by Meghan March
Erik’s enthusiasm had my cheeks turning pink and doubly glad this line was untappable and untraceable. “We are not discussing this.”
“Sure, boss. Whatever you say. Not discussing the fact that you finally banged the guy you’ve been lusting after your whole life.”
They didn’t realize what was happening between Rhett and me was so much more, but I wasn’t about to lay it out for them right now.
“And moving on . . . Is there anything else we need to discuss?”
Both Erik and Esme morphed into the super-capable employees I knew they were and gave me a rundown on everything I’d missed. Basically, despite the increased security measures, things were running smoothly.
“There’s only one thing that was a little weird,” Esme said. “I wasn’t going to mention it, but given the situation . . .”
“What?”
“Jan Hofer called in sick three days in a row after having nearly perfect attendance since her appendix was removed a few years ago.”
Jan Hofer was an R&D scientist who was part of the facial-recognition project.
“Have you called her? Checked on her? Found out if she’s really sick or if she’s missing?”
“We’re on it. We’re going to have security check out her place to make sure everything’s okay. HR called her twice, but got her voice mail both times.”
A creepy sense of uneasiness swept over me. “Tell them to be careful. Let me know what they say ASAP.”
“No problem. We’ll report back,” Esme promised.
When we hung up, I logged into my company’s intranet and dug up Jan’s notes from her research the last few weeks. Nothing was out of the ordinary, but still . . . I didn’t like the coincidence.
I didn’t want to jump to conclusions, but I wouldn’t feel settled about it until Esme and Erik called back with more information. She can just be sick, I told myself.
In the meantime, I needed a distraction.
Rhett opened the door to the bedroom. “Hey, Red. You in a good place to take a break for a couple hours?”
Exactly the distraction I needed.
My stomach growled, and I realized it had been almost six hours since we’d eaten last. “I could be talked into that.”
He nodded. “Good. Then meet me down in the pool room when you’re finished. We’ve got a date.”
“A date?”
“Yeah. And if you wanted to put on a dress and no panties, I wouldn’t argue with you.” With a wink, Rhett closed the door before I could respond.
A dress with no panties?
I looked around the room as though someone else could confirm what I’d just heard, but there was no one.
What does he have planned? I rose from the bed and stretched my arms and kinked muscles before moving to the closet where my limited wardrobe hung. My gaze locked on a navy-blue T-shirt dress with a V-neck that I wouldn’t look out of place walking around in at home.
I stripped off my shorts and panties, and pulled it on.
Ask and you shall receive, Rhett Hennessy.
49
Ariel
When I entered the pool room after primping for ten minutes, candlelight flickered off the walls and the surface of the water from votive candles scattered across the stamped concrete decking surrounding the indoor pool. Through the tinted glass sliders, the sun was setting outside, showing me just how much I’d lost track of time.
Who really needed two pools anyway? I wondered at the motivation of whoever had built this place.
Then I pushed the thought out of my head and focused on how deliciously naughty I felt wearing a dress with no panties. I’d never done that before, and found it was something worth repeating.
Rhett stood by a table as he lit two taller candles in the middle. He’d managed to find a button-down shirt and paired it with worn jeans but no shoes. It was a very good look on him with his messy dark blond hair and the scruff on his jaw.
“Wow. Someone decided to go all out.”
“My mama told me to wine and dine you, and I always try to listen to what she tells me.”
I smiled. “Is that so?”
He nodded and pulled out a chair. “Sure is. Would you like to have a seat so I can tell you what we’re eating tonight?”
I crossed the concrete toward him, also barefoot because nothing else had felt right, and stopped next to the table. “Thank you for doing this. It’s really sweet.”
Rhett’s gaze dropped to my red-painted toenails and dragged up my body to my hair, pulled halfway up in a messy casual style. “You look beautiful.”
My cheeks heated. Not at the compliment, but at what I was about to say. “I decided to honor your request.”
Hunger blazed in his green eyes. “Is that right?”
I nodded.
“Show me.”
My heart skipped a beat. “What?”
“Show me,” he said again.
I swallowed. Oh hell, what did I get myself into?
I reached down and caught the hem of my dress on my left side and dragged the fabric up until it hit my hip and the lack of any panties was visible.
Rhett didn’t move. Didn’t touch. But his stare was enough to raise goose bumps all over my skin. “That’s so fucking sexy.”
I dropped the fabric and it slid down my thigh, but Rhett’s eyes lifted to mine.
“You’re wet right now, aren’t you?”
“Maybe.”
He reached out a hand like he was offering to seat me for dinner, but that wasn’t his purpose at all. “Show me.”
My heart thundered in my chest. “What do you mean?”
Rhett stepped forward, reached for my hand, and wrapped my fingers around his wrist. “I want you to show me.”
My thighs clenched when I put together exactly what he meant. He wanted me to put his hand . . . oh sweet Jesus.
With my fingers trembling, I directed his hand under my dress and up between my legs. I sucked in a breath when the pads of his wide fingers skimmed my leg and then ghosted over my lips.
