by Stella Rhys
“You’ve been working so hard,” she said, watching Ozzy dart around. “They would both be so proud of you, Julian. I sincerely hope you know that.”
It was as much of a compliment as it was a request that I relax at some point, and let everything go. I wasn’t sure if that was going to happen, nor did I want to entertain the discussion. Thankfully, Mom let me off the hook to lecture Emmett.
“Emmett, maybe you should get him a brother to play with.”
“Ma, you gotta be kidding me. Ozzy’s three. I can’t handle another one now.”
“I read somewhere it’s not good to keep a dog without giving it a friend.”
“Mom.” Emmett groaned to the skies. “Stop with the grandkid thing,” he said. “Ask Julian about a girl named Sara.”
Mom sat upright to stare at me.
“Who?”
Little shit. I directed my death look at Emmett before promptly excusing myself and striding out of the suite before I could be questioned.
ME: I’m going to have you banned from the stadium.
I sent the text to Emmett as my footsteps echoed down the empty hall. He fired back fast.
EMMETT: Gram would kill you. I’m her favorite.
EMMETT: You going to see the girl?
ME: No. What makes you think that
He ignored my last text, which annoyed me, because it left the conversation about Sara unfinished, and I was having a shit enough time as it was trying to think of something, anything besides her.
The fact that we had our next meeting with the Roths tomorrow was eating at me now too, because while I loved watching her put on a show for them, I also hated it. I hated watching their tongues hang out of their mouths as they dragged their greedy eyes all over her body, and I hated anticipating the ways they would try to touch her, get closer to her.
But I’d put myself in this position.
I’d asked for all of this, and I tried reminding myself of that as I stood in the empty hall. Of course, the attempt was in vain, because when my phone buzzed in my pocket, I picked up with a tart, “What?”
“Jesus Christ. Hello to you too, Hoult.”
I recognized Turner’s voice and exhaled.
“Sorry. I thought you were my brother.”
“Emmett? Love that guy.”
“You would,” I laughed, almost genuinely.
“Yeah, I don’t even know how you two are related,” Turner snorted, some girl’s voice in the background. “Anyway, listen, I know we said we were gonna meet tomorrow…”
“You’re not going to cancel on me.”
“Easy, Hoult. I wasn’t going to cancel, I was gonna say I know we set it for noon at your office tomorrow, but some… thing just came up for me,” he said, sounding half-assed. “I’m in Miami right now, and I’m actually going to be flying back to New York at around five tomorrow, so what do you say we all meet up around six?”
I couldn’t help suspecting that Turner was only in Miami to party, and that he preferred a late meeting tomorrow because it took us out of the conference room, and more than likely, somewhere with more distractions.
“Where do you want to meet?” I asked.
“I really liked that hotel you set me up with a couple weeks back. When I fucked that thing with the ass?”
“Cass.”
“Jesus, you really don’t forget shit. Yeah, her. They have a few rooftop bars there. A few pools. Figured we could have our meeting on a nice part of the roof with a good view – get ourselves some sun to set the mood to talk Biarritz. Right?”
“It’s going to be ninety degrees out, Turner.”
He laughed for longer than I cared to hear. “Oh, I know. Did you hear me say pools? Besides, you can just wear a T-shirt and shorts – you know I don’t give a fuck. Keep it casual for once,” he said, quickly muttering to the girl with him before coming back to me. “Matter fact, I have a surprise for Sara, so you should both bring swimsuits, actually. Or something you don’t mind getting wet.”
It was my turn to laugh. “That’s not happening at all.”
“Don’t say that to me. Also, I sent a little gift basket to your office. Should get there by tomorrow morning.”
“What is it?” I asked.
“Anthrax – the fuck do you think it is? It’s surfing gear from my line. Shit that sold out in stores the week it hit, so you’re welcome,” Turner said. I held the phone away from my ear as he suddenly groaned. I didn’t know what the fuck he was doing with that girl, but I didn’t want to know.
