12: AMBROSE

“Does anyone have any further questions?” I ask.

“No.”

I nod and watch everyone pack their items to leave the conference room.

“Brynlee. A moment, please.”

In mid-rise from her seat, she pauses, looks around, and then sits back down again.

I wait until everyone has left the conference room, walk to the door, and close it.

Leaning against the door with my arms folded, I watch her.

“Was there something you wanted with me? I have a ton of work to do before I get out of here this afternoon.”

Alessandro and Marco are funding a night out in Atlanta for the executive and senior management team to celebrate the finalization of our contract.

“How are you getting up there?”

With a one-shoulder shrug, she says, “Driving.”

“I can get you there quicker.”

“Yeah? How’s that?”

“Greyson’s going to be there. He offered the use of his private plane.”

Her eyes widen, and then she shakes her head. “I’ll be fine.”

“Seriously? You won’t take a free flight? Why not?”

“Driving gives me time to think.”

“About?”

“A lot. A lot is going on in my life right now.”

“I’ll have to fix that.”

“I doubt you can do that,” she says, tucking her chin and looking at her phone.

“Bryn.”

Her head jerks up at my sharp tone. “Come here,” I command.

She takes her time walking to me.

“Take off your panties.”

“Ambrose.”

“You take them off, or I’ll rip them off,” I growl.

“Ro, someone might walk in here.”

“My word is the law. And I want your pussy bare and your scent lingering in this room.”

I see the desire in her eyes and hear her breath quicken as she reaches under her dress to do as I ask. I hold my hand out to take them.

“I want to be the only thing on your mind,” I say, sniffing her panties before pocketing them.

Brynlee licks her lips and says, “We will get caught one day. And when we do, your ass will probably still have a job, and I won’t.”

Wrapping my arm around her waist, I drop my hand to squeeze her bare ass through her dress. My eyes flutter close at the soft jiggle that awaits me.

“Fuck, Bryn.”

“You’ve been promising, but you haven’t come through since the night at the club,” she challenges.

“Is that sass I hear in your voice, darlin’?”

“It’s calling you on your bullshit. You do a wonderful job of turning a woman on, but there seems to be no follow-through.”

“Go to your office and wait for me,” I grunt through clenched teeth.

“See, that’s what I mean—”

“To your office now!” I bark, extending a hand toward the door.

It’s the commands and the punishment that turn my girl on. She thinks that I don’t see it, but I do. God, I badly want to be inside her, but there will be no regrets from her this time. In usual defiant Brynlee fashion, she storms from the conference room, closing the door hard and firm.

I check and return a few emails before I close my laptop and gather my things. When I leave the conference room, Lauren’s biting back a smirk.

“What?” I bark.

“Nothing, sir,” she says, busying herself with random papers on her desk.

I march down the hall past Sandra’s desk. Thank God she left early for the day for a doctor’s appointment. I can’t wait another minute to get to Brynlee.

Turning the doorknob, I scowl when she jumps in her seat at the sight of me.

“What’re you doing?” I ask as she quickly shuts her computer down.

“Nothing,” she says, her chest heaving.

“Unzip me,” I order.

I watch her hips switch as she slowly walks to me. From the moment she touches my zipper until she has my dick in her hands, we never break eye contact.

“You don’t know what to do with that.”

“Oh, but I do,” she purrs.

“I want you on your knees on the floor.”

Licking her lips, she obeys my command, still holding my dick in her hands like a prized possession. The time between her kneeling and putting her hot mouth on my cock might have been seconds, but the wait feels interminable.

I damn near cum in her mouth as my hands grip her hair in its slicked-back knot. She slants a mean side-eye my way, and I glare back, refusing to let go of her head. Sliding her mouth up and down my shaft, Brynlee hums, and I get lost in the ecstasy that is her mouth. Before I know it, I release her hair from its knot, and it falls like a curtain enveloping my fingers and resting on her shoulders.

She attempts to swallow me whole, but she can’t. It doesn’t stop her from trying as she spits, sucks, and licks me all over. Brynlee moves to suck my balls and fuck me; I’m not going to last much longer.

