He grimaced in disappointment. Despite his constant teasing and her customary rebuffing, he’d thought they were friends of a sort. They’d worked well together and had had a rapport. He’d been hurt when she hadn’t asked him about the accusation the company had levied against him, but he’d been pissed when she’d run out on him after their night at the Hotel Carlisle. And this was the first time he’d seen her in months.
Sanjay turned back toward the roomful of people who were waiting to hear what they thought would be a confession of guilt. “Sorry, but I’m leaving now. I’m sure you’ll continue to talk amongst yourselves,” he said right before he walked out, ignoring the renewed outrage as he did so.
* * *
“Ahm’ah need you not to be so mean.”
The smooth cadence of the voice came from behind Victoria. It was after eleven p.m., and besides security, she was the only one left in this part of the Goliath office complex known as MoonandStars.com. She was surprised to hear the voice but didn’t jerk in response. Nor did she turn around. She did, however, stiffen, and she hated herself for even betraying that much. She knew that voice, knew it intimately. She heard it in her dreams, and oftentimes she heard it when she was awake and the owner of it was nowhere around. Memories of it and that one sex-filled and long-regretted night tortured her endlessly. She’d been dejected and looking for…something. She’d found it, and more than she’d bargained for, in the man behind her.
Sanjay Banerjee. She hadn’t seen or spoken to him in months—deliberately. She never liked to be reminded of her mistakes, and he had been a big one. Settle down, turncoat, she silently scolded her clitoris as it began to tighten from his proximity and seemed to pulse in time to the syllables of his name: San. Jay. Ba. Ner. Jee. San. Jay. Ba. Ner. Jee. Touch. Me. Suck. Me. Take. Me.
Okay, so the litany was coming from her brain, Victoria admitted, but he simply got to her—got to her on a purely sexual level. It was a combination of things: the heat from his body, which she felt completely blanketing her back; his scent, a light but heady smell of sandalwood and man; and then there was his voice. Lord, the man’s voice. That Southern-fried, slow-moving as molasses, deep, deep voice of his was just about as potent as great sex. Her knees had gone weak before he’d even finished his sentence. And though he hadn’t said it, Victoria had heard the unspoken “darlin’” tacked on to the end of that sentence. That was what he’d called her during their one night together…and in all the messages he’d left on her voice mail after.
She did her best to make sure that none of her thoughts—or her weaknesses—showed on her face as she slowly turned to look at the man she’d used as balm to her broken ego all those months ago. Oh, both of them had thoroughly enjoyed the usage, but it hadn’t been something she’d intended to repeat. Taking in his thick black hair, calm, dark, humor-filled eyes, lustrous dusky skin, full lips, and wide, muscled chest in less time than it took to actually check the time, Victoria lifted a brow. She knew he hated when she did that. At the moment, it was her only defense. “You are no longer allowed entry into this facility, Mr. Banerjee.”
Sanjay shook his head, his lips twisting into a smirk. Was that all she had to say? After a night of wild, unadulterated, uninhibited lovemaking where he’d had her everywhere but on a bed, and after four months of his reliving that night over and over again on a daily basis where blocks of time went by where he thought of nothing but her and what they’d done, all she had to say to him was that he was no longer allowed entry into the facility? And in that prim, professorial voice of hers too? Damn, she was cold.
And sexy.
Sexy because he knew that that prim and proper voice could also get low and throaty while it said dirty, improper things and begged him to do those things. Also sexy because he loved a challenge and could read between the lines very well. His old research partner was telling him that the building was not the only thing he was no longer allowed entry into. Jay almost snorted. Shit. As if he hadn’t already known that. If her having disappeared by the time he’d come out of the bathroom the next morning hadn’t been enough of a clue, her ignoring his voice mail messages and e-mails had been.
Jay studied her. She was small, dark, and gorgeous. It was hard to believe that someone so delicate could be so dangerous. But she was; she was deadly. He did the only thing he could do. He gave her a grin cocky enough to ruffle her perfect feathers and said slowly, “What’s up, Doc?”
