The Rules (25 page)

“Yes,” Cade responded.

Lisa beamed. “How did I not know this?” She turned to me, a twinge of hurt on her face. “I mean, of course. It’s none of my business. Sorry.”

I shook my head. “No worries, Lisa. I didn’t know it either until yesterday.”

“What?” She leaned forward and then put up a palm. “Never mind. Don’t even want to know what that means.” She stood abruptly and pointed over her shoulder. “I’m just gonna fire up the computer and get to work. Let me know if you need anything.”

Cade stood also. He followed Lisa to the door, shut it behind her, and locked it.

I flinched, my fingers gripping the edge of my desk.

Cade sauntered across the room like a predator and came up behind me. He set his hands on my hips and leaned his lips in to touch my ear. “See? Not even a blip on most people’s radar.” He kissed behind my ear, making me shudder.

“Cade… Not here. I have a lot to do. And I still have to face Mr. Cross.”

“I’ll handle Mr. Cross.” He licked my neck.

“No you won’t. Stop
handling
everything.”

“My mess. I’ll fix it.” He spun me around and lifted me off the floor to set me on the desk.

I squealed and then bit my lip to keep from making such a noise. I batted at his arms. “Cade. Stop it. I have work to do.”

“First you have something to show me.”

I flushed. “Cade,” I warned.

“Baby, I gave you a directive last night. I want to know that you followed through.” He eased his hands to my thighs, urging them wider, and pushed my skirt up so slowly I was panting by the time he reached my center.

I held his biceps, unable to stop him.

When his thumbs reached my core and stroked through my lower lips, I moaned. My toes curled under in my heels.

“Baby… So wet for me…” He slid his eyes shut as he pushed both thumbs into my channel.

I lifted my hips off the desk to give him a better angle. The room around me disappeared as he played me like a finally tuned instrument.

Cade removed one hand and set it at my lower back to ease me onto the desk. “Lie back, baby.”

I let him arrange me, arching my back the second my head hit the hard wood surface. I reached for his forearms and gripped them, trying to convince him to stop. This was completely inappropriate.

Cade had other ideas. “Lift your hands over your head, baby.”

“Cade…”

“Now, Amelia. If you argue with me, it won’t change anything. It will just take that much longer for me to get what I want and create a long tally of repercussions for later tonight.” He lifted a brow.

I hitched my breath, released his arms, and lifted mine over my head to dangle off the edge of my desk. Thank God the surface was enormous.

He was demanding and infuriating. I would speak to him about his high-handed ways later. But for now, he was right. It would behoove me to let him play his game his way. He was going to get what he wanted no matter what. It wouldn’t do any good to fight him.

“Good girl. Wise choice.” He lowered his gaze and lifted my ankles. “Set your feet on the desk.” He showed me where and then pushed my skirt the rest of the way up my torso until I was totally exposed.

I shivered when the air in the room hit my naked skin. It had been a long time since I’d felt that sensation. I’d forgotten how heady it was to have him staring at my pussy, in awe of how incredible he found me.

Cade pressed my knees wide. “Don’t move, baby.” He released my legs and set his fingers on my thighs, pulling my lower lips apart until I was completely open to his view. He moaned.

Or maybe that was me.

“I missed this.” He stroked a finger through my core, barely touching.

I stiffened my legs and clenched my pussy. My head rolled to one side, and I stared at an unseen spot across the room. My vision didn’t work. All my attention was on his intense perusal of my open sex.

“So beautiful,” he muttered. He flicked his finger over my clit, making me flinch. “And so responsive.”

I tucked my lower lip between my teeth to keep from screaming.

And then his mouth was on me.

My breath whooshed from my lungs when he sucked my clit into his mouth and held it. His tongue dipped into my pussy and stroked. He started fucking me with his tongue next.

My office spun in circles as though I were on a tilt-a-whirl. I was dizzy.

When he honed in on my clit again, I gasped. I was so close. His fingers dug into my thighs, holding me wider, letting me know this was his show. I would come when he was ready.

I panted around the need, my hands balling into fists behind my head.

Cade sucked me into his mouth one last hard time, his teeth nipping at my swollen nub. That was it. My orgasm slammed into me, much more forceful than last night. I pulsed forever. He took cues from me and licked and kissed and sucked as I came down. It was heavenly.

