by Desiree Holt
“Still pissed off at me? Having second thoughts? There’s danger everywhere little girl but none greater than you’ll find with me.” His gaze pinned her. “Tell me to stop and I will.”
Stop? Stopping her next breath might be easier. Just the touch of his hands or the wonderful male scent of him scrambled her brain and set her body to vibrating.
“I thought so. You might try to make the rules every place else but in the bedroom I’m in charge, little girl. You’d do well to remember that.”
If she had one functioning piece of her brain she’d tell him to get off her and go to hell but she was powerless in the spell he seemed to weave around her.
His face was taut with the effort of control but he seemed determined to deny himself, deny them both, until he touched and looked his fill, despite the crush of time.
“Beautiful.” The word escaped on a puff of breath. “Taylor, your cunt is exquisite.”
His words fed the need rising in her. Do it do it do it.
Noah leaned down and slipped one finger into her open pussy. “Drenched. I knew it would be. You’re as hot for this as I am.”
His touch was like liquid heat, scorching her everywhere he touched.
He trailed the finger down from her clit past the tight opening of her vaginal sheath, leaving a moist trail, until he reached the tight ring of her anus. When his finger pushed past the tight muscle inside her, she nearly came from that sensation alone.
“Yessss,” she hissed, trying to clench around the intruding digit.
“Jesus, Taylor.” The words escape on a gasp. “You’re going to burn me alive.” He leaned down and placed an open-mouthed kiss on her clit. “Not now but soon, I’m going to help you get this exquisite little ass ready to take my cock. The preparation will be almost as good as the real thing.” His eyes shone with his heat. “Maybe you’ll run, maybe you won’t. But if you don’t, I’ll take you higher than you’ve ever been.”
She had no idea what he meant. She hadn’t been anywhere. Right now all she wanted was to feel him inside her.
He kept his eyes locked on hers while he rolled a condom onto his throbbing erection. Then his hands reached up to cup her breasts, fingers grasping her nipples as his tongue licked a path along her already weeping slit.
She was torn between knowing she should push him away and wanting his thick cock inside her again.
“Noah…”
“Don’t talk.” His voice was strained. “I wanted to rip your clothes off the minute I walked into your office and fuck you. I can’t wait any longer. I’ve dreamed about this tight little cunt for a month.”
“But…”
“Be quiet.”
He did the only thing that could shut her up. His mouth came down on hers, hot and demanding. His tongue was an invader, probing and striking, scouring every inch of that hot cavern. There was nothing soft or gentle about the kiss and it sent a message loud and clear. He would have her any time, any place and she’d be powerless to stop him.
Did she even want to? She could hardly speak, the flame consuming her body stealing her breath. There was no question who was in control here.
He shifted to pull her legs over his shoulders, the hair on his chest brushing her thighs. His thumbs opened her wide as the head of his cock probed at the entrance to her vagina. He pushed, once, twice, three times and with a strong thrust he was inside her.
Taylor felt as if every inch of her was stretched beyond the limits of endurance and yet she wanted more. She locked her ankles behind his neck, thrusting her hips at him and trying to suck him inside her even deeper. Then he began to move, not the slow and steady pace he’d set that first night but a rapid pistoning of hips, driving her against the smooth surface of the coverlet. He leaned back from her a tiny bit and slipped one hand between them to find her clit and tug on it.
She exploded, the orgasm shaking her like a violent fist, just as she felt him climax inside her. She shoved a fist in her mouth to keep from screaming. Noah’s big body shuddered as the spasms ripped through him and his heart thundered against hers. His cock throbbed within her sheath, the tremors of her climax milking him. For a month that night had haunted her dreams, leaving her shaken and frustrated in the morning. Now the reality was here and it was even more than she remembered.
Then it was over, like a hurricane that swept through leaving devastation in its path.
