by Alice Ward
He went on. “I just… want you to know… What I said about...”
I silenced him with my palm over his mouth. Two wide blue eyes looked down at me over my fingers, questioning my next move.
Don’t, I could have said. Don’t tell me you want me for more than just sex.
Sex was what I’d come there for. Sex, fulfillment, and closure.
That was all. As simple as that.
Yet now it wasn’t.
I couldn’t say that words, couldn’t ask him to promise me more. And I couldn’t ask for just one night.
So I kissed him. I kissed him as he pulled my sweater and tank top off, kissed him and kicked off my shoes as he lowered me onto the bed. His mouth tore away from my face to lavish attention to the tops of my breasts, then my stomach. My nipples pushed against my bra cups, hard and tight.
Seth swirled his palm across my stomach. I sighed and let my head fall back. Each touch of his hands, no matter where, took me halfway to a climatic state.
He unzipped and pulled my jeans and shorts off, then moved onto the bed to join me.
I shuffled backwards, putting my head on the pillow. In the perfect position now, I wrapped my arms around Seth and pulled him down onto me to enjoy another kiss. His knee rested between my thighs, the rough fabric of the jeans scraping my skin.
His hands went beneath my back to grip me tightly, pressing into my sides, squeezing the slightest amount. It hurt, and it felt good at the same time. I’d probably have a bruise tomorrow, but I didn’t care. Seth wanted me, and his rough touch was proof of that.
He pushed his weight down onto mine, locking me into place.
So far he’d been the one in control of this heavy make out session, something I wasn’t used to. I had my own tricks up my sleeve, my own way of doing things. And I was ready to introduce Seth to all of that.
Wiggling slightly, I tried to push him off of me.
He broke his kiss. “Is this too much?”
“No, I...”
He chuckled slightly. “Then let me take control.”
I took in a jagged breath, shuddering.
Let me take control.
It should have been me saying those words, me calling the shots. It always was with men.
But… of course, Seth wasn’t most men.
I let go, relinquishing the desire to flip him over and climb on top of him. My eyes fell closed as he kissed across my neck and shoulders. The back of my bra unhooked and fell away, leaving my nipples tight from arousal, my breasts open to his touch.
I opened my eyes at the sensation of his touch on me and watched Seth run his hands across my mounds. His full lips encompassed one nipple, sucking and pulling at it. The pleasure turned into pain, and a sharp gasp left me. With a pop he let my breast go, pushed his hands down and pulled my underwear down my legs and off.
I eagerly grasped at his clothes, stripping them from him, needing his warm and naked body to replace the tepid air biting at me. Instead of chastising me for taking initiative, Seth let me have my way. I kissed him feverishly as I undressed him and threw his clothes onto the floor.
Finally, we were both naked. He pulled back slightly to look down at me, his gaze bringing a shiver as it swept down my torso and legs, his hand following it. Fingers pressed at my folds. I arched my hips, pushing back against his hand. A thumb teased my nub, alternating light and hard pressure. I attacked Seth’s mouth again.
“One second,” he murmured into my mouth, before breaking away.
He rifled through his bag while I waited on the bed, studying the tight muscles of his ass. The condom found, he came back to encircle me in his arms. His dick pressed sinfully close to my wet opening, the heat from our bodies mingling in the air between us. We kissed even harder, his tongue scraping the back of my teeth.
I reached down, ran my hand over his length. He pulsed under my grip, his girth growing. With a smooth gesture, his hand replaced my own. He slid the condom on and pushed into me. We both groaned as my walls spread. He kept going, giving me his entire length.
Pleasure flooded me, and I clutched his back, digging my nails into his flesh. Grabbing my hips, he pulled me closer to him, pressing even deeper into me.
Seth pushed me wide, the muscles of his back constricting underneath my fingers. I gasped against his ear as the sensations went higher and higher. He bit my ear, my neck, then lapped against my open mouth. The hunger ached inside of me for the taste of him, ravenous for the salt of his skin and the sweetness of his body flowing with mine.
