by Alexa Wilder
“I haven’t slept with anyone for months, Chloe. Do you understand what I’m trying to say?”
“No,” I answered truthfully. For the first time I was getting that I didn’t understand anything.
“Are you on birth control?” he asked, seemingly changing the subject. I nodded, explaining, with a flush on my cheeks,
“I get bad cramps.” My words trailed off. So silly. This man had his mouth between my legs and I was blushing over cramps. He didn’t seem to care. Tucking my hair behind my ear, he said,
“I got tested at my check-up last month. I’m completely clean. I promise. But I’ll get a condom if you want.”
I thought about it for a second. That was all it took. I wouldn’t get pregnant and I trusted that Sam wouldn’t lie about being clean. I knew I was since, I been living like a nun.
“No, we don’t need one. I want to feel all of you.”
With a sound that was half groan and half laugh, Sam said, “You’ll feel all of me love. You’re so tight I’m going to hurt you if I’m not careful.”
“Sam,” I whispered, tired of waiting. “Please.”
“Anything you want, Chloe.”
Sam rose over me, fitting himself between my legs. Instinctively, I raised my knees and pulled my feet close to my hips, opening for him. When the head of his cock brushed my pussy, hot and hard, I jumped a little, too keyed up and aroused to stay still.
“Shhh,” Sam whispered in my ear. “We’re going slow. A little at a time.”
He was true to his word. The head of his cock pressed inside me slowly, stretching me open, filling me so much more than his fingers had. I gasped and began to pant, willing my body to relax and make room for him. I couldn’t think, couldn’t put the feeling into words. It hurt. Not terribly, but the stretch and invasion weren’t exactly comfortable. At the same time, it felt so good, as if all the empty places inside me were being broken open and remade the right way.
I lifted my knees and rolled my hips into his, taking another inch. Sam gasped and swore. “Fuck, Chloe. I’m trying to go slow here.”
“I want more, Sam. Please,” I panted. He was so gentle. So careful with me. And I knew he was right. I was tight. God, I could feel exactly how tight I was. Every tiny bit he moved deeper was a new pulling, stretching sensation. Sparks of pain and sharp, biting pleasure flickered back and forth, making me crazy.
Instead of moving my hips, I arched my back, raising my breasts to Sam. He was taller than me, but with only part of his cock inside me, he had plenty of room to dip his head and draw my nipple into his mouth.
I cried out at the liquid heat as he sucked. There was a line of nerves going straight from my nipple to my clit and with every draw of his mouth I felt the heat between my legs rise. My hips began to move again, out of my control, flexing and rolling, taking his cock in deeper, inch by inch. I cried out, the suck of his mouth and the invasion of his cock too much at once.
“Jesus, fuck, Chloe,” Sam cried out as my pussy clamped down on his cock, my orgasm a wave of pleasure so big I was drowning in it. Sam finally lost control, slamming the rest of the way into me, fucking me hard, his cock remaking my pussy with every thrust, claiming me as his. I took it all, every flash of pain driving me higher. I don’t know if I came more than once, or if I just came so long I blacked out.
The next thing I remember, I was laying on top of Sam, his still half-hard cock inside me, my head tucked beneath his chin, his hand stroking over my back and tangling in my hair.
“You okay?” he asked.
All I could say was, “Mmm.” I trailed my fingers down his side, hardly able to believe I was lying naked in bed with Sam, his body still inside mine.
“Clo? Seriously, you okay?”
I shifted to raise my head so I could meet his eyes. “Seriously,” I said. “I’m good. I’m amazing.”
“Yes, you are,” he said. I giggled, knowing he knew that wasn’t what I’d meant.
The movement brushed my nipples against his chest hair, sparking a tiny burst of arousal. I squirmed, suddenly aware of Sam’s cock inside me in a whole new way. The tingles between my legs increased as he hardened. With an incredulous laugh, Sam flipped me onto my back.
“I don’t think I’ve rebounded that fast since I was a teenager,” he said, dipping his head to nip the side of my neck. “So perfect, Chloe,” he whispered in my ear. “Your pussy is perfect. I’m never letting you out of this bed.”
