Chapter 05
July
like a man possessed
Colin
I check my briefcase while Ceci and the kids finish breakfast.
“Daddy,” Alicia calls.
“Yes, honey,” I reply without looking up.
“Don’t forget prom is today. I really want to take some pictures with you in the dress Mom and I picked. It’s so beautiful!” Her voice drifts, soft and dreamy.
This whole prom thing has been her favorite topic lately. I’m choosing not to think too hard about what it’ll be like when she starts going to the real ones at her school.
I close the briefcase and finally glance at her, smiling. “I’m sure it is. And it’ll look even more beautiful because my little princess will be wearing it.”
I kiss her cheek, squeeze Ethan’s shoulders, and as I lean toward Ceci, she says softly, “I’ll walk you out.”
I hold out a hand to help her up, and we step outside together.
The morning air is still cool. Ceci turns to me, worry etched into the softness of her features.
“Please don’t get lost in work today. Try to be home on time, okay? Alicia’s been talking about prom for weeks… she’d really love it if you were here before she leaves.”
“I told you I’ll be home for the photos, Ceci. Even though it’s not a real prom,” I say, the edge in my tone harsher than I intend.
“I know. But Sophia’s mom’s gone all out to make tonight special for the kids. It’s a big deal for Alicia, so please… just be here.”
I don’t answer. My gaze shifts toward the car, the street beyond it.
“It’s just…” she starts again. “You’ve been working so much lately. Some days, even more than usual. Coming home later and later, more often than not. I know I’ve said this before, but you work too much. I don’t want to see you burn yourself out.”
“I can’t leave the company to its own devices or abandon my obligations,” I say, a practiced calm settling over my voice. “Hundreds of people depend on me. Including our family.”
Before she can remind me again about her own work and obligations, and my need to find a better balance and make more time at home, I add, “Look, I already promised I’d be home on time. Let’s not argue about this.”
I step forward and pull her into a brief hug, more perfunctory than I mean it to be.
“I need to go, I’m already late.” I press a quick kiss to her lips and murmur, “I love you.”
“I love you too,” she says, quietly, as I walk to the car.
When I look back through the windshield, she’s still standing there in the driveway, watching me leave.
“Colin?” Margaret’s voice comes through the office phone.
I press the green button. “Yes, Margaret.”
“Maya Fisher is here with some documents for you to sign.”
A pause. “You can let her in.”
I run a hand through my hair, straighten my tie, and barely have time to exhale before three soft knocks sound at the door. Maya steps inside.
She’s wearing a short-sleeved black dress today, knee-length, perfectly tailored to her frame. The black heels with red soles add a boldness she wears effortlessly, making it nearly impossible not to notice every movement she makes.
My gaze lingers, unwilling to move, until she catches it and smiles.
“Maya.”
She walks toward my desk with unhurried confidence, hips swaying just enough to draw attention, and hands me the papers. I start scanning them, signing one page after another.
Silence fills the room. Unlike other times, it isn’t comfortable. It hums with restraint and something neither of us intends to name.
I want to ask if she came by yesterday evening when I wasn’t here. If she thought I was avoiding her.
And if she did ask me outright. What would I say?
That I volunteered for dinner with one of our most unbearable clients just to keep myself occupied?
I sign the last page slowly, dragging out the moment. Then I hand the papers back. She hesitates before taking them.
“Is there anything else I can help you with?” she asks.
I should say no.
But I don’t.
“Yes,” I tell her. “Come back after you’ve delivered the signed documents. I have a few spreadsheets I want you to go through.”
Maya smiles before walking toward the door and says nothing else. She doesn’t need to. I know she’ll do exactly as I asked.
The following section includes explicit, on-page cheating. It is part of the story’s journey, but this moment may be difficult for some readers. Please feel free to skip it if it feels overwhelming.
Maya bursts out laughing. When she finally manages to catch her breath, she wipes at the tears gathering at the corners of her eyes.
“I can’t believe you,” she says, her voice still light with laughter.
I shrug, the corner of my mouth lifting. “Believe it or not, that’s exactly what happened.”
Since she returned to my office, Maya’s been working through the tasks I gave her. I dismissed Margaret earlier than usual and asked Maya to compile and organize the drafts for Monday’s deliverables.
Somehow, the conversation drifted, and I ended up telling her about the time I won a Mustang from a classmate in college. He resented the fact that I never had to try as hard as he did. Thought he could humiliate me at poker. He was wrong.
