I laughed and shook my head as Hayden’s hand slid up another inch. His fingers were massaging the inside of my thigh and it forced goosebumps up my leg. I wanted to part them for him. To give him access to where he was slowly going. The car was driving through to get our pizza and Hayden was talking over the poor driver’s shoulder, but his fingers were delicately dancing.
Sending me into a heated frenzy as they tried to track down our pizza order.
His fingers slid around in circles and pressed onward to their final destination. My leg was jumping with anticipation as heat pooled between my legs. Hayden set the pizza we ordered in the passenger’s seat and gave the man the address to his house, then the car pulled out onto the main road and headed for our final destination.
And Hayden’s hand had stopped just short of its goal.
“Hayden?” I asked breathlessly.
“Mhm?”
“Can you… um…”
I looked down at his hand and he gave my inner thigh a playful squeeze.
“Can I what, beautiful?”
It was hard for me to catch my breath.
“The driver,” I said with a whisper.
“Do you need something?”
I huffed and rolled my eyes as a chuckle fell from Hayden’s lips. His hand sat there the entire ride back to his place, and part of me was relieved when we pulled up to his apartment complex. His hand left my leg and grabbed the pizza, then he paid the driver before he helped me out of the car.
But part of me already missed his touch.
“I know what you’re doing,” I said.
“And what is it you think I’m doing?” Hayden asked.
“You’re trying to show me that your billionaire status won’t change the way you treat me.”
“Is it working?”
I suppressed a grin as we stepped into the elevator.
“Possibly.”
“I knew your favorite pizza place would work,” he said.
“How did you know it was my favorite?”
“Every time we passed by that place you went on and on about how great their squared-off slices of pizza were. I figured my first time trying it should be with none other than it’s unofficial advertiser.”
“I really do talk about that place too much,” I said.
“I like your passion for things, Grace. Never change that.”
He laced his fingers within mine as the elevator opened onto his floor. I was already beginning to feel like I was home again, and that wasn’t a good thing. But the moment we emerged into his penthouse apartment, I breathed a sigh of relief. It was the place I’d called ‘home’ for over three months, and I hated to admit it… but I had missed the place. The light streaming in from the windows. The open concept of its entire layout. The library down the hallway.
But there was one place I had yet to venture into.
And it was the one place Hayden was guiding me to.
“Come on. I don’t think you’ve seen the upstairs,” he said.
Balancing the pizza in one hand with the drink tray on top of it, he took my hand and guided me up the steps. I was in awe of his coordination. How strong he was on his hip. The stairs led up into the second story of the apartment and the top floor was lined with floor-to-ceiling glass. The stars shone their light through the panes and cast a pale blue hue against the open floor plan of the room.
There was a massive four-poster bed, matching blonde cedar bedside tables and a dresser, a massive television mounted on the wall, and a door that I could only assume ushered into a bathroom.
“This is your bedroom,” I said.
“It is. The two rooms downstairs are technically guest bedrooms.”
I slipped my hand from Hayden’s and slowly walked to the center of the room.
It was surrounded with windows. Nothing but, actually. The carpet beneath my heels was plush and I felt myself constantly sinking into it. There was a door in the corner I almost didn’t catch. Caddied between the start of the windows and the edge of the television.
“That’s the walk-in closet. The door beside me on the opposite end of the room is the bathroom.”
“It’s beautiful up here, Hayden. You have… such a breathtaking view of the city.”
“I have my eye on something else right now.”
My gaze whipped over to him and I saw him raking it down my form. Taking in the way my dress fell along my body. Even I had to admit how good this dress looked on me, and watching him take me in the way he was pulled a smile across my cheeks. My skin flushed underneath his gaze and I rocked on my feet, resisting the urge to knock back his compliment.
“You really do look stunning, Grace.”
“You don’t look so bad yourself in those jeans,” I said.
“Like the way they fit?” he asked as he turned around. “I thought they did my ass a favor.”
I threw my head back and laughed again as he made his way for the bed.
“How does pizza in bed with a movie sound?”
He peeled back the covers and slid underneath, kicking off his shoes while setting the pizza in the middle. It was the most laid-back date that I would’ve never expected from Hayden, and yet it somehow suited us. Not him. Not me. But us, as a couple. I walked over to the other side of the bed and slipped out of my heels, then I removed the clip from my hair and let it fall in my face. I whipped the covers back and wiggled down beside him, and Hayden handed me my drink.
“Your Pepsi, Madame.”
“You’re relentless, you know that?” I asked.
“I didn’t even do anything.”
“Sometimes you don’t have to. Sometimes all you have to do is say a word or do something.”
“Do something, huh? Well, what about this?”
He leaned over and pressed a kiss to my cheek.
“Hayden.”
“Or this?” he asked.
He placed a kiss against my bare shoulder and I sighed at the warmth of his lips.
“Hayden,” I said breathlessly.
“Or this,” he said.
