by JC Harroway
I eye him over the rim of my glass, my pulse flying. Why does he make me feel so reckless? Is it his power and success, a serious aphrodisiac? Is it because I didn’t expect to share anything in common with him? Or is it just pure, unadulterated and uncontrollable lust that’s made me desperate to kiss him since we left the elevator?
‘I don’t want to interrupt your work.’ I glance at the desk and his lonely laptop.
He holds my stare, his thick-lashed eyes intense. ‘It can wait. Can you?’
My breath is trapped in my lungs. This wasn’t the evening I had planned, but why not? Who knows—perhaps it will smooth the eventual business negotiations?
I shudder out a sigh and clank my glass down on the low coffee table. ‘No. I can’t.’
I lean in close. He leans too.
My hands find his strong biceps as he slides one hand to my thigh. I’m not sure who kisses who first, but it doesn’t matter. Our lips collide, a sublime yielding, give and take. Power and life pulse to the tips of my fingers and toes. It’s been way too long since I’ve felt this degree of attraction, and I fall into it headfirst.
I slide my fingers around his neck, urging him closer. He presses one hand between my shoulder blades, crushing my chest to his so I’m encircled in his strong arms. My lips part to welcome the surge of his tongue, and my nipples tingle against his rock-hard muscles.
I was right about the excellent kissing.
He pulls away and I actually moan in protest.
‘Well, that was a surprise...’ He cups my cheek and glides his thumb over my skin, his aroused stare searching mine and a hint of amusement twitching his beautiful mouth.
I can’t help my own smile. My business plan is completely sidelined by this fierce and unforeseen want. Of all the things I’d hoped to achieve tonight with Sterling Lombard, pleasure wasn’t one of them, but when opportunity knocks...
‘I’m full of those,’ I say, tugging his mouth back to mine.
CHAPTER TWO
Sterling
HER STARTLING BLUE eyes brim with desire as we break for air. How long has it been since I felt chemistry this intense? Too damned long. I grip her exquisite, heart-shaped face and direct her lush mouth under mine once more, kissing her the way I wanted to the moment our eyes met.
The minute she stepped into the elevator, her silky black dress hugging her pert breasts and rounded hips, the hemline flirting enticingly just above her knees, my lousy Friday improved. Being with a woman intriguing and beautiful enough to make me forget the call I received earlier deserves my undivided focus.
‘If I’d known you were at the party,’ I say in between kisses, ‘I’d have stuck around longer.’ I’d shown my face early on out of duty, greeting a few high-profile clients, but parties aren’t really my thing. Not the kind going on upstairs anyway, which will likely result in a fair bit of embarrassment between colleagues on Monday morning, not to mention a few hangovers tomorrow. A party for two with a beautiful woman over a glass of excellent bourbon is more my style.
It reminds me of where I am and how I arrived here, surrounded by markers of the success Marcus Brent—my stepfather, though I’m loath to call him that—told me I’d never achieve. My lavish office in a Manhattan building I own, where I head up the New York division of a global private equity company, would suggest otherwise. A testament to my years of hard work, long hours and the determination to prove a naysayer wrong.
Why am I thinking about him?
‘I’m glad I left when I did.’ Ava groans into my mouth.
I curl my fingers into the fabric over her hips, satisfaction streaking along my nerve endings. I don’t normally seduce women in the elevator, but since my divorce four years ago I’ve grown accustomed to beautiful dates like Ava. And there’s something special about her—a stunning figure, luscious dark, glossy hair I want to twist in my hand and a full mouth practically made for kissing.
Without breaking the kiss Ava slides off the killer stilettos I’d first admired upon seeing her and straddles my lap. She hoists her dress up her thighs. I catch a glimpse of black lace and my cock surges against my fly. I want this woman, badly.
Lucky for me, I always get what I want.
‘You have no idea how much I needed you tonight,’ I say, dragging her closer so her breasts crush against my chest.
