Ashiya didn’t let up. “Why do you still reach for me?”
His eyes met hers, and his body shivered. “Because I can’t get you out of my mind. I fucking hate it. You broke my heart. You hurt me more than anyone ever has, but fuck, Ashiya, I can’t forget you.”
His head lowered, and his lips took hers in a hard kiss. His ragged confession tore her to pieces. She might not deserve the second chance, but she’d be damned if she let it go by. Ashiya’s arms wrapped around his neck, and she lifted on her toes. Her lips parted and gave his tongue access to her mouth. The kiss was hot, raw, and driven by their need.
His large hands gripped her hips and held her firmly. His hold on her was tight and demanding, as if he were afraid she’d slip between his fingers. He didn’t have to worry about that. If Russell was going to hold on to her now, she’d never let go. She wrapped one leg around his, opening her thighs so that the heat of her sex could get closer to the tempting press of his erection. She was close, but not close enough.
He lifted her hips. Ashiya jumped, and her legs wrapped around his waist. His hard dick pressed right in the slick junction of her thighs. That was so much better. She hadn’t worn panties after showering and put on the light sundress to lounge around in. Yes, a part of her had hoped he would come home, want her, and notice her lack of underwear. Now, with the front of his pants brushing against the aching swell of her clit, none of her ulterior motives mattered.
Russell moved away from the counter. She thought he would take her to the bedroom, but instead he crossed the room to the wooden table in the kitchen and sat her on the edge of the cool, hard surface. Their mouths didn’t part as he rewarded her again with a sexy kiss. His long fingers slid up her thigh in a light, teasing touch that stopped right at the edge of her dress. She squirmed on the table.
“Keep going up,” she panted against his lips.
She felt his smile against her lips. “Why?” His fingers inched up a few delicious centimeters.
“You’ll find out why if you listen to me.” She grabbed his face and pulled him forward for another hard kiss.
His hands took their sweet time slowly getting closer, closer, and closer to the wetness between her legs. She was so damn wet. So damn needy, and if he didn’t touch her she was going to explode. Finally, his fingers slid across the slick outer lips of her sex.
He groaned against her mouth. “No panties.”
“You know I don’t like wearing them at night.”
“And you know what the thought of you in no panties does to me.” He stepped back to shove up the edges of her dress.
Ashiya’s legs opened wider for his view. She loved the way his body shook whenever he got a good look at her wet folds. “I think I may have forgotten?” she said in a teasing voice.
He cocked a brow. “Your ass didn’t forget.”
No, she hadn’t forgotten. She couldn’t get a single thing about him out of her mind. That’s how she’d known that even if she’d moved on, met someone else, and eventually been happy with a new person, she still would have a soft spot for Russell. No matter what happened in her life, he was the one she’d always regret losing and secretly yearn for.
“Remind me.” She didn’t care that her voice trembled with a plea.
He grabbed her legs and pushed them wider. Ashiya grinned, then gasped at the raw hunger in his face. She leaned back on her elbows. Russell put one of the chairs between her spread legs, and then his lips and oh-so-skillful tongue were there. Licking perfectly, sucking just right, nibbling in every way she liked. Her head fell back, and her mouth fell open.
He gripped the outsides of her thighs, and pushed up and out so that he could get even deeper. His stiff tongue drove inside her, and Ashiya’s cry of pleasure bounced off the stainless-steel appliances. His mouth took her to the edge and then backed out until she whimpered and begged him for more. Tightness drifted up from her toes, calves and thighs and culminated in her midsection. His lips slowed, and his tongue laved lazily right before his teeth gently slid across her aching clit. The tightness snapped free, and her orgasm exploded through her body. Her hand slapped the table and her throat hurt from her raw, uninhibited cry.
