by Liz Andrews
“Everywhere.”
Marc leaned back as Lily put her hand on his chest. Starting at his forehead she feathered light kisses across his brow and down his cheek. Lightly caressing his ear with her tongue, Lily traced the edges before biting the lobe. She glanced at him quickly to see if he was bothered by her little show of dominance.
“Keep going,” Marc urged, grasping her hips and pulling her onto his lap.
Lily giggled before continuing, tracing his jaw with nibbling little kisses. Marc wondered if she realized she was unconsciously rubbing herself against the rough wool of his pants. He certainly felt it and wondered if he would live through the little abrasive motions.
Scooting herself down, Lily trailed her mouth down his neck to his chest, pausing to pay homage to his puckered nipples. Marc hissed as the little hellion took a turgid tip between her teeth, biting, then soothing it with her tongue. His Lily liked to play rough. Lucky for Marc, it was his favorite way to play.
Teasing him, she moved back and forth, plying him with kisses and nips, each equally driving him closer to the edge. Giving Lily even this much control was hard for Marc, but he could tell from the coy looks and teasing nibbles Lily was enjoying it. So for her, he held himself back. Lily kissed down his stomach, stopping when she came to his pants. “May I?”
“Please do.” Marc’s voice was a hell of a lot steadier than he felt on the inside.
Lily’s eager little hands unbuckled his belt and then went to work on the button and zipper of his pants. Pushing the material aside she slipped her hands into his briefs. Marc bit back an oath when he felt her soft little hands glide over his cock. Her tentative strokes drove him crazy. He loved the feel of her hands slowly exploring his length, how she traced her fingers up and down getting to know every ridge and curve.
“You’re teasing me, Lily.”
“I know,” she whispered, leaning down to swipe her tongue across the head of his aching cock.
“That’s a very dangerous thing to do.” Marc ran his hand down her head, gripping a handful of her lush hair in his fingers. “A very dangerous thing to do.”
Lily’s eyes were filled with desire as she swirled her tongue around his shaft. “I like danger,” she teased, pushing up against his hand.
“No wonder we get along so well,” Marc murmured as he pushed her mouth down to his waiting flesh. Closing his eyes, Marc moaned when Lily’s warm mouth closed around him. He had been waiting all night for her to taste him, and it was well worth the wait.
Lily slowly rose up and then swooped down again, enclosing the tip of his penis in her mouth, swirling her tongue around the head. He loved how she traced her tongue around the ridge, finding all the sensitive areas.
“Stop, Lily,” Marc ordered gruffly. The last thing he wanted to do was to come in her mouth. There were many other places — tight, tempting places — his cock longed to be.
Lily released his shaft from her warm mouth, and replaced it with her hand. “Please don’t tell me we’re going to stop here.”
“Oh, no, my dear. We have so …”
Griffin rushed in the room, startling them both. “Marc, we have to talk …” Lily squealed at the top of her lungs, and dove to the other side of the bed, falling off in the process.
“Fuck, Griffin,” Marc yelled at his flushing friend, who quickly turned his back. “Get out.”
“Oh, my God. Oh, my God.”
“Lily, are you okay?” Marc called, struggling to stand and stuff his flaccid penis back into his pants at the same time.
“No, and I never will be again,” she yelled from the floor.
“Did you hurt yourself?”
“Only my pride and my ass,” came the mumbled reply.
“Marc, we have to talk now,” Griffin called over his shoulder. “There’s been an incident.”
“An incident?” Lily growled, tugging on the bedspread.
“Marc, can I please talk to you outside?” Griffin made his request as he left the room.
Lily’s head popped up from the other side of the bed. “Is he gone?”
“Yeah, he’s gone.” Marc sighed, running his hands through his hair wearily.
Lily stood up, wrapping the bedspread around her tightly. “I am never going to be able to face him again. Oh, my God, he saw me naked, with your penis in my hand.”
