More Lipstick Chronicles

by Emily Carmichael

  “I tried that, remember? And I got another woman.”

  “Who you’re going to just hand him over to?”

  “If he’s been screwing her, yes, she can have him.”

  “I don’t believe it’s gotten that far. Joe has too much integrity. He’d break it off with you before he went to bed with another woman.” Carole was that sure of Joe. They all were.

  It was on the tip of Elyssa’s tongue to remind them that he’d behaved unethically by sleeping with her, Elyssa, his business partner. But she couldn’t bring herself to say that out loud. No matter what he’d done.

  “Call him.” Carole’s voice was gentle but confident.

  The tightening in Elyssa’s chest from this morning returned. It was accompanied by such a sinking feeling in her stomach she thought she might be ill.

  Malcolm stuck his head in the door. “The men from LiteTech are here, ladies.”

  Grateful for the reprieve, Elyssa turned. “All right, Malcolm, send them in.” The women stared at her. “Thanks for listening but we’ve got business to take care of.”

  She could tell her staff didn’t want to end the conversation, but as far as she was concerned nothing more needed to be said.

  Seven hours later, she was still taking care of business. In an effort not to think about Joe—who hadn’t called, or e-mailed or come over all day on their anniversary—she threw herself into Allheart.

  And now she was exhausted. She should go home, maybe call Elliot. Instead she went back to the window and stared out into the star-speckled night. It was clear and pretty.

  She felt lonely as hell.

  Joe found her there, at the window, small and solitary in a simple black dress and those gorgeous spiked heels. He shook his head; she might look slight but she possessed the emotional muscles to rip him apart—and was slowly doing a good job of it. He was disgusted at himself. Despite all that, he’d come to her. After a day of willing himself not to call her—she should have come to him, damn it, he’d done nothing wrong—he was here, instead. The spell she’d cast over him didn’t sit well, but he was powerless against it. He was also beginning to hate himself for his weakness for her.

  At least everybody was gone and he didn’t have an audience for the fool he was about to make of himself. “Lyss.”

  She spun around. His heart leapfrogged. She looked terrible. Her face was pale, her hazel eyes haunted. For a minute, she just stared at him. Then she turned back to the window and clasped her arms around her waist in what seemed a self-protective gesture.

  “I hope you didn’t come to wish me happy anniversary. I’ve had enough hypocrisy for one day.”

  He said nothing. He’d seen her in this mood before. Best to let her get it all out.

  “And I hope you didn’t come to get laid. Even as a kid, I was never very good at sharing.”

  Ah, she was so quick with the zingers. He closed the door behind him and locked it for good measure. He hadn’t expected vulnerability. A tirade, yes. But this unprotected reaction from her pierced his heart.

  “Join the club, Lyss. At least now you know how it feels.”

  Her eyes were flaming when she faced him. “Is that what this is all about? You’re getting back at me because Parker is attracted to me?”

  Folding his arms over his chest, he arched a brow. “Now, this is progress. You’ve been denying that little fact for weeks.”

  “No, I’ve been denying there’s anything between Parker and me for weeks. It takes two, Joe. But you already know that, don’t you?” Her voice rose a notch, and got that little catch it got when she was really hurt.

  “Yes, I know it takes two,” he said. “But not for the reason you think.”

  “Please, no more. It took me a while to figure things out, but it’s pretty obvious now what’s been going on.”

  “Enlighten me, then.” His words were clipped. She was making him mad again. Did she really think so little of him? Of their relationship?

  “You’ve been camouflaging your cheating with your needy ex by making accusations about Parker.”

  “And why exactly would I do that? Why wouldn’t I just break it off with you if I wanted to be with Bethany?”

  “Maybe you wanted both. A blonde and a brunette in your bed. Sounds perfect.”

  His temper reached the burning point in seconds and he strode toward her, grabbed her arm, and whirled her around. “It sounds seedy and obscene and I resent your thinking such a thing of me.”

  “Are you denying it?”

