Road to Reason (The Road Series Book 4)

by Ann, Natalie

  So today she decided she would go to him. Loaded down with the sandwiches she just picked up at a deli on the way and two drinks, she used her hip to push open the door to the Mathews law firm.

  She had never been to his office before, but loved the old historic feel of the building that at one time was a home before it was converted into office space.

  “Can I help you?” a friendly receptionist asked.

  “Yes, is Ryan available?”

  The woman eyed Kaitlin, obviously weighing her options. “Do you have an appointment?”

  “No, I don’t. I saw his car out back, but if he’s busy I can just leave this,” she said, holding up the bag containing food.

  “Let me check. Can I have your name?”

  “Kaitlin,” she said simply. She didn’t feel the need to give her last name.

  The receptionist picked up the phone and punched in a few numbers, listened to it ring several times and then hung up. “I’m sorry, he isn’t answering right now. He must be in a meeting.”

  “No problem. Is Thomas available?” she asked on second thought.

  “Do you have an appointment with Thomas?”

  Kaitlin tried not to sigh, she understood the receptionist was just doing her job; she would expect no less at her own office, but it was still annoying. “No, I don’t. But if he’s available I’m sure he wouldn’t mind seeing me.”

  Before the receptionist could pick up the phone to call, Thomas walked out of a door, noticed Kaitlin standing at the front desk and approached her with a huge smile on his face. “Kaitlin, what a surprise,” he said, walking up and giving her a kiss on the cheek. “Are you here to see Ryan?”

  “I was going to surprise him, but he must be busy. No worries, you can take his lunch if you want?” she said cheerfully.

  “It’s OK, Carol. I’ll get Ryan,” Thomas addressed the receptionist, then placed his hand on Kaitlin’s lower back and ushered her down the hall. “Ryan’s in the conference room. I’ll tell him you’re here. You can wait in his office if you like.”

  ***

  Once Thomas had Kaitlin situated in Ryan’s office, he walked back to the conference room, knocked once and opened the door. Ryan swiveled around in his chair and looked at him. “Ryan, you’ve got a visitor,” he said, happily.

  “Who? I don’t have anyone scheduled today.”

  Thomas raised his eyebrows. “She’s in your office now. But if you aren’t in there in five minutes, then I’m taking what she brought you.” Then he shut the door and walked out with his smile still in place.

  ***

  Two minutes later Ryan was pleasantly surprised to find Kaitlin standing in his office. Her back was turned to the door while she studied pictures and news articles in frames on his wall.

  He took a moment to look at her. Today she was wearing a white and tan print skirt that ended right at her knees—and did nothing to hide her curves. It was paired with a fitted tan jacket and nude-colored heels that made her legs look even toner than they were. A beautiful sight for his tired eyes.

  “What a wonderful interruption to my day,” Ryan said, then watched when Kaitlin jumped and turned around. “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.”

  He laughed and shut the door behind him, then made his way toward her. “Come here.” He didn’t even hesitate to take her into his arms and kiss her gently on the lips before pulling her in for a hug, holding her tight. “You smell nice.”

  She leaned back and reached up to give him another kiss for good measure. “I wanted to try my hand at being spontaneous. I couldn’t have you accuse me of needing to have everything planned out again, could I?” she said, teasing, then stepped back and made her way to the small table in the corner of his office. “I brought you lunch. If you have a few minutes, that is? If not, I’m sure your father wouldn’t mind keeping me company,” she said, lifting an eyebrow.

  “I’m sure he wouldn’t mind. But it so happens I do have time and I would love nothing more than to spend it with you.”

  Forty minutes later he was walking her out of his office and back to the front entrance. “I wish I had more time, but I’ve got a call coming in in a few minutes.”

  “I’ve got to get back, too. I’ve been gone longer than I thought I would be. I’m glad we had a bit of time together.”

  “I’ll call you tonight. And I promise I won’t wake you this time. I should be home a little after six.”

  “Oh, well in that case...” She trailed off before she could finish.

  “In that case what?” he asked, holding his breath.

  “Nothing. I was just going to suggest you come over for dinner if you were going to have an early night. But if you aren’t sure when you would be done, that’s fine too,” she said in a hurry.

  “Dinner would be great. I’ll let you know when I’m on my way. Now I get to see if you’re as good of a cook as you are a baker.”

  “Maybe not as good, but I can hold my own.” She grinned at him, held his stare a fraction longer than normal. “Well, I’ll let you get back to work.”

  When she didn’t make any attempt to move, Ryan reached up with his hand and gently tucked a loose strand of her ebony hair behind her ear. He felt her lean into his palm and couldn’t resist giving her a soft kiss. “I’ll be there tonight. Have a good afternoon.”

  He watched her walk out the door, staying at the reception area for a few minutes until she turned the corner to go to the parking lot and was out of his sight. Then he turned to address Carol, who had been watching with interest. “Always find me when one of the Harpers come in.”

  Carol looked at a loss for the moment. “I always have,” she said, reminding him. But he was already walking away.

