CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Raven
I paced back and forth in my office.
The anger that flowed through my veins was of another level. I was fuming—beyond anything I’d felt in a long time. It crawled over my skin with the vengeance of a pack of hungry leeches, and it sure as hell felt like it was sucking the life out of me.
The more I paced, the angrier I got. But I needed to pace. I needed to be angry. Being angry with Parker was easier than the alternative. If I was angry with him, there would be no chance of slipping up and kissing him again.
Slapping him, yes. Not kissing him.
I didn’t know what I was supposed to do. I hadn’t expected any of this to happen when I’d hired him. I hadn’t expected to find respect for him or be as attracted to him as I was.
I couldn’t even pin that as the root of my anger. The way I felt wasn’t his fault, even if it was because of the way he was. I was the one who had little to no control over my feelings. I was the one who had a wild inability to stop myself wanting him whenever I glanced in his direction.
I didn’t want to want him.
I wanted to forget that I’d ever had his lips on mine. I wanted to forget every time he’d ever touched me.
I wanted to go back to three weeks ago, before he’d come home, when he was still the barest whisper of a memory.
I preferred it when he was a memory instead of every living second.
Four knocks rattled my closed door. They jolted me out of my thoughts and back to the here and now.
Was it already nine-thirty? Impossible. I hadn’t been in here much more than five minutes.
I picked up my phone from the desk and checked the time. Nine-fifty. I’d been in here for half an hour, and the bastard had the gall to show up late.
Twenty minutes late sure, but twenty minutes was twenty minutes. Did he get a kick out of pissing me off? There was no other reason for him to be here twenty minutes late when all he had to do was walk across the damn bar. He could have at least sent Vicky or Alec in to see me and let me know he was still busy.
Not that it was busy. It’d been two hours since he’d dragged me into the kitchen and been a dick to me.
Why the hell was I so damn annoyed still?
More knocks sounded at my door.
I knew it was him. That loud rap his knuckles made against the wood were so distinct to him. I didn’t know how it was possible to tell who it was by something as simple as a knock, but I could and I did. It was one of those weird things, I guessed.
More knocks.
I was going to make him wait. It was petty, but I had a point to make. If he wanted to make me wait, I’d make him wait, too.
Never mind that I had no idea he was late until he’d knocked.
Parker knocked three more times. This time each one was louder and stronger than the previous, so I finally made my way to the door and opened it.
“Oh, sorry,” I said, cutting him off before he could speak. “I didn’t mean to keep you waiting.”
“I was working,” he shot back, following me inside my office. “You were just being fucking awkward.”
“Watch your mouth.”
He opened it. Then, he snapped it shut again. Whether he was actually doing as I said or was closing it to save the ranting for later, I didn’t know.
“Sit down.” I pointed to the chair on the other side of my desk. When he didn’t move, I said more firmly, “Sit. Down.”
He dragged it back and dropped onto it with the petulance of a child.
Now, I knew he was doing it to piss me off.
“Let’s get something straight.” I gripped the edge of my desk and leaned forward, hooking one of my feet behind the other. My gaze was trained steadily on his, and no matter how much ire his bright eyes glared at me, I wouldn’t back down from him. “When you’re at work, you will treat me with respect and you will understand that, even if you need me, I don’t exist to pander to your every beck and call. If you need me, fine, but you wait. I’m doing my own job and that doesn’t involve handling your shit.”
He opened his mouth again and I held up one finger.
“And you do not ever demand that I call you something in front of other members of staff. I don’t give a fuck what they did in New York. This is Whiskey fucking Key, not New York freakin’ City. If you want to be called, then you use a little thing called respect and you ask. You don’t blatantly call me on something in front of the people I pay.”
“Then try to use a little respect of your own,” he shot back before I could make a motion to stop him. “Don’t storm your ass into the kitchen, guns blazing, just because what I needed you for was important. You went in there with a problem. I didn’t call you in there like that.”
“When I told Vicky to tell you to wait, I wasn’t being awkward. I was in the middle of a massive order, because the reason for the busyness we found out was there was a coach that had broken down on its way back from Key West to Atlanta. It was full of people who are all staying nearby and we were an obviously unscheduled stop.”
