by Lynn, K. I.
I’d never felt so full, so complete.
It was too much after just coming, and I clamped down on his neck to silence my moans. His breath was hard against my skin, fingers digging into my thigh as his frantic pace picked up.
I was lost in a sea of nothing but pleasure and the growing tension as I moved with him. A second orgasm slammed into me and I clamped down on him, my legs locking him all the way in. Spasms rocketed through me again, blinding white clouding my vision.
A strangled groan and a whispered “fuck” could be heard as he shuddered before frantically reaching between us. He was barely out before he was coming.
Warm droplets fell against my skin as his cock jerked, the hot head rubbing against me with each involuntary thrust of his hips.
In the background I heard the countdown going on before there was nothing but screams and cheers.
“Happy New Year, Richard,” I whispered against his lips.
His breath was still harsh as he came down. “Happy New Year, Natasha.”
I swept a few strands of his hair from his forehead. “Better?”
He nodded. “And you?” There was a tingle as his lips worked their way down my jaw. “Did I accomplish my task?”
“You don’t know?” I asked as I ran my hands up and down his back.
He chuckled. “I counted twice.”
“Once with your fingers, and right at the end when my pussy milked your cock.”
Another groan. “I wanted to stay inside you so badly.”
We stayed in our little bubble for a few minutes, relishing our hidden time alone.
“I guess we should get your coat now,” he said. He pulled the handkerchief from his top pocket and swiped up the now cooled droplets from my skin before discreetly righting our clothing.
Sex had released the pressure, but with his words I knew that wasn’t enough for him, just as it wasn’t enough for me.
“I need to tell Jenna I’m leaving. She’ll probably stay until closing.”
I moved to step forward, but my legs gave out. Before I careened into the ground, I was swept up in Richard’s arms.
“Whoa! I’ve got you,” he said as he held me close, keeping me upright.
“All your fault,” I whimpered. My legs were going to take a minute to recover. When was the last time I could say a guy did that? Richard definitely deserved a repeat performance.
A chuckle rumbled deep in his chest. “Damn straight.”
“Don’t get all cocky on me now.”
“No, I was all cocky in you.”
I shook my head and rolled my eyes. “That was bad.”
“Was it?”
“Definitely.”
“Hmm, I’ll have to blame it on the slow return of blood to my brain.”
I glanced down to his crotch. “There was an awful lot elsewhere.”
We headed back to where our quasi group had spent the evening. Richard kept his arm around me, holding me close and taking on much of my weight. Halfway there, near the window, sat Jenna on the floor with Brent and a few others crouched and standing around her.
“Nat! There you are,” Jenna called out. One of her shoes was off and her ankle was twice the size of normal.
I ran over to Jenna the best I could with Richard’s assistance. Between my Jell-O legs and my dead feet, it wasn’t an easy journey.
“What happened?” I asked as I leaned over. A little wobble of my own and Richard’s strong hands were wrapped around my waist to help steady me.
“I drank and I danced and then I fell,” she said with more than a few slurs, but a smile on her face. It wasn’t surprising, considering I never saw her eat anything but there was always a drink in her hand.
The truth was, I would probably be in the same place if I hadn’t met Richard, if he hadn’t distracted me from everything and everyone.
“We should get you back to the hotel, babe,” I said as I brushed the hair back from her face. I froze for a moment before looking up to Richard. There was disappointment there along with understanding.
He pressed his lips to my shoulder.
“Can we order room service?” she asked.
“Sure. I’m going to go get your coat,” I said as I took her clutch from her and pulled out her ticket. “You stay here.”
Richard helped me to the coat check and held me close as we waited in line.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“She needs you.”
“And I need more of you.”
He placed a kiss on my forehead. “Same, but I’ve been selfish enough with you tonight. You’ll just have to promise me a rain check.”
“I like that idea.”
After retrieving the coats and returning, I threw Jenna’s at Brent, who happily helped her into it.
My legs were steadier and I didn’t require Richard’s assistance anymore, but that didn’t mean I didn’t want him close. My feet still hurt, but I was able to push it out of my mind to help Jenna. His fingers laced with mine as we made our way through the crowd yet again. Brent followed behind, helping Jenna.
There was a line of taxis waiting in the drop-off zone, and Richard pulled open the back door of one so Brent could set Jenna inside. They both pulled out their phones as they chatted, giving me the opportunity to do something I really didn’t want to do.
I stepped closer to Richard and he wrapped his arms around my waist.
“Will you be okay?” Richard asked as he brushed my hair behind my ear.
I nodded, my heart heavy. I didn’t like the feeling. I didn’t like leaving him. “I’m so sorry,” I said, holding onto the open edges of his suit jacket and tugging.
“Me too.” He pressed his lips against my forehead.
“I wasn’t ready for tonight to end.” My voice caught, and I dreaded him walking away.
“Did I earn your phone number?” he asked.
I smiled at him and patted his chest. “And a blow job,” I said before rattling off my number.
He leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine with soft, languid kisses, savoring each second of connection. “I had a wonderful evening, Natasha.”