She laughs, her eyes sparking with arousal and playfulness. ‘Bad day at the office?’ She strokes my hair, which has a tendency to flop over my right eye, away from my face. It’s a trait I inherited from my deceased father.
The gesture speaks volumes about the kind of woman she is—I’m definitely going to want to see her again.
‘Something like that.’ I press one hand between her shoulder blades, chasing her lips with mine and chasing away the lingering annoyance I’ve battled since this afternoon’s phone call from my mother.
Through the same calculating streak he likely learned from Marcus, my stepbrother, Josh, persuaded her to exert her influence where he’s failed. I have something Josh wants: Brent’s Express.
Marcus sold his neglected company to me six months ago, just before he died, cutting out his son in a bid for cash. I refuse to show Josh more sentimentality and family loyalty than his own father. Josh might have convinced my mother that with him at the helm of Brent’s, Marcus’s name can live on, but I’m fully in control now. Of my own success, and the fate of Marcus’s company.
I must make some sound of dissent. Ava pulls back and stares down at me. ‘Are you okay?’
She rocks her hips, massaging my erection between her legs, a reminder of all the fucking awesome things I’ve engineered in my life since I left home and escaped my stepfather’s hateful influence.
‘I’m fantastic. You?’ I slide my hands up her back into the long, silky mass of her softly tumbling hair, fisting the glossy strands. How can I be thinking about my stepfather when the most fascinating and attractive woman I’ve met in years is looking at me like she wants to eat me alive?
She nods, her glazed eyes hooded with pleasure as she leans over me and kisses me as if I’m the last man on earth.
Get your shit together, Lombard. There’ll be plenty of time for your revenge.
Ava’s hands leave my shoulders and she tugs my tie loose, sliding it from under my collar and tossing it beside us on the sofa. Her breath comes in sexy little pants, her stunning blue eyes dancing with mine. She reaches for the top buttons of my shirt, her teeth tugging her bottom lip with a hint of uncertainty. ‘Do you have a condom?’
I nod, cupping the cheeks of her ass and guiding her hips forward where I’m hard between her legs. I grind us together until we both groan. ‘I do.’ I press a kiss to her pouty lips, swollen and lip-gloss-free, thanks to our make-out session. ‘But there’s no rush.’
Having her in my bed all night can be my reward for a distracting day.
Clearly determined to torture me, she begins a sexy lap striptease, sliding first one strap of her dress and then the other from her shoulders. The fabric sits above her generous breasts in a taunt that makes my blood pound harder.
‘There’s a zip at the back.’ She leans forward so I’m engulfed in her divine-smelling hair. I reach around to slowly undo the zip. Every second of the metallic scraping shunts my testosterone higher. She shoves the dress to her waist, staring at me with uninhibited invitation. Her breasts are perfect, just big enough, her nipples pink and inviting. I cup them both and slide my thumbs over the tight peaks, watching with fascination as desire darkens her eyes to almost turquoise blue.
‘You like that?’ Who is this alluring creature? I already know that one night isn’t going to be enough. My divorce has curtailed my desire for a anything long-term, but some things are worth indulging in more than once.
Ava nods, her plump bottom lip caught under her teeth as she releases a soft moan I could listen to all day.
<
br /> ‘I want to see you.’ She unbuttons my shirt and bares my chest, her pupils flaring in appreciation that make the hours spent in the gym worthwhile. She presses her mouth to the base of my throat. I close my eyes and relax my head back on the sofa, enjoying every kiss and lick she lavishes over my throat.
‘Where did you come from?’ I ask, need hot in my veins. I feel her answering smile against my skin.
‘I was born and raised in Brooklyn.’ Her soft chuckle, the hint of her sense of humour, makes me smile.
Beautiful, sexy, and funny.
I store this nugget of information away for later, too turned on for conversation but burning up to know everything there is to know about this woman. Have I ever clicked so quickly with someone? She’s distractingly beautiful—the glossy black hair and blue eyes a striking combination.
