by Dawn Ryder
Mia almost snapped her cell phone shut but anger kept her holding the little device against her ear. Three years of bottled-up frustration was about to bust out of her mouth.
“Quitting. I’m finished buffing shoes and warming up lattes.”
“You stupid cunt! I could have replaced you any other week but not this one. So get your ass back to work.” Carl Burton yelled through the phone loud enough for the people standing near her to understand his profanity. One woman cut her a dirty glance before moving away.
“You’re the manager. You get busy and cover your own duties for a change.”
“Get your ass back to work, Mia!” Carl sneered on the other end of the line, “or I’ll lodge a complaint with the police department on your friend. She isn’t a member and she’s no employee of mine. That’s called trespassing.”
“Threatening Cambria won’t change anything. She was there as my guest, and I’m still not working for you anymore. Be as nasty as you like, leopards don’t change their spots after all.”
Carl snickered. “Oh, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’ll watch her get her black fanny locked up! You’ve seen me do it before. Our grounds are private property.”
Her arm shook as she tightened her grip on the phone, refusing to back down. “You’ll just look like a fool when I tell the officers that I let Cambria in.”
“Except that you quit. All I have to do is tell them you were trespassing, with the intent to cause financial ruin because you’re a disgruntled ex-employee. You’ll be able to spend quality time with your partner in crime behind bars.”
“And you wonder why I quit.” Mia tried to control the impulse to panic. “You’re a pathetic excuse for a person.”
“But I’m the man in control, sweetie.” He drew out his last words. “Now you are going to get your tight little ass back to work right now or I’m dialing the police. And I’ll tell them that I fired you on Friday.”
He had to be bluffing. Mia bit into her lower lip as she debated the harsh concept of going to jail. A snicker came over the connection, stiffening her resolve.
“You didn’t fire me, I quit! Call the cops on me and Cambria and I’ll tell those fancy suits who are evaluating you how many times I used the petty cash to pay your dry-cleaning bills. You won’t be the only one busting other people for intent to ruin.”
“You’ll be an accessory to company theft if you do.” Carl’s voice had lost its mocking tone.
“Yeah? Well maybe you better not send the cops anywhere near me or Cambria. We’ve both got big mouths.”
“You’re women, that goes without saying.”
Mia tightened her hand on the phone again because sweat was making her palm slick. “Whatever, I don’t have to listen to you anymore. I’m going to block your number. Have a good time finding somebody new to lick your shoes.”
She punched the off button without listening to the stream of outrage her former boss was yelling at her. Taking a deep breath, she concentrated on slowing her speeding heart. She’d gotten exactly what she wanted—Carl Burton in a roaring temper. She needed to enjoy the moment, not let him torment her into being afraid of him.
“Guess Carl isn’t taking your resignation very well.”
Mia jumped and found herself facing the two men she’d left standing in the solar. Confusion hit her in a thick haze, obliterating her thoughts as she tried to think of just why they’d appeared in front of her.
“How did you find me?”
Dack watched her with an unreadable expression. “Does it matter?”
It didn’t. Mia pressed her lips into a hard line as she ordered her brain to stop panicking. “Well, you’re wasting your time. I don’t work for Carl anymore.”
“Hmm, you might want to be careful about your next interview. The Hudsten Company sent a fax over asking about your employment record.”
Mia’s eyes widened. She was still standing in front of the five-story Hudsten tower. The two men watched her like hawks, one on either side of her. She felt crowded, and horror flooded her as she thought about the conversation they’d just overheard. Logan didn’t look as if he had any mercy in him either.
“How often did you pay personal expenses with petty cash?”
Her cheeks heated and Dack’s attention shifted to her face for a second. “Look, I’m really sorry but you need to bug my ex-boss about that. And everything else. He’s the man who is bound to answer your questions.”
“And if we’d rather hear your account of it?” Logan had moved closer, invading her space. Her heart sped right back up as she took a deep breath.
