Chapter 15 Theo
Theo
He wiped his neck with a towel and grinned into the locker room mirror with as much arrogance as he could muster. Forty-five minutes, three circuits, and one accidental glute flex for a nearby trainer who may or may not have winked.
Not bad for a Wednesday.
He felt good. Clear-headed. A little sore but in the best way.
He’d been trying not to think about Maya all morning.
Not the kiss. And definitely not the sound she made when he clutched the back of her neck.
It was working. Kind of.
He pulled out his phone, glanced at the time, and saw a new message sitting at the top of the screen.
I enjoyed kissing you more than I should have.
New proposal: Before we record tomorrow, would you be okay with helping me take the edge off? Not the whole thing. Just… everything but.
See you at 6? ??
Theo blinked.
His mouth went dry. His heart thudded hard against his ribs.
Then he sat down very carefully on the bench like his legs forgot what to do.
He stared at the screen, rereading it for any hint that she was joking.
She wasn’t.
Everything but.
He ran a hand through his damp hair and let out a shaky breath somewhere between a prayer and a curse. “Okay,” he muttered to himself. “Cool. Sure. Everything but.”
He adjusted his gym bag on his shoulder.
And his shorts.
Then stood slowly and whispered “Fuck.”
He didn’t text her back.
Not right away.
Not while he was still in a public space wearing gym shorts.
Theo stuffed his phone in his pocket, hitched his gym bag on his shoulder, and walked out of the locker room like a man actively suppressing a religious experience.
The sun was bright. The air was heavy. And he barely noticed his surroundings.
By the time he reached his car, he’d run the words “everything but” through his head at least thirty times.
He dropped into the driver’s seat. Shut the door. Cranked the AC. Sat there, breathing.
His hands were still buzzing.
Everything was buzzing.
Because this wasn’t a tease. It wasn’t a joke.
This was Maya—Maya Brooks—inviting him into the most unhinged version of professionalism he’d ever heard of.
Take the edge off.
Everything but.
He gripped the steering wheel. Let out a groan.
Then opened his phone.
Copy that. Consider me stretched, hydrated, and respectfully feral
See you at 6
He hit send.
Then dropped his head back against the seat.
“Lord, give me strength,” he whispered.
And maybe a second round of electrolytes.
The knock came at 6:04.
Theo froze, then crossed the room in a brisk jog and pulled the door open.
Maya stood there.
Curls wild and framing her face. Lips glossed. Eyes steady.
She wore a denim skirt that hugged her hips indecently, a white tank top, and a shaky smile. “Hey,” she said.
“Hey,” he echoed as he stepped back to let her in. “You’re late.”
She cocked a brow. “I hadn’t realized.”
Maya walked toward the living room, not fast, not deliberate. Just… like she owned the space. And maybe she did. In the last two nights, she’d definitely left an imprint on his home.
“So,” he said, following her in, pulse thudding. “About this… amended professionalism.”
Maya stopped just short of the booth and turned to face him. Eyes steady. Shoulders relaxed.
“Do you have a problem with it?”
Theo studied her. The sharp lines of her mouth. The confidence she wore like armor. The hunger she was trying very hard to conceal.
“No,” he said. “Not at all. It’s just unexpected considering how you ran out of here after our kiss. I’d like to know your terms.”
She pursed her lips and let her gaze wander over his shoulder before answering. “My terms.”
He tried again. “You said everything but. I’m just asking…” He took a step closer. “What counts as everything? And what counts as but?”
Maya bit her lip but she didn’t move away.
“Now that I’m here, I think we should start slow.”
His pulse jumped at the thought of another kiss. “And then?”
Her voice dropped to a near-whisper. “I’ll let you know when we hit the edge.”
He nodded. “Where would you like to be? Bedroom? Or somewhere else?”
Maya glanced around the dim space where they currently stood. “I feel fine here.”
She felt safe here. Theo clocked her meaning right away. The bedroom was probably too much, too fast.
“Okay,” he said with an easy tone. “Not the bedroom.”
A beat passed.
