“Colson,” I grab his wrist, glaring back at him, “you have to stop this.”
He shifts his jaw back and forth as he studies me, “Remember when I told you about the first night that I spent with you—when I came up to the lake? You should’ve been horrified, but instead, you were weeping for my dick. I make you feel like you’re the only woman in the world—because you are. So, no,” he sneers, “I’m not going to stop.”
“I was horrified,” I snarl back, “because you decided to tell me what you did after you tied me to your bed with your dick inside me—so I couldn’t leave.”
Here I am, fighting with him again, and I’m accomplishing nothing but digging myself deeper.
“Then say it, baby,” he taunts, “say you don’t still want me. Tell me you don’t need my cum running out of you to make you feel alive.” He pulls me so close, his lips brush against mine, “I need you by my side, and you need me inside you.”
Suddenly, a staticky, electronic voice cuts through the silence, giving me a start.
“Colson, it’s Nate, come in.”
I freeze when I hear Nate’s voice crackling over the radio on Colson’s chest.
Colson gives a coy smile and reaches for his radio with one hand, “Yeah?” he replies, still holding me over the desk by my neck.
Jesus Christ, it had to be Nate. I cringe at how ridiculous all of this looks. I hope no one knocks on the door. Or maybe I do, I can’t decide.
“Ray called,” Nate crackles, “he said he found that part from the manufacturer. He can come back if the other one’s no good.”
Colson loosens his grip and leans back. At least now I can sit up straight. Then he puckers his lips into a silent shhh and slides his hand to the side of my neck. One hand remains fixed on his radio while he absently strokes the side of my clenched jaw with the other. His eyes wander as he carries on his conversation with Nate, until, finally, his gaze settles back on my body.
He lets his hand fall from my neck to my shoulder and linger there for a moment before slowly trailing down to my torso. Droning on about hardware and service requests, Colson stares down at the front of my shirt, brushing his palm up and down the side of my ribcage. He’s driving me nuts. And I can’t move because his body is wedged between my legs with the sides of his boots pressed against my sandals.
He drags his thumb over the curve of my breast while he talks to Nate, flicking my nipple until it’s a sharp bead visible through my shirt. I glare up at him with pursed lips, but he only responds with a smirk.
“Give it another check when you head back and I’ll let him know we don’t need it,” Nate crackles.
“Affirm,” Colson replies before releasing the radio.
Suddenly, a different voice cuts through the static, “Hey, Col.”
Colson reaches for the radio again with a roll of his eyes, “Yeah?”
“Ask your girl if she’s done her floor walk-through yet. Hazmat disposal’s coming tomorrow.”
My eyes go wide and dart between Colson and his radio.
Your girl?
“Will do,” Colson grins with satisfaction, “Oh, Noah,” he adds, “do me a favor?”
“Yeah?”
“Ask Nate if he still wants to know what it’s like on the inside.”
“Fuck you, Lutz,” Nate’s voice suddenly breaks back in, this time over a backdrop of laughter.
Colson chuckles to himself and releases the radio once more.
“What the hell does that mean?” I snap as soon as I’m sure he’s radio silent.
Colson just shakes his head and doesn’t answer. It’s just as well, I probably don’t want to know. I can barely look Alex in the eye, as it is.
“Was that a joke?” I peer up at him, “Do you all talk about me?”
“I hate to break it to you, but it sounds like they were already doing that before I got here.” He tips my chin up with his index finger, “But it’s also the reason they stay out of this hallway now.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s my hallway,” he looks down at me intently, “and they all know it.”
Suddenly, it dawns on me why Colson was giving Nate a death stare that one day he walked me back to my office, and why Nate looked like a deer in the headlights of a speeding semi-truck.
“So, that’s why Nate believed me when I told him you’re batshit?”
Colson grins and lets his hand fall to his side, “You would know more than anyone.”
“I do want to know something else.” As long as I can’t move, I think he owes me something.
“Name it.”
I take a deep breath and gather my nerves, “Why do you have new scars?” And I don’t give him a chance to deny it, “I know you do, because I felt them.”
After a moment of consideration, Colson nods to my desk, “Lay back for me and I’ll tell you.”
I clench my jaw in irritation, “I thought you said you didn’t want to get me fired,” I mutter.
