Chapter Three

I know nothing more now than I did before.

Except that Braden regrets what happened between Addie and him. Whatever caused their breakup.

And I need to know what it is.

“I’m done talking about this, Skye,” he says abruptly, the regret in his eyes morphing into his normal stoic look.

“But I—”

“I said I’m done. What’s in the past has nothing to do with the present. With you and me. I love you, Skye, but I have my limits.”

I warm at his admission of love. I never doubted it, but I love hearing it. Sometimes he is a little stingy with the words.

“I love you, too,” I say.

“Good.” He grips my shoulders. “I ought to take you violently, right here in the office. I ought to make you scream so loudly that my employees think I’m torturing you in here.”

I inhale sharply. Why is this turning me on so much?

I want it. I want it all. I want his lips on mine, his hands on my body, his cock inside my pussy, pounding, pounding, pounding…

But he loosens his grip. “That’s not who I am, Skye. I like having control in the bedroom. I like taking women to their limits. And yes, sometimes that involves some violence. But only with consent.”

“I…give you my consent, Braden. Take me. Take me now, as violently as you want to.”

“Don’t think I don’t want to. I’m hard as a fucking rock, but I will never take you in anger.”

“But…you’ve been angry with me before, and we’ve—”

“Never this fucking angry, Skye. This isn’t you coming in and copping to stealing a piece of useless mail. This is you going behind my back. Trying to find out something that’s none of your business, that isn’t even me anymore. It’s you thinking I could do something…” He rubs both his hands over his forehead, his cheeks reddening.

“But I don’t think it, Braden. I just want the truth.”

“Then we have nothing more to discuss. Until you let this go, we don’t have a future. Just goes to show you that I was initially right. I shouldn’t do relationships.”

My heart thunders. It drowns everything out until all I hear is its beat—the rapid roar that makes my soul shudder. I don’t move.

I don’t speak.

“Why are you standing there?” he asks. “There’s nothing more to discuss, and I have work to do.”

“What if I refuse to leave?”

The blue of his irises darkens. He can make me leave. I know this. He can easily call security or, for that matter, he can toss me over one shoulder and get rid of me himself. The thought of that happening shouldn’t turn me on, but God, it does.

Silence penetrates the room. He doesn’t move. Neither do I.

Stalemate?

Neither of us will give up control—until he stalks toward me, grabs my shoulders, and crushes his lips to mine.

My lips are already parted, and his tongue darts into my mouth. The kiss is raw and frantic. Raw and frantic and yes, angry. Anger exudes from Braden. Exudes from him and into the kiss.

My nipples press against his chest, and my whole body throbs in time with my heart. I’m wet. Wet and ready.

Then he rips his mouth from mine. “Fuck it,” he says. “Take off your shirt, Skye. Take off your shirt and sit down in my chair.”

I inhale a sharp breath and walk to his chair on wobbly legs. I unbutton my shirt, trying to go slowly but moving quickly because I can’t wait for whatever he has planned. He didn’t ask for my bra, but I remove it anyway and toss it onto the floor. My breasts are already warm and rosy, and they fall against my chest.

Braden sucks in a breath. “Damn, Skye, you have the most beautiful tits in the free world.”

He unbuckles his belt, unzips his pants, and pulls out his beautiful, hard cock. “I’m going to fuck those tits, Skye. I want to come all over your chest and give you a goddamned pearl necklace.”

He walks toward me and slides his dick up between my breasts. It’s hot, so hot, and when the head of his erection comes toward my lips, I stick out my tongue and lick the tip.

“Fuck,” he says. He pulls his dick back down and then slides it upward once more. “Crush your tits together, Skye. Crush your tits together and play with your nipples while I fuck them.”

I’m wet now. So wet. As lovely as his dick feels between my breasts, I want him in my pussy. I need him in my pussy.

But I’m wearing jeans. Jeans and shoes and socks.

