The Thorne at My Side

CHAPTER 11

“So, we're just going t–”

MAGGIE

I woke up bright eyed before my alarm at 5:02 am. Austin is supposed to be here at 6:00 am. Do I shower? I definitely need to brush my teeth. What about make-up? Should I make breakfast for him? Coffee?

I've never been in a situation like this before. But as soon as Austin said the words “sleeping together” I realized that I wanted him. I wanted the stress release of no strings attached sex. And I know I won't catch feelings because he's the opposite of what I want in a partner.

I mean, not in the looks department, he's definitely nice to look at, but I am interested in making a name for myself based on my positive influence on people. He’s from an influential family, he runs a giant company, and believes in profit over people. Yuck.

He gets driven around town in a space car by a freaking driver. I doubt he's ever really had to work for anything in his entire silver spoon life.

Nope, not for me.

After I brush my teeth and work on my hair so it looks like I just woke up when really it's been manipulated by brushes and dry shampoo, I slide back into bed. To soothe my nerves I pull my SMS Connect phone out of the drawer in my nightstand. I exhale a shaky breath. There's a message from DCFox.

DCFox: Have you ever thought to yourself “I know this is a bad idea but I’m going to do it anyway”?

And then later when the consequences hit, all you can do is just nod your head and think, yep, saw this coming a mile away.

I got some bad news at work this morning but it was followed by some really good news. Some plans that I can get behind even if they’re not the best strategic move.

I think this new venture got me excited because I’m tired of having to make the smart choice. Of having to out-perform everyone around me. Of having to be the best.

Today I just want to show up as me and have that be enough.

Gosh, he just gets me! There's something about his words that make it feel like he’s in my head. He soothes concerns and anxieties in me that I wasn't even sure I had.

I'm smiling contentedly with the little device pressed to my heart when there's a knock on my door.

I squeak in surprise and toss the phone in the drawer. Tipping over to perk up my boobs in my bralette before reaching for the knob.

Austin is leaning against the doorframe in gray joggers and a slate blue t-shirt. The intimacy dials up to a thousand because of his casual outfit. His suit yesterday was drool inducing but it made me want to admire him from afar and let my eyes drink him in.

These joggers? These I want to get my hands on and, more importantly, use my hands to take them off.

When I move on from the flood of lust his outfit produced in me, I see that in one hand he's got two coffees and in the other a bag of pastries from Sunrise. I feel my eyebrows wrinkle, "Why did you bring me coffee?"

"And, good morning to you, too," Austin says as he steps into my apartment. He leans over, pecks me on the cheek and hands me the pastry bag. "I figured it would satisfy the buddies part of our arrangement. I want to hold up both ends of the bargain," he says with a wink.

"Oh, okay." I mumble as the shock of this greeting falls away. I step past him to the kitchen.

"I like your place," Austin says.

"Yeah, well, it's not much and I'm sure nothing compared to wherever you live but, I like it."

When I step back out of the kitchen Austin is staring at me. He laughs to himself and closes his eyes in a heavy blink as he goes to set the coffees down on the little table in front of my beloved oversized chair.

"What? What's funny about where I live?"

"Nothing." He says but I don't believe him for one second.

I cross my arms and jut a hip out to the side, "C'mon Thorne, I can take it. I already know, on so many levels, that this is a bad idea. So you might as well insult the studio hovel that takes up much more of my monthly income than it should."

He looks up to me and I feel his eye contact in my solar plexus. "Maggie, I like your place. Real estate in DC is ridiculous and you've turned this apartment into a warm and inviting live/work space. The giant whiteboard really pulls the whole place together.” He smirks and my thighs clench. “But seriously, I can see how you would enjoy coming home here at the end of the day and waking up here in the morning. Take the compliment."

"Oh," is all I can manage to get out. I blink a few times and shake my head before admitting, "I don't know what to do with you being nice to me."

"Would you rather I be mean?" He asks with a laugh. "I'm not that kind of lover."

"Ew, don't say lover."

"Don't say ew."

"Ugh! You're so annoying."

"This turning you on Maggie?"

Yes.