When she could finally catch her breath, she pushed herself up on the table. Russell watched her. Desire, satisfaction and a hint of adoration were written all over his face. He’d unbuttoned his pants and pushed them down around his ankles. One hand stroked up and down the hard length of his dick. Ashiya’s body, and heart, trembled. There was nothing she wouldn’t do to always have this man in her life, looking at her, and loving her like this.
She slid off the table, onto his lap, her legs straddling his thighs. She placed her hands on his cheeks and kissed him long and deep. The taste of her mingled with him. She would never get tired of that flavor. He stood and sat her back on the table. Her legs spread and she shifted forward. Then Russell pushed inside her.
Her nails dug into his shoulder. “Oh God,” she moaned.
“Not God. Just Russell,” he said in that sexy, confident way he had whenever they made love. His hips pulled back, then pushed in.
Ashiya met his thrust with one of her own. “Never just Russell.”
He thrust in again, and her eyes rolled to the back of her head. His urgency from earlier was gone. He took on a steady rhythm that slowly built her desire all over again. Until she moaned and gripped at him as if he were her only lifeline to the world. When her desire was at his height again, his pace quickened. He always did that. Waited for her to catch up before taking them both over the edge. With one arm around his neck and his hands clutching her waist, they matched rhythm. Their eyes locked on each other. The connection, the feel of him deep, so deep inside her, and the happiness of knowing he was back with her, that they were back together, were almost too much for her to handle. Her orgasm started low and slow. Russell’s eyes lit up, his thrusts turned fast and hard, and he stiffened, then released inside her just as she crashed over.
“Oh my God, Russell, I love you!”
His body froze. Ashiya’s eyes clenched closed. She couldn’t look at him. She’d seriously fucked up the mood.
CHAPTER TWENTY
SEVERAL DAYS LATER, Ashiya sat in the executive conference room at the Legacy Group, frowning at the latest profit report for the new shampoo the company released the previous quarter. Though the profits were above the projections, there was still something about the numbers that threw her.
“We lost a lot of money on the packaging,” she said. She looked up from the report to Russell sitting across from her at the gleaming table. Whenever they came into the office, he opted for his suit, and Ashiya spent a good portion of the day imagining peeling every conservative layer off him the moment they got home.
“That’s not the only place,” Russell said. “There was also a loss in a couple of areas during production, but because the overall production costs came in at budget, it’s easy to overlook.”
Brianna sighed and leaned forward in her chair next to Ashiya. “Which means whoever was skimming money is getting bolder.”
Ashiya looked back at the numbers before her. “And getting sloppier. Before, the money that was taken wasn’t easily seen. Now it’s as if the person feels bold.”
“Or desperate,” Levi said from his chair next to Russell.
Ashiya met Russell’s gaze. The grim look in his eyes reflected how she felt. The person responsible either knew they were on to them and was trying to go out with one last hurrah or felt the change in leadership was too inept to realize what was happening. Neither was a good situation.
Ashiya slapped the report down on the table in front of her. “I want to find out who’s behind this, and I want to know in a week. I don’t like being played for a fool. It’s bad enough this happened before when my grandmother was in charge, but I won’t let it keep happening under my watch.”
Le
vi’s hand tightened into a fist on the table. “I should have caught it sooner. I trusted your grandmother when she said the financial reports were good.”
“The reports were good,” Ashiya countered. “It’s the backup reports that weren’t. I know you don’t want to hear it, but we can’t ignore the fact that someone on your team is behind this.”
Levi’s dark eyes gleamed defensively. “I trust my team.”
Russell turned to Levi. “Trusting your team is great, but you can’t deny what’s in front of you. Your group reconciles the reports. Someone either noticed what was happening and said nothing or didn’t realize what was happening. Either way, we can’t keep this up.”
Levi jerked on his suit jacket. “Are you questioning my integrity?”
Russell shook his head. “No, but I am stating what you may not want to face. You’re too close to the people on your team.”
Levi’s jaw tightened. Over the past few days, she’d witnessed how much pride Levi had in his employees and his dedication to the company. She didn’t believe he was behind the embezzlement, but his trust in the people he worked with might have blinded him to the subtle stealing under his nose.