Just then she palms my dick and my mind blanks of everything but the way she’s making me forget my past and the burr under my skin that today’s outlandish demand from Josh created. I want more of Ava, and, as my shitty stepfather would soon see if he were still alive to witness my plans for his business, I’m a man of my word.
‘Hold tight,’ I say, gripping her hips and rising to my feet in one smooth move.
She squeals, laughing and wrapping her arms around my shoulders and her legs around my waist. ‘Where are we going?’
She smells fantastic, spicy and feminine. Her scent is already embedded in the fabric of my shirt, so I know I’ll be able to smell her on my sheets after tonight.
‘Somewhere more comfortable...’ I push open the door to the bedroom adjoining my office and the automatic lights illuminate the space in a subdued glow.
‘Oh, wow. You even sleep at your office.’ She looks around the king-sized room and ensuite bathroom beyond.
‘Sometimes.’ I grin, mildly embarrassed that I’ve become something of a workaholic since I moved back to New York three years ago and took Bold global. My ex, Monroe, stayed in London and our third partner, Hudson, moved to Tokyo.
In two strides we’re at the bed. Ava shivers as I lay her down against the cool linen, then she props herself up on her elbows and watches me undress.
‘This is very convenient,’ she says, her eyes moving over my body. ‘You don’t even need to leave the office to date.’
I laugh. ‘It’s pretty handy for the frequent nights I work late and can’t be bothered to go home. Or for that once-in-a-lifetime occasion when an exquisite woman seduces me in the elevator.’ I kick off my shoes and remove my socks.
‘Yes, I guess I did do that...’ She releases a breathy sigh, perhaps of longing, as I quickly shed my clothes.
‘I’m not complaining. Just in case you have the impression that I’m horribly lazy, you should know that I do normally leave the office to date. I know how to show a lady a pretty good time, something you’ll discover when you give me your number in the morning.’
She smiles, her eyes narrowed playfully. ‘You can show me a good time now.’ Her painted toes curl into the comforter under her as I prowl closer. I want to kiss her from her head to those elegant toes, but I’m wound too tight with desire to go slow the first time, despite stating earlier we had all night.
‘Oh, I intend to.’ When I shove my boxers down my thighs and kick them aside, her mouth hangs open. I could scale skyscrapers from the admiring expression on her face.
‘You have too many clothes on.’ I tug her black dress over her hips and groan when she’s left in only black lacy panties. ‘Fuck, you’re gorgeous. Leaving that party when I did might just be the best decision of my life.’
She chuckles, the sexy sound soon dying in her throat, because I can’t stop my hands from roaming her soft skin, up her slender thighs, over the curve of her hips, across her stomach and back to the breasts she’s shoving into my hands as she writhes on the bed.
I put one knee next to her hip and lift one breast to my mouth, triumph spicing my blood when she cries out my name and curls her fingers into the sheets. I lave her nipple, dragging out a series of breathy moans from her, and then I suck down until she’s twisting my hair in her hands and all but begging me with her eyes.
‘I haven’t done this in a while,’ she says, panting.
‘Don’t worry—can’t you feel how good we’re going to be together?’
She nods, her pupils dilating to swallow most of her brilliant blue irises.
‘I want to taste all of you.’ I treat the other breast to the same attention while Ava grips my cock and strokes her fist from root to tip, honing in on the sensitive spot under the crown. It’s distractingly good, but I want to know all of her gorgeous body intimately. She’s better than twenty-five-year-old bourbon—decadent and rich and memorable.
I rear back, planning to pin her hands beside her head so I can really go to town on every inch of her exposed skin, but before I have a chance she sits up.
‘Me too.’ She grips my cock and takes me into her eager mouth.
‘Ava,’ I bark in warning, loving the sight of those plump lips, which are red from our kissing, wrapped around me. I fight the urge to close my eyes as intense pleasure grips my entire body. I enjoy her sucking for a few minutes, fisting her hair and holding her head to keep her eyes on mine while she works me with her tongue. I look down and she looks up, her eyes blazing with lust. I’m lost in her stare and the desperate moans she makes and the increasingly vigorous sucking.
