Chapter Five

Grace Remy Stewart was back in the saddle, and it felt really fucking good! Her return to work had improved her mood immensely. Though she was busier than ever trying to balance raising two kids under the age of two with being the COO of Stewart Enterprises, it was hard to deny she was much happier than when she was trying to be a stay-at-home mom.

After a few weeks of working three half days, she realized that her husband, Mac, was still shouldering most of the work. Fifteen hours a week was not enough to ease the burden he’d taken on with her limited hours. So, she worked out a schedule that would allow her to nurse the baby, spend time with the toddler, get her work done (most of it, anyway), and sleep.

What she was still struggling with was making enough time for sex. Now that her libido was back in high gear, she craved sex more than ever. Something had to give, but what?

Avery knocked on the doorframe of her office. “I’ve brought you lunch,” he said as he walked to her desk.

“You are the best administrative assistant ever!” Grace said enthusiastically as she opened the salad Avery put before her.

“I’ve gotta keep my boss fed and watered,” he teased.

Grace giggled. “That sounds like something Mac would say.”

“Who do you think gave him those instructions?”

Grace looked up to see her gorgeous husband standing just inside the door. “I don’t always have time to make sure my best girl eats a proper meal. But I can make it one of Avery’s duties to bring you a healthy lunch.”

“That’s a clever way to handle me, I suppose,” she said, feigning annoyance but secretly impressed that he was so crafty, so much so that she couldn’t keep up the ruse of being miffed.

She flashed Mac a smile and looked at him with sparkling blue eyes. He was instantly aroused and imagined touching her everywhere. He held her gaze and sent shivers of desire down her spine.

Avery saw the look exchanged between his two bosses and could almost feel the electricity in the air. While initially awkward, he was ecstatic to see them in sync again. He could also read their body language and tell when it was time to make a hasty exit.

“Well, if you don’t need me for anything else at the moment, I’m going to take my lunch down to the breakfast nook and see if Claudette is baking anything today. She always lets me be a taste tester for her cookies and brownies.”

Avery laughed inwardly when neither Grace nor Mac said a word. He heard the door lock behind him and grinned. On his way down the stairs, he ran into the house manager heading up and said, “Door’s locked, Uncle Bentley. I’m pretty sure they want some privacy.”

Bentley frowned. “If that were the case, one of them would have texted me by now.”

“Oh, I’m sure you’ll get a message any minute. Doesn’t it weird you out when they text you to steer clear of their booty calls?” Avery asked.

His uncle gave him a stern look over the rim of his glasses. “It beats accidentally interrupting a busy couple trying to steal a few moments here and there to keep their marriage fresh and thriving. It’s not like you to be judgmental.”

“Oh, I don’t have any problem with what they are doing; I just think it would be weird to get a message about it.”

Suddenly, Bentley’s phone pinged, and Avery chuckled.

Reading the message, Bentley raised an eyebrow. “It appears you were right, my astute nephew. Find something to do for a half hour if you finish your lunch early.”

“Does the message say they’re doing it?”

“Avery! Clearly, you need Nialls to come back from his business trip,” Bentley commented, referring to Avery’s partner.

Avery sighed. “You’re not wrong there.”

Bentley reread the text to himself and smiled.

Taking a half-hour for ourselves. You know the drill. Thanks!

No, it didn’t weird him out; it made him happy to see his employers carving out time for each other. They certainly worked hard running their company and raising their kids. They deserved to grab moments alone whenever the opportunity arose. Managing Stewart House had become much more interesting and rewarding when McKinley Stewart returned home from Europe with a brilliant wife in tow. Grace breathed new life into the six-story brownstone. He felt honored that the man now known as Mac trusted his discretion enough to be blatantly honest with him, and he was delighted to help keep the staff out of the way so his bosses could enjoy each other.

Avery found the kitchen empty, realizing that Claudette was minding the children if Grace was working. He sat down to eat his lunch, pouting about the lack of baked goods for his anticipated dessert. He could almost taste the chewy, chocolatey brownie. Oh, damn! Uncle Bentley was right; he needed Nialls to come home. He was having decadent thoughts about what else he could do with chocolate.