An orgasm exploded through me. I held onto Seth even tighter, riding the ecstasy all the way to the end. Sensing the change in me, he pulled away and flipped me over onto my stomach. I landed against the pillows with a thud, my cheek pressed into the cotton. Seth took my hands and guided them both above my head, then encircled both my wrists with one of his palms. Trapped, I stayed motionless, waiting eagerly for what came next.
Seth climbed back on top of me and entered me from behind. The pillow muffled my cry, and he kept going. I took what he gave, loving every second of it.
Another burst of pleasure began to grow. Seth groaned as I arched upward, the sweat from his chest and face sliding down my back, taking our heat higher. He tensed at the same moment I did, and we were lost in the roar and swirl of release. Finally spent, he collapsed next to me, still holding my wrists above my head.
I turned my face away from the pillow to get some fresh air. Tendrils of hair stuck to my face and I shivered, coming down from the high. Seth slowly let go of my wrists. I lowered my arms, my shoulders aching the whole way. Tenderly, he ran his hand over my back and arm, then slipped his arm around my waist.
My breath caught in my throat. The moment right after sex was always an awkward one, whatever came next a sure sign of the tone of the relationship. Would he get up and go into the shower?
Should I?
Seth’s lips pressed against my shoulder, the kiss soft and affectionate. His grip around my waist tightened slightly.
Each muscle in my body simultaneously relaxed. Seth pushed his face tighter against the back of my neck, taking me into a near catatonic state.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“We can put in the request for the records, but it’s going to take till next week to receive them.”
I started and sat up straighter in my chair. The desk phone, set on speaker, waited for my response. Had I really just spaced out in the middle of a call? I stood up to bring myself back to reality. I needed more coffee. Less nostalgia. More aerobic activity, less mental activity.
“Let’s do it anyway,” I told the secretary at Stafford Scientific.
“Great. I’ll reach out to your secretary to arrange the details.”
“Wonderful. Anything else right now?”
“I’ll check with Mr. Stafford, but I believe that’s all. Thank you, Ms. Laurent.”
“Thank you. Have a great day.”
I eagerly hit the button to end the call, then sighed and sat down on the edge of my desk. I started to rub my fingers against my tired eyelids but remembered my makeup and stopped myself just in time. Though I’d spent my usual number of hours in bed, they’d been peppered with dreams of Seth. Every hour, it seemed, I woke up from one, only to fall asleep to meet him in another new setting.
Where was my head?
The whole day I’d been unable to focus, my mind full of memories of the past weekend. One on top of the other they came at me, repeating themselves once they’d all been played. Seth and I cuddling in bed after sex. Seth and I waking up in the morning and taking another walk around the lake. He’d slipped his hand into mine, and I’d let him… I’d more than let him. I’d loved it.
At breakfast Sunday morning, we sat next to each other and spent the whole hour talking about books. It turned out he shared my love of Southern Noir. It seemed he knew every Flannery O’Connor story paragraph to paragraph and had multiple interpretations of each one.
The more we talked, the more I
saw we really were — almost annoyingly — similar.
The physical connection was off the charts. I’d hoped to get another taste of it after breakfast, but I’d received a call from work about Stafford Scientific needing a rush job done, so we’d gone back to the city in a hurry. Seth said he didn’t mind, but I did. I hadn’t wanted the weekend to be over yet.
And I wasn’t over him now like I had planned.
In fact, my plan had royally backfired. Instead of being sick of Seth, I was in love with Seth. And him? If his words were to be believed, he was falling for me as well.
All through the evening and today, while fielding calls and crunching numbers, he’d sat on my mind. We hadn’t made any plans to see each other again, and, oddly enough, that made me nervous.
What if he’d changed his mind about me? What if he’d gone back to wanting me just for physical relief?
