Quitting the Boss (8 page)

“Alec,” she pleaded, but he loved the fire in her eyes, the way she watched with rapt fascination. Only, his hands couldn’t hold a candle to the way it felt to be buried inside her.

Releasing the grip on his balls, he leaned over her, stroking his cock from clit to ass and back again. She was so slick, from her orgasm, from his mouth, and so hot she nearly set him on fire.

Her body shook, an obvious aftershock of her orgasm and Alec thrust into her, desperate to feel her cunt grip him.

“Fuck,” he groaned as her heat wrapped around him and spread, inspiring his body to release its own sheen of sweat.

Alec fell on top of her, his hips thrusting like an animal on a rampage. He claimed her mouth with his, wishing now he’d released the bonds so she could wrap her arms and legs around him. But there was no going back, no stopping so he could release the ties. No, he was just going to have to ravage her in all her bonded glory.

“You feel so good,” Jenna moaned as Alec kissed her neck. In an instant, his mouth was on her breast, his tongue flicking at her with the same teasing strokes he’d lavished on her clit.

Jenna felt the sensations all the way to her core where he pounded into her, another orgasm sparking to life before the aftershocks of the last had even subsided.

She cried his name, begging him not to stop. He was merciless, moving to her other nipple, licking and nipping at her.

Releasing her nipple, he roared a curse, thrusting into her as though their lives depended on them both reaching orgasm together.

She was desperate to touch him, but even as she tugged on the silk straps that kept her bound and completely exposed to him, they didn’t give.

The sensations inspired by his touch coiled low, a high-pitched energy that had every muscle in her body flexing with tension and anticipation.

“Fuck, Jenna, I’m going to come,” he groaned against her neck.

“Yes,” she pleaded, desperate to feel him let go. “God, Alec, yes!”

Her sex gripped him, the first spasm of her release causing her to cry out.

Alec cursed her name, thrusting into her hard as he dove off the edge of the cliff with her.

Jenna couldn’t take a breath, not with her pleasure pouring out of her as Alec’s poured into her. His skin was hot, making her hyper aware as her pebbled nipples brushed against the sweat-slicked skin of his chest.

His breath was warm across his ear as his shallow breaths slowed and lengthened. “You probably want me to untie you,” he rumbled against her neck.

“I want to touch you,” she admitted, though she could have stayed there, with him softening inside her and his skin hot against hers for an eternity.

Alec kissed her, a slow, reverent caress of her lips that shot straight to her heart. He didn’t often kiss her so gently, and as he lingered, their bodies still connected, Jenna realized wanting more from Alec was going to be much more complicated than she’d been willing to acknowledge.

This is what love feels like, this feeling of being so connected and complete. She’d never been with a man who made her feel like this even though she’d had a couple relationships that had lasted as long as this one with Alec had been going on.

Jenna hadn’t seen this coming. She thought herself incapable of falling in love after watching her mother do it so readily with too many men in her lifetime.

As Alec withdrew from her body and moved to release her ankles, Jenna tried to shake off the reality she’d just acknowledged. Continuing to avoid the conversation they needed to have would only cause more drama in the end. The purpose of getting a new job was to open the door to pursuing more with Alec. Falling in love with him wasn’t something she’d planned and that new realization couldn’t stop her now.

Alec took his time releasing her, massaging her ankles and wrists and leaving warm kisses on her skin. He tossed the straps onto the bedside table and pushed the blankets down, forcing Jenna to scoot up and then under. He tucked them in, moving his body against hers.

It had surprised her the first time Alec had held her like this. He was the last person in the world she would expect to spoon after sex, but he almost always did.

“You’re tense,” he said across her ear, his hand caressing her arm.

“I want more, Alec.”

His laugh told her he thought she meant sex. “I thought now that we’d gotten through this new job bullshit your insatiable desire would settle down a little.”

Jenna turned to face him. “I’m not talking about sex. I want more for us.”

Alec stopped his affectionate petting, tension stiffening his body. Jenna braced herself for the argument that was sure to ensue.

“Is that what this new job is about?” he asked, his voice cold and harsh.

