by Linda Kage
Outwardly, he nodded, grinning as he took a step back from the work table in his office to inspect our finished portfolio in all its glory. A dozen posters were spread across the tabletop and ready to be displayed.
“Holy shit,” he murmured in awe, scanning his gaze across our hard work. “I think we’re done. I think we’re really done.”
“And just in time, too,” I said, standing beside him, my hands against my heart as I breathed out a relieved and proud breath that it was finally finished.
But my stepbrother rounded on me with an incredulous blink. “Are you kidding me? I’m usually up until midnight the night before the presentation, scrambling to get it together. I’ve never been done this early. This is awesome.” Lifting his hand for me to high five, he reiterated, “We are awesome.”
Feeling the love, I laughed and slapped my palm against his, then hopped on my toes with excitement as I turned back to the portfolio. “We really are, aren’t we? Our department has the most amazing artists ever. I wonder how Hayden’s portfolio is coming along.”
Brick laughed and nudged his shoulder into mine. “Thinking about your design? Don’t worry, kid, it’ll do fine.”
My stomach didn’t agree, but I nodded because I wasn’t sure how else to respond. “Yeah,” I said, for something to say.
Yawning, Brick checked the time, only to mutter, “Damn, I didn’t realize how late it was. Get out of here, already. I’m closing up shop. After last night, I need about twelve hours of sleep to recuperate.”
Startled to see it was nearly three hours later than I usually left work, I gathered my things and waved Brick goodbye. All the other offices were darkened. It felt strange walking the halls without light, but it reminded me of the sneaking around I’d done the night of the Halloween party, which in turn, reminded me of Ezra.
Pretty much everything reminded me of Ezra these days.
I rode the elevator to the first floor, remembering how I’d confessed to him what my name was in this very space. Then I walked outside to the parking lot and took in my rusted old beater sitting under a street light, remembering how he’d gotten two flat tires in this very lot the night before. I did a walk around my vehicle before getting in, but all my tires were fine, thank goodness.
And after that, I drove home alone, remembering how he’d tried to push me away last night. I didn’t much like being pushed away from him. I hoped he came to his damn senses… And soon. I was so over being miserable and alone.
When I made it to my neighborhood, I found a spot to park two blocks from my building and trudged home through the dark, cold night, wondering where he was and what he was doing. Had he thought anymore about where he wanted things to go with us? Was he missing me as much as I was missing him?
By the time I stepped off my elevator and onto my floor, I’d pretty much convinced myself he was never going to talk to me again, and miserable and alone were going to be my life motto whether I liked it or not.
Then I turned down the hall toward my apartment, only to find him there, waiting outside my door.
He lifted a pair of black, size eleven high heels.
My heart soared.
Ezra!
“I managed to stay away a full twenty-four hours,” he said, stepping toward me. “That’s impressive, right?”
I smiled. When he took another step, I dropped my purse and hurried to him, jumping at the last second so he’d be forced to drop the shoes and catch me.
He did with a laugh, smashing his lips against mine and then burying his face in my hair.
“I don’t know what’s going on with me,” he said into my throat. “I think I’m well and truly addicted. I kept telling myself it’d be safer for you if I just stayed away. But then this itching, nagging need to see you kept spreading through me like some kind of rash. My body knew you were just down the hall the entire day. You have no idea how badly I wanted to walk by Carmichael’s office, if only to calmly glance inside for a glimpse of you. It’s been driving me crazy. I missed you. I missed you so much.”
I turned my face to the side so I could kiss his cheek. “I missed you too.”
He clutched me harder, a moan echoing from his throat. “This is bad, isn’t it?”
“I don’t know,” I said, lightly, a smile tugging at my lips as I squirmed out of his arms so I could gather up my purse and his shoes and urge us toward my door. “I like knowing you want to see me.”
“You don’t understand,” he growled, pressing into me from behind while I fumbled to unlock my door. “This feeling is not normal. Or natural. I haven’t even known you a week. How can I become so attached so fast? That’s borderline stalker behavior, isn’t it?”
