Running From Noel

by Janae Keyes

  “You can’t just waltz in here, meet her once and declare yourself her father. It doesn’t work like that. She doesn’t fucking know you.”

  “Because of you.” Noel turned on his heel and stormed out of my front door, slamming it behind him.

  I guess I deserved that. I had fucked up.

  I avoided Noel in every way possible for the next week. I couldn’t face him, not with him knowing the truth now. If he was walking down the hall I would dip into a closet or the bathroom. I kept my office door closed, and I avoided his side of the building, to the point of taking the stairs.

  My main distraction right now was the final touches for the Christmas party, which was starting to fall apart. I couldn’t find donors for the silent auction, and the planning committee all seemed more interested in the new drama with Ashlee than helping me.

  I was alone and I didn’t know what to do. I stood from my desk and started pacing the room. We were supposed to have another managers meeting tomorrow, and at this rate I was going to be telling them the party was cancelled because I couldn’t get anything put together.

  “You know I knocked three times, but you didn’t answer.” I turned to see Noel standing resilient in my office door. Hadn’t I closed it when I came back in?

  “What do you want? Kinda busy blowing up my career over here.” Fuck. Not exactly the person who I wanted to tell, but at this point, anyone would be better than Mr. Carson.

  “Sorry. I’ve been trying to apologize for my actions all week, but you keep avoiding me.” He slid the rest of the way into my office, closing and locking the door, then dropping the blinds over the window looking out to the cubicles.

  “Well, you sure picked a great time to do it. I’m having a bit of a crisis with the party. We haven’t been able to procure a single donate for the auction. I was really hoping this would go down easy. But instead everyone I have talked with wants to know why they should donate something to help the inner-city riff-raff instead of a hospital.” I slammed down into the couch, throwing my feet on the table.

  “Why don’t you let me make some calls? This is for our daughter’s school, right?”

  I nodded before I caught the implication of his sentence. I had fully admitted he had a stake in me. That we were connected no matter what. Dammit. “Thank you. Don’t think this means I forgive you. I just really want this to be successful.”

  Instantly there was a shift in the air as I felt the change in temperature above me. I opened my eyes and caught myself staring into his, getting lost in their depths. My breath hitched and I rose up a little, almost begging him to kiss me with my eyes.

  No one would see right? Just like that evening at the library when we were the last one there.

  His lips crashed to mine, his tongue forcing my lips apart, allowing him admission. This kiss held just as much fire as the first time he had kissed me.

  My hand roamed up his chest, into his hair, and I pulled him down on top of me. He straddled my, wrapping his strong arms around me as he rolled us, so I was above him.

  I was wearing my favorite sheath dress today, but that didn’t stop him. He ripped at the zipper in the back, sliding it down and pulled my top down enough to free my breasts, but trapping my arms. I knew I should stop this, but not enough of me wanted to.

  I tried to wiggle out of my dress, but he swatted me on my ass. He pulled back and bit out a husky, “No,” before trailing kisses down my neck and quickly capturing one of my nipples in his mouth. I let out a low moan, trying to keep quiet. I could feel my panties soak through with my juices as his cock pressed against me. I moved my hands down and started to work his belt, praying it wouldn’t take too long.

  I wiggled successfully when I felt the buckle give way and the belt loosen. My victory was short lived as he bit down on my nipple and growled, grabbing my wrists and trapping them behind me with one hand while he brought his other, trailing fire along my skin, to my other nipple and twisted it, shooting pleasure through me.

  I arched back as I felt the first waves of my orgasm roll over me, gasping as I tried to hold back. But there was no hiding it from Noel as he slid his hand between my legs and flicked at my clit, driving my desire over the edge. I bit my lip hard as I moaned around it, but he didn’t stop is assault on me. Instead he laid me down on my couch, pulled my dress off and left me laying there in my heels and thong.

  “You have no idea how long I have waited to see you like this.” He stuck his finger in his mouth and sucked. “Better than my fantasies.”

  He dropped to his knees between my legs and I heard his sipper slide down before he wiggled his pants down. God, what were we doing? We were at work. But did I really care at this point? I needed more than a memory of a feeling now. I needed him.

  He slid two fingers inside of me and I almost tumbled through space again. Moaning in appreciation he lifted my hips, positioning himself before thrusting into me in one motion. Reaching under me he gathered me up and brought us back, so I was sitting on his lap again, this time with him fully sheathed inside of me.

  “This is still my pussy. It never stopped being my pussy.” He growled as he lifted me up and slammed me back down on his lifted hips. I couldn’t do anything but hold on for dear life as he took me for a wild ride of heat and desire. Eleven years’ worth of pent up tension rolled out of me as I melted against him, sobbing release after release.

  When he finally came it was with a roar, I was sure the whole office could hear, but I didn’t care. I was whole for today.

  Chapter 11

  Noel

  I stared at Everly, panting above me, my cock still encased in her pussy like a silken glove.

  She felt better than she had all those years ago. A knock on the door brought us both crashing back down to reality and she flew off my lap grabbing her dress and throwing it over herself.

  “Hold on please. I’m finishing a meeting.”