“Yes,” she said, trying to sound confident but coming up short as her voice was barely a whisper.

He eased away from her and slid off the giant bed, gathering his clothes. Jenna opted to stay in bed and let the soft sable blanket caress her naked body as she watched Alec’s bare skin disappear beneath athletic pants and a sweatshirt.

When he was dressed and slipping into the ragged flip flops he favored when he was lounging around the house, his gaze locked on her in a torturous hold. “I told you when this started I wasn’t interested in marriage or children.”

“Neither am I.” That hadn’t changed. Her mother had found husband number eight and Jenna had no interest in following in those footsteps. She didn’t feel emotionally equipped to raise a child, so that also wasn’t in the cards.

Alec stood like a cobra, his eyes assessing, his posture ready to strike. “Then what exactly is the more you want?”

Jenna sat up, letting the blanket fall to her waist. Usually it was sexy watching Alec was cling to his control, but since he hadn’t even bothered to spare her bare breasts a glance, Jenna feared this conversation was taking the express train to hell. “I want an evening out where we don’t have to worry about being caught. I want you to touch me in public. I want you to sleep in my bed and have dinner at my apartment. When Elisa asks who put the smile on my face, I want to tell her it was you.”

Alec just stood there, his gaze revealing nothing but making Jenna feel as though she was being studied under a microscope. She knew Alec would have trouble accepting her proposition, but she suspected there was some underlying incident from has past that made him skeptical of relationships. His jealousy was an indicator of that. Assuming she wanted to fuck her new boss proved it.

“No,” Alec finally said, abruptly turning and leaving the room. She heard him stomp down the spiral staircase and the front door slam before the engine of his BMW roared to life and he skidded out the driveway.

“Excellent,” she said to no one, blinking back the threatening tears. No way was she going to cry over this. She knew going in it was a risk. If things ended because Alec had underlying commitment issues he wouldn’t own to, that was his problem, not hers.

Jenna flung the sable blanket away and went into Alec’s master bathroom to splash some water on her face. She was a hot mess, her hair tangled from the marathon sex they’d had. Unlike the nights leading up to her interview with Gavin, she was sated but the anxiety returned as she realized her calculated risk hadn’t played out the way she’d hoped.

Alec still felt as though he’d been blindsided, though in hindsight, he should have seen it coming. Why else would Jenna want to leave the department? She never spoke of any career aspirations and seemed perfectly content in her role as a project manager.

She wanted more. It seemed so obvious now, yet even after a night of stewing in Gavin’s guest room, Alec still hadn’t figured out what he wanted.

More
.

Fuck him. More meant marriage, kids, a life of deceit and lies.

He hadn’t gone home Monday night because he was worried Jenna might not be there when he returned. She had every right to walk out. She’d be a damned fool if she didn’t. But if she had been there, what the hell was he going to say to her? Yesterday when she’d opted to work from home – her home, not his – had been both a relief and an annoyance. She was avoiding him.

And who could blame her.

More
.

As he stared at the phone in his office, the word haunted him, stirring up memories he tried like hell to keep locked up tight. In his world,
more
opened doors to things Alec didn’t want to explore.

His parents’ marriage had been a lie; his mother was something he couldn’t bring himself to put words to. But he needed answers and ignoring the past wasn’t going to put it to rest.

If the memories haunted him, then the phone taunted him. Desperation and futility battled because as desperate as he was to get those answers, they wouldn’t change anything. He would be forced to face the reality of whatever truth they held.

Prone to weighing the pros and cons in any situation, Alec tried to measure the past against the future. His past was filled with lies, broken promises, and unfathomable betrayals.

His future was Jenna … if only he’d pick up the damned phone.

“Now or never,” he grumbled, snagging the handset from its perch and punching in the number he hadn’t dialed in years.

“Elijah Stoker’s office. This is Claire. How may I help you?”

His mother’s professional voice was exactly as Alec expected. Claire Winter was the poster child of control. She managed her career as the personal assistant of one of Chicago’s most prominent commercial real estate investors, all the while portraying the perfect family. Alec had believed the farce for so many years his world was completely shattered when he learned the truth.

