by Tia Siren
“Please don’t fire me,” he begged. “We can come up with something. I need this fucking job, Grant. She’s gonna leave if—”
“Then maybe she should,” I said. “If the only thing she wants is your money, then she doesn’t want you. She doesn’t give a flying fuck about your daughters, and quite frankly, she’s turned you into a bit of a pussy. But I can cut you a very serious deal.”
“What is it?” he asked.
“I care about your daughter, Alex. Greatly. She’s a phenomenal woman with a wonderful head on her shoulders. I’ve been lucky enough to spend time with her professionally and personally.”
“I knew you were fucking around with my daughter,” he said.
“I’m aware you fired Dylan Anderson. Might I ask why?”
“Because he took advantage of my daughter, and she decked him in the jaw,” he said. “Why?”
“That story is only partially true,” I said. “Crissy found out what was going on and tried to take him out to get information from him. To protect you and to help this company. He got her drunk, tried to shove her in his car and take advantage of her, and I found him. I’m the one who hit him.”
Shock rolled over Alex’s face as he slowly turned toward his daughter. She was standing at the window, her eyes cast down toward her feet, patiently waiting to see how this would pan out. I was trying to mitigate the damage, to help her hurting heart. I was trying to make sure this turned out the best for all players involved, even if it meant revealing some things I wanted to keep secret still.
Like the fact that I loved her.
“You defended my daughter,” he said.
“And I’ll do it a million times over. Whenever she needs me. Here’s my proposal: If I can keep seeing your daughter, in a personal and professional capacity, I won’t press charges. I won’t make you repay the money, and I’ll take the blame for the failed acquisition. Your name will stay out of everything. You can keep your benefits and the pension you’ve built up, and I’ll work with you on investing your 401(k) under the condition that Mel is not the beneficiary or secondary on that policy. That should go to your daughters.”
“And you won’t press charges?” he asked.
“I’ll help you figure out your financial situation, but your wife is your problem. Cut up your credit cards. Close down your accounts. Fucking take her off your checking account. Do whatever it takes. You mean to tell me the great Alex Marks is being railroaded by a twenty-six-year-old little girl? Come on, you’re better than that.”
Alex sat back as he considered my offer, and for a split second, I thought he wasn’t going to take it. I saw this look in his eye, like he wanted to ask a question but was concerned I wouldn’t answer.
“Do you love her?” he asked.
“What?”
“My daughter. Crissy. Do you love her?”
My eyes drifted to the anxious woman in the window, and I saw the vulnerable little girl she was. I saw how scared she had become and the tears that had lined her eyes. I saw the way her palm pressed into the glass, reaching out to her father. I sat back and sighed, wishing for all this to be over so I could provide her with some relief, but the smirk crawling across Alex’s face ripped me from my trance.
“What?” I asked.
“You’ve got a deal,” he said.
“I’ll shred the documents as we speak, then. Alex Marks, you’re officially dismissed from the company. H.R. already has the paperwork. Go down there and meet with them, and they’ll talk about your severance package. I think you’ll be very pleased with it.”
He nodded as he stood, and I stood with him. The moment our hands touched, shaking in agreement, Crissy ripped the door open and stepped into the room. Her body was shaking, and her eyes were big with sorrow. She swallowed hard, wiping her hands down her shirt as she tried to keep her composure. Alex looked back at me before he looked at his daughter, then he went over and hugged her tightly.
I began to shred the documents while the two of them stood there and embraced.
Chapter 38
Crissy
I couldn’t handle watching my father squirm underneath Grant’s scrutiny. At one point, I knew they were arguing. I wanted to go in there and break it up. I wanted to go in there and beg for the truth. I wanted to hear that my father wasn’t doing this, that he couldn’t possibly have stolen from the company. But I knew the evidence couldn’t lie. Now it was out of our hands. Now he was in Grant’s courtroom.
I knew I might have to watch my father be escorted out in handcuffs.
