Boss: Romantic Thriller Read online

  With care and caution she gently sat up and moved aside the sheet. Her vagina tingled after she caught a glimpse of his flaccid cock lying against his hairy thigh.

  Stop it Kassidy, for goodness sake.

  She reached in the dark and gently touched his cock. He didn’t move or stir.

  Get up and do the damn job you came here for. Stop it.

  She drew her hand away. The darkness in her didn’t drag her further down, she pushed it aside and focused on the room. It was nicely furnished and bigger than any room in her townhome. But there was nothing personal. Not a picture or portrait.

  Kassidy held her breath and tried very hard to be quiet. She got out of bed by lifting her ass from the mattress with a push of her fingertips. She was careful. Tarek didn’t move. Not a sound was made. She held her breath to stay silent. And she stood at the side of the bed for a moment to make sure his unnatural calm state wasn’t a trick. When nothing happened she felt encouraged. Kassidy looked for something to cover herself and the first thing she saw was his dark grey silk shirt. She picked it up from the floor and slid it on. She didn’t bother to button it. The shirt reached down to her thighs. She held it closed and went to the door. She needed to see the rest of the house. When she tried to turn the knob slow she was shocked to find it locked. Kassidy looked at the doorknob and saw it was a key lock from the inside. Who felt the need for a double bolt locking system of their bedroom door? Was he trying to keep her in or someone out?

  She glanced to the bed. Tarek continued to sleep. He didn’t move. She glanced around the room and there were no dressers, or cabinets. Just chairs, an armoire, a chaise bench at the foot of the bed and closet doors. She searched the best she could and found nothing. There was nothing. Kassidy sighed and removed his shirt. She eased into bed with him and covered them both with the blanket. She turned over to her side and decided to sleep. Her hand went to his cock. He didn’t stir. She closed her eyes and held it as she drifted. She’d gotten inside his home. That was a start.

  The moment she closed her eyes Tarek opened his. His head turned and he looked at the sleeping beauty next to him. She held his dick and slept so close he felt her soft breathing on his shoulder. He stared up at the ceiling. He’d not sleep for the rest of the night.

  3.

  It was morning. Kassidy stretched with the burn of sunlight on her face. She squinted. The drapes were pulled apart and the room was filled with brightness of the new day. She sat up and clutched the blanket to her chest.

  “Tarek?”

  She was alone. Placed upon the foot of the bed were her clothes folded neatly. Not what she wore the night prior. He'd gone through her things. He selected a pair of pants, a shirt, and matching bra and panty. He'd even hung her coat on a silver hanger off a hook on his armoire.

  “Tarek?” she called out.

  There was no response. She looked to his side of the bed and saw a note on the pillow. She picked it up.

  Contact: Connie Sanford

  214-555-5555

  Kassidy grimaced. She scrambled off the bed, and hurried to get dressed. She put on her coat and shoes, grabbed her carryon bag and purse. She walked out of his room without searching any part of the house. She was too confused by his disappearance and the strange order he left her things. When she came down the stairs she saw a driver in a chauffeurs cap. He waited with his white gloved hands clasped before him.

  “Ms. Brown. Mr. Marshall asked that I escort you off the property,” he said.

  “Where is he?” she demanded.

  “Mr. Marshall left two hours ago. He had to catch a flight to the West coast. Shall we?”

  Kassidy glanced around. She looked to the driver and then the door. She had no choice but to leave. The driver took her carryon bag. She'd won the battle and gotten very close to Tarek. But he was as much of a mystery to her today as he was when she was a little girl. The war to destroy Tarek Marshall had only begun.

  Chapter 4

  Two Weeks Later –

  The sugary morsels crunched in her mouth and milk dripped from the spoon like little pearls to her chin. She used one hand to shovel more cereal by the spoonful into her mouth and the second hand to log in to her account. The video conferencing feed dialed and connected. Daniel’s Skype window flashed open and revealed him sipping a cup of tea or coffee for breakfast.

