by Faye Avalon
“I use it when I’m this way. The food here is the best on the south coast.”
Indeed it was, and they talked more about the development while they enjoyed a delicious lobster dinner. Lissa hadn’t had lobster before, except for soup, and she enjoyed every mouthwatering morsel.
On the drive back, Reed pulled over just past the development sign and turned off the ignition.
“What are you doing? Lissa asked as a shiver of anticipation moved along her spine.
“Showing you the development site. Want to see?”
“At this hour? It’s dark, what’s to see?”
“Humor me.” He stepped out of the car and came around to the passenger side, where he held the door open for her. As she hoisted her bag on her shoulder, he smiled. “Have you got your camera in there?”
“Yes. Why?”
“Maybe you’d like to make a start.”
He didn’t step back and Lissa felt the heat from his body burn into hers.
“I haven’t got the flash with me. I wasn’t expecting to do night shots.”
“And here’s me thinking a woman like you would always be prepared for any eventuality.” If anything, he moved closer and reached up to the strap of her bag where it nestled on her shoulder. “If there’s no flash in here, there’s no point in you clutching it like a lifeline, is there?”
As he relieved her of her bag and dropped it back on her seat, Lissa swallowed. “I’m not sure what you’re playing at, but—”
“I’m not playing at anything, princess.” He wrapped his fingers around her arms, and drew her up close to him. “I intend to do this right.”
Without her bag as armor, she felt the solid weight of his chest against her breasts, the pressure of his erection pushing against her. “Intend to do what?”
“Kiss you.” His eyes glinted in the moonlit night and stayed firmly on hers. “You might even be inclined to kiss me back.”
Lissa swallowed again as her throat went dry. Then his mouth touched hers, and he all but stole her breath away.
His kiss was exactly like him. Determined. Arrogant. Confident. Hot. And with that first touch she went up like a flame.
He kept his hands on her arms, while her hands traveled around his back. He was as solid as the rock surrounding them, his muscles hard and strong, as was the erection he pushed against her.
He deepened the kiss. Or maybe she did. But she felt her back hit the car as his body pressed harder against hers. It was difficult to breathe, to think. So she gave herself up to the moment.
When Reed drew back, he licked his lips. “You taste so fucking good.”
Lissa snatched in a few deep breaths. “So do you.”
He slid his hands slowly down her arms, watching her as he reached beneath her jacket and tugged her tee shirt from the waistband of her skirt.
Lissa kept her hands on his arms, wanting to stop him, but wanting to feel his touch on her bare flesh. While she headily deliberated, his fingers slid over her waist and up her ribcage where they nudged the lower edges of her bra.
Still he watched her with those steadily glinting eyes.
She jerked at the feel of his fingers against the lower edge of her bra cups, then gasped as his thumbs rubbed across her hardened nipples.
“I wondered,” he said in a voice so low it was almost intoxicating. “After that one glimpse of lace, I wondered. I knew your breasts would be plump and ripe, knew they’d fill my hands as if they’d been made for that very purpose.”
While he continued to torture her nipples through the lace, he kissed her neck. Lissa closed her eyes and let her head fall back. “You’re so bloody arrogant,” she said with little conviction. “You think everything exists for your pleasure.”
“Right now you’re all the pleasure I want.” He made her moan as he bit softly into her neck. “I want to fuck you. Right here. I want to drive my cock so far inside you, that I’ll be the only pleasure you’ll ever want.”
Right then he was. And for the second time in her life Lissa considered throwing caution to the wind, letting her sexual urges take over. Her second dalliance with adventure. Her second reckless fling. Did that make her a slut?
No. And it was about time she stopped berating herself for indulging in what was a natural enough desire for a healthy twenty-five-year-old woman.
Besides, this time it was different. This time she knew his name. She knew what he did for a living. What car he drove. She even knew he could command the best tables in restaurants.
Since he kept caressing her breast with that slow hypnotic touch, she didn’t realize that his other hand had crept down and he was now hitching up her skirt. She felt the night air stroke her thigh and then his fingers did the same. He edged his way up, still subjecting her to the soft, easy slide of his mouth along her neck.
She jerked as his fingers slid beneath the bottom edge of her panties, moving dangerously close to where her pussy burned for his touch.
When he brushed his fingertips against her slit, he groaned into her neck. “Damn. You’re like a fucking inferno. Is this for me? Are you hot for me?”
Her own hands reached for his waist. “You know I am.”
She started to tug at his shirt, but he moved back a little. His eyes stayed on hers while he drew her skirt up to her waist and began pulling down her panties.
Panic rose in her throat. “You’re not planning on doing it here, are you?”
“It’s dark. We’re set back from the road. And I can’t wait another minute to be inside you.” Her panties fell to her thighs and he reached down to tug them all the way off. “Step out.”
She did, still unsure whether to let this go as far as they both wanted. The little niggle of her conscience wouldn’t let her forget that he was Ethan’s cousin and the grapevine in Brighton was pretty rabid. She still had to work with Reed and what if Ethan found out they were indulging in extra-curricular activities? Wouldn’t he be compelled to tell his cousin about the threesome? And if he did, what would that do to her reputation? She’d be labeled the very word her conscience taunted her with.