That was why I busted into the room when I saw them shaking hands. I had no idea what was going on, but it wasn’t what I expected. I tried to keep my composure as I watched my father turn toward me, and in an instant, his arms were around me. He was hugging me close, apologizing low in my ear while he told me how proud he was of me. My hands dug into his back, feeling the weight he’d lost from the stress he’d been under, and I caved.
I sobbed into my father’s shoulder right there in Grant’s office as I heard the shredder turn on.
I looked over his shoulder and saw Grant shredding the documents. The red circles. The proof that incriminated my father. I looked up at him in wonder, his eyes meeting mine as he gave me a little grin. My father’s hand descended on my back before he exited the office, but all I could do was watch in silence as Grant shredded every single document from that file.
“What happened?” I asked.
“We won’t discuss that here,” he said plainly. “We’ll discuss it over lunch at my place, Miss Marks.”
His eyes came up to me, questioning whether or not I was going to take his lead. The name threw me back to last night, when I’d screamed at him that he could no longer call me that. This was his way of asking permission, wondering if we would still have our dynamic, wondering if I would follow him just like I had been these past few weeks.
“I’ll make the note in my schedule, Mr. Jacobs,” I said, grinning.
By the time lunch rolled around, I heard Grant’s office door closing. I shut everything down in the office and walked beside him as we headed to his car. I was surprised when he put his hand on the small of my back, escorting me into the elevator. I mean, people were still around. Wasn’t he concerned about what they would think?
We got down to the garage and hopped into his car. I sighed heavily, leaning back into the posh leather seats. Grant drove away from the office and started right in on what had happened in the office.
“Your father admitted to what he was doing,” he said.
“I figured,” I said, sighing.
“He’s not going to jail,” he said.
“I’m still not sure how that didn’t happen, but I figured by the friendly handshake that some sort of an agreement had been arranged.”
“Your father was embezzling money because he can’t get Mel’s spending habits under control,” Grant said. “Apparently, he’s a couple months away from declaring bankruptcy.”
Their fight came drifting back to my mind, and I whipped my head over to Grant. Tears welled in my eyes as I thought about what that would mean for my family. For Sissy. For my father and his future. We’d probably lose the house, the place we’d called home since we were children. I’d have to trade down my car, get something for which I could afford the insurance. I started running numbers and calculations, wondering if I made the type of money to live on my own.
“Slow down, sweet girl. Slow down.”
Grant grabbed my hand and slowly began tracing circles on it. My body trembled as my breathing picked up, and that was when Grant pulled the car over. He stopped driving and looked at me, taking his free hand and turning my gaze to his.
“Listen very carefully, all right? Your father isn’t going to lose anything. You’re not losing your house. Not on my watch. Do you understand?”
I nodded, but I couldn’t speak.
“Your father and I came to an agreement,” Grant said. “He had to lose his job. There was n
o way around that. But his severance package will be able to pay off the rest of the mortgage on the house as well as the car payments, if he’s smart. I told him I’d work on a financial agreement with him as well as invest his 401(k) well under the agreement. He’ll have to rein in Mel’s spending or just kick her ass to the curb if he’s smart. I told him I’d do all this and keep him out of jail if I could continue seeing you.”
My jaw slowly unhinged, and my eyes widened in shock. My father knew? About us? Holy hell, he must be infuriated. But he didn’t seem upset or angry when he hugged me.
He seemed…thankful, almost.
“You included me in your negotiations?” I asked.
“Yes. Because that’s how important your time is to me. How important you are to me.”
Had I just heard him right? Did Grant Jacobs just admit I was important to him?
Maybe I meant more to him than I thought.
Without another word, he pulled back onto the road. A few minutes later, we were pulling up to his house. Only this time, he wasn’t concerned about keeping us out of sight. He helped me out of the car and pulled me into his arms, pressing a breathtaking kiss to my lips that knocked my knees right out from underneath me. He scooped me up and carried me into his house, walking up his steps as we turned to enter his room. I curled into him, breathing in his cologne and excited for lunch in bed.
