Then it was no longer enough. At the same moment, both Emily and Ethan knew the time for slowness was past. The passion building between them demanded a hard and fast release. Slow would be for later.
Ethan took a step back, and unbuttoned his shirt and began to undo his pants. His ripped abs and the enticing line of hair leading to his dick entranced Emily. When he stripped off his pants and shorts in one move, freeing his throbbing cock, Emily froze from the jolt of electricity that shot to her clit. Her hands that had been undoing her own pants stilled and she took in the sight of him. Emily had just one thought. Yum. Without any thought or planning, she dropped to her knees and took him in her mouth. Her tongue licked the head and tasted the glistening drop of cum that had pearled there.
“Dear god, Emily,” Ethan rasped. He grasped the back of her head and let her work him with her lips and tongue for a few seconds before slipping his cock out of her mouth with a groan. He had no more words for her as he unzipped her pants the rest of the way and shoved them off her hips. He lifted her back onto the bed, and his intent was unmistakable. While Emily kicked her pants off the rest of the way and removed her bra, Ethan stepped back just long enough to grab a shiny packet from the pocket of his pants. He ripped the condom from its package and slid it on with impressive speed. Before Emily even had time to think about why he was so dexterous with the process, he was buried deep inside of her. Emily had never felt so full.
Like the kiss, initially the feeling of him inside her was enough. But she knew there was more. She wanted more. Her moan was a plea to him, and she raised her hips taking him even deeper inside of her.
He began to move, pulling out, then plunging back in, going deeper, it felt, each time. As he moved inside of her, he claimed her breasts with his mouth, licking and nipping at her nipples, rasping his tongue, and teeth, against their hard tips. Emily felt the orgasm building. Every time she wanted to urge him to move faster, to push harder, he was a half second ahead of her, doing what she wanted, what she needed before she even knew she wanted it. He pushed hard and fast, and Emily’s body opened up to take him in, rose to meet him, thrust for thrust.
His dick slid against the spot in her that she’d never really believed existed before, and when his hand slipped down between their bodies and his thumb pressed against her clit, her insides exploded. The orgasm ripped through her, her body spasming over and over, squeezing Ethan’s dick until seconds later he too erupted. He pushed harder, and she met him each time, wishing she could draw him in even farther, her muscles pulling him in.
The waves of sensation rocked through her, until finally, finally, her body began to settle and a feeling of glorious satisfaction rolled in. Emily left her legs wrapped around him, holding him inside her, not wanting to let the feeling go. She felt his heart beating fast against her chest, while he breathed into her neck. She wanted to stay there forever.
*****
The rattling of a doorknob broke the spell. Emily jerked up in horror as the rattling sounded again, and she could see the clasp turning.
The knocking came next.
Emily’s eyes met Ethan’s. Hers were wide open with panic, and his didn’t look any better.
“Hello?” came a giggly voice from the other side of the dark mahogany door. “Hello, is anyone in there?”
Ethan came to his senses first. “Yes, just a moment.”
Emily scrambled up and grabbed frantically for her clothes. She identified the voice as Shelly, the bitchy woman whom Emily had caught flirting with Ethan earlier.
Now Shelly was on the other side of the (thankfully) locked door while Emily was lying naked on the bed after just having gotten the fuck of her life.
Ethan gestured for Emily to get in the closet, but when Emily opened the door, holding her clothes bunched to her chest, she found the generous space completely filled with neatly stacked boxes, each labeled carefully with its “Crafting scissors” “Scrapbooking scissors”, there was a difference?, “Acrylic paint, summer hues”, “Stamps, animals, aquatic.” Wow, who knew there were this many crafting supplies?
If Emily were ever in a crafting emergency, she’d know exactly where to go. But the overabundance of glitter and glue sticks in this prime hiding space was going to ruin her.
“Ethan,” came Shelly’s voice again. This time more forceful than before. “What’s going on in there? You don’t have a girl in there, do you?” Shelly breathed out a twinkly laugh as she said that, but Emily could hear the warning in Shelly’s tone anyway. And her suspicions.
