Aaron

---

The day had been a rare one for me.

I had actually worked!

I was being sarcastic, more than, but I’d been haunted by that conversation with Kristian all weekend.

I tried to tell myself that the effort I had taken today wasn’t because of what he had said, and certainly not because of what Cree may think of me, but I knew that wasn’t the truth.

Both mattered.

That he did was to be expected.

That she did was mind-blowing.

But, no matter how I sliced it, I couldn’t get around the fact that I wanted Cree to see me as more than some good-for-nothing and even more, I didn’t want anything associated with me to hurt her.

In some ways, working could be seen as the opposite of what I was doing. After all, I wanted to stay out of her way. But I also knew that she’d never abide me intentionally taking a fall. By that same token, knowing how passionate she was about her work, instinct told me that applying myself was something she would respect.

So as I made my way down to her office the next evening, certain she would be there, but halfway hoping that she wouldn’t, I felt nervous in a way that was confounding.

In fact, the closest thing I could think of was when I’d been a boy, ten, maybe eleven, and had needed to give my first decree.

It had been a silly, meaningless thing, dedicating my birthday as an official state holiday, but I had worried over it for weeks.

I could remember how I had clung to the piece of paper in my hands, notes I had refused to give up, and felt the same way now as I clutched the file folder that I held.

Then, it had been a matter of embarrassing myself, my family, making a mockery of my kingdom. Now, it was something altogether different.

Never, not once in my entire life, had I ever had to worry about impressing someone.

But now I was worried, and even more, I was almost certain that I wouldn’t measure up.

Still, I didn’t hide from anything and certainly didn’t run, so I made my way to Cree’s office, determined to go through with this.

I saw the light peeking out from under her door, thought I heard the faint strains of music as well.

The nerves that still had me practically quaking in my boots abated a bit as I listened to that sound.

The type of music she liked was something I didn’t know about her, one of the many things that I realized now I wanted to discover.

It was strange to think that something so mundane would matter, but with Cree, could I really call anything mundane?

I didn’t think so, not if the way I felt when she was near was something I wanted to go by.

Far too soon for my liking, I reached her door.

I almost knocked, but at the last second stopped myself. I knew she hated it when I barged in without knocking, but needling her just that little bit was always a bright spot in my day. And besides, I didn’t want to change my behavior, do anything that might let her know the depths of these feelings that I myself was not yet able to really comprehend.

“All work and no play makes Cree a dull girl,” I said as I walked into her office without preamble and sat in one of the chairs.

She didn’t bother to look up. “All work and no play makes Cree a partner,” she said.

“We’ll see,” I said nonchalantly before I could consider the implication of the words.

She looked at me then, her expression not exactly pleased, but not necessarily angry either.

I wasn’t exactly sure what to make of that, and I instantly regretted the statement. I didn’t need her thinking about that, thinking about what was a barrier between us.

But, as I had gone and put my foot in my mouth, it was up to me to salvage the situation.

“You’re not going to stay here all night, are you?” I asked.

“Nope,” she responded.

She had looked down and was again furiously scribbling something.

“Aren’t you going to ask why I’m here?” I asked.

I didn’t exactly find her behavior curious. After all, she never went out of her way to cater to me, and I knew that this wouldn’t be any different.

Still, I wanted some reaction from her, if only to prove to myself that I wasn’t in this, whatever the hell it was, alone.

I looked at the top of her head, her dark curls pulled back, some of them having escaped the tight confines of her ponytail. I remembered how it had felt to release all of them, grip her thick hair as I pounded inside of her.

This wasn’t what I had come here for, and I needed to remember that, especially if she was going to do such a good job of freezing me out.

“Of course I’m not going to ask why you’re here,” she said, still furiously scribbling.

“Why not?” I responded.

“Well, I figure if you want me to know why you’re here, you’ll tell me. Seems like common sense, doesn’t it?” she said.

She put her pen down and looked at me, and I did everything in my power not to smile. I recognized the mischievous expression on her face, and though there was a glance of hardness to it, one that hadn’t been there when I had seen her last on Saturday morning, I welcomed it.

“Excellent deduction, I suppose,” I said.

“I seem to be pretty good at those,” she responded.

“Jury’s still out,” I said.

She smiled, the expression both playful and serious.

“Well, I’ll spare you the suspense,” I said.

She quirked a brow, then looked at me curiously.

“I’ve been working on the proposal,” I said.

From the expression on her face, I may as well have said that little green men had just flown through my office window or something else equally outrageous.

“Don’t look so freaking surprised,” I said.

She laughed then, the sound, the smile on her face, completely genuine.

“I’m sorry,” she said, though she only managed to do so around the laughter that was bubbling in her throat.

“Yeah, I can see that,” I said drily.

