Page 7 of Playing to Win

“We’ll see. Help me figure out what meal I can butcher for him, and then I’ll be on my way. Someone has to work around here,” I joke. She knows full well that while she might sit in an office these days, it was her who did the hard work for years before she made Clean and Gleam the smashing success it is today.

ELEVEN

Theo

“Honey, I’m home,”I announce, stepping off the elevator. My penthouse is usually well kept. Since Danica has been cleaning it, it’s spotless. There’s a noise coming from the kitchen, so I head that way. Mallory called earlier today telling me Danica accepted the job, but if I screwed up and did anything to hurt her employee in any way, she’d go after my money and my name. I’m glad Danica has Mallory in her corner. It didn’t seem like she has a whole lot of good from what I’m learning.

“Hello, dear. Did you have a good day at the office?” Danica’s voice is dripping with sarcasm when I walk into the kitchen. She’s putting some type of cheese on what looks like a pasta dish with red sauce.

“I did. Is that for me?” I unbutton the sleeve of my shirt. My jacket was already discarded when I walked through the door. Danica’s eyes track what I’m doing, and she licks her lip as I fold the sleeve back one fold at a time. I repeat the process with the other side, taking my time, liking how she can’t stop watching me. Her eyes only leave me when I pull a barstool out, sit down, and look at the woman in front of me. Dani is wearing another tank, this one not see-through compared to the one she wore yesterday. It still gives me the outline of her bra, of her tits that are too big for her tiny frame. I want to rip her shirt and bra down her arms, trapping them in place as my hands and mouth feast on them. My cock hardens and my mouth salivates at the thought of tasting Danica.

"It sure is." She clears her throat. My gaze moves from her body to the plate as she moves it across the kitchen island.

“A man could get used to coming home to a pretty woman, clean house, and dinner ready.” She places a fork and knife in front of me as well as a napkin but stays on the other side of the island, arms crossed beneath her chest, watching as I take my first bite.

“Good luck finding a woman who would do this willingly without being paid.” Sarcasm pours from her mouth, and now I’m thinking about how to put that saucy mouth of hers to good use. Soon, I’ll have her. She’ll be mine even if she’s reluctant at first. I’ve got no problem using my fingers, mouth, or tongue in order to get what we both want. I tuck into my food, forgoing the knife. No one I know cuts their pasta. Jesus, Italians would cuss me black and blue. I twirl the pasta around the fork, grab a piece of garlic bread she has set off to the side, and bring the bite to my mouth. The minute my tongue hits the pasta, I’m trying to choke down the food. There’s not a hint of tomato, garlic, or onion. In its place is nothing but salt. I cough in order not to choke. There’s no way I can look Danica in the face right now. She’ll know exactly what I think her version of spaghetti tastes like. It tastes like shit. I had no idea you could fuck something up that’s this easy to make. It can’t be that hard—brown some meat, add a jar of sauce to it once it’s done and you don’t want to make the marinara from scratch, but Jesus Christ, I’d bet my left nut she added a cup of fucking salt. I swallow the bite, using the garlic bread as a chaser since I was dumb and didn’t grab a drink before sitting down, and Danica sure as shit didn’t offer one.

“Did Mallory fail to mention I can’t cook for shit?” she states after I chew the bite of bread that thankfully isn’t trying to choke the shit out of me . “Here, drink this.” I look up, careful to accept anything from the menace to society in the way of a cook. Danica is smart as a fucking whip, a straight-A student in college, and the same can be said for high school. The preliminary background report shows she’s stayed in a women’s shelter until she graduated from high school and six months after. It was only when she got a job with Mallory that she landed the apartment she lives in now, and Mallory’s name is attached to that, too. Danica’s biological dad is nowhere to be seen, and the mother is proving difficult to track down. Her last known address was when Danica was fifteen. I’ve got our private investigator looking into a few more things, and it wasn’t even my idea to run the background check; it was Boston’s. Then Ezra and Parker got on the bandwagon after Sylvester opened his big fat mouth.

“Fuck’s sake, Danica, a warning would have been nice. I’ll tell Mallory to never let you near the stove again,” I say after taking a healthy gulp of water to flush the salt out of my mouth.

“You should have asked me before going around me to get what you want. Which by the way, what is up with that? You only want me to work here, nowhere else. Anyone ever tell you that you’re a bit much?” she states. I stand up, my barstool skidding backwards. I’m going to show her exactly how much I fucking am. I’ll start with my mouth, taking, demanding, and not stopping until she’s breathless. Only when she’s clawing out of her skin with desire will I take things a step further.

“Oh, fairy, you’re about to learn how much I’ve got to give.” I prowl toward her, but she doesn’t so much as take a step backwards. There’s no cowering away from me. If anything, she’s rock fucking steady, nostrils flaring, tits moving up and down with each breath she takes, and nipples showing what she really wants. “I bet if I put my hands down your tight-as-fuck shorts, I’d find you dripping wet.” I’m a step in front of her when one of my hands reaches for the back of her neck while the other pulls up her shirt. My fingers hit skin, and I feel goose bumps pebble her flesh.

