by Serena Grey
When my desk phone rings a few minutes after they leave, I answer it, and it’s the ground floor reception calling to tell me that I have a package being sent up to my office. Almost as soon as I put down the phone, the delivery guy arrives.
The package he gives me contains the box I just sent to Landon’s office. It also includes a note on Swanson Court stationery, written in Landon’s firm slanted handwriting.
Keep Them.
Just that. I stare at the words, disappointment flooding me. What had I been expecting, some heartfelt communication to show me that I still meant something to him?
Well, I’m not going to keep a gift from a guy who can’t be bothered to expend more than two words on me.
My phone rings just as I’m about to call the office messenger service again. I don’t care that I might have to come up with an explanation as to why I’m using office facilities for personal stuff. I just want to let Landon know that I don’t need his diamonds, and I won’t take orders from him.
Keep them indeed.
Too caught up in my thoughts, I slide my phone to answer without looking at the screen.
“Hello,” I say impatiently.
“Don’t even think of returning them. I’ll just send them back, and I can do this all year.”
Landon.
My heart almost stops. Somehow I had convinced myself that I would never hear his voice again, that the delicious blend of perfect timbre and raspy smoothness was lost to me forever. I luxuriate in the sound, wanting to store it somewhere so I can listen to it whenever I want.
“Are you there?”
I recover myself enough to realize that I have to say something. “Landon,” I start. “I can’t keep them. We agreed that they were a loan.”
“And now I want you to have them.”
Why? I almost ask him. Do you need to give me something you can consider as payment for the time we spent together? So you don’t feel like you owe me anything? Well, you owe me nothing. I’m a big girl, and I knew what I was getting into.
Except I didn’t.
I close my eyes, my throat tight. “It’s not enough that you want me to keep them. Maybe you always get what you want, but this time…”
“Rachel,” he interrupts. “Stop. I don’t carry expensive jewelry around in case I’ll need to give gifts to random women. I bought them for you,” he emphasizes the word, “because I thought they would look great on you.”
I am silent.
“And contrary to what I said to you, a long time ago,” he exhales audibly, “I don’t always get what I want.”
I swallow, suddenly confused. What does he mean? My eyes go to the package on my desk. “I’m not going to keep them Landon.”
“Okay.” There’s a short pause on his side. “Why don’t we talk about it then, face to face?”
The instinct to say no is defeated by my desire to see him, which is so strong, that every other thought is instantly pushed out of my head. I have to pause and try to get control of my brain. “I don’t think…”
“Let’s have lunch,” he suggests. “I’ll come to you. Is that okay?”
God! I want to see him. So badly. “It’s fine. I’m free at one.”
“Perfect.”
In the few minutes before one, I hover nervously by my phone, smoothing my hair and checking my clothes. By the time he calls to let me know that he’s close to my building, I’m a mess of nervousness, eagerness, and desire.
Downstairs, he’s waiting on the curb, gold waves windblown, his sensational body clad in another perfect suit. He’s leaning on the gleaming black car like a ridiculously gorgeous model in a photoshoot.
“Oh fuck.” I mumble at the sight of him, a bolt of awareness moving through me. Why does he have to look so good? How am I supposed to stop thinking about him when he insists on reminding me just how delicious he is?
He unfolds himself from the car and faces me, spearing me with his intense blue gaze. Somehow, I manage to walk up to him without swooning. “Hey.”
“Hey Rachel.” His eyes are roaming my face, stormy and intense. The look goes straight to my core, where it starts a slow heat. He opens the door for me, then walks around the car to join me, settling into the seat beside me while Joe, who’s driving us, pulls away from the curb.
I resist the urge to make small talk. I’m feeling too much to pretend that I care about things like the weather or traffic. He doesn’t seem to want to talk either. His eyes are in front, his fingers tapping on the armrest between us. His face, when I steal a glance at him, looks as if he’s deep in thought.
