by Alexis Anne
“Information you’ve ‘found’?” Capp quipped.
Dixon leaned closer. “I believe that’s code for ‘my boyfriend and his company.’”
“Ah,” Capp nodded.
I really wished I was home with Leo getting ready for Hope’s birthday party. Time to move things along. I slid the second folder across the table. “Here is an alternative potential suspect.”
“What about your dear old dad?” Dixon took the folder but didn’t flip it open.
“If it’s my father I’ll truly be shocked. Have you met him? He’s lucky and ruthless. That’s why he’s rich and powerful. He’s not smart. Smart men would never treat their wives like trash or their daughter like filth.”
Capp shrugged as if he believed as much too. “So who do we have here?”
Dixon flipped the folder open and whistled. “Jonathan Eubank. On the commission of the national league. Heir to the Eubank fortune. You don’t mess around do you Dr. Brown?”
“It’s only a hypothesis but one I think you’ll want to look into after you read over this report.” Now this work I did do myself. I retreated to my bunker and dug. I matched data. I correlated dates. William was right. Jonathan was certainly the right man in the right place at the right time. And most importantly, with a motive.
“He’s smart, he’s well placed, and he’s certainly capable.”
Dixon arched an eyebrow. “But why would he do this?”
I agreed to keep some of William’s confession to myself. He felt that sharing someone else’s story was not his place and I agreed with him. Besides, I preferred facts.
I explained how Mr. Eubanks dismissed his son for being too scrawny. How he divorced Jonathan’s mother and left her with nothing. That I believed that perhaps Jonathan might have a desire to seek revenge on the man using the very sport he claimed his son was too pathetic to play.”
“You’re reaching here,” Capp drawled.
“And you’re not? You’ve put me in the crosshairs for months.”
“She has a point,” Dixon sighed. “It can’t hurt to hunt this down. The worst that could happen is we come up empty. Again.”
Capp stared a hole through me. “Your father is on our list. We’re going to take him down one way or another.”
“I hope that you do. Please send me an invitation to the arrest. I plan to watch and throw one hell of a party.”
I WAS EXCITED Saturday night at Hope’s birthday party. I was also buzzing with uncontrolled energy and a mind that refused to stop. It landed on one topic and flitted to another. I was becoming anxious about everything. I was going to need another hit of sex soon and hoped Leo was up to the task.
But I was excited to see our friends first and celebrate Hope.
“You’ve been kind of MIA this week,” Mary mused at the bar. “Every time I stopped by you were out. You and Leo banging like crazy or is something else up?”
I hated that my work was taking a hit while all this went down. Notch another rung on my anxiety belt: not doing my job.
“I had some personal stuff come up. I took time to deal with it.”
Mary frowned. “So not swinging from the ceiling with that hunk over there?” Shame.” Tonight Mary went all out. Her bangs were freshly trimmed and her black hair newly streaked with bright purple. She wore it in two long ponytails. Her eyes were dramatically lined in black, curving up at the ends. Her lips were bright red.
And then there was her clothing. All black and white tonight with checked over-the-knee socks that had bows at the top, a flouncy white skirt with black trim, a sleeveless lace black skin-tight blouse, and matching lace fingerless gloves. The only pop of color came from her bright red platform pumps.
She was basically me in anime form because my outfit was all the same colors, but molded to my body in pin-up style. Instead of ponytails I had pin curls.
“Look at you two. Let me get a picture!” Hope fluttered around looking for her phone. “Did you coordinate?”
We looked each other over and laughed. “Nope. But I’m beginning to realize why we’re friends.” Different execution, same dedication to fashion.
“Lunch Monday?” Mary asked with a squeeze.
We smiled for the camera. “Absolutely.”
“Is there anything I can do to help with the personal stuff? Or does your boyfriend have your emotional support handled?”
I really liked having an emotional support system. “He’s got it covered but I’d still like the lunch-with-a-friend support too.”