  “Meeting my ass Everly. I know what you were doing.” Ashlee’s voice came from the other side of the door.

  Fuck, I mouthed to her. How were we going to explain us both in here, looking a mess, and the room smelling like sex? The things no one thinks about until after when it comes to office sex.

  “You don’t know anything about what I do when my office door is closed. What do you need?” Everly’s voice was clearly annoyed as she glared at me, still sitting there with my cock in my hand as I rubbed our juices into it.

  “Get dressed!” She hissed at me as she straightened her hair in the mirror. That wouldn’t help her much. Her makeup was still a smeared mess and her lips were swollen from my assault.

  “Why? It’s only Ashlee. Why don’t you come here and give me a kiss?” I motioned her toward me, my voice a husky whisper.

  Everly came over to me, most likely to chew me out by the look in her eye, until I pulled her down on my lap and the tip of my cock brushed against her still heated core, causing her to shudder. I nibbled along her collar bone, running my hands up her gorgeous legs, dipping my thumbs down her thighs toward her pussy.

  I pushed the soaked little piece of fabric aside and trailed my thumb along her folds, resting on her clit, the head to my cock against her opening. All she had to do was shift forward and we would be on round two. The ball was in her court.

  I twisted my hand around, tapping my fingers along her legs, careful to lightly brush her clit with every movement, causing her to gasp repeatedly. She rocked forward and I slid into her, I pulled her down into my lap, capturing her lips with mine. Fuck Ashlee being in the hall. Let her listen.

  I pulled her back a little and thrust forward, careful not to make any noise. Everly tried to pull away from our kiss but I refused to let her break. I wanted to swallow her screams, her moans, everything.

  Slipping my hand between us I rubbed her clit feeling the bud expand before it broke and her fingers dug into my shoulder, she wrenched back, screaming silently to the ceiling before sagging forward, quaking as I continued to thrust upwards into
her. I could feel her ready to roll over again and I wasn’t going to let her stop until she did.

  Right as she began to pulse around me again, I felt a sharp sting against my shoulder which pushed me over the edge. I clutched her hips so hard I was sure I bruised them as I tried not to make a sound.

  She slid off of me, a sheepish grin on her face as she wiped her mouth. I tucked myself into my pants before I straightened my clothes out. I caught my reflection in the mirror and grinned. She’d bit me. And hard enough to mark.

  I straightened my tie, helped her straighten her dress, and found out she had a wax warmer in her office. She turned it on with a cinnamon scent.

  “So, do I need to tell them to send the checks or donations to you? Who should they make the checks out to?” I spoke loud enough my voice would carry through the open door.

  Everly just looked at me blankly for a moment and then nodded slowly. “Yes. They should be made out to South Central Elementary STEM program. Any donations they can send here. Thanks again for your help.” She gave me a look that said not to say anything that would spread through the office.

  “Of course. Love giving back to my community and helping kids where I can.” I unlocked her door. “We need to talk over coffee or lunch to finalize some of these details then.”

  “Yeah.”

  It had been two days since our office tryst and Everly had disappeared again. When she wasn’t at work today, I decided I needed to check on my girls. I drove to the address I had picked her up at and dropped her off and knocked on the door.

  There was no answer, but her car was in the driveway. I knocked harder on the door, before I noticed laughter from the backyard. I walked around the house to see Everly and Madison playing back there.

  “Playing hooky? I never thought I would see the day.”

  Everly jerked up and looked at me. “What are you doing here?”

  “I seem to recall offering to help with the Christmas party, but you missed the meeting yesterday, and then you weren’t at work today, so I got worried.”

  “Everything is fine. We are just getting ready for our day trip to San Diego and the zoo. There’s an event at school that Madison can’t attend, and we are doing something different to make up for it.”

  “Yeah. Father-Daughter dance. I never get to do any of the father-daughter things. It sucks.” Madison spoke up, eyeing me like I was something to stay far away from.

  “I’m sorry. I bet if your dad knew you, he would love to take you to all those things.” I tried to make her smile without stepping on boundaries that hadn’t yet been discussed.

  “I don’t know. Who wants a science geek for a daughter when they could have a ballerina?” Her eyes dropped and she ran into the house, slamming the door behind her.

  “I fucked up, didn’t I?” I didn’t know a damned thing about kids, that much was obvious. And this one was definitely mine. Down to the stubbornness. I started to feel bad that I hadn’t been there to help her mother deal with that.

  “Yeah. You fucked up showing up today.” She walked toward the house. “Now I have to do damage control. Anything else you want to do to make my day harder.”

  “Well, I can’t screw up any worse, so why don’t I take her to the dance? Let her go with her friends.” I hoped I was offering to help, not mess things up.

  “I don’t think I am ready for her to know she is your daughter. She only just met you and doesn’t know what to think of you. Especially now.”

  “Then let me fix it. Come on.” I had already missed out on so much of my daughter’s life I didn’t want to miss out on more. Not if I had anything to do with it. Not now that I knew I had a daughter.

  “Let me think about it. We still have to finish getting the office party ready. And I am still taking her to San Diego this weekend. I’ll see you on Monday.” She dismissed me as she went in the house.

