Bad Boss by Stella Rhys

36

SARA

I didn’t goout at all the next day.

It was sweltering hot, and even if it weren’t, I had way too much house to explore and enjoy.

Julian had left for work early in the morning, around seven. I heard him murmur and laugh softly in my ear, probably over whatever sleepy gibberish was coming out of my mouth, and then I felt him kiss my neck down to the tops of my breasts before his footsteps went out the door.

When I finally woke up and checked my texts, I found a single one from Julian.

JULIAN:Please make yourself at home. Might be difficult since the entire home is run by automated controls, but I left you some instructions downstairs. Enjoy your day. I’ll see you tonight.

I was already vaguely amused as my bare feet wandered slowly downstairs, but I broke into a full huge grin when I found Post-It notes stuck to each fancy control system, from the automated blinds to the lighting to the steel and glass appliances in the beautifully sleek kitchen. As it turned out, I really needed those instructions. The first hour of my day was dedicated to figuring every system out.

But once I did, the day was a breeze. It felt like more of a vacation than Biarritz did. I wound up spending the whole afternoon and evening just cooking, reading, and wandering the building’s luxury amenities before returning to the penthouse around seven – right in time to meet Julian.

I was in one of his shirts, the sleeves folded up and the buttons half done. I had my hair piled loosely at the top of my head, and just black panties underneath. He texted me when he was around the corner, so I stood at the elevator, waiting to greet him and put that big, crinkly-eyed smile on his face.

But I was surprised when the door opened.

Standing there was Julian, stunning as ever in the usual crisp white shirt and dark grey suit, his silk tie still knotted perfectly straight. I wanted to grin at how gorgeous he was, but I instantly felt the dark cloud hanging over him.

“Hey.” I cocked my head, my voice light and quizzical as his blue eyes found me. Finally, a smile touched the corners of his lips. Not the big one I was expecting, but still damned gorgeous. “Work okay?” I asked gently, frowning as he set his briefcase on the ground and came straight toward me to cup my face in his hands.

I felt a heaviness in him as he kissed me, and an urgency that had me quickly struggling to catch my breath. His tongue was rough on mine as his hands dropped down to my chest. Despite my surprise, I made no noise as Julian squeezed his fists over my shirt and ripped it open, stepping over the scattering buttons and letting the cotton fall in a heap to the floor.

The sheer heat of his intensity made me dizzy.

I had yet to catch up to what was happening. I was only vaguely aware of his strong arms moving me over to the couch and laying me down. The weight of his body on top of me prompted my soft moan against his lips. They were still locked on mine as he reached between our bodies to jerk at his belt and free his cock, letting its weight fall onto my stomach and drag heavily over me as our tongues continued exploring each other, as if it was our very first taste.

“Julian,” I whispered questioningly, but he kissed my confusion away.

His mouth never left mine, even as he reached down to tear my panties down my legs. My arms hung around his strong neck as he guided himself between my legs, parting my folds with the tip of his cock and running it up and down the length of my wet pussy, over and over and over till I was dripping wet. The deepest grunts escaped from his chest as he felt my sex pulsing around his tip, already begging for him.

“Sara,” he murmured, the sound of his voice like air to me. His hand firmly cupped the back of my neck as he sucked on my bottom lip, letting it rake hard between his teeth.

A hoarse, ragged cry escaped my lips when he finally sank into me, stretching me and filling me with the most delectable pain. Gasping sharply, I swallowed the hot air he breathed into me as our kiss grew deeper, angrier. Almost forceful.

My tongue fought back as I locked my legs around him.

My abdomen clenched. Our bodies were tight, compact as we used just a small corner of the huge couch to rock into each other. Our skin was already sticky, slippery with sweat, and our mouths were swollen, hot and frantic as the same pleasure built at once inside us.

“Julian,” I moaned. “Oh my God. Don’t stop.”

“I won’t, baby,” he murmured. “There’s nothing I want more than you.” Hoarse frustration tinged his voice as his breath quickened. “I think about you every night,” he deepened his push inside me, “every morning when I wake up. I don’t know what you’ve done to me,” he whispered. “What did you do to me?” He hardened inside me as he whispered his demand on repeat.

I couldn’t answer that, but I had something else at the tip of my tongue. I didn’t know what was happening, but I suddenly felt like I had to say it.

“I love you,” I whispered to Julian, holding his face, looking into his eyes as I said it. They were a wild, ferocious blue, but the moment those three words escaped my tongue they softened. His grip on the back of my neck tightened, and his body shuddered in such a way that I felt its violent tremor inside me.

“Julian…”

He kept his blue eyes pinned tight on me as he undoubtedly felt my pussy pulsing, clenching tight around him. Our chests were slick against each other now, our limbs more tangled than ever. My pleasure was seconds from his peak when I’d convinced myself he wasn’t going to say it back. But then I felt his nails dig into my skin.

“I love you, Sara,” he growled barely a second before he erupted a hard jerk inside me.

I gasped for breath – or maybe from shock. I wasn’t sure. All I knew was that I was in pure ecstasy as I felt Julian’s weight still slamming inside me as his heat flooded my pussy. His teeth were gnashed, his muscles quivering as he exhausted the last of his energy to keep fucking me, giving a wild, guttural grunt for every short, powerful thrust between my legs.

“Oh God, Julian!”

When I came, he grabbed my ass and yanked me to the very base of his cock, giving his every inch the full pleasure of my shaking climax. I was limp in his arms as he claimed every shiver and quake in my body, holding me tight against him and murmuring in my ear.

He said it back, I reminded myself, my bliss sending me off on a post-orgasmic cloud.

I wasn’t sure I’d ever come down from this one.

* * *

JULIAN

As usual, she fell asleep before me.

Her lips were lightly parted as she lay on her side in my bed, looking so fucking perfect and peaceful I felt like I could watch her forever. I kept my eyes on her even as I peeled my shirt over my head and pushed my sweats off my hips.

I checked my phone before I climbed into bed with her.

I had Colin’s text from hours ago waiting for me, but I’d wanted to wait till she fell asleep to open it. I wanted to enjoy the dinner she cooked for me, and the way the wisps of hair fell from her high ponytail as she danced around the kitchen to the old jazz playing on my speakers.

A part of me still held out hope despite the fact that I knew what kind of news Colin was going to report back to me.

I told him to just keep it short and sweet – that I knew what the outcome of my last-minute changeup in Biarritz would result in. I just wanted to give a last-ditch effort, just in case it might work.

My lip curled as I finally opened Colin’s texts.

COLIN:Sorry. No dice.

COLIN:Carter vetoed.

Thought so.

After what I’d done our last night in Biarritz, I knew well this was the direction we were heading in. In fact, I’d prepared myself for it all day, and I’d come up with a fallback plan once everything went to shit.

But after coming home to Sara, I let myself hold onto some idiotic glimmer of hope.

It was hard not to with her.

I never imagined preferring anything over the life I made for myself when I moved back to New York. I enjoyed my days at the tower, my nights at the stadium, and Sundays with my family. In between, I fit in drinks with my friends, and some women here and there. That worked fine for me for a very long time. In fact, after everything that happened in Stockholm and Biarritz, I was convinced that this was as good as it got

But then Sara came along, and I realized my life could in fact get better. Worlds better.

Unfortunately, there was no way to make it work.