“It would have been nice to be informed.”
“I’m sorry,” I said dryly, “I didn’t realize you required all the info. Vicky was told to tell you. If she didn’t, that wasn’t my problem, but it still doesn’t excuse your attitude. You don’t ever embarrass me in front of my staff like that again, Parker. This might be a summer job for you, but I live here. This is my town and my reputation you’re fucking with when you speak to me like that at work.”
And that, I realized, was what it came down to. This was nothing more than a passing job for him. A bit of fun, even. But for me, this was my life. Dirty was my livelihood. It was my business, and more than that, it was my passion. I loved every second of my job and running my business, no matter how stressful it was.
I didn’t care if he was Parker Hamilton, Michelin-starred chef and whatever other honors he’d earned in the past few years.
I did care that I was Raven Archer, mixologist and owner of Dirty.
I’d built my business up with a little help from my grandparents on my dad’s side. They might have left the money, but I’d put in all the work. It was all me.
There was no way Parker would discredit what I’d done. Whether he realized it or not. It wasn’t going to happen.
“You’re right.” He linked his fingers and stretched his arms out in front of him, cracking his knuckles. “Next time I wanna call you on your attitude, I’ll drag you in here to do it.”
“Yeah, you do that.” I stopped. “Wait, what? No.”
He smirked, leaning forward on his seat.
“You don’t call me on shit, Parker. Not when your attitude is the reason for my shit.”
“My attitude?” He raised his eyebrows and used the desk to push himself up to standing. “What about your attitude?”
I bristled. “What do you mean—what about my attitude?”
“Your attitude is the reason for my shit.” His eyes darkened, flashing with something indiscernible. “In fact, it’s you in general. Because even though I’m pretty sure I should be offended and really fucking annoyed with you right this second, I keep thinking that I didn’t kiss you nearly hard enough yesterday if you’re still talking.”
What?
My mouth instantly went dry. I swallowed, but it wasn’t enough, so I darted my tongue out and wet my lips. The relief didn’t last nearly long enough, and before I could comprehend enough to string words together, he pushed off the desk and moved toward me.
My office was bright, illuminated by the highlights of the summer sun as it streamed through my back window. The golden rays bounced off his face, brightening his gaze as it stayed fixed on me.
His expression was intense—lips thinned, jaw set, eyebrows unmoving. It didn’t change as he closed the distance between us, taking a giant loop around my body. Like I was chained to his gravity, I moved, spinning so I faced him the entire time.
I was between him and the desk.
It was too late.
My heart beat frantically, hammering against my ribs as Parker came so close there was barely a breath of space between us. I struggled to take in a deep breath. He was taller than me, wider too, so he took up every inch of my personal space he could without actually touching me.
I gripped the edge of my desk as my butt bumped into it. I was half-perched against the desktop, my attention wholly on the man in front of me.
Lust replaced anger.
I didn’t want it to. I wanted to keep my anger.
But I also wanted him. Wanted him to kiss me. Wanted to know if it wasn’t just a fluke.
Wanted to know if his words were more than hot air designed to build me up and leaving me hanging.
“You can’t talk to me like that,” I finally managed to get out, but it was barely more than a wheezing breath with a useless excuse for words mingled into it. “I’m your boss.”
Like it mattered.
Parker placed his hands on the desk, his thumbs just brushing my wrists as his palms flattened against the solid surface. A shiver danced up my arms as a slow, easy smirk twisted up the side of his mouth as he leaned in. “That took you long enough to say, didn’t it?”
“What’s that meant to mean?”
“I don’t think you really care,” he said in a low voice. “Otherwise you’d be pushing me away from you right now.”
I couldn’t. I was frozen. Unless someone knocked on the door and interrupted us, breaking the moment, I couldn’t do a damn thing.
I sucked in deep breath as he took another step into me, inching closer until his leg was just creeping between my knees. “You have to stop,” I whispered.
“Why? Because I’m your employee or your brother’s best friend?” he murmured back.
That was the million-dollar question, wasn’t it? Why did he have to stop?