“What’s for lunch today?” I asked.
“You are,” he said devilishly.
He threw me down on his bed, and I giggled with joy. I felt my skin heat up as I watched him cross his bedroom, his hands throwing open his closet doors as he disappeared into them. He came back out with something in his hand, and I shivered as it dragged behind him.
He was holding a piece of rope, and he was eyeing me as if I was his caught prey.
I knelt on the bed for him as he tossed the black cord onto it. His hands slowly undressed me, the fabric of my clothes falling to the floor as my skin was revealed to him. His eyes danced along my curves, and his tongue darted out to lick his lips. For the first time since I’d been with him, I felt like he was seeing me.
Not a student and not a colleague, but me.
Crissy.
The woman in love with him.
When I was clad in nothing but my skin and supple curves, his arm wrapped around me. He slowly laid me down, his hands dragging my wrists up to his headboard. The wrought-iron spokes were cool against my skin. His hand pinned me there as he knelt between my legs. Never had I been so hungry for sex, so wet for a man who sat above me. My chest heaved as he tied my wrists to his bed, my body held in place as he eyed me for the taking.
When he was done restraining me, his hands came down beside my head. He hovered over me, surveying his work. Then he slowly lowered his lips to the shell of my ear and kissed it softly.
“I’m tying you down forever, Crissy Marks.”
“You can have me forever, Grant Jacobs.”
“This rope, it’s special to me,” he said. “It’s only ever been used on one other occasion, and the woman who had the pleasure of feeling it against her skin became my wife five months later. These bonds, they symbolize the chains you’ve put around my heart. They symbolize the way you’ve tethered me to you. Your soul. Your life. I breathe because of you, Crissy, and from this day forward, you have me. All of me. Tethered to you for as long as you wish and beyond.”
Tears of joy dripped down my face as his eyes came back into view. Those beautiful green eyes I’d dreamed of in high school. The intoxicating eyes I lost myself in, time and time again over these past few weeks. I couldn’t believe the words he was dripping into my ear. Was he saying what I think he was?
“I love you, Crissy.”
Yes. He was saying exactly what I thought he was.
I reared my head up and captured his lips as my tears tainted my skin. His hand slithered behind my neck, supporting it as my entire body shook with effort to get to him. My heart sang out, and my body came alive. Suddenly, I realized why people were so weak when it came to the ones they loved.
Why their lives turned to dust once they lost them.
“I love you, too, Grant,” I murmured against his lips.
Chapter 39
Grant
I crashed my lips onto hers, and my body filled with joy. Those words tumbling from Crissy’s lips lit a fire in my groin that fueled my passion for her. Her lips began swelling underneath my pressure, her back arching into me as she struggled against the restraints. I knew she wanted to touch me. Wanted to hold me close and make love to me.
Little did she know I was going to shower her in all the affection I could give her. By the time I was done with her, I didn’t want her to have the ability to walk.
My lips lunged down her neck, drawing in a patch of her skin as her hips rolled into mine. I drew one of her beautiful tits into my mouth, fiddling with that beautiful barbell as I soaked it with my tongue. The moans and sighs pouring from her lips throbbed my cock between my pants, and I slowly raised up as I stripped off my suit for her.
Her eyes devoured my body as I revealed it to her. Her hands struggled to get to me, to run down my muscles, and cling to my back. That was her favorite thing to do. To hang onto me for dear life while I fucked her senseless.
But not today.
Today, she would know what it meant to be showered with love.
I slowly snaked between her legs, throwing them over my shoulders as she moaned in ecstasy. My lips peppered kisses up her legs, nipping at her skin as I made my way closer to her pussy. I could see her dripping, her pussy folds glistening for me as she panted. She was ready for me, and I was ready for my lunch, so I skimmed my tongue over the top of her slit and slowly slurped her down.