I was his. There was no denying reality. I wouldn’t even fight him.

Hell, I didn’t want to. I lay there gasping to catch my breath while Cade lifted his face and met my gaze with a lazy grin. “Delicious.”

My legs shook.

He stroked my inner thighs. “You good? Or you want to come again?”

I widened my gaze. “No, Sir. I’m good. I don’t think my heart could take another.”
Unless you plan to do it with your cock
. I pushed that thought from my mind fast. This was my office. I needed to pull together some level of professional decorum.

Cade chuckled. “I can read you like an open book, baby. Your face hides nothing.” He tapped my clit, making me flinch. “This is mine. You come when I say. You don’t argue. You don’t defy me. I’m going to let you up now, but not because you want me to. We have things to handle in this office. But make no mistake, if I wanted to fuck you right now on this desk in broad daylight until you screamed my name, I would do so.” He narrowed his eyes. “We clear?”

I nodded, swallowing around the lump in my throat.

“We clear, Amelia?” he asked louder.

“Yes, Sir.”

Crystal
.

Chapter Twenty

Cade made good on his promise and went in search of Mr. Cross. I headed for the ladies’ room as soon as he left to pull myself together. The last thing I needed was Mr. Cross taking one look at me and realizing I’d fucked the boss in my office, or at least looked as though I had. When I returned, I busied myself organizing my desk to no avail. I nearly moaned every time I thought about what he’d done to me right where my hands now rested. I’d wiped my come off the edge with a tissue, but that didn’t erase the memory.

My papers were a mess, largely because I had straightened them the night before in a mad attempt to ignore Cade Alexander and his presence in my space. Now that my papers were tidy, I had no idea what was what. It was all a jumbled mess.

Twenty minutes after Cade left me to sort through things, I heard his voice in the hall. He was talking to someone, and I found out who when they stepped into my office.

I jumped to my feet. “Mr. Cross. I’m so sorry about yesterday. There’s no excuse.”

Mr. Cross smiled. “Sounds to me like there are lots of excuses.”

I felt the pink as it spread across my cheeks. What had Cade said to him?

Mr. Cross chuckled and took a seat across from me as Cade did the same. “Sit, Lillie. It’s all good. I’ve already called the guys at Stephen’s Engineering. Told them we’d come to them this time. I will say, however, Brad Phelps sounded kind of frazzled. You might want to speak with him personally before we head that way.”

Shit
.

“I told them we’d be there at one.”

“Okay. No problem.” I was embarrassed that Mr. Cross had seen right through my problems with Brad, but glad about the way he handled it without making me feel like more of a heel than I already did.

Mr. Cross stood. “Well, that’s it then.” He wiped his hands on his pants and then reached to shake Cade’s hand as Cade stood alongside him. “Glad we have that all cleared up. So good to see you again, Mr. Alexander. I suppose we’ll be crossing paths frequently from now on. Let me know if you need any help with your move.”

Cade nodded. “Thank you. I’m sure it’ll all be fine.”

Move?
What the hell were they talking about?

When Mr. Cross turned toward me and nodded, I schooled my face. The last thing I wanted him to realize was that I wasn’t privy to whatever he’d discussed with Cade.

My manipulating, on-again boyfriend needed to share a few details with me. And fast.

Cade shut my door as Mr. Cross exited. This time he didn’t lock it. I wasn’t sure if I was relieved or disappointed.

“See? It’s all good.”

I glared at him. “You can’t waltz in here every time I have a problem and clean up my messes, Cade. Of course it’s all good to your face. No one’s going to piss off the owner. The question is, what are they gonna say behind my back?”

Cade rounded behind me, as he often did, and circled me with both his arms under my breasts. “Relax. You think too hard. I made myself very clear to Mr. Cross. He won’t be spreading gossip, and he isn’t angry.”

I squirmed in his clutches, trying to turn around. “Cade, that’s exactly what I don’t want you to do.”

“Too late.” He kissed my neck.

“Stop distracting me.” I grabbed at his forearms under my chest and tugged.

Cade chuckled, pushed my hair aside with his chin and nibbled a path up my neck to my ear. “Relax, baby.”

