The Reconstruction of Cyprian

by Michelle Love

  We grabbed a big table in the back, and I sat across the table from Devin as he asked Autumn how our project was going. Everyone went back and forth, discussing things as I ate slowly and paid attention. I noticed that Devin looked at me a few times, but not in the way I’d expected after turning him down at his apartment that night.

  It wasn’t anger that he showed me, but more disappointment. We’d kissed for a while on his couch, and once I knew that it was headed further, I pulled away. Damon was too much on my mind to do anything else with Devin, especially seeing him on the street just hours before. I explained that I wasn’t ready for anything serious yet since I was busy with school and the internship. Devin was disappointed, but he claimed that he understood before kissing me softly and taking me home. I wasn’t in the position to tell anyone no very often, and it was uncomfortable.

  I noticed that he didn’t try to contact me after that, especially as I’d lied about seeing someone at school. I was young, and that’s how others seemed to be to me, so I didn’t think it was any kind of crazy surprise. He was a great looking guy that could date anyone he wanted to, but I could still see feelings in Devin’s eyes as they met mine when we were finishing lunch. He joined me on the sidewalk as we left and I clutched my purse to my side and tried to act natural. “How are you doing?” His voice was casual, and I smiled in his direction.

  “I love the job. The team is fantastic,” I replied as I glanced up in their direction.

  “Yeah. Autumn has nice things to say about you.” Devin let his eyes rest on her for a moment as I wondered if there was something between them. She had a long term boyfriend from what I’d heard, but we weren’t close friends. “I heard you’re seeing a guy at school.”

  “I’m sorry. The timing was just wrong. It was unexpected, and it’s so casual, since the circumstances are still the same,” I told Devin as I looked forward. The circumstances were nothing like before now and it was a new game.

  “Is he good to you?” Devin asked in a gruff voice as I looked at him.

  “I guess, sure. It’s new.” He nodded and looked forward.

  “You deserve that,” I told him thank you as we walked into the building and made our way to the elevators. I looked over to see Damon speaking with a beautiful woman by the main desk, an older one that seemed charmed by whatever he was telling her. I forced my eyes away, remembering who I was with and led the way into the spacious car as my body ached for him. It was painful, and I told the others that I’d see them in a bit as they got off on floor five. “Where are you going?” Devin asked as he looked curiously at me before glancing at the buttons.

  “She’s helping the big boss a few days a week,” Autumn said as the door closed too quickly to see anyone’s reaction. I dropped against the wall and took a deep breath as the elevator kept going up, praying that my face was neutral during the last few minutes. I couldn’t blow this. My body heated up, and I let myself wonder who the woman was talking to him. I knew that sleeping with Damon would increase my feelings for him and perhaps a small part of me wished that I’d stopped it, but it was minute if I looked at the big picture. I was just scared, and that was normal.

  I managed to regain my composure as I reached my floor, raising my head high as I made my way to his office and saw the closed door. I tapped on it and unlocked the door when there was no reply, letting myself in and looking around as I set my purse down on the couch, letting my eyes linger on the new shoes that matched my outfit for a long moment.

  I pulled my IPad out of the bag and walked over to the desk to let it warm up. My work phone was always on, but it was silent today, making me wonder if Damon regretted the night before. I felt torn between being a girl and a woman with these crazy thoughts and I tried to reason with myself. He was generous with me and concerned for my well-being. That was a good sign. Leave it at that and stop obsessing.

  The door opened, and I jumped before I glanced up and noticed Damon coming through with a cold look in his eyes. “Damon?” I asked as I frowned and tried to think of what I’d done. He didn’t even see me earlier in the lobby, or did he? Devin.

  “What was the earlier in the lobby?” He asked point blank as he stalked across the room towards me.

  “I think I could ask the same thing. Who was the woman, Damon?” I shot back as my jealousy poured out of me and onto the floor in a pile of shame. I felt my cheeks flush and he raised an eyebrow at me.

  “Jesus fucking Christ. You sound like a jealous teenager,” he told me as I stared at him.

  “I practically am. I’m still in college, Damon.” He stopped in front of me, eyes flashing as he gripped my face, looking into my face.

  “Don’t remind me. You didn’t seem like one last night when you were riding me,” he said as I struggled in his grip. “I like that confident, wanting side of you. Where is it right now, Elisa?” His voice was demanding as I felt my knees trembling as I sat on the desk.

  “You overwhelm me, Damon. You confuse me,” I told him as he slipped a hand behind my neck and kissed me. I moaned against him, not finished arguing as my body gave in to my need for him. My skirt was pushed up, and he ripped my panties down, plunging his fingers inside of me as his tongue circled mine. I whimpered as he pressed in deeper and harder, ready to burst before he told me to wait.

  “Hold it. I’ll tell you when ” Damon said to me as my eyes widened and I tried to shut off the sensations flowing through my body. How was I supposed to not to come when he was dragging his fingers against the walls of my pussy, finding every spot that I had in there.

  “How?” I groaned as I stayed still and tried to ignore everything that was happening to me.