I felt his hand creep across my thigh and slide underneath my dress. He cupped my clothed pussy and I blushed at the heat pouring from my body. He stroked his fingers along the damp fabric as I laid back into the plush pillows of his bed, the pizza already forgotten about as I set my drink unsteadily onto the bedside table.
“Hayden,” I said with a whisper.
“Yes?” he asked against my ear.
“I… I want…”
“What is it, Grace? What is it you want?” he whispered into my ear
He nipped at my earlobe and it almost sent me through the roof.
“Say it,” he said hotly. “Tell me what your body needs.”
Then, I decided to get even. I slowly turned my head to face him and our noses nuzzled together. I danced my lips on top of his, feeling how much he wanted me. How eager he was to rip this dress away from my body. My hand came up and cupped his cheek and I tried to block out how wonderful his hand felt pressed against my pussy folds.
I grinned as our eyes connected once more, then I pressed a kiss to the tip of his nose.
“Pizza,” I said breathlessly. “My body needs pizza.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Grace
“You’re right. This pizza’s amazing.”
“I told you,” I said.
“I’ve had pizza in a lot of places, too. Italy. France. Australia. Germany. I wonder what kind of sauce they use,” Hayden said.
“It’s all homemade and locally sourced. It makes all the difference.”
“There’s something they put in their sauce though. It’s incredible. They should patent it before someone tries to steal it.”
“I can see those wheels already turning behind your eyes.”
“There are many things I can cook, Grace, but pizza is not one of them.”
“And here I thought you were perfect,” I said with a sigh.
“This pizza’s so good I ca
n almost see why you turned me down earlier. Almost.”
“Awww. Are we still pouting?” I asked.
“Possibly.”
“Don’t worry. You’ll get your chance.”
“Chance?” he asked. “What chance. We blew ‘chance’ out of the water two days ago.”
“And if you recall my statement earlier, my body still hurts.”
“That only means we have to build up your tolerance.”
“Uh huh. Which means more exposure over an extended period of time, of course.”
“Oh, of course. We wouldn’t want to rush you into anything too hard too fast.”
“But I thought that was your specialty,” I said.
I took the last bite of my pizza as his eyes panned over to me.
“I’m completely stuffed. Now all I’m going to be is a bump on a log.”
“I can work with that,” Hayden said.
I giggled and swatted at his thigh before I slid from bed.
“Can I borrow your bathroom?”
“Only if you bring it back. I’ll need it tomorrow morning.”
“Hardy har har. I’ll be back in a second,” I said.
I slipped into the bathroom and the decadence shouldn’t have shocked me. But, it did. His bathroom had a double-sink vanity with marble countertops and the same jetted tub from downstairs. But, there was also a stone walk-in shower that lined the far wall. I washed my hands at the sink and dried them off on the softest towels I’d ever used in my life, but my curiosity got the better of me.
I slowly made my way into the shower and began looking around.
The thing was massive. And it could easily hold six or seven people in it. There was a waterfall shower head hanging from the ceiling and mist jets burrowed into the rocks. The shower could turn itself into a steam sauna with the click of a button, and again… I shouldn’t have been shocked. With Hayden’s love for luxury goods and his prestige and monetary success, nothing about his place should have shocked me.
And yet, it always did.
I ran my fingertips along the stone and closed my eyes. I bet this shower felt wonderful with hot water running. I pressed my cheek into it and felt the cool temperature of the stones cascade along my body. The darkness of the shower lended it an intimate atmosphere, and soon I was whisked away into my own little world.
Until hot water rained down on my shoulder.
“What the-?”
I felt hands come down onto my hips and rip me around. My hands flew up to cover my face, but before I could catch my breath they were pinned above my head. Hayden’s fiery eyes came into view and I saw he was naked. Removed of all his clothing as water beat down against his chiseled muscles. It rolled over his shoulders and soaked his hair. It made his skin glisten as the water droplets found the pathways of his sculpted abs.
“I was wondering where you’d gone off to,” he said darkly.
Then his lips crashed against mine.
I rolled my hips into him and felt his cock throbbing against my body. His hands released mine, then wrapped around me and pulled me from the wall. He whipped me around and placed me underneath the hot water and I gasped. I felt him strip my dress away and tear at my underwear, desperate to get me naked. To feel his hands run along the softness of my skin.
I could feel my makeup trickling down my face.
Hayden gathered me in his arms and held me close to his body. The water was pouring down around us as I opened my eyes and felt his breath pulsing against my lips. I was on my tiptoes. My arms were locked around his neck. Our noses were barely touching and his hands were gripping my ass, hoisting me closer into his pulsing groin.
“You ruined my dress,” I said breathlessly.
“Well you ruined my expectations of women, so we’re even,” he said.
His lips crashed to mine and I jumped to wrap my legs around him. The hot water dripping down our bodies sent my mind into a frenzy. His hands rushed up my back as I locked my body around his, feeling his muscles twitching as our tongues battled for dominance. He walked me backwards, pinning me against the stone wall as it heated with the water.
Then, with the flick of his wrist, the mist jets turned on and blanketed us in the most relaxing steam I’d ever experienced.
