Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 101840 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101840 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
“Peace!” I cried through my laughter and rubbing my chest. “You yanked a chest hair, asshole.”
He came up and slicked his hair back, wiping his nose and mouth before piercing me with those fucking eyes. His chest heaved with exertion. “You’re pretty strong for a little guy.”
I squawked in indignation before I realized he was joking. Then I launched myself at him again. Instead of pushing him into the water, I only managed to knock him one step back. Meanwhile, his arms went around me and held firm.
“No more,” he murmured in a low breath. “Let me catch my breath before you try to drown me again.”
I wrapped my legs around him again, happy to note the thick swelling of his cock under my ass. My muscles were warm and happy from the exertion, and I was smugly satisfied that I’d gotten Locke to have a little fun in the process.
The sound of our cries and laughter had echoed around the pool deck, joining the croaks of nearby frogs, the occasional gecko click, and the distant surf.
Suddenly, I wished we had more time together, more than just two days before his chess friends arrived. Long nights in which I could unwind his daily stress in creative ways like this. Something more than just sex, which was easy to come by, even though Locke insisted it was all he wanted.
I was beginning to wonder if what Locke Maris needed was something vastly different.
17
LOCKE
It was impossible to conduct an interview with a director of compliance candidate when all I could think about was the way Jett’s fingers had tasted in my mouth as he’d sucked me off last night.
When we’d returned to the room after our swim, I’d stroked us both off in the shower. It hadn’t taken much more than a heavy petting session under the hot spray before we both came over my fist and the shower floor.
Jett had settled himself in my bed before I’d finished brushing my teeth, which had prevented any awkward moment of my having to either man up and ask him to join me or let him return to his own room.
Which was why, when I’d woken hard and aching in the middle of the night, he’d been there to suck my cock. It had been dirty as fuck but had ended sweetly with him sneaking off to the kitchen and returning with the chocolate cake we’d never gotten to after the swim.
“… golf with Declan Hayward recently, and he said Truett Moore recommended…” The man droned on, dropping as many names as possible to impress me.
You want to impress me? Tell me how you’ll do the fucking job, not who you’re privileged enough to share a club membership with.
“I believe that’s all we need for now,” I said, trying not to sound as judgmental as I felt. “Minerva will keep you updated on next steps. Thank you.”
After ending the video call, I started a new one with my assistant.
“I already know what you’re going to say,” Minnie said as soon as her face popped up on the screen. “But remember, you got mad at me for cherry-picking candidates last time.”
I glared at her, ignoring her cute, familiar face and the new bangs I was still getting used to. “If this was my punishment, be assured, it worked.”
She shrugged and grinned. “You should be more aware of all the ways in which I seek to carry your burdens, Maris. And be more grateful.”
Minerva Willis and I had known each other for twenty years. Her father had been my grandfather’s driver, and he’d had Minnie in the car or at the house with him enough for the two of us to become friends. When it had come time to hire an assistant, my grandfather had sat me down and discussed that almost nothing else mattered in the role more than trust and discretion.
It had been a no-brainer. There was no one outside my family I trusted more than Minnie. And since she’d already been working a few years by then as an admin at our office in Jersey City, she was also experienced. She was as much of a workaholic as I was, going even further in taking continuing education classes whenever she had time. When I’d taken over Maris Holdings in December, it had meant a life-changing promotion for her as well.
Thank god it hadn’t resulted in her treating me any differently than she had when she’d been a sassy eight-year-old.
“I’m grateful, Min. Keep the riffraff away. Forget what I said about cherry-picking. Please only send me the best cherries from now on.”
“My pick is Carina Bouchard from KLX. I’ll set it up for later today if possible. How’s it going there? Is everything ready for the tournament?”
I nodded, feeling a pinch of guilty regret that she couldn’t ever know the truth behind the Paxis Council. “Yeah. All good.”