  “Willpower,” Damon told me as he manipulated my body and pressed his lips against my neck. It seemed like hours but was probably more like minutes before he started thumbing my clit and whispered for me to let go.

  “Fuck,” I cried out as my body exploded and I jerked against him. “What was that?”

  “That was control,” Damon told me as he pulled away to kiss my lips. “I’ll get you some water from the fridge.”

  I dropped back onto the desk as I sucked my breath in and let my body recover. That was so intense that I almost forgot about being jealous, at least until I saw Damon walk back into the room with water. My eyes were dazed as I stared at him and he looked back at me. I took the water from him and downed half of it as I closed my eyes. “The woman was a friend of my mother’s. I hadn’t seen her in a couple of years, and she wanted to take me to lunch.”

  “Oh,” I felt stupid, and I slid down from the desk to sit in a seat as I looked around the floor for my underwear if they even survived. They were near my feet, and I blinked at them for a moment. “I’m sorry.”

  “Explain why you were with Devin,” he suggested as I let out a sigh.

  “It was nothing. I was with my group, and Devin was with his at the deli. Autumn knows him, so we shared a table. I barely spoke to him on my own, and when we did, I assured him that I was with someone,” I told him as he looked at me carefully. “I swear. Do you think I could want anyone else after last night?”

  “I’d hope not. I know that I don’t,” Damon said as if it surprised him as confusion flooded me again. “Maybe we’ll have to work on your control from now on.”

  I had no idea how I was supposed to work after that. Somehow, I made it through the day and went to dinner with Damon, even as I glanced around the lobby when we left together. It was empty, and I followed him to his car as I kept my eyes forward and my hands at my side. We’d touched behind his closed door and we would later, but not here. Not in public. Mark opened the car door for me with a smile as I nodded at him and slipped into the car with Damon following me. “Where are we going?” I asked as he smiled mysteriously.

  “You’ll see,” Damon told me as he pulled me to his side to kiss me. I allowed him his moment as we drove through the streets wrapped together. It felt good in his arms, and I noticed as the car stopped before I looked ou
t of the windows. We were at L’ESPALIER, one of the finest restaurants in the area and I smiled at him.

  We got out, and he led me inside as he told the beautiful hostess that he had a reservation. The woman nodded as she gazed at him with wide eyes before glancing at me with a small smile. The woman led us to a table located in the kitchen where the chefs were in action, and I laughed as we sat down. “This is different.”

  Damon

  In between watching the preparation and tasting the variety of dishes that we sampled, Elisa accepted my offer of the apartment and told me that she’d tell her roommates in the next day or two. She was going to do the right thing and pay them for the next month in rent so it wouldn’t put the other students in a bind, which I admired as I looked over at her. Elisa was kind and thoughtful, someone that I knew would care for me the way I wanted a woman to if I was serious about anyone. I asked her how much she needed to move and she laughed when she explained that the apartment was fully furnished as well, just with a much lower grade selection than I was giving her.

  “I was thinking, though, and I feel guilty that you’re holding a whole other unit for Mom. She can stay with me since it’s so big. I don’t think that she’ll quit both jobs after the move, but I’m hoping to convince her to drop one and go part-time at the other one,” Elisa told me as she looked shyly at me. “We’ll have privacy if that’s what you want. I mean, if you’ll be staying there with me sometimes.”

  “You’ve assumed correctly, Elisa. I don’t just offer this to any woman,” I reminded her as another dish was brought around. This was a chicken dish consisting of tender meat and crispy skin and I watched as Elisa moaned as she tasted it.

  We left after a lot of good food and some wine, and Mark opened the door to the car for us as Elisa giggled. “Does he have a life apart from this?” She asked once inside the car with a wave if her hand.

  “He’ll be taking the car home once he drops us off at my place,” I replied as she looked at me.

  “Not the apartment?”

  “I thought I’d show you my home,” I told her as she smiled and sat back against the leather.

  “Thank you for dinner. That was a great night,” she said as she kissed my neck. Mark took my private entrance, pulling into the garage and dipping low to drive us to the elevator. He let us out and bid us both good night as he gave us a warm smile as I nodded. I led Elisa to door by the hand as she waved to Mark before wrapping an arm around my waist.

  I heard heels clicking in the garage and turned my head to see Natalie looking back at me as she walked towards her car. She didn’t have a penthouse like I did, so I was surprised and concerned that it blew my anonymity. “Do you know her?” Elisa asked in a loud whisper as Natalie narrowed her eyes at me.

  “Just another resident in the building,” I assured Elisa before turning towards the open door.

  We went up to my place and walked inside as I locked the door and she stopped walking just to look around. “This is…”

  “I call it home,” I said as I slipped her jacket off to hang by the door.

  “Incredible,” she breathed as she stepped forward and walked over to the windows to look over the city. I knew that I had an elegant apartment since I custom ordered everything in it, but it was nice to see the childlike joy on her face. “I never lived anywhere close to this. I guess you probably did.”

  “We were always comfortable, Elisa. This is more my own, though,” I looked around as I walked over and started a fire while she looked outside for a few more moments.

