by Kensie King
He turned slowly, staring at me like I was crazy. “You really want to know? I’m just as hard as I look and sound. If I wasn’t so selfish, I’d tell you to run far, far away from me.”
“And stay here alone forever?” I murmured.
“Eric…”
“Is that what you’re going to do now? Tell me to leave?”
Because I didn’t want to leave. Instead, I wanted to comfort him. To show him there were still things worth living for, worth believing in. To hold him against me and show him even the worst pain could be taken away.
He swallowed. “I can’t. I mean…” He reached out, fingers trailing down my cheek, and the bruise there. “I can’t tell you to leave.”
“Then don’t.”
I leaned up and kissed him on the jaw, my lips brushing barely-there stubble. He smelled like aftershave. Something spicy and sexy that had me breathing in deep. When I exhaled and my breath touched his lips, Preston yanked me against him.
“I can’t control myself when I’m around you,” he growled.
“Then don’t.”
He walked me backward so the backs of my thighs hit the edge of the desk at the same time his lips locked on mine. His tongue pushed its way into my mouth, plunging deep and making me moan.
“Preston…”
“Yes. Say it again.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck. “Preston.”
He reached around me, grabbed my ass and hauled me up against him. His cock pressed against me, hard and ready to go. The sudden need I felt for him was as sharp as a lightning strike, hitting me right in the groin. I rubbed against him, using the friction to drive myself crazy.
“Damn it, Eric…you keep rubbing against me like that, I’m not going to be able to slow down.”
Before I could challenge this, he dropped me on top of the desk, my legs dangling over the edge. He pushed between my thighs and gripped one hand in my hair to yank my head back. When my face was tilted to his, throat exposed, he nibbled down my neck, over my collarbone, and in the vee of my shirt.
Unwilling to let him completely take the lead, I slid my hands under his T-shirt. His abs were rock hard, a stone washboard that reminded me just how controlled Preston could be. And just how strong he was.
Preston yanked off his shirt before gripping the hem of mine and pulling it over my head as well. My breath came sharp and quick, chest rising and falling at the exhilaration I felt to be completely at his mercy.
His dark eyes dropped to my lips, something dangerous dancing in the depths. Part of me wasn’t sure if he was going to lose it and yank off the rest of our clothes to plunge into me hard and rough, or if he was going to take his time. One piece of clothing at a time. One small inch of skin at a time.
I wanted it both ways, but I knew for sure I wanted it.
I undid the button on his jeans and he removed them along with his boxers, standing fully naked at fully erect before me. A drop of pre-cum glittered on the end of his dick, making me lick my lips.
Preston’s hand gripped the back of my hair again, another growl sounding low in his throat. “You want me to fuck your mouth?”
I couldn’t nod. His grip was too tight on my hair. But I breathed out a heady, “Yes.”
“There will be time for that. Time for all of this.” His eyes locked on mine. “As long as you stay.”
#
His eyes, blurry with desire, were confused. “Stay?”
“I need to know you’re not going to run after this.”
I needed so much more. Wanted to insist he stay here with me instead of going back home, insist he only left to take pictures and didn’t put himself at risk, but with blood roaring in my ears and making my cock thick with desire, I couldn’t lay it all out for him right now.
“I’m not going to run.”
God, how did he have so much faith in me? In the world? Especially after what had happened last night?
“It’s been a long time,” I said gruffly, needing to touch him to feel alive again. To bury my dick so far inside him, it’d feel like we were the same person.
I scooted him to the edge of the desk, undid his jeans, and had both those and his boxers off in seconds.
I slid my hands down his arms, causing him to shiver and me to grin. That innocence was still there, buried under his raging need for me. One could see clearly by how hard his cock was.
I leaned him back on the desk and shackled his wrists with one hand. He stretched out before me, long and lean, chest heaving with sharp, needy breaths. He lifted his hips against me, and I had to exercise all the control I had not to plunge into him right there.
“Preston, please…”
“Not yet,” I said, kissing his lips.
I wanted him to need me so badly he was out of his mind. I wanted to see him dripping with arousal.
I flicked my tongue across one nipple, making his back arch, and then moved to the other. I licked it, blew on it, and when his eyes closed, ran my tongue over the flat disk once more.
“Oh, God…”
He writhed underneath me, teasing my cock. His body moved in a mesmerizing rhythm, like I was already inside of him, rocking him to the brink of ecstasy.
I tightened my grip around his wrists, holding him in place while I skimmed his stomach with the fingers of my other hand.
“I need you inside me,” he said, voice barely more than a whisper.
Just what I wanted to hear. Just want I wanted to know. That he needed me as much as I needed him.
Answering his request, I shoved two fingers inside of him, watching his face as I plunged them in and out of his tight hole. His lips parted, tongue flicking out to lick them. I could imagine those pink lips on my cock, sucking me deep until I reached the back of his throat.
But not yet.
I found a bottle of lube and a condom in the draw to my desk. Always prepared, though I never thought I’d be using them in here. Or maybe ever again.
