Marriage of Convenience: The Raven Brothers - Book 1 Read online

  “Your wife doesn’t mind?” I hadn’t noticed a ring, but many married men didn’t wear them.

  He cocked his head to the side as if he wanted to assess what I was asking.

  Realizing he probably thought I was probing his marital status to see if I had a chance with him, I said, “It’s none of my business. It’s just that we talked about family earlier.”

  He seemed to accept that. “I have no family and no plans to have any, which is why my drink with my father tonight will be interesting.”

  I had no idea what that meant and didn’t feel it was my place to ask. “Well, I hope it goes well.” I stood and collected my things. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  He walked across the room and opened the door for me. “Have a good evening, Ms. Sheppard.”

  “Thank you, sir.” As I headed down the elevator and out onto the city street, I realized that while Mr. Raven had scared me initially, he was really just a serious man. The truth was, this situation couldn’t get any better. Even if Mr. Raven didn’t offer me a job when my internship was over, having him as a reference would open all sorts of doors for me.

  For the first time since I got my scholarship for college, I felt excited and hopeful about my future.

  Yes. Mr. Raven was the answer to my prayers.

  5

  Chase

  The next morning, I woke up from a dream of my new intern’s full lips around my cock. It was a nice thing to wake up too. The only thing that would have been better was if it were real. But since it wasn’t, and wouldn’t ever be, I’d settle for the next best thing.

  I pushed my covers down exposing my hard, aching dick. I wrapped my hand around it then closed my eyes, bringing the image back to mind. She was on her knees, her pretty dark blue eyes looking up at me with that mixture of innocence and knowing I’d seen in them yesterday. Instead of her conservative work clothes, she was naked. I had to guestimate her tits, but from what’d seen yesterday, I knew they had to be lush.

  “Suck it, Sara.” I put my dick to her lips, pushing into her mouth. “Ah fuck, yah.” My hand gripped my dick firmly and moved in long slow strokes. I was a fucking pervert, fantasizing about a girl who I learned from her paperwork was only nineteen. She was barely legal, and I was thirteen years older than her. But what I did in the privacy of my own head and bedroom wasn’t anyone’s business. So, I pulled and tugged and imagined fucking her mouth until I blew my load all over my stomach. Yep, not a bad way to start the day.

  I got to the office before everyone else, as usual. I liked to get a head start on the day. It always made me feel like I was one step ahead of my dad and brothers. As I entered my office, I noted that a desk had been brought in and set near the window. It had a light and supplies. Alex always did think of everything.

  I’d just taken off my coat, when Sara poked her head in my office.

  “Sara?” I looked at my watch. She wasn’t due for another thirty minutes.

  “Yes sir. I came in early to print off my report for you.” She stood in the doorway and I realized she was waiting for me to give her permission to enter.

  “Come in. Your desk is here.” I nodded toward the new piece of furniture.

  She smiled, and it was brilliant. Like the world was at her feet. She moved to the desk, setting her papers and laptop on it. Her pen fell on the floor, and she bent over, giving me a stellar view of her round, firm backside straining her pencil skirt. My mind immediately flashed with a new fantasy of taking her from behind on her desk. My dick hardened at the image.

  In normal circumstances when I got a hard on with a woman, I didn’t try to hide it. No, I didn’t like to waste a good erection, and in most cases, when I got good and hard, the woman causing it was eager to take care of it for me.

  But this wasn’t a normal circumstance. I was Sara’s supervisor. So instead of walking over to her, and rubbing my dick against her backside, I sat down. It was uncomfortable, and I considered going to the bathroom to take care of it.

  She straightened and turned to me. She wore a white blouse that fit snugly over her tits. Yep, those beauties were probably perfect and my mouth watered at the thought of sucking them.

  Her head cocked to the side, and I wondered if she knew I was having improper thoughts. I suspected she did. A beautiful, sexy woman like her probably got a lot of attention from men. She probably figured out a long time ago that men were ogling her. I wondered if she ever used that to her advantage.

