Savage Beast (Savage People 2)

She gave me an almost imperceptible shake of her head, her mouth set in a hard line.

“Pity, I guess you’ll just wear what you have on tonight. You are, however, going to walk out of here with a coat, and I don’t even fucking care that it’s ninety degrees outside. Next time you show up at work, you’ll be fully clothed and won’t resemble a dayshift hooker in any way. Understood?”

Shock registered on her face before she hardened her features. She crossed her arms, cocked a hip, and raised an eyebrow. God, she was sexy when she was all worked up.

“And just who are you to tell me what to do?”

I smiled what I knew was a devious smile.

“Your new boss.”

When Cole told me I’d been reduced to filing duty, my initial reaction was to be pissed. How dare he make that decision for me? I’d already gotten rid of one controlling asshole when I left Stefano. I wasn’t looking to add another one, especially one that I wasn’t even dating.

Never mind the fact that the new position was actually way more appealing. I wouldn’t have to deal with loud music and drunk people, and I wouldn’t have to wear those heels all night every night. The only part I had been hesitant about was working in such close quarters with him. I didn’t know why Cole was so hell-bent on pursuing me, but working with him was going to make it that much harder to resist him.

Since when did he work at Hot N’ Bothered, anyway? Was he just there to fuck with me? I didn’t know what to think about any of it. Cole, surprisingly, wasn’t too hard to deal with. At least not on the first night. We both sat on the floor in a pile of files, sorting everything alphabetically. We talked and laughed, and of course, bickered; it almos

t felt…normal. He grazed my legs a few too many times for it to be an accident and looked at me like he was a starving man and I was his next meal, but made no real advances toward me. I didn’t know whether I was relieved or disappointed.

The second night, he came up behind me when I was making copies for some of the new hires. He did that thing where he nuzzled his nose along my neck again, and he almost had me begging for his cock right then and there.

“Jesus Christ, Jade. You don’t even know what you do to me,” he whispered raggedly into my ear. I felt his hardness pressing into my backside, and I don’t know what came over me, but I chose that moment to bend over and grab the copies, causing my ass to grind into his need for me. The hitching of his breath egged me on and I wiggled a little, pressing into him harder. Apparently, that was his breaking point because the next second, his heavy hand wrapped around the back of my neck and pinned me to the copy machine. Equal parts surprised and turned on, a whimper slipped out of my mouth. Cole flexed his hips against me punishingly, and I wanted more. So much more. His anger turned me on. I wanted to piss him off and push his buttons, just to watch him explode.

“Is that all you got?” I challenged, trying to keep the desperation I was feeling out of my voice.

Cole’s hands moved to the outside of my thighs and slid upward, underneath my pencil skirt, causing it to ride up to my hips. I swallowed hard, not knowing what he was going to do next. What I didn’t expect, however, was the hard slap! to my ass cheek. I squealed and jumped, but his hand was around my neck once more, holding me in place. His other hand that rubbed the sting out of my ass soothingly was such a contrast to the harshness of his voice, when he gritted out, “Don’t let your mouth write checks your ass can’t cash, little girl.”

Without another word, he was gone. And I was left draped over the copy machine with my ass exposed, wondering what the fuck just happened.

I didn’t know what got into me, but I immediately regretted practically throwing myself at him. It had been so long since I’d hooked up with anyone, and hooking up with another mobster was out of the question. Out of the frying pan and into the fire. The next night, I was feeling extra embarrassed and conflicted knowing I had to face him again. My plan was to act like nothing happened and focus on work, but of course, Cole had other plans.

I entered the office feigning nonchalance.

“’Sup,” I said with an awkward nod in his direction. I rolled my eyes at myself, no doubt making myself look even cooler. Why did this beast of a man make me so fucking socially awkward? So, he was a real-life Thor. No big deal.

Cole chuckled a deep grumble of a laugh behind his desk and pushed two shot glasses in my direction. He was so gorgeous it was borderline infuriating. His face was almost pretty, but everything else about him, from the scar over his right eyebrow and his broad shoulders to the massive hands that inflicted so much pain in the ring, screamed violence. The juxtaposition just made him that much hotter to me. This man was deadly. In more ways than one. His hair was in that man bun that drove me insane, and those amber eyes had two permanent creases between them, making him look every bit of the bad boy that he was. I didn’t stand a chance. He cocked an eyebrow at my obvious gawking, I’m sure, and I snapped out of my daze.

“Drinking on the job, Mr. Savage? I don’t think that’s very professional.” I let my purse slide down my arm and drop to the floor where I stood in front of his desk.

“Because short skirts and Harry Potter T-shirts are so professional,” he retorted.

I wore a black, pleated leather skirt that sat high on my hips and flared out with bare legs and black combat boots. On top, I wore a white T-shirt that read, “I’ve got 99 problems, but a snitch ain’t one,” with the golden Harry Potter snitch on it tucked into my skirt.

“Whatever, Muggle.” I plopped down in one of the chairs in front of his desk.

“The fuck you just call me?” The confusion on his face made me burst out laughing, and just like that, the awkwardness from the night before was gone.

“Never mind. So, what’s the occasion?” I asked, nodding to the shot glasses.

“No occasion. I’m your boss and I say we drink. Problem?” His eyes dared me to argue. To bitch out. In response, I snatched one of the shot glasses up and tossed it back without breaking eye contact. Blech. Jameson. I was so not a whiskey girl. Before he could react, I downed the other shot, too. Cole smirked and poured two more. That time, he took both.

After a few more shots each, I was feeling giggly and flirty and free. I wasn’t worried about Stefano or school or any of it. Cole admitted to me that he wasn’t too familiar with Harry Potter, but knew enough about it to recognize the font and the snitch on my shirt. That led to me practically jumping over the desk and right onto his lap.

“How have you not seen Harry Potter?! We are fixing this shit right now.”

I parked my ass on top of his firm thighs and opened the Internet browser on his laptop. One of his hands slid between my thighs. Not probing or wandering, but possessively gripping the inside of my right thigh. I thanked God and Macy’s for the fact my skirt was short and accessible enough for him to do his magic on me and felt wetness pool in my panties. I tried to ignore the sensations swirling in my gut, and lower, and pulled up the complete set on Amazon. Surprisingly enough, he let me buy it. He rattled off his credit card number while he slowly, so slowly, ghosted his fingers up and down the inside of my thigh, inching closer to my pussy each time. Neither one of us said a word, but I parted my legs slightly, in a wordless invitation to continue.

“If I were to touch your pussy, would you be wet for me?” His voice sounded almost taunting, and his chin was propped on my shoulder. I wanted to make him lose control, just like I was. I sank into him, opening my legs even further.