“Sorry. I’m moving on. I promised a friend that I’d make a clean break and not hang onto any emotional baggage. If I talked to you, it would just be complaining. Since I’m not planning on returning, no constructive good can come from it.”
Logan actually looked impressed by her refusal to budge. Mia wasn’t sure, but she wasn’t going to tell them anything that might drag her back towards a job that she was free of.
“Cambria sounds like she gives good advice to her friends.” A little shiver raced down her spine as she heard Cambria’s name on Logan’s lips. Now they knew her name and it was because of her big mouth. Logan watched her intently, studying her face. “If I were hiring you to work for me, could we have that conversation?”
“No.” The word passed her lips in a flash. The pair were too intense. They were currently freaking her out with their tactics—one talking while the other stood behind her. It was weird. “I’m only interviewing at companies I’ve screened.”
A grin appeared on Logan’s face, the amused expression sending another chill down her back.
“No problem.” She jumped as Dack spoke behind her. Turning around, she tipped her head back to look up into his face. He was standing two feet away and she got the idea that he did it on purpose to intimidate her with his greater height. He offered her a nod before stepping out of the way. “By the way, don’t worry about Carl. He can’t cause much legal trouble without us swearing a statement against you and your friend Cambria.”
Dack walked behind her to join his friend. Flashing her a grin, he held out a white business card. “Tell Cambria that, or better yet, give her my number so I can tell her myself.”
Her fingers closed around the card before she thought about what she was doing. They turned and left the second the paper was held in her grip. Lifting it up, Mia stared at the blank card. The only thing on it was a phone number. No name or address, not even a company logo. Only ten digits embossed on the paper in black ink. Hurrying around the corner to the parking lot where she’d left her car, she dialed her cell phone as she opened the driver’s door.
“That rat did what?” Cambria heard her knuckles pop as she gripped her phone too tightly. “What are you doing answering his calls anyway?”
“I didn’t check who was calling but, Cambria, he’s pissed and you know, I think he’s mad enough to do it. Call the cops on us.” There was a hint of fear in Mia’s voice that agitated Cambria.
“So what? We’ll take him down with us if he tries it.” Cambria refused to worry about Carl Burton. The man was a wuss. He was hiding out right now to avoid facing an assessment of a place he managed. That was pure, yellow coward.
“Ah, okay but there’s another thing you should know about.”
Mia’s voice held a strange note that captured Cambria’s attention. A ripple of apprehension made its way through their cell phones as she listened to the recap of Dack and Logan tracking her down. Her nipples actually tingled and drew taut beneath her tee shirt as she licked her lower lip. Excitement jolted her as she looked out her office window at her driveway. There was nothing there, but the nape of her neck tingled as if there was somebody watching her.
She scoffed at her own thoughts. “Whatever, I bet they were just trying to wring some information out of you. They’re paid to dig up dirt. Those power suits weren’t the bargain models.”
“They know your name
.”
“Good.” Cambria stood up, unable to sit still. Her heart was speeding up as her thoughts raced and her mind offered up a pristine recollection of Dack and Logan. Both of them were too yummy for words. “It’s nice to know I have a reputation out there.”
“Cambria, you are too cool. I’m freaking out here.”
“I noticed.” Cambria coated her tone in ice to chill her friend out. “So a couple of hunks know my name. That won’t get them very far. Let them think about me all they want, it’ll be good for my ego. It’s over, Mia, or it will be as soon as you get another job. I’m more worried about your parents sending your brothers to hunt me down.”
“I see your point.”
“You do?”
Mia scoffed on the other end of the line. “I know what sex is, Cambria. Those two want to get naked with you. My brothers, on the other hand, would only kick your ass for leading me away from the family values.”
“Very perceptive, China Doll.”
Cambria paced across her office then turned when she ran out of space and walked back towards the door. She relaxed her hand when she realized she was gripping the phone too tight. Her clit was pulsing again, excited by the mental idea that Dack and Logan were out there, thinking about her.
Sometimes she was dumber than others.
Her growing preoccupation with thoughts of the two men was torturing her with sexual tension she wasn’t going to escape easily.
