Chapter 10

Tuesday, 4:35 pm

After finishing the paperwork at The Blue Beans and ordering a coffee for Natalie, I returned to the office. The rest of the coffee date with Ashlee went without a hitch, which surprised me, considering how poorly things went for her at the start of the meeting. She filled me in a little on her history. She was twenty and attending her third year of college at Columbia, studying business administration with an emphasis on business law. She’d confided in me that her real motivation for attending was to get her father off her back while trying to find someone to marry. According to her, Roger VanCamp wanted her to follow in his footsteps and take over as a partner in his firm someday. It was an ambition Ashlee didn’t share; she was much more interested in nursing her social media influencer hobby while looking for a potential husband among those in high society. That was another reason to avoid anything intimate with her - she was looking to tie someone down, and I didn’t think we were a good match. As soon as all the paperwork was finished and I was able to find a lull in the conversation, we parted with another hug and a kiss on the cheek.

With almond milk double-shot blonde caffe latte in hand, I opened the door to Natalie’s office, stepped in, and was greeted by the sight of her bent over one of the drawers of a filing cabinet. I’d only been away an hour, and she’d utilized the time wisely.

“It looks like you’re nearly done,” I said, kicking the door shut as I watched her.

Natalie looked up from her project and broke out that brilliant smile that warmed my heart. The conversation at The Blue Beans was all but forgotten. Ashlee? Who the fuck was Ashlee?

“Just about,” she said as she stood up. She glanced at the coffee in my hand, “Oh! You went to the good place!”

“I did, but I finished mine earlier. I thought you could use a little celebratory coffee, what with it being your first day in your new role. Just how you like it,” I said as I held out the cardboard cup.

“You didn’t have to do that!” Natalie approached me, procured the offered coffee, and took a sip. Her eyes closed and she hummed as she enjoyed her drink. I watched her lips pressed against the lid, then her pink tongue as she lapped away a bead of coffee left behind. I’d never wanted to be a hot beverage more in my life. She glanced at me and smiled at me. “It’s perfect. Thank you.”

My heart skipped a beat or three, and I blindly fumbled behind my back to lock her office door. She tracked my movements, “Why are you locking my office door, Marcus?”

The overly-innocent tone in her voice betrayed the fact that she knew very well why I’d locked the door. After the kiss from her earlier, and then the teasing from Ashlee, my libido was quickly reaching its boiling point. Feeling particularly aggressive, I approached her and gingerly took the coffee out of her hands and set it down on her desk. I cupped her face in my hands and brushed a few strands of hair out of her eyes as she gazed up at me. I was on edge ... hyper-aware in case she showed any sign of hesitation or negative reaction to what I was doing, but I couldn’t detect a single hint that she didn’t want this. Her breathing was shallow, her lips parted, and her pupils were dilated. Then she gave me another smile - small and nervous.

“I don’t want anyone interrupting us,” I whispered

I leaned in and felt her do the same. Our lips met and began to slide over each other as we initiated a slow, gentle kiss. My eyes closed, and I enjoyed the feeling of her soft, full lips on mine. She immediately sought out my tongue with hers and I felt her arms slip around my waist and pull me closer to her. I simply rested my hands on each side of her face, running my thumbs over her cheeks as we softly kissed, our tongues lazily playing with each other.

Her scent filled my nostrils, and her taste intoxicated me. Her presence filled every sense I possessed, and I wanted nothing more than to be joined with her in every possible way. All thoughts of my new assistant and the promises she’d made ... my ownership of Bobbi ... Ashlee’s desperation for me to give her a chance ... all paled compared to the woman I held in my arms.

She moaned into my mouth, the intensity and pressure of her lips on mine increasing. I could feel her pulling me even more incessantly against her. I slid my hands back and let my fingers slip into her hair, lightly massaging her scalp. We broke the kiss, breathing heavily as we opened our eyes and stared at each other. I felt ready to throw all other opportunities aside if it meant I could have Natalie. Helen would have called her dangerous. I thought she was everything.

We pounced on each other, our hands roaming as our kisses became feverish. Our tongues found each other again, wrestling to pin each other down. Our breathing was heavy, and we took turns allowing little moans of desire and pleasure slip into the other’s mouth.

My hands found their way under the hem of her knit top and I began exploring the smooth skin of her lower back and sides as I gently prodded her backward in the direction of the office loveseat. As I did so, she started going for the buttons of my shirt, unfastening them feverishly as she captured my lips between hers in turn, suckling on them.

She bumped into the loveseat and then surprised me by spinning us around so that I was between the couch and her, then gave me a little shove. I fell onto the middle of the seat, my shirt flying open and exposing my chest. Natalie grinned and let out a low growl as she straddled my lap. She grasped the bottom of her sleeveless shirt, pulled it over her head, and dropped it on the floor in one fluid motion. She stared down at me in a way that reminded me of a lioness standing over her prey as she raked her fingernails down my chest just hard enough to leave light little lines. I hissed through my teeth in response and my hips came off the couch involuntarily, pressing the steel bar in my pants into Natalie’s crotch.

