I melted. Completely.
Still my brain struggled for more validation, my voice sounding soft and full of need. “So you’re grateful for the information?”
“Very.” He thrust against me, his hard bulge showing me exactly how grateful.
I squirmed, trying to touch as much of him with as much of me as possible. “And you’re attracted to me beyond the physical?” My words were thick.
But I must have been coherent enough to be understood, because he responded between kissing and licking at my neck. “I’m attracted to everything about you—your body, your mind, your sass. Even your ‘crazy,’ as you call it.”
“You’re crazy, too, if you’re serious about that last one.”
His head jerked up so I could see the sincerity in his eyes. “I’ve never been more serious, Alayna. You’re the first person I’ve ever met who makes me believe I might not be crazy. It’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
The world stood still around me, and all I could see and hear and feel was Hudson in front of me, on me, in my skin, in my bones. “You need to rethink that whole I’m-not-good-with-words angle, because those words were perfect.”
His nose brushed mine as he nodded once. “Now stop talking and let me occupy your mouth in other ways.”
“What happened to that good offer you had?” I bucked my hips forward, searching for something to rub against, to ease the ache growing between my legs.
“Patience, precious. Patience.” His lips took mine, caressing against them lightly at first then crushing forcefully, as his tongue lapped hungrily inside my mouth. Cupping his hands on each side of my face, he controlled our movements, pulling sweet sighs from my throat that he swallowed with his deep kiss. My own hands pressed into the tree, the bark stinging against my skin in stark contrast to the sweet ecstasy of Hudson’s mouth on mine.
I was lost to everything but him and his all-consuming kiss.
“Excuse me. Excuse me.” I vaguely heard the woman speaking, barely registered her clearing her throat. “Excuse me!”
We broke apart as it finally clicked that someone was speaking to us.
“Excuse me, but the lawn is off limits except for in—” The woman’s voice broke off. “Oh, Mr. Pierce. I didn’t realize that…Alayna?”
Still half-dazed, I turned toward the voice. “Julia? What are you—” Julia had said that she had an event later in the day. “Is your company in charge tonight?”
“Yeah.”
The good feelings that had spread from head to toe during Hudson’s dominating kiss vanished with a whoosh. This was Julia’s event. Julia was standing right here. And if Julia was here, Paul had to be here as well.
With effort, I swallowed. “Ha, wow. What a coincidence.” Did I sound flakey? Nervous? Scared out of my mind?
I gestured toward Julia. “Hudson, this is Julia Swaggert. She’s the owner of Party Planners Plus. I met with her today.” And my ex-subject of stalking, Paul Kresh, who better not be anywhere nearby or I’m going to shit a brick. “Julia, this is Hudson Pierce.”
The normally confident and assured Julia seemed flustered. “I’m…Mr. Pierce, it’s an honor to meet you. I’m really excited about the potential our companies have working together.” Her face was lit with delight, and I realized just how much this deal meant to her. Understood why Paul was so willing to risk having me around.
As he had done earlier with Aaron, Hudson deferred the attention to me. “You’re in good hands with Alayna. She takes care of all business with the club. I’m merely a name on the deed.” He touched my arm lightly. “If you’ll both pardon me, I see someone I need to speak with.”
There was no one anywhere near our hideout, and I recognized Hudson’s words as a line to leave me to my work. I’d never been more grateful. Not only for letting me own my business deals in full, but because with him gone, the chance of Paul coming up in conversation—or in real life—wasn’t as threatening.
Julia stared after Hudson as he walked away. I didn’t blame her. He was hot coming and going.
“So you and Hudson Pierce?” She waggled her eyebrows. “Is it simply a getting frisky in the moonlight thing or the whole enchilada?”
“It’s, well, both. We’re together, if that’s what the whole enchilada means.” But I didn’t want to talk about my boyfriend. I wanted to know about hers. “Speaking of ‘together,’ where’s Paul?”
