Six Floors to the Top (Stuck With You Book 1)

by Karma Kingsley

  I laughed. "Oh, no. I definitely was."

  He turned his head, giving me a once over before he chuckled. The sound eased me and I slid closer to him without thinking about it.

  "But you may not have deserved all of it. You definitely deserved some but I may have taken it a bit far," I confessed, thinking over my actions of the last few months. God, I wasn't usually so prickly but I'd definitely put Arieon through the ringer. He sparked severe reactions from me. Highs and lows that I couldn't seem to get a handle on.

  He nodded and met my eyes. The intense blue burned into me and I suddenly felt flustered. My entire body going haywire.

  I cleared my throat. "So, you think I'm smart, huh?" I offered with a laugh, hoping to lighten the mood.

  "Yeah." Arieon didn't break the intensity of his stare. Instead, he inched toward me and I moved away until I hit the corner of the elevator. "And successful," he added, placing a hand to the elevator railing and pinning me into corner.

  My breathing went ragged and my heart pounded in my chest. He smelled so damn good. How did a single person smell so intoxicating?

  He leaned in and his voice rumbled low in my ear as hovered over me. "And sexy."

  The word sent a tingle through me and I shivered as I felt his warm breath in the crook of my neck.

  "Arieon," I breathed. It was supposed to be a warning but instead, came out as a plead. A soft begging for him to touch me, to follow through on his lips lingering over the skin of my neck.

  He leaned back and met my eyes again, the sheer intensity of his stare was enough to make me damp. He licked his lips as he stared me down and heat coursed through my center. Suddenly, he wasn't Arieon Banks. He wasn't my boss or the person on the top of my hit list. Instead, he was just a gorgeous man eyeing me like a glass of water in the desert. A stallion in desperate need of a good ride.

  I couldn't seem to stop myself as I pushed forward, crashing my lips into his. I don't know what I expected, for him to pull away, to disappoint me. But he didn't. He gripped the back of my head and pulled me in deeper, spreading my lips with his tongue as he dove in to explore my mouth. He kissed me like no man ever had. The kind of kiss that stole the breath right out of my lungs and made me quiver. Had I been standing, I had no doubts that kiss would have taken my legs right out from under me. His kiss was relentless and by the time he released me, I was breathless and dizzy and half out of my mind.

  His lips moved straight for my neck, giving me no moment to recover, no second to rethink the throbbing between my legs as his teeth grazed against my skin. It was an overwhelming sensation with the addition of his hand traveling up my thigh. I scooted forward to open myself to him, welcoming his touch as it climbed higher and higher, pushing my skirt up and exposing me.

  He lifted his head and pressed his forehead to mine as he examined me. My skirt hiked up to reveal white lace panties even I had to admit made my pussy look like a star at the Grammys. They were the perfect contrast to my skin and it made me wild that he stopped to appreciate it.

  "Goddam, Ellen. You're so fucking beautiful." His voice was heavy and unapologetic. It was a tone that I'd never heard from him and it turned me on even more than that look of desire in his eyes as he rolled them over my body.

  "Touch me." In response to his change in tone, my own came out pleading. I wasn't usually that girl. I begged for nothing. But I would have begged for him. I would have kicked and cried and payed money to have his hands on my cunt in that moment. But he didn't make me ask twice.

  A thick, rough hand slipped into my panties and I moaned in appreciation. Closing my eyes and leaning my head back, I arched into him. Maybe it was because I hadn't been touched by a man in so long but his hand was like magic. The pads of his fingers working the most perfect rhythm over my clit before they dipped inside of me and started all over again. I was so wet, running like a faucet to his touch. Each time he slipped into me, I tightened, going slick against him as my body begged for more.

  I opened my eyes to find him watching me, a serious look on his face. "You're so sexy. I want to see you come."

  I nodded, unable to speak. The only sounds I could seem to manage were my moans and groans of pleasure. He was definitely going to see me come and I couldn't pretend, even for a moment, that he wasn't driving me wild.