  “Morning!” she said and grinned.

  “Morning,” he smiled.

  “Long night?” she asked.

  “Yeah, you could say that.” He then tilted his head left and gave her a curious look. “You been working out this morning?”

  Kassidy looked down at her Nike sports bra. It squeezed in her large bosom and revealed her flat abdomen, but nothing less. All he could see was half of her. That was a good thing. She wore a matching pair of blue boy shorts that covered just half of her ass cheeks and could be mistaken for panties.

  “Yeah, I worked out this morning, now I’m eating my favorite, Captain Crunch.”

  Daniel chuckled. “That only makes sense to you Kassidy.”

  She winked.

  “Sugar can be good for ya!”

  Daniel grimaced with real disgust. His vegan lifestyle made him extra sensitive to anything artificial. She’d had enough lectures from him in the past on her diet. But her body burned fast food like fossil fuel. She was addicted.

  “So? Heard anything?” he asked.

  “I’ve had two phone interviews and one web-ex. They said they would call. They haven’t called.”

  Daniel nodded. “My sources say that he’s had you investigated. We got several hits.”

  Kassidy heartbeat fluttered. Since her night with Tarek Marshall she hasn’t had a good night sleep. And she hadn’t heard a word from him. She called his office and left a message that included her number. Nothing. It bruised her pride that he had tossed her aside. But she wasn’t surprised. After all she knew what he had done to Clarissa. The lust she carried for him was shameful and should always be kept in perspective.

  “Anything I should be worried about?” Kassidy asked and set her cereal bowl down.

  Daniel shook his head no. “Standard stuff. Just stick to your story. It could be a company background check. I just thought you should know.”

  “If I get the job it may take me some time to dig up what we need. Tarek, he isn’t exactly knocking at my door with the keys to the basement. That office of his is locked tight with security and protocols. I want you and your team to give me room on this one.”

  “How would you know?”

  “In my interviews they talked about the level of security clearance I would need and have. It’s something serious at MGS.”

  “That may be but you already accessed his home. I’m sure you’ll get inside the doors locked to us.”

  “Very funny.”

  “What happened between you two in Chicago?”

  “Nothing. I already told you that.”

  “Fine. Here are the rules. If you get the job, I will help you will gain access to what we need—through us. Stay away from him. Agreed? You’ve gotten as close you need too.”

  Kassidy picked up her bowl and ate her cereal. She didn’t bother to lie and say she would stay away from Tarek. Destroying the Marshall family was one thing. Making Tarek pay, and revealing to him who she really was would be the end game.

  “I have some other news. The Campos Basin project has been put on hold. We accessed their servers. An email from Dale Marshall to the senior executives said that the board is convening on it. Looks like brother Dale isn’t on board with Tarek’s plan to drill in South America.”

  “Dale? That’s right. I forgot.”

  “Forgot what Kassidy?”

  “Tarek asked me if I worked for his brother. You think they are fighting for control since his father is sick?”

  “Could be—”

  There was a knock to her door. Kassidy looked up.

  “Something wrong Kassidy?”

  “No, probably the mai
lman, I’ll call you later this afternoon.”

  “Okay,” Daniel said and signed off. Kassidy set the bowl of cereal down. She punched the keys on her laptop to reveal her security camera video feed. Standing on her step was Tarek Marshall. He looked directly at the camera.

  “Shit! Shit!” Flustered and charged with excitement she slammed the laptop lid down and went straight to the door. She opened it. Tarek looked at her. His gaze swept down and Kassidy remembered her half state of dress.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “May I come in?”

  She nodded and stepped back. He walked into her townhome. It was listed under Angela Brown and leased to her by one of Daniels cloaked companies. She wore a silk scarf with an Africana pattern and she tied it to the front of her head in a roped center bun. She pulled it off. Her short hair was wavy and flat to her head. Her curves exposed. But after the intimacy they shared she could be naked and feel even less shyness.

  He glanced to her cereal bowl and laptop. And then he walked around her place. His visual perusal of her personal things felt intrusive.