  As her boss, though, I needed to stop. I cleared my throat. “The laptop should be connected to a printer. If not mine, then the one out by Alex.”

  “Okay.” She sat at her desk and opened the laptop.

  It was several minutes later, when she turned toward my printer that I realized I’d just spent the whole time watching her. I frowned at myself. It wasn’t like me to get lost in a woman.

  I shook my head to clear the fog.

  “I guess it’s at the other printer,” she said as my printer stayed silent.

  I nodded.

  “I’ll just go look,” she said, as if she was asking to be dismissed.

  “Yes.” I watched as she moved to the door and then remembered I wasn’t supposed to be paying so much attention to her. “Sara?”

  “Hmm.” She stopped at the door.

  “You don’t need my permission to do your work. If you need to leave to get printouts or supplies or whatever, you can just go.”

  “Yes sir.”

  I frowned at her calling me sir. Normally I liked it from my staff. It showed respect. But with her, it made me feel old.

  When she returned, she told me she wanted to review the report before giving it to me. I nodded and turned my focus to my own work.

  It only took another hour to think that perhaps having her in my office with me wasn’t the best idea. Too often her scent would tantalize me or she’d move, and I’d look up to see her stretching her arms overhead or biting her plump bottom lip while she was deep in thought. All of it felt like a seduction even though she was simply doing her work.

  “I have the report, sir.”

  Jesus, I really wanted to tell her to call me Chase. “Okay.” I reached out my hand to take the report. “While I read this, I’ve sent you some spreadsheets. I need the data organized and analyzed. The instructions are with it.”

  “Yes sir,” she said handing me the report. She leaned over my desk giving me a peek at the swells of her tits. Her skin was creamy soft looking. I nearly groaned at the thought of running my tongue over her skin.

  I opened the report as she went to her desk. Immediately I was impressed by the time she took to format and organize it. I fanned the pages and noted she included pictures of the resort that she must have found online.

  The question was, did she have a sound marketing plan? As I read through it, I realized she did. Clearly, she’d researched the marketing tactics we used for our other resorts and referenced some of them in her report. But she’d also had a few new ideas. Some I didn’t think would work, but others had me wondering why we weren’t doing them already. I’d have to talk to Dan Larson about that.

  “Good work, Sara,” I said when I finished reading it. “You’re very thorough and clearly have a good sense of marketing psychology.”

  Her smile was wide and grateful, like I’d given her gift. It was odd. Hadn’t anyone ever praised her before?

  She went back to her work. Needing a break from my constant irritating yet titillating response her proximity, I decided to go talk to Dan about her marketing plan. I probably should have brought her with me, but my goal was to put some distance between us. I’d arrange for her to meet with him later.

  When I got back, Sara wasn’t at her desk, but she’d left a note for me saying she’d gone to lunch with Alex.

  Good. I needed time alone in my office. I definitely needed to rethink having her share an office with me.

  She returned and immediately got back to work. As the end of the day neared, she looked up
from her desk. “I have that analysis, if you like to check it.”

  “Alright.” I rose from my desk and went to hers. I stood next to her, leaning over to look at her laptop screen. I reviewed the data, and then used the mouse to scroll down.

  “I wasn’t sure how you wanted the data organized, so I did it by date here and by category here,” she said, reaching for the mouse. Her hand brushed mine, and I felt a zap of electricity straight to my dick. I jerked my hand back. She clicked on another sheet and the data came up reorganized by category.

  “But then I saw that this resort had different areas like the hotel and golf course. I wasn’t sure if you wanted the data divided between each of them by date or category too.” She pointed to the screen. “It shows overall good profits, but when you break it down, the hotel is doing a lot better than the golf course.”

  She was right.

  “But I’m not sure how to organize data within data.”

  “May I?” I nodded toward the mouse, not wanting to touch her again. Well that’s not true. I wanted to touch her. I wanted to taste her. I wanted to fuck her until this excruciating need aching in my cock was satisfied.

