His eyes glinted in her direction as he smiled. They never did anything very adventurous. Sure he always touched her and made sure it was good for her. But, it was always so normal. It was always in a bed, and she was never on top. He loved her, and it was always amazing when they made love. But he wondered now as he watched her nipples harden under the thin layer of fabric if their lack of adventure had something to do with the illicit acts that went on when the group of them got together. What would it be like to take his wife in a less than ‘normal’ way, he wondered?
“Peter, please. You’re embarrassing me.” Her face visibly flushed at the sight of his arousal.
Peter set the picture down and held his free hand out to her. “Daniella. You are so beautiful, honey. Do you have any idea how much I love you?”
She was now standing before him, and he could feel her body trembling when he took her hand. “Peter, have you ever…I mean, the kids are out of the house now. So, I was wondering if…”
Peter slid his hand under her nightshirt and rasped his thumb over her sensitized nipple. “Yes. I have thought about trying new things, too. But I never wanted to…I didn’t want you to feel as though I thought less of you, or I didn’t love you just as much as before.” He gently massaged her breast until he could tell she was aching with need for more.
“Peter. Can we…” She licked her lips as she tried to form the words. “We’ve never had…oh, gosh. I’m talking about oral sex, Peter. We’ve never done that. Have you wanted to? Because, I was wondering what it might be like.”
Peter released his cock and stood up. Framing her face in his hands, he kissed her passionately. “We will tonight, honey. Take everything off and get on the desk.”
He started to undress and wanted to add, ‘And always remember how much I love you,’ because he knew that things were escalating. He had a bad feeling about Claudia. The others had been right when they said she was getting out of hand. Soon, he would lose his wife to the secret he kept.
He hadn’t even remembered Claudia taking the pictures that she so frequently held over their head, but yet, he had seen copies of them. As he watched his beautiful Daniella lay before him and he knelt down in front of her, he felt a tear escape his eye. “Sweet Daniella. I love you,” he whispered as he took her with his mouth.
He loved the sweetness of her that he couldn’t believe he was tasting for the first time. He felt more tears escape and mix with the wetness of her aching core. This might be the last time he has to love her. The last time she would let him touch her. He had to make it last. He had to make it good for her. She deserved so much better than the past four years of lies he had given her.
He felt her orgasm wash over her body as it flooded him. He began to silently sob as he lapped up the remainder of her climax. His heart ached for her. He knew it would be over soon. He would miss her so much when she left him. He would be lost without her.
Chapter Sixteen
Donna and George sat across from Peter and waited for Theo to arrive. Donna was nervously fidgeting with her hands as George’s foot bounced erratically. They both looked at each other and then Peter. They didn’t say a word, but they knew something was wrong. Peter looked worried. No, more than worried, he looked sad. Nothing ever frazzled Peter. The fact that he was bothered and that he called this meeting only added to their anxiety.
“What’s taking him so long?” Donna brought her hand to her mouth and began chewing on a hang nail.
And as if summoned by her question, Theo rounded the corner and entered the office. He had just gotten back from court and looked winded. He had been about to complain for being summoned here when he was starving and wanted to grab a bite, but one look at the grim faces in the office, and he quickly shut his mouth.
He closed the door and sat in one of the chairs. “What’s wrong?”
They all looked to Peter and waited. He sighed and looked up at the ceiling. The silence seemed to go on forever when Peter finally spoke. “We have a problem.”
“Shit! I knew it. What did she do?” Theo snapped.
George and Donna cringed when Theo shouted at Peter. But Peter did not even flinch. He turned to Donna, “she called you last night didn’t she?”
Donna’s face turned pale white, and she nodded. “It wasn’t the first time. I just started turning the ringer off before I go to bed at night. She seems to…her problems don’t seem to come until after midnight.”
George and Theo looked at each other. “What are you talking about? What’s going on?” George demanded.
