She walked to the door and groaned as the high heels stretched her calves to unneeded levels of pain and squished her toes together. “How can women wear this stuff?” she said as she locked the door behind her. She went to the elevator and pressed the button for the top floor.
The doors dinged softly as they opened. Two guards armed to the teeth stood outside Telal's door. She eyed them but didn't see the one who'd rifle-butted her in the head.
“Hey guys, where's the macho asshole who hit me with the gun?”
The guards looked at each other; the one on the right responded. “He got canned, ma'am.”
“Canned?” She grinned as all sorts of happy thoughts floated through her. “As in fired?”
He nodded. “Yes, ma'am.”
She reached for the door handle but the guards scooted together to block her. “Do you have an appointment?”
This again? Really, Telal? “No, but if you don't open that door and let me talk to him then I'm going to go all sorts of crazy.” She narrowed her eyes on the guards. “You wouldn't believe the shit I can cause. Just let me in. I won't be but a minute.” Lie.
The guard on the left opened the door. “Hold on, let me check to see if he'll see you.” Lily peered around him but didn't see Telal in the office. The door slammed sharply in her face.
“Are you really his woman?”
She winked at the guard. “Oh yeah. He's all mine.”
The guard arched a disbelieving eyebrow. “Then why has he ordered us to keep you out?”
“Oh, he's just playing hard to get, that's all.”
The guard chuckled and the second guard came back in shaking his head. Lily rolled her eyes and pushed past him, walking as quickly as she could in her heels. Remembering what happened the last time she did this; she spun around, glaring daggers.
“If you hurt me, I'll curse you. My best friend is Rosa el Blanco.” She hid the fact that Rosa was a white witch and performing spells to hurt or harm were impossible for her. Well, almost impossible. But most people didn't know the difference.
The guards looked at each and groaned. “Just don't get us fired,” the one said and they left, quietly shutting the door behind him.
Feeling even better than she had before, Lily noted the office was empty and the door to his bedroom shut. She tugged her bottom lip between her teeth and let herself in.
Telal Demuzi sat at his desk writing. While that wasn't unusual, what he wasn't wearing was—clothes. Telal looked up quickly then went back to writing, and then his hand stopped and he slowly looked back up at her, his eyes hard.
Lily took a moment to take him all in. He glistened with drops of water from a shower. His hair shone dark like royal blue, his golden skin damp with little droplets of water on his shoulders and chest. What caught her attention though were the hoops, golden ones in each of his nipples. Her eyes followed the path down his chest. Her jaw fell at what she found. He had a tattoo that spread from under his right peck down towards his hip and back. Her body responded with a growl. She couldn't decipher the image, could only see vibrant blues and reds forming some kind of shape. Maybe an animal shape.
“I'm going to fire those guards because of you.”
“No you're not.”
Lily strode towards him. Actually she sauntered a bit, letting her hips slide side to side in the heels like they were made to do. When she reached the side of his desk she noted he wore a towel around his waist and nothing else. She could have purred at all that strong muscle and delicious skin. His pecks were defined, the stomach muscles beneath packed tight and hard to a narrow waist with hips bones sticking out.
He planted his hands on the chair and started to rise. Lily mumbled “oops” and fell across his lap. She couldn't give him a chance to move, to say anything, so she acted fast. Her arms wrapped around his neck to pull their faces close, and then she slanted her mouth and pressed her lips against his.
The temperature in the room instantly soared. Her body responded, half-aroused at the first touch. His lips were soft like satin, warm as the skin of his back that she teased with her fingertips, and so much better than she'd ever thought. She knew he'd push her away, so she did all that she could in the little time she had. Her tongue dipped across his soft lips, then pushed inside to discover his taste. A moan bubbled out from deep within her chest at his decadent, sexy flavor.
She pulled back to angle the kiss in the other direction and press her lips against his again and again in soft, needy pecks. The sweetest relief came when she felt his breath stutter out from between his lips, and a hard presence push against her bottom. She was so easily wrapped up in his fresh masculine scent, his minty taste like he'd just brushed his teeth that it took everything in her not to wrap her thighs around him and force him to kiss her back.
But he never did kiss her back. Still, his erection didn't escape her notice, not in the slightest. Everything from her waist down clenched in response. She pulled back, looking him in the eyes, noting the wet sheen on his lips.
“Nice tattoo.” His eyes were hard with anger but soft around the edges with—dare she say it?—arousal. He rolled the chair back, put his hands on her hip, and shoved her off his lap. She burst out laughing. “Haven't we already done this?”
He stood, gripping the towel around his waist with a hard-knuckled grip, his erection tenting the cotton. “Yes, but obviously you didn't learn the first time.”
“Ah, but different occasions, Telal.” She pushed herself to a sitting position. “The first time I merely whispered that I wanted you to lick me from my lips to my toes and everywhere in between, especially in between.”
He scowled at her and stalked across the room to a hutch-style dresser. He pulled out clothes and threw them on the bed in angry swipes. “Don't remind me. It's not as if I forgot.”
Her smile turned wicked as she stood and stalked to him. “Do you think about it often?”
His head jerked. “Never.”
“Liar.”
She followed him to the bed to watch him dress. With an arch of a brow, she realized he'd pulled out different attire than what he usually sported. All black, sure, but nowhere in the pile of clothes were suit pants, silken shirts, and a leather belt.
“Tonight's the night isn't it? I am going with you, Telal.”
He made a sound that resembled a chuckle. “I'll tell you what, Ms. Bellum. You tell me why I should let you go and I'll think about it.” The white towel floated to the floor in a damp wad.
Lily's tongue dried up, her breasts suddenly felt too heavy for her bra. He kept his back to her, giving her an excellent view of taut, round cheeks that were made for a woman to hold...or sink her teeth into. He began dressing in swift, efficient movements that made her groan as the muscles in his back bunched and flexed with the effort.
“I, um, should go because I can help in case things go bad.” She wished she could come up with something better, but her mind had trouble forming a thought. The clenching in her belly turned tighter, hotter.
He pulled his shirt over his head. “How's that?”
“I have strong weapons, and I know some pretty good spells.” Unlike Rosa, she could cast harmful magic.
He dragged black boxer briefs up his long, hard thighs and she wanted to fall to her knees and beg him to let her touch him. “I have better weapons than you do, and your magic is a trick compared to what I can do. So unless you have anything else to add...”
“Go slower.”
He paused with his black cargo pants around his ankles and gave her a confused look. “What?”