Breaking the Silence (22 page)

Will’s thoughts drew panic back to the surface and his heart sped up. He reached for his cell phone. He had only called her twice so far, so surely she wouldn’t mind if he checked in with her one more—

“Wait!” Josh’s voice had gone up a few octaves. “We’re not finished here!”

“I am,” Will replied, pausing to look at his boss. “You’ve wasted enough of my time.” He glanced around the conference table. “Of everyone’s time.” Will took another step toward the door before turning around again. “And quit fucking up Charlie’s code.”

Will left the room, surprised to feel no regret. He’d worked for different branches of the same company since he’d left college but if he was fired for walking out, Will wouldn’t care. It would be worth it to get back home to Jenny. Plus, it had been a great feeling to finally tell Josh what he thought.

Pulling out his cell and pressing the phone to his ear, he held his breath as it rang, only relaxing when he heard her voice.

“Hi, Will.” Jenny sounded tired, although her tone was warm.

“Hi.” His cock stirred at the sound of her voice and he smiled a little, the muscles that had tightened around his lungs relaxing in relief. “You okay?” he asked. Will punched the down button on the office elevator.

“Yeah,” Jenny yawned. “I’ll be packing it in here pretty soon.”

Will glanced at his watch again. “Wait a half-hour or so and then I’ll be home first.”

“Okay,” she agreed.

“No argument?” he asked, a little surprised.

“Nope,” she told him. “The thought of someone at home waiting for me is nice, especially when that someone is of the human variety, no offense to Rosie.”

“Well good,” he said. “I’ll be there.”

“Are you going to start dinner too?”

“Sure.”

“And meet me at the door in a frilly apron with a martini?” He could hear the smile in her voice.

“If you want—except for the apron.” Will stepped into the elevator.

“Or the martini,” Jenny said. “I’m not really a gin girl.”

“So just me at the door,” Will said quietly, ignoring the sidelong glances of the other people in the elevator.

“Mmmm…sounds nice,” Jenny purred, making Will’s cock harden. He should have known better than to call her before he got to the privacy of his car. Every call ended with an aching bulge ruining the elegant line of his new Christian-selected pants.

“I’ll see you then. Be careful driving home,” he told her, trying to keep the lustful growl from his voice. Judging from Jenny’s husky laugh, he didn’t succeed very well. Closing the phone, he glanced at the man next to him who quickly averted his eyes, pretending he hadn’t been listening. The elevator doors slid open and Will stepped out, heading for the lobby doors.

“Will!” A female voice hailed him and he reluctantly stopped, itchy to leave, to get home. Natasha was striding toward him. Although irritated, Will had to be impressed that she could walk at all in her high, high heels. It had to almost be like walking on stilts. Natasha was all blunt angles and hard points, cut sharply in her crisp suit. Will felt the familiar discomfort he always felt when she was around. The only positive part of the meeting he had just left had been Natasha’s absence.

“Will,” she said, stopping close to him—too close. Will backed up a half step. Natasha casually closed the gap.

He looked over her shoulder and smiled a little, an honest smile of relief. Jessi was behind her, grimacing at him and rolling her eyes at Natasha’s back. He didn’t know Jessi very well but what he did know, he liked. She was small and curvy, like Jenny, but with black hair, tawny skin and enormous, innocent brown eyes that were contradicted by her wicked grin. She was one of the few people he worked with who didn’t seem intimidated by him, and would throw a casual “Hey, Will” his way when they occasionally passed each other. Now she was struggling to keep a straight face and not succeeding very well.

“I haven’t seen you around lately,” Natasha said, pulling his attention back to her. Will shrugged a little and shook his head, unsure what he was supposed to say to that.

Natasha looked nonplussed for a moment and then plunged on. “I’ve been meaning to talk with you—do you have a moment?”

“No,” Will said abruptly, glancing at his watch again. “I have to go.”

“It will just be a second,” she coaxed, curling her red-tipped fingers around Will’s wrist.