  “Of course I am.”

  “She slept with you last night, didn’t she?”

  “She slept at my house, Elyssa, yes. But she didn’t sleep with me.”

  Elyssa rolled her eyes and started to walk away. He yanked her back. “Do you really expect me to believe that?” she said with a sneer.

  “Do you expect me to believe nothing’s happened with you and Quest?”

  “Well, I haven’t been caught with him in a compromising situation.”

  “The hell you haven’t. You two have your cozy little lunches, you’re alone with him here after everyone else has left. I’ll bet he’s been to your apartment, hasn’t he?”

  “I’m not going to answer that. I’m not going to listen to this.”

  “Is that why you didn’t call me or come to see me today? Because you’ve been with him, like you think I’ve been with her?”

  “What?” she practically shouted. “You expected me to come to you? God, you’ve got gall.”

  “No, I’ve got common sense.” He shook her. “I’ve tried to confront this whole issue with Quest, even though it’s demeaning and painful, even though it’s driven us apart. But you couldn’t be bothered to seek me out today when you suspected the worst of me.”

  She stared at him.

  He shook her again. “I always have to come to you. Do you know how demoralizing that is?”

  She didn’t answer.

  “But I do it.”

  “Why?”

  “Oh, Christ, if you don’t know the answer to that by now . . .” He stepped back. Shook his head. Turned to leave. But before he reached the door, he stopped and after a moment, pivoted around. “I love you, damn it.” Livid at his weakness in telling her, caught behind the knees because she looked so shocked, and despairing that she had no immediate response, he circled around.

  She reached him just as his hand raised to the lock on the door. “Joe.”

  He stopped. Didn’t face her.

  “Don’t go.”

  He waited. All day he’d tried to talk himself into ending this whole godforsaken relationship, which had been plagued from the start with doubt and innuendo. He needed to get out of it, free himself from the only situation in his life he couldn’t control. Tell her, now. End it.

  Still, he stared at the door, immobile and in pain.

  Elyssa’s heart was cartwheeling in her chest over Joe’s declaration. She’d gone after him instinctively, like an animal chasing her mate, but her mind whirled with uncertainty.

  His back to her, she didn’t know what to do. So she pulled on his arm, made him face her. It was worse staring into those tumultuous blue eyes.

  At her continued silence, he repeated hoarsely, “I love you. Do you understand what that means?”

  Her whole body shuddered. She gripped his shoulders for balance. They were big and wide and so strong.

  Grasping her upper arms, he shook her. It hurt. She felt her eyes tear, not at the physical pain but at the vise around her heart. Somewhere she recognized the cosmic significance of this moment.

  But it was the hurt etching itself out on his face like a van Gogh portrait that shook her from immobility. It was the look of utter disgust when he pulled back that made her react, without censoring what she’d say or do.

  She threw herself at him. “No, no, please don’t go.”

  Rigid and unyielding, he stood there as she grabbed onto him. Intuitively she knew he wouldn’t bend on this, wouldn’t acc
ept halfway measures. She stood up on tiptoes, twined her arms around his neck like a drowning victim, and said, “I love you, too. I do.”

  His whole body went slack; she felt him draw in a heavy breath, let it out. It was an eternity before his arms circled around her.

  She couldn’t speak past the lump in her throat. She was scared of her feelings for him, frightened at the power those words gave him over her, but she knew what she felt. She had known for a long time, just wouldn’t admit it to herself, or to Joe.

  He didn’t let go, just held her, buried his face in her hair, sunk deeper into her. The intimacy of the embrace, the tenderness it elicited, overwhelmed her. After a long time, he drew back.

  She was absolutely stunned to see his cheeks were wet. “Joe.”

  “I . . . I didn’t think you’d ever say those words to me.”

  Raising her hands, she scrubbed the moisture from his cheeks, whispered over and over, “I love you . . . I love you . . .”

  Very fast, the mood changed. His eyes cleared, then burned. The arms around her tightened like steel bands. He was hard, instantly, against her. “Show me.”