“How’s your day been?” he asks, when the silence has stretched to breaking point.
“Okay. Just… work.”
He nods. Then he turns to look at me, and his eyes are blazing with hunger that matches what I’m feeling. Trapped in that gaze, I can’t move, I fully expect him to do something, touch me, kiss me… I know I won’t resist, but then Joe stops at the entrance of a glass fronted building and we have to leave the car.
Lunch is at a swanky restaurant close to the top floor of the building. There’s an excellent view of the city from where we’re sitting in a secluded part of the restaurant, shielded from other lunchers by a creative arrangement of furniture and indoor plants.
A waiter takes our order, and while we wait, I try to keep my eyes on the table, the view, anything but Landon. I feel drawn to him, like a moth to a flame, or like he’s a magnet and I’m a helpless piece of metal.
When I finally get the courage to look at him, his eyes are on me.
I breathe. “You said you wanted to talk.”
He nods. “I did.”
He doesn’t offer more, so I start. “There was no need for us to come here because of your jewelry.”
“Yours,” he replies. “I gave them to you, but that’s not why we’re here. I wanted to see you.”
I swallow, silent, as hope fans in my chest.
“I wanted to see you,” he says again, his eyes burning into mine.
Something is squeezing at my heart. “Why?” I ask, my voice soft.
“Why?” He runs a hand through his hair and lets out a short laugh, but there’s no amusement in the sound, “Because you’ve gotten under my skin in a way I didn’t think was possible.”
I stay silent, not trusting myself to speak.
“I want to keep seeing you,” he continues. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you.”
My heart is beating a staccato rhythm against my chest. This is what I want. I want to keep seeing him, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about him either. But now I know that for me, it’s not just sex. Laurie is right. I have feelings for him. If what he wants is just an extension of our arrangement, will I be able to handle that?
Our food arrives, and we’re both silent as the waiter serves us. When we’re alone again, Landon leans forward. “When I asked you to take the trip with me to San Francisco, you insisted that you only wanted our arrangement to last for a week.” His eyes hold mine. “I want to know why.”
Because even then, I’d known there was a chance that I would fall in love with him, and I’d thought that if we only spent a short time together, I’d be safe.
But I’d still fallen in love with him. The realization tears through me like a slice of physical pain. I’m in love with him. I want him, every part of him, everything about him, more than I’ve ever wanted anyone or anything.
He’s still waiting for me to say something.
“I was in a bad place,” I tell him, remembering Jack, and the feelings of heartbreak I’d thought were real at the time. “I thought a short physical relationship would help to get me back on track.”
“You thought.” His eyes are questioning.
I shake my head. How do I tell him that instead of forgetting Jack as I’d planned, I’d realized that my feelings for Jack had been nothing, totally inconsequential compared to the way I feel now, as if not only my heart but my whole being is at stake.
“What are you asking, Landon?”
“I want to know if …” he stops and mutters something under his breath. “What I’m saying is, I want you, I have from the moment I saw you, and I still do. I can’t let you go.”
I stare at him, my emotions running high. I have to make a decision. I should tell him that I want more than sex. That I want him to…
To what? Return my feelings? Love me back?
It’s just been a week.
I can’t let you go.
And I don’t want him to. That’s all that matters, at least for now.
“You don’t have to let me go,” I respond, my voice barely audible. “I don’t want you to.”
I hear him breathe, the sound is threaded with something like relief. Then he leans back on his seat. “The food is getting cold,” he says. “We should eat.”
Food is the last thing on my mind. There’s a ball of excitement and relief building in my stomach, and I can tell that he feels the same way. I smile at him, and he smiles back, and I feel as if the weight of the past few days has been lifted from me. There’s still so many things to consider, like what exactly our relationship is now, but I push the questions out of my mind.
We talk about different things while we eat. The article, his work, and how happy I was to see Laurie again.
“What are you doing tonight?” he asks, when we’re almost done with the food.
