by Opal Carew
Her heart stopped at those words, but she nodded.
“I set the coffeemaker to start automatically, so it should be all ready. Are you coming?”
She was totally naked under the covers and was not about to hop out of the bed just yet.
“I’ll meet you downstairs.”
As soon as he left the room, she slipped from under the covers and dashed across the room, then peered out the doorway to see him disappear down the stairs. She hurried down the hall to her room and retrieved the robe he’d given her.
* * *
Matt walked into the kitchen and poured two cups of coffee, then walked through the door to the living room. Kate sat on the couch waiting for him. He sat down beside her.
“Matt, I’m sorry about last night.”
“You’re sorry?”
His stomach churned. Why was she sorry? Sure, he knew they couldn’t really carry on their relationship, especially given certain facts he was not about to tell her, but he would never regret what happened between them last night.
“I’m sorry that things went too far, and I’m sorry if I hurt you. Back then … and now.”
“You don’t have to apologize. Especially about last night. There is, however, something important I need to ask you.”
At his serious tone, she glanced up. “What is it?”
“Is it possible that you could be pregnant after last night?”
* * *
Shock vaulted through Kate. “What? No, why would you ask that?” Then she realized. “Oh, we didn’t use a condom.”
“That’s right. I’m really sorry, Kate.”
“I didn’t even think about it. I mean, I know you. I trust you. It never even occurred to me that there’d be a problem. I mean, safety-wise.” She glanced at him and noticed his tight expression had softened a little. “And I’m on birth control. I’m sorry, I should have told you.”
Relief washed across his features. “Good. I wouldn’t want a pregnancy to result from what we did last night.”
Her stomach churned and she had to steady her breathing. As sensible as his statement was, it felt like a rejection. Of course he wouldn’t want to be saddled with her and a bastard child just because of one night of indiscretion. Even though he had tons of money to spare, he wasn’t the type of man who would just pay her off with child support. He was the kind of man who would want to be present for his son or daughter. And that would mean he’d be stuck with her, even if just for regular visits with their child.
Their child. The thought of having a child with Matt made her want to weep. Because she loved him and would love to have his child. But she and Matt just weren’t right for each other. Oh, how she wished they were. He would be a wonderful father. And she would love to spend the rest of her life with him.
As she watched him take a sip of his coffee, her gaze slid along his square jaw covered in dark stubble, then down his pajama top to the solid, muscular chest peeking out. If only …
“I also want to apologize to you for what Ileana did to you,” he said.
Anguish lanced through Kate at the memory of Ileana’s lies, and the pain Ileana’s friend had inflicted on her.
“But we’ve already established that you knew nothing about that.”
“That’s true, but I still feel responsible. I was the one who took you to that party.” He shook his head. “I had no idea at the time that she was capable of such a thing.” “As you said”—her words sounded tenuous, but it was the best she could do—“you didn’t know.”
He nodded and sipped his coffee as silence hung between them.
“Before we begin our professional relationship, may I ask you something that’s entirely inappropriate?”
She shrugged. “Well, given what happened last night, I suppose we’re already on a roll.”
He turned to her with a flicker of a smile. “Do you think you can be truly happy in an ordinary relationship? Because I get the sense that you need a Dominant to bring out your true nature.”
She shook her head. “I was—and am—totally uncomfortable with how we behave when we’re together. In bed, I mean. I become so … submissive.”
He raised an eyebrow and smiled. “And the problem is?”
“It’s not me … normally. I’m only like that when I’m with you. And it’s so … powerful … the need I have.”
He gently lifted her hair from her face. “You can still be strong and independent, but be a sub in the bedroom.”
“I know. I mean, theoretically I know, but when I beg you to punish me, I …” She shrugged. “It’s like I’m losing myself.”
He stared at her for a long moment, the glimmer in his eyes unreadable. Then his mouth turned up in a lopsided grin. “So you don’t like it when I punish you? When I bare your ass and discipline you? When I possess you in every way?”
Her insides fluttered at the thought, and heat wafted through her. As much as she resented the idea, it also turned her on. She liked Matt controlling her. Dominating her. “The problem is I like it too much.”
Her mind slipped back to last night when his hand had smacked across her bottom as he’d punished her, then when he’d slid his fingers over her damp opening as he’d spanked her to orgasm.
The truth was, no one she’d ever been with had brought her the kind of pleasure Matt did. Every other lover was merely a pale comparison. He brought her senses to life in a way she’d never experienced before or after being with him.
Sitting before him like this and thinking about what they’d done last night made her painfully aware that she wore nothing underneath her robe.
She drew in a deep breath at the memory of his huge shaft thrusting into her again and again. Stretching her, driving deep. She longed to hold it in her hands. To taste it.
“Kate, when you look at me like that …” His blue eyes darkened.
She felt a growing hunger. And a deep need to be possessed by him.
He put down his cup on the table, and turned to her, his blazing eyes filled with just as much hunger as hers.
“Kate.”
