by R. M. Walker
“No,” I croak. I cough to clear my horse throat and try again. “It was amazing, I don’t even know what’s wrong with me.”
“It was intense, Josie, nothing is wrong with you at all.” He wraps his arms around me and pulls my back to his front, tucking his knees up tight behind mine.
A red flag pops up in the back of my mind saying this is overly intimate for us, and that I need to guard myself, but I’m too emotionally and physically drained to put up a fight.
“So, the superhero wins again. Destroying the villainess with his monster cock,” he whispers in my ear, making me choke out a surprised laugh.
“I don’t remember that version in any of my books.”
“I probably would have read more of them if they had all ended like this,” he murmurs, his warm breath caressing over my shoulder, leaving behind a trail of goosebumps.
“Anyway, I’m not really a villainess. I’m a normal, boring, good girl.”
“I find that hard to believe, Josie, but as it turns out, I’m not really a good guy. Can’t really be a hero with the surname Badd, you know?” I nod, feeling safe and sleepy in his warm arms. We are quiet for a moment, lost in thought, when he speaks up again.
“Hey, good girl.” He lifts my leg up and presses forward, rubbing his cock gently against my pussy. “How does it feel having a little Badd inside you?” It takes me a beat to realise what he means, but when it clicks, I burst out laughing. He lets go of my leg and wraps his arm around me again, laughing along with his own lame joke.
“That was awful,” I tell him, still smiling at his corny joke, but he doesn’t answer. I lie still in his arms as his breathing evens out. His arm relaxes around me as sleep claims his exhausted body. Climbing out of his embrace, I pad quietly over to the bathroom. I dress in silence, ignoring my reflection, and slip on my boots. I walk back out and stare down at his sleeping form, before wiping a tear from my face.
“For what it’s worth, I had the most amazing time,” I whisper, placing a barely there kiss on his cheek before hurrying out. I collect my coat and wait for a taxi in the cold early morning air, enjoying the solitude that comes with the dawn. A beep signals its arrival, so I climb in and close the door, leaning my head against the window after telling the driver where to go. A glance at my watch tells me that it will be pointless to go back to bed now, since I have to be at work in a couple of hours. Time will be better spent on a shower and consuming record amounts of coffee. So that’s what I do. I shower, caffeinate myself, and slip into a pair of black dress trousers and a pink blouse, before heading to the office on the bus. I remind myself I need to collect my car later and return the costumes, and basically think of anything other than what I’m about to face.
* * *
I’m relieved when I get there to find he hasn’t made it in yet. I slip my bag onto the back of the chair and busy myself with the day’s tasks. I’m miles away as I make reservations online for meeting after meeting, when a cough from behind has me swinging around to face the man himself. He looks sexy as hell in his tailored navy-blue suit and white shirt.
“I’ve been talking to you for the last five minutes.”
“Sorry, sir, I was just making reservations for your business dinners.”
“I’m not after excuses, Jodie. What I want to know is where is my goddamn coffee? You know after the stunt you pulled yesterday, I would have thought that you would have bent over backwards today to accommodate me.” He might as well have punched me in the chest, it would have hurt less.
“What?” I whisper, my eyes filling with unshed tears.
“For God’s sake, Jodie, what on earth is wrong with you this morning?”
“It’s Josie,” a deep voice informs him. A voice just like his own. I furrow my brow in confusion when Mr. Badd steps aside, revealing a man dressed in blue jeans and a black button-down shirt. A man with Tyler Badd’s face.
“Whatever, Jared. Did you at least bring the costume with you? It needs to be returned.” I’m frozen on the spot, mouth gaping like a fish as I take in the man I slept with last night.
“Twins?” I accuse.
“Well done, Jodie, nothing gets past you, does it?” I look back and forth between them. They are an exact replica of each other. Holy shit.
“Tyler, stop being a fucking asshole for five minutes. The costume is at the desk in reception. I’m not here to see you, I’m here for her.”
“Her? Her who? Jodie?”