He jerked it away instinctively and she frowned. Behind her back, Jessi was mouthing “Run!” and gesturing toward the door. Natasha caught the motion from the corner of her eye and whipped her head around to glare at Jessi, who clasped her hands in front of her and smiled cherubically.

Natasha turned back to Will, her fierce look slipping away. “Surely whatever it is that you’re rushing off to can wait a few minutes.”

“No. She can’t.” Will turned and walked away. He heard a choke of laughter—Jessi, he was sure—and an angry hiss of inhaled breath—Natasha, most likely. He dismissed them both from his mind and headed for the lobby doors. If he didn’t hit much traffic, he could be home in half an hour.

Will’s mouth curled up at the thought of meeting Jenny at the door and, lost in his imaginings, he missed the startled glance of the building security guard, who had never seen Mr. Jackson actually
smiling
before.

When Will was five minutes from home, his cell rang. He grabbed for it, immediately worried about Jenny.

“Will, hi.”

Will relaxed a little at Charlie’s voice, relieved that there was no Jenny-related emergency. “Charlie.”

“Hey, I just wanted to tell you how awesome that was! That you told Josh off and walked out, I mean. Those constant meetings are a killer. I’m too big of a chickenshit to have done it, but I’m glad
somebody
stood up to him.”

With a huff of a laugh, Will said awkwardly, “Thanks. Or no problem, I guess. I had to get home.”

“Everything okay?” Charlie asked.

The concern in the other man’s voice surprised Will. “Yeah. My, uh, girlfriend went back to work for the first time after…an accident and I wanted to be home when she got there.” The fact that he had explained even that much startled Will even more.

“Sure, I get that,” Charlie told him. “Hey, why don’t you and your girlfriend come to Dave’s with the rest of us on Thursday night?”

“Really?” Will blinked. This entire conversation was a little surreal.

“Yeah.” It was Charlie’s turn to sound uncomfortable. “I’ve…we’ve…been meaning to ask you before but you’re…ah…”

“I’m what?”

“A little intimidating,” Charlie admitted. “I mean, you’re a genius with computers and the way you look—it’s like working with fucking Zeus, for Christ’s sake.”

Will choked. “Zeus?”

“Whatever, man, you know what I mean.” Charlie laughed. “So are you guys coming?”

A month ago, the invitation would have filled him with terror. Now he was pretty sure he could handle a night out with the guys, especially with Jenny next to him. It might actually be fun. “Okay. I mean, I’ll check with her.”

“Sweet. Just let me know. Later.” Charlie hung up.

“Later,” Will echoed. Tucking the phone into a cup holder, he started to laugh.

Fucking Zeus?

Jenny walked up the steps to Will’s door, her exhaustion falling away at the thought of seeing him. Although the few hours of alone time on Saturday had been blissful, she had become used to spending days—and nights—with him. Work had been tough. Her coworkers, with the exceptions of Christian and Carrie, had treated her with a mixture of curious babble and awkward pauses.

Walking past Evan’s empty cubicle had been eerie. He was still split into two people in her mind—the coworker and the rapist—and her feelings were completely muddled when she thought about him being dead. The work had piled up during her absence, overwhelming Jenny, and she had been ready to go home and back to bed by ten that morning.

The door swung open before Jenny could even touch the knob and she swallowed at the sight of him. He was wearing some of his new clothes and the elegant fabrics emphasized his size and power, like wrapping a sledgehammer in silk.

They hadn’t made love since before the attack. Jenny had avoided even thinking about it as much as possible and Will had been quietly patient, although she knew that he was hard most of the time. Looking at him now, the tentative curl of his lips and his gentle eyes, Jenny felt a hot surge of longing flush through her, hardening her nipples. She pressed the tops of her thighs together, increasing the tingling heat of her swelling pussy lips, already damp with her need.

She exulted in the heat stinging her skin—she had her body back! Jenny had felt as if Evan had stolen her arousal, her sense of sexual fun, her joy in the hard masculinity of Will’s body, and replaced them with fear and anger and hatred and self-doubt. She was triumphant—everything that was
her
was still there, it had just been hiding away in dark corners.

