by Ali Parker
I walked into M&B around ten and made my way to my office before walking up to see Erica. I figured it would be a little more prudent to stop by and let the team know I was there. Surely Erica would want to discuss how to break the news to everyone at work that we were moving into something far beyond a friendship. At least I assumed she would.
"Hey, Matthew! How are you, brother?" Lewis stood up, pushed his dreadlocks over his shoulder and extended his hand. His Caribbean accent was too damn cool.
"Hey, man. Good to see you." I shook it and greeted the other girls in the room. "How's the week been so far?"
"Excellent." Lewis nodded as Mandy walked toward us.
"Well, for most of us." She shook her head. "Erica was jogging on Monday and got mugged. It wasn't pretty."
"What?!" I moved toward the door as my heart almost stopped in my chest. "Is she here?"
I jogged out without waiting for an answer. Lewis called behind me that he believed she was. My pulse spiked as I waited for the elevators. I moved in as a couple of people tried to move out.
"I'm sorry." I moved back and let them out before walking back in and pressing the button for Erica's floor like I was mental. "Come on. Come on."
"You okay?" Mitch moved up beside me, causing me to jump.
"What? Oh, damn. I didn't know anyone else was in here." I glanced back to see several people watching me with curiosity. "There're lots of you."
"Matt, you know?" Mitch squeezed my shoulder as the door opened to the executive floor.
"Yeah. Just heard about Erica's incident." I waved and jogged down the hall. Why the hell hadn't she called me? Monday was freaking three days ago. I knocked and stuck my head into the door to find her standing at her desk, her back to me. "You busy?"
She glanced over her shoulder. "No. Come on in. When did you-"
"Why didn't you tell me about Monday?" I closed the door and walked toward her in four large steps. "That's really upsetting."
"Because it wasn't that big of a deal." She turned and the bruise around her left eye was sickly yellow. My blood ran cold.
"Wait a minute. Someone hit you?" I reached out and ran my hands over her arms before pulling her flush against me.
"Yes, but it's okay now. Seriously." She smiled, but I couldn't stop envisioning someone hurting her.
"It is a big deal. Did you get a visual on the guy? Did he get your purse?" I reached up and touched the side of her face. "I'm going to fucking beat him to death if we ever find out who it was."
Her smile softened as she cupped my hand. "It's okay. Shit happens, right? I got over it."
"Why didn't you call? Answer me." I tightened my hold on her, wanting her to know that I was her protector. If I'd known she was hurt I would have raced across the world to get to her.
"It seemed silly, and you already asked that." She wrapped her lithe arms around my waist and pressed her cheek to my shoulder, tucking her face against the side of my neck. "I missed you."
"Me too, baby." I rubbed her back and tried to force the violence inside of me to die down. Never in a million years had I wanted to defend someone like I wanted to defend her. "I really wish you would have called, Erica."
"And what would you have done?" She kissed the soft skin under my ear, waking my body up and causing me to growl.
"Come home and held you. Figured out who did this and beat his fucking ass." I clenched my teeth as she snuggled in tighter. All I wanted was her. Her safe. Her happy. Her love.
"Well, it's all better now." She moved back and pulled me down for a long kiss. "You are home."
"Speaking of." I kissed her a few more times and ran my hand down the back of her silky hair. "I'm almost positive I'm going to move up here before January. I felt like shit not being here with you."
Her smile drove a stake of lust deep inside of me. "Nice. I was hoping that would happen sooner rather than later."
"You work fast. What can I say?" I brushed my nose down the side of her face and nipped at her ear before moving back. "All right. I gotta calm down. My heart is racing from fear of something happening to you, and my cock is so hard it feels like it's gonna crack in half."
She reached out and pressed her palm against my erection. "Hot."
"Yours." I cupped my hand over hers and stroked myself, not quite minding the slacks all of a sudden. They were made of much thinner material than my jeans.
"We should have dinner tonight and talk through everything."
"You ready to do that?" I gripped her hand and pulled it from my dick before stepping closer to her. "I'm ready."
