by Jess Dee
The quicker they got there, the quicker they could get this meeting over and done with. She practically raced through the lounge and into the hospital corridor. If the floor opened up and swallowed her now, she’d face her fate happily. Of course, that wouldn’t happen. Nothing ever happened the way she wanted it to with Riley around.
Once in her office, she closed the door and invited him to sit down. He declined, electing rather to lean against the wall, one foot crossed over the other. She stood behind her desk and briefly consulted her folder. Not that she needed reminders about today’s agenda. It just gave her somewhere to look other than his face. She refused to let him see how much his rejection threw her.
She shoved aside any thoughts about preliminary discussions, loath to prolong her time with Riley. Instead, she launched straight into the facts. “We’ve accomplished a fair amount since last I met with Matt. In summary, I’ve hired a program manager. She’s a social worker with a medical background. The furniture is due to arrive the week after next and the promotional material has been distributed to the wards and the reception area. We’ve set up a media interview for the Wednesday three weeks from now.” She paused to take a deep breath. “Matt will be attending that.”
The words tumbled out of her mouth; she couldn’t talk fast enough. If she could finish this meeting, she could get him the hell out of her office. Then she would afford herself the luxury of curling into a tiny ball on the floor and squirming in embarrassment.
“The doors open officially the following Monday, after the staff establish a formal agenda and program. Abbey Perkins, the new manager, will run a five-day training program for all staff members and volunteers involved. That will take place in two weeks’ time. We already have three children enrolled in the program, siblings of patients currently in hospital. The ward has been primed with information, and referrals have started trickling in from them. We’ve taken out advertisements in women’s and health magazines as well as a couple of medical journals and publications found in doctors’ rooms and pharmacies. Slowly, the word is circulating.”
She finally looked at him, ensuring she wore a vacant expression on her face.
She’d be damned if she let him see how bent out of shape she was. “That is it in a nutshell. Any questions?”
Without answering, he pushed himself off the wall and took seven—she counted each one of them—very slow, very calculated steps in her direction. His face was unreadable, hypnotic, she couldn’t tear her eyes away. He walked past her desk. Unsure of his intentions, she swallowed a tiny gasp as he stopped a mere heartbeat away from her.
The hunger was back in his expression, just as it had been in the kitchen. Only this time, she refused to fall for it. Once bitten…! She took a step back, creating a little space between them. Wrong move. Her butt touched the desktop and she was trapped, caught between a slab of wood and a wall of muscle.
He stepped closer and inhaled slowly. When he exhaled, his breath mingled with hers, sending a wave of longing shimmering through her. His aftershave tickled her nose and she made a concerted effort to hold herself down, to not reach over and bury her face in his chest and gasp in his masculine scent.
Desire overrode her aggravation. Need pulsed through her, so powerful it rendered her muscles useless. She stood paralyzed, aching for his touch.
Her lids grew heavy. She fought every impulse to close them, fought the temptation to tilt her head slightly backward and offer him her mouth as she had in the kitchen.
“Look, Adam—”
Before she could finish, he swooped in and kissed her.
His lips enveloped hers and his tongue took complete possession of her mouth. It delved inside, hot and wet and demanding. And sweet. Oh, so sweet. Waves of pleasure spiraled through her. Her toes curled and her stomach quivered and she almost wept at the relief she found in his arms as they wrapped around her, pulling her against him.
She surrendered to him completely. Her mouth relaxed and her lips responded and she accepted his searching tongue, feasting on it. Flesh burning and breasts tingling, need rolled over her hard and fast, and she clung to him.
She curved herself into him, flattening her breasts against the solid mass of muscle that was his chest, fitting her hips around his groin so his erection pressed into her belly.
She kissed him and kissed him and kissed him, until finally, breathless, he tugged his lips away from hers and rested his forehead on hers.
“Christ,” he said, “I’ve waited a long time to do that.”
“Adam…”
“Come away with me, Lexi. Tonight. I have a place in the Blue Mountains. It’s wild and it’s beautiful, and I’d like to share it with you.”
She pulled away from him, confusion and frustration winning out over desire. One minute he rejected her cold, the next he kissed her senseless. Now he wanted her to go away with him?
“One weekend, Lexi. All I ask of you is this one weekend.”
She shook her head, dizzy from the staggering effects of his kiss and the emotions whirling about in her stomach. “I don’t get you.” She pressed the palms of her hands into her eyes and pushed down hard, as if the action would somehow clear her jumbled thoughts. “I don’t understand what’s going on inside that head of yours. Five minutes ago I embarrassed myself stupid waiting for you to kiss me, and you weren’t interested. Now you want me to spend a weekend with you. I just don’t get you.”
“You think I wasn’t interested back there?” He snorted and clasped her hand in his, pulling it away from her face. “You think I haven’t wanted to touch you since I walked into those rooms and saw you?” He moved her hand down and placed it on his groin.
He was hard, so very hard. The need to act on his arousal overwhelmed her, whipping the air from her lungs.
“Hell, woman, I look at you and I get an erection.”