“Jesus Christ, Turner. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Six o’clock at the top of The Victorian,” I said as he chuckled, still half-groaning during his goodbye.
“See you there, buddy.”
13
SARA
I didn’t know what to expect when I walked into the office Monday morning. I’d spent the weekend in a mental limbo.
Friday evening had been a complete mind-fuck for me, and a weekend later, I wasn’t completely sure why. All I really knew was that I’d had sex with Julian in his office, it was way better than I imagined, and possibly way better than I wanted.
What that meant, however, I wasn’t sure. The further removed I was from the day the less I understood my reaction to whatever Julian and I shared. At the time, it felt as if I had to leave, or else I wouldn’t be able to breathe. But over the weekend, I repeatedly wished that I had stayed.
Especially since Julian was ready to go again by the time I slipped out the door. He kept stopping me as I got dressed, running his smooth lips along my mouth, my neck. I’d spent both Saturday and Sunday thinking about how he went from half-mast to rock-hard again the moment I’d kissed him back. It made me feel so good, so insanely sexy.
But then he didn’t contact me once over the weekend. And naturally, I told myself he was with a girl.
A woman, rather. I imagined him with a woman, actually – some willowy, impeccably styled socialite who worked in a gallery in Chelsea. I imagined him taking her to a Michelin-starred restaurant by Central Park where they would talk about an art exhibit, or the last time they went to Ibiza, and how it’s lost its je ne sais quois since their last visit ten years ago – just a bunch of sophisticated, borderline douchey topics I’d never have any business participating in.
Oh yeah.
I was hardcore psyching myself out. And it sucked.
I’d never done it before, but I’d seen various girlfriends through the process. I told them that while they were being irrational, it was okay. Expected, even. Hormones went a little crazy after good sex with an attractive man, but everything would eventually settle down and fall into place.
You just have to ride it out, I said.
Now, I wished I could personally call every one of my friends I’d given that generic speech to and apologize profusely, because as I tried it on myself, I realized it didn’t do jack shit.
“Hey.”
At the sound of Julian’s voice, I jumped. Once I faced him at the kitchen counter in the office, I found him already frowning at me.
“You alright?” he asked.
“Yes,” I answered too quickly.
“You look like you just saw a ghost.”
“I’m fine,” I smiled a little more convincingly now, though still gripping my coffee tight. It was another hot day and Julian was without a jacket, wearing a black tie with a pale grey shirt that was fitted well to his delectably V-shaped torso. I curled my bottom lip against my tongue.
I hadn’t seen him fully naked yet.
That thought crossed my mind just as he leaned in to grab something behind me. My eyelids were heavy for the second that I breathed his intoxicating scent. Soap and skin. It was all natural, but bottled and sold, it would make millions.
“You spilled on yourself,” Julian said, using the napkin he’d grabbed to wipe away the coffee streaming down my arm.
I blinked down at myself.
“Oh. I didn’t realize,” I murmured, blushing when I caught Colin’
s curious eye as he passed. Shit. I wasn’t sure what we looked like just now, and I wished I knew exactly why I felt so thrown off – like I’d completely forgotten how to act around Julian.
God, Sara. A part of me had really thought I could just “bang it out” with this man and carry on. The rest of me was laughing at that part now, especially as Julian gave that sexy nod to indicate “my office.”
My heartbeat quickened as I followed him out of the kitchen and headed for the stairs.
“So, I know you’re probably prepared to meet with the Roths in a few hours, but I should let you know they postponed our meeting till six tonight.”
The news was surprising enough that I somewhat snapped out of my fog.
“Really?” I made a face. But when we looked at each other, we both laughed. “Actually, yeah. That sounds about right.”
“It does, doesn’t it? Though I should’ve told you to save your initial surprise for the location he chose.”
“Oh no. Where did he choose?” I asked, watching Julian kind of shake his head to himself, rubbing his jaw as he grinned. Can you cool it? With the sexiness? Seriously. I was already getting nervous and hot, and that was before he spoke his next few words.
