by Leslie North
“Great.” Adrenaline and competition raced through him in equal measure as he started his brisk, confident pace toward Stan Lewis.
Just the juice he needed to make sure that he was on the closing end of this deal, and not Colin.
8
Amelia and Josh wandered the property after their successful meeting with Stan. One of Amelia’s favorite parts about working with Josh was watching his blunt determination unfold, like an expertly arranged trail of dominoes.
Whenever he talked to his father, his energy became lofty and idealistic. She was always there to reel him in, bring him back down to earth.
And whenever he was faced with direct competition, the fangs came out and he became ruthless. In a sexy way, one that inspired even more confidence in his ability to win and get things done.
He was a masterpiece, truly. One that she never tired of looking at and absorbing.
In the afterglow of their successful meeting, Josh wanted to walk down memory lane a little bit in advance of dinner. As it was, they only had a few days left here on the business mission, and Amelia was already feeling reluctant to part ways with Josh. Not just as his assistant, but as his fake fiancée.
It was nice waking up with him at her side. Catching glimpses of him lost in thought, half naked, or fussing with his hair. Sharing the same living space with him, even for a few days, was far more comfortable than it had been with her last serious boyfriend. And that was saying something.
Josh just felt natural.
She just wished he felt the same way about her.
“It’s really snowing,” Josh remarked at they paused at a long line of windows in a huge sunroom. Couches faced the windows, and further down the line couples and families alike lounged on the massive cushions. Josh glanced down the line, and then wrapped his arm around Amelia.
“Still pretending, huh?” she teased, but burrowed deeper into his embrace.
“I told you, a week.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Her heart raced as she contemplated saying the words bouncing around in her head. “If you aren’t careful, I’ll try to kiss you again.”
Josh lifted a brow. “I’d rather not be careful.”
“Right, because it’s important that we convince perfect strangers that we’re engaged,” she said, feeling dizzy. Josh was the only thing grounding her right now, the warm steel of his body against her, his fingers dipping into her natural waist. Josh turned her to face him, dragging his palms up her arms.
“Just admit that you want me to kiss you, Amelia,” he said, a smile tugging at his lips. He was probably still teasing. But something shivered between them, something heavy and real. Something way beyond the confines of this agreement they’d made for the week.
“Okay,” she said but couldn’t even force out any more words because Josh surged forward and captured her lips in a kiss. She made a small noise and clutched at his cheeks. In an instant, her hesitation dissolved and she was left facing her base desires, all the heated lusting and desperation that she’d been ignoring for the past days, weeks, months, and years. All the quiet pining and suppressed admiration. They crashed forward and consumed her, leaving her blind and grappling for the wall of man beneath her.
She kissed him like she wanted to. Like she’d dreamed of doing so many times late at night, with just her hand to console her. Her tongue surged forward to find his, starting a sloppy, desperate dance. Josh cupped her face, and they stumbled sideways from the intensity of it all, knocking against the windows.
Amelia snickered, and Josh glanced around to assess how much attention they’d drawn. Nobody cared, but still, they needed one hundred percent more privacy for what she was desperate to do with this man.
“Let’s go over here,” Josh said, leading her by the hand to a small alcove with a fireplace. A curved loveseat faced the roaring fire, and Josh sank onto the couch, tugging her down beside him. Before she could say a thing, Josh had her face in his hands, lips drawing more kisses out of her. She sank back into the couch, relishing the heat of the fire mixed with the heat of Josh’s mouth. It stoked the fire between her legs to dangerous levels. When they finally broke for air, Amelia’s chest was heaving.
“Jesus, Josh,” she panted.
He wet his bottom lip, his gaze still on her mouth. His hair was already tousled, shirt slightly askew. She had a fistful of his button-down in her right hand, just a breath away from ripping the thing off him.
“Actually,” he said, his voice husky, “I was wrong. Fuck this fireplace. Let’s go up to the room.”
His implicit suggestion thrilled through her, and she was nodding before she could think better of it. Because what was a better suggestion than that?
Screw the consequences. Screw the fact that he was her boss and they were on a work vacation and every source of etiquette and conduct would tell her not to do this.
Right now, after those kisses, she couldn’t say no.
Josh and Amelia ran toward the elevators, laughing like teenagers. In the elevator he pinned her to the shiny wall and kissed her so hard her lips tingled and then started a path down her neck and chest. He barely had time to compose himself once the doors slid open on their floor. They edged past a family of five, who assessed them with arched brows, and then ran toward their suite.
Inside the room, Josh pinned her against the door with more kisses, and all she could do was moan with appreciation. The noise ripped out of her, unbidden. She tugged at his shirt, pulling it out from the waist of his gray slacks. He grunted, fumbling with the tie at the waist of her dress, tugging at it without being able to loosen it.
She tried to help him but returned to her own task of tearing his shirt off his body. She had too much to do and not enough attention span to do it. She just needed more of him—immediately. But no progress was made, not between the fervent kisses and the ineffectual disrobing. Josh finally broke the seal of their kiss and drew a deep breath.