"Yeah, I think so. Tomorrow is the big showing. Are you excited?" She leaned in and kissed me one more time before walking back to the other side of her desk and sitting down.
"I am. The painting is almost done. It's going to be beautiful."
"I'm surprised he didn't want it tonight."
"He did." I smirked and dropped down in the seat closest to me. "I told him tomorrow morning at seven. I need tonight to add a few highlights."
"Don't add this, okay?" She brushed her fingers around her bruised eye.
I growled. "I don't like that one bit."
"I'll get some thick make-up and have it covered by tomorrow night. I promise."
"That's not what I meant. You're beautiful to me no matter what, Erica. I hate that someone put their hands on you."
"Yeah, well, let's move to another subject. That vein in the side of your neck looks like it's ready to pop."
I breathed in slowly and glanced up toward the ceiling. "You're right. Where do you want to stay tonight?"
"Are we staying tonight?" She sounded a little surprised.
"Yes." I wasn't playing games anymore. "I'm not spending another night without you in my bed, or me in yours. You choose."
"Let's stay at your place so you can finish up working on the piece without any stress."
"Perfect." I crossed my hands over my stomach. "How is Zek doing? Crapping all over your place yet?" I smiled, unable to help myself.
"He's actually been really good." She bit her lip seductively, which didn't help the vein in question much at all. "I did have something really cool happen though."
"Tell me about it." It was all I could do to stay seated on my side of the desk. Everything about her made me want to be closer.
"Jonathan called to finalize a few things. I hope you don't mind that I worked through some of the last minute details with him." She gave me an unsure smile.
"Not at all. I love that you're involved in what's happening with Jonathan."
"Good." She let out a sigh that sounded like relief. "Anyway, he asked to see some of my work."
Excitement bubbled up inside of me. "Really? That's great news. When?"
She shook her head, trying to make less of it from what I could tell. "After your event. I wanted everyone to stay focused on you for now."
"You think you're going to steal the show from me?" I smiled and stood up. "You deserve a spanking for that."
"I'm not nearly as talented as you are, so no... but a spanking might be fun."
I moved around the desk and slid my hands over her hips, pressing my erection to her ass and fondling her breasts as she stood up and pressed her back to my chest.
"What am I gonna do with you?" I kissed her ear and breathed in deeply.
"I thought you were going to spank me." She rolled her hips slowly, playing with me.
"Among other things, yes." Someone knocked at the door, and I pinched her nipples between my fingers and rolled them slowly as I leaned down and licked up the side of her throat one more time.
"Just a minute," she called out breathlessly. "What else?"
"Taste every inch of you, hold your hair so I can control you while I fuck your pretty mouth and then-"
"Oh God," she panted softly.
I slid my hand down the front of her skirt into her panties. I'd come into the room to make sure she was all right, and by the looks of things... she was perfectly fine. It
didn't dent my fury much, but it was quickly changing the anger into lust.
"Work myself into every place you'll let me." I opened her up and pressed my middle finger against her opening.
Another knock at the door.
"Matt. Stop," she panted as I pressed my finger deeper inside of her.
"No. Tell them to go away. Now." I rolled my palm against her clit and gripped her pussy with my other fingers. "I wanna feel you come."
"No. Seriously." She shifted her hips forward, fucking herself against my hand. "We'll do this tonight."
"Tell them to go. Now, Erica. I'm not asking again."
She nodded as her body tightened around mine. "I'm in the middle of a conversation. Come back in ten minutes or don't come back at all." Her voice was low, commanding, fucking hot.
I sat down in her comfy chair and pulled her down with me as I pulled my hand from the front of her skirt and tugged it up her thighs.
"We really shouldn't-" She glanced back at me, and I gripped her chin with my free hand and leaned in to kiss her as I slipped my fingers back under her scrap of panties and played with her soft swollen skin until she cried out and wet my hand.
"More." I licked at her mouth. "I want more."
"Tonight."
