Page 11 of Beneath His Vow (Knocked Up and Locked Down #1)

“You’re going to have to help me stand up,” I murmur, my legs like jello.

He kisses the spot at the base of my back before he pulls out of me. I can feel his cum between my thighs, coating my skin, marked by him.

Owned by him.

He helps me stand, my dress falling down to cover me. I’m sure I looked dazed, completely and utterly thoroughly fucking ruined—just as he promised.

I watch as he bends down, pulling my panties up my legs and settling them under my stomach. “I need to clean myself. I’m going to ruin my panties,” I complain.

He leans in, his lips brushing the shell of my ear. “I want you sitting there for the rest of the night feeling my cum drip out of you.”

I’m pretty sure I combust internally at those words. “You’re going to kill me talking like that,” I groan.

He kisses behind my ear. “Good. I want you writhing every time you think of me.” He breathes me in, like he’s trying to memorize every part of me. “Fuck, Lexi.” He sounds wrecked, like I’ve broken something inside him and rebuilt it.

“Don’t ever stop loving me this way,” I say, my words soft.

His eyes narrow for a beat. “Are you kidding? I’ll never get enough of you. Especially not like this.”

He kisses me more gently than I have any right to, and then he does exactly what he said. He makes me sit in that room surrounded by our club family, my panties wet with both of our arousals.

I can still feel the effect of what we did the next morning.

I’m sitting at my desk, squirming. I can’t get comfortable after having my insides rearranged. There’s a deep, delicious soreness between my legs and in my thighs.

When I told Casey I woke up aching, he grinned, like it was an accomplishment. Then he kissed my forehead and told me he’d pick me up later just so he can ruin me all over again.

“You have that glow that says you got wrecked last night,” Tasha says over the top of my cubicle wall.

I snap my gaze around in case one of our colleagues is nearby, but we’re alone. Even so, my cheeks heat and I grab a manila folder off my desk to cover my embarrassment.

“You can’t possibly know that just by looking at me.”

“You’re radiating fucked vibes.” She sighs dreamily. “I’m so jealous. I spent my evening curled up on the couch devouring a pint of choc chip ice cream, covered in crumbs and self-loathing. It was not my finest moment.”

I snort. “Sounds pretty perfect to me.”

She makes a sound and ducks back down behind the cubicle wall as Janice steps in behind me.

I’ve only ever dealt with her a handful of times in the years I’ve been with the company.

I don’t really make a habit of visiting HR, but considering the shit going on with James, maybe I should have.

“Are you free?” she asks, twitching on her feet like she’d rather be doing anything else but this.

“Sure.” I stand slowly, aware of how her eyes drop to my bump for just a second before she walks away.

I catch Tasha’s gaze, unsettled by the worry in her eyes before I follow after Janice.

She leads me across the main floor, past desks and nosy colleagues to her office at the end of the room.

James watches from his desk, his expression completely unreadable and that sets all my internal alarms blaring.

Unease prickles along my spine as I step into the room, gently closing the door behind me. This feels like a trap. Like I’m about to be devoured by the corporate beast.

But I take the seat in front of the desk, my expression neutral even as my mind is screaming.

Janice steeples her fingers together on the top of her desk, her brows tight. “You’ve been with the company for three years.”

It’s not a question. She knows the answer. There’s a file in front of her, my name on the label.

What in the fuck is going on?

“Yeah, that sounds about right.”

“And you’ve always done exemplary work in your time with us, Lexi, but I have to address something that’s been brought to my attention.

” That cold feeling becomes glacial. I shift in my seat, and the baby moves inside me, like even they know something bad is about to come.

“I’ve received several troublesome reports from James about the standards you’ve been putting out recently. ”

I freeze.

What the actual fuck?

About me?

About my fucking work?

My spine locks into place, my temper flaring.

That motherfucking asshole. “Right.” It comes out flat. Volatile.

“He’s concerned about some serious errors that have been in your documents lately and has flagged some of your behavior as… well, inappropriate.”

I dig my fingers into the arms of the chair, stunned.

I barely hear a word of what she says over the next five minutes as my brain short circuits.

This entire time he’s been touching me, making me uncomfortable, he’s been building this case against me with HR.

The complaints go back before that first interaction, as if he was already laying the groundwork in case I reported him.

There’s not much that can silence me, but the words stick in my throat like razors.

By the time I leave her office, there’s a write up in my employee file and my brain is numb. My belly feels tight, my body too heavy. And my thoughts are shattered and splintered.

