CHAPTER THREE
Stetson was meeting with Brett and Lila in her office when his phone buzzed. He pulled it out to read the text message. Lila was answering a question that Brett just asked when Stetson cut her off, his tone burlier than usual. “Brett, did you send her flowers from me?”
Brett visibly cringed at Stetson’s noticeably sharp, agitated tone. Brett answered, “Yes. I thought it would be a good idea to break the ice. I knew you wouldn’t make any efforts in that direction yourself.”
Stetson bit his lip and nodded his head with frustration telling himself to calm down, while Brett answered Lila. He knew Brett was just trying to help, but he didn’t need his brother’s help setting him on a date. If he was really interested in a girl like Poppy, he would go after her himself. Wouldn’t he?
Once Brett was quiet again, Stetson scolded, “If I say that I have a handle on something, then I have a handle on it. That means, I don’t need your good ideas. I’m sure you and Bronte had a whole brainstorm about how to help me along with this, but I am strictly concerned with helping these girls stay out of danger. I have no intention of trying to find true love. I’m glad you found that in your life, little brother, but it is not the path for me.”
Brett looked down at the desk, but Lila spoke before he had a chance to. “Stetson, I think your brother was on to something with the flowers. You can’t protect Poppy if she doesn’t keep seeing you, and you heard her on the phone. She didn’t get the idea that you liked her very much at all.”
Stetson breathed out an exhale of frustration, but agreed, admitting that was true. Then the three got back to work going through Lila’s computer.
Lila had a number of high profile clients, and a few weeks ago she discovered someone had hacked on to her office’s server and tried to copy client files. She reached out to Brett for a recommendation on how to secure her server. Brett’s first and only suggestion was his older brother, Stetson.
After Stetson set her up with data encryption and a fire wall, he had been monitoring the service for the last twenty-four hours. He didn’t have to wait long. Lila was contacted by the hackers this morning. They had apparently been looking to get more but had only been able to get information on three of Lila’s clients, including Poppy Wade. The hackers threatened Lila that she and the three women would be hurt if Lila didn’t give up information on a list of her clients who were all executive business people or politicians. Now Brett and Stetson were trying to help Lila out of this situation. One of the women that were threatened had recently left the country for business, which took her out of the realm of their protection, and was safe. The second woman, a very beautiful ex-model named Briana, Darian agreed, under duress, to watch out for. Darian and Brett were the only two people Stetson would consent to relinquishing his responsibility to.
The last woman had been Poppy. Just before Poppy was supposed to have met with her intended date, Brady, Stetson discovered that inquiries at the DMV and credit report agencies were used to access Poppy’s personal information from an unknown source. With that discovery, Stetson felt he had no choice but to intervene immediately. Stetson resented being pulled into the whole affair, but Brett was so grateful to Lila for introducing him to his wife Bronte, that his brother would do anything for her. Likewise, Stetson would do anything for his brothers, so he was stuck with this case.
***
It was Tuesday night and Poppy had just gotten to the gym. She didn’t know it, but Stetson was tailing her as she drove from her house to there. He watched her as she went straight to the treadmill and started to warm up with a jog. Stetson could see her through the glass front of the building. Just like his brothers, he had excellent vision. Stetson was always very focused on his work and extremely mission oriented, but even he couldn’t help but notice what a great shape she had. He tried not to get caught up in the skin-tight black cropped workout leggings or the loose tank covering up a sports bra with all sorts of crisscrossed straps. It looked like a devil to get off.
Why was he thinking about taking it off? He shook his head to clear those thoughts. He needed a clear head right now, and he definitely didn’t need to be thinking about stripping off those clothes, laying her down, and…
He grunted to himself, irritated that she was drawing his focus from her safety. He made himself focus on the task at hand and pushed it from his mind how hypnotic the bouncing of her cleavage was under her tank top.
***
After she was sufficiently warmed up, Poppy went over to the weights station. She had an upbeat rap playlist playing through her headphones while she set to begin her squats. She watched her form in the mirror and looked out for any of the strain areas that her trainer had pointed out a few weeks ago. With each repetition, she focused on the groups of muscles that bunched with the motion. She moved to the leg curl machine and as she flexed her hamstrings to raise the weights upward, her mind flashed to Stetson. The man clearly knew his way around a gym, and suddenly the idea of working out with him became an erotic thought. Her skin flushed pink, nothing to do with the strain of her muscles and more to do with the thoughts of Stetson, if he were here.
***
Little did she know, Stetson sat in his truck, his body burning with lust for her, watching her move from one station to the next. Peering through the glass across the open bay over to Poppy, Stetson could see every sinew in her legs and the tendons in her back flexing. She was so feminine and smooth, and yet still so fierce.