She pursed her lips. “He’s about somewhere. He usually stays behind the scenes at these things.”
“Ah, of course.” He was there, though. Which meant I needed to not be. “Well, I think Hudson was about ready to call it a night—”
“Yeah, it certainly appeared as such. Lucky you.”
Her sigh made me wonder how long it had been since she and Paul got frisky. I didn’t wonder too hard. Thinking about Paul and his relationships was the last thing I wanted to do. A polar opposite to the way I’d been when I’d known him before.
“Well, I should get back as well,” she said, sounding reluctant.
But I’d already slipped through the space in the hedge. I spun around to give her a final wave. “Nice to see you at work! You’re good.”
“Thanks.”
I was teeming with anxiety as I searched for Hudson. Paul Kresh was nearby. We had to leave. We had to leave before Hudson discovered my worst mistake had reentered my life.
I’d only made it a few feet along the pathway when Hudson stepped out from a nearby bush and took my hand, pulling me back toward the garden entrance.
“We need to leave. Now.” His tone was forceful, urgent.
Fuck. He knew. Had he overheard us talking? Would he assume that any Paul mentioned would be Paul Kresh?
I played innocent, in case I was wrong—hoping I was wrong. “Why? What’s the problem?” My heart stopped while I waited for his response.
Instead of answering, he took my hand and placed it over his still hard cock.
“Oh, my.” I hoped my exhalation sounded like awe rather than relief. Especially since some of it was awe. I was always impressed by Hudson’s penis. Even in the middle of a personal crisis.
I turned my flirt on full force, knowing that it was my easy ticket out of there. “Or you could take me here in the gardens.”
“Don’t tempt me. I’m near throwing you on that bench over there, but that might not be in the best of taste. And I wouldn’t want to tarnish your reputation.” His eyes darted toward me. “Besides, what I have in store for you will take most of the night and I’m sure the Brooklyn Botanic Society would prefer to close before I’m anywhere near finished.”
Instantly, I needed a change of panties. “Um, okay.”
“Is that a problem?”
“Not at all.”
We were almost at the park entrance when Hudson cursed.
“What is it?”
“I see someone I should talk to. Do you mind?”
I was hot and needy and desperate to be jumped, so yes, I minded. But a glance at Hudson said he minded more. “Considering how you’re walking, I think you’ll be the miserable one.”
He gave me a pained glare and began leading me toward a group of gentleman talking nearby.
Then I saw him, out of the corner of my eye. I turned my head to be sure it was him. It was. Paul Kresh in the flesh. Twice in one day, what were the chances? He wasn’t with the men that Hudson needed to speak to, thank god, but standing near the Visitor Center talking to a server balancing a tray of empty champagne glasses.
I started to look away but not in time. Our eyes met across the sidewalk. “Hudson, I’ll let you talk with your peeps. I’m going to look for the girl’s room.”
He pulled me closer. “Maybe I’ll have to come find you there when I’m done here,” he whispered before kissing me on the forehead.
I felt the blush spread down my neck, even though his words were rather innocent compared to how he usually talked. But I was
so aroused already that anything he did or said was a trigger. It was also inconvenient. I didn’t want to be flustered and horny when I spoke to Paul. He’d surely assume it was for him.
I took deep breaths as I walked toward Paul, calming myself. He waited until I was only a couple of feet away before he spoke. “Should I be worried that you’re stalking me? Again?”
I rolled my eyes.
“Don’t bother explaining.” He nodded toward the man I’d left. “That was Hudson Pierce, wasn’t it? If you’re with him, I get why you’re here.”
I tried not to let it bother me that he knew so much personal info about me. Julia would have told him eventually anyway. “Yes, that’s Hudson. We’re seeing each other.”
“Huh.”
