by Lilly James
“Ah…fuck,” he growled as his hot pleasure ejected into my mouth. I drank it all down and pumped him with my fist for more. Parks thrust, gasped, and cursed breathlessly until I slowed down after milking every last part of him.
He pulled me to my feet by my ponytail and unexpectedly smacked his lips into mine, kissing me savagely, and his tongue demanding my mouth. I pushed my tongue into his mouth with the scent of his arousal on my buds, wanting him to taste how appetizing he was to me.
“I think that was the best appreciation gift I have ever received,” he breathed. I bowed my head, smiling to myself because he enjoyed it, and he tipped my chin up with two fingers, making me face him. “Don’t look away when you’re being praised, Evelyn.”
My brows drew. “I didn’t realise I did.”
“You do,” he told me, brushing his knuckles over my cheek. “A lot.”
Staring into his eyes, which had lightened a little, I admitted, “I guess I’m not used to praise.”
“Oh?” he questioned, leaving room for discussion, but I wasn’t willing.
“It doesn’t matter. I should get to work.”
He allowed his arm to drop from my shoulder as I stepped away from him. Smoothing my hair back into place, I watched him adjust himself beside me. He was staring at me, I could feel him.
I turned and smirked. “What are you thinking?”
He pursed his lips. “Do you remember what we talked about last night?” he said cryptically.
I frowned whilst trying to remember what he may have been referring to. “Which part?”
He bit his bottom lip, a sign he felt aggrieved by my obliviousness. “When I held you in my arms?”
I looked down at the floor. How could I forget? But I couldn’t remember what we talked about, and my expression told him so.
“You don’t remember.” He sighed. His unsettled expression made me feel a pang of guilt in case it was something of importance.
Suddenly feeling uncomfortable, I pointed to the door hesitantly. “I should…I should go.”
Before I had chance to open it, he called after me. “You suck your thumb, by the way.”
My forehead automatically creased in confused, and I wore it when I turned around.
“What?”
He watched me carefully from his chair. “I told you I would hold you until you fell asleep. And you sucked your thumb.”
“I know.” I shrugged like it was no big deal. Okay, maybe I was a tiny bit embarrassed. “It’s a comforter for me. I’ve done it from a young age.”
“Oh?” Again, he invited me to discuss it and tell him more about me. I surprised myself by accepting. “I had no other comforter as a kid, except my thumb. My mum would whack my hand away every time I sucked it and told me if I gained buck teeth from it, then she would knock them out.”
He recoiled in his chair. What I’d said had made him uneasy. “But you haven’t buck teeth.”
“I did,” I told him, tapping on my teeth. “These front two are veneers.”
His face was a picture of terror; his mouth almost fell open. “She?”
“Yep, she knocked them out.”
Parks pushed up from his chair and held on to the edge of the table tightly. “Are you fucking serious? Your own mother would do that to you?”
What didn’t she do, was the question. The way he seemed to care, and the anger on his face, felt strange to me. I wasn’t used to it, so I told him I was lying, trying to pass it off as a joke. “I’m kidding.” But I wasn’t. When I was eight, my mother knocked my two front adult teeth out right after they came in. She did it to teach me a lesson. She didn’t want me to have anything nice, any solace, warmth, or comfort.
He cleared his throat, not quite sure if I was telling the truth. “Don’t kid around like that. I was already mentally on my way to pay your mother a visit.”
A smirk tugged at my lips as I thought of him taking my mother on. That was a fight I wouldn’t want to miss.
“I took a photo,” Parks said, changing the subject.
My brows shot up. “You did what?”
He flashed his phone screen at me, and sure enough, there was a photo of me in his bed, sucking my thumb.
“Give me that.” There was no way in hell I was going to let him keep it. He began to walk around the desk so I couldn’t get to him and laughed an almost boyish laugh that you wouldn’t expect to come from such a man. He was so serious all the time that hearing him sound so carefree for once made me laugh.
