“He’s pissed. Who can blame him?”
“Yeah, but if he’ll be reimbursed and there’s a potential problem, he should be glad it’s going to be taken care of.”
I nod.
Right.
This is so fucked up.
Chapter Four
Callie
I don’t get it. I never thought Brendan Murphy was a hothead. Who wouldn’t want a potential gas threat fixed?
Unbelievable.
“Let’s get out of here,” Donny says.
“And go where?”
“Lunch.”
I check my watch. It is nearly noon.
“Okay. Where do you want to go?”
“The winery. Dale has a tasting today. They serve lunch.”
“You want to go all the way to—”
“Fuck.” He rubs his forehead. “No. Of course not. I just want to get the hell out of here!” He claws at his tie, loosening it. “I feel like I’m back in a damned cage!”
My heart drops into my stomach. His words shock me. Not so much the words as one word. Back. Back in a damned cage. I swallow the lump in my throat, or try to, anyway. I suppress the shivers that want to take over my body.
Back. Back in a damned cage. Power propels his words—a haunting power that exudes from him like the scent of alcohol exudes from pores after drinking too much.
I feel numb. I even wiggle my fingers to make sure I can. That’s how frozen I feel.
Donny Steel knows what it’s like to be in a cage.
What happened? Why were he and Dale adopted by the Steels?
So much I don’t know.
So much that no one knows.
“Let’s go.” He grabs his suit jacket and jams his arms into it.
“To the winery?”
“No, of course not. To… I don’t fucking know. Anywhere. Let’s just get the hell out of here.”
I bite my lip. “Okay. We can go over to Lorenzo’s. Or Rita’s. Or Ava’s.”
“I’m not hungry.”
Good enough. Neither am I. I’m not sure I’ll ever be hungry again. My life is a mess, and apparently so is Donny’s. He’s got his issues, some of which I’m privy to. A lot of which I’m not. I don’t want to pry, but I love this man.
Back in a fucking cage.
My God. My poor Donny.
All of a sudden, Pat Lamone and my own past seem inconsequential to me. What has Donny been through? How did he end up at Steel Acres Ranch?
I won’t pry. I can’t. I don’t even know where to begin with something this big.
I clear my throat. “All right. Where do you want to go?”
“Honestly, Callie? I want to go somewhere and fuck the daylights out of you, but where the hell is that? I don’t want to go back to the Snow Creek Inn. I don’t want to go home. I don’t want to—”
His words ignite a flame inside me. Perhaps this is what we both need at this moment.
“Here,” I say. “Fuck me here.”
My command doesn’t surprise me in the slightest. I want to escape from the thoughts plaguing my mind as much as he does. Here is good. Anywhere is good, but here is now.
“In the office? With Alyssa and Troy right outside?”
“They’ll go to lunch in a few minutes.” I walk to the door and open it. “Troy’s already gone.”
“And Alyssa?”
“She’s gathering her purse.” I walk a few steps out the door. “Hey, Alyssa. Heading to lunch?”
“Yeah. Can I get you anything?”
“No thanks.”
“Okay. See you in an hour.”
I walk back into Donny’s office and close the door. “All clear.”
“Fuck,” he growls and rips off his jacket once more. “Get undressed.”
I freeze. He wasn’t kidding around. He wants to fuck, and he wants to fuck now. No undressing me. No foreplay.
It’s going to be like that first time in the library.
And you know what? I’m okay with that.
I shed my clothing, attempting to go at a reasonable pace but ending up racing Donny to the finish. His clothes strewn about, he stalks out from behind his desk, his erection raging, his hair a mess, and his eyes on fire.
An electric current skitters across my flesh. My nipples are hard and aching, my pussy erupting in flames.
Donny grabs me, turns me away from him, and bends me over his desk. “God, Callie, I can smell you. You’re wet. Already so wet.” He swipes his fingers through my folds and groans low in his chest. “Damn.”
Then his cock is inside me, and he’s thrusting, thrusting, thrusting. I revel in the completion, the end of the empty ache. I want it to go on and on forever.
“Fuck, Callie,” he grits out. “Want to last. Want to make it good for you. Want to— Fuck!”
He releases inside me, and I’m so on edge, so sensitive, that I feel every single contraction of his cock inside me.
So it didn’t go on and on forever. This is good too. Really good.
He stays still for a moment, embedded in my body. I melt against his desk, releasing the tension in my body and laying my chest on the mahogany wood. A few pens and a pad of Post-it notes dig into me, but I don’t care.