“God, Marcus,” she said quietly as her eyes roamed my bare upper body. “You are unbelievable.”

I felt my phone buzzing in my pocket but ignored it. There was no way in hell I was going to stop this to answer my stupid phone.

The phone ceased vibration as gazed at Natalie’s near-topless body - her skin was a smooth, caramel color. I reached out and brushed my fingers across her naked abdomen; it was soft with firm muscle just underneath. Her chest was well-endowed; her larger breasts were encased in a black satin bra that did a magnificent job of holding them in place. I wanted to cut the strap between them and set them free so I could enjoy them in all their glory. Her waist was comparably small, and her stomach was flat without any real definition to her abdomen. Natalie exuded the femininity of a full, mature woman in the spring of adulthood, and I wanted to kiss every square inch of the flawless masterpiece that was her body.

“And you,” I said, searching for the right words. “You’re perfect.”

My phone started buzzing again, and once more, I ignored it.

She leaned forward and cupped my face in her hands, gently directing me to take my gaze off her chest and look into her eyes. When I looked up at her, she softly smiled at me, pressed her forehead to mine, and said, “This has been a long time coming, hasn’t it?”

“You too?” I asked. Then I leaned forward to plant little kisses along the expanse between her neck and shoulder. I reached up and slipped a bra strap down just enough to give me unobstructed access to continue my exploration.

She giggled and pressed her full lips to my ear, running them across the sensitive skin as she whispered, “You couldn’t tell?”

I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her tight against me once more as I lightly ground myself against her crotch with a hard-on so intense that it was in a little bit of pain. “I’ve wanted you for a while now.”

“Marcus,” she said, “What-”

My phone started buzzing again and Natalie cut whatever she had been ready to say short, looking down the general direction of my phone. “Do you think you should get that?”

“No,” I replied.

No. God no. Under no circumstances did I need to answer the damn phone. I didn’t care if all my money had been placed in a warehouse and set on fire. Right now, I didn’t give a shit.

“Are you sure? Isn’t that like, the third or fourth time?”

I let out of snort of frustration and fished for the phone from my pocket, keeping my eyes locked on her. When I finally pulled it out and looked to see who was calling, I was surprised. It was Phoebe, my neighbor. She never called me, so the worst scenarios possible came to mind.

I looked back at Natalie and said, “I have to take this, but I’ll make it quick, but don’t you dare move!”

She laughed, “I’m not going anywhere, Marcus.”

I smiled back at her and answered the phone. “Hey Phoebe. What’s up?”

“Hey Marcus. You’re not home, are you?”

“No. I’m at work. Why?”

“Because I think someone broke into your house,” Phoebe replied, sounding upset. “Your door is open. I didn’t go in there, but I peeked. Your apartment looks pretty trashed.”

“What?” I sat up straight on the couch and tapped Natalie’s thigh. She immediately slipped off of me with a concerned expression.

“Yeah. I thought I heard you being pretty loud in there about an hour ago. I didn’t think too much about it, but when I finally looked out, your door was open, and it just didn’t feel right.”

“Did you see anyone?” I stood up and started idly fastening the buttons on my shirt. Natalie sat on the couch watching me, and I felt a pang of regret for putting clothes back on. At that moment, part of me was tempted to not care about the state of my apartment in exchange for more time with her.

“No,” Phoebe replied. “But I thought I heard someone in the hallway after things quieted down. I thought I heard someone talking on the phone. That’s when I looked out the door and saw yours open. I didn’t see whoever was on the phone though.”

“Have you called the police?” I said, half my buttons done on my shirt. At that question, Natalie’s face transformed from disappointed confusion to full concern.

“No. I didn’t want to call the police without talking to you first,” Phoebe said.

“Okay, thanks,” I said, “Could you go ahead and call them for me? I’m on my way.”

“Sure,” she said. “See you soon.”

“Wait,” I said before she had a chance to hang up. “Did you see Jack?”

I hadn’t seen my cat since I left the house yesterday, and the thought of something happening to him before I got a chance to see him again caused my stomach to tighten.

“He was under your bed,” Phoebe said, and I immediately breathed a sigh of relief. “I brought him back here to the apartment. Nate’s playing with him. I don’t think I can keep him long though. Jim hates cats.”

“Thank you!” I said. “I’ll be there as soon as I can!” I said and ended the call.

“Natalie, I’m so sorry,” I said. “I have to go. Someone broke into my apartment.”

“Oh damn,” she said, adjusting the sleeveless top she’d just slipped back on. “What happened? Do you need me to go with you?”

I wanted her to go with me, if for no other reason because it was Natalie, and I enjoyed her presence, but she also had things to do.

I shook my head. “No. Thank you. That means a lot, but you need to stay here and finish getting set up and be a boss.”

She nodded. “Okay, well give me a call when you can. Keep me updated.”

“I will.”

I took a moment to look at her and she stared back, offering me a small smile. She was obviously as disappointed as I was. “I’m sorry our time was cut short. I ... wanted more,” I said, reaching out with one hand to brush her cheek.

She looked at me with heat in her eyes. “I did too.”