by Kylie Walker
Chapter 7
Jordan
She waited through most of the day for Chase’s word on her ideas. She had hoped he would get back to her in a timely manner if only to tell her he was waiting for Trevor or Trevor’s father to get back to him. It was only polite, keeping her in the loop.
Was he sulking? Maybe he was sulking. She buried her head in her hands, sitting behind her desk with the door closed. Maybe he was pissed that she had turned him down the night before. She had kicked herself for hours after that. It had been a mistake, for sure. She should have taken him up on it. What harm could it have done to have a working dinner with her boss?
Only it wouldn’t have been a working dinner. She could try to kid herself as much as she wanted, but the fact was that the invitation hadn’t been extended solely in the name of professionalism. The spark that had kindled between them the moment they laid eyes on each other was still there, still crackling away every time their eyes met. There was no way the night would have ended innocently. And she wasn’t going to go down that road with him. Ever.
Still… If she had upset him, maybe it would have been worth it. Not that she would have suffered any during a night with him, she was sure. With his looks, body, and money, he must have had hundreds of women. He was probably better in bed than any man in the city. And she had turned him down. Jesus Christ, Jordan!
After a few hours, it wasn’t about her ideas anymore. It was about what he thought of her and whether she had made a career-ending mistake by not accepting his invitation. Could she get herself back into his good graces? She decided that she could try.
She stood up and ran her hands over her black shirt to rid her palms of their clamminess before stepping out into the hall. It was buzzing with activity, as it always seemed to be. There was a high energy around the company, boisterousness. Chase ran a tight ship, but he was a good boss. She had heard nothing but glowing things about him from everybody she had spoken with. It felt like a family, too, something which she knew was rare in corporate America.
She turned in the direction of his office with her heart pounding against her rib cage as she did. She was taking things into her own hands, hoping to make the best of what she might have ruined. Would he be cold and cruel? Dismissive? Maybe he hadn’t even gotten her email or hadn’t bothered to pass it along once he knew she had no intention of going out with him. She should have looked before she leaped.
Brigitte sat at her desk, busy as a bee. She touched one finger to the earpiece she wore, ending a phone call before turning with a brilliant smile. “How’s it going, Jordan?”
“Very well. I can’t complain.” Except your boss is toying with me, she wanted to say. Had he ever propositioned Brigitte? Had they ever felt the same heat she felt whenever she looked at him? Maybe they had gone through a little something together back when she first started. Did Jordan dare ask her how she dealt with having a man like Chase as her boss? No. She couldn’t, especially since she didn’t know Brigitte or whether she would run straight back to Chase.
“Is he in?” she asked, pointing to the closed door.
“He is.” Brigitte looked at the phone, which contained buttons for his extension. “And it doesn’t look as though he’s on the phone. Do you want me to see if he’s free?”
“Please.” Jordan dug her nails into her palms as she waited, willing herself to be professional. She would simply ask if he had seen her email, and whether he thought her ideas were worthwhile. She had spent hours brainstorming over them the night before. She deserved a little recognition for the time she had put into it.
Brigitte nodded, pointing to the door. “He’s free,” she mouthed, before announcing Jordan. She took a deep breath. Too late to turn back.
He smiled as she entered the office, which made her wonder. She had expected him to be a little more reserved. He looked like he had been waiting for her.
Had he been?
“What can I do for you?” he asked, motioning for her to close the door.
She cleared her throat, desperately searching her memory for the reason why she had gone in, to begin with. Oh, right. My ideas. “I wanted to check on those ideas I sent over earlier. I hadn’t heard from you, so…”
“I see.” He smiled, leaning back in his chair, looking like the cat that ate the canary. One of her foster mothers’s old expressions. “So you emailed them to me rather than bringing them to me as I’d hoped you would, and now you want to know why I didn’t jump on replying.”
She couldn’t help herself. The words came out before she could stop them. “Is this some sort of game you’re playing? Do you play it with all your new employees?”
His eyes flew open wide, and she wanted to die. If ever she could have reached out and grabbed her words to shove them back in her mouth, she would have done it right then. Her face burned with the heat of a thousand suns.
“A game?” He stood, approaching her. She backed into the closed door, unable to think straight as he came closer. His stride reminded her of a lion stalking its prey. “Do you like playing games, Jordan?”
“No, I don’t,” she declared, struggling to keep a note of authority in her voice as her knees shook and her pulse pounded. She could have easily reached the door knob, releasing herself from the situation she had found herself in. Had she put herself there? It didn’t matter. She could have ended it in the blink of an eye.
Only she didn’t want to. She stood still, holding her breath as he drew closer. She could smell his cologne, could feel the heat that radiated from his body and seemed to warm her skin without their touching.
“I play games sometimes, I admit,” he whispered, only inches from her. She flattened herself against the door, the curves of her body pressed against the hard, unforgiving wood. Her instincts told her to run, to go away, to not look back. She was getting in way too deep with him. It was dangerous, playing with a man as powerful as Chase Louis.