She grinned. “You’ve got it.”
“I can’t get over you two,” Hope gushed. “Maybe I need a signature style. I don’t think I ever thought about what I’d like. Too busy fitting the corporate model or relaxing in sweats.”
Oh, this could be fun helping Hope find her personal fashion. “We’d be happy to help, right Mary?”
She nodded quickly. “I think this calls for Wine Wednesday at Esme and Leo’s.”
“I can do Wednesday,” Hope said.
“Then Wednesday it is.” I glanced at my friends and realized this was the first time I’d ever had friends that weren’t colleagues or boyfriends. All two of my friends in college were dating me. All my grad school friends were fellow students just trying to survive the semesters. I enjoyed hanging out with the people I worked with but they weren’t my friends.
How sad was it to realize I was just now finding my people?
Or maybe it wasn’t sad. I needed to reframe that thinking. This was satisfying because it was a long time coming. Because I waited and worked for these friendships they were sweeter and I understood just how hard they were to find.
Yeah. I liked thinking of it that way.
“How’s William?” Mary batted her long, fake eyelashes at me.
So. Gross. I visibly shivered just to let her know how I felt. “He’s fine. Please don’t date him.”
“Why?” Hope asked. “And who’s William?”
Mary bounced on her toes. “He’s Esme’s brother and he is hot. All tall, broad, and manly.” Then she clawed at the air.
I seriously thought I might be sick. “I cannot and will not think of him that way.”
But Hope got a twinkle in her eyes and decided to torture me. “Maybe he’s one of those guys whose all strong and commanding in the board room all day and wants a feisty lady to take care of him when he gets home at night.” She winked at the take care of him part, as if we wouldn’t understand her secret meaning.
Whatever. I hated them both for this.
I stuck my fingers in my ears and hummed but I could still hear them.
“I could be down with that. But mostly I think he’s a tiger in the bedroom. I just hope he likes role play.” She waved at her clothing.
And now I knew what she liked in bed.
And that she wanted to try it out with my big brother.
It was a good thing we weren’t that close. If we’d been best friends growing up I’d probably be crying in a bathtub at the very thought of Mary prancing around in heels and pigtails with William chasing after her.
“I hate you both so much right now.”
Hope giggled. “It’s my birthday and I get what I want. Besides, if Mary does bag your brother we’ll hear about it, so you might as well get used to it now.”
“Nope. Noooooope. If you bag my brother I don’t want any details. You two can gossip all you want.”
“Oh,” Hope whispered, “do you wear the furry ears and plug with the tails?”
Mary nodded quickly, giggling with glee as I ran away as fast as I could. If William wanted to date Mary that was his business. If he got off on dress-up and role play, again, I was happy for him. I understood. I had my kinks. In fact, I was looking forward to having my kind satisfied for the first time in years later tonight. I wasn’t judging either of them.
I just didn’t want to know about it in any detailed kind of way.
CHAPTER 17
I woke up the next morning sore and more
relaxed than I’d ever been after one hell of a night of hotel sex with Leo. He said he thought this should be our new ritual on weekends like this. When one of us needed complete, mind altering pleasure, we should get completely away from our normal lives and I agreed.
So I stretched in a luxurious king sized bed as the morning light streamed in. My muscles ached in a good way. My pussy throbbed but I loved it. I couldn’t wait to do it all again.
“Breakfast is ready. Would you like me to bring it to you?” Leo stood naked in the doorway and I wondered if that was how he answered the door or if there was a robe hidden somewhere.
“No, I’ll come out there.” Since Leo was naked I decided it was pointless to pull on any clothing. Besides, the smell of bacon was like a beacon that couldn’t be bothered to wait for something as frivolous as clothing.
I ate like an athlete, shoving food in my face until all the plates were empty. “I forgot how sex can take it out of you.”
Leo smiled. “You were so gorgeous last night. How do you feel?”
