by Force, Marie
When we arrive on the fourth floor, I follow him as he moves gingerly down the hallway to the unit at the far end on the ocean side. Of course, I know which one is his. It’s the one with the teak deck furniture and the tan-and-red-striped pads. Stylish but masculine, I’d thought the first time I checked out his place from the street below when I knew he was at an off-site meeting with Hayden. And now I’m about to be a guest in his home. It’s all I can do to contain the giddy joy that wants to spring forth like a hyena on helium.
Decorum, Leah. You told him you’re a grown-ass adult, so now act like one.
“Home sweet home.” He unlocks the door to an awesome contemporary space that fully maximizes what must be a stunning daytime view of the Pacific and the Santa Monica Pier. “No snooping. You hear me?”
“I would never do that.” I lie so bad.
“Whatever you say, pit bull.”
“Awww, you’re giving me cute little nicknames. Does that mean we’re a couple?”
“It absolutely does not mean we’re a couple, and being compared to a pit bull shouldn’t please you.”
“Why not? They’re known for being tenacious, tough, scrappy and determined. I can live with that comparison.”
He groans. “You drive me insane.”
Choosing to ignore that, I decide if I’m going to drive him crazy, I may as well go all in. “Since we’re talking about nicknames, I’ve given significant thought to what our couple name should be. Em-ah is kind of girly sounding for a brawny guy like you, so I prefer Lemmett.”
The positively feral look he gives me makes me want to howl with laughter. I have no idea how I manage to hold it in.
“We are not a couple, and if you ever call me any of those names, I’ll get a restraining order.”
I shiver dramatically. “It makes me so hot when you get all lawyerly. Your big brain is almost as hot as your big—”
“Leah! Is this you on your best behavior?”
“I was going to say biceps. What were you thinking?”
“I’m thinking I need to go to bed before I either give in to the urge to spank your ass or keel over and further injure myself.”
Two references to spanking in the same night? Shut. The. Front. Door. Where do I sign up for that? Suppressing an urgent need to pant like a dog in heat, I say, “Lead the way. I’ll help you get settled and crash on the couch.”
“If you insist on staying, you’re sleeping right next to me, so I can keep an eye on you. I don’t trust you not to snoop.”
“Oh bummer. We have to sleep together? God, that sucks.” Even with a trip to the ER thrown into the mix, I’ve never had a better time in my life with any guy than I’m having as I needle him. I would tell him that, but I suspect he’s still sensitive to the word needle after this evening’s events.
“It doesn’t mean anything.”
“Whatever you say, stud.” I follow him into his bedroom, which also faces the pier and ocean. I can’t wait to see the view in the morning—and not just outside. I’m going to get to see Emmett in bed, in the morning… The endorphins surging through me make me lightheaded.
While he’s in the bathroom, I take a seat on his massive king-sized bed. My phone buzzes with a text from Nat. Where are you?
Taking care of my patient. Taking very GOOD care of him.
OMG, are you at his place?
Maybe…
Shriek!
Shhhh, you’ll wake up Flynn.
I love this so hard.
I want to love him so hard. Speaking of hard, I got a good look at the equipment in the ER. Oh. My. God. I add the fire emoji in case I haven’t adequately made my point.
Go easy on the poor guy. He’s injured.
I know. No fun for a few days. Sad face emoji. That should be enough time to fully infiltrate his life.
LOL. I almost feel sorry for poor Emmett.
Poor Emmett will be giving thanks to Saint Leah before much longer.
I can’t believe you kept this from me for all this time.
It’s been weird. Technically, I work for your husband.
That does NOT make you more loyal to him than you are to me.
Have I mentioned that I love her so much? Yes, ma’am.
A groan from inside the bathroom has me rushing to the door. “Are you okay?”
“Trying to pee, and it fucking kills.”
“Do you need my help?” I ask, always the opportunist.
“No, I do not need your help with peeing.”
