Chapter One #4
He started to undress her. She wanted to protest, not because of the venue, but because she wanted to continue the conversation.
He slowly explored her with his hands and mouth, and she lost her senses.
Everything he did was to please her, and he wasn’t shy about anything.
She was certain that if they weren’t seen, they were definitely heard.
She collapsed in his arms, exhausted, but he didn’t let her rest long before he started again.
After several orgasms, they finally decided to head to bed, and Callie drifted off to sleep.
When she woke up, she was alone in the apartment.
Ryan left a note saying he'd see her at the office and that Marco was waiting to drive her. Callie sighed, feeling Ryan had once again avoided the conversation they needed to have. He had repeatedly said he was fine and kept pushing their sex life to new heights. He was becoming more comfortable with activities that excited him and brought her pleasure. While she knew he was intrigued by the idea of being watched and was glad he was exploring it, he never confirmed whether what they did with Damian was something he truly desired or wanted to repeat. He hadn’t even mentioned Damian’s name since that night, and he hadn’t given her the chance to.
Marco was waiting for her when she exited the building and offered her a cup of coffee he was holding.
“Good morning, Miss Bennett,” Marco said, holding the door for her.
“Marco, you know you can just call me Callie,” she said. “I appreciate the coffee, but I don’t want to be a bother.”
“Both are in my job description,” Marco said grinning, and Callie laughed.
Once she arrived at the office, she was told Ryan was already in a meeting, so she headed to her desk to continue working on the numerous cases George was handling.
Then a new email appeared in her inbox. It was from Edward Kline and included the time and location of his gathering.
She searched the address and saw that it was Edward’s private residence on Queen’s Isle.
There were already rumors that Edward hosted orgies there.
She doubted Edward would invite her and Ryan to such a party, and she doubted Ryan would ever agree to attend.
She replied to the email politely with a thank-you and said she would discuss it with Ryan.
It wasn’t until lunch that she saw Ryan for the first time that day. He approached her desk, startling her from the brief she was reviewing for George.
“Your forehead has a cute wrinkle when you’re reading,” he teased, leaning over the small partition.
“That’s because I still don’t understand half of what’s in these documents,” Callie replied, defeated.
“Well, we can get lunch, and I could tutor you,” he offered.
“Somehow, I don’t believe your offer actually includes education on legal terms,” Callie joked.
“You see right through me,” he smiled.
Callie loved that smile. She couldn’t believe Ryan had spent years unhappy and lashing out at everyone.
But more than one person had told her how Ryan had changed after his wife’s death.
He had closed himself off and been an ass to everyone, including his family.
Although he was still guarded at work, he was relaxing around his family and, of course, around her. Callie sighed and locked her computer.
“I need a break,” she agreed and followed Ryan to the elevator.
The door had barely closed when he pulled her close and kissed her passionately.
She loved kissing him and responded eagerly.
He gently pushed her against the wall as he explored beneath her shirt.
She worried he would take it too far as the elevator was quickly approaching the ground floor, but he stopped and helped her straighten her clothing before the doors opened.
“Maybe we should stop on the sixty-third floor on our way back,” he said with a grin.
Although he said it lightly, she knew he was serious. But after an encounter like that, she wanted to. She smiled at him, pulled him back into the elevator, and hit the button for floor sixty-three as they quickly picked up where they had left off.
“He’s overcompensating,” Damian said as they sat down with their coffee.
It was Thursday afternoon, and Damian wanted to meet before his evening appointment. They met at the small coffee shop where she used to work. Callie made sure they were in public; she didn’t trust herself to be alone with him. She wasn’t sure how Ryan felt about her being with Damian now.
“He seems fine,” Callie argued.
“Yet he refuses to talk about what happened between the three of us,” Damian pointed out. “Do you want me to reach out to him?”
“No,” Callie sighed. She knew Damian was right, Ryan wasn’t fine.
“I need to anyway, about my-,” Damian suddenly stopped midsentence.
He was going to say he needed to talk to Ryan about his case, but Callie had no idea that Damian was appealing his verdict or that Ryan was helping him with it.
“You need to, why?” Callie challenged.
Damian sighed. He hadn’t wanted to worry Callie.
She had been the reason he had considered the appeal.
He didn’t want to start a relationship with the debt from the wrongful death suit hanging over him, especially since the death had been his girlfriend’s.
But he had deliberately not told Callie, because he wasn’t certain of his success and didn’t want to drag her through the emotional rollercoaster that came with it.
“You need to, why?” Callie repeated angrily.
“Ryan’s working on something for me,” Damian confessed. “He started an appeal on my behalf. There’s going to be a new trial.”
“But that’s not a bad thing, is it?” Callie questioned. “Why would you keep that from me?”
“I just didn’t want to drag you into it,” Damian confessed.
“But Ryan was communicating with me almost daily until our night together. He hasn’t so much as sent me an email directly; he has his team update me.
We have a court date. There’s still plenty of time, but I thought it was strange that he wouldn’t talk to me. ”
“OK,” Callie agreed. “Maybe he’s not fine.”
“If nothing changes by next week, I’ll reach out to him,” Damian confirmed. “Callie, I know you guys had a healthy sex life, but what you're telling me, don’t you think it’s getting a bit much?”
Damian was right. She had told him about the ongoing encounters they had all week.
In fact, they had yet to have a full conversation about anything except when they were in the office discussing work.
He also hadn’t returned to her apartment, instead inviting her to his each night.
By Wednesday, she needed a rest and said she wanted to go home.
Ryan had made an excuse not to join her.
“You’re right,” she conceded. “He won’t talk to me about anything, and whenever we’re alone, we have sex. It almost doesn’t matter where. He even pulled me into the copier room after hours yesterday. Not that I’m complaining about the sex. It’s awesome, but that’s all we do.”
“The photocopier?” Damian laughed.
“Yeah, not the most comfortable,” Callie replied. “But it’s almost as if he doesn’t worry about getting caught.”
“That might be part of the thrill,” Damian pointed out. “The danger could be what’s exciting him.”
As Callie thought about it, she realized Damian was likely right. It was one thing to be watched from a building across the street, but in the office, even after hours, was risky.
“I don’t see how he will avoid me tonight,” Callie said. “We are having dinner together, and I told him I wanted to go out.”
“You think that will stop him at this point?” Damian joked, but Callie wasn’t so sure it would.