Marc was debating whether he should be laughing or hitting something. The fact Griffin saw Lily naked was a far worse sin in Marc’s book than the fact he almost caught Lily giving him head. Lily’s body was for his eyes and his eyes alone. Marc hated to say it, but Griffin was going to have to die. He wanted to comfort Lily, he wanted to fuck her brains out, but he knew he needed to go out in the hallway and talk to Griffin. There was no fucking way Griff would have come into his bedroom if it weren’t a big emergency.
“He’s half blind.” Or he would be, Marc added to himself. “Let me go talk to him for a minute.”
“And what the hell am I supposed to be doing while you’re having this little meeting?”
“Simmer.” Marc winked at her before he walked out of the room, but his good humor fled as soon as he saw Griffin’s face. “What’s wrong?”
“The town finally rolled out its welcome wagon.”
Marc lifted his eyebrows questioningly. He was in no mood for the innuendo crap. “What happened?”
“All the windows in your office building were shot out. I just got a call from security there. It seems he was doing his rounds when he heard the gunshots and hit the deck.”
“Is he hurt? Did he see anything?” Marc felt frustrated. He should have known his welcome to town wouldn’t be smooth, but he had been drawn in by the lack of any problems. And then there was Lily’s little basket, making him think his hometown might have changed to be a welcoming place. What a sucker he’d been.
“No, nothing. He wasn’t hired as muscle. He doesn’t even carry a gun. He probably pissed his pants when the shooting started.”
“Great,” Marc drawled sarcastically. “Have the police been called?”
“Oh, yeah,” Griffin replied, just as sarcastically. “I talked to Andy Taylor. He and Barney Fife are taking a police report from the idiot rent-a-cop.”
“The first thing you need to do is get rid of him. We can’t afford to have people on the payroll who don’t know the game.”
“Understood. I already called a place to get the windows replaced and another group to clean up.”
“Out of towners?”
“Of course.”
“I want you to keep an eye on this,” Marc ordered, his frustration level rising. Fucking town. He should have leveled it all when he had the chance.
“I will.”
“Good.” Marc swiped his hand through his hair in irritation. This was not exactly how he’d pictured the evening ending.
As Marc turned to go back into his bedroom, Griffin called to him again. “It’s awfully convenient that the office gets shot out the one night you’re occupied, wouldn’t you say?”
Marc froze. “Don’t, Griff.”
“All I’m saying is …”
“I know what you’re saying and you’re wrong.” Marc didn’t even want to think about what Griffin was implying. To do so would cast doubt on the best thing that had happened to him in awhile. “She has nothing to do with this.”
“Can you be sure?”
“Yes.”
“Can you?” Griffin repeated.
Marc turned back around and faced his best friend and most trusted ally. “Yes, I can. Trust me.”
“I do trust you, Marc. You.”
“Lily wouldn’t …”
“The Lily you knew as a child wouldn’t. But this is a different girl, Marc. I thought I taught you better than this.”
Marc refused to get into this with Griffin now. This was not the place and it damn sure wasn’t the time. “I’ll talk to you in the morning, Griff.”
Sighing, Griffin just nodded and turned to go.
&nb
sp; “Griffin.”
“Yes?”
“Have a car brought around to follow Lily,” Marc tossed over his shoulder as he opened his bedroom door.
“Of course.”
Marc walked into the bedroom and closed the door behind him. What had started out to be such a promising evening had turned to shit so fast his head was still spinning. To top things off, Lily sat on the edge of the bed, fully dressed and looking as forlorn as Marc felt.
“I kind of figured since you were taking so long, things weren’t going well.”
Marc sighed. “Yeah, you might say that.”
“Well, are you going to tell me?” Lily looked indignant, as if she couldn’t believe he wasn’t talking to her. Marc always held his cards close to his chest, and after Griffin’s comments he wasn’t in the sharing mood. It wasn’t that he believed Griffin’s claims; he just had to figure out what to do.
“It’s no big deal. Just an incident at the office. Griffin has taken care of everything. He’s also bringing around a car to make sure you get home safely.”
“Home.” Lily stood up, nodding her head slowly. “Oh, I see. I’m supposed to trust you in everything, but you don’t have to trust me. I get it.” Walking past him with her head held high she left the bedroom and headed down the stairs. Oh, yeah, this night was just getting better and better.