“Parks, give it to me.” I darted across the room to him.
“Ah, ah, ah,” he mocked as we grappled around his office, laughing and joking until he fell into his chair and pulled me by the waist onto his lap. “I quite like it, so I’m keeping it.” He chuckled.
“You’re childish, Parks.” That made him laugh harder. I reached up for his hand, giving it one last go. My breasts were brushing against his face purposely until I lost balance and had no choice but to fall back down into his lap. I turned my face to meet his.
“Kiss me and I’ll delete it,” he told me, his gaze drifting from my lips back to my eyes. We stared at each other for a lingering moment, getting lost in a world of maybe. Maybe there could be that special something between us. Maybe there could be a spark we could ignite. Maybe we could be together. Maybe we felt a passion that was stronger than any we had ever felt before meeting each other.
But maybe was never a definite.
I moved in to kiss him after glancing over his impeccable features, but the door opened, interrupting us.
“What the hell is going on in here?”
Our heads turned towards Carla as she stormed in, promptly followed by Joanna, who skidded to a stop behind her. They both looked stunned at they took in the image of me sitting in Parks’s lap. I jumped up to compose myself, but Parks got to his feet furiously and pointed to the door.
“Get out!”
Joanna spoke first, almost stuttering. “Mr. Parks, she barged her way in, I was simply on my way in here to remind you that you have a meeting in five minutes, sir, and she barged in. I couldn’t stop her.”
I couldn’t believe she was trying to act like it was a coincidence. Even I could see Joanna had let Carla in intentionally.
“I’m not dumb, Joanna. I know very well that I have a meeting. What right do you both have coming in here and disturbing me this way?”
“Excuse me?” It was Carla’s turn to be offended, and boy, was she offended. I loved it.
“You heard me,” he continued. “You do not, under any circumstance, just walk into my office without my permission. Do you understand?”
“Mr. Parks, she just barged in.” Joanna was still playing the innocent victim.
Parks rubbed at his forehead, exasperated. “Go on your lunch.”
“But it’s only morning.”
“Go home then, Joanna,” he bellowed. “I will deal with you tomorrow.”
She looked like she was about to cry. Her bottom lip quivered before she nodded and scurried away. Parks turned to face me, and it was only then that his features softened. “Evelyn, forgive me, but could you leave me to deal with Miss Hammond by myself, please?”
“Uh, sure.” I wasn’t sure why he was asking my permission, but I walked away to let them sort it out.
Carla’s eyes bulged, and belligerence steamed from her as she watched me pass. She already hated me, and now it seemed I’d given her even more reason to despise me. Great. I loved every second of it.
I closed the door behind me, but I was way too nosy not to stay there and eavesdrop, so I crouched down behind it.
Carla spoke first. “She’s not your kind of woman, Mr. Parks. She could never satisfy you. She could never fulfil your needs. She will never be able to handle a man like you, and she has no business to.”
“Cheeky bitch,” I mumbled under my breath. I was not trying to fulfil his needs or satisfy him, and neither did I want to handle him. My ears pricked up as I waited for his
response, but she continued to babble on.
“You’re one of the most respected businessmen internationally. A celebrity in your field and a man of high class. What could a woman like that possibly offer a man like you?”
“You think you could offer me something different?” His voice was low, and I wasn’t sure if his question was a proposal or a snipe. Would I almost feel rejected if it was a proposal? Nonsense.
“Oh, I have an incredible amount to offer. She’s a mess, Mr. Parks.” What the fuck? “She has no qualifications, her mouth is like a sewer.” Maybe that was right. “She’s cold and a total bitch. None of the women in this building like her, have you noticed that? You can’t be seen with someone no one likes.”
I straightened up from my crouch and swallowed a lump in my throat. I knew not a lot of people liked me because of my big mouth, but everybody hated me? Was I that bad?
I shook the thought away. Who cared? I didn’t need anyone to like me.