Without any better choice, Emily grabbed her clothes and dove behind the bed. She’d be concealed from Shelly’s line of sight as long as Ethan could keep Shelly near the door. If Shelly did enter the room, she’d see Emily for sure. There would be no explanation that could possibly get Emily and Ethan out of this situation.
Emily’s heart was thudding in her chest, and she felt a panicked giggle forming in her throat. She swallowed it down. She heard Ethan open the door.
“Oh, Ethan, finally!” Shelly exclaimed. “What took you so long? I was waiting forever out there!”
You were waiting about thirty seconds, Emily thought sourly. That’s hardly forever. Emily scooted further back behind the bed and realized that from her new vantage point, she could see the reflections of Ethan and Shelly in the shiny metal bedpost. They were tiny, and upside down, but the gleaming bronze perfectly reflected Shelly putting a possessive hand on his arm and curving her breasts toward him. Emily harbored some remaining panic that she could be visible to the couple by the door, but Shelly’s eyes, after a quick glance at the room, including the still open closet door, seemed assured that Ethan was alone.
“Hey, stranger, what are you doin’ up here all alone?” Shelly’s voice was probably seductive-sounding, but to Emily it was like fingernails on a chalkboard.
“Shelly,” was Ethan’s terse greeting. Emily felt a delightful shiver run down her spine at the sound of his voice. Even though he’d just been buried deep inside her, she wanted him again. “I was just taking a business call.” He held his phone out to demonstrate the truth of his statement.
“Well, we were all missing you downstairs. But I can understand that some things are best done in private.” Shelly swayed ever so slightly toward Ethan as she said this. Her hand was still on his arm.
“Yes, well, it’s all taken care of now, so we should head back to the party.”
Emily silently cheered that Ethan was being so business-like and resistant to Shelly’s charms. Or maybe machinations was a better word. She was hitting on her friend’s fiancé, and that was all kinds of wrong.
“Well, now that you’re here and I’m here, I have something I wanted to talk to you about,” Shelly purred.
Emily thought she might throw up in her mouth a little.
“Oh? What’s that?” Ethan replied.
“I’ve been real worried about something lately, and I was hoping you might be able to help me out with it.”
“Um, I’m not sure I...”
Emily watched Shelly’s reflection take a step closer to Ethan, practically climbing onto him. Then, Emily saw Shelly pull down her already low-cut top and expose pretty much her entire breast to Ethan, interrupting his declination.
“I’ve got this little spot here, and I’m wonderin’ if it might be more than just a freckle. You know, like somethin’ to worry about. Could you just take a closer look an’ let me know what you think?”
Eww, Emily thought to herself. No way was this woman being so obvious. She cheered silently when Ethan glanced down ever so quickly, and then stepped away.
“It looks normal to me, Shelly, just like a freckle. But you could see a dermatologist to have it checked out, if you’re really worried.”
Yes! Emily cheered to herself. She saw Shelly’s mouth turn down in a pretty pout.
“But I just hate doctors. I get so intimidated by them, with their white coats and their ‘instruments’ and such. Maybe you could just touch th
e spot real quick and tell me how it feels to you.” Here, Shelly actually grasped Ethan’s hand and brought it towards her breast. Emily’s eyes were glued to the bed post waiting to see what was going to happen. He’d better not even think about touching it.
“I’ve got a better idea,” Ethan replied in a deep, sexy voice.
OMG, Emily thought, what is he going to do? Jump her right here while I’m still hiding behind the bed. Naked!
Shelly seemed to think that was his intention, because a smile spread across her face, and she delicately bit the corner of her bottom lip in a deliberate attempt to bring attention to her mouth.
“Oh, really? I’m sure you have all kinds of great ideas…” Shelly murmured, curving closer to him. His hand still hovered above her breast, not touching it.
