His Takeover: An Enemies to Lovers Romance

by Piper Sullivan

  “Oh, Rob.”

  The way she moans and runs her hands over my chest lets me know all’s well. Better than well.

  I give into the need to work myself in and out of her tightness. I run my hands over every inch of her skin. Skin that is not only thicker than I thought, but also softer, so much softer. She tries to match my rhythm, rocking her hips against mine. But I need to go faster, so I pull her down against my chest and grab her ass with both hands. If she wants to be on top, that’s fine, but I’m taking control. It feels so perfect inside her body, she’s so warm and slick and... perfect.

  The speed of my pounding makes her eyes wide, and the sensations it sends through her body make her start to shake. I go faster and harder – fucking her the way I’ve always wanted to, trying to show her how hot she makes me. Finally, she muffles a scream into my chest as her body convulses. Only this time with my cock inside her, I can feel every spasm and pull. Feeling her come on my dick drives me over the edge with her.

  I thrust my hips up hard while pushing hers down, trying to thrust myself as deep as I can. After the first few spasms send cum ribboning out inside her, I bring my arms back up to hold her against my chest. The pulses don’t ease up for what feels like an eternity. I’ve never come like that, so hard and for so long. I don’t know if it’s because I hadn’t had sex in a very long time, or if it’s because of her.

  We stay just like that, her lying on top of me while I cling to her, until slowly our heavy breathing returns to a normal. I wish I could stay like this all day, running my fingers through her long hair and exploring the curves of her back. I honestly didn’t know skin could be so soft and I lose myself in the feel of it… but eventually I sigh and make the move to get up.

  There’s a business that has to be run.

  Amy

  “I have to go to the club for a while, but I’ll come home early and we’ll all go out to celebrate Maddie’s first day. And us. Okay?”

  I still barely know who and where I am, but I manage to squeak out “okay” or “sure” or something along those lines with my face still half buried in the covers. I stay there, comfortable and content as he throws his clothes back on and kisses the side of my face.

  I listen to the front door open and close, then the sound of the car pulling out of the drive. I sigh and decide this is where I was going to stay most of the day. Naked, spent and curled up in the bed of the man I had wanted all my life. The man who wanted me all my life.

  At that moment, I remember what time it is. I shoot out of the bed, almost face planting from the tangle of sheets around my legs, and start pulling on my crumbled clothes. I don’t even bother looking in the mirror before I bolt for the door. I had forgotten to tell Rob I had a meeting about the curator job, but I knew it didn’t matter. With Maddie at school I could come and go during the day till the bus brought her home.

  I do my best to compose myself in the car. I didn’t want to be a mess while meeting with my new employers. I manage to get there with a few minutes to spare so I touch up my makeup in the rear view mirror. I don’t recognize the number of the phone call that comes in right before I’m about to head inside.

  Then suddenly I do. “Hello!?”

  “Hello, is this Amy Sikes?”

  “Yes! Is everything okay?!”

  “There was an incident with Maddison, can you please come to the main office as soon as possible?”

  “Yes! I’m on my way!”

  I hang up and throw the car into reverse, but before I take my foot off the break I remember where I’m supposed to be in five minutes. I stare at the Museum doors for only a second more before I back out of the parking space.

  Screw it. My Maddie needs me.

  It’s a miracle I don’t get a ticket on the way to the school, I didn’t know I had the guts to drive so fast. When I arrive, I park right in the front in a spot marked “faculty” – they can tow me if they want. I can’t spare the extra few minutes to park in the visitor lot at the back.

  Out of air and in a panic, I ring the buzzer at the entrance and try to get someone’s attention inside. I assume they see me in a camera somewhere, because the door makes a loud click as the bolt is released. I practically fall inside and barrel towards the office. I only slow down when I catch sight of Maddie through the office window. She isn’t screaming or crying, she’s sitting in one of the waiting room chairs with her headphones on, staring at a picture book.

