TiedtotheBoss (5 page)

Tears pricked her eyes as he groaned and cleaned her up with
his tongue, moaning with every taste he took.

Dante crawled up Penny’s pliant form. He could think of
nothing more than sinking into her. He settled over her, braced on arms that
weren’t quite steady. She reached down and grabbed his cock, guiding him to her
entrance.

He thrust into her, taking it one inch at a time as her
pussy closed around him. He’d never known such tender care as he buried himself
in her. She threw her legs around his hips, hugging him tighter.

Bending, he softly kissed her lips, wanting to draw out the
moment. She was killing him with the tiny movement she made. His spine was on
fire as he surged forward—trying to keep his thrusts small was killing him.

“You’re so tight, baby,” he whispered against her lips. “I
can’t believe how good you feel. You fit me so damn perfectly.”

She wound her arms around his neck and raised her hips. “I’m
dying here.”

He chuckled and kissed her temple. They were both ready to
burst into flames but still Dante held back. He moved deliberately, slowly as
he took one nipple into his mouth, sucking it and biting. When he looked up,
her eyes were rolled back, her sweet mouth partly open. Her pale skin flushed
with need and it was one of the hottest things he’d ever witnessed.

He’d never felt more like a man than in that moment. He
switched to her other nipple, exploring it, tasting it. He couldn’t get enough
of her. Hell, he didn’t want to get enough of her.

“Dante, please?” she begged.

“What do you need, baby?” He wanted to hear the words. She’d
been so careful about what she said.

“I want you to fuck me, hard.”

The magic words smacked him in the chest and were all he
needed to take control. He tortured them both, almost pulling out only to drive
back in.

She dug her short nails into his ass, her beautiful face
flushed pink. “Stop the damn teasing.”

In response, he picked up the pace, driving harder into her.
She raised her legs higher, giving him greater access as he continued to pump
his hips. He rose to his knees, grabbing hers as he watched himself move in
her.

“Touch yourself, baby. I want to see you come.” He gritted
his teeth when she placed two fingers around her clit. He loved seeing her
tease the tight bud. Her small moans turned to reckless cries as he fucked her
harder.

Her pussy held his dick in a vise grip as her thighs began
to tremble. “Oh yeah, baby, come for me. Come all over my cock.”

Dark eyes locked with his as her nails scraped down his
arms. He knew he’d have scratches and welcomed them. She screamed his name and
shook as her fiery cream spilled all over his shaft.

Throwing his head back, he came deep within her, spilling
all he had into her hot depths.

He withdrew from her and pulled her against his side. He
scattered butterfly kisses all over her face, sharing his heat. This woman
wrecked him, ruined him beyond anything he’d ever experienced, and the only
coherent thought he recognized was that he could no longer share her with his
best friend.

Whether she wanted the same thing remained to be seen, but
it was a chance he’d have to take.

Penny clung to his side, her head reeling from their
lovemaking. He touched her in ways that made her feel alive and sexy. The silly
puppy-dog crush she’d had on him back in high school was nothing compared to
what soared in her heart today.

Dante, the man, was passionate and funny. He was ambitious
and sweet. He made her want more than what they were now sharing.

The thought stopped her cold. A wonderful date and some
incredible sex didn’t make a relationship. They’d never said anything about
where their affair was heading and Penny wasn’t about to bring it up.

Penny woke and stretched her slightly sore muscles. She
glanced at the clock on the nightstand and yelped. She wasn’t at home and she
was going to be late for work. She hopped out of the bed, quickly gathering her
clothes before dressing. She ran out of the room and down the hallway, smacking
into an already dressed Dante.

“Where are you going so fast?” His smile was enough to slow
her down.

“I don’t know about you but I have just enough time to make
it to work. The boss gets pissy if I’m late. He doesn’t think I should have any
free time, including weekends.”

“He sounds like a real hard-ass.” He backed her against the
wall.

