Calculated Risk

by Marie James

  My hands are working my belt open, and I have to pause at the sight of her perfect tits encased in lace. “You drive me wild.”

  “You need to go grab a condom,” she urges, and my feet are immediately carrying me to the guest bedroom to grab that stupid basket Wren—or Whitney—took the time to put together last night when I texted my friend with my urgent request.

  “Did you see this stuff in here?” I ask, holding up a packaged butt plug.

  Her cheeks flame again. “I’m not opposed to playing, but if the intent is to fit you inside there, that’s never going to happen. Is that a deal breaker for you?”

  “That miraculous pussy of yours is all I need.”

  “This one?” she asks, shimmying her jeans and underwear down at the same time before spreading her legs.

  “That’s the one.” I dive for her, mouth locking over the spot in question without warning.

  I hold her with gentle hands as she squirms under the assault of my mouth, groaning only a few minutes later when she pulses against my mouth. I may need more than just a few days off if every day is going to be like this with her.

  “Condom, now,” she pants as her fingers finally let go of my head when I come up for air.

  “On top,” I insist.

  She shakes her head. “Take me like this.”

  “I don’t want to hur—”

  “You won’t cover me with your body and make me yours?”

  “Mine,” I agree, snapping the latex on my dick before settling over her.

  My pulse is raging inside my chest, but as her arms circle around my neck, I manage to slow things down, entering her with one long confident stroke that makes us both sigh into each other’s mouths.

  I find the end of her with each stroke, enjoying the way she whimpers as I stretch her. Her fingernails dig into my back, and I know I’m going to have to resist walking into the office and showing the guys that badge of honor.

  “Jesus,” I pant when her eyes squeeze closed. “Am I hurting you?”

  Her head shakes violently. “I’m trying not to come.”

  “Come, baby. Don’t hold back.”

  “If I do, then you will, and then it’ll be over. I want it to last for—oh God!”

  Her core clamps down on me, and just as she predicted, her orgasm sets off my own. I bury my face in her neck, push my cock as deep into her as I can, and explode.

  Her hands are trembling on my back, legs shaking against my hips, and she gives me the sweetest little smile when I finally manage to pull my head back and look down at her.

  “I can’t wait to do that again,” I whisper.

  “A million times,” she agrees with a smile big enough to light up every dark corner in my life.

  Chapter 34

  Hayden

  “Would you stop,” I hiss with no malice as I look over my shoulder.

  Quinten watches me walk into the kitchen from the sofa, an eager erection standing proudly between his thighs.

  “I told you what that does to me.”

  I add an exaggerated limp to my steps as I carry our lunch dishes to the sink.

  He groans, a husky sound that makes me wet every time.

  He looks like he’s in pain when I reenter the room.

  “I told you this was a bad idea.”

  “I’m still not seeing a problem.”

  “Naked lunch isn’t a thing, Q.”

  He smiles at the nickname I’ve given him.

  “The nakedness isn’t the problem, it’s the restrictions you’ve placed on us.”

  “It’s not a restriction,” I argue. “It’s dangerous. Hot wings and sex before a shower don’t mix.”

  “And I told you that I know you had a life before me, but I don’t want to hear about the men—”

  “And I explained I read it in a book. It’s not something I experienced personally, but I have to say, I do love your jealousy.” I cross the room to him, leaning in close and pulling back when he tries to lift his mouth to mine. “I played by the rules and washed my hands in the kitchen.”

  “Yeah?”

  I nod. “You know what that means. I can touch but you can’t. Hands behind your head.”

  He complies comically fast, his eyes darting down the length of me, and that gaze has the power to set me on fire despite him giving it to me almost hourly since we locked ourselves away three days ago.

  “We need to talk,” I whisper, my mouth an inch from his as I reach down and run a single finger down the underside of his dick.

  “After,” he insists giving his hips a little swivel.

  “Now works for me.”

  I grab a condom from the side table, opening it before rolling it down the length of him.

  “I thought we were going to t—fuck, grip me hard. Jesus, baby. That’s perfect.”

  “Mind if I have a seat?” I ask as I straddle his lap, my thighs spread so wide because of his size that I can feel myself opening before I bring the head of his cock to my entrance.

  “Are you wet enough for th—Goddamn it, Hayden. Have you been thinking dirty thoughts?”

  “My pussy is always wet for you.” I slide down just an inch, pulling off of him when he flexes his hips up. “Be still. Let me.”

  “I’ll try,” he promises.

  I don’t know exactly when things shifted, and I was able to say such dirty things to him without wanting to shy away, but I’m definitely learning to open my mouth more often.

  “Now about this conversation. I don’t want to freak you out.”

  “You’re not pegging me. I don’t care about the strap-on Wren put in the basket he had delivered.”

  I laugh. His friend has been dropping off care packages daily. The first day it was snacks and drinks with electrolytes, but as each day goes on, the baskets we find in the hallway have gotten increasingly more sexual. I teased Quinten about the strap-on this morning.

  “I was thinking of something a little more… mmm that’s good… permanent.”

  His arms flex, but he doesn’t pull his hands from behind his head.

