The next morning, Nonali discovered she was pleasantly sore. Scratches down her back stung when she stretched, and she noticed fingerprint bruises marking her thighs.
Exhaustion dragged her eyelids down like weights.
She couldn’t remember ever being so tired in her life. Sighing, she got showered and dressed for work.
Nonali moved about the office like a zombie, her hair down to cover the love bites inflicted upon her during her dream rendezvous.
Callum glared at her when she passed him, but she couldn’t find the energy to care.
When Mr. Norse arrived, he went straight into his office, cheerful as could be. He had all the energy in the world it seemed, and it put her in a bitter mood.
She knocked on his door and set his coffee on his desk along with the morning paperwork, forgoing the usual smile.
His fidgeting was irritating her.
As she turned to leave, he pinned her to the door, plunging his tongue into her mouth. He threaded his hands through her hair.
She bit his lip and pushed him off.
“Mr. Norse!” she snapped.
He blinked and let her go, confused.
“You can call me Everett, I think we’re at least on a first-name basis,” he chuckled.
“We’re at work,” Nonali hissed through her teeth.
“Go to dinner with me.” He grinned.
“No!” she shot back. Much to her annoyance, his grin only stretched further across his face.
He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead, she could feel her vitality flowing back into her. “Better? I forgot I took a lot from you yesterday,” he admitted sheepishly.
She did feel better truthfully, but she wanted to stay mad at him: she was exhausted still and cranky.
“I’m still not going to dinner with you,” she insisted and slammed the door in his face.
Nonali was so determined to be angry that she didn’t notice the imposing aura or the man it belonged to until it was too late.
She ran headfirst into Ezra. Looking up with an apology frozen on her lips, she stared him directly in the eye.
The world began to float away, much like it had the last time they’d locked gazes and she pried her eyes away.
His hands steadied her by her hips. They gripped her a little too tightly and familiarly for comfort.
She apologized and pulled away, sliding through the small opening between him and her desk, sitting down, and pulling up the documents she needed.
“May I ask what you’re doing here?” Her voice quivered as he moved closer to her in the confined space.
Ezra took a deep breath, and Nonali sensed his rage building. His hands made their way into her hair, and he lifted the thick locks from her neck, practically snarling.
“I came to apologize for my rude behavior yesterday. Vanessa said I should come here because you weren’t meeting for lunch.”
He threw her hair against her neck in disgust, breathing through his mouth, black eyes boiling.
She glanced around in a panic, seeing that Callum had left for lunch and Everett was in his office, leaving her completely alone with this rabid monster.
“I-I-It’s fine,” she choked out, leaning as far into her desk as she could to get away from him, but he seemed determined to invade her personal space.
He loomed over her, charcoal eyes glaring into her soul as he caged her against her desk.
“I’ll tell you this one time. Stay away from him,” he snarled, the sound dark and imposing.
“From who?!” She wanted to scream, but her words would only come out as a whimper.
“The guy you’re seeing!” He slammed his hands on her desk, the sound making her flinch as she looked at him in utter terror.
The noise drew Everett from his office and immediately to her rescue. She breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of him.
“Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to remove yourself from the building and the presence of my employee, or I’m calling the police,” he said casually.
Ezra breathed in before turning on Everett with the darkest look she’d ever seen a being make and punched directly through her solid oak wood desk, the splintering sound drowning out her cry of fear and surprise.
His eyes met hers again, and she shook from head to toe. His lips pulled into a violent display of too-sharp teeth before stalking off to the elevators.
Tears flooded her eyes the minute he was out of sight. Everett’s arms engulfed her, and she held on to him, desperately seeking comfort. “What’d you do to piss off that guy? Is he an ex or something? Can you see him too?”
“I can see everything, but he’s my best friend’s boyfriend. I only met him two days ago,” she sniffled. Everett wiped away her tears and held her close.
“Come to my place tonight,” he began. “Hey! I don’t mean it like that! Just to have the company, I’ll cook.”
Nonali nodded.
“Go ahead and go home early, get some rest. I’ll get your desk replaced.”
When she finally made it home, after multiple assurances that she didn’t have to worry about the desk, she texted Vee, explaining to her the details of her day and why Vee needed to get away from the guy. He was clearly unhinged.
When Vee responded, Nonali saw red.
“Do you have picture evidence? I know you don’t like the guy, but accusing him of attacking you is really low, even for you, Nonali.
“And why would he give a rat’s ass about who you hook up with? Maybe he knows the guy and he’s looking out for you. Sounds like you’re just jealous to me.”
She grit her teeth together and threw her phone down on her coffee table.
Fine, if her best friend wanted to throw away a lifetime of friendship, two could play that game.
When she finally woke up from her nap, it was late afternoon, and she had a missed call from Vee, three texts, and a voicemail from an unknown number. She checked the two messages from Everett and ignored the rest. He’d sent her his address and told her to come over when she was ready.
The drive over went by quickly, and the walk up his driveway took even less time. She could hear playing, and she knocked, feeling nervous. Having sex in a dream was different from an actual date!
Everett answered the door with a huge grin, and as she appraised him, she couldn’t help but laugh at the teddy bear apron he wore over a dark button-up and some jeans.
“Don’t hate the apron,” he admonished as he pulled her inside. He sat her at the island in his kitchen, putting a plate down in front of her.
“I was actually making dessert,” he explained before pulling a container out of the freezer. He sat across from her with a plate of his own.
“Well, go ahead, try it, I promise it’s not poisonous,” he laughed. She looked the food over before taking a bite. Her eyes lit up.
“I wish I’d known you were such a good cook. I’d have revealed myself so much sooner.” She moaned around her fork.
She finished in record time, noticing he only picked at his plate as he waited for dessert, pulling what looked to be brownies out and placing them atop the stove to cool. He pulled two spoons from a drawer and dipped one of them into the ice cream he’d pulled out earlier and held it to her mouth as an offering.
Her lips wrapped around it, and she could hear his breathing falter.
There was a familiar heat in his gaze that reminded her of all her earlier dreams and had her soaked in an instant.
She knew the minute he noticed her arousal because he took a shuddering breath and grabbed the counter as if to steady himself.
He immediately busied himself with preparing the plates of dessert, and she grinned, licking her spoon clean. He followed the path of her tongue with his eyes like a starving man. He seemed to fight with himself as he handed her a brownie with a scoop of ice cream.
She accepted gracefully, spooning up a good portion of the brownie and moaning when it melted on her tongue.
He picked her up from the stool and set her on the island with graceful ease, taking over her spoon and plate and feeding her.
“If you keep making those sounds, I’ll bend you over and fuck you right here,” he promised in a hushed whisper, holding the spoon out for her. She settled on teasing him another way.
He groaned like a man in pain, and she could see the thick outline of him in his pants.
“This is supposed to be about comforting you,” he almost whined. She took the spoon and fed him instead.
He swallowed gratefully, hands resting on her thighs.
“Sorry, I can’t help myself, you’re fun to tease,” she grinned and laughed, stopping at the dark look in his eyes. He set the dishes aside and grabbed her roughly. “Fun to tease?” He repeated, and she started to worry, maybe she’d said the wrong thing.
His eyes darkened even more, and he jerked her closer to the edge of the island. “Everett—” she began, but he cut her off with a hissing sound.
“Oh, I’m gonna make you scream that,” he said, his voice low.
Her panties and shorts were off before she could protest. She leaned back on the counter with Everett’s face between her legs.