Redemption: Lily’s Surrender
Chapter Seven
Lily kept looking in her rearview mirror at the blue car that had been following her ever since she left her house. She knew it wasn’t a coincidence because she’d purposely tried to lose the car in traffic. The car had been just one more example of why she was making this drive. Lily was going to visit Marc’s office and kick his ass.
It had been almost a week since Lily walked out of Marc’s house, and he still hadn’t called her. She learned what happened to his office through the town grapevine the next day, so she didn’t expect him to call right away. But when she still didn’t hear from him a few days later she really began to get mad.
But today’s incident topped the cake. She had been sitting in her living room, contemplating life — okay, thinking up ways to kill Marc — when the doorbell rang. It was a deliveryman with a very large package. She tried to explain she hadn’t ordered anything, but he left it anyway. Unwrapping the box, Lily discovered a flat screen plasma television. And she immediately had known who’d sent it.
Lily was furious. Marc didn’t even have the decency to call her after their one night together, but he was going to send her a television. It was too much. She planned to drive over to his office to confront him. However, when she came out of her apartment she noticed the blue car parked across the street. As she drove through traffic it followed her without fail. And Lily just knew it was another little gift from Marc.
Pulling up to his office, she stormed out of her car, resisting the childish urge to flip off the goon squad. Shoving open the office door, she ran straight into Griffin, who appeared to be on his way out.
“Lily, what are you doing here?” he asked, frowning.
“None of your business,” she fumed, moving past him.
“Umm, this isn’t a good time.” Griffin grabbed her by her arm, stopping her in her tracks.
Surprised, Lily looked up at the towering man. Who the hell did he think he was? “Get your hand off me. Now.”
Releasing her, Griffin shuffled her to the side. “Marc’s not in the best of moods today. Why don’t you come by tomorrow?”
“Why don’t you mind your business?”
“Marc is my business.”
“Then your job sucks.” Pushing past Griffin, Lily passed two gentlemen in suits and sunglasses who stood when she neared Marc’s door. “Don’t even think it.” Lily was in no mood.
Looking past her to Griffin, the men nodded their heads and stepped to the side, letting her pass. Finally, someone with common sense. Without bothering to knock, Lily opened Marc’s door, slamming it shut behind her.
Startled, Marc looked up, surprise etched across his handsome face. “Lily, this is a surprise.”
“Oh, really.” Sarcasm dripped from her mouth. “I figured your goon squad would have put you on alert I was on the way.”
“Goon squad?”
“Whatever you want to call the morons you have following me.”
“They are highly trained professionals. And they are there to protect you, not report to me.”
“Well, they don’t do their job very well.”
Marc stood suddenly at her words. “What happened?”
“Nothing happened, except the delivery man who stopped by today could have been an ax murderer, but they let him come to my door.”
“So you got the television.”
“Yeah, I got the television. The flat screen plasma television.” Lily accented each word.
“I take it you aren’t pleased?” Marc looked surprised, but he also looked tired. Lily had to steel her heart and finish what she had come to do. Tell him he couldn’t use her this way.
“Gee, I don’t know, Marc. Should I be? I mean, is an almost blowjob worth a fancy television?”
Marc’s face flushed, and then calm seemed to settle over him. Lily wasn’t sure what to make of this cool, controlled Marc. It was a bit unnerving, because she felt like he was mad, but his face showed a hint of a smile.
Coming around his desk, Marc walked up to Lily as if he were stalking her. She had to control her urge to step back, but she was determined to hold her ground. Leaning in close to her face, Marc spoke. “Don’t ever talk about yourself or what we do in that way ever again. Ever.”
“I’m sorry, Marc. I didn’t know we were playing ‘Marc Says.’”
Marc’s eyes began to twitch. “Today is not the day, Lily.”
“Oh, but it is.” Lily poked her finger in his chest. “I’m not a fucking toy. You don’t pull me out and play with me whenever you get a hankering.”