“Theo.” Her voice is riddled with desire, her cheeks are flush, and her eyes stay downcast while she watches the back of my hand dance across the front of her stomach, my thumb and pointer finger at the ready to rip the hot-as-fuck shorts down her legs.

“Are you telling me no?” Danica’s stomach quivers beneath my touch.

“Theo,” she repeats my name, softer, holding the same breathlessness she showed earlier.

“I need a response, fairy. You won’t get my mouth on your cunt unless I hear the wordyes.” She tips her head up, eyes on mine. There’s a plea on the tip of her tongue, but I won’t take what she’s not willing to offer.

“God, yes, please.” I thumb open her shorts while walking her backwards until she’s pressed up against the refrigerator, pulling on the zipper just as quickly. She wiggles her hips to help the fabric slide downwards, and dear fucking God, I’m not prepared for the sight in front of me. I’m on my knees without any pretenses, my eyes glued to her thong saturated with wetness, and I know her core is just as drenched.

TWELVE

Danica

Theo is devouringme with his eyes, consuming me with the whisper of breath he blows over my core, and it’s a good thing he backed me up where there was a surface to hold me up. Even if the metal is so cold against my back. It helps calm the inferno blazing inside my body.

“Fuck, I’m going to eat this pussy so good, you won’t ever leave.” His thumb sweeps over my clit. The fabric is clinging to my wetness, and there’s no way I’m ever going to recover from this. Theo won’t be like the men in my past—there will be no way I can leave him in the morning light.

“Theo.” I can’t contain the raspy tone of my voice. My head is tipped down, eyes watching him as he slowly moves his thumb to the side. He doesn’t respond. His focus on one thing and one thing only. His thumb slides beneath the band at the apex of my thigh and center, tongue licking my clit through the fabric, and try as I might, I’m unable to keep my eyes from shuttering. One touch, one lick, one taste, and I know there is no way I’m ever going to recover. And Theo has barely scratched the surface.

“Fuck, you taste good. You taste like you’re mine.” He pulls away from my pussy, both hands gliding to the sides of my panties, pulling them down. The backs of his fingers make my flesh come alive. He picks up one foot. I’d never expect him to plant it on his shoulder. “Spread for me, Danica, show me what I’m about to take.” There’s nothing easy about the current stance I’m in while shimmying the foot that’s planted on the ground to open for his broad shoulders. I manage, somehow, and when Theo dips his head again, he does not disappoint. The flat of his tongue slides out, licking me from my entrance, gathering my wetness, humming while doing so until he’s at my clit. He takes his time; there’s no rush. Then he repeats the process, a slow buildup that’s making my stomach clench, my hips lift up, and my toes curl. One of my hands moves to the back of his head to use his hair for purchase, unsure how I’m going to maintain my stance. The other is flat on the refrigerator, the coolness helping me keep my senses.

“Let go, fairy. Don’t hold back.” He backs away from my center for a moment, showing me his face, particularly his mouth that’s dripping with my juices. He licks his lips. Damn, never in my life did I think a man down on his knees would look as sexy as Theo does.

“Okay.” It doesn’t matter that I respond—he’s already got his head buried between my thighs again. This time, the slow long licks are gone. He probably realized that while it felt fucking phenomenal, it wasn’t shutting my head down enough to enjoy the moment, and well, let go. He ups the ante. The tip of his tongue circles my clit, giving me indirect stimulation until I’m gripping his hair tightly. “God, Theo.” Reading my body, he keeps using the same pace. It isn’t until my legs start to tremble that he adds his thumb, barely dipping inside my pussy, and his lips wrap around my clit. The suction is setting me off, making me lose control. Everything is turned off. There are no thoughts about work, school, how I’m going to manage the next day. All I can think about is the way Theo is eating me. No, he’s not eating; he’s fuckingdevouringme, and I’m going to become addicted to him.

“Fuck, yes, there, don’t stop.” My words are a garbled mess, much like the inside of my thighs and Theo’s face, but right now, I don’t care. I’m not sure I ever will again either. He takes his thumb away, and I feel two thick fingers slide inside my slick heat. The varied motion of his fingers flicking back and forth, the continued sucking on my clit, and I’m done for. My body tenses, both hands delve into his warm chocolate locks of hair, and I hold him in place as I ride his face until my orgasm is over.

“That’s one.” He pulls his fingers out of my core, wiping one cheek off on my inner thigh, then the other. Almost as if he’s marking me with my own cum. When he finally comes up for air, his lips are still shinning and I’m greedy for his lips.

“Kiss me, please.” That’s all it takes. He’s standing up, mouth attaching itself to mine, his hands gripping my thighs and hoisting me up. I’m wrapped around him, arms and legs, as his lips and tongue dominate mine. I taste myself on him, and damn if that isn’t hot.

“We’re going to my bed. I’m not done with you, not for a long fucking time.” He breaks away from my mouth. I only nod, wanting that just as much. And as many times as I can count, Theo is making me forget about every self-imposed rule that’s ever existed.

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