She was volunteering information. I paid attention, taking the distraction. “Why?” She shrugged. I kept my eyes glued to her face. “I just don’t think I’d be good in a relationship. I can’t seem to figure out what I want, and no one wants someone like that.”

I frowned. “You’d be surprised how many people out there have no idea what they’re doing.” Like me. I had no idea. I wasn’t going to admit to that, though. “You have Marina.” She just had to point that out. I nodded. “I do. But sometimes I wonder if I’ve done the wrong thing. If I married the wrong woman.” She raised her eyebrows at me. Thin and manicured eyebrows. Everything about her was natural and beautiful. “That’s a very heavy statement for someone who’s about to have a baby.” I nodded. I knew it was. I should have kept my mouth shut. Instead, I kept talking like I was drunk or something. I just couldn’t help it. There was something about Camille that made me feel like saying what I wanted to say wasn’t wrong, like she wouldn’t judge me for it. When was the last time I felt like I could tell Marina anything? “How do you know if it’s the right woman?” she asked. It was a fair question. It was the kind of question she was entitled to ask at her age. I should have asked someone that question when I was her age. “I think it has to be someone you’re comfortable with, someone you can talk to. Someone you run to when you feel like everything is crashing around you.” I stopped talking. Those words described her in a lot of ways. Thank God she didn’t know what I was thinking. She nodded and fiddled with the edge of the pillow. “Sometimes the person you’re comfortable with isn’t the person anyone that makes sense, though. Sometimes things can get really crazy.” Was she talking about me? Of course not. I was being ridiculous now. I was just in a bad place. And the wrong place. I shouldn’t be here. I slapped my hands down on my knees and got up. “I have to get going.” I walked to the door. Camille got off her bed and that put her right up against me. I heard her breath catch in her throat. I was aware of how close she was. I pushed the thoughts away. I was being ridiculous. Marina. I had to think of Marina and the baby. The baby Camille was carrying. Shit. I pushed the thoughts away and she pulled the door open for me. “Thank you for the money.” I nodded without looking at her and walked away. I waited until I heard the door click shut. It felt like it took forever. When it finally did, I turned around and looked back.

The drive home was restless. I felt like there were bugs on my skin. My clothes irritated me. The traffic was too heavy, I was edgy and irritated. I had to go to the office to pick up the documents I needed to send off but I didn’t feel like all the glass and chrome – another prison. Instead, I just drove home. There was a car in the driveway, one I didn’t recognize. I opened the front door. “Honey?” No answer. The lounge was empty. No one on the terrace. I started up the stairs. The house was quiet. Quiet and full, like a secret, not like loneliness. I pushed the bedroom door open. She was on the bed, naked. Her blond hair hung down her back. Hands gripped her hips, dark against her light skin. I knew what I was seeing but I didn’t feel anything. I cleared my throat. She whipped her head around and her face changed to a mask of horror. She tumbled off the man she’d been fucking and clutched the sheets to her chest like I hadn’t seen her naked before. I looked at him. Doctor Kamal. “Mark.” Her voice was pleading. He looked at me, frozen, unsure what I was going to do. “I’m going to go for a drive,” I said. My voice was calm. It sounded distant like it didn’t belong to me. “When I get back I would like for you to be dressed.” I looked at Kamal. “And you… you had better be gone by the time I get back.” The last sentence was a threat. My calm voice made it sound that much more menacing. I turned around and walked back downstairs, taking my car keys from the counter. I didn’t know this person. I didn’t know myself. Then again, when last had I known myself?

CAMILLE My doctor’s visit was coming up. I was starting to get nervous. I’d been to the doctor jut after implantation to make sure everything had gone well, but after that, it had been life as normal. Except for the fact that I couldn’t drink and that I threw up all the time. Why did they call it morning sickness? It hit you any damn time of the day. Sharon and a few other friends knew what I was doing. They all thought I was crazy. Sharon thought I was making a mistake but at least she understood why I was doing it. She’d been there when I’d lost all that money, after all. I couldn’t get through to Marina. I’d tried to call her a couple of times during the last week but there was no answer. I wanted her to be there when

we found out the baby’s sex. I expected she wanted to be there. I’d tried calling Mark, too. He was just as unreachable. I wasn’t sure where I stood with him if I had to be honest. I felt like he was very raw and open toward me. I didn’t mind it – in fact, I liked it – but I wasn’t sure how he saw it. Still, I needed to get a hold of one of them before the doctor’s visit. It was their baby, after all. Two days before the appointment I skipped my last class and got on the bus. It took me all the way across town. I got off and walked the last few blocks to the address that was on Mark’s check. I stopped in front of the house and double checked the address. The house was enormous, the way you saw on the MTV sometimes. Through the slatted gate I could see everything. The driveway led up to a modern block of a house, painted a sandy color with plants everywhere that made it rich and exotic. I took a deep breath. Of course, if they had so much money to spend on a surrogate mother they had to be rich. I pressed the button on the intercom. A little round lens told me he’d be able to see my face when he answered. Or Marina. She could answer, too, obviously. “Camille?” It was his voice crackling over the speakers and I breathed easier. She made me nervous. “Hi, yeah. It’s Camille.” The gate rolled open and I walked in. I was starting to show a belly, not much but it was something, and my energy wasn’t what it used to be. The front door opened before I reached it. Mark looked tired when I finally stood in front of him. He hadn’t shaven in a few days, stubble shabby on his chin and he had circles under his eyes suggested he’d slept very little or not at all. He stepped to the side to let me in. “Is everything alright?” He sounded a little worried. “Is the baby okay?” I nodded. “As far as I know everything is fine, but I couldn’t get a hold of either of you. I have an appointment coming up, we’re supposed to meet with Doctor Kamal the day after tomorrow to find out the baby’s gender.” Mark nodded and walked through to the kitchen. I followed him. The house was as luxurious on the inside as on the outside. There were paintings on the wall, original stuff, and furniture that probably cost more than my entire degree a piece. Mark stood in the kitchen. “It’s a little chaotic at the moment. I think we might need to postpone the doctor’s appointment.” I frowned and looked around. The house was quiet. Empty. “Is Marina okay? Is she ill?”

Mark shook his head. “No, she’s not here. Unfortunately, Marina and Doctor Kamal had an understanding that was a little more personal than I would have liked.” I frowned. “I don’t understand.” Mark sighed. “She’s sleeping with the good doctor.” I stilled. My hand rose slowly to my mouth. “Oh, my God.” “I know.” That was disgusting. “But you’re having a baby.” Mark shrugged. He had the air of someone who didn’t care but judging by his looks – his exhaustion, his neglect – he really cared. I wanted to be able to comfort him, help him. I felt sorry for him. I thought about the baby. “What’s happening now with the pregnancy?” The baby needed a home. A real one. Not a broken one. A mom and a dad. “You do still want it, right?” I couldn’t be left with the child. I needed them to take it. I was suddenly panicked. “Don’t you worry about that. I will make sure that the baby is taken care of and you can have your life back, I promise. This is our problem and we’ll make sure everything works out.” I took a deep breath and blew it out again. This was scary. Mark stood around in the kitchen, looking lost. He looked at me, hands on his hips. I hadn’t seen him in casual wear before. The t-shirt he wore stretched across his body and he was more built that I thought he would be. Young and fit, that’s what he looked like despite the fact that he was in his forties. Maybe his personality had a lot to do with it. “Would you like to stay for dinner?” The question was out of the blue and I hesitated. “I know how it is to live on cafeteria food.” I smiled. “Yeah, it’s not my favorite. I’d like that.” He nodded and smiled and it spread over his face slowly like he hadn’t smiled in a while. I pulled out a bar stool at the counter island and made myself comfortable while Mark moved around the kitchen, getting food together. There was something ridiculously attractive about a man that could cook. “What are you making?” I asked. “Lamb. Wild rice.” That sounded really good. Cafeteria food really was horrible in

comparison. Mark put the lamb in the oven once it was heated up and poured me a glass of grape juice and wine for himself. He started on the gravy and I told him about some of my lecturers. He stood half to the side so that he didn’t have his back to me. The smell of gravy started filling the kitchen, rich and sweet, and my stomach turned. I felt a little sick. Lately, this had been happening. Smells triggered me. I tried to ignore it. I took a sip of my juice and focused on what we were talking about but nausea got worse. I put my hand to my stomach. “Can you show me where the restroom is?” I asked. “Down the passage and to your left,” Mark said. I nodded and got up. My body retched the moment and I did and I ran for the bathroom, hoping I wouldn’t throw up on Mark’s expensive carpet. I threw up loudly and ungracefully. Mark appeared behind me and made sure my hair was out of the way. He rubbed my back and when it was over he offered me a glass of water. “God,” I complained. “I’m sorry.” I felt embarrassed that he’d seen me like that. He sat down next to me on the floor. “Don’t be. You’re pregnant. What can I get you?” I shook my head. “A toothbrush would be nice.” He got up and opened the cabinet, taking out a new one. I laughed. “I didn’t think you really had one.” He shrugged. I took it from him. “Let me get you something plain to settle your stomach,” he said and left me to it. I found toothpaste next to the sink and brushed my teeth, cleaning myself up. Vomiting was never pleasant. When I came out of the bathroom Mark waited for me with a plate of crackers. He held it out to me and I took one, nibbling on it. He looked at me and his eyes were soft, adoring. I wasn’t sure what he was feeling but I was grateful he was doting on me. I hated being sick alone. He looked at me for a moment, like he wanted to say something. He didn’t and I was just about to turn away when he leaned forward and kissed me. The plate knocked against my shoulder and crackers fell to the ground. Mark didn’t care. I didn’t care. He had his lips pressed against mine in a reckless question, a challenge, almost. Do you want this? I didn’t say no. I didn’t pull away. Maybe I should have. I didn’t want to. The kiss had been rushed but his lips were sure on mine. I opened my mouth and let him in and he kissed me until I was a melted puddle on the floor.

When he finally broke the kiss I felt lightheaded and out of breath. His eyes were dark and drowning deep. “I don’t feel sick anymore.” He smiled. “Good,” he breathed. “Because I think we’re out of crackers.”

MARK She was soft and she was tender and she was beautiful. She was also young, but I ignored that fact because she was an old soul in my eyes. She was more mature than a lot of people my age, including the woman I’d ended up marrying. I wanted her. Not just her intellect and her, but her body, too. She was in my house, dressed in skinny jeans and a shirt that showed off her curves and I wanted her. And no, she wasn’t a rebound after the bitch of a wife cheated on me with the one person we’d both confided in. I had to be honest with myself and admit that I’d wanted Camille even before Marina had shown her true colors. I just hadn’t admitted it to myself then. But now… what did I have to lose? My heart had already been ripped to shreds, I’d been used and abused for my money and my status, and I had no one that would stand up for me. No one except Camille. I didn’t think she admired me for my money, either. She talked to me like I was one of her peers like we were equals. She kneeled down to collect the fallen crackers. I kneeled down, too, but my attention wasn’t on the dropped food. It was on her. The way she moved, the way she looked at me when she put the crackers back on the plate. Her hands. Her eyes. Her mouth. “I’m sorry.” I wasn’t sorry at all, but I felt like I had to say it just in case she was. “Don’t be.” Anything else would have been bad. Anything else would have made me feel like I’d overstepped some line. It’s okay, don’t worry about it, it’s nothing, all those would have felt loaded. Saying that I shouldn’t be sorry held no sarcasm, no regret. I reached out and hooked her hair behind her ear. Her curls were beautiful. I let one run around my finger. She tipped her head to the side just a little, enough to press her cheek against my hand. Her skin was soft and silky and I wanted more of it. I leaned into her again, stopping only inches away from her face. I wanted more, but I wanted to be sure she wanted it, too. I waited for her to close the

distance. She hesitated and I thought that was it, she was going to reject me. But then she closed the distance and her lips were on mine and the kiss was different. Expected, calculated. Soft and warm and comfortable. With her, it felt different than it had ever felt with Marina. With Camille, it felt right. It felt real. It felt like home. I broke the kiss and pushed up. I took her hand and pulled her up, too, turning her so that her back was against the wall. She arched her back, pushing her breasts out to me, an invitation. I stepped into her so that her body was against mine and I felt the swells of her breasts against my chest. The erection in my pants throbbed and I tugged at my waistband to readjust myself. I slid a hand onto her neck, over her collarbone and then onto her breast. I was being forward. I was overstepping the line. She was twenty-two and I was forty. Everything about this was wrong. It didn’t feel wrong. It felt right. I massaged her breast and she gasped into my mouth. Her hips undulated against mine. My other hand was in her hair. Her hands slid around to my back and she pulled me against her, moving her hips, driving me crazy and we were just standing in the passage with our clothes on. I broke the kiss and my breathing was erratic. Her mouth was slightly parted, her pupils dilated. Her face told me everything I needed to know. I held onto her hand and led her to the bedroom. The same bedroom where Marina and that asshole Kamal had decided to tell me how much respect they had for me. I’d disinfected the whole damn room, but bringing Camille in here felt like a fuck you to Marina. It wasn’t revenge sex at all, though. Never. This was real. I wondered how real Marina’s escapades had been. I pushed the thought from my mind. I wasn’t going to think about her anymore. This was about Camille and only Camille. As soon as we were in the room I pulled her shirt over her head and she stood in front of me in her bra. It was red and it suited her skin and her personality. Feisty, exotic. She had a slight belly and it was beautiful. A baby. My baby. She reached back and unclasped it, letting it fall to the floor. She was perfect. Natural breasts that fit into the palm of my hand like they’d always been meant for me. Real, not fake. I took a nipple between my thumb and forefinger and rolled it. Camille closed her eyes and tipped her head back, and I relished the sensation of being able to bring that expression to her face. She only let me make her feel good for a moment before she moved my hands away and pulled my t-shirt over my head. I was no spring chicken compared to her, but she ran her hands over my chest, fingers in the curly gray

chest hair, and she kissed the skin, leaving a trail of fire in her wake. She stopped at the V that led into my pants and hooked her fingers into the waistband of my pants and pulled it down. She took my jocks along with it, not wasting any time. There was no guessing what I was feeling. My sex sprung free and she wrapped her fingers around it, mimicking the rhythm of sex with her hand. I only let her do that for a short while. I only let her drive me crazy to a point well before the point of no return. I needed to be inside her. It was an ache inside of me that I had ignored since I’d met her, and now I was going to let go and let my own needs come first for the first time since I’d gotten married. I got rid of her pants. There was, again, no ceremony about it. I laid her out on the bed like a feast and crawled over her. Her thighs fell open for me, an indication that she wanted this as much as I did. If she hadn’t I would have backed away immediately. The only thing I had for Camille that trumped my lust was respect. I positioned myself at her entrance and she was wet and ready. She gasped, air escaping through her open lips. Her eyes were on mine and when I pushed into her I lowered my mouth onto her and kissed her. This was not just about her sex, but about her. She squirmed a little underneath me when I pushed all the way in. I waited for a moment when I was into the hilt, letting her adjust. She breathed fast and shallow. I ran my fingers through her curly hair, over her cheeks, tracing her eyebrows, her ears, her nose, her lips. “You’re beautiful.” This was so important to me that she knew that. That she understood what this was about. It wasn’t revenge sex or a rebound or some ass because I was lonely. This was all about her. I started moving. In and out, in and out. Slowly, stroking. Her eyes rolled back and then closed and she gasped, whimpering moans slipping out of her throat. Her hands were on my back, her fingers massaging the skin. I kept moving. The sensation was fantastic. I ran my hand over her body, over her breast. She arched her back, moving her hips along with mine. I felt her orgasm building. Her body tightened around mine, her legs hooked around my ass, her hands kneaded the skin on my back, her moans became louder. It coaxed my orgasm out, stroke by stroke, too. She released before I did, toppling over into the abyss and I watched her face. She gave herself over to it entire. Her eyebrows knit together, her mouth opened in a silent cry, and then her body clamped down on mine and she curled around me, nails biting into my skin. I grunted, relishing the sharp pain that came with the exhilaration, the ecstasy. I only waited until the worst was

over until she was breathing again, before I kept moving. Her orgasm had nearly kick started mine and I wanted my release. I wanted to claim her. It sounded awful and primal and animalistic but it was what I wanted. Some carnal part of me wanted to mark her so that no one else would look at her. Somewhere in the back of my mind, a little voice shouted that I’d never wanted to do that with Marina, but I drowned it out with sex. I went faster and faster. Her cries and moans were louder and came freely now, as if breaking through the orgasm had let her break through self-consciousness, too. I felt it building inside of me now, my balls contracted and my core was on fire. Just a little… more… My body jerked and I froze, letting nature take over, letting my body do what it needed to. I was aware of her whimpering when I released inside of her, of her hands on my back and her breath in my ear. When it finally subsided she opened her eyes and she looked at me. Big brown eyes. Beautiful. A face I wanted to look at over and over and over again. “Holy shit, Mark.” I smiled. Such an adolescent expression after such a mature act. I nodded. Holy shit, indeed.

CAMILLE I spent the night. When he finished inside of me I hadn’t wanted to spoil it by getting up and leaving. I didn’t want to leave, anyway. Mark had slipped out of, collapsed next to me and pulled me against him, curling his body around mine like a question mark. If I had been unsure before about his intentions with me I was sure now. Men who wanted one-night stands and booty calls didn’t spoon. These were facts you learned at a very young age. Mark wasn’t using me. I wasn’t sure what else was behind it – I was hesitant to assume there was any emotional input – but it definitely wasn’t just physical. Was it? I carefully slid out from underneath the covers. It was very early, the light coming from outside still laced with a silver quality. I tiptoed around the room to find my clothes. I didn’t want to hit and run but I had to get out of here to think straight. I didn’t want him to think it was any less to me than it was to him, but a girl has to think. I got dressed as quietly as I could. I glanced back at him one more time before leaving the room. He was fast asleep, tangled in sheets we’d both

messed up. I let myself out, scared an alarm would go off. There was nothing. I walked all the way back to the bus stop and got on one that would take me back to my dorm. To real life. What was I doing? I ran my hands through my hair, hoping it didn’t look too wild, like sex hair. I hadn’t even checked myself in the mirror before I’d left. I ran a finger under each eye, hoping my make-up hadn’t smudged. Everything inside the college dorm was quiet, most of the students taking the morning to sleep in while they could. Late nights and impossibly early mornings define student life – you take a break whenever you can. I’d left with the same clothes on last night. I was relieved no one would see me coming in. Sharon came down the corridor. Early riser. She stopped dead when she saw me. “Is it still a walk of shame when you’re in your own corridor?” A smile played around her lips. Dammit, she knew. I sighed and shook my head. “Do you want to talk about it?” I started saying no, but then changed my answer. “Actually, I do.” I had a lot on my mind. I needed to tell someone, and considering that Sharon was the one that always ended up peeling me off the floor when something went wrong in my life she was the lady for the job. I opened my room door and she came in with me. She sat down on the chair Mark had used when he’d been here. “So, who’s the lucky guy?” “Mark.” No reason to try and sugarcoat it. No matter when the truth came out, there would be a reaction. Sharon frowned. “I don’t remember any Mark. Does he study with us?” I shook my head. “Not a student Mark. A grownup Mark.” I watched her mind tick, running through all the Mark’s we knew. Her eyes widened slightly and I knew she’d landed on the right one. I nodded a confirmation. “Are you out of your mind? What the hell is wrong with you?” This was the first time she’d asked me that. I heard that sentence often. “It wasn’t on purpose.” She snorted. “A classic case of you slipped and he fell?” I rolled my eyes at her sarcasm. It wasn’t necessary. “Don’t be a bitch right now, okay? I’m stuck.” She snorted again and I could almost taste the next snarky comment but she didn’t say it and I breathed out in relief. The truth was I was starting to fall for

Mark and it scared the shit out of me. I needed another perspective and Sharon – on the days she chose – could really be a voice of reason. “I know you think this is all wrong, but the story isn’t exactly what you think.” She raised her eyebrows and folded her arms. So tell me, her face said. I explained to her about Marina and her lover, about Mark and how lonely he’s been not just after the affair but while he was married, too. “So, you thought it would be noble to keep him company?” I sighed. “Can you please just push aside the fact that he’s twice my age—” “And married.” “Yeah… and married. And just treated this like every other screwed up relationship I’ve had?” Sharon shrugged with one shoulder. I wasn’t sure if it was consent or indifference. “The truth is that I really like him. I’m falling for him. He’s different. But he’s a billionaire with a life he built himself and I’m just a student. Why would he like me? Why would he go for me?” “I don’t know.” Sharon’s voice was neutral. “You might want to be careful, but it has happened before that men were genuine. It can happen again.” I picked at my thumbnail. “I am pregnant with his child, after all.” “But that happened before the sex, not after.” I nodded. “I know. And it’s also not my baby. It’s hers.” I covered my face with my hands. “God, this is so complicated.” My voice was muffled through my fingers. “Why don’t you go and talk to him about it? You deserve an answer if you ask him the question. He can’t just leave you hanging, if he does you’ll know, anyway, but you still need to see him. And his wife.” “She’s not his ex, yet.” “She might never be.” I hadn’t thought about that. When he’d told me she’d moved out I’d assumed it was over. Us having sex had made me feel like it was final. I hadn’t thought about the fact that he might take her back for the baby’s sake, that it might be nothing more than a one-nighter to get it out of his system. Shit. “Stop worrying about it,” Sharon ordered. “You can’t overthink this until you speak to him.” “And I can’t speak to him until after the test series or I’ll fail them all. Especially if it goes south.” She nodded. I was being reasonable. “Can I ask you something?”

I looked up at her and nodded. Her eyes sparkled and a smile spread over her face. “What was he like? In bed?” I smiled, too. “Oh, my God, Sharon. He’s older, so he knows what he’s doing. I mean… hell. He really knows what he’s doing. It was fantastic.” I swallowed, trying to get rid of the insecurities that were creeping in. Had I been good in bed? Had I left him just as satisfied as he’d left me? Was this something he would do again? Was it something I would let happen again? Did I have to stop it? I shook off the questions and focused on Sharon, giving her details, telling her enough to satisfy her curiosity without sacrificing my or Mark’s dignity. It distracted me from all the questions, the doubts, the insecurity. It distracted me from a future that was unsure.

MARK I couldn’t get her off my mind. Legs that went on forever, caramel skin that tasted just as sweet. Her eyes, boring into mine, encouraging me to bare it all. Her mouth, mesmerizing into wanting to kiss her whenever she spoke about something interesting, which was all the time. I should have thought about what I was doing. I was nervous I’d taken it too far. I knew what I felt for her but I had no idea if she felt the same for me. And she was pregnant with my child. With my and Marina’s child. Had I done something terrible? It was difficult to see something that had been so spectacular as something terrible. I hadn’t felt like that with a woman since… I wasn’t actually sure if I’d ever felt that way around a woman. I knew for a fact Marina had never made me feel that way, which was just another reason on the pile of why I shouldn’t be with her. I’d been trying my damn best to make her happy, to be the model husband, to give her everything her heart desired. It was just a pity her heart didn’t desire me. That hurt. It had stung like a bitch when I’d come back after catching the two of them in bed and she’d sat on the couch, her makeup in place, her hair perfect, her voice, her eyes, pleading. I’d kicked her out. I couldn’t stand the look of her. She was nothing like the woman I’d married. I felt tricked and betrayed, not just by the affair but by our entire marriage. I drew my thoughts back to Camille. She deserved them, not Marina. Not now. She was a point of light in a life that had become increasingly dark. She’d made me realize what it was like to be happy again, and that it wasn’t

wrong to want that. I needed her to know how I felt about her. I needed her to understand that this wasn’t just about sex. I called her. I was scared she wouldn’t answer. She’d left without saying goodbye. “Do you want to come over tonight?” I asked. “Just to talk, to spend time together.” No sex, I wanted her to understand. She hesitated. “I can’t see you until after my tests,” she said. My heart plummeted. “Are you upset?” “Not at all.” She was quiet to respond there and it made me feel better. “I’m not upset at all. But I need to pass these tests to get into the exam and I can’t afford a distraction.” She paused before adding on with a smile in her voice, “and you’re a very big distraction.” When we ended the conversation I felt better. She didn’t hate me. She didn’t think I was the scum of the earth. At least, she was very good at pretending, if that was the case. I didn’t see her as the kind of person to lie about it, though. She seemed straight forward, open, uncomplicated. A big distraction, she’d called me. A compliment. Dusk started falling when the intercom buzzed. I walked to the television that was linked to all the cameras that monitored the place. Marina stood outside, the door of her Gold Mercedes open, the lights on. “Can we talk?” I wanted to tell her to go away. I didn’t want to let her in. But the sooner I got it over with, the better. I opened the gate and walked to the front door. My stomach turned to stone, nerves settling inside of me like they were going to stay. I didn’t want to talk to her. I never wanted to see her again. I opened the door and she stopped in front of me. Was she expecting a kiss? When I didn’t move she carried on, moving deeper into the house. She sat down in her usual spot on the couch as if I was the one that was going to be interviewed, not her. I sat down in my usual spot, too. I realized that our usual seats hadn’t been on the same couch for a long time. “Why did you come?” She looked hurt. “Is it wrong for a woman to come home to her husband?” I shrugged. “Is it wrong to sleep with her fertility doctor in her marriage bed?” She cringed away as if I’d physically struck her. Her eyes welled with tears. “I made a mistake. Haven’t you ever made a mistake?” I thought about our marriage, how devoted I’d been to Marina. I thought

about Camille, the way she’d looked so perfect on my bed, naked, wanting. I shook my head. “I’ve never made a mistake like that. This wasn’t a white lie or a forgotten anniversary, for God’s sake.” She nodded, looking at her hands. Her nails were freshly done. My money. I was going to stop her cards. “I wanted to fix this between us, Mark. I want us to be how we used to be.” Before she’d become a bitch or before she’d had the affair? Those didn’t happen at the same time. I shook my head. “I don’t think I’ll be able to do that. I don’t trust you anymore.” I wanted to add that I should never have, but I didn’t. That would have been cruel. I didn’t want to be cruel, only realistic. “Please, Mark. You can’t just give up on us now. We have a baby on the way. What about the baby? Do this for the baby if not for me.” We didn’t even know if it was a boy or a girl. Neither Camille or I went to the doctor’s meeting. “I’m sorry, Marina, but everything has changed. I can’t do this.” She tried to plead a little longer. When that didn’t work, she changed tactics. “You have someone else, then?” I rolled my eyes. “That’s rich, coming from you. I wasn’t the one that had the affair with the one person we were both supposed to be able to trust, to confide in to build our lives together.” “But you’re used to whoring around. Before you met me, that’s all you did.” I was getting angry. She knew exactly how to push my buttons. That was what happened when you lived with someone, married someone, shared your life with someone. You got to know them well enough to know where you could hit them, where it really hurt. “My life before you and after you are two very different things. I gave up my lifestyle for you.” “But that didn’t stop you from falling straight into bed with another whore, did it?” “Camille is not a whore.” Shit. The words had slipped out, our back and forth had gotten faster and faster. Marina’s face changed from shock to a sly grin. “I knew it. I know who you really are, Mark. You can’t hide it with fancy suits and cars and that billion watt smile of yours.”

She was hurting me and she knew it. “A child of all things. She’s barely an adult, and you want to tell me she’s not a whore? What could she possibly see in you? Or you in her?” She’d stunned me, but not for long. “I care more for her than I ever cared for you.” Let her take that however, she wanted. She paled a little but she bounced back quick. That was one of the upsides of being Marina. Her skin was thick and her tongue was sharp. “Don’t play games with me, Mark. Jealousy won’t win me over. I’m not going to run back to you just because I feel like I have competition.” I nodded. “Good. That saves me the trouble of having to get rid of you over and over again.” She opened her mouth to say something but she had nothing and snapped it shut again. For a moment I felt guilty. I was being hard on her. I was hurting her. I wanted to apologize but then I saw those dark brown hands on her light skin again, the sheet clutched to the chest he’d been starting at openly, and I swallowed my regrets. Marina stood up. Her heels clacked on the marble tiles all the way to the front door. “You’ll hear from my lawyer, Mark. The baby is mine and you know, as the woman, I’ll win I court. If you want to play dirty, so can I.” I followed her to the front door. I watched her climb into her car. She started it with a huff, flicking her hair over her shoulder. I was tired. Exhausted. I still loved her. On some level, I supposed I would for a long time, still. But so much of me had been bruised and become callous as a result of constant battering it was hard for me to reconcile the woman she was now with the woman she had been before. It was hard for me to find a reason to feel like I should fix it with her. It was hard to care about what happened to her at all. She reversed out of the yard and sped off. I could hear her engine whining for a long time after the gate had rolled shut. I turned around and walked back into the house that felt miserable and empty. It was easy to get rid of someone that had hurt you. It was hard to filter through all the emotions that had built up through the years, to see the house you’d shared as a place of your own again. A place where you could be yourself without being judged for it. Her comment about the whores rolled around my mind and I struggled to silence it. It was true, I’d lived the bachelor’s life before her. But I had been a bachelor. There wasn’t another choice. I had changed everything for her when we’d gotten married, even who I was. That had been the mistake. Maybe we’d gone into this all wrong. I’d gone

into the relationship thinking Marina would never change, but she did. And she’d gone into the relationship expecting I would change, and I never did. Maybe it was just a bad match and too long trying to make something work that had been doomed to fail all along. Or maybe I was being nice and giving her too much credit when, in the end, she was the one that had forced it until it broke.

CAMILLE Three tests in two weeks and I had six more to go. Some of the subjects had double-barrel tests and I had to get through all of them. I hadn’t slept for than two hours a night for the past six nights and I was running on coffee and willpower. After the test series, I was going to sleep for a week. The fact that I was pregnant made it all the more difficult. I ran low on energy very quickly. I was sleepy often. I had to pee all the time, even during my tests where I had to hold it, or when I really couldn’t I had to be escorted by a moderator to make sure I wasn’t just cheating in the toilet stall. I was hungry all the time, and besides my belly that kept growing I was pretty sure I was picking up weight. A little more than five months to go. I hadn’t even reached the halfway mark, yet. Sometimes when I walked on campus students did a double take. I knew they were speculating about my pregnancy, whether it was real or if I’d just picked up a lot of weight. I knew that there were those who said I was saying it was a surrogacy just to cover up for the fact that my pregnancy was an accident. I knew that I didn’t really care, either. My real friends knew the truth and believed me for the most part, and the most important thing was that I was going to pay off my degree and make my mama proud. That was all that mattered to me at this point. I would go through life without a single friend as long as mama was still on my side. I sat down on a bench. I was halfway between the dorm and college campus and I was heaving and sweating. My bag felt ridiculously heavy. I found a bottle of water and drank at least half of it. Sure, it would make me have to pee again, but it was the lesser of two evils at this point. Other students were already heading toward class. I could see them in the distance, a range of bags in every color, hair styles and clothes that defined student life. I was happy here, even though at the moment I felt like an outcast.

After ten minutes of catching my breath, I had to get up and keep moving. I was already late for class. “Camille,” a voice said behind me and I turned. Marina stood under the tree, her feet together in her nude heels, her dress suit pristine and her hair and nails perfectly manicured. She was much older but she still looked like she’d stepped off the cover of a magazine. A pang of guilt shot into my chest. I’d slept with her husband. I hadn’t even hesitated when I realized that was where he was heading. “How are you, Marina? I haven’t heard from you in a while?” I forced a smile and walked closer to her. My fingers were trembling but I clutched onto my bag to hide it. “The baby is doing well.” She smiled a smile that didn’t reach her eyes, and looked at my belly. “Thank God it’s you, imagine that happening to my body.” The insult jabbed at me and my smile faltered. “Is there something I can help you with? I’m late for class.” She shook her head, glanced in the direction of the other students that were thinning out now that classes had already started. “Oh, no. Nothing you can do to fix this, really. I was just wondering why you thought it wouldn’t come out that you’re sleeping with my husband.” Blood drained from my face and turned to ice in my veins. My stomach turned and I couldn’t breathe. “It was a mistake, Marina. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean for it to happen.” She shrugged. “You see, it’s very hard for me to believe you when he tells me how much he feels for you and how little he cares for me.” When she looked at me again she looked different. She was still composed as ever on the outside but her eyes were manic and her mouth was curled into a sneer rather than a smile. “I’m sorry, Marina.” “I don’t believe you.” She laughed. I shook my head, held up my hands defense. I’d made such a mistake. I should have stopped it when he came onto me. I should have done something about it. I’d known it was wrong but I’d been overcome by emotion, by how much he’d cared for me. “I never meant for this to happen. It was a mistake, a stupid mistake. In fact, I think that he was just trying to forget that he’d lost you. You know he loves you, you know how much it hurt him that he’d lost you.” She shook her head while I was talking. I was panicking. Rambling and panicking. I said anything that came to mind just to make it all better. I was young and stupid and I should have thought about what I was doing before just falling into bed with him. Maybe he was getting back together with her and

they could have their baby and I would disappear forever. “I won’t ever come near him again, I swear. As soon as this baby is born I’ll disappear out of your life forever.” Marina sighed and it felt like she was a mother that listened to the stupid excuses of her child. I’d really messed up. “Do you know how it feels to have your whole life ripped away from you?” she asked. The guilt got bigger and bigger until it felt like it was suffocating me. “Especially when you’re traded for a younger model, one that can have children.” Shit. This was getting worse and worse. “I’m so sorry. I never meant for this to happen. I didn’t think—” “That’s it. You’re getting there,” she interrupted me. “You didn’t think.” “I really have to go to class.” “Oh, I’m sorry. You have to get back to your life. I’ll let you do that. It’s a pity I don’t have a life to get back to anymore.” I didn’t know what to do, what to say. I turned and started walking away from her. She grabbed my hair from behind and yanked back. Pain shot through my skull and I fell backward. I hit the floor with one hand. Pain flooded my wrist and my back. Marina stood over me and fear clawed at my throat. I thought about screaming. “Please,” I pleaded. She smirked and stepped back. I rolled onto my side and tried to get up. I saw her foot pull back and I knew what was coming. It all happened in slow motion and I still couldn’t stop it. I was on my side, my belly exposed. The toe of her nude shoe came toward me with full force. “The baby,” I started staying, but then she kicked me and I cried out, the scream drowning out the rest of my sentence. I felt something inside me rip. The pain was unbearable. I heard Marina laugh somewhere in the distance but it was fading away. Warmth between my legs, liquid, lots of it. I looked down and saw blood. Too much blood. “Help,” I tried to scream but my voice had gone hoarse. My throat was raw. Blood rushed in my ears and the world started to blur. Marina disappeared and it was just me. I tried to drag myself up but the pain in my belly flooded my body and I collapsed again whimpering. I curled into a ball, hoping to make it less. Hoping to hold onto the baby, the little boy or girl who was bleeding out. I tried to be the mother I would never be able to be and save my child. Not theirs, mine. My baby in my belly. It would be too late. There was no one around, the campus was empty now. I looked up at the sky, the patches of blue through the leaves, the green. I closed my eyes and let darkness fold around me, taking me away. The last thing I heard was the sound of my

heart, breaking.

MARK Everything in the hospital was white. White sheets, white walls, white floors, white monitors. Everything was white when I needed it to be black. Black was the color of mourning. A student who had seen the whole thing had called 9-1-1. The ambulance had arrived ten minutes later. The police had followed suit. They had reacted as fast as they possibly could, and still it might be too late. I sat next to her bed, looking at all the lines that ran into her body. Bags of fluid into her IV line. Oxygen into pipes in her nose. A catheter next to the bed. The monitor beeped steadily, albeit it slow, the only proof that she was alive. She was pale. Her hair was matted and pulled back from her face. Her eyes were sunken. Her hands were still. She hadn’t moved from the position on her back since they’d brought her in two days ago. It felt like I was running on life support, too. Every inch of my being only lurched forward when the monitor beeped with another pulse of her heart. People came to see her and left again. It was her friend, Sharon, that had called me to tell me what had happened. The baby was gone. It had been a girl. The pain that had come with the knowledge that she was no longer alive, would never see the light of day, had been as much of a surprise as it had been unbearable. I’d never wanted to be a father, but I’d never wished the child dead. This was unfair. This felt like some kind of punishment for doing the wrong thing, but I hadn’t been punished. It was an innocent child that had taken the fall, and it was unfair. I put my hand on Camille’s arm. I’d been sitting here like this since I’d found out. She was warm but there was no life, not really. She wasn’t here. She was somewhere far away, caught up in the web of sorrow and despair and agony of what had happened. A police officer knocked on the door before stepping into the room. “Mr. Owen, may I talk to you for a moment?” I nodded. The police had been in and out of the room since I’d arrived. It was about Marina. They’d arrested her. She needed a lawyer. I wasn’t going to pay for one. She’d hurt the one person that made me feel alive. She’d murdered a child. I didn’t know her. I didn’t know the woman who was my wife. “The court date has been set for two weeks from now. I just wanted you to know.”

They didn’t have to tell me. They kept me updated, anyway. There was something so painful about losing a child the world grieved with you. “Thank you, officer.” He looked at Camille. “How is she doing?” “No better.” He nodded. He was the man that had taken Marina into custody. He was one of the first on the scene. “We’re all rooting for you, for her.” I nodded. I couldn’t say thank you. My voice caught in my throat and if I spoke or even looked at him I would start crying. A woman that looked a lot like Camille arrived two days later. She had the same skin, the same hair, the same mouth. Her eyes were gray and she wasn’t smiling. When she saw Camille she clapped her hands to her mouth and started crying. I got up. “Are you Camille’s mother?” She looked at me and nodded. She touched her daughter’s leg through the covers. “I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t understand.” I walked out of the room and poured her a cup of water at the water cooler. She took it from me when I walked back into the room and took a sip. “Did Camille tell you about the baby?” She shook her head, cheeks still wet. I nodded and pulled a chair closer for her. “The baby wasn’t hers.” I started at the beginning and told her what Camille had done for us, how she’d ended up pregnant, how she lost the baby. Her mother cried the whole way through and my heart went out to her. I put my hand on her shoulder. “I’m truly sorry for what your daughter has suffered. I will do everything in my power to make sure she comes out of this and finishes her degree. She only wants to make you proud.” The mother, her name turned out to be Tracy, nodded and kept crying. There was nothing more I could do and I felt helpless and in pain. I couldn’t change anything. All the money in the world couldn’t save people. She opened her eyes the next morning. I was the first person she looked at. “The baby,” she croaked in a voice that was almost non-existent. I looked down at my hands. My lack of answer was enough. When I looked at her again, tears ran down her cheeks. I put a hand on her leg. “I’m so sorry.” She closed her eyes and nodded. I didn’t know what to do. I felt so damn

helpless I wanted to scream. “You mother is here.” Her eyes widened, fear in them. Just as I said it Tracy walked through the door. “Oh, my darling,” she said, crying again. “You should have told me.” I left the room, leaving them to talk. There was a lot to say and I was sure I didn’t have to be present for the two of them to make amends. Three hours later Tracy popped her head out of the door and said Camille was asking for me. I stood up. Tracy walked to me. “You are a good man,” she said. “I don’t always agree with her choices, but you have been here for her when no one else would.” She patted my hand and walked away. I wasn’t sure what to say. I walked into the room. Camille’s eyes were puffy from crying and her hands were on her stomach. I ached for her, feeling her loss and her pain. “I’m sorry,” I said. “Don’t be. It’s not your fault.” I sat down next to her and took her hand. She squeezed it and that small display of life meant more to me than she would ever know. “Where is she?” I knew who she meant. The baby. They kept her for us. “We should name her before we lay her to rest. I’ll arrange a funeral if you’d like.” She nodded. That was all we said about it. I changed the topic. “Marina has been arrested. There were witnesses on campus that saw what she did. She’s been charged with assault and first-degree murder.” Camille swallowed. “How are you?” I looked at her, frowning. After everything, she was asking about me? “It was your baby too.” I swallowed down a lump in my throat. “I thought I would lose you. I don’t know what I would have done if you didn’t make it.” My voice cracked and I swallowed again, taking a deep breath. “You’ve come to mean very much to me, Camille. More than anyone before. It might be too early to say this, but I nearly lost you and life is too damn short.” I hesitated. “I’m in love with you.” I watched her face, trying to gauge her reaction to my words. Her face was soft and she cried again, tears rolling down her cheeks. I gave her a tissue. “We’ll get through this together, okay?”

She nodded. “Together is the only way we’ll be able to do it. I’d like that.” It wasn’t an admission of her returned love, but it didn’t have to be. She wanted me with her, to work through this together, and that was all that mattered. We could work out the rest at a later stage when everything that had happened had been laid to rest and we could find it in us to move forward. I was still holding her hand. She turned on her side, wincing, and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and I let her slip back into sleep. Even when she drifted off her fingers still squeezed mine. She didn’t let go, and I didn’t move. I would sit here so she could hold onto my hand for as long as she needed me. I would only let go when she did.

CAMILLE 18 months later Getting over the death of an unborn child is just as hard as getting over the death of anyone who’d been something in your life. I’d thought it would be easier to move on. It wasn’t. I thought it wouldn’t mean so much to me because she hadn’t been mine, but I’d been wrong about that. Mark and I had sat down and we’d named her Breanna. They’d brought her to me in a shoebox, so tiny and frail. She would have been a beautiful child. She’d never belonged to Mark and Marina. She’d belonged to me, and it had been hard letting go. Mark had arranged a ceremony for her. Sharon, my mother, Mark and me were the only people that had attended. I wouldn’t have been able to cope if there had been more. My mother had understood what it meant to me. She’d been there for me in a way Mark would never have been able to understand. The college had understood what had gone wrong – maybe they’d felt guilty that this had happened on their campus – and I’d been granted an extension. It was a semester later than all my peers, but I was finally graduating. I was in a room at Mark’s new house where I was getting ready for the ceremony. He’d sold the house he and Marina had shared and he’d bought this one. It was just as luxurious but it was smaller, cozier. More like Mark. My mother helped me with my hair, pinning it to the side. I wore the black toga and she was emotional. Everything about the gambling had come out and she was even more proud of me that I’d done something about it rather than run back home. It didn’t make sense to me. In my eyes, I’d just messed up. “Mark is going to be here, soon,” she said. I lived here with him. Mama

had flown up for the ceremony. She didn’t like the fact that Mark was so much older than me, but she understood that we had been to hell and back together and even she couldn’t deny that something like that forged bonds no one could break. “Thank you for being here,” I said and hugged her. Mark honked his horn outside the house and we walked out. He came early from the office especially. He got out and opened the car doors for the both of us. “You look great,” he said before I got in, kissing me on the mouth. “I’m so proud of you.” I smiled and got in the car. We’d been able to move on and I was happy. I was happy with him. I was happy with my life. The ceremony was long and boring, with speeches about greatness and tenacity and all that. Our class valedictorian made a speech about moving onward and upward and in it, she mentioned me and how I’d risen despite the odds. It was strange with all the attention on me but I smiled and nodded and hoped they would look away soon. When I received my award mama and Mark went crazy. Sharon was there, too, joining in on the fun. Afterward, we went to a restaurant, the four of us. It was a posh place, the kind that we’d been going to more often since Mark and I had started dating officially. The staff all knew Mark. I was the young new girlfriend that they’d started getting to know, too, and I got nods and smiles from all around the room. They led us to a private table in the back where the other diners were far enough removed that I didn’t feel like a celebrity. The word of Marina and what she’d done, and what had happened to me, had come out and a lot of people knew me. Marina had been sentenced to thirteen years in prison. I hadn’t followed the case. Mark had gone and come back with a sense of closure. “I want to make a toast,” Mark said after he ordered champagne. He looked at me. “To Camille, who had gone against all odds and come out ahead anyway.” Sharon and my mom lifted their glasses and we all drank champagne. The evening was beautiful. Before dessert, mama and Sharon got up. “You’re leaving already?” Mama nodded. “I’m tired.” “And I have a work in the morning.” I got up and hugged them both. “Thank you so much. For everything.” I didn’t know where I would have been without them. Mama walked away but

Sharon lingered, putting her hands on my face and smiling at me. It was strangely emotional. When she left I frowned at Mark. He shrugged. We sat down. “Can I order for us?” he asked. I nodded. Mark flagged a waiter and picked up the dessert menu, pointing and discussing. The waiter nodded. “For the lady, I’d like your Special,” he said. The waiter smiled. “Of course.” He disappeared. Mark poured me more champagne and I laughed. “At this rate, you’ll get me drunk.” “This is just to celebrate.” “Another glass?” He shrugged. The plates with dessert came. They placed a masterpiece in front of Mark with a chocolate sculpture that looked like it had taken days. I got something similar, except it was with sugar. Underneath the webbed dome of crystallized sugar, instead of cake, sat a black velvet box. I frowned and looked at Mark. “What’s this?” He shrugged. I lifted the sugary dome and pulled out the box, opening it. In it was a ring with a diamond the size of a pea. My mouth dropped open and I looked at Mark. He’d gone down on one knee next to me. “Will you marry me?” Oh, God. I was at a loss for words. This was crazy. This was… a dream come true. I smiled, tears stinging the back of my eyes. I nodded. Mark took the ring and slid it onto my finger. He got up and kissed me. The waiter removed my plate and replaced it with a dessert similar to Mark’s. I laughed, overwhelmed, and we dug in. Life is never predictable, and often our choices lead us in a different direction that we ever could have imagined. If I hadn’t lost all my fortunes in a stupid Blackjack game I would never have met the love of my life. We’d been through so much together, the bond between us was stronger than any relationship either of us had ever had. There were still times when I thought of Breanna and then I ached for her, craving the feel of her inside of me again. She would always be my first child, but when Mark and I married I wanted to try again. I wanted children of my own, children I could tell about the little girl that should have been. But I only wanted to do it when Mark was ready to be a father. I wanted us to be happy together. There was still a lot of time. After all, I’d only just graduated.

We had the rest of our lives together, and I looked forward to it.

MY MR. DARK 1

NICOLE WALKED into the club at almost 10:00 PM, her dark eyes scanning the crowd. She'd just gotten done a grueling twelve-hour shift at the hospital, and she was looking to unwind. Most nights she didn't have the energy to go out after such a long day, but tonight had been different. Several gunshot victims had been rushed into the emergency room in critical condition. Two of them hadn't made it, and the third was still in intensive care. After a scene like that, the thought of being home alone in her tiny, quiet apartment was more than Nicole could bear. If she was alone with nothing but her thoughts, she wouldn't be able to get the sights from the emergency room out of her mind. She needed to drown the horrifying images out with some hard drinks, some loud music, and if she was lucky, maybe have some dance with a fine looking man. She walked up to the bar, running her fingers through her long mass of dark curls. She hadn't taken much time to make herself up that night since she didn't have the time or the energy for a big makeover after such a long and crazy day. She was wearing jeans that hugged her ample hips and did a nice job showing off her well-rounded ass. She had a low-cut, loose fitting top that showed off plenty of her caramel skin. And she had brought a confident attitude that she showed off by flashing a dazzling smile at a few of the young gentlemen she passed. Hopefully, one of them would be enraptured enough to offer to buy her a drink. Nicole stood by the bar for a bit, leaning against the wall and casting seductive glances at any cute guy who walked by. A couple of them stopped and offered to buy her a drink, but she could tell within the first few sentences that came out of their mouths that they weren't worth her time. The first guy actually said, “Heyyyy there, good looking,” while eyeing her up and down, and she'd simply rolled her eyes at him for being so cheesy. She didn't care for guys who were so obvious when they were hitting on her. It generally meant they didn't actually respect her, and they were only looking to get laid. The second guy was a bit more smooth, at first, saying that he'd love to get to know her better. But then, when she showed the slightest interest, he'd asked

if she wanted to go someplace quiet, which was usually code for “someplace we can fool around.” She wasn't that easy, and she'd told him so. Though she'd at least gotten a free drink out of him before she told him to get lost. She was about to give up on finding anyone worth her time when a rather fine looking man dressed to the nines walked into the club. His black pants and blazer had to be professionally tailored; by the way, they fit so nicely onto his fit, muscular body. And he wore a white silk shirt with the top few buttons undone, giving her a glimpse of his manly chest. He had dirty blonde hair and a light tan; making her wonder if he spent a lot of time outdoors. He looked like the athletic type. She was still eyeing him, and liking what she saw, when he glanced her way. She caught his eyes, and a small smile spread across his lips. She held his gaze long enough to show her interest, then looked away coyly, waiting to see if he'd return her interest. A moment later he started crossing the room towards her. “Hello there,” he said, flashing her a dazzling smile. “Hello yourself,” she said. She held her breath for a moment, hoping this guy wouldn't turn out to be a creeper like the others she'd spoken to that night. “I'm Horatio,” he said extending his hand. “And may I say, it's a pleasure to make the acquaintance of such a lovely lady as yourself.” Nicole felt her face heating up. She took Horatio's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Nicole. And I think the pleasure is mine.” Being called a lovely lady, she thought, was way better than, Hey there, good looking. “What are you drinking?” Horatio asked, nodding towards the bar. Nicole took a sip through her straw, finishing off the drink so he could order her another. “Mojito.” “A lady after my own heart,” he said. He nodded to the bartender. “Two Mojitos, please.” While the bartender was mixing their drinks, Horatio asked, “So, Nicole, what brings your lovely self out to the club tonight? And please tell me you came here to dance. “Oh? And why is it so important to you?” She smiled sweetly at him. “Because if you don't agree to dance with me,” Horatio said, placing a hand over his heart, “I think I might just leave here a broken man.” She laughed, shaking her head. It was a bit of a corny line, but from the smirk on his face, she was sure he meant it all in good fun. “I never dance with a man I haven't first shared a drink with,” she said. “Well then,” he said with a smile, “you'll have to sit with me and have a

drink.” He accepted the two drinks the bartender handed him, then led Nicole over to a table in the back, where it was a bit quieter. The music on the dance floor was loud enough that they wouldn't be able to talk out there, and Nicole definitely wanted a chance to get to know this man better. “Do you always come here trying to charm the ladies off their feet?” Nicole asked. “No,” Horatio said. “I'm in town on business, and I always like to check out the local scene when I travel. There's no better way to get to know a place than to visit the bars and clubs.” “And why's that?” Nicole asked. “Because this is where people come to relax,” Horatio said. “To unwind. To really be themselves. The face people put on at work, at school, of hell, even when they're out shopping at the mall, that's not the real you.” “Oh? You're not your real self when you're shopping?” “Of course not.” He smirked, stirring his drink with the straw. “Shopping is a social experience. People bring their friends, they ask what other people think, they want to know if the clothes they buy are the right ones. The ones that will make them stand out while fitting in. People want to be beautiful, but they don't want to seem strange or out of touch. So you always need another person's opinion.” “I guess I never thought of it that way,” Nicole said. She leaned forward, pursing her lips. She was fascinated by the way this man thought, and the confident way he said everything. “A place like this, on the other hand,” Horatio said, gesturing with his drink to the crowd, “people relax. Oh, they start off dressing up, trying to look nice, to play the part. But once you've had a few drinks and you let the music guide you, you start letting your real self show. See that guy over there?” He pointed to a man walking over to the dance floor. He looked pretty average, wearing black slacks and a silk shirt. Kind of cute, but he didn't stand out. “What about him?” “He left his jacket at the table,” Horatio said, pointing. Nicole looked, and saw the man's fancy blazer slung over the back of a chair. “It says something about him,” Horatio said. “He probably put a lot of thought into which jacket went best with that outfit, just like I did before coming here.” He smoothed his lapels, sitting a bit straighter. “But when it comes time to relax and let loose, he leaves the jacket behind. Just like the ladies who take off their fancy high heels, shoes that look gorgeous but are impossible to dance in. They set aside the glamour and the expectations, and

just have a good time.” Nicole looked across the dance floor at all of the people letting loose and following the beat of the music. She'd never thought about it like that before, but she realized it was true. Maybe the dance floor was where you really saw people being their own true selves. It made a certain degree of sense, especially when she thought about how exposed you could feel when you were dancing. Most people she knew didn't think they were good dancers, and would never dance on a stage in front of other people. But when you were a part of the crowd and having fun, you didn't worry about who was looking at you. It didn't matter what other people thought, or if they would judge the way that you danced. All that mattered was that you were having a good time. Horatio finished his drink, then held his hand out to her. “So, what do you say?” he asked. “Care to show me your real self?” Nicole blushed, lowering her eyes for a moment and taking a sip of her drink. With the way Horatio spoke about dancing, it suddenly seemed like a far more intimate experience than she had ever considered it before. Showing her real self to him. She set down her drink and looked up into his eyes. “I'd love to.” She took his hand and he let her out to the dance floor. At first, she was so nervous that she held back, only following Horatio's lead. But then, she told herself that dancing was supposed to be about letting go. About not caring what anyone thought. And she was sure Horatio wouldn't be the type to judge her for whether she was a good dancer or not. And if somehow he did, that would just show that he wasn't the man for her. She let go and just went with the music, pushing aside her inhibitions. She danced close to Horatio, their bodies touching. He put his hands on her waist, his hips gyrating in time with the beat. He held her eyes with his, his attention focused solely on her. It made her feel like she was the only woman on the dance floor. They danced until they were both sweaty and breathless, and then went back to the table, smiling and laughing. Nicole was having a great time, and she didn't want the night to end. And she was sure that Horatio must have felt the same way. He kept looking into her eyes, and when he reached up and brushed his fingers gently against her cheek, she was sure that he wanted something more. Then his cell phone chimed, spoiling the moment. “Damn,” he muttered, letting out a long sigh. He pulled out the phone and checked the screen, his cheerful expression dropping into a disappointed glower. “I'm truly sorry,” he said, tucking the phone away. “It's something urgent. It

really can't wait.” “Oh. All right. I understand.” She couldn't hide the disappointment from her eyes, but she also knew she couldn't blame him if a true emergency had come up. She was a nurse, and she was all too familiar with urgent phone calls that couldn't be ignored. He took her hand and held it in both of his. “I want to see you again,” he said. “Please.” She felt a flutter in her chest. How could she say no? “I'd like that,” she said. “Will you give me your number?” She told him her number and he programmed it into his phone. “Thank you, Nicole. I'll call you this weekend. I'd really love it if we can get together.” “Me too,” she said. He turned to leave, then stopped and turned back, looking into her eyes. He stepped forward, reaching up to cup her cheek with his palm. He pressed his lips against hers in a sweet, tender kiss. She put her hands on his arms, holding herself against him. And just like out on the dance floor, she didn't hold herself back. She let him feel her desire without being afraid. He pulled away and touched his fingers to her chin, smiling at her. Then he turned and left, moving through the crowd and out the door. Nicole sat there and let out a long sigh. She didn't know for sure if she would actually see him again, but even if she didn't, this had been an amazing night. 2

A FEW DAYS PASSED. Nicole couldn't keep her encounter with Horatio out of her mind. She tried to rein her foolish emotions in and not get her hopes up. She'd had plenty of bad experiences in the past where a man promised to call, then she never heard from him again. But she wanted to believe that Horatio was different. She knew it was possible she was deluding herself. But she had seen the look in his eyes, and she believed that the desire there had been genuine. Friday night, she had a long double shift at the hospital. She didn't end up getting a break until well after dinnertime. When there was finally a lull in the stream of patients coming through the emergency room doors, she headed back to the employee break room, aching to get off her feet and relax for a bit. She retrieved her phone from her locker and heated up her dinner in the break room microwave, then sat down to eat. When she turned on her cell phone, she found she had two missed calls

from an unfamiliar number. And since she hadn't been there to answer the phone, the caller had sent her a text message as well: Hey there. I hope you're still interested in getting together this weekend. I've been looking forward to seeing you again. Give me a call. -H She smiled, glad that her mystery man from the other night hadn't forgotten about her. She realized that she barely knew anything about him—where he was from, what he did for a living, even his last name—but here was her chance to get to know him better. She called him back, holding her breath while the phone rang. When Horatio answered, she could hear the excitement in his voice. “Hello, Nicole. So glad to hear from you. I was afraid you were ignoring my calls.” “No, no, of course, I wasn't,” she said. “I was just busy at work. It's been a long day.” “Ahh, of course. Forgive me for making assumptions. So, how have you been?” “Not too bad,” she said. “Busy, of course. But I'm glad you called.” “And I'm glad to hear your voice.” Nicole felt her face heating up at his words. “I'd love to get together,” Horatio said. “Tonight, if possible.” “Tonight?” Nicole looked at the clock on the wall. She wouldn't be finished her double shift for another two hours, which would mean going out after eight o'clock after a twelve-hour day. She wasn't sure if she had enough energy for it after the day she'd had, though she truly wanted to go. “I'm going to be leaving town on business tomorrow afternoon,” Horatio said. “I won't be back for two weeks. It would really make me happy if I could see you before I go.” Nicole chewed on her lip. She wasn't sure what to say, but she didn't want to miss this opportunity. If she waited another two weeks before seeing him, would he lose interest in her? She didn't want to think like that, but she couldn't help herself. “I'd love to,” she said. She'd just have to catch up on her sleep another day. “Great. How about dinner? What time can I pick you up?” They spent a few minutes going over the details, and she gave him the address to her apartment building so he could pick her up after she got done work. Then she spent the rest of her shift distracted, thinking ahead to how the night would go and what she would wear. She met Horatio in front of her apartment building at nine o'clock, freshly showered and changed into a navy blue dress that hugged her generous curves. He pulled up to the building in a Porsche, and her eyes widened when she saw

the beautiful, sleek lines of the silver car. It made her wonder just what he did for a living and how much he was worth. Horatio got out of the car and walked over to her, holding a single red rose. A beaming smile spread across her face as she accepted it. “Well, well, aren't you the charmer?” she asked. “Only when a lady captivates me so,” he said, giving her a kiss on the cheek. Horatio led her to the car and held the door open for her in a gentlemanly fashion. They made small talk on the way to the restaurant, which turned out to be a rather high-class place that Nicole knew was well out of her price range. She looked around the room as they were led to their table, dazzled by the expensive decor, from the paintings on the walls to the solid gold light fixtures. Once they had their menus and the waiter left to get them a bottle of wine, Nicole looked at Horatio with her eyebrow raised and asked, “Are you trying to impress me?” “Not at all,” Horatio said. “Just trying to show you a nice time.” “Well, you're doing a good job so far.” After the waiter returned with the wine, they shared a toast. Nicole eyed Horatio over the rim of her wine glass, a million questions running through her head. This man wasn't just some ordinary boy picking women up at a club. But she didn't know where to begin peeling away the layers of the mystery sitting before her. “So,” she finally said. “Where are you from? You said you're only in town on business?” “I live in New York,” he said. “Though I make my way down to Philly fairly regularly for business, and I do a lot of traveling overseas.” “Overseas? What sort of business are you in?” “International finance,” he said. “Boring stuff, really.” He waved a hand dismissively. “Mostly board meetings, meeting with shareholders, that sort of thing. But it lets me travel a lot, so I do enjoy that part.” “Wow.” Nicole sipped her wine, her head spinning at the thought of so much world travel and big business. “I've never been outside the States. Well, except driving up to Canada once or twice when I was younger, but that barely counts.” “You should see Europe,” Horatio said. “Beautiful countries out there. So much history.” Nicole laughed and shook her head. “As if I could ever afford a vacation like that.” “Well, you never know,” he said, a mischievous sparkle in his eyes.

“Is that where you're going tomorrow?” Nicole asked. “Europe?” “That's right. Only for a few days, then I'll be back in New York. Though I'm sure I could make some time to come down this way, for the right company.” He flashed her a charming smile and she felt her face heating up. “I think I might like that,” she said, smiling coyly at him. He asked her about her work, and she spent some time talking about what it was like in the hospital, from the grueling hours to the gossip that inevitably spread among the nursing staff. “It must be fulfilling work, though,” he said. “Helping people. Saving lives.” “Sometimes,” she said. “But then you get the paranoid parents who bring their kids in whenever they get a slight fever, and we basically tell them they need some children's cold medicine, plenty of fluids, and bed rest. Or people who read up on their symptoms on the internet and end up convinced they have cancer when all they have is the flu. I mean, I'd rather see people coming in and being safe, instead of ignoring a possible problem when it could be something worse, but sometimes I wish people would use some common sense.” Horatio chuckled. “Well, common sense is the one thing most people seem to be lacking. Which makes me think that maybe it isn't so common after all. But there's a definite satisfaction to know that you've been able to help people. To save their lives.” Nicole's eyebrows went up. “Have you ever saved someone's life?” There was a conviction behind his words that made her think he was speaking from personal experience, though she wasn't sure how international finance ever helped save someone's life. He lowered his eyes, his tone becoming more guarded. “Well, no, not exactly. What I suppose I meant was that we can help improve people's lives. My company does a lot of Samaritan work overseas. Providing disaster relief funding, financing schools and hospitals, that sort of thing.” “Ahh. Well, that's wonderful. There must be a lot of people who are grateful for what you do for them.” He looked away, sipping his wine. A slight frown touched Nicole's lips. She had the feeling there was something Horatio wasn't saying. But it didn't seem important enough to press him on. The conversation moved on to more mundane things, and they spoke for a time about their interests and what they did with their free time. She learned that Horatio enjoyed mountain climbing and other outdoor sports, which didn't surprise her, considering his physique. She told him about her love for

animals, and how she'd almost gone into veterinary medicine instead of becoming a nurse. As the conversation carried on, she grew more and more comfortable with him, and it felt like she could tell him anything without fear of judgment or ridicule. It had been a long time since she'd met someone she could talk with so freely, and it was a pleasant relief. After dessert, Horatio put her arm through his and led her back out to the car. “I've had a lovely evening,” he said. “I truly hope we can do this again when I get back from my trip.” “Me too,” she said, smiling up at him. He paused, reaching up to touch her cheek. “I wish the night didn't have to end yet. It would be a shame for it to be over so quickly.” Nicole swallowed a lump in her throat, her face heating up. She didn't want the night to end either, but she didn't know if she was bold enough to ask him for what she really wanted. But then, she thought about not seeing him again for two whole weeks, and she knew she had to seize the moment and take everything she could get out of this evening. “The night doesn't have to end yet,” she whispered, looking up into his eyes. He held her gaze, caressing her cheek. “I was hoping you'd say that.” He leaned down and pressed his lips against hers, his hand sliding back to caress her dark curls. She leaned close to him, feeling his warmth as his body pressed against hers. She could feel the desire radiating from him, and she knew that he wanted her as much as she wanted him. He pulled back and lifted her hand to his lips, planting a gentle kiss on the backs of her fingers. “My hotel isn't far from here,” he whispered. She couldn't find her voice. She simply nodded, unable to contain her excitement or find the words to express her desire. She could barely wait to get to the hotel. While they drove, her hand strayed over to Horatio's knee. She started rubbing his leg gently, sending shivers up his spine. He grinned at her while he drove, and spread his legs apart a bit to give her easier access. She let her hand slide up higher, teasing his inner thigh through the thin silken material of his pants. He shifted in his seat a bit, letting out a slight groan. She could already see the bulge growing in his pants. She brushed her fingers against it and Horatio tensed, his grip tightening on the steering wheel. He slowed down a bit, driving extra carefully as she teased him. She rubbed gently, taking her time and driving him wild with the tender, sensual touches. By the time they pulled into the parking garage at the hotel, Horatio looked like he was about to lose control.

They parked the car and hurried over to the elevator. As soon as they got inside, Horatio took her into his arms, tracing his fingers across her delicate caramel skin. He kissed her ear, her neck, her shoulder, sending little shivers down her body with each touch of his lips against her flesh. His hand slid into her hair and he tilted her head to the side, then he started sucking softly on the skin at the side of her neck. The elevator chimed and the doors opened out into the lobby. Nicole and Horatio pulled apart, both of them blushing as a bellboy entered, pushing a luggage cart. He cast an eye over them, and then turned away, studiously ignoring them. They waited until he got off on the third floor before they resumed pawing at each other, Horatio pinning Nicole against the wall and grinding against her. As soon as they got into the hotel room, Horatio started pulling off her dress. It fell to the floor in a heap and she stepped out of it, kicking her shoes off as she went. Horatio lowered her down onto the bed, planting a trail of kisses down her chest as he pulled off her bra, then her panties. His fingers roamed between her legs, teasing her the way she'd teased him earlier. His touch sent chills down her spine, and Nicole's back arched as the raw ecstasy poured over her. Then he was inside her, standing at the edge of the bed with her legs propped up on his shoulders. She grabbed the bed sheets in her fists, closing her eyes and letting out moans so loud she was sure that whoever was in the next room would hear. But she didn't care. She let all her inhibitions go, abandoning herself to the pleasure of Horatio's touch, letting him fill her and make her feel complete. She felt like she was floating, and the darkness that cloaked her in the shadowy hotel room made her vision spin. She pulled Horatio down on top of her, clinging to his shoulders, burying her face against his neck to stifle her moans as she came. Afterward, she held him tight against her, feeling the heat of his body pressed against hers. He laid his head against her chest, catching his breath. She let her fingers trail through his dirty blonde hair, a blissful smile on her face. And when she finally drifted off to sleep, she was more peaceful and content than she could remember being for a very long time. 3

IN THE MORNING, Nicole woke up in a blissful state of relaxation. She knew she had to be at work soon, but she didn't even want to think about such things. Not when she was still savoring the experience she'd shared with Horatio last

night. She was in too good of a mood to let anything spoil it. She opened her eyes and looked around the room. A room service cart was parked by the bed, and the succulent smells of breakfast wafted from under the tray's lid. The curtains were open just a bit, letting the morning light into the room. Nicole stretched out on the bed, and then frowned, looking for Horatio. She sat up, wondering where he could have gone. Then she heard the sound of the shower running in the bathroom. She grinned and got up, lifting the lid on the food tray and snagging a bit of sausage. She nibbled on it as she headed to the bathroom on her tiptoes, planning to surprise Horatio by joining him in the shower. But she paused at the door when she heard Horatio's voice. He was speaking to someone, very softly, though she could barely make out what he was saying. She leaned closer to the door, holding her breath and trying not to make a sound. There was no other voice in the room, so she assumed he must have been on the phone. Probably, she figured, speaking to one of his business associates about the trip he was leaving on later today. But his voice sounded heated, and she found herself curious what he could possibly be talking about. “No, extraction shouldn't be a problem,” Horatio said. “Yes. Yes, I know. Don't worry, it's all taken care of.” He was quiet for a moment. Nicole froze, wondering if he had heard her by the door. She held still and waited, feeling like a snoop but unable to resist her curiosity. “Understood,” Horatio said. “ETA is eleven p.m. local time. That's right. Understood. Over and out.” Nicole frowned, pondering the meaning of the strange, one-sided conversation. But she knew she couldn't say anything about it. She didn't want to anger Horatio by admitting that she'd been eavesdropping. The faucet squeaked as Horatio turned off the shower. Nicole hurried back over to the bed, bringing the breakfast tray with her. When Horatio emerged from the bathroom, she smiled at him, pretending she had just been waking up to breakfast. “Good morning,” he said, flashing a charming smile at her. “Morning yourself,” she said. “Thank you for breakfast. This looks amazing.” She picked up the fork, scooping up some scrambled eggs. Horatio gave her a kiss, and then he started getting dressed. “I hate to rush out so early, but I need to get going if I'm going to make my flight. It's a tenhour flight, so I had to book the earliest one I could find.” “I'll get dressed,” Nicole said, setting the breakfast tray aside.

“No, you don't need to rush yourself.” He smiled at her and gently traced his fingers along her cheek. “Take your time. Enjoy breakfast. I'll have a car waiting for you to take you home.” Horatio finished getting dressed, and then gave her a long, sensual kiss before he left. Nicole lounged in bed for a little bit longer, taking her time eating and relaxing before she had to go back to work. The night in the hotel felt like a mini-vacation, a chance for her to get away from the stresses of her life, not to mention an opportunity to start something new and exciting. She didn't want to break the spell yet, though she knew she had no choice. When she knew she couldn't delay it any longer, Nicole got dressed and headed downstairs. She found a man in a chauffeur's uniform waiting there, holding a card with her name on it. She walked up to him, smiling. She hadn't expected Horatio to go to so much trouble. “Hi, I'm Nicole,” she said. “Good morning, ma'am,” the chauffeur said, tipping his hat. “I'm to drive you home, or anywhere else you need.” He led her out to a black luxury car, and he held open the door for her as she got in. The seats were made of the softest leather she'd ever touched, and the car was decked out with a mini fridge, a TV, and all the amenities. She looked around at the fancy interior of the car, wondering again just how much Horatio was worth. Not that she cared about such things. She wasn't dating him for his money. At least, that's what she kept telling herself. By the time Nicole got home, changed into her work clothes, and drove to the hospital, it was starting to feel like the entire night with Horatio had been a dream. He remained in her thoughts throughout the day, and whenever she had a break between patients, she thought about calling him, just to see how he was doing and to make sure he hadn't just been a figment of her imagination. But then, she remembered that he was on a plane to Europe, and she had no way of reaching him. The next day, while she was enjoying her day off at home, she was surprised to hear her doorbell ring. When she answered the door, she found a deliveryman there, holding a bouquet of flowers. She accepted them, smiling like a schoolgirl in love. The card read, “My Dear Nicole, our night together was magical. You'll be in my thoughts until I return. -H” She held the bouquet up and inhaled the sweet scent of the flowers. It had been a long time since any man had given her flowers, and none had ever had a bouquet delivered to her home like this. It made her feel once more like Horatio was the perfect man. Though she couldn't help the nagging feeling that he was simply too good to be true.

Waiting for Horatio to return from his trip was hard, but Nicole knew that she was still in his thoughts. He called her a couple of times, and each time, they talked for hours. He never said much about his trip or what kind of business he was up to—he said it was all boring work, mostly sitting around in meetings while people argued about budgets and cost analyses—but he talked often about how much he was looking forward to coming home and seeing her again. A few days before he was set to return, they were on the phone well past midnight. After a long talk about how his trip was going and the sights he'd seen in Europe, Horatio said, “I'd like to see you as soon as I get back. Dinner and a show. What do you think?” “I'd love to,” Nicole said. “I can't wait to see you again.” “My flight is landing in New York Saturday morning. I've booked us tickets for a Broadway show later that night, along with reservations for dinner.” “That sounds wonderful. I've never been to Broadway.” “Well, we'll just have to fix that now, won't we?” Horatio chuckled into the phone. “There's a whole world out there that I'd like to show you. You're going to love it. I'll have a car sent for you to bring you to New York. Oh, and I'll be sending a little something special along as well.” “Something special?” Nicole asked, frowning in confusion. “What do you mean?” “You'll see, my dear. It should be there Saturday morning, a few hours before the car arrives.” “Can I get a hint?” “No, no,” Horatio said in an amused tone. “Now that would spoil the surprise, wouldn't it?” “I don't know if I can be that patient...” “Well, my dear, you'll just have to be,” Horatio said. Nicole's curiosity plagued her for the next few days, until Saturday morning rolled around. She was up early, pacing around her apartment, wondering when Horatio's surprise would get there. Every time she heard a car outside, she peeked out the window, wondering if it was the delivery truck. She tried to tell herself to settle down and be patient, but after two weeks without seeing Horatio, she found she just couldn't relax. Finally, her doorbell rang. She hurried over to the door with a big grin on her face. When she opened it, a man was standing there with a rather large package in his arms. She signed for it, then brought it inside and laid it down on the kitchen table. When she opened the lid, she found a black silk dress inside. She picked it

up and held it against herself. The material was so smooth it was like heaven to touch it. And it wasn't just some ordinary off the rack dress, either. It was a designer label, and she couldn't even begin to imagine how much it had cost. She tried the dress right away. She didn't know how Horatio had guessed at her size so perfectly, but the dress fit as if it had been tailored just for her. It hugged her curves in all the right places, and the low-cut top showed off a generous amount of cleavage. She couldn't wait to show it off in front of Horatio. She was a bundle of nerves by the time the car arrived to take her to New York. Fortunately, the car had a mini bar in the back seat, and she helped herself to a couple of drinks during the long drive. She was pleasantly relaxed by the time the car pulled up in front of the restaurant. She found Horatio already waiting there for her, and seeing his charming smile once more lifted her spirits after the two weeks they'd spent apart. He greeted her with a kiss, and then led her into the restaurant. They dined on some of the finest cuisine Nicole had ever tasted while he told her tales of the sights he had seen and the historic beauty of some of the world's oldest cities. Nicole found herself a bit dumbstruck by Horatio's stories, and she knew that her stories of drama in the emergency room simply wouldn't compare. It made her wonder what a man like Horatio could possibly see in her. Surely, she thought, he could find some rich, beautiful woman who was more in his league. But for reasons she couldn't fathom, he had chosen her. At the theatre, they sat in a private box, their seats close together, so Horatio could put his arm around her. Nicole laid her head against his shoulder, captivated by the show on the stage. It was so riveting that she lost track of time while the performance carried on. She wanted the night to go on forever. But the magic was interrupted when Horatio's cell phone started to vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out, frowning at the screen and sighing. He gave Nicole and apologetic look. “Do you really have to answer that?” she whispered. “I'm afraid I do,” he said. He got up and stepped out of the box, leaving her alone. She looked over her shoulder, peeking out through the curtain that closed the box off from the corridor. Horatio stood in the corner, speaking into the phone in a low hush. Nicole watched him with a frown, wondering what could be so damn important that he would interrupt their first date together in two weeks. She leaned a bit closer, trying to make out what he was saying. Most of it was too quiet for her to hear. Though it sounded like he was arguing with

someone. She heard him say “No” more than once, and through the gap in the curtains, she could see him making angry gestures with his hands. He looked up at her, catching her watching him through the curtain. She turned back around, trying to pretend that she hadn't been trying to eavesdrop. A few moments later, Horatio stepped back into the box and sat next to her. He straightened his jacket, sitting up straight, a stoic expression on his face. “Everything okay?” Nicole whispered. She put a hand on his knee. Horatio's spine stiffened. He didn't meet her eyes. “Yes. Everything's fine.” But she knew he wasn't telling the truth. There was something in his posture, in the cold tone of his voice that told her something was wrong. Something that he didn't want to tell her. And while she wanted to respect his privacy, she couldn't help but wonder what the phone call had been about. 4

AFTER THE SHOW, Horatio and Nicole walked out of the theatre arm in arm. The smile had finally returned to Horatio's face, and Nicole took it as a good sign. She tried her best to put her earlier concerns out of her mind. Horatio's driver brought the car around to pick them up. Horatio opened the door for Nicole, kissing her lips before she got in. When the car started to drive, Horatio put a hand on Nicole's knee and asked, “Are you in any rush to get back home tonight?” She smiled at him, feeling warmth spread through her at his touch. “I didn't have any other plans tonight,” she said. “Other than spending my time with you.” “In that case,” Horatio said, “you should come back to my hotel. I left a bottle of wine chilling there, and we can put on some music and enjoy the rest of our evening together.” “Sounds wonderful.” Nicole leaned forward and kissed him. Horatio raised the divider between the front and back seats, giving them some privacy from the driver. He pulled her close, his lips caressing hers while his hands began to roam her generous curves. She shifted closer to him until she was practically on his lap, and his hand started to slide up her skirt. She broke the kiss for just a moment, nervous about doing anything in the car. But the windows were tinted and the divider was raised. No one could see what they were doing. And the thrill of fooling around in the car, while they drove past dozens of other people on the road, made her feel deliciously naughty. She reached over and laid her hand against Horatio's thigh. He shifted to

give her easier access as she started rubbing him through the silken material of his pants. Her hand rose higher, teasing his crotch. Horatio moaned, his fingers gripping her hair as he continued kissing her. She teased him for a few more moments, letting her nails trace across his bulge. It grew harder at her touch, straining against the fabric of his pants. She pulled her hand away and stroked his thigh, trying to spur him on and make him want it more. He let out a sharp groan and reached down to push her hand back, holding it firmly against his crotch. She giggled, pulling back from his kiss to look teasingly into his eyes. He gazed lustfully at her, a dominant growl rumbling in his throat. “You're a tease,” he said, stroking her dark hair. “Maybe,” she said, giggling. Horatio reached down and unzipped his pants, exposing his hardness to her. She licked her lips, glancing down at it, and then looking back up into his eyes. He reached a hand behind her head and gripped her hair, pushing her down. She didn't resist as he pushed her head down onto his crotch. She opened her mouth and let his hot flesh slide between her lips. Horatio held her hair tight and guided her motions as she bobbed her head up and down, letting her lips caress his flesh. He moaned in ecstasy as she pleasured him. His head leaned back against the leather seats and he closed his eyes, letting her work her magic. All too soon, the car arrived at the hotel. When the car stopped, Nicole sat up, wiping her lips. Horatio quickly zipped himself up and straightened his clothes, and by the time the driver came around to open the door, they both looked presentable again. They got out and headed into the hotel. The driver flashed a knowing smile at Nicole on her way by. Her face heated up, as she wondered what he might have heard from the front seat of the car. But she told herself that she didn't care. She was a grown woman, doing what she wanted with a grown man, and she had nothing to be ashamed of. Horatio led her to the elevator, and as soon as they were inside and the doors closed, he started kissing and touching her again. He pinned her against the wall, his firm hands massaging her full breasts. She gasped and moaned, grinding herself against him. She could barely wait for the elevator to get up to Horatio's suite. When they got into the room, Horatio didn't even wait long enough to get to the bed. He pushed her against the table by the door, knocking a lamp out of the way. He reached down to grip her ass, lifting her up onto the table, and then he pulled her skirt up and her panties down. She kissed him eagerly, unbuttoning his shirt while he dropped his pants. He was still half-dressed when he

plunged inside her, and she moaned in ecstasy as he filled her and started thrusting in and out of her. Nicole clung to Horatio's shoulders as he held her against the table, giving it to her hard, just as she needed it. He kissed her ear and sucked on her neck, leaving love bites on her soft, caramel skin. She cried out in pleasure, not caring if anyone else in the hotel heard the racket they were making. All she cared about in that moment was the man she was with and the way their bodies were joined. She was in heaven, and she called out Horatio's name over and over as he filled her, bringing her to new heights of pleasure. They moved to the bed and made love for hours, surrounded by silken sheets and caressing shadows. Later in the night, Nicole laid there in Horatio's arms, holding him close against her. She drifted into a sleep filled with wonderful dreams, and she felt warm and safe wrapped in the silk sheets and her lover's embrace. Sometime later, she awoke to an empty bed. She looked around blearily, searching the shadows for her lover. She saw him standing by the door, hunched over the table there. She sat up, rubbing her eyes. He looked up at her, then came back to the bed, smiling. “You should get some sleep,” Horatio said. He kissed her forehead, climbing into bed next to her. “What are you doing up?” she asked him. “Nothing. Just went to the bathroom.” There was something tense in Horatio's eyes, something that made Nicole hesitate. “I'll be back in bed in a minute,” she said. She got up and headed to the bathroom, stopping to get her purse on the way. She found her purse sitting on the table by the door. She frowned at it, hesitating for a moment. She was sure she had tossed her purse on the floor when they got into the room. It couldn't have been sitting there on the table, not when that was where Horatio had pinned her down when they first got there. She would have known if she'd been sitting on the purse while he fucked her. In the bathroom, she dug through her purse for some toiletries, wondering about what she'd seen. Had Horatio been looking through her purse? She couldn't imagine why. There was nothing valuable or interesting in there, and besides, he had so much money that she couldn't imagine him trying to steal from her. It must have been her imagination, she told herself. Though something in the back of her mind bothered her about the whole situation. She made herself ignore the baseless worries. She finished cleaning up, and then went back to bed, snuggling into Horatio's arms. She drifted off to sleep, feeling safe and protected in his embrace, and certain that any concerns

she had were nothing but her overactive imagination. 5

A FEW WEEKS PASSED, and Horatio didn't have to leave the country on business again, giving them a great deal of time together. Nicole savored every day she spent with Horatio, from the dinners together, to the plays and shows he took her to, to the nights they spent in bed together. She started feeling like he was becoming an undeniable part of her life. This made it all the harder when he told her he had another trip coming up soon. “Again?” she asked, pouting at him. They sat across from each other while having dinner at a fine restaurant. “I know it's your job and all, but I was really getting used to having you around.” “It'll only be for a week or two,” Horatio said. “I wish I could get out of it, but I really can't. This is a really important business deal that needs to be closed.” Nicole let out a long sigh. “When are you leaving?” “In three days,” he said. He flashed her a charming smile. “Plenty of time for us to spend together before I go.” “Except that I'm busy working the next three days,” Nicole said. “I want to spend as much time with you as I can, but I can't put off work.” He reached across the table and squeezed her hand. “Well, I suppose I can't complain about you being busy at work, considering that I'm leaving the country for my own work.” She smirked at him. “Well, I just wish my job was as glamorous as yours. I'd much rather be overseas seeing the sights than stuck in the emergency room for a twelve-hour shift.” “We each have to pay our dues,” he said. “I suppose that's true.” They made the best they could of the next few days, sharing quiet evenings at Nicole's apartment after she got done from work each day. She was too exhausted to go out to a club or even to dinner after working such long shifts, but Horatio didn't complain. He seemed content to enjoy her company, even if it was simply sitting on the couch, watching a movie together and fooling around before bed. She insisted on seeing him off at the airport the day he left, despite his objections that she didn't need to. “I'm just going to be standing in line for two hours to get through security,” he said. “Not very exciting.” “Well, I still want to see you off,” she insisted. “It's the last time we'll be

seeing each other for weeks. I want to make the most of it.” She drove down to the airport with him, and they spent some time fooling around in the backseat of the car while Horatio's driver made his way through the airport traffic. When they got to the airport it was still early morning. The sun was shining, though the chilling breeze made the air inhospitable. Nicole stood with Horatio at the terminal, her arms wrapped around herself, wishing she had brought a jacket. “I'll call you first chance I get,” Horatio said. He cupped her cheeks with his hands and he leaned in to press his lips against hers. “I'll miss you,” she said. “I'll miss you as well, darling.” He smiled at her, but the smile didn't quite touch his eyes. There was a tension there that set Nicole's nerves on edge. “What is it?” she asked. He gave a small shake of his head. “Nothing. It's...nothing.” “Is something wrong?” She frowned. His behavior had been a bit off for a while now. Ever since the night at the theatre. She had tried to convince herself that it was just her imagination, but the tension hadn't dissipated. She couldn't help but fear that she had done something wrong. “Don't worry about it.” He kissed her forehead, and then hugged her tight, wrapping his strong arms around her. He held her so tight that she thought he was afraid to let go. When he pulled back, the tension was still in his eyes, but there was a deep affection there as well. “Have a safe flight,” she said. She gave him one last kiss before he left. She stood there outside the terminal, watching through the windows as he walked up to airport security. She wanted to rush inside, to hold him close, and to capture one last moment together. But she knew she had to let him go. “Ma'am?” the driver said, stepping up alongside her. “We need to go. We can't stay parked here.” Nicole let out a long sigh. “I know,” she said, hanging her head. “I know.” She got back in the car, and the driver brought her home. For the next few days, she moped around her apartment, feeling under the weather. At first, she shrugged it off as love sickness. But when she threw up in the morning on the third day, she knew it had to be something more. Between the nausea, how tired she'd been lately, and the soreness she was starting to develop in certain places, she started recognizing the signs. A trip to the drug store later that day helped her confirm it. She was pregnant. Horatio called her that night from overseas. She answered the phone with tension in her voice, not sure whether she should reveal the truth to him now, or wait until after he returned from his trip. She paced around her apartment

while they chatted and Horatio told her about the sights he'd seen so far on his trip. She barely responded, only hearing half of what he said while her mind was preoccupied with her own thoughts. After they'd been speaking for a little while, Horatio asked, “Nicole, is everything all right?” “Yes, of course,” Nicole said, her voice a bit more high pitched than she would have liked. “Everything's fine. Why wouldn't it be?” “Well you seem a little...off,” he said. Nicole closed her eyes and rubbed a hand over her face. “Sorry. I'm just...I'm just a little under the weather, that's all.” “You're sick? You should go see a doctor. Oh, what am I talking about?” Horatio chuckled. “You work in a hospital. You're surrounded by doctors.” “Yeah,” Nicole said, still too distracted to focus. Horatio was silent for a long moment. “Nicole, are you sure you're all right?” Nicole held her breath, trying to decide what to do. She didn't want to worry Horatio, and she didn't like hiding anything from him. But it seemed too impersonal to tell him this kind of news over the phone. Yet, on the other hand, she didn't think she could keep it in. “Nicole?” Horatio asked. She could hear the worry in his voice. “Horatio...” “Yes, dear? What is it?” She took a deep breath. “Well...the thing is...I'm pregnant.” There was a long pause. Nicole held the phone close to her ear, straining to hear anything. For a moment, she worried that the call had been disconnected. “Are you sure?” Horatio asked. “Yes. Well, I took a test. They're pretty accurate.” Horatio was silent for another long moment. Then he said, “All right. Listen. There's something I'm going to need to take care of when I get back to the States. I'll need a day or two.” “What?” Nicole asked, a frown forming on her face. “Horatio, what are you talking about?” “I'll explain when I can,” he said. “For the time being, you're going to have to trust me.” “Trust you? Horatio, what's going on? I just told you that I'm pregnant.” “Yes, I know,” he said. “And I want to make the best possible life for you and our child. This is why I need to take care of this. I've been putting it off for too long.”

“Take care of what?” She threw a hand in the air in frustration. “Horatio, you're not making any sense.” “I can't discuss it over the phone. Just trust me. I'm going to take care of you. I'm going to protect you and our baby. I'll see you soon.” He hung up before she could ask any of the questions that were rampaging around in her head. But the biggest question of all was, protect her from what? 6

AS THE TIME until Horatio's return slowly passed, Nicole found herself more and more worried about him. He hadn't called her back since she had told him she was pregnant, and she didn't know what to think about that. Her pregnancy and her future weighed on her mind, making it hard to concentrate at work. In the break room one day, one of her coworkers, Tanya, commented on her odd behavior of late. “Have you been feeling okay?” Tanya asked. She frowned at Nicole in concern. “You've been kind of out of it lately.” “I've got some stuff going on,” Nicole said, avoiding Tanya's eyes. She wasn't sure how much to share with her friend. “Anything you want to talk about?” Nicole bit her lip. Her fingers toyed with a napkin, tearing it into little pieces and leaving them scattered all over her lunch tray. “It's really kind of complicated. I'm not sure where to begin.” Well, that wasn't true. She knew where she really needed to begin. Nicole took a deep breath and let it out as a long sigh. “I'm pregnant.” “Wow.” Tanya toyed with her fork, chewing on her lower lip as she seemed to consider what to say. “Is that...are you happy?” “I don't know,” Nicole said. “I mean, part of me is. But I've only been seeing Horatio for a couple of months. I'm not sure we're ready for this.” She didn't know how to bring up her other concerns: Horatio's odd behavior, the strange way he'd acted on the phone, and her worry that there was something else going on that she didn't know about. “But isn't he like, rich or something?” Tanya asked. “That's good, right? I mean, he'll help take care of you and the baby.” “I'm sure he will,” Nicole said. “That's not what I'm worried about?” “Then what is it?” Nicole looked off into the distance, trying to sort through her thoughts. She didn't know how to put the pieces together. The strange phone calls. Horatio's secretive behavior. The frequent trips overseas. “I don't know. I guess...I guess

I'm just worried that I don't know enough about him. Not enough to want to raise a child together.” “That's rough,” Tanya said. “But you've got time, right? Nine months to get to know each other. Maybe that'll be all it takes.” “Yeah,” Nicole said in a noncommittal tone. “Yeah, maybe it will be.” Nicole spent the rest of the night trying to keep herself in a good mood. She was almost certain that her concerns were nothing more than paranoia, brought about by stress, hormones, and the longing she felt for her lover when he was away on business. Everything would be fine, she told herself, when Horatio came back home and she could celebrate their baby together in person. All of her reassurances fell apart, however, when she came home to find two strange men waiting for her outside her apartment. “Nicole Willis?” one of the men asked. They were both tall, muscular men, wearing dark suits. “Umm...yes?” She looked between them, wondering who they were and what this was all about. “My name is Agent Stevens, this is Agent Conners.” He flashed her a government ID and badge. “We'd like to ask you a few questions.” Nicole's heart started to race. What were these men doing at her home? She tried to think of anything she could have done to warrant an investigation by government agents, but nothing came to mind. The worst crime she'd ever committed was being late paying for a speeding ticket. She barely even cheated on her taxes. “What...what is this about?” She looked from one agent to the other, her eyes wide. Her mouth felt dry and there was a sick churning in her stomach. “Can we discuss that inside?” Agent Stevens asked. He stepped to the side and gestured towards her apartment door. “Umm. All right. I guess so.” She walked past the men, fumbling to get her keys out of her purse. She wondered for a moment if this was some kind of prank, or a scam. A momentary fear flashed in her mind that these men were thieves or con artists, using fake badges to get into her home. But something about the serious look on their faces told her that they were for real. Nicole turned on the lights in her apartment, and then sat down on the couch, clutching her purse in her lap. Agent Conners shut the door after he entered, and then remained standing. Agent Stevens moved some clothes off the chair across from Nicole, and then sat down. He looked her in the eye, a stern expression on his face. “Can you tell me what's going on?” Nicole asked.

“Ms. Willis,” he asked, “are you familiar with a man named Horatio Cameron?” She nodded, licking her dry lips. “Yes. Yes, he's my boyfriend.” “And what about a man named Igor Romanov?” Nicole shook her head, frowning. “Who?” Agent Stevens leaned forward, frowning at her. “Igor Romanov. Russian businessman, doing business here in the States, in Philadelphia. Are you saying you don't know him?” “I have no idea what you're talking about.” Nicole clutched her purse tighter. She couldn't understand what was going on, or whether or not she was in some kind of trouble. Agent Stevens reached into his jacket. Nicole tensed, sitting up straighter. He pulled out a phone, turned it on, and tapped a few commands, then turned the screen towards her. There was a photo of a dark-haired man with a short beard. It was a man she was sure she'd never seen before. “I don't know who that is,” she said. “So you're claiming you've never had any contact with Mr. Romanov,” he said. “Of course, I haven't. What is this all about?” Agent Stevens put the phone away. “How would you describe your relationship with Mr. Cameron?” Nicole shook her head in confusion, thrown off by the sudden change in subjects. “Horatio? What does he have to do with this?” “Just answer the question please, ma'am.” Agent Stevens folded his hands and gave her a stern look. “Your relationship with Mr. Cameron?” “We're dating,” she said. “Are you sleeping together?” “Now that is none of your damn business.” Nicole glared at the two men, her lips pressed together in a thin line. “Listen, I don't know who you are or how you think you can just come into my home and ask me about my personal life, but—” “Ms. Willis, we'll ask the questions, if you don't mind.” “I sure as hell do mind,” Nicole said. She stood up, glaring down at the man. “What the hell is this about, anyway? Shouldn't I have a lawyer here?” The two agents exchanged a look. Agent Stevens stood up, looking down at her. “We're just talking here,” he said. “Not anymore.” Nicole pointed at the door. “I want you out of my house. If you want to ask me any more of your damn invasive questions, you can talk to my lawyer.”

Agent Stevens ground his teeth, but said nothing. He obviously knew he was stuck now. Nicole didn't know much about the law, but she knew she didn't have to answer any questions if she didn't want to. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a card. He handed it to her and said, “If you change your mind and decide you want to talk, give us a call. Keep in mind; it will be in your best interest if you cooperate.” Nicole snatched the card away from him. “Cooperate in what? You haven't even told me what this is about.” “I'd be happy to discuss that with you,” he said, “if you'll just answer a few more questions.” “Forget it.” Nicole gestured to the door. “Out. Go. I want you out of my home.” “Very well,” Agent Stevens said. “Have a nice day, ma'am.” The two men left and Nicole locked the door behind them. Then she leaned against it, her chest heaving as she fought off sobs. She slid down to the ground, leaning back against the door. Tears welled in her eyes. She stared at the agent's card, unable to process what had just happened. As soon as she composed herself enough that she could think straight, she pulled out her phone and dialed Horatio's number. 7

NICOLE'S HANDS were shaking while she waited for Horatio to answer the phone. It rang and rang, and for a long, grueling moment, she thought he was ignoring her call. Then he answered, his voice sounding sleepy. “Nicole? Is everything all right?” “No,” she said. “Everything isn't all right.” She heard a rustling sound, and realized it was Horatio getting out of bed. She'd forgotten about the time difference where he was. She must have awaked him in the middle of the night. “What's wrong?” “There were men,” she said. “Men who said they were from the government. They came to my apartment.” She explained everything she could about her encounter with the two agents, though none of it made any sense to her and she found herself fumbling over her words. “Damn,” Horatio muttered. “I told them...”

