Chapter 38 – Remington
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
The Shower Surprise
Remington
I hang up the phone and immediately dial Helix. He answers on the second ring.
“What’s wrong?” he asks with concern since it’s 6:30 in the morning.
“Sorry about the early hour, but I just got a call from London. There was a small fire in the lab a few minutes ago.”
“Fuck,” he curses. “Is everyone okay?”
“Everyone is fine,” I assure him. “A grad student left some papers too close to a Bunsen burner and then left the room to get something. When he came back, there was smoke, and the sprinklers were going off. There’s apparently a good bit of water damage.”
“I imagine,” he sighs. “What do you need me to do?”
“Can you and Nicolette meet me in my office in an hour? They’re going to get back to me with a full assessment, and you two know more about all the equipment than I do.” I put him on speakerphone as I tug on a pair of jeans. “I might need one of you to go to London.”
“I’ll go,” he offers. “Nic’s been a little under the weather, and I don’t think it would be a good idea for her to travel that far.”
“What’s wrong with her?” I ask, concerned.
“She’s gotten dizzy twice this week. I checked her blood pressure, and it was low both times. Her doctor said that happens sometimes, but I still worry.” He pauses for a long second. “If I have to go, do you think you could check up on her while I’m gone?”
“Of course,” I say earnestly. “Do I need to find someone else to go?”
“No, all the labs are under our purview, so I think it’s best if one of us goes. And like I said, Nic’s doctor didn’t seem to be too worried because it was only slightly lower than normal. I’m sure I’m just being overprotective.”
“Gotcha covered, bro. I’m headed over to the office now.”
Sliding on a navy-blue cable-knit sweater, I put on my shoes and coat before heading out the door. It’s the first week of December, and Texas decided to have an actual winter this year. The weather service is predicting snow flurries by this afternoon.
Antonio looks up from reading the paper on the caramel leather couch in the downstairs lobby of my apartment building. “You’re early this morning.” His eyes drop to my attire. “And a bit casual, aren’t we?”
“Emergency meeting with London,” I say. “And the dry cleaner dropped off a couple of my suits at the office yesterday, so I’ll change after I get done.”
As we walk across the parking lot, I pull my coat tighter around me and fill Antonio in on the fire. Entering the warmth of the office building, he asks, “Do you need me to drive you to lunch today?”
“Nah, I’m having lunch with Perri, so we’ll take her car, but I think I want to go to Prime for a steak tonight.”
“I’ll have the car ready and meet you out front after work,” the burly man says as we step into an open elevator. “I’ll be hanging out in the security office if you need me.”
“I’ll buy you dinner if you want,” I say as the doors open on the second floor.
“Good deal,” he replies, stepping out.
The building is pretty much deserted at this time of the morning, other than a security guard downstairs and the cleaning and maintenance crew.
The top floor is dimly lit with no other people in sight when I arrive.
Passing the coffee shop, I can hear Ambrosia moving around in the back, probably baking her scones and croissants.
I don’t catch the scent of brewing coffee yet, but hopefully she’ll have some ready by the time I’m done with the London call.
I frown when I get to the anteroom of my office and see the lights on. Opening the door to my space, I notice the light is on in my bathroom as well. I make a mental note to remind the cleaning crew to turn those off once they’re done every night.
After removing my coat, I stride to the bathroom to flick off the light. My hand freezes on the light switch when I realize someone is in there. A very naked someone.
Hazel eyes meet mine and widen. I’m sure mine are doing the same.
Mindy stands completely bare on the bathmat, her wet hair a few shades darker than normal.
She holds a pink towel stretched behind her in both hands as she attempts to dry off her back, though her movements still when she sees me.
Her rounded breasts are jutted forward in that position, and my eyes drop immediately to find rosy pink nipples standing at attention and begging for my fingers… for my hungry mouth.
Allowing my eyes to go lower, I suck in a breath at the sight of her feminine curves, the nip of her waist and the flare of her hips. Short red hair dusts the space between her legs, and goddammit, she’s even more stunning than I remembered.
Then the spectacular view disappears as she winds the towel around her with a stuttered, “M-Mr. Hale.”
I like to think I’ve mastered control over my body, but I’m not a motherfucking robot.
My cock hardens instantly. Last week I’d ripped the seat of my pants; today I’m at risk of busting through the front.