His cock slid into me as his body pinned me to the wall. His hands planted against my head as I raked my teeth along his bottom lip. He groaned into my mouth, his tongue touching every part of me he could. He rolled his hips deeply into me, his trimmed curls caressing my clit as his lips kissed down my neck.
“Hayden. Yes. Oh, right there. Yes. Oh…”
My body shivered as Hayden’s teeth raked over that sensitive spot behind my ear.
“Mmm, that felt good. Will you do it again for me, beautiful?”
He nibbled with his lips and I fell into him, weak against his body. His lips. His warmth. But it didn’t matter. Not to Hayden. Not to his strength or his dominance or his confidence. He continued to nibble and I continued to shiver, and the more I moaned the harder he fucked me into the wall. My juices were dripping down his cock and the steam was gathering around us. My hands rushed to his hair and fisted it as tightly as I could, then pulled him deeper into my neck.
The growl he released shot electricity through my veins, and soon my pussy was clamping down around him as hard as it could.
“Hayden! Yes! Please!”
“Fuck, Grace. I can’t get enough of your body. You’ll be… you’ll be…”
His hips were already stuttering and I felt his curls raking into my clit. My toes flexed and my legs tightening and my entire body pulled taut. My head fell back into the stonework as his muscles pressed deeper into my soft curves. I felt myself filling his edges as his body covered me from the world.
His cock pressed against my walls, throbbing as I pulled him deeper. I shook with my orgasm as my body popped, sending me into a spiraling frenzy. Goosebumps appeared everywhere and my jaw was unhinged with pleasure. Hayden was sucking at my neck, pulling welts and bruises to the surface as he pounded into me. My nails raked down his back and clung to him as he slammed into me, my pussy pulling him as deep as I could have him.
Then our lips crashed together and his hips stilled against mine.
Hot threads of cum filled my body before pouring out from between my thighs. The steam around us was thick and the hot water pouring from the ceiling was washing away the evidence of our love. We slid to the floor as his dick continued to fill me, his legs no longer capable of holding his massive body up.
His face fell into the crook of my neck as my fingertips ran along the back of his neck.
Over and over, we kissed one another. Shoulders. Lips. Cheeks. Anywhere we could touch felt the press of our lips against the other. Hayden laid us down on the shower floor as the water continued to beat down upon us and the steam relaxed the rest of my aching muscles.
He pulled his cock from between my legs and I shivered, causing a grin to tug at his cheeks.
“Oh Grace,” he said as he cupped my cheek.
My eyes fluttered open and all I could do was lay there.
“Yes?” I asked breathlessly.
He rose up and pressed his lips to mine one last time before he gathered me in his arms.
“You’ll be the death of me,” he said into my ear.
And I smiled as I nuzzled my body deeper into his.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Hayden
“The project in the Caribbean is going well,” Alicia said. “We’re on track to open our doors by the end of the year, and booking options will open up a month before that date. We’re looking at filling all the rooms within the first five weeks of offering our latest packages.”
“Perfect,” Mike said. “What about the return for the investors?”
“They should be seeing some sort of return come March of next year, but it’ll all depend on how quickly the rooms fill up, what packages they choose, and whether or not they begin to add things on. At the latest, the
y’ll see a return next summer.”
“I know we were talking about the idea of building another few sets of bungalows and villas in Hawaii. Where are we with that?” Mike asked.
“It hasn’t been brought up to the investors, but I can put it on the agenda for the next meeting,” Alicia said.
“Sounds good. Anything to add, Hayden?”
I sat there, staring out the window as my newest Senior Project Manager and my COO went back and forth about things I needed to be caring about. I should’ve been caring about them. I really needed to keep my head in the game. But I was unfocused. Distracted. None of it seemed to matter any longer. The hotels. The luxuriousness of it all. Not even the view from my penthouse office could rip me back to reality.
My return to work was less pomp and more circumstance. It was time for me to go back. People were expecting me to return. But it wasn’t something I was necessarily overjoyed about. Investors were dragging me into almost daily meetings because their nerves were getting the best of them and usually? I was okay with talking them down. In fact, it was one of the things I was skilled at. But lately, I was looking at them in an entirely new light. A bunch of old, crotchety men who smoked cigars they didn’t care for and drank Scotch that was way too expensive in an attempt to portray some type of strong facade before running to me, scared, with their tail between their legs.
I had a bunch of toddlers I was babysitting. Not men investing wisely with me in my company.
“What if we found new investors?” I asked.
I slowly turned my seat around and found dumbfounded looks on both Mike and Alicia.
“Wanna run that by me again?” Mike asked.
“Come on. I’m staring at an email from two of our fifteen investors and they want to schedule another private meeting. I’ve seen all of them at least four times in the two weeks I’ve been back. We need investors with balls, and we don’t have that,” I said.
“They have reason to be concerned,” Alicia said. “This project was falling through just before you were in your car accident. It would make sense that they would be nervous about embarking on anything else.”
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