| 25 |

~ Banks Woods ~

I probably look like a lost lamb in this huge building filled with people wearing their most formal and elegant clothes. The air outside and inside the building is completely different. It's like stepping into a new world. The interior of the skyscraper radiates tech and money. The floor is so shiny, that I can spot my reflection on it.

With tentative steps, I walk towards the reception where a lady wearing bright red lipstick sits. She's talking on the telephone when her eyes land on me. She takes one quick look at me before her face emits indifference. I stand in front of her, letting her take her sweet time with her phone call.

When she's finally done, she rolls her chair closer to me, flashing a fake polite smile. "Hi. How can I help you?"

"I'm here to give this to Lance." I gesture towards the coffee cup I'm holding in my hands.

She furrows her eyebrows. "Oh? He ordered coffee? Let me recheck." Saying that she flips open her notepad.

"He didn't order it. I wanted to surprise him."

She pauses, flicking her eyes back to me. Her eyes roam over the length of me again, and there's definitely judgment in her gaze.

"Well then, why don't you place it over here and I'll have someone give it up to him."

Something about her tone tells me that's not exactly going to happen, so I tighten my hold around the cup.

"No thanks. Just point me towards his office and I'll take it to him."

She purses her lips before a sorry look comes on her face. Sitting up straighter so that she's closer to me, she laces her fingers under her chin. "Listen. A lot of girls have already tried this. Last time it was Thai food and I know perfectly well that Mr. Astor hates Thai food. Like how I know that Mr. Astor personally likes going out to the coffee shop down the street for his coffee. So stop lying, and leave before you embarrass yourself like the rest of them."

I raise an eyebrow. The fuck?

Instead of choosing to be defensive or argumentative, I lean forward. "Do you know why he goes to the coffee shop down there?"

"Because it's his wish."

"Are you sure it isn't because of a girlfriend or something?"

"Perhaps. Why would I tell you?"

"Is her name Banks Woods?"

Her smile drops. "How do you know that?"

I lean closer, resisting a smile. "Because I'm Banks Woods."

Her mouth parts open. Surprise comes on her face and she blinks a couple of times. She takes another look at me before furrowing her eyebrows.

"Uh...can I see an ID to confirm that?" She asks.

"Yup." I nod enthusiastically and give her my ID.

She checks it and then rechecks it before handing it back to me hesitatingly. She stares at me for a couple of minutes before shaking her head.

"I am extremely sorry if I came out rude to you. I'm only doing my job, you see? It gets frustrating when a new girl pops up every other day, claiming that they personally know Mr. Astor. Let me call him and let him know you're here."

"No. Wait." I stop her just as she picks up the telephone. "Just point me to his office."

"Sure." She nods. "Twenty-eighth floor, ask the receptionist and she'll take you to his room. I'll call her to let you know you're here."

I nod, giving her my thanks before walking away to the elevator. How did she know who I was though? Does Lance talk about me with his colleagues? The thought gets my face warm. I wonder what he tells them. I definitely don't do things that are worth talking about. Unless he relays how turned on he gets when I threaten him. I shake my head.

The elevator doors open and I don't even get the chance to take a step when a young girl with short brown hair gets in my face, jumping up and down with a grin.

"You must be Banks!"

I blink. "Uh...yeah."

"Wonderful!" She gestures to me to walk out. Her grin widens when she looks at me again. "I'm so excited to finally see you. Mr. Astor talks so much about you!"

I awkwardly rub the back of my neck. "Really?"

She nods, rapidly, before thrusting a hand in my direction. "I'm Eva. Both Mr. Astors' assistant and the receptionist of this floor. Gosh, you are one gorgeous being." She stares at me in awe.

Eva is way shorter than me, coming just below my shoulders. Her energy seems unmatched because she's still slightly bouncing on her feet. She notices the cup in my hand and slaps a palm to her forehead.

"Of course! His coffee. Right this way." She guides me down the hallway. "Mr. Astor has been in a slightly off mood since this morning. Maybe your presence will cheer him up."

I nearly stop walking. "Lance is in a bad mood?"

