“What is that?” I asked slowly.
“A very good microphone,” he said. “I got your whole conversation with Mr. Kyle recorded.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me. Everything on my phone. I know that you’ve been whoring around with the boss. And I’m going to tell Jeremiah.”
I glared at him, itching to slap him. My fists clenched into balls at my sides.
“What the fuck, Zachary? What do you want?”
“I need your help with something,” he said in a slimy voice.
“With what?” I asked. “Don’t even bother to ask for anything sexual—”
“Please, I’m not interested in sluts,” he said in a disgusted voice. “That’s the last thing I want from you.”
I gritted my teeth. “What then?”
“I need your help with a case,” he said. “Jeremiah has got me working on one that’s like a puzzle. It’s some druggie loser who got kicked out of her shitty apartment and is suing the landlord.”
“What’s so hard about that?”
“I can’t think of a single redeeming quality about this woman. I need you to do it for me.”
“Really?” I asked. “Something that simple?”
He snarled at me. “Don’t judge me, slut. Look at yourself first.”
I didn’t say anything, only stared at him.
“I’ll send you the files soon,” he said. “You might need to interview her. I hear she’s a pain.”
“What if I say no?” I asked him.
“Then I’ll show Jeremiah this recording, and both of your careers will be ruined,” said Zachary, then walked away, leaving me there looking after him in distaste.
8
Xavier
I pulled up to Amelie’s house, smiling when I saw that it was lit up inside, smoke coming out of the chimney. I was excited to see her—I hadn’t had much time to visit since Tracy had died but I’d thought about them often. I’d always been closer to her family than I was to my own.
I went to the porch and knocked on the door.
Amelie threw it open before wrapping me in a hug.
“There you are,” she said, looking up at my face, cupping my cheeks in her hands. She frowned at me. “You look thin.”
“I’m not thin, Ma,” I said to her, going inside and taking off my coat. She hurried me into the living room, where my two sisters-in-law were sitting. They both stood up when I walked in, hugging me tightly.
“Xavier,” Nancy, the youngest, said to me as I sat down in front of the fire, warming my hands. “How are you? You look thin.”
I laughed. “I do not look thin.”
“I’m going to go get some food,” Thea said, standing up. She ruffled my hair. She had always acted like a big sister to me, even though she was only a couple of years older.
“You really don’t have to,” I insisted.
She snorted. “Since when have you come over here and we didn’t feed you?” she asked.
“Good point,” I said, leaning back on the couch. I was always at my most relaxed around this family, and I found myself filled with relief just being in their presence.
“So, tell us how you’re doing?” Amelie asked, sitting down beside me. Her gray hair was up in a ponytail and I noticed it was even thinner than usual. I frowned, noticing too that she was paler than the last time I’d seen her.
“I want to know how you’re doing,” I said to her. “You don’t look good, Ma.”
She gave me a wan smile. “I’m fine. We can talk about me later. How have you been?”
“I’m—I’m getting by,” I said to them. “It’s hard.”
“We know,” said Nancy. “We miss her too.”
“You know you can always talk to us, Xavier. You don’t have to spend so much time alone in that house.”
“I have Charlie,” I said.
Nancy laughed. “Charlie’s a dog. Not exactly the company you need in your life.”
“Speaking of which,” Thea said as she came into the room. “You’ve met someone.”
“What?” I asked, my jaw dropping open. “No—no, I haven’t.”
She peered at me as she sat down, pushing a plate of cheese and crackers across the table.
“You have,” she said. “I can tell because you look guilty. And I know you would feel guilty about that.”
“I only feel guilty because I haven’t been here in so long,” I said, though I knew there was no way they were going to believe me. All of the sisters, including Tracy, had a knack for reading people that was almost uncanny.
“Tell us about her,” Amelie said in a gentle voice.
“She’s no one—I have a new employee at work. She gets on my nerves. I’ve been frustrated about her since she got hired.”
“Frustrated?” Nancy asked, wiggling her eyebrows. “What does that mean?”
“It means we don’t get along,” I said.
“And yet she’s on your mind,” said Thea. “Why is that?”
I sighed, running my hand through my hair. “It’s nothing, really,” I said.
“Something happened,” said Amelie.
“I kissed her. Once. It was stupid,” I said to them, avoiding all of their eyes. Again, the guilt and shame overwhelmed me, thoughts of Tracy running through my mind.
“How did she react to it?”
“She kissed me back. But like I said, we don’t get along. We haven’t really spoken in days.”
“Is it because you’re a grouch?” Nancy asked.
I grumbled something at her. “You sound like your sister,” I said.
“She always was teasing you about that. You’re too serious,” Nancy said. “You need to lighten up. And you need to work out some of your frustration with this girl. It won’t do for you to be tormented by not getting along with her.”
“Yeah,” I said. It was true. I’d thought about ways to try to get along with her, but the truth was that it was easier to distance myself than to give in to my curiosity about who she was, what she was like when she wasn’t at work. “I’ll work on it.”
“Good,” Nancy said with a satisfied smile. “You don’t need to feel guilty. Tracy would—”
“I don’t—I don’t want to talk about this,” I said to them. “I’ll never stop feeling guilty or like I’m betraying her. I’ll never be with another woman. You know that.”