“It’s Josie,” Jared and I both snap at him.
“How the hell do you know my PA?” Tyler barks at him, but then realisation moves across his face.
“For God’s sake, Jared. I asked you to go to the party with me, not bang the members of my staff.” My face flames in embarrassment at his words.
“I’ll be out of the office all day. Hold my calls,” he snaps at me, before storming off towards the lift.
Small pieces of the puzzle clip together. Showing me a picture I’m not sure I want to see.
“You know who I am.” I look at him for any signs of deception.
“Yes. I knew who you were from the beginning,” he admits ruefully.
“You let me think you were your brother, why?”
“Fear of rejection.”
I’m stunned. Has he never looked in the mirror before?
“I saw you a couple of months ago here at work, and thought you were the most beautiful girl I had ever seen, but I saw the way you looked at my brother and knew I didn’t stand a chance. I needed you to get to know me.” This is beyond fucked up.
“Why were you wearing the superhero costume?”
He rolls his eyes. “My brother is a tool and refused to wear it, so I gave him my James bond costume and we swapped.”
I don’t know what I’m supposed to be feeling here. I’m confused and angry, and did I mention confused?
“I can’t do this right now. I need you to leave.” I can’t think clearly with him here. I keep picturing his large hands on my body and it’s fogging up my brain.
“Josie, let’s talk about it—” I cut him off by holding my hand up.
“I’m at work,” I grit out through clenched teeth. “Now is not the time or the place.”
He goes to say something else but thinks better of it. He nods and heads to the lift his brother just left in.
“This isn’t over, Josie!” he yells back, just before the lift doors close on him. I place my head on the cool, wooden desk, and take deep calming breaths. This cannot be happening. See, this is why I should never leave the house except for work. Am I going to get fired for this? Fuck, now Tyler’s snippy little comment about my behaviour makes sense. He thinks I didn’t turn up to the party. I hope and pray that he never figures out that I thought I was sleeping with him. If I’m lucky, he’ll think that due to it being a costume party I had no idea who he was. Wait… that’s actually true. Jesus, I slept with a stranger. He could have been a serial killer or something. It was a stupid, reckless thing to do… but it was still the single, most erotic experience of my life.
I manage to work for another hour before I decide to call it quits. I can’t be here anymore. I stand and stretch, working out the kinks from last night, and walk over to the tinted windows and look down at the people milling about below. I wonder if any of them ever found themselves living in the twilight zone that I seem to have found myself in. A knock on my open door shows a subdued looking Jared leaning against the doorframe. The sleeves of his black shirt are now rolled up to his elbows, showing off his tan, muscular forearms that held his weight above me last night. I blink to clear the image, but open my eyes again when I hear the door closing behind him.
He prowls over to me, looking lethal, and I know any argument I was going to put up about this being a bad idea is about to fly out the window.
“Jared—” I don’t get anything else out, as his lips are on mine, hard and insistent, as he pushes me up against the glass. His fingers make quick work of the buttons on my blouse, freeing them from the
ir confinement so that he can slip his hands inside and cup my heavy breasts. He pinches my nipples hard through the lace of my bra, making me gasp into his mouth, which he swallows down. He spins me around roughly and pushes me up against the glass, pulling my hips towards him. I place my hands flat against the window for support. My skirt is shoved up over my ass and my panties are pushed aside. I need to stop him. We can’t do this here. I feel him press against my core before he pushes inside me. My tender body welcomes him with vigour, while my mind screams at me, What the hell are you doing?
With one hand on my hip, he uses the other to grip my throat. Not in a painful way, but in a dominating move that makes my pussy weep. He fucks me in long, hard strokes, never speeding up, never slowing, and expertly pushing my body higher and higher. Letting go of my hip, his hand slips under my skirt and into my panties, finding my clit and rubbing it a little harder than I usually do to myself, but God, it feels so good. Finally, his thrusts speed up, as does the motion of his fingers. I’m so close that when his hand squeezes tight around my throat, I detonate around him, flooding us both with my juices as my vision fades in and out. He releases my neck, only to grab a hand full of my hair so he can pummel his way inside me, before finally spilling his seed. He pulls out of me gently. The room is quiet now, with the exception of our heavy breathing and the rustle of us adjusting our clothes when, abruptly, the door slams open and a very pissed off looking Tyler is standing there with a red face. I hang my head in shame. This is it. The day I’m going to get fired. I’ll have to go home and tell my mom that I lost my job because I just couldn’t help fucking my boss’s brother in his PA’s office at work.