She nods. "I don't know what's wrong. Usually, he'd be smiling and laughing and joking around but this morning he walked straight into his room and didn't come out since."

My heart falls. The urge to turn around and leave comes over me. What if he's in a bad mood because of last night? Did he...did he not like it? Am I a fool for squealing about it with Kaylee while he was sitting here regretting it?

Every step towards his office feels daunting now. What if he doesn't want to see me?

No.

That's not Lance. He's not the type to whisper something in my ear but feel something else otherwise. He's always honest. It must be something else. There's no harm in talking to him about it.

When we reach the door, Eva squeezes my arm excitedly before bouncing away to her desk.

I stare at the door before gulping and then giving a knock.

"Come in." His smooth and rich voice reaches through the wood, seeping into my skin and making my body tingle.

Ignoring my reaction to his voice, I take in a deep breath before sliding the door open.

I immediately spot Lance sitting behind a huge desk, typing away on a laptop with a billion papers surrounding him. There's a concentrated frown on his face as his eyes keep shifting left and right as if he's reading things swiftly and altogether.

For a moment, I forget how to walk because he looks so fucking hot, sitting there with his businessman face. His suit moulds against his body, tailored perfectly to cling to his muscles. His hair is messy probably from running his fingers through it a hundred times.

When I gape at him for too long, stretching out the silence, his gaze flicks up to me.

I nearly startle at his deep blue eyes suddenly on me. His own face flashes with surprise and the frown he had melts away.

"Banks?"

"Hey." I swallow, feeling awkward, then hold my hand up lamely. "I got you coffee."

He stands up from his chair, shrinking the room in size with his tall height and wide frame. He walks around his desk and makes even that seem graceful.

"Coffee?" He asks when he stands in front of me.

I nod, before handing him the cup. He looks at it before looking back at me.

"Is something wrong?"

His question makes me furrow my eyebrows. "Why would anything be wrong?" It's almost as if I'm challenging him to say if he felt anything off about last night.

"I don't know. You're here all of a sudden."

"I'm not allowed to be here?" I cross my arms against my chest.

"I didn't say that. I'm only asking to make sure if everything's alright."

"Everything's fine," I say, firmly, staring up at him.

He stares down at me, a pensive look on his face.

"Why do I feel like you're mad at me?" He asks.

"I'm not mad."

"Then why are you glaring at me?"

"I'm not."

"You are."

"I'm not."

"Can we talk about this?"

"Sure."

He tilts his head, bringing a hand up to rub the back of his neck. "Did I...did I do or say something wrong last night?"

My defences immediately falter away, as confusion envelopes me. Why is he asking me that? I thought he was upset because I did something wrong.

"No."

"Are you sure? You don't have to lie."

"I'm not lying."

"Did I come off as too forceful? Did I hurt you in any way?"

My frown deepens. "You did nothing wrong."

"Then why did you kick me out of your apartment?"

I blink. "You think I kicked you out of my apartment because you did something wrong?"

He nods.

I blink again.

"I told you it was because of Caleb."

"Yeah, but you didn't even smile at me." 

"You wanted me to smile at you while I was scared shitless of my brother finding you half-naked?"

He freezes. For a long time.

Then a sheepish look appears on his face. "I guess that makes a lot more sense."

I raise my eyebrows. "Don't tell me you were in a bad mood this whole day because of that."

He looks even more abashed.

I sigh.

The urge to touch his face comes over me and I hesitate for a second before I reach out and gently touch his cheekbone, caressing his skin. His eyes fall shut at my touch. This is the first time I've boldly touched him without him initiating any physical contact. It's probably because I'm feeling bad that a little misunderstanding from this morning made both of us feel like the other person regretted it last night.

I bite my lip, shy to voice out my next words. "I'm sorry. For pushing you out. I had no other choice."

"I understand. I should've expected that nothing normal could come while being with you."

"Hey! I'm pretty normal."

"I don't know about the normal part but I can vouch for the pretty."

I smile.

He smiles back.

Then his arms come around my waist and suddenly he's lifting me, walking to the other side of his office.