  So like him; the comment was so like him she smiled. She reached for the silk tie. Never releasing his gaze, she loosened it, tugged it off, threw it into a navy and red heap on the floor. Her hands trembled at the buttons of his light blue silk shirt, and when she opened it to the black mat of hair, she leaned forward and brushed her nose back and forth. He started violently. He smelled faintly of starch, mostly of the sexy expensive cologne he wore. It sent goose bumps all over her skin; a rush of arousal coursed through her.

  She moaned, slid off both his gray suit jacket and shirt. His hands reached for her shoulders, held her there. Hers went for his belt. Its heavy weight, and the fact that she was trembling, made her clumsy, but he didn’t assist her. He let her disrobe him, except to kick off his shoes and remove his socks.

  Then he kissed her. His big naked body dwarfed hers, absorbed hers as their lips met. He took her mouth in full possession. It went on a long time.

  “Too many clothes,” he finally murmured as he began to release the buttons on the front of her dress, ripped off the red satiny bra and panties she wore, slid stockings, everything, from her body.

  In seconds she was as naked as he. On his knees, he gently bit the inside of her thigh and she groaned, grasped his shoulders. “Joe.”

  Kissing his way up her body—stopping at strategic places—he finally stood. The world tilted and she felt herself lifted, cradled against his chest and carried to the couch. Once again the tenderness overpowered her. Something had shifted in their relationship with the words they’d uttered. Something deepened and transcended every other time they’d touched. She banished the fear this realization brought to her consciousness.

  He laid her down on the sofa. Its leather was cool on her naked back and on her legs, but Joe’s weight soon covered her and her body flushed with an inferno of need inside her. He didn’t start kissing her, though. Instead he peered into her eyes, his blue gaze so intense, so profound it stopped her heart. He framed her face with his hands. “Say it again.”

  “I love you, Joe. I have for a long time.”

  “I’m never letting you go now. You know that, don’t you?”

  Her heart kick-started. She knew her face betrayed the shock she felt. The terror.

  “Don’t be afraid of it.”

  “I am.”

  “I know. That’s really what this has all been about.” Reaching down, he parted her legs and slipped easily inside her; the fullness, the rightness of him made her close her eyes. “I love you so much,” he whispered and began to move.

  She let herself go, let herself get lost in the sensation of his hard muscles crushing her, his big hand feathering over her skin, his mouth everywhere. She came three times before he climaxed. He spilled into her with a great force and the entire cataclysmic mating left her stunned.

  She just held on to him, happier, and more frightened, than she’d ever been in her life.

  Within the week, Joe took advantage of her confession. Though saying she loved him seemed to calm his fears about Parker—Joe hardly mentioned him lately—another side of Joseph Lance Monteigne II surfaced from their recent conflict. And this new side of him simultaneously thrilled her and scared her to death.

  She experienced both emotions as she lay on his bed—blindfolded. The velvet cloth made the entire room dark as sin. Facedown, her cheek flat against the mattress, her naked body on top of the covers, she said, “But I can’t see.”

  He chuckled. “That’s the point, love. Just feel.” His hands stroked her, and felt bigger and stronger than ever. Right now they kneaded the base of her spine. She remembered the backrub several weeks ago, after their first big run-in about Bethany and Parker, when he’d handled her with unending tenderness. Tonight was different. Exciting, with a hint of menace. And there was none of that selfless giving. Intuitively, she knew he was going to take, plain and simple. She felt him shift down her body; his hands traced the backs of her knees and softly brushed over her ankles.

  “In another culture, you’d wear harem bracelets on your wrists and ankles,” he murmured.

  “Really,” Elyssa answered, not sure she liked wondering where this sexual play was headed. “And what would these bracelets do for me?”

  “It’s not what they’d do for you. It’s what they’d do for me,” he answered with a low laugh. “They’d mark you as mine.”

  The words had made her shudder, but also aroused her so much she almost couldn’t stand it.