“Amazing. Happy. How about you?”
“Amazing. Happy. I needed last night. I didn’t realize how much I was holding back or that I hadn’t felt like myself in a while.”
I froze with one last piece of toast halfway to my mouth. “Because of me?”
He considered his answer for a moment. “Yes and no. I think we both paused when we started dating because we needed to find a new way forward. In that way, yes it’s because of you, but it also has nothing to do with you.” He took a sip of coffee and shook his head. “Like you, sex has always been a huge part of my life, but even before we met I’d become lost. I was drifting from one date night to another, giving what I could, helping when possible, but never really engaging for myself. I think I was ready to settle down, I just didn’t know it yet.”
“Settle down?” I never liked that term. It sounded . . . well it sounded sad. Like settling instead of going after what you really wanted.
I think Leo saw my worry because he hurried to explain. “Jeffry and Hope actually pointed it out to me after we met. I crave intimate relationships but I’d always avoided the most intimate of them all: a true partner. I probably avoided it because I doubted I’d ever find someone who understood that partnering with me would be complicated.”
“That they wouldn’t be able to understand that your personal relationship was only one part of your sexual life.”
“Exactly. Then we met and I knew I’d found my soul mate but we needed time to get to know each other before we dipped a toe in anything else.”
Gah! He was so sweet. And the fact that he wanted to protect our love was what made me love him even more. So I went to him and curled up against his chest. “Last night was perfect. I learned a lot about you.”
“Like what?”
“That you’re a voyeur.” Leo watched for the first half of the night. He sat on the chair in the corner, his hand on his cock, and watched as I gave him a one-woman show on the bed.
He kissed the top of my head. “You knew that, didn’t you?”
“No. Not really. I just thought you liked to watch and talk dirty. Last night I discovered you get off on watching and you talk dirty because you like to describe everything.” And do mean everything. He told me what he wanted to see, he gave me commands, and he also kept up his usual stream of filthy descriptions. The man had a fantastic vocabulary.
He laughed and I bounced in his lap. “That sounds about right.”
His cock twitched to life beneath me. “Mr. Hancock, I do believe you’re ready for more.”
“Oh I am,” he growled.
I swallowed hard as the memory of his eyes burning for me as I touched myself flashed through my mind. “You want to watch again?”
He spun me on his lap so I was straddling him face to face. “I want it all, love. I want to watch, I want to be inside you, I want to hear you scream for more.”
I rose up on my toes, encouraging him to fill me now.
“Too soon,” he whispered. “You’re sore.”
“Not too sore for you. I want you, Leo. I want you now.” It stung as he filled me but the pain soon disappeared into the pleasure. “I’ll always want more of you.”
He massaged my hips, then my shoulders and neck, taking my hair in his hands. “I’ll never get enough of you. Ride me, Esme. Ride me good.”
I used the back of the chair for leverage, taking him inside me in long, sure strokes. I watched with fascination as his eyelids fluttered shut. His shoulder muscles tensed under me.
And then I was in the air as he pushed dishes out of the way, laying me back on the table. “So good, Esme. So very good.” He took the bathrobe tie and laced it around my wrists, then my ankles, binding my hands to my sides. “You turn me on even when I try to resist you,” he grunted. “I’ve lost all control. You understand this means I have to have you now. Hard. For as long as I want.”
My inner muscles fluttered with arousal. “Yes.”
“Tell me you want this.”
“I want you. Now. Hard. For as long as you need.”
“Good girl.” He slammed into me. I couldn’t move. I had no choice but to lie flat on the table and take everything he gave. He gripped the ties at my ankles, using them as leverage as he pistoned his hips, sinking his erection into my heat over and over again, pounding me into an orgasm that surprised the hell out of me.
“Fuck I love feeling you come. Jesus Christ the way you squeeze me.” He bent over the table and sucked my nipple into his mouth as he thumbed my clit, forcing me to keep coming and coming. “That’s right, give it all to me. Give me what I want.”
