Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 93387 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93387 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
“Why?” I had to ask.
“I’ve never thought of myself as a relationship person. I don’t connect with people easily. I meet a woman, we go out, but there’s never been that spark. After a few dates, either they think I’m an emotionless windbag or I find them boring. If there is nothing but sex, it gets old fast.”
“So why am I here?”
He smiled, setting aside his coffee and pulling me onto his lap so I straddled him. “Because you, Maggie darling, don’t bore me. You make me laugh, which is rare. You challenge me.” His voice became softer. “You see me. You care for me. I’ve never had that—my entire life. You take my good with my bad, and you equal them out. I love that.”
I wasn’t sure how to respond. “Are you sure it’s not just your perfect calendar talking?”
He slid his hand up my arm, bunching it into my hair. “How you run my office is such a gift for me. But how you run me is what I like. The sandwiches. The coffee.” He tilted his head. “Your smile. Your soul. The energy you emit. It draws me in. I want to be around you. I can’t wait to see you every day.” He sighed. “It’s a bit disconcerting, to be honest. I’ve never experienced this until you.”
“Oh.”
“I’ve never had a relationship like this. I don’t know how good I’ll be at it. If I’m capable.”
“Why would you say that?”
“Relationships require a lot of emotion. I’m not good with emotions. Caring.”
“I think you’re better at them than you give yourself credit for.”
“There you go, seeing something in me I don’t see myself. I need you for that.” He paused. “This isn’t some torrid boss-assistant affair, Magnolia,” he murmured. “I want to try. With you.”
“I want that too.”
“I like you. I like everything about you.” He paused. “Aside from your horrible taste in condoms.”
I started to laugh, then covered my mouth. “Not funny.”
He shrugged, a playful smile on his face. “Kinda is—now.”
“Can I ask how, um, it—you—are feeling?”
He ran his fingers up my leg, stroking the skin under my skirt. “Better.”
“How better?”
“Still sensitive, but better.”
I wound my arms around his neck. “What if I kissed your boo-boo and made it all better? Softly, slowly, until you feel really, really good.”
He tightened his grip on my legs, his cock swelling between us. “As long as you tell me you understand something.”
“What?” I asked breathlessly.
“You’re mine. In the office, you’re my assistant. After hours, you’re everything else.”
“Can you keep them separate?”
He grinned, standing. “I can. Unless you wear pants. Or that black skirt. Maybe the blue one.”
I laughed into his neck as he strode down the hall.
“All right.”
He set me on my feet by his bed, bending and cupping my face. He kissed me until I couldn’t breathe. Until I was desperate to feel him. He drew back. “Mine.”
I grasped his belt, pulling. “Yours.”
BANE
Dawn was beginning to color the sky as I lay watching Magnolia. I found her as fascinating asleep as I did when she was awake. I had never had a woman spend the night. Never invited one into my home and had them cook in my kitchen.
Never felt the pang of regret over the fact that I would have to wake her and end the night that we’d shared.
She’d been exactly what she said she’d be. Gentle, sweet, and somehow sexier than ever as she took my cock in her mouth, using her tongue to gently tease me. There was nothing hurried, hard, or insistent about her. Yet she drew out my orgasm as easily as if we were lost in a frenzy of lust. It was her care, her touch, her eyes as she looked up at me that did it. No one had ever looked at me the way she did. I had a feeling no one ever would.
After, I’d lain her on my bed and worshipped her, discovering every nuance of her body. The ticklish spot below her breasts and knees. The way she trembled as I traced my tongue along her tattoo and suckled behind her ear. How she moaned when I stroked her clit. The way she lost herself with me. All these things were a wonder to a man who always remained closed off. It was impossible to be anything but open with her. Even during office hours.
Her fingers flexed and her toes curled as she slowly blinked awake. She met my gaze with a smile then sat upright, panicked. “Oh God. We fell asleep.”
I touched her cheek. “It’s fine, Magnolia. Darryl will drive you home first, and you can change and come to the office.”
“He’ll know,” she said, looking worried.
“He knew last night, baby. He’s loyal and I trust him. He won’t say a word.”
“Okay. We should go, then.”
“We have lots of time.”