The Greatest Risk

  Sixx blinked at her.

  “I don’t know about the rock god part,” Susan went on. “But I know the second part is true, and so is the last part since Stellan’s already told me I can pick your engagement ring, and I’m seeing from taking in all that is you that five carats is the way to go.”

  At hearing these words, unable to stop herself, Sixx reached out with her fingers to Susan’s desk and leaned into them, staring at the woman and trying with everything she had not to hyperventilate.

  “Oh God, I’ve freaked you,” Susan whispered in horror.

  “I’m a mess,” Sixx whispered back, so off-kilter from what Susan had just said, not to mention being the recipient of such open honesty, unable to stop that too.

  “You’re the most put-together woman I’ve ever seen,” Susan kept up the whispering.

  “Camouflage.”

  “I don’t believe that.”

  “It’s true.”

  “I still don’t believe it.”

  “He’s going to give up on me,” Sixx shared, yes, also still whispering. “I’m such a mess, I’m going to make that so.”

  “He never gives up on anything that matters to him,” Susan was still whispering in return. “And you really matter to him.”

  “Then I’m going to have to leave him before I hurt him.”

  Susan suddenly looked panicked. “Leaving him would hurt him.”

  “You don’t understand—”

  “He’d slay dragons for you,” Susan declared desperately.

  Sixx shut her mouth.

  “He would. He would,” she said like she was chanting, leaned in, and continued fiercely, “Let him.”

  Sixx took a step back, looked side to side, realized what the fuck she was doing, and opened her mouth to find a way out of the mess she’d somehow created.

  Seriously.

  This was Stellan’s Susan.

  She couldn’t talk to Leigh, but she could know Susan for all of five minutes and let this vomit out of her mouth?

  “My dad’s a dick, excuse my language,” Susan declared suddenly. “And my mom let him be that to me. So outside of Harry and Crosby, Stellan’s all I’ve got that’s mine, and there isn’t a single woman on the planet I’d think was worthy of him, not one. That was, I thought that until I just met you.”

  Sixx shook her head. “You don’t know me.”

  “I know why he’s falling in love with you.”

  Sixx clamped her mouth shut again.

  “Do you want to know why?” Susan asked.

  “Because he likes a challenge?” Sixx asked in return.

  “Because you’re the only woman on this planet who wants him for nothing but him, even the part of him that wants nothing but to love you.”

  Sixx looked to Susan’s desk, mumbling, “Damn, I’m going to cry.”

  “Oh God! Don’t do that,” Susan exclaimed, lifting a hand and curling her fingers around Sixx’s upper arm. “He’ll think I made you cry, and he’ll get ticked at me.”

  Sixx looked at her, shaking her head. “He’ll know it’s not you. I’ve been on edge lately.”

  Susan nodded knowingly, taking her hand. “Weirdly, impending happiness does that to you. I honestly would not allow myself to think Harry was real. I mean, this sweet, cute guy thought I was funny and adorable and got this big smile on his face any time he saw me? What was wrong with him? Didn’t he see what my dad saw in me? This big, fat loser who got B’s on her report card and lost the race to win class secretary? That right there was a double fail. I should have run for president. And won. Hands down.”

  “A B isn’t bad,” Sixx pointed out.

  “Not for my dad. For my dad it was the end of the world and proof positive he’d produced a huge dunce,” Susan replied.

  “You do know that’s more than a little bit crazy,” Sixx shared.

  Susan gave her a close look that communicated a lot of things and said, “I didn’t, until Harry … and Stellan.”

  God.

  Stellan believed in her too.

  And look at her now.

  Sixx couldn’t handle that.

  Instead, she went on, “And that class officer stuff is just a popularity contest. He could be equally pissed you didn’t win prom queen.”

  “He was ticked at that too.”

  “What a douche,” Sixx decreed.

  “Word,” Susan agreed.

  They looked at each other.

  Then as one they burst out laughing so hard, both of them had to lean against the desk to hold themselves up.

  Still laughing, Susan eyed the door to her office, and Sixx looked that way to see someone scurrying down the hall.

  “I freaking love this,” Susan stated, and Sixx turned back to her to see her daintily wiping away tears of hilarity from under her eyes so as not to disturb her mascara.

  “What?” Sixx asked, pulling herself together, thinking she’d never noticed it, but laughing did a lot toward taking the heavy and making it light again.

  “You, being absolutely fabulous. Of course, this means my life will be hell because everyone will want the gossip. But seriously, what more can I say? All questions are answered with just you showing here. You’re edgy, awesome, amazing, and Stellan is Stellan. It was meant to be.”

  Sixx tried to ignore that so she didn’t lose it again.

  Sixx found it impossible to ignore that.

  “I really am a mess,” Sixx told her quietly.

  “Join the club, babe,” Susan replied airily, then flicked a wrist toward her doorway. “They’ll never know that because I will never share, on threat of death.” She crossed her heart then held up two fingers. “But for me, I can now avoid the inferiority complex I’ve been gearing up to nurture until my dying day.”

  “You do know, he adores you with every fiber of his being, and when he said we were having dinner tomorrow night, I nearly vomited on the spot,” Sixx shared.

