by Lisa Eugene
I raised my gaze to Chase, drawn in by the deep blue of his eyes and his almost palpable stare. Clearing my throat, I extended my hand.
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Rutherford.”
Chase’s large palm enfolded mine, holding it firmly as he eyed me. He annexed it for much longer than was appropriate, and my skin tingled, not used to his warm touch. I tried to pull away, but his grip was sure.
“You may not remember, Ms. Carmichael, but we’ve met,” he said smoothly.
“Oh?” My voice sounded very far away.
“Outside the school a few months ago.”
“Oh, yes. Right.”
He finally released my hand and I wondered if anyone had noticed our mini tug-of-war. I also wondered if anyone had noticed the fine tremor that snaked up my arm and swarmed through my body.
He indicated the man he was with and I recognized him as the short man who seemed to always be at his side. “This is Phil, my PR slash campaign manager.”
I shook Phil’s hand, now recalling his presence at the altercation in front of the school. He’d shot me a hostile stare, similar to the way he was regarding me now. He thought I was a troublemaker.
Chase turned to Emmy, bending to look into her eyes as he smiled. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard more beautiful music.”
Emmy didn’t respond, but for a brief moment, she held eye contact with Chase.
“Mr. Rutherford and I were discussing the concert coming up next month at graduation,” Mrs. Nancy informed when he straightened.
“I’m on board. It will be a wonderful treat for the other students,” he agreed.
The older lady clapped her hands joyfully, then faced me. “Emily and I have some books for you, in case you ever want to bring her for practice on the weekends. The piano rooms are always open.” She took Emmy’s hand. “Let’s go get them, shall we?”
I watched as Mrs. Nancy left the room with Emmy, aware that Chase’s gaze was still glued to me. The tension between us churned so thick I was afraid Phil would notice. Having contact with Chase outside of the bubble we created on Tuesdays was disconcerting. The situation felt out of place, as bizarre as seeing a whale flying through the sky.
“Chase, we need to get across town for your meeting with the governor,” Phil coaxed, looking at his watch. “We’ve already delayed—”
“Give me a second.”
Phil sighed heavily, looking somewhat irritated. “But you are already—”
“The governor will wait!” Chase interrupted sharply. “I said give me a goddamn minute.”
I looked away when Phil’s forehead pleated and his condemning gaze met mine. Silently he turned and stalked from the room.
I nodded toward the door he’d just disappeared through. “Don’t piss him off or he’ll have you outfitted in ugly suits until the end of your campaign.”
He chuckled lightly. “The color wheel and spectacles didn’t help him. Now, I pick out my own suits.”
I wanted to tell him he was doing a splendid job, that he looked positively delectable, but his presence here only served to highlight our disparate worlds, to dampen my mood.
Is Mom right? Should I be dating, trying to find a husband, a father for Emmy instead of wasting my time with someone so far out of my reach? Was I setting myself up for inevitable heartbreak? I quickly reminded myself I was just having a good time with Chase. I had no expectations.
“Emily is amazing. She’s a very special child,” he said, sliding his hands into his pockets. “You should be very proud of her.”
“I am.”
His gaze whispered over my face, a tender perusal. He frowned deeply.
“What’s wrong, Dani?”
Nothing. Everything.
I shrugged, my throat going dry as I shifted my gaze to the floor.
“Did you hear from Mrs. Lawrence again? Is that it?”
I was surprised he’d remembered that conversation.
“You don’t have to worry about anyone taking Emily away,” he said. “I would never allow that.”
My gaze sprang to his. I nodded, but didn’t see how that was possible. I’d just paid rent and had nothing left over. If Mom hadn’t shown up with groceries this week, I didn’t know what I’d do. She’d offered for me and Emmy to move in with her and my aunt, but they barely had enough room for the two of them.
He paused for a moment. “Do you want to meet someplace else? We can move our appointments to my apartment. It would be better, more comfortable, perhaps.”
I was shocked at the suggestion, but tried not to show it. Meeting at his office helped to keep things in perspective. I wanted to suffer no delusions about our arrangement. I uttered a simple, “No.”
