He keyed into his suite as soon as they reached the door on the fiftieth floor, but when he rolled her inside, she stood from the chair since she knew his apartment as intimately as she knew him.
“Are you hungry?” he asked. “Tired?”
“Both, I think.”
Taylor suggested she get in bed and he would bring her a sandwich, which sounded wonderful, so she held his arm and they went into the bedroom. After she stripped away her jeans and traded her sweater and bra for one of his oversized tee shirts, she climbed into bed and listened to Taylor pad through the suite and make a sandwich in the kitchen.
As she waited for him to return, she realized she felt more in the mood for his body than a sandwich, but exhaustion was also taking hold.
Soon she felt him sitting on the bed beside her after peeling the covers back and slipping in. When he set her sandwich plate on her lap, she wondered if she might fall asleep before she could lift it to her mouth, but she managed a few bites, as Taylor explained the waiting period which would have to lapse before they could take her bandages off.
Whether it was the anesthetic still in her system or perhaps painkillers the nurse had given her, she felt like she was becoming fatigued and delirious. She could barely follow his words. Then, without even realizing what she was doing, she began mumbling.
“Porter drugged them....”
“What?” he said quickly, though his alarm didn’t register.
“Carter and Layla. He’s manipulating them. He blackmailed them. He drugged them just like he drugged you.”
“Rose. Rose?”
It wasn’t until she felt him grab her that she realized she had been falling sideways, but he righted her.
“I think you need to sleep.”
“It was him,” she mumbled, dozing off in his arms. “He tried to kill me. It was him.”
Rose fell into a deep sleep. Taylor shifted her down into the bed so that they were both lying on their backs; Rose curled into the crook of his shoulder, and his arms wrapped around her.
Hours passed and when Rose woke, she felt energetic and well rested, as if she had slept for ten hours. Had she? She sensed the room was dark, though the bandages around her eyes prevented her from truly knowing one way or the other if it was still nighttime.
When she realized enough hours might have passed for her to unwrap her head and discover whether or not she could see, she bolted upright and felt for Taylor in the bed. He was breathing heavily, and she almost felt bad about waking him, but she was too excited and knew he would be, too, as soon as he woke up.
Gently, she reached out, intending to find his shoulder, but he must have slid farther down the bed, because she felt his cheek with her fingers. Angling her hand against the side of his head to brush her fingers through his hair, she was startled to feel gauze.
“What?” she heard herself say, even though she hadn’t meant to speak out loud.
Gently, she felt his face with both hands. Gauze was wrapping his eyes, and instantly she knew why. At the same time, she couldn’t believe it.
“Rose,” he said groggily, waking up and catching her hands with his.
“Taylor, you didn’t,” she whispered, shocked.
He sat up so he could be eye level with her.
“Taylor, tell me you didn’t,” she demanded, confused as to how this was supposed to make her feel. No one should sacrifice so greatly for her, yet she was grateful he had.
“Finding a donor was proving impossible,” he explained. “I’m a lot of things, but patient isn’t one of them.”
“So you...?”
“I insisted Dr. Fitzpatrick test me to see if I was a match, and when I learned I was, the decision was easy.”
“Easy? How could it be easy?”
“It just was.”
He drew in a deep breath then sighed. “You can’t be upset with me for this.”
“I don’t know how I feel.”
“You will,” he countered. “Here.”
He fell silent and she sensed him taking the bandage off his head. When he shifted, she heard him pull something over his head, and he mentioned, “Greer made me one, too.”
He flipped the nightstand lamp on, and as soon as he did, she saw amber light through the gauze over her right eye.
He helped her with her bandage, unwrapping the gauze until it fell to the bed, but her eyes were pinched shut.
“Don’t be scared,” he whispered.
Taylor slipped an eye patch over her left eye, making sure the elastic wrapped her head at the right angle, and then brushed the back of his hand down her cheek.
“Look at me,” he said softly. “Open your eye.”
She was terrified, but eventually found the nerve to lift her eyelid open, and when she did, she saw Taylor gazing at her.
Immediately, she burst out in exhilarated laughter and cupped her hands around his face, drinking in the sight of him. She thought she would never see his face again, and the fact that she now could made her wonder if this was a dream.
“I can see?” she asked, laughing and crying and hoping she wouldn’t wake up.
“You tell me,” he said, smiling, his good eye glistening with a tear that was threatening to spill down his cheek.
“We look like pirates,” she said, launching into contagious laughter. She kissed him. “God, I can’t believe you did this. This is why you rushed off before my surgery?”
“Yes.”
Overcome with emotion, Rose kissed him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. They fell to the bed, Taylor shifting over her, and hungrily pulling her panties down, as she wriggled, helping him get them off as quickly as possible.
He pushed his boxer-briefs down next, and when he returned his gaze to her, she stared at him, unwilling to close her eye or even blink. Seeing him was too good. She didn’t want to miss him for even a second.
Taylor pulled the tee shirt up and over her head then threw it off the side of the bed, In the next instant, she felt him thrust into her hard and fast, filling her completely.
