by Molly McLain
“James, I didn’t know you were bringing the future misses with you. The last time we spoke, you swore to be a bachelor forever.”
I wanted to speak, but my throat was constricted
“That hasn’t changed, Eric. Mila is my assistant.” I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me. I hadn’t had time to warn Chase about my big, white lie.
“I don’t understand.” Eric’s frown was so deep, I knew I’d never be able to dig myself out of the hole I had created. “She was just telling me the two of you were involved.”
Chase managed to control his reaction, but I could see the surprise in his eyes just before they slid to me. The anger and promise of retribution in them made me shiver.
“It’s complicated,” he said slowly. I swayed and nearly fell from my stool. Chase must have known because his hand quickly caught my thigh to steady me. He didn’t bother moving his hand after I caught my balance, and when I shifted hoping he’d catch the hint, he simply tightened his grip. “Mila is my assistant, and I’m wary of making our involvement public knowledge, given my position on interoffice relationships.”
“Ah, I see,” Eric nodded. “So, is it serious?” He looked between Chase and me for the answer, and I had the feeling he wasn’t entirely convinced of our extracurricular activities outside the office.
“Mila?” Chase called. Even sitting on the high barstool, I had to look up to meet his gaze.
“Yes, Mr. James.” One hard squeeze reminded me of his warning. “Uh, Chase.”
“The man asked a question.”
Oh, God. Why was he doing this? It was embarrassing and beyond cruel to put me on the spot like this. “Um, we’re, uh… taking it slow.”
Eric nodded as if satisfied. “Very well then. I wish you two the best of luck.” He turned to Chase, and I began to breathe easier. “James, you wanted to discuss business.”
“Actually, I’ll have to postpone.”
Mr. Morris’s eyes furrowed. “Oh?”
“Yes, something urgent has come up, and I’m afraid I’ll need to take care of it immediately.” Chase’s grip shifted from my thigh to curl around my hand. He then forced me carefully from the stool. Once I was standing, Chase apologized to Mr. Morris and wordlessly led me from the ballroom.
I wanted to plead my case and offer an explanation, but Chase’s long strides forced me to concentrate on staying upright. “Mr. Ja—” One sharp look had me swallowing my words.
“It won’t do to test my patience, Mila.”
“I can’t walk as fast as you. Especially in these eye-gougers.”
He didn’t respond, but he did slow his pace considerably. We made it to the elevator without incident and rode to our floor in silence. It was only when he led me to his room instead of mine had I found the will to speak.
“Uh, Chase?”
“Quiet, Mila.”
“Okay,” I squeaked. He yanked me inside his room and then pushed the door shut behind us. I stumbled as far away from him as I could, but it didn’t matter because he didn’t pursue me. He moved toward the center table of his suite entrance and threw his cell and key on top of it.
“Eric Morris cares about family, but he also values honesty just as much,” Chase began quietly.
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Start with explaining why you believed lying was a great solution?”
“I wasn’t thinking.” His dry laugh made me flinch.
“Obviously,” he replied in a flat one.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to lie. It just slipped.”
“It slipped?” He moved forward then. Slowly. Like he was planning his steps and how best to catch his prey. “Lies as elaborate as the one you told don’t just slip, Mila.”
God, I hated the way he said my name. He said it as if he were scolding me and seducing me at the same time.
I didn’t try to run when he closed the distance between us because I knew he’d only catch me. “Have you ever lied to me?”
“No,” I answered vehemently.
“Did you even graduate from Penn?”
“Yes. Eliza checked all my background and my references. You know this.”
“Hmm… Turn around.”
“Why?”
“Because I want you to.” After a moment’s hesitation, I turned. I thought maybe not looking in his storm blue eyes would give me a reprieve, but I was wrong. His presence was only more heavily felt this way.
“We’re not involved, Mila. We never were. Do you understand?”
“Yes.” I couldn’t stop it. My heart broke in two. Why did he have to insist on not wanting me? I was so sure before. In the hallway, at the bar, and on his jet… Was all that imagined?
“If you were mine, no one would ever need to question it, least of all you. You would have been on my arm every day and under me every night.” I melted at the promise in his words even though I knew it could never be. He moved closer. So close, I could feel his minty breath on my neck. “Did you get caught up in some kind of fantasy tonight or is the idea of you and me what you really want?”
A tear slipped down my cheek.
How could he ask me to bare myself? He already knew the answer anyway. Denying it meant lying which got me into this predicament in the first place. I was trapped, and he very well knew it.
“Answer me, Mila.”
“Yes.”
“Yes, what?”
“I wanted to be with you. I didn’t know it before we came here. I was sure I hated you.”
“They say there’s a fine line between love and hate.”
“I don’t love you,” I shot back.
He chuckled unfazed. “Maybe not yet, but you will.” I felt his fingers curl around my waist before he shifted me into his chest. “Tell me, how can I have you as an assistant knowing you want me?”
“I—” I stopped when his other fingers slid up my bare back before sliding under the shoulder of my dress and pushing it down.
“What are you doing?” I whispered. There was panic in my voice that I didn’t try to hide.