I watched the gears spin behind his eyes. I didn’t spend months memorizing every detail about him to not realize what he was thinking. “Hey, there’s nothing to gain from this information, Paul. He knows about you and my past, knows about the restraining order, and if you have any intention—”
“What the fuck intention would I have? You’re acting like I’d blackmail you or something. Which is pretty ballsy coming from someone who handcuffed herself to my desk naked.”
“I’d say it’s a damn fair assumption since you pretty much blackmailed me just this afternoon.”
“That…wasn’t blackmail. Exactly.” He rubbed at his nose, like Pinocchio disguising his lie. “It was heavy-handed persuasion.”
“Whatever it was, it was pressure, and I didn’t like it.”
“Look, Laynie—”
“I know, I know.” I didn’t need him to try to persuade or pressure or whatever the hell he wanted to call it. I got it already. “You want this deal for Julia, and because I really want to work with her, I’m agreeing to it. But I don’t want any interaction with you. Zip. Nada. I don’t want to bump into you at events or have you showing up at my club or calling me—none of it. I want the restraining order restrictions to be adhered to. This can’t come back to bite me in the ass, okay?”
“Fine. Whatever.” But the victory gleamed in his eyes. “It won’t come back to bite you. It’s only me and you this affects.”
“Tell that to Hudson. He would not like it if he found out that I signed a deal that even remotely involved you.” And suddenly I realized that if I didn’t want Hudson to find out about Paul, I couldn’t tell him about meeting with Celia either. It would open the door for him to find out the things she and I had talked about. Like Paul. And there was no way Hudson would take that lying down.
“Why would he care? As long as we keep it professional and at a distance like you said, this doesn’t have anything to do with him.”
“Because, while you and I both know that most everything that happened between us was my fault—”
“Most everything? Try everything.”
I gave him a stern look. “You did cheat on your fiancé.”
Paul shrugged.
What an ass. “Anyway, Hudson doesn’t see you as innocent. And it’s not because I said anything to point you out, it’s simply because…” I couldn’t finish the statement. I didn’t have the answer. “I don’t know why. He sees the good in me for some reason.” Good that I was beginning to doubt existed.
Paul chortled. “I didn’t know from his reputation that he was a psycho.”
I stepped forward, closing in on his personal space. “You know what? You need to shut the fuck up. He is not a psycho. I am not a psycho. You, however, are an asshole. I can still back out of this shit. Go ahead and throw whatever you want to throw at me, I have Hudson Pierce on my side.”
“And wouldn’t he love it if the whole world knew about his girlfriend’s criminal past? He’d be a laughing stock. Especially when I tell everyone how you sought out Party Planners Plus so you could work with me again.”
My heart felt like I’d been dropped three stories. “But that’s not true.”
He shrugged again, that carefree shrug of someone holding all the cards. “People don’t care if it’s true. They love gossip, particularly when it’s about the elite.”
My mouth tasted sour. “I thought this wasn’t blackmail.”
“Not yet, it isn’t.” He leveled his gaze at me. “Does it need to be?”
A chill ran down my spine. I was trapped, as I’d known I was earlier, and I knew it even more definitively now. “Fine, Paul. I’ll do the deal but on the terms I listed.” Over his shoulder I saw Hudson striding our way. “I’m walking away now. Smile and head the other direction.”
I didn’t know if he did what I said because I left him, striding to meet Hudson before he came any nearer. “Hey.” I felt breathy and lightheaded and not in a good way.
“Did you find the restroom?”
“Um, no.” Thank god I hadn’t really needed to go. “It’s okay. I can wait until we get home.”
I tried to turn him toward the exit, but Hudson looked questionably back toward where Paul was retreating.
Thinking fast, I filled him in with a story before he had a chance to ask. “That was one of the event workers. I was trying to get the dirt on Party Planners from him.”
He raised a brow. “It seemed to be a rather animated discussion.”
