The Ruthless Gentleman

by Louise Bay

  She glanced away from me and out at the darkening sky. “Good, I think. He has a new physical therapist and he’s made progress with her.”

  “You said he had an accident. Was it a sporting injury?”

  She blinked slowly. “Not really. We were stupid.” She paused, and I didn’t fill the silence. “We were swimming in the river. All the neighborhood kids would go every summer. You’d get all ages, from all different friendship groups, the cool kids mixing with the geeks, you know?” Her gaze flitted back to me for a second before resting on the sky.

  “We did it every year. Every now and then we’d get chased away by the landowner, but we always went back—it was too much fun.” She shrugged. “Anyway, one afternoon we went down to the river; we’d swing on this rope attached to a tree and jump off into the river. I fought to go before Michael. I played the older sister card.” She shook her head. “I should have been looking out for him, not competing with him.”

  Her eyes didn’t leave the sky, not because she was transfixed by the darkening view, but because she was remembering, or trying not to.

  “Then it was his turn and . . . he let go in the right place, just like all the times before. We all ignored the no-swimming signs. But I was older. I should have followed the rules. Kept him safe.” Her words came out fast and desperate and then stopped abruptly.

  I reached out across the table and pressed her hand between mine. “It wasn’t your fault. You were just being kids.”

  She shook her head. “He hit a rock. His spine fractured. In the beginning he was paralyzed from the neck down.”

  “It wasn’t your fault,” I repeated.

  She exhaled and looked down at her lap, as if she’d brought herself back to the here and now, away from the memories.

  “It’s just easier to live with some days than others. My dad never blamed me. Never seemed angry, just took it all in his stride. We just got unlucky. Even when my mom left I never saw him crack. He must have been heartbroken but he never let it show. He acted like it was all normal.”

  I wanted to ask about her brother’s injuries now and ask her why her mother had left. But I’d reminded her of too much pain tonight and I wanted to heal, not hurt. “He sounds like an incredible man.”

  Her eyes went glassy and she smiled. “He really is.” She tilted her head. “And Michael too.”

  “And you’re here, paying the bills, following the rules, making sure everyone is happy like it’s your responsibility to ensure everyone’s looked after. Are you atoning for your sins or just incredible? A little of both, I think.” She was all about honor and duty—both traits I admired in the people close to me.

  “Can I get you anything else?” the waiter asked, interrupting us.

  Avery tried to pull her hand from mine, but I tightened my grip.

  “Do you want a coffee?” I asked her.

  She shook her head, the golden strands of her chestnut-brown hair highlighted by the fairy lights filling the terrace.

  “Just the bill please,” I said to the waiter.

  “We can’t see Etna anymore,” she said, glancing over at the darkened sky that had swallowed up the volcano.

  “I think we can be sure it’s still there.”

  “That’s comforting, isn’t it?” she asked. “I’ll probably never sit in this spot again, won’t ever come back here again, but I’ll always know what the view looks like. It won’t change.”

  I frowned. “You won’t ever come back? Is it not what you’d thought it would be?”

  She reached across the table and slid her palm over the top of our joined hands. “It’s so beautiful, but I’ve been doing the Med season for seven years and this is the first time I’ve been.” She shrugged. “I doubt I’ll make it again.”

  My gut churned at her resignation. It was as if she knew that her life wasn’t about pleasure or enjoyment—it was about service and duty. She’d accepted her fate without any bitterness. I struggled to accept that future for her. What was it with this girl? I wanted to fix everything for her, rearrange the world to see that smile on her face. “Never say never,” I said. “Etna will be here in the morning when the sun rises.”

  I released her hands, pushed my chair out and stood. It was time for it to be just the two of us. I wanted this selfless woman to myself.

  I held my hand out and she paused before accepting it. I led her through the tables. We’d not talked about it, but today we’d morphed into a couple, taking a romantic break together. Going back to my room was the next obvious step, wasn’t it?

  “Hayden.” She slowed as I led us into the hotel lobby.

  I glanced back at her.

  “If anyone was to find out.”

