by Lucy Lambert
Then they couldn’t help themselves. She pounded down onto him as fast as she could. He held on for dear life as she continued tightening around him so that the skin on his member moved up and down with her grip.
She never felt so alive as at that moment. Death had been staring them both in the face, and they’d beaten it back.
Her lips found his again as she continued sliding up and down his member.
Then he touched something inside her. She threw her head back, letting out a wordless groan.
Seeing what he’d done, Landon began driving himself up into her again and again. She could hear the wet noises of their loving as his hardness thrust into her sopping sex.
Charlotte put her hands on the roof of the limo, using it to push down against Landon as he pushed up into her over and over. She could feel him getting stiffer and bigger. He was past the point of no return, she knew. She could see it in the wince on his face.
Slamming herself down onto him as she reached her climax, she kissed him. Her pussy tightened around him, holding him deep inside her. As she came on him, he jerked inside her. She felt warmth as his seed shot deeply into her, spurt after spurt. They both held each other tightly for a while.
They cleaned themselves with tissues as they rode out the rest of the ride in silence. They had leaned forward and linked a few of their fingers together. She could see the way he trembled. His face had become much paler, but he didn’t seem to regret what they’d done.
Lumps of anxiety formed in Charlotte’s body as they pulled back up to the office building. The car had stopped almost exactly where it had before. The driver got out and opened the door.
Things were different, this time. Mindy wasn’t there, for one. For two, several black cars pulled up behind the limo. They disgorged the bodyguards from the hospital. The men swept the area with their eyes, muttering into mics in the cuffs of their jackets. When they finished, they formed a perimeter around Landon and Charlotte.
“All clear, sir,” one guard said.
Landon nodded. They all walked into the building. There were so many in the group that they couldn’t fit into a single elevator. Landon, Charlotte, and four guards took one while the rest ran up the stairs. Charlotte felt bad for them. She wouldn’t want to run up to the top of the tower. She wasn’t even certain she would be capable of it.
Finally, the elevator stopped. Charlotte began getting out, but a guard stopped her with one hand.
“We need to check it first, miss,” he said.
One man stayed in the elevator with them while the others checked around. Their voices crackled an all-clear over the mic a few minutes later.
Charlotte had a feeling like she’d stepped over her own grave as her shoes clicked off the hard floor of the office. She saw the dual staircases, the two secretarial desks nestled between them. Mindy’s old desk was entirely bare, not even a computer monitor.
Charlotte had another wry moment as she stared in consternation at the huge stack of papers left on her desk.
“What is all this?” She muttered, breaking away from the pack and looking at the pile.
“The non-disclosure agreement. It’s... pretty thorough,” Landon said from behind her. She looked over her shoulder at him.
He was looking at the stairs. He seemed to be trying to gird himself for the climb up.
“Yeah, looks like they needed a whole forest for this,” she said, waving at the papers.
Those little colored idiot tags poked out from the sides of the stack, showing where she needed to sign. Charlotte groaned. Even if she skimmed through and did nothing but sign, she knew it was going to take more than an hour. She flexed her writing hand. It gave an ache, as though already aware of the paces she was going to put it through.
The elevator dinged, then. More guards came out. They fanned out around the office, standing with their hands crossed in front of them. She didn’t like the way they all wore sunglasses inside. There was something suspicious about people who hid their eyes all the time.
They could be looking anywhere.
Landon made his way slowly up the stairs. He seemed to be limping slightly now, and Charlotte smiled. She knew exactly what had caused that one. She felt a little sore herself, along the backs of her thighs. Her bottom stung a bit when she sat down from all his squeezing.
Taking a deep breath, she pulled the first page down from the stack. Her eyes glazed as they glided over the legalese. She signed her name and the date again and again.
She wasn’t even a quarter of the way through the stack when her hand began cramping. Putting her pen down, she shook her fingers, letting them go limp.
Then the guards all put their hands to their ears, as though hearing a report. The temperature in the room seemed to drop as Charlotte’s breathing quickened.
Right away, her thoughts went to Mindy. Was she back? Did she bring another gun?
The elevator door opened at the end of the hall. The guards all put their hands inside their jackets. She knew their fingers would be wrapping around the cool grips of pistols nestled away in hidden holsters. She pushed up from her chair, uncertain what to do.
A man in a white jacket wheeled a cart in covered with silver dishes. Two guards stopped him. They lifted the lids from the dishes.
Saliva squirted into Charlotte’s mouth as she realized that Landon was having a meal sent in. The smell of the food was almost maddening. Charlotte realized she didn’t remember when she’d last eaten. All she’d had since the shooting was some water.
Sitting back down as her heartbeat calmed, Charlotte pushed down on the intercom button.
The guards let the caterer pass, and he started wheeling the cart forward.
“Yes?” Landon’s voice came through the speaker.
“Landon...” Charlotte began, then remembered where she was and corrected herself, “Mister Pierce, the food you ordered is here.”
There was a pause. Charlotte frowned. A ball of fear returned to the pit of her stomach when she sensed something was wrong.
“Charlotte, I didn’t order any food.”