“What the fuck?” he shouts. His voice filled with anger and disbelief. I quickly finish closing the last of my buttons and blink back the tears of embarrassment.
“I’m so sorry, Mr. Badd. It was completely unprofessional of me, it will never happen again, I swear,” I tell him, my voice shaking with emotion.
“I don’t know about that, I think that should be part of your daily duties, Jodie,” he says, only, his lips never move. I turn around slowly to face Jared as he finishes zipping up his fly, and throw my hands over my mouth in horror.
“You’re not Jared,” I state in a shocked whisper, as I take in the black shirt and blue jeans that led me to believe he was his brother. I turn to the other one. The real Jared, who is dressed the same, and is glaring at his brother.
I’m going to be sick.
“You son of a bitch.” Jared throws himself at fake Jared—I mean Tyler—and punches him in the face.
“Fuck,” Tyler yells, before throwing a punch of his own.
“I saw her first, but you went after her anyway. What was I supposed to do?” Tyler yells at his brother. I have zero clue what is going on. Zero.
“You snooze you lose, asshole. As soon as I fucked her, she became mine. You should have walked away.” They keep throwing punches at each other, both of them becoming bloodier and bloodier, but I’m stuck on their words.
“Well, I’ve fucked her now too. I’ve felt her sweet little pussy squeeze so tight around my cock I thought she was going to snap it off. So, she’s fucking mine also.”
“Bet you haven’t had those lips wrapped around you yet though, have you? She couldn’t wait to get my cock in her mouth. So fucking greedy.” Slowly the fear of losing my job, the confusion over my feelings for these guys, and my shame at having been caught in the act morphs into white-hot anger.
“I quit.” I don’t shout it, I don’t raise my voice at all, but I know they heard me because they both freeze before slowly turning to face me. They each have a bloody nose and various parts of their faces are swelling, but I can’t find it in me to care.
“Now, don’t make any hasty decisions, Josie,” Tyler says, with his hands up in a placating gesture. He called me Josie. For the first time ever, he called me Josie.
“You are both complete and utter assholes. I mean nothing to either one of you, do I? This was just stupid, nasty competitiveness between siblings.”
“Josie—” Jared starts, but my glare shuts him up.
“I don’t deserve this. I don’t deserve any of this. I’m not some toy for you to fight over until you get bored with it and stick it back on the shelf.” Each word out of my mouth drips with icy disdain.
“Josie, if you just give us a chance to explain—” I cut him off.
“No. I really don’t want to hear it.”
The woman I wanted to be, the 2.0 version of Josie that I saw in the mirror last night, pushes to the forefront. It’s not about what you look like on the outside, it’s who you are inside that matters. I am not someone’s doormat to be walked all over. I’m so done with this.
“You fucked up, you both did, and maybe I did too. But I’m out. Play your game on your own because I want no part in it.” I turn and run to the lift. They come after me, but the doors to the lift close before they can get close enough. I run through the reception, startling the people waiting in the quiet seating area, and out into the street. I’m halfway across the road when I hear squealing tyres. A car collides with me, hitting my leg and knocking me over. Luckily, the car had almost come to a complete stop before clipping me, but I’m still going to have a nasty bruise tomorrow.
“Jesus fucking Christ. Are you okay?” Hands run over my leg feeling, I’m assuming, for any breaks. I look up at a handsome face I’ve seen before.
“I’m okay. It was just a bump.” He stares at me with recognition.