“Spread your legs, Red.”
My teeth caught my bottom lip as I scooted my feet further apart, making room for his hand.
Rhett kept his fingers completely motionless as his skin slid through my wetness. His nostrils flared, and my hips pushed forward almost of their own accord. Back and forth, I dragged his hand through my heat, touching lightly enough to drive us both crazy.
“Touch me. Please. I can’t take it.”
Something lit his gaze, and I didn’t care what it was, but Rhett’s fingers curled upward and one plunged inside me. I released a broken moan at the same time his groan echoed through the room.
With the look of a starving man on his face, Rhett pulled his hand away from my grip and brought his finger to his mouth and sucked it clean.
“Delicious.”
50
Ariel
Dinner was cold by the time we got around to eating it, but neither of us cared. Once we were finished, Rhett stood and looked at the rectangular pool beside us, and then out the windows at the massive outdoor pool with waterfalls, fountains, and the rock grotto with its lazy river that went through it.
He looked at me, and then back out the window before stripping off his shirt and tossing it on the chair.
“What exactly are you doing?”
“What does it look like?” He reached for the top button of his jeans.
“Oh my God, you want to skinny-dip in here?”
Rhett shook his head. “Out there.”
My gaze snapped to the pool outside, lit by only a few romantic underwater lights. It looked completely different than it had yesterday, when I’d been frozen in terror on a lounger. And with Rhett there . . . he would never let anything happen to me.
There was also one other consideration. “What about security?”
“You afraid to get caught?”
I probably shouldn’t admit that a wave of heat slammed between my legs, but I didn’t know
whether that was due to the idea of getting caught or because of Rhett dropping his jeans and the decadent bulge fighting against his boxer briefs.
I needed that in my mouth.
“You’re not the rule-follower here, Ari. We both know that.”
He was right. I was the rules are flexible, so just bend them to fit your purpose girl.
I reached for the hem of my dress, my thighs squeezing together. I had nothing on under it. Not a single stitch.
“What happened to the follow the rules guy you’ve always been?”
Rhett kicked off the jeans and tucked his thumbs in the waistband of his briefs. “Maybe you’ve been a bad influence on me.”
With a single move, he shoved them down his hips and his cock sprang free. Whatever I was going to say flew right out of my brain as I stared.
I hadn’t had nearly enough time to study it. Touch it. Taste it. I wanted to do all those things right now.
When I took a step forward, Rhett moved toward the slider that led to the outdoor pool. “Show me how daring you are, Red. I want to see it.”
And then he was out the door and in three long strides, diving into the water outside.
I knew Carver and his cohorts were out there. Did I care if they caught a glimpse of me naked? It wouldn’t be the end of the world.
Screw it.
I yanked my dress up and over my head, dropped it on the chair, and raced after him. I didn’t think. I just jumped.
When my body hit the water and my head finally resurfaced, Rhett was right there.
“I knew you would.”
“How?”
He pressed a kiss to the tip of my nose. “Because I know you. It could be fifteen years or fifty, and I’d still know you.”
He ducked underwater and tugged at my ankle before disappearing beneath the waterfall.
Apparently, we were playing hide-and-seek. That was cool because I was good at games. Usually they were logic-based puzzles that other people used to study for things like the LSAT, but I found them entertaining. It didn’t take a genius to realize naked games with Rhett were way more fun, though.
I swam after him, letting the warm waterfall pummel my body as I stroked beneath it. Rhett had his arms spread out along the concrete hiding behind it, and I knew right then what I wanted to do.
With a new boldness charging through me, I looked him in the eye. “What would you say are the odds of us getting caught?”
Interest sparked in his gaze. “No idea. Why, what did you have in mind?”
“Hop out of the water and I’ll show you.”
He raised a brow, and my boldness grew as he pressed both hands to the edge and lifted himself out of the pool. His shoulders, chest, and arms flexed, and a shiver worked through me at the power contained in his body. When he settled on the concrete, his cock rose in front of me. I hadn’t totally figured out the logistics of how to do this, but I knew one thing—I was getting him in my mouth.
When I reached out and wrapped a hand around his thick shaft, Rhett sucked in a breath. “What do you think you’re doing, Ariel?”
“If you call me by my full name, you might never find out what I’m planning.”
He laughed quietly. “But it’s too damn perfect. The turquoise water lit up around you, and that gorgeous mass of red hair floating in the water . . . Sexy as hell, Red.”
“Okay, maybe you get a pass.”
I found the underwater ledge along the side and stood on it, putting me at the perfect angle to hopefully make this a night Rhett wouldn’t soon forget.
When my lips moved closer to the tip, he slid a big hand around the back of my neck. “You gonna suck my cock? Out here in the open where they might see me buried in your throat?”
A shiver worked through me at the thought of getting caught. Why did that make this even hotter?
“Does that bother you?”
“Another guy getting an eyeful of my girl getting me off?” He paused as though to consider. “I might take offense to them seeing your gorgeous naked ass, but your mouth on my cock sure says you’re taken.”