  ***

  Thomas, who had been watching the entire exchange from the hallway, came forward. “Carol, that was Kaitlin Harper.” He placed his big hand on the counter that separated Carol from the visitors. “If Ryan isn’t available when she stops over, then please come and get me.” With a final tap of his palm on the counter, he turned and walked away beaming with pleasure.

  He had been watching Ryan on Sunday along with everyone else. There was definitely more going on than either of those two wanted anyone to believe.

  Either that, or they were both clueless. Because he had seen Ryan with a fair number of women over the years, and he had never seen him act like he did when he was around Kaitlin.

  Ryan had always been protective of those he cared for. Loyal to a fault, not to mention generous and caring. But he only showed those qualities to family, or close friends—friends that might as well have been family.

  Though Ryan was close with the Harper brothers, where they might fall into the second category, he couldn’t say the same about Kaitlin or his relationship with her. Ryan hadn’t seen Kaitlin in years.

  But he had witnessed Ryan with Kaitlin just now, and Kaitlin’s reaction to that simple caress. Only there was nothing simple about it.

  He needed to share what he just saw. Unfortunately, Michele was still in class, so he would call the next best person. He couldn’t wait to share the news with William.

  Thomas knew all about discretion. And so did Kaitlin’s parents, which was why none of them let on to Ryan or Kaitlin the joy they all felt over them being together right now.

  One thing both Thomas and William knew about their children, the minute you approved of something or pushed for it, was the minute their children pushed right back and decided it wasn’t for them.

  ***

  “Sorry I’m late,” Ryan said, opening the door to Kaitlin’s after work.

  “You’re not late, but I am. Later than I thought. Guess I didn’t plan well.” She wiped her hands on the kitchen towel after securing the last piece of meat to her skewer. “I just wanted to do something simple. What is simpler than chicken and steak kabobs with veggies? Only it took longer than I thought to cut everything up and put it together,” she said with a little laugh. “I’ll just go start the grill no
w. It won’t take long at all. The salad is put together and the potatoes on the skewers are already partially cooked.”

  Ryan waited for her to stop rambling, then took the plate holding their meal off the counter, placed it in the refrigerator, pulled her in his arms and kissed her senseless. “Dinner can wait,” he said breathlessly a few minutes later. “I’m feeling spontaneous myself right now.”

  “Me too,” she said, grasping his hand and leading him to her bedroom.

  He turned and pulled her into his arms, then resumed kissing her while he ran his hands up her sides, spreading his fingers through her hair and holding her head in place.

  Her hands started to move over his body, down his shoulders, under his jacket, around his back, pulling him close. “You have too many clothes on.”

  “Why don’t you do something about that?” he said, challenging her.

  She got a wicked gleam in her eyes. “Gladly.” Reaching up she pulled his tie loose, threaded it through his collar and dropped it on the floor.

  “Hey, that’s silk.”

  “I’ll buy you a new one. Don’t care,” she said seriously.

  He laughed. He had only been teasing her, but she looked dead serious now and he wasn’t about to stop her.

  One by one she undid his shirt buttons, pulled the tails out of his waistband, then pushed his shirt off his shoulders along with his jacket. This time she tossed them to the chair a few feet away, letting them land partially over the arm. “There, is that better?” she asked with an arch of her eyebrow.

  He chose not to answer, as she looked like a woman on a mission. He didn’t want to take her off course.

  “Definitely too many clothes,” she said, pulling his white T-shirt over his head. Next went his belt. She unfastened it, let it hang open, then went for the button and zipper of his pants. Down they went faster than he could blink.

  He stepped back, removed them fully, placing them on the chair with his jacket and shirt after he took the condom out of his wallet. Then he took care of his shoes and socks. Completely naked and comfortable in his own skin, he stepped back to her and set the condom on the bedside table. “You need to catch up now.”

  “Then why don’t you do something about that?” she said, echoing his words.

  He removed the apron she had on covering her work clothes. Then off went her silk camisole. She must have removed her jacket when she had gotten home. His hands reached behind her, unzipped her skirt and watched it fall to the floor around her bare feet.

  He was disappointed to see she had taken her shoes off before he arrived. Now she was standing in a cream-colored lace bra and panty set, looking more innocent than she was at the moment. Because right at the moment, the look in her eyes made him pause. She looked like she was ready to devour him whole.

  She pushed him backwards a step toward the bed, then nudged him on it, and watched while he scooted back and lay in the center before she crawled on top of him still wearing her bra and panties. Straddling his hips and resting on her knees, she leaned forward placing her lips over his.

  The tops of her breasts rubbed against his chest. The combination of the lace and silk material exciting him to a higher level.

  He reached behind her, undid the hooks and let her breasts fall against him, her hardened peaks sending jolts of electricity through his body. He had to touch her. Had to get his hands on her. As he brushed his thumbs over her, feeling her jerk against him was slowly driving him insane.

  She sat back on her heels and her eyes glazed over, watching him while he caressed her, his large hands massaging, squeezing and pinching her. Changing it up with each gasp of her breath.

  With a ragged sigh, she wiggled out of her panties and straddled his hips once again, then started to rub up and down the length of him.