“Yeah, he was passionate about what he was saying.” Then I realized it was probably me who had seemed animated. “I guess it got me riled up too. He says they’re a great company all around. I’m more excited than ever to work with them.” The lie felt heavy on my tongue, my gut twisting with the acid of it. It made me wonder how I’d spent so many years lying and manipulating people so I could be close to men who didn’t want me. It had been so easy then. Now, with the man who did want me, it felt gross and disgusting.
Hudson bought my act, which made me feel all the worse for it. “That’s excellent.” He drew me into his side. “Want to know what I’m more excited than ever about? Getting home. More specifically, getting you home. Or, at least to the car.”
“Me, too.” Whatever he planned to do to me would take me away from everything else in the world. It would distract me from my secrets and the blackmail and the promises I’d broken. At least, I hoped it would.
Chapter Eight
We were still curled up together when Hudson’s alarm woke us the next morning. He kissed me breathless before pulling me with him out of the bed.
“You start the shower,” he ordered. “I’ll start the coffee.”
Grinning, I did as instructed, traipsing to the bathroom to pee first. Then I turned on the shower, waiting until the water was nice and hot before stepping in.
This. Was. Awesome.
Not only the double oversized nozzles that sprayed down on me, relaxing my sex-sore muscles, but the entire routine. Making love in the middle of the night, waking with my lover, preparing the shower for him, for us—I could do this every day.
I sighed softly at the idea, letting the too-soon fantasy of living with Hudson take me away for the briefest of moments.
“Well, the look on your face says you might not need me anymore for pleasure.” Hudson stepped into the stall, immediately tugging me into his arms, as if he wanted to be in constant contact the way I did.
“This shower is amazeballs,” I said, my eyes drawn immediately to the semi-erection pressed between us. Could I never get enough of seeing him naked?
“Amazeballs?”
“But it can never compare to what you do to me.” My hand closed around his divine penis, my mouth watering as always at the size and shape of him.
He moaned, turning harder in my hand. “What if I did amazeballs things to you while we’re in the amazeballs shower?”
It was hard not to giggle at his use of urban vernacular. It was so foreign, so unlike him. So absolutely irresistible. “There’s not even a word for how amazeballs that would be.”
After our shower, we went about getting ready for our day. Hudson named one of the sinks as mine, and side-by-side he shaved and I powdered, each of us wearing only a towe
l. Again, I thought how easy it would be to fall into this life. How natural.
He finished in the bathroom first and by the time I came out, he was dressed in a two-piece black suit that made my thighs twitch. God, the man was the yummiest thing on the planet.
“Hungry?”
Could he read my mind? “Oh, for breakfast?”
“Yes, for breakfast. Get your mind out of the gutter, precious. I’ve already spent more time than I allotted on you this morning.”
I shivered at the memory of being pressed against the shower wall, his dick inside me. “Well, I’m glad to know there was an allotment.”
“There was.” He walked past me toward the bedroom door and I caught the scent of his aftershave. “Toast and grapefruit okay?”
“Perfect,” I said, inhaling his amazing smell. “Meet you out there.”
I threw on the only dress left hanging in the spare closet, wishing I had something a little more businesslike for my meetings that day. Which made me face the issue I’d been avoiding—my apartment. I needed to stop by there. I also needed to figure out what I was going to do about a place to live. My lease was ending and since my brother was no longer paying my rent, I’d have to find something more affordable.
It would certainly be easier to move in with Hudson.
But it would be a bad idea, I reminded myself. Too soon, too soon, too soon. Plus, he hadn’t even made the offer.
Once dressed, my hair tied in a knot at my nape, I joined Hudson at the kitchen table. He’d already set out my breakfast with a travel mug of coffee.
“I didn’t know what time you were planning to be out of here so I gave you that.” He nodded at the travel mug.
“Soon. I have an appointment at ten-thirty with a graphic designer to go over new menus, and I want to make sure I have my presentation for tonight’s meeting with Aaron Trent ready before that, because I have a crap load of other things to do this afternoon.” I was rambling, a bit nervous about my day’s to-do list.
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