“Did you hear a word I said? I’m one of your best employees, and that’s all I’m going to be from now on. We’re not sleeping with each other while we’re working on national security. It’s irresponsible.”
“That right? Even if you’re in a cabin with Rodney?” I shouldn’t have said it. I should have left it alone, but I’d watched her eye him up and I’d seen red.
“Yeah and about Rodney. You can’t go around changing accommodations, Cade. That’s so unprofessional.”
I didn’t deny it.
She pulled at her hair and growled. “The fact that you moved me to this cabin just because of Rodney is ridiculous, Cade. You realize that?”
“I do need you here to work. It’s easier that way. And now you won’t have to deal with Rodney either.”
“Deal with Rodney? Deal with him?” Her voice got higher and higher. “What if I wanted to deal with him?”
“You just said we shouldn’t be fucking around.”
“Yeah, me and you. You’re my boss. Rodney isn’t even on our team!” She started to storm off to the bedroom, but then she came back to point her finger in my face. “You don’t get to dictate my accommodations and manage my personal life.”
“Well, actually I do.” I was just stating a fact.
Her eyes widened like she couldn’t believe I’d double down on that. Clearly, she didn’t understand that I’d go round and round with her all day. That I loved seeing how her hair got messier and messier as she combed her hands through it, how her clothes became more rumpled, and how she raised her voice after working so hard all day to speak softly.
“You’re an entitled dick, you know that? I don’t care if you’re in the mob, and I don’t care if you’re my boss. I’m getting through this election, then I’m going over your head to Jett to get a different position. This”—she motioned between us—“toxic back-and-forth is over.”
“If you say so,” I murmured just to rile her further.
Izzy Hardy didn’t disappoint. When she got pissed, I practically saw steam come out of her ears. She stomped back to the bedroom. I wasn’t stupid enough to think that we’d ever be more than fuck buddies, but I’d at least teach her that she didn’t have to worry about other people’s expectations of her. It was probably hindering her life in some way; she’d thank me later.
Or so I thought.
Until I heard a rattle and then a hiss that sounded a lot like spray paint. And there she was.
Izzy fucking Hardy. Not disappointing for a second as she sprayed a big-ass red line along the center of our room, up the bed, over the comforter, across the middle of the frame, ending on the wall as high as she could reach.
Whipping her head my way, she had a smile that was genuine on her face, and her eyes shined a more vivid green and gold than I’d ever seen, sparkling with so much life that I knew this was the phoenix in her—the version of her I wanted to see always. She looked like she did when I took her breath away, like she was dancing with death, and it turned her on more than bumbling around aimlessly living.
“You’re going to stay on that side, and I’m on this side, Cade. Want to know why? Because I do say so.” She lifted her chin in triumph.
A normal person would have called the event coordinator and sent her insubordinate ass home. I chuckled, though, and leaned on the doorframe, putting my hands in my pockets. “Maybe you should put my name above the headboard so we’re clear. I don’t think the big-ass red line is enough.”
She stomped over to my side and painted Entitled Dick.
Then she grabbed her bag and went to the spare bathroom in the living room, most likely because the en suite bathroom was on my side.
I let her fume for the rest of the night, went back to my computer, and got to work on the code she’d used to break through JUNIPER.
A few hours in, the silence of the wilderness closed in on me. My mind wandered to her. I was losing my edge, and I wasn’t sure I wanted it back.
While she slept soundly, I rummaged through her luggage and found her spray paint. I put Dollface above her head. She woke on the last letter and squinted up at me, leaning on her side to do it. Then she smiled like I’d made her whole life, like this was normal behavior.
No words were spoken between us. She rolled over under the comforter on her side of the damn red line and snuggled in.
I stared at her for far too long before I growled and went into the bathroom to get ready for bed. If I was going to indulge the red line down the bed and across the room, I was happy that the bathroom was on my side. I knew I’d be jacking off to her more than once on this retreat. My dumbass split-second decision to have her stay with me was already backfiring. Indulging the jealousy that coiled through me at seeing her with someone else should have been an indicator to back off.
I turned out the lights as I entered the room and pulled the blankets up over her shoulder, staring at how her dark hair fanned out across the light pillow, how her lips parted with a breath, how her small neck was so delicate that I could steal her life in a second and make sure she enjoyed the feeling the whole damn time. And I fucking wanted to do the latter instead of the former more often than not now.
I swore before rolling over to my side.
The red line wasn’t going to last, but I’d give her tonight. She wouldn’t get much more than that.
12
Izzy
Of course I’d gone to bed before Cade. He’d disappeared into the living room as if he wasn’t at all perturbed by my spray paint outburst.
Damn, that was going to cost me some money. I knew I’d need to comp them for that, but it felt good to let go, to make it known that I wasn’t here to take anyone’s crap, that I could toss it right back at him.
I’d felt like me for a moment, acting out and embracing the spark that flared to life. Well into the night, though, I’d woken to see him smiling as he spray-painted Dollface over my headboard too.
Something was wrong with us.
We definitely had issues, but when I cracked my eyes open the next morning to sheets rumpled on his side and no Cade in bed, I chuckled to myself. He’d actually slept on his side of the line, he’d indulged me when he didn’t need to.
I stretched and grabbed my makeup bag to go shower. I didn't bother with avoiding the painted barrier now. It was the principle of the matter, quite frankly. So I took my time brushing my teeth in the en suite bathroom and stared at myself in the mirror. I ran my finger across the bite marks on my neck.
I hadn’t realized how rough we’d been the night before when he got me off at the table. My nipples tightened as I stripped off my T-shirt and underwear to get into the shower. My skin reddened with the thoughts of last night.
No man but Cade could irk me so much and turn me on at the same time. He pushed me so close to the brink of my emotions that I wasn’t sure how I’d survive keeping a lid on them throughout the rest of this retreat.
I turned on the water and let the water droplets run over my head until they were so hot, they nearly scalded my skin. I needed the heat, the pressure, and the privacy now. I needed to get the vision of Cade working my pussy, biting my neck, and sliding his hands over my body out of my head.
My fingers dove into my folds, and I moaned softly at how wet I already was. I needed the release to focus. The water heated my skin, dampening it along with the sweat as I worked myself up.
I imagined his cock, how hard it got when he stared at me, how the metal would rub against my most sensitive spot exactly the way I wanted, how he knew I wanted him to take control, to steal my breath so long I’d almost panic.
I rolled a finger over my clit, and it was right then that the shower curtain flew open. I jerked my hand away from my center and gasped, “Cade!”
“Don’t stop on account of me. No reason to when you were imagining me fucking you anyway.”
“I’m in the shower, you asshole!” I tried to jerk the curtain away from him, but he didn’t let it go. So I stood back and crossed my arms over my breasts, standing tall. Gerald might have said I needed to lose weight, but I knew Cade enjoyed how I looked, and I did too. I wasn’t ashamed of my body.
“You’re in the shower on my side, right?” he pointed out.
“Are you kidding me right now?”
“Nope. You started this game.”
“Whatever. So what? I’m on your side.” I shrugged.
“New rule—when you’re on my side, you do what I want.” He held my gaze, and that look told me he wasn’t going to let me leave.
“And if I don’t?” I left one arm over my breasts and cocked a hip to prop up my other hand.
“You know I enjoy punishing you, Izzy. I have no problem doing that now. I think this retreat will serve a couple new purposes.”
“Like what?”