“Fine with me,” I whispered back, wrapping my legs around Sam’s lean hips, taking all of his cock as he drove it deep. The stretch was less painful, more pressure than anything. The pleasure though that was even better.
This time we went slow, taking our time with long, drugging kisses, our hands roaming and stroking, bodies moving in sync, connected by more than the physical. I fell asleep in Sam’s arms, feeling like I was exactly where I was meant to be.
20
Sam
“Where’s Chloe?” Dad asked the second I walked into the kitchen.
“Sleeping,” I said, not wanting to say more. If I had my way she’d sleep all day. We hadn’t gotten back from the bar until well after midnight, and I’d kept her up until early morning making love to her. I hadn’t had sex that many times in one night, ever. Not even when I was in college. But I’d finally had Chloe naked, and I hadn’t been able to get enough of her. Now she needed her rest.
I had a meeting that afternoon I couldn’t miss, but there was no reason she couldn’t stay home and nap. I’d go to the meeting and get back as soon as I could. The company could run itself for one day without us. It would have to. Chloe was in my bed. I wasn’t willing to let her out for at least a week. Maybe a month. Maybe I’d just have IT set up a laptop and she could work from my bedroom.
“What was going on last night?” Dad asked, interrupting my thoughts. “I heard you go out, then Chloe go out, and when you got back you were both yelling. What did you do?”
“I didn’t do anything,” I said, annoyed he assumed that I’d been the one who fucked up. My Dad and I got along great most of the time. He’d been my biggest supporter my entire life, and we rarely argued. Except over Chloe.
He’d been bugging me about Chloe since I’d hired her. First he was worried I’d get involved with her. My previous assistant had been about ninety and not a temptation in any way. When I’d hired Chloe, I hadn’t seen her as one either. I’d noticed she had a pretty face and nice hair, but she’d dressed like a nun with no fashion sense and I’d had my head too far up my ass to notice how beautiful she was.
Then Dad had gotten to know Chloe better, and he’d been on my ass about not dating her. That had been worse. I couldn’t go out with her, she was my assistant. And I dated plenty of women, why did he have to harp on about Chloe? But he insisted she was perfect for me. It got to the point where I forbade him to mention her name or scowl at me when I went out with another woman. Still, he wouldn’t let it go, giving me looks all the time in the office when he caught us leaving together or eating lunch.
After the day we got caught in the rain and Chloe’s wet dress opened my eyes, my Dad’s nagging bugged me even more. By then I knew he was right, and I was pissed I couldn’t do anything about it.
“You slept with her, didn’t you?” he asked.
“Keep it down, Dad,” I said. All I needed was Chloe to walk into the middle of my Dad telling me how to handle her.
“Don’t fuck this up, Sammy. Of all the women you’ve brought home, she’s the only one who counts.”
“Leave it,” I said, not wanting to talk about this with him. I knew she was the most important woman I’d ever been with. For fucks sake, I’d done everything I could to convince her of that. I didn’t need my Dad, who hadn’t had a serious girlfriend in over a decade, giving me romantic advice. I filled my favorite coffee cup with water and made myself some coffee, avoiding my Dad’s eyes as I waited for the cup to fill.
“Sam, I’m not kidding. You need to lock her down.
You never should have taken her to that pool hall. And what was she doing going out last night?”
“Dad, back off. I can’t ‘lock her down’.” I made obnoxious air quotes as I repeated his phrase, my annoyance growing. He should fucking try to lock her down. See if she listened to him any better than she did to me.
At the memory of Dog’s eyes on her, I felt sick. In the aftermath of finally making love to Chloe, I’d temporarily forgotten about the night before. Logic told me that if Nolan was in with Tsepov that deep, Tsepov already had eyes on Chloe. But suspecting that and knowing she’d been in his territory were two different things. I could live with the first. I was finding it hard to accept the second.
“Well? Where did she go when she left?”
I sighed. “She followed me to the bar where Axel and I met our contact.”
“Fucking A, Sam. You have to do a better job with her than this. She’s going to get herself hurt.”