His presence alone elevates my heart rate. Our verbal sparring takes it even higher. And it continues to beat at a furious pace as the rest of me freezes. Austin steps closer and brushes the fingers of his right hand along the hem of my tank. When he makes contact with my skin, goosebumps explode across my abdomen. When he drags his fingers up my stomach, lifting my shirt with it, my knees almost buckle.

"So, we're just going t–"

Austin answers my unfinished question by pressing his lips to mine. The hand that was under my shirt splays wide and his fingers slide under my breast leaving a trail of sparks in its wake. His other hand cradles the back of my head and his fingers tangle in my hair and icicles spill down my spine.

Instantly my body tries to wrap itself around him. My hands rake through the short strands at the back of his head as our mouths open to each other. One leg slides up around his hip and he cradles my thigh in his palm. I can feel him pressing up against my center and unlike at the office, we don't have to stop.

I drop my leg and push him back a step. The kiss breaks loudly and both of us freeze for a moment, chests heaving with inhales, my eyes stay focused on Austin to the point that everything else around me fades away. I can see how his muscles are tense but not with stress, with restraint, and I feel the same tension in my limbs.

We could still stop this, we haven’t gone past the point of no return. We could scrap this whole thing and go back to being work enemies. I’m trying to make the case for not going any further but my logic processing center is flooded with hormones signaling sex is exactly what I need. And that Austin is the man for the job.

With his eyes still on me, Austin pulls his glasses off and sets them on the table next to the coffees. My chemical fogged brain hears his message loud and clear. Game on! I whip my shirt off and when my head is free of the fabric, I see Austin doing the same. There's an unspoken race that's begun to get naked first. Soon shirts, shorts, pants, socks litter the floor.

I unhook the front clasp of my bralette and before the lace slides off my arms Austin has my breasts in his hands. His mouth descends as he pushes them together and my nails dig into his scalp.

"Austin," I breathe out and he responds with a nip to the tender skin of my chest. He soothes it with an open mouth kiss and my head falls back in pleasure.

"Fuck, Maggie, thank god you're so stressed."

I grip the short strands of his hair and pull his head back so he looks up at me. His hands fall to my waist and the way he holds me toes the line between harsh and supportive .

"Every word out of your mouth annoys me," I say as he laughs against my neck. I rake my fingers down his chest, abs that ripple under my touch, and when I cup him he hisses sharply. "But maybe I know how to shut you up."

"Do your worst Maggie Collins," he says as he walks us backwards to the bed. I push him down as I climb up and straddle him. There is no way I’m giving him the power here. As I reach to my bedside table for condoms I also see the SMS Connect phone and my brain asks me one more time if I’m sure.

Sleeping with Austin is just for the physical benefits, I tell myself. This is scratching an itch. Scheduling it will keep us from interacting inappropriately at work. I'll be able to focus and do my job better.

When I straighten on top of Austin again he's looking up at me, inquisitively. Is he reading my thoughts? But as I slide the condom down his length his eyes widen and all logistical thinking leaves my mind.

"You sure you're ready for me, MC?" He asks as his thumb presses into my clit and my toes curl.

"Are you sure you're ready for me?"

He laughs. "There's no way in hell I'm ready for you, Maggie."

I line him up at my entrance, with an inhale I sink down on top of him and watch as his head presses back into the mattress.

His hands come around to hold my ass and I tilt forward over him.

Together, without speaking, we move in tandem. Riding each other toward our peaks. I hear myself grunting with each thrust and it matches his sharp exhales. We're volleying back and forth together and I realize we've moved up my bed when I reach up and can grip the headboard. His hand splays wide across my pubic bone and his thumb circles my clit again and I feel zaps of electricity in my arms and legs. This sex is fast, exhilarating, no time to feel nervous. It’s exactly what I didn’t know I needed.

"Fuck Austin, yes," I growl out and he presses harder.

"Good girl Maggie, ride me, use me," he whispers, almost reverently, and I jerk my hips harder. My stomach bottoms out and as he toys with my mound I feel my insides flutter and my head free falls from tension to bliss.

"Yes, oh fuck, yes!" I breathe out and start to slow my pace as my pussy contracts around Austin's cock and I bring my hands down to his chest. With his heart pounding under my palm, I feel a smile creep across my face and I almost laugh as the tension leaves my body. Austin grabs my wrists and pushes up into me as my orgasm fades and then he moves my hands to one side and slides out from under me.