Abruptly, he stepped back and away from Shelly, effectively creating a vast expanse of space between them while also freeing his hand from hers.
He smiled broadly at her, and said in a cheerful voice, “I know a wonderful woman, who also happens to be a dermatologist, and she’s not at all scary. She’d be happy to take a look at that mole and let you know if it should be tested. She’s actually a friend of my mother’s, and she conducts her appointments right in her office, so it’s calm and comfortable. Not scary at all. And, she never wears a white coat.”
Shelly’s eyes narrowed in anger and her face flushed. Her mouth opened to speak, but Ethan took her arm and started shepherding her towards the door, while telling her that he’d just ask Charlotte if she had Dr. Menno’s phone number, since she’d just given Charlotte a quick check.
Emily heard the soft click of the door as it shut behind the couple. She waited a couple moments to make sure they were gone, before bolting across the room, clutching her bundle of clothes, into the en-suite bathroom where she shut and locked the door behind her. Only then did she let out a gasping sigh of relief that they hadn’t been caught. She also let loose a rush of pleasure that Ethan had turned Shelly down so quickly and effectively. Only as she pulled her clothes back on with shaky hands did she allow herself to admit that she’d felt a pang of possessiveness for Ethan that surpassed anything that she’d ever felt before, and that the reason behind the possessiveness was the fact that Emily didn’t want him to be with anyone else. She only wanted him to be with her. That was very, very bad news.
Chapter Sixteen
Giving one last check to her appearance in the mirror, Emily took a deep breath and left the safety of the bathroom. She couldn’t help but glance at the bed on her way out, her body still flushed from the recent pleasure. She also shut the closet door on the way out, musing that she’d never think about craft supplies in the same way again. Evil asshole crafting boxes that made her crouch behind the bed instead of in the closet like a normal person who just had taboo sex and needed to hide. A random giggle threatened to erupt. Now that the danger had passed, the adrenaline was fading and Emily was starting to feel loopy.
One thought remained clear, though; she needed to end things with Ethan. She couldn’t develop feelings for Ethan. Feelings meant she would start to rely on him, count on him, and people she cared for, people she loved, left her. She’d relied only on herself or a long time, and it was working just fine. She could have fun with Ethan. She could have a fling, but she absolutely could not fall for him. And so, while her first delicious taste of him still lingered on her tongue, her skin, her heart…Emily realized that she had to give him up, before she fell hard.
The rest of the evening passed in a blur. Emily went through the motions, smiled as she offered people refills and checked in with the catering staff. She checked with Charlotte and Vivienne to make sure they were happy, had everything they needed. She ignored Ethan. She could feel his eyes on her several times throughout the evening, but every time she sensed he might be making his way toward her, she busied herself with someone else, or some task that was suddenly vitally important. As soon as it was possible, Emily left the remainder of the party in Troy’s capable hands and fled to the safety of home.
She barely managed to shut her front door behind her before the gasping breathlessness of anxiety gripped her, threatening to send her into a full-blown panic attack. The more she tried to tamp down the creeping, sick feeling in her stomach, the more it grew. Not knowing what else to do, Emily slipped into her jog bra and a pair of running shorts, slid her feet into her sneaks, and set off for a run. She turned her music on high and let the burn build in her legs and her lungs.
Three miles later, her breath was coming in shallow gasps again, but this time it was from exertion rather than anxiety, and her legs were shaking from exhaustion instead of fear. Her heart was racing from the punishing pace she forced it to maintain. The panic had ebbed, but Emily had been unable to outrun the realization that her feelings for Ethan were growing. She really liked him. Her heart insisted it was more than like. And more than like was getting dangerously close to love. That was not something Emily could allow. She’d loved her parents, and they’d both left her. She’d tried at love in college, with a boy who took everything she offered, giving nothing back in return. She’d walked in on him and her roommate one afternoon. She’d called her mother, in tears and burning with rejection, and her mother had asked Emily what she’d done to drive him into the arms of another woman. A competent therapist at the university’s mental health center had helped Emily get through the break up, and had started to help her deal with some of the issues she struggled with regarding her parents, but Emily had graduated, and that woman was no longer available to her. Since then, she’d guarded her heart, certain that giving it away would only leave her broken. Love might work for other people, but it wasn’t meant for her.
