She arched her back, offering herself to me.
I gripped her hips. “I’ve got to come. This will be quick.”
“Good. I want hard.”
I groaned as my dick jumped at her words. I guided him to her pussy, and then thrust all the way home. I threw my head back and let out a feral moan as her pussy wrapped around my dick. Every time I sank into her, it was sensual perfection.
“Yes, Hunter,” she gasped as I hit the limit.
My dick wanted to come no matter what, but it was so good when she orgasmed and took me over. So I reached around her waist and rubbed her clit as I began to move in and out of her. God, I hoped she’d get there soon as each time I thrust, the tether on my control waned.
“Come on me, Natalie…dammit…come on me.”
“It’s better when you talk dirty than bossy…” she managed as my eyes began to blur from built up orgasmic power.
“Come on my dick, Natalie…” Jesus, my lungs were burning as I pistoned inside her like I was running a sprint. “I want your hot wet pussy to come on me…”
She let out a keening sound, although I doubted that she was feeling grief or sorrow. At least I hoped not, because when her pussy clamped down on my cock like a fucking vise, she shot me to the stratosphere of pleasure. I was lost in it. Drowning in it. It was a fucking disappointment that it couldn’t last longer as I could have been perfectly happy to live in it for the rest of my life.
But eventually, the orgasm subsided and with it, my bones melted.
I collapsed beside her throwing one hand over my eyes as I worked to recover. “Fuck.”
She lay next to me. “Yep. That’s what that was.”
I managed a little laugh.
She rolled to her side, resting her elbow on the pillow and her head in her hand. “Are you getting out of shape?”
I moved my hand and opened one eye.
“You still have one to go. In fact, I’m surprised you didn’t announce ‘three’ to report that we’d hit my record for the night.”
She was baiting me. And I was the type of man that would get drawn into it. The challenge gave me all the energy I needed to grab a new condom, and once it was securely in place, roll her under me.
“Let’s go for four, shall we?”
One thing I hadn’t counted on was that the more orgasms one had in a night, the longer it took the next one to come. Not that I was complaining because sliding in and out of Natalie was no hardship. But as I moved inside her, with her, watching her gray eyes fill with passion, my chest filled with pressure that I didn’t like.
“Oh God Hunter…” She tilted her head back exposing her neck. It was like she was offering herself to me. Surrendering to me. That thought…that this strong, independent woman who didn’t take any shit from me, was relinquishing her body, her pleasure, to me, was almost more than I could bear.
I tore my gaze away from her, and turned my attention to my own pleasure. That’s why I was here, right?
I reached down and lifted her knee up and out to open her so I could go deeper, come sooner.
“Yes…oh God…I’m coming,” she moaned and her body went taut, her pussy gripping my dick like it would never let go.
Stars blasted behind my eyes as my orgasm rocked my body and shook me to the core.
It was several minutes before either of us could talk. She rested her head on my shoulder. Her soft warm body, and her sweet scent filled me with an unwelcome longing to ask her to stay the night with me. This was getting out of hand.
I accepted that I was going to be a dick. But better that than risk falling for her.
I rolled out of bed, grabbed my clothes and headed to the bathroom to deal with the condom.
When I came out of the bathroom, she lay in the bed, resting back on her elbows with one brow arched. “You got out of bed so fast it was like you’re scared of your own shadow.”
She was closer to the truth than I liked.
“Sorry. I just remembered I have a…” Fuck… what could I say that wasn’t clearly a lie.
She waved a hand. “You can go. We both got what we came for.” She rolled over onto her side like she was going to take a nap. As her boss, I could tell her to get back to work, but the idea of her staying here, and not going back to the office, appealed to me. I needed time and space away from her.
I nodded and headed to the door, still feeling like a heel. We both got what we came for. It was annoying and terrifying that I was disappointed that she hadn’t wanted more.
16
Natalie
One thing about my upcoming gallery showing, was that it distracted me from all the crazy feelings I was having about seeing Hunter, especially after he ran off like his hair was on fire the afternoon I’d worn a special teddy for him.
Now that the night of the showing was here, I was a nervous wreck. I felt like my entire career was riding on how things went tonight. What if nobody came? What if everybody came and decided that I was a fraud? What if the critics panned my work? I sank down on my bed unable to get dressed as the nerves overwhelmed me. The pinging notification on my phone, brought me out of my misery. It was a text from Hunter.
I'm picking you up in 30 minutes. Be ready.
I couldn't decide if it was better or worse to have Hunter with me at the gallery opening. He had set this up so of course he'd want to be there. At the same time, he was another one who might be critical of my work. I couldn't get the image out of my head of a gallery full of people, led by Hunter laughing at my work. The scared little girl inside me wanted to cancel the whole thing. Fortunately, the fierce feisty woman inside me told that little girl to shut the fuck up, get dressed, and go be awesome.
The need to be taken seriously and to fit in had me wearing a standard little black dress. But my creative side added flair with colorful jewelry and hot pink strappy heels. My hair was still lavender, so there was no changing that, but pulled the short curls back into a couple of clips and put my makeup on to look sophisticated. As I studied myself in the full-length mirror taking in my ensemble, I felt pretty good about it. I still worried that others would think I was an imposter, or trying too hard, or not trying hard enough. Ack! Why was this so hard?