I cover my mouth so I won’t laugh out loud. I don’t think it’s funny that he’s hurting, but everything else about this situation cracks me up. Not that I can ever let him see that. Because I’m leaning against the bathroom door, I nearly fall into him when he suddenly opens the door. Thankfully, I stop my trajectory before I collide with his injured parts.
He gives me that feral look I’m coming to expect. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Waiting to see if you need anything.”
“I don’t.”
“Great. Do you mind if I use the facilities?”
“No, I don’t mind, but don’t go through my drawers or medicine cabinet.”
“Why? What’re you afraid I might find?”
“Go to the bathroom, Leah, and don’t touch anything but the toilet and the sink.”
“Jeez, so suspicious. I bet there’s something good to find, like lube.”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“Yes, I actually would like to know.”
“I’m going to bed now.”
“I’ll be right in, dear. Don’t start without me.” I shut the door in his face, gratified by his hesitant expression that tells me he absolutely does not trust me to be alone in his bathroom. Even though I’m on fire with curiosity, I stick to the areas I’m allowed to touch and only borrow a dab of toothpaste to finger-brush my teeth. I wish I had a change of clothes or something to sleep in besides the dress I put on over my bikini earlier, but I don’t dare ask him if I can borrow anything.
He’s already about to kick me to the curb. I suspect the only reason I’m still here is because it was more trouble to argue with me than it was to let me stay. I’m well aware of my tendency to be annoyingly difficult at times. My mother used to say that when I wanted something a certain way, there was no arguing with me.
God, I miss her. Why’d she have to die before I was done needing her?
Don’t think depressing thoughts when you’re standing in Emmett Burke’s bathroom about to share his bed! I fixate on the mirrored doors of the medicine cabinet. I could take one tiny little peek, couldn’t I? What’s the worst thing that could happen? I picture the door coming off its hinges and smashing to the vanity. With things going so well between us, the last thing I need is the seven years of bad luck that come with a broken mirror.
I resist the temptation, but God, it’s hard. That medicine cabinet calls to me like a lover, full of information that will add to what I already know about him.
“What’re you doing in there?” he calls. “Get out of my medicine cabinet!”
I emerge from the bathroom, full of indignation, leaving a light on so I can find my way in the dark. “I’m not in your medicine cabinet, you paranoid freak.”
“Right,” he says, grunting out a laugh. “I’m totally paranoid to think you might be snooping into my life.”
“Yes, you are. And you’re rather full of yourself, too. I said I want to fuck you, not get a PhD in Emmett Burke.” So what if I want both. He doesn’t need to know that.
“Don’t talk about fucking when I’m injured.”
“Why? Does it give you a little stiffy? Or should I say a big stiffy?”
“Will you please get in bed, shut your mouth and go to sleep?”
“And here I thought you might ask me to kiss it better. I’m so disappointed.”
“I’m going to suffocate you in your sleep. Maybe that’ll shut you up.”
I slide into the other side of the
big bed and turn to face him. “You won’t suffocate me. You’ll be too busy dreaming about me kissing it better. Did I ever tell you I learned how to deep throat in high school?”
Groaning, he rests a hand over his crotch and closes his eyes. “I’m begging you to stop talking.”
As if he hadn’t spoken, I say, “I’m not sure I could do it with that thing of yours. It’s rather formidable. But, mmm, I’d sure like to try.”
“There must be something around here I could use to gag you.”
I laugh at the way he says that. He’s so sexy, even when he’s annoyed. Maybe especially when he’s annoyed, since he’s annoyed most of the time when I’m around. “You’d love that, wouldn’t you?”
“You have no idea.”
I scoot across the wide expanse of bed until I’m right next to him.
His entire body tightens with tension. “What’re you doing?”
“I can’t make sure you’re okay from all the way over there, and that’s why I’m here. What if you need something during the night and I can’t hear you, because I’m all the way over there?”