*****
The only solution Emily could envision was to avoid Ethan at all costs. Therefore, when his number popped up on her cell phone the afternoon after the engagement party, she simply pressed ignore. She was good at ignoring. She’d learned from the best…her mother ignoring Emily when she took off with her new husband, and her father, who faded into himself when he was left. Emily had successfully guarded her heart for all her twenty-five years, and she was prepared to do whatever she needed to keep it safe now.
When he called again, thirty minutes later, Emily studiously continued scrubbing out the oven. It really needed to be cleaned.
A third call, and Emily was close to breaking. The oven was spotless, and she had moved to cleaning the bottom of a pint tub of ice cream.
The fourth call came just five minutes after the previous, and now Emily was pissed, grabbing the phone and swiping angrily to answer, she snapped, “Listen, stalker, stop calling. Can’t you figure out I don’t want to talk to you?” She was in the process of hanging up, when she heard a voice from the other end that was distinctly not Ethan’s.
“Emily, hon, you okay?”
Charlotte!
“Oh my god, Charlotte, I’m so sorry!” Emily squeaked. “I thought you were someone else!”
“Someone who’s dreamy sexy and has the body and brains to make even a happily, for real, engaged woman get a little excited?”
“Uh…” Emily didn’t even know how to respond. “Wait, what do you mean, for real engaged?”
“Well, my lovely Jonas popped the question last night. He knows we have to finish this other business up, and he was goin’ to wait until it was done, but then he couldn’t hold back any longer. He said knowing I was at an engagement party with someone else made his heart hurt, and he couldn’t let another day go by without him knowin’ that our time was coming. So he asked, and I said yes, and now I am just on top of the world.”
“Charlotte, that’s so amazing and wonderful!” Emily cried. “I’m so happy for you!”
“Thanks, hon, but that’s not the real reason I’m callin’. I just had to tell someone, though, since everyone else I know thinks it’s Ethan and me. But we have more serious news to talk about, and I’m guessing that’s why you thought I was someone else when you first
answered.”
“Mmm…” Emily murmured noncommittally.
“Listen, Ethan really needs to talk business with you, and he said he couldn’t get in touch. I offered to try, though I can’t imagine why you didn’t answer his call that I know came just a minute or two before mine. Is something going on with you two? I mean, I know there’s something…that’s obvious. What I don’t get is why you wouldn’t snatch up that dreamboat’s call as soon as it rang.”
“I, uh…” Emily stammered, and then chose to deflect. “Wait, so what is the real reason you called?”
Charlotte made a soft “hmmm” noise into the phone that Emily interpreted as her way of letting Emily know that she’d noticed her attempt to distract from the original question. Then she let it go, and shifted to the issue at hand.
“Well, you really should hear it from dreamboat, I mean Ethan, since he has the information firsthand…”
Emily just grunted.
“Okay, I’ll let the Ethan thing go for now. It seems that there’s some progress on the Gaines front. Apparently, there have been some suspicious deposits into the accounts they’re monitoring, but they still can’t track where the money’s coming from. To do that, they need to access the accounts from his home computer.”
“Wow,” Emily said. “That’s great news! Sounds like they’re getting close to nailing him.”
“They are, but there’s the business getting into his accounts at the house. So I’ve convinced my mother to have him host a dinner and planning meeting for all of us. You know, he’s moved in with her, even though they’re not married. I tried to ask him how that fit in with his ‘family values’ preachin’, but he refused to answer me. Anyway, he’s living there, and has set up his office in it too. I think he’s basically homeless until he moves in with another victim. So the meeting will get us into the house, and…here’s the really excitin’ news…”
Private Engagement Page 13