32. Violet

Chapter 32

Violet

A few days after, Jake is at school and Sawyer is at practice while I do a few odd chores around the house.

I worried at first that Jake wouldn’t want to go back to his elementary school after being caught in the middle of a fight and then being accused of starting it, but he’s a resilient little kid. There was a bit of reluctance to go back the first morning after it happened, but by the time I picked him up at the end of the day, he was back to his usual bright, bubbly self.

I finish folding and putting away Jake’s laundry, then glance over at the Bluey clock on his wall. Sawyer told me he had to stay late for a meeting after practice today, but he should be finishing up soon.

Maybe I should see if he wants to grab lunch .

I chew my lip, debating with myself for a moment, then decide, screw it, why not?

We’ve been spending every spare minute that we can together, soaking up the time we have before I leave for LA, and even though it feels a bit risky for me to show up at the arena without having the excuse of being there to see a game, people are used to seeing us together by now. Everyone on the team knows I’m his nanny, which makes it easy to explain away any quiet conversations or interactions we have.

After changing into a cute skirt and a simple t-shirt, I head downstairs and grab my keys from the little hook by the door, then drive to the arena.

Between Reese and now Sawyer, I’ve been a part of the Aces extended family long enough that several of the arena staff know who I am. Marty, one of the older members of the security team, gives me an indulgent smile as he lets me into the building that houses the Aces practice arena.

I don’t quite know where Sawyer is, but since he stayed after practice for a meeting, I assume he’s somewhere on the second floor, where all of the offices are. I step into the elevator and punch the button with a two on it, running my fingers through my hair as I wait for it to take me up.

When the elevator dings and the doors open, I step out into a hallway full of offices. I’ve only been up here a few times, so I don’t really know where I’m going, but I pick a direction and walk that way confidently. I pass a few people in business suits whom I don’t recognize, but fortunately, none of them bat an eye at me.

When I round a corner, I hear a voice I’m reasonably sure is Sawyer’s drifting down the hallway from an open office door. With a smile tugging at the corners of my mouth, I follow the sound and hesitate near the open door to make sure it’s him I’m hearing.

There’s no mistaking his deep, smooth voice, so I step into the doorway to give him a little wave and let him know I’m here—but my feet freeze to the floor as I look inside the room. Sawyer is standing near a conference table with a willowy, beautiful woman standing very close to him, her hand resting on his arm.

My heart stutters in my chest when I see her lean toward him like she’s going to kiss him, and I turn stiffly and half walk, half run away, feeling like I just saw something I wasn’t supposed to.

It’s not rational. I know it isn’t. But jealousy and self-doubt twist in my stomach, curling so tight that I feel like I have a knot in my gut.

“Violet?”

I hear Sawyer’s voice behind me, but I keep walking. I don’t know what I just saw, or whether I saw anything at all—but it struck a nerve inside me, something more raw and exposed than I realized until now, and I need to get my emotions under control before I can face him.

I can hear his footsteps behind me, but I don’t turn around, making a beeline back to the elevator and jamming the call button to make the doors open. They slide apart, and I step into the small elevator quickly—but just as the doors start to close, Sawyer’s hand reaches out to stop them.

He slips inside the small space with me, and it suddenly feels even smaller. Almost suffocating. I glance down at the floor as the doors slide shut behind him, and Sawyer takes a step toward me.

“Violet,” he repeats. “Are you okay? What are you doing here?”

I swallow hard, not answering. I feel so fucking stupid, but for some reason I’m afraid that if I open my mouth, I’ll cry.

Sawyer sighs and pulls the emergency stop. We both lurch a bit when the elevator grinds to a halt, and he comes to stand in front of me, taking me by both shoulders. “Heartbreaker, please, talk to me. What’s wrong?”

Trapped and without another choice, I finally let out a breath and shake my head. “Nothing.”

“That’s not true. I can tell you’re upset about something.”

“I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not. What is it?”