He wrung it out until there was nothing left to give. Then he pumped slowly. He watched as I came back from my high, licking his lips and massaging my thighs.
“That’s my girl,” he murmured. “Taking all of me.”
“Always,” I whispered, amazed that even after last night I could still want more. Was I addicted again? No. I didn’t think I was. Instead of craving my next fix, crazed and willing to do anything to chase it, I was simply excited to take advantage of what was now my life: sex any time I wanted it with a man up for anything.
He reached above my head and picked up the bottle of syrup. “You know I’ve been wanting to do this for several months.” He drizzled the warm liquid over my right breast and the immediately dove in, licking and sucking the stickiness away, driving me absolutely wild in the process.
His warm tongue, his soft strokes, his gentle sucks, his intense nibbles. And then he slammed into me. I was lit up from the inside out between his gentle seduction and harsh penetration. I could barely breathe as he repeated the process on my other breast.
“I’m afraid we’ll have to shower after this.”
“You can get me sticky everywhere if you keep doing that thing with your tongue.”
He swept it lightly over my nipple. “You mean like this?”
“And that other thing.” Electricity tingled everywhere his tongue searched.
“You mean this?” He sucked deep.
I arched off the table. “And that other thing.”
He bit me and thrust at the same time. I cried out, asking for more, which of course he obliged.
And then, “You’re going to come for me now, Esme. You’re going to come around my cock just the way I like it. Give me what I want.”
My eyes rolled back in my head. There was something about his words and being bound that made everything tingle, everything pulse. “Describe it,” I gasped.
“My cock is stretching this wet pussy. You’re taking me over and over. No matter how hard I go. You stretch for me and you take it all. Your legs are spread wide so I can see all of those perfect pink petals. I love seeing your hands bound. Fucking love knowing I can touch you any way I want.” He trailed his fingers over my open folds and slit. “Your clit is swollen and hard and when I press on it you moan.” I did just that as he pressed and rubbed, lightning zinging straight to my co
re, causing my inner muscles to tense and release with each press. “Your tits are bouncing up and down each time I pound you and your cheeks are red. You’re flushing now, all the way down your chest. You know what that means, darling?”
I nodded. I knew.
“You’re about to come on my cock, darling. You’re going to squeeze me hard and I’m going to fill you with my cum while you hold my dick with a vice grip deep inside that pussy we both love.”
Fuck, I loved his filthy mouth. The dirty and more detailed the better. I came just as he asked, taking his pounding until he couldn’t escape, holding him where he wanted, locking us together as we fell apart.
EPILOGUE
LEO
* * *
I DANCED out of my office.
“Wow! Someone’s in a good mood.” Maddie laughed as I passed her in the hallway.
“I am.” I even wiggled my hips like I was doing the salsa with an invisible partner.
“Have anything to do with the announcement at the meeting today? You’ve been stressed.”
Today Marie held a company-wide meeting to address our suspicions. It was all out in the open (at least at Bancroft Sports) and everyone knew how we were proceeding as a company. Thank. Fuck.
“It’s a huge part. Keeping quiet isn’t exactly my favorite thing.” No, I liked loud. Especially when it came from Esme.
“Well go home and have a drink. You deserve it for all the work you’ve put in on this.” Maddie skipped off to her office.
And I hurried away from work. I loved my job and still enjoyed the thrill of every day, but right now things were hopping in my personal life and I was excited to get back to it.
Five minutes later I pulled up at the now empty bunker. Esme felt safe enough about the investigation into her and her father that she shredded everything. The whiteboards, computers, and filing cabinets were now gone. The room gutted. And now it was being reassembled as something brand new.
“This is looking nice.” Jeffry and John had just finished installing the wood flooring. For some reason it was fun to them and I was happy to hire them. Next they were building a luxury bath and shower and installing a small kitchen.