“I’ll see you on Tuesday, then,” he said after a minute, then turned to leave. He stopped when I didn’t respond, dark brows pulling together as the muscles in his jaw tensed. “Dani, we have an appointment—a contract.”
At my silence, he shifted his weight and pinned me with his piercing gaze. “I need you. I need to see you. There have also been some new developments. The reports from the scientists I hired—they were fabricated. The clean-up isn’t going well at all.”
I gasped, understanding his disappointment. “Robert?”
“Yes,” he nodded solemnly. “I found out that Los Lobos have been pressuring my team of scientist. One of the scientists was in a car accident that was highly suspect. They’re all scared. Robert is even trying to manipulate me now.”
“I’m sorry.”
Nodding, he said, “I have a few ideas I’d like to run by you.” He smiled, and the brief action resonated with unshakable conviction. “I think more clearly when I’m with you. I’m more centered. I’m . . . happy.”
At my silence, he continued softly, “Dani. I need you—to see you. Please say you’ll come.”
There was boyish anticipation in his eyes and it crushed whatever rebellion I had brewing. It was moments like this when he lowered his guard, when he looked at me like I was the most important person on earth that I forgot myself, forgot my mother’s portent of disaster.
At length, I nodded, my gaze drinking him in. It was useless trying to resist. I needed him, too. I had come to rely on our time together like I relied on my next breath. I’d be there.
***
CHASE
“You are so wet, Dani. So fucking gorgeous . . .”
I groaned roughly, watching the insanely beautiful woman spread out on my desk like a forbidden offering. Her creamy brown skin glowed as though bathed in the rich silk of liquid caramel, and the long length of her legs stretched on forever. She arched in pleasure and I memorized the delicate line of her neck, the gentle curve of her torso, and the seductive flare of her hips.
Her breasts were amazing, beautiful tan globes topped with thick, brown nipples. My eyes drank her in, ravenous with the need to imprint every detail on my brain. I would carry these images with me throughout the week, drown myself in them. I loved the lavish texture of her moans, the way she trembled at my dirty commands.
“Open wider, Dani. Let me see that pretty pussy . . .”
She spread her legs and my knees almost buckled. I couldn’t help the animal noise that tore from my chest. Her shaved flesh was plump, wet, swollen with the same desire I could feel gnawing away my bones. My dick was so heavy it ached and throbbed in my pants, leaking precum into the poor fabric. Reaching down, I adjusted the enormous bulk, grimacing as I ran a palm along the thick ridge.
I know I shouldn’t say this, but I’d never been so turned on in my life. What she did to me, what she made me feel . . . there were simply no words. She’d awoken me. My gaze jerked from between her legs to her face, desperate to absorb everything. Her eyes were closed, thick dark lashes crescents on her high cheekbones. Her slightly flared nose was the perfect complement for her heart-shaped face. A breath rushed from her moist, full lips and I groaned, my tongue mad for a taste of her—mad for a taste of every inch of tantalizing brown skin.
<
br /> “Rub your clit, Dani. That hot little nub is so damn hard for me, so eager to be touched. Rub it and say my name. Feel the desire I have for you. I want you to come hard for me.”
Spread out on my desk, she writhed with pleasure against the mahogany wood. Pretty little moans reached my ears. Her fingers thrummed faster between her naked thighs. She was so wet, the desk beneath her was glazed and shiny. The sight undid me.
“Chase!” The roar of my name erupted from someplace deep in her gut. “Oh, God! Fuck, Chaaaase!”
“Dani! Yes, my beautiful love . . .”
Oh God! My body vibrated so hard that my teeth chattered and I almost came in my pants. Hearing her breathy voice and feeling her strained emotions tied a brutal knot in my heart.
It was too much. Just too fucking much.
I broke. God help me, but everything inside me broke.
My palms gripped her knees, pushing them roughly apart and up her body, exposing her gloriously to me. Besides that handshake at the school, I’d never touched her. I’d been careful, knew that if I did it would open a gate to a different kind of hell. Touching her now felt as though electricity zapped along my skin with a powerful charge, and I knew she felt it too because her eyes shot open in startled surprise.