“Told them what?” Nicole felt her chest tighten. “Horatio? What's going on? Do you know what this is about?” He let out a long sigh. “It's...complicated.” “Well, you'd damn well better uncomplicate it,” she said. “Now.” “I can't explain this over the phone.” “Don't give me that. Horatio, these men came to my home. If you know what's going on, you need to tell me, now.” “I'll explain everything as soon as I can,” he said. “You're going to have to trust me.” “Horatio...” “Nicole, dear,” Horatio said. “Please. I promise you that this had nothing to do with you. It's my fault. I told them they didn't need to bother you, but they didn't listen.” “What? Horatio, you talked to these men? What do they want?” Her hand clenched into a fist. She felt herself shaking from head to toe. “I'll explain as soon as I can,” he said. “It's nothing to worry about. Just some...business trouble.” “Business trouble?” She glared at her phone for a second, wishing Horatio was there so she could smack him upside his head. “Horatio, this wasn't the IRS or something. These were government agents. Are you doing something illegal?” Horatio sighed. “No, Nicole. No, I promise it's nothing like that. But you need to believe me when I tell you that I can't talk about it. Not now. Not until I see you in person.” Nicole ground her teeth, but she couldn't think of anything to say in response. As much as she didn't like to admit it, this really wasn't the sort of conversation to be had over the phone. “I want to see you the second you get back here. You need to explain this to me.” “I will,” he said. “I promise. I'll see if I can get an earlier flight. And I'll explain everything. Don't worry.” “You'd better,” she said. “I will. And Nicole...I hope you know that I love you.” She closed her eyes, leaning her head back against the door. That was the first time he'd uttered those words to her. She wanted to be angry at him for saying it now, under these circumstances. It wasn't fair. But she couldn't be mad at him. Not when his words made her realize how much she loved him too. “I love you,” she said. “You'd better get your ass back here soon.” “I will. I promise.”

Nicole hung up the phone, and then sat there on the floor for a long time, staring at the ceiling. Her head was spinning and she felt like her entire world had been turned upside down. She didn't know what to do or what to think. And the only person that could give her any answers was on the other side of the world. She just had to force herself to believe him, and to trust him when he said that everything would be all right. 8

A FEW DAYS LATER, Nicole was working a long shift in the emergency room. She had barely heard from Horatio since the last time she spoke to him on the phone. He'd texted her a few times, letting her know that he had found an earlier flight back, and that he would come see her as soon as he “took care of this situation.” She didn't even know what that meant, or how he could do anything about the government agents that had come harassing her at her home. She imagined him bribing them to get them to leave her alone, but somehow that didn't seem like Horatio's style. He might be rich, but he didn't seem like the sort of person to throw his money around in order to get what he wanted. Her thoughts remained plagued by the confusing situation throughout her shift. Fortunately, the patients coming into the emergency room, for the most part, weren't in critical condition. She tended to a young girl who came in complaining of scoliosis-related back pain, and then was released after the doctor gave her a prescription for pain relief medication. A mother brought her baby in, complaining that he had an unusual rash, but it turned out to be nothing that a medicated cream couldn't cure. And while there were plenty of other patients that required a bit more attention and time, no one had come in with any serious or life-threatening conditions. Until the end of the night, that is. They got the call at almost 8.00 PM. The emergency room doctor came rushing in, shouting at the nurses to prep for an incoming patient. “Shooting at a downtown strip club. One gunshot victim coming in. Critical condition.” Nicole's heart started to race. She had never dealt with a gunshot victim before. She had undergone training for such emergencies, but this was the first time such a thing had ever come into her hospital. It took a few moments for her mind to overcome the shock, then her training took over and she started helping prep for the incoming patient. She helped the other nurses gather the necessary supplies and prepare the operating room. Then there was a tense few moments of waiting until the ambulance arrived. As soon as the ambulance arrived, the paramedics unloaded the wheeled

stretcher from the back and rushed the patient into the hospital. He was moved immediately into the operating room, where the staff started prepping him for surgery. There was an IV in his arm and an oxygen mask over his face. Blood stained his clothes, leaving dark patches over the black silken material of his suit. When they started cutting his shirt open to get clear access to the gunshot wounds, they found an empty gun holster hidden beneath his jacket, making Nicole wonder for a moment if he was some kind of undercover police officer. Then she got a better look at his face beneath the oxygen mask. “Oh my God,” she whispered. It was Horatio.

***

NICOLE STUMBLED BACK OUT of the operating room, clutching at her chest. The doctor glanced at her and shouted, “Nicole! We need you back in here now.” “I...I can't,” she said, gasping for air. “That's my...that's my...” The doctor turned his full attention back to his patient. “Someone get her out of here. And get me another nurse down here, stat.” Nicole leaned against the wall, one hand pressed against her chest. The room was spinning. She couldn't think, couldn't move. She stood there, swaying on her feet, until one of the hospital security guards came over and took her by the arm, leading her down to an empty bed in the emergency room. He laid her down on it, and then closed off the curtain between her and the patient in the next bed. “Are you okay, Nicole?” he asked. “What's the matter? Are you sick?” She shook her head, unable to think clearly enough to speak. She put a hand over her eyes, squeezing her eyes shut tight, trying to block out the image of Horatio on the operating table, covered in blood. She couldn't stop seeing it. She told herself she had to be wrong. It couldn't have been him. It didn't make any sense. What would Horatio have been doing at a strip club? How could he have gotten shot? “I'm going to get you some water,” the guard said. “Wait here. Don't try to get up.” Nicole couldn't have gotten up if she tried. She laid there until the guard returned and handed her a bottle of water. She took it and fumbled with the cap, but her hands were shaking too much to get it open.

“Here,” the guard said, taking the bottle from her. “Let me get that for you.” He opened the bottle and handed it back to her. She raised it to her lips, spilling a bit on the front of her shirt. She gulped down some water, and then pressed the cold bottle against her forehead. “How are you doing, Nicole?” the guard asked, patting her hand. “I feel like I've gone crazy. That...that couldn't have been him.” “Him who?” he asked. “My boyfriend. He's...he's the one they brought in.” “The gunshot victim?” The guard frowned, looking over his shoulder towards the operating room. “What happened to him? Do you know how he got shot?” “No, I have no idea. I didn't even think he...I had no idea that he...” She took a few deep breaths, trying to compose herself. Nothing made any sense. She couldn't find her center. She couldn't even steady herself enough to think the situation through logically. Her first thought, the only way she could make the situation begin to make sense, was that Horatio had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time. But then, why was he wearing a holster? Maybe, she thought, he had a gun for personal protection. It wouldn't be unheard of for a wealthy man to take such measures to protect himself. Maybe it had been an attempted robbery. That almost made sense. She could picture some crook seeing Horatio, with his fancy suit and his expensive car, and deciding to rob him. Or maybe someone had seen him take his wallet out at the strip club. She was a bit disgusted at the thought that her boyfriend had gone to such a place, especially since he wasn't even supposed to be back in the country for another day or two, but she pushed that thought aside. He had obviously been there, whatever the reason. And if someone had seen the hundred dollar bills in his wallet, they might have tried to rob him. And maybe Horatio had pulled out his own gun to defend himself. It was crazy, but she had seen crazier things. “I'll be fine,” she told the guard. “I just...I just need some time to rest and get myself together.” He patted her hand. “You let me know if you need anything, okay? I'll take care of it for you.” He went back to his post, leaving Nicole laying in the bed, staring at the ceiling. She knew she needed to get back up and get back to work. Even if she wasn't working with the doctor treating Horatio, there were other patients there that needed attention. But the thought of getting up made bile rise in her throat. She needed some time to steady herself. And as soon as Horatio was out of surgery, she needed to find out what had

happened to him. 9

ONCE NICOLE WAS able to get on her feet again, she went to check on Horatio. By then, the doctor had stitched up his wounds, and Horatio had been moved to a recovery room. He was laying there, unconscious, his chest covered in bandages and an IV hanging beside his bed. She asked the doctor, and he said Horatio's condition was stable. It seemed that none of the bullets had hit any vital organs, though he had lost a lot of blood and would need time to recover. “When can I talk to him?” she asked. “Nicole, you know how these things work,” he said. “We need to give him time to rest and heal. We can't risk waking him up before he's ready to.” “A-all right,” she said, hanging her head. “I'll check in on him later.” “No,” the doctor said, putting a hand on her arm. “I want you to go home and get some rest. You had a pretty serious episode there. You need to get yourself together.” “I can't go home,” Nicole said, shaking her head. “Not while my boyfriend is here like this. I need to stay.” The doctor sighed. “Fine, you can stay if you want, but not on the clock. You're no good to anyone until you've had time to rest and recover. Get yourself something to eat, then go lay down for a while. Horatio isn't going anywhere, and I doubt he's going to be waking up before morning anyway.” “Thanks.” She started to leave, and then turned back to the doctor. “Does anyone know what happened? How he got shot?” “You'd have to ask the police about that,” the doctor said. “I really don't know.” “All right. Thanks.” She went to the cafeteria and forced herself to eat. The food tasted wooden in her mouth, but she forced it down anyway. She'd done it before, when she was working long shifts without end and didn't have time to enjoy a meal. She knew that she needed to eat to keep her strength in order to get through this ordeal. Once she'd eaten, she went to Horatio's room and curled up in a chair by his bed. She couldn't bear the thought of going home or being anywhere else but by his side. Even though he seemed stable for now, she knew that anything could happen. And she knew that he would need a friendly face by his side when he woke up. Someone to reassure him and help him see that everything would be all right.

And on top of all that, she needed answers. The moment he awoke, and she knew he was no longer in any danger; she was going to make him explain to her what was going on. Sometime later, she awoke to the sound of Horatio gently coughing. She got up immediately, hurrying to the side of the bed. She put a hand on his forehead, looking at his face. His face was scrunched up in pain, and he licked his dry lips in between coughs. “Hold on, dear,” she whispered, stroking his hair. “Let me get you some water.” She brought him some water and held the bottle to his lips so he could drink. He took a few swallows, and then turned away, coughing. When he opened his eyes, he looked up at her, his face filled with strain. “Nicole?” “Yes, dear,” she said, caressing his cheek. “It's okay. You're here, you're safe. Everything is going to be okay.” He looked around the hospital room, then sighed and closed his eyes, leaning back against the pillow. “I was shot,” he said. Nicole tensed up. “Yes. But the doctor took care of you. He said you're going to be fine.” He opened his eyes and looked up at her, grimacing guiltily. “I'm sure you have a lot of questions.” She ground her teeth for a moment. She wanted nothing more than to demand answers out of him, but she knew he still needed time to recover. “I do,” she said. “But that can wait, until you're better.” “I'm not sure if it can wait,” he said. “What do you mean?” He sighed, meeting her eyes. “Nicole,” he said. “It's possible that you're in danger.” She stepped back, frowning down at him. “Horatio, what are you talking about.” “It won't be easy to explain. There are some things you need to know about me, and about my work. I'm not sure where to begin.” “Well, you'd better start somewhere.” She planted her hands on her hips. “Horatio, just what is going on here?” “You should sit down,” he said. “I'll try my best to explain.” Nicole frowned at him for a long moment, and then pulled the chair over to the side of the bed. She sat down, crossing her legs and folding her hands over her knee. “Go ahead.” Horatio took a deep breath. “Nicole, I work for the United States government. I'm an international spy and assassin.”

Nicole stared at him in shock for a long, silent moment. Then she burst out laughing. 10

“HORATIO, you've got to be kidding me,” she said, still laughing. “An assassin? Please. You couldn't possibly...” He gave her a stern look. He wasn't laughing, and there wasn't the least bit of amusement on his face. “What are you...?” Nicole shook her head, frowning at him. “Horatio, you can't be serious...can you?” “Please,” he said, “let me explain.” She sat back in her chair, her laughter gone now. She wasn't sure if she would believe any of this, but she had to hear it. “I thought you were involved in international trade,” she said. “More like international espionage.” Horatio pushed himself up a bit in bed, wincing as he did so. Once he was comfortable, he looked up at the ceiling, launching into his tale. “I know you think that I made my money in trade and finance,” he said. “But the truth is, I get paid an exorbitant amount of money to fly overseas, collect illicit information from foreign contacts, and occasionally, to assassinate high profile targets.” “That doesn't make sense,” she said. “Even if I believe you, you couldn't possibly make that much money doing this.” “Not enough, by itself, to live the way I do,” he said, nodding. “But combine that with an impressive stock portfolio, and I've turned my pay into a sizable fortune over the years. And it helps that I have access to behind-thescenes information about political upheavals and the like. I always know when a government is going to be toppled or a new regime will rise. It isn't hard to make smart investment decisions when I have access to that kind of information.” Nicole crossed her arms and looked away. She didn't want to believe what she was hearing, and it disgusted her. “I don't do it for the money,” Horatio said. “I do it to protect our country. The people I'm sent after, the ones targeted for termination, they're always dangerous criminals. Terrorists. Corrupt politicians. People who need to be taken down, and who can't be touched by diplomatic means. Someone needs to take care of them. That's my job.” Nicole refused to look at him. She couldn't face the fact that the man she

loved was a killer. She couldn't accept knowing that the father of her child had taken lives with his own hands, even if he did it for a good cause. “What does any of this have to do with me?” she asked, still not meeting Horatio's eyes. “You said that I was in danger. And what about those men who came to my apartment? What, do they think I'm some kind of spy or something?” “Actually,” Horatio said, “yes.” She looked at him, a deep frown on her face. “What?” “You've been under investigation since I first met you.” He gave her an apologetic smile. “It comes with the job, I'm afraid. They have to do thorough background checks on anyone I have extended contact with. To make sure that you're not some sort of threat to national security.” “National security?” She scowled at him, spreading her arms. “Do I look like a threat to national security? For Christ’s sake, Horatio, I'm a nurse. I help people for a living. And I don't know the first thing about international politics, or terrorism, or any of this.” “That's what I told them,” Horatio said. “Told who? The men who came to my apartment?” He nodded. “There was a misunderstanding. It took me some time to sort through it all. When they ran a check on you, some unusual things popped up. But it was all a mistake. There's another Nicole Willis living in the city, and by coincidence, you and her share a lot of the same background. There must have been some kind of information mix up, and they ended up thinking that you were her.” Nicole shook her head. She couldn't figure out how to make sense of any of this. “Another Nicole Willis? Who the hell is she?” It didn't surprise her that someone else could share the same name as her. That sort of thing happened. But she didn't understand how that would put her life in danger. “She's a stripper,” Horatio said. “That's why I was at the strip club last night. I was investigating her.” “Wait, I don't understand.” Nicole rubbed her hands over her face, trying to get her head around this. “If she's a stripper, why would the government care?” “Because a lot of men from the army base down by the docks come into her club,” Horatio explained. “Soldiers are notorious for spending most of their pay on beer and women. She caters to the soldiers who go to the club during their time off. Gives them lap dances and a friendly ear to listen to all of their problems. Every now and then, one of them lets something slip. Nothing too big, to be sure. It's not like people are telling her classified national secrets. But a bit of information here and there can add up, if she delivers it to the right

people who know how to interpret the information.” “So that's what this is about?” Nicole shook her head, still having trouble putting the pieces together. “Those men who came to my apartment, they thought I was a stripper who was selling secrets to...who? Terrorists?” “Russian agents,” Horatio said. “She has one client in particular, Igor Romanov. He's a suspected covert operative. We've been trying to pin him down for years. I did some snooping around when I got back into the country, and I think Igor has been collecting information from Nicole...the other Nicole, that is, and sending it back to his superiors in Russia. The agents who came to your home were trying to find a connection between you, or rather, between who they thought you were, and Igor.” “But I'm just a nurse. I don't know anything about this sort of thing.” “I tried to tell them that. I gave them all the information they needed, your social security number, your driver's license number, all of it. They should have been able to use that to realize you weren't the Nicole Willis they were looking for.” “So that's what you were doing in my purse that night.” Nicole frowned at Horatio, though she had a hard time being angry with him over going through her purse, considering everything else she had to consider. He looked away in shame. “I'm sorry about that. I was trying to protect you. To keep you off their radar. But they didn't want to listen, and they pushed ahead their investigation without me.” “So you went to find this other Nicole...and she shot you?” “Not her,” Horatio said. “A man at the club. A suspected associate of Igor's. Things got a bit out of hand. He must have realized what I was doing there, snooping around. He tried to slip out the back, and I followed him. And, well...” He looked down at his bandaged chest. Nicole got up from her chair. “I need to think about this, Horatio. I need time to process all of this. To understand. I don't know...I don't even know who you are anymore.” “I'm still the same man,” Horatio said. “I know this changes things, but I'm still the father of your child. I'm still the man who fell in love with you.” She looked into his eyes. She saw pain there, and regret. But she still couldn't be sure if she even knew who Horatio was anymore. She needed time to sort through everything he'd said and figure things out. “I need to go,” she said, picking up her purse. “I need time, Horatio.” “I understand. When can I see you again?” “I don't know.” She looked away, unable to meet his eyes. “Just give me some time.”

“All right.” He smiled at her, obviously trying to reassure her. “I love you, Nicole.” Nicole turned and left without answering. She didn't know what to say to him anymore. 11

NICOLE NEEDED some time off to sort through everything she'd learned. She didn't even know if half of it was true, though she couldn't imagine Horatio making up such a story. Though on the other hand, she wouldn't have been able to imagine him being some kind of secret agent, either, before that day. She requested some time off from work, using the vacation time she'd been planning to save for the holidays. She spent the next few days at home, trying to come to terms with what Horatio had told her. She had no way of confirming or denying anything he'd said. Searching online didn't reveal any useful information. There were news reports of the shooting at the strip club, but they didn't say anything at all about a Russian secret agent or an undercover international hitman. She tried searching whatever public records she could find about Horatio, looking for holes in his story. There wasn't much information to be found on him, either, other than some business articles about his work in overseas finance. She didn't know if the articles were forged as a part of his cover, or if he really did business overseas to keep a legitimate front on his activities. She supposed it made sense as a cover; as a businessman who regularly traveled to other countries to invest in disaster relief and community growth projects, especially in underdeveloped countries, no one would suspect that he was up to anything nefarious. He could easily make some public appearances, signing checks to fund various humanitarian projects, then when the press conferences were over, he could head off into the night to spy and assassinate, and whatever else he did in the name of national security. She decided to try another route, doing some searches for news about the projects Horatio had funded, then comparing them to political events that had taken place in the same countries. She couldn't find anything concrete, but she found several examples of news reports of major political events that occurred within a week or two of one of Horatio's humanitarian projects. Once or twice there had been deaths under “suspicious circumstances” that occurred not far from a disaster relief project or a new hospital Horatio was funding. There was nothing at all to connect the events to Horatio, other than him being in the country at around the right time. She couldn't prove anything, and she wasn't

sure if she wanted actual proof. But seeing the reports made it a bit easier for her to believe Horatio's story. Horatio called her a few times while she was taking time off from work. She ignored the calls each time. Part of her wanted to talk to him. She missed him; she missed his touch and his voice. And she needed to talk to him in order to get more answers to the questions that plagued her. But at the same time, she knew she wasn't ready to speak to him. Not yet. She needed time to process everything on her own, before she could face him again. After a few days of feeling stir crazy in her apartment, another thought occurred to her. She wanted to know something about this other Nicole Willis. The one who had somehow been mistaken for her. She sat at her computer, searching for any information on the other woman. It proved almost impossible to find anything. There were several Facebook profiles of women named Nicole Willis, though most of them were listed as living in other states. She found a few news articles and other websites listing different people who shared her name: a photographer, a botanist, and a body builder, but nothing about a stripper. Even when she tried to google “Nicole Willis Stripper” and “Nicole Willis Exotic Dancer,” she couldn't find any information. And there were more than a dozen women with that name who didn't have anything listed about where they lived or worked, so the one she was looking for could have been any one of them. She was about to give up, when she realized there was a much simpler way to learn about this other woman. She searched for the news article about the shooting, and found the name of the strip club where Horatio had been shot. The Violet Butterfly, a so-called “Gentlemen's Club” only a few miles from the hospital where Nicole worked. She had never been there herself—it simply wasn't the sort of place she would ever consider visiting—but she knew the general area. She realized she had driven past the place many times, though she had never really paid it any mind. She stared at the computer screen, drumming her fingers on her desk. She needed some kind of answers. And foolish though it might be, she realized that this other Nicole Willis was one of the only people she could get her answers from. She needed to know if there was any truth behind Horatio's claims. And in order to find out, she would have to go down to the club and meet this woman face to face. 12

NICOLE ARRIVED at the Violet Butterfly late on a Saturday night. She figured that

getting there a bit later would make it easier for her to find time to talk to the other Nicole, since hopefully, she wouldn't be too busy with her actual customers. Though she was certainly hoping she could get a chance to talk to the woman without having to pay for a lap dance or something equally distasteful. When she first walked into the gaudily decorated place, she found a board in the lobby with pictures of all of the dancers. They were all shown on stage, wearing next to nothing, though none of the pictures showed the girls completely nude. Probably because they wanted people to pay to get into the club before they got to see the “good stuff.” She scanned the pictures on the board. All of the women were thin, though none were all that attractive, at least not by Nicole's standards. They had nice enough bodies, but it was clear even from the pictures that most of them had fake tits, badly dyed hair, and spray tans. Nicole had never understood women who altered their bodies like that. She herself was an all-natural woman, and while she knew she could have stood to lose some weight, she considered her natural curves to be a blessing. There was no way she would ever change her body just to be ogled at by random men. The strippers all used stage names, many of them cheesy and over the top names like “Kitty Whiskers” and “Missy Storm.” None of their real names were listed. But there was one dancer whose stage name was simply “Nicky Aster.” She was a black woman who looked like she was in her mid to late twenties. Nicole studied the picture, wondering if this “Nicky” was really the other Nicole Willis. She figured there was only one way to find out. She paid the entry fee to get into the club. While he was handing her the change, the man behind the counter frowned at her and said, “You know we don't have dudes here.” “Excuse me?” Nicole asked. “I mean, there are no male strippers. Just so you know. But hey, if you're into the ladies, that's cool too.” He smirked at her, his eyes roaming up and down her body. Nicole grimaced in disgust, taking her change and walking away. She didn't care what the man thought about her, but she hadn't come here to be leered at. Though considering the sort of place this was, she knew she shouldn't have been surprised. She found a table near the back of the main room, away from the stage. She wasn't here for the show. She just needed to find out if Nicky Aster was Nicole Willis, and then find a way to talk to her in private. There were a few dozen

other people in the club, nearly all of them men, though there were a few young pairs of men and women sitting together, apparently here on dates. Nicole didn't understand the mindset of a woman who brought her boyfriend to a strip club, especially when she saw some of them buying lap dances for their boyfriends. She supposed some girls got off on seeing their man with another girl, as long as he came home with them at the end of the night with his engine revved up from the show. When Nicky came out to dance, Nicole started paying more attention. The show didn't do much of anything for her, though a lot of the men in the room hooted and hollered, waving dollar bills at her. Nicky teased them and let them shove money into her underwear. A few guys even copped a feel when she came close enough, though Nicole noticed that the woman kept her distance from those men afterward. At the end of her dance, Nicky blew a kiss to the crowd, and then walked off stage to make room for the next dancer. A few minutes later, Nicky came out onto the main floor, dressed now in a tight top and skimpy shorts that left little to the imagination. She walked from table to table, flirting with the customers and trying to sell them lap dances. She didn't so much as glance Nicole's way, probably guessing that Nicole wasn't likely to pay for a lap dance. Nicole watched the woman, wracking her brain for a way to approach her and bring up what she needed to talk about. Finally, desperation set in and she did the only thing she could think of. As Nicky started walking past her table on her way back to the dressing room, Nicole called out to her, “Are you Nicole Willis?” Nicky stopped and looked at her, her eyes widening. “Who wants to know?” she asked. Nicole got up from her table and approached Nicky, lowering her voice. “I need to talk to you. It's about Horatio Cameron.” Nicky frowned at Nicole, planting a hand on her hip. “Never heard of him. Do you want a dance, or are you just wasting my time?” Nicole's mind raced, trying to think of what else to say. She had no idea how to get information out of this woman. “What about Igor Romanov? Do you know him?” Nicky's face blanched. She took a step away, waving her hands in front of her. “I don't know nothing. Leave me alone.” She turned and hurried away before Nicole could say anything else. But the look on her face had been answering enough. Nicky had clearly recognized the name. The only problem was, it had scared her off. Nicole hung around the club a little bit longer, hoping to run across Nicky again so she could try to get something more out of her than a cold shoulder.

When it became clear that Nicky wasn't going to show her face again, Nicole sighed and gave up. She slung her purse over her shoulder and headed for the door, figuring the entire trip had been a complete waste of time. She would just have to talk to Horatio, try to accept that he was telling her the truth, and hope they could move on with their lives. The parking lot was dark as she walked to her car. A single street light flickered nearby, casting a stuttering light over the area before going out again. Nicole watched the shadows as she walked, a shiver racing up her spine. She walked a bit faster, looking over her shoulder to see if any of the sleazy men from the club had followed her. She reached into her purse for her pepper spray, just in case. Before she could find it, a hand reached out and snatched her wrist. She yelped in terror as a huge monster of a man twisted her to the side and pinned her back against a car. He glowered down at her, knocking her purse out of her hands and putting a hand on her throat. “I heard you were looking for me,” he growled. “Who the fuck are you, huh? You don't look like no fed.” “I...I'm...I...” Nicole trembled under the man's grip, her chest feeling tight. She choked back a sob. “Please, let me go.” “Not until I get some answers, bitch,” he said. “Why are you asking questions about me? You think you can come snooping around here, bothering Nicky, and I won't know about it?” “I don't...I don't know what you mean,” Nicole said. “I don't know you. Please, let me go.” He squeezed her throat, almost cutting off her air supply. “Try again, lady. You asked Nicky about me, and I want to know why. Who do you work for?” It took Nicole's frazzled mind a few moments to figure out what was going on. This man, she realized, had to be Igor Romanov. Nicky must have called him after she ran off, letting him know that someone was in the club, asking about him. And Igor must have thought she worked for the government. It was insane, and she had never thought that her snooping around would lead to something like this. She had just been trying to find out the truth about Horatio. “Talk, bitch,” Igor said, pressing her tighter against the car. “Don't make me ask again. If you do, you and I are going to take a little ride, and have a chat someplace more private.” He clenched a fist, making a silent promise about what their “private chat” would consist of. “I don't know anything, I swear!” She struggled against his grip, but he was too strong. There was no chance she could possibly escape. Tears started

streaming down her face. “Please, let me go. I won't tell anyone anything. I just want to go home. Please...” “Wrong answer, bitch.” Igor raised his fist. A gunshot rang out across the parking lot. Igor stumbled away from her, clutching at his side. His hand came away red with blood. Igor raised his bloody hand, staring at it in shock. He looked up and met Nicole's eyes. Then two more shots rang out. Bullets ripped into Igor's chest and he dropped to the ground. He shuddered for a moment, and then stopped moving. Horatio appeared out of the darkness, holding a smoking gun in his hand. He rushed over to Nicole. “Nicole, dear, are you all right? Did he hurt you?” Nicole shuddered, letting out a fierce sob of relief. She fell against Horatio's chest, clinging to him. He held her close and stroked her hair, whispering soothingly to her, and telling her that everything was going to be all right. 13

HORATIO HURRIED Nicole to her car and they both got in. Horatio took the driver's seat, pulling Nicole's keys out of her purse and inserting them into the ignition. They were driving before Nicole could start thinking about what was going on. “Wait,” she said. “Don't we need to wait for the police?” She looked over her shoulder at the parking lot as Horatio drove away. A crowd was already starting to gather outside, drawn by the sound of the gunshots. “No,” Horatio said. “I can't risk blowing my cover. I might already be exposed after what happened the other day. But don't worry, I'll get my people on it.” “Your 'people'?” She frowned at him. “What do you mean? And what are you doing out of bed? You should still be in the hospital recovering.” “I'm fine,” he said, keeping his eyes on the road. “And I mean the government. They'll take care of this. Make Igor's death look like a mugging. Or possibly gang violence. Depends on what spin they decide to put on it.” Nicole leaned back against the seat, covering her face with her hands. The situation was more than she could deal with. She had watched someone get shot. She had almost been killed. And now her boyfriend, the father of her child, was talking about a conspiracy to cover it up.

“Is that what you do?” she asked, unable to look at him. “Kill people, and then cover it up?” “Nicole, that man was a monster. He was about to hurt you. Maybe even kill you. And we know he's been selling secrets to the Russians for a long time. Not just the information the stripper was giving him. We think he's been hacking government servers, bribing public officials, and using all kinds of other means to steal classified information. We never had enough evidence to bring him to trial, but after tonight that won't matter.” “But you just killed him.” Nicole stared at Horatio in shock. “Because it was the only way to protect you,” he said. “And to protect our child.” Nicole looked out the window, unsure what else to say. If Igor was really as bad of a man as Horatio said, then there was no reason to mourn him. But at the same time, she wouldn't have wished for his death. Even knowing that he planned to hurt her, she wouldn't have wanted him dead. In jail, facing charges for his crimes, and able to stand trial, yes. But not dead. But she knew Horatio was right. She had been in danger. Possibly mortal danger. And even if Igor hadn't planned on killing her, he would have hurt her, and that might have made her lose the baby. She reached over and put a hand on Horatio's leg. “Thank you.” “It was nothing,” he said. “No, it was something. You saved my life.” He smiled at her, putting a hand over hers. “I couldn't let him hurt you.” They drove back to Nicole's apartment. When they got there, Nicole had to help Horatio out of the car. He had been ignoring the pain from his injuries when he needed to rush in to save her, but now that the moment had passed and his adrenaline had faded, his injuries were taking their toll on him. Nicole led him straight to her bed and laid him down, and then she took off his shirt so she could check his wounds. She changed the bandages for him, but she was worried that he had pushed himself so hard and had been back on his feet only a few days after being shot. “You need to go back to the hospital,” she said. “I'll be fine.” He gave her a forced smile. “I'm not asking. I'm telling.” She gave him her sternest look, the one she reserved for stubborn patients who didn't want to listen to medical advice. He let out a long sigh. “All right. But not a public hospital. I'll call my people. It would be better if I went to a private, secure facility.” “I don't care where you go,” Nicole said. “As long as you go get checked out.”

Horatio made a few phone calls, sending some of his people to take care of the situation with the police back at the club. Not long after, the paramedics arrived to take Horatio to a secure medical facility. Nicole insisted on riding along with him. She ended up pacing in the waiting room of the medical facility while she was waiting for news about Horatio's condition. When the doctor eventually came out to speak with her, he told her that Horatio had torn out some stitches, but they had patched him up again and he was in stable condition, though he would need to remain in bed until the doctor was sure it was safe for him to move around again. Several weeks passed before Horatio was given a completely clean bill of health. He was allowed to leave the medical facility at the end of the first week, and Nicole did everything she could to care for him at home, in between regular checkups with his doctor. They spent a lot of the time making plans for the baby that would be on its way in a few months. And while Nicole was happy now that Horatio was healing and safe, and she was overjoyed that they had a baby on the way, there was still one last looming issue that weighed on her mind. She fought with herself for days about how to bring it up. She didn't even know what to say. But she knew that if things between her and Horatio were going to work out, she needed to speak her mind. One morning, when she couldn't keep it in any longer, she looked at him across the breakfast table and said, “Horatio...we need to talk.” 14

HORATIO SET down his knife and fork. He folded his hands on the table and looked her in the eye. “All right,” he said. “What do we need to talk about?” Nicole took a deep breath. Now that she had worked up the courage to talk about this, she didn't know where to begin. “Our lives have changed a lot in the last few months. My life has changed a lot.” “For the better, I hope?” Horatio smiled at her, his eyes filled with his love and adoration for her. “Yes,” Nicole said. “Of course. I love you, and I want us to raise this child together. But that means being together.” Horatio lowered his eyes. “I think I know where this is going.” “If it was just that you travel a lot, I'd be okay with it. I mean, lots of people have jobs where their work takes them overseas for weeks at a time. And I'd be fine with that, because I know you'd be coming home to me at the end. But I need to know that you are coming home.”

“Coming home alive, you mean,” he said, giving her a grave look. She pressed her lips together in a thin line. It took her a few moments to sort through her thoughts so she could talk about this rationally, instead of letting her emotions take over. “You were shot, Horatio. You almost died. I saw it. You don't know what that was like. Seeing you there, covered in blood. And I don't think I could live like that. Seeing you off at the airport, knowing you were going off into danger. Knowing that you might not come back.” “People married to soldiers in the military, or to police officers or firefighters, face that risk all the time,” Horatio said. “But it's for a good cause. It's to save lives. I made a decision a long time ago that I would be willing to risk my life, if it meant saving others.” “That was before you became a father.” He looked away, toying nervously with his napkin. “I know. I know that changes things. But I don't know if...” “If you could give up that life?” She reached across the table and took his hand, squeezing it tight. “For me? For us, and our child? I know it might seem like a lot to ask. But you can't ask me to face the possibility of your death, not when I'd be left here alone, raising our child without you. Haven't you done enough already? Protected enough people?” “Is this what you want?” he asked, his tone quiet and serious. “Is this what you need? For me to give up that life?” “We don't need the money. You've got more than enough to take care of our baby without risking your life to earn a living. And while I know you believe in what you do, I have to hope you can believe in something else, too. In a life with me. In our family. You have to believe that we're worth it.” “This is really important to you, isn't it?” “More important than almost anything else,” Nicole said. Horatio looked off into the distance for a moment. Then he sighed. “Very well. If this is what you need, if this is the best path for our family, I'll do it. I'll quit.” “You really mean that?” “Of course, I do.” He got up and circled around the table. He took her hands in his. She rose to her feet, looking into his eyes. “You, and our child,” he said, “are my biggest priorities. Nothing else matters. I'll do whatever it takes to give you the best life possible. And to make sure that our child grows up strong, healthy, and loved.” Nicole stepped into Horatio's arms and held him tight. The tension that had filled her for days started to fade away. He rubbed her back, offering her silent

comfort and support. He kissed her cheek, then her neck, sending little shivers running through her skin. His lips found hers, and they kissed deeply and passionately. They hadn't made love in weeks while Horatio was recovering. But he was fully healed now, and Nicole felt a deep need for him building up inside of her. She took his hands, smiling coyly at him, and led him towards the bedroom. She pushed him down onto the bed, and then she stood over him, slowly unbuttoning her blouse, taking her time and teasing him with little glimpses of flesh. She wanted to take her time, to work him up real good, and to savor every moment of the experience, especially considering how long it had been. Horatio took off his clothes while he watched her, then he reached down and started touching himself, his eyes locked on her the entire time. She licked her lips, feeling the heat rising in her body. Her clothes dropped to the floor, she ran her hands slowly, and sensually along her curves, her eyes locked on Horatio's. Then she slowly stepped forward, crawling onto the bed and climbing on top of him. He held her by her hips as she mounted him. Her back arched and she started riding him slowly, rocking her hips back and forth while he thrust up into her. He sat up and she pulled his face close to her chest, holding him tight while she rode him. He kissed her soft skin and moaned in pleasure as they made love long into the afternoon. Afterward, she laid in bed with Horatio, her head cradled against his shoulder, holding him close. She put a hand down over her belly, smiling in contentment. She hadn't expected her life to turn out like this, and she was sure there were still more things she needed to learn about the man she had fallen in love with. But she knew now that they were sharing the same path together, and it was a path she was grateful to be on. She didn't know what twists and turns life would bring her in the coming months, but she knew that she had found a great man, a man who would give anything for her and do whatever it took to protect her and keep their child safe. And who would provide a wonderful life for them. And, if she was lucky, she might just get a chance to visit all of the wonderful places around the world that Horatio could take her, knowing they were there simply on vacation, and not as part of a crazy international espionage scheme. SCANDALOUS Megan

MEGAN BROWN FOUND herself faced with yet another dilemma. She could pay all of her bills and not have enough money to feed herself, or she could pay some of the bills and lose something equally important like… power. She put her head in her hands once more, sighing as she glanced over the pile of bills on the table in front of her. She worked too hard to have nothing to show for it. Every single day at the diner she put in hour after hour to try and make it all come together, but she was failing miserably, with no light in the trees. As usual, she grimaced when she heard the loud clank of tires outside her apartment building. She wasn’t in the best of neighborhoods, but she could afford it and it was home. There had to be more to life than this, had to be more she could do than to wait tables in a shabby bar where all she seemed to be in place for but to be hit on by men, who assumed she was an easy option since she just so happened to be a big girl. Being a big girl didn’t define her, in fact being big and beautiful was part of what she loved about herself. Sure, she could focus on losing the weight eventually, but in order to do that she had to love who she was now. She walked now, over towards the one window in her efficiency apartment, looking down over the riff raff in the parking lot. Yes, she loved herself, and one day she would be out from under this mess once and for all. She walked carefully to the bathroom, looking closely at her reflection. Her skin was a shade of honey and chocolate. Not dark, but not light. Her skin was flawless, something she got from a long line of women in the family. She took care of herself, her make up light, never really enjoying the weight of it on her face. Her body wasn’t like the typical women most men would find attractive, no instead she was curvy and full. Her hips were very clearly defined in her outfit, but she loved it. Sadly, everyone couldn’t hang. That was obvious when her boyfriend Raymond had been caught red-handed with one of her friends. There was something about having a friend that was model thin, and a blonde to boot, that made men act stupid. Her friend Leslie had been around for years, but she was swayed by Raymond, and the two of them had been caught red handed the day she came home early from work. The reality of the situation is that he probably had cheated on her more than once, and this was simply the straw that had pushed her over the edge, once and for all. Sadly, she had lost a friend as well, but no real friend would sleep with her man. Of course, when she had confronted him, all the while calmly waiting for him to get the rest of his things out of her apartment, he had blamed her weight. Vaguely she remembered him telling her something about how she didn’t take care of herself enough etc. But deep down, though it had stung for a

moment she knew that wasn’t true at all. Sitting down once more she glanced over at the newspaper, hoping to see something new and exciting she may be able to do to earn some extra money. An ad caught her eye, and she had to smile slightly as she read it.

DO you have free time on your hands? If so, we may be able to pay you For your precious time. Fun and exotic locations, meeting, fun and new people. Seeking women for dating site, all sizes, ethnicity and ages. Whatever they were selling, it certainly was worth a shot. After all it did say all sizes. She dialed the number, and was given a time to come in and meet with someone. All she could do now was see what this was all about.

NICOLAI

THERE WERE days when he thought his responsibilities would never end. To make matters worse, he was stuck in the United States looking for his brother, who would manage to get the family name drug through the mud in more ways than one. He glanced down at his watch, frowning. The flight was delayed, undoubtedly giving cause for concern from his mother. Everything about this plan, she had helped him concoct felt wrong, and it would likely backfire on all of them. Roman, his brother was the heir to the family fortune, to the inheritance, well… to damn near everything. He was 2 minutes older than him, and about 10 years younger in his maturity level. On more than once occasion Nicolai had to step in for a function and pretend to be Roman. Serving on the board for the business, escorting one lovely lady after another to functions. Even once he had met an ambassador from the Ukraine, presenting business options on how to strengthen the supply of their family holdings. All the while he did his work, he received no recognition for any of it. He loved his brother, there was never any doubt about that. He simply wanted him to stand up and lead the way the family expected him to. Instead, he left a trail of wounded widows, and debts behind him as he enjoyed the luxuries the family name allowed him. Soon, he would let it all go, especially if this plan worked. Then Roman

would be firmly settled down with a wife, and Nicolai could set out to figure out his own life. Fortunately for Roman they were identical, in almost every way. A full head of wavy honey brown hair and deep brown eyes, they were both tall and muscular. Genetics played a part in that, it wasn’t from working hard at it, at least in Romans case. They both had an easy smile, and at the moment they both sported a full beard. He had adapted it from his brother, and even now the blasted thing was driving him crazy. He made his way down the walkway towards the plane, finally boarding. He had more than a couple meetings, and then there was the wife hunting to take care of. Surely he could pull this off, perhaps she would be a sweet girl. He frowned, it was doubtful. Money did the talking, and she would do whatever they told her to fit a particular fit for the family. Nothing more, nothing less. He had two days to find a woman, and give her the part. Surely that was plenty of time in a city like Washington D.C. He settled into the plane for his flight. Within the next year he would be his own man, and his blasted brother would be forced to settle down once and for all. He picked up the phone to have a car waiting for him in the city, the sooner he locked in the girl the sooner he could start looking for Roman. As he stepped out into the city he made his way to the agency he had procured a month before. Today he could review the tapes, and find the right one. She would have to be attractive, and have some spirit. She would have to be able to be the epitome of etiquette. Most of all she would have to learn when to be quiet, and when to talk. He made his way inside to see the woman he had to choose from. Blonde, blonde, blonde. Petite, fragile, full of… With a sigh he sat back in the chair. They were all beautiful girls; he wouldn’t take that from them. The fact of the matter was that here in the states this is what “top of the line” was. He knew if he debuted a fiancé with blond hair the media would have a frenzy with it. His brother’s tastes were very different, and in particular he disliked blondes. As he waited for his coffee, he clicked on one profile after another. He scrolled through them all and passed her at first. He moved backwards and waited. She wasn’t typical in any way at all. She had skin the color of dark caramel, and green eyes. Her body was what caught his eye initially. Curvy, and feminine, she was in fact, quite beautiful. She spoke with intelligence, asking as many questions to the interviewer as they asked her, which caused him to smile. She was certainly not the quiet type. Soon the interview was over and she stood, smiling and shaking the interviewers’ hand. He watched her as she walked, her head held high, obviously she had been offended by

something she had been asked. Yes, there was something special about her, and he couldn’t wait to meet her.

MEGAN

“WAIT, wait let me get this straight. I came in for an interview last week, was put on reserve and now you’re telling me you need me? She sat back, frowning. Something was definitely wrong. The entire premise of the ad had been misleading. She wasn’t sure she could even go out with any of these people, not if they expected something from her she wasn’t willing to give. Now, they had called her in to talk about a potential offer. The petite blonde was red faced as she glanced down at her. Megan found herself mildly amused at her actions. She cleared her throat. “Well, it seems there was a client who scanned through the women, and he uh… he chose you. I can assure you the offer is a good one, very good actually.” She leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms. “Ok then, what’s the offer?” The blond jumped into action, obviously motivated by her commission. “His name is Roman Gregorio. He is Russian, very handsome actually. He needs an escort to a few functions over a three-day period starting Friday. There are a few catches’, however you would have to be able to conform to.” “Hmm, a catch? Imagine that.” Megan methodically tapped her foot as she waited for the blond to finish. “Yes.” She cleared her throat. “He would need you to appear to be his fiancé, publicly, and stay with him for the duration of your assignment.” “What? Ok sweetheart, I don’t think so. But, thank you for the offer.” Megan couldn’t believe it was really, any of it. She stood to go and approached the door. “Wait! The pay is $500,000 dollars.” The blond was overly eager now. She paused, turning slowly. “I’ll do it.” She made her way to the car lost in her own thoughts. That was a lot of money to pretend to be the fiancé to some rich guy. It would fix all of her problems at least for the time being and possibly set her up for a more

productive future. It would certainly pay for college. She smiled to herself. This was certainly starting to sound like an amazing adventure. She found herself at home, looking through her closet. She lived in the rural area of Virginia, but close enough to Washington. When she had gone locally to apply for this crazy “job” in the first place she’d had no idea her information would be sent out to surrounding counties. Now, she had one day to pack everything she thought she would need and at Dulles International Airport by Friday morning. There were various things in her closet, a little bit of everything really. She knew that she needed to look nice, presentable for the events she was going to. She had to wonder why he had chosen her, over all the women in the place. It was obvious that she stood out a little different than the others. With a shrug, she decided to not think about it, or care. No matter what happened, she would be 500 thousand dollars richer in a few days. There was still some apprehension in her deep down as she loaded up her things and made her way to the car the next morning. She took a deep breath, smoothing down her dark silky hair as she made her way to the airport. She found the counter and picked up her information. As promised everything had been taken care of and she soon found herself in a luxurious seat sipping champagne. Whoever she was working for certainly did have taste. The flight was relatively short, as she exited the plane she felt herself a little more excited than before. He was going to meet her here, and take her back to the hotel as a couple. Her role in this assignment was going to start very soon indeed. She glanced around until she saw a sign with her name on it. She had to swallow hard, as she looked at the man holding it. He was short, a good two inches shorter than she was, balding with a slight grey smattering of hair on his otherwise shiny head, and he was frowning at her as she approached him. She knew this was going to be much harder than she thought. She decided to do her best, after all he had chosen her. She thrust her hand out to him, which he simply looked at. “I am Megan.” She said it calmly as she waited. He gave her a once over and gave her a slight bow, before turning to have her follow him. He was a rude little negative thing, but she followed along, determined to make it through the next three days with some sense of dignity. She watched him as he made it to the car and helped her inside, never once smiling at her or saying a word. It would be very difficult indeed to pull off being his fiancé if he was going to be so difficult to talk to. She settled into the plush seats, thinking about her situation once more, letting it roll around in her brain. The

truth of the matter east that she didn’t even know this guy, and here she was sitting in his car. He could be a serial killer or something. Who knew? It may be a good idea to take in her surroundings so that if something bad did happen, she could make it home safely after her escape. She decided to jot down a few notes, stresses and intersections just in case. She slipped the paper and pen back in her bag just as they pulled up in front of a massive and elegant hotel. She gulped hard as she watched him open the door for her. At the very least he had some manners, and was still holding on to chivalry. She turned to face him, waiting on him to say something, but he simply made his way up the grand staircase and to the front lobby. She followed along, amused as he sent a few young men scurrying out to the waiting car to get her bags. He was a hard-ass, and liked getting his way. Whoever he did have to marry was a poor girl. They rode the elevator and finally she’d had enough. “I know we don’t know each other, but in order for this to work don’t you think we have to at least look like we like each other. I mean you are stone cold.” She glanced at him waiting on a response. When he didn’t say anything, but simply cleared his throat, she felt herself getting irritated. It was just rude. “Well, whatever, I mean it’s your money. If you don’t want to talk to me then that’s just fine with me. I’ll just settle in with a good book, and make your appearances. I was just trying to be nice. It’s obvious you don’t feel as though you should do the same.” She snapped at him, and yet she couldn’t stop herself when she did it. There was a level of frustration in the way he simply walked out of the elevator as it opened, never once saying a word to her. She would have to be careful with this guy. For whatever reason he wanted her to be pissed off, or he was just a jerk. Either way, she needed to keep her cool before she lost this job entirely. They walked up to a room and he produced a gold key swiping it across the front of the door which unlocked it for them. He pushed open the door, allowing her to walk inside and he quickly followed her. Standing by the door, he cleared his throat once more. “Paulson is that you? I can’t believe you made it back so quickly. I had that ridiculous conference call and now I am stuck…” He trailed off as he walked into the foyer. It was a rare occasion in her 25 years that Megan had ever been speechless, and this was one of those occasions. He took long strides into the room, his upper body thick and full. His hair fell over his eyes perfectly accenting them, giving her a hint of the chocolate brown there. He had a beard, just enough to give him an edge, and he was beautiful to look at. She felt her

body react to him the moment he walked in. He turned his attention to her, one eyebrow shot up as he gave her a one over and moved to stand in front of her. He smiled then, making her heart beat faster as he took her hand in his, delicately planting a soft kiss on the juncture between her forefinger and thumb. An odd place to be kissed, but it sent a shiver up her spine nonetheless. “You must be Megan?” He gave her a lazy smile. “I am Roman; I see you met Paulson.” “Uh, yes, I mean you’re Roman? He didn’t tell me that. In fact, he didn’t say a word.” She looked over and happened to catch a glimpse of what looked like a grin on Paulson’s face before he bowed and left the apartments. He let her hand go, and there was a slight disappointment in that. “Ah yes Paulson is a man of few words, don’t take it personally sweetheart that is just who he is.” He walked over to the bar, sauntering and he poured a drink, handing it to her before he took a long sip of his.

“THANK YOU BUT, I’m fine for now. I don’t like to drink too much.” She gave him a slight smile. “Well, let me show you your room for the next few days.” He walked ahead of her which suited her just fine as she was able to look at him more closely. He had the most adorable mole under his left ear. Something she hadn’t noticed before. She was still looking at him when he opened the door to her room. She had never seen a room like this before, all in patters of blue which suited her. There were flowers and fluffy pillows spread around the room accenting the massive bed in the center. She smiled. “This is a beautiful room, thank you.” She glanced up at him, noting the puzzled look in his eye. “You’re a beautiful girl, you should sleep on nothing less.” He gave her an exaggerated bow, which caused her to laugh slightly. “I suppose that means you’ve begun the facade then?” Very well, thank you dear, I can’t imagine anything less.” She blinked her eyes at him and he smiled at her. “We should probably go over the details of what we need to do while you are here, that’s true enough. I’ll let you settle in and when you’re ready just come out and meet me in the dining hall. I’ll be waiting. He turned and whistled slightly as he made his way out of her room. Once he was gone she let her body relax, slumping down in a plush white

overstuffed chair by a vanity. This job was much more complicated now that she had met the employer. He was too good looking for his own good. With a shrug she slipped into some soft sweats and a t-shirt and pulled her hair up high on her head. She refused to be someone she wasn’t, and her job was to play the role of his fiancé when they were out. As long as she was indoors, she would be herself.

NICOLAI

HE PAUSED, waiting to hear her moving around in the room. He had been a little taken aback when he had come around the corner and she was standing there. Her video had made her attractive, true, but seeing her standing in front of him had been like a punch in the gut. She was beautiful. He kissed her hand, something Roman would likely never have done. He was doing his best to stay in character as his brother, but he had already slipped once, and he would have to work hard to not do it again. Roman wouldn’t have laughed at her jokes, or smiled at her like some stupid school boy. He would have to try and stay focused, and not let her under his skin any more than she already was with her smoky eyes and curvy frame. The one thing both he and Roman did have in common was control. He was always in control, as it should be and he liked it that way. It wasn’t just business, no he controlled all areas of his life, unless he was somewhere pretending to be his brother. In his 32 years Nicolai had never let a woman get too close to him. They were there for sport, and for fun, but he had no intention of getting serious about one. Eventually he would have to marry, and continue on the family name. It was something that had been important to his father before he had died, leaving the family fortune in Romans very incapable hands. For now, he could focus on luring Roman home with the latest debacle he was creating with the lovely Megan on his arm. If word got out Roman was engaged, the media would have a field day, thus pulling Roman home to confront his brother, and ultimately settling him down once and for all. Before the family fortune was lost and the business a failure. He thought about Megan and Roman together, and he smiled. She was his type in some ways, but her personality would certainly drive him crazy. He could tell by the way she raised her chin a notch from time to time, and did her best to take in every detail about her surroundings that she had a very distinct personality, not one

for being told what to do. He turned on one heel flicking the phone in his pocket onto the screen that would allow him to get the ball rolling on the events to come. Yes, Roman would have quite a few opinions about this entire situation when he got the news. He moved into the kitchen once more thinking about the lovely lady in the room next door. He would have to be very careful to not slip up and be himself… again. He heard the door open behind him, and he turned to face her again. He took in her appearance and wanted to smile, his immediate reaction to her physical being. She was relaxed, and comfortable. He couldn’t help but notice the sway of her hips as she entered the room and settled herself at the table where everything had been laid out. No Roman wouldn’t smile, in fact, he would likely order her back in the room to find something more suitable to wear. The thought went against everything he had he put a frown on his face. “I trust you are relaxed?” He smiled at her, careful to keep it from making it to his eyes. “Yes, I am fine. I assumed since we weren’t going to be seen until tomorrow I had the freedom to wear whatever I wanted. If this is a problem, just tell me.” He felt the heat of her eyes on him, and he cleared his throat. Yes, she definitely had some fire in her. He watched her face relax. “I’m sorry, I suppose the flight was a little more than I thought.” She said it nicely enough, planting a simple smile on her face, but he knew better. She was offended by his offhanded remark, but she needed the money. “You are fine Megan, now let’s get to the logistics….” They talked about everything they would be doing, and attending. He showed her layouts of every event and who they would meet. He watched as she marveled over the events and what was expected of her. But she visibly squared her shoulders, determined to get everything done. “Do you have any questions?” He sat back in his chair watching her. “Only one… why do you need a fake fiancé?” She leaned forward, asking him bluntly. “Ah, that… I have a few things in my business that I need to have rectified. I don’t have time to be engaged, but I need every viable businessman in the country to take me seriously. The only way to not appear as a childish dolt, is to establish some roots. Thus, a fiancé.” “I see; you’re not worried about after the weekend?” She frowned, scrunching up her brow and she was adorable. “No, on the contrary, if things go well, I’d like to do this again over the next year or so, until I get everything I need… and want.” He let his eyes roam

slightly, something Roman always did to women, especially ones with perfect breasts like this one. She blushed the heat rising up in her cheeks, and he stopped. “I can do that.” She whispered. “So Megan tell me about you. We will need to have some foundation in case someone asks. Obviously there will be some fiction mixed in, but I do want to know some things about you.” She sighed, glancing out of the window before she turned to face him once more. “I am an only child to a single mother, my father left when I was 4. I don’t even remember him. I live in the northern part of Virginia, so it’s not the best areas, a lot of crime, though I am tough and managed to stay out of trouble most of my life. I am 25, I love who I am and I want to go back to school. That’s all there is to me really.” She was tapping her fingers on the table her manicured nails obviously done by herself. “Do you have a boyfriend, Megan… one who would come blow our cover?” He asked her simply enough, but the tension between them was undeniable. “No, I don’t do boyfriends.” She raised her eyes to his, never wavering. He felt something stir deep down inside him. He wanted her, there was no way around it. She bit back, had an opinion of her own and everything about that usually sent him running, but not with her. He ran everything, and yet here she was meeting him word for word. Perhaps he was amused, but what he was sure of was that he wanted the delectable Megan in his bed. They wrapped up the discussion and dinner arrived. He could tell she wasn’t sure what to do, and despite his reservations he taught her a few things about the multitude of cutlery on her table. She listed and was eager to learn what he was showing her. He moved closer to show her, his hands grazing hers, causing an electric shock that coursed through him. Subconsciously he moved his hands down, brushing the tender curls that had escaped the pile of hair on top of her head. He let his fingers slide down to graze over the smoothness of her shoulders, smiling as he heard her intake of breath. Yes, she was affected by him too. “We should probably keep things professional, but I would be lying if I didn’t tell you that I wanted to kiss you Megan. But only with your permission.” He waited, watching her face as she ran through more emotions at one time. She let her eyes meet his. “I don’t even know you…” The words were whispered, but as she bit her lower lip, her eyes found his.

“Actually, my dear, for all intents and purposes, we are engaged. We will be holding hands and dancing among other things sweetheart, but I won’t push.” An hour later she excused herself to bed, still shaken by his words. He bid her goodnight, having gone over the money aspect of the arrangement, and what she was allowed to say or not. He sat there lost in thought for a good long while. Part of him was confused about his reaction to her. She was just a girl, not even the most beautiful. But there was something about her that made his fingers itch to go rip open the door to her room and bury himself deep inside her, feeling her curvy frame beneath him. Even thinking about it made him squirm. He would have to work twice as hard tomorrow, and as they faced the evening dinner.

MEGAN

SHE SAT down on the bed carefully, every nerve ending in her body was on fire. He was too much, too much heat and too much power. She had always thought of herself as a strong woman, but when Roman was around she became unhinged. He said he wanted to kiss her, and for a moment she had contemplated it. She must be slowly going crazy. If it had been anyone else she would have welcomed his advance on her with a sound slap on the face. But not with him, he was dangerous and sexy to boot. She shed her clothes and slid into a gown, wrapping her hair up for the night. He wasn’t even her type, and she knew she wasn’t his. Yet they sized each other up often enough and now she was tossing and turning in her room, knowing he was somewhere down the hall undressing and climbing into his own bed… With a sigh of frustration she rolled over and finally willed herself to fall asleep. The next morning came early and she woke up early, as usual. She loved facing the morning sun and bringing in a new day. It was a part of her routine and she wouldn’t have it any other way. She tiptoed out of her room and down the hall into the living area to do some stretches. She glanced down at the city below her from the floor to ceiling glass windows. It was almost too much to take in at once. She was still stretching when she heard him behind her. “It’s a beautiful view isn’t it?” She spun around to face him, her cheeks flaming. He had likely seen her

stretching before she had even walked over to the window. “Yes, it is! I rarely get to come into the city.” She smiled at him, now and it came easy to her. She gave him a once over. Everything about him was perfectly in place. His hair, still damp from an early shower curled slightly at the nape of his neck. He was holding a cup of coffee and he was dressed casually, his khakis and button down shirt completed the picture. “You like to rise early I see.” He glanced at her once more as he spun to walk back into the kitchen area. “Yes, I hate to waste time.” She felt the heat rise up in her face as she faced the city once more. He was driving her crazy, there was no easy way to put it. She barely got any sleep last night and he had started early today, giving her looks and watching her do stretches. She felt the heat rise to her face once more thinking about it. He was in the kitchen humming as he cooked, which surprised her really. She was under the impression he rarely did anything for himself. She padded her way into the kitchen watching him. She didn’t mean to watch him so intently, but he was cooking, happily humming as he did so. He was beautiful to watch, every movement flowed with grace and when he turned to face her, his easy smile, focusing a moment too long on her bottom lip before he handed her a plate of food. She joined him at the bar, both casually taking in the other. “So Roman, tell me about you. You had no problem asking me questions now your turn.” She settled into the chair, amused as a myriad of emotions crossed his face. With a sigh, he took a drink of coffee. “I have a brother, Nicolai, and my mother. My father died a few years ago. There is not much else to tell.” “Is your brother married? Or does he hire fake brides like his brother?” She giggled as she methodically ate the food in front of her. “Nicolai is not like me Megan, he is a good man, thoughtful and caring. No, he isn’t married nor will he ever be. I am the only one being pushed into marriage for the family.” “I see.” She didn’t ask anything else, he obviously wasn’t willing to share any more than he already had. As they finished there was a sharp knock on the door, startling her into action as she jumped up. He chuckled as he swung open the large door and a team of people scurried in. She watched them set up different equipment in the living room and she frowned as she glanced over at him. What in the world? She rolled her

eyes as she watched one woman in particular slink over to him, running her fingers up his jacket. He said hello, but didn’t give her any more attention than that which Megan found amusing. Eventually the woman turned to look at her, giving her a hard look as she looked her over. “So this is what I have to work with?” She whispered it, only loud enough for Megan to hear. Before she could say anything in return the team rushed over, and began making measurements of every inch of her. Her eyes found Romans, and he gave her a smile before walking over to her. “Have a wonderful day, dear, enjoy this it’s one of the perks. I’ll pick you up for the dinner at 7.” He dropped a kiss on her mouth, which lingered for a mere second before he made his way out of the room entirely. By the time night came, Megan was transfixed, staring at her reflection in the mirror in front of her. Gone was her long silky hair and sweat pants and instead she was now something out of a magazine. Her sleek bob was angled contrasting with her caramel skin. Her black dress hugged her curves, just enough to make her appear thinner, without being too tight. She couldn’t believe how the team had turned her into this. She glanced at the clock, having been given instructions to be ready at 7. As the time came, she made her way into the living room here he was waiting.

NICOLAI

HE WASN’T ready for her, had yet to slip back into his alter ego. No as she came out of the room, he felt as though someone had punched him in the stomach. Some part of him knew he was playing with fire with her. He wanted to strip her down right now and put her in his bed, for hours. Instead, he had to go out, parade around as though they were engaged all the while wanting to make love to her. He did his best to recover, but he knew she needed to be reassured. The confident and strong woman she had been yesterday, seemingly had disappeared and now this person was apprehensive, almost scared. She had been recreated and had no idea just how beautiful she was. He took a step in her direction, taking her hand in his. “Megan you look beautiful.” He raised her hand to his mouth kissing her lightly.

“Thank you, not my usual attire obviously.” She glanced down at her dress, her ample bosom threatening to spill out of her dress. There was a moment of silence before he pulled a box out of his jacket, opening it and handing the tiny object inside to her. “We can’t forget the most important part of this.” There was something that shifted in the room as he slid the diamond on her left hand, ensuring the gossip would love to see the ring. He watched her stare at it for a moment before facing him again. “It’s beautiful, even if it is fake.” She gave him an impish grin. He swallowed hard, his fingers itching to rip her clothes off altogether and make love to her. She gave him a half smile and it was his undoing. He did his best to do it gently but instead his mouth crushed hers in a searing kiss, his mouth kissing her simply at first and then deeper, until he tasted of her honey depths. He was careful, not wanting to scare her but wanting her to know what he wanted in a single kiss. He felt her respond to him, even subconsciously. The kiss depends even more, both lost in a moment. Finally, there was a knock on the door and he ripped away from her slightly, his face mere inches from hers. “We will finish this conversation later.” Before she could recover, she felt herself being pulled behind him, pulled along until they were safely seated in the long car waiting for them. She settled into the plush seats and he sat across from her. He didn’t say anything; he could tell she was flustered still. He let his eyes roam all over her, his body betraying him more than he could ever remember. After a moment he let his thoughts drift to his plan. He had made the steps to assure that Roman would hear about this outing tonight, and would likely call him soon. He could only imagine the look on his face once he heard the news. Even his mother had called saying that there was some buzz already about the “engagement between Roman and a mystery woman. Everything was right on schedule, and would time out perfectly, if he had his way. He looked over at her once more, she was obviously composed now. He would have to avoid her, especially now that she had kissed him back. It would do no good to complicate things, especially since Roman would likely show up soon. He felt a slight twinge of guilt in how he had lied to her, but it had been the only option. He just had to get through this blasted weekend and maybe he could go home, and get the situation, and her off his mind once and for all.

MEGAN

SOMETHING HAD SHIFTED, had changed within her. She stared at her reflection in the mirror once more. The dinner party last night had been a success, everyone had greeted her with a smile and stared long and hard at the ring on her finger. Roman had been avoiding her since the party, and since the kiss. Even now she could still feel the pressure of his mouth on hers. She had kissed him back, it seeming like the most natural thing in the world. She blinked at her reflection, thinking about the way things had happened. He had kissed her because she was all decorated in the high fashion, they had draped her in. More than likely he had kissed her because they had to play a part, what better way to do that than to break the ice beforehand? Either way, he wasn’t even talking to her now. She was left to her own defenses most of the day, thinking about this assignment and how nice it would be to go back to school. She flipped open the laptop in her room and started making a plan of everything she wanted to take, and how long the process would be. She missed him, truth be told. He had an easy smile and made her laugh when he was around. She held no fantasy about anything serious, she knew better than that, but she did like the way he would challenge her, and asked her opinion on things even if it went against his normal nature, which seemed to be all of the time. As lunch was delivered she was surprised to see two settings, perhaps he was making an appearance today after all. She quickly changed into a simple yellow sundress and as she came back into the main room, she saw him there, in a suit and tie, everything about him perfect. He glanced up at her and then again, giving her a once over. He smiled at her. “I thought maybe we could have lunch, and go over the dance tonight.” “That’s fine.” She settled into her chair, waiting. “It’s an important affair, lots of conglomerates and organizations will be there. We may have to answer a lot of questions, so I thought it best we get the story straight.” She nodded and they enjoyed a simple lunch, both settling on a story of how they met, and how long. He jokingly told her the story of how his parents were betrothed at a young age and neither wanted the other until they met. She smiled as he spoke, enjoying the moments when he did let his guard down. Soon they found themselves practicing the dances they would enjoy together later. Laughing came easily to both of them as she did her best to step on all of his toes. Time passed, neither of them ready to stop the fun they were having.

As it got later she found herself wondering who Roman would marry one day. She felt something then, something stir within her. She had no right to even care really, but part of her was concerned about him. She made her way to the room to dress for the event. Tonight she wore a simple cream colored dress, with lace and inlays. She loved how the color complimented her skin and she styled her hair in a way to give her an air of mystery. As she let the room to meet him she saw him once more in a tux, and perfect. He paused as she made her way over to him and he gave her an elbow to escort her out of the rooms and into the night air. The ride this time was far more relaxed, both adjusting to the personality of the other. He handed her another black box this time long and slender. “What is this?” She frowned as she opened it to a brilliant necklace with a string of diamonds that cascaded down her neckline. “For you.” He gave her a smile. “Ah, I see, must appear to be the good fiancé.” She gave him a wink. “I’ll take good care of them Roman no worries.” They went into the gala, both enjoying the dancing, something she had always loved all of her life. He escorted her around the room, introducing her to everyone and everything was perfect. As they made their way home, she felt the effects of the bubbly champagne on her stomach, and she giggled. No, she was not herself tonight. She saw him watching her, silently, something he actually did quite often. As they made their way up to his rooms she felt his hand touch hers in the elevator, slipping in to interwine with hers. She felt the tension mount as they exited the elevator and made their way down the hall. Even then she was unprepared for what was to come when he opened the door. Something between them shifted then, developing into something fuller, more aching. She felt the tempo of her heartbeat quicken as he ran his hand up to cup her face, his thumb tracing her full lower lip. She barely inhaled before she felt the hard fullness of his mouth on hers. He kissed her deeply, drinking of her. She felt his hand in her hair, winding and twisting until he held her mouth to his with a fist full of hair. She no longer cared about the what … she wanted him to kiss her, all she wanted was him. “I’m going to make love to you Megan. Here. Now.” He whispered against her mouth. She nodded and he let her go. Only long enough to lead her to his bedroom, and carefully start to undress her, never letting his mouth leave hers for a moment. He moved slowly, his hands moving around to cup both of her full breasts in his hands. She felt them harden to attention as he moved the hardened nubs between his forefinger and thumb. She gasped loudly as he pulled on them both

gently. He kissed her mouth once more, his tongue delving into the sweetness of her mouth. He stopped then, trailing warm kisses back down her body, until he focused his hot mouth on first one crested peak and then the other. Instinctively she put her hands in his hair urging him on as he left a trail of fire with his mouth. Her body was on fire. Her hands pulling his head up and back to her waiting mouth. He did as she asked and gave her a passionate kiss, drinking from her mouth. She wanted this, wanted him. She knew she was playing with fire, but she couldn’t stop it. She followed his lead, lifting her hips slightly as he slid his fingers under the tiny strap of her panties, pulling them off her in one swoop. She loved the feel of his hands as they ran over her, and she never once felt self-conscious about her body. Suddenly he was standing above her looking down. She felt more vulnerable than ever before. “Megan you are beautiful.” She blushed, slightly frowning. “I mean it. Look at me.” She looked deep into his eyes before reaching up for him and his mouth found hers again. He moved above her then, she felt the pressure of him there, between her thighs and she welcomed it. He shed his clothing quickly and she moved to accommodate him eagerly. The joining of their bodies rushed through her like a tidal wave. He felt the heat of her envelop him and he stopped, waiting and feeling her. She was full of him, he moved delicately until he was fully encased within her. Pushing her knew back closer to her head, pushing in further still. There was and urgency between them, a need to cling to one another. He moved slowly, savoring every second of it, and she was lost in it, just as he. “Megan.” He managed to grit out her name as he moved within her. He moved faster and faster then, finding a rhythm that suited them both. She wrapped her legs around him, urging him on, pulling him into her, helping him along the way, towards a goal for them both. She looked at him now as he moved and he never broke stride once as he laid his chest against hers and kissed her deeply. She moaned loudly, driving him more and he his pace became quicker, more demanding. Both unwilling to let go of what they felt they had moved frantically exploring and enjoying the other. She was lost in a swirling of color and heat. She felt the familiar stirrings deep down and her eyes fluttered open and she looked at him. She moved her hands up to his face holding him close to hers as he pushed her higher and higher. She felt her climax begin deep down, her moans escaping

her mouth. She was staring into his eyes, both of them finding release. She moaned his name as it ripped through her and she felt it shoot through even her fingers and toes. She sighed his name after they both lay there. They lay that way for a long time, both feeling and thinking. He trailed his fingers over the curve of her hip as she lay there. Neither of them wanting to move. She drifted off to sleep at some point, a combination of champagne and his touch

NICOLAI He felt so many things at once, he wasn’t sure where to begin from. First, he had sworn off her, but she had been so beautiful, so happy. He had wanted her with a passion he had never felt. What’s worse is he wanted her to be fulfilled, and content. He cared about her, more than he wanted to admit to himself. Secondly, she had called him by his brother’s name, thankfully after it was over or it may have ruined the lovemaking entirely. She wasn’t just some person he hired, no she was more than that and he should have told her the truth. She deserved it, deserved more than this. He looked down at her, still curled up next to him. She had changed him, made him better in a matter of days. He had never lost control of anything and yet here he was with a woman curled up in his bed, something he never did. What’s worse is that he wanted her there, liked her there. She ran a finger down over her face as he watched her sleep. What was he going to do when the time was over, how could he let her go now? Sleep came eventually for him, and he never felt better the next morning. As she slept, he made coffee, waiting for her to come join him. He wasn’t sure what would happen, but he would tell her truth today, before anything happened to change her mind about him. He glanced at his watch and decided to run over to the other office to get some paperwork, so that he could show her everything. He smiled as he left.

MEGAN

SHE FELT him slide into bed with her, slipping an arm under her body and pulling her closer to him. She smiled to herself as she reflected sleepily, but

the night before. She should have gone to her own room, but instead she had stayed here with him. She felt the heat of him against her, and she curled up into him. As she did, she felt his hands slide up her hips and rest there. “You are a curvy one aren’t you?” He whispered against her ear. Her eyes fluttered open and she frowned. Something wasn’t right, not at all. She felt his grip tighten as he held her there when she tried to move. Panic set in as she couldn’t move, her breath coming in shallow gasps. Eventually he laughed and let her go, watching her scramble to stand beside the bed, taking a sheet with her. “Roman?” He wasn’t himself, not even a little. There was something different about him, his eyes a little more sinister, with his gaze leering at her. “Yes, as a matter of fact, I am Roman. What game are you playing with my brother lady, and what the hell are you getting out of it?” As the day went on Megan piled her things into her car and wasn’t able to relax until she was far from the hotel for good. It wasn’t until she was on the highway that she let the tears fall, her heart in pieces. Roman… or Nicolai had lied to her, had made her believe something, and then played with her emotions… and her body. She left right after Romans explanation, right after her heart had shattered. She didn’t want the money anymore, didn’t want anything but to go home where she belonged. She climbed the stairs to her apartment and sighed as she fell onto her bed finally. Nothing could take away from what they had, but she would have to work hard to forget all about him if she ever wanted to move on. She fell back into her routine, calling work and getting herself back on schedule at the diner. The routine fell into place and after three days she finally was able to go to bed without crying at night. She glanced around the diner, taking in the two customers left to care for before her shift ended at 11pm. The door chimed letting in another one and she made her way over to take his order. She never even looked at him until he didn’t respond. He looked up at her, and she felt ice, pour over her. She spun around to leave, but he followed her. “Megan. Please. Just let me explain.” He grabbed her hand in his stopping her. “You don’t have to explain Nicolai, Roman filled me in on what you were up to.” “I’m sure he did, but I also know he didn’t tell you everything. Just give me five minutes.” She looked at him, obviously hurting and she relented. They sat in a booth and he told her everything. She waited, watching him as he spoke, missing his

touch more and more with every word. “I’m sorry Megan, for everything that led up to making love to you. That I’m not sorry for.” He gave her a once over, and then glanced around the room. “You don’t belong here anymore, Megan, I never gave you the money and the necklace was for you. Not for the part you were playing, but from me to you. Why didn’t you care enough to let me explain?” She felt anger rise up, though she tried not to let it show. “I left because I woke up to feeling your brother groping me. He pretended to be you. Then he told me everything. What was I supposed to do?” “Son of a…” He grabbed her hand pulling her behind him. “Where are we going?” She felt herself being pulled outside and into his car. “First, we are going to get back to my rooms, where I will then proceed to kill my asinine brother for touching you. Then we are going to have some people go pack your stuff away from that shabby place you live that terrified even me. He pulled the ring she had once worn and slipped it back on her finger. “Wait, I am not playing the game anymore. It’s over Nicolai, Roman won’t stand for it. I did my best, but just take me home.” She glanced out the window, wiping furiously at the tears that seemed to slip from her eyes despite her efforts to hold them at bay. He moved to sit next to her, holding her hand in his as he pushed the ring back up. “I don’t want to play a game Megan. I want you to marry me. I want to love you and I want to be with you.” He whispered it and stared into her eyes as he spoke the words. “Really?” She let the tears fall freely now. “I swore to never get married, but you have changed me Megan, and after I came back and you were gone I almost lost my mind I was so scared. I even had to contact the agency that hired you to get your personal address.” She giggled then, and smiled as he kissed her deeply. “I love you Megan.” “I love you too Roman… err, well” He pulled her close. “Not funny young lady, not funny at all.” But he said it with a smile.

*****THE END*****

SEALED BY DESIRE

CHAPTER 1

BLAKE When I stormed out of the office, I was still livid at my commanding officers. I knew that I had left in a rush of anger and emotions, but they probably expected that. They wanted me to get some therapy. Therapy? Me? I was a Navy Seal and was taught to handle situations on my own. I didn’t ask for help. Working was everything to me, and it was bad enough that I was home in Maryland now due to an atrocious mess that happened back in Afghanistan. Sure, it was great to take my bike around on rides here and there, but I had been home for two weeks now. I was starting to get restless. I found the shiny Harley in the parking lot and started the engine with a roar before I veered out into the street. The accident still played through my mind. Accident wasn’t even the proper word. We were out in a small village over there in Afghanistan looking for a missing soldier and practicing the same safe techniques that we always did. It was supposed to be quick and thorough and quite honestly, something we did a lot. I loved being a Seal. I knew back in Senior year in high school that I wanted to join the military and get out there. I wanted to derive my country as the other men in my family had done and do it well, just as they had. I chose the Navy with the hopes that I would be selected to train as a Seal, and I was just after I finished boot camp. That was ten years ago, and I had never looked back, even though I was thrown off a little. Just a little and not needing therapy like they suggested back there. Fucking therapy. That was for really crazy people, and I had never made a move like that in my life. I lived very methodically, and all of my training was always in my mind, and I lived my life by all of those rules since joining the Navy. Hell, even before that I had a plan for my life watching my grandfather work his way through twenty years as well as my father in the Navy. I remembered my mother accepting that is what her husband chose, and she

did a great job raising me. I also knew that she was lonely a lot despite having my brother and me around, as well as visiting with other military wives on the various bases that we lived on over the years. I had made a pact that I wouldn’t do that to a woman, that I would just focus on my job and the chaos that I would be surrounded by. There wasn’t room for a wife and a family in my life plan. I spent the night with a girl every so often to get my growing needs met and feel the warmth of a body, but they never stuck after the evening was over. They barely stayed the night most of the time. I saw one of the most popular bars that the guys frequented and pulled into the lot to park by the door. I needed some bourbon to clear my head so I could argue with my bosses tomorrow and not be angry and uncommunicative as I had been today. It might be a good night to find a woman and work out some of my frustrations on her. That would do the trick. I remembered the incident as I started to walk through the thick door. We were in the middle of our search around the village when suddenly I saw movement up ahead, and shots were fired. I dropped to the ground while preparing my gun to shoot back and watched as several others joined me behind the small hill and did the same. It was a mess of gunfire and voices as we responded to the attack and ended up killing off the group of men that had opened fire first. Once it was all said and done, we stood up and took a good look around. First, we made sure that all threats seemed to be down, and then I trudged around to see who didn’t get up with us to do the same. I found seven men down and checked pulses as I moved along. It killed me as I had to do this but my training told me to keep calm and pay attention to my surroundings. The newest guy on our team was first, just a young twenty-year-old. His head was blown open, and I choked down my anger as I looked at him and contained it within my body. The others helped me, and I heard someone call my name as I left one of the older men dead on the ground of a gunshot to the chest. “Brandon?” “Yeah?” I asked as I glanced over to see my Lieutenant Commander James looking at me with an intense gaze and I frowned. “Come over here.” His voice was sad as he spoke and I took a substantial step forward. I knew that I hadn’t heard Roger’s voice in this madness, and I prayed silently for my best friend to be alive. If anything, I wanted my best friend since grade school to be one of the ones that didn’t make it. I found myself at the bar as I blinked and was forced back into the present. I slid into the nearest barstool and rested my hands on the smooth wood as I

took a deep breath, “What can I get for you?” Matt asked me with a grin as I stared back at him. He was well-known by all of us, but I couldn’t make myself smile back. “The best bourbon you have,” I said as he raised an eyebrow and nodded. “I’m on a break, man. I’m not working today.” “Coming right up.” He turned and got a thick glass and reached up to get the nearly full bottle on the shelf as I became lost in my thoughts again. We had all come back from the mission immediately, though I didn’t remember most of the last two weeks since I saw Roger’s broken body on the ground. I was home recovering from the mild bumps and bruises that I had received and the loss of Roger as well as the other men on my team. We spent so much time together that they were all like family to me. My commanding officers were looking into the details of the attack and giving us all a breather, but that also meant that I had a series of funerals to attend. They were all awful, but Roger’s would be forever in my mind. I could still see his parents weeping in the front row with his two younger brothers and older sister staring stoically at the pristine white coffin with the flag covering it. A picture of him looked at all of us mourning his loss as I felt tears slide down my cheeks. My parents sat beside me as Mom wept and Dad comforted her with his arm around her tightly while I sat still and silent. His wife sat across the row from his family with her three kids as she clutched a tissue in her hands. Her parents were sitting with all of them for support, the kind I should be giving her instead of hiding in this row like a stranger I glanced at her for a moment as she bent her head forward to cry harder. I didn’t need to see her swollen stomach to be reminded that their newest daughter would never meet her father now. His wife would be raising her alone along with her other children, apart from any help from her family, as well as Roger’s. It just would never be her Dad. I would never have a family that way, one that I might only ultimately abandon in my job. I couldn’t live with the idea. I slammed down the drink and took a deep breath as I signaled for another. Matt gave me a long look but brought the bottle over to refill my glass. I liked a man that sensed my need, and I drank that one back as well. The words of my mentor Michael rang through my ears as I let the alcohol slide down my throat. He had always assured me to do the job the way that I knew I could and that bad things would happen along the way. Losing him five years ago in his mission had hit me hard but his words filled me with strength, and I just hoped that they could now.

I was aware that someone was sitting next to me at the crowded bar, and I glanced over as I signaled Matt over. It was a woman, curvy and exotic looking with olive skin and big green eyes and I felt my body instantly react to her. She was beautiful with her features and that full mouth that could make me forget all of my troubles, and I grinned at Matt as he looked at the both of us. “I’m drinking bourbon. What would you like?” When she asked for the same, I felt my cock harden in my pants as desire surged through my body. Fuck therapy, I just need this woman in my bed tonight.

CHAPTER 2

ASPEN What a day it had been. I pulled up to the bar as I thought about how many patients I told not to drink to deal with their issues on a daily basis. Screw it. Talking a soldier through the killing of several children, enemies or not, made for a very emotional burden on my shoulders that I needed to release somehow. What a last meeting before I came here to start a new job. Screw it. I had stopped at my new home for my Harley since I wanted the power and the growl of the engine for a stress-relieving ride that would be perfect ending here. My big Tahoe had been ideal for all of my belongings that came with me, as well as my two dogs, but I needed some me time after the day long drive and the little bit of unloading I had done. Parking around the corner from the bar a bit, since it was so crowded, I noticed that there was a shiny black bike similar to mine parked in the same area. It was beautiful, and I compared it to my gray one with a smile. I wondered if the owner was as hot as the bike but that was not what I was here for. I just needed a drink or two and then a good night’s sleep. I ran a hand through my thick brown hair after I removed my helmet from my head and sauntered through the door into the crowded room. My eyes searched for a spot as I nibbled on my pink lip, and then I smiled as I saw a seat right at the bar. Perfect. I walked through the men and women with one focus in mind. I could feel the eyes on me, but that was nothing new at a military bar. I have had every pickup line used on me over the last several years that I had been working with the Navy, but I didn’t mix business with pleasure, for the most part. There was

the rare example when I did go for something when it felt right. That was just easier to do away from the military base. I saw the man that was sitting beside me look at me with a lingering gaze as I fought the urge to roll my eyes. When he told me what he was drinking, and it turned out to be what I was already ordering, I smiled at Matt and nodded. A fresh drink was placed in front of me while Matt filled the glass in front of my new drinking buddy and I assumed that I would have to catch up a bit. No worries. We chatted lightly about the base and the town surrounding it as we drank shot after shot. He was undoubtedly feeling it, and I was starting to get a real buzz as I looked him over. He was a sexy guy with a finely chiseled torso under his fitted black t-shirt and cropped black hair. His eyes were a brilliant blue, and he oozed confidence as he started to lay on the charm on thick while turning to face me after he drank one more shot. Sexy…no, he was gorgeous. He met my eyes boldly as he asked my name but I shook my head with a mysterious smile. Names weren’t needed for this night and this fantasy so I wasn’t giving mine up. I watched as he leaned closer and talked about being a Seal with pride that lit up the room, even though I sensed something more underneath the surface. I told myself to stop working as I ordered another drink and watched as our burgers were placed before us. We dug in as we slowed down on the drinks for a minute but the flirting didn’t stop. I found myself responding to his throaty tone and heated gazes with my own and I felt my thighs heat up as I pressed them against the stool to relieve the pressure on my clit. My lace panties dampened with the movement, and I looked at his face as he gave me a hooded look as I licked my lips. I wanted this man, and my entire body was feeling the effect of his seductive attitude. We finished our burgers and had one more drink together as I felt his leg pressing against my thigh. We could not stop looking at each other, and I sipped the drink to slow down the time before I left. I had a moment where I thought back to the heartbreaking loss of my father when he was working as a Seal as well as my brother Terry. They had both been all about their jobs and had the same pride that this man had, and sadness filled me as I looked at the floor for a moment. My remaining four brothers and mother were having a hard time moving on though they all assured me that I needed to follow my dreams of becoming a psychologist. I decided to focus on military PT SD just because I knew the hell that they went through. I also respected the people that had helped my family through our pain.

This man was not my father or brother. This man wanted me as much as I wanted him and I forced my gaze back to his eyes. “Are you okay?” He leaned close and asked me as he nearly brushed his lips against mine. I could smell the alcohol on his breath, and my breath came out in a short hiss. “I'm all right,” I whispered as he moved forward just enough to press his lips against mine. “That you are,” he told me as he pulled away. “Do you want to get out of here?” “Sure.” He settled our tab and added a generous tip for the friendly bartender before leading me out of the door. When he turned left towards the back of the parking lot, I raised my brow and followed him. “Look at this bike. She’s a beauty,” he said as he eyed my bike. “Thanks,” I replied as he turned to look at me in surprise. “Yours?” I nodded, and he licked his lips as he stepped towards me. “You just got hotter.” I walked towards him as he cupped my face and kissed me hungrily as I pulled him closer to me by his hips. “I don’t do relationships. This would just be tonight.” He murmured against my lips before he claimed them again and slipped his tongue against mine. “Of course.” I moved my arms around his neck as he eased me against my bike. Our lips met and parted as he slid me onto my seat and pressed his hard cock against me. It was quiet back here, and we were relatively alone apart from the noise of the cars on the street. I lost myself in his kisses and the way his hands felt as he slid them up my sides and just under my breasts between our bodies. It was evident that we weren’t going to make it out of this parking lot, and I watched as he pulled away to lift my tank top and slide down my black bra. His hands pinched first before he lowered his mouth down to suck on my nipple with his mouth and teeth. I moved my hands to unbuckle the jeans that he was wearing to find him bare and big underneath. He pushed his hips forward for a moment as fear filled me for a moment when I thought about where we were. Anybody could catch us, but as he slipped a hand between my legs, I closed my eyes and gave in to my desire. He ripped my jeans down and slid me back onto the seat of my bike as I slipped his pants down his legs. I was nearly naked, and he spread my legs apart before he reached his hand into his pocket and pulled out a condom. “You’re so fucking wet.” He looked at me as I clung to him and begged him to get inside of me. He drove himself inside of me hard as I gasped and felt his lips on mine. My legs slid around his body as he thrust inside of me over and

over as he gripped my ass tightly. “Ugh…so tight…you feel good, baby.” He whispered against my lips as I held in the screams that were trying to come out. My body was wet and welcoming, and I felt the stirring of my release inside of my body as I moved with him to find it. Our soft moans combined as he moved harder and faster against my willing body and I gripped him tightly with my legs as I exploded against him blindly. Along with the drinks, this man is what I needed tonight and I had a fleeting thought of round two before I pushed it out of my head. He stilled inside of me before he jerked forward and moaned and I knew that he was coming. It was intense from the way he held onto me and the look on his handsome face in the dim light of the light above us. “Jesus fucking Christ. This is all the therapy that I need.” He muttered to me as he opened his eyes and stared into my face. He kissed me for a long moment before reality crashed around me. I let my legs drop, and he stepped back as I stood and found my jeans. I couldn’t believe that I had just had sex on my bike in a public parking lot, not to mention in the area of my new job. That kind of behavior was not appropriate for a psychologist, which I had lost for a moment. “Tell me your name?” His voice held a questioning note to it as I fixed my bra and pressed my shirt back over my body. “I can’t.” My buzz was gone as I stared at my bike and slipped my helmet over my head after I grabbed it from the handlebars. “Good night. I have to go.” I moved onto the seat and started the engine as I felt his eyes burning a hole into me. I wanted so much more with this man but the night was over, and it was time to think responsibly. CHAPTER 3

BLAKE I woke up the following morning on top pf my messy comforter and groaned as my head throbbed slowly. I hated not having a schedule, and I rolled over to see what time it was as the memories of the night played back in my mind. She had been one of the hottest women I had ever fucked and my cock hardened with my thoughts. I had a couple of hours before I had the dreaded appointment with the psychologist and smiled as I slid my hand around myself and started to stroke slowly. I could still smell the sweet scent of cherries that had been on her body as I closed my eyes and tightened my grip. I could still taste the alcohol on her tongue and the sweet feel of her lips as I bit my lower lip and felt my release

approaching slowly. Her hard nipple had felt great against my teeth and her moan as I pulled on it had made me harder as I tasted it eagerly. I would have liked to have had more time with her. I wanted to eat her sweet pussy and feel her mouth around my cock next time, and I wished I had gotten her name and number. The memory of her tight around me gave me enough fuel for my fantasy, and I grabbed at my nightstand for a Kleenex before my semen shot all over me. I moaned as I jerked forward and felt it soak the thin tissue and missed her under me as I dropped against the pillows and sighed. I didn’t of ever want more than one night with anybody, but she was different. She was also gone. I had no idea who she was and despite living in the same town, I assumed that we would not hook up again. She had run off too quickly for me to get anything from her. I had a few one-night stands in my life that I left behind pretty easily. Work was all that I ever thought about and having this kind of time made me think about my mystery woman a lot more than I wanted to. There was just something about her, and I remembered the way her lips had tasted with that first kiss outside. I hadn’t planned for anything to happen there, but a woman with a bike like that did something to me. I loved my long rides on my own bike and the idea that she did as well make her all the better in my eyes. I was hungover from the night before, and I made my way to the kitchen in my small house to get some water from the fridge. I had drunk to forget about everything that was going on but here I was caught up in the lascivious memory of a woman instead. Now I had the grief from losing Roger and lust to deal with, and my new head doc would probably have a great time trying to analyze me. Not that I needed it. I was only going today because I was ordered to do so as well as the fact that it would get me back to work faster. That is what mattered, so I could make this doctor see that I was just fine apart from missing my buddy a little bit. I watched some clips from some of the games the night before and pretended that I gave a shit about any of that. I never had. I was always looking ahead to when I could join the military and join in on the family tradition. I was working on my grades for that sole purpose and once I graduated with honors, I went right down to sign up. The time seemed to drag as I pondered my life. It all came back to last night and how amazing it had been. While I was a good-looking guy, I also lived in a town that was eighty percent men and women like that were tough to find. All of us took trips to find better numbers and easily managed, but she

had been local as well as one of the best I had ever had. I must be bored out of my mind if I was sitting here reflecting on last night like I was in high school or something. It was just a woman. It was just a fuck. Or was it? I drank some coffee and made a quick meal before I showered for the day. Thoughts of the night before crept into my mind all over again, and I stared down at my lonely erection with disdain in my eyes. “She’s not the only pussy on Earth. Get over it.” I could still see the way her tits bounced when I was fucking her, full and heavy. I could still see how turned on she was in her eyes that got a little darker when she was ready to come. I sighed and closed my eyes as I reached for the lotion in the shower and covered my hand with it. I closed my eyes as I stroked myself and remembered the scent of cherries and her juices as I leaned a hand against the shower wall. I had never wanted to go down on a woman so badly in my life before, but when she begged me to fuck her, I couldn’t say no. I didn’t even want that to be it, and I was willing to invite here to my place for round two when she clearly had remorse about what we had just done in the parking lot. I felt her around me all over again as I slid into her tight walls and I heard the sounds that she made into my mouth, sounds that could get a lot louder in a private setting. They were sounds that I wanted to hear again. I rocked forward as I covered the tile with my cum and dropped my head forward. It was as intense as any release could be though it didn’t compare to what I had done last night inside of her. Her warmth and tight grip made me jerk like a teenager and fill the condom all too quickly. I was weak as I finished the shower and vowed to hit a bar again tonight just to get her off of my mind. This behavior was not like me at all, and I cursed all of my free time as I rinsed myself off with a scowl. I dressed in jeans and a dark blue t-shirt that boasted the Navy Seals before I slipped some Chucks on my feet. Apart from my work boots, these were my favorite when I was off. I quickly brushed my teeth and pulled on a light jacket before leaving the house to head to my motorcycle. I was going to be done with this shit and soon. I drove into the downtown area of Baltimore, past the dangerous areas and wondered why this doctor wasn’t closer. I had to park in a garage, which made my Harley a little safer but was going to cost me even for this quiet hour and change. Not that I couldn’t afford it, but it was the principal. Everything about this was difficult. I left the garage and walked over to the building that I needed with anger rising inside of me slowly. I had no idea what was about to happen here, and I

was pissed off that my head was being pried open for this person to see. I walked into the lobby and scanned the wall to see that my appointment would be on the third floor before I looked around to see people wandering about here and there. Were any of them considered crazy as well? Fuck this. I grabbed an elevator and stepped inside. Leaning against the wall, I let out another sigh and stared at the lights on the ceiling of the car. It looked like I was going to a lawyer, which I might have preferred if I was honest. I veered right after I got off, nearly taking a woman out in my sudden movement. I apologized, but her brown eyes were wide with fear as she stared at me before scuttling into the car. I kept going and found the office that I needed and looked around again. I didn’t want anyone I knew to see me here. I pushed open the glass door and looked around the moderately sized waiting room. It was pleasant if you didn’t know where you were with comfortable couches and seats, and pictures on the wall. It didn’t feel like an asylum like I’d expected. I walked up to the window and checked out the brunette that met my eyes as she asked me if she could help me. She wasn’t nearly as hot as the woman from the night before. “I am here to see Dr. Thomas,” I told her in a clipped tone as she checked her computer and then gave me a long look. “Have a seat. She’ll be right out.” She nodded at the seats and picked up a clipboard with something attached. “Fill this out for her, please.” Jesus, it was a woman to boot. Fantastic. I found a seat in the corner and read through the questionnaire slowly with disbelief. It asked me how crazy I was in every sense possible, and I shook my head slowly. I answered it quickly, confident that this was not meant for me and when I got to the part about having any suicidal thoughts, I frowned. Hell, no I didn’t. I was just missing a buddy, and it had been a rough patch in my career. End of story. I marked that with an empathic no and made sure that I was done as I dropped the entire clipboard down on the chair beside me. I just wanted this over with now, and I looked around the room at the tables covered with the generic magazines you always find in a waiting room as well as brochures both on the tables as well as the wall. They spoke of various mental illnesses, none of which I could relate to. They also spoke of the PT SD that I was accused of suffering from. I grabbed one and started to read through it to check off all of the proof that I didn’t have that. Some of them made me scoff out loud. Who wouldn’t have flashbacks from something like what I had seen? That’s reasonable as well as the fact that I still

dreamed about it sometimes and had trouble falling back asleep. So what? I didn’t drink enough for anyone to worry too much about me, and hell, last night I had a great night thanks to the bourbon. I was finishing up with the long list of symptoms when I heard someone call out my name. “Blake?” I recognized the voice and looked up as my eyes met green ones that went along with full lips that I was very familiar with in my memory. Dr. Thomas was the woman that I had met last night!

