This wasn't one of them.

I drove myself back against him, making a sound in the back of my throat as he started to fill me.

He grabbed my hip, immobilizing me. He was only half-way inside, but he was still as big as some other lovers I'd had in the past.

“Do you want to come?” he asked.

“You think you can make me beg?”

He laughed and the sound was ragged. “Yes. I can make you beg.”

He surged deep again, hard and fast, three times – almost –

Then he stopped. I was still panting and on the edge of climax when he settled back into that shallow, teasing pattern. I swore and twisted my hips as best I could. If he would only–

He drove into me again, hard, fast. Three thrusts.

Then again, slow, teasing.

“You son of a bitch,” I snarled. Damn bastard.

“Beg.” This time, when he said it, he let go of my hands and grabbed my hair, hauling me up so that my spine pressed against his chest. The pressure on my scalp was electric. Upright now, being so much shorter than him, I was all but impaled on his cock, my knees barely touching the cushion beneath me. I undulated and gasped as the motion had the head of his cock rubbing in almost the right spot. He was so close. A little more to the–

There.

“Toni…”

But I didn’t hear anything else. Lost in the most powerful climax of my life, I was deaf to everything, even the sound of my own ragged moans.

***

Morning came.

I’d kind of figured it would, since the clock had kept ticking away during the night. After the gut-wrenchingly raw sex on the couch, Ash had scooped me up into his arms and staggered his way the few short steps to my tiny bed.

He'd collapsed on the bed, me on top of him…and then he was inside me and it had started all over again. A few minutes after it ended, he staggered upright and went to the bathroom.

When he came out, he dropped beside me and didn’t move again. After a few minutes, I'd gotten up and gone into the bathroom to shower. It was only then that I realized we hadn't used any protection. Fortunately, I'd been on the pill since college – well, since I was sixteen anyway. I could only hope that Ash had been smarter with his other partners than he had been with me. I'd get tested just in case. I hadn't let myself brood on it though. I'd showered and gone back to bed.

That had been five hours ago.

I’d left him alone in the bedroom a few minutes ago and had come out to the living room to, of course, brood.

I’d just made one of the biggest mistakes of my life and I knew it.

Ashford Lang might not have been my boss, per se, but he was damn close.

I wasn’t worried so much about any kind of power imbalance there since he didn’t technically have any control over me. Well, maybe he could tell Isadora, but if she ended up firing me because I’d had sex with her brother, I didn’t want to work with her anyway. I was still trying to figure out if I’d stay on even if –

“No if,” I muttered into my coffee. “When. When.”

I’d carve it in concrete if I had to. When she was found, the question was, could I keep working with her? Part of me didn’t want to think about walking away. I'd only known her a week, but I already cared about her. I totally understood that she had to be feeling somewhat smothered, but at the same time, the girl I knew was so…sweet, she’d let herself suffer. She’d deal with her own unhappiness to make others happy and she’d somehow be happy because of it. She'd let me go with some amazing severance package and a smile even if it left her in the lurch.

It was part of what just made her…sweet.

It was also part of what made me determined to think when.

She’d be found.

And when she was…

I gripped my coffee cup and lifted it to my lips.

Could I keep working for her? Knowing that I’d see her brother, day in and day out?

I can stand you just fine. It’s just hard to look at you and not want to bury my cock in you the second I see you.

I was already way too attracted to him.

I already knew he was bad for me, and that was an understatement.

Could I handle being around him if I knew he wanted me the same way I wanted him?

More, if he crooked his finger, would I go running?

A slight sound from the other end of the apartment had me lowering the cup of coffee. I craned my head around and looked down the hallway. That faint noise was all I heard for a few minutes, and I went back to slowly and steadily feeding my need for caffeine.

By the time he came out, I'd poured him a cup and myself a second. He took the mug gratefully, but in silence.

Neither of us said anything.

My phone rang after he’d taken a few sips, and I saw him start for the door.

I couldn't really say I was surprised.

Pissed off, sure.

But surprised?

No.

Unfortunately.

Chapter 4

Toni

The sound of the door closing didn’t so much as hurt as it…echoed.

I could feel it, in a strange, surreal way. It echoed all the way down into my soul, and it was still echoing even when I told Victor I needed a few minutes, and could he please call back? I hung up before I heard his reply.

I took advantage of the brief respite and locked myself in the bathroom.

Ash had been in here.

I mean, I'd expected him to use the bathroom, but I hadn't expected to be able to walk in and sense his presence. He was neat, but I could see the telltale signs.

My shampoo wasn’t in the same spot I usually put it. I always left my folded towels with the crease to the right. It was to the left now and slightly askew.

It wasn't anything major, and while I was something of a neat freak, I couldn’t fault the condition he’d left my bathroom in. There were no seats left raised; no toothpaste left in the sink even though I knew he’d used mine. I only knew because I’d left it on the counter late last night when I'd brushed my teeth three times over, as if that would scrub the taste of him from my memory. It was back in the medicine cabinet.

The spare toothbrush I always left in the cabinet was gone.

I made a mental note to buy another one even as I turned on the water and splashed icy wet over my face. It did nothing to cool the heat inside me.

I was still shaking, still unsteady, and still…wanting.

I still wanted him and I wanted to call him.

I didn’t even know his number. I had it somewhere, of course, since part of being Isadora's assistant meant having the numbers of all of the people she might need to contact. Including her brother.

I was also half-sick with worry over Isadora, and if I'd thought the two of us would be able to wait it out together, I would've just asked him to stay. But I knew better.

He couldn’t be around me without wanting to fight with me.

Well, fight me or fuck me.

One or both would put me in a very bad place and I knew it.

He wasn't good for me, no matter how badly I wanted him.

The phone ringing caught me off guard and I let out a startled sound. A quick look at my watch told me that I’d been in the bathroom for nearly twenty minutes.

“Time flies when you’re freaking out,” I muttered.

Grumbling the entire way, I hurried to the landline that sat above my kitchenette counter. I answered it, but didn't get to even finish a hello before my brother was talking.

“Geez, Toni,” Vic said. “I need to talk to you, Vic. It’s urgent. Not now, Vic. I’m tied up. Make up your mind already, why don’t you?”

“Shut it, Vic.” Tired already, I slumped against the counter and stared outside. The sky was so blue, dotted with puffy blue clouds. “So…ummm…”