Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
Riven
I don’t think I’ve been this nervous about a dinner since my very first evening as a personal chef, when I hovered near the doors to the Binghamtons’ dining room, chewing my fingernails and panicking about the filet mignon.
Tonight I wasn’t nervous about the food—although I made twice the lasagna I thought we needed so Tarkhan could have a pan all to himself—but the company.
Or rather, how my family would interact with Abydos.
Which was stupid, because my cousin Sami grew up in a household with almost as much money as him, it wasn’t like she was going to wander in and gawk at all the evidence of Abydos’s wealth.
Maybe the flutters in my stomach were for a different reason. Maybe I was worried for my family?
I shouldn’t have been. Abydos was never going to be called a charming host, but he didn’t scare anyone off either.
With a serious expression, he engaged my mother in conversations about her various volunteer jobs and her years as a social worker.
And whenever the conversation lagged, Sami and Tarkhan jumped in with updates on their various projects.
By the end of the meal, I was breathing easier. Although maybe that was the wine… The same cheap cartoon penguin stuff. Every time I saw the bottle, it made me smile. Yes, because the little penguin was cute, but also because he’d chosen it over one of the more expensive bottles.
After dinner, Abydos walked the guests to the door, and I sort of trailed behind. “Ms. Starr,” he intoned solemnly as he offered my mother his hand. “It’s been a pleasure to meet you.”
Mom, in true Mom fashion, scoffed and smacked his hand out of the way. My eyes widened as I realized what she was about to do, but I didn’t even get my mouth opened to warn her before she’d snaked her arms around Abydos’s middle and pulled him in for a hug.
“I just loved getting to know you, Abydos!” she declared, squeezing him tightly. “Thank you for all that you’ve done for my Riven. I’m just delighted, and now I just need to convince Brooke to stay when she comes out to visit in a few months, so I can have all my loves in one place.”
Abydos met my eyes helplessly over Mom’s head, and I mimed hugging her back. Awkwardly, he patted her shoulders, as if that would count as an embrace, and cleared his throat, clearly uncertain how to respond to that verbal vomit.
“Riven takes good care of me, Ms. Starr. I’m grateful for her presence here.”
I mean, I kinda appreciated that he wasn’t coming out and saying she gives great blowjobs or whatever, but surely Mom didn’t think he invited all of his employee’s parents over for dinner?
My mother tipped her head back and grinned up at him as she released the hug. “Call me Sharon, dear. Any friend of Riven’s is a friend of mine. I’m just so tickled to meet you—she was so excited to get this job with you, you know.”
Abydos raised a brow in my direction. “Really?” he asked blandly, likely remembering that disastrous interview.
“Oh, yes.” Mom patted his arm. “With this salary, she’ll be able to pay down her medical debts, which means the world to us.”
Did she notice the way Abydos’s expression slowly shifted into a thoughtful frown as she pulled away, her attention caught by the little autumnal arrangement I’d set up on one of the tables in the foyer? I noticed, and I had to look away.
With this salary, I would be able to pay off my debts…in only a decade or so. But did he think that’s the only reason I was here? The only reason I was…uh…with him?
Well, you’ll just have to prove otherwise tonight.
The thought of exactly how I could prove that had my cheeks heating, and my lips curling.
I glanced at Abydos to see him watching me in speculation.
In the last week, that spark of green in his eyes had gone from a little speck in the center to a glow which almost filled his gaze.
The intensity was enough to make my pulse speed up, making me catch my breath in anticipation for tonight.
How could I get my family out of here sooner?
The way the corner of Abydos’s lips curled told me he was thinking the same thing.
“I’m really happy for you.” Sami’s voice, so close to my ear, had me jumping sideways, my breath whooshing out of me.
“What?” I blurted. “Why?”
“Oh, please.” She enveloped me in a hug. “You deserve the best, Riven. I’m glad you’re getting it.”
“What?” I repeated, glancing around frantically, trying to pretend like this was a perfectly normal employee-employer dinner party, although I’m not sure why I was bothering. “I’m not getting—”
Sami’s laughter drowned me out, then my mother was there hugging both of us.
Maybe I should’ve poured smaller glasses of wine.
But when I looked over, it was to see Tarkhan, who wore a huge grin, slapping Abydos on the back.
“Congratulations, Abydos. I’m so fucking glad it finally happened for you.”
“What did?” Abydos growled, twisting away from Tark’s touch. “You’re drunk.”