“He wants us at the hotel.”
“The hotel?” I repeated.
“The Victorian.” Julian eyed me wickedly as we reached the top of the steps. “I believe you’re familiar with it.”
My heart skipped a beat.
“Yes.” My eyes fluttered when I looked up and let his gorgeous smile really hit me. “I am.”
Our eyes were on each other as we entered his office, but once I got in, my attention was drawn quickly to the big, ugly box sitting on his desk. It was bright yellow, a glaring eyesore among Julian’s otherwise sophisticated décor.
“Unfortunately,” he started as we stood side by side in front of his desk, just staring at the ugly box. “We won’t be meeting in the comfort of a room tonight so much as some private part of the roof, despite this weather.”
I raised my eyebrows. “We’re going to be burning.”
“I know. I’m not entirely sure what Turner has up his sleeve for tonight, but as you can see, he sent us a lot of surfing gear that we really have no use for.”
I burst out laughing.
“What is he on?”
“I wish I knew. But he did say the surprise he had in store for us tonight required swimsuits.” If a voice could roll its eyes, Julian’s just did. “And while I have no intentions for either of us to play into the swimsuit request, I would recommend you either go home and find a change of clothes or take this to buy something lightweight for tonight.”
I looked down to find Julian handing me a heavy, black credit card.
“Company expense. You can either buy something or grab it from home,” he said, rounding his desk and taking a seat in his chair. “Whichever option you choose, feel free to take the day off till six, since you’ll be working from then till presumably eight or nine o’ clock tonight.”
“Oh.”
I stared at the card. On one hand, it was nice to have the company pay for my personal wardrobe additions. On the other hand, I didn’t want to be out of the office. I had been hoping to stay and feel out the energy between Julian and myself, because if I had any more time alone with my thoughts, I might actually implode.
“Should I… leave right now?” I asked.
“Yes, I’d prefer that.” Julian sat back to study what I imagined was visible disappointment on my face. “I was a little eager to make use of the time that opened up after the Roths rescheduled, so I have back-to-back meetings starting in fifteen minutes,” he said. Off my silence, he smiled. “In case I’m not being clear enough, I don’t regard fifteen minutes as enough time to do anything for pleasure.”
The grin that curved my lips was a slow one.
“Thank you for the clarification.”
“You’re very welcome.”
“But in that case, I should remind you of what you subjected me to on my first day working here.”
Julian sat forward, eyebrow cocked – his silent invitation for me to go on. I smirked.
“Bluntly put, Mr. Hoult, you licked my pussy in the elevator for about six seconds before you had to stop. In your opinion, that was what we had time for, so,” I glanced at the clock, “I can’t help but imagine that fourteen minutes is more than enough time for what I have in mind.”
His cufflink gleamed as he brought his hand under his chin.
“And what is it that you have in mind?”
“I want to finish what I started the night we met.”
“Please clarify.”
“I want your cock in my mouth, Julian,” I said as a wicked look flashed in his eyes. “And this time, I want to make you come.”
He was quiet for two seconds then drew in a deep breath and groaned.
“You’re killing me,” he muttered, but before I knew it, I could hear his belt jangling under the desk.
His eyes stayed pinned on mine as I made my way over to him, his jaw growing tighter with every precise click of my heels. It was as if the sound entranced him because it took awhile before he caught himself and hastily murmured, “Close the door.”
I glanced back at the open door then down at his desk. It was huge, and it went fully down to the floor, so I decidedly ignored his request.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” Julian’s voice was hoarse when I reached him. After another quick peek outside, I lowered myself to my knees, undoing the button on his black slacks and pulling down the zipper. I looked up to see his stare flickering between the door and me, his expression a cross between high alert and higher anticipation.
