Best of 2017

by Alexa Riley

  Fire explodes across my back as my father strikes me. An agonized scream rips from me, and tears roll out of my eyes on their own accord. Dad stares at me in shock for a moment upon realizing what he just did. I writhe in excruciating pain as he stalks out of the room, barking at a nurse to come see me on his way out.

  Fuck you, Dad.

  Fuck. You.

  “GRAY,” Violet grumbles as she steps into my office, dragging me from my memory. “You sent me flowers? And a Kindle?”

  I shake away the dark thoughts and grin at her. “Do you like them?”

  Her plump lips purse together as she closes the door behind her and leans against it. “This is too much. You’re going overboard.” She lifts her chin in a brave way—as if she’s been practicing this little speech all morning.

  I stand from my chair and drink in her appearance. I could stare at her shiny long legs for hours. Run my tongue along the smooth flesh—

  “Focus,” she snaps, her hands finding their way to her slightly curved hips. “You can’t do—” she waves her hands around her for effect “—whatever it is you’re doing here. People will notice.”

  Who gives a fuck if people notice I’m finally appreciating her for all that she is?

  “Listen,” I say as I stalk over to her. I love the way her breasts jiggle beneath the fabric as she takes in a harsh breath of air. “I owe you. I owe you so much.”

  Her body relaxes when I reach her and cup her jaw with my hand. I love how small she feels in my powerful grip. Soon I’ll be able to worship every perfect part of her from sun up to sun down. I step closer to her until her full breasts brush up against my chest. My thumb strokes along her jawline as I look into her big brown eyes that no longer hold fury in them. There’s heat flickering but it’s the kind of heat that I want to get burned by.

  “I’m going to kiss you,” I murmur, my eyes dropping to her now parted lips. “I’m going to kiss every part of you one day.”

  A small mewl rattles from her chest. “Gray…”

  I rub my nose against hers and inhale the lingering coffee scent on her breath. I want to know if she tastes as good as she smells. “Is this harassment? Is this unwanted?”

  “N-No,” she admits. “I like this. Too much.”

  My lips brush against hers, and she grips the lapels of my suit jacket as if to ground herself. I’ve got you, little quitter. I slide my free hand to her hip and press my hard body against her soft one. When she lets out a small moan, I drown it with a kiss. A soul-consuming kiss.

  My tongue dives into her mouth. I expect hesitation or resistance. Instead, her tongue eagerly meets mine. She kisses me back just as hungrily. My cock is hard as stone in my slacks and I can’t help but press it against her, so she can feel just what she does to me. This sends another pleased moan rippling from her. I take it as an invitation to grind my erection into her stomach as I kiss her deeply enough to steal her breath.

  “We shouldn’t,” she whimpers, turning her head to break our kiss.

  I smile as I go for her neck instead. I nip at the flesh and then run my tongue up to her ear, enjoying the way her body trembles in my grip. “You know we should.”

  “I can’t have sex with you here,” she utters, her voice but a whisper.

  I chuckle and nip at her earlobe this time. “When I take you for the first time, it sure as hell won’t be a quickie in my office. I’m going to pin you down in your bed and give you so many orgasms you’ll forget your name. And then, I’ll slide my cock inside your wet cunt.”

  She lets out another strangled sound. “You’re so confident I’ll sleep with you.”

  I grin and pull away so I can look at her. God, she’s so fucking gorgeous. “I’m confident your panties are soaked.”

  At this, she arches a sculpted brow at me. “Confident, huh?”

  “You’re practically trembling with the need to fuck me,” I assert with a shit-eating grin.

  She rolls her eyes. “And if my panties are not ‘soaked,’ then what?”

  “Your panties are soaked. But if they aren’t, hypothetically, I’d say I’d owe you something.”

  “Lunch, perhaps?” she challenges.

  I laugh because either way, I’m winning. “Of course.”

  With fire in her eyes, she grips my wrist and guides it to her thighs. Our gazes stay locked as I take over on my path to her drenched panties. I kneel down on one knee and look up at her to make sure she’s still okay. Her swollen-from-our-kiss lip is captured between her teeth as she watches me with hunger dancing in her eyes.