The caterer was almost to the stairs. It was so odd that he’d brought a cart. She wondered how he planned on getting all the food up those stairs.
Reaching the foot of the stairs, the caterer stopped. He pulled the lids off the dishes. Steam wafted from the food, and Charlotte’s mouth watered again. One of the guards probably ordered, that’s it, she told herself.
She frowned as the caterer stuck his hand into the soup.
“Charlotte? I think you need to get out. Now,” Landon said over the intercom.
None of the guards were near enough for her to get their attention quietly.
The caterer pulled out a dripping pistol from the big soup dish. It had a long, black cylindrical silencer on the end. Without a word, he pointed it. Charlotte wanted to scream as the end of the gun pointed at her for a moment. She just couldn’t get the sound out.
“What’s going on?” Landon said, his voice tinny as it came through the speaker.
The gun made a “pfft” noise as the assassin squeezed the trigger. The guard standing closest to them fell, clutching at his throat. The shell from the pistol landed on the floor, the brass casing tinkling against the hard surface.
It was a sound like glass shattering.
“Gun!”
The rest of the guards began rushing into the room, drawing their own weapons. Charlotte could do nothing but watch wide-eyed. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. The assassin squeezed the trigger again. “Pfft!” the gun went. Another guard fell.
“What the hell is going on?” Landon said, appearing at the top of the stairs.
The assassin saw him. He pointed his gun, but couldn’t get a clear shot through the railing. Snarling, he started up the stairs. Landon saw him, his face a mask of shock as he looked at the pistol.
The assassin reached the top of the staircase. He let go of the rail to grab his pistol with both hands. He aimed
down the sight. Landon kicked out. His foot connected solidly with the assassin’s chest.
The man tumbled down the stairs. When he reached the bottom, he lay in a heap. Two bodyguards piled on him, pulling the gun away. Another man had a cell out and was dialling for ambulances for the two guards that had been shot.
Landon made his way slowly down the stairs. One of the guards tried to grab him by the arm, but he shook him off.
Charlotte finally let go of the intercom button. All the blood had drained from her face, and her fingers felt like icicles. She couldn’t stop staring at the unconscious assassin. Her mind kept flooding her with the image of that pistol pointing right at her. It had been so quiet. It seemed somehow wrong for a gun to be that quiet.
It took her a moment to realize she was being shaken by the shoulders. She looked up, the spell broken. It was Landon. He looked concerned. His eyes kept flicking around her face, and he kept checking to make sure she hadn’t been shot.
“Landon?” Charlotte said finally.
He breathed a sigh of relief, kneeling down in front of her. He grabbed both her hands with his. When he felt how cold they were, he brought them up to his handsome face. His stubble prickled at her fingers as he blew hot air against her cold flesh. Charlotte felt goosebumps break out on her arms.
“I’m sending you home. Don’t leave your apartment until I come and see you.”
***
Landon didn’t show up at her door until the next day. Charlotte wrenched the door open. Landon was there, along with two sunglass-wearing bodyguards.
“Can I come in?” He said.
“Of course!”
She showed him to the couch and sat down beside him. He had a newspaper rolled up under one arm, she noticed. Grabbing both her hands, he took a deep breath.
The smile faded from Charlotte’s face as she saw his expression. He seemed to be wrestling with himself, and he kept looking into her eyes, then down at his hands.
“What is it?” She asked.
He swallowed. Then he looked up into her face. He had the cool business mask on again, his mouth in a straight line. Only his eyes betrayed the inner turmoil he seemed to be going through.
“You’re fired,” he said.
Charlotte wrenched her hands from his and stood up so suddenly that the guards reached into their jackets. Landon held up one hand, stopping them.
“What?” Charlotte said.
“Please, Charlotte. It’s the only way to keep you safe.” He held out the newspaper.
She took it, unrolling it. Her eyes widened when she saw her picture on the front page. “Secretary to CEO Landon Pierce Fired Over NDA Breach,” it read.
Charlotte sank down onto the couch. Her heart seemed to keep on going until it was at the very bottom of her stomach. Tears pushed at the back of her eyes, threatening to boil in hot streams down her cheeks.
“I don’t understand,” she said.
“It’s the only way I could keep you safe. If they think you’re no longer connected to me, they won’t consider using you as leverage against me. They won’t try to hurt you.”
The anger did come out then. Setting her teeth in a line, Charlotte spoke.
“Is that all I am to you? Leverage? Landon... I... I...”
“Of course not, Charlotte. I... care about you. That’s why I have to do this. I’m so sorry. Even with all this excitement going on, I felt different when I met you. I feel lighter when I’m around you, like I’m capable of anything. And I couldn’t bare it if I got you hurt.”
He tried to hold her hands again. It made sense to Charlotte, but she’d pushed the rational part of herself to the back of her mind with a sudden molten rage.
Pulling her hands out from his, she slapped him. His head twisted to the side with the force of it. When he looked at her again, she could see the red welts her fingers left. She regretted the act instantly, but her anger kept that guilt pushed away.
Standing, Landon dropped a white envelope on the coffee table. “Your severance.”