  She moved her hand, and I took the mouse and began clicking various functions on the spreadsheet. I glanced down at her, noting how intently she was watching what I was doing.

  Finally, the data was reorganized by the various areas of the resort.

  She looked up at me with those amazing blue eyes. “Would you like me to do that with the other data too?”

  What I wanted would probably make her blush. “Yes.”

  She stared up at me, biting her lower lip, making me crazy with a desire to taste her. Her lips were fucking fantastic. Pink and full, and holy fuck, they tasted delicious. It was only as that thought rolled through my brain that I realized I was kissing her.

  I was about to stop until I realized she was kissing me back. At least I thought she was. Her head turned slightly, giving me better access to her mouth. Her lips were soft as they moved against mine. I ran my tongue along the seam of her lips seeing if she’d open for me. Her lips parted, and then I knew for sure that she was kissing me back. Her tongue snaked out, lapping against mine.

  Fire raced through my body, and all I could think about was getting naked and pounding away until I’d released every ounce of cum in my body.

  Shit. What was I doing? I pulled back. “Sara… I’m sorry…” I was a man that usually took what he wanted, especially from a willing woman. But Sara worked for me. The whole point of her being in my office was to keep her from falling prey to my horny brother, and yet here I was kissing her and considering fucking her on her desk.

  “It’s okay…”

  Please don’t call me sir, I thought as she started to speak.

  “I liked it.” She gave me that smile that was both sweet and sensual. Did she know she did that? There was also a vulnerability in her expression. Like she was worried she’d fallen short.

  “I liked it too,” I said wanting to reassure her. “But it’s not appropriate. I’m supposed to be watching out for you.”

  “I don’t feel taken advantage of or violated,” she said.

  I cocked my head. “Have you ever felt like that?”

  She looked down. I realized she must have. A woman who looked like her probably couldn’t escape fuckhead men wanting something from her in exchange for their help. I wanted pummel all of them. Then I wondered if I was any different. I was her boss and I wanted to fuck her. Of course, I hadn’t offered her anything in exchange for sexual favors, but I had just kissed her and I had power over her.

  “I’m sorry, Sara,” I said again, feeling like a complete and total douche.

  “Please don’t be sorry.” She put her hand over mine on her desk and looked up at me. I stared into her brilliant blue eyes and realized I wasn’t the one with power here. I was bewitched by my intern.

  6

  Sara

  I was a virgin, but that didn’t mean I’d never been kissed. However, I’d never been kissed the way Chase kissed me. I couldn’t pinpoint what it was that had my ears buzzing and my body humming. Was it his taste? The smooth softness of his lips? The hot dip of his tongue into my mouth? All I knew was that the minute his lips touched mine, my world spun away into oblivion. My entire body caught fire. My nipples hardened and ached to be free from the grating fabric of my bra. The area between my thighs contracted and got wet. His kiss was like a nuclear bomb going off in my body compared to the little fizz I had from Glenn’s kiss.

  Although I understood his regret, I didn’t like that he felt that way. How many times had a man in power tried to coerce me sexually? Every time I was revolted by it. I couldn’t imagine letting any of them getting their grubby hands on me. To be honest, I couldn’t understand why women liked sex because for the most part, my experience was with men who used and abused women.

  But I’d do anything to have Chase touch me. Somehow, he was different. Maybe it was because he wasn’t using his power to get me naked. The truth was, as he leaned over me helping with the spreadsheet, by body grew hot and needy as his warmth and scent enveloped me. I might have screamed if he didn’t kiss me.

  But he was right. He was my boss. It wasn’t wise to give up my power to him. My goal was to become self-sufficient and not rely on a man to save me.

  He straightened, stepped back, and tugged at his collar. I looked up at him, then feeling awkward, I brought my gaze down. That’s when I saw his erection straining his slacks. I didn’t have too much experience with that either. Sure, many of the men who’d tried to get at me had them, but I never paid that much attention. To be honest, I don’t think any of them were as prominent as Chase’s was now. None of them filled me with a desire to touch. My desire to stroke it was so strong, I had to clasp my hands together in my lap to stop myself from reaching out.