“Hello, Mother.” He’d long ago stopped calling her Mom.

“Alec?” she asked, the surprise evident. “Is everything alright?”

Of course she’d be concerned. He never called her at work.

“Everything’s fine. How’s Dad?”

“He’s fine.”

Alec hated the word fine. Its use typically mean that nothing was fine, but it was an exchange he had grown accustomed to with his mother.

The silence stretched between them. Alec never called her at the office. His calls were limited to special occasions, Mother’s Day, birthdays. He’d stopped calling on their anniversary, finding it hypocritical to wish them a happy day when he knew his mother’s secret.

“How are you?” Claire’s voice was wary, so out of character for his confident and controlled mother. It broke his heart a little, but then, she’d broken it a long time ago.

“Are you still with him?” Alec asked, getting to the point of his call.

“Alec,” she sighed. “What’s going on? Why did you call?”

“Does Dad know?”

Her sigh sounded desperate, as though she hadn’t known Alec had been carrying this secret for nearly ten years. As though she knew he couldn’t keep it any longer.

“You’re my son and I love you, but what you think you know isn’t any of your business.”

“I don’t
think
anything. I saw you.” The memory flooded his mind, the vision he’d tried for years to forget. He was a junior in college and had just found out he’d earned the internship at Logicesse. Alec wanted to share the news with his parents, who were incredibly supportive of his aspirations. When he returned to Chicago to find no one home that Thursday evening, he’d gone straight to his mother’s office. It was the only regret he ever had. “I saw you fucking your boss in his office.”

It had been close to seven and everyone else was gone, but her boss’s office door was cracked open. Alec heard noise in there, registering too late what the sounds were.

He’d opened the door to find his mother sitting on the edge of the desk, her skirt hiked up around her waist, her boss standing between her legs – his pants around his ankles – and thrusting into her.

Alec wanted to think the worst, that her boss had attacked her, maybe taken advantage of her. But his mother’s pleasured cries revealed the truth.

Alec hadn’t said a word. Instead, he left the office. He fully intended to go back to the airport and catch the next flight out, to Manchester, Boston, hell, even Portland, just to get out of there. Then he’d run into his father in the lobby of the office building. Alec had tried to convince his dad not to go up to Claire’s office, but Erik insisted, directing Alec to wait. When his parents came down, they were both smiling as if she hadn’t just been fucking her boss.

Claire’s face was flushed, her hair mussed. It was obvious what she’d been doing, even if Alec hadn’t witnessed it, but his dad didn’t seem to care. Eli Stoddard was Erik’s best friend, so Erik likely trusted the man with his wife. He probably didn’t expect the two people closes to him to betray him like that.

Dinner was brutal. His parents were overly affectionate, so much so they were acting like they’d just had sex with each other. Alec had spent the entire meal making snide comments, hoping to get his mother to confess what she’d done. She offered a couple sideways glances, but mostly just pretended like everything was normal, perfect. Just the way she always had.

Like she was now.

“Like I said, Alec, it’s none of your business.”

“I’m not keeping your secret anymore. Your marriage is a lie and Dad deserves to know who he’s married to.”

She laughed then, but not with distress and the sound awakened a new suspicion in Alec, one he was even less comfortable with. “Your father knows. Hell, Alec, he made the deal with Eli.”

“Deal? What are you talking about?”

“Are you sure you want to know?”

No, he wasn’t sure, but the secret had stretched for too long, not just killing the once affectionate relationship he’d shared with his mother, but straining the one with his father, too. Alec hated keeping the secret, sitting at the dining room table for Christmas dinner, knowing his mother had cheated.

“Are you still fucking him?” he asked.

“Yes, Eli and I are still …” her voice trailed off, leaving Alec to fill in the explicit words. “Your father knows and has no issues with it. Ask him yourself, if you need to.”

“Why? I don’t understand. If you want to be with Eli, why not divorce Dad?” His father worked hard. He was a good man, a good husband as far as Alec could tell. Why would he want to be with a woman who was fucking his best friend?