If only I’d taken all my clothes off and not just my shirt and bra.

He continues to slide his dick between my breasts, and I continue to flick my tongue over the tip with each thrust.

Then he thrusts upward harder, sliding the head of his cock between my lips. Now he’s fucking my mouth, and oh my God, I want him even more than ever. I need him inside me. But I can’t tell him because my mouth is full of his cock.

Thankfully, he seems to have the same idea. He takes his dick out of my mouth and pulls me up by my shoulders.

“Your jeans, Skye. Get those fucking jeans off. Now.”

I glance toward the door. Is it locked? Hell, I don’t care. I need Braden inside me, and I need him now.

Quickly I get rid of my offending shoes, socks, and jeans. He flips me around. “Put one knee up on the chair, Skye.”

I obey, and swiftly he thrusts his cock inside me.

I let out a slow groan. Everything. Everything and nothing all at once. Braden inside me is all I need right now, and I want him closer. I look over my shoulder and grab his tie, yanking him down toward me. I thrust my tongue between his lips. He fucks me as we kiss, groaning into my mouth.

My boobs dangle, slapping against my naked chest. He breaks the kiss then and grabs both of my tits, squeezing each nipple.

I’m so ready. But I need him to touch my clit.

Wait! I have two hands. I only need one to hold my weight on the chair. I reach downward to my vulva—

“No!”

I freeze. My body still throbs; my nipples still long for him to touch them.

“You don’t get to come today,” Braden says.

I bite my lower lip, moving my hand down again.

“I said no.” He grabs both of my hands behind me, holding them in one of his, and then he loosens his burgundy tie and takes it off his neck. He quickly binds my wrists together behind my back. “When I say no, Skye, I mean no.”

“You also said you wouldn’t take me in anger.”

For that comment, I get a swift smack on one butt cheek. The stinging warmth radiates to my pussy, making my clit throb even harder. Then he shoves his cock into me once more.

Every thrust makes me hotter. Every time he nips at my neck, I want more and more to jump off the peak. But I’m climbing, climbing, climbing…

He’s still angry. I can feel it in the way he sinks into me. He doesn’t play with my nipples anymore. He just fucks me.

“Damn it, Skye,” he says, his voice low in my ear. “Damn what you do to me.”

I let out a soft moan.

“Do you know how much I want to eat you right now? Eat all that cream out of you and suck on your clit until you come all over my face? Do you think it’s any fun for me not to let you come? Do you?” He slaps my ass again. “Answer me. Damn it, answer me!”

“I… I…”

His hand comes down on my ass again.

I’m so close. So damned close, but I won’t come. I can’t. Not until he lets me.

He controls my orgasms. I never had one until him, and now he controls them all.

“Please, Braden. Please let me come.”

As if in answer, he gives me one last hard thrust, and I feel him releasing inside my walls.

“I fucking love you, Skye. I shouldn’t, but I do.”

He stays embedded inside me for a timeless moment. When he finally withdraws, he pushes a handkerchief into my hand. After I clean myself, I turn around, naked, and meet his gaze.

“That will be all,” he says simply. “I had to have you once more.”

“Are you kicking me out of your office?” I swallow as my heart drops. “Or out of your life?”

“Both.”

Invisible fists crush my heart. I didn’t think this through. In my need to know the truth—in my need to control—I exhibited an utter lack of control.

Braden walks back to his desk.

“I love you,” I say.

“I love you, too.” He clears his throat. “Love is nothing without trust, Skye.”

I shudder, nodding. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I do trust you, Braden. I wouldn’t have gone as far as I have without trust. Please, I don’t want to lose what we have.”

He says nothing.

Nothing.

The clock ticks.

Has he changed his mind? Will he give me another chance?

Finally—

“Then be at my place this evening, as scheduled. Christopher will pick you up at six thirty.”

I nod. “Okay.”

“And Skye?”

“Yeah?”

“Be ready for anything.”