by Layla Hagen
“I told you it doesn’t bother me. You don’t have to change who you are for me. I just don’t think you’re truly relaxing, but that’s okay too. I know a few ways to make you relax.”
“Is that so?” he nudged my shoulder playfully.
“Oh yeah. You looked very relaxed this morning.”
He gave my ass a little smack.
“Hey, what was that for?”
“Reminding me about this morning.” He pushed a strand of hair behind my ear, adding, “We’re three hours away from the cabin. Don’t tempt me.”
“How about last night? Can I remind you about that?”
He pulled back, eyes flaring. His passion for me consumed me. He kissed my forehead, then took my hand, leading me further up the trail.
***
At the end of the week, after a day full of hiking, Will announced he’d made reservations in town. So even though every muscle hurt and I had imagined an evening where I’d soak in the tub—possibly with Will—I dressed up, ready for a night out with my man. Maybe I’d get my bathtub extravaganza anyway later on. I was wearing a knee-length sweater dress with long sleeves and not a very deep V-neckline. But Will stilled when he saw me.
“What? This isn’t sexy.”
“For me it is. Or maybe because I know what’s underneath.” He gave me a quick kiss, but still stroked my tongue, and I shimmied afterward as I worked a red scarf around my neck. Ufff... why couldn’t we just skip dinner?
I realized why when we reached the restaurant. Will had reserved one of the smaller rooms just for us. We were surrounded by candlelight, soft music, and a mix of delicious smells.
“Will....” I didn’t know what to say, but he must have heard the emotion in my voice, because he wrapped his arms around me from behind, tugging at my earlobe.
“It’s our anniversary week, babe.”
The food was delicious, the company even better. How life could be this good, I didn’t know. I’d always liked my life, but this... this was different. It was like I hadn’t known a part of me was missing until Will had come into my life.
After dinner we headed out to the parking lot behind the restaurant. When we reached the car, I realized I’d forgotten my scarf inside.
“I’ll get it,” Will said. “Go inside the car so you warm up.”
He gave me the key, and he went back inside while I unlocked the car. I only had a light jacket on, but my parka was in the trunk, so I retrieved it to keep warm until the car’s heating system kicked into gear.
I’d barely opened the trunk when I sensed something. Someone was behind me. My first thought was Will, but then I realized he couldn’t be back so fast. I stiffened even before I heard the voice.
“Give me all your money and I won’t harm you.” It was a man’s voice. I broke out into clammy, cold sweat. I didn’t have a pepper spray on me, or money. But I didn’t think that would go over too well. “Hand it over.”
“I don’t have any money.”
“Don’t be stupid.”
“Look into my purse. I don’t have a wallet. Just my smartphone.”
With trembling hands, I opened the bag. A hand snatched into it, grabbing my phone.
“In the car, then. There has to be money.”
Could I cry for help? I figured I’d take a blow to the back of my head before that. Fighting back would only infuriate him.
“Let me look in the front. Maybe there’s money there,” I said quietly. And then I felt something sharp pinching my back.
“I have a knife. Don’t do anything stupid.”
Fear and adrenaline spiked my blood, the first overpowering the second. On shaky legs, I moved to the front of the car, my attacker right behind me.
I searched the front, but Will didn’t keep money there.
“No money,” I said.
“I’ll have that pretty bracelet.”
Hell no. Blood was rushing in my ears, adrenaline overpowering fear for a split second. Straightening up, I elbowed the attacker. He yelped, and I heard the sound of metal on the ground. I swirled around.
“You bitch.”
I kicked and pummeled my fists into every bit of flesh I could find, but the man was tall and strong, and the only advantage I’d had was the moment of surprise. Now he was recovering from it and didn’t like one bit that I wasn’t as meek and scared as I’d appeared.
“Paige!”
Will’s voice sounded through the parking lot. The thief whirled around, grabbed his knife, and braced for Will.
“He has a knife,” I shouted, but then Will was on the attacker. I barely saw him move. One punch to the jaw, another to the chest, and the attacker doubled over.
My eyes were on the blade, which was still in the attacker’s hand. He was swinging it blindly. My stomach constricted when he jabbed his hand straight toward Will’s abdomen. Will caught his wrist in midair, then twisted the guy’s arm and immobilized him.
“Paige, are you okay?” Will asked. He was shaking.
“Yes, you?”
He nodded. The next few minutes were a blur. Will only released the guy when the local authorities arrived and took over.
***
Will
It was another half hour before we made it back to the cabin because we had to give statements. I was running on adrenaline as we stepped inside. Paige was calm and composed, but I was still shaking.
“Will, are you hurt?” she whispered.
I shook my head. “No. Not at all. You’re okay? Not hurt, or scared?”
“No.”
I was clenching and unclenching my fists, and she was looking at me as if she wasn’t sure how to calm me down or why I was so silent. We went upstairs, and she prepared a hot bath for us. I didn’t need a bath. I just needed her.
“The tub’s full,” she announced, coming into the bedroom. I was unbuttoning my shirt, and damn it, my fingers weren’t steady. She came to my aid.