  Susan burst out laughing, and Sixx couldn’t help it. It was laugh, cry or scream, and laughing seemed to work great, so she took the path of least resistance and laughed with her.

  It was then she heard a door open, one of the double ones at the side of Susan’s office.

  Susan twisted her neck to look over her shoulder, and Sixx just looked over Susan’s shoulder.

  Thus they both saw Stellan standing there, no jacket, blue tie, light gray vest, fabulous striped shirt, tailored light gray trousers, fantastic brown shoes, brows raised, lips quirked … gorgeous.

  “Hey, boss man,” Susan called. “Surprise visit from your cool chick.”

  “As she’s standing chatting with you in your office,” Stellan replied, moving from the door into the room, “it would appear the surprise is no longer a surprise to you.”

  “Nope,” Susan agreed.

  “And will you be sharing why you didn’t tell me she was here?” Stellan asked, arriving at Sixx’s side and claiming her instantly by putting a hand to her hip and then sliding it around her back all the way to the other side, doing this pulling her to him.

  “You said not to disturb your call,” Susan answered.

  “Make a note, Susie, that in future, if Sixx is here, you disturb me. I don’t give a fuck if the President of the United States is sitting in my office.”

  “Note made,” Susan replied.

  Stellan finally looked down at her. “Hello, darling.”

  “Oh my God!” Susan cried before Sixx could even open her mouth. “You call her ‘darling!’ I am literally standing here melting.”

  Stellan turned back to Susan. “You do know what the word ‘literally’ means, do you not?”

  “You don’t feel me, Stell. My feet are actually just puddles right now,” she shot back. “I don’t know how I’m remaining standing.”

  “Perhaps we should put you out of your misery,” Stellan suggested.

  “The misery hasn’t yet begun,” she returned. “It’ll start the instant you disappear, and then there’ll be a stamped
e to get the lowdown on Sixx.”

  “Then perhaps you should share with them that I’m considering revising the Employee Handbook to state that anyone caught gossiping faces immediate termination,” Stellan replied.

  “Roger that,” Susan said, beginning to move around her desk.

  Stellan began to move them both toward his office.

  “Great to meet you, Susan,” Sixx called as they went.

  “Right back at you, cool chick,” Susan returned.

  Stellan led her into the most kickass office she’d ever seen, all contemporary wood paneling, built-in cabinetry and floors that went forever, plus recessed lighting and leather with hints of black, cream and chrome.

  After closing the door behind him, he also led her right to his desk and around it. He pressed her slightly back so she was leaning against the desk before he took a seat in his chair turned her way.

  She dropped her clutch to his desk, crossed her ankles and looked down at him, thinking only Stellan could be seated while she was mostly standing and still seem to dominate the situation.

  “Everything okay?” he asked, and she wanted to laugh because outside of “Hello, darling,” that was the first thing he said to her, and he’d had an exchange with his beloved assistant, walked Sixx through his huge-ass office, and settled her against his desk in the time in between.

  “You’re adorable with her,” Sixx proclaimed.

  “She’s adorable, so it’s impossible not to fall into that,” he returned.

  “She loves you more than breath,” Sixx told him.

  His brows quirked. “It’s good to know she returns that sentiment.”

  “I like her.”

  “I knew you would.”

  “I had a meeting with Joel this morning,” she shared abruptly.

  Not missing a beat, he murmured, “I was wondering why the world was being treated to that charming skirt today.”

  She felt her lips curl up. “They have a case, trial starts Wednesday. Two business partners who started things the best of friends but it didn’t carry on that way.”

  “Mm?” he prompted.

  “One of the partners is our client, and I’ve been tasked with digging something useful up that would prove he was correct about flushing his friendship and business venture down the toilet, then suing his ex-buddy.”

  “Yes?”

  “I’ve failed at digging something up, mostly because I haven’t tried very hard due to the fact that I’ve been wrapped up in what’s happening with us.”

  “Ah,” Stellan said on a sigh, sitting back in his chair, putting his elbows on the arms and steepling his fingers like an evil mastermind, except a wildly attractive one whose bones she wanted to jump and do that immediately.

  “I’m going to have to start up again with working nights, Stellan, and weekends.”

  “Of course.”

  She stared.

  He spoke.

  “I’m delighted you gave us the time you did, Simone, but you have a job, you have responsibilities to your employer. You also have my house key, and your Cayenne is programmed to open your garage bay. If I’m asleep when you get home, all I ask is that you wake me so I know you’re home safely. And if you need to work evenings, nights and weekends, just share your schedule with me with as much notice as you can, so I don’t plan anything when you need to be working.”

  Easy as that?

  “I work a lot, Stellan,” she warned.

  “I do too, Simone. I also enjoy my work. If you became clingy and nagging and demanded I stop, this would make me unhappy. Why would I do something like that to you?”

  “Men think about these things differently than women do.”

  “Not all of us.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. “You know, you could at least try to be a pain in the ass sometimes.”

  He grinned. “Why on earth would I do that?”

  She crossed her arms on her chest and looked down at her beautifully shod toes, muttering, “No reason.”