“No really, I am. There’s no excuse for me laughing. It’s just…”

“Just what?” I asked.

“I’m just surprised that you’re working on it, and that you’re telling me about it,” she said.

Her words felt like a confession and stunned me down to my very core. I’d thought we’d made some progress, but now that was called into question.

I knew that feeling, tried to play it off.

“Well, I’m not telling you what I’ve done,” I said, hoping my voice sounded mysterious.

“Of course not, us being competitors and all,” she said with an easy smile on her face.

“But?” I asked, knowing that she hadn’t told me all that she’d been thinking.

“But I guess I’m just surprised?” she said.

“Why?” I asked, sounding curious but not letting any of the other emotions that were currently racing through me show in my voice.

“Because…” She trailed off, clearly considering whether to continue. I wanted her too, badly, but I wouldn’t push her. Thankfully, after a breath, she said, “I know you told me that you wouldn’t just lie down, but I’ll admit I didn’t think you really cared about the work,” she said.

I didn’t, not in the slightest. What I did care about was her, proving that I was worthy. But there was no way I could admit that to her, so instead I asked, “Why not?”

She didn’t answer immediately. She leaned back in her chair, looked at me with an expression that was a cross between serene and exacting. She was studying me, trying to figure out how to proceed, and after a moment she did.

“It’s just… You never seemed to care before. Why the change?” she asked. “And don’t tell me it has anything to do with honor or me impugning your character.”

She added the last calmly, but I could see the seriousness behind her words, hear her unspoken question.

That unspoken question, whether this change was due to some desire of my own, or a reflection of what had happened between us was something I still didn’t dare answer, so I ignored it.

“I won’t have anyone accusing me of being a layabout,” I said.

Though she might not have had an opportunity to experience that firsthand, that was one thing I could certainly say was one hundred percent true, even if it wasn’t the whole story.

I might not try very hard and didn’t put too much stock in impressing people, but I also didn’t take advantage of them and didn’t coast. Or at least tried my hardest not to.

It sucked, and hurt like hell, that she didn’t already know that, but there was nothing I could say, and certainly nothing I could do to change the impression that she had developed of me in the past. All I could do was show her who I was and hope that I was someone she liked.

“I see,” she said.

Not exactly a ringing endorsement of my status, or a strong declaration of her belief in me, but I suspected that was as good as I was going to get from Cree, at least today.

“And in the spirit of friendly competition, I thought I’d share a few select tidbits,” I said.

I handed over the folder, and in an instant she became completely businesslike.

She flipped through the pages, and when she finished, she reached for a folder of her own.

“Pretty good,” she said.

“But not as good as what you found?” I asked.

“Of course not. But you did pick up a couple of things that I didn’t, and you’re approaching this from a totally different angle. It’s interesting,” she said, sounding almost impressed.

In the few minutes of conversation that followed, anything that wasn’t work seemed to fade away.

While it certainly wasn’t my favorite topic, the opportunity to see her like this, see her mind working directly in front of me, getting to watch as she puzzled over a problem was something to marvel at.

I wanted to tell her that, wanted to kiss her again, wanted to take her again, but I stayed glued to my seat.

“Based on this discussion, I’m going to start to think you take me more seriously than you want me to believe,” I said.

She laughed, the sound deeply feminine, husky, curling around the base of my spine.

“You would be sorely mistaken,” she said flippantly.

I wasn’t exactly sure what had been going on earlier, but the version of her that I was used to and had started to see in a whole new light, was back.

I let my own smile spread across my face. “I don’t know, Cree. I think I might be on to something,” I said.

The innuendo in my voice was unmistakable, and being the smart woman that she was, Cree certainly didn’t miss it.

The heat in her face was instant, and my reaction to it was equally instant.

“I don’t know, Aaron. You may be reading into things. Trying to see things that aren’t really there,” she said.

Instead of responding to her I stood, closed, and then locked her door.

Not exactly discreet, but in that moment I didn’t care.

I turned around and stepped toward her, moving slowly, deliberately, letting the anticipation build.

When I came to a stop at the edge of her desk, she locked eyes with mine, the expression on her face simultaneously stubborn and yielding, a perfect reflection of the contradiction that was this woman.

“Why don’t you prove that,” I said.

“Prove what?” she asked, her words coy, her expression intense.

“I have my suspicions that your dislike of collaboration, in particular this one, might be slightly overblown.”

“You would think that.”

“I would. And it’s up to you to prove me wrong,” I said.

“And how ever would I do a thing like that?” she asked.

I looked down at her, smiled.

“Spread your legs.”

“Still trying to boss me around, Aaron?” she said, her voice husky.

But despite her protest, she spread her legs slowly, and I watched, my gaze riveted as I got a peek of her full thighs and then the dark scrap of fabric that covered her sex.