Our eyes locked briefly, but I was too far-gone in my head. Every word I wanted—needed to say exploded as a wild grunt. Bending my head between her legs, I shoved away her fingers and dragged my tongue through her slippery center.
Her pussy spasmed as she cried out, and I lapped her up like a starved man, because I was. I buried my face in her cunt and swiveled hard circles around a clit I’d coveted for months until she was screaming and coming again like a demon, shaking so much she almost toppled off the desk.
I couldn’t let up, couldn’t stop. My heart was tight behind my ribs, my blood a thick poison in my veins. She was so fucking delicious; I could feast on her forever. I sucked hard, pulling her slick lips into my mouth. I antagonized her clit and bit the ultra-soft skin of her inner thighs until there were trails of vivid teeth marks. It was only when she gripped my hair and yanked hard, that I realized my delirious madness and straightened with a sharp, choking breath.
Dani’s eyes were glazed over, a soft smile trembling on her lips. Stupidly, I started to tear up from the feelings filling up my chest.
“Dani . . . I . . . I . . .” Words failed me as I quickly unzipped my pants and pulled my obscenely swollen shaft from my boxer briefs. Shaking my head senseless, I said, “I don’t have a condom.”
It didn’t fucking matter. I would have her. But I just wanted her to know. She pointed to her pocketbook on the floor, and I retrieved the small foil wrapper. Quickly I rolled it on, trying to keep my fingers from shaking like a virginal teen’s. I should’ve gone slowly, should’ve been tender our first time, but I felt like I’d die if I didn’t get deep inside her.
Pulling her hips close to the edge of the desk, I angled between silky dark thighs and plunged my cock into an exquisitely succulent heat. Devastating pleasure shuddered through my body, and oh my fucking God, I could barely catch my breath. Without pause, I pumped my ass wildly and watched as her wet, pink flesh molded around me, sucked me deeper and deeper with each feverish strike. I threw my head back and gritted my teeth against the insane ecstasy, fighting hard to hang on.
Although I’d known deep down our coupling was inevitable, I should never have let it get this far, but it was too late to save her, too late to save my own soul from damnation. And at this very moment, I didn’t give a shit about anything other than the joy of finally having her and touching her. I knew I wouldn’t last. It had been too long, too many months of angst and dangerous longing. My thumb found her clit, coaxing it from beneath a silky brown hood before dancing over it with fond precision.
Danielle shattered, hips jerking wildly on the desk as she gasped my name in sobbing pleas. Her pussy gripped me tight and I succumbed to the knifing pleasure that curled through me in powerful waves. My body simultaneously locked and released, muscles rippling almost to tetany. I roared like an animal and almost blacked out from the almost savage ecstasy. My cock bucked and throbbed, filling the condom. I collapsed on top of her, the heat of our bodies, the feel of her slippery skin its own blissful heaven.
***
Chase and I stayed sprawled on his desk for many long moments. Our breaths sawed in and out of our lungs, the only noise disturbing the peacefully quiet room. My fingers feathered lightly through the thick silk of his messy hair. I reveled in the texture, the waves now fighting with each other. A secret smile tiptoed over my lips.
Finally! I’d known we’d be good together, and the reality had surpassed even my most vivid fantasies. Chase was very still, and I knew his eyes were open, staring into nothingness. For whatever reason, he was trying to come to grips with what we’d done. I was too tingly and warm with joy to be concerned. We were both adults. We’d both wanted this, needed this.
The growing stiffness of my back underscored my discomfort, and I shifted, trying to nudge Chase up. He groaned his reluctance, lips delving into the dewy flesh of my neck. At the same time his hips rocked forward, sinking his semi-hard erection farther into me.
I groaned and smiled, loving the way I affected him. Trailing a finger up his back, I pressed a soft kiss to the side of his face. He still had his shirt on, and the material clung to him.
“Chase, you weigh a ton.” I grinned.
