CHAPTER 19
I pull up at the office feeling like an idiot. Okay, not necessarily an idiot, but I’m mad at myself for crossing the line with Axel. For being too weak to resist his advances. It bothers me, yet, I still have butterflies. The memory of last night has me whirling with emotion. I shouldn’t have kissed him. If only I’d kept my lips to myself.
My aim this morning is to pretend it never happened. Hopefully, that will work. Knowing Axel, it won’t, but I have to do something.
After unlocking the door, I make a pot of coffee and check the bathroom for cleanliness. The roll of toilet paper is low, so I change it. I refill the hand soap dispenser, then look up at the ceiling. That reminds me – I didn’t add the leaky ceiling to the maintenance list. How did I forget that? Probably because it hasn’t rained in a minute.
Walking out of the bathroom, I stop dead in my tracks when I see Axel standing in the hallway – his tall, muscular, lengthy frame blocking my way to the lobby. I was too gone in my thoughts and completely missed the door chime.
“Axel, what are you doing here?” I glance at the watch on my wrist and say, “It’s not even 8:30 yet?”
He’s wordless, but that stiff walk toward me tells me all I need to know.
“Axel,” I say, feeling my chest rise in and out quickly as he walks right up to me. He places his hands on my face and pulls my face to his. Our mouths slam together. Converge in madness. Marry in fervor. He kisses me like last night was just the appetizer. Now, he’s getting the full course, sucking on my tongue while his lengthy body holds me against the wall. I lose myself in the kiss, almost forgetting I’m at the office – at my place of business, especially when he releases my face and grabs my wrists, stretching my arms above my head, holding them against the wall, too. He kisses me like an expert – like those perfect TV kisses that are well-edited and have gone through many takes, but this is a spontaneous kiss. There are no do overs and there doesn’t need to be. It’s messy, raw and wild. I try to hang on and handle the force of his mouth, of his desires.
He groans.
I moan.
The room spins.
This is insane.
It shouldn’t be happening, yet I don’t want it to stop. Where does this craving come from? I haven’t felt anything close to this before last night. It’s insanity. It’s otherworldly. It’s overpowering. My little heart can’t take this early-morning beating.
“Mmm,” I breathe. “Axel…”
“Shh,” he says, with his wet lips flush against mine.
“Axel.”
I open my eyes and catch a glimpse of his face. Why did I do that? My heart flutters when they catch his darkened hazel eyes fixated on me.
I whisper, “Axel, I can’t do this with you.”
He tries to resume the kiss. I turn my head away from the angle of his mouth. He improvises by using one hand to hold both of my wrists against the wall while his free hand directs my chin, moving my head to where he wants it – facing him.
“What did you say to me?” he asks.
“I said, I can’t…can’t do this…with you.” My heart is beating so fast, I can hardly talk.
He says, “You can. You want to, Zimyra.”
“I don’t,” I tell him, but I don’t even believe myself, so I know he doesn’t believe me.
“You do. I see it in your eyes. I saw it last night. Why do you think I let you kiss me first? Hunh?”
My mind races. He’s already fine. Interrogating me only makes him finer. Not to mention, I know what his mouth tastes like. His lips taste like the finest cuisine. His tongue tastes like my wildest dreams. Collectively, they’re enough for me to release my inhibitions and give this man what he wants.
I close my eyes and attempt to catch my breath, looking for that common sense I’m supposed to have. Whenever Axel is around, common sense is hard to come by.
“Open your eyes, Sunflower.”
“No.”
He snickers.
Cocky bastard.
He says, “I can get you to open them, Zimyra.”
I open them and connect to his gaze again. My body trembles. I make efforts to breathe, but I’m having a hard time yet again.
“Can you release me, please?”
“No,” he responds, his lips inches away from mine.
“Axel…”
“Did you sleep last night, because I didn’t? Every time I tried—every time I closed my eyes, I saw this beautiful face of yours. I relived our kiss. Don’t tell me you didn’t, because I know that’ll be a lie.”
“Axel…”
I say his name again to snap him out of this infatuation he has with me, but he’s too far gone.
He says, “Your taste lives on my tongue. I love kissing you. I love the way your tongue feels in my mouth. I love hearing you moan. I love feeling your body tremble, like it’s doing now.”
“Do you say this to all the women?”
A smile grows on his face.
He releases my wrists.
Finally.
I lower my arms and push him in the chest in feigned defiance.
He doesn’t budge. I didn’t expect him to. I just needed to express my displeasure, that’s not really displeasure but hoping he doesn’t know that.
“Walk away,” he tells me.