CHAPTER 4

ASPEN Fuck me running. My new patient was the man that I had lost all of my self-control with. My first fucking case was with the man I slept with. I pressed my lips together nervously and forced my hands to remain at my sides. “Come on back.” My voice sounded wooden, hollow and I blinked to bring myself out of the horror that I was living right now. Well, not complete horror. Last night was one for the fantasy bank, and my body could not help but heat up as he stood and walked toward me with a cocky swagger. “Good morning. I’m Dr. Thomas,” I tried to sound more professional as I greeted him like he was any other patient. “How are you doing today?” I reached out a shaky hand for his clipboard, and he handed it to me with a direct gaze into my eyes. “I’m better now.” I dropped the clipboard on the floor as he leaned closer to me to speak softly in my ear. “I know your name now.” Blake leaned over to retrieve the item for me, and I managed to get it into one of the slots that were located all over the waiting room successfully. This man was going to be the death of me. I turned to lead him down the wide hallway to my office and felt his eyes on my body as I gulped slowly. I had dressed to the hilt for my first day to impress, but I regretted the black pencil skirt that I paired a cream colored blouse with now as I could imagine his eyes tracing my ass. I knew that my heels made me even taller, and I hurried along as I clutched his papers in my hand. He followed me into my office, and I sat down behind my desk and

pressed my hands over my skirt slowly. Blake could never know how many times I’d gotten myself off in the last few hours with the memories that I cherished from last night. I felt the bun at the base of my neck to make sure that it was still neat and gazed down at his paper. I read the questions carefully and saw a man in complete denial of what he was struggling with. I had read the file, and he was a grieving person as anyone in his position had the right to me. My eyes went to his shirt that told me that he was what I needed to avoid, as well as the file that I had read through this morning. “Is all of this true?” I asked him as I lifted my eyes to his face carefully. I wouldn’t show anything that I was feeling right now, even as the lace between my legs grew damp with need, and I shifted in my seat. “Absolutely. There is nothing wrong with me.” Blake sat up straight with his jaw set in a stubborn expression as I ached to kiss it and taste him all over again. “I read the file, Mr. Landon.” I started to say as he smiled wickedly. “Would you have called me Blake or Mr. Landon last night?” He licked his lips as my nipples stiffened underneath my silk bra. “I’d take either, depending on the position.” “I know that you lost a very close friend, and I know how painful that can be. I know how it can get into your head.” I kept talking as his gaze darkened slowly and he leaned back in his chair. “You’re not alone in this, Mr. Landon.” “I get so hard when you call me that,” Blake told me as I felt myself redden. “It makes me want to bend you over this desk and spank you. Would you like that?” His voice was low, but it vibrated over my skin and into my bones as I shivered. “Stop that. You’re my patient now. Last night…it was a mistake.” I spoke softly and not with the conviction that I intended as he stared at me knowingly. “It was such a mistake that I jerked myself off to it several times today. How about you?” Blake leaned forward, and I felt liquid pool in my panties as I pressed my lips together. “Are you wet right now?” “Stop this, Blake. We need to discuss Roger.” I firmly stated as sadness passed his face, mixed with the guilt and regret that I had seen on many faces. “I want to make you feel better about what happened. Can you tell me about that day?” “Sit in front of me and I can taste you like I wanted to last night. Spread those pretty legs for me, Doctor.” He spoke in a low intense voice as I leaned heavily on my arms and took a slow breath. “Talk to me,” I softly begged as he rested his face in his hands for a moment. “Let me do my job. It’s my first damn day, and I’m struggling here.”

“Your job is to fix people that need it, but I am not one of them. I am only here under orders…is it Miss Thomas?” Blake asked as I took a slow sip from the coffee in my travel cup that boasted the name Harvard to remind me of my school days. “Or is there a mister that you had to run home to last night?” “None of that matters. You need to give me something here, Blake. Tell me about Roger. How long were you friends?” I pressed the issue as pain flashed in his eyes. We could dance around this for the whole hour, but I would not be doing my job, and he would not be getting the help that his superiors apparently thought that he needed. “Was it a long time? Was he like a brother to you?” My voice shook for a fleeting second as I spoke, reminded of my brother. “We were close, but I’ll get over it. I just want to go back to work.” Blake told me as he reached across the desk and brushed my hand against his. “Release me so I can do that.” “I can’t do that now. We have a lot to cover.” My palm turned upwards as my legs trembled and I watched him stroke the skin of my hand. The heat between us was undeniable, and I kicked off one of my heels to press my foot firmly into the plush gray carpeting of my office. “Why did you join the Navy? How did you end up a Seal?” Sometimes backtracking worked with people, and I needed my mind to be off of how much I wanted him right now. “Family business. I knew that I always wanted to be a part of the Navy and becoming a Seal was everything to me.” His response was quick and reminded me of my family, and he rested his hand near mine after pulling it slightly away. “Last night was the best thing that I’ve experienced in this time I’ve had off. I want to see you again, out of here and away from this setting. I want to make you cry out my name when I fuck you this time. That’s all the help I need, Dr. Thomas. What is your first name?” I was not supposed to tell a patient that. We were not friends of theirs or social companions, but I felt myself weaken drastically. ‘Why do you need to know?” “You wouldn’t tell me last night. I asked you twice, and I think I deserve to know your name after I watched you cum on my cock, don’t you?” I could feel myself redden as my eyes widened. He never stopped looking at me with that hooded gaze that I had memorized last night. “Aspen. It’s Aspen.” Shit, I gave in. “Here I am Dr. Thomas.” “I don’t care what your name is anywhere. I just want to fuck you again, harder and faster. I want you on your knees before me, screaming my name.” Blake kept talking, and I dropped back into my seat as I let out a soft cry. “That’s the only kind of therapy that I need, Aspen.”

“It can’t happen. We are strictly professional as of today.” I reminded him as he reached for my hand while I pulled it away. “We need to forget that ever happened.” “The smell of your sweet pussy tells me that you haven’t forgotten a thing,” Blake argued as I stared back at him. “My hard cock tells me that I haven’t either.” “Blake…Mr. Landon. Please stop this.” I softly pleaded as my bones turned to jello and my body became a mass of need and lust. I raised my hand to the button of my conservatively sexy blouse and fanned myself as he stared at the barrier between his eyes and my generous cleavage. “Unbutton it. Show me your gorgeous tits,” Blake asked me as I forced myself to look at the papers in front of me. I used them to regain my composure and sat up straight as I stared at him. “I am only here as your psychologist, Mr. Landon. If you don’t want to talk to me today, I suggest we try this next week. I am here for therapy and nothing else.” My voice was firm, and I gained strength from it as he stared back at me. “I can’t help you unless you want me to.” Blake stood and leaned forward over my desk as he met my eyes with a heated look on his face. “I do want it, and you can help me anytime that you’d like,” I called out to him to make an appointment on the way out and slumped back into my chair as I gulped deeply. I released the button of my shirt and fanned myself as I reached for the bottle of water on my desk. I drank it in just a few sips as I tried to calm myself down for my next patient, but my body was on high alert and wanted Blake right now. I glanced at the clock on my computer monitor and stood on shaking legs to walk barefoot to my attached bathroom to relieve some of the pressure.

CHAPTER 5

BLAKE I left the office in a haze of lust and frustration and headed to my bike. I had nowhere to be until next week when we ran through that routine again, and I glared down at the strain in my jeans before I tugged my helmet over my head. Why the fuck did it have to be Aspen that was supposed to save me from my supposed demons? It took everything I had back there not to take her across the desk hard and fast.

I hopped on my Harley and headed out to the main road quickly, making a quick decision to take a long ride before I went home tonight. There was nothing keeping me here. I rode over the freeway all afternoon, making a stop near the Chesapeake Bay for a quick dinner of a drive through place. It was gorgeous today with a good breeze and blue waves, but it didn’t bring me joy, not the way riding usually did. If anything, I felt worse knowing that Aspen was now my head doctor. I had seen the compassion in her eyes and heard the sincerity of how much she wanted to help me in her voice. I was fighting it every step of the way and kept going back to our night together to watch her blush the way she did. It was sexy, and she looked like a hot mess in those professional clothes with that sweaty red skin. I got some perverse pleasure in tormenting her, but I wasn't easy on myself either. It was making me want her just as much as she apparently wanted me. What a mess. I headed home when it was starting to get darker and pulled into a gas station by my house to get some gas for the week. I was parked as far away from the building as possible when I glanced up to see a familiar blue car parked by the pumps. It was Roger’s and I watched as Emma got out and said something into the car as she leaned down to work with her tire. Roger’s wife was always a beautiful woman, blonde and very much the girl next door. Tonight, she looked tired and frustrated as she looked at the car again with broken eyes. Her hair was in a messy bun and falling down her face. I had never seen her look this way. I could hear the kids crying and screaming, and his son Bryce opened the door and ran to his mom with tears running down his face. He looked so much like my friend that it tore at my heart. I remembered making the promise that I would take care of his family if anything happened and I had meant that. I had just lost myself along the way after I lost him and I stared at the ground as guilt filled my stomach in a sickening lump. I heard her raise her voice and stepped back on my bike to leave. I didn’t even offer to help her. I headed to the liquor store for a fresh bottle of liquor and continued home. Once there, I locked my door and ran some hot water into my jetted tub before I stripped and sank into it. Tears slid down my face and pain stuck in my throat as I opened the bourbon and took a long sip to push it back down. Emma was struggling more than anyone and I hadn’t been there a single time since the funeral. I felt like such an asshole, but I couldn’t find the strength to face her

and the kids, to tell them I had failed at keeping their daddy alive. I couldn’t face the truth. I drank myself into a coma that night, drying off only enough to drop naked onto my mattress before I passed out for the evening. I woke up the next day numb and cold to everything, which I liked better than feeling my emotions. I decided to do the few things that I was allowed to enjoy, so I made a point of hitting the range to keep my aim on point. The sound of the guns still reminded me of that night but I pushed through it steadfastly as I prepared myself for the day I returned to work. It was an honor to be a sniper in the Seals, and I wasn’t going to lose the one thing that meant anything to me. I also went on a lot of rides. I traveled all over Maryland and even into some other states, getting hotel rooms and drinking myself to sleep. It didn’t bring me the relief that I was looking for, but it kept me away from home. I also went to the gym when I was in town. I was in the best of shape, and that wasn’t going to fade because I needed that on the job. The exercise was good for me, and it helped a little bit before I would go home and drink some more. I found myself looking forward to seeing Aspen again. I wasn’t ready to talk yet, but something about her comforted me and made me feel alive. Ever since I had seen Emma and reminded what Roger left behind, I was feeling unsettled and bored. Roger had been such a good man, a loving family man and there were days that I felt like a useless failure. Maybe this visit I could talk Aspen into letting me take her the way I had that night and relieve some of my pain. That was the night that I had felt a spark, and I hadn’t forgotten it. The days started to blend with the nights, having no semblance of a schedule, a life. I felt like I was just wasting away in between trying to find a part of who I was and drinking myself to sleep. I saw some of the guys here and there, but we were all still messed up from what had happened. Most of them had girlfriends or families, and I was one of the few single guys in my pack it had never bothered me before, but it was starting to feel lonely now.

CHAPTER 6

ASPEN I tried to focus on my career and my new patients. Ever since Blake had left me a mess in my office, I had tried so damn hard. This was what I had

worked so hard for but I finally gave in and took his file home in my briefcase to read it. I sipped my wine and marveled at his military career. It reminded me of my father and who my brother would have become as I curled my feet under me on my couch and sighed. Blake had a highly decorated special forces career that I read about as I nibbled on popcorn and drank my wine. He had several honors, including two purple hearts, two Bronze Stars with Valor and several others. Blake was thirty-two years old, but I thought he looked considerably younger, though Blake took good care of his body. Boy did he. I could still feel his muscles under my hands as I pressed my lips together and focused on the task at hand. I kept reading about the man that I could not get out of my mind, and I came to the report about what had happened to him out there. Blake had been one of the few survivors of the ambush that had killed his friend and several other guys. They had been searching for a missing soldier and came upon a group of men looking to kill and catching them off guard. It sounded like it had been sudden and brutal. The report claimed that all of the Seals went down for cover but not before some had been hit and killed. They had successfully returned fire and managed to get out of there, but my eyes rested on one critical part of the report. Blake had recounted things the way that she had read it and done nothing wrong but protect himself and his men. Another person had indicated that he started the shooting and was to blame for all of the deaths, though that victim had later died. Blake was allowed to shoot anyone to save his life within reason, but this man claimed that he killed one of his own and started the firestorm that caused all of this. With all of his honors, would Blake snap like that and kill another Seal? He had passed all of the tests to get into the Navy and then the difficult challenge of becoming a Seal. I knew from my father and brother how hard that was, seeing it firsthand in their eyes and their face when they were going through it. They also glowed with pride through it all and I could tell that Blake did as well. He took so much pride in his job, and he loved it, apparently wanting it all back. It was on my shoulders to decide whether or not he could return to duty. I had to figure out if he was unhinged or just dealing with a loss and I rested my head against my comfortable chair as I closed my eyes. I couldn’t get the man to stop talking about sex so how was I ever supposed to know? I wished that he was anybody else as my personal and professional life blurred together in a torturous blur. Knowing that I was going into military

PTSD as a specialty, I had avoided the men that represented that. I never dated military men, in part due to my career and also due to the loss of my family in their call of duty. I hated the idea of risking my own heart that way and every time I saw my mother, the sadness of her eyes reminded me of that. I swore to avoid the life, and the pain and I had been lucky until now. Blake hadn’t left my mind since that night at the bar. The few one-nightstands that I’d had were nothing like him. I was sure that it didn’t help that I was seeing him once a week now. If I had never run into him again, he could have just remained one of the hottest memories I would ever have. I would have moved on and met a nice non-military man and settled down. Nothing would possibly match that night with Blake, but life wasn’t always like that. I could have forgotten all about him. I could still see him across my desk that day, making every attempt to pull me away from the subject of his pain. He was seductive and drew me in with every word and those eyes…they Had a power over me. He was relentless with his words and I dreaded seeing him again and facing that. I needed to dig a little deeper with him but like many men, Blake was stubborn about acknowledging his emotions. I Knew going into this field that I would face that but with him, it just seemed that much harder. Blake was hurting inside. I had sensed that on my bike that night when he took me so roughly, but it didn’t matter then. I was just a girl behind a bar, but now I was his therapist and his future rested in my hands. It was an awful feeling. I needed to figure out a way to get through to him and force him, to be honest with me next session together. Maybe if I dressed in a potato sack, Blake would leave me alone. I laughed bitterly, knowing that wasn’t the case. He was a determined man, and he had already won me over once and was close to doing it all over again. I didn’t know what to do, and I placed his file on the coffee table and took the last slow sip of my wine as I closed my eyes. I was in so much trouble, and I worried that I might give in to him and throw away all of my hard work to become a therapist to troubled military members, my dream since I had lost my father. I needed to find my self-control and reset my priorities and sex was not one of them.

CHAPTER 7

BLAKE I pulled into the garage and parked my bike as I prepared for another session with Aspen. I couldn’t think of her as Dr. Thomas. I didn’t know how today would go, but I still didn’t want to talk about anything that had happened. I had nothing to say. I just needed to get my mind off of her body and just convince her to release me so I could work again. That was all I had ever wanted before I met her but I couldn’t let that stop me. I carried my helmet in my hand as I tightened my shoulders for the walk through the cold breeze to Aspen’s office. I wasn’t looking forward to the therapy part but seeing her made something inside of me heat up. I made my way easily to the office and greeted the receptionist only slightly warmer than I had on my last visit. She wasn’t the woman that I wanted to see even if she did give me that eyelash flutter that I had seen girls do. I took the clipboard from her this time, finding a small sheet of paper that asked the same mundane questions. No, no and no. I still wasn’t crazy. I dropped it onto the chair and lifted my eyes as the door opened and she looked out over the waiting room at me. Today, Aspen was dressed in a flowing red dress that hugged her curves with some black heels. It was professional but sexy enough to drive me crazy. Her hair looked good pulled into a low ponytail, and the red tint of her lips made me want to shove her against the wall and kiss her with abandon. “Good morning, Blake. Come on back.” The dress didn’t hug her ass like the skirt had last week, but it swished around her thighs as she walked with my paper in her hand. I remembered how they had felt wrapped around my body as my body reacted to the sight in front of me and I knew that it would be all about sex today. I needed to see her be uncomfortable and weaken her defenses because I couldn’t stop thinking about her. “Come on in.” I followed her and took a seat in the chair as I leaned forward and watched her every movement. “Hi, Aspen.” I greeted her as I watched irritation cross her forehead. “Dr. Thomas,” she reminded me as I grinned at her and watched her shift in her seat. “How are you today?” “I am thrilled to be here for my magical healing. Do think that you’ll release me after today?” I looked her over. “You look lovely in red. Your lips make me hard.” “You’ll never get released until you open up to me.” She told me with a pleading look in her sensuous eyes “There is nothing to open up about,” I leaned back in my seat and watched

as she took a drink from her coffee cup. “You look tired, Aspen. Have you been thinking about me as much as I have been thinking of you?” “Mr. Landon, please. We need to get somewhere today.” Aspen looked at me sternly, but I could still sense that I was getting to her. “I want to talk about that night.” “I am a Seal. Those nights happen all of the time.” I told her as she rolled her eyes and ran a hand through her ponytail. “There’s nothing to say.” “I read the file. I read what Mr. Jackson claims happened, but he is dead. You are the only one that can tell me what really happened, Blake.” She stared at me. “You’re one of the best, and everything I read tells me that about you. Tell me what happened that night.” “It was a blur. I don’t remember.” I shot back, and she narrowed her eyes. “I know all about your training and how brilliant you have to be to be a Seal. I know all about what you guys go through and the pain, but this needs to be cleared up, Blake. You will not get back out there until I clear you.” Aspen reminded me as I felt my hopes fade away. “Do you know a lot of Seals, Aspen?” I lowered my voice, and she flushed. “Do you have a lot of experience with other men?” “Blake…I…not too much. I focused on school and not dating.” She replied as I smiled and reached out for her hand. “I trained to help men like you, so let me do that. Please.” “There is nothing to help. The only therapy I need is you on this desk spread open for me so I can finally taste you.” She yanked her hand back, and her eyes widened as she pressed her lips together. “Damn it, Blake. You need to tell me something…anything. What happened that night?” She demanded as I raised one eyebrow at her. “Who is telling the truth in that report?” “I don’t care about that report. It’s all bullshit.” I shot back as she sat up with interest. “Which part?” “I just want to work again, Aspen. That’s all I ever lived for before…fuck. The only thing I want is to be inside if you again.” He leaned forward and lowered his voice as he stared at me. “Spend the night with me.” “I am your doctor, and that is so…wrong.” Her face twisted, but I could see how much she wanted to say yes. Like last time, she was flushed and sweating as she shifted in her chair. I knew that I was close to having her, and I stared into her eyes. “I can’t sleep with a patient. It would ruin things for both of us.” “It would make everything better. It would make me feel alive again.” I

told her as she stared at me with wide eyes. “How do you not feel alive otherwise?” She pressed further, and I drew in a deep breath. “Tell me what is wearing you down, Blake.” “I want to fuck you, Aspen. I need to be inside of you again, in my bed, on this desk…anywhere. I need you.” I meant every word as I spoke and locked gazes with her, smiling when I saw a moment of weakness in her beautiful face. “I have never felt that way with someone before, and it is all that I think about.” “You can’t, Blake. You can’t think about any of that. I am only here to serve one purpose now.” She gave me a broken look and took a deep breath. “Just tell me something about that night, about Roger or about how you’re feeling.” “Come to my place with me. I’ll make dinner, and we can spend the night in my bed.” I was hard, and I slipped a hand over my cock as she stared at me and finally rested her head in her hands. “I’ll go crazy until you’re mine again.” Aspen threw her hands up in the air and then rested them on her desk. “This is going nowhere. Get the hell out of my office until you’re ready to get somewhere with this, Blake.” She gave me a defeated look that told me she felt done for now. “Just go. Come back next week and try to be serious about your life.” I stood and stared down at her as I realized how serious she was. I had really fucked up today, and I walked out of the door with my shoulders dropped. I stopped to make an appointment when reminded and then walked out to my bike feeling dejected. I had just pushed the button of the person that I needed most in the world right now. I had never felt this way about anyone before, and it scared me deep inside. I looked back at the building and saw someone standing in a window, and I stared back for a long moment. I needed to get my shit together and figure out how to work this situation out before things got any worse.

CHAPTER 8

ASPEN I went home after a horribly long day and went straight to the fridge for the bottle of wine that was waiting for me. I had several patients after Blake and

had managed to hold myself together, but now I was done. I kicked my shoes across the kitchen and found my biggest wine glass that I could find before I opened the bottle and filled it to the brim. Blake had thrown me for a loop today. I wanted to get to the bottom of things so badly with him, but he wouldn’t be serious about any of it. He just kept taunting me over and over, and I had to throw him out before I took him up on his offer. That would throw all of my work into the trash but damn it if I didn’t want him. I headed to the bathroom located in my bedroom, which was spacious and luxurious. I had a small television on the far wall that I could watch while soaking in the bath when I really needed it, like today. I filled the round tub with hot water and lavender and vanilla bubble bath before I lit a few candles. I stripped off my dress and black lace bra and underwear, that matched just because I was seeing Blake. I was pathetic. I slipped into the water slowly and looked at the television that was playing whatever random show was on HBO. Generally, this would soothe me but tonight, I still felt pent up. I took a long sip of my wine and let it slide down my throat as I breathed in the sweet scent of the water. This man was getting to me more than he should, more than anyone should when, they were a patient of mine. I glanced back at the television to see a rerun of True Blood and my eyes rested on the scene with Eric and Sickie where they were fucking in a bed hard and fast, one of their many scenes together. I imagined my bigger body and Blake in my king size bed in the other room as I watched the action on the screen with growing interest. I closed my eyes and pictured him between my legs as he kissed me hungrily and groped my body while he drove himself into me the way he did that night at the bar. His hands left heat everywhere they touched me, and I let my imagination wander more as I imagined that he was crouched on his knees and licking my center firmly and slow as I gripped his head in my hands. It felt so good in my mind, and I dropped my head back as my hand slipped under the water. I wanted to come every way possible for Blake, and I found my hard little nub ready as I slid my hand between my legs. The heat of the water and my own desire made my fingers slide over my folds and roughly on my clit as I sucked in my breath. I was so turned on, both by what was on TV and my naughty thoughts about Blake. I wondered how many doctors had fantasized about a patient this way as I slipped two fingers into my pussy and continued to thumb my clit. I was rocking against my hand, and the water moved with me as I let out a soft cry. I wondered how many doctors had crossed the line like I was ready to do. I felt his teeth tugging on my nipple all over again as my free hand found it

under the water, only to twist and pull good and hard. God, it felt good, and I never knew before that I wanted this kind of sex. Everything had been so vanilla before but my fingers digging into my inner walls and my nipple being tormented so pleasantly was a welcome surprise. I moved my hand faster and added another finger as I moaned with every thrust and pictured his cock inside of me. The sounds from the show blended with the sounds in my head, and I spread my legs wider and fucked myself with my fingers hard and deep. I started moaning his name as I heard his voice in my head and his lips on my nipple and then my waiting clit and found the spot that I needed, the one that he had been the first to find. My orgasm was strong, and I cried out sharply in the room, hearing it echo around me as the pleasure came in long waves. “Blake…Blake…Blake,” I panted as I kept the sensation going with my finger against myself, moving slow and hard as my body started to pulse with the extended release. “I need you. I want you. I need to find a way to fix this.” I dropped my hands to my sides in the water and took a haggard breath as my entire body went weak. I felt spent yet needy, and I knew that Blake was the only man that would satisfy me at my level of feelings for him. I could make myself cum all I wanted but it wasn’t like him being inside of me, and I let out a small whimper. I couldn’t get involved with a Seal. I ached in places that I could not reach. I finished the wine and did a lot of thinking the rest of the night. In the morning, after a restless sleep, I rose and took a long shower. My muscles ached, and my body was tired, but I washed and conditioned my hair thoroughly under the hot water before I climbed out to dry off. I had a big morning ahead of me, and it was with a heavy heart that I dried my hair and styled it into a soft lower bun before applying the amount of make-up that made me look professional like I know what I am doing. I almost don’t feel that way, in all honesty. I felt like a hot mess. I dressed in my black combo of a pencil skirt and blazer with a spotless white shirt underneath and looked myself over before I added some black thigh high hose. That just looked better, as well as looking a bit like I was going to a funeral. I added a dash of dark red lipstick and black heels before I grabbed my purse and headed out to my SUV in the garage. It was my purchase when I knew I was getting this job, though the flawless black interior seemed dull to me at this moment. My perspective was so convoluted due to the way that I was beginning to feel for Blake, and I started the engine with a smooth turn of my key.

I didn’t drive right to my office and in fact, I had left earlier than normal to make a stop before that. I was going to see Blake’s commanding officers to discuss the situation with them as well as just to keep them up to date on his progress, or lack thereof. I felt like the worst psychologist in the world as I parked and got out with a quick press of my hands to my clothes. I entered the base easily with my ID, so I just had to walk into the office and act professional. Memories of the night before flooded my mind, and I closed my eyes tightly for a few seconds. I entered the building and made my way to the office of the man I had the most dealings with, being so new. He had given me the files to read and assigned Blake to me, though I’m confident he would be disgusted with my actions as of late. I greeted his receptionist, and she called to let him know that I was there, and I took several deep breaths as I waited. As the petite raven haired woman told me to go on in, I smiled and stood up as I clutched my briefcase in my hand. Barry Johns was a very nice man, but I also knew that he was an important person in the whole scheme of things. “Good morning, sir.” I greeted him with a polite smile as he ushered me to sit down across from him. “It’s good to see you, Dr. Thomas.” He replied with a warm smile that reminded me of my father. “I assume that you’re here regarding my favorite Navy Seal, Mr. Landon.” “Yes, I am. I have met with him a few times so far and unfortunately I haven’t gotten too far at all.” I admitted as he frowned and leaned back in his chair. “He won’t talk about the incident at all. I sense a deflection in his tone with every question and with that being the case, I read the file further to get an idea of things.” I paused and took a small breath. “Mr. Landon has a tremendous record as a Navy Seal. I could not find one thing in my reading that suggested he would attempt to kill any of his own men for any reason. He was a seasoned professional.” “I have to agree with you, Doctor. I have worked above him for years, and he is my go to man. I see how much he hates being on this break, but it had to be done.” Barry looked at me for a long moment. “I fear that he needs a friend right now, someone to confide in, but he lost his closest one that night. Perhaps he is scared to get close to anybody or just to talk about it at all. I had to send him to you due to protocol, but I knew that he might not open up right away.” Barry shook his head. “Keep trying, Miss Thomas. I am sorry that hasn't gone well for him…and you. I will try and talk with him as well, but that hasn’t been successful so far. Mr. Landon is stubborn and keeps saying that he doesn’t

need a shrink.” He gave me an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, Dr. Thomas. I don’t feel that was, as you know. You are valuable to all of our staff, but I almost want to believe that he doesn’t need it.” “None was taken,” I assured him since Blake had told me the same thing a few times now. I knew what I was walking into when I chose my major, and the words didn’t hurt too bad unless it was Blake saying them. “How is your family doing?” Barry changed the subject, and I smiled slowly at the mention of them. “They’re good. Mom is volunteering as much as she possibly can, and the boys are all set to finish up school this year. They are all talking about enlisting.” I told him as his face fell for a moment. My younger brothers were in high school now, two graduating and the other two sophomores. “I feel for your poor mother, but I can’t hate their decision.” He admitted as I nodded. “All of you might stick with the Navy. Mike would be so proud of all of you kids.” “I know he would,” I softly replied as I looked down at the floor. He wouldn’t be proud of all of my choices. We had made some more small talk before I assured Barry that I would work with Blake some more and left to head to my office. I did intend to do so, but I was wondering if it was best as his therapist. Could there be another way? All of my experience dealing with military men meant nothing to me right now. My stomach had never been so tied up in knots over any man like it was Blake and it left me feeling uncertain. It left me feeling scared.

CHAPTER 9

BLAKE I was waking up after a bender when I heard the doorbell echoing in my skull. “Hold on,” I rasped as I sat up groggily and looked at the clock. It was three o clock. My schedule was going to shit. I looked down to see that I was in boxers, and stood on unsteady legs to pull on some jeans and a wrinkled shirt before I made my way to the living room. “Give me a minute,” I called out as the chime rang through the house again. I opened the door to see a harried blonde standing on my porch with a couple of duffel bags in her hands and a sneer on her pretty face. “Emma.”

“He lives,” she smartly said before she pushed her way into the house with a look of disgust on her face. The words hit me hard, and I slumped against the wall. “Jesus, Blake. It looks like hell in here.” “I am so sorry that I haven’t been by,” I told her as she glared at me and dropped the bags on the ground. “Sorry? That’s it?” She stomped up to me, and I looked down at her expanding belly. “You were brothers. You promised each other that you would always be there for the other one if anything happened. My kids adore you, and they have been asking where you are while they have been asking when he’s… coming home.” A tear slid down her cheek, and she brushed it away hastily. “You promised me that you would help me if he were ever gone and you never stopped by. I feel so alone and…I brought you some things of Roger’s. Memories you have with him. There are so many. I can’t believe that it’s all over.” She looked helplessly at me as I ran a hand through my growing hair. “I’ve had a hard time with it, too,” I admitted as she stared at me. “I would love to be able to have a hard time with it. I try to be strong for the kids and the baby all of the time, and it just keeps me up at night. I keep hoping you’ll come by and give me a moment of peace now that my family had to go back home, but you never do. You are breaking all of the promises that you ever made to us, and I hate you for it.” Emma told me squarely as she looked into my face. “I had this stuff waiting for you for when you came, and I had to bring it myself while a neighbor watches the kids while they’re finally napping.” Her face was pale, and there were circles under her dull eyes that proved to me what as asshole I had been for avoiding her. “Emma, I’m sorry. I’ll come by and take the kids somewhere for you.” I started to tell her as she headed towards the door with tears sliding down her cheeks. “Emma, wait.” “I have to get home.” She told me as she pushed her way back through the screen and ran to her car. I watched her as she started the engine and pulled away before I slammed the door closed and walked into the kitchen. I had made all those promises. I had every intention of taking care of his family when he died, but something inside had prevented me from seeing his wife’s sad face. I hated the idea of the kids feeling so sad, but I couldn’t face them after what had happened. I looked at the bags on the floor and shook my head as I forced myself to try to find the strength to be the man I promised I would be. I didn’t want anything that reminded me of the past, and I dragged them into the garage and dropped them near the trash can. They could go out with the next pickup because I didn’t want to see his face. The doorbell rang again, and I turned my head quickly before running into

the house. Emma came back! I opened the door ready to tell her I was willing to do anything that she needed to make up for the fact I had abandoned her, but my mouth dropped open instead. “Blake?” Aspen hesitantly asked as I stared at her in shock. “Why are you here?” I asked her as she licked her lips slowly. “You don’t want to talk in my office, and I know that you need to let this out. I thought that maybe if I came here, we could talk…I am worried about you.” She told me as I stepped aside to let her in without a thought. Aspen glanced behind me and stepped into my small living room and looked around with distaste at the bottles and cans stacked all over the place. “I thought you did therapy in your office,” I told her in a cautious voice as she stared at me for a moment. “I do. I just think you need…more.” Her suggestion intrigued me, and I tilted my head as I looked her over. “A friend…a confidante…I don’t know. It doesn’t seem like you have anyone that you are close to. Am I right?” “A little. My family is in Colorado, and I haven’t been out there in a while. I work a lot, or at least, I did.” I admitted as she nodded and took another look around the room. “I can tell you that this isn’t the way to deal with anything.” Aspen waved her hand around the room. “Drinking adds a week to depression if it is severe enough.” “Is that a fact, Dr. Thomas?” I stepped forward and asked as her eyes widened. “Yes, if it is real depression.” She replied and smiled weakly. “Here, I am Aspen.” “I like that.” We eventually sat down after I cleaned up the room, suddenly driven to doing so with a beautiful woman in my house. I was a little ashamed on top of having the guilt that Emma had brought up today. We got to talking about the area and our bikes, and I watched her glow from the inside. It suited her, and it completely turned me on. I got the bright idea to take a quick shower and go for a nice evening ride, which she agreed to. I noticed early on that she had a clingy pair of chartreuse leggings and a longer fitted gray shirt that would work for a ride, and I craved the feeling of her body wrapped around me as I took her to some of my favorite spots. I headed into the bedroom with a grin on my face as I closed the door with a reluctant look back towards where I’d left her to strip for my shower. She had seen me naked, mostly, and I didn’t think it would hurt again. I rinsed off quickly and ran some shampoo through my hair before I got out and dried off

as I stared at my half-hard cock that could easily become a full erection with the woman that was waiting for me. I dressed in some worn jeans that would work for the ride as well as a fitted blue shirt and leaned down to get my black boots. I noticed that she was already wearing some longer boots, and I assumed that she had ridden her bike here today. That was a hot image, and I smiled as I opened the door and headed down the hallway. I saw that the living room was empty, and I frowned as I stepped into my kitchen to see her in front of the sink and loading dishes into the open dishwasher. Well, shit. When I looked around further, I noticed that she had cleaned off my counters as well. “Was I in there that long?” My voice was teasing as she blushed for another reason than my constant innuendos. It was nice. “No, not at all. Small kitchen.” She looked at me with a scared gaze in her eyes. “I figured that I’d help you out a tiny bit.” “It looks great. I appreciate it, Aspen.” I told her in a grateful voice as she smiled beautifully back at me. “How does that ride sound?” “Let’s go.” I led her to my bike in the garage, and she looked at it with admiration in her eyes for a long moment. Aspen had told me that her bike had been handed down from her father, and she had slowly fixed it up with some friends. I had chuckled when she told me how irritated her brothers had been when she got the bike, but it was a shared interest with her father as opposed to all of them. I eased onto the motorcycle and memorized the feeling of her body behind mine, pressed against me tightly as I felt her long arms wrap around my waist. I pictured her on her bike moaning my name, and I blocked off the memory as I tried to focus on the present. We headed out to take a drive out to a lovely part of the country where I enjoyed looking at stars. There was a big weeping willow tree and a pond located in the meadow with all kinds of flowers and grass in the Springtime. Though it didn’t offer all of that right now, I still found it to be a very peaceful place. I had seen a lot of it in the past few weeks. Only a bike or a pretty rugged SUV could access the space, and I found that we were alone as I roared up the dirt path. Aspen got off of my bike smiling and coughing a little at the dust I had lifted, but she looked happy. “It’s so peaceful here. I need to get out more.” “You don’t?” I asked her as she set the helmet down on the seat and looked around for a long moment. “I grew up with a military dad and five brothers. Even though most of them were younger, they were so protective of me, and I am still used to them

always being so worried about my safety. Coming out here alone would make their heads explode.” She laughed softly at the end, and I appreciated her family at that moment. She was a woman a man should cherish. That thought made me realize that something was happening, something that could be considered wrong. We walked around and talked some more as the connection between us grew stronger, and my willpower became significantly weaker. Once it was getting dark, we got back on the bike and went to get some dinner at a little pub that I knew that was close by. More to the point, we were far enough out to where we probably would not run into any familiar faces. It was cozy in there, and we chose a booth in the corner with a red candle that was lit in the middle that made Aspen grin. “I love these in restaurants.” “They remind me of being younger and eating with my family,” I confessed as she nodded emphatically at me. “Exactly.” We ordered some cold beer and burgers with fries before she sat back and looked across the table at me. “I have had a wonderful day with you.” “I can say the same.” I took a long sip of my beer and looked at her across the table. “You look so happy and free.” “I feel that way.” She stared into my eyes as the attraction between us only grew stronger. “I know that this is a risk on my part, Blake. I know that all too well. I just can’t stay away anymore.” “I feel the same way, Aspen.” Her name rolled off of my tongue as she blushed and I memorized it. That look on her face had become one of my favorite things in life. We ate and talked more as the flirting increased between us. It wasn’t as raw as it had been the times before in her office, but the heat was still there. It was all over the room; it was in her eyes and her full lips every time that she looked at me. Even the waitress looked between us as I handed her a few bills for our meal with wide eyes. We headed to the bike with an urgency as my hand reached down to clasp hers in the cloak of darkness that we felt hidden in. She reached for me at my Harley, and I met her lips eagerly as the heat exploded and fell to pieces around us. The kisses were long and hungry, but we parted to make our way back to my place after several moments. We both knew that this was not going to stop there, right or wrong. I felt her warmth pressed against me as I drove just a little faster and let the memories of her play through my mind. I pulled into the garage and pulled her from the bike into my arms as she jumped at me. Her lips were open for me, and her tongue was eagerly dancing

with mine as I cupped her juicy ass tightly. We stumbled into the house, and she wrapped her legs around my waist as I carried her in my arms down the hallway to my bedroom. This time with us was not on a bike, and it was not going to be a quickie as that experience had been. Once I kicked my door open, I let her slide down my body slowly as every gorgeous curve pressed against my body. I slipped my hands over her as she wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me with a need that matched my own. I didn’t end that contact as I stroked and squeezed, vowing to remember every moan that came out of her mouth. We stripped down in between our deep kisses and eyed each other without any abandon in the light from the lamp on my nightstand. I was grateful to have left it on last night now that she was naked in my room. I pressed her back against the mattress as I asked her to lay back in a hoarse voice. I was hard and throbbing, and I needed to begin worshiping her sexy body now. Aspen took a deep breath and rested back against the pillows as she looked into my eyes steadily. I loved her confidence, and I stroked the skin of her legs as her knees fell apart and offered the most tempting view that I had ever seen. She was wet and her clit hard amongst her folds as I dipped my mouth down to her calf. I kissed slowly up her body as she took short breaths and slid her hands over my hair. Her thighs were damp as I sucked on them slowly and she cried out my name. I didn’t hold back when I liked her firmly and clutched her body to keep it still. She was sweet and addicting as I tasted her over and over, teasing her to a climax as she moaned and begged me not to stop. Aspen came into my mouth as she loudly screamed like I knew that she would in private and I kept it going with my lips wrapped tightly around her willing nub. I pulled back to see her messy and sweaty in my bed, and I knew that I needed more from her. I leaned back and crawled over her to get to the nightstand where I kept condoms ready and yanked a few out in my haste to be inside of her. We joined with my body between her legs and pressed closely to her before I told her to get on her knees for me. She complied eagerly, and I stroked her smooth ass before I found her entrance and drove myself inside of her again. Hard and deep, I rocked my cock into her. It felt so tight and slick, and I grunted as her body matched my thrusts move for move. The noise of our bodies slapping together along with her breathy moans made me need her to come, and I plunged deeper as she met me with her body. The release was intense for both of us and happened within mere seconds

of one another. I watched her drop to the mattress before I discarded the condom and got us some cold water to drink. She was on her back when I returned and broadly as I looked down at her. In between sips of the water and slow kisses, I leaned over to suck her nipples into my mouth and trace my fingers over her body as she watched me carefully with a look of awe on her face. “I knew that you would be as good like this…alone where we could really do this.” She told me as I pulled her close and nuzzled her neck with my lips. I was falling for this woman, and I didn’t know how to stop it despite my fears as a Seal and what could happen. I didn’t think there was an end to these feelings, and she slid her legs around me as she sighed happily.

CHAPTER 10

ASPEN I watched him fall asleep in my arms and smiled as I wondered what to do next. I had to use the bathroom, and I slid out from under him to go and use the attached bathroom as I smiled dreamily. Blake was perfect and worth all of the consequences at this moment. I finished and went for another bottle of water from the fridge when I noticed a large spill on his counter. I searched the kitchen for the paper towels that I had used earlier and upon not seeing them, I searched under the sink. It looked to be sticky and should be washed with warm water very soon. There weren’t any there, and I looked around the kitchen to see a door that probably led to his garage. I looked down at my bare skin and smiled as I headed towards it and opened it carefully. I had found a light switch before I stepped outside as I remembered that there were no windows on the garage door with relief. I found a fresh pack above the washer and dryer, and when I turned, I noticed two duffel bags that were dropped on the floor a bit more than halfway between me and the garbage can. I reminded myself as a therapist that it was wrong to snoop even as I walked forward. I hated myself as I knelt down to see them partially unzipped and reached in to feel what must be picture frames and I couldn’t stop myself from pulling one out. It was Blake and a handsome dark-haired man with their arms wrapped around each other in that manly and not at all weird way. It was the way that two guys act that are very close and the kind of bond that I

appreciated as I looked it over. I looked at a few more, some of them with cute younger kids as well as what were clearly Seal pictures. Once I saw the name Roger on one of them, I realized that he was the reason that Blake had been sent to see me. This was his dead friend that he was grieving over. What were these bags doing out here? I would think he would want to display them like I did pictures of my father and Terry. I cherished those memories, and these looked like happy ones to me, memories full of love and laughter. “What are you doing?” His voice broke into my scrutiny of his past, and I frowned for a second before I turned to face him. “I am so sorry, but I saw these and I…I looked inside.” His face hardened as he looked at the bags with cold eyes and then back to me. “Why are these here, Blake? How come they’re not inside of the house displayed proudly? You were obviously close.” I watched as he mentally distanced himself from me “I can’t stand the sight of his face, and I don’t want his shit,” Blake told me as I stood and stared at him. I saw the degree of pain in his eyes as I stepped forward and watched him take a deep breath as he looked me over. “Why, Blake? There are so many pictures, two bags full.” I pressed him, and he turned and headed into the house. I followed him as I sensed that he might be ready to talk to me and carefully listened after I closed the garage door with the slam of his door. “Blake?” He was on the couch with his head in his hands, and I approached him slowly. I knew better as a person not to rush him and even more so as a doctor dealing with emotional military issues. It was a tough job, but I loved it with every step that I took towards him. I knew that I loved him a little bit, enough to scare me. I lowered myself onto the couch beside him as he shivered in the light from the kitchen. “Blake, baby…I’m here for you,” I murmured as I rested my hand on his shoulder. “Talk to me.” “I had to do it. Oh God…I saw Emma today, and it killed me, but I had to…had to do what I did to him.” His voice was broken and raw, and I eased my body against him just to hold him. “He was getting worse and worse, Aspen. I tried to talk to him and tell him to take a break.” He sucked in a sob as I wrapped my arms tighter around his chest. “He refused. He didn’t want to be a failure, and he was as dedicated to working as I was before…” Blake took a deep breath and wiped at his eyes. “Before he shot the Friend in our troop. That night, Roger opened fire at our guys, and I had no choice but to take him down. It is my duty as a Seal to save my men at any cost, and I just shot

him in the head. I killed my best friend.” He was openly weeping as he leaned against me and I felt my tears slide down my cheek. The pressure that he must have been dealing with and the feelings had to be so intense, and I choked back my own sob. “There was an ambush after that. Roger let the enemy know where we were with his shot and everything happened so fast after that. I don’t even know how I survived it. We’re lucky that we only lost the number of men that we did and that the enemy was defeated.” Blake explained as a heavy feeling filled the room. “Oh, fuck. I said it. I remembered everything another way after I came to. I didn’t want to realize that I murdered my best friend who was a husband and a father. It took time for the real memories to hit me, and Aspen, I feel so awful inside.” “Blake, it’s okay. It’s okay. I won’t tell anybody about this.” I whispered as he stilled in my arms. “I couldn’t tell anybody. It was dark, and I didn’t think that anybody saw what happened after he fired. I didn’t want to break Emma’s heart more by knowing the truth, so I kept up the story that is in the report. Please don’t destroy her like that, Aspen. Please. I’ve already been a terrible friend to her.” Blake cried as I felt my breath hitch in my throat. “She is having a baby girl in three months. I can’t destroy her this way.” “Oh my God,” I whispered as he clung tightly to me. “I won’t say a word, Blake. I swear to you that I never will.” He trembled and held me tighter before I felt his arms drop away from me. I leaned back to look at him, and I saw the broken man in front of me that had come into my office, only exposed and bleeding now. His pain was free. “Get the fuck out of my house.” “What did you say?” I asked in disbelief as he focused a steady gaze at me that held nothing but hatred. “I want you to leave. I want to be alone.” He clearly stated in a firm shaking voice. “Get the fuck out of my house.” “Blake, no. I want to be here for you.” I argued as he looked down my body with a cruel gaze. “The only way you could help me is by spreading those legs open, Dr. Thomas. There is nothing more that I want from you.” Tears slipped down my cheeks as I covered myself with my hands and ran into the bedroom to dress with shaking hands. He had just taken everything that we shared tonight and thrown it to the ground, only to break into shards of what I thought we were. He had hurt me and debased all of the feelings I thought that we had for one another.

As a therapist, I knew that he was just lashing out, and I could deal with it on that level. I could fix that. As a woman that had crossed too many lines with my patient, I was devastated. I left the house clutching my purse and what was left of my dignity without a backward glance as the pain clenched in my stomach and tears slipped down my cheeks.

CHAPTER 11

BLAKE Everything after that night was a blur for me. I started drinking heavily on a daily basis, starting whenever I woke up and continuing until I passed out again. The reality of what I told Aspen was too much for me to bear and I just spent my days numb and drunk to get through the few hours of the day that I did see. I ate when I couldn’t deal with the hunger and just ordered a lot of takeout to make it quick so I could drink some more. The days turned into weeks. I missed therapy and got the messages that Aspen left that pleaded with me to please call her. She told me how worried she was about me and how she needed to see me. I ignored the pleas and just drank more. My hair was growing in, and I had a beard now. I only showered to leave the house for more alcohol. I watched too much television and didn’t work out, and I knew that I was throwing all of my hard work away subconsciously, but it didn’t matter. I felt lost to myself and everyone else, despite the phone calls from those that knew me and were aware of my absence in the world. I had remembered the night Roger died in a certain way that soothed me for a week or so after I returned home. It was when I saw the report that Charles had filed before he died that triggered the truth, and my grief was too much to bear. As painful as that was, I couldn’t tell her in therapy what had actually happened. I couldn’t let Emma feel that pain and understand the fear that I suffered for her and the children as I watched him start to crack from the inside. I couldn’t tell my commanding officers and expect them to understand. I regretted telling Aspen, even though my soul had needed that in the heat of the moment. I was so angry seeing her bent over the bags after worrying that she had left my bed and my life and the turn of emotions confused me as I

thought about that night. I felt like she snooped into my dark past and left me raw and open and I was pissed off about it. I just drank more. I was sleeping all day long and drinking all night while occasionally ordering food to keep myself healthy enough to leave the house when I needed to. It was some time later that I ended up bringing the bags into the house to look through. I had never gotten them into the trash like I’d planned and I dragged them into the bedroom to look through them with guilt and pain weighing heavily on my shoulders. Emma hadn’t left a thing out of this collection. She included every picture that was ever taken of us and I remembered how happy I was. We had everything: friendship, The Navy and his family that supported us. I remembered how much I loved his children as I looked over pictures and watched them grow up all over again. I remembered everything that I had ripped away from Roger as well as Emma, but she didn’t ever need to see that crazy look in his brown eyes. The fourth baby had been the straw that broke the camel’s back, though it was no fault of Emma or even Roger. Something just broke down inside of him as the day got closer and I was personally shocked when the stress erupted into violence. I would never know if my other men were killed by our fire or by that of the enemy but I could wonder if I caused this all to happen by not saying anything. I didn’t want him to go out of the Navy that way, and I knew he’d hate the break as much as I did right now. A part of me hated Roger for giving me no choice in the matter than night as much as a part of me felt guilty for taking his life. I had always been told to take action to save your men, and I had followed that advice. I didn’t know if I would ever recover. I walked over to my laptop as I left the pictured piled on my floor and took a deep breath. I clicked on my files and found the videos I had saved of us over the years. I had a collection of stuff from when we were kids as well, but all of this was recent. I clicked on the video of him bursting out of the hospital room when his first son was born to tell all of us waiting there. I had never seen that joy on his face before, and I watched it twice as I thought back to the day he told me Emma was pregnant. I was single then, much like now without the torment I was feeling over losing Aspen. I couldn’t understand the need to have children in our line of work. It seemed so unfair to me, but when I watched the clip of me holding Bryce, a part of me melted inside. I had loved that kid at first sight. Roger had been as excited about the other two, and they had pulled me into

their clutches as well. Roger was gone a lot, but he had a system of family members to handle anything while we were gone. He was a devoted family man when we were home, and I spent countless hours there enjoying dinners and lazy afternoons by the pool. I watched the speech I made at their wedding, so full of love and laughter that my heart cracked open. It was a beautiful day even though I felt like I was losing my buddy to another life. The fourth baby had been when he seemed to be moody and somber, particularly while on our mission. Why hadn’t I seen the signs of his breakdown? Why hadn’t I done more? The videos kept playing as the memories flooded my mind and I felt reduced to tears. I walked into the kitchen for the fresh bottle of bourbon and took a long sip. I needed this night before I faced tomorrow. I needed to be numb for another few hours. It was time to grow up and face the music.

CHAPTER 12

ASPEN I had not heard from Blake in weeks. My heart still ached even as I continued to see other patients and try to fix their lives and their issues. I called Barry to check a few times and was saddened to hear that he’d heard nothing as well. My messages sounded pathetic at times, and I knew this, but I missed him desperately. I worried about him. I was shocked when one day Lauren called into my office. “Dr. Thomas? Blake Landon is in the waiting room and was hoping to see you today. He says that it is urgent. Can you spare the time?” “I had a cancellation…so, yes. Send him in. Thank you.” I told her after a moment of silence. I ran a hand through my hair that was down and messy and looked at the blue dress that I wore that day. It matched the color of his eyes. There was a tap on the door to which I responded to come in. The knob turned, and he stepped into my office, dark and sloppy. He still looked gorgeous to me but with more of an edge, though I pushed those thoughts away. Blake hadn’t shaved in a while, and his hair was long and tousled on his

head. “Mr. Landon,” I murmured as I stared at him. “It’s been quite some time.” “It has.” He responded as he stumbled forward and dropped into the chair in front of me. “I…I have been doing a lot of thinking. I have been drinking myself to sleep every fucking night going over everything, and I need you. I need you to help me.” “That’s my job,” I assured him as he lifted his gaze to my face. He had circles under his eyes, and he was looking a little out of shape. Blake seemed like a man that was suffering badly inside. I still loved him somewhere inside, but I pushed that aside to be his therapist. I could put everything else behind me. We made regular appointments again. Barry was thrilled and warned be that he would be checking in with me on a regular basis for updates. I held steady to my promise of not telling anybody the truth. It was better, in this case, to leave it be and spare the feelings of so many people. We started slow, but he wanted to release the demons. We began with the core loss of his friend and worked through that. There was so much pain that he felt that was taken over by the guilt that he felt. Blake rocked back and forth during some sessions and seemed like he wanted to run screaming out of my office, but I credit him for staying. We then covered his feelings about the killing. There was so much there and with a few meetings, we started to get somewhere, and he seemed like a weight was off if his shoulders. Blake had gotten his hair cut short again and shaved, and he was looking more and more like the handsome man that I had met at the bar that night. I knew that he would never be that man again in some way, but I liked the idea. I liked this version of Blake, and I think that he did as well. I even threw my two cents into the conversation a time or two. I told Blake about my father and brother and the terrible loss that their deaths had been to myself and my family. I held out a picture to show him that I kept on the corner of my desk, and he stared at it as his mouth dropped open. “He was your father?” “Excuse me?” I asked as I leaned forward and stared at him. “Mike was my mentor. I met him when I first signed up and made the Seals, and he taught me everything that I know. I loved him as a father and…he created you.” Blake stared at me as I felt a tear slide down my cheek. “I see so much of him in you.” “He was my hero,” I tearfully confessed as I reached for the box of Kleenex on my desk.

“Mine too. I was devastated when I found out he died. I was on a mission and couldn’t be at the service, and that killed me inside. I think I still talk to him sometimes and remember his advice that he gave to me. He essentially told me that it was okay to do what I did in the interest of my brothers, even if I didn’t save all of them.” Blake said, and I nodded. That sounded just like my dad. “I might have met you if I had been there.” “I think we were meant to meet later,” I responded as he lifted a dark eyebrow. “I was a mess, Blake.” I watched as he stood and walked around my desk to stand before me. “I was, too.” “I missed you so much,” I confessed as I pushed myself out of my chair and met his eyes. He cupped my face gently as he soothed my tears with his thumbs for a moment. “I barely slept worrying about you.” “I missed you badly.” He looked at me with watery eyes as I started to cry a little harder. “I can’t stay away from you, baby.” He kissed me with a firm press of his lips, and I threw my arms around his neck to kiss him back with a small moan. There was nothing but our connection in this room that we should not be doing this in but I didn’t care. I pressed my body against the warmth and the muscles that I had watched from under his clothes over the weeks. We made up for lost time with every deep kiss, and I pulled away to stare into his eyes as I smiled slowly. “I need you, Blake.” “I need you too, Aspen.” He drew his lip between his teeth. “Can you help me with something this coming weekend? I need your strength.” “Yes. I will always be here for you.” I promised him as I kissed him again and cried out all of the pain that I had Felt missing him for the last few months. It had ripped a hole inside of my heart that reminded me of losing my father, and I laughed against his lips. “I was never supposed to fall for a military man. Ever. Not after what my family went through…but I love you, Blake.” “I love you,” Blake told me before he kissed me again to try and take my pain away from me. He tried to fix what broke inside of me, and I wanted to let him. We both cried as we kissed until the session was over, feeling something new between us. Something better than before.

CHAPTER 13

BLAKE I released Blake from my care shortly after that but by that time we were already secretly together. It went against every grain of my fiber, but I was crazy about him. I couldn’t be without him in my life ever again. That weekend we went to an ice cream parlor over in the next town with Emma and all of the kids. It was so bittersweet to see how they crawled all over me and how much they loved me so deeply. I knew they would always miss their dad just like I could see that Emma was, but even she was smiling and tearing up over the sight as I was. We ate huge sundaes and talked about Roger as we settled into the afternoon. There were so many good memories to share, and I could feel Aspen’s support pouring from her eyes as she watched me focus on that instead of the horrible decision that I had been forced to make. I didn’t have a choice on that day, but I could make it up in ways like this, by honoring my promise to both Roger and Emma. We shared a lot of long looks, and Aspen giggled when we saw the kids pointing and whispering. I had touched her or held her hand every chance that I got and loved it. “Uncle Blake, is Pen your girlfriend?” Brent asked me in his adorable four-year-old voice as she beautifully blushed. I knew that Aspen was watching me, and it made me laugh as Emma smiled at the sight of the two of us. “She is my everything right along with all of you,” I promised all of them with a long look at each of them. Barry knew that Aspen and I were involved now, and he was all right with it since she was no longer my therapist. I had another one that I was going to see as needed but for now, I was cleared to work again. I was surprised to hear how well he knew her, and I saw the support in his eyes when I confessed my love for her. There was no reason to hide it anymore, and she beamed as I slipped my arm around her and kissed her hair. I watched as Emma and Aspen got to know each other over the chatter of the kids, and I knew that they would be firm friends. The kids adored her as much as I did and I realized that there was another person to help them through the rest of their days as they healed. We were all healing, and Aspen looked at me with a sweet smile. The girls made plans for a movie night the following weekend as they hugged each other tightly before we walked to our individual cars to leave. Everybody was feeling a lot better, and the kids hugged both of us for several minutes as they forced us into pinkie promises for the following weekend. I led Aspen to my bike and kissed her long and hard as she leaned into me.

The world disappeared around us, and I only tasted the fudge of the sundae that she consumed as our tongues met slowly. I murmured against her lips how much I loved her, and she responded by pulling my mouth over hers with her hands as she moaned into my lips. We hurried to her place much like any night, and I followed her to her room as she stripped off the black cashmere sweater that she was wearing. It was not going to me riding season soon, and I stared at the pale skin as she reached back to unhook her red lace bra. I knew what was waiting for me, and I hurried forward to pull her into my arms and memorize the way she said my name. She pulled me into the door and slid her hands down to shimmy the fitted jeans down her thighs as I greedily took in the body that was all mine. Aspen dropped to her knees as she unbuckled my jeans and drew my hard cock into her mouth. It was a sin the way she worked my body so well, and I stared down as she met my gaze. My hands went into her hair and pulled the ponytail out as Aspen moaned and took me even deeper into her throat. I came with a deep thrust that she welcomed into her mouth and throat, coming hard with a guttural cry of her name. After I had recovered, it was her turn, and I feasted on her pussy as Aspen tried to jerk against the hard hold I had on her thighs. Aspen was a sensitive girl this way, but I loved torturing her large clit and made me tremble in my grasp as she let herself go completely. It was a beautiful sight, and I was always hard and ready after to bury myself inside of her. Tonight I raised back and looked down at her. “You’re mine. I want you bare, Aspen.” She was on birth control and she nodded as she reached out for me. We were both clean, and we had no intentions of ever sleeping around again. I drove myself into her as I lifted her legs to my shoulders and held them there. She rocked against me thrust for thrust, and I knew that I was going to come soon as I looked into her eyes. She was panting and moaning as her eyes rolled back into her head and she shook as she let out a keening sound and I felt myself let go inside of her. Someday, though not soon, she would be carrying my baby. I knew that she was my forever, and Aspen opened her eyes and looked at me with love in her eyes as I let go of her feet slowly. We moved to face each other quickly, and she kissed my lips as I watched her with warm eyes. “I love you, baby,” I whispered as she smiled and kissed me again. “I love you. I love you forever.” Emotion rose in her voice, and I pulled her close. “I am so proud of you, Blake.” “I am who I am because of yuo Aspen. I owe you everything.” I told her as

she hugged me tightly and closed her eyes. This place was where I wanted to be when I wasn’t off defending my country, something we were both dealing with. I would spend every moment here proving how much I loved her and would take care of her, but when I couldn’t help I knew that Aspen could handle things. I knew that were going to make it through anything.

THE END FILTHY LIAR

SPENCER IS A FILTHY LIAR!

HE WAS MY FIRST LOVE, my first crush, the only man I loved!

HE WAS MY EVERYTHING….He was the one who took my virginity

AND THEN…..he just vanished

HE IS BACK in town after four years and wants a second chance. (Yes, he has changed – he is rich, arrogant and c*cky and walks as if he owns the planet!)

AND ALTHOUGH I have thought about him every moment of each day in the past four years, I don’t think I am ready for a second chance.

NO, not with him!

WHAT IF HE betrays me again…

FORGET FORGIVENESS, I cannot trust him at all… Because I know he is a filthy liar. READ ON TO FIND OUT MORE!

CHAPTER one “You can finally admit that there’s something between us, Megan. You’ve been watching me and imagining what it would be like to be with me. This is our only opportunity and our parents were stupid enough to leave us here alone together in this big house. We should stop kidding ourselves and finally do something about what has obviously caused this animosity between us. There has always been a fine line between love and hate. I didn’t like you from the moment that you came into my father’s life, but I can’t say that I didn’t fantasize about you.” Spencer had this white man’s charm and also a way to get underneath my skin. I thought I hated him, but it was just a mask for something of a deep affection. “Does any of these lame come ones actually work on white women that are not three sheets to the wind? I can see how your attempts to seduce me would work if I was drunk off my ass and stumbling over my own sizable 2 feet. I have more respect for myself than to give you the courtesy of some kind of response. You obviously think that you have this hold on me, but I’ve never even thought of you in that way.” I not only thought of him in that way, but I couldn’t get him out of my mind. “I think the girl does protest too much.” He pulled out a sheet of paper and unfolded it. “Spencer, I wish that I could touch you and to have your hand pressed up against my breasts. I want to feel your fingers grazing my nipples and then pinching them to make me come alive for the first time. Take me right here down and dirty and have your way with me. Rip off my clothes and don’t take no for an answer. I need you and it hurts me to think that you are only a few steps away and there’s nothing that I can do about it. Do you sit in your room stroking yourself and wondering about me? I know that my fingers have gotten a lot of mileage. I have fueled my fantasies with you in different scenarios.” I gasped in shock at hearing the very words I had typed in my private

journal. My computer was password protected and for him to have knowledge of my secret thoughts made me believe that he was smarter than I gave him credit for. I wasn’t tall and I certainly was carrying more than the average. I did my race proud by being able to be seen coming and going. “You’re taking that out of context, I said. He grabbed me and pulled me towards him with his hands inching up my skirt and touching the tops of my nude stockings. He kissed me with his hot tongue scorching along the surface of my own. I stood there and felt the pressure of his loins. His cock was enormous and feeling it at full strength was better than anything that I could imagine. “I’m not a fool, but you must’ve been in a rush to leave your computer open like that. I apologize for invading your personal space, but you have to admit that you have been after me like a salivating dog. I thought that I could use something against you to get you out of the house and away from me, but instead I found more than enough reason to want to take things to the next level.” He grabbed the collar of my white blouse and he tore it down the middle with the buttons flying in all directions. “I’m through walking around on eggshells. We are going to do this and you’re going to willingly give me your sweet ebony body.” Any other man that tried this kind of nonsense would’ve got a punch in the face, but for him, I became almost powerless to resist. He was the bad boy with girls coming over at all hours of the day and night to be with him in the Biblical sense. I’d heard my fair share of orgasmic cries and I secretly felt this jealousy that could only be satisfied with getting my hands on him. His fingers had found their way underneath the crotch of my panties. The dark green material was sticking to my lips. He had to pull it away to gain access. “Um…I wanted you to see those words. I knew that you would sneak a peek and now I have proof that you were in my room without my permission.” I was trying to backpedal, but he wasn’t buying it for a second. He grabbed my long brown hair into a fist and made me look at him with his eyes burning a hole into my very soul. “That’s a good try, but we both know that you’re lying through your teeth. Let’s see what we can’t do about changing your tune. You obviously want me and this is your time to finally reach out and take what you want. I’m not going to fight you, but I can’t say the same for you.” Being exposed with my breasts overflowing the cups of my bra was not something that I was expecting. I’d never been attracted to a white man and being of ebony color, I was more inclined to be with those of my own race. “I don’t even know why you are even interested. You seem to go for more

of the Barbie doll type. I am a bit more to offer than those stick thin white bitches.” I didn’t mean to go on the defensive, but he certainly was pressing my buttons. His finger had traced the line of my wetness and now he was offering it to me like some sort of olive branch of peace. I sucked his finger into my mouth and I rolled my tongue around it to give him a good idea of what he was missing. “I’ve always been fascinated by women that have a considerable figure like that of an hourglass. I’ve been secretly looking at you and waiting for the right time to do something. I don’t see there being a better time than right now.” He pushed me onto my knees and frantically pulled at his zipper, until he was slapping my face with his 8 inch appendage. He left behind a trail of his excitement down my cheek and then into my open and available mouth. “This is what you really want and I’m here to let you know that this is what you’re going to get.” He still had his hands in my hair and he was pulling me towards him, making me gag and struggle to find breath. I slapped at his legs, but he only took that for desire. He plowed my mouth, making me swallow the entire thing down to the root. His balls slapped heavily against my chin and I could feel how heavy they were and just what kind of power he was going to force feed into my throat. I didn’t like the way that he made me feel, but there was something about his dominance that had me begging for the chance to be with him. “We’ve been playing this game for long enough. I’m glad that I read your journal. It allowed me to see inside that naughty little mind of yours.” He was fucking my face and making me drool like an idiot all over myself. My immense dark breasts were covered in my own spit with rivers clinging to my chin. I was gagging, but he didn’t seem to care. It was that attitude that I found the most overwhelming. “You really do know how to suck a cock. Who knew that a young thing like you would have all of this experience? I certainly never suspected that you could deepthroat with the best of them. You really have surprised me, Megan. I suppose I should have realized just what kind of woman you were, but you hid your true nature so well.” I was staring at him with my mouth full. He was pressing steadily into my throat over and over again. He worked his hips until I could feel his knob pressing up against my cheek and then he was tapping it with his fingers. He could feel the outline of his own package. He lifted me abruptly and turned me, so that my back was towards him. He pushed me forward, so that my body was now bowed with my ass thrust out like an obvious invitation. The pleasure that I had endured with

hours of playing with myself was not even near anything like this. The feeling of being taken and knowing this was exactly what I wanted had me in the perfect position to take what I had already primed. “I would give you my tongue, but I’m a little pressed for time.” I was already wet enough. He was soon fitting his tool into me with an overanxious thrust of his hips. “Damn…you really are one hot little vixen. This hot hole of yours just devoured me like it was nothing. I don’t claim to be the biggest, but I certainly think that I am more than a mouthful. You can probably feel the thickness and how it rubs against your walls giving you a reminder that there’s not very many out there like me.” He had my hips and my panties were pulled to the side in a dirty and obscene way. He was really not above taking what he wanted and my journal had given him every reason to think that I desired his touch. “You have no idea what you’re doing for me,” I said I thought about this… day, but I never really believed that we would do anything about it. I love the way that you fuck me slow and then speed up. I am practically on the edge. I can feel your swelled cock inside me and I know that you can feel my fat lips grabbing onto you and never letting go. You do want to fill me with that seed and make me crave to have you again. You need my pussy and there’s not going to be a day that goes by that you don’t think of me fondly and with your hand wrapped around yourself.” I was grunting my reply and soon we were crashing against the shores of our own sexual desire. Our thoughts had driven us insane and this was our moment to finally seal the deal once and for all. That feeling of being overpowered came to an end with him biting my ear and leaving a love mark in his wake. “I know…that you can feel that. When I leave, I expect that you will be dripping in my stuff. My sweet cream will be running down your legs and your swollen lips will remind you of our time together.” He had given me three hard jerks and the spewing contents of his balls were more than my little hole could contain. When he pulled out, I had a lot of him coming with it. I lay there in total shock that we had done something like this. I smiled and then that smile turned to a frown when I turned and saw that he wasn’t there. He left me completely satisfied and unable to voice how I really wanted him to stay with me all night long. I went in search for him and there was no sign of him.

CHAPTER two “I don’t know why you tease me like this and don’t expect me to do

something about it. You walk around with your head in the clouds wearing that tiny skirt begging any guy to take a hold of you and make you see the true woman underneath. I’ve been courting you for some time and I expect after a dinner like that that you would put out.” This was just one of many disastrous relationships over the last four years. It made me aware that what I had with Spencer was something more than just a torrid love affair. I wanted to believe that, but how could I with him vanishing like that. “I’m telling you that I’m not ready. If you can’t accept that, then you know where the door is. I didn’t think that you were this type of guy. I guess that everybody that has a male chromosome thinks with only one head. It’s not the one on your shoulders. I’m disgusted by your behavior and I don’t think that any woman should have to take something like that. You are just like all the rest and you fooled me into thinking that you were something else.” I was wearing a short white skirt and a translucent black top, but that didn’t give him the right to think that he could put his hands all over me. Four years and I had been trying to substitute that feeling I had with Spencer, my stepbrother, for that of something that I could find with those guys that couldn’t take their eyes off of my empowered presence. I was bigger back then, but I was still the same size now. I had toned it in all the right places. I had a bit more wiggle to my step and I had become plump like that of ripe peaches. “I think that all you need is a real man to take control. I’m not leaving here until you give me something and I don’t care if it comes from your mouth or your tiny little pussy. One of your holes is going to give it up and it’s up to you how this goes.” He was really saying this and expecting me to lie down and take it for the team. “What is it going to…?” I kicked him in the balls and then I grabbed the baseball bat by the fridge and swung it wildly. It barely missed his head and he was now backing away with this look of panic on his face. “I told you that if you couldn’t accept it then you could leave. Now I’m telling you that you should leave before I hurt you…badly. I might call 911 when you’re bleeding on my floor, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. Jack, you were the only thing at my job that I found tolerable. That’s the only reason why I decided to give you a chance to get to know me better. I didn’t think that after three dates that you would consider that open season. If you insist on playing this game, then I’m going to have to show you my Louisville slugger. It has come in very handy over the last few years. I don’t take this kind of crap off of any one.” I stood my ground and I knew what kind of stance would be perfect to level the kind of swing that would do the maximum amount of damage. “You are one crazy bitch and you deserve to be alone.” He tripped over his own shoes and landed on his ass. “If you’re looking for trouble…then you’ve

found it. Don’t even think that this is done. I’m going to become your worst nightmare.” I had no desire to have a stalker in my life. “By all means, come back and I’ll give you seconds. The next time, you might find that I’m packing more than just a baseball bat. I’ve had my eye on this gun and I think that it’s about time that I make a necessary purchase. That way, you will know coming up against me will be your final act. I don’t want to hurt you, but I’m not going to allow you to treat me like your own personal dumping ground.” I was the one in the driver’s seat and standing over him brandishing that weapon gave me a sense of power that I couldn’t get anywhere else. I’d tried to get in touch with Spencer and mostly I got back an obligatory text message on my birthday or Christmas. It seemed so clinical and didn’t even remind me of the man that had taken me to a plateau of pleasure that I had not experienced before. I was kicking myself. I had no idea what would make him leave that rashly and with no explanation. My father was away and I tried to talk to him, but he was steadfast that Spencer didn’t have a home here anymore. I had no idea why he felt that way and he was in no hurry to give me any kind of clarification. “You’re not going to get away with treating me like this. No woman is going to make me fear for my life. I think that I need to teach you a lesson in manners.” He got to his feet, breathless and looking at me with anger that seethed into his very soul. “Why wait for tomorrow when you can do for yourself today? You think that a baseball bat is going to stop me from getting what I want?” He had suddenly found a new courage and this was the one time that I felt like I was in over my head. “Stay away from me. You’re just another creep that is only after one thing. I will not be somebody’s punching bag. Try something and I will show you what I’m made of.” I was showing him courage, but it wasn’t the way that I was feeling. I was basically throwing up a wall and hoping that he was buying that I could pound him into mincemeat. He took a few tentative steps forward and I mistakenly wavered for a second with my hand firmly clasped on that bat. My mistake was backing away; that gave him the opening that he was looking for. He took another step and I swung the bat with not much behind it. This time, he caught it in both hands and wrenched it from my hand. He left me to feel the effects in my numb fingertips. He pressed the bat up against my chest and pushed me back, until I tumbled back onto the couch. He hovered over me with his hand on his zipper. He made me realize that I’d definitely bitten off more than I could chew. “This is going to be the most fun that I’ve had with a woman in some time. I’m tired of

women that promise something and never deliver. I’m tired of footing the bill for meal after meal only to get the it’s not you it’s me speech. I’ve even considered resorting to paying for it, but I’m not going to do that.” He wasn’t blessed, but I certainly didn’t like the idea of being told what to do. “If you think that I’m just going to lie here and take it, then you are seriously delusional. I will fight you every step of the way, scratching and biting. There’s no way that you’re going to leave here in one piece. I will take a piece of you with me and that’s a guarantee and a promise all mixed into one.” He smiled and I think that he enjoyed the hunt. He was a predator with more money than brains. I was apparently his prey, but I knew how to bite back. “I don’t know why you women just won’t give it up for an hour. That’s all the time that I need and then you can go about your business and not have to deal with me again. It would be so much better if you were more compliant, but if I have to make you do this, then I’m more than capable of doing that.” He really wasn’t the guy that I thought he was. The way that he was acting was like he was making me the product of all of his woes. He was taking all those women that had wronged him in the past and he was now projecting it onto me. I would fight back, but in the end his weight would probably overpower me. I could only hope that I would be able to convince him otherwise. “I hope that you do. I love a girl that shows a bit of spunk. I’m just not sure if you’re that girl, but I guess we’re going to find out.” He had his hand on my knee and his very touch had me cringing to the notion of being taken by him. He looked so good on the outside, but I think I knew deep down that he was only playing a part. “You can fight all you want.” He took his right hand and reached out to turn on the stereo. That music was blaring and the thumping beat was a good way to mask the possible screams that were going to come from my mouth. I couldn’t hear a damn thing and he was saying something, but there was no way that I could make out what it was. It was possible that I didn’t want to know. His derogatory statements up to this point had already revealed the kind of man that he was. He pushed my knees apart and the skirt that I was wearing had risen a few inches, which only made him lick his lips. It was creepy and wrong. He made me feel like this was inevitable and then suddenly his eyes lost focus. He pitched forward and landed face first in my crotch. I didn’t hear the footsteps approaching or the breaking of the vase over his head. I didn’t see the visitor and how he had taken exception to the way that Hank was treating me. Over his splayed out form, I could barely make out a figure that had come in at precisely

the right time. It took a moment, but I finally saw who it was and that face reminded me of the very last time that I’d seen him. The way that he had taken me over this couch made those four years melt away into nothing. He turned off the stereo and was standing there in a very expensive suit and tie. His face was completely shaved and his hair had been cut down to the stubble. “I thought that I would surprise you and I guess it’s a good thing that I did. I know that you probably think that I forgot about you, but that’s only because your father wants you to believe that. I’ve tried to reach out to you, but I’ve been blocked at every turn. I couldn’t come to you and I suppose you have every reason to hate me.” I wanted some kind of explanation, but for now I was just grateful that he had come in when I needed him the most. “I’m not sure what you want from me. You left four years ago and you expect me to welcome you back with open arms and legs. I’ve changed and I don’t need a man to complete me. I don’t need a man for anything and I can do for myself better than anybody. I’ve lived with your rejection and there’s no reason for you to tell me that it was just one of those things. I’m not feeling in a very talkative mood. Get rid of this garbage and maybe then we can have a heart to heart.” I was angry and seeing him after all this time had brought back all of those hurt feelings. I wanted to slap him, but I thought it was better to find out what he was hiding from me all this time. It was obvious that there was some kind of tension between him and my father. Spencer’s mother was my stepmother, but she had been jet setting across Europe the last two years. It wasn’t much of a structured family and only my father would show up on special occasions. “Give me a few minutes to call a taxi and have this guy sent home to the address in his wallet. I’m also going to leave him with a brief note. I’m going to word it in such a way that your intention will be very clear. I’m going to make him believe that you had a boyfriend that didn’t take kindly to him putting his hands on you. I’ll even leave him with a photograph of the two of us looking at each other lovingly at the county fair. That was two days before we did anything, but I guess we need to start slow and work our way up to any kind of physical connection.” He was bigger than I remembered and he easily lifted this guy on his shoulders when the taxi arrived. “You may as well leave with that taxi. I have no idea what you could possibly say that could justify being treated like a skid mark.” He stopped with this guy on his shoulder and looked over at me, before shaking his head. “I mean it. I really don’t see that there’s anything that we have to say to one another. I’m not the same woman and my heart has hardened. I don’t need this

drama and you can take it and shove it where the sun doesn’t shine.” I was telling him very clearly that coming back up here after he got rid of the garbage was not a good idea.

CHAPTER three I had all of this pent up aggression and I needed something to unleash it on. If he had the balls to come up here after getting rid of him, then he was really in for a rude awakening. I paced back and forth, wearing a hole in the carpet and not caring that the venom spewing from my lips was going to make me feel a whole lot better about everything. This anger was building by the second. Just remembering the way that he left dug a knife into my gut and that pain of losing him came back in a different way. It now manifested into this festering boil than had to be excised from my body once and for all. I waited and then I heard him approaching. He was not going to take my suggestion to heart and that was his cross to bear. He opened the door gently and didn’t barge in like he owned the place. He looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. He was dressing nicely and I could tell from the bling that he had made it big. “The one thing that I need to tell you right from the beginning is that you did scare me. I had everything planned and then we had to face each other. I had to find your journal and read your thoughts. I didn’t want to be a part of this family. I found a way to stick it to your father. I think that you remember that when we were in the middle of what we were doing four years ago that I said that my time was limited. It was beyond my control. I was working behind the scenes to cripple your father’s empire. I knew from the moment that he married my mother that he wasn’t in love. He was using her for her money and I decided to turn the tables. The way to do that was to disappear for awhile. I know that it doesn’t seem fair and you can imagine that your father wasn’t exactly pleased. “You… betrayed my father?” I never knew what had caused the split between him and my father. I knew that my father was suffering and he looked like he had aged 20 years in the past four. He was always screaming on the phone. We had to make some concessions. The house was already paid for, but the cars that he had in his collection slowly vanished one year after the other. “How can you possibly think that we could be anything if you could do that to my father?” I was trying to be a loyal daughter, but underneath I just wanted to jump into his arms and curl my legs around his waist. “You have to admit that your father is a bit of a tyrant. I had to make him

see that I was not some weak coward. I found other enemies that bandied with me to knock him off his high pedestal.” With each sentence out of his mouth, I found myself letting him get close. My body was already on high alert and then those warning bells went off from the moment that he grabbed me at the waist and pulled me to him. “He needed to learn a lesson. He couldn’t treat people like that and get away with it.” He had his hand on the small of my back. Being this close made me want him even more. “I can’t believe that my father pushed you too far. You need to make me believe the reason why you haven’t reached out. I understand that my father gets underneath the skin of a lot of people. He tried to keep me sheltered from his business, but I’ve witnessed some of his tirades.” His member was already rock hard and feeling his warmth was like striking a match to the gasoline that was our very unstable relationship. “There hasn’t been a day that has gone by that I haven’t thought of you. You are right when you said that when I left you I would always have you in the back of my mind. I’ve had other conquests, but they’ve never amounted to much. Every time that I tried to reach out, I had your father to play referee. I could’ve come back, but I couldn’t do that with him lurking in the shadows and ready to strike. I know he’s in Jakarta and that gave me that brief window of opportunity to see you again.” He grabbed me by the throat and he made me walk backward down the hallway to the bedroom. He had my undivided attention and just seeing him was like those days that he had been gone had vanished. “I don’t want to do this again. We can’t and we shouldn’t.” I was trying my best to remain impartial, but the feeling of him pressed up against me was making me lose my defenses. The walls that I’d put up crumbled and before long we were falling headlong onto the mattress. He stripped off his clothes and I saw that the years had been kind. He was made and sculpted to be that of a Greek god. His body hair had been trimmed nicely and the way that he looked at me made me want to succumb to whatever he wanted to do. “I know that you don’t mean that, Megan. Just being this close to you makes it impossible for me to do anything but ravage your body. I know that I’m being selfish, but I can’t help myself. We’ve always had this effect on one another. We can’t even be in the same room together without doing something about this animalistic heat. It’s almost feral and I feel overwhelmed in your presence.” He was frantically pulling at my clothes and before long there was nothing to separate our skin from touching one another. “You had me by the balls from the moment we met and I know that you would do anything to please me.” He lifted my legs, until my ankles were touching my ears. I didn’t know that I was

that flexible. I really didn’t know what I was capable of. “I know that I should tell you to go to hell, but I can’t do that. Everything about you is just right and it feels like a landslide of emotions that have come over me in the blink of an eye.” Just the sound of him calling my name was enough for me to close my eyes and immerse myself into the man. The stars had aligned and somehow this felt right, even though I knew that his lame excuse didn’t have much weight behind it. “I’m not going to be able to stop this from happening. It has always been that feeling of a once in a lifetime encounter when I’m with you. Somehow it feels like nothing has changed between us, even though you betrayed the very memory of what we had.” I thought that I might have metaphorically slapped him across the face or thrown cold water on his parade, but it didn’t seem to bother him to hear my caustic words. “I know that I hurt you by leaving. I want to assure you that you haven’t been too far away from my thoughts.” He did this by sucking one toe and then moving on to the other, until those feelings were tingling along my limbs and translating to raising the temperature between my legs. He had turned up that heat and I was squirming to his touch. Not even a dose of cold reality was going to prevent me from taking this moment in my hands. “I know that you wanted forever and I could only give you that one time. You don’t know how much that hurt me.” His tongue was now igniting those nerve endings along my inner thigh. His hot breath caused me to lunge forward in hopes that I could impale myself on that oral digit. “That’s not how this is going to go. You may feel justified, but for me I will always have the power.” He wasn’t lying and before long he was taking the decisions out of my hands. It was more than enough to make me rise on my elbows to see what he was doing. “I know for certain that you and I don’t work. Don’t worry, I know that you’ll be gone and I will not have to worry about you… AGAIN.” I was spewing venom, but he was more interested in hearing cries of ecstasy. He had me feeling those things again when I thought that they had been dead and buried. “My God…you are one hell of a man. I don’t know if I’m going to be able to… YESSSSSS.” My mind was telling me one thing, but my body was telling me that it was time to let it all go. This was real and there was nothing imaginary about the way that he was bringing me to the cusp of womanhood. I lost control. I thought that he would stop there, but it appeared that he had learned a few more tricks during our years apart. I could smell his aftershave and the shampoo that he used was also familiar. I breathed the essence of the man and the feeling of his tongue

working its magic was like I was transported. He finally raised his head with one last parting shot to my clit for good measure. I trembled to that touch and he knew exactly how to weave a spell around me. “It’s almost shocking that I would feel this way after all this time, Megan. I am, after all, considered family. Coming back was supposed to be brief to explain myself and then to let you get on with the rest of your life.” When I should’ve been going forward, I was going backward into old habits that were hard to break. He brought his dripping cock up to my mouth and paint brushed it across my lips. It was leaving this distinct taste that I’d been without for too long. “I know what you’re trying to do and it’s going to work.” I grabbed onto it and I brought my tongue to the tip where I found his secret sauce waiting for me. I opened my mouth and I let him slide like warm butter across my tongue. I wanted this and it didn’t matter how much I hated him when the love I felt was overshadowing everything else.” He held onto the headboard and banged my mouth with both of us not losing eye contact for the entire time that he was pleasuring himself. I was getting a lot from this, but I was also using my hands to give him that tongue lashing in a different way. “I know that this is happening fast, Megan.” I was trying to take my emotions out of the equation and only treat this as a physical thing. It was hard to do and the feeling of him slamming into my throat and back out again was that permanent reminder that things didn’t change. “The one thing that I knew about you from the moment that I met you was that you were a wild one. The way that you suck cock is like a pro and I don’t want you to take that as a negative comment. I look down at you and I see a woman and not some little girl trying to pretend to be one.” I needed a miracle and something of divine intervention to step in and stop this from happening. He was slowly fucking my face and then he was speeding up his approach, so that I was literally taking all of his inches like a freight train bearing down on me. He was breathing heavily and there was a sheen of sexual perspiration on his chest. His muscles were rippling and the one muscle between his legs was certainly showing signs that this was going to come to an end. He stopped and I let him retrieve what was left of his dignity. He wasn’t about to spill his load, not when he had other things swirling around in that head of his. He slapped it up against my clit, leaving a small bit of his excitement on the tip. That small bit was now being caressed by the cool air. I spread my legs in an obvious need for more than just words of apology. He had me by the plumpness of my black ass and I looked at him. We both knew that this was inevitable. “I need you more than I have any other woman.

I’ve never wanted to let you down or disappoint you in any way. I suppose this is my way of making up for letting you think that what we had didn’t mean anything to me.” He gave me all of him and I’m not just talking 1 inch at a time. This was a continuous slow burn that had me thrusting up to meet him. He was holding me up against him. I forgot the world and I knew that there was only one thing left to do. I needed to get off, but I didn’t want to be too obvious. My thoughts of him shifted and I was now ready to welcome him back into my folds. I’d never had the nerve to treat my body like a wonderland. After he left, I went into a deep depression, but when I came back out, I turned my attention to whatever pleasure I could find to mimic what I had lost. The muscles inside had been conditioned by many hours of doing a certain exercise and he was now finding out that I was also full of surprises. His eyes went wide and he made this growl underneath his breath. “I have to say that I’m pleasantly…surprised,” I said. You have never been this responsive or this eager to please. I’ve always had to take you…by the hand and show you the way. It appears that you have turned the tables on me and I think I like it.” I was a little too smug for my own good and I paid for that with the way that he hammered into me with no mercy or any kind of control. He was possessed by the demon of sex and whatever devil was talking on his shoulder was making him perform for a captive audience of one. "Oh yeah…I want you to give me what I want. I’m not going to give up until I get it. You may have left me, but the thoughts of you have never gone away. You can feel that my pussy wants you and how fucking hot the room has gotten from the moment that we came in here. Drive that fucking white boy cock inside me and make me wonder why I even bothered to try to substitute you for another. Yes! Oh my God…YESSSSSS.” This was something magical and there was nothing innocent about the way that my adrenaline was rushing through my veins. My bigger lower half was flushed and I was using concentration to get him there. It wasn’t anything compared to the grinding motion or the way that my body was now begging him to fulfill his manly duties. This was what I had been missing and now the bastard was back for one more round. “I think that I might’ve…been mistaken. I’m not the one that’s in control anymore. That is now shared by the both of us. This is a dance that has always been made for two and you’re certainly not letting me lead anymore. You have changed…and your body and the way that you move is something that is not for an amateur… Fuck MEEEEEE.” He buried himself, but he continued to fuck me relentlessly without even stopping to take a breath. He came inside me and I felt all of it and there was no way that I could deny that this man was the

second coming in my opinion.

CHAPTER four It was too overwhelming and I passed out after a moment of complete bliss. The heat was overpowering and I felt like I was suffocating. I’d curled up into his arms and then I awoke in the morning to reach for him only to find that he wasn’t there. The bed was empty and the only thing left behind was the warmth of where his body used to be. I bolted straight up, grabbing for the sheets and covering my shame. I couldn’t believe that I had done something like that. At first, I thought that maybe it was some kind of erotic wet dream that seemed all too real. I reached underneath and brought back the evidence of our union. I could smell it on my finger and I sucked it in to taste it one last time. It was reminding me that what we had was forever. This was my time and I wasn’t going to allow his absence to ruin it. I breathed a sigh of relief knowing that maybe this was the closure that I was looking for. My therapist had told me that I had given him too much power. I was a woman with my own mind and I didn’t have to take being treated like some sort of sexual toy. I lie down on the cool crisp pillow underneath my head. I took up a lot of room on the bed, but there was still room for one more. I put my hands on my chest and turned to find a sheet of paper. It was lying tucked behind the pillow, sticking out at an odd angle and most likely in a way to catch my attention. I pulled it from its place and opened it up with shaky hands. My confidence was shaken and my heart was empty. I felt like I was broken and that somebody had stuck a knife into my heart. I didn’t want to have that feeling all over again, but this time it was like it had come back stronger than ever. I wasn’t sure that I wanted to hear what he had to say. He didn’t have the courage to say it to my face, so he did the next best thing by writing it down the old fashioned way. “Megan, I know that our memories have been the only source for us to hold onto what we have. We have been running away from each other. I wish that I could tell you that our future is together. Your father has not taken kindly to me interfering in his business. He has taken precautions and I need to fight fire with fire. I promise that I will make my way back to you. I don’t know how and I don’t know when, but I can assure you that it won’t be for years. I saw that you were sleeping and I wanted to give you that peace. Please believe me when I say that it wrecked me inside to think that I was hurting you when I left that abruptly.” He didn’t have to sign his name.

I got up and showered. I had breakfast and I went for my daily jog, trying to get back to a semblance of a normal and everyday kind of life. The whole day was supposed to be my time to smell the roses and believe that I had gotten his stench off my body. I was in the park feeding the ducks, when he sat down beside me with his hand on my knee. “I told you that I wouldn’t be gone long. I can’t stay for long, but I believe that the next time that you see me will be different. There’s no way that I can crush your father, but I think that I can dobetter.” I was wearing shorts and the feel of his hand on my bigger than average knee was causing a shiver to run up and down my limbs. “I don’t know why it feels so good when I’m with you, but I can’t even compare it to anybody else. This is something that cannot be described. It goes beyond logical thinking. We are in our own separate category.” “I shouldn’t have given you that second chance, but you were too irresistible to kick out that door. I’m sure that on some small level my eagerness to be with you was brought about by that man trying to put his hands on me. Coming to my rescue like some knight in shining armor was a good way to enter the picture again. I’m older and wiser. If you left tomorrow, I wouldn’t be surprised.” His finger made its way up the inside of my thigh. He pulled down my panties and I looked around in embarrassment to see that nobody was watching. He snuck them into his pocket and I was left with the wind touching me. He was giving me that elusive feeling all over again. “I know how you feel and I’ve tried in vain to get you out of my head. One woman after the other and I’m still left with your face and your body in my mind. I get this feeling that you like playing this game. Being reckless leaves you breathless and it might even leave you with a nasty emotional scar of what we have together.” He had his finger lingering along the lips of my pussy. I shuffled forward a little to let that finger immerse itself into my hot and welcoming passage. Each time he left was up like a nightmare and every time he came back it was like he was awakening that part of me that I had pushed down deep. I considered him the ultimate player. He had this way of taking things way too far. He was soon finger fucking me with my juice streaming down his hand. He was holding my gaze and he was licking his lips and waiting for me to ride that orgasm into the sunset. “The flame that we have can never be extinguished. I will always be the one that can strike a match and have you practically on fire. You are a fucking black, big assed goddess that doesn’t know when to quit. I will always leave you wanting more and believe me that is not a one sided exchange. I want you

to cum all over my hand in front of everyone here. Don’t even concern yourself about being some sexual show for their amusement. If they wanna watch, then they should see. I want them to see a woman that is open-minded and willing to do anything for a cheap thrill.” I thought that I could deny him by taking a deep breath, but he screwed with my head by adding another finger. We weren’t related, but it had to be considered taboo. He was my stepbrother. “I wish that you didn’t come back. You make me feel…so high that it’s like some sort of drug. You have me wanting to go to some kind of meeting for sex addicts. You make me feel so helpless. You can watch my eyes fill with pleasure and know that you are the cause of it.” I didn’t even care that somebody might catch us in the act and it was that thought that pushed me over the edge. It didn’t hurt that he had added the thumb from the same hand to drive me out of my mind by rubbing my clit. I thought that I had gotten him out of my system, but I was only hiding from the truth. “That’s it…you know that you want to do this. You might feel a bit of embarrassment, but that’s not going to stop you. The look in your eyes and the way that your body trembles makes me want to whip it out and join you.” It was an interesting idea and I didn’t think that he was a man enough to follow through. I decided that I was going to do it for him. I put my hand in his lap and he looked down to see that I was very serious about taking him out of his comfort zone. “You shouldn’t have mentioned that, if you didn’t want me to do something about it.” He gave me this grin and I think that I was playing into his hand. “You’re certainly a man that likes to push the envelope. You have your fingers inside me and I have your cock in my hand. Let’s see who makes the other cum first.” This was a race to the finish and so far our little display had not been discovered. It was just a matter of time before somebody made a gasp and that would in turn cause a domino effect amongst those that had continued to be oblivious. “You’re definitely not the same woman that I left four years ago. You have matured and become more experimental with age. You haven’t changed and you look the same as you did the last night that I walked out on you.” He was strangling on those words, as I went into high gear. I spit into my hand and I used the lubrication to really make him see that I was in this to win. “Well… you’ve never been this good with your hands before. I guess time apart does make the heart grow fonder.” I was moving my hand up over the head and enticing that sensitive part.

“I remember how you kissed me and how you whispered sweet nothings in my ear. You’re the one that’s going to give in, Spencer. I know what it takes to make you concede defeat.” There were no rules and if there were they were made to be broken. “I’m not shy or naïve and I do take chances.” I showed him my fortitude by not being afraid. I slipped my mouth over top of the bulbous crown. I gave it all of those little tricks to make him go past the hope to hold back. “You and I are not meant for conventional…relationships. You were quiet and demure, but now…look at yourself. You’re giving me a hand job right here in the fucking park. I think that we bring…the best and the worst out of each other. I refuse to think that we are done.” It was hard to concentrate with him playing with me. I had to remind myself that this was my pound of flesh. I couldn’t give in, no matter how much he was making me feel like I was going to explode I didn’t want to believe that he could have this kind control over me, but the proof was in the way that he was making me feel. There was absolutely nothing that I could do and I didn’t want to be any place else other than where I was right now. Seeing that I was in a public place, I just didn’t know if I was taking a risk or not. The fact was that I had a standing in the community. If I was seen as some sort of slut, then I would lose all of my credibility. I wanted this moment frozen in time, but I had to keep an eye out for anybody that might recognize me. He was working me into a frenzy and my juices were bubbling to the surface like that of a cauldron on high heat. I wanted to hold out, but sooner or later, I was going to lose the battle of the sexes. I would shame myself and those of my gender and that was not something that I was willing to do. I had the advantage and my mouth was that secret weapon. I was popping his knob in and out in rapid succession and trying my best not to lose myself to the pleasurable feelings that he was inflicting on me. “You’ve always been a dirty girl underneath it all, Megan. Oh my God… how did you ever get this good at giving blowjobs? I thought that I was the one that was keeping you a prisoner of your own body, but maybe we’ve been doing that for each other. I can’t even imagine anything being like this. It would kill me to lose you, but it would also kill me to have you at my beck and call. I would die of a heart attack and I would do it with a smile on my face and a hard on between my legs.” I was wondering what it was going to take and then I began to hum a tune on top of everything that I was already doing. I could feel that the floodgates were going to open up and that a geyser was in my future. His shaft filled to capacity and his balls felt like they were

overflowing. To see him in this position of being submissive was something that I could definitely get used to. He might have thought that he had the power before, but now I was showing that I was ready to step up and be noticed. The way that he was thrusting his hips off the bench told me that the matter had already been decided. I could see that determination in his eyes, but he had been condemned to his own fate by coming here and teasing me mercilessly. I wanted to let him know that I wasn’t weak minded and that I couldn’t be manipulated like I had been back in the day. I wasn’t sure if I believed that, but at least I could pretend with the best of them. I let him build the pressure between his legs. Every time that I thought that he was going to lose it, I would slow down and let him stew, until I was sure that sensation had abated. I made sure that when he did explode that there would be no denying that I had been the cause. He wouldn’t be able to stop himself, even if someone were to come upon our little covert union. He knew what I was trying to do and he was now trying to force the issue by three fingers instead of just the two. That was dirty pool, but it wasn’t like I wasn’t expecting it. I figured that he would try something like this and all I had to do was trap those feelings and not let them see the light of day. “You…are definitely not for the faint of heart. I’m going to lose it and I have this feeling that you’re not going to stop this time… AHHHHH.” He started to scream, but then he slammed his fist into his mouth, so hard that I thought for sure that he might come back with one less. He managed to stretch his jaw like I had over his cock and the bright light in all of this was that I had made him do my bidding. I was the one that was pulling his strings and when he went off, I was right there. I could’ve easily taken it all down my throat. I’m sure that others would take exception to us being together. I relinquished my hold and I jacked him repeatedly. I let his seed fly everywhere all over himself. An older woman with gray hair was now staring. She had stopped and was now standing by a tree in the shadows where she couldn’t be revealed. “That will teach you…oh my God…. I’m going to fucking….AHHHHHHH.” I lie there splayed out in a comatose post orgasmic state. His fingers had vacated and once again, I found myself alone. The only proof that this had happened was the mess in my hands and the absence of my panties.

