by Jami Alden
But even as she shivered as much from anticipation as from the chilly fall air and let him guide her into the steaming water, she couldn't help but feel a pinch of something that felt an awful lot like regret.
There were a lot of things she didn't know about Drew. And she was slowly realizing that a very big part of her wanted to discover every single one.
###
The next morning Drew walked back into the bedroom, his chest going tight at the vision that greeted him. He'd been to the Sistine Chapel, the Temples at Ankor Wat, and seen almost all of the natural wonders of the world, but he'd never seen anything as beautiful as Wendy Carmichael naked and asleep in his bed. He'd left her there nearly two hours ago, and it was no wonder she was still asleep. He'd kept her up late, gorging himself in her as though that could chase away the dread that dogged him every time he thought about leaving her.
Still it hadn't been enough, and when he'd woken up this morning next to her it had taken all of his will power to tear himself away from her. He'd gone out for a run, hoping that would take the edge off. The cold shower that followed had dulled the edge a little more.
But now, looking at her, his cock sprang to full, furious attention. Since he'd left, she'd kicked the covers off. The way she slept on her stomach gave him a mouthwatering view of long legs topped by one of the most perfect asses he'd ever seen. And the way one leg was cocked gave him just the barest hint of her pussy lips, luscious dark pink, peaking from between her legs.
Even as he told himself she was exhausted, that he should leave her alone and let her rest, he was naked before the thought was complete. Leaning over her, he pressed his open mouth against the back of her calf, licking and kissing his way up the backs of her legs. He knew the exact moment she woke up, stiffening a little at before she sighed and stretched underneath him.
"Good morning," she said as he gave her a soft, sucking kiss on the back of her thigh. The sound of her voice, low and husky with sleep, washed over him like a caress.
"Morning," he murmured as he slid his mouth up over the curve of her ass and delivered a little nip.
She gave a little squeal and started to turn over, but he held her still with a hand to the hollow of her back. "Hold still," he said. "I"m still working my way up."
He skimmed his hands up her back, following with his mouth and tongue. He teased her with soft sucks and nips, teased himself as his cock brushed against the silky skin of her thighs, the lush curve of her ass.
By the time he worked his way up to the nape of her neck, he was hard enough to drive nails and he could smell the arousal emanating from her skin. He grabbed a condom from his stash in the drawer and quickly slid it on. Urging her to her knees, he guided his cock to the wet heat of her pussy. Stroking himself against her, he bathed himself in her moisture, slipping and sliding against her clit until she was panting and fisting her hands in the sheets.
He curved his hand around her hip, loving the stark contrast of his tan skin against her creamy paleness. Though it bordered on torture, he couldn't tear his eyes away from the sight of his cock sinking into her, watching the way her body stretched to accommodate him, feeling the tight heat envelope him as he slid all the way in. Then out, slowly, deliberately, his cock shiny with her juice as he pulled out.
He thrust again, and she arched her back, rocking back to meet him, urging him harder, faster. His body was more than willing to oblige. He'd fucked her half a dozen times in the last twelve hours, and still he was as eager to go as a teenager losing his virginity.
And she was right there with him, moaning and urging him on as her body tightened around him. He loved that she was wild, that he could make her wild. That there was a wild cat under that professional façade. A woman who craved a hard, lusty, headboard banging fuck from a man half crazed with lust.
Drew held her hips in his hands, his fingers digging into the soft flesh but she didn't seem to mind, her body tightening around him with every hard thrust.
The bedroom echoed with the sound of skin on skin, the heavy thump of the bed slamming into the walls, their own harsh cries.
He could feel his balls pulling tight, his muscles contracting as his orgasm loomed. Determined to take her with him, he slid one palm around to cover her sex, stroking his middle finger over the swollen bud of her clit. With a sharp cry she jerked against him, her inner muscles squeezing his dick, milking him to a climax so fierce he swore he saw stars. They both collapsed to the mattress and Drew rolled to the side just shy of crushing her. As their heartbeats slowed to a gallop, Wendy snuggled against his side and pressed a soft kiss to his neck.
"Mm, now that's a wake up call," she murmured. "If I had known that was waiting for me I would have let you sleep over a long time ago."
He thought of how good it had felt to wake up next to her—even without the sex—and couldn't quite keep the bitterness in check at all the mornings they'd missed. "You made the rules. Your loss."
But as he pulled away and swung his legs over he side of the bed, there was a heaviness in his gut that told him when all was said and done between them, he was going to be the one to lose. Big time
###
From the moment Wendy woke up, she couldn't remember a more perfect day. After she'd recovered from the orgasm rocking her body, Drew had made an amazing breakfast using his cooking prowess to make eggs benedict
"This is one of my favorites!" Wendy said around blissed out bites of perfectly poached eggs and tangy hollandaise.
"I know."
"How?" She couldn't remember having a discussion about her favorite egg dishes with him.
"We did that brunch thing at Pebble Beach—you were there with Alan. You were disappointed that the eggs weren't cooked right. And the fact that it was one of your favorites made it worse."