“Well… Stalkers are unwanted, for one thing. And I’m actually a fan of whatever this is you’re experiencing, so… That suggestion’s off the table. Obsession, on the other hand—”
He nodded diligently as I opened my door. “You think I’m obsessed?” he asked, following me as I turned to face him before backing into my apartment. “I’m obsessed with you, aren’t I?”
When he shut the door at his back, I bit my lip, relishing that predatory look on his face. He wanted to kiss me again.
“Well, if you’re obsessed, then I’m obsessed.”
Taking a step toward me, his gaze full of heat and yearning, he asked, “So what’re we going to do about it? I can’t stay away, no matter how hard I try. But I don’t want anyone hurting you either.”
I shrugged and backed away from him before letting all the items in my arms spill to the floor as I took off my coat. Dropped that to the floor too. “Want to return to the original plan?”
He grinned, prowling after me as I kept backing away from him. “You mean the first plan where you ran away and refused to tell me your name?” Leaping forward, he caught me around the waist and tugged me against him. “No. I really don’t want to return to that.”
I laughed against his jaw. “No. I meant the idea of keeping it secret… So she just doesn’t find out about it.”
“Ah. Right. That plan. That plan works for me as long as I get to keep doing this.”
His lips captured mine and I swayed into him, wrapping my arms around his shoulders.
Without taking his mouth from mine, he lifted me up by my ass. I wound my legs around his waist and gave him a full body hug.
“My bedroom’s that way,” I said, breaking away from his lips long enough to point down the hall.
Surprise filled his features. He glanced into the hall before turning back to me. “Serious?”
I bit my lip, realizing what he was really asking. Then I nodded. “It’s been a long twenty-four hours for me too.”
A groan worked up his throat. And then his mouth smashed back to mine as he started for the hall.
We reached my room, and he carried me inside only to pause just inside the doorway so he could stare around in awe. “This is where you dream each night,” he finally said, his voice full of sweet reverence.
I nibbled my way along his jaw. “Yes. And I dreamed about you last night.”
“Oh yeah?” His eyes looked dark blue, like the bottom of the sea, when he turned them on me. “Did I carry you to your bed and lay you down gently… Just like this?”
When he stretched me out on the mattress oh so tenderly, I bit my lip and grinned up at him. “Not quite.”
His eyebrows rose as he shed his own coat and suit jacket before loosening his tie. “So then what did I do?”
I sat up and reached out before he could totally remove the tie. He let me take hold of it and then use it to draw him closer, where I kept the tie around his neck but slowly began to unbutton his dress shirt.
“We were in your office. I stormed inside, flaming mad, and pointed at you, snarling something about how I was done letting you push me away. Then I told you that you better take me now or lose me forever.”
“How very Top Gun of you.” Intrigued by the story, he undid his cuffs before lifting his arms to let
me slip his shirt off his shoulders. “And did I? Take you?”
My smile was slow and full of sensual promise. “Oh yeah. You shoved me down onto your desk… Not gently at all. It made my bottom sting, actually.”
He winced. “Your poor bottom.” He reached around to massage it for me.
But I shook my head. “No, I liked it.”
“Did you?” Eyebrows lifting, Ezra’s gaze smoldered as I tugged his white undershirt off and then started on the belt to his pants, leaving him in nothing but a tie up top.
“Mmm hmm,” I murmured, grinning wickedly. “Then you stepped between my open thighs, a bit like this…” Using his pants, I tugged him closer until he stood between my spread legs. “And you slid your hand up my skirt until you reached my panties.”
Eyes clouding with passion, Ezra merely shook his head. “Not fair. You’re not wearing a skirt. In fact, I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen you in a skirt.”
I winked and unzipped his pants. “Maybe tomorrow you will.”