With lube on my fingers, I prodded his hole again, readying him for me. HIs entire body tightened, bowing up off the desk as I continued to restrain his wrists.
He murmured my name, body trembling as I probed him and pleasured him.
“Preston, please—”
“Almost,” I murmured.
Then I moved closer to him, spreading his legs with my knee. He parted for me, legs pulling back to grant me entrance. I wanted my mouth there, my tongue inside him before I wrapped my lips around his dick. I wanted it all. But now…
“Look at me.”
His eyes fluttered open, taking a moment to focus on mine. I didn’t see fear or anxiety there—and realized for the first time in a long time—none of those feelings plagued me either.
Then I slid my dick over his primed entrance before easing in one agonizing inch at a time. It cost me to go so slow, but it was worth it. I filled him full, stretching him to accommodate me.
“Preston.”
“Yes,” I murmured, pressing my hips to go deeper.
“Take me now.”
My dick jerked inside of him, and then…I lost control.
CHAPTER EIGHT
I’d never been stretched this wide before. Preston was the biggest man I’d ever been with, and when he shoved in and out of me, chasing after his own release, I could hardly hold still.
With his hands still manacling my wrists, all I could do was groan in pleasure as my naked back arched against the desk.
“You’re so fucking tight,” he bit out, cheeks taut.
I wanted him to lose control, to need me as badly he knew I needed him. So I lifted my legs to my chest, allowing him to go deeper. He grunted in response, fingers tightening on my wrists.
He pounded harder, spearing me with his cock, making me die a little each time he hit that sweet spot. I moaned out loud, perilously close to coming.
“Yes, baby,” he murmured, “come for me. Come for me now.”
My breath caught, and I came, turning my head to the side as an or
gasm so powerful shook me to the core. It shot through my entire body, making every single nerve ending as sensitive as they’d ever been.
Preston’s fingers squeezed my wrists in a death grip when he came. His hips jerked against mine, pumping even as he spurted hot inside of me. He moved his free hand to my cock and my body jerked again as another orgasm shook me.
God, this was…I couldn’t even find words. I’d never abandoned work in the middle of the day to fuck my boss before. But I wasn’t against doing it again. And right now, Preston did not feel like my boss.
I relaxed my legs, still sprawled on the desk. Preston’s body went lax against mine, his fingers loosening their grip.
I brought my arms to my sides, but before I could flex my fingers to bring back some of the circulation I’d lost, Preston sat up and grabbed my hands gently. He rubbed my wrists, murmuring something under his breath I couldn’t make out.
“Are you okay?” he asked after a moment.
“More than okay.” I smiled at him. I felt dirty, and more than content with it. My body ached in places I forgot I had.
His eyes darkened. “I lost control.”
I sat up, pulling my hands from his. “You didn’t hurt me. That was…better than I expected.”
“Better than you expected?” he asked, angling his head. “Meaning you were expecting this to happen?”
My cheeks burned. No. And yes. Not expecting, maybe. Wanting. Needing.
Preston gripped my chin between his thumb and forefinger. “Tell me.”
“It’s—yes. I mean, I wanted you. I wanted this. I—I…” I didn’t want to say it out loud, and yet I felt like he’d know if I was lying to him. “I fantasized about this.”
“Rough?” he asked, losing some of that worry in his eyes.
“Maybe rougher.”
His dick hardened again, and I reached out, my fingers closing over the length of it. I squeezed the base and moved all the way to the tip.
“Eric,” he warned.
“What?” I asked innocently.
He grabbed my hand. “Let’s clean up.”
My shoulders drooped, but I got off the desk at his encouragement. I went for my clothes, but he shook his head.
“You aren’t going to need those. We’ll get in the shower.”
“Oh. Okay.”
I turned for the hallway, but he caught me around my waist. “Hold on.”
I looked up, surprised when he kissed me softly on my lips.
“I have to make sure I didn’t fuck this up,” he said.
“What do you mean?”
His eyes skimmed my lips before moving to my eyes. “I mean, I was serious about you running. I’m not the person you think I am. I don’t want you to regret this.”
“Then tell me,” I said.
He caught my hand again. “I’ll try.”
But he didn’t continue, only pulled me through the living room—Stone was nowhere to be found—and into his bedroom. In the master bath, he turned on several shower heads and I watched as steam billowed in the room.
He took my hand again and pulled me inside. I released a soft sigh when the water hit my body. It helped take away the aches and pains of last night. Preston grabbed a sponge and ran it along my shoulders. He nudged me in the other direction, and I turned around while he sponged my back.
He did this all in silence, holding back from me. I wanted to understand why he was the way he was, but part of me worried I couldn’t handle it. What had been so traumatic that it had made Preston shy away from the rest of the world?
Finally, after he’d washed my entire backside, he said, “Stay the night.”
“Tonight?”
He nodded, eyes locking on mine. “After last night…I need to have you close.”
I considered this. It wouldn’t hurt. I wanted to show him my pictures from today, get a little more information about the job he was offering me. And maybe I just wanted what every normal human being wanted—a companion.
Someone to fall asleep next to.
“Okay. On one condition,” I said.