Chapter Six

Upstairs, his bosses weren’t pouting at all. Grace was naked, with her hair pulled back in a ponytail, kneeling in front of Mac, who sat, fully clothed, with his zipper down and his cock out.

“Suck my cock, Gracie,” Mac demanded. “Do a good job, and instead of cumming down your throat, I’ll fuck you and shoot my thick load into your tight pussy.”

Grace grinned wickedly. When did she ever NOT do a good job sucking his cock?

Using her fingers to tease his sac, playfully squeezing each testicle, she swirled her tongue around the head of his prick. Mac relaxed in the chair and moaned as she made him disappear, inch by inch, into her willing mouth. With her nose pressed against his pubic bone, she slid her tongue out of her mouth to lavish his balls with attention. He moaned erotically as she moved her talented mouth up and down on his stiff pole, occasionally repeating the sneaky tongue action.

Though it had been his attention to pull out and fuck his wife’s needy little pussy, he couldn’t deny that her throat was driving him mad. He grabbed her head and pushed himself deeper until his thrusts elicited the obscene noises that he found to be such a fucking turn-on.

Ignoring the little voice inside his head that told him to hold back, Mac hammered into Grace’s face until his balls tightened painfully and let go, sending his thick cum down her throat. It felt amazing!

Any worry that he had disappointed Grace dissipated as he saw the lust in her eyes as she swallowed his seed. Still, he felt a little guilty that he wouldn’t have time to get hard again and fuck her properly.

Grace rose from the floor, moved to the desk, and opened her legs. “You’re not leaving this office until you make me cum, do you understand?” she asked, though it certainly wasn’t a question.

Mac grinned. “Yes, Ma’am.”

“Good! Because a frustrated Grace is a crabby Grace. Now get busy; we don’t have all day!”

Mindful of the time, he skipped the kisses he would typically plant along her inner thighs. It was clear she needed no warming up. Sucking cock had her juices flowing and her pussy ready for attention.

He flicked her clit and watched her eyes roll back in her head. Soft moans became louder as his tongue danced among her pink folds, teasing her swollen labia until she whimpered with need. He continued to torment her, bringing her close, then easing up, driving her insane.

“Oh, God, Mac! Your tongue is so fucking amazing! This feels so good! But, baby, I need to cum! Please!”

Mac said nothing; his mouth was too busy edging her orgasm. Instead, he slid a single finger into her wetness and watched her thrash about.

“I need more!” Grace cried out exasperatedly.

Mac added more fingers, but he’d edged her so long that he feared he’d pushed her into the zone where her climax would elude her. On any other day, he would tell her she needed to wait until later for her reward. But Mac suspected the afternoon would not go well if he left her unsatisfied. His dick was coming back alive but was not yet hard enough to fuck her immediately, and he sensed she needed to be filled now.

“More!” she screamed as her hips rocked furiously, grinding her pussy on Mac’s face and hand. “Find something big to fuck me with, now!”

With her need so urgent, Mac grabbed the first thing he found on her desk and thrust her stapler into her pussy, fucking it while his thumb massaged her hard little nub.

“Oh, fuck, yes! Fuckkk! Oh, my God, that’s hot! Fuck my needy cunt with my stapler! Treat me like your whore!”

Mac continued to fuck his wife with the steel contraption until her back arched, and she came hard, spraying her juices. Then, tossing the cum-covered office tool aside, he plunged his cock, now rock hard, into her sopping wetness. He hammered into her, sending her over again and again, as her body convulsed from such intense, sustained pleasure. When his own release came, he pulled out and shot his load on her tits and belly, marking her as his.

While Grace showered, Mac tucked his spent, well-used dick back in his pants and cleaned up the mess on her desk. She emerged from her office bathroom looking gorgeous and sated. She’d put her hair up in a twist, but otherwise, no one would be the wiser that she’d just been ravished on her desk during a lunch break.