“Don’t be stupid, it’s impossible to get drunk on lasagna.” The other male beamed, then held out his hand. When Sami slipped over to his side, the pair of them matched perfectly. “But the Mating Heat can get pretty intense, and you’ll need—”
“Shut up, Tark,” Abydos sighed, rolling his eyes. “You’re seeing things.”
“All I’m saying…” Tarkhan pulled him into a quick hug. “All I’m saying is that it’s time to leave the past where it belongs. Your hate and pain are—”
“Shut up, Tark.”
“Mm-hmm,” his friend said with a smirk. “Come on, dkaar, let’s leave these two alone.”
“Goodbye, Abydos!” Mom called with a little wave, then she blew a kiss to me. “Thank you for dinner, dear.”
“Bye, Mom,” I said a little dazedly. “Love you.”
Abydos stood at the door, presumably watching them load into Tarkhan’s truck, but I—my insides just a strange jumble of emotions—retreated to the dining room.
I gathered up all the plates and stacked them in the empty pans to take into the kitchen.
It would be better to get them scrubbed and loaded into the dishwasher now, rather than wait.
I was bent over the industrial-sized sink when I felt Abydos step into the kitchen. I was focused on a particularly stubborn bit of pasta, so it wasn’t until his heat pressed against my back that I’d realized he’d moved toward me.
“That was a delicious dinner,” he murmured, his lips against my hair as his hands wrapped around me. “Thank you.”
I thought he meant to hug me, and I had every intention of turning to hug him in return…except his huge hands cupped my tits, and when I arched back in surprise, it was to feel his erection resting against the small of my back.
With a moan, I dropped the scrub brush and melted against him.
“I’ve been smelling your arousal all night, dkaar.” He kneaded my breasts through my T-shirt. “You have no idea how difficult it was not to kick your family out and fuck you right there on the dining room table.”
The image was so erotic, a flood of liquid heat soaked my panties…and likely the black yoga pants I wore. This was my idea of dressed up, but I suddenly wished I was wearing something different.
“That might’ve been difficult,” I gasped, rubbing my ass back and forth across his balls, hoping to tease him into doing something like that. “I should’ve worn a skirt tonight. Easy access.”
“You’re right.” Abruptly, his hands left my ass, and I might have objected had I not felt him unbuttoning his trousers. “I’ll add a new stipulation to your employee contract, Ms. Starr. My personal chef must wear skirts at all times.”
“Mmm, yes sir, Mr. Abydos, sir. Sexy little short skirts?” I rubbed myself against him teasingly. “So you can just bend me over and—“
“I don’t care what kind,” he growled, and his fingers dug into the waistband of my pants. “I’d prefer you not wear anything.”
With that, he yanked down both my pants and my panties, and I felt the cool air hit my ass.
I barely had time to gasp before he grasped my hips and slammed me back against him.
His cock—that gloriously large, ridged cock, slid between my thighs, which were trapped together by my pants, the ridges teasing my pussy lips.
“Oh my God,” I groaned, flopping forward over the kitchen sink, desperate to support myself on wobbly arms as my core flooded desire all over his cock. “That’s…”
“Your line here is yes, sir,” he growled, and pulled back, spiking my need as each of those ridges slid across my folds.
“Yes, sir,” I repeated dutifully, although it was definitely more of a moan.
His hands were on my ass, his fingers pulling my cheeks apart. I bent forward, my palms flat on the marble, and he…
Without hesitation, he pushed his thick cock into my pussy, and as he slid home, I screamed, my orgasm hitting me hard and fast. My feet came off the tile, and had my pants not been more or less tying my thighs together, I would have wrapped my legs around him as I rode out my climax on his cock.
I was a little surprised that he didn’t begin to move; he just pressed forward, pressing deeper, and waited for my tremors to subside.
It took a while. What can I say? I’d been keyed up during dinner.
But eventually I sort of collapsed, my elbows giving out, my whole body shaking from that orgasm.
But Abydos was there to catch me, to make sure I didn’t end up in the sink with the pasta dishes.
He wrapped his arm around my waist even as he pulled his cock from inside me, those damned ridges causing me to shudder and moan on the way out as well.
“There we go, my little human,” he murmured, lifting me into his arms. “I thought you needed a treat for doing such a good job tonight.”
I mean, go me, right?
With a contented little hum, I wrapped my arms around his neck as he scooped me against his chest, my pants still down around my knees. “Yes, sir. I’ll order some skirts tomorrow.”