When she looks up at me with those spicy brown, doe eyes, it’s my undoing.

I release my seed in her mouth, and she sucks me down until I have nothing left to give. Even after I’ve emptied inside of her hot, waiting mouth, she thirsts for more, sucking and licking until I’m shaking and barely able to stand upright.

“Let me get something to clean you up,” she says, standing and preparing to head to my restroom.

But I lift her and carry her to my desk. Knocking papers and a cup off, I set her on the desk, spread her legs wide, and feast on her.

Brynlee’s fingers grip the edge of the desk, and she shoves her pussy in my face, mewling the entire time. I hope no one comes to the door because I can’t stop. I’m like a madman set loose and out of control.

Everything about her is perfect for me. Her pussy tastes and smells so delicious, and I find myself growling and groaning into her as my fingers lock into her thighs. I know she’ll be sporting bruises tomorrow, but I can’t let her go.

As she thrashes wildly on my desk, it occurs to me that we’re making a lot of noise, but I don’t give a damn.

I’m famished, and I won’t stop until she’s fallen over the edge, her orgasm a loud and pleading whimper. I lick her up, cleaning her so well that there’s no need for her to use the restroom if she doesn’t want to.

But when we both finish, we walk on shaky legs to the bathroom, holding each other up.

***

Bryn is a stubborn little shit. I’ve told her I don’t want her fucking with anyone, including flirting.

I hear the tinkle of her laughter, and my mood grows more sour as I look around the nightclub.

I glance to the dance floor and spot her dancing with Rob from the Building Group. She tosses her head back, laughing. She’s wearing a short, sequined, long-sleeved dress that, while elegant, is also sexy as hell. The surplice neckline dips dangerously low, showing off too much cleavage, in my opinion.

“About the audit,” Marco says.

Nodding, I turn my gaze away from the dance floor. Pulling the long neck to my lips, I take a swig of my beer. “Yeah?”

The independent auditors found that the auditing company we’d been using was on the take.

“You can expect a deposit into your account at midnight tonight,” Marco says gruffly.

“Yeah?”

He nods and then takes a swig of his whiskey.

“What did you do?”

“Do you really want to know?” Alessandro asks over a snifter of brandy as Marco shakes his head.

“Maybe I don’t?” I half answer and ask.

“Keep your hands clean, cugino. The less you know, the better,” Marco remarks, sniffing.

“How’s Mitch’s baby boy?” Alessandro asks, changing the subject.

“MJ’s doing his job. Keeping dad up at night, mom tired from breast-feeding and doing all the things a healthy baby boy should,” Marco says.

Just like that, the subject is changed.

“Aye, you should get your woman,” Marco says, jutting his chin at the dance floor.

The music has slowed, and Rob’s hands hover above her waist.

“My woman?”

Alessandro and Marco share a look and shake their heads.

“What?”

“When you question or deny if she’s your woman...you’re a goner,” Alessandro says.

I open my mouth to refute the statement, but I see Rob pull Brynlee closer. She places her hand on his chest, trying to put space between them.

The growl that comes from my throat sounds strange. My cousins laugh, and Alessandro says, “DeLuca through and through.”

“Sounds like the savage coming out to me,” Marco agrees.

Their teasing may be true, but it doesn't stop me from getting my ass out of the chair and stalking over to her.

“I need a word with you, Bryn.”

“Relax, Ambrose. It’s a night to celebrate, not to focus on work,” Rob says.

I turn my glare at him and snarl, “Was I fucking talking to you?”

He drops his hold on Brynlee, throwing his hands up while stretching his eyes wide and saying, “I’m sorry. I meant no disrespect, Mr. Charles.”

I stand on the dance floor with my fists balled, watching as he walks away, muttering something I can’t hear over the music.

Turning back to Brynlee, I ask, “You okay?”

“Don’t know how to feel about you going all caveman on me,” she replies with a flash in her eyes.

“Just making sure that you’re okay.”