"Now." I drilled her for a few more minutes as she writhed and panted in my lap. Her cries were beautiful, her need beyond tantalizing.
My body ached for so much more than I was going to take, but the moment was about reminding her who she had in me. I wanted to be everything she needed me to be as her man, but more than that, I wanted her to seek pleasure in every means necessary - from only me.
Chapter 38
Erica
It took me the rest of the day to get over how well he played my body that morning. Maybe I should get mugged and thrown around more often. My insides were liquid heat every time I thought about him and how good it was going to feel to get the rest of our shit out of the way and dive into a relationship we both wanted and needed.
"You want me to take you over to your place to get Zek?" Matt's voice surprised me as I tried to finish up a report I was working on.
I glanced down at the clock to see that it was already seven. I was supposed to have dinner with Lanie. Shit. I'd totally forgotten. I couldn't turn away my best friend because I was starting to date Matt. That wasn't fair.
"You know what?" I stood and let out a long sigh. "I totally forgot about having dinner with Lanie. It's our Thursday night thing."
"So invite her over to my place." He walked into the office and brushed his hand down his face, smiling naughtily.
"What’s that look for?"
"I can smell you on my fingers." He licked at them.
"Who is the wicked man in front of me? My Matthew is sweet and sensitive. Funny and so very loving."
"Oh, I'm still him, but there are many sides to all of us, right?" He moved around to my side of the desk and reached out to tug me toward him.
I pressed my hands to his chest and ran them up to cup his neck. "I'll see if Lanie wants to come over. She might actually like to see your painting up close."
"Then I'll follow you back to your place. Call Lanie on the way over, and we'll get you a bag and pick up Zek and his stuff for the night." He leaned down and kissed me.
Mitch's voice sounded by the door, startling me. "Erica. Could you- Oh. Shit. I'm sorry."
"No. I'm sorry." My heart almost stopped as heat raced up to coat my cheeks. "I didn't even think about closing the door."
Mitch glanced from Matt to me and back to Matt as a smile formed on his handsome face. "That's why you were so worried this morning. You're Erica's new beau."
"Yeah. I am." Matt wrapped his arm around my shoulders from the side.
"We've been toying with the idea for two years; since I came to work at McKenzie and Bryant." I glanced up at Matt. "Right?"
"Yeah." He smiled down at me. "I'm the luckiest man in the world."
Mitch chuckled, but it was a friendly sound. "I agree with that completely."
"Thanks. Did you need something?" I turned back to face Mitch.
"No. Nothing that can't wait. I'll find you tomorrow." He took a few steps back as his eyebrow lifted. "Are we telling people about this or..."
"No," I responded at the same time as Matt told him, "Yes."
I smirked up at Matt. "We'll tell them soon. Let's figure everything out together first."
"Whatever you want. I'll meet you downstairs." He kissed the tip of my nose and released me to walk out of the office. "See you tomorrow, Mitch."
"All right, buddy." Mitch turned to watch him go and let out a low huff before turning back to me. "Matt? Really?"
My smile faded. It was never that easy. "Yeah. He's a great guy."
"He's a kid, Erica. He's not at all the type of man that deserves a woman like you."
"Here's the line," I drew a line in the air and lifted my other hand above it, "and here's you. Back up..."
He chuckled and lifted his hand. "No, I get it. It's none of my business, but I'm just concerned."
"No, you're interested, which is completely different."
"I am definitely interested, which might make me a little bit bias, but you're jumping into something before really thinking it through." He lifted his other hand. "You know what... it's none of my concern. I'm just saying that he's a wayward kid stuck in the body of a young man. He doesn't have stability to plan for the future or any focus on taking care of a beautiful woman like yourself."
"And you do?" I hated to attack him at all. Just knowing that he lost his wife three years before and that he's been beyond good to me since we met a few weeks back stalled my anger.
"I'm not sure anyone could fully satisfy a gem like you, but I'd be willing to bend over backward to make sure you knew you were adored, kept, loved." He tilted his head and studied me. "Anyway. Good luck, and I'm sorry for overstepping. Honestly. See you tomorrow."