“I’m undressing you,” he answered confidently.
“Why?” I tried to turn, but his hand on my waist stopped me.
“Because you need to be punished and that can’t happen with your clothes on.”
“I beg to differ. If you’re going to fire me, I prefer you do it with my clothes on.”
“I have no intention of firing you… yet.”
“Why not?” I cried. I couldn’t take him toying with me any longer.
“Because I’m going to fuck you, Ms. Hunt.”
My heart did somersaults in my stomach again. “What if I don’t want to be punished? What if I don’t want to be fucked?”
“Oh, you’ll be punished whether you like it or not. How is completely up to you. I can either fire you, which I have every right to do, or…”
“Or?”
“You can spend the night pleasuring me until I’m satisfied you’ve learned your lesson.”
After two years of fantasizing, bringing him pleasure was hardly punishment. When morning came I would finally be free of desires I was never able to admit having.
Before now.
“Which will it be, Mila?”
“You’re not giving me much of a choice.”
“Do you think you deserve this job?”
“Yes.”
“Then the answer should be simple.” He slipped the dress from my other shoulder, and we both watched it fall to the floor.
Chapter 4
CHASE
Fuck me.
She was completely naked underneath the dress.
Logically, undergarments would have done the dress an injustice, but it was safe to say I haven’t been thinking logically since I pulled Mila from the ballroom.
I may have missed out on one of the biggest accounts J&S has ever seen, but goddamn if it wasn’t worth it seeing Mila wearing nothing but those fuck me heels. I’d had to pick them out myself sin
ce I normally reserve tasks like these for my assistant. I told Mila I’d gone to the fight, but the truth was I spent the afternoon searching for a dress that would impress but only served to keep me distracted and hard all night.
“Turn around.” My voice was hoarse, but I didn’t care. I needed to see all of her. I knew she would hesitate. She was likely calling back her sanity and searching for a way out of this. “Turn around, Ms. Hunt,” I ordered more forcefully. She did as I asked this time. I could tell her legs were weak when she stumbled slightly.
Her cheeks reddened when she caught herself, and there was relief that she didn’t fall in her eyes. I never would have let that happen. I was standing so close she would have crashed right into me. She was petite and couldn’t have weighed more than a hundred and ten pounds tops.
I took my time perusing her body. Goose bumps covered every inch of her creamy skin. She looked so soft and fuckable.
“You’re more beautiful than I imagined,” I whispered. Her gasp was sharp as if I’d shocked her. I forced my gaze from her bare, plump pussy and met her own. “Tell me you’ve known.” She shook her head, and I bit the inside of my cheek in frustration. “How could you not have known? I watched you every day. I couldn’t fucking take my eyes off of you.”
“I swear I didn’t know.” Her voice trembled in rhythm with her body. “You were always with other women, and you barely talked to me.”
“I was trying to get you out of my head, and I figured if I ignored you every chance I got, I could continue to be your boss. What we’re doing is dangerous. If I hurt you—”
“You won’t.” Her eyes bucked, and her bottom lip was between her teeth as if she were as surprised by her response as I was.
“What if you hurt me?” I shot back.
“I could never hurt you, Mr. James.” Her vow was lost on deaf ears.
“What is my name, Mila?” I must have given away my new mood in my tone because she looked fearful again and backed away. “I won’t ask you again.”
Instead of answering, she took another step back. I couldn’t take not having my hands on her again, so I lunged. She screamed and bolted to get away, but she couldn’t outrun me in those heels. I caught her around her waist and ignored her struggles as I carried her into the bedroom and over to the king size bed. When I let her go, she scrambled backward across the bed and away from me.
“Don’t go too far,” I warned as I loosened my bow tie. The hard breaths she took beckoned my gaze to her breasts. She had the perfect size to fit in my palm and the prettiest pink nipples I’ll ever have the pleasure to put in my mouth.
I was amazed how quickly I shed my clothes. Mila watched me with curious eyes although I could still see a hint of fear in them.
“Don’t be afraid of me.”
She snorted. “Yes, Master.” Her mocking grin and sarcasm only made my dick harder.
“I am not your master nor am I Mr. James to you. Who am I, Mila?” I moved closer to the foot of the bed and reached out to pull her closer by her ankle. She shrieked and fought, but I won. “Who am I?” I let my fingers trail from her ankle to her thigh and grinned when I felt her shiver. “Who am I?” I got on my knees putting her delicious looking pussy at eye level. I had wanted her submission before I took my first taste of her, but I felt my restraint slipping. “Who. Am. I?”
“Fuck!” She seemed to lose control, but instead of giving in, she slid her fingers between the soft petals of her pussy, threw her head back, and forced pleasure from her own body. I watched her, enchanted by her fingers moving over her clit, and then her sudden hoarse scream as she gave in to her own body.
Jesus Christ…
She came.
She fucking came.
When it was over, I was feral with the need to relive it. My hands found her waist and yanked her forward until there was no space left between us. Her body still shuddered from her orgasm, but I didn’t care. I needed my mouth on her. I needed to taste her. I slipped my tongue relentlessly between the warm, wet petals of her pussy and growled when she tried to get away.