“The Hudsten Company already offered me a position, but I want to go to my other interview anyway,” Mia said.
“Now that’s my girlfriend talking. Make sure you check the options.” Turning again, Cambria couldn’t stop her eyes from searching the driveway now that she was facing the window. She snorted softly in frustration. “Throw that card away. No looking back, remember?”
“Yeah, you’re right. Catch you later.”
* * * * *
“Think she called her?”
Logan hummed under his breath as his fingers lightly tapped away at a keyboard. “Was there any doubt?”
Dack watched Mia as she sat contentedly in the parking garage, talking on her cell phone. He wanted Cambria to feel him circling her. They didn’t need Mia’s testimony to trap Carl Burton, at least not her verbal one. The woman had left a neat trail of data back in her computer. She was one hell of an employee, sharp and loyal. Carl Burton was an idiot for not sharing some of the wealth with her because now he’d lost his cushy position because he’d been too greedy. A smarter man would have made sure Mia had a reason to protect him.
No…tracking Mia down was a personal errand. He wanted Cambria to know that he wasn’t disappearing.
Dack straightened up and glanced around, assuring himself that no one was watching him at the moment. It was a habit that kept him alive. He didn’t care for the noise surrounding him, the traffic and bits of conversation that drifted into the parking area. They were half a level above where Mia had parked. She hadn’t even glanced up. He couldn’t recall the last time he’d been so secure. It felt like an entire lifetime ago. His current life was a string of double-checking his blind side and making sure that he and Logan didn’t have someone on their tail. Alone, neither of them stood much of a chance.
He should leave Cambria in her safe life, not mar it with his fingerprints. He frowned as heat surged through him. Sometimes a man just had to look through the bakery window even if he knew he couldn’t taste any of the temptations. That didn’t prevent him from enjoying the sweet scent of sugar icing as it drifted past his nose.
Clasping a hard hand on Logan’s shoulder, Dack slipped the knot on his tie up.
“Let’s get this job rolling.”
Logan closed his laptop, a bitter look in his eyes. “Yeah, right on that one, Captain.”
They slipped into the afternoon traffic, intent on ripping down the facades that Carl Burton had erected to fool them.
Dack was looking forward to it this time, because after he got the job finished, he’d be free to play.
* * * * *
Cambria growled. It was too hot, in spite of the night air blowing across her bare skin. Her sheets bugged her because her skin was ultrasensitive. In short, the monkeys of mayhem were having way too much fun at her expense.
She looked at her ceiling and didn’t even laugh at her own humor. She punched the pillow and kicked the bedding off her legs. The gauze drapes were blowing gently in the night breeze, her ceiling fan moving the air around nicely.
But sleep was a mile away.
Sitting up, she grimaced at the small reaction from her body. Sexual tension was a pain in the ass sometimes. Other times it made a night worth savoring. But tonight it gnawed at her, driving relaxation away from her bed. Real sleep was a distant mirage.
At least she had a good reason.
With a little sigh she let her mind return to the men she’d met. Oh, they were the gravy that turned dry biscuits into a heavenly dish. She wouldn’t have minded eating them up, at least once. Even if they were arrogant sods, she could still drool over the dangerous male animals they were.
Dack Tyden…
Lying back down, she felt her nipples tighten. They drew into hard points that begged for the feel of those hard hands. The way the man used his gaze was unfair to the female population. He’d made her sweat with that long rake down her body. Heat had flickered in his dark eyes, that flame of male appreciation that no man could hide or fake. A girl was a whole lot happier in life when she got around to understanding that attraction was either there or not. It wasn’t something either gender decided on, it was pure impulse. The kind that dropped you into hot water so fast, you never noticed the steam until you were knee deep.
Oh yes, that described her dilemma tonight. She was hot and bothered for a man who wasn’t anywhere in her future. All that idea did was make him even more seductive.
A ripple of sensation traveled from her taut nipples, across her belly to her clit. A little sigh left her lips as she took a moment to enjoy the rising arousal. Being alone with it certainly sucked, but it had been a really long dry spell since she’d gotten so turned on by any man.