The instant worry in his eyes concerned me. I touched his cheek and kept it light. “We order pizza for dinner.”
He laughed, a low husky laugh that had me aching for him all over again. “I think we can manage that.”
#
I jerked awake, unaware of where I was for a long moment. My heart raced in my chest and I was sure there was someone else in the room with me. A dark figure loomed before me and I lashed out, hitting something soft and warm.
I heard a gasp, and then it all came flooding back to me.
“Eric?”
I reached for the lamp by the bed, wincing when the light hit my eyes. He had a hand against his cheek and his lips were parted in concern.
He reached out to me with his other hand. “Are you okay?”
“Me?” I choked out. “I hit you.”
“It’s fine. You were dreaming.”
I had been. The back of my neck was damp from sweat and my heart still hadn’t slowed all the way. It was the same thing it always was. Brian’s body in the alleyway, me crawling across the pavement to reach him, but never being able to make it.
But in this dream, when his lifeless eyes stared up at me, they weren’t Brian’s eyes. They were Eric’s.
I yanked him into my arms, suddenly afraid if I didn’t have a good grip on him, he’d vanish right before my eyes.
“Preston.” His concerned voice reached my ears. He tried to pull back to see my face, but I wouldn’t loosen my hold.
“No,” I murmured. “Stay here. Right here.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
He soothed me by murmuring nonsense words in my ear and rubbing his hand in circles on my back. “It was just a dream,” he said after a moment.
I nodded. He was right. A dream that didn’t mean anything. A dream that was born out of lingering anxiety and nothing else.
But when I thought of losing Eric the way I’d lost Brian, something inside of me snapped. I kissed him hard, pressing my tongue into his mouth. The sheet slid away and I felt his cock grow against my leg.
I yanked the sheet from between us and pulled Eric onto my lap, so he was straddling me. Wetness touched my stomach when pre-cum leaked from his cock.
“Help me forget,” I whispered.
He grabbed a condom from the drawer by the bed and I covered myself before he returned to my lap.
Eric set his hands against my shoulders, and then rose up so my dick was poised at his entrance. And then he lowered herself onto me, letting me sink into his heat. It was comfort and arousal at the same time.
The dream vanished from my mind as he began to move. His body rocked against mine and the friction drove me crazy.
He moaned and moved faster, circling his hips. I grabbed his ass cheeks to sink even deeper inside his heat.
“Preston,” he breathed, eyes unfocused on mine.
It did more for erasing my worries than anything could have—knowing I gave him the kind of pleasure that could make him lose focus. That could make him see nothing but me.
I looked down, watching where our bodies joined. It had been so long since I’d felt this close to someone.
“Don’t hold back,” he said, cheek against mine.
His tongue traced the shell of my ear and I all but lost it. Gripping his waist, I slammed him down on top of me, shoving my hips at the same time. His breath caught, and I repeated the motion a few more times before he clenched around me.
His forehead dropped to my shoulder as he came, and I was helpless to follow, blowing my load deep inside him. His muscles spasmed around me and I came again and again until I was empty but sated.
Until nothing but the memory of the terrible dream was left.
Eric was the only one who’d ever been able to take away that pain.
CHAPTER NINE
My body ached in places I didn’t know existed—a sure sign I hadn’t been getting near
enough sex as I should have been before this. Or at least, near enough good sex. No, great.
After I stepped out of the shower, alone this time, I gave a contented smile. I hadn’t realized how much I needed this. I’d been working so hard for so many years, trying to keep myself afloat and take care of my mom, I hadn’t realized how worn out I’d become.
And how nice it was to share myself with someone else. Or at least part of myself.
After all, Preston and I both had secrets we hadn’t spoken of yet. It was too soon. And I was afraid it would spoil what was starting between us.
When I walked to the bedroom to get dressed and spotted a message on my phone, I wasn’t concerned until I saw who’d left it. It was the facility my mom was staying in. I swallowed hard. Now what?
My hand hesitated over the phone. Part of me wanted to ignore it. No, all of me wanted to. I hated this life and this responsibility. But I was the only one my mom had. If I didn’t take care of her, look after her, who would?
Taking a deep breath, I put the phone to my ear and listened to the message. The director of the facility spoke tersely, telling me many of the same things he had last time. My mom was out of control, fighting her meds and making problems with the orderlies. She’d caused a whole room of destruction and something needed to be done.
My throat dried. It wasn’t like I could stop her. She had mental issues that were too much for me to handle on my own. And she certainly hadn’t wanted to take her meds when she was at home with me—I couldn’t force her to. She’d rather get high on alcohol and drugs, tear the house and apart and then lock herself in her room with nothing but vodka and pills.
But the only other option was to have her medicated entirely—so that she couldn’t even control her own actions.
She’d hate that. She’d vow to kill me. She’d done it before.
I needed to get down there to figure out what to do. Already, I was going to have to pay for the damages and I had no idea where I was going to get the money.
Preston walked into the room, a laptop in his hands. He was smiling, something I hadn’t seen him do often. I hated to give him bad news, so I tried to return his smile.