The smell of sweet magnolias permeates the damp air of the bathroom, which does nothing to help the erection situation I’ve got going on.
Dragging my eyes upward, I stare into her stricken face, as I try to learn how to talk again. Finally, I ask, “What are you doing in here?”
Mindy fiddles with the towel, securing it beneath her arm and not meeting my gaze. “I, um, just decided I needed a shower.”
Well that’s vague.
I note bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and body wash that don’t belong to me sitting beside a duffel bag on the vanity. This wasn’t a random shower. She planned this.
Something flickers in my mind, and I remember the past two mornings when I stepped into this bathroom and thought I smelled her body wash. I’d dismissed it at the time, but now…
“Is this the first time?”
She swallows hard. “No, but it’s only been this week.”
I take a step closer to her, and because all my fucking common sense has apparently taken a hiatus, I hook my fingertips into the top of her towel, letting the backs of my fingers rest in her dewy cleavage as I yank her a couple inches closer.
“You know what I think?” I ask quietly, and she looks up at me, teeth sunk into her pink bottom lip. “I think this is some scheme to try and seduce me.”
Mindy inhales a razor-sharp breath and shakes her head. “I promise it’s not.”
Keeping my fingers firmly on the towel, I herd her backward until her back meets the glass wall of the shower. My body isn’t touching hers, but it’s so close I can feel the heat of her.
“You haven’t been coming in here to shower in the hopes I’d catch you all wet and naked in my office?”
Lifting her chin, she gives me that sass I love so much. “Perhaps you’re projecting, Mr. Hale.”
I allow my eyes to rove over the swells of her breasts. “It’s not a bad plan, Ms. Espinoza. You’re certainly a tantalizing little thing.” A smile tips up the corners of my lips as I lean into her space until we’re sharing the same air. “Even a nice guy like me would find you hard to resist.”
She quirks an eyebrow. “Who the hell said you were a nice guy?”
My hand slides up her chest until I’m cupping her throat, holding her against the shower wall. “I think you remember exactly how nice I can be, Minnie.” Her pulse quickens beneath my fingers. “I have to admit, I’m tempted.”
“Tempted to what?” she breathes.
I’ve officially lost my goddamn mind. I have my assistant pinned to the wall by her neck while she’s practically naked. In my fucking office bathroom. This is not ideal. What’s left of my brain is telling me to back away, but every other cell in my body overrides that decision.
I meet her gaze, and electricity crackles between us like a mini lightning storm. “To taste you,” I admit. Closing my eyes, I turn my face and nuzzle against her ear. “From what I remember, your pussy is quite the delicacy.”
A shiver quakes her body at my dirty words, and I bite down on her earlobe before sucking it into my mouth. “I think that was your plan all along, Ms. Espinoza. To bring me to my knees so I could tongue-fuck you until you explode all over my face.”
“Again, that wasn’t my plan, but maybe it should have been,” she says, her voice thin and reedy with desire.
I smile against her warm flesh. “Or maybe you have a needy little cunt and wanted me to find you naked in here so I could haul you out to my desk, bend you over it, and fuck you from behind.” She whimpers, and I tighten my hand around her neck.
“You like the sound of that don’t you? Do you have naughty boss fantasies, Ms. Espinoza? ”
“Well fuck. I will now,” she mumbles, and dammit, how is she so sexy and adorable at the same time?
“I’ve been fantasizing about you for years,” I admit, kissing up and down her neck. She stretches her head to the side to give me better access, and I inch closer until my cock throbs against her towel-covered body. Pressing my lips to her ear, I whisper, “I still have your panties.”
Mindy gasps and clutches the front of my sweater in her hands. “From that night?”
“Yes. I kept them as a reminder that you weren’t a figment of my imagination.” Leaning back a little, I look her in the eyes. “There were times I was convinced you weren’t real, so I kept them in my nightstand drawer so I could… reminisce.”
Her nose wrinkles a little. “It’s been seven years. Did you at least wash them?”
I chuckle and kiss the corner of her mouth. I want to take those fuckable lips in a searing kiss, but I know if I do, I will miss all my meetings for the rest of the day. And maybe tomorrow as well.
“Eventually, once the scent of you had worn off. After that, I washed them quite often.” At her questioning look, I admit one of my darkest secrets. “Every time I would fuck my cock with your lacy panties and defile them with my cum.”
Her eyes are a blazing green now. “That should be disturbing, but somehow, it’s kinda hot.”