“You get the gold star for innovative thinking,” Grace said as she saw Mac place a new stapler on her desk.

“Gotta keep my needy girl happy. Make sure you eat that salad, my love. You’ll need to rehydrate as well after all that panting.”

Grace giggled. “I have a conference call in five minutes. Shoo! I promise to eat when I’m done.”

As Mac exited the office, he sent Bentley a text.

All set! Thanks!

Bentley read the text and smiled. He was far too professional to let himself imagine what had transpired in Grace’s office. But it did get him thinking about propositioning his wife when he got home later.

After her call, Grace checked her email. Scrolling, she saw that Dax Olsen had finally submitted a proposal for her consideration. She had begun to wonder if he had changed his mind about selling his IT company in New Jersey. She marked it as saved and continued to scan the plethora of unread messages, weeding out the junk.

There were a few other odds and ends to deal with, but nothing that couldn’t wait. And, since Dax had taken his sweet time sending the proposal she’d requested, she didn’t feel the need to give it attention immediately.

Smiling, she closed her laptop and buzzed Avery. “Do I have anything on my schedule that can’t wait an hour?”

“Again?” he blurted out accidentally, thinking Grace wanted to know if she had time for an afternoon quickie.

“I beg your pardon?” she asked, frowning at the phone.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Grace,” Avery said, recovering quickly. “I was in the middle of something and didn’t realize it was you on the line. No, your calendar is clear until 3:00.”

“Good!” she said. “Mark me as unavailable until 2:30. I’m going to go nurse Mimi and play with DJ if he isn’t napping.”

Avery felt a bit ashamed for assuming she was planning to have more sex. He should have known Grace was looking for time to devote to her kids. That had been outlined when she came back to work full-time. Boy, he really was horny and in need of his man’s return!

“Do you want me to reschedule the 3:00 call?” he offered, hoping to appease his conscience.

Grace smiled. “No, I’m still playing catch-up on some items since I’ve been back to work. I don’t want to fall any further behind.”

“If I can help with anything...” Avery started.

“I’ll let you know. Thanks, Avery; you’re the best!”

Chapter Seven

At around 2:15, Mac poked his head out of his office. “Avery, where’s Grace?” he snapped uncharacteristically.

“Oh, um, she’s with the kids until 2:30. Is there something you need?”

“I need to talk to her. Do you know if she has looked at what Dax sent over yet?”

Mac seemed unusually annoyed, especially in light of his recent lunchtime rendezvous with his wife.

“She mentioned that it had arrived and that she’d look it over later. I’m assuming she meant later today, but it’s possible she won’t get to it until tomorrow, considering her mid-afternoon break.”

“What’s on her schedule this afternoon?” he barked.

“Is there a problem?” Grace asked as she stepped off the elevator and approached Avery’s desk.

“I need to speak to you,” Mac said gruffly. “It’s important. When are you free?”

Feeling annoyed at his abruptness and formal tone, she held her chin up and said, “I have a phone meeting at 3:00 that should only last about half an hour. I can meet with you after that.”

“Fine, I’ll speak with you then,” he said curtly.

Grace tilted her head. Something was up. Gone was the sated, relaxed expression that had been present on her husband’s face only a few hours before. This was more than him being irritated at her for something.

But before she could respond, he had already entered his office and closed the door.

Avery looked at Grace. “Do you want me to review the Olsen proposal and highlight the key points for you?”

“Is that what this is about?”

“I, um, I’m not sure. I know he asked me if you had looked it over yet.”

Grace frowned. “He could have just asked me.”

“You were, um, gone.”

“The man owns a smartphone, doesn’t he? He can text Bentley when he’s in the mood for playtime, but he can’t type a simple message to me?”

Avery was as confused as Grace was. “I don’t know. He seemed fine earlier but looked really stressed when he came out looking for you.”

Inhaling sharply, Grace said, “Yes, please look over Dax’s email and let me know the pertinent information. Do you have time to do that while I’m on this call? If so, send it to me, and I’ll take a quick look before I head in to see what’s changed his mood so quickly.”