“I suppose, though he does have some redeeming qualities.”
She loved teasing him. His eyes became hooded the closer he pressed to her.

“Intriguing. What would you say those qualities are?” He
lifted her skirt and palmed her through her panties.

“He’s very hot.” The words rushed out as he thrust two
fingers into her pussy.

“Really? What else?” He continued to tease, circling,
stretching her.

She leaned against the wall, trying to think. “Oh God! He
has excellent people skills.”

His thumb grazed her clit and she jumped. She grabbed him,
her fingers fumbling with his zipper.

“People skills. Funny, I don’t remember ever being praised
for that before.” He freed his cock.

She lifted her leg to allow him easier access. He thrust
effortlessly into her. She greedily locked around him as he pumped deep. “What
are you doing to me?” she asked, breathless and close to the brink of orgasm
already.

“The same thing you’re doing to me,” he hissed as his hands
molded to her ass. She loved it when he dug into her plump flesh.

“Tell me this isn’t a dream.”

He stopped. “This isn’t a dream, baby.”

Her heart flipped. Was he feeling the same things she was?

“I don’t want this to end, Penny.”

“I don’t want this to end either.”

As he kissed her, Penny savored the touch of his tongue
tangling with hers.

He thrust up hard. “Baby, I need you.”

Her eyes shot open. “Then take me.”

Releasing her ass, he framed her face. “My pleasure.” Words
faded as he began thrusting into her again. Penny held on to his broad shoulders
as he went about proving exactly how much he wanted to be her only lover.

* * * * *

Penny eventually arrived to work, a little late with a smile
on her face. She walked into her temporary office and stopped short.

“Kale, you’re back.”

Her mentor looked up. Her eyes were rimmed red and her face
was blotchy. She’d obviously been crying.

“Oh my God, are you okay?”

Kale shook her head. “I went to Colorado to surprise Brian.
We hadn’t seen each other in two months.” Brian was Kale’s boyfriend of five
years. He’d been transferred six months ago to another state. Penny knew how
much Kale had missed him. “He’s been asking me to marry him for two years. I
finally decided I was ready, so I went there to tell him yes.”

“Kale, you must be so—”

The woman cut her off. “I found him on top of his secretary
in his office.”

Penny laid her hand on Kale’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry.”

“Can you imagine? He’s been doing his employee. He tried to
tell me that it was nothing, she meant nothing to him. How fucking pathetic.
The poor woman didn’t even know I existed. He told her he was crazy about her.
She thought he was going to marry her. I feel so damn sick.”

Penny’s own nausea echoed that of her friend’s.

Dear God, what would Kale think if she found about her and
Dante? Penny already knew the answer—she would hate her. She would probably
compare Penny to the woman Brian was having sex with. The possibility of how
Kale might react to her relationship had never occurred to her. She wasn’t even
sure
what
her relationship with Dante was or where it was going. She
only knew two things—she no longer wanted to have sex with both men and she was
falling in love with Dante.

* * * * *

“You’ve fallen for her, haven’t you?” Andrew asked.

Dante smiled. His friend was always matter-of-fact and to
the point. “I don’t want to share her and yeah, I have.”

“Well, I’ll be damned.” Andrew sat back in his chair. “This
is for real?” Dante had expected his friend to question his motives. Andrew
understood him better than most people and he knew Dante avoided long-term
entanglements like the plague. “That was fast.”

“Not as fast as you think.” Dante had wanted Penny for a
long time. The moment he’d stepped into his new position and been “introduced”
to her, his memories of high school came rushing back. While she was no longer
the teenager he’d secretly harbored a crush on, he’d felt an instant
connection.

“I’ve known Penny longer than you, my friend. When I saw she
was working here, I wanted her. I just didn’t know how much she would twist me
up.”

His buddy laughed. “The great Dante Miller brought down by a
girl he knew in high school.”

He merely shrugged. “She’s worried how you’re going to
handle this.”