Her breath came out on a whoosh as Reed hoisted her up and manoeuvred her until she sat on the front of his car. Cold steel pressed against her bare ass, while Reed’s raging erection pressed against her naked pussy. Her skirt had bunched up around her waist and she tried to tug it down, but Reed used his hands to open her thighs.
“What’s wrong?” he said as he spread her. “Still worried someone will see us, princess?”
Princess.
The word slapped like a wet flannel over her burning flesh.
It made her feel entirely too young, too naïve. Yet it highlighted so much more than her age. It brought into sharp focus her incompetence; with money and with life. She’d been an idiot with her business, had taken her eye off the big picture and the cost had been high not only to herself, but to her beloved aunt. She’d been an idiot with her love life, too. Had been far too reckless, too irresponsible.
Hadn’t she promised herself to focus on her career? To put her full attention on getting her life and finances back in order? What sort of mess would it create if she got involved with a client and it meant losing her job? Then she’d never get the chance to start up on her own again.
Damn it. She had priorities. Priorities that didn’t include allowing a man to fuck her against a car on a dark coast road. Even if that man set her temperature soaring and her pussy weeping.
Determined, she managed to shrug Reed’s hands away and scooted off his car. “This is a really bad idea.” Despite her trembling knees and shaking hands, she tugged down her skirt and moved around the car to snatch up her panties.
As she pulled them on, Reed stood by the side of the car, watching her. “Is this your usual modus operandi?” he asked tightly. “Heat up a man, then leave him with a cock so hard and aching he can barely stand up.”
“No,” Lissa replied equally tightly, smoothing down her skirt. Her chest heaved with the
effort it took to maintain some control. “But think about it. Can you blame me for calling a halt?”
“Since thinking’s not exactly my priority right now, why don’t you enlighten me.”
“You’re a client. What happens after we’ve had our little fuck-fest and I have to work for you?”
“Same thing as what happens if we don’t have our little fuck-fest,” he said, and his jaw went as tight as his tone. “Are you implying I’ll play the power game?”
“You don’t have to play it. Whatever way you look at it, the power rests with you. You’re the money man. You call the shots.”
“Do you realize what you’re accusing me of?” If anything, his jaw went even tighter, heightening the angled planes of his face. “Using my money and position to coerce women into letting me fuck them? Haven’t we already had this discussion?”
“That’s not what I meant. But you have to concede I’m at the lower end of the food chain. An employee of the company who works for you. It puts me in a weak position and…”
I can’t feel any weaker than I already do, she wanted to say. I can’t let myself lose any more of my self esteem than I already have.
“You don’t think too highly of yourself, princess.”
He slipped his hands in his pockets, unaware of how close he was to the truth. She imagined he’d meant it flippantly, but the reality was all too apparent to her.
He must have glimpsed something in her expression, because he moved closer and took his hands from his pockets. “What is it?”
“Nothing.” Lissa stepped back to avoid his touch as he reached out to her. “I just have a lot of stuff going on right now and I need to keep a clear head.”
“Fair enough.” He reached for her hand and this time she wasn’t quick enough to stop him. “But let’s get one thing clear for that head of yours. I want you, and I usually get what I want. Eventually.” He tightened his grip as she tried to pull away. “Regardless of what you think of me for wanting you, or yourself for wanting me, which you do,” he added quickly as she opened her mouth to refute him. “Regardless of all that, know that I want you. Not because of any power games, but because since I met you I’ve felt an urgent need to get between your legs and fuck you senseless. Usually, I can wait for a woman, bide my time. But with you? Let’s just say I’ve had a permanent hard-on since I saw you hiding behind that tree.” He grinned. “It has yet to abate.”
Despite herself, she glanced down at the bulge in his pants. “So I see.”
He loosened his grip, but touched his fingers to hers. “What stuff?”
Since he looked so serious, Lissa didn’t want to play any games of her own and pretend she didn’t know what he was referring to. “My career. I had my own business until recently, and I’m planning to have my own business again in the future, but right now I’m on a three month trial period with this company and can’t do anything to screw it up. Having sex with you would screw it up. It could lead to all manner of complications. You have to see that.”
He was silent for a few moments. “You acquiring my company’s contract would go a long way towards a permanent position?”
While she wanted to praise him for his insight, she knew she had to spell things out so there was no likelihood of him misinterpreting. “It would, and that’s why I have to keep our negotiations on a strictly professional footing. If you give my company your business, it has to be because we’re the right people for the job, not for any other reason.”
He thought about that some more, then nodded. “Okay. Let’s go back into town for a nightcap. Talk.”
Lissa tilted her head and looked at him through narrowed eyes. “What about?”
“I’d like to say about how long you’re going to make me wait before I can get you naked, but let’s start with business. Once that’s out of the way, we can concentrate on the naked part.”
“Haven’t you heard what I’ve been saying?”