His head snapped up as though he’d just realized I was being smothered. With an apology, he raised up on his palms, his gaze doing a leisurely patrol up my naked body to meet my eyes. “You are so fucking beautiful, Dani. Your skin has the richness of honey, and the sweet decadence of fine chocolate.”
A lazy smile shaped my lips as I stared at the wonderful man who’d just rocked my world to kingdom come. His eyes were a lighter blue, luminous, as if spilling light from inside.
I stretched and arched, trying to work the stiffness from my limbs. With arms high above my head, I watched him slowly crawl off me.
“I really have to get home.” I eyed a wall clock.
Mom had picked up Emmy this evening, silently shooting me reproving glances. I didn’t think they’d come back to the apartment tonight, but I didn’t want to stay out too long.
“Get up slowly,” Chase cautioned after a subdued nod. He moved behind me to a garbage can, pulling off the condom.
“I’m fine,” I say, although my body still throbbed with liquid pleasure.
“You almost rolled off the desk just now with all your shaking.”
Jaw dropping, I sat up and spun to him, colliding with a playful grin.
“Oh my God! I was—I was—”
“Almost on the floor,” he supplied with a chuckle.
I grabbed the closest object I could find—a pen from the stack that had turned over on his desk—and laughing, tossed it at him.
“Well, I was—I was . . .” I couldn’t believe I was sitting naked in front of him, that he’d just devoured the most intimate parts of me, and I couldn’t bring myself to say what it was I’d been doing that almost flung my ass off the desk. I’d been coming—quite gloriously in fact.
He caught the pen and came to stand in front of me. Eyes warm, amusement danced on his handsome face.
“What you were was . . . exquisite,” he said slowly, peering deeply into my eyes.
I felt like someone knocked the air out of me. The look he gave me melted my insides. Our gazes locked for a protracted moment, no longer amused, but something else entirely. Something I was afraid to name. Lids lowered, my gaze slid to his lips, and I wanted more than ever to feel his body against mine again.
“Stay,” he whispered. “Stay with me.”
I started to shake my head, but he bit the edge of his lower lip, looking so adorable I found it impossible to say no.
“I’m starving,” he announced, stepping away. “Let’s order dinner.”
“Dinner?” I stared blankly. W
e’d never eaten together before.
“Yes, you know, that thing you do with a knife and fork? Or, like what I just did between your lovely legs.”
He shot me a suggestive wink, a cheeky grin on his face. I tossed another pen at him, laughing when he caught it and shook a warning finger at me.
Who is this man? I tried to contain my bursts of happiness, but knew I was meeting the real Chase Rutherford. And this man was perfection.
“Okay, fine. I’ll stay,” I relented, hopping off the desk and retrieving my clothes from the floor.
“Great. I’m thinking of hiring an independent contractor for the Thailand plant to oversee things. Someone who reports directly to me. And I have a few ideas for my campaign I wanted to discuss with you. Some checks and balances I think would be good to implement.”
I nodded, realizing we weren’t going to discuss what had just happened. That was probably best. It had been the natural progression of things, not something to belabor and analyze.
“I’m all ears.”
“Oh, I have something for you,” he informed, walking behind his desk.
I slipped my sundress over my head. When I emerged, Chase was pulling a fat envelope out of his desk drawer.
I froze, staring hard as he offered it to me. I thought of the envelope my friends from the restaurant had tried to give me, the one filled with money. Suddenly sick, my gut twisted painfully. Chase stared quietly, his hand outstretched.
“Dani . . .” he urged softly.
My horrified gaze flew to his. I swallowed convulsively, certain I’d throw up on his desk.
“It’s not what you think. Take it.”
With a trembling hand, I took the envelope and peered inside. There was a business card for a restaurant, a pamphlet about the establishment along with reviews and a typed letter. Confused, I looked up, my brows raised.
“I know the man who owns Le Coquille—a French restaurant. Philippe is looking for help. You have experience.” He nodded to the envelope. “There’s information about the restaurant, his contact info, and a letter of recommendation from me. He needs someone like yesterday.”