  I lean forward and inhale her. From this position, I can smell her arousal. My cock is going to rip through my slacks at any moment.

  “Lift your skirt,” I command, my voice husky.

  She grabs the hem of her skirt with each hand and slowly inches it up, baring more creamy flesh to me. Right before she gets to her pussy, she stops. “This is going too fast,” she breathes.

  I shoot her a smoldering glare. “Not fast enough.”

  At my comment, she smirks and her confidence returns full-force. She slips the skirt up past her pussy to her hips. When I drag my gaze from her pretty browns to between her legs, I stare in shock.

  “You played me,” I growl, my eyes fixated on her smooth bare pussy.

  “You were so sure of yourself,” she says with a laugh. But her amusement dies down when I grip her thigh and place it over my shoulder. “W-What are you doing?”

  I slide a finger along her wet slit and tease her clit softly. “I’m about to get you back.”

  A moan rushes from her the moment I push a finger into her tight body. Now that her skirt is scrunched up on her hips, she abandons the material to grip my hair. Slowly, I fuck her with my longest finger. Her body reacts beautifully. So fucking responsive. She seems to quake and tremble with the slightest of my movements. I wonder how she’ll respond when I’m buried deep inside her cunt and tearing at her smooth flesh with my teeth.

  I’m desperate to taste her, so I lean forward and use my free hand to spread her pussy lips apart. My tongue is on a mission to annihilate her with pleasure. The moment it runs across her clit, she nearly collapses. Her grip tightens in my hair. “Oh, God,” she chokes out. “Gray…”

  I suck on her clit and begin an assault on her that makes her seem to drip with more arousal. The moment I hook my finger inside her and graze her G-spot, she cries out loud enough for people to hear. I don’t give a fuck, though. This moment is worth whatever consequences may follow. I suck on her clit and revel in the way she explodes with pleasure. I don’t stop my tasting and sucking until she starts wobbling. Then, I pull my finger from her and stand quickly to capture her in my arms. Her slender arms hug my middle, and I don’t miss the way she inhales me.

  “Did you like that?” I question with a smile and kiss her soft hair.

  She nods. “That was so bad. We shouldn’t have done that here.”

  “I do what I want around here,” I tell her with a chuckle. “There’s so much more I want to do with you. You just have to let me.”

  “I wasn’t exactly fighting you off just then,” she says with an annoyed huff. “What’s gotten into me?”

  I slide her skirt down her hips and back in place and then press a kiss to her pouty mouth. “Not me. Yet.”

  She laughs at my crude joke and gives me a small shove. “I’m here to work. Not…”

  “Get your pussy eaten by your boss?” I quip.

  Her brown eyes widen and her cheeks and throat blaze crimson. “Yeah, that.”

  I hold my hands up in surrender but flash her a conspiratorial grin. “You ready to get to work now or do I need to make you come one more time?”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  VIOLET

  I’M FLUSTERED and hot and turned on. I can barely focus on the file in front of me as Gray happily rambles on about land values. Two hours ago, he went down on me. In his office. At work. And I let him.

  I’m mortified but mostly I can’t
stop replaying it in my head.

  He was so good at it. His tongue and—my God those teeth—knew exactly what they were doing. I remember enjoying oral sex with Vaughn but I’d been half fucked up out of my skull whenever he’d do it.

  This was different.

  This was real.

  I enjoyed every second of it no matter how wrong the location was.

  “I can see someone’s a little distracted,” he says with a smirk from across his desk.

  At having been caught, I feel my cheeks heat. “Sorry. I was just thinking about lunch.”

  He gives me a knowing wink before leaning forward. “I could eat again.”

  “Honestly, Grayson,” I huff but I can’t keep the smile off my face. “You’re so crude!”

  His chuckle is warm and reverberates its way to my core. “I’ve been called worse. Seriously, though, what’s wrong?”

  I miss the way your lips kissed mine. I was thinking of how the inside of my thighs are raw from where your cheek stubble scratched me. My pussy has been throbbing ever since you gave me that orgasm.