“Hello again, sweetheart. You didn’t call.” The gorgeous bartender from last night smiles down at me, showing me his dimples. How he recognised me without my mask, I don’t know, but I would be lying if I said it didn’t send a thrill through me.
“This is not usually how I like to knock a woman off her feet. Here, let me help you up.” He wraps his strong arms around me and lifts me up, supporting me as I find my balance. The passing gawkers move along, now that there is nothing interesting to see.
“Josie!” is roared from the building behind us. I turn and wobble, but thankfully strong arms keep me from face-planting again. Tyler and Jared are on the path behind us, but are blocked from getting any closer by the speeding traffic that has switched lanes to avoid colliding with Deacon and me.
I look up at him and take in the pierced lip and eyebrow, not remembering them from last night. They look sexy as hell, definitely not something I would have forgotten about.
“Can you get me out of here, please?” He looks at me, then across to the guys who are looking for a way through the busy London traffic.
“Absolutely.” He sweeps me up off my feet and slides me into the passenger seat of his big, fancy range rover, before slamming the door and climbing in beside me. He pulls out into the flow of traffic, but not before flipping off the guys who have finally made their way over to us. I ignore them and focus on the lip ring. I wonder what that would feel like against my skin. What? Where did that thought come from? Goddamnit, I’m turning into a fucking nympho.
“I don’t wear them when I’m at work.” His deep voice washes over me.
“Huh? I’m sorry, what?” He laughs at me, and reaches over to squeeze my knee before placing it back on the wheel.
“The piercings. I don’t wear the lip, eyebrow, or tongue ring when I’m working.”
“You have a tongue ring?” He sticks it out as an answer, making me suck in a sharp breath at the carnal thoughts racing through my mind. His eyes flash with arousal as if he can tell exactly what I’m thinking.
“They make you remove your piercings to bartend? That seems extreme.” I’ve never heard that before.
“I’m not a bartender, sweetheart. I’m the owner of the hotel you were in last night.” Oh wow. Guess that explains the expensive car.
“So, who are you really, Mr. Hotel Owner?” I question him. He has certainly piqued my interest. He sure doesn’t look like any kind of hotel owner that I’ve seen before.
“I�
��m the guy who’s going to marry you.”
I burst out laughing, but quickly quiet down when I realise he’s serious.
“You’ve just met me,” I remind him.
“Sweetheart, I knew the second I laid eyes on you last night that you were special. Come back to my place and let me check your leg. We can chill out and watch a movie or something. I might not be a superhero or anything,” he tells me, making me realise that he knows exactly what happened between Jared and me last night and isn’t bothered in the slightest, “but I’m a pretty cool guy when you get to know me.” I can’t help but grin at him.
“Okay. But if you turn out to be a serial killer and end up burying my body in your backyard, I will haunt you for the rest of your life.”
“Noted.” He smiles and turns off the highway, taking the road that leads us just out of town.
I look at him, really look at him, and feel something I never felt with Jared or Tyler. I feel worthy. Deacon makes me feel like I’m enough just as I am.
“Well you’re in luck Deacon, because it turns out I never needed a hero anyway.”
He looks over and grins his big, heart-stopping smile at me.
“What was it you needed, then?”
I lean back and close my eyes. “I needed to find myself,” I tell him softly, as I think back to the moments I shared with Jared last night. “I needed to let my guard down and push my boundaries.” I picture Tyler fucking me against my office window, before opening my eyes and looking over at Deacon.
“It was about living life instead of letting it pass me by.” We turn onto a long gravel driveway. I turn and lean my head against the window and think about the way I let Tyler treat me this past year, and the things that he and Jared said about me.
“It was about standing up for myself and recognising that I deserve more.” Deacon places his hand on my thigh as we finally come to a stop outside of a beautiful, old Victorian house.
I lace my fingers through his as he shuts off the car and I turn to face him.
“It's about having the courage to take a chance and…” I lean forward and press my lips softly against his, loving the feel of the cool metal ring against my lips. He pulls back reluctantly but keeps hold of my hand.