After her call, Grace headed into Mac’s office with the outline for acquiring Dax Olsen’s firm in hand. She felt irritation creep up her spine at the idea that Mac would chastise her for waiting a few hours to review an offer that had taken many weeks to be submitted.

But it wasn’t like Mac to treat her as a subordinate. Something else must be bothering him.

“Have a seat, Grace,” Mac said, gesturing to the visitor’s chair on the opposite side of his desk. His tone was so formal that she barely recognized it.

“Certainly, McKinley,” she responded just as formally. If he was going to treat her oddly, two could play that game. “If this is about the acquisition offer...”

“It’s not,” he said grimly. “Grace, please, just sit.”

She did as he asked and tried hard not to be pissed. Instead of sitting behind his desk, he sat in the chair next to her. She felt her anger give way to concern.

“McKinley, what’s going on?”

He tried not to take it personally that she kept calling him by his given name instead of the nickname she’d bestowed on him on the day they first met.

“I just got off the phone with the FBI. They won’t need you to testify…”

“What?” Grace cut Mac off. “Why not? Oh, God, no! Please don’t tell me that the charges are being dropped. Armel Kouassi and his gang of friends viciously attacked me when I was young, naïve, and thought myself in love. Then, they made my life hell by having me arrested and stealing my passport, so I was stuck in Cote d’Ivoire. I ended up becoming a fucking prostitute to survive.”

He let her rant.

“Let’s fast forward to when I finally had my life together, and that fucking Bakary Konen started blackmailing me, threatening to ruin my reputation, and I ended up jobless, penniless, and homeless, having to start all over again!”

Grace wasn’t sitting any longer. She was up and pacing as she let out her anger. “Then, after meeting the man of my dreams, these assholes tried to fuck it all up again. But finally, someone with the power to do something was willing to listen to me. Sam, the FBI agent, assured me that the case was solid since she had other women who had come forward as well. She said the cybercrime of using email to blackmail alone would make this a slam dunk!

“I don’t understand! They are monsters who prey on naïve women. They were supposed to get what was coming to them; there was supposed to be justice! What could have possibly gone wrong?”

“Grace, the case won’t go to trial because they both committed suicide yesterday,” Mac said as he walked up to Grace and took her in his arms. “Their lawyer visited them in the afternoon at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in lower Manhattan. When they didn’t report for dinner, guards checked their cells and found them both dead. It appears that they used cyanide capsules to take their own lives.”

Grace was frozen. Suddenly, she felt like she couldn’t breathe. She went limp in Mac’s arms and started sobbing.

Mac was seething with anger. He’d once considered taking their lives himself, but he realized that Grace needed to see these men pay for their crimes. Now, that would never happen; justice would never be served. Armel Kouassi and Bakary Konen had taken the coward’s way out and left Grace and the other women they’d targeted without a sense of closure.

But his wife needed his strength, not his anger. So, he said nothing while she cried until she had no tears left.

When she was quiet, he finally spoke. “I’m so sorry, Grace.”

“You didn’t do anything,” she answered numbly. She broke off the embrace and fell back into the chair.

“That’s just it; I didn’t do anything. I trusted the FBI, the courts, and the jail system to do their fucking jobs instead of killing them myself,” he said bitterly.

Grace looked at her husband with disbelief. “What? What do you mean? Killing them would have accomplished nothing and would have destroyed our lives. What the hell were you thinking?”

“Relax, Grace. I didn’t say I was going to do it. I was certainly pissed off enough to arrange for their deaths. What good is having a fuck-ton of money if you can’t hire hitmen to avenge your wife? But I didn't because doing so would have only hurt you. I would never do anything to hurt you, Grace. You needed to see them be convicted and have their cushy way of life taken away. I understood that, and I let things play out as they were meant. But they found a way to escape the consequences.”