“Xavier…”
“No,” I said, standing up. I didn’t want to think about it anymore. “I think I want to get out of here.”
“We’re sorry,” said Amelie, standing up.
I shrugged, knowing I was being unreasonable, irritated for some reason beyond what I thought I could be with them.
“It’s fine,” I said, and then left the house. I got in my car and sat there for a moment, taking a deep breath, my heart racing. I thought about Victoria and the angry look on her face, how tense things were between us, how I couldn’t get her off my mind no matter how hard I tried. I always found myself glancing at her while she worked in front of me, wondering exactly what was going on in her head. She was sharp and had a keen eye for detail, and I was fascinated with her thought processes, though I was afraid to ask her.
I found myself pulling out my phone before I knew what I was doing, dialing Victoria’s number in an automatic way. For some reason, I had to talk to her, to apologize and clear the air. I couldn’t stand another day of tension between us—it only seemed to feed my desire.
“Hello?” came her voice on the other end.
I froze, unable to speak.
“Mr. Kyle?” she asked.
I opened my mouth, but no words came out, and I quickly hung up the phone without saying anything. I cursed under my breath then, feeling like an idiot, like a teenager with a crush. I picked up the phone again and called her.
“Hello?” she said again.
“Hi, Ms. Eaves,” I said to her, clearing my throat. “This is Xavier Kyle.”
I could hear a smile in her voic
e that made something soften in my chest as I imagined what it looked like. I hadn’t seen her smile often, but only caught glimpses of her, usually while she was talking to Louis. They seemed to get along easily and had become fast friends since she’d gotten hired, something that filled me with a twinge of jealousy that drove me crazy.
“Hello, Mr. Kyle. Um… is there… is there a problem?”
“No, no problem,” I said. “Do you think we could meet?”
She paused, and my heart pounded as I waited for her response.
“Right now?”
“Yes,” I said to her. “It’s important. If you can.”
“I can,” she said. “What’s this about?”
“You’ll see,” I said to her. For some reason, I wanted to do this in person. I wanted to apologize to her, and I felt like it was something that couldn’t wait.
“Okay,” she said. “Where do you want to meet?”
“I can come pick you up,” I said to her.
“Okay,” she said again. “I’ll—I’ll be ready.”
“Good,” I said and hung up the phone. I put it to my lips, closing my eyes and wondering what the hell I was doing, why I suddenly needed to apologize to her. It felt like something that couldn’t wait.
I made my way to her house to see her standing outside, her breath puffing out in front of her. I got out and hurried to her, helping her get into the car. She was no longer on crutches, but it seemed hard for her to get up and down, and she looked at me gratefully as I shut the door and got in on the other side. I started to drive without looking at her, and I felt her eyes on me as we sat in silence. I pulled over a few moments later at a park, facing toward a pond that was lit by yellow streetlights.
“So…?” she said.
“So,” I said. “I, uh—there’s something that I wanted to say to you.”
“What’s that?”
“I wanted to apologize,” I said. “For the way that I’ve treated you.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Yeah?”
“Yes,” I said, dragging my teeth over my bottom lip. It was a hard thing to do, hard to get the words out. “I’m not—I am obviously very, very attracted to you. I’ve let that get under my skin.”
She bit her lip, something that made my cock stir beneath my zipper.
“I—it’s a mutual problem,” she said softly.
“So what do we do about it?” I asked her. “How do we get along?”
“We can relieve the tension,” she said, her eyes on mine. “Somehow.”
“Somehow,” I said to her, gazing at her lips and that sensual smokiness of her eyes. “Any ideas?”
She shook her head. “Nothing that isn’t a drastic measure.”
“Drastic times…” I said, trailing off.
She leaned close to me, taking her seatbelt off and pushing her face to mine. My lips brushed hers and I felt her heavy breathing against my cheek.
“What do you think, Ms. Eaves?” I asked her, sucking on her bottom lip. “Do you think I should fuck you? Get it out of our systems?”
“Yes,” she said, squirming in her seat as she took my mouth in a kiss. “Yes, I think that’s the only thing that’s going to fix this.”
“I think you’re right.”
“Let’s go back to my place,” she said, looking into my eyes.
“Will you do something for me on the way?” I asked her.
She gave me a small smile. “What’s that?”
“I want you to get yourself soaking wet for me,” I said to her, the words spilling out of my mouth beyond my control. “I want you to touch your pussy on the way.”
“Oh,” she said, blushing. “I—”
I gave her a stern look, something that made her shiver. She had always reacted that way to my commands, something that was achingly sexy. I watched her as she reached into her pants, into her panties, and her eyes closed as she started to touch herself. I started the car and drove slowly to her place, taking my time while she stroked her pussy in the seat next to me. She didn’t moan, but I could hear the sound of her breath catching in her throat. I looked at her when we pulled up to her apartment.
“Wet?” I asked.
She nodded, biting her lip as she pulled her hand out of her panties, showing me her dripping fingers. I nearly groaned when I saw them and promptly brought her fingers to my lips to suck them clean. She gave a soft whimper and that was enough to make me get out of the car quickly, helping her up to her apartment.