I was about to walk away, but what Parks said next had my heart beating viciously.
“If you think that badmouthing Evelyn is going to give you any chance of getting my cock inside your pussy, then let me disappoint you, because it is highly unattractive. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a meeting to get to.”
I held my hand over my mouth to suppress my chuckle as Carla gasped. “You know, I can fire her just like that,” she said vindictively. I heard the click of her fingers and wanted to go in and punch the spiteful bitch. I was ready to wave my job good-bye until Parks spoke.
“And you know,” his voice was quiet, threatening, “I can get rid of you just as easily.” I heard him gather some things, and I knew he was about to walk out of the room. I moved away from the door quickly so I wouldn’t get caught, but Parks walked out before I could even turn my back. He was shocked to see me there, and before I turned on my heel to leg it down the corridor, his lips turned up into an amused smirk. I think he was happy I’d overheard, but it didn’t make a difference to me. I didn’t need him to stick up for me, and neither did I care if every woman in the building hated me. To hell with them. I made my way into the lift and back down to my office.
Throughout the day, I was busy helping Clarke set everything in place for his temp to arrive for the week he would be away. I didn’t get why he couldn’t just tell his clients he would be on holiday, but apparently that wasn’t possible.
When I had five minutes to sit down, I grabbed a quick cup of tea and some bourbon biscuits and opened up my emails. The first one was from Alex, begging to take me out that night. Which was strange. I knew there was a football match on, so him being willing to miss it was crazy. I felt a little flattered that he would do that for me and a little bad for ignoring his calls. Plus, it would be a harmless evening out. I replied with:
Sure.
I dipped the biscuit into my tea and threw it into my mouth whilst digging into the packet for another. The second email I opened made my stomach burn and tighten, and the ache that began to throb between my thighs was hard to ignore.
From: Wade Parks, CEO, Parks Industries
To: Evelyn Banks
Message: Extremely hard! I am in a meeting emailing you, because I cannot stop thinking about your lips wrapped around my cock. Jesus, you suck me so good. I need more of that delicious mouth of yours.
He wanted more of my mouth? That was incredibly hot. I was aroused just at the thought of it. The taste of his come. The taste of his cock. Fuck, it was delectable. The pounding instantly began between my thighs, making me cross my legs. But he couldn’t have more. I only did that because I owed him, and I thought it was the best way to show I appreciated what he did for me. If he had taken me home in that state, Steph would have never forgiven me. He let me stay in his swanky apartment, he prepared the most brilliant breakfast for me, and he bought me a beautiful dress when he didn’t have to do all that. It was exceedingly generous.
Shit. What had I done? Sucked his cock to show him how pleased I was? What the fuck was I thinking? I was so stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
I emailed him back, saying it was a one-off and hoped he would leave it at that, but somehow I didn’t think that was possible. I also didn’t think it was possible for him to leave me alone.
I tried to calm myself down and dunked another biscuit into my tea whilst opening another email. As I read it, my heart thudded but for a different reason.
From: Anonymous sender
To: Evelyn Banks
Message: I’m watching you!
I turned my head because I actually felt someone was watching me, and sure enough, Carla was in her office glaring at me. I spun around quickly, forgetting I had tea on my desk and spilt it all over the work I just printed.
“Fuck,” I yelled, trying to salvage the documents.
Pat’s gaze drifted from her desktop to me as her nostrils flared in disgust. “I hope those aren’t my documents.”
I gave up trying to save them and crumbled them up aggressively before throwing them into the waste bin. “Yes, actually, they were,” I snapped back and marched into Carla’s office. Pat could fuck off.
“You’re watching me now?”
Her red, trout-pouted lips opened as she leaned forwards against her desk, acting all Miss Innocent. “Me?” She placed her hand on her chest as if offended. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
I laughed once. “You’re fucking deluded. If you want Parks, go ahead, have him. Oh, but wait,” I said with mock sympathy, purposely to piss her off. “He doesn’t want you, does he?”