Tears streamed down Grace’s face again as she sank to the floor. “I didn’t expect them to do a moment of jail time for the physical abuse I suffered. But I thought if they were punished for other crimes, that would be enough. Now, that won’t even happen.”

“What can I do to make this better for you, Grace?” Mac asked gently, still holding his anger at bay.

She said nothing for a moment; she felt broken. What could anyone do? Nothing! Then she grew angry again. “I want proof. I want to see their bodies, McKinley. Call the FBI and demand it!”

He kneeled beside her, took her chin gently in his hand, and said, “I’ve already asked for permission to see their bodies in the morgue. Agent Sam said she’d look into it.”

“Good, because I won’t believe they are dead until I see their bodies on slabs. Otherwise, how do we know this isn’t just some scheme to get away with hurting me yet again?”

“We will go look at those dead fuckwads if it’s important to you. But does it matter if they are dead or serving a lengthy prison sentence? Either way, they can never hurt you again, Grace.”

“I wanted them to suffer; I wanted them to have their lives turned upside down and their freedom to choose how they live denied. I wanted them to know that I helped put them there.”

“They knew, Gracie,” Mac said softly. “They knew you’d beaten them, so they took their own lives rather than go to prison.”

“I wanted to take my own life after they left me battered and bruised,” she admitted.

Mac felt a fist squeezing his heart at the thought of his life without her. He realized it had been a horrific time in her life, but he hadn’t known that she’d considered ending it all. “I’ll always be grateful that you didn’t. I’m so lucky that you found the strength to survive. I’d be lost without you. You’ve given me everything. So, they may have found an easy escape from the suffering they deserved, but you still win, Grace. You and I have built a beautiful life together, and nothing can change that. We have our love for each other, our children, and...

At that moment, Merlin, their sweet rescue kitty, jumped off the windowsill where he’d been sunning himself and nudged Grace on the shoulder. She picked him up and buried her face in his warm, soft fur.

“...and our astute cat, who senses when his mama is sad.”

Grace held tight to Merlin and looked up at Mac. “He’s pretty good at soothing my heart. How about you help soothe my soul?”

Offering her his hand, he helped Grace stand, then took her and the purring furball into his arms. “I’d be more than happy to, my love. I can’t change the past, though I wish to God I could. But I can shower you with my love.”

“You don’t need to change my past,” Grace said wistfully. “You’re my present and my future; that’s all that matters. You’re right; in some ways, those scumbags being dead means they can’t somehow pay off a judge, get a sympathetic jury, or get out of prison early for good behavior. They are gone for good, and they won’t ever be able to hurt me again.”

Mac said nothing; he simply held her close and listened.

“I don’t need to see them, Mac. Admittedly, I’m relieved I’ll never have to face those smug bastards in court. I’m…”

She rested her head on Mac’s shoulder.

No words were necessary. He could see that she was drained. He’d take her upstairs, lie with her while she rested, and then make love to her.

Chapter Eight

Reaching for his phone, he saw a text from Avery.

I couldn’t help but overhear what happened. I’ve made myself scarce so you can take care of Grace. I let Uncle Bentley know that the staff needs to stay clear of the business level and your residential floor. I can handle anything that comes up or postpone anything that needs direct attention from you and Grace. Please let me know if there is anything more I can do.

Mac took a moment to answer.

Thank you. I’ve always said that Grace was brilliant to hire you.

Merlin jumped out of Grace’s arms, looked up at Mac, and meowed.

“I think he just told me to take it from here,” Mac chuckled.

“Take me to bed, Mac,” Grace said, her voice barely a whisper.

She held Mac’s hand as they stepped onto the elevator. She felt empty inside and prayed to God that her husband would find a way to make her feel whole and alive again.

He led her into their suite, hoping for the same thing. He quickly removed his clothing while he watched her stand there, looking lost. It broke his heart to see her like this. He undressed her lovingly and took her to bed.

Climbing under the covers, Mac spooned Grace and felt her body shudder from silent tears.

“Let it out, baby. We don’t need to do anything but lie here together. I love you so much.”