“I am. Not that I can’t take care of myself. I think I’m ready to head back to my hotel, thanks to Mr. Hands and Caveman creating an embarrassing scene,” she says, referring to Rob and me.

“I’ll escort you.”

“You don’t have to.”

“Not having you travel back there alone. Besides, I’m heading to the same place.”

“I said no.”

“And. I. Said. Yes.” I snarl in a stare-off with her, anger punctuating my words.

“Fine. What about your cousins?”

“I’ll say goodbye, and then we’ll leave.”

I’d danced with her once earlier in the evening and spent the rest of the night talking business with my cousins. We say our goodbyes to everyone at our table and catch a Lyft to the North Springs Marta station a couple of blocks away.

“Why are we getting out here?”

“I thought it would be nice to catch the train as far as we can at this time of the morning, then catch another Lyft to the hotel.”

She nods, shaking her head. “Okay.”

The ride to the train station is almost silent.

“Could I ever be enough for you, Ro?”

My heart aches at her words, and I grab her hand, turning her to face me as the driver pulls away from the curb.

“You were always enough for me, Bryn. More than enough. Then and now.

“Didn’t feel like it at the time. I remember you were always with her and hung on her every word. Going back there with you again, I’m scared.”

Pulling my wallet from my back pocket, I pay our fare. I turn to her and caress her face.

“Don’t be. I’ll fucking protect you with my last breath, Bryn. I’m not that na?ve starstruck guy anymore. I protect what’s mine and battle for it every time.”

“Who says I’m yours?”

Anger fires inside of me, but I choose not to answer that.

“We have five minutes before the next train arrives. The one at the Arts Center isn’t running, so we’ll catch another Lyft from Lindbergh.”

“That’s fine.”

The train station’s mostly empty at this time of night except for workers. I know there’s only one more train running at one in the morning. I glance at my watch as we approach the platform. We sit down on a bench and wait.

“Are you okay?” she asks with concern dancing in her eyes.

I shake my head and say, “She’s exposing my daughter to shit I would never allow.”

“I know you don’t want to, but maybe it’s time to pursue full custody.”

“I am. There’s only so much one man can take, Bryn. To keep my sanity, I had to forge my own path. Create my own happiness. It’ll be complete when I know my daughter is safe,” I say, standing as the train arrives.

We step into the empty car as the doors close behind us, and she looks up at me, her eyes wet with tears.

“What?”

“I’m just angry that I wasted so much time.”

I sit down, and she hops onto my lap, looping her arms around my neck. “You never cheated.”

“No.”

Her lips press against mine, and in a quick, calculated move, Brynlee unzips my pants, pulling my dick out. Shoving her short dress up around her hips, she reaches between her thighs and moves her thong aside.

“Bryn, I...I don’t have a condom.”

Her eyes dim, and she bites her bottom lip before smirking at me. She opens her clutch and removes a foil wrapper. Biting it, she rips it with her teeth and unrolls it before smoothing it over my cock.

“You make a habit of carrying these around?”

“Only when my boss insists on punishing me with orgasm denial,” she moans.

“Fuck!” I groan when I slip inside of her.

Arching her head back, she lifts and slides back down slowly.

“Bryn, you’re gonna be the fucking death of me.”

“Bury yourself inside of me, baby,” she moans as she picks up speed.

The train rockets through the dark night, much like I’m blasting off with her. She’s my rocket ship taking a trip around the universe. She’s hot like molten lava, starry-eyed and dripping wet. Dipping her head, Brynlee takes the lead, claiming my lips. Our kisses become an exchange of control as we battle over who takes the lead until she’s crying out, shrieking through the empty train as we pass building after building, emptiness, and streetlights. Memories of our last time together ricochet between us.

Brynlee bites my neck as she cums, and my hands hold tightly to her as I thrust like a jackhammer, releasing what’s only been released at my hands for the last eight months.

“Lindbergh train station. Lindbergh train station,” the automated voice announces as the car slows to a crawl.

She hops off my lap, giggling as I struggle to fix my pants.

“Woman, you’re going to kill me, I swear!” I shout, chasing after her as she departs the train.