Then she saw the look in his eye, a look that called to something inside her. She could have drowned in him, yearning to give herself over body and soul. It had been so long since she had been with a man. So many years. He was just the person to take the past away, to soothe her, to rock her soul while ravishing her body. Yes. She wanted him. She wanted to give in to what he did to her just by breathing. Just by being whom he was.
He had her trapped. She shrank away without thinking about it, instinct taking over for animal need. He noticed, and the look in his eyes cleared up. “What is it?” he asked, his voice husky with desire.
“I don’t like to be pinned or cornered,” she explained, trying to clear up the tension between them. It was wrong, it was all wrong. And yet she leaned into him, closing the gap between them. He reached out, gentle fingers stroking the skin of her cheek, then skimming over the wavy hair that cascaded over her shoulders. Just that single touch, the gentlest, most tentative touch was enough to send desire pulsing through her body. It had been so, so long.
“I won’t corner you.” His voice was deep and soft, and his mouth inches from hers. She felt his hot breath envelop her like an invisible cloud, seeming to draw her closer still. She nodded, giving in completely. It was all he needed to see.
For a man of his size, he moved fast. In the blink of an eye she was in his arms, his hands under her butt as he lifted her. She gasped in surprise, clinging to him. Her hands tingled where they touched his broad, impossibly thick shoulders. He sat her down on his desk, then pulled her close until his crotch pressed against hers. She could feel his hard thickness. Something inside her screamed with joy.
He took her face in his hands, staring deep into her eyes before crushing her mouth against his. She couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t think, her heart was soaring as his tongue plundered her mouth. She felt his heart pounding beneath the hand she laid on his chest before she slid his suit jacket from his shoulders. He let it fall to the floor, and she ran her hands over the muscle he barely revealed. She would have torn the shirt from him had they not been
at the office. Instead, she pulled the bottom out of his pants and ran her hands underneath it, touching his bare skin. He groaned into her mouth, thrusting forward as she delighted in the feel of him between her legs, under her hands. He was so warm, so vital and real. He was so perfect for waking up what had been dormant inside her for so long.
Her body buzzed with excitement and an almost soul-shattering heat as he groped her, never breaking their kiss. She whimpered when she felt his rough, unforgiving touch on her breasts. His fingers worked the buttons of her blouse, fumbling with them in his eagerness to get to her. She bit her lip to keep from crying out when his mouth found her bare skin. His tongue lapped at her, his fingers lowering her bra cups so his greedy mouth could suckle at her rock-hard nipples. Her legs tightened around him and her pussy clenched in response. And still, he grinded her through their clothes, driving both of them crazy. She was breathless and leaning back on her hands to support herself with her chest heaving as she struggled to contain the cries of pleasure and joy bubbling up inside her.
His mouth traveled lower as he grunted and growled, licking her, sucking her and biting her gently as he went lower. His hands worked her skirt up, and she raised her hips to let him move it to her waist. It was all so delicious, so hot and wrong and right all at once. Then she froze, sitting up before his mouth reached her thighs.
“I want you inside me,” she whispered, stroking him through his pants. He didn’t need to be told twice, pulling a foil packet from his back pocket—almost as though he had expected this—while she released him from his pants. Her heart thudded with anticipation before she caught sight of his glorious length, hard and ready for her. She clenched again, hot wetness flooding her cleft. He groaned when she stroked him, unrolling the condom before pulling her panties aside and positioning himself at her entrance. Just the pressure of his head pressing against her sent shivers through her body and made her ache with need.
He drove forward, covering her mouth with his to muffle the cry she couldn’t contain. It had been so, so long. It hurt a little at first, his thickness filling her more than she had ever been filled before. She seemed to convulse around him, holding on with her legs, her arms, even the muscles of her sheath as they clamped down around him. She realized she was having an orgasm already and threw her head back, gasping for breath as it ran through her. He hardly seemed to notice, thrusting like mad, driving himself inside again and again, harder and faster, and holding her hips in his strong hands to keep from throwing her off the desk.
She leaned back and looked him in the eye as they fucked like animals. Yes, this was what she had missed. This was what she told herself she didn’t need for all those years. She needed to feel unleashed and driven to the point of near-madness by another person. All the lust she had been holding back came pouring forth as shudders ran through her body in time with his powerful thrusts.
“Yes…yes…take it, baby…take all of me…” His grunts and moans were music to her ears, and she let her head fall back while she absorbed each delicious sensation. Her breasts bounced up and down in time with his thrusts, and his mouth closed over one. She arched her back and tension filled her again before he bit down and her world exploded. Ecstasy rocketed through her, shooting through her arms and legs and fingers and toes. He lost his rhythm and just pummeled her as he finished, grunting one last time before stiffening against her.
Then it was over. She opened her eyes when he left her and closed her legs right away. She was stunned. Her heart and here head were filled with a mixture of disbelief, relief, and shame. Her emotions were all jockeying for top position and it was a toss-up as to which one would win.