I headed downstairs to meet Hunter and was surprised when a limousine pulled up in front of my apartment building and Hunter stepped out.
"Oh my God, a limo?"
He held out his hand to help me inside the luxury vehicle. "This is your big night; we need to do it up right."
I wondered what it said about me that I hoped that doing it up right meant ending the night with him touching me. The good thing about having that thought was that it distracted me from the thought of the showing. But it wasn't long before the limo pulled up in front of the gallery and Hunter was helping me out of the car.
"I think I'm going to be sick." I stopped in front of the gallery unable to step through the doors.
"I have it on good authority that it's going to be great. But if not, we have enough booze to make people forget."
At first, I glared up at him, not feeling amused, and then all of a sudden I was really amused. I laughed. "Are you broke now? Because that would take a lot of booze."
His lips twitched upward like he was glad that I took his comment for what it was; a way to help me relax.
We stepped inside and immediately a slight middle-aged man dressed to the T's in a dark suit stepped up to us.
"Mr. Strong." Then he looked at me. "Ms. Nichols. Everything is ready for this evening. In a little while we’ll have time where you can have a talk with the guests, but in the meantime, there is champagne and other forms of drinks. I encourage you to enjoy yourself and relax."
It was easier said than done.
"Thank you, Giles," Hunter said. Hunter placed his hand low on my back and urged me further into the gallery. But then, as if he realized we were in public, he dropped his hand. He leaned over and whispered in my ear, "I'm just going to go check on a few things, but you
enjoy yourself."
I felt completely abandoned by him, which then in turn ticked me off. I didn't need him. I didn't need his support. I scanned the room and saw Gavin standing in front of my painting titled, Dance Like No One is Watching, that depicted a woman in a crowd, dancing with sheer joy on her face. It was how I wanted to live my life, and seeing it was a reminder that my nerves were getting in the way of the bliss of living.
I went over to stand with Gavin.
His face lit up with a smile. "Oh hey, Nat. This is great." He lifted his champagne glass towards the painting he'd been studying.
"You think so?" I of course thought the work was brilliant, but I also knew that I was biased.
"Yeah. I don't know why you're wasting your time doing marketing work. You could be the next Cassatt or O'Keefe." He reached over towards a passing server and grabbed a glass of champagne, and then thrusted at me. "Here, you need a drink, and we can toast to this magnificent work."
Every artist wanted to hear that their work was magnificent and brilliant, but a part of me wondered if maybe Gavin wasn't rubbing it on a bit thick. He really was a nice person and I appreciated his effort to make me feel more comfortable as people gawked and judged my work.
"By the way you look fantastic." His eyes scanned me from my head all the way down to my strappy hot pink heels and then back up again. He hadn't looked at me like that since the day we'd met, and for a moment I wondered if maybe he was being a little bit more than a friendly colleague.
"Thank you, Gavin. I appreciate all the praise and support."
He clicked his glass with mine and took a sip of the golden bubbly. Then he looked at the art again, but I had the sense that he wasn't really seeing it. His head dropped down for a moment and then he turned to me.
"The thing is, I enjoy working under you…" He shook his head. "That's not coming out right." He took another breath and tried again. "The thing is that I like you, and I was wondering if maybe at some point you'd want to go out for some coffee or something."
Oh dear, he does like me. I liked him too, although only in a friendly way. Even if it weren't for my situation with Hunter, Gavin would never be more than a friend to me. With that said, the situation with Hunter did give me an out that wouldn't be a lie.
“That is so sweet Gavin. But I'm actually sort of involved with somebody right now."
He gave me an affable smile as a blush came to his cheeks. I felt for the poor guy because it wasn't easy to put oneself out there and be vulnerable to people. This gallery showing, with all my artwork, much of it that exposed my thoughts and feelings about the world, made me feel vulnerable, so I knew exactly how difficult it had been for him.
“Well, I'm not surprised that you're seeing somebody. I hope he's really good to you, Nat."
"He is." I said, even though I was pretty sure that my relationship with Hunter wasn't something Gavin would constitute as being good for me.
It seemed to me the conversation was done, except all of a sudden there was an immense dark presence standing just behind Gavin and me. I turned to look and saw Hunter, his eyes fierce as he stared down at Gavin.
"Hey Mr. Strong, this is great showing here, isn’t it?" Gavin said, somewhat oblivious to Hunter's mood. Although Gavin's eyes narrowed a little bit and he looked from Hunter to me and then it was as if dawning came to him.
"Gavin, would you excuse me and Hunter for a moment?"
"Yeah, sure. And again, great job Natalie." With that Gavin rushed off.
I glared at Hunter. “What is wrong with you?"
He leaned in closer, his eyes scanning the room as if he was gauging if people could hear us. His hands had been shoved in his pockets, but he pulled one out and put it under my elbow and began to escort me to the back of the gallery. "We've got to talk."
"Now?"
He was tugging me on so quickly, I practically had to trot, which wasn't easy to do in high heels. He pulled me into a back corner away from everyone at the event.
