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Taryn
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I’m stuffed with wine and wings, and I can’t remember when I’ve had a better time. I’m happy when Carter pays the tab and walks me to my car. Gone is the dick from the phone call we had a few days ago. This is the Carter from my youth. I’d even laughed when the Nuggets won the basketball game and he’d cheered like a teenager.
“So, Monday?” he asks, his proximity next to the driver’s side of my car very close but not uncomfortable. He’s awakening things in me that remind me of five years ago.
I nod slowly, staring up at him as I lick my lips nervously. “Yeah.”
His gaze moves down to my lips and then slowly travels up to my eyes. I don’t break eye contact when he stares at me like a hungry wolf. My stomach swirls with nervousness and I want nothing more than for Carter Lockwood to kiss me then do other things to me. Strip off my clothes and devour me like an animal. Take my new-to-him tits for a test drive.
But of course, I don’t do anything. I wait for him to make the move. Without breaking eye contact, he reaches around and opens my driver’s side door.
Whoops... forgot to lock it.
“Thanks for meeting me, love. I’m glad we could clear the air,” he said, indicating I should get into my car before he does something he’ll regret.
He might regret it, but I won’t.
I pause, making sure he’s serious, then get into my car and push the button, starting it up.
I leave the door open and he bends down. “Drive safe, Taryn, and I’ll see you on Monday.”
Dammit, is he really going to leave me all hot and bothered like this?
“Bye,” I say, reaching for the door, but Carter shuts it for me.
As I drive off, I realize he made the right decision. I can’t go fucking my new boss before I even start the job.
Nepotism... yeah, that would definitely fit the description.
***
I pant hard, my breaths coming out in whooshes. The two-mile jog around my neighborhood helped expel some of this stress, but all I did the whole time was think about Carter. Out of breath, I sprint up the stone steps to my condo. Once inside, I down an entire bottle of water.
I’m restless and breathless. I sink onto the sofa and pop on the TV to distract me. I still pay for cable because I’m lazy and want the TV to decide for me what to watch. The screen immediately shows two people fucking.
Seriously?
The man yanks the woman by her ankle and drags her to the edge of the bed, forces her thighs apart, and then slams into her. She screams.
My eyes widen as I watch him pump in and out of her, reaching down to roll her nipple between his fingers. Her head arches back, her black hair splayed out on white sheets, her mouth open as she grips the sheets and screams.
What channel is this showing porn in the middle of the day?
His ass works furiously, chasing his release, and my hand moves without my permission past the waistband of my athletic shorts. I’m soaked and use my juices to swirl around my clit. I close my eyes and imagine it’s Carter fucking me into submission, his thick cock pummeling me into orgasm after orgasm.
“Oh, God,” I groan, feeling my climax build.
I open my eyes and rush into my room for my toy. I find it quickly in my nightstand, rip off my shorts, lie down on my bed, and insert it vibrating furiously into me. My hips rise off the bed and I bite my lip to keep me from screaming.
The vibrations get me there quickly and I’m struggling not to come. I’m trying to hold off coming but all I see behind my closed lids is Carter’s dick pumping in and out of me.
“Fuck, you’re so wet, Taryn. I’m gonna come so hard inside of you.” He’s panting hard. He leans down to kiss me and we make out, our tongues wrestling together, and he struggles not to explode.
I whimper and cry as he fucks me hard and fast. My fingers dig into his back, my legs spread as far as they’ll go, my knees practically touching the bed. I grip his hard ass.
“I’m gonna come, love. Fucking come right now, baby. I need you to come.”
And I do. I scream. “Carter!”
My uterus cramps and my clit tightens as wave after wave washes over me. My head is arched back, my teeth biting into my pillow as the little vibrating machine causes my sex to gush all over my comforter.
“Holy crap, where did that come from?” I ask nobody as I stare at the ceiling. I came so hard my pulse pounds in my ears.
I hear my phone ringing from the other room. I throw my shorts back on and dash into the kitchen where it’s plugged into the charger.
The screen shows Unknown number.
“Hello?” I answer.
The robotic female voice greets me. “This is a call from an inmate at the Colorado State—”
I cut her off by hitting 1 on my keypad.
“Hi,” I hear my brother say.
I’m still trying to catch my breath from my impromptu self-love session and feel a little sleazy talking to my brother right now.
“How’s it going?” I ask, steadying my breath.
“Same ol’. I do have good news though. I got my release date.”
I perk up. “Oh, yeah?”
“Yep. March third. I’ve got eleven months to go!”
“Oh, my gosh, that’s great,” I say.
“My caseworker in here needs a release plan though. You cool if I say I’m gonna stay with you after I get out? They might send a parole officer out to your place to inspect it and make sure you don’t have guns and shit there, just to warn you.”
I move around my kitchen, taking some eggs and tortillas out of the fridge. I’m suddenly starving. “Of course that’s okay. There’s nothing here that’ll get you into trouble. You know that. But, Eric... you are going to be staying here, right? Not just saying that?”
“Well, I don’t want to be a burden. I’ll just stay at Mom’s.”
I crack two eggs into a hot buttered pan and add a little milk and cheese. “I mean, you can but you won’t get into trouble? Why don’t you just tell them you’re going to be living there?”
He sighs and I try to tune out the echoing background noise of men’s voices. “Because I can’t live alone at first. I need community support... is how they say it.”
“Oh, I see. Well, we’ll figure something out. I have the two bedrooms here so if you have to stay here, that’s fine.”
“That’s a relief, sis. It really is. I can’t wait to get out. I’m so fucking tired of this place. Being around dudes twenty-four-seven. The same food. The same gym. The same job. The drama. I’m over it.”