As soon as we got inside, she shut the door behind us and wrapped her arms around my neck, kissing me deeply, her body molding to mine. I started undressing her immediately, my hands tugging at her clothes, getting her naked within seconds. I’d never wanted anyone so badly before in my life, and I didn’t have time to feel guilty as my hands traveled along her back, down to cup her ass and hold her hips to mine.
“I think we have to do this a certain way to get this out of our systems,” I said, nipping at her lip.
“Oh yeah?” she asked breathlessly. “What’s that?”
“I think, for the first time in your life, you’re going to do exactly what I tell you.”
“Oh,” she breathed, looking up into my eyes.
I gave her a stern look, feeling an animal desire course through me when she blushed.
“Take me to bed,” I said to her.
She stared at me for a moment, a playful smile coming over her lips. “Or what?” she asked.
“Or I’m going to bend you over this couch,” I told her. “And I don’t think you can handle that just yet.”
“I can handle anything you give me.”
I grinned at her, touching her cheek, pushing her hair back as I pulled her to the couch. She was naked in my arms, her nipples hard, her breasts large and round and perfect. I wanted to touch them, to take my time, but first I had the urgent need to fuck her. I found myself doing just that—bending her forward over the couch so her ass was in the air. She squirmed, and I knew she was rubbing her clit on the cushion, trying to give herself pleasure I hadn’t given her permission to take. I smacked her ass, watching as a pale red handprint grew on her skin. She whimpered and squirmed, and when I reached down to stroke her pussy, I could tell the spanking had done its job.
“You did a real good job of getting your pussy wet for me, angel,” I said, stroking her slit up and down with one finger, tracing it around her sensitive, swollen clit. “You are soaked.”
“I didn’t do it for you,” she said.
I chuckled, knowing she was arguing with me just to get more. I swatted her ass again on the other side, making her whimper again.
“Yes, you did,” I said to her, rubbing her clit in a way that made her hump against my hand, moaning aloud. “Do you know why?”
“Why?” she asked, looking back over her shoulder, her hips grinding against my palm.
“Because just for tonight, this is my pussy,” I said to her. “Isn’t that right?”
“I—” Her words were cut off by another moan as I slipped two fingers inside of her, pumping them in and out, getting her prepared to take my cock. She was so tight I was almost worried I wouldn’t even fit, but as I curled my fingers inside of her, I knew she could stretch to take me. I rubbed my clit with her thumb, nearly making her come on my hand before I pulled it away, leaving her pussy throbbing.
I undressed, ready to fuck her, to take her, to make her mine for the night. I slid my cock up and down her slit, wetting the head of it.
“Say please,” I said to her, wondering if she would.
“No,” she said, glaring at me over her shoulder. “No, I won’t—”
I spanked her again and she whimpered as she backed her hips up, trying to take my cock.
“Say it,” I said to her.
“Please,” she breathed, glaring at me over her shoulder.
I grinned at her, sliding myself in a few inches, and rocked in and out of her gently. She tried to swing her hips back to take more but I held them s
till, instead fucking her in shallow strokes, never going more than two or three inches. It was so hard not to bury myself inside of her, but it was so satisfying to see her squirm, wanting more. She was dripping all over my cock, fighting against my grip as I held her hips still. Finally, I filled her up all the way, groaning as I buried myself deep inside of her. She was so sweet, so tight around my cock, I almost came just from feeling her clench around me.
“Oh, that’s good,” she breathed as I started to grind in and out. She humped back against me, reaching down to rub her clit as I rode her from behind. I slowed myself down to feel every inch of her, feel every second of her squirming around me.
“You are so perfect,” I said, her hips in my hands as I pulled her back against me again and again, filling her with my cock. I felt her about to come, squirming and breathing hard, her pussy trembling around me. I pulled out instead of making her come and she groaned, continuing to rub her clit even as I pulled away. I stopped her hand, turning her around so that I could look at her face.
“Take me to the bedroom,” I said, looking into her eyes. She nodded, taking my hand and leading me there, pulling me on top of her as we sank onto the bed. Her hips found mine and she rubbed against me. The lips of her pussy parted around my cock, grinding against it so the head of it rubbed her clit. I sank deep inside of her, my eyes locked on hers as I started to move against her body.
“Is this my pussy tonight?” I asked her, wanting her to answer the question, to say yes, that she was mine. It was only for a night but the need to claim her felt urgent and overwhelming. I started to pound into her when she didn’t answer, pushing all the way inside of her with hard thrusts that made her pant and gasp every time.
“Victoria,” I said. “You need to answer me, angel.”
“Yes,” she said. “Yes, I’m yours.”
“Are you going to come all over my cock?”
She nodded, biting her lip, her face contorted in pleasure as I sped up even further. I spread her legs, reaching down to rub her clit until she shuddered and bucked against me, coming with a loud moan. I moved inside of her until she was finished, breathing deeply, and pulled out at the last moment, coming on her belly. She stared up at me as I got up and went into her bathroom to get a warm, wet towel, coming back to clean her off as she lay there catching her breath.
Two Dirty Bosses Page 5