Grace said nothing; she just enjoyed the closeness and warmth of Mac’s body. It made her feel safe and loved. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to enjoy the comfort he offered.

After a short while, her body sought comfort in another way. Wiggling her butt against him, she felt him grow hard. She turned to face him and was rewarded with sweet, tender kisses.

Moments later, Mac’s kisses moved to her neck. Grace reveled in the slow, sensual foreplay of Mac’s teasing tongue as he licked and nibbled his way to her full, creamy breasts. Capturing an erect nipple in his mouth, he suckled it so gently that she thought she might die of need. Feeling her body respond, he switched to the other nipple, giving it the same incredible pleasure as the first.

Grace felt her body come alive under his touch. Mac traveled down her body, planting soft, wet kisses on her smooth skin until he reached her bare mound. He looked up at her, his eyes asking a question. She gazed intently into his eyes and said, “Oh, God, yes!”

Mac grinned, then used that talented tongue to make love to his wife. He teased her, opening up delicate, pink folds, then probed her, dipping into her delicious nectar. Her hips rocked as his tongue did decadent things to her hard little nub. The sensations were incredible and had her back arching as her first climax rewarded Mac’s efforts with her delectable juices. This time, when he felt her shudder, there were no tears of sadness, only joy.

He repeated this erotic pleasure three more times before Grace begged, “I need you inside me.”

Happy to oblige her, he kissed his way back up her body and gazed into her eyes as he entered her slowly, as if he were taking a virgin for the first time. Deliberate moves caused her eyes to flutter, making Mac feel confident that he was giving Grace what she needed. Her look of pure enjoyment prompted him to continue the slow pace that usually annoyed her. It was lovely to take his time with her like this; usually, by now, she’d be impatiently insisting that he fuck her hard, fast, and deep, but her body moved in rhythm with his as he controlled the tempo.

Caught unawares, her back arched, and her orgasm consumed her unexpectedly. Only then did he increase his pace to send her over again quickly.

Mac made love to her like this for nearly an hour before his own needs could no longer be denied. Grinning at his wife in her somewhat delirious state, and asked, “Are you ready to be fucked good and hard now, my love?”

“Oh, God, yes!” she cried. “Please fuck me, Mac! I need you to take me hard now.”

After showing considerable restraint for so long, it felt incredible to plunge deeply and pound into her needy pussy. His frenzied pumping took Grace over the edge several times more before his balls constricted, almost painfully, and let go as his seed coated her womb.

“Fuckkk, you feel so good, Gracie!”

He continued to thrust until he brought her to one final, screaming orgasm.

“Oh, my fucking God! Nobody fucks like you, Mac! No one ever could!”

He watched her face take on a look of sheer and utter joy. He held himself there inside her for a few moments longer, enjoying the state of sated bliss they’d reached together.

Together. And wasn’t that all that mattered?

As if reading his mind, Grace said softly, “Nothing else matters as long as we are together.”

Mac slid out of her slowly and lay next to her on the bed, draping an arm over her while nuzzling her neck. “You are absolutely right, my love.”

Grace grinned. “Of course, I’m right. It’s my job to be right,” she teased.

Mac felt his heart swell. There she was, his confident Grace, the woman who could take on the world and make everything better and brighter. It was gratifying to be the one to do that for her.

Again, she sensed his thoughts. “Thank you for knowing exactly what I needed. I meant what I said; as long as we’re together, nothing else matters. I’m tired of holding onto the anger and hurt that Armel and Bakary caused me. It’s exhausting to keep relieving the pain and fear; it’s time to let it go. If I’m honest with myself, dead is better than incarcerated. I know that sounds horrible, but...

“It’s not horrible to be glad your abusers can’t ever hurt you or anyone else ever again. And if being dead accomplishes that, so be it. In my opinion, they got what they deserved. Prison would have been too kind of a fate,” Mac said, admitting his feelings.

Grace curled herself into her husband and felt contentment wash over her. She could finally be done with the part of her past that had haunted her for years. She could stop looking over her shoulder; she was free!