  I decide to pull myself together before I open the door. Thank God she wasn’t upset, but she didn’t need to see me in a panic, that wouldn’t help anything.

  I inhale deeply and casually open the door, “Hey princess, what’s goin on?”

  She looks up at me and shrugs as she gestures to the nurse’s office. Through the small glass window of the clinic door I can see movement and hear wailing.

  Oh no.

  Before I can ask Maddie what’s happening in there, the office administrator gets my attention as she pulls her glasses down her pointy nose, “Miss Sikes?”

  “Yes, that’s me, what happened?”

  “Mr. Zale is waiting for you and Maddison in his office.”

  “Oh, thank you.” I give Maddie a wave that indicates she should follow me and I head for the principal’s door. I try to put on my professional pants, whatever happened, it was fixable. It had to be.

  “Hello, Mr. Zale. I was told something happened?”

  “Have a seat.”

  I do, but I keep my head held high. It. Was. Fixable.

  He continues, “Maddison would you like to explain what happened today?”

  Again, she shrugs and keeps her ‘matter of fact’ tone, “Left jab, right hook, right uppercut.”

  Shit.

  My blood runs ice cold. “W-what?”

  The principal suddenly doesn’t seem as upset to me as he should be, “Can you tell Miss Sikes why?”

  Maddie half shrugs again, “Defense.” Her one-word sentences have me on the verge of explosion, I need the whole story, damn it!

  Mr. Zale must have felt my urgency because that’s when he decides to take over, “Can I show you the footage from the hallway camera?”

  “Yes! Yes, please, I’m so sorry about this.”

  “Just watch.”

  When my apology is cut off, I decide not to make a scene if… when he tells me Maddison isn’t welcome back here. After all, this was shaping up to be my fault.

  He turns the screen of his desktop to face me and hits play. I try not to wince.

  A black and white soundless image shows Maddie walking down the hallway with a large badge around her neck. I recognize it must be this school’s version of a hall-pass. She enters the girl’s bathroom and all is quiet. Then three boys walk down the same hallway with matching badges, I guess they are a few grades above her, judging by their size. One starts to go into the boy’s bathroom when he’s stopped by the others. They huddle and talk – laughter, hesitance, then… they abandon the boy’s room… and head for the girls.

  I inhale sharply. What?!

  Agonizing silence and stillness follows.

  “What’s happening?”

  “Wait.” Mr. Zale doesn’t break his eyes from the monitor.

  I don’t have to wait long. The screen comes alive with movement as the larger of the three boys falls out of the girl’s room holding his nose. Although the screen is colorless, I don’t need to see red to know his nose is pouring blood. Suddenly I have a face to go with the crying coming from the nurse’s room.

  The other two boys run out of the bathroom at full speed and back down the way they came without any regard for their fallen comrade holding his busted nose on the hallway floor. And then my princess comes out, cool as a cucumber. She gives the crying boy a wide berth as she puts on her headphones and heads back to class.

  The screen freezes in sync with Mr. Zale’s click of the mouse. Before I can open my mouth, he looks at Maddie, “Now tell her the story the way you told it to me.”

&n
bsp; “I was going to the bathroom and those boys came in and asked me if it was true that no one could touch me. I said yes. They asked why. I said I don’t like it. Then the big one said he could if he wanted. I said don’t. And he said it was no big deal and he reached out so I moved to the right and left gab, right hook, right uppercut. I remembered about my feet. And the sound. I didn’t like to touch his face, but I just pretended he was the bag. And then I washed my hands.”

  Mr. Zale nods as Maddie puts her headphones on and goes back to her book.

  My mouth is still in my lap, but all my fear is gone. And although I try not to show it, the fear is replaced by pride.

  “I..I..”

  “The young man eventually corroborated her story. But honestly there is nothing he could have said that would have put him in the right, just by following her into the girl’s room they were in violation of policy, and in my opinion she wasn’t wrong to defend herself. Now, according to the district rules, Maddie should also receive a suspension for engaging in an altercation, but I think we can make an exception in this particular case. That being said, it’s important for you to explain at home the special circumstances to Maddison and that physical violence is not usually the way to solve conflict.”