Victoria turned around and marched toward a table on the other side of the lab. She needed to get away from that flash of white teeth against brown skin—the perfect smile. “I’m busy, Mr. Banerjee,” she said over her shoulder.
Jay smiled. “Now, darlin’,” he chided softly while he watched those long, slim legs and images of them straining against the palms of his hands and high into the air as he filled her exploded in his mind. “After what we’ve been through together, don’t you think it’s about time you call me Jay? All my friends do, especially the ones I’ve fucked.”
Victoria stiffened at his crudeness but didn’t address it. “What I think,” she said and turned to face him again, “is that you are not supposed to be here. I won’t even ask how you got in.”
Jay pulled his gaze up to her face and told himself not to sink into those pretty amber eyes of hers. He grinned again and made his way over to her, his long, easy stride in direct contrast to her hurried one from moments earlier. “Yeah, it’s best that you don’t. Anyway, I want to talk to you, Doc. And since you haven’t returned any of my phone calls,” he said as he gave in to his need and reached out a finger to tangle it in one of her curls. “I like it like this,” he murmured absently as he let more fingers slip in and out of the strands, “all short and sassy and soft…just like you.” He felt her go completely still and smiled and let his hand drop. She wasn’t as unaffected as she wanted him to think. Good.
Victoria let the breath she wasn’t aware she’d been holding shudder out when he dropped his hand. “Well?” she finally asked when he remained quiet for so long.
“Well what, darlin’?”
Victoria sighed. The man was going to be the death of her. He certainly wasn’t reserved and conservative—not like most of the other South Asian Indian men she’d met, and she’d met plenty of them in her chosen career. But Sanjay had been born and raised in Athens, Georgia, and from what little she knew of his family, they were pretty Americanized—at least he seemed to be, anyway. “What do you want, Sanjay?”
Jay stopped studying her hair long enough to answer her question. “Well now, that’s a pretty loaded question, Doc. I mean, here it’s been…what? Four months since we last saw or even spoke to one another—not for any lack of trying on my part, by the way—and you ask me that question? Why, if he didn’t know you too well, the man that answered that question might think you’ve just left yourself wide open to the possibilities of his answer.” While his voice remained slow and easy, his eyes told a different story. They were furious. “But he should know better, shouldn’t he?”
Victoria folded her arms. “All right, fine. It’s about time we had this confrontation anyway. Just say what you’ve come to say, Sanjay, and then leave before I call down to security.”
“You’d do it too, wouldn’t you?” Jay demanded. “Of course you would. You’re the quintessential stick-up-her-ass boss lady who never has a hair out of place. You were the same when I worked with you,” he said in anger. “I don’t know why I should expect anything to be different now.”
Victoria flinched at his words but recovered quickly. Again, she heard what he’d left unspoken: I don’t know why I should expect anything to be different now, even though we’ve slept together…or even though we fucked like minks all night…or even though I gave you so much pleasure so many times that you sobbed in my arms and begged for more. Whatever he wanted to say, but didn’t, she heard it. Loud and clear. And promptly ignored it. “Speaking of working with me, you don’t anymore. In fact, you don’t work for this company an
ymore and are considered a high-level security risk, so I repeat: say what you’ve come to say, and go. I’ve got work to do.”
“So it’s back to being formal, is it?” Jay muttered before scoffing. “High-level security risk, my ass. You’re not even going to ask me, are you? We worked together for six months, and you never even asked me.”
Victoria wanted to squirm under his intense stare. “Asked you what?” she demanded in exasperation.
“Asked me if I created the beta of my software program while I was working here and essentially stole from the company, or if I didn’t. Asked me if the beta was something I’d been working on before I even started working here, and then because of personal circumstances, forgot about it until four months ago when I decided to pick it up again. Asked me if I quit my job here because I’m a treacherous asshole who stole from the company or if I quit my job here to work on my prototype because I think that clause in the employment contracts we all had to sign was written by sneaky, greedy bastards who want to steal from the grunts who work for them.”