CHAPTER five I had been running from the pain and I didn’t want to feel the same way that

I did the last time. I tried to fill that void with those that looked the part, but never really measured up. I was upset with myself that I had fallen for his charms all over again. Spencer was that guilty pleasure that every woman would want in their closet for a rainy day. If I could just have his body, I would be perfectly content, but maybe I was only trying to convince myself of that. “I don’t know where your head is at, but I’m trying to tell you that I’m in trouble. There is a hostile takeover going on and I have no idea who’s responsible. I have my best people working on it, but so far they’ve come up empty. I’m worried that we’re going to lose everything and you seem to be smiling for some reason that baffles me. There’s something going on with you and I think that you should do me the courtesy of laying your cards on the table. I am your father and I should know what’s going on in your life.” This was the first time in a long time that he had ever given a damn. He was asking because he was desperate and he wanted my advice on how to deal with the shadow corporation that was looming ever closer. “Do you remember about four years ago that I went into a tailspin? I had to go into therapy and I never did explain why. I’m sure that you have been wondering, but then again maybe you haven’t. You probably thought of me as a disappointment and wanted to wash your hands of the whole thing. I showed you that I had weakness and that was a cardinal sin in your eyes.” I swallowed hard, thinking about what happened in the park just this morning. I’d no idea what I was afraid of. With Spencer, I had always believed that the most unpredictable things could happen. “I just thought that it was something personal that you wanted to keep to yourself. It’sthe reason why you went to therapy, so that you could get it off your chest and finally put it behind you. I’m guessing that you haven’t put it behind you. I didn’t want to say this at the time, but I guess I have to. Were you foolish enough to get involved with a man and then have your heart broken? I thought that you were different and that you were built with a stronger stock than that.” I thought that I would know better myself, but the heart had a funny way of betraying good judgment and logical sense. “I did get involved with a man and he was by far more superior than any other that has come before or since. He came back into my life and I feel like I can’t get out of my own way.” I’d called my therapist and found out that she was on vacation. I didn’t know why I would unload on my father, but he was asking and now I was telling. “Nobody should be able to take your power. I thought that I taught you that. The only way to survive is not to trust anyone. I know that I have been married

a couple of times, but this last one has really grated on my last nerve. She may not be your biological mother, and trust me, you should be happy for that. That woman and her son Spencer have been the bane of my existence. I castrate myself all the time, metaphorically speaking, for bringing them into our home. You tried to warn me, as well as a lot of others, but I just wouldn’t listen. I had to see it for myself and the bitch has been bleeding me dry.” There was no way that I could tell him that Spencer was the cause of my angst. If I did, I’m sure that he would see me as a problem and not part of the solution. “It’s nice of you to take me to this fancy restaurant for dinner, father. You’re right, nobody should be able to take my power. I found that I’ve been able to take it back in some form. He will not be a problem, but I don’t think that I will ever be able to get him away from me. As for your problem with that hostile takeover, I suggest that you talk to the Board of Directors and see where their head is at. You’re the one that has a majority vote. That was made clear from the moment that you put that board together. There’s no way that they could possibly oust you. I thought that you were a genius when you came up with that, but now I see that you were just looking out for number one.” He was breathing a sigh of relief and maybe he just needed some reinforcement and encouraging words to get him to realize that he was the one that was holding all the cards. “Now that I think about it, I don’t really have much to worry about. If somebody was trying to come for me, then they would have to realize that I would get a settlement in the millions to step down. They couldn’t take my stock, unless I gave them a signed affidavit. I’m getting tired of the rat race and the politics and the headaches and I would gladly retire . This corporation needs a strong hand at the helm, but I’m through treating it like it was my baby.” He was always about business, but the scare of his heart condition a couple of months ago had made him prioritize. He had changed and I could see that he was willing to take a step back for the right offer. I could help Spencer and convince my father that it was best for him to take the money and run. I think that he had already come to that conclusion on his own. My cooperation and advice was only giving him a reason to think of his twilight years. “Where was this man when I was growing up? You spent 18 hour days in the office and I never did see much of you. I’m wondering if you feel any regrets whatsoever for letting me feel that you didn’t love me.” I had no idea why I was opening this can of worms, but I felt like I was entitled to an explanation. “I’m sorry that you felt that way. I guess I thought that I needed to leave a legacy and something that I could turn over to you. I know that you’ve never

had any interest in running my business. It took some arm turning for you to come to work in the legal department. Seeing you walk away four years ago was like a knife in my stomach and seeing you made things worse. I felt that knife turning just a little bit deeper. I thought that you were being selfish, but now that I have felt my mortality, I know that you were just trying to make yourself happy.” I had my father back and a relationship that I had yearned for growing up. I had Spencer back, but I didn’t know how long he would stick around before running for the hills. “I could make your life easier. The cost of this takeover is weighing you down. I have a proposal that you would be a fool not to accept. There has been interest from an outside source that would like to take over a majority share of the company. I can have them send over the document and then you can sign on the dotted line and this ugly chapter of your life can be over. I will make it a condition that I stay on and that I receive the same voting privileges that you did. Is this something that you might be interested in?” I was only doing this so that I could have Spencer, but I also knew that I could bring this company out of the black. “I would have to see the offer, but yes, I think that I would like to put this all behind me. The stress is killing me and I’m through trying to make others happy. I don’t want to be this ruthless businessman when the beaches of Cabo are calling my name. Are you sure that you wanna be a part of this company? You’ve never shown any interest before. I’m only asking because I’ve known you all of my life, daughter. I’ve seen your highs and I’ve seen your lows and I would really like to see that you find that happiness that has been kept away from you over the years.” I called the number that Spencer had given me and I relayed the information. He was most anxious to complete this transaction through a proxy server. He didn’t want to be mentioned by name and that was perfectly fine by my father. He believed that the offer was coming from a reclusive billionaire. With his signature, he turned over the keys to the kingdom to me and Spencer without his knowledge. I knew Spencer well enough to know that he was a consummate businessman. I had given him everything that he wanted on a silver platter and now I needed to see if I was being used. My father got the first flight out to Cabo to meet up with my stepmother. He was an absentee father and I was sure that he would have to do a lot of groveling to get back in her good graces. I had no doubt that his charm would win out in the end. I went over to Spencer’s penthouse suite at the Hilton. I knocked on the door and the door swung open to pitch blackness. I was a little hesitant to step

into the room, but then I realized that this was just one of his many games. I was barely inside when the door clicked shut behind me like a cell door slamming behind an incarcerated prisoner. He was behind me; he grabbed my hands and he lifted them over my head, so that I could feel his features with my fingers. “I knew that I was fighting a losing battle for the last year. I’ve made some headway and I bribed my way into getting inside information on your father’s company. I didn’t even think about using you. It was quite a surprise to hear your voice and then the proposal of taking your father’s business. I’ve seen him run it into the ground and I’m ready to roll up my sleeves with you to make it great again. I promise that my name will never appear on anything. I will be working with you anonymously. You will have the real power…but in the bedroom…that’s where we both hold the reins of control.” He ran his hands down over my red dress, touching on the swell of my breasts and making my nipples strain against the fabric. “I didn’t do this primarily for you. I saw that my father was aging 10 years for every year that passed and I was worried that he was working himself into an early grave.” I had dreamed of the things that we could be, but partners in life and in love had never occurred to me. He was hiking up my dress and putting his hand on the small of my back. I knew exactly what he wanted, but this time it wasn’t going to play out like that. I turned and seductively ran my eyes up and down his frame. He was completely naked and he thought that was going to shock me. I put my dark hand on his pale chest and used my fingernails to show him that I had claws and knew how to use them. I grabbed the prize that I was after and I moved it up underneath my dress, so that he could feel that I was going without. “You really are a different woman with the curves that are too hard to resist. You have this new confidence and I probably should mind that you’re trying to put me in my place. I should know by now that behind every great man is a woman pulling his strings.” With one concentrated motion, I had his knob encompassed within the silky lips of my sex. That slickened surface beckoned him closer and before long he was as deep as he could possibly be. “I don’t want you to think of me as some dainty little flower. I want more than that and I think that you’ll find that I’m more than a match for you.” I’d always been known for someone that was speechless and didn’t have a voice. I’d found my voice and I had Spencer to thank for that. He was bending his knees and lifting me practically off my feet with each stroke of that magnificent tool. “I thought that I was going backward, but now I realize that I am the architect of my own destiny.” I heard him grimace and that was from my

fingernails wrapped around his base. “I’m getting the feeling that I really didn’t know you at all. I saw something entirely different and I think that I’m the one that showed you that you could be more.” I had my heel up on the door. It was an awkward position with my weight, but I wasn’t about to back down for anyone. “You have always been your own woman and you just needed somebody to show you how to bring that out.” I was pushing myself towards him and even in high heels; I was amazed that I was able to continue this pursuit of delights that would probably make a grown sailor blush. When he was gone, I didn’t know where to turn to and now that he was back, I was on the top of the moon. I had lost myself and when he emerged back into my life, I found the woman that I was supposed to be. I stared at him the entire time that I was working him over and I was enjoying this special moment of celebration. “I think that we can time this just right for a simultaneous orgasm that we can share together.” This was the path that we would walk together. We were soon grunting our replies like that of something that you would find in the animal kingdom. Sweat was soaking through my dress and making it transparent to the naked eye. “Yes…” “Fuck yes…” “Yes…” “MEGAN…” “SPENCER.” We were screaming at the same time and then it ended with both of us slumping down onto the floor, exhausted and unable to move. I lay in his arms with him stroking my cheek and knew that tomorrow would be the day that would start the rest of our lives together. We were an interracial couple, but we couldn’t have cared less about anyone’s opinion. We were happy.

FORBIDDEN LOVE Chanise was on her way down to the office when she got a phone call from her daughter's daycare. “Ms. Johnson?” the school secretary asked. “This is Amanda Palmer, from Bright Eyes Daycare.” “Yes? Is something wrong?” Chanise was in her car, with the phone on speaker. She started pulling over to the side of the road right away, worried that something had happened to her daughter. “Well, it's nothing too bad,” Amanda said. “But Deena has had a little

accident.” “Accident?” Chanise's hands gripped tighter on the steering wheel. “Is she okay?” “Yes. Sorry, not an injury, Ms. Johnson. I mean she made a little mess. She's fine, but I'm afraid she needs a change of clothes.” “Oh.” Chanise let out a long breath of relief. “Okay. I can come by and pick her up. Sorry about that.” “It's no problem. She's just a bit upset about her dress, that’s all. She said it's new.” “Yes,” Chanise said. “She just got it for her birthday. All right, I can be there in about ten minutes.” “Okay, that'll be fine.” Chanise turned the car around and headed for the daycare. She would be late for work, but that wouldn't really be a problem. One of the few advantages of working for her dad was that he gave her a bit of leeway when it came to this sort of thing. She called him to let him know that she would be a little bit late. He told her not to worry about it. Apparently, there was only one patient scheduled for today anyway. When Chanise arrived at the daycare, Deena was sitting off to the side of the room by herself. The teacher greeted Chanise as soon as she came in. “Hi. Sorry, we had to call you in the middle of the day. Deena's been in a bit of a mood because of her dress.” “It's okay,” Chanise said. “I don't really have time to run home and get her a change of clothes, so I'll just bring her to work with me.” “If that's what you want to do,” Amanda said. Chanise went over to the table Deena was playing at. “Hey, baby girl. Momma's here.” “Momma!” Deena jumped out of her chair and wrapped her arms around Chanise's legs, hugging her tight. “I made a mess and my dress is ruined! Look!” She stepped back and held her skirt up, showing off the stain. Chocolate milk was spilled all over the front of the dress. It looked like an effort had been made to clean it up, but the stain was still visible. Chanise took her daughter's hand and led her to the door. “We'll get it cleaned up. I promise. But for now you're gonna have to come with me to Grandpa's office.” “Can Grandpa clean my dress?” Deena asked. “No. Don't worry about that, baby girl. I'm going to get it fixed up when we get home.”

“But...” Chanise knelt in front of her daughter to look her in the eye. “Now, baby, you just have to be patient, okay? I promise. It’ll be okay.” “Humph.” Deena stomped a foot on the ground, frowning in her best grumpy face. Chanise sighed and stood up, tousling her daughter's braids. “Let's go, sweetheart.” She got Deena into her car seat and they headed for Grandpa's office. When they got there, there was a single patient waiting in the waiting room. He was a big, muscular man who was nearly as tall sitting down as Chanise was standing up. He smirked at Chanise as soon as she walked in, his eyes roaming over her curvy figure. “Well, hello there,” he said. “I was getting mad about being kept waiting, but I'm starting to think it was worth the wait.” Chanise snorted and rolled her eyes. She didn't have time for her father's patients to be flirting with her, especially not some jock white boy who looked way too full of himself. “I'm sorry about the delay,” she said, keeping her most professional tone. “If' you'll just give me a moment, I'll get your paperwork.” “Take your time,” the man said. His eyes followed Chanise as she led her daughter through the door that led to her desk, separated from the waiting room by an opaque glass wall. She kept the window closed for a few minutes while she got Deena changed out of her dress. She didn't have any clothes in Deena's size stored at the office, so she zipped her up in a spare hoodie that was so big in such a way that the bottom sagged on the ground. She had to roll the sleeves up several times to keep them from dangling off the ends of Deena's arms, and Deena had to pull the bottom of the sweatshirt up in order to walk. “Okay, baby girl,” Chanise said, “you go color or read one of your storybooks, okay? Momma has to work for a while.” “But I wanna play outside,” Deena protested. “Later, baby, okay?” Chanise smiled at her daughter and kissed her forehead. “I promise I'll take you outside in a little bit.” Once Deena was occupied with her coloring books, Chanise opened the window between her desk and the waiting room. The patient walked over and leaned his elbows on the windowsill, looking down at her and smiling. “So, are you my shrink?” he asked. “No, you'll be speaking with Dr. Johnson.” She decided not to mention that the counselor was her father. There usually wasn't any reason to let patients know that she was related to him. It tended to lead to people making assumptions that she had only gotten the job because he was her father. When

the truth was that she had turned down a higher paying job in order to work at her father's practice. She felt like this was the best place for her, and she was proud to help her father keep his business running. Especially since without her help, he would never be able to keep the books in order. “Your name, please?” She asked the man, slipping into her professional tone of voice. Since there was only one patient scheduled today, it was a moot question, but she had to make sure that the man wasn't in the wrong office. There were several other practitioners in the same building, and mix-ups did happen from time to time. “Jake Stone,” he said. “What, you don't recognize me?” She glanced up at him. His face wasn't familiar. Ruggedly handsome, but not familiar. “Sorry, should I?” He looked a bit disappointed. “I won the Superbowl a couple of years ago. Come on. Don't you watch the news?” “Not the sports news,” Chanise said. “Sorry. Here, I'll need you to fill this out.” She handed him a clipboard with the standard questions for a new patient. He took the clipboard, frowning at it. “Is this really necessary? I'm only here because my coach said it’s mandatory. I figured I would go in, talk to the shrink for a few minutes, and then you can sign off on it to show I did what I was told. No big deal, right?” “I'm sorry,” Chanise said, handing Jake a pen. “We have the same procedures for all patients. It'll only take a few minutes.” He let out a long sigh. “All right. If I have to jump through hoops, I will.” He took the pen, and his fingers brushed against her caramel skin just for a moment. A deliberate moment, she thought, based on the way he winked at her. She pulled her hand away and slammed the window shut, blocking him out. Then, while he was filling out the required forms, she checked the computer for information about the patient. It turned out he had been sent here for therapy because of issues he had been having with other players on his team, resulting in some kind of fighting in the locker room. According to the information the coach had emailed them when booking the appointment, Jake had to undergo mandatory counseling for anger management before he would be allowed to return to the field. Chanise snorted and shook her head. Not only was he a jock, but he was a jock with a bad temper. She knew she would have to keep this one under a tight leash. A few minutes passed before Jake knocked on the window. Chanise opened it and took the clipboard when he handed it to her. “Thank you,” she

said. “It'll just be a few minutes.” She started to close the window, but he leaned into it again, blocking her from shutting it. “Mind if I wait here?” He asked. “It's not every day I get the chance to chat with a fine piece of caramel delight like you.” Chanise narrowed her eyes. “Excuse me?” “What?” Jake spread his hands, grinning at her. “It's a compliment. I like a girl with a bit of booty on her, too.” He leaned through the window a bit, trying to look at her ass. “Okay, you listen to me,” Chanise said, standing up from her chair. “I am not your 'caramel delight,' and I don't need some pasty-faced jock coming in here, trying to get his freak on with me. Now, if you'll excuse me.” She shoved him back and slammed the window shut before he could say another word. He protested from the other side of the window, offering her an apology, but she ignored him. And she made sure to excuse herself into the back to take care of some paperwork when her father came out to bring Jake back into the counseling room. She didn't care to look at that fool man's face ever again.

***

CHANISE SAW Jake again a week later when he came in for his next appointment. It was a busier day that day, and there were several other patients in the waiting room. One man was busy filling out updates to his insurance information, and a young mother was sitting and reading a magazine while she waited for her teenage daughter to finish her counseling session. Jake walked up to the window, flashing Chanise a smile. She looked up at him and resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Fortunately, for her, he seemed to be in a more subdued mood this time. “Hi there,” he said. “Got any more forms for me to fill out?” “Not this time,” she said. “We have all the information we need from you. I'll just need you to sign in.” She handed him the clipboard with the sign in sheet. He signed his name and entered the time of his arrival. When he handed the clipboard back to her, he said, “Listen, I wanted to apologize to you for last week. I guess we got our signals crossed or something.” “Is that what you think happened?” Chanise asked, folding her arms.

“Because to me, it seemed like you were trying to put the moves on me while I was at work.” He blushed slightly and lowered his eyes. “Yeah, well, I'm sorry about that. I'll be on my best behavior today. Promise.” She watched him doubtfully, but she decided to give him a chance. “All right. Take a seat. Dr. Johnson is with another patient. It'll be a short wait.” “No problem.” He turned away, then paused and looked back at her. “By the way, I don't think I ever got your name.” “Chanise,” she said. “Chanise. That's pretty.” He flashed her a smile, then went to sit down. Chanise watched him through the window as he started chatting up the young mother. Within a couple of minutes, he had her laughing and smiling. Chanise shook her head and turned back to her work. It seemed like some women were easier than others were. She was busy for the next hour or so, helping the man who needed to update his insurance forms, and working on scheduling for the next week or two. She barely noticed at first when Jake walked out of the counseling room at the end of his appointment. Her father walked out with him, walking Jake to the door. He had a hand on Jake's back, and he was leaning close and talking softly to him. Jake had his head down, nodding along with whatever Dr. Johnson was saying. At one point, he raised his hand to his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose as if he were trying to fight off tears. Chanise watched the exchange, arching her eyebrows. With the way Jake had bragged that he was only here on his coach's orders, she hadn't expected counseling to have that sort of an effect on him. But it looked to her as if he'd had some sort of a breakdown. Of course, she didn't know the first thing about his life or his issues. But it made her curious. Maybe, she thought, his anger issues had some deeper cause. Her father patted Jake on the back, then left and returned to his office. Jake waited for a moment, composing himself. He started to wipe his eyes on his sleeve, then stopped and looked around the empty waiting room. Chanise picked up the box of tissues from her desk and set it on the windowsill. Jake walked over and took a few out. He wiped his eyes and blew his nose. “Thanks,” he said. “No problem,” Chanise said. Jake flashed her a weak smile, then turned to leave. She watched him go, wondering about his life and what had brought him to this point.

***

A FEW WEEKS PASSED. Jake came to his counseling sessions once a week, sometimes flirting with Chanise when he came into the waiting room, other times sitting quietly and keeping to himself. Chanise stayed out of his business; just like she did all of the other patients who came into her father's office. Though one day when she was home with her daughter, she ended up stumbling across something that told her a bit more about Jake Stone than she'd ever wanted to know. “Mommy, look!” Deena called out from the living room of their small apartment. “That man is on TV.” “What man?” Chanise asked. She headed from the kitchen into the living room, drying her hands on a towel. “Look,” Deena said, pointing at the TV. A news report was on the TV, with a picture of Jake on the screen, superimposed next to the anchor's face. The headline across the bottom of the screen read, “Superbowl Hopes Ride on Quarterback’s Mental Health.” “Deena, why are you watching this?” Chanise asked. “Where are your cartoons?” “I want to see this,” Deena said, hiding the remote behind her back. Chanise sighed and sat down, curious what was going on with Jake that would have him on the news. The report was already halfway done by the time Chanise started paying attention. “Sources say that the star quarterback has been suffering from severe stress and depression, for which the league has put him into mandatory therapy. At least once source, who spoke to us on the condition that they remain anonymous, has said that Stone will be unable to return to play at the beginning of the season. He may return as early as mid-season, but that may be too late as the team's record may already be too far behind by that point, potentially ruining their chances of making it into the playoffs.” Chanise shook her head. It was a shame to see that Jake was being kept off his team like that. Though what the reporter said next made it a bit harder for her to be sympathetic. “Stone's forced therapy comes after a suspension for disorderly conduct near the end of last season. According to reports at the time, Stone was accused of assaulting several of his teammates after a confrontation in the locker room during one of last year's playoff games. Many fans blamed Stone's suspension as the reason that the team didn't make it into the Superbowl again

last year, even though they had seemed to be on a clear path to the championship all season long. Some fans are clamoring for Stone’s return, while others say that his behavior should disqualify him from any future career in the NFL.” The news report moved on to talking about the weather. Chanise sighed and got up, returning to the kitchen to continue working on dinner. “Deena, why don't you tune to Nickelodeon instead? You don't need to be watching this sort of thing.” Deena let out a dramatic sigh. “Okay, Mom.” She flipped the channel, and the opening theme of one of her cartoon shows soon filled the air. Chanise stirred the pasta, trying to put Jake's story out of her mind. But she couldn't help but think of the contrast between the news report of a man who had assaulted his teammates, and the man she had seen crying at the end of his counseling session. It was clear to her that there was more to Jake Stone than what met the eye.

***

THE DAY before Jake's next appointment, he called the office. “Hey, is this Chanise?” he asked. “That's right,” I said. “How can I help you?” I kept my professional tone firmly in place. “Hey, listen, I need to reschedule my appointment. Can you help me out with that?” I checked the computer for Jake's appointment. “This is a bit last-minute, don't you think? We normally need forty-eight hours for cancellations.” “This isn't a cancellation,” Jake said. “Just a rescheduling. Can you give me a hand, baby? This is really important.” “I'm not your baby,” I said, my professional tone vanishing. “Sorry. Sorry, Chanise. But seriously, I need to move my appointment. Something later this week?” I looked through the appointments we had booked for the rest of the week. “This week is full,” I told him. “I can set you up for something next week.” “No, that won't work,” he said. “I have to have weekly sessions. The coach said if I miss any, there's no chance I'll get my suspension lifted.”

“Then I suggest you make it here tomorrow,” Chanise said. “You don't understand,” Jake said. “This thing tomorrow, I absolutely can't miss it. It'll just kill me if I do. I need you to help me out here. You'd be a real life saver.” “I'm sure that whatever football party you're going to isn't that important, compared to keeping up with your appointments.” “It's not a football thing,” he said. “It's my niece's birthday.” “Oh.” Chanise sat back in her chair, suddenly feeling like a jerk. “I promised her I'd be there,” Jake said. “I promised her like a dozen times. And I'm such a jerk. I didn't realize until the last minute that the party was at the same time as my appointment. If I don't go, she's going to be crushed. Can you please help me out?” Chanise drummed her fingernails on her desk, thinking it over. “I suppose I could set you up for a Saturday appointment,” she said. “That’s if the doctor approves. He doesn't normally come into the office on the weekends, except for emergencies. So I'll have to ask him if it's all right.” “Please do. Please. I'll owe you, big time.” “Hold on a moment.” Chanise put the phone on hold and headed down to her father's office. She knocked on the door and entered when he called her in. “Hey, Pops. I've got Jake Stone on the phone. He's asking if he can move his appointment to Saturday.” She explained the situation Jake had told her about his niece's birthday party. Her father smiled sympathetically. “I'm sure that'll be fine. Jake is a good man. I'm happy to come in on Saturday for him.” “All right,” Chanise said. “I'll let him know.” She turned and left the office, shutting the door behind her. She was curious, though, about how understanding her father had been. Not that he was normally a stubborn man or anything. But he had seemed to have a genuine concern for Jake. She wondered what Jake and her father had talked about during their sessions. Whatever it was, it must have painted a very different picture of Jake Stone than the one that she had seen in the media. She headed back to her desk and picked up the phone. “Jake? Dr. Johnson says he can see you this Saturday. How does eleven o'clock sound?” “Sounds perfect. Thank you, Chanise. This really means a lot to me.” “I'm happy to help,” she said. She hung up the phone, a small smile on her lips. She certainly hoped that Jake's niece appreciated what she was doing for him.

*** That Saturday, Chanise got to the office a little while before Jake's appointment was scheduled. Since she had to come in on her day off, she had decided that she would spend the day catching up on some filing that had been piling up for weeks. She also brought Deena to the office with her. She couldn't afford to pay for an extra day at the daycare, and besides, they would only be out for a couple of hours anyway. “You’ll be good for me today, okay?” Chanise said, rubbing her daughter's head. “Momma's got some work to do. We won't be here for long.” “Okay, Momma,” Deena said. She sat down at the child-sized table in the waiting room, where they kept some copies of Highlights for Kids and a collection of storybooks and toys. Deena busied herself looking through some of the books, while Chanise went into the back to take care of the filing. A little while later, she heard someone speaking in the waiting room. She headed out there and saw that Jake had arrived. He was sitting on the floor at the little table, looking at one of the Highlights with Deena. Deena was pointing at something on one of the pages, while Jake read the page aloud. Chanise watched them for a moment, a smile on her face. Then she cleared her throat. Jake looked up at her, smiling bashfully. He got up and wiped his hands on his jeans, clearing his throat. “Hey. We were just reading.” “Mmm-hmm,” Chanise said, pursing her lips. “You read a lot of Highlights, Jake? I guess that's about your reading level, being a jock and all.” “Hey now,” he said, spreading his hands. “I read them to my niece all the time. She's not much older than...what was your name?” He looked down at Deena. “Deena,” she said. “With two e's.” “Deena,” Jake said, smiling at her. “That's a very pretty name.” “Dr. Johnson is waiting for you,” Chanise said, folding her hands at her waist. “Okay, cool.” Jake waved to Deena. “See you later, kiddo, all right?” “Bye,” Deena said. She had already turned her attention back to her books. Chanise led Jake back to the counseling room. He smiled at her and said, “She's a cute kid.” “Thank you,” Chanise said. “Really exotic name, too.” “Exotic?” Chanise asked, crossing her arms. “What's that supposed to mean?” Jake shrugged. “I don't know. It's not a name I've heard before.” “Well, for your information, it was my mother's name. And it was very

common in the seventies.” Jake spread his hands, chuckling. “Okay, okay. Sorry. I didn't mean anything by it.” “I'm sure you didn't. I bet lots of black girls' names sound 'exotic' to you.” “Hey, that's not fair,” Jake said, frowning. Chanise rolled her eyes and opened the door to the counseling room. “Have a seat. Dr. Johnson will be with you shortly.” She headed back to her office to catch up on her filing, trying to put Jake Stone out of her mind. She didn't understand how one minute he could seem so sweet, then the next minute they were butting heads. But it was starting to drive her crazy. An hour later, Jake stepped out of the counseling room. His shoulders were slumped and his eyes were red. Chanise watched him walk down the hall and into the waiting room. He paused with his hand on the door, trembling a bit. Chanise stopped by her desk and grabbed the box of tissues, then brought them over to Jake. He looked up at her with a weak smile. “Thanks,” he said, taking one and wiping his face with it. “You must think I'm a real loser, huh? Always coming in here and crying like this.” “I don't think crying makes you a loser.” “Well, most men don't cry.” He shrugged, setting his jaw determinedly. Chanise crossed her arms. She looked up at him, her lips pursed together in a humorous smile. “Oh, really? Well, I'll have you know that plenty of good men I know are men who cry. There's nothing wrong with that.” “That's not how I was raised,” Jake said. “My dad always told me that boys don't cry. You need to tough it out. Shake it off. When you get hurt, you get up and keep pushing on through.” Chanise snorted. “That sounds like a destructive attitude. There's nothing wrong with taking comfort when you need it.” “Maybe if you're weak.” Chanise dropped her arms to her sides, the amusement vanishing from her face. “See, that's so typical. You think crying is weak because it's what women do. Are you telling me you think women are weak?” “No, not at all.” Jake forced a grin, though there was still a strain on his eyes. “You don't seem weak at all.” “You can bet your white ass I ain't weak. I'm stronger than you.” “Oh really?” Jake leaned against the doorframe, his grin widening, and his eyes starting to light up. “You think you could take me?” “Typical man,” Chanise said. “You only equate strength with physical strength. I'm talking about emotional strength. If you're too afraid to cry, then

that shows that I'm stronger than you, because I'm not ashamed of my emotions.” He laughed and shook his head. “Wow. You sound just like Dr. Johnson. He keeps telling me I need to stop being scared to face my emotions. That's kind of why I'm such a mess right now.” He looked down at his feet, blushing a little. A little smile touched the corner of Chanise's mouth. “Well, you should listen to him. He's a wise man.” Jake nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, he definitely is.” Chanise sighed and shook her head. “Well, you have yourself a good day, Mr. Stone. I'll see you next Thursday.” “Maybe we could see each other before then.” Chanise paused, looking up at Jake. He looked her right in the eye, his gaze steady. “Excuse me?” she asked. “You and me,” he said, smirking. “Maybe we could see each other sometime. Outside of this place, I mean.” She arched an eyebrow. “Mr. Stone, are you asking me out on a date?” “It's Jake. And yes, yes I am.” “I don't think that would be a good idea.” “Why not? What, are you afraid?” He crossed his arms and grinned, staring her down, a challenging look in his eyes. “Oh, no. I'm not afraid.” “Yes you are,” he said. “You're afraid that if you go out with me, you might wind up liking me.” She snorted. “Is that what you think?” “I know it. So come on, Chanise. What do you say? Or can you not face your own fears?” She held his gaze for a long moment. She felt cornered. She didn't want to admit it, but she knew deep down that she was scared. She had been scared of dating for a long time. Ever since her husband died before Deena was born. Jake wasn't the first man she'd mouthed off to, knocking his ego out from under him when he thought he was all that. Her father had told her it was a defense mechanism. A way for her to avoid letting someone get too close. To avoid letting someone have any power over her. She hated it when he analyzed her the way he did his patients, but she had to admit that maybe he had been right. “Just coffee,” Jake said, his expression turning more serious. He reached out and took her hand in his, giving her fingers a gentle squeeze. “There's no harm in that, right?” She pursed her lips, thinking it over. “I suppose there's no harm in coffee.”

“Great,” he said. “How about you give me your number? Are you busy tomorrow?” She wasn't busy, though she knew she'd need to find someone to watch Deena if she went out on a date. Though her dad would probably be able to watch her. “I guess tomorrow works,” she said. “Great. That's great.” She gave him her number, fighting against the fear that it was a bad idea. Especially considering what a braggart Jake had been when they first met, and how domineering he could come off at times. On the other hand, she had seen his soft side. And she had to admit that maybe she liked that side of him. Jake tucked the paper with her number on it into his pocket. “Awesome. I'll give you a call tomorrow, say, after lunch?” “That works.” “Great.” He reached out and gave her hand another squeeze, and then headed out the door. Chanise followed him into the waiting room. Deena was still there, coloring. Jake waved to Deena on his way out the door, and Deena waved back. Chanise crouched down next to the table. “What do you think of Jake, sweetie?” “He's okay,” Deena said, shrugging. “Just okay?” “Uh-huh.” Deena kept her attention focused on her coloring, seeming uninterested in her mother's potential love life. Though Chanise had to wonder, assuming the coffee date went anywhere, how it might affect Deena. Chanise hadn't dated since Deena's father died. She wasn't sure if she was ready for it, or whether her daughter was ready for it. Though it was just coffee, she told herself. There was no harm in that.

***

CHANISE DROPPED Deena off at her father's house about an hour before her coffee date with Jake. After they got Deena settled in the living room with a Disney video, Chanise's father asked, “So, where did you meet this young man you're going out with?” Chanise felt her face heating up. She hadn't told her father who she was

seeing, only that she had a date. For one thing, she didn't want to see what her father would say about her dating a patient. For another, there was the potential conflict of interest. She wasn't sure if it would technically be against the rules for her to date one of her father's patients, but at the very least, her father would probably insist on sending Jake to see another counselor. She didn't want to let that happen. Not when Jake seemed to be making so much progress. Starting over with a new counselor could be like setting him back to square one, especially if the new counselor had a very different technique and view of the human mind. “He's just someone I ran into,” Chanise said. “We started talking, and he asked me out.” “Someone you ran into?” Her father frowned, folding his arms across his chest. “Do you know anything about this man? I don't know how I feel about you going out for coffee with a complete stranger.” “He's not a stranger, Dad. Besides, I'm not a teenager anymore. I can make my own decisions about who I'm going to date, thank you very much.” Her father huffed and shook his head, but he didn't protest any further. “Well, I suppose you are all grown up now. Though I don't think I'll ever approve of anyone as much as I did Tyrone.” Chanise sighed, her thoughts drifting to her deceased husband. He had been a good man. And he would have been a great father, she was sure if he had lived to see his daughter grow up. “I'll be fine, Dad. It's just coffee.” “All right. Well, you give me a call if you're going to be out late.” “Dad!” “I'm not trying to check up on you,” he said. He gestured to Deena in the living room. “But I need to know how long I'll be watching the little one. You know how she gets sometimes when you're running late.” “I know.” Chanise gave her father a hug, then said goodbye to Deena, before heading out the door. She drove down to the coffee shop she had chosen. It was a small place, not far from home, and the owner baked some of the best biscuits and scones that Chanise had ever eaten. She arrived a bit before Jake got there. She sat at a table in the corner, checking her phone while she waited for him to arrive. She was busy scrolling through her Twitter feed when a looming shadow passed over the table. She looked up and saw Jake standing there, holding a single red rose out to her. “Oh my…,” she said. She rose from her seat, touching a hand to her chest. “Well, this is unexpected.” “My father always told me,” he said, “if you don't show up for a first date

with flowers, don't bother showing up at all.” She took the rose and inhaled its sweet scent. No one had ever given her a rose before. Her husband had given her lilies since they were her favorite flower. But there was something sweet, romantic, and traditional about a rose, and it set her heart aflutter. “You ready to order?” Jake asked, jerking a thumb over his shoulder. “Sure.” Chanise got into line alongside Jake, twirling the long stem of the rose between her fingertips. She glanced up at Jake out of the corner of her eye. She wasn't used to standing right beside him like this. It really made the difference in their heights stand out. He was tall enough that if he put his arms around her, his chin would easily rest on top of her head. She was short and curvy, with broad hips and quite a bit of booty, which had always done a good job in bringing the boys to her yard. They placed their order, and then went back to sit down. Chanise ordered a light, foamy cappuccino. Jake ordered black coffee. They also ordered a couple of pastries to share. “So,” Chanise said. “What else is there to know about you, outside of your sports career?” “What?” Jake asked. “You don't like talking about sports?” She shrugged. “I don't care for it. I think there's a lot of things in the world with far more value.” “You wouldn't say that if you saw my annual salary.” Jake winked at her. “See, there you go again.” Chanise waved a hand dismissively. “You always jump straight to bragging and chest thumping.” “Chest thumping?” Jake frowned at her. “Are you calling me an ape?” “Are you one?” Chanise asked, smirking at him. Jake chuckled and leaned back in his chair. “Sometimes, I guess. But I'm working on fixing that. That's why I'm in therapy, remember?” “I thought you were in therapy because your coach ordered it,” Chanise said. “And because you can't get taken off suspension until you're finished.” Jake scratched the back of his head. “Yeah, well, maybe that's how it started. But, I wasn't expecting to get anything out of it, you know? Now it's like...” He leaned forward, propping his elbows on the table and looking down into his coffee. “Now it's like I'm seeing a whole new side of things. And, I dunno, I guess that's a good thing.” Chanise smiled at him and reached over to touch his hand. “It is a good thing. It's a sign of personal growth.” “Yeah, well, whatever.” Jake pulled away, leaning back in his chair again.

“I just hope it doesn't make me go soft.” “You keep confusing emotions with weakness. But confronting your emotions can be a source of strength.” “How?” “Because if you don't confront them, you let them have power over you. If all you ever do is bury your emotions and hide from them, then the darkness is winning. But if you can face what's inside, and work your way through it, then you end up a lot stronger than if you'd just run away and hide.” “I guess you're right.” He laughed, shaking his head. “Damn! You're so much like the doc. This is starting to feel more like a therapy session than a date.” “Sorry about that,” Chanise said. “I guess I got it from him.” “From working with him for so long?” “No. He's my father.” “Ohh.” Jake rubbed his chin, looking her over. “Wow! Okay. I see it now.” “See what?” “You've got his eyes. Except yours are lighter. More...gentle.” He leaned forward, staring deep into her eyes. “Like dark pools of wonder. I could spend all night staring into those eyes.” Chanise felt her face heating up. She cleared her throat and looked away, not sure how to respond to such flattery. It had been a long time since anyone had spoken to her in such a fashion. And as much as she had loved her husband, he had never been quite so...poetic. They chatted for more than an hour at the coffee shop, with Jake's flirtation becoming more and more bold as the coffee date went on. Chanise found her head spinning with all of the compliments. She wasn't used to getting this much attention from a man. It made her nervous, but at the same time, she found the attention flattering. And long after her coffee cup was empty, she found that she didn't quite want the date to end. But then, she remembered that her daughter was waiting for her to come home. She had promised they would spend some time together tonight. Chanise checked the time on her phone and let out a long sigh. “I really should get going,” she said. “Already?” Jake asked. He reached across the table and touched her hand. “But we're just getting started. Can't you stay a little bit longer?” “I really shouldn't. My daughter is waiting for me.” “Aww, the kid will be fine.” He gave her fingers a squeeze, grinning at her. “I thought maybe we could go back to my place for dinner and drinks. What do you think?”

“Back to your place?” Chanise asked with a frown. She pulled her hand away. “On a first date? What kind of girl do you think I am?” “Hey, now.” Jake spread his hands apologetically. “I didn't mean anything by it. I just thought we were having a good time.” “We were.” Chanise stood up, slinging her purse over her shoulder. “But not anymore. I guess I'll see you around.” She headed out the door. Jake got up and hurried after her. He followed her into the parking lot. “Chanise, wait.” “I told you, I need to go,” she said. “I know, but...” He grabbed her arm and spun her around, enveloping her in his strong arms. She held still, looking up at him. Being enclosed by his rock-solid arms made her feel small and vulnerable. It wasn't a feeling she was used to. “Come on, baby,” he said, reaching up to caress her cheek. “I know you were having a good time. And I know you want me.” “Is that so?” Chanise asked. She tried to keep an assertive tone of voice, but she felt her resolve weakening. “Nothing wrong with giving in to your desires,” Jake said, looking deep into her eyes. “There can be,” Chanise said. “Having a desire is one thing. Acting on it is something else.” “Are you afraid?” “Of you?” Chanise's eyes sparkled with amusement. “Of yourself,” Jake said. “Of us. Of letting go of whatever this wall is that you're trying to put up between us.” “Who says I'm putting up a wall?” “I can see it,” Jake smirked. “Your father keeps talking to me about bringing down the walls I've been using to hide from my emotions. And I think now maybe I can see the signs in you. You're afraid of being hurt.” “I've been hurt in the past.” She thought back to the loss of her husband. They had been married for less than a year. She had thought she was going to spend the rest of her life with him. She hadn't been prepared for his life to end so quickly. “You can trust me,” Jake said, leaning closer. “I don't know if I can.” “You can.” He leaned down and pressed his lips against hers. Chanise held herself stiff for a moment, not sure if she should give in to this desire. Jake was attractive, and she found herself drawn to him. But she wasn't sure if this is

what she really needed in her life, or if she was just being foolish and giving in to a simple crush. But his lips felt so nice against hers. He started suckling on her lower lip, and she melted against him, slipping her arms around his neck. She held on to him while he kissed her, his hands gliding down her sides and caressing her ample hips. He squeezed her, and a soft moan slipped from her, betraying her desires. She pulled back, looking up at him, her eyes filled with doubt and uncertainty. “I need to go,” she whispered. “When will I see you again?” She tried to find her voice, fighting against her breathlessness. “I'll be in the office Thursday.” “No,” Jake said, holding her tighter. “I don't want to wait that long. Have dinner with me. Tomorrow night.” “I can't.” “Why not?” “I have my daughter.” Chanise looked away. “So, bring her along,” Jake said. “We can all have dinner together.” Chanise looked up at him, her lips pursed in amusement. “Really? You'd want me to bring my daughter along on our date?” “Hey, if that's what it takes to get you to have dinner with me, I'm all for it,” Jake smirked, a victorious look on his face. “All right,” Chanise said. “But you'd better be on your best behavior.” She jabbed a finger against his chest. “I don't need my daughter to see us getting up to any hanky-panky.” Jake laughed. “I promise, I'll be a perfect gentleman.” Chanise wasn't sure if Jake was even capable of acting like a true gentleman, but she decided to give him a chance to prove himself. They shared another kiss, and then she headed for her car. Jake followed her and opened the door for her. She drove off, heading back to her father's house to pick up her daughter. Though the entire way there, she could still taste Jake's kiss, and she couldn't fight off the feeling that she should have stayed longer. No matter what she might have told him, she hadn't really wanted the date to end.

***

THE NEXT DAY, after she picked Deena up from daycare, Chanise sat her down so they could have a talk about Jake. Chanise sat on the living room couch, and Deena was in her child-sized rocking chair on the other side of the coffee table. “Deena, baby,” Chanise said, “you remember Jake? From Grandpa's office?” “Yeah. He was on TV.” “That's right.” Chanise didn't want to think about the news report of Jake getting into brawls with his teammates. The man she knew didn't seem like a violent person. If she believed he was truly capable of violence, there was no way she would ever bring her daughter near him. But she had seen his gentle side, and she knew that was the real him. “Jake invited us to dinner at his house,” Chanise said. “Yay!” Deena clapped her hands. “Can we have spaghetti?” “Well, I don't know what he's cooking.” Chanise had a hard time imagining Jake in front of a stove, making a family dinner. “Well, that's okay,” Deena said. “What do you think of Jake?” “He's okay.” Deena shrugged. “Just okay?” Deena nodded. Chanise smiled at her daughter. “What would you think if I spent more time with him? If he started coming over a couple of times each week to see us.” “Is he your boyfriend?” Deena looked up at her with wide, innocent eyes. Chanise pressed her lips together, trying to think how to answer that question. “Maybe. Would that be okay with you?” “Bobby told me black girls can't have white boyfriends,” Deena said. Chanise crossed her arms, a frown forming on her face. “Oh, did he now? Well, next time you see Bobby, you tell him that is an archaic attitude that belongs back in the 1950s.” “What's ark hay ick?” Chanise laughed. “It means old. Bobby's attitude is really old. And smart people nowadays don't listen to old ideas like that.” “Oh. Okay.” She got Deena dressed in some nice clothes, and they drove over to Jake's place together. Jake had an apartment in Philadelphia, and it was the first time Chanise had taken her daughter into the city. Deena leaned over in her car seat, peering out the windows at the tall buildings they passed. “Wow. Those are really big houses.”

“Most of them aren't houses,” Chanise said. “They're office buildings where people work.” “They're lots bigger than Grandpa's office.” Chanise chuckled. “Yes. Yes they are, dear.” When they got to Jake's building, Deena insisted on being the one to press the button in the elevator. They rode up to Jake's floor and found Jake's apartment at the end of the hall. When he opened the door to greet them, Deena rushed right past him into the apartment, looking around with her jaw hanging open. “Wow! Your house is even bigger than Grandpa's!” Jake chuckled. “It's pretty big, yeah. You should see the view.” He led them to the dining room. The dining room was set in the corner of the apartment, and both walls were filled with floor to ceiling windows, looking out over the city. Deena ran over to the windows and pressed her face against the glass. “Wow, we're so high up! Are we gonna fall?” “No, you won't fall,” Jake said. “The windows don't even open.” Chanise looked around the apartment. It was quite lavishly decorated, with a black leather sofa and a big screen TV in the living room, and a solid oak table and chair set in the dining room. She glanced into the kitchen and saw one of those new fancy fridges with a computer screen on the front, the kind that connected to your cell phone so you could order food deliveries with the tap of a button. It all felt very Jetsons to Chanise, but she supposed that was what you could afford nowadays on a quarterback's salary. “You ready to eat?” Jake asked. He held out a chair for Chanise. “I'm starved.” She sat down, and then Jake helped Deena onto a chair as well. They waited while Jake made several trips back and forth from the kitchen, bringing out a veritable feast. There was steaming hot lasagna, a large Greek salad, a bowl of penne pasta with marinara, and a plate of garlic bread. It looked and smelled delicious, and it was more food than the three of them could possibly hope to eat. “Wow,” Deena said, looking at all the food. “You cooked all that yourself?” “Yup,” Jake said with a grin. “Dig in. I hope you enjoy it.” The meal was delicious and filling. Chanise was even a bit jealous of Jake's cooking skills. She was a decent-enough cook herself, but she had never learned how to cook anything fancy. Though when they finished eating and she helped clean up the plates, she found out that the meal wasn't all that it had seemed. While she was putting her plate into the sink, she saw a box from a catering service sticking out of the trash, mostly hidden by the trash can’s lid. She smirked and shook her head,

deciding not to say anything about it. If Jake was going that far out of his way to impress her, she found it a bit flattering. “You don't have to do that, you know,” Jake said. He walked into the kitchen carrying a stack of dishes. “I'm not being a very good host if I let you clean up after yourself.” “Please,” Chanise said, rolling her eyes. “I have a kid; I'm used to being the one cleaning everything up.” “I know, but seriously. Let me get that.” He stepped up behind her, setting the dishes in the sink. Then he slipped his arms around her. He leaned in close, pressing his cheek against her dark curly hair. She smiled and leaned back against him, pressing her hands over his and holding him tighter. She closed her eyes for a moment, forgetting where she was and putting all of her worries and doubts out of her mind. Just for that moment, it felt good to just be held by a man. She had missed this sort of simple, intimate contact. The moment was broken when Deena called out from the other room, “Momma! I need to go potty.” Chanise sighed and pulled away from Jake. “I'll be right there, sweetheart.” Jake gave her a sad smile, clearly disappointed that their moment had been interrupted. She reached up and patted his cheek. “Maybe next time, we'll have dinner, just the two of us. No interruptions.” “I'd like that,” he said, his eyes lighting up. After Chanise helped Deena in the bathroom and got her cleaned up after dinner, she told Jake, “We should probably get going soon. We have an early morning tomorrow, and I don't want to keep Deena out too late.” “But it's early,” Jake said. “You should stay. I got some videos to keep the kid occupied.” Chanise crossed her arms, staring Jake down. “Oh? And what were you planning on doing while she's 'occupied'?” Jake chuckled and scratched the back of his head. “Well, I kind of figure you and I could get some alone time together.” Chanise scoffed, rolling her eyes. “With my daughter in the apartment with us?” She lowered her voice and stepped closer so that Deena wouldn't overhear what they were talking about. “Jake, she's just a child. She barely understands what it means for her Momma to be dating. I don't want her asking me what her Momma and Momma's boyfriend were doing in the other room for an hour while she watched videos.” “An hour, eh?” Jake smirked. “I guess you can tell I've got an athlete's stamina.”

Chanise laughed and shoved Jake back. “Oh, you're terrible!” Jake laughed as well, taking her hands in his. “But you love it.” Chanise blushed and looked down at her feet. “Maybe I do.” “Maybe?” “Well, I can't just tell you,” she said. “You've already got a big enough head.” He pulled her close and kissed her deeply. Chanise clung to him, savoring the sensation of his lips against hers, and the way his tongue brushed gently against her lower lip. For just a moment, she forgot that her daughter was in the other room. But when she did remember, she pulled away. She patted Jake's chest and said, “Next time, tiger. When it's just the two of us.” Jake grinned in anticipation. “I can't wait.” Chanise told Deena it was time to go and they headed for the door. Deena waved at Jake and said, “Bye! Thanks for dinner.” “No problem, kiddo,” he said. “Though I hope you don't mind if I take your mom out again soon just the two of us, for some grown-up time.” Deena gave him a very serious look, planting her hands on her hips. “You'd better not try any funny business, Mister!” Jake laughed, looking up at Chanise. “She must get that from you.” Chanise rubbed her hand through Deena's braids. “Well, excuse me for raising her to stand up for herself.” Chanise gave Jake another quick kiss before they left. Jake's touch lingered for a moment, clearly wanting more. She sucked on his lip for a moment just before she pulled away, leaving him with the promise of what was to come.

***

CHANISE ENDED up being too busy to have dinner with Jake again before his appointment on Thursday. When he came into the office for his counseling session, she immediately felt awkward. Seeing him there in the office reminded her of the potential conflict of interest in dating one of her father's patients. She was sure that her father wouldn't approve, and she didn't want him to find out. At least not yet. Not until she found out if the relationship was going anywhere or not. Jake walked over to the window and leaned through it, giving her a kiss.

She pulled back, giving him a look that was a mixture of happiness and annoyance. “Not while I'm at work,” she said. She grabbed the sign-in clipboard and poked it against his chest. “What? I can't give my girl a kiss when I see her?” “I'm not 'your girl' when I'm in the office,” she said. She wasn't even sure if she was “his girl” at all, but she certainly couldn't afford to act like a lovestruck fool while she was at work. She used the clipboard to shove him back until he leaned out of the window and took it from her hands. “Sign in, please.” “I still need to sign in?” He frowned at the clipboard. “Come on. It's not like you don't know who I am.” “It's for our records. If you don't sign in and the system doesn't get updated right, your paperwork might get screwed up. And then you stay on suspension, remember?” Jake sighed and took the pen. He signed in and handed back the clipboard. Though instead of going back to sit down in the waiting room, he leaned his elbows on the windowsill, grinning at her. “I've got work to do,” Chanise said, giving him an annoyed look. Jake glanced back into the waiting room. “There's no one here but me.” “That doesn't mean I don't have work.” Chanise gestured to the reports on her computer screen. “I do a lot more here than just checking in patients.” Jake glanced at the screen, and then shrugged. “Can't that wait? I'll only be out here a few minutes before I have to go speak to your father.” At the reminder that Jake knew of her relationship to his counselor, Chanise leaned in close and whispered, “Don't mention anything about us to him. I don't want him to know we're seeing each other.” “Why?” Jake frowned. “What, you think he won't like you dating a white guy?” Chanise wasn't sure how her father would react to the news of her dating a white man. She doubted he would truly have a problem with it—her father was as progressive as it comes—but there were more important matters she was concerned with. “Because he might have to stop being your counselor if he knows you're dating his daughter. It would be a conflict of interest.” “Ahh.” Jake frowned and rubbed his chin. “Gotcha. I've only got a few weeks left before my mandatory time is up. Though...” “What?” Chanise frowned. “Well.” Jake shrugged, lowering his eyes. “I was thinking about keeping up with it. I mean, after coach doesn't need me to anymore. I think it's good for me.” “That's excellent,” Chanise said. “I'm really glad that you're getting

something out of your counseling. Though you'll probably need to find a new counselor if we keep seeing each other.” “Yeah, I guess.” Jake's shoulders slumped. “You think maybe your dad will be able to recommend someone good?” “I'm sure he…” She cut off when her father came out of his office. Jake stood up straight, stepping away from the window. Dr. Johnson opened the door to the waiting room and waved Jake over. “Jake, it's good to see you again. I'm ready whenever you are.” Jake flashed Chanise a brief smile before heading down the hall to the counseling room. Chanise sighed and sat back in her chair. She felt like she was dancing a little too close to something potentially hazardous. Both for her relationship with her father, and for Jake's career and his chances of getting off his suspension. Chanise lost track of time while Jake was in his counseling session. She was busy going over scheduling and taking care of some other paperwork, so Jake's hour passed by before she even realized it. When Jake left the counseling room, he stood straight, his body unusually stiff. There was a strain clearly visible on his face, and his eyes were a bit red. Chanise could only assume that he had had another small emotional breakdown during the session. But after he took a few steps down the hall, it looked like this one had been worse than usual. His shoulders slumped and he leaned against the wall, trembling. Chanise got up from her chair and hurried down the hall, reaching up to touch his cheek. He looked at her, tears welling in his eyes. He sniffled and wiped the tears away, clearing his throat. “I'm fine,” he said. “No, you're not. Come here.” She took his hand and led him back to the break room. It was the only place that would really be private since there was another patient in the waiting room. She sat him down in one of the chairs and grabbed some tissues. Jake dabbed at his eyes, but there was a determined look in his eye. He held himself tense, trying to hold on. Like he was afraid to let his tears flow in front of her. Chanise sat next to Jake and took one of his hands in both of hers. She squeezed his hand and whispered softly, “Jake, it's okay. I've seen you cry before. You don't need to be ashamed.” “This is different,” he said. Chanise smiled sadly. “Why? Just because we're seeing each other now?”

Jake sat up a bit straighter, but the strain behind his eyes only seemed to intensify. “I can't break down in front of you.” “Why not?” “Because that's not what men do.” Chanise sighed. She ran her fingers across the back of Jake's hand. “You think I won't see you as a man if you cry? Even after everything I've told you?” “I know you don't see it that way,” Jake said. “But you weren't raised the way I was. My dad never cried. I never for once in my life saw him cry. And even on his...” He choked back a sob. “On his death bed, he didn't cry. And didn't want me to. When it looked like I was going to break down, he just said, 'I don't see what everyone is making such a fuss about.'” He leaned forward as if the weight he was bearing was too much to carry any longer. “He had a stroke, and all he could think about was what a hassle everyone was being, getting all emotional over him.” Chanise moved closer and put an arm around Jake's shoulders. “I'm so sorry. I didn't know. When did he...?” “Just a few months ago,” Jake whispered. “Ahh.” It suddenly made sense to Chanise. Why Jake had suddenly started lashing out. Why he'd gotten suspended. From what she had read in the news, he had previously had a perfect record. The incident that had gotten him suspended was, apparently, the only time he had ever acted out or broken the rules. She would read comments online from his teammates, who had all said he wasn't a violent guy. That he was a leader, that he kept the team together. They all wanted him back, even the ones who had been involved in the brawl. She had read one comment by a player who had been directly involved in the fighting, and he had said, “Sometimes things get tense, and then it gets rough. Nobody holds a grudge. You brush it off, you shake hands, and you get back to the game. Because we're teammates.” She tried to imagine Jake letting himself cry in front of his teammates. He would never be able to—she was sure. They were the ones that insisted he be macho, that he act like a beast, like the alpha dog. Even when, deep inside, he was just a scared boy who had lost his father. “Come here, baby,” Chanise whispered. She took Jake's face in both hands and gently pulled him closer, pressing her lips against his. She tasted the saltiness of his tears on his lips. He kissed her tenderly at first, timidly. As if he were afraid to touch her. But she pulled him closer, letting him know with her touch and with her kiss that it was okay. When his hands gently touched her sides, uncertain what was and wasn't okay, she reached up and took hold of his hands, moving them to her hips. He

squeezed her tight, massaging her ample curves with his strong, muscular hands. His hands started to roam higher, caressing her full, firm breasts. Chanise pulled back from the kiss with a gasp, closing her eyes. Jake leaned closer and kissed her neck, nibbling at her soft, caramel skin. She bit her lip, holding back a moan. Her mind shouted at her to stop. She couldn't do this. Not here. Not at her father's office. Her dad was right down the hall, and he could walk in on her at any moment. Another part of her said that he was probably already speaking with his next patient. He would be busy for the next hour or more. “Chanise,” Jake whispered. He kissed her ear. She ran her fingers through his silky hair. He leaned lower, planting a trail of kisses down her neck to her chest. He started pulling at her blouse, undoing the top button. Chanise opened her mouth to protest, but the words wouldn't come out. She wanted this. Needed it. And she knew it had to be now. If she waited, it could be days before she felt Jake's touch again. She couldn't bring him home to her apartment when she had her daughter there. Not yet, anyway. “Hold on, baby,” Chanise whispered. She got up and peeked out the door. There was no one in the hall. She pulled the door shut and locked it. The only other person who might try to get in was her father, and he rarely came into the break room after lunch, even when he wasn't with a patient. She turned back to Jake. He looked at her with eagerness, his eyes roaming over her generous curves. She licked her lips, savoring the moment. Then she started to unbutton her blouse slowly. Jake smiled. The tension and sadness were gone from his eyes, replaced with eager lust. He rubbed himself through his pants while she slipped off her blouse, exposing herself. “God, Chanise,” he said. She moved forward, lowering herself to her knees. “Shh, baby. We need to be quiet.” Jake just grinned. He unzipped his pants while she took off her bra. She put her hands on his knees, looking at his crotch, waiting for him to show her what she had been waiting for. He pulled it out and reached out, caressing her dark black curls. He pressed a hand against the back of her head and pulled her forward. She looked up into her eyes and opened her mouth, taking him in. He threw his head back, groaning through clenched teeth.

She reached up and took him in her hand, working him hard and fast. She didn't know how much time they had, and this wasn't the moment for slow, intimate lovemaking. There would be time for that later, when they were alone in Jake's apartment, with no restraints and no limitations. But now, there in her father's office, all she wanted was to get fucked. Once she had him hard enough and worked up enough, she pulled back. Jake pushed her down onto the ground, unzipping her pants and pulling them off faster than she ever could have herself. She had worked him up into a frenzy, which was exactly what she wanted. What she needed. He knelt between her legs and leaned forward, then he thrust himself inside of her. She grabbed Jake's shoulders and pulled him down on top of her. He thrust into her in quick, hard movements, burying his face in her neck to stifle his moans. She held him close, closing her eyes and focusing on the sensations pouring through her. It had been such a long time since she'd had a man inside of her. Years. And as much as she had loved her husband, he had never taken her this hard or this fast. He had never been so powerful, so in control. It thrilled her and drove her to the edge. Jake's movements started to become more erratic as he neared his climax. He leaned back, propping her legs on his shoulders, so he could reach between her legs with his fingers and push her over the edge. She grabbed her blouse and bit down on the fabric hard to quiet her moans as he pushed her past the point of no return. When it was finished, Chanise laid there for a moment, clinging to Jake. Then she heard voices in the hall. She didn't know how long they'd been in the break room, between talking earlier and then fucking. She suddenly worried that her father's session had finished earlier than she had expected. She pushed Jake off her and whispered, “Get dressed!” They hurried to pull on their clothes. Chanise didn't even bother with her bra, instead tucking it into one of the break room's cabinets to get it out of sight. She straightened her clothes and patted her hair, taking a few deep breaths to steady herself. Then she peeked out into the hall. Her father stood down by her desk. Chanise gestured for Jake to stay put as she left the break room and headed down the hall. “Chanise, there you are,” her father said. “Mrs. Williams needs to reschedule next week's appointment. Can you take care of that for her?” “Sure thing.” Chanise sat down at her desk, smiling at Mrs. Williams, who stood in the waiting room, looking at her through the window. She got the appointment booked as quickly as she could, glancing over her shoulder every few moments to see where her father was. She thought he had

gone into the office, but just as she was finishing up with Mrs. Williams, she saw him walking down the hall towards the break room, his coffee mug in his hand. She quickly handed Mrs. Williams her appointment slip, then hurried down the hall, trying to beat her father to the break room. “Dad, wait!” He paused, standing in the doorway to the break room. “What is it?” She looked past him through the open door. There was no sign of Jake. “N-nothing,” she said. “Never mind, I got it.” “You okay, Chanise? You look all sweaty.” Chanise glanced past her father, down the hall. She saw Jake peeking out of the employee restroom. “I'm fine, Dad. Just a bit worn out, that ‘s all.” “Well, Mrs. Johnson was the last patient of the day. Go on home. You need some rest.” “Yeah, I think I'll do that.” She waited until her dad was in the break room getting his coffee, and then waved for Jake to hurry. He left the restroom and hurried down the hall, pausing only long enough to give her a quick kiss. “I'll see you this weekend,” he whispered. She nodded, then shooed him away. He headed down the hall and out through the waiting room, then left the office. Chanise was about to return to her desk when her father came out of the break room. He was holding her bra in one hand. “Chanise?” he asked. “What was this doing in with the coffee sweetener?” Chanise laughed, her face heating up. She snatched the bra away. “Sorry about that. I had a spill and had to wash my blouse and bra in the sink. I didn't know if it was dried yet.” He frowned at her, and she was almost certain he didn't believe her. “Well,” he said, “do me a favor, and keep your underthings away from my coffee, please?” “Sure thing, Dad.” She hurried back to her desk and tucked her bra into her purse, then gathered her things and headed out to pick up Deena from the daycare. The entire drive, all she could think about was Jake's touch and the way he had felt when he was inside her.

***

CHANISE DIDN'T mention anything about Jake to her daughter that night, but the next night, she decided she needed to bring the subject up. She and Jake had talked on the phone during her Friday lunch break, and they had made plans for Chanise to come to Jake's apartment for dinner Saturday night. Dinner alone, just the two of them. And Chanise wanted to be able to spend the night, without having to worry about rushing home to a waiting daughter. “Deena, baby,” Chanise said, calling her daughter into the living room after dinner. “Come here. Momma needs to talk to you.” “Am I in trouble?” Deena asked, her eyes wide. “No.” Chanise laughed. “No, baby, you're not in trouble. I just want to talk to you about this weekend.” Deena walked into the room and sat down in her favorite little rocking chair. She looked up at her mother, wide-eyed and innocent. “How would you feel about spending the weekend at Grandpa's?” Chanise asked. “The whole weekend?” “That's right.” “I guess,” Deena said. She shrugged. She had never been away from her mother for a full weekend since she was born, but Chanise was glad that she seemed to be taking it in stride. “When are we going?” Deena asked. “Well, baby, that's the other part of what I wanted to talk to you about.” Chanise folded her hands in her lap and leaned forward, hoping she could explain this right without her daughter asking too many awkward questions. “I'm not going to stay at Grandpa's place over the weekend. It'll just be you and Grandpa together, okay?” “You're not coming?” Deena pouted. “No, baby. But you and Grandpa will get to spend lots of time together.” “Why aren't you coming?” “Well...” Chanise took a deep breath. “Because, baby, I'm going to go see Jake.” “Oh.” Deena thought about that for a moment. “Are you having a sleepover?” “That's right, baby. Jake and I are having a grown-up sleepover.” “Oh. Okay.” Deena frowned slightly, and Chanise wondered what she was thinking about. Deena was far too young to really know anything about sex, and Chanise was hoping to have quite a few years before she had to have that awkward conversation with her daughter. But if Deena thought anything was strange

about her mother spending the night at a man's house, she didn't say so. The next morning, Chanise packed two overnight bags, one for herself, and one for Deena. Deena's bag had a change of clothes and some of her favorite coloring books and dolls, along with a couple of videos. Chanise's bag, in addition to a change of clothes, had something special that she would picked up for her night with Jake. Something she made sure not to let Deena see while she was packing. Chanise arrived at Jake's house in the late afternoon. He had dinner warming on the stove, though she suspected it was catered food again. She didn't care. As long as they had the night to share together alone. They enjoyed a quiet meal together, and then Jake opened a bottle of wine. They sat on the couch together, watching the sun set over the city. The view from Jake's high-rise apartment was breathtaking, and for a moment, Chanise wondered what it would be like to live in such a place. She had never been a city girl, but the luxurious apartment was the sort of place she could get used to. Sitting with Jake that night was a very different experience than their wild, passionate afternoon at the counseling office. Gone was the vulnerable, crying man who had needed her comfort. He was back to his usual flirtatious, confident self. But as much as she missed seeing Jake's vulnerable side, she found herself drawn to his cocky, confident side as well. Throughout the night he made her laugh, he made her smile, and he made her blush. And with a couple of glasses of wine in her, she felt more and more relaxed around him. Enough so that she started developing some confidence of her own. When Jake set down his wine glass and put his hand on her hip, she smiled and touched a finger to his lips. “Give me a minute, dear.” “Just a minute?” he asked, smirking. “Maybe two.” She set down her wine glass and got up, grabbing her bag. She headed into the bathroom and stripped down, then slipped into the nightie she had bought just for that night. It had been a long time since she had worn such a thing, and she had put on some pounds since the last time, early in her marriage. Bearing a child and the stresses of life that had come after her husband's death had rounded out her hips a bit more, though she knew she still had a good figure, extra pounds or not. She adjusted the silken black negligee over her thighs, admiring herself in the mirror. The nightie lifted her full breasts, making them even more eyecatching than usual. She took a deep breath to steady herself before she headed back out into the living room. She wasn't sure why she was so nervous. She had already had

sex with Jake, and under much more vulnerable circumstances than these. She should have been confident and ready to go. Yet somehow, this was different. Maybe, she thought, it was because this time, it was more of a premeditated choice. This wasn't just a moment of passion, where they lost control of their urges and ended up in each other's arms. Instead, she had come to Jake's apartment tonight knowing that they would be sleeping together. Knowing that she would be offering her body to him and that it was something she had decided on her own. Somehow, that made it bigger. More important. Her fears and concerns were washed away when she walked into the living room and saw Jake's eyes light up at the sight of her. He smiled, taking in everything he saw. He stood up and slowly walked over towards her, his lips pursed in admiration. “Wow,” he said. “You look amazing.” Chanise toyed with the little ribbons on the sides of her negligee. “You mean that?” She had been a bit worried that he wouldn't like the way her body looked. That he wouldn't be attracted to her when he wasn't swept up in a vulnerable moment. “Really,” he said, slipping his hands around her waist. “You're beautiful.” He leaned down and kissed her. His fingers trailed up and down the silken material of her nightie, sending shivers through her body. She reached up and cupped his cheeks with her hands, holding his face gently as she kissed him. His kiss was slow and sensual, and at the same time, the rough touch of the slight stubble on his chin made him feel grizzled and masculine. Jake took her hands and led her towards the bedroom. The bed was huge, covered in silvery silken sheets. He pulled her towards the bed and he sat down on the edge, pulling her into his lap. She kept kissing him while she unbuttoned his shirt and slipped it off, and then she pushed him back onto the bed, straddling him. Jake scooted further up the bed, pulling her with him. She pulled down his pants and found him more than ready to go. She settled herself on top of him, taking him inside of her, and she leaned forward, grabbing his shoulders as she started to ride him. Every movement was slow, sensual, and deliberate. She didn't want to rush this time. She didn't want to worry about any interruptions. They had all night, and she wanted to take all the time they had. Jake massaged her breasts and toyed with her nipples, sending shivers through her body. She arched her head back, moaning in pleasure. He ground his hips up against her, moving in time with the rocking of her body. Soon they found a steady rhythm together, and she started riding him harder, driving him deep inside of her. He held her hips, his fingers digging tight into her caramel flesh, hard enough to make her moan louder and louder. The forcefulness of his

touch drove her to the edge, and she felt the sensations exploding inside of her. She shuddered and collapsed on top of him, clinging to him. Then he rolled her over and climbed on top of her, his movements more urgent now, filled with his own need. She held him close and clung to him as he fucked her hard until he came. Then she caressed his cheeks and kissed his face, smiling and feeling a sense of pure bliss. She fell asleep in his arms that night, the first night she had slept in the same bed with another man since her husband died. And even though it felt good and it felt right, there was a part of her that felt guilty. She felt like this night was the sign that she was finally moving on, and she hadn't realized it until that moment. She didn't know if she was ready to move on, to let herself love again, after what she had lost. She stayed quiet, not wanting to ruin the mood or let Jake know that anything was wrong. He certainly hadn't done anything wrong. Yet even though she was happy to be where she was, she found herself crying softly in the night until finally she fell asleep.

***

IN THE MORNING, Chanise got up and showered. It felt a bit strange to be waking up in another person's apartment, and without her daughter there. She usually had to get up early to make Deena's breakfast, and Deena was always up at the crack of dawn. Chanise was never able to sleep in. Which was probably why she was up long before Jake woke up, even though she hadn't set an alarm. By the time she finished showering, Jake was still asleep, so she decided to make breakfast for them. She went into the kitchen and dug through the cabinets, searching for something fitting. Like the typical bachelor, Jake didn't have much to eat in the house, aside from cold cereal, canned soup, frozen dinners, and other quick, easy, and microwaveable goods. This just proved her suspicion that last night’s dinner had been ordered from a catering place. She gave up on the idea of serving Jake a fresh-cooked helping of breakfast in bed and stuck with cereal and toast. She sat in the living room, watching the morning news until Jake woke up. He came out wearing nothing but his boxers and a satisfied smile. “Morning, babe,” he said. “Good morning.” She smiled as he sat next to her and kissed her cheek. “Next time you’re having company over, you should stock the kitchen better.”

She gestured to her empty bowl and plate. “Sorry about that. I usually order out.” “I kind of figured,” Chanise smirked, shaking her head. “So,” Jake said, leaning back against the couch and draping his arm over the back. “You have to run off and take care of the kid today, or do I get to keep you all day?” “You can keep me until after lunch,” Chanise said. She leaned over and gave him a kiss. “After that, I have to get home. Deena isn't used to being without her mother.” “Ahh, she'll be fine,” Jake said, waving his hand. “She seems like a tough enough kid. Besides, she's gonna have to get used to this.” “Is that so?” Chanise asked, arching her eyebrows. “Well, yeah.” Jake scooted closer and put his arm around her. “You're planning on sticking around, right? I mean, I wouldn't have invited you back here if this was going to just be a one-night thing.” “Is that what you usually do?” Chanise asked. “One night stands.” Jake shrugged, averting his eyes. “I haven't been involved with anyone seriously in a long time if that's what you mean.” “I just want to make sure that we're both in this for the same reasons.” “What reasons are those?” Jake asked. Chanise chewed on her lip, thinking it over. She wasn't sure how to explain her complicated thoughts and emotions when it came to getting into a relationship. “I haven't dated anyone since my husband died. And I'm not interested in dating anyone casually. So if this is just a fling, please let me know now. I don't want to get my hopes up only to end up getting my heart crushed.” Jake took her hand in his, giving it a gentle squeeze. “It's not just a fling. I mean, hey, when I first met you, I guess that's all I was looking for. But...I dunno...” He shrugged, looking away. Chanise reached up and caressed his cheek. She decided not to press him to talk about how he felt. He obviously struggled with talking about his feelings, and she didn't need him to say it out loud. Not yet, at least. They spent the rest of the morning together. They watched a movie, though they only saw about half of it before they started fooling around on the couch. They ended up going into the bedroom for another romp, after which Chanise had to take another shower. She didn't want to end up going home to her daughter smelling like sex. Over lunch, Chanise decided there was another issue she needed to bring up. One she didn't think could be avoided any longer. “Jake,” she said. “If

you're serious about us continuing to see each other, then I think we need to talk about my father.” “I thought you said we were going to keep things quiet for a while,” Jake said. “I've only got a couple of weeks left.” “I know that, but I don't think I can keep my father in the dark about our relationship for that long. For one thing, he almost caught us at the office on Thursday.” A smug grin spread across Jake's face. “Yeah, but that was amazing.” She shot him a stern, annoyed look. “That is not happening again. When we're at the office, you keep your hands to yourself, mister.” He smirked and took her hand. “Oh, come on. You know you liked it. The thrill. The risk of getting caught.” Chanise pulled her hand away, her face heating up despite her annoyance. “I'm serious. I don't want to risk my job or get my father angry with me. Please.” Jake sighed, but he nodded. “Sure. I'll keep it in my pants when we're at the office.” “And I think you should talk to my father on Thursday about needing a new counselor,” Chanise said. “Already?” “Yes. I don't want to spend the next few weeks sneaking around. I had to be evasive with him yesterday when I was dropping off Deena. He wanted to know about the guy I'm dating. And I want to be able to tell him. To be honest with him. Not to sneak around like I'm some teenager who has to date behind her father's back.” “I guess that makes sense.” Jake shrugged. His shoulders slumped a bit. “Is that a problem?” Chanise asked. “Not really. It's just...” “Just what?” “It's just that I really like talking to your dad.” Jake frowned and looked away like he was too embarrassed to talk about his emotions in front of her. “I never had anyone who could make me feel so comfortable. Make me open up so much. I'm just worried that if I go see someone else, it won't...work the same.” “I'm sure it will,” Chanise said. “Dad knows some excellent counselors. He can recommend someone. I'm sure it'll work out fine.” “What am I supposed to tell him, though?” “What do you mean?” “Well,” Jake spread his hands, pausing a moment to search for the words,

“you said you don't want him to know about us yet, right? I mean, do you want me to go in there and tell him I need a new counselor because I'm fucking his daughter?” “Dating his daughter,” Chanise said, crossing her arms. “Dating his daughter. Right. So should I say that?” “Well...no, I guess not.” Chanise frowned. “So what should I say? I mean, I don't really want to lie to him. But if you think we shouldn't tell him we're dating until after I'm already seeing a different counselor, then we need to tell him something.” “Could you just tell him you feel like your sessions would go better with someone else?” Chanise asked. “I don't want to insult him. I mean, he's been really good to me. And he's a real cool guy. Plus, I kind of want to stay on his good side.” He gave Chanise a bashful grin. “I mean, I want him to still like me when he finds out I'm...dating his daughter.” Chanise sighed. She leaned her elbow on the table and propped her chin in her hand. “This is kind of a messy situation. If he gets the wrong idea about us before we get a chance to tell him the right way, it might not go well. He's a bit overprotective.” “Lots of dads are like that.” “Yeah, but I think it's a bit more than that. My dad has always been the one to think about people's motivations. Psychoanalyzing them and all that. He used to interrogate the guys I wanted to date in high school, and if he thought they were just horny little teenage boys with no future, he wouldn't approve.” “He didn't let you date them?” “Well, no,” Chanise said. “He always let me make my own decisions. But he would make it quite clear when he didn't approve of someone. And I always had a hard time dating someone my father didn't approve of.” “Well, I really hope he approves of me.” Chanise smiled at Jake and took his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “I'm sure he will. We just need to figure out the right way to approach this.” They discussed it for a bit longer, but they were unable to come up with a good way to broach the subject with Chanise's father. They decided to discuss it more, later since Chanise was running late to pick up her daughter. She drove back to her father's house to pick up Deena. When she got there, her father took her into another room and asked. “So, how are things with this young gentleman of yours?” “Good,” Chanise said. Her chest started to feel a bit tight. She wasn't sure how to talk about Jake with her father without revealing his identity.

“Did you have a nice time?” He put his hands in his pockets and raised his chin, studying her face. Chanise started to sweat a little. She knew this look. It was the look her father got when he started analyzing her, trying to gauge her reactions to things. “We had a good time, yes. I'm going to be seeing him again.” “Good, good.” Her father waited for a moment, watching her face. His foot tapped impatiently on the ground. “So, Chanise, is there anything you want to tell me?” Chanise held her breath, trying to figure out if her father already knew what was going on, or had some reason to suspect. Had he seen Jake the other day at the office, when they were fooling around? Had she done or said something to give it away. “What do you mean?” Her father gestured into the living room, where Deena was watching a video. “Well, your daughter told me all about how you and her had dinner with your young man the other day. She was all excited about going into Philly and going up in the tall building.” Chanise pressed her lips together in a thin line. She hadn't thought that Deena would blab about Jake to her Grandpa. Though she should have expected it. The child always did speak her mind. “She said you were dating the man she saw on TV,” her father said. “I was curious about that, and I asked her who. She told me it was one of my patients. Jake Stone.” Chanise nervously rubbed her hands on her pants. “Yes. Yes, that's right. I was going to tell you, Dad, but...” “But you knew I'd be upset to know you were fooling around with one of my patients behind my back. Do you have any idea the position this puts me in? Especially considering Jake's situation with his coach. If they find out there's a conflict of interest, you understand what could happen to him?” Chanise hung her head. “Yes, I know. I was talking to Jake about it today. We wanted to tell you. He was going to ask to be transferred to another counselor.” “Hmm.” Her father crossed his arms, studying her. “And you thought it better not to tell me about this? Even though it could affect my career and my reputation?” “It's not like that, Dad. I wanted to tell you. But I wasn't sure it would even work out. If it was just going to turn out to be a onetime thing, we didn't think it would be worth bringing up.” “A onetime thing.” Her father frowned. “So, you're saying it's not a onetime thing? Are you getting serious with this boy?”

“Maybe,” Chanise said. “Maybe?” “We're not sure yet. But we want to keep seeing each other.” Her father rubbed his chin, studying her. I really would have appreciated being informed about this before you got involved with Jake. You're a grown woman, and what you do with your life is your own business, but when it involves one of my patients, it becomes a part of my affairs. I'm going to have to stop counseling Jake immediately.” “What about his coach?” Chanise asked. “If he doesn't meet his mandatory number of sessions...” “I'll make some calls tomorrow,” he said. “I'm sure one of my colleagues will be able to take him in. There'll be some extra paperwork involved since we need to submit reports to Jake's coach, proving that he has been attending his sessions.” “I'll help out with the paperwork,” Chanise said. “No,” her father said. “I'd rather you didn't.” “Dad, it's my job.” “I don't want to do anything that could lead to my practice being compromised. That means you need to stay away from this. I'll handle the paperwork, and I'll get Jake transferred to another counselor.” “All right.” Chanise chewed on her lip for a moment. “Dad, are you mad at me? You know I wasn't trying to do anything behind your back.” He frowned at her, not saying anything for a long moment. “I'm not angry with you, Chanise. But I am disappointed. I thought you were more responsible than this.” “I guess I deserve that.” Chanise got Deena ready to go, then drove her home. As soon as she got home, she called Jake and explained what had happened. He seemed both worried and relieved when he found out that her father knew about them. “He said he'd take care of the transfer?” Jake asked over the phone. “That's what he said. But you'll have to talk to him about that yourself. He said he doesn't want me involved with any of the paperwork. I think he's afraid of getting in trouble, or having his reputation affected if any of his colleagues finds out that his daughter is dating one of his patients.” “Well, at least it's in the open now,” Jake said. “We won't need to hide anymore.” “I suppose so.” “Are you okay?” “I guess. I'm still a bit frazzled. I wasn't expecting Dad to find out like

this.” “But it's going to be okay now. There's nothing to worry about.” “I hope you're right.” But even after she got off the phone with Jake, Chanise's worries wouldn't disappear. She didn't know what was going to happen, or whether there would be trouble or drama caused by the situation. The one thing she did know was that she'd made a mess of things with her father, and she would need to smooth things over as soon as she figured out how.

***

A FEW DAYS passed without much incident. Chanise's father refused to talk about Jake while they were at the office, and he wouldn't tell her anything about the new counselor he had recommended for Jake. He said he was trying to maintain confidentiality since it was inappropriate for him to reveal a patient's information to anyone else. Though on some level, Chanise felt like her father was simply pushing her away, at least until the situation passed and the emotions settled down. On Thursday, Chanise had a slow day, since Jake's appointment had been canceled, and there weren't usually many other patients on a Thursday. Her father ended up closing the office early since there were no appointments after two o'clock that day. Chanise gathered her things and got ready to go home; trying to decide what she might do with her extra time off. She left the office and crossed the parking lot to her car. But halfway there, she was interrupted by a young blonde woman who approached and shoved a microphone into her face. “Excuse me, Ms. Johnson? Is it true that you've become romantically involved with Jake Stone during his NFL suspension? Do you have any comment on the report that his suspension might be extended due to inappropriate circumstances surrounding his mandatory psychological leave?” “What?” Chanise stared at the woman, dumbfounded. A cameraman stood off to one side, pointing his camera right at Chanise. “Who are you? What are you talking about?” “Veronica Newton, Channel 5 News,” the woman said. “Can we get a comment from you regarding your relationship with Mr. Stone? Is it true that you're his therapist's daughter?”

“What? Who? No...” Chanise shook her head, looking between the woman and the cameraman. “Excuse me, I have to go.” She pushed past the woman and got into her car. The reporter kept yelling questions at her the entire time, and the cameraman kept on recording her until she pulled out of the parking lot. Chanise drove with both hands clutching the steering wheel. Her entire body was shaking. She had never been confronted like that before, especially not in front of a TV camera. She felt like she was going to be sick. It felt like her privacy, and her relationship with Jake had been violated. She only drove a few blocks before she had to pull over to the side of the road to compose herself. She took a few deep breaths, trying to calm her nerves. Then she pulled out her phone to call Jake and see what was going on. She paused before she dialed the phone. Something the reporter woman had said had only just sunk in. She had said something about Jake's suspension being extended. Chanise opened the web browser on her phone and Googled Jake's name. Immediately, a news report came up with the headline, “Suspended Quarterback Faces Possible Trouble after Sex Scandal.” “Sex Scandal?” she said aloud, staring at her phone in shock. She started shaking; trying to figure out what the hell was going on. She read through the article, then read it again to make sure she hadn't misread anything. The article described her relationship with Jake, or at least an abridged version of it. She had no idea where the writer of the article had gotten their information, but it talked about how Jake had gotten involved in an “affair” with his therapist's daughter, and it went on to list some basic information about her: her name, her occupation, the fact that she was a widow. The article even listed the college she had graduated from, and it described her as a “widow and single mother.” Along with the article was a picture of her. It took her a moment to recognize it as her Facebook profile photo. After the intrusive details about her personal life, the writer continued to say that there were allegations that the “affair” was a conflict of interest in Jake's mandatory therapy and that NFL officials were investigating to see whether this constituted cause for his suspension to be extended. The writer also reiterated the details of the fight that had led to Jake's suspension in the first place. As soon as she finished with the article, Chanise called Jake. He didn't answer the phone, so she left a voicemail. “Jake, it's Chanise. I just read about what's happening. A reporter tried to get to me in the parking lot at work.

Please call me back. I need to know what's going on. Are you in trouble? Call me, baby.” She drove the rest of the way to the daycare, looking over her shoulder the entire time. Anytime she saw a car that seemed to be following her, she worried that it was another reporter, trying to invade her life. Though each time, the car eventually pulled away, and she realized she was just being paranoid. Though it was hard not to be, considering everything that was going on. She was in tears from the stress by the time she picked up her daughter. While she was buckling Deena into her car seat, Deena asked, “Momma, what's wrong?” “Nothing, baby,” Chanise said. “It's nothing you need to worry about.” “Why are you crying?” Deena looked up at her, her own eyes starting to tear up. Chanise took a deep breath to calm herself and she wiped away her tears. She didn't want to upset her daughter by crying in front of her. “I just had a bad day, baby girl. But it's okay. We get to go home now.” Chanise had trouble focusing on anything after she got home. She ended up making Deena peanut butter and jelly for dinner, just because she couldn't focus on cooking anything more complicated. It wasn't until later in the night that she finally got a call from Jake. “Jake?” she asked, heading into the other room so Deena wouldn't overhear the conversation. “Are you okay? What's going on?” “It's complicated, babe,” Jake said. “Might be too much to talk about over the phone.” “Jake, I need to know what's going on. There were reporters camped outside my office today. I'm scared that they're going to come stalk me at my home.” “Don't worry about that. I'll take care of everything.” “But what's going on?” Chanise asked. “Are you still being suspended?” “I can't talk about it over the phone. Can I come over?” Chanise chewed on her lip. With all the drama that was being stirred up, she wasn't sure if having Jake come over, and possibly having a reporter follow him to her home, was a good idea. But she was worried about him, and she wanted to see him. “Okay. You can't stay too late. I've got to get Deena to bed soon.” “I'll be right over,” Jake said. When Jake came over, Deena rushed up to him and wrapped her arms around his legs. “Hi, Jake!” she said.

“Hey, kiddo.” He reached down and patted her head. “How've you been?” “I'm good. Momma's been crying.” Jake looked up at Deena with concern on his face. “How’s she now?” “I'm fine,” Chanise said. “I just had a long day, that's all. Deena, Momma, and Jake have some stuff to talk about. Will you be okay with your books for a while?” Deena let out a dramatic sigh. “I guess so.” “We'll spend some time together after Jake and I talk,” Deena said. “I promise.” “Okay.” Deena trudged into the living room and sat in her rocking chair, sorting through her storybooks. Chanise took Jake back into the bedroom. They sat on the bed together, side by side. Chanise took both of Jake's hands in hers and squeezed them tight. “Is everything going to be okay?” she asked. “Are you in a lot of trouble?” “Not really, I don't think.” “Not really it won't be okay, or not really you're not in trouble?” Jake chuckled. “The second one. I don't think I'm in too much trouble. There's just going to be an investigation is all. They'll need to interview your dad. As long as he tells them that he didn't know we were dating and that I really was keeping up with my sessions, it'll be fine. Plus I already told my coach that I transferred to a new counselor. So I think this will blow over.” “Oh thank God.” Chanise leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Jake, pulling him tight against her. “I've been so worried all day. I thought I had messed up your career.” “No, I'm the one who did that,” Jake said. “When I got into that fight. It was a stupid mistake. I should never have done it.” “But you're paying your dues now,” Chanise said. “We all make mistakes. And I don't believe you ever really meant to hurt anyone.” “I didn't. I was just having a hard time dealing with things. And tensions can get pretty high on the team, especially during the playoffs. Lots of the guys have almost gotten into fights before. You get that much testosterone all pumping in one room and it's kind of inevitable.” Chanise laughed, shaking her head. “I can only imagine.” She kissed him, and just when she was about to pull back, he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her deeper into the kiss. Jake held her tight for a long, sensual moment, and then started lowering her back onto the bed. Chanise tensed, glancing at the closed door. “Deena is in the living room.” Jake smirked. “We'll just have to be quiet.”

She smacked his chest. “Jake! You're terrible.” He chuckled, climbing on top of her and using his knees to spread her legs. “It's okay, babe. She won't know what we're doing.” Chanise wanted to protest, but Jake started kissing her neck, then trailing kisses down her chest. She lost her voice, unable to find the words to protest. She knew it was risky to do this with her daughter in the other room, but she wanted it. She whimpered when Jake started unbuttoning her blouse. “Are you sure you can be quiet?” Jake leaned back, pulling off his shirt, and then unbuttoning his pants. “Trust me, babe.” She closed her eyes and lay back while he pulled off her pants. He climbed on top of her and started rubbing his hardness against her. She moaned, burying her face against his neck to stifle the sounds. She wanted to cry out, wanted to beg him to fuck her, but she needed to keep quiet. Somehow, it made the experience all the more thrilling and dangerous, like that afternoon down at the office. She pulled Jake tighter against her. His moans sounded so loud in her ears. She whispered to him, “Quiet, baby. Quiet.” He reached down and grabbed her hips, thrusting deeper and harder. She wrapped her legs around him, pulling herself up to meet him with each thrust. Her hands slid into his silky hair and she held him close. He planted soft kisses against her caramel skin, kissing her face, her neck, and her shoulders. Each little kiss sent shivers through her body. Chanise started to tense, feeling the rush overpowering her. She glanced at the door, certain that she had heard Deena calling to her, but it was too late to stop now. She whispered into Jake's ear, “Come on, baby. Give it to me. Hurry.” Jake didn't need any more encouragement than that. He grunted and thrust hard against her, letting out a moan loud enough to be heard through the closed door. Chanise clung to him for a few moments, sweating and trembling. Then she got up and hurried to the door, pressing her ear against it. Jake followed her to the door. He put his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. “It's fine, babe. She didn't hear anything.” Chanise let out a sigh of relief, touching a hand to her chest. Then she turned and smacked Jake on the arm, though she was grinning the whole time. “You horn dog,” she whispered. “What can I say?” he said, grinning. “I can't get enough of you.”

***

THE NEXT DAY AT WORK, Chanise received an alarming phone call. She was in the middle of wrapping up the next week's schedule when the phone rang. When she answered it, an unfamiliar man asked for her by name. “Yes, this is Chanise Johnson,” she said, already starting to worry. “This is Robert Phillips, with the NFL investigatory committee for Jake Stone. I was wondering if I would be able to set up a meeting with you and Dr. Johnson.” Chanise's hands started to tremble. “What...what about?” “Well, I'm sure you're aware of Mr. Stone's suspension and the conditions of his reinstatement to the team?” “Yes, I am.” “In order for us to verify that Mr. Stone did indeed go through the mandatory counseling sessions he was required to attend, we need to come down there and ask you a few questions. To make sure that everything was on the up and up.” “All right,” Chanise said, her voice trembling. “But you should know, Jake and I, our relationship, it really had nothing to do with—” “Ms. Johnson,” Robert said, “it's really best if we discuss this matter in person. I need to get an official statement from you, and from Dr. Johnson. And I'll need to take a look at your records.” “All right. I mean, I'll have to clear this with my father...” “Of course. How about we set up an appointment for next week?” “Okay. I guess that would be fine.” She was on the phone with Mr. Phillips for a few more minutes, working out the details. Then she had to call her father in to talk with him and confirm everything. They set up a meeting for Monday morning, in between her father's counseling sessions. Mr. Phillips said he would come down to the office to speak with them directly, but he assured them that the meeting wouldn't take long. Chanise was a nervous wreck all weekend. She called up Jake to tell him about the meeting. He assured her over and over again that it would be fine, that it was simply the league's way of going through all of the proper procedures. But not matter how much he tried to reassure her, she couldn't fight the tension that had built up inside of her. She was so scared that she would do something wrong, or say something wrong, and that it would end up costing Jake his career.