  His thumb flicked over my clit, changing pace as two fingers worked my opening and I exploded. My hips jutted forward, my hands flying up to clutch at the railing. I'd completely lost control. My body bucked against him as I released but he didn't lose his rhythm. He kept going, kept his thumb teasing me, kept his fingers pulsing, making what should have been a mild orgasm go on and on until it was almost unbearable.

  When he finally relented, I was trembling. Every nerve ending in my body on fire and every muscle exhausted. But even in my fatigue, I wanted more. My eyes grazed lazily over him as I shakily lifted myself, sliding out of my panties and stuffing them into his suit pocket. My hands went for his belt and gave it a gentle pull.

  "I want you to fuck me."

  His eyes widened but he didn't hesitate. He leaned forward and wrapped a hand around my waist, lifting me to my feet before he kissed me again, his mouth taking complete possession of mine. Fuck, those kisses. Where in the hell had he learned to kiss like that?

  When he let me go all of my exhaustion had faded and I needed him. I needed to feel him inside of me. I needed to know if every appendage on him was compatible with my body.

  He turned me around, pressing me into the corner. His hands traced the outline of my body and moved up my stomach to clutch at my breast. I could feel him pressed against me. Could feel the hard outline of an impressive cock.

  "Please, Arieon." I rolled my skirt up higher to give him a clear path of entrance and gasp when his hands aggressively clutched my ass. Kneading the tissue until I was certain I was going to come again before he entered me.

  He let me go just as I was on the edge, my breath heavy and hot as I listened to him unbuckle.

  I lifted my leg onto the railing, desperate to feel him. I was a wet aching mess and I had no shame about it.

  I heard the zipper on his pants go down before the elevator churned and jerked.

  "Fuck," Arieon swore, the sound of his zipper going back up, piercing my ears before I could process what was happening.

  I could hear his buckle being fastened before it finally dawned on me. We were moving. Shit, we were moving. In an elevator. At my job.

  I put my leg back on to the floor and quickly rolled down my skirt. Shit, shit, shit. I'd only barely gotten myself together as the doors slid open on the basement floor.

  I jumped in surprise at the hoard of interns waiting outside of the elevator.

  "Oh my God, Ms. Carp, are you okay?"

  The hoard split in half as interns went left and right between me and Arieon to check up on us.

  "I'm fine. I'm fine." I backed away, putting as much space between myself and anyone else as I could. I didn't want to talk to them. I couldn't. I couldn't think of a thing to say. The only thing I could think about was the fact that my panties were in my boss's front pocket.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  I rolled my eyes as I watched Ti pass a dirty napkin with her number scribbled across the front to the bartender. He took it, his fingertips grazing her hand and she giggled like a school girl.

  Are you fucking kidding me? I was going to give myself a headache with the amount of eye rolling I was doing. I'd watched her flirtation for going on twenty minutes and the whole display just got more and more ridiculous by the minute.

  She turned around, finally giving me her attention and I gave her the most vicious scowl I could manage.

  "What?" she asked innocently.

  "Seriously?" I threw my hands up in a dramatic display of my irritation. "He's like twelve." I pointed directly at him and he cocked an eyebrow in my direction. Yeah, that's right. I'm talking about you, you little shit.

  "No, he's at least twenty-one if he's
bartending." Ti turned around to look him over again. "And with a body like that, legal is pretty much my only requirement," she finished.

  I scrunched my face. "Gross."

  Ti turned back to me and this time it was her turn to roll her eyes. "God, girl, you are so damn uptight." She wrapped her lips around the straw of her Long Island and sucked down half the glass.

  "Thirsty?" I quipped, even though I had no room to judge. While she'd been flirting, I'd been self-medicating my woes with martinis. "And I'm not uptight. I'm having a crisis and instead of talking me through, my best friend is picking up teenagers."

  "Alright, alright. I'm here. I'm listening." She met my eyes. "But is this really your idea of a crisis?"

  "Uh, yes. Were you not listening? Ti, I put my panties in my boss's pocket. I took them off of my body and stuck them in his suit. It's beyond a crisis." I punctuated each word, making sure that my point landed.

