Misbehaved Page 7

  “Oh,” she gasped, leaning forward and giving me the freedom I needed to hike the thing up around her waist.

  I reached for the blue thong she was wearing. The damn thing was nothing more than two strings and a scrap of lace. I yanked hard, not wanting to fuck around with the damn thing.

  “Jax!” she shrieked. “My panties.”

  “You don’t need them. It isn’t like they cover shit anyways,” I said, moving my hands to my belt.

  She reached for my face, her palms pressing against my cheeks as she kissed me. It was her turn to show me just how badly she wanted me. I could taste the desire and knew I had read the situation right. She wanted me. She was just as hot and turned on as I was. She was going to get me. Every last inch.

  10

  Penny

  Never, ever in a million years would I have imagined myself sitting on Jax’s desk, my skirt around my waist and my shredded panties on the floor. He jerked my arm out of my sleeve before using his teeth to unhook the front clasp on my bra. My breasts spilled out, met by his hot, open mouth. He sucked one nipple between his teeth, and the last remaining good sense I had flittered away. In that moment, I didn’t care that I was half-naked on his desk in this office made of glass.

  His mouth moved over my neck, just the way I liked, sending waves of intense heat burning over my body, scorching a path straight to my core. I reached for his pants, tugging on the button that was keeping him from being free. I was desperate, yanking and jerking at his pants, wanting him so badly it was consuming my every thought.

  He hissed through his teeth when I grabbed him through his briefs, cupping the heavy, swollen cock in my hands. He batted my hand away and pushed down his underwear, freeing himself. My hand went back, touching him, feeling him in my palm for the first time. His dick was hard and smooth and felt hot and heavy. Just touching him made me wet. I squirmed forward on the desk, trying to move my body closer.

  His mouth slammed over mine at the same time he slapped my inner thigh, pushing my legs wider. I could feel the urgency in him, the way he kissed me was like he was a man starving. His tongue battled mine, demanding complete surrender. I happily gave it.

  Without warning, his finger brushed over my core, shocking me, pulling a startled gasp from my lips. Opening my mouth wider gave him the freedom to push his tongue deeper while his finger mimicked the action between my legs.

  “Oh god,” I moaned into his mouth the moment his finger pressed inside me.

  The feeling was strange, slightly familiar and oh so good. My body slowly adjusted to the invasion, readying for the real thing.

  “You’re fucking wet. Is that for me?” He rested his forehead against mine as he pushed and pulled the finger in and out of my body.

  I moaned again. “Yes, please, Jax, please,” I begged.

  “Oh, I’m going to. You better believe that,” he hissed.

  He yanked me body closer to the edge of his desk, before pulling out his finger. His hand swatted mine away from his cock, grabbing it himself and guiding it between my legs. I held my breath, knowing what was coming, and hoped it wouldn’t hurt. He was a large man, and I was anything but large.

  “Jax,” I breathed when the bulbous head slid over my folds.

  “Relax,” he ordered in a gruff voice.

  I tried, but having a steel shaft entering your body didn’t exactly induce relaxation. I felt tingly and hot and in desperate need. Need of him. He worked the tip inside me, I leaned up to look into his eyes. There was a hint of concern in his. He leaned down and kissed me. It was a slow, languishing kiss, gentle and sweet, but full of passion. It was exactly what I needed. My body bloomed, opening like a flower and allowing him to slide inside me.

  My arms were around his neck, clinging to his body, his mouth covering mine. There was a brief hesitation on both our parts before the need took over once again. He jerked his hips forward, impaling me with his hardness. My body contracted, squeezing him, pulling his cock in deeper. Every little contraction elicited a tingle of pleasure that shot out, sending shivers up and down my spine.

  “God, it feels so good to be inside you,” he growled close to my ear.

  I grunted in response, my nails digging into his back through the shirt that was opened in the front but still on. In a perfect world, we would both be naked. In a perfect world would be in my bed or his with no worries of anyone coming in. I would get to take my time and really explore his body. The frenzied rush wouldn’t be there.