That son of a bitch screwed me over.

And he’s done it so completely I can’t fix it.

I don’t go back to my desk. Instead, I head to the restroom.

I need a second to breathe, to calm myself.

I want to cry and rage at the same time.

My job is at risk—the only thing I have outside of the craziness of club life.

I don’t want to lose it. I’ve worked so hard to get to where I am.

I like coming into the office, seeing Tash and my colleagues.

Weirdly, I like spreadsheets and reports. Information makes my brain tick.

And everything I’ve done and worked toward is now at risk.

Because of him.

Because of his fucking lies.

I blink back my tears. I’m almost at the bathroom door, and I know as soon as I’m inside a locked cubicle I’m going to cry. I just have to get there first.

Before I can escape inside, I hear his voice.

“Alexis.”

My hand pauses on the door, my teeth grinding together. I turn, my anger flaring. He wants to do this here? Fine. I’ll give it to him.

“I don’t know what game you’re playing?—”

“I’m not playing any game,” he interrupts.

His eyes roam over me, making my skin crawl, especially when they linger on my bump.

Instinctively, I shield my stomach from him. “I don’t know what lies you fed to Janice about me, but all I have done is work my ass off. And there’s never been an issue with anything I’ve produced before.”

His eyes flick down to my belly again. “Pregnancy can do strange things to women’s minds.”

Oh, he did not just say that. “So you’re a misogynist and a liar. Good to know.”

His smile is fucking smug and I want to wipe it off his face. I can’t do shit though. Not without getting fired.

“I’m only looking out for the company. We can’t have liabilities ruining deals and costing money now, can we?”

I’m going to break my teeth if I keep grinding my jaw as hard as I am.

“I’m not a liability and you know it.”

“That’s not what HR thinks.”

Before I can react, his hand sweeps my hip. My skin crawls, my body clenching painfully and I shove him away.

“Don’t fucking touch me,” I hiss. “Maybe Janice would be interested to know her golden boy can’t keep his dirty hands to himself.”

He smirks, folding his arms over his chest. “Oh, sweetheart. You honestly think they’re going to believe you?

” I recoil as he leans into me, and my heart slams against my rib cage as I try to melt into the door behind me.

“If you go to HR now and complain about my behavior, they’re going to assume you’re saying it in retaliation for getting written up. ”

He’s right. If I complain now, no one will believe me. Any opportunity I had to say something about his sleazy ass is gone, and I’ve never felt more helpless than I do right now.

I glare at him, fire burning through my veins. “You need to back up. Right now.”

He doesn’t move, and my heart thumps. Fuck. I don’t know what to do if he doesn’t move away.

I fumble behind me, trying to find the door handle. Fear burns through my veins, my vision wobbling as the baby kicks in warning inside me.

Then, he steps back, holding his hands up in mock surrender. The smug look on his face is a knife to the chest.

“Don’t take too long in the restroom, Alexis. I’d hate to write you up again.”

Asshole motherfucker.

“Just stay out of my way, James.” I find the handle and open the door behind me. My eyes don’t leave his until I’m inside the restroom, the door between us.

My chest heaves, my breath hitching as I rush into the first cubicle and slam the lock into place.

Fuck.

Holy fuck.

I lean against the door, tears rolling free now.

Every part of me vibrates with the need to call Casey. I want him. Need him. I’ve never felt so hopeless and helpless before. My life is slipping through my fingers and I can’t do anything to stop it.

Not even lean on the one person who will be one hundred percent on my side.

If I tell Casey what happened, he’ll lose his shit and things are already a mess. I’m not ready to pour gasoline onto an already lit fire.

I stay in the cubicle as long as I dare, sucking back breath after breath until I fill my lungs without panic.

Then I wipe my face, and I steel my spine. I’m Lexi Callahan. I’m not weak, even if I feel it.

I walk stiffly back to my desk, my body like lead.

Tasha gives me a curious, probing look as I sit, but I can’t meet her gaze. I’m embarrassed and ashamed, and I don’t know why. I haven’t done anything wrong.

I feel weak. That’s what he’s done. James has taken my strength, reduced me to a damsel in need of saving.

I don’t know how I get through the rest of the day. I’m numb, dazed. All I want to do is go home and crawl into bed. The only thing that keeps me going is the feel of my baby moving inside me, as if they can sense I need the reminder I’m not alone.