Her top lip lifted over her teeth. “And you think he wants you?” She looked me up and down as if I were a rodent from the backstreets.
“I don’t care what you think, Carla. Just know you better stop with the threats or—”
“Or what?” Grinning again, she stood and began to walk around me like she was circling her prey. “I am counting down the days until I get to fire your arse. And it will come. For some reason, Mr. Parks wants to save your skanky little backside, but just wait until he travels back to America, then you’re out.”
I wanted to quit my job right there and then. I quit was right on the tip of my tongue, but I needed that job and my presence was an obvious threat to Carla, so that made my stay even more bearable.
“I’m surprised you’ve lasted this long,” she continued. “You’re nothing but a foulmouthed slut who fucked her way into this firm. And now you think you can win Mr. Parks from me?”
I immediately saw red, and that was it. Before I could stop myself, I pulled back my fist and punched my boss in the face. She screamed, lost balance, and fell to the floor with a thud.
“Evelyn, no!” I turned to see Parks barging his way in, throwing the papers he had in his hand aside as he grabbed my arm to stop me from doing any more damage. I didn’t feel sorry for her one bit! She provoked me. She deserved it. I tried to free myself from Parks’s grip to get at her again, but he took my head into his hands and spoke calmly over Carla’s wailing in the background. “That’s enough, Evelyn,” he warned.
I breathed out aggressively whilst looking into his eyes, calming down little by little. When he was sure I wouldn’t move, he nodded and slowly took his hands from my face, then walked over to Carla and helped her to her feet. I gulped when I saw her eye was red and swollen.
She, of course, milked it to the max. “You see what she did?” she yelled to Parks. “She’s out. You’re going to pay for this, Evey.”
I was fired. Fuck. But in that moment, I was still angry, my adrenaline still pumping. “Fuck your job.”
Her mouth dropped opened in shock as she held the side of her face, and the way Parks was tending to her, for some reason, hit a goddamn nerve.
“Sit down. I’ll get you some water.”
Carla thanked Parks, then smirked at me as he turned his back. I gritted my teeth and went for her again. “You conniving bitch.”
She covered her face with her hands, but Parks was too
quick for me. He grabbed hold of my waist and pulled me out of the room, then marched me down the corridor by my arm. He almost threw me into a vacant room and locked the door behind him. He ran his hands through his hair and gripped it.
“Do you want to tell me what the fuck you think you are doing?”
“This has nothing to do with you.” My chest heaved as I tried to get the air back in my lungs.
“I think it does when the argument was about me.”
“Don’t flatter yourself. She called me a slut. And not to mention what she said about me in your office. She wasn’t getting away with that.”
He laughed like I was unbelievable. “She can sue you, Evelyn. She can call the cops, get you done for assault.”
“She’s lucky assault was all it was.”
He stepped towards me and firmly took my head into his hands so I would look at him. “Evelyn, this is serious. She’s a woman who knows what she’s doing. You work at my law firm, for fuck’s sake. Do you realise how it will look if she takes this further?”
I knocked his hands away in a rage. “So that’s what this is about. Your precious company name?”
He groaned loudly, turning away from me like I wasn’t getting it. “I didn’t say that.”
“That’s what it sounds like.”
“Just sort your shit out, Evelyn,” he yelled, turning back to me. “You’re a mess.” I knew by the look that spread across his face that he immediately regretted his words. “Shit. I didn’t mean that.”
I was a little hurt because it was so out of place coming from him, but that hurt was banished by a shield of defence that protected me. “You know what, fuck her, fuck my job, fuck your company, and fuck you.” I brushed past him and almost ran to the lift. Parks made no attempt to follow.
When I got to the ground floor and outside the building, I leaned against the brick wall and inhaled the air my lungs desperately needed.
Looking up at the blue sky, I closed my eyes and sagged.
Fuck.