  “More,” I rasped, my body demanding more pleasure.

  He jerked hard again, sliding me back a few inches on the desk. “More?” he echoed, his eyes boring into mine.

  “More!” I repeated, being careful to keep my voice down.

  Despite losing myself in him, in the moment, I was still conscious of my surroundings. My instinct was to cry out and scream with pleasure, but I kept it locked down. The room was filled with grunts and gasps, the sounds of his body slapping against mine as he drove in and out of me. We sounded like rutting, wild animals. In many ways, that was exactly how I felt.

  “Goddammit, Penny,” he hissed.

  Somewhere, through the thick cloud of passion running through my body, I thought to ask him if I was doing it wrong. I couldn’t. My body was trapped in a tornado of violent, powerful and oh so delicious sensations. I could only moan, closing my eyes and letting myself go with the storm that had swept me up.

  “Fuck. I can’t hold back,” he growled close to my ear.

  I let myself fall into the moment, blocking out everything else. In that instant, it was me and him, pleasuring one another, and nothing mattered. Not our past, not our present, and certainly not our future. All I thought about was how good my body felt. Euphoria. Complete and total euphoria. I felt the explosion inside me, his grunts of what sounded like pain filling my ears as my body spasmed around him, my orgasm consuming me.

  His head dropped to rest on my shoulder, his body shuddering as he drew in deep, gulping breaths. His hands rested on my hips, his touch gentle. My instinct was to comfort him. I wrapped my arms around him, hugging him while my body contracted around him, making him jerk and curse under his breath. He leaned against me for several long seconds before standing up and stepping away, tucking his penis back into his pants and quickly doing them up. He didn’t even look at me. Not a thank-you or a good job—nothing.

  I was horrified. Mortified. Humiliated and every other word imaginable. I hopped off the desk and yanked down my skirt, realizing I was going to be going commando for the rest of the day. I quickly fastened my bra and jerked on my shirt. My hands were shaking, making it nearly impossible for me to do up the tiny buttons of my blouse. I wanted to kick myself for letting it happen again.

  I looked up to see Jax watching me, his shirt already buttoned and tucked in. The look on his face made me want to scream. It was one of those cat-that-ate-the-canary smiles on his face. I felt physically ill. I had fallen for his stupid charm again. He’d used me, and I quite exuberantly let him, offering up no fight. I had gone along with it, craving him like the worst addictive drug. He was just as bad. No, he was worse.

  “I guess maybe there is still some of that old flame between us,” he cooed, his eyes dancing with amusement as if he’d just gotten away with some dirty deed.

  I wanted to smack him. “Whatever.”

  “Don’t act like you hate me. I can tell it’s all a ruse. You’re only pretending you hate me because it makes you feel better.”

  I shook my head. “I’m not pretending. I don’t like you. This wasn’t supposed to happen.”

  He smirked. “Oh really? Just like me taking your V-card wasn’t supposed to happen?”

  I narrowed my eyes, glaring at him and wishing I had superpowers. I would have incinerated him where he stood. “You are seriously the biggest regret of my life.”

  His smirk only deepened. “Really? I’d say you’re doing pretty good, then.”

  “I’m so glad you’re reminding me why
I have hated you all these years. You haven’t changed. A leopard never changes its spots.”

  His feral smile was the icing on the cake. “Penny, you find it easier to hate me and hide behind that hate because you don’t want to deal with your real feelings for me.”

  I scoffed. “You wouldn’t know what a real feeling was if it frickin’ slapped you upside the head.”

  He rolled his eyes. “You’re a big girl now, Penny. You can say fuck.”

  I flinched at the word. “No. I don’t need or want to.”

  “You can fuck my brains out in my office in the middle of the day, but you can’t say the word. What’s your word for it? What dainty little verb have you given it? Making love? Hanky-panky? Doing it?” he teased.