“I like Penny. She’s a wonderful woman but you know my
heart’s invested elsewhere.”

He understood where Andrew was coming from. Unfortunately
his best friend was wasting his time, pining for a woman who was already spoken
for. It kept Andrew from dating anyone too long.

Andrew stood and held out his hand. “Good luck. I hope you
two are happy.”

“I plan on it.”

The door to his office flew open. Penny was framed in the
doorway. Her lovely round face was as pale as a ghost and tears gathered in her
dark eyes. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know anyone was here.”

“Baby, what’s wrong?” Concern filled him as he came around the
desk and wrapped her in his arms.

“It’s Kale. She came back early. She went to visit Brian and
found him screwing his secretary in his office.”

Andrew grasped Penny’s wrist. “Is she okay?”

“No, her heart’s broken. Can you imagine walking in to tell
your boyfriend you’re ready to marry him and he’s deep into another woman?”

“I’m going to kill the son of a bitch.”

Dante watched his best friend turn lethal as he processed
the information.

“What are we going to do? If she ever finds out about what
happened between the three of us, she’s going to be livid.”

Dante held Penny closer and kissed her temple. “We’ll worry
about that later.” He turned Penny in his arms. “Nothing is going to change
what’s between us. It’s terrible what Brian did to her but you can’t let that
get between what we have.”

“Well, isn’t this a cozy little scene?” All three turned to
see Kale standing in the doorway. Her eyes were swollen and red and her face
was twisted in anger. “Let me see if I get this. You three are fucking. I can’t
believe it.”

“Kale, I know you’ve had a hell of a shock, but that’s no
reason for you to attack what you don’t understand.” Dante pulled Penny behind
him, trying to shield her from Kale’s anger. He wanted to keep the situation
calm. Kale’s rage was a living, breathing thing and it tainted the air in the
room.

“I quit,” she spat before spinning on her heel and walking
out.

Dante let go of Penny and started to go after her but Andrew
stopped him. “Let me. She isn’t going to be receptive to either one of you
right now.”

He nodded and his best friend took off after Kale. He faced
Penny and tried to pull her into his arms again but she stiffened up. His
stomach dropped as she looked up at him, horrified.

“Oh my God, Dante. What have we done?”

He grabbed her elbows. “We’ve done nothing wrong. Do you
hear me, Penny? I won’t let you turn this into something bad.”

She simply shook her head. “No, we have done something
wrong. We’ve stepped over the line professionally and personally. Kale is…was
my friend. I’ve always known her stance on workplace affairs.”

“Penny, don’t do this. What we have is not the same thing
that she walked in on when she went to see Brian.”

Her eyes closed and when she reopened them he knew he was
losing the argument. “How is it any different? The fact that you’re not her
boyfriend? Maybe, but it’s still not appropriate. Even if she didn’t have a
problem with it, someone in the office will. There would always be some kind of
talk. People would always wonder if I’m getting special treatment or more money
because we’re sleeping together. It doesn’t really matter—things like this
don’t work. I need my job and I can’t work in a place that is going to be
filled with rumors and derision. Nobody except Kale knows what happened and it
can stay that way if we stop it now.”

He wanted to scream at the top of his lungs that he didn’t
give a damn what others thought. He wanted to tell her he’d leave, break his
contract with the company and walk away. “Don’t do this to us, to what we’ve
started.”

“I’m sorry. I can’t.” Her voice cracked as she quickly
stepped around him and ran out of the office.

Leaning back against his desk, he pressed his hands to his
eyes. He couldn’t fucking believe this. He was helpless to do anything at the
moment. Fuck!

* * * * *

Penny sat at her desk. It had been two weeks since the
blowup in Dante’s office. Andrew had convinced Kale not to leave and she’d
never once mentioned what happened that day.

Their once easy friendship was now strained at best. Penny’s
heart was shattered into a thousand pieces. She couldn’t eat nor sleep and
Dante was never far from her thoughts. He’d reached out to her a couple times,
but never at work. Andrew tried to get through to her but she wouldn’t allow
it.