"I’m keeping an eye on you as it's clear that Gavin has a thing for you. I already warned him —"
"Warned him?"
"It’s not appropriate for him to ogle you like that."
I had to laugh. Was he totally oblivious to what was between us? But I decided not to bring that up. Instead, I was more curious about why he cared whether Gavin was ogling me or not. I would've thought maybe it was a relief. Especially the day he ran off so quickly after having sex, I often got the sense that he worried that things between us might grow into something more than friends with benefits and he was clear as day that that would never happen. So, having another man take interest in me seemed like something Hunter would encourage.
"What does it matter to you anyway? This thing between us is just casual,” I said.
He stepped close to me. So close I could feel the heat and energy radiating off of him. He didn't touch me, but that didn't mean I didn't feel like his body was enveloping mine.
He leaned down until his lips were a whisper away from mine. "There's nothing casual about us." Then his mouth consumed mine. Any snarky retort I might have had, was lost as I sank into the taste and heat of him.
17
Hunter
For so many years I lived my life on an even keel. No major storms. Just smooth sailing all the way.
But over the course of the last few weeks, my emotions had been on a roller coaster ride. Most of the dips had been terrifying. Hearing that my father had been in an accident, immediately sent me back to when I was a child hearing about my mother's death.
As usual when I wanted to escape, I sought solace in the pleasure of the flesh with Natalie. But then she started touching me in ways that I desperately wanted to go with, and at the same time was terrified of. It was too dangerous to let myself be soothed by her emotionally.
When she left that night, I damn near asked her to stay, but fortunately I'd had the strength to let her go. For a moment I considered ending our friends with benefits relationship because I didn't like how little power I had when I was around her. But it didn't take long before the need to see her overcame the fear of going too far. And over the next couple of weeks as we continued to meet in hotel suites, I knew that I lost the power to control my emotions, probably the day that I met her. But I hadn’t realized until tonight, when I saw Gavin asking her out. I damn near tore his arms out of their sockets, and for good measure, I planned to fire him. Fortunately, I was able to control the urge long enough that I could get Natalie alone.
She was incensed by my behavior but also, I knew that there was a part of her that liked it. She liked that I had little control over myself when I was around her. And now I was kissing her again. Kissing her to make her forget Gavin. To make her forget any other man she'd ever been with before.
I didn't understand what I was feeling, and it was still unsettling. We were friends with benefits, and yet, the need for her felt beyond sexual pleasure. I had a sinking suspicion that after what I just pulled in front of Gavin, everyone here at Natalie’s showing, would know that she was more to me than just someone on my staff, or just someone that I happen to be fucking even. I wondered if Natalie realized it?
I pulled away slightly from the kiss and looked down into her beautiful face. She had that dreamy dazed, half-drunk look that I loved.
We weren’t going to end up like my brother Ryan and his wife Kellie, that I knew for sure. Certainly, my heart might be sliding into something a little bit deeper than just fuck buddies, but I wasn't ever going to give in fully to a woman ever again.
But that didn't mean that I didn't want this night to be special. I wanted Natalie to feel all the recognition that she deserved from her work. And, even more than that, I want her to know that I admired and respected her. And so, for now I was willing to let a little bit of emotion come through so that she could feel the warmth everyone felt towards her and her work, including me.
"If you fuck me here, I might miss some of my showing," she finally said with
that sexy smirk on her face.
Now that the haze of my kiss had dissipated, I brought my hands to her face, letting my fingers trail along her jaw. "I'm not going to keep you. I want you to enjoy this night fully. But I also want Gavin to keep his hands off you. If he values his arms he will stay away," I said trying to give her my cocky grin.
She looked at me with a smile and her eyebrow arched. "I suspect he does like his arms."
"Then hopefully he will have gotten the message." I put my arm around her and escorted her back out to the gallery bringing her to Giles, the gallery manager, to introduce tonight's rising star in the art world.
He got everyone's attention and then introduced me so that I could introduce her. She looked at me a little quizzically about why I would be the one to introduce her as opposed to the gallery manager or perhaps the owner. But of course, I suppose I had never mentioned her that along with owning Cesare’s, I also owed this gallery.
"I want to thank you all for coming to see Natalie Nichols debut opening for her work. I think you can see why I was excited to have her here at the gallery. She has an amazing talent. Her art is uplifting, and vibrates with life." I looked over at her, and her smile was wider than I'd ever seen it in my life. My heart lurched in my chest, and it wanted to make a vow to always have her smiling just like that.
After introducing her and serving more champagne, I gave her enough space to mingle with the crowd, but not so much so that she was ever far out of my view. The only exception was when Ryan pulled me aside to ask me what was going on between me and Natalie. I wasn't ashamed of what I was doing with Natalie, and I doubted she was either. But I didn't need my brother knowing my business or her business for that matter. We weren’t going to end up like he and Kellie did, so it seemed easier to just keep our little relationship to myself.
"There's nothing going on except for trying to support her career. You told me to sweeten the deal and hire her and I did." See, it was all his fault.
Giving In To Love: A Friends with Benefits Office Romance (Strong Brothers Book 2) Page 11