  I turned to her. “I promise they’re not going to. But if you don’t want to do this, then I’ll walk you back to—”

  “That’s the problem, Hayden.” She cupped my neck in her hand. “I want you too much. I’m risking everything.”

  I grasped her wrist. I had no right to ask her to risk anything for me, but the selfish bastard in me couldn’t give her up. “I promise everything will be fine. No one will know.”

  For a fleeting second, I wondered what would happen tomorrow. If she lost her job I could find her something else, something better, couldn’t I? But what if I still wanted her? How could one night with her ever be enough? But even if it wasn’t, I couldn’t give her anything else. It wasn’t how I led my life.

  She pressed her hand against my chest. “Let’s go.”

  Silently, we made our way to my room. With each step my body wound tighter and tighter and by the time I opened the door my heart was thundering in my chest and my muscles threatened to rip through my clothes.

  I slid a hand around her waist and cupped her ass, pulling her toward me as I backed into the suite and shut the door. I exhaled at the click of the lock. Finally, for the first time ever, we were alone.

  In private.

  We’d spent time together in my office, but we were always only a few feet away from her colleagues. Even watching the fireworks, we’d been aware that Captain Moss wasn’t far away. Here, it was just us—Hayden and Avery. Not guest and stewardess. Right here, at this moment, time was suspended—nothing existed outside of this room.

  I pushed her against the wall, resting my forehead to hers. I couldn’t rush this. I had to keep my lust from boiling over.

  “Hey,” I said.

  “Hey,” she replied, placing her palms on my chest, her fingers sneaking between the buttons of my shirt.

  I rolled my hips against hers. “I want you so badly. I’ve waited so long.”

  “And now we’re here, in this room, the door’s locked and it’s like we’re stepping out of our reality.”

  Her voice was breathy, and her eyes wide as if she was desperate for me to agree. She didn’t want to be wrong about her interpretation of things. She needed my reassurance and there was something about the fact I could do that, anything, for her instead of it always being the other way around that shot testosterone through my body and blood to my dick. That was how it should be.

  “Yeah. Nothing else exists. Just me and you. Here and now.”

  She sighed in response.

  I pulled her hand from my shirt as she popped open a button. “You first,” I said and walked her backward toward the bed. “This needs to come off.” I pulled up her shirt, focusing on the skim of my fingers across her ribcage, and tossed it behind me before sinking my teeth into the top of her breasts. I groaned. I’d fantasized about this and now here I was, and the feel of her was even better than I had imagined. I delved my tongue down her cleavage, wanting to go deeper, further, take more. I trailed my tongue up to the dip between her collarbones. She gasped and arched against me as if she wanted me as much as I wanted her, as if that were possible.

  I pulled at her skirt. “And this. It needs to come off.” I slid it down, pressing my lips to hers, worried if I pulled my mouth from her body, somehow I’d never be allowed back.
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  I stepped away to take her in. She looked like a fucking goddess in just her pale blue underwear.

  I nodded slowly in approval. “I’m going to taste you,” I whispered into her ear, sliding my fingers over her lace-covered pussy, my other hand on her ass, keeping her in place. I dropped a kiss on her lips then sank to my knees.

  Her wetness was already soaking through the material of her knickers and I gritted my teeth, wondering if I could hold back from fucking her until I made her come for the first time.

  I scraped my thumb along the seam of the lace and pushed my fingers underneath, as she threaded her fingers into my hair. Her slick juices coated my fingers and I wondered how long she’d been worked up like this. Since I’d locked the door? Since holding my hand at dinner? Since I’d touched her at the theater?

  I grunted at the thought of her wet for me all day, shoved the lace to one side and buried my face in her hot pussy as if I’d find the answer there. She was sweet and wet and her small gasps sent electric currents right to my cock. I tried to ignore everything but the smell of her, and the way her pussy felt like home. I pulled at the lace, dragging it down so I could get more of her. I circled her clitoris and traced my tongue down to her entrance and back up. Her right knee buckled, and I grinned against her wet skin.

