The Boss (23 page)

"Much better. My sister and I decided it
would be best if mum were to go live with her." He sounded a bit
guilty about that. "She’d been staying at my house in Somerset, but
I think it’s a bit too much for her now.”

"You have a sister?" I filed that away. I
didn't know why, because it wasn’t like I was ever going to meet
his family.

He nodded and gestured to the picture frame
on my nightstand. "Do you have any siblings?"

"Only child." I went to his side and reached
down, gently tipping the picture onto its face. "Single mom. Very
protective. She doesn't need to be here for this."

He laughed and pulled me into his arms, and I
went, gladly. The unhurried tempo of an A Fine Frenzy song lulled
me into a comfortable, relaxed state, as much as his embrace did.
His hand splayed against the small of my back, the other slid down
my arm, lacing our fingers together as he slowly pulled me into a
sway with the music.

"I really, really missed you," he whispered
beside my ear as I leaned my head on his shoulder.

I was drunk. He was messed up on pills. And
somehow, this was the single most romantic moment of my life.

I had to lighten the room a little, didn't I?
"You were only gone for a week."

"Eight days," he corrected me. He stilled,
and released my hand so he could tilt my face up to his with two
fingers. My lips parted in a smile as I anticipated his kiss, but
he waited, looking in my eyes for a moment that took my breath
away. "But I wasn't talking about the trip."

Why do so many emotions feel exactly like a
collapsed lung?

There were a lot of things I could say, but
all of them might lead to some kind of pharmaceutical confession he
didn't mean to make, and I was way too drunk to handle that right
now. So I said, "Shut up," and pulled his mouth down to mine.

I was used to controlled, careful Neil. He
wasn’t in tonight. His hands were everywhere, roaming over my back,
tugging at the clasp of my bra until I took pity on him and reached
to help him. I slid my hands under his sweater and the button-down
beneath it, and he pulled both over his head, bringing our bare
skin together as though he couldn't stand to be apart for another
moment.

I'd read the term "ravished" before, I'd just
never expected to use it in a context that wasn't ironic. But there
was no better way to describe the series of hungry, desperate
kisses that left me literally swooning. Of course, the alcohol had
a hand in that as well.

"Bed," I gasped against his mouth. I held his
face in both my hands as we tumbled onto the duvet. I tossed my bra
aside and reached for the top button of my pants. He pulled me
beneath him as I shimmied my jeans down my legs.

"Look at you," he murmured against the tops
of my breasts, kneading them in his hands. "You are so fucking
beautiful."

I moaned and arched into his touch, lifting
my pelvis. I rubbed myself shamelessly against his thigh.
Everything we did was sloppy and clumsy and awful, but so wickedly
hot I didn't want to stop, not even when he raised his head in
dismay, releasing my nipple from his mouth to say, "I... don't have
a condom."

Yikes
. There was that record scratch
again, sobering me just enough to consider the situation. We'd both
had our checkups, right? And I was on the pill. But the pill could
fail. What would I do then? And did my fear of the consequences in
the long term actually outweigh my horniness in the moment?

Not one damn bit. "I'm fine with that, if you
are," I told him.

He studied my face for a moment, clearly
weighing things out on his end, too. For as much good as all the
thinking would do either of us in our altered states. Neither of us
should have been making this particular choice in this particular
moment. All we cared about was that we felt good and were about to
feel a whole lot better. Since there wasn't anyone more capable- or
less intoxicated- in the room, the choice was up to us.

"Oh, fuck it then," he conceded, and pushed
himself up to kiss me. I sucked at his tongue, gripped his
shoulders, writhed shamelessly against him.

I wanted him so badly that I was trembling
all over. I wrapped my legs around his waist, tore my mouth from
his and begged, "Please."

He leaned up to unbuckle his belt and unzip
his fly, and I squirmed out of my panties. There was a flurry of
frantic motion between us, and somehow we ended up naked, on the
sheets instead of the duvet. I straddled his lap, trapping his
thick erection between my pussy and his stomach. He groaned in
appreciation as I slid my slick my flesh over the length of him,
grinding my clit against his impossible hardness. I could have
teased him like that forever, could have rubbed myself on him until
I came, but I was too impatient. I shifted my hips and reached
behind me to grasp him, guiding him into me.

