Page 68 of Boss Level

He let my hand go as he freed my dick. His grip was warm and rough around the shaft.Fuckthat was incredible.

But when he fell to his knees at my feet, my brain skipped. This wasn’t like Xander. Not that he was a selfish lover—exactly the opposite—but I was usually the one who—

Oh, God.My mind went blank when he took me in his mouth, and I fell into a long groan. There was no slow-build here. He was sucking my dick like it was a source of life, squeezing my shaft hard. Jerking. Licking.

I didn’t have a choice but to fall into sensations that left my entire body tingling. My hips thrust on their own. My body swayed with the attention. I grasped Xander’s hair, not caring if I pulled, and fucked his face.

There was no restraint from either of us.

He didn’t ease up, and all I knew was him. His mouth. His hands. His grunts as he choked on my cock.

When need tightened in my balls, I’d lost track of where one groan ended and the next began. “I’m going to come.” The warning was as much mumble as words.

Words that seemed to spur Xander on.

Orgasm ripped through me, until I was spilling down Xander’s throat, my entire body shuddering until I was spent.

Fortunately, the wall was there to fall into. To keep me upright.

Xander stood, leaving my pants around my hips and my cock hanging out. There was a dribble of cum on his chin, and I wiped it away with my shirt cuff.

How was this not enough? I wanted more. Not for me, but for him. I reached for his dick again.

And again, he grabbed my wrist. “I don’t want that.” The gravel in his voice matched the roughness in my mind. “Not tonight.” His kiss was hungry and demanding, our tongues dancing together and the lingering taste of an incredible blowjob mingling with it all.

“This is you and me together,” Xander muttered against my mouth. “Always you and me. The way it’s meant to be.”

His words should be sweet. Reassuring. The kind of promise that came with a sweeping romance. So why did they leave me feeling like we were giving something—someone—up?

23

judith

Claire’s bedroom door was closed in the morning.

I needed to talk to her, but I couldn’t force the conversation. I paused next to the door and knocked softly. “Are you up?”

There was no response, but I heard a faint rustling coming from inside.

“I don’t know if you’re listening,” I said softly. “Everything we talked about last night… I don’t tell people those things. Not even my ex-husband knows any of that, and how the night ended doesn’t change the rest of it. It doesn’t change what you’re going through or that I care or that I want you safe, fuck what anyone else says.”

An ache grew in my chest as I remembered what I wished anyone would’ve said to me back then. “This isn’t your fault. I’m proud of you for not folding under the pressure. And if I weren’t in love with someone else, I’d totally hook up with you.”

Where did that…? I wasn’t—

“I hope you’re here when I get home.”Please don’t go back to him.

I headed to work, and got there before anyone but the on-call developers who’d been in all night. Diving into my tasks was comforting. Keeping the machine running. Pushing ahead. Each new thing checked off my to-do list was another frazzled nerve soothed and settled.

In the hallway, I heard everyone else arriving for the day. I could shut my office door and drown out the noise, but I liked the way the office came alive when everyone was here. The chatter filling the building died down as all my people got settled and started working.

My phone buzzed with a message from Dominic.You free?

I’m working, but I’m not in meetings, if that’s what you’re asking. I could just tell himno, but it was impossible to ignore the giddy flutter in my chest at seeing his name.

Meet us out back?

Us. Xander was with him. And now I had a silly grin on my face that I needed to erase between my office and downstairs.Be right there.

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