  “Water’s done,” he said, turning her over. She reached for the blindfold. He grasped her wrist. “No way, sweetheart. Just feel.”

  His arms came around her back and under her knees. His muscles bunched beneath her bottom when he picked her up. His subtle aftershave teased her nose as she rubbed her face against his rough beard while he carried her to the bathroom.

  The water in the huge tub prickled her skin as he lowered her into it. She was reminded again of that night he’d tended to her, the last bath she’d taken here, and his gentle ministrations; again this time, she knew it was different.

  Rougher. More erotic. The water level rose as Joe got in; she could tell from the direction of his voice that he sat at the other end of the tub, facing her. She heard a rustle then smelled a faintly exotic scent. It somehow suggested dim bedrooms and heated sex. He began to rub something cold on her legs.

  “Hmm, what is it?”

  “Scented gel. Smells like a harem to me. And I’ve got my own little harem girl right here.” Then he added huskily, “Whom I can do anything I want with.”

  Again, Elyssa felt faintly uncomfortable. But acutely aroused. He coated her feet and legs with the fragrant soap, slowly, inch by inch.

  She was trembling by the time he finished. Finally he pulled her to her knees and she swayed forward, landing dizzily in his arms. He grasped her waist and turned her around. His chest was rock hard against her back and the scented soap filled her nostrils. He had more gel on his hands, and began to wash her, everywhere—each arm, her breasts, between her legs. Lightly he stroked her. “Being behind you is erotic to me, darling. It’s how I want to take you tonight.”

  Consumed with need, she didn’t respond. Just moaned.

  “Say it’s all right. Say you want me that way.”

  She barely got the words out.

  “But first I want you to come.” He increased the pressure of his fingers. Soon, very soon, she climaxed into his strong hand with his big body closing around her.

  Later, he fulfilled all of his fantasies, making her moan, even beg for him.

  It wasn’t until they were cuddled up in bed, ready for sleep, that the unease she felt earlier returned. Now that the playing was over for the evening, the whole harem theme made her cringe. Then when she was in that half-conscious state between sleep and wakefulness, she realized how masterful he’d been. Liking it, and fearing it, she
banished the thought and fell into a deep slumber.

  But she dreamed that night that she was indeed a harem girl—his—and he had total control over her existence. She woke up sweating.

  Chapter 4

  Sweat dripping in her eyes, Elyssa said to her trainer, Spade, “So, can I increase the weights?”

  “Yeah.” The trainer checked his watch. “Give me five minutes to finish with this other guy then we’ll see where we should go from here. Take a break.”

  Lying flat out on the bench, she nodded and relaxed. Her energy level was back, she was all caught up at work and the business was booming.

  Now, if only her personal life wasn’t scaring the daylights out of her most of the time. Sex with Joe had gotten so intense, so intimate, she could barely think about it. But she had to think about it because she suspected this escalating intimacy was one of the ways Joe was pushing her to be closer to him. He was also pressuring her to spend more time with his family; they were going to Virginia for the weekend to celebrate his parents’ fortieth wedding anniversary. She could feel him inextricably weaving her into his life, even if she didn’t want to be part of the fabric. Or did she?

  “Gathering wool, lady?”

  She looked up into the smiling face of Parker Quest. Dressed in plain blue gym shorts and a white T-shirt, he towered over her. She sat up and smiled. “Yeah. I’m waiting for Spade to get back.”

  About a month ago, Parker’s gym had closed, and since then he’d been scouting out a new place. Once, when they’d been pressed for time, he’d met her here, and turned out he knew Spade, from another gym, so he decided to join Elyssa’s club. She hadn’t dared tell Joe about this development.

  “What do you need from Spade?” He grinned that boyish grin, the one that made her think Joe and her staff were misinterpreting his motives. She kept insisting he was just young and extroverted, a confident, happy guy. “I worked in a gym all through college.”

  “Really?” Her gaze dropped to his biceps, which testified to his fitness. “I want to up my weights.”