Now that he mentioned it Wendy remembered exactly what he was talking about. Funny, even though Alan had been sitting right next to her, in her memory he was some vague, blurry presence at her side. Drew, however, she remembered in vivid, high def detail, right down to the moss green shirt he'd been wearing. "I remember now," she said cocking an eyebrow at him. "You told me to stop being so high maintenance and eat my damn eggs." She took another slow, deliberate bite.
"And you gave me that glare that turns weaker men to stone and wouldn't eat another bite." He grinned and gave her a kiss on the tip of her nose.
"I couldn't give you the satisfaction of winning." She grinned back and tried not to put too much weight in the fact that he'd remembered one of her favorite dishes and made the effort to cook it for her.
Then they burned off breakfast with a hike that offered breathtaking views of the lake and the mountains that seemed to stretch on forever. She couldn't help but notice that while she was sucking wind so hard they could probably hear her in San Francisco, Drew had barely broken a sweat. By the time they were headed back to his house she was pleasantly worn out, her stomach rumbling, in need of refueling after the strenuous hike.
As she trailed Drew up to the front door, she found herself admiring the way his long sleeve t-shirt clung to the muscles of his back and shoulders, the hard curve of his ass against his cargo pants. Her body quickened with a hunger that had nothing to do with her stomach.
Drew unlocked the door and ushered her inside. As though he read her thoughts, he pulled her in for a kiss. "How about we go shower off before we get lunch?"
"Sounds perfect," Wendy said, the image of Drew's naked, soap slick body against hers already making her wet.
Drew cupped her ass in his hands and lifted her off the floor. Wendy wrapped her legs around his waist as they started down the hall, giggling as he stopped to pin her against the wall and grind himself against her.
"What's that?" Drew asked, a little breathless at the muffled sound coming from her pocket.
Wendy tuned in, her body stiffening in dread as she heard the familiar sounds of “The Imperial March” theme from Star Wars coming from her phone.
"Crap," she
whispered. "It's Pierce Cooper."
"Ooh, the big dog." Drew cocked an eyebrow and released his grip, recognizing the name of the senior partner. The one who had a very well known reputation for being such an unforgiving hardass legend had it that he'd driven more than one associate to check into the psych ward.
"Yep," Wendy said, all traces of arousal disappearing in the wake of anxiety. It was unheard of for Cooper to offer up praise or good news. The fact that he was calling her directly—on a weekend no less—meant she needed to brace herself for an ass reaming of epic proportions.
She closed her eyes and thumbed the accept button. She barely got out the first syllable of "hello" before Cooper launched his attack.
"Do you know how close you came to losing our client over two billion dollars in licensing revenue?"
Wendy winced, her chest growing tight as he disdainfully read the sentence in question, which, because of two transposed words, completely changed the language of the contract, and would have indeed cost their client billions had they actually signed it.
Her throat was tight, her eyes burning with tears. That she could feel Drew's hard stare only made it worse. It was one thing to have the crap verbally beaten out of her over a stupid, rookie mistake. It was another to have someone witness it.
"I apologize Mr Cooper," Wendy said. "I have no excuse for my carelessness." But she did have an explanation, and he was standing right next to her. Too many late nights with Drew combined with an already punishing work schedule meant that she was even more sleep-deprived than usual and not as sharp as she needed to be. "I'll go over the contract with a fine-toothed comb and have the revised version out in few hours so they have plenty of time to review it before the meeting on Monday."
"You know, you've built up quite a reputation at Chapman Cooper," he said icily. "There are a lot of people who think you have potential to do very well."
"Thank you sir."
"Your review is coming up soon, as I'm sure you're well aware."
"Of course, sir."
"Lack of attention to detail like this will not go unnoticed."
"Of course sir," she managed to choke out. Her body had gone ice cold as everything she had worked so hard for threatened to slip from her grasp.
She hung up and stuffed her phone back in her pocket, not wanting to look at Drew. She knew exactly what she'd see on his face. Pity, for getting screamed at like the peon she was. And worse, that all too familiar disappointment that she had to take time out of their weekend to work. That no matter how badly he wanted her to, she couldn't blow off Cooper and the work that needed to be done.
She'd seen it often enough in other men's faces, most recently Alan's, and as she braced herself to look at Drew she felt her own familiar resentment building. Not at work, not even at Cooper. She enjoyed her work and had a duty to her clients, and on the thankfully rare occasions when she screwed up, fixing it was her top priority. Above everything, including the sexy, funny, gorgeous man whose stare she could feel like a weight on the top of her head.
No, the resentment was at the fact that she was supposed to feel guilty, that she'd chosen a career that was intense and competitive, and no one could seem to cut her a break and understand that at this point in her career, it was going to take a toll on her personal life.
But to her shock, Drew said, "Wow, that was almost as bad as the time our chairman called me a snot nosed punk in front of the board and told me I was going to run the company into the ground if I didn't get my head out of my ass." He pulled her to him and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "Let's get you set up in the office."
Wendy quickly retrieved her computer from the kitchen.
"You're not mad that I have to work?" Wendy said as he took her hand and led her across the great room.
He looked down at her and either he was doing a great job faking it, or he really wasn't in the least bit annoyed that she was going to have to use a few of their last few precious hours to work.