She spoke up before he could argue back at Russell. “It’s time to have one-on-one talks with the people overseeing production and marketing. We need details on the losses and why they happened.” Ashiya met Levi’s frustrated stare. “Russell and I can do it under the guise of new ownership coming in. We don’t know everyone and are more likely to notice if something is off.”
“I want to be involved,” Levi said. “I want to catch this person just as much as you do.” The edge in his voice was hard and determined. Ashiya almost would have felt sorry for the person who’d deceived him, if they weren’t skimming thousands of dollars from the company.
“We’ll find the person, or persons, behind this. Don’t worry,” she said.
Brianna glanced at her watch, then at them. “It’s lunchtime. We all should eat.” Her eyes darted to Levi before coming back to Ashiya.
It was well past lunch, and Ashiya’s stomach was about to protest. “Sure. How about I order something?”
Russell waved a hand. “No need. I’ll go pick something up. Any preference?”
After a brief discussion of options, they settled on sub sandwiches. Russell wrote down what everyone wanted and left without giving her a backwards glance. Ashiya fought not to follow him out of the room. He hadn’t officially agreed to getting back together, but he hadn’t opposed it either. Even though she was living her fantasy and peeling off his clothes as soon as they got home every night, since their encounter in kitchen, she could tell he still held back a piece of himself.
It was the “I love you.” Those three little words that had ruined perfectly fine relationships since humans created words of affection. Why had she said that? And right after sex, no less? It was too much too soon. She knew she wanted Russell now and forever, but he was just getting used to the idea of them being back together after she’d obliterated his heart before.
Levi stood after Russell left to pick up lunch. “I’ve got to make some phone calls before my next meeting.”
Brianna sat forward, concern in her eyes and her voice when she spoke. “Aren’t you going to eat?”
“I will when the food gets here,” he replied.
Brianna pointed a finger at him. “I’ll bring it to you. You will eat,” she said in a stern voice.
Levi’s lips lifted in a half smile. “You’re just as mean as Melissa. Fine, bring the sandwich. I’ll eat.”
Brianna’s lips pressed together as if she were suppressing a smile, and she nodded. After he walked out, Ashiya turned to her. “How do you do it?”
Brianna’s brows drew together. “Do what?”
“Love him like that but not go after him? I don’t understand.”
Brianna blinked, and the sparkles in her eyes from her low-key flirting with Levi were hidden as her professional demeanor dropped down like a curtain. “I don’t love Levi. We’re just colleagues and friends.”
“Oh no. You’re crazy about him. How do you do it? I barely worked with Russell a week before spilling my feelings. You’ve worked with Levi longer.”
Brianna snapped and pointed at her, her eyes bright with an aha gleam. “Even before that kiss I knew there was something between you two.”
“There’s too much between us. We dated three years ago, but things didn’t work out. I wasn’t sure if we’d ever get together again, but for whatever reason, he’s softened a little.”
If letting her in his bed without promises of tomorrow was softening, then she was taking it. Every day she yearned for the full warmth he’d had for her before, but was afraid that if she pushed too hard, he’d only retreat. Which was why blurting out that she loved him during sex was the wrong thing to do. She’d once again expected a talk about them moving too fast, or making a mistake, but no talk had come. He’d just acted as if she hadn’t said anything. The words drifted away like lint in a breeze. Small, insignificant and easily forgotten.
“You two are dating?”
Ashiya lifted a shoulder and straightened the papers in front of her. “Kinda.”
“Sleeping together, then,” Brianna said knowingly.
Ashiya nodded. “That was never a problem between us.”
Brianna shook her head. “That’s why no matter how I may feel about Levi, I won’t do that,” she said with conviction. “I can’t sleep with a man I know doesn’t feel anything for me.”