“Both. One kiss is an accident. Twice is a mistake.”
“Now say it and mean it.” He hadn’t moved since he’d slipped his leg between mine, but my entire body burned with his closeness.
My chest was tight. I couldn’t breathe. The words were there, lying on the tip of my tongue, ready to fall, ready to scream their way toward him.
Stop. It’s wrong. All of this is wrong.
But, they didn’t come. They were stuck, because I didn’t want to say them.
It was all semantics. His closeness with my brother, the fact I employed him—they didn’t matter in this moment. All that mattered was the way my skin still tingled where his thumbs had brushed my wrists and how quickly my heart was beating.
What was this?
What was happening?
I had no clue. I just knew I didn’t want it to stop.
“I can’t,” I whispered, gripping harder onto the desk. My gaze dropped to where his shirt stretched over his shoulders. The fabric hugged his muscles like it was made for him—and to distract me.
Parker’s hands slipped over my legs and under my skirt. Slowly, his thumbs probed my skin on my inner thighs, almost as if he were testing how far he could go before I’d make him stop.
Goosebumps came to life and prickled over my legs. From my hips to my ankles, I felt them come up in a wave with a shiver, and this one, I couldn’t contain. It wracked my body in a quick hit that made my lips part with its intensity.
Parker smiled. One hand escaped from beneath my skirt and crept up my body. He ghosted his fingertips across my collarbone and along the side of my neck until he’d taken my jaw in his hand. His touch was feather-light, just gentle enough to be teasing, yet strong enough that I could feel every inch of his fingers as they rested against my skin.
“Still a mistake.” Once again, the words fell from me as a whisper. It was too light and breathy—I’d intended the words to be firm and steady, but the way my body was reacting to him had let me down.
Again.
“Still doesn’t sound like you mean it,” he murmured, dipping his face close to mine. “Stop talking, Raven.”
“No.”
“I’ll make you.”
I knew exactly what I was doing when I said, “So make me.”
He did.
He closed the distance between our lips and kissed me. It wasn’t like before. There was nothing gentle about the way he pressed his mouth to mine and moved his hand so it slipped into my hair. There was nothing soft or tentative about the way he pushed his body between my legs and flicked his tongue between my lips to meet mine.
But, it was just as easy. Just as right. Just as perfect as it’d been before.
Maybe more, because as I grasped at his shirt to pull him closer, desperation tinged the air. It swirled around us with each kiss, each touch, each breath we gasped for between those very kisses and touches.
I couldn’t pull him close enough. I couldn’t bring his body close enough to mine to satisfy the heat that pumped through my veins. He’d put the heat there and now it seemed like there was nothing he could do as he gripped my hair in his strong hand and pressed his hips against mine.
His cock, hard and thick, pressed against my lower stomach. My clit throbbed, and a wave of need washed over me.
I didn’t want this to stop at a kiss.
I wanted everything.
Maybe it wouldn’t change how badly he annoyed me. Maybe it would be dangerous, the ultimate risk right now, but I didn’t care. All I cared about was the fact he was kissing me and he wanted me—and I was kissing him, and I wanted him right back.
I slid my hands up his body as he pushed me back on the desk. Something fell to the ground to the sound of pens scattering across the floor, but neither of us stopped to pick up the mess.
Parker parted my legs and flattened his hand on the desk right by my hip. As he pulled away, I could barely catch my breath, and the dark glint that flashed in his eyes made me shiver. There was something wild about the way he looked at me, about the way he wanted me.
His hand was still firmly buried in my hair, still gripping tightly, when he brought his mouth to my ear. “Tell me not to kiss you again,” he whispered. “Tell me not to fuck you...Boss.”
He was being cocky, and I knew I should. Stop was the only word that should have been able to leave my mouth, but instead of doing what he said, I whispered right back, “No. I won’t.”
He inhaled sharply and, running his nose across my cheek, brought himself back to meet my gaze. Eye-to-eye, neither of us moved, and neither of us said another word. Controlling my breathing was a struggle, and the deep, bassy beat of the music creeping in from the bar didn’t help me with regulating it at all.
“Have you thought this through?” Parker asked me quietly.