I have had unprotected intercourse somewhere
along the lines of zero times in my entire life. My mother raised
me to view every man I slept with as someone I might have to spend
the rest of my life co-parenting with, and her lived experience had
instilled deep paranoia in me. I’d never gone bareback with anyone
before, so it was a totally bizarre feeling as Neil slipped inside
me, all velvety and hot, with nothing separating us.

"Holy shit," I rasped, clenching my muscles
around him. I guessed by his throaty groan that it felt just as
amazing to him.

It took me a moment to remember to move, and
Neil's hands fell to my hips to urge me along. I braced my palms on
his chest and sat up straighter, gasping as he slipped too
deep.

I went slow, shifting my hips gently to avoid
feeling that shock of pain again. I didn't mind the "bottoming out"
feeling during rough sex, but right now, I wasn't looking for
rough. Right now, I just wanted him.

His arms surrounded me, and he curled up from
the bed to kiss my breasts, my shoulders, my neck. My hair fell
around both of us, and he brushed it impatiently aside to cover my
mouth with his. His teeth grazed my lower lip and caught it
gently.

Sitting like this, in his lap with my legs
around his back, my hands in his hair, I didn't have a lot of
leverage to move. It made for an incredibly tight fit, though, and
I wriggled, trapped on his cock, unable to escape the delicious
feeling of fullness.

He caught my arms behind my back, held my
wrists in one strong hand. Leaning close to my ear, he whispered,
"No, no. Don't move."

Shivers raced down my spine. He exerted just
enough pressure on my wrists that it felt... stern. Commanding. My
head fell back, my hair brushing over my shoulder blades.

"I want to tie you up like this," he murmured
against my jaw. There was something primal and dangerous about my
throat being so exposed to him. When he nipped at my pulse point, I
took in a breath and held it, and felt him smile against my neck.
"Would you let me do that to you?"

"Yes, Sir," I breathed. I needed him to move.
I needed something to push me over the edge. He traced a path up to
my ear with his tongue and sucked my earlobe into his mouth.

Damn him. He knew what that did to me. He
flexed within me, pulsing, exerting such exquisite pressure against
my g-spot that all I wanted to do was thrash and writhe on him. The
effect of his voice on my brain was almost enough to throw me over
the edge into bliss. His tongue swirled over the shell of my ear,
then just behind it, and I dug my fingernails into my palms,
willing myself to sit still. He rocked inside me, once, twice,
ratcheting my arousal higher and higher with barely any movement at
all, and I spiraled out of control, shouting, shuddering,
trembling.

Surprising me with his strength, he released
my wrists and wrapped an arm around my waist, rolling me beneath
him. My pussy felt impossibly tight and far too sensitive in the
wake of my orgasm. I babbled and practically sobbed as he withdrew
with torturous slowness, then eased back in. He slipped one arm
beneath the bend of my left knee and raised my leg, driving deeper,
holding me hard to him.

"Please, please, please," I gasped, and
though I didn't know exactly what I was asking for, I was totally
confident that he did.

Oh, he totally did.

He pumped into me with long, slow strokes,
his hand splayed beside my head, pinning my hair to the mattress.
At first, I just held on to him, but soon I was clutching the
pillows, lifting my hips, riding incredible waves of pleasure until
another climax broke over me. I felt it take him over, too, and he
groaned beside my ear as his cock jerked deep within me.

I gasped, and after a moment, he lifted his
head. "Are you alright?"

My face grew hot with embarrassment, and I
couldn't help my giggles as he slipped from me, hissing under his
breath.

"It's silly," I protested. He rolled to lie
at my side, and pulled me into his arms.

"I don't care if it's silly," he muttered
against my forehead, dropping a kiss there to punctuate his words
"I asked because I wanted to know."

"I... um, I've never had like, full
intercourse without a condom before," I confessed. Then I
remembered how inexperienced I had been the first time we'd been
together, and I had to laugh as I added, "I didn't realize I would
be able to... feel it."

He laughed at that. "I assume you're
referring to- ”

"Your cum, yes." I could feel it now, leaking
out of me and coating my thighs. "Shut up, now I'm
embarrassed."