Noah leaned his forehead against hers, his breathing still unsteady. “I don’t like quickies. They’re crude and I have far more respect for you than that.” His mouth twisted. “Though I’m sure you have a hard time believing that right now. This is not what I want for you. For us.”
She just looked at him, trying to gather the tattered edges of her emotions.
“But all I had to do was look at you again and my cock was so hard I thought it would poke a hole in my trousers. Next time I’ll take longer. Much, much longer. You have no idea the things I want to do to that hot little body of yours.” His eyes glittered. “Including fucking that tight virgin ass. Be warned.”
He slid out of her cunt and pushed himself to his feet, those bottomless black eyes focused briefly on her face and headed for the bathroom to dispose of the condom.
Taylor was still trying to steady her pulse. “And I suppose I have nothing to say about it?”
He was on her in seconds, his face close to hers, his warm breath like a heated breeze on her skin. “Just tell me to stop. Tell me no and it ends right here, right now.” When she didn’t say a word he nodded his head. “I thought so. Your cunt was so wet for me I slid right into it.” He pushed himself away. “Get dressed. We need to get going.”
She stared at him, open-mouthed, astonished at his audacity. But her body had been all the evidence he needed. There was no way she could deny her arousal.
Damn, damn, damn.
She rolled off the bed and got to her feet, grabbing underwear from one of her drawers. Standing there in her thong and bra—modesty seemed false at this point—she began throwing things into her suitcase. When she turned toward the bathroom, Noah was already back in the room and dressed.
“This changes nothing,” she told him.
“Ten minutes,” he said and walked out of the room.
Taylor picked up a shoe and threw it at the closing door.
This can’t happen again. I can’t let it happen again. I can’t let him take me over.
She repeated it over and over to herself, like a mantra, as she dressed and finished packing. But even as she said the words, she knew she’d be helpless to resist. Noah Cantrell was like a powerful tidal wave surging over her and swamping her, tossing her about and then rolling in again.
Another fine mess you’ve gotten yourself into, dummy.
But in less than ten minutes she was ready, dressed in linen slacks and a silk blouse, hair pulled back in a clip and makeup repaired. She wished she’d had time for a shower. That would be her first order of business when they got wherever they were going.
Noah entered the room without knocking and raked his eyes over her with an assessing gaze. He nodded his head. “Good. You’ll do.”
She bit back the smart remark that leaped up to her lips, grabbed her jacket and followed him downstairs. “I’ll need my briefcase and laptop too. They’re in my car.”
“I thought so,” he called back to her. “I had Joe move them.”
She waited in the Expedition while he and the two men huddled for another minute or two. Then he was beside her and they were away from the curb.
Away. Away from her house. Her city, the place where she’d grown up. Away from everything familiar, everything she’d known all her life. But instead of feeling trepidation, she was gripped by an incredible feeling of relief. Even excitement.
“When we’re on the plane I’ll have several things to go over with you.”
Noah’s was voice so impersonal she had to wonder if this was the same man who’d just fucked her brains out. Then she realized he was b
ack in his business persona, an attitude she too would have to cultivate and keep in place before the plane landed and she walked into her new life.
That was the end of the conversation.
Thirty minutes later they pulled up to a private aviation hanger at Tampa International Airport. A man nearly as tall as Noah, in jeans and a tee shirt, walked out of the offices and the two men shook hands. Noah pointed to the SUV, the man nodded and came forward. Taylor watched him take her things out of the vehicle and head toward the plane that stood waiting on the tarmac.
She’d seen one like it before. One of the firm’s clients had flown her and Bob Clemens to an investors meeting last year. A Gulfstream 6, the ultimate in private luxury. Noah took her arm and led her up the waiting stairway, nodding to a man in black slacks and white shirt who stood at the foot.
“Good evening, Mr. Cantrell.”
“Carlos. This is Miss Scott.”
“Yes. Welcome aboard, Miss Scott. I’ll be ready to serve you as soon as we level off.”
Taylor blinked. “Serve me?”
Noah hustled her up the stairs.