“Have you?” I fired back.
“Yes, and it’s a damn bad idea.”
“So, why not just leave?”
“Because I’ve never wanted anyone who infuriates me as much as you do.” His voice stayed strong. “And I have the unnerving urge to make you lose control.”
I ran my tongue out over my lips. “Yet, here you are. Still talking. Don’t you have a better use for that mouth?”
“Yes. You’re about to come in it.” He’d barely finished speaking before his mouth was back on mine.
This kiss was even harder than before. More desperate. Devouring. Relentless. By the time he was dragging his lips down the curve of my neck, mine felt chapped and sore, but the tingles that vibrated over my skin overpowered it.
I dropped my head back when he grazed his teeth across my neck, nipping my skin lightly. My clit was throbbing, and the wetness between my legs would have been uncomfortable if he hadn’t already made his intentions perfectly clear.
He tugged at my shirt to free it from the waistband of my skirt. He’d barely pulled it free when he had my arms above my head and the tank free of my body. I was about to complain, but he released me to pull his own shirt over his head.
I didn’t get a chance to admire his body as he gripped my hips and, with a step back, kissed his way down my body. I dropped my head back again, when all I wanted to do was throw myself down to lie flat on the desk. My wrists hurt with the pressure of keeping me supported. An ache that sharpened when Parker yanked on my skirt, sliding it right down without lifting my ass off the desk.
His mouth found mine as he brushed his finger over my thong. He could feel my wetness, if the smile he kissed me through was anything to go by. He didn’t say anything. He just laughed quietly, especially when I tried to squirm away from his touch.
He didn’t allow me to. He pulled my hips back to the edge of the desk and dropped to his knees.
This time, I reached behind me to clear anything from the desk, knocking a folder to the floor, and lay back. Right as my head hit the desk, Parker slipped two fingers beneath my underwear and pushed it to the side. I held back a gasp as he ran his fingers through my wetness, finding my clit in seconds.
He replaced his fingers with his mouth. His tongue deftly moved across the tender wetness of my pussy, circling my clit with its tip. I threw my arm over my eyes to block him from my view as he explored the most intimate part of me with his mouth.
His lips, his tongue, his teeth—gentle, hard, hesitant. He used every trick in his arsenal. It didn’t matter if it was his mouth or his hands. He played me with them both, owning my body to the absolute brink of desire. He played me until I had to lower my arm from my eyes to my mouth to muffle the sound of my orgasm when it came.
Parker slid his tongue up my pussy. I lay back on the desk, my face covered, my cheeks heated with a mixture of pleasure and embarrassment. I couldn’t believe what’d just happened, yet at the same time, I wasn’t surprised in the slightest.
He kissed his way up my stomach. My body still trembled from the orgasm, but if he noticed, he didn’t let on. He trailed his mouth up my bare stomach and over my breasts until he was standing between my legs and his cock pressed against my pussy.
His pants were still on.
I took offense to that. There was no way I was lying there, wet and freshly orgasmed, without him being as naked as possible.
I gripped hold of him and pulled myself up. At least, I think he did. He moved up at the same time I did, so I assumed he pulled me with him.
My hands slipped down his muscular arms to his waist. I dropped them further as he pressed his lips to mine. My legs ached to wrap around his waist as my fingers found the waistband of his pants.
His tongue found mine.
My fingers flicked the button open.
His hands pulled my hips against his own.
I tugged on his pants, freeing his cock.
His cock, hard and firm, almost fell into my palm. I wrapped my hands around it as my body pulled him closer. My hand wasn’t enough. I wanted so much more than was being offered to me.
Come here,” Parker murmured, one hand around the back of my neck as he kissed it. He pulled me up to my feet then, with smooth, easy movements, spun me around and bent me over the desk.
My hands broke my fall. I was on my tiptoes as he fumbled behind me, but I was still shaken from my orgasm, so I didn’t look back over my shoulder. Plus, there was something strangely sexy about being in the position I was.
Sure, I was exposed to him, but he’d just had his tongue between my legs.
You didn’t get much more exposed than your clitoris in someone’s mouth.