I shrug. “Nothing. Why?”
“Aidan, my brother, has been working on a play. It’s still in the preview stage, but tonight is a ‘press night, and I’m going to lend my support.” His lips quirk. “Will you come?”
It was probably the play Sonali had been talking about when we went out to lunch what seems like a lifetime ago. “I’d love to.”
“Good.” His eyes linger on my lips, and then he lets out a ragged breath. “Now I’m going to take you back to your office, because if I don’t, I’m going to have to find a place to fuck you.”
I’m shocked at the raw statement, but also, more than anything, I want him to do exactly that. I take a deep breath. “I can get away with an hour.”
He stares at my face for a split second. Then he gets up, taking my elbow as I rise from my seat. He leads me out of the restaurant, his urgency obvious even from the heat of his fingers on my skin, and I feel exactly the same way.
“Where are we going?” I ask as we wait for the elevator.
“The nearest place with a bed.”
The elevator doors open and he pulls me inside, not waiting for the doors to close before he covers my mouth with his. His lips are warm and hungry, and his tongue delves into my mouth, making me moan and arch against him.
“My place is closer than either your hotel or your office,” I whisper to him when he releases my lips, I’m panting, my words breathy. His hands are on my waist, holding my body flush against his, and I can feel his arousal, hard and insistent against my thighs.
“Your place it is.” He reaches for my lips again, and just as he claims them, the bell dings and the elevator stops.
He pulls away with a muttered oath just as the doors slide open. Immediately, he takes my hand and resumes his brisk stride towards the entrance. He’s already calling Joe, who pulls onto the curb just as we exit the building. Landon orders him in a curt voice to drive to my apartment, then leans back on the seat, his body tense as his fingers tap an impatient rhythm on his thigh.
The journey to my apartment is mercilessly long. Joe does his best to weave through the traffic, but by the time we get to my building I’m desperate with need. We hurry up the stairs, and once inside, Landon doesn’t wait to get to my room before he pulls me to him and starts to kiss me again.
His hands are everywhere, even as I lead him towards my room, our tongues entwined. He pulls my top over my head, and unclasps my bra, tossing them both to the floor. Inside my room, I start to work on his trousers, while he loosens his tie and tosses his jacket on my chair. I undo his belt and pull down his briefs to free his erection. He is so hard, fully erect, and warm against my fingers. Hungrily, I get on my knees to take him in my mouth, sucking on the head, even as I stroke the length from top to root.
His hips jerk as I flick my tongue over him. “Fuck, Rachel. I need to be inside you right now.”
I look up at him, meeting his eyes while still sucking on him. He groans and throws his head back, my name escaping his lips like a prayer.
He stills the hand I’m stroking him with and pulls out of my mouth, kicking off his trousers and briefs before pulling me up and laying me gently on the bed. He lifts my skirt and pulls off my panties, his movements almost frantic in their urgency. Covering my body with his, he moves my legs apart as he positions himself between them.
He lowers his head again, sucking on my lower lip as he slides inside me in one hot surge of his hips. I moan loudly, and he releases my lips. His eyes are darker than I’ve ever seen them, full of his desire for me. He moves his hips backward, then slams into me again. I cry out, wrapping my legs around his waist and urging him deeper.
He takes my lips again, his tongue plunging into my mouth. My nipples are grazing against his chest, aching and tender, and between my legs, each delicious thrust is bringing me closer and closer to my climax.
My body clenches around him, eager to feel every inch of him. He answers with a groan, rotating his hips as he starts to pump faster, the wide head of his cock hitting the tight mass of nerves inside me, as he strokes the explosion of pleasure building inside me. Warm, pulsing sweetness builds between my legs and starts to spread through my limbs. My body stiffens, tightening around him, and a deep groan escapes his lips, the sound sending me over the edge. I shatter completely, my whole body shaking uncontrollably.
