10. Callie

Things were growing tense.

As the days trickled by, Kane and Sawyer became locked in negotiations on everything from the price all the way down to the patent name; and they disagreed on most of these details. My work days were filled constantly with fielding calls, rescheduling meetings and appointments, and even ignoring a few calls from the press who had noticed Kane’s recurring trips over here.

Despite their attempts to keep everything on the down low, there was always one thread that slipped out. During lunch, I suggested the two of them have a very public brawl to make it look like they were remaining enemies. Kane was game, but Sawyer looked like I had just spat on his mother’s crystal flower collection.

He wasn’t a brawler. Got it.

However, one other detail cropped up near the end of the week that brought all other issues to a halt. Sawyer’s lawyer had found conflict with one of the suggested patents, but other than setting up a meeting and providing tea, all of that was beyond my understanding. Judging by how Sawyer and Kane no longer joked with one another, I only knew that it was important. Instead, they became like two peas in a pod, focused on a fix.

It would be amazing to see if I wasn’t struck with guilt every time I glanced at either of them. Fucking Kane not long after I fucked Sawyer felt like a betrayal, even though Bianca was right. I was single and not tied down to any man.

Hell, if I was a man, then sleeping around like that would be praised.

The problem was that I’d never done anything like this before, and I’d never had multiple people look my way. Kane’s interest felt like a further betrayal of how long I had lusted after Sawyer.

And each time I brought them tea or reminded them that it was the end of the day and they should get some rest, they would flirt with me. Small winks, lingering touches, and not-so-subtle eyes wandering over my body created an ache inside me that I tried to settle at home with my own fingers.

It was no use.

I wanted Sawyer inside me again. I desperately wanted Kane to fuck me so hard his shirt tore.

Both of those things felt impossible, given how swamped everyone was. By the time Friday rolled around, I was horny and frustrated with nothing to take it out on. Sawyer and Kane hadn’t left his office all day and now Liam was here to give his insight to the latest patent issue.

It was looking more and more likely that I was going to be working this weekend, which meant even my light fantasy of going to town with my vibrator would also be put on hold.

Standing by my desk, I stared through the gap in the door and watched Sawyer drag his hand through his hair while puffing out his cheeks. He looked frustrated and as he stretched, the edge of his shirt rode up just enough to expose a sliver of golden skin.

My heart skipped a beat.

Fuck.

The longer I had the two of them consuming my thoughts, the more I wondered if it wasn’t guilt I was feeling but greed. Greedy for another touch, another kiss, another taste.

Rolling my eyes to myself, I gathered up the files Sawyer needed me to take to HR about overtime and headed for the elevator. A few more hours, and with any luck, I would be out of here. Some time away, even for the weekend, would surely do me good—enough to get my lustful thoughts under control, at least.

I stepped into the elevator and hit the button for the fourteenth floor, but just as the doors slid closed, a hand appeared in the gap, and they re-opened with a hiss.

Liam walked in with a warm, cheeky smile. As soon as we locked eyes, he winked at me.

“Well, hey stranger.”

“Stranger?” I lifted a brow. “I literally served you coffee two hours ago.”

“You know what I mean.” He leaned around me and pressed a button but I was too distracted by how good he smelled to notice which one. “We haven’t talked in forever.”

The doors slid closed silently.

“Well, everyone has been busy,” I pointed out. Taking a half step away, I tried to put distance between us because not only did Liam smell fucking fantastic, but his hair was extra floppy today. Soft strands danced across his forehead as he talked and his light blue shirt was unbuttoned low enough that I glimpsed a few soft curls of chest hair.

The sight made my mouth water and my core clench; I was insatiable, clearly.

“Yes.” Liam sighed deeply, and his shoulders bunched together. “It’s a busy time.”

“How is Marie?” I asked, seeking a more innocent conversation before my thoughts ran wild with themselves.

“She’s good.” He turned to face me and an easy smirk played across his lips. “She’s enjoying being in the city but wants to come and spend time with her new friend Callie again. I’d let her if it wasn’t sure to make Sawyer burst a blood vessel.”

We both chuckled lightly, and then Liam slowly licked over his lower lip.