“I know that, Dad,” I said, making an attempt to keep my voice low but not succeeding. Taking a breath, I tried to calm down. “I know. But it isn’t as simple as it seems. She’s not going to sit back and let me do everything for her. And she’s terrified for her brother.”
“Should she be?” he asked, worry for Chloe distracting him from his mission to run my love life.
“Yeah. He’s in a bad situation. Best case is that we find him and he gets Tsepov what he wants and he ends up alive and still working for Tsepov.”
“That’s your best case?”
“Yeah. I don’t think Chloe realizes how bad it is. Not yet, anyway. She’ll be crushed when she does.”
“Is she in danger?” Dad’s voice was heavy. He hadn’t been giving me so much shit about Chloe just because he liked her for me. When it came down to it, my Dad liked her for her.
“She could be,” I admitted.
“Then get her the fuck out of here, Sam. Let Axel handle finding the brother and take Chloe away. Go on a vacation or something.” I laughed.
“Sure, that would work. She’s torn up over her missing brother, but she’s going to hop on a plane and go on vacation with me. I can’t keep her from chasing every lead we find. You think I can talk her into walking away?”
“Try harder then. Lie to her. Tell her whatever your have to. Convince her you’re in love with her. Do whatever you have to to get her somewhere safe.”
“Dad, back off. I’m not going to try to convince Chloe I’m in love with her. That’s not what this is. Stop pushing so hard. We’re fine without your help.”
“Then find a way to stop her from going after Nolan.”
“I’m trying, Dad. I’m doing everything I can to keep her from going out there and looking for Nolan.”
“I’m just saying, if you put your mind to it, you could get her out of here,” he said stubbornly.
“Yeah, you think it’s so easy? You try it. I’d love to see how you do trying to pry her away from Vegas when her brother is missing and men with guns are looking for him. Good luck.”
“You give her too much leeway,” he grumbled.
“She’s not a cocker spaniel, Dad. She’s a woman who knows her own mind. Even if some of her decisions lately have been questionable. I agree, she’s letting her loyalty to Nolan override her good sense. But Chloe is smart. I respect her. And I’m not going to tell her I love her to get her to do something. How I feel about Chloe is between her and me. I’ll tell her when it’s the right time, not because I want to manage her.”
My Dad shook his head. “You kids and your modern notions about equality. In my day, we told a woman what to do, and, and she did it.”
“Yeah, right. Well, that explains why I’m the one who can get a woman to say yes to a second date.”
“Just watch out for her, Sam,” he said, all the sarcasm gone from his voice. “We can’t let anything happen to her.”
“I know Dad. I know.”
My Dad left the kitchen and headed for the garage, by then a few minutes late to get to his site on time. I thought about waking Chloe, but knew I wouldn’t. She needed her sleep. I had a pile of email on my laptop and most likely a few fires to put out, especially since Chloe was sleeping instead of managing things in the office.
Grabbing my coffee, I decided to get a little work done before Chloe woke up.
21
Chloe
I stood in the hall, my knees shaking as I listened to Sam tell his Dad to back off. I didn’t usually eavesdrop. I’d learned the hard way after listening to a friend talk about me in high-school that eavesdroppers rarely hear what they want to.
Normally I would have walked right into the kitchen. It wasn’t the first time I’d refereed a disagreement between Sam and his dad. But something in the hushed yet angry tone of their voices held me back. I couldn’t hear anything clearly until Sam said, Dad, back off. I’m not going to try to convince Chloe I’m in love with her. That’s not what this is. Stop pushing so hard. We’re fine without your help. Then, I’m doing everything I can to keep her from going out there and looking for Nolan.
My knees went weak, and I backed down the hall, not wanting to be seen. Daniel’s response was drowned out by the rush of blood in my ears as I crept back to Sam’s bedroom. Moving on auto-pilot, I went straight to the bathroom and turned on the shower, getting beneath the spray before it warmed up. I didn’t notice the cold. Sam’s words had filled me with ice.
I’m not going to try to convince Chloe I’m in love with her. That’s not what this is.