“Oh, God,” she shrieked. “It’s too much. I can’t come again, Chase. I can’t.”
I proved her wrong about thirty seconds later.
I wanted to roar and beat my chest with pride when she screamed louder, and she came harder than she had before.
I climbed onto the bed as she floated down from orgasm and settled on top of her after nudging open her thighs with my knees. When my cock found her opening, I suppressed the need to come prematurely and gazed into her sleepy eyes. “Mila.”
“Yes, Chase.”
“You were never mine.” I leaned down so that my lips were next to her ear. “But you are now.” I slammed inside her and swallowed her scream this time. Her lips tasted almost as good as her pussy, and I found I could easily get lost in them as I fucked her into the mattress. Of all the times I had envisioned her underneath me, my fantasies were nothing compared to the real thing.
When I made her come apart again, I could hear fireworks.
Literally.
When our hearts weren’t racing, and our breaths were caught, I pulled her into my chest, and we watched the fireworks through the large window together. I couldn’t explain the deep sense of contentment I felt to finally have her where I’ve needed her for two long years.
“Happy New Year, Chase.”
Chapter 5
CHRISTINA
I smoothed my suit jacket one last time before stepping out of the cab and onto the sidewalk that led to my future. I had an interview today, but I wasn’t the least bit nervous. James Acquisitions was exactly the kind of cut throat company that could feed my thirst for power and control, and the leader wasn’t too shabby in the boardroom either.
I spent a lot of waking hours studying the infamous Rudy James, and the moment I took my first step into his domain, I knew I had found exactly what I’d been looking for. The CEO’s ruthlessness and smarts were just what I needed to climb my way to the top.
First, I was going to be his pupil and then his successor.
Whether he liked it or not.
* * *
Stay tuned for…
* * *
A Rude Awakening.
A full-length contemporary romance.
Coming Soon.
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<<<<>>>>
Blink
USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR
MOLLY MCLAIN
Ian
In the blink of an eye, my life became a fucking cliché.
I love you so much, Lauren had said. Nothing will ever tear us apart, Ian, I promise.
Except my job, apparently.
Seven years together and suddenly I’m more married to my badge than her. Just like my old man had been according to my mother, and just like Lauren’s father, too, if what her mom says is true.
Guess I should’ve seen it coming. It’s in our goddamn genes.
“Cut the brooding serial killer act already, Rusk.” Will, my Metro PD partner, glares at me from the other side of the arena aisle. Around us, a raucous crowd of MMA faithful watch two heavyweight legends go at each other in the octagon. Fists, knees, feet, blood… They’re relentless in their assault, and normally I’d be cheering them on with the masses. Tonight, however, I’m on the clock, and six days ago—after we opened our Christmas gifts—my wife walked out on me.
“Total bullshit that we’re stuck doing grunt work tonight,” I grumble, adjusting the too-tight cuff on my black button-down. I couldn’t even wear my usual work attire, for Christ’s sake. Dress up, Chief Deputy Marcos had said. Put a little effort into yourself for once. What-the-hell-ever that’s supposed to mean.
Will shakes his head indifferently, then scans the crowd with a casual but watchful eye. “Take it as a compliment, Detective. The Russian mafia is here tonight. Couldn’t stick just anyone on this job.”
Yeah, yeah. Biggest fight and biggest draw of the year or not, I’d rather be just about anywhere e
lse. In fact, cozied up with a bottle of something strong and smooth would be perfect, because tonight’s not just any New Year’s Eve—ten years ago, damn near to the hour, Lauren and I had our first date.
“This noise is giving me a headache,” I complain as the crowd chants Rip-per, Rip-per over and over again, while the champ tightens his chokehold on his opponent. Too bad the tough bastard won’t tap out.
“I’ll tell you one thing—the single life has brought out the whiner in you, that’s for damn sure.” Will rolls his shoulders, his suit jacket making him look more like a stuffy professor than a badass Las Vegas detective. “Maybe you should find yourself a distraction. Like something in a short dress.”
The uncomfortable heat already burning up the back of my neck flares even hotter and, friend or not, I want to go MMA on Will’s ass just like the guys in the ring.
Lauren’s been gone for less than a week. What’s more—I love her.
The only short dresses I’m interested in are the ones still hanging in our closet. The ones I hope like hell I get to see Lauren wear again someday.
“Still married, asshole.” I lift my left hand and flash my wedding band as a couple, linked arm in arm, approaches our exit. My partner grins, his focus clearly set on the stunning brunette, but I’m more interested in the fighter at her side—none other than Josh “The Jackhammer” North.
“Evening, champ.” I dip my chin toward the stocky, built-like-a-truck man. “Too bad you weren’t in the octagon tonight, huh?”
“Next time.” The Jackhammer winks. “Tonight is all about my woman.” When he pulls said woman to his side, squeezing her tight, my gut clenches. Honest to God, I feel like I’m going to puke all over her fancy shoes.
What is Lauren doing tonight? More importantly, where is she? I’ve sent texts with nothing in return except the little ‘read’ notification, which at least let me know she’s alive. Other than that, she’s given me nothing.