“Why are you shaking, Will?” she whispered.
I took in a deep breath, then brought my hands to her wrists, resting my thumb on the bracelet.
“Because seeing you there, I.... You have no idea how much I love you. How much I want to protect you from anything that might hurt you.”
I claimed her mouth. I’d never kissed her like this: driven by a raw, primal need. I wanted her to feel everything I was feeling. My love for her, the fear of showing myself in such a vulnerable moment.
We didn’t make it to the bathtub. Our clothes were out of the way even before we reached the bed.
She started trailing her mouth on my chest, heading downward, but in a zigzag rather than a straight line, teasing me. When she was low enough, she licked my erection from the tip all the way to the base and back. Then she took me in her mouth. I shut my eyes, turning my head slightly downward and to the side, fighting for control. She twirled her tongue, clasping her lips tight. When I blinked my eyes open, I looked straight at her. She didn’t take her mouth off me until I was completely undone, grunting out her name.
Then I laid Paige on her back and went on to kiss every inch of her body, alternating between chaste and openmouthed kisses. On the insides of her thighs, on her belly and breasts. On her neck, then back to her thighs again. She was squirming and urging me, and I went on until I wasn’t aware of my surroundings anymore, just her. My thumb was pressing on her clit, and I pulled each of her folds between my lips. Then my tongue was moving inside her, unrelenting, spurring her need for me instead of satisfying it.
“Will, fuck me. Pleaaaase.” She tugged at my hair, and I kissed my way up her belly, smiling wolfishly.
In a flash, I had protection on, and then I eased her thighs wide open and slid inside her slowly. She felt tighter, and then tighter still. I leaned over her, capturing her mouth, pressing her thighs even wider apart, keeping her at the angle I wanted her, her breasts pressed against my chest.
I’d never felt the need to utterly possess her like this on a primal and emotional level. She came a
part spectacularly, rocking her hips in a desperate rhythm until I couldn’t hold back any longer. Then I kissed her, long and deep, and I knew I’d never, ever get enough of her.
“Thank you for loving me so fiercely, Will,” she whispered between kisses.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Paige
The worst thing about a great vacation? You don’t want it to come to an end. I was still melancholic as I went into the office on Monday morning. It was time to return to the real world, where I still had some fighting to do on behalf of the education center. And now I had a plan too. I hadn’t been able to help myself and showed Will the plan while we were still at the cabin. I hadn’t wanted him to just glance over it, and at my insistence, he crunched the numbers himself. In the end he still wanted to go through with it. It made me immensely happy. Guess who it hadn’t made happy? Greg.
“Let me get this straight. You want to go through with this even though I told you the project is dead?” Greg asked.
“It’s not dead if I can provide enough funds,” I replied calmly.
“It’s dead if I say so.” His voice was lethal, and for the first time, it occurred to me that there was more to this.
“Why do you want me to abandon it so badly?” I inquired.
“We have other projects to focus on. Paris is pushing for the water project to happen, and I won’t have you cost me a promotion.”
I blinked, as if that could make me understand him better. “You were pawning that off on me so you could get promoted?”
“You’re my employee. You don’t question me.”
Pulling myself to my full height, I crossed my arms. “I do question you when you’re overworking me just so you can get ahead. That project was your direct responsibility.”
“Jesus Christ, I knew you’d be trouble. That’s why I don’t like hiring women. One day I can rely on you, the next one you’re PMSing and spouting shit. You’re here to do what I tell you. You’re not here to think.”
“This is employee harassment, Greg. HR will have a few things to say about this.”
He gave me a look full of contempt, as if he didn’t think I’d follow through.
“I have a phone conference that will last the entire afternoon. Forget about the education center and get to work.”
I left his office fuming. Fuming. But I wasn’t giving up. So the next day, I went into his office at 8:00 a.m. sharp.
“I thought I made myself clear yesterday,” he said when I brought up the subject.
“I have enough funding for this—”
“By using your personal assets. And then what?” Greg slammed a hand on his desk. “Jesus Christ, can you just put your emotions aside? I need you for other projects. This is the problem with you women. Emotions get in the way, and one can’t count on you anymore.”
I clenched my fists and gritted my teeth. I’d always known Greg had a misogynistic streak, but this was... unacceptable.
“You’re way out of line, Greg.”
“So are you, disregarding my instructions. You answer to me.”
“You are my boss, yes, but this doesn’t mean I have to put up with insults. I have already contacted HR and filed a complaint.”
“You did what?”
“You thought you could just insult me and I would accept it?”
He pointed to the door. I breathed in through my nose, releasing the air through clenched teeth as I left his office, taking refuge into mine. I was a little stunned and a lot angry as I sat behind my desk. I couldn’t believe the nerve of him. The misogynistic bastard. I hadn’t slacked off in my other tasks in the slightest, and now he wanted me to give up the project even though it was feasible? Well, I refused to. Not when I was this close to seeing it through. But what if he fired me? I’d been with Three Emeralds for so long that I didn’t know what the alternative entailed.