“So did I.”
The cab driver yelled out, asking if we were ready. Reluctantly we pulled apart.
“Jenna, get that ankle looked at as soon as you can,” Richard said.
“Aye, Aye, Captain Richard!” She giggled before whispering to Brent and pulling him in for a kiss.
My chest hurt, and my heart begged for time to stop. Each inch that increased the gap between us felt the size of the Grand Canyon. With a pained expression, he turned to walk away.
“Richard!” I called out. He twisted back around just in time for me to fling myself into his arms. I crashed my lips to his. Our mouths parted for one last taste as he held me tightly to him.
“Happy New Year,” I whispered against his lips.
“Happy New Year.” We shared a soft kiss, then another, before I stepped away, our hands holding on, reaching out for those last seconds of connection.
As we pulled away, I watched as he took out his phone and typed at the screen, his gaze flickering back to the cab.
I should have gotten a picture with him.
It was a night I would never forget and a man to always remember. I didn’t know what the future held, but I begged for him to be in it.
After
Six weeks had passed since I last laid eyes on him, and I couldn’t help but notice the difference. The excitement, the life I saw more and more through that night, was gone. The light inside was replaced by the loneliness I’d also seen in him. All work and no play.
It was hard to keep my attention on what was being said, my gaze locked on him. His lips moved, but I heard none of the words, until his eyes were fixed on me. In fact, the whole room was. A jolt of panic kicked inside me.
“I’m sorry?” I asked, realizing my wandering mind had missed something important.
“I asked why there are so many discrepancies in the G
L for January. They should have been addressed before month end, yet they are still hanging open.”
It was something I knew was going to come up. All accounts were supposed to be balanced by month end, but there were two general ledgers that wouldn’t balance and I was still investigating the reason why.
I cleared my throat, nervous energy vibrating through my veins. “I am still learning my new position as well as handling Nina’s. I’m afraid there has been a harder than usual learning curve with no support.”
“That’s an excuse,” he said coolly.
I straightened my spine. “It’s an explanation. Nina’s sudden bedrest has left a gap in knowledge. Then there is Trent’s position that I just took over the first week of January. There is no guide for me here, no instructions, and I am working to correct the issues while still training my replacement. January is almost settled, and I’m trying to keep February on track.”
“We are literally halfway through February. There are no excuses for our financials to still be unsettled from January.”
The Richard before me was demanding and gave me no slack, which infuriated me. Now I understood why he said his employees didn’t like him. The frustration was getting to me, my jaw clenching as my eyes watered.
“I worked seventy hours last week,” I spat. “If you want this done, you’ll either wait or find someone who can help me.”
Richard’s eyes were slits. “You have until Wednesday.”
“Or what?”
The entire table watched as words volleyed between us. Our once flirtatious banter was now a back and forth of wills, and I wasn’t backing down from his overbearing personality, VP or not. I knew him in a way nobody else at the table did, of that I was certain.
“We will see, depending on how things turn out on Wednesday.”
The urge to slap him was strong, but it wasn’t going to be his ass again. This time I wanted to slap him right across his smug face. I could already envision the perfect pink impression of my hand blossoming over his skin.
His attention strayed from me onto other topics, areas where he wanted improvement.
“I think that should do for now. Natasha, you stay,” Richard said as the meeting adjourned.
My stomach clenched in anticipation of how this was going to go. When the last person filed out and the door shut, he stood and walked toward me.
His expression softened. “I’m sorry, but I couldn’t treat the situation any differently than I would with any other employee.”
I nodded in understanding. And I did understand, but that didn’t mean I liked the treatment. “Some of the things you said on New Year’s are suddenly perfectly clear.”
His gaze flitted across my features. Tingles brushed my cheek as he reached to cup my face.
“You’re real.”
“As opposed to a fantasy?” I asked, forcing myself not to lean in to the touch as I desperately wanted to.
“I was beginning to think you were a torturous dream that I couldn’t wake from.”
“That doesn’t sound like a good thing.”
“I called.”
My lips formed a thin line. “Sure you did.”
“That’s not a lie to placate you or to worm my way into your better graces.” His gaze hardened. “Though I have to know—did you know who I was?”
I shook my head. “Despite my uncanny ability to pin you down, it didn’t click until I saw you today.”
He nodded. “It seems we have some things to discuss, unless I’m mistaken as to who the father is.” He reached out and gently placed his hand over my abdomen. The action made my heart skip, then melt.
“Considering I’ve had sex one time in over a year, it’s a pretty safe bet.”
“I really called you,” he reiterated.
I didn’t want lies, and I glared up at him. “You can keep telling yourself that, Richard, but I don’t believe it.”
He pulled out his phone to a contact with my name. There were multiple phone calls and a few unanswered texts. I blinked at the screen, scanning the words, then to the top at the number.
Giving him my number had been a hurried event with no time to double check—two of the numbers were transposed. My mouth fell open and all the hurt faded away. He hadn’t forgotten about me, but just like me, he couldn’t find me.