  “Nothing.”

  He reaches across the desk and takes my hand. “I want to do that again soon. Your taste is addictive, little quitter.”

  A couple of days ago, I bristled at the pet name but it’s starting to grow on me. Especially coupled with the words before it. “I think I want that too.” My eyes drop to our hands that are now threaded together.

  “I want so much more than that too, though,” he tells me, his voice deep with insinuation.

  I chance a glance at him. His icy blue eyes are sharp and focused on me. I love the way he seems to zero in on me. It’s as though I’m his primary focus. After everything that went on with Vaughn, you’d think I would be opposed to that kind of attention. But…apparently I have issues because I like it.

  “How much more,” I breathe, unable to refrain from baiting him into more naughty words.

  His eyes drop to my lips. “For starters, I can’t wait to feel those pouty lips around my dick. I’m not sure your little mouth can even take my cock.” He flashes me a smug grin that has my thighs clenching. “And I can’t wait to strip you bare so I can taste every inch of your flesh. I want to run my tongue along every dip and curve you own. I want it in every single hole.”

  My eyes widen. I’d done anal plenty of times with Vaughn, but I never had his tongue in my ass. The thought both disgusts and delights me.

  “I also can’t wait to spread your sexy thighs apart so I can look at your needy cunt. I bet it’ll always drip for me,” he muses and scratches his stubbly jaw with his free fingers. “I know you’ll want me to wear a condom, because you don’t know me, but I’m fantasizing right now about how you’d feel bare. I bet my cock would slide right into your tight pussy and you’d come just from the way I stretch you out to capacity. I can almost see your juices running down my shaft and—”

  “S-Stop,” I breathe and squirm in my chair. “I can’t think about that right now.”

  “My dick inside you?”

  I let out a sharp breath. “Yes. Oh my God. Stop talking about it.” My voice sounds whiny but really it’s because I’m needy for all those things too. “Please.”

  His blue eyes darken with lust, but he nods. “We’ll pick this conversation up later tonight.”

  The promise of pleasure sends excitement coursing through me. “Later,” I agree with a smile. “Now let’s talk numbers.”

  AFTER FOUR HOURS of me showing Gray my many ideas on how to improve not only the way he does things, but the company overall, he announces he’s taking me to lunch. He stands and then offers his hand to help me out of the chair once he’s rounded his desk. I take it but immediately hate how affected I am by his touch. All thoughts dissipate as he becomes my only thought. My mind reels with all of the things he said earlier—all the things he wants to do to me. God, how I want them too.

  He guides me over to the door, and when I attempt to pull my hand from his, he turns to frown at me. “What’s wrong?”

  “We can’t leave this office holding hands,” I tell him, my voice shaky.

  He scowls. “And why not?”

  “Because you’re my boss!”

  I’m pulled against him, and he attacks my lips with his. Within moments, I’m lost in his deep kiss. He eventually pulls away and regards me with a dark expression that sends a chill skittering down my spine. “Fuck all of them. You’re mine.” His lips are back on mine. Owning me. The possessiveness rippling from him should scare me. I should be running for the hills. How is it that I find myself attracted to these severely intense people?

  He’s not like Vaughn.

  At least I hope not.

  “Listen to me,” he murmurs against my lips as he strokes my hair in such a reverent way I think I might melt. “I’m going to take care of you now. Just let me in, baby.”

  God, how inviting that sounds.

  “This is all too much,” I whisper.

  He drowns out my words with a kiss that has me dizzy and weak. Once I’m putty in his hands again, he nuzzles his nose against mine. “You deserve everything. It’ll never be enough.”

  Years and years of loneliness threaten to tear my heart wide open. For the first time since I ran from Vaughn, I feel the desire to be with someone else. I don’t have to be so hard and guarded around Gray. Around him, I feel relaxed. Safe even. And considering Vaughn could be stalking me at this very moment, I am glad to have Gray’s presence cloaking me.

  “I’m scared,” I admit with a frown. “And Vaughn could be—”

  A growl silences me. “He is not a threat to you. Not while I have a say in it. You have to trust I’ll take care of you.”