Or, worse yet, what if he’d lied? What if the things he said down by the lake were all for show or all part of some sick game he liked to play?
My fears made my passion official. I was falling for the guy, and bad.
He basically said he’s into me.
Down at the lake, when he’d told me he initially was interested in me for sex… supposing he really had been telling the truth… then he’d been trying to tell me it wasn’t that way anymore. That he wanted me for more than just sex.
Yet I had trouble believing it.
I wiped my sweating palms against my dress and then stopped myself. I hated feeling this way, like I was waiting around for a guy to throw me a bone.
This wasn’t Quinn Laurent, a woman who owned her own business and called her own shots. This was the giddy school girl I hadn’t been in years. Or perhaps had never been. I’d skipped the Spring Fling for school work, after all. Even though I liked the boy who asked me, I hadn’t liked him enough to put my passion first.
But I couldn’t imagine putting Seth on the back burner for anything.
My cell phone rang, startling me. I hurried around the desk to snatch it up, hating how much I hoped it was the man I was obsessing over.
Seth.
I took in a deep breath and composed myself before swiping. “Hello?”
“Hi, Quinn. How are you?”
His deep tones floated over me, reminiscent of his firm and purposeful touch. My stomach quivered, and heat hit my core. I glanced toward my door’s window, not wanting any of the staff to see me getting undone over a phone call.
“I’m good,” I managed. “How are you?”
“I’m good too… I had a great time this weekend.”
I plunked down into my chair, coming close to missing the seat and crashing onto the floor. “Me too. That place was amazing. Thanks for coming with me.”
“Of course,” he murmured.
I swallowed hard. His voice hadn’t had this effect on me when we were at the lodge. It was nice, and it turned me on…but it didn’t set butterflies off in my stomach. It didn’t hit me like a case of serious spring fever combined with a sugar rush.
Seth continued. “I was wondering if you might like to come over for dinner tonight.”
My heart lifted. “That sounds nice. Although I’m not going to be done here till seven, at least. Maybe seven thirty.”
I cringed. In reality, it was eight, but I didn’t want to tell him that lest he retract the invitation. Maybe if I crunched for the next few hours, then I could shave an hour or so off my projected end time.
“That’s fine,” he casually responded.
“And then I have to go pick up Starlet and take her home, feed her… so that might take another hour.” I bit back a sigh. “I’m sorry. Is that too late? Perhaps we could do it another night this week.”
“Or you could bring Starlet with you to my place.”
I cocked my head in surprise. “Really?”
“Yeah. I don’t have dog food here, but I could run out and get her some. Or just give her some chicken. Can she have that?”
I couldn’t stop the smile. “You’d do that?”
“Of course. She’s a sweet little doggy, and the sooner you get here… the better.”
The connotations in that last part couldn’t be denied. A thrill went through my body, making my arms break out in goosebumps.
“All right,” I answered with a thick tongue. “Thank you. We’ll both come. I’m sure she’ll be excited. Especially if there’s chicken waiting for her at the end of the trip.”
“I’ll text you the address. Is there anything in particular you’d like? Or any allergies?”
“No, I think I’m all good. Anything should be fine.”
“Great. And no rush. Just get here when you can.”
“Okay. I’ll still make it as soon as possible.”
“See you then.”
“Bye.” Vibrating with excitement, I hung up.
CHAPTER TWELVE
I rushed through the day, working at nearly twice my regular pace. Instead of breaking for lunch, I had Stephanie pick me up a salad from the deli around the corner, then gnawed on it with one hand while I went over spreadsheets and typed with my free fingers. Several times lettuce dropped onto the keyboard. Eventually, I gave up and put the food aside to focus on working.
By five o’clock, everything I needed to finish was done, and I had a jump start on Tuesday’s list. The extra time meant I could pick up Starlet and then run home and shower after all.
My dog in tow, I freshened up quickly and then changed into a little black dress and a pair of red heels. Maybe the attire was a bit much for dinner at Seth’s house, but I didn’t care. I felt sexy, damn it. Tonight was my night.