Part of me fumed. There was no way for me to relax with him in the building. “Don’t you have stuff to do? Like in Atlanta? I need to get back to work. Go play somewhere else.”

Cade chuckled again, but released me. He leaned against the floor-to-ceiling window at his back and crossed his legs. “I’m moving to Nashville, baby.”

I spun around. “You’re doing what?”

He grinned. “Yep. It’s a done deal.”

“Since when?”

He glanced at his watch and shrugged. “About six hours ago.”

“Six hours. That was like three in the morning. What were you doing up at three in the morning? Have you lost your mind?”

“Nope. My mind is clear. I went from your place to Riley’s. We talked. We made a plan.”

“You made a plan,” I deadpanned. “At three in the morning. One that involves you moving to Nashville.”

“Among other things, yes.”

“Do you ever sleep?”

“Sometimes. Not as often as I should.”

“I thought this was Riley’s building.”

“It was. We switched.”

“What?” I was starting to sound like a broken record.

“Don’t get your panties in a wad, baby.” He chuckled again at his unamusing joke. “Riley and I have been discussing this idea for a few months.”

“Why?”

“Well, for one thing, I needed a change of scenery after you left. For another thing, Riley has needed a change of scenery for one day longer than me.”

“The day you told him his fiancée was a bitch.”

Cade nodded. “That would be the day.”

“They broke it off.”

“Yes. And Riley has been licking his wounds. He didn’t trust easily to begin with. Now he’s gotten worse. He’s sworn off women. And with Christine living in Nashville, he needs to get far away.”

“I see.” That did make sense. “So, you’ve been considering a switch for a long time. This wasn’t something you dreamed up at three in the morning.”

He stepped closer to me, pushing off the window. “Trust me, baby. I would’ve done the same thing in the middle of the night last night if Riley and I had never even considered such an option. It just went smoother since the ball was already spinning.”

I couldn’t breathe. Too many changes in one day.

“Where are you going to live?”

“Your place?” He chuckled. “Just kidding. For now, Riley and I are going to swap condos.”

That made sense.

“We’ll consider other options later, when you’re ready.”

When I’m ready
…

He held out a hand. “I need your keys, baby.”

“What for?”

“So I can send someone over to pack up your stuff.”

I widened my eyes. “No fucking way, Cade. First of all, I haven’t agreed to this middle of the night plan. And second of all, I can pack my own shit when and if I’m ready.”

Cade glared at me. “Keys, Amelia.” He shook his open palm.

“Fuck you, Cade.”

He closed the gap between us in one stride, wrapping his arm around my middle and pulling me against his front. His other hand went to my thighs and lifted my skirt while he pushed my legs wide with his knee. One split second later, his fingers were at my entrance and three of them were pushing inside. I was so wet, I made it easy.

My knees buckled. He held me upright.

He fucked my pussy hard and fast. “Eyes on me, Amelia.”

I met his gaze, unable to do otherwise, and stared at him through the haze.

“That’s my girl. Whose pussy is this?”

“Yours, Sir.” My voice was a thin thread.

“What do you need, baby?”

I fought hard, but there was no way to deny what he did to me. “To come, Sir.”

“When do you come, baby?”

“When you say so, Sir.”

He smiled, yanked his fingers free of my pussy and stepped back. His palm, covered in my juices, reached back out. “Keys, Amelia.”

I fumbled for my purse on the corner of my desk and grabbed my keys from inside.

Cade didn’t move.

I turned and set them in his palm.

As he walked away, switching hands and licking his fingers clean, I heard him moan. He left my office, shutting the door behind him.

I slumped into my chair, so horny I couldn’t do anything else. My pussy pulsed at nothing. I was a wreck. Cade Alexander had swooped in and taken over my life.

I turned my gaze toward the window for several minutes, trying to slow my heart rate. I had so many things to do, and all I could manage was to stare into space.

I attempted to stiffen my resolve.

Cade Alexander had a pile of rules he liked me to follow.

What he didn’t realize was I had rules of my own now.

And he was going to hear them if it was the last thing I did.

Chapter Twenty-One

I hung up the phone with Brad as Cade waltzed back into my office. “You okay, baby?”