Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 63741 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 319(@200wpm)___ 255(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63741 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 319(@200wpm)___ 255(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
When I rub my thumb over her clit again, her head falls to my shoulder just before her back arches.
She cries out, sounding desperate, and then her pussy is throbbing all around me, milking me, pulling me deeper, making me hers.
When her nails dig into my shoulder blades, I’m a goner. I steady her hips and explode inside her, with no idea how I even lasted as long as I did.
Our sweat-slicked bodies throb in a blended rhythm that marks itself on my soul. I empty myself, utterly wrung out. Her heart beats against mine when she finally collapses, spent.
As brief as it was, it was incredible, and I want nothing more than to be inside her again, if not right now, then as often as possible in the future.
We breathe together for several long moments before she raises her head. It’s immediately apparent the energy has shifted.
Instead of the warm afterglow I’m expecting to see on her face, there’s regret. Fuck!
She notices me noticing, and quickly schools her features, but the damage is done. She may as well have punched me in the gut.
Wasn’t it good for her? No, fuck no. I know damn well she wasn’t faking any of those orgasms.
But maybe she doesn’t see me as boyfriend material, and this was just a hate fuck. I’m sure she doesn’t hate me, but I get on her nerves, and maybe she just needed to get this out of her system.
She slides free of me and off my lap, no longer meeting my eyes.
Before she can walk off, I grab her arm. “Ember, wait. Are you okay?”
She focuses on something on the floor. “We shouldn’t have done that.”
Shouldn’t have done that? I’ll admit it takes me a good, long while to think of a single reason why we shouldn’t have had sex, especially when the sex was that good. It wasn’t the longest session I’ve had—not by a long shot—but it was Ember, and that made every moment spectacular.
Then I remember Frank’s lecture at the bar the other night. “Are you upset because this happened at work?”
She looks at me like I’ve just added two and two and gotten one. “It never should have happened, Griffin. Anywhere.” A storm cloud over her head, she moves around the room collecting her clothing.
Frank stressed how important Ember’s job is to her, but work and personal life are two separate things. Even if this did happen here at the shop, it’s after hours. Personal time.
I’m hurt that she regrets it, and it pisses me off, too.
Poised at the door, her clothes in hand—she’s not even comfortable enough to get dressed in front of me—she turns back. “We need to pretend this never happened.”
Another blow to the gut. “Fine.”
While she disappears into the bathroom, I yank on my pants and shirt and make a hasty exit, cursing myself all the way home.
EMBER
I can’t believe I let that happen.
Let it happen? No, I wanted it to happen, just as much as Griffin did. And it was incredible, but it was also an incredible lapse in judgment.
Huge.
Enormous.
And not just because of his … attributes.
It was completely unprofessional, and I’ve compromised my working relationship with Griffin—and probably all the men—and yet, I still wanted more. A fierce, hungry part of me wanted to drag him down to the floor and do it all again as soon as we finished.
But if Gage and Kai find out, it could ruin all the hard work that led to them choosing me in the first place. I wanted so badly to prove myself, to show them they were right to trust me with this promotion, and all I’ve proven is that I’m weak-willed and can’t resist a sexy man.
My worst fear right now is being fired without references. Knowing that they’ve always been fair and kind, and wouldn’t likely be that harsh, doesn’t stop me from worrying.
I’ve stepped way over the line.
And yet, somehow my worries can’t stop me from thinking about what happened. I toss and turn all night, my dreams plagued by vivid moments from our encounter, like Griffin smiling up at me from between my legs, and I wake aching with need. When the sun comes up, I feel as though I haven’t slept at all.
Though I try to behave normally at work the next day, things are awkward. Griffin and I can’t avoid each other in our small workspace, but his usual grins and pranks are noticeably absent. Zeb and Frank must be able to tell something’s wrong, though neither of them says anything.
I’ll just have to tough this out. Eventually, we’ll get back to something of an even keel. But I can’t ever let anything like that happen again.
I’m scheduled to go on a lunch date today, but I cancel it. I’m not in the mood for anything even remotely romantic. It wouldn’t be fair to the man, no matter who he was. Instead, I order a sandwich from a nearby deli and eat it at my desk.