  “How many bedrooms does this have?” I heard her ask as I stoked it with the tools that I kept nearby, frowning at the ash collecting at the end of the shiny brass.

  “Four. Most of the space is this room and the kitchen, though the master is large,” I replied as she sat down behind me. “I use the other rooms for an office, a spare room and then another more personalized extra room.”

  “Personalized?” She asked with another one of her goddamn giggles as I stood and ran my hands down my pants. I had slipped the coat and suit jacket off upon arriving home and I turned to stare at her as I loosened my tie. Her eyes were dark and hungry as she leaned forward on the couch and licked her lips.

  “Did you like holding it earlier today?” I watched her face flush as she thought about my question, making me hard as I left my tie loose around my neck. I remembered the look in her eyes the previous time that I did that, and I had plans with it.

  “I did,” she told me as a naughty look crossed her face. I wanted to see a lot more of it, and I walked over to her before dropping on the couch beside her. “Why? Do you want to do that again?”

  “Yes,” she whispered as her eyes caught mine with an intense look in her green eyes. I wondered how far to take it tonight as I leaned in to kiss her, first slowly and then with a heat that filled the room as we both deepened it.

  There was my bedroom or the other one. Was it too much yet? I knew that Elisa had expressed a previous concern about my past and she might not feel this way once she saw what it held. I didn’t use my home often for sex, but there were the precious few women that had become more to me. That was when I designed the other room.

  Nobody meant what Elisa did to me and never even came close. I kissed her harder, testing her desire as she slipped her hand down between my legs and squeezed. “I want to show you something, Elisa.”

  “What?” She asked breathlessly before she kissed me again. That lasted a few minutes as she moved onto my lap and distracted me from my plan as my hands moved to cup her ass. I wanted to rip off all her clothes and fuck her right here, but I focused and pulled away.

  “Come with me,” I told her as I pushed her off of me gently and went to get some water. We were going to need it. I held them as I led Elisa down the long hallway and unlocked the door with the key that I pulled from the drawer in the kitchen. I paused before I took her hand and brought her inside, watching as her mouth dropped open and her eyes went wide.

  Elisa and Damon were getting hot a heavy despite working in the same building and his being her boss. It was a change for both but too much to resist as every kiss pulls them in deeper.

  Nobody could know since it would risk both of their reputations as well as her future. There was already a big rumor mill in the building, despite all of Damon’s efforts to control it. He’d heard some crazy things, none of which were right and didn’t affect him. For a change, he was worried about what it would do to his new lover. Damon was beginning to feel like a different man.

  They both know that they’re falling, but there is a matter of privacy that they needed to cling to.

  He wanted to take care of her and give her a better life than Elisa was accustomed to, but she was his employee. What would be too much? What would cross the line, revealing the rules that he’d broken?

  Elisa was always independent and found herself angry at the smaller gifts, not to mention the bigger ones. She struggled with all of it and what it meant, all the while risking her dream job and possible future. She wasn’t just worried about herself and logic starts to collide with emotion as her feelings only grow stronger.

  Can Damon give up his previous life for one woman? Can he sacrifice everything to be with someone like this, knowing that she might not give him what he was accustomed to? Was the road ahead too rocky to continue what he’d started?

  Part 5

  A Bad Boy Billionaire Romance

  By Michelle Love

  Elisa

  He took me into another room that was lit by a large glass chandelier hanging from the ceiling. It was another bedroom, but more. It looked like sin with the prominent iron headboard that offered several areas to be tied to, with a little something at the foot of the bed as well. I could see all the shelving and cabinets and I felt my thighs heat up as I wondered what was in there. I felt Damon slide his hands over my hips, making me jump at the heat that I felt from his hands. “I can do incredible things to your body in here,” he promised me
as I licked my lips.

  “So I see,” I replied as I let the jealousy in my heart wind around my body. I reminded myself that he arranged an apartment for me as well as my mother. I knew that he cared for me, no matter what his past might include. I had to let that go. I had to see where this would go. “What do you want me to do in here?”

  I’d like to start slowly. First, I want to tie you up and work on the control we previously discussed. I’d have complete control of the situation and I’d like to feel out your limits,” Damon told me as I shivered. “The bed is custom made for various kinds of restraint.”

  “I guessed as much. It’s beautiful,” I told him as Damon chuckled darkly.

  “I don’t know if I’d refer to it like that,” he said as I turned slowly in his arms. “This isn’t vanilla in here, Elisa. This can get rough.”

  “You wouldn’t hurt me. You wouldn’t push me if I asked you to stop,” I told Damon as his eyes burned brightly in the light.

  “I wouldn’t do that,” Damon told me as I smiled and stood on my toes to kiss him.

  “Why do I think this is more than that?” I whispered before his lips caught mine in a heated kiss. I wrapped my arms around his neck and he lifted me, carrying me across the large room to the bed as our tongues danced together. I felt the heat thick in my veins as I pulled him closer, inviting him to do what he wanted. I knew what this room was, at least in part and I felt ready for it.