  “It’s time for my drink with my father. You can head out if you like.” His voice sounded husky.

  “I’d like to finish this. It won’t take much longer.” I wasn’t ready to leave yet. I wasn’t sure I’d ever want to leave.

  He nodded, but didn’t say anything as he headed out the door.

  I took a deep breath to settle my nerves. Then I closed my eyes and replayed the whole scene in my head again. Up close, his face was softer and kinder than I originally thought. His steel gray eyes weren’t as cold. His mouth had been warm, his tongue soft. I could have kissed him all day. And if he wanted more, I’d have given him that too. Right there on the desk, if he wanted.

  I’d been aroused and titillated before, but with Chase, I burned with need. If I wasn’t in the middle of his office, I might have reached between my legs and taking care of the need still throbbing there. That would have to wait until after work.

  I returned to my job, resorting the data and saving the various analyses. I was getting ready to close up my laptop when Chase returned.

  He stopped short when he saw me. “I thought you’d be gone already.”

  I shook my head. “I just finished.”

  He went to his desk, as I gathered up my things.

  “Do you have plans this weekend?” he asked.

  Trying to figure out how to survive in the city. “No.”

  “None?” His expression was surprised.

  I shook my head. “I don’t know anyone in the city yet.” Well there was my landlord/roommate, but he didn’t count. Plus I didn’t have any money for more than ramen and water, but he didn’t need to know that. “I could go out on my own, but I don’t know what’s safe or not.”

  He frowned. “It doesn’t seem right that a smart, beautiful young woman will be home alone over the weekend.”

  I shrugged. Welcome to my life.

  He closed his drawer and walked around his desk. “I tell you what, I’ll take you out. Celebrate your first week here at Raven Industries. It’s the least I can do for such great work.”

  I smiled, feeling a bit like a loon. He had that effect on me.
“I’d like that. Thank you, sir—”

  “Please stop calling me, sir. Call my father sir. And my brothers.” He motioned me to exit the door before him.

  “Okay, s— ah… Mr. Raven.” We entered the elevator, and he pressed the button for the ground floor.

  He stared at me for a minute and I thought he might ask me to call him Chase, but finally he said, “Give me your address.”

  My dumb smile dropped. I didn’t need him knowing the dump I lived in. But I didn’t have much choice. I gave him my address.

  “I’ll pick you up at eight, alright?” He let me exit the elevator first.

  “Yes, alright.”

  “I look forward to seeing you later,” he said when we reached the street. Then he paused. “Would you like a ride home?”

  “No, thank you.” I was feeling so keyed up, who knew what I’d try to do to him in a confined car.

  “I’ll see you at eight then.”

  “I’ll be ready.”

  He got into the backseat of a dark sedan that drove away.

  I felt giddy, but tried to quash it. This wasn’t a date. This was my smoking hot billionaire supervisor trying to be nice to an intern who didn’t know the city. I rushed to the subway and hurried home.

  When I arrived at my apartment, I was glad my landlord wasn’t around. He always seemed to be lurking when I was home. I went into my closet-sized studio, flung open my wardrobe, and groaned. I had nothing to wear that was up to par. All my clothes were plain and drab. Most of them I’d had since high school, so they were conservative to the point of frumpy. When I got this internship, I’d gone to a thrift store to get some professional clothes, but it didn’t occur to me to get anything for a night on the town or dinner out. Except for Glenn, I’d never gone out before. In New York, as at home, I didn’t have any friends to hang out with.

  Forgoing what was in my closet, I went to my dresser. The nicest top I had that wasn’t for work was a black turtleneck. Boring. Plus, it was a little small since I gained the freshman fifteen in college. But I slipped it on and rolled the waist of my skirt to shorten it. I studied the outfit in the mirror. Not bad, but not great.