In this case two.
Logan Brackton. Another yummy example of manhood. There was only a hint of boyish mayhem lurking in his eyes, but his pants had flattened out to show her a hard cock that was turning her on while she slept alone. As long as she was living in her fantasies, she might as well enjoy both of them.
Her clit began to pulse with need. She felt her pussy heating up, the walls of her sheath feeling empty. It was terrible timing, but still a welcome feeling. Too many men had bored her recently. For a couple of weeks she’d worried that old age and menopause were stalking her early. Killing her sex drive right when she was confident enough to relax and enjoy sex without guilt. The next thing she knew she’d be playing bingo on Saturday afternoon instead of getting her makeup right for a night out on the town.
Thirty-two was not out of the dating scene.
Easing her thighs apart, she fingered her clit. Pleasure hit her pussy as she pressed on the little sensitive bud. Her nipples tightened further as she let her memory return to Logan. Hidden beneath his power suit was a set of shoulders that were rock hard. There was just something about a larger-framed man that turned her on. She loved mixing it up in bed but there was just something about having the hard weight of a muscle-packed man pressing you down that drove the heat in her clit up.
The idea made her hungry for more than her finger on her clit.
Reaching for her nightstand, she pulled the little drawer open. Her small collection of adult toys was neat and clean. Cambria didn’t feel any shame over owning them. She was a single black female with a healthy sex drive. That left her two choices—settle for deadbeat bed partners when her body was craving release, or own a couple of tools that would ensure her the ability to choose a lover based on more than the lust of the moment.
Her vibrator wasn’t too large and it had two speed settings. A dildo re
mained in the drawer as she lay back down, spreading her thighs. Turning it on to low, she teased her wet clit with the tip of it. Sensation shot up into her pussy, tightening it as her hips thrust up towards the vibrator. Her slit was already wet from her finger. After sliding the vibrator down to the opening of her pussy, she pulled it back to her clit to coat it with her juices.
Logan’s and Dack’s images filled her mind as she pressed the slowly rotating tip against her clit. Pleasure bit into her belly, her pussy craving a taste from the toy. Perspiration appeared on her skin and she opened her mouth to draw larger breaths. She resisted the need to penetrate her body with the vibrator, pressing it against her clit as her need twisted and tightened.
Sending the tip down through her slit once more, she gasped as it touched the opening to her body. The need was red-hot now, begging her to take the length deep. Tightening her grip on the handle, she sank it into her wet pussy, moaning as it stretched the tender skin of her channel. Her hips lifted as the vibration of the toy sent her into a frenzy. Climax neared as she pulled it free and plunged it back inside. Pleasure ripped through her, the vibrator shaking as she rode it through the waves of sensation.
The climax took the edge off her need, but it didn’t satisfy the urge completely.
Her bed was lonely.
Pulling the toy from her body, she stood up and walked into her bathroom. The night air cooled her skin as she washed the vibrator, setting it on the counter. The full moon shone through the top of her window, above the three-quarters drape. The light bounced off the mirror, washing her in silver glitter. Her nipples were still hard. Frustration nipped at her thoughts as she considered how completely Dack and Logan had snared her attention.
Oh, they were big trouble, but she was interested all right. Frowning as she placed the vibrator back in its hiding place, she lay down contemplating how to wipe the two men out of her mind. She needed to do it quickly because as much as she didn’t need a white man in her life, she sure as hell didn’t need two.
Not that having them both was even an option. She sighed as she relaxed and her mind began to drift towards slumber. Yeah, a girl didn’t get two guys like that unless she was paying cash up front for the service or playing kinky games that weren’t going to be termed as any sort of valuable relationship. It wasn’t that she needed to have a promise of everlasting love along with her bedroom games, but she did like to draw the line at fucking complete strangers. A ménage à trois needed really solid friendships or good strong whisky, and Dack and Logan didn’t strike her as the sort who needed to share a girl between them. No, men like that thought about ménage in the “two females to one man” terms.
