Chapter 16 #2
Grayson didn’t say anything else for a time, just gently massaged here and there, adding strokes that dissolved her muscles at the same time that they tightened the tension inside her. The silence grew heavy.
“Do you want me to get into anywhere else, Alessandra?”
She thought hard, or tried to from beneath the layers of lust-filled cotton surrounding her brain.
“I-”
The shrill chirp of her office phone cut her off. She caught her breath at Grayson’s hands sliding beneath her. From under her ribs, to slowly graze along the sides of her breasts to the front of her shoulders, she felt his touch through her whole body.
“Tighten your core,” he said, and as soon as she did he lifted her seamlessly back to sitting upright on his lap.
Still straddling him, she braced her head in one hand as she grabbed for the phone.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Lexi, it’s Marsh.”
“Marshall? Hi, how are you?”
Grayson’s hands tightened on her waist, but she tried to ignore it. As if ignoring anything about Grayson was possible. While she was on his lap. And he was… was he petting her?
“I’m good, I just got a call from a coworker. I asked him to keep tabs on your file, and I wanted to let you know we have an update about the situation at your gym.”
Situation? She could barely recall that she’d seen Marshall earlier that day, or what situation he could possibly be talking about other than the one currently between her legs.
“Really? That’s great, what’s up?”
“Well I’m thinking it’s what your security company emailed you about earlier. Your system got hacked from the outside.”
“Ahm…” She couldn’t think. Grayson’s fingers were trailing lazy circles all over each of her thighs. “Yes, that’s what they said.”
“Do you have any idea who might be able to do that, or would want to go after you?”
“Uh…”
Grayson reached the inside of each thigh, and was nibbling at the back of her neck.
“You sound a little distracted. Do you want to get back to me?”
Lexi swallowed. Grayson was holding her by the hips and rocking her back and forth. When he added in a grinding roll against her, she caught herself from calling out.
“Mmm! Yeah, sorry, sorry, I’m just a little tied up here. Tomorrow?”
“Great, when’s your last class?”
Her last what? What class? What day was it? Lexi frantically scrambled through the papers on her desk until she got to the calendar underneath. She could feel Grayson’s smile against her shoulder as he tapped on today’s date.
“Um.” She blanked again as Grayson started adding tight little squeezes everywhere. Her arm. Her hip. Her thigh. “Seven?” It was a desperate guess, and she hoped it was true.
“Is it okay if I meet you at the gym? Seven-thirty?”
“Yes,” she said, hearing only meet and thirty. Grayson wasn’t stopping. The rocking, the pets, and the teasing grabs all continued. She didn’t know how it was possible to be this turned on.
“Hang up,” Grayson whispered in her free ear.
“Great, I’ll see you then!” she shouted into the phone before slamming the receiver down. She leaned back against Grayson, and his touches eased into long, sweeping caresses. Still feeling little licks of the fire he’d stoked, her body settled somewhat back into relaxation.
“What did he want?” Grayson asked.
“Who?” She felt his smile before he spoke, the amusement rich in his voice.
“Marshall. That was the cop, right?”
“Oh. Yeah. He wants to talk about stuff. New stuff, he said.”
Grayson’s hands came to rest on top of her wrists. She looked at her hands, so small inside of his. His fingers wrapped around her wrists, his fingers passing his thumb all the way around, and she felt another sliver of lust.
“So you’re seeing him tomorrow?” Grayson asked, a different tone than amusement coloring his voice.
“Mhm,” Lexi agreed. She flexed her hands inside of his. She had no idea that she could feel this relaxed; this comfortable, while being held down in any way.
“When?”
“After classes.”
“He’s coming here?” That same sharp edge was in his voice, but the murky quality of sleep deprivation made it hard to hear.
“Ahm…” What the hell did Marshall say? “Yeah. We’re going somewhere, maybe.” Silence reigned for minutes while her breathing deepened. Her head rested at the edge of his collar bone, and she made sure not to lean directly on top of it.
“And in what universe, Alessandra, do you think it’s alright with me for you to see another man?”
Wait. What the fuck? Lexi blinked her eyes open, when had she closed them?, and sat up.
“What?” Lexi asked. She flexed her hands again, this time with a twist to shake off his hands. He held her easily.
“What the fuck?” she asked. “Let me go.”
“Not until you answer my question.”
Lexi counted to five. To ten. He gave no sign of releasing her.
“Are you sure?” she asked. She wiggled on his lap, and tried to brace her feet on the floor. Shit. They didn’t reach. She braced one foot against her desk.
“Am I sure I want to know why you’re going on a date with someone who isn’t me? Absolutely.”
“I mean, are you sure you don’t want to let me go, like I’m asking you to nicely?”
In reply, Grayson tightened his grip on her wrists and pulled her arms out to her sides. The position gave her no leverage from her arms. Lexi didn’t need it.
In one move she kicked off the desk, and threw her head backwards.The back of her head collided with Grayson’s face, the momentum upended the chair, and Lexi made sure to put all her weight behind the elbow she dug into his ribs on the way down.
Adrenaline crashed through her; a riot with no cops. Lexi stood and put the desk between them. She timed her breathing to the whirring of the fan. Inleft-left-left, outright-right-right.
“What the fuck, Alessandra?” Grayson asked from the floor.
She jerked her shoulder.
“I told you to let me go.”
“So you headbutt me, flip us off a chair, and try to break my ribs?” Grayson knelt, and swiped at the thin trickle of blood coming from one nostril.
Lexi didn’t have a response. Pretty much.
“Aren’t you the one who said that Doms aren’t supposed to be bullies?”
Using the desk to help him stand, Grayson righted the chair before sitting back into it heavily.
“I wasn’t being a bully. I’m being your Dom. We agreed that you wouldn’t date.” His voice was nasally.
“Actually,” she corrected, “we agreed that I would keep my dating life out of the club.”
He swiped a tissue from a box on her desk and held it to his nose. His head was back, his eyes were closed, and he held one arm across his ribs, his breathing shallow.
She rocked back on her heels, unsure what her next move should be. Grayson tilted his head back, closed his eyes, and held one arm across his ribs, his breathing shallow.
Should she get him an ice pack? Kick him out? Or sit back on his lap? She did none of them, but blew out a sigh and perched on the corner of her desk opposite him.
“Sit back in your chair Alessandra, I won’t grab you again,” Grayson said, sounding tired.
She hesitated. He picked his head up. Although his nose was a bit swollen, it didn’t look broken, and didn’t diminish the force of his eyes.
“I give you my word.”
Lexi moved around the far side of the desk and sat back in her chair, turning it to face him.
From her desk in front of her, the contract he’d brought laughed up at her.
Go ahead, she could hear them saying. Just try to be close to someone.
We dare you. Lexi tuned out the crippling words and grabbed a pen.
She scanned the pages before signing, and set them in front of Grayson.
“Maybe you should go,” she said quietly. “I’ll see you at the club.”