She was so torn up she didn’t know which way was forward. So
she did what she was good at—keeping her head down and doing her job. It did
nothing to lessen the constant ache in her chest but, like a good girl, she
forged on.

She’d had to face a difficult truth about herself—she was
weak. A stronger woman probably wouldn’t give a damn what Kale thought.
Certainly wouldn’t care what others in the office might think. But Penny did
care. Dante had never indicated he loved her, never promised anything more than
the sexual relationship they had.

“Penny, I need to see you,” Kale called from her office.
Penny sighed. She prayed Kale didn’t want to have what would surely be an
awkward conversation concerning their boss.

She went in to the other woman’s office. “What can I do for
you?”

“Please sit down.” She pointed to the chair opposite her.
Cautiously, Penny sat and waited. “I owe you an apology.”

She didn’t want to hear Kale’s apology, she only wanted her
life to return to normal.

“It’s none of my business what you or Dante do in your
personal lives. That day, I was angry and hurt and took it out on you. I hope
you know how sorry I am for my behavior.”

The apology should have lifted her spirits but it only added
to Penny’s heartbreak. “I understand. But you were right. Relationships like
that don’t belong in the workplace. It causes way too much strife for everyone
involved.”

Kale shook her head. “Penny, I made a mistake. I shouldn’t
have compared what I heard to what happened to me. Penny, he’s miserable
without you.”

“I can’t talk about this. I’m all cried out and all I want
to do is go back to my normal life.” She stood and walked to the door.

“So you’re over him just like that?”

Penny looked over her shoulder. “I never said that.” She
walked out of the room and kept walking until she reached the elevators. She
couldn’t take it anymore. Coming to the office day after day, pretending that
everything was okay. She wasn’t putting herself through it. Quitting was her
only option.

Her cell rang as she stepped from the elevator. She
answered. “Hello.”

“Penny. I need to talk with you.”

Dammit, it was Andrew. “Andrew, I can’t deal with this
anymore. I don’t want to talk about Dante or what happened.”

“It’s not about him. It’s about Kale and me.”

“What?”

“I need to talk to you about Kale. Please meet me tonight
for dinner. I swear Dante’s name will not come up.”

“Kale has nothing to do with this,” she replied.

“I know but she’s in a lot of pain and I can’t get her to
talk. You know her better than anyone else and I thought you might know what to
do.”

How could she offer him advice when her own world was
blowing apart? “Fine, I’ll meet you.” She didn’t want to turn him down and
maybe he would lend her a sympathetic ear in return.

She heard him release his breath on the other end of the
phone. “Great. Come to the Marriott around seven.”

The Marriott had one of the best Italian restaurants in the
city. It might actually take her mind off things. Dressing up and eating out
would serve as a distraction from her broken heart. “Seven sounds good. See you
then.”

She put her phone away. At least she wouldn’t be alone with
her thoughts tonight.

* * * * *

Penny wore the same dress she’d worn the night of the
Valentine’s Day Ball. The restaurant had a dress code, and since she was now
job hunting, running out to find an equally beautiful dress was not in her
budget.

She was greeted by the maître d’, who ushered her into the
completely empty room. A single table sat in the middle of the dimly lit place,
covered in a white tablecloth. Dante, dressed in a black tuxedo, stood next to
the table.

The music playing in the background took her back to her
senior prom night. That’s when she really looked at her surroundings. The
restaurant was decorated with balloons and signage from her senior prom. What
the hell was going on?

“Dante, what are you doing?”

He approached her. “You look beautiful tonight.” He held out
his hand. “Dance with me.”

She couldn’t move for a second as she stared at his
outstretched hand. Could she do this? Could she take the chance of getting her
heart broken again by the same man? The answer hit her—yes. Yes, she wanted
this, more than anything. She went into his arms and he walked her onto a small
dance floor.