"What are you doing?" My hands come around his neck, startled.

"What I wanted to do this morning."

He shifts me to one arm, then sweeps aside the papers on his desk before making me sit on the hard wood.

My pulse increases when he parts my thighs with his palms and steps between my legs. His hands come on my face and he nears my mouth.

"Wait!" I place a hand on his chest.

He immediately stops, looking at me.

"Lock the door first," I say.

While I'm happy with whatever's going on, there's no way I'm going to embarrass myself if someone decides to walk in.

Lance scowls at me though. "No one's going to come in."

"You don't know that, buddy."

"It's fine." He says, before moving in to kiss me again. But I shake my head, pushing him away.

"No kissing until the door is locked."

He sighs, then pulls away with a childish groan before dragging himself to the door. He locks it and is back in front of me within seconds.

"Now we can—"

I'm barely done talking when Lance grabs ahold of my face and slams his lips to mine. My body instantly melts under his and it takes me a moment to kiss him back. My hands snake around his neck, gripping his hair in mine as our tongues clash with each other.

He pulls me closer to him until my front is pressed against his and I can feel every hard muscle of his body. He moves his mouth down to my jaw, kissing his way down my neck.

"What are the chances of us having sex here?"

My eyes pop wide open. "Are you crazy?" I look down at him.

He looks up at me with a grin. "What? I've never had office sex before. It's a good time to try it out."

"Your people outside will hear us."

"They're only four, and my dad for today."

My eyes widen even more. "Your dad? We're definitely not doing it now."

"He won't hear us."

"Where is his office?"

"Next door."

I slap his shoulder. "You're actually crazy. Your father is right next door and you want to have sex?"

"Yes."

I face-palm. "We can't."

"We can't?"

I shake my head. "They'll hear us."

"Then you better keep quiet." He cups my jaw, his thumb pressing onto my lips, imitating a lock. "If you can't then there are other ways to muffle your pretty noises."

The way he says those sultry words with such a smooth, low voice—a shiver goes down my body. I do want to have sex but I'll be so fucking embarrassed if his dad finds out. I bite my bottom lip, peering at his face while considering it.

"What ways?"

He stares into my eyes for a couple of beats, before his hands reach towards his tie. My insides turn wary as he starts undoing it, slowly, languidly and in such a way that it looks like the scene belongs in a porno.

"What are you doing?" I ask with a hint of warning in my tone as I eye the silk tie in his hands.

"Finding ways to help you stay quiet."

"You're going to gag me?"

"Only if you're okay with it."

I stare at the tie in his strong hands, before looking back at him. I've never done anything like this before. The thought makes my heart beat faster. Losing my ability to speak seems too vulnerable, but for some reason, it doesn't frighten me like I expected it to.

"Do you trust me?" Lance asks, staring deeply into my eyes.

I stare back, and horridly I come to a painful realization that along with the increase in my heart rate, wetness pools between my legs, shamelessly excited at the thought of giving up partial control to Lance. Maybe it's the thrill of trying something new or maybe it's because I'm trying this with Lance. Whatever is it, I do want to go ahead with this and see how it feels.

I do trust Lance. I never realized how much but I think deep down I've always trusted him but let my insecurities cloud that.

I nod slowly and Lance's eyes soften. His hand comes up to my face and he slowly strokes my cheek.

"I'm so lucky to have you, Banks." He whispers so gently that it melts my heart. Then his tone turns stern when he says, "Open your mouth."

Without another thought, I do.

"Just punch me across the nose or kick my balls if you want me to stop." He says and I laugh right before he balls up his tie and gently pushes it into my mouth.

My jaw immediately tenses at the feel of the cloth nearly touching the back of my throat.

"Are you sure you want to go on with this?" Lance asks, earnestly.

I try working my mouth to get a better feel of it and to adjust it so that it's not that uncomfortable. After a moment, I realize It doesn't feel that bad. I can feel my drool already soaking into the cloth and I'm not sure how I'll feel when I'll have to remove the tie.

Even yet, I nod at Lance.

He smiles, his thumb still caressing my cheekbone.