  “Yeah?”

  “God, you fill me up. Wait, let me—” I groan when I angle my hips forward, a trick he showed me the first night we were together that allows me to take him to the root.

  “Keep making those noises, and I’m—fuck, are you—”

  His hands find my waist, his hips surging up as I fall apart. “Really? That was fast. My turn.”

  I cry out in glee as he lifts me and holds me in the air. God, I love how damn big and strong he is.

  “Legs over my elbows, Hayden. Fucking hurry.”

  My body tingles with need despite having just come as I move my legs where he demands them.

  “Hold on, baby. Tell me if it gets to be too much.”

  His mouth finds mine as he saws into me like a maniac.

  Our foreheads are together, both pairs of eyes focused on where we’re joined, and despite having come together like this more times than I can count the last couple of days, the sight still thrills me, and I’m already planning for the next time.

  “Can you come again?” he pants. I nod my head, my body ready to give him exactly what he’s demanding of it. “Now, Hayden. Fuck, baby. Do it now.”

  My fingers dig into his shoulders, but I don’t worry about hurting him. Last time I left marks on him, he seemed thrilled.

  “Fuck,” he moans, his cock kicking inside of me which sets off my own orgasm. “I’ll never get enough. Fucking never.”

  His mouth finds mine, and the conversation I wanted to have with him is forgotten momentarily as he turns, collapsing on the couch with him still inside of me.

  “I want you to move in here with me,” he says, and I don’t pull my face from his neck as his fingers trace hearts down my spine.

  “Really?” The question is muffled, but I feel him nod.

  “I know it’s soon, but—”

  I jerk my head back so I can look into his pretty blue eyes, my fingers tanglin
g in his glorious beard. “That’s what I was going to talk to you about.”

  “Yeah? You want to?”

  “I want to spend every second with you. Does that make me crazy?”

  “If it does, then I should already be institutionalized.”

  I press my mouth to his, and things begin to turn heated once again. We can’t seem to keep our hands off each other, and that makes me a little nervous about the other part of the conversation I have to have with him.

  I pull back, leaning in briefly to swipe my tongue over his kiss-swollen lips. He groans, his arms tightening around me.

  “I have to go back to work.”

  He frowns. “No, you don’t.”

  “I got an email this morning. They need me to go back.”

  “I mean you don’t have to work at all.”

  I roll my eyes, trying to climb off his lap. He keeps his hold on me, but I don’t feel trapped. I know if I press the issue that he’ll release me. Truthfully, I like being in his arms, even when I know there’s the potential to say something completely ignorant.

  “Independent, remember?”

  “And I was thinking you’d want to just stay naked in my bed at all times.”

  I pinch his arm, but it doesn’t faze him. “I want to work.”

  “You hate your job.”

  “I can’t just lie around waiting for you to fuck me.”

  “Make love,” he growls, and I smile.

  It’s the closest he’s come to admitting that level of care for me.

  “And you’re more than welcome to wait naked on the couch. I’d never restrict you to the bed. I wouldn’t mind you in the shower a couple nights a week. There’s also potential with the bar in the kitchen. I think it’s the perfect height for me to suck on that perfect little clit of yours.” His hips roll beneath me, and I groan at how ready he is for me again.

  “Again?” I pant.

  “If you’re planning on leaving me, I need to stock up.”

  He rolls us over, spreading my legs wide.

  “I’m going to work, not leaving you.”

  I watch, eager and ready as he pulls off the used condom, tossing it to the floor before sliding another one down his length.

  “Promise me you’ll look for another job,” he whispers as he lines himself up right where I need him.

  “I promise. Slow, I’m tender.”

  His hips roll, the motion pushing his cock in the slightest bit before sliding back out. He teases me with the head, and I know it’s enough to get me there, but my body demands the stretch of all of him.

  “I never knew it could be like this. Fuck, Hayden. Tell me it’s the same for you.”

  “It’s perfect.”

  When our lips meet this time, he slows, his arms looping under my shoulders so his fingers can tangle in my hair. I wasn’t lying. He’s absolute perfection. The way he holds me. The way he makes love to me. The way his arms reach for me at night if I roll over in my sleep.

  But tomorrow, we have to let the real world back in. He’d talked about me letting him into my bubble, and I quickly did that, but I can’t help but wonder what we’ll be like when we let the rest of the world in as well.

  With a skilled roll of his hips, I lose all train of thought. The only thing that matters right now is him and me and this life we’re starting to build together.

  Everything is perfect, and I won’t let a damn thing take it from us.

  Chapter 35

  Quinten

  When Hayden’s alarm goes off on her new phone, I resist the urge to grab it and smash the damn thing against the wall. It’s not because I’m tired. We’ve gotten plenty of rest between getting to know each other the last couple of days.

  No, that sound means we can no longer hide away. Despite numerous appeals in the last eighteen hours, she still insists on going back to a job she hates, saying it would be rude and unprofessional to just quit. I tried reasoning with her, explaining that no one would bat an eye after what happened the last time she was there, but she’s going into the office anyway.

  “Give me just one more day,” I grumble as I press my lips between her shoulder blades.