Her name on his lips made her long for him all the more. His hands wrapped around her face and he drew closer. He tipped up her chin and his lips devoured hers. His tongue thrust inside and his hand cupped her head, holding her to him, their mouths meshed firmly as he explored. She teased his tongue with the tip of hers, then they curled together. She glided forward, sliding into his mouth. Tasting black coffee.
All of her ached for him. She wanted him to take her so badly. But she drew back and gazed at him.
“Matt, I’m sorry. I don’t know why I keep behaving this way.”
He smiled. “It means we still can’t keep our hands off each other. It means that we want each other so badly, it defies common sense.”
She didn’t know what she’d hoped for, but right now, knowing he wanted her as much as she wanted him was enough.
He captured her lips again, stealing her breath away. “Kate, I want you now.”
She ached at his words.
“Me, too.” She stroked down his hard, solid chest, to his tight abs. When her hand stroked over his impressive bulge, he groaned.
His hands slid down her neck, then over her shoulders. He grabbed her robe and yanked it open.
“God, your breasts are so beautiful.”
The awe and admiration in his eyes as he stared at her breasts sent delight wafting through her. His thumbs stroked over her nipples and they hardened instantly, sending tendrils of desire coiling through her.
* * *
Matt loved the feel of her breasts in his hands. So soft and round. The nipples hard under his thumbs. He leaned forward and licked one, then took it in his mouth and suckled lightly. She drew in a breath.
She was so turned on and that turned him on even more. His cock ached to be free of his constraining pants. She stroked him again and he swelled more. He eased her back on the couch until she lay beneath him, her breasts heaving with her labored breat
hing. He took the other nipple in his mouth and sucked.
“Oh, Sir, please-”
He covered her mouth with his, driving his tongue inside to stop her words.
He swirled his tongue in her mouth, deep and penetrating, until she was breathless, then he kissed down her neck, his tongue teasing the pulse point. He squeezed her breast, then leaned down and swallowed her hard nipple again. He swirled his tongue over the nub, again and again, then sucked deeply. At her gasp, he tugged again, then found her other nub and sucked until he elicited another gasp.
Her hand stroked the back of his head, then pulled him tighter as he continued to suckle.
“Oh, Matt, oh, yes.”
She moaned and he could almost believe she’d orgasm right now if he kept going.
“Oh, Sir, please fuck me.”
He kissed her again. “Kate, no ‘Sirs’ this time. We’re just a man and a woman who want each other.”
“Yes, Sir.” She bit her lip. “I mean, Matt.”
He smiled and captured her lips. His fingers burrowed inside her, and his thumb teased her clit.
“Do you like that, sweetheart?”
Of course, he could see it in her eyes. The glaze of desire as he tweaked her little button while his fingers stroked her slick opening.
“Oh, yes.” Her words, drawn out and sexy, sent his desire skyrocketing.
* * *
Kate gasped as his hot mouth covered her nipple again. Intense sensations swamped her from all directions. His fingers gliding inside her. His thumb stimulating her clit, driving her pleasure higher. Then he sucked on her hard nub and she gasped. The sensations collided and she threw her head back and moaned as the sweet release swelled through her.
“Oh, yes. Oh, God.” Her pelvis arched against his hand as she moaned loud and long.
He stroked and flicked, prolonging the feeling of euphoria as she floated on a plane of pure pleasure, her senses crackling like live wires as she quivered in bliss.
When she collapsed on the couch panting, his lips nuzzled her neck.
Joy bubbled from her in the form of a laugh.
He smiled down at her. “You enjoyed that.”
“You know just what I like.” She eased him back on the couch and slid to the floor in front of him, then stroked the bulge straining against the thin fabric of his pajamas. “And I know what you like.”
She reached inside for the prize. Her fingers wrapped around his thick, swollen cock and she drew him out.
“Oh, God, you are truly enormous.”
She could barely get her fingers around his thick, purple-tinged cock. It was hot and as hard as marble, with thick veins pulsing on the sides. It was so big that it was hard to believe it would fit inside her, but her core ached at the familiar sight of it, and the knowledge that he could drive into her and fling her to ecstasy.
She dragged her finger over the tip, loving that his whole body quivered at her action. A bead of moisture oozed from his small hole. She smiled and leaned forward, then lapped it up with the tip of her tongue. He groaned.
She knew he was close.
“Matt, I love to suck your cock, but I really want you to come inside me.” She nibbled the edge of the corona with her lips, then dragged the tip of her tongue along it. “Do you think you can hold it?”
He nodded, with glazed eyes, then uttered a barely audible grunt as she widened her mouth around his cockhead, slowly taking it inside. She swept her tongue over the top, then closed her mouth and glided down the shaft. Just a little. Her hand still grasping the base of his cock glided downward, finding his balls. She stroked them, then cradled them in her palm.
“Oh, Kate.”
His hard flesh tugged from her mouth and suddenly she was on her back on the couch, Matt above her. Hot flesh pressed against her slick opening, then Matt drove forward, his rock-solid cock filling her so deep she thought she’d die from sheer pleasure.
He pinned her arms over her head, then drew back and thrust deep again. His cock pulsed within her, sending shivers quivering through her.
She whimpered at the intensity of it.