“After the last text I decided you gave me a fake number,” he said.
“2-0-2-3, not 2-2-0-3.”
He glanced down at his screen. “Shit.”
I took the phone from him and altered the contact, then texted myself. “There, now we’re connected.”
“We were always connected, the phone was just off the hook,” he said with a sad smile.
Relief flooded me, and I couldn’t stop myself from standing on the tips of my toes, cupping his face, and pulling it down until I could press my lips to his. Shock and surprise filled his eyes for a fraction of a second before his strong arms pulled me into him.
Every feeling from that night exploded into a streak of bright and colorful fireworks.
“Wow,” I said when we separated.
“More,” was all he got out before crashing his lips to mine again.
A hunger growled from deep inside him, a desperation for exactly what he wanted—more. It clawed and so did I, frenzied and out of control until we were both a panting mess.
“You…”
“Me?”
His lips ghosted mine, parting as our breath mingled. “I’m starving for you and I don’t understand why.”
I nipped at his bottom lip. “There’s the Richard I know.”
“The one you know?”
“Versus VP Richard. The Richard who is honest with what he wants. Greedy and affectionate.”
“I want you in ways I don’t understand.”
“Same.” We were still glued to each other and giving no thought to anything going on outside of our little bubble. “Now, where are we going to go to dinner tonight? It’s Valentine’s Day. Everywhere is going to be packed.”
Not only that, it was Friday, and I had a feeling that would make things worse.
“Let me worry about that. Just give me your address.”
“Are you saying I have to leave work on time? The VP might not be happy with that. He gave me an ultimatum.”
The corner of his lips ticked up. “Let me talk to him. I don’t think he will have a problem with you leaving on time.”
“And taking Saturday off? Unless you aren’t staying…”
“I already have a hotel booked for the weekend. If you think I’m letting you go that fast, you’re sorely mistaken.”
I stretched up, my mind filling with ways he could leave me sorely aching that I would definitely like, and I told him so. “Then leave me sorely aching by the time you go.”
Warmth filled me when our lips touched again, and it felt like things might actually start looking up. That the situation, the pregnancy, might not be as daunting and frightening, because he was there to share it.
At least that was my hope.
I exited the conference room, leaving him there to continue working.
I couldn’t keep the smile from my face as I walked back to my desk, or the light that filled me for the first time in days. The mounting work on my desk, his ultimatum, didn’t faze me anymore, though I did seem to be in a bit of a Richard-induced trance when I sat down.
“Holy shit,” Jenna hissed as she pulled the chair from the desk next to mine and sat inches from me. “What happened? I mean, he hasn’t called you, but by the look of your lips there was some major making out happening in there.”
My eyes popped and I covered my mouth with my hand. “Is it that bad?”
She shook her head. “You’re a bit pink, which is better than the sheet white you were. Give it a few and you’ll be back to normal. Well, except for the whole pregnant thing.” She leaned in closer, waiting for more information.
I glanced around, searching for Marjorie’s nosy bat ears and any ot
her snoopers before shuffling closer. “I found out on Wednesday. My period was way overdue, but I thought it was just stress.”
“Why that?”
“It happens. I’m under a lot of pressure and sometimes that makes my period skip. I’d felt a little off, but once again, brushed it off as stress. On Wednesday I threw up, and that’s when I began to think things weren’t just stress related. After work I took a pregnancy test, and it was positive.”
“No wonder you’ve been spacey all week. Why didn’t you tell me, dork?”
I shook my head. “It’s just been so busy.” She nodded in understanding, knowing I’d worked well past the time everyone else had left the last few days and weeks. “I planned to tell you tomorrow so we could have time and privacy. Plus, I’ve just been trying to come to grips with it all. Trying to not completely lose my shit. Finding Richard helps.”
“Well, if he’d have called you…” she trailed off, wanting me to take her bait on the topic.
“He did, and I can’t be upset about it. He transposed two numbers.”
Her ruffled feathers relaxed. “Well, that sucks. What now?”
“We’re going to dinner and I’m so sorry, but I’m going to have to cancel tomorrow.”
“You’re already canceling? I mean, I’m not mad, I get it, but even before dinner you think he’s going to stay?”
I nodded. I knew in my core that he wasn’t leaving until he absolutely had to. “More importantly, what am I going to wear?”
She hummed and tapped on her lips. “Brent and I are going to Maggiano’s, but I’ll come over to help. We can get ready together.”
“And you’ll curl my hair?”
She rolled her eyes. “And I’ll curl your hair.”
Hours later I was fresh out of the shower and staring down at the two dresses I’d picked out. One was the standard little black dress, the other was that dress, the silver one I’d worn the night we met.
Was it cliché? Stupid? Was I being an idiot for even considering it?
“Knock knock!” Jenna called out as she entered, the sound of the lock clicking back into place.
“Bedroom,” I called back.
She walked in with her makeup kit in one hand and her curling iron in the other. She set it all down on the bathroom vanity before coming to stand next to me.