Peter steepled his hands together as he rocked back in his chair. “She called me last night after one o’clock. With Daniella lying next to me, I had to listen to her demand that I go to her.” Peter shook his head in disgust before turning to Donna. “I don’t mean to scare you. But I think she may be obsessed with you.”
Donna asked fearfully. “Why? Why do you say that?”
George placed his hand on Donna’s shoulder. “You must have seen how transfixed she gets on you.”
Donna shook her head. “I love Colby. He’s my whole life. If she…”
“Now before you panic, we need to discuss our options. What few we have. Her obvious fixation is you. You are the nucleus to her desires. Even when we are involved,” Peter motioned with his hands indicating the three men, “her primary focus is always only on you. If it wasn’t for her constant fascination with being fucked in the ass, she would have no use for us at all.” Peter stilled when he saw the tears fall from Donna’s face.
She rose from her chair and walked to the window. Looking out over the city, she began to sob.
The three men sat there in silence. Peter knew they all felt some level of remorse for their actions. They had all enticed her to get in bed that night with Claudia just as much as Claudia had. They had let their own stupid fantasy of seeing two women together cloud their better judgment. And now, she was suffering for it.
“Donna.” Theo came up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders.
“What’s wrong with me? I’m no better than her.” She turned to face Peter now. “You said it yourself. It’s a fascination, an obsession.” Tears started to flow freely of their own accord. “I’ve never even. God, I’ve never even let Colby do that. But, I turn into a cheap and filthy whore whenever…”
“No! Stop that. Stop that right now!” Peter demanded. “Oh hell, Donna, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have worded it like that. You’re nothing like her. We know how hard it is for you every time we’re together.” Peter came to her and put his arms around her. “We know how much you love Colby. We understand because we’re all in the same situation.”
George broke his silence and spoke, “He’s right Donna. I think we all know that if she hadn’t have confronted us with those pictures after the first time, it never would have happened again.”
Theo and George followed Peter’s lead and went to Donna, wrapping their arms around her.
Donna stood there by the window. She was surrounded by three men who she had let fuck her so many times over the past four years. Three men who had taken her body and used it for her pleasure, as well as their own. It was primal and animalistic, the way she let them have her over and over again. She could feel nothing but shame. Shame and remorse for her marriage that would soon be destroyed because of her inability to just say no.
“We’re going to lose everything, aren’t we?” she asked the men.
They each surrounded her with their warmth. “We might, but there is one option,” Theo said.
George and Peter looked at him then. “What can we do?” George asked.
“The only thing we can do. We’re going to have to come clean. I know Marci will leave me. I know she’ll take the kids, and I’ll be left with nothing but I can’t…” Theo stopped talking.
Donna knew that he was feeling the same pain she was, the pain that was cutting right through to each and every one of their very souls.
* * * *
Mi
tch looked up from his desk when Sara walked in. “Hey beautiful.”
Sara quickly closed the door. “Mitch, someone could hear you.” She set down the mug of coffee in front of him and kissed him on the cheek.
He smirked at her. “Yeah, no one’s figured out we’re a couple yet. They’re all completely clueless.”
“Stop. I just thought you could use some more coffee. How’s trial prep coming?” she asked as she began massaging his shoulders.
“Mmm, that feels good. It’s okay, I guess. We’ll be ready. I just hate all this last minute document preparation. It’s so tedious. And I’d much rather be at home with you.” He leaned his head back and gave her an upside-down kiss.
“Interesting.” Alan stood in the doorway.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Alan. I’ll get out of your way now and let you two get back to work.” She all but ran out of the office.
“Was it something I said?” Alan asked Mitch as he sat down across from him.
“No, we just haven’t had much time together lately. She feels guilty for trying to steal a few minutes here and there when we’re at the office.” Mitch winced when he burned his tongue on the scalding coffee.
“Did you see what was going on at the other side of the office this morning?” Alan asked as he got up to close the door.
“No, what? Is Claudia up to something again?” Mitch cringed at the thought.