"Don't be." He tilted my chin up so he could
look me in the eye. "You don’t ever have to be embarrassed with me.
You are, without exception, the most exciting lover I have ever
been with. And that's not the anti-anxiety drugs talking."

I snorted. "That's very nice of you, but I
don't think I'm that exciting."

"Don't be coy, it doesn't suit you." He
reached down and pulled the sheets and blankets over us. Another
derisive laugh from me caused him to defend his position with blunt
truth. "Well, you did let me fuck your ass the first time we met. I
thought that was quite adventurous of you."

I squealed at his crude words and slapped his
shoulder. "Hey, you led me astray from the garden path, or
whatever. I'd never done that before."

"I'm honored to be your mentor in all of
these depraved practices.”

It felt good to lay in his arms, to have him
next to me again. Maybe he was right; maybe we should see each
other more often.

Something stirred in the back of my mind.
"Can I ask you something?"

"No," he replied sleepily. "No, we don't know
each other well enough for something as intimate as a
question."

I sighed my annoyance at his teasing. "Six
years ago... why did you take my plane ticket, if you were just
going to leave me enough money to buy another one, anyway?"

His chest rose under my cheek, and he held
his breath for a moment as he considered his answer. "I didn't want
to strand you. I just wanted to make you slow down and think. You
were so brilliant and full of life... I didn't want to see you do
something rash out of fear. I felt absolutely helpless to see you
make this mistake for yourself... I suppose I was playing the role
of Emma's father, rather than Sophie's one-night stand."

"Well, I made the right choice," I
congratulated myself, rubbing the arch of my foot up and down his
calf. It was getting more difficult to keep my eyes open. I yawned,
a bit louder than I was expecting. "I'm sleepy."

"Do you want me to leave?" he asked, stirring
under my hand.

I shook my head and snuggled in closer. "No.
No, right now, everything is perfect."

* * * *

I woke to the
warmth of Neil's body beside me, the coarse hair on his chest
beneath my palm. The late morning sun illuminated the room, and
dust motes cheerfully drifted in the light from the window.

He'd stayed all night. That both pleased and
utterly terrified me.

As I sat up to check the time, he stirred
beside me, murmuring a sleep thick, "Good morning."

I opened my mouth to answer him and - Oh god.
My breath.

He reached for me, one arm around my waist,
and I quickly stopped him with a hand against his shoulder, my
other hand covering my mouth. I gasped a horrified, muffled,
"No!"

He squinted at me in the clean morning light,
looking a bit annoyed. "Oh, for fu- do you think I've never smelled
morning breath before?"

"You haven't smelled mine, and you aren't
going to." I rolled to my side, facing away from him, and pulled
the blankets over my mouth.

He spooned up behind me, an impressive
morning erection pressing against my ass.

"Well, good morning to you, too," I giggled,
and he nuzzled his head into my shoulder to kiss my neck.

He chuckled, and I felt it rumbling low and
deep in his chest. "Don't be too flattered, it's because I really
have to pee."

"Well, I guess we're not doing the morning
sex thing, then?" I turned my head to bat my eyes at him over the
top of the blanket. He pulled away from me reluctantly. "No, I'm
afraid not. I have lunch with Rudy at noon, and I need to stop at
home and change. And chisel off these contacts."

"You wear contacts?" I couldn't believe I'd
never noticed them before. I spent enough time staring into his
eyes, after all.

"Only when I want to see." He sat up on the
other side of the bed, squinting as he scanned the room. "We'll do
the big, romantic morning tomorrow, I promise."

Tomorrow?
Oh, that was right. "Do you
still want me to come over? I mean, since we kind of already spent
the night?"

"I wanted to spend the weekend with you," he
reminded me with a grin. "You're not tired of me already?"

Tired of him? I was actually a little bit
freaked out by how much I liked being with him. I’d never let a guy
spend the entire night with me before. I don’t know how it had
changed things, but something definitely felt different. Even
though I couldn't put my finger on it, it worried me. This was a
casual relationship. If I started wanting to spend all my time with
him, if I wanted to start sleeping in the same bed with him and
being constantly around him, that could be trouble.