Maybe because the hours aren't nearly as precious to him as they are to you, said a mean little voice in her head.
"Look, I'm not going to pretend I'm not bummed that you're going to spend the next few hours cooped up in here," he said as though reading her thoughts. He opened the door to a small room off the great room she hadn't noticed before and ushered her inside. "Believe me," he said, his voice going low and rough the way it did when he was turned on, "I had plans for that shower and fully expect a raincheck."
Wendy put her computer down and curved her hand around his neck, pulling his mouth to hers. "You can count on it."
He licked into her mouth and gave her a long, hungry kiss that immediately had her body buzzing. He released her with a low, regretful sound and stepped back. "I better get out of here or I'm going to get you into more trouble.
"You sure you're not mad?" Wendy said, searching his face, unable to believe that Drew, who was used to having everything go exactly the way he wanted, wasn't even the slightest bit peeved at the wrench thrown in his day.
"Look, if anyone understands not being able to clock out at five on Friday and call it good, it's me. And after my last trip to Boston, I'm lucky my own phone isn't blowing up—I think they're saving everything up to give it to me in person. I'm perfectly capable of keeping myself busy and entertained for a few hours while you get yourself back on Cooper's good side."
"I don't think he has one," Wendy said, settling into the chair and opening up her laptop. She tilted her head up to accept Drew's soft kiss and his promise to check in with her in a few hours.
Though small, the office was fully equipped, with a beautiful wooden desk and a comfy leather desk chair. A combination printer-fax sat on one corner, and her computer was already hooked up with the wireless connection.
The office also had the perk of facing the lake, offering up an incredible view of dark blue water and the harsh mountains in the distance. Talk about an inspiring work environment, she thought. Then felt a little pinch at the thought that this was the last and only time she was likely to get to work in Drew's house.
As she pulled up the documents on her computer she couldn't stop marveling at the thought that Drew genuinely wasn't pissed. He totally understood her situation and was supportive of her need to work, even though it took away from their time together.
He poked his head in to let her know he was going out and to see if she wanted anything. After about an hour she heard the sound of the garage door opening as he returned.
As she pored over the contract, she vaguely heard the sounds of him moving around the house; his heavy footsteps in the hall, the sound of cabinets opening and closing in the kitchen, the sound of the TV going on for a bit.
Far from distracting her, the sounds were almost comforting, little reminders of what was waiting for her when she was finished. Drew, with his sexy, knowing smile ready to pull her into his arms. And there wouldn't be a trace of disappointment or reproach or a snide comment about putting work first.
For a few moments, she let her mind drift into what if territory. Spun a little fantasy world where she and Drew were really together, one where he supported her and she supported him and he put up with her crazy work schedule because he understood how important it was to her.
A world where they escaped to this beautiful mountain retreat for weekends full of gorgeous, heart pounding hikes and even more heart pounding sex.
A world where they built a life together full of laughter, hard work, and really, really great sex. A world where she woke up every morning to Drew's lusty good morning kiss and his eyes full of love as he smiled down at her.
Her thoughts skidded to a stop, and she put a ruthless end to her daydream. Yes, at this moment, on this particular day, Drew was great. These past few weeks with him had been great. But that didn't mean she should go telling herself stories about the life they weren't going to have together. There was no reason for her to get carried away, thinking this could ever become something lasting.
She knew Drew, knew his MO. And though it made her sick to her stomach, hurt her more than she would ever admit out loud, she knew that no matter how understanding and attentive Drew was right now, he wasn't one to bet on for the long term. Sooner or later Drew would grow as bored with her as with all the other women he'd left behind.
Not to mention, he'd already proven himself to be too much of a distraction for her. Drew was risky. She'd known that from the start. And it was just as well he was exiting her life before he endangered everything she'd worked so hard and so long for.
Even telling herself that couldn't stop the thrill of pure joy that coursed through her when he poked his head in the office and asked if she was close to finished. She couldn't ignore the sinking feeling she'd had a lot lately—that if she was this thrilled seeing his face after only a few hours her feelings for him weren't nearly as casual as she tried to tell herself they were.
She shoved the thought aside, determined to live in the here and now, savor these last days together. He made it easy, coming up behind her and settling his hands over her shoulders to give them a gentle massage. "Yep, I just sent the draft off," she said with a smile.
Her eyes drifted closed as his hands slid down her shoulders to cover her breasts, cupping them and giving them a firm squeeze as his mouth came down on her neck in a spot he knew would make her shiver.
"So am I going to be lucky enough to get that shower?"
Chapter 14
With no more work emergencies—Cooper had reviewed the updated contract and replied to her email with a terse "this is acceptable"—the rest of the weekend passed in a pleasured haze. Sunday evening came all too soon and as Drew locked up the house, the heavy sound of the deadbolt hit her like a punch to the stomach.
They drove back to San Francisco in their separate cars, and though Wendy wasn't usually into signs, she couldn't help feel like it was symbolic of their pending separation.
Drew followed her to her place, and they barely got through the door before they were tearing each other’s clothes off, going at each other with an intensity that bordered on desperation.