“Loud and clear. But once we’ve established that your company is the right one for my business, the complications are off the table. You’ll have the contract and there’ll be no reason to deny ourselves what we both want. For my part, that’s you naked in my bed.”
“What if I say that’s never going to happen?”
He tugged her closer until she fell against his hard chest. When he leaned down, his breath brushed against her mouth. “I’d say you’re a liar.” His mouth crushed hers in a kiss that made her realize he was right. She was a liar. It was only a matter of time before she would be naked in his bed. He’d said he had a permanent hard-on? Well, she’d had a permanently damp pussy since meeting him and she wasn’t sure how long her resolve would hold out.
It was a mess, she thought as she lost herself in the kiss. An inconvenient, hormone-exploding mess. Most definitely one thing she didn’t need right now.
But as she sank deeper into the pleasure of Reed’s punishing kiss, she knew it was going to take a miracle to convince her hormones of that.
Chapter Four
Reed couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment the thought had entered his head. But by the time they drove into the lights of the city and pulled up at his apartment complex, he was damn sure it was workable.
It made perfect sense. He had a problem. She had a problem. His idea would solve them both.
“Where are we?”
He saw the wariness in her eyes as she glanced at the opulent entrance foyer. “My place. That nightcap, remember?”
“I’m not sleeping with you.”
“You made that clear. But a drink doesn’t require you in my bed, at least not yet. At least not until our business is concluded.”
He thought she might dig her heels in, refuse to get out of the car. But she gave only the merest hesitation when he moved around the vehicle and opened the door for her.
Reed thought it best to keep his distance. He didn’t trust himself not to touch her again, not until he’d kept his end of the bargain and they’d gotten business out of the way. They’d sleep together. He knew that for a fact. But he was never one to renege on a business agreement.
He could wait. It wouldn’t kill him to wait. A man did what he had to do.
Playing the perfect gentleman, he ushered her into his apartment and took the jacket she reluctantly disposed of.
“Nice place.” She wandered around the large living area with its view of the sea through floor to ceiling windows. “Gorgeous view.”
Since he was currently looking at her ass, he found it impossible to disagree. “What can I get you?”
She didn’t turn, but kept looking out at the view. “Coffee would be good. Cream, no sugar.”
“Coming up.”
After hanging both their jackets on the hall stand, he made his way through to the kitchen. He put coffee on to brew then set out delicately striped bone china cups that were part of a set his mother had bought him for a housewarming gift when he’d moved in two years before. Women appreciate nice things his mother had told him when he’d eyed them warily. Since then, he’d had many an occasion to appreciate her wise words.
He rested his hands on the counter edge and leaned forward as he watched the coffee percolate. Shit. What was it about Lissa that stirred him up like it did? His fingers still tingled in the aftermath of cupping those fabulous breasts, of brushing her hard nipples through that lace. He’d wanted to rip the damn bra away and feast his mouth on her.
One brush of his fingertip against her hot slit—he’d managed one measly brush before she’d stopped play—and he’d wanted to drive his fingers, his cock into all that burning heat.
Fuck it to hell and back. He wanted her stretched out for his pleasure, screaming his name as he thrust into her over and over.
The gurgle from the coffee maker seemed to heighten his heated deliberations, and his hard-on throbbed in response. It was his own damn fault, he thought as he poured coffee. Only a fool would work himself up into a sexual frenzy when there was no way to get relief. Since s
he’d vetoed sex, there was no damn way he’d get to satisfy his prurient desires other than a hand job in the shower after she’d left.
When he took their coffees into the living area, she was sitting on the sofa perusing the development brochure. Her straight back, ladylike posture, and the large notebook on her lap indicated her intention that they keep the conversation strictly on business. In fact, she couldn’t have made it clearer if she’d yelled it from the rooftop.
“Thanks.” As he set her drink down on the side table next to her, she pointed to the sketch plan of the development on the oval glass-topped coffee table. “Which part is yours?”
Deliberately, although he might curse himself for a fool for doing so, he sat next to her on the sofa. Why the hell was he intent on torturing himself?
Her scent wafted to him and he felt a responding awareness shiver along his flesh. “Casino and night club right here,” he said in a tone like gravel as he pointed to the plans and his cock continued to throb. “Cinema and restaurant here.”
“I didn’t realize it was going to be quite so big.”
Neither did he, but then he wasn’t referring to the development. He had to swallow. “Biggest one in the south.” And still, he wasn’t talking about the development, although that would indeed be the largest leisure complex along the coast.
“How far along are you?”
About ready to blow, he thought. Ready to shoot my load into my pants and embarrass myself, that’s how far along. “Diggers are in.” He had to clear his throat as his gaze lost the battle and he found himself staring at her milky thighs. “Starting to prepare the groundwork.”
She reached forward for her coffee, the action making her breasts jiggle. He thought of that white lace. Hell, such a thin barrier between him and paradise.
“You obviously want photographs of that?” She scribbled in her notebook. “Of the ground being prepared?”
He needed a moment to get his thoughts back to focus on business. “Like I said, I want a record of the whole process. Start to finish.”
“It’ll be exciting to watch it grow.”