  "Don't be dramatic." Ti waved me off and I sighed. I didn't know what I'd been expecting. Of course, she didn't get it. Ti was a lot of things but professional wasn't one of them. She'd slept with more bosses and coworkers than I could keep up with.

  "You just need to chill. Is it really so crazy to have a scandalous affair with a sexy boss?"

  "I never said he was sexy."

  "You didn't have to." She wiggled her eyebrows and I shook my head. She really wasn't getting it.

  I sucked down what was left of my martini and signaled for another. "I just need to get drunk, and probably quit my job. Maybe even leave the city, I don't know. I haven't decided yet."

  "Drama. Okay, it's not like you assaulted the man. It sounds like he was into it. It seems like it's up to both of you to either fuck and get it out of your system or pretend it never happened."

  I blinked. Maybe it was the alcohol but Ti seemed to be making sense. All we had to do was move on. Arieon, as terrible of a boss as he was, was still the boss. I was certain he'd be more than willing to pretend it never happened. "That's true, I guess."

  Ti tossed back the rest of her drink. "Get drunk with me today, get under someone tonight and by Monday, you'll be ready to face the world."

  *~*~*

  Ti had been wrong. By Monday, I did not feel like facing the world. Instead, I felt even more filled with regret. Mostly because I couldn't stop thinking about Arieon. I couldn't stop feeling his fingers inside me. I could stop feeling him pressed against me. It was driving me crazy.

  I groaned as I rolled over in my bed, my nipples hardening as I recounted our time in the elevator for the thousandth time. I hadn't been able to satisfy myself since. Not alone and not with my attempted Saturday one-night stand. Instead, I was left craving something more, something specific.

  Fuck! I rolled on to my back to give it one last effort. I slipped my hands into my underwear to try giving myself the release I desperately needed. I circled my clit, closing my eyes to focus on the feeling of my fingers working against the sensitive bud. I stopped when Arieon flashed through my mind. His smile, his lips, his shoulders. I didn't want to think about him and I certainly didn't want to get off to thinking about him. It was a puddle of quicksand I couldn't afford to step into.

  Sighing, I gave up and climbed out of bed. I wasn't much for cold showers but I was definitely going to get one to get my morning started. My body needed a shock to its system. I needed to hit the restart button and forget all about how intensely Arieon had made me come or how badly I wanted to feel him inside of me.

  I turned on the cold water and stepped beneath it, letting it run over me until the cold seeped into my bones and I shivered beneath the stream. It did the trick, by the time I was done washing up, all I could think about was getting warm. No thoughts or orgasms or Arieon, just a simple desperation for heat.

  I was feeling better as I slipped into a sleek, black work dress and matching heels. I was feeling focused and ready for the day. All of my worries had practically melted away by the time I headed down from my apartment building to my car. And by the time I reached work, I was nearly carefree. The only thing on my mind was doing my job. Catching our big fish account had 100% of my focus as I headed up the stairs to my office.

  Gathering up all of my materials, I went over the pitch in my head. I had all of the moving parts together, I just needed to tie up the loose ends. I ran through the list of which intern I would delegate to what task as I balanced enough notebooks and files in my hands to sustain an army.

  As I moved to head for the door, I stopped in my tracks, freezing in place as Arieon moved quickly toward my office.

  Shit, shit shit. What do I do? I wasn't ready to face him and the look on his face was hard, determined and sexy in a way that made me forget about how focused I was on my work project. I nearly forgot that I was holding things in my hands and barely caught myself before I dropped them to the ground.

  It was all flooding back. All of it hitting me in the face as Arieon stepped through my office doors. I was standing in front of my boss, who I'd let finger fuck me like a teenager at a drive-in. And even worse it warmed my insides to think about it.

  I tightened my grip on the stack of files in my hand and cleared my throat. "Can I help you?" I asked, trying hard to appear more together than I actually was.

  Arieon shook his head, closing the door behind himself. "Don't do that. Don't pretend."

  "I don't know what you're..."