My gaze shifts to the wall behind him, and I drag in another breath, wishing I could rein in my chaotic emotions. Wishing I’d decided to do another load of laundry instead of stupidly trying to surprise Sawyer for lunch.

“Who was that?” I ask, and although I’m going for casual, my voice sounds strained even to my own ears. “She seemed… nice.”

Sawyer blinks, seeming startled by the question. Then he makes a low noise in his throat. He rests his fingers on my chin, turning my face toward his so that he can meet my eyes, and although I expect to see annoyance or frustration in his gray irises, all I see instead is something soft and warm. Something like understanding.

“That was Desiree,” he says quietly. “She’s a rep at a new agency that’s interested in representing me. She’s European, and she says hello and goodbye with a kiss on the cheek. That’s all. I don’t know her, heartbreaker. I’d never met her before today, and I certainly don’t have any interest in her. You are the only one I want.”

I shrug, both loving and hating that he somehow managed to read my mind so easily. It’s not fucking fair.

“I’m sorry.” I swallow, unable to banish the unpleasant pit in my stomach. “I just saw her touching you… and I thought she was going to kiss you, and… I don’t know why, but it bothered me.”

Something passes across Sawyer’s face, and he grips my chin between his thumb and fingers, tilting my face up as he studies me.

“It bothered you?” he asks quietly, his eyes bouncing between mine. “Seeing me with another woman?”

Even hearing him say that bothers me, and although he just explained who she is, the irrational rush of jealousy shoots through me all over again at the memory of her standing so close to him, the way her hand rested on his arm.

“Yes,” I say, frustration making my voice harsh. “It bothered me, okay? I’m sorry! I shouldn’t care either way! It doesn’t matter. What’s happening between us is noth?—”

Sawyer’s grip on my chin tightens suddenly, and I break off mid-word. His blazing eyes hold mine as he takes another step closer, so close that our chests are nearly touching.

“Go ahead,” he demands, and this time, it’s his voice that’s strained. “Say it’s nothing. I dare you.”

I stare back at him, my breath coming faster. There’s a hard look on his face, almost angry , and I realize in a rush that maybe what I saw a moment ago hit a nerve with me, but now I’ve hit a nerve with Sawyer.

I don’t take his dare.

I don’t say anything.

He doesn’t either, gazing down at me as silence fills the small elevator. White hot tension crackles between us, lighting up every nerve ending in my body, and the pit in my stomach fills with butterflies.

The moment seems to stretch on forever, and with every second that ticks by, my breaths grow more and more shallow.

He’s waiting. He’s giving me a chance— more than enough chance—to speak. But still, I don’t say the words.

I can’t. Because they’re not true.

As if I spoke that thought aloud, something shifts in Sawyer’s expression. He releases his hold on my chin, palming the back of my head as his lips crash down on mine.

The kiss is so intense that I stumble backward, but he follows me, pinning me between his sturdy body and the elevator wall. The embarrassment and frustration from my overreaction to seeing him with his potential new agent mixes with a flood of arousal, and I gasp against his lips, my body arching against his instinctively.

“Sawyer,” I whimper, my eyes falling shut as he moves down to my neck, attacking the sensitive skin there with kisses.

“Is this what you want?” he murmurs against my skin. “You want me to prove it to you? You want me to show you how fucking crazy you make me?”

I let out a soft sound, my hands tunneling through his hair as I grip his head, fighting to keep breathing as a flood of wetness soaks my panties. He draws back, something wild and almost feral in his eyes as he licks his lips, like he’s tasting me on them.

“What do you want, heartbreaker?” he rasps. “You want me on my knees for you? Is that what it would take for you to believe me when I say that you are all I want? That no other woman holds a fucking candle to you?”

I don’t know if he’s really asking, if he’d really do it. We’re in a fucking elevator, for god’s sake. This is such a bad idea.

But that doesn’t stop my head from dipping in a small nod.