Still inside me, he gathers me in his arms and pulls me up, getting to his knees at the same time. My legs are still around his waist, so he’s carrying me. I brace my arms around his neck, and he takes hold of my waist, thrusting his hips even as he moves me up and down his rock hard cock.
I feel as if I’m dying of pleasure. Another climax builds, taking over my body. His lips claim mine just as I lose my mind, coming apart in a burst of pure exquisite sensation, and luxuriating in the unrestrained sound of his own pleasure as he pumps into me one last time, and spills his warmth inside me.
“SO are you guys like dating now?” Laurie asks.
“Hmmm.” I don’t hear her at first. I’m sitting on one of the smaller chairs in the living room putting on my shoes, my mind on Landon and everything that happened earlier in the day.
After giving me two incredible orgasms, he’d cleaned me up and dressed me, smoothing my clothes and getting me presentable enough to return to the office. It had been tender and sweet. So sweet that I couldn’t think about it without smiling. Of course, he’d left the jewelry box in my dresser, and I’d only noticed when I finally returned from work.
“Rach… Did you even hear me?”
I look up at where Laurie is lying on the couch, her head on Brett’s lap while he feeds her grapes with the decadence of a roman emperor. “Not really.”
“I said... Are you guys dating now?”
“I don’t know… We like each other and we want to see where it goes.”
“So… dating,” Laurie concludes.
“Don’t assume,” Brett offers, popping a grape into his mouth. “Set the terms. What exactly is he offering? Long term commitment? Exclusivity? Will there be a ring at the end of the tunnel?”
“What?” both Laurie and I burst into laughter. “Has anybody ever told you that you have such a way with words?” I ask.
“Once or twice,” he grins.
“He’s right though,” Laurie says, “Find out what the deal is so you’re not left hanging in the end.”
In the end.
“We’re just taking it one day at a time,” I say nonchalantly, frowning as Brett feeds Laurie another grape and she licks his fingers. “That’s kind of gross. Can’t you just
maybe wait for me to leave?”
“Nope.” Laurie grins. “We want to make you so uncomfortable you have to leave.”
I snort and get up to go to my room, where I study my reflection in the full-length mirror, and judge the effect of my cream bandage dress and my nude heels. Landon will be here any moment to pick me up for his brother’s play, and I want to be ready when he comes.
I’m still looking at myself in the mirror when I hear the buzzer. I was expecting Landon to call when he got downstairs, so the sound of his voice in the living room as he says hello to Laurie and Brett takes me by surprise.
I take a deep breath and go to join them, stopping by my door to drink in the sight of him looking delicious in a dark blazer over a crisp blue shirt.
He raises his head immediately, and his eyes meet mine. “Hey baby.”
The endearment makes me warm. “Hey,” I reply.
He grins and walks over to me, dropping a very light kiss on my lips. “You ready?”
“Almost.” I scoot back into my room to pick up my purse, doing one last check in the mirror before joining them again, Laurie blows me a kiss. “Have fun,” she tells me, before turning to Landon. “Take good care of her.”
He smiles at her before transferring his gaze back to me. His eyes are hot and full of all the sensual promise I’ve come to expect. “I fully intend to,” he says, then takes my hand and leads me out of the door.
WE have dinner before going to the theater, which is one of the bigger ones on Broadway. I’ve been to a few plays before, with my parents and also with Laurie, but the press viewing is a different experience. The theater is not packed, and in the front rows, serious looking critics and bloggers are looking intently at the activities on the stage, and typing quick notes into phones and tablets.
We’re seated at the gallery, which is almost empty. From that spot there’s a good view of the stage, the critics, and Landon’s brother Aidan in a darkened corner opposite us, looking down at the stage, his intense expression so like Landon’s that it’s almost eerie.
I don’t know if he’s worried, but even I can see that he has no reason to be. The play is superb, with beautiful costumes, props, and excellent actors, especially the lead, a dark-haired girl who doesn’t look a day over seventeen, but commands the stage like a pro.