When Monday morning finally came around, Chanise couldn't focus on any of her work. She just sat at her desk, staring at the computer screen, unable to get anything done. When a man carrying a briefcase finally walked through the waiting room door, she let out a sigh of relief. At least, she told herself, the waiting was finally over. Her father greeted Mr. Phillips in the waiting room, and then led him back to his office. Chanise joined them, taking one of the chairs in front of her father's desk, while Mr. Phillips took out the other. He pulled a small tablet computer from his briefcase and set it up on the desk with a foldable keyboard. They went through all of their introductions, and he asked them for personal details that he needed for the report, including their names, home addresses, and phone numbers. “Okay,” Robert said, once the initial questions were over. “I just need to ask a few questions to clarify everything we've already been told by Mr. Stone. Just to confirm that your story matches his.” Chanise started to feel nervous again. She hoped that Jake had kept his story to the simple truth. He certainly hadn't told her she needed to say anything other than exactly what happened. “Dr. Johnson,” Robert said. “Can you tell me when exactly you learned of the relationship between your daughter and Mr. Stone.” “It was a week ago Sunday,” Dr. Johnson said. “My granddaughter told me about it, and I confronted my daughter about it right away. I told her right then that I wouldn't be able to be Jake's counselor anymore.” “And you had no idea that anything was going on before that.” “None. I wouldn't have approved of it if I had known.” “And when did you terminate your professional relationship with Mr. Stone?” “The very next day,” Dr. Johnson said. “I called him up and explained that I wouldn't be able to be his counselor anymore, and I referred him to a colleague of mine, Dr. Nguyen.” “And do you have copies of all of your records of the time Mr. Stone was your patient?” Dr. Johnson pulled out a folder and handed it to Robert. “That's everything. Appointments, sign-in sheets, receipts for his insurance company, all the standard paperwork.” Chanise let out a small sigh of relief that she had forced Jake to keep signing in. It seemed like such a small thing, but it was possible that it would make all the difference. Robert flipped through the pages in the folder and then tucked it into his

briefcase. “All right. And Ms. Johnson. Can you tell me, in your own words, how your relationship with Mr. Stone started?” “All right.” She took a deep breath to steady herself. “We first met when he started coming in for his appointments. At first, we just talked. And he flirted with me a lot.” “It was Mr. Stone who initiated romantic contact with you?” “If that's what you want to call it,” Chanise said. “I just call it being hit on.” “Were his advances unwanted?” Chanise frowned. “That's not what I said.” “I just want to make sure we have the details right.” “Look, he flirted with me, and at first, I didn't think I should get involved with him because he was a patient. But then we decided to go out for coffee.” “How long had he been coming here by that point?” Robert asked. “A few weeks.” “At any point, did Mr. Stone try to use his relationship with you to compromise your integrity?” “What?” Chanise asked, a shocked look on his face. “What do you mean?” “I mean, did he try to get you to alter any records, anything like that?” “Don't be ridiculous!” Chanise crossed her arms. “Our relationship had nothing to do with his counseling sessions. Nothing at all. He just liked me. We liked each other. So we had coffee. Then dinner. Then things started to get serious.” “And were you aware of the conflict of interest?” “Yes,” Chanise said. “He and I talked about it, and we knew he was going to need to switch counselors. We were planning on telling my father anyway, if he hadn't found out.” “All right.” Robert typed a few notes into his tablet, and then skimmed through his list of questions. “I just have one last question. And thank you for your patience with this. I understand this is a difficult situation, and you must not like having your personal life probed in this way.” “No, I really don't,” Chanise said, frowning at him. “I'm really sorry about that,” Robert said. “I hope you understand I'm just doing my job.” “She understands,” Dr. Johnson said. “What was your question?” “In your personal opinion,” he asked, “do you believe that Mr. Stone had any other motivations in initiating a relationship with you, beyond romance?” “What does that mean?” Chanise asked. “It means. Do you think he was considering his career or his suspension, or

thinking that getting close to you would help him cheat his way past the mandatory counseling sessions? That he might be able to use you to alter the paperwork, or to say that he had attended sessions when he hadn't?” “No,” Chanise said. “No, absolutely not. The only thing on his mind was me. Was us. He was attracted to me, and that was it. He didn't want to use me. I'm certain of that.” “Thank you, Ms. Johnson.” Robert typed in a few more notes, and then he folded the keyboard, closing his tablet. “I appreciate your help and your directness. I'm sorry again if these questions were in any way upsetting to you. But we had to investigate this fully.” He got up to leave. Chanise rose to her feet as well. “So, is that it? Is Jake going to be allowed to play again?” “I can't say,” Robert said. “My job is only to investigate the situation and file a report. Mr. Stone will be informed if and when the suspension is lifted.” “Thank you, Mr. Phillips,” Dr. Johnson said. “I'll see you out.” Chanise sat back down while her father led the investigator out of the office. When her father returned, he sat across from Chanise. “I don't think there's anything to worry about,” he said. “Though I certainly hope that next time, you think things through more before you do something like this.” Chanise shrugged, giving her father a bashful smile. “I know, Dad. But I couldn't help it.” “You feel that strongly for him?” She nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I do.” He reached over and patted her on the knee. “Well, then. You make sure to keep a hold of him then. No use getting into such a mess over a man if you let him get away.”

***

A FEW WEEKS passed without any word about Jake's suspension. Jake and Chanise continued seeing each other each week, and they even had dinner one night with Chanise's father, making Chanise feel like maybe her dad actually approved of the relationship. Some nights, Jake came over to Chanise's apartment and spent time with her and Deena. He even brought some Pixar videos with him when he visited so that they could all do a movie night together with something Deena would enjoy. Other nights, Deena spent the

night with her Grandpa so that Jake and Chanise could get some much-needed alone time together. One night, when Chanise arrived at Jake's place for a private dinner date, he greeted her at the door with a bottle of champagne in his hand. “Great news, babe,” he said, popping the cork. Foam poured out of the tip of the bottle, spilling all over the hardwood floors. Chanise stepped back to avoid getting any champagne on her dress. “Careful with that, sweetie,” she said. “Oops.” Jake set the champagne bottle down on the coffee table, then ran into the kitchen to get some towels. He came back and knelt down, sopping up the champagne. “But like I was saying, great news.” “Is it about your suspension?” Jake looked up at her and grinned. “I just got the official notice today. I'm off suspension. I'll be able to start playing again by mid-season.” “Oh, that's wonderful.” Jake rose to his feet and she gave him a hug, squeezing him tight. “I'm sorry about almost getting you into more trouble,” Chanise said. “Nah, it's okay,” Jake said. He tossed the towel into the kitchen, barely getting it to land on the kitchen table. “I was the one who went after you, even when I knew it could get me into trouble. I knew what I was doing.” He poured the champagne and they sat on the couch together, sharing a toast. “So, what now?” Chanise asked. “What do you mean?” “I mean, you've got your career back,” Chanise said. “But what about the rest of it? What about us?” “What about us?” Jake asked. “I mean, I thought everything was going great.” “Is that enough for you?” She frowned at him, toying with the stem of her champagne glass. “Just to be dating, and having things going great?” “Do you want something more?” Jake set down his champagne glass, giving her a serious look. “Eventually, yes. I'm not asking you for a proposal. But I want to know where this relationship is heading. I've got my daughter to consider.” “And Deena's great,” Jake said. “I love her. She's an awesome kid.” “She's a kid who needs stability in her life. I need to make sure I can provide that for her.” “Well, I've been thinking about that,” Jake said. “You have?” Chanise's eyebrows rose. “Yeah, sort of. I mean, about us, and all. I've been thinking that maybe I

should look into getting a place outside the city. I mean, living in the city is great and all. It's an amazing view.” He gestured to the floor to ceiling windows that looked out over the city. “But it's not really the best place for settling down or anything. Not that I'm ready to settle down yet, exactly. Just, you know, I want to get myself into that place. Where I'm ready to.” “So you want to move?” Chanise frowned, not sure where he was going with this. “Yeah. And I was thinking.” He took her hands in his, looking deep into her eyes. “I was thinking, maybe if I move, maybe you could move, too. With me, I mean. Move in with me.” Chanise froze, her hands trembling. “Are you serious? Is that what you want?” “Yeah. And then down the line, who knows.” He smirked, giving a little shrug. “It's the first step, though. I mean, I've never lived with a woman before. Hell, I've never had a relationship last this long before. So I want to do it right.” Chanise was stunned. She stared at him, not sure what to say. “So,” Jake asked, a hesitant look on his face. “What do you think?” Chanise smiled. “I think yes. Definitely yes.”

A TASTE OF LOVE "Please?" Nicole Peart hated begging. She especially hated begging from Mark Tremain, and the smug satisfaction across his face when she did. But desperate times called for desperate measures, and all that: she needed a job, and his restaurant was hiring. Line cooks—hardly the glamorous chef positions she’d been hoping to snag when she went to culinary school and spent two years learning to fillet a fish with one smooth sweep and how to julienne a carrot into perfect matchsticks. She’d spent hours studying the chemistry of sugar and there were things that she could do with food that had her instructors drooling, and they promised to write her glowing recommendations to whatever restaurant she wanted to work in. There was just one thing that had gone wrong with her plans to move to New York and find a job as some kind of chef—her mother had gotten sick, and it had always been just the two of them. So she stayed, and moved back to their house, learned to prepare medications and treatments with the same efficacy that she deboned a steak with. But money had always been short between them, and the last round of treatments had wiped out the last of her

mother’s savings—Nicole was now the one in charge of paying the mortgage and keeping the lights on. It was now week three, and the problem with smalltown America was that there were only so many jobs to be had. "I don't know," Mark said now, the smirk crossing his face again. She fought back the urge to smack him. She wondered what she'd been smoking when she'd agreed to date him in the first place. He was good-looking, with that rugged brooding look that Marlon Brando had perfected, but his features were finer, more delicate. His accent was some kind of African accent that had the ability to shoot itself straight into the primitive reptilian brain, and even now she had to suppress the little urge to make googly eyes at him. It was why she’d consented to a second date with him, even after the first date had ended with her in tears because he’d insulted the wait staff and servers at the restaurant to the point where it embarrassed her, until she agreed to let him loosen her strapless dress to the point where it was this close to falling off of her—she knew the waiter got an eyeful of her tits, at any rate. That was the name of the game with him. He'd taken immense pleasure at nearly-exposing her in public, teasing strangers with the never-fulfilled promise of a glimpse of pussy or her breasts. The second time it happened she dropped him right then and there, but that didn't mean that he'd forgotten--or forgiven. "Are you wearing anything underneath that skirt?" he asked. She felt her face go red. She was pretty when she blushed, everybody said that—she had large brown eyes and a small nose that could only be described as “cute”—but with Mark it was a liability, because he would take advantage of her. Her dark brown hair, which she’d straightened and pulled back into a bun, felt as if it was curling out of it its hold. “Is this part of the interview?” she asked. She stared at him from the opposite side of the desk, her legs crossed, wondering what her own price was. Fingers? Actual sex with him? She wasn’t wearing anything underneath, because she knew he’d make her show him before he’d even consider bringing her into the kitchen—the line had been crossed the moment she’d applied for the job at his restaurant-and-hotel. It was just a matter of limiting the damage. “Just making conversation.” "If you want to fuck me, just say so and get it over with," she said. He’d always had something for her body, petite but fierce, curvy but strong. It was Bad Feminism 101, agreeing to sleep with a man in exchange for a job. And she knew that if the cooking staff ever found out about it she might be fired anyway, though the fact that she was still “just” a line cook would probably go a long way to mollify them. Other students could afford to travel to cities like New York to find jobs, but she was stuck in the suburban

nightmare of small-town America, where there was only one restaurant big enough to need multiple chefs. He came around the desk and planted his feet in front of her. She gulped, but she knew what he wanted her to do: she pulled her shoulders back, bringing her chest forward. He coughed. She began to unbutton her blouse. When that was finished she let him brush the silky fabric off her shoulders. "No bra," he said, cupping her breast as if he were gauging an orange. "You know how to get me." "What can I say?" she asked, gasping as he pushed his finger into her nipple. "I need the job." "You liked it, don't lie to me." "I need the job," she said, gritting her teeth. Both nipples, now--and it hurt, pure pain, no pleasure. He’d always had a thing for her breasts—they were on the large side, her nipples darker and contrasting more with her olive skin than most people expected. "I'm hurt," he said, pouting. "After everything I did for you." She kept her mouth shut, wondering if the job was really worth this. But his was literally the only place in town hiring at a wage that she and her mother could live on. "Suck my cock," he said. "On your knees," he added, pointing at the floor. She felt her face burning, but she got on her hands and knees. He pulled her skirt up over her ass, and beckoned her to follow him over to the full-length window. It wasn't a high rise but it was four stories above the street, and it was the middle of the workday, and as she took him in his mouth she tried to tell herself that nobody would be looking, and if they did look her hair was down, at least--they wouldn't recognize her. His cock was out already, meeting her when she pulled herself up. It was disappointingly normal—she couldn’t help but feel that a man with a personality as ugly as his ought to be a little deformed. He pulled her jaw open with his hands, and she felt the soft, fleshy tip tickle her gag reflex, and smelled the musky animal scent of him—and it took everything she had not to throw up right then and there—to stay there, her eyes watering at least as much from shame as from the difficulty she had in breathing. "You're so pretty when you're crying," Mark said, as he wiped away her tears with his thumb. "There we go. Yes, just like that, with your tongue—go round, yes—God—yes—you have the job--" ***

AS A CHILD NICOLE was convinced that her mother had some kind of ability to see into her mind and read her thoughts. The fact that she had always been a terrible liar had somehow never crossed her mind until she was seventeen. So when she came home that evening—having secured the job, at the very least— she still felt as if her mother somehow knew what she’d done, even though she knew it was inconceivable that her mother, housebound with the crippling pain of bone cancer, could have any idea about what she’d done to get the job. She’d signed the contract with the Aviary and that was that. She started the next day. There was nothing more to be said, nothing more to be done. After she pulled her clothes back on they’d signed the papers, and he shook her hand and dismissed her as if she was just a delivery person. She cried all the way home to her mother’s house, and realized that the worst part had only just begun: there was no way she could tell her mother about this. It was some kind of bone cancer, slow-growing but definitely metastatic. There was nothing the doctors could do except “keep her comfortable”, and even before Nicole opened the door she could smell the heavy, musky scent of the pot clinging to the air: Jordan, their weed dealer, was here. He was tall and lanky, with brown hair that stuck out at all angles, who dressed like a scarecrow, which made it hard for her to figure out how old he was. Her friend Leslie had been the one to put him in touch with them—pot was still illegal in their state, and in the three months that had elapsed since her mother’s diagnosis he’d proven himself to be friendly, kind, and trustworthy. He was sitting at the dining room table with her mother, a series of baggies laid out in on the table in front of them, with a stack of bills at one end of the line. “Hey there,” he said, when she stepped through the door. “Is everything all right?” “Great,” she said, forcing a smile. “I finally got that job.” Her mother nodded sleepily. “That’s nice, dear.” “I gave her a hit of Sandman’s Sleeper,” Jordan said. “On the house.” “Thanks,” Nicole said. She nodded at the bills. “Is that enough?” The prices fluctuated every time he came by. She chose blissful ignorance when it came to how he set the prices; she never had the impression that he was screwing them, at least, which was more than she could say for Mark. She set her bag down and helped her mother over to the couch. Jordan nodded. “I’ve got another batch of Pinky’s Pleasure curing now,” he said. “I should be able to deliver it in a week if you think it’d help.” She shrugged. “That’s all the cash we have,” she said. “I won’t get paid until next week, and God knows if it’ll be enough.”

“Jesus,” Jordan said. “Is there anything I can do?” She shook her head. “Not unless you can afford to give your product away for free,” she said, smiling wryly. “Sorry,” Jordan said. She shrugged and showed him to the door. He was a good guy, but it was basic economics: he needed to make money as much as she did. We all have to pay our own piper, she thought, as she watched him leave. The feeling of Mark’s hands on her body, the taste of him in her mouth, suppressed by Jordan’s presence, came back to her. The house was silent, and there was nothing between her soul and the memory of what had happened that afternoon, and after she closed and locked the door—after she made sure her mother was truly, deeply asleep—she slumped to the floor and let the hot waves of shame and pain wash over her. The tears came, slowly at first, but the repressive silence worked its way inside her head, like a knife, and she cried now—but silently. The things we do for love. It’d always been a banal platitude. This was the first time that she’d truly realized what it meant.

ONE WEEK LATER, Nicole came to the conclusion that it was either her or the job, but it couldn't be both. The job paid--that was all that could be said for it. Mark never set foot in the kitchen, but she could feel his influence with the guy who ran the kitchen, a guy (why did it always have to be a guy?) named Reginald Fiori, who refused to let her do anything more complicated than cutting vegetables--even when the kitchen was falling behind and needed another cook to help get the entrees out on time, even when she could time eggs and fry bread and toast garlic all at once, when the guy couldn’t multitask to save his life. But she hadn't taken two years of classes and learned the difference between a mince and a mirepoix just to spend her life deseeding avocadoes and chopping onions into a coarse dice. She knew her shit, damn it. It was sexism, plain and simple, and even the other cooks in the kitchen knew it. But Reginald was Mark's friend, and he wasn't going anywhere, not even after the head chef, a beefy guy named Drew, with muscles the size of bowling balls and sleeve tats, spoke to Mark about making her the sous. "I tried," Drew said, and coughed up a loogey--he was a chain-smoker of at least thirty years, and while he claimed to be using a patch these days, he still lit up on every break, and it was beginning to show. "Mark's the only pony in this one-horse town, though, so if he wants to dish it, we have to eat it."

By the end of the second week Nicole was going crazy; one of the line cooks, a guy with a shaved head and more pictures on him than a children’s book, had a coke dealer and even she ended up taking a hit or two so that she could finish her shift without collapsing--coffee didn't begin to cut through this kind of exhaustion. She'd known that line cooks were underappreciated and overworked--and Reginald ran his kitchen worse than most so that the overwork was doubled and the underappreciation was tripled. But she couldn't have anticipated that it would be this bad. And so, on her one day off she called her friend Leslie Wiles and begged her to make a moment and rescue her from the insanity of her workweek. "If I don't have someone to stop me from finishing a bottle of tequila right now I'm going to drink myself to death before the day is over," Nicole said. Leslie, being the best friend in the world, merely asked her to wait until she could get there before she started. Leslie owned her own tattoo studio. She worked under the name Clash and while most of her work was simple, cliched motifs that pandered to the sensibilities of most of her clients, she specialized in creating portraits and three-dimensional work so realistic that people sometimes threw up looking at it. They'd met by accident: a few years ago Nicole had come into her studio one drunken night, together with a kid named Brian. She couldn't remember why she and Brian had gotten drunk, much less why they thought that getting tattoos was a good idea, but they'd ended up together--Leslie was just closing up and while she didn't tattoo them she did bring out a bottle of vodka and that was that. Nicole still heard from Brian from time to time--he was doing work for NASA these days--but she and Leslie still got together almost every week to bitch about work and clients. Or in Nicole's case, school and the job she'd worked to offset the costs. "So, is it incompetence, assholery, or both?" Leslie asked as she pulled out a pair of tequila glasses. They were sitting at her mother's kitchen table, with the dainty floral wallpaper, lace curtains, and quaintly-worn country-style furniture that her mother favored. Nicole at least looked relatively normal in her jeans and t-shirt. Leslie, wearing black leather and kohl, her hair spiked and dyed blue, might as well have been an alien. "Both," Nicole said. "I don't know if I can stand a third week." "That bad?" "The owner is Mark." "Sheee-it." There wasn't much more that needed to be said after that. Leslie had been the one privy to the nightmare that was the one-and-a-half dates with Mark.

They tossed back their respective glasses of tequila in silence, slamming the glasses to the table with a firm “bang”. “Maybe you could do private work,” said Leslie, after a moment. “What?” “Well, you know—go to a bunch of rich people’s houses and make a bunch of food for them.” Is the tequila that strong? Nicole didn’t feel that drunk. “That’s a thing?” Leslie shrugged. “Rich people outsource everything, dontcha know? Anyway, it probably beats making second-rate guacamole for eight hours a day.” “It is so second-rate,” Nicole grumbled. That was the thing with the Aviary: for all that it pretended to be fancy, serving pommes frites instead of French fries, it was neither very good, nor very original, but in their town it was what counted as high-class dining, and most people didn’t know enough to know that they should be demanding better. “I’m sure there’s some website out there,” Leslie said, grinning. “Come on.” She pulled Nicole over to the little side table that Nicole used as her desk —these days an elaborate desk wasn’t needed, with everything stored in the cloud and what-not. Leslie turned on Nicole’s laptop and opened up the browser, and typed in “Private chef services” to the search bar. What came up was a bunch of erotic services. “Oh fuck no,” Nicole said. For a moment the memories of what Mark had made her do to earn the privilege of working like a dog in his kitchen threatened to overwhelm her. “I ain’t doing that shit.” “Let’s refine the search,” said Nicole cheerfully, adding “cooking” to the list of search terms. “There we go. See?” It was a website called “Tastemakers”, and it looked promising: no mention of erotic services, just a simple, straight-up cooking service you could sign up for. “Look,” said Leslie. “They do background checks of their clients and their chefs. Less chance of skeevy business. Do you have a nice picture?” “Hey, I never said I’d do this,” Nicole protested. “You’re fucking doing this,” Leslie said. “Because I’m not going to come by every week just to get drunk with you. I have other friends who need my alcoholic services, too, you know, and only one liver between you all. Now, what kind of food do you like to cook?” ***

THREE DAYS PASSED before Nicole got the chance to open her email. Her mother

had some kind of crisis that landed her in the county hospital for a day, so between shifts there was a lot of driving and very little sleeping. By the time Nicole was able to bring her mother home again she could swear that her mother had lost another ten pounds somehow. “Don’t worry,” her mother said, “I’m fine.” It was a lie, of course. Nicole could see her body falling apart in front of her eyes—in the blood that ended up in the toilet instead of urine, in the increasing number of foods that she could no longer handle. But all Nicole could say was, “Of course you are,” and keep tending to her as best she could. She was aware that it was a kind of denial—but telling her mother “At least” was still easier than saying “You can’t”. Nicole found herself seriously contemplating a trial with methamphetamines—Gerson, the kitchen’s coke connection, probably knew someone who dealt meth, too. It wouldn’t be too hard to get some and stay awake for days. Early one morning, after she finished filing the insurance claims, her email alerted to twenty-six new messages, most of them from Tastemakers. A shot of excitement went through her—this could be her ticket out of this exhausting, grinding life. She opened the first one: an email from a mother who wanted someone to prepare “healthy, vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy-free, kid-friendly foods for my family of five, and one child won’t eat anything squishy, so no tomatoes, mushrooms, eggs (unless they’re hard-boiled)…” Nicole deleted it. There were emails that she was certain were trolls, because there was no way a human could exist on the restrictions that they had: people who wanted grain-free, fat-free, vegan diets (she was tempted to write back, “lettuce”) and people on all-liquid diets who needed organic juices enhanced with things like spirulina, which she actually had to look up. Delete, delete, delete. And then there were the assortment of emails from men who clearly had every interest in sex and none at all in food. Just how many ways are there to say, “I want to eat your pussy?” She had some seven messages like this—she flagged them all. There was one email that gave her pause for a moment—the guy was clearly treating Tastemakers like a dating website, saying, “I’m a sensitive, caring man who’d love nothing more than to spend a little time with you in the kitchen,” going on to add how he was looking for a long-term thing and how he thought their tastes meshed with each other. He was probably right —but a new relationship didn’t pay the bills, and that was what she signed up for. Delete, delete, delete. At long last there was a message from a man by the name of GoodFood

who wrote that he liked fine food and good wine, would she like to come over and cook for him? And the money he promised her was nearly double what she’d asked for—which was already double what she was getting paid from Mark. His profile picture was that of a man standing in a doorway, back-lit so that he was silhouette, but there was no question that his suit was impeccably tailored. “I can be there in two days,” she wrote back. That was her day off. At least she’d be doing work that she liked. A message was returned almost instantaneously: “Good. Let me know what you need to make a three-course dinner, butter chicken and lemon rice, ratatouille, onion-and-anchovy pie, and General Tso chicken (for storing to eat later), and three healthy and portable lunches.” Jesus, she thought. This guy is not kidding. “Give me about a hour,” she wrote back. Thank God for the Internet, she thought as she fervently looked up recipes for everything. She knew, generally, how to make everything—it was a question of spice and proportion and flavor profiles that varied. And as for healthy, portable, and flavorful lunches, well, that was what Pinterest was for. She found some delicious Middle-Eastern foods that would taste good and keep for a few days. Based on the foods he was requesting he had a diverse and varied palate—he would appreciate something bright and bold, tangy and crispy. Creating the perfect recipe was as much about complementing textures as it was about melding flavors, something most cooks couldn’t appreciate, and as her imagination ran riot she found herself wanting to make more, do more. Stick with the job at hand, she reminded herself. If he wanted someone to tell him what he wanted he’d be paying for a dominatrix, not a cook. She sent him the list of ingredients she needed. It was long, and at first she paled when she wrote out everything she needed—but then she reasoned that a man who was willing to pay her four times what she was making as a minimum-wage slave probably wasn’t hurting for money to get the ingredients. And his profile said that he wanted good food—it didn’t say anything about being on a budget. Just for kicks she added her list of wine recommendations to pair with the foods. She’d nailed the wine part of her culinary school; she might as well use her hard-won knowledge somehow, right? The reply was a few minutes in coming this time: “Very good. Everything will be ready. Address will be forthcoming.” When she turned off the computer, Nicole found herself breathing a sigh of relief. This job could be her ticket out of the minimum-wage drudgery. At the

very least, she could cook again. That night, she found herself sharpening her knives with glee.

WORK the next day was a breeze. It was amazing how tolerable Reginald’s bumbling incompetence was when she knew she had a way out. She ended up taking over Reginald’s job, on top of doing the prep work that she had to do, because even when she was distracted with line work she still managed to get the dishes out on time and hot. She even said, “To hell with it,” and re-made the second-rate guacamole so that it was creamy and fresh and delicious, setting up the line so that it could be made quickly, and to order. It went over so well that they ran out of avocados before the night was over. Drew gave her a nod of approval, and during the after-closing meal, the staff toasted her and ignored Reginald’s protests. It’d been a great service, and Drew sighed and said, “I wish you didn’t have a day off tomorrow.” Reginald almost fired Drew on the spot, but the rest of the crew started applauding and when the tips were factored in they all made nearly double their wages. Tough shit. The address that Mr. GoodFood had given her was a good thirty-minute drive, so she started off early the next morning, after making sure her mother was comfortable. “I wish you could stay home,” her mother said. The weakness of her grasp startled Nicole but she tried not to let it show. “I’ve got to pay Jordan somehow,” Nicole said, smiling. “You’re so sweet,” her mother had said. “You’re my mother,” Nicole had said. The nausea, the vomiting, the listlessness—her mother was getting worse, there was no two ways about it. As she drove along she had to wonder how much longer her mother had. One month, maybe two? The last few weeks were the hardest—that was what the doctors had told her, when the pot stopped working, and there was no relief from the relentless progress of the cancer as it destroyed the body one cell at a time. Death by a thousand cuts—and the worst part was that the body would keep fighting for as long as it was able to. The body didn’t know how to give up, even if the mind did. The GPS unit pinged, jarring her out of her sadness. “In 300 feet, turn left.” Where the fuck am I? She was now in farm country—you could go fifteen minutes without seeing a single house, just corn or soybeans on all sides. Her gut began to stir, mildly alarmed: if Mr. GoodFood was some kind of serial killer there would be no hope for her. The things we do for money, she thought, swallowing. The little arrow on

her GPS was still following the pink path, though, so she kept driving. There were trees on either side of the road, screening her view, but as she followed the turn she saw the house, rising out of the hill. It was a gray slate house with black shingles—and solar panels, she noticed—and white shutters, with a wraparound porch that had a quaint porch swing in one corner. There was a standalone garage off to one side of the house, and a shed behind it. Mr. GoodFood was standing on the porch, drinking from the glass, watching her as she pulled up to the house. He was wearing a sweater and worn jeans. He had startling, ice-blue eyes, neat blond hair, and square jaw looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t remember where she’d seen his face before. He could have been one of the extras on Law & Order—he was certainly handsome enough for it—but she didn’t think acting paid well enough to own a house like this one. “Miss Peart,” he said, as she got out of her car. “I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage,” she said. “I don’t know your name.” He blinked, as if he were surprised that there were people out there who didn’t know who he was. A lump of fear stuck in her throat: had she managed to offend him already? “Then you can keep calling me Mr. GoodFood,” he said, after a moment. “Mr. Good, actually—it sounds less ridiculous.” “Mr. Good it is,” she said, smiling nervously as she exhaled a sigh of relief. Not fired yet. She got her cutting boards and knifes from the trunk and followed him inside. “Did you really study at Billingsgate?” he asked. “I did,” she said, sensing a test. “They invite Michel Roux Jr. to give a talk every year. He’s the reason why I spent three months understanding sugar.” He didn’t smile so much as show his teeth. She wondered if she’d said something offensive again “So why are you on Tastemaker?” he asked. “I’d imagine that a graduate of Billingsgate would have no problem finding a place in New York.” The insinuation was clear: that she’d failed. She debated telling him about her mother—but then again, he didn’t seem like a family man. She could imagine him saying, “Well, why don’t you just let her die then?” just as easily as saying something canned but appropriately sympathetic, and neither of those were what she needed to hear right now. She muttered something noncommittal about family. “So,” she said, brightly. “Where’s everything?” He said, “Follow me.” The inside of the house looked like something out of Country Living. The living room was done in painted wood furniture and seafoam green—and all of it looked impressively expensive. Nothing out of

the IKEA catalogue here. There were actual pressed flowers framed in the walls. Nicole began to wonder if he actually lived here, or if he just rented a model house. There weren’t any pictures of family members on the walls. You’ve got a chance, he’s probably still single. Wait, what? Stop. You’re not here to get laid. But you could be. She found herself blushing and tried to think about something else— anything else—to get her mind off of him. He did have a very nice body—the sweater and jeans hid everything but the way he moved left little to the imagination. It was a good thing that she was behind him. “This is the kitchen,” he said, opening a door. The space opened into a beautifully light and airy kitchen. There were no cabinets on the walls, everything was on open shelves. “It’s pretty self-explanatory,” he said, after a moment. The pots and pans hung from hooks all along the wall above the stove. “Baking utilities in here,” he said, opening one set of drawers, showing a series of Pyrex baking dishes, muffin tins, and cake tins nested inside each other. “Mise en place containers are here,” he said, showing her another drawer, full of bowls of various sizes. “Spatulas and other cooking utensils are here.” There was another drawer inside that one, where a series of spatulas, tasting spoons, wire whisks, graters, thermometers, and everything a cook would need were sitting neatly. “Electronic things are here,” he added, opening a door to reveal a food processor, a blender, a stand mixer. Everything was professional grade—she felt her heart skip a beat as she saw the Kenwood logo. Heaven. “You know a lot about cooking,” she said, as she pulled on her apron. “I know a lot about food,” he corrected her, scowling critically. She wondered what she’d said that was so wrong. There go your chances of a nice tip. “Is everything clear?” he asked. “Yes,” she said. “I hope—” “Then I’ll leave you to it,” he said, abruptly. “I have to go take care of a few things in the city. Make sure dinner is ready at six.” For a moment she thought he was kidding. She was a perfect stranger, in his beautiful house—and he was just going to leave her? “One last thing—the wines are in the base of the vitrine closet, along with the service.” She nodded, still speechless with surprise. She watched him pull out of the driveway and drive off. Well, at least we know he’s not a serial killer. That was all that could be said for him. She didn’t have to like him to cook for him, though—as long as he paid.

***

IT WAS a good thing that he wanted a lot of food: it kept her hands busy and the seven things she had going at once kept her mind too occupied to think about her mother. She felt it again—the pure joy of a job well-done as the sauces came together in that perfect blend of silkiness and flavor, the meat came out perfectly browned with that delicious crust. Most people thought of cooking as grunt-work, repetitive and boring and dull, but she’d always been fascinated by the transformation of food into art. The ratatouille held its shape when she turned it out, beautifully showcasing the layered vegetables and their colors. The lunches she’d prepared were wholesome, filling, jars of layered salads and tangy dressings, thin crackers layered with shredded chicken breast mixed with a homemade tampenade of dried tomatoes, olive oil, and lemon zest. Everything was neatly packed away in glass containers that she put in the refrigerator, making sure to plate them beautifully. All told, once everything was frozen, there were enough meals for two weeks—which was right around the time when she’d have to get her mother more pot. He came back at six, as he’d said he would, but she was so engrossed in finishing the preparations for the dinner that when he appeared in the kitchen she nearly jumped. “Sorry,” she gasped, setting down the pan she was holding. “You startled me. I hope you weren’t waiting long.” He just cocked his head and looked at her with a funny expression. “It’s my house. I can wait as long as I want to. Is everything ready?” he asked. “It is,” she said, nodding—she needed to nuke the first course but there was enough time for that. But she could feel the seed of nervousness that had been planted that morning sprouting like wildfire again. He stood, watching her, and after a minute she finally couldn’t take his cold stare. Was he angry? Or did he want to say something? “Show me,” he said. It took a moment for her to realize that he wanted her to show him to his seat. “Right,” she said, sliding the glass of consommé in to the microwave. “Right this way,” she said, thanking God that she’d had the foresight to set the table: he had some very nice china and silverware, and she’d found some silver candlesticks and white candles in the vitrine closet. She pulled out the chair and he sat down. He nodded, satisfied. “Just a minute,” she said, and went back to get the first course. For dinner that night she’d made him a consommé to start with, a dark rich broth garnished with a few green rings of spring onion on top. She

tried to keep her hands from shaking as she presented him with the glass. “Are you nervous?” he asked. “Yes,” she said. “Is it good?” She should have expected this odd, abrupt line of questioning by now, but the way he asked her still set her on edge. “I hope you like it,” she said. “You didn’t answer the question.” “I—” she began, but her nerves got the better of her and she backed out of the room. She heard him sigh and murmur, “I’ve been looking forward to his all day.” She didn’t want to be the annoying personal chef who stands in the corner waiting for a verdict, but she couldn’t help throwing a backwards glance at him as she headed back into the kitchen. A smile played about his lips as he drank down the contents of the glass slowly, his eyes closed, the better to savor the rich meatiness of the broth. Well, he’s a connoisseur, at least, she thought. She’d already figured that he was rich—a person didn’t own a house this big and gorgeous without a substantial fortune, though she was surprised that his car was a standard, runof-the-mill black Honda Civic. But her time at Billingsgate had taught her that money didn’t mean a thing when it came to appreciation, so she was glad that he at least seemed to appreciate that the broth had been concentating for 8 hours on the stove. She plated the seared scallop on a bed of chicory lettuce, dressed with a lemon-dill sauce, and served with a coil of homemade linguini tossed in butter infused with just a touch of garlic and rosemary. When she stepped out to serve the main course and collect the glass, she thought at first that he’d fallen asleep—his eyes were closed, and he was sitting very still. She set the plate down on the table and silently leaned over to collect his empty glass. His hand shot out and grabbed her wrist. “That was an experience,” he said, but she almost didn’t hear his words through the deafening roar in her ears as her mind took her back to that disastrous job interview with Mark. Her knees buckled—she collapsed against him, her breath coming in short gasps. Damn it, she thought, swallowing and trying to force herself back to her feet. But her body remembered, even if her mind remained blissfully divorced from it. He got up and helped her to her feet, gently. “Is something the matter?” There was something different in his voice. He almost sounded like he cared—as if he were actually capable of caring for someone else as a human being. Her mind felt like a bulb that was on the verge of burning out, working

only in fits and starts, as she tried to understand where this sudden concern was coming from. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I shouldn’t have grabbed you like that.” “No,” she agreed. “That was bad.” There was a moment of awkward silence between them. Finally he sat down again, and she set the plate down in front of him. He picked up his knife and fork and cut into the pearly white flesh of the scallop. She backed out of the room, leaving him just as he put a neat wedge of it into his mouth. His eyes rolled back in his head as he chewed and smiled. She hoped that was enough to make up for the misstep. It wasn’t your fault. Touching wasn’t part of the deal. After she served him dessert he came into the kitchen while she was putting the last of the dishes into the dishwasher. She’d cleaned up all of the other pots and pans, and returned everything back to their place—she’d always worked mise en place so the final cleanup never did take too long, something that she’d started drilling into the staff at the Aviary. How the kitchen had ever managed to survive as long as it had was beyond her! “You’re very good,” he said, watching her from the entrance. He held a glass of red wine in his hand, swirling it. “Thank you,” she said, closing the dishwasher and starting it. This was the part where he’d give her the money—she hoped. “It was five-hundred, right?” he asked. She nodded. “Here,” he said, reaching into the pocket of his jeans. He pulled out a fat envelope. “There’s a little extra for a job well-done.” “Thank you,” she said, taking it. It felt ask if there was something more he wanted to say, but he just stared at her with those cold blue eyes of his and after a moment she scurried out, not knowing what else to do. Didn’t people usually say, “Can you come back?” and then make another appointment? Was he lying when he praised her cooking? Did she really seem that delicate that she couldn’t handle the truth? Tears welled up in her eyes as she drove home. Maybe she had fucked this up, after all. Maybe he was lying to her—that he hated her cooking. Maybe she was lying to herself—she’d never be anything more than a line cook pulling ten and twelve-hour shifts seventy dollars a day. By the time she got home her mother had turned off the light and gone to bed, apparently. The house was dark. She opened the envelope Mr. Good had given her—it would be nice to have a number to tell her mother when she came in to break the news—and began counting.

There was a thousand dollars in it. For a moment she thought that she’d miscounted, but no: there were ten Franklins in it. So he did like her cooking—he wasn’t lying. Her hands were shaking again as she put the envelope in her purse, from the relief this time. She’d made more than ten times what she’d normally make in a day. If this kept up she could probably quit at the Aviary. Serves ‘em right. She couldn’t wait to tell her mother, but the moment she set foot in her house she realized that there was something wrong. The silence was too much —the stillness was overwhelming. There was something odd about the fact that there was nothing out of place, and as she went through the house, and up the stairs, she realized that there was something very, very wrong. She was on the verge of screaming for her mother when she saw her—lying in bed, her face slack—dead. Strangely, she didn’t panic. She didn’t even cry. Her body moved into her mother’s bedroom and drew the blanket up to her chin. She found a note on the nightstand.

“NICOLE, I love you. I know I don’t have much time left. I don’t want to be the one holding you back from your dreams. The things you do for me are the things that no daughter should ever do for her mother. I’m so proud of you. You’ll do well. Let me go. I’ll be at peace soon. No more pain.” What am I supposed to do with this? Nicole sank to the floor, the despair of loss overwhelming the triumph of achievement. Her mother, in such great despair that she’d taken her own life somehow—and all she could think of was something as crass as making money? I’m such an awful daughter. She wanted to cry, but she couldn’t—it would’ve all been crocodile tears at this point, because she wouldn’t have been crying for her mother, but for herself. “I’m sorry, Mom,” she whispered. The silence was the only answer she got.

BEFORE AND AFTER THE FUNERAL, Nicole felt nothing—she moved through her days on the line like a zombie, chopping stuff and arranging it and then sending it on down the line. When her fellow cooks didn’t work mise en place, she couldn’t summon up the anger to correct them; when Reginald floundered at the peak dinner service, she just watched him from across the kitchen, her eyes dead do the world. Drew took her aside. “What’s the matter?” asked Drew.

“My mother died,” she’d answered. “Whoa. That’s tough.” But was it? Was it really that hard when she felt nothing? Her mother, whisked from her by an accidental overdose of pain medications (so ruled the medical examiner, on account of the pain she must have been in—Nicole had kept the note to herself), had gone so quickly that the grief of her loss still hadn’t caught up to her yet. In the meantime, the funeral happened—Nicole was sure she was the one to make the arrangements and pick out the flowers and send out the funeral notices, but she didn’t feel as if she were the one controlling it all—and she went back on the line and that was that. She noticed people giving her space, and she knew that that was what she was supposed to take, even if that wasn’t what she needed. Even Mark was a bit less smug on the rare occasions that they ran into each other in the parking lot. He even said, “Sorry.” But what did she need? She didn’t know. She went to work, came home, made Hamburger Helper or baloney on white bread, slept, and went to work. One day followed the other, but she barely noticed, until she was out of bread. Once she showed up at work and Drew, surprised, told her to go home. “It’s your day off,” he told her. She checked her calendar and realized that it was, in fact, her day off. It’d been a long time since she’d looked at her phone, she realized. The first few days after her mother’s death, she’d gotten so many condolences that she shut off her phone and refused to touch her computer. After those first few days it’d simply never occurred to her to turn it back on. She’d missed 164 calls. Nicole turned around and went home. Leslie had come by in her absence and left another casserole dish on the front step, with a little hand-drawn card. She picked it up and scraped the contents into the trash, washed out the baking dish, and added it to the pile of Pyrex growing on her counter. In the days since the funeral she’d eaten little more than cereal and apples—it wasn’t a matter of skill, it was the fact that she couldn’t care enough to do it. She’d lost her last moments with her mother, because she wanted to make money—because she wanted to be happy. The oppressive silence in the house was a balm to her soul. She thought, not for the first time, about drinking the entire contents of the liquor closet, but the fact that it required getting a glass and then finding the bottle seemed to be too much work. She couldn’t manage it, slipping into a restless sleep on the sofa instead. She awoke to the sound of someone knocking at the door. What? It’d been three weeks since her mother died and ten days since the funeral—the well-

wishers had long since stopped coming. She considered staying on the couch until her shift tomorrow, but then the banging became more insistent, and then she remembered that her car was out front. She couldn’t deny that she wasn’t home. Nicole sighed but she dragged herself off the sofa and over to the door. It was probably Leslie, come to collect her baking dishes. She flung open the door, saying, “They’re on the counter, go help yourself.” “What’s on the counter?” It was Mr. Good. For a moment Nicole was shocked out of her stupor. He handed her a box of chocolates. “I was told you were going through a hard time,” he said. “I would have brought flowers but I think it’s a little late for that.” “Thank you,” she said, hollowly. He was looking at her expectantly, and she realized that he still expected her to follow the script of politeness. Really? But then she found that her manners were coming back to her. Invite him in, make tea. “Would you like to come in?” “Yes,” he said. “I don’t mean to impose, but I’m very busy and I wanted to define our business relationship.” He sat down on her chair, uninvited—Nicole bristled but decided that there were worse things he could do. Besides, he’d paid her double the amount they’d agreed upon last time. She needed the money, there were no two ways about that. There were other bills to pay, even if she hadn’t quite gotten around to doing them just yet. “Tea?” she asked. “Only if you make it the English way,” he said. “I can’t stand the way Americans make tea.”

“You mean in a Styrofoam cup?” she asked. He looked horrified. “I’m kidding,” she said, “but you do know that most English people drink their tea out of Styrofoam cups, right?” He frowned. “I’ll have to go back to London and see if that’s true,” he said. She poured boiling water into the kettle and cups, to heat them up first. Then she set another pot to the boil—this would be what the tea actually steeped in. “It’s so nice to finally know someone who can cook,” he said. “I’d like to ask you to come and work for me as my private chef.” She blinked, surprised. A private chef? “There are some friends of mine who would also enjoy your culinary services,” he added. “Between the four of us you could make a pretty penny. More than Mark Tremain pays you, at any rate.” “I was working for you when my mother died,” she said, hoarsely. “I don’t think I could—” His face softened and he said, “I had no idea.” “I didn’t, either.” The accusation stood between them, unspoken—that somehow he’d caused the state of her life now: if she’d only been at home instead of chasing dollars, if she’d only had fewer things to do, if only…then her mother would still be alive. She expected him to be flippant, cold. Based on what she knew about him, Mr. Good was hardly an example of compassion. But to her surprise, he got up and went over to her, and after a moment, he hugged her, holding her close. It felt good. Something about the way he held her, the quiet desperation of his hold, suggested that he’d once lost someone, too. He wasn’t just holding her to show sympathy—she’d gotten a lot of sympathetic hugs over the past three weeks, and they all felt fake and forced. When he broke away she felt stronger, better—and was it just the light, or were his eyes watery? He blinked them away before she could be sure. “How did you find me?” she asked. It seemed a safer topic than to ask him who he’d lost. He shrugged. “Logic dictates that you were reasonably local—and as you attended Billingsgate that increased the odds of you living in Starwood significantly. Starwood is far enough from New York to make pursuing a culinary career there difficult, if not impossible for someone with familial obligations. After that it was merely a matter of ascertaining which restaurant you worked for and paying the managing chef a few dollars to give me your address.”

“That’s stalking,” she said, teasing now. He shrugged. “You’re free to call the police if you wish,” he said. “I mean you no harm—but you have no idea how hard it is to find good food out here. I truly wanted to see if you were interested in doing private work for me, primarily, and a few of my friends.” The kettle began to shriek, pulling her out of the lull that his voice had put her in. He’s asking me to work for him. That’s what you wanted, isn’t it? I can’t. Not yet. “I understand that this may not be an opportune moment,” he added. “A death in the family is never easy.” “Okay, stop,” she cried. “What’s up with you?” she demanded. “You ask me to your house to cook for you, barely say three sentences to me, put me though a PTSD throwback, give me a thousand dollars, and then fall off the face of the earth for three weeks—” “I did try to contact you through Tastemaker,” he said. “You weren’t answering.” Oh yeah…she shut her mouth, feeling her stomach curdle at how wrong she’d been. What would he think of her now? “You’re creeping me out,” she said, finally. To her surprise he lowered his eyes and took a deep breath. When he spoke again his voice was soft, apologetic, even though his words were still oddly stilted and formal: “I’m sorry. I sometimes forget that I’m not negotiating contracts with other ruthless bastards. You have to realize—the business I’m in is ‘kill or be killed’ all the way to the top, so please, feel free to remind me that I’m being a jerk.” ‘The business I’m in’—the phrase reminded her of where she’d seen his face before. Suddenly the name came to her: “Zachary Spencer,” she gasped. Her eyes went round, and she felt her heart fluttering: he was the CEO of MasterClass Enterprises, whose nickname in the Forbes business journal was “Iceman” because he was reputed to freeze the balls off of his competitors and rivals with a stare. She’d seen his picture a few times in the New York Eats magazines that were strewn throughout Billingsgate’s campus, standing next to the chefs he’d helped fund and build into stardom. That man was sitting in her living room, asking her if she wanted to come work for him as a private chef? He was smiling now, his lips quirking into a resigned smile. “Well, don’t go telling everybody,” he said, with a wry smile on his face. “There’s a reason I drive a Civic.” “But—but you could hire any of the dozens of cooks—” “That I helped get started? Sure. They make good food—great food, even.

But I want more than good food. I want you,” he said. “I want someone who gets me, you understand?” She found herself nodding stupidly, not entirely sure she understood. He continued, “I saw you working the last time: the heart, the skill, the passion— that’s what expect from any place that I eat at. But the way you seasoned that broth, the artistry with which you arranged the ratatouille—the fact that you understood how I wanted everything without me having to lay it out for you— that’s something that not everybody gets, not even Frank Seville. You understand what I want—and I’m willing to pay for that.” And then, unexpectedly—yet-not-unexpectedly, he kissed her, his lips pressing against hers in a way that shot a bolt of passion straight into the core of her being, kickstarting something deep inside. It was just a little spark of feeling, but after the numbness of the past three weeks a little seemed like the world, and she found herself returning the kiss—she didn’t realize that her body had missed the heat of passion and drive so much—she didn’t realize how much she missed feeling that burning need to create something until she felt his hands on her breasts and realized that she was the one who’d made him feel that way —she was the one who’d incited him to this—and she could be the one to make him do things. All she had to do— He hoisted her up onto the counter, and all she could think was, Inside me, now. She slid her jeans over her hips and he did the same with his trousers, and their bodies came together with a single desperate purpose—her thighs were slick and hot and he sprang out of his pants like a jack-in-the-box and no words were needed to convey their mutual need for each other. The ache of him being inside her opened a new layer of longing in her—a need as basic as breathing, a need she could only fulfill if he were deeper, if he thrust harder, if he— There. The world fell away—gone was the fact that they were having sex in her kitchen, gone was the fact that he was a billionaire with a small-town girl who had nothing but big dreams. For the first time in a long time, she felt alive, as if the universe were bleeding into her, infusing her with life, and all of the messy, torrid emotions that came with it. His body twitched. She could feel the cum running out of her, the coolness of the trail down her legs jarring her back into the world as he groaned and leaned into her. His legs buckled, and she eased him to the floor. The pettiness of the world came back to her—what to do about him, should she make him soup, would he mind sleeping on her couch, she hadn’t changed the sheets of her mother’s bed for three weeks (she’d changed them after they took the body

away, but not since—nobody was sleeping there)—but for once it stopped being so irritating and just…was. Suddenly the idea of getting glasses and emptying out her liquor cabinet seemed entirely possible—and she recognized it for the bad idea it was. She moved him to the couch. He stirred sleepily. “What was that?” he asked, as she poured out the tea. “Hell if I know,” she said. He looked at her with a faintly puzzled and bemused expression. “I need you,” he said, hoarsely. Nicole nodded. “When do you want me to start?”

NEW YORK CITY was a two-hour drive, which was bad enough, but the cost of parking in addition to the gas made driving there prohibitively expensive. But she was going to spend a weekend in Zachary Spencer’s penthouse, cooking dinner for him, meals for the next two weeks again, and a party he was giving, so taking three hours by bus wasn’t such an ordeal when viewed in that context. “I’ll take a hotel if you want,” he’d said, “but there are two bedrooms, and the door locks work.” “I’ll trust you,” she’d said. She was eager to pretend that she was living in a penthouse for a little while, anyway—being able to live the fantasy of having a kitchen outfitted to the nines and anything she wanted, regardless of whether it was in season or on sale, was something that she couldn’t pass up again. They hadn’t spoken of what transpired between them at all for the entire week—if someone were to hack their emails they’d never guess that they’d even had sex at all. He’d disappeared back to his house (a “summer cottage”, he called it—if a grand house like that was a cottage she wondered what a mansion was to him) and when he was online it was only to ask her if she needed any help getting to New York of advising her where to buy things that she might need. And yet, for some reason, the cool, strictly-professional tone of their communications seemed only more proof to her that whatever was between them was real. But was it, though? Now, as she watched the small towns become suburbs and the suburbs blend into the Bronx, she felt something stirring in her blood— excitement, or something damn close. Her feelings weren’t dead, after all— Zach had managed to awaken her emotions that had been lying dormant for such a long time, but so far she’d only felt pleasure, joy, satisfaction, anger. It was strange, experiencing the totality of each emotion as if for the first time— there were nuances to the anger she felt when Reginald cocked up the service

again that were subtly different from the rage she felt whenever she saw Mark in the parking lot, for example. Subtleties that she’d normally blanket over became starkly clear, now—and she could feel her new insights itching to make it onto the menu plans for the next few days. She still had no idea what she wanted to make for him—he’d given her a credit and carte blanche over everything—and she spent the ride on the bus writing out recipe ideas, keeping track of flavors and textures. The art of balancing a menu was a fine one—by the time the bus dropped her off in Penn Central she still had no idea what she was going to make for anything, but she did have the idea of the emotions she wanted to evoke. It was just a question of how she would do it. Zachary Spencer’s penthouse was the top two floors of one of the brownstones with a view of Central Park, and as she set down her bag and took stock of everything that was in the kitchen, she realized just how much she’d needed this job: her mind had been working full-tilt to finish the menus that she was creating for him, and as she took the reusable bags and the shopping trolley (she felt vaguely ridiculous, but her shopping list was long, and it was better to have too much storage capacity and not use it than to need it and not have enough) down the elevator it seemed as if a fog had lifted from her mind, and she was suddenly able to enjoy the anticipation of the challenge, and feel that ache that she’d yet to acknowledge. The grief hit her in the elevator, then: all the tears that she hadn’t cried, all the sadness she hadn’t felt, welling up inside her and coming out, coloring her emotions a strange shade of blue that she didn’t know she was capable of. How could the sun go on shining? How could she keep going in the face of the totality of her loss? Strangely enough, she found herself wishing that he could be here for her, now. The memory of his arms around her was the only thing that kept her together long enough to make it to one of the overstuffed chairs in the lobby of the building, and sit, and cry. She had to sit for a while in the lobby, and let the grief wash over her—it was cathartic, in a way, finally being able to feel everything that she knew she should have felt. It was there, it was gone, and the traces it left in her heart felt like little vacant holes, but instead of feeling empty, she found herself looking forward to filling them—with the passion, the artistry, the love, that drove her cooking. Her mother had died; it was time to move forward. Suddenly the menu she’d been planning, as elaborate as it was, seemed trite, boring. She looked through her notes—what had she been thinking, watercress sandwiches and shrimp quiches? Everybody did that. If she wanted to impress him and his rich hoity-toity clients (she was under the impression that this party was not for friends) then she’d have to pull out all of her tricks.

Blini with caviar was impressive but expected. She had to be both impressive and unexpected—to leave a taste in the people’s mouths that left them hungry for more. By the time she looked up again it was late in the afternoon. So much for shopping, she thought. But she could at least get the ingredients she needed to cook him dinner. He called his tastes “simple”, which didn’t necessarily mean that the dishes were simple. She understood that he liked a strong “middle” in his flavors—if flavors were like music, Zach liked it when the base was subtle and the finish mild, with the starring notes the ones in the middle. She was making the sauce for the tuna ceviche when he came in. “Is it ready?” he asked, sitting down at the dining table. There was a spectacular view of Central Park and the bedrock that jutted out from the hills, and as he poured out the wine that she’d set out for hi “Almost,” she said, giving the vinaigrette a final whisk and then drizzling it over the delicate slices of fish, topping it off with a cloud of sprouted alfafa that had been dusted with an ever-so-slight-touch of chili pepper. “There we go.” She wiped the plate clean of fingerprints and brought it to him. He sighed, “Exceptional,” and picked up his fork. Suddenly he frowned. “Why don’t you join me?” he asked. “Me?” she asked. “Is there anybody else in this suite? Don’t you like me?” “I do,” she protested. “I just—we never talked about what happened last week—” “We had sex,” he said. Well, yes. “But you didn’t say you wanted a relationship.” “I am paying you, am I not?” She nodded, unsure of where he was going with this. “Is that not a relationship?” he asked. Nicole blinked, flustered. “Then what was that about you needing me?” she asked, feeling the hot flush of anger creep over her face. He scowled, the coldness in his stare startling her. She suddenly understood why he was called “Iceman”, sometimes even to his face. “I have high standards,” he said. “Not everybody meets them. I’ve been longing to hire a personal chef for a while, now. You understood it to mean business, didn’t you? Isn’t that why you asked me for your start date?” All she could do was stare at him wordlessly. She remembered how that kiss he’d given her had awakened her, how it’d made her feel alive again. Did that mean nothing to him? “The kiss?” That was all she could bring herself to

say. If he says it meant nothing to him, I swear, I’m leaving him. “You were in pain,” he said, slowly. “And I—” “It did mean something to you,” she burst out, the anger in her voice surprising even her. “Don’t deny it.” It was his turn to stare at her, but the look in his eyes was pain, now— something about the way she’d spoken had hurt him. No, no—she didn’t want to hurt him—she wanted him to realize how badly he was hurting her when he denied that the kiss and everything that followed in the kitchen had anything to do with why she was here, now. “I’m not asking you to love me or anything,” she said. “I just need to know that it meant as much to you as it did to me.” “It meant the world to me,” he said, standing up, now. “I’m sorry—I didn’t understand what you meant. I just—I’m not very good at understanding women,” he said, babbling now. “I mean—I did kiss you because you were in pain—but yes, what happened after—when you asked for your start date—I just thought you wanted this,” he said, indicating the space between them. “I thought you wanted to be my employee—and that was all I was looking for.” “Don’t you ever want anything more?” she asked, puzzled now. “I’ve learned better,” he said. There was a bitter edge to his voice that suggested some sordid story. She waited—and then she wondered what she was waiting for, it wasn’t as if he was going to tell her. He sat down again and took a deep breath. “Please, join me,” he said. “I would like your company for the evening. I only rarely have guests.” She frowned as she plated her own ceviche and chili-kissed sprouts and took a seat next to him—it was a much, much smaller portion, mostly because she’d been tasting along the way and because she hadn’t planned on joining him and so had only shopped for one person. “I thought you went out to eat all the time,” she said. “Your picture is always in New York Eats—” His lips twitched into a smile as he poured out a glass of wine for her. “Yes,” he said. “I have clients that I woo at the restaurants that I have stakes in, but that’s not the same as having a guest.” Damn, that’s a good wine, she thought, sipping it. She chose her wines for the evening carefully, but the quality of the bottles surpassed even her expectations. She watched him take a bite of the raw fish. He closed his eyes as he chewed, his jaw working slowly. “The chili is a revelation,” he said, opening his eyes and looking at her. “You really know how the flavors work together.” She smiled. “I did go to Billingsgate,” she reminded him. He smiled back at her—a real smile this time, one that seemed to suggest that he was happy. A question that had been on her mind for the past week popped into her head.

“Do you like me?” she asked. “I wouldn’t ask you to sit with me unless I did,” he said, as if it should have been obvious. “I know,” she said. “But you—one minute you’re all business, the next minute you’re kissing me like I’ve never been kissed, one minute I’m your personal chef, the next I’m invited along for a date—you can see why it’s a little confusing.” “Why is it confusing to like someone for doing a good job?” he asked. “Especially if you’re paying them the rates that I’m paying you?” “That’s not it,” she said. “I’m just not comfortable being both an employee and—well, maybe-possibly-kinda-sorta your girlfriend.” The look of bewilderment on his face kept him silent long enough for her to sear the steak (Argentinian beef, aged six months) and plate it and the salad of dark greens and a parsnip puree—classic, simple, but elegant. She brought the plates out to the table, as well as the bottle of cabernet sauvignon. He’d brought out the red wine glasses while she was searing the steak. “I’m sorry to have put you in that position,” he said, as he cut a slice of the steak, dipped it in the jus, and put it into his mouth. “Delicious,” he said. “I’d just like some more clarity as to what I am to you,” she said. He leaned back in his chair and paused for a moment. “What would you like to be?” he asked, passing the decision back to her. His eyes had gone cold again, but his throat was strangely tense, as he watched her eat. He was afraid—but of what? And it was fear, too— measured, contained, but fear nonetheless. He wasn’t hoping that she would choose one or the other—she could read hope; a man with hope in his heart did not hide behind eyes as cold as ice. “Tell me about her,” she said. “What?” The way he shouted it made her jump, even though she’d expected he’d do as much. “I know what you’re like as an employer,” she said, even as her stomach and body began to quiver. “I need to know what you’re like as a boyfriend, before I can make a decision.” “Well, I’ll make it easy for you, then,” he snapped. He pulled out his wallet and counted out another thousand dollars, and shoved them across the table. “Get out of my house,” he said. It took everything she had not to lose her composure as she pushed away from the table and took off the apron. I don’t need this shit anyway. She folded the apron and left it on the counter and headed up the stairs—and she made the mistake that undid her resolve: she looked at him. His face had gone a shade whiter, and at first she thought he was angry,

which prompted her to hurry that much faster and grab her bag. She was heading down the stairs when he appeared at the foot of the stairs. He looked infuriated. She was about to protest that he’d told her to get out when he said, “Please, don’t leave. I’m sorry. I’m a fool.” You should leave. He wouldn’t stop her—she could see that now. The pain in his eyes was haunting to endure, and for a moment she felt bad for him, until she remembered how confusing he’d made everything. She steeled her resolve and continued to the door. “Her name was Talia,” he said, suddenly. “She was amazing in all the right ways. I proposed to her. We rented St. Patrick’s for the ceremony. Everything was going well—and then the priest says the bit about ‘speak now or forever hold your peace’ and someone actually stood up. “He said he was her husband, that her name was actually Rowena, that they’d been trying to con me into giving them God-knows how much money— and I had given her a fair sum—but then the checks stopped coming. I didn’t want to believe it, but I knew it was true. Since then, as I said, I’ve learned better.” She dropped her bag on the stairs, exasperated. She didn’t question that he was telling the truth, but she was frustrated with his push-em-pull-you way of dealing with whatever this was between them. (Could it really be a relationship if she wasn’t sure she wanted to be in one with him?) He sighed a breath of relief. “Thank you,” he said, swallowing. “I know I shouldn’t have pushed you away if I didn’t really mean it—” “Then why did you?” she demanded. He shrugged helplessly, holding his head in his hands. “Instinct,” he said, finally. “You don’t get to be where I am unless you can drive a hard bargain.” “I am not a company to flip or an asset to gain,” she snarled. “I don’t need you—” “Don’t you?” She remembered those weeks of numbness, when the mere act of getting a glass seemed like too much of a hassle. He kissed her, now, softly, gently. I’m sorry. “It’s been a long time,” he murmured. “I have some bad habits—I know I do, but I can make you happy if you let me.” “So what do you want from me, then?” she asked, the heat from his body nearly taking her breath away. “Do you want me to be your chef, or your girlfriend?” “Why can’t you be both?” he asked, pressing her against the wall, one hand firm on her breast, the other pulling her arm behind her back, while he laid a trail of soft kisses down her throat. “You get me in a way that no other woman

could. Let’s just keep it at that, can we?” We could, she thought, feeling the twitchy, throbbing staff of his cock pressing against her thighs, reminding her of the pleasure it could bring, what it felt like to be awakened for the first time in a long time. He’s right, she realized. If he hadn’t come to her she’d still be slaving away in the kitchens of the Aviary, insensate and dead to the world. But is it enough? He seemed to have read her thoughts, because he whispered, “Yes.” She ran her fingers down his rippling back, feeling the stern quiver of his muscles as he pressed his body against hers, hot with desire and need. God, how she wanted to believe it. If you didn’t you’d be gone already. If you didn’t you wouldn’t be here, like this, with every fiber of your body begging him to touch you. Suddenly she was able to place that gnawing ache that had been playing at the back of her mind all day—she craved the feeling of his energy against her skin. Her hands began working at his trousers and shirt as he began to work her dress off over her shoulders—and where their skin touched it was as if their bodies fused together. More. “I need you,” he said, hoarsely, his lips pressing warm kisses to her breasts, his tongue drawing a path over her body, warm and cold. A shudder began somewhere deep inside her, and as he eased her to the floor she felt his fingers teasing the folds of her pussy, and she could feel something inside her making her move like that, her body twisting and undulating against his in time to a secret primal rhythm, scenting her lust with a wildness that brought out an urgency that she didn’t know she was capable of. He lowered her onto the stairs and she could feel his cheeks against the inside of her thighs, and hear him breathing in her scent, savoring it, making her wait, giving her imagination time to toy with the anticipation of his tongue against the flesh of her pussy, flicking against the nub of her clit, so that when he finally touched her all it took was the gentlest of caresses, slow and delicate, to send a rush of pleasure through her body. The surrender was complete—she felt her body spread itself wide, allowing the world to flood in and see her, and her mind seemed to spread, rising on waves of joy, each one higher than the one before, so that when he finally took her she felt weightless, just a being of air and light, pure joy. Somewhere in her mind she was faintly aware that he was inside her, that the tightness was its own source of pleasure, but it all seemed tangential to the feeling of letting it all go in one crescendoing cry. It wouldn’t last, of course, but as they lay against each other, their bodies fitting together perfectly, it didn’t matter at all. As long as they were together

—the purity was something she didn’t quite understand, but she knew that she wanted more. As she felt his heart beat with her palm on his chest, slow and strong, she wondered that it’d taken her so long to accept this.

SHE HEARD ZACHARY SAY, “I have a present for you.” It’d better be a fucking diamond, she thought. She looked up from piping the chestnut foam on top of the sixty spoonfuls of whitefish tartar, and arranging the tiny sliver of chive on top of everything. Three hours to go before the party, and she still had to clarify the consommé, bake the tuiles, flavor the foie gras, temper the chocolate, and make the red wine reduction. She’d planned everything out, and everything was going according to schedule, but right now was hardly the time to spring surprises on her. That was one of the misconceptions that people had about cooking and being a chef: it was fine to be surprising in the conception of new dishes, but the grind involved in getting dishes out in time didn’t allow for any surprises. It was all about following the damn recipe and doing everything by the book. Surprises were for amateurs. “Come on in,” said Zach. “Don’t worry, she’s nicer than Chris.” It took her a moment to recall that Zach had backed Christopher Temporino of Wrapped, one of the most faddish restaurants, even by New York City standards: exotic ingredients, served on slabs of shale or tree trunks, flavored smokes, improbable foams. It was at least as much a chemistry lab as it was a restaurant, but the word on the street was that Chris was burning through personnel. Part of it was that he used so many strange techniques to create his food, techniques that most culinary institutes hadn’t even heard of (where the hell did you buy liquid nitrogen?), but most of it was his ceaseless drive for perfection. And now, she, a culinary school graduate who had only worked as a line cook in a second-rate restaurant in Small Town USA, was getting his sous. Nicole recognized the man right away—his cheerful demeanor, his trademark round glasses and short spikey hair that sported frosted tips, reminding her of a geeky version of Everclear’s lead singer. “Gandry Blossom?” she gasped, as he stepped into the kitchen behind Zach. “I told you she’d know who you were,” Zach said. “I just put in my notice earlier this week,” said Gandry. “But—you’re one of the best in the business—” Nicole sputtered. Gandry shrugged. “I’ve got another gig lined up at Aioli,” he said. “But I owe Zach about two-thousand bucks for poker, and he said he was willing to make it two-hundred if I did this. So, what do you need me to do?”

Nicole found herself looking back and forth between Gandry and Zach, still trying to wrap her mind around the fact that she got to order a world-class chef around. “Pinch me,” she said to Zach. Zach leaned over and kissed her. “You’ll do great,” he said. Gandry had found another apron by now, and he was rolling up his sleeves —there were the tattoos of the lion and the unicorn that he’d spent many an interview expounding upon. “Damn,” he said, turning to Zach. “I might have to poach her if she pulled out all this from a home kitchen.” Zach gave her a See, I told you so look. “Right,” she said. “Can you start the tuiles? The forms are next to the sink. They need to be baked at three-fifty for five minutes and then shaped against the ladle.” ***

THE PARTY GOERS were all investors in Zach’s company; some of them had contributed seed money, some of them had given him money to expand his operations. All of them had gotten their money, plus interest, and now they were clients of Zach’s MasterClass experience. “So it’s more like a ‘thanks for your money’ party and less of a fun party,” Zach had murmured, as she put the finishing touches on the hors d’ouevres: foie gras pureed into a light and airy mouse, grounded by a bitter coffee-and-chocolate wafer, topped with a dot of creme fraiche; the cucumber slices that she’d been working on earlier; a consommé so clear and light she served in champagne glasses; cubes of beef covered in spiced bread crumbs floating on a red wine reduction so thick it was more like a cream, hiding the little dot of mushroom cream that held it together in the little amuse glass. And that was just the beginning. Each hors d’ouevres had its own wine to go with it, and with the champagne, and the truffles that she was shaving into the dessert, even Zach had paled a bit when she passed him the receipts. But as she watched the faces that milled around the living room and patio she decided it was worth it. Zach certainly seemed to have forgotten about the sticker shock. He was in his element, glad-handing people without a trace of the frostiness he was known for, something that several people remarked on. “What can I say?” he said, in response. “I finally got a cook worth a damn.” More than one person popped into the kitchen when they heard that, wondering who the cook was. When they saw Gandry they invariably assumed that he was the cook—and she knew she should be annoyed but for some reason the anonymity was more reassuring. It meant that they took her to be on

the same level as a world-class chef, a fact that was not lost on Gandry, who started pointing out that she was the cook, and he was just her assistant. “But you’re Gandry Blossom,” said more than one confused party-goer. “I know,” he said, winking. “Even I had to start somewhere.” That fixed her in the minds of all of the party goers—who was this young upstart who was bossing around a great like Gandry Blossom? She smiled and kept her head down, pleased with the attention her food was getting but also a little alarmed, as more than one person invited her to come work for them. She was hearing salaries that she’d assumed that only people like Gordon Ramsey made—salaries big enough for her to afford an honest-to-God apartment in Manhattan—and it was hard for her to believe that this could all be true. By the end of the evening she’d amassed a small stash of business cards from people who were all eager that she call them. “We’ll work out terms,” they promised her. The last of the guests had gone, and she was still thinking about them. A life as a private chef was a pretty sweet gig—a food budget every week that was equal to what she spent in a month, and some of them had invited her to places like St. Tropez, “so I can let show my kids what real food is”. It would be so easy to call the number and agree to come with them. And yet, for all that Zach was a hard nut to crack, she found herself reluctant to make the call. All of the lights were off; the penthouse was being lit solely by the glow of New York City at night, and though she could have turned on the lights the darkness suited her thoughtful mood. She was loading the last load of dishes into the dishwasher when Zach came in and said, “Well, that’s how Zachary Spencer does parties.” He held out a glass to her. In the darkness the wine looked like blood. “What is it?” he asked. “I got at least six offers,” she said. “I’ll meet them.” She looked at him—if there was anybody who understood that money wasn’t what drove her it was him, so what was he doing offering her money? “You’re free to go, you know that?” he asked, his voice sounding strangled. He was standing with his back to the window, so she couldn’t see his eyes. “Do you want me?” she asked. “More than anything.” “So why won’t you ask me to stay?” He was silent for a long time, and then he moved to the breakfast bar and sat down on one of the stools. “It’s not something I can ask of someone,” he said, finally. “Would it make you feel better if I did?” She shook her head. “You really do have a way with women,” she said,

raising her glass. “But you get me, don’t you?” She couldn’t help but smile. ***

A YEAR later she opened the doors to Wrapped, and took down the photo of Chris Temporino. Gandry and the rest of the line cooks, and the re-hired servers, applauded. There was champagne, and then, after poring through menu notes with Gandry, she said, “Right, people, let’s do this! Doors open at six.” There was something inordinately pleasing about a well-run kitchen. She felt a little bad for Chris—he’d hired good people, and ended up driving them away. Maybe this was why Zach never asked her to stay—if this was where she belonged, then she’d stay, same as the line cooks. She was writing out the “soup of the day” when she saw Zach in the doorway. “Well?” he said. Nicole shrugged, knowing what he was really asking: how did Chris take handing over the keys to his restaurant? Between Zach and one of his friends, she’d saved up enough money to make a convincing case for Zach to spot her the money to buy our Chris’s stake in Wrapped. He’d handed over the keys and the lease (unhappily—she’d lowballed him) a month ago, and she’d spent the rest of the money getting the place re-done, so that it was a litte less weathered-wood, more sleek and elegant, with two stoves and one grill instead of the other way around, and a better placement for the sink. The staff who’d come back nodded their approval at the changes. But now the real work was beginning: running place like this was going to take everything she ever understood about food and cooking and people, and then some. And yet for some reason, she didn’t feel the slightest bit phased by it. “It seems to be going all right,” she said, now, reaching for his hand and squeezing it. He pulled her against him and pressed a kiss against her, and it took her back to the days in the beginning of their relationship, when it was ice-cold and then red-hot, all within ten minutes. “I know you can do it,” he murmured. It took everything she had to break it off before they started getting naked on the table, but as she headed back to the kitchen she saw him wink at her—it was all she needed to be certain: everything would be all right.

GAME ON

TEMPEST

TEMPEST SINCLAIR HAD DEALT with a lot of men in her life and she knew this day would be no different. She pushed back her mass of springy hair from her shoulders as she watched the men file into the room one at a time. It was the usual crowd, all tycoons from one organization or another and she, as always, was the one who would deal with the bad attitudes. All of them had the same demeanor, over fed rich men with too much power. She frowned as she waited for the last one, telling herself to take a deep breath before she stood to give the presentation to them. She loved her job, that much was true but dealing with the big companies was often too much for her to take on alone. She scowled once more thinking of Robert and how he had bailed on her… again. This was the third time, and truth be told she was tired of covering for him. Typically, these big corporate meetings were made up of these big wigs, and they all gravitated towards her male counterpart. Some part of her had to wonder if it had to do with being a plus sized woman. Sure, she was not some skinny gal, but she was beautiful and curvy and she took good care of herself. Too often men would be intimidated by her, but that simply was out of her hands. If a man wasn’t interested because he was intimidated, then she simply didn’t want him anyway. One of these days she would find someone who fit the bill, but in the mean time she would deal with the men who paid her paycheck. She stood moving towards the front of the room to turn and greet everyone with a smile and click the button to start the presentation. She did her usual routing about who she was and what she did. Her job was to incorporate new companies into the HR system that she was a part of. They would be a systematic help in hiring and management of all the employees, which was especially helpful with big conglomerates such as these. She gave a little background about the company and showed some of the other holdings they were a part of when the doors flew open and she found herself face to face with him. She stopped speaking, folding her arms as a mother would do when dealing with a petulant child. He was gorgeous, tall and blond with striking

features that he was clearly sure of. His eyes were a clear blue and the smile he gave her was one she knew in an instant that he had likely used thousands of times when trying to get out of trouble. He let his eyes flick over her face and then down the length of her quickly which only added to the anger she was starting to feel creep up. “Sorry I am late, please continue.” He waved her on as if she was some person who worked solely for him. She cleared her throat as she watched him get settled in a seat in the back. Picking up where she left off she finished explaining what they did as a company, and how they could help other business be successful. She flicked the pointer closed and turned to face the group. “That’s all I have for your gentleman. If you have any questions feel free to ask now, or see me as you leave. I will also leave some paperwork for you to take with you.” The group was nice enough, most of them seemed interested, at least on a moderate level. She smiled to them as they filed out, some of them asking her a question or two. She knew he was still there, still waiting and watching her as if she was somehow there for him alone. She finally spun around to face him. “Did you have a question Mr…” She trailed off “Hoelshing. Reed Hoelshing, and I have a lot of questions.” He smiled again and for the first time she felt as if she knew she was headed down a path she would later regret. “Ask away, Mr. Hoelshing.” She crossed her arms once more and he chuckled lightly. “Do you do that a lot; you know cross your arms like my mother?” He leaned back in his chair and waited. “I don’t know, I don’t much think about it, do you always give your mother reason to do it to you?” She arched an eyebrow at him as he narrowed his gaze for a mere second. “Yes, in fact I go out of my way to give her as much grief as I can, in a loving way of course.” He stood then, towering over her. “So tell me what I missed.” It was more arrogance than she cared to deal with. “Listen Mr. Hoelshing, I am sure whatever made you late today was very important, but I simply can’t make time to give every tycoon I meet a personal presentation. I have to get going.” She slipped on her jacket, buttoning it quickly as she gathered up her things. She felt him still standing there, watching her but she refused to look at him. “You are a little spitfire aren’t you.” He laughed lightly. “Very well

Miss… Sinclair. I will give you a call and see if we can’t set something up then.” She glanced his way as he held a flyer in his hand with all of her information on it. She wasn’t sure what to say but she wasn’t given a chance to as he whistled his way down the hall and out into the streets below. She watched as he slipped into the back of a waiting car and felt the frustration leave her body. He was driving her crazy and she didn’t even have a clue as to who he was. She smoothed down her skirt and made her way downstairs, careful to give him plenty of time to be safely away from the building before she had to run into him again.

REED

HE WAS STILL SMILING as he watched the streets fly by. She was a beauty that one. All curves and hips, which he liked. He considered himself a connoisseur of women in many ways. There wasn’t a size or type he didn’t love to sample from time to time. It was a luxury he afforded himself, to the chagrin of his mother of course. He was young still, 30 was nothing really. She was pushing him more and more to settle down but he was nowhere near ready for all of that. He was an uncle to his nephews, and that was plenty enough to keep him busy. No, the only woman he had enough time for these days was business, and that occupied most of his time. He glanced at his watch and frowned. He seemed to be late to everything lately, not quite able to do as much as he wanted. Wanted was a strong word really. He loved running the family business, loved being in charge. It had gotten him out of more than one dilemma, but he really wanted to get back out on the field, play some golf and work towards the Pro Am like he used to. It seemed those days were falling further and further behind him now. He smiled to himself thinking about what she had said. Something important had kept him from getting there… In this case it had been a brunette named Nicole, and a lack of sleep. The prim and proper Miss Sinclair would have much to say if she knew the truth. He was still smiling when the car stopped out front of the high rise to the offices he now controlled. He gave a half smile to the ladies working the front office and watched as each of them blushed in return. Though he felt sure he could have his pick of any of them, he kept his private life far away from business. That is except for Lydia.

Even now he could hear her talking from her office as he moved down the hall and to his own. Whatever had set her off this time, he would be sure to know shortly. He watched her walk the long hall towards his office and thought long and hard about the mess they had made together over the years. Watching her walk reminded him exactly how he had been sucked in in the first place. She was perfect, at least on the surface. Her hair was red and was always pulled back to highlight the sharp angles of her face. Her body, though too slim for his tastes, was petite and nice. He had started working here after his father’s death 6 years ago, and she had helped him through it, in more ways than one. Over time it was obvious that it was a mutual entertainment for them both, neither wanted anything more than a physical release, and a string business partnership. Now, she was more often than not, always upset about one thing or another. She was also a good reminder as to why he hadn’t settled down yet. He toyed with the card in his hand, smiling once more as he thought about Miss Sinclair. He had no doubt she was able to hold her own, most likely she was married, though he saw no ring. His thoughts were distracted as Lydia burst into his office. “I can’t keep working like this Reed, this place is falling apart and I can’t hold it together much longer.” She crossed her arms, her face flushed as she tapped one of her heeled toes on the soft carpet lining his office floor. “Lydia, must everything be so dramatic?” He sighed not once looking up at her as he asked. “You know your attitude is part of the problem Reed.” She stopped her foot and this time he had no choice but to respond. “What’s wrong now?” He glanced up, giving her some of his attention, though he was equally ignoring her. “The staff, in a nutshell. These idiots are nothing more than go to people who can’t even get coffee done correctly. On top of that the McNeal account is missing and I need an assistant who actually shows up for work!” He knew by the way she ran everything together, there was definitely some issues that needed to be addressed. He rubbed his eyes for a second and soon looked up at her once more. “Ok Lydia, details. One thing at a time.” Within the hour he had been informed of every single infraction committed on the property, some of which seemed not worth mentioning. Just watching her get it all out seemed to help eliminate the menace of her tone. Soon, once he had addressed everything he found her smiling at him with the age old smile welcoming him to do far more than just talk to her. She stood, smoothing down

her dress as she walked towards the door of his office. “Come visit me tonight Reed, I think we both need a little release.” She walked out the door, not waiting on a response. Some part of him reacted to her, he knew it was a real option, she never offered if she didn’t mean it. The other part of him knew to stay away. Getting tangled up in Lydia wouldn’t go well, not really. As the day went on he did his best to focus on work, and not think about Lydia’s offer. He grabbed his jacket at the end of the day and took the long strides towards the elevator, glancing around the now empty office. He knew it was going to be a long night. She was waiting for him, almost as if she knew he would come. Her red hair now hung freely and he roughly pulled her into his arms. There was nothing sweet about his embrace, instead he was searching and demanding. She knew the way he thought, and she met him one stride at a time until they both were free of their clothing and on her bed. He was once more struck by how put together she was. It was as if there wasn’t an inch of body fat on her, and though it left him wanting more he pushed on – kissing her body, teasing her nipples, pinching them one at a time, taking them hungrily into his mouth as his hands found her opening and then biting her neck, just the way she liked it! He worked her with his fingers first, and then his mouth and then his hardness pressed inside. He was rough and fast. She wanted it like that too. They knew each other’s bodies and needs so well. An hour later they both lounged on the pillows, taking long deep breaths hoping to recover from the experience. There was no emotion between them aside from the release of tension. He watched her get dressed. “Thanks Reed, I really needed that.” She slipped back into her clothes and he stood to do the same. She let her gaze linger on him a moment, and he felt her look shift, but only for a second. “As always, you are welcome. I needed that as much as you did.” He gave her a half smile as he slipped on his jacket. He made his way to the door, knowing she would tell him to see himself out. He smiled as she yelled from her room. “I’ll see you at work Monday.” He made his way out to his car, slipping into the soft leather seat of his car. Lydia was a force to be reckoned with in business, and she also knew her way around the bedroom. Something had been different tonight, the way she had looked at him. He hoped she wasn’t developing any feelings…He frowned at the idea, knowing full well he wasn’t the type to settle down, not even close. He knew coming here would be a mistake, and yet somehow he didn’t care. He

was just selfish sometimes, there wasn’t much else that could be said about it. He made his way home, finally ready for a shower and some time to relax. He felt the crumple of something in his pocket and pulled out a folded card, one from earlier today. He smiled as he folded it back up, slipping it into his pocket. Ah, yes Miss Sinclair. Tomorrow was as good a day as any to start playing the game with her. She would be a fun adventure; he knew it the moment he saw her. Tempest

THERE WAS nothing really that she could do. She looked up at her boss, who was giving her the most obvious of smiles. “He is a jackass, and you all know it.” She folded her arms across her chest, glaring at him. “Charlie if you knew that, why did you even send me in there to deal with him?” Charlie glanced at Miranda Blankenship, her boss, and the two shared a knowing glance. “I know he seems that way Temp, but he is a huge win for us if we can lock him in.” Tempest shifted in her seat. Of all the people she didn’t want to deal with on a Saturday it was Reed Hoelshing. Somehow, someway he had pulled enough strings to manage to get her to have a meeting with him in his office. She still remembered how he looked at her and made her feel. He was no doubt a bad boy and used to getting his own way. She certainly hated feeding into his ego by meeting him on one of her few days off. “He is just another potential client; I don’t see how it’s such a big deal?” She frowned. Charlie took off his glasses and leaned on the table. “Hoelshing is not just some company Temp, he is a massive branch of networking. There is the office here and the one in China he has been building for a while now. We’re talking over 5K employees and potential for twice that. Right off the bat we are making money, and then of course your commission would be, well substantial.” She chewed on her lower lip, everything he said made sense, there was no doubt in her mind that she needed to make this happen, but at the same time she needed to not be a push over. Her commission would be enough to get her mother in a home that was much nicer than the place she was in now, that was for sure. That alone was enough to make her stand and grab her bag. “Fine I’ll go, and I’ll even be nice to him.” She rolled her eyes as the glee

was obvious on their faces. She pulled into the lot of Hoelshing and took a deep breath for a moment before going up. This was for her mother, and if she could just focus in that she would be fine. She glanced in the mirror at her reflection, nothing the tiny smattering of freckles on her caramel colored skin. It as something she had inherited from her mother. It had only been a year now, since things had taken such a turn. Her mother had been full of life and happiness and then one-day dementia had started to corrupt her mind. Now, there was a 50% chance she would know who Tempest was at all. She was an only child, and it was her job to make sure her mother was taken care of. Her father had been gone a long time, leaving the two of them to fend for themselves. Her mother had worked her fingers to the bone to make sure Tempest had everything she needed to get through the hardest years of her life to date. She owed her mother the same thing. Initially she had taken on her mother’s care on her own, which had been too much. She had done her best to juggle work, school and her mother’s care, but when her mother had left the house one day and Tempest had gone to find her, she had known it was too much for her to do alone anymore. She found the best place she could afford, although it was over an hour away. It was a quaint little place with only 10 others who resided there, all of which had dementia as well. They were a tight nit group, but they were losing their funding in the next few months, and everyone would have to move. It wasn’t fair, and sadly the only other options were either too run down and unsafe, or were substantially more expensive than this one. She took one last deep breath and stood, grabbing her bag with her to take inside. The building was a massive piece of art, with everything from paintings on one level, to twisted metal art formations in the lobby. It was more to take in than anyone could do at one time, and she wished that she had more time to explore her surroundings. She made her way over to the desk and the tiny blonde behind it. She was perky and beautiful, which came as no surprise to Tempest, considering the type of man Reed Hoelshing was. Part of her hated to pigeon hole him into the stereotype, but the facts were all there. She had done a little digging and found out more about him than he would probably like to know. “I am meeting Mr. Hoelshing.” “Really? On a Saturday? Wow that’s a first.” She gave Tempest an impish grin and buzzed upstairs to let them know. Soon she cradled the phone back down and gave Tempest a warm smile. “Head up the elevator to the 14th floor, turn right and his suites are there.”

Tempest returned the smile, feeling as though the girl was being genuine in her efforts. The building was relatively empty, no doubt most employees were at home enjoying their weekend. She found her way up the massive glass elevator and soon the doors opened to a large suite. She glanced around, noting that no one was there. Hesitantly she walked out onto the hard floors, her heels clicking with each step until she heard him. “Ah so they did send you.” She turned to see him closer than she thought possible. He gleamed down at her with a wicked smile, and she felt the heat rush up into her face once more. There was no doubt she hated herself for even reacting to him at all. “Yes, it appears they really wanted to please you Mr. Hoelshing.” He chuckled. “They aren’t the ones to do that Miss Sinclair, and please call me Reed, Mr. Hoelshing makes me feel old, and think of my father none of which I care to feel at the moment.” He spun on one heel and moved towards his office, and she followed along behind him. It was magnificent how the room seemed to almost spill out into the vast expanse of sky blue. The floors came to an abrupt end at the glass windows that looked out over the city below. She couldn’t help but stare. “It’s quite breathtaking isn’t it, I love it in here, just looking out. I feel like I can almost fly somehow.” He smiled and she glanced up to catch his eye, noting something sinister there. “Yes, it’s beautiful that I will say.” He gestured for her to have a seat and she did so, pulling her information out of her bag. “So. Mr. Ho..er..Reed, what made you give us a call?” I didn’t call an “us” I just called for you. He knew better than to deliver her that bit of information, so he chose a different approach. “I am interested in what you can do for me.” She felt the air thicken, as if he meant something entirely different than business, but she brushed it off knowing full well she wasn’t his type. “What kind of help do you need exactly?” He chuckled once more. “Oh my dear don’t even let me get started on answering that question.” She frowned slightly, unamused by his antics. He was a spoiled brat, and she didn’t want to deal with it any more than she had to. She chose to wait for him to continue, rather than say anything else he could turn into ammunition. “Well I’ll be honest we have some major issues going on, and I need it dealt with.” She felt his sincerity and she took the binder he handed to her. She did her best to glance over the information and carefully assess what he needed. There

were misprinted labels and poorly organized records for the employees, as well as some things that didn’t seem to make any sense at all. “I think you will need a lot of my help Reed, this is a mess.” “I am well aware Miss. Sinclair, that’s why I need you.” “Tempest, please. Well we are the best team for the job, we have a lot of other big investment clients and I think you will be happy with the numbers we have generated from that partnership. She handed him a folder with the information and she waited, giving him a moment to read it over. It gave her an opportunity to look at him closely once more. He was undeniable handsome, rakish in his own way. He had a way of looking at you that would turn the normal woman to putty in his hands, which he likely used on women often enough. He furrowed his brow slightly as he looked over the documents and arched a brow on page two. He took care of his business and she knew he wanted it to succeed. He glanced up, catching her eye and she swallowed hard, glancing away but not before she saw him smile. “Impressive, for such a small company. I know your fairly new but your numbers are promising.” “Thank you, we work hard.” “The thing is I want something a little bigger. I want to go back to playing golf professionally. It’s a part of who I am, in my blood so to speak.” He smiled at her, letting his eyes caress her face. “I need a company that will run almost every facet of the business so that I can get back into what I am really good at.” She frowned. “I am confused, I thought you were interested in HR help and development?” “Oh I am, but I want you to run the place in my absence. It won’t be all the time, but the majority for sure, especially during the tour. I know it’s not your typical thing to do, but I know the best person to keep an eye on things is the person in charge of the people, that’s why I want you.” He accentuated the last part of the sentence, his eyes once more looking over her frame quickly, but not before she caught it. She took the envelope her offered her and glanced over the figures inside. The amount of money he was willing to pay was double what they had projected for income off of this one company. She wasn’t sure if this was a good idea of not. “I know you are over thinking it, just by the look on your face. Trust me, it’s not as bad as you may think. I just need a day to day operations manager. Like I said I will be in and out and its just for a year. After that I’ll come back full time. At the moment I am just feeling the need to get back out to my sport,

before I lose myself in a jumble of paperwork.” She felt his sincerity, and she also knew he was downplaying how much of a responsibility this really was. She slid the paperwork back in the envelope, before she looked up at him. “I will certainly take this to my team, and see what they think.” He leaned forward in his chair once more, a smile on his face. “Oh that’s fine, I don’t mind them handling the HR part of this but I want you to be in charge of the whole thing.” “Me, why me?” She waited. “Well for starters, you graduated at the top of your class, you have a head for business and you work hard. Plus, I trust you… call it gut intuition.” She stood then, and waited as he walked towards her. He was taller than she remembered last time she saw him, the clear blue of his eyes had never changed. He handed her a pen. She wasn’t sure what to feel about the whole thing but she didn’t take it. “Well, you’ve certainly done your research. I’ll need a few days to look over everything, can I do that?” She felt the heat of him as he moved closer to her. “Sure, can you come back on Monday?” “Yes, I can.” “Noon, then lunch for the two of us.” “You don’t have to...” He held up a hand to interrupt her. “I choose too.” She wasn’t sure what to say to him next, he was looking down at her his eyes searching hers. “Are you married Tempest?” His voice had dropped an octave and she felt the heat of him as he asked her. She glanced up at him, lifting her chin a notch. “Is this part of the interview still Reed?” “Yes, and no.” He reached out to pull on a springy curl before letting it go once more. “Yes, because I want to know more about who I am leaving my company to run for me, and how distracted you may be. No, because I simply want to know if your taken or not.” She swallowed hard. “No, I’m not married.” He took another step in her direction. “Good.” It was the last thing she heard before his lips found hers in a crushing kiss. She was taken by surprise, his mouth moving and nipping over hers expertly. She inhaled as he broke the kiss but only for a moment, his mouth finding hers once more and this time deeper and more intense. She kissed him back, despite her efforts to avoid doing just that. He was

like a magnet and she was lost in her own defenses. Soon she felt his hand at the small of her back, pulling her close to him and his other hand was in her hair at the nape of her neck, tilting her head back once more as he feasted from her lips. She let herself stay there, enjoying the feel of him when no one had kissed her like this in so long. When he let her go, she took a step back, shakily. She saw the smug smile on his face, and she instantly hated herself for falling under his charms. She was no better than some school age girl with a crush. “I should go.” She grabbed up her bag, flinging it on her shoulders as she turned to leave. “Don’t be mad for liking it Tempest, you know you wanted it so bad.” He chuckled as she walked into the open elevator. Something about him set her on edge, but whatever it was would have to take a backseat. He had kissed her, and not some brotherly little peck, oh no he had kissed her full on and now she was struggling to figure out how to forget all about it. She settled into her car in a huff and made her way home, all the while playing his words back in her mind.

REED He was still smiling as the doors shut to the elevator. He had wanted to kiss her, sure, but it had gotten out of hand even for him. A simple kiss had escalated until he had pulled her close. He wanted more, and he wanted her to know it. Her body had fit against him nicely, the curve of her hips just itching to be touched and held. She was no ordinary woman to be played with and conquered, no she was something altogether different and he loved a good challenge. He glanced down at the desk, once more thinking over the company. Monday would be here and he would tell her more. She was sharp, and had made great investments in her career, except for the year that she simply vanished. He had done enough digging around in her history, no he would wait on her to share more about herself. Then he would show her the benefits of being in his bed. Moving down the hall to his car he knew he needed to get out some of his pent up energy. He knew there was no better place to do it than on the course. He made his way to the club, knowing he would see a few friends. As he pulled in he was once more reminded of how much he loved the game. It had nothing to do with speed, or aggression. No, golf was a fine tuned amount of skill and precision. Ever hole he made, filled him with excitement. He wanted

to get back in the game and soon. Feeling better than he had in a long time Reed managed to play a few rounds on Sunday as well, meeting up with some old friends. He let his thoughts drift to tempest, and how she would likely appreciate the planning that went into the game. Or, she would tell him to get to work. Either way he found himself thinking of her a lot. He was more than ready for Monday to arrive. He wasn’t disappointed on Monday when she came into his offices. He could see her walking down the long hall and he was caught up in how she carried herself once more. She was a combination of confident and anxious, and she wasn’t comfortable with either one. He opened the door for her and whisked her inside, breathing in the smell of her perfume. Looking her over he appreciated once more the curve of her body, and the sway of her hips when she walked. He gestured to the chair which she readily nestled into. “So my dear, have you given it some thought?” “I don’t think it’s a good idea. I know the offer is sound, and legal. I just don’t trust you Reed. That’s as honest as I can be.” She crossed her arms across her chest and she was adorable. “You don’t trust me how, exactly?” He leaned back in his chair. He especially loved to watch the myriad of expressions that crossed her face as she thought about an answer. “I don’t exactly know, to be honest.” “It’s because I kissed you.” She squirmed in her chair and he knew he had hit on something. “I liked kissing you Tempest. As a matter of fact, I want to kiss you right now. That being said I need this company structured to run on its own, and the organization to be at the top if its game. I know you have the skill, and I’d rather not look for another company. However, I don’t want to give up kissing you either. That is unless you didn’t like it?” She was moving even more now, and he knew he was getting under her skin. Oh she had liked it, far more than she even knew. She looked up at him, lifting her chin a notch. “I can do the job, no problem. What I can’t do is kiss you anymore, I’m afraid.” She looked very pleased with herself, having said the words. He knew she meant it, or at least she thought she did. What she hadn’t counted on was him being as direct about it as he was. He waited, enjoying the picture she made, unaware that her fretting over the situation was more of a turn on than anything else. He wanted both… and he would win. It was, after all, part of the game. “Fine, I won’t kiss you anymore. Now what about the job?” He waited,

glancing over the paper on his desk as if it made no difference to him at all. “The job I will do, but I’ll need to work out some of the information on the company with you. A few hours a day for a week or so. Can you do that?” This was getting better by the moment. “Yes, I can give you that. A few hours a day is just fine.” He ordered lunch as she settled in, losing her jacket and pulling out some paperwork. He watched her movements, graceful despite the fact that she was a big girl. He was more attracted to her than he liked, but the game was on and he was enjoying it far more than he thought he would. He settled in and started giving her the first lesson on his company. As the afternoon went on he found that Tempest had a quick wit about her, and an excellent sense of business. They poured over the company policy and he shared stories with her about the beginning of the company and his grandfather’s vision. He watched her face light up as he showed her the plan for the future, and the many branches he would build and create. “Wow, this is quite an undertaking Reed. I mean you keep talking about golf, how can you invest this much time in something? She asked him, but immediately retracting her question. “I am so sorry, I forgot myself. Its none of my business.” “No, it is actually. I want you to help me so asking questions is a part of that. The honest answer is I simply don’t know yet. Golfing is like breathing to me. I want that, but when I am not in a tour then I can focus on business. Once the business is big enough it can run itself most of the time.” “I see… is there no other family of special someone that would like to do more? It seems like a lot to shoulder.” “It can be, but my mother wants no part of it, and I am an only child. So I am all this place has I suppose.” “No wife, or kids anything?” He smiled wickedly at her. “No, but I find it funny you ask me that now. Not before you were kissing me back so wholeheartedly Saturday.” He watched her blush and roll her eyes before looking down at her paperwork. “I won’t get married, and I don’t want kids. Too much work, too much hassle. Besides my father was a scoundrel, and worthless. I’m doubtful I would be much better than he.” He saw her face soften, no doubt wanting to tell him something womanly and mushy. Instead he decided to change the mood. “I do wish you would let me kiss you again. Your lips are delicious.” “What! Men.” She sighed. “I really should go I’ve been here half a day. Besides you have too much to say and not enough to keep you busy,

obviously.” She stood slipping into her jacket and spun around to face him. “I know your game Reed, and how well you can play at it.” She leaned in lightly and straightened his tie, her mouth almost touching his. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” She moved then, leaving him in the office alone. He watched her leave, surprised to notice he was clenching his fists and every part of him wanted to throw her down on this desk and bury himself deep inside her. He had never had someone set him on fire like this, and he had a feeling she felt the same way.