"Turn around," he commands and post-orgasm Maggie is willing to follow directions. "Hello old friend," he says to my ass as he kneads the flesh.

My mind is battling between the desire that’s ramping up again and how much I want him to stop talking. I need him to stop reminding me that he’s Austin Thorne, and potentially the thing standing between me and career success.

Right now he’s standing between me and another orgasm. "Shut up and finish already," I say, breathlessly.

"You sure about that? You've only had one but I can give you more." He tells me as he leans over and I feel his cock slide through my folds. Involuntarily my head falls as his head brushes against my clit. I inhale as he pulls back.

"I can give myself as many orgasms as I damn well please."

"Like this?" He asks as he swirls two fingers over my clit before sliding them inside me. They curl forward and rub along my g-spot .

"Oh fuck," I exhale and fall forward to my elbows. The tension is back but this is a stress I could get used to.

"Is that a request, Maggie?"

"Yes, please, fuck me." I hear myself whine and I can't even spare myself the time to lament needing him as much as I do at the moment because he thrusts forward and fills me. He sets a relentless pace and with each push my tits brush against the comforter and I'm quickly back at the threshold of another orgasm.

"Shit Austin, I'm gonna come again."

"That's a good thing MC," he grunts out and with a light smack to my butt, my insides are convulsing again. "That's it," he coaches and then he holds my hips hard and jerks inside me. "Fuck Maggie." he growls.

I fall forward to the bed, unable to hold myself up and his hand caresses my back. I’m on fire but his touch chills me. The chills continue as he pulls out and guides my hips down to the mattress. My eyes follow his bare ass as he walks to the bathroom. I have to bite the tip of my thumb to hide my smile.

I owe Sam flowers or a lifetime supply of coffee for this idea.

I don't know how I'm going to continue to work with him knowing we could be spending time together doing this. Like the kisses we shared, this feels like an out-of-body experience.

It felt like he was made for me. Like he knew exactly what I needed. How did he know to push me a little harder? A little further? How did he know that I needed to be in charge but have his efforts match mine?

Usually when I climb on top, guys lean back and let me ride them. Which feels good and I can definitely get there like that but when Austin was pushing up into me and meeting me thrust for thrust my orgasm hit me harder than ever before.

I slip my robe on and tie the belt. Austin steps out of the bathroom and I take in his naked glory. He is lean and strong, and the way every muscle moves his body towards me makes my brain fuzzy. He steps into his boxers, then pants, and then he picks up his shirt and slides it over his shoulders. I'm mesmerized and when his eyes find mine my stomach flips and he grins. Not a smirk, a full blown smile. The kind of smile I could become attached to.

If I didn’t hate him, and what he stands for, so much.

Austin picks up his socks and then sits in my chair to put them on. I realize I'm staring so I step into the kitchen and pull the pastries out of the bag. I put them on a plate, wondering if we're supposed to eat breakfast together now, and when I step back into the room, Austin stands and claps loudly which startles me.

"Well, friend ," he accentuates the word as he grabs his glasses and sexily slides them back on his face; how is that even a thing? But now all I want him to do is take them off again. "I guess I'll be going."

"Guess so," I say quickly and slide the plate back onto the counter behind me. Just sex Maggie. Just sex. "I believe we have a meeting later today." I say as I fiddle with my hands, not sure what to do with them.

"I believe you're correct," he says with a laugh as he picks up one of the coffee cups. "These got cold, next time I'll use insulated cups."

He tips the drink in my direction as he reaches the door. I glance at the clock and see that it's almost 7:00 am.

"Can I give a 12 hour notice in person?" I blurt out.

"Are you giving me a 12 hour notice in person?" He asks instead of answering my question .

"Ugh! Why are you like this? Just, fine, yes, can we hook up again, tonight?"

"Yes, we can Maggie, but I'd like to hear you ask nicely," and I want to smack the smirk off his face. Instead I give him two middle fingers as I brush past him into my bathroom for a shower. I hear him chuckle as my door opens and closes behind him.

I have a feeling it's going to be a long day.