  Being the big spoon to her little one has got to be the most amazing thing in the world.

  “Do you really think that’s going to work?” she whispers, her voice still rough from sleep, and the hard-on I have pressed against her back throbs at the huskiness of it.

  “What?” I tease, giving my hips another roll.

  “You know what.”

  Her stomach twitches as I run my fingers just below her navel. “Are you telling me my morning wood doesn’t turn you on?”

  She groans, her body shifting a little.

  “That I won’t find you… look at that, slick and hot. Stay home, and I’ll make you come.”

  “You’ll make me come anyway,” she whispers, her leg lifting and angling back to rest on mine, opening herself up for me.

  “I could stop.”

  “You won’t.” And already she knows me so well.

  I bite at her shoulder as she lets me work her over, my cock a steel pipe between us.

  It doesn’t take long for her climax, but it never does. The woman is a jolt of pure adrenaline to my ego.

  “Thank you,” she pants, her hand patting mine before she climbs out of the bed.

  “Really? Are you just going to leave me like this?”

  I point to my naked body and straining dick when she tosses me a saucy look over her shoulder.

  “You poor thing,” she teases. “Be a good boy and get in the shower so I can suck you off.”

  I scramble out of the bed, nearly tripping and face-planting when the sheets tangle around my feet, but I’m in the shower, water turned on before she enters the bathroom a few seconds later.

  She laughs at me as she climbs in with me, and my own lips turn up in a smile, and then my mouth hangs open in awe as she drops to her knees and takes the head of my cock into her perfect little mouth.

  ***

  “Think people will notice that limp you seem to have?”

  She glares at me, but there’s no fire in her eyes. “I know one way to make the soreness go away.”

  “But honey,” I tell her, wrapping my arms around her in the kitchen. “Then your knees and jaw will hurt all the time. Oomph.”

  I step back, hand rubbing at the spot on my stomach where she just elbowed me.

  “So violent.”

  “Keep it up, mister,” she says, pointing her coffee spoon at me in warning. “You have thirty minutes to get ready. No stalling. I’m going to work and will get an Uber if I think you’re dragging your feet.”

  I wrap my arms around her once again as she turns back to stir her coffee. I press my lips to her neck and breathe her in.

  I want to open my mouth and tell her how happy I am that she’s here, how much I’ll miss her while we’re apart, but I just can’t. I don’t want to scare her by going too fast. Knowing I’ll have a million chances in the future to express my feelings, I press a quick kiss to her cheek before stepping back and popping my hand against her perfect ass.

  She glares at me over her shoulder as I walk away and blow her a kiss before ducking down the hallway. I know she’s serious about taking an Uber, so I dress quickly.

  “Are you nervous?” I ask as we head in the direction of her work twenty-five minutes later.

  “I’m terrified, but I figure I just need to rip the Band-Aid off, you know?”

  “There’s nothing wrong with just taking a little more time. I know I’ve joked about you staying home forever, and I know that isn’t going to happen, but it hasn’t even been a week. What you experienced is traumatic. I can’t believe the people at your job are making you come back.”

  “I’m going to look for a new job. I’ll probably start on my lunch break today, but Chance Harrison was the bad apple at the company, not everyone else. I hate leaving them in a lurch because of his greediness. There’s no telling wha
t kind of mess I’m going to be dealing with. I wouldn’t be surprised if the FBI isn’t there going over all the records with fine-tooth combs.” She looks out the window as downtown St. Louis rolls past. “I may not even have a job soon. I don’t imagine the government is going to be very trustful of ViCorp after what happened last week. They may pull all contracts. The company won’t survive without those.”

  “Everything will work out the way it’s supposed to,” I assure her, but in the back of my mind, I can’t help but hope they actually do get shut down. I hate the idea of her showing up to a place and having to look at the office where she was scared for her life. She isn’t the type of woman that would ever get hard to something like that. It’s going to hurt her in a year as much as it’s going to hurt her today, and I want to protect her from that. But once again, this isn’t something I can fix for her.

  “You’ll call me if you need me?”

  “I will,” she quickly agrees, her hand meeting mine on the console.

  I give her fingers a quick squeeze. “I can always go up with you, and growl at anyone who dares to approach you.”

  “Tempting,” she says with a quick roll of her eyes as we pull into the parking garage of her building.

  “Kiss me for the world to see, baby.” I lean across the console toward her, and she doesn’t waste a second meeting her mouth to mine.

  She seems as reluctant to pull away as I am, and I cup her cheek in my hand, thumb skating over the dampness on her lips.

  “Think about me.”

  “All day,” she promises.

  I climb out of the truck and go around to her side, wedging myself between her legs before she can jump down.

  “Can’t wait to take these off of you tonight,” I say as my hands run up her legs to her waist.

  “Promise?” she teases as I pull her to me, letting her feel just how excited I am to see her again as I lower her feet to the ground.

  “Skip work,” I plead one more time.

  Her palm presses to my face, and I know I have my answer.

  She holds my hand, walking me back around to the driver’s side door of my truck like I’m a pouting child. She stands, hands clasped in front of her with an eyebrow raised until I climb back inside.