Sawyer’s nostrils flare, and without a second of hesitation, he drops to his knees. His big, callused hands slide up my thighs, leaving goosebumps in their wake, and when he reaches the hemline of my skirt, he doesn’t stop. He drags it upward, baring my panty-covered pussy to him, and then leans forward and puts his mouth on me, sucking at my clit hard through the fabric. I suck in a sharp breath at the sudden rush of sensations, reaching out to steady myself by gripping the bar that runs along the elevator wall.

He sucks on my clit harder, and I know that the front of my panties must be absolutely soaked by now as my knees shake.

“Fucking hell,” he grates out. “What am I gonna do with you, Violet? Huh? What?”

It must be a rhetorical question, because he seems to know exactly what to do. He already has me on the edge of an orgasm, and I have no fucking idea how that happened.

I should be worried we’ll get caught. I should be concerned that we’ll be too loud. But none of those thoughts have space in my head as he continues his delicious assault on my pussy, letting out a frustrated noise before he tugs my panties off so that he can lick me without the barrier between us.

He drags his tongue all the way up to my clit, then closes his mouth around it, surrounding it with his hot, warm breath and flicking his tongue across it. My knees nearly buckle, and a whimper trickles out of me.

“Do you believe me now? You’re the only one I want,” he mutters against me, then hoists me up by the hips to perch my ass on the little bar, giving himself better access. “You’re the one I fucking dream about.”

He flattens his tongue against my clit and slowly drags it upward, making me shudder as my thighs clamp around his head. My hands stay locked tightly around the bar as he fucks me with his tongue, driving it in and out of me before switching his focus to my clit again.

I can feel my arousal leaking out of me, and he groans hungrily as he draws back and looks up at me, his chin glistening in the elevator’s harsh fluorescent light.

“Has anyone else ever gotten you this wet?” he demands.

“No,” I admit in a whisper, and I know he can tell I’m not lying. I couldn’t lie in this moment even if I tried. “Please, Sawyer…”

His jaw clenches, and he surges to his feet suddenly.

“That’s fucking right,” he growls in a low voice.

With one hand on my hip to steady me, he fumbles with the button and zipper of his pants, then shoves them down. His cock springs free, and he drags it up and down my soaked pussy a few times. “You’re the only one my cock gets this hard for. And I’m going to make sure you never even think about doubting that again.”

He kisses me hard, muffling my plaintive noises as he grips my thighs and presses into me. He doesn’t take his time the way he sometimes does, and even though my body has gotten used to his size and his piercings, it still knocks the breath out of me as he fills me with one hard thrust. I make a sound in my throat, and he stills, his body pressed against mine as he gives me a moment to catch my breath.

“Fuck me,” I gasp, not wanting a moment. Not wanting anything except more of this. More of him .

As if that’s all he’s been waiting for, Sawyer starts to move, fucking me with fast, rough, urgent strokes, as if he knows our time is limited. My back presses against the elevator wall with each hard thrust, and it’s not exactly comfortable, but I don’t give a shit.

“Gonna fuck you until you can’t walk,” he grunts between messy kisses. “Until you never forget what it feels like to be full of me.”

I nod, or try to, clinging to him as a hurricane of heat builds inside me. His piercings drag against my walls in the way that I’ve become completely addicted to, and my toes curl as sensation radiates outward from my clit.

“Oh my god.” There’s a note of warning in my whispered voice, a flicker of reality breaking through the haze of arousal as I realize how close I am. “I’m gonna… oh fuck, I’m gonna… I can’t be quiet.”

“I know.” He nods, fucking me harder. “I’ve got you.”

He doesn’t look away from me, his jaw set and his muscles straining as he drives into me over and over, pushing us both toward our release. I suck in a breath as a familiar warmth washes through me, the precursor to my climax.

“Say my name,” he growls. “When you come, say my name.”

“Sawyer,” I whisper as the first waves of pleasure rush through me. “Sawyer… Sawyer! Sawy?—”

He crushes his lips to mine, devouring the sound as he follows me over the edge, his cock pulsing as he empties himself inside me.