  He was standing so close to me, making me so darn angry. The man had a way of getting under my skin and inciting violence. Without my brain having a chance to stop my knee-jerk reaction, I reached out and slapped him, the sound echoing through the office. His hand snaked out, latching on to my wrist, and held it midair. His eyes were flashing fire.

  “What the fuck was that for?” he growled in a low voice.

  I shook my head, tugging at my arm. His firm grasp refused to let go. “I’m sick of your games. You’re playing the same games you always have. Making me want you and then pushing me away and laughing in my face. I’m sick of it. I’m done. Finished. Fire me if you want, but I will not allow you to manipulate me anymore. I will not allow you to mess with my emotions. You take great pleasure in trying to make me suffer, and I will not tolerate it. I’m not a dog you can kick around whenever the mood strikes.”

  I snapped my arm away. He let it go. I walked out of the office, not stopping to look back. I was furious. Too angry to work. I didn’t want to face him again or anyone else. I felt like a complete fool for letting myself be seduced by the man. I knew better and yet, I had fallen for him all over again. I walked to my office, snatched my purse, and walked right out the door, not stopping until I was at the bus stop, praying the bus would come soon. I didn’t want him to come after me. I didn’t want anyone to come after me.

  I wanted to go home and hide in my apartment. I could feel the moisture in my eyes and knew I was barely keeping the tears at bay. My hands were shaking, and my insides felt twisted in knots. Jax always made something beautiful into something ugly. I didn’t understand why I was so attracted to him. I hated him. He was an awful man.

  I praised the God on high when the bus pulled up a minute later. I took my seat and leaned my head back. I had no idea what I had done. I had probably just walked out of the job I actually liked. I was probably fired. Even if I wasn’t fired and Jax let me keep my job, I would never let my guard down around him. Never. I would make sure I was never alone with him. I refused to be a victim. I refused to keep making the same stupid mistake over and over and then feel like crap afterward.

  It had to change, and that change had to start with me taking a stand. Jax Michaels was not going to win. I would not let him derail my career. If he fired me, so be it. I would find another job. I would be successful, and I would do without him messing with my mind.

  11

  Jax

  I’d been dealing with the shame and regret over what happened between me and Penny all weekend. I had no idea if she even worked for the company anymore. She’d walked out, and that had been that. I knew Dakota and Carolina were both going to rip me a new asshole if she had quit. They were going to lecture me about crossing the line and sleeping with an employee. The lecture would be deserved. I had fucked up. I had made it worse by practically laughing in her face afterward. I hadn’t meant to—it just kind of happened.

  I walked into my office, pulling open the blinds so I could keep an eye on the comings and goings of my staff. I wanted to know if she showed up to work. I had no idea what I would do if she didn’t. I would have to scramble to find someone else to take over where she left off. I didn’t want anyone else. I wanted her. It was her vision that excited me. I already knew no one else would compare to her, and I had no one to blame but myself if she chose not to come back to work. I had done it to myself. I wanted her work, her creativity, her enthusiasm to do a good job. But that wasn’t all I wanted.

  I checked the clock on my tablet and grimaced when I saw the time inching closer to nine and no sign of Penny. I was seriously considering making a run for it before Dakota and Carolina figured out what I had done when I heard her voice drift down the hall. My eyes were glued to the corner, waiting to see if I had truly heard her or if I was imagining things.

  “Good morning,” I heard her voice, and a second later I saw her.

  She had shown up. She didn’t look my way at all, walking right past the door and heading around the curve to her own office. I breathed out a sigh of relief, the knot in my gut relaxing a bit. “Thank god,” I mumbled.

  I had dodged a bullet. I was going to do better. I would stay away from her. I didn’t want to poke the bear and piss her off again. I knew I had a very special knack for saying the wrong thing to her. It was best if we didn’t talk, at least for a while. I had to let the dust settle.

  Feeling a little more settled, I dove into my work. There was a lot to get done with the upcoming launch looming. I was completely focused on my work, giving it all my attention and blocking out everything else. It was how I worked. I could go into a proverbial tunnel and hear or see nothing else. It was where I found my inspiration.