  He didn’t know where her boldness came from and frankly didn’t care. He was beyond caring at the moment. Watching Kaitlin lost in her arousal was one of the sexiest things he had ever seen.

  Her dark eyes were piercing while they watched his hands touch her, her hips sliding up and down around his waist and around the tip of his erection. It was then he realized how close she was coming to the length of him and sliding right on.

  “Kaitlin,” he spoke. Only she was so lost in her pleasure, continuing to move up and down and around him, her wetness spreading all over the length of him. He groaned, pulled his hands away from her breasts, grabbed the condom from the table and shifted her off of him quickly.

  “What?” she asked glassy-eyed. She looked down for a second, frowned, but climbed back over him, continuing to slide back around him when he reached for her breasts again. This time she rose up and lowered herself on him, inch by agonizing inch.

  That was close, too close really. Ryan was positive she was going to slither on top of him without the condom, as lost as she was in her own passion. He couldn’t blame her—he was pretty far gone himself.

  He dropped his hands from her breasts, urging her forward on her hands a bit so that he could reach her with his mouth.

  She growled low in her throat when he pulled her over-sensitized nipple between his lips and began sucking. She seemed to struggle with a pace, so he placed his hands on her hips and helped her find a rhythm.

  She caught on fast and was extremely enthusiastic in her motions, riding him as if there was nothing else better in the world to her right now.

  When he felt her start to tighten around him and knew she was close, he bit down with just enough pressure to mix pain with her pleasure. Her muscles tightened around him even more. He heard her shout, forcing his own hips to pump feverishly toward fulfillment.

  She collapsed on top of him, breathing heavily. Her hands stroking up and down his arms automatically, most likely not even aware of what she was doing. He felt her snuggle in closer, but he put his hands on her hips to help ease her up. “Sorry, I need to take care of the condom.”

  “Huh? Oh, OK,” she said, the moment of contentment lost from her eyes, he saw.

  He came back out of her bathroom and found her dressed in shorts and a shirt. “I’ll go get dinner started while you get dressed.”

  “Come here,” he said, reaching for her, placing his arms around her and holding her close. He rubbed his hands up and down her back, then leaned down and placed his lips on hers, continuing to hold her until he heard her sigh, then felt her ease into him.

  She broke the kiss first and laid her head on his chest, wrapping her arms around him for a brief hug, then smiled. “Guess spontaneous is our word of the day.”

  Distracted

  Kaitlin was trying to concentrate on the investment report in front of her, but her mind kept wandering. She hadn’t seen Ryan in four days, not since she left his house Sunday afternoon. It had been such a good weekend and she hated that she put a sour note on it. But she couldn’t help how she felt.

  Sunday morning they were relaxing on the plush sectional spread out on his deck, gazing at the lake. Just enjoying the quiet with each other. The night before had been pretty special, at least for her. She liked trying new positions, but they were probably all old boring ones for him.

  But the following morning he had pulled her close on the comfortable patio furniture, tucking her head under his arm, and was absently caressing her thigh.

  She was wearing one of his T-shirts again. She found she enjoyed sleeping in them. She figured he didn’t mind since he always tossed her one of his shirts when they were done having sex.

  With his hand running lazy circles high on her thigh, her eyes were closed while she enjoyed the sounds of the birds chirping, the water lapping on the beach, and the boat rocking against the deck. All the noises she grew up listening to through her bedroom window on that same lake.

  She sighed deeply, his fingers moving upward under the hem of his shirt that had only been resting mid-thigh to begin with.

  Unconsciously she uncrossed her legs when his fingertips made their way closer to her inner thigh, sending tingling s
ensations coursing through her. She felt herself being lifted and positioned between his spread legs. She tilted her head to the side when his lips grazed her ear, then moved down her neck.

  The closer his hands moved to her overheated core, the more she found herself arching her back into him. She hadn’t been able to stop the contented sigh escaping from her throat when she felt how effected he was against her lower back. His other hand slid up under the shirt to cup her breast, his fingers that were on her thigh, now slipping under the edge of her panties.

  She shifted her hips more, gave him better access and he slid one finger inside of her. Her hands went to his thighs, gripping him tight while he continued to tease her. He moved that single digit in and out of her in slow motion, drawing out each stroke of pleasure to its fullest.

  “Tell me what you want,” he whispered against her ear.

  “You. I want you inside of me.” She gasped when he slid in deeper finding just the right spot.

  “I am inside of you,” he replied hoarsely.

  “I want more.” She spread her legs further apart for him, then he slid a second finger inside of her. “Oh that feels good. But that’s not what I meant.” He was relentlessly bringing her to the edge.

  “Tell me then.”

  The breath against her cheek was just another erotic sensation, but she couldn’t tell him, it was too embarrassing. Instead she felt the blush moving her up neck. Rather than speak, she reached behind her back and grabbed him through his shorts. “This. I want this inside of me. Now.”

  She managed to shock him, she knew. He wanted to hear her say it, but she got her point across just as fast with her actions. “Give me a minute,” he said and started to move her to the side.

  But she grabbed his hand before he could fully remove it from inside of her, continuing to grip his thigh with her other hand. “Don’t you dare stop,” she demanded of him.