  “How did you find me?”

  “You applied for a job with my company,” he said and picked up a Vegas snow globe that if shook rained glitter.

  “You said... you offered...”

  “Angela Brown.” He stopped and faced her. “Born in Minneapolis on January 13, 1988, which makes you twenty-eight,” He pointed a finger at her. “I still think you’re younger.” He set the snow globe down. “You attended Roosevelt high school and graduated the top of your class. Got into Brown University, and again graduated with honors. You filed a restraining order a year ago against a boyfriend who turned stalker a year ago. He broke it and went to jail. You worked at...”

  “Did you come here to tell me everything on my resume?”

  “I came to tell you that you’re hired. You work for me now.”

  Kassidy blinked in surprise. Tarek approached. His gaze was fixed on the delta between her thighs and the camel toe line she couldn’t conceal with her tight fitted boy shorts.

  “I’m hired?” she asked.

  His gaze swiveled up. “Don’t look so stricken Angela. This is what you wanted.” Something in his voice sent a prickle of unease through her.

  “I didn’t expect to receive the news this way. I mean, what is my compensation, benefit plan. Hell, when is my first day?”

  He moistened his lips. Again he glanced at her cereal bowl and laptop. “Did I catch you at a bad time?”

  “Ah, no, I was just... on the internet, and breakfast.”

  He smiled. “I’d like some.”

  “Breakfast?” she asked.

  He touched her hand. He gave a gentle tug and she stepped forward. He raised her arm above her head and made her turn for him. She did so but something about the way he made her display herself felt insulting. Out of reflex she pulled her arm down and yanked her hand away.

  “Is cereal all that’s on the menu?”

  “So that’s why you hired me? Sex?”

  He smiled.

  “I’m not accepting a job to be your plaything.”

  “Right, but you agreed to be my plaything to get the job,” he snapped back. “It was the best part of the interview.”

  “Get the hell out!”

  Tarek didn’t move. She crossed her arms with the same defiance and stood her ground.

  “You made a mistake coming here. I don’t want your job or your dick. Get out before I throw you out!” She demanded. No matter what she did or didn’t do Tarek Marshall could never be allowed to think he was in charge. Not this way.

  “Now,” she turned for the door and he grabbed her arm. He swung her to him and kissed her. The sudden violence shocked her at first. And then she snapped out of it. She fought for release and in the struggle they both went down hard to the ground. He landed on her. She winced. He tried to pin her there and drag down her boy-shorts. Was he going to force her? Was he crazy enough to think he could? No fucking way! No! She bucked beneath him and with a free hand hit him hard to the side of his throat and then his fact. It was the punch against his temple that stunned him. He was weakened and she kneed near his groin to gain her escape. Kassidy couldn’t make it to the bedroom where she kept her gun. Lucky for him. So she went for the kitchen. He was after her. He was crazy. He was actually coming after her. She grabbed the carving knife on the counter and swung left in a half circle. The tip of the blade landed dead center to his chest with the precision of a martial artist. He was stopped in his tracks.

  Kassidy panted in surprise. If he had been a few inches closer she would have stabbed him. In a flash he provoked violence from her. It almost felt if that was his intention. The moment when she could prove to him or anyone that if need be she could and would defend herself. And her reaction was just as dangerous. Instead of fear the rush of excitement had her smiling and narrow her eyes on him. They stared at each other, neither blinking or moving.

  “I said get out Mr. Marshall. I think we have a misunderstanding. I don’t do anything by force. I offered you my services for your company. You can call 1-800-Fuck-A-Asshole to get your whore for your bed.”

  His gaze left hers and landed on the knife between them.

  “Do you understand what I’m saying? Touch me again when I don’t want you too and I will kill you.”