She moaned and shook, bobbing with the assault of my tongue. I flicked her clit, bringing it between my lips as she covered my face in her juices. I wanted to deny her, build her orgasm to a point where she cried out for it, but I couldn’t. I didn’t have the restraint to deny this beautiful woman today.
Today, I wanted every single orgasm she could have for me.
“Grant. Yes. Don’t stop.”
I dug my hands into her hips and pressed my face into her. I flattened my tongue out as her legs pulled tight, her thighs gripping onto my face as she held me between her legs. I looked up at her, her eyes screwed shut and her tits arched into the air. My tongue continued moving, never allowing her a breath of air as I felt her legs shake around my face.
“Oh, no,” she moaned. “It’s coming. Fuck. Don’t stop. Oh, shit. What the hell?”
Her confusion made me smile as her body roared with its second orgasm. Juices sprayed from her pussy, coating my chin and dripping onto the bed. She whimpered and cried out. Her heels dug into my back, and her legs quaked with mercy. I cleaned up her folds, lapping at them as her body finally dropped to the bed.
I was nowhere near done with her. Not by a longshot.
“Holy shit,” she whispered.
I slowly kissed up her body, nipping at her pooch of a stomach before I slid between her legs. My throbbing cock was dripping, and I painted the insides of her legs with my liquid. She was heaving, her entire body flushed with her orgasm as my hand curled around the back of her head. She managed to open her hazy eyes, her gaze falling onto me as I slowly pushed into her.
Her jaw fell open with a groan as I bottomed out into her. I couldn’t help but drop my head into the crook of her neck, coating her with wet kisses as her pussy fluttered around me. Slowly, I rolled my hips, soaking my cock in her wetness as her legs locked around my calves. She was doing anything she could to feel me, to make up for the fact that her hands were tied above her head.
“Please go faster,” she begged. “I need you. Please.”
Her choked and desperate pleas made me groan. Her skin puckered down her neck as my breathing ticked up. My hips rolled faster, and her body moved with mine. Her lips kissed the side of my face, sloppily and drunkenly as she came out of h
er post-orgasmic haze. Her skin tasted like salted honey, and her pussy felt like velvet. Her moans and groans hit my body like dark chocolate hit a strawberry, and all at once, I was swept into her world.
Crissy Marks pulled me deeper into her body, her pussy greedy for what I had to offer as I trailed kisses up her cheek. Our lips connected, our tongues dancing like licks of wildfire burning through a forest. My soul was covered in brush, and she was burning through it, ravaging the wild countryside of my life while I simply stood there and watched.
My balls smacked her ass as I pounded into her. Her tits jumped for me against my body. Her eyes stayed locked onto mine as I plowed into her, and suddenly, I felt my body growing weak for her.
I slid out and rushed my cock down to her asshole. I wrapped her lips up in mine, making sure she was relaxed before I slowly pushed in. She groaned, her eyes rolling into the back of her head as I expanded that puckered hole of hers. Then I slid two of my thick fingers into her pussy, and her eyes flew open.
“Holy shit!” she cried out.
I smiled deviously at her, and I pounded her ass. I crooked my fingers and watched her shake, her feet trying to gain leverage on the bed as her body gave way to me. Her ass pulsed around me as her pussy clamped down on my fingers, and soon my balls were pulling into my body.
She was silenced by her pleasure as her tits rose to perfect peaks, and I dipped my mouth down to massage one of them for her. The filthy words that dripped from her lips spurred me on, and I was practically begging my cock to give her what she wanted.
“Holy shit,” she moaned. “You fill me so good. Fuck that asshole. Play with that pussy. Take my body. Use it for whatever you want. I love you. I love you. Oh, holy hell, I love you.”
I slammed into her asshole one last time, and I felt my cock twitch. I crooked my fingers, pressing on that smooth little dome in her velvety center. I filled her ass with my hot cum as her juices poured from between her legs, leaking onto my cock that was buried inside her. Her back arched, and she gasped for air. Her pussy and her ass massaged my body as she shook for me.