She moved toward Will, stalking him, and his smile fell away uncertainly. He shut the door behind her and, as she unbuttoned his shirt—showing great restraint, Jenny felt, by not ripping it from his body—Will’s eyes heated until they glowed with blue-white light. Jenny let his shirt fall open and stared at his chest hungrily.

Grabbing his hand, she hurried him up the stairs, almost running into the bedroom. Jenny tumbled onto the bed and Will followed, trapping her body beneath his. She froze, the panic returning as quickly as it had disappeared, and Will must have felt her stiffen. Rolling off her, he lay on his back and stared blindly at the ceiling, all the muscles in his face taut as he struggled for control. Jenny watched his chest lower with a deep exhaled breath and he turned his face toward her.

“Okay?” he asked, which drove the tears toward Jenny’s eyes in a burning rush, gratitude and frustration and affection all tangling together in her chest.

“Yes. No. I don’t know,” she answered and tried to laugh but it came out closer to a sob. It was her turn to stare at the ceiling, refusing to cry. Will rolled off the bed onto his feet, yanking Jenny’s gaze to him. Despite her fear, she didn’t want him to go.

He wasn’t leaving though—he was undressing, stripping out of his clothes efficiently, and Jenny swallowed hard, anxious but aroused.

When he was completely and beautifully naked, he walked to his closet and Jenny was reminded of how much she loved his ass, so smooth and hard and round. Will emerged with a handful of ties and Jenny watched him, her face confused. Tossing the ties by her hip, Will stretched out next to her on his back, turning his cheek against the comforter so he could see her. His eyes were serious.

“Tie me up,” he rumbled, stretching his arms above his head and crossing his wrists.

Jenny sat up and stared at him. “It’s a strange time to go all kinky on me, Will.”

The color rose in his cheeks but he held her gaze. “This way, you do whatever you want to me,” he explained, “and I can’t touch you.”

As she considered the idea, Jenny’s excitement began to return. Tied, there was no way Will could overpower her, use his strength to force anything—not that he would, but the panic in Jenny eased at the idea of a restrained Will. She still hesitated though.

“Are you sure?” Jenny asked carefully. “Won’t it be hard for you to be…held down?”

His lips tightened but Will shook his head. “Not with you,” he said, watching her fiercely. “Never with you.”

Jenny slid off the bed slowly, her eyes on Will’s set face. “You’ll tell me though, if you start freaking out or feeling claustrophobic or anything, right?”

Will nodded.

“Promise?” Jenny asked, unbuttoning her blouse and letting it slip down her arms.

“Promise.” His voice was raspy as he watched her pants drop to her ankles. She sat on the bed to pull off her dress boots and socks, her efforts jiggling her breasts in the cups of her peach bra. Will’s breathing roughened and his fists clenched, although he kept them crossed above his head.

Jenny stood up, clad in just two wisps of fabric. She reached behind her back with both hands to unhook her bra but paused before it was undone and lowered her hands to her sides. Will held his breath, hoping that she hadn’t changed her mind, that they weren’t going to spend another chaste night together, holding each other in an innocent embrace. Although he cursed himself for being such a coarse animal, he wanted to rush Jenny out of her fear, push her objections aside and bury himself into her so deeply that she couldn’t ever get him out. Ever since the first time Will had felt the hot, wet squeeze of Jenny’s pussy around his cock, he had felt naked outside of her. Naked and lonely.

An excited thrum of hope tightened Will’s muscles as Jenny reached for a tie. She wasn’t finished, he realized, his entire body vibrating. She wasn’t walking away, fearful and disgusted at the thought of making love to him. In fact, her eyes had dilated with arousal and the hard points of her nipples shoved against the thin fabric of her bra.

Jenny looped the tie around his wrists and knotted it carefully. Will tested the tightness of the fastening instinctively and Jenny’s breath came quickly at the sight of his sinewy wrists straining against the fabric. Grabbing another tie, she attached his wrists to one of the slats in the headboard.