He walked out and left me standing in silence. I love Matt. He would grow up and be all the things Mitch claimed he wasn't. Hell, he was already starting to do all of those things. Sort of.
***
"So? How was your trip to Dallas?" Lanie leaned against the counter in Matt's kitchen later that night as I chopped up veggies for a stir fry. I was glad that she decided to still come even though we were adding Matt to the mix.
"It was good. Like I said, I fit in with Matt's family so well. Not that I didn't know that. I mean, hell, I just got back from Jamaica as the only non-family member to attend Kent's wedding." I picked up a bell pepper and handed it to her.
She leaned in and bit it. "What's going on? You're tense."
"No, I'm not." I popped the rest into my mouth.
"Lies." She moved to the sink and washed her hands.
Matt was in a room down the hall, working furiously on adding the accents to the portrait before he would let me or Lanie see it.
"I'm good." I shrugged and tossed the veggies in our stir fry pan. "It's just that Mitch came in today when Matt and I were kissing, which was a little awkward."
"The new director at the firm?"
"Yeah." I glanced over at her. "I thought he might be interested in me, but after our conversation over Matt today, I know he is."
"Uh oh. What did he say?"
"What didn't he say?" I pushed the veggies around and checked on the pot of rice we had going. "He just thinks that Matt's an immature child and that I deserve better."
"He's jealous, old and full of shit." She moved around the bar and started to work on tearing lettuce for our salad.
"Oh, I agree, but I really like him from a professional-stance."
"Good. Then keep things that way. You and Matt have something really cool starting, Erica. Give him a chance. He'll keep you young and you'll grow him up. It's perfect. Seriously."
"And what about you?" I forced myself to relax. She was right. Why was I even questioning anything? I barely knew Mitch, wasn't attracted to him, which was
slightly absurd, and was completely in love with Matt.
"What about me?" She nibbled on a piece of lettuce like a rabbit.
I chuckled as I knew she wanted me to. "What about your love life? You had a date last week, right? Someone you met online?"
"Horrible." She dropped her head back and groaned dramatically. "It was so fucking horrible."
Matt turned the corner, black paint on his cheek, his eyes wild. "You girls okay? What's up?"
I smiled at him, unable to help myself. "Lanie was telling me about her last blind date. Seems it didn't go too well."
Lanie rolled her head to rest her cheek on her shoulder. "Didn't go very well? It was fucking horrible."
Matt moved over to stand behind me and wrapped his arm around my shoulders before kissing the side of my head. I extended a piece of bell pepper over my shoulder toward him.
"Eww... gross." He nipped at my ear before turning back toward Lanie. "So tell us what happened. I'm thinking this is going to be hilarious."
"I'm your number one supporter in this thing with Erica." Lanie lifted her eyebrow and leaned toward us. "Don't mess it up, Matthew Bryant."
"Ohhhh... The last name?" He smiled and released me. "I'll try not to, but spill. What happened?"
"He's a psychologist and spent the whole damn dinner trying to analyze why my life wasn't where I wanted it to be."
"It isn't?" I asked.
"No. Not as far as he was concerned. I mean, I'm twenty-eight and not married, I don't have kids or a house. Now, never mind you that he's thirty-five and still single too. I wanted to tell him to stop trying to fix everyone and learn to breathe a little." She shook her head.
"Wait. I'm twenty-eight and I don't have any of those things."
"Not yet. Soon." Matt glanced my way and winked. "We could work on the kid thing tonight if you're up for it. They say practice makes perfect."
Lanie giggled as I growled and gave her a look. "Don't encourage him, please."
"Anyway... he was really cute, and I thought maybe I might end up with a second date, but I can't handle someone tearing apart my life to find the issue, when to me, there is no issue. I love my life. I wish I had someone to hold me at night and stuff, but the other parts are really great. I adore my job and you guys." She glanced down toward her hands and sighed, breaking my heart with her loneliness. "You sure your brother isn't free?"