As he turned, she thought his eyes looked wet. But then she could no longer see his face.
“You can’t do this, Landon!” She stood and began following him to the door.
The guards prevented her from leaving.
“Landon! I’m sorry. Please don’t go! I love you!”
That made him pause. He looked over his shoulder at her for a moment. There was a mixture of hurt, anger, and sadness in those sharp eyes.
Then he nodded to the bodyguards. They closed the door behind them as they left.
Charlotte sank down to the floor. She rocked herself there for she knew not how long.
The phone rang. The shrill noise broke her from her stupor.
As soon as she picked up the receiver, a smooth, modulated voice on the other end began speaking.
“Miss Montgomery, please do not try to speak. We have some information about your lover and employer, Mister Landon Pierce, which you may find interesting. We believe that you may wish to help us after you have heard it. Are you interested in hearing what we have to say?”
A hot tear trailed down Charlotte’s cheek. She felt used, as though her feelings had meant nothing. There had been a part of her that felt as if she and Landon should be together right at that moment. For some reason, she knew they would both be safe, would survive anything, if that were the case.
But he’d clearly thought differently.
Her eyes found the white envelope on the table. It had a check in it, she knew. As if money could make her forget how she felt. At that instant, all the filled her was anger.
“Yes, tell me,” Charlotte said.
Safe with Him
Charlotte sat on the edge of her bed, clutching the cordless phone in her hand. She wasn't certain how long she'd been there. It could have been a few minutes. It could have been the entire day.
In any case, the cordless felt warm in her hands.
Inside, a mix of emotions raged. Her heart slammed inside her chest. She hadn't eaten anything yet, for fear of not being able to keep it down.
"Landon..." She whispered.
Just the mention of his name made her face twist. At first, her eyes scrunched up and she felt as though she might cry. Then the rage came.
It felt hot in her stomach, like a slowly spinning ball of molten lead. No one like him had ever paid attention to her before. No one rich and handsome, kind yet firm.
Screeching, Charlotte shot to her feet. She hurled the cordless away. It shattered into fragments against the opposite wall of her bedroom. A few of the shards pinged back far enough to almost touch her.
Her shoulders heaved. It felt like she'd just sprinted a mile through snow. Turning in a slow circle, she took in her room. The silver-threaded bedspread was crinkled into a ball on the middle of the mattress. She could make out a grey sky through the opening in her curtains.
The lamp on the nightstand was still on. Charlotte walked over to it, reached under the shade, and turned the knob.
Beginning to sit down, she jerked back to her feet.
"Damn it!"
The clock read 2:30 PM. The meeting with the mysterious caller was supposed to happen at 3:30. It took a good twenty minutes in a cab to get to the spot on a good day, and she hadn't even gotten ready to go out.
Hastily, she put on her makeup after pulling off the dress she'd been wearing. She paused, pressing her face to the soft fabric. The musky smell of Landon's aftershave lingered on it.
For just an instant, she considered not going.
Then she stepped on a sharp fragment from the shattered phone. It dug into the sole of her foot like a jagged fang.
"God damn you, Landon Pierce," Charlotte said as she hopped over to her bed.
She hissed as she grabbed the plastic fragment and extracted it from her flesh.
Charlotte looked longingly to the shower as she prepped her hair. Just the thought of the warm water spilling down her body sent a tingle of heat through her. Things
always felt better after a shower for her. Cleansing the body could often cleanse the mind, in her opinion.
But there was no time for such simple luxuries. She started putting on her watch, then hissed and hurled it away as if it were a cobra.
Its golden face gleamed at her accusingly from its spot on the floor. The leather straps even curled in such a way under it that it appeared even more snakelike.
Landon had given her that watch.
A chill ran up and down her spine. She had to get out of that place. Everything just reminded her of him.
It took nearly five minutes to hail a cab outside her building. She jumped into the back, giving the bald cabbie the nearest intersection.
The cab's air conditioner blew a cold breeze in her face, but still she sweated. Rooting around in her purse, she pulled out a tissue and dabbed at her cheeks and forehead.
The cabbie adjusted his rear-view mirror.
"You okay, miss?" He said. He seemed uncomfortable. It was normal for people to not want to talk in the cab. It wasn't normal for them to look as though they were on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
"What? Yes, I'm fine... I..."
As she spoke, she saw an ad on a building. It had a long, rectangular picture with swirls of color. On one side of the image stood Landon Pierce. He had his hands in his pockets, and he gave a sidelong glance at some new computer tablet.
"Pierce Technologies: Always Ready," the sign read.
Charlotte's mouth clicked shut.
They'd already passed the ad by the time the cabbie looked to see what had spooked her so much. He muttered something under his breath and put his full attention back on the road.
She handed the cabbie a few bills when she got out at the curb. He tried to hand her some change, but she waved it away. All she could see was the coffee shop. Glass lined the storefront, which was the bottom floor of a four-storey building. There was a large red flower on the sign, which read, "Rose's Coffee."
The bell above the door tinkled as she stepped in. An older couple looked up at her from a booth at the end of the long room. Aside from them, the only other person was a barista wearing a red apron behind the counter.