His breath shortened when I reached into his grey boxers to free his hot erection, and he muffled his groan against his fist when I gave the first lick of his shaft. Flattening my tongue against his smooth underside, I drew it up slowly till I could wrap my lips around the head, sucking vigorously till my hair fell into my eyes.
“What are you doing?” Julian pleaded when I pulled back suddenly.
I answered by grabbing the pen off his desk and arching my back. His eyes glazed over as I slowly wound my long hair into a knot at the top of my head. I took my time, enjoying my view of Julian Hoult waiting eagerly for me. But his patience wore thin quickly.
“Fucking hell,” he hissed, angling forward to grip my jaw and kiss me as his free hand squeezed my breast.
Fastening my topknot with the pen, my grinning lips returned Julian’s kiss, but the moment footsteps sounded outside, he pulled swiftly back. With my hair out of the way, I peered up to see Julian nodding a hello at someone. He’d barely finished before I had his cock back in my mouth.
“Fuck.” His hand grabbed the top of the armrest as I bobbed up and down on him, my every stroke slicker and smoother than the last. “Christ, Sara,” Julian hissed, gripping my topknot as I let my tongue acquaint itself with every ridge and vein on his impressive shaft.
For several minutes, I got to spoil it uninterrupted, sucking so eagerly I wondered if the smacking sounds were echoing out into the hall. I decided on no. As busy as my lips were, I could still hear the low and gravelly filth Julian muttered to me as I got him rock-hard in my mouth. He held me closer to him, his grip on my topknot tightening with my every wet pull.
I knew when he released my hair that someone had just passed his doorway. I paused, waiting for the moment to pass.
But this time, it didn’t.
“Hey, Julian. McKinley’s here a little early for the meeting.”
I stopped, eyes wide when I recognized Colin’s voice at the door. My heart pounded as I slid my eyes up to Julian.
Holy shit. In no time, he’d executed his impossibly smooth transition into pure stoicism. His throbbing dick still rested on my bottom lip as I watched him, mouth hung open with awe. A bit of a teasing awe, really. I wanted him to glance down at me, but he didn’t.
So naturally, I started su
cking again.
The awkward grunt I got out of him made it entirely worth it.
“If you could get him water or coffee for now, that’d be great,” Julian said, punishing me with a quick tug on my hair. “I’ll meet him in the conference room shortly.”
“Great. He says Eli couldn’t make it because – ”
“That’s fine,” Julian cut him off, his voice tight as I touched his cock to the back of my throat. I saw his knuckles go white as he gripped the armrest. “That’s fine. Just… go,” he exhaled hard. “I’ll be there soon.”
A devilish thrill coursed through my veins as I heard Colin walk away. But the smile fell fast from my lips when Julian abruptly pulled out of my mouth and zipped back up.
I fell briefly onto my hands and knees as he got up from his seat and went for the door. My heart beat fast as I anticipated him walking out in fury. But from the floor behind his desk, I didn’t hear his footsteps pace down the hall.
Instead, I heard him close the door and lock it.
My pulse was racing by the time he reappeared to stand above me, his eyes cold and hard as he unzipped again and pulled out his cock.
“Get up,” he said.
My pussy throbbed in response to the command.
“Give me your panties.”
Julian watched me reach under my skirt, his fiery stare calming the slightest bit when my thong fell to my ankles. I let my mouth graze his cock on the way down to retrieve them, grinning at how he flexed his jaw over the brief contact. At that point, I still had him at my mercy.
But once my thong was in his palm, he had me swiftly spun around and bent over his desk.
I squeaked in surprise when he pulled my arms behind my back, knotting my own panties around my wrists before cupping the fullest part of my ass and spanking it hard.
“Was that amusing for you?” he asked, neglecting to rub away the pain before spanking me again. When I yelped, a low rumble escaped his chest. “You enjoyed tormenting me, didn’t you?”
A sharp thrill raced to my clit.
“Yes.”
“I could feel you smiling against my cock while I was talking to Colin. I’m glad you had so much fun with that,” Julian said, his voice tinged with mischief.