TEMPEST She exhaled slowly as she slid into her car. Damn him for playing games. Teasing him was not an area she was used to. But he needed to learn a lesson, even if she had to be the one to give it to him. She made her way home and found herself thinking more and more about Reed. Sure he was an ass about many things, and a womanizer but he cared about the company and where it was headed. She needed to set boundaries, and make things clear to him. She didn’t want some scandalous affair or her business plastered all over some tabloid like most of his alliances were. Why he teased her so much was lost on her anyway. Sure she loved herself and her curves but it was rare someone who was blatantly into petite blondes, would give her a second glance. Reed, seemed to be giving her more and more glances and there was the kiss…. She had to give him credit for effort, that was for sure. The days passed quickly, the two of them sharing an office to get Tempest up to speed on the ins and outs of company planning and the like. She found herself enjoying their time more and more, and he was always quick to make her feel beautiful. She knew she was starting to care about him more than she should, but he often hid the softer side from the rest of the world, and for her he was just himself. One afternoon, after lunch she found herself meeting a very obvious part of his like in the form of an angry coworker. She came busting into the office without so much as as knock. “I’m so over it Reed, I thought you had someone…” She trailed off. “Who are you?” She was beautiful, and poised and Tempest stood to give her an outstretched hand. “I am Tempest; I work for Reed.” She shook it, but her sour look gave the impression she was touching spoiled meat somehow. “When will he be back?” She tapped her foot.

“In an hour or so, should I tell him you stopped by?” She balled up her fists. “Lydia, tell him to find me.” In a huff the red hair beauty was gone. Tempest was once more reminded of Reed’s playboy ways. Lydia was obviously more than just a disgruntled coworker. She soon asked him, knowing full well he had something to share. This time she controlled to conversation. She watched him walk in, coffee in hand. He handed her hers, knowing full well how she liked it by now. As he settled into his chair she gave him a knowing look. “What why the look?” He ached an eyebrow at her. “You had a visitor, someone who obviously does show up for work.” She smiled. “Oh no, don’t tell me mother is here somewhere?” He glanced out of the windows as if she were lurking around the corner. “No, just some woman ranting about something, Lydia I think.” With a long exaggerated sigh, he exhaled. “I see.” He was tight lipped and Tempest couldn’t help but push, just as he did her. “She is beautiful, but her bedside manner leaves something to be desired.” “She is something that’s for sure.” He moved to grab a stack of paperwork. “Really, Reed that’s all I get. I thought we were friends now. I mean I have been here every day for two weeks learning all about your business and now I final get some dirt and you brush me off. Wow some people.” She was smiling still, knowing he would rise to the challenge. “She is an ex… kind of. She works here…I know that’s bad you don’t have to tell me.” “I see.” She never looked up at him. “You are jealous!” This time she did look at him. “I’m what?” She paused. “Don’t even begin to think that Reed Hoelshing. You have to be the most self-centered egotistical person I know.” “It’s ok Temp, I know you got it bad for me.” He gave her a wink and she was infuriated. “How do I lose the upper hand in this with you every time? I’m so frustrated.” She threw her hands up in the air. “You know I can fix that…the frustrated part I mean.” He gave her a wink and she threw the cup of water in her hand at him, jumping up to put her hands on her hips. “Jerk.” She was still laughing at the startled expression on his face. She knew he was going to retaliate and being up was a far better advantage. She waited for him to make his move, smiling as he walked slowly towards the door, and not

her. She frowned puzzled. He carefully closed the shades to his office and locked the door with deliberate slowness. He turned then to face her, his eyes full of light. He began losing his clothing as he walked, his jacket then his shirt. She gulped, silently feeling her body react to the site of him as he moved closer and closer still. Soon he was standing before her in nothing at all, and she felt her breath catch in her throat. She moved backwards as he moved closer still to her, until her back was pressed against the desk she had been working on. She would be lying to herself, and anyone who asked her if she said she didn’t want to feel him pressing himself against her. Or that she didn’t want to reach out and touch his body. She looked up at him as he lay nestled between her thighs. “You know Tempest, if you wanted to get some dirt on me you could have simply asked me. I would have given it to you.” His mouth branded hers like a fire. She felt the heat of him course through her body and she instinctively moved her hands up to his chest, feeling the hardness there as he wound his hand in her hair, holding her mouth there for his kiss. She wanted to stop him, to tell him no but as his right hand moved up the fullness of her thighs she knew she was lost. She felt him grip her tightly pulling her down the desk some as he pushed her skirt up higher and higher until it was up to her waist. His mouth never left hers as he moved, his hands first squeezing the fullness of her thighs before slipping in lower until he found the heat of her. He moved carefully, rubbing and moving until she lost all sense of self control. “Reed...” She moaned his name and looked up at him. He was looking at her his eyes hooded in desire. She felt him pull her blouse off tossing it on the floor leaving her in her lace bra, and he wasted no time with unhooking it. Instead he simply slid his hand under and pushed the bra up until her caramel globes gently fell loose of the constraining material. His mouth was hot as he suckled her breasts one at a time, pulling and tugging on her large nipples until they puckered and stood at attention. The heat was overwhelming as he moved his hand away now. She was panting lightly as he pulled her panties down and free from her legs, only moving once more to rub his now hard member against her opening. He glanced up at her once, and she nodded as he pushed into her, slowly and then deeper than she could have imagined. He stayed there, then began moving until they moved together. Both seeking and searching as they moved as one until they hit that glorious peak, first her and then he followed. She felt the pressure of him laying against her and she let

her eyes meet his. He pulled away then, both of them unsure what had just happened. She redressed, smoothing down her skirt and he unlocked the door, both regaining some composure once more. “I should go.” She wasn’t really sure what else she could say. He was in his chair staring out into the night. She slipped out and down the elevator into the night. The next few days she stayed home. He never reached out to her and she knew he was as confused as she was. They had started something, and now it would shift the dynamic of their relationship entirely. She sent him a message telling him she needed a break and he had agreed, telling her to be safe. She decided to go to visit her mother, spending time with someone who she wished could tell her all of the right answers about her situation. She settled into the hotel, and decided to wait until the following morning to go over and see her mom. Reed What the hell had he been thinking? He let the thought cross his mind again, only the thousandth time today. He wasn’t concerned about the sex, that had long been in his plan with her, but he was feeling bad about it now. THAT was something he wasn’t used to dealing with. The company had sent over someone to take over training for her, and it was just as well since he wasn’t in his own right frame of mind at the moment. There were too many emotions involved now where Tempest was concerned, and a joke had gone too far. He could still feel her beneath him, the smoothness of her skin and the whimper she let out without even knowing it. She had been good… too good and that was where the problem was. He couldn’t get her out of his head, or his heart at least a little. Before when had actually looked forward to going to work, and knowing she would be there and now… it was business as usual. She had gone on an extended vacation, that’s what they told him. Every message he sent her was unanswered and despite his best efforts he couldn’t get her out of his mind. She had been gone two weeks now, maybe a little longer and soon he would have to go out on the tour. The thrill of golfing was still there, just buried deep and overshadowed by his desire to go out and find Tempest and make sure she was ok. He needed a distraction, though that seemed hard pressed at the moment. He laid back in his chair hoping to eliminate the headache he felt coming on but it was no use. “Always working hard. Take a break have fun old man.” He sat up quickly, taking notice of Lydia in the doorway. “You seem to have enough fun for the both of us dear.” He arched an

eyebrow in her way, obviously making reference to her outfit. “Ha ha so funny. I have a party, that’s true but I am free after that. Maybe I’ll come by and we can make each other feel better.” He didn’t say no, but then he didn’t say yes either he just shooed her out, pressing his fingertips against his eyes. He knew the paperwork would keep him there all night if he let it, so he settled in for a long night. A few hours later he found himself dialing her number, something he had yet to do. As it went to voicemail he left a message. Hey its Reed. I’m worried about you. Just let me know you’re ok… please Temp He hung up, tossing his phone on the desk in front of him. She would say something, at least he hoped so. All he could do now was wait. Another hour went by and he stood, finally ready to go home. Grabbing his jacket, he set off for the door when he saw her there. It was almost like she was a ghost the way her frame filled up the doorway and her face was so alive. “Tempest, hey are you ok?” He didn’t hesitate, instead he pulled her in close to hug him. She smiled back up at him. “I am good, great actually. I have quite a few things to tell you. I know I have been distant and quiet lately, I lost my phone the last time I was here. I decided to take a break from life for a little while.” She glanced down at the floor, and then back up to his desk no doubt remembering… “I get it, believe me. You back for good now?” He leaned forward, hoping to appear as eager as he felt. “Yes, and no. I am here for now but I will be going on leave in a few months. Some family matters have come up I need to address.” “I see.” He didn’t, why couldn’t they figure it out themselves? “I need a drink; can I get you something?” “Water, please.” He went into the kitchen and paused, doing his best to decide what to say to her, how to express himself. Everything he had done had always been easy for him but dealing with this…emotion he felt for her was too much. He loved her, there was no other way to describe it. He had spent hours and hours with her and she had brought out the best in him. He took a long drink from his glass and then refilled it. Whatever he decided to tell her he would need some encouragement.

TEMPEST He would ask her why she was only drinking water. She had planned it just like this. When he came back he would ask her that and that’s when she would tell him that she was pregnant. It seemed to be the only way of breaking the news to him. He had told her on more than one occasion he didn’t want kids, and yet here she was, ready to tell him everything. She loved him, being away had been like losing a part of herself in the process. But the time she spent with her mother had been priceless, and then realizing that she was pregnant had given her a new fresh perspective on life. She had so much to do, to plan for now. She had thought about never saying a word, but she cared too much for him to do that. No, he would know the truth and she would raise the child herself if need be. She waited, patiently waiting for him to arrive. She heard the door turn and as the person came through she was surprised to see Lydia. She was in a negligee of pink silk, barely covering her body and hugging her natural assets. It was clear now that not only had she come at a bad time, she had clearly disrupted something. “Oh my goodness, what are you doing here lady?” Lydia did her best to cover up. “Excuse me?” Tempest had a threshold and this woman was sorely testing it. “Where is Reed, he is expecting me. Maybe you should reschedule honey, he has plans that are a little more exciting.” She snickered at Tempest, and the burn of humiliation was there, like a gut punch. She stood to go, but not before she turned to face Lydia. “You know honey, if he really wanted you. All of this.” She pointed at her outfit. “Wouldn’t even be necessary, if he really and truly wanted you he would just sit you up on his desk fully clothed and take what he wants. Trust me sweetheart, I’d know.” With that she tossed her head around and walked out of his office and into the elevator. It wasn’t until she was safely in her car that she allowed herself to feel hurt. She had come to tell him she loved him, that she missed him and that she was pregnant and instead of feeling anything at all for her, he had simply stayed late for a rendezvous with an old flame. The real pain stemmed from the idea that he must had moved on casually and quickly after she’d gone. There was nothing left for her to do now but to go pack and move out of the main part of town and to a smaller place near her mom. There was no one else around to help and it was all she had left now.

GAME CHANGER

JILLIAN WAS on the phone with her bank when her office clerk, Kate, knocked on her door and told her that her next patient had arrived. “Tell him I'm with another patient,” Jillian said. She'd been on hold for almost an hour during her lunch break, and she wasn't about to hang up now. She'd been trying to get a hold of someone at the bank for two weeks, and she was tired of constantly being transferred from one representative to another. To make matters worse, the bank closed an hour before she got off work each day, making it all but impossible for her to find time to go down to the branch and deal with her issues in person. “I don't think he wants to wait,” Kate said. “He was rather...demanding.” “Well, he'll just have to deal with it,” Jillian said. “It's called the 'waiting room' for a reason.” Kate left to tell the patient that there would be a short delay. Jillian remained on hold, silently cursing her bank for making her go through so many hoops. Her financial situation was in dire straights, and she desperately needed to refinance her mortgage and consolidate her credit cards and student loan debt. More than half of her monthly budget these days was payments on debt, and it was more than she could handle. But fixing the problem required getting approval from the right people, and they seemed intent on making her run the gauntlet by being transferred to just about every department in the bank before anyone would give her an answer. Another ten minutes passed before someone finally picked up on the other end. “Thank you for holding, this is Madeline speaking, how may I help you?” “Yes,” Jillian said, rubbing a hand over her eyes. “I've been waiting for over an hour. I'm supposed to talk to you about my credit analysis...” “I'm sorry, for that you're going to have to speak to our credit specialists. That's another department. Let me put you on hold.” “No, please don't put me on hold again!” Cheesy music was the only answer she got, along with a recorded message telling her that her call was very important and would be answered in the order it was received. Jillian hung up the phone, wishing she still used an old fashioned land line so she could slam the receiver down in rage. Angrily jabbing the “end call” button just didn't have the same therapeutic benefit. Kate stuck her head in the door. “Jillian? Your patient is getting, well, impatient.”

Jillian rolled her eyes at the ceiling. “All right, all right. I'm coming. Take him into Exam Room Two.” Jillian got up and pulled on her white coat, buttoning it over her ample frame. The coat was a must-have when she was dealing with patients. It was a symbol of status and authority, and when dealing with difficult patients, it helped remind them of the proper dynamics between them. She'd dealt with too many people over the years who didn't think a physical therapist was the same as a “real doctor,” as if the mountain of student loan debt she'd acquired hadn't funded a serious education. She went into Exam Room Two to find her patient already sitting there with his shirt off. He had a decent physique, though considering the number of athletes Jillian worked with on a regular basis, it was nothing she found particularly impressive. Though from the smug grin on the guy's face, he was clearly expecting more of a reaction from her. “Hello, Mr. Walker,” Jillian said, reading his name off his chart. “My name is Jillian. Why don't you tell me what's bothering you today?” The chart already had a description of the patient's personal information and symptoms: Thomas Walker, age 39, single, suffering from back pain due to a sportsrelated injury. Though Jillian always liked to hear the explanations right from the patients' mouths. The way they described their symptoms could sometimes tell her more about their condition than the vague explanation on the chart. “Well, I had a bit of a crash a couple of weeks ago,” Thomas said, stretching his back and raising his arms over his head to work out some kinks. “I'm into extreme sports. Rock climbing, ice climbing, snowboarding, mountain biking. There's this really rough trail in upstate New York, and it had rained the night before. I wiped out on a patch of mud. Rolled down half the mountain before I caught myself. Totally trashed the bike.” He laughed and shook his head, clearly proud of himself for the disaster he'd gotten into. Or maybe, Jillian thought, he was just proud of having survived it. “And that's when you threw your back out?” Jillian asked. “Yup. My regular doctor says it's nothing serious, so he sent me to you.” Jillian bit the inside of her cheek to keep from scoffing at the way Thomas seemed to dismiss her job as “nothing serious.” She was sure that if she said anything about it, he would say that he hadn't meant anything by it, and imply she was being too sensitive. She'd heard it all before. “Well, let's take a look,” she said. She ran him through a basic examination and tested how far he could stretch and bend without pain. Then she started working him through some stretching exercises designed to loosen up his muscles. He started complaining

about the pain almost right away. “You need to work through the pain,” she told him. She pressed her hand against a sore spot on his back while she forced him to slowly straighten out. “Take it slow, and respect the pain, but don't let it control you. Otherwise, your body will start to grow weaker because you're avoiding using it.” “Well, I definitely want to keep using my body,” he said. “In more ways than one.” Jillian scoffed and rolled her eyes, then deliberately pushed Thomas into straightening his back so that he got a quick jab of pain in the sore muscles. She hoped that would teach him to focus his attention on the therapy and not on flirting. “Lay face down on the table,” she told him. He did as he was told, and she worked him through some more stretches, lifting his shoulders off the table and arching his back to stretch it out. The stretches were similar to some yoga poses and served the same purpose, helping to strengthen his core muscles and restore the body's natural harmony. “So, Jillian,” Thomas asked as she worked him through the stretches, “what do you do when you're not manhandling attractive men?” Jillian frowned and gave him another painful twist. He grunted, but chuckled. “I don't usually discuss my social life with patients,” she said. “I'd like to keep things professional, if you don't mind.” “Hey, I'm just being friendly. The way I see it, I'm going to be seeing you every month for a while now. We might as well get to know each other.” She had him sit up and stretch his arms overhead with his fingers interlaced. Then she guided him through stretches from one side to the other, designed to help with balance and mobility. She tried to ignore his question, but the awkward silence that started to drag out made her uncomfortable. “I don't get a lot of free time,” she said. “But when I have the time, I like to garden.” “Gardening, eh?” He shrugged, then kept going through the stretching exercises. “Not really my thing, but at least it's outdoors. You ever do anything more physical? Hiking maybe?” “Not really,” she said. “I like being outdoors, but I'm not really in good enough shape for something so strenuous.” “Well, I think you're a pretty good shape.” He eyed her curves, smirking. She rolled her eyes, though at the same time her face heated up. It had been awhile since a man had looked at her that way. It was almost a pity that he was a patient. They spent the next hour working through more exercises to get the kinks

out of Thomas's back. At the end of the session, she had him put his shirt back on and told him he could make another appointment with Kate for his next session. “Listen,” he said as he was buttoning up his shirt, “if you're not doing anything later, I certainly wouldn't mind getting to know you a little better. In a less 'professional' context, that is.” “I'm sorry,” she said. “I don't really have the time, and it's really best if we keep this completely professional.” “Well,” he said, eyeing her with a leering smirk, “there might be a way we can get more personal while keeping it professional, in a manner of speaking.” “What do you mean?” She frowned at him. He stepped closer, until she could feel the heat radiating from his body. “Come on,” he said. “I think you know what I mean. You're a beautiful woman.” He ran his fingers down her cheek, making her shiver. “Surely you have an idea what a guy like me would want out of a girl like you.” She shivered and licked her lips. Yes, she knew exactly what he wanted. And he was attractive enough that she almost considered it. But she couldn't afford to get involved with a patient. She could lose her job over something like that, and she couldn't afford to be unemployed. “I'm sorry, Thomas. But I'm not looking to date anyone right now, especially not a patient. I'm your therapist.” “Yes,” he said. “You take care of my...physical needs. Like you said, I just need to make an appointment with your assistant out there, and you'll work your magic to make me feel better, right?” His hand slid lower, sliding down her side to her hip. “Not like that,” she whispered. her mouth suddenly felt dry. “I'd pay quite a bit more than your usual fee,” he said. He looked deep into her eyes. She licked her lips, trembling. “Name your price.” “You...you want to pay me,” she said, her voice hoarse. “For...for that?” He shrugged. “Nothing wrong with that. Keeping it professional, like you said.” She laughed and shook her head, then slipped away from him, moving across the room. “I'm not that kind of girl,” she said. “Not even for the right price?” He grabbed his chart and took the pen attached to it, then scrawled a figure on the bottom of the page. He handed it to her. Her eyes nearly shot out of her head when she saw the price he was offering. Jillian had never thought of herself as the kind of girl who would sleep with a man for money, but considering her financial troubles, and how

much he was offering, it was certainly tempting. She'd be able to pay off one of her maxed-out credit cards after just one night with him. She actually found herself considering it, but she shook her head. “No. No, I'm sorry. I couldn't.” He shrugged, a confident smile still on his lips. “Well, if you change your mind, the offer stands. And it wouldn't just have to be a one time deal.” His eyes roamed her body once more, and Jillian felt exposed, even with her white coat on. “I'm sure that once I had a taste of you, I couldn't be able to give you up.” He left the room. Jillian leaned against the table, taking a few deep breaths to steady herself. She'd never had such an encounter with a man before. Sure, she'd had plenty of men proposition her. But none had ever been so...aggressive. Confident. She looked at the number he'd written down, thinking about how much she could do with so much money. It was more than she earned in a month. Though she couldn't seriously let herself consider such a thing. It was wrong. Kate let her next patient in, and Jillian got to work helping the young man work through exercising his leg to recover from a hamstring injury. Though the entire time, her mind kept drifting to Thomas, and thinking about their next appointment together.

***

A FEW DAYS LATER, Jillian finally got tired of all the phone calls to her bank, and she took a personal day from work to deal with her financial issues. She sat waiting at the bank for more than an hour while a credit specialist looked over her credit report. When he finally called her into his office to discuss what he'd found, the news wasn't good. “I'm really sorry, Miss Miller, but there's no way we can approve you for a consolidation loan at this time.” “But you don't understand,” Jillian said, clutching her purse. “I'm drowning here. If you'll just give me a chance...” “I wish I could help,” he said. “I really do. But it's out of my control.” He spread his hands apologetically.” “I don't see what the problem is,” she said. “I've got a job. I can make the payments.”

He sighed and flipped through the pages of her credit report. “First off, you've missed a few payments, and that hurt your credit score.” “That was over a year ago,” Jillian said. “I haven't missed a payment since. And besides, if you help me consolidate, that'll lower my monthly payments. So you see, I'll be more likely to keep up with them.” “It's not that simple,” he said. “Plus, there are other factors. You have such a high volume of debt, and you've had too many credit inquiries lately.” “So you won't give me a loan just because I've been asking for loans?” He frowned at her and set the report down. “Miss Miller, I'm sorry. But the decision is final.” She scowled at him, wishing there was something else she could say. But there didn't seem to be any point. “Fine. Thanks for nothing.” She got up and left, stalking out to her car. When she got into the car she started to cry. Her debt was more than she could handle. She'd been forced recently to take cash advances on one of her credit cards just to keep up with payments on the others. And she was quickly approaching the point that she wouldn't be able to do that anymore. She thought about Thomas's offer. Part of her was disgusted at the idea of considering such a thing. She didn't want to lower herself to selling her body. But on the other hand, she was desperate. And, she knew, there wasn't necessarily anything to be ashamed of. Her body was hers to do with as she pleased. What right did anyone else have to tell her whether or not she was allowed to earn her living by bringing someone pleasure? It wasn't as if she would be standing on a street corner, offering herself to random strangers and risking disease or worse. She would just do it once, and it would be with a fit, healthy, attractive man. She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, considering it. She couldn't quite make up her mind. But it was starting to seem like her best hope of improving her life.

***

WHEN IT CAME time for Thomas's next appointment, Jillian walked into the room feeling a cold stabbing in her gut. She could still remember the things he'd said, the way he'd propositioned her. She hadn't stopped thinking about it. And now she was going to try to find a way to bring the subject up again.

“Good afternoon,” she said as she entered the room, trying to keep her voice calm and level. “How's your back been feeling?” “I've been getting a lot of stiffness, especially in the morning.” He stretched, moving his right arm in small circles to loosen up some muscles. “And I can't move as well as I used to on this side.” “Give it time,” Jillian said. “It takes a while to recover after an accident like this. I'm sure we'll have you out mountain biking again in no time.” “God, I hope so. Sitting around all day is getting really boring.” “Don't you have a day job?” she asked as she consulted Thomas's chart. She knew he must have a lot of money, if he could make her the kind of offer he had. But she didn't really know how much money. She worked at a high-end clinic, so a lot of her patients were wealthy. Some were high-salaried sports stars, while others were simply rich men who liked to do extreme sports, like Thomas here. “Well, I have board meetings,” Thomas said. “But half the time I'd rather skip out on those and go do something more interesting.” “Must be nice to be able to shirk your responsibilities and go out to have fun.” Jillian sighed, wishing she didn't have so many financial troubles. She couldn't even afford to take a simple vacation, let alone skip out on work whenever she felt like. They started working through some exercises to loosen up Thomas's back. His muscles were especially stiff today, and Jillian kept having to help him work through the exercises. When she touched her hands against his bare back and arms, all she could think about was the firm muscles beneath her fingers. She tried again and again to think of a way to bring up his proposition, but she couldn't think of a way to do it without sounding like a fool. Towards the end of the session, they were pressed close together as she helped him stretch his right arm through an exercise. He winced as the motion pulled some painful muscles, but she pressed him on, forcing him to slowly work through the pain. When she glanced at his face, he was looking right at her. His gaze dug into her, making her mouth go dry. “So, Jillian,” he said, leaning a bit closer under the pretense of stretching out his side muscles more. “Have you given any thought to my 'business proposal'?” “If that's what you want to call it,” she said, pulling her gaze away from his. “That's exactly what it is,” he said. “An exchange of money for a simple service.” “Simple?” She smirked and shook her head. “Honey, if you think it's

'simple,' then you're underestimating me.” “Oh really?” A grin slowly spread on his lips. “So what you're saying is, you're a real pro.” “Let's just say I know a thing or two about how a man's body works.” She demonstrated by pressing her hand against a sensitive spot in his side, eliciting a small yelp and sending goosebumps across his skin. He grabbed her hand by reflex, then held it gently in his. Their eyes met. Jillian swallowed a lump in her throat. “I can't help but notice,” he said, “that you haven't actually said no this time.” “I guess I haven't,” she said. He stepped closer. She turned away, her face heating up. He kept hold of her hand and pulled it against his chest. She could feel his heart beating beneath her palm. “So what do you say?” Thomas whispered. “This is the kind of thing that could get me in a lot of trouble. I could lose my job.” “I promise to be discreet,” Thomas said. “Not a soul will know.” She swallowed, then glanced up at him. He held her gaze and reached out to caress her cheek. Jillian closed her eyes for a moment, steeling her resolve. The truth was, she was attracted to Thomas. He was a handsome, well-built man, and the way he looked at her sent chills up her spine. Under different circumstances, she might have been willing to date him. Instead, she was considering crossing a line she'd never in her life thought she would cross. “About that...price you offered,” she whispered. He slid his hand through her hair, letting the delicate strands run across his fingers. “I'll double it.” Jillian's eyes widened. It had already been an offer of more money than she could have hoped to earn for a single, simple, carnal act. Doubling it made it an offer she just couldn't refuse. “All right,” she whispered. Thomas grinned. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a card. “Give me a call this weekend,” he said. “I have an apartment in the city we can use. It's discreet. Most of my business associates don't even know about it.” She took the card and studied it. Taking it felt like signing a contract. She nodded, without looking up at him. “All right.” He touched his fingers under her chin to tilt her face up towards him. “Trust me,” he said. “I'm going to make sure this is the time of your life.”

He leaned in close and pressed his lips against hers. She stiffened, and almost pulled away, but his kiss tasted so sweet she couldn't resist. She let her tongue brush lightly against his lips, a soft whimper escaping her. There was a knock at the door and they immediately pulled apart. Kate stuck her head in the door and said, “Jillian? Your next appointment is here.” Jillian cleared her throat and ran her hands down over her white coat, smoothing it out. “Yes. Okay. Thank you. I'll be right there.” Kate looked between Jillian and Thomas, a curious expression on her face. Thomas simply smiled at her, showing no shame. Jillian did everything she could to avoid eye contact with either one of them. If Kate suspected anything, she didn't say so. She left them there and closed the door behind her without saying another word. Jillian stepped away from Thomas. “So,” she said, clearing her throat. “This weekend, then.” He took her hand and raised it to his lips, planting a soft kiss on the back of her fingers. “I can't wait.” He left, and Jillian watched him go, trying to fight the butterflies that had suddenly taken up residence in her gut.

***

SATURDAY AFTERNOON, Jillian sat in her kitchen, holding her phone in one hand and Thomas's card in the other. She had typed the number into the phone, but she froze every time she was about to tap “Send.” She had never been good with difficult phone calls, and this was the most unusual one she had ever made in her life. It would be one thing if she was calling Thomas to ask him on a date. She would have been scared out of her mind to do that, but at least it would have been something she'd done before. This was more like calling to schedule an appointment. It felt too impersonal. It was missing the romance. She set down the phone and ran her fingers through her hair. She didn't really want romance. Romance was messy. Complicated. You had to worry about commitment and attachments and how a relationship could work its way into your entire life. What she was going to do with Thomas would be...simpler. It was just an intimate encounter. A liaison. She picked up the phone and held her finger over the screen, taking a deep breath. She closed her eyes, hit the button, then held the phone to her ear with a

trembling hand. “Jillian,” Thomas said as soon as he answered the phone. She froze. How had he known it would be her? He was a busy businessman. Surely he got a lot of other calls throughout the day. Though she realized this must have been a private line. One he reserved only for the more intimate aspects of his life. “Thomas,” she said, her voice shaking. “I...” “Nervous?” He chuckled. “Don't be. We're going to have a wonderful evening together.” Jillian took a few slow breaths, trying to settle her nerves. “I'm looking forward to it.” She wasn't sure if that was true or not. Part of her was excited. Part of her was terrified. “As am I. I'll have a car sent for you. We can take things slow. Dinner. A bottle of wine. Soft music. I promise you this will be a night to remember.” Jillian swallowed a lump in her throat. She wasn't sure whether she wanted the romantic evening. On the one hand, it sounded rather nice. It had been a long time since she'd gone out and had a nice dinner with a handsome man. But on the other hand, this wasn't a date. She almost would have preferred to skip the romance and cut straight to the evening's business. “All right,” she said, trying to keep her voice steady. “I can't wait.” She gave Thomas her address, then went into her bedroom to search for something to wear. She was still trying on outfits an hour later when her doorbell rang. She settled on a low-cut black dress and high heels. The doorbell rang again as she was adjusting the skirt over the curves of her hips, trying to see if the dress gave the right impression. She wanted to be attractive, but not seductive. She needed to keep herself detached. Not let herself get swept up too much in the moment. She went to the door and found a man there wearing a black suit and a chauffeur's cap. He tipped his hat to her and said, “Ma'am. Your car awaits.” He led her out to a shiny black sedan. He held open the door for her and she climbed in. The seat was made of the most comfortable leather she'd ever touched. She couldn't help running her hands across it to feel the smooth texture beneath her fingertips. There was a bottle of wine waiting for her. She poured herself a glass, drank it down fast to soothe her nerves, then poured another. She sipped the second glass slowly while the driver drove her over the bridge into Philadelphia, then to a high rise building that looked rather well-to-do. They drove into the parking garage beneath the building, then the driver let her out in

front of the elevator. She was grateful for the privacy that offered; if she'd had to walk in through the main lobby, considering what she was here for, she would have been devastated. She rode the elevator up to the penthouse, the butterflies in her stomach riding with her the whole way. The doors opened into a small foyer, where Thomas waited for her holding a single red rose. He was dressed in black pants and a white shirt with a few buttons undone at the top. It somehow made him simultaneously look both casual and romantic. She took the rose, forcing a smile. It felt like such a mixed message to her. You gave a rose to a girl on a date, but this definitely wasn't a date. At least, not as far as she was concerned. “Jillian,” he said. “You look lovely.” He touched a hand to the small of her back and led her inside. The apartment was spacious and decorated with accents of silver and black, with expensive but subdued artwork on the walls and black marble floor tiles. The dining room table was set with a pair of candles and a single, slender vase. She stuck the stem of the rose into the vase, then sat when Thomas held her chair out for her. “I hope you brought your appetite,” Thomas said. “I consider myself something of a decent chef.” “You...you cooked?” She looked up at him, incredulous. She'd expected that someone so wealthy would have a professional cook working for him. “There's something much more satisfying about a meal I've prepared myself,” he said. He brought a silver tray in from the kitchen and opened the lid. Delightful scents filled the air. He set a plate before her, with a delectable chicken and vegetable medley topped with some kind of sweet sauce that set off a delightful explosion in her mouth. They ate and shared a bottle of wine, and by the time Jillian finished what was her third glass, counting the two she'd had in the car, she was starting to feel pleasantly relaxed. “How is everything?” Thomas asked. “Oh, it's just wonderful.” She looked around the apartment, wondering what it was like to live in a place like this. Everything was spotless, and the furniture looked like it had never been sat on. She wondered if he kept things so neat all on his own, or if he had a cleaning staff to thank for it. “I'm glad,” he said. “I want everything to be perfect tonight. You deserve to have a wonderful time.” He raised his glass to her, and she raised hers as well, though she couldn't help but wonder if this was all just pointless window dressing. They both already knew what tonight was all about. The deal was sealed. Was he just trying to pretend? To put on a show and make this seem like a romantic

evening, when it was really just about sex? She decided to play along. It made things easier, and truth be told, she really was having a nice time. If this had been a normal date, she would be quite happy right now. After they finished eating, Thomas put on some music. He offered her his hand, and when she took it, he led her to a clear space in the middle of the living room. He placed his hands on her waist, she wrapped hers around his shoulders, and they started to slowly dance. Swaying together in time with the music made Jillian feel even more relaxed. She laid her head against Thomas's shoulder and let out a content sigh. His fingers strayed along her waistline, sending little shivers through her. He held her close enough that she could feel his warmth. She whimpered softly against his neck. She let herself completely forget about the real reason she was here, the fact that this was a business arrangement. She set all of that aside and simply let herself be swept up in the moment. His cheek brushed against hers, followed by his lips. He kissed her cheek softly, then kissed the corner of her mouth. Then his lips were pressed against hers. His hands slid lower, gripping her ass through her skirt. She gasped, but let it happen. Not because she had to, but because it felt so nice to be touched. They stopped dancing and stood there, kissing, while Thomas's hands continued to roam. He hitched up her skirt and reached underneath so he could touch her skin. She clung to him, whimpering and breathless. His fingers followed the curves of her cheeks, then slid between her legs, bringing forth a soft moan. “Thomas...” she whispered. “Shh.” He touched a finger to her lips. “You don't need to say anything.” She nodded, then let him lead her into the bedroom. He laid her down on the silken sheets and started planting kisses down her body while he slowly drew her dress down and tossed it aside. She closed her eyes and dug her fingers into the sheets, moaning, while his lips and his tongue touched her most tender places. Then before she knew it, he was sliding her panties down. She sat up, bracing herself on her elbows, and looked down at him. Her lips trembled. Her chest felt tight. She wanted this, wanted to abandon herself in the moment, but she knew that this was a line that once crossed, she could never come back. She looked up at Thomas, unable to think or speak. He stood up and slowly unbuttoned his shirt, revealing his muscular chest. Then he dropped his pants to the floor, and she saw that he was more than ready to take her. To get what he had paid for. She expected it to be fast, for him to have his way with her and get it over

with. But he took his time, rubbing himself against her until she ached to have him inside of her. He caressed her breasts and planted kisses along her shoulders, her neck, her ears. By the time he entered her, she wanted him so badly that she clung to him, her nails digging into his shoulders. Even then, he drove her mad with his slow, deliberate pace, filling every inch of her until she felt like she was going to explode. Soon his movements became more energetic, more filled with need, and she could tell that he was nearing the edge. She wrapped her legs around him tight, pulling him closer, moving her body in time with his thrusts. He grunted and held her tight, his entire body stiffening as climax poured over him. He collapsed against her, and for one disappointing moment, she thought that it was over. But he looked into her eyes, and seeing that she still wasn't satisfied, he started up again, focusing his every movement on her pleasure. He gave it to her hard and fast, the way she liked it, the way she needed it. She moaned and cried out, telling him when he hit the right spot, when to keep going, when she was nearing the edge. He kept driving it into her until her orgasm exploded within her, filling her with pleasure from her loins to the tips of her fingers and toes. He climbed off of her, then turned towards her and held her close. She closed her eyes, taking deep breaths to calm herself after the workout. The longer she laid there, the more she knew she had to get up and leave, but she didn't have the energy. The bed was so soft and comfortable, and Thomas was so warm, his arms so strong. She nestled closer to him, telling herself she would only stay a few more minutes. Before she realized it, she'd fallen asleep. In the morning she awoke to an empty bed. She could hear the shower running through the open door to the bathroom. She looked around at the tousled sheets and the clothes strewn all over the floor, remembering what they'd done last night. Shame that had been held at bay by the wine started crashing down on her. Her chest felt tight and tears welled in her eyes. She hurried to get dressed, hoping to be out the door before Thomas finished in the shower. She was still searching for one of her shoes when the water turned off. A minute later, he walked out of the bathroom with a white towel wrapped around his waist. “Good morning,” he said, stretching and yawning. “Morning,” she muttered. She found her shoe under the bed and pulled it on, then started heading for the door without looking at Thomas. “You in a hurry to get to church or something?” he asked. “I thought you'd stay for breakfast.”

“I need to go. I...” She shook her head, still refusing to look at him. “Look, last night was nice, but let's not pretend it was something other than what it was. It's done, so now it's time to go.” She headed out the bedroom door, but he called out to her again. “Wait.” She paused, chewing on her lip. He pulled an envelope out of the nightstand and handed it to her. She glanced inside. It was filled with cash. Her payment. “I want to see you again,” he said. She trembled, unsure what to say. Last night had been amazing, but it had come with a price. Not the price he'd paid her, but the price she'd paid in her soul. She wasn't sure if she could face that again. “Find another therapist,” she whispered, unable to find her voice. “I don't think it's appropriate for you to come to my office again.” Before he could reply, she headed out the door. She took the elevator downstairs, then headed out into the busy city street. She knew she could have gotten Thomas's driver to give her a ride home, but she wanted the whole situation over with and behind her. She walked a few blocks, then took a cab to the train station. She rode the train over the bridge and back into New Jersey, clutching her purse with her ill-gotten money against her chest, and fighting back tears the entire time.

***

JILLIAN DIDN'T HEAR from Thomas for several days. She took the money he'd paid her and deposited it into her checking account, then paid off one of her credit cards with it in a single payment. She heaved a sigh of relief as soon as she submitted the payment, feeling like this was the first step towards her financial recovery. Her budget was loosened up now that she had one less monthly payment to worry about, though she still had so much debt from her mortgage, her other credit cards, and her student loans, that she'd really only taken a chip off the total. Her relief was short lived, however. Just two weeks after her liaison with Thomas, her car broke down. When she took it in to get repaired, the bill came to almost $2000. Which was money she just didn't have. She ended up having to use the recently-freed credit card for it, and as she swiped the card through the machine at the mechanic's, she almost started to weep.

She trudged through the days after that, still trying to balance all of her payments while somehow being able to put food on the table. She kept thinking about Thomas, wondering if he would be willing to pay her for her “services” once again. Had she been good enough to make him want more? He hadn't called her since the day she walked out on him, and she didn't know if it was because she'd told him to stay away and he was respecting that, or if she'd been so bad in bed that he'd simply forgotten about her. No doubt, she thought, he could have dozens of other women lining up at the door to his penthouse apartment. She was home one Saturday morning, almost a month after the last time she'd seen Thomas, working in her garden. Her poor little flowers were struggling, thanks to the moody weather that had been swinging back and forth between hot and freezing every few days. And since she couldn't afford to buy any fertilizer or weed killer, she was having a hard time getting her garden to thrive. She was pulling weeds with her bare hands when her phone started vibrating in her pocket. She muttered a curse and wiped her dirty hands on her pants, then pulled her phone out. It was a number she didn't recognize, but when she answered the phone, she heard a familiar voice on the other end. “Jillian.” “Thomas.” Her breath caught in her throat. Had he not forgotten about her after all? “I've been thinking about you,” he said. She chewed on her lip, trying to figure out what to say. She could tell him that she'd been thinking about him, too. That she'd spent many nights dreaming about his touch. Or that she desperately needed more money, and she was willing to do anything to get it. Especially when it would mean doing something that she had been craving for weeks. But she couldn't clear her head enough to say any of those things. Instead, she simply asked, “How's your back been doing?” He chuckled into the phone. “It's all right. I've got more movement in my shoulders now. Though my new therapist doesn't quite have your touch.” Her face heated up as she wondered if he was talking about her medical touch, or the other kind. There was a long, awkward silence. Then he said, “I want to see you again.” “As your therapist?” she asked, knowing that wasn't what he meant. “No,” he said. “At my place. Tonight.” She tilted her head back and looked up at the cloudy sky. This was what

she'd been hoping for, but part of her was still hesitant. While the night they'd spent together had been amazing, the morning after had been humiliating. She wasn't sure if she could go through that again. “Please,” he said. “Come on. You know you had a good time. And I'm sure you could use the money.” Those last words were like a knife twisting in her gut. They told her exactly what she was to him. Not a girlfriend, not someone he had romantic feelings for. Just a prostitute. But she really did need the money. “Okay,” she said. “What time?” They discussed the arrangements, and then she went inside to shower and change. She spent the car ride there drinking a few glasses of wine to soothe her nerves. She felt fidgety, constantly needing to move her hands. She picked at the threads on her dressed and smoothed out her skirt. She knew it was silly to be nervous. She wasn't doing anything that she hadn't already done before. But somehow, she felt more terrified about the night this time than she had the first time. Thomas greeted her as soon as she got off the elevator, once again holding out a rose. She decided this time to ignore the gift. It gave the wrong impression about what the night was about. They sat down for dinner and made small talk. This time, Thomas had made lamb chops with a wonderful balsamic sauce, and each bite was absolute heaven. At first the conversation was bland, with Thomas asking her about how things were going at work and whether she'd been enjoying the weather lately. Then the subject turned to something that, while perfectly casual, felt a little too personal for her. “So,” Thomas asked, “have you been keeping up with your gardening?” Jillian froze with a forkful halfway to her mouth, then set it down and wiped her lips with her napkin. “Do you really care?” she asked. “Of course I do,” he said, wearing a confused frown. “I want to get to know you better.” “Why?” She spread her hands. “Why not just get right down to business?” His frown deepened. “Jillian, what's the matter? I'm just trying to be friendly here. We were having such a nice evening.” “I...” She shook her head, then tossed her napkin back down on the table. “I'm sorry. Excuse me a moment.” She got up and headed into the bathroom, fighting back tears. She didn't understand why she was getting so worked up. He'd just asked her a simple question.

But, she realized, it wasn't so simple. Her gardening was a part of her personal life. While it wasn't something intimate or secret, it was something that was very much a part of her. Asking her about part of her personal life meant that the evening was becoming more personal, less professional. And she'd come here to do something professional. She paced back and forth in the spacious bathroom for a few minutes, dabbing at her eyes with a piece of tissue. She needed to get herself together and get back out there. She had to go through with this. She wanted to go through with it. But the problem was, she couldn't really have what she wanted. This would never become a committed relationship. They would never go out in public. Thomas would never meet her family. They wouldn't exchange gifts at Christmas or on their birthdays. The most they would exchange would be money and bodily fluids. She looked at herself in the mirror, setting her jaw determinedly. She silently told herself that she was going to go back out there, put on a good show of being the girl Thomas wanted, do the deed, then leave without spending the night. She wiped away the last of her tears and gave herself a serious nod. Then she turned and left the bathroom. Thomas was sitting on the couch with a glass of wine, waiting for her. He looked tense, and he wore a concerned expression on his face. “Are you all right?” “Yes,” she said, forcing a smile. “Just had a little too much wine, I think.” “Ahh, okay. Good.” He set down his wine glass and went over to the stereo to put on some music. Jillian hesitated. She didn't want to dance again. Which was to say, she did want to dance again, but she couldn't let herself. It had felt nice to be in Thomas's arms, sharing a quiet, intimate moment like that. But that was the sort of thing that riled up all of her confused, conflicting emotions. She wanted to keep things as impersonal as she could. Professional. She intercepted him on the way to the stereo and started kissing him passionately. He gasped in surprise, but surrendered to her kiss, his arms slipping around her. She slid her tongue between his lips and pressed herself against him. It didn't take long before she could feel something poking her and she knew she was getting him worked up. “Wait, slow down,” he said. She ignored his request and slipped her hand down to grab him between his legs. She started rubbing, firm and quick, and soon he lost the ability to protest.

He tried to steer her towards the bedroom, but that felt too personal to her. She pushed him down on the couch and got down on her knees, unzipping his pants. He was flushed and his breathing was becoming erratic as his arousal passed the point of no return. When she pulled down his pants and took him into her mouth, he moaned out loud, dropping his head back and relaxing against the sofa. She worked him up for a few minutes until she was sure he was more than ready to go. Then she slipped off her underwear, hitched up her skirt, and climbed on top of him. He grabbed her hips and guided her as she rode him. Unlike last time, she didn't want to take her time. Sure, she wanted to enjoy herself. But there was a big difference between slow, intimate sex, and a good hard fucking. She only wanted the latter. It would satisfy her physical urges without stirring up the same intimate feelings that came with making love. Thomas's grunts grew more forceful. He held onto her tight, thrusting up into her as she rode him. She grinned, knowing that she had him right where she wanted him. She wasn't near climaxing herself, but she faked it, letting out some deep, guttural moans and arching her back. She laid it on thick, giving her best to the performance. She needed to make sure Thomas was satisfied, and part of that was making him believe he'd satisfied her as well. When it was done, he clung to her, burying his face against her shoulder. She let him hold her for just a minute, then she got up, retrieved her underwear, and pulled it back on. She adjusted her dress and her hair while Thomas sat there, panting. He looked up at her with a satisfied smile, then pouted when he saw she was getting ready to leave. “You in a rush, babe?” “I've got an early day tomorrow,” she said. “Tomorrow's Sunday.” “Yes,” she said. “I have church.” “Oh.” He cleared his throat, his face turning red. She wondered if the subject of God was a touchy one for a man who paid a woman to have sex with him. He went into the bedroom, zipping up his pants, and returned with the envelope that held her money. She put it into her purse, gave Thomas a quick kiss on the cheek, and headed for the door. He followed her and put his arm across the door, blocking her way. “When do I get to see you again?” he asked. He reached up to caress her cheek. She wanted to pull away from the tender gesture, but she let it happen so as not to offend him.

“My schedule is kind of busy.” She bit her lip, trying to think of what to say. She needed the money, so she would definitely be coming back. But she didn't want this to be a regular thing. If she came to him every weekend, it would feel too much like dating. “Next month,” she said. Thomas pouted in disappointment. “I'm sorry. I just can't fit the time into my schedule otherwise.” “All right,” he said. He leaned in and gave her a kiss. She let his lips linger on his for a few moments, then pulled away. He watched her as she headed into the elevator. She kept her back straight, trying not to show any signs of weakness. She kept it completely professional. She even accepted a ride home from Thomas's driver this time. It wasn't until she got home and was lying in her own bed that the weight of the night started to settle onto her. She stared at the ceiling, thinking about what she'd done. About what she would do again next month. And about how much she wished she didn't have to detach herself from it so much. But keeping the emotional distance was the only way she could survive this. If she let herself get too close to Thomas, she knew that sooner or later, she would end up with a broken heart.

***

OVER THE NEXT FEW MONTHS, Jillian and Thomas were a regular thing. Every few weeks, he would give her a call, asking her to come see him. She agreed each time, but only because she continued to be desperate for the money. After their third encounter, she sat down at home one day, going over her budget and doing some math. She'd already managed to pay off two credit cards with the money Thomas had paid her. But it would take several more months before she could pay off the rest and get rid of her student loans at the same time. After working the numbers, she realized that if she wanted to pay off everything— except for her mortgage, which she had twenty-five years left on—she would need to continue sleeping with Thomas about once a month until the end of the year. She could get it done faster if she agreed to see him more often, but try as she might, she couldn't bring herself to do that. She needed time between each encounter in order to let her emotions settle. It was the only way to avoid becoming too attached. She woke up one Saturday morning after a long and tiresome night. She'd

been stuck at the clinic late, and she'd forgotten to eat dinner. Her stomach was bothering her, she was grumpy, and all she wanted to do was sleep in and forget about the world. She was pulling the covers over her head to go back to sleep when her phone rang. She grabbed it, ready to chuck it across the room, when she saw it was Thomas calling. She groaned, but answered the phone anyway, mumbling a grumpy, “Yeah?” “Hey, babe,” he said. “How's my favorite girl this morning?” She glared at the ceiling, wondering what he even meant by that. Sometimes she thought that maybe he meant such things, that he really did care about her. Other times she knew she was just his whore. “I'm really not feeling well,” she said. “Oh. That's too bad.” There was a long pause. “Because I was hoping you'd come over today.” Jillian stared at the clock. It was too early in the morning to deal with this. But on the other hand, she knew she needed to keep this deal going. For all she knew, a rejection would send Thomas searching for another girl. “I'd love to,” she said. “Really? That's great.” Jillian held back a sigh. It sounded like there was genuine excitement in his voice. “Give me a couple of hours, okay?” “Okay, babe,” he said. “Sure thing. Whatever my girl needs.” She hung up the phone, her thoughts lingering on the words “my girl.” She tried to banish such thoughts from her mind, but she couldn't help but wonder what kind of feelings Thomas might have been developing for her. She got dressed slowly, fighting the sensations of nausea that wouldn't go away. She avoided the wine during the car ride this time, feeling pretty certain that it would make her vomit. The last thing she needed to do was throw up all over Thomas's expensive apartment. For all she knew, he would take the cleaning bill out of her pay. She and Thomas had lunch together, though she had a hard time eating. He'd made a spicy meal, and after a few bites, she found that it just wasn't agreeing with her. He seemed to notice that she was still feeling under the weather. “You sure you're okay today, babe?” he asked. “Can I get you anything?” “I'm fine,” she said. She stretched and reached around to rub a hand against her lower back. “Just a bit sore after a long work week.” “Here, let me take care of that. You shouldn't always have to be the one

fixing other people's back problems.” He led her over to the couch and started giving her a slow, sensual back rub. She laid face down on the sofa, letting his hands roam her body. It felt so good and started to relieve the tension in her aching muscles. Though her nausea didn't want to go away. It wasn't long before Thomas's hands started to roam. She closed her eyes, wishing she could tell him to stop. It had felt so nice to have him touch her in a nonsexual way for once. And with the way her stomach was feeling, she wasn't really in the mood. “Baby?” she asked, lifting her head up. “What's up?” His hands continued rubbing her, straying now below her waist. “Can we just relax for a while?” She twisted around a bit to look at him. “I'm really sorry to ruin the mood. I just need a little time to let lunch settle, I guess.” “All right,” he said. “If that's what you need.” He sat next to her on the couch. She could tell by the look on his face that he was disappointed, but he didn't say anything about it. They ended up watching a movie on his big screen TV. Thomas had his arm around her the entire time, and she laid her head against his shoulder, pretending that this was just a normal Saturday with a normal guy. She knew what would have to come later, though she still wasn't in the mood. The obligation, the knowledge that there was only one real reason that he'd asked her here, made it hard for her to feel any arousal. After the movie ended, Thomas started kissing her. She tried to respond, but her heart just wasn't in it. He picked up on that pretty quickly and pulled away, hanging his head and sighing. “Listen, babe,” he said. “If you're not feeling well, we don't have to do anything today.” “I don't want to be a let down,” she said. Tears started to well in her eyes. He caressed her cheek and smiled at her. “It's okay. Really. We'll make up for it another time.” He gave her a gentle kiss, then she gathered her things and got ready to leave. Though when she got to the door, he still handed her the envelope with her payment. “But I didn't do anything,” she said. “Yes, you did.” He smiled at her and kissed her hand. “You showed me a good time. Maybe not in the usual way, but I had a really nice time today, just spending time with you.”

She toyed with the edges of the envelope, torn between taking the money and giving it back. But he led her into the elevator before she could bring herself to return it. “I'll see you next time, all right?” he said. “All right.” She smiled at him, genuinely grateful for his understanding. She went home and spent the rest of the day relaxing. The next morning, she was feeling sick again. On top of that, her breasts were sore, which confused her since she and Thomas hadn't even done anything together. Though a cold realization slowly dawned on her as she considered a possible explanation. A home pregnancy test soon confirmed her fears. She'd been using birth control each time she'd been with Thomas, but she knew that such things were never 100%. She'd have to go to a doctor to find out for certain if the test was accurate, but as much as she wanted to deny it, she knew that it was true. She was pregnant. And there was no way she could consider raising a child together with Thomas. She didn't know what she was going to do.

***

AS THE NEXT couple of months passed, Jillian encouraged Thomas to call on her more frequently. She was determined to reach the end of their “business relationship,” but she couldn't do so until she'd earned enough money to get out of debt. Raising a child would be expensive, but she'd run the numbers, and found that once she was debt-free, she would be able to afford to feed and clothe the child with the money from her regular salary. She just needed to get out of debt before the baby was born. For a while, Thomas gave no signs that he had any idea what was going on. She went to his penthouse each time he called. They ate, they danced, they enjoyed quiet evenings together, and she did her best to please him in bed. The more time they spent together, the more amazing their nights together started to feel. She found herself wanting to take her time, to linger with his touch. She even started spending the night again, in order to feel his arms around her all night long. One Sunday morning, after a long night of passion, Thomas laid in bed and watched her get dressed. Her envelope of money was waiting for her on the nightstand, as usual. When she finished getting dressed and reached for the

envelope, Thomas reached out and grabbed her wrist. “Jillian,” he said, giving her a stern look, “when are you going to tell me?” “Tell you what?” Her heart hammered in her chest and her face started to feel warm. “Don't play games with me.” He shoved her hand away from the envelope and sat up in bed. Jillian took a few steps back. “I don't know what you're talking about.” “Oh no?” He stood up and pulled on his pants. “You don't think I can notice the signs? You haven't had a glass of wine with dinner for months. You're in the bathroom plenty of mornings, claiming you're not feeling well. And, well...” He gestured to her body. “It's starting to show.” Jillian looked at herself in the mirror, pressing her hands against her stomach. She had been hoping to be done with her arrangement with Thomas before the pregnancy started to show. “I...I just thought...” She sighed and shook her head. Thomas glared at her. “Who's the father?” Her head shot up. She stared him down, her face turning red. “What? How can you possibly ask me that?” “Well, what am I supposed to think?” He threw his hands in the air. “You only see me once, maybe twice a month. You've got a whole life that I'm not a part of. How am I supposed to know whether there's another man?” “You think I would do that?” she asked. “You think I'd cheat on you?” “Cheat?” He snorted and shook his head. “Is it cheating when I'm paying you?” She looked at the envelope on the nightstand, then grabbed it and threw it at him. It tore open and money scattered all over the bedroom. “Well, you can stop paying me now.” She stalked out of the room and headed for the elevator. Thomas followed her and grabbed her arm, spinning her around to face him. “Don't touch me!” she shouted. “Jillian, I'm not just letting you walk out like this.” “Why not?” she asked. She beat a fist against his chest as tears started rolling down her cheeks. “Isn't this what you want? For your whore to leave, so that you won't have to be burdened? You wonder why I didn't tell you? Because I knew it would never work. You don't want me as part of your life!” He pulled her against his chest. She struggled, but he was too strong. “Is that what you think?” he asked, looking deep into her eyes. “You think I don't want you in my life? Of course I do!” “Then why...why...?” Jillian choked on her words, tears falling down her

cheeks. She didn't even know what to say. “I've been trying to find a way to talk to you about this,” he said, caressing her cheek and wiping away her tears. “To tell you the way I feel about you. I only kept offering you money because I thought that was all you wanted. That if I asked you to come see me, just for me, just to be with me, that you'd reject me.” She shook her head, a wry laugh escaping her lips. “You really think that? That I'd reject you?” “You did the first day we met.” Jillian held very still, thinking back to that first fateful encounter in her office. It was true, she had rejected him. But only because he'd been a patient. Now that he wasn't... “Jillian,” he said, running his fingers through her hair. “Babe. Please. Don't leave.” She looked at the door, then closed her eyes and laid her head against his chest. “But what about the money? And the baby? And...” He stroked her hair, whispering soothing noises into her ear. “Don't worry about that. About any of it. I can take care of you. I can take care of you and the baby. That's all I want to do.” She held him tight, her tears slowly fading away. “You mean that?” she whispered. She clung to his chest, savoring his warmth. She could feel his heart beating and she held her head against it, listening to the steady rhythm of his life. “You really want me? You want...us?” “Of course I do.” He tilted her face up towards his. “Jillian, I love you.” He kissed her, and for the first time when she kissed him back, it was without obligation, without any baggage attached. It was simply two souls uniting in a moment together, sharing the touch, the taste of each other. She held onto him, relief swelling in her chest. Her worries slowly faded, and she knew now that everything was going to be okay. Her baby, their baby, would have a wonderful life, and they would finally be together as a real couple, as a family. And it was more than she ever could have hoped for.

REED He took one last drink and made his way back into office with water in hand. He knew what to say, and all he had to do was put it out there. He pushed open the door and turned to face her once more. “Lydia!? What the hell are you doing here?” He glanced frantically around the room once more.

She stood their hands on hip scowling. “Me what am I doing here what the hell was Miss Piggy doing here? That woman had some nerve, she eluded to having sex with you on your desk can you imagine?!” “Lydia, I have known you for a very long time and so I am not going to fire you for your mouth, or the way you talk about Tempest. I will, however tell you that this is your one and only warning about how you talk to people. Don’t ever, and I mean ever let me hear you say another cross word about her is that clear?” She paled and stuttered slightly.” Ye..yes Reed I got it. I’m sorry ok.?” “As for my sex life that is none of your business, not anymore. We are done Lydia, no more. If you said or did anything to run her off I swear Lydia, you will be on the unemployment line by Monday morning.” He grabbed his jacket and made his way out of the office and into the garage to get his car. I she could run off for weeks and not say a word, surely she could go away again, but there was no way he was letting her go not this time. He found her apartment complex easily enough. It wasn’t as run down as he had feared, but it was in a rough part of town. He saw her car and he internally sighed with relief. He still had time to make thigs right. He parked his car, jumping out and knocking on her door. She opened it and after the look of shock came one of concern. “Reed, what are you doing here?” She crossed her arms and he knew she was upset. “Can I come in and talk Temp, please just for a few minutes. Then I’ll go if you want.” He saw her thinking about it and after another moment she opened the screen for him and he went inside. It was small and quaint but meticulously neat. It was seeing that that helped him relax even more. He turned to face her. “Listen Temp, Lydia and I …we are done there isn’t anything going on there… not anymore.” “Why are you telling me this Reed, what you do in your personal time has nothing to do with me.” “What if I want it to?” He waited for her to say something, anything. “What do you mean?” It was a whisper but he heard it. “Temp you left, and I didn’t even want to come to work anymore. I don’t know how you did it but I tried to play this game with you to get you in bed, and somehow you turned it on me making me fall head over heels in love with you.” He waited, letting it sink in. She raised her head to look at him and he saw the tears in her eyes.

“Don’t tell me you don’t feel it Temp, you have to.” “I don’t know what to say Reed. I came to see you to tell you somethings and when she showed up it just all seemed so clear somehow. Now, your standing here telling me you love me.” She threw her hands in the air, letting the tears fall. “Why is that bad Temp?” He pulled her close to him, framing her face with his hands. “I never wanted to settled down until I met you. I don’t ever want you out of my life again.” “Its bad because I don’t know if we want the same things Reed.” She looked up at him. “I don’t know whether but that’s part of it, finding out more and more about the other person.” “Reed it’s not that simple.” She pulled away and doing it was breaking them both. “Why not, damn Tempest your killing me here.” He stood there his heart breaking. “Because I am pregnant Reed, that’s why.” She stood there and he felt something move inside him. “What?!” He was unsure he had heard her correctly, and he was afraid no matter what her response. “I am pregnant Reed. I was coming to tell you tonight. I know you don’t want kids, you made that clear so I was coming to tell you I can do this on my own you don’t have to anything at all. I won’t ask you for anything and you don’t have to…” She was cut off when his lips met hers. The kiss was hot and searing and full of love. He nipped at her mouth gently as he searched her face then slowly he pulled back, gently placing a hand on her stomach. “I’m going to be a dad.” He said it incredulously. “Yes.” She whispered. “We are a family Temp, I want all of it, you baby and hell…three more for all I care.” He lifted her in his arms and held her close, once more reveling in the feel of her body molded to his. There was nothing more perfect than they were in that moment. “I love you Tempest, now let’s go home.” “I love you too Reed.” He looked down into her eyes, glistening with unshed tears, albeit this time happy ones. “Well it’s about time you said it back.” He grunted and she swatted at him playfully before he sealed their love with a kiss.

CLIMBING HIS CORPORATE LADDER

CHAPTER ONE – MEGAN She paced the floor, lost in thought. She was usually very reserved; it took more than a little bump in her plan to cause her to worry. Sadly, this bump was much bigger than she expected. She paused once, turning on her heel as she paced in the opposite direction. So much had been riding on this promotion, and now she would have to start all over again. She never missed a day of work either, until today, and until she needed some time to process the blow to her ego she had received. With a sigh, she had to wonder if it had anything to do with her appearance. It wasn’t that she was unattractive, in fact, her caramel colored skin and green eyes were what made her stand out. Her hair was simple, yet elegant, twisted copper curls, an asset she had inherited from her mother. Unfortunately, that was the only thing she had inherited. She turned once more, spinning around and catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror. At 25 it was true she was thick, she wasn’t pencil thin, or perfect by model industry standards. What she did have was curves, hips and confidence. She smiled, putting her hand on her hip for emphasis. She was more than happy with herself. Rarely did she find herself lacking for dates, in fact being a big beautiful girl was all the rage sometimes, and for a brief moment she had been very popular indeed. Now, in the corporate world, she was often looked at as though somehow she was lacking, something that she refused to let her get down. With a shrug, she went back to pacing. Now was not the time to focus on how she looked, now was the time to figure out what had gone wrong. She had interviewed for the assistant position, and she had aced that interview. If there was anything she knew, it was how to interview for a job. Growing up in a rough neighborhood, she had been taught at a very young age that the only way to make, it was to get out of the neighborhood, as soon after high school as you could. She had seen so much negative activity around her cul-de-sac, she had needed no further prodding. She hated the idea of letting herself get emotional over this situation, but she was lying if she didn’t fight back tears a time or two. She had climbed the ladder too long, and too hard. The Director had all but told her it was in the

bag two weeks ago, and she had planned on it. Sadly, now she was left scrambling to fix everything she had changed. Had she known, she wouldn’t have taken on a car note. She would have stuck with her little beat up cavalier a couple more years, instead she sold it. Using that money to buy her a new and improved wardrobe to go along with her new title. Now she was stuck with a car she couldn’t afford, and clothes she didn’t need. She slumped down in the chair with a sigh. It wasn’t fair, not even a little. She wasn’t the type to get discouraged, but today just seemed to be bringing her down. Alice, from HR had called her an hour ago and she had done nothing but pace the floor since then. To ask about any other positions would be fruitless, that much was for sure. She had followed the job postings closely, always waiting to jump on this one when it had opened. She tapped her chin lost in thought for a moment. Maybe she had done something wrong? She furrowed her brow, thinking about it at length. She couldn’t think of anything, but then nothing would be a surprise really. She sat up quickly, what she needed was an inside scoop on what had happened. If she couldn’t get straight answers, then surely she could ask her co-workers, especially Debbie. Debbie Burrows had the inside knowledge about everything in the office, no matter how small or how big. She hated even getting this ball rolling, but it had to be done, plain and simple. She dialed the number quickly, chewing on her lower lip as she did. “Hullo, this is Miss Deb.” The happy voice on the other end answered cheerfully. “Hey Deb, its Megan…” “Oh, hayyyy girl. I can’t believe they didn’t give you that position.” She cut off her hello. “Yeah, I was really hopeful about that.” Wow, news certainly did travel fast. “I know girl, I heard that old man Rutledge gave control over to his son William, and he brought in his nephew for the job. Something about a family crisis or something. Still, I know you earned that job fair and square.” “Well, I was just calling to see if you had heard anything at all.” She frowned just saying the words. “Just what I told ya honey. I hope you will be ok, I know it is a blow.” “I'm fine, thanks Miss Deb.” She flicked the screen, ending the call a frown on her face. A nephew huh, well she would go find William Rutledge herself and ask him how any of this is fair. She had to think twice about it as she headed towards the door. It was a Tuesday, hopefully he was still in town. He was somewhat of an enigma.

William Rutledge was the only son of Mr. Rutledge, the senior and the owner of the corporation she was working for. She had never met him, only seen his signature from time to time on correspondence as it came through the office. She knew he was known to be ruthless, arrogant and a bit of a womanizer. Either way, she would give him a piece of her mind, even if it meant losing her job. With a sigh, she recanted that last bit, she couldn’t lose her job, despite this issue. She had to have some money coming in. She slid into the seat of her car, her wonderful “new to her” car. She would likely have to give it back, unless something happened and so on. She set off for her building, hoping to get there before everyone left for the day. Finding a spot in the massive garage, she slipped out of her car, straigtening her skirt as she went. She would approach this with a no nonsense kind of attitude, and be as sweet and as charming as she could be. She glanced around the lot almost empty which suited her just fine. The last thing she needed was the rumor mill turning, and it's attached to her name in any way. She hit the button on the elevator and made her way into the lobby. She smiled at George the attendant, giving him a wave and she moved down the long corridor towards the south elevators. Her phone ringing, she fished it out of her purse only to feel herself being knocked against the wall, causing her to drop her bag entirely.

CHAPTER TWO- WILLIAM The place was a mess, and one he didn’t relish the idea of fixing up for his father. Sure, he loved the old man with everything he had, the problem was much more complex than that. In fact, he would have to spend the better part of the year living in the city to try and make sense of things. Rarely did he find his way into the smaller cities that the company had operations in. He far preferred the fast pace of New York or Miami. No, sadly he was stuck, at least for the foreseeable future in Chicago. Not that he disliked the area, in fact, there was some city structures and charm that made him feel much more relaxed than some of the other places. Glancing down at his watch he realized it was later than he thought. He would have to come back tomorrow and wrap this latest set of paperwork up. He stood glancing out of the floor to ceiling mirror that gave him an overview of the city. If there was anything he loved more about this office, it was this room. He, had the advantage over his father in height. At 6’2 he was able to see more of the view than his father had, and yet that’s where the

differences in them stopped. Broad and blonde, William had an easy way about him, never dealing with stress, or allowing it to take over his life. He also had the same clear blue eyes, much like his father. The only resemblance to his mother that he had was the dimple in his left cheek. Something his father reminded him of often. Even now he felt a twinge thinking of her. She had been a wonderful woman, full of life and excitement. She had been gone only two years, cancer taking her quickly from them. It seemed like only yesterday more often than not. He had been fortunate to live 28 years before losing her, and his 30th birthday was fast approaching. If she had been here she would be pushing him towards finding a wife. Something he had no intention of doing any time soon. It wasn’t that he didn’t like women, he did. In fact, that was the real issue, he liked them too much. He was careful to keep out of the news, never flaunting any one woman more than another. He was discreet and careful, something he had learned at a very young age. He smiled even now, thinking of the petite blonde he had met only yesterday. Quietly he had given her a compliment or two and left her with a number to call him. They had plans this weekend, and he would find a way to charm her, winning her over and into his bed. It was almost boring these days, his endless parade of beauties. There was no challenge in any of them. If they weren’t impressed with his car and money, they wanted him because of his looks. Never conceited, he thought he was just an average guy, though he tried to take care of himself. He glanced at his reflection in the glass, his blond hair short and wavy on top, he didn’t see it, but it left him never being alone. That was something he enjoyed most. He hated the silence, the simplicity of being alone. No, he would always prefer to eat, drink and have good conversation with a woman over solitude. He heard his phone buzzing and glanced down at it with a scowl. His nephew Jackson. It wasn’t that he didn’t care about the boy, he did. In fact, he had given him a position in the company, in hopes that he would be content. Every day there was a call about something, asking him 100 questions about the job and whining over where his office would be. He knew that the job had been promised to someone else, but he had given his aunt Gertie his word he would find him a place, and not in the Mailroom. It had simply been the only one open at the time. He gave a glance at the stack of boxes still waiting to be unpacked by the door. He would have to hire an assistant too. So much to do and so little time to do it. He slipped into his jogging suit, hoping to get a run in while out and made his way to the door hoping to find some early dinner. Some of the staff would be here until 6, so he would come back and be there

until they all left, a tradition his father had started, and one he would strive to continue. He walked out of the elevator, heading towards the garage when his phone rang again. Grabbing it, he sighed, seeing Jacksons number once more. What he didn’t see was the person he was walking into. “Damn.” He cursed. “I am sorry; I didn’t even look up.” He held a hand out to her, helping her find an upright position once more. He grabbed her bag finally meeting her eyes. Hazel, green… some variation of the two. She glanced up at him, brushing off her skirt, doing some cursing herself. He couldn’t help but grin slightly taking her in. She was nothing like the women he found himself with. She was tall, but not overly so, curvy, but in all the right places and her caramel skin gave the appearance of being kissed by the sun. She took care of herself, and her body language made that very clear. “If you're finished looking at me, I’ll take my bag back.” She gave him a look, brows arched as she held out her hand. “Sorry.” He thrust it out to her, a little at a loss for words. He watched her strive to put herself back together. “Oh man, seriously?” She sighed, rolling her eyes as she pulled the two ends of her shirt together. It was obviously ripped, and beyond fixing. With a huff, she slung her bag over her shoulder. “You should really watch where you’re going. This outfit cost me a fortune.” She gave him a once over taking in his causal clothes. He crossed his arms amused. “Your right, I should, I’d be happy to cover the cost of your shirt….” He trailed off, and she glanced up at him once more before looking down at the shirt once more. “Megan… my name is Megan.” “I’m William, it’s nice to meet you… and I meant it.” He watched her flush slightly before answering. “No, it's fine, just be careful. This building is one of professionalism, try to be mindful of that.” She left him, then making her way to the elevator. He watched her go with a smile. She was a spitfire that one. He slipped out of the building and down the street to grab some food to bring back for dinner.

CHAPTER THREE-MEGAN “Ass.” It was the first word to come to mind as she made her way up the elevator to the ninth floor. Sure, he had offered to pay for her outfit, but still. He seemed to be content to smile at her and look her up and down a few times. Men were always the

same and she could usually blow them off pretty easily. He had been a gentleman and apologized, she could give him credit for that. Plus, he had been gorgeous, a nagging voice in her head popped in. True that, he had been gorgeous. She always had an eye for an attractive guy, but she had standards now. She didn’t want to find herself pregnant and left alone with a yard full of kids while her baby’s daddy was off doing who knows what. No, she would put relationships aside for as long as possible. She would take care of herself, and not count on anyone else for it. Then, and only then would she find the right man to fit into her life. He hadn’t seemed to mind her curvaceous body, or her style so that was a plus. Relationship or not, she was happy to date from time to time. Sadly, by the looks of him, he wouldn’t be able to take them out anywhere. She entered into the lobby and found her way around until she saw Jasmine at the desk. “Hey Jaz.” She gave her a smile. “Heyy Megan, what’s up?” She moved her head pieces down so she could hear better. “I heard from a little bird that William Rutledge is here, do you think you can find out for me?” “Yes, he sure is. He actually stepped out for a minute, but he should be back shortly if you want to wait for him?” She glanced at her watch. “Sure, I can do that.” She made her way over and sat down on the plush couches. After a few minutes she decided to make herself some coffee while waiting. She rarely came up to the ninth floor, it was for higher level clearance. She, herself was on level 6, only knowing Jasmine since they shared some of the same training before. Soon she found herself bored, and ready to go. Maybe she would try back tomorrow. She took the turn back around to the front window just as Jasmine called for her. “Hey, sorry he took forever. Go ahead and go over through those doors, he will meet you in there. He doesn’t have an assistant yet so he is doing his own thing.” She gave her a half smile and a wink as she got back into her own work. Megan felt the pressure of what she was about to say wash over her. She was nervous, but she also felt like she had a point to make. She pushed through a set of double doors and into a smaller room with a desk and sitting area. She was waiting when she heard the voice from earlier. “Well, I have to say I didn’t expect to see you again.” He oozed charm and Megan found herself lost for a moment, unable to speak. “Oh wow, uh see I …just wow.” She felt the heat rise up into her face and

in that moment she wanted to disappear. He chuckled. “You must be Megan James?” He held a hand out, which she jumped up to shake hesitantly. “Yes, and I suppose you must be…” “William Rutledge, or Bill.” He dropped his hand, the heat coming from him was almost too much. “Come on in Mrs. James.” He moved in front of her and pushed open his door, allowing her to pass. She moved past him carefully, his gaze was intent on her as she walked in. Making his way in behind her he gestured towards one to his plush chairs across from his desk. She watched as she took off his jacket, surprised at how quickly he had changed into this from his jogging suit earlier. Just then she remembered what she had said to him, she blushed once more. If she left here with a job at all she would be doing well. Deciding to get it over with quickly, she charged in. “I am sure you are wondering why I am here Mr. Rutledge. The truth of the matter is I am upset at how things turned out.” She waited her eyes meeting his, holding him there for a moment. “I assume you mean about the promotion, and not our interaction downstairs?” He gave her a smile and she felt the pulse at her throat quicken as she watched his simple move with his smile. “Um, yes, about that.” She trailed off as he held up a hand to stop her. “It's fine Mrs. James, as for the position, I will apologize for that, however them isn’t a thing I can do about it really. I have a copy of your records here. I can see you’ve been an asset. We would hate to see you leave us.” He arched an eyebrow at her over the file. “Oh no, I mean I don’t want to leave. I was just given the impression I was simply moving into that position. Now, however, it seems to have vanished.” She was upset now, his bullying tactic, making her angry. “No it’s there, I just had to make changes, some I didn’t want to do. There is nothing I can do about it now though. Do you have any experience with anything higher than a level 6?” She sat back carefully. She was angry, but doing her best to not say or do anything that would make the situation worse. “No, I only have level 6 clearance. I’ve been grooming for that position for over a year.” She said it in clipped tones. He was watching her over the desk, silently taking her in. She hated to be a spectacle for him or anyone else. “Why do you insist on staring at me like that Rutledge? If you have a

question, ask it already.” She had lost it, her self-control. She watched the surprise on his face and the lazy smile that followed. “You certainly say exactly how you feel don’t you Mrs. James?” “It’s Miss James, and yes I do. Where I am from if you don’t say anything you only have yourself to blame for the outcome.” She stood to go, it was obvious she would have to look for a job. She stood to make her way to the door. “Thank you for taking the time to talk to me Rutledge. I’ll move my things from my office in the morning.” Hearing him chuckle once more, she looked up at him her face flushed. “On the contrary, Miss. James.” He emphasized the Miss. “I want to offer you a different position.” She frowned, almost afraid to ask him what it was. He made his way across the room to look out at the city once more. She allowed herself to take him in once more. Tall and broad he was quite a spectacle standing in the light of the window. She let her eyes travel over him until he spoke once more. “Why Miss. James, I think perhaps you’re the one checking me out now.” He gave her a broad smile and walked towards her. She felt the heat rise up in her face, having been caught staring at him, the very thing she had called him out on earlier. He moved like a cat, graceful and determined. She was frozen to the spot, unable to move as he stood in front of her. She felt the heat from him as he leisurely leaned against the door. His eyes slowly raking over her. “Tell me, Miss James, you’ve made it clear you’re not married, do you have a boyfriend?” She inhaled carefully, “No, it takes up too much time.” She met his gaze head on, noticing the appreciative look he gave her. There was something in his smile that made her feel weak, almost lost on him in that moment. She shook her head to clear her thoughts. “I have some things that need some attention here. If you can help me work through them, I’ll see what I can do about another position. Deal?” She bit her lower lip, thinking. At the very least it would buy her some time. “Sure, fine. I’ll be here in the morning; does that work for you?” “9am Miss James. Don’t be late.” He gave her a wink as she left. Late? As if she had ever been late a day in her life. She was content in his offer, she could show him what she did well, and perhaps he could help her. The next morning came quickly and she found herself faced with a mountain of paperwork when she walked in. Most of it was invoices and tax documents that needed attention. She was halfway through a pile when he walked in. “Hello Miss James.” He had the uncanny ability to make his voice sound

like velvet. “Mr. Rutledge.” She did her best to ignore him, work Megan, just focus on work. “You look lovely today.” He was smiling at her, lie a schoolboy or something. “Thank you.” She frowned refocusing on the task at hand. “So I’ve been thinking about our arrangement here. You work for two hours, then we talk for an hour every day all week.” He waited, watching her. “Talk about what?” She chewed on her lower lip, thinking. “Anything we want. You are a fascinating woman, I’d like to learn more about you, and in turn you can ask me anything you want.” “Fine, deal.” She went back to work, now overly concerned about her job entirely. The first day went smoothly, they enjoyed lunch and he asked about her childhood. She shared stories about some old people from her neighborhood and how amusing it was watching them deny the fact that they were getting older. Instead, they would sit in the street with the kids. She asked him about his life and he shared about his mother, and her desire for him to be a strong man. As the week went on they talked more and more and she found herself at ease with him. By Wednesday things started to shift, and they both felt it. “Why aren’t you married Megan?” He watched. “I could ask you the same thing William.” She always put a royal inflection on his name which amused him. “You first sweetheart, as you know I am a gentleman.” He gave her an exaggerated bow. “Like I said, too complicated.” She popped a piece of fruit in her mouth candidly as she turned the question on him. “Your turn.” She gave a bow. “Sweetheart.” He laughed, smiling at her. “I haven’t found anyone I like spending time with longer than it takes to get her out of her clothes, and that’s the truth.” He said it simply enough. She felt the heat rise in the air, changing the atmosphere. “I see.” She felt the heat in her face, as she turned to look at the stack of paperwork on her desk. “I doubt that. I am a complicated man Megan, but I know what I like, and I like getting what I want.” She swallowed hard, “I have no doubt you do.” “I want you Megan. I also want to know the truth about why you're single, when you’re ready.” He moved then his mouth finding hers in a kiss, leaving

them both breathless. “I am a complicated woman, its best you leave it alone.” She stood grabbing her jacket to go. “Have dinner with me Megan, to talk about a new position.” He waited poised for a response. She felt her heart beating rapidly as she subconsciously wet her lips. Why not, she really had nothing to lose. “Fine.” “Well you don’t have to sound so enthusiastic about it Megan.” He gave her a half smile, grabbing up his jacket, leaving her standing by the door. “Wait you mean now?” She frowned. “I thought you already went out for food?” “True, but I can save that for another day, I’d much rather eat with you.” He watched her intently as he spoke, and she simply swallowed hard. It wasn’t often in her adult life that she found herself in this type of situation. For as long as she could remember Megan went out of her way to be in charge, and that’s the way he liked it. Aside from any time she spent with her mother, who she rarely had a chance to see since she lived in the old part of town, and refused to leave there. Now, she was being led into a dinner that she hadn’t planned on. She felt his hand at the small of her back as they entered the elevator. Something about that made her relax, although her heat was still flipping. It was all very dangerous really, dinner with the boss. She was playing a game that she was sure she wouldn’t win. She felt his hand once more as they made their way into the garage, onto his private floor and into his black BMW. She felt it then, the same age old self-conscious feelings about her appearance. There was enough difference between them without adding her weight to the mix. She was fine with how she looked, but he was probably unprepared for the looks they were likely to get having dinner together. She took in a deep breath as they rolled through town passing by some old buildings and into the deeper part of the city. She rarely went this far down, always sticking to the places she knew well. “I hope you like steak?” He glanced her way and gave her a wink when she nodded. They finally pulled into a quaint restaurant on a corner, once she had never really seen before. As they made their way inside she knew why he had chosen to go there. Dark and quiet they wouldn’t be seen by anyone from the office, and he wouldn’t have to worry about the judgement from others. Knowing it stung a little, but she had to expect it on some level.

CHAPTER FOUR-WILLIAM Truth be told he wasn’t really sure what he was doing. Sure, he wanted her in his bed. Even that was a mystery to him. She was nothing like most women, always eager to do whatever he wanted, no Megan James was different, and he liked it. He felt her flinch slightly as he put his hand on the small of her back, knowing that despite her efforts to seem indifferent he did have an effect of her, at least on some level. Even now walking into he restaurant he smiled to himself, watching her glance around the room subconsciously, making sure she didn’t know anyone from work, more than likely. As they settled down he couldn’t help but watch her slide gracefully in the chair he offered her. The curve of her hip begged him to touch it, to run his hands down the softness of her curvy frame. Instead he slid it in under her and moved around the table to look at her once more. She was glowing from the dimness of the room, her eyes lit up, and the caramel skin of her cheeks were faint with a blush. Yes, he certainly did have an effect on her. He was playing with fire really. Every single move he made was typically so calculated that asking her to dinner had come as a surprise even to him. She had been leaving, and quite simply he didn’t want her to go. So, here they were. He watched her under hooded lashes as she seemed to be fixated on her place setting. “So, Megan, tell more about you.” He gestured the waiter and was immediately welcomed by a rather large bottle of wine and two glasses. Her eyes met his. “I’m not exactly sure what you want to know Rutledge. My resume speaks for itself, I’ve been at the company for years.” She took a long drink of her wine. The thrill filled him, watching her squirm. He got the impression that Megan James was used to running things and this conversation was no easy task for her. He decided to push further. “Not that part of you, tell me something about your other parts.” The flush filled her face and she took another long drink. Yes, he affected her very much indeed. She would never admit it to him, in fact he was sure she would likely go out of her way to ignore everything about how he made her feel. “Well I grew up in the eastside. My father died when I was young, everything else about me you pretty much know.” She took a sip of water. As the food arrived, he watched how she held herself. She was poised, and refined, pacing herself with every bite. He could tell she was happy for the distraction. No she wasn’t used to sharing too much about herself. “What about you Rutledge, you always like to ask the questions, why not

answer some of your own.” She was defiant now biting back, which he loved. “So you do want to get to know me? I suppose there is something about me I can share. I run a business now, I am 32 and I find myself in the most delectable company sometimes, often leaving me hungry for more than food.” He watched the myriad of emotions cross her face. She swallowed hard, blinking rapidly as she processed his words. He couldn’t help but chuckle to himself once more. She was beautiful, curvy and he wanted her. It was unlike anything he had felt in a very long time. He knew she would appreciate him being direct, so it would be better to give her what she wanted most. “Megan, I am the kind of man who appreciates directness. I don’t like to play games, I don’t want to get married and settle down. I have business partners for years simply because I get to the point.” She watched him intently, waiting. “I assume you appreciate that in someone, by the way you carry yourself. I can tell you like to run the show, which I admire, in most situations.” “Yes, I do. I like order and structure and I like making decisions for myself.” She crossed her arms now, content in her response. Leaning forward he smiled devilishly at her. “I’m very glad you said so. I find you fascinating Megan and I want you. Perhaps it is because you are more like me than anyone I’ve ever met. On the other hand, it may be because you’re a challenge to me, especially in the way you pretend to be unaffected by me, and my words.” He watched as her face changed with each word he spoke. Now the ball was in her court.

CHAPTER FIVE- MEGAN She was on fire. Both anxiety and excitement ran through her with every word he spoke. There was a part of her that saw the red flag, the many of them in fact, about this situation. The other part of her was fascinated with the idea of being with him. Almost immediately she tossed the flames of excitement out the window. There was no doubt in her mind that he had never been with a woman like her, on so many levels. Everything she had ever heard about him linked him up with one perfect woman to the next. She could only imagine how he would feel with a picture of himself, and her full curvy frame on the headlines. No, he was probably one of those guys, the ones who wanted to “try out” being with a big girl, not once realizing how their feelings may be affected by it. “I’m afraid you have the wrong idea about me Mr. Rutledge. I am not just

some woman you met randomly in a bar, desperate for your attention. I should be going.” She stood to go, walking towards the door never breaking stride. He was there, quickly. Much faster than she expected him to be. She waited with him until the car came around again. She slid into the car, waiting for him to say something to her… anything at all. Instead they rode together for more than few minutes, both lost in their own thoughts. He pulled back into the garage finally parking so that she could go home, where she belonged. What had possessed her to go with him in the first place? Despite the way things had turned out she knew better than to be rude. “It was a lovely dinner Mr. Rutledge. Thank you for inviting me.” She made her way over to the elevator, pressing the button to go down to the 6th level. Before the door opened he moved to stop the movement of the elevator. Glancing up at him she had little time to think at all as she felt his hand on her wrist. He moved slowly, his grip firm but not painful. He spun her around, pushing her against the wall of the garage as he did. She barely had a moment to inhale before the heat of his mouth found hers. The taste of him was intoxicating. Every one of her senses were on high as he moved his lips against hers. There was electricity moving through her as he moved delicately over her mouth, spilling his tongue in to taste of her honeys sweetness. She felt his right hand sliding up her back to slide onto the base of her neck, carefully running his fingers into her hair to tilt her head back once more. As he broke off the kiss she wanted to protest, but failed to speak before his mouth met her skin once more, this time on the curve of her neck. She whimpered, subconsciously as he nibbled there, making slow and lazy circles on her skin. He moved back up his mouth kissing her one more while his left hand moved to hold her hand, pressing even more into her as she was pressed still, against the hard wall. Finally, the kiss broke and he hit the button once more to move the elevator. As the door opened he dropped a quick kiss on her cheek. “I enjoyed it as well Miss. James, especially dessert.” He gave her a smile as she left the elevator and he closed behind the doors. There was no identifying the way she felt. Her body was still aching deep down from the kiss, and the way he had kissed her. It had been a longtime since anyone had approached her that way, if ever. She had always been the one to say yes or no, but with him there wasn’t even a question. She slid into her car, enjoying the coolness of the seats against the heat of her skin. Tomorrow, she would have to find a new job. Only then could she put him, and all this behind her. She knew better than to do something as stupid as

to end up in her bosses bed, even if she was quitting. She soon found herself at home, slipping into her bed for the night. Some part of her could help but feel some slight sadness at knowing she could be in a very different bed, having a very different evening altogether. Morning came, and being a Saturday she felt lazy when she glanced at the clock and noticed it was already after 9. Typically, her weekends were filled with activity, keeping her busy. Today would be more of the same, no doubt getting a call from her mother like clockwork sharing news from the neighborhood. She would start looking for a job on Monday, for now she just wanted to relax, and enjoy her weekend with her new car. Soon it would be gone, and she would have to start all over somewhere new. With a sigh she threw off the covers, ready to face the day. Making her way into the kitchen she grabbed up her phone along the way only now noticing the blinking light. She flicked the screen to open her messages. Yesterday was wonderful, I want you.

THERE WAS little doubt in her mind who it was from. She felt her body come to life with the excitement of the words. He certainly had no problem sharing what he wanted, but she had decided to not let it go any further than it already had. She had very strict guidelines about how she lived her life. She had been reckless and let the fantasy take over yesterday. She wouldn’t let it happen a second time. She needed to focus on the important things in life like her family, and taking care of herself, especially now. Her weekend went by with little interruption. She half assumed he would find a way to contact her again, the different parts of her both relieved, and slightly disappointed that he didn’t. It really made no sense why she was drawn to him, he was arrogant, self-assured and obviously liked to be in charge. He was everything she avoided in men; and he threatened her emotionally. She wasn’t sure exactly how to handle a man like him. Halfway through Monday she had exhausted every opportunity she could find online, and locally. There was a handful of positions for her to apply to, and she had diligently applied to all of them. It seemed as though she would have to start thinking about making some bigger changes, all of which seemed to point to her moving closer to home. Just thinking about it made her cringe, she didn’t want that, above everything else. She heard her phone buzzing and she answered it, hopeful. “Hello.” “Why aren’t you here?” No greeting, just a question. She felt her heart

pumping madly. “What are you talking about, I quit remember?” She clipped each word carefully. “We never finished the interview.” “I’m not sure what I was even interviewing for, truth be told….” “Do you want a job Megan?” He interrupted her. “I need one yes, but that’s not the point.” “Then we should finish what we started wouldn’t you say?” He was smiling as he said it, she could tell by his tone. “I think you like playing this game with me, but I have to tell you I am not interested Mr. Rutledge.” She waited. “Hello?” She tossed the phone down frowning, what an ass. He called me, yet he hangs up. She felt the tremor run through her once more. He liked to play games, and he knew she was affected by him. She was stupid to think she could keep it to herself. She felt the headache coming on and slipped into a hot shower hoping to erase the stress she was carrying on her shoulder. Something would come through eventually, it always had. Even as a child, things worked out the way they were supposed to, and no matter how much planning you did you just had to believe that. Wrapping herself up in a towel she glanced at her reflection once more. She would never be a model, at least not by industry standards. But she smiled at her reflection, she loved who she was. She moved into the kitchen, humming a song to herself as she grabbed up a piece of pineapple on her way. As she walked back towards the bedroom to get dressed she heard the sharp knock at her door. Frowning she made her way over to the door and opened it a crack to peep outside. It was him. “Mr. Rutledge what are you doing here?” Her skin came to life. He let his gaze shift down, seeing her bare shoulders and he flicked his eyes back up to hers. “I am here to finish the interview.” “I am uh… that is I didn’t realize.” She stammered, hating herself for it. “Let me in Megan… please.” His words vibrated through her and she moved to stand back letting him in. As she did she walked towards her bedroom and inside, looking for something, anything to put on. She knew letting him in would be her undoing. In that moment she wanted him as much as he wanted her, but she felt the fear move through her. She was always in control, and this was new for her. She turned around and he was there, standing in her room. He let his eyes travel the length of her. She let her eyes meet his, waiting. “I won’t touch you if you’re not ready for it Megan, I’ll never ask you to do

anything you don’t want to do.” He looked at her, and she let her eyes meet his. The look there was different this time, he wanted her, that was obvious but his need to control it was gone, instead he was just a man and she just a woman. She held the towel around her in a firm grip, her knuckles almost white. He had put the ball in her court, giving her the choice. “I don’t know how to handle you… what to think or do. Every time you are around me I feel like I lose control, I don’t work well that way.” She swallowed hard as he moved towards her. He moved her curls behind her shoulder, lightly running his thumb down her shoulder. “Do you want control Megan… I can give you that if you want. You call the shots; I won’t even touch you if you don’t want me to.” He whispered it to her letting his finger run down towards her ample bosom. She trembled. “I don’t know.” “Do you want me Megan? If you don’t I’ll walk out of here and we don’t have to play this game any longer. I give you my word.” He waited and she was frozen to the spot. It was up to her. After a moment she felt him lean forward and kiss the top of her head, then left the bedroom. She was terrified of giving in to him, of letting go of herself. She still wanted him, no matter what she told herself. She heard him open the door. “Wait.” She spoke it aloud, but she didn’t yell. Despite that it was enough because he was there in an instant, his hands in her hair once more, pulling her to him, kissing her deeply. She kissed him back with everything she had, feeling his hands on her face but not moving any lower. She moved with him as he pressed his body into hers. He turned her and she was facing away from him, she felt his mouth trailing kisses down her back as the skin was exposed as the towel drooped down some. There was a heightened sense of awareness as she felt everything he did. The towel fell to the floor in one instant and she trembled slightly. She felt his hands on the outside of her thighs as he ran them up and over her curvy hips and up her spine, she felt both hands follow along her flesh until he cupped a breast in each hand, both spilling forward. She felt the heat of his mouth as he trailed kisses up the back of her neck, all while tugging lightly on her nipples. She leaned back into him and sighed. It had been so long. He kissed her ear and whispered. “You’re so beautiful Megan.” Her eyes fluttered open and she turned around. He was standing there fully dressed as she snatched up the towel from the floor to cover herself. He looked at her puzzled. “What’s wrong?” He took a step towards her and she took one back. “Why would you say that?” She stepped into the dress hurriedly. He was still puzzled as he walked over to her and grabbed her hands in his.

