by Desiree Holt
At that she bucked against him. Her lithe body moved against his hand as she tried to ride it harder.
“Please,” she whimpered.
“Please what.” His voice was soft. “Tell me, Livy.”
“Please, please, please.” She tried to thrust herself harder against his hand, her body vibrating beneath his touch with unsatisfied need.
He moved his hand to pinch her clit between two fingers, rubbing, creating friction. She locked her fingers around his wrist and tried to move his hand lower, to urge him to slide his fingers inside her. But Alex had different plans for her. With a swift movement he rearranged her on the bed and knelt between her knees, spreading her thighs wide.
“Please what, Livy? Tell me what you want.” He drew a slow line the length of her slit with his tongue. “This?” He swirled the tip of his tongue around her clit. “Or this?” He rimmed her opening. “Or maybe this?”
“Yes, yes, yes.” Her voice rose a notch and she threw her legs over his shoulders trying to pull him closer. “Like that. More. All of it. Oh god, make me come.”
He gave a slow lick again, his chuckle rumbling against her flesh. Then he gave her what she wanted. His tongue tasted her everywhere, every inch of that sweet little pussy. He sucked on her clit and nipped it with his teeth. She writhed and twisted and begged until at last he thrust three fingers inside her throbbing pussy. He moved them in and out in a rapid cadence as his mouth tormented her clit.
“Oh, oh, oh,” she cried as he roused her and held her at the very edge of climax.
She smelled and tasted so good he wondered if he’d made a mistake coming here. Instead of quieting the hungry beast he might be only making it more ravenous. But no one said this had to last for just one night, right?
He shut his mind off and went back to work on the delicious woman writhing with erotic need. Moving his fingers faster, curling them to scrape her sweet spot, pulling and tugging on her clit with his teeth, he pushed her up and up until she splintered and came apart in his hands. She nearly jackknifed toward him when the explosion came, his name almost like a plea on her lips, her body shaking with the force of the spasms.
Alex licked her pussy eagerly, drinking in every drop of her juices, soothing the sensitive flesh, until at last most of the tremors had died away. Then he moved up beside her again and turned her face so he could kiss her, sharing her taste with her. He thought that was one of the most intimate things a couple could do, sharing each other’s tastes. With this woman it seemed to be even more intense.
He moved up her body to brush the damp curls from her faced and trail kisses along her neck. He couldn’t believe he wanted her again so soon, but his dick seemed to have a mind of its own where Olivia D’Angelo was concerned. He was driven by the need to imprint himself on her so that no matter what happened she would have an indelible memory of him.
As the last of the aftershocks died away he rolled her to her back and sheathed himself in a condom. Sliding into her soaked channel with a slow deliberate movement he took her once more. He rocked his hips, feeling the tightness of her cunt around him. She opened her eyes and he saw a wealth of emotion in them.
No, damn it. Don’t go there This is just sex, remember?
He licked her hardened nipples and nipped each one lightly, moving in and out of her pussy with a steady rhythm. Her little moans and whimpers ramped up his hunger. When she wound her legs around him and dug her heels into the small of his back, pulling him in tighter, it did him in. Gone was the slow rhythm, replaced by a fast, hard pace. He slipped a hand between them, found her swollen nub and rubbed it with the pad of this thumb.
They came together, tumbling over the edge into that wild cloud of sexual explosion, bodies shaking, her fingernails digging into his back. Then, spent, he let her rest. Spooning her into him, he kissed her forehead. A sigh whispered from her lips and drifted like a soft breeze across his chest. He held her as she drifted off into a light sleep, myriad thoughts running wild in his mind.
At some point he dozed off, too, rousing with a start when Livy shifted slightly against him. He looked at her asleep in his arms and resisted an urge to wake her. There’d be other nights. Other times. He’d make sure of that. But now… He glanced at the bedside clock, saw the LED numbers showing four thirty.
Shit!
Where had the time gone? He’d allowed himself to be lulled by the great sex and the softness of the woman in his arms. He wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep and wake up with her in the morning. But he’d given himself orders before he came to the house. They’d have great sex, just like the other night, just as she wanted, and then when she was asleep he’d grab his clothes and split.
He felt things for this woman he’d never felt for any other and he wanted her in his life. But she’d set up barriers and he had yet to figure out how to tear them down. So despite the emotions tearing at him, he’d made up his mind to play by her rules. He needed to leave, get out of her house. Now.
You’re being childish.
You’re being sensible.
He wanted to tell his head to shut up and stop giving him grief. Easing Livy’s body away from his he slipped from the bed, taking extra care not to wake her. Tiptoeing around the room he gathered his clothing and his shoes and dressed in the dark of the living room. For one brief moment he considered leaving a note, but the little residual bubble of anger that wouldn’t go away killed that idea.
Somehow he managed to make it out the front door without any noise. When he got into his car he let it roll backward down the driveway and into the street before he started it. No headlights until he was well away from the house. He thought what a good thing it was that his car seemed to know the way home almost by itself, because the last thing he could concentrate on was driving.