“I don’t know. But something’s off. George, Theo, and Donna are all in Peter’s office with the door closed, and none of them look happy. I walked past the door earlier and heard Donna crying. She said something about obsession and her husband. I couldn’t really hear her. I wasn’t going to stand on the other side of the door and listen. But something’s definitely wrong.” He took a drink of his coffee and shook his head. “Whatever it is, it’s real bad. I can feel it.”
“I got the same feeling yesterday. They all acted like they were afraid of Claudia.” Mitch’s head tilted as he thought of something. “You don’t think, I mean the rumor is that they’ve screwed around with her, even in the office, from what I understand. But you don’t think that she has pictures of them, do you? Maybe that’s why they acted that way.”
Alan thought about it for a minute and then shook his head. “No, I mean, I see your point, but what would Donna have to do with it? I mean, what would be her connection? No, it just doesn’t add up. I’ll tell you one thing, though. I am damn glad I love my wife enough to say no. Because that woman is t-r-o-u-b-l-e, trouble.”
“You can say that again. The best decision I ever made was turning her down.” Mitch swallowed his coffee over his scaled tongue.
“Really. The best?” Alan quirked his brows at him.
Mitch, understanding the underlying question, raised his mug to the man. “You’re right. The smartest thing I ever did was seduce that pretty little secretary named Sara. Now that I’ve gotten her to fall in love with me, I just have to convince her to marry me.”
Alan had been taking a drink and ended up spitting it out all over Mitch. It wasn’t for effect, or humor. He had truly been shocked by Mitch’s declaration. “Married?”
Mitch looked down at his coffee-soaked desk and back up at Alan. “I believe when I said it, there was a lot less spitting involved. But yeah, married. I love her. I hardly see the point in waiting a year or two when it’s already so right.”
“Well, in that case, I’d like to offer my congratulations.” Alan held out a hand to him.
Mitch shook his hand reluctantly. “Thanks, but could I get a paper towel instead?”
* * * *
Sara stood outside the war room door and listened to Mitch talk to Claudia. This was stupid, she thought. Why was she finding it harder and harder to leave him here every night with her? She trusted Mitch. She really did. Claudia, on the other hand, was another story. Her spiteful bitchiness was one thing. Sara couldn’t shake the feeling that she was capable of much worse though. She took a deep breath, refusing to be intimidated by her, and walked in the room.
Her uneasiness was quickly swept aside by the giant smile Mitch gave her. “I just wanted to say goodbye before I went home.” She reached over and handed him a bag from the deli downstairs. She had just had it delivered. It was his favorite sandwich, a Reuben on dark pumpernickel bread with extra sauerkraut. “I wasn’t sure how late you were going to be, so I ordered you a sandwich.”
Mitch got up from the table, and leaned over and gave Sara a big, crushing hug. “Let me walk you to your car.”
She felt a smug satisfaction at him showing her such affection in front of Claudia.
“No, the sooner you get done here, the sooner you can come home,” Sara said. They hadn’t really made it public knowledge that he had been staying at her place, but she felt no remorse about spilling the beans in front of Claudia.
“Okay, at least let me walk you to the elevator.” He put his arm around her and told Claudia over his shoulder, “I’ll be back.”
He walked her to the elevator where there was a lot of kissing. He had begged her to let him “take a ride” in the elevator with her. She had insisted though that he get back to work so he could get home. He reluctantly agreed and moped back inside, giving her a pouty face before winking.
She smiled and waved as she got on the elevator. Why couldn’t she shake this uneasiness? Something inside her screamed not to leave him here. She couldn’t figure out why. “Get a hold of yourself,” Sara chided herself. She was being ridiculous. If she could handle walking in on Claudia in Mitch’s lap, then she could certainly manage it if he worked on some trial documents with her for a few hours. She drove home and eased it to the back of her mind. Not allowing it to consume her.
* * * *
Mitch walked back in the war room and proceeded to get back to work. Feeling no need to talk to Claudia unless absolutely necessary, he worked in silence. A half an hour or more had passed when Claudia had gotten up to stretch.