  “Oh, yes, yes, of course, thank you.”

  “Maddison is welcome to return to class. Thank you for coming up Miss Sikes.”

  “Oh, thank you, yes, she will, thanks.”

  Despite my relief, I must still be in shock because I find a way to destroy a perfect moment. Maddie is still engrossed in her book, so I reach down and tap her shoulder to get her attention.

  And ruin everything.

  Rob

  Although I have been sitting at my desk for hours I have accomplished nothing. My mind is everywhere but on my business.

  It’s on Maddie and how she is doing at her first day of public school.

  It’s on Amy and whether I finally killed her insecurity even though it was years overdue. It’s on how good it felt to finally be with her… and how badly I want to do it again.

  But most of all, it’s on how stupid it was of me to leave my cell phone at home on a day like this. I try to reassure myself that the number for my office line is written on the refrigerator. If Aim needed me, she could reach me. I say that to myself over and over until I finally give up and head home to grab my phone.

  Besides, if Aim is up for it, well, it could be a fun afternoon. I start to get really excited on the trip home, but when her car isn’t in the driveway I deflate. Probably at the grocery store. At least now I could give her a call if I need to. Oh, who am I kidding? I want to give her a call, fuck need. It would be nice just to hear her voice.

  Right then I see the most terrifying thing I’ve ever faced. And I used to fight for a living. A rabid dog, a bullet, or speeding car headed right for me would have been nothing compared to the words ‘37 MISSED CALLS.’

  Those words teach me what real fear is.

  I hit the screen in a panic, most of them are from Amy. SHIT! I call back and pace the living room as it rings. The sound of her voice mail makes me shout out loud in frustration, if I didn’t need my phone to figure out what was happening I would have certainly smashed it.

  I’m about to check the voice mail when I see some missed calls are from Marcy and I try her, cussing as I listen to ring after ring until finally – “Rob?!”

  “What happened?!”

  “Everything’s okay! She’s okay! She just got hurt a little, but she’s going to be just fine!”

  “Where are you?”

  “St. David’s, but she’s fine, I promise. She just has a little cut, that’s all!”

  That’s all I need to hear. I don’t even lock the house behind me, flying straight to my car. “I’m coming!”

  “Don’t drive crazy Rob, the last thing she needs is for something to happen to you, she’s FINE, okay?!”

  My sister knows me too well. I try to listen to her and not put anyone else in danger while making it to the hospital in record time.

  My Maddie needs me.

  Amy

  Why won’t he answer the phone?!

  And why didn’t I put his office number into my contacts? I try to picture the paper stuck to the fridge with a Hello Kitty magnet, but the numbers are just a blur.

  I rub my temples as I slouch over in the waiting room chair, if he ever answers my call I don’t want him to hear poor Maddie’s screams. To be honest I can’t tell if they are from the pain of the stitches, or because the doctor can’t do them without touching her once in a while. For a while, I had cried right along with her outside the door. I manage not to scream out loud, but on the inside, I was wailing.

  This was all my fault. She was doing fine her first day of school, she might have had an incident, but it wasn’t her fault. They should have never asked me to come up there, I’m not her mother. It’s a good thing too, because I’m obviously terrible at all this.

  Thinking the words, ‘I’m not her mother’ makes me sob again because I realize that’s exactly what I wish I was, and then I sob even harder as I remind myself that even if I was I’d probably fail at it just like I’m doing now.

  When I accidently tapped her arm in the principal’s office she flew out of her chair screaming. My first reaction was to hold out my hands in an apologetic gesture, but I’m pretty sure that was the reason she moved away even faster, falling right into a side table that contained a big ugly yellow lamp. A lamp that broke like fine china against Maddie’s little body, cutting open her poor arm.