He was rock hard again even after that last powerful orgasm, a fact that stunned him. A cold shower might not even be enough to calm his body down, not when he kept thinking of Livy, how she felt and tasted and smelled. The way she climaxed for him. He spent most of the drive trying to convince himself that he could play by Olivia’s rules and not feel badly, when what he really wanted to do was tell her to hell with the rules and let her know how he really felt about her.
Yeah, right. Fat chance.
* * * * *
Livy kept her eyes closed, pretending she hadn’t felt Alex slide out of bed and move out of the room to dress. She barely let herself breathe until she heard the very faint click as he let himself out the front door. Although she strained her ears she didn’t detect the sound of a car engine starting.
He coasted out into the street so I wouldn’t hear him.
Well, what did she expect? Hadn’t she done the same thing to him without so much as a second thought? Wasn’t this exactly what she wanted? No-strings very hot sex and no messy aftermath? Just like always. No anger at him. No pain at him slipping away like that. Long ago she’d learned that if you thought something was that good it would turn out not to be. If you let yourself like someone a little too much, you only got hurt. And if you let them into your heart, it would only get broken.
She’d stopped being that little girl hungry for crumbs of affection and remade herself into a woman in control of her own destiny. Convinced letting people get too close would only cause her more pain, she’d set up Livy’s Rules. And they worked just fine. Right?
Right. Go ahead, convince yourself.
Then why did she have this empty feeling inside her? This terrible sense of disappointment, as if she’d let something really, really good slip through her fingers. But that wasn’t possible. Not possible at all. Was it?
Livy’d had plenty of sex in her life, but never like this. She could still feel his warm hands gliding over her body, paying careful attention to all her erogenous zones. Felt his mouth on her nipples, his teeth tugging at them until a pleasure so strong it was almost painful burst through her. Felt his hot mouth on her pussy, licking and sucking as he thrust his fingers inside he
r. Felt his long, thick cock as he drove into her, plunging not just into her body but into her soul.
With other lovers there’d been a physical attraction, they’d ridden it to the end and that was that. Even in the midst of wild monkey sex she’d always been in charge. A part of her brain never shut down. Sometimes they’d run into each other in a convenient location and fall into bed for old times’ sake. But neither expected more of the other.
But there was a difference with Alex McMann. There was something about him that reached into her inner self and woke up all those emotions she’d buried so long ago. She wasn’t prepared for the instant emotional reaction she had to him. Whatever word she gave to it, it invaded her system and made her completely lose herself in bed with him. And it scared the hell out of her.
Livy had done a good job convincing herself that relationships that grew quickly died just as fast. And she’d learned to protect herself against that kind of pain. She wasn’t at all prepared for a man like Alex who came into her life with the impact of a tornado, saw beneath the surface and offered her what she truly believed was beyond her reach. What she saw other people reach for and attain. He warmed her heart. She’d once heard a coworker say that about her husband and hadn’t known what it meant until now.
She kept a tight rein on her emotions, giving everything instead to Concordia. The business was like a lover to her, the recipient of all her emotions, her affection. Even love. Concordia appreciated her and praised her and gave back to her.
But from the moment she shook hands with Alex in the Concordia reception area something inside her exploded and a hunger she’d never known before consumed every cell in her body. She thought she had it under control. Thought she could have the same arrangement with him she’d had with others. And even though their business relationship was about to be long term, she could tuck their personal contact into a corner of her brain and keep it there.
She should be happy, right?
So why was it, then, that when he showed up at her doorstep tonight ready to agree to her terms she was actually disappointed. Maybe even a little bit hurt.
Get over yourself. Isn’t that what you want?
She didn’t have an answer to that question.
At five thirty, tired of arguing with herself, she finally gave up trying to go back to sleep. A shower wiped some of the cobwebs from her brain but when she looked in the mirror she wondered who the woman was with the haunted eyes. She’d need to take extra pains with her makeup today before she headed for the office.
Work. For the first time since she set foot in Concordia she couldn’t seem to find the enthusiasm for her job that carried her through every day. That fact disturbed her. Quit thinking about it! You’ve got what you want.
And she had a long stretch before this new project was completed when she and Alex would be working together. She’d laid down the ground rules. Now she had to follow them. But for the first time in her life she wished for the strength to break them.
“Frank wants you to buzz him the minute you’re at your desk,” Jo told her as she breezed past the outer desk. “Man, I’ve never seen him so antsy about a project before.”
“This is the biggest thing this company has undertaken and we’ve got some high ticket investors on board. He’ll be like a new father trying to hold a baby until we’re well into it.”
“Well, call him and soothe his nerves, okay?”
Livy gave a dry chuckle. “I’ll do my best.”
But she had to sit at her desk and take a few minutes to compose herself before she made the call. Frank knew her so well he’d detect anything out of the ordinary in her voice.
“How’s everything going with McMann?” he asked when she got him on the phone.