Greg hadn’t had time to circle back to the topic, but as I headed to Will’s apartment later that day, I felt deflated. I hadn’t come up with a way to come to an agreement with Greg. I wasn’t even sure I wanted to anymore because I had another idea... a dangerous one.
Stepping inside Will’s apartment, I smiled when I smelled grilled steak. I hadn’t yet moved in with Will officially, but I hadn’t gone home since we’d returned from our vacation.
And could I say that living with this man was just the best thing ever? I mean, here I was, having a crappy day, and now my mood improved just at the sight of him cooking bare chested, wearing only jeans.
After kissing me deep and good, he scrutinized me, and I felt as if I was under a microscope.
“What’s wrong, baby?”
I told him quickly about Greg’s reaction. My insides clenched tight when I laid out my dangerous idea.
“So, I thought... I could quit and dedicate myself to opening up the education center. I’ve always been in charge of funding only, but I could oversee operations as well.”
I only realized after I’d said it out loud that this might sound as if I was taking advantage of him, or expecting things of him.
“I have savings, so I can live off them for a while. Then after I set it up and it runs smoothly, I’ll look for a new job.”
Will put his hands on my shoulders, his thumbs brushing the base of my neck.
“Paige, whatever you decide to do, I’m with you. I’m proud that you’re willing to go to these lengths. And if you don’t want to ever work again, that’s fine by me too. As you recently discovered, I’m loaded,” he said on a grin. “I can take good care of both of us.”
“No, no. I don’t want to be kept,” I assured him. I was doing an inner victory dance, because my gorgeous man had just made my evening.
And he currently seemed more interested in feeling me up than finishing dinner. Somehow, he’d backed me against the counter and was trailing kisses up and down my neck, twirling his tongue over my sweet spot until I was aching for him.
“Will... dinner,” I whispered weakly, and felt his lips form a smile against my skin.
“Dinner can wait.”
***
Will
The next evening I headed to Paige’s office building, even though she wasn’t there. That was all right, because I wanted to talk to that Greg asshole. Paige was going to hand in her resignation in a few days, but I didn’t want her to have to put up with any crap from him in the meantime.
While I waited for him to come out, my thoughts returned to the foundation. Paige was already setting everything into motion. So far, my only contribution had been capital, but I wanted to be actively involved and build something together with her. My shifts were not leaving me much time for anything else, but I was determined to find a way around it. Over the years I’d had colleagues move into less demanding career paths. I hadn’t understood it then, but I was beginning to now. But what I did for a living had been part of my life for so long that even imagining myself doing something else was strange.
Greg sauntered out at six o’clock on the dot, as Paige said he usually did.
“Gregory Pemberton?” I asked.
He stopped. “Yes. Who are you?”
“Detective Will Connor. I’m Paige’s boyfriend.”
He cocked a brow. “So? She’s not here. If you want to get a hold of her—”
“I’m here to see you. About the way you’re treating her.”
Greg bristled. “The way I what? I can’t believe this. She’s gone blabbing to everyone?”
“I will make this easy for you. If you mistreat her in any way, you’ll have a bigger problem on your hands than your HR department.”
“You can’t talk to me like that. Or d-do anything.”
“Try me.”
I was taller than this schmuck, and in far better shape. His tiny piggy eyes widened, and he took a step back. I hadn’t expected him to cower so fast, but I guessed he was a coward through and through.
“That’s what I thought.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Paig
e
I had always thought that I’d be terrified if I ever quit my job. Instead, I felt not only relieved, but downright excited.
I could quit effective immediately, so I did just that. On the day I went to collect my belongings, Will surprised me by saying he was coming with me.
“Why?”
“I want to be nearby in case Greg is there.”
“He’s not my boss anymore. I can hurl any insults I want at him.”
“Babe. You’re my woman,” he said, as if this explained it all. I just smiled to myself, feeling weirdly proud, and already visualizing a standoff. Unfortunately, Greg wasn’t there at all. But Ashley was, and I won’t lie, our goodbye was a little teary. She accompanied us to the garage of the building when we carried my boxes to the car.
“You know, Greg hasn’t been such a dick these last few days,” she said.
“I had a word with him,” Will explained.
I stared at him. “You talked to Greg?”
He gave me a half smile. “I might have had a conversation with him a few days ago. He might have shit his pants.”
I just laughed, feeling oddly elated as we drove away. This was my first day of freedom. It was the first time I wasn’t tied to a job in ten years, and it felt damn good.
Mom had been surprisingly negative about the whole thing.
“You sure this is the right thing to do, Paige? You’d be relying a lot on Will, with the funding, and living with him and everything. What if you don’t find a job right away afterward?”
I’d soothed my mother’s worries as best as I could and dedicated the next two weeks to sending grant proposals while overseeing the renovations on the inn. Since it would be an education center now, I needed to make some major changes as well as sell the old furniture and buy new things.
I was standing on a chair, securing a projector to the ceiling in what would be one of the classrooms, when my phone rang from the adjacent room. I’d already missed a call while I was installing this thing, but I didn’t want a repeat. I climbed down, scurrying to the other room.
