“Sir?”
He huffs out a clipped laugh. “You’re going to pretend?”
A dry swallow works my throat as my stomach goes for the gold metal. “Pretend?”
He explodes from his chair, slamming his palms down on the desk. I jump and squeak in shock. He rubs his hand over his face, straightens up, then comes around the desk to lean against it, arms crossed, directly in front of me. An almost violent energy flows off of him, and my confused as fuck body responds by my nipples perking up and poking out, and even more slick preparing me for something that isn’t going to happen.
I part my lips to say something, anything to break the tense silence that has fallen, but nothing comes out. This is it. The end of my job. The end of my fantasy because obviously lying to myself hasn’t worked very well. Dee was right—I’ve been half in love with these three much longer than I’ve worked here. But this is the end. The weight of it settles over me. At least I have savings to tide me over until I can find a new job.
Straightening my shoulders, I say, “I didn’t know.” It comes out weak and hollow, like the lie it is. I knew long before they caught me. I may not have known when I signed up, but when they blindfolded me and took me back to their house…
He drags his eyes from the tips of my high heeled shoes to my lips, pausing at my mouth, before holding my stare.
“Ally—” he says, my name sounding like disappointment on his tongue.
My heart cracks a tiny bit as I wait for him to say more. But I can’t hold in my words as they tumble out like a plea. “I didn’t tell anyone.” Technically that’s true. Dee guessed.
“You think that’s what this is?”
Misery settles over me like a wet blanket. “Isn’t it? I get it. You have to let me go.”
“Let you go,” he says slowly like he’s speaking an unfamiliar language. “No. You aren’t being fired.”
I sag back into the chair with relief. Then I spring to my feet. “Thank you. You won’t regret it. The NDA still stands.”
“Sit,” he commands.
Folding back into the seat, I snap my mouth shut. Whoops, I got ahead of myself there. My cheeks heat, and I stare at my hands.
He swears under his breath then says softly, “Look at me.”
When I bring my gaze up to his, he traps me with the intensity in his.
“The NDA’s broken, Sweetheart. None of it mattered the second you allowed Ozwald into your apartment—yes he told us. He couldn’t wait to rub it in our faces. The omega who blew our minds, that I stupidly had sign an NDA, always the untouchable employee, but that never stopped the fantasies. Or the role play with other omegas.” He smiles slightly at admitting he’s fantasized about me…that he has gone so far as to pretend another omega was me.
I’d be lying if I didn’t say I hadn’t tried that route with other alphas, but it was always a disappointment. And now, I wouldn’t even try; hell, even my toys are a hard sell now.
“I’m not sure what you want me to say.”
He smiles wider at my words, but it has an edge to it. “You’re so innocent, it almost makes me hesitant?—”
“Hesitant for what?”
“Sweetheart, we may be lawyers inside this building and in the courtroom, but outside of both and in the privacy of our own home, we are deviants. We’ll corrupt you. You’ll never be the same again.”
How’s that different than right this second? Or the other night?I nod like I’m considering his words. But there’s no choice here. I let Oz into my apartment because I crave his brand of contained crazy. I love the way his obsession feels. And if he actually wanted to claim me, my answer wouldn’t be no. The same can be said about Wade and Beckett.
“I think that ship has sailed, Mr. Sterling,” I reply, finding a boldness I didn’t know I possessed as I lean forward and graze my palm over the clear shape of his cock pressing against his slacks. Granted, he’s not hard,yet, but he will be.
He growls low in his throat and covers my hand with his own. I expect him to remove my touch, but he presses my palm firmer against him as he hardens beneath my fingers.
With his free hand, he reaches over to his phone and hits the speaker phone for Sally. “Yes, Mr. Sterling?”
“Sally, ensure there are no interruptions until this afternoon. I have an important task I need to work on.” His eyes never leave me, and it feels as if I’m on a roller coaster and I’ve just plummeted over the first drop. It’s thrilling and exhilarating all at once.
“Will do. Anything else?”
“Absolutelynointerruptions,” he stresses. He doesn’t wait for a response before he ends the call.