“She’s not the only one who’s been wanting to spend some one-on-one time with you.”

The air within the elevator suddenly thickened and my next breath was labored. Warmth flushed down my neck and breastbone as we locked eyes.

“Oh really?” I asked, playing into it a little with the safety net of knowing the elevator would arrive at my floor at any moment.

“Absolutely.”

Liam stepped closer; then suddenly, we were both flung back against the wall when the elevator clunked loudly. Gears crunched and the air filled with the deafening sound of metal on metal. The lights flickered, and then the elevator came to an abrupt halt.

Mid floor.

“Uh…” My heart started to race, and I lurched toward the emergency speaker, which blinked red, creating a crimson aura up the walls.

“Well shit,” Liam grunted behind me.

Pressing the button, I waited with bated breath for someone to answer. Eventually, a voice crackled through.

“Yo.”

“Hi, uhm… sorry, it’s Callie. Callie Everheart. I’m in the elevator with Liam. Liam Hall and it seems like the elevator’s broken because – well, we’re not going anywhere.”

“Aye, sorry about that pal,” the voice replied, rippling with static. “There’s been a power cut but I’ll send someone to get you both out of there ASAP. Sit tight.”

The line crackled, then fell silent.

Sit tight? Really? Where else are we going to go?

“Shit.” I wiped at my damp forehead and shoved hair out of my face, then leaned back against the wall.

“Are you okay?” Liam’s hands were on his hips while he eyed me with concern.

“I’m okay. Small spaces don’t bother me,” I assured him. “I just have so much work to do.” Nodding to the files in my arms, I eventually set them on the ground in the corner. There was no point in holding onto them if we were stuck here.

As time ticked by, we both eventually ended up on the floor waiting for rescue.

“All I’m saying,” Liam teased lightly, “is that of all the places I expected to run into you, a nightclub with Kane Lewis trailing after you wasn’t even on the list.”

My cheeks flushed. “It wasn’t planned. It just sort of happened.”

“Oh, because you’re so irresistible, huh?” Liam’s shoulder nudged into mine.

I blushed harder. “It’s not like that. We’d been drinking and it had been a long day.”

“Oh, so it was only a drunk fuck? Is that regret I hear?”

“No!” I answered, perhaps too quickly. “I don’t regret it at all.”

“I’m not judging.” Liam held both hands up, then worked at the buttons on his shirt to release a few more. Without the AC, the temperature in the elevator was rising. Not that the current topic was helping me keep cool at all.

“If anything,” he continued. “I’m more surprised at Kane. I thought he was far too prudish to fuck someone in the toilet but clearly there’s more to that guy than meets the eye.”

“You’d be surprised.” Resting my head against the wall, I stared up at Liam and bit the inside of my cheek to try to control my sudden, rampant thoughts about his jawline.

“Well, I’m sad I missed the chance. If I’d been there earlier, maybe I would have been the one taking you in the toilets.”

“You didn’t,” I said boldly, and without much thought.

Liam looked at me, angling his body in my direction. “Didn’t what?”

“Miss your chance. I don’t belong to anyone. I’m not dating. I’m a free spirit so… so no, you didn’t miss your chance.”

Callie, what are you doing?

Am I really so horny that flirting this openly with Liam is a good idea?

Liam blinked, then he was on top of me and claiming my mouth in a biting kiss. I grasped his jaw, marveling at the strength there, and pulled him into the kiss with a moan. All sane thoughts fled from my mind.

Maybe it was the heat of the elevator or the fact we were trapped together. Maybe it was because I’d been turned on all week and was reaching the point of insanity. I couldn’t pinpoint it and frankly, I didn’t want to.

Liam kissed me hungrily, sliding his tongue into my mouth and swallowing down my soft moans. He grunted softly, and his hands roamed my body. He groped my breasts through my shirt, then pulled at my pencil skirt. Nails grazed my bare thighs, and I grabbed a handful of his hair. The moment I pulled, he moaned thickly and my core throbbed with need.

I needed something. Anything.

“Do you think you can handle me?” Liam asked huskily, his lips writing the words against my cheek.

“Easily.”

He kissed me hard, making my lips ache and then he disappeared down between my legs. I slid from the wall and hit the floor as Liam pulled my panties down and replaced the fabric with his own mouth against my pussy.