I never ask when he mentions drama. I’m assuming fights and other stuff that go on there. I know Eric can take care of himself but I just don’t want to know. I guess he’ll have plenty of stories when he gets out. I worry about him being able to find a job and such, but he’s got a degree in sports medicine and he’s a hard worker. Hopefully something will work out.
“I bet you are,” I reply. “So... I got fired from Mills & Graves.”
“What?” he practically screeches. “Why?”
“Well, not fired but laid off. Melinda said it was budget cuts or some shit. I already got another job so it’s fine.”
“Oh, that’s a relief. Where?”
I bite my lip and move the cooked eggs to a plate while I throw in the tortilla to heat it up. He’s going to snap when I tell him, but I have to. “Well, Carter Lockwood sorta offered me a job.”
He’s quiet for a few seconds, then says, “Seriously, Taryn?”
I flip the tortilla. “Yes, I’m serious. Why? Is that a problem? He’s paying me almost double what I was making at the law firm.”
“Well, he’s been kinda absent lately. Didn’t even show up to Mom’s funeral. You know he’s the first one I’m gonna confront when I get the fuck outta here.”
The phone beeps, warning him he has one minute left on his phone call.
“Fuck. We’ll talk later. I’m glad you got a job though. Just be careful, okay?”
Careful? I shake my head and load the cheesy eggs into the tortilla. I have absolutely no energy to fight with him. “I will,” I say simply, knowing he has to go.
“Love you, sis.”
“Love you, too,” I reply and the call goes dead. I dump hot sauce and some chopped peppers into the tortilla and fold it up.
I contemplate his words as I eat my breakfast burrito for lunch. Be careful? What does he know that I don’t?
I shake my head, realizing he’s just being a territorial ass, and finish my burrito, quickly changing the TV to something more watchable before I have to go over to my mom’s to start on her kitchen.
***
“Thanks for all your help.” I smile at Christa as I wash my hands in the sink. She’d been at work all day but offered to come over and help me pack up the kitchen.
“Of course, girl. But hey... Since your brother’s moving in here, don’t you think you should leave some stuff?” Christa suggests, wiping her hands on her short-shorts.
I nod. “I plan to. I’m gonna get rid of all the food though, it’ll be no good in a year. I’ll leave some dishes, cups, and pots and pans. Maybe the stuff in the spice cabinet. But that’s it. He can get the rest himself.”
“Think he’ll find a job after he gets out?” she asks, tossing expired boxes of cereal, crackers, and flour into a trash bag.
I lift a shoulder. “Hard to say. He’s got the degree but he’ll have to find someplace that will hire a convicted felon.”
“True,” she comments as she goes back into the pantry to get rid of things. “I’m just glad you already found a job. Girl, I was so worried!”
I laugh. “Got lucky, I think.”
“There’s nothing about luck, you’re more than qualified for that job. It’s nice you know the owner though.”
“I’m still nervous to work with him. I’ve known him forever, and he’s super hot,” I admit.
“Ooh, an office crush already. Lord knows there was no eye candy at all at Mills.”
Chuckling, I open another cabinet and begin gathering all the extra dishes and putting them in a box. “Girl, I can’t be flirting with my boss. I’ll get in trouble or something. The HR lady seems like a hard-ass. I’m sure she’ll be watching me like a hawk.”
“You guys can have secret dates outside of working. Why is sneaking around so fun and exciting?” She giggles and pitches a bag of chips into the trash bag.
“I don’t know but you’re right, it is. But it’s not going to be like that with him. I’m sure he has a girlfriend, anyway,” I state. The guy’s gorgeous, flirtatious, and rich. No way he doesn’t have a few girls sniffing around him.
Once we finish with the kitchen, we pile the trash inside and next to the bins outside and stack the boxes in the garage. I can’t call the junk removal place until I know how much they’re going to have to haul off.
It’s getting late, so I hug Christa and thank her for helping me. I drive back to my condo and once inside, I heat up some leftover pizza and sit on the sofa, clearing out all the notifications on my phone. I’d left it in the car while I was at my mom’s. An email catches my eye so I open it to see it’s from the HR lady, Lisa, at Lockwood Technologies. My stomach swirls with excitement when I see the official job offer in writing, with a start date of Monday. Attached are all the usual new employee forms and she asks that I fill out as much as I can before I arrive Monday. I make a mental note to do it from my laptop tomorrow.
Tonight, I’m exhausted. I have so much on my mind it’s wearing me out. I think about Eric getting out in less than a year and worry about what I’m going to do with him. I feel responsible for making sure he succeeds after he’s released. I’ve read too much about recidivism rates of people who are released from prison and how a lot end up going back because they don’t function well in society. I realize Eric’s a one-time offender and didn’t grow up surrounded by crime, and I also know how much he loathes prison—though, I can’t imagine that anyone would truly enjoy it and come out with pleasant memories.
I tell myself I’ll worry about him when he gets out. For now, all I can do is make sure Mom’s place is ready for him, and then help him find work.
I miss my mom something fierce and keep having to remind myself that I can’t just pick up the phone and call her. She was the first one I wanted to call when Carter offered me the job. I just know she’d be happy to hear that I’m going to be working for him. She always liked Carter—felt sorry for him that he was left alone a lot. I felt bad for him, too, but he always seemed like a happy guy when he was over, never showing signs of being miserable or stressed. He’s always been a driven, resourceful guy, that much I know. And now he owns what I can only assume is a million-dollar business that he built from the ground up. He has to be super proud of himself. Honestly, I’m proud of him, too.
I throw my paper plate into the trash and plug my phone into its charger. I have to go back to Mom’s tomorrow and keep cleaning. I have the rest of the week to do it so that gives me a goal to get it all done, because come Monday, I know I won’t want to spend my nights and weekends doing it.
After a hot shower, I fall into bed and close my eyes but only see Carter’s face behind my eyelids.