Then, softly: “What about the booth?”
Her eyes widened. “The booth?”
He gestured toward the studio. “Neutral ground. Lights are low. Chair’s comfortable. And I can keep my distance.”
“You’ll keep your distance?”
Theo smiled. “I have an idea that you might be into.”
She snorted. “The last idea you had led to a kiss.”
“A kiss you enjoyed more than you should have.”
“Mmh.” Still, she walked toward the studio.
She moved with purpose as she stepped into the booth and pulled the door shut behind her.
Theo stayed on the other side of the glass, dimming the lights until they were soft amber and shadows. He still had an unobstructed view as she sank into the chair and adjusted the mic before her.
Theo stayed at the console. Hands still. Body very still.
He tapped the talkback.
“Comfortable?”
She leaned close to the mic. “I am… but why aren’t you in here?”
Good question. He could’ve been in there, mouth on her skin, hands coaxing her open until she came on his fingers… but he had something else in mind.
Something he couldn’t get out of his head since the first time they recorded together. A filthy little idea that had burrowed so far into his brain he couldn’t shake it.
“I want to try getting you off with just my voice.”
Maya’s eyebrows lifted. “You already do.”
He grinned. “You have no idea what that does to me. But tonight, I want my voice to guide your hands. Nothing else.”
Arrogance and delusion must have driven him to this moment because he’d never asked this of another woman. Never even considered taking this risk. But for Maya? He was a fool for a good challenge.
He waited for her reaction, for her to tell him to fuck off… But she shifted in her chair, tilting her head as if weighing the invitation.
“That’s what you want?” she asked, her voice husky. “To watch me?”
Theo’s throat worked. “And listen. Yes.”
That did something to Maya. Her eyes seemed to get darker. Her knees parted slightly where she sat, not much—just enough for him to notice. Her gaze dropped, lingered on the mic then lifted again, sharp and curious.
“And you think you’re capable?”
He didn’t miss a beat. “Yes.”
Her lips parted, just barely, like she wanted to say something snarky, but it never landed. Instead, she exhaled through her nose and sank a little deeper into the chair. One hand moved to the hem of her skirt.
Theo clenched the edge of the console.
She looked up again, eyes blazing through the glass. “Then I hope you’re ready to perform, podcast boy.”
That’s where she was wrong.
This wouldn’t be a performance.
He couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face as he leaned toward the mic. “I need you—” he ran his hand over his mouth. “I need you to hitch up that skirt before I can do anything.”
She obeyed, pulling the tight hem up her thighs. Stretch marks peeked out from under her black panties like something forbidden and he wanted to taste every one of them.
“Thank you, my dear,” he murmured. “Now, part your pretty thighs, just a little….”
She did as he asked while making herself more comfortable.
“Good,” he murmured. “Now slowly slide your fingers up. Nails over your thigh. The same nails that dug into my scalp and dragged me deeper into a kiss. ”
He watched her smirk, but humor him at the same time.
He groaned into his mic, into her ear. “I’ve pictured those same nails climbing up my back, leaving marks, branding me… as I stroke you from the inside out. You’ve burned me with your touch a thousand times over, Maya. I just want you to leave a mark. Leave me something for the next morning.”
Her lips parted with the smallest gasp.
“When you’re ready, slip your fingers under your panties. Just touch what I’m dying to taste. Don’t rush it.”
She hesitated but only for a second. Then her fingers disappeared beneath the thin fabric, her skirt bunching around her waist.
Theo gripped the edge of the console. His mouth was dry.
“Eyes on me, baby.”
Maya looked up with a hazy stare. She shifted again, her thighs parting further. He couldn’t see her hand now, but he could see the effect—the way her hips started to roll, the flush rising up her neck.
“Thata girl,” he said, in a steady voice. “You’re doing so fucking well for me.”
Her breath hitched. A soft, sharp inhale.
“How does it feel?”
“Warm,” she whispered.
“Sticky?”
She nodded.
“Wet?”
“Yes.”