He felt stirred, watching her thighs press against the pads of the machine. Even his nose couldn’t smell her from that far away, but he almost felt like he could smell the drops of sweat that ran down her collar bone in between her breasts. The stray hair that fell from her ponytail was stuck to her forehead and her pretty, flushed face made him picture her beneath him. He was in human form, but still felt as if his fur was standing on end all over his body.
He was relieved when she finally finished and headed home. He was normally a very stoic man, but even he couldn’t take much more temptation from her today.
He circled her block to check for anything out of place. Finding none, he headed home.
***
Poppy walked into her apartment, peeled off her sweat-soaked clothes and got into the shower. She stood under the hot water, letting the heat loosen her tightened muscles. She started to picture herself luring a man to her with her curves. She held her own body in her arms and thought how she would fit into a pair of big, rough hands. She bit her lip as she imagined those hands tracing her curves and sliding below her waist. With one hand, she began to rub herself and, with her eyes closed, she imagined a lover was exploring between her legs. The hot droplets of water warmed her neck and chest like his kisses would and the caressing motion on her clit excited her. She let herself relax to the sensation as she let her finger slip inside. The intensity grew quickly, as she knew how to get there herself pretty well.
Now feeling adequately tranquil after a hard workout, she turned off the water and went to bed. She fell asleep quickly and dreamt she was back in the shower. There in her dream, she wasn’t alone. She felt a firm, warm body of a large man behind her. Her head was back on his shoulder with her hands up running through his hair. She felt him squeeze her waist, her hips and thighs. She pressed her round butt against him, inviting him to continue. His hands slipped between her legs just as her own hand was before. He was rubbing her clit and dipping his fingers in perfectly. Her body was filling with a tingling sensation and she pressed harder back against him.
She could feel him growing harder against her lower back. His large arms were tight against her sides as he held her close and kept pleasing her with his fingers. Her legs began to strain as she involuntarily stretched up on to the tips of her toes. Now she could feel his erection dangling over her butt and it made her want desperately. She quickly grabbed his hands, pulling them away from her crotch and bent herself forward.
With her exposed rear giving him a fleshy ultimatum, he responded to it. He took his massive member and thrust it deeply inside of her. She gasped at the sensation of being completely filled. He placed his hands on her shoulders and braced her as he began to pound himself into her. Each time he threw himself forward she was riveted by his strength and the sheer mass that was penetrating her. The passion grew, and the pace became more and more furious. Their bodies slammed together like a hammer on an anvil. Each time he propelled inside of her, a spray of shower water was deflected off his massive chest and chiseled abs.
Her body started to melt as she was being seduced by the pleasure. She felt as though she were about to burst. As she journeyed to climax, her hands press white-knuckled against the shower wall and she felt him suddenly pause. Her body expected the next deft blow of passion inside of her and when it didn’t come, her body trembled in anticipation. The strong hands at her waist spun her around. The man behind her was Stetson.
He stood there, barely able to fit in the space of her shower. With a quick grunt, he lifted her onto him and stepped forward, pressing her to the tiled wall. This time, he pumped smoothly in and out of her with a perfect rhythm. His kisses and caressing hands fell into tempo with the steady percussing of their bodies. She clung to his strong back and her thighs writhed against his sides. She felt like a spinning top, being wound tighter and tighter until she would be released. The warmth in her pussy spread like a flowing river. It shot up through her stomach and into her chest. It poured down her legs, reaching her curled toes. Her eyes rolled back into her head and finally she exploded. She felt like she had become a geyser, venting out tons of pressure and, just as the wave was passed her, his climax followed. He became tense as he released his seed inside of her. She looked hard into his eyes and caressed his cheek as she whispered his name. “Stetson...”
The next night, Poppy pulled off yet another dress, discarding it into a pile of already rejected outfits. Nothing seemed right for the event tonight. She pushed the thought that it was because of Stetson out of her mind. She didn’t get nervous for dates with guys. She never had. She told herself it was just the event, but deep down she didn’t even believe herself.
She did feel invigorated by her pleasurable evening yesterday and the steamy dream that followed. She put the finishing touches on her makeup and hair, sitting at her vanity in a towel. Once she was done with that she put on a pearl necklace and matching earrings. She stood up, leaving the towel sitting on her seat and slowly pulled up her lace thong over her freshly shaved legs. She reveled at how smoothly the panties glided over her skin and how it crested over her curved hips. She put on her matching bra, then her high heeled black suede Jimmy Choo’s. Last of all, she put on her dress she had finally selected for the evening, a black bodycon number that left relatively little to the imagination and showed off her toned body to perfection. The scooped neckline highlighted her cleavage without being indecent, and the curves of the dress silhouetted her hourglass figure.
She strode out of her bedroom to her kitchen where she had a glass of wine and waited for her doorbell to ring.