That’s not what this is.
No, of course it wasn’t. We’d had sex. A lot of sex. I’d fallen asleep dreaming of love and he was just glad we’d finally fucked. He’d said he wanted me. He’d said he cared for me. But he never said he loved me. He never promised that this was more than sex. He said he didn’t want an affair, and stupidly, I’d assumed that meant he wanted more.
My chest felt like it had been caved in, hollow and bleeding. I sank to the floor of the shower, letting the water beat down on my head, and cried. I’d known getting involved with Sam would break my heart. I just hadn’t realized it would happen this fast.
It felt like hours later when I finally ran out of tears. Moving out of habit, I washed my hair and my body, then stepped out of the shower to brush my teeth and blow my hair dry. I couldn’t do anything about Sam. I’d been foolish in sleeping with him. But I knew that before I did it. Now that was over, but I had a job to do, and Nolan was still missing.
I didn’t want to talk to Sam about what I’d overheard. It seemed clear enough. And I didn’t think I could handle any more humiliation. Besides, there was that other part I’d overheard.
I’m doing everything I can to keep her from going out there and looking for Nolan.
I knew he didn’t think it was safe for me to try to find my brother. And he had a point. I was out of my depth dealing with stolen information and Russian mobsters. But I hadn’t realized he was actively trying to stop me. It hadn’t felt like that. His words gave him away. If I wanted to get out of this situation with my dignity intact, if not my heart, I was going to have to be clever.
We had a meeting that afternoon, rather Sam had a meeting. One he couldn’t miss. It was out of the office and he’d be gone for at least three hours. If I could convince him that everything was business as usual, it would give me the perfect chance to leave without an argument.
I was being a coward. But I was okay with that. I’ve been more open with Sam, more vulnerable, than I’d been with any other human being in my entire life. I couldn’t go there again, couldn’t open myself up to talk about the things he’d said, couldn’t leave myself raw and exposed only to feel more pain. I had to pull myself together and move on. Had to focus on what was really important. My family. Nolan.
Standing in front of my new clothes hanging in Sam’s closet, I considered the problem of getting away. I couldn’t go back to my apartment. And most of my clothes there were ruined anyway. But Sam’s meeting should give me p
lenty of time to get back here, pack a bag, and find somewhere else to stay. I didn’t have a lot in my savings account, but it was enough to cover a hotel for a week or so until I found Nolan. Then maybe it was time the Henson family considered relocating.
At the thought of leaving Las Vegas, of leaving Sam, my heart squeezed in my chest and tears sprang to my eyes. For a second I ran over in my head everything I’d heard Sam say, hoping there was another interpretation. Maybe I just hadn’t stayed long enough. Maybe he’d said something else. I caught sight of my face in a mirror and the image of my puffy red eyes hit me like a slap. I was being sad and desperate. I loved him, and he’d said “That’s not what this is.” And then he’d admitted he was actively trying to stop me from finding Nolan.
Well, fine then. I’d made a mistake, but it wasn’t the end of the world. I certainly wasn’t the first woman to sleep with her boss and regret it later. Choosing a charcoal gray suit from the closet, I pulled on the plum colored shell Lola had hung with it and slid my feet into the matching plum heels. It was probably wrong to take the clothes with me. At that moment I didn’t care.
I was feeling more than a little beat up, and every woman knows a brand-new wardrobe is a pretty good band-aid for a broken heart. So was ice cream, but the last thing I needed was another few inches on my hips.
Dressed and makeup done, I took a deep breath for strength and left the bedroom. I didn’t want coffee, or breakfast. We’d only put in a half day at the office the day before and my desk was probably piled high. Never mind that I wasn’t even sure if I’d be going back after today. If I wanted my plan to work, Sam had to think everything was business as usual.
I found him at the dining room table, his laptop and papers spread out around him, his eyes locked on to the view of Vegas sprawling outside the window. When he heard the sound of my heels clicking on the hardwood he turned and smiled, a smile so sweet and happy I wanted to cry. He pushed back from the table and came towards me, hands outstretched.