“What did I say wrong? That you’re beautiful? You are, why is that wrong?” He leaned closer to her searching her face. He saw the confusion in her eyes, he didn’t know why. She looked at him for a long moment, perhaps he wasn’t being cruel, wasn’t joking about her looks. He seemed sincere when he’d said it. She sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed and put her head in her hands. She felt him come closer to her, she looked up to see him. “Has no one ever told you you’re beautiful before?” He whispered to her as he moved her hair back from her face. He then cupped her face in his hands and pulled her up against him. She looked away, but he pulled her face back up so that he could look at her, waiting for an answer. “Not ever said it and meant it, not really. Don’t get me wrong I love me, and my body. Most men can’t, or wont, appreciate all of me.” She mumbled back. She looked up at him again and heard him breath. “I meant it.” He pulled the towel from her hands and threw it across the room. She sat there subconsciously and watched him undress. He was sculpted and perfect. Every angle and plane of him was like a rock. He put her hands on his chest and she ran her fingers through the hair there and looked up at him. He pushed her back until she fell onto the bed and scrambled to scoot up on the blankets. He simply smiled at her as she did, and crawled across her finally settling beside her in the bed. She pulled the blanket over them and he refused to let her, he threw it onto the floor. He raised up above her and gently ran his fingertip over each nipple, watching them harden in response. He followed with his mouth greedily sucking on each one, burying his face between the glorious mounds and running his other hand along her stomach and lower until he found the apex of her thighs. He could feel the heat of her before he even got close. It was obvious that he put his own needs in check. He was throbbing and ready but still he waited. “Something about you drives me crazy Megan. Tell me you want me back, before I touch you any more than I have, before I can’t stop and turn this around.” “I want you William.” He moved with easy slow movements. She felt his fingers slip lower until they were touching her in her most sensitive area. She felt him probing more and more as he slid one finger inside her. She arched lightly as he did so. He worked her masterfully entering first one finger, then another. She felt the tension rise up within her and she moaned as he rubbed her with his thumb. He was watching her now, he could feel her

getting closer and closer and he leaned up to kiss her as she climaxed. Once she had finished moaning he easily slid up between her thighs and nudged and pushed until he was there at her opening. He looked down at her. Her glorious hair was spilled around her head and she beautiful. She opened her legs to accommodate him and with that he pushed into her deeply and fully. After a few strokes he buried the length of him inside her and together they found a rhythm that would take them both to new heights. She met him thrust for thrust, she twisted and turned any way he wanted her to and was eager to do so. He relished in the fact she gave herself with abandon, something he had never fully experienced. Megan was in a place where she didn’t recognize who she was, William had taken her to places she had never imagined and she was lost in the moment with him. She loved the way he moved within her and would whisper to her as he did. He moaned her name and in doing so pushed her over the edge again. He was an excellent lover and she was discovering herself with each new movement. They lay together afterwards and she fell asleep easily.

CHAPTER SIX- WILLIAM He lay there watching her, she was laying on her side and her curvy hip was in the air. He felt at peace with her and was more satisfied than he’d ever been before. Normally he would go home, but not today, he wanted to be here laying with her like this. He rolled to his side and gently wrapped his arm around her and pulled her to him. He enveloped her with his body and using her hair as a pillow, fell asleep. He never napped, nor did he ever stay with a woman who he had been with. Every woman had served a purpose, and afterward he let her go, both moving on to their respective lives. Megan, however, was different. She made him laugh, and made him think. He had wanted her from the beginning, but he had allowed emotion to cloud his judgement. He was falling for her, and didn’t know how to stop it. He wasn’t really sure if he wanted to. Sure, she was different, for the papers grab hold and rip her apart. He didn’t want that for her, but he saw no way around it. If she wanted to be with him, he would try. She made him laugh, and made him want to be a better man. He would tell her so. He sat up quickly, moving as slow as he could, but he knew she was awake. “It’s getting late Megan, and I am starving.” He kissed her earlobe. “Oh wow, I hate naps, what in the world is wrong with me?” She moved

slowly, pulling herself up, then realizing she was naked she pulled up on the sheet. He snatched it away. “I love looking at you, don’t take it away from me.” He gave her a smile as she stood and made her way across the room to wrap herself up in her towel once more, sticking her tongue out as she padded her way into the kitchen to make coffee. He followed her, ready to tell her how he felt. “Megan, being with me can be rough, with the papers and all that. I just want to make sure you’re ready for all of that.” He took the mug she offered him. She blinked at him confused. “Be with you? What are you talking about?” “In the public eye I mean.” “OH no, no William we can’t “be “anything. I’m sorry I thought you realized that.” “I have feelings for you Megan, I want to try, for something real.” He felt his heart breaking at the resolve on her face. “I’m sorry William, I can’t. It wouldn’t be fair to you.” “Fair to me? What the hell does that mean?” “You know how the media is. Me and you… it would be a nightmare for you.” She turned once more to face him, but he was gone.

CHAPTER SEVEN- MEGAN He was gone. She let the hot tears slip down her face, her heart breaking. She had fallen for him hard, but she refused to let him be berated because she was on his arm. No, it wasn’t fair to either of them, but he would learn to hate her for it. She had fallen for him to an extent that she had not even realized that she was not on the pill! Not on the pill! This could mean something else…. She went through the emotions of her heartbreak, missing him even more now. An hour later, she heard the knock at her door and she made her way to it, opening it up to face him again. “William, what are you doing here?” She did her best to hide her face from him. He moved into the room cupping her chin in his hand. “You are a strong woman, Megan James, I know it.”

“So, what does that have to do with anything?” “Tell me you don’t love me Megan…” She felt her heart hurting…. She couldn’t say the words. “I can’t.” She whispered. “Good, because you’re stuck with me now.” He gave her a sweet kiss. “What are you talking about?” She looked puzzled once more. “I just leaked the story that I was engaged, so you will have to deal with the media, just trust in me and we will be fine Megan. “He was asking her, searching her eyes. “Engaged….?” She trailed off as she noticed he was looking up at her. “Megan James you are stubborn, bossy and controlling. You're also, loving, giving and beautiful. Marry me.” She could barely shake her head yes as he slipped on the ring. “I guess this means I got the job?” She laughed between her happy tears. “I have a whole new job for you sweetheart.” He gave her a kiss and led her into the bedroom once more, to show her exactly what that job was.

EPILOGUE: Megan loved her new job – Being William’s wife and an interior decorator for their new palatial house. And was now busy decorating the nursery for their soon to be born baby girl. Her next contract was redecorating William’s office but he had mentioned that he would be fine if they took it a little slow. He wanted to make sure that she takes proper rest during her pregnancy and was happy working from his home office three days a week – the arrangement worked perfect for Megan’s hormones and William’s drive. They could never have been happier!

****THE END***

CALL ME DADDY - A DADDY AND VIRGIN ROMANCE

T

his one is only for my readers and will never be published separately.

CHAPTER One

GOD. Was I really back here again? I hated coming home to this shit town for Christmas break. It wasn’t like I really had a choice, though. The dorms closed over break and even though I was an RA, I still had to leave. The only decent thing about being back home was the fact that I’d get to see my step dad. My cheeks flushed when I thought about him. James was a good man with a good heart and a jaw as sharp as a knife. He’d married my mother towards the end of her life with the intention of taking care of me after she passed. Mom’s first marriage hadn’t worked out and my dick of a dad bailed on her after she was diagnosed with cancer. Instead of looking for love, she decided to marry her best friend, knowing that he’d care for me after she passed away. That had all happened when I was fifteen and my attraction to James was just as strong then as it was now. My friends always asked how I lived in the same house as him. He was tall, dark and handsome. He was everything a woman might want, plus he was a lawyer so he had the money to back up his good looks. It seemed illegal that a man could be that beautiful, that rich and that powerful. I’d tried to get his attention when I was younger, but he was too good a man to take a teenager up on her offer. I never out right tried to seduce him, but I did put on a coy charm that I hoped he’d notice. It was selfish of me and even

back then I knew he’d get in trouble if he ever actually gave me what I wanted, but luckily we never had to cross that bridge. He was more interested in tall, lanky blondes that he brought home from a club he frequented on the weekends. He always went when I was at a friend’s house, but I saw the women coming and going. They all had legs for days and curves that could kill. They were always beautiful and always older, which made sense since my step dad was now in his mid-forties. He was a good dad and he always had been. He showered me with love and affection, though it wasn’t ever the kind I wanted. Even now I felt an attraction to him, but I wasn’t a horny teenager anymore. Well, I was, but I had a little bit more impulse control. I knew that it could never happen. How weird would it be to shack up with your step-dad? Super weird, right? That would be a fun story to tell your grandkids. “How did you and granddad meet?” “Oh well, he married my dying mom and then I decided to hop in bed with him!’ Yeah. That’s some real romance right there. Sure, there was nothing illegal about it and it wasn’t like he was my real dad, but there was still an air of danger and taboo about it. I didn’t want to have to explain to anyone that I was fucking my step-dad. I sighed and lifted my suitcase onto the bed, unlocking the gold clasps that held it close. I pulled my laptop out first and set it aside and then grabbed some clothes, starting to unroll them so I could put them away. I didn’t normally pack this heavy, but I thought it was appropriate since I was going to be away from the dorms for almost two months. The college was only about an hour away, but it was locked up until school started again. When I pulled out one of my sweaters, there was a loud ‘thunk’ as my hefty vibrator fell out and hit the wood floor. I cursed under my breath and picked up the smooth, black device and ran my hands long it, clicking the on button to make sure it was alright. It hummed in my hand and I sighed, turning it off and tossing it onto the bed. I’d named the bulky thing Black Dynamite. It was a fitting name, plus it was funny. Win-win, right? I’d bought it at a local sex store back in Orlando and I could still remember how exciting it felt to buy my first vibrator! At first I’d laughed and said I was buying it as a joke (albeit an expensive joke), but I fell in love with it. It was the perfect stand in for James. It probably wasn’t as good as him, but it would have to do for now. As I started to put away my clothes, my eyes kept wandering back to the vibrator. It sat on my bed, practically staring me down. I chewed my bottom

lip, eyes darting between my laptop and vibrator. James wouldn’t be home for another two hours or so…I had time to enjoy myself a little. I finally gave in and my hand darted out and I snagged the vibrator up, jumping onto my bed and wriggling out of my denim shorts (shorts were winter wear in Florida). I kicked them off to the side, opened my laptop and went into my secret bookmarks. I’d found a great porn site my freshman year and had constantly been visiting it’s ‘step-dad’ category for years now. Even though I was alone, I still put headphones in. There was something sexy about having moaning right in your ear. I plugged my headphones in, pulled up my shirt and closed my eyes. I skipped through the dialogue like I always did and sighed as I rested a hand on my sizable breasts. They weren’t spectacular, but they filled out a b-cup nicely. I squeezed and released the soft tissue, my fingers flicking over my nipples. Each little touch gave me goose bumps and before long I could feel my cheeks going red and a knot of heat forming in my belly. A soft moan escaped my lips and I turned my head to the side, eyes fluttering open so I could watch the older man in the video, kiss the woman’s thighs before he spread her open as his tongue dipped into her pussy. Another gasp left me as my hand moved to the other breasts, massaging it. The man in the video had just a little bit of grey at his temples, just like James, but this guy wasn’t as handsome as James. I’d never seen a man as handsome as James. Not even in magazine and movies. I sucked my bottom lip between my teeth and let my fingers work their way further south, teasing my belly. I dug my fingers into my hip bones just hard enough to elicit a groan and leave tiny red marks. I watched the screen as the man flipped the girl over and gripped her hips, grabbing a handful of her hair and yanking her back, causing her to cry out. Her face was twisted in an expression that spoke to the pleasure she was feeling. He leaned over her so that he could whisper in her ear and the words sent shock waves of pleasure through my body. “Call me Daddy.” The woman in the video responded, but so did I. “Daddy...” I whispered, dropping my head back onto the pillow as my back arched. I didn’t dare close my eyes, knowing what was coming. I had the vibrator in hand now and had slid my underwear halfway down my thighs. I was quivering with anticipation, knowing what was coming next. Right as the powerful man pushed the woman forward and slid his thick cock inside of her, I mimicked the action with Black Dynamite. It was thick enough to cause a dull, pleasant ache and when I turned it on, I closed my eyes, calling out.

“Daddy!” I panted and moaned, opening my eyes to watch the man pound into the woman so hard, she jolted forward with each thrust. She gripped the edge of the bed as my fingers tangled in my sheets. I set my rhythm to the man’s, panting as I imagined James leaning over me. I imagined his powerful body moving in time with his own as his hand pressed against my mouth so hard I’d struggle to breath. I imagined his thick manhood sliding in and out of my dripping pussy as his hand wandered to my neck. I imagined the things he’d do to me and the things he’d call me. Would he call me baby girl? Would he call me slut? I didn’t care. I just wanted to hear him when I came. I panted hard, my entire body tensing as I came to the edge. I pulled Black Dynamite out of me and turned the speed up, placing the tip on my clit and BOOM. Stars exploded behind my eyes and all I could see was a searing white light. I was on the verge of tears, crying out repeatedly. “Daddy! Daddy! FUCK!” I moaned, as wave after wave of pleasure crashed over my body. Finally, I went limp and fell back into the bed, panting and spent. I fumbled blindly to shut the lap top and yanked the headphones out of my ears. It wasn’t until then that I opened my eyes and saw something that would make me freeze in absolute terror. James was leaning against my door frame, eyes fixed on me.

CHAPTER Two

FOR A MOMENT, I didn’t react. I didn’t do anything. I just stared at him, my cheeks read and my eyes wide. My legs were still shaking from the force of my orgasm, and my chest was still rising and falling rapidly. There were so many thoughts running through my mind as I raised my gaze to meet his. I couldn’t do it. I turned my head away, cheeks flushed and eyes burning with the threat of tears. I didn’t want to break. I didn’t want to let him see the fearing and crippling embarrassment behind my shock. I didn’t even stop to ask myself why he was staring. That wasn’t even registering at the moment. All I could process was the fact that I was on my back my vibrator still buzzing against my ankle while I recovered from an extremely intense orgasm. “Get dressed and come downstairs,” James said simply.

Panic hit me like a gut punch. There was a lump in my throat I was desperately trying to swallow. I waited until James left before pushing myself up and running my shaking hands through my hair. I wasn’t shaking from pleasure anymore. I was terrified that he’d heard me and was planning on throwing me out. What if he thought I was disgusting or sick? My stomach rolled with dread as I slipped on pajama pants and a hoodie. I moved slowly, wanting to give myself time to collect my thoughts before facing him. What was I going to say? I slowly made my way downstairs, my heart slamming in my chest so hard that I was sure it was going to just jump out. As I rounded the corner to the dining room, I saw James out of the corner of my eye. I was still staring at the floor, cheeks hot and my mouth dry. I settled in the chair across from him, wanting to keep as much distance between us as possible. I wasn’t worried that he’d hurt me. I was worried about the sting of his words and cut of his disappointment. I wanted James. I couldn’t deny that. My body screamed for him whenever he was around, but he’d also been a parental figure to me and I never wanted to disappoint him or let him down and now I felt I had. I didn’t want him to be repulsed by me or hate me. I wanted him to love me and hold me. I’d had that in some form and now I was afraid I was going to lose even the fatherly affection he offered me. “What were you doing, Aria?” He asked softly, his voice even and calm. I glanced up at him, eyes wet with tears. Was he going to make me answer? “I thought it was pretty obvious,” I murmured softly. He slammed a hand down on the table and I jumped, squeezing my eyes closed. “Answer the question.” “I was touching myself! I was getting off!” I said quickly, the words flying past my lips before I could even consider what I was saying. He nodded and leaned back, his expression unchanging. I wanted to scream at him or throw something at him. I wanted to demand that he tell me what was going on. I didn’t like how quiet he was being. He’d just walked in on his step-daughter masturbating and now he was demanding I tell him what I was doing. He was playing some kind of game and I couldn’t quiet figure it out. His tongue flicked over his lips and his eyes burned into me. I met his gaze finally and after a moment the shame made it impossible for me to make eye contact. I covered my face with shaking hands. The only reason I knew he stood up was because of the squeak of the chair. He came around the long dining room table and put his hands on my shoulders, leaning down so close that I could feel his warm breath against my neck. I shivered and sucked in a

breath as he started to speak. “What were you saying?” he demanded “I…I don’t know.” “Don’t lie to me, girl. You know I don’t deal with liars.” My bottom lip was trembling and all I wanted to do was cry. I wanted to run away and never look back. I was mortified. “I was saying ‘daddy’,” I finally whispered, my voice weak. “And who were you thinking about?” Why was he doing this? Why was he torturing me? I tried to hold it together, but the tears were starting to pour down my cheeks. Since I couldn’t stay calm, I tried to lean away, but he pulled me back against the chair. “Answer the question, Aria.” I let out a shaking sob and finally I answered. “You! I was thinking about you, alright?!” I snapped, trying to wriggle out of his grip. He kept a firm hold on me and finally reached up with one of his hands and pulled mine away from my face. He leaned in and pressed a painfully tender kiss to my cheek, wiping away the tears with his thumb. The affection was familiar. He’d wiped away many of my tears and kissed me on my cheek too many times to count. His actions weren’t strange, but the intentions behind them were. I didn’t know what he was getting at, but all I could feel was fear and confusion. I turned to look up at him, my eyes wide. “J-James?” He smiled softly and brushed his fingers alone my jaw. “Call me daddy,” he whispered, his lips still pressed to my cheek. I was still staring at him as he pulled away. “What?” He’d never asked me to call him dad, not even when I was a kid. “Am I not speaking clearly? Call me daddy,” he said again, running his hand over his greying beard. I opened my mouth to speak, but the words got lost in my throat. I swallowed thickly and tried to collect my thoughts, but I wasn’t having much luck. I watched as he grabbed one of the chairs and turned it away from the table, sitting in it and motioning for me to come close. I was half tempted to bolt out of the room, but I knew I couldn’t deny him. I moved closer and he pulled me into his lap, forcing me to look at him. He held my chin between his fingers and leaned into my ear so he could speak in a soft growl. “You will not touch yourself without my permission, do you understand?” “I…,” I didn’t understand, but I didn’t want to argue. The longer this went on, the more confusing it got. My mind was hazy from the orgasm and sheer

exhaustion. It was starting to get late and I wanted to curl up in bed. Finally, I answered him. “I understand.” He nodded. “Good girl,” he said, running his hand down my back. I shivered and looked at him, my brows pulled together. “What’s going on, James?” The hand that was rubbing my back suddenly pulled away and he swatted my ass. I yelped and jump, more out of surprise than pain. “What did I tell you to call me?” I swallowed and chewed my bottom lip. “What’s going on…Daddy?” “That’s my good girl,” he purred, running his fingers through my long, black hair. “I know this is a lot for you to take in, but I will make sense of it in the morning,” he said tenderly. “I will have to punish you for touching yourself without my permission, but tonight I want you to rest. I know that your mind must being going a hundred miles a minute.” Punishment? I wanted to argue with him. I wanted to point out that he wasn’t helping things. I wanted to beg him to tell me what was going on so that I could get a decent night’s sleep but something told me that I just needed to keep my mouth shut and listen. I nodded slowly and stood, but before I could get too far he stood and pressed a kiss to my temple. “I’ll make it all clear tomorrow, darling.” Darling. The word echoed in my mind and made my mouth dry. I watched him go to the bar before I scuttled up the stairs and closed the door, my hand to my chest as I tried to accept and take in what had happened. Was this even real? What did he mean by punishment? Why was he calling me ‘good girl’? I wasn’t sure, but I knew I’d find out when morning came around.

CHAPTER Three

MY MIND WAS STILL RUNNING laps when I went upstairs. I sat on the edge of the bed, looking at the mess on my floor. My clothes were still laying around in indiscriminate piles on the floor. Black Dynamite was on the floor as well and I felt a strange surge of anger when I looked at it. I grunted and kicked it under the bed, listening as it rolled and slapped against the wood flooring. I stood up and started to tuck shirts away into drawers and hang sweaters up. I’d be home for a while, so I might as well get comfortable. As I reached

up to hang my college hoodie, I dropped my hand, frowning just a little. Would I be staying here a while? James had been kind to me downstairs and had even kissed me. He called me darling and ‘good girl’, but did that really mean anything? The words made me sudden with silent pleasure and I found myself wanting to hear them over and over again. The way the words slipped from his lips like silk gave me goosebumps and while a part of me felt guilty, there was an even bigger part of me that was willing to indulge in this fantasy. My brows knit together and I rubbed my temple before finally shoving the sweater in the closet and settling on the edge of the bed. I was worried. I couldn’t pretend I wasn’t. Everything was so up in the air, but I knew sitting around wondering about it wasn’t going to help anything. The best I could do was go to sleep and hope for the best when morning came around. So, that’s exactly what I did.

________

THE SUN ROSE the next morning, despite my silent hope that maybe the world would end while I was sleeping. I did want to wake up and deal with the shame of everything that had happened the night before. I rolled out of bed and got ready for the day, taking my time in the shower, trying to put off the inevitable. When I finally got dressed, I decided on a short pink sweater and a pleather skirt with a little a body. I sighed as I raked my fingers through my hair and went downstairs, my hands shaking just a little. I ran my hands along the smooth banister as I finally came to the foyer and turned into the dining room. James was already seated at the dining room table, glasses with their trendy back frames sitting on his nose. He had his finger on a document, clearly reading through each and every line carefully. It wasn’t unusual to see him bent over a document so I didn’t think much of it when I finally settled across from him. At first, he didn’t acknowledge me and just kept reading. After a few long moments, he closed the manila folder and glanced at me. “Good morning, princess.” I cleared my throat but replied, my voice quivering. “Good morning, Daddy,” I whispered, remembering his request from the night before.

A smile pulled at his lips and he chuckled, leaning back in the tall, mahogany chair. “You remembered.” “Kind of hard to forget.” “Fair point.” A silence passed between us and I cleared my throat again. “You said you’d explain everything.” He nodded and slid the manila folder across the table. My heart started pounding as I took it and held it in my hands. Was he going to disown me? His signals were so mixed and I didn’t know how to handle it or what to think of it. I swallowed and slowly opened the folder, setting it out on the counter. When I saw what was inside, my brows furrowed in confusion. It was a contract. I put my finger to the paper, reading through the points it outlined. “This says that we’re entering into an agreement? That I will…serve you?” I asked, my eyes wide. He nodded and crossed his legs. “Yes. I want you to be my baby girl. I will take care of you, give you all the love and affection you need and support you financially and you will serve me how I see fit.” Judging from the document, he meant that I would be serving him sexually. My heart began to race as I read through each bullet point. He wanted me to be his house wife and to ‘service’ him whenever he requested. “This is a contract. It does not become binding until you sign, however, if you agree to these terms then our relationship will change forever.” I looked up at him with wide eyes. “Is this real? Like…Do you mean this?” I whispered. “Of course I do. I understand that this might be a bit awkward, given our previous relationship, but I have watched you grow into a beautiful young woman, and my feelings about you have changed as you’ve gotten older. I don’t want you to feel pressured into doing this, but I imagine we’re both feeling similar things.” Slowly, I stood and walked over to him, wrapping my arms around him. He held me and pulled me into his lap, his strong hand on my back. “I’ve… I’ve felt so much for you for so long. I thought you were going to throw me out of the house when you found out I….I thought about you like that.” He turned and kissed my cheek. “Not at all, darling, we’re both adults now. We can make our own decisions. This isn’t something you should feel ashamed about. If it’s how you feel, then you should embrace it. So…What do you say? Do you want to be my baby girl?” I didn’t really understand the difference between being a ‘baby girl’ and being a girlfriend, but I knew that James would teach me. A shiver ran down

my spine and I stood up, going to the document and signing it with long, flourishing strokes of my pen. When I finished I closed the folder up and walked over, handing it to him. He smirked and took the folder, setting it on the table before wrapping his arms around me and pulling me over his knee. I gasped when I suddenly found myself, bent over his knee like a little girl in trouble. I’d never been spanked growing up, but I’d seen it happen in movies…And a lot of pornos. My fingers curled in his slacks and I whimpered as I felt something firm pressing against my belly. Was that his cock? God, I hoped so. I chewed my bottom lip, eyes fluttering closed as a soft moan escaped my lips. It all happened so fast it made my head spin. James grabbed the hem of my skirt and yanked it up, exposing the pretty pink panties I wore underneath. My cheeks flushed and my face felt hot, but I didn’t fight him. I wriggled excitedly, my toes curling as a familiar warmth started to stir in my belly. I wanted this. I’d never realized it before, but I wanted whatever he was going to do to me. “Daddy?” He ran his large, warm hands along the bare skin on my thigh and I gasped softly. He chuckled as his finger dipped just underneath the hem of my panties. “Yes, baby girl?” “Is this…My punishment?” “You’re catching on,” he murmured, still rubbing slow circles, though his hand had moved up to the round of my ass. My cheeks were still hot, but I was getting curious and maybe a little bolder. This felt like some kind of fucking dream, and God I didn’t want to wake up. I started to open my mouth and ask him what he was going to do, but before I could get even a syllable out, he yanked my panties down and his hand came down on my ass and I gasped, jolting forward, my fingers digging into his leg. James wasn’t overly gentle, but the strike wasn’t going to do any lasting damage. My right ass cheek burned and tingled in the most delicious way. I licked my lips and looked over my shoulder, eyes wide. He was rubbing my ass again, but within a few seconds he raised his hand and brought it down again. Every time he smacked my ass, the sound of skin on skin echoed through the dining room, mixing with my small squeaks and moans of pleasure. I loved what he was doing to me and I didn’t want it to stop. My panties were hanging off one ankle and my hair was a disheveled mess by the time he was done. I was sure my ass was red and burning, but I didn’t complain. I could feel a familiar slick wetness between my legs and my cheeks got even hotter.

I whimpered and pressed my face into his pants, rolling my hips desperately. He put his hand on the small of my back, keeping me from moving around too much. “Hmmmm…Doesn’t seem like spanking is a very good punishment for you.” I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. I was shivering excitedly, waiting for what was to come next. Maybe he’d finger me right here on his lap? Oh, that sounded delightful. I spread my legs a little, chewing on my lower lip, silently hoping that he’d take advantage of what I was offering him. He cocked a brow and tapped his fingers on my ample ass before giving me a little pat. “Stand up.” My eyes widened at the command and I could help but be just a little bit annoyed. I thought I was going to be able to get exactly what I wanted. Apparently, James and I weren’t on the same page. I knew I was pouting a little, but I couldn’t help it. I felt like I’d been promised something I hadn’t been given. James pulled me close and kissed my cheek tenderly, stroking my dark hair. “Don’t worry baby girl. You’ll get what you want.” The kiss warmed me up and I smiled, nodding as I bent over and started to pull my panties up. He gripped my wrist and shook his head from side to side, a smirk lighting up his face. “Mmm. Leave them off. In fact, don’t wear panties anymore.” My eyes widened and my cheeks flushed. “Ever?” “Yes. I don’t ever want you to wear panties again. You have to make yourself available to Daddy at all times.” My breath hitched in my throat and I nodded. “Yes, Daddy.” “Good girl.” He kissed my forehead and then my lips, holding me in that tender kiss for a long moment. When he finally released me, he stroked my hair out of my face and smiled. “I need to go into work today and I’m sure you want to see your friends.” “You’re leaving?” I whined, taking his hand and swinging my hips from side to side. I was surprised at how well and how easily I fell into the role of ‘baby girl’. He kissed the top of my head again and I stood on my toes to meet him like an eager kitten, waiting for affection. He chuckled softly. “Yes. I have to go into the office for a little while, but when I get home we’ll do something fun, alright?” I nodded and tucked my hands behind my back, sighing softly. “Fiiiine. I guess I’ll see if Sara is doing anything today.”

“That’s my girl.” He started to collect his briefcase, setting out contract inside almost tenderly. He closed the leather case and glanced up at me, his steely eyes burning into me and boiling my blood. When he looked at me like that, I could feel myself going weak in the knees. He walked over and pulled me into his arms and I sank into them eagerly, pressing my forehead to his strong chest. He was so much larger than me and I loved it. “Remember, no touching yourself when Daddy isn’t around.” He smirked and released me, leaving me a quivering mess in the dining room.

CHAPTER FOUR

I LEANED against the metal chair at the café, chewing my lower lip and stirring my latter absent mindedly. I’d taken a few sips from it, but it sat untouched, for the most part. The little bell above the door rang and I turned to look at who’d come in. Sara was unraveling the scarf around her neck as she settled in the seat across from me, humming softly. “Hey there!” she sang, reaching across the table to wrap her arms around me. I leaned into the hug and sighed as she started to reprimand me. “You know, it’s been weeks since you sent me an email or text, Aria.” “I know, I know. I’m a terrible friend. Life got busy, but if it’s any consolation, you were the first person I called when I got to town.” “Mmmmm…I guess that makes up for the radio silence,” she said, ordering a cappuccino from the pretty waitress who bounced over. “So, how’s life?” “It’s pretty normal.” Boy, was that a lie, but I didn’t want to get in the details with her. “Just the usual stuff. Classes and tests. You?” “Same shit, different day. Kind of wish I was close to home like you are, but I’m managing.” I nodded as I listened, but my mind was already wandering to what was going to be waiting for me back home. Lying about what was going on had brought my new-found relationship with my step father to the front of my mind. How could I not think about it when it consumed me? Sara snapped her fingers and I jumped to attention, my eyes wide and my throat dry. “What?”

“You okay?” “Huh? Oh…Yeah. I’m fine. I was just thinking.” “What are you thinking about?” she asked, sipping at the drink the waitress put down in front of her. The question made my cheeks go pink and I swallowed, suddenly clamming up. Sara cocked a brow and leaned back in her chair. “Aria? What the hell is up with you? You’re acting all weird.” Oh God. Was I? Was I really acting all weird? Was I that transparent? That was a terrifying concept. “I guess I’m just tired from the drive.” Sara frowned a little and looked me up and down. “Are you sure? I’m just not used to you being so quiet and aloof.” “Yeah.” “And you got this weird glow….OH MY GOD!” she gasped, slamming her hand down on the table as if she’d figured out the secret to the universe. I jumped and looked at her, wide eyed. “What the hell, Sara!” She pointed an accusing finger in my direction. “You’re in love!” Fuck. She’d hit that nail right on the head. I looked away and crossed my arms over my chest. “You’re crazy. The cold did something to your brain.” “No, I’m not! You hooked up with someone, didn’t you?” I turned to look at her, trying to figure out a clever come back, but my silence told her everything. She leaned over the table, grinning like a child who’d just won some kind of game. “Who is it?” I knew I shouldn’t tell her. I knew that I should have kept my mouth shut and kept it to myself, but it was so damn hard. I was so excited to finally have the thing I’d been dreaming of for so long. I’d once admitted my attraction to James to Sara and she had seemed giddy about it, rather than disturbed. If I was going to tell anyone, it was going to be Sara. Me and the blonde-haired beauty had been best friends since elementary school. I shifted in my chair for a moment, tapping the table and chewing my bottom lip. Sara tilted her head to the side, her brows furrowed as she started to look more worried than curious. “Hey. You okay?” Another nod and I took a deep breath. “I need to tell you something, Sara.” “Sure. Anything. You know I’m always here for you.” “I came home last night and I was having some alone time, if you know what I mean,” I murmured. Sara looked confused for a moment, but then a look of realization dawned on her features. “Ohhhh. Okay. Well, that’s normal. Like, everyone does that, don’t they?” “Yeah, but that’s not all.”

“Okay.” “James saw me. He walked in on me.” “Oh my god! That’s awful! You two must have been so embarrassed!” “Well, I was…He, uh, called me downstairs and made me admit that I was thinking of him.” My cheeks went red and I averted my eyes. “Oh…Whoa…Um. Are you okay?” The question was hesitant, concerned and full of worry. I knew what was going through her head and I had to get her back on the right track. I offered a breathless grin and gripped the table. “I’m amazing, Sara. He wants to be with me! He wants me to be his!” She hesitated and hummed. “Yeah?” She didn’t sound convinced that this was a good idea. “That seems a little…odd.” “No…I mean, maybe, but it’s not like we’re blood related and I’ve wanted this for so long, Sara. I mean…I’ve thought of him like this for so long and now I’m finally going to get the chance to explore that! Who knows if this is the real thing or not, but I want to give this a shot.” She tapped her fingers on the table and looked deep in thought. “I guess there’s not really anything wrong with it at the end of the day, but…I’m worried about you. This has to be weird for you on some level, right?” “Not really,” I said with a casual shrug. “I don’t know if I should admit it or not, but I’ve been hoping something like this would happen since I was sixteen. I used to think about it constantly. I feel kind of bad about it because I was just a kid back then, but I’m an adult now and I know what I want.” Sara sipped her coffee and reached out to take my hand. “Well, as long as it’s what you want and you aren’t being like…Held hostage or being taken advantage of, I’m with you all the way.” I squeezed her hand a little and smiled, thankful to have such an understanding friend. It was nice to know that I would have someone to talk to and a shoulder to lean on. I would eventually tell her everything. I would tell her about the intricacies of my relationship with James, but for now I was just happy to know that I had someone in my court. She glanced up at me again. “What’s going to happen when you have to go back to school though?” Shit. That particular thought hadn’t crossed my mind until just now. I offered a weak smile, but Sara saw right through it. “Mmmm…Ya’ll haven’t talked about that yet, have you?” “We’ll get it worked out. I’m only an hour away.” As I said it, though, I started thinking about it and I couldn’t help but wonder how this kind of relationship was going to work with me in school. As

I sat there, listening to Sara chat about her life I started to worry that this thing with James was temporary. Would he want someone who couldn’t devote themselves wholly to him? Would I be replaced by a busty blonde he picked up at a club. There was only one way to find out.

CHAPTER Five

I WAS on the couch when James came home, curled up and flipping through a text book for one of the harder classes I was going to be taking in the spring. I had tried ignoring the fact that I only had a month and a half with James before I had to go back to school, but it wasn’t really working out. I wanted to talk to him about it and smooth everything over, but I knew I’d have to wait till he got home. The door creaked open and as I came around the corner to meet James, I saw snow blow in from outside. The temperatures were dropping. James closed the door and unraveled his scarf, smiling at me as he crossed the room and kissed my cheek. “How was your day, baby girl?” “Good. But it’s better now that you’re here.” I said, offering a sheepish smile. His eyes lit up as he took his glasses off and wrapped an arm around me. “You were always good at charming the pants of everyone.” He sighed, kissing my forehead. “Let’s go sit by the fire. It’s freezing.” He kept his arm around me and I followed him into the den, where he lit the fire before settling into the almost too big couch. We sank into it together and I leaned against him, closing my eyes. “Jam-, I mean, Daddy?” He stroked his fingers through my hair, running his hand down my back and along my ass. My cheeks went red as I felt his fingers tracing the areas where panties lines should have been. I assumed he was making sure I’d followed his rules and not worn any panties. “Yes, darling?” “I…I was thinking about something today?” “And what is that?” he asked, pulling me into his lap. I nuzzled his soft, well-groomed beard and peppered kisses along his perfectly rugged face. “I’m still in school.”

“Yes. And I expect you to stay there.” I pulled away just enough to look him in the eyes. “What are we going to do when school is back in session?” “I’ve been thinking about that too.” He ran his fingers through my hair, watching me closely. “I know this isn’t the type of relationship you’re used to, but I want you to know that this isn’t just about sex. I don’t just want to fuck you,” he said, pressing his lips to the curve of my neck. “I want you. All of you. I want you in my life and I want to love you. I want to give you the things that any lover might want to give. I want to make you happy and treat you well and that means that sometimes, our little contract will have to fall by the wayside. I’m okay with that because you aren’t just a piece of meat. You’re far too precious to me for that.” My eyes were wide as I slide my arms around his neck and pressed my lips to his in a slow, chaste kiss. He smelled like sweet exotic spices and the forest. It was a scent I’d come to know and love. “You mean that?” “Of course I do. I watched you grow into a beautiful young woman, and as I watched I dreaded the day you brought home some asshole who convinced you to date them. No one was going to be good enough, and as you got older, I started to realize that no man would ever be good enough for you. I’m not even entirely sure I am, but I want to give it a try.” I shook my head and pressed our foreheads together. “You are. You’re so amazing Daddy. I’ve looked up to you for so long, and when I was younger…I used to hate that mama married you. I hated that I could never have you as my own, and I never dreamed that one day…One day I’d be able to tell you exactly how I felt about you.” He smiled and kissed the corners of my lips before his fingers curled in my hair. I gasped as he gently tugged my head back and kissed my throat, making my eyes flutter closed and my heart beat faster. He knew how to switch gears really well. “When you go back to school, you’ll come home every weekend and spend time with me. You’re going to call daddy every day and tell him how school is going. You understand?” I nodded and whimpered softly. I could hear the smirk in his voice. “And there are certain rules you will still be expected to obey.” “L-Like what?” “No panties,” he whispered. “Oh.” My voice quivered with excitement. “Stand up, baby girl,” he said gently. I did as he asked and stood up, standing in front of him, shifting as his eyes lingered on my, causing molten lava to run through me. I was sure my whole

body was flushed a pretty pink. James was clearly enjoying himself. He ran his hands down my arms and the came to rest at my waist. His fingers dipped just beneath my jeans and he slowly started to ease them down. There was a lump in my throat and I swallowed it, looking up at the ceiling as he took in my most intimate areas. No one had ever looked at me like this and it excited me, but made me nervous all at once. My heart was slamming in my chest and my palms were starting to sweat. I curled my hands into tight fists, trying to hide at least some of my nervousness, but he saw right through it. “How are you doing, baby girl?” “I’m alright.” “You’re so stiff. Relax,” he whispered, running his fingers down my thighs. I shivered and nodded, taking a deep breath as his fingers worked their way up my bare belly and underneath my shirt, slowly lifting it up over my head. He tossed it aside and sighed at the sight of my naked figure. My fingers twitched as I thought about covering myself, but decided against it. James wouldn’t like that. I had the same insecurities every girl had, and the fact that I was naked and displayed in front of James magnified those insecurities. He was looking at me with an intensity that sent chills down my spine and I moved close to him, wrapping my arms around him. He pressed tender kisses to my neck and chest, his fingers in my hair. James stood and lifted me into his arms, smiling. “Let’s go to bed, baby girl.” I grinned back nodded, knowing full well that he had no intentions of letting me sleep tonight.

CHAPTER six

JAMES HAD me wrapped safely in his arms and carried me up the stairs, kissing my cheek and temple. I would turn my head to catch his lips, excited for what was to come. I knew he wasn’t taking my upstairs to put me to bed. He nudged the door open with his foot and I turned my head, eyes wide as I saw the tall mirror that lined one of the walls. It went from floor to ceiling and reflected the dark, moody room. Everything was red and black with touches of cream here and there. I watched as James moved around the room, lighting a

few candles before he returned to me and kissed along my neck, running his hands up and down my body. “Do you like the mirror?” “It’s a very nice touch,” I murmured, shivering against his warm, powerful hands. “I like seeing what I do to my lovers. I love watching the pleasure wash over them.” Another whimper left my lips as he cupped my ass and gave a gentle squeeze. “Spread your legs.” I did as I was told, watching him move in the mirror with just as much intensity, licking my lips hungrily. “I want to watch…I want to see what you do to me.” He chuckled and slowly started to tap his fingers against the round of my ass. His fingers dipped down between my legs and I cried out softly as his finger dipped into the valley of my womanhood, running along the already tender and needy flesh. His finger brushed my back entrance as well, making me mewl excitedly, toes curling against the hard wood floors. “Lean forward and put your palms flat on the glass.” He didn’t give me much of an option and instead pushed me forward against the glass, my back arched and my legs spread I did as I was told, trying to keep myself upright. He was driving me absolutely mad and I wasn’t sure how to handle it. The feeling of utter helplessness when it came to James, was starting to become a familiar feeling. Everything he did to me pushed me closer and closer to the edge of losing control. Sure, I was young, but I was the type of person who prided myself on always being in control. James took all that away. When he touched me, or kissed me, I felt like a caged animal, ready to be let loose. He freed me of my inhibitions and fear. “Stay right there, baby girl.” “Yes, Daddy.” The words came out breathless and easily. I absolutely adored this man and everything he did to me. I would be happy to do anything he asked of me. His footsteps got further and further away, but I knew he was still in the room with me. As he came back, I could hear metal on metal. I glanced over my shoulder and watched him roll something around in his hand. “W-What’s that?” He didn’t answer me and instead, stepped forward and gently pushed two small metal balls inside of me. I gasped and let out a surprised noise. His fingers were just barely inside of me, holding the balls in place. He smirked

and leaned up into my ear. “Don’t drop them.” My entire body flushed and I moaned as his hands started to run over my thin frame once again. He paused at my breasts watching my face in the mirror as he took one of the pink nubs between his fingers and rolled them between his rough fingers. I moaned and arched my back, gasping softly as his fingers danced along my belly and hips. His free hand found its way between my legs and one of his fingers started to rub slow circles on my clit, lighting every nerve in my body on fire and making it damn near impossible to hold those stupid balls in place. He was taking his time. He wanted to drive me crazy, and the worst part about it was that I wasn’t going to complain. Each skilled, practiced movement made me arch into his touch and beg. I wanted more. I wanted everything James was willing to offer. He kissed my shoulders and spine, his eyes focused on my face in the mirror. I could tell that he was just as eager as I was and I prayed that he’d get tired of teasing me and take me soon. I wanted him desperately. “Daddy! Daddy, please!” I cried out, my legs shaking. He smirked and started to rub me faster, pinching my nipple hard. “Please what?” The pinch made me squeal and my face flushed as the balls slipped from me and hit the floor with two tell tall thuds. He clicked his tongue and pushed me forward, pressing my face into the mirror. Clear, thick fluid ran down my inner thigh as a testament to how much I wanted him. “Daddy. Daddy…I’m sorry.” “You did good, baby girl. Now it’s time for your reward.” Without warning or hesitation, he slid two fingers inside of me and started thrusting them in and out of my warm, waiting body. He stretched me open, working me in the way only he knew how. “You liked being fucked, don’t you? I saw you with that cock inside you. You think that store bought cock feels better than me?” “No! No, Daddy!” I cried, my mouth dry and my words desperate. “Tell me what you want.” “F-Fuck me?” “Louder.” “FUCK ME!” His ministrations were pulling sobs of pleasure from me as heat coiled in my belly. He pulled his fingers out of me, leaning over and biting my shoulder. “Stay put, baby girl.” James pulled away from me just long enough to strip out of his suit and

leave it in a useless pile beside the small puddle I’d created. His chiseled body was revealed to me for the first time and I could not stop myself from moaning and licking my lips, looking up at him with hungry eyes. “Make me yours.” I was offering myself to him, and I knew he wasn’t about to turn it down. He leaned over me and stroked my midnight curls back, the scent of our lovemaking mixing and creating a heavy musk that lingered in the air. His fingers dug into my hips hard enough to leave anger little red marks. Hell, maybe I’d even bruise in the morning. I loved the shot of pain that ran through me as his grip became almost too tight to bear. He was so damn strong. I barely had time to process it before he slid into me, his cock filling me completely. It was better than I ever could have imagined. He stretched me open in the most delicious way possible and when he finally started to move, it was like seeing heaven. My fingers curled against the glass as he thrusted in and out of me, his hips slapping into mine. The sound echoed through the entire room, only adding to the atmosphere he’d meticulously created. My eyes were fluttering closed and desperate sounds of pleasure forced themselves past my lips. He wasn’t going easy on me and I was more than thankful for it. I wanted to be sore when morning came. “Daddy. Oh fuck!” I gasped, curling a fist against the mirror as my hips rocked back against his, meeting each movement. Heat was curling in my belly and the tension was tightening. Each thrust twisted it even more and soon enough I knew it was going to snap. All it took was for him to tangle his fingers in my hair and yank my head back, nipping at the back of my neck. The bite made stars explode behind my eyes as the coil in my belly finally snapped and liquid heat filled my entire body. I screamed ‘daddy’ before going limp, silently thankful that he was holding me up, still slamming his hips into mine. I whimpered with each thrust and finally, as wave after wave of pleasure crashed over me, he came deep inside me, filling me up completely until the pearly liquid ran down my leg, mixing with my own fluids on the wood floor. As I looked down at the mess, all I could muster was a small ‘oh’. I felt compelled to clean up the mess. I felt like it would be my job, but before I could sink to my knees to try and clean it up, James swept me up in his arms once more and carried me to the bed, laying me out on the bed and kissing my face. “Are you okay, baby girl?” A giggle slipped out and I nodded quickly. “Yeah…I’m…wow. I’m amazing.”

He chuckled and kissed me tenderly. “Good. I was afraid I was a little too rough on you.” I shook my head and sighed. “No, Daddy. It was perfect.” He moved to lay beside me, wrapping his arms around me and holding me tight. “Good. All I want is for you to be happy, baby girl.” I sighed and cupped his cheeks gently. “Then you’re doing a damn fine job.” “That good, huh?” “That good,” I confirmed, pressing my forehead to his chest. His heart was beating just a little faster than normal and I couldn’t help but smile, pressing a hand to his chest. “I’m tired, Daddy.” “Go to sleep, baby girl. You can clean up the mess in the morning.” I sighed and nodded. “Thank you, Daddy.” I barely got the words out before I fell into a deep sleep, wrapped up in James’ arms; my new favorite place.

CHAPTER Seven

THE NEXT MONTH went by fast. Too fast. James started taking more time off work in order to spend time with me. We both knew that I would have to go back to school soon, but neither of us seemed willing to acknowledge it. Of course we both knew that I was only an hour away, but that didn't really make it any easier. In the month I'd spent with James, I'd gotten used to serving him. Part of our agreement was that I'd cook for him, clean for him and do all the other things you might expect a house wife to do. It might sound awful and maybe even demeaning, but the truth was that I loved doing it. There was a part of me that was fulfilled when I served James. He was quickly becoming my whole world and I wasn’t sure whether I should be alarmed by that or not. I knew I loved him, but for some reason, I couldn’t make myself say it. I couldn’t get the words past my lips. James made me feel like a woman. He was the man I’d needed all along not realizing that I’d been running around with boys. I didn’t want to go back to my old life on campus. I knew I would miss James too much, but as much as I begged, he insisted that I stay on campus. He wanted me to have a true college experience. He didn’t want to take anything away from me.

“What’s wrong, baby girl?” James was looking at me intently from across the dorm room as he set my suitcase on the lifted bed. I’d once considered myself lucky for getting a private down, but now it just felt lonely. I crossed the room and wrapped my around around his strong frame, my hand sliding into the back of his khaki’s pockets. “I don’t want you to leave.” He sighed and put his hand on the back of my head, kissing my hair gently. His lips lingered and for a moment I thought he might feel sorry for me and take me back home where I belonged. I should have known better. James pulled away and gripped my shoulders, squeezing them like he used to do when I was a kid. It was always the same. He’d reach out, squeeze my shoulders and give me the pep talk I needed. I’m not sure why I thought it would be any different now. “We talked about this, Aria.” “Don’t…Don’t call me that,” I pleaded, tears in my eyes. He ran his thumb across my cheek, gently wiping the tear away. “You’ll see me in a week, baby girl.” “But who’s going to cook for you and do your laundry and kiss you when you get home?!” I insisted. I knew I was starting to whine, but I couldn’t help it. I was upset and I just wanted him to take me home. “I’ll manage on my own, and so will you,” he said firmly. “I know you want to stay with me, baby girl, and at the end of the semester we’ll talk about it again, but for now, I want you to stay here and keep up with your school work, alright?” “I can keep up with it at home,” I murmured, looking down at the floor. “Baby girl…” “I know, daddy…I know,” I said, rubbing my arm. “You want me to have a social life.” “Exactly. There’s a lot for you to gain by staying here. You can network, meet new friends.” I started to open my mouth and argue. I wanted to tell him that I didn’t want to meet new friends. I wanted to tell him that I wanted to spend my free time curled up beside him while the fire roared to life in the fire place. I wanted him to hold me every night and kiss me every morning, but I knew that if I argued anymore I might get myself in trouble. He was being gentle with me because he knew I was upset, but even his patience only went so far. “Alright, Daddy. I’ll stay.” He nodded and pulled me into his arms where I went limp and held him

tight, not wanting to let go. I knew it was only a week, but it felt so much longer than that. He finally pulled away and kissed my cheek, smiling gently. “You’ll be alright, baby girl. I’ll see you Thursday night, alright?” “You’re going to come pick me up.” “Of course.” I nodded and took a step back, watching as he gathered his things and started towards the door. He stopped short and turned towards me, “I almost forgot,” he said idly, walking over to me and handing me a little package. I tore into the pink and gold paper, smiling when I saw the book he’d had made. The cover was rose gold, my favorite color, and inside the binder-like book was laminated copies of our contract as well as a few sheets that had our rules written in his beautiful cursive. The last section was journaling paper. “I want you to start journaling your thoughts about all of this.” “All of what?” “Our new relationship. I want you to write down things that you want and things that intrigue you.” “Really?” “Really. We’re going to move forward with our training on the weekends, but during the week, I expect you to really think about what you want from this.” I smiled and set the book on my desk, running over to him and throwing my arms around him, kissing him until my lungs ached for air. I pressed my forehead to his and sighed. “Thank you, Daddy.” “Anything to see my baby girl smile.” He offered one more kiss before finally leaving the room for good. I watched him go with an aching sadness, but at least I knew I only had to wait a week to see him. My new diary would keep me company until then. It wasn’t as good as Daddy, but it was something and at least it was some kind of comfort. In the evenings when I knew I was alone, I would set at the tiny, school assigned desk and stare at the empty pages, trying to think of what I wanted from our relationship. I honestly didn’t know the answer to that question. I wasn’t even sure what this relationship was all about. I knew I had a lot to learn and I was going to make James proud when we met up again. The next few months flew by and the weeks I was alone get easier and easier. When I was alone I researched relationships like mine and read contracts that people had posted online. The more I read, the more I began to understand the kind of things I wanted and when I finally presented them to James, he’d beamed and practically glowed with pride.

The things I wanted were simple. I wanted to be loved, cherished, protected and fulfilled. They were all things that I knew James could give me. Hell, he already fulfilled most of those wishes. I’d never considered asking for these things out of a relationship. I’d always thought I’d just settle for whatever I could get, because I didn’t think I’d ever be able to be with someone as amazing as James. Now that things were much different, I was willing to expect more from my lover. I held James to a higher standard because I knew he was an amazing man. I wanted our relationship to be everything I dreamed it would. My school life didn’t suffer either. I knew he’d be disappointed in me if I slacked off with my studies or stopped going to group events, so I made sure to stay active. At first it felt like a chore when all I wanted was to be with him, but eventually I fell back into my own routine and I was managing to balance school, social activities and my romantic life. It was a delicate balance, but I managed. I would go home every weekend and while my roommate was curious as to what had changed to make me want to go home so much, she never pushed me, and I was glad for that. I wasn’t embarrassed of James by any stretch of the imagination, but I was worried that people wouldn’t understand. Nothing we were doing was illegal, but I could see where it would make people uncomfortable. I didn’t want our relationship to cost him clients or make his life any harder, so I stayed silent about it. Every day I was learning to be a better person, a better lover and a better submissive. My life was perfect as far as I could tell. I never wanted it to change, but if life had taught me anything, it was that good things didn’t last forever.

CHAPTER EIGHT

THE MORNING SICKNESS started as the harsh of winter really started to set in. February was always the coldest month and with it typically came seasonal depression and body aches. I’d never actually gotten ill from the weather before, though. Every morning, I’d stumble out of bed and run for the bathroom, heaving until everything I’d eaten the night before came up. The sickness made me shake and left me feeling exhausted. All I could do was lean up against the

wall and ensure my worried roommate, Luna, that I was okay. She never quite believed me, but that was okay. She meant well and I knew she was worried, but I didn’t like having people fret over me. I chalked the sickness up to stress. After all, a lot of things in my life were changing. Maybe my body had finally caught up and was trying to purge all of the subconscious stress. That was the excuse I came up with, anyway and I was going to stick with it. It was better than the alternative. Luna tried to convince me to go to the school’s health center, but I refused. I didn’t want to find out what was really wrong, even though I knew I’d have to deal with the reality of it sooner or later. I insisted I was alright and went on with my life. James came and picked me up that Friday, like he did every other day and smiled at me. He reached out and took my hand, placing a gently kiss to the back of it and I blushed. “I missed you, Daddy.” His hand cupped my cheek tenderly and he nodded. “I missed you too baby girl.” I chewed my bottom lip, trying to hide my excitement. I was always excited to go back home with James, but this weekend was especially exciting. Valentine’s day had been on Tuesday and since we couldn’t be together for it, he promised me something special when I finally got home. “You look excited to see me.” “I’m always excited to see you, Daddy,” I pointed out, putting my hand on his thigh and squeezing. He chuckled as he pulled out of the brick round about in front of my dorm. “You don’t have to pretend, baby girl. I know why you’re excited.” “Oh?” He leaned into my ear, his warm breath grazing my neck and making me shudder with excitement. “You know I’m going to make you cum over and over and over again.” I didn’t realize I was holding my breath and squeezing his thigh. I let the breath out slowly and turned so that our lips grazed each other’s “Yes, Daddy.” “I’m going to fuck you until you can’t walk.” I took advantage of the red light we were at and wrapped my arms around his shoulders, pressing a wet kiss to his neck. “And you’ll carry me around like a princess?” He chuckled and nodded as the car rolled forward. “Of course I will.” We continued our playful teasing and touching until we got to the house. Once we were inside, however, I was in submissive mode. I turned slowly and looked up at him with heavy eyes as I removed his coat for him, hanging it in

the closet. “Good girl. You’re always so good.” “Only for you, Daddy.” He groaned happily and grabbed my shirt, pulling it over my head slowly and folding it, placing it carefully in my waiting arms. This was our routine. In the house, I wasn’t allowed to wear clothes. James would strip me as naked as he wanted me, sometimes leaving me in panties, but most of the time leaving me in nothing. He stacked each piece of clothing in my arms and I took them to my bedroom before returning and waiting for him patiently. “Go to the play room.” My grin grew wider and I turned, prancing towards the play room. We didn’t go in the room every weekend. James tried to reserve it for special occasions. He would always have me fetch things out of it, but we didn’t always play in it. I stepped into the room, which he’d painted a lovely lavender color. The lavender was off set by the dark brown and black leather tools that James’ used on my delicate body. My favorite part of this room? It was sound proofed and I could be as loud as I wanted and was often encouraged to do so. Goosebumps rose on my skin as I considered what was going to happen next. James always kept me guessing and that wasn’t a bad thing. I turned to face him, licking my lips as he closed the door behind us. The click of it closing was all I needed to be put in the right mind set. For a moment, the thought of my morning sickness crossed my mind, but I pushed it down, ignoring it and crossing the room to wrap my arms around James’ neck. A smile graced his lips and he ran his fingers down my thin, pale body. “So Beautiful.” He whispered, brushing his lips alone my neck. “You’re so beautiful.” My toes curled at the praise and I threaded my fingers through his hair, pressing our foreheads together. “Thank you, Daddy,” I breathed, my legs already weak from his touch. The second I’d stepped into this room, I could feel the pleasure rising in my stomach. It was Pavlovian response to what had occurred here before. The walls were coated with my moans and this room held the essence of pure pleasure for me. It was something I couldn’t put out of my mind, no matter how hard I tried. My body was flushed a pretty pink and I could feel James’ eyes on me as I pulled away. He touched my cheek tenderly. “Go pick your toys,” he whispered in my ear. I shivered and nodded, prancing over to the wall that was lined with all

manner of toys. James had every kind of toy imaginable and I took advantage of what was offered to me. I ran my fingers along the long tails of a flogger. It still had the distinct smell of real leather to it and the elk skin was soft against the pads of my fingers. It was my favorite by far. It wasn’t a very painful toy, but it was damn loud. I shuddered excitedly at the thought and pulled it off the wall. “One more.” James called, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, watching me intently. I turned to the opposite wall and picked up a toy I’d only used once. It was a butt plug with a delicate glass plug and a long, fluffy red fox tail that hung from it. Most of James’ toys were glass so that they could be properly cleaned. That was my job. It was my responsibility to properly maintain all the toys in the house and I adored it. I loved working the leather through my fingers with oil meant to soften the tails. It was a ritual that my obsessive mind had come to find calming. I returned to him with the toys in hand and he put his hand in my hair. “Present them.” The words were like lightning that ran through me. I dropped to my knees with care, my eyes never leaving his face. I always struggled with breaking eye contact with James, luckily that was never part of our agreement. My lips parted as I finally hit my knees, raising the flogger towards him and offering it with a smile on my face. “Please, Daddy?” He took the flogger and then I offered the plug, which he also took, silently approving my choices. He left me kneeling and crossed the room to an oak table, setting the toys on it for now. His hand rested on a leather pad that had been fixed to what looked like a sturdier version of a saw horse. Each of the four legs had eye hooks screwed into it at varying levels so that whoever was bent over it could be secured. James raised a hand and curled his finger in my direction, beckoning me to come forward. I rose and all but ran over, grinning brightly. “Yes, Daddy?” He patted the leather surface and I nodded in understanding, bending over it easily. I was familiar with this particular piece of furniture. It was probably my favorite out of all the contraptions James had amassed over the years. Once I was bent over it, the tips of my fingers and toes were barely able to graze the wood flooring. I shivered excitedly as James closed ankle and wrists restraints over my limbs, securing me into place. I gave them and experimental tug and moaned when I wasn’t able to pull free. He chuckled and kissed between my shoulders tenderly, resting his hand on

the round globe of my ass. “You look so pretty like this, baby girl.” “Thank you, Daddy,” I breathed, trying to arch my ass into his hand. He brought his hand down on my ass and the sound echoed through the room, only covered up by the sound of my own cry. “Hold still, baby girl.” I whimpered but nodded, my cheek pressed to the leather padding. I could already feel a wetness between my legs. It was pooling on the leather, threating to drip down my pale thighs. My legs were spread and every part of me was exposed to him. I closed my eyes, panting from excitement. My legs were already beginning to quiver with anticipation and it took everything in me to not beg. I knew James would give me what I wanted soon enough. The sound of leather being pulled through James’ fingers made me squirm excitedly and soon I was rewarded with those leather tails licked the round of my ass. Fire shot through every part of my body and every nerve was awake, crying and pleading for more of that delicious sound. The leather cracked against my ass and I moaned at the slight stinging sensation that started to radiate out from the impact site. Ten more of those and I was a mess. I had soaked the leather padded with my essence, which had begun to drip onto the floor below. I knew I’d have to clean it up later, but I didn’t care. My ass felt hot now, the stinging of the tails magnified by the sheer number of licks I’d received. James paused to rest his hand on the part of my back side that had taken the brunt of the punishment and he ran his fingers over it. The skin was a hundred times more sensitive and every touch burned in the most delicious way. I cried out as he rubbed slow circles along the reddened skin, moaning as the pain faded into pleasure. I was shaking now and unable to stop. That wasn’t abnormal for me in the least. I didn’t think much of it, moaning and jerking my hips a little as James brushed his fingers along my back entrance, slowly starting to slip one in. That’s when things went all wrong. The shaking got worse and my body tensed up. I cried out when James pulled his finger out, the tightened muscles making it a little more painful than I would have liked. My eyes started to flutter closed and I felt James franticly unlocking my restraints. I was struggling to move my body and slid off the leather pad, though James caught me before I could hit the ground. A warm sensation trickled down my thighs and for a moment I was horrified. Had I wet myself? James pulled me to the ground and his next words assured me that I had not wet myself. “Oh, my God…You’re bleeding!” That was the last thing I heard before the world went black.

CHAPTER NINE

THE WARMTH in the darkness was comforting. I wasn’t even entirely sure I wanted to wake up from it. The abyss was silent, but lonely and I knew if I stayed asleep I’d never see James again. As the thought crossed my dreaming mind, my eyes fluttered open to the sound of a soft, mechanical beeping. It was so predictable that I found myself whispering ‘beep, beep, beep’ in time with the machine. My body ached and felt heavy, but even so, I groaned and put my hands flat on the bed and forced myself into a sitting positon, grunting softly. The room spun and I collapsed back in the bed as James came through the door with two bottles of water in hand. “Shit,” he cursed under his breath before coming to my bedside and stroking hair out of my face. “Lie down, Aria.” “Lie down?” I whispered. “I’m already…Lying down?” My brain was clouded with the drugs that were running through my system. “I’m meant stay down.” “What happened?” I whispered, pressing a hand to my forehead. “You passed out from an electrolyte imbalance.” “What?” I’d always been hypermetabolic, but I’d never passed out before. “You weren’t taking good enough care of yourself.” I frowned deeply, looking up at him for a moment. “I haven’t changed anything.” He nodded silently and stared down at the floor. The disappointed look on his face killed me. It was like someone was reaching into my chest and pulling my heart out. “Daddy?” I reached out and gently touched his hand. He pulled his hand away and shook his head. “Don’t call me that.” My heart was beating faster now and despite his warnings I tried to sit up, but he just pushed me back down. “What did I say?” Panic was rising in my chest and a soft sob left my lips as I held my hand out, fingers curling around his wrist. “What did I do? What happened? Why don’t you love me?” I choked. The words were tumbling out in a mindless mess. I knew that they probably weren’t true. James had been there for me my entire life and I honestly didn’t believe for a second that he’d stopped loving me, but that didn’t make the prospect any less scary in my drug hazed mind. I clung to his

shirt, the tears already spilling over my cheeks. He closed his eyes and pressed a hand to my back, holding me close. “Don’t be ridiculous. I love you with every piece of me, Aria.” “Y-You keep saying my name.” He hadn’t used my name since we started this relationship. I cupped his cheeks and stared at him with tears in my eyes. “Why?” “I’m upset with you.” Another sob left my lips and I shook my head. “Why?” I was asking that a lot. “Why didn’t you tell me?” “What?” “Why didn’t you tell me you were pregnant?” His voice was farm more firm now and when he gripped my shoulders I slumped forward, the words sinking in. “Pregnant?” “You didn’t know?” I shook my head slowly, my eyes wet and wide. “No…” “You must have had some signs!” He was right. I’d missed my period and I’d been sick every morning for months, but that hadn’t been enough to make me admit what I knew I was true. I didn’t want to accept it. The idea of being pregnant in college was horrific enough, but then there was the fear of having to tell James. “I’m sorry…” He cupped my cheek gently and made me look up at him. “Why didn’t you tell me?” “I was scared.” The answer was simple, but honest. I was afraid to tell him the truth. He shook his head back and forth. “I’m so…I don’t know what to do about this, Aria.” I put my hands in my lap and fell silent. I wanted him to love me through this. I honestly thought he would. I didn’t see our relationship ending like this, but here we were. Tears were still rolling down my cheeks and I dropped my head into the pillow, pulling the blanket over my head. We sat in that silence for hours. Every time I’d wake up, I would roll over and see him sitting the chair he’d been in since I’d first woken up. He didn’t say anything to me. He’d just stare at the TV screen, mindlessly watching whatever was on. At night, he would be asked to leave, but he came back every morning. I was supposed to stay at the hospital for the next three days, and I did. They

replaced everything I had lost and on the third day, a doctor came in to tell me the things I needed to do in order to keep my baby healthy. James was there for all of it. I watched him listen nodding knowingly as he passed the information to James, clearly worried that I wasn’t taking it in. James was taking in every word he said, and I suppose that should have comforted me, but it didn’t make up for the silence. On the third day, I signed myself out of the hospital. I was old enough to leave without James’ consent and I took full advantage of it. I was still feeling a little rough around the edges, but I managed to get a cab back to the dorms. I’d left my keys at the house and I could only pray that Luna was there. When I knocked on the door she answered almost immediately, wearing nothing more than a bathrobe. I leaned against her, pressing my face into the soft, pink terry cloth. She gasped and wrapped her arms around me, holding me tight and putting a hand on the back of my head. “Aria?” “Hey,” I murmured, my voice weaker than I expected. I probably should have still been at the hospital, but I couldn’t stand another day of silence and disappointed stars. “I thought you were with James?” Luna didn’t really know my relationship with James. Well, she knew we were dating, but she had no idea that he was also my step-father. My relationship with Luna had been rocky for the first few months (that was entirely my fault), so she didn’t know much about my personal life. All she knew was that I went with James on the weekend. “We had a fight…” She frowned and helped me to my raised bed, nudging me onto it before pulling the blankets over me. “Are you alright?” “I’m okay.” I just needed sleep. She hesitated but nodded and got me a glass of water before returning to her desk, glancing over her shoulder every now and then to make sure I was okay. I turned my back to her, forehead pressed against the cool stone wall so I could doze off. I was exhausted and sad. I just didn’t want to be awake anymore. I wasn’t sure if James would be worried about me. Maybe it would be better if I just disappeared from his life. Maybe I was doing him a favor.

CHAPTER TEN

JAMES’ PERSISTENT CALLS and texts proved my theory wrong. My phone constantly buzzed and rang as the man I loved more than anything tried to get a hold of me. Deep down, I knew I should have returned his calls. It wasn’t fair of me to keep him in the dark and it was borderline cruel, but I didn’t know how to handle what was happening. My emotions were running wild and I wanted to be able to take a moment and collect myself. I didn’t intend to stay away forever. I couldn’t do that. At some point I was going to have to face him and face what he wanted from me, but now wasn’t that time. I curled up on my bed, the sheets pulled over my head. My eyes were puffy from crying and they hurt, but I’d expected that. I’d even expected the pounding headache that was starting to form just behind my left eye. I rubbed my belly gently, my face hot and raw from the tears. When a knock came at my door, I didn’t come out from under the blankets. I didn’t say anything, I just curled up tighter and pressed myself against the wall. The door creaked open as someone came through the door. Heavy footsteps crossed my bedroom and I felt the bed sink as someone sat beside me. Fingers gripped the blanket I was hiding under and pulled it back. I closed my eyes against the sun, covering my face as I felt a familiar hand rest on my arm. It was far too large and strong to be Sara’s. I peeked through my fingers and the tears started all over again. “James?” He offered a sad little smile and stroked my hair back. “There you are, baby girl.” My heart fluttered when he called me that and I forced myself to sit up, wiping my face and sniffling a little, blinking away the tears. “W-Why are you here?” “Because I was worried about you.” I looked away, fighting the urge to move closer to him. “How did you know where to find me?” “Luna called me. She was very worried about you.” “Is she the one who let you in when you knocked?” He nodded and glanced over his shoulder. “She left, though. She wanted to give us some alone time.” I nodded and swallowed. “Are you here to tell me to go away?” “Go away?” I grunted and closed my eyes. “I know you don’t want me around anymore. You can just say it.” He sighed and leaned down, wrapping his strong arms around me and scooping me up, pulling me close and rubbing my back. “You’re so damn

smart, but then you say shit like that.” “Huh?” “Why in the world wouldn’t I want you around?” I frowned and looked up at him and then away, my eyes darting to an empty space on the wall. “Because I’m pregnant.” “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard,” he murmured, stroking my hair. “What?” My voice was breathless. “I wasn’t mad because you were pregnant. I was made because you didn’t tell me and I got scared. I was afraid that I hurt you or our child. I was mad that you put yourself at risk and didn’t go and see a doctor when you started seeing the signs.” I swallowed a little. “Are you still mad?” I asked, dreading the answer he was going to give me. “No. I’m worried and I want you to be alright, but I’m not mad.” I nodded slowly and looked up at him. “You still want to be with me?” He chuckled softly and kissed the top of my head. “I think I want to be with you even more if that’s possible.” He stroked his thumb across my cheek. The ache in my chest finally dissipated and I looked at him with wide eyes. I’d spent so much time being scared that I hadn’t considered the fact that he might actually want this. I swallowed thickly and pressed my forehead to his chest. “I love you, Daddy.” “I love you too, baby girl.” I’d wanted to hear those exact words for so long, and now that he’d finally said them, I felt a weight lifted off my shoulders and I couldn’t help but think that maybe, just maybe, things were going to be okay. Maybe I’d been silly to worry so much. He pulled away and kissed my cheek. “Are you ready to go home?” “Yeah.” I was already home, though. I was with him.

EPILOGUE

MY LIFE after that was as close to perfect as it could have gotten. I eventually emancipated myself from James’ legal guardianship so that there wouldn’t be

any more issues regarding our familial status. Once the papers went through, we decided to move away. He opened a new law practice in Boston and we started out lives together. I took a semester off school in order to take care of the child growing inside of me, though I took a spattering of online classes. James didn’t want me to give up on my education and neither did I, but I knew that it would be hard with a child on the way. Every struggle would be worth it when I finally got to hold our child in my arms. Our daughter was born and we were eventually married. The wedding picture that hangs above our bed is a picture of us, smiling with little Lena in our arms. Whenever I look at it, I am reminded of the fact that I finally have a family again. I had suffered so much loss in my life and I always thought I’d never have a family. I didn’t want to give the world the opportunity to take away more people that I loved, but when I look up at that picture, I’m happy. Even though we’re older now and have a child, we still managed to spend nights together in my favorite place. He still calls me baby girl and I still call him Daddy. The thing that brought us together is still going strong and is only reinforced by our love. It might not be for everyone, but this is my happily ever after.

FILTHY BOSS: AMY’S HOT SELLER - VERY FILTHY BILLIONAIRE BOSS ROMANCE

CARLSON: C ANDICE Men are douchebags! I’m sorry, but there’s just no other way to put it and they can’t deny it. They only want one thing from us, girls. Then, just as you’re about to give it to them, they dump you like a hot rock because their mommy says you’re not good enough for their little boy. Seriously, bitch? I’ll show you not good enough with my fist in your nose. Then I get assigned to work for Tanner Wright, the bad boy billionaire CEO who thinks his money, good looks, and big bulge in his jeans can get him whatever he wants. And what he wants at the moment is to get into this girl’s pants. What he doesn’t know is, that’s a place where no man has gone before. The guy’s a billionaire douchebag and I’m a reluctant virgin. That combination could make for a very interesting workplace, indeed.

TANNER WRIGHT It’s a lot of pressure, living up to a reputation like mine. You just try being a billionaire bad boy CEO for a week and see how you handle things. I’ll bet you end up in the press more than I do! When you have the looks, money, charm, and bedroom skills that I have, the world is your oyster. So many mansions to buy, exotic cars to drive, yachts to captain, and so many women to… well… you know what the ladies want from Mr. Wright. So, when Candice Carlson is assigned to work on a project for my company, it’s only fitting that I give her a shot at the brass ring. She’s young and brilliant and beautiful. And there’s something mysterious about her that draws me to her like a moth to a flame.

She can try to resist all she wants, but when Tanner Wright wants something, you can bet the bank that he will get it; one way or another.

CANDICE Carlson I was sitting at my desk munching on a take-out salad from the cafeteria downstairs, when the email from my boss came through. I glanced at the large computer monitor sitting to my left, but didn’t bother opening the email. I already knew what it was. I had been expecting the email since earlier in the day when my boss told me that our company, Goldman & Stern Management Consultants, had won a ten-million-dollar management consulting contract with Wright Enterprises, and that I would be one of the management consultants on the team. I chewed a mouthful of lettuce and leaned over to read the subject line: Confirmation of Meeting Scheduled with Tanner Wright at Wright Enterprises. I clicked the link that would automatically add the meeting details to my electronic schedule and went back to eating my salad. A year ago, I would have been jumping up and down at the thought of meeting with billionaire entrepreneur, Tanner Wright, and his team. Now, this would be just another in a long line of boring meetings with rich douchebags who used Goldman & Stern’s management consultants – like me -- to do their dirty work. Wow, sometimes I was amazed at how tarnished I had become in just one short year at Goldman. I don’t remember what I expected this job would be, but this wasn’t it. Still, it was better than slaving away at a non-profit for twenty-grand a year. That was more fulfilling, but this allowed me to buy a lot cooler stuff. I sighed as I stabbed a cherry tomato and bit it in half with my front teeth. I had already Googled Tanner Wright in anticipation of the meeting. Not that I didn’t already know who he was. Everyone in business knew who Tanner Wright was because he was the stuff of legend. Thirty-five years old, single, tall, dark, and handsome; with the build of an athlete and the brain of a Rhodes Scholar. He started Wright Enterprises as a little computer fix-it service in his parents’ basement fifteen years ago, and the company did six billion in revenue last year. Wright was in to everything now: from computing to networking to cyber-

security software to fiber optics. But it took more than generating a ton of revenue for a guy to impress me these days. In my mind, I already had him pegged as just another billionaire playboy who thought he could buy the world and everyone in it. I took a sip of the watery iced tea that came with the salad and looked out the twentieth-floor window at the hazy Chicago skyline. “I’ll bet he’s a major douchebag,” I heard myself say. I couldn’t help it. Whenever I thought about men these days the word “douchebag” automatically came to mind. In fact, the word “douchebag” was becoming synonymous with the word “man” in my mind. Man, douchebag. Douchebag, man. Call me jaded, but in my mind, they were one and the same. I took another bite of the lettuce and munched as I sighed. Why do men have to be such douchebags, I wondered. Aren’t there any good men left in the world? Surely, they’re not all gay or married. Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating just a little bit. Maybe not all men on planet earth are douchebags. Maybe it’s just the males of the species that I have personally met over my twenty-four years on the planet were douchebags. They didn’t all start out that way, of course. Some of them were perfectly nice in the beginning. They seemed to evolve into douchebags after they met me. Maybe that was it. Maybe I was the common denominator. Maybe I took perfectly nice guys and turned them into total douchebags. I was patient zero! I licked the dressing from my lips and reached for the tea. Maybe that was my special power, I thought. I had the power to turn perfectly nice guys into douchebags. Nah. Who am I kidding. I don’t have special powers. Men are quite capable of becoming douchebags all on their own. They certainly didn’t need any influence from me. The most recent douchebag in my life was my ex-boyfriend, Scott, who dumped me after dating for five years because his mother didn’t think I was good enough for him. He actually said those words to me. “I’m sorry, Candice, but Mother doesn’t think you’re good enough for me.” “I’m not marrying your mother, Scott,” I shot back. “The question is, what do you think?”

The prick didn’t hesitate. He looked me dead in the eye and said, “I think Mother is probably right.” And with that, he turned and walked out the door and never looked back. I was like, are you kidding me, mother f*cker? I’ve dated your douchebag ass since freshman year at college, saved my virginity for our wedding night, and two months before the wedding, I’m not good enough for you? Seriously? F*ck you! And f*ck your mother!!! I felt my cheeks getting hot. Even though it’s been over a year since Scott dumped me, it still makes me fume. Granted, I didn’t come from money like Scott’s family did. The Carlson family was lower middle class at best, but I worked my ass off to get through college and then graduate school. I graduated with an MBA from Harvard last year and was recruited by Goldman & Stern to join their management consulting group before the ink on my diploma was dry. I have a windowed-office in a Chicago high-rise, and pulldown one-fifty a year plus bonuses. I have a killer apartment downtown, and am on the fast track to make partner within five years. And I’m not good enough for your piece of shit son? Again, dear mother, f*ck you! I frowned at my own thought. I never used to cuss like this. Granted, this conversation is only going on in my head, but now I have the vocabulary of a drunken sailor. And I blame it on Scott and his mommy. Scott said his mommy thought I was a bad person. She didn’t like the way I treated her little boy. Fine. Whatever. Sure, I can be a little abrasive at times, and maybe I bossed Scott around a bit, but come on, the guy could barely wipe his own ass without mommy’s help. If he didn’t have me telling him what to do he would have spent most of his days bouncing through life like a pinball. Not good enough for your son. F*ck you, you old bat. Your son wasn’t good enough for me! I chewed on a chunk of lettuce and scolded myself for even thinking about this stuff. I mean, it had been over a year since I last saw Scott. Why was this still sticking in my craw?

And why didn’t I want anything to do with men in general now? Had Scott scarred me for life? Was I destined to be an old maid? Or maybe a lesbian? Hmm, no, I didn’t swing that way. At least not yet… I was young, healthy, and horny as the next girl. The fact that I was still a virgin irked me a bit. After all, the whole “saving myself for Mr. Right” crap flew out the window the day Scott dumped me. I’d jump Mr. Wrong’s bones if given the chance. It’s not that I haven’t had opportunities to have sex. Jesus, you can’t walk down the hallway here at Goldman & Stern without running into a swinging dick. It’s just that I don’t want to be bothered by a man at this point in my life. And as I said, men are douchebags. I’d never had a cock inside of me, so maybe I didn’t know what I was missing. But I had long, nimble fingers and the foot-long vibrating dildo I bought online that I called “George Clooney”. George was always waiting for me in my nightstand. What the heck did I need a man for? No, better for me to focus on my career rather than my love life. I was only twenty-four. I still had plenty of time left on the old biological clock, although some days I could hear it ticking louder than others. I had my entire future all mapped out. I would find a man after I made partner, probably when I was thirty or so, squeeze out a couple of cute babies by the time I was thirty-five, and find a nice French nanny to raise them for me while I went back to work. A solid plan, if I do say so myself. Why would I let a man screw that up? I finished the salad and wiped the dressing from my lips, then clicked on the email to find out when I’d be meeting with Tanner Wright, who I knew would be a douchebag, albeit a douchebag worth billions of dollars.

TANNER WRIGHT “I don’t give a damn what it costs, Barry! Just buy the fucking thing! And stop calling me every five seconds. If you miss out on this deal because you’re on the phone with me, I’ll rip off your balls and feed them to my Doberman! Now go!” I slammed down the phone and balled my hands into fists. I shook them at

the ceiling and growled. “Christ, why does everything have to be so fucking hard?” Henry Costas, my best friend of ten-years and Executive Vice President of Business Development at Wright Enterprises, sat on the other side of my desk with a mild look of concern on his pleasant face. “Is there a problem?” I shook my head at him. “I sent my car guy out to the Barrett-Jackson auction in Vegas to bid on a 1961 Ferrari 250 in mint fucking condition, and he’s calling me every ten seconds to update me on the bids. I’m like, for Christ sake, just buy the fucking thing!” “What was the last bid?” Henry asked. “Fifteen million,” I snapped. “The catalog estimated that it could go as high as twenty-five million and I’m like, just fucking bid twenty-five million, Barry, and get it over with! I don’t understand the problem.” I caught Henry grinning at me. When we met, I was in grad school at MIT and he was my business management professor. I didn’t have twenty-five cents to my name back then, and here I was a decade later throwing a temper tantrum over a twenty-five-million-dollar car that I would probably never drive. “Billionaires do have their own particular sets of problems, don’t they?” Henry said with a sigh. He crossed his legs and brushed lint from his knee. Henry wasn’t a billionaire, but he’d gotten rich when Wright Enterprises went public five years ago. He could have easily spent twenty-five million dollars on a car, but he would never do so because he felt it was an overindulgence and a complete waste of money. I remember him asking me once, “Why buy a fifty-thousand dollar Rolex when a fifty-dollar Timex tells the same time?” My answer, of course, was, “Because a fifty-dollar Timex won’t get you laid!” The truth was, I had more money than I could ever hope to spend. Wright Enterprises was now one of the largest conglomerates in the world, with business holdings in practically every country on the planet. I had made billions of dollars and could buy anything and anyone I wanted. And at the moment, I wanted that fucking Ferrari GT! “We need to talk about the Anderson acquisition,” Henry said as the humor melted from his face. That was Henry. Enough frivolity! Back to the salt mines! He reached into the briefcase that was sitting next to his chair and brought out a thick folder detailing our impending acquisition of Anderson Telecommunications, a regional telc0 in Arizona that had fallen on hard times.

We were going to acquire Anderson for pennies on the dollar. We’d either fix it if we could or tear it apart if we couldn’t. It would be our first foray into telecommunications, so Henry was edgy. And rightfully so. I paid him to worry about such things so I didn’t have to. “Is there a problem with the acquisition?” I asked, watching him balance the folder on his knee. He set a pair of reading glasses on the tip of his nose and opened the folder. He removed the first page and looked down his nose at it. “I’m looking to prevent problems,” he said, sliding the page across the desk at me. “As we discussed, since this is our first telecom acquisition and neither of us are experts in the industry, I thought it would be a good idea to get an expert set of eyes to look over Anderson’s financials and interview the management team before we signed the final deal.” I kept a red rubber ball sitting on my desk. It was supposed to be a stress ball, you know, a rubber ball you squeeze whenever you’re feeling stressed. The truth was, I rarely felt stressed. But I had the attention span of a tsetse fly and if I wasn’t constantly doing something with my hands, I had a hard time paying attention. I squeezed the ball in my left hand and picked up the sheet of paper in my right. It was a letter of engagement from Goldman & Stern, the company who would handle this part of the due diligence. I held out the paper and summed up my take on it. “So, we’re going to pay Goldman & Stern ten million dollars to do the due diligence on Anderson? Tell me again why we can’t do all the due diligence in-house? Why isn’t our corporate legal department handling this?” “We are doing the lion’s share of the due diligence in-house,” Henry said. “But as I said before, some details that are specific to the telecom industry are out of our wheelhouse. Paying G&S ten-million to uncover skeletons in closets and mistakes on balance sheets is money well spent.” I wouldn’t hesitate to spend twenty-five million on a car, but hated wasting a dime when it came to my business. It was mostly a formality because the acquisition was pretty much a done deal, but Henry was a stickler for covering our asses and I was grateful for it. I scanned through the project description and a list of the people who would be doing the work. I sailed the paper across the desk at him, then leaned back in my chair and tossed the ball into the air. I said, “Fine, whatever you think is best. Do you know anyone on the team Goldman is sending over?” Henry picked up the paper and set it on top of the folder. He peered down

through the glasses at the list of names. He ran a finger down the list. “Yes, the senior people I’ve worked with before. Stan Robbins and Juliette Ruiz. Bob Gaines and Irving Hunt I know by reputation. I don’t now recognize this last name. She must be new. Candice Carlson.” “I’ve never heard of Candice Carlson either,” I said. I caught the ball and tossed it into the air again. “Did they send her resume?” Henry opened the folder and wet his finger to fan through the pages. “I have resumes on the key players. Let’s see… Candice Carlson. BA from Penn, MBA from Harvard. Graduated with honors last year.” “Fresh meat,” I sighed. Henry ignored me and kept reading. “She joined Goldman right out of Harvard, so she has to be top notch. She has been on several teams that have consulted for Goldman in the telecom field.” “Did they send a picture? A link to her Facebook page perhaps?” I gave him a smirk. “She sounds hot. I don’t think I’ve ever had a Candice.” “This isn’t Match.com, for Christ sake,” Henry said, giving me a look over the top of the glasses. “They don’t submit photographs with the resumes.” “Pity.” The ball went up and down. He tucked the resume back into the folder, then leaned and cleared his throat. “Do me a favor, Tanner,” he said with a sigh. “Keep your dick in your pants this time, will you?” I caught the ball in my right hand while looking at him. I put on a confused face. “Henry, what are you talking about? My dick is always in my pants.” “Except when it’s inside some random woman that’s struck your fancy,” he said, rolling his eyes. Henry had always considered himself to be like a wise uncle to me. He gave me the look you’d give a child with burnt fingers as you’re explaining why they shouldn’t have touched a hot stove eye. He said, “Look, I know it’s not my place to tell you what to do.” “Or who to stick my dick in,” I added with a grin. I shook the ball at him. “Henry, relax. Do you need to squeeze my ball?” “Not even remotely funny,” he said, tugging off the glasses and tucking them inside his suit jacket. He blew out a long breath. “You know what I’m talking about. You can screw all the actresses and models and strippers you want, but this time, please, for me, don’t screw anyone that’s a part of this deal.” I had had a brief dalliance with the wife of the CEO of a company we had sought to acquire several years ago, and it caused quite a stir in the business world. Okay, maybe “brief dalliance” is not the correct term. Her husband caught

be fucking her from behind on his desk right before the papers were to be signed. Regrettably, the deal fell through. Henry never let me live it down. I swung my chair around and planted my elbows on the desk. I squeezed the ball between my hands and smiled. “But Henry, if you can’t screw your business associates, or their wives or daughters or girlfriends, who can you screw? I mean, what’s the point of having all this money if I can’t screw who I want?” “You’re worth two-billion dollars, Tanner. You can screw just about anyone you want. I’m just asking you to keep it in your pants until we’re finished with this deal.” I held up three fingers in a Scout’s salute. “Henry, you have my solemn pledge that I will do my best to keep my dick in my pants until this deal is done.” “Wish I could believe that,” Henry said. The phone in his pocket buzzed. He pulled it out and slid open the screen. “The team from Goldman & Stern are here. They’re waiting for us in the executive conference room. Come on, you need to meet them.” I made a sour face at him. The only thing I hated more than reading lengthy reports from expensive consultants was actually meeting with them. I hated consultants. Especially management consultants. They were all so arrogant and smug, like they knew some horrible secret that could fuck up your business and they wouldn’t share it with you until you wrote them a fat check. They were like leeches, sucking the blood from real businesses because they weren’t smart enough to start their own. They were like the little fish that swam behind sharks so they could eat their scraps rather than fend for themselves. They were all just so… consulting. You get the point. I hated fucking consultants. And I was using fucking as an adjective, not a verb… Hmmm… had I ever fucked a consultant? I didn’t think so, but there was a first time for everything. I leaned back in the chair and brought my bare feet up to rest on the desk. Henry winced at the dirty bottoms of my feet. He was second in command and dressed in three-piece suits.

I was the boss and I typically came to work in ratty jeans, tennis shoes, and t-shirts. I picked up my phone and wiggled my toes at him. “You deal with the Goldman people. I’m waiting on the call about the Ferrari.” “Tanner, they’re here to meet with the both of us,” he said, shoving my feet to the floor. He dusted off his hands and growled at me. “Now put on your fucking shoes and let’s go. And behave yourself.” “God, you’re such a kill joy,” I said, looking under my desk for my tennis shoes. By the time I found my shoes and put them on, Henry was already out the door. I picked up the stress ball and took my time catching up.

CANDICE “Okay, let me do the talking when they get here,” Stan Robbins said, lowering his voice and waving his hand at the rest of us seated at the table next to him. Stan was in his fifties, tall and gaunt, with thinning hair and a tendency to stick his sharp nose squarely up the client’s ass. Stan was the senior telecom consultant at Goldman & Stern and my immediate boss. Juliette Ruiz, a sour-looking woman in her forties, was Stan’s second in charge. Juliette, who was so thin her clothes hung off her like a hanger, hated everyone except Stan. And if she hadn’t reported to Stan, she would have hated him, too. They were Goldman’s power couple when it came to telecom. Together, they had over fifty years of telecom experience, and were leading the team conducting the final due diligence for Wright Enterprises’ acquisition of Anderson Telecommunications. Bob Gaines sat next to Juliette with his hands folded neatly on the table in front of him. Bob was a balding forensic accountant who had the look and pallor of a mortician. It was a fitting comparison because Bob could find financial skeletons in even the darkest of corporate closets. He not only looked like a mortician, he had the personality to match. Between Bob and I sat Irving Hunt, Goldman’s legal expert in the telecom sector. Irving was a head shorter than me and several times my age. Rumor around Goldman was that Irving could sleep with his eyes open during meetings. I kept watching him from the corner of my eye, waiting for any sign that he was nodding off. I was there because I’d been on several telecom teams in the last year and

had a good handle on the industry. My input was valuable, but I wasn’t fooling myself. I was the low girl on the totem pole. I would be the one getting coffee and donuts and making copies of documents. And I would be the recipient of most of Juliette’s angry stares. That was just fine with me. A few years from now I’d be sitting in Stan’s chair pulling down half a mill a year, and some other slab of fresh meat would be fetching my coffee. A tall, distinguished-looking man with salt and pepper hair entered the room and Stan jumped up to shake his hand. I recognized him from my Google research as Henry Costas, Tanner Wright’s former professor at MIT, and for the last ten years, his right-hand man at Wright Enterprises. He would be our primary point of contact for the project. Stan introduced Costas to the team. Costas leaned across to give everyone a welcoming smile and a handshake. I noticed his eyes lingered just a bit longer on me than they did on anyone else. I immediately wondered if I should have put my long hair up in a more business-like bun rather than letting it fall naturally around my shoulders. God, I hated how self-conscious men could make me feel with just a casual glance. I was dressed professionally in a dark blue suit and grey top. My big boobs were squeezed into a bra that was supposed to make them look smaller and I was barely wearing any makeup or jewelry. Still, Costas continued to glance at me as if I were a fox trying to get into his hen house. He took the chair at the end of the table across from Stan and finally released me from his gaze. Douchebag. “Tanner will be right in,” Costas said with a quick smile. He looked at the three of them and held out his hands. He didn’t look my way again. “Would anyone like coffee or tea?” “We’re all good,” Stan said, answering for the group. He glanced at the thick folder Costas had brought into the meeting with him. “I trust our proposal is in good order?” Costas nodded as he opened the folder. “Yes, my team went through your proposal and we believe you have a good handle on everything that requires further verification at Anderson.” He glanced up and smiled at Stan. “As I told you over the phone, telecom is not normally in our wheelhouse, so we’re looking to you to make sure everything is good to go before we sign the final acquisition documents next week.” “No worries,” Stan said, patting the air with his hands. “If anything is out

of order, my team will find it.” “Very good,” Costas said with a curt nod. He flipped through a few more pages and took out what looked like a contract. There were two copies. He slid one in front of Stan and kept one for himself. “The contract is good to go,” Costas said, reaching inside his suit jacket for a pen. “It’s been vetted by our legal department and yours, so I’m ready to sign if you are.” “I am ready,” Stan said eagerly. Stan already had the expensive Monte Blanc pen Goldman had awarded him for twenty years of service in his hand. He knew he’d be signing this contract today, so he’d probably had the pen in his hand for hours. He twisted off the cap and with great flourish, scratched his signature on the signature line on behalf of Goldman & Stern. Costas signed on behalf of Wright Enterprises. I noticed he was using a disposable Bic pen with the company name on the side. That said something about him to me. He was either so humble that he didn’t feel the need to show off by using a thousand-dollar pen, or he was so rich that he didn’t give a shit about impressing the likes of us. My money was on the latter. They swapped contracts and signed again. “Very good,” Stan said, taking his copy of the contract and quickly sliding it into his briefcase as if he were worried Costas might change his mind. He reached across the table and shook Costas’ hand. “We’ll get started first thing Monday morning.” “You must be the Goldman party,” a cheery voice said from the doorway. I looked up to see Tanner Wright leaning against the doorframe with a red rubber ball in his right hand. Unlike Henry Costas, who was impeccably dressed and perfectly put together, Tanner Wright was wearing a pair of tight jeans with the knees torn out, a pair of dingy tennis shoes, and a faded black t-shirt with the Metallica logo on the front. He looked like someone who was there delivering pizzas rather than the billionaire entrepreneur who ran the place. His photos on Google did not do him justice. He had a dark summer tan, even in winter. He had shaggy blonde hair that hung over his forehead. He had bright blue eyes and an easy smile that made me want to smile back, though I resisted the urge to do so. I knew he had played soccer and rugby in college. He had maintained his physique. His round shoulders and chest pushed against the t-shirt as his waist

tapered into the tight jeans. I could see lean ropes of muscle in his forearm as he squeezed the ball. I could also see a bulge in the front of the tight jeans that made the breath catch in my throat. I swallowed hard and forced myself to look down at the table. You couldn’t tell by looking at him that he was one of the richest men on the planet. Maybe that was the point. Maybe it was a disguise. He was so rich that he tried not to look rich. It was like Brad Pitt, who did his best to look unattractive when he wasn’t starring in a movie. Jesus, nice bulge or not, he was definitely a douchebag. Tanner tossed the ball between his hands and said, “I took as much time as I could getting here. I hope I’m too late for the meeting.” “You’re not late at all,” Stan said, totally missing the joke. He shot to his feet and stuck out his hand. “Stan Robbins, Mr. Wright,” he said. “Goldman & Stern.” “Whoa, I don’t shake hands, Stan,” Tanner said quickly, taking a step back. He held up his hands as if Stan were brandishing a gun and demanding his wallet. He wrinkled his nose at Stan’s hand like it was covered in dog poop. He said, “Too many germs in the world, Stan. Plus, I have no idea where that hand has been.” Stan’s hand dangled in the air for a moment, then he let it drop to his side and lowered himself into the chair. He had a look on his face like a puppy that had just been kicked by an abusive owner. Or a balloon that someone had just seen fit to pop. I almost felt sorry for him. Almost. “We just signed the contracts, Tanner,” Costas said as Tanner pulled up the chair next to him and plopped down in it. “They’ll start work on Monday.” “Excellent!” Tanner said with a serious expression that was clearly for show. He blew out a long breath and squeezed the ball in his right hand as his eyes went down the table. He briefly eyed Stan and Juliette, then Bob, then Irving. When his eyes met mine, his eyebrows slowly rose as if he had just spied an old friend. He leaned across the table and extended the hand he wouldn’t let Stan shake. He said, “You must be Candice Carlson.” I blinked at him for a moment. I glanced down the table at my compatriots. Their eyes were glued to Tanner’s hand dangling in the air between us. He wiggled his fingers. I reached out to shake his hand. When our fingers touched, the pop of static electricity caused both of us to jerk our hands back. “Whoa!” Tanner fell back in his chair with a grin on his face. I put my hands in my lap and bit my tongue. Did he do that on purpose? Did he drag his feet across the carpet to build up static electricity in his body just

so he could make me look like an idiot? Who would do something like that? Oh yeah, a douchebag… “Shocking to meet you, Miss Carlson,” he said with a smirk. I forced a polite smile for the sake of the ten-million-dollar contract in Stan’s briefcase. “Yes, nice to meet you, Mr. Wright.” “Am I?” he asked. I blinked at him. “Are you what?” “Mister Right?” I stared at him with my mouth hanging open, unsure what to say. “Okay then, let’s wrap this up,” Costas said suddenly, clapping his hands together like he was breaking a huddle. He pushed himself up from the table and set a hand on Tanner’s shoulder to keep him in the chair. It was the move of a parent trying to control an unruly toddler. Tanner’s eyes remained on mine. He gave me a little smile, like it was all a joke that only he and I were in on. Costas directed his attention to Stan and put on a serious face. “I assume you’ll be flying to Tucson on Monday to meet with Anderson’s accounting team?” “Yes, that’s correct,” Stan said, getting to his feet. His eyes darted between the two men across from him. Costas was looking back at him. Tanner was still looking at me. Stan turned to gesture at his team. “The four of us will be in Tucson on Monday afternoon. The itinerary was already set in anticipation of signing the contract.” “We’ll meet you there,” Tanner said. He was still looking at me. Still smiling. It was starting to creep me out. It was also starting to turn me on. Was he playing some kind of weird Fifty Shades of Grey game with me? Was this his idea of foreplay? Was I supposed to rip off my clothes and lay on the table and spread my legs and beg him to fuck me? Hmmm… I put on a blank face as I filed that thought away for later use. “We’ll meet them there?” Costas asked, looking down at Tanner. “We will,” Tanner said, finally taking his eyes off mine and directing them toward Stan. “We have meetings scheduled with Anderson’s executive team later in the week. We might as well get an early start.” He got out of the chair and gave Costas a nod. “Call Anderson and tell them we’ll all be there on Monday instead of

Wednesday.” “What if they can’t meet on Monday?” Costas asked. His forehead lined as he held up arm and checked his watch. “It’s nearly five o’clock on Friday. That’s awfully short notice.” “Then we’ll have to find something to occupy our time until Wednesday, won’t we,” Tanner said, glancing at me yet again. Everyone turned to look at me. I felt myself literally shrinking before their eyes. “Okay, I’ll make the arrangements,” Costas said, narrowing his eyes, bouncing them between Tanner and me. Shit. I didn’t have to be a mind reader to know what Costas was thinking. He was going to kick me off the team because Tanner was acting like a fucking teenage boy. I was the innocent bystander at this train wreck, but I would be the one held responsible for running the Tanner train off the track. Tanner Wright’s sexploits were legendary, thanks to gossip sites like TMZ and Gawker. He had the well-earned reputation of being the billionaire bad boy who had torpedoed billion-dollar business deals because he couldn’t keep his dick in his pants. And now his childish antics were about to cost me my spot on the team. Son of a bitch. What a DOUCHEBAG!! Well, if they expected me to take this lying down, they were messing with the wrong girl. I set my hands on the table and laced my fingers together and stared at them. I could feel steam coming out of my ears. Just let them try to bounce me from the team, I thought. Just let them try… Tanner held the ball in front of him and bounced it in his palm. “In fact, there’s no need for you guys to fly out commercial. We’ll all take the corporate jet out together. It’ll be fun.” Tanner gave everyone a quick smile, then handed the rubber ball to Costas and left the room, leaving all of us to wonder what the heck just happened.