  He advanced on me, moving in so close that I could smell his heavy, masculine scent and feel the heat from his body. I couldn't think, couldn't form words. I'd wanted to play it cool but my breath hitched and my heart thudded so rapidly in my chest, I was sure he could hear it. I opened my mouth, trying to force something out, any semblance of sound, but nothing came. I was stunned, stuck in place and subject to his will.

  "I can still smell you, Ellen." He leaned down and his lips trailed so lightly down my neck, I couldn't be sure that they'd actually touched me. "I can still feel your tight cunt on my fingers and all I can think about it sinking my cock into you."

  I swallowed trying to control my breathing. He was too much. His words were too much. He was too intense. It was all an overload. I took a step back, finally remembering how to move my legs. I held out my hands as he started forward to close the space that I'd created between us. I couldn't think when he was that close to me. I couldn't process things when his smell and heat were suffocating me, squeezing the good sense right out of my body.

  I shook my head. "Arieon." My voice trembled.

  "There's something between us, Ellen. I know you feel it too."

  "Arieon." This time I was steady. My mind was still clouded but I had some sense of clarity. This wasn't sustainable. Despite my every instinct to draw the shades and ride him on my desk, it wasn't plausible. As much as my body wanted him, my mind knew better. I was plotting his downfall. His failure was my success and my success would always be overshadowed by his triumph. My career was everything to me and he was a hindrance to it. Sweet as he seemed, sexy and compelling as he was, I couldn't have him. I couldn't give into him and I definitely couldn't allow something to be between us.

  "Ellen." He pushed my hand away to move forward again.

  "Arieon, no."

  He stopped cold. The words seemed to whip him across the face. His shoulders drooped and his bright eyes dulled. "Okay," he said softly, backing away from me.

  I felt like the air had been knocked out of me and I had no idea why. I barely knew the man, so why did it feel like I was giving up so much? Why did it feel like I was being ripped to shreds to see that wounded look on his face?

  "I'm sorry, if I made you feel...I'll be in my office if you need me." And with that he left, leaving me behind to stew in a puddle misery and confusion. It shouldn't have been so hard. I should have been able to watch him walk away and feel triumphant that I'd crushed him.

  I slumped into my seat and closed my eyes, taking in slow deep breaths until my heart rate descended to a normal
speed. When I climbed back to my feet, I refocused. I still had a job to do. I still had a plan to map out, and I couldn't let Arieon Banks distract me from that.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  I gave my pitch one last run through, watching every movement in my full-length mirror. I was ready; dressed smartly in a lady power suit, my hair pulled back in a tight and classy bun. I was going to give Carlie Sims the pitch of her life.

  I collected my things and headed for my car, double checking to make sure that I had everything I needed from home. As I drove to the office, I went over and over it again in my head, every reason that we were the perfect representation for Carlie and everything I'd do to make sure that she was happy.

  My hands were shaking by the time I made it to the parking garage, and I hated myself for it. I didn't want to be nervous. I'd pitched before and I was beyond prepared. I should have been steady as steel. But I wasn't. My insides curled and my body vibrated against my will.

  As I took the stairs up to my office, I had to stop three times just to keep from hurling. Six floors to the top was a pain in the ass on a regular day but with a knot in my stomach, it was almost impossible. But what choice did I have? It'd be a cold day in hell before I stepped foot on the company elevator again. It had become a place that made me feel things I'd much rather not feel and made me consider everything I was trying to avoid. I'd lost a little pep in my step since I'd shut Arieon down and I was willing to take any measure to not examine why.

  By the time I made it to the sixth floor, I'd decided I was completely done with my cardio for the day. The gym could kiss my ass. My thighs and calves burned liked I'd run a marathon and all I wanted to do was sit down, maybe take a nap. But I had things to do. Important things to do.

  I pushed through the aching in my muscles, moving through the halls on a mission. The bright side was that my tiredness overshadowed my nervousness. By the time I'd reached the conference room, I was too exhausted to be worried. My hands were finally steady; lazy and slow-moving, but steady.