She moaned and her breathing turned into a hot flutter, as her body gradually expanded to accommodate his size. All the while they gazed into each other’s eyes, both smiling, and Taylor began thrusting with a slow, sensual rhythm.
“I love you,” he whispered, quickening his pace again as she wrapped her legs around him, savoring the size of him sliding in and out.
“I love you, too.”
Soon she felt a surge of heat rushing through her, and she moaned, knowing he was bringing her to the peak.
He groaned in response and began grinding into her, which caused a powerful clench deep inside her.
“Oh, God, I’m coming,” she moaned then kissed him to enhance her pleasure. His smooth lips against hers and his warm tongue probing her mouth in contrast to the way he felt inside was enough to bring her over the edge, and suddenly Rose was riding the swell of pleasure, climaxing and crying out in ecstasy.
“God, I love you,” he groaned, thrusting harder and faster until he was coming with her.
Chapter Twenty Five
The next day, Rose and Taylor drove out to the Starlight Energy pipeline in East Bellevue where the rest of One World was scheduled to meet them. Davey Construction, its managers, and its employees had been hard at work assembling the new piping materials in the trench that had been dug along the new route as approved by the city.
When Taylor pulled the SUV up to the executive trailer, Rose spotted her team getting out of the Jeep and a few other vehicles.
“I’m going to get them started on taking photos,” she told Taylor as they climbed out of his SUV.
“I’ll be in the trailer,” he said in response before heading towards it.
It was great to see Jenny, Hector, and the others. Rose smiled wide at the look of surprise on their faces as she made eye contact with each and every one of them.
“You can see!” said Jenny, throwing her arms around Rose and giving her a big hug
.
Rose urged her back so she could look at her, then said, “I can. One eye, but it’s better than nothing.”
“How did you find a donor so easily?” asked Hector.
“I didn’t. And neither did Taylor.”
When her team simultaneously cocked their heads with confusion at that, she added, “It’s Taylor’s.”
“What?” exclaimed Jenny.
“I couldn’t believe it, either, but it’s true.”
Carter and Layla stepped forward but hesitated to give her a hug, as though they weren’t sure what she would make of them being here.
But Rose held no ill will towards them, and the fact that they were here would only support her plan.
Taking them aside, she said, “If you do this, then I’ll be more than happy to have you back in One World.”
“Really, Rose?” Layla asked. “You forgive us?”
“I’ve known you both far too long not to.”
Rose shot each of them a determined look, then instructed the rest of the team to get started on taking pictures to commemorate the tremendous accomplishment. Jenny had set up some interviews for later in the day, and Hector was equipped to update their website as soon as the photos got uploaded into his laptop.
One World was in full force, but the fight wasn’t over. It wouldn’t be until Porter Montgomery was exposed and held accountable for everything he had done.
“Come on,” she said, leading Carter and Layla to the corporate trailer where they ascended the stairs and let themselves in.
Inside, Porter was seated on the couch. His expression looked severe as he stared up at Taylor. The room felt tense. Even the executive sitting on the other end of the couch appeared agitated.
She recognized him from the day Carter and Layla had used the Starlight dynamite against them, blowing up a stack of pipes. His name was Lawrence Mathers, and he was Porter’s right-hand man.
Looking him up and down, Rose noticed his dress shoes, but it wasn’t until he rose from the couch and crossed the room to get a document off the desk that she discovered a slight limp to his gait and realized he was the man who had attacked her.
“What’s this about?” Porter demanded, getting to his feet as his eyes snapped from Taylor to Rose to Carter and Layla. When his steely gaze returned to Rose, she could see it dawn on him that she now had her sight. She was glaring right at him. “You got him to do everything you wanted. Don’t tell me you have more demands.”
“We know what you did,” she said firmly. “We know everything you did. And you aren’t going to get away with it.”
He narrowed his eyes on her. “And what is it you think I’ve done?”
“You drugged Taylor that night,” she stated, holding her head high.
Porter whipped his gaze to Taylor, saying, “She’s insane.”
Carter spoke up without hesitation. “You did the exact same thing to Layla and me.”
“I’m not paying you two to get in my way,” he threatened.
But Layla was quick to respond. “You’re not paying us at all. We wired the money back.”
“This is ludicrous.”
“You sent Lawrence to have me killed.”
“You can’t prove that,” he said, trying to laugh it off. Rose could still tell he was rattled, though not as much as Lawrence was.
“I can’t…but Detective Tavaras can.”
Just as Porter was advancing on her, Taylor stepped in his path.
“You believe her?” he yelled at his son. “You believe I would hurt you like that?”
“Yeah,” he said firmly. “I do.”
Outside, a few guards started yelling, and then Detective Tavaras barreled through the door with two police officers in tow. When he locked eyes with Porter, he stated, “Porter Montgomery, you’re under arrest for drugging Carter Simmons and Layla Hosier, and for the attempted murder of Rose Cole.”
Immediately, the police officers grabbed Porter and cuffed his hands behind his back, as Porter objected, “On what grounds? What proof do you have?”