CANDICE It was a quiet car ride back to our offices at Goldman & Stern because the other members of my team were as dumbfounded as I was by the actions of Tanner Wright.

The silence in the car spoke volumes. I knew what they were all thinking. They were wondering how long it would take for Stan to boot me off the team, even though I hadn’t done a thing to deserve getting the axe. Juliette was sitting in the front passenger seat and Stan was driving. I was in the back seat, scotched between Bob and Irving. Bob stared out the window the entire way back to the office. Irving was sitting up straight with his eyes open, softly snoring. Every now and then, I’d catch Stan glancing at me in the rear-view mirror. When our eyes met, he quickly looked away. Juliette sat staring straight ahead and didn’t say a word. I could almost hear her teeth gnashing. I was sure Tanner’s behavior in the meeting would be the talk of Goldman when we got back and Juliette got the gossip mill started. She’d like nothing better than to see me kicked off the team even though I posed no threat to her. That was just Juliette’s way. She simply didn’t like other women. She was more of a male chauvinist that any man I’d ever met. If she had her way, she would be the only woman working at Goldman, if not the only woman on the planet. All I could do was shake my head and bite my tongue. I’d deal with Stan when the time came; which I knew would be soon. Tanner Wright’s smirking face flashed into my mind. I could hear the pop of electricity as our fingers touched. I could smell the faint hint of ozone in the air. He had won the Douchebag of the Century Award, hands down. I had never met anyone so cocky and full of himself. Fine, he was a hot billionaire with a big bulge in his pants, but did he have to pull me into his silly little game? I was completely innocent in all this. It would be remarkably unfair to kick me off the team just because of Tanner’s actions. Turned out, Stan felt otherwise. After he parked the car in the underground garage and the others were headed toward the bank of elevators, he asked me to hang back. “What was that all about back there?” he asked with an air of accusation to his tone. “I have no idea what that was, Stan,” I said, huffing at him. “Probably just another rich asshole jerking us around. Isn’t that the way this works? We’re management consultants. We get jerked around by rich assholes then bill them a thousand dollars an hour for it?” “It was more than that,” Stan said, rubbing his chin as he studied me with

narrow eyes. “You’ve never met him before, have you?” “No, never.” “Never had any contact with him at all?” “None.” I knew where this was going. I’ve never been one to bite my tongue and I was too good at my job to fear losing it, so I spread out my hands and gave it to him straight. “Look, Stan, if you’re thinking about bouncing me off this project because Tanner Wright is a flirt, you can forget it. You need me on this team. Nobody knows the digital side of telecom like I do. I’m a consummate professional and you know it.” “I know you’re a professional, Candice,” Stan said with a sigh. “I’m just not so sure about Tanner Wright.”

I DIDN’T EVEN BOTHER GOING up to the office. I knew Juliette was already up there telling anyone who would listen how I disrupted the meeting by flirting with Tanner Wright. She wouldn’t tell the whole story, of course. Her version would undoubtedly have me oohing and goohing at him with my tits hanging out. By Monday, I’d be fodder for the office gossip mill. I’d be branded as the junior consultant who almost killed a ten-milliondollar deal because she couldn’t resist flirting the bad boy billionaire. It would all be a lie, but it wouldn’t matter. The only saving grace was that it was after five on Friday afternoon, and most of the Goldman employees would already be headed for home. It was little solace. I caught a cab and made it home around six. I held it together as I rode the elevator up to my tenth-floor apartment. I hurried down the hall and unlocked my door. The moment I stepped inside and locked the door behind me, I fell to my knees and began to sob. The hard, crusty shell that I wrapped myself in every day to face the world was left cracked and broken outside my door. In here, all alone, it was just me, Candice Marie Carlson, the insecure farm girl from Nebraska who was doing her best to get ahead and hold it together in a cruel and unfair world.

Candice Carlson, the girl who was sitting on the floor in the dark with her back against the door to keep the world outside. Candice Carlson, the girl who cried herself to sleep many nights because the emotional armor she wore to battle the demons of the world was so heavy that it squeezed the emotions out of her like a juice press. Candice Carlson, the girl who was hard as stone on the outside, but soft as marshmallow on the inside. I put my forearms on my knees and rest my head on my arms. I sat there and cried until I had no more tears to give.

CANDICE It was amazing what a good cry does for the soul. It’s something men will never understand. The weight of the world can be bearing down on you like a Mac truck, but sit on the floor and sob like a baby for an hour and suddenly, all is right with the world. Or at least as right as it could get at that moment. Throw in a microwave pizza, a pint of mint chocolate chip Haagen-Dazs, and half a bottle of chardonnay, and suddenly the world is a beautiful place. At least the world inside my apartment. I was more than a little drunk as I ran myself a hot bath and prepared to soak for an hour or two. As the tub filled with steaming hot water, I lit several candles and turned off the lights. The aroma of cinnamon and wildflowers wafted on the air. I closed and locked the bathroom door. Call me weird, but I can’t take a bath or a shower with the door open. Guess I’ve seen too many movies about silly girls who take showers when murderers were lurking around. I know, I’m a psychiatrist’s wet dream. Oh well. I set my iPhone on the counter and told Siri to play some Van Morrison to set the mood. I stripped off the sweats that I’d changed into after my crying jag in the foyer, and stood naked in front of the mirror to put up my hair. As I bundled my long hair into a bun and pinned it to the top of my head, I let my eyes take stock of the woman in the mirror. It was something that I did at the end of every day. Did the day add a new line or wrinkle? Are my boobs sagging? Do I have stretch marks on my stomach? Again, a psychiatrist would have a field day with me.

I was tall for a girl at five-eight, and curvy for my height. I inherited my mom’s big boobs and round hips. My boobs hung off my chest like two large melons that had never been squeezed. My areolas contrasted darkly against the milky whiteness of my breasts. I kept my blond pubes trimmed short. I took a deep breath as I brought my hands down from my hair to cup my breasts. I brushed a finger over my nipples and they responded immediately, growing hard at my touch. I closed my eyes. Suddenly, in my mind, Tanner Wright was standing behind me with his hands resting softly on my hips. His sudden appearance startled me for a moment, but my mind told me to just relax and let the fantasy flow. I could feel Tanner’s fingers digging gently into my hips. I felt his thumbs at the small of my back, gently massaging the dimples above my ass. I rolled my head to the side and moaned as he pressed his lips to my shoulder. He nibbled his way up my neck and to my ear. He took my earlobe between his teeth and bit down just enough to hurt in the most wonderful way. I could feel his hot breath in my ear. His tongue followed his breath. He licked the rim of my ear and darted his tongue inside. A shudder went through me as I could feel the hot juices pooling between my legs. Tanner’s hands came around to cup my tits. He squeezed the nipples between his fingers. He moaned in my ear. I felt his cock pressing into my back; long, hard, wet from his juices. He slid his cock up and down my back. I could feel his balls rubbing against my ass. I braced my hands on the sink and wiggled my ass into him. He slid his cock up and down through the crack in my ass. His hands slid down from my breasts and met at my clit. He rolled my clit between his thumbs. I could feel the orgasm building from deep within my body, like a match that would soon start a raging fire. Tanner continued sliding his cock against me as his hands worked my pussy. He slid his fingers across my folds to lubricate them, then teased my opening. “Fuck me, Tanner,” I heard myself moan. “Take my cherry. Make it yours forever.” I pushed my ass toward him and leaned the top half of my body forward, offering my pussy to him. I felt his hands on my hips again as he positioned himself behind me. I felt the head of his cock pressing into my hole. I held my

breath in anticipation. He slid in just the head and paused for a moment. I felt my pussy spreading to accommodate him. There was no virgin pain as he dug his fingers into my hips and slid himself fully inside of me. I stood on my tiptoes to give him the perfect angle. He started sliding his cock in and out, in and out. My big boobs swayed beneath me with every thrust. “Oh… my… god…” My words were carried on gusts of hot breath. “Faster… harder… more…” Tanner was hammering into me now. My tits swayed. I moaned and called his name as the orgasm hit. “I’m... cumming… oh… my… god…” I squeezed my eyes tightly together and sucked in a long breath as I came. Tanner’s cock plunged in and out of me until I begged him to stop. I felt his touch drift away from my body like a warm passing wind. I opened my eyes and looked in the mirror, which was fogged up from the steaming water that was about to overflow the tub. I blinked back to reality and gazed down at myself. My left hand was clutching my breast. My breast was red from the hard rubbing and squeezing. My nipple stood on end, a dark crimson thimble in a sea of white. I was standing with my knees bent. The fingers of my right hand were buried inside my cunt. My hand was drenched to the wrist from the orgasm I’d given myself. I let my fingers slide out of me and braced my palms on the counter. I took in a long, deep breath, then let it out slowly. It all seemed so real that I turned to look around the bathroom, as if I’d find Tanner standing there. Sadly, I was alone. I turned off the water and lowered myself into the steaming tub. I closed my eyes and smiled as the hot water engulfed me. I picked up the bar of soap from the edge of the tub and rubbed it between my legs as the fantasy began to replay in my mind. This time I was a spectator rather than a participant. You know how they say that if you lose the use of one of your senses, it makes the other senses heighten? Like, if you lose your sense of sight, your senses of smell and hearing and taste and touch grow stronger? The same was true when you were a virgin.

When you’d never had a real man inside you, your imagination intensified until it became as vivid as the real thing. Thank God. Sigh…

TANNER Monday morning, 7:45 AM. I noted the time because Henry was supposed to pick me up for our trip to Tucson with the Goldman team around eight-thirty. I had my assistant pack a bag over the weekend and it was sitting next to the front door, ready to go. That was my motto: always be prepared. Or have an assistant prepare it for you. I had time to kill, so I fixed a cup of coffee using the twenty-thousanddollar brewing machine Henry had convinced me to buy during a business trip to Italy a few years back. It was supposedly the best coffee brewing system on the planet. The coffee beans the system also supposedly brewed the best cup of coffee on the planet. I think the beans were imported from the deepest jungles of Columbia and had been shit through a tiger’s ass or some such nonsense. I didn’t get the big deal. The coffee it brewed was mediocre at best. It had the consistency and the smell of burnt ink. It certainly was not a twentythousand-dollar cup of coffee. The hundred dollar Keurig in my office made better coffee. Henry said I had the palette of a caveman. What-the-fuck-ever, dude. I knew a shitty cup of coffee when I tasted it. I kept meaning to buy a Starbucks franchise and install it downstairs off the lobby (I own this building and live in the penthouse), but I kept forgetting to call Starbucks CEO Howard Schulz to make the deal. I picked up my iPhone and spoke into it. “Siri, remind me to put a Starbucks in the lobby downstairs.” Siri confirmed my brilliance and I set the phone aside. I set the mug of steaming coffee on the kitchen table and fired up my laptop. I logged into Facebook and tapped my fingers on the keys. I ignored the 1,835 notifications and 2,018 messages that flashed at the top of the screen. The truth is, I hate fucking Facebook and only use it to dig up dirt about

people I might be doing business with. Or people that simply fascinated me. People like Candice Carlson. I was constantly amazed at some of the things people posted on Facebook. They just put it out there for all the world to see, without any concern of consequences. Hey look, here’s a shot of you getting shit-faced drunk at a bachelor party. Hey look, here’s a shot of you in the bathroom with a naked hooker from the party. Hey look, here’s you getting a lap dance from said hooker. Oh look, look, look! Here’s a picture of you doing a line of some white powder that looks an awful lot like coke off the hooker’s tit! Ah, finally, the coup de grace… here’s a picture of you passed out drunk in the hotel room naked and covered in magic marker. Oh look, someone drew a happy face on the head of your dick. I had found all those wonderful images when digging into the background of a guy who wanted to be my Chief Financial Officer at a salary of fourhundred-grand a year. I just went to his Facebook page, hit Photos, and bam! I took great joy in showing him what I had found, then asking, “So, you want me to let you manage my company’s financials? Seriously? Uh, I don’t think so. Thank you, drive through.” Okay, granted, I put the poor guy through hours and hours of grueling interviews before I sprang the Facebook pics and told him to fuck off. But hey, a guy’s gotta have a little fun. Right? I typed in Candice Carlson’s name into the search bar and sipped the shitty coffee as I waited for her profile to pop up. I wondered what embarrassing moments or tantalizing tidbits I would find on her page. And like magic, there was Candice Carlson’s life in full living color for all the world to see. “Okay, Candice Carlson,” I said with a grin. “Let’s see what deep dark secrets I can surmise from your lovely profile.” I clicked to enlarge her profile picture and was disappointed to find that it was a standard bullshit company portrait, probably the pulled from her bio on the Goldman website. “Shit,” I said as I clicked to close the enlarged image. “Come on, Candice. Don’t let me down.” I went back to her profile page and clicked on the “About Candice” link. Standard stuff: twenty-five, Harvard MBA grad, hometown Ottumwa,

Nebraska, population who gives a shit. “Single is good,” I said, noting her relationship status. I clicked on her Photos, hoping to find a drunk party pic or two or three. Or Candice at the beach in a string bikini with her tits hanging out. Woo-hoo! Wouldn’t that be a fucking awesome way to start the day! A hot bikini shot of Candice that I could rub one out to before leaving the penthouse. “Shit,” I said again as her photos loaded on the screen. “So much for whacking off to Candice’s tits.” There’s Candice at a business event. There’s Candice at a fundraiser. There’s Candice at a formal dinner. There’s Candice with a group of sorority sisters. There’s Candice in her cap and gown. “Son of a bitch,” I said with a sigh. I pushed the computer away in disgust and picked up the coffee cup. “Are you really that fucking boring, Candice Carlson? You couldn’t give me one decent tit pick to start my day?” My iPhone buzzed with a text message from Henry. He was downstairs with the car. Crap. My quest to learn more about Candice Carlson would have to wait. I stared at her utterly boring profile picture for a moment. I closed the laptop and shook my head. Candice Carlson needed a little excitement in her life. And fortunately for her, I was just the guy to give it to her.

TANNER I handed the driver my suitcase so he could stow it in the trunk, then climbed into the back of the limo to sit next to Henry, who grunted at me and continued fiddling with his phone. “Bad manners to use your phone at the table, my son,” I said, shaking my head at him. “Sorry, just shooting an email off to Stan Roberts at Goldman confirming our flight time for today.” He tucked the phone inside his Armani jacket and directed his full attention to me. “So, how was your weekend?” he asked. “Fine,” I said with a shrug. “I didn’t do much. Just flew out to Vegas to look at the Ferrari I bought.” “Did you drive it back?”

I snorted at him. “You don’t actually drive a car like that Henry. I had them load it onto a climate-controlled car hauler I borrowed from Earnhardt for transport back to Chicago. It should arrive in a day or two.” A look of judgment came to his eye. “How much did you end up spending? On a car?” I waved a hand at him, as if the question smelled bad, but not as bad as my answer. “I spent more than I should have, but not as much as I would have.” “Tanner, how much?” I blew out a long sigh. “Twenty-eight-point-seven mill for the car and another ten-percent in auction fees,” I said, shrugging off the number like it was pocket change, because that’s what it was to me. He scowled at me. “Okay, so it went a little over estimate. It’s not a big deal. In five years, it will double in value.” “I hope you’re right,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m always right.” “Are you?” I glanced over to see him scowling at me. I held out my hands and asked, “What’s up your ass this morning?” “Your little show on Friday with the Goldman people is what’s up my ass,” Henry said. He gave me the look my dad used to give me whenever I disappointed him, which was most of the time. He shook his head slowly and clicked his tongue. “I’m not going to let you blow this deal, Tanner. It’s too important.” “I’m not going to blow the deal, Henry,” I said, giving him a dismissive wave. “I really don’t understand why you’re so upset. I thought I was quite the gentleman in that meeting.” “Of course, you were.” He blew out a long breath and shook his head again. Some days Henry shook his head so much that I expected it to come loose from his neck. He said, “Do you have any idea the position you have put me in with the Goldman people? And with Anderson, asking them to completely rework their executive team’s schedule for the week?” I huffed. “I don’t give a shit about the Goldman people. They work for us, remember? And the Anderson executive team will be out on their ears the moment the final documents are signed if they’re not careful.” “Well, I do give a shit about them,” Henry said seriously. “Unlike you, I don’t have billions of dollars that lead me to think that I can be a total ass in front of people. Honestly, Tanner, sometimes you act like a spoiled teenager rather than a successful business man. What is your deal?”

“I don’t have a deal,” I said with a sigh. “I just get bored and I like fucking with people. I keep telling you to stop making me attend meetings, but you keep insisting on bringing me along.” “Because, like it or not, you are the face of Wright Enterprises. You’re the bad boy that gets all the press. You’re the guy that does the Ted Talks that make millennials hang on your every word and spend millions on your products.” “Do they really?” I asked, pretending to be serious. “Hang on my every word?” Henry threw up his hands. “You’re being ridiculous.” I patted his knee. “Henry, you have my word that I will not do anything to mess up this deal. Scouts honor. Cross my heart and hope to die.” “You were never a scout,” Henry said, glancing out the window as if he could no longer stand to look at me. “And honor is something you know nothing about.” “Ouch,” I said with a smile. Still facing the window, he said, “I emailed Stan Roberts and told him to leave Candice Carlson in Chicago.” My eyebrows shot up. “You what?” He turned to stare me down. I had never seen Henry look more serious. “I told Stan that Candice can remain on the team, but it would be best if she operates from their office in Chicago. So, she will not be coming to Tucson with us.” Now it was my turn to be sanctimonious. I asked, “Do you think that’s really fair to Miss Carlson? The poor girl did nothing but show up to a meeting. If anyone should be knocked out of going to Tucson, it’s me, not her.” “Fairness has nothing to do with it,” he said. “And you have to go. There is no getting out of it.” “Then what’s the problem?” “The problem is that she was a distraction to you in the meeting. Therefore, I expect that she would be a distraction to you in Tucson. And we can’t have you distracted.” I shook my head and gave him the disappointed look he so often gave me. “Henry, I thought you were smarter than that.” He frowned. “What does that mean?” I tapped a finger to my chin and made a thoughtful face. “Would you rather have me distracted and out of the way in Tucson? Or would you rather have me attend all the big meetings and do everything I could to kill the deal?”

Henry’s mouth dropped open as the little lights came on inside his perfectly-coiffed head. He tugged his iPhone from his jacket and found Stan Roberts direct cell number. “Stan, Henry Costas,” he said, smiling at me. “Please disregard the email I sent you earlier about leaving Candice Carlson in Chicago. After further consideration, I think she will play a vital role in the success of the Anderson acquisition. Yes, that’s correct. Fine. We’ll see you at the airport in an hour.”

CANDICE The moment I arrived at Goldman on Monday morning, I received a text from Stan to come to his office. I just blew out a long breath and reconciled myself to the fact that I was being booted off the team. I had cried myself dry over the weekend, so this morning there were no more tears to give. I put on my armor and emerged from my apartment ready to do battle and take whatever hits the day might bring. Candice Carlson, the girl who wore her heart on her sleeve and cried at the drop of a dime, was left at the apartment. Candice Carlson, corporate cunt and hard-assed bitch emerged. In a moment of pure optimism, I had packed a suitcase for the trip and brought it to the office. I dropped it off in my office on the way to see Stan. There was no way I was going to show up at his door with a suitcase and the assumption that everything was just peachy. Everything wasn’t peachy. I could feel it in my bones. Stan was standing behind his desk neatly stacking papers into his briefcase when I tapped on his door. Juliette, Bob, and Irving were sitting on the couch in Stan’s office like the three monkeys that see, hear, and speak no evil. Bob and Irving stared into their coffee cups. Juliette had her eyes glued on Bob. There was a slight smirk of satisfaction on her face. “Morning, Stan,” I said, forcing a smile to keep the tears at bay. “Morning,” Stan said curtly, glancing up at me. He stared into my eyes for a moment, no doubt choosing the words that would let me down the quickest and easiest. I was dumbfounded when the corners of his lips curled into a smile. “Just wanted to get everyone together to let you know what the itinerary is for the week,” he said. He came around the desk with four pieces of paper and handed them out to the group. “Henry Costas emailed that to me earlier. I forwarded a copy of the email

to each of you, but I wanted to give you a hard copy we can review in the car on the way to the airport.” “That’s it?” Juliette asked. She cut her eyes at me. They all did. They all seemed a little surprised that I was still on the team. I certainly was. “That’s it,” Stan said, moving back around the desk to finish packing his briefcase. He held up his wristwatch when nobody moved. “That’s it. Let’s go, people. The car leaves for the airport in twenty minutes. I’ll meet you all downstairs.”

THE WRIGHT ENTERPRISES corporate jet was fueled and ready for takeoff when we arrived at the private hangar. We were met by Henry Costas on the tarmac, but I didn’t see Tanner anywhere. That was probably a good thing. After the hot imaginary sex we’d had, I wasn’t sure if I could keep from blushing when we came face to face. The Wright corporate jet was as over the top and impressive as its owner. Pristine white on the outside with the bright red Wright Enterprises logo on the tail; expensive leathers and exotic woods on the inside. There were eight passenger seats, four on each side of the plane. The seats were configured in sets of two that faced inward to a small table between them. I buckled in across from Bob for the three-hour trip to Tucson. Henry Costas sat across from Stan. Juliette took the seat directly behind Stan and spent most of the trip hovering over them like an over-eager stewardess. Irving put on a pair of dark sunglasses and would probably sleep the entire way. After the fastest and smoothest take-off I’ve ever experienced (it was literally like being inside a bullet fired into the air), I opened my laptop to review the itinerary for the week. I looked around the cabin. Still no sign of Tanner. I wondered if he’d changed his mind about joining us in Tucson. A few minutes into the flight, a man’s deep voice crackled over the speakers mounted in the ceiling above our heads. “Ladies and gentleman, welcome to Wright Enterprises flight number 69 with nonstop service from Chicago, Illinois to Tucson, Arizona.” I smiled. There was something vaguely familiar about the pilot’s voice. “There are blue skies ahead and we should arrive in Tucson in approximately three hours, twelve minutes, and sixty-nine seconds.” Bob frowned at me and pointed at the speaker above his head. “Is that Tanner Wright’s voice?”

“The aircraft we are flying today is a brand-spanking new Gulfstream G650 with a price tag of seventy-two-million dollars and sixty-nine cents. The Gulfstream G650 will comfortably accommodate eight passengers and four crew members, can travel up to 7,000 nautical miles nonstop at a max speed of 0.925 Mach, making it the fastest private jet money can buy. I mean, that’s really fucking fast, people.” I rolled my eyes at Bob. “Yep. The great one himself.” “So, ladies and gents, on behalf of the real captain and your flight crew, I hope you enjoy your flight and if there’s anything you need, please don’t hesitate to ask.” The speaker was silent for a moment, then he added, “Oh, over and under, I mean over and over, I mean, ah fuck it, you know what I mean.” I did my best to appear unimpressed, but I was grinning like the Cheshire Cat on the inside. Tanner may have been an obnoxious douchebag billionaire, but he was growing on me. Just a little. A moment later, the cockpit door sprang open and Tanner appeared with a satisfied grin on his face. He was wearing his usual jeans and a t-shirt, but had added a black sports jacket and a pilot’s cap. He was still wearing the ratty tennis shoes and no socks. He came through the cabin like a whirlwind, greeting everyone, asking if he could take our drink orders, asking is we needed our membership card to the mile-high club validated. When his little show was over, he set the pilot’s cap on Bob’s head and asked if he might borrow his seat. Bob was as thick as mud when it came to taking subtle hints. He adjusted the cap on his bald head to ride low over his eyes, but didn’t take it off. He peered up at Tanner with a look of confusion on his face. “I’m sorry, you want to borrow my seat?” “If you don’t mind, Captain sir,” Tanner said, snapping a salute and clicking his heels together. “There’s another seat over there across from the gentleman who appears to be dead or sleeping very soundly.” Bob craned his head to look at Irving, then looked up at Tanner and forced a smile. “Sure, I mean, all the seats are the same. Right?” “That they are,” Tanner said, taking Bob’s hand and tugging him out of the seat. He patted Bob on the back and pointed at the seat across from Irving. “So, since they’re all the same, you won’t mind taking that one.” I watched as Tanner made a show of escorting Bob to the other seat. He called over one of the flight attendants who stood like sentinels at the back of the plane and asked her to please take good care of his best pal, Bob. The flight attendant, a gorgeous redhead that looked as if she’d just fallen

out of a magazine, put a hand on Bob’s shoulder and promised to take good care of him. Bob gazed up at her like a pound puppy falling in love with its new owner. I glanced around the cabin. All eyes were on me. Costas and Stan sported matching frowns. If Juliette’s eyes were lasers, they would have already burned through my head. Fuck them, I thought. I have not done anything wrong or inappropriate. I am not going to let these people diminish my worth. I am not going to let them judge me. I am not going to run into the bathroom and cry like a baby. I am not going to cry. I am not. I am… “Wow, I didn’t think he would ever leave,” Tanner said with a broad grin as he slid into the seat across from me. He signaled the other flight attendant and she immediately appeared at our table. “Well, hello, Patricia,” Tanner said with a playful look. “How are you today?” Patricia, who was the blond clone of the redhead, put her hands behind her back and gave him a picture-perfect smile. “I’m excellent today, Mr. Wright. How are you?” “You certainly are,” he said, smiling up at her. “And I am fine, thank you for asking.” “Can I bring you anything?” she asked. “Yes. I would like a cup of black coffee and a honey bun.” “Yes, sir,” she said. She smiled down at me. “And for you, Miss?” I stared up at her with my mouth hanging open. She was gorgeous, but there was no pretense or condescension in her eyes. She was there but to serve at the master’s whim. Lucky her. I finally said, “Um, that sounds fine. I’ll have the same.” “Don’t forget to warm those buns, honey,” Tanner added with a wink. I saw her smile back at him and immediately suspected there was something more between them. I mean, he was a hot billionaire playboy and she looked like a Victoria’s Secret model moonlighting as a flight attendant. Who could blame either of them if they had mutually joined the mile-high club. I wondered how many times Tanner’s membership card to the club had been stamped. “So, Miss Carlson,” he said with a sigh. “How was your weekend?” He leaned back in the seat and dug into his pants pocket. His fingers emerged

wrapped around the red rubber ball. “Um, it was fine, Mr. Wright. Thanks for asking.” “Look, if we’re going to be working together you have to stop calling me Mr. Wright,” he said, making a goofy face. “That sort of title puts a lot of pressure on a guy. Call me Tanner.” He made me smile, which made him smile. “Okay, Tanner. Please call me Candice.” As if on cue, both of us glanced over to find the other passengers staring at us, as if we were performers on a stage and they were the dumbfounded audience witnessing a show they never expected to see. Tanner gave them a hard look and their stares quickly went away. The attendant delivered our coffee and honey buns. I closed the laptop and stowed it under the seat to make room. The coffee was steaming hot. I had to let it cool before attempting a sip. How awful would that be, sitting across from a handsome billionaire full of himself and innuendo, then I burn my tongue on hot coffee. No thank you, that’s one embarrassing moment I don’t need. Tanner, on the other hand, seemed to have no fear at all of scalding his tongue. He picked up the coffee and blew a cooling breath into the cup, then took a cautious slurp. “Wow, hot,” he said, smacking his lips. He set down the cup and picked up the honey bun with his free hand and bit off a huge chunk. He closed his eyes and moaned at the taste. “Have the hot honey buns, people,” he said loudly. I watched him for a moment. He was almost like a kid; a big, rich, obnoxious kid. He was hot as hell and manly to the max, but there was an innocence there, as well. Maybe he was like me. Maybe the public Tanner and the private Tanner were two very different people. I’d probably never find out, but it certainly was an intriguing prospect. “So, Candice, let’s talk business,” he said, his tone and expression turning formal again. He sucked the icing from his fingers, then wiped his hand and lips on a napkin. He said, “Give me your thoughts on the Anderson acquisition.” “My thoughts?” “Yes, your thoughts.” He leaned in and peered at me from under his eyebrows. “You’ve read the acquisition documents, I assume.” I nodded. “I have.” “And you’re read the company prospectus?” “I have.”

“And you have our in-house research on Anderson’s financials.” “I do.” I had to smile at him or my face would crack. He held up the rubber ball between us on the tips of his fingers and fixed his eyes on it, as if it were a crystal ball that foretold the future. “So, what do you think? Are we getting a good deal? A fair deal? Are we raping and pillaging their village? Or are we being taken to the bank? What are your thoughts?” I licked my lips nervously. I knew everyone was listening. Stan would have told me to tell Tanner what he wanted to hear. Juliette would have told me to refer the question to Stan. But I wasn’t being paid to be a yes-woman or to dodge important questions. I cleared my throat and told him what I really thought. “Well… Tanner, I think the price you’ve offered is fair, but I do have some concerns about Anderson’s profit and loss statements for the last ten years. There were some discrepancies in the P&Ls that --” Henry Costas cut me off. “Those P&L’s have been fully vetted by our inhouse accountants. There’s no need for you to waste time there, Miss Carlson.” That was news to me. Reviewing the annual P&L’s since the company opened in 1974 was one of the tasks I’d been assigned, and I told him so. “That must have been assigned to the task list before the work was done in-house,” Costas said. He looked at Stan. “Isn’t that correct, Stan?” Stan fidgeted in his seat for a moment. He didn’t have a clue if that was right or not. He hemmed and hawed for a moment, then did what he always did. He said what the customer wanted to hear. “Yes, I’m sorry, Candice, Mr. Costas is correct. You must not have the most recent task order list. I’ll get that to you as soon as we land.” The latest task order list? What the heck was he talking about? I had the only task order list that had been assigned; the same task order list as the rest of the team. I had spent most of the weekend (when I wasn’t sobbing like a baby and stuffing ice cream into my face) studying four decades’ worth of Anderson P&L’s so I would have a jump on things in case I didn’t get booted from the team. And unless the financials that I’d been sent were wrong, as well, then there were red flags that needed to be addressed. Tanner seemed to study Costas and Henry for a moment before turning back to me. His forearm muscles flexed as he squeezed the rubber ball. He spoke to me with his eyes. His gaze told me we’d address the red flags on Anderson’s P&L later.

“Other than that, give me your thoughts on the acquisition.” Before I could answer he swept a hand at the others, who were watching and listening while trying to pretend that they weren’t. “Listen up, people, because I’m going to ask each of you the same question later.” I cleared my throat and folded my hands on the table and leaned on my elbows. “I believe the acquisition is smart, given the share price you’re paying, which is $31 a share. That’s $2 over market, but anything up to $40 a share would be a bargain given the value of the contracts and assets that Anderson holds.” “What about their infrastructure and expansion plans?” he asked. “According to your resume you are one of Goldman’s experts on digital networks and optical fiber.” I tried to keep the smug look off my face. I wondered if anyone else on the team had even bothered to read my resume. “Their infrastructure is sound, but aging rapidly. They have contracts in place to install fiber optic networks for a number of small and medium municipalities, but the competition to move into major markets like New York, Chicago, and Atlanta, is fierce. Until those systems are in place, their customers are at the mercy of the older wired networks, which could be a concern down the road.” He narrowed his eyes at me. They all did. He knew exactly what I was talking about. He said, “And if their old customers are at the mercy of their old technology, those customers might be attracted to a different carrier with new technology like fiber optics that offers greater connectivity and faster speeds.” “Exactly,” I said, nodding. “It’s not a tremendous concern now, but if companies like Charter and Spectrum install fiber optic networks faster than Anderson, well…” “They could lure away Anderson’s customers, making the company less valuable than it is today.” He gave me a smile that was not filled with tricks or treats. It was one of admiration. “Very impressive, Miss Carlson,” he said. “Candice,” I shot back. “Right. Candice.” He swiveled his chair to face the others and bounced the rubber ball on the floor between his feet. “All right then. Let’s hear what the rest of you have to say.” I ate the entire honey bun and drank the coffee as I listened to the older, wiser, more-expert members of the team say basically the same things I just

did. Occasionally, Tanner would glance over and smile, as if saying, “You nailed it, girl.” I found that I couldn’t keep my eyes from drifting over his body as he conducted the meeting. Such boyish charm in a such a seriously hot and seriously brilliant package. Maybe Tanner Wright wasn’t such a douchebag after all.

TANNER By the time the corporate jet touched down in Tucson, I was certain of three things. Thing Number One: Henry was wise to hire the Goldman & Stern team to do the final due diligence on the Anderson deal. They were all very sharp and knew the industry well. I was impressed, even though I had to pull Stan’s sharp nose out of my ass a time or two. Even the angry little woman who looked like she could chew nails, the goofy accountant enamored of the pilot’s cap, and the legal eagle who I think was asleep with his eyes open most of the time, all had good insight and input into the deal. Thing Number Two: There were red flags in the Anderson P&L’s that clearly Henry didn’t want to discuss in front of the Goldman group. Fine, we’d address those red flags when we were alone. Sometimes our deals required that we do things, say things, or ignore things in order to keep certain facts and figures out of the public eye. I got the feeling that Stan was caught with his pants down because he underestimated the abilities of their junior consultant. And finally, Thing Number Three that I was certain of by the time the jet landed in Tucson was that I wanted to get to know Candice Carlson better. Much better. A lot better. I wasn’t sure exactly what was drawing me to her, but I felt like a moth being lured to a flame. I just didn’t want to get my wings – or other body parts --singed. Perhaps it was that she was beautiful in an unassuming way. You didn’t have to sandblast the makeup from her face or peel back the layers of her multiple personalities to find the real woman underneath. She was genuine, sincere, and so unlike the other women I typically spent

time with. She was intelligent, funny, warm, and down to earth. I loved the way her nose crinkled when she laughed at my stupid jokes and how the corners of her lips curled into a smile. There was no pretense in her eyes. What you saw was what you got. I immediately loved that about her. Candice Carlson was the real deal. The genuine article. The only question was: how do I get someone like her to like someone like me? It was a question asked over the ages by teenage boys, star-crossed lovers, and love struck billionaires used to getting whatever they wanted. I knew bragging about my cars and jets and money wasn’t going to impress her. No, a woman like Candice Carlson didn’t care about those sorts of things. I had a winning personality. I was funny and charming and good looking and in great shape. Oh, and modest. I was very modest. And according to dozens of women in the greater Chicago area-- and around the world -- one hell of a great lay. I could impress her with the size of my dick and my ability to rock and roll all night long, but that was a Phase Two move. I had to get her to Phase One first. I had to get her to like me. Then everything else would fall into place.

CANDICE A team from Anderson Telecommunications was waiting on the tarmac when we touched down in Tucson. Tanner and Costas climbed into the back of a stretch limo with the Anderson execs and went one way, and the Goldman team was shuffled into a van driven by an assistant and ferried to the Anderson offices in downtown Tucson. Even though the rest of the country was frozen solid, winter in Tucson felt like spring back in Nebraska. It was nearly seventy-degrees and sunny as we stepped off the plane. We all peeled off our Chicago-winter coats and left them on the plane before getting into the van. I spent the entire day locked in a room with half a dozen analysts and a manager from Anderson’s network expansion group. The task was to conduct cost analysis on their major market expansion plans. It was my job to determine if Anderson’s plans were realistic or inflated to drive the

acquisition stock price higher. Stan appeared at the door around six and said to call it a day. I was never so happy to see him in my life. By the time I got settled into my hotel room, it was nearly eight o’clock and my brain was fried. I stripped off my clothes and hung them neatly on hangers, then went in to take a quick shower. The hot water felt wonderful as it melted away the tension from my neck and shoulders. I didn’t realize how stressful the day had been, or how my muscles had tied into knots. I closed my eyes and wished that Tanner was there in the shower behind me, rubbing away the tension from my shoulders as his cock slid into me from behind. My stomach growling forced me back to reality. I remembered that I hadn’t eaten anything since the honey bun earlier in the day. Oh well, save that fantasy for another day. I turned off the shower and reached for a towel. I pulled on a pair of boxer shorts and a ratty Harvard t-shirt. Some women slept in nightgowns, some in negligees, some in the nude. I dressed comfortably for bed. I had no one to impress. I pulled my hair into a ponytail and picked up the room service menu from the dresser. I called down and ordered a cheeseburger and fries and a chocolate shake. When I was out of town, my usual healthy-eating regiment went out the window. I picked up the remote and settled back on the bed to watch a little television until my not-so-healthy dinner arrived.

I WAS thirty minutes into a rerun of The Housewives of Orange County when someone knocked on the door. They called out, “Room service!” “Just a minute,” I called back. I clicked off the TV and hopped off the bed. I scooped my purse off the dresser so I could give the guy a tip. When I opened the door, there stood Tanner Wright, wearing a chef’s hat and pushing a cart that held an assortment of covered dishes. “What the heck?” I asked with a wide smile. “What are you doing?” “Delivering your dinner, madam,” he said, sweeping his arms over the cart of food as if he had made it magically appear. “May I come in or would you prefer to dine in the hallway?” I stepped aside to let him push the cart into the room. He directed me to sit on the foot of the bed and made a show of taking the covers off the dishes.

“For Madam Carlson this evening we have a lovely fresh garden salad, which, if I may recommend, you just toss in the trash because it’s really just rabbit food.” He lifted the silver cover off the first plate. “As the main course, we have a magnificent filet mignon, garnished with baby carrots and garlic mashed potatoes.” He lifted the next cover. “For dessert, we have a lovely slice of strawberry cheese cake and to drink, we have coffee, tea, or…” He reached beneath the cart and brought out two six packs of beer. “Coors in the bottle, my personal favorite.” “You’re really something,” I said with a grin. I lifted my chin and let my eyes go around the plates. “It looks like you brought enough for two.” He mocked a look of surprise. “Did I? Oh my, the kitchen must have messed up your order. I’ll have them flogged at once.” “I can’t eat all of that,” I said with a shrug. I arched my eyebrows and smiled up at him. “Maybe you’d like to join me?” Tanner grinned and plucked the chef’s hat off his head. He tossed the chef’s hat on the cart and rubbed his hands together and smiled. “I was hoping you’d say that,” he growled. “I’m famished!”

TANNER SPREAD the food out on the little table in front of the window and we sat on opposites sides and dug in. We both ate like starving souls. The food was amazing. We trashed the salads. The filet melted in my mouth. The dessert literally made me moan. For hours, we chatted like old friends as we stuffed our bellies with food and washed it down with cold beer. Tanner talked about his life, how he started the company in his parents’ garage when he was just a teenager, how he met Henry Costas at MIT and convinced him to become his partner, how he and Henry had built the company from the ground up. There lots of victories, but I could sense a sadness when he talked about his personal life. He’d never been married. He had never even come close. He admitted to being a playboy, but in a moment of reflection, he said he would love to meet the right girl someday and start a family. I watched his eyes as he spoke. The douchebag I’d met the day before was no longer there.

He had been replaced by – dare I say – a nice guy. Tanner leaned back with his fifth or six beer and sighed. “Yes, sir, it’s been an interesting ride.” He took a sip and flexed his eyebrows at me. “What about you, Candice Carlson, with your snappy business suits and an MBA from Harvard. Why is there no significant other in your life?” I held the bottle to my lips and tried to be coy. “Who said there wasn’t a significant other in my life.” “Facebooks says,” he shot back. The bottle froze at my bottom lip. “Oh, my god. You scoped me out on Facebook?” He huffed at me. “OMG, you scoped me out on Facebook? Of course, I did. Don’t you know, Facebook reveals all. And according to your relationship status, you are single.” “Why isn’t there a relationship status that says none of your fucking business?” “I think there is, actually,” he said with a thoughtful pout. “It’s the one right under ‘fuck off and die’.” I drained the bottle and he handed me another. Then I made the mistake of telling him about Scott, and how his mother had forced him to break up with me. “What a pussy,” he growled. “Oh, you have no idea,” I said, smacking my lips. “Scott took the word pussy to new heights.” “He set the pussy bar higher for all mankind,” Tanner said seriously. “Fucking mama’s boy.” “You got that right.” “Let me tell you something,” he said, bobbing in and out, slurring his words a little. “If you were my girl and my mom said to dump you?” He poked out his bottom lip and shook his head. “I’d say mom, no fucking way. Do you know how hard it is to find a nice girl out there!” I almost blew beer though my nose. I grabbed a napkin and wiped my mouth as he grinned at my reaction. I waved my hands in front of my face to fan away the tears of laughter. Almost in jest (almost) I asked, “So, you think I’m a nice girl?” Tanner licked the beer from his lips and gazed into my eyes. “I think you are a very nice girl,” he said. “Do you think I’m a nice boy?” “Oh no,” I said, feeling the flush of the alcohol flowing through my veins. I leaned in and batted my eyes at him. “I think you’re a bad boy, Mr. Wright. A very bad boy, indeed.”

I drained the bottle and slammed it on the table.

TANNER I gotta admit, I was a little shocked -- and more than a little turned on -when Candice guzzled the remaining beer out of the bottle like a biker at a drinking contest and slammed it on the table. She ran her tongue around her lips and blinked at me. She was a little drunk. We both were. But not so drunk that we didn’t know what was about to happen. She burped and gave me a silly smile. I burped louder and gave her a bigger smile. I reached across the table for her. She put her hand in mine. She got out of her chair and came around to me. She straddled my legs to sit on my thighs, and put her hands on my cheeks. She brought her mouth to mine and stared into my eyes as her tongue darted across my lips. Then she closed her eyes and pressed her lips to mine and our tongues began to rock and roll. In an instant, my hands were exploring her body. She was wearing a pair of loose boxer shorts. I slid my hands into the leg holes and dug my fingers into her ass cheeks. I could feel her big tits pressing into my chest. She writhed against me as we kissed. I felt my blood beginning to boil. “No one can know,” she said, breathing into my ear as I nibbled the ridge of her jaw. She had her hands on the sides of my head. She pulled my head back to look at me. “Tanner, do you hear me? No one can know.” “I hear you,” I said, gazing into her eyes. “No one can know.” She stared deeply into my eyes for a moment, as if trying to determine if I was telling the truth or just saying it to get laid. Quickly satisfied, she pressed her lips to mine again and started tugging up my t-shirt. I pulled my hands from her ass and tugged the shirt over my head. She did the same. Her beautiful breasts bounced as the shirt came off her head. Her breasts were full and round and milky white. Her areolas and nipples were like dark strawberries on two porcelain plates. My hands went to her breasts and gently massaged them as my fingertips teased her nipples. God I loved those big, natural breasts… Nothing felt as good in a man’s hand as a woman’s natural tits. Okay, fine, I like the fake ones, too, but Candice’s were freakin’ amazing.

My cock was hard and ready to play. It pushed against my jeans as she slid her ass and cunt back and forth against my thigh. I put my hands on her ass again and lifted her up as I got out of the chair. She wrapped her legs around me and I carried her to the bed.

CANDICE “Oh, my god, Candice Carlson. What are you doing?” It was the little voice in my head that sounded like my mother. “I’m getting laid, mom,” the little voice that sounded like me replied. Wait. Of course it sounded like me. It’s my voice. Duh. “You can’t do that, Candice. Not with him.” “Yes, I can, mom. Just watch me. I mean, no mom, don’t watch, ooh, gross… “You’ll regret it.” “I know, mom. Now fuck off!” I could feel Tanner’s hard cock beneath me as I squirmed against his lap. My lips were locked on his. My fingers were in his hair. His hands were on my ass. He picked me up as I were light as a feather and carried me to the bed. He set me on the edge of the bed, then pushed my shoulders back. He eased the boxer shorts down my legs and tossed them aside. With his hands on my knees, he spread my legs and smiled when he saw how wet I was. That’s another side note about being a virgin for you: it’s like freakin’ Hot Springs, Arkansas down there all the time. My pussy was so wet I could feel hot juices running down my taint and into my asshole, like a hot mountain stream. Tanner kept his hands on my legs as he got to his knees. My cunt was at the edge of the bed. He slid his hands slowly down my thighs. I held my breath in anticipation of the first hand to touch my clit that wasn’t own. The second Tanner’s thumbs brushed against my clit hood my entire body shook, as if I was having a spasm. But it wasn’t a spasm. It was the first shudders of an orgasm that had been building inside of me for years. It had waited patiently in my womb since puberty, like a dormant volcano waiting for the elements to demand its eruption. I sucked in air through my teeth and cupped my breasts together. I squeezed

my nipples as Tanner’s fingers explored the folds of my pussy. “Beautiful,” I heard him say as he bent his head to place gentle kisses on my pussy lips. His lips found my clit and another shudder rumbled through me. My pussy was flowing as Tanner’s lips and tongues swirled around my clit and his fingers found my opening. I felt him slide in one finger, then two. His hand was lubricated by my juices. His fingers slid in easily. There was a little pain, but I tried to ignore it. Nothing was going to stop me from having Tanner’s cock inside me. Nothing. I felt the orgasm building from deep within my body. Tanner quickened the pace of his finger-fucking as he sucked on my clit like a Tic Tac (don’t you just love these drunken sex analogies?). “I’m… cumming…” I said, squeezing my breasts until they ached. “Oh… my… GOD…” I bucked my ass off the bed and pressed my pussy into Tanner’s face. He slid the fingers out of me and covered my pussy with his mouth. He sucked and licked and swallowed and moaned until I stopped thrashing on the bed and begged him to stop. “Beautiful,” he said again, rubbing my thighs and smiling with a face covered in my tangy sauce. He wiped his mouth on the back of his hand like a man finishing a satisfied meal. He got to his feet and stared down at me as he unbuckled his belt and unzipped his jeans. “Let me do it,” I said, pushing myself up. I dug my fingers into the waistband and pulled the jeans and his underwear down his long legs together. His cock sprang up and bounced in my face. “Careful,” he said, smiling down at me. “You’ll put your eye out with that thing.” “Shut up,” I said with a grin. I let my eyes go down his body. I couldn’t believe how beautiful he was. His chest and shoulders were round with muscles. His nipples were hard like little pebbles. My eyes trailed down his chiseled abs and came to rest at the crop of thick brown curls and the cock that emerged from them. It was long and girthy, thickly veined with a head that mushroomed before my eyes. I took in a slow, deep breath and wrapped my fingers around the shaft. Tanner sighed as I started slowly pumping my hand back and forth along the shaft from base to head. I couldn’t help but stare at it. It was the first cock I’d ever seen that wasn’t in a magazine or on a computer screen. And certainly, the first cock I’d ever touched. I loved the way it felt in my hand, so hard, so warm, so long… so… addictive…

Tanner put his hands on my shoulders as I played with his balls with one hand and milked the shaft with the other. When I lowered my lips to give the head a little kiss, his fingers dug into my shoulders and he moaned my name. He smiled as the head of his cock disappeared into my mouth and my tongue swirled along the underside. I was suddenly glad that I’d watched enough online porn to make most teenage boys blush. Hey, give me a break. When you’re a virgin, you have to do research so you’ll know what to do if and when the time comes. I’m not freakin’ Loretta Lynn, you know. There will be no surprises for me beneath the covers come my wedding night. “Oh, god, Candice,” Tanner said as I quickened the pace of my hand on his shaft and the suction of my lips. “I want you. I want to fuck you. I want to be inside of you.” I let his cock slide out of my mouth and he pushed me back on the bed. He climbed on top of me and kissed me again. A good, long, hard, sloppy wet kiss that made my toes tingle. “I have to tell you something,” I said, whispering in his ear. “What is it?” he asked as he took my earlobe between his teeth. “I’ve never done this,” I said. He propped up on his hands and frowned at me. “You’ve never done what?” “This,” I said, gazing into his eyes. “I’ve never had sex.” He blinked at me for a moment. “You haven’t?” “No, I haven’t.” “Well, why not?” I blew out a heavy sigh that made his hair wave. “I was saving myself.” Tears came to my eyes. “How stupid was that, huh. I’m the silly girl who saved herself for years for a guy who broke up with me because his mommy told him to.” I closed my eyes and shook my head. Now I’d done it. Talk about a mood killer. “I’m glad you waited,” Tanner said. I opened my eyes to see him smiling softly at me. “But are you sure you want to do this with me?” “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t,” I said, sniffing back the tears. “Do you want me to stop?” he asked. “No.” “Do you want me to make love to you?” “Yes.” “Do you trust me not to hurt you?” My eyes went around his. “Yes.” “Then, shhhh….”

He pressed his lips to mine again. This time the kiss was soft and caring. His tongue slowly went around my lips, then probed inside my mouth to find my tongue waiting. I spread my legs and Tanner lowered himself onto me. I reached down and took his cock in my hand and guided the head to my opening. He lowered his hips until the head was just about to slip inside me. He didn’t take his eyes off mine. I knew every woman was different. I knew that losing my virginity required that Tanner break through my hymen. I knew there could be pain as he tore through the thin veil of tissue. But once inside, the pleasure would override the pain. At least that’s what I was counting on. “Slowly,” I sighed. Tanner slid the head of his cock inside me. I could feel the walls of my vagina contracting around him. He slid in a little more and I felt him hesitate. He had reached the barrier. I licked my lips, took a deep breath, and gave him a nod. Tanner backed out an inch, then slid inside me in one quick thrust. A moment of pain gave way to an intense feeling of pleasure. “Yessss,” I sighed, wrapping my legs around his waist. “Fuck me, Tanner. Fuck me hard and good.”

TANNER A virgin? Are you fucking kidding me? Candice Carlson was a virgin? I didn’t believe it. I’d never met a virgin that could suck cock like that. Wait, I’d never met a virgin. Holy shit. How freakin’ lucky am I? Now, I’m not a complete asshole. When she told me she was a virgin I asked to make sure that she wanted to give her cherry to me. She said she did. Never let it be said that Tanner Wright ever disappointed a lady in distress. I’m also not insensitive to the inner workings of the female anatomy. Candice told me to go slow, so that’s what I did. But once the dam broke, she was like a wildcat beneath me. She clawed my back as I jackhammered my cock in and out of her. Holy crap… she was tight as a drum. It was as if her pussy had little fingers that

squeezed and milked my cock with every thrust. I braced my palms on the bed beside her and watched her face as the virgin’s first real orgasm built in her body. Her beautiful big boobs bounced on her chest. She grabbed them and pushed them together and squeezed her nipples until they turned deep crimson. Jeez, I had the best view in the house for this one. I felt my balls begin to tighten as my orgasm prepared for eruption. I slid my cock into her as far as it would go, then back out and in again. “Oh… Tanner… I’m cumming… cum with…” She opened her eyes and smiled as she came. She parted her lips and beckoned to be kissed. My tongue probed deeply into her mouth as my cock filled her with my hot cum. She grabbed my ass and pulled me into her as she came. A few more good thrusts, another shudder or two, and I felt her go limp. With a happy sigh, I collapsed on the bed beside her and fell fast asleep.

CANDICE The five days we spent in Tucson were the best five days of my life. Not because the work was fulfilling or because I impressed the heck out of everyone with my knowledge of the telecom industry and cost analysis – which I did - duh. The five days were amazing because they included four nights that found Tanner Wright in my bed. Even though we could barely keep our hands off one another, we somehow managed to keep our affair a secret. There was one close call when we were making out in the hotel elevator and Costas and Stan were standing there when the doors opened. Of course, by then, I was on one side of the elevator and Tanner was on the other. We did our best to pretend that we could barely stand one another. It was one of the hardest things I’d ever had to do. When we were in the same room (or elevator) my fingers longed to touch his skin. My lips ached for his. My lady-parts wanted to party with his man-parts. And party, we did. We avoided each other during the day, which wasn’t terribly difficult. I was always locked away with geeks and analysists while Tanner was wined and dined by the CEO and other executives. I got the distinct impression that if Wright Enterprises didn’t acquire Anderson Telecommunications, Anderson

would not be around for very much longer. I spent as little time as possible with the Goldman team, mostly having working dinners in the hotel restaurant to discuss the status of the due diligence we were conducting. Bob, the forensic accountant hadn’t found anything out of the ordinary. Neither had Irving the attorney or Juliette the… hmm... what was is that Juliette did again? Stan seemed pleased with our progress and said we’d be flying back to Chicago on Friday. We’d readjourn at Goldman on Monday and take the week to prepare our findings to present to Wright the following Friday. “I think they’re very happy with our work,” Stan said smugly, as if the credit was his and his alone. “Let’s finish strong, people, and impress the hell out of them next week.” Tanner came to my door every night around ten. He’d slip inside the room, then slip inside me. We alternated between mad, passionate, almost-rough bouts of sex, and softer, gentler, slower, longer bouts of love making. I can’t say that I preferred one over the other. I loved it all: fast, slow, hard, soft, rough, tender... I was happy so long as Tanner was beside me. I was especially happy when he was inside me. Insert big smiley face…

FRIDAY MORNING I awoke to find Tanner sitting on the foot of the bed lacing his tennis shoes. He had left my room early every morning to sneak back to his suite to shower and change for the day. “Morning,” he said with a smile. He leaned over to give me a kiss. “Morning,” I sighed. I picked up my phone to check the time. “Damn, is it Friday already?” “I’m afraid so.” “Are you flying back with us today?” “I’m afraid not,” he said, shaking his head. “Henry left a text early this morning. I have to fly to Atlanta for a few days to take care of some business, but I’ll be back in Chicago for our wrap up meeting next week. I’ll text you from the road. Don’t worry.” “I’ll miss you,” I said, trying not to sound like a whiny, clingy girl; which was exactly how I felt. “I’ll miss you, too,” he said with a sleepy smile. He leaned down and

kissed me again. Just a little longer this time. A little deeper. Without another word, he crept from my room and left me wondering what our relationship was going to be like once we were back in Chicago. It was something we hadn’t talked about, but something that was always on my mind. I’m a girl, for petesake. That’s how we roll. I’d really like to know where I stood with Tanner, but I was hesitant to bring it up so quickly. Did he really like me? Or was this just an out of town fling? An extended one-night stand? Did we have a future together? Did I save myself for Mister Right or Mister Wrong? Did I sound like Lizzie Lohan in a shitty teenage chick-flick? Yes, the little voice in my head said. Yes, yes you do. I tossed my phone on the bed and rolled over to go back to sleep. I’d drive myself crazy with doubt and pity later.

TANNER When I boarded the plane, Henry Costas was already sitting in his firstclass seat on the commercial flight that would take us from Tucson to Atlanta. I had decided to leave the Gulfstream in Tucson for Candice and the Goldman team to fly home on. It never occurred to me that my undercover act of chivalry would raise any kind of suspicion with Henry. Obviously, I was wrong, because he was loaded for bear the moment I sat down. He leaned over to ask, “Tell me again why we’re not on the Gulfstream and the Goldman group isn’t flying back commercial?” I gave him a confused look. “You’re always on my ass about treating people more professionally and not acting like such a rich douchebag. I thought it was a nice gesture. I thought you’d be proud of me for putting others first.” Henry snorted a laugh. “Give me a break, Tanner. You just didn’t want your new girlfriend to have to fly back to Chicago in the back of a plane wedged between those two idiots, Bob and Irving. Very chivalrous of you, my boy. And very out of character.” I feigned ignorance. Badly. “What new girlfriend?” “Oh, for petesake, Tanner, the girl you’ve been screwing every night since

we got to Tucson.” He crossed his legs and brushed a hand over his knee. “Honestly, I thought she was the one woman who wouldn’t fall for your tricks. I thought she was better than that.” He gave me a sideways glance. “Turns out, she was just another brick in the wall.” “What does that mean, Pink Floyd?” “It means that you’ve proven once again that you can get any woman in your bed. Bravo. At least it wasn’t an Anderson stock holder or a member of the executive committee. If you had to fuck someone I’m at least glad that it was a junior analyst from Goldman and not someone who actually matters.” I turned sideways in the seat to face him. “That’s not what this was.” “No? That’s what it looked like to me.” I ground my teeth for a moment. “Wait, how do you know I was with her every night? I was very careful not to… You had me followed?” Henry blew out a bored sigh and spread his hands. “I had you followed.” I felt my blood boil as I glanced around the cabin to see who might be witness to the fit I was about to pitch. The flight attendants were milling about as the last passengers got situated. Although I was fit to be tied on the inside, I forced myself to remain calm on the outside. “Why would you do that?” I quietly asked. “Have me followed?” He looked at me as if I’d asked a silly question. “You’re seriously asking me that?” He shook his head. “Tanner, I love you like a son, and I think you’re a brilliant guy, but if you spent as much time thinking with your brain as you do with your dick, Wright Enterprises would be a much larger company.” I blinked at him. I loved Henry like an uncle, but I didn’t much like him at the moment. “Maybe you think the company would be better off with you in the CEO chair,” I said. “Someone who thinks with their brain because their dick no longer works.” “This is not about me replacing you, Tanner.” “Then what is it about, Henry?” I asked, louder than I should have. One of the flight attendants started toward me, but I waved her away. “You know what it’s about,” he said. “Let’s pretend I don’t. Tell me.” Henry tugged his reading glasses from inside his jacket and cleaned them on a handkerchief. He set the glasses on the tip of his nose and picked up the copy of The Wall Street Journal that had been lying in the seat beside him. “It’s about your inability to see what’s right in front of your face, my boy,” he said, lifting his chin to peer through the glasses as he scanned the front page of the paper. “Your desire to fuck and party and constantly be the bad boy is

blinding you from what’s really important. As usual.” I blinked at him and resisted the urge to rip the goddamn paper from his hands. “What am I not seeing, Henry?” He looked at me from over the top of the reading glasses and sighed. “I’m just saying that if your girlfriend fucks up this acquisition for us, you have no one to blame but yourself. Now buckle up, son. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.”

CANDICE I hate to admit it, but knowing that Tanner was now thousands of miles away brought a sense of clarity to my brain, which had taken a back seat to the rest of my organs as of late. It’s hard to focus on mountains of financial data when you’re picturing a guy munching on your rug, if you know what I mean. I spent the weekend reviewing my findings from the Tucson trip and compiling the data into a report that I’d present to Stan on Monday. Anderson’s fiber optic expansion plan was sound, albeit it a bit ambitious in the current market. It wasn’t something that would affect the deal, just something Wright Enterprises should keep in mind going forward. As I scanned over the costs associated with the expansion once more (I am a notorious triple-checker), my mind kept going back to the red flags I’d spotted on the older profit & loss reports the first time I’d reviewed them. Part of the reason Anderson Telecommunications didn’t meet market estimates for revenue during those years was attributed to the cost of replacing older networks in the more rural areas the company served. If the numbers I saw were indeed correct, and Anderson lost money during those periods, the balance sheet that they were presenting today would be inaccurate. In fact, it could have been off by as much as a hundred million dollars. And if that was truly the case, the stock that Tanner would pay $31 per share for was worth more like $10 a share. If the SEC, the government, or a vested third party ever audited the older books, the discrepancies would come to light and Wright Enterprises’ stock could drop like a hot rock. I pulled up the old P&Ls again, the ones that Henry Costas said were incorrect. I chewed on my thumbnail and went through the numbers again and got the same result. The difference between what Anderson’s current balance sheet showed, and what the historical P&L’s showed, was too wide a gap to be missed by

Tanner’s in-house people. Surely, they went back to investigate it. Maybe that’s when the P&L’s were updated and I just didn’t get a new copy. Either the numbers were wrong to begin with and were corrected after the mistake was found; or the numbers were correct in the first place and adjusted to show otherwise. One, was incompetency. Two, was highly illegal. I stared at the screen for a moment, then a thought hit me. I picked up my phone and found the contact information for Ruth Bennett, my personal financial advisor. I didn’t have much money for Ruth to manage yet, but she knew I would someday, with any luck. It was the Sunday afternoon, so I called Ruth’s home number. “Well hi, Candice,” Ruth said happily. When you manage other people’s money, you’re always happy for some reason. Even when they call you on a Sunday. “What can I do for you?” “Hey Ruth, I just had a quick question about the stock of a company I’m consulting with. I apologize for calling you on the weekend, but I just needed to pick your brain if you have a moment.” “Sure,” Ruth said. “What’s the company?” “There are actually two companies,” I said. “Wright Enterprises and Anderson Telecommunications.” Ruth put me on speakerphone. I could hear her typing. “Okay, Wright stock closed at $97 per share on Friday. The stock is trending up on the news that Wright is acquiring, ah, Anderson Telecommunications.” “And what about Anderson’s stock?” I asked. “I assume its ticking up in anticipation of the takeover.” She tapped on the computer keys. “It was up 2% of Friday at $29 per share. It looks like Wright is offering $31 a share, so the Anderson stock holders must be thrilled.” “I’m sure they are,” I said, resting my chin on my hand as I stared at the numbers on my screen. “Ruth, what would happen if Wright acquired Anderson, then some issue came to light that showed Anderson’s stock was not worth what Tanner, I mean, Wright, paid for it?” Ruth took me off speaker phone. Her voice was clear when she asked, “Why would you ask that question, Candice? Is Goldman consulting with Wright on the acquisition?” “I really can’t say anything more,” I said. “Just tell me, what would be the repercussions if something like that happened?”

She sighed in my ear. “Well, if it comes to light that Wright overpaid for Anderson, both company stocks will plummet. The SEC and the state attorney general would launch an investigation and if anyone is found guilty of cooking the books or doing anything to falsely inflate the stock price, well, people could go to jail. At the very least, the fines could run into the hundreds of millions of dollars.” I felt the breath catch in my throat. “Candice? Are you there?” “Yes, sorry. Um, one last question. And this is completely hypothetical. Why would someone do that? Cook the books to inflate a stock price before an acquisition?” “There are a variety of reasons why someone might do that,” she said with an edge to her voice. “All highly illegal.” “Like?” “Like trying to make the deal look better than it really is. Or trying to make the company appear more sound than it really is. The best reason I can think of is if they were propping the company up so they could later knock it down. They would short both company stocks and when the stocks collapsed, they would make a fortune in the bargain.” I chewed at my bottom lip. “Forgive my ignorance, Ruth, but can you explain to me what you mean by ‘short both company stocks’?” “Basically, shorting a stock means that you are betting against the stock price going higher. You’re betting that it’s going to go lower in the future. You buy options called ‘puts’ that give you the right to purchase shares of stock at one price and sell it when the stock reaches a strike point. If you are shorting a stock, you option the stock when it’s at the higher price, and when the stock drops, you sell back the option and your profit is the difference.” “So, if someone shorted Wright’s stock at $97 per share, with a strike price of say $57…” “They would see a profit of $40 per share.” Ruth was quiet for a moment. “Candice, is there something going on that you’re not telling me?” “No, Ruth, of course not,” I said, hoping I sounded convincing. “I’m just on the team doing due diligence for the acquisition and I have to look at every angle. That’s all. Just running hypotheticals through my head.” “Well, that’s good to hear, dear,” she said with a sigh. I could tell by her tone that she was concerned that I was into something I shouldn’t be. She drove the point home by adding, “Because anyone involved in that kind of collusion and stock manipulation could go to jail.” “Thanks, Ruth,” I said. “That’s good to know.”

CANDICE I spent the rest of Sunday finalizing my report for Monday’s wrap-up meeting with Stan and the rest of the Goldman team. The discrepancies in the old P&Ls kept nagging at my brain, but I managed to brush them aside long enough to finish the report. The report was all sunshine and unicorns. There was nothing there that would cause an issue with the acquisition going forward. The red flags had been lowered, now it was full speed ahead. I patted myself on the back for a job well done. The one thing I couldn’t brush aside was the fact that I missed Tanner terribly. I was amazed at how close I felt to him after our brief time in Tucson. I’m not saying that I’m in love, mind you. I’m just saying that he was constantly on my mind. I hoped that I was on his mind, too. We didn’t talk at all over the weekend, but I knew he was super busy in Atlanta. And the undefined status of our relationship prevented me from calling him every two minutes like I was dying to do. I didn’t want to frighten him away, but I didn’t want him to think that I didn’t want to hear from him either. It was the age-old single girl dilemma. Do I call him or wait until he calls me? But what if he doesn’t call me? What do I do, oh dating gods? What do I do? I decided that it was within modern dating etiquette to send a few short texts, adequately spaced out over the weekend so I wouldn’t sound too needy. His responses were short and to the point. Super busy. In meetings. With Henry. Getting lap dance from stripper … Getting blowjob in limo … Okay, I made those last two up, but sometimes that’s where my jealous imagination ventured. I forced those thoughts out of my head and focused on work. Tanner would call soon. I just knew it. I’d hear his voice and know everything was all right. I went to bed around midnight on Sunday with all my work done. The

wrap-up meeting with the Goldman team was at ten the next morning. I was going to knock their socks off. *** I dropped my purse and briefcase behind my desk, then pried the lid off the cup of black coffee from the shop downstairs and fired up my computer. Immediately, a message from Stan popped onto the screen. Please come to my office as soon as you arrive. Stan. I sipped the hot coffee and stared at the message for a moment. It wasn’t unusual to have inner-office messages waiting for me when I arrived, but this one popped up even before I was logged into the company network. I slowly lowered the cup to the desk and clicked the login button on the screen. My fingers trembled as I typed in my user name and password and hit Enter. I swallowed the lump that was in my throat as I read the words that flashed back at me from the screen. Account Restricted. Contact System Administrator. “What the fuck…” I typed in my user name and password again, pounding my fingers against the keys as if I thought that would do the trick. It was like hitting an elevator button over and over thinking it would get the elevator there faster. I held my breath and hit Enter. Account Restricted. Contact System Administrator. I slowly withdrew my hands from the keyboard. My fingers curled into my palms. My heart began to race. I struggled to keep the tears from welling in my eyes. I knew exactly what was happening. My god, how could I have been such a fool. *** When I got to Stan’s office, his secretary escorted me to a conference room. She ushered me in and closed the door. Stan was sitting at the conference table with his hands folded neatly in front of him. He had a nervous look on his face. He motioned for me to sit across from the table from him. There was a sour-looking older lady sitting next to Stan. Next to her was serious-looking man with salt and pepper hair and a Brooks Brothers suit. I pegged them immediately. She was from human resources and he was from legal.

They were all there to fuck me. And not in a good way. Stan introduced them as if we were meeting at a cocktail party. “Candice, this is Mrs. Nelson from Human Resources and Mr. Griffin from our legal department. They both looked at me without saying a word. “What’s up, Stan?” I asked, forcing a smile that didn’t want to be there. Stan cleared his throat and clenched his hands together until the knuckles turned white. “Candice, it’s come to our attention that during your trip to Tucson you engaged in certain activities that… well… quite frankly, are not acceptable as proper conduct for a Goldman & Stern employee.” There it was. I had literally fucked my way out of a job. I tried to hold the smile, but it was no use. It melted from my lips like a snowman on a hot day. I did the only thing I knew to do. I played dumb. I said, “I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about.” The lawyer chimed in. His tone was brisk, like a prosecutor questioning a witness. “Miss Carlson, while you were in Tucson did you engage in sexual relations with Tanner Wright, CEO of Wright Enterprises?” I suddenly knew how Bill Clinton felt when he was caught banging Monica Lewinski in the oval office. I did not have relations with that woman, Miss Lewinski… “I’m sorry, I don’t understand why that’s anyone’s business…” “It’s a simple question, Miss Carlson,” the lawyer said with a dismissive shrug. “Did you or did you not have sexual relations with Tanner Wright, CEO of Wright Enterprises and a client of Goldman & Stern, while you were in Tucson. Just answer yes or no.” I blinked at the woman from HR. She was looking at me like she’d caught me banging her husband in her bed. It was a look of disgust and disbelief. I leaned in to her and said, “Do I have to answer these questions? Don’t I have rights under the EEOC or something?” “I’m afraid the Equal Employment Opportunity rules are not pertinent in this situation, Miss Carlson,” she said, looking down her nose in judgment at me. “Just answer Mr. Griffin’s question, please.” I glanced at Stan. He was studying his hands on the table. He wouldn’t look up at me. I set my jaw and looked directly at the lawyer. I said, “Yes, while I was in Tucson I was involved in a personal relationship with Tanner Wright.” The lawyer’s eyes went around my face. I could see the corner of his mouth twitching. This was kind of turning him on a little. Douchebag.

He said, “You were involved in a sexual relationship.” “Yes.” “Yes what, Miss Carlson?” I took a deep breath as my career vanished before my eyes. “Yes, Mr. Griffin. While I was in Tucson I was involved in a sexual relationship with Tanner Griffin, CEO of Wright Enterprises.” I gritted my teeth at him. “Is that good enough for you.” “It is,” Griffin said with a nod. “In that case, we have no choice but to terminate your employment immediately and have you escorted from the building,” the HR lady said. She blew out a heavy sigh, as if she’d been holding her breath the entire time. “Stan, you can’t let them do this,” I said, desperation creeping into my voice. “I’m the best analyst you have. Stan? Talk to me.” Stan finally looked up and shook his head. It was that moment that I knew all was lost. “I’m sorry, Candice, but your actions have put Goldman & Stern -- and our relationship with Wright Enterprises – in a very precarious position. I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do.” The lawyer stood up and opened the conference room door. A burly security guard was standing at parade rest outside the door. The lawyer nodded to me and said, “Escort Miss Carlson to her desk and see that she retrieves only her personal property, then show her out of the building.”

TANNER I felt like a total douchebag when Henry told me that Goldman had fired Candice because of our affair. I felt like a douchebag because I knew ahead of time that she was going to get fired and I didn’t do a fucking thing to stop it or to warn her. Jesus, what an asshole I was! That sort of thing wouldn’t have bothered me a bit before I met her. Now, it ate away at my gut like a cancer. I also knew that Henry was the one who demanded she be fired. I was livid at first, but finally came to see that he was right: I had to stop thinking with my cock and start thinking with my brain. I liked Candice a lot – AN AWFUL LOT -- but if news of our relationship came to light, it could create the appearance of impropriety that could kill the

Anderson deal. As Henry so aptly pointed out, the financial news media would have a field day. “I can see the headlines now,” he said, holding his hands in their air with thumbs touching. “Billionaire playboy fucks management consultant doing due diligence on a major acquisition. Click here for all the juicy details.” “You’re overexaggerating,” I said, sitting next to him as the plane circled the Atlanta airport. “That won’t happen.” “Don’t kid yourself. The financial press loved this sort of dirt. They call it hot sex and cold hard cash.” He blew out a long breath and gave me a sideways look. “Tanner, you know I’m right.” I knew he was right, but that didn’t make things any easier. “So, what do you want me to do?” I finally asked in defeat. “First, you have to break off all communications with her. You can’t text her, you can’t call her, you can’t Facebook her, and you sure as hell can’t send her Anthony Weiner dick pics. None of your usual stuff.” “Okay.” “And if she tries to contact you, you have to ignore her. Do you understand? Block her from your phone and have no further contact with her.” I had my phone in my hand. I had been holding it in anticipation of the plane landing. The first call I had intended to make was to Candice. It was a call I wouldn’t be making. I glanced at Henry and gave him a nod. “Okay.” He put a hand on my shoulder and gave it a shake. “Don’t look so down, Tanner. After we close the Anderson deal you can go back to fucking anyone you like. Well, anyone except Candice Carlson.”

TANNER I couldn’t bring myself to immediately block Candice’s number, nor could I just instantly banish her from my mind. I replied to a few innocent texts, claiming to be too busy to chat. Then Henry caught me reading a text during a meeting while he was speaking. He simply reached down and plucked the phone from my hands without skipping a beat. He tucked the phone in his jacket pocket and went on with the meeting as if nothing had happened. I felt like a child who’d had his favorite toy taken away in front of the whole class. And without Candice in my bed and in my arms, it was a very lonely, sleepless week.

We arrived back in Chicago on Friday morning. The Goldman team – without Candice – was waiting in the conference room for us after lunch. “Stan, how are you,” Henry said as we entered the room. He shook hands with Stan and the other three stooges. I took a seat and squeezed the red rubber ball between my hands. “We’re all good, Henry, thanks,” Stan said in his obnoxious, over-eager manner. “And I think you’ll be very pleased with our report.” Christ, this guy needed a fulltime assistant just to keep the brown wiped off his nose. “We’re eager to see the report,” Henry said, rubbing his hands together eagerly. “This is the last box to be checked before we sign the final acquisition papers on Monday. If Anderson gets a clean bill of health from you, we’re all set.” Stan leaned over the table to pass out the perfectly-bound copies of Goldman’s report. He sat down and opened his copy, and waited for the rest of us to do the same. I didn’t bother looking at it. I didn’t want to touch the fucking thing. That report, and my own actions, had ruined Candice’s life. And there was no one to blame but me. If I had just listened to Henry, if I had just kept my dick in my pants, Candice would be sitting across from me now, pretending to ignore me. “So, let’s begin with our review of the financials,” Stan said, flipping through the report. “That starts on page 5.” Before he could continue, the conference room door opened and a large black man wearing a dark suit and tie appeared. Behind him were two other men who sported equally-serious looks on their faces. Behind them was a woman with a short-cropped haircut and a pinched face. I immediately took her as someone from the government. “What the hell is this?” Henry asked. The first man held up a badge that made Henry’s mouth clap shut. “I’m Agent Richter with the FBI. These are my associates, Agents Brent and Kline. And this is Helen Walters from the Securities & Exchange Commission. We’re looking for Henry Costas and Tanner Wright.” “I’m Henry Costas,” he said. Henry glanced at me. “This is Mr. Wright. What’s this about?” The FBI agent pulled a folded sheet of paper from inside his jacket and handed it to Henry. Henry opened the paper and scanned it without his glasses. The color drained from his face. The G-man said, “Gentleman, we have a warrant to seize all files and documentation from these offices and your personal possession pertaining to

the pending acquisition of Anderson Telecommunications by Wright Enterprises.” “For what purpose?” Henry said. He glanced at me again. I’d never seen him look so nervous. His reaction to this little raid was interesting, to say the least. I sat back and crossed my arms over my chest and kept my mouth closed. The woman from the SEC moved to stand next to the FBI agent. She said, “It has come to the attention of the SEC that an off-shore company called Creative Investment Partners has been buying an unusually high number of put options pertaining to Wright Enterprises and Anderson Telecommunications stock.” “People buy puts all the time,” Henry said. “That’s true,” she said, “But when the person behind the company acquiring all those puts is an officer of one of the companies involved in acquiring the other, that is called stock manipulation and is against the law.” I tapped the rubber ball to my chin and asked, “And who is this mysterious person behind Creative Investment Partners?” Agent Smith nodded at Henry. “Henry Costas.” “Our initial investigation suggests that Mr. Costas was buying up large numbers of puts because he expected the stocks of both companies to crash after the news that the financial reports of Anderson had been altered by management consultants from Goldman & Stern.” “What?” Stan looked like he was about to shit in his pants. “We didn’t alter any financial data.” “Are you with Goldman & Stern?” Stan slowly nodded. “Our suspicion is that Mr. Costas was going to claim that you altered the data in exchange for a large contract to do due diligence on the deal,” she said, handing him her card. “We’ll need to interview everyone who worked on the project.” Now I understood the reason Henry insisted on hiring Goldman & Stern in the first place. He would need a scapegoat when the shit hit the fan. Poor Stan looked like he was going to have a coronary. The rest of the Goldman team sat wide-eyed with their mouths hanging open as their eyes darted between one another. I must admit, I would have enjoyed the show if it hadn’t meant that my mentor and best friend was trying to screw me. I swiveled my chair to face him. “Henry?” I said, the rubber ball flexing in my hand. “Why would you do such a thing?”

“You have the right to an attorney, Mr. Costas,” the FBI man said. “And I have the right to know why he would betray me,” I said. “Why Henry?” Henry looked down and shook his head. “I’ve been trying to get you to grow up for years, Tanner,” he said, rubbing a knuckle under his nose. “I’ve watched you get rich while the rest of us worked our asses off to build this company. You’ve made billions of dollars while the rest of us fed off your scraps.” “You’ve made hundreds of millions of dollars, Henry,” I said. “Was it not enough?” “I’m tired of playing nursemaid to you,” Henry said, looking away. “It’s time I got what was coming to me.” “Well, I’m pretty sure you’re going to get that,” I said. I looked at the lady from the SEC. “Can I ask how all this came to light?” “Our office was contacted on Monday by a Ruth Bennett,” she said, reading the name off a notepad in her hand. “She’s a money manager with Smith-Barney here in Chicago. She was alerted to potential improprieties in the Anderson books by a client of hers. A Miss… Candice Carlson. Miss Bennett contacted our office and we fast-tracked the investigation given the pending acquisition of Anderson Telecom by your company.” “I assume that acquisition is now on hold?” I asked with a smile, already knowing the answer. Fine by me. I didn’t want to buy Anderson anyway. This was Henry’s baby all the way, and now I understood the reason why. She said, “Yes, we have an order from a federal judge halting the acquisition. The SEC and the state attorney general’s office will be conducting a full investigation.” “Fine by me,” I said. I set the rubber ball on the table in front of Henry. “Here, you might need that.” I held out a hand to the feds. “Officers, take him away.” “We’ll need you to come down and speak with us as well, Mr. Wright,” the SEC woman said, handing me her card. “We have no reason to suspect that you were involved in anything inappropriate, but you’ll probably want to bring an attorney along just in case.” “I’ll have my attorney set an appointment for Monday,” I said, slipping the card into the back pocket of my ratty jeans. “I have something extremely important to take care of first.”

CANDICE After getting unceremoniously fired and escorted from the building on Monday morning, I immediately tried to call Tanner, but found that he had blocked my number from calling his phone. I immediately knew that something was wrong. Tanner might have put on the bad boy billionaire persona to everyone else, but to me, he was just Tanner, the amazing man that I couldn’t stop thinking about. The man that made passionate, sweet love to me and in whose arms, I fell asleep every night. There was no way I was just a fling. I knew it in my heart. There wasn’t a shadow of doubt in my mind that Tanner cared deeply for me. And I cared just as deeply – if not more -- for him. I could feel it in my bones. I flagged down a cab and climbed into the back and gave the driver my home address. I tried Tanner’s phone again with the same result. The little electronic voice told me to fuck off, my number had been blocked. The voice was wrong. Tanner would not block my calls. Something else was going on. My suspicious mind went into overdrive. It didn’t take long for me to realize that Henry Costas was the one keeping us apart. He had blocked me from calling Tanner’s phone. He had ordered Stan to fire me. But why? How was I a threat to him? You’re not a threat to him, the little voice said. It’s your relationship with Tanner that’s the threat. Henry Costas, you slimy douchebag cocksucker. I’d had red flags waving in my mind since the moment I met him… Little red flags waving in the air… Little numbers flying by… I slid open the contact for Ruth Bennett and called her office. “Ruth Bennett, please. Yes, it’s Candice Carlson.” Happy hold music filled my ear for a moment, then Ruth’s cheerful voice came on the line. “Candice? Hi, what’s up?” “Ruth, I may have a problem” I said. “And I need your help.

CANDICE “Yes, mom. No, mom. I know mom. No, I haven’t found a job. Because I haven’t looked. Mom, it’s only been four days since they fired me. I know. I should sue. I know. You warned me about men. I know. You told me so. Yes, you did.” My phone was on the bathroom counter and I had the Bluetooth thingamabob in my ear. It was Friday night in one of the biggest cities on the planet, and there I was in my bra and panties, shaving my legs in the bathroom sink. I know, it was sad, the things you did when you were an unemployed, unattached, single girl in the big city. You shave your fucking legs in the bathroom sink, you eat a gallon of Haagen-Dazs chocolate chip ice cream, and you cry yourself to sleep watching a rerun of Bridget Jones Diary on cable. I tapped the soap off the razor and picked up a towel to dry my leg. The call waiting tone pinged in my ear. Thank god, a reason to get off the phone with my mother. “Mom, that’s someone calling. No, I don’t know who it is. Mom, if you’ll let me hang up I’ll find out who it is. Okay, love you to. Kisses to daddy.” I tapped the little button on the Bluetooth without looking at the caller ID on my phone. “Hello?” “Hi,” Tanner’s voice breezed softly in my ear. “Hi yourself,” I said with a sigh. I put a hand over my heart to keep it from pounding through my chest. I lowered myself onto the toilet. My legs were shaking. I didn’t think I could stand. I asked, “How are you?” “I’m fine. How are you?” I struggled to keep the tears at bay. “I’m okay. I heard about Costas being arrested. I’m sorry if I killed your deal. I had to protect you. I hope you understand that.” “I can forgive you if you can forgive me,” he said. “I was a fool to listen to Henry. I was a fool to let him keep you from me. I won’t ever let anyone keep me from you again.” The tears began to flow despite my best efforts to keep them locked away. He asked, “Can I see you?” I asked, “Yes, where are you.”

He said, “In the hallway outside your door.”

EPILOGUE: Candice Six months later… I stood at the bathroom sink, wiping steam off the mirror with the back of my hand. My long hair was wrapped in a towel. My naked body was covered with little beads of water that ran down between my breasts and sluiced through my short pubic hair to my clit. Tanner appeared behind me, naked, wet, hard and ready. He wrapped his arms around me and cupped my breasts in his palms. He began to gently massage my breasts. He brushed his fingers over my nipples. They never failed to snap to attention at the touch of his fingers or lips. His hot mouth was on my neck. I leaned my head to the side and moaned as he nibbled his way to my ear. I could feel his hard cock pressing into my back as he pulled me against him. He moved his hips to slide the shaft up and down against the wet crack of my ass. I could feel his balls mashing into me. I could feel the hot juices pooling in my pussy in anticipation of his cock impaling me. I could feel the juice running down the inside of my thigh and thought, what a waste. Tanner’s hands slid down my body and found my clit hard and ready beneath the hood. He rolled my clit between his thumbs and slid his fingers into my folds, working his fingers back and forth, soaking them with my juices. I reached around and took his cock in one hand and his balls in the other. I gently massaged his balls and tugged on his cock. He moaned in my ear. “I love you,” he sighed. I opened my eyes to find him staring at me in the mirror. “I love you, too,” I said. “You do?” he said. “I do.” “Show me.” I turned to face him. He pressed his lips to mine as my hand slowly stroked his cocked. Our tongues dueled like angry snakes. I rubbed the underside of the head of his cock on my belly, leaving a trail of his salty juice on my skin. Tanner put his hands under my arms and lifted me onto the sink. With my ass on the edge of the counter, I spread my legs for him and he moved in closer. He hooked his arms under my knees to support my legs and ass. I took his cock in my hand and guided him into me. The head slid inside me and we

both smiled. I braced my palms on the counter top. With his arms under my legs, he lifted my ass off the counter and slid fully into me in one thrust. It pushed the breath from my lungs and made me gasp in the most glorious way. Tanner slid his cock in and out of me, slowly at first, then a little faster, then a little faster still. His cock and balls were quickly covered in glistening juice that filled the air with the tangy aroma of sex. We both looked down to watch ourselves fuck. I loved to see his cock sliding in and out of me. He loved to watch my pussy lips grab and hold onto his cock as it slid past them. This was our favorite position because it gave both of us an amazing view of our carnal connection. It was almost like watching your own porno, only better. Tanner thrust into me and a shudder quaked through my body. He was pounding into me faster now, harder. The slap of our flesh joined the sound of our heavy breathing. I glanced up at Tanner. Every muscle in his body was flexing. His head was back. His teeth were clenched. His eyes were closed. He breathed through his nostrils like an angry bull. “I’m… cumming…” he moaned. “Come… with me…” I closed my eyes and joined him for the ride. A few more deep thrusts and Tanner pushed his cock into me as far as it would go and growled as he came. As he filled me with his hot cum, my own orgasm hit. I threw my head back and squeezed my eyes shut and felt my entire body shake as the orgasm overtook me and sent me over the moon. When I was over, we opened our eyes and looked down. We were a hot mess. And we wouldn’t have had it any other way.

THE END

EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT & COVER REVEAL: FILTHY COWBOY (TO BE RELEASED FEB 25TH)

EXCERPT

CHAPTER ONE: Luke Daniels

HERE’S a tip for you fellas out there the next time you’re laid up in the hospital after a goddamn bull gores the living shit out of you at a rodeo. Hell, I guess this is a good tip regardless of why you’re laid up. Anyway. If you ever get the chance to fuck a hot young nurse in your hospital room bathroom, I highly recommend you take it. Just grab that bull by the horns and ride her like there’s no tomorrow. That hot young nurse had been giving me warm-lotion hand jobs for three days, ever since they took the catheter out of my pecker so I could piss on my own. Shit, she’d had my pecker in her hand more than I’d had it in mine. Started out, she was just gonna help me into the bathroom to take a piss. I wasn’t wearing anything but one of those flimsy hospital gowns, which she untied and tugged down my arms after coming into the bathroom with me and closing the door. I stood there naked as the day I was born, with my long pecker dangling between my legs for the whole world to see. Without a word, she reached down and cupped my balls with her left hand and started tugging on my pecker with her right. The damn thing went hard in her hand so fast it made her moan. She let go of my pecker, then pushed down her scrub pants to her ankles and leaned over the sink and stuck out her ass and said, “Fuck me hard with that big old thing, cowboy. Fuck me hard right now.” Never let it be said that Luke Daniels didn’t follow a medical professional’s advice. I dug my fingers into her hips and squared up behind her, then drove my big old pecker into her tight little twat like pushing a sausage through a straw. Hot damn, this little girl was tight, man. Tightest little pussy I’d ever seen. Course, any pussy’s gonna be tight when you stick something in it as big as my pecker. Still, I looked down to make sure I’d stuck it in the right hole. That little nurse grunted every time I thrust it into her, like it was pushing all the wind out of her lungs. I put my hands on her chubby little ass cheeks and watched my pecker slide in and out of her. I could only get about half of my pecker inside her, but it felt like heaven on a stick. My balls were tight as walnuts and I could feel the blood pumping in my loins.

There is no better medicine, in my opinion, regardless of what ails a man, than a piece of sweet, young, tight pussy. I love the way it feels, the way it looks, the way it smells, and the way it tastes. I’m telling you, fellas, if they could bottle this little gal’s pussy the world would be a healthier place. And you and me would be addicted with the first dose. As I hammered into her, listening to her gasp and moan, I thought about what sweet, caring individuals nurses were, especially the ones who had to put up with the likes of me. I was a lousy fucking patient, no pun intended. If that goddamn bull’s horn hadn’t ruptured my appendix and spleen, I would have just put a Band-Aid over the gash and gone on about my day. Not that I had any say in the matter when it happened. As I understand it, I was laying there in the goddamn dirt with my guts spilling out all over my sterling silver National Rodeo Champion belt buckle and the fucking rodeo clowns were all puking their guts out around me. If there hadn’t been a veterinarian there wrapping a horse’s leg I would have probably bled to death right there in the Houston arena, like goddamn Spartacus or something. Fucking rodeo clowns. Goddamn pussies, every single one of them. Anyway, like I was saying, nurses are such caring, sweet individuals who go above and beyond to take care of their patients. God bless their souls and God bless this little girl riding my pecker who was now making sounds like her top was about to blow. She was bent over the sink with her cheek pressed to the mirror, holding onto the sides of the sink for dear life, saying she was about ready to cum. I was right there with her, buddy. The moment she slid home I was coming in right behind her. I suddenly learned that not all nurses are that dedicated to the health and rehabilitation of their patients. The one that jerked open the bathroom door and started screaming when she caught me slamming my sausage into the young nurse’s twat did not see the humor of the situation. She was a fat old hag with a butch haircut and a face that could stop a clock. She stood there in the doorway, getting all red-faced and fuming like she’d caught us fucking in the back of the church or something. I gave her an “I’ll be with you in a minute” smile, but didn’t stop what I was doing. I just kept hammering it to the young nurse while she stayed bent over, grabbing the sink and grunting each time my big old cock slammed into her tight box. I could see sweet thing’s face in the mirror. She didn’t acknowledge the

nurse standing in the doorway watching us. She just kept her eyes closed and her mouth hanging open. I reckon she figured she was screwed anyway (again, no pun intended), so she might as well hang in there long enough to get her rocks off rather than stop midstream. Or mid-stroke... “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” the old nurse wailed after she had watched us for ten of fifteen seconds. I reckon it took her that long to comprehend that she wasn’t imagining things. “I’m just doing my physical therapy,” I said, my hands tight on the girl’s hips to hold her steady while I rammed it to her good. I shook my head and grinned at the old bat without missing a beat. “I had no idea how much better this would make me feel. You ought’a give this little gal a raise. She’s a goddamn miracle worker.” “Stop that before you bust your stitches!” she yelled, waving her hands at me. “Darlin’, I’m not gonna stop till I bust this nut,” I yelled back, ignoring the pain that was ripping through my left side where the bull had gutted me. His fucking horn stabbed into my guts about six inches they said, then he picked me up like a rag doll and shook his big old head, twisting my guts around like a meat grinder before tossing me to the side. The doc had patched up my guts and sewn up the gash about a week ago, so I was still healing. There was a big bandage on my left side covering the wound, with a mile of gauze wrapped around my waist to keep it in place. I also had several cracked ribs and they were taped up, but they didn’t bother me much. I’d cracked my ribs so often I felt funny if I didn’t have a pain when I breathed. Even though it hurt like a motherfucker and I could look down to see blood soaking into the bandage, I wasn’t gonna stop poking it to this little gal until I blew my load in her hot box. I expected the old nurse would understand and be okay with it after she had time to think things over. Every man feels better after bustin’ a nut. And brother, I was getting close and I was feeling fine. The young nurse moaned and pushed her ass back against me. My big old pecker just kept ramrodding her like a derrick drilling for oil. She said she was cumming, so I quit holding back and came right along with her. I was glad we were about done. The old nurse standing in the door watching us was starting to give me the creeps. I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth and came like a bursting dam. I gave her a few more good thrusts just to make sure she got hers, then collapsed back on the toilet seat.

My big old cock slid out of her and flopped wet and nasty against my leg. My side hurt like a son of a bitch. The patch covering the wound was now drenched with blood. Blood was seeping from under the bandage, sluicing down my left hip and leg like a little stream running south. The last thing I remembered before blacking out was the old nurse yelling at the young one, the young one tugging up her pants and crying, and thinking that I had died just like I wanted to; while fucking a sweet young piece of pussy that milked my old pecker like a milking machine. And if that had been the last thought to go through my head, that would have been just fine with me.

(TO BE RELEASED - FEB 25TH, 2017)

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