When he looked at her, his face was flushed and a thin sheen of perspiration coated on his forehead. He smiled and at that moment he did more for her than he ever had so far.
Chapter 8
Chase
“Wow,” he breathed, laughing a little. “That was better than I had imagined.”
She paused in the act of putting her tits back into her bra and smiled. “You had imagined?”
He laughed full-out then. “You caught me. I need to learn when to keep my mouth shut. Yes, I had imagined.”
“What did you imagine?” she asked, playfully.
“That. Just that, only not that good. I wanted to take you on top of the desk the moment you walked through the door,” he admitted. He mopped the sweat from his brow before sliding into his suit jacket. It was a little rumpled from being on the floor, but he didn’t have any meetings for the rest of the day. The day was nearly over, in fact.
“Well, that’s good to know. I’m glad I got this job due to my qualifications.” She sounded a little pissed, a little hurt. He guessed he could understand why, so he took her chin in his hand and tilted it until their eyes met.
“That’s not why I hired you,” he assured her. “You could have been a lesbian, for all I knew.”
She giggled. “And I guess that would have been the only reason I would have for turning you down?”
He frowned, playing dumb. “Would there be any other reason?”
“Very cute.” She rolled her eyes, but he heard her laugh again as she finished straightening herself out. He hated to see her cover her body the way she was. Her skin was so soft, almost gleaming. He wanted to touch her again. His hands almost ached for her.
He had to have more. “Come out with me after work. To dinner. And then, who knows? We’ll make a night of it, just you and me.”
He said something wrong. He could tell by the way she froze up. She reminded him of a clam closing up around itself—and he realized that wasn’t the first time she had acted that way. She had done it during the interview, too, and to a lesser degree when he had backed her against the door. She almost flinched.
“I can’t tonight.” She gave him a weak smile. “I don’t want you to take it the wrong way—trust me, this was…” She looked up at him, blushing furiously. “This was incredible. But one of us has to keep it professional, and if that has to be me, so be it.”
He couldn’t understand her. They had just finished fucking on his desk, and she was telling him they had to keep it professional? “Where was that attitude just a few minutes ago?” he asked, frustrated.
She looked down at the floor. “I wanted it like you did. But that’s as far as it can go. I want to earn respect because of the work I do with my camera, not with my vagina.”
Her words surprised him to the point where he laughed. He watched her eyes go dark, angry. “Laugh if you want to, but it’s a real concern. I guess it’s not something you’ve ever had to worry about.”
“No, not that. I don’t have a vagina.” She was priceless. He could tell it pissed her off that he laughed, but maybe he wanted to piss her off a little. Maybe he was a little pissed, too. She couldn’t dick him around like that, teasing him with her body, giving it to him and then backing away and putting her professional mask back on. He wasn’t prepared to let her see that her rejection hurt him, however.
“You can go, then.” He waved a dismissive hand toward the door. “Let it never be said I kicked you out of here the minute I came. I wanted to take you out. I wanted to spend time with you. Don’t forget that.”
“I’ll remember to be honored when I get home,” she retorted, running her hands over her body one more time to make sure things were straight before leaving the office. She held her head high, not one to slink away under Brigitte’s gaze. He felt a grudging admiration for her. It didn’t last long. He closed the door with his hands balled into fists. Who did she think she was, turning him down? Part of him wanted to call Samantha or any of his other women just to get back at her for rejecting him. But that impulse didn’t last long since his heart wasn’t in it. He had a sick sort of certainty that nothing but Jordan would do after that.
He sat down and took a deep breath when he remembered what it had felt like inside her. Like he was a king. She had given herself over without hesitation, handing over her body to do
with what he wanted. And he wanted to do so much more. He was just a man, with a man’s needs. A little stronger than the average man’s needs, in fact. He wanted to show her what happened to women who thought they could deny him, but when he opened the door to go to her office, he saw only darkness coming from inside.
“She’s left for the day,” Brigitte said, looking discreetly away. So she had heard them. It wouldn’t be the first time she had heard him in his office with a woman, though it would be the first time he had been in there with an employee. He hoped he paid her enough to ensure her discretion.
**
Hours later, he still couldn’t get Jordan out of his mind. Who did she think she was? She blew him off twic already. Sure, she was hot shit, but she wasn’t that hot.
Maybe she was. He had to admit to himself that she was, indeed, hot enough to turn him down as he lifted weights in his home gym. He had always hated working out in public, maybe because he was forced to lift in front of an audience when he first went to prison. He was only eighteen at the time and hadn’t developed much muscle mass. He had known instinctively on arriving that he needed to bulk up if he wanted any of them to take him seriously in there, so he had lifted in the yard with the other inmates until he was big enough to demand respect.
His weight lifting routine hadn’t changed much from those days, though he wasn’t focused on building mass as much as he was on maintaining it. His gym, originally a spare bedroom suite, consisted of free weights, several top-of-the-line machines, a treadmill, an elliptical, a bike, a rowing machine. And solitude, something he had come to value very highly over the ten years he had been inside.