  “You lose your balance?” I tipped my head back and she grinned sleepily down at me, drugged by my touch.

  I slid my fingers up the back of her thighs to the juncture of her perfect arse and around to her hips. “Lie back on the bed.”

  She frowned. “I want your mouth on me.”

  I chuckled. “I’m not going to deprive you, but I don’t want you to fall.”

  She stepped back, hit the bed and lay down, spreading her legs, revealing her pussy in the soft glow of the bedside lamp. She was fucking perfect.

  I hooked my arms under her thighs, greedy for more, desperate to make sure she couldn’t move away from me when she came. I wanted to feel every jolt, every spasm I created.

  I worked my tongue through her folds, her hips restlessly shifting under me as she alternated between squirming and thrusting. The pleasure I was able to give her inflated my chest and tightened my balls.

  She arched her back and I shuddered when her fingers scraped through my hair as she came, screaming.

  “Oh. God. Yes.”

  The elongated vowels buzzed against my skin, and I was sure I’d never been so hard in my life.

  I stood, not taking my eyes from her as she flopped her arms over her head and sighed deeply. “Man, you’re good.” She slid one knee up and tilted it to the side, covering her pussy, and grinned as if she were in a blissful bubble.

  I wanted to be there with her. I wanted to be exactly where she was all the time.

  I stripped out of my clothes then grabbed the condoms I had in my wallet. There were four and I made a mental note to buy a condom factory to ensure I had a crate wherever I went. Four wouldn’t be close to enough. I’d need to fuck this woman again and again and again. Keep her in my bed for the next four weeks. Fuck Phoenix. Fuck whoever was leaking information from Wolf Enterprises—the only thing I needed was to be inside this woman.

  I rolled the latex over my dick and crawled over her, caging her under me. She clamped her hand over my shoulders, her index finger stroking up my neck. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to block out the feel of her fingers on my skin, her touch enough to drive me to the edge. I nudged her knees apart and settled between them, pressing my cock against her wet, soft pussy.

  I stilled and opened my eyes to stare into hers.

  Her gaze was soft and encouraging, as if we’d been lovers a lifetime and she already knew my tells, understood how desperate I was for her.

  “I want it. So badly,” she whispered, her voice lazy and sexy.

  “How?” I asked. I needed to fuck her, but I wanted to know how she liked it. “You want it hard? Like you’re just here to be fucked? Or do you want it long and deep, like slow torture?”

  “I want it all,” she said. “I want to get fucked by you every which way.”

  I groaned because that was exactly what I needed to hear. I had free rein with her body and it was the best gift she could have given me. I sank into her as deep as I could go, her fingers pressing into my skin as if it was almost too much. My mind burst from the perfection of her. She was beautiful, and tight and mine.

  I let out a gasp as I nudged the end of her. Fuck she felt good—tight and needy.

  She was still wearing her bra, her nipples pointing through the thin lace. Greedy for more of her, I pulled down the cups, revealing the rosy, pink buds. I clamped my mouth around one, slowly, carefully, sinking my teeth into her flesh. She clenched nicely around my cock and her eyes widened, as if she wanted to ask me if I was going to stop, wondered if it was going to hurt. I wouldn’t and it would. A little.

  She screamed and it turned into a groan, the pleasure slicing through the burst of pain. Fucking perfect.

  I released her and tugged at the lace. “Take it off,” I growled.

  She fumbled behind her, snapped open her bra and shrugged it off. Her freshly bitten breast was red, the white of my teeth marks still visible against her skin. It would sting for a few days and the thought had me pushing farther into her. I rewarded her endurance by pulling out and shoving back in as she clamped her hands around my neck, pushing her thumb against my hammering pulse. If she was trying to calm me, it didn’t work, the small, intimate gesture only notched up my desire.

  I couldn’t hold back any longer. I needed to fuck.

  I didn’t know where to look—the sleepy desire in her eyes, the bounce of her breasts every time I pushed inside her, the tilt of her hips—everything was perfect.