  It was a knock on the door that managed to cut through. Part of me had been listening and hoping for that knock. I wanted it to be Penny, coming to talk about what happened. I looked up and saw Lydia. I smiled and got to my feet, waving her inside.

  She opened the door, smiling as she walked toward me. “Hey, baby,” she greeted, her long, honey-brown hair shiny and hanging loose around her slender shoulders.

  I gave her a kiss on the cheek, hugging her before gesturing toward the chair. “Sit. What brings you by?”

  “I missed you. How’s the life of a big fashion mogul?”

  I chuckled. “I’m not a mogul—yet. I plan on it. What about you? How’s work going?”

  She grimaced, letting out a long sigh. “I think I have finally expired.”

  “What?” I asked, wrinkling my nose.

  “My shelf life is up. I’ve reached my expiration date. The industry doesn’t like models over the age of twenty-five,” she pouted.

  “That’s not true. Besides, you don’t look a day over eighteen,” I said with my practiced charm.

  She rolled her eyes. “I just lost a big job to a fifteen-year-old. I swear they are getting younger and younger.”

  I could see the loss of a high-paying job really hurt her. Lydia had been at the top of the modeling world for years. It was not the kind of career that would carry a person into retirement, unless that person was ready to retire by thirty, and that was generous.

  I grabbed her hand, pulling her back to her feet and holding her face between my hands. “You know you’re beautiful. You have wisdom and beauty. That fifteen-year-old might have the beauty, but you and I both know the industry will eat her up and spit her out. You’re tough and you’re a survivor. You’re going to be okay,” I told her, holding her stunning green eyes with mine.

  She offered a small smile before the tears started to slide down her face. I pulled her against me, holding her while she cried on my shoulder. I hated to see her hurting. She was great at her job and had poise and grace. She had a special quality about her, and the camera loved it. I hated that she was being pushed out of the modeling world.

  “I’m sorry,” she murmured.

  “Hey, don’t be. You cry as much as you want. You were there for me when I thought for sure I was going to drown in those first months. If it hadn’t been for you, I would have fallen into that dark world where models go to get high and OD at a young age. You saved me. You kept me on the right path. I owe you.”

  “You would have been just fine. You’re too bullheaded to fall i
nto those dangerous traps,” she managed to get out through her sobs.

  I patted her on the back, trying to take away her misery. I had seen so many of the female models I worked with get harassed and ridiculed by their colleagues, photographers, and marketing execs. They were picked apart and generally mind-fucked. I hated watching it. I knew Lydia was suffering. I wanted to beat the shit out of every person who had ever made her feel unworthy.

  “You’re going to be okay,” I assured her.

  “You’re a good friend,” she said, not letting go of me.

  I held her close, my hand moving to the back of her head. I wasn’t great at comforting, but I was doing all I could. Lydia sobbed, her arms hanging at her sides as if she had lost all her fight.

  “This doesn’t have to be the end,” I whispered. “You need to keep moving forward. You can do anything you want. I got out. You can too.”

  “I’m not like you,” she whined.

  “You’re so much better than me. Don’t let them break you down. You are smart and dedicated and you can kick ass at whatever you decide to do.”

  She sniffled. “You’re just saying that.”

  “I am not. You know you’re smart.”

  The door opened. I turned to face her, Lydia still in my arms. Penny walked through the door, looking down at her tablet. “I negotiated a deal with—”

  She stopped talking and looked at my embrace with Lydia. The look on her face said it all. It was anger and shock rolled up in one. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you had a visitor,” Penny said and quickly rushed out as fast as she had come in.

  She left so fast, slamming the door behind her, I didn’t get a chance to explain what it was she saw. I knew what she was thinking. She believed I had lied when I told her Lydia and I weren’t like that. I didn’t have a chance to explain that our friendship was nothing more but tabloid fodder. Neither Lydia nor I dispelled the rumors. We let them fly. It made it easier for us. If people thought we were off the market, they tended to stay away. At least some of them did. Not all, but most.