She molded her hand to him, her mouth hungry to taste his again. He felt so good, so real. She caressed him, ran her fingers over the rigid outline of his cock, and he growled.
“The first time I saw you I wanted to kiss you.” He drew in a ragged breath, reached out and traced first one heaving breast and then the other. “I wanted you, full stop. I wanted to touch your body and taste your lips and bury myself in your hot, moist center.”
His eyes were hooded and his voice was low and deep and soft, so soft that if someone stood behind her, they wouldn’t hear. “I thought sleeping with you would take care of it.
That I wouldn’t need you any more.” He settled his lips against the tender spot below her ear, then nibbled his way up her lobe and whispered, “I was wrong.”
She should move, should push his hand away. They were in her office. Anyone could walk in. She had neither the strength nor the inclination to do so. Instead, she remained where she was, pinned down by his mouth, helpless to fight him. She squirmed as another wave of longing washed over her.
“Making love to you just made me want you more. I can’t sleep for wanting you. I lie in bed at night and crave the weight of your body on top of mine. I want to see you naked and aroused in front of me. I want to hear you moan and scream my name. I want you so hot from my touch that you burn inside. Like I do. Night after excruciating night.”
Oh God, did any man have a right to talk like this? She was at work, for heaven’s sake. Pull yourself together. Push him away. She would, she vowed, just as soon as she found the energy to voice her thoughts.
Keeping his lips close to her ear, he breathed, “Come away with me, Lexi. Let me make love to you tonight. Let me hold you and touch you.”
If her body answered, if she responded on gut instinct alone, she’d accept. She’d simply wind her arms around his neck and let the man carry her out of her office and straight to his car. If.
Somewhere, a small part of her brain still functioned normally and it focused on one sentence. All I ask of you is this one weekend.
She couldn’t do it. She knew she was nuts. A weekend away with Adam. A weeke
nd of wild, uninhibited sex with the world’s most gorgeous man. What more could a woman ask for?
A chance, that’s what. A chance to get to know him. A chance to give whatever sparked between them time to ignite—and not just in bed. Adam intrigued her; she couldn’t keep away. She wanted—no, she needed—to find out everything about him. His past, his present, what made him into the man he was and what he had been through that caused him such pain. And why, why, her attraction to him was so powerful that no matter how many times he pushed her away, she kept coming back for more?
A weekend of carefree sex would hardly give her that chance. She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t go. It was time to acknowledge that when it came to relationships, Lexi wanted the world. She wanted what Sarah had. She wanted what Daniel had. A weekend away wasn’t going to cut it. Not by a long shot. Nothing less than a whole lot of honest-togoodness, real-life time spent in each other’s company would do.
He offered forty-eight hours.
Using every ounce of available energy, she dropped her arm and pulled back from the hand that trailed an exquisite path over the upper curves of her breasts. “I’m sorry, Adam.” She shook her head. “I just can’t do it.”
Chapter Eleven
Adam changed down from fifth to fourth gear, and then down again to third. The BMW purred as it decreased speed, hugging the curves of the twisting mountain road.
With the roof down, the wind whipped through the car, pure and fresh and strongly tinged with the pungent scent of eucalyptus.
He glanced at her, flashed his traffic-stopping smile. “I’m pleased you came.”
“So am I.” She wrinkled her nose.
“I didn’t think you would.”
“I wasn’t going to.” Approximately thirty seconds after refusing his invitation, she’d realized she made a mistake. She’d wanted a chance? Well, what did she think his invitation offered? Yeah, it may only be for forty-eight hours, but what had she expected?
A marriage proposal? Two days alone together was a great start. If she played her cards right, it might turn into a lot longer.
“What made you change your mind?”
She shot him a wicked look. “What do you think?”
The traffic stopper returned. “I have a confession.”
For someone in the process of owning up to something, he didn’t look particularly guilty. “Am I going to want to hear this?”
“Matt could have made it to the meeting this afternoon.”
“What?”
“I asked him not come.”
“You did?” Yes.
“I had to see you, Lexi.” The teasing quality in his voice was gone. “I’m going to Hong Kong on Tuesday for two weeks. I couldn’t leave here without resolving things between us.”
“Is that what I am to you? An unresolved issue?”
He didn’t respond.
“So spending a weekend with me will help you find…an answer to your problem?”
She held no false illusions. He’d designed this weekend to work her out of his system.
Period. She should be pissed but how could she be angry when his problem was the fact that she was in his system to begin with?
He slowed down and turned off the highway onto a narrow country road. “Woman, until I have you naked and alone, I won’t be able to resolve one damn thing.”
A lick of desire shot through her. She closed her eyes, rested her head on the headrest and stroked his thigh. The muscles rippled in his leg. “Care to tell me how you intend resolving things?”
His tone dropped a notch. “Sure you want to hear?”
She dragged her hand down to his knee and back up again. “Uh huh.”
He released the gearshift and clasped her hand, effectively stopping her movement.
“First off, I’m going to try and not drive us clear off the mountain.” He wound his fingers through hers. “It’s tough concentrating with a raging erection.”
She twisted her head to look at his lap. Sure enough, she could see why his concentration might be compromised. Distinctly pleased with herself, she smiled and stretched. “What can you do with a raging erection?”