Instead, he lost his Mustang. And whatever dignity he had left, running two naked laps around his fraternity house.
I sold the car the next day for half its value. I didn’t want the car. I just wanted the point made, and it was.
“You know what? I think I believe you,” she says, teasing. “If anyone would do something like that, it would probably be a younger version of you.”
That makes me frown. “Are you saying I’ve gone soft with age?”
“On the contrary. Montgomery Clifford wouldn’t have the reputation it does without your iron fist.”
Her words pull a small smile from me, but when I shake my head, the movement tugs at my neck. I tense, hand going instinctively to the spot.
Before I can say anything, she’s already moving toward me. She takes my hand away from my neck, her touch light but certain.
“Did you hurt yourself? I can massage it, if you’d like.”
“That’s not necessary. It’s nothing. I just moved too quickly.”
She ignores that, stepping behind me and reaching for my tie.
“It’s no trouble,” she murmurs softly. “I’ll stop if it doesn’t help.”
Her breath brushes my ear as she speaks, sending a sensation through me that I choose to ignore. My tie slides off, landing on the desk. A moment later, her fingers move to the top buttons of my shirt.
I close my hand around hers. She lets out a soft chuckle.
“Don’t worry. Three buttons at most. I need skin-to-skin contact to relieve the tension.”
Reluctantly, I let her continue. True to her word, she doesn’t go past the third.
When her hands meet my skin, I hear her draw in a breath—a small sound that goes straight through me. My body reacts before I can stop it, the heat between us instant and unwelcome.
Her thumbs press into my shoulders, working slow, unhurried circles.
“You’re so tense,” she whispers. “You probably need this every day, with all the stress you deal with.”
I don’t answer. Speaking now wouldn’t do me any good. My pulse edges upward with every movement of her hands. After another minute, I reach up, covering them with mine, steadying both of us.
“Thank you, Maya,” I say, my voice rougher than intended. “That’s enough. Let’s call it a night.”
She steps back into my line of sight, her fingers grazing my arm.
“Anytime you need me,” she says quietly, “just ask.”
But I barely register the words. My focus has narrowed… to the shape of her mouth, the rhythm of her breathing, and the silence that follows, charged enough to feel like a touch.
I yank her down, and she lands in my lap. Our lips crash together, words meaningless now. My tongue dives into hers, tasting her urgency and my own need.
Maya pulls away, rising, and before I can even grasp what’s happening, she hikes her dress up her thighs and straddles me.
I grip her ass, pushing her down against my hard cock. She moans into my mouth every time I guide her, the friction between our clothed bodies intensifying with each movement. Time slips away as we kiss, lost in it until I can’t hold back anymore.
I stand, still holding her, and set her on the sideboard behind my desk, pressing her body against the wall.
My cock strains against the fabric of my boxer briefs, the pressure almost unbearable.
For a heartbeat, we freeze, locked in this moment. Then her hand finds mine, guiding it to the zipper of her dress, and our mouths crash together again, devouring each other.
I yank the dress down, leaving it bunched at her waist. I can’t help but watch her hips move, grinding shamelessly against me.
I rip through her lace panties, drawing a deep groan from her as I thrust two fingers inside her.
She’s dripping wet. I fuck her harder with my fingers, driven by the way her body responds to me, by the sounds she can’t hold back. She gasps, breaking our kiss, her eyes fluttering shut as my thumb circles her clit.
“This is what you want, isn’t it?” I murmur, my voice rough.
“Yes—yes. Colin, yes.”
I twist my fingers inside her, pushing deeper, faster, chasing the reaction I already know I’m going to get.
She comes calling my name, her voice unsteady, her body shaking against mine, nails digging into my shirt.
The moment her eyes snap open, her hands are on my belt. Undoing it, sliding down my zipper, and freeing me from my boxer briefs with practiced ease.
She pumps me once. Twice.
My mind screams for a condom, and I say it out loud, forcing myself to act.
"Condom. Need a condom."
I pull away from her hand, fighting the urge to stay, and start rummaging for my wallet on the desk.
I tear the foil open with my teeth, roll the condom onto my cock, and dive back between Maya’s thighs. Slamming into her with one hard, scorching thrust.
When I’m finally buried deep inside her, it feels like crossing the finish line of a race. An overwhelming, electric rush.