  I stare up at his serious blue eyes. His jaw clenches as if he truly believes he has the power to protect me from my psycho ex. I almost laugh because Vaughn will stop at nothing. I hope to God it was an intruder from my crummy building who broke into my apartment, and not him. If it truly was my ex, I’m more than screwed. Even big, powerful Gray wouldn’t be able to save me.

  “How about we start with you buying me lunch first?” I tease in an attempt to lighten the mood. Intense is good in the bedroom. But sometimes intense is too much for everyday life. I worry Gray has those same tendencies as Vaughn. The obsessive ones. However, Gray doesn’t share the empty, soulless gaze Vaughn always had. Gray’s eyes dance with secrets and curiosity about me and desire. I feel like those are normal for a budding relationship between two people. And they probably mirror my own.

  “Lunch first,” he agrees with a bright grin that has my thighs clenching. “But I’m holding your fucking hand.”

  I’m still laughing at his fierceness as he drags me out the office door. He’s on a mission, but my eyes lock onto Truman’s, who happens to be standing near my desk. His eyes narrow and he shakes his head in disgust.

  Gray doesn’t notice him and hauls me out of the building in no time. Once we’re outside, he slings an arm around my shoulders and pulls me to his side as we head down the sidewalk. It feels good being like this with someone. It’s hard for me to believe that a few days ago, Gray didn’t even see me. Now, I feel like I’m all he sees. I’m not stupid. They don’t call him Mad Max for no reason. But his eccentricities are endearing now that I’m on his radar.

  “Where are we going?” I question as we stroll down the street.

  “Someplace good.” His tone is sure and smug. I can’t help but laugh.

  When we walk up to Ziggy’s, the city’s most popular pizza parlor, I stop in my tracks. The heavenly aromas of garlic and other deliciousness invade my senses. “Ahh,” I groan and glare at him. “You’re so mean to tease me with this place. You know we can’t get in. There is always a three-hour wait.” I gesture at the long line of people wrapped around the building to make my point.

  He chuckles as he grabs my hand. “Good thing I know people.”

  “No,” I gasp, excitement flitting through me. “Tell me you can get us in.”r />
  He steals a chaste kiss and waggles his brow. “I can get us in.”

  I squeal all the way past the line, ignoring the annoyed glares, and nearly die when we step inside. The place is small with only a few booths lining the walls. Every seat is packed except a booth in the corner. When he starts for it, I panic a bit. “Are you sure?”

  “Positive,” he tells me, flashing me another smug grin.

  We slide into the booth together on the side that faces the wall, rather than the crowd of people, with me on the inside and him on the outside.

  “Someone was probably waiting for this booth,” I tell him, my nerves still eating me alive.

  “The owner was,” he says with a shrug as he grabs a menu from the table.

  “We should go then—”

  “I’m the owner.”

  I jerk my head to gape at him. The shit-eating grin he wears so well is sometimes annoying. Okay, so it’s not annoying at all. What’s annoying is how I melt every time he does it. “You own this place?”

  “And this is my booth. Bull and I come here all the time. They know to keep it open for me,” he tells me, mischief glittering in his gaze.

  “Wow,” I utter and steal the menu. “You’re full of surprises, aren’t you?”

  His palm rests on my thigh just below the hem of my skirt so that his fingertips graze my sensitive flesh, sending quivers of desire dancing through me. “You have no idea, little quitter.”

  The rest of lunch goes amazingly well. He wasn’t lying when he said he owned the place. The wait staff knew him and seemed eager to please him. We were brought Gray’s favorite items, as well as a few things I wanted to try. By the end, I was stuffed.

  “I’m so full,” I groan and pat my stomach.

  His palm covers my hand and he leans forward, his hot breath on my ear. “I could still eat.”

  Desire washes through me and I squeeze my thighs together. “You’re crazy,” I breathe but don’t stop him when he slides his palm under my skirt, between my legs. His mouth kisses me slowly along my earlobe and along the side of my neck. All of his touches are making me lose my mind. “I wish we didn’t have to go to work,” I admit as I tilt my head to the left to give him more access to my throat.