My girl. Taken.
Warmth spread through my veins at the words. I gripped his shaft tightly and wrapped my lips around the head, pulling the first grateful groan from his lips as I sucked.
Rhett’s other hand grasped my soaking wet tresses in a fist, but didn’t tug.
I wanted him to tug. I wanted him to direct me how he liked it when he was close to coming. With that goal in mind, I took him deeper, using my tongue and lips to drag unintelligible words from him as he shifted his hips and I swallowed him deeper.
“Goddamn. That mouth of yours is heaven.”
I took as much as I could, but my hand was still closed around the base. I was going to have to practice to get him to fit all the way. Rhett’s gaze flashed a brilliant green as he gripped my hair, pulling me deeper into the water.
“You want me to show you how to take me? Want me to fuck your face?”
Oh God. Something about those words had me ready to beg for it.
I slid my lips away with a pop and answered. “Show me what you like. I want to know.”
His lips curled up into a sensual smile. “I fucking love that you want to know.” Rhett angled his hips and skimmed the back of two fingers across my chin. “Ready?”
I nodded, taking the head in my mouth again.
“When you feel like it’s too much, swallow.”
Stroke after stroke, he fucked my mouth, getting me used to the length, until he bumped the back of my throat and I fought the urge to gag.
He gave my hair a squeeze and my gaze shot up to his. “Next time, swallow.”
I could do this. I wanted to do this. It became a personal mission.
Rhett slowly worked me up again, and instead of gagging when he hit the point of no return, I swallowed and breathed. He paused to make sure I was okay, and I gave him another nod.
Holy shit, I’m deep throating. I’m officially a sexual rock star. I gave a mental fist pump as Rhett’s features twisted into a mask of pleasure. He might have been trying to hold out, but it didn’t work.
“Fuck, I’m gonna come. You taking it?”
I didn’t pull back, so he let loose, the salty heat bursting into my mouth and down my throat.
As soon as he moved away, footsteps pounded toward us.
“You okay? We heard a noise!” someone called, and I thought it sounded like Carver.
Rhett slid back into the water and used his body to block mine. “We’re all good. Give us five minutes to get back inside, and we’ll be locked down for the night.”
I didn’t need a mirror to know my face was on fire.
“Yes, sir.”
As the footsteps receded, Rhett turned to me. “You almost gave me a heart attack.”
“And somehow I’m not even sorry about it.” I winked, and he laughed before wrapping his arms around me and dunking us both.
51
Rhett
After I enfolded Ari in a towel, I carried her back into the house and to the shower. As water poured down on us from the massive spouts, the chlorine washed away but something else remained.
Guilt.
I was here, getting a glimpse of the future I wanted, and none of this would have happened if my dad hadn’t been killed.
Ari finished rinsing her hair and caught my stare. She read me easily. “What’s wrong?”
“If my dad was still alive, I’d probably be sitting in my Jeep, waiting to catch a picture of a cheating spouse and ignoring his call. He gets murdered, and all of a sudden I’m getting everything I wanted.”
She watched me with sad eyes before reaching out to place a hand on my arm and squeeze. “I’m sorry. So damned sorry that it happened this way.”
“Me too.” I looked up at the ceiling. “You know he called four times in the two days before he died, and I never answered?”
She bit her lip but said nothing.
“What kind of son does t
hat? What kind of person does that?”
“Rhett—”
I shook my head and kept talking. “When I talked to my mom, she basically told me that digging for evidence to prove him innocent was a waste of time. She thinks he did it. She said money would magically appear.” I closed my eyes as the truth crashed down on me once more. “Maybe he wanted to come clean. Maybe he knew they were coming after him and wanted my help. But I’ll never fucking know because I was too damned angry to listen to him.”
“You couldn’t have known it was your last chance.”
My eyes snapped open and fixed on her. “What if I could’ve stopped it? Changed things? Instead, I did nothing. I’ll never know the entire truth. Ever. And now I have to live with that for the rest of my life.”
Ari wrapped her arms around me and laid her cheek against my chest. “I wish I could change it for you. I wish I had the ability to turn back time and give this back to you. But I can’t.” She snuffled. “None of us can. We make choices and we have to live with them. There was no way you could know.”
“If I hadn’t been so stubborn, I wouldn’t have lost the only chance I had to make peace with this.”
“What would you have said to him?”
I dropped my chin to rest on her head and thought of how the conversation might have gone if my dad had admitted what he’d done. “I probably would’ve hung up . . . at least at first.”
“And then what?”
Imagining the conversation was like shredding my insides with dull knives. “I would’ve asked him why he did it. I would’ve wanted to know if he realized what he’d done.”
Ari hugged me tighter. “And if he said he regretted it? Wished he’d never done it? Could you have forgiven him?”
I thought of my father’s remorse. How much he probably regretted putting my mom in danger. The more I thought about it, the more I could see why he didn’t come forward sooner. When you were dealing with the cartel, talking meant not only were you risking your life, but your family’s as well. Maybe my dad had a weak moment and got into something too big to get out from under.