“This needs to come off,” he said, his voice gritty. He fumbled with the tie again, failed another time, and then swore and lifted her dress from below. Amelia laughed as he came to an impasse at her waist. She undid the knot herself, which allowed the fabric to cascade open. He pushed it over her shoulders and down her arms, leaving her in her bra and panties.
“Yes,” he groaned, trailing his lips down the center of her chest toward the mounds of her breasts. She inhaled sharply when his lips grazed the valley there, then again when he nipped at each tight nipple in turn. “You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to do this.”
His words echoed through her, sending heat and lightning and all manner of fireworks shooting off under her skin. She never imagined that maybe he’d been desperate for this too. Whether it was for a day or for a year, it didn’t matter. Just the simple fact that he’d wanted her was enough.
“Oh my god,” she groaned as he hoisted her by the hips. “Tell me about it.” Her ankles locked behind his body, and he carried her into the bedroom. She ran her hand over the strong ridge of his shoulders, down the rippling muscles of his back. She’d been dying to know what he looked like underneath his pants, and finally, here she was: wrapped around him in the throes of ecstasy. Part of her refused to believe it, since the reality of her and Josh hooking up was as exotic and unlikely as a unicorn sighting.
Christmas freaking miracle right here.
Josh tossed her onto the bed, and she bounced softly, her knees falling to the side. Josh made quick work of his shirt, tossing it aside, and then shucked his pants. His cock made an impressive mountain out of his boxer briefs. She reached for him, trying to touch it, or maybe get a glimpse of it. But he surged forward, showering her belly with kisses, smoothing his lips over her hip and along her panties, until he was tugging at the pink fabric with his teeth.
“Oh my god,” she moaned, squeezing her legs together, afraid to let him see just how wet he’d made her already. “I can’t believe this.”
“Believe it,” he said, and then he tore her p
anties down and dove headfirst between her legs.
It was one thing to kiss your boss. It was an entirely different matter to have your boss eat you out. Amelia’s lips parted as Josh’s lips connected with the stiff peak of her clit, slurping and prodding at her until she cried out. Amelia arched her back, her entire body hot and buzzing under his attention. Josh kept her pinned to the bed at the hips, sliding a finger inside of her. And then a second finger. He fingerfucked her while he sucked at her clit, and suddenly the downhill race became a damn bobsled course and she was tumbling across the finish line headfirst.
“Oooooh, Josh!” she moaned, and all it took was one more swipe of his tongue against her and her entire body went rigid. Pleasure ricocheted through her, making her temporarily blind as she came around him. Her hips jerked beneath him, but he didn’t let up. Fuck, she’d come so fast—it was the only thing she could think of, beyond the numbing pleasure and the feel of him filling her.
But it wasn’t even all of him. And there was still so much more to come. Her mind spun as he sat back, his mouth shiny from her juices.
“Wha…” she began, unable to finish her thought.
He smiled widely and pushed his boxer briefs down. His cock bobbed out, finally free. She inhaled sharply as she realized just how huge he was.
“J…” she tried again.
“What?” He looked so self-satisfied right then. And hell, he should be satisfied. He’d stolen her ability to speak. He’d made her come in under three minutes. And now he was about to fill her so deeply she might not be able to walk afterward. “I have a condom,” he added, reaching for his pants. He fished his wallet out of the pocket.
She covered her face with her hands for a moment, still unable to accept that Josh had given her the best orgasm of her life. Hands down. Nobody could beat him.
It wasn’t fair.
“Are you okay, Amelia?” he asked, the laughter in his voice.
“Nnnngh,” she said.
“I’m not done with you,” he warned.
“Yes,” she croaked.
“Ah,” Josh said, tugging a condom out of his wallet. He tore it open with his teeth and then rolled it down over his massive cock. “So you can speak.”
She gaped at the monster between his legs. “You’ve been hiding that for the past two years? Are you kidding me right now?”
“Pretty sure it’s called harassment if I show you my dick while we’re at work,” Josh teased, easing onto the bed between her legs. The top of his cock brushed her damp folds, and her pussy clenched in anticipation.
“You could have at least told me you had the world’s hugest dick,” she said, breath hitching as his hips rested against hers.
“Still harassment,” he said, flexing so that his cockhead dragged along the nub of her clit. A shiver wracked her body, and another sigh escaped her.
“I guess it wouldn’t have mattered,” she said, looking down between their bodies as Josh lined up their parts. She still couldn’t believe it. Boss. Josh. Penis. Inside her. It was the most beautiful equation she’d never imagined possible. “Even if I’d have asked you to fuck me two years ago, you wouldn’t have.”
He gave an incredulous snort. “You don’t think?”
“Come on, Josh. You’re only horny right now because we’re two grown adults sharing a bed,” she said, the words a tactical defense against her fears. “Pretending to be a couple, on top of that.”
He grunted, easing his fat cockhead inside her. All the air in her lungs hissed out, and she melted against the mattress.
“You are so wrong,” he groaned.
It was hard to remember what they were even talking about. The rush of stretching and heat and steel was overwhelming. All-encompassing.
“Am I?” She dug her fingernails into his back as he pushed himself deeper. A low moan escaped her.