Victoria worried her bottom lip with her teeth. She was stumped. When word had come down that Sanjay was no longer allowed on company grounds because he’d developed his own project on company time and was in violation of his employment contract, she’d been stunned. He’d run research and development with her at MoonandStars.com, and she hadn’t been able to believe that he’d do something like that. Their contracts stated plainly that anything they developed while working for the company belonged to the company.
“Go ahead, darlin’,” Jay drawled. “Ask me.”
Victoria cleared her throat and took a step back. He seemed to be getting closer and closer without having moved an inch. “Is that what happened? Was it something that you’d already been working on before starting work at the CF-Universe?” She referred to the company’s nickname that it was rumored a disgruntled employee had sarcastically given it years ago—“C” as in “Center of the,” “F” as in “Fucking.” Much to the two owners’ dismay, the nickname had stuck. Most employees thought it was harmless, clever fun. For brevity’s sake, most times people just called it the Universe.
“Why didn’t you ever ask me, Victoria? Why didn’t you return my phone calls? I wanted to explain. Hell, I needed to.”
Victoria swallowed, and her gaze slid away from his in guilt for a second. “I’m asking now,” she said softly.
“Yes, but only because I’m here and forcing you to. Tell the truth, Vick,” he said and stepped closer. “If I weren’t here now forcing the issue, you would have just gone on with your life without ever addressing what happened all those months ago—both on the job and in that hotel room.” When she remained silent, he had his answer. “That’s what I thought,” he said as he palmed her shoulders.
Breath shallow from his nearness, Victoria put her hands on his chest, whether to push him away or bring him closer, she’d never know, because he bent his head and covered her mouth with his, his tongue wasting no time in gaining entry between her lips. She didn’t fight him. She kissed him back, sucking his tongue farther into her mouth while her fingers curled into his shirt to pull him closer. There was no point in fighting it when she wanted it so badly.
The kiss was greedy and long overdue.
Jay moaned when she bit his tongue and then sucked on it some more. She’d been the same that long ago night—rough and greedy. Victoria knew he’d been surprised, but thrilled to finally have found a woman who could keep up with him and his appetites. Both of their appetites had been ravenous that night, just as they were on the verge of at that moment.
Jay eased back and leaned his forehead on hers. “Wait a minute. First things first, Doc,” he said between huffing breaths.
Victoria had been pressing more kisses to his mouth, and now she frowned. “What do you mean?” she asked and shivered when she felt him breathe in the scent of her hair. He’d done that a lot that last night that they’d been together.
“I came here to talk to you about a business proposition,” he said right before he bit her bottom lip and sucked it between his teeth.
Victoria’s brow furrowed in confusion. “A business proposition? What are you talking about?” She moved her hands to his waist, where her fingers gripped for balance.
“I’ll get to that in a minute,” he murmured between kisses on her neck. “Did you ever wonder why I was in that hotel bar that night, Vick? No, no,” he chastised her and tightened his grip as he kissed her some more. “Don’t stiffen up on me now.”
Victoria’s eyes fell closed, and she dug her fingers into his waist when his lips closed around her nipple through her blouse and camisole. She tried to pay attention to what he was saying, and found it even more difficult when one of his hands slid up her thigh.
“I was at the bar that night because I wanted to get drunk,” Jay admitted. “I’d made up my mind to turn in my resignation, and I was celebrating. In you walked like a breath of fresh air looking beautiful and tragic with your glistening dark skin and heartbroken eyes, and I was lost. I’d wanted to approach you since my first day here, but you gave off that unmistakable air of hands-off, so I stayed away. When you walked into that bar, though”—he paused to unbutton her blouse and kiss her lips—“I tell you…mmm.” Whatever he’d been about to say got swallowed in another kiss she’d initiated, but he never lost track of his goal and smoothly eased one of her breasts from her bra. “Hmm, I felt like the luckiest bastard on earth.” He kissed a trail down her neck, growling when she let her head fall back.
Victoria moaned when his mouth closed over her bare nipple. She pressed her hands to the back of his head. For a man who appeared to do everything slowly, he had a beautiful knack for heating her up quickly.