The sound of something ripping traveled through the air to my ears, and I bit the inside of my cheek. I knew that sound, and I knew what was happening next.
Seconds passed before I felt Parker’s hands glide across my ass. His thumbs dragged along until he’d pulled my underwear clear of my pussy. He’d barely let me go before his cock was pushing against my wetness. I held completely still, my heart going wild, as he slowly pushed himself inside me.
Keeping control of my breathing with his almost hesitant movements was the hardest thing. I felt every inch of him as he buried his cock inside me right to the hilt, and a part of me wanted to moan. I was still tender, still sensitive, and that meant I was hyper-aware of everything.
Of his hand on my ass.
Of the fingertips digging into my hip.
Of his own restraint as he held his cock deep in my pussy.
“Are you just gonna stand there?” The words escaped me before I could stop them.
Parker leaned forward, somehow moving deeper into me, and wound my hair around my hand. One sharp tug brought my head back, and he kissed the side of my neck. “Just deciding how hard I have to hate-fuck you.”
I swallowed, the lump in my throat thick and unmoving despite my best efforts. “That depends how much you hate me right now.”
“You have no idea,” he said right into my ear before pulling back.
Judging by the way he pulled out and slammed back into me so hard our skin slapped as it came together, he hated me a whole lot.
That was okay, because I hated that I’d lost control.
I hated that I’d gone this far.
I hated that I wanted to go this far.
I hated everything he was and everything we were doing, but not because it was happening. I hated it because it didn’t feel wrong like it should have.
No. Being fucked by Parker Hamilton felt perfectly right. Even if I was bent over my desk with a bar full of people on the other side of the door.
Every movement he made punctuated our mutual feelings for the other. Years of hate and our more recent attraction mingled into a desperate desire that fueled his thrusts. There was nothing kind or careful about the way he fucked me. It was hard and dirty and unforgiving.
I bit my cheek to keep in the sounds of my pleasure. The stinging of my scalp where he still had a tight grip on my hair combined with the wild way he pounded his cock into me mixed up into a mounting ball of pleasure that pulsed dangerously close to the edge of oblivion.
I opened my mouth, and three knocks at the door shattered the moan that rested on the tip of my tongue.
I reached back, but Parker stilled inside me and relaxed his hold on my hair.
“Raven?” Sienna called. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes!”
Parker slowly eased out of me.
“Okay, well, it’s getting busy again.”
“I’ll be right there!” I clenched my fist as I brought it down to the desk.
Parker slammed back into me. A sound somewhere between a squeal and a moan left my mouth, and I had to clap my hand over it, but it was too late.
“Are you all right?” Sienna shouted.
“Yes!” I froze. “I...stubbed my toe getting up.”
Parker fell forward, pressing his face between my shoulder blades. His whole body shook with his silent laughter, and I had to bite my tongue to stop myself laughing, too.
“Okay...” Sienna paused. “Then I’ll see you in a minute?”
“Yep. That works.”
“Okay.”
Neither of us moved until we were sure she’d gone.
“Stubbed your toe?” Parker asked, his lips moving across my skin. “Really?”
“I had to think quickly!”
His hand wound back around my hair, and again, he kissed my neck. “You better come quickly, too, because you aren’t leaving until you have.”
Before I had a chance to respond, he straightened and resumed his rhythm from before we were interrupted. He didn’t miss a beat as he continued fucking me with the same unforgiving thrusts. It didn’t take long for my body to respond the way it was before, and I closed my eyes as the first wave of pleasure rolled through me.
He let go of my hair.
Grabbed my hips.
Held me still.
And fucked me even harder.
My arms collapsed under me, and I buried my face in them as I crumpled to the desk. Despite that, he still didn’t relent.
Seconds. It took no more than a handful of seconds for my orgasm to hit, and it hit me hard. My entire body clenched and trembled. Sweat beaded on my skin. My lungs burned. And none of that mattered to him as he dug his fingers harder into my skin.
He groaned. The second it left his mouth, he slowed until he stilled. He held himself inside me for a good minute. The only sounds were both our breathing as we tried to regulate it, tried to get back to normal.
But I knew one thing.
We would never be normal again.