I marched onto the floor of Bandwidth Communications without preamble. The receptionist, having become familiar with me from my most recent visits, smiled kindly and waved me through the glass double doors with a friendly hello.

I pushed through Dominic’s office door without bothering to knock and closed it behind me, resting my back against the cool wood as I took in all his gorgeous masculinity from behind his desk.

God, just the sight of him drove me mad. My breasts started to swell, my nipples tightened into painful peaks, and arousal drenched my panties. “Hi,” I said on a soft sigh.

He rocked back in his chair, lifting his arms and resting them behind his head. The wicked smirk on his face coupled with the way his biceps bulged and stretched the fabric of his expensive button-down shirt was enough to make a woman ovulate. Dear Lord, he’s pretty.

“This is a pleasant surprise.” His smirk morphed into a full-blown smile. “What brings you by?”

I let my purse slip from my shoulder onto the floor before reaching underneath my skirt. Hooking my fingers beneath the waistband of my panties, I wriggled them down my legs until they pooled at my feet. “Just missed you is all,” I replied casually. I flipped the lock on his door and slowly started in his direction.

He sat up straighter the closer I got. “You missed me, huh?”

“Mmhmm.” I rounded the desk and he pushed his chair back, making room for me to stand between him and the solid oak. I rested my behind against the top and propped my hands on the edge, facing him. “I’ve kind of gotten used to waking up next to you. You were gone when I got up this morning.”

“I’m sorry, butterfly.” He grabbed my hips and gave them a squeeze. “This buyout is taking for-fucking-ever. I didn’t want to be stuck in the office late so I came in early.”

An electric current ran from his touch to right between my legs. “Are you too busy for lunch?” I asked in a teasing, slightly breathy voice.

He hummed pleasurably. “What did you have in mind?”

I pushed out of his hold and slid farther back on the desk. “Depends. Are you in the mood for food? Or something a little”—I spread my legs as wide as my skirt would allow—“different?”

A low growl rumbled from his throat. The next thing I knew, I was flat on my back and he was on me. “You want me to fuck you?” His jaw ticked as he worked my skirt past my hips to my waist. “Is that what you came here for? You want me to get you off, baby? Is that it?”

I threw my head back and pushed further into his touch. “God, yes.”

Dominic’s fingers brushed along my slit before moving up to rub tight, hard circles against my clit. “You want to come good and hard? Like only I can make you?”

I lifted my hips, trying to get closer to his hand, trying to demand more. “Please, Dom.”

His hand disappeared and I whimpered at the loss. “Ask and you shall receive, butterfly.”

He grinned cheekily and I burst into laughter, only to have it cut off by my garbled moan when he fell to his knees and buried his face between my thighs.

His tongue flicked along my folds before diving inside, making me groan with pleasure. “Shh, baby,” he whispered, lifting his head. “If we’re doing this here, you have to be quiet.”

My teeth clamped down on my bottom lip to keep my cries silent as he went back to feasting on me like I was a three-course meal. He sucked at my clit as he buried two fingers deep inside me.

“Dom.” With his free hand he covered my mouth to silence my moans as he sucked, nipped, and flicked. His fingers curled in a come-hither motion, brushing against that place inside me that made me writhe uncontrollably.

I was close, so freaking close. My hips began to move with a mind of their own, circling and thrusting against his face until starbursts exploded behind my eyelids. Having to remain quiet only heightened the pleasure, and I came until I was almost out of oxygen.

I was still coming down when Dominic shot to his feet and grabbed me around the waist. “My turn,” he growled. Then he flipped me over, shoving my chest into the desk. The only sound over the blood rushing through my ears was that of his zipper going down. It was a heady, exhilarating sound.

“Dom, hurr—” I sucked the rest of the words back down as he buried his cock as deep as it would go. I grabbed hold of the edge of the desk, my knuckles growing white as he began fucking me hard and fast—just how I liked it.

“This what you want?” he asked, pulling all the way out and shoving back in so hard my body moved across the smooth, cool wood. “You like it rough like this?”

I could feel it building again. “Don’t stop.” Pushing up on my hands, I twisted my neck so I could reach his mouth.

His tongue drove in at the same pace as his cock, making me completely wild. I used the leverage of my hands to force myself back with each of his forward thrusts. “I’m close, baby,” I panted against his mouth.

“Touch yourself,” he demanded as he continued to fuck me brutally, blissfully. “I want you to come all over my cock. I want to feel you drench me.”

My fingers moved down between my legs and I did just as he asked, toying with my clit as he moved in and out of me, over and over. My pussy clenched, his cock swelled, and that was all it took for me to detonate. I slapped my hands over my mouth, my screams muffled by my palms.