"I promise to never hurt you, Banks. Even when you're at your lowest, I'll always be there and try my best to make you feel better."

My gaze softens because I know he means every word that comes out of his mouth.

I'm glad I'm gagged right not because I can't do the cheesy talk for the life of me and would probably end up threatening him with something instead.

"Hope you're ready for this." Saying that his eyes turn carnal as desire fills them. His hands come on the waistband of my jeans and while looking straight into my eyes, he pulls them down my legs. I shiver because of the cold air but my skin feels hot. My skin burns even hotter when his eyes take in my legs, more specifically the place between them.

He looks back at my eyes and then slides an arm around my waist, holding me in place. Still holding my gaze, he reaches a hand between us, sliding above my thigh and coming over my underwear. He presses his fingers onto the cloth before sliding them aside until his fingers brush against my folds. 

"Fuck." He sighs in contentment. "You're already so wet."

My eyes flutter when he slowly strokes my core with two of his fingers while his thumb finds my clit and unhurriedly rolls it around. He coats his fingers with my arousal before sinking one long finger into me. A moan forms in my throat when he adds a second one and starts pumping me in and out, at a slow tortuous speed. My body melts entirely and it's only because of his hold around my waist that I'm able to sit up.

"I would kiss you right now but I guess it would be awkward with the tie." He chuckles and I roll my eyes at his amusement.

The humour fades away when he curls his fingers inside of me, making my thighs jerk. He does it again and my eyes fall shut, letting out a muffled moan. His thumb continues playing with my clit making all the blood rush from my toes to the very sensitive spot between my legs.

"Look at how gorgeous you are." Lance breathes out, staring at my face that's lost somewhere in bliss and must look awkward at best. "Feel how well you're taking in my fingers."

He curls them again, and I whimper, letting my head fall onto his chest. He continues in that same unhurried pace. His other hand slips underneath my shirt, sliding up until it reaches my bra. He cups my breast over the fabric, squeezing it. His fingers find my nipples then and he pinches them so hard that I groan, clenching my legs together at the onslaught of pleasure.

"Legs open, love." He softly commands, parting my legs with his thighs.

He continues his tortures on my nipples and core, making my head spin with the pleasurable feelings. Right when I feel like something's about to happen, he pulls his fingers out of me.

My eyes snap open and I lift my head to look at him. The sight that greets me nearly makes me come. Lance has his fingers in his mouth, tasting me. He squeezes his eyes shut like how he did last night as if I'm something exotic he's ever tasted.

"I need to taste more of you." Saying that, he drops his arm from my waist and before I can comprehend what's he doing, he grabs my hips and yanks them up. The sudden movement causes me to lose balance and I fall back onto his desk. That makes it even easier for Lance to lift my hips and before I can grasp what's going on, his mouth is on my core and his tongue is inside me.

My breaths turn erratic when his tongue thrusts in and out of me as if he's starved. Gone are his languid movements and now he eats me out as if he's been hungry for days. My legs rest on his shoulders and I'm glad to have something because I can't feel my limbs at all. All I know is that they're trembling and shaking like every other inch of my body.

I scream into the makeshift gag as Lance's tongue pushes between my folds, occasionally sucking my swollen sensitive clit into his mouth. My fingers latch onto the edge of the table to ground myself but nothing saves me against his drive.

He fucks me harder with his tongue, his fingers digging into the flesh of my ass to keep me in place. His head is clenched tightly between my thighs but nothing stops him. Delirious whimpers leave my mouth, making it seem like I'm sobbing as my body burns with intensity.

He sucks my clit again, his teeth grazing the swollen nub and then I'm shattering all around him with a scream. One moment I'm trying my best to remain sane and the next, my body convulses, my back arches off the desk, and I'm coming so hard like I've never come before.

Lance's mouth remains on my engorged clit the whole time, flicking it with his tongue and overstimulating the already sensitive nerves.

The gag makes it harder to breathe. My chest heaves as I try filling my lungs with air that the orgasm stole me of. My entire body feels as if I've just dropped from a twenty-story-high building with no one to catch me. My back is glued to the desk, and fuck that felt so good. So so good.

