Chapter 24

Bethany

White-hot electricity danced in the center of her stomach as she toyed with him. The minute he took complete control, it burst out from its epicenter and danced along her pleasure points, leaving her exposed, needy, raw.

"I wish you would unload on me." She stroked up his thick shaft several times before leaning in and taking as much as she could in her mouth. The musky flavor of his excitement was almost enough to throw her over the edge. The man was a beast in the bedroom and deserved someone far more adventurous. Something about him made her want to be that girl no matter the cost.

He groaned and tugged at her hair, pulling her closer to his body, forcing more of his cock into her mouth.

"Breathe through your nose and work to take all of me. Don't assume you can't. Make it work, Beth. Push." He brushed his fingers down the side of her face and pumped his hips slowly as he watched her with an intensity she'd never seen before. On anyone before.

She forced herself to follow his instructions though some part of her wanted to rebel. There was too much promise in walking the thin line with him in the bedroom to disobey. Anywhere else, and she would have given him a run for his money on dominance, but on her knees in front of him? He was in charge, and the thought left her breathless for more.

He worked himself in and out of her mouth over the next few minutes until his breathing turned to panting, his smooth thrusts turned to fast pumps of his hips.

"I'm gonna come. You want it, baby, or you want me to finish it?"

She reached up and gripped him tightly, pumping his thick flesh as he groaned loudly. "I always want it."

"Right." He locked his gaze onto hers and pressed back into her mouth, losing himself as she watched closely. Never in a million years had she seen someone more sensual, more beautiful and comfortable to simply be exactly what he was. Alpha.

He moved back and dropped down on the couch behind him as he let out a shaky breath.

"So hot," she murmured and moved in between his legs, rubbing his thighs before sliding her fingers over his tight abs and up his chest. He groaned again and closed his eyes as his head dropped back onto the couch.

"Get up here and fuck me." He took a shaky breath before reaching for her. "Take your shorts and panties off and turn your back to me. I wanna hold your ass while you work me."

There were no words to offer as she got up and slipped her shorts and panties over her legs. He gripped her hard as she turned and moved to sit in his lap.

"God, you smell good. Did you come with me?" He lowered her.

She moaned loudly as he forced her open, taking up every inch of space inside of her and forcing her to accommodate his size.

Bethany pressed her hands to his thighs and pushed back farther as they groaned in tandem. Chill bumps raced across her exposed skin as he brushed his hands up her back and gripped her shoulders, finishing the deal with a strong thrust from beneath her.

"No, not yet. Almost." She pressed her hands into his thighs and lifted up to work him.

"Not like that baby. That's for me. This time is for you." He pulled her back and forced her to lay flush with her back to his chest as he rolled his hips, massaging her body.

She groaned and repositioned herself, pressing her ass tightly against his stomach as she tried to find enough air to breathe. The man had a way of forcing it from the room without even trying.

His strong arm tightened just below her breasts, one hand kneading her as the other slipped into the messy curls between her thighs and tapped against her clit.

"Take your time with me." He licked at the side of her neck as she panted roughly. She couldn't seem to speak, nor did she want to try. The level of pleasure washing over her in waves was suffocating. "Just lock yourself into the best position for my thick head to bounce against the place you need it and let me work you long into the night."

She groaned as a shiver ran down her spine, but nodded. "All night, okay?"

"Yeah, baby. All night." He lifted his hips as she cried out again, pleasure ruling her in a way that left her lost to him. The man had too much power out of the bedroom, but once in it, she was held captive, and willingly so.

***

She woke the next morning to find him gone already. A note sat by the coffee pot with one of the pink roses from the front yard clipped and sitting in a vase beside it. The smile that touched her face faded quickly as she read it.

Beth,

I'm in the office already, I'm sure. Make sure you set the alarm, and leave your ring at home when you're in the office. I don't want to overshadow my father's wedding celebration by talking about ours. We still need to figure out how to ease everyone into the idea of us being together. Let's be smart about it. I know you understand that.

D

"What?" She read the note again and rolled her eyes. Typical. Immaturity raged inside of her as she got dressed in the only clean outfit left in her make-shift closet at Kent's. A pair of black slacks and a peach-colored top. She worked her hair into a bun, wanting to be defiant just because she could and grabbed her keys. A long day promised to keep her thoughts about Damon's request at a minimum, but by the time she reached the office, she'd talked herself into a million underlying messages from the letter.