  He grabbed her wrist, yanked her forward, and forced her to put the knife to his throat. Stunned she tried to pull the blade away. But Tarek was stronger. He kept the knife pressed to the bulging vein. His jaw went rigid with tension and his eyes darker than midnight. He dared her to go further. She pressed the knife to his throat to test his dare. All of her suffering and emotional pain from the past surfaced. She remembered standing at the gravesite for her family saying a goodbye shoe couldn’t quite understand. She remembered visiting Clarissa’s grave months later and being told of her death as well. She remembered it all, and who was responsible. The Marshalls.

  Tarek tightened his grip on her wrist. In doing so the sharp edge of the blade cut a diagonal line near his jugular. Blood surfaced as the skin thinly split.

  “Tarek? Stop it. Damnit. Don’t make me hurt you.”

  He yanked down her boy-shorts. Pulled them out of her snatch and the cheeks of her ass. He forced her to the counter. His dark eyes remained locked on hers and blood trickled to his collar. She felt her thighs part. She pressed the knife to his throat harder and renewed her warning. She knew she hurt him, she knew she continued to cut him and the adrenaline fueling the pumping of blood into her heart became more potent.

  Tarek didn’t flinch. He undid his belt and his zipper. His face leaned in and she leaned back. In doing so her pelvis pushed up against his and he drove his dick inside of her. Kassidy gasped and her lips trembled. One of her favorite parts of sex was the first entry. Either from the front or the back she liked it. When a woman was and her lover eased inside of her in a single thrust. That breech of body and soul stretching her, causing the walls of her pussy to throb, tighten and release with voluntary harmony. For a brief second his heart and his would be in sync would beat in unison before either moved. It was an intoxicating fit. And for Kassidy as dangerously addictive as a needle into a junkie’s arm for the first hit. The knife fell away from her fingers and his throat. She heard it clank to the floor. She hitched her leg up and around his waist. He dropped his forehead to hers and fucked her. Thrust. Bang. Slam. An in and out of her that set to a stop and repeat cycle, which caused her body to jerk and move in response. She grabbed his shoulder with one hand and the front of his shirt with the other for balance.

  He kept plowing into her.

  The rapid succession made her tits bounce which was hard to do in her sports bra.

  He drilled in and out of her.

  Half of her ass was on the granite counter, the other half off, causing a scrape of the edge, a friction that both stung and burned with satisfaction. Her feet were raised from the ground. It was nothing compared to
the deliverance from his hammering of his cock. She held the front of his shirt. She licked his mouth and licked his tongue before she forced her own down his throat. She bounced on his cock from her raised position. He kept going and grunting. She parted her legs as much as she could to make him go further. Before she knew to name her emotion she climaxed and he instinctively knew he had permission to release. And he did so inside of her.

  Kassidy froze in shock over her actions. The stakes were raised higher. No risk, no reward. She made a deadly mistake and her heart surged with excitement. Tarek remained still as a statue. Was he in equal shock over their wicked actions. Or as confused as she was by reasons why they felt the need to go so far with each other. He kept her pinned that way for what went on for eternity. And yes that delicious throb she savored of his dick pulsing inside of her lasted a moment longer, before his flaccid cock slipped out of her. This was different. She’d done something bad. She’d showed him how easy it was for her to lose control.

  Kassidy shuddered with remorse for her weakness.

  Tarek stepped back as if unplugged from an electric socket. He looked a bit drained as well. She lowered her legs and covered her sex with her hand. She looked to the blood on his neck.

  He noticed the way she stared. Was he cut deeply, she wanted to see. Tarek touched the wound on his neck as if just becoming conscious of the pain. He drew away three fingers covered in blood and then snatched a paper towel off a roll.

  “Get dressed,” he barked and didn’t look at her. “Pack for a week. Clothes for the winter. We’re headed to Deadhorse.”

  “Alaska?” she asked.

  He stopped and looked back at her with surprise that she knew the place. And she shouldn’t have. It’s not a place many would know. It sounded like a town out of a bad Western. But she knew everything about the Marshalls. And that wasn’t Daniel. That was years of watching and waiting to get close to him. To hurt him, like he hurt so many others.