Lance sets my hips down and I simply lie there on the desk while he licks his lips clean. At this moment, I don't care that he's fully dressed while I'm exposed to him in the rawest way. I don't care that my face is probably red and my skin is flushed to the point where sweat breaks across my forehead.

When I've finally calmed down, I try getting on my elbows but a hand on my shoulder stops me.

Lance raises an eyebrow at me. "You think this is over?"

I give him a look that conveys 'Uh...yeah?'       

The corner of his lips quirks up. "We didn't even get to the sex part."

I was wondering about that but I thought he'd be tired after doing all that. I was honestly a little disappointed thinking that we wouldn't have sex. But now that he mentioned it, my skin thrums with excitement and I'm ashamed at how quickly I'm aroused again.

Lance grabs the buckle of his belt and I can't help but watch as he slowly undoes it, pulling the leather out and dropping it to the floor. The sound that it creates heightens the tension, and the anticipation makes my body tremble.

He unbuttons his pants and unzips them, taking out his thick length that looks so painfully hard. I can't believe I'm the reason for this. He takes out a condom from his back pocket and tears it open.

Sliding the latex on himself, he slides an arm around my waist, lifting my body so that my chest brushes against his. His hands find my swollen core and he nudges my underwear aside. I know exactly what's coming so I stare into Lance's eyes as he aligns himself with my opening. Then he thrusts into me in one swift stroke that makes both of us groan.

The feel of his full thick length inside of me makes sparks burst at the bottom of my stomach. When he starts moving, my entire body reacts to it. He increases his pace and I'm so glad he prepped me before. He glides so easily in and out of me, making my legs tremble with heavenly friction.

I moan into the gag that I have no problems with yet. I think I like giving up control to Lance. My whole life has been such a mess and bound by shackles that I put on myself that it feels liberating to give up those boundaries and let someone else take care of me.  

Lance does it so well. Taking care of me. He does it in a way that doesn't make me feel inferior. I guess I really needed that. Someone to look after me while not making me feel weak.

He thrusts into me harder and faster, each movement making my hips bang against the desk. I wouldn't be surprised if we somehow caused a dent in the wood. My eyes almost roll to the back of my head at how good this feels to the point where it hurts. I meet him thrust for thrust until I feel my pelvis tighten in warning of another orgasm.

My throat feels sore and rough by how much I've screamed and moaned but I can't stop now. My back arches with every second and Lance holds me tighter to him. His lips find my neck and he sucks the skin into his mouth, kissing me like no other. My hands fist his shirt and I drop my head onto his shoulder.

"Banks." He moans my name into the curve of my neck and shoulder. "How is it that I'm inside you but I still want more of you as if I'm an addict?"

I want to ask him the same question. This does feel addicting.

"Fuck." He groans, plunging into me faster. "You feel so good it should be impossible at this point."

His comments warm my heart and entire being. His praises feel like an accomplishment, edging me to bare myself further to him and just let go. He'll catch me. I'm confident of that.

Sooner or later, Lance suddenly goes still before his hips jerk into mine and he's coming inside of me. I come right along with him, moaning and gasping as the orgasm pulls from the top of my head and points of my toes. My fists tighten on Lance's shirt and he grips my waist in a tight hold. He reaches towards my lips and rips the tie from my mouth. Before I can adjust my jaw, he presses his lips to mine and kisses me throughout the aftermath of our orgasms. I melt into him further, letting him hold me in his warm, comfortable arms as he kisses me, sweetly and gently.

After catching our breath, we finally pull away and look into each other's eyes. His hand comes on my face, stroking my jaw. The urge to kiss him again consumes but a sudden thought makes me pause.   

My eyebrows furrow. "You carry condoms on you?"

"Since we started dating, yes."

I raise an eyebrow. "Too hopeful?"

A grin splits his face. "I wasn't sure when we would do it. I wanted to be prepared."

I shake my head, amused. Of course, he did.

Lance stares at me and a huge smile appears on his face that he tries hiding by biting the corner of his lips.