“Great, Frank. Everything’s in good shape.”
“You sure Alex understands what kind of timeline we’re looking at?” he persisted.
“No problem. He and his brothers are putting together the contract. As soon as it’s ready they’ll send it over for you and the legal eagles to look at and we’ll move forward.” She fiddled with a pen on her desk, her hands restless. “Meanwhile we’ll go ahead with the schedule of appointments and I’m setting up a date for Josh McMann to bring new drawings for you to look at.”
“Good, good. I knew I could depend on you. I think I’ll have the investors come to that meeting. What do you think?”
She knew he was asking on a financial note as well as a general operating one. She’d worked out the money details and he wanted her assurance that this was the right time to get the money men actively involved.
“I think based on the preliminary sketches it would be a good thing. They’ll get a very good idea of the concept.” She swirled the pen like a top. “Maybe once construction actually starts we might want to fly them out for a site visit.”
“I’ll let you work it out with the McManns. Just be sure a copy of the meeting schedule gets forwarded to me.”
“Will do.”
She hung up the phone and leaned her forehead on her hands, fingers massaging her temples.
“Here, maybe this will help.” Jo set a steaming mug of coffee on the desk in front of her. “Are you feeling okay?”
Livy sighed. “Yes. Just a little tired, I guess. I didn’t sleep too well last night.”
“Oh?” Jo gave her a mischievous grin. “Any special reason?”
“Just restless,” she snapped, then forced a smile. “Sorry, Jo. Didn’t mean to be such a bear. Okay, how about getting my messages and we’ll go from there.”
* * * * *
“So where do we stand with the project?” Josh asked, following Alex into his office, Tyler right behind him.
Alex placed his briefcase on the corner of his desk and shrugged out of his jacket. He didn’t have to ask what project. This was the biggest thing they’d ever undertaken.
“It went very well.” He made sure his face was arranged in a calm expression before he turned to look at his brothers. “I have notes on the schedule of meetings Vincent likes to establish on a project and when he wants to see the improved sketches. And I have to hammer out the contract and get it over to him.”
“Is it any different than the standard one we use?” Tyler wanted to know. “Is there something we won’t like?”
Alex shook his head. “Not at all. But since this is such a big job we have to prepare for all eventualities. You guys will need to study my notes again and give me realistic input so we don’t screw up.”
“I’m in the office for the next two days,” Tyler told him. “I can get to work on my part right away. I’ll pull up our standard contract and see what changes we need to make regarding the actual construction.”
When they’d left and he was alone again, Alex leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. He should have been completely satisfied after the great sex he’d enjoyed last night but all he felt was empty, as if something was missing. Which it was. Somehow he had to convince her it was okay to take a chance with him. He just wished he knew how.
Chapter Seven
Alex yanked off his tie, shrugged out of his jacket and unbuttoned the top button on his shirt. Then he took his first full breath of the day. The Concordia process was now six weeks old and today they’d done their first presentation for the investors. Concordia usually used only their own money, but with a development that encompassed more than ten thousand acres and would hold everything commercial to residential to recreational they needed more working capital. And the people who’d put their money into this were sharp, asked a lot of questions and dug out every detail.
“I think it went well, don’t you?”
Alex looked up to see Tyler lounging in his doorway, a satisfied smile on his face.
“Yes. I agree. But holy hell, these people were like a military tribunal.”
“That’s why they have all that money,” Tyler pointed out. “They’re very careful where the invest it and they don’t leave anything to chance.”
“How about lunch to celebrate?” Josh came up behind Tyler and nudged his brother forward. “Just a small celebration. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”
“I’ve, uh, got a lunch meeting.” Alex looked down at his desk so his brothers couldn’t examine the look on his face. He didn’t plan to do much eating at noon. Livy had slipped him a note after the meeting.
“How about room service for lunch. I’ll be in room 213 at the Carlyle. You bring the service. L. “
“Oh?” Tyler chuckled. “Should I guess who it’s with?”
“That’s none of your business.” He tried to make his tone less defensive, but he was very sensitive where Livy was concerned. Things were not going at all the way he’d hoped. In fact, if anything, they were getting worse.
Not with the sex. Good lord, the sex was beyond imaginable. She gave him every inch of her body willingly. More than, in fact. But that was all she gave. No matter how hard he tried to breach that wall around her heart, she kept it firmly intact. If he tried to push the subject she froze him out. So for the moment he was living every other man’s dream—incredibly hot, unlimited sex with no demands on him. He knew at least a dozen men who would gladly change places with him.
But what happens when you fall in love with a woman who considers love the eighth plague? Who thinks herself unlovable?
Curiosity had gotten the better of him and he’d spent some time digging into Livy’s past. Discreetly, of course. In some cases all he had to do was mention he was working with her and information came tumbling out. When he put it all together it was easy to see why she’d turned out the way she had. But in the more than two months they’d been together he’d lost his heart to her completely. There was no way he could walk away from her, even if they were in a long-term business relationship.