“Letting you into my house was the biggest mistake I’ve ever made.”
“Duh. You’re just figuring that out?” I reach out to stroke his hair, and he startles from my touch. “Don’t be jumpy. Relax.” I brush my hand over his eyes, hoping he’ll close them. “Get some rest. You’ll feel better in the morning.”
“Go back over there where I can’t smell you.”
“Why? Do I stink?” I sniff my pits, but don’t smell anything foul.
“No, you don’t stink, and that’s the problem.”
Awareness dawns on me slowly, and a smile stretches across my face. “Oh, so you think I smell good?”
“Go away, Leah.”
“I’m kinda comfy right here.” I plump up a pillow and make myself at home right next to him, his body heat making me tingly in all the right places. I bet he throws off some major heat when he’s worked up. “I’m sorry you got hurt,” I tell him, and I am. I really am. But damn if this day didn’t turn out rather spectacularly well. I’m in Emmett’s bed, sleeping next to him. If only his penis wasn’t injured. Oh the places we could go!
“Thank you for…”
I wait breathlessly to hear what he’ll say.
“Taking me to the hospital and sticking around.”
“It’s my pleasure.” I can’t help myself. He’s close enough to lick. So I raise myself up and lean in to kiss his shoulder, dabbing just a little touch of tongue in there for good measure.
I’ve now officially licked Emmett Burke. A very good day indeed.
Chapter 5
I’m dying over here. I’ve been excruciatingly hard since she uttered the words “deep throat.” And what the hell was she doing learning such a thing in high school? I desperately want to ask, but I’m even more desperately afraid of encouraging her. Hmm, maybe you should’ve thought about that before you invited her into your bed?
I want to tell my subconscious to shut the fuck up, even if it’s right. What the hell was I thinking bringing her up here? She’s outrageous, completely uninhibited and funny. She’s funny as hell and endlessly entertaining. When she’s not annoying the fuck out of me.
Then she kisses my shoulder and is that… I bite back a groan at the feel of her tongue against my skin, which travels like an electrical current connected directly to my poor, abused cock. He can’t take much more of this day.
I sleep fitfully, aware of her beside me the entire night, especially since she mumbles nonsense in her sleep, which is kind of cute. Everything about her is kind of cute, if I’m being honest with myself—and I try to always be honest with myself because what’s the point of lying to yourself? She’s cute, sexy and annoying as all hell. And funny. Don’t forget that. She might be the funniest person I’ve ever met. When she’s not annoying me, that is. My thoughts go round and round in this endless circle that has Leah in all her annoying sexiness squarely in the middle of it.
As dawn brings the first dim light, I find myself watching her sleep and marveling at how sweet and innocent she looks. There’s no comparison between sleeping Leah and awake Leah, and watching her lips move as she talks in her sleep touches something inside me that had been resistant to her.
I still have all the same reservations. She’s too young for me. She’s a coworker. She’s a troublemaker. But there’s something about her that gets to me, even if I want to resist her. It’s her persistence as much as her straightforward honesty. If she wants something—in this case, me—she puts it right out there. Despite her relative youth, she doesn’t play the games that other women seem to revel in, and there’s something so damned refreshing about that even as she drives me mad.
I begin to resign myself to whatever it is she thinks is happening between us.
While I work for all the Quantum partners, I answer to Kristian, the managing partner. If I want to date her, all I’d have to do, per the fraternization policy I drew up, is request his permission. She would have to ask Marlowe.
Neither of them would deny the requests. I’m quite certain of that, but I hesitate nonetheless. I’ve made a habit out of avoiding messy entanglements, especially those that might impact the career I’ve busted my ass to have. I’ve never once allowed anything to threaten my professional standing at Quantum, and getting involved with her would pose a threat.
People at work would know about it.