  Great. A whole weekend to figure out how to make up for eleven years of not being there for Everly, and ten for Madison. I had a long weekend ahead of me.

  Chapter 12

  Everly

  Traffic. I hated LA traffic. It was my fault for leaving late though. I had spent all weekend with Madison in San Diego, and it was the most fun we’d had in ages. I needed the break and so did she.

  Finally reaching my exit I merged off the highway and managed to hit every green light on my way to the building. It was a damned Christmas miracle.

  I pulled into the garage with minutes to spare and ran for the elevator. I almost missed it when a thick tan arm caught the door and held it for me. An arm I had gotten to know well years ago and was getting to know well again.

  “Have a good weekend?” Watching his reflection in the mirrored doors of the elevator I was afraid of looking at him. Elevators were cliché and dangerous for people to be alone in.

  “It was okay. I spent it alone.” He leaned in towards my ear, “Most of it with my cock in my hand imagining it was your mouth. I can’t get you out of my system.”

  Noel straightened as the elevator stopped and the doors opened, leaving me flushed, but him looking perfectly presentable. I stepped backward to let more people onto the elevator as we headed to our floor, slowly adding more people as we rose, stopping floor by floor, until I was flush against Noel, his scent surrounding me.

  “Mm, you smell good. I may have to stop by for a little breakfast later.” his breath teased my ear as he ran his hand up my back.

  “Yes. I hear Ashlee has extra work planned today and might need an extra hand.” I hoped he caught the hint that he couldn’t just barge into my office like that. I doubt he did though.

  “Someone else can help her. I’m already helping you.” His voice was possessive, an almost feral growl of a whisper in my ear.

  The elevator stopped on our floor and most of the people got off. The few who didn’t worked at the firm worked at the firm above us.

  I hurried toward my office, Noel on my heels. I didn’t want to deal with his extra ass this morning, but it looked like I wasn’t getting a choice. I unlocked my office and let him in, walking in behind him.

  He slammed the door and pushed me up against it, his lips claiming mine. “I’ve been wanting to do that since you left me in your backyard.”

  I pushed him back. “Good. Now that that’s out of your system update me on what is going on with donations.” I pulled a folder out of my bag and set it on my desk.

  “Taken care of. No one wanted to donate money, but I have managed to get a ton of items, vacations, courses, things like that donated. I should have the full list or items, certificates, and donation slips by Thursday. Now. About our d…” A knock on the door interrupted him.

  “Let me get that. They don’t seem to trust us alone.”

  A low, gravelly laugh escaped his throat. “I wonder why. I heard someone complaining this side of the building smelled like sex for the rest of the day. Sex and cinnamon.”

  Ignoring him I opened the door to find Mr. Carson and Mr. Johnson on the other side. That wasn’t normal.

  “Good morning gentlemen. To what do I owe this visit?” I really hoped I wasn’t about to get fired. That would be the last thing I wanted this morning.

  “We just wanted to check on your uncle. How is Ol’ Ben doing?” It was nice that they cared, but I could sense more to their being here than that.

  “Good. Broken leg, but nothing as serious as they thought. He’s already home and bossing everyone around. Madison thinks it’s funny he can’t do anything right now though. She sure does love him.”

  “Ah, good. So, no more weeks off this close to the holidays? This is crunch time and you are the best.” There it was. The whole reason they wanted to make sure he was okay.

  “No sir. We should be all set ‘til Easter.” I tried to throw a little joke in there, but it fell flat because neither man smiled.

  "For your sake you better be wrong," Mr. Johnson glared at me, then turned and left my office, Mr. Carson on his heels.

  I w
atched them walk down the hall and out of sight before I turned back to Noel. “I think you should go. We both have work we need to do.”

  I stood by the door and waved him out.

  He walked by me, giving me a heat filled stare as he left, pausing on the other side of the doorway. “I’m still waiting for my answer.”

  “Answer?”

  “Dance.”

  “Fine. It’s after the Christmas party.”

  “Perfect.”

  I shut the door and walked back to my desk. What had I just agreed to? What was Madison going to think when I told her she was going to go with my friend from the office? What about when she found out he was really her dad?

  I sank down in the chair behind my desk and idly picked up a file, flipping through it. Nothing caught my eye and I tossed it back on my desk. I wasn’t even sure why I had to be here today.

  I turned and stared out my window. The skies had started to cloud over. Not another sunny day in Los Angeles. But that didn’t mean it was going to rain, either. The sky represented my mood perfectly.

  The phone rang and I picked it up, expecting it to be someone in my department, only to hear Ashlee’s voice on the other end.

  “I’m going to ruin you. I know everything. Everything.”

  “What do you know?” This oughta be good. Another one of Ashlee’s fits, another day she wouldn’t get fired.

  “That you fucked Noel in your office.”

  “Not your business. Get off my line. I’m expecting important calls.” I hung up. Not my fault if she knew or didn’t know. I was over her and her self-important attitude.

  I had work to do and money to make.

  The rest of the week in the office was uncomfortable as whispers started to follow me. Whispers that I was shacking up with Noel already. Nothing about us having known each other before he started working here, just that I was easy.