“I’ve wanted you since the day you first walked into my office,” he grunted, and then surged forward, claiming every last inch of space inside her.
She arched back, fisting the comforter as he flexed against her, finding even more depth. His confession filled her as much as his cock did. If her head was spinning before, now it had rocketed out of orbit.
But she couldn’t think about that now. Everything shrank to an intense roar, which filled every inch of her limbs as Josh started a brisk and determined rhythm. He rocked into her, over and over again, his blue eyes so intense it felt like something inside of her broke in half to hold his gaze. But she didn’t dare break this connection, the juicy way he sank into her, the heartbreaking depth in this union.
Amelia wasn’t surprised to find herself falling over the edge—again. She pinched her eyes shut and clutched his biceps, crying out as yet another orgasm washed over her. Josh stilled against her, a gruff cry escaping him as he found his own peak.
Chest heaving, Amelia searched his face for something to grab onto. Some sign that their joining had been just as intense for him.
Josh surged forward and kissed her tenderly, far softer than she expected after getting drilled into like that.
He rolled off her, pulling her into his arms.
“Hope you’re a cuddler,” he said into her ear, and she dissolved into giggles.
He was the only man who could make her giggle. The only man who’d ever made her come twice in twenty minutes. The only man who she could spend days with at a time and not tire of. The only man who she knew better than anyone else, and now, knew him just a little bit more.
This was the afterglow. And damn, she’d been missing feeling like this.
Time to enjoy it.
Amelia snuggled up into his chest and let her eyes drift shut.
9
They didn’t have much work scheduled the next day beyond the usual email maintenance and calls from the New York office. When Amelia suggested they go to her parents’ house for dinner, Josh was more than ready for the family time.
Things had been cozy between them all day, probably in large part due to the earth-shattering orgasms they’d exchanged the evening before. They’d fucked so long that they couldn’t even leave the suite to have dinner as they’d planned. After ordering room service for the second time that day, they’d spent the night watching bad movies and falling into bed over and over again.
He’d never had a better vacation.
And he wasn’t even on vacation.
“Let’s just try to keep talk about wedding stuff to a minimum,” Amelia was saying as she pulled on leggings, her belly crinkling as she bent over to tug the leg over her heel. “I hate lying, but even more with specific information.”
“Deal.” He couldn’t keep his eyes off the curve of her ass as she checked herself out in the mirror. He gave a low whistle.
“Yeah? You like what you see?” she teased, reaching for a big gray sweater. Once it was settled around her, perfectly slouchy and comfy-looking, she worked on pulling her hair into a high bun. “Gonna have to keep it in your pants for a few hours, stud. My parents won’t take kindly to us fucking in the bathroom like teenagers.”
“Did you fuck in your parents’ bathroom when you were a teenager?” he asked.
She faltered. “Well…no…”
“How about this: I just fuck you when we get back to the room. Deal?”
She snorted, wobbling where she stood. “Yeah. Deal.”
He pressed a kiss to her cheek as he breezed past, reaching for his coat. Yes, things were very cozy. And he liked it more than he could even describe.
They called a taxi to take them to her parents’ house, since they both planned on drinking there. It wasn’t more than a five-minute ride, though, just like practically all of Cedar Grove. Her parents had a secluded house out on a country road, flanked by woods on one side and an apple orchard on the other.
When they got out of the taxi, Amelia’s mother was already hanging out the front door, urging them in. “Come on! Hurry up, lovebirds! Dinner’s ready!”
Josh laughed while Amelia g
roaned. “She’s always hurrying me,” she complained with a grin tugging at her lips.
“Finally I get to see the family dynamics that shaped you into the woman you are today,” Josh said.
“I wish it were more interesting than it really is,” she remarked.
Inside the house, a flurry of hugs and chatter greeted them. Rob and Rebecca were there, while Elise ran around underfoot. Amelia’s mom immediately led Josh toward the platter of meats, where she carefully explained all of his options.
“The lamb is over here,” she said in a low voice, lifting up some slices with a knife. “But I have ham too, because I don’t know how you feel about lamb.”
“Whatever you made is fine by me,” Josh said, fighting a grin.
“She’s very attentive to people’s meat options,” Amelia said behind them. Once they shucked their coats, she squeezed Josh’s side as she headed for the dining room table. Two empty seats remained on the far side of the table, which Amelia’s father indicated were for “the lovebirds.”
The whole thing was so unlike his childhood experience, which had always involved nannies and someone running late. His parents ran empires, and while the love was there, the physical presence had sometimes been lacking.
Amelia’s house burst with warmth. With genuine interest and presence.
As the dinner began and everyone got to talking and eating, it became hard not to fall in love with everyone and everything. Dry wine flowed as conversation easily shifted from sports teams to jokes about the president to casual work talk. Once dessert rolled around, Amelia’s father leaned in close to Josh.
“Hey,” he said, in a conspiratorial whisper. “Want to see some of Amelia’s high school pictures?”
Amelia snorted. “Dad, I can hear you!”
Her mother squealed, leaping up from the table. “I’ll get them right now!”
Rob rolled his eyes, but a grin tugged at his lips. “I think they live for this moment.”