“Serve?” she repeated.
“We didn’t get any dinner. I’m sure you’re hungry. I phoned and asked Carlos to have some club sandwiches and pastries ready. I hope that suits you.”
She blinked again. “Oh.” Then she got a look at the interior of the plane and almost stumbled.
She might have been in a living room, one carpeted in thick gray shag with furniture upholstered in navy leather and denim tweed. Heavy oak tables were placed for maximum efficiency. When Taylor bumped into one and it didn’t move, she realized they, like the furniture and lamps, were bolted to the floor.
Noah led her through a door into a combination bedroom and office. A desk against one wall held a computer, fax machine and an impressive array of electronics she couldn’t begin to identify. But what captured her attention was the huge king-sized bed in the center of the room covered with a thick comforter.
She looked up at Noah.
“In case you need to sleep.” His eyes smoldered, “Or anything else.”
She cleared her throat. “I don’t think we ought to…”
He shook his head. “Not tonight. We have business to take care of. But other times? Who knows?” He pointed at another door. “Bathroom’s in there if you want to freshen up. Meanwhile let’s get belted in. As soon as Carlos serves us, I’ll fill in the blanks for you.”
Captain Sam Leland came back to the cabin to introduce himself along with the copilot, George Monroe. Less than five minutes later they were belted into two of the blue leather armchairs and the plane taxied down the runway. Taylor swallowed and watched the runway lights flash past them.
What the hell am I getting myself into?
Chapter Four
Taylor had to force herself to eat half the sandwich Carlos served. In any other situation she would have wolfed it down. But the grumbling in her stomach was stilled by the litany of information Noah laid out for her and the knot of nervousness that kept growing larger.
Carlos had cleared the plates and refilled her wineglass before disappearing somewhere into the nether regions of the plane. She’d kicked off her shoes and Noah had stripped off his jacket and tie. If it hadn’t been for the intensity of the conversation or the tension radiating between the two of them, they might have appeared to be two people relaxing during a flight.
Noah was doing his best not to be dictatorial and Taylor was trying not to take offense at his arrogance that seemed to be a normal part of his personality. But the awareness was there, an invisible presence shimmering in the air.
As the plane cut through the darkened skies, hurtling her into a yawning pit of unknowns, Noah educated her on the story of Arroyo. From its start as an oil and gas lease company through its acquisitions and expansion, he was careful and concise. Her business-educated mind absorbed everything, filing bits and pieces away to pull out as she needed them. Josiah Gaines may have started out as a penniless nobody but at his death he could have bought and sold her grandparents one hundred times over.
“They didn’t think he was good enough to invite into their house.” Her voice was bitter. “Do you know they paid someone to get him drunk and take pictures of him in bed with some woman? They showed those pictures to my mother and it nearly destroyed her but she insisted on confronting Josiah. My grandparents practically locked her away until they got her back to Tampa. Thirty-one years ago things were a lot different from what they are now.”
“I can’t believe he just let her go. That isn’t his style.”
Rage flashed across her face. “According to my grandmother’s letter, he tried every way in the world to see her. They shipped her out of the country when they found out she was pregnant, gave him a note supposedly from her telling him to leave her alone and told her he’d married the woman he was in bed with.”
“Jesus.” Noah rubbed his hand over his face. “They certainly managed to destroy a lot of lives. But he threw himself into building Arroyo and the results are obvious.”
“Until all this happened,” she pointed out.
“Until now” he agreed.
“I know this is a dumb question and you’ve probably already checked but did you look at his calendar for the last day he was in the office?”
Noah grimaced. “Yes but it certainly seemed a dead end.”
“What do you mean?”
He leaned forward, arms resting loosely ion his knees, frustration in every line of his body. “I had Carmen check his calendar. He had lunch with Howard Rivas, an old friend who handles all the insurance for Arroyo. Nothing out of the ordinary there.”
“And that was it?”