“Excuse me?”
“I released you like you asked. Walk away from me.”
I don’t move. I don’t want to walk away, and he knows it. He’s so confident in himself and his abilities to seduce me that he’s fully aware how weak my legs are. How relaxed my mind is. He’s good at what he does.
They say practice makes perfect. A man with his good looks and physique has, no doubt, had plenty of practice drills. I just so happen to be the latest victim of his irresistible allure.
He takes a step forward, closing the space between us before grabbing my face and kissing me harder. Then he does something that rocks me to my core. He hoists me up against the wall. I wrap my legs around his waist, my arms around his neck, and lose myself in the kiss, desperately trying to breathe while my center pulsates. My heels fall off my feet when I attempt to lock my ankles. This pantsuit I’m wearing ain’t never seen this kind of action.
I moan audibly when I feel his hot mouth on my neck.
My nerves are a wreck. My body shakes. I know he feels it.
“Axel…”
He doesn’t respond. He just focuses on that spot – the one on my neck that he’s sucking.
“Axel, please…” I moan.
“Please what?” he teases, looking at me, biting his lip. “Do it again? Hunh? That’s what you want?”
He moves to the other side of my neck. I’m a ball of wax in his arms at the contact. All I can do is close my eyes and try to work up the strength to encompass this foreign feeling in my body. That all goes out the window when his hand moves up my blouse. I feel like I’m going to glitch if he keeps at this. I’m already weak. I have no control over this. I’m a goner. I’m all his, and that’s just the way it is. My hormones – all the good ones – are wreaking havoc on my self-control, sending those happy signals to my brain all at once.
He pulls back, stares into my eyes, and demands, “Kiss me.”
“Axel—”
With his lips a breath away from mine, taunting me, he says, “Kiss. Me.”
I lick my lips, then press them softly to his. Then I open my eyes and meet his lustful, honeyed ones again, sending my heart into heart attack status.
The doorbell chimes.
He releases me quickly like we’re in trouble of getting caught. He walks to the front. I smooth out my clothes, slide into my heels, and join him, feeling like I’ve been caught in the act.
When I step into the lobby, I see Mauricio standing there, waiting for the maintenance list. I’m glad he showed up a little earlier than normal as well. If I was to stay with Axel in that hallway any longer, I’d be six months pregnant.
I watch as Axel inconspicuously wipes his lips, then says, “Oh, yeah…” He unfolds a piece of paper that he removes from his front shirt pocket and says, “Here’s the report from Friday.”
“Thank you,” I say, unable to look at him.
“You’re welcome.”
“Give me a minute and I’ll print today’s report.”
“Okay.”
He looks at Mauricio and says, “Ella está recibiendo el informe.”
Mauricio nods.
I stand up and walk over to the printer. Then I hand the report to Axel and say, “Here you go. Let me know if you have any questions.”
“Will do.” He flashes a smile, and then they go about their business.
I cover my face with my hands and scream to myself. So much for pretending nothing happened between us. My plan failed before I had a chance to implement it.
I was so shook, I needed some alone time, so I didn’t even go to lunch with Capri today. I told her something had come up and it had – something like me trying to figure this mess out. I drive to the park but sit in the car, touching the red areas on my neck, courtesy of Axel. I don’t know what has gotten into me lately. This is not like me to fall into the arms of a player and play his games of seduction. I’m so out of my mind right now, I don’t know what to think. Does his mouth possess that much power?
When I get back to work, I resume my day, filling all my available time with any and everything work-related. The more I keep my mind occupied, the more I can avoid him. That’s why when I get a visitor at three o’clock looking to tour a unit, I’m elated. This will take at least thirty minutes and will make the workday breeze on by.
I place his license in the drawer and lock it. He tells me his girlfriend was supposed to meet him here, but she’s running late, and he doesn’t have time to wait for her.
Girlfriend…
The man looks like he’s in his late fifties with a gray beard and all, talking about a girlfriend. Men these days…
We walk to the model unit. I show him the kitchen, the washer and dryer. We step down the hallway. He views the bathroom. Coming out of there, I show him the first bedroom, then we walk to the master. He looks into the closet, walks into the bathroom, and comments about the double vanities. He tells me how much his girl would love that added touch.
Overall, he says he likes the place. I allow him to pass ahead of me when we head back down the hallway, instructing him that we’ll go back to the leasing office where I’ll give him an application. In a split second, he turns, grabs me by the throat, and shoves me up against the wall. I’m caught off guard. The shock of it all, of being physically attacked, hits different when it actually happens.
I can’t believe this is happening to me.