“Fuck, you’re already soaked.”

I blushed so hard my cheeks became like the sun. I had no words, not when Liam’s tongue delved against me with such enthusiasm that all I could do was moan. Throwing a hand over my mouth, I bit down on my fingers so that the sound escaping me was minimal. I didn’t know how soundproof these elevators were and I wasn’t taking any risks.

Beyond this.

“Fuck,” I gasped, my words muffled.

Liam’s tongue pressed hard against me on long, flat strokes; then his tongue became a hard point that glided between my outer lips right to my clit. He wrote poetry against me, bringing me closer and closer to my orgasm, but just as my thighs tightened around his head and my hips arched, he pulled away with a chuckle.

Eyeing him, his face was flushed, and my juices gave his light beard a soft gleam.

“I’m so close,” I whined, reaching for his hand. “Why did you stop?”

“Because I want you to come on my cock,” Liam replied, crawling over the top of me.

I glimpsed the tent in his pants and reached for his belt to help him free his cock from the confines of his slacks. Our mouths collided and we moaned together, then he nibbled down the length of my jaw to my neck. From there, he licked and kissed down to my collar bone and as his tongue dipped into the hollow of my throat, his thick cock slid inside me in two thrusts.

I started to moan loudly, and Liam chuckled, then covered my mouth with one hand. Lifting his head, he stared down into my eyes and then began to fuck me.

This was surreal. I was lying on the floor of a busted elevator, fucking Liam with the horniness of a teenager when anyone at all could pry open those doors and see us. The thought of getting caught, however, was exhilarating. Tingles rushed over my entire body, settling in my thighs when I wrapped my legs around Liam’s hips. I grasped his wrist with one hand and reached for his face with the other.

His soft pants brushed over my palm. Then he turned his face into my hand and kissed along my fingertips. Drowning in my own moans, my eyes rolled back as each powerful, frantic thrust brought me closer and closer to orgasm.

From the sounds of Liam’s grunting, he wasn’t far behind him.

“Fuck, Callie,” he moaned. Breaking away from my hand, his head tipped up toward the light above us and his hips rapidly lost their rhythm.

I was close, so fucking close. Liam hunched over, and his hips became blurred, fucking into me so fast and hard that the friction was like a vibration.

I came with my scream trapped behind Liam’s palm. Pleasure surged through me, followed by a heat like molten lava and I broke out into a prickling sweat. Pulse after pulse of want poured through me, and my core ached. Liam’s orgasm followed three thrusts later and his warmth mingled with my own inside of me.

Only then did he remove his palm and my lipstick left a red imprint on his skin.

“Beautiful,” Liam murmured, kissing me gently on the lips. “You’re fucking fantastic.”

“Not so bad yourself,” I replied breathlessly, meeting each light kiss with a happy one of my own.

Liam had, unknowingly, scratched that insatiable itch inside me and for the first time this week, my mind felt cool.

Suddenly, the elevator clunked and we scrambled apart. We rushed to sort ourselves, and in the frantic flurry of making sure clothes were straight and hair was neat, I didn’t realize Liam had my panties until the doors slid open and he flashed them at me. They ended up in his pocket just as one of the maintenance men stuck his head through the doors.

“Miss Everheart?”

“Yes,” I gasped, fanning myself as an embarrassed heat stole across my skin like a brand.

“Sorry for the wait.”

I brushed him off, accepted his hand and left the elevator. Outside, the air was much cooler. Liam followed, holding my gaze as he handed me the files I had left inside.

“Until next time,” he smirked.

Burning hot sweat stole down my spine. I took my folders and hurried away, praying no one could tell what we had just done. Even with the embarrassment, though, a small smile crept over my lips.

That was some of the best sex I’d ever had.

I remained on cloud nine until after my meeting with HR. It was pretty cut and dry, but as I stepped out of their office and checked my phone for alerts, one email in particular caught my attention.

My gut dropped.

It was a second receipt for an advanced payment for my mother.

“Fuck!”

This week was so hectic that I completely forgot to cancel Eli’s payment. And now he’d gone and made a second one?

What the hell was he playing at?