“Then he ordered the plane and said he felt like visiting some of the plants. Carmen said he was very low key about it although he seemed to be hiding some kind of tension.”
Taylor crossed her legs and rolled the stem of her wineglass between her fingers. “Did he often take trips like that?”
“Yes. No.” Noah spread his hands. “Not as much as he used to. He’d been sending Kate Belden on what he called the look-sees for quite a while. But he was still trying to come to terms with you and Laura’s death that Carmen and I just assumed he wanted some time away from everything to get his head back on straight.”
“And who is Carmen?”
Noah actually smiled. “Josiah’s secretary. Now yours. A spitfire with a computer for a brain. Sometimes I think she should have been running the company.”
“If she was close to Josiah she won’t be any too happy to see me,” Taylor predicted.
Noah shook his head. “Not true. She’ll see you as his extension.” He studied Taylor’s face. “Let her help you. She can make your life much easier if you do.”
“What kind of plants did he visit?”
“Farm implement and machinery manufacturing. He had contracts to sell all over the world.”
Taylor chewed her thumbnail. “That doesn’t sound very ominous.”
“No. It doesn’t. And it’s not a division that ever comes under any kind of scrutiny. The plants are all out in the country in states like Idaho and Nebraska. I just figured they were good places for Josiah to do some thinking.”
“All right.” Taylor leaned back in her chair and sipped at her wine, her mind speeding like a race car. “Let’s leave that for a minute and get back to the people. I’ve got Carmen and Kate. And I can guarantee you I’ll be an unpleasant surprise as far as Kate’s concerned.”
“Probably,” Noah agreed.
Something in the tone of his voice told Taylor Kate wasn’t one of Noah’s favorite people. She’d want to know more about that later.
“Any other key players I should know about?”
“Paul Hunter, corporate counsel. Kate’s lapdog.” He sighed. “Josiah refused to acknowledge it, one of his few weak spots. But I saw it and I don’t trust it. If there is something going on with Arroyo, I’d put my money on either or
both of them.”
Taylor leaned forward. “Who knows about me and this whole setup? Am I just supposed to walk in tomorrow and say here I am?”
“I’ve been keeping this pretty quiet while I tried to contact you. But today I had Carmen send out a company-wide memo. The board members I contacted personally.”
Taylor tilted her head. “And what did she have to say?”
Noah drained the last of the coffee in his mug. “I spoke to her when I landed in Tampa. She said the grapevine is working overtime.”
“I’ll just bet.” She thought for a moment. “How did the board take it?”
“Better than the staff. I think Josiah was hoping to bring you onboard with Arroyo once the two of you got together He’d been preparing them for changes when he got their proxies. They’re mostly old friends of his anyway, officers of other corporations on his level of wealth and stature and they had a healthy respect for him. I think they’ll be the least of our problems.” He unlocked his briefcase and handed her a manila envelope. “Checkbook. Credit cards. Arroyo ID tag. Passport.”
Her jaw dropped. “Passport? Am I going somewhere?”
He shrugged. “You might have to. You never know. Better to be prepared.”
“How did you get a photo to use? And the information to open the accounts?” She shook her head. “Never mind. I’m not sure I want to know.” She got up to refill her wineglass. “What else should I know? For instance, who’s taking care of the ranch since Josiah’s death”
“Jocelyn Hart. She and her husband, Tony, run Rancho Arroyo. Your new home.”
“My new home,” Taylor said carefully.
“Josiah’s home. Now yours. It’s about forty minutes from downtown San Antonio. The name is more than window dressing, by the way. The ranch runs ten thousand head of cattle.”
Her eyes widened. “You’re kidding me.”
“Not for a second.” He got up to pour himself more coffee. “There’s a full staff for both the ranch and the house. Jocelyn runs the house, Tony heads up the ranching operation. Jocelyn will take good care of you. She knows what she’s doing.” He hesitated in the act of bringing his cup to his lips, as if debating his next words.