I breathed in deep, convinced I could smell her desire, certain I would feel it soon enough. I stepped between her spread thighs and buried my hand between them, resting my fingers against the seat of her panties. I could feel her heat, thought I could feel her wetness, and was nearly delirious with desire.

As I stroked my fingers down her sex and over her thighs, I kissed her. She clenched her thighs, tightening them around my waist. I wondered if she knew how revealing the action was, how she was telling me how much she wanted me.

I hoped so. I wanted her to know that I knew and wanted her to know that I would give her the pleasure of her wildest dreams just as she would me. I kissed her soft jaw, then snaked my tongue out to trace the length of her neck.

Her taste was intoxicating, as was her scent, the feel of her soft skin against my fingers. It made me ravenous for more of her, so I kissed her neck, sucking her skin between my teeth. I would leave a mark, and I wanted to. Wanted anyone who looked at her to know that she was mine, wanted her to know that she was mine.

That wasn’t something I would think Cree would like, but she didn’t shrink away. Instead she pulled closer, tightening her thighs around my waist, pushing her neck against my lips.

Between that and her warm breath against my face, I lost what little control I had.

I released her skin, my breath coming out in a harsh pant. I’d kept my eyes open and saw when Cree did the same. Her dark pupils were wide, her eyes filled with a dreamy quality that only made me want her that much more.

“My pocket. There’s a condom. Take it out,” I said in a ragged voice.

She paused for a moment, clearly trying to process my words. Once she did, she reached into my pocket, her fingers grazing my thigh and making my cock jump. She pulled the condom out and then looked at me with a sexy smile on her face.

“Presumptuous much?” she asked, though any bite that might have been in her voice was sapped by her heavy, passionate breaths and the way her hand trembled with desire.

“Nope. Just hopeful. Now take off your panties,” I said.

She got a shy little smile on her face, but slid off the desk and began working her underwear down her thighs. She kept her eyes locked with mine, the condom clutched in her fingers as she moved. When her panties were off, she sat back on the edge of the desk and spread her legs again.

I couldn’t resist looking, and followed the path up her thighs to the apex. Her pussy was hidden by her skirt, but I saw the faint shadow of the curls that covered her mound. When I met her eyes again, I saw a hint of self-satisfaction, wantonness that I hadn’t expected from her but that I liked.

I wanted her naked, at my disposal for as long as I wanted, but since that wasn’t an option, I decided hard and dirty would have to do.

“Take me out,” I said, my voice low, unyielding, and leaving no doubt of my desire.

She smiled, her full lips curling so sexily that I couldn’t help but imagine how they’d feel wrapped around my shaft. But that thought and all others fled when she reached for my belt and unbuckled and unzipped my pants. I sighed when she gingerly closed her fingers around my hardness and squeezed, her touch firm, confident, making me even harder.

She released me and then pushed my pants down my hips. The way her gaze caressed my cock made me flinch, and I watched her as she watched me, hard, straining, my cock leaking precum. Cree looked like she wanted to devour me, and I understood the feeling.

“Put the condom on me,” I ordered.

Again, she moved without haste, and I watched as she used surprisingly deft fingers to unwrap the latex and slide it down my shaft.

Not even a second passed before I moved. I linked myself up with her entrance and pushed myself inside her as roughly as I dared. She sighed out, her breath a sharp pant, one that I mimicked when she clamped down around me, her sex tight, throbbing, squeezing me in the most delicious, sensual grip.

I paused for a moment, letting the sensation wash over me. And then I unleashed, pumping into her so hard and fast that the desk started to rock. I didn’t slow my motions, not when Cree was meeting me thrust for thrust, her own breaths and motions telling me I wasn’t alone in this.

She cried out when I reached between us and tweaked her clit, teasing the hard nub. The sensation of touching her as I stroked inside her was too much. I didn’t know how much longer I could hold out.

“Come for me, Cree,” I said, my voice both demanding and desperate, near urgent.

She moaned, and when I squeezed her clit, she clamped down on me tight as she flew apart. Her climax triggered my own, and I held her as we both raced toward completion.

I had my arms latched on her hips, and she rested against me, her breath fast and warm, the thud of her heart beat melting into my chest. My instinct was to wrap my arms around her and pull her close, the sudden surge of tenderness catching me off guard before I settled into how right doing so would have felt.

But I didn’t, not knowing how she would react, or how I would for that matter. To my surprise, Cree gave me a quick hug, and then kissed my neck. I wondered if she was marking me like I had her, feeling warm at the idea. After a moment, she pulled back and then looked at me, her face brilliant with a smile.

“I don’t know, Aaron. I might be coming around on this collaboration thing,” Cree whispered.

My only response was a laugh.