“I’m going to go heat up a frozen dinner I brought. I’ll be back. You want a soda or anything?” she asked him in a casual, old buddy demeanor.
He stared at her. Hating her for all of the crap she pulled. “No thanks. I think I’ll get my own.”
She shrugged. “Suit yourself then.”
Thirty minutes later, Mitch balled up the paper sack which had held his sandwich and guzzled the last of his coke. “I’ll be back. I’m going to wash up.”
“Okay, I’m going to make a fresh pot of coffee, do you want some?” she asked him, again casually, like an old friend.
He studied her expression, looking for signs of deceit. Surprisingly, he didn’t see any underhanded scheming going on. And if he was going to be honest with himself, he would have to admit that she had remained professional and tactful all day today, including this evening. She had behaved like the perfect secretary.
“Sure, black’s fine.” He left to go to the men’s room.
Five minutes later, Mitch walked back in. Claudia sat there sorting some documents and didn’t look up at him. On his side of the table was a cup of steaming black coffee. He walked over and took a sip of it and set it back down. “It’s good. Thank you.”
She looked up at him and smiled. Not like a seductress or a she-cat, but like a nice woman. “Sure.” She shrugged. “Who knows, maybe one day we can be friends.” And she went back to work.
Mitch sat puzzled for a minute. This woman had been hounding him relentlessly for six weeks now. She had gone out of her way to make Sara’s life hell, and now she was acting like a normal person. Could she have given up? Did she finally understand that her pursuit of him was a lost cause? He was skeptical but decided he had too much work to do to worry about it now. He reached for his coffee and drank some more as he began reading the discovery documents that sat before him.
A half an hour later, Mitch was straining his eyes to stay awake. The past couple of weeks had really affected his sleep. He wasn’t completely complaining. A lot of those sleepless nights were be
cause he got to make love with Sara. He had to laugh. He might talk dirty to her and tell her that he was going to fuck her, but he loved her so much, that making love was the only way to describe how his heart clenched every time he held her to him so intimately.
God, he was tired. “I’ll be back. Did you make a whole pot of this because I’m beat?”
Claudia took the final swig of her cup. “Yeah, I did. Here, I need some, too. Why don’t you hand me your cup.”
Mitch was too tired to do anything but hand it to her. “Thanks.” He watched Claudia walk out of the room and felt his vision swim. For a second, he thought maybe there was two of her. He shook his head and slapped his hands against his cheeks. He got up from his chair and began walking. He couldn’t remember ever getting this tired this fast. Maybe he was coming down with something. He sat down on the small leather couch at the far end of the room. Maybe if he just rested his eyes for a minute, he would feel refreshed. He laid his head against the back of the couch and shut them.
Claudia came back in the room. She looked over at Mitch sleeping on the couch and set the mugs down on the table. Quirking a brow, she walked toward him. “Mitch?” she waited for an answer. When one hadn’t come, she tried again. “Mitch, can you hear me?” This time, she nudged his shoulder. But he was in deep sleep, completely unaware of what was going on around him.
“Finally.” Claudia reached down and started undoing his belt buckle. He was such a large man, she had a hard time maneuvering his body to remove all of his clothes. Ten minutes later, she was breathless. Mitch’s clothes were scattered on the floor, and all she had left to do, now, was take off her own clothes.
Her eyes twinkled in admiration of his finely-sculpted body. She thought he would be fit. But, she hadn’t been prepared for the sinew that lay before her eyes. She actually regretted having to do things this way now. It would be much more fun if he was awake, and they could fuck. She knew just by looking at him that he would be good.
Once she was completely stripped of her clothes and they were strewn just as haphazardly as his were, she climbed on top of him to snuggle against his chest. After all, she had to give the appearance of a satiated couple after a night of lustful sex. She closed her eyes in an attempt to get some rest of her own. She wished she hadn’t put both of the sleeping pills in Mitch’s coffee. She could have used one. Tomorrow morning was going to be a very eventful one, and she wanted to get as much beauty sleep as possible.
Sudden Devotion Page 16