  I almost fainted. I didn’t know I had a problem with blood. Maybe I don’t, maybe it’s just blood coming out of someone I love that’s the problem. I start to rub my temples again.

  Right then Marcy busts around the corner, her pointy heels clicking furiously on the linoleum.

  “Did you reach him?”

  “No, you?”

  “No. Can you stay with her, Marce? I have to try and find him.”

  “Sure, sure, I’ve got her.”

  As much as I didn’t want to go to Club Avenue all those weeks ago, now I’m grateful I know exactly how to get there. After another way-too-fast drive I finally park and run full speed through the parking garage and up to the locked doors of the empty club. Then I start to yell and knock like a mad woman.

  A young man finally looks at me through the glass. I can tell he’s trying to discern if I’m about to be killed, or just a looney, so I articulate Rob’s name as clearly as possible while making a cradle motion with my arms. When he registers I’m talking about Mr. Walsh’s kid, the door unlocks and flies open.

  “Where’s Rob?”

  “He just left!”

  “Where?!”

  “He forgot his cell phone at home, so he went to grab it.”

  I don’t even let the poor kid, who I now recognize as the sweaty bartender from that first night, finish his sentence before I’m running back down the street. At least I know Rob’ll see his phone soon and will be on his way to the hospital. I want to be there when he arrives so I can explain what happened.

  Turning the corner into the garage I run right into a body. A body with a very familiar and unsettling smell that sends a sharp pain between my eyes.

  “Hey sexy, where’s the fire!”

  I don’t have time for this, I run past Cologne man as I try to dig my keys out of my purse.

  “Hey, wait!”

  Once again, the jerk grabs me by the arm. Some people just don’t learn lessons.

  “Let me go! There’s an emergency!” I pull my arm away sharply and keep moving to my car.

  “What’s the matter, baby?” I can’t lose him, he’s faster than me and now he’s between me and the Nissan.

  “Move!”

  “You shouldn’t be driving, I’ll take you.” He grabs both my arms now - way harder this time.

  “No, stop!!”

  “Where’s your boyfriend, huh?”

  “STOP!!”

  A
lthough he is scrawny compared to Rob, he is much stronger than me, and he’s pulling me.

  Dragging me somewhere I don’t want to go. I hear Rob’s voice in my head. “What would you do?”

  I would hit him.

  But I need a good angle, I need my arms. I dig deep and fake my fake laugh better than I’ve ever faked it before.

  “Oh, okay sure, where’s your car?”

  It works. He lets one of my arms go and eases his grip on the other, “Yeah, I got you baby. Right over here.”

  “Oh, real quick first- Agh!” POW! “Agh!” POW! “Agh!” POW!

  The blows to his face shock him enough to make him back up, giving me a perfect opportunity to do exactly what Rob told me to do at this point.

  I kick him square in the nuts as hard as I can. Cologne man hits the concrete and as much as I’d love to watch him writhe in pain, I don’t have time. I make it to my car and lock the door as he’s pulling himself off the ground. His raging blows on the side of my car and string of profanity don’t bother me a bit, I rip out of the parking space at full speed making him jump back to avoid getting run over.

  I leave him waving and shouting in my rearview mirror and speed back to the hospital.

  Rob

  By the time I bust into Maddison’s room in the ER there is sweat pouring off my beard and I’m swallowing panic. Which is totally out of place in the serene and chill atmosphere inside.

  Marce is reading to Maddie as she looks at the pictures in an oversized book. There’s a little bandage on her arm covered in cats or dogs or something else little girls like.

  “Hey hon, are you okay?!”

  “Yes.”

  “What happened?!” I know at this point, I should calm the fuck down, the crisis is obviously over. But I can’t chill until I know how this happened. The question at the forefront of my mind is simple, who was responsible for this?

  “I cut my arm.”

  “How?”

  Marcy decides to step in, pushing me towards the door, “Let’s go talk to the doctor, Rob. Maddie, we’ll be right back okay?”