"What? Why are you smiling?" Do I have drool or something on my chin?

"I can't believe I had office sex with my father next door." He snickers.

I roll my eyes. "I wouldn't be surprised if you had a bucket list with office sex written on it."

"I have many more things on my bucket list." His thumb comes on my lower lip, his eyes growing sombre. Then he leans in close. "All of them might be things I want to do with you."

"Yeah?" My breaths get shallow as his lips near mine.

The handle of the door rattles. Lance and I startle, pulling apart.

"Lance! Are you in there?"

My eyes widen as I recognize the voice. His father starts knocking on the door.

"It's urgent. You have to take a look at this."

We quickly scramble to put on our clothes

"In a second, Dad!" Lance calls out, struggling to get his zipper up.

"What are you even doing in there? Why is the door locked?"

"I'm—Uh...I'm...exercising!"

A moment of silence follows.

I give Lance a 'what the fuck?' look while he winces. Even his dad goes quiet outside.

"Exercising...?" His dad repeats. "Are you serious?" He yells. "We have work to do and you're exercising? Open this damn door right now!"

Shit. He sounds mad.

We're finished dressing up but I'm not sure if now's the best time to reintroduce myself to his father.

Lance and I give each other a wide-eyed stare.

"Get under the table." He says, suddenly.

My eyebrows jump. "What?"

"Quickly." He gives me an urgent look.

Groaning, I walk towards the table and crawl under it.

"I told you we shouldn't have had sex!" I glare.

He sighs. "I'm opening the door now."

I clamp my mouth shut and squeeze myself as far as possible in the corner of the huge desk.

The lock turns and the door opens.

"What the hell are you doing exercising in the middle of work?" His dad bellows, and I flinch at the anger in his voice.

"Just blowing off some tension. It was only for twenty minutes. I promise I'm all caught up on work." Lance speaks back, politely.

"You better be." Footsteps reach towards me and I hold my breath when two pairs of legs appear in my sight.

The unfamiliar pair sits down on Lance's chair, wheeling it closer to the desk. I squeeze myself further back to avoid bumping into his father's shins.

Lance brings up another chair closer and takes a seat beside his father.

They start talking about business and stocks and complain about their human resource management while I remain cramped there, turning my limbs numb.

The whole time I curse Lance a million times in my head and refuse the urge to reach out and give him a pinch on the thigh.

Around thirty minutes later, they're still talking and I'm bored out of my fucking mind. I pull out my phone and make sure to keep it on silent mode.

There are a billion texts from Kaylee asking how's it going and why I'm not back yet. I send her a reply explaining the situation.

She sends back a single text.

Kaylee: BAHAHAHAHAHA

I glare at my phone screen then having nothing else to do, I play Candy Crush for a while. Caleb calls me old and honestly, I don't mind. I'm horrible with technology but Candy Crush was something I became addicted to quickly. It drives me so fucking insane though sometimes, to the point where I want to bash my phone into the nearest person's head.

I'm trying my hardest to get past this level, giving my screen the most concentrated glaring look when a foot accidentally kicks me in the side. I jump.

Everything goes silent.

For a moment, no one moves.

My eyes widen as I slowly turn my head to the side. At the same time, Lance's father slowly lowers his upper half. His eyes meet mine.

We stare at each other.

Then I lift my hand in an awkward wave, showing him my phone screen where I'm horribly losing and have only three moves left.

He lifts a brow.

"So this is what you meant when you said you were blowing off steam?" He directs the question to a rigid-looking Lance - who has his hand on the upper half of his face. "Slide that purple flower on the top left corner to the right, then pull down the yellow."

I furrow my eyebrows, pulling my eyes back down to the screen. I do as he said and within just two moves I win the hardest level of all. My mouth drops open and I gape at Lance's father while my screen bursts with confetti.

✄┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

I guess that's one way to reintroduce yourself to your future father-in-law ;)

As someone who hasn't even romantically hugged a boy in her entire eighteen years of life, I'm trying my best to write the smut scenes as if I've experienced them myself.

Words: 5,200

Date of publishing: 30th June 2024