“Yes. Fuck yes, baby. Christ, keep squeezing me. Almost there….” He trailed off, but his delectably dirty words were enough to extend my orgasm—or hell, it might have been two back to back. Either way, my bones were complete jelly by the time I finished and he grunted and groaned as he poured himself into me.

He held my back to his chest as we worked to regulate our breathing. “Jesus Christ, butterfly, you can surprise me like that anytime.”

I let out a little giggle as his softening cock slid out of me. After pulling his pants up, he moved to grab a handful of napkins by his mini-fridge and helped me clean myself up. “Give it to me that good every time and I’ll gladly make it a habit,” I joked, even though I totally meant it.

He tucked his shirt back in and did up his fly as I straightened my clothes. “How do you feel about dinner tonight?” he asked once we were both properly covered. Though, despite our outward appearances, there was nothing to be done to mask the smell of sex in the office.

“Always been a big fan. But then again I’m a fan of all meals. I make a habit not to skip any.”

“I mean with me, smartass,” he laughed.

That made me giddy. “You mean you want to cook for me again? Yes! But only on the condition that it’s one of your mother’s recipes.”

Dominic twined his arms around my waist and pulled me close. The warmth of his embrace made my heart flutter. “I meant how do you feel about us going out. You know, like on an actual date, like normal couples do.”

My body went cold and the tiny hairs on my arms stood on end. “Dominic.” I hesitated. Then… “You know we can’t do that. With the contest and everything… if the station found out—”

“Fuck the station!” he snarled, letting me go to turn and begin pacing. “And fuck that stupid fucking contest. You never should’ve agreed to it in the first goddamn place.”

“It’s my job, Dominic!” I argued, my voice beginning to rise. “You can’t just say fuck the station. I could lose my job if they found out I was seeing someone while this contest was happening!”

He laughed without an ounce of humor, raking his hands through his hair. “So what, you’re just going to continue talking to those assholes? Then what? What happens after this stupid fucking contest is over, huh? You just going to start dating one of them?”

“No!” I shouted. “Of course not!”

“Then what? Huh?” His arms flew out at his sides. “What’s supposed to happen? You won’t tell Lola or Daphne. We can’t let anyone know we’re together. For Christ’s sake, Sophia, if you just wanted a fuck toy, why didn’t you just say so?” he finished on a roar.

“That’s not how I feel about you, and you know that!” I shouted. My heart was racing, but not in a good way. Anxiety began to tear at my gut.

“Do I? Really? Because from where I’m standing, that’s exactly what it seems like. You won’t tell me you love me. You won’t tell your closest friends we’re together. You won’t go out with me on a goddamn date, and when we are seen in public together, you make us look like we’re just friends. I feel like your dirty fucking secret!”

“You are not my dirty secret! God, how could you even think that?” I dug my fingers into my scalp trying to alleviate some of the horrible tension festering inside of me all of a sudden. My tone turned pleading as I continued. “You said you understood. You said we’d take this slow, that we wouldn’t put any undue pressure on the relationship. That’s all I’m trying to do! Can’t you see that?”

“All I see is that you’re still not finished punishing me for the past.” He stomped toward his desk, jerked out his chair, and slammed down in it. “You know what? I’ve got a lot of shit I have to do here. Just see yourself out. And be sure to let me know the next time you’re in the mood to fuck.”

He started pounding at the buttons on his keyboards, and just like that I’d been dismissed.

My heart told me to yell and scream. It told me to fight for what we had, for us, to fight until he understood where I was coming from. But my damn fool pride wouldn’t let me. It screamed that I shouldn’t have had to explain myself, that he should get it, that it was his fault I was so hesitant in the first place.

I turned on my heels and started for the door, ignoring every instinct I had yelling at me to stay.

The backs of my eyes burned and my throat felt like I’d swallowed a golf ball. I placed my hand on the knob and disengaged the lock, prepared to walk right through, but my feet stopped.

“You know, you keep saying that I’m holding the past against you, that I refuse to let it go, but from my count, this is the second time you’ve pushed me away because you didn’t get your way.”

With that I walked out, shutting the door behind me with a soft click.

* * *

Dominic

Fuck.

Fuck!

I screwed up. I lost my temper and ran off at the mouth without thinking.

I knew my reasons for being upset were valid, but I went about making my displeasure known the wrong way. I had to find a way to fix it, because if I let Sophia stew in her anger, she’d use it as a weapon against me.

And I couldn’t take that risk.