Starlet and I climbed into the car, and I let the GPS guide me toward Seth’s apartment. I didn’t recognize the name of his street and hadn’t taken the time to look at a map.
Starlet looked anxiously out the window.
“It’s all right,” I promised her. “We’re going to Seth’s house.”
She turned her nervous eyes on me.
“There’s chicken there. Chicken.”
This time she perked up, her tail wagging at the speed of light.
As we drove, I wondered for the first time about Seth’s place. In all the time I had spent thinking about him, I’d never really been curious about his home. My thoughts were usually preoccupied with his smile, the sound of his voice, or the magic of his touch.
Would the neighborhood be a safe one? What kind of place could Seth afford? Living comfortably in the city wasn’t cheap. When I first moved to Chicago, I rented an apartment in Edgewater with two roommates and paid — what was for me at the time — out the ass. Unless you were making good money, living in even semi-luxury could be nearly impossible.
Did I need to worry about my vehicle out on the street? And what about the apartment — how tidy was Seth? And did he have roommates?
I cringed at that last one, imagined trying to have a romantic dinner in the corner of a small kitchen while some dude played Grand Theft Auto in his boxers on the couch. Despite all the topics we’d touched on over the weekend, Seth’s personal life mostly remained a closed box. He casually mentioned army friends, but that was about it.
My anxiety ratcheted up as Starlet and I got closer to our destination. Instead of the overpasses and abandoned buildings I’d half expected, though, the high-rise condos around us got nicer and nicer. We were at the edge of the Gold Coast historic district, I realized with a start. Not only was it one of the nicest places in the city to live, it was one of the most expensive.
The GPS pointed to a newer building set a bit farther back from the street than the ones around it. A drive led down into an underground parking lot. I pulled up and stopped at the gate, where a guard came over and tipped his hat at me.
I rolled my window down. “I’m here to see Seth Allman.”
The guard smiled. “Go right ahead and park anywhere you like.”
I did as he instructed, then hooked Starlet’s leash on her and took the
elevator in the garage up to the seventh floor, as per Seth’s instructions in his text.
Everything about the building was shiny and brand spanking new, down to the buttons in the elevator and the wood paneling in the seventh-floor hallway. The air smelled fragrant from the flowers placed intermittently down the hall, and the polished floors reflected mine and Starlet’s images back at us.
I didn’t need to see Seth’s apartment to know he couldn’t pay for a place like this on a soldier’s wages. If he rented here, it probably cost him tens of thousands a month — an insane amount of money, in my opinion. He might as well buy a house with that kind of cash. And if he owned... then he’d dropped more than a few million on the place. Maybe five. Or seven.
Seven million dollars for a condo. I’d made about that much money in my short career, but I invested much of it. I couldn’t imagine dropping it all on a place to live.
So where did the money come from? Not from the check Uncle Sam sent each month. His clothes. His Jeep. All of his possessions seemed so every day. Then there was this...
I burned with a need to know where he got the moolah, but it was, of course, none of my business. And it wasn’t like I could find a way of asking without the question being rude. Suddenly I minded Seth’s aversion to talking about himself. The likelihood of him just being self-conscious decreased dramatically.
Did he have something to hide? A not so little tidbit connected to his living in such a luxurious building?
We took the corner and finally found his door. I knocked and then smoothed my hand over my hair, searching for any unruly strands. I listened for the sound of footsteps but heard nothing. Clutching on to Starlet’s leash, I looked down the hall at the doors spaced liberally apart. The homes hidden behind the walls weren’t small ones.
There was a noise on the other side of the door, and I turned back to face it just as it opened.
Seth appeared with a smile on his face. “Hey there.”
I couldn’t stop my own grin from forming. “Hi.”
“Come on in.”
Starlet pushed herself in ahead of me, her nose flush against the ground as she sniffed each inch of floor she could.