Bria: I’m not sure I understand the connection between the two…
Me: There is none, but if it makes you feel better, we can also make a list of things you despise and I’ll do every one of them.
Bria takes a long moment to respond, and I tap my fingers on the edge of the phone as I wait. Only a minute passes, but the weight of it feels like five.
Bria: What if someone sees us and starts asking questions?
Me: We’ll have papers and computers and shit. And I wasn’t planning on fucking you on the table. I think it’ll be fine.
Bria: Damn, I was looking forward to the second part 😉. Okay, what time?
Shit. My dick jumps to attention with her reply. I already know there’s no hope of getting that imagery out of my head now, so I close my laptop and head to the bathroom to shower and jerk off to yet another fantasy of Bria Brooks.
Me: Eight?
Bria: See you there.
I smile at the phone and set it down on the counter as I start the water, stripping my clothes off as I wait for it to heat. When I check my phone one last time, there’s another message from Bria.
Bria: This is hard.
Her honesty steals the air from my lungs. It’s refreshing but there’s sorrow in it. It’s vulnerable but it’s a weapon too. It disarms me. I might not have many walls to maintain, but when she says something like this, I rush to destroy the last ones standing. The bravery it takes to throw these thoughts out into the world cements my conviction that Bria Brooks is the most formidable person I’ve ever known.
Me: Yeah, it is, but it won’t be hard forever.
Bria doesn’t respond, and I don’t expect her to. I get into the shower but my fantasy has suddenly changed, and all I see is Bria waiting for me at a table with a coffee in her hand, bathed in the morning light.
OceanofPDF.com
19
OceanofPDF.com
BRIA
I wait in the dark on a chair at the end of the hall, my legs crossed at the ankle, my hands folded in my lap. Duke lies at my side. Like me, he’s also watching the door at the end of the hall, his head resting between his front paws. We both hear the car park in the driveway and Duke’s tail starts swishing. I remind him to stay down and he follows my command.
I’ve been fantasizing about this moment. Since Wednesday, Kaplan and I have met every morning at Grindstone and then texted throughout the day. It’s all been very proper. No fucking on his desk or trysts in the library. But the need for more has grown between us. The first day, he held my hand at the table. The next was a kiss on the cheek. Today, Kaplan showed up in his motorcycle jacket and flashed that dimple as he walked in and I couldn’t help it, I stole a heated kiss before he even had a chance to sit down. He stole one in return when he walked me to my office, the hallway silent and empty.
But I’m burning for more than an arm around my shoulders or a stolen kiss in a quiet corridor. I hunger for something…cataclysmic.
Duke’s tail whispers across the floor as a key slots into the lock of the front door. The tumbler turns. The handle twists and the door opens, letting the moonlight slide down the hall as it frames the tall and familiar figure on the threshold.
“Duke?” Kaplan says with a worried, wary tone, closing the door behind him. He’s used to the dog bounding down the corridor as soon as he gets home. He can’t see us here in the shadows with his eyes not yet adjusted to the interior darkness.
He flicks on the hallway light and I smile.
“Good evening, Dr. Kaplan.”
He startles. But it takes only an instant before the surprise turns into a heated longing as his gaze trails down my body. A purple lace bodysuit hugs my skin, closing high on my neck but with a wide keyhole at the top of my breasts and stomach, leaving swaths of exposed skin while covering my back. I make a show of uncrossing and recrossing my legs so he can see the two ribbons at the bottom of the bodysuit with no fabric obstructing his view of my pussy. I can almost hear Kaplan’s heart pulsing in his chest, sending blood to the growing bulge in his jeans.
Kaplan slides his satchel down his arm and I watch with predatory interest as he sets the bag on the floor next to the door. Duke’s tail swishes furiously across the hardwood and his muscles tense with the desire to race down the hall toward his master. “Zustan, Duke,” I say, and the dog flattens to the floor.
“Did you teach my dog Czech?” Kaplan asks. My smile blooms. Kaplan’s eyes darken, but not with anger. “Let me guess, skills I don’t even know about, right?”
I lift a shoulder. “Pust.” The dog gets up and rushes to Kaplan’s side. He gives Duke some scratches but keeps his eyes on me, as though I might either launch an attack or disappear. I think it’s the latter he fears most. “You should get him better treats. The ones you buy are little more than flavored cardboard.”
Kaplan swallows as he straightens. “Duly noted.”
We watch one another for a long moment. To his credit, Kaplan doesn’t ask why I’m here or how I got in. I think both are pretty fucking obvious. He takes off his motorcycle jacket and sets it on a small table next to the door. Then he unbuttons one sleeve of his black shirt, rolling it over the tanned skin of his tense forearm. He stops at his elbow and does the same to the other, his eyes never leaving mine.
“What game are we playing, sweetheart?”
My heart rams against its bone cage. I bite my lip and the iron tang of blood threads across my tongue. “Hide and seek.”
He chuckles. “In my own home?”
“Indeed. If I stay hidden for more than five minutes, I win. If you find me before my alarm goes off, you win.”
“What do I get if I do?”
“Anything you desire for the whole night. You can take what you want when you want it. If I’m asleep, you can wake me. You can tie me up a thousand ways. You can fuck me any way you want to, but on two conditions. No impact play unless I say so. And my little ensemble here stays on unless I take it off,” I say, pointing my gaze down my body before locking it to Kaplan’s once more.
His energy is another dimension at the end of the hall. It’s like an aura that vibrates. An essence. The beast surfaces in his eyes and it can’t wait to consume me. “And if you win?”
My eyes dart to where his leather bag lies in a heap on the floor. “Do you have a sentimental attachment to that ugly bag of yours?”
“Only inasmuch as I know you despise it.”
A wicked smile crosses both of our lips. “If I win, I get the same prize. I can do what I want with you for the entire night. Only difference is, I get to cut the strap from that repulsive satchel and tie you with it.” I stand, my motion slow and careful as my muscles brace with anticipation. “Do we have a deal, Dr. Kaplan?”
“As long as you know that when I win, I’m going to tear you apart. I will not be gentle, Bria. I will not be kind. Unless you tap out, I am going to make you suffer in every moment of your pleasure. You’ll beg, Bria. I promise you.”
Kaplan’s eyes are that of a killer. A tiger in the shadows. A wolf in the woods. A falcon, plummeting from the sky.
I hope he can keep his promise.
“Turn around, Dr. Kaplan, and count to twenty so I can hear you. I’ll start the alarm on my watch as soon as you’re done counting.”
Kaplan’s eyes narrow in suspicion. “No cheating by setting it too early.”
“No cheating by using the dog to find me. Duke, lehni. Zustan.” The dog drops to the floor and Kaplan slowly turns, his eyes still fused to mine with a ravenous fire burning in his gaze until he’s forced to look away.