  She moaned and the vibration moved down her body and along my dick, right to my core. I kept fucking her. I wanted to make this last but needed to get to the end at the same time. It was just too good. She was just too much. I doubled down, fucked her harder, my gaze flitting from her face, to her chest, to where we were joined. The clench of her pussy and bite of her nails stole my concentration.

  I slipped my hand beneath her arse, tilting her hips toward me and she whimpered at the change in angle, her orgasm seconds away. My heart pounded against my breastbone and I wanted to come before it burst out of my chest. Her breathy moan had me focusing on her face and I watched as a look of disbelief crossed her face and she silently screamed her orgasm.

  Her expression and her tightening pussy had me pushing into her once more, then again and then one last time, pouring every ounce of energy into her, all my effort spent. I collapsed on her with a grunt, then pulled her close, needing her to see what she did to me.

  Shit.

  Fuck.

  What was that?

  My breathing slowed and I realized I was twice her size and needed to move. I rolled to my back, but she tightened her grip and I took her with me so she was on top. I traced my hands down her back and squeezed her perfect ass.

  “What did you just do to me?” she whispered against my chest. She was in my head again. Something shifted. What we’d just done—how she’d made me feel . . . Maybe it was because she’d been the first I’d had in over a month. Perhaps it was because I’d wanted her for longer than I’d wanted any woman without satiating my need. But I didn’t think so. It was as if our bodies were designed to be together. As if I could read what she needed, and it was exactly what I had to give her.

  Before I could work out what that meant or convince myself I’d felt it before and just forgotten, she shifted, pressing her palms against my chest and lifting herself up so she could straddle me.

  “I think I might have lost consciousness there for a second,” she said, smiling at me. It wasn’t her stewardess smile. It was sexy and teasing and warm, and I reached for her hips, wanting as much of my flesh to connect with hers as possible. She slid forward and I slipped out of her. I sat up and pulled off the condom, tied a knot in it and dropped it on the shirt
I’d discarded by the bed.

  I turned back to Avery as she slid her pussy over my cock, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth.

  She wanted more.

  And I wanted to give her everything she desired.

  Her breasts pushed together as she flicked her hips, teasing my cock, which hadn’t had a chance to fully soften. She was slippery wet, her desire coating my dick. She might have just been the sexiest thing I’d ever seen.

  She tipped her head back and the ends of her hair skimmed her waist.

  Reaching across to the bedside table, I grabbed another condom before things got too far. This woman wanted to be fucked every way, and the temptation to fuck her bareback grew in me but there was no way I’d do that. She slid back, giving me access to put on a fresh condom, her tongue dipping out to wet her lips as she watched. My dick strained, trying to reach her mouth. Before I could roll the latex to the root of my cock, she knelt, nudging at my hands as if she was desperate for me to finish so she could get me inside.

  Her impatience gave me a sense of smug satisfaction—I liked greedy Avery. I liked naked Avery. I liked everything about this fucking woman.

  She linked her fingers through mine and held herself steady, hovering above me, my crown at her entrance.

  She pressed her lips together and blinked, readying herself.

  Slowly, she sank onto my cock, stretching to let me in. The pressure was the only thing I could think about, as though I’d lost my vision and the only sense I had left was the way her pussy felt. When I could see again, the sway of her breasts—high and full and perfectly curved—came into focus as she moved. Conflict swam through my veins. I needed the drag of her pussy, but couldn’t wait for her mouth. I wanted her sitting on me, wanted to be buried in her. I wanted her on top of me and underneath me, moaning and wearing that sexy smile. I just couldn’t get enough.

  I swept my hands up her thighs and sank my thumbs just below her hip bones. It was as if they fit perfectly for me. I guided her, slowly, so my cock pulled out, enough to feel it but not enough that I missed her and then pressed her back. I closed my eyes. After the first, frenzied lust, this was just what we both needed—a slow, unhurried fuck. Something we could savor. And though I knew we’d be up all night, exploring each other’s bodies, I also knew it wouldn’t be enough. I’d want her again. And again. Just as I opened my mouth to talk about tomorrow, she slid forward so only my tip was in her. She pressed a finger to my lips.