After the initial shock fades, I try to scream, but his hands are gripping my neck. Then he punches me in the face so hard, I fall to the floor. I use the opportunity to kick him in the crotch. He falls backward, wailing in pain, calling me out my name. I scream for help while positioning the mace on my keychain to be ready in the event that he gets up. He’s lying in the hallway. If I try to get past him, he could grab me. Unfortunately, that’s the only way out.
“Help!” I scream again. With shaky, unstable hands, I manage to whip out my phone and dial 911 when I see him getting up. I tell the operator the address, the building and apartment number. Leaving the line open, I drop the phone on the floor and prepare to fight. I’m not about to be anyone’s victim.
Before I can register my next move, Axel comes around the corner and wrestles the man to the ground. And then he punches the guy, over and over and over again.
Wham!
Wham!
Wham!
Wham!
He pounds his face so hard, I can hear the sound of his fist striking the man’s face. Then I see blood. Out of pure rage, I’m sure Axel done broke the man’s nose. The dude’s body goes limp. Axel is still going at it.
Wham!
Wham!
“Axel!” I yell when I see he’s not letting up. “Axel, stop! I called 911.”
He hits him again.
Wham!
“Axel!”
He has officially blanked, and I’m not sure if I can stop him. I see the rage in his face, in his eyes, in the muscles bulging from beneath his skin. If I don’t stop him, this man is as good as dead. He probably deserves it, but I can’t have Axel catching a murder charge because of me.
“Axel, stop! The police are on the way,” I say. “I hear the sirens.”
He finally lets up on the man and turns his attention to me.
“Are you okay?” he asks, his chest heaving in and out with force. He attempts to touch my face until he realizes how bloody his right hand is. He uses the left instead.
I wince. It’s tender to the touch.
“Zimyra, talk to me. Are you okay?”
“Yes. He…um…he punched me right here,” I say, touching my right cheek to show him the exact spot, but I’m sure there’s a bruise so he already knows. My light complexion can’t hide a thing.
He rubs his mustache out of angst before looking at the man again like he’s ready to pummel him some more.
The police show up, guns drawn. I explain what happened, why the man is on the floor, and how Axel came to my rescue. They get the man up off the floor, take him to the stretcher, and cuff him to it. Then they tell me to come outside so I can get checked out.
I step out with Axel behind me like my bodyguard. He walks with me over to the ambulance while the paramedic touches my jaw. She says she doesn’t think there’s anything broken, but they can take me in for an X-ray to confirm that. I don’t want to go. Axel thinks I should.
“What the heck happened?” Zander asks, approaching me and grabbing my face.
“Ow,” I say, moving from his grasp.
“Zander, what are you doing here?”
“I heard the call on the scanner. What happened, Zimyra?”
“This guy—he assaulted me when I was…when I was giving him a tour.”
“What guy! Where is he?” he asks with balled fists.
“Zander—”
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know. Zander, please calm down, okay? Please? It’s handled. Axel beat the crap out of him already.”
“Who’s Axel?”
“ I’m Axel.” Axel steps closer to us.
Zander glares at him. “And who are you exactly?”
“One of the maintenance workers out here.”
“Tell me what happened?” he requests.
Axel says, “I don’t know exactly. I saw Zimyra going into the building with that guy, and I just had a bad feeling, so I went up and that’s when I saw the man on the floor, trying to get up. I guess Zimyra had got him down somehow.”
“He grabbed me by the neck after the tour was over,” I explained. “I broke away from him, and then he punched me in the face. I fell and when he tried to grab me again, I kicked him in the nuts. Then he went down. That’s when I called 911.”
I watch the two men standing before me seethe with anger. They both have flared nostrils. They both frown when I recount the story. They both look like they have murder on their minds.
“What are the paramedics saying?” Zander asks.
“They want me to go to the hospital to get checked out, but I told them I wasn’t going.”
“You are going,” Zander and Axel say in tandem, then look at each other.
Zander tells him, “I got this, my guy. Why don’t you get your hand looked at?”
“Ain’t nothing wrong with my hand, man.”
“Sure about that,” Zander replies. “From the look of all that dried-up blood, you used the dude’s face for a punching bag. You may not feel it now because your adrenaline is high, but you’ll feel it in the morning.”
“Then I’ll just feel it in the morning.” Axel looks at me and says, “Please, go and get checked out.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll meet you up there,” Zander says.
“I’ll lock everything up here after I finish up with the police,” Axel says.
“Okay. Thank you, Axel.”
“You’re welcome. Keep your phone near, okay?”
“Okay.”