Our office is too small and too tightly knit for secrets, and besides, I have no illusions that Leah would keep it to herself. That’s not how she’s wired. Her expressive face gives away her every thought and emotion. For example, I’ve known for months that she’d set her sights on me, and everyone else has probably figured it out, too.
The little pain in the ass.
I’d love to get her in a playroom, bend her over a spanking bench and show her what happens to girls who play with fire. The thought of her sweet supple ass and the things I could do to it float through my mind like the most erotic movie I’ve ever seen. My cock rises from the ashes of disaster, painfully coming to life to express its approval of the erotic movie playing in my brain. While the rest of me has been slower to catch on, my cock loves Leah and has for some time now.
If she’s in the room, I’m hard. It’s that simple and that frustrating. A staff meeting is now something to be endured in stiff arousal rather than the professional interaction it used to be before she showed up. Cookouts at Flynn’s, parties at Hayden’s, nights out on the town with my friends—everything now includes her and my hard cock.
Maybe if I have a go with her, I could work the madness out of my system. Perhaps once she gets a taste of how demanding I am in bed, she won’t want anything more to do with me. A woman like Leah won’t want to be dominated. She’s the least submissive human being I’ve ever met. If she finds out that’s what turns me on, I might solve my Leah problem.
The more I roll this idea around in my mind, the more I like it. And my cock wholeheartedly approves as well. In fact, he’s a little too enthusiastic in light of our ordeal last night. I grit my teeth and get up to use the bathroom. If there’s any good news, peeing hurts a little less than it did last night.
In nine years as chief counsel to Quantum Productions, I’ve never once taken a sick day, but there’s no way I can jam my bruised junk into suit pants for the next eight to ten hours. The thought of it hurts, and I won’t go to the office in sweats. That’s so not my style.
I text Kristian. Going to work from home today if that’s okay. And I need to talk to you about a personal matter when you get a chance.
He responds immediately. No problem. How are you and your boys feeling? I’ll call you after I drop the kids at school.
I marvel at how Kristian, one of the most confirmed bachelors I’ve ever met, has adapted so completely to family life since he moved into a new house in Calabasas with Aileen and her kids over the summer. Me and my boys have been better. Talk to you then.
Kristian replies with the grimace emoji. That about sums it up.
I brush my teeth, return to the bedroom and get back in bed to wait for Leah to wake up. While I wait, I plot my strategy. The more I think about this idea, the more I love it. She won’t know what hit her when she takes a spin with me. I’ll go easy on her, of course, because I’d never want to scare or traumatize her in any way, and there’s no way I’m having the “hey, I’m actually a sexual dominant” conversation with her if we’re only going to be a one-night thing. I can give her a taste of what I’m about without revealing the entire menu.
One night. That’s all it will be. Just enough to silence the fly buzzing around my ear and quell her interest in me, which would be better for both of us in the long run.
I let my mind wander to how I would use that one night. I’d ask her if she has any hard limits, anything she can’t or won’t do, and I’d make her choose a safe word so she can stop everything if she needs to. And then I’d have my wicked way with her.
I’d start with a spanking because she seemed to like the idea of it when I joked about it—and she needs to know from the get-go who and what she’s dealing with. I would be in charge. She would be along for the ride. The thought of dominating her has all the blood in my body heading for the southern hemisphere once again.
The good news is the erection doesn’t hurt quite as badly as it did last night. It still hurts enough for me to wish I could control the beast, but my mind and body are not collaborating at the moment. My mind is having a freaking field day imagining Leah at my disposal, which isn’t very supportive of the injured soldier below who’s beholden to the whims of my imagination. And my imagination is fertile when it comes to her. I’d fuck the living sass right out of her.
“Is that for me, or is this a private party?”
Her sexy, husky voice gives me goose bumps. That’s what she sounds like in the morning? I glance at her to find her gaze firmly fixed on my hard cock, which is plainly visible through the blanket.
“I’ll give you one night.”
She rolls her full bottom lip between her teeth.