He exhaled sharply. Sat back. Didn’t let himself make any sudden movements. “Touch yourself like you would if I weren’t here. Like I’m not about to tear down this door and fuck you senseless.”
She arched a brow. “I don’t have to imagine when I know you want to tear down a door and fuck me senseless.”
Her smart quip pulled a smile out of him. “Then touch yourself like you’re getting ready for me.”
When her other hand slid up her thigh, under her shirt, Theo groaned. She went straight for her breast, slipping her fingers between flesh and satin, teasing a nipple he knew was stiff.
“Would you like my mouth there, Maya?” he whispered.
Her brows furrowed. Her head tipped back. A moan escaped her throat—quiet, restrained.
“Is that where you want me to taste you?”
“Yes,” she breathed.
“I love your breasts…” he murmured, watching her. “If I asked nicely, could I touch them next time? Squeeze them while I devour you? Would you let me be good to you, baby?”
This earned him a whimper instead of words. But the hand below her skirt worked harder.
“Oh… I think you’re slippery enough for me,” Theo’s voice dropped into gravel. “Put two fingers inside yourself and say my name.”
Maya’s eyes opened just enough to find him. “Theo…”
That one word nearly undid him, but he kept his eyes trained on her hand. “Two fingers, darling. Now.”
She did as she was told, and a shaky moan escaped in her next breath.
“Curl those fingers and go deeper. Imagine it’s me sliding in and out of you. In front of a mirror. On a bench press. In my kitchen… Use three fingers if you need it,” he leaned forward and whispered a warning, “and you might, if you want what I’m dying to give you.”
“Fuck,” she hissed.
“Yes, long and hard and all night, if this glass wasn’t between us,” he said with a grin. Theo’s grip on the console tightened. He could barely sit still. Every nerve was on fire. “I’d have your fucking ankles over my shoulders.”
Her gasp drove him further.
“That’s it,” he said, his voice catching. “You’re getting close, aren’t you?”
She nodded. Barely.
“Fuck, Maya,” he whispered. “You have no idea how beautiful you are from where I’m sitting.”
He leaned closer to the mic, his voice thick and hungry.
“You in that chair… legs open, skirt pushed up, breathless while you fuck yourself for me…”
A low groan escaped him. He didn’t touch himself. He wouldn’t. But the strain in his jeans was unbearable. He adjusted in his seat, jaw tight, and relishing in his own restraint.
“Your mouth,” he went on, his tone reverent. “It’s open like you’re about to say my name again. Say it.”
“Theo…”
Music to his fucking ears.
“Your cheeks are flushed. Your hand’s moving so fucking fast now.”
Her moan floated through the glass.
Theo clenched his fist in his lap. His dick throbbed against the seam of his jeans. Still, he didn’t move.
“I can hear it,” he rasped. “I can hear your fingers working that pretty pussy. You’re so wet for me, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” she breathed.
He gritted his teeth. “If you’re about to come, I want you to say it. Say it while I watch.”
“I’m gonna come,” she whispered, hips rocking.
God, he wanted to rock with her.
“Say it louder.”
“I’m gonna come,” she cried.
Theo leaned in, lips brushing the mic.
“Then fucking do it. Now. Come for me, Maya.”
She shattered—head thrown back, body tensing, thighs trembling. A sharp cry tore from her throat as she came hard, her fingers still moving as the climax ripped through her.
And Theo… watched.
Helplessly hard. Eyes locked to every twitch of her hips, every breathless gasp. His dick strained painfully against denim, but he didn’t so much as unbutton. He stayed gripping the edge of his console like it was the only thing tethering him to Earth.
She collapsed back into the chair, spent, eyes fluttering open to find him.
And all he could do was sit there, trying to remember how to breathe.
To her credit, Maya was breathing for both of them. He listened to her shallow gasps as she smoothed her skirt and straightened in the chair.
When she looked at him again, she flashed him a cheeky grin. “Should we try another chapter?”
It was the first relaxed smile she’d ever given him.
Theo let out a relieved huff that quickly became a chuckle. “Fuck, Maya. Yeah, take five…”