“It wasn’t like that.”
“The hell it wasn’t.”
Grabbing her finger, Marc pushed her hand away from his chest. “Grow up, Lily. I won’t dance attention on you at your every whim.”
Eyes widening, Lily placed her hands on her hips. “Screw you.”
“Watch your mouth.”
“Make me.”
The words were out before she could pull them back, and they lay like a gauntlet between them.
“Well, why didn’t you say you came here to get fucked, honey?” Marc walked around her and locked the door to his office.
“Hey, what do you think you’re doing? And I did not come here to get fucked. I came to tell you off.”
Marc stood in front of the door, loosening his tie. “No, baby, you could have done that with a phone call. You wanted the confrontation. You wanted me to take over.”
“Stop it. You’re messing with my mind. This is not about sex.”
“Yes, it is. It’s about sex and control.” Throwing his tie across a chair, Marc calmly began unbuttoning his shirt.
Lily realized she was breathing heavily as Marc spoke. Her nipples had tightened as soon as he’d flipped the lock on the door and she could feel herself getting wet at his words. What the hell was wrong with her?
“No, I don’t want this, Marc.” Lily couldn’t keep the huskiness out of her voice and she knew Marc heard it as well. Damn it, she never could lie very well.
Marc slipped out of his shirt and draped it over the chair. “I have to disagree, Lily. Yes, you’re mad I sent you a television. You’re probably also mad I haven’t called.”
Lily jerked at his insightful words. Damn him, she wasn’t even going to bring that up, but he’d guessed at her hurt.
“But,” Marc continued as he toed off his shoes, “you enjoyed our time together and you definitely want more.”
Lily licked her lips, and with that gesture Lily saw the heat flare in Marc’s eyes right before he sprang. Grabbing her, he pulled her into his arms.
“Sa
y the word, Lily, if you don’t want this. Say it now.”
Lily parted her lips to say the very word he mentioned, but she couldn’t get it out. She didn’t want him to stop. She wanted him. “You’re an asshole.”
“Sometimes, but asshole isn’t the safe word, so I’ll take that as a yes.”
Dropping his mouth onto hers, Marc silenced any comment she had. He gently tugged her tee from the waistband of her jeans and slipped his hands underneath. The feel of his rough hands on the soft skin of her stomach almost sent Lily to her knees. She couldn’t believe just one touch affected her so deeply. Suddenly breaking the kiss, he grasped the shirt and pulled it over her head.
“Take off your bra,” he ordered, stepping back from her slightly.
Lily hesitated for a moment, wondering why she was even considering his demand. She realized she didn’t want to examine her feelings too closely right now; she just wanted to go with the flow. She would worry about this tomorrow.
Reaching behind her, she unhooked her bra and let it slide off of her arms, exposing her breasts to his hungry gaze. If she thought her nipples had tightened earlier at his words, the look he was sending her was causing them to harden to an almost painful point. And he hadn’t even touched her yet.
“Now the jeans. Slowly.” Marc leaned back against the chair and began to unbuckle his belt as he watched her slip off her shoes and then pull off her jeans. Lily stood before him in her panties.
“Turn around,” he ordered harshly, his voice filled with need.
On shaky legs, Lily turned around. She wondered if he was going to spank her, and glanced uncertainly at the office door.
“Are you going to …” she asked hesitantly.
Marc’s silky laughter flowed over her heated flesh. “Am I what?” he asked, sending a sharp smack to her bottom with his hand.
A moan escaped her lips before she could stop it. “No, Goldie, although your brazen behavior definitely deserves some action, I think I’ll save that punishment for another time. Instead,” Marc’s hand grasped hers and pulled them tightly together, binding them together with his tie, “I think I’ll do this.”
Lily stood trembling, her hands tied securely behind her back. But she wasn’t trembling from cold, although she should be, standing like this. Rather, her skin was heated from the desire she felt from being bound by Marc. The position left her breasts thrust forward, as if she were offering them up to be sampled. Standing behind her, Marc gently brushed her hair back, exposing her neck. His breath tingled against her flushed skin.
