Matt

If I had built up any idea of what life would Mae would be like, I would have been wrong. I never could have imagined the steadiness, the comfort, the sheer joy she brought me, just by her presence. My ideas of what sex would be like with her? That I had nearly nailed, but even my fantasies paled in comparison with reality. I nearly wanted to ask if someone had slipped me some drugs, and if they had, could I have some more? Because I never wanted to know what life without Mae was like again.

As a kid, I'd had shit role models of what a romantic relationship could and should look like. Gracie was my model for unconditional love, but romantic love? I had nothing. At least, nothing positive. I was terrified that I was going to fuck this up with Mae, but I had long learned that the only way to get what you want is to plow right through those fears. I had let complacency lose her once when I didn't really dig to find out where she was. That wouldn't happen again.

I had cancelled a few small trips to meet with clients since reconnecting with Mae. Nothing had been as important as spending time with her. But the Andersons were one of our biggest clients, and Lucas Anderson was insisting on a personal meeting. Two weeks ago it wouldn't have been a question. Two weeks ago I didn't have Mae.

The trip would take a week. Besides meeting with the Andersons, there were a few other clients and potential clients I needed to connect with, and I wanted to get them all out of the way at once. Anything that wasn't Mae felt like a nuisance right now, but these nuisances were my bread and butter, they were how I had built my company. I had learned to tend to them even when I didn't feel like it, but I had never been challenged so strongly before.

But, I had a plan. And I knew how Mae loved plans. She'd said before she'd never been to New York City. I would whisk her away and we'd go to Broadway, to the top of the Statue of Liberty, Central Park—all of the tourist stuff I'd never taken time for before because without someone to share it with, what was the point? She'd be by my side as I discussed business, and afterward we'd recap, and she'd give me that completely different perspective she had of situations. Okay, that may not sound like the sexiest thing ever, but the fact that I knew I could trust Mae as my equal in all parts of my life? Nothing was a bigger turn on.

"Mr. Dahl?" Cheryl's voice came through the intercom. "Ms. Gomez is here for your ten o'clock."

I didn't even try to stop the grin that crossed my face. "Send her in, please, Cheryl."

I stood, buttoning one button of my suit coat, and walked to the front of my desk, leaning against it and crossing my legs. Mae looked slightly intimidated as she walked in. I'd never called her directly to my office before, I realized. Which was a shame. I remembered a stray thought I'd had when I first realized she was here, before we had reconnected, that I should just refashion my office into "Matt's Pleasure Den." The idea still had merit. But instead of a sad, lonely room for one, it would be a sensual, inviting room for two.

"Stop looking at me like that," Mae said.

"Like what?" I asked, breaking from my fantasy.

"Like you're going to eat me." She came to a stop just in front of me setting her purse on my desk before crossing her arms.

I tugged her forward and she loosened her arms and wrapped them around my waist. "That's a good idea. What do you think? I can lock the door, tell Cheryl to hold my calls..."

"Absolutely not!" Mae laughed. "You know I have to go back to work, and I can't even begin to think of what kind of comments Francine would make if I came back looking like I was rode hard and put away wet."

"Stop putting ideas into my head if you don't want me to follow through on them, Mae," I warned her.

She pressed a soft kiss to my lips. "Okay, then I guess I really shouldn't mention my recent fantasy about being bent over your desk, arms splayed, while you fuck me like it's the last sex of our lives then, right?" At my pained look, she nodded. "That's what I thought." She tried to take a step back and I held her to me. "Mr. Dahl," she admonished, "I'm trying to preserve your dignity and my reputation." 

"Fuck my dignity," I growled. "You can't just say things like that and expect to get away with no consequences, Mae."

"Oh, can't I?" Her look was an innocent charade. "What are you going to do to me."

I spun her around and lifted her to the edge of my desk. Thankfully, she was wearing one of those pencil skirts again. I loved how easy they were to bunch up to the top of her thighs so that I could spread her legs. I did so now and teased a finger under the edge of her panties. 

"My, my, already wet." Wet was an understatement. Her panties were soaked. "Have you been thinking about this fantasy during work, Ms. Gomez?"

"There's nothing illegal about thinking, no matter where or when," she said, breathless.

"But surely there's some kind of moral quandary about such actions?"

She wiggled, spreading her legs farther. "My boss seems to be okay with it."

I slid my finger in and she threw her head in a gasp. 

"I can't decide whether I want you to scream so Cheryl out there knows exactly what I'm doing to you or if I want you to hold it all in. Which do you think is hotter? Exhibitionism or restriction?"

Her hips bucked at the last word.

"Restriction. I thought it might. You are so focused on being in control, on following the plan. It's liberating, isn't it, to submit to someone else's will? Now, hush."

I brought her all the way with just my fingers and the invisible control of my words. As she came back to herself, I pulled my fingers to my mouth and licked her juices off, savoring each drop. Then I helped her tug down her skirt and held her in a sweet embrace.

"Was that all you called me up here for?" she finally asked.

I huffed a laugh. "Actually, that wasn't on my mind at all. Well, no more than usual, that is. It's hard not to think about pleasuring you, Mae. But I wanted to know, how do you feel about going to New York City with me next week? I have some meetings, but I can't stand the thought of being away from you that long. It'll be a few dinners, a few lunches, but other than that, I'll be all yours."

I was shocked when Mae shook her head. "I'm sorry," she said, "that sounds amazing but I can't do it next week."

In no universe had I expected a no. "Why not?"

Mae stiffened in my arms and stepped away. "I have some personal issues to see to."

"Like what?"

"None of your business," she snapped, and I blinked in astonishment.

"Mae, what is it you're not telling me? Are you afraid of planes? We can take a train."

"It's not that. I have some appointments next week."

I was getting frustrated. "Reschedule them."

Mae's spine was steel now, and she leveled me with the angriest look I'd ever received from her. "You are not my boss, Matt Dahl."

"Well, technically I am," I spit back, my blood pressure rising.

"Well technically, you're being an ass." She grabbed at her purse and yanked it off my desk, but she'd missed one handle and it spilled papers on the floor. I stooped to help her pick them up as she said, "I don't deny there's something going on between us, but that doesn't give you any right to order me about."

Her tirade went on, but I had frozen. The paper I held was a receipt for a doctor. For an obstetrician. With a note about an ultrasound that was scheduled the next week. My brain logged all the details I was too stunned to process at the moment. Suddenly, her voice went silent and I looked into her wide eyes. 

"Mae, are you pregnant?"