“I spoke with the security guards at the Escala. You excused them from their post that night.”
“That doesn’t prove anything!”
“I also spoke with Lawrence Mathers.”
“What?” Shocked, Porter stared at Lawrence, who seemed to shrink and couldn’t meet his gaze.
“That’s right,” said the detective. “He cut a deal. One we’re pleased with. Take him away.”
The police officers hauled Porter out of the trailer, and then Detective Tavaras took Lawrence by the arm but directed his next statement to Rose.
“Mathers isn’t getting away with it, but we let him plead down and his sentence will be lenient.”
“I’m fine with that,” she said. “Thanks.”
“No, thank you,” he said, giving her a curt nod before pulling Lawrence out of the trailer.
When she turned around, Taylor was already near her. He wrapped his arms around her and they kissed, while Carter and Layla looked on, every last one of them relieved it was finally over.
“Come on,” said Rose. “Let’s get a picture outside.”
They gathered with all the team members of One World in front of the trench, with bulldozers and construction workers in the background.
Hector set the camera on a tripod and pressed a button, and the timer began flashing as he jogged towards them and put his arm around Jenny. Rose was standing next to Taylor in the center, and Carter and Layla were to her right amongst the twelve members of One World.
She shouted, “Smile!”
And everyone did just in time for the click.
When she turned to Taylor, he kissed her, then said, “I think we made history.”
She smiled up at him. “We certainly did.”
~~~
TAKING CHANCES
Chapter One
“Come on, boss. You have got to be kidding me!” Laura Ross was pissed. Daniel, her editor at Small Business Ink, had just slapped that month’s issue of Forbes on her desk. Staring back at her from the cover was the arrogant mug of her college ex-boyfriend, Mason Decker.
“Nope. You have a scheduled interview with this Decker guy scheduled for noon tomorrow.” Daniel crossed his arms over his chest. “So I suggest you get to researching. This was the only time he had available for the next six months.” He turned to leave her office. Research would have been redundant; Laura could already write a book on Mr. Decker.
“There is nobody else in the entire building who could take this story?” Laura pleaded with her boss to pass this on to someone else. “Why me?”
“Because you are the best interviewer I’ve got, that’s why.” He let go of the knob and strolled back to her desk. “Of course, if you’d rather not, I can bump you back down to writing about the newest celebrity-owned restaurants again.” Daniel remained composed, but Laura didn’t dare push the issue. She winced at the thought of yet another interview with Scott Disick.
“Fine. You got me. I’ll do the stupid interview. Where am I meeting him?” Laura conceded.
“There’s the can-do attitude I know and love!” Daniel headed again for the door. “Be at Aureole before noon tomorrow. It’s on the Upper East Side. Oh, and Laura, this story is a big deal for the magazine, so don’t fuck it up,” he warned before letting himself out.
Laura dropped her head on her desk. She wanted this interview as much as she wanted to have all the hairs plucked from her head one at a time. She gave the Forbes cover another look.
She hadn’t seen Mason in eight years, but he looked exactly the same as he did at twenty-two. Even on paper the man oozed charm and polish. That sweet smile and his boyish good looks leapt off the page and tugged at her the same way they used to.
“Ugh!” She tossed the magazine off her desk as if it burned her. She was disgusted to discover that even his picture still held power over her.
“You are not a stupid co-ed anymore. Get your shit together!” She got
up to get a coffee refill from the break room. It might be a good day to use a few personal hours. Just sitting in her office was making her itchy and anxious after that. She had no idea how she was going to maintain her professionalism and be in the same room as Mason. How do you interview someone you’ve had sex with?
She could still feel his hands laced in her long blonde hair and his stubble scratching her neck. His baby blues flashed in her memory looking up at her from between her legs. Oh yeah, tomorrow was going to be real awkward.
“Hey, kid. How’s things?” Laura jumped when she heard Frank behind her. Her sometime office fling grabbed her hips from behind and pressed his mouth to her neck. She reciprocated by rubbing her behind against his crotch. She decided maybe getting laid would calm her nerves and put the thought of sex with the ex out of her head.
Why not? Frank was hot, and the fifteen-year age gap between them made no difference to Laura. With his age came plenty of experience, and their romps never left her disappointed. “Mmm, that feels amazing, Frank.” She moved one of his hands to cup her breast. “What do you say we both take a half day and get in a workout?” She reached behind her and slid her hand between them and rubbed the front of his pants.
“I’ll get a cab,” Frank whispered. He nipped her neck before he left. She smirked to herself and adjusted her skirt. A half-day was just what the doctor ordered.
Chapter Two
Frank had spent the night. After three rounds, he was tanked. Laura appreciated the effort he put into making sure her needs were met; she could definitely never accuse him of being a selfish lover. Their relationship was open, with no strings and no commitment. They were free to see and sleep with other people, and often did, but would end up back together when they got bored or found themselves single for too long. The arrangement was perfect.
Laura had sent him out the door at nine with a kiss and a pat on the ass before getting ready. Her head was back in the game now that she was sated.
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