He sucked in a breath when my hand slipped into the open placket and cupped him through his boxers. Warm hardness soaked through the cloth, greeting my fingers. “So, turnabout’s fair play.” I grinned up at him mischievously as I began to pull his cock free. “What’s your favorite color, Ezra?”
He blinked at me, breathing hard, his eyes going totally unfocused. “What?”
“Red, maybe,” I guessed, leaning forward to taste the tip of him. “Green?”
“Holy shit, Kaitlynn.” He clutched my hair, shuddering hard when I drew him into my mouth deeper. “I came here tonight, adamant I was going to seduce you. Not the other way around. Oh God.” His hips bucked as I took more, flicking my tongue over him as I went. “Not that I’m complaining.”
I looked up to find him staring down at me, his lashes lowered to half-mast. Lips parting as he puffed out one breath after another, he focused his glistening eyes on me as I had my fun, exploring him.
I waved up at him, feeling smugly powerful.
He shook his head. “You just wait until it’s my turn, Yellow.”
Pulling off him slowly and making him hiss out a breath, I batted my eyelashes before asking, “What? You think you can do better than this?”
A chuckle rumbled from his throat. “I guess there’s only one way to find out.”
Without warning, he leaned in and picked me up by the waist before flinging me backward, further up the mattress so that I was sprawled out on my back.
I sputtered, momentarily tangled in my sheets that I rarely ever made before I started to sit up.
But he only held up a hand while he shoved down his pants with the other and stepped his way out of them completely. “Oh, don’t get up on my account. I’ll be joining you real soon.” He shed everything but the tie, all the while keeping his intent gaze on me. Then he climbed onto the bed.
My mouth pooled with saliva. I knew Nash in corporate mode, and I knew Ezra in the garden being flirty and charming, but this naked god coming at me with nothing but lust in his eyes was another beast entirely. No man should be so flawless when bare like that. I swear, even the three little moles on his hip bone looked as if they’d been crafted to make him look the best a man could look.
And he wanted me. That was the most stunning part of all this. He truly, honestly wanted me.
My insides gonged with need as he kept crawling, his tie hanging down to tickle me through my clothes as he went, until he was on all fours above me. Then he sat back on his haunches to study me, fully-clothed under him. He didn’t seem to mind at all that I had all my clothes on and he had none. But honestly, I didn’t mind either. He was a pleasure to watch.
Curious if his sculpted chest felt as smooth and hard as it looked, I lifted my fingers toward his pecs, only for him to snag my wrist in his grip and then pin it to the mattress above my head.
With his free hand, he tucked his index finger into the gap of my blouse, right above the first button before he zipped his way down, popping buttons and tearing fabric as he went.
“Holy shit,” I gasped. “That was hot.”
“Baby, I’m just getting started.” He ripped the blouse off me, tearing more cloth as he went, promising me he’d get me a new shirt. And then his hands were around my breasts, working at my bra before he pushed the cups out of his way, and I spilled into his warm, eager palms.
I moaned at the sensation. It’d been way too long since I’d seen any action; it nearly felt like the first time again. Every touch, every move, every lick was so new and shocking. Delicious. When he leaned in and licked my nipple, his tie teasing my navel, I cried out from the startling pleasure. He bit me lightly, and I bucked under him, relishing the crisp sting.
“God, you taste good,” he rasped when he transferred his attention from one breast to the other.
I managed to compose myself a little better this time, gritting my teeth around a moan and merely fisting my hands into the sheets under me.
Above me, Ezra pampered me for what felt like an eternity before shifting his way down, kissing each rib and then my belly button before pausing at my pants. His gaze lifted up to me.
“You still okay with this?” he asked, giving me a chance to back out.
I nodded mutely, not sure I could speak intelligible words if I tried.
Grinning, he unzipped my slacks and shocked me by how tenderly he peeled them down my legs instead of tearing them off the same way he had my top. Once I was shed down to nothing but a conservative pair of white cotton panties, he slid his gaze over me as he murmured, “Stunning.” Then he picked up one of my feet that I was always so self-conscious about and he pressed his mouth to the heel.