“And then we were in the hotel room,” Sanjay said and lifted his head. “And you were all over me, and I was all over you, and I thought that it was the beginning of something good.” He kissed the corner of her mouth. “But I came out of the bathroom, and you were gone. Vanished,” he said regretfully. “And I felt like crap. And the calls, Vick, all those calls that went unanswered were like a punch in the face.”
Victoria struggled to control her breathing and her emotions. He was making things too complicated. He was making her feel guilty. She couldn’t give him what he wanted, what she didn’t realize until right that moment that he desired.
She closed her eyes in shame for a moment. Even now, all she wanted was to be beneath him. She grabbed his face with both hands to stop him from kissing her again. She looked into his eyes—eyes that were filled with lust and tenderness, and a hint of anger. “I told you then that it would be one night only,” she reminded him gently, “and you agreed. Now, if you don’t leave right this very minute,” she said slowly and softly, her breath feathering across his lips before she pressed a gentle kiss to his mouth, “I’ll have you forcibly removed.”
Chapter Five
Smiling, Sanjay kissed her forehead and then bent his head to gently take the top of her earlobe between his teeth. “Think it will be that easy, darlin’?” he whispered with his lips against her ear and made her shiver.
At the moment, Victoria couldn’t think about anything except what he was doing to her senses—he was completely taking them over, weakening her resolve, subjugating her will to his, and God help her, she wanted him to. She wanted his total possession. She swallowed, and the sound was abnormally loud in the quiet room. “No, not easy,” she told him, “but necessary.”
“Bullshit,” he said succinctly and gripped the hem of her skirt in his hands to push it up her thighs. “You and I both know that the only thing necessary right now is for me to get inside you. I smelled your need for me almost immediately after you realized I was here.” As he spoke, he slid his thigh between hers to widen her stance and then completed the process of pulling her skirt up so that it caught around her hips. Curling his fingers into her stockings and panties, he looked into her eyes, giving her a chance to object. Five seconds
later, he was shoving both undergarments down to her knees.
His rough and total control of her made Victoria’s entire body clench in need. He treated her rough because that was what she preferred. It was when he was gentle that she had a problem, and she was sure that he knew that his gentleness was what had driven her away the last time they’d been together. She almost sighed, knowing that she was going to give in to him. It was inevitable, had been from almost the second he’d walked in. But she couldn’t regret it. And when he pushed his thigh between her legs again, rubbing soft cotton against her naked flesh, she groaned gratefully and went on tiptoe to accommodate him, her fingers clenching on his arms and her head falling back on her neck in ecstasy, offering herself up for his taking.
Sanjay moved in stealthily, his teeth scraping a line down her neck while he gripped her waist and rubbed her pussy against his knee, taking her back and forth in successive motions until the garbled noises building in the back of her throat became long, drawn-out moans.
From experience she knew he was determined to have her screaming his name before he was finished.
He moved his mouth down to the hollow of her throat and sucked the skin through his teeth. He sucked hard, quite intent on leaving a bruise and knowing that was what she wanted.
Victoria bit back a curse at the sting and squeezed her thighs tighter around his knee. God, yes! He knew exactly what she wanted. Eyes still closed, she moved her hands to the back of his head and guided it down so that his mouth was on her breast. When he obligingly bit her nipple between his teeth, the pleasure of the pain sent her body into overdrive, and she ground her cleft hard into his knee as she rode out the waves.
His teeth were still clamped around her nipple, and Victoria opened her eyes to see those piercing dark eyes of his narrowed and intent on her face as passion began to overtake her. Slowly, she licked her lips and, taking her thumb, rubbed it across his lips. Watching him closely, she slipped her nipple from his mouth and pinched it between her fingers. The sonorous growl that escaped his throat both thrilled and weakened her and caused her to shiver in anticipation. He growled again and took her nipple between his lips again, this time sucking it hard to the roof of his mouth as he gripped her hips tighter and slid her back and forth across his thigh in long, quick strokes.
After the Morning After Page 3