He drew back very slowly, the ridge of his cockhead dragging along her inner walls, sending sparks fluttering through her.
“Oh, God. Oh, yes.”
His lips found the pulse point at the base of her neck and the whisper-light touch combined with the iron grip on her wrists set her heart aquiver.
“Tell me how much you like me inside you.”
“I love you inside me, Sir.”
“You love it?” He grinned, stopping only halfway in. “Tell me more. I want to hear you talk dirty.”
“I …” She sucked in air as he glided a little deeper, then stopped. “Please, Sir, I love it when your big cock erupts inside me, filling me with your hot come.”
He groaned and drove so deep she thought she’d die from the exquisite pleasure. Then he drew back and thrust again. Her insides quivered, as she teetered on the edge of sanity. He drove in again and she gasped, pleasure trilling through her cells, dancing along her nerve endings.
“Oh, fuck.” A guttural moan tore from his throat.
Then she felt it. Hot liquid pumping into her. She groaned, then pleasure erupted inside her, pummeling her with euphoria. He tightened his hold on her as she flung her head back and wailed her release.
His head jerked around. “Damn, what was that?”
But his words barely registered as she rode the wave of pleasure. He still pumped into her and she moaned as bliss crowned, then settled to a low, pulsing delight.
Then she heard it. A knocking sound.
Matt thrust a couple more times as her orgasm faded, then gently moved away from her.
“Kate, that’ll be the driver at the door.”
“What?” An adrenaline rush drove away the last traces of euphoria and she sat up. She could see the shadowy shape of the driver on the other side of the stained-glass door.
Damn, she’d assumed he’d call first.
“Don’t worry about it,” Matt said as he grabbed a phone from the stand on the end table. He dialed and held the phone to his ear. “Hi. I’m just finishing packing. We’ll be out in a few minutes.”
Kate watched the shadowy figure on the other side of the door move away and sighed in relief, her heart still thundering in her chest. Then she scrambled upstairs and began gathering her things. As she did, a deep sadness washed over her.
Would she just climb in that limo and head home, leaving this and Matt behind her? Of course, they’d be business partners, but as crazy as it seemed, she’d miss him terribly. Now that she’d rediscovered how amazing it felt to be with him, it was painful to think about going on without him.
As she dressed, she realized she didn’t have her panties. Damn, they were still in Matt’s room. She’d have to go get them. But first she went to the dresser and brushed her hair, then dabbed on some lip gloss. That’s when she saw Matt in the mirror, standing behind her. She didn’t turn, but met his gaze in the reflection.
There was a dark, haunted look in his eyes, and she imagined that he must be feeling the same sense of loss that she felt.
“Kate, there’s something I haven’t told you.”
* * *
Matt crossed the room and sat on the edge of the bed, then folded his hands between his knees.
Kate turned. “But the driver …”
“He can wait.” Matt stared at his hands. “I really should have told you this earlier.”
She drew in a breath. “What is it?”
Matt’s cell phone chimed. Annoyance flared through him as he pulled it from his pocket.
“What is it?” he asked sharply.
“Sir,” the driver said over the phone, “city workers came by and informed me they’re closing the road for repairs on some downed hydro lines. They said if we don’t go now we’ll be stuck here for a couple of hours.”
“Fine. We’ll be right down.” Now he’d have to tell Kate in the car.
“What is it?” Kate asked.
“They’re closing the road so we have to go right now. Ready?”
She nodded, quickly got her things, and followed him down the stairs. A few moments later, with full outerwear on to greet the cold morning, they went out the door. Matt took her arm as they walked down the steps, which were still icy, though the driver had scattered sand over the slick surface.
He met them at the bottom of the stairs and took Matt’s suitcase, then opened the limo door for them. Matt helped Kate into the backseat.
Moments later, they were settled in the leather seats and the car was driving along the icy path she’d tried so hard to walk last night when all she’d wanted to do was escape from him. That all seemed so far away now. When she’d still believed he was a ruthless, terrifying man. Now, as she gazed at him, he saw trust in her eyes. And trepidation as she awaited his revelation.
When he revealed his secret, what would he see in her eyes then?
He pressed the button to close the smoked-glass barrier between them and the driver, giving them privacy. As soon as it closed, he drew in a deep breath and turned to her.
“Kate-”
Apprehension clouded her eyes and she rested her hand on his arm, her delicate touch stirring his heart.
“Wait, Matt. Let me say something first.”
“Go ahead.”
“About what happened this morning … and last night.”
Now that they were leaving their quiet retreat, did she regret what they’d done?
“I think the fact that we wound up in bed twice in the space of twelve hours says something. I was wondering if you think … “—she gazed up at him, her wide eyes showing her deep vulnerability—“that maybe we have a chance. That we could try again.”
He frowned. “You mean, a romantic relationship?” Damn it, there was nothing he would love more, but … he couldn’t. It would never work.
But how could he tell her that? Especially with hope shining so brightly in her eyes?
He took her hand in his. “We tried two years ago, and as much as we cared about each other, we knew deep inside that it really wasn’t working.” And it never would, especially after he owned up to what he’d done.