“He likes you,” Ashiya argued. Brianna was one of the few people who made Levi sort of smile, and he listened to her opinion.
“Yeah, because he’s known me for a long time, and I worked closely with your grandmother. Would he sleep with me? Probably, but that’s all it would be. Sex, and I can’t set my heart up to be broken like that.”
“But sometimes just sex turns into more,” Ashiya said confidently.
Brianna gave Ashiya a girl-have-you-lost-your-mind look. “That stuff only happens in books and movies. In real life, the guy who is emotionally unavailable and in love with someone else doesn’t fall for the other women he lets in his bed in the meantime.”
Ashiya’s eyes widened. “He’s in love with someone.”
“Yep. Loved her for years and tried to be honorable and let the guy who was ‘right for her’ have her.” Brianna made air quotes. “Now she’s on the brink of divorce with that guy, and Levi pretends like he doesn’t care, but he does. I know a lost cause when I see one. I’m not one of those women who believe the power of my coochie will change a man.”
Ashiya flinched even though the words weren’t aimed as a direct insult to her. Still, they hurt. She was hoping that rekindling their sex life would be enough to make Russell realize they belonged together. Was she just being foolish? Would he get his fill of her and then move on, leaving her heartbroken?
The door to the conference room slammed open. Ashiya and Brianna both jumped as a furious Melissa burst into the room. She pointed at Ashiya.
“How dare you try to connect me to something that I have nothing to do with!”
* * *
RUSSELL RETURNED FROM the sandwich shop next door and knew something was wrong the second he stepped out of the elevator. Not many people had offices on the executive level, but those who did stood in the hallway with pensive expressions and stared in the direction of the conference room. Immediately, his steps quickened. He’d prepared himself to, once again, remind Levi that Ashiya could fire him at any time she saw fit. Though her cousin was helping her and was cooperating with the investigation, Russell didn’t miss the way Levi’s jaw tightened or the thinly veiled frustration that took hold of his voice whenever Ashiya questioned one of his decisions. He hadn’t stepped in or called him on it because Levi seemed to accept the fact that Ashiya wasn’t going anywhere, but he’d als
o expected things to come to a head.
He was not prepared to walk in and find Ashiya and Melissa in the middle of a heated argument. Brianna stood between them with her arms up as if to keep them from lunging at each other. Russell dropped the bag of sandwiches on the table and rushed to Ashiya’s side.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
Melissa’s eyes narrowed in on him. “You know exactly what’s going on.”
Russell’s head jerked back. How in the world was he supposed to know the reason for this? Melissa hadn’t been involved with their meetings this week, and he’d been happy to avoid seeing her.
Ashiya answered for him. “Melissa came here to accuse us of slander.” She crossed her arms beneath her breasts and twisted her lips. She looked Melissa up and down as if she were a rat who dared to invade their space. “To me it sounds like she has something to hide.”
Russell turned back to Melissa. They’d kept the investigation into the embezzlement to themselves because they didn’t want to tip off whoever was behind it. Now that the person grew bolder, time was of the essence to clean out the bad people at the Legacy Group. This morning, Levi had taken the realization hard that someone underneath him was intentionally hiding the siphoning of funds. He hoped Levi hadn’t mentioned their concerns to Melissa, and she took that as slander on her name.
“What type of slander?” he asked, keeping his voice calm. He needed to find out what she knew before revealing anything.
Melissa pointed a red painted nail at his chest. “I had nothing to do with whatever happened to your brother. Stop sending people to check into my past as if I did something. I told you already that I barely knew or remember him.”
Her words slammed into him like an unexpected punch. Fast and clumsy but with enough power to knock the breath from him. Russell took a step back and tried to catch up with what was going on. “What does this have to do with my brother?”
Melissa’s blue eyes were like glaciers. “You’ve got a private investigator knocking on my parents’ door, asking questions about me and a spring break party from years ago. That’s what I’m talking about.”
Foolish Hearts Page 19