He worked his way up my leg, kissing and nibbling, making me squirm and moan and nearly shred my sheets with how tightly I clutched them. Once he reached the apex of my thighs, he kissed me once through the panties, making me jump. Then he gripped the waistband and slid them off.
Still lying on my back and staring up at him, I held my breath as he looked down at me. His gaze met mine, reassuring me with his grin. Then he winked and dropped his attention to between my legs.
From that point on, I was lost. He leaned down and licked me. I was already so worked up, it felt like a mini orgasm all on its own. I clutched his hair, hoping I wasn’t yanking him bald because I did so love his hair, and I held on for dear life as he licked me into oblivion, pressing his fingers into me at just the right time to make what I swore had to be rockets shoot off behind my eyes.
A tide of pleasure drowned me until, holy hell, I could breathe again. Panting, I stared up into Ezra’s face, wide-eyed and in shock to learn one person could honestly bring that much pleasure to another.
“Holy… Wow,” I gasped, my chest heaving.
He laughed before snatching up his pants and searching the pockets for his wallet. After he found a condom and rolled it on, I sat up to watch. He looked so handsome and masculine with his hand around his own dick, making sure the latex was securely in place. It made my fingers jealous.
Batting his hand aside, I wrapped my palm around his girth. My insides clenched, eager to feel him deep inside me.
“Kaitlynn,” he rasped, looking into my eyes, his cheeks ruddy and bottom lip caught between his teeth. “Baby. I’m right on the edge.”
I nodded and nudged his chest. “Lie down.”
He did, willingly. So I climbed onto his lap, still keeping hold of him, and I straddled him. After I lined us up, I latched my hands around his tie and slowly began to sink down.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” he groaned, his mouth falling open and eyes widening as far as they’d go. “Oh, hell. Oh, damn. You feel good. So tight. So fucking… Uhn.” His eyes crossed briefly and his chest bowed off the bed as I seated myself completely with all of him lodged as far as he could go.
I squeezed my inner muscles, making him whimper, and then I began to move, sliding up before slapping back down. Cursing, he gaped up at me in amazement as I showed him how
I liked to ride.
But he could only handle me teasing him for so long.
He surged up under me, sitting upright until we were facing each other with him still tight inside me. “Fucking hell, woman,” he growled, gripping the back of my hair before he whipped us around and rolled us across the mattress.
When he came out on top, he grinned down at me triumphantly and then pounded into me with a speed, force, and unrelenting accuracy that laid me flat. I felt like some kind of human receptor, helpless but to draw in pleasure from the entire universe, while the cloth of his tie flitted across my sensitive nipples, sparking even more delight. His cock hit the right spot every time he…
“Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God.”
The sensory overload in my womb caused all the fibers in there to coil close before springing loose and exploding spasms of uncontainable satisfaction out every nerve ending in my body.
I screamed. I bucked. Ezra shouted. We gripped each other hard, fucked our way through both our orgasms, and then he collapsed on top of me with a weak groan.
Spent and drained, I stared over his shoulder at the ceiling of my room in shock. And I knew. Right then. I’d never find anything like this again.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“I’m starving.”
Still in the midst of post-coital recovery, I blinked up at a ceiling fan before finding the gumption to turn my head to the side and take in Ezra’s expression.
His entire body rolled my way until he was facing me and lay on his side where he tucked his hand under his cheek and grinned with so much animation he practically glowed. “Aren’t you hungry?”
“Uh…” At the moment, I couldn’t rightly answer. I felt so limp and sapped of all energy after what we’d just done, my brain was still trying to process what hungry and starving even meant.
Ezra, on the other hand, seemed energized and ready to tackle the world. Laughing, he popped up into a sitting position with way too much enthusiasm, asking, “When was the last time you ate?”
“Umm…” Too boneless and sated to think properly, I frowned. “I don’t know. Noon?”