“Yes”—I force my knee between her legs—“I do.”
She swallows, and I feel it in her neck under my palm. “He wasn’t there. I didn’t see him.”
“When are you going to tell me who he is?”
Her eyes flick away. “I told you—”
“And I told you. No one touches what is mine.” I crush my mouth to hers.
She lets out a little cry.
“You don’t understand.” I hiss the words against her mouth as she gasps, her body straining against me. “You belong to me.”
“You’re crazy.”
I undo the shirt, familiar with the buttons, my mouth still on hers as I cup my hands around her soft, full breasts.
“I thought the point of this shirt was so you wouldn’t—ohhh.” She moans as I suck on her nipple, nipping it slightly with my teeth.
I need to stop, but it’s too late. I want all of her, need her—need to make her know that she’s mine now. Her neck is smooth where I nuzzle it, her body yielding under my hands. I can’t even blame it on the dark and the night and the stress. It’s the middle of the day, and I want to fuck her in the stairwell of my office building.
When I try to work them under the tight skirt, Mandy pushes my hands away. Her face is flushed, and she’s panting. Her hands, much smaller than my own, are still on my wrists. They don’t stop me when I reach for her waist again. “Someone could see…”
I silence her protests with another kiss, sliding my hands down her hips to cup her ass then grab her thighs under the silky skirt fabric. “Then you better tell me what I want to know.”
She gasps as I push the skirt up to her hips.
I can smell her desire. The familiar fabric of the panties is wet under my fingers. “I could fuck you just like this.”
She’s pushing at my chest now. I let her force me away, watch her as she hurries to adjust her clothes.
Using two fingers, I tilt her chin up. “You’re moving in with me until this situation is resolved.”
She slaps my hand away. “I’m fine.”
“It won’t be long. You’ll fuck up eventually, and I’ll find out who he is.”
“You need to stay out of my business.” She tries to step around me.
I grab her arm. “You work for me—that makes you my business.”
“You just want me there so you can make me have some sort of mental breakdown.”
“You’re doing that all by yourself.”
Her eyes flash as she turns back to me. “You always have an angle, Salinger. You want me beholden to you so I’ll humiliate myself and sleep with you. And I’ll be another conquest you can add to your trophy case.”
“Not to pat myself on the back, but it would not be a humiliating experience for you. Addictive? Life-changing? Sure.”
“Then why are you doing this?”
“Because I can. Because you can’t.”
“So you just want to lord your superiority over me.”
“Something like that.” I gaze down at her. “If you want to pretend like you have agency in this situation, that’s fine. Be my guest. Still doesn’t change the fact that when I leave here at seven thirty, you’re coming with me.”
The main overheadlights are off in the office. Outside, it’s dark. Rain patters lightly against the windowpanes.