‘Stop.’ I jerk my hips back before this is over too soon. ‘My turn.’ I scrape the lace panties down her pale thighs and press a kiss to her mound. I push her thighs wider, taking a good look at the sweetness between her legs.
‘You’re beautiful.’ I kiss her inner thighs, teasing her and chuckling when she shudders. I trace one finger over the strip of dark curls until I locate her slick clit. She gasps, shoving up onto her elbows so she can watch. I part her lips and push two fingers inside her, twisting my wrist as I plunge them home through her wetness.
‘Yes, don’t stop,’ she pleads.
‘I’m not going anywhere, sweetheart.’ I lave her clit with the tip of my tongue, sucking in the erotic scent of her on a low growl I can’t hold in.
‘Oh...my...’ Her neck arches back. She grips my head in one hand and holds me in place. Her eyes lock with mine and connection, urgent and undeniable, zaps between us. I was right to trust my instincts with this woman. She’s just the well-timed balm I need.
Her hips jerk, rocking in small thrusts against my mouth. Ava’s not one to lie back and take it, and my heart beats against my ribs at how perfect she is. I plunge my fingers in and out and suck down on her clit, watching in fascination as pleasure streaks across her exquisite face. Her hair is a wild tumble around her flushed cheeks, the ends curling over her shoulders, down to her breasts. Her cries grow more desperate, her voice breaking as ecstasy grips her in its brutal hold. She falls into her climax with a long wail, and satisfaction roars through me.
I snatch a condom from the drawer beside the bed and quickly cover myself, then spread her thighs again and guide myself inside her soaking pussy.
‘Yes,’ she cries. ‘I wanted you the minute I saw you.’
‘Me too,’ I confess as I glide through her wet core.
She grips my forearms, which are braced beside her head. Her breasts bounce with the force of my thrusts. She lets go and reaches overhead to prop her arms against the headboard, providing counter friction to my pounding hips that has me seeing stars.
‘That’s it,’ I say, reaching down between us to stroke her clit once more. ‘Come for me again, beautiful Ava.’
She whimpers, her eyes wild on mine. My orgasm tears through me, pleasure blasting through my brain like a flash of white light as I spill into her. The feeling is amplified when her cries and the way she squeezes me tell me she’s indeed there with me.
I collapse on top of her, already p
lanning an entire night of seduction. We can shower together, chat and get to know each other, swap numbers and perhaps even catch breakfast at the deli around the block.
I roll my weight off her and remove the condom, wrapping it in a tissue and tossing it in the bin. We look at each other, both chuckling. Her flush tells me she’s a little self-conscious as the endorphin high trickles away.
‘You are full of surprises,’ I say, kissing her shoulder, which is dotted with golden freckles.
Her soft acknowledgement makes me smile—an amazing feat after Josh’s infuriating cheek today. Soon Marcus won’t even be a memory. Not for me, or the employees he overlooked in his final years in charge of Brent’s.
I sling my arm over Ava’s waist, my eyes growing heavy. Just five minutes of shut-eye and I’ll be good to go again.
When I wake an hour later, the biggest surprise of all awaits me: no Ava, no goodbye, no phone number.
CHAPTER THREE
Ava
THE FORTY MINUTES it takes me to compose one email to the manager of our freight team should be a prediction of the day to come. I take an unsatisfying slurp of my cold coffee, frustrated that I’ve allowed myself to be distracted by a single night of great sex.
I’m normally more productive on a Monday, refreshed and ready to attack anything awaiting me at Hamilton’s. Except this weekend, while I tried to catch up on work, shopped for groceries, took a yoga class and lost myself in the kitchen and the ritual of making fresh pasta, I couldn’t forget the explosive one-night stand.
I stare at my computer screen, the spreadsheet blurring as my mind wanders back to Friday night and Sterling Lombard. Delicious shivers break out all over my body. A body that remembers every touch, every kiss, every moan even when I want to switch off my mind and focus.
There is no forgetting a night like that.