  Stellan gave it a moment before he noted softly, “You were laughing with her.”

  “We shared a few moments,” she told her toes.

  “How long were you in her office with her?”

  She slid her eyes to him. “Maybe five minutes.”

  He gave her a warm smile. “She has that effect on people.”

  She straightened her head and looked at him directly. “I didn’t pop in to be a pain. I was in the office, I’m not often in the office, and since it’s close to your office, and I had something to share, I decided to walk down and share it. But you should know I also came to meet her so it wouldn’t seem so heavy tomorrow night.”

  “That’s perfectly understandable, and she obviously didn’t mind, nor would I expect her to. I don’t mind either. Ever. Anytime you wish to see me, I’ll make myself available to you. To that end, we’ll get you a passcard before you leave.”

  “I think Susan already has that going,” she told him.

  “I’ll bet she does,” he replied.

  “You’re leaving last night alone,” she noted, again changing the subject abruptly, because he was leaving it alone but she, seemingly, could not.

  “There are things about you, Simone, that are yours, and they will never be mine to have unless you choose to give them to me. Your sketchbooks, for one. Whatever occurred last night, another. I’m thrilled you’re in my life. I’m delighted beyond measure to share my home with you, M with you, Susan with you. If there’s anything you want from me, need from me, and I can give it to you, it’s yours. Materially, emotionally, my attention, my time. I’m fully aware that I’ve chosen a woman to spend my life with that is not at this point ready to offer me the same. I can wait. And honestly, Simone, if you never are, but you give me the beauty we have now, then that will make me far from unhappy.”

  God.

  She loved him.

  “Really, it’d be a big help if you could be a pain in the ass even infrequently.”

  He dropped his hands to his lap and smiled.

  “I should probably get out of your hair,” she muttered.

  “Actually, I’d prefer you pull your skirt up to your hips, your panties down, and spread your legs.”

  Her heart thumped in her chest, her clit pulsed, her nipples instantly budded hard, her lips parted, and her eyes stayed riveted on him.

  “Susan,” she whispered.

  “Knows better than to disturb us, or allow anyone else to, but regardless, I locked the door.”

  “Stellan—”

  “I told you what I wish you to do, Simone. Please do it,” he said low.

  Holding his eyes, she hesitated for a long moment, two, before she uncrossed her ankles, came up from the desk, shimmied her skirt up her hips and then pushed her thong down them until it fell to her ankles.

  She kicked it aside and leaned back against the desk, bare-assed, and spread her legs.

  Stellan didn’t watch her face while she did it.

  He watched her do it.

  She was so wet she was surprised she wasn’t dripping down the inside of her thigh not only doing it, but watching his face darken while she did.

  Like he had all day, he took his time getting up from his chair and moving to stand between her spread legs.

  Sixx stared up at him, positioned for him, exposed to him, and decided the beauty of Stellan surrounded by all that defined him out in the world was hot as fuck.

  She was certain he’d fuck her on his desk, and she was ready for it. In fact, the longer he stood over her, looking down at her, not touching her, she was tempted to beg for it.

  But then she couldn’t hold back her gasp when he dropped to his knees in front of her, shoved his mouth between her legs, and immediately commenced eating her.

  Hard.

  Her head rolled back.

  Stellan threw one of her thighs over his shoulder and went deeper.

  Amazing.

  She moaned and rolled into him.

&n
bsp; He began to tongue fuck her.

  “God,” she whispered, lifting her head, looking down her body, seeing Stellan Lange on his knees before her. His dark hair and his broad shoulders and the shiny material at the back of his vest, all that between her legs, her white thigh thrown over one of his shoulders. “Baby,” she breathed, lifting a hand to drift her fingers into that thick, soft hair.

  He adjusted, sucking in her clit, but she saw his gaze catching hers along the length of her body.

  She locked her calf along his back so the trembling in her legs didn’t take her off his desk.

  Eyes to hers, he drew hard at her clit—and primed by him just being him, giving her that command, doing this right there how they were doing it—that was all she needed. Her body convulsed, her head fell back again, and she came in his mouth.

  She lost him and her purchase on the desk when he lifted her up and planted her ass firmly to the edge of it. She heard a zip go, tried to focus, but in the grips of the climax he gave her, she couldn’t, even when both her legs were yanked high and wide. With Stellan’s hands behind her knees, he bent over her and drove inside.

  “Stellan,” she panted, her back arching, her chest pressing into his.

  “Look at me while I fuck you, darling,” he ordered.

  She righted her head and found his eyes right before his mouth took hers.

  She tasted him and herself and it was the best taste in the world.

  He fucked her to another orgasm and then let go of her knees, allowing her to round his hips with her legs as he curled his arms around her. One hand at the back of her neck, one arm holding her steady at the waist to take his thrusts. And he kept fucking her, staring in her eyes until he orgasmed quietly. But the veins popping in his neck, by his temple, the hardness of his jaw, the depth of his claiming drives as he fucked her through it told her it was a good one.

  Sixx knew he hadn’t fully come down before he was kissing her again, tasting her with his tongue, giving her his own, his cock planted to the root and staying there.