“You have no idea, sweetheart.” My lips hover over hers, but before I can plunge in, I reroute my mouth to the other side of her neck. “I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve pleasured myself with those pretty red panties. I’ve washed them so many times, the lace is soft and worn now.”
Mindy’s breaths are as labored as mine when I find a spot on her neck that makes her hips jerk forward, sandwiching my aching dick between us.
“I always wondered what happened to them. I couldn’t find them when…”
“When you were sneaking out in the dark?” I suck on that tender spot just above the crook of her shoulder, a kind of chastisement blended with the desire to mark her.
I’m no longer mad about her early morning escape—I understand her reasoning now—though I do have the residual urge to punish her when I think about all the time we’ve lost.
“Yes,” she whispers as I drop my free hand to the back of her upper thigh, stroking up and down beneath her pink towel. The skin is smooth and warm, and my cock pulses behind my zipper with the need to rub itself all over her body. To come all over her.
“Did you ever think about me?”
Jesus, asking such a vulnerable question is like cutting open a vein and hoping someone halts the bleeding. I’m not sure I want to know the answer… until she nods. Triumph is my coagulant.
“I had a dildo named Joe for a couple years,” she tells me, and I groan before wrapping my lips around the tender flesh of her neck and sucking.
“And did you use Joe on that pretty pink cunt of yours? Did you fuck yourself deep and slow until you soaked your sheets like you did for me that night?”
Her answer is a moan that sets me on fire with more memories. “Yes. I would get so wet for you.”
“Good girl. And have you had any fantasies more recently?” She hesitates, and I give her a light slap on the back of her soft thigh and bark out a curt, “Answer me.”
I feel the slight edge of her fingernails curling against my chest through my sweater. “You’re so damn bossy.”
Moving my hand from her neck, I slide it around to the back of her head, grasping the thick, wet strands. Then I yank, tilting her head back until she’s looking up at me. I can read the desire on her pretty, makeupless face.
“I think you like when I’m bossy,” I murmur. She licks those full lips at the same time the scent of her arousal catches my attention, and I swear to god, I lose my damn mind. “I think you’d like it if I forced you down to kneel in front of me.”
Placing my left hand on her shoulder, I guide her down, keeping my right one fisted in her hair as she holds my hips for balance.
Deep down inside, I comprehend that what I’m doing is colossally stupid, but I don’t give two shits right now.
My Minnie is on her knees for me, her eyes level with my dick.
And the way she shifts her gaze to the bulge in the front of my jeans erases any semblance of control I thought I had.
“Look at me,” I growl, and when she lifts her eyes, I’m taken back to that night I haven’t forgotten even after seven fucking years.
To the way her rough velvet tongue felt dragging up my shaft.
To the absolute heaven of sliding my dick deep into her mouth and watching her struggle to take all of me.
I wrap my hand more tightly in her wet hair and hold her in place as I lean forward with one forearm on the glass wall behind her. My denim-covered erection brushes against her lips and only grows harder when her hot breath penetrates the fabric.
“Do you remember the taste of me on your tongue as much as I remember yours?” I ask.
In answer, she kisses my goddamn dick. “I remember.”
Releasing her hair, I cup her cheek, allowing my thumb to trace the softness of those seductive lips. “Every time you open that smart mouth of yours, all I want to do is fuck the sass right out of it.”
She smiles then, the curve a wicked promise. “You could try.”
Then she sucks my thumb into her mouth, grazing the pad with her bottom teeth. My body shudders. I’m so fucking hard I think my cock might erupt like an active volcano.
“I’ve missed the feel of your warm little mouth, how you sucked me so perfectly. I’ve never found anyone who can make me feel as good as you did.”
I’m not sure what’s up with all these bathroom confessions, but I can’t seem to stop myself. Mindy Espinoza is just as compelling as Minnie was that night. It’s like she enchants me, encloses me within her bubble in a way that makes me feel safe with her.
And suddenly, the bubble pops when I hear a noise from down the hall.
Both our heads snap toward the door that’s hanging half open.
Common sense begins to seep in around the edges of the desire that has taken over my body, and I take a step back, releasing her face.
I see the fear of discovery in her eyes, and I hold out my hands to help her up.
“People are starting to arrive for work,” I say in a low voice. “Finish up in here, and I’ll meet you in my office. We need to talk.”