He turned to look at her with an arched eyebrow. “For starters, I can make you very, very happy.”
She leaned back and closed her eyes again, trying not to smile. “I’m sure you can.
What about after that?”
“I can make you even happier.”
She snorted at the sheer arrogance in his voice. “And then?”
He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed her palm. “You can make me very happy.”
“That’s it? That’s the best you got?” Oh, she wasn’t disappointed, not by a long shot.
She knew he would make her very, very, happy. Then she’d return the favor. Tenfold.
Still, she knew for a fact he could do better.
“Are you challenging me?”
“No, I’m just remembering, that’s all.”
“Remembering what?”
“Me. You. In your office.”
He was silent.
“I’m standing in your office, bent over your desk.” She kept her eyes shut, drawn back by the memory of his description. “The door’s locked, you don’t want anyone walking in, catching us like this. My skirt’s bunched up high over my hips and I’m looking out the window, staring at the view. I can’t really see it. I can’t see much, because I know you’re standing behind me, staring at my ass.”
Ooh, she was getting into this. “Your gaze burns into my buttocks. It’s making me so hot, I start to shake.” She was getting very into this. “I want you to touch me. Want you to tear off my thong. I don’t care where it lands as long as it’s not in the way anymore.
You’re surprised at the color. You thought it would be black and lacy. It’s not. It’s deep purple, just like my bra.”
Was he enjoying this as much as she was? She opened an eye to look at him and caught the pained expression on his face. “You can’t decide how to get rid of it. With your hands or your teeth? Your indecision drives me mad. I’m so wet, juices drip onto my thong every time you breathe.” She closed her eyes and sank deeper into the seat.
“What is taking so long? I picture you kneeling behind me, taking the lace between your teeth and dragging the panties over my hips and down my legs. You run your wet, warm tongue up my inner thigh and then dip it between my legs and groan. I groan too.”
“Lexi…” Adam’s voice was rough but it trailed off, and she continued.
“You don’t use your mouth. Instead, you hook your thumb on the thong and use your hands to take it off. After that, you do nothing. You simply stand behind me, staring.
Again, your gaze burns me. This time it’s not on my ass. It’s between my legs, and knowing you watch me so intimately makes me even wetter.” Never mind his office, she was wet now, sitting in his car. “I know you see the cream trickling down my thigh, know you’re turned on. You’re already aroused. Now you’re getting uncomfortable. Your cock gets harder, your pants tighter. You want to touch me, want to dip into all that cream.
You’d start with one finger but when you realize how hot I really am for you, you’d dip another one in, and then another. You’d roll your thumb over my clit, massage it while you fucked me with your fingers until I couldn’t take it anymore, and I’d come.”
Although the roof was down and the wind forceful enough to keep her cool, Lexi was ablaze. She’d burned when Adam had spun the same story for her and she burned using it to seduce him now. She undid the top button of her blouse.
Adam swore softly beside her.
In his office, his words had been tinged with bitterness. He’d used them as a weapon against her. Now that the war was over, she’d take his fantasy and turn it into reality. A highly pleasurable reality that would obliterate any leftover animosity.
She sighed. “You don’t use your hands, do you? You know another way of making me come. One that will be infinitely more pleas
urable for both of us. By this time, I’m so horny I shove my ass back in the air, practically begging you to do whatever the hell it is you want to do, just wishing you’d do something. I’m so…empty, so needy. Why won’t you touch me? I growl at the sheer frustration that courses through me.” She gave a soft snarl.
Adam’s breath was erratic. He murmured nonsensically beside her.
“Even though I can’t see you, I know you’re smiling, wallowing in your power over me. I’m putty in your hands. At last, you place your palm on the small of my back and push me down against the surface of your desk. My breasts are swollen and aching, and I rub them against the smooth wood. It doesn’t help. It’s not the wood I want. It’s your flesh, your hands and your mouth, caressing them, kissing them, sucking on my nipples. I moan and wriggle my ass some more. Touch me, goddamn it. Why won’t you touch me?”
Lexi gulped in air. “There’s a noise. It’s the sound of your shoes hitting the floor, the shuffle as you remove your pants. Your hands close over my hips, and I want to scream I’m so relieved. You pull me back, position me just so. You don’t need to do anything else to prepare me, because I am so ready for you. The tip of your cock brushes against the back of my thigh, grazes my lips. I swear, if it touches my clit, I’ll break. I’m so aroused, your slightest movement will send me over the edge.”
Lexi’s own reality blurred. She tried to stay in the present, tried to remind herself that this fantasy was for Adam, not for her. It was impossible. She’d submerged herself completely in his fantasy and her words.
“Just when I think I can’t take it a minute longer, you plunge into me, fill me with one thrust of your hips. The sensation. Oh, sweet Lord, the sensation. Words can’t describe it. I scream out and you pull back and plunge into me again, and then again.
Your legs are plastered against mine, your hips cradle my ass. I want to weep it’s so damn good. Your cock is so deep inside me, it’s hard to tell where you end and I begin.