He wasn't happy with his decision to ask her to marry him and was backtracking, which seemed insane, and yet it was the only conclusion she could come to. Why hide their engagement? No one seemed to give two shits about the situation when she'd brought it up before Jamaica, including Damon, but now he did?

"Overshadow Kent's wedding. Stupid," she mumbled under her breath as she walked toward the elevators in the large downtown building that McKenzie and Bryant owned several floors in.

"Hey, you!" Ben walked out of the cafeteria holding a muffin and cup of black coffee. "Did you get a chance to eat?"

"Not yet." She tucked away her internal struggles. "Aren't we supposed to meet this morning? I thought I saw something in my e-mail from you."

"Yeah, in thirty minutes. Let's just do it now, and we can chat while we eat?" He gave her a friendly smile.

"Sounds perfect. Let me set my stuff down, and I'll get something real quick." She dropped her briefcase and purse by the table where Ben sat down and started to unwrap his muffin. "You need anything else?"

"A long-ass vacation, a hot woman to love me and a napkin?"

"I can help with one of those, and it's the saddest of the options."

"But the most helpful for the here and now!" he chuckled as she walked off.

Her ring was tucked into the inside zipper of her purse, which was the cause of concern. If someone took her purse, or she lost it, then what? The damn ring had to have cost fifteen to twenty thousand dollars. She was taking chances on something that cost more than she'd paid for her car and school the last semester.

Stupid. And for what reason?

Was Damon ashamed of their relationship? Their situation? Was she?

A little, if she were being truly honest with herself. She grabbed a yogurt and an orange juice seeing that all of the chocolate donuts were gone. She made her way back to Ben and worked to let the angst inside of her go. The night before in Damon's arms was exactly what she needed to keep at the forefront of her thoughts. Otherwise she would dig herself into an impossibly deep hole of what ifs.

"Your napkin, Sir." She dropped a few in the center of the table and sat down.

"Thanks. How was the wedding? The beach? Let me live vicariously through you." He grabbed a napkin and wiped at his mouth.

"It was great. The wedding was beautiful, and we all got a quick vacation, which was much needed. Damon relaxed for the first time since I met him a few weeks back. It was fun." She shrugged and worked to open her yogurt. "Anything happen around here?"

"Not really. Sadie has been much more amicable, so we might want to make sure the apocalypse isn't headed this way. I swear the girl has gone from being a two-headed dragon to a firefly."

Bethany lifted her eyebrow. "Too much Lord of the Rings for you?"

He chuckled. "I guess so. We had an all weekend marathon of it."

"Who's we?" She leaned in as her expression softened. Ben was a great guy and deserved a girl in his life that would treat him right.

"Me and my little brother. He's about your age. We flew him in from Seattle." He shrugged. "I wanted to show him around town, but you know how it is. You do what's most comfortable to you. Popcorn and movies are our thing."

"Fun. So, tell me about this new job you're pulling me on."

"It's Zarpeth. I think you helped Kent and Damon with some of the inventory audit shit a week or so ago, right?"

"I went up there but didn't help much. It was tense, to say the least." She took a quick bite of her yogurt and decided against it as her stomach tightened.

Should have gone for the omelet.

"It's a mess. We're taking up a new team this Friday to start working on it. Damon said that you had classes starting tomorrow, and you're TA'ing for a cost accounting professor, but I figure we'll still have you join us on the weekends if nothing else." He shrugged.

"No rest for the weary, hm?" She opened her orange juice and glanced around, missing Philip all of a sudden. "Hey, do you think Damon would give Philip his job back if he earnestly asked for it?"

"I don't know." Ben stood and wiped his mouth before stretching. "I'll ask him, but for now, just download the client files and get yourself up to speed on Zarpeth. The information on the company is in their file. We're going to be pulling seven days a week until we get everything sorted out. I think the plan is to head down to their main warehouse in Florida next weekend, not this one. We'll see who's going on that trip, but I remember Damon mentioning that he wanted you there."

"All right. I'll jump on the review and get ready. I guess me being there Thursday night to Monday morning is going to be enough?"

"Yep. We'll take every bit of help we can get." He gathered his stuff. "Let me know if you have any questions and I'll keep you in the loop as much as I can."