Damien

“Take a day off! Why are you such a Grinch?” Sofie accused.

I hadn’t been right since I heard Alexis come with my name on her lips. It was on a feedback loop, and my dick was determined to stay hard until it was in her.

“I just got word the south uprising is getting out of hand. I need to gather the kings and shut it down.”

“Well, that doesn’t make sense. You usually perk up at the chance to fight. What’s gotten into you?”

It was more along the lines of what I hadn’t gotten into. Three days. That’s how long I’d been hard.

“You’ve been holed up in here, doing nothing but paperwork. That isn’t like you at all,” Sophie commented. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, Sofe. Just leave me to think. I need to get a battle plan in order.”

She set her iPad down and walked around my desk. I pushed my chair back and turned to face her. She wrapped her arms around my shoulders and pulled my head against her chest. “You know that I already know. You just need to be honest with yourself.”

I sighed aloud like a child but said, “It’s the girl.”

“Uh-huh. Tell me more.”

“There’s something about her. I don’t know what it is, but I feel like I have to have her.”

She leaned back to look into my eyes. “What’s stopping you from going after her?”

I didn’t want to mess up a good thing. “She’s the perfect nanny for the kids. It… would be inappropriate.”

Her eyes twinkled. “When has that ever stopped you before?”

I smirked, and she laughed, placing her hand on my chest.

A small gasp caught my ear, and I turned to see a flushed Alexis at the door.

“I–I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to intrude. I’ll just go,” she said, closing the door before I could respond.

Shit.

“What are you waiting for?” Sofie said with her hands on her hips. “Go get her!”

I was already halfway out the door.

“Alexis!” I yelled, running through the halls looking for the back of her head, her shirt, anything to make sure I was going in the right direction.

Swinging around I caught a glimpse of her out of the corner of my eye as she whipped around a corner and I took off running. My heart pounding as I gave chase.

When I rounded the corner, she was there with wide eyes, panting with her hands raised. “You don’t have to say anything. Really, I’m sorry. Let’s just pretend it never happened.”

“We’ve been doing a little too much pretending,” I said, taking a step forward. She countered, taking a step back. I shouldn’t have said that.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

It wasn’t my nature to hold my tongue.  “I heard you touching yourself and saying my name. It was the hottest thing I’d ever wished I’d seen, Alexis.”

She blushed a pretty pink and chewed her lip instead of denying it. Good. That was progress.  Now I just had to press my advantage.

“Look, I think you’re beautiful and haven’t said so because you’re my nanny.” That was one of the reasons, at least.

Her eyes widened even more as I took another step forward. Not paying much attention, she didn’t know she didn’t have anywhere to run.

“That’s not true.”

“It is. You’re stunning. And I want to do so many things to you,” I said softly as I ran my fingers down her cheek to her collarbone. She shivered slightly at the contact, her pupils darkening. She deserved better than me, someone who would marry her or at least keep her. I had no idea if I could do that. My track record for monogamy hadn’t gone so well.

I didn’t miss the little shudder her body made even as her head shook no. “But you and Sofie…” she said, as if that meant anything.

“What about us?” I asked, taking the final step forward, and her back hit the wall.

“You’re… something. I can tell she means something to you and I’m no home-wrecker. You can’t have me and her at the same time.”

I chucked lowly, my hands coming up and burrowing into her hair. Up close I could see she had freckles on her nose. Could she be any prettier? I knew she didn’t realize how absurd her statement was.

“I can have whoever I want, and I want to have you.”

“But I’m… nobody,” she said, the bridge of her nose furrowed, and I realized right then and there I would be willing to try this if it meant her knowing just how attractive she was.

“You’re somebody do me.”

“I meant… I’m nobody in hell. You could be with any woman if you wanted.”

“I want to be with you… I know I don’t have the best reputation with women but… there’s something between us. I can’t stay away from you,” I said, leaning in to inhale her scent. “I don’t know what you thought you saw back there, so I’m going to clear it up, but I’m only going to say this once, and it stays between you and me. Sofie is my mother, although almost no one knows this, and I’d like to keep in that way,” I paused, telling her exactly how I felt next. “But you I want in my bed. Tell me you want the same thing too.”

She was panting, almost breathless, as my hand wrapped around her neck and pulled her closer to me.

“Yes.”

Her lips didn’t disappoint as I descended on them, suddenly ravenous for the taste of her. They exceeded everything I had imagined. Soft. Intense. Matching me as I bit her bottom lip. She moaned against my tongue, wrapping her arms around me, and I growled from the constriction in my pants.

This couldn’t happen here.

I pulled back, desperately ignoring my instinct to take her against this wall. The look on her face made it even harder to resist. Her eyes were still closed, her hair mussed, and her mouth was opened slightly, dazed or impressed I wasn’t sure.

“Look at me.”

Her eyes opened and the blatant lust I saw there burned me. I opened my mouth to say more, but the screaming of tiny baby lungs overpowered me. She blushed, gently pushing on my chest. “I better take care of that,” she said, chewing her bottom lip. I stepped aside and watched her walk